Corona Log Entry 20/12/21

Corona Log Entry- December 20, 2021

It is a humid and sultry 80 Degrees (F) in SW Florida today. We are expecting sweeping rains and a cold front to pass through the area tomorrow. Mary and I are scheduled to be tested for the Corona Virus tomorrow, preparatory to a four-day excursion in the Bahamas.

The rapid tests are becoming a scarcity. Long lines, in the cities, are straining resources once again. Home testing kids are becoming as hard to find as toilet paper during a pandemic. Omicron is the new scare word. It is a much more infectious variant of the Corona Virus. The new scourge is sweeping the globe, overtaking its deadly cousin, the Delta variant. Ever larger numbers of fully vaccinated people are reporting cases of catching the virus. Since the beginning of the Pandemic, some 800,000 Americans have died from its complications. The total is now rising dramatically with the onset of the new variant.

We have already had two vaccinations and a booster shot. I don’t think there is anything more that we can do except socially distance ourselves and wear masks in any public gatherings. The Cruise ships have nearly everyone aboard fully vaccinated ( except for small children.) A few recent cruises have returned to port with three to four dozen people now sickened with Corona. The good part is that, with vaccinations, any onset of the disease is much milder than others and usually doesn’t require hospitalization or risk death. Those unvaccinated are at risk of both.

The various statistics about sickness and deaths would daunt even a sports nut who keeps such trivia. Suffice it to say, that most of the world is now over run with the Omicron variant. Hospitals are again over whelmed with critical care patients and medical personnel are worn out. The rest of us are tired of the illness too. The virus doesn’t care. It continues to spread, most lethally, amidst the unvaccinated.

New York State has instituted compulsory mask wearing at all indoor events. Various states and localities are imposing their own restrictions. Many sports events have been postponed. Several colleges are back to holding virtual classes. In many areas, it seems like the summer of 2020 all over again.

Internationally, Israel has just banned travel to and from Britain, Canada and the United States. Other nations are in various states of lockdown procedures, hoping to mitigate the spread of the variant. The onset of Winter, in the northern climates, promises to be a difficult time. Super-spreader events, like Football championships, Christmas celebrations, New Year’s Eve affairs, and other holiday celebrations, will make the coming weeks a challenge.

The supply chain logjam, in NYC, L.A. and Long Beach Ports, continue, in spite of all the promises from public officials to rectify the situation. No one yet has given a clear rationale for the slow downs. In political speak, that usually means the situation is sticky and no one wants to tackle the participants, for fear of the political fallout. Some things never change.

Partly attributable to the supply chain snafu, inflationary pressures in the U.S. are driving costs up for just about all commodities. The retail costs of food stuffs, appliances, toys, auto parts and a dozen other commodities are rising dramatically. Prices, in the housing market, are rising like a shooting star, with no upper limit in sight. The Federal Reserve Bank of the U.S is considering raising interests’ rates, as a reaction to the inflationary pressures. This of course makes all elements of the financial sector nervous. This quote from financial dailies covers the situation nicely. “ While December is typically positive for stocks, the traditional “Santa Claus rally” is the historically positive market performance that often comes in the last five trading days of the year and first two of January, according to Stock Trader’s Almanac. As the saying goes, if Santa doesn’t call, bears may come to Broad and Wall — the street address of the New York Stock Exchange.”

In Washington D.C, the congressional, internecine warfare continues. President Biden’s massive Two trillion-dollar “Build Back Better “ bill, a compendium of social and climate change mitigation measures, is in trouble. A key democratic Senator has just said that he wouldn’t vote for it. Many of the opposition ask the Latin Question “Cui Reddit?” Who will pay for all of these worthy programs? Together, the Trump and Biden Administrations, with Congress’s full approval, have spent over six trillion dollars fighting Covid-19 complications. Most of us remember when a Billion Dollars was a lot of money.

Overall, the population is nervous about the new variant and bone weary at all of the mitigation efforts. The government tries mightily to encourage the anti-vac crowd to get vaccinated, as a means of curbing this Pandemic. One can only but imagine the havoc wreaked in the poorer countries of the world, where vaccines, testing and masks are things that they only hear about.

Hopefully the new year will provide us all with better news and more success in taming the Viral Monster. Until then, we take things one day at a time and wish all of our friends and family a Happy and healthier New Year.
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(875 words)
Joseph Xavier Martin