Thursday, August 6, 2020

 

Quarantine Day 142.

Last night I went to bed at 10:30, got up twice during the night, again at 5:30 finally waking/getting up at 7:30.

Last night I played 4 games on Chess.com, winning 3 and losing 1. I had the white pieces for the 3 games I won. My new rating is 1250.

Teresa left at 8:15 for some business about the finca. If she returns soon enough she may pursue meeting a girlfriend for a walk.

I watched the first 20 minutes of the Today show then left for my 50-minute walk. I took a slight detour today. Down the hill from Marcos’ apartment complex is a small strip mall along Avenida Las Vegas. I took a walk down their storefront sidewalk. Most things were closed but the pharmacy, Tastao (café), Subway and, surprisingly, a barbershop were open.

After my cool down and my shower I left the apt at 11:30. I walked to the mall and first went inside and up to the 2^nd floor where I made an ATM withdrawal. Inside Exito I picked up about 10 items and took a taxi back to the apt arriving by 12:30.

At 1pm I used my Rappi app to order a personal sized pizza from Papa John’s. The estimated delivery time was 50-60 minutes. When Rappi informed me that my order was out for delivery I put on my N95 mask – and one of the straps broke. Downstairs I waited about 5 minutes for my order – I texted the driver and I understood he was at the wrong building.

After finishing my individual sized pizza I used 3 staples to affix the strap back on my mask.

About 4:15 I heard fire engines. I went out on the balcony and saw a young man outside Exito lying on his side in the street next to his motorcycle. The front wheel was on the sidewalk but the rest of the moto was in the street. Just next to/behind him was a taxi. I have no idea if the taxi hit him or was now protecting him from street traffic.

There were 3 firemen and 2 what I call transit police. The young man didn’t move for quite some time. One of the firemen rested the young man’s head on his leg and put on a blood pressure cuff. After a while they rolled him carefully onto a body board – at least I think that’s what it’s called. Finally, I saw the muchacho raise his head and use his cellphone like he was texting someone so that was a good sign. The transit police wrote reports, took measurements and guided cars around the accident site. It was about 30 minutes before they cleared the area.

Teresa returned and I understand the garden has been cleaned and the little landslide has been cleared.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) tore into his fellow Republicans on Fox News Wednesday for considering a coronavirus relief package that could cost more than $1 trillion, calling on them to apologize to President Obama "for complaining that he was spending and borrowing too much" during his time in office.

 

Drugmakers will likely have tens of millions of doses of coronavirus vaccines in the early part of next year, Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious diseases official, said in a Reuters interview on Wednesday, offering a more conservative view of the ramp up than some Trump administration officials.

Fauci said there could be a billion vaccine doses available by the end of 2021, and that he is hopeful the world could get past the pandemic that has claimed more than 700,000 lives worldwide by then, with the help of a vaccine.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said last month the U.S. would have hundreds of millions of vaccine doses by early in 2021.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Thursday that President Donald Trump’s administration still lacks a sufficient strategy to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, sharpening his criticism of the president as the Democratic governor seeks reelection in the key battleground state.

“I like the fact that he did provide some help for hurricane recovery in North Carolina. I do like the push for a vaccine. But most of the federal strategy that we’ve had during this pandemic has been nonexistent,” Cooper said during a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press.

Cooper has largely refrained thus far from direct attacks on Trump as he manages the politically divided state’s pandemic response heading into the November election. Cooper faces the state’s Republican lieutenant governor, who has been endorsed by the president.

“I don’t mind talking about President Trump,” Cooper said. “I oppose him when I disagree with him. I will support his actions when they help North Carolina. I always put North Carolina first.

 

Authorities in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia have sealed off a village after a resident there died from bubonic plague, a centuries-old disease responsible for the most deadly pandemic in human history.

 

Teresa called Antica Pizza and ordered pizza slices to be delivered.

 

The US has 4,772,487 ð 4,821,668 ð 4,879,202 coronavirus cases with 157,100+ ð 158,300+ ð 159,500+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 334,979 ð 345,714 ð 357,710 cases with 11,939 deaths.  Medellin has 23,158 ð 23,968 ð 24,785 cases, an increase of 790 from August 5^th to 6^th. Envigado has a total of 1,448 cases, an increase of 37 from August 5^th to 6^th.

 

Joke of the day

Yesterday’s joke reminded me that “everyone wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die”.