A Timeline of COVID-19 Around the World, From News Resources, For June Through December 2021 - Updated On the 1st and 16th of Each Month

As you can see from the title, I am now updating this information twice a month for the rest of the year.  The end of the year will mark 17.5 months since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic and much of the United States essentially shut down.  It has been very taxing for me, personally.  I have had no problem staying home and going out only for essential needs.  I have had no problem wearing a mask anytime I was outside my home.  It did take a long time for me to get my vaccinations - I just had my second injection of the Moderna vaccine on 28 May, and I won't be considered "fully covered" and able to go out without a mask until 12 June.  My best friend and apartment sharer will get her second injection on 5 June and will be able to un-mask in public on 20 June.

   I say I have had a hard time due to people who don't wear masks, don't believe the threat of COVID-19 is real, and who continue to believe that the former resident of the White House - the 45th one - was illegally removed from office.  I have been physically attacked 3 times since the 1st of June last year - punched, slapped, dragged around by my shirt, and spat upon - just for wearing a face mask in public.  I have been verbally abused more than 40 times since April 2020.  I have made police reports, but no one has been caught.  Nothing has been acted upon with the verbal assaults.  Because the police are overwhelmed with violence everywhere.

   The extent of my travels since the pandemic was announced was one drive through Rocky Mountain National Park last summer, to Grand Lake and back.  I have read a lot and have done tons of genealogy research for other people.

   Last year, we did not even try to have any plants on the balcony.  This year, we have a new baby ivy plant, Creeping Jenny, a salmon Begonia pot with purple/blue Speedwell in the center, and I planted catnip seeds that  have just begun to show teeny green leaves above the soil.  I can't express how happy that makes me.

   Pony Penning on Chincoteague Island has been cancelled, as it was last year.  The auction of the foals will be held on-line this year, as it was last year.  As of this afternoon, 61 foals have been born to the herds that live in the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.  The ponies who live in Maryland on the Assateague National Seashore do not belong to the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, and do not receive any care.

   As stated in the first paragraph, will will be updating the COVID-19 numbers and news headlines only twice a month - on the first and sixteenth days of each month.  I will include my usual numbers:   world-wide, US, and the state of Colorado - for number of cases and deaths.  The first two sets are from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Mapping database, and the third set is from the Colorado Department of Public Health.  I will also pass along the weekly WHO Epidemiological Report for countries reporting those numbers, along with the most important headline (to me, anyway) news stories of each week.

Crested Butte, Colorado in late May 2021

1 June 2021  -   

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report for the world:

       171,028,157 cases         3,557,144 deaths

From the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Report in the US:  

        33,286,427 cases           595,205 deaths   

Colorado COVID-19  Report (from the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment):

          543,581 cases              6,741 deaths

1 June  -  WHO Weekly Epidemiological Report (for most countries):  

  https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/weekly-epidemiological-update-on-covid-19---1-june-2021

WHO News:

   WHO Validates Sinovac COVID-19 Vaccine For Emergency Use And Issues Interim Policy Recommendations

https://www.who.int/news/item/01-06-2021-who-validates-sinovac-covid-19-vaccine-for-emergency-use-and-issues-interim-policy-recommendations

   New $50 Billion (US) Health, Trade and Finance Roadmap To End the Pandemic and Secure a Global Recovery

https://www.who.int/news/item/01-06-2021-new-50-billion-health-trade-and-finance-roadmap-to-end-the-pandemic-and-secure-a-global-recovery

US News: 

   For the First Time In Over A Year, the US Records a Daily Average Of Fewer Than 20,000 New Covid-19 Cases

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/01/health/us-coronavirus-tuesday/index.html

   Masks, Distancing Still Important Even With Vaccination, Study Suggests

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/01/health/pandemic-precautions-vaccination-impact/index.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Fact-Checking Sidney Powell's Claim Trump Could Be Re-Instated

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/01/politics/powell-trump-inauguration-fact-check/index.html

Field and Odds For the 2021 Belmont Stakes

Before the weekend, it looked as if there would be 11 entries in Saturday's 153rd running of the Belmont Stakes.  Rebel's Romance, owned by Godolphin Stables, and winner of the UAE Derby in March, had Mike Smith signed as a jockey, when the colt developed an infection in his hind leg, and was not entered.  Two other hopefuls, Brooklyn Strong, who ran in the Derby, and Keepmeinmind, who ran in both the Derby and Preakness, were also not entered in the third leg of the Triple Crown.

   So a field of eight Kentucky-bred colts will contest the longest race in the Triple Crown series.  The Belmont Stakes is scheduled to start at 6:49 pm EDT on 5 June, with a guaranteed purse of $1.5 million.  The course is one complete trip around the 1 1/2 miles (12 furlongs) of the track known as "Big Sandy."  All of the three-year-old colts will carry 126 pounds in the race.  As usual, this will probably be the longest race in each colt's career.

Essential Quality, the 2-year-old Champion of 2020 and Kentucky Derby

betting favorite, is installed as the first betting choice for the Belmont Stakes

   This year, all of the colts were bred in Kentucky, and they represent seven stallions, with Curlin the sire of both Known Agenda and Overtook.  Coat colors comprise one gray or roan (Essential Quality), two chestnuts (France Go de Ina and Known Agenda), and five bays.  Six trainers are involved, with Todd Pletcher having three entries: Bourbonic, Known Agenda and Overtook.  All of the colts raced in one other Triple Crown race, with Rombauer the winner of the Preakness; except Overlook, who has finished second and third in two Graded Stakes.  Rombauer and France Go de Ina last raced in the Preakness Stakes three weeks previously, while the other colts are much fresher.

   Here are the entries for the 2021 Belmont Stakes, with the Post Position and entry name, followed by the morning-line betting odds, the sire, and the dam.

1.  Bourbonic                 15 to 1       Bernardini      Dancing Afleet

2.  Essential Quality       2 to 1        Tapit      Delightful Quality

3.  Rombauer                  3 to 1        Twirling Candy      Cashmere

4.  Hot Rod Charlie        7 to 2         Oxbow      Indian Miss

5.  France Go de Ina     30 to 1        Will Take Charge      Dreamy Blues

6.  Known Agenda         6 to 1         Curlin      Byrama (GB)        

7.  Rock Your World      9 to 2         Candy Ride (ARG)      Charm the Maker

8.  Overtook                 20 to 1         Curlin      Got Lucky

   

  

   

   

Belmont Stakes 2021, 7 Days Away

 There will definitely not be a Triple Crown winner this year, as Rombauer won the Preakness Stakes and the fact that we're still awaiting the results of drug split-tests for Medina Spirit.  Since Bob Baffert came forward a few days after the positive drug test for Medina Spirit and admitted to using a dermatitis cream that contained betamethasone, an illegal drug, it's pretty sure that the race will be awarded to second-place finisher Mandaloun.

   The third leg of the Triple Crown is the Belmont Stakes, which will be run on 5 June, with a gate time of 6:47 pm  EDT.  This is the 153rd running of the Belmont, and the 110th running at Belmont Park.  The length of the race is 1 1/2 miles (12 furlongs) on the main dirt track known as "Big Sandy."    Colts entered will carry 126 pounds; if any fillies are entered, they will carry 121 pounds.  At the moment, there are possible entries, but the actual entries will be known at the Post Position Draw to be held Tuesday, 1 June at 11 am EDT.  Medina Spirit will not be present, as the New York Race Track Association has banned Bob Baffert and any of his horses in training from all New York thoroughbred tracks.  Mandaloun, assumed to-be-announced-winner of the Kentucky Derby, is being pointed at other races.

   The race track record for 1 1/2 miles, and for the Belmont Stakes, is held by Secretariat, who finished the course in 2:24, winning by and astonishing 31 lengths.  When Man o'War ran in the Belmont Stakes, the race was 1 3/8 miles, and he set the still-standing track record for that distance - 2:14.20 - and winning by 20 lengths.

Keepmeinmind will be the only colt to have been in all three 

2021 Triple Crown races...

    Currently, expected runners in the Belmont Stakes are:

 Rombauer, winner of the Preakness

 Keepmeinmind, who will have run in all three legs of the Triple Crown this year  (and his 8-year-old sire, Laoban, died unexpectedly at Win-Star Farms shortly after the Preakness)

 Bourbonic, ran in the Kentucky Derby

 Essential Quality, ran in the Kentucky Derby

 Hot Rod Charlie, finished 3rd in the Kentucky Derby

 Brooklyn Strong, ran in the Kentucky Derby

 France Go de Ina, ran in the Preakness Stakes 

 Rock Your World, ran in the Kentucky Derby

 Known Agenda, ran in the Kentucky Derby

 Overtook, 2nd & 3rd in graded stakes

 Rebel's Romance, an Irish-bred colt, winner of the UAE Derby on 27 March

Once the post positions are drawn, and morning-line odds are announced, I will post them here....