Azamara Cruisers - How are things where YOU are

[Baynanno1]

@snowglobe I hope you and your family stay well and are able to keep in touch via phone, email and photos.

It's not easy being separated.

Blatant disregard for sanitary protocols has been treated with heavy fines in Australia and most people now have become used to doing the right thing, at least where we are.

It is so sad that those who consider themselves invincible don't stop and contemplate that they may contract the virus and pass it on to family, friends and work colleagues.

[nordski]

9 hours ago, snowglobe said:

We are right smack in the highest contagion zone in Ontario (Ottawa). Our wastewater is tested and shows a six-fold increase since last week. Test results now take 3-5 days, so our numbers should be frighteningly high within a couple of days. Our critical care beds are already over capacity. It’s not pretty.

Gatherings remain the major issue. My 20-something neighbours are still gathering with their friends to party in the wee hours. And meanwhile, Bill and I have been back to being total shut-ins for the foreseeable future.
Ughhh!! 😡🤬

 

Had to tell my mom (who also lives in a “red”zone) that no one could visit her during last week-end’s Thanksgiving holiday, and that we probably will not be able to travel to see her at Christmas either, as that involves an overnight at a hotel in the winter months. — Summer we can do the five-hour return drive easily the same day, but not in winter darkness and rough driving conditions. There’s a blatant genetal disregard for sanitary protocols, like mask wearing and distancing, where she lives. Being a shut-in is especially hard on her, as she lives alone. At least here, Bill and the cats are good company, and we have a big enough place to provide us with decent space when we want to retreat to quiet... no wonder house sales are booming here now!

 

I am very impressed that Ottawa is using waste water analysis to detect the expansion of Covid-19. That, and hospital admissions, may be the only valid methods to ascertain its prevalence.

 

Your comments about the heedless young and, later, the appreciable dangers of winter driving in Ontario reminded me of a time when storms and road closures were, to us at a more youthful age, simply challenges to be overcome. Now we worry that some relative may die in the winter months and that Covid and storms will prevent us from attending a funeral.

 

And now to my pet peeve of the day. Like you, we also attempt to be as isolated as possible. However, perhaps ironically, the reasonable warnings about a possible "twindemic" has us scrambling to find access to the seasonal flu vaccine. Minister Elliot assures the province that there is a sufficient supply, so I can only assume that there is a distribution problem.

 

Our pharmacies seem to have very limited supplies and our family clinic has no clear idea as to when they will receive any. As a result, I ended up at a pharmacy/supermarket yesterday that could supply  the shot, but in circumstances that provided less social distancing than I look for. The potential providers also seem to be in a rather surly mood about the whole process.

 

And as for getting the high dosage shot, well....

 

I do hope that  lessons are learned for the time when a Covid-19 vaccine becomes available.

 

 

[NeilWM]

Interestingly in Australia we were warned about the dangers of a twindemic in March just before our winter. We were able to get flu shots relatively easily but there was very little flu at all in Australia this winter, apparently because of all the social distancing and quarantine, etc for COVID

[Baynanno1]

20 minutes ago, NeilWM said:

Interestingly in Australia we were warned about the dangers of a twindemic in March just before our winter. We were able to get flu shots relatively easily but there was very little flu at all in Australia this winter, apparently because of all the social distancing and quarantine, etc for COVID

 

We were contacted by our local GP practice and given a time to attend. Doors were locked and we were allowed in a (co-habiting) couple at a time. Absolutely spot on with sanitising procedures and after the shot shown which just sanitised seat to occupy for the mandatory 10 minutes observation post shot, before being shown safely out the door again.

 

[Grandma Cruising]

We got a letter from our GP with a time when we could ring and book an appointment. They did ours as a ‘drive through’ in the practice car park on a Saturday morning. The doctor was in a tent. He came out & gave us the injection through our car windows, we didn’t even have to get out of the car. 

[nordski]

Thanks to those who have described the processes for receiving the flu vaccine in other countries. And now I a envious of your procedures. I have just set up a text messaging system that keeps us informed as to when a vaccine supply will be available locally. Our daughters would have been highly amused at my efforts to navigate that process.

 

I do hope our jurisdiction is willing to examine and learn from others.

 

I have also heard what NeilWM has pointed out. That the flu season may be a mild one given the masks. social distancing, etc. already in place.

 

Today, I will be mapping out how to improve the ventilation in our garage so that we can meet the family as our weather turns colder. We have already acquired a space heater, an item that has been jumping off retailers' shelves.

[Bloodaxe]

We had our jabs in late September, having had a booking for early October we received a call from the surgery saying can you come today has a fridge had broken down.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Well this is one where the US seems to be ahead [at least in our area].  We can walk in and get a flu shot in most chain pharmacies [a new wrinkle the last few years is that Pharmacists are allowed to give shots, not just nurses] – and during each Doctor's visit lately they have offered a flu shot on the way out, just like that!  And they are fully covered by insurance.  Supplies have been running out briefly, but always replenished in a day or so [including the triple strength 'old geezer' version that DW and I get...]

[Grandma Cruising]

Our pharmacists in local chemists can give it. It’s free if you’re in a qualifying group (over 60 or with other issues) and £15 otherwise.

[nordski]

1 hour ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Well this is one where the US seems to be ahead [at least in our area].  We can walk in and get a flu shot in most chain pharmacies [a new wrinkle the last few years is that Pharmacists are allowed to give shots, not just nurses] – and during each Doctor's visit lately they have offered a flu shot on the way out, just like that!  And they are fully covered by insurance.  Supplies have been running out briefly, but always replenished in a day or so [including the triple strength 'old geezer' version that DW and I get...]

I should clarify that the problem is not so much that the pharmacies don’t have any at all, but it’s that generally  they are not set up for the social distancing that has become the norm here. We would much prefer to go in when few are present and I ended up at a pharmacy/supermarket at 3:00 pm. That was not ideal.
 

Therefore, I was particularly envious of those with a drive-through availability.

 

But I do agree that it is great that you seem to have better access at the doctor’s office. 
 

It would be interesting to see if there is a marked difference in uptake of the vaccine between the US and Canada. Our government has been very active in advertising to get people to have the shot.

 

If that approach was successful, then that may help to explain if it’s actually a distribution problem.

 

Regardless, if/when a Covid vaccine is approved, all the governments will have to examine their implementation policies very carefully.

[Grandma Cruising]

When I got up this morning and looked outside, the morning sun was catching the Sycamore Maple and Cherry trees that are on common land outside our house. They were looking beautiful in their autumn colours.

[Werangels]

21 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Our pharmacists in local chemists can give it. It’s free if you’re in a qualifying group (over 60 or with other issues) and £15 otherwise.

for this year due to Covid, family members of a vulnerable person also get it free. 

[Grandma Cruising]

3 hours ago, Werangels said:

for this year due to Covid, family members of a vulnerable person also get it free. 

I didn’t know that, thanks for the tip!

[Host Jazzbeau]

8 hours ago, Werangels said:

for this year due to Covid, family members of a vulnerable person also get it free. 

 

Makes sense – they're the most likely vectors to infect the vulnerable family member.

[Werangels]

11 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

I didn’t know that, thanks for the tip!

I actually didn’t phrase that correctly.  Anyone who lives with those that are vulnerable get free flu jabs for this year.  Partners have always got them free but not children.  

[nordski]

I hear on the BBC that southern Yorkshire is in stringent lockdown.

 

I hope that Bloodaxe, GrandmaCruising, and other posters from that region, are not in that particular area and that these measures are as brief as possible.

 

It is a little hard to make out what is happening to our friends in the UK as the various jurisdictions, for example Wales, seem to be pursuing rather independent policies.

[Bloodaxe]

1 hour ago, nordski said:

I hear on the BBC that southern Yorkshire is in stringent lockdown.

 

I hope that Bloodaxe, GrandmaCruising, and other posters from that region, are not in that particular area and that these measures are as brief as possible.

 

It is a little hard to make out what is happening to our friends in the UK as the various jurisdictions, for example Wales, seem to be pursuing rather independent policies.

 

We are in rural North Yorkshire which is still on the lowest alert at level one.

The problem is we are surrounded by West and South Yorkshire which are all in higher levels, they are not actually in lockdown but have more restrictions on them.

Even the city of York is in level two, we tend to do our shopping in York but are sticking to the supermarkets on the outskirts of the city.

The whole of Wales and many parts of Scotland are in a temporary lockdown, the government in England are trying to avoid that, only time will tell which is the better option.

[Grandma Cruising]

We’re in East Yorkshire which is also at the lowest level. Our figures were going up, but seem to have levelled out now, so hopefully we won’t be going up to the second level.

I do think that a couple of weeks’ lockdown for England might have been a better plan, but we will see what difference it makes to numbers in Wales and the south of Scotland and how that compares to UK figures in a couple of weeks time.

 

My two 14 year old grandsons who live locally spent last week at home having ‘zoom’ lessons - there were several positive tests in their year group and each time the school quarantined all the youngsters who had been in a class with that person. Eventually 60% of the year group were quarantined so they decided it was easier to teach the whole year group remotely. The school is on holiday for half term next week and then they are due to go back.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I'm glad that different countries are trying different things.  Sweden got lots of bad publicity for not locking down, but their numbers actually look pretty good.  Slovakia has decided to test its entire adult population twice between now and November 8 – a novel approach and probably not something that larger countries can consider, but it will be interesting to see the results.  Science is usually based on experimenting with lots of different ideas, but this is hard to do on human subjects.  Gradually all these different approaches and different results will (hopefully) help develop a clearer picture of how this disease works and how we can stop it.

[Grandma Cruising]

Sweden’s figures are actually worse than other Scandinavian countries that locked down initially. As of October 13 their death rate from COVID was 58 per 100,000, whilst Norway’s was 5, Finland 6  and Iceland 12. There’s an interesting article about it in Time magazine https://time.com/5899432/sweden-coronovirus-disaster/

[nordski]

2 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Sweden’s figures are actually worse than other Scandinavian countries that locked down initially. As of October 13 their death rate from COVID was 58 per 100,000, whilst Norway’s was 5, Finland 6  and Iceland 12. There’s an interesting article about it in Time magazine https://time.com/5899432/sweden-coronovirus-disaster/

Thanks for the srticle.

 

It’s a fair comparison to place Sweden in the same league as other Scandinavian nations. Not only was their death rate far worse, their economy has not enjoyed any advantage.

 

Most epidemiologists are not surprised.

 

I do agree that some experimentation in dealing with this disease by various authorities is a good idea. However, there have to be some scientific parameters guiding the range of options.

We, too, are experiencing targeted lock downs on geographic areas. Given the high mobility of people today, like you I am not confident  that this policy will work.

 

[NeilWM]

Melbourne ended its 112 day lockdown yesterday, and saw our children and grandchildren today. 👍

 

I normally only cry at the football 😭

[Grandma Cruising]

23 hours ago, NeilWM said:

Melbourne ended its 112 day lockdown yesterday, and saw our children and grandchildren today. 👍

 

I normally only cry at the football 😭

That’s brilliant! 

[Mackdogmolly]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/us/hospitals-cyberattacks-coronavirus.amp.html?0p19G=2103
 

Things aren’t so great here, as cases spike (even in my little Vermont) and Russian hackers have targeted hospital IT systems all over the country, including a 6 hospital network here in Vermont. Honestly, could it get any worse?

[Grandma Cruising]

That’s terrible!