Wednesday 18 May 2022

Reluctant record

There are some horribly big numbers out there right now: the US recently reached the chilling milestone of one million Covid deaths, and there've been over 6 million world-wide. Not long ago NZ scored a million cases since the start of the pandemic - one fifth of the population - and then today we finally, inevitably, not only reached but surpassed 1000 deaths from/with Covid - 90% of them people aged 60+. It's pretty scary how fast that last number shot up after Omicron arrived, because back in only February, we still had just 55 deaths overall since the start of this whole sorry business, and there were long periods with no deaths reported at all. Things have changed so quickly.

So, even though we’ve also scored another big number - 95% eligible population double-vaxxed, plus over half so far also boosted, it feels a bit dodgy that the border, already now open to lots of countries, will reopen to everyone from the end of July. Of course the tourism industry is desperate for that to happen, and my travel writer colleagues, sick and tired of dredging up old material, and competing with each other for local stories, are already heading off overseas, despite flight uncertainty and general infection risks.

It certainly is tempting, seeing their photos of overseas destinations looking so adorably and excitingly foreign. I’d love to go. Maybe, since the experts are gloomily predicting another five years of all this, we should just lump Covid in with all the other risks and uncertainties that give travel its addictive frisson? 

3 comments:

the queen said...

Oh, very dodgy. Over here it's as if the government is saying, "Have your fun, you didn't;t learn your lesson with omicron, perhaps the next one will make you take notice." And even with only 1,000, the way you are all 2 degrees of separation you probably know someone who died. I hope not, of course.

TravelSkite said...

No, actually no-one I know has died of Covid, and in fact very few of my acquaintance have even caught it. Probably because I have tended to live in a bubble since long before it was a thing.

And now the world has monkeypox!

TravelSkite said...

Oh, but I do know one of the contestants on our current Dancing With The Stars, if that counts?

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