Mask mandate ending

Image : Nick Fewings

Coronavirus is quite clearly there. It is placing a burden on us and our hospital and medical staff. If you look at our statistics people in their twenties and thirties are predominantly getting it  and older people are the ones dying. Under fives do not have a vaccine. So, what do we do? Lift the mask mandates. Yes, I know. It is a terrible burden wearing a mask when it protects you and others from a disgusting virus. People just want to be normal. So glad the virus has been told this because as we ease the barriers to infection, we ease the transmission of the virus. Those who were leading at the beginning of the pandemic are now saying, go for it. Just pretend it is normal and we are not in a pandemic. Some people are saying post pandemic , which is clearly not the case given we have a J curve of  infection rates. Masks work. 

Part of this is politicians and medical people will be fed up telling us what works and then people just bang on with their own needs and wants which fly in the face of reality and facts. This is a nasty virus. You do not want it. You do not want to be reinfected. You also need to understand that vaccinated people can get it as well and yes, they can be in hospital. All of this has been explained to us. Masks and vaccines along with fresh air and hygiene will work in our favour. But normal. Eyeroll.  Masks being removed will see an increase in infections. We have seen that elsewhere. Why don't we think that will happen in South Australia? People are their own worst enemy and they are the enemy of the older people and those who are vulnerable. This virus has killed over six million people worldwide, but, you know, normal. Repeat eyeroll.

We are ending our mask mandate in South Australia. Pretty cavalier attitude given the infection rate, the hospitals under pressure and the under fives having no vaccine. Cavalier, might not be the right word , though. Cavliers had the saying, All for one and one for all. You fight a pandemic together. It requires collaboration. Egocentric takes on it are unwise. Prudence, We need to be prudent. Don't know about you, but my mask is staying on. 
 

Keep calm and cope

Image : fineartamerica
 Living with covid is probably one of the most worrying experiences we have all had together. Add it to family issues, climate issues, acts of aggression and we are living in a high stress world. We are not the first to do this and we'd like to be the last but it won't happen. As far as coronavirus is concerned , we have to pool our knowledge and experience, deal with it in a calm and measured way and stop it from spreading. I heard today of people who had had their first vaccine but won't have a second. Why is that? The vaccine isn't perfect but it has been greatly helping. That information is everywhere and clear.  We need to establish why people don't get three vaccines and may not get the fourth. In South Australia we have been informed there are people who can access that fourth vaccine first once they are four months out from the third. Do people think vaccines don't help? We need to correct that view. Are they too lazy to get the next vaccine? Why? Did they suffer bad side effects which put them off? I had two Astra Zenica and one Moderna. With the Astra Zenica I spent the first month wondering if I would get blood clots because I come from a family with a history of blood clots. With the first dose I was really out of sorts for a week and then, after a month , I was fine. With the second one it was the same but milder. One of the bonuses for me was the Astra Zenica helped my osteo arthritis. It has been far less of a problem. With the Moderna I was off colour for a week , my arm really hurt but tea tree and honey manuka cream really helped that after the first day. I decided I preferred the Astra Zenica side effects. Moderna made me like a snail. Sooo slow. We need to sort out what puts people off vaccines by having decent conversations. One person I know who had had one vaccine dose got covid and then , as soon as he was recovered, he was in the line to get the rest of his vaccines. He had to get really sick to take action. 

We have voices of reason. SA Health is one of ours and today's presser was clear and helpful. We need to know what is being done and what we can do. Letting disease spread is stupid. Really stupid . It is not normal . We have to let the voices of reason hold the spotllight. Another one of our sane and comforting voices is Professor Esterman from the University of South Australia. His calm, measured voice has been with us throughout the pandemic. He neither gives us too much information nor panics. He gives us things to look at and do. His recent article about statisitics in the pandemic made sense and clarified the picture . He encourages us to look for the patterns. 

Professor Pagel in the UK looks at the myths we persist with during the pandemic so we do not help ourselves and get the case numbers down. If we keep letting people get sick it is not going to help at all. If we keep being sick and another variant comes along , we are in no position to defend and protect ourselves. She looks at it calmly. There are things we can do. Today's presser for South Australia was another example of giving us information but letting us know there are things being done and things we can do.