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COVID – week 99 – January 31 – February 6

Weekend – Omicron starts working through NZ; hopefully the vaccination drive means the impact is low.

Cases are on the rapid decrease here in Washington State; tests and N95/KN95 masks are now readily available. I hope the stockpiles get replenished for the next wave.

Friday – US health systems are "broken", full hospitals, understaffed.

Thursday – following record cases, Europe set for a spring and summer of "tranquility" WHO

Wednesday – COVID hospitalisations dropping in Western Washington State.

Tuesday – BA.2 subvariant of Omicron is picking up; re-infections seem to be picking up.

Monday – Spotify vs. Joe Rogan and misinformation vs. Neil Young. Downing Street parties.

This time last year – "US is blind to mutations and spread"

This time 2020 – the quiet between "first case" and "panic".

  The Guardian The Seattle Times
31 Jan here here
1 Feb here here
2 Feb here here
3 Feb here here
4 Feb here here
5 Feb here here
6 Feb here  

https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live

https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/

COVID – week 98 – January 24 – January 30

Weekend – well – the case count is literally off the chart, again. This may be bad date for one day, but there are still 24k+ cases being detected and reported. The case rate per 100k shows most of the case density is in the east of Washington.

Friday – UK cases, hospitalisation and deaths dropping. Continued indication that the main wave of Omicron is past in parts of the US and UK. On the flip side, the lagging indicator – deaths – are reaching record levels across the US.

Thursday – free N95 masks coming to local pharmacies – as a result of the 400M mask federal effort. These are from the National Strategic Stockpile. I hope these get cycled into first line, health care, educator and then community use – and the stockpile gets rebuilt quickly.

Wednesday – King County Omicron cases are dropping, by over 40% in the last week, hopefully a positive sign that vaccinations, boosters, immunity will give us a healthier summer. Many places emerging from Omicron and removing restrictions.

Tuesday – Possible conflict in Ukraine and the woes of Boris Johnson are pushing Covid news below the fold.

Monday – US federal and state governments are shipping N95/KN95 masks and lateral flow tests to homes. Our WA State tests arrived within 2 days, via Amazon.

This time last year – vaccines, supply and demand, variants and testing. Watched the documentary "76 Days". Mask wearing is hyper partisan.

This time 2020 – the daily blog pre-amble. Looking back at diaries, planners and notes – this was still "in the office" and there was some nervous talk about the "Chinese flu" and the recent case in Washington. One of the team had recently flown through SE Asia returning from vacation, and spread a virulent cold/cough through the team.

  The Guardian The Seattle Times
24 Jan here here
25 Jan here here
26 Jan here here
27 Jan here here
28 Jan here here
29 Jan here here
30 Jan here  

https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live

https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/

COVID – week 97 – January 17 – January 23

Weekend – Omicron is spreading in New Zealand; hopefully the previous lockdowns and vaccination drives (>93% fully vaccinated) mean this is as uneventful as possible.

UK Omicron cases peaked in adults, continue to build in kids, who are now passing it back to parents. (@ProfColinDavis)

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Weekly look at Washington State. A couple of days lag on the reported data; but hopefully the peak in cases has passed us.

Still only 63% of the State fully vaccinated; still very patchy and closely aligned with voting patterns.

Friday – "2 shots and a booster"; or to be more succinct – a three course immunisation. New Omicron variant "BA.2" in the wild.

Thursday – US Gov starts to provide N95 masks and lateral flow tests; good, but tbh three+ months late. Looking forward, there is a distinct "post omicron" sense that masks, restrictions and testing are going to go away, and Covid just becomes endemic. I predict a quiet summer and another combined "flu/covid" winter. Boosters and flu shots delivered in one.

Wednesday – We managed to get lateral flow tests from Target (a miracle!) negative on both. PCR tests done yesterday, waiting for those results.

PXL_20220120_001146498

Tuesday – 500k new cases in France, Italy 230k cases. UK on the down side of the curve. More Covid exposure in the house; and similar "numb nose, strange smell" symptoms. PCR test done.

Monday – "majority of Seattle areas 200k unvaccinated, will not get the vaccine" meaning variants, breakouts and one of the mutations will kill thousands.

This time last year – two years sine the first COVID case in Washington State. Mutations and concern about breakouts. Vaccinations ramping up. The Seattle Times link naming goes around again – adding -2 to urls.

  The Guardian The Seattle Times
17 Jan here here
18 Jan here here
19 Jan here here
20 Jan here here
21 Jan here here
22 Jan here here
23 Jan here  

https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live

https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/

COVID – week 96 – January 10 – January 16

Weekend – the usual glimpse at state data, and there are a lot of cases, hospitalisations, and the death rate is flat. 77% omicron. UK case rates are still 80k+; but falling rapidly.

Friday – school districts locally continue to move to remote learning due to staff shortages. That rapid peak of cases, the wave of hospitalisations and deaths is coming behind.

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Thursday – UK cases are dropping; virus traces in sewage in Boston, MA show that cases may also have peaked.

Wednesday – rapidly approaching the two year anniversary of the first cases of Covid in the US, here in Washington State. Schools are closing because of cases in teachers, support staff, bus drivers, etc.

Tuesday – record breaking case counts across Western Europe; UK looks to be declining; SA see omicron rapidly burning out. CDC now recommending N95/KN95 masks. “Up to 60% of KN95 masks are counterfeit”

Monday – record hospital admissions in the US – over 132k hospitalised. Work from home mandate in Sweden. New Zealand preparing for omicron; there’s a lot that can be learned.

This time last year – “will variants evade the current vaccines”, the shock of 60k+ cases per day in the UK, 2500 cases in Washington State.

The Guardian The Seattle Times
10 Jan here here
11 Jan here here
12 Jan here here
13 Jan here here
14 Jan here here
15 Jan here here
16 Jan here

https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live

https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/

COVID – week 95 – January 3 – January 9

Weekend – let’s take a look at local, Washington state data. Oh boy.

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Friday – news of possible Covid exposure; so one of the household is off to get a PCR test tomorrow. Another look for rapid, at-home, lateral flow tests – and there are none to be had at any local pharmacy within ~75 miles; what stock comes in is gone within 5 minutes.

Thursday – boosters approved in the US for 12-15 year olds; last in the house scheduled for that. UK NHS declaring critical situations.

Wednesday – every day brings a new eyewatering record, 200k+ cases per day in the UK, 1M in the US, 1 in 15 had Covid in England last week.

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Tuesday – over 1 million new cases in the US, 220k new cases in the UK. “Fourth shot gives 5x antibody boost”

Monday – UK NHS trusts buckling under the pressures of staff illness, staff burnout and the numbers of folk being hospitalised. Boosters to be approved in US from mid-week for all over 12.

Continued vast case numbers in the UK; and a large upward pressure on hospitals.

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This time last year – looking back at the huge wave in cases, hospitalisations and deaths in the UK. Washington State was starting the planning for mass vaccination sites.

The Guardian The Seattle Times
3 Jan here here
4 Jan here here
5 Jan here here
6 Jan here here
7 Jan here here
8 Jan here here
9 Jan here

https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live

https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/

1921 England & Wales Census

Find My Past have the exclusive release of the 1921 England & Wales Census – and as many know this is a big one.

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The 1931 Census was destroyed by fire in 1942, there was no 1941 Census, and the next one to be released will be 1951 in 2051! The 1939 Register is a half-way house, it’s got some great detail (like dates of birth and some married name tracking) – but none of the other information that is useful.

I was concerned about the micro-transaction nature of this – £2.50 per transcript, £3.50 for each image – even for Pro users. I’ll be carefully selecting which records to view; might be just six.

COVID – week 94 – December 27 – January 2

Weekend – Omicron wave in the US looks to be driven by teens and young adults; certainly a large uptick locally. Oh – and that local uptick; a vast number of tests being done, and a corresponding number of positive cases.

Friday – The last day of 2021; the day before year 3 of Covid. US expecting a “Viral Blizzard”, South Africa seeing the start of a rapid burnout and decline of omicron cases. Those UK numbers – the jump yesterday in hospitalisation, the slight jump in deaths. Sign of the next month I fear. The US probably looks similar.

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Thursday – University of Washington are overwhelmed with PCR tests; so restrictions going in to only test sympomatic and contact traced people. Short version – pooling becomes less effective when 50% of your tests are positive.

Wednesday – Florida seeing record cases, hospitalisation surge to follow. New Year’s Eve celebrations “should be cancelled”. 183k cases in the UK. By close of week the step jumps from 40k per day, to 85k per day, to 130k up to 180k+ is going to look like a rocket taking off. Exponential growth.

Tuesday – here’s the first part of the pre-Christmas data from the State. Not unsurprising – there’s a massive jump in positive cases; this is most likely on the back of the leap in tests being performed. The ten days before Christmas there was a huge rush to get tested, and there were shortages of home lateral flow tests. Infographic as always from The Seattle Times. King County reports almost 200% jump in positive cases, US health officials are looking at an early January surge. 13% of PCR tests in Seattle were positive.

Monday – reporting figures look partial due to the holiday weekend. UK shows 98k positive cases.

This time last year – “soon this will be a full year of working from home, and school from home”, early vaccine rollouts in the US were “being botched”

The Guardian The Seattle Times
27 Dec here here
28 Dec here here
29 Dec here here
30 Dec here here
31 Dec here here
1 Jan here here
2 Jan here

https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live

https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/

COVID – week 93 – December 20 – December 26

Weekend – Record new cases around the globe, US and UK included, families getting together for Christmas. NSW, Australia Health Minister says “get vaccinated, we’re all going to get omicron”.

Friday – 1.7M new Covid cases in the UK last week.

Thursday – escalating daily cases in the UK. Today – almost 120k. Four vaccinations may be needed to give enough protection.

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Wednesday – UK NHS planning for a “super surge”. 106k cases in the UK yesterday. Early reports from Scotland suggest that omicron is serious, but may not have the same level of hospitalisations as delta. That being said; still early; and even a small fraction of positive cases at this number will overwhelm health systems.

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Tuesday – UW moves to online learning again in the new year. Negative tests in the house. That’s a relief. 90k+ positive cases in the UK for almost a week. Carefully watching hospitalisation data, which lags by ~15 days.

Graphic from The Guardian.

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Monday – heading into Christmas and New Year with raging positive cases, and the potential of a huge funnel leading to hospital collapse. Potential positive exposure in the house; PCR test done, waiting for results. There are no lateral flow tests to be had within 100 miles.

This time last year – “the mutation is everywhere” – the story repeats. The shock of 40k cases daily in the UK.

The Guardian The Seattle Times
20 Dec here here
21 Dec here here
22 Dec here here
23 Dec here here
24 Dec here here
25 Dec here here
26 Dec here

https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live

https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/

Ubiquiti NVR and cameras – solving adoption woes

Finally Ubiquiti got their supply chains started up – and I sprung for the Ubiquiti NVR and a set of cameras.

The cameras look great (I’ll update with some photos later), at first glance looking well made and quite solid.

Getting them “adopted” by the NVR was a real pain. Two were discovered immediately, the other two.. well here’s my reminder post on that.

My troubleshooting list:

  • usual POE fun: port status, POE injector status, cable swap.
  • is the camera online, IP address?
  • port scan of the camera, are tcp22, tcp80 (ssh/web) open?
  • web browse to the camera, can you log in?
  • physical reset of the cameras (paper clip, 10 seconds, reboot)
  • set the upstream NVR manually through the camera config

This was buried on the Ubiquiti support site:

UniFi Protect – Adopt devices – Ubiquiti Support and Help Center