FINALLY...FACE SHIELDS

From Worldometer,  COVID-19 new deaths:

           DAY USA   WORLD   Brazil      India   South Africa

June      9     1093    4732        1185      246         82

July       1       676    4857        1057      438         92

             5       251    3572          535       421       173

             6       378    3573          656       474       111

             7       993    5504        1312       479       192

           12       380    4118          659       500       108

           13       465    3729          770       540         93

           14       935    5414        1341       586       174

           15     1001    5760        1261       614       107

           19       412    4606          715       675         85

           20       545    4040          718       596       140

           21     1119    5669        1346       671        195

           22     1205    7128        1293     1120        572

           26       450    4307         556       715        114
           27      596     4200         627       636        298
           28    1266     5589         955       776        190
           30    1485     7023       1544       779        240
           31    1465     6418       1189       783        315
Aug      1    1462     6429       1191       765        193

Summary:

• The USA and World are stuck at this rather high plateau.  
• Plus, the U.S. had 70,904 new cases yesterday, so looks like we'll have more than 1000 new deaths, if not 1500, through the middle of this new month.  Forget about the full classroom opening at this time throughout the country.
• Central/South America has definitely become the new epicenter.
• Even Japan, which was showing promising signs of becoming the next China/South Korea/Singapore, experienced four straight days of more than 1,000 new cases, mostly because of partying around too much.  It's possible that a re-lockdown might well be instituted.  Huge uncertainty about opening schools.

Finally.  Finally.  Even the White House (not Trump but Deborah Birx) has underscored the value of face shields.  I've had several postings on this subject, wondering why this subject matter has been just about totally ignored.  My initial concern was that the coronavirus can enter through your eyes, and that simple glasses were insufficient.  Plus, you can't touch your face with a shield in the way.  Also too, you can use it for months, if not forever, with minimal wiping.  My facial PPE will protect you even better, but as importantly, it really better protects me from you too.  I hate wearing a mask for my oxygen input is minimized and glass fogged up, plus it's uncomfortable.  There is as yet no consensus whether you absolutely need to wear both at the same time.  I think the shield alone is sufficient, as has been observed in some schools in Japan, but Birx suggests both.  I'd like see a credible medical study on this matter.

So, with that introduction, let me next introduce you to my stupidity.  Not sure if this was just plain dumbness or not, but, as some of you know, many months ago I ordered a face shield from Amazon.  It took a while, but it finally showed up, with no directions.  But how difficult is it to wear a face shield?  I was disappointed about the clarity.  So more recently I bought a new one.  However, the sales clerk pointedly and carefully showed me how to peel off the protective coating.  Beautiful and comfortable.

Of course, the first thing that occurred to me was...was there a layer I had to remove from the first one.  Success, as I removed the outside skin.  However, no matter what I did, I could find no inner coating, so I gave up there.  While I don't need to use that one anymore, it definitely is clearer than before.  At worst, if need be, I'll walk around only half-dumb.  You, on the other hand, can smartly wear a face shield.  Just make sure to take-off those protective coatings.

Incidentally, you can pay $20 as I did for my imperfect shield, but most are down to only a few dollars from Amazon.  My second one cost $8.  Or, as this You Tube presentation shows, you can make yours for 16 cents.

The end of Major League Baseball this year?  Sources: ESPN, WSJ 

And then there were six. It started when a few Miami Marlins were infected with the coronavirus, as well as one of the Washington Nationals who just missed opening day when he tested positive. Now 20 Marlins are infected, their team sidelined with Washington, Philadelphia, Toronto, Milwaukee and St. Louis — the latest team showing infections. Friday’s 15th cancellation, Milwaukee vs. St. Louis, was the first with no connection to Miami, indicating what in civilian circles would be known as community spread. That raises the question: How long until the season is called?

College football can quarantine their players/staff together on campus, and, perhaps charter flights.  However, the NFL has chosen to allow theirs to go home to family.  I see very little chance for any kind of full season for this contact sport.  The NBA seems to be surviving in their Disney World bubble.

On Wednesday I featured an article from STANFORD Magazine about that nightmare on campus.  I today finished reading the issue and noticed one of my contributions in the Class Notes section:

That's Wilbur Hall in the background.  As would be expected of my Blue-Bar Pigeons, here is something someone sent me:

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Hurricane Isaias weakened into a tropical storm over the Bahamas, but will almost sure regain strength into again a hurricane.  

It's possible that the track will be sufficiently east that landfall could be avoided over Florida.

It occurred to me that there is a huge difference between Hawaii and those Atlantic/Gulf hurricanes.  Hawaii has tall volcanoes.  Hurricanes hate land and absolutely abhor mountains.  That is one of the primary reasons why Oahu, Maui and the Big Island have avoided them in recorded history,  Kauai does not have a Mauna Kea.  Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and the Eastern Seaboard lack this barrier, so cyclonic storms just barrel over those areas.

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