Coronavirus General Discussion

I was in London about two weeks ago. What really struck me, actually more than the fact that some people were not wearing masks (I was prepared for that from previous experience), was maskless staff in all restaurants I went to. Cooks and waiters, the people who handle your food, and breathe on it till it's brought to you, were unprotected. In Dublin, restaurant staff, apart from wearing them, check your vaccination status, often asking for a photo ID, and try to sit people as far from each other as possible. Perhaps restaurant staff in London are checked daily, before they start working. If it is the case, for good PR they should put a notice, to reassure customers. Anyway, I do hope things will eventually get under control. I had to test myself before I came back to Ireland, and now we are asked to test for five consecutive days after returning.

Personally, I don’t think it’s possible to stop Covid in one country alone, and keep its population completely shielded from the virus while the virus rages on someplace else. We are too interconnected these days. We must have a concerted global effort in place for, as long as one large community is plagued by the virus, it will keep churning out variants that will eventually migrate to the rest of the globe. As with Climate Change, this is yet another challenge for the human species. Unite in one common effort or be exposed to disastrous consequences.

Hamilton cancelled again today and Come From Away cancelled until Tuesday. Not good.

The way this variant is spreading , particularly in London it isn't going to get any better any time soon. My niece and all her housemates who live in London have all tested positive.

The Masque of The Red Death arrived at my party yesterday: my show had its first positive case. That alone wipped out 5 people due to vaccine status and living arrangements, and obviously makes the rest of us very anxious. And the thought of contracting it now just before I'm meant to be seeing family at Christmas is not a good one.

The rate it is spreading, we won't have enough staff to keep essential bits of the country running. With people going into isolation for ten days things like emergency services, transport infrastructure and shops will see themselves understaffed to the point of inoperability. A friend who works with one of our former prime minister's says the relevant parties are making a plan for a two week lockdown in January, I guess pushing to preserve Christmas at all costs.

I had my booster today.

There was a long queue for the walk-in vaccinations so I asked how they were being handled. They're doing it on the basis of one person from the walk-in line for every three or four from the appointment line, with the aim of doing around 100 walk-ins this afternoon. The problem, of course, is that Boris Johnson promising walk-in vaccinations doesn't magically create the people to do the actual vaccinating and the advance appointments have already been planned based on the capacity of the centre, so although they have an additional person working there's a limit to how many extra people they can treat. So if you go for a walk-in get there early and expect to stand around for an hour or two; if you get there late you'll have to wait a lot longer and there's a chance you may not get seen at all.

I was wondering how this would work. Ideally you have one place for pre booked which people who don't have time or cannot physically stand around for that long use and maybe another location for walk ins.

We were doing huge vaccine numbers in the spring and as you go down the age ranges it should speed up as people will on average move a bit quicker. The booster rollout was going steadily until omnicron and I had booked mine 6 months to the day after number 2 jab. There was always the capacity to speed up as the first and thus 2nd doeses for under 50's slowed after mid March as 2nd doses for older and at risk people had to be done.

It does make me wonder if the older and at risk people who had 3rd doses in Sept/Oct might need another booster after Xmas if new variant proves to be problematic.

It is good to see 2nd dose numbers going up to their highest level for nearly 3 months too. Plus we are chipping away at first dosers too. The numbers are small but all helps as every refusenik won over helps.

According to this 32% of people in London are completely unvaccinated.

metro.co.uk/2021/12/15/a-third-of-londoners-are-completely-unvaccinated-15777489/

Got boosted today (I booked on Monday). 10 minutes queuing, sorted in 30 seconds. Can't fault it at all. I'm now eating chocolate to ward off any flu-like side effects 😁

From the Cabaret thread (rather than detouring it further):


From research published in the British Medical Journal: "Conclusions: This systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that several personal protective and social measures, including handwashing, mask wearing, and physical distancing are associated with reductions in the incidence of covid-19."
www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj-2021-068302

And a Michigan (US) epidemiologist said this about masking, testing and other precautions: "Swiss cheese – no one layer is perfect and they all have holes in them," she said. "But as you begin to stack those layers up, you build a wall between you and virus. The problem is, we put an over-emphasis on the vaccine and de-emphasize all of those other layers of protection."

She and several other health care workers (all fully vaccinated) were at the center of a super-spreader event at a wedding. Precautions were taken at the ceremony but dropped for the reception. Many of those attending had recent negative COVID tests.

Hope you perk up soon and effects are short lived and you are fully protected.

I do have the sore arm from hell today and some mild grogginess but otherwise I'm all good. Well enough to drag myself to Cadogan Hall for Louise Dearman and Kerry Ellis tonight, anyway! 😁