Life in the Age of Corona
A Daily Diary
Sunday, January 24th, 2021
National Mall
Chill Sunday today. Starting with the news and a coffee.
Just as I was making my second coffee – the espresso machine is rather noisy – someone is walking up behind me, scaring the living daylights out of me. IT turned out to be EM whom I had of course not expected to be back from the sleepover at the BF’s house at 8:00 in the morning. She went of to do her history homework, while I retreated with my coffee and the iPad.
The weather was again gorgeous with brilliantly blue sky. By 10:00 I felt antsy and got ready to meet D at the farmers market – dressed up, heels and all. The visit turned into a disappointment as almost no fruit and vegetable stands were there. I realize they sell local produce from the surrounding farms, but surely there must be some cabbages, carrots, beets and so on. In the end I bought a few mushrooms, two pears and three yellow beets; still we spend about an hour meandering around the stalls. The main purpose had anyway been to meet Danielle and follow up on the career discussion we had had the day before.
Seeing EM was home early, and the weather was so beautiful we decided to drive down to the national mall. We were hoping to still be able to see the flags they had put up on the mall for the presidential inauguration. On TV the sea of flags representing the people from all states and territories who normally might have attended the inauguration in person had looked absolutely stunning. Alas, we were too late. All flags and most of the fencing had disappeared. Maybe we should have braved it the day after the inauguration.
Instead we crossed the National Mall and followed the route of the Presidential parade along Pennsylvania Avenue, which was still decked out with flags, up to 15th street where we made a right. We passed the Treasury (inside the fence now) and continued up to I-street seeing all other streets surrounding the White House were fenced off.
EM and I have not been downtown since picking up our last Supra in June, just after a part of 16th street had been renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza, so we decided to stop and check it out.
Given the events of the summer 2020, it felt almost historic to be walking past the little church which the Orange Cheeto had used for his photo op. Of course, since the peaceful protestors were dispersed by teargas for this photo op, Lafayette Park has been fenced to create an additional buffer to the WH. The WH is now sealed off with tall fences surrounding the complex from 15th Street, to Vermont Ave, 16th Street and Constitution Avenue. It was therefore not possible for us to take a walk around the WH campus.
Before June this year it had always been possible to pass (on foot) the WH along Pennsylvania Ave and it is probably the most seen picture of the WH as almost all journalists took shots from there. It is also where all protests happened. No more. It is rather sad and to me is symbolic of an increased distance between the administration and the people. I do hope Biden will have it taken down; though it does look rather permanent.
In the meantime, the fence is used to express political opinions and grievances, not all related to BLM, but predominantly. Some people must have had the same idea. Throughout the time we were there, there was a steady stream of visitors. Otherwise DC was deserted; hardly even a car, leave alone humans, to be seen. There was a lot of police presence and most downtown buildings are still boarded up.
The EU is to approve the Oxford/ AstraZeneca vaccine in the next two weeks. However, even before it is approved the company warns its production facilities in Belgium need to be maintained, so there will be a shortfall in vaccine delivery. Initially AstraZeneca had committed to deliver 80 million doses by March, a promise it cannot keep. It is unclear how much they will deliver.
Given Pfizer has also announced delays in delivery due to work to upgrade their production capabilities the EU now faces a significant shortfall of vaccines just as roll out of shots is ramping up. This is not only annoying, but begs the question, why now? All these production lines should be new. And both plants are located in Belgium... The plant in India does not appear to have these issues. The company licensed to produce the Oxford vaccine there is on track to produce billions of doses for India and other emerging markets. The first 2 million doses have shipped to Brazil.
In the obscure part of the news feed I found a report suggesting Covid infections can impair male fertile and cause erection issues. “ The male reproductive system has been hypothesized to be a potential target of SARS-CoV-2 infection, which is supported by some preliminary evidence. This may pose a global threat to male fertility potential, as men are more prone to SARS-CoV-2 infection than women, especially those of reproductive age. Preliminary reports have also indicated the possibility of sexual transmission of SARS-CoV-2. It may cause severe complications in infected couples.“
Today the USA reported 178k new cases to bring the US total to 25.6 million.
I wonder if more men would wear masks if they knew COVID could impair their fertility and erections.
