Hmmm, when was that dinner for 500 guests? Ah, that would be 15th June.

Statistics update:

Since Wednesday 23 June, 4 individuals have recovered and 22 new cases have been identified. 17 cases have been identified through contact tracing and 5 cases have been identified through seeking healthcare.

The number of active cases in the Island is 98.
68 cases are symptomatic and 30 cases are asymptomatic.


Known direct contacts of active cases 1,289. Approximately 110,000 population means rather a high percentage quarantined.

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Now the scary thing here is that they are NOT from inward travel.

Off we go!


Known active cases 172
Known direct contacts of active cases 1,779

I just went to speak to my next door neighbour and she said to stand back, they are in isolation as their daughter returned from university and tested positive. They are hoping for their test results in the night.

My granddaughter has covid for the third time, she is eleven. My daughter said they are going to seek an investigations as to how she can have had it three times in six months. My son-in-law is a paediatrician, although it isn't his field he will have contacts.

I'm sorry your granddaughter is suffering so much, Sue. It has always been possible for a person that has had Covid to catch it again. Mild cases do not produce as many antibodies as the severe cases. Plus the antibodies do not last. Mine are all gone by now. they were all gone in January when I was last tested for antibodies. Since no vaccine protects 100% against getting covid, it is likely I could get it again.

Poor Hermione, Sue. She must be missing so much school , which she wont take kindly to!

In the UK, at the moment, they don't vaccinate children of her age but even so, three times in six months is a bit much. Last time she got shingles with it. she is normally such a healthy child, and robust, not a skinny child like her brother. The rest of the family haven't caught it from her as far as we know, only her father was vaccinated early and that was due to being medical staff.

Known active cases 310
Known direct contacts of active cases 2,651

Sheesh, and still no masks required.

Are visitors still being allowed in too, Sue?

Sadly yes, that has been our main source of people with the virus, everyone (except children I guess) arriving by air or sea are tested at no cost to them. They get the result within about five hours and must isolate until that comes back negative. Presumably some are not doing that because the numbers are going up rapidly, and what is new is the fact that it is spreading within the community.

Until recently the number of visitors has been small but now the numbers are rising quickly. The whole of England and Scotland are red zones to us, as of this week, below are the rules for red zone arrivals.

Testing on arrival, day 5 and day 10

Isolation until day 10 negative test result

You can provide a negative COVID-19 PCR test result, which means you won't need to be tested on arrival but will still need to be tested on day 5 and day 10, and isolate until day 10 negative test result

If you've been fully vaccinated in UK, Republic of Ireland, Guernsey or Isle of Man you'll need a test on arrival and isolate until your first negative test result. You'll also be tested on day 8
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That has caused some cancellations of course, most people don't intend staying for lengthy periods. If they have sat in the two rows in front or behind a positive case they they have to isolate.

Some islanders have to travel, some medical care involves travelling to England. The government has supported a small airline here for lifeline flights to and from the UK, one of the few British airlines which have continued to fly right from the beginning.

The government are expecting this wave to exceed 500 and when you consider that to date we have had 3,609 cases since it all began you can see that it is a significant number. I personally think they will soon smash the 500 figure, it could hit 400 by the weekend.

I need a haircut, I have needed a haircut at the beginning of each wave so far, I guess I ought to book it in case they lockdown again.

Bet I need one more, nearly two years without a visit. I look like the wicked witch.

Thanks Sue. Personally, I'm going nowhere outside the UK at present. From what you say, it sounds risky - you could be fully vaccinated and test negative but still get caught by having to isolate if you're unlucky enough to get too close to someone who is positive. I don't think anything would induce me to get on a plane right now!

You couldn't make it up.

The testing, track and trace have been so busy that the system crashed meaning people were waiting too long for test results if they had been in direct contact and isolating. The government's solution - you don't have to isolate now, off you go, mix with anyone you like but if you feel poorly then please isolate and book a test. Masks? No, you don't have to wear a mask unless you are in a taxi, public transport or medical facilites.

Statistics update:

Since Friday 2 July, 8 individuals have recovered and 210 new cases have been identified.

97 cases have been identified through seeking healthcare, 14 through inbound travel, 2 through admissions screening, 17 through workforce screening, 2 through cohort screening and 78 through contact tracing.

The number of active cases in the Island is 572.

410 cases are symptomatic and 161 cases are asymptomatic.

370 on Friday, 572 now - sheer madness.

Our state has been in lockdown for a week, with people only allowed out for specific reasons. A group of 12 top-level footballers decided that they are above the law and held a party at a player's house. They had a visit from the local police, and they were fined $1000 a head, but the football league's Integrity Unit stepped in and fined them again- a total of $305,000!

The host of the party has had his contract torn up, and suspended all the guests for one match each. These suspensions can be staggered over the rest of the season. I think they got off very lightly!

This is not an isolated incident. The beachfronts are full of joggers and walkers. We are supposed to be out of lockdown this Friday, but I don't think that is going to happen...

Australia's figures are minuscule compared to other countries, because we have been VERY tough, but clowns like this are affecting the whole country.

It is the clowns which cause most of our problems, the biggest clowns are the government!

Having had a few weeks without masks I have now gone back to wearing a mask or face shield.

Oh, our politicians deserve a special mention. We have 6 state governments and a federal one, and NONE of them can agree with each other. Each Prime Minister/Premier has their own expert medical advisers, and they all disagree with each other, too. We have borders opening or closing between states on an almost daily basis. The NSW and Queensland Premiers are barely on speaking terms, WA closes their borders if someone from any eastern state sneezes, Victorians are escaping across borders into SA and NSW.

Vaccinations are also in a similar shemozzle. We have one of the lowest completion rates in the world. The government is urging everyone to get the jab, but have been unable to supply the vaccines. AstraZenica was apparently only suitable for 60+ age group, because it caused blood clots in a tiny amount of the population. The threshold keeps dropping, to 50, then 40, but now anybody over 18yo is OK.

We are having outbreaks in senior citizen homes, where only a small percentage of the staff have had their shot. A few of these staff work at various centres, so they are spreading little covids wherever they go.

It gets better.

Statistics update:

Since Wednesday 7 July, 25 individuals have recovered and 125 new cases have been identified. 52 cases have been identified through seeking healthcare, 6 through inbound travel, 2 through admissions screening, 14 through workforce screening, 51 through contact tracing.

The number of active cases in the Island is 820.
571 cases are symptomatic and 249 cases are asymptomatic.
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So how does our government react to this? No country is green, amber or red to us in future. People arriving here who have had two jabs get a test on arrival and are then free to roam without waiting for the result. Those unvaccinated, or only having had one jab have their test on arrival and just have to wait until they get a negative, probably a few hours. I would add, no one has ever had to have a test prior to arrival, and the one on arrival are free (and for those not fully vaccinated a second after five days, also free).

Sadly I have to work tomorrow morning, I am going to mask up!

Ren's vaccination adventure , part 2.The 'team' (8 nurses and one Doc) arrived at 9.30 . At 10 30 7 nurses left. We had been asked to appear in the lounge in groups of 5 at 10.30, 11.15 and 12.
So I am the second group.... I was called at 1.30, 2 hours of my precious time playing patience
wasted , and being halfway through my lunch. The Doc(same one , he of 'do you cook and can you walk unaided' fame ) asked me ( having spotted my paper cross of St George.... I had watched the semi final)' Do you want England to win?'I was very tempted to tell him no my first option was the Lesser Antilles, but no.). 'Did I know I was here to have a vaccine to alleviate the symptoms of Covid?" (Oh I did... was tempted to say yes , since the vaccine has been in Hong Kong ,Pearl of the Orient and example of business excellence, for some months and I had thought that an 81 year old might have some early place in the queue. Anyway all is fine and I got one German jab.
The organisation skills needed for beer parties in breweries came to mind, but hey we have another two weeks of delightful waiting time.... watch this space.

A tale worthy of the soaps, Ren!

Seriously though, I can only imagine how frustrating it must be for you Hope the saga concludes very shortly and you regain some freedom.

You got the Pfizer jab? Phew, that's a relief, the Chinese jab is not so good - better than nothing maybe but that's not saying much. I was a bit concerned that they'd make you have their jab or nothing but hurrah, soon you'll be gadding around as usual.

Thank you both! I wish our wonderful HK Government were as supportive.

Up by 40% since Friday. R number now 1.8 to 2.2, our highest ever.

Known active cases 1,399
Known direct contacts of active cases 8,659

So more than 1% of population currently positive and at least 10% of population are infected or direct contacts.

They are deciding whether to lift all remaining restrictions on Thursday.

I have a hair appointment for Tuesday, the last two lockdowns were just as I was about to make a hair appointment.

The unused Nightingale hospital is in the process of being dismantled, only ever occupied by rats but it was good to know that it was there, just in case.

All non urgent or emergency operations have been cancelled due to shortages in staff in the operating theatres.

Some of the cases are in care homes so either brought in by staff or visitors.

Yikes. Here our number are going up a bit, but still 99.5% of those who test positive, are hospitalized, or who die of Covid are unvaccinated. And last I saw, vaccinated individuals don't really spread it very well if they do get it.

Went to Niagara Falls for my dad's funeral last week and 95% of the people didn't wear masks - of course we were all outside, but it still felt weird. I kept feeling like I should but kept thinking 'well, what else is there...?' We were mostly out of crowds as well. And I think I gravitated more to standing near elderly, thinking there was a better chance they were vaccinated, if I couldn't space out enough. Had to let my daughter take off her mask halfway through Maid of the Mist - it got soaked between the boat and the rain and was hard for her to breathe through.

The rest of the time we were only with vaccinated family (except my kids and my nephew who are all too young) - still felt weird to be all together, but like I said before, what else was there?

I do still have one of at-home COVID tests you can do from when I had my daughter take one when she had a cold.

In the last three or four days, my city seems to have decided that covid is over. Even last week, most people in stores were wearing masks, staff was all masked up. Today, I hardly saw more than three or four masks all day.

We've got pretty good vaccination rates in the city (not so good in rural areas) so I guess it's OK - all of us who have been so good for so long are finally getting the reward. Still, it does feel strange.

Well here they have decided NOT to end the remaining restrictions, children who only last week were told to go to school if they were contacts and now told to stay home. They are suggesting that people should return to wearing masks, but not insisting. The prediction is that by next week we will be getting 500 cases a day (remember, population of 110,000).

The majority of cases are in the under 30s, most of whom will not be fully vaccinated. Schoolchildren are hit hard as they are not vaccinated here. The schools break up on Friday so that will be good except many people will be going off island during the school holidays, and bringing back with them whatever they catch.

There is a state here in the USA where the Covid infections are up 450% over what they were two weeks ago. The person in charge of getting vaccine info out to the state, medical professionals, citizens, children, parents, politicians, everyone, sent out information to her list of professional contacts stating it was state law that children 14 years of age up to majority did not need to be with a parent or to have a parent's permission to receive a vaccine. She worked for the state board of health. This information caused an uproar from some of the people she sent that info to. Doctors complained. Religious leaders complained. State legislators complained.

She was fired from her job. State legislators debated disbanding the state board of health because it was sending out such "irresponsible" information. Eight children in this state had received Covid vaccinations without their parents being present. Three of those children were her children.

It has been decided this state will no longer be doing outreach regarding children's vaccinations. Not just covid vaccinations but all vaccinations for children. Not for measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis, polio, whooping cough, chicken pox, meningitis, HPV, nothing.

Unsurprisingly, this state has one of the lowest vaccination rates in America.