Author: Felix

How would you handle COVID-19?

Felix

Since hindsight is 20/20… this is what I would have done with COVID-19.

In late January, announce that the international borders will be closed within 10 hours of the announcement.  The 10 hour buffer allows any current en route flights to land without issue.  Empty inbound international flights are still allowed in order to accommodate any outbound international flights.  The crews from these inbound flights will be sequestered to just two or three hotels only.  This action isolates the crew so to allow contact tracing to be easier in case of outbreaks.  Domestic travel can still operate normally until otherwise told.

I think if just this measure was put in place there might not have been an outbreak in both Seattle and New York.  It’s still possible the cases could appear as there were only 15 confirmed cases back on Feb 15, 2020.  Given the incubation length and the potentila asymptomatic transmission possibility, a January closure would have mitigated the most damage.  According to the NY times interactive modeling, the 15 early cases were linked to transmission from China.  However, what’s more important is that any subsequent cases would be linked to these 15 cases AND there would be no new influx of cases.  Although travel was restricted from China on Feb 02, 2020, restrictions were imposed far too late from Europe on Mar 13, 2020.  Between late January and mid-March, countless travelers passed through the international airports and silently spreading the infection.  Through genetic testing, the outbreak in New York was linked to a European strain.  It shows just how partial restrictions are pointless.

If these borders were to have been closed in late January, I see a number of different scenarios that would be different

  • COVID-19 cases would be limited and probably very manageable by the healthcare professionals
  • Stay-at-Home requirements might never have been issued
  • Businesses would remain open
  • Healthcare system would function at normal capacity without needing to be in constant emergency “war zone” mode
  • No Masks
  • No Social Distancing

What would you do?

Stay-at-Home again…

Felix

California is re-imposing the restrictions of gathering indoors.  As long as COVID-19 is not under control, outbreaks will continue to happen.  There are a few effective ways to limit transmission…

  1. Stay at home as much as possible.
  2. Wear a mask if you go outside.
  3. Limit outdoor activities to a minimum including grocery shopping, food takeout, etc.

 

FELIX!

Felix

For some time, I’ve been debating on “changing the brand” (if you could call it a brand) away from Eureka!  It was originally supposed to be a food blog back in the day.  So for me the idea of Eureka! was tied to the California state motto of “I found it!”  Clearly a clever whimsical play on words and meaning on finding food.  The state motto is related to the California Gold Rush era whereas traditionally the term Eureka! is attributed to the anecdote of Archimedes discovering the concept liquid volume displacement of a solid.

But it’s evolved into a personal blog of mine where I share my random thoughts, coffee addiction, and any thing I find either interesting, outrageous or thought provoking.  I also use all my social media accounts in this fashion as well.  And because of this evolution, the idea of Eureka! didn’t really make sense anymore.  So I spent quite a long time thinking of a clever blog name but none of the ideas really really reflected the type of blogging I was doing.  But do you know what did make sense?  FELIX!  Yea… original…

Julian Coffee

Felix

Some time ago, there was a Kickstarter campaign where supporting the campaign was rewarded with a bag of roasted coffee.  Julian Coffee, the creator’s of the campaign, is trying to “Make Puerto Rican Coffee Great Again” to use a bad moniker.  From the story, they already had production and operations in Puerto Rico and wanted to provide a living wage to the workers as well as to enter the US market through the campaign.  So why not?

Coffee00070

I don’t think I’ve had beans from Puerto Rico.   The aroma has an earthy, ashy, and peanut butter smell that reminds me of Kona coffee beans roasted in Hawaii.  Making my latte, the first sip had a strong ashy, roated flavor that it really did remind me of the lattes from Kona coffee beans.  After that first sip, each subsequent sip had a pleasant nutty flavor.  I think there might have been hints of chocolate too.  To be honest, I actually enjoyed this coffee as it tasted different from the last beans.  I think it’s because of the lack of berry and fruity flavors.  I’m definitely going to buy another bag when I can if anything to at least continue supporting their cause to provide a living wage to the workers.

Asian Enough: Kamala Harris

Felix

I posted sometime ago about LA Times’ Asian Enough podcast.  This past week they interviewed California’s US Senator Kamala Harris.  For those that might not know, Senator Harris is half Asian (Indian) and half Black (Jamaican).  She was also one of the many Democratic candidates for the 2020 Presidential race.

This podcast gives great insight into Senator Harris as a person as opposed to a presidential candidate or senator.  It’s worth listening to.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-10/asian-enough-podcast

 

 

Use of Masks

Felix

Kudos to the California government on the proclamation requiring residents to wear face masks in public.  Masks have been shown to minimize the transmission probability down to 1.5%.  Unfortunately, the general anti-mask populace doesn’t seem to really understand the depth of the problem and are only thinking of themselves and their own livelihood.

One of the challenges with COVID-19 is the fact that people could be infected with COVID-19 without ever getting sick or displaying symptoms.  These are known as asymptomatic carriers.  Furthermore, another challenge is the fact that you could still be infecting others before displaying any of the COVID-19 symptoms.  Both of these reasons are some of the factors as to why COVID-19 very difficult to deal with.  Think about it… you are infected without realizing you’re infected.  And you’re infecting other people all while you have no idea that you’ve been infected.  That’s scary.

One of the effective ways to minimize transmission rates is to not see anyone.  These were the stay at home orders issued by most states.  Another way to minimize transmission rate is to wear masks.  The picture below represents approximate transmission rates for different situations.  Since staying at home full time is not possible (people need to shop for groceries, check up on family living nearby, etc), wearing mask is also another effective way to minimize the transmission rate.

Since a person infected with COVID-19 might not even know they’re infected, wearing a masks not only protects you from getting infected by others, but it also protects others from getting infected by you!  Wearing masks protects everyone whether you know it or not.  An ounce of prevention (wearing masks) is worth a pound of cure (becoming infected and requiring hospitalization)!

So… Wear masks. Save lives.

COVID19 Transmission

Temple Coffee Roasters

Felix

June’s Trade Coffee (referral link) comes from Temple Coffee Roasters.   I haven’t had that many beans from Peru and they smell amazing.  The beans are from a region called Cajamarca.

Coffee00069

Making my latte, the initial sip had nutty, citrus, and floral flavors.  Taking the second sip, I start getting hints of sweet chocolate and peanuts/hazelnuts.  Every sip afterwards was enjoyable with various hints of sweet, honey, and fruity flavors.  I definitely enjoyed the latte and made myself another cup later that day.

Jimmy O Yang Comedy Special

Felix

With the success of Crazy Rich Asians (great movie) and Silicon Valley (I haven’t seen), I’ve known Jimmy O Yang more as a comedian though I haven’t seen any of his stand ups on TV/stream platforms.  Many of his other Asian peers (Ronny Chieng, Ali Wong, Ken Jeong, Russel Peters, Aziz Ansari) seems to have broken into the streaming and now I’m glad to see him also have is special but on Amazon.  Go watch it… it’s funny and is pretty indicative of growing up Asian American.