Willem's Planet

Well, here are what the ‘curves’ for Washington State look like now, courtesy of the New York Times. Yes, we have flattened the curve, but new cases per day is still above 100, and average deaths per day above 10. (Today, Thursday, for the first time since early March, no death was reported).

Governor Jay Inslee says he cannot yet commit to go to Phase 2 on June 1 – limited restaurants, in-store retail, barbers, tattoo parlors.
Should I then run out to get a tattoo? Definitely not.
Need to cut my hair? Maybe later on. I finally found hair clippers to buy and I’m learning to cut my own hair with it.
I ordered groceries online & picked it up today, and it went very well. They substituted some items, asked if that’s OK. Yes, yes, I said, no problem, just throw it all in the trunk. And here’s a tip. But no, they’re not allowed to take any. I hope the grocery store pay them decently.

I had to go to the doctor’s office yesterday (booster shot for an old vaccine). Should I ask if there are stairs up to the 3rd floor? I wondered for a moment, but then stepped into the empty elevator.

Tara Parker-Pope writes in ‘Ask Well’ in the New York Times about a hypothetical situation where infected Person A rides up to Floor 10 for 30 seconds. No mask, coughs and talks on a cellphone, exhaling tiny droplets that contain the virus. Some droplets fall to the ground, some hit the sides of the elevator, and some float in the air.

A lot depends on the elevator size & design, and if it has air-conditioning, but let’s say the door opens for 10 seconds, and goes back down to pick up Person B. Person A might have drawn out enough air when upon exiting, to dilute his germs and viruses in the air by 50%. The same might happen again when Person B steps in, so let’s say 25% remains, that Person B is exposed to.

Experts don’t know for sure, but generally do not believe that these airborne particles in empty elevators pose a significant real-life risk when it comes to coronavirus. They note that even when a person with Covid-19 is living in close quarters with other members of the household, the infection rate has been estimated at only about 10 to 20 percent. (For reference: measles is a true airborne disease, highly, highly contagious, with an infection rate of 75 to 90 percent).

Dr Fauci testified before Congress today, via videolink. He urged caution (as always), and said there would be no vaccine by the start of the school year in September.

Just today California State University, the nation’s largest four-year public university system, announced the cancellation of in-person classes for the fall semester. That system comprises 23 campuses, with more than 480,000 students!

‘So no, the Koreans are not ‘magic’, and are not dealing with a loaded deck. They saw the problem, and confronted it rationally and deliberately, and the U.S. can certainly do the same, once rational people rise up and start removing their irrational leaders‘, concludes Kelly Mac in an article on Medium.

The writer dispels some of the myths around the amazing success that South Korea has had at mitigating the impact of the corona virus. (They worked hard at it, and it should also be noted that they operate at ‘half-normal’, says the writer).

Screen shots below are from the Medium article.
Korean tracing app: It has GPS permissions, phone number verification, and Passport number (verified in person by immigration)- the traveler can delete after 2 weeks. If you fail to self-report during the 2 weeks, a health official may call you to find out why; the QR code can be used for fast entry to hospitals. (Dyspnea means difficult or labored breathing).