Yesterday, our local Covid-19 risk dial moved from "low" to "moderate", or from the green to the yellow zone. No, they are not issuing mandates for masks, but they are definitely raising awareness, and modifying "advice" for vaccinated folks (like me) who fall into otherwise risk categories. I'm there purely for my age, which while it prickles at times, it's a reality that's part of our lives!
Mind you, I was already being pretty careful, only being unmasked around other vaccinated folks, and even wearing my mask into the grocery store (but at least being physically inside the grocery store). I will continue being careful, and thinking about what level of risk I want to take on, as I go about living my life. And I shall continue to watch the numbers. Because what I see in Missouri, or Kansas, will generally show up soon in rural Nebraska. And while my county still boasts the highest vaccination rate in the state, the latest studies are showing that in areas of high transmission even the vaccinated can pick up Delta and pass it along to the unvaccinated. I do believe in being a "good citizen", and having compassion for others who for some reason may not be able to be vaccinated.
I will remain hopeful that we won't see as bad a run as we saw last November through January... but that sort of depends on our collective behavior, doesn't it?
Back to more pleasant topics... is it pleasant that we have a predicted high of 100 ⁰F today? Maybe not, but it is pleasant that I got my walk/jog in early. The sun had just risen in the suburbs. The scale had told me this morning that I'm in my personal range to start jogging intervals, and so I did... inserting nine short intervals of jogging steps about every five minutes of my walk. It's still between 60 and 120 steps of jogging to five minutes of walking, with the final jog being a "faux finish line spurt" of about 200 steps. It felt oh, so good... I'm feeling more and more myself again!
Home to a healthy breakfast, a cool shower, clean clothes and getting the house ready for a sister visit when she gets done with her work day. One advantage of being one of the elders is that you have a bit more time when your energy has to be budgeted! The cat laundry is in the machine (sis has allergies), and I'm about to drag out the vacuum cleaner. Sister #3 is going to show me her PT exercises that are helping her hip today. Can't hurt me, might well be useful! Stretching is good for the athlete!
OMG, I said athlete. Maybe I'm watching a bit too much of the Olympics? But don't they just energize you? Or perhaps it's just me. Watching the canoe slalom again today.
Oh, and I have to say I am totally supportive of Simone Biles and her listening to her own body and mind, and being protective of her own health and her team-mates' chances of Olympic dreams. Well done, woman! And I think that is the difference. She is a woman, fully, at this point in her career... and able to stand up for herself. Not a vulnerable teenager.
May we all learn from examples of this sort, and be inspired to listen to our bodies, nourish our own needs, this one and only Wednesday, July 28, 2021 we'll ever get. We are each and every one of us precious humans and worthy of self-care! Spark on, my friends, Spark on! ✨💖🎇📅 Life is good!
I noticed how tired Simone looked and also thought good for her. I wonder if her teammates are accepting. Our numbers here are increasing, too. I think we’re #12 in the increasing rates in our nation. …and with the Sturgis motorcycle ralley coming…ugh! Definitely masks again.
ReplyDeleteSigh. The only good thing about this particular surge is that those of us who learned the first time around know what to do to keep ourselves safe-r. Vaccination apparently is not enough if the rate of spread is too high... and vaccinated folks can pick up the virus and pass it along to another unvaccinated person!
DeleteSo do what you need to do... keep yourself, your DH, and those precious grands safe!
Before I got to the section where you used the word athlete, I had formulated part of my comment and was going to say "Barb the athlete is resurfacing."
ReplyDeleteAfter being at level 1 for COVID here on a 5-point scale, we are at level 4. I got a call last night asking for prayers for a childhood acquaintance that is in ICU on a ventilator in critical condition (Oxygen saturation nose-dived to 2% shortly after admission to hospital). Her family is very outspoken against the vaccine; one can hope this is a wake-up call and that they will get tested and vaccinated and mask-up.
Simone rocks!
LOL! About that word "athlete".
DeleteSo sorry about the rise in Covid in your area... but based on community actions, we could have predicted... beware of the "young and immortal"! Stay safe. And I do hope your childhood acquaintance's family is one that takes this as a lesson and takes precautions!
good for you to walk early
ReplyDelete👍For sure. Thanks for popping by!
DeleteSimone Biles ... well done, woman ... indeed.
ReplyDeleteAnd Barb the athlete is coming back !!!
Way to go listening to yourself and honoring what you heard. I can learn from both you women.
Unfortunately, we just got word today that our DS2 and our county are both in the Substantially changed counties and SHOULD start wearing mask again ... though DS2's family, Hubby and I never truly stopped wearing them.
I wish that someone would stand up and tell the whole country once and for all WHAT to do. Consistent messages for a long period of time would greatly reduce our issues. Then those that refuse to listen and follow the safety guidance ... well, they will always be here. But those who will listen ... need the same message repeated to get a better understanding of the FACTS.
Allowing each state ... county ... to make their own decisions is adding to the number of cases and ... deaths.
Just sayin'.
🐱
The problem with wanting consistency related to this particular problem is that the virus is new, and a year and a half ago, nobody, scientists included, could give definitive answers. They could give only the best advice they had based on what they knew so far. And as what they knew changed, they had to change their advice, too. It's kind of like the old myth of fighting Medusa.
DeleteThe two months of being "in the green" were awesome, but it's time to buckle down again. There were those that predicted the rolling surges, way back in the beginning, and those that denied there was a problem at all.
It is a pity that so many people have NOT been vaccinated, and are therefore still a pool for the vaccine to attack and continue to provide host bodies in which it can further mutate. And every time the virus mutates, depending on how it does, it could mean that the advice needs to change again!
I'm thinking "better safe than sorry" and will continue to be careful, even though I am fully vaccinated and live in a county that is "moderate" spread.
And due to the nature of how it migrates with people... short of a lockdown, there will be different appropriate actions in different areas.
Stay as safe as you can. I'd say find a LOCAL epidemiologist and listen to them. We've got a really good one here, who posts a YouTube about every other week with conditions on the ground HERE, and his advice, predictions, and hopes (for community behavior). He also shares his sources, and his credentials, and does this independently of his job, which involves advice to our public schools...
BTW, our public schools, locally, were open, with in person learning, the whole 2020/2021 school year. Kids were in masks, the whole time. Kids had no problem with it, they just adapted, as kids will do. That was not the only restriction, either, there were whole sets of protocols... but we made it through that nightmare year... and if we could do it then, we can do it again, working with those public health experts.
We are neighboring states ... you and I. Our g-kids school couldn't come together to mandate mask from class room to class room. The school was shut completely down 7 times last school year to major outbreaks.
DeleteIt's not the kids NOT complying ... it's the ADULTS.
Praying for us all, to get through this next wave.🙏
Delete
ReplyDelete**SIGH** Yes, I am wearing my mask, too, though fully vaccinated. So is DH. Neither of us can afford to contract Covid (well, reality . . . NOBODY can, just sayin’) DEFINITELY spot on . . . time to be proactive. Yes, how this plays out definitely depends on our collective behaviors. I fear kids going back to the school physically will be a disaster. HOPE that schools re-think the plan . . . at least for now.
It does concern me that there are break-through infections, but . . . have to really look @ the #'s and ask the question . . . are the vaccination statuses being self-reported honestly? That's just something that niggles @ my brain. Still . . . very important to be wary.
YES, the Olympics definitely energizes me to get moving!
FOR SURE I applaud Simone. What a good example to other athletes who may be struggling w/the same or similar issues. Wise.
Break through infections are not really a surprise... but what is new news, is that those who are vaccinated can pick up Delta variant and then infect others, even asymptomatically. So... if we weren't already in masks, back into them.
DeleteAs for in-person school... we never stopped out here. We had in person school, with some opting out and some hybrid options, the entire 2020/2021 school year... and survived it! I'm hoping they will end up putting masks back on the kids (they lived with it last year...) when they head back in a few weeks.
Self-reported vaccination status... yeah, it's been on the honor system. So... with you... important to be wary.
Simone is a strong WOMAN, not a young teen, and she's modeling something that it's important for her team mates to learn. Good for her!
Have you taken a look at the CDC's Covid Tracker County View?
ReplyDeletehttps://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view
I suspect you'll see information differing from what's been communicated locally. If I've got the correct county. You've been cautious all along. Keep it up.
Our covid hospitalizations are rivaling early December 2020. Not good! Our county public health officer recommended a return to universal masking in indoor public places for all, regardless of vaccination status. DH has been doing that anyway. I remain isolated as directed by my health care team.
Smiling reading of the re-emergence of the athlete within you. Enjoy it!
~ JEANKNEE
No, I had not, thank you for URL. I went and looked and the CDC has us with a high transmission level. OK, then... masks! Of course, I was already masking, so...
DeleteThe big decision will be the public schools, and they work hand in hand with the local health department. They made it through the whole 2020/2021 school year with in person learning, but parents could opt to be remote only, and the high schools did a hybrid plan, to reduce the number of pupils there each day. It worked.
Right now they are saying return to school (which is next month, only two or three weeks away) is "mask optional" but that could change, I'm thinking.
The rest of our state took to calling our county "The People's Republic of" because of our masking orders, but so far, they have not put one in place. BUT, as the health director said at the news conference yesterday, she thinks the test positive rate is artificially low, because of so many that don't get reported to the health department now that people can test at home.
Anyway, seems we are not off the roller coaster yet! And yes, I shall enjoy the athlete within, and maybe even let her out from time to time.
CDC said yesterday that it recommends everyone regardless of status should mask in schools that are in the high transmission areas.
ReplyDeleteWe are in the red going to purple state. Exponential rise that doubles weekly. Cases are 90% unvaccinated and 10% vaccinated but hospitalized unvaccinated are 98%. Sadly this is our ongoing future. Once the Delta surge wanes the Lambda will rise. We know we how to survive this we just don’t like it.
Simone Biles made the best choice for herself and for others in a very difficult situation. Gold medal for that.
Jeopardy is on YouTube.
Enjoy this wonderful Wednesday.
Yes, rolling surges, and they will hit different parts of the country at different times. We tend to lag the coasts by a bit, but then when we're at our worst, other parts of the country are doing better. There's always SOMEBODY hurting! Not a pretty year ahead. Buckle up!
DeleteYes on the masks. My friend's daughter who is vaccinated, tested positive for COVID lyesterday. She lives in LA which is a hotbed but here in Sacramento, we've only been 48% vaccinated. So I'm with you on the caution.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking with all the stuff out there, even the vaccinated can get those break-through infections. And if your friend has been exposed to his/her daughter, the CDC is now saying in 3-5 days even if you are vaccinated, you should get tested, wear a mask for 14 days, and if you test positive, isolate! Yes, even if you are vaccinated. Delta has changed the landscape.
DeleteMissouri is one of the states with the higher infection rate of the variant. According to the local newspaper, our county suffered a 93% increase this past week. We are fully vaccinated here, but we will follow the new CDC guidelines and mask up when we go out.
ReplyDeleteIt's my sincere hope that Ms. Biles's decision to go public with her struggle will help remove some of the stigma attached to mental health issues.
Good choice on masking up in Missouri! You're right next door to US!
DeleteAnd I hope Simone Biles doesn't get distracted from her self-care by those who are throwing criticism her way. How others treat her might well encourage or discourage others from getting help!
Mmm.... canoe slalom..,
ReplyDelete🌊🛶😁
😁
DeleteOddly, this particular post never showed up in my Blogger feed, even though your other, earlier ones have, and are still in there.
DeleteCome to think of it, I don’t see anything new there since two days ago. I wonder if my feed is “stuck” somehow...
Will investigate...
Added all the blogs to my Wordpress reading list, and it looks like my Blogger list stopped updating almost 24 hours ago. Hmmm.
DeleteAnother oddity is that Blogger accepts the URL for NOMORESTALLING’s site, but Wordpress does not.
I've had the same problem... the Reading List sometimes has a significant lag before someone's blog shows up. If I get worried, I go into the "Manage" on the Reading list, and click on an individual blog name to check and see if something new has appeared... and in some cases, it has!
DeleteI've never taken the mask off.
ReplyDeleteYou ARE and athlete! You simply took a break.
Not unlike Simone who realized she needed a break too!
I am not surprised you never took the mask off. You know WAAAAY too much to be foolish!
DeleteCovid sort of did me a favor by forcing that "pause". I have to be careful about not coming back too fast, though.
You ARE a good citizen!! And of course, behaving responsibly yourself, that's the lens through which you see Simone Biles's equally responsible decision.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I thought of you when I saw the news that Canada had outstripped the US in getting its citizens vaccinated. Noted was that "nobody politicized it anywhere except in the US"... and Canadians are patient, responsible citizens... or at least that's how they are portrayed, and it's what I've seen in the Canadians I have met. And as my son said of the Canadians he served with overseas? "They are hard-core, Mom. You don't want to mess with them!"
DeleteThanks for hunting me up! I talked with the trainer about my starting the jogging intervals, and going slowly so I don't injure myself by doing "too much, too soon"... most common cause of repetitive strain injuries. Have a great week-end ahead!
ReplyDelete