What The U.S. Might Learn From China’s Approach To COVID-19

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What The U.S. Might Learn From China’s Approach To COVID-19

4/29/2020 by NPR

Episode: https://play.podtrac.com/npr-381444908/edge1.pod.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/npr/fa/2020/04/20200429_fa_fapodweds-bc93e0c9-15cd-4bf4-a3d4-024875d14dc2.mp3?awCollectionId=381444908&awEpisodeId=847870532&aw_0_1st.cv=yes&orgId=1&aggIds=812054919&d=2948&p=381444908&story=847870532&t=podcast&e=847870532&size=47076255&ft=pod&f=381444908

‘New York Times’ health and science reporter Donald G. McNeil Jr. points to China as a model of how to stop a fast moving pandemic in its tracks. “We’re reluctant to follow China, but they did it,” he says. McNeil talks about the challenges facing the U.S. as states move to reopen. “We’re nowhere near getting on top of this virus,” he says.

I could be wrong – I was wrong about social distancing being embraced in the first place so extensively – but I tend to think for the most part once social distancing disappears it won’t reappear unless hospitals really pass their breaking point or so many people get sick that the labor pool starts to dry up. I think people will take a more fatalistic view of the virus and come to the realization that many more may die before its all over – and we can’t afford to save every life by sacrificing our future.

I could see blue states doing more to slow spread going forward and looking down on red states but ultimately they have bills to pay too. Medically suboptimal compromises will have to be made. Plus I have a lot of doubt they’ll find a vaccine right away – wishful thinking is to say science can solve any problem with enough money. I could see Coronavirus out running a vaccine, burning through the whole population before the vaccine even is finalized. But it’s still a worthwhile proposition to protect future generations.

We don’t know. But it’s still a fascinating interview by a scientist who knows a lot more about viruses then myself.

April 29, 2020 Night

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Good evening! Cloudy and 54 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ Breezy, ️16 mph breeze from the south-southeast 🌬 . The skies will clear Saturday around 2 pm.

No real rain yet ☔, I went for my evening walk earlier. I also went to Five Rivers for a walk and to update the blog towards the end of the day. Nice weather to start out the day but it kind of slipped downhill as the day progressed. Had a brief rain shower before I went for my evening walk. 🚶

Tonight will have isolated sprinkles before midnight, then a chance of showers, mainly after 3am. Cloudy 🌧, with a low of 46 degrees at 6am. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around May 11th. Breezy, with a south wind 16 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2019, we had partly cloudy skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 38 degrees. The record low of 25 occurred back in 1874.

Tonight will have a First Quarter 🌓 Moon with 43% illuminated. At 10 PM, the moon was in the west (260°) at an altitude of 45° from the horizon, some 233,363 miles away from where you are looking up from the earth. 🚀 At the state speed limit of 55 mph, you’ll make it there by October 23rd. Buckle up for safety! 💺 The Flower 🌷 Moon is on Thursday, May 7. The darkest hour is at 12:53 am, followed by dawn at 5:22 am, and sun starting to rise at 5:53 am in the east-northeast (69°) and last for 3 minutes and 6 seconds. Sunrise is one minute and 24 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 6:32 am with sun in the east-northeast (76°). On sunny ☀ it’s bright out super early. Tonight will have 9 hours and 56 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 29 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will rain likely, mainly after noon. Cloudy 🌧, with a high of 61 degrees at 4pm. Three degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 22nd. Maximum dew point of 50 at 4pm. Breezy, with a southeast wind 18 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. Tomorrow night into Friday is when the soaker will occur. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 51 degrees. The record high of 86 was set in 1903. There was a dusting of snow in 2008.❄

Did some more research and I’m leaning towards the Coleman screened room for camping. 🎪 The 10×10′ size as that’s plenty of room for setting up my camp tables and having a chair in there away from the bugs with space to spare. I don’t want something too big as the campsites I’m often in are small. I’ll try to decide by the weekend there is a few more models I’m looking at. I doubt I’ll use it but on long weekend trips during black fly season and my summer vacation. It will be so nice to be able to sit outside of the truck cap when it’s super buggy out.

So far no bulls eye around the tick bite 🎯so I’m hopeful that I don’t have Lyme Disease although it does feel a bit that way in my arm and the tick was in there for a while. Once I do see the rash I’ll snap a picture and figure out the telemedicine benefit with my job. 📞 I see CVS is heavily advertising their drive through service so that would be easy. I’m not super concerned as I’m very familiar with doxycycline 💊 but I am ticked about getting Lyme so quickly again.

I’m looking at the forecast and I don’t see this weekend camping trip ⛺ happening. It’s just going to rain too late into Friday and everything will be soaking wet come Saturday. Relatively mild but still cold. I’d like to see things green up some more then I might go out to Schoharie County for the weekend or maybe even a long weekend. I am still thinking with all the campgrounds and other areas closed the places I like to camp will be packed so I should plan a psuedo Memorial Day Weekend the week before or after. Just take the Friday or Monday off work to celebrate it. I have a lot of time as I haven’t taken any time off since I’ve been working from home the past seven weeks now (wow, yeap). 🍀

In four weeks on May 27 the sun will be setting in the west-northwest (301°) at 8:22 pm,🌄 which is 29 minutes and 3 seconds later then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had partly sunny and temperatures between 81 and 55 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 73 and 51 degrees. The record high of 94 degrees was set back in 1914.

Looking ahead, Latest Sunset 🌆 is in 8 weeks and Inauguration Day 2021 👴🏻 is in 38 weeks.

🇺🇸🦅Only 23 days remain until the start of Memorial Day Weekend!🦅🇺🇸

Finger of Rensselaer Lake

I am starting to think about what my summer vacation will look like if all the state park pools are closed due to Coronavirus

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I am starting to think about what my summer vacation will look like if all the state park pools are closed due to Coronavirus. ⛺

I was thinking of maybe doing something different this year if the parks are closed – maybe a week at Piseco-Powley Road in mid summer. Wouldn’t it be neat I was thinking if I could camp for example at that House Pond campsite and spend much of the week in the swimming hole down there?

I could one day hike back to Spectical Lake, one day go down to Moss Island and Little Falls and visit the Green Acres Drive in at Dolgeville a few times and the farm stands. Granted it might not be that much different from the common weekend trip but it would still offer a lot of chance to cool down and relax.

Even if the parks aren’t open by summer for swimming I assume by then they’ll be issuing camping permits for extended stays or I’ll have to make other arrangements. Maybe I could do a week in the Allegheny National Forest, been a while since I’ve done a full week there or the Green Mountains. That little beach on Grout Pond is fun.

Coronavirus Live Updates : NPR

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‘Slow The Spread’ Guidelines Will Phase Out, Trump Says : Coronavirus Live Updates : NPR

President Trump said the existing coronavirus social distancing guidelines that are set to expire with the end of April on Thursday will not be extended further, as more governors begin steps to lift restrictions and reopen their economies.

The administration said the existing social distancing recommendations are being incorporated by governors into their new future plans.

The Meltdown of the Careerist Greens – CounterPunch.org

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The Meltdown of the Careerist Greens – CounterPunch.org

The wildly, uniquely popular, documentary “Planet of the Humans” has been viewed over 2 million times in less that four days – likely 100s of thousands more by the time you read this.

Highly-compensated, thoroughly-compromised Climate warriors (and “renewable” energy entrepreneurs) who have nothing but pie-in-the-sky “renewable” energy myths to show for 13 years and hundreds of millions of dollars spent, respond to the documentary – certainly not to the damning facts presented by someone finally pointing out their ineptness and ties to bad actors and weak Democrats – but with Trumpian level denials and personal attacks. No wonder Fossil Fuel use is at all-time highs and rising and we are at 420 parts per million (ppm) Carbon in the atmosphere which is also rising and has never dropped* after all their useless efforts.”

This sounds like a very interesting film even if it is a tough critique of environmental movement. I'll have to see if I can download it the next time I I'm at the library.