Coronavirus: Year End Recap

It is the start of 2022 and the Coronavirus epidemic is still with us. The biggest news is we have yet another variant - Omicron. This variant is supposed to be extremely contigious but most people who are infected with it only have mild symptons.

Testing kits are now available to purchase in stores over the counter which was not possible a year ago - although they are hard to find right now.

Cruise ships are sailing. People are flying. Domestic travel especially to National Parks is up as some countries are still restricting travel. I am hoping to travel to Spain this year after having to cancel our plans two years ago.

People are still wearing masks - and are required to do so indoors in California, but that is not necessarily a rule across the country.

Many people are still working from home or in hybrid situations splitting time between home and office.

Few shortages are hitting the news these days, primarily microchips for cars and delays on international shipping. Still, retailers announced strong sales during the recent Christmas season and Tesla delivered over 300k cars in the last quarter.

The government has cut or is rolling back most economic stimulus packages directed at shoring up the economy and people's psyche during covid showing confidence in the country's recovery.

Final covid numbers as of today according to the New York Times: Total U.S. deaths due to covid 826,000; in the world 5,450,000.

62% of population in the U.S. is fully vaccinated: 73% have at least one shot; 20% are fully vaccinated and have received a booster shot.

In history books, 2020 will be the year of the covid outbreak and 2021 will be the year of recovery not just for the U.S., but the world. I think if things continue taking the current course, getting better - vaccines are available, effective anti-viral drugs and pills are available to combat infection, and the current strain has mild symptoms - covid will become a footnote to everything great and hopefully not too terrible that 2022 will bring.

Take care and have an awesome 2022!

Coronavirus Alaska versus California

Recently, I travelled to Alaska and had an amazing time. However, prior to visiting I had heard many rumors about how red-state-last-frontier Alaska was dealing with the coronavirus differently than blue-state hyper-sensitive California.

In California people have to wear masks to go into stores, restaurants, or to go on fishing boats. Many Californians still wear masks when walking outside and occasionally will still cross the street rather than walking by some one. Less so now since the mask mandate has been lifted, but it still happens. Los Angeles still has an announcement at the airport that when visiting the city you are subject to a 14-day voluntary quarantine.

In Alaska, I was concerned about the need to get a covid test with negative results before visiting. Fortunately, that rule was changed a few weeks before I arrived and vaccinated travelers did not need to be tested. Not only that, a test was only voluntary now. I am not sure who would take a voluntary test at the airport if they didn't have to, but the testing station was still there. I heard rumors that masks weren't need in freedom-loving Alaska. That was not true. At my hotel, everyone wore a mask. At breakfast the next morning in downtown Anchorage, the hostess handed me a mask as soon I stepped through the door. On the trolley tour and glacier cruise, masks were also required. Although walking down the street, no one wore masks. So in many ways, except for the Alaska testing and Los Angeles quarantine, I saw no difference between California and Alaska covid restrictions. However, I did feel a difference. People in Alaska did not seem as concerned. Restaurants were full and once we boarded the tour or cruise, masks came off to drink water and eat and never really went back on and no one seemed to mind.

It would have been more interesting to compare the two states two months ago when the vaccine was just being rolled out and Los Angeles was still in virtual lockdown.

Someone I spoke to from Eastern Washington said his town (except for the schools) had been operating all year as if there was no such thing as the coronavirus. Restaurants were open, no one wore masks, and no one got sick.

The strictest place I have found regarding masks during my trip was on board airplanes.

However, even on the planes I was surprised by how lenient the crews were with masks. I think it is the whole eating/drinking loophole that creates the gray area. I had brought a burger at the airport that I took on the first plane. I pulled my mask down, hunkered down between seats not to be seen taking a bite, and then pulled up my mask to chew. Fortunately, it was a disposable mask because it soon smelled like hamburger and I had to swap it out when I was done.

However, once the drink and snack cart rolled around, people's masks came down to eat and drink. I no longer had to hid in shame to eat. What a relief! That is not to say that people were not wearing masks. Everyone had them. As we neared the end of one flight, I went to the restroom and saw everyone with a mask up. And before take off, I heard flight attendants asking a couple of people to pull their masks over their nose. No fuss. People did what they were supposed to do and the flights went smoothly.

All in all, while Alaska felt more relaxed regarding measures to prevent coronavirus' spread, visibly and at least on the books, I didn't see much of a difference between the two states.

That is the great thing about travel, you see that we aren't really different after all.

Take care and be safe.

Coronavirus Birth Control?

When coronavirus first started making waves, people debated how the epidemic would affect birth rates. One argument was that there would be more babies because there was nothing else for people to do but stay home and make whoopie. The other argument was fewer babies because fewer people were getting married, fewer people were dating so there was less chance of unexpected pregnancies, and during tough economic times people historically have had fewer babies.

The verdict: the birth rate in the United States is the lowest that it has been in 42 years according to the CDC. It appears that the second argument won.

Which begs the question, what happened in 1979 that caused such a low birth rate? PRB said it was due to the oil shock, economic recession, and double-digit inflation in the 1970s. These scenarios created a situation where for the first time since WWII, being able to support a family on one income became impossible for most Americans. With two parents working, having babies translated into increased childcare expenses, the term latchkey kids became a thing, and the birthrate declined.

But not all is doom and gloom for humanity's future, at least in regard to depopulation. When economies rebound and people feel better about their prospects for the future, birthrates tend to rebound. Declining cases of covid, increased vaccination rates, and an opening economy are examples of better prospects. Yahoo stated that condom sales increased by 23% from March to mid-April this year according to market research firm IRI. While condoms are used to prevent pregnancies, that statistics indicate that people are becoming more sexually active. My wife and I walking through the park the last couple of days have seen many young couples in their late teens on obvious dates. My wedding photographer friends said they are getting lots of bookings now after a brutal year and a half.

Our coronavirus winter is ending and humanity is emerging from their dens. Let Spring begin.

Take care and be safe.

Posts weekly.

Coronavirus Family Vaccination

We have been vaccinated! Aside from sore arms and tiredness the 1st 2 days we had no side effects.

My wife received the J and J two days before the news broke about blood clots. That was over 3 weeks ago so she should be out of the danger zone. Also, the FDA has allowed the J and J shot to be used again.

I was vaccinated a week later during the J and J hiatus so I was left with the two-shot option. I received the Pfizer shot. I had no problem scheduling a shot 48 hours later through the city's Carbon Health site.

Last week, my sons booked their shots but they were cancelled. Not because of shortages, blood clots, or equity tiers but because of the Chauvin verdict.

Los Angeles city officials feared that its citizens would not be able to handle the jury's decision.

My sons received their shots a couple of days later - a couple of days after school reopening.

The vaccination program, early high infection rate in Los Angeles, and ongoing precautions seem to be putting the city in a great situation.

This week Los Angeles County made the numbers to move to the least-restrictive yellow tier for reopening meaning 1.9 new covid cases for every 100,000 residents. One more week of these low numbers and we will move from orange to yellow.

Yellow means that indoor fitness centers, bars, amusement parks, and stadiums would all be able to start operating or if operating already, increase their capacity percentages.

Being vaccinated means life is almost back to normal. A week ago, a coworker shook my hand. It was so odd, yet so normal. It felt really good. I did sanitize afterwards, but having that physical contact with someone who did not live in my immediate household over the last 14 months was liberating.

But we are not out of the woods yet. There is still negative news: deaths in India soaring, covid booster shots may be needed - for years, new variants keep appearing, so we still have to take precautions.

The entertainment industry just extended their covid safety measures that were set to expire today, April 30, to June 30. That means continued covid tests - I had seven in the last week alone.

As coronavirus' reign seems to be coming to a close, my blog posts will be weekly or every other week depending upon new coronavirus developments.

Take care and be safe.

Coronavirus - Mixed Messages

Coronavirus news has been all over the place from super positive to dire. Take a look at a few headlines I pulled today:

"California Oks indoor sports, concerts as COVID cases plunge" - AP News 4/2/21

"COVID: California reports most new cases in almost 4 weeks" - The Mercury News 4/3/21

"The final insult: Some dying of COVID while awaiting the vaccine" - AP News 4/3/21

The CDC said 30% of all Americans have been vaccinated so far. And my wife and friends (over 50) have secured appointments online for vaccinations at Cal State LA, CVS, and Walmart.

And then different states are doing their own thing. Half of the states are now vaccinating anyone over 16, the other half are only vaccinating people still people only over 50 unless you qualify for one of a dozen varying exceptions. Then there is this news:

"The CDC updated its guidance to say fully vaccinated people can travel within the U.S. without getting tested for the coronavirus or going into quarantine afterward." From

Yet as of today, states like Alaska and Hawaii are still requiring testing. Los Angeles "requires" any resident who travels more than 150 miles from LA and comes back to self-quarantine for 10-days. However, I don't know anyone in LA who is abiding by the quarantine.

Then there is the vaccination symptoms concern where like a box of chocolates you don't know what you are going to get. Most people I have spoken to have had side effects. Most with minor arm irritation but others have had slight fevers or belly aches to one person who said they were down and out with flu like symptoms for a week - but they were never sick enough to go to the hospital.

Overall, I feel that we are in a better place than a month ago. But it is a confusing time. The government has to balance positive news to keep hope alive with news that will keep everyone's guard up until everyone is vaccinated.

I do not envy our government officials.

What I do know is come April 15th, I will secure a vaccination appointment, continue wearing a mask, and continue being thankful for my health.

Take care and be safe.

Posts weekly.

Coronavirus Anniversay

It was exactly one year ago today, Friday the 13th of March, that coronavirus changed the world for me.

That morning, 50 background actors had just dressed in our 50's era costumes. The women had had their hair done (hair in curlers since the night before), men clean shaved and hair shellacked. We sat down for breakfast before a long day of filming when a production assistant hurried into holding and said, "That's it. It's wrap. The -- studio has just shut down all of their productions until further notice due to the coronavirus."

I later learned that every other studio had done the same thing that day. Actors, crew, craft services, musicians, and the like were now out of work.

Coronavirus had impacted me prior to this day: my wife's office had all employees working from home since the previous Monday; my son's school had effectively closed two days earlier; and I had been taking daily shopping trips looking for toilet paper. Oh, and the stock market had dropped over 30% over the previous three weeks.

But now, I was out of work. The mayor of Los Angeles effectively shutdown the city. Everything that used to be done indoors like haircuts, shopping, eating at restaurants, going to movies, museums, and working unless it was for an essential business was closed. It seemed like the only businesses a person could leave their house to visit were grocery stores and take out restaurants. We couldn't even visit family members who did not live in our dwelling. In Spain quarantining was so strict that some people used fake dogs so they could leave their house if only for five minutes a day.

Of course there was a valid reason for these precautions.

According to worldmeter.com, as of today, 2,658,861 people have died from coronavirus. In the United States, the number is 546,557. The total number of reported covid-19 cases in the U.S.is 30,043,115, or about 10% of the population.

Wow. Just, wow.

So where are we now one year later?

In a record amount of time, the world has created a vaccine, as our former President dubbed the effort, "Operation Warp Speed." Millions of people within the United States have been vaccinated. Our current President said that every American over 18 years of age will be able to make an appointment for the vaccine beginning May 1, 2021.

Grocery stores are fully stocked. The stock market is back to pre-coronavirus levels, as are gas prices, but thankfully, traffic is still not quite as bad as many people work from home now.

But things will not be back to the old normal any time soon.

Los Angeles still does not allow indoor dining, going to the movies, or exercising in an indoor gym, and my son still has to receive his education through distance learning as public high schools in Los Angeles County are still closed. However, it appears that Los Angeles will be lifting many of these restrictions soon. Cruise ships are still dead in the water with booking dates consistently being pushed back and international travel is still heavily restricted.

Yet, sets are open again, with everyone wearing masks, face shields, and some crew wearing full-on helmets. Coronavirus testing is a way of life whether in the mouth, nose, or what feels like the brain sometimes. My friend asked me the other day how many coronavirus test have I have had. The answer is 32, not including rapid tests on the days that I worked on set.

My wife and friend are still working from home as their companies' physical offices are closed and have told them that it will be at least summer before they can return to the office.

I will say that my family of 4 has definitely grown closer together by talking daily, eating meals together, working out together, watching t.v., etc. Life has slowed down. It has allowed me to focus on my goals and rebalance priorities in life. There is always a light somewhere, even during the darkest times.

It has been a year for the ages. I hope the next one is as well - but crazy happy instead of just plain crazy.

Take care and be safe.

Posts weekly.