Alberta doctors' group airs concerns over COVID-19 response as EMS dispatchers stop routine virus screening - Calgary Herald

Author of the article:

Jason Herring

Publishing date:

Jul 31, 2021  •  4 hours ago  •  3 minute read  •  9 Comments

Health-care workers at the Richmond Road Diagnostic and Treatment Centre COVID-19 testing location. Friday, April 23, 2021. Photo by Brendan Miller /Postmedia

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The president of a group representing Alberta doctors says the province is moving too quickly in nixing its remaining public-health protocols.

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The frustrations come as Alberta instructs its EMS dispatchers not to ask callers about COVID-19 symptoms in routine calls.

Dr. Paul Boucher with the Alberta Medical Association outlined his concerns over the province’s plans to end all COVID-19 isolation and testing requirements in an open letter to members Friday.

“The pace at which public health measures are ending is troubling,” Boucher said.

“I do not disagree that moving from pandemic state to endemic state is the future but would strongly advocate for a less precipitous approach.”

It’s been less than a month since Alberta did away with nearly all its restrictions on public life related to the pandemic, dropping its mask mandate and allowing gatherings of all sizes. Since then, daily COVID-19 case counts have risen sharply.

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Delaying the move away from remaining containment measures would give Alberta time to evaluate the results of those changes, as well as the increased spread of the Delta variant and the upcoming return to schools, Boucher said.

“It would provide more safety for Albertans, manageability for the health care system and ease public anxiety during this transition,” he said, adding a call for the province to release evidence for its decision-making.

The AMA president said his focus was on ensuring community medical care can remain stable.

He said the province’s move to shutter all COVID-19 assessment sites by the end of August will shift some testing responsibility to community clinics, but said not all sites are equipped to administer testing.

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Boucher added he believes the government’s reliance on wastewater data and admissions to hospitals to monitor COVID-19 spread will be insufficient.

“By the time patients land in hospital or ICU, community care may be overrun,” he said.

Speaking to media earlier this week, Health Minister Tyler Shandro defended the changes, saying they were recommended by chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw.

He said Alberta was “leading the way” by doing away with isolation requirements and testing.

“I think other provinces know this will be the inevitable next step,” he said.

In downtown Calgary Saturday afternoon, protesters gathered to rally against the public-health changes for a second straight day. About 200 people attended.

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Hundreds came out for the second day in a row outside McDougall Centre over the noon hour in downtown Calgary on Saturday, July 31, 2021, as emergency room doctor Joe Vipond speaks during a rally against looming changes to COVID-19 containment measures. Photo by Darren Makowichuk /DARREN MAKOWICHUK/Postmedia

Ambulance dispatchers told to stop routine COVID-19 screening

Alberta Health Services EMS dispatchers have been directed to no longer screen each caller for COVID-19 symptoms.

Dispatchers will, however, be allowed to continue to asking about symptoms of the virus based on caller information.

AHS spokesperson Kerry Williamson said paramedics will continue to treat patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 illness and are prepared to do so.

“AHS EMS staff are continuing to follow all AHS guidance in the care and treatment of patients and in the use of PPE,” Williamson said, adding continuous masking is enforced in workplace settings.

“The majority of our paramedics have received both doses of COVID-19 vaccine and we are very grateful that our paramedics have this level of protection.”

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Number of COVID-19 cases linked to Stampede on the rise

Alberta Health officials provided Postmedia with updated estimates of COVID-19 infections linked to the Calgary Stampede.

As of Friday, the province has identified 113 COVID-19 cases which were most likely acquired on Stampede grounds. As well, 313 people who later tested positive attended the event during the virus’s incubation period.

Thirty-one cases linked to Stampede are people who attended the festival from out-of-province.

The number of confirmed cases at Stampede has risen since the Calgary mainstay announced Tuesday only 71 cases were thought to have originated there. Some experts have said it will be difficult to say definitively what impact the Stampede had on COVID-19 transmission in Alberta.

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Alberta Health spokesperson Lisa Glover said the event doesn’t appear to have been a “significant driver” of viral spread.

“This is a testament to the strong public health measures that were put in place by the organizers, as well as the diligent way they were applied and maintained throughout the event,” Glover said.

Alberta did not release updated COVID-19 data Saturday. Data from over the long weekend will be reported Tuesday.

On Friday, the province logged an additional 187 new cases of COVID-19 with a 2.4 per cent test positivity rate. Alberta’s active cases rose to 1,655, with the province leading Canada in the metric.

There were 90 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 19 of whom are in intensive-care units. Throughout the pandemic, 2,328 Albertans have died of the virus.

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Mobile vaccine clinic makes stop at Heritage Festival - CTV Edmonton

EDMONTON -- People at the Heritage Festival in Edmonton had the opportunity to enjoy food and culture from other countries, and get their COVID-19 vaccine.

The mobile vaccination clinic launched less than a week ago, it is intended to help get vaccines to rural communities and hard-to-reach populations in the province.

“The point of the mobile vaccination clinic is to make sure that we can reach the people who have been hesitant, the people who have a hard time getting time off of work,” said Sara Borchiellini, with Vax Hunters Alberta.

“So if they’re here already they know they can get their vaccine on the spot and they’ll be taken care of right away by the staff here.”

Borchiellini was at the festival to help spread the word that the clinic was there for people. She said it would take people under 40 minutes to get their shot.

The mobile clinic is funded by the provincial government and a coalition of Alberta businesses. Anyone wanting the clinic to come to a workplace or event can visit the Business Council of Alberta’s website.

The clinic had both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines available Saturday, according to Borchiellini.

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Opinion | How to Put a Stop to Russia’s New Form of Organized Crime - The New York Times

Illustrations by Nicholas Konrad/the New York Times; Videos By Mediaproduction And Sayoesso Via Getty Images

The screen goes blank.

A message appears in crude, Google Translate English, advising that all your files have been encrypted — rendered unusable — and can be restored only if you pay a ransom.

After some back and forth, you pay out in Bitcoin or some other cryptocurrency, most likely to a Russian-based gang. There’s no choice: It’s cheaper and far quicker to pay up than to rebuild a computer system from scratch. To avoid further trouble or embarrassment, many victims don’t even notify the police.

A few years ago, the ransom may have been a few hundred bucks. In early May, Colonial Pipeline shelled out $5 million to the DarkSide ransomware gang to get oil flowing through its pipes again. (Some was recovered by the Justice Department.) In June, the meat processor JBS paid $11 million to the Russian-based REvil (Ransomware Evil) gang. About a month ago REvil came back to score what may be the biggest attack yet, freezing the systems of about a thousand companies after hacking an IT service provider they all used. The ask this time was $70 million. The criminals behind ransomware have also evolved, expanding from lone sharks to a business in which tasks are farmed out to groups of criminals specializing in hacking, collecting ransom or marshaling armies of bots.

Ransomware attacks can cripple critical infrastructure like hospitals and schools and even core functions of major cities. Using methods as simple as spoof emails, hackers can take over entire computer systems and pilfer personal data and passwords and then demand a ransom to restore access.

In about a dozen years, ransomware has emerged as a major cyberproblem of our time, big enough for President Biden to put it at the top of his agenda with Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, when they met in June and for lawmakers in Congress to be working on several bills that would, among other things, require victims to report attacks to the government.

It is a war that needs to be fought, and won. While the extortion business is run by a relatively small network of criminals seeking windfall profits, their ability to seriously disrupt economies and to breach strategically critical enterprises or agencies also makes them a formidable potential threat to national security. The Colonial Pipeline attack created an almost instant shortage of fuel and spread panic in the southeastern United States.

Big strikes make the big news, but the main prey of the ransomware gangs is the small to medium enterprise or institution that is devastated by the disruption of its computers and the ransom payment. How many have been hit is anybody’s guess — unlike breaches of personal information, the law does not require most ransomware attacks to be reported (though that is another thing Congress may soon change).

The F.B.I. internet Crime Report for 2020 listed 2,474 attacks in the United States, with losses totaling more than $29.1 million. The reality is probably of a different magnitude. The German data-crunching firm Statista has estimated that there were 304 million attacks worldwide in 2020, a 62 percent increase over 2019. Most of them, Statista said, were in the professional sector — lawyers, accountants, consultants and the like.

Whatever the true scope, the problem will not be solved with patches, antivirus software or two-factor authentication, though security experts stress that every bit of protection helps. “We’re not going to defend ourselves out of this problem,” said Dmitri Alperovitch, the chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator and a leading authority on ransomware. “We have too many vulnerabilities. Companies that are small, libraries, fire departments will never afford the required security technology and talent.”

The battle must be joined elsewhere, and the place to start is Russia. That, according to the experts, is where the majority of attacks originate. Three other countries — China, Iran and North Korea — are also serious players, and the obvious commonality is that all are autocracies whose security apparatuses doubtlessly know full well who the hackers are and could shut them down in a minute. So the presumption is that the criminals are protected, either through bribes — which, given their apparent profits, they can distribute lavishly — or by doing pro bono work for the government or both.

It’s clear that the ransomware gangs take care not to target the powers that shelter them. Security analysts found that REvil code was written so that the malware avoids any computer whose default language is Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Tajik, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Turkmen, Uzbek, Tatar, Romanian or Syriac.

Finding the criminals is not the problem. The U.S. government has the wherewithal to identify and arrest would-be cyberblackmailers on its own soil and to help allies find them on theirs. In fact, Washington has identified and indicted many Russian cybercriminals — the F.B.I., for example, has offered a reward of $3 million for information leading to the arrest of one Evgeniy Bogachev, a.k.a. “lucky12345,” a master hacker in southern Russia whose malware has led to financial losses of more than $100 million.

The key is to compel Mr. Putin to act against them. At his summit with him in June, Mr. Biden said he demanded that Russia take down the ransomware gangs it harbors and identified 16 critical sectors of the American economy on which attacks would provoke a response.

Yet two weeks later, REvil made the biggest strike ever, hacking into Kaseya, a firm that supplies management software for the I.T. industry, and attacking hundreds of its small-business customers. That led Mr. Biden to telephone Mr. Putin and to say afterward that “we expect them to act.” Asked by a reporter whether he would take down REvil’s servers if Mr. Putin did not, Mr. Biden simply said, “Yes.” Shortly after that, REvil abruptly disappeared from the dark web.

Tempting as it might be to believe that Mr. Biden persuaded the Russians to act or knocked the band’s servers out with American means, it is equally possible that REvil went dark on its own, intending, as happens so often in its shadowy world, to reappear later in other guises.

So long as the hackers focus on commercial blackmail abroad, Mr. Putin probably sees no reason to shut them down. They do not harm him or his friends, and they can be used by his spooks when necessary. Unlike the “official” hackers working for military intelligence who have drawn sanctions from Washington and Europe for meddling in elections or mucking around in government systems, Mr. Putin can deny any responsibility for what the criminal gangs do. “It’s just nonsense. It’s funny,” he said in June when asked about Russia’s role in ransomware attacks. “It’s absurd to accuse Russia of this.”

The Russians apparently also believe they can parlay their control over the ransomware gangs into negotiating leverage with the West. Sergei Rybakov, the deputy foreign minister who leads the Russian side in strategic stability talks launched at the Biden-Putin summit, indicated as much when he complained recently that the United States was focusing on ransomware separately from other security issues. Ransomware, he implied, was part of a bigger pile of bargaining chips.

That, said Mr. Alperovitch, suggests that Mr. Putin does not appreciate how seriously the new American president takes ransomware. For reasons still unclear, Donald Trump as president was prepared to give Mr. Putin carte blanche for any cybermischief. Mr. Biden, by contrast, sees himself as the champion of small business and the middle class, and it is there that ransomware hurts the most.

Writing in The Washington Post, Mr. Alperovitch and Matthew Rojansky, an expert on Russia who heads the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center, argued that Mr. Biden should confront Mr. Putin with a clear message: Crack down or else. If the Russians do not, the authors wrote, the Biden administration “could hit Russia where it hurts by sanctioning its largest gas and oil companies, which are responsible for a significant portion of the Russian government’s revenue.”

Drawing red lines for Russia does not usually work. The message would best be delivered privately, so that Mr. Putin would not be challenged to publicly back down before the United States. It is possible that Mr. Biden has already delivered such a message. If so, he should be prepared to follow through.

The other critical factor in ransomware is cryptocurrency. By no coincidence, there were few ransomware attacks before Bitcoin came into being a dozen years ago. Now, cybercriminals can be paid off in a currency that’s hard to track or recover, though the U.S. government managed to do just that when it recuperated $2.3 million of the Colonial Pipeline stash.

Cryptocurrency is reportedly one of the issues addressed in legislation soon to be introduced by the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Congress is also being urged by federal law enforcement agencies to pass a law compelling companies in critical industry sectors hit by a cyberattack to inform the government, and a host of other anti-ransomware legislation is in the works.

Mounting a multifront attack against ransomware will take time and effort. Devising ways to control cryptocurrency is bound to be complex and fraught. Companies will be reluctant to damage their brand by acknowledging that they have been hacked or have paid ransom, and lawmakers have been traditionally wary of passing laws that impose burdens on businesses.

But letting Russian hackers continue to wreak havoc on America’s and the world’s digital infrastructure with impunity is an immediate and critical challenge. If this is not stopped soon, further escalation — and the growth of organized cybercrime syndicates in other dictatorships — is all but certain.

Mr. Putin must be made to understand that this is not about geopolitics or strategic relations but about a new and menacing form of organized crime. That is something every government should seek to crush. If he refuses, Mr. Putin should know that he will be regarded as an accomplice and be punished as such.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.

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Week In Politics: New Notes Further Show Trump's Attempt To Stop Transfer Of Power - NPR

More troubles for former president Donald Trump, with the release of handwritten notes detailing the pressure he put on former Justice Department officials following the 2020 election.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Some dramatic reports this week about Donald Trump trying to subvert the results of the 2020 election and slight signs that some of his own Republicans may be willing to distance themselves from him. Joined now by NPR's Ron Elving. Ron, thanks so much for being with us.

RON ELVING, BYLINE: Good to be with you, Scott.

SIMON: Let's begin with those handwritten notes taken by a former Justice Department official - this is right after the 2020 election - detailing the pressure President Trump then was applying to the DOJ, notes about phone calls that include this sentence, quote, "just say that the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me."

ELVING: This is serious business, Scott. These are notes from a phone call top justice officials had with the then-president on December 27, well after votes had been certified by the governors of all 50 states and nearly two weeks after the Electoral College had voted decisively. Yet, here was Trump still trying to get someone in the Justice Department to help him overturn the election. The officials told him in no uncertain terms that they had looked hard and found no corruption. So Trump replied, just say it was corrupt; leave the rest to me. He wanted something he and his allies in Congress could use to disrupt the constitutional transfer of power.

This is the same time period when we know Trump was trying to bully appointed and elected Republican officials in the states in a similar fashion. So there is a case to be made that all of this violates not only his oath to uphold the Constitution, but other state and federal laws as well.

SIMON: Department of Justice also said yesterday the Treasury Department must furnish - that was the phrase - six years of Donald Trump's tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee, which has been trying to see those returns since 2019. Is this going to happen now?

ELVING: Yes, so it would seem. But don't expect to see Trump's 1040 form in the Sunday paper tomorrow. It's still going to be a while before it's all made public, if indeed it ever is. Trump can go to court and at least delay the process. Yet, there is more reason now than ever to believe that these records will be furnished, at least to the House Ways and Means Committee. And eventually, at some point reasonably soon, relevant parts should be part of the public record.

SIMON: Donald Trump seems to conspicuously enjoy exercising influence over the Republican Party. There are people who visit him at Mar-a-Lago and try and receive his political blessing. This week, were there some signs that his influence isn't ironclad?

ELVING: There have been some disturbances in the force, the force that is Trumpism and that holds so many Republicans in its grip. Earlier this week, a Republican candidate for Congress whom Trump had strongly supported lost in a special election runoff in Texas. The winner was a more moderate Republican whom Trump did not endorse. So there are always lots of factors in any special election, but Trump had been assumed to be the controlling factor here, so it did get people's attention.

Then at midweek, on Wednesday we saw 17 Republicans in the Senate defy Trump's instructions and vote to proceed with a bipartisan infrastructure bill. Now, Trump wanted an infrastructure bill when he was in office, but a bill now before the Senate he calls socialism and a big, beautiful gift to Biden. So Trump had roundly denounced any Republican who might vote for it, yet 17 did.

SIMON: Ron, you said the magic word, (imitating buzzer) infrastructure. Is there more indications that massive bipartisan infrastructure bill is moving forward now in the Senate? Will it get to the House? How much momentum does it have?

ELVING: It suddenly has quite a bit, Scott, mainly because it helps senators in both parties do something good for their home states and something good for their own reelection prospects. Now, we should remember that this bill has been greatly reduced since its introduction, cut roughly in half in its overall scope. It's a bitter pill for many progressives to accept the reductions in their priorities, especially as they pertain to climate change. But right now, this looks like the place where the center could hold and the deal-makers in both parties can win.

SIMON: NPR's Ron Elving, thanks so much for being with us.

ELVING: Thank you, Scott.

Copyright © 2021 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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Chief Teddy Clark urges unity to stop northwest pandemic surge - Prince Albert Daily Herald

Clearwater River Dene Nation Chief Teddy Clark with his daughter Traya (Submitted photo/Teddy Clark)

Clearwater River Dene Nation Chief Teddy Clark said Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe put northern communities at risk by lifting emergency public health measures on July 11. Now he said northerners need to work quickly to stop a crisis.

Clark said cases have been on the rise since the province lifted restrictions and that’s no coincidence. The province reopened without consulting First Nations leadership in the north, who would have advised against it, he said. 

“I just feel it’s too soon, too quick. Ever since the government removed restrictions I can see the numbers climbing, especially in the north. I think Scott Moe jumped the gun on this. He moved too quickly and now, look at the result of it,” Clark said.

“I don’t think they really considered the north. Our numbers are very low in vaccinations. I think that should have been taken into consideration.”  

Clark said the Northern Village of La Loche and Clearwater River Dene Nation have a 28 per cent vaccination rate for the first dose, that’s well below the provincial threshold of 70 per cent to lift restrictions. That number drops even further for residents who have their second shot, with only around 14 per cent fully vaccinated.

La Loche Mayor Georgina Jolibois said a lack of any binding restrictions makes it difficult for leaders to work with residents and keep the pandemic under control.

La Loche Mayor Georgina Jolibois. (Submitted photo/Georgina Jolibois)

“I think every community in Saskatchewan has the same challenges that we have with the province lifting restrictions. The RCMP cannot enforce and health cannot enforce anything because of all the restrictions being lifted,” Jolibois said. 

“My council will continue to encourage people to take the vaccine, but without the support from the province that is kind of a challenge.” 

The ministry of health said officials are waiting on word from the Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority (NITHA) and Athabasca Health Authority (AHA) regarding further steps. 

Saskatchewan health minister Paul Merriman said on Tuesday that he’s optimistic the situation can be brought under control. 

“Obviously we’re working with all of our northern communities to make sure that they have access to vaccines first of all — and (that) there’s a good understanding of the public health orders that were in place, and just general practices within COVID,” Merriman said.  

“Everybody in Saskatchewan should have access to a vaccine right now. If they choose not to get (vaccinated) that’s their choice. My concern is that the people that we are seeing in the hospital and that are having severe outcomes are those ones that are unvaccinated.”

Merriman said there is no plan to re-enact a blanket public health order across the province, but some isolated areas could see restrictions if health officials recommend it. 

He said recent surges in COVID-19 have been “very localized” in “unvaccinated communities.”

Saskatchewan Minister of Health Paul Merriman. (Herald screenshot)

“We can work with them just like at the beginning of the pandemic back in the Spring of last year,” Merriman said. “We were able to manage that and we will be able to manage this with the help of the communities and the leaders.” 

Clark said lifting restrictions has led residents to believe the pandemic is over, and some are no longer following instructions to social distance, wear masks and self-isolate when needed. 

Social gatherings are contributing to the problem and vaccine hesitancy is being driven by a “free for all” among “keyboard warriors” on social media, he said. 

Clark said Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) chiefs hope to meet with Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett next week to find a solution.

“I’m not saying let’s lock the north down again. But if worst comes to worst, that is our last resort,” Clark said. 

“The Saskatchewan government should have taken a different approach to this.  I never got a call from Scott Moe or from his team. I would have given them my two cents — to consider the fact that we’re not 80 per cent vaccinated.”

Ministry of health spokesperson Colleen Book told the Prince Albert Daily Herald in a written response Friday that the “triggers” for each phase of reopening were publicly announced. 

She said it was known that there was “vaccine uptake variation throughout the province” and the province reopened when the threshold of 70 per cent of the population received their first dose of vaccine. 

“The Re-Opening plan was drafted in consultation with public health officials, who are in regular contact with medical health officers throughout the province,” Book said. 

“Public health has continued to make vaccination available in every region, promoted clinic availability and information about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine, and worked with all community leaders to increase uptake.” 

Book said provincial public health authorities are in touch with the AHA and NITHA’s medical health officers on contact and case investigation in northern communities that “would include discussions around additional supports that may be required to support those efforts.”

A medical health officer can order an individual to isolate under the Public Health Act.  

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe (Herald file photo)

Non-compliance with this order can result in fines up to $2,800.  Public health officials can ask for assistance from local police when investigating instances of non-compliance or when serving summary offence tickets – this includes local RCMP.

“The Provincial Public Health Order contained mandatory isolation requirements for COVID positive individuals and close contacts,” Book said.

“Upon repealing the provincial order, isolation is no longer mandatory; however cases and contacts are still advised by the provincial health authority to self-isolate and follow other public health recommendations to prevent further spread of the illness. 

“At this time, the province has not received a request to consider additional public health measures.”

Jolibois said she will know within the next couple of weeks whether La Loche will need its own restrictions and asked the province for help to prevent an outbreak in her community.

“I do know that we require assistance from the provincial government, and we appreciate their support and their guidance,” Jolibois said. 

Clark said the province isn’t entirely to blame for the situation and that residents need to act in their own best interest by getting vaccinated to avoid further lockdowns.

“We can’t just blame the health authority or blame the government for everything that goes on. We have to take some ownership as well,” Clark said.

“If these numbers continue to climb and if we don’t see the little bit of light at the end of the tunnel here, we’re going to slap our own restrictions in there.”

Clark said northern leaders need to unite and remind the Saskatchewan government to take the situation seriously. “We need to align, and we need to do it quickly, and I think that’s what’s going to happen.”

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Best Sellers: 21 Things GQ Readers Couldn't Stop Buying in July - GQ

All products featured on GQ are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The GQ Recommends team spends a hell of a lot of time digging through deals and drops to bring you well-informed buying advice, from deep dives on the coziest comforters to our weekly Best New Menswear posts to curated intel on the finest swim trunks you can score at Amazon. These 21 best sellers below resonated hard in July—so we gathered them here, figuring that if everyone else liked what they saw, you might, too. Check 'em out, subscribe to the GQ Recommends newsletter, and drop us a line if there’s anything you've been hunting for that could use our help.

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G.H. Bass & Co. "Larson" Weejuns loafers

Bass Weejuns have been an icon since the '30s, and when it comes to loafers—or any shoe really—you'd be hard-pressed to find a better value.

$110

G.H. Bass & Co.

Gucci 1953 Horsebit Leather loafer

The word "icon" is tossed around real casually these days, but Gucci's horsebit loafer is the rare piece of design actually worthy of the moniker.

Miabella paperclip chain necklace

Leave it to the Italians to make a nondescript office supply look incredibly cool.

Aobei Pearl chain bracelet

One pearl is still plenty.

Tuft & Needle Original mattress (was $695, now 10% off)

We’ve recommended Tuft & Needle’s Original mattress since we started testing mattresses in earnest over a few years ago. And we're not gonna stop any time soon.

Tuftle & Needle

Yeti Hondo base camp chair

If you want a camp chair that could survive a fall from your balcony, Yeti provides.

Kiehl's Facial Fuel energizing face scrub (was $28, now 36% off)

Like a restorative spa day for your face.

Vans Old Skool sneaker (was $65, now 33% off)

Nobody has to know that you can't kick flip either.

Everlane ReNew swim short

Yesterday's recycling is today's beach-ready flex.

Abercrombie & Fitch cotton-silk Johnny collar knit polo shirt

Dressing like a '60s jazz musician is always a good move.

$49

Abercrombie & Fitch

Ursa Major Base Layer deodorant

All natural and pumped full of soothing ingredients like aloe, chamomile, and shea butter.

Birdwell Beach Britches nylon board shorts

If you're after some serious throwback, hang-ten, shaka-hand energy, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better pair of drawstring waist boardies than these.

Patagonia Baggies 5" shorts

They’re tough but lightweight, laidback but presentable, affordable as hell, trend-proof in fit and form and function.

Lacoste colorblock taffeta board short

Sunny, preppy, throwback goodness.

Dr. Dennis Gross ferulic + retinol anti-aging moisturizer

The good doctor's formula is pricey, yes, but it's ROI is high: it's packed with ingredients that'll do their damndest to protect your skin—from signs of aging, dark spots, sun damage, and more—in the long run.

Baxter of California SPF 15 oil-free moisturizer

Terrific for oily-skinned people and sweltering days, this oil-free hydrator wears light and also shields from skin-aging UV rays.

Our Place Main dinner plates (set of four)

Speckled ceramic for that handmade, expensive feel.

Gibson Home Rockaway 12-piece dinnerware set

A lot like the fancy Japanese ceramics you've been eyeing, but at a price that won't make you wince.

Todd Snyder x Timex military watch (was $138, now 25% off)

It's never a bad time to buy a good watch on sale.

Todd Snyder

Todd Snyder + Champion sun-faded midweight pocket sweatshirt (was $98, now 29% off)

Todd Snyder

Todd Snyder short sleeve rugby (was $178, now 21% off)

Would definitely consider playing rugby if this was the uniform.

Todd Snyder

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