Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.

Canberra’s coronavirus restrictions were eased slightly at the end of last week and will be further eased at the end of this week. Some restrictions will remain but we can now connect again with friends and family, albeit in small numbers. Stay-at-home provisions have applied since Delta arrived here nine weeks ago. During that time, I have taken great comfort from the competent, calm, compassionate and informative approach of public health officials in our local government. The health team and the government could not have been any clearer about what they needed us to do, and because no sector of the community were given preferential treatment over another, Ken Behrens* largely did what was asked of us. I think it is fair to say that at times our Chief Health Officer, Dr Kerryn Coleman, outshone others in the spotlight. I’m such a fan.

One of the many strategies to help us open safely has been to get as many Canberrans vaccinated as quickly as possible. Just prior to lockdown, approximately 48 percent of the Canberra population over 12 years of age had had one dose of one of the Covid vaccines, while just shy of 25 percent of us were fully vaccinated. Now 98 percent of us have had one dose and 83 percent of eligible Canberrans are already fully vaccinated. Howzat! Thankfully the rest of Australia is not far behind us. Unfortunately, a small number of Canberrans have died over this period and our hearts go out to their families. The vaccines are very effective but as we have learned there still can be breakthrough infections. There is also likely a growing group of Canberrans whose vaccine protection is waning and who, therefore, will need to get a top up quite soon. It does sound like there will be no rest yet for the public health team and frontline health workers who have been working so tirelessly to keep us safe.

Today, my shout-out is to Canberra’s health workers, and Dr Coleman in particular. Thanks for caring. As Dr Coleman is originally a sand-groper (that is, someone from Western Australia), I thought I would choose my Friday song from a singer/songwriter from that state. Today, I have chosen Andrew Winton, performing his song Number’s Down. How apt, don’t you think? The chorus is very easy, so sing it with me.

Take care, everyone.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

* Each day over the last nine weeks, members of the ACT government have held a press conference to keep Canberrans informed of how the Delta outbreak was unfolding and the necessary steps to keep us safe. During one of these press conferences, there was a sub-titling error that referred to Canberrans as Ken Behrens and henceforth the name has been adopted wholeheartedly by the Canberra community.

39 thoughts on “Numbers Down”

    1. Case numbers are expected to go up when restrictions are loosened, Heather, but hopefully fewer people will get seriously ill. I won’t be rushing out to indoor activities, but am looking forward to catching up in the park with a couple of friends for brunch.
      I saw Andrew Winton at our Folk Festival here years ago and really enjoyed his music.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Yes, hopefully the high vaccination rate won’t mean the collapse of your health care system. Our ICU’s are full and many non-covid procedures cancelled. I bet Andrew Winton would be great to see live! Hopefully one day again festivals will return!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Again, heartbreaking, Heather. In a couple of the other states here, ambulances have not been able to transfer urgent patients because hospitals are struggling, so we are dealing with the same thing. I would do anything to avoid going to hospital ordinarily.
        Andrew Winton is great live. He tells good jokes and stories. I think our Folk Festival is going ahead next year. I don’t think I will go because I need to sort out my hearing which I have been putting off. It will be hard to get into specialists I suspect as they will have a huge back log.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. We are a tiny city-based jurisdiction so it is somewhat easier to get sround to vulnerable communities here, Margaret. Pop up vaccination clinics seem to have been a great way of providing vaccine access to people who haven’t been bothered to organise an appointment. There is a lot of apathy rather than fierce hesitancy. Every little bit helps.

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  3. I love blues slide guitar!! What a great song! COVID on the decline is good, too. Three cheers to the people and leaders of your state for listening to (and acting upon) the voices of reason!

    Here in the “Live Free and Die” state, COVID numbers are up, people are dying, and anti-vaxxers are staging protests all over the place. God help us when the Thanksgiving surge hits.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Liz. We are relieved, that’s for sure.
      It is super weird, don’t you think? There must be so many doctors in the US that aren’t recommending vaccination otherwise why would so many people not be jumping at the chance to be vaccinated? I wonder how those doctors manage to keep their medical licence …

      Liked by 1 person

      1. From what I’m seeing, US doctors are begging their patients to get vaccinated. I heard from my niece last week, who lives in New York, and she shared Facebook posts from people she knows who are so rabidly anti-vaxx, they are exhibiting cult behavior. In my state, it’s misguided politics, ie, if the government says I have to do something, I refuse to do it. Ugh.

        Liked by 1 person

      1. ❤ That's truly wonderful!

        We're looking at boosters next week, thank goodness. A friend of mine was coming through town and wanted to meet for lunch (if I've told you, forgive me. My brain hurts). She's not vaccinated. I had to figure that out. I didn't want to meet her — not that I am that worried about getting sick but because of something I couldn't quite wrap my head around. Then I thought, "Whoa Martha, you're worried about hurting her feelings and she doesn't care if she kills people." That was that.

        Liked by 1 person

  8. Well done to the ken behrens community. Gives a certain amount of security to think the jab is going to help us get back to some sort of “ normal” living again. I’m still hoping to get to Tassie in 3 weeks time 🤞

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Woohoo! to Health Workers!
    I celebrate the good news with you, Tracy! as we bop to the blue-grassy vibe of Andrew Winton. I love how musical sounds cross continents and we enjoy it all the same!

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  13. Yayy for Ken Behrens!! I hope you all stay ahead of the curve. Silly us…we keep touting the number of people vaccinated. Obviously it is going to be the highest looking at our population. Nobody talks about the percentage. Moreover we suppress data, releasing it when it suits us! 😏
    Andrew Winton is awesome!!

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