Friday, October 16th, 2020
Today EM has set of with her two best friends for a night in the woods. They are on their way to Shenandoa National Park and plan to spend the night in a tent. The weather is ambivalent; 14C and some showers throughout the day so I cancelled my boat reservation as it is just to miserable to be out on the water with a slight drizzle. Sailing is suppose to be fun and enjoyable, not cold. This means the seasons is probably almost over; sadly.
Given it is rather damp outside I worry that the girls will be cold. The last place I want to be is in a tent. In fact I will open fireplace season and light a fire tonight.
They are setting up the tent after dark and plan to have a campfire to cook, have smores and just hang out. I do hope all goes well and that they will have fun and be back in one piece tomorrow.
For me the absence means I am home alone for the first time in 219 days, and not just for the day, but also for the night. This feels very strange. In normal times I would have wished for my brilliant friend to come over after Aikido practice, but these are not normal times. I stay home, he huddles with his family. Likely that is what it is going to be for the next months. I am so glad I installed the outdoor heating and acquired the fire pit, at least we will just be cold, but not devoid of social contact. Given it will be a while before a vaccine is available…
Pfizer estimates its vaccine will be ready for emergency use licensing in mid/ late November. That is indeed welcome news on several levels. Firstly, the COVIDIOT cannot claim credit for the vaccine unless he is re-elected, but at least it will not help his re-election bid. Secondly, we are all desperate for a vaccine to return to some sort of normalcy. With this in mind, it is also welcome news that local health authorities are planning for a fast distribution, especially given latest research on the antiviral drug remesdevir and its failure to protect people -coronavirus.
At the same time there is a new surges in infections, with daily increases at a level last seen after July 4th weekend reveling. Thursday saw 65k new cases reported. This is due to increased social activities as a result of pandemic fatigue, increased indoor activities due to colder weather and students returning to school and spreading the virus to more vulnerable people. This rise of infections could continue well into December reaching a possible peak only at the end of the year. It is insane. Total known infections in the USA today are at 8.2 million out of 39.1 million cases reported worldwide today.
Seems like it has to get a lot worse before it can get better.