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2021-03-14
Brenda Cohen Oral History, 2021/03/14
In this oral history, I interview my mom, Brenda Lee Cohen on her pandemic experience with a particular focus on her work with the Calgary police service as a crime and intelligence analyst supervisor. In this interview, Brenda talks about her initial experience with the COVID-19 pandemic, she recalls the first day of the pandemic as she and her husband were stuck in America. This particular interview touched upon what her work environment was like during the pandemic and topics such as systemic racism, the police ‘culture’ and the revocation of a popular program for city employees known as the ‘golden handshake’ in the midst of the pandemic. Brenda also spoke briefly about her experience with misogyny within the workplace and how these ideas are so prevent within a space which mixes the civilian and police worlds. Finally, Brenda also spoke about what she is most thankful for in this pandemic, and ultimately reflects on her own inability to express her thoughts and emotions – and how one day when she is out of the police environment, things will be different. Interviewee Name: Brenda Cohen Interviewer Name: Padraic Cohen Date of Interview: 03/14/2021 Location: Cochrane, Alberta Canada. Transcribed by https://otter.ai Partially transcribed by Padraic Cohen -
2020-11-16
Militarization of Police
The militarization of America's police first came in reaction to riots occurring in cities during the 1960s. These events were often in reaction to discrimination, poverty, high unemployment, inadequate schools, poor healthcare, limited housing options, and police brutality. In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. The Act created the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, which made available grants to local governments to develop and purchase military-type resources to suppress riots. The money expedited the development of SWAT and other heavily armored police forces in cities to counteract uprisings. -
2020-12-19
Minnesota Election Day
I had the privilege of documenting what I saw in Minnesota for @aclumn on Election Day. Going into the day I was prepared to see voter intimidation and long lines of frustrated voters, instead was met with celebratory and upbeat voters hosting cookouts and energized to cast their ballot. -
2021-01-12
Activists Give St. Paul Mayor List of Demands
On Sunday, activists and community members hand-delivered a letter to St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter's home signed by over 500 constituents and 25 local organizations demanding the city stop evicting people from encampments during inclement weather and the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter is asking city officials to meet these requests: ➡️ Convene an emergency St. Paul City Council meeting to address these issues ➡️ Place a moratorium on enforcement of any illegal camping ordinance, to last the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic ➡️ Halt the clearing and disposal of tents and other sheltering materials to ensure that unhoused people do not lose what may be their only present means to self-quarantine and practice social distancing ➡️ Adhere to the existing statewide eviction moratorium ➡️ Follow best practices outlined by the National Homelessness Law Center -
2021-03-04
Pipeline Actions
From Drew Arrieta's post: Activists and community members are taking part in a series of actions in Minnesota this week to stop Line 3 construction. The replacement pipeline will bring nearly a million barrels of tar sands - one of the most carbon intensive forms of energy - daily from Canada to Wisconsin. Almost 30 years ago, the current Line 3 pipeline ruptured in Grand Rapids, MN, spilling 1.7 million gallons of oil onto the frozen Prairie River. It is the largest inland oil spills in U.S. history. On Tuesday, a letter was delivered to management at multiple Chase locations signed by 41 Indigenous women supported by over 150 organizations requesting they stop providing financing to Enbridge, the company which operates and is building the pipeline. -
2020-03-08
Jury Selection for Derek Chauvin Silent March
From Drew Arrieta: Today, the jury selection begins in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for second-degree murder and manslaughter. Last week, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ordered Judge Cahill to reconsider adding a third-degree murder to his charges. Hundreds of protesters participated in a silent march yesterday, honoring Floyd and over 240 individuals who died in police-involved shootings in Minnesota over the last 20 years. -
2021-03-11
Vaccine After Effects
So excited to get my 1st dose of the Moderna vaccine. As a 65 year old, I was eligible early; however, our county's rollout was a HOT mess! The local app didn't work, but I was finally able to secure an appointment with my medical group . . . for a month out. Yikes. Continued research as the days went by, found that RiteAid was offering them. Yay! Was able to book that appointment for only 2 days out! Yippee. Then . . . the day before that appointment, it was cancelled. We Californians are so smug - never thinking that bad weather in other parts of the county affects us. It did! No vaccines available. Rescheduled for a month out. Luckily, our school district was rolling out an in house POD for employees. I jumped on that and was able to get an appointment for the next day, which was the first day for the district. I was sitting on 3 appointments then - and didn't plan to cancel any until I got my shot! Fortunately, all went well and I did get it. (Lucky too because the district had to shut down the next day as well.) So . . . there I was happy. Dose #2 scheduled. Cancelled the other appointments I had. Did have a tiny bit of discomfort the next day, but nothing major. Imagine my surprise when hives (or so I thought) appeared about 10 days later. Did LOTS of research - thank you google - considered that it might be the rash that some experienced after Moderna, but the symptoms progressed. Long story short - not hives - shingles! Even though I did have a shingles vaccine within the past 5 years, I did indeed have shingles. Now - there is no evidence that it is in anyway related to the vaccine, (even found an article that said shingles/vaccine debunked) but I did my duty and reported in on my weekly vsafe/cdc check-in. I am currently on the other side of this and am sure that it will be gone soon. I will always wonder though if there was any relationship. I'm also a tad bit concerned about the after effects of dose #2. I do encourage everyone to participate in the vsafe.cdc.gov follow up. -
2019-03-20
The disregarded
My experience was disheartening and eye opening. My department and municipality seemingly showed their true colors toward specifically road patrol. We were to continue to show up and perform our duties. When Covid-19 got a little more serious we told we could relax traffic enforcement and stay out of business unless called there. That was appreciated. And that was all we got. About a month road patrol was told we were being forced to take a day off to help limit our chance of exposure by a whopping %16. Sounded good, then we were told our forced day off we were to be “on call”. Then we were told that as road patrol since we were only supposed to be fit for duty/on call for 8 hours, we would not be getting our CONTRACTUALLY OBLIGATED and EARNED 4 hours of compensatory time! That was a big morale boost, sarcasm heavily implied. The. We as road patrol we found out every other department in the city was “working from home” including inside positions at our own department, ie detectives , court officers and administration. Those inside positions would receive full pay and not lose any financial compensation unlike road patrol. All the while other area department were being compensated extra for working during a pandemic. Some department got extra pay some got extra vacation time or comp time. We got nothing and were threatened in actually losing compensation. But we were expected to perform our duties still. We did receive a bonus of $1,000 from the federal government that was taxed. So we got $800. I am not complaining about an extra $800 mins you. But that money came from the federal government Not my municipality who has yet to recognize our efforts to this day. Needless to say morale is in the gutter and with an upcoming contract negotiation it is not going to get better. I feel the municipality could have done more or at the least something to recognize what we did. Granted it was unprecedented for all, but dealing with unprecedented from the road and the comfort of your home on Zoom are two polar opposites. -
2021-03-08
Trust me, I'm aware that in-person learning starts March 15
Tempe Public schools sent a reminder email about in-person classes starting next Monday. Right now, the kids are on spring break, while having more time at home to argue about media use isn't ideal, at least we can say the days of online learning are behind us. -
2021-02-23
Republican senators to Tennessee's public colleges: Stop athletes from kneeling during national anthem
In a virtual interview, Rennia Davis explains why the Lady Vols knelt during the national anthem. From the article: Tennessee Republicans are up in arms over a state college basketball team's decision to kneel last week during the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner," prompting legislators to warn the public university system not to allow student athletes to do so again. -
2021-03-01
Former Sacramento Firefighter Accuses Department Of Hostile Work Environment
From the article: Jaymes Butler is one of two African-American captains within the Sacramento Fire Department. He says he’s not surprised by Lewis’s allegations. “Do I believe it? Yes, I do believe it. Because this is what happens when you don’t recruit a diverse department,” Butler said. The Sacramento Fire Department is made up of roughly 700 personnel and nearly 70% of them are white men. “Once the experiences he shared became known to the administration they started an investigation with the city’s Equal Opportunity Employment officers. We strive to have a department the mirrors the community we serve. Knowing that we can do better,” department spokesperson Keith Wade said. -
2020-03-03
NAACP encourages continued use of masks
Everyone is so eager to get back to "normal". Everything is reopening, people are feeling safer, and politicians are being reckless. The NAACP and @DrChrisMD is urging people to continue to be safe and wear a mask. People commenting did not seem to think we need to worry anymore, maybe they are right. -
2020
Campaigning During COVID
I worked on a campaign over the past election cycle from August to November 2020. COVID brought new challenges to campaign work as everything we did had to be fully remote when before the staple for campaign work was going door to door to talk to prospective voters. This most recent election cycle was very draining as we had to use remote training methods which ended up being frustrating for many volunteers as the instructions were harder to understand. As a campaign worker, I was also left feeling frustrated and strained for much of my employment. Typically in a campaign, we would all share in our victories and defeats together but the distance between me and my coworkers made me focus more heavily on my defeats and shoulder them fully myself rather than sharing in them with my colleagues. COVID made the campaign work significantly harder and more emotionally draining than in other campaigns. -
2020-11-01
Volunteer work during a pandemic
Not only was 2020 the year of the pandemic, it was also the year of one of the biggest elections in history. I am a political science and history major at ASU and I wanted to volunteer for a campaign. I had a few friends who were working on Mayor Kate Gallego's campaign and through them I was able to volunteer for the mayor herself. Normally you would meet with everyone and do volunteer work together but since it was a pandemic we had to all do it over zoom at home. Most of the volunteer work was making calls and helping voters. I got the opportunity to send my ballot in early and all of us who voted put our stickers on our laptops. Now every time I go to open my computer I am reminded of all the hard work I put in during the pandemic. -
2020-12
Black New Yorkers within the Pandemkic
The piece is detailing the real experience of Black New Yorkers specifically Black immigrants within the pandemic and the lack of governmental support afforded to these marginalized groups. -
2021-02-14
My Story: I Got COVID-19 Because of ICE
I am sending a diary style writing where I share my experience during the pandemic. I focus on the issue of ICE during the pandemic. Before the lockdowns, my uncle was detained by ICE and was deported during the pandemic. My uncle has been living in the US for 25+ years and Mexico, my uncle's home country, has changed a lot since he last lived there. For that reason, I went to Mexico to take him home. This made me get COVID. -
2020-02-24
My Coronavirus Experience
In the beginning of the pandemic, I immediately realized how a large portion of the public was not focused on the virus itself, but the racial controversy of the virus' origin. This was unnerving to the core, because it is a fact that COVID-19 came from China. While it was unacceptable to accept this as fact, MERS literally stands for Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome. It is clear that there was a pro-CCP agenda being pushed in the background when propagating the "COVID Safety" spiel. As time went on, more and more inconsistencies began popping up. Beauty and barber shops closed, but Nancy Pelosi is more than welcome to get her hair done. Masks become required to enter any building or participate in society at all, but when the new President was sworn in, the spectators were sitting shoulder-to-shoulder and masks were few and far between. What my story says about the pandemic is that while we may have had a real potential global crisis, I believe things were skewed, twisted, and flipped so that it is most convenient for those who hold the power, and not done in the best interest of the American people. An example of this in real life was how the Los Angeles Lakers, Ritz Carlton, and Bank of America (per store) were able to get PPP loans, drain the pool of PPP money, and leave small business owners fighting for crumbs. I have linked a Washington Post article below that expands on the PPP loan problem and how our government failed small business. The pandemic I fear will have long-lasting, Orwellian effects on our society in the sense that those in power will continue to use fear mongering to control the public through COVID. Even though a vast majority of the population has already had it and are building antibodies, Western European-style, 1940s era vaccination cards are beginning to circulate. I fear these cards will be the new "gold star" or "Scarlet Letter'', except those without it would be barred from society, rather than those with it. In my opinion, COVID today is what AIDS was in the eighties. Lots of unanswered questions, lots of fear, and government intervention so that free thinking is minimized. These three, and you have a perfect recipe for controlling the masses. Both diseases were politicized to death, and public opinion of the disease swung back and forth with politicization. If AIDS was blown up to the proportion that COVID was, I couldn't imagine the backlash the political and science communities would get from a certain demographic of people who are very vocal and have a statistically higher likelihood of contracting HIV. I hypothesize that pandemic would turn into pandemonium. With that, my experience during quarantine was as expected. Mental health suffered due to lack of human interaction and ability to go outside, and physical health suffered due to inability to go outside and lack of motivation which was connected to mental health. The main positive thing from the pandemic I can identify is the performance of my stock portfolio. Even though I lost my job due to COVID, I was still able to afford rent, food, and supplies to stay hunkered down in my new $900/month prison for my three month sentence. Another big positive from the quarantine was my savings. The pandemic helped me realize how much unnecessary or emotional spending I do. It helped me point out lots of bad habits I have so I can work on fixing them. Things like spending money when I'm sad, and identifying vices that hold me back in my day-to-day. While the pandemic brought a lot of negatives to me and the world around me, I believe there are some positive things to take away from it. Opening your mind to more than what the government feeds you, appreciating every moment you have, embracing new hobbies, and learning how to maneuver through change. These are all things the pandemic has taught me, but if I had the option, I wouldn't do it again. In terms of being a part of history, simply by living you are a part of history. I was at Sloan-Kettering in NYC with my family getting a life-extending cancer treatment for my father when 9/11 happened. He was one of three patients that day because while in surgery, the first plane hit the towers. The rest of the patients to be seen that day were canceled. I suppose the point I am trying to make is that history is subjective. 9/11 wasn’t 9/11 to me. 9/11 was the day I was blessed with enough time to make some foundational memories of my father before he passed. It can be argued that since I have been invested in GameStop since November, I was a part of history there too. I went to the Game 7 Cardinals vs. Red Sox World Series Game in Fenway Park. The game that broke the Bambino Curse. Again, it could be argued that I was a part of history there too, except my three year old self was asleep for the last two innings. History is subjective, and every day, everyday people like you and I make history. Historians and memoirists will use these events in the future to write articles, make movies and tv shows, write books, and extrapolate many other kinds of art from it. However, most often historical stories are told through a lens of subjectivity, and because of that, eventually all history becomes skewed to the point where it is indistinguishable from fable. -
2020-04-04
Mural by Navajo graffiti artist, Ivan Lee
This photo is included as part of an article about the Navajo Nation's fight against COVID-19. -
2021-02-22
Black history and the COVID-19 pandemic
This post tags an article titled "The Black Plague" which states that according to the Reuters report African Americans are more likely to die from Covid-19 than any other group in the U.S.. The article goes further in to explain the synopsis of affected and deaths of certain states but it importantly states that black people are more likely to have pre-existing health conditions that weaken their immune systems causing them to be easily infected. Though this is one reason why; other reasons including, as stated in the article "Trumpanian Malfeseance" is another major cause. With the testing locations around the U.S having major breakpoints, it was noted that zipcodes of higher-income families had the closest and many available sights of getting tested compared to zip codes with low-income families. Further studies showed that out of these lower-income locations, the majority was filled by black people. This limited the opportunity for black people to get tested and explains how the pandemic is affecting black people. -
2021-02-19
Looking back at 2020 - A COVID 19 infested year
As a student in my last semester in Brooklyn college, I was looking forward to an easy semester with electives since I was done with all of my major classes. However, a downfall for me was that there was a very interesting internship which I wanted to proceed with but couldn’t because the program was no longer available because of budget issues that were caused by the coronavirus. This internship was going to provide me with an insight of what my career will look like but that never happened. As an employee of the city of New York, I was still required to work in some form. For example, instead of coming to work physically we transformed our workplace to “zoom” meeting where our work would be done in 2-4 hours and we would still get paid for 8 hours. I saw this as an opportunity to take advantage of since I heard other employees who requested to still show up physically and were dropping like flies with the corona virus, one after another. However, mid-year, around June or July, employees were required to help out in other agencies such as the 311 center because of the increase of food shortages and other aid citizens needed. Eventually, in September we were allowed to go back to work physically – something I was looking forward to since I was more comfortable being where I knew the place and the people. Mentally and physically, COVID 19 prevented me and many others from staying physically active which led to me gaining unhealthy weight. It was a nonstop binge of eating and just sitting down. Granted, there were opportunities to go out for a walk or work out in the park – but those were chances that I wasn’t going to take because I knew I have a mother with underlying conditions which I had to do everything to prevent her from getting the virus. One thing that I did learn to do during these times is to cut and trim my own hair. Also, this was a perfect time for me to enhance my skills in freehand sketching since thats something I'm good at. Nevertheless, COVID 19 was an experience like no other that everyone had to grow through, and we continue to just learn and grow from it. -
2021-02-19
The Delta Flight Museum Will Become Georgia’s Largest Covid Vaccination Site Next Week
The state of Georgia has announced that they are partnering with Delta Air Lines to turn the Delta Flight Museum into a vaccination center. The center will be one of four major vaccination centers in Georgia. Vaccinations will be offered through drive-thru and walk-up. -
2021-02-11
Oral Histories and Archiving
Looking through the oral history section of JOTPY, I noticed a few recordings of interviews. This got me thinking about oral history and its similarities to journalism and the work journalists do. I then started thinking about how journalists and historical societies could work together to keep oral histories and newspapers. Could there be a way for journalists to get the correct permission from their interviewees to have their recorded interviews be put into the historical society of the area where they’re working? I was thinking of my time at a small-town newspaper in a rural area. What if my interviews with the local people and the local government officials who aren’t necessarily big-names were put into the archive to help fill the space? Could these interviews help provide a bigger picture of the town and the way it worked during this timeframe? Could they fill a “silence” these historical societies and their archives have? I also recorded town hall meetings and school board meetings almost every week. These meetings are recorded, but often in written form by a secretary. I was recording these events via phone/recording device (actual audio). The work I was doing (the work a journalist does) offers another medium for the archive. I think this would be an interesting interdisciplinary project, especially within rural areas. And what about now? The move towards online meetings and discussion due to the pandemic allows more accessibility to these board meetings or interviews. But are they being archived at the local level? Private meetings are a bit iffy on permissions and accessibilities, but what about those meetings open to the public? Are they being recorded and then placed where others can access it, and then is the local town historian or historical society archiving it as well? If they are, how are they doing it? -
2021-02-17
Vaccination Blues
My homeland, Orange County, has not been a place to be very proud of during COVID-19. Between anti-maskers, inept leadership, lack of transparency, and inequity in access to both COVID-19 testing and vaccines, this year has been a roller coaster in our little coastal chunk of CA. The vaccine roll out has been a massive headache. For the past month on Instagram, I see post after post of people younger than I who are getting their vaccinations because they live in another part of the state or country, while locally it's only health care workers I know that have been able to be vaccinated. Although other parts of CA (and the country) have begun to vaccinate teachers and food workers, Orange County is stubbornly (as I was told in a meeting today) waiting until 50% of the over 65 population is vaccinated before they open it up to the next tier. Though this causes me endless anxiety - will I be able to get a vaccine before my high school of 2500 opens for in person instruction - the one relief of the week was that my 65 year old mother was FINALLY able to get a vaccination appointment. The Othena system is a joke - she tried numerous times and couldn't get an appointment for the supposed super pods. Kaiser is still only vaccinating 75+! The Nextdoor app clued us in that a local hospital (where my mom has her insurance) was starting to vaccinate. Despite logging on in the very beginning of February, the earliest appointment she could get is for March 3. She took it, but I wanted to keep searching, because I worry that if the next Tier opens, she may have trouble getting a second shot if she waits until March 3. Nextdoor again clued me in to Rite-Aid, where a friend of my mom's outside OC got her vaccine. Best part - you go directly through Rite Aid, so no Othena! Success! My mom made her appointment on Saturday for tomorrow. We were jubilant! I told both my best friends about the Rite Aid trick, and within three days, they had their elderly family members signed up. Today, an hour after my best friend texted me that her dad got his Rite Aid vaccine, my mom sent me her cancellation message. Apparently the current winter storms have delayed the arrival of vaccines. My mom got lucky again, because it turns out that our school district is vaccinating employees 65+. Though retired, because she is a part time employee, my mom received an invitation today. Once she got the Rite Aid cancellation, she made her an appointment with the school district. Tomorrow is the first day the school district is vaccinating, so we have no idea what to expect, and are a little nervous because her insurance is not one of the carriers of the school district. Fingers crossed that she can still get it! Though I am genuinely happy for everyone getting vaccinated, it is frustrating that it is so much work here to try and get one. Using the Othena site hasn't worked for anyone I know - everyone I know has been vaccinated through their work or somewhere like Rite Aid. Honestly, if I see another post of someone with their vaccination card with a "do your part!" message I am going to throw my phone at the wall. I do want to do my part, if only Orange County would get their act together and manage this whole roll out better. Come on Orange County, you can do better. -
2021-02-13
Canada is 'playing chicken' with COVID-19 by reopening while variants are spreading widely
Many are criticizing provinces plan's to continue to open up as Covid-19 variants are springing up throughout the country. Places like Quebec have begun to reopen businesses such as museums, malls, and hair salons while having a curfew in place. Newfoundland is facing a current surge with a variant strain. -
2021-01-31
HERMIT HERALD, ISSUE 97
San Francisco school board erases school names -
2020-05-04
New Mexico Invokes Riot Law to Control Virus Near Navajo Nation
This article discusses the use of a rarely used Riot Law Act to help diminish the tension between the Navajo reservation and the small towns bordering the reservation in Gallup, New Mexico. The upsurge in cases on the reservation resulted in accusations that the Navajo brought the virus into Gallup and its suburbs. The tribe has fired back that Gallup citizens are refusing to follow social distancing mandates and as a result, Gallup has one of the highest case rates in the nation. This report relates to the JOTPY archive as it an example of the friction COVID-19 has created between the local government and tribal reservations. -
2021-02-03
Vaccinated.
Last night I got my second dose of the Pfizer vaccine for COVID. I feel like it should have been easier than this. I got my first dose of the vaccine at Chandler-Gilbert Community College, which we found out later was a county-run rather than a state-run location. Cardinals Stadium in Glendale is a state site. So the difference amounted to not getting the email about my second appointment for an anxiety-inducing long time. So when a new block opened up at the stadium, I signed up to get my second shot on the 21st day after my first, at the earliest opportunity. My husband’s appointment for his first dose is two days later. We arrived at the stadium, got my appointment number chalked on the windshield, and wove through a maze of cones and banners toward the check-in tents. When we pulled up, the lady checked my number and couldn’t find me. She searched for my birthday and couldn’t find me. She searched by my name and couldn’t find me. She took my ID and walked off to find a supervisor. I stared at my appointment confirmation email on my phone while she did all of this. The supervisor returns and, after asking to look at my email, handed me a clipboard. “We are going to sign you in as a walk-in, which doesn’t even exist right now. We can’t take walk-in rights right now because it’s possible that people with appointments won’t get their short today because our daily inventory is low.” That’s why my husband was not one of the lucky ones that we have heard stories about who got to get their dose early by coming along with someone who had an appointment sooner than them. I filled out the form, the lady made me a new appointment on her tablet, and the confirmation email for an appointment slot one hour before appeared. We turned the truck back on and moved through the second maze to the next set of tents, where they covered the same questions before sending us under the second tent where a younger man gloved up, came around to the passenger door, and quickly injected me. He must have seen that we were younger as we pulled up, even with our masks on, because he said to me, “Alright, I will give you this if when I do you scream, FUCK COVID,” which of course I agreed to. But if you have had the vaccine yet, you know it goes by so quickly that I barely got out the FU.. before he said, “okay, you’re good to go.” A third maze brought us to the line of cars waiting their 15 minutes to see if they have a bad reaction before pulling out and heading back home. I now had my second dose, and my husband has yet to get his first, so we didn’t need the help of the people milling between cars signing up people for second doses who had just gotten their first. We got to the front of the escape line and then were released, maybe a few minutes before the 15 were really up, but we were off. My COVID card is complete. When I got my first dose, the guidance was that 30 days after your second dose is your true “good to go” date because it has had time to take effect, but in the last three weeks, that has been shortened to two weeks. I don’t know if that is smart or accurate, or if, like everything, people want this to hurry along so things can go back to “normal” after we have been at this for a year. But vaccines are still hard to get, kids can’t get it, and we don’t know how long it will be effective, so maybe we shouldn’t get too excited. -
2021-01-27
ワクチン集団接種“初訓練”3分想定も最大26分に(2021年1月27日) – Vaccine mass vaccination "first training" assumed 3 minutes and up to 26 minutes (January 27, 2021)
This was a news video where Kawasaki city in Japan conducted a practice round of vaccination process. Personally, I do get the reason why the practice is happening; however, Japan still doesn't have a set date of when vaccinations will actually happen. This news and event itself could lead to people having high hopes of getting vaccinations soon when in reality, it could take much longer. Unlike U.S., Japan does not have a culture of drive through, meaning people physically have to go to locations for the vaccines. Also, having large gatherings like this I personally think should be avoided and maybe they should have videotaped it and posted on YouTube on how to get vaccinated, instead of many people physically going to the place and learning how to be vaccinated. I have translated the video. After 1:00 pm on the 7th, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and Kawasaki City conducted a training for mass distribution of the new coronavirus vaccine. The training also cooperated with Pfizer, which supplies vaccines. About 40 vounteers of doctors, nurses, and patients checked the actual flow. At the venue, there was also a freezer where vaccines could be stored at a minus temperature 70 degrees or less. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has already conveyed the message of mass distribution to each local government. First, at the reception, complete the temperature measurement and identity verification, and fill in the questionnaire about your health condition and chronic illness. Next, a pre-examination will be conducted to see if the doctor can actually vaccinate, and if there are no problems, vaccination will be given. You will then need to wait 15-30 minutes to receive a vaccinated certificate and follow up for any side effects. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, it takes 3 minutes per person from pre-examination to vaccination, and if it takes 7 hours, 280 people can get the vaccine a day. However, it is said that some people took up to 26 minutes from the pre-examination to the vaccination in the training. Kawasaki City College of Nursing, President Noboru Sakamoto: "I was a simulation patient today, but I feel like I would continue asking questions like ‘I am really scared of allergies from this vaccination’. People who are receiving the vaccination are most likely afraid so we would need to consider and adjust the fact that people will ask questions, for future vaccination sessions” the issue of selecting a venue was also pointed out. Kawasaki City College of Nursing, President Noboru Sakamoto: "I think it's okay if it's a gymnasium, but when it comes to elementary, junior high and high schools, we use it in regular class for students. Once vaccination starts, we have to use it for at least half a year or a long period of time. Given that it is unbearable, we will not be able to use gymnasiums that are used for education every day.” Some local governments cannot prepare large venues. In Izu Oshima, which has a population of about 7,500, we plan to vaccinate at the Oshima Medical Center, the only medical institution on the island. Oshima Town Welfare Health Division, Tetsuya Yoshizawa, Chief: "We plan to have Saturdays and Sundays, which are holiday medical treatment days, considering the system of medical staff. If that is not enough, we are considering about one day from the weekday. However, the trouble is that we have to vaccination twice. This is just new for us.” The vaccine will be shipped by ship, but the schedule may be affected depending on the weather. Tetsuya Yoshizawa, Chief of the Oshima Town Welfare Health Division: "Of course, depending on the weather conditions, it may be canceled. If we can't see when the vaccine will arrive, it's hard to prepare.” Vaccines are first transported from warehouses that can be stored at ultra-low temperatures to hospitals equipped with freezing facilities. However, since the number of facilities equipped with freezing facilities is limited, we plan to refrigerate the facilities and transport them to each vaccination site and facilities for the elderly. The government plans to secure 10,000 ultra-low temperature freezers and aims to complete the installation by the end of May. At a facility for the elderly in Chiba City, we have begun to consider whether vaccination can be done at the facility. This is because elderly people with dementia are admitted and it is difficult to take them to the vaccination site. Chiba Workers Welfare Association, Megumi Kadowaki, Director of Nursing Care: "If possible, it is safest to ask a" family doctor "and inject the vaccine." However, whether the family doctor is given permission to inject the new corona vaccine is still unknown. In addition, Ms. Kadowaki wants the procedure for vaccination to be as simple as possible. Chiba Workers Welfare Association, Megumi Kadowaki, Long-term Care Manager: "Employees are doing their best to prevent infection and protect users of the center, so I would like you to reduce the new office work as much as possible" because there are still those who cannot visit the vaccination. Dr. Tomitsuka is visiting the clinic in Ota-ku, Tokyo. There are currently 60 patients on-site. In the middle of this month, Ota-ku recruited doctors to register as vaccination doctors for patients, including me. He says he intends to join, but he is worried about carrying the vaccine. Director of Seseragi Clinic Tamagawa Taro Tomitsuka: "The biggest fear is that the vaccine's effect is lost after transportation because the environment of minus several ten degrees cannot be maintained. At the end, I have to vaccinate it. I am accustomed to storing and transporting the vaccine. I really want people who are used in transporting and maintaining the temperature to do it.” It is said that cooperation with doctors will become more important in the future toward the first vaccination. Director of Seseragi Clinic Tamagawa / Taro Tomitsuka: "I think it's safer and more secure if you leave it to your family doctor, but on the other hand, it's a vaccination that requires speed, so you can involve local doctors well.” Minister Kono met with the presidents of the National Mayors' Association. Minister Kono, in charge of vaccination: "I told you that vaccination of the elderly will be after April 1st at the earliest. 7日午後1時過ぎ、厚生労働省と川崎市による新型コロナウイルスワクチンの集団接種の訓練が行われました。訓練は、ワクチンを供給するファイザーも協力。医師や看護師、患者役などのエキストラ約40人で、実際の流れを確認します。会場には、マイナ70度以下でワクチンを保管できる冷凍庫も用意されました。 厚労省は、すでに、集団接種のイメージを各自治体に伝えています。まず受付で、検温や本人確認などを済ませ、健康状態や持病などを問診票に記入。次に、実際に医師が接種できるかどうかを診る予診を行い、問題がなければワクチン接種を行います。その後、接種済みの証明書を受け取り、副反応が出ないかの経過観察のため、15~30分、待機する必要があります。 厚労省は、予診から接種まで1人3分で、7時間行えば、一日280人が、ワクチンを打つことができるとしています。ただ、訓練では予診から接種まで、最大で26分かかった人もいたといいます。 川崎市立看護短期大学・坂元昇学長:「きょうは模擬患者だったが、つい本音で『これってアレルギーが怖いんですね』とか、お医者さんを目の前にすると、そういう話が延々と続いてしまう。受けられる方は不安だろうから、たくさん質問するというものを今後、どうやって調整するか」 会場選びの課題も指摘されました。 川崎市立看護短期大学・坂元昇学長:「体育館だったらなんでもいいやと思われるが、小中高校になると、通常の授業で使う。いったん予防接種が始まれば、少なくとも半年とか、長い期間、使わざる負えないということを考えると、日々、教育で使うような体育館等は使えないだろう」 大きな会場が用意できない自治体もあります。人口約7500人の伊豆大島では、島内唯一の医療機関・大島医療センターで接種を行う予定です。 大島町福祉けんこう課・吉澤哲也課長:「医療従事者の体制等も考えて、休日の診療日にあたる土曜、日曜を予定。それで対応しきれない場合は、平日いずれかの曜日1日くらいを考えている。ただ、厄介なのが2回、接種しなければいけないというところで。いかんせん何もかも初めてなので」 ワクチンは船で運ばれる予定ですが、天候次第でスケジュールに影響が出る可能性もあります。 大島町福祉けんこう課・吉澤哲也課長:「当然、天候状況によっては“欠航”ということもある。我々もワクチンが、いつごろ手元に届くのか、その辺が見えてこないと、準備のほうもなかなか進めるに進められない」 ワクチンは、超低温保存ができる倉庫から、まずは、冷凍設備が整った病院などに運ばれます。ただ、冷凍設備が整った施設は限られているため、その後は、冷蔵で、各接種会場や高齢者施設などに運ばれていく予定です。政府は、超低温冷凍庫を1万台確保する方針で、5月中の設置完了を目指しています。 千葉市にある高齢者施設では、施設で接種ができないかと検討を始めました。入所しているのが認知症の高齢者で、接種会場へ連れていくことが難しいためです。 千葉勤労者福祉会・門脇めぐみ介護部長:「できれば“かかりつけ医”が問診をして、ワクチンを接種してしただくのが一番、安心」 ただ、かかりつけ医に新型コロナのワクチンの接種許可が下りるかは、まだ、わからないといいいます。さらに、門脇さんは、接種までの手続きなどを、なるべく簡潔にしてほしいと訴えます。 千葉勤労者福祉会・門脇めぐみ介護部長:「職員は、感染対策と利用者さんを守ることで精いっぱいなので、新たに生じる事務作業は極力減らしていただきたい」 接種会場に足を運べない人は、まだいます。東京都大田区で訪問診療を行っている富塚医師。訪問診療している患者は現在60人います。今月中旬には、大田区から患者にワクチン接種をする医師として登録するよう呼び掛けられました。応じるつもりだといいますが、ワクチンを運ぶことに不安があるといいます。 せせらぎクリニック多摩川・富塚太郎院長:「マイナス数十度の環境が保てなくて、ワクチンの効果が運搬後になくなっているというのが最大の恐怖。最後は私が打つ。ワクチンの保存と運搬は慣れた人にしていただきたいのが本音」 初めてのワクチン接種に向け、今後は、医師の連携が、より大切になってくるといいます。 せせらぎクリニック多摩川・富塚太郎院長:「かかりつけ医に任せていただければ、より安全・安心で、対処できると思うけど、一方で、速さを求められているワクチン接種なので、うまく地域の医者を巻き込んでいただければなと」 河野大臣は、全国市長会会長らと会談しました。 “ワクチン接種”担当・河野大臣:「高齢者のワクチン接種が、早くても4月1日以降になるとお伝えした。 -
2021-01-31
Suffering and Loss
I work as an investigations contractor assigned to assist my county health department with interviewing positive covid-19 patients. I recently spoke with an 85-year-old C19 patient who was hospitalized and awaiting surgery for a brain bleed at the time of our conversation. She explained that she had fallen in her backyard trying to retrieve her feral cat's bed from a rainstorm, tripped, and laid in the rain for almost two hours before anyone found her. Both she and her late husband contracted covid-19 around Christmas, and he died soon thereafter. The hospital where he received his final treatments allowed her to visit him just before he passed, which is an unusual and gracious blessing at this time. The medical interview that normally takes 30 minutes required almost two hours and tears from both of us. When we finished, I wished her well, offered that I looked forward to speaking with her soon, and asked God to bless her. I called her hospital gift shop and ordered a carved wooden angel to be delivered to her room, as she’s a woman of faith. I had the card signed from me and the Health Dept, so I suppose I’ll find out this week if anyone complained about it. More than anything else, I’m hoping her file shows a successful discharge and recovery by now. She told me she looked forward to trading in the cafeteria food for her son's gourmet cooking, and I pray she's already done that. -
2021-01-25
"The Pandemic Is Finally Softening. Will That Last?" - The Atlantic
This Atlantic Monthly article, written by Robinson Meyer, details the race to vaccinate millions of Americans in the face of loosening mitigation efforts, new COVID-19 strains, and supply bottlenecks. According to Meyer, with the advent of several COVID-19 vaccines, some states and municipal governments across the country have loosened their quarantine restrictions in the belief that vaccination and lower death rates make lockdowns unnecessary. This is not true, and this loosening of restrictions may precipitate further surges in COVID-19 cases, especially as new strains from the UK and South Africa become endemic. Fewer vaccine doses will be delivered by Pfizer, due to an agreement signed by the Trump administration. -
2021-01-26
Last Thoughts of Covid
This is what I think is my final entry for the archives. I'll be going into further information about statistics and my personal final thoughts. At the beginning of Covid, I really kept up with what was going, but now I'm more or less just not paying attention. I rely on my mom to give me information which is not the best because frankly I just don't trust the news sites my mom gets her information on. I take her info with a grain of salt. LA county just keeps getting worse and worse every day. On 1/26/2021 we have 3.21 million cases and 37,499 deaths. This isn't even all of California, its just one county. Looking at the chart cases have been more down from December. During December it just spiked way up. I wonder if we'll be even able to go on our 8th-grade east coast trip or go back for freshman year. It seems like this will never end and honestly, I've just kinda gotten used to it. Masks are a pain but they can also be helpful sometimes for other things than keeping you and others safe. These are my final thoughts, not a lot, I've just learned to accept it. -
2021-01-22
Navajo Nation COVID-19 Vaccine
Navajo Department of Health directive on Vaccine roll-out. -
2021-01-07
Covid 19 Christmas
During Christmas time with corona it was hard and defiiently annoying, I couldn't see my exterior family I could only see my family that I live with, it was also hard to see my friends which I didn't get to see because of the state lockdown. But I tried to make the best of it as I could because there's nothing you can do to completely stop it, we just have to follow the instructed orders by the state and do the best we can to stay safe and not be irresponsible in this time. -
2020-11-14
Online Learning Notice in Alife, Italy
Translation to the above newsletter - Activities in the presence of the childcare services and the first grades of primary school will resume from 24 November, after screening on a voluntary basis on teaching and non-teaching staff and on pupils. For different school levels and orders, the Regional Crisis Unit unanimously felt it was necessary to confirm distance learning. This newsletter explains the precautions that a small town in Italy is taking in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. I think it is important to learn about what other countries are doing in order to keep the community safe. This is important to me because my family is from a small town in Italy called Alife. My family in Alife has younger children that have been directly affected by this new decision to move the school from in-person to online learning. This object demonstrates something significant about my generation under COVID because many children are being taught online rather than in person in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. As the article entitled “What do archivists keep or not” describes “documents of all types help us to remember, to share, to compare, to analyse and to synthesize information” *Thompson, 3). Documents are pivotal because they can create a snapshot of what life was like during a monumental event in history. Many of these children have never experienced online learning and therefore, it can be challenging for children to remain engaged and motivated to learn. -
2020-12-08
Six Foot Seating
This photo shows a bench that is an advertisement for the dating app Bumble located in Boston’s Seaport district (exact location unknown). The bench has two seats, with space for social distancing between, which goes to show how far people are taking social distancing guidelines. Bumble makes use of participatory content here to engage the public to interact with their advertisements, which may lead to more interest in further interacting with the app. This object has the potential to interest future historians, as it shows how brands used the pandemic as ways of advertising. It also shows the ways in which not only we changed, but the physical objects around us changed to adapt to the pandemic. -
2020-11-26
Thanksgiving of 2020
My Thanksgiving this year was barely changed. Ignoring guidelines by Democratic governor Newsom, who doesn't even seem to be able to follow his own rules, I celebrated a great thanksgiving. My family gathered together at my house and my mother made the meal. We had multiple pies and a large turkey to separate between all family members that could come. I had a great time celebrating, and no one in my family has got sick from the gathering. -
2020-12-14
Working in a pandemic
This was an email sent out to employees about a coworker that had been infected with Covid-19. This is important because it shows that stores are now required to inform employees when another person that works there is confirmed to be covid positive. However, as this is a personal experience the company did not inform employees that there was a suspected case prior to the confirmation. This shows how money hungry corporations are even in a pandemic. They may say that they had the employee's best interest in mind but their actions speak louder, than a lousy email sent out. -
2020-04-09
Alberta separation was always a bad idea, and COVID-19 has shown it’s never going to happen
But for Alberta’s separatist movement, it’s a major setback. That’s because, just as there are no atheists in foxholes, there won’t be many people who believe they’re better off on their own after this pandemic finally passes. As Albertans stare at the possibility of an economic downturn that’s reminiscent of the Great Depression, some of them are realizing they could use a little help from their friends – even the ones they don’t particularly like. -
2020-12-14
The Daily Numbers, No More Beds
Since October, I religiously check the daily case rate everyday at 12:30 when my distance learning class breaks for lunch. Originally, I checked in outrage, as I watched the local numbers climb, while simultaneously hearing our school administrators claim our school of 2500 was “safe to open.” After Halloween, I spent a tense November planning to take a leave because there was no way I was risking my family to continue to teach in person but still over Zoom, unable to walk around, with kids unable to work in a capacity beyond their chrome books. Me, exposing myself unnecessarily to the virus inside my classroom with students, but teaching exactly as I would for distance learning, for the political facade that things are “normal.” 20 people dying a day in this county is not normal. These daily numbers climbing confirmed to me my gut instinct was right. Our school ended up having our re-opening cancelled by the state when our area moved into the most restrictive tier at the end of November. I had mixed feelings of relief, horror, and deep sadness. The day we hit 700 cases a day, I was in shock. When we crossed 1000, I was horrified. Last week, when we hit 2000 cases a day, I was in terror. Today and yesterday, we have reached over 3000 new cases a day, and there are now 0% ICU beds available in our county. I feel nothing but numb. Numb and exasperated that people here are still refusing to wear masks and still think going out is more important than the safety of our community. Oh, but don’t worry. My school still thinks it’s safe to open. -
2020-12-14
Covid-19
It was the night before March 13, 2020, and I was in my room listening to music; when my mom got an email saying that we were going to be doing online school for two weeks. I was really excited to not have to go to school, and that I got to stay at home. I wasn't shocked because people at my school had been talking about us having to stay at home, but I definitely can say that I wasn't really aware of what about to happen. The next day at school we were just going over how online school was gonna work, and our new schedule and whatnot. The following week was our first week of online school, and I'd say most people like myself enjoyed it. I was glad that I didn't have to wake up early, and I got to stay in sweatpants all day. The funny thing about lockdown is that nobody really knew how long we were going to be doing it. We thought it was really only going to be about 2 weeks. Soon after we finished our second week of online school, we got another email saying that we would be doing school from home for longer than we expected. Throughout April, everyone started to become really bored at home, and nobody could go out because all the stores were closed. Most people rarely even went to the supermarket. I was extremely bored, and spent most days doing nothing after school was over. Lots of people also started to get sick of zoom and I'd say about more than half the school was started to get annoyed with online school, including me. The only interesting thing to do was watch tv, and the amount of quarantine memes was getting to be a lot. Soon after April, everyone thought that we'd be going back in may, but sadly we didn't and the following month of quarantine was really when people started losing their minds. Everyone was so sick of lockdown, and literally did nothing all day long. I found myself just watching tiktok's and YouTube 24/7. The following month of June people were even more bored but luckily things started to open up again like clothing stores, restaurants, even the mall. I just assumed that quarantine was over, and that things would go back to normal. Until, a few weeks later when they started closing things back up in L.A.(which is where I live). The worst part is that we were supposed to be going back to school in August, and now everyone was concerned that it wasn't going to happen. A few days before school started we were notified that we sadly weren't going back on campus. We all were sad, but we just assumed that we'd be going back after halloween, or the election (neither of them happened). I was so incredibly bored and honestly really confused about life in general. In the first 3 months of school. I hated online learning, and I had lost all of my social skills, and I had literally run out of things to watch on tv. Finally, a few days after the election my mom got an email that we were going back to school. I was excited to be going back, but also nervous. My school had started thing about a month earlier called wellness camps where we would go on Wednesday with our class and so some activities with our classmates just for an hour. Even just then, it felt super awkward to be back at school, so at this point nobody even knew how to talk to each other since it had been so long since we'd seen people from school. It's currently mid-december and we are going back soon. I hope things will get better soon:) -
2020-11-02
Finance minister predicts 'largest deficit in Nunavut history' due to COVID-19
Nunavut's finance minister George Hickes said he expects the largest deficit the territory has seen because of the COVID-19 pandemic. -
2020-05-26
Accessible Testing
In response to Premier Doug Ford's disappointment about the number of tests being done in Ontario, the County of Renfrew Paramedic Service is mobilizing to offer drive-thru clinics for anybody in the county who wants to be tested for COVID-19 in order to keep up with the provinces' testing demands. Dr. Theresa Tam and chief public health officer of Canada says, "This is a wonderful example of the health-care system coming together to ensure that no one is left behind and it highlights the important role paramedics play in linking communities to health-care settings". -
2020-11-19
Qikiqtani Inuit Association announces $1.8M for mental wellness during the pandemic
The Qikiqtani Inuit Association says that it will distribute $1.8 million in federal funding to support the work of the Ilisaqsivik Society, the YWCA Agvik, the Uqutaq Society, the Tukisigiarvik Society, Qikiqtani hamlet recreation departments and the previously announced Qikiqtani Family Support Initiative. (Image courtesy of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association) -
2020-12-05
Reflections on working at a US Military Hotel/Quarantine Facility and Getting Tested for COVID
In this story I would like to share some of my experiences working at a Hotel that was converted into a quarantine facility for the US Military. I am a civilian employee of a US Army Lodging facility on a US Army base overseas. As a part of my job, I assist soldiers in finding temporary lodging during their permanent change of station (PCS) moves, as well as finding lodging during temporary deployments in our area. In many ways, our facility works as a hotel with an emphasis on long term stays for guests. By early February we had begun to take measures of tracking where people were traveling from and if they had any contact with people who had be sick or were sick themselves. In March, as the pandemic was heating up in Europe, many local hotels were forced to close, yet to support the military mission, we remained open and even converted a portion of our facility into a quarantine facility for US Military personnel. Establishing the new standard operating procedure for handling quarantine was difficult since we needed to coordinate it with local German Laws, Garrison policy and the policies being set by the local combatant commands. This often led to confusion and frequent changes in daily routine and standard operating procedure. When coming to work, things would change almost daily. While the Garrison went to partial manning as those who could work at home did, I was working double shifts to help in the conversion of our facility and the writing of the new SOP’s to deal with our changing circumstances. Large plexiglass windows were added to the Front Desk and all our office spaces. Per garrison orders mask wearing became mandatory throughout the facility except for guests inside guest rooms. Wearing masks for hours on end, and frequent sanitation runs to wipe down the stairways and elevators and lobby became the norm. Given the importance of maintain health and readiness, the Military took the situation vary seriously in terms of sanitation and protection measures. When One of my colleagues had tested positive for COVID, the others she had direct contact with were placed in Quarantine and sent to be tested as well. They were required to have two negative tests 5 days apart before they could leave quarantine. When I became sick with flu-like symptoms, I was sent to be tested for COVID. The Garrison established a drive through testing area. The test consisted of a nasal swab, which could be done either as the less invasive swab just inside the nose, or the more invasive same day test which required the swab to be taken deeper in the nose for 10 seconds. After filling out a questionnaire, they determined that I needed the more invasive test. After reaching the end of the line, I leaned out of the window of my car they tested me. It was a rather painful experience. Within 8 hours of the test, I was able to access my test results online. Luckily, I tested negative. As it turns out I had only a regular seasonal flu. If I had tested positive, I would have been contacted by a training team on the same day of my test, and the colleagues that I worked with would have had to enter quarantine as well. Since I tested negative, I only had to remain at home away from work until 48 hours after my last symptoms. Attached is a copy of the COVID testing information sheet provided to me after my test. -
2020-12-09
Covid-19 Statistics for Western Washington Counties (Olympic Peninsula)
I live in a rural part western Washington about one hundred miles from the initial outbreak of the Covid-19 in Seattle. Even though I live in a county that voted Republican in 2016 and 2020 (the first time Grays Harbor County voted Republican for the first time since 1928 when Herbert Hoover was elected) people took the restrictions seriously. As we hear about the supposed difference in Covid-19 outbreaks between Red and Blue parts of the country I thought it would be interesting to show the county-by-county numbers for Covid-19. The file attached shows the health department web pages for each county. This shows how serious this region took the outbreak. The file is static, so anyone interested should follow the web addresses to see current numbers for active contact tracing, active Covid-19 cases and Covid-19 deaths. -
2020-12-09
Covid-19 Statistics for Western Washington Native Tribes (Olympic Peninsula)
This is a collection of all of the western Washington Native American tribe’s Covid-19 information. Unlike other parts of the country, western Washington tribes have a low Covid-19 rate. -
2020-12-03
Lets talk March 13th
I was in my second semester of college when COVID-19 hit, all my classes got moved to online, due to the effects of Covid I ended up having to move out of my home, I switched jobs three times, and as I'm ending my third semester we are still fully remote. There is so much history in just 2020 alone, our children will probably do homework projects about it, or our grandkids will want to interview us for a history report. I want to have something to remember a time i wrote it all down to hopefully help them understand what we actually went through. -
2020-05-18T16:30
Ghost town in Fisherman's Wharf
When I was walking through Fishermen's Wharf, the location of tourists was completely dead to the point that it looked like an apocalypse, no boats were sailing through the ocean, no store's were open, not even a place to grab a cup of water; the area looked dead. The reason this photo/story is important to me is because in the beginning of Covid-19 it has shown how obedient people are when there is a deadly disease spreading throughout states. -
2020-11-09
Mandatory Mask Zone
When COVID-19 was initially declared a global pandemic, there were many precautionary measures put in place to contain the virus. People began covering their nose and mouth at all times with face shields and masks to prevent the spread. The idea was that when someone needed to leave their house for groceries or work, they would wear a mask. It became a normal thing to cover your nose and mouth by wearing a mask. It became one of the things you couldn’t leave your house without. Before you always had to remember your phone, wallet, and keys, but now your mask was just as important. Stores and restaurants had big signs on their windows and doors reminding you to keep your face covered. Often it was required before you could enter. There was a greater chance of the virus spread when in enclosed buildings with little space and inadequate airflow. The rule of masks was much more relaxed when outside. There was less of a risk due to the open space for proper social distancing and open air. When summer rolled around and COVID-19 was still as big of a threat as it ever was, people looked for places to go outside to enjoy the summer weather. A hot spot, as it usually is in the summer, was the waterfront area of my hometown, Plymouth, MA. Positive COVID cases were still rising, so the measures to limit the spread of the virus had to be increased. Town officials made the entire waterfront a “mandatory mask zone,” even when outside. Signs were placed on nearly every street sign to remind people to cover their face. -
2020-12-06
South Californian Fire Lookouts and Operational Restrictions
These two photos have been taken within a Fire Lookout tower in the National Forests surrounding Los Angeles. The text document portrays the experience and difficulties of a Fire Lookout operating a lookout tower during both the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020 and one of California's worst fire seasons. Photos taken August 31, 2020.