Items

• 2022-06-01

  Covid Europe

  My family and I really like to travel, like a lot. We usually do a big vacation every year, and Covid-19 really threw a wrench in our annual plans (as it did to every single person alive). March of 2020, my family and I had traveled to Washington D.C. When we got back home to Utah, not even 24 hours later, Washington D.C. had shut down entirely. We felt lucky we got to go, but hopeful this shut down would only be two weeks. Fast forward two years, and we (again, like the rest of the world) were unable to go anywhere. My sister and I had gotten Covid-19 in November of 2020, and then the vaccines started to roll out. We had heard that if you were fully vaccinated, places were starting to slowly open for those individuals. We thought since we already had Covid-19, why not get vaccinated so we could travel? So, my mom, myself, and my sister all got vaccinated. Solely to travel. We are by no means 'anti-vaccination' people, actually quite the opposite. But we did have the normal hesitations of getting this vaccine just to such little prior research. Regardless, we got the vaccine. We started looking at places where we could go, from cruises to domestic travel to international. And then, the booster comes out. The rules are now that you have to have all three shots. And then, I get Covid-19 again in November of 2021, after having been fully vaccinated. Finally, we start to plan a Europe trip for the summer of 2022. Every plane, train, and automobile that would take us to and around Europe required a valid Covid-19 vaccination card. There were so many Covid-19 tests we had to take prior to departure from the US, then when we got to Europe, and then when we were getting ready to return home to the US. We had to fill out numerous forms verifying that we were not sick and had not been sick in the previous 14 days. While we were in Europe, the mask mandate had lifted for everywhere but Austria, but we didn't know that. We went to board an Austrian airlines flight without a mask, and we were then told we could not fly without a mask. We had to beg the flight attendant to give us one, as we didn't know (they were not nice about it). Keeping up with everyone's different rules and regulations and testing and forms definitely made our trip more difficult than it would be now.
• 
  2022-04-25

  Covid Green Pass

  This is an Instagram post by informa_mente_italia. It is criticizing the use of the Green Pass in Italy, where vaccination status is checked at certain places. The picture shown is making fun of the people that get the vaccines, and there are many needles to show that they are never ending, due to booster shots. This is a political issue within Europe at the moment because the Green Pass for COVID controls movement of people and what parts of society they are allowed to participate in.
• 
  2022-03-26

  Russia spread anti-vax lies in Ukraine. Will it cause a COVID crisis for Europe?

  This is a news story from the Los Angeles Times by Melissa Healy and Emily Baumgaertner. The authors claim that even prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine that Russia has been working to undermine the confidence of Western vaccines. It says that these messages were encouraged by President Vladimir Putin and shown on Russian TV and social media. In Ukraine, only 35% of residents are fully vaccinated, some of the lowest in all of Europe. This makes the refugee crisis in Ukraine more dire, as people needing to leave will risk spreading COVID more places. The authors assert that with the low vaccination rates of Ukrainian refugees that it will cause another surge in COVID cases throughout Europe. The CDC has advised countries accepting refugees to offer them the vaccine upon entry. This article details that this is not the only vaccine that Ukrainians have not accepted as much compared to the rest of Europe. In 2021, only 53% of Ukrainian babies were vaccinated against polio. That number has now risen to 76% of infants being immunized against polio. Though, the likelihood of these diseases spreading as far as COVID are fairly low. The vaccine hesitancy, the authors say, is rooted in deep distrust of the government. In December 2020, only 14% of Ukrainians reported having trust in their government in a poll.
• 
  2020-12-31

  No More Travel

  One of the main benefits of being in the military is the opportunity to travel overseas and experience other places, cultures, and people. I was stationed in Germany and had lost of ideas of where I was going to travel all across Europe during the summer and winter months, unfortunately, Europe locked down hard in the spring of 2020. I wanted to travel during the summer months and go to the beaches across the Mediterranean and see England when it wasn’t raining. During winter I had looked forward to seeing the famous German Christmas Markets and traveling to Switzerland to see the Alps covered in snow. Due to lockdowns none of this happened. For many the pandemic made if feel as if our lives were on hold. Not only were we missing out on small events here and there but also large chunks of our lifetime. I feel as if I was stuck waiting to live life, not able to really enjoy what was around me.
• 
  2020-08-03

  Europe Travel 2020

  After being locked down in Germany for months, the European Union lifted their travel ban briefly in August of 2020. Me and a few of my friends took advantage while we could and drove to Brussels, Belgium to eat chocolate and drink beer.
• 
  2021-07-14

  Protests in France against COVID-19 'health pass' rules

  Police in Paris clashed with protesters railing against President Emmanuel Macron's plan to require a COVID-19 vaccine certificate or negative PCR test to gain entry to bars, restaurants and cinemas from next month. Macron this week announced sweeping measures to fight a rapid surge in new coronavirus infections, including the mandatory vaccination of health workers and new health pass rules for the wider public. In doing so, he went further than most other European nations have done as the highly contagious Delta variant fans a new wave of cases, and other governments are watching carefully to see how the French public responds.
• 
  2021-02-13

  Six Key Advantages and Disadvantages of Working from Home in Europe during COVID-19

  This article discusses an European study investigating individuals’ experience of working from home during the pandemic and the disadvantages and advantages of this work model. The advantages were a better work-life balance, improved work efficiency, and greater work control. The disadvantages were home office constraints, work uncertainties, and inadequate tools.
• 
  2021-01-27

  More Americans Than People in Other Advanced Economies Say COVID-19 Has Strengthened Religious Faith

  During difficult times, many people often turn toward religion or faith to provide hope. According to Pew Research, as a result of the pandemic, no Western country with “advanced” economies report that the pandemic has had a net negative impact on religion and faith. In fact, all have a net increase on the reliance of religion and faith. Citizens in the United States, however, are much more likely to say the pandemic has strengthened their faith as opposed to citizens in other countries. While the pandemic has had a net positive for strengthening the faith of people, it has had an even higher positive result for strengthening familial bonds. Family bonds and religious faith has grown stronger for most during the pandemic.
• 
  2021-01-28

  lacunae in the archive

  about the representativeness of entries to the Journal
• 
  2020-11-06

  イタリアとドイツで新規コロナ感染が過去最多（2020年11月6日）- Highest number of new corona infections in Italy and Germany (November 6, 2020)

  イタリアやドイツでは５日、新型コロナウイルスの１日の新たな感染者が過去最多を更新しました。 新型コロナウイルスの感染の第２波がヨーロッパで深刻化しています。 イタリア政府は５日、新型コロナウイルスの感染者が前の日に比べ、３万4,505人増え、累計で82万人を超えたと発表しました。感染拡大を受けて、イタリアでは６日から午後10時以降の外出の原則禁止など、感染拡大防止のための制限が強化されます。 また、ドイツメディアは５日、１日の新たな感染者が２万594人となり、初めて、２万人を超えたと伝えるなど、ヨーロッパで感染の第２波が深刻となっています。 In Italy and Germany, the number of new infections of the new coronavirus in one day reached a record high on the 5th. The second wave of infection with the new coronavirus is becoming more serious in Europe. The Italian government announced on the 5th that the number of people infected with the new coronavirus has increased by 34,505 compared to the previous day, and the cumulative total has exceeded 820,000. In response to the spread of the infection, restrictions to prevent the spread of the infection will be tightened in Italy, such as the principle prohibition of going out after 10 pm from the 6th. In addition, the second wave of infection is becoming more serious in Europe, the German media reporting that the number of newly infected people on the 5th was 20,594, exceeding 20,000 for the first time. Video translated by Youngbin Noh
• 
  2020-10-22

  Graph Shows Huge Increase in Europe's Cases

  This graph shows the average 7 day increase in COVID-19 cases in Europe, North America, and Asia. Europe has seen a dramatic resurgence in Coronavirus cases in the past few weeks.
• 
  2020-10-14

  Paris Sets Curfews as Cases in Europe Rise Again

  Cases in Europe and in the United States are starting to rise again. Paris and London have set nightly curfews to reduce the amount of interaction between its citizens to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
• 
  2020-08-19

  Russian Ballet Returned to the Stage. Then a Covid Outbreak Hit.

  This article discusses the Mariinsky Ballet, one of Russia's premier ballet companies. As Europe is a bit ahead of the United States in reopening their performing arts, they began performing in July, in the middle of the COVID pandemic, only to have to close three weeks later when the virus spread throughout the ballet corps. Since then, the Mariinsky Ballet has been criticized for returning to the stage too early, despite the precautions they made against the virus. This incident has caused several other ballet companies across Europe to rethink their own return to the stage. In spite of these issues, many dancers are also wanting to return to the stage.
• 
  2020-06-25

  European nations where virus first went mainstream nearly cleared as US cases soar

  Viral tweet today highlights the differences in cases between EU nations which were greatly hit by virus early on and the US. The days case increases of 190 for Italy, 81 for France, and 330 for Spain draw a stark contrast to America's over 33,000 new cases for today. The virus first drew mainstream attention in the west once it left China and started affecting western nations. Italy in particular was an early poster country for the pandemic, but now seems quaint compared the the United States. I included this tweet because it essentially sums up the current status of the virus globally. European nations are almost clear of the virus due to strict pandemic guidelines. Meanwhile the United States has taken the opposite approach and any hope for the pandemic being over soon is officially gone. What struck me about this tweet was remembering the public reaction when Italy was the center point of the virus, and the denial of the US ever getting that bad. Now the story of the pandemic has shifted dramatically.
• 
  2020-05-31

  A Tale of Three Responses

  There seems to be three separate stories occurring in the world right now. America is currently trying to reopen across the various states, while also confronting its' systemic racial issues. This has generally created chaos across the board both locally and nationally. Europe, and large parts of the world, are trying to handle their own coronavirus issues and wondering what is happening in America. China is trying to alter the narrative on its handling of the coronavirus and probably grateful that the U.S. has provided a distraction.