God Bless America and God Bless Los Angeles

Amidst this whole coronavirus pandemic, a horrible event has taken place over this last week.  On May 25, 2020 George Floyd died at the hands of a Minneapolis Police officer named Derek Chauvin.  Reports state that Floyd tried to use a counterfeit $20 bill at a deli to purchase goods leading to his arrest and ultimately leading to his death.  The official report states that Officer Chauvin kneeled on Floyd's neck for over 8 minutes which is the reported the cause of death.  Days after this incident, protests have emerged across the country hoping to find justice.  Officer Chauvin was arrested and is being held for the death of George Floyd and an ongoing investigation is underway by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).  Minneapolis, Los Angeles, New York City, and countless numbers of cities around the nation have gathered and demanded justice to be served and equality to be established in the US.  This is not the first time that hatful crimes like this have taken place in America, many which have gone unheard.  In the city of Los Angeles, it seems to be feeling a lot like 1992.  The horrible acts of the Los Angeles Police Department led to the brutal beating of Rodney King sparking the LA riots in 1992.  Though these events did not take place in Los Angeles,  they have sparked a nationwide uprising which hopes for a wakening of justice.  Sadly, peaceful protests have escalated to rioting and looting in many cities.  The national guard has been deployed to cities including Minneapolis and Los Angeles to protect its citizens and to establish order, hoping to calm the tension.  I support the demand for justice during this time along with many others.  From one Angeleno during this hard time, we are all in this together.  God bless America and God bless Los Angeles.

Labor Day at the beach as coronavirus deaths nears 100,000

Labor Day is this Monday which happens to be one of the most celebrated holidays of the year.  Unlike previous years, this labor day may have some restrictions when it comes to enjoying the sun on the beach or having a barbeque with the family, or will it?  The nationwide stay at home order is still in effect but it seems that people have other inhibitions when it comes to celebrating this year.  Beaches have just reopened in California and it seems that people have taken advantage of these newly acquired freedoms.  Thousands of people have been crowding the beaches, having family gatherings, and are beginning to re-emerge all across cities around the nation which is worrying many citizens and professionals.  It's inevitable that people are going to celebrate this year's Labor Day on the beach and in the sun and truly is nothing that can be done about it.  Though I believe people should continue to follow the social distancing guidelines, I think that if these guidelines are followed carefully celebrating at the beach or having a family barbeque is totally acceptable.  Over the course of the next month or so, we will begin to see more and more people going out in public, participating in social gatherings, and not following certain government restrictions.  Hopefully, this pandemic will continue to improve and eventually be under control but until then, restrictions and stay at home orders will continue to be broken.

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/05/25/coronavirus-update-us/

       

Life is normal in Sweden

During this coronavirus pandemic, Sweden has taken a different direction in how they are handling things.  Instead of mandated stay at home orders and other rules being set by the government, authorities have instead trusted the common sense and judgment of their citizens.  The Swedish government has told the people to "use common sense" and to not gather in crowds of over 50 people.  Unlike the rest of the world, Sweden seems to be dealing with Covid-19 in a very relaxed manner.  Schools, bars, restaurants, and stores are all open leaving people roaming around with or without the virus.  The government's reasoning for this is that they want people to keep getting the virus in order to slow the pace of the virus and ultimately to build "herd immunity".  Most people who contract the virus will experience mild or no symptoms at all.  This happens to be a good approach as it strives to infect healthy people in order to develop antibodies but higher risk groups need to be protected which Sweden failed to do in the beginning.  Nursing homes were swept with many cases and fatalities due to the fact that masks and other precautions weren't mandatory until later on.  The fatality rate in Sweden is around 12% but it is expected to drop substantially once more cases are confirmed and the same goes for around the world.  Experts around the world expect fatality rates to fall and the WHO projects that 2%-3% of the world's population has developed antibodies.  As more people continue to be tested for the virus and antibodies, governments around the world will begin to have a better idea as to what the real severity of this virus may be.

Source: https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200501/sweden-sticks-with-controversial-covid19-approach

French supermarkets keeping masks from hospitals raises question

This past week French supermarkets and stores have promised to make millions of masks available for purchase to citizens across the country to protect them from the COVID-19 virus.  There is a question being raised wondering where all of these deliveries are coming from since there has been an extreme shortage of these supplies.  Once these masks became available Government officials are wondering where all these masks were when hospitals were calling for more masks.  A theory that is starting to gain some traction is that these stores have been stockpiling these masks for months.  These stores are defending themselves assuring that this is not the case and that they rather are receiving shipments just like everyone else.  Another theory that the government is considering that seems to be very shocking is that the stores have the power to get these shipments faster and before the state department which include hospitals.  It does seem a little suspicious of how these stores have acquired such a heavy inventory of masks all of the sudden but it could just be a coincidence.  There is a further investigation going on regarding the manner.

Source: https://www.france24.com/en/20200505-covid-19-sale-of-masks-in-french-supermarkets-sparks-controversy