Week 5 of Coronavirus 'Staycation'

This week definitely ended up being a bit less active than last week. Hopefully it will still be interesting enough to read about.

Below is a snippet of the news from May 3

~

In the news:

Expect a barrage of reopening announcements in the coming days.

A majority of US states have begun easing social distancing restrictions even as pandemic experts say lifting lockdowns now will be destructive without increased testing capacity.

"You're making a big mistake," a disaster preparedness specialist told CNN. "It's going to cost lives."

Lockdown protests have spread across the United States in past weeks. In the United Kingdom, meanwhile, police have issued thousands of fines to people flouting the rules and in Germany, activists have gone to court to challenge the country's ban on gatherings.

While some US governors may dismiss scientists and reopen, many people and businesses are staying put. In Georgia, restaurants got the green light to reopen last week, but the owners of more than 120 popular eateries have kept doors closed because the risk is too high.

What if a vaccine is never found?

The race to develop a coronavirus vaccine has consumed time and money. But despite optimism from political leaders about human trials already underway, many experts fear that no vaccine might ever be developed.

If a vaccine can't be produced, life will not remain as it is now. But it might not return to normality quickly, Rob Picheta writes. As countries start to creep out of paralysis, health experts would push governments to implement new standards of living. That could buy the world the months, years or decades needed until a vaccine can wipe out Covid-19.

Warren Buffett vows that the US will recover

During a shareholders meeting yesterday, the 89-year old billionaire discussed previous times of hardship: the Cuban missile crisis, the Cold War, 9/11 and the Great Recession. Every time it seemed that times were bleak, Buffett said, America eventually recovered.

Buffett struck a defiant tone even as his company, Berkshire Hathaway, posted a nearly $50 billion net loss in the first quarter, its biggest ever.

The losses reflect the wider misery of the US economy right now: 30 million people have filed for unemployment benefits, millions of small businesses have requested loans to stay alive and second quarter economic output could decline by 40%, economists say.

Engineers, chefs and waitresses now farming in the UK

Daniel Martin is a civil engineer. Or rather he was, until furloughed in the wake of the pandemic. Now he works on a farm. He figured it would be better than sitting on his couch all summer.

As Covid-19 cases surpass 180,000 in the UK, British farmers have lost the eastern European migrant workers who normally harvest crops. With thousands of Brits out of work, it has become government policy to lure citizens into the fields. Mick Krever and Nic Robertson report.

Infections keep spiking in Russia

Russia reported 10,633 new coronavirus cases today, another single-day record. The country has seen four consecutive days of record increases, bringing the total to 134,687.

Just weeks ago, the Russian President Vladimir Putin radiated confidence about his government's response, reassuring his citizens that the situation was "under control" thanks to early intervention measures.

That mood has decidedly shifted. This week, Putin struck a much more somber tone, admitting there wasn't enough personal protective equipment for medical workers. "The situation is still very difficult," he said, according to the Kremlin. "We are facing a new and perhaps the most intense stage in countering the epidemic."

~

My thoughts:

Wow, that ended up being a lot longer than most of the news that has been in these posts! This week, my mom ordered masks for our entire family! I will include the pictures of my masks once they arrive. I spent a bunch of my time reading Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. If you hadn't noticed, it's my book of the month on the home page. I highly recommend it, but just know it has some language. Have any of you spent a lot of time reading? I've read 3 books now, I believe. Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling and Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. They are all very good and I highly recommend reading them. My favourite past time has been getting back into The Sims 4 and building my dream house for my family and me. I spent 7 hours in total on making a humongous house, and then it didn't save! Luckily I'd spent so much time working on it, I'd memorized it and was able to recreate it in 20 minutes. I also spent all of Friday on a virtual vacation with my mom and my sister. We went to India {for the elephants, of course} and to Australia for crab rolls in Bondi beach!

Then we went hiking in New Zealand, Harry Potter World in Disney World and to the Louvre in Paris! It was a lot of fun and I would definitely do it again!

I hope you all had a good week, too! Make sure to stay active and try reading a book or painting a picture! See you all on Friday!