Life in the Age of Corona

A Daily Diary

Friday, Febuary 5th, 2021

Winter Braai

Despite the weather forecast stating rain for today, I woke up to blue skies, brilliant shushine and sparkeling snow slowly melting. My luck as mum would probably say. Becaus eI was born on a Sunday just before 10:00 to the tolling of the nearby church bells, the church I would fifteen years later be confirmed in, I am supposely charmed. I admittedly felt much loved reading all the messenges, texts, FB posts and so on wishing me a happy birthday and a great year ahead. I felt much loved by my daughter also, who had made our traditional birthday cake for me the night before, painted me a picture and made a card for the best mum ever, recognizing that in this shit show of a year I had tried my best to create adventures and soem nice memories. She was going to make breakfast for me, I just got to the kitchen first and had the cake! (oh well a piece of it)

The luck for the day held; not just with the weather, but also at the pool. I arrived 15 minutes before my alloted time to find one of teh lanes unused and whoever was to have the lane after me was late, so a full 50 minutes in the pool! I could do my pre pandemic routine of 30 minutes free, 10 minutes each back- and breaststroke, before heading home to set up the patio in the warmth of the afternon sun.

Late in the afteroon I felt rather unloved. Part of my afternoon was spend clearing the snow from the patio (mainly EM did that), setting up the outside with chairs in twoo groups of five around two pits, making sweet potato fries, marinading steaks and so on. I had invited ten people for a birthday Braai starting at 17:00. I spent an hour hanging by the fires before anyone arrived. Did people not get the memo about the time? So, I decided to write instead, but was feeling rather miffed seeing I carefully set up the event, limited numbers. The food ready. Drinks chilling in the snow. Yes, some said they would be late, but everyone? Maybe they did not get the memo about 17:00 or they all assumed since some were going to be late it was fashionable for everyone to be late?

AS soon as I headed inside, people began arriving complaining there was no one outside! After the inital disappointment it turned into a fun, albeit chilly evening outside. People lasted for four hours huddled around the fire, the first ever braai in the snow. The food was good, the company fun. All was socially distanced and outside, so I hope we are all safe.

While January was the deadliest month in the US the trend is towards an end of the Pandemic. Infections, hospitalizations and deaths are down. Here is hoping super bowl Sunday will not reverse the trend, especially given more viral mutants. Especially given that numbers in the US are back on the rise. Today we are at 27.4 million, having added 126k new cases. This is the third day in row that numbers are going up again, which is not a good sign.

Johnson & Johnson has apply for emergency use of its vaccine. This could be a game changer and greatly increase vaccination globally.1 billion doses are to be produced and shipped in 2022. Hurray! Given scientists feel it is critical to stop the spread to avoid mutants this is excellent news. Speed in getting people vaccinated is of essence and far more important th

an the efficacy of a vaccine. Governments may need to rethink vaccination priorities based on recent studies, which indicate the age group, of 20-49 year old are responsible for 70% of all infections, but most severely affects are people 50 years and older.  ongoing discussion everywhere across the globe corroborate this. Given shortages it is a morally difficult decision to make. I tend to side with economically active after first responders.

While I really want a shot, I will not jump the line, but wait for my turn.