Covid 19 - Updates from your zones

[wavewright62]

The ongoing Delta outbreak in Auckland has taken hold in the gang-affiliated community (and those they supply), and cases are escalating rapidly.

Spoiler: politics and egregious examples of misinformation • show

The rhetoric from there for the last 18 months has been 'the government is lying, the vaccine was introduced by (either the government or China or big pharma or Bill Gates or the US, take your pick) to weaken our people, the vaccine is another method to control us, the vaccine will sterilise us, they have no right to say that we can't visit our people or sacred places and get together for family events or , blah blah blah... They're trying to frame Covid (the whole pandemic) as a clear violation of the Treaty of Waitangi, even though Maori leaders and health providers up & down the country decry that stance.

There is no official announcement, but government officials have stated that there's no point in tightening our lockdown back to its more rigourous setting because, 'the people who are spreading it are not the ones who are following the rules'.  They have stopped short of saying they're throwing up their hands because nothing they can say will get through to the defiant. 
Part of why NZ had adopted its closed borders and elimination strategy is an acknowledgement that our health system could not cope with case numbers seen in other countries, full stop.  Now...I guess we get to see that in action. 

[Róisín]

Sympathy, Wavewright! Good luck and keep surviving. It is hard when a part of the population is being foolish.

[Opaque]

Stay safe Wavewright! The US isn't doing great either. I've been hearing (mostly) the same things over here too. The hospitals here can't hold everyone and have to send patients across state borders to other hospitals that are already full. So, it's definitely not us that's trying to control y'all. It's a complete mess.

[catbirds]

We've started getting vaccine passports in Ontario. We'll need them to go into restaurants now, but to be honest, I don't think they're that different from just presenting your proof of vaccination? It involves a QR code, which most people would have in PDF form on a phone, but if you don't have a phone, you can probably just print one out. It's a bit more convenient for businesses, probably, and considering one of the things people miss the most about pre-pandemic life is eating at restaurants, it's probably good news for most people, too.

here's a short article on it. There's about a dozen more with essentially the same information, since this is probably the big news of the day.

In other news, there are still anti-vaxx parades here I sincerely wish to have just one afternoon shift without running into them!

[Grade E cat]

Get ready for anti-passport parades, then. We've been having them in France each Saturday for long enough that I already forgot when they started.

[Jitter]

Finland also took the passports in use last night (literally- at midnight music was turned down and lights up in bars, passports checked, then back to partying). We have also had a small demonstration against them, but the decision was only just made on Thursday so they are probably just getting started.

I have to say I’m finding this whole thing very alienating - how come there are this many people who are in complete denial of science? Where did they come from? I suppose they must have been around always, but having a situation that makes it so clear that I share a country and world (although that is easier to explain away, since schools etc are very different in different countries) with people with so very very different worldviews is weird.

[Yastreb]

Victoria has had four days in a row each with new cases above 2,000 and deaths, but apparently Premier Daniel Andrews has given up and decided to end restrictions on 26 October. I just don't understand that.

[Yastreb]

As of 2359 on Thursday 26 October, restrictions in metropolitan Victoria will be eased as follows.

No restrictions on leaving your home or curfew
In metropolitan Melbourne, the curfew and the 15-kilometre travel radius will be lifted, however, movement between regional Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne will only be allowed for permitted reasons. This is to ensure Melburnians don't spread the virus further into regional Victoria while the state rushes towards the 80 per cent double-vaccinated target.

Work from home continues
People in metropolitan Melbourne must continue to work from home if they can.
Authorised workers are required to have had at least one dose of the vaccine to work on site.
Large-scale construction sites will increase to 100 per cent capacity but only if all workers are fully vaccinated.

Child care and schools
Child care will be open to children who are already attending, as well as children whose parents or guardians are fully vaccinated.
The return to school plan will also be brought forward in line with the rest of these settings, with the start of the staggered return of grade 3 to year 11 in metro Melbourne commencing on Friday, October 22.

You can have people over for dinner
Up to 10 people (including dependents) per day will be able to visit homes in both regional and metropolitan Melbourne.
To ensure this is done safely, it's highly recommended that Victorians only permit people aged 12 years and over who are fully vaccinated to visit them at home.
Most outdoor settings – outdoor cafes, cinemas and physical recreation facilities like pools – will open with up to 50 people per venue but are subject to density limits and only for those who are fully vaccinated.
Indoor settings like restaurants and cafes will be able to reopen with up to 20 people indoors with density limits, and only if all attendees – including workers – are fully vaccinated.
The government says this is a higher cap than planned in the initial roadmap and the change has been made after discussions between the sector and the public health team.

But brick and mortar shopping will have to wait
Retail is still set to open when 80 per cent of 16+ Victorians are fully vaccinated, which is expected to be in 10 days from this Thursday.

Religious gatherings, weddings and funerals
Religious gatherings, weddings and funerals will be able to take place with up to 50 people outdoors and 20 people indoors subject to density limits and only if all attendees are fully vaccinated.
If vaccination status is unknown, 10 people are permitted indoors for funerals, weddings and religious gatherings.

Masks are here to stay
Masks will still be required both indoors and outdoors for all Victorians.
The mask mandate will remain in effect, with no changes to the rules outlined on the current roadmap. However, as indicated in the roadmap, masks would no longer be required outdoors after reaching the 80 per cent vaccination mark.
But you can get a haircut, with hairdressers and beauty services open indoors to five fully vaccinated patrons.

[Róisín]

Yastreb, good luck! And I think that staying masked around others is still a good idea. Remember, a fully vaccinated person can still catch Covid, they are just more likely to survive and less likely to be hospitalised or die. Keep safe as you can!

[ohnosir]

Got my booster...and my flu shot, at the same time x.x It was a hell of a day after
I'm really glad I had the opportunity to get one. TBH I think it's morally reprehensible that certain countries are getting boosters while the rest of the world is waiting for the vaccination to begin with. But I know that what was available to me, if I skipped out, wouldn't be going to anywhere else. Either taken by us here or just spoiled
Also I am hella compromised and have never been allowed to work from home this whole time, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Róisín]

I had my second vaccine shot on Thursday, and seem to be okay apart from fever and some blistered mucous membranes. Dr says I will need a booster shot in December because I am immunocompromised from chemotherapy and other things. Not looking forward to that. Still, at least I am less likely to endanger my folk by spreading the virus.

[midwestmutt]

Now that Moderna, the vaccine I took last spring, has been approved for a booster I find I still need to wait while a persistent COPD exacerbation that began at my final campout of the season two weeks ago finally settles down. Whatever happens with Covid I will still be restricted to staying at home except for essential shopping by my COPD this winter.

[Jitter]

These boosters you mentioned, ohnosir and midwestmutt, are they your second or third shots? I will be getting a third one in the beginning of December, when it’s been six months since my second one.

Finland has also seen vaccination rates boosted by the introduction of the corona passport, although not by very much. The passport is required for concerts, museums and such, as well as by restaurants and bars in areas where the spread is currently rapid. Bars and restaurants may elect to follow restrictions (severe limitations to number of customers they can take in, plus have to close early) as an alternative to requiring the passport.

I’m sure you can guess already - some restaurants (bars, cafes etc) that have taken it to use are under attack by the crazies. As far as I’m aware, no concrete damage has been caused (as in them having broken any property) but there have been threats of violence towards the owners and staff in addition to the nowadays so common “leave 1 star reviews en masse” campaigns. I don’t know what to say anymore.

Oh and all this happens at the same time when hospitals are again at the brink of emergency. Elective surgeries are again being postponed and other treatments are at risk of being delayed too. Considering that everyone would be able to go and get the shots for free (with the exception of those who cannot take it for medical reasons, but that is a small minority) it is so so disappointing to see this again, and yet 750 000 adults remain unvaccinated. If it were that they only risk themselves, fine, but it doesn’t work like that.

[midwestmutt]

The booster is the 3rd shot.

[JoB]

These boosters you mentioned, ohnosir and midwestmutt, are they your second or third shots?

(Initial "full" immunity can be obtained with two shots (BioNTech, Moderna, ...), one shot (Johnson&Johnson), or in some nations, infection plus "second" shot with a "two shots" vaccine, so one's (first) booster shot can be the second or the third jab. And I'm not ruling out that some places might even consider a cured infection alone a full immunization, which would make the booster the first syringe the patient has ever seen.)