Yes we are on borrowed time. The government plan to cut in half the travellers entering Australia. So in other words make this country even more of a fortress. The delta variant has seeded out all the country. Half is in lockdown. It’s really growing in Sydney. In my state which is referred to as sunny Queensland, the cases have dropped and they are ending lockdown for Townsville and magnetic island and the other south eastern areas apart from Brisbane. At any given time we can get a few hours notice and go into lockdown. Many are beyond over this strategy 18 months in.
Before COVID, in 2019, tourism in Australia accounted for 3.1% of the national GDP, contributing $60.8 billion to the Australian economy. Look out for an economic downturn on top of whatever has already happened with lock-downs.
Oregon became mostly restriction free today. People were out and about everywhere I went. Most of them were not wearing masks. A local restaurant was packed with people waiting to be seated at 5:00 pm. It is going to be a wild 4th of July weekend, minus any fireworks, which were banned because of the three days of blazing hell temperatures, 117°F or 47°C that literally turned vegetation into a giant dried flower arrangement waiting for a match to blow it up.
The death toll from the those days is currently around 80 people and counting. Heat, like COVID takes out the weak and underprivileged. I just read were a few of those deaths were homeless people. Most were old folks with no air-conditioning or fans. One such person, a woman in her 80's lived in a mobile home. That would be like getting cooked alive inside a tin can.
