Wednesday, February 09, 2022

CoViD-19: Masks Off? "We Are Not There Yet." | WHO: "COVID Isn't Finished" | Co-Opted Border Blockage Continues | City of San Diego Reveals Plan For Organic Waste |

This Cooper's Hawk Watched Over Me At San Diego Zoo Safari Park (Taken 2.9.22)

We're back in summer 2021 -- when it was hot af, we were declaring victory over the pandemic, and our County Board of Supervisors votes unanimously on a motion to write a letter to ask the state to give guidance on when masks can come off in public and schools, and every news channel picks it up as some milestone as if masks can come off. I find these motions to be so pointless and just posturing and I guess if it makes you feel better, but the state already said on Monday that they're working on school masking offramps and the problem is that there are still super-low vaccination rates in schools and the CDC is still recommending indoor masking for substantial and high transmission areas, which is pretty much still the whole country. Vax or mask. That was the deal. And then everyone had to keep masking because too many weren't vaxxing. And then we generated variants that broke through vaccines because too many people weren't vaxxing. And then this omicron variant came and not only can you still catch it if you're vaccinated, but you can get reinfected with it even after you've already had it, even if you're vaccinated. That's not a reason to not get vaccinated --testing positive and actually getting sick are two very different things. And let's just for one second remember that the CDC's standards are all recommendations and not enforceable...the same as it has been forever. So we're back to it's only confusing if you're not really trying to pay attention. I'll keep my masks for now since I know the unvaxxed certainly won't, thank you very much. 

Today is big data drop day and since I've been noticing we've been consistently at about 20 deaths a day, I pulled up some older data based on San iIego's COVID-19 Watch, which releases weekly. For the week ending February 5, there were 121 deaths, which was up from the 99 deaths the week ending January 29. The week before that had only 21 deaths total. Somehow I missed a week, but the week ending January 15 there were 45 deaths and the week before that ending January 8, there were 31. That's a lot of death. And I'm sad to say statistically, a lot of those people are vaccinated AND boosted, but are seniors who live in congregate settings and can't avoid the virus if their caretakers bring it to them. This is why I'm so grateful my dad is hospice at home, but has me so paranoid to do anything with really any risk at all. I know I come off as everyone should do what I do, but not everyone has the same issues to contend with. 

I was up super early to get listings done and then realized I'd been online for 7 hours straight so Darren and I went and spent the hot afternoon at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and we had so much time there that I got to talk the cheetah trainers, we took the tram, got some good rhino and giraffe and elephant time, and then we heard over the volunteer's walkie talkie that the lions were away for the night and the hyenas were out! I've never seen the hyenas before, so we went down to a line of photographers, a hyena came out for about 4 steps and I didn't have my settings ready but he was so cute and then he went right back in his cave. So we went back to close the day with the rhinos and elephants. Maybe I'll catch them another time. 

My one glance at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park's Hyena (Taken 2.9.22)

Stay safe out there. 

 


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