News roundup for Tue, Aug 17, 2021

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Has the fall of Afghanistan being linkened to the fall of Saigon

Afghanistan has fallen to the Taliban, and is now fully under Taliban control. The fall of most major cities happened so quickly (1-2 weeks) that American and coalition forces could not extract embassy staff and other assets in a safe and orderly manner. Kabul airport was and is the scene of harrowing and incomplete extraction missions. Thousands of Afghan people flooded the unprotected airport seeking asylum. Many have died, some falling from airborne military aircraft they were clinging to from the outside. The fall of Kabul has been likened to the fall of Saigon in 1975:

The Administration is increasing food stamp benefits:

Over 1,200 have died after a huge 7.2 magnitude temblor in Haiti. A tropical depression is now hampering rescue efforts.

Tropical storm Fred has made landfall in the Florida Panhandle and the storm surges and floods have begun. 20 counties in the state are under a state of emergency.

“Person-to-person spread of antibiotic-resistant plague” was not on my 2021 bingo card:

In good news, solar-powered refrigeration trucks will help reduce pollution and reduce reliance on diesel fuel use.

In maybe not-so-great news, OPEC seems disinterested in a call for ramped up oil production:

The world has over 208.5 million COVID cases. The world has gained 4.5 million cases in the last week. There have been nearly 4.4 million deaths in total. The US has a cumulative 37.6 million cases. Over 638,000 Americans have died. The US gained over 65,000 new cases on Sunday, and over 50,000 by noon EST on Monday. About 500 people are dying per day (on average based on 7-day data) in the US. The US, Iran, UK, and India have the highest daily case gain in the world. Delta remains the dominant global variant.

The Food and Drug Administration has authorized a third COVID vaccine dose for immunocompromised people. This dose is not technically a booster—it’s needed by those with a compromised immune system in order to attain an effective antibody response:

Folks are cancelling trips because of the Delta variant:

Clinicians have known this for a while, but folks in the community may not:

There are only about 5,500 pediatric ICU beds in the country. Delta is causing a rise in the hospitalization of children with COVID from 2/100,000 to about 6/100,000. Although only some of those children will need an ICU bed, it’s still concerning—especially with school starting and with no vaccines available for those under 12:

Leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are urging members once again to wear masks and get vaccinated. If heeded, rates of COVID vaccination should rise noticeably in LDS wards and stakes.

Rt is declining in most states, and I hope that trend continues:

Stephanie Arnold | cosmicpixle

Stephanie Arnold is an advanced practice psychiatric nurse and a doctoral candidate in UA Tuscaloosa’s DNP program. Stephanie moonlights from time to time at UCLA teaching mental health nursing. She also likes making cold-process soap.

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