by ezs | Mar 31, 2022 | evilzenscientist
Weekend – locally, cases are low, hospitalisations are low, and the general population seems to think the pandemic is over. Anecdotally – Covid is still taking kids out of school.
Friday – as war continues to dominate the news cycles, the continued Omicron surge in South Korea, Hong Kong SAR and PRC is generally unreported. The growing number of cases in the UK and now the US is not getting any attention. Meanwhile the number of hospitalised in the US is at a pandemic low.
Thursday – UK stopping free tests, now similar to US in tests being sold in retail stores.
Wednesday – How to Survive a Pandemic looks to be the latest in documentaries giving narrative of the pandemic.
Tuesday – FDA approves second boosters for 50+. UK Partygate fines issued.
Monday – Shanghai, PRC in lockdown.
This time 2021 – the start of a new wave, Covid spreading faster than vaccination.
This time 2020 – blood draw to see if I had early Covid in January (I did not), lockdowns being relaxed in the US.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live
https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/
by ezs | Mar 23, 2022 | evilzenscientist
Weekend – positive cases are down dramatically since the start of the year. Unclear how many tests are actually being run now. UK cases keep trending up; disastrous timing of all protections being lifted, along with a surge of BA.2. It’s a balancing act to what happens next in the US.
Friday – much discussion about vaccination rates, boosters, a fourth shot – and the timing of any fourth shot. Does this become an annual combination ‘flu and covid’ shot. I mentioned this two years ago.
Thursday – BA.2 keeps popping up as the next variant of concern. The "dance" of the Hammer and The Dance.
Wednesday – US airlines ask for mask mandates in airports and on planes to be lifted.
Tuesday – no funding in the budget for more COVID testing and boosters/vaccinations. BA.2 variant is now 25% of cases in Washington state.
Monday – New covid wave in the UK. Big jumps in positive cases. That peak is as bad as the end of 2021.
This time 2021 – another wave. Spring break, no masks, variants.
This time 2020 – Fauci predicts 100-200k deaths in the US. (it’s now 1M), military field hospitals being built in Seattle, 3.3M file unemployment.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live
https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/
by ezs | Mar 14, 2022 | evilzenscientist
Weekend – The Seattle Times weekly graph – rapidly declining cases, hospitalisations and death rates. Much discussion of a "second booster" or "fourth shot".
Hong Kong death rates are insane. This from The Economist.
Friday – Covid in over 70s in UK at record high. After two years, this is the pandemic that everyone is now forgetting.
Thursday – good listen from The Guardian on the coming wave of Covid.
Wednesday – Canada to drop testing requirement for visitors from the US from April 1.
Tuesday – BA.2 is starting to make news. ~100M people in PRC under lockdown or restrictions. Fourth dose (second booster?) will be needed, Pfizer CEO says an annual shot will be needed. I refer back to my comments from 2020. CDC Wastewater Surveillance System shows 1000% jump in Covid DNA in Seattle wastewater.
Monday – "UK should brace for rising cases", meanwhile all travel restrictions dropped in the UK. BA.2 Omicron variant starting to run fast. PRC locks down Jilin province. Concerns that Sinovac isn’t as effective against omicron and variant. Dropped The Guardian from the daily summaries – but no doubt another raging covid wave will force its return.
This time 2021 – another wave passes across Europe, Washington State following closely. 100M vaccinations in 58 days.
This time 2020 – the start of panic buying amidst FUD and calls for rationing.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live
https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/
by ezs | Mar 12, 2022 | evilzenscientist
Weekend – call for fourth jab in England, Covid cases rising again. Changchun, PRC on lockdown because of surge of Covid.
Locally – mask mandates end this weekend, many businesses still requiring masks and vaccine proof.
Friday – "one third of US Covid child deaths were from omicron". Hong Kong battling huge wave of Covid.
Thursday – Covid building up again in England.
Wednesday – vaccination mandates, mask mandates – ending across the US and Europe. Meanwhile Hong Kong, Israel and others are seeing a fifth wave of Covid.
Tuesday – ah – the variants are coming back. "Deltacron" and BA.2 are starting to enter the vernacular. With war taking the headlines, and a weary populous; this could just be "let it run" – which is a disaster for public health, those sheltering, the immune compromised, and anyone with children under 5.
Monday – good read on the coalition of extreme groups forming across the US.
This time 2021 – vaccination and beating the variants. A year into working from home, and it’s the new normal.
This time 2020 – getting into the groove of weekly blogging with daily news aggregation. Restaurants and bars closing, statewide school closures, large gatherings banned.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live
https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/
by ezs | Mar 2, 2022 | evilzenscientist
When we moved to Issaquah, back in 2008, we moved into a new home. I’ve spent the last 14 years or so researching and tracking the financials, efficiency and availability of photo-voltaic systems. Back in 2008-2010 I spoke at length with several colleagues who had made the early jump, these homebrew solutions came with costs, risks – but happily lots of data.
We are at the point in early 2022 where we have decided to take the plunge and make a major investment in a combined photo-voltaic and battery storage system. This series of blog posts will walk through a lot of our thoughts and decisions, mainly so I can have this for future reference.
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