Fears and thoughts in South Africa

Morning all.

Well at least sun is shining.

Stats updated, UK has passed Italy in total deaths.

Plenty talk in racing circles but no conclusions?

Its probably a good time to regroup and get everything in place before racing does eventually get underway.

Not sure when the next big call from the President is due?

All we can ask is "do you know where your going to"?

Apt song Dave in the light of current events.

American Tobacco's challenge on hold.
Tito " swallowing rocks".
ANCWL playing the race card.
Associated Media Publishing and Caxtons closing shop.
Debacle re social grants collections.
Debacle re food parcel distributions.
Debacle re when schools etc reopen.
Debacle re ...............

Cry the Beloved Country.

I am happy to report i had my forehead temperature taken three times today. each time i had no idea what the masked avenger behind the mask said and if the 30 something i clocked in at is a good score. tomorrow i am going to sit in the sun for an hour and then go try beat my best score. the avenger may freak out but at least we will know the machine is working.

Not being funny, I’ve had nearly every symptom of Covid for 10 years

Morning all its Thursday and we all appear in a state of limbo.

Well had a few problems with Netflix. Have you ever phoned them?
Superb service, spoke to a lady in Amsterdam that was Italian and she told me it was actually the Samsung tv?
Now they were a different story. You are on a talk chat with a technical assistant but before you speak to someone that can help you, its card details punched in on line.
Well i have time on my hands and worked it out by pushing many buttons.
Call me if you need help on factory settings etc.

Think I will go for a walk to personally meet all these barking dogs that have been neighbours for years.
Will check if pub is open?

I am sure the time our horses run we will have forgotten their names

From AMERICA
HORSE WITH NO NAME......

IMO, the world is starting to realize that one can not go sit in a corner and wait for this to pass - one needs to get on with life - mask or no mask (which should be a personal choice imo) - this virus is going to be part of life like the 'flu (yes I know there is no cure for Covid-19)

So people are going to be infected and some will die - but so do others from the 'flu - the only advantage imo of pro-longing the lock-down, is to possibly ''flatten the curve' to assist with treatment and health facilities not being overrun - but even that may not be really that helpful - according to the Health Minister - so we might as well get on with it.

As an aside, should local racing eventually get the go-ahead, will the jocks be riding with masks - as an extension of the owner's colors

A late good morning

Had a bad gout attack but have been to chemist for the magic mixture.

I tried some of that 70% alcohol hand sanitizer with ginger beer and oranges ( sure it was the oranges) that caused the problem.

Plenty racing threads and tv shows but its getting too much to take it all in.
Sure everyone is trying to get the show on the road and hope Government will lend a sympathetic ear.

Its a bit late for a song but after all the power struggles and wheeling and dealings, hope we can all make it better in the morning.
From the classic album Tapestry.

Thanks Dave, great album.

SA's confirmed Covid-19 cases increased to 8,895, a single-day increase of 663. There were also 17 new deaths reported, taking the toll to 178.

These were the biggest single-day increases reported since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak in the country.

Of the deaths, nine were from the Western Cape, there were three each in the Eastern Cape and Gauteng, and two from KwaZulu-Natal.

Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize made the figures available in a statement on Friday night. They were based on 15,599 tests.

Covid-19 kills second Western Cape nurse as deaths hit 87
The ANC in the Western Cape called on Friday for the urgent return of level 5 lockdown in the province, home to 56% of the country's confirmed ...
NEWS11 hours ago
The deaths did not all take place in the last 24 hours, with the minister stating that there had “been a delay in reporting some of these deaths due to the stringent verification processes we had undertaken”.

“As of May 7 we had 435 patients in hospital, of which 45 were in high care, 77 were in ICU and, of those, 40 were being ventilated. Our hospitalisation rate remains at 5% of all Covid-19 diagnosed patients,” the statement said.


No update was provided on the number of recoveries announced on Wednesday.

Mkhize said there were particular concerns around the Western Cape, which accounted for 76% of new cases in the last 24 hours. The next-worst was the Eastern Cape, with 9% of new cases in the last 24 hours.

On Monday, the Western Cape had a recorded 3,362 cases, but by Friday this had climbed to 4,497 cases — an increase of 1,135.

The Eastern Cape had 814 cases on Monday, and 989 on Friday — an increase of 175.

The two provinces accounted for 1,310 (or 78.2%) of the country's total 1,675 increase in cases between Monday and Friday.

The provincial breakdown of cases on Thursday was provided as:

Western Cape — 4,497;
Gauteng — 1,851;
KwaZulu-Natal — 1, 253;
Eastern Cape — 989;
Free State — 133;
Mpumalanga — 60;
Limpopo — 43;
North West — 42; and
Northern Cape — 27.
The number of deaths and recoveries were recorded as:

Western Cape — 99 deaths, 1,122 recoveries;
KwaZulu-Natal — 42 deaths, 420 recoveries;
Eastern Cape — 21 deaths, 388 recoveries;
Gauteng — 18 deaths, 1,036 recoveries;
Free State — 6 deaths, 102 recoveries;
Limpopo — 3 deaths, 27 recoveries;
Mpumalanga — 0 deaths, 22 recoveries;
North West — 0 deaths, 20 recoveries; and
Northern Cape — 0 deaths, 16 recoveries.
Mkhize said visits to the Western Cape and Eastern Cape would begin this weekend.

“We will be embarking on oversight visits to the Eastern Cape and Western Cape this weekend. These will be followed by presidential visits to both provinces later next week. The provinces have recorded the two highest new cases in the past 24 hours with the Western Cape accounting for 76% of new cases and the Eastern Cape accounting for 9% of new cases. In addition, the Western Cape has just over 50% of the Covid-19 burden in SA, recording the highest deaths as well.

“With interprovincial movement between these provinces being an issue, it will be crucial for us to understand the dynamics driving the epidemic in this region and assist where necessary. We know that a lot of good work has been done by the leadership of these provinces. We also acknowledge the commitment and hard work of our health professionals and front-line workers- both in public and private sectors. We look forward to bolstering the efforts already in place to curb further spread of Covid-19,” said Mkhize.

Morning and thanks for latest Stats on a Saturday morning.
The World Stats are on the Covid 19 thread to compare.

Its weekend but things certainly on the move.
Applications to Government for the horses.
Petitions being signed.
Phumelela have support from MOD.
Etc

Plus if Government can make "common sense" calls ? We can look forward to some kind of positive upswing.

Lets give a song to MODs .
Now in my day it was Mods and Rockers and I was a Mod but with this long grey beard, I look more like a Rocker.

Hopefully next year we can say to Mary and her daughter's MOD.
"Your the best thing"

Morning all on MOTHERS day.
Might be difficult to buy a present or take your Mum for a meal with BOTTLE OF WINE.
Or even visit, so a nice phone call this year 👍

Its weekend so I guess everything on hold but massive moves on the racing front and well done to Vee with his TV plea.

Still waiting for the Government to make a few common sense calls and maybe listening to the DA call for relaxation on lockdown will help.

Song for today is from one of my favorite artist
Peter Gabriel to all South Africans

my song of the day