Sweden to introduce Covid vaccination pass for public events – Radio Sweden | Sveriges Radio

  • …Sweden is to introduce a Covid vaccination pass for public indoor events of more than 100 people, the government said at a news conference Wednesday.
  • The measure, expected to come into force from 1 December, will apply to people over the age of 18 at venues such as theatres and sports events.
  • The reason for the introduction is the risk of increased spread of infection in Sweden…

Source: Sweden to introduce Covid vaccination pass for public events – Radio Sweden | Sveriges Radio

Mask-wearing cuts Covid incidence by 53%, says global study | Coronavirus | The Guardian

…Mask-wearing is the single most effective public health measure at tackling Covid, reducing incidence by 53%, the first global study of its kind shows.

Vaccines are safe and effective and saving lives around the world. But most do not confer 100% protection, most countries have not vaccinated everyone, and it is not yet known if jabs will prevent future transmission of emerging coronavirus variants.

Globally, Covid cases exceeded 250 million this month. The virus is still infecting 50 million people worldwide every 90 days due to the highly transmissible Delta variant, with thousands dying each day.

Now a systematic review and meta analysis of non-pharmaceutical interventions has found for the first time that mask wearing, social distancing and handwashing are all effective measures at curbing cases – with mask wearing the most effective.

“This systematic review and meta analysis suggests that several personal protective and social measures, including handwashing, mask wearing, and physical distancing are associated with reductions in the incidence of Covid-19,” the researchers wrote in The BMJ…

Source: Mask-wearing cuts Covid incidence by 53%, says global study | Coronavirus | The Guardian

A moment that changed me: ‘After 102 days in intensive care, I finally came home’ | Health & wellbeing | The Guardian (Me: Get vaccinated)

…I had been in intensive care for 102 days. For the first two months my wife, Plum, had not been allowed to visit, instead receiving daily reports on my condition – recurrent delirium, two heart attacks, stents, kidney dialysis, pneumonia, memory loss and tracheotomy – all brought on by Covid.

Three times she was told I wouldn’t be resuscitated if I suffered any further deterioration and she had come to dread the ringing of the phone. But only when I got home did I fully realise how much she and the families of other Covid patients had suffered.

There is something selfish about being critically ill, although you don’t realise it at the time, when all your thoughts are of yourself. Doctors and nurses do everything they can to relieve the pain, but they never let you know that the smile they are wearing at your bedside may be masking their own exhaustion and fears.

For the first month at home I hobbled about with a walking frame, but soon a physiotherapist encouraged me to walk with a stick, eventually going with me to buy my newspapers. One day she didn’t come, so I decided to go alone. Off I went on the 50 paces down the road and was just passing the bar on the corner, when …

Bang! My face hit the pavement. The manager of the bar had seen me fall. Rushing out, he helped me into a chair, then called an ambulance. My face was a mess of blood. The no-clotting pills, which were now part of my 11-pills-a-day routine, were doing their job very well.

There was no waiting in the A&E department, my Covid history at the same hospital pushing me to the head of the queue. But it took hours for the bleeding to stop, during which time I was given X-rays and a brain scan before it was decided that the only real damage was to my self-esteem.

For the next four months I never went out alone, and every night I would watch the Covid reports on television. There was a very good one about Michael Rosen, the children’s author, who had been in intensive care with Covid at the same time that I was, although in another hospital…

Source: A moment that changed me: ‘After 102 days in intensive care, I finally came home’ | Health & wellbeing | The Guardian

Backlogged LA port struggles to implement 24/7 schedules: ‘We’ve had very few takers’ | Shipping industry | The Guardian

…US ports have been inundated with cargo since the pandemic shifted spending. Covid-19 reduced labor needed to keep goods flowing smoothly. Ageing truckers retired early, while infection control measures limited dock and warehouse staffing. Facing full warehouses at home, companies delayed picking up goods at the port.

With container ships stranded at ports and unloaded goods waiting for trucks, the White House hoped the longer workday at the port would help loosen the bottleneck and reduce shipping delays for everything from cars to toasters to sneakers.

On Tuesday, the backlog remained significant, but there were signs of progress. Eighty-four container ships were waiting to enter the Los Angeles–Long Beach port complex, slightly down from some recent days when the number topped 100…

Source: Backlogged LA port struggles to implement 24/7 schedules: ‘We’ve had very few takers’ | Shipping industry | The Guardian

BioNTech’s Özlem Türeci on the Covid-19 pandemic and the vaccine gap – Vox

…Even though it might have seemed that way, this was not something which was developed overnight, as an immediate reaction. We started in the mid-1990s to experiment with mRNA. In 2012, we treated our first patient. These were long years of preparation.

The next threats are already there — but a sense of urgency is not there yet. It is very important, without already seeing the clear threat, to have a vision which can serve as a North Star. And with this perseverance and grit, to work toward actualizing the potential of the technology and trusting in the science to solve it.

The second most important thing is to understand that we are a global community. We are scientists. It wasn’t too clear to us what nonscientific challenges — geopolitical ones, global ethical ones, societal ones — had to be overcome to make all this feasible. Understanding that those are major hurdles, and starting to fix them early on, is important…

Source: BioNTech’s Özlem Türeci on the Covid-19 pandemic and the vaccine gap – Vox

Rep. Paul Gosar’s censure over a violent video featuring AOC matters – Vox

…Gosar’s censure — the second most severe punishment a House member can receive, after expulsion — is significant for several reasons. In addition to doling out a public rebuke, it sends an important message against violent rhetoric, which in politics is often disproportionately targeted toward women of color. The loss of committee seats in particular is notable: It’s through them that lawmakers are able to weigh in on policy and conduct government oversight — and without them, they have little power.

“We cannot have members joking about murdering each other, as well as threatening the president of the United States,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said earlier this week.

While Democrats have broadly condemned Gosar’s actions, Republican leadership has shied away from issuing any outright criticism. “I called him when I heard about the video, and he made a statement that he doesn’t support violence, and he took the video down,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said in a CNN interview.

Gosar has removed the video following significant backlash, and issued a statement saying he does not “espouse violence or harm towards any Member of Congress or Mr. Biden,” but he hasn’t apologized.

Democrats hope the censure vote on Wednesday serves as an explicit condemnation of Gosar’s post, and draws a line regarding the type of behavior lawmakers are willing to accept. Violent language by members has become an especially sensitive issue after the January 6 insurrection highlighted how speeches encouraging violence could translate to real-world deaths…

Source: Rep. Paul Gosar’s censure over a violent video featuring AOC matters – Vox

Reconstituirea

ore de drum

San Angelo in Formis, 2019

Cactuși de Barbaria cu fructe rozulii, țepoase, mărginesc șoseaua îngustă, ici-colo câte un măslin răzleț printre smochini sălbatici, rămuroși, întregesc peisajul tipic pentru Magna Graecia.

Am făcut un ocol pe undeva între Capua și Benevento ca să văd un monument semnificativ pentru sudul Italiei, care mă interesa din trei motive:

1.Mitologic, știind că Templul Dianei era cel mai important sanctuar precreștin din regiune, funcțional până în secolul 6.

La fel ca și Artemis din mitologia greacă, zeița vânătorii era și la romani înarmată cu arc și săgeți, încălțată în sandale comode și pusă pe fugă.

Localnicii au rugat-o să intervină în câștigarea unei bătălii și, drept mulțumire pentru victorie, i-au înălțat un templu. Am fost curioasă să intersectez vibrațiile generate de sacralitatea spațiului care, secole în șir, a atras lumea în pelerinaj.

2.Arhitectural, pentru că biserica de azi ocupă exact perimetrul templului, iar…

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