The blissful summer months are upon us! We were betting on lower cases of COVID as people were able to go outside. However, that hasn’t occurred. We keep getting hit with variants and spikes (such as a recent increase due to Memorial Day festivities).
It seems like every day, someone else that we know gets COVID. But they aren’t getting very sick. However, it is taking a while to “get over it” and get a positive test result.
Trust Won
More than a million are now dead of COVID in the U.S. What paths didn’t we take? Perhaps Australia’s successes can reveal some clues.
If the United States would have had the same death rate as Australia, about 900,000 lives would have been saved.
Some other nations did a better job of keeping people alive … such as Kenya, Norway, and Australia. Take Australia: they have some similar demographics with America … such as both being English-speaking democracies; having a median age in the thirties; and having over 80 percent of their people living in urban areas.
Some would say that their location played a part in their success …. but wait. This doesn’t fully explain the difference in outcomes between the two countries, since Australia has always been highly connected to the world through trade, tourism, and immigration. Sydney and Melbourne could just as easily have become overrun with COVID as New York or any other U.S. city.
So, what was right in Australia and wrong in the United States?
Australia restricted travel and personal interaction until vaccinations were widely available, and then maximized vaccine uptake, prioritizing people who were more vulnerable. Then they gradually opened up the country. They did have blips, but still produced results. As a consequence, their economy is recovering at a much faster rate than that of the U.S.
Eventually, all things pointed to a “lifesaving trait” that existed with Australians from the top of government to the hospital floor, which is trust, in science and institutions, but especially in one another. Compared with 34 percent of Americans, 76 percent of Australians trusted the health-care system. And, 93 percent of Australians reported being able to get support in times of crisis from people living outside their household.
Therefore, when the first positive case appeared in Australia on January 25, 2020, they had already begun acting fast. Five days later, when the CDC confirmed the first human transmission of the virus in the US, President Donald Trump downplayed the risk. “It will be a good ending for us,” he said. That same day, border restrictions, isolation, surveillance, and case-tracing mechanisms were already in place in Australia. So… while Americans were still gathering in large groups as if nothing were wrong, Australia’s COVID containment system was up and running.
When Australians are asked why they accepted the country’s many lockdowns, its once-closed international and state borders, its quarantine rules, and then its vaccine mandates for certain professions or restaurants and large events, they tend to voice a version of the same response: It’s not just about me.
(From article in THE WEEK (June 3, 2022) P. 37. (A version originally published in the New York Times.)
Dr. Greg Dore, an infectious-disease expert at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, stated that “There were lots of mandates, lots of fines for breaching restrictions, pretty heavy-handed controlling, including measures that were pretty useless, like the policing of outdoor masking. But, the package was effective because the vast majority of Australians stuck with it anyway.”
Their national trait of “mate ship”–defined as the bond between equal partners or close friends–remained alive and well. They saw COVID spiral out of control in the U.S. and Britain, and chose a different path. They learned that they could come together very quickly. There is a high level of trust among their people.
(From article in THE WEEK (June 3, 2022) P. 37. (A version originally published in the New York Times.)
Strategizing for our July Trip
Lynn and I are excited about our upcoming trip in July. We leave on the 12th, and will return on the 25th. We have redefined our COVID restrictions … not because we are frightened that we will get it … but because we don’t want to be held back from entering Canada. They currently require US residents to acquire a positive PCR test result 3 days prior to crossing the border (no matter the method of travel). And … no matter the vaccination status, we still have to comply. If one of us throws a positive, that would be devastating for our trip. Although we paid dearly for insurance, it would still be awful. A lot of time, effort, and money went into planning this trip (2 years in the making). So …. it’s avoiding gatherings unless absolutely necessary, wearing masks whenever indoors in public places, and carefully considering every time we “go somewhere” or “do something.”
June Family Events
Our grandson is graduating high school, and celebrating a birthday. We are going to Orcas Island for three days (already planned and paid for). Gatherings are part of this. We will be as careful as we can.
Mid-June
My sister and her husband contracted Covid. They had mild cases, although she certainly wouldn’t wanna have it again. She had a very sore throat and they both took Paxlovid. She said the taste in her mouth was terrible and that combined with a sore throat really was awful. But we both agreed it was a darn good thing they had both been fully vaccinated. we both agreed it was a darn good thing they had both been fully vaccinated.
It seems like every time I turn around, someone that knows someone has gotten Covid. But they’re not getting very sick. and some people are getting the Omicron and then shortly there after, they get it again. That is strange. I heard on a podcast it’s because the latest omicron variants are even more contagious than the earlier ones. And it is less likely that the vaccine can control them.
As Lynn and I look forward to our trip in mid July, I have a confession. We are still doing everything we can to avoid getting Covid. However, it doesn’t frighten me as much as it used to because there are treatments and it is making far less people very sick and the death rates are down. But the last thing we want is to go on this trip for which we paid a lot of money and end up being quarantined in Canada for five or 10 days. And if I got it and Lynn did, he would have to go on and I would be quarantined by myself. And vice versa.
Canada has loosened its restrictions for people entering from the US. We don’t have to get a PCR test before entering although they do random testing once you cross the border. they do require vaccination. And the United States is not requiring a test before reentry.
Vaccines are now available for very young children from six months to five. I don’t know anybody with children that young that I could talk to and wonder how many of these young children are actually getting the vaccine.
End of June
According to a Tangle podcast dated June 27, a recent study estimated that 20 million people’s lives were saved worldwide due to the vaccination rollout from 2020 through 2021. The announcement appears at the end of the podcast.
Two sub variance, four and five, are now out there. They are especially prevalent in high infectious areas which are in large municipal cities such as New York Miami Las Vegas. They are less resistant to the vaccines, but, according to health resources that I follow, the vaccine still decreases your chance of getting very sick if you are infected. So that’s where we are right now.
Leave a Reply