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Culturally Enriched Communities and COVID-19
May 4, 2020 Amelia Narigon	Leave a comment
Led by Professor Tasoulla Hadjiyanni (Interior Design), the Culturally Enriched Communities (CEC) Initiative champions healthy and connected communities in which everyone can thrive.
As the world comes to terms with the many changes the COVID-19 pandemic has brought, Hadjiyanni is leveraging CEC's work to help communities disproportionately affected by the crisis and to position design's relevance to creating a better world. Hadjiyanni shares more about CEC's work and how it is addressing COVID-19 in this interview.
What do Culturally Enriched Communities have to do with COVID-19?
At the beginning of this pandemic, it became pretty clear that communities of color (Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans) were disproportionately affected, experiencing higher death rates and unemployment.
We therefore decided to use this platform as a catalyst for bringing together design students, educators, researchers, practitioners, elected officials, advocates, etc. to envision the role they can play during the stay-at-home guidelines as well as in recovery efforts. We created a dedicated page to serve as a repository of information that includes:
Environmental interventions to COVID-19 from around the world that range from residential environments to parks and hospitals.
Vulnerable populations that would benefit from designers' and educators' attention–this is a call to action.
On-going studies and opportunities for collaborations across organizations and institutions for funding and resources.
How was the Culturally Enriched Communities Initiative created?
Culturally Enriched Communities (CEC) have been the center of my work for the past 20 years. I started this line of work by looking to understand the home experiences of Hmong, Somali, Mexicans, Ojibwe, and African Americans in Minnesota. Their stories exposed how design characteristics can support or suppress individuals' attempts to create meaning in their lives, which in turn, impacts well-being and delineates the production of health, income, and educational disparities. I share the premise that social inequalities are partially spatially constructed and are, therefore, malleable through my book The Right to Home – Exploring How Space, Culture, and Identity Intersect with Disparities. As home is more than housing, we expanded the study to the community level by gathering best practices for the creation of Culturally Enriched Communities from Minnesota and beyond. Our team includes students, faculty, organizations, institutions, and advocates.
Why is it important to champion Culturally Enriched Communities in Minnesota?
Healthy and connected communities in which everyone can thrive are key to a region's economic and cultural vitality. Although Minnesota enjoys high ranks in many quality of life indicators, it also experiences some of the widest disparities in health, education, and income between Whites and communities of color in the nation. The COVID-19 pandemic and its disproportionate impact on communities of color is only expected to widen this gap. The pandemic brought to the foreground the hidden nuances behind the "We are all in this together" motto. Now, more than ever, designers, planners, policymakers, housing developers, neighborhood organizers, and advocates can use the best practices we highlight to create places and build partnerships that contribute to the prosperity and well-being of all people.
What are some of these best practices and environmental interventions?
Culturally Enriched Communities are based on eight principles: bringing different kinds of people together; focusing on people; connecting the global and the local; supporting people's attempts to construct meaning; fostering relationships; supporting health and well-being; encouraging capability-building through education and access to jobs, and capitalizing on innovation and change.
Environmental interventions are best practices that stand behind these principles and involve every single aspect of the designed environment, from doors to rooms, spatial layouts, site planning, and programming. Best practices we have collected for COVID-19 range from a street boulevard that has transformed into a child's personal gym in Minneapolis to the trains in India, which have never closed for 120 years, being used as hospitals. One of the most touching examples comes from Greece where for the Easter Saturday midnight service, everyone in Athens walked out onto the balconies with lit candles, which prompted one of Greece's most famous songwriters to say: "We have never been more together." We cannot have another apartment building be designed without balconies after this pandemic.
What opportunities do you see for designers during this time?
I see four opportunities by which design can rebuild societal trust while reinstating a sense of promise in the future and creating a better world–not in order of importance:
Designing for flexibility and adaptability: Much of design is typically centered on ways to create community and bring people together. The pandemic raised awareness of the importance of balancing togetherness and aloneness in many building types.
Eliminating inequality and disparities: All kinds of people need our attention, from Navajo Nation, which lost more people to coronavirus than 13 states, to children with special needs, domestic abuse victims, refugees in refugee camps and detention centers, people living in slums, and the Andean weavers in Peru.
Supporting well-being: Experiences of fear, anxiety, headaches, muscle tension, and difficulty concentrating are expected to exacerbate the pandemic's aftermath for everyone. Some more than others, like front line responders, teenagers, and seniors.
Caring for the environment: For the first time in our lifetime, the lockdown gave us a chance to see and feel what Los Angeles' sky looks like without the smog, how jellyfish can glide through Venice's canals when they are freed of boats and over-tourism, and the peaceful nesting of sea turtles in Florida's beaches with less plastic, humans, and vehicles.
What advice do you have for our students?
Roll-up your sleeves and get to work. One thing is for certain—every single aspect of our designed environment, from buildings to parks, furniture, and materials will require a re-thinking and a re-evaluation. And all the design fields will have a role to play in how we recover and in what ways we are better prepared for the future.
Take a look at the list of vulnerable populations CEC has identified. Find one you connect with, get your sketchbook out, and start jotting ideas. Maybe you are thinking of a furniture piece that helps a child with special needs find a place to retreat and decompress or maybe you are devising a marketing plan for supply chains of materials that are ethically sourced and free of forced labor, human trafficking, and environmental destruction. Or maybe you are re-envisioning how streets and parking lots can multitask. You can send us your ideas so we can feature them and inspire others by emailing us at tasoulla@umn.edu.
Category: Faculty, Interior Design, Research	Tags: Culturally Enriched Communities, faculty research, interior design, Research, Tasoulla Hadjiyanni
Be the Voice of the User: An Interview with Simon Ozbek


The University of Maine men and women's cross country teams ventured to Boston to take part in the Battle of Beantown. Both teams competed in the event that featured teams from coast to coast.
The women's side featured 188 total runners from 22 colleges. Providence won the crown, with Indiana finishing as the runner-up. Georgetown, Dartmouth and Cornell rounded out the top five teams on the day.
The UMaine women came in 21st, with the top performer being third-year Kaitlin Saulter, finishing the 5k course at Franklin Park in 18:58, good for 107th place. Third-year Haley Lawrence, the reigning America East Performer of the Week, made it to the finish line next for the Black Bears with a time of 19:08 for 128th place.
Other notable runners for the women's team were first-year Emma Jourdain, who finished her first Battle in Beantown event with a time of 19:36, putting her in 160th place. Fourth-year Nora Hubbell came in fourth for Maine, in 169th place overall. Her time was 19:49. Rounding out the top five finishers for Maine was fourth-year Cassandra Howard, just three places behind Hubbell with a time of 20:00.
Fourth-year Ahlin Sungsuwan and third-years Faith Gardner and Hope Gardner also took part in Friday's competition for the Black Bears .
On the men's side, 156 total runners from 18 different schools ran the eight kilometer course. Syracuse won the day, while Illinois finished in second place. Indiana, Brown and Boston University rounded out the top five.
The Black Bears came in 15th overall. Their top runner was third-year Aaron Willingham, finishing in 42nd place. Willingham crossed the finish line in 25:17, averaging a 5:06 mile. Daniel Lesko also finished within the top 100 runners, placing 98th with a time 26:02.
Simon Powhida finished four places after with a time of 26:05. Second Jacob Terry finished next for the Black Bears with a time of 26:28, which was good enough for a 127th place finish. To round out the top five for Maine was fourth-year Logan Moses with a time of 26:49. First-year John Hassett came in at 27:02 with a 141st place finish. His mile-split time averaged 5:27.
Both teams will be back in action after taking the week off before heading back to Boston on Oct. 7 to race in the New England Championships.


text: Stepper motor control

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Q: TypeScript two digits addition returns a string concatenation const x = 1;
const y = ('3' as unknown) as number;

let add = (num1: number, num2: number)=> {
    return num1 + num2;
}

console.log(add(x, y));

// prints 13
Where it is supposed to print 4
as "const y" is converted to "number" type

A: const y = ('3' as unknown) as number; is not converting the string to a number. You are only doing a type assertion here.
So, what JS is doing : 1 + '3' = 13.
You would need to do something like Number('3') to fix that issue. But be wary, Number() can return NaN.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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New developments affect Pennsylvania business tax
Matthew Melinson
Patrick Skeehan
Tom Boyle
Jamie C. Yesnowitz
Business taxpayers operating in Pennsylvania may be responsible for local business privilege and/or mercantile taxes (BPT) depending on the localities on which they conduct business. Three recent developments involving the BPT present potential traps for unwary taxpayers. First, the proliferation of remote work may subject businesses to additional BPT filing obligations based on the activities of teleworking employees. Second, certain taxing jurisdictions are seeking to expand the reach of their BPT by adopting bright-line economic nexus standards to reach taxpayers operating outside their borders. Finally, localities have become more aggressive in pursuing nonprofit entities doing business in their jurisdictions, but the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court has concluded in several decisions that such nonprofits were not doing business due to their status as purely public charities.
Pennsylvania local BPT background The BPT originates from Act 511 of 1965, known as the Local Tax Enabling Act (LTEA).1 Under the LTEA, the General Assembly gave local jurisdictions, except for Philadelphia, the authority to impose certain taxes.2 One of the more prominent taxes included in the LTEA was the BPT, a tax on the "privilege" of doing business in a local jurisdiction. Unlike corporate income taxes, which generally allow deductions for losses and expenses, the BPT is measured by the amount or gross receipts earned by a business from its base of operations inside a township or municipality. Many jurisdictions took advantage of this authority and enacted a BPT to increase tax revenues.
Over 20 years later, in an effort to reconfigure Pennsylvania's local tax structure, the Pennsylvania legislature enacted the Local Tax Reform Act (LTRA) in 1988.3 The LTRA removed the authority of any local jurisdiction to adopt a new BPT measured by gross receipts and prevented jurisdictions from increasing their BPT rates or expanding their tax bases by eliminating certain exemptions or exclusions.
Presently, approximately 270 local jurisdictions in Pennsylvania currently impose a BPT.4 In recent years, these jurisdictions have moved to aggressively impose BPT on businesses operating within their boundaries based on their interpretation of existing ordinances and regulations. In 2019, statewide BPT collections totaled approximately $205 million, with the townships of Lower Merion and Upper Merion collecting over $10 million each in revenues.5 The reach of the BPT has been frequently contested, and Pennsylvania courts have issued decisions establishing important but sometimes contradictory rules.
A frequent area of controversy has been the evolution of BPT nexus standards, with municipalities imposing historically different rules regarding whether a business is subject to BPT in their jurisdiction. In response to conflicting court decisions concerning when a taxpayer has established nexus in a particular jurisdiction,6 Pennsylvania enacted Act 42 of 2014, which created a bright-line rule for when localities may impose a BPT.7 The law clarifies that a taxpayer may establish nexus in one of two ways: (i) through a "base of operations," defined as an "actual, physical, and permanent place of business" in the jurisdiction; or (ii) by conducting transactions in the jurisdiction for all or part of 15 days during the calendar year.8 While the law was intended to provide a clear nexus standard for taxpayers, Act 42 also exposed taxpayers to additional filing requirements in new jurisdictions under the 15-day rule.
BPT nexus standards and teleworking employees Considering the nexus standard established under Act 42, the rise of remote work resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic creates new complications for businesses, which may now be subject to additional BPT filing requirements depending on the jurisdiction. An employee working from home for an extended period may create nexus under Act 42 by working at least 15 days in the jurisdiction or by establishing a "base of operations" in the jurisdiction. However, each jurisdiction's BPT ordinance and regulations are different, leading to varying interpretations of what constitutes a "base of operations" depending on the jurisdiction.
Before the onset of widespread remote work, certain jurisdictions provided guidance on whether a home office establishes a base of operations for BPT purposes. For example, Lower Merion Township provides that a home office used for the convenience of the employee is not a "base of operations."9 A home office will be deemed to be for the convenience of the employee if there is another business office where the same services are performed.10 Radnor Township provides a "home office" exception, but their regulations specify that while no "base of operations" may be established by a teleworking employee, the taxpayer may still establish nexus if the employee works at least 15 days in the township.11
While not explicitly stated in its code or regulations, Lower Merion Township unofficially applies a two-part test to determine if a teleworking employee creates nexus in the jurisdiction. First, in line with the township's regulations regarding the nature of the employee's home office arrangement, an employee is not presumed to be working remotely for their own convenience if there is no reasonably commutable office from which the employee could perform services.12 Second, the employee must be directly involved in the generation of receipts for the business, meaning that the company derives a direct economic benefit from the remote employee. This prong of the test is intended to eliminate the taxation of employees that perform clerical support or other internal-facing roles. Despite the guidance offered by Lower Merion and Radnor Townships, other jurisdictions may interpret remote working arrangements differently depending on the nature of their BPT ordinances and regulations.
BPT and economic nexus Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the physical presence standard for sales and use tax purposes in the Wayfair decision,13 states and localities have continued to formally expand the reach of economic nexus provisions. As of 2021, all states imposing a sales and use tax have adopted an economic nexus standard,14 and several states have also adopted a bright-line economic nexus standard for corporate income tax purposes. Pennsylvania relied on Wayfair to adopt a sales tax economic nexus threshold of $100,000 in sales, and a $500,000 bright-line sales threshold for corporate net income tax (CNIT) purposes. On the local level, Philadelphia adopted an economic nexus threshold of $100,000 for purposes of its Business Income and Receipts Tax.15
In 2021, the city of Allentown became the first local jurisdiction outside of Philadelphia to extend an economic nexus concept to the BPT. Effective Jan. 1, 2021, taxpayers with no physical presence in the city are considered to establish economic nexus and taxable nexus with Allentown if they generate at least 15 or more transactions to customer locations in the city totaling at least $500,000 in gross sales during the calendar year.16 Allentown's BPT regulations further provide that a business does not have economic nexus with the city if the business is not subject to tax in Pennsylvania or does not otherwise have nexus with the state.17
Nonprofit entities and subjectivity to BPT Under the LTEA, local taxing jurisdictions are permitted to levy BPT on anyone conducting business within a jurisdiction. However, entities qualifying as purely public charities are generally exempt from BPT to the extent their receipts are received in connection with a charitable purpose. Under Pennsylvania law, non-profit entities seeking tax-exempt status must qualify as a purely public charity. A business that is qualified as a tax-exempt organization for federal income tax purposes does not automatically qualify for tax-exempt status in Pennsylvania. Taxpayers are required to meet specific statutory and court-established tests to determine whether they qualify as a purely public charity.18
In recent years, local taxing jurisdictions have taken more aggressive positions in efforts to tax non-profit organizations operating in their jurisdictions by arguing that the business is not a purely public charity or is otherwise engaged in a private profit motive that does not advance the organization's charitable purpose. Notably, Allentown sought to impose BPT on several different nonprofit organizations that were recognized as purely public charities for Pennsylvania tax purposes. The nonprofits provided management services to their nonprofit subsidiaries and/or affiliates and received revenue as a result. Allentown argued that these nonprofits were engaged in business in the city as defined under the city's BPT ordinance because the management functions did not advance a charitable purpose.
In two recent decisions, however, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court found that two different nonprofits did not meet the definition of a business under Allentown's BPT ordinance because the city expressly excludes purely public charities from the definition for BPT purposes.19 The court further determined that the compensation and organizational structures of the entities did not demonstrate a private profit motive. For these reasons, the court concluded that Allentown could not impose BPT on these nonprofits, without examining the separate question of whether they qualified as purely public charities. Despite taxpayer victories at the appellate court level, Allentown has appealed these cases to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Commentary Constrained by their ability to increase BPT tax rates, local jurisdictions are looking for new ways to raise revenue as they continue to adjust to the effects of the pandemic. Most commonly, localities will attempt to revise their ordinances and/or regulations or their interpretation of these provisions to expand the list of nexus-creating activities and increase their tax bases. With remote work becoming more commonplace, local taxing jurisdictions have been slow to address how remote employees may affect base of operations determinations and create nexus in their jurisdictions. With the expiration of temporary nexus relief at the state level, local jurisdictions are more likely to take employee activities into consideration for nexus purposes. Under a plain reading of Act 42, an employee working from a jurisdiction for at least 15 days during the year arguably has the potential to trigger nexus and create a BPT filing obligation.
Businesses with remote workers should be mindful of their employee work locations due to the varying and often conflicting BPT rules and regulations of each locality. Lower Merion and Radnor Township's home office exceptions for remote employees provide a useful example. Unlike Radnor Township, which may consider the presence of employees working remotely in their jurisdiction to create nexus if they exceed Act 42's 15-day threshold, Lower Merion's approach provides a reasonable exception depending on the nature of the remote work arrangement and the employee's function.
From an economic nexus perspective, other local jurisdictions are closely observing whether Allentown is successful in enforcing its new nexus standard. An important question is whether Allentown's revised BPT regulations comply with the LTEA and Act 42. Although the city drafted the regulations to be consistent with the language of Act 42, the regulations rely on a 15-transaction threshold rather than a 15-day threshold for conducting transactions in the jurisdiction as required by Act 42. As a result, a hypothetical taxpayer with $500,000 of sales in 15 transactions, all of which were conducted in the same day, would have economic nexus under the regulations. However, that taxpayer technically would not have nexus under Act 42 because they would not have satisfied the 15-day requirement. As a result, it will be interesting to see whether Allentown's economic nexus policy will invite prospective legal challenges. The city's experience in defending the policy will likely determine whether other BPT jurisdictions also adopt economic nexus rules.
Some of the largest employers across Pennsylvania are nonprofit entities including hospitals and educational institutions. Having a large nonprofit presence in a jurisdiction can be enticing for taxing jurisdictions looking to expand their BPT tax bases. The recent Allentown cases highlight an aggressive trend by local taxing authorities seeking to tax nonprofits based on the theory that they are "doing business" in their jurisdictions regardless of their purely public charity status. On appeal, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court may consider the important question of whether the nonprofits are nonetheless subject to BPT because their activities would upset their status as a purely public charity. The developments highlighted above illustrate certain areas in which local jurisdictions imposing a BPT are focused with the goals of expanding their tax bases and increasing revenue collections. While localities such as Allentown have taken particularly aggressive actions by adopting an economic nexus standard and pursing nonprofit entities, other localities are likely to follow. Such areas of focus add to an already complex local tax regime for businesses operating in Pennsylvania, based on the significant variation in the rules and regulations of each jurisdiction. Given the evolving nexus standards and the desire to expand the BPT tax base, businesses can better understand their BPT obligations by consulting the relevant ordinances and regulations, tracking employee locations and evaluating whether their specific activities subject them to BPT.
1 Act of Dec. 31, 1965, P.L. 1257, 53 PA. CONS. STAT. §§ 8401 et seq.
2 The Sterling Act of 1932 and the First City Business Tax Reform Act governs Philadelphia's taxing authority.
3 Act of Dec. 31, 1988, P.L. 1121, 72 PA. STAT. §§ 4740.101 et seq.
4 Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development, 2019 Annual Financial Report.
5 Id.
6 See Gilberti v. City of Pittsburgh, 511 A.2d 1321 (Pa. 1986) and V.L. Rendina, Inc. v. City of Harrisburg, 938 A.2d 988 (Pa. 2007).
7 Act of May 6, 2014, P.L. 642, No. 42, 53 PA. CONS. STAT. § 6924.301.1.
8 53 PA. CONS. STAT. § 6924.301.1 (a.1).
9 Lower Merion Township Bus. Privilege & Mercantile License Tax Reg. § 103.
11 Radnor Township Bus. Privileges & Mercantile Tax Reg. § 201.
12 In this instance, the employee is presumed to be working remotely for the convenience of the employer.
13 South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., 138 S. Ct. 2080 (2018).
14 Missouri was the latest state to enact a sales tax economic nexus standard, but the legislation is not effective until January 1, 2023. Mo. S.B. 153, Laws 2021, amending MO. REV. STAT. § 144.605(2)(e).
15 Phila. Bus. Income & Receipts Tax Reg. 103(b).
16 City of Allentown Business Privilege Tax Reg. § 202(b).
18 See Hosp. Utilization Project v. Commonwealth, 487 A.2d 1306, 1317 (Pa. 1985) and Act 55 of 1997, 10 PA. STAT. § 371 et seq.
19 See Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network Inc. v. City of Allentown, No. 1646 C.D. 2019 (Pa. Commw. Ct. Mar. 19, 2021); Phoebe Services v. Allentown, No. 706 C.D. 2020 (Pa. Commw. Ct. Aug. 12, 2021). For further discussion of the Good Shepherd decision, see GT SALT Alert: Pennsylvania rules nonprofit corp not a business.
This content supports Grant Thornton LLP's marketing of professional services and is not written tax advice directed at the particular facts and circumstances of any person. If you are interested in the topics presented herein, we encourage you to contact us or an independent tax professional to discuss their potential application to your particular situation. Nothing herein shall be construed as imposing a limitation on any person from disclosing the tax treatment or tax structure of any matter addressed herein. To the extent this content may be considered to contain written tax advice, any written advice contained in, forwarded with or attached to this content is not intended by Grant Thornton LLP to be used, and cannot be used, by any person for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed under the Internal Revenue Code.
The information contained herein is general in nature and is based on authorities that are subject to change. It is not, and should not be construed as, accounting, legal or tax advice provided by Grant Thornton LLP to the reader. This material may not be applicable to, or suitable for, the reader's specific circumstances or needs and may require consideration of tax and nontax factors not described herein. Contact Grant Thornton LLP or other tax professionals prior to taking any action based upon this information. Changes in tax laws or other factors could affect, on a prospective or retroactive basis, the information contained herein; Grant Thornton LLP assumes no obligation to inform the reader of any such changes. All references to "Section," "Sec.," or "§" refer to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
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LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – Family audiences turned out in droves over the weekend, propelling "Finding Dory" to a massive $136.2 million debut and establishing a new record for an animated film opening.
The sequel to 2003's "Finding Nemo" was bolstered by strong reviews and residual affection for the Oscar-winning first film. It's a return to form for Pixar after the animation studio behind "Toy Story" and "The Incredibles" suffered its first box office failure last year with "The Good Dinosaur." But its decades of excellence continue to be the brand's major selling points.
"It's amazing when you look at the longevity of this brand, the viability of it, and the unfettered enthusiasm pretty much everyone has for Pixar," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at comScore.
The success of "Finding Dory" comes as Disney, Pixar's parent company, has dominated the movie business, fielding the year's three highest-grossing pictures globally in "Zootopia," "The Jungle Book" and "Captain America: Civil War." "Finding Dory" seems destined to join those films among 2016's top earners, partly because it is appealing to all age groups. Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis predicted that the film was gearing up for a "run for the ages," noting that it was playing well with both families (65% of ticket buyers) and older audiences, with adults comprising 26% of crowds.


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Opinion & Features
Home Sport Cricket SA will rue reputation and financial cost of loss of England...
Cricket SA will rue reputation and financial cost of loss of England ODI series
Stuart Hess
From the perspective of reputation and business, Cricket SA has incurred a great deal of damage through the cancellation of the One-Day International series against England.
Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town. Picture: Shaun Roy/BackpagePix
THIS was always going to be a hugely challenging endeavour for Cricket South Africa. On the face of it, it didn't look as hard as the series of 'bio bubbles' that the England Cricket Board executed in that country during its international season earlier this year.
England shifted between different venues in Manchester and Southampton and hosted four men's teams across all the formats, while the England women's team faced the West Indies as well. Cricket SA was hosting 'just' two teams at venues less than an hour apart.
South Africa has had local sport return since the lockdown measures were relaxed; the PSL finished its 2019/20 season, then started a new one, though not without a few cases of positive coronavirus tests for players and officials, while the SA Football Association has hosted a couple of Nations Cup qualifiers too, which appear to have gone off without a hitch.
Rugby has struggled, with matches being cancelled in the 'Super Rugby Unlocked' competition. All of which suggests, this was never going to be simple for CSA, even as it took very stringent measures with the South African and England teams in Cape Town.
Hopefully those who have tested positive return to good health. The medical profession still seems to be learning about the virus even as vaccines become available. There is a mental, emotional and physical toll that Covid-19 exacts, even after recovery.
There is also the effect of 'living' in such a 'bio bubble', where movement is severely restricted, which is extremely wearing.
From the perspective of reputation and business, Cricket SA havse incurred a great deal of damage through the cancellation of the One-Day series against England. Cricket SA needed the money the full tour was supposed to generate. Hence the organisation worked so hard to get a secure environment in Cape Town.
It has been a hugely difficult year for CSA, with most of the problems of the organisation's own making. This tour was supposed to deflect attention away from the administrative dilemmas back to matters on the field. The postponement of this ODI series, ostensibly because England lost faith in the secureness of the secure bubble, does further reputational harm to CSA. Sri Lanka, due in the country next for Tests over Boxing Day and New Year, must be concerned.
South Africa is experiencing an upsurge in positive coronavirus cases. The Nelson Mandela Bay metro was placed under curfew by the president last week. There's been a surge in cases in the Western Cape as well, where England and South Africa were playing.
Last week doubts were expressed about Covid-19 statistics in Gauteng – where the two Tests against Sri Lanka are scheduled to played – while the province's premier, David Makhura, said the region faced a catastrophic January, if a 'second wave' of cases arises as people return from holidaying in other parts of the country.
Against that background it would be incredibly difficult to create a bio-secure environment and following events in recent days, get the Sri Lankan authorities to trust that it will hold.
Cricket SA's chief medical officer Shuaib Manjra, who put in so many hours to create a secure environment in Cape Town, revealed that CSA had asked laboratories for priority treatment when it came to ensuring test results were speedily available. Will it be right to do that again should Sri Lanka, Australia and Pakistan send teams here over the next few months and week?
There's a moral question CSA needs to ask parallel to the financial one and that is: Is it fair to ask of a health system under stress to prioritise cricketers while there is this rapid uptick in coronavirus cases?
Cricket SA's 'annus horribilis' looks like it will carry on into 2021 and the effects on the sport in this country will be far-reaching.
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GP's advice on 'worst lurgy ever' and when you should start to worry
Bolton-based GP, Dr Helen Wall, explains how to handle this new cold, and how to spot if your child is in trouble if they catch the bug at school.
Helena Vesty
Rachel Hains
A heavy cold is currently spreading across the UK, Manchester Evening News reports.
According to GPs, a majority of people who are experiencing the cold report symptoms of a 'sandpaper throat, chesty cough and a runny nose'. They are also 'totally floored' for weeks, with many concerned that they may actually have Covid-19 as the wide range of symptoms overlap with those exhibited during the peak of the pandemic.
As such, GPs are urging people with this new cold to get tested for Covid-19.
They also say that this new 'lurgy' is actually not a surprise given previous warnings from health chiefs that adults and children alike may fall sick this Autumn. This is due to the fact that people are once again socialising on a large scale without any restrictions, for the first time since March of 2020.
Having spoken to Bolton-based GP, Dr Helen Wall, here is her explanation of how to handle this new cold, and how to spot if your child is in trouble if they have caught the bug at school.
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How to tell your 'cold' apart from Covid-19
For those who are looking for a way to tell it apart from Covid-19, the answer is that you can't unless you have a coronavirus test, says Dr Wall: "It's a really difficult one because you can't tell the difference. That's the problem.
"When Covid first started off in March of 2020, we were quite clear about the three main symptoms - cough, fever, loss of taste and smell. If you had those, you might have coronavirus.
"Now, it seems to have changed and whether that's because the virus has changed, we have a number of new variants, the symptoms for Covid-19 are very similar to those of a regular cold.
"We know more now than we did then - the majority of people coming forward with Covid, particularly children after speaking to a paediatric consultant recently, don't actually have a cough.
"It seems to be more things like snotty, sore throat, sniffles, headache, sometimes a fever, sometimes not.
"It's a hard one for people because we're in winter, pretty much, and there's going to be lots of coughs and colds about. There is just no way of knowing whether that's Covid or not without a test, unfortunately.
Dr Helen is a GP partner, the senior responsible officer for the Covid-19 vaccine programme in Bolton and the clinical director of commissioning for Bolton CCG. (Image: (Image: Dr Helen Wall))
"It's the only thing we can advise. The number of GP colleagues who are getting frustrated because when they say to patients, 'have you had a test?' And the answer is, 'no because it's not Covid.'
"Well, there is no possible way for anyone to know that without a negative test.
"While we appreciate that we want to get back to normality and that we don't want to be having to do tests all the time and feeling like we can't just have a normal cold, the symptoms are so similar, there's no way of knowing."
The GP is reminding people that the 'implications of those tests are less now': "Your whole household doesn't have to isolate, your whole class doesn't have to isolate.
"I do appreciate that people don't want to have to isolate if they have to go to work to earn money. It's not a perfect world, people don't always get paid if they're off because they have to self-isolate.
"But Covid is still very much about, unfortunately."
What is different about this bug
Dr Wall listed signs to look out for if you're struggling with this illness:
Many people who have caught the lurgy have been complaining that it feels worse than a 'regular' cold - the Bolton GP suspects that the common cold's 'year off', while people were socially distancing, might have given way to 'more virulent strains'.
"People are saying that it feels much worse than a normal cold ever has," continued Dr Wall.
"I wonder whether we have more virulent strains because it's had a year off, more time to build itself up and change and become different strains.
"It probably is more likely to be a worse version of what we've had before. But also, we've been used to not having them for so long that it will feel worse.
"Your immune system has had a break from having to fight those things off. It will have had a break from being exposed to these things, because when we go into a crowded setting, our immune systems are exposed to any number of viruses, bacteria, germs.
"We've all been at home, not mixing, working from home, not doing normal things for over 12 months. Our immune systems will have gone on a backfoot, these things will take it out of you more than perhaps they would have done before.
" People are saying that it is lingering longer than they would normally expect.
"We're hearing that people have had it for three, four, five weeks. Normally, you'd expect a cold to be gone and you to be back to full fettle after three weeks.
"People are feeling like it's knocking the stuffing out of them and they're more tired.
"Generally, it's those same symptoms of that really heavy head cold, headaches, sniffles, feeling quite feverish at times."
Is this lurgy normal?
However, the doctor says the increase in the number of people reporting colds feels like a pre-pandemic norm.
" At this point in time, it's not any different to normal," added the GP.
"In October, we'd expect to be speaking to a lot of people with coughs, colds, sore throats, general infections.
"I think the difference is that last year we didn't see that. People were wearing masks, people weren't mixing, people were paying more attention to hygiene, social distancing. They perhaps weren't all in offices working, going out socialising as much.
"I think it might feel worse because we missed it last year. But if we look back to years before that, it feels pretty much like the onslaught of a winter.
For many people, this is the first time they have had a cold in almost two years (Image: LarsZahnerPhotography)
"What I would say, it feels like it's starting a bit sooner than normal.
"When you're not regularly exposed to infections, viruses, germs, then your immunity does drop a little bit.
"It's that perfect storm of people not having had a cold or cough for 12 months because your immunity has dropped and we've not been mixing and being exposed to things. And people are mixing much more now, not wearing masks, hand hygiene perhaps isn't as high a priority as it was, people are back at work."
The best treatment for a cold
For those who have forgotten how to treat a cold after the last 18 months, Dr Wall has this advice: "With any virus, the old wives' tale is rest and drink plenty of fluids.
"When I say that to patients, sometimes, I think they think they're being fobbed off - 'what advice is that? You're meant to be a doctor!' kind of thing.
"The body will recover from a virus like a cold, but it does need to be in good health to do that.
"Plenty of fluids, there are studies that show the more hydrated you are, the quicker you recover from colds.
"Vitamin C is a big one, make sure you've got a good diet. When I've got a cold, as soon as I feel one coming on, I take vitamin C. Scientifically it makes sense because that helps us fight infection.
"Plenty of rest, paracetamol can help you feel a bit better, and your body will recover. There is no cure to a viral infection, no antibiotics that will get rid of it, no treatment for it as such."
When you should see a doctor
There are, however, some 'worrying' symptoms that Dr Hall says you should get checked out by a doctor: "I would advise someone to see a doctor if they are experiencing shortness of breath, being unable to drink fluids so they are no passing urine - that's a sign of dehydration.
"If you've got an unusual rash, try and speak to a doctor."
Reminders around self-isolating
If you think you might have coronavirus, the guidance remains to self-isolate, even while awaiting your test results to come back.
"The results come back really quickly now," says Dr Wall.
"There was a point in time when things were really bad when it was taking a few days for tests to come back, but it's taking a matter of hours now. Isolate while you are waiting for that result, then 10 days from the first day of your symptoms.
"Family members need not isolate if they are double vaccinated.
"But even if you are a family member of someone with Covid, you need to be careful that you are not mixing with people who are high risk - frail, elderly, immuno-compromised. You could still be putting them at risk."
When to keep your kids of school - and when to be concerned
"If children are exhibiting any of those symptoms - coughs, colds, fevers - then they should stay off school until they get a test," says Dr Wall.
The same treatment applies - hydration, rest, paracetamol - but the GP does warn that parents should 'keep an eye on children'.
"The main thing with children is keeping an eye on them remaining active. A normal child might lie on the couch, but they'll have periods particularly when the paracetamol kicks in where they will become a bit more active.
"A child that isn't doing that and is largely uninterested in everything around them is a concern that needs medical attention. A child that isn't passing urine at least every four hours, again we'd want to know about that.
"Keep an eye on them for rashes, particularly rashes that don't disappear under pressure."
What if I fall into the high-risk category?
The measures we were taking last year - mask-wearing, hand washing, keeping distanced as much as possible - is still 'really good advice', especially if you do fall into that high-risk category, says the GP.
Those precautions will give an 'extra layer of protections', she says.
Where to get medical attention if you are concerned
"The options are 111, your GP, or your out-of-hours GP service," explains Dr Wall, adding that you can visit the NHS website for further guidance.
"The pharmacist is usually very good at giving advice or signposting if they feel you need further attention."
For more stories from where you live, visit InYourArea.
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