The end of the last reporting period saw the world's total case tally pass174.3 million while total deaths eclipsed 3,751,800. :-(

There were 2 changes at the upper end of the death list with Chile passing Hungary to take over 22nd place as Argentina leapt over Spain and Iran to land in 12th so let's get onto the case list changes.

Timor-Leste finally worked their way past Nicaragua into 161st place and the head of the 7K+ club's bar, but it looks like they're now faltering, Vietnam became the 160th member of the 8K+ club and then promptly went past Benin as well as Equatorial Guinea to move along to last drinks while Taiwan became the 157th member of the 10K+ club, passed both South Sudan and Lesotho to become the 155th member of the 11K+ club and then passing Aruba to claim 154th, the Seychelles took flight over Hong Kong, the Bahamas, Congo, Martinique and Curaçao to land in 147th as Suriname passed P.N.G. to claim 137th, but I can't give them 136th yet as Guadeloupe is still to report their last week's numbers which will very likely block that move, French Guiana jumped over Gabon and Syria to take hold of 127th, but I can't give them 126th either as Réunion are late getting their numbers in also, however I can give Trinidad/Tobago 125th spot as Réunion's numbers won't matter and Cambodia zipped past the D.R.C. and Malawi into 118th. (boy was that a mouthful? I'll try and keep them a bit smaller in future)

Mongolia swept Singapore from 106th place, Afghanistan blew Cameroon out of 99th as Zambia replaced Montenegro in 94th and joined the 100K+ club, Algeria nudged Estonia from 89th while South Korea bumped Myanmar from 85th, Thailand leapt over Nigeria and Kenya to take over 80th and Sri Lanka became the 78th member of the 200K+ club before removing Bosnia/Herzegovina from 77th spot.

Oman kicked Armenia from 74th spot, Venezuela flicked Honduras out of 72nd while Uruguay jumped over Palestine and Kuwait into 59th, Bolivia raced into 51st past Panama as Kazakhstan took 49th from Slovakia, Nepal knocked the U.A.E. from 40th and Malaysia became the 39th country to enter the 600K+ clubhouse.

And to finish those changes off Bangladesh blasted Hungary out of 32nd while the Netherlands grabbed 20th from Czechia and India is spending an extra night in the 28M+ clubhouse.

Meanwhile here down under Victoria's locally acquired outbreak now numbers 85 with 14 of them now testing positive to the "Delta" strain that has been finally linked to a man in Victorian hotel quarantine, but the question now is, how did it get out of there? Thankfully it is being contained within state borders so far. We've also been dropped down to 106th place on the death list, though we'll hold onto 123rd on the case list for several days yet.

Unfortunately, here in the UK the race is on, between three aspects:


We are into the start of our "third wave" with an "R" of 1.2 and a more transmissible variant steadily spreading from the north towards the more populous south...


We have high hopes with:

Covid: Greater Manchester and Lancashire to get extra help
wrote:

Greater Manchester and parts of Lancashire will receive extra help to tackle a rise in the Delta variant.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said a "strengthened package of support" would be provided to boost Covid vaccinations and testing. It will include military support...

... "We know that this approach can work, we've seen it work in south London and in Bolton in stopping a rise in the number of cases," he said.

"This is the next stage of tackling the pandemic in Manchester and in Lancashire, and of course it's vital that people in these areas - as everywhere else - come forward and get the jab...

... When infection rates took off in early May the area was flooded with testing, while there was a big push on getting people to come forward for vaccination - the numbers receiving their first jab more than trebled in the space of a few weeks. The result has seen a drop in infection rates - they are down by more than a quarter in the past 10 days - without the need to impose extra restrictions...

Yet, not surprisingly, we also have sadly:

NHS and social care staff burnout at an emergency level
wrote:

NHS and care staff in England are so burnt out that it has become an "emergency" and risks the future of the health service, MPs have warned.

A highly critical report said workers were exhausted and overstretched because of staff shortages.

It said the problems existed before the pandemic - although coronavirus has worsened the pressures...

For my personal view:

There should be compulsory one-day-a-week duty imposed on all the management, without exception, to be present and helping physically on the front line giving care to COVID patients, so that there is direct feedback to those in power who are imposing those exhausting overstretched work conditions...

To paraphrase some big quote from somewhere:

"There is no better understanding of reality than going out to face that reality..."

Stay safe folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

We have high hopes with:

Covid: Greater Manchester and Lancashire to get extra help

Why wasn't this done a week earlier, the numbers were there.

And maybe that's the problem. Politicians that haven't got any other experience except that of being a politician since school days, do not understand numbers. Probably got into Oxford PPE course, on a grade inflated, Maths 'C' pass at GCSE level.

India finally entered the 29M+ case clubhouse and just made it to the bar so as to ponder the 3 month's worth of cobwebs and dust that needs to go. Brazil also finally made it into the 17M+ case clubhouse so they only have about 7 weeks worth of cobwebs and dust to deal with. Argentina became the 9th member of the 4M+ club and even though Sweden finally got some numbers in and replaced Romania in 26th place of the case list I'm not yet convinced that they have their software back in order properly as yet.

Meanwhile here down under the Victorian outbreak grew by 1 to 86, but at least that person was already in quarantine so lockdown restrictions will be dropped down to those who reside in the greater Melbourne area stay there with no large gatherings while other Victorians are to stay out. Experts (as well as non-experts) are still perplexed to what the connection was between a man who spent almost 3 weeks in quarantine (he tested positive on his 1st day and to the "delta" variant) and who was released late last month and the 14 others connected to that little variant cluster on the other side of the city.

Well it's happened again. :-(

Covid-19 scare in Sunshine Coast after Melbourne couple escape lockdown, one tests positive.

How do these idiots manage to be so stupid?

How do these idiots manage to be so stupid?

They believe in Murdoch?

... Melbourne couple escape lockdown, one tests positive.

How do these idiots manage to be so stupid?

Simply, unbelievably, they are unaware. Simply, lost in their own world somehow unaware.


For yet another example:

I've managed to have a gentle long talk with a care worker who has no wish to get vaccinated. In brief, she is very fearful from the myriad confusing 'stories' about vaccines and COVID and she has been left not knowing what to believe! So much so that no level of gentle explanation is going to persuade her to take any positive action. There may also be a large dose of 'fatalism' and to 'trust in god(s)' mixed in there.

My only thought is that this is more a 'cultural' and 'peer pressure' decision rather than rational good healthy sense.

Yet, we have a hot spot newly developing in her area and really, urgently, everyone needs to get vaccinated. There already are multiple sites there where no booking is required, just walk in get vaccinated and be on your way in 15 minutes. Simple?...


And yet, people are fearful...


Here's hoping we keep the developing 3rd wave subdued with everyone getting vaccinated for good health! It's the only way out of this!!

Stay safe folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
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More covidiots being caught on the run. :-(

A Victorian family who broke Covid rules and flew to NZ are in managed isolation.

The NZ Herald reported that a group of three people from Melbourne have been put into managed isolation in New Zealand after misleading officials about where they were travelling from.

It is understood the trio, who are resident in Australia, planned to attend a funeral during their trip to New Zealand.

They drove to Sydney and then flew to Auckland, and were caught at the border after trying to deceive officials. They will now have to pay for their 14-day quarantine stay.

It appears they broke the trans-Tasman bubble rules – which could lead to a $4000 fine or six months in jail – as well as the Victoria lockdown rules.

Unbelievable.

Balancing these numbers for a good outcome is going to be a close run thing:


Lockdown easing: Four numbers to look for ahead of the 21 June decision


Is this where caution is the better side of death?

Yet also, will enough of the population abide by good healthy sense to wipe out the pandemic?...


Stay safe folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

The deathly race is on:


Covid: Has Bolton, focus of the Delta variant, turned a corner?
wrote:

Four weeks ago, Bolton was described as "ground zero" of the Delta coronavirus variant in the UK. A month later cases are down by 30%. So how did they do it?...

... About half of all new infections were being detected in just three neighbourhoods...

... The idea had been to flood those neighbourhoods with Covid tests to try and detect people with mild or no Covid symptoms. Mobile units were sent in and teams of staff and volunteers went door-to-door alongside 50 troops...

... In May, 155,016 Covid tests were carried out in Bolton - one test for every two people living in the town. The results showed the virus was spreading much faster in younger age groups...

... It meant a 96% take up, says the headteacher Martin Knowles.

The school also became part of a vaccination drive in the town. Its car park hosted a giant white vaccination bus. Long queues started snaking around the block. Locals set up stalls offering free water and snacks to those waiting in line. Over a single weekend in May, an extra 6,200 people were jabbed at that site alone...

... The vaccine bus and other pop-up sites like it have jabbed an extra 22,000 people in Bolton since 7 May, alongside 80,000 doses given at doctors' surgeries and pharmacies...

... But officials believe the publicity might have helped achieve something harder to measure - a subtle [safer] shift in behaviour as people became more aware of the risk of the new variant...

Very good success there for that one town.

The COVID Delta variant is now quickly pushing up the numbers spreading ever further south across the UK... The race is on to stop that.



From my experience, the only way to halt that deadly spread is to gently persuade everyone to get vaccinated, ASAP.

Stay safe folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

The deathly race is on...

These latest charts give a very clear story for the race that is now underway:

Coronavirus England briefing, 10 June 2021

That looks very much like the as-yet-not-vaccinated teenagers are now the main victims...


From my experience, the only way to halt that deadly spread is to gently persuade everyone to get vaccinated, ASAP.

Stay safe folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

That looks very much like the as-yet-not-vaccinated teenagers are now the main victims...

One could posit they are culprits not victims.

---

That looks very much like the as-yet-not-vaccinated teenagers are now the main victims...

One could posit they are culprits not victims.

That's all a question of viewpoint and circumstances...

Other than for some 'hotspot' areas, teenagers have not yet been offered any vaccine.

Yet meanwhile, restrictions have been reduced and that age group are precisely the group that are most encouraged to socialize with the newly reduced restrictions...

They are also the group that were sent back to schools and colleges into high density living quarters...

It is almost as though they have been sacrificed by their 'elders' for the sake of boosting the economy and in the hope that not too many of them are killed or become long term disabled...


I'd describe that as victims.

As for the wider consequences...


Stay safe folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

More evidence of the moronization of certain parts of the U.S population. I bet Putin and Xi must be ROTFL at the success of their moronization operation.

Doctor claims during Ohio Statehouse testimony that vaccine causes magnetism, makes spoons stick to person’s body

And:

Nurse uses key, hairpin to try to prove she is magnetic from vaccine during Ohio House hearing (video)

Latest from the BBC tends to confirm what you posted. Covid: Unvaccinated most at risk from Delta variant

Nearly two-thirds of people infected with the Delta variant, and more than half of those who have died with it, have not had a Covid vaccine at all, the latest official data suggests.
There have been nearly 30,000 new UK cases of the variant in the past week. The Public Health England report says it is likely to spread more easily and could make people more seriously ill. Officials say two doses of the vaccine provide "significantly more protection" than one.
The Delta variant, which was first identified in India, is now the dominant variant in the UK - accounting for 90% of cases. It is being closely monitored by PHE, who are using new genotyping tests to detect the variant more quickly as cases continue to rise.

These suggest that the Delta variant is roughly 60% more spreadable than the Alpha, or Kent, variant.

Analysis of hospitalisation rates suggests people infected by the Delta variant are twice as likely to end up in hospital than those with Alpha.

what I haven't heard anyone say is whether the current vaccines protect against the Delta variant. If the vaccines work why do I still have to wear a mask everywhere I go??????????????????????????????
I can also see it now, in 10 years we will see ads from lawyers like Dewey,Cheatim and How telling you that if you received the covid19 vaccine from ????? contact our offices for legal advice.

---

Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

... If the vaccines work why do I still have to wear a mask everywhere I go??????????????????????????????...

Good question.

It is all a question of biology...

Yes, even when vaccinated, out in the wild, a mask should still be worn so as to be safer for yourself and for everyone around you.


As to why?: It is all a game of biology.

In brief, whichever of the vaccines will give your immune system a "head start" in the race to ramp up producing antibodies to neutralize whatever invaders got into your body.

From getting infected, having that "head start" can make all the difference between not noticing any symptoms to whereas un-vaccinated you may lose the race and die. Or for the un-vaccinated, there is any outcome anywhere in the range between from being poorly, to being badly poorly, to suffering long term disabled (or death), depending on many factors including how much virus you were exposed to and for how long.


One of the reasons we have such a rapid widespread pandemic is that the SARS2 virus, very soon after infection and before your immune system even knows anything is wrong, very rapidly replicates and spreads. Only some days later do you notice any symptoms to know that you are ill. By that time, you've unnkowingly infected everyone else around you.

The masks are to stop or at least slow down that early silent spread. (The masks also help to reduce your exposure to virus from others that might be infected around you.)


If vaccinated, your immune system (with the advantage of a 'head start' from being vaccinated) then quickly catches up and hopefully you quickly get better with hopefully only mild symptoms.


Note that I am no medical doctor. That scenario should be authoritatively available online... One to look up!


Stay safe folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

what I haven't heard anyone say is whether the current vaccines protect against the Delta variant. ...
I can also see it now, in 10 years we will see ads from lawyers ... vaccine from ????? contact our offices for legal advice.

Due to the predatory lawyers and due to good science, there are no guarantees given in this game.

Getting inoculated with a vaccine against a deadly disease greatly improves your chances of surviving that deadly disease.

So far, we are seeing very good results from giving everyone a vaccine against COVID. We've now vaccinated over 70 Million people here in the UK. However, we've still another 12 Million or so adults to vaccinate yet. There's ever greater efforts being put in place to catch up with those remaining adults including special teams giving some vaccinations at home. We now have no-booking-needed just turn up and "grab a jab".


Meanwhile, the only guarantee you have is that the no-morals predatory lawyers will increase the medical bills for everyone. Best is to avoid the need to deal with such cold games.

The vaccines are vastly safer than the painful/deadly side effects from the wild SARS2 virus...

Best is to actively improve your chances!


Stay safe folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

If the vaccines work why do I still have to wear a mask everywhere I go??????????????????????????????

Forgery of Vax cards.

I can also see it now, in 10 years we will see ads from lawyers like Dewey, Cheatem and Howe telling you that if you received the covid19 vaccine from ????? contact our offices for legal advice.

Doubt you will have to wait ten years for those ads, likely later this year. "Did you suffer death from the Covid VAX, call 1-888-SHYSTER call now!"

Ok...

So this is one that wouldn't pass our posting rules, but compared to postings in previous years, this is so 'gentle' from Linus as to be a tremendous triumph of understatement!

See:

Linus Torvalds tells kernel list poster to 'SHUT THE .... UP' for saying COVID-19 vaccines {supposedly} create 'new humanoid race'
wrote:

'Any Linux discussion list isn't going to have your idiotic drivel pass uncontested from me'...

And quite right too!


Stay safe and sane folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)