Link Log Roundup For April 26, 2020
In this edition: frozen steaks, immunity passports, car culture, the future normal, and quarantine fatigue.
Your daily look at links I’ve saved to my Link Log (RSS) over the course of each day but didn’t necessarily address or highlight here on the blog. These are the links I logged yesterday, and not necessarily links to things published yesterday.
Hundreds of Portlanders Are Waiting in Line for Hours to Buy Discounted Frozen Steaks
The well-intentioned sale quickly devolved into chaos Saturday morning. Buses struggled to get through traffic on the four-lane road, which at points was blocked completely with vehicles. Onlookers gathered in crowds—some in masks and some not—to figure out what was going on.
WHO warns against coronavirus “immunity passports” due to reinfection concerns
The World Health Organization (WHO) released a scientific brief on Saturday recommending countries refrain from issuing certificates of immunity to people who have been infected with the novel coronavirus, warning there is “currently no evidence” that someone cannot be reinfected.
Coronavirus shutdowns are making it clear how toxic our car culture is
When the world emerges from its lockdown, the temptation will be to jump right back into our hermetically sealed transport bubbles. So, while you still can, step outside. Take a breath of fresh air. Take a quiet walk in the street. Or a bike ride with your kids. And think about how nice it would be to have clean air and safe streets as our new normal.
What Will Our New Normal Feel Like? Hints Are Beginning to Emerge
Our ability to focus, to feel comfortable around others, even to think more than a few days into the future, may diminish—with lasting consequences. But we may also feel the tug of a survival instinct that can activate during periods of widespread peril: a desire to cope by looking out for one’s neighbors.
The nationwide shift during the week of April 13 was relatively slight. However, any loss of momentum, particularly when stay-in-place orders remain in effect across most of the country, has some public health experts worried about “quarantine fatigue.” Any increase in travel, they say, is premature when staying home remains the most effective way to limit the spread of the virus until widespread testing and contact tracing become available.