Blog Day 645 - Friday 14 January 2022 - Day 76 of Covid Nearly Normal

A quick update on the sporting stories that I have been reporting on over the last few days, plus a new one.

A racing yacht sitting up out of the water to have its hull cleaned at the Sandringham Yacht Club was hit by lightning last night.  It is reported that the lightning bolt went down the mast into the hull of the boat, fried all the electronics, started a fire and left a hole in the hull where the lightning left the boat to hit the ground.  Apparently there was a lot of sparks a very, very loud bang and the boat is probably a write off.  I wonder if the insurance covers lightning strikes, is it an act of god? Apparently it also gave the yacht club members having drink on the club veranda a bit of a fright.

As at 11.32am on Friday morning the federal government has not made a decision  on whether to cancel Djokovic's visa.  There are a number of grounds that the visa could possibly be cancelled under.  There appears to be some discrepancies with the dates that ND claims to have been infected with the virus and his circulation in the Serbian community, also that a false statement in his paperwork about his prior travel to Spain prior to travelling to Australia.

I daresay the government is making sure of its case prior to making any announcement as sure as god made little green apples ND and his lawyers will contest any visa cancellation.

If I was a country neighbouring Serbia I would be getting a bit nervous cause we all know how Serbia reacts if it thinks it has been disrespected in the international community.  Usually, if a bit miffed Serbia invades a smaller and weaker neighbouring country such as Bosnia - Herzegovina  or Kosovo or even sets about starting a world war.

The second sporting story is in respect to the fifth Ashes test between Australia and England which is due to start in Hobart this arvo.  This test is a day/night game and doesn't start until 3.00pm.  Australia will look to win this game to give them a four/zero score line for the five test series.

I have accessed a new table, copied below, which shows the vaccination percentage of population by age from 0+ and 12+.  The 12+ percentages continue to increase slowly, however it is good to note that Qld has finally broken through 90% for their first doses but still dragging their feet on second doses at 86.9%.

The 0+ rate will increase quickly once the 5 year old plus vaccination program gathers steam.

VACCINATIONS

Doses by Age Band First / Second

STATE	0+	0+	12+	12+
NSW	81.0%	79.1%	95.1%	92.9%
Victoria	80.5%	78.7%	94.3%	92.2%
Queensland	77.0%	73.6%	90.9%	86.9%
SA	79.7%	76.0%	92.6%	88.3%
ACT	86.2%	84.0%	>99%	>99%
Tasmania	84.6%	80.7%	98.0%	93.6%
NT	74.4%	70.1%	89.9%	84.7%
WA	78.2%	71.9%	92.7%	85.1%
Australia	80.6%	77.7%	94.7%	91.3%

Meanwhile the number of daily new infections continues, although since the self reporting of the Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) results I have some concern as to the accuracy of the Victorian figures particularly as the number of deaths in this state continue to increase.

In the last 24 hours Victoria reported 35,000 new infections, however a week ago we reported a daily figure of 51,000.  Either we have hit the peak of the omicron wave or the numbers are being under reported.  Of the 35,000 new infections reported in the last 24 hours, 19,000 were from PCR tests and 15,000 from self reported RATs.

NSW has reported 63,000 new infections in the last 24 hours from 109,000 tests.

Queensland has also joined the party with 23,600 new infections in the last 24 hours from the results of 44,000 tests.

Victoria has reached 976 covid virus patients in hospital, up from 861 a few days ago, currently there are 112 people in ICU in Victoria and 30 on ventilators.  The Victorian ICU and ventilator numbers are remaining reasonably static however death numbers are up.

In Victoria in the last three days Victoria recorded 21, 25 and 18 deaths.  NSW also reported 21, 22 and 29 deaths over the last three days.  These death numbers in Victoria are probably the worst consecutive daily numbers since the bad old days of August, September 2000.  

My question is, if these death numbers continue how long will that be acceptable to the politicians and the community?

            Corona Virus Daily Stats – 14 January 2021 – Day 76 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					8,577	20,794
04/01					14,020	23,131
05/01	601,169	53,557	93.6%	231,126	17,636	35,054	283,792	184,413	51,317	90.5%
06/01					21,743	34,960
07/01	762,458	78,160	93.8%	274,390	21,728	38,625	392,109	234,066	69,680	90.8%
08/01					51,356	45,098
09/01	972,455	94,662	93.9%	369,362	44,155	30,062	560,023	292,237	146,863	91.0%
10/01					35,843	20,293
11/01	1,115,610	65,243	93.9%	443,787	37,994	25,870	613,502	315,785	171,369	91.0%
12/01					40,127	34,759
13/01					37,169	92,264
14/01	1,524,727	122,685	94.7%	561,872	34,836	63,018	754,967	336,765	239,396	91.3%
15/01

Corona Virus Daily Stats Hospitalisation Etc – 14 January 2022 – Day 76 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									7	3
04/01									5	2
05/01	53,557	2,904	196	56	17,636	591	53	20	19	11
06/01									12	6
07/01	78,160	2,900	274	65	21,728	644	106	24	20	6
08/01									26	9
09/01	94,662	3,304	298	73	44,155	752	104	23	21	4
10/01									22	2
11/01	65,243	3,721	334	86	37,994	861	117	27	24	13
12/01
13/01
14/01	122,685	4,396	367	114	34,836	976	112	30	50	18
15/01