buick

i'm in the 'we are peaking' camp and i'm starting to get a little worried about that forecast. i focus on the the 7 day average for daily deaths. it was 182 from the 10th to the 14th of this month, i didn't think a peak was in but now we are at the 250 range for the last 5-6 days. i'm really hoping this is the peak. no more daily deaths of 300+. we need some low 200 range real bad right now.

when i was looking at the requirements on how to come back to thailand early this year, the consulate in los angeles told me the requirements for non O with re-entry permit were the same as non OA. that included the police/FBI clearance and health insurance. then the vaccines arrived in the US so i decided to stay longer to get the vaccine. it took until mid may to get the second dose and my permit expired end of may. so i ended up coming back visa exempt. but there was a recent thread on this same topic and a member of the forum said he worked with the los angeles consulate and came back on re-entry permit, no problem. no health (other than covid insurance), no police checks. in that somewhat recent thread, it appeared that some consulates eased the requirements and others had not.

i'm with you to some extent. i think the lockdowns are given too much credit for the 'success' of bringing the numbers down (cases/deaths). but it does seem like some type of restrictions are needed, office workers as an example, filling up office towers with people in major cities doesn't seem like a good idea. restaurants should remain open with limited capacity seating. some countries can manage this type of 'very limited lockdown' better than others. i think the damage being done to the children will show up soon enough and will be far worse than people expect. i sure hope i'm wrong on that one. i've also always wondered why one can't travel from a 'red zone' to another 'red zone'. last winter, why not have flights btwn the USA and the UK for example. both had huge infection rates. would it really make a difference if thousands of people flew btwn the two countries each day ? i understand why western australia does not want anyone from new south wales rolling into town right now. there are lots of things to say on the matter but again i don't think the lockdowns have saved as many lives as the 'experts' often tout and the curve comes down, lockdown or no lockdown.