Lockdown diaries - COVID-19 matters!

What are you going to be doing during the lockdown?

  • At home. I’m non essential

    Votes: 70 41.2%
  • Working. The virus doesn’t scare me

    Votes: 41 24.1%
  • On standby

    Votes: 10 5.9%
  • Working from home. Too essential to take any risk!

    Votes: 66 38.8%

  • Total voters
    170
  • Poll closed .
Thanks @Grand Guru
That is helpful but I’m looking for this type of chart but just for Gauteng

2231F618-EF4A-4605-AC7B-E46CF75E67EF.jpeg
 
What I’m trying to figure out is whether we can come out of our home yet :) and start behaving more like we were before the third wave picked up
 
This changes everything…. It’s far, very far from being over.

CDC shares 'pivotal discovery' on Covid-19 breakthrough infections that led to new mask guidance

https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/30/health/breakthrough-infection-masks-cdc-provincetown-study/index.html

This is the source document

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7031e2.htm


Summary
What is already known about this topic?

Variants of SARS-CoV-2 continue to emerge. The B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant is highly transmissible.

What is added by this report?

In July 2021, following multiple large public events in a Barnstable County, Massachusetts, town, 469 COVID-19 cases were identified among Massachusetts residents who had traveled to the town during July 3–17; 346 (74%) occurred in fully vaccinated persons. Testing identified the Delta variant in 90% of specimens from 133 patients. Cycle threshold values were similar among specimens from patients who were fully vaccinated and those who were not.

What are the implications for public health practice?

Jurisdictions might consider expanded prevention strategies, including universal masking in indoor public settings, particularly for large public gatherings that include travelers from many areas with differing levels of SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
Interesting

Sent from my SM-A307FN using Tapatalk
 
or if you know if that chat can be found for earlier periods?

What does % positive tests tell us? Does it give a better measure than new cases?
If you check the trail of stats I’m posting, you’ll notice a decline in the number of new cases in Gauteng by more than 50% in the last 2 weeks. This being said, the number is still relatively high i.e I’d avoid restaurants and closed spaces….
 
If you check the trail of stats I’m posting, you’ll notice a decline in the number of new cases in Gauteng by more than 50% in the last 2 weeks. This being said, the number is still relatively high i.e I’d avoid restaurants and closed spaces….

thanks very much
Appreciate it
 
thanks very much
Appreciate it
"While the third wave of SARS-CoV2 infections has peaked in Gauteng, the test positivity rate remains higher than the peak of the second wave, according to the provincial statistics."

This was a week a go, so it's more or less hovering at or just under the peak of wave two, so personally I would still take strong precautions.

This article is fairly old, but by deduction they figured out when one woman infected another, and it was literally walking passed each other for a brief moment.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06...age-worrying-nsw-health-authorities/100231832
 
Hi guys

I have moved this original thread back into the general forums.
Have moved it into the "Health Matters" subforum

We discussed this amongst our team of Admins & Mods and we felt that while it is technically "Off topic" in the sense that it's not directly vaping related, it is certainly an important Health Matter. Also, since this thread has been in the general forums for this long, let it stay where it has been.

Have also moved the posts from the new COVID 19 thread (that was created yesterday by @Grand Guru ) into this original thread. It sometimes takes a few minutes for the threads and posts to be displayed correctly.

@Grand Guru, feel free to adjust the title of this thread since you were the original thread creator.

Just want to ask you all to be mindful of what content you post. Anything that may be viewed as sensitive or offensive may be removed. I don't think it is anyone's intention to come here and be offended by what others post or post anything offensive so please just try be mindful of that going forward.

All the best and have a good weekend...
 
Found that chart I was looking for
I did see something like this a while ago, but couldnt remember

This is new cases for Gauteng:

upload_2021-7-31_20-24-52.png

So GAUTENG is sitting on about 3,600 new cases currently. This chart goes to 29 July 2021.
When it gets below 1,000 (where it was before the 3rd wave started in early May) then I will probably feel more comfortable.

Website is here:
https://www.covid19sa.org/provincial-breakdown

I downloaded the data and made a zoomed in chart of the 3rd wave :

upload_2021-7-31_20-35-35.png
 


Getting your Covid-19 vaccine is a duty not a right
Dr Daniel Israel
#GGPC
#VoicesThatCare
#VaxWithUs

The drop in cases of new COVID-19 infection in the community in the past week is like the loosening of a noose around the necks of my colleagues and myself, and though we’re still diagnosing new cases daily, fear of a further exponential increase has abated.

As we start to sigh the first breaths of relief, our imagination has started to venture into the prospect of a fourth wave, which as professionals, perhaps we wouldn’t mentally survive.

During this week, when my mind has wandered into these overwhelming thoughts, I’m instantly reassured that we now have a vaccine for COVID-19. It’s our golden armour in this disastrous pandemic, and the single most effective tool we have to get our lives back to normal.

Yet, I’m intrigued by the number of people I still consult on a daily basis who are truly undecided as to whether or not they will be enrolling for a COVID-19 vaccine. Some cite well thought-out arguments that deter them from enrolling for vaccination. Others have, in fact, enrolled, but an emotional barrier with fear at its foundation prevents them from taking the next step.

To date, there has been no scientifically robust data that has called to question any of the readily available vaccines. When I’m posed a question like, “Is it worth the risk of having a COVID-19 vaccine if it can cause blood clots or infertility?”, my logical reply is almost always with the counter question, “Have you considered the risks of COVID-19 pneumonia or being a conduit for COVID-19 pneumonia in someone else? Have you weighed those risks against that vaccine risk that concerns you?” Life is fraught with daily risks, and we navigate the best balance of these risks in our daily routines. For example, we wouldn’t accept the risk of going without food against the risk of crossing a busy road to collect the food, even though both risks are real. The same logic should be employed here.

Six months into worldwide vaccine deployment, just less than four billion doses have been given. This sample size certainly allows us to quantify risks. One in 100 000 Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca recipients developed a clotting disorder called thrombocytic thrombocytopaenia. The occurrence of myocarditis (inflammation of the heart) in Pfizer patients has been pitched at about one in a million. These numbers are statistically so insignificant, it’s almost more responsible not to mention them at all in my opinion. The risk of complications of the anxiety caused by their discussion alone may be higher than the original risks themselves.

So, why are we still struggling to convince a significant proportion of the larger community to get the jab? German psychologist Professor Cornelia Betsch proposed five c’s as factors that deeply affect vaccine uptake. All of these are important here.

Confidence: trust in the vaccine’s efficacy and safety, and confidence in the people rolling them out. We are making great strides here, particularly with community and religious organisations now opening vaccine centres. We need to produce more paper reading material about vaccine safety in different languages, and rely less on digital education only.

Complacency: whether the disease is considered a serious risk. The third wave and its devastation has shifted most minds here. We need to focus on the appreciation that healthy young people can become significantly unwell too.

Calculation: weighing up the costs and benefits. We need to encourage those reluctant to be vaccinated to do this exercise themselves. The risks of COVID-19 complications are big. The risks of vaccines are, at most, little.

Constraints: availability and ease. Justifiable or not, we have failed here. However, South Africa can be proud of its catch-up and current stock availability.

Collective responsibility: the willingness to protect others from infection through one’s own vaccination. I will focus the rest of the article on this responsibility.

COVID-19 has taught us the paramount lesson that we are responsible for one another. This spans from the responsibility of informing contacts if you test positive, to the responsibility of supporting infected individuals with medication to prevent them from infecting others, to the responsibility of emotional support for bereaved families, to now, the biggest responsibility of getting vaccinated. This is your greatest moment of responsibility to others in COVID-19, even if you believe you are taking on “vaccine risk”.

It’s so clear to me that the only way out of this pandemic is for us to stop framing our COVID-19 lives as individuals, and embrace the responsibility of being a member of a community. We need to take up our duty to protect others. Getting vaccinated to protect others shouldn’t be seen as a mere act of altruism. In fact, it’s the only way we will rebuild our communal life and develop population immunity. Ironically, it’s this focus on others will that will enable us as individuals to resume our own social interactions and a normal lifestyle. The true test of COVID-19 is seeing beyond one’s own immediate protection.

If you are in still in doubt as to whether or not to get vaccinated, you aren’t alone. You have every right to ask questions. But COVID-19 vaccinations aren’t about rights. They are foremost about a deep responsibility and personal duty to society as a whole. No formidable soldier has stood at the frontlines of a battleground worrying about his rights. You have a responsibility to go out there now and fulfil your duty. Otherwise, you may want to consider “staying home and saving lives” for the rest of your life.
 
First jab done this morning though Discovery. Very efficient. In and out in 45 mins.

:party::party::party::party::party::party::party:
 
So the restaurant industry keeps complaining about restrictions and money and job losses. Now I had been to few few restaurants before this 3rd wave and now after restrictions have been lifted.
Not one had taken my temperature when entering.
Not one had any social distancing between tables, all were full of people on tables next to each other with diners not wearing masks.
Not at one of them the tables were sanitized before next diners sat down.
Now with the cold, almost all of them had doors and windows closed with heaters on.

These are breeding grounds for infections and they should be closed again as they seem to not care.
 
I had the opposite at Fahrenheit in Alberton. Only allowed in with masks, each staff member kept masks on the entire time. Temp was taken and wrote down. Table was sanitized in front of us before we were seated. Knifes and forks came wrapped in serviettes. Table distancing was observed, we were asked if we wanted to open our own wine, screw cap so no biggie.

All around it was a good night out and we were very happy with the service and Covid protocols.
 
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Way to go Rob, now go register for your Lamda variant booster and your thrice yearly preventative shots.:campeon:
According to my FB sources, The microchip battery life was limited on the first batch you received… things have improved since then! No need for all those injections…. The microchip now feeds straight from the grey matter!
 
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