Even Sophie the dog wears a mask against Coronavirus.
– If giver doesn’t wear mask and receiver does – 70% chance of transmission
– If giver wears mask and receiver doesn’t – 5% chance of transmission
– If giver wears mask and receiver wears mask – 1.5% chance of transmission
That’s doggie good statistics to avoid the Coronavirus plague.
People can learn just like dogs. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Wondering if this is also part of social distancing.
Shopping cart up a pole.
No one else up there.
Safe from Coronavirus, hopefully.
Maybe some illusive toilet paper to be found in the sky mall?
Desperate times calling for desperate measures or an anxious society is losing its mind. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Social distancing is the new norm.
Shaking hands is a no-no!
Even in the park yesterday, they had a sign prominently displayed that read:
Thank you for practicing social distancing. Please stay 6 FT apart.
We might as well all just wear t-shirts or little reminder signs on each of us with:
Keep the F*** away from me!
That about sums it up without putting up a specific distance range. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
This sign was just too great.
Advertisement with the little slips at the bottom to tear off.
Free Cure for COVID-19.
Please take an information strip below
And what do the strips say:
Stay the F**K at home
I wonder why no one took any of the strips? LOL
Like every meaningful issue, we have people on both sides of the aisle fighting it out what is the right thing to do.
And when it comes to life and liberty, passions certainly run high. 😉
(Credit Photo to my son-in-law Itzchak for sharing this with me from his friend in California)
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, “Coronavirus: A Modern Leprosy.”
What an interesting time this week during the coronavirus for my bar-mitzvah parshas of Tazria and Metzora, where we learn about how to handle someone with the plague of leprosy…What’s fascinating though for our times is that right here in the Torah, long before medical science understood germs, washing of hands, and disinfectants, we have the first instruction on quarantining someone who is sick. The person with leprosy is deemed impure and is put outside the camp in quarantine, repeatedly checked (e.g. tested) by the Kohen, until they are healed, at which time they are purified before being allowed back in. What we don’t see with leprosy is that the whole community is put in a state of quasi quarantine as we are doing now globally with the coronavirus.
In the end, I see this coronavirus blowing up with some people forever anxious and germophobic and others becoming complacent and careless about the whole thing. Either way there will be more sick and dying people, as well as anger at the system that over time repeatedly failed us. This week’s parsha is a good reminder to go back to the ultimate wisdom of the Torah and read again how we handle the leper and manage with a thoughtful risk-based management approach and an eye on the ultimate purity—physically and spiritually—of the individual and the community.
(Free Photo via Pixabay)
What will restarting the economy after Coronavirus look like?
Well Israel has a well-thought-out 4 Phase Plan (pending approval) and I would imagine that the U.S. plan will look something very much like this:
– Phase I: Tech and Finance, some Import/Export industries, 50% of Public Sector, and Preschool
– Phase II: Commerce/Retail Stores, Elementary School (ages 6-10)
– Phase III: Cafes, Restaurants, and Hotels, and most of the rest of the Education system
– Phase IV: Leisure and Entertainment: Culture, Sports, Large Shopping Malls, and Flights
There are 4 additional key provisions to this plan:
– 2 Week Buffer between phases to review and evaluate success before moving forward with the next phase.
– “People over 60 and at-risk populations will not resumenormal activity throughout the four phases.”
– Resuming these activities occurs with the exercise of continued caution (e.g. social distancing, testing, etc.)
– Expect 2nd outbreak in the Fall and therefore continue to build up healthcare capabilities in preparation for this
This sounds like an excellent plan as a basis to reopen and one that we can and should build upon. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal and thank you to my sister for sharing this with me)
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, “Synagogue or Sickness?“
When I was a kid and my father would {strongly} encourage me to go to synagogue. My father was a man of deep faith and he used to say warningly to me: “It’s better to go to synagogue than to the hospital.” Obviously, he was implying that if I didn’t follow G-d’s word, then G-d forbid, he would punish me and instead of going to Shul, I would go to the hospital. Maybe not the best way to teach someone to want to go to prayer services, but I know he meant it out of complete love for me and ultimately for my best.
Yet ironically, now with coronavirus preventing us from practicing the many communal aspects of our faith, so many of us can only but wish that we could just go to synagogue to celebrate the holidays and Shabbat together once again. Unfortunately, for now at least, we don’t even have the option to go to synagogue—the choice has been taken from us. G-d willing, hopefully soon, we can once again go—with willingness and love—not only to pray at synagogue, but also to the holy Third Temple in Jerusalem itself.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Even with Coronavirus and the associated lockdowns and social distancing, the grass still needs to be mowed.
These two are doing the work but also look like they could be playing some bumper cars too!
So it is: Life goes on; the world is not (yet) ending.
Unfortunately, there are people suffering and dying.
And we need to help them and try and save their lives.
Also, not forget their families and those out of work.
But as far as the world is concerned, the grass still keeps growing.
The living will go on living as best they can. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
This is the Coronavirus chart that I don’t think anyone wants us to confront.
Rather than the typical chart we are shown with one high and then it tapers off and all is well…
There could be scenarios where there are multiple curves and peaks.
For example, if we send people back out to (work, school, etc.) and stop the social distancing too early–while there are still Coronavirus carriers around us and we don’t have an effective vaccine–then the contagion can start all over again.
Further, even with a vaccine, if the virus mutates (and could become more virulent) then this infection can go on spreading and killing with multiple peaks.
In short, this is the chart that speaks to cases where businesses are closed and people out of work much longer than expected, and where the recession takes hold and does some potentially real and lasting damage above and beyond what’s perhaps already priced in.
Again, let’s hope and pray that we don’t stop the social distancing prematurely and that our doctors and scientists get the vaccine for us sooner rather than later.
(Source Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
Wow, those were different days…
When the stores still had stuff on the shelves.
And you could go in without waiting outside for half an hour for social distancing.
With everyone wearing protective masks and obsessively washing their hands, so please G-d not to get sick.
Then we were happy!
Now we are all just scared.
Even if some people are pretending they aren’t.
It’s more what we still don’t know then what we do.
And how things can unravel so quickly.
Makes us all appreciate what we had, and hopefully what we’ll have again.
Shabbat Shalom! 😉
( Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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