Blog Day 582 - Tuesday 09 November 2021 - Day 11 of Covid Normal

A bit busy this week with various commitments.

Yesterday I conducted my first virtual tour of the Shrine with a group of grade five kids.  Myself and another volunteer narrated the tour and an education staff member navigated using various technical devices.  The virtual tour uses a combination of Google applications (similar to street view but inside and outside of the the building) and various powerpoint type slides.  The tour lasts for about an hour and prior to the tour the two volunteers decide what to look at and talk about and discuss this with the navigator.

It all sounds a bit clumsy but it actually works very well and was well received by the kids.

This morning I have attended our regular weekly Shrine volunteer meeting.  This also goes for about an hour and we usually have somebody present an item of interest and one or more of the staff bring us up to date on events and happenings at the Shrine.  At the moment it doesn't look like volunteers will be returning in any official capacity until January 2022.  Although it has been confirmed the Shrine Volunteer Christmas Lunch at the Melbourne town hall is back on the agenda for the middle of December.

Tomorrow I have a full one day zoom conference hosted by the Australian Army History Unit.  This runs from 8.30am in the morning until 4.30pm in the afternoon which is a bit of a marathon effort for a zoom meeting.  The title of the conference is "Contingencies and Compromises: Mobilising the Australian Army" which I am sure that will agree sounds very interesting.

And then tomorrow evening I have another one hour zoom meeting hosted by Military History and Heritage Victoria (MHHV) titled "Leadership in Crisis: Blamey at War".  General Blamey was and still is a very controversial character in Australian military history.  He was Sir John Monash's Chief of Staff during TGW and then commanded the allied ground forces in the South West Pacific Theatre during the second world war.  Blamey also had a bit of a controversial career as Victorian Police Commissioner in the 1930's when he lost his job due to some problems with brothels, madams and a missing police commissioner's badge, amongst other things.  Should be an interesting presentation.

Of course Thursday is Remembrance Day and I will be attending the Remembrance Day service at the Shrine, although in an unofficial capacity.  A number of the volunteers will be attending so it will be good to catch up with them.

And then on Friday I have my usual U3A Maritime and Military History Group meeting, also on zoom.  Fortunately it looks like we will be back to face to face session at U3A when we reconvene in 2022.

And of course still lurking in the background of all this is the day to day battle with our old friend the corona virus.

Australia wide vaccinations are currently at 89.4% for first dose and 80.6% for second dose.  Meanwhile in Victoria we have cracked 90% for the first dose with 92.3% of the eligible population receiving their first dose and 84.6% having received their second dose.

Nationally and in Victoria the number of daily infections seems to finally have settled into a pattern of declining numbers, although not declining by large amounts at least it is regular.  In the last 24 hours Victoria reported 1,069 new infections compared to 1,087 the day before and 1,126 the day before that.

The hospital figures are also continuing to decline both nationally and in Victoria.  Currently there are 579 patients in Victorian hospitals due to the virus with 90 in ICU and 55 on ventilators.  This is down from 651, 106 and 70 respectively on 06/11.

In the last 24 hours 14 people died nationally with the virus and of these 10 were in Victoria.  Deaths are still up and down a bit on a day to day basis but not increasing in any meaningful way.  As hospital, ICU and ventilator numbers decline the death numbers should also decline, albeit with a bit a time lag.

I've got some preparation to do for tomorrow's conference so that will do for today.

        Corona Virus Daily Stats – 09 November 2021 – Day 11 of Covid Normal

Date	Aus Infected	Aus Increase	Aus 1st Dose Vacc	Vic Infected	Vic Increase	NSW Increase	*Aus Active Infection	NSW Active Infection	Vic Active Infection	Aus 2nd Dose Vacc
30/10	169,379	1,601	87.9%	87,918	1,355	237	25,314	3,972	21,095	76.2%
31/10					930	166
01/11					1,437	129
02/11					956	171
03/11					909	187
04/11	175,830	1,556	88.7%	93,373	1,247	309	20,971	3,144	17,674	78.5%
05/11					1,343
06/11	178,927	1,559	89%	95,917	1,268	271	19,984	3,168	16,662	79.6%
07/11		1,433			1,126
08/11		1,326			1,087
09/11	182,870	1,313	89.4%	99,183	1,069	224	18,607	2,831	15,607	80.6%
10/11

Corona Virus Daily Stats Hospitalisation Etc – 09 November 2021 – Day 11 of Covid Normal
Date	Aus New Infection	Aus Hospital	Aus ICU	Aus Ventilate	Vic New Infection	Vic Hospital	Vic ICU	Vic Ventilate	AUS Daily Deaths	Vic Daily Deaths
30/10	1,601	1,113	222	121	1,355	747	135	83	14	11
31/10										11
01/11										3
02/11										9
03/11					909					8
04/11	1,556	979	180	110	1,247	660	114	78	13	9
05/11					1,343				14	10
06/11	1,559	932	162	98	1,268	651	106	70	10	7
07/11									10	9
08/11									12	5
09/11	1,313	849	133	76	1,069	579	90	55	14	10
10/11