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Coronavirus Update From New York City: August 26, 2021

Wow, what a week it has been, both Coronavirus-wise and otherwise!

The biggest news coming out of my state (New York) is that we have a new governor. Andrew Cuomo, who at the beginning of this pandemic was hailed as a hero, left his governorship disgraced and under a cloud of scandal. I know my third ever Coronavirus update begged my readers to not treat Cuomo like a hero, but good gosh–not even I could have predicted things happening in the way that they did! In any event, with Cuomo having left, in comes Kathy Hochul, who served as Lieutenant Governor for just over 1 1/2 terms before ascending to the position of governor as a result of Cuomo’s resignation.

Just hours after coming into office, Hochul did something that Cuomo should’ve done: have a school mask mandate.[1] Mask mandates in schools have been controversial, seemingly because kids and their parents feel they should have the freedom themselves to choose whether to wear a mask or not. However, my take is that, to put it bluntly, people need to care about more than themselves. People need to care about others, and namely, care about preventing others from getting sick–something that masks can help with. Mask mandates are the right thing to do.

Of course, Hochul will have more to do on the Coronavirus than just have the school mask mandate. She will, in my personal opinion, need to recognize the basic reality that certain things that were possibly safe before the Delta variant are not safe anymore. Things like indoor dining, big crowds that aren’t socially distanced (even outdoors), and large indoor social gatherings do not seem safe right now, even for those of us who are vaccinated (since there’s a significant body of scientific evidence showing that even vaccinated people can get and spread the virus). My hopes aren’t high for this, as the only place that I hear has started reinstating some restrictions on such things is the State of Hawaii, though perhaps Hawaii will end up becoming a trendsetter if the Delta variant grows worse.

Speaking of big crowds outdoors that aren’t socially distanced, I should provide an update on what happened to the so-called “Homecoming Concert” that I talked about on my blog a couple of weeks ago. This concert was billed as a return back to normalcy, of sorts, for New York City, a concert where people can come and enjoy some major musicians. Such a concert may’ve seem reasonable a couple of months ago when the virus appeared to be subsiding, but with the spreading of Delta, we aren’t exactly heading back to normal and it didn’t seem like a wise time to have a massive outdoor gathering with tens of thousands of people like that. Well, the concert got ruined, not because of the Delta variant, but because some dangerous weather courtesy of Hurricane Henri (a storm that delivered heavy rain to New York City, though thankfully I didn’t experience any of the flooding that certain other parts of the northeast United States had). I wished the concert wasn’t even a thing in the first place, though, because then we could’ve avoided the non-socially distanced scrambles for safety as a result of the weather issues.

While I thought this concert was a mistake, I am hoping that this (as well as schools, which are supposed to return in the next few weeks) don’t end up being super spreader situations. We shall see…

[1] https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2021/08/24/hochul-address

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Coronavirus Update From New York City: August 19, 2021

I hope everyone is healthy and safe, regardless of where you are.

My family, who is entirely vaccinated, remains healthy. We, of course, continue to practice precautions such as wearing masks indoors, not eating indoors, and avoiding large gatherings as much as possible. This is sometimes labeled as living in fear, but in reality, we are doing what we can to prevent the virus from spreading to others, and particularly to unvaccinated kids and the immunocompromised.

However, COVID cases continue to be on the rise where I am, and rise at a startling rate, at that. Just to put into perspective how quickly things are increasing, in my county, we were at 10 cases per 100,000 just a few weeks ago, and now we are at nearly 22 cases per 100,000. Just as concerning (if not even more so) is the fact that hospitalization and ICU rates are quickly increasing again, and increasing to a point that if we’re not careful, many ICUs in our area will be under great duress in the next few weeks.[1] This would be a repeat of situations that I hear are playing out in other parts of the country, where ICUs are getting filled up already.

And this is all happening before school year even starts. The school year starts relatively late where I live (soon after Labor Day), so if we’re going through all of these problems now in New York, I am scared to think of what may happen after school returns post-Labor Day. If nothing else, at least I can take solace in the fact that mask mandates in schools seem to be the trend where I live, unlike with certain leaders (though I am still concerned that masks by themselves won’t be enough). I don’t think that mask mandates are enough (you need social distancing, good ventilation indoors, and vaccines, to name a few), but it’s better than nothing.

Speaking of leaders, by the time I write my next COVID update post, my state will have a new governor. As Governor Cuomo is resigning as a result of the sexual harassment scandal he’s implicated in, we will have a new governor in the current Lieutenant Governor, Kathy Hochul. We will find out in due time how good Hochul is in dealing with the dual crisis of the virus and the economic fallout resulting from it. My hope is that she won’t be distracted by scandals, and therefore able to focus on the crises she will confront.

[1] https://covidactnow.org/us/new_york-ny/county/queens_county/?s=21821108

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Coronavirus Update From New York City (Again): August 12, 2021

I had really hoped that I was done with these updates on the Coronavirus, but the Delta variant of this virus had other plans.

Just a couple of months ago, things had looked relatively hopeful, between the number of people vaccinated and the low rate of infection. However, infections have increased drastically over the past few weeks, to the point that the United States is averaging over 100,000 cases per day. It is no different in New York City, where we have gone from averaging just over 200 cases per day a few weeks ago to now averaging nearly per day.[1]

Even more disturbing is that there are increasing stories of so-called “breakthrough cases,” or cases where people who are fully vaccinated have tested positive for the virus. What this means is that vaccinated people, such as myself, can get Delta and spread it, potentially–an especially big concern as some kids are going back to class for school (and of particular concern among the under-12 population that is not eligible to get vaccinated yet).

With this combination of news, I concluded that unfortunately, it was time to relaunch my weekly updates. In this set of weekly updates on the Coronavirus in New York City, I hope to document both how I/my family is doing with the situation, how New York City and/or New York State is doing, and how the United States is doing as a whole. These updates are my way of conveying how things are like where I am, and it is also my way of making sure that certain messages that need to be conveyed about this virus are conveyed.[2]

Speaking of conveying information, I should convey that one of the best things people can do to protect themselves and others is to get vaccinated. Research is suggesting that vaccinated people who get Delta are infected for a shorter period of time than the unvaccinated, which means the potential for less spread.[3] Data also suggests that breakthrough cases account for only a tiny fraction of COVID hospitalizations and deaths–showing that even with the Delta variant, the vaccines are highly effective in preventing one from getting a severe cases of the virus.[4] So if you haven’t been vaccinated yet, I beg you to get vaccinated! It is for your own good, as well as the good of those around you.

However, we should be mindful of the fact that we should do more than make sure we are vaccinated. As much as some people may hate to read my saying this, I think we need to mask again–both indoors as well as times we encounter crowds outdoors.[5] I also think we should start to (again) limit the extent to which we are around large and tightly-packed crowds, both indoors and outdoors (so this so-called “Homecoming Concert” that’s being held in my city in a couple of weeks is a big mistake, in my personal opinion). We should (again) practice social distancing as much as we can, and we should (again) make sure to avoid poorly-ventilated indoor spaces as much as we can.

This is annoying, and I want this virus to be over as much as anyone else, but we need to do all we can to protect the vulnerable, whether it be immunocompromised people or children or people still with COVID symptoms who are therefore unable to get vaccinated.

[1] https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-data.page#daily

[2] People should, first and foremost, listen to public health experts. However, I recognize that people also listen to other people they trust, whether it be politicians they trust, friends they trust, and writers they trust. As such, while I am not a scientist, I feel a big responsibility to make sure that accurate information regarding the science of the virus is conveyed to my readers.

[3] https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/delta-variant.html

[4] Hopefully people won’t be treated to a paywall, but if so, you are warned, because The New York Times sometimes has a paywall: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/08/10/us/covid-breakthrough-infections-vaccines.html

[5] https://health.ucdavis.edu/health-news/newsroom/8-things-health-experts-want-you-to-know-about-the-delta-variant/2021/07

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Simone Biles, Sexual Abuse, and Mental Health

Simone Biles. Agência Brasil Fotografias, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Content warnings: Sexual abuse, suicide

One of the major stories of the recently concluded Summer Olympics was how decorated American gymnast Simone Biles was ultimately not involved in several of the events that she qualified for as a result of her struggles with mental health. Reaction to this seemed a bit split: many praised her for prioritizing her mental health, while some critics thought of her as a quitter.

Just to clarify, I fall into the former category, not the latter. I think Simone Biles did the right thing in prioritizing her mental health, even if it meant missing some major events this Olympics. To do otherwise would’ve been a danger to her mental and her physical health, which is more important than any Olympic medal.

Yet, at the same time, it seems like there’s often been something missing from the conversations about Simone Biles and her mental health. That “something” is how sexual abuse is statistically shown to have a major negative impact on one’s mental health. Biles is a very famous example of this fact, and as such is someone whose story should highlight that fact.

As many know by now, Biles was one of many women from the United States Gymnastics Team abused by former Olympic doctor Larry Nassar.[1] And when I say many women, I mean many—she was among the 156 women who, in some form, confronted Nassar in court about his abuse.[2] However, she is the last woman knowingly abused by Nassar who is still on the United States Gymnastics Team. And, you can tell that Biles is still working through the abuse she experienced just by listening to her—after struggling on one of the nights of Olympic trials, she said that she was more emotional this year than in 2016 “because of everything I’ve been through.”[3] While yes, there have been other factors that have impacted her mental health, such as a sudden family death during the Olympics,[4] it seems impossible to deny that the mental health struggles related to the abuse she experienced have also affected her.

Yet, it’s not just Biles who is affected mentally as a result of abuse. It’s many other people, too. About 70% of rape or sexual assault victims experience moderate to severe distress. 33% of women who are raped contemplate taking their lives. 13% of women who are raped actually attempt to take their lives.[5] Numbers like these show that Biles’ mental health struggles in the wake of what Larry Nassar did to her do not exist in a bubble; instead, she is a very public example of how such struggles in the light of abuse manifest themselves.

As such, while the story of Simone Biles should be a call to all of us as individuals and our society as a whole to have a greater focus on mental health, her story should arguably, even more importantly, be a call to have a greater focus on the mental health of sexual abuse survivors than what we currently do. While Biles is fortunate to be able to have a therapist,[6] not everyone is so fortunate for one reason or another, whether it be financial costs of going to therapy or still struggling through their own stigmas surrounding it. Our society needs to do a better job of addressing those barriers, because the well-being and lives of those sexually abused count on it.

If you’re in the United States, experienced sexual abuse and need help, know that you can call the National Sexual Assault Telephone line, which is (800) 656-4673. If you don’t live in the United States, please check to see if there’s a helpline for sexual abuse survivors in your country.

The Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) also has an online hotline as well as an app that could be of use to people who need help but are afraid to speak out loud for fear that their abuser will hear them.

The National Suicide Prevention lifeline is 800-273-8255. As for readers outside the United States, you can find an extensive list of international suicide hotlines here.

[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42725339

[2] Ibid.

[3] https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2021/08/03/simone-biles-wins-bronze-her-most-powerful-mental-health-quotes/5452785001/

[4] https://abc13.com/simone-biles-withdraw-aunt-death-in-the-family/10929337/

[5] https://www.rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-violence

[6] https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2021/08/03/simone-biles-wins-bronze-her-most-powerful-mental-health-quotes/5452785001/

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Blog Tips: My Blog Isn’t Getting Much Traffic. What Should I Do?

A few months into my blogging journey, I had a post published on a Tuesday at noon (as I usually do). And then…hardly any traffic came to my blog. By the end of that Tuesday, my blog had just four viewers for the whole day, two of whom were me—me visiting my blog on my phone, to make sure the post came out okay on phones, and me visiting my blog on my laptop, to make sure the blog came out okay on computers.

So, to those of you who are frustrated because their blogs are not getting as much traffic as you had hoped, I was once one of you. Therefore, I hope that my past experiences with disappointment from low traffic will be of wisdom and even encouragement to some of you.

I will start by saying this—if you’re discouraged with your readership when you’ve been blogging for 12 months or less, please be patient with yourself. Building a loyal readership takes time, and if your blog is just a few weeks or a couple months old, you have likely not blogged for long enough to have cultivated that loyal readership. For many bloggers, that sort of work takes years. So please, don’t give up when your fifth post only has four readers, with three of the readers being you and your parents.

If you have been blogging for over a year and you still see little or no traffic, ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Do you publish your blog posts on a regular basis, at least once every other week?
  2. Do you have relevant images on your blog posts?
  3. Do your posts use tags? (And, if you’re not sure what tags are, the answer is likely no, and feel free to ask me about tags in the comments section below.)
  4. Do you share your posts on social media?
  5. Do you interact with other bloggers by commenting on and subscribing to their blogs so that you see the bloggers’ posts?
  6. Do you make friends and family aware of your blog?

If your answer to any of these questions is no, then you are not doing enough to grow your blog audience. In coming blog tips posts on this blog, I will talk about why doing each of these things will help you grow your blog audience.

However, even if the answers to all these questions are yes, you should see whether you are having any issues with the content of the posts themselves that may be turning readers off. Issues with posts that turn readers off or keep readers away from your blog (speaking as a reader myself) include poor grammar, bad spelling, incorrect facts, a lack of focus on your topic for your post, and a lack of direction on your blog (example: if you go from talking about basketball to talking about politics in your hometown).

Hopefully, the above paragraphs provide bloggers with some ideas on how to grow blog traffic, if someone is struggling with it. That being said, if other bloggers have additional tips on growing blog traffic, feel free to comment below!

Please note that in observance of the 4th of July, I won’t publish a post next week.