How are you all dealing with coronavirus and the restrictions... #2

The party is over here. We are approaching case numbers we have not seen since the vaccine came out. People can't get appointments for tests because the demand is too high and they are worried about hospital bed shortages. I live in the most densely populated part of the state which also happens to have the highest vaccination rates. None of the cases are where I live, they are all in the rural areas where the majority did *not* get vaccinated and there are very few hospitals. So while my first thoughts were that the vaccine was not working, this seems to be very good evidence that it does.

We have a family member infected at the moment, so far they are unwell but hopefully it won't get any worse for them as double vaccinated.

I know enough double vaccinated people who've got infected and unwell to think vaccination mostly protects against hospitalization and death but not great protection against infection.

@hvert hopefully as your infection figures rise the hospitalizations and deaths will not rise as much as they did in earlier waves.

I'm fairly sure we're heading into another wave here as in next few weeks schools and universities return and most students will not be vaccinated. Rates are already rising.

Ugh, @Discombobulated I thought you were done with your Delta peak there. Fingers crossed for your family member. I think you are right about the vaccine protecting against hospitalizations and not infections. Schools are starting back up in the next few weeks here as well and that has me worried.

The latest on Delta here is that 260 cases have been detected. 70% are in people that came in from abroad and were isolated.

For some reason, so far, we aren't seeing high levels of community Delta transmission like in the UK or Israel. We have a higher vaccination rate than either, although Sinovac is still dominant. The Health Minister said that maybe in some way the "unique" mix of vaccines being used, which is different from other countries is having a positive effect. They are progressing pretty quickly with the third doses of AZ and Pfizer for the elderly and immunocompromised that got Sinovac early on.

We have also gone more slowly as far as opening up and there is still a mask mandate. They are also now strictly enforcing quarantine on arrival. Arrivals are still limited to citizens and legal residents.

I guess the combination of all those factors is what is helping for now. We will see how long it holds, especially as we head to phase four tomorrow.

The latest breakout on vaccine doses administered is:
Sinovac - 71%
Pfizer - 22%
Astra Zeneca - 5%
Cansino - 2%

Almost 27 million doses have been administered.


I just read that they are visiting migrant camps with Cansino, which is one dose, to increase vaccination rates among those communities. I have heard that some migrants are hesitant to go to a vaccination center because they are here illegally.

That's wonderful Delta is being contained with border controls and quarantine. I wonder if that huge outbreak you had a month or two ago plus the vaccinations gave you herd immunity that also keeps Delta at bay?


We are about to break hospitalization records here. It's mind boggling. I assume it's because Delta spreads so quickly that everyone gets it at once.


Someone I volunteer with was diagnosed with cancer and died two weeks later. Would he have been diagnosed earlier without Covid? It's such a huge loss to the community - he was such a generous person and devoted his life to working with at-risk youth. How many people are we losing because our health systems are overwhelmed and so many of us are skipping doctor's appointments because we don't want Covid?

The loneliness is hitting me hard today. But I guess it is more having AvPD than the Corona mess. I feel like at least some things are somewhat back to normal again, but I'm still standing on the sidelines. The concert tonight definitely felt almost normal again.Except for the extra check at the entrance for a corona certificate (vaccinated, recovered or neg test result) and having to wear a mask in the toilets. And no meet& greet afterwards.

I had fun but I was also very lonely. Last tour I did, in October 2019, I ran into people I knew at every gig I went to. Today I was alone. And most people around me where in groups. It hurt.
I don't know how much of it is because so many events were cancelled and things were just different, or maybe it was people naturally moving away? Whatever it was, it makes me sad.

I skipped my office shift this week for a similar reason. I didn't actually feel worried about covid, but more because I'd feel.... left out? I don't know if that's the right way to describe it. I can't to know people and feel comfortable during a single week. Maybe I was scared of feeling different.

I certainly feel very different today. And I've been trying so hard to improve. I'm aching to start living again but I realize corona or no corona, I can't really live because I am too different I guess in a way corona gave me something to blame other than myself. "I'm living like a hermit because covid!" but really I am the problem

hvert - my condolences for the loss of your fellow volunteer. My husband has this friend that he has known since they were young. When my husband's godmother, who mainly raised him, passed, he became family to them. He was always invited to spend the holidays or go on vacation with them. When we started dating, I soon went to meet them. The family has a huge plot of land with several houses on it on the edge of the Andes foothills.

Anyways, one of the brothers of his friend was a cancer survivor, so he had to go in every so often for scans to see if it had returned. Due to Covid, he had to put off a checkup. By the time it was discovered that the cancer was back, it was too late. We couldn't even go to the funeral to offer support to my husband's friend due to the lockdown in place at the time. It was limited to a few family members.

The whole Delta thing is weird here. Everyone was expecting a local outbreak in San Javier due to the first case who was out and about going to a funeral, restaurants and such without following protocols. That never happened.

@rechu I am very glad Delta is not spreading in Chile, in fact maybe you should be grateful UK keeps you on red list because it is rife here.

My relative is young and double vaccinated with AstraZeneca but still unwell, at first like a cold and then like the flu. Apparently Delta is more likely to lead to hospitalizations too. So yeah, keep it out if you can!

@Discombobulated - Yeah, maybe it is a good thing we are red listed!

Here is just one example of the selfish whining online about us not being open to tourists:

" I'd say there's very little support to open borders now from the local population. Tourism is suffering massively, but most of the population don't care about those in that sector unfortunately"

Seriously? Making those of us who finally have clawed back a bit more freedom sound like the bad guys because we don't want them to open too quickly? We see what is going on in the US, UK and elsewhere with Delta. We know that if that happens here because they lift the restrictions on people coming in, we will be the ones locked back down, just like last time. The tourists that contributed to the case surges here were long gone. We were left holding the bag.


And he tries to portray himself as the good guy just caring about the tourism industry. I am sure he really doesn't give a crap about that. He just doesn't want his vacation plans ruined.

Oh this is so typical - polarising an issue. We had this a lot in the UK too. If we voiced caution we were 'pro lockdown' to some people. In fact caution is as you say to avoid punitive future lockdowns- we all know how awful they are.

Some people seem to demonstrate real 'all or nothing' 'black or white' thinking on this subject. It's so wearing isn't it!

I just read a news article that there is another South African variant, which is a mutation of the previous one. Apparantly more contagious and resistant to vaccines. Yay! The fun never ends!

I read a while back that it makes sense for viruses to mutate into less deadly variants. Because they can't spread further if they kill all their hosts. So can it hurry up and mutate to something mostly "harmless" already?

There's just never any good news, is there? Even when things slowly seem to get better, there's always another mutation popping up.

@BreakForTheLight - Yeah the doom and gloom is getting to me today too. It's like the media can't say anything positive. They have to harp on whatever negative they can find.


Think about here, for example. A few months ago, we were front page news in the media worldwide - what did Chile do wrong? Did they relax restrictions too quickly? Was it the Chinese vaccines?

Now that things are so much better and we are slowly reopening, not a peep out of those same publications. Well, actually I have seen a few articles but they were negative. One was about the continent being devastated by delta (not true). The other was a rehash about the Chinese vaccines, focusing on that time when things were bad.

We all know here that I am not a huge Sinovac fan, but even I have to admit it looks to have helped in combination with the other strategies and vaccines being used here. Of course, that is not mentioned. Hopefully, we have started the boosters in time to head off the relatively fast decline in efficacy that the vaccine supposedly experiences.

It's so weird now when you follow the news from several countries, how some are about to add stricter measures while others are completely letting go of all(/most) measures.

Yesterday I read that my state is opening clubs for vaccinated/recovered people from this weekend on. Two minutes later I read a Dutch news article warning about higher numbers in fall. We can't keep going like this.

Apparently I can already get a booster shot with an mRNA vaccine six months after my first vaccination. Booster shots are being offered to high risk people and those who had their first vaccination with a vector vaccine.
What happened to making sure more people worldwide are vaccinated before offering Booster shots?

True, there has been such a variations of policies across countries and even within some countries, like the US. Our numbers right now are considered excellent in comparison to most of the world (345 new cases yesterday). But, in New Zealand or Australia, they would probably be cause for a lockdown.


As of today our region's curfew goes to midnight. We were the last holdout because the vaccination rate had not reached 80% of the target until a few days ago. The Health Ministry has also mentioned that, unless things take a serious turn for the worse, they will not renew the state of constitutional exception when it expires at the end of the month.

I am not coping the greatest the last few days. My husband is back to being a grouch because is sick of telework and it is making me feel like my space is invaded. I really want to have the house to myself during the day again. It's exhausting.

He has promised that he finally feels okay about going somewhere for outdoor dining this weekend. I really hope we go this time. We so need a change of routine, even just something minor like that.

@rechu I hope you have a wonderful time, you deserve it after all the restrictions you've lived with.

@BreakForTheLight yes it's confusing to me reading all these very contrasting reactions in different countries. Everything is open here now but there are still a few places which have their own restrictions in place. I'm the kind of person who (it pains me to admit) likes security and consistency and there's not much of that now.

My young relative seems to be recovering from covid but she's been quite unwell even with both vaccines, not a comforting thought.

In theory the Canadian border is open and I can go, but I think I may wait a while. I really miss it, but there will be a hassle getting across. They require not just proof of vax, but a negative covid test AND proof that you have some kind of quarentine plan in case you get covid there.

@rechu I'm sorry your husband wasn't able to be there in person when his friend's brother passed away - it is so discouraging to think that he may have lived if he had been able to get checked sooner. Hopefully you get to go out to eat and things stay quiet enough so your husband can go back to the office. Mine was supposed to go back this fall but Delta seems to have squashed that.

@AceRimmer I have been looking forward to the border reopening but now that it is, I'm not going. Covid is worse in my area than it was last year and I would hate to unwittingly spread it. It also seems awkward since our border is still closed to Canadians. How welcome would we really be? Plus, some of the places I wanted to visit are still closed or limiting visits to two hours when I'd like to spend two days.

@BreakForTheLight I also wish the vaccines were going to people who have not yet been vaccinated vs. boosters. Between all these more highly contagious mutations, it seems like we ought to be close to herd immunity at some point?? Maybe this thing will peter out then? Or is it going to be like the flu where we get a new one each year?


We still have way too much Covid here and school hasn't even started everywhere yet. The vaccine mandate is also drawing near - if anyone wanted an mRNA vaccine, they needed to get the shot already. Several nursing homes in rural areas have announced they are closing, I assume because they will not have enough staff once the mandate comes into effect in October.

I can't decide how cautious to be. I'm not interested in indoor events and have been avoiding crowded outdoor ones as well. There's one I'd love to go to this weekend but it just doesn't seem worth the risk - am I overthinking it? So freaking over this.

Soooooo yeah. Seeing the images from the GP in NL today, it is infuriating. Thousands of people way too close together. But no festivals allowed!

The theory was that people had assigned seats, that is why the event was allowed to happen. OF COURSE it did not work like that just shows again how stupid the government is.

And then the health minister is standing there with that nauseating face (I'm sorry, I know you shouldn't judge people on appearance but everything about him just screams d-bag) saying how "the practice is a little different from the measures " and they'll "take things into account for upcoming events" it honestly makes me sick.

EVERYONE could have predicted this.

(Yes I am PMS'ing and I am super grumpy, maybe you can tell but I am upset for musicians and others in the festival business who can't make a living yet this madness is allowed to happen.)

Well, people under 55 can now get boosters if they received Sinovac. Unfortunately, for now they are only receiving people that got their second shot before March 8th. My husband's second shot was on the 8th. I guess we will have to wait for the next schedule.

An interesting article about what is going on in South America:


Covid Ravaged South America. Then Came a Sharp Drop in Infections. - The New York Times

Suddenly, the region that had been the epicenter of the pandemic is breathing a sigh of relief.

New infections have fallen sharply in nearly every nation in South America as vaccination rates have ramped up. The reprieve has been so sharp and fast, even as the Delta variant wreaks havoc elsewhere in the world, that experts can’t quite explain it.

Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Uruguay and Paraguay experienced dramatic surges of cases in the first months of the year, just as vaccines started to arrive in the region. Containment measures were uneven and largely lax because governments were desperate to jump-start languishing economies.

“Now the situation has cooled across South America,” said Carla Domingues, an epidemiologist who ran Brazil’s immunization program until 2019. “It’s a phenomenon we don’t know how to explain.”

There have been no new sweeping or large-scale containment measures in the region, although some countries have imposed strict border controls. A major factor in the recent drop in cases, experts say, is the speed with which the region ultimately managed to vaccinate people. Governments in South America have generally not faced the kind of apathy, politicization and conspiracy theories around vaccines that left much of the United States vulnerable to the highly contagious Delta variant.

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Well, we didn't get to dine out. We left the house too late and by the time we got to the restaurant we wanted to visit, all outdoor seating was full or reserved. Pretty much every place in town was the same way. I guess everyone had the same idea after being cooped up for so long. Then, we couldn't get public transit back. We ended up walking home and not one bus or shared taxi passed us the whole way!

We will try again earlier next Saturday.