RAT? DRAT!

After two RAT tests…

Paul: I had a sore throat so I took the first rapid antigen test yesterday.

Dr Samuelson: What was the result?

Paul: Very faint. But the throat got scratchier accompanied by a headache. I got suspicious so did another RAT.

Dr Samuelson: Hmm. Positive?

Paul: Positive. That’s why I've come looking for antivirals.

Dr Samuelson: I’ll write you a scrip.

_________

Voice-over

Good plan to prepare for the increasing inevitability of catching Covid. Keep a supply of RATs handy. Locate a GP to write a prescription and a pharmacy with stocks of antivirals. If possible, plan so this doesn’t happen on a Sunday.

To vax, or not to vax?

Weighing up chances…

Charles: You had your vax?

Rodney: Got my third one a week ago.

Charles: Good. We’re off to the races then. Literally. Saturday, right?

Rodney: They’ll let us in. But Rachel’s not coming. She’s an antivaxxer.

Charles: Why?

Rodney: She says it’s a gamble. Get vaxxed, suffer a heart attack. No vax, catch a cold.

Charles: Hmm. Or worse. Yes. Unvaxxed, suffer a cold or pneumonia, maybe die. A gamble either way.

Rodney. Admittedly, there are some murmurs, But in the end it’s horses for courses. Literally.

________

Voice-over

Odds on favorite: Get vaxxed and you miss the virus or at least don’t get seriously ill.

Outside chance: Don’t get vaxxed to avoid a vanishingly small chance of a side effect.

Depends on which horse you back: go with statistics or place more credence on stories.

Lockdown Again

Reuters…

Hortense: One case? And she locks the country down? To Level 4?

Phyllis: Well, I don’t mind it. 

Hortense: Hmm. I need to go out every day. But maybe I’m just being selfish.

Phyllis: Maybe you are.

Hortense: And how about getting to a doctor? Or getting care in residential homes? They’re short of staff and overworked with no migrant workers allowed, so patients are left unattended for hours.

Phyllis: Well, I think she’s doing a good job.

Hortense: You don’t think there’s an element of ruling by fear, or political posturing for public relations? 

_________

Voice-over

Laudable as the approach to containing a pandemic may be, locking a country down, shutting businesses, and deploying police to catch transgressors, seems a bit heavy-handed. And simplistic. She could have had a Plan B like getting vaccines ready. How do we cope with anxieties, like claustrophobia, and no help for other things? There are more health issues than the pandemic. There is more to life than going into lockdown and becoming a mollusc state. A country of “diversity” needs more than a leader embarked on a public relations stunt.

Jab 2

Speeding up...

16:00

This won't hurt a bit.

Doctor: Second shot?

Yes.

Doctor: No problems last time?

No.

Doctor: Feel OK?

Yes.

Dr. Wait in the waiting room.

16:05

Nurse: Same arm as last time?

Yes.

Nurse: Done. Shower tonight is OK. Wait 15 minutes.

OK.

16:20

Receptionist: Do you need medicine? Just in case.

No. Have Tylenol.

Receptionist: That’s fine. Here’s evidence of your vaccination. Temporary. Later it can be exchanged for a vaccination passport.

____________

Voice-over

And that was it. Faster than the first time. We're all getting practice. I made a will and went to sleep. Next day a little slow but the will wasn’t needed. Not yet. 

First Vaccination

Waiting to lean into the needle

After the jab…

Reiki: How did it go?

Yūki: A breeze. I fill in a form. Name, address, age, temperature. A dozen health and vaccination history questions. Yes, I’m well today. Haven’t been sick recently. Have you read and understood all about the need for a vaccination? Yes, I agree to be vaccinated. No allergies to vaxes and never had any.

Reiki: Take long?

Yūki: Well, first, the doctor calls me in. Checks the paperwork, that I answered all questions correctly. Sends me out. Wait five minutes. Then another door opens and in we go. The nurse this time. She’s got the shot ready on a metal trolley. “Relax,” she says. “Lean into the needle.” Slight prick. She gives me a sheet explaining it’s OK to take shower today, that there may be some pain in the arm tomorrow.

Reiki: You leaned into the needle? Basically you injected yourself?

Yūki: It’s not a difficult injection. No vein to find. Goes into the muscle.

—————

Voice-over

After waiting 15 minutes and it’s all over. Free to go. Next morning a sore arm. Right, not left. Opposite arm to the injection. Referred pain?

Vaccination Adventure

Good news…

A jab for dessert?

Sybil: News flash! Grandma just had her first jab.

Phoebe: Well, they seem to be accelerating the rollout then. I thought she wouldn’t get it for a month.

Sybil: She was told last night that vaccinations would be given to all residents in the morning and then she didn't sleep well.

Phoebe: Worrying about it?

Sybil: Right, she never liked injections.

Phoebe: They did everyone in the Duchess wing?

Sybil: Wheeled them all down to the lounge before midday, gave them an early lunch and then jabs for dessert.

Phoebe: How’s she taking it?

Sybil: Seems quite jubilant she got through this adventure, without any side effects. Almost like she feels she’sleading the way out of the Covid Forest.

_________

Voice-over

When a cluster breaks out in an elderly care facility it can turn into a forest fire. Fatalities resulting from clusters in Japan are (1) Care institutions, (2) workplaces (3) eating and drinking establishments.

Phlegmatic vs panicky pandemic government leadership

Another self-isolation...

Open the border!

Peregrine: Thanks for picking me up at the airport on Thursday.

Über: No problem. How’s life on Isolation Island?

Peregrine: Have to say, this is a breeze. Nice to be back in a country where the government handles the pandemic calmly and humanely, treating it as a global challenge, not just a local one.

Über: Not bored with being house-bound?

Peregrine: So much to deal with after being away a year. And I have my daily routines. Exercising, reading, writing, zooming, cooking, sketching, archiving.

Über: All those things you never finished in school?

_________

Voice-over

Some countries handle the pandemic rationally. Others stoke anxiety. The Economist in its February 11 leader: “New Zealand, which has sought to be covid-free by bolting its doors against the world. In this way it has kept registered deaths down to just 25, but such a draconian policy makes no sense as a permanent defence: New Zealand is not North Korea. As vulnerable Kiwis are vaccinated, their country will come under growing pressure to open its borders—and hence to start to tolerate endemic covid-19 infections and deaths.”

Social Distancing Holy Communion

Changes…
Matthew: Did you go to the Christmas Eve service?

Luke: Sure. You know I go every year.
Matthew: For the songs. Were you pinned between two sopranos like last year?
Luke: No such luck. Something had changed this year. The communion...
Matthew: Let me guess. The priest carried it out on behalf of everyone.
Luke: Nope. We all were invited up. But the wine was given out in individual thimble-sized cups. 
________

Voice-over
What a year. Covid wrought changes in socialization and traditions in 2020. Meetings became Zoom sessions. Communal chalices became individual thimbles in this church. And instructions on how to administer Holy Communion run to a Church of England eight-page manual.

Covid 19: How long does it last?

A virologist on Covid 19…

.

Reporter: Some of the most common questions about the virus begin with “How long…?”

.

We don't know...

Dr Fei Fei: Right. There is the question of how long is it contagious in the air, and how long will this pandemic last.

.

Reporter: So when someone coughs or sneezes, how long does the virus stay active on a surface?

.

Dr Fei Fei: On plastic or stainless steel, it could still be detectable after a couple of days. On cardboard a day.

.

Reporter: And how long do you think before we can go back to normal life?

.

Dr Fei Fei: That’s hard. It’s a new virus. It’s not the same as the flu, it’s not the same as SARS. It will pass, but we don’t when. Best guess is it will last months and just maybe next year it will have died down.

.

Reporter: About the time when a vaccine is readied?

_________

Voice-over

Numbers add up to pictures and predictions. It’s complicated. Cases per million of population: Japan: 7, Italy: 600. Case fatality rate: average 2% (but higher in elderly and people with underlying health conditions: 10-30%). Country by country, case by case.

...