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

Our Health Minister has totally lost it. The other day she said, we know who the people that haven't been vaccinated are and where they live. It almost sounds like they want to break down people's doors and vaccinate them by force.

For the first time since this all started, my husband and I ate indoors in a restaurant. We went out for breakfast. The funny thing is that after all my complaining about the mobility pass, we completely forgot to scan ours before leaving the house. You are supposed scan a QR code from your computer with your phone.

Anyways, they never asked to see it! We went and sat down and then only later realized that the waitress didn't ask for it. It is a bakery-café type place and we were the only people eating in, although various people stopped in to buy food. There was a terrace area, so I guess if she had asked for it, we could have sat out there. It's winter, but we've been having some nice weather lately.


I wonder how many places are actually checking. I have heard that there are inspectors and a restaurant can be fined if they find people eating indoors without the pass. This place was in a pretty remote area, so I guess the chances of an inspector heading out that way are pretty low. If they are checking places, it's probably in the downtown area around the main square, where they can go to various restaurants at once.

Hey,
Vaccinated with two doses. No issues

It is really weird that your country still has some QR code system when it seems like the rest of the world is over it. How are elderly people or people who can't afford phones even supposed to comply with that stuff?


I had the sudden realization yesterday that my in person friend network is basically gone at this point. Like me, a lot of my friends changed their activities during the pandemic. A few have openly said they prefer the hermit life and would rather stay in than go out. I had one cluster of friends I made through volunteering but none of us want to volunteer anymore. I don't really know how I am going to meet people now. In person events are still limited here and they're just different. People stick to themselves more and stay wrapped up in their phone.

It's really stupid. I don't know why they insist on still imposing all these restrictions and there is no real discussion of the subject. The media seems to be bought and paid for by the government and do not criticize them. Interestingly, when our President, the Health Minister and other officials travel outside the country, they are never pictured using a mask.


It seems like people are complying less and less. If you see a sporting event on TV almost no one wears masks. Supposedly, if you can't distance 1 meter, you need a mask even outdoors. People in the stadium are sitting much closer than one meter. I also asked some people I know if they have been asked to show the pass for indoor dining and responses were mixed. Some places ask, others don't. One person mentioned they went several time to the same restaurant and it varied by the server.

That sounds really frustrating rechu!

Here our cases have dipped after a very high peak in July but they’ve plateaued and school’s are due back in a week or so, that’ll probably bring an uptick.

Apparently I’ll be eligible for a booster as an over 50 and I will go for it, I’ll get my free flu jab for the first time this year too (I normally pay). Because I have older relatives and volunteer with vulnerable age group I want to take every precaution I can.

I wonder if I’ll be offered the omicron targeted Moderna? Although of course there’ll likely be yet another variant by then.

This could get interesting. The restaurant association for the Araucanía region and the tourist business association for Magallanes region just announced that they will stop requesting to see vaccination passports as of September 30th and 1st, respectively. I wonder what the Health Ministry is going to do about that.

Will other regions follow? It seems likely. If all those businesses simply stop complying, how much can the authorities do? They'd need thousands of inspectors. I am surprised it took this long.

I keep finding myself being yelled at by other people in the stores. I hear that everything is going up and there only a limited amount of what we can have. I have a feeling we might shut down again.

I got the new Omicron specific shot yesterday. They would not let me get another booster back in May because I am under 50. This time I got Moderna and I've had a fever and headache, worse than Pfizer. But I hope it is giving me some extra protection before I fly again. Very few here bother to wear masks.

I think staying on your phone or computer all the time is isolating. I wouldn't want to do it even if I could. This is one of my peeves and it's problem in many countries. The "digital divide" I've heard it called. People are expected to have these phones and know how to use them. You're right they are expensive and not everyone has someone to teach them. We don't all have tech-savvy, loving grandchildren to help us. Also they keep "updating" the software and older phones may not accept the update. So you have to buy a new one.

If you want financial assistance getting these things, they have all kinds of draconian requirements you have to meet and sometimes age requirements. Like there's a non-profit that will assist seniors in applying for this program for low-income, but you have to be 65.

At this stage, the Internet should be considered a UTILITY, as necessary as water or power.

During lockdowns, the stupid senior center started mailing the newsletters (usually picked up from the front desk) with PAGES and PAGES of "fun virtual classes." Nothing addressing people who don't have the tech, know how to use it, or can't afford it. I expected better from them, of all places.

If I had a bird, I'd use it to line the cage. I ended up throwing them out, with nothing but online classes and smiley faces everywhere. They told us we "must be optimistic" about COVID.

The back and forth on masks, closures, reopenings, etc. got to me more than the actual doing of those things. It was the lack of uniformity. It made me crazy.

I'm just joining this thread now and won't read through all the previous posts because it's too daunting! Sorry folks.

Hardest part for me was change. I hate change and COVID kept changing, along with the guidelines. And that depended on where you are. Everyone was/is doing something different. Even within the US, states do what they want. And each county, etc.

I'm still recovering from 2020. I didn't have Internet access as I relied on the library, which promptly shut down all locations before retailers, etc. did it. I got cut off from someone who's my anchor. I still remember how not even FedEx would let me in to use the computer, even with gloves and a mask.

I'll be getting the Omicron vaccine and am glad I don't have to be over 65 or immocompromised to get it. Everyone should be "allowed" to get it since COVID doesn't care how old you are.

I'm still anxious about new variants and sub-variants. I panic easily. "What if ___?" Or "Oh no, ______." Being a worrywart by nature and "overthinking" which is what people accuse me of, this whole COVID nightmare has been brutal.....

Yeah I found the back and forth and complicated nature of the rules worrying and upsetting, my parents who are both elderly even more so. They did as well as expected but they did deteriorate mentally through isolation, although they’ve mostly recovered..

Then we found out the last prime minister and a good chunk of the government hadn’t been following their own rules anyway - and now they’re even saying there shouldn’t have been any rules/lockdown, even though they were the ones who decreed them. It’s a particularly blatant form of gaslighting imo.

I think most people just want to move on but I hope people won’t forget the lying and deceit.

Yeah they kept talking about 10 Downing Street here too, and all the partying going on while telling everyone to sit at home. It happened here too. Hypocrisy is everywhere.

I see you got a new PM.

Well, I am back from my travels, festivals and convention, and still covid-free

The silliest of all situations: I was travelling by train between Germany and Czech Republic. Germany requires masks on public transport. Czech Republic does not. So I got on the train, took my seat in a compartment with 4 other travellers - without masks. Took about 2 hours until we crossed the border into Germany. Had to wear masks from then on sat in the same compartment with the same 4 people for 2 more hours. Where's the logic?

Haven't heard about any big covid outbreaks either since big events are happening here again. And there was no social distancing at all. Hardly even had room to breathe at one of the festivals for a while. Saw plenty of people almost getting crushed at another one. Still no covid. Though I admit I only tested a few times during the 2,5 weeks, but I never had any symptoms either.

The lower house of congress approved a law asking the president to get rid of the vaccine passport. I wonder what will happen when the Senate votes.

We have a new Health Minister, so maybe she will be more open to considering it.

Well today is the day. We are free of capacity restrictions, the mask mandate and vaccination passports. Masks are only required in healthcare facilities.


The new Health Minister didn't waste much time. She announced the changes only about a week after starting the job.


I am sure that with the former Minister, this would not have happened. She even wanted to make a 5th vaccine almost mandatory by keeping the passport in place and deactivating people's passes if they didn't get the dose within a certain amount of time, just like they did before with the 4th dose. Now, any further vaccinations will be optional. The idea seems to be to focus on people that are higher risk and doing an annual campaign to encourage these individuals to get a shot, similarly to what they do for the flu shot. From what I can tell, anyone can choose to get additional doses, but without the vaccine passport, there is more of a choice to do it or not.


My husband went to the supermarket and said there were still quite a few people wearing masks.

As far as people that didn't have a smartphone for the QR code, I know older individuals (65+ or 70+, I am not sure) were able to present their physical certificates. I am not sure about people under this age. Smartphones are ubiquitous here, so it would be a small segment of the population.

I’m glad that you got rid of the main restrictions there, girl.

Here, it’s now pretty similar to there. I wear the mask in supermarkets and shops but I’m not forced to. I only do it for precautions.

Do you wonder yourself as I do, that it’s time to get some explanations about how all this started?

But still a part of the population.

Masks are just recommended in most places except medical facilities where still required. Yet as I mentioned before how does the virus “know” to avoid medical places but hang out at the library instead?



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I wonder too. I think they still don’t know.

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I read a pretty thorough article a while back:

Angela Rasmussen on Covid-19: ‘This origins discussion is the worst thing about Twitter’ | Coronavirus | The Guardian

Most of our older population are being given their 5th shot now, I think thereafter it’ll be offered to over 50s but not otherwise healthy under 50s. Not sure yet if I’ll go for it.

In the last few weeks several of seemingly immune people I know finally caught it, all fine and just mild. How it’s taken them two and a half years I’m not sure. It’s a very perplexing virus.

Hard to fathom 50 is considered “old” now….Initially it was 75 and older here. Then they kept lowering the age and now it’s 18 and up for initial series.

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