Blog Day 633 - Sunday 02 January 2022 - Day 64 of Covid Nearly Normal

 Day two of 2022 and life with Covid goes on.  Rules as to virus testing, mask wearing and interstate travel are being adapted, adjusted, manipulated and argued about on a daily basis so I have pretty much given up on understanding where things are up to.

I will wear a mask when I think it is necessary or I feel threatened, I will maintain social distancing, I will get tested if I have symptoms,  I will try to avoid high risk areas and use common sense.  I have no intention of travelling interstate in the immediate to near future so that doesn't come into my immediate sphere of interest.

It has been a while since I had a look at the international situation, but as usual the figures I have had a look at are still inconsistent and poorly reported.  The most accurate figures I could find appear to be the deaths per million of population.  So for your information and edification I have listed the top ten countries by deaths per million of population to date and for comparison I have included the same figures for the USA, UK,  Australia and the world figure.

Rating  Country        Deaths Per Million of Population

1.            Peru                            6,022

2.            Bulgaria                     4,510

3.            Bosnia...                     4,136

4.            Hungary                    4,072

5.            Montenegro               3,843

6.            North Macedonia      3,825

7.            Georgia                      3,484

8.            Czechia                      3,369

9.            Croatia                      3,091

10.          Romania                    3,086

21.            USA                           2,537

30.            UK                            2,174

168.           Australia                      87

                  World                        700

The interesting thing about this chart is that with the exception of Peru all of the top ten countries are either in the Balkans or Eastern Europe.  If I extended the table to include the top 20 the same pattern continues.

I wonder why this is so.  Certainly some of the Balkan countries would have second class medical systems but I would have thought that the medical systems in Hungary and Czechia would be decent enough and of a reasonable European standard.  However, I don't think that I would like to spend much time in a hospital in Bulgaria or Romania.

Back closer to home.  

Now that we have hit 90%+ plus of the eligible national population aged over 12 double vaccinated, the vaccination rates have slowed down dramatically.  This is to be expected given those remaining unvaccinated will be the hard core anti vaxxers or the hard core lazy who can't be bothered and are expecting everybody else to get vaccinated to protect them.

Below is a table extracted from my data source providing vaccination details as at current date state by state and nationally.

Vaccinations

Doses by Age Band First / Second

STATE	0+	0+	12+	12+
NSW	80.3%	79.0%	94.2%	92.7%
Victoria	79.8%	78.5%	93.5%	91.9%
Queensland	75.7%	72.1%	89.4%	85.1%
SA	78.6%	74.7%	91.3%	86.9%
ACT	85.1%	83.8%	>99%	>99%
Tasmania	83.4%	79.2%	96.7%	91.8%
WA	76.0%	69.5%	90.1%	82.3%
NT	73.1%	68.8%	88.4%	83.1%
Australia	79.6%	76.9%	93.5%	90.4%

Interesting reading, good on you Qld & WA, really holding up your end of the bargain.

Now to some local figures.  In the last 24 hours Victoria reported 7,172 new covid infections, down marginally from 7,442 the day before, NSW reported 18,278 new cases in the last 24 hours.

The Victorian and NSW figures are from the results of 48,200 and 90,000 tests results received in the last 24 hours respectively.  

Although the hospitalisation numbers are rising in Victoria with 472 patients currently in hospital due to the virus, the ICU and ventilator numbers are remaining stable at 52 and 22 respectively.

In Victoria we reported 3 deaths due to the virus and 9 the day before.  These figures are likewise remaining fairly stable.

    Corona Virus Daily Stats – 02 January 2021 – Day 64 of Covid Nearly 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
01/01					7,442		158,782		24,161
02/01	460,657	29,947	93.5%	191,148	7,172	18,278	187,258	124,624	31,461	90.4%
03/01
04/01
05/01
06/01

Corona Virus Daily Stats Hospitalisation Etc – 02 January 2022 – Day 64 of Covid Nearly 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
01/01									14	9
02/01	29,947	1,950	145	48	7,172	472	52	22	4	3
03/01