Blog Day 156 - Tuesday 08 December 2020

As I was leaving today to go for my walk I came across the guys from the power company replacing the cross beams on a power pole near my my drive way.  After I inspected the works and offered advise has to how they could do it better (as us old blokes are expected to do) they showed me one of the cross beams that they had replaced. Guess what, it was rotted out and by what you ask? Possum pee I say!  Always something interesting happening around the busy streets of Bentleigh East.  

All the zeroes again for Victoria, although one of yesterday's returning travellers may have tested positive.  We are waiting for further confirmation on that. 

More than 250 returning international travellers arrived in Melbourne yesterday although there is supposed to be a daily cap of 160.  A public servant explained to us that this daily cap of 160 travellers is actually an average over the week.  This has never been mentioned before, no wonder that I have little confidence in the management of this program. 

Once this is all over I would be interested in seeing the figures on how many of the returning overseas travellers are dual citizens and how long they had been living in the country of which they are a dual citizen.

Interesting little snippet in the Age today, Austria has introduced a voluntary mass testing program and tested 300,000 people over two days.  Out of a population of 9 million.  I think the maximum we got tested in Victoria was 37,000 in one day.  But we were also only testing people with symptoms whereas the Austrians are testing everybody.  Italy reported 652 deaths in one day and 662 a day earlier, in two days they have had more people die than we have had in the entire pandemic.  No wonder Austria has stepped up their testing program. (For the geographically embarrassed Austria and Italy share a significant land border).

Twelve new infections recorded Australia wide in the last 24 hours, six in NSW and 6 in Qld, all returned overseas travellers.  Victoria conducted just over 7,000 tests, NSW conducted 6,000 and Qld 3,100.  (You Queenslanders need to lift your testing game or you won't be allowed to visit Victoria over Christmas).

There are currently 50 active cases nationwide, 48 of whom are returned overseas travellers and still no active cases in Victoria.

Overseas there were 533,288 new infections reported in the last 24 hours with 8,281 new deaths.  I am sure that these figures will rise again as the weekend reporting catches up.  

As well as the issues in Italy and Austria as reported above I see that California is enforcing a new lockdown regime to try and get on top the virus in that state.

Corona Virus Daily Stats – Day 2 – Covid Safe Summer 

Date	Aus Infected	Aus Increase	Vic Infected	Vic Increase	Aus Death	Vic Death	Aus Hospl	Vic Hospital	Aus ICU	Vic ICU
7/12	27,972	7	20,345	0	908	820	29	0	0	0
8/12	27,984	12	20,345	0	908	820	38	0	0	0
9/12

Date	World Infection	Daily Increase	World Deaths	Daily Increase
07/12	67,369,090	522,049	1,541,330	6,986
08/12	67,902,378	533,288	1,549,611	8,281
09/12

Remember: Wear your mask when you are buying your Bunnings sausage; no holidays in Britain for a while yet; be careful planning your computer upgrades (my most recent upgrade cost me $1,400); somebody is probably checking your poo; if in doubt get tested (it doesn't hurt, honestly); get the catgut strings in your tennis racket checked; as from 11.59pm tonight you can have a beer at the bar; keep an eye out for Germans with funny little moustaches.

Probably no blog tomorrow as I am attending the Shrine volunteer lunch at the Melbourne town hall hosted by her ladyship the lord mayor.