TBK tells- COV 19 around the world, 18 months on

 

The reason I chose to go to Dubai was the lack of COV 19 restrictions, no quarantine, mandatory PCR Test 72 hours before departure and on arrival. The hotels also had special offers as they were very quiet due to COV 19 and the summer heat. So imagine my surprise when I received the above photo from my friend Thang who had tested positive for COV 19 and was in Quarantine at the Marriott accommodation in Dubai. Luckily he made a speedy recovery for his birthday and my arrival and managed to drink the bottle of Merlot I gave him for his Birthday in 4 Hours!

Over in India things had got worse as Max reported:

"*3rd wave...* With the new virus Covid Delta.. There is no cough, no fever. With a lot of joint pain, headache, neck and upper back pain, general weakness, loss of appetite and pneumonia, it's Covid Delta ! And of course, more virulent and with a higher mortality rate. It takes less time to go to extremes and sometimes without symptoms !! Let's be much more careful ! 

This strain does not live in the naso-pharyngeal region !! Now it directly affects the lungs, which means that the 'windows' (periods of time between getting infected & having pneumonia) are shorter. Several such patients are without fever, without pain, but reports show mild chest pneumonia on their X-rays. Nasal swab tests are very often negative for Covid-19, and there are more and more false negative results from nasopharyngeal tests.  

This means that the virus spreads fast and spreads directly to the lungs, causing acute respiratory stress caused by viral pneumonia. This explains why it has become sharp, more virulent and deadly !! 

Please, let's be more careful, avoid crowded places, keep *1.5 metre distance* even in open spaces, use *double face masks* and *wash our hands often* (and when we cough or sneeze). Please, no hugs, as it is very dangerous at the moment, as everyone is asymptomatic. 

This *"3rd wave"* is much more deadly than the first or second. So we have to be VERY careful and *take all kinds of precautions* .

Please also be an alert communicator for your near and dear ones. Do not keep this information to yourself. Share it as much as you can, especially with family and friends.

Dr P P Venugopal 

Head-Emergency Department, Aster MIMS

Kozhikode"

Over in the Philippines the Delta variant swept the country forcing another lockdown in Manila and the vaccination of children as reported by CNN on 9.8.21:

"Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 9) — The government is looking to expand the country's COVID-19 vaccination program to include children and teenagers after seeing how they are impacted by the more transmissible Delta variant.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. on Sunday said the target is to be able to vaccinate minors aged 12 to 17 by the end of September or October.

"We proposed really to the NITAG (Interim National Immunization Technical Advisory Group for COVID-19 vaccines) and to our experts that we have to include children as soon as possible considering that they will be also vulnerable, particularly those children with comorbidities," Galvez said after he welcomed the arrival of 326,400 Moderna doses.

He said India, which was severely hit by the Delta variant in May, has seen a disturbing increase of COVID-19 cases in children."

Source: https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/8/9/Children-teenagers-COVID-19-vaccine-Philippines.html?_=1628472641631&fbclid=IwAR2sz4v13kAUg_3ZF2ok5MUa9YQ7bJ4Ep-vcuC7dU8_igWXbx84Q7Sv4Zz4 ( accessed 9.8.21)

There was a glimmer of hope for the future of tourism in the Philippines at the end of July when they issued this press release:

Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1554771104828714/user/100041222537908  ( accessed 9.8.21)

However the number of cases in the Philippines continues to rise , as reported by the Philippine star on 9.8.21:

"MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health said Monday it is seeing an increase in COVID-19 infections across all age groups, and not just among children.

In a statement, the DOH reported there was an overall 59% increase in cases among all age groups from July 13 to 25 to July 26 to August 8.

The highest rise in cases was seen among the 30 to 39 age group during the same period, the department said. Meanwhile, those 80 years old and above recorded the lowest increase."

Source: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/08/09/2118707/not-just-among-children-doh-says-covid-19-cases-rising-across-all-age-groups?utm_campaign=COVID-19:%20More%20cases%20in%20all%20age%20groups&utm_medium=push_notifications&utm_source=izooto ( accessed 9.8.21)

                       Marikina City Convention center Vaccination Facility  

Today we received this live report from our correspondent in Marikina:

Aldwin Chester Delos Santos	Sep 1, 2021, 7:17 PM (13 hours ago)
to me

"Ranking 2nd worst performing country in Covid response, clearly it's no longer fun in the Philippines or at least for the time being.

However, we roll with the punches and kickstarted the Pinoy Christmas season today (September 1). And while it's sad for me to spend my first Christmas fatherless, I am still grateful that we are surviving the economic effects of this pandemic.

After 17 months of nation-wide lockdowns, getting used to breathing in facemask and shields, and with hospital care reaching its full capacity, it's heartbreaking that the end is still out of sight. "

Thanks Chester for the update and stay safe throughout the long Christmas season, your first without your dad. For me it will be my 21st !

      

                   Dr William Arthur Porter ( 4.4.18 - 2000 , RIP) 

Unfortunately the Philippines still has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the world with only 12.4% having had two does of vaccine by 31.8.21, compared to 27% worldwide, and an amazing 66.2% in Bahrain. The good news is that on 30.8.21 they announced they have now ordered enough vaccine to give it to all Phillipino's. However with over 7000 islands this is a massive task.

I think this quote sums up the situation in the Philippines:

"Nonetheless, it is still worth reminding everyone to adhere to the Minimum Public Health Standards of Wearing Mask, Practice Social Distancing, limit non essential outside activities, preferably wear Face Shield on top of Face Mask if you will go inside an enclose crowded area, wash and sanitise.

18 months on, the Covid-19 Virus is still NOVEL in Nature and it is alive, mutating and developing into different variants. So are the vaccines available. Eventually, we will need to live with the virus but let's do so with predictable minimal health impact to the society."

Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1554771104828714/?multi_permalinks=2612698725702608&notif_id=1628649298626527&notif_t=group_highlights&ref=notif ( accessed 11.08.21)

Over in America they keep changing their minds about whether wearing masks is effective or not. 

In Thailand I just heard from my former colleague Martin that he was hospitalised with a very serious case of Cov 19 after having only one dose of the vaccine. He said he thought he was going to die , but just pulled through after 14 days. 

Much research continues to be done in how to prevent the spread of this horrible disease that , at the time of writing, has claimed 4.51 M lives.  

Let me spell that out -

4,510,000 people have died of this horrible 

disease around the world, and that means at least 9 million people

will be celebrating Christmas without someone they love  for the 

first time this year.

Another problem is that the various lockdowns and travel restrictions have meant 

that people whose loved one's have died back home have not been able to get there 

in time for the funerals, like Mama Jam and Rima when their dad's died. This causes 

additional heartache at a time of grief and my condolences go to them. 

In addition to death it has prevented ( or severely delayed) people going on holiday and seeing their loved ones 

like Leo, Barbara, Gerda and more to see their loved ones. It has also delayed my 

relocation to the Philippines and I missed Jhoanna's 21st and Ran's wedding where I was 

was asked to be Ninong.

The latest research has shown that:

Apparently COVID-19 patients can shed the virus in faeces for days after all respiratory symptoms have disappeared (Wu et al., 2020). However, persistence of viable SARS-Cov-2 in water and sewage has yet to be determined.

I saw an interesting piece on BBC World recently where Emergency Room doctors  in America said they had many unvaccinated patients, suffering with severe cases of COV 19 asking if it was too late to be vaccinated . They also said they had many patients who suffered the worst effects of COV 19 and still maintained it was a conspiracy theory! Recently doctors there went ion strike against people clogging up hospitals because they refused to take the vaccine and then caught the disease and expected to be treated.

Vaccination of the young still seems to be a stumbling block worldwide as they are convinced they are invincible and its an old peoples disease. One UK University is offering 5000 GBP to vaccinated students who enroll ( they said the cost saving of running classes in the University instead of on line compensates) . In the US President Biden took the opposite approach by banning unvaccinated teens from concerts and nightclubs!

Over in Bahrain they continue to have great success from Lockdown and vaccination and my former colleague Barry Dunne excitedly reported on Facebook on 1st August:

"Taught my first face-to-face lessons since March 2020. Felt good to be back in a classroom again!"

The real difficulty facing world travelers like me is there is no agreement amongst the countries on COV 19 Documentation and vaccination , as I wrote on Facebook recently:

"This is becoming more pathetic by the day:

1.The Philippines wont accept people vaccinated outside the Philippines

2. Thailand and Qatar will not accept Sputnik vaccine, issued in Bahrain

3. Hong Kong will not accept Philippines vaccination cards

Get your acts together Governments or you can say goodbye to tourism in 2022 as well"

The British Kabayan - 11.8. 21

Click the link below for more information on the Hong Kong situation :

https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/8/11/OFW-Philippines-vaccination-card-Hong-Kong.html?_=1628665229690&fbclid=IwAR26LUGQx2_5W09JbZpAPwK9LsTMG5uhi_heHAPGsldrRljcRrjUMIPajRU

I asked various friends around the world ( UK, USA, Cambodia , India etc) to give me an update on the situation in their country and the wonderful Mr Gregory responded with this update from Europe:

Tales from the Loop (31^st Au gust 2021)

An empty Eurostar train home on an ominous Friday 13^th March 2020 was the beginning of a very long sojourn from the delights of Paris for me and an arduous journey through the delights of working from home for eighteen months.

The days and weeks turned into months of Teams meetings and an endless chase for information and updates from poor communicative French co-workers.

That aside, the family kept going. ‘Thing 1’ managed to secure a Masters degree in Music Production and is pursuing his dream of working (which would be nice) via the odd job application and a lot of FIFA 21.

‘Thing 2’, having spent an eternity in her own personal lockdown, had applied for a dream job with Warner Brothers and Netflix, which she secured and has recently started her induction.

Diane worked as a key worker in a local supermarket (sometimes long and busy hours) throughout the pandemic and avoided any infections. Our little miracle.

I managed six weeks helping her out and donating all proceeds to NHS charity. My little bit done prior to resting knees and back. Tough job stocking shelves.

Lots of uncertainty still remains in the UK. Poor infection statistics, Brexit and Government have contributed to a very subdued present and an opaque view on future months and years.

Diane’s role in the supermarket is at risk as Companies reduce costs in line with the troubles . SUEZ has been purchased by its biggest rival (for whom Neil used to work ) VEOLIA, leaving my job in Paris and for the future also at risk.

All that said, the whole family is fully vaccinated and healthy, which outshines everything else we have been through this last year.

We are all eagerly awaiting The British Kabayan’s permanent move to his new homeland in order to facilitate a nice trip to see what all the fuss is about.

Thanks Phil for the usual informative update in these difficult times. As a special reward here is a quick pic of what all the fuss is about...

One day this will be you and me skim boarding in Alimurgan, rest those knees old man! I am working on Tummy reduction and Hip strengthening here in Dubai!

Finally two bits of good news just in.... Thang is now fully recovered and enjoying his vacation back home in India - he will return to Dubai the day before I leave on 10 September. Also another of my former COV 19 suffering Indian friends, Max, wrote to say:

"From tomorrow Bahrain is in the green zone*...

Enter

Carl

That means no restrictions...we are allowed to anywhere any time"

If you missed Max's blogs on what it was like to have COV 19 In Bahrain, and how COV 19 hit his family in India you can read his excellent Guest blogs starting by clicking this link:

Getting COV 19 in Bahrain or India?- By guest blogger "Max" (thebritishkabayan.blogspot.com)

After much chasing on 6 September I received this from Max in Bahrain:

"After several horrible months of lockdown with 1000+ cases each day and the number deaths reaching 30+ in Bahrain. This made things very difficult for all. I got no chance to go out and see places and was not able to live a normal life in this country. However the day finally arrived after Ramadan when the positive cases started to decrease with an increase in the number of recoveries. The Bahrain Government  created various Levels with red ,orange and green.

Bahrain finally moved to green Level from September 3 which meant an easing of some restrictions. The schools opened and people came out and saw each other with some joy and relief.

My company did not fully allow us to go out . However they eased our restrictions which allowed me to travel on the red bus and explore Bahrain once again.

Max took this photo of the Manama sky line from the red bus

I caught the red bus  and bought the bus card . For 1 journey they charge 300 fills and for a second trip on the same day they charge 200 fills and for the 3rd journey  they charge 100 fills then after that it's totally free for the whole day. So I used my card to travel Bahrain for hours visiting Manama center and buying some nuts and dried fruits to eat. I flexed my muscles walking around the streets.

I hope soon this 938 active cases will reduce to zero and they will  announce mask free zones and we can get back to the real normal.

Stay safe everyone, Best wishes from Bahrain, Max"

Finally good news from Oman, my next destination, where no quarantine is required, just a PCR test. I will give you further updates next week!

This is The British Kabayan signing out and reminding you all to:

• Wear a mask
• Sanitise
• Keep your distance

and if you are one of those stupid enough not to have been vaccinated- GET VACCINATED! BOTH DOSES ( and Vince said get a Booster too if you can!)

My special thanks to all our COV 19 correspondents around the world for contributing to this update:

- Max- India and Bahrain

- Martin Peters- Thailand

- Phil Gregory- France and UK

- Chester Delos- Santos- Philippines

- Barry Dunne- Bahrain

- Thang- Dubai

- Neil Porter- Dubai, Bahrain and Philippines