Thursday, August 27, 2020

 

Quarantine Day #162.

Last night I went to bed at 10:30, took 2 hours to fall asleep, got up thrice during the night, finally waking/getting up at 7:30.

Last night I played 4 games on Chess.com, winning 2 and losing 2. In the 1^st game I had the white pieces and played the London System. We each had pressure against the other’s king. In the middlegame I blundered a rook that he didn’t see but a couple moves later he forked my queen and rook with his knight and it was downhill for me after that. I fought on but resigned on the 47^th move. In the 2^nd game I had white again and played the same opening and my opponent missed the threat and I checkmated him on the 18^th move. In the 3^rd game I had black and played the Sicilian Defense. He didn’t play well, attacking solely with his queen and he resigned on the 27^th move. In the 4^th game I had the black pieces and I played the Stonewall Dutch. It was a good close game that quickly went into the endgame and he checkmated me on the 33^rd move.

My new rating is 1239.

I watched the first hour of the Today show and then we walked down to Mercado Madrid for groceries. We had a muchacho push the grocery cart up the hill to our apt complex. I guess I was so busy carrying 2 large bottles of laundry liquid and getting everything sprayed by the guards that I forgot to give they boy the 10mil I had put in my back pocket. My bad! I felt bad about that.

After lunch we took a 45-minute nap.

Teresa left at 4pm to exchange some clothes at Zara in SanteFe mall.

She called me at 6:45 and told me she’s on her way back but traffic is horrible. She returned at 7:15.

 

Democrat Joe Biden is ahead in five of six key swing states after last week's Democratic National Convention 

Biden has a lead over President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin 

The two rivals for the White House are essentially tied in North Carolina, where the Republican National Convention was supposed to take place 

At the same time, a slightly smaller number of swing state voters are concerned about the coronavirus and Trump's approval rating has ticked up  

 

Moderna's coronavirus vaccine candidate appears to be safe and produce a strong immune response in older adults, according to new data from an early trial presented by the company at a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention meeting today.

The study of 20 adults over the age of 55 found that almost two months after receiving the second of two vaccine doses, participants had antibody levels higher than those of people who have recovered from Covid-19.

 

Researchers from the University of Southern California (USC) have found what appears to be the likely order in which COVID-19 symptoms first appear.

The study findings reveal individuals infected with COVID-19 will likely experience symptoms in the following order:

1.   fever

2.   coughing and muscle pain

3.   nausea, vomiting, or both

4.   diarrhea

 

Coronavirus cases linked to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota have now been identified in eight states. 

Nearly 500,000 people attended this year's festival despite warnings about the pandemic, the state said. 

Before the event kicked off, experts warned about its potential to become a superspreader event. 

And in crowded bars and packed concerts during the 10-day rally, there were few masks in sight, according to photos and videos. 

  

Rite Aid CEO Heyward Donigan told CNBC on Thursday the U.S. health situation could be worrying this fall as people are at risk of becoming sick with both Covid-19 and seasonal influenza.. 

For that reason, Donigan urged Americans to get vaccinated for the flu. “The best thing to do is not get the flu in the first place.”

Donigan said Rite Aid is “anticipating a significant surge” in the need for flu shots.

Several hundred former aides to President George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain announced Thursday that they are endorsing Joe Biden for president.

 

Amid intense backlash by experts over the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations that asymptomatic people do not need to be tested for coronavirus even if they’d been exposed, CDC Director Robert Redfield walked back those guidelines. In a statement released late Wednesday night, Redfield said “testing may be considered for all close contacts of confirmed or probable COVID-19 patients,” adding that “everyone who needs a COVID-19 test can get a test.” Despite Redfield’s statement, the guidelines issued earlier this week still remain on the CDC website as of publication. An official told The New York Times that Redfield made the statement “to clarify the new policy.”

 

Former Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez and former Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman, who both served in the George W. Bush administration, endorsed Joe Biden on Thursday.

 

Elizabeth Neumann is an honest conservative. She voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and later accepted a position in the Department of Homeland Security. In a new ad from Republican Voters Against Trump, Neumann describes herself as "first and foremost a follower of Jesus Christ" -- and explains that she chose Trump primarily because she opposes abortion rights.

As a DHS official responsible for counter-terrorist policy, however, Neumann saw what she could not deny: Trump's racism encourages white supremacist violence that is endangering the nation's security. And then she watched in horror as the coronavirus pandemic unfolded, with Trump obstructing every federal effort to mitigate its deadly impact. He betrayed the nation for his own political convenience, again and again.

The US has 5,790,573 ð 5,825,039 ð 5,878,827 coronavirus cases with 178,300 ð 179,200 ð 180,600+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 562,128 ð 572,270 ð 582,022 cases with 18,468 deaths.  Medellin has 41,884 ð 43,250 ð 43,966 cases, an increase of 715 from August 26^th to 27^th. Envigado has a total of 2,328 cases, an increase of 37 from August 26^th to 27^th. So new infections have plateaued or even decreased for Colombia but have only plateaued in Medellin and Envigado.

 

Joke of the day

The World Health Organization has announced that dogs cannot contract Covid-19. Dogs previously held in quarantine can now be released. To be clear, WHO let the dogs out.