On August 30, 2021, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed an Executive Order that states in pertinent part;
THEREFORE, by the powers vested in me as the Governor of the State of Illinois, pursuant to the Illinois Constitution and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act, 20 ILCS 3305, Sections 7(1), 7(2), 7(3), 7(8), 7(12), and Section 19 thereof, and consistent with the powers in public health laws, I hereby order the following effective immediately:
Section 1: Face covering requirements for individuals. Beginning on Monday, August 30, 2021, all individuals in Illinois who are age two or over and able to medically tolerate a face covering (a mask or cloth face covering) shall be required to cover their nose and mouth with a face covering when in an indoor public place. Illinoisans should also consider wearing a mask in crowded outdoor settings and for activities that involve close contact with others who are not fully vaccinated.
Face coverings may be removed temporarily while actively eating or drinking (including in bars or restaurants), and may be removed by workers at workplaces when they can consistently maintain six feet of distance (such as when workers are in their office or cubicle space).
You can read the full Executive Order at this link.
On Monday, November, 1, 2021, my son took me on errands. It was around 5:10 p.m. when we finished up. I told him that I was hungry but too tired to cook and wanted something other than a burger and fries. We decided to go to Culver’s and the closest one is at 1224 Benington Road. I like their cod dinners and they have broccoli as a side. Because I’m allergic to soy bean oil, (in addition to other things), I’m very limited to what I can eat when ordering out.
The drive-thru was very long and it didn’t look as if the cars were moving, so we parked in the lot and went in. The man greeting us from behind the counter had on a mask that was below his mouth. (Let’s call him Head Person In Charge (HPIC)) If not but for the fact that it was rush-hour (so other places would also be crowded), and the allergies, and I was hungry and tired, I would have turned around and walked out. I stood back from the counter as far as I could. Read the rest of this entry
Like many things, most people do not educate themselves on things until they have a need to know. In September 2018, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. After biopsy, I was told that the cancer cells were Her 2 positive, which qualified me to receive immunology drugs Herceptin and Perjecta. I was given a book to read about breast cancer. It contains a section on the treatment of Her 2 positive with mRNA drugs, also called immunology drugs. There was no desire within me to know anything about how the drugs were developed or how long they had been used. All I knew is that treatment was not optional for me. I wanted and still want to live.
That was my first knowledge of mRNA science. mRNA is not an invention. It’s a discovery. Messenger RNA (mRNA) was discovered centuries ago. The motivation to use it to treat or cure disease began in the 1990’s. The link here is an extensive story of how mRNA was studied to treat disease.
This year I began speaking with friends about Covid-19 vaccinations and why I did not have to be convinced to get vaccinated – because I already experienced receiving drugs developed using mRNA science. My only concern was the coverage length for the vaccination.
One friend later shared with me how she was talking to others about our conversation. One person responded that she thought the science was new. Now that she understood that mRNA science was used to develop cancer treating drugs since the 90’s, she was encouraged to get vaccinated. Read the rest of this entry
Just wondering out loud …
Thursday, I received my first dose of the Moderna vaccine. None of the vaccines are 100 percent effective. That is one reason why we still need to wear masks until everyone is vaccinated — but I don’t see that happening.
Because I’m prone to allergies, I had the vaccination in a Prompt Care facility and had to wait a half hour after the vaccination before I could leave. While waiting, I wondered if America is doing the right thing by sending vaccinations to other countries now.
According to the CDC, no one knows how long the vaccinations will protect us. Three months? Six months? Twelve months? More than a year? No one knows. We’ve not had and tested Covid-19 vaccinations long enough to know. So, what happens if we find that vaccinations only protect us for 6 months, and we don’t have a supply to re-vaccinate all Americans who want to be vaccinated?
Your thoughts?
Just after I posted Trump’s Suspension of Travel From Europe Sealed America’s Fate For Major Covid 10 Spread, news came out that Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, developed a national testing strategy. Donald however, was looking for a re-election advantage. As reported in Vanity Fair,
Most troubling of all, perhaps, was a sentiment the expert said a member of Kushner’s team expressed: that because the virus had hit blue states hardest, a national plan was unnecessary and would not make sense politically. “The political folks believed that because it was going to be relegated to Democratic states, that they could blame those governors, and that would be an effective political strategy,” said the expert.
That logic may have swayed Kushner. “It was very clear that Jared was ultimately the decision maker as to what [plan] was going to come out,” the expert said.
I took another look at the Department of Homeland Security’s list of airports allowing the landing of planes from Europe carrying American citizens. There are 13 airports on the list. Other than Texas, Georgia and Florida, the planes were not allowed to land in other southern states.
Donald Trump exploited Covid-19 , intentionally allowing the virus to infect Blue States, not provide testing through the federal government, and blame Democratic Governors for the spread and lack of testing.
Now, the Lincoln Project has come out with a video about it.
Donald Trump represents that mail-in voting is different than absentee voting. His position is that absentee voting requires requesting a ballot while mail-in voting does not. Trump also represents a factual error about mail-in voting. He postures it as ALL states mailing ballots to registered voters whether or not they want to vote by mail.
THAT IS NOT TRUE FOR THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
I reside in the State of Illinois where I am a registered voter. In the mail, I received an “Application For Vote By Mail”. It is not a ballot. I would need to fill-out the application and wait to receive the ballot by mail.
Trump’s generalizations include an assumption that only Democrats want mail-in voting for the general election. There is a pandemic in America. Covid-19 acts differently in people, but it can be deadly. People not only have to think about themselves, but also those around them; family, friends, co-workers. No sane person wants to gamble with their life.
Maybe it’s because a disproportionate of minorities die from Covid-19 that it’s assumed the number of Democratic voters are being reduced. As of today in the United States, there are almost 170,000 deaths from Covid-19. States such as Texas and Florida have seen almost 10,000 deaths from Covid-19. Georgia and Arizona have almost 5,000 deaths from Covid-19. (Stats from CDC on 8/16/2020) Read the rest of this entry
That suspension meant that Americans in Europe needed to return home, and Trump gave them 48 hours to do so, packing them into airports like sardines for hours.
Trump has praised himself for his decision in January to restrict travel from China in order to contain the coronavirus, claiming that his decision saved millions of lives. His response to travel from Europe however, opened the back door for Covid-19 to enter the U.S. Many Americans did not want to be stuck in Europe and returned to the U.S. on the same weekend, bringing the virus with them. Exposed travelers into the U.S. from Europe sealed the nation’s fate for a major spread.
On March 12, 2020, Trump suspended all travel to the United States from Europe for 30 days. Americans had 48 hour notice to make travel arrangements back to the U.S.
We should never forget that it was Trump’s decision that caused a major spread of Covid-19 across the United States.
On March 13, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security published its outline for Americans returning from Europe.
““Effective for flights taking off at 11:59 PM EDT on Friday, March 13th, Americans returning from all restricted countries will now be required to travel through the following 13 airports:”
Those airports were;
On March 14, 2020, 40,000 passengers returning from Europe crowded into the 13 airports.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), on March 13, 2020, the United States had 1,896 confirmed Covid-19 virus cases. Two weeks later, on March 27, 2020, the number of confirmed cases had risen to 103,321. Read the rest of this entry
During Memorial Day weekend, while the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus was nearing 100,000, and after he had called for the reopening of the nation’s churches, Donald Trump was playing golf. In fact, he hit the course that he owns in Virginia, twice. Quite frankly, I’m surprised he felt confident enough about his safety […]
We all know how much impact the quarantine and all the time that we have spent “locked down” has had on us. Days seem to melt together, and, on occasions, time just seems to slow down.
I came across the following thoughts from a friend of mine. Some of them are funny and some will make you sit back and think. Whatever the case…enjoy.
***************
I hope they give us two weeks’ notice before sending us back out into the real world. I think we’ll all need the time to become ourselves again. And by “ourselves” I mean lose 10 pounds, cut our hair and get used to not drinking at 9:00 a.m.
New monthly budget: Gas: $0, Entertainment: $0, Clothes: $0, Groceries: $2,799.
Breaking News: Wearing a mask inside your home is now highly recommended. Not so much to stop COVID-19, but to stop eating.
It’s been months since I posted what is happening with me health wise. With the recent stay-at-home orders because of Covid-19, I am constantly reminded of chemo class. It was an informative and instructional class for patients before starting chemo treatment. Among the instructions were:
There were also suggestions such as getting enough groceries before treatment to last at least 2 weeks. Another suggestion was that if we had to go out for anything and felt weak, to wear a mask. Read the rest of this entry
This is really cool. Nurses along with other front line workers are true superheroes. They deserve a place of honor in our world these days.
Need to laugh?
The Governor of Illinois gives a briefing around 3 p.m. CST. About 3 times a week, that briefing is followed by one held by County and City officials. When they have finished, I’m usually off to the kitchen to start cooking dinner.
Thursday was different. I had left-overs so after the local briefings, I turned to MSNBC. I was hoping it was too early for the Donald Trump liar-a-thon, but I was wrong. When he spoke about killing coronavirus by injecting people with disinfectant, I went numb for a few seconds. UNBELIEVABLE!
Twitter has been ablaze with comments, memes, and jokes about Trump’s cure. Among them all, I found the following extra funny because it gave no clue that it wasn’t serious and seriously funny. Enjoy.
https://twitter.com/UKDemockery/status/1253493863932715009
Regarding the coronavirus sweeping across the United States, on March 22, 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump said in a tweet;
“WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF. AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAS WE WANT TO GO!”
During his briefing on March 23, 2020, Trump made it clear that his perception of a highly contagious virus with potential to kill is a “problem” rather than a public health issue. Rather than avoid the spread of the virus, he wants people to return to work. He wants the stock market to go up.
According to Politico, the prospect of resuming typical business has horrified public health leaders.
“At a White House briefing Monday night, Trump seemed adamant that the economy would come back to life “very soon,” insisting that the government can fight the viral spread while also going to work — ‘we can do them both at the same time’.”
Let’s be clear about something. The White House recommended “social distancing” but Trump, neither anyone in his administration, gave stay-at-home orders. He can’t rescind nor change orders that he didn’t issue.
As of March 24, 2020, Governors of 16 states have issued stay-at-home orders. The mayor of Atlanta issued a stay-at-home order for that city.
Donald Trump lacks jurisdiction to order Governors and Mayors to cancel their orders. Read the rest of this entry
If Covid-19 (Coronavirus) is spread by coughing and sneezing, how are people getting it from others who are not coughing and sneezing and have no symptoms?
From the CDC;
How COVID-19 Spreads
Person-to-person spread
The virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person.
- Between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet).
- Through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs.
Can someone spread the virus without being sick?
- People are thought to be most contagious when they are most symptomatic (the sickest).
- Some spread might be possible before people show symptoms; there have been reports of this occurring with this new coronavirus, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.
Spread from contact with contaminated surfaces or objects
It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.
Photo by http://www.zastavki.com/
2020 Nominated by Iridium Eye Reviews
Nominated by Studiotj
Nominated by Micheline Walker
Respect Award
2018
Second nomination 1/2017
We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident 