Citizen Journalist: covid19

Showing posts with label covid19. Show all posts

Monday, November 7, 2022

Cruise ships are in the revival mode

In early 2020s, cruise ships were in the news for all the wrong reasons. Some people even went to the extent of predicting the industry would never recover. There were news related to outbreaks, port refusals, travelers stuck onboard. Fans of cruises say all that is ancient history. As a Singaporean said - “Given a choice, we would be living on the cruise ship for the remainder of our lives.” He goes on to add that those are issues of 2020 and “not of any concern” today because people are vaccinated and they observe personal health protocols.” He and his wife loves cruises and have already planned three cruises through 2023. They love to wake up in a different country the next day. A recent report mentioned about COVID-19 outbreak in a cruise ship circumnavigating Australia. According to a survey published by Cruiseline.com and the booking app Shipmate, 91 percent of respondents planned to take a cruise by 2023. Afraid to cruise? Not at all, say fans who are causing ‘an explosion of bookings’.

Arrivia is a travel loyalty provider. It operates programs for American Express, Bank of America and USAA and 75 percent of members indicated plans to cruise in the next two years. Moreover, regular leisure travelers are also open to cruising again. The fear of the pandemic gradually reduced. An example is an Indian national who said he had “no qualms” about cruising this month with his family – it was his first cruise ever. He said he felt safe and that his family wore masks in crowded areas and might cruise again next year. A market research provider says the global cruising industry will not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2027. In Asia, the problem is due “mainly to the slow recovery in China … due to the strict zero-tolerance COVID-19 policies.”

Sunday, October 9, 2022

Death of over 65s in England highest in summer 2022 compared to 2004 due to heatwaves

The world is passing through difficult times because of heatwaves. These are the after effects of irregular rainfall, forest fires and global warming. Statistics reveal that 2803 lives have been lost in the 65+ age group during the five "heat periods" of this year's extraordinarily hot summer. This figure does not include deaths due to COVID-19. This is a matter of concern because it happens to be the highest since 2004 when the Heatwave plan for England was introduced. In July, portions of England had to endure temperatures of 40 C and an estimated 1,012 extra people died in that month. The hot weather gave rise to widespread drought apart from wildfires. These had a direct impact on crop harvest. An official of the UK Health Security Agency UKHSA said – “high temperatures can lead to premature death for those who are vulnerable.” She observed, "Higher excess deaths occurred during the hottest days this year and a warming climate means we must adapt to living safely with hotter summers in the future." Excess deaths for over 65s in summer 2022 heatwaves in England highest recorded since 2004. However, the month of August was worse with the death of an estimated 1,458 people aged over 65.

Bob Ward is the policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change. He said the "threat to lives and livelihoods from summer heatwaves is undoubtedly increasing due to climate change.” He urged Prime Minister Liz Truss to "act decisively by initiating a national heat risk management strategy that can be properly put in place ahead of next summer and prevent further unnecessary suffering and death across the country." Obviously, these are the undisclosed side effects of global warming and people have to realize the seriousness.

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

A 6.6 magnitude earthquake hit southwestern China and left at least 65 dead

The quake of magnitude 6.6 struck Sichuan province in China at a depth of 6 miles. Local media reports that the impact led to breakage of telecommunication lines and triggered mountain landslides. These resulted to "serious damage." The quake left 65 people dead. Incidentally, last week the authorities had asked millions of people in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, to stay at home because of COVID rules. The epicentre of the quake was at Luding. This is a town located about 140 miles (226 Km) in a remote mountain region southwest of Chengdu. The China Earthquake Networks Centre has reported this. The city of Ya'an reports death of 17 people and neighboring prefecture of Ganzi reports 29 deaths. In addition, there were reports of another 16 people missing and 50 injured. The tremors shook buildings in Chengdu and the neighboring mega-city of Chongqing. There was blockage of roads and disruption of communication lines to hundreds of thousands of residents. China quake: Deadly tremor rocks Sichuan city in lockdown. The shocks led to the shut down of a number of power stations in the areas of Garze and Ya'an,

The authorities moved hundreds of rescue personnel to the epicenter and workers tried to remove the roadblocks caused by landslides. Residents of Chengdu saw people trying to vacate their high-rise apartments after receiving alerts of earthquake on their phones. Chengdu became the latest city to be locked down by Chinese authorities, in an attempt to stem the rise in COVID cases. This quake comes several months after a 6.1-magnitude earthquake tore through Sichuan in June. Sichuan lies along the eastern boundary of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau and is an earthquake-prone area. The earthquake brings into memory an 8.0-magnitude quake, which hit Wenchuan County in northwest Sichuan in 2008. It had left 70,000 dead and led to large-scale destruction.

Monday, August 15, 2022

Fire in Coptic Orthodox church in Egypt kills 41 including at least 10 children

Tragedy struck a packed Coptic Orthodox church in Cairo, capital of Egypt. It was a fire that happened at the Martyr Abu Sefein church during morning services and killed 41. In order to escape from the flames and fumes, many of the worshippers jumped from the upper floors. In the words of a survivor, the deaths were due to suffocation. Apart from the dead, many people who helped in rescue efforts suffered injuries. They included four policemen. The authorities rushed many of the victims to nearby hospitals. 41 killed in Egypt church fire, including many children. The church in Giza city in Greater Cairo is located in the working-class neighborhood of Imbaba. Giza is the second-largest city of Egypt and it lies just across the River Nile from Cairo.

Preliminary investigation indicates the source of the fire was in the second floor air conditioning system, probably from an electrical malfunction. The main cause of death was smoke inhalation. Families of those who lost their lives would receive compensation of $5,220. This is as per a cabinet statement. Incidentally, Copts are the largest Christian community in the Middle East. They make up at least 10 million of Egypt’s 103 million people. Egypt has suffered several deadly fires in recent years. In March 2021, the loss of lives was of at least 20 people. It happened in a textile factory in the eastern suburbs of Cairo. Prior to that in 2020, two hospital fires killed 14 patients who suffered from COVID-19.

Monday, August 8, 2022

Bali converts Boeing aircraft to tourist destination and Singapore Airlines converted Airbus into restaurant

Aircraft like Boeing and Airbus are designed to carry passengers who love to use the aerial route to travel from one place to another. These patrons value their time and want to reach their destination at the earliest. To them, time is money and they bring in revenue for the airlines. However, a time comes when these aircraft are used for purposes other than flying. One such example has become news. It seems inhabitants in Bali are witness to such a situation. Bali inhabitants baffled by Boeing 737 resting in field. Its location is near the popular Pandawa beach in a limestone quarry close to a highway. Its front portion has runway steps leaning against it. Incidentally, it has become a popular tourist destination. Its origin remains a mystery.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Singapore Airlines had the bright idea of converting two of its Airbus into restaurants. It was to allow people to enjoy the thrill of dining in a different surrounding. Travel-starved diners eat in parked jets turned into restaurants. it was a huge success and travel-starved diners enjoyed the unique experience. At that time, the aviation industry was in a crisis and had to dream up strategies to remain visible. The airline was the flag carrier of Singapore and it offered passengers the chance to dine on board two A380 superjumbos -- the world's biggest passenger jet.

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

From 1st of April COVID-19 has vanished

It is official that the pandemic that had made life miserable has become a thong of the past. Social distancing has gone, as have new concepts of online education. Students are excited to be back among their friends and not remain cooped up in their under the constant glare of elders. It was a testing tune for the elders who had to adjust to a new culture called work from home. They also missed the office culture of spying on colleagues and pulling the rug from under the feet of some of them.

Life is back to normal as is evident from the traffic on the roads and the hustle and bustle of people. The best part is the sports arena. Right now, it is cricket time and cricket means Indian Premier League IPL – the magic wand that turns youngsters into millionaires overnight. Let us hope another virus like COVID does not strike again.

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