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

That sucks sending virtual hugs your way!

My state briefly got under 100 new cases per 100.000 per week or whatever the number means. Which would have meant the end of curfew and shops that were closed getting to open again. But we're back to more than 100 now

Apparently the Jansen vaccine is now also only advised for people of 60 and up :/ which is pretty useless, as that group should already be vaccinated soon enough.

On the bright side: placed a new order for the plants that were previously returned, they should be arriving on Friday. And I had two more plants delivered today. One of them is slightly bigger than expected I already don't know where to put all of them but I'm not done yet - need more plants! (I don't like cats so I guess I'll be a crazy old.plant lady?)

@BreakForTheLight. Thanks. I hope your plants arrive this time. I had a problem too with an order of colored gravel I wanted to put down in the rock garden I am creating for the front yard. It was supposed to arrive last week when I was off, so I could use it. I finally got a response today that it is out of stock and I had to request a refund. They now have a larger bag for sale, so I ordered two of those along with some other stones to hopefully finish that project.

I also ordered dirt for planting. I hear you about the plants! I am always happy buying more plants. I have this large tub I don't use for anything, so I am going to drill some holes in it and plant those bulbs I ordered when they arrive in it, so we will have beautiful spring flowers.

Our clown Health Minister had to come out and defend Sinovac yet again. There's been lot of talk about a "green card" that would allow people who are vaccinated more freedom, such as has been created in Israel. Anyways, the medical college, which is the doctors' union here came out to say that it won't work here because we are using 90% Sinovac and the virus is going to keep circulating since it doesn't effectively reduce transmission as much as other vaccines do. Honestly, they should have come out about this more forcefully earlier on, I think. The Minister came out with the party line that all vaccines are safe and effective. He refuses to have engage in any discussion about Sinovac's lower efficacy.

Lately I've been thinking about this surgery that was recommended to me a while back - like a few months before the mess started. I want to get a second opinion and if they say the same, I'd like to get it done.
But because it's not an emergency, I don't want to go see a doctor during a pandemic to talk about it :/ I hate feeling like my life is on hold.

That's how I feel too, BreakForTheLight, like my life is on hold.

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Well, what I feared seems to be happening. There was a small remote town down south (Laguna Blanca) that was fully vaccinated in February. I guess with the logistics and schedule for vaccinating such a small town it made sense just to vaccinate them as quickly as possible. Anyways, they recently had an outbreak that got up seven new cases in one day, which is a lot for a population of 264 people. They got kicked back to the more restrictive phase 3 from phase 4. The government is blaming interaction with Punta Arenas, a city that has a high rate of infections for the cases. Now, everything we know about Sinovac indicates that it supposedly helps to keep you out of the hospital although it doesn't do much to reduce transmission, so it's not surprising that people got infected. In this case, no one had to be hospitalized so far.


When will the health dictatorship and its restrictions end in this country? The the virus will still be circulating (due to the vaccine being used) and it seems like the government will continue using numbers of active cases as one of the main indicators for implementing or reducing restrictions. In theory, the lockdowns are to reduce stress on the hospitals. In this case no one is hospitalized, but they are still ramping up the restrictions on the town. When does it end? If more people only have asymptomatic or mild infections akin to a cold or flu, are they still going lock us down? It's absurd.

I totally agree with you. They are taking to an extreme restrictions there. I understand your desperation. 😕

Do you already know if the Sinovac vaccine will have to be given again next year? Is it known something about how long the effects could last?

The same in my case. I’m delaying lots of appointments until the situation betters. I don’t want to expose myself. Although the lockdown ended up, and people on the power of the State and Communities don’t dare to take responsibility at making decisions and they are passing the balls on the others’ roof, I’m gonna make my own decisions and be cautious.

This is one of the reason why I don’t vote. It’s all a comedy and a game of blaming the opponent. Even in a touchy matter as is health. 😠

Somehow I can down with a mild flu even with masks - I don't think they work anyway - and social distancing. At least I think it's flu. I didn't get a covid test. I had both doses of the vax.

This is kind of worrying to me, that Sinovac allows transmission. Because from what I've read the longer the virus is allowed to circulate there is a risk it will mutate further. Successful vaccines should ideally severely limit transmission in order to really get the better of this virus.

Things are definitely better in the UK, but there's been a note of caution with the Indian variant which has been found in a case local to me. They aren't sure how effective the vaccine is against it.

I'm hoping the fears will be unfounded as we are opening up even further on Monday, indoor restaurants/bars and hugs/indoor visits no longer against guidance. It feels a bit strange though to have these things happening again. We are all advised to take lateral flow tests though so hopefully that will help stop things spiralling out of control again.

Maybe, it has an explanation. I heard that it will depend on the type of mask you use. Many of them are only suitable for avoid you infecting others. However you can be infected by another person who has the flue. This is according to what I heard.

Anyway, I guess you, guys, wear the most appropriate masks and equipment to work in the laboratory.

Wish you get over the flu soon.

@Discombobulated - That is my big concern about the use of Sinovac here. If we don't get a handle on transmission we are making it easier for mutations to occur. It's almost like the government WANTS to create a Chilean variant. The Carmenère variant maybe? That is also why I was so insistent on Pfizer for myself. If the virus is going to still be circulating, I want as much protection as possible.

Good news, I got my second dose today. I was a bit concerned because I saw reports that some areas of Santiago were complaining about Pfizer not being available for second doses. However, there was no problem here. Supposedly, they open at 9:30 and I showed up around 8:45 to get a good spot in line. Soon after my husband dropped me off I saw the truck from the regional government dropping of the vaccines. They opened early (a miracle in this country) at around 9:10. I was vaccinated at 9:16 and out of there by 9:46 after my observation time. Not bad at all.

I know it. You, guys, seem to be doing things pretty well over there. At last, you are all gonna be able to breath a little.

I also knew the UK didn’t include Spain as a safe territory to travel to now. And I’m not shocked. I would have done the same. Even though there are Communities here that represent a pretty low risk but as we can move now from ones Communities to others, it’s only a matter of time that movements from risky areas effect the others. Hope I get wrong.

My jungle is coming along nicely Most of the plants I've gotten recently are still small but all of them together add a decent bit of green to the flat. And my peace lily is quite big. Already thinking about what I'm gonna get next (If anyone with green thumbs has suggestion, I'd love to hear!)

Green thumbs? What do you mean with it?
Your English is so f@king good that you beat me by far.
Adopting a kitty but you already stated that you don’t like cats. Break, you can’t figure how adorable they are. You put one adopted cat in your life and as soon as you see him/her, you are gonna fall in love.

Yes, we had one adopt us fourteen years ago, and she is still with us. Just showed up on our porch and never left!

Oh! So cute! 😍

I rescued a kitten and my partner was so angry at me but...,during a nap, the kitty went up to our bed and rubbed him. lol! He said, oh I love this kitty. 😀

I think the UK travel list was suitably cautious but many of the green light countries don't actually want the UK as visitors in return! I understand this too, the green light countries have extremely low to almost no infection and the UK is not there yet, we still have rates of a couple of thousand a day, which is better than the 60,000 rate in January but not extremely low.

I found out we had 8 cases of Indian variant in one venue (a very nice cafe/bar) all staff, they are advising any customer from last 2 weeks to get tested. I really hope this is not the start of something more serious. The trouble is we have over 50% vaccinated but not many of our younger people and they will be socialising more from next week.

I love peace lillies, I have one my mum got me many years ago.

I don't have green thumbs as such but this year I bought a small window sill propagator and I am starting a herb garden off. I bought some cheap seeds, parsley, thyme, rosemary, coriander, dill and basil and already (2 weeks on) have some tiny seedlings. Today I thinned them out and in a few weeks I'll put them in bigger plants. When they're big enough I'll grow them on outdoors but they can also be grown indoors on a window sill.

My sister successfully grew a chilli plant on her windowsill years ago, she got lots of chillies!

I don't know if you fancy trying growing some edible indoor plants yourself? Do you enjoy cooking? It's great to have fresh ingredients for that.

Yes! I have actually been thinking about getting some herbs in my kitchen. Unfortunately the window sill is off as I have a window that swings inward to open, but I was thinking of maybe putting some sort of rod up and hanging a few herb pots from that I had a basil a few years back that survived quite long. Sadly any veggies I've tried to grow before haven't made it

Oh I agree kittens are the cutest! But they don't stay tiny forever

I once spent half the night fighting over a pillow with a cat when I was staying with a friend. Definitely not cute!

But I can barely take care of myself, being responsible for another living creature is terrifying. I wouldn't even want a goldfish right now

That's a good idea! I got some brightly coloured metal pots which have hooks on, I think they would look really cute in your window hanging from a rod.

Do you have any carnivorous plants yet? Sundews are my favorite. Cute, petite, and deadly!

I am interested to see how these vaccines hold up. About 600k people have gotten the full vaccine here, almost all Pfizer or Moderna. There have been 200 break through cases where a fully vaccinated individual caught covid, one of which required hospitalization. That seems pretty good, but how many people are getting tests if they have been fully vaccinated? The state is doing some surveillance testing but it is limited to congregate care settings like nursing homes and prisons as far as I know.

That sounds great @BreakForTheLight. My bulbs arrived today so I will plant them over the weekend, except for the lilies, which need to be planted in spring. Those will have to go in front of the house since I read they can be toxic to dogs.

I am feeling pretty crappy today - lethargic and with some joint pain. I guess that's a sign that the vaccine is doing its work.

@AzulOscuro. Now there's an empty syringe scandal in Peru: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna908

Hope you feel better soon!

I was confused reading your post about spring - then I remembered you have opposite seasons on the southern hemisphere

We've had cases in Germany of people getting "vaccinated" with a saline solution because someone didn't want to admit accidentally dropping the actual vaccine @rechu at least you know you got the actual vaccine if you're experiencing side effects

Still don't know when it'll be my turn. Can't even keep track of it anymore. My GP's website now says not to e-mail for an appointment anymore, they will be sending out invitations. I haven't been there in over a year, hope I'm stil in their system! But I think they're still on people with priority.

@AzulOscuro - the saying having a green thumb refers to someone who is good at gardening.

@BreakForTheLight - Some herbs would be nice. I have parsley, oregano, thyme, cilantro, basil and chives growing. I find basil, cilantro and oregano the easiest. I grew the parsley and thyme from seed and it took three tries to succeed. I never had luck with chives from seed so I bought a plant.