States have been backing off on some of their restrictions, reopening businesses and getting some people back to work. My home state has been one of those dialing back some restrictions, with golf courses, campgrounds, and restaurants reopening with some social distancing conditions. The same is true of some retail stores that have been closed. More restrictions will be removed in a couple of more weeks to help get the state ready for the summer tourist season. (Yes, New Hampshire has been seeing more reported cases of Covid-19, but not because it’s becoming more prevalent so much as it’s been because the number of tests being performed has gone way up. A vast majority of the 84 Covid-19 deaths to date have taken place in long-term care facilities in one of two counties.)
Some events have been rescheduled until later in the summer, one of those being the annual Laconia Motorcycle Rally, i.e. Bike Week. It usually takes place in June, starting the weekend before Father’s Day, but has been moved to the third week in August. (This actually helps because one of the main roads that lead into Weirs Beach, the epicenter of Bike Week, has been closed to allow for the replacement of a bridge deck that crosses over the tracks of the Winnipesaukee Railroad. The work will be completed before the new date of Bike Week.)
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It’s got to be something in the water. That’s the only thing that explains the eliminationist rhetoric emanating from California, in this case from a planning commission member in Antioch, California.
The official in question, Ken Turnage, stated COVID-19 should be allowed to run its course, killing elderly and homeless residents to “fix what is a significant burden on our society." With that in mind, how far a step is it to “We should just kill ‘em off because they’re nothing but a burden on society”?
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Is vulnerability to Covid-19 a function of vitamin D deficiency? If that is indeed the case, then things like shelter-at-home policies may have been counterproductive, increasing the incidences of vitamin D deficiencies during a time when we needed to see the opposite trend.
Could the easiest and cheapest means of reducing the number of Covid-19 deaths be as simple as exposure to more sunshine and/or taking vitamin D supplements?
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Who didn’t see this coming?
Sweden is seeing an increase in violent crime committed by Muslim immigrants.
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One has to wonder whether this is an outlier or a general indicator that coronavirus infections are much higher than anyone knew.
It turns out that the San Francisco Bay area antibody testing has shown that coronavirus infections may be up to 85 times higher than reported.
Antibody testing has started in other areas (including here) and I expect we’ll see exposure to and infection by coronavirus is many times higher than originally thought. If that is indeed the case, then that means the death rate is much lower.
It also means that many of the more draconian precautions taken by the states were over the top and ineffective.
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It’s been great weather here in central New Hampshire and people are making the best of it. One of our iconic seasonal restaurants reopened last weekend and people have been flocking to it in large numbers for their takeout chicken, burgers, lobster rolls, and ice cream treats. People have been out on the lake, walking the trails, or walking along the roads in their towns. Town parks have seen a lot of people, with some of the playgrounds remaining closed. Our town’s beach will be opening shortly (though the lake’s water will still be a little too cold for swimming for more than a few minutes at a time), as will a number of other town state beaches along the lake and the seacoast.
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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where some summer activities have already started, summer eateries are already opening, and the weather is cooperating.