Flattening the Curve

Devon Today

population 1.2 million

5 ICU beds per 100 000

2937 new covid cases in the last week (366 per 100 000 people)

8 deaths in the last week

88% vaccinated (one jab) - 82% two jabs... and more starting to get boosters from 24th Sept 


New Zealand Today

population 5 million (but who actually knows because when exactly did we last have a proper census?)

4.6 ICU beds per 100 000

309 new covid cases in the last week (roughly 5 per 100 000 people)

0 deaths in the last week

80.2% vaccinated (one jab) - 57.5% two jabs 


I went on a brilliant holiday in Scotland and walked a lot and loved it. I liked the immensely fresh air, seeing a red squirrel (in the distance, scootling across the road at speed like an eyebrow set free), the heather and the marsh. Picking fresh blueberries and trying new other berries - with a guide to let me know that eating that red one nestled in the marsh is okay. A bit bitter, but okay. 

It's past halfway of my time here, and while I was away in Scotland on holiday, New Zealand loosened its grip slightly on the aim for covid elimination.

I think morale may be a bit low in NZ. Coming up 60 days of lockdown - the outdoor picnic rules in Auckland are very similar to the rules that were in England when I arrived, and I recall the strange unease of company and seeing people but it just not feeling quite right yet. The internal negotiations of whether to hug or not, pee or not, and if you do, whether to tell people you did. it was in this in between time that I first visited people in the UK. 

I feel a bit guilty for being here, travelling when my family and friends are keeping safe at home, working with adjusted resources while departments back home brace for a possible storm again. But the guilt fades again when I realise even if I wanted to get back I can't yet til at least Jan so I press on. Its going to be hard, and hit unvaccinated people hardest. But I still think NZ has got what it takes to do the original thing of flattening the curve, and I mean it when I say what people are doing now still counts very very much. It may feel like just buying time, but its still valuable time. 

If theres one thing I picked up in Scotland is that its a bit easier to climb a hill, even a big one, when its got gradual curves. 




Comments

  1. DeliaOctober 13, 2021 at 1:19 PM

    As a complete aside - I enjoyed learning about the history here and considering how the Highland clearances directly resulted in the settlement of Scots to NZ and Australia (particularly thinking of the not too distance relatives in the family that adopted my Mum). I also visited Culloden and it got me thinking of the treasure that is language, what is stored within Scots Gaelic that describes the weather and the countryside and how lucky we are that it was preserved in the distant north islands, to be able to be replanted back on the mainland again like a precious little shrub.
    And, as with a lot of things, interesting to consider how Slavery in the US enriched a level of society in the UK enough for them to be able to to buy large amounts of the Highlands also. Society has been global for a long time now.
    Podcasts and books of all this if you are interested:

    The magnificent and readable Black & British https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32809816-black-and-british

    https://www.stitcher.com/show/stuff-you-missed-in-history-class/episode/the-highland-clearances-53883312

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0908hjr

    ReplyDelete

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