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Felix Radu's wishes

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Peninsula 360 Press

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2021.01.05

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Peninsula 360 Press.

Listen to the poem Les voeux by Felix Radu.

It circulates on social networks, particularly whatsapp, a video by Felix Radu, a young actor and writer who reads us his wishes for the new year that is just beginning.

The recording is by La 1ére, or La Première, a French network of radio and television stations operating in France's overseas departments and territories around the world.

Radu, in his words, has been writing for a long time. A long time, at 24, is almost half a lifetime. At first Radu wrote because he was alone, he says. He was small, shy, and his only friend was his notebook of poetry, "Les Contemplations" by Victor Hugo, and his shadow.

Now, let's hear his poem, humbly translated by this digital medium.

Wishes

I wish that time would only take away with it the bad memories. Let it leave its colours and its joyful roar to our stories.

Let him leave us our meeting and our first smiles, our silent disagreements and our noisy victories.

I wish you enough nostalgia to remember where you came from, and enough hope to always run to where you are going.

I wish you love, again and again. And then tears. What would love be without tears?

I wish you screams, passions, burns, separations. Games.

I wish you wrinkled sheets, flashes of light through a closed blind, tangled hair, night sighs, whispers under the blanket. Many "I love you" barely murmured, like a secret, and always in between cut off by stolen kisses.

I want you to be strong, to know how to say goodbye, sometimes to say goodbye. That you find enough space in your life to appreciate your absences, and to welcome new stories.

I wish you the overflow. May you be so full that you don't know how to share it with the world. I wish you to seek, but always fail. May you be dissatisfied. To reach for the moon, and desire every star in the sky

I wish you the resilience and courage to face the struggles of our generation. May you never give up, never give up. Or just put them down to support each other. And endure.

I wish we could meet again... finally. No matter where we are, to embrace each other. And find the essential that we have worked so hard to name.

I wish you meals. Laughs. Beer glasses, music and laziness!

I wish you uncertainty, and friends to enlighten you. Friends to share your darkness. I wish you to meet brothers and sisters across time and space. No matter the book, the time or the country, love them because they share your loneliness. Love them because they share the huge hole in your chest. Love them because they love you too. Love them because there is nothing else in life but love. And since life is a long and beautiful slide, I want you to fall, to resist the vertigo.

May you make your life a beautiful dance in the wind, a tragic struggle against gravity. That you join those great souls who knew how to fall with such panache that they managed, for a few moments, to convince us that they were flying. Fly.

Finally, I wish you a happy new year and a thousand dreams come true. Felix

The original French recording can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/100053282330220/posts/205530764566333/?vh=e

COVID-19: Los Angeles Ambulances Will Not Transport Patients with Low Life Expectancy

Peninsula 360 Press

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2021.01.05

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Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press. [P360P].

Los Angeles County is in a real mess because of the health crisis caused by COVID-19, which has so far left almost 11,000 dead in the area, where ambulance teams have now been asked not to transport those patients with little chance of survival.

The Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency (EMS) issued a memo last week to ambulance workers noting that adult patients (18 years or older) in traumatic and non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest will not be transported if return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) is not achieved in the field.

So, if the patient has no signs of breathing or a pulse, EMS will attempt to resuscitate the patient for at least 20 minutes. If the patient is stabilized, he will be transferred to a hospital, but if he is declared dead at the scene or the pulse cannot be restored, the paramedics will not take him to the hospital.

"This order, issued by county emergency medical services, is really very specific for patients who have had a heart attack and cannot be revived in the field," said Dr. Jeffrey Smith, director of operations at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

"Such patients have a very low survival rate if they are transported to the hospital. Therefore, at this point, it is considered that it is probably useless," the specialist added in an interview with CNN.

The media added that nearly 7,900 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Los Angeles County alone, and 21 percent of them are in intensive care units, putting enormous pressure on health services and intensive care units.

In addition, the increase in COVID-19 patients has led to a shortage of supplemental oxygen, which means that some patients treated for EMS will not receive it.

"Given the acute need to conserve oxygen, effective immediately, EMS should only administer supplemental oxygen to patients with oxygen saturation below 90 percent," Los Angeles County EMS said in its statement.

Google workers form union to seek employment equity

Peninsula 360 Press

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2021.01.05

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Google workers form union to seek employment equity

Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].

About 225 engineers from Google, as well as from other companies belonging to the parent company Alphabet, announced this Monday the formation of a union, which will be a support point to generate a change in the structure of the company.

According to Parul Koul, executive president of the Alphabet Workers Union, and Chewy Shaw, vice president of the union, "at Google and other subsidiaries of Alphabet, Google's parent company, we have had our concerns about the workplace, which are dismissed by management.

In a letter published in the New York Times, they mention as background the past November 1, 2018, when employees stopped working and left their posts in some cities around the world, to demonstrate for inappropriate behavior in the company.

The company paid tens of millions of dollars to two executives who had been accused of sexual misconduct towards workers, keeping silent about the alleged abuse and letting them go without any consequences for their actions.

They also indicated that the company has used workers' knowledge to collaborate with "repressive governments around the world. They have developed artificial intelligence technology for use by the Department of Defense," to mention just a few problems.

"For those who are skeptical of unions or believe that technology companies are more innovative without unions, we want to point out that these and other more important problems persist," as discrimination and harassment continue.

The union leaders mentioned that "Alphabet continues to crack down on those who dare to speak out and prevent workers from bringing up sensitive issues of public importance," and every time they organize to demand change, the executives only make symbolic promises to them.

As a result, 226 employees signed union cards with the Communications Workers of America, which represents the first step in winning a bargaining unit recognized under U.S. law. "In other words, we are forming a union."

According to Koul and Shaw, they have created an elected leadership and representative structure with dues-paying members, so the union will be open to all Alphabet workers, regardless of their classification.

That's because half of Google's workers are temps, suppliers or contractors, so they are paid lower wages, receive fewer benefits or have little stability compared to full-time employees, even though they often do exactly the same work.

Thus, this new union seeks to undo this serious inequity and "will work to ensure that workers know what they are working on and can do their jobs for a fair wage, without fear of abuse, reprisal or discrimination.

COVID-19: Mexico, number one in immunization in Latin America

Peninsula 360 Press

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2021.01.05

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COVID-19: Mexico, number one in immunization in Latin America

Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].

Mexico has become the country in Latin America that has applied the greatest number of vaccines against COVID-19, since, until this Monday, January 4, nearly 40 thousand health workers had been immunized and received their first dose against the virus.

The President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, highlighted in his first morning conference this 2021 that of the more than 39,000 people who have received the first dose of the vaccine, only one had strong reactions, a situation that has already been reported to the Pfizer laboratory, while the doctor is already being attended to.

"We have already vaccinated 39,000 people, almost 40,000, and what we have in stock is more than 70 percent of the vaccines already applied," said the president.

He added that "fortunately we haven't had any major problems, just a reaction from a doctor who had a problem with the application of the vaccine, she is being treated. It is a special case for an allergy according to what the doctors maintain, she is already being treated, hospitalized, Pfizer knows, the case is being treated, but it is only one, of about 40 thousand".

Likewise, López Obrador pointed out that "In Latin America, it is the first place in application, although we are still starting, but in total - 12 million doses have been vaccinated in the world in application".

In that regard, he noted that China ranks first in immunizations, followed by the United States, Israel, Russia and England.

This morning Mexico's Foreign Minister Marcel Ebrard Casaubón reported that the country received 53,525 doses of the vaccine for COVID-19.

Next week it will be over four hundred thousand. Good news for Mexico. Thanks to Pfizer BioNTech and DHL," he wrote on his Twitter account, where he added that a flight with a load of the immunizations will also arrive in the city of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon.

It should be noted that, so far, Argentina has supplied 32,013 doses, Chile 8,648, and Costa 2,455.

According to Mexican Undersecretary of Health Hugo Lopez-Gatell, Mexico was one of the first 10 countries to supply the SARS-CoV-2 virus vaccine in the world, and the first in Latin America.

"We are currently number 13 in terms of vaccination per million inhabitants, we are the first in Latin America," he said at a press conference.

Redwood City Appoints Briana Evans as Equity and Inclusion Officer

Peninsula 360 Press

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2021.01.05

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Redwood City Appoints Briana Evans as Equity and Inclusion Officer

Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].

Briana Evans will be Redwood City's first equity and inclusion officer, as she will support the City Council's action to make equity a fundamental guiding principle for the City's strategic plan.

In a statement, the council noted that Evans will work with the City Council and staff to develop an Equity Work Plan that provides an equity perspective on the provision of all city services.

"With City Council support for this new position, we can increase our focus on diversity, equity and inclusion in both policy making and City operations," said City Manager Melissa Stevenson Diaz.

Evans holds a master's degree in social and cultural anthropology and a bachelor's degree in medical anthropology, both from Stanford University.

The council stressed that Briana has solid experience in research, policy and leadership, as well as bringing an innovative and forward-looking approach to complex issues.

Recently, Evans worked as an equity design strategist with Reflex Design Collaborative, a consulting firm that uses collaboration to design solutions that improve social equity.

Previously, he supported the San Mateo County Office of Healthcare Diversity and Equity, where he designed organizational change strategies, navigated complex partnerships, and trained community leaders to create a more humble and culturally inclusive behavioral healthcare system.

"My passion is to make sure that everyone has a voice and can bring the best of themselves to the world. I believe in the wisdom and strength of communities, including those that have been marginalized for generations," Evans said.

2 million people will lose their homes and AB15 and AB16 proposals are not advanced

Peninsula 360 Press

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2021.01.04

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Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].

With California's moratorium on evictions about to expire, some 240,000 homes or two million people across the state are at risk of losing their homes, so a group of legislators is seeking to prevent this catastrophe at least until the end of this year.

AB-15, introduced in December by San Francisco Democratic Assemblyman David Chiu, would prohibit landlords from evicting tenants who have been economically harmed by the pandemic until December 31, 2021.

This project expands and improves on AB-3088, an agreement also proposed by Chiu, approved by the state legislature and signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on August 31, 2020, which left some gaps on the issue of evictions, and whose deadline is January 31.

Thus, the AB-15 proposal would prohibit landlords from evicting tenants economically harmed by the pandemic until December 31, 2021, and they would have until that date to pay 25 percent of the back rent they have accumulated.

"The possibility that tens of thousands of people will be forced to leave their homes would increase the likelihood that COVID-19 will spread and have devastating health consequences. We cannot allow that to be the fate of California," Chiu said.

For her part, Debra Carlton, a lobbyist for the California Association of Apartments, said that with such a measure the owners will not be able to survive this year, so a more dynamic proposal or the guarantee that they will receive financial aid is needed.

It should be noted that California tenants owe about $1.7 billion in rent arrears, according to a Federal Reserve Bank estimate, and this amount could grow significantly in the coming months.

If the current moratorium expires at the end of January, tenants who can pay 25 percent of the rent due since September will be able to stay in their apartment.

Chiu also introduced a second bill, AB-16, which would provide unspecified rent relief for those facing debt from complying with AB-15, if it is enacted into law.

AB-16 would require tenants to pay 25% of their rent due between September 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021, to avoid eviction, and any remaining amount owed to the landlord would become a civil debt.

Bay Area ICU bed capacity drops to 7.9%

Pamela Cruz

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2021.01.04

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By Pamela Cruz I Peninsula 360 Press [P360P]

California Governor Gavin Newsom said the bed capacity of the Intensive Care Units (ICU) in the Bay Area is 7.9 percent, while for Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley it is 0 percent.

"The 0 percent does not represent that there are no ICU beds available, but only that we are in a phase of overcapacity in terms of the search strategy for these units," the official said at his first press conference of the year.
Gavin Newsom, governor of California.

Newsom explained that this Sunday, January 3, 29,633 cases of COVID-19 were registered in the state, while the seven-day average is 37,845 new cases, and the positivity rate is 12.4 percent.

He said hospitalizations grew 18 percent, a seven-fold increase in the past two months, while the state is seeing six times the number of ICU patients in this period.

He noted that the average number of cases in the last 7 days dropped significantly, but this was mainly because the holidays - such as December 25 and January 1 - were not tested.

In the state, 97 deaths were recorded on Jan. 3, while the average for the last few days was 336 people who died from the disease. These figures may also be lower due to the holidays, since the average for the last 14 days is 3,959 deaths.

COVID-19: Kaiser Permanente staff member dies

Pamela Cruz

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2021.01.04

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COVID-19: Kaiser Permanente staff member dies

Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].

After Kaiser Permanente Hospital officials reported Jan. 2 that between Dec. 27 and Jan. 1, 43 medical staff members in the unit's emergency department in San Jose tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, one of them has died.

That was reported by NBC News, which noted that the COVID-19 outbreak at that San Jose hospital was probably caused by a staff member who dressed up as a red-nosed Christmas tree in the emergency department.

The costume, which was air-powered through a fan, was used with the intention of bringing joy to the medical center on Christmas Day, which could have circulated drops containing the coronavirus, The Washington Post noted.

In a statement to The Post, Irene Chavez, senior vice president and area manager of the hospital, said that "obviously, this is a 'very unusual' situation involving a well-meaning staff member acting on his or her own without notice or approval.

"Any exposure, if it had occurred, would have been completely innocent and quite accidental, as the individual had no symptoms of covid," he added.

The outbreak is under investigation and contact tracing, to notify those patients or staff who may have been exposed to the virus.

The situation comes after a spike in COVID-19 cases in Santa Clara County after many disobeyed warnings from health experts during the holiday season.

"It's quite possible that we'll see an increase after the season, in the sense of Christmas, New Year, and as I've described it, as one increase after another"
Dr. Anthony Fauci to CNN

A mutant strain of the coronavirus that is believed to be more contagious than the existing strain has public health experts concerned that the new wave could have catastrophic consequences.

It should be noted that during the weekend, the U.S. exceeded 350,000 deaths from COVID-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The capacity of the Bay Area's Intensive Care Units (ICUs) as of Sunday was 8.4 percent, according to the state's COVID-19 website.

Los Angeles County, which has positioned itself as the epicenter of COVID-19 nationally, is part of a Southern California region that reports 0.0 percent ICU capacity, as does the San Joaquin Valley region, which also has zero ICU capacity.

One South Bay hospital reported that it maximized its capacity last week and sent patients to extra beds.

COVID-19: 43 Kaiser Permanente medical staff members test positive for SARS-CoV-2

Pamela Cruz

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2021.01.04

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Kaiser Permanente San Diego Medical Center, Opened April, 2017, is LEED Platinum Certified see: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/health/sd-me-kaiser-new-20170417-story.html

Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].

Officials at Kaiser Permanente Hospital reported Saturday that 43 medical staff members in the unit's San Jose emergency department tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 between Dec. 27 and Jan. 1, so the outbreak is being investigated.

In a statement, the hospital said that in addition to the investigation, contact tracing is being used "to personally notify and assess any staff or patients who were exposed during this period, according to CDC and public health guidelines.

The hospital is already investigating an incident in which a staff member briefly appeared in the emergency department on Christmas Day in an air costume that included a ventilator, a situation that may have caused air drops to spread throughout the hospital.

In response, Kaiser Permanente said it will no longer allow air costumes at any facility, noted NBC Bay Area.

While the hospital said it is open and safe for patients to receive care, it is already working on screening all of its employees and emergency department doctors for the virus that causes VIDOC-19.

He said that any person who tests positive or has symptoms of VOC-19 will be quarantined according to the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Similarly, the statement details that the emergency department is undergoing a thorough cleaning.

He added that even though the vaccine has already begun to be administered in communities, given the prevalence of the virus, we are all still vulnerable.

That is why "it remains critical that everyone use the methods to help protect ourselves and others, especially wearing masks, washing hands, avoiding meetings and social distancing.

Santa Clara and San Mateo start Christmas tree recycling program

Community

Peninsula 360 Press

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2021.01.04

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Santa Clara and San Mateo start Christmas tree recycling program

Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].

In order to be much more environmentally friendly, residents of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties can recycle their Christmas trees through the Recology and GreenWaste Recovery collection service.

Santa Clara County residents, including Mountain View and Cupertino, will be able to recycle their trees this January, where property managers can call to arrange for tree pick-ups from a central location.

It should be noted that people who want to recycle their trees should remove all the tinsel, lights, decorations and supports from their trees, cut the tree into smaller pieces and leave it next to their compost carts to be picked up on regular service days.

It also mentions that the trees must be cut down to five feet or less, while the cut pieces can also be placed in the compost carts once the lid can be closed for Recology to accept them.

Meanwhile, for San Mateo County residents, whose service area includes cities such as East Palo Alto to Burlingame, tree collection is from January 1 to 31.

In this case, trees longer than two and a half meters should be cut down before they are placed next to a collection cart. Also, apartment or condominium managers in the county can schedule tree pick-ups between January 2 and January 31 for the entire complex.

For more information about Recology Santa Clara County's tree collection, those interested can visit https://www.recology.com/recology-south-bay/santa-clara-county-residential/specialty-services/

More than just information about tree harvesting in San Mateo County is available at https://rethinkwaste.org/2020/12/23/2020-2021-holiday-schedule-tree-collection/