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Hairball
The lockdown restrictions where I live in Southern California were recently extended for several weeks, and heard that San Francisco up north has had their restrictions extended indefinitely.
Being that our state is quite large, we're divided up by regions, and right now four of the five regions are all under stay home orders with only the northern most region being somewhat "safe".
With the holidays now over, things will be going from bad to worse - the ICU capacity is already at zero in the SoCal region. Not sure how much worse it could get, but not looking forward to finding out.
With the vaccine delays across the US, the new mutations, not to mention the vaccine/virus deniers who think it's all a conspiracy or a hoax, thing probably won't get back to any form of normalcy for at least a year.

California Covid Info: COVID19.CA.GOV

I completed a project back in 2016 in Irvine. It was great! The Kickin Crab Restraunt was great and area was very pleasant. The beach was just beyond UC-Irvine ..... the simple sandwich shops (not national chains} scrumptuos!!!

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Chris Fountain

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Hairball
The lockdown restrictions where I live in Southern California were recently extended for several weeks, and heard that San Francisco up north has had their restrictions extended indefinitely.
Being that our state is quite large, we're divided up by regions, and right now four of the five regions are all under stay home orders with only the northern most region being somewhat "safe".
With the holidays now over, things will be going from bad to worse - the ICU capacity is already at zero in the SoCal region. Not sure how much worse it could get, but not looking forward to finding out.
With the vaccine delays across the US, the new mutations, not to mention the vaccine/virus deniers who think it's all a conspiracy or a hoax, thing probably won't get back to any form of normalcy for at least a year.

California Covid Info: COVID19.CA.GOV

I completed a project back in 2016 in Irvine. It was great! The Kickin Crab Restraunt was great and area was very pleasant. The beach was just beyond UC-Irvine ..... the simple sandwich shops (not national chains} scrumptuos!!!

I'm somewhat familiar with Irvine, though it's over 100 miles south from where I live, beyond L.A. and down in Orange County.
I attended several concerts at the Irvine Ampitheater, but that was closed and demolished back in 2016

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Stay safe Hairball. Bad up here but not compared to Southern California. Stay safe. I am just waiting on the vax. I will take the risk of vaccine side effects to the risk of getting Covid again. I agree, 2022 will be the first "normal" year. 2021 will be a challenge for at least the next 6 months.

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daspyknows
Stay safe Hairball. Bad up here but not compared to Southern California. Stay safe. I am just waiting on the vax. I will take the risk of vaccine side effects to the risk of getting Covid again. I agree, 2022 will be the first "normal" year. 2021 will be a challenge for at least the next 6 months.

Thanks daspy - I'm staying as safe as possible down here, and know you're doing the same up there.
Seems not too long ago I met up with you and your son at Levi stadium for the Stones show, yet so much in the world has happened since then...incredible.
Maybe/hopefully by 2022 we'll be able to meet up again for another show somewhere safely...whether it's the Stones or Neil Young again, or anyone...gotta stay positive yet realistic at the same time.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

If anyone is interested in reading the Pfizer vaccine study results:

[www.nejm.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-01-04 08:16 by JadedFaded.

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JadedFaded
If anyone is interested in reading the Pfizer vaccine study results:

[www.nejm.org]

In short the most important part:

A total of 43,548 participants underwent randomization, of whom 43,448 received injections: 21,720 with BNT162b2 and 21,728 with placebo. There were 8 cases of Covid-19 with onset at least 7 days after the second dose among participants assigned to receive BNT162b2 and 162 cases among those assigned to placebo; BNT162b2 was 95% effective in preventing Covid-19 (95% credible interval, 90.3 to 97.6).

Bjornulf

95% Credible interval, 90.3 to 97.6. That's very good and fast if we consider that it often takes up to 10 years to develop a decent vaccin against any infection/disease.

This weekly series "How to vaccinate the world" is always worth a listen, but that's especially true for today's fascinating and insightful interview with US epidemiologist Larry Brilliant, who helped with smallpox eradication and first warned of a pandemic in 2006.

[www.bbc.co.uk]

Covid: Brian Pinker, 82, first to get Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine (BBC Jan 4, 2021)

Dialysis patient Brian Pinker, 82, has become the first person to receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

The retired maintenance manager got the jab at 7:30 GMT from nurse Sam Foster at Oxford's Churchill Hospital.

More than half a million doses of the vaccine are ready for use on Monday.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it was a "pivotal moment" in the UK's fight against the virus, as vaccines will help curb infections and then allow restrictions to be lifted.



Bjornulf

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bv
Many countries with one party systems are doing great related to the pandemic, avoiding many deaths and infections. Then still, Australia, New Zealand, Japan have more than one party, they are doing great too. Norway have more than ten parties, still we are doing better than countries with two party systems. Same with the other Nordic countries. I think it is more to this than politics.

Absolutely. Discipline weights much more heavy. Japan's mask wearing "tradition" dates back a hundred years ("Thanks to" the Spanish flu). That country's war attitude intensively introduced mask use in several Chinese (occupied) countries, like Taiwan, Singapore, but also Korea, Maleisië, and other South-East countries, etc. All in all those countries thrive on discipline and "tradition". Sadly, many young Japanese today are too much influenced by western "culture". The succesful western countries you name have shown much discipline and clearly distinguish themselves from "the rest". One party countries surely organize better too.

And still Japan is reportedly on the verge of declaring an emergency situation in Tokyo because of rising cases.

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Beast
And still Japan is reportedly on the verge of declaring an emergency situation in Tokyo because of rising cases.

Right, here you go. I mentioned the behaviour of many young Japanese these days (we do get frequent inside "reports" from people in Tokyo). Obviously the Japanese government and businesses are slightly over the edge worried, because they have a major interest in the Olympic Games. The rise in infections (greater Tokyo inhabits around 35 million people!) in Tokyo area are still peanuts in comparison with other big cities around the world ...

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georgie48
... Obviously the Japanese government and businesses are slightly over the edge worried, because they have a major interest in the Olympic Games. ...

I would be very surprised if there is an Olympics this year - I hope I’m wrong as many athletes train for years and only get 1 shot at it, but I’d bet against it.

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SomeTorontoGirl

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georgie48
... Obviously the Japanese government and businesses are slightly over the edge worried, because they have a major interest in the Olympic Games. ...

I would be very surprised if there is an Olympics this year - I hope I’m wrong as many athletes train for years and only get 1 shot at it, but I’d bet against it.

When Japan was chosen for the 2020 OG, I was in that country. While watching TV I got (no kidding) a very strange feeling that something was going to happen and I told my Japanese relatives. They smiled it away. Personally I was worried about a major earthquake (long overdue from the 1924 Tokyo quake), never imagining that a microscopic small creature "would do the job". Currently I think the Japanese will do everything within their power to have the games this year, even if it would become a fraction of a really fully occupied games. It would still sell.
But the "big" money making from international tourisme flooding the country is further away than ever. Better that way, because it would take covid-19, in whatever mutations, into the country and the ordinairy people would be the ones to suffer from that.

Agree that it's hard to imagine with the Olympics only 200 days away.

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SomeTorontoGirl

I would be very surprised if there is an Olympics this year - I hope I’m wrong as many athletes train for years and only get 1 shot at it, but I’d bet against it.

"Tokyo 2020: Olympics and Paralympics will go ahead, says Japan's PM amid rising infections" - [www.BBC.com] - (1-Jan-2021).

"Yes, there will be an Olympics in 2021, organizers say. Here's what they will look like" - [USAtoday.com] - (30-Dec-2020).

"Welcome 2021: The year of the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics" - [APnews.com] - (30-Dec-2020).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-01-04 21:00 by Irix.

Things are bad in many countries right now but with vaccines being given out then a lot will change in the first half of this year.Japan has already for some time had a plan in place to reopen to a limited number of international tourists starting in April in preparation for the Olympic Games.

Nate

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Irix

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SomeTorontoGirl

I would be very surprised if there is an Olympics this year - I hope I’m wrong as many athletes train for years and only get 1 shot at it, but I’d bet against it.

"Tokyo 2020: Olympics and Paralympics will go ahead, says Japan's PM amid rising infections" - [www.BBC.com] - (1-Jan-2021).

"Yes, there will be an Olympics in 2021, organizers say. Here's what they will look like" - [USAtoday.com] - (30-12-2020).

"Welcome 2021: The year of the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics" - [APnews.com] - (30-Dec-2020).

So much has been written about so many things, and often as much things evolved differently from what has been written. History is full of it.
It's always far better to be optimistic than pessimistic. But fooling eachother is simply stupid.
I simply look at the current situation in the UK. Great that so many have already been vaccinated first stage, but my goodness, how dreadfully bad at the same time is the explosion in infections. I know from first hand (!) that people coming back to the UK from the European Continent are, in many cases, NOT checked on wether they have/can proof having a recent negative test result! We're not talking about people travelling up and down within say two or three days, no about people who spent a week or more on the Continent (initially arriving at the Continent with a negative test proof). Infection could happen in a day, let alone over a period of one or two weeks.
What to make of that?

<<What to make of that?>>

I know you know the answer as well as I do! But don't get me started...

National lockdown for England [www.bbc.co.uk]
Similar across rest of uk

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bv
Covid: Brian Pinker, 82, first to get Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine (BBC Jan 4, 2021)

Dialysis patient Brian Pinker, 82, has become the first person to receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

The retired maintenance manager got the jab at 7:30 GMT from nurse Sam Foster at Oxford's Churchill Hospital.

More than half a million doses of the vaccine are ready for use on Monday.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it was a "pivotal moment" in the UK's fight against the virus, as vaccines will help curb infections and then allow restrictions to be lifted.

Relative cost?

(I'm not saying what I think it is in case I'm wrong, but worth checking it out. Curious about it as well...)

Captain Corella

Spent two solid hours, between yesterday and today, on a website for a covid vaccine. No luck. It's beyond frustrating here in Florida, USA.

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CaptainCorella

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bv
Covid: Brian Pinker, 82, first to get Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine (BBC Jan 4, 2021)

Dialysis patient Brian Pinker, 82, has become the first person to receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

The retired maintenance manager got the jab at 7:30 GMT from nurse Sam Foster at Oxford's Churchill Hospital.

More than half a million doses of the vaccine are ready for use on Monday.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it was a "pivotal moment" in the UK's fight against the virus, as vaccines will help curb infections and then allow restrictions to be lifted.

Relative cost?

(I'm not saying what I think it is in case I'm wrong, but worth checking it out. Curious about it as well...)

I believe the Oxford vaccine about 3gbp, Pfizer about 20gbp. The former made a ‘no profit’ pledge. I’m not sure if this is per patient cost or per injection. Nhs wise they’re both free at point of access

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yorkshirestone

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CaptainCorella

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bv
Covid: Brian Pinker, 82, first to get Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine (BBC Jan 4, 2021)

Dialysis patient Brian Pinker, 82, has become the first person to receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

The retired maintenance manager got the jab at 7:30 GMT from nurse Sam Foster at Oxford's Churchill Hospital.

More than half a million doses of the vaccine are ready for use on Monday.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it was a "pivotal moment" in the UK's fight against the virus, as vaccines will help curb infections and then allow restrictions to be lifted.

Relative cost?

(I'm not saying what I think it is in case I'm wrong, but worth checking it out. Curious about it as well...)

I believe the Oxford vaccine about 3gbp, Pfizer about 20gbp. The former made a ‘no profit’ pledge. I’m not sure if this is per patient cost or per injection. Nhs wise they’re both free at point of access

Yes indeed. Thank goodness for our NHS here in Britain and the frontline clinical staff who risk their necks every day. 640 Healthcare professionals here have been lost to COVID here. There's going to be a public sector pay freeze here this year and they will rightly be excluded.

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CaptainCorella

Relative cost?

Costs of the vaccines per dose - [iorr.org] .

Here in the U.K. tonight it feels like we just stepped back to last March.

Nate

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Beast
<>

I know you know the answer as well as I do! But don't get me started...

Yep, so please don't start. When I get fed up with whatever, my remedy is to get me some Stones songs and play them LOUD with my eyes closed. Man, it helps
To Nate ... music man, music!

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Nate
Here in the U.K. tonight it feels like we just stepped back to last March.

Nate

In a way, yes. It does feel like we're back to square one. I, personally, don't believe the British public would stand for this, if it were not for our vaccine hopes. Hopefully, this'll be an easier ride than before. It does feel a little different for me: last March I was already shielding at home; this time, I'm sat at my desk, at work in Central London. We've already been told that we are 'essential workers' and will not be working from home.

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Nate
Here in the U.K. tonight it feels like we just stepped back to last March.

Nate

Aside from the closure of schools and universities, how is this 'lockdown' any different than Tier 4?

Most countries do too little too late. That is the nature of "business as usual" thinking. Then at one point they need to go into a lockdown. In order to avoid lockdown, there is a need for keeping the number of cases very low. What is very low? That depends on the test and trace resources. It seems like it is very hard to test, trace and quarantine people when the number of new positive covid-19 cases per day per million population is exceeding 100 or so:

Country / Cases per day / Population / Cases per day per mill population:

Australia : 20-40 / 25 mill / 1 cases per day/mill
Finland : 300 / 5.5 mill / 50 cases per day/mill
Norway : 500 / 5 mill / 100 cases per day/mill
Germany : 25,000 / 83 mill / 300 cases per day/mill
Denmark : 2,500 / 6 mill / 400 cases per day/mill
Sweden : 7,000 / 10 mill / 700 cases per day/mill
USA: 250,000 / 330 mill / 750 cases per day/mill
UK : 50,000 / 67 mill / 750 cases per day/mill

The Australian level is pure luxury, they may even host games with crowds. Finland and Norway are spoiled with relatively low numbers, being far north in the corner of Europe helps a lot. Germany may have the capacity to test and trace at their level, but the numbers are a bit too high now. Anyone above 100-200 cases per day per mill would need to some sort of lockdown in order to keep parts of the country and normal business open. UK is such an example, with far too high numbers.

Test and trace in Norway is delegated to each county. They have support from the central authorities. When smaller counties have big clusters they are in real trouble, they test, trace, call hundreds of contact people, some do not pick up the phone, others lie, in order to avoid quarantine. Some have been to Spain, or other places, and they break the isolation, even being positive with covid-19, then go party with 20 or more people.

The test, trace, quarantine work is just as hard as sailing a boat in a storm. The true heroes of this pandemic are not just the health workers, but also the test, trace and quarantine people.

Bjornulf