While by international standards we have been pretty lucky, the news yesterday was quite depressing.
Drilling down to our local area we had record numbers:
For the 24 hour period to 8pm Friday, 17 September there were 75 new COVID-19 cases recorded for the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District. Details are as follows:
47 cases who are residents of Wollongong Local Government Area (LGA) – 10 are linked to known cases and investigations are ongoing for 37 cases
17 cases who are residents of Shellharbour LGA – five are linked to known cases and investigations are ongoing for 12 cases
9 cases who are residents of Shoalhaven LGA – six are linked to known cases and investigations are ongoing for three cases
2 cases who are residents of Kiama LGA – one is linked to a known case and investigations are ongoing for the other case.
Then there was this news story, followed by a similar one in another CBD apartment block.
Health services in Wollongong have launched an emergency response to a COVID outbreak in a housing complex that supports some of the city’s most vulnerable people.
Five people in the unit block on Keira Street have tested positive to the virus.
The Wollongong Homeless Hub is a tenant of the building, leasing 30 of the 84 units, and there is a community of residents who move between apartments and use communal areas.
Homeless Hub President Bill Simpson says all of his clients are caught up in the situation.
“We’ve got up to 30 people in there,” he said.
So let the music play!
First, my favourite German/Spanish pianist and composer, Michael Andreas Häringer, turns 20 on 26 September. He has a FB event happening to raise money for his projects. I wish him well.
Next, you may remember Jack Vidgen, who won Australia’s Got Talent in 2011 when he was 14. Well, he is all grown up now at 24. He has just released a song of his own composition — not the first one — which is rather amazing, raw and personal. Here it is. Judge for yourself.
In case you might wonder after that, Jack really is looking healthy as this just posted in Twitter today shows. Note the very professional make-up mirror…
The next is a Kazakh singer with the most amazing voice you will ever hear! Dimash Kudaibergen gained significant popularity in Kazakhstan and other post-Soviet countries in 2015 upon becoming the Grand Prix winner of Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk, Belarus. He rose to fame in China with his participation as a “wildcard competitor” in Hunan TV’s Singer 2017 (Chinese: 歌手2017) finishing second overall.
Truly amazing! Next a complete change of mood — the Chinese dulcimer, with the upcoming Mid-Autumn Moon Festival in mind. Also with recent regrettable political developments in mind I said on FB: When you are feeling threatened listen to this…
And I am looking forward to Woolworths delivering my food supplies today, but that is another story.
Neil's Commonplace Book 