Weekly update, North Korea decided to start reporting, major outbreak there.
In total 6.11 million new cases were reported last week (up from 3.78 million) to a total of 526,390,898
Also another 12,335 more deaths were reported (up from 11,958) to a total of 6,298,870
USA still rising, deaths as well now (640K -> 770K cases / 2,141 -> 2,303 deaths)
Europe still declining but deaths went up a bit (1.35M -> 1.23M cases / 5,542 -> 5,854 deaths)
The continents
Big rise in Asia all from North Korea which reported 2.24 million cases this week.
Corners of the world
South Africa seems to be going down again after their recent new wave, USA and Australia still climbing
Canada reported 25.0K new cases (down from 32.4K) and 447 deaths (501 last week)
Europe in detail
Since reported deaths went slightly up, the ongoing decline in reported cases seems mostly due to lower testing / more erratic reporting.
At home things are starting to get slightly better. Our oldest is feeling much better, still coughing but up and about. My wife managed to get out of bed a couple times, still very weak, low on ogygen and getting more dehydrated. She needs an IV to get her fluids back up but the wait times are horrendous and her blood pressure is still very high which only goes up when going to the hospital. Fluids come out faster than she can get them in :/
Problem is, it's a long weekend now (Canada day), people like to make campfires and set off fireworks, bad air quality. I already ahd to run to close all the windows again when smoke was coming in. It's also very humid after a micro cell hit this morning which caused chaos. Lot of damage, people died at campsites from falling trees :( The emergency services are very busy this weekend.
Thursday was a nightmare, this is what I wrote then (internet went down as well)
You think you live in a first world country and then everything falls apart...
At around 5pm, after doing the laundry, there is a strange smell in the house. I go investigate and there's water in the basement, from the floor drain. The laundry water was pouring into the basement... 'Luckily' the washing machine was done and the sewage blockage happened near the end of the cycle.
Since my wife needs access to a working toilet, things got critical in a hurry. And it turns out it's nearly impossible to get a plumber willing to go inside a house with Covid. I've called every number I could find for plumbing emergencies, called the county (did a gas line locate so we're cleared to dig, err), the city (send a guy out to check the manhole, couldn't do anything else), the fire department (no answer), police (said to call the health unit), health unit (took info, called back the next day). No solutions. Some of the plumbing companies said get a port-a-potty delivered, she can hardly make it to the bathroom :/
Meanwhile my wife is only getting worse, her blood pressure peaked at 176 over 152, that's stroke level, severe risk. The emergency line advised to take an extra dosage of her blood pressure medication and said it would be at least 2 hours before an ambulance could be out here. They're having problems that there aren't enough beds and every time they bring someone to the hospital they lose their stretcher until they can find a bed. The wait time at the ER is 5+ hours, but to get there, call an Uber (their words...). I doubt an Uber will want to take a Covid patient about to stroke out... Wtf country is this.
Her parents can't risk catching Covid, I can't drive her to the hospital with another kid with Covid at home. It's like check mate... Back to 3rd world living, using plastic bags in the toilet, bowls in the sink to catch the water. It worked at least. Her parents brought a commode chair to use which they happen to have from taking care of another family member. I'm still busy calling any plumbing number I can find, then finally got a call back from a plumber who could do an outside assessment but no guaranteed fix, most likely not going to be able to fix it and $3000 to come out just to look at it at night...
At 10:30 another plumber called back who was ok going in the basement with PPE. He got here an hour later and saved us. He had the camera snake, managed to clear the clog and also find the problem. A section of pipe is sloped the wrong way causing standing water and back flow which traps grease over time, that builds up and then clogs everything up when a big piece dislodges. We're very careful with grease since we've had the basement flooding twice before in 15 years, but the way to pipe is laid, it will happen again. First we need a power flush to get the rest cleared but the pipe needs to be replaced. (which is about 25K to get done if not more, got a 2nd quote for 28K)
Anyway, plumbers with balls are the real heroes, coming out late at night. Not cheap but it did wonders for my wife's stress level and thus blood pressure. Forget about hoarding toilet paper, useless if you can't flush...
I have no idea what we pay taxes for anymore. All the 'services' taxes pay for are pretty useless when needed. She's much better now she doesn't have to go to the hospital just to have access to working plumbing. The high blood pressure spike was mostly due to ptsd from previous experiences at our local hospital.
Another item off the bucket list, diarrhea in a plastic bag. And I wonder if the neighbors saw me peeing in the garden... (It helps to keep the deer out though haha) I found a bucket for our kids to pee in, but they rather held it in. How did our life turn into a stand up comedy routine! At least we could laugh about it after the water started flushing again. No need to dig up the front yard yet, get better first. I need a drink.
Omicron is definitely different than the original strain we think she had in Februari 2020. This time she says it's like an energy vampire. She can hardly stand up, completely exhausted yet can't sleep. She said it feels like she's just a head until the pain reminds her of her limbs.
https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-reports-lowest-covid-19-positivity-rate-since-end-of-february-1.5913685
Yes because the people that get it, can't get a test... or anything for that matter.
