River Cruisers: How Are Things Where YOU Are?

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, Lois R said:

Good morning🙂Jazz, is the Caledonia part of the "barge cruises"? Or European Waterways? I think I have heard the name before but cannot recall for sure.

No, not barge cruises.  Noble-Caledonia sail three of the original generation of Renaissance Cruises ships [from the early 1990s, ten years before the famous 'R-class'] now named 'Caledonian Sky,' 'Hebridean Sky,' and 'Island Sky' plus a quirky refitted ferry named 'Serenissima.'  All have around 100 passengers.  Completely all-inclusive, including shore excursions – so perfectly set up for the post-Covid rules.

[Lois R]

Hi Jazz, thanks for the information.......just googled them. Looks quite interesting🙂

[acwmom]

We set a record today, for the most snowfall on this date-3 inches!!!! It’s all melted now, but it’s April 21st!!!

 

[Canal archive]

Beautiful photograph! CA

[Roger88]

1 hour ago, acwmom said:

We set a record today, for the most snowfall on this date-3 inches!!!! It’s all melted now, but it’s April 21st!!!

 

Wow, this is some very nice photography right there. Was it a new iPhone or some new Sony camera? The light and the night setting is so beautifully captured

[acwmom]

7 minutes ago, Roger88 said:

Wow, this is some very nice photography right there. Was it a new iPhone or some new Sony camera? The light and the night setting is so beautifully captured

It was at dawn, around 6:30am, and I took it with my iPhone, out my bedroom window. 

Thanks for the compliment!

Robin

[notamermaid]

6 minutes ago, acwmom said:

It was at dawn, around 6:30am, and I took it with my iPhone, out my bedroom window. 

Thank you for sharing. You could fool the world with this and claim you took it in December . Just saying that this would be perfect for a Christmas card - or one of these enhanced light jigsaw puzzles. Beautiful.

 

notamermaid

 

[Lois R]

Hi Robin, 🙂 it really is a beautiful picture. It looks like a picture postcard you could buy!

[notamermaid]

On 4/19/2021 at 3:20 PM, Daisi said:

my sympathies for the loss of your colleague, much to young to pass.  

 

It's true, how you can sit and see the stats, but until you see the face behind them, they just don't seem real.  I remember the page one of the New York newspapers did with pictures and write ups of people who had passed from Covid..and that was only after a few months.  I have been lucky enough not to know anyone who has had Covid, let alone passed from it, but times can change so quickly. 

I phoned someone at work who knew him and she said he had collapsed at work. Just like that. Scary. I like to think I am glad it was not Covid-19 but it is not really a consolation as such. Kind of weird, that is what one thinks (and is asked) these days: "Was it Covid-19 or something else?"

 

A couple of relatives of mine have been infected, they are young and have fully recovered.

 

A lot of things have happened in the last few day with the pandemic and vaccines, I cannot get my head round it tonight. Just two things: we are waiting for the recommendation of our health people for whom to use the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. And with more vaccine delivery in the pipeline health insurance people are quietly talking about relaxing the roll-out plan, potentially even getting rid of the priority list at the end of May. There is much skepticism of that being a good idea, but there is a sense of hope in it.

 

No river cruising in sight in Germany, perhaps second half of May in other countries in Europe, like Portugal? They are doing okay now, but we all know that can change.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[djh1959]

Here in Melbourne, we have just been told that my age group, which is 50-70, can be vaccinated during May.  Now the problem will be to find someone who actually has vaccine to administer it.  The shortages here are ridiculous.

[notamermaid]

@djh1959 I know the frustrating feeling, we have been through that. Now things are a bit brighter. I do not recall - what has been approved with you? Anything beyond Pfizer and AstraZeneca?

 

In Germany another company is working hard, with the trials looking promising. CureVac is a company based in the beautiful university town of Tübingen, they are in rolling review with EMA, we will hear more during May probably: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/08/covid-vaccine-maker-curevac-hopes-shot-will-get-eu-approval-in-june.html

 

notamermaid

 

[rcaruso]

1 hour ago, notamermaid said:

@djh1959 I know the frustrating feeling, we have been through that. Now things are a bit brighter. I do not recall - what has been approved with you? Anything beyond Pfizer and AstraZeneca?

 

In Germany another company is working hard, with the trials looking promising. CureVac is a company based in the beautiful university town of Tübingen, they are in rolling review with EMA, we will hear more during May probably: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/08/covid-vaccine-maker-curevac-hopes-shot-will-get-eu-approval-in-june.html

 

notamermaid

 

My friends in Karlstadt said lock downs till June 30, is that true in the Rhine area?

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, rcaruso said:

My friends in Karlstadt said lock downs till June 30, is that true in the Rhine area?

Yes - and no. It is more complicated and I will get back to you later.

 

Before everyone thinks we have decided to shut the country down till 30 June let me assure you that this is not the case...

 

notamermaid 

 

 

[notamermaid]

Here goes. While I was sorting my thoughts and checking the topic on DW I found the news that the Bundesrat has agreed to the new legislation. So here is the full works: https://m.dw.com/en/coronavirus-bundesrat-approves-nationwide-covid-restrictions/a-57285117

 

For those who do not want the full lesson of German politics and federal law, here is a short summary of the "lock down till 30 June" topic. Basics: federal democracy equals 16 states implementing federal recommendation of how to deal with third wave as they see fit. Federal government worried about infection rates leads to wanting to have power to have law amended. States agree, Bundestag agrees then, now Bundesrat has just agreed, Bundespräsident now just needs to find a pen to sign it, expected to happen this afternoon. Done. Means in essence that until 30 June this law applies. It is the automatic emergency break of 100 when the states have to implement the rules by federal law in the local authorities, under 100 the decision goes back to state ruling as they see fit. Right now this means strict measures for much of Germany, most local authorities are over 100, from closing shops and schools to curfews.

 

Karlstadt is in Bavaria so depending on developments may see earlier or later reopening than Rhine areas. Infection rates differ a lot throughout the country. Doing best right now is a large part of Schleswig-Holstein.

 

Talking of the North: Denmark has a stockpile of 200,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses that they cannot use right now so the country has decided to "lend" 55,000 to its neighbour, the border region in Germany. Now, that is nice.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[rcaruso]

just read Modehaus Koch in Karlstadt is closing  (large clothing store) until the restrictions ease.  Right now in Karlstadt you can get an appointment to shop but must have a negative covid test.

[Sturmin]

First of all thank you Notamermaid for info about Germany and the vaccines.

This is a link to the dashboard for North Dakota's covid numbers.  There are also links on the page to the vaccinations and to the school numbers both college and K-12. This is very simple and easy to use.  One of the most important numbers I see are the extremely low numbers in our schools.  Our schools have been open all year with some caveats. To me,  this looks like school age children have already reached herd immunity with our any vaccinations. That's just what the numbers show me. 

https://www.health.nd.gov/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/north-dakota-coronavirus-cases

 

I wish other government sites had a simple and user friendly dashboards.

 

[notamermaid]

49 minutes ago, rcaruso said:

just read Modehaus Koch in Karlstadt is closing  (large clothing store) until the restrictions ease.  Right now in Karlstadt you can get an appointment to shop but must have a negative covid test.

That is quite typical of what is happening. Other version is "phone up and collect" or "click (on online shopping basket) and collect", again, depending on the rules applied. Brutal version is complete closure.

 

We are averaging over 400,000 first jabs a day so things are looking better, but we are a long way away from indoor dining and indoor events.

 

I heard on Monday that the events people I sometimes work (overlap tourism/event organisation) with have had to cancel more stuff so no weekend work for me from them either. Not that I am bored but I fancy having a bit more money come in.

 

notamermaid

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, Sturmin said:

First of all thank you Notamermaid for info about Germany and the vaccines.

This is a link to the dashboard for North Dakota's covid numbers.  There are also links on the page to the vaccinations and to the school numbers both college and K-12. This is very simple and easy to use.  One of the most important numbers I see are the extremely low numbers in our schools.  Our schools have been open all year with some caveats. To me,  this looks like school age children have already reached herd immunity with our any vaccinations. That's just what the numbers show me. 

https://www.health.nd.gov/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/north-dakota-coronavirus-cases

 

I wish other government sites had a simple and user friendly dashboards.

 

I saw a news item that said North Dakota is offering vaccine jabs to Canadian truck drivers.  This sounds like both a nice gesture and a win-win [as it will remove one source of transmission in North Dakota] – but then I remembered how bad DW and I felt from our 2nd jab of Moderna and wondered if there will be accidents when the side effects strike truck drivers en route home!

[bluestocking7]

Today we cancelled and rebooked Rhine and Danube cruises from this summer to summer 2022 - Tauck.  We were able to get two triples on the Rhine before they got sold out.  These are of course already rebooked from 2020.  Here's hoping!

[notamermaid]

7 hours ago, Sturmin said:

This is a link to the dashboard for North Dakota's covid numbers. 

Very elaborate. We have a health authority dashboard similar to the one the Johns Hopkins University uses for the case figures. And there is a separate one for the vaccinations, that is the one I usually quote from.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

Jazzbeau I wouldn’t worry these truck drivers are usually pretty strong characters, My neighbour in Sandhurst was a truck driver a pretty hefty guy until he interacted with my dog then he was a pussycat. CA

[Coral]

9 hours ago, Sturmin said:

First of all thank you Notamermaid for info about Germany and the vaccines.

This is a link to the dashboard for North Dakota's covid numbers.  There are also links on the page to the vaccinations and to the school numbers both college and K-12. This is very simple and easy to use.  One of the most important numbers I see are the extremely low numbers in our schools.  Our schools have been open all year with some caveats. To me,  this looks like school age children have already reached herd immunity with our any vaccinations. That's just what the numbers show me. 

https://www.health.nd.gov/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/north-dakota-coronavirus-cases

 

I wish other government sites had a simple and user friendly dashboards.

 

Someone else from the Midwest! We are few and far between on this board.

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Jazzbeau I wouldn’t worry these truck drivers are usually pretty strong characters, My neighbour in Sandhurst was a truck driver a pretty hefty guy until he interacted with my dog then he was a pussycat. CA

That took a different turn.  I was expecting the dog to end up a gelding!

[djh1959]

22 hours ago, notamermaid said:

@djh1959 I know the frustrating feeling, we have been through that. Now things are a bit brighter. I do not recall - what has been approved with you? Anything beyond Pfizer and AstraZeneca?

 

 

At this stage we only have minimal amounts of Pfizer as we cannot get the supplies that we were contracted to get.  We have AstraZeneca as we are now manufacturing that here.  The plan is to start manufacturing Pfizer too, but that won't be up and running until next year.

 

Further Pfizer doses are on order, but won't arrive until the final quarter of the year, which means our under 50s have to wait until then to be vaccinated.

50s and over can still have AZ, so that is what I will be having.

 

Sadly more lockdowns are starting to happen here.  Perth is now in a three day lockdown, due to covid yet again escaping from a quarantine hotel. 

 

Unfortunately the man involved flew to Melbourne and has now tested positive, so I expect Melbourne will yet again be in lockdown.  

 

This is never going to end unless we stop people travelling from one country to another.  I know they want to come home, but until we are all vaccinated it is just madness to allow flights in.

[Canal archive]

27 minutes ago, djh1959 said:

This is never going to end unless we stop people travelling from one country to another.  I know they want to come home, but until we are all vaccinated it is just madness to allow flights in.

Never a truer word said! 
 

(quite pleased I’ve never copied like that before) CA