#coronavirus journal

[reality-detective]

A medical textbook from 1989 explains that coronavirus is, in fact, the common cold. 🤔

[thejournallo]

how to meditate a easy way?

oh, hi!

Meditation, in general, is really easy!

You have to lay down in a comfortable position, or if you want, you can sit on the ground or in a yoga position that you like.You can put some music on, light up some candles, and set up a mood for you to relax in.

Concentrate on your breathing; I usually do 4 seconds in, 4 seconds out, and repeat.

After a while, you will enter a relaxing state, and your mind will automatically shift to think and visualize other things. In a deep state of meditation, you can feel your body go numb in a good way.

Meditation is as simple as this: you can concentrate on other things other than your breathing to start the meditation, but concentrating on the breathing or doing breathing exercises helps us calm the body and mind and can be helpful for the everyday basics.

[corona-journal]

1000 days of covid.... a reflection... what do you remember?

If I asked many of the memory of covid, it would be toilet paper shortages, the media call to treat nurses and doctors as heroes, lockdowns and social isolation. But there's more, though....

The picture above is of a near bare row of supermarket shelves, with only a few rolls of toilet paper.

My own memories, in general terms, would be:

The curious spread of this flu variant through China and its neighbouring countries. (Via media reports. Plus its rapid rise up the priority reading list for the broadcast reader/ reporter/ news team)

The slow response of most governments to the emerging cases (easy with hindsight)

The tourist ship Ruby Princess docking with (eventually a total of) 22 cases on board, docking in Sydney. No quarantine controls enforced effectively at that point in time. (And Covid had been a thing well reported)

The toilet paper shortages, followed by shortages of pasta, rice, disinfectant and other staple foods from shelves. Never seen so many bare shelves before, except in news reports where people cleaned out stores in the face of cyclones or snow storms.

The growing weirdness of still going to work when others were getting government pay to stay at home. Apart from the driver, there'd be 2 other people on the bus in.

Add in the loneliness and the ghost town feeling of walking through an empty city. Except for the essential food services, so kids could still get you your order of coffee and mcbreakfast.... odd contrast, you'd agree.

Oh, the anger and entitlement of the covid deniers and anti-maskers.

My father in law complained about mask wearing on a flight down from Queensland to visit us. While my wife, a nurse, is donning full personal protective equipment (PPE) to help with patients. He's not entitled, just an oblivious, selfish idiot.

A bit of resentment at those who got the payments to not work, while I was an essential worker, in the finance sector had to work through. Discussing insurance with customers. All of them wanting discounts for (multitude of self justified reasons). That was tiring...

On the 'others staying home' a lot of people were making bread, trying new hobbies, going back to old hobbies, riding bikes to get fit... that only seemed to last 2 months, then it was easier to watch digitally streamed shows...

Oh, the growing gap between those who could afford the digital upgrade to work and/or study from home. And those that couldn't... that gap is bigger, and will show up in a decade or so...

Travel? Yeah, we'd travel from the couch to the kitchen table, work, then we'd travel to the letterbox and then to the couch again. On weekends, some of us would travel to the shed, to mow the lawns as part of the outside world travel.

Then the acceptance, as we waited for the vaccine to be made. Too late for too many in China, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom....

The USA being the most vocal of the anti-maskers and covid deniers. Because of Trump and his idiot approach to the crisis and his vanity.

A few covid conspiracy people I have spoken to, and seen the marches. I don't have time for dealing with these kind of people. Got used to being able to distance myself pretty quickly.

Overall though, I've become a bit more self directed towards entertaining myself (books and going back to the scale hobby of modelling) and fed up with a big insurance company making lots of profit while increasing the consumers insurance bill by about 20% average per year...

And remote studying has become a lonely grind. I am succeeding in my course so far.

Overall, post vaccine roll-out, we've adapted.

It's gone from being "the Chinese flu" (a pejorative term) to the "spicy cough".

So far, I have remained covid free.

And I have science, medicine and society to thank for that.

23 December 2022.

1000 days of covid.

@bundibird @scrapironflotilla thanks for just engaging with this little effort (it will continue)

@tafkarfanfic @bouncinghedgehog your posts helped with hope and morale when things were tough.

I'd invite you to reblog and share your memories, no matter where in the world you are.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Helena Hind at MMFA:

A segment from one of Fox News’ daytime “straight news” programs cited a study to claim that the COVID-19 vaccine caused millions of “excess deaths” in the U.S. The journal that published the study had clarified nearly a week earlier that this interpretation was false.

The study, published June 3, 2024, in the British Medical Journal, found that excess mortality rates in Western nations were high from 2020 to 2022 “despite the implementation of containment measures and COVID-19 vaccines.” The researchers also encouraged governments to examine the underlying causes of excess mortality to inform public health policy. During the June 12 edition of America Reports, Fox anchor John Roberts characterized the findings differently: “A new study suggests COVID vaccines could be at least partially to blame for more than three million excess deaths in the United States and other countries from 2020 to 2022.” [...] Last week, multiple other right-wing media outlets (and at least one conservative British outlet) repeated the false narrative blaming the vaccine for excess deaths, prompting the British Medical Journal to issue a statement correcting the misinterpretation of the study’s findings.

Fox “News” and other right-wing outlets continue to amplify anti-COVID vaccine talking points, such as falsely blaming excess deaths on COVID vaccines.

[iliveinprocrasti-nationn]

i can never understand all the people going “covid’s just a cold” “it’s just like the flu”. it’s not influenza or a rhinovirus. covid sars-cov-2: severe accute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. scientifically, it can never be a cold or flu, and it will cause severe accute respiratory syndrome. that’s not posturing or dramatics, it’s science

[raskoolz]

Liminal Spaces

Recently, I've noticed a growing trend online of people posting photos of liminal spaces and forming internet communities around this concept.

So what are liminal spaces?

In your own daily life, you may have noticed that there are certain places or states of being in which you may have felt different, "off", or uncomfortable. These places are often associated with liminal spaces and there's a reason why they may seem so uncanny or feel surreal.

The word "liminal" comes from the latin word limen, which in English means "threshold".

The anthropologist, Arnold van Gennep first wrote about the concept of liminality when he developed the idea of rites of passage.

He defined:

a "rite of separation" (preliminary rite)

a "rite of transition" (liminary rite)

and a "rite of incorporation" (post-liminal rite)

This transition theory was formed to explain the pattern he observed when it comes to changes in people's lives.

In short, liminal spaces are transitional or transformative spaces. It's the uncertain transition between where you've been, and where you're going- whether it means physically, mentally or metaphorically.

As a result, these places are often associated with an abandoned or sad atmosphere. They are also usually tied to feelings of despair, confusion, and hopelessness- as well as wonder, awe, and curiosity. Often it is also tied to the idea of a disconnect from the concept of reality or a neglected aesthetic.

To be in a liminal space means to be on the precipice of something, but not quite there yet. Often, when we are in liminal spaces, we have a feeling as if we are on the verge of discovering something new.

This can, of course, take the form of a literal physical place, but it can also take the form of physiological or mental states. There are liminal spaces, but maybe also liminal people- liminal careers, liminal relationships, and liminal events.

A recent example of this can be found during our own lived experience of going through COVID. A worldwide pandemic that brought a halt to our usual routines and day-to-day functions.

(And because this was the case, I think it should come as no surprise that this was when the idea of liminal spaces became more popular online.)

Perhaps what these bizzare/surreal/spooky pictures of abandoned places, and empty rooms allows us to do is to come to terms with our own feelings of confusion or dread.

For some of us (or even a majority of us), maybe we are currently living in a liminal space.

Maybe things don't make sense for you right now, and that's okay.

Maybe things are weird, different, or unfamiliar- and the rules, guiding belief systems, or structures you inhabit have changed, and you've lost your own footing within all that.

But perhaps- if you allow it, these conditions are precisely what is necessary for you to come to a deeper understanding of yourself. Only through these experiences of uncertainty can we learn to tap into the permanently available recreative power we all carry within each of us.

Maybe we could also learn to see the beauty, awe, and mystique that comes with these pictures- and to appreciate them for what they are:

A way for us to just "be" and be okay with it.

[commonsensecommentary]

“Our inability to solve our many problems is a direct result of the insular extremism—promoted daily by liars, bullies, and nut jobs who revel in their power and influence—that today passes for intelligence.”

[corona-journal]

Hmm.

Long covid sufferers may need this....

"Long covid is what's wrong, I can name several prescriptions that don't do much"

can’t wait to wear this to the pharmacy 😎

[corona-journal]

Long covid, and being afflicted with multiple covid

So a good friend of mine, an ED nurse, is sadly one of the outliers who is susceptible to covid and its variants.

He has had one infection of covid, which led to long covid, and now he's had pneumonia like symptoms, since diagnosed as another infection of covid.

(Screenshot below)

The medals are for the ambulance service, but nothing likely will be done (medals wise) for nurses or doctors.

The world isn't injust, it's indifferent.

Politics makes for injustice....

29 April 2024.

[carlocarrasco]

Muntinlupa City Health Office says there are no local cases of COVID-19 FLiRT variants detected

Recently in the City of Muntinlupa, the city health office stated that there are no cases of the new variants of COVID-19, according to a Manila Bulletin news report. To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the Manila Bulletin report. Some parts in boldface… The Muntinlupa City Health Office said there are no cases of the new variants of Covid-19 in the city amid the start…

[corona-journal]

Interesting that there is a examinable result.

And it's a quite quick turnaround on investigating this symptom.

A small light of hope.

8th March 2024

Researchers have discovered that leaky blood vessels, together with a hyperactive immune system may be the underlying cause of brain fog in people with long covid. They suggest their discovery is important for the understanding of brain fog and cognitive decline – difficulty with thinking, memory or concentration – seen in some people with the condition. It is hoped the findings will help with the development of treatments in the future.

To Summarize:

Long Covid sufferers experience symptoms like forgetfulness and concentration issues due to leakiness in brain blood vessels, according to research findings.

Scientists from Trinity College Dublin and FutureNeuro confirm that Long Covid patients with brain fog have disrupted blood vessels in their brains, making the neurological symptoms measurable.

Blood vessel leakage in the brain, along with an overactive immune system, may be the key drivers of brain fog in Long Covid patients, leading to potential changes in understanding and treating post-viral conditions.

I can't find a single right-wing news source covering this.

[corona-journal]

History from 4 years back. Boris Johnson, Brexit and Covid.

Early this week, K and I watched the BBC 4 part series on Boris Johnson

It was interesting to recall how Covid and Brexit were in close conjunction, then Russia invaded Ukraine.

The images of empty streets, medical staff working on patients, were unwelcome memories.

One short video was of a heart rate machine flat lining, and a medical staff member in full multi layered disposable protective gear just reaching up and switching the machine off.

Followed by a voice over of 'The UK is the first country to reach 100,000 covid deaths'.

Next was a series of short clips with marquee tents set up, biohazard clothing people walking along, or in or out of these tents.

Implication: makeshift morgues.

My wife K was more interested in how Boris rose then fell from power.

I'm recalling memories, viewed through the lens of hindsight.

I felt, and still feel, sad.

10 May 2024

[tilos-tagebuch]

Bitte lasst euch nicht beeindrucken von diesen zeitversetzten “Einsichten” der Massenmedien & Institute bez. offensichtlicher Unwirksamkeit von Lockdowns, Masken, Medikamenten etc. Kein Grund zum Feiern. Im Gegenteil.

Der Schaden dieser Gesundheits-PsyOp wurde längst getätigt. Nun macht man KLASSISCHES “limited hangout”: Na gut, wir gestehen ein, dass das alles nicht ganz so wichtig/wirksam war wie angenommen, aber es war eine Notsituation und wir dachten… BULLSHIT!

Dieser Schritt ist der notwendige “Rest-Seriösität bewahren”-Verbindungsschritt fürs nächste Kapitel.

Jeder halbwegs mit seiner Intuition verbundene Mensch wusste nach ein paar Sekunden - spätestens nach ein paar Wochen - was gespielt wurde.

Es war - neben einer globalen Marketingkampagne für mRNA Medikamente - und einer systematischen Vermögensumverteilung - vor allem ein großangelegter Testlauf zum Zwecke der Datensammlung über gesellschaftliche Gefügigkeit und Unterwerfung.

Nun spielen sie die Dilettantismus-Karte… und verschleiern damit den Vorsatz.

Der Rest ist Kindertheater.

[big-sad-thoughts-corner]

If you read a fic that hasn’t been updated since 2020 there’s a decent chance that the author died

[corona-journal]

Cover image change; now, and then.

Here's the header image for this blog, which is the first thing of covid pandemic we all relate to. Toilet paper shortages.

And now, in 2022, verging on 2023

Start the count from 28 March 2020 ( Covid restrictions started officially, in Australia) we've been going through this for 993 days....

7 days from now, Friday 23rd December 2022 will be 1000 days of covid pandemic in Australia.

That's a lot of days....

I'd like to note @scrapironflotilla (and associated blogs) with @bundibird and @peashooter85 for their insights and occasional observations during covid.

Double mention to scrap iron flotilla, for his historian insight into what makes a good journal.

16 December 2022.

[carlocarrasco]

Bivalent COVID-19 vaccines for general population allowed

More patients around the country can avail of the bivalent vaccines for COVID-19 as a result of the Department of Health’s (DOH) revision of its guidelines, according to a Manila Times news report. This developed as less than 50% of the initial batch of bivalent vaccines have been used on patients limited to health care workers and senior citizens. To put things in perspective, posted below is…