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A member of our local board posted an update earlier this afternoon...on our online community notice board...
So far I’m aware of two Waiheke workplaces impacted by covid. In the first all staff were stood down subject to a staff member’s testing (negative in this case). In another, a Waiheke staff member has been traced to a known case in greater Auckland. This person and his flatmates are under lockdown until tested and cleared. The person concerned was unaware until he was traced so was out and about. So we cannot be complacent and we must be careful.
Being so close to Auckland and commuters coming and going daily, to all parts of Auckland and beyond....I guess it was only a matter of time...
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
Well you know... this whole Covid-19 thing... its only death, it’s best to treat it lightly. If you think of it in the grand scheme of things, we have done so much damage to the plant and animal life of planet earth, isn’t it only fair for Gaia to get a few shots in? And after all what’s a million dead on the scale of the planet? It’s a very small fraction of the 7 billion humans alive. I don’t see what we are getting so worked up about.
Nothing like zombie apo calipso to get the infected dancing @Kerome ...
“Neither in the sky nor in mid-ocean nor by entering into mountain clefts, nowhere in the world is there a place where one may not be overcome by death.”
Undead Buddha
0
personDon't believe everything you thinkThe liminal spaceVeteran
edited August 2020
@Kerome said:
Well you know... this whole Covid-19 thing... its only death, it’s best to treat it lightly. If you think of it in the grand scheme of things, we have done so much damage to the plant and animal life of planet earth, isn’t it only fair for Gaia to get a few shots in? And after all what’s a million dead on the scale of the planet? It’s a very small fraction of the 7 billion humans alive. I don’t see what we are getting so worked up about.
For most of human history death was fairly commonplace. I think its really only been in the past 100 years or so that we've really been able to push death away. IMO that's mostly a good thing, but it has also let us forget that Mother Nature is still more powerful than us and we don't have the power of gods yet, let alone the wisdom.
I'd say the fear is more about the focus than the reality. There is an element of uncertainty and potential for something worse that generates fear in a lot of people. But there is also the understandable media focus on it. If the media gave daily reports of all the fatalities from medical mistakes, 250,000 dead per year in the US, people would be much more scared of going to the hospital than they are now.
I think a part of wisdom is being able to step back and take the larger, longer scale view. To notice how small we really are and how in another 100 years all this will mean about as much as the 1918 flu did to us before this pandemic.
From a society wide perspective if we compare deaths from COVID to something like traffic fatalities. The average age of death of a COVID patient is around 83 whereas the average age of death from a traffic accident is around 35. The average life years lost is about 10 to 40 or 50. Just looking at body count doesn't really tell the story of the global cost.
All that said a part of compassion is, life matters, people matter. We can and should work to save lives and reduce suffering keeping in mind we probably aren't going to find many perfect solutions here, we are stuck with tradeoffs. Children loosing valuable learning years sets them back in life success much like graduating college during a recession, people often never catch back up. To what extent are we mortgaging their future to help extend the lives of the elderly another decade?
I get frustrated with the most of the dialogue around this. It gets so polarized that its either, no one can die from this ever, no matter the cost. Or F it all let the strong survive, the rest of us will be better off for it.
6
personDon't believe everything you thinkThe liminal spaceVeteran
This is a fairly long video at about half an hour but is well presented and comprehensive on the topic of face masks.
Well the anti lockdowner (which includes the anti maskers & anti vaccinators ) are holding a protest in Auckland CBD because from this coming Monday it will be mandatory to wear masks on all public transport, such as buses, trains ferries and planes....
A local posted the event on the online community noticeboard to draw attention but all she drew was a sharp rebuke from other locals..
It's interesting watching reason gradually losing itself and being replaced by anger, when egos clash...The poster got shot down because she kept posting quotes, some quite offensive...
A local just posted this in response....to the second wave...
And in other news....
Finally there are police now stationed at the ferry terminals both on the island and in Auckland to stop non essential travel, such as day trippers and rebel rousers ...
As we all know, realisation that death is always near, means Covid is our dharma bodhi/buddy ...
- Metta to all who have gone Jain and covered their facedicks (noses)
- Metta to little viruses and great Ocean Wails
- Metta to those who sit with fear and those who Walk With Almighty Cod
(Peace Be With Her Haddock)
Come to think of it ... this should be in the blessing section ...
For some weeks now we have been taking a supplement called Quercetin. It’s a naturally occurring substance found in a range of fruits and vegetables. The jury is still out on whether it can improve the resistance to Covid..some scientists are unconvinced. It is telling however that some of the leading figures in the field have got themselves and their families on it.
What seems to be definitely the case is that it has been shown to prevent the ability of other members of the corona virus group,such as the SARS virus, to pass through the cell membrane.
I recommend having a google at the evidence and making up your own minds.
@Choephal said:
For some weeks now we have been taking a supplement called Quercetin. It’s a naturally occurring substance found in a range of fruits and vegetables. The jury is still out on whether it can improve the resistance to Covid..some scientists are unconvinced. It is telling however that some of the leading figures in the field have got themselves and their families on it.
What seems to be definitely the case is that it has been shown to prevent the ability of other members of the corona virus group,such as the SARS virus, to pass through the cell membrane.
I recommend having a google at the evidence and making up your own minds.
“We discovered that the outrage-fuelled spread by a value of 3, meaning that every hour on average a person shared misinformation to three people on social media, so if we could make something with a higher value then we can actually combat the misinformation by making people laugh.”
Well it would seem that as the world's guinea pig Aotearoa (NZ) , medical health experts have found that due to the pre-winter lockdown restrictions, hygiene recommendations eg washing hands, covering your nose and mouth when coughing & sneezing, social distancing and boarder closure, travel restrictions all doing their part in helping to reduce air pollutants ...medical centres and hospitals around the country have noticed a drastic reduction in cases of flu and other respiratory illnesses and people being hospitalised..
While the hypotheses were speculation at this stage, it was “pretty informed speculation”, Wilson said, based on data from New Zealand's regular health surveillance.
That data show the flu (specifically, influenza) has been nearly non-existent in New Zealand. In fact, you can count the number of confirmed flu cases in New Zealand over recent months on one hand.
The flu is connected to around 500 deaths per year, and predominantly affects older people.
According to the most recent report from Flutracking, a system that tracks influenza, 0.6 per cent of people reported flu-like symptoms from a survey of more than 50,000 people.
At the same time last year, that figure was four times higher. In 2018, it was more than six times higher.
Flu-like symptoms does not mean someone has the flu. Recent surveillance testing conducted by ESR shows people with symptoms are predominantly testing positive for rhinovirus (which frequently causes the common cold), with some testing positive with enterovirus.
There have been no confirmed cases of influenza in the country since a solitary case in May. Anecdotally, there had been only two or three cases reported in hospital labs, said Dr Sue Huang, director of the National Influenza Centre at ESR.
This would suggest influenza is being dominated by viruses less likely to kill people.
Interesting...I have been wondering whether that would be the case.
It makes sense that the spread of other viruses of the Corona type would be inhibited by those practices and precautions.
Here in the Northern hemisphere we are about to put it to the test as we enter our cold and flu season..
I am still shielding a high risk family member. Just washed my masks. Using online shopping. Medication must arrive tomorrow or I may have to use a device I mostly leave off. Mobile zombie phone. 😱
Tomorrow will be planting winter and spring bulbs. Nothing fancy. Just daffs and Turkish snow drops from supermarket. Trying to get a different online supermarket delivery for next week ... slots may not be available without shielding prompting ...
Blessings and Metta to us one and all. Happy xmas!
The new measures introduced yesterday means that all R.L. sangha meets are off again.
We had just started to put tentative toes back in that water...oh well. It’s all grist to the Dharmic mill.
Sigh!
Where I was sticking close to home over Covid 19, now all my windows also need to be kept sealed shut because the forest and burning home smoke from the USA is so thick & acrid here that visibility has dropped outside to about a couple of hundred yards.
Global weather change has come knocking loudly this week.
@how said:
Sigh!
Where I was sticking close to home over Covid 19, now all my windows also need to be kept sealed shut because the forest and burning home smoke from the USA is so thick & acrid here that visibility has dropped outside to about a couple of hundred yards.
Global weather change has come knocking loudly this week.
@Kerome said:
What I don’t understand is how come infection rates are going up but hospital admissions and intensive care use are going down?
Perhaps younger people are catching it?
Or it's changing and becoming less potent as the Spanish Flu did back in the day
0
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
@Bunks said:
Perhaps younger people are catching it?
Or it's changing and becoming less potent as the Spanish Flu did back in the day
Maybe so. It’s a conundrum, but it’s very relevant, because without hospital admissions it’s not much more serious than the common flu. But even if some younger people are catching it I find it hard to believe that the rates of transmission to older people are drastically different now than at the height of the initial wave.
Perhaps if there is going to be a second wave it will be a lot less deadly than the first. It certainly looks that way.
I also wondered if more folks are just choosing to tough out recovery at home where earlier there was a more automatic seeking of hospital help even when their symptoms were not life threatening.
1
personDon't believe everything you thinkThe liminal spaceVeteran
More testing I'm sure is one factor adding to the number of non-hospitalized cases.
Looks like the UK will bring in some tighter restrictions in the next few days to slow the spread. Hope everyone there is safe?
We are just coming out of Lockdown 2.0. Nice to have a little freedom again 😊
@Kerome , this is something that my mother and I have noticed. Also, how the media pumps the numbers and keep talking about how our sanitary system is on the verge of collapsing. This actually has been an ongoing issue for the last decade, particularly since the cuts on Healthcare due to the "bail out" measures adopted in 2011-12....
@Bunks Said
We are just coming out of Lockdown 2.0. Nice to have a little freedom again 😊
Auckland goes from level 2.5 to level 2 at midnight on Wednesday,( reassessed in a fortnight 5th Oct) whilst the rest of Aotearoa (NZ) went back to level 1 today...
When the city shifts to level 2 on Thursday, social gatherings can be up to 100 people, but hospitality venues must still apply the three S's: seated, separated and single-server.
The rest of the country shifting down to level 1 means there no longer has to be a limit on gatherings - at level 1 the only restriction is on the border. But masks will still be mandatory on public transport and aircraft.
Yes it could be a tough winter (influenza & Covid-wise) for the Northern hemisphere ...
Strange times call for attentive calm. Fortunately some of us have dealt with and prepared for strangeness.
Stay in the moments clarity. Clear path.
Live in the simple.
We are The Refuge.
For example I am in the quiet zone. The stillness of the night. Looking for the good. In people, projects and the words of The Wise. At its heart that is Buddhism, practice, commitment to well being.
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
We are still seeing trends of rising infections but flat and close to zero hospital admissions and intensive care use. People are still talking about a second wave and whether or not it will be the same... some YouTube influencers have banded together and are talking about no longer participating in the whole thing, with a hashtag, causing the government to respond with their own hashtag and so on. It’s a mess.
We have zero cases in my city and 3 in the whole of regional Victoria and yet we all have to wear masks and it’s a struggle to be able to go out to eat etc.
Businesses are suffering.
I feel like the state government is so paranoid about another wave they are just going to push people to the edge with lock down.....
Not a fan.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out... ...after all it was Trump who tweeted the news...If it's true and if he only has mild symptoms, just imagine how he will milk it, we won't hear the last of it...But then again it could be fake news...Either way I can only wish upon him the karma he deserves...Bearing in mind karma is nothing to do with reward & punishment...causes conditions & effects ...
@Bunks said:
We have zero cases in my city and 3 in the whole of regional Victoria and yet we all have to wear masks and it’s a struggle to be able to go out to eat etc.
Businesses are suffering.
I feel like the state government is so paranoid about another wave they are just going to push people to the edge with lock down.....
Not a fan.
@Bunks when it comes to politics & governments... I'm reminded of this quote... 'You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time” ~John Lydgate~
Change is inevitable...Suffering is optional Patience @Bunks Patience...
Two thoughts occur..both probably unduly cynical, 1) will he use this as part of a bid to postpone or invalidate the election. 2) He could use this to “honourably” withdraw his candidacy knowing that he is likely to lose. But it’s probably just me...😏
@Choephal said:
Two thoughts occur..both probably unduly cynical, 1) will he use this as part of a bid to postpone or invalidate the election. 2) He could use this to “honourably” withdraw his candidacy knowing that he is likely to use. But it’s probably just me...😏
I thought the same thing....sadly due to him having no moral standards to speak of and along with his pathological lying,, it's easy for one to become somewhat cynical...
2
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
@Shoshin1 said:
due to him having no moral standards to speak of
Did you hear what he did with the forced sale of the popular app TikTok? He asked for a kickback to the US Treasury and referred to it as ‘key money’, a corrupt practice used by landlords in places like New York to monetise the transfer of rent-controlled apartments. He made a friends deal with Oracle in the end. Disgusting.
Comments
The Prime Minister just announced we will stay at level 3 until the 26th August ....Oh well such is life.....
Join the club @Shoshin! At a safe distance of course 😀
I've had an idea. Holding your breath to hug people!
Individualism verse Collectivism
Why some people won't play by Covid rules
Saw a wonderful documentary/film about how life itself works ... many clues and possibilities about improving our immunity ...
https://fantasticfungi.com/
A member of our local board posted an update earlier this afternoon...on our online community notice board...
Being so close to Auckland and commuters coming and going daily, to all parts of Auckland and beyond....I guess it was only a matter of time...
An interview with HHDL in May....
Well you know... this whole Covid-19 thing... its only death, it’s best to treat it lightly. If you think of it in the grand scheme of things, we have done so much damage to the plant and animal life of planet earth, isn’t it only fair for Gaia to get a few shots in? And after all what’s a million dead on the scale of the planet? It’s a very small fraction of the 7 billion humans alive. I don’t see what we are getting so worked up about.
Ah the irony.....hehe
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-22/victoria-coronavirus-case-forces-the-masked-singer-to-shut-down/12586282
Nothing like zombie apo calipso to get the infected dancing @Kerome ...
“Neither in the sky nor in mid-ocean nor by entering into mountain clefts, nowhere in the world is there a place where one may not be overcome by death.”
Undead Buddha
For most of human history death was fairly commonplace. I think its really only been in the past 100 years or so that we've really been able to push death away. IMO that's mostly a good thing, but it has also let us forget that Mother Nature is still more powerful than us and we don't have the power of gods yet, let alone the wisdom.
I'd say the fear is more about the focus than the reality. There is an element of uncertainty and potential for something worse that generates fear in a lot of people. But there is also the understandable media focus on it. If the media gave daily reports of all the fatalities from medical mistakes, 250,000 dead per year in the US, people would be much more scared of going to the hospital than they are now.
I think a part of wisdom is being able to step back and take the larger, longer scale view. To notice how small we really are and how in another 100 years all this will mean about as much as the 1918 flu did to us before this pandemic.
From a society wide perspective if we compare deaths from COVID to something like traffic fatalities. The average age of death of a COVID patient is around 83 whereas the average age of death from a traffic accident is around 35. The average life years lost is about 10 to 40 or 50. Just looking at body count doesn't really tell the story of the global cost.
All that said a part of compassion is, life matters, people matter. We can and should work to save lives and reduce suffering keeping in mind we probably aren't going to find many perfect solutions here, we are stuck with tradeoffs. Children loosing valuable learning years sets them back in life success much like graduating college during a recession, people often never catch back up. To what extent are we mortgaging their future to help extend the lives of the elderly another decade?
I get frustrated with the most of the dialogue around this. It gets so polarized that its either, no one can die from this ever, no matter the cost. Or F it all let the strong survive, the rest of us will be better off for it.
This is a fairly long video at about half an hour but is well presented and comprehensive on the topic of face masks.
@Vastmind ...Now when I see someone wearing their face mask like that ...I can't help but think "What a dick"
Well the anti lockdowner (which includes the anti maskers & anti vaccinators ) are holding a protest in Auckland CBD because from this coming Monday it will be mandatory to wear masks on all public transport, such as buses, trains ferries and planes....
A local posted the event on the online community noticeboard to draw attention but all she drew was a sharp rebuke from other locals..
It's interesting watching reason gradually losing itself and being replaced by anger, when egos clash...The poster got shot down because she kept posting quotes, some quite offensive...
A local just posted this in response....to the second wave...
And in other news....
Finally there are police now stationed at the ferry terminals both on the island and in Auckland to stop non essential travel, such as day trippers and rebel rousers ...
As we all know, realisation that death is always near, means Covid is our dharma bodhi/buddy ...
Come to think of it ... this should be in the blessing section ...
Stay safe
Avoid Trump Thunking.
Free Your Matrix (and your Mind if available)
For some weeks now we have been taking a supplement called Quercetin. It’s a naturally occurring substance found in a range of fruits and vegetables. The jury is still out on whether it can improve the resistance to Covid..some scientists are unconvinced. It is telling however that some of the leading figures in the field have got themselves and their families on it.
What seems to be definitely the case is that it has been shown to prevent the ability of other members of the corona virus group,such as the SARS virus, to pass through the cell membrane.
I recommend having a google at the evidence and making up your own minds.
Interesting @Choephal ... For those interested here's one of Quercetin.... Clinical Trials>
How Taiwan smashed Covid-19
Well it would seem that as the world's guinea pig Aotearoa (NZ) , medical health experts have found that due to the pre-winter lockdown restrictions, hygiene recommendations eg washing hands, covering your nose and mouth when coughing & sneezing, social distancing and boarder closure, travel restrictions all doing their part in helping to reduce air pollutants ...medical centres and hospitals around the country have noticed a drastic reduction in cases of flu and other respiratory illnesses and people being hospitalised..
>
Interesting...I have been wondering whether that would be the case.
It makes sense that the spread of other viruses of the Corona type would be inhibited by those practices and precautions.
Here in the Northern hemisphere we are about to put it to the test as we enter our cold and flu season..
Yes I thought this would be the case too ...It just makes common sense...As the old saying goes Coughs & Sneezes spread diseases
Aye...🤭
I am still shielding a high risk family member. Just washed my masks. Using online shopping. Medication must arrive tomorrow or I may have to use a device I mostly leave off. Mobile zombie phone. 😱
Tomorrow will be planting winter and spring bulbs. Nothing fancy. Just daffs and Turkish snow drops from supermarket. Trying to get a different online supermarket delivery for next week ... slots may not be available without shielding prompting ...
Blessings and Metta to us one and all. Happy xmas!
The new measures introduced yesterday means that all R.L. sangha meets are off again.
We had just started to put tentative toes back in that water...oh well. It’s all grist to the Dharmic mill.
Dear Friends,
Praise Be to Allah Buddha!
I have taken refuge in my Covid hermetic seal. I will not boil. I will not die until my service is done.
We are the karmic distilling. The effort. The salve.
The cool well.
Sigh!
Where I was sticking close to home over Covid 19, now all my windows also need to be kept sealed shut because the forest and burning home smoke from the USA is so thick & acrid here that visibility has dropped outside to about a couple of hundred yards.
Global weather change has come knocking loudly this week.
Stay safe @how
What I don’t understand is how come infection rates are going up but hospital admissions and intensive care use are going down?
Perhaps younger people are catching it?
Or it's changing and becoming less potent as the Spanish Flu did back in the day
Maybe so. It’s a conundrum, but it’s very relevant, because without hospital admissions it’s not much more serious than the common flu. But even if some younger people are catching it I find it hard to believe that the rates of transmission to older people are drastically different now than at the height of the initial wave.
Perhaps if there is going to be a second wave it will be a lot less deadly than the first. It certainly looks that way.
I also wondered if more folks are just choosing to tough out recovery at home where earlier there was a more automatic seeking of hospital help even when their symptoms were not life threatening.
More testing I'm sure is one factor adding to the number of non-hospitalized cases.
Looks like the UK will bring in some tighter restrictions in the next few days to slow the spread. Hope everyone there is safe?
We are just coming out of Lockdown 2.0. Nice to have a little freedom again 😊
@Kerome , this is something that my mother and I have noticed. Also, how the media pumps the numbers and keep talking about how our sanitary system is on the verge of collapsing. This actually has been an ongoing issue for the last decade, particularly since the cuts on Healthcare due to the "bail out" measures adopted in 2011-12....
Auckland goes from level 2.5 to level 2 at midnight on Wednesday,( reassessed in a fortnight 5th Oct) whilst the rest of Aotearoa (NZ) went back to level 1 today...
Yes it could be a tough winter (influenza & Covid-wise) for the Northern hemisphere ...
...Or perhaps not if simple hygiene practices & social distancing is adhered to...
Dear Friends,
Strange times call for attentive calm. Fortunately some of us have dealt with and prepared for strangeness.
For example I am in the quiet zone. The stillness of the night. Looking for the good. In people, projects and the words of The Wise. At its heart that is Buddhism, practice, commitment to well being.
https://buddhistpsychology.typepad.com/my-blog/
We are still seeing trends of rising infections but flat and close to zero hospital admissions and intensive care use. People are still talking about a second wave and whether or not it will be the same... some YouTube influencers have banded together and are talking about no longer participating in the whole thing, with a hashtag, causing the government to respond with their own hashtag and so on. It’s a mess.
We have zero cases in my city and 3 in the whole of regional Victoria and yet we all have to wear masks and it’s a struggle to be able to go out to eat etc.
Businesses are suffering.
I feel like the state government is so paranoid about another wave they are just going to push people to the edge with lock down.....
Not a fan.
Trump & Melania?
It just like a little flu, another case of democratic hysteria & more fake news.
Nothing a bleach colonic can't correct?
I wish them a speedy recovery 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
It will be interesting to see how this plays out... ...after all it was Trump who tweeted the news...If it's true and if he only has mild symptoms, just imagine how he will milk it, we won't hear the last of it...But then again it could be fake news...Either way I can only wish upon him the karma he deserves...Bearing in mind karma is nothing to do with reward & punishment...causes conditions & effects ...
@Bunks when it comes to politics & governments... I'm reminded of this quote...
'You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time”
~John Lydgate~
Change is inevitable...Suffering is optional Patience @Bunks Patience...
Thanks @Shoshin1 - just a little bit over it. But things are getting better.....until they get worse again 😂
Two thoughts occur..both probably unduly cynical, 1) will he use this as part of a bid to postpone or invalidate the election. 2) He could use this to “honourably” withdraw his candidacy knowing that he is likely to lose. But it’s probably just me...😏
Well said
If they don't make it, what sort of compost will they make?
Just askin' ...
I thought the same thing....sadly due to him having no moral standards to speak of and along with his pathological lying,, it's easy for one to become somewhat cynical...
Did you hear what he did with the forced sale of the popular app TikTok? He asked for a kickback to the US Treasury and referred to it as ‘key money’, a corrupt practice used by landlords in places like New York to monetise the transfer of rent-controlled apartments. He made a friends deal with Oracle in the end. Disgusting.
He even gives corruption a bad name...and that takes some doing...