Coronavirus SF: September 15, 2020 Update

Hello coronavirus-sf subscribers!

I miss the days when coronavirus was the biggest health issue that Californians have to face. SF Bay Area case and death counts have been trending similarly for a while — and even slightly tapering within the last month (https://coronavirus-sf.now.sh/sf-bay-area/). It feels that even without a vaccine yet, at least the problems aren’t getting significantly worse. And since March, we’ve all learned some coping strategies for getting on with our lives while lowering risk (e.g. no more indoor choir singing!). Things are slowly reopening (https://sf.gov/step-by-step/reopening-san-francisco). As of today, Nancy Pelosi would be okay to visit her Union St hair salon without controversy!

In late August, nature presented us with a new health challenge. For those of us fortunate enough to avoid forced evacuation of our homes, we experienced the equivalent of packs of cigarettes blasting into the air. I hate smoking. Magically, we have some relief in SF today. But folks elsewhere in the West Coast are still experiencing egregious air quality and its negative health impacts (including on mental health). It’s not without irony that in the past month, I went on road trips to Southern Oregon and Western Nevada and rejoiced at escaping California wildfire smoke for a few days. Today, the air quality is worse in those places than in SF.

What strategies do you have for handling the wildfire crisis? Do you have any recommendations for places to evacuate to (if needed)? I’d love to hear your ideas.

Last week, as things took a turn for the worse, and as I saw Seattle and Portland suddenly experience nearby wildfires and its effects, I went online shopping for gear. A pricey air purifier (still not arrived), a portable air-quality monitor (it feels calming to know the real-time pollution stats indoors and anywhere), an industrial-strength reusable respirator (more protective than N95). I was reminded of March all over again; the need to stay indoors because of unpredictable health effects. But for me, it felt worse to not be able to open windows and know that I could breath clean air. Regularly refreshing Air Matters, PurpleAir, and AirNow and seeing red/purple surrounding cities also didn’t improve my mental health. Talking to friends in Australia and China did help. Australia survived massive wildfires in January/February (NYT), and China regularly has had bad air pollution. So to the friend in China, the situation in SF wasn’t nearly as concerning as it felt to me (“the first year we lived in Shanghai it was regularly off the charts 600+”, she wrote).

I hope the air-quality relief we’re experiencing today in SF continues! And if not, I have an option to fly to Las Vegas next Monday. It’s the nearest place with regular clean air that 1) doesn’t break the bank, and 2) allows American travelers.

Be well! 🎉

- Xian

P.S. I finally caught up on the news that Tom Brady left the New England Patriots and is now playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Wow, the world has really changed. 😉

Originally published at https://mailchi.mp.