Rui CarmoAfter my last post on the COVID-19 topic, there hasn’t been much to add, but a short update seems to be worthwhile now that we’re taking some steps out of lockdown.
We’re not out of the woods yet, but the overall curve seems to be (finally) flattening, even if Rt is creeping slowly up again:
This does not mean short-term figures are more encouraging, though, as now that kids are back in schools and businesses are re-opening there is already a slight uptick that is definitely not a artifact of poor reporting:
And, of course, vaccination is still a mess. We have yet to start vaccinating the active population (we’re barely getting started on the 70+ folks), so I expect that new case uptick to creep upward in coming weeks:
A Light In The Data Tunnel
Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed that we now have Rt figures (seeing as it is now finally an official “progress to zero” index), but to be honest the official data sources are still crap.
So I recently switched to integrating the dssg-pt/covid19-data datasets instead of manually typing in figures every day. I now merge stuff in and update my dashboard semi-automatically every couple of days or so, which has freed up my (almost non-existent) lunchtimes a fair bit.
But yes, it’s been this long and there is still no official data API, or decent datasets other than community-curated ones. My outrage has abated, but my disillusionment towards the folk leading the government’s digital initiatives keeps growing as all they announce amounts to useless fluff pieces.
Practical Considerations
Life goes on mostly as before, except that I now leave the house once or twice a day to fetch the kids from school and still see a fair chunk of people without masks (or nary a care).
Getting back outside is great, but a year’s worth of not walking every day (or hardly walking) has taken its toll and I am very much out of shape. I suppose it would be much worse if I didn’t have a standing desk, but it is still a literal pain.
Also, I still don’t expect to travel anywhere this year. Given the glacial roll-out (and some roll-backs) of vaccination, I might get a shot after Summer, but the rest of Europe is still a shambles and I’m pretty sure that next Winter we’ll have a reprise of sorts.
So all I can do for now is wait, and work, and do more work…