Blog Day 668 - Sunday 06 February 2021 - Day 99 of Covid Nearly Normal

My usually reliable sources have given me the whisper that the state education department has advised schools to defer attendance at school camps and excursions for the time being.  I understand that this is not an instruction but a recommendation.

Despite the pleas of the CBD based businesses the state government is still strongly recommending and encouraging people work from home until at least the end of February.  The other issue is that masks must still be worn in indoors in a work environment and for a lot of people this is really difficult and will keep people away from their workplace.

During my shift at the Shrine I have to wear a mask from about 12.15pm in the afternoon until about 4.30pm in the afternoon.  I am wearing the N95 mask which I find easier to breath through than the blue surgical masks.  I find that when I walk up the stairs to the Sanctuary I am puffing with mask on, but then again, on reflection, I was puffing without the mask on.  The worse thing is that after over four hours of wearing the mask my ears hurt from the elastic straps holding the mask on.

In the last 24 hours Victoria recorded 7,169 new covid cases with 7,810 the day before.  This the first time since early January that we have recorded consecutive days of less than 10,000 new infections.  Let us hope that this is now part of a pattern and not a glitch in the reporting of cases.

NSW has also reported lower figures over the last couple of days with 7,839 new cases reported in the last 24 hours with 8,389 the previous day, down from 10,000 pluses in the days prior.

Not only is Qld still dragging its feet in the vaccination stakes it has now joined the ranks of the states with concerning new infection numbers.  Qld recorded 5,746 new infections in the last 24 hours with 8,478 the day before.  Meanwhile Qld is only 88.6% fully vaccinated, that is double vaxxed in the 12+ population.

Hopefully the tables below come out OK in the blog, I never can tell.

Anyway they show the hospital, ICU and ventilator numbers for the last four days for Victoria, NSW and Qld.  As we can see, Qld has more covid patients in hospital than Victoria, although not as many in ICU and on ventilators.  The three states are showing declining numbers in hospital and declining numbers in ICU.  Vic and NSW are also showing a decline in the number of patients on ventilators however the Qld ventilator numbers appear to be static.

Maybe Qld needs to run a program promoting vaccinations using footage of people hospitalised and on ventilators.  Wouldn't do any harm for the other states to get a bit of a kick in the bum to do likewise also.

In the last 24 hours Victoria reported 6 covid related deaths and 41 the day before, something wrong with today's death number, methinks.  Meanwhile NSW reported 28 deaths in the last 24 hours and 18 the day before and Qld 9 and 21 deaths for the same period.

    Corona Virus Daily Stats – 06 February 2021 – Day 99 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
01/02					11,311	12,818
02/02	2,614,706	38,379	94.9%	877,553	14,553	11,807	293,675	129,942	73,886	92.4%
03/02					12,157	12,632
04/02	2,668,333	22,508	95.0%	900,950	11,240	10,698	253,603	102,847	65,968	92.6%
05/02					7,810	8,389
06/02	2,727,303	21,602	95.1%	915,929	7,169	7,893	227,841	89,861	60,917	92.7%
07/02

Corona Virus Daily Stats Hospitalisation Etc – 06 February 2022 – Day 99 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
01/02										34
02/02	38,379	4,670	348	130	14,553	768	99	31	69	25
03/02									85	34
04/02	22,508	4,465	314	133	11,240	707	79	29	67	36
05/02					7,810				83	41
06/02	21,602	4,139	291	122	7,169	652	73	28	44	6
07/02