The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 119 (619)

The day before Thanksgiving, otherwise known as the day to prepare everything I can in advance so I don't live in the kitchen tomorrow. The pumpkin pie is done as is the cranberry sauce. I've toasted the torn bread for dressing. We usually run out before the turkey leftovers are gone, so I decided to double the recipe. I'm now wondering if I'll have enough pans for cooking it. Still to do--six cups of chopped onions, chopped celery in some amount, and a few other things I'm repressing. I refuse to open the wine until the dressing is in the oven.

New Zealand will allow fully vaccinated international travelers into the country beginning next year. Regulations will ease gradually. New Zealand citizens and residents can start going in from Australia on January 16; New Zealanders from the rest of the world can start going in on February 13. Other people can start going in on April 30 as long as they enter from a country that is not considered at high risk. There are some conditions, though. Those entering must have isolated at home for seven days, prove they are fully vaccinated, show a negative covid test, and attest they have not been to a high risk country. New Zealand has had over 10,600 cases but just 40 deaths. It helps that 84 percent of New Zealanders are fully vaccinated and 92 percent have gotten at least one dose. 

A critical care doctor at the local university describes the current situation as "a race against time." Cases are rising in a majority of states with hotspots in the mid-west, northeast, and parts of the south. We could hit one million deaths by spring; WHO says deaths in Europe could top two million by March. TSA says that travel is inching up to pre-pandemic levels. Many Massachusetts hospitals are at or over capacity and cutting off elective procedures. Staff shortages have led to the loss of approximately 500 medical, surgical, and ICU beds. Hospitals are over capacity in central California and are trying to transfer patients to hospitals in Los Angeles. Ninety-five percent of ICU beds in Colorado are occupied. A county health officer says, "Between now and next year, we may be in for a very challenging winter, Bone up on your turkey and your gravy but also don't forget to fill up on your mental and spiritual resilience." 

France is announcing new restrictions on Thursday; the Netherlands, on Friday. Senior doctors from Russia's largest hospitals are urging anti-vaccination figures to visit both ICUs and morgues. Only 37 percent of 146 million Russians have been vaccinated. Positive covid tests are on the rise in the UK.In the past week, there have been 303,071 positive tests, an 11.1 percent increase from the previous week. 

WHO tweeted, "While Europe is again the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic, no country or region is out of the woods." WHO has also been warning that while vaccines save lives, they do not fully prevent covid transmission. We could probably benefit from their advice: "We cannot say this clearly enough: even if you are vaccinated, continue to take precautions to prevent becoming infected yourself, and [to prevent] infecting someone else who could die."

Tomorrow is a time to be thankful. I am thankful for family and friends who, for the most part, put up with and even encourage my eccentricities. I am thankful for those, organized or as individuals, who care for others and work to make to world a better place. And in that vein I am thankful for science and scientists, some of whom have given us the vaccines and treatments that are getting us through the pandemic.