Banz

We need studies to best understand how the virus spreads, and how to prevent it. Yes, this is a small thing (which is why I am opposed to the police mindlessly enforcing it), but it may show surprising results and our repsonse will have to be different.

Hope you find a bed soon and everything turns out well.

No one is revolting. That doesn't mean we can talk. Yes it is the government's job to get this. They don't even have to do the studies themselves. More than a year has passed since the pandemic started. There should have been many studies by now. If I read studies showing that not wearing a mask increases virus aerosol concentration in the surroundings and poses a threat to pedestrians and other car drivers, I will take back my words. With all due respect to judges and lawyers, it is not their place to be deciding on these matters and certainly not using mundane points whether the law should apply to the inside of a car because it is a public place or not. Also, don't misunderstand the smoking analogy. I was talking from a legal point of view not a practical one. You have 2 laws contradicting each other on the definition of a public place. Anyways, no point in discussing further. I understand the point you are trying to make about blanket bans and no time on part of lawmakers to discuss all specific nuances.

Once the virus gets out into the free air, it disperses thin enough to not be a threat of infection. The rules were not made so that people in the car don't breath out the virus to the outside air. It is to prevent people within the car from infecting each other. Which is why enforcing it on lone drivers and family members is stupid. Inside a car you have no social distancing and recirculating air. Even with an N95 mask, if there is an infected person every other traveller will be infected.

People are discussing because a high court passed a judgement on this. This sets a precendent. The key point was that 'personal vehicle is a public place', which contradicts previously made laws/judements. You can legally smoke in a car, as it is not considered a public place for the anti-smoking ban. Whether you support mask wearing in a car or not, 'car is a public place' isn't a valid justification for that. Onus was on them to show that not wearing mask in car can be dangerous, not take the easy way out with lawyerf**kery. And this will have repercussions beyond covid, unless fixed. And don't get me wrong. I myself wear mask in car even when I'm alone. That doesn't mean we can't have this discussion.

Don't enforce rules just for the sake of enforcing them (or for earning some bribes). There is no point in harrassing people travelling alone or with friends or family members in their cars with windows rolled up. If they drive long enough, the mask (especially if its a surgical or a cloth mask) becomes completely ineffective anyways. That is just nitpicky and the net benefit is very little. The goal of the rules is to stop/reduce the spread of covid and that should be the primary consideration each time.

Supporters clubs have also come out in opposition of this breakaway league. If the boycott is succesful, this project will fail quickly.

Actually now I don't see a shortage of N95. You can buy Vissco N95 masks for 28 Rs and there is lots of supply. Atleast we managed the mask and sanitiser demand well.

Authorities need to use some common sense when applying these rules. Lawmakers have made up these rules in haste for emergency purposes and it shows. There are many loopholes and also needless restrictions. We need to be focussing on broader things not on tiny nitpicky stuff like enforcing masks for those who are travelling alone in a car. Too many rules like this is anyways an excuse for police to make money.

Neighbour uncle died just a few minutes back. Don't know who will be alive or dead 2 weeks later. How much blood do the current administators have on their hands? Some are operating not with incompetence, but outright malice.

Just received news that a close family friend has died. Only met him 10 days ago. He was taken to Bombay Hospital 4-5 days ago. Didn't expect to hear this.

Very sorry to hear. That must have been very painful to not have been able to get get them even a hospital bed. . Hearing lots of reports of death among relatives and the community. Recently managed to get a bed for wife's mama whose condition had worsened. Called a close relative who owns a hospital and even he didn't have any beds available. Finally managed to get a bed in one other hospital. That was 2 weeks ago. Availability of beds (and remdesivir) has become worse since then. A relative requested a ICU bed last week, and another asked if I could get them any remdesivir and I couldn't help either. A local MNS karyakarta I met recently says he's getting hundreds of such calls daily and he can't do much even though the MNS aamdar owns a hospital here. My brother arrived from France yesterday and is in hotel quarantine right now. He had an RT PCR test before departing, and another one on arrival. Then there will be one more test within 5 days and even then he has to undergo 7 more days of home quarantine. I feel they are being needlessly anal about foreign visitors when resident Indians are an overwhelmingly bigger threat to them than vice versa. There are no restrictions on movement and testing requirements for those that attend weddings or other functions, or the kumbh mela or political rallies. Maybe if they had been this strict 1 year ago, situation would have been different. Now it feels like using the world's best lock for this gate.

Fast pandemics like this always happen in waves. Places like USA and parts of Europe are on their 3rd/4th wave. Even the Spanish Flu of 1918-19 came in waves. This was written in April 2020, BEFORE the first wave had even reached its peak. https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/covid-19-epidemic-waves/

Batsmen getting out edging to keeper and slips. Rare to see in a T20.

Amex card arrived in the mail today. This Amex Pay feature looks promising. The card number format is strange though.

Yes, that would be a good idea. Would require a huge supply of vaccines though.

Maharashtra is doing 4L per day for the last 2-3 days. 50-60L per day is very much possible for the whole country. There is still scope to scale it up more and do 1 crore per day or thereabouts.

Father got the first vaccine dose the other day. Took some rest that day and he's been working normally since. A staff member of our office (age 58) did online registration for vaccination at KEM Hospital and on the day of the vaccination, after waiting 3 hours in line there, they gave him another form to fill (which required family doctor's signature). Complete waste of a day, when they could have easily provided the form on the website itself. CGHS isn't doing any vaccination at all. Another man from our building did online registration for vaccine and they told him his number would take at least 6 more months! It appears the vaccination programme at least here in Maharashtra isn't being managed properly.

Good read about the different responses by different countries and the importance of acting very fast. How the West Lost COVID. How did so many rich countries get it so wrong? How did others get it so right?

What f**klund thrid umpiring... Surya was robbed.

7 pm curfew in Kalyan-Dombivli for all shops and establishments, food stalls etc. Only bars and restaurants can stay open until 11pm, but dinner crowd has greatly reduced in the last week or so. Hopefully this has a positive effect on the numbers, but I fear the 2nd wave might be worse than the first.

Mumbai won the 2020-21 Vijay Hazare final, beating UP by 6 wickets. Shaw was in red hot form throughout the tournament and might could an ODI call-up.

Ball tracker saved England. Edit: Nevermind. 0-2 and only half an over has been bowled.

This match is going to end tonight, isn't it?

I am not a fan of just giving everything to the private sector. That's just a way for the government to absolve itself from its own responsibility. Considering how much time they had to prepare for a vaccination drive while the vaccines were being researched on and tested, this is a massive failure. In the time the vaccine makers did all that, the govt. couldn't recruit and train enough staff to get this done quickly. If it takes too long to vaccinate everyone, the vaccine would be useless. A lot more effort goes into organising an election and we do those all the time. At this point, releasing the vaccine into the open market might be the better option. Fix a price for it, something that is affordable. But only those people who are aware of, can afford, and want the vaccine will get it by themselves. For full coverage, the govt. still has to do most of thr work.