Link Log Roundup for May 6, 2020
In this edition: profit and incompetence, the 1918 economy, the third quarter, behavioral scientists, false expectations, co-dependent states, Oregon neighborhoods, Oregon restaurants, a giant agave, emoji, the Texas governor, coronavirus parties, frontline workers, a no-sneezing policy, the bubble concept, older adults, crowds, urban infrastructure, a speakeasy, and Rip Van Winkle.
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.
How Profit and Incompetence Delayed N95 Masks While People Died at the VA
It remains a mystery why the CEO of Federal Government Experts LLC let me observe his frantic effort to find 6 million N95 respirators and the ultimate unraveling of his $34.5 million deal to supply them to the Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals, where 20 VA staff have died of COVID-19 while the agency waits for masks.
Why Coronavirus Is Punishing the Economy More than Spanish Flu
Why didn’t the Spanish Flu devastate the U.S. economy the way coronavirus has? It’s tempting to conclude that modern-day lockdowns are simply harsher than the distancing measures of 1918. But although data from the era is patchy, the anecdotes in the St. Louis Fed report suggest that retail businesses did suffer enormously, just as now. Fear of the virus, not government restrictions, was likely the biggest driver of lost revenue then as today.
We have begun the dreaded third quarter of isolation, when — yes — things get weird
We may now be entering the dreaded third quarter of hollow-eyed stares, odd fixations and brooding resentment. Time grows sludgy. The days blur into the nights, and the weekdays into the weekends. You’ve hidden the notifications from a recently downloaded exercise app and you’re no longer telling people you’ll learn Italian. You begin to suspect that your friends have their own Messenger group.
Where Psychologists Should Fear to Tread on Covid-19, They Don’t
Instead, Vazire suggests that behavioral scientists should leave risk assessment to the virologists and epidemiologists. “I can sympathize a lot with why they believe these things,” she said of experts publishing their speculations in the press. “But I feel very little sympathy for why they went and printed it in a very high-circulation newspaper with their credentials attached to it, because I knew better than to do that.”
Mounting promises on Covid-19 vaccines are fueling false expectations
Osterholm and other experts make clear that there will not be enough vaccine for college-age students in that time frame, even in the best-case scenario. It’s likely any supplies that will be available — if any of the vaccines prove themselves to be protective by the fall — will be designated for health care workers and others on the front line of the response effort.
States were supposed to team up on reopening. It hasn’t gone as planned.
Four weeks later, it’s clear that a single set of marching orders is out of the question, even for small co-dependent states with porous borders. When it comes to how and when to reopen their economies, the collaborative approach is giving way to the individual needs of the coalition’s seven members.
New coronavirus data reveal Oregon neighborhoods with most infections
The ZIP code-level statistics show that roughly two-thirds of all infections in Multnomah County identified through Sunday are among residents living in neighborhoods east of 82nd Avenue, including one hotspot featuring two large outbreaks at nursing homes.
Oregon restaurants will space customers, close by 10 p.m. under new draft of reopening plan
According to the latest draft document, restaurants would be required to provide employees with cloth face coverings, but customers would be allowed to go without. Individual Oregon businesses including grocery stores and some restaurants are already requiring customers to wear masks. In the latest draft, employees are also asked to disinfect seats, tables and menus between each customer; to minimize bare-hand contact with food through the use of utensils; and to wear gloves while cleaning. Gloves will not be required for preparing food.
Portlanders crowding around giant agave, much to owner’s dismay
Now, he worries there are too many people. Strangers have come up and tapped him on the shoulder. Crowds are forming. One woman tried to enter his back gate.
The Problem With the Coronavirus Emoji
When the science emoji were first introduced, Nell Greenfieldboyce, a science correspondent at NPR, spoke to a number of scientists to gauge their opinion on what was described as “the green splat.” Kristen Bernard, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison said, “Virologists use it, but [that] doesn’t mean they like it.”
Texas Governor Admits Dangers of Reopening State on Private Call With Lawmakers
The audio was recorded by somebody on the call, and a clip of it was sent to The Daily Beast on Tuesday. It was first reported by state political site Quorum Report, which noted that Abbott’s public statements so far have largely only mentioned that Texas may see an increase in the numbers due to increased testing capacity, rather than increased contact. Though Abbott has repeatedly said in public interviews that reopening “can” or “could” cause a spike in cases, the audio recording from last Friday’s call appeared to show a more direct and certain understanding of the risks.
Coronavirus ‘parties’ linked to Walla Walla-area infections, officials say
“Our department will be working diligently to locate and disperse these events if they are taking place. The department’s goal is enforcement through education, but we are prepared to take further action if deemed necessary. The selfish actions of a few will greatly impact all of us,” Schmick said.
As the governor ponders reopening the state, the stakes are highest for Oregonians on the front lines, whose jobs don’t allow reliable social distancing. If they stay at home, they fall deeper into financial holes. But if they go back to work too soon, they could face a debilitating illness or even death. As WW spoke to workers pondering those risks, we found mixed feelings.
The one that seems the most, uh, difficult to enforce is one where Alamo proposes “enforcing a no coughing or sneezing policy in the theater.” As great as that might sound, in theory, as coughing and/or sneezing is a huge way for COVID-19 to spread, it’s unclear how the theater chain would enforce such a policy or how the company could tell its customers to not cough and/or sneeze during the film, as if we all have control over those bodily functions.
New Zealand’s “Bubble Concept” Is Slowly Letting People Socialize Again. Would It Work in America?
The basic idea behind the bubble is to conceive of your socializing not as a matter of the individual but as that of a self-contained household: If you visit the home of a friend, for example, you aren’t the only one put at risk. Your roommates or family members you’re living with, by extension, have been exposed to the risk. Your bubble is this group of people: those you live with and those you closely or regularly interact with.
The ‘New Normal’ for Many Older Adults Is on the Internet
Still, the coronavirus crisis and its ripple effects are borne differently by people of different classes, races, geographies and personalities within generations. Some older adults are afraid they’ll live out their final years in fear and with limited mobility; others have embraced their new lifestyle, and gained greater appreciation for the connections that matter.
Opinion | Will You Want to Go Straight Back Into the Crowd?
So what kinds of images are we going to make of our cities now? If we’re no longer dreaming of Venice’s Piazza San Marco (so packed in 2019 you were no longer permitted to sit down), what are we going to want? Might our love of the urban crowd take a break? Might our public spaces necessarily become quieter, more introverted, less social? Might we not more readily accept gaps and voids in our cities, and perhaps even start to value them?
How coronavirus could bring cities closer to home
As city dwellers around the world are forced to stay closer to home, some architects are rethinking urban infrastructure to promote a more local lifestyle and help people adapt to a post-pandemic world.
What Happens When the House Next Door Turns Into a Makeshift Casino and Strip Club?
As the rest of the city has gone dark, the residents of North Blandena Street allege Hughes has transformed his home into a COVID-19 speakeasy. Neighbors have complained to Portland City Hall of loud music, gambling and strippers. And they say it’s happened every single night for the past month and a half.
He’s like a Rip Van Winkle for the coronavirus era. When he finally started getting his senses back, last week, he was astonished at the new world around him. That a quarter-million have died worldwide. That all the schools are closed. That there are no traffic jams in Seattle.