General Coronavirus chit chat thread - non-travel specific

[Pushka]

In the UK people are back into the habit of veering off to the side when you're walking past one another. It's like March all over again. There really is nothing quite like it.

This is a good thing. It hasn't really stopped here where we live in SA.

 

[Flying mermaid]

This is a good thing. It hasn't really stopped here where we live in SA.

Yes same here - when we go to the zoo, people will stand right next to you even when they could easily be a bit further away

 

[RooFlyer]

So if Pfizer is asking full approval in US in April, does that mean Australia will be the first country to give full approval to any covid vaccine and we are the guinea pigs???

I would have thought meerkats a better analogy

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[HappyFlyerFamily]

I would have thought meerkats a better analogy

Lol - may be the Aussie bush rat of the world - not sure they do testing on bush rats.....

 

[DC3]

As it is now obligatory to wear masks in Greater Sydney in certain situations, hopefully the authorities are ensuring compliance.

It shouldn’t be too difficult for people to just do the right thing, including by their fellow-commuters.


Shops in Greater Sydney encouraged to hand out free masks as $200 fines kick in

This article is almost a week old, and published the day after new restrictions began.

Edited

 

[DC3]

How low is this?

Man poses as a NHS worker, claiming to administer the COVID vax, in order to get money from a 92 year old woman in her home.

Man allegedly posed as NHS worker, charged 92-year-old London woman for fake COVID-19 vaccine

Police are searching for a suspected conman who administered a fake COVID-19 vaccine to an elderly woman in her London home.

www.abc.net.au

woman:

 

[DC3]

I realise that the USA is in dire straights, but I hope that Australia can do much better than this, reporting lag notwithstanding.

“... Only about 16% of vaccines distributed for use in nursing homes have been injected into residents and the staff who care for them ...”

Only 16% of vaccines have been injected at U.S. nursing homes. Why so slow? — USA TODAY

 

[Flying mermaid]

I realise that the USA is in dire straights, but I hope that Australia can do much better than this, reporting lag notwithstanding.

“... Only about 16% of vaccines distributed for use in nursing homes have been injected into residents and the staff who care for them ...”

Only 16% of vaccines have been injected at U.S. nursing homes. Why so slow? — USA TODAY

It seems a total shambles to be honest. The sister of a friend of mine has been vaccinated. She is a bit under 70 and no underlying conditions, nor in a priority group, but apparently she “tracked down” how to get vaccinated and “organised” to get it. Hope we do better here.

 

[Cappuccino99]

My ex in laws, both in their 90s, have just been hospitalised in London. I don't rate their chances

Sadly they both passed away in hospital this weekend. My daughter is devastated to lose both grandparents this way :-(

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I keep an eye in cases in Ireland. In part as my eldest daughter's partner was born there (Irish father, Australian mother) with most of his family still there and partly as it was one of my more recent international travels (back in the good ole days).

Unfortunately Ireland has had a massive recent surge in new daily cases which is at least in part being attributed to relaxing restrictions for Christmas.

Remember that the population of Ireland is 4.9 million. Australia is 25 million.

 

[OZDUCK]

An interesting vaccine trial of a slightly different approach that may lead to a 'one shot' vaccine. Phase 3 trial results should be out this month.

How the Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Works (Published 2022)

An adenovirus helps prime the immune system to fight the coronavirus.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Lynda2475]

Wildlife carer believed to have passed COVID-19 onto zoo's gorillas

While minks, lions and tigers have previously contracted COVID-19, the positive tests among gorillas from San Diego Zoo Safari Park are believed to represent the first known instances of transmission to great apes.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Pushka]

Wildlife carer believed to have passed COVID-19 onto zoo's gorillas

While minks, lions and tigers have previously contracted COVID-19, the positive tests among gorillas from San Diego Zoo Safari Park are believed to represent the first known instances of transmission to great apes.

www.abc.net.au

Given our genetics, and that likely Covid came from an animal in the first place, I'm betting all species would have positive representatives if they were tested.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Wildlife carer believed to have passed COVID-19 onto zoo's gorillas

While minks, lions and tigers have previously contracted COVID-19, the positive tests among gorillas from San Diego Zoo Safari Park are believed to represent the first known instances of transmission to great apes.

www.abc.net.au

It’s really not surprising- when we went gorilla trekking in Rwanda we were asked to wear cloth face coverings as it is so easy to transmit colds etc to the gorillas.

 

[OZDUCK]

And here is a new approach from Canada to get around lockdown rules.

A Sherbrooke husband and wife were handed sizeable fines for violating curfew, despite the wife's protests that she was walking her dog and the fact the husband was wearing a leash.

Quebec couple hit with curfew-violation fine after wife walks husband on a leash

A Sherbrooke husband and wife were handed sizeable fines for violating curfew, despite the wife's protests that she was walking her dog and the fact the husband was wearing a leash.

montreal.ctvnews.ca

 

[OZDUCK]

The UK is trialing a new treatment that has performed well in early small scale testing. It "involves inhaling a protein called interferon beta".

"Early findings suggested the treatment cut the odds of a Covid-19 patient in hospital developing severe disease - such as requiring ventilation - by almost 80%."

Covid: Large trial of new treatment begins in UK

It is hoped the treatment will help stop patients from developing severe illness from the virus.

www.bbc.com

 

[drron]

Some interesting Covid stories on the BBC.Such as this advice.

Sex and Covid: What are the rules?

Casual sex is still off the cards in Wales and NI - but guidance is changing in England and Scotland.

www.bbc.com

 

[JohnM]

Some interesting Covid stories on the BBC.Such as this advice.

Sex and Covid: What are the rules?

Casual sex is still off the cards in Wales and NI - but guidance is changing in England and Scotland.

www.bbc.com

All I can say to that is that I'm deeply thankful we're not in lockdown in St Marko's Own Country (R)...

 

[Flashback]

All I can say to that is that I'm deeply thankful we're not in lockdown in St Marko's Own Country (R)...

I, unfortunately, am.

Just about to leave the house for the first time in over a week...... to go to the supermarket. I'm expecting stock levels to be low as social distancing measures are being enforced again, so should be fun. I'll probably still walk out empty handed. Can't get a delivery slot either. Looks like it might be takeaway food for the next few evenings until I can get to a supermarket at opening time to get some food!

 

[Flashback]

I, unfortunately, am.

Just about to leave the house for the first time in over a week...... to go to the supermarket. I'm expecting stock levels to be low as social distancing measures are being enforced again, so should be fun. I'll probably still walk out empty handed. Can't get a delivery slot either. Looks like it might be takeaway food for the next few evenings until I can get to a supermarket at opening time to get some food!

Glad to say I've been working myself into a state of anxiety over nothing. The supermarket was fine, stock of food (fresh and otherwise) was fine. It's been raining, which tends to mean it's slightly warmer outside. I picked a gap in the rain and managed to get there and back and not feel completely frozen. Result. Time to stop stressing myself out over nothing!