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Date is exactly
2021-03-18
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2021-03-18
A Burial Post Pandemic
I did not travel during the entirety of the strict lockdown period of the COVID-19 Pandemic. My wife and I worked in retail and were deemed essential so we worked through it from April 2020 until the restrictions were broadly lifted. In March 2021 my mother died of an unrelated illness, the first trip I took after the travel restrictions were lifted was to bury her in Carlsbad, New Mexico. We did not hold a funeral service and we did not hold a memorial, she was cremated and buried quietly. I remember this very vividly because even at that time it felt wrong to travel and to be interacting with people in a way that wasn't required by work. We wore masks the entire time. Due to our proximity to El Paso, TX I remember vividly when they were storing bodies in buses in the streets there and this made us fearful and cautious. Even had we not been still in the throes of the pandemic, I don't think I would have done anything differently but I do believe that the added stress of travel would not have been present thus making the trip more manageable. Due to our need to isolate, and resist getting sick, what I remember most of all is the loneliness of the matter, and the quiet car rides, and wondering 'How might things have been different?' -
2021-03-18
#vaccineselfie
A comic strip about Covid-19 -
2021-03-18
Brianna Tong Oral History, 2021/03/18
Self description: “I am sitting in my bed right now as I’ve done for a lot of this quarantine. In regular times and I guess still now, I’m in three bands and I also work at the library, the public library. So I’ve been working there in person since we came back to work in May. I was contacted for this interview through Bussy Kween Power Trip, which is a Black queer punk band with three people, no guitars, so my close friends. I’m in two other bands. One band is called Je’raf and one is called Cordoba. And one person each from Bussy Kween is in each of those bands. Haven’t played a show in forever. I can give a little about what I look like or am like. I’m a woman. I’m 26, almost 27 I guess. I’m Black and Asian. I’m kinda short. And during this pandemic I’ve been in general super lucky to have a job still and a great living situation. And I met my partner right before the pandemic, so we’ve been chilling a lot and that’s been amazing. She is so great. Yeah, just going to work and working on all kinds of things in my home. And sometimes having the energy to do a bunch of music and crafts and other art things, and sometimes laying in bed for a full day.” -
2021-03-18
Oakland clinic offers Mayan interpreter for COVID-19 vaccinations
Oakland clinic offers Mayan interpreter for COVID-19 vaccinations La Clinica de La Raza is targeting Latin Mam or Mayan-speaking community with translation service Thursdays OAKLAND — A new COVID-19 vaccination clinic in the Fruitvale neighborhood is offering interpreter services for the Latin Mam or Mayan-speaking community. This month, La Clinica de La Raza began offering the community-targeted vaccination service at 32 locations across the Bay Area, including ASCEND Elementary School on East 12th Street, where Latinos who speak Mam, K’iche ‘and Q’eqchi’ can get translation help from appointment to inoculation on Thursdays. There are over 22 different Mam dialects spoken primarily by people of Guatemalan and Mexican descent. According to a recent UC San Francisco study, Mayan people with Guatemalan roots are the fastest-growing ethnic group in Oakland. “I’m here to support my community, getting them the service that they deserve,” Brenda Sucely Perez, the on-site interpreter at ASCEND, said last week while about 450 eligible people were vaccinated. Staff at the Fruitvale site have administered roughly 2,000 Moderna vaccines per week since opening on March 4, according to La Clinica officials. Salvador Garcia, an Oakland firefighter, volunteered at the vaccination clinic. “Coming to get the vaccination is a good thing because it would help prevent the spread,” Garcia said, adding that it’s especially important given how close relatives in the Latino community live. “When you’re around people in such tight quarters around here, the way the families live with each other, it’s just good to have the preventative measure of the vaccination.” It’s also one of the reasons the nation’s first and strictest stay-at-home orders proved ill-suited for the hard-hit Latino community, a four-month Bay Area News Group investigation found. That analysis showed case rates for the region’s Latino residents are nearly four times higher than White residents, while the Latino population has fared worse against the virus across California. During the fall case surge, economic pressure to keep working outside the home became another major factor in the Latino community’s higher COVID-19 positivity rate in the Fruitvale neighborhood than the rest of the state, according to a UCSF study conducted in September. The results of that study found that antibody-positive prevalence was 9.8% overall among people who live and work in Fruitvale, a predominantly Latino neighborhood. The number spiked to 26.8% among the Latin Mam, or Mayan, speaking community, USCF [sic] researchers noted. The COVID-antibody test shows that someone once had coronavirus. -
2021-03-18
Indonesia's Foreign Travel Restrictions [March 2021]
This article shines some light on the travel restrictions in Indonesia at the moment. It reports that Indonesian citizens are urged to come back into the country if they are travelling abroad. This is to limit the distance, and to assure that citizens can come back before travel becomes more difficult. However, they listed eight foreign countries (Iran, Italy, Vatican City, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland and Great Britain) in which they would ban arrivals from. If any person had travel records that showed that they were in the listed countries in the past 14 days, they would be banned from entering the country. This article was personally translated. -
2021-03-18
Disparities in Healthcare during Covid-19
This article is about the disparities in populations that have been impacted by Covid-19. The CDC found that American Indian, Alaska Native, African American, and Latino people were almost three times higher than non-Hispanic white people in hospitalizations during the pandemic so far. These numbers are, unfortunately, more a reflection on our healthcare system as a whole, not just specific to Covid. Dr. Felicia Collins, a distinguished graduate of Harvard Medical School, is the keynote speaker at the 2021 Alvin F. Poussaint, MD Visiting Lecture and will be discussing these healthcare inequalities. On top of having an MD, Dr. Collins also has a Master's in Public Health (also from Harvard), which gives her a unique perspective into healthcare at the individual and population levels. Analyzing healthcare data through the lens of a physician must give her the ability to contextualize healthcare disparities in a way that others would not. This sounds like it will be an interesting lecture on a very important topic, and will of course be held over zoom. -
2021-03-18
The next frontier in air travel: Digital passports as proof of vaccination or testing
With vaccines rolling out, there have been talks of digital passports. These passports would allow for international travelers to upload proof of a COVID-19 vaccine or negative test. However, concerns of human rights and privacy violations have been raised. These fears stem from the possibility of the passports causing inequality due to vaccine accessibility. -
2021-03-18
With Hope
Today is Thursday, March 18, 2021. Saturday, March 13, was the first anniversary of the Friday the 13th that essentially broke the world, and that was our last day of normal. Or at least that’s how we all remember it now. On Monday, March 15, 2021, the students at my high school returned in “full swing” for the fourth quarter of the school year. I mean by full swing that we have no A and B days, and we are not all virtual. We still have an asynchronous day on Wednesday, but we all know that will soon go away. Many kids are staying virtual, and I don’t know how long that will be an option. So, we have had three days of students back on campus, and I think I would be much more concerned if I myself were not vaccinated, but I am fully vaccinated, and my husband completed his two-week waiting period a couple of days ago, so my house is “safe.” (Though I don’t totally feel that way yet) I don’t work on Wednesday right now, so we celebrated being fully vaccinated by going to an outdoor brunch, which was totally socially distanced, and I appreciated it a lot. I digress, though… school feels like school again. Sure, we limit the number of students who come into the library at lunch, but they are here, the halls bustle, and kids' noise in the hallway trails through our open library doors between periods again. Unfortunately, we are jumping back into things right in time for state testing, so we got this week of “bliss” before things become chaos of finding computers to test, getting students to make sure their computers are updated, and the general panic of finding space and making schedules that comes with any year of state testing. I want things to continue to trend in a direction where I don’t have to rescind all this hope a couple of months from now. -
2021-03-18
Mask trash #20
Disposable mask found along the north bank of Rio Salado across from Tempe Beach Park. -
2021-03-18
Mask trash #19
White & blue disposable mask on the south bank of Rio Salado near Rural Road. -
2021-03-18
Mask trash #18
White disposable face mask. State farm building in the background. -
2021-03-18
Mask trash #17
A new day, new trash along the Rio Salado. White, muddy mask found on the south bank just after east of Mill Ave. -
2021-03-18
Peru waves quarantine restrictions
Peru, which continues to suffer from high COVID-19 transmission rates, has lifted quarantine restrictions for international travelers. The Peruvian economy has been undermined by a loss of tourism, its affected restaurants, hotels, guides, transportation, and other facets that depend on foreign capital. The only catch is that you have to have a negative COVID-19 test 72 hours prior to arrival. All of this hints at the importance of money and influence after all-it's mostly wealthier travelers who would have the money to travel for leisure and access to COVID testing. But...what about everyone else on the plane? -
2021-03-18
Moving During a Plague Year
2020 began as an optimistic year. In January, I decided to apply to the Public History MA program at the University of Colorado, Denver. We were living in Amarillo, Texas, and dreaming of a home that allowed us to thrive in our chosen fields, something that was unlikely in our hometown. So in early March of 2020, we decided to make the out-of-state move to Denver, Colorado. I had not yet been accepted to a grad program, and my husband did not have a job in our new city. "We'll figure it out." That's typically how it goes for two easy-going free spirits: set the destination and let the journey figure itself out. We looked forward to our April 4th move date as the reality of the Pandemic slowly set in. I was thankful for my workplace shutting down because it gave me plenty of time to pack up the house with a blissful ignorance for the year to come. I packed, taped, and organized dozens of cardboard boxes while dreaming about my sunny balcony in Denver. I planned going away parties and meticulously arranged coffee meet-ups with my closest friends. Against my best efforts, the in-person experiences faded away as the isolation began to set in. "No worries," I thought, "this will only last a couple of weeks." Oh, how wrong I was. I'm typing this story on March 18, 2021, for an assignment that was given online after a lecture that was presented online. A year later and my life continues virtually. We moved with hope for our future. We weren't hoping that the future involved facing our deepest emotional issues or learning how to love each other in complete isolation. It certainly did not contain a life of unemployment and disappointment. Slowly, begrudgingly, we got to know ourselves and began to heal from years of emotional suppression. I was diagnosed with ADHD for the first time in my life. It changed everything, and I owe my current success to the therapist that offered a discounted rate in my time of need. My husband learned just how deep his depression went. But most importantly, we learned that we could do it, that we can hold on long enough to see the light at the end. My husband just accepted an incredible job, and my academic life is flourishing. Even as I grew increasingly annoyed at the idea of a "bright side," the bright side came and lit up just how far we've come as people and as a couple. -
2021-03-18
Illistration by Pauline C. Cuevas
During the pandemic, hate crimes against the AAPI community have significantly increased. Our people had been unjustly blamed by previous leadership for the virus, and little hateful comments here and there have now grown into full blown terrorist actions. THIS is why words matter. THIS is why leadership matters. I urge you to speak up, stand up and be an ally to the Asian community-- especially for our elders. We are hurting, angry and scared, but the future can be a brighter one if we stick together. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to make this piece for @calendow. I've noticed my own fear and uncertainty during these times. I worry for my kids and my family, but being able to use my art to shine a light during these dark times gives me courage. We can do this together. #ProtectOurElders #StopAAPIHate #AAPI #AsianAmerican #PeoplePower #Solidarity #RiseUp #womenshistorymonth #filipinaartist #sandiegoartist -
2021-03-18
Frontline farmers now eligible for COVID-19 vaccine
Agricultural workers in Virginia are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Although farm production hasn't dropped significantly due to COVID-19, many farmers are apart of high-risk categories. Giving farmers access to the vaccine is believed to ensure that the food supply is maintained.