CDC projects ‘sharp decline’ in Covid-19 cases by July, with variants a ‘wild card’ – CNN

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CDC projects ‘sharp decline’ in Covid-19 cases by July, with variants a ‘wild card’ – CNN

he United States could see a drop in Covid-19 cases and deaths by July if vaccinations remain high and people adhere to certain prevention measures, a new modeling study suggests.

But if fewer people follow Covid-19 precautions -- such as wearing masks and physical distancing -- it could undermine the gains from vaccinations to slow the spread of the coronavirus in the United States, according to the study.

NPR

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Google Adopts Pandemic Telework Changes : NPR

Google is adopting a series of changes to give its employees greater workplace flexibility as the tech giant prepares for an updated, post-pandemic return to normalcy.

Chief Executive Sundar Pichai announced that Google will allow employees to work a hybrid workweek, which would allow some workers to spend three days in the office and two days teleworking. Google is also allowing some workers to request a change of office locations altogether.

Biden Backs Suspending Patents on Covid Vaccines – The New York Times

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Biden Backs Suspending Patents on Covid Vaccines – The New York Times

The Biden administration, siding with some world leaders over the U.S. pharmaceutical industry, came out in favor of waiving intellectual property protections for coronavirus vaccines.

Seems reasonable as most of the coronavirus vaccines were funded by taxpayers and vaccines purchased by taxpayers. They are essentially a public product. 

May 6, 2021 Morning

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Good morning! Happy Thursday. Partly cloudy and 47 degrees in Delmar, NY. ⛅ There is a northwest breeze at 11 mph. 🍃 with gusts up to 22 mph 💨💨💨. The breeze definitely makes things feel cooler than reality. Still a nice spring day. 🌸 While still a month away, looking forward to seeing the daisies 🌼 come out. Birds are definitely chirping today. 🐦 The grass blowing in the wind 🌾 at the farm down the way is pretty with the deep blue skies.

I’ve been getting to bed early 🛏 and an earlier start, as it won’t be long before I am going downtown more regularly 🏢. I also am not sure when the landlord is coming over to make repairs so I wanted to take a shower 🚿 and be ready to go downtown for work if he starts making a lot of noise. 🚽 I’ve worked from home when he’s been over making repairs but it’s a terrible distraction. 🔊 Even if he doesn’t come over today and I end up just feeling clean that’s fine. 🛀 Keeping things good and clean is good.

Today will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 59 degrees at 5pm. Eight degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 17th. Northwest wind 11 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. That breeze despite the sun will keep things feeling cool. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 59 degrees. The record high of 89 was set in 1930. There was a dusting of snow in 1994.❄

 

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:53 pm with sun having an altitude of 64° from the due south horizon (-6.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.9 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:22 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (287°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (294°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:02 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 10 seconds with dusk around 8:32 pm, which is one minute and 7 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:12 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 52 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 7 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 18 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 22 seconds over yesterday.

Still trying to figure out what they smell is downstairs. 👃🏻 Airing things out helped. Maybe a dead mouse 🐭 although I’m leaning towards mold under the carpet when I was scrubbing it earlier in the week. I guess it’s an excuse to do more cleaning. I plugged in an air freshener downstairs and I’m continuing to search around. Windows are all open which I think is helping. I may make a trip to the store later to get more air fresheners and cleaning supplies. 🚽 Maybe some is the noxious ammonia cleaner I’ve been using later, or that bathroom mat that looks like it has some urine on it. Not sure, I got to get better at aiming for the toilet when I pee. Yet, another benefit to being out in the woods.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 38 degrees at 6am. Six degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 18th. Going to be a chilly night to keep the windows open 🔳. West wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm after midnight. In 2020, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 43 degrees. The record low of 29 occurred back in 1874.

Weekend looks increasingly cloudy and stormy and cold. 😕 Saturday, a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 56. Northeast wind around 6 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 61. Maximum dew point of 38 at 8am. Typical average high for the weekend is 67 degrees. I will probably just walk out to Five Rivers on Saturday and then do some kind of hike Sunday.

Looking ahead, there are 7 weeks until Strawberry Moon 🌕 when the sun will be setting at 8:37 pm with dusk at 9:12 pm. On that day in 2020, we had humid, partly sunny, rain showers and temperatures between 85 and 65 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 80 degrees. We hit a record high of 96 back in 1943.

Red