New York Times. Coronavirus stuff. April 19, 2021.

April 19, 2021

An informed guide to the pandemic, with the latest developments and expert advice about prevention and treatment.

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The New York Times

By Jonathan Wolfe and Amelia Nierenberg

India is facing new lockdowns and oxygen and drug shortages as cases spiral upward. In an effort to block variants, Hong Kong banned flights from three countries and emptied an apartment block. New York State said that some people got too much unemployment money and might have to give it back. Get the latest updates here, as well as maps and vaccines in development.

The U.S. reaches universal eligibility

The United States passed a significant milestone in its vaccine rollout: As of today, all adults in every state, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico are now eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine.

The states had rushed to meet the April 19 deadline set by President Biden two weeks ago, and today the final states — Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont — expanded eligibility.

After a slow start in December, the pace of vaccinations in the U.S. has picked up considerably in recent months. More than 131 million people, or half of all American adults, had received at least one shot as of Sunday, and about 84.3 million people had been fully vaccinated, a third of the adult population. At its current pace, the U.S. will vaccinate 70 percent of its population by mid-June, but experts are warning Americans not to let their guards down. The virus is resurgent and the U.S. is averaging more than 67,000 new cases a day over the past seven days, up from over 54,000 a month ago.

The next phase of the rollout will bring its own challenges. Some scientists and health officials believe that making more people eligible will ultimately get more people vaccinated more swiftly. But others have said they are worried that some of the most vulnerable people, including those 65 and older, may have trouble competing for a shot. About a fifth of that group has not received even one shot.

As the vaccine supply expands, the extent of vaccine skepticism in the country will also come into focus. To combat vaccine hesitancy, the Biden administration is making an intense push today, which officials have likened to a “get out the vote” effort that will roll out on social media and radio and television programs.

Officials are particularly concerned about a rise in vaccine hesitancy as federal health officials pause the use of the Johnson & Johnson dose while regulators examine six cases of rare blood clots among recipients. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel is expected to meet on Friday and make recommendations about the vaccine’s use.

The science behind Covid ‘blah’

A year in, and we are languishing. That’s the academic term for the collective fog we’ve endured for more than a year — trouble concentrating, trouble staying motivated, trouble getting excited about the future.

Languishing isn’t burnout, which is more a lack of energy. It’s not depression, with its lack of hope. Instead, it’s a sense of stagnation, of emptiness, of just-getting-by, a malaise that might be the dominant emotion of 2021.

Adam Grant, a professor of management and psychology at Wharton, suggested we think of languishing as a midpoint between flourishing and depression.

“Flourishing is the peak of well-being: You have a strong sense of meaning, mastery and mattering to others. Depression is the valley of ill-being: You feel despondent, drained and worthless,” Grant writes.

There’s still more research to do, but giving the emotion a name might give us a way to move forward, Grant argues.

“It could give us a socially acceptable response to ‘How are you?’

Instead of saying ‘Great!' or ‘Fine,’ imagine if we answered, ‘Honestly, I’m languishing.’ It would be a refreshing foil for toxic positivity — that quintessentially American pressure to be upbeat at all times.”

Vaccine rollout

It can still be tough to find a vaccine appointment in France. A data scientist’s app is helping. There’s a giant blue whale at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. You can soon get vaccinated beneath it, if you’d like. Alaska will offer vaccinations to tourists in June to boost tourism-related businesses, Alaska Public Media reports. The U.S. military will begin offering vaccines to detainees at Guantánamo Bay. “Joe’s Covee Car” is decorated with dryer balls that look like the coronavirus. And it ferries people to vaccine sites in New Jersey for free, The Washington Post reports.

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What else we’re following

The Navajo Nation reported no new deaths for the seventh consecutive day and just two new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, The Associated Press reports. After the N.F.L. canceled its in-person draft combine, pro prospects and the teams scouting them have been forced to adjust. Airports in Australia and New Zealand were filled with emotional scenes as thousands of passengers were allowed to travel freely between the two countries for the first time in more than a year. Eyeing tourist season this summer, Greece will relax its quarantine rules. The pandemic has exacerbated Argentina’s economic crisis: In 2020, the national economy shrank by nearly 10 percent, the third straight year of recession. Cambodians could get 20 years in prison for breaking pandemic rules, under a new law that human rights groups say pushes the country toward “totalitarian dictatorship,” The Guardian reports.

This is what happens when brainwashed children worship the wrong god fairy.

On This Day...
November 11, 2013: Damascus, Syria
Children at a Catholic school are targeted by terrorists: 9 Killed

Bangkok Post

Nine children were killed and 27 people wounded when mortar rounds hit a Catholic school and a school bus in the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday, state television reported.

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In other news from the Bangkok Post, this is much more interesting and a bit disgusting.

"A cheap source of protein, dog meat is still consumed in several Asian countries from China and South Korea to Vietnam and non-Muslim communities in Indonesia."

I would not eat a dog. I would rather starve to death. I prefer chicken thighs.

This is much worse than disgusting. "Warning: graphic videos."

Bangkok Post - 'It's a sin': Cambodia's brutal and shadowy dog meat trade

SIEM REAP: Cambodia: Cambodian dog meat traders drown, strangle and stab thousands of canines a day in a shadowy but sprawling business that traumatises workers and exposes them to deadly health risks like rabies.

Khieu Chan bursts into tears when describing a job that haunts him as he goes to sleep: he kills up to six dogs a day, slicing their throats.

"Please forgive me. "If I don't kill you, I can't feed my family," the 41-year-old tells the 10 dogs awaiting their fate in a cage.

A cheap source of protein, dog meat is still eaten in several Asian countries from China and South Korea to Vietnam and non-Muslim communities in Indonesia.

Animal welfare activists say consumption has declined as the region's middle class has grown -- more people own pets, and there's greater stigma associated with eating dog.

But the brutal trade has flown under the radar in Cambodia where new research shows a thriving business involving roving dog catchers, unlicensed slaughterhouses and many restaurants in cities selling so-called "special meat".

An estimated two to three million dogs are slaughtered annually in Cambodia, according to the NGO Four Paws, which identified more than 100 dog meats restaurants in the capital Phnom Penh and about 20 in the temple town of Siem Reap.

"It has this massive trade," says Katherine Polak, a Thailand-based veterinarian who works with the NGO, which recently presented findings to the government.

Officials were "shocked" by the magnitude, she claims.

- Rabies crisis -

Motorbike riders criss-cross northern Cambodia trading pots, pans and cookware for unwanted dogs, loading them into a heavy rectangular cage on the back seat and making deliveries to middlemen.

Live specimens fetch $2 to $3 per kilo, incentivizing suppliers to collect as many as possible.

Researchers say the dog meat trade is a public health crisis because it carries potentially infected animals all over the country.

Cambodia has one of the highest incidence rates of rabies in the world and most cases are from dog bites.

The trade also undermines local canine immunization efforts by removing and killing vaccinated dogs.

Unsanitary slaughterhouses have no safety regulations as they aren't overseen by the government, and workers wear no protective gear.

"I got bitten by a dog but I did not get vaccinated because when I returned it was late at night," Pring That told AFP in a village in Siem Reap as he cooked dog meat stew with fermented fish paste.

Instead, the 33-year-old cleaned the wound with soap and lemon.

Industrial-scale slaughterhouses in developing countries put some distance between workers and animals.

But the Cambodian dog trade is hands on.

After receiving delivery, shirtless men poke dogs with sticks into holding cages.

They are then hung, strangled with rope, clubbed over the head or drowned in a pit filled with fetid water.

Just after sunrise in a village in Siem Reap, one worker pulled a dog out of a cage and hung it on the branch of a tree near drying laundry.

After gasping for breath for several minutes, it stopped moving.

It was then placed in boiling water to remove fur and chopped into parts.

"On a good day, I kill 10 dogs or 12 dogs," says former soldier Hun Hoy.

"I also feel pity for them, but I have to strangle them," the 59-year-old adds.

- 'Hear their cries' -

Suppliers can earn from $750 to $1,000 in a country where wages in garment factories are under $200.

Productivity is crucial.

"It's faster to hit them," explains Dara, 30, a collector, trader and butcher.

"I know it's a sin," he adds.

Drowning is the preferred method of slaughter a few hours away in Kampong Cham and Kandal provinces.

"By putting them in the cage and drowning them in a pit, we don't have to hear their cries," said one woman.

Meat and parts are sold onto restaurants, where they are a popular with day labourers as a barbecued snack or a $1.25 soup.

The psychological trauma to bring cheap meat to the table is immense and those who find a better job take it.

Next to his dog cage in Takeo, Khieu Chan spoke about meeting Four Paws during their investigation of the trade.

In an unconventional twist, they gave him land for farming if he would close his restaurant.

One recent afternoon he helped the NGO gingerly take the sickly dogs out of the cage placed under a tree.

But before they were removed and sent to Phnom Penh for treatment, he knelt by the bars to say goodbye.

He says: "Now you have freedom. You are spared from death."