Border Wall Work in Arizona Speeds Up, Igniting Contagion Fears

[Kali]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/us/coronavirus-border-wall-arizona.html

AJO, Ariz. — Motels, mobile home camps and Airbnbs in this small Arizona border town are full up. Work crews stream into eateries for takeout orders. License plates on trucks parked outside the crowded laundromat come from as far away as Alaska.

Around the country, some states have cut back on construction activity to curb the spread of the coronavirus, and hotels and restaurants in many cities have closed. But here in Arizona, the federal government is embarking on a frenetic new phase of construction of the border wall.

The Trump administration contends that the wall will help prevent the spread of the virus into the United States from Mexico, though epidemiologists and the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say such a barrier would not mitigate the outbreaks already occurring in every state.

The intensification of construction during the pandemic is raising fears among residents of Ajo, Ariz., and other nearby border communities that the growing influx of workers increases their risk of exposure. Some disease specialists in Arizona are warning that workers clustered in tight quarters along the border could spread the virus around the country when they return to their families.

lots more at link




A crowded RV park in Ajo, Ariz., where many construction workers are staying while working on the border wall.Credit...Adriana Zehbrauskas for The New York Times

[Submariner]

1. All the more fence for Biden to have taken down and land to restore

the orange shitgibbon is on a tear to leave these reminders of his dictatorship.

[crickets]

2. Great. Another dispersal vector is on the way in 3...2...

“Put the wall on pause immediately, that’s my advice,” said Kacey Ernst, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Arizona who has watched the new construction boom with alarm. “These workers are potentially amplifying the virus around the country when they return home. This needs to stop.”

So far, there appears to be no plan to slow down construction. Raini Brunson, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said the agency was following “government and C.D.C. guidelines” to determine how best to proceed with the work.

What CDC guidelines allow for this?

[panader0]

3. Caramba!

Pinche pendejos.
I heard they cut down some big cottonwoods on the San Pedro. I will "investigate."

[Kali]

4. many years ago my German friend and I hauled some horses down to Palominas

and rode to the border fence and back. Really pretty down there. used to be some old corrals for crossing livestock back in the old days. I wonder if they are still there?

there was a little cafe that had GREAT pie right by the bridge, they let us leave the truck and trailer behind the building.

[panader0]

6. Oh I know that cafe--the names escapes right now.

I ate there several times, and they made great pies on site.
Also dollar pancakes for the kids. It has been out of business for a while.
But the Bright Spot, just over the east side of the river reopened (closed now).
Good steaks.

[struggle4progress]

5. "This protects us from all the Chinese bats sneaking across the Mexican border into our country!"