Daily Post – February 19th 2021

Living through a pandemic

in the south of France

338 days in Carcassonne since

1st lockdown in March 2020

▫️ DAILY AND WEEKLY STATISTICS HERE .

▫️ The epidemic situation is becoming more and more complicated to read, epidemiologists agree on this point. For several days now, the closely monitored indicators, such as the number of new cases of Covid-19 in the population, new hospitalizations and admissions to intensive care units, have been declining at the national level, even if they are still at a very high level. These figures show the impact of the curfew on the dynamics of the so-called “historic” strain of the virus circulating in France over the past year.

But, at the same time, the surveys show a progression of the new variants: while the British variant represented 25% of the cases screened last week, it has now increased to 36%; the South African and Brazilian variants correspond to 5%.

▫️ THE LIFE EXPECTANCY of Americans has dropped by one year. On average, Americans lost one year of life expectancy in the first half of 2020. Minorities are particularly affected, as Black Americans lost three years of life expectancy during this period and Hispanics lost almost two years.

Currently the USA was at the #46th spot in the world

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I wonder how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect all this

▫️ THE BEST FRENCH BAKERY

One of our local bakeries rue de Verdun in Carcassonne, participates in the M6 TV competition. The filming took place last June and episodes are currently showing on M6 on a daily basis.

In yesterday’s show the Papineau bakery won the Aude final contest and will represent the Departement in the national competition.

▫️ WEB PAGES

I keep forgetting that I own a couple of Domains on top of the few Blogs I have on the go. The main one is www.sauvaget.de and I spent some time yesterday re-learning how to try and maintain it. For the time being it will (as soon as I have mastered it) only link to some of my main blogs / pages. Got to keep it simple. In theory, this is the only address you need to know.

▫️ NASA

The Perseverance Mars rover landed safely yesterday. A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, paving the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.

You can follow the rover on an an interactive map.

▫️ GOLF

▫️ ANCILLARY NOTES FROM A SMALL ISLAND from our correspondent in Britain

✒️ TIME FOR A HAIR CUT

Wimpole Estate statue’s hair ‘may have been 1st Century AD trend’

A tiny statue’s moustache and haircut could be evidence of popular fashion trends from the 1st Century AD, an archaeologist has said. The 5cm (2in) figure of a Celtic deity was discovered at the National Trust’s Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire. Its hair appears neatly shaped at the front and long but tidy at the back, and it is believed it could represent Cernunnos, the Celtic god of fertility.

JJ – go for it!

✒️ FEELING A BIT CONFINED?

Wanted man hands himself in to police in bid for ‘peace and quiet’ in prison.

A wanted man handed himself to police rather than spend any more time in lockdown with the people he lives with. Being cooped up in the pandemic has led many to yearn for some space from the people they share homes with. But the man appears to have got to the point where even a return to Her Majesty’s prison estate was preferable. Inspector Darren Taylor, from Sussex Police, posted about the bizarre exchange on Twitter. He said: “Peace and quiet! Wanted male handed himself in to the team yesterday afternoon after informing us he would rather go back to prison then have to spend more time with the people he was living with!

Not recommended.

▫️ MUSIC

ANOTHER ONE IN MY TOP 100

Early 70’s – My years in America. A favorite in Cahoots Night Club in King of Prussia (Pennsylvania). I use to spend my life in there. I had to falsify my International Driving license to show I was 21. Strict drinking laws in Pennsylvania. We use to replenish for booze in Delaware a few miles away where the legal drinking age was 18.

▫️ PIC OF THE DAY

SUGGEST A CAPTION FOR THAT PICTURE

▫️ NEWS FROM ACROSS THE POND

▫️ FACT

Photographer Jassen Todorov flew over several American airports and airfields to show the impact of the pandemic on the aviation sector.

▫️ SATIRE

▫️ FUN

▫️ WEATHER

The grey clouds fade away and give way to the sun except near the English Channel and on the Pointe Bretonne where the sky remains cloudy with a few drops. The south-westerly wind blows in gusts of 80 km/h over Finistère. Temperatures are rising and are becoming springtime like.