Snow
The good taxpayers of Upper Saint Clair have, of course, paid to have their roads clear, and my, oh my, they are indeed beautiful, so I had no difficulty getting to Whole Foods Market to pick up my grocery order. Even crossing over into Bethel Park to get a car wash, the roads did not appear in quite such good condition.
The car wash was a failure—my fault, not the machine’s—as all the good stuff just went on top of the snow. It didn’t even get all the snow off my car. But I have two monthly plans. I’ll go to the other place, which I think gives me a better wash anyway, which is near my mailbox, and where humans are also involved, later.
Great night riding along with Greg from @PGHDPW 4th Division plowing and salting in the Hilltop and Carrick. Public Works drivers are working hard to keep us all safe in the first snow of the year; Let's go get it! pic.twitter.com/dk1aO0B50o
— Jake Pawlak (@jakepawlakpgh) January 7, 2022
I’m hoping this means I can go to work.
Pandemic
Pennsylvania region
Fig. 1. Screenshot of Allegheny County COVID-19 data and trends, taken by author, January 7, 2022.[1]
I will be exposed to the Omicron variant, I likely already have been, and it is likely I will continue to be so. It has reached Allegheny County, positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results have reached 26 percent,[2] and I have high public contact in a confined space. The only good news in figure 1 is that deaths are not skyrocketing along with cases and hospitalizations.[3] Fortunately for me, but not for anyone else, my history is that if I am infected, I probably won’t even notice.
And no, I have little patience for sweetness and light crap like this:
[Debra] Bogen urged people to show compassion.
“Regardless of one’s beliefs and vaccination status, we need to continue to look out for each other, protect each other and be good neighbors,” she said.
She said that compassion, not condescension, for those remaining on the fence about certain public health recommendations is key.
“Only by showing compassion do we give people the space they need to consider their beliefs – about masking, vaccination and doing their part to protect others,” she said. “Without compassion, without empathy, we only cause people to feel attacked, and we can unintentionally cause divisions to grow.”
She urged people to find new ways to reach out with compassion to “those with differing beliefs.”
“I understand that we’re frustrated and worried about the future,” she said, “but we are truly all in this together.”[4]
Trumpists respond to compassion with “Fuck Your Feelings” and “Make A Liberal Cry.” I don’t even want to hear about how I should have compassion for people who have chosen to be assholes, who hold nothing but disdain for fellow human beings.
Megan Guza, “Covid positivity rate in Allegheny skyrockets to 26% as omicron spreads,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, January 5, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/covid-positivity-rate-in-allegheny-skyrockets-to-26-as-omicron-spreads/
Lancaster Online, “COVID-19 patient counts set new records in Lancaster County and across Pennsylvania as hospital surge continues,” January 6, 2022, https://lancasteronline.com/news/health/covid-19-patient-counts-set-new-records-in-lancaster-county-and-across-pennsylvania-as-hospital/article_04961f14-6f1b-11ec-8b7d-ffafa9586634.html
(Inter)national
Can someone please explain to me why there aren't COVID vaccine mandates for kids? My kid is required to have more than 10 vaccines to attend school, but not a COVID vaccine. @SchoolBoardBloc @PPSConnect
— Marnie Glickman Curtis (@marniemix) January 7, 2022
[Greg] Abbott’s letter did not take issue with the dozen-plus other vaccines Guardsmen – and all other service members – are ordered to receive, including vaccinations against hepatitis and smallpox and annual flu shots.[5]
Agence France-Presse, “Soaring Omicron could lead to more dangerous variants, WHO warns,” Times of Israel, January 4, 2022, https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/soaring-omicron-could-lead-to-more-dangerous-variants-who-warns/
Steve Beynon, “‘He Is Not Your Commander-in-Chief:’ Texas Governor Promises Guardsmen He’ll Fight Biden Over Vaccine Mandate,” Military.com, January 4, 2022, https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/01/04/he-not-your-commander-chief-texas-governor-promises-guardsmen-hell-fight-biden-over-vaccine-mandate.html
Luke Money, Rong-Gong Lin, II, and Emily Alpert Reyes, “Hospitals see big jumps in COVID-19 patients, but this surge is different from last winter,” Los Angeles Times, January 4, 2022, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-01-04/covid-hospitalizations-top-summer-surge-in-l-a
Ovetta Wiggins, “Hogan declares 30-day state of emergency as state enters its ‘most challenging time’ of the pandemic,” Washington Post, January 4, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/01/04/hogan-declares-emergency-coronavirus/
Spencer Kimball, “CDC declines to add Covid testing recommendation to updated isolation guidance despite criticism,” CNBC, January 5, 2022, https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/04/cdc-adds-testing-guidance-to-shortened-covid-isolation-recommendation-after-facing-criticism.html
Sophia Tareen, “Chicago cancels classes after union backs remote learning,” Associated Press, January 5, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-education-chicago-teaching-289f27d91f9c9ed36715577b0b0a6548
Robert Barnes and Ann E. Marimow, “Supreme Court’s conservatives seem skeptical of Biden’s workplace vaccination rules,” Washington Post, January 7, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-biden-vaccine-mandate/2022/01/06/93b4d45c-6f2e-11ec-a5d2-7712163262f0_story.html
- [1]Allegheny County Health Department, “COVID-19 in Allegheny County,” January 6, 2022, https://tableau.alleghenycounty.us/t/PublicSite/views/COVID-19Summary_16222279737570/COVID-19Summary?%3AshowAppBanner=false&%3Adisplay_count=n&%3AshowVizHome=n&%3Aorigin=viz_share_link&%3AisGuestRedirectFromVizportal=y&%3Aembed=y↩
- [2]Megan Guza, “Covid positivity rate in Allegheny skyrockets to 26% as omicron spreads,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, January 5, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/covid-positivity-rate-in-allegheny-skyrockets-to-26-as-omicron-spreads/↩
- [3]Allegheny County Health Department, “COVID-19 in Allegheny County,” January 6, 2022, https://tableau.alleghenycounty.us/t/PublicSite/views/COVID-19Summary_16222279737570/COVID-19Summary?%3AshowAppBanner=false&%3Adisplay_count=n&%3AshowVizHome=n&%3Aorigin=viz_share_link&%3AisGuestRedirectFromVizportal=y&%3Aembed=y↩
- [4]Megan Guza, “Covid positivity rate in Allegheny skyrockets to 26% as omicron spreads,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, January 5, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/covid-positivity-rate-in-allegheny-skyrockets-to-26-as-omicron-spreads/↩
- [5]Steve Beynon, “‘He Is Not Your Commander-in-Chief:’ Texas Governor Promises Guardsmen He’ll Fight Biden Over Vaccine Mandate,” Military.com, January 4, 2022, https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/01/04/he-not-your-commander-chief-texas-governor-promises-guardsmen-hell-fight-biden-over-vaccine-mandate.html↩