February 2022 Omicron and War

February 2022 Summary of what went down this month.

The world had another 60,952,275 reported cases of Covid-19, with 280706 people losing their lives to the disease.

Covid-19 came home this month to our family, friends, and neighbours, with a family member succumbing to it and losing his life, peacefully thank goodness. We also had a niece, and her family all contract the disease, as well as a couple of neighbours, thank fully all have had mild cases and have either recovered now or are well on the way to recovery.

Russia invaded Ukraine, the war started on 23 February, on the pretext of annexing pro-Russian areas of Ukraine to support the people who wanted to re-join Russia.

The invasion began with a coordinated cyber attack on critical Ukrainian infrastructure and targeted armed attacks on its military bases and airports.

The war has not gone too smoothly or as easy as Russia may have expected, with the Ukraine armed forces using the tactical knowledge of Russia gained through joint military operations.

The free world has retaliated against Russia by imposing economic sanctions on the country, it President Vladmir Putin, many politicians, Armed Forces leaders and Russian Oligarchs. Russian banks have also been isolated from the worlds payment system, essentially freezing its economy.

Russia has today put its military on nuclear standby, in response to what it calls western military actions.

The Ukrainian President has agreed to meet with Russia to discuss the situation and to try and find a resolution without more bloodshed.

On the home front in Australia, we have a state election due to be held on 19 March, and so we are in full election mode in SA. In the federal sphere an election is due to be held in the next 120 days, so the government and opposition parties are both in election mode.

Our politics and politicians all seem quite secondary with the actions in Europe putting things in perspective, we really do live in the “Lucky Country”.

 

The following charts of where Australia sits in this phase of the pandemic paints a picture of vastly improved situations across most measures. All major indices I am using are ether showing a strong downward trend or are stabilising at “acceptable” levels.

It looks like we have come through the 5th “Omicron” Wave.

The world graph following the Australian data shows the world is exiting the Omicron variant wave.

Click the link following to see my Australian data in chart form

Australian Charts to end Feb 22

and here is my chart of how the world is going with Covid-19

Life seems to be getting back to normal in the northern hemisphere of the world, with most countries drastically reducing their Covid-19 restrictions, if not removing them completely.

In the southern hemisphere a more cautious approach is being adopted. Australia has opened its borders to the world again, however, WA is still isolating itself from all on the outside.

My February 2022 Covid -19 Blog can be found here

#26 February 2022 Omicron fades away

 

Number of Views :1392
Posted in Australia in Covid Times | Leave a comment

No 25 January 2022      Omincron, the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet and most virulent form of the Coronavirus yet.

The world has gone from 286 million cases of Covid-19 to 374 million cases in a month, a 30.8% increase in Covid-19 cases in just one month!

Australia has gone from 389 thousand cases of Covid-19 to 2.541 million cases in a month, a 552% increase in Covid-19 cases in just one month! We went from a one of the most contained countries in the world to one of the most infected in just 31 days!! Australia was listed by the USA as one of a few countries with a Red Alert travel warning. But somehow, we are coping, our hospital systems haven’t crashed, although they are very stretched and our health services in general are under enormous stress.

Covid-19 made its way into our extended family, a niece and her family all got Covid, it took a family Uncle from us. It makes it real when the people you care for get it.

Here are my Covid-19 charts for the world and Australia to the end of January 2022.

World chart to end of Jan 2022

Australian chart to end of Jan 2022

For my daily diary, please follow this link for January 2022.

#25 January 2022 The month of Omicron

Number of Views :856
Posted in Australia in Covid Times | Leave a comment

December 2021      And then there was Omicron

In the last month the world has seen over 23 million new cases of Covid-19 and over 202 thousand people have died of the disease.

Australia has had over 178 thousand new cases of Covid-19 and 213 deaths due to it.

The Omicron Variant has seen the numbers of new cases surge all around the world and particularly noticeable for us here in Australia.  In South Australia our case numbers went from under 1000 to over 8000 in the month! Thankfully the death rate didn’t follow the same rise.

Australia seems to be facing a crisis in health care this month, if we can struggle through January we should be ok, I hope. Continue reading

Number of Views :1074
Posted in Australia in Covid Times | Leave a comment

November 2021  The Fifth Wave has started then along comes Omicron

In the last month there have been over 16 million  new cases of Covid-19 world wide, with over 227,000 deaths.In Australia we had over 41 thousand new cases of Covid-19, with over 277 deaths.Australia has delayed opening its borders to the world for 2 weeks to see what is going on with Omicron.

We had an eventful stay at the Mayfair Hotel in Adelaide. They allow dogs to stay with you so we used our Great State discount vouchers and booked 2 nights early in the month. Unfortunately Louis had a tummy bug and we thought it was best to cut our losses after one night. It was lots of fun and he got totally spoilt by the staff at the hotel.

Deb did a couple of study courses in the month and is delving into interesting areas of study.WA slammed shut its borders to us again just as we opened them to the Eastern plague states.

As usual follow the link below for my monthly Covid Blog.

Stay safe out there people.

#23 November 2021 Looks like Omicron is riding the 5th wave

 

Number of Views :1075
Posted in Australia in Covid Times | Leave a comment

October 2021   The Fourth Wave has finished and Australia is opening up.

In the last month there have been another 36 million cases of Covid-19 globally with another 200,000 deaths, at home in Australia we had our worst month of the pandemic, with 65,000 new cases of Covid-19 and around 400 deaths. Globally the world passed 5 million deaths due to Covid-19.

But for Australia it is now time to open up. All Australian governments, except WA have given up on the eradication strategy to adopt a live with it regime. It’s going to be a rough time for all here, accepting the inevitable deaths is probably the hardest thing for all to get their heads around. Our hospital and medical systems are going to be placed under enormous strain and a lot of very hard calls will need to be made.

31 October marked the last day that Australia was formally closed to free travel, fully vaccinated people will be allowed to reenter the country without quarantine, with authorities relying on a self reporting and testing system. This may not go well.

On a brighter note, we managed to get away with family for a short holiday down at Victor Harbor, and spent a bit of time on the beach and just enjoying our time together.

At the end of the month I took a flight to Perth to see Pat, Alyce and Harry. With WA not opening its borders anytime soon I am not sure when I will be able to get back over there, maybe not until next year sometime. Harry is growing so quickly and marking all those childhood milestones, more teeth, walking, chatting anyway (wish we knew what he was saying!) Was so good to spend a short time with them, they are doing so well.

Our puppy, Louis, has had an eventful month. Got over, eating rat poison, a bleed behind his eye, desexing and a bleed in his bowel. In among all that he progressed from Level 1 to Level 2 in Doggy Obedience school.

We aren’t sure what November holds for us, but it will be anything but dull, I am sure. Tessa finishes her Year 12 exams, another grandchild leaving school!

We had news this morning that a friend’s daughter and her family in the USA has contracted Covid-19 for the 2nd time, even after being vaccinated between infections. Our thoughts are with them all as they recover, again.

Stay safe out there everyone.

My October Covid-19 Diary can be found here, just click the link.

#22 October 2021 The Fourth Wave is over, what next?

 

Number of Views :805
Posted in Australia in Covid Times | Leave a comment

September 2021 Covid-19 Delta Variant comes to Australia.

As the global 4th wave of Covid-19 went into decline the pandemic smacked Australia. With firstly NSW then Victoria going through rapid widespread infections throughout the 2 states. The rest of Australia closed their borders to the 2 states and that continues.

Melbourne gained the dubious honour of the world’s most locked down city.

The ASX lost 4.5% over the month.

On a bright note, the vaccination rates in Australia have take off very well and the country is looking to start opening up both internally and externally. The federal government hopes it can start easing our International borders from mid December. NSW, Victoria and the ACT lead the charge in vaccination rates.

The charts below shows graphically how the pandemic has played out so far. Looking at the global pattern evolving it seem likely that the world will endure a 5th wave starting in late October/ early November. The peaks of such a 5th wave are likely to be lower than the previous waves, and the duration is likely to be less, somewhere around 2.5 months long.

Global Chart

My Blog for September can be found via the following link.

#21 September 2021 We ride the 4th wave

 

Stay safe out there.

Number of Views :818
Posted in Australia in Covid Times | Leave a comment

August 2021 Covid-19. Same same but different 

The fourth wave continues to grow through the ever increasingly vaccinated world. Developed world countries like the UK and USA are seeing Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations at similar levels as this time last year, despite a large percentage of their populations being vaccinated. It seems the Delta variant is so virulent that it breaks through the body defenses gained through vaccination. Despite the loud calls from The WHO for Developed Nations to forgo booster vaccines until the developing world population has a large percentage vaccinated, thermals for 1st world boosters is going ahead.
Australia / NSW has had a poor month, with record new infections and numerous deaths.
The graphs below show the progression of the global fourth wave and the spike in cases in Australia due to the Sydney outbreak.

My August 2021 Covid-19 Blog can be found here;

#20 August 2021 Covid-19 Same Same but Different, Delta Dominates

 

On a bright note, WA has finally opened its order to SA and we are booked to fly over for Harry’s 1st birthday and Pat’s 1st Fathers Day.

Let the good times roll.
Number of Views :801
Posted in Australia in Covid Times | Leave a comment

July 2021 Delta Variant takes us into a 4th global wave.

The fourth wave of Covid-19 infections has been well established now, the only good thing is that the death rate continues to keep low as the world gets better at treating the disease.

Australia is pushing hard now to get its population vaccinated. The Commonwealth has set a series of goals for us to gradually emerge from the pandemic and rejoin the global community, opening our borders etc.

The plan can be found here: https://www.pm.gov.au/sites/default/files/media/national-plan-to-transition-australias-national-covid-19-response-july-2021.pdf

My graph of the global number of new Covid-19 infections follows.

My July 2021 Covid-19 blog can be found here:

https://gregndeb.com/zero-hr-covid-19/19-july-2021-the-delta-variant-has-arrived-and-brought-on-a-4th-wave-of-covid-19/

Number of Views :1157
Posted in Covid-19 | Leave a comment

June 2021 Just when we thought things were getting better Delta arrives.

The number of new daily cases of Covid-19 has stabilised in a band similar to the end of the second wave. However, there is always something new around to kick this beast on. This month it is the emergence of the Delta variant of the Coronavirus / Covid-19.

The Delta variant is an extremely contagious variant. A person in Australia developed Covid-19 after an infected person walked passed them, it was calculated (via CCTV) that the “contact” period was around 15 seconds.

Australia has gone from a leader in containment and management of Covid-19 to a “laughing stock”. Due to poor federal government policy Australia is now last on a list of developed nations for vaccinations. The issues in Australia have been put down to lack of urgency, planning delivery and messaging about the vaccination program.

My June 2021 Covid blog can be found here:

#18 June 2021 The “Third Wave” is over, but hello the Delta Variant!

 

Number of Views :1362
Posted in Australia in Covid Times | Leave a comment

May 2021 Life is getting back to ……. normal?

We started our month with a guided walk through Veale Gardens with the Adelaide Parklands Association. It was really interesting to find out a bit of history behind the gardens across the road from where we live. This was the second walking tour we have done with the Association and have enjoyed both.

May 4 was Deb’s birthday and I took her up into the hills to The Lane Winery for lunch, we had a very enjoyable couple of hours and the food was fantastic.

We had dinner for Ethan’s (and Deb’s) birthday on Sat 8th. It was a fun night with lots of celebration. Continue reading

Number of Views :2383
Posted in Australia in Covid Times | Leave a comment