World 12.6 million Peru 310K+ Chile 310K+
A few recreational activities like fishing and golf are allowed this time under Stage Three restrictions in Victoria, with extra conditions. Golf has been restricted to playing in pairs, and the previous restrictions are still in place; no bunker rakes, byo sand bucket, don’t touch flag sticks and no nearest the pins, among other rules to ensure that there is physical distancing. It’s good that golf courses have stayed open this time. It’s one of the few sports that can be played safely without any physical contact. A three or four hour walk in the winter sunshine does me the world of good. In the middle of this craziness, it’s good to feel normal occasionally.
It’s a wet weekend in Melbourne which will help to keep people at home. We’re on the verge of a precipice in terms of the spread of this virus. A tougher lockdown may be necessary. Heaven forbid we end up with daily numbers in the thousands like so many other parts of the world. There were 216 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Victoria overnight. Brett Sutton said today that he is hopeful that we’ll start to see numbers start to come down over the next few days.
There were over 70,000 new infections in the US in the past 24 hours and 45,000 in Brazil. There are still some people who think this pandemic is some kind of conspiracy, or that it’s just a cold. Unlike the US and Brazil, we have leaders here who are taking this virus seriously. We can stop this virus spreading if we are all disciplined and act responsibly.