Friday, July 30, 2021

What Color Are You?

 


Jeff--Saturday

 

In one way or another, that’s a question being asked all over the world—or if not spoken aloud, is certainly front and center in the minds of those aware of current events.

 

Are you red, orange, or green? In other words, are you from a region or country where individuals are at a high risk of Covid infection (RED), at a moderately elevated risk (ORANGE), or at a low risk (Green).  The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has its map that’s updated every Wednesday.

 


In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  (CDC) employs five colors to warn of the level of community transmission by county—not country.  High (Red), Substantial (Orange), Moderate (Yellow), Low (Blue), and Insufficient Data (Grey).

 


On top of that, many states in the US have their own color charts for coding Covid matters within their borders. Confusing?

 

Covid Color Coding Chaos in US

I don’t know what the talk is in your neighborhoods, but over here, Covid and its variants overwhelmingly dominate virtually every conversation.  “Are we still orange?”  “Is there a chance at being classified yellow?” “What happens if we’re red?”  “What should we do if our home country (or county) is red or headed that way?”

 

You get the idea.

 

Europe is beginning to take things seriously. That’s good.

 

The US…not so good, at least not yet, but much of the rest of the world is in far worse shape; and as long as that is so, we all remain at risk.

 

Frankly, I’m tired of the conversation…tired of the ridiculous postulations put out there for resisting vaccinations…and fed up with those who say why get a vaccination when you can still contract the disease?  That’s like asking a cop why do you wear a ballistic vest if you can still get shot, or a driver, why do you wear a seat belt if you still can get in an accident? 

 

How’s this for an answer: TO GREATLY REDUCE MY CHANCE OF DEATH OR CRIPPLING INJURY SHOULD I BE SHOT, CRASHED, OR INFECTED.

 


Bottom line, I don’t care what color you are, just get vaccinated so that the maps move away from the red, portending futures a hell of a lot ROSIER for all of us.

 

‘Nuf said, stay safe, and be sensible.

 

--Jeff

 

PS. A big shout out to our blogmate Kwei Quartey on winning the Shamus Award for Best First Private Eye novel, “The Missing American.”

 

Jeff’s upcoming events

Wednesday and Thursday, August 11& 12
Fish & Olive Gallery—Halki, Naxos Island, Greece
European presentation of A Deadly Twist on the island where it is set
Learn more

Thursday, August 26, 5:00-5:50 p.m.
Bouchercon 2021—New Orleans, LA
New Orleans Marriott—La Galeries 2, 2nd Floor
Moderator, Mystery of Crafting Thrillers Set in Foreign Lands

Friday, August 27, 11:00-11:50 a.m.
Bouchercon 2021—New Orleans, LA
New Orleans Marriott—La Galeries , 4-5. 2nd Floor
Panelist, Thrillers in the World of Politics

2 comments:

  1. Hear, hear, brother! Here in the U.S., the same people bray about their "right to bear arms" should also bear the responsibility to "bare their arms."

    Oh... and I thought the Shamus was awarded annually. When did they start awarding it quarterly? Let's see, what was that old adage to newspapermen? Hmmm, something about spelling. I know it will come back to me...

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    1. Good point, Bro. Over here on Mykonos beaches you see tattoos of all sorts of things on bare arms, but I've yet to see one of a ventilator.

      As for my quarterly report, I'm still laughing--and hope Kwei has an equivalent chuckle at my expense.I added my congratulations on his Shamus Award as a PS note, and neglected to check how the loyal spellchecker decided to tinker with my note. My sincere apologies Shamus Award Winner Kwei QUARTEY.

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