Blog Day 361 - Wednesday 24 March 2021

 Another anniversary in the long and winding road of the pandemic.  It is 12 months since I started the blog, why it is blog day 361 and not 365 I am not sure, but I have probably miscounted somewhere.

On day one of the blog Victoria had 411 confirmed cases of the virus with an increase of 64 in the 24 hour period.  Australia wide there were 1,895 confirmed cases and worldwide there were 377,926 confirmed cases and 16,488 deaths.

The supermarkets had run out of toilet paper, the Shrine and U3A had closed.  The MHHV had postponed a day long seminar to October 2020, and it has been postponed a number of times since and still hasn't been held.  There was discussion around the cancelation of the Olympic games but no decision had been made and the Grand Prix had been cancelled in Melbourne the week before.

On Tuesday 24 March 2020 Victoria hadn't gone into formal lockdown, that was a joy still awaiting us, but we were being told to stay home and work from home where possible.

Here we are 12 months later, and there has been nearly 125 million virus infections worldwide and 2.745 million deaths.  Worldwide daily infections are running at between 400,000 and 500,000 and 8,000 to 10,000 deaths every day.

Australia by a combination of good management, luck and geography has got off very lightly compared to the rest of the world.  To date nationally we have had 29,000 infections and 909 deaths, 820 of these deaths occurred in Victoria and most of these as a result of the botched hotel quarantine program.

Currently, apart from some ROTs all of Australia is reporting zero new cases and zero deaths.  There are currently 156 active cases nationally and 153 of these are ROTs.

Twelve months ago the possibility of a vaccine against the virus seemed like a pipe dream and would only be available at some time in the distant future.  Yet here we are 12 months down the track and a number of vaccines are being rolled out and jabbed into the arms of citizens of various countries all over the world.  Still a long way to go with the vaccinations but it seems to be getting there.

The last twelve months have seen a huge economic cost to the country, with huge amounts raised by the Federal government to support all sorts of programs such as jobkeeper and jobseeker and subsidies for general and specific business.  The programs seemed to have worked in keeping the economy afloat, the real picture will emerge as these programs are wound back and the economy will have to pick up the slack.

Twelve months ago the share market worldwide and in Australia plunged 20% to 30% on the back of the news of the virus, however most if not all of that loss has been recovered, at least in the major economies and Australia.

Talking about getting a jab I received my flu shot today.  I was in the chemist's getting a prescription filled and I asked if they had any flu shots available, and lo and behold they jabbed me there on the spot.  (They didn't actually jab me on the spot, they jabbed me in the arm, but you get what I mean)

Sometime I should reminisce about the emergency food supplies I purchased to see me through the dark days of lockdown and isolation and are still sitting in their nuclear war proof packaging in the kitchen cupboard.  

And nearly finally for today, there is a huge flock of sulphur crested cockatoos flying around the usually peaceful suburb of Bentleigh East, making a huge amount of noise and looking like something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie or are they a harbinger of doom?

And finally for today lets hope I am still not doing this blog in twelve months time.  I might still be doing a blog but hopefully it will be "Happy Days in Bentleigh East".