Showing posts with label Prince Philip.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prince Philip.. Show all posts

17 April 2021

Coronavirus stats

Funeral of Prince Philip

I have not paid much attention to global coronavirus stats lately, only local ones. For several weeks, we had no cases in Westport, while we now have had 7 cases in the last 14 days. Today I noticed a headline that caused me to pause. The world had surpassed 3 million dead from this infection with more than 141,000,000 confirmed cases. That is astounding. 

Tomorrow, I get to sign up for the vaccine. I will be getting the AstraZeneca version, an adenovirus vector surface protein vaccine. It's not the most effective and the clinical trials have been plagued by missteps, but it protects against severe infection and hospitalization, which counts for a lot. After vaccination, we won't be able to let down our guard, but at least we won't have to hold our breath anymore. Let's hope we don't suffer the rare blood clots associated with the disease, but this rare SE has been mostly associated with younger women. The risks of Covid far outweigh the risks of vaccination. When available, we'll get the Pfizer vaccine as a booster later on. 

Several weeks ago, Alex's mother had a stroke that left her right side impaired. She was released from hospital where no one was permitted to visit her on Thursday. Alex and Kirstin are caring for her until Monday when a trained nurse (though not licensed here yet) from the Philippines will take over. She will be living in for 5 of 7 days. We need to find someone for the remaining two. We also have a physio, an occupational therapist, a podiatrist, her doctor and a nurse visiting. Meike has one dose of vaccine in her thank goodness. None of the others are vaccinated which worries me. 

Today's Prince Philip the Duke of Edinborough was buried at Windsor. It was a remarkably simple but moving funeral. To see the Queen sitting alone in the pew was heartbreaking. Only the family could attend and they all had to sit in their family pods distanced from the others. 

What a cruel time this has been.