{"id":1882,"date":"2020-07-30T19:40:25","date_gmt":"2020-07-30T19:40:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/?p=1882"},"modified":"2021-06-03T10:53:21","modified_gmt":"2021-06-03T10:53:21","slug":"second-wave-coronavirus-a-new-east-west-divide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/second-wave-coronavirus-a-new-east-west-divide\/","title":{"rendered":"Second Wave Coronavirus a New East West Divide"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Diary of a Self-isolator: Day 138 [30 July 2020]<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It will all be over by Christmas …<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As the world\u2019s media focuses upon the race to see which country can get the first Covid-19 vaccine off the starting blocks, amidst wild accusations of vaccine poaching and dramatic speculation that the game has gone nationalist, I discovered myself suffering from statistic-watch withdrawal symptoms. \u201cIt will all be over by Christmas,\u201d so the generals said at the outbreak of World War I.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, as I could hear a lot of noise but could not see the cavalry, I ignored my wife who was chuntering on about a plot to crash the world economy, of which I am not at all guilty, and found the following stats for Russia in general and Kaliningrad in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are the coronavirus figures as provided by the sources credited as at 21:31 on 29 July 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coronavirus situation in Russia, from https:\/\/www.worldometers.info\/coronavirus\/<\/a>
[Access date: 29 July 2020]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Total Cases:<\/strong> 828,990<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Cases:<\/strong> +5,475<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Total Deaths: <\/strong>13,673<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Deaths: +169<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Total Recovered: 620,333<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Active Cases: 194,984<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coronavirus situation in Kaliningrad, from https:\/\/visalist.io\/emergency\/coronavirus\/russia-country\/kaliningrad<\/a>
[Access date: 29 July 2020]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contained: 84%<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Total Confirmed Cases: 2835<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Confirmed in last 24 hours: 14<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ill: 456<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Total Recovered: 2334 (82%)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recovered in last 24 hours: 11<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Total Dead: 45 (2%)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Died in last 24 hours: 2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both sites from which I have extrapolated these figures cover every country known to man (and Others), so if you want to consult and compare, you know where you can go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previous articles:
Article 1: Diary of a Self-isolator: Day 1 [20 March 2020]<\/a>
Article 2: Diary of a Self-isolator: Day 6 [25 March 2020]<\/a>
Article 3: Diary of a Self-isolator: Day 7 [26 March 2020]<\/a>
Article 4: Diary of a Self-isolator: Day 9 [28 March 2020]<\/a>
Article 5: Diary of a Self-isolator: Day 10 [29 March 2020]<\/a>
Article 6: Diary of a Self-isolator: Day 16 [4 April 2020]<\/a>
Article 7: Diary of a Self-isolator: Day 19 [7 April 2020]<\/a>
Article 8: Diary of a Self-isolator: Day 35 [23 April 2020]<\/a>
Article 9: Diary of a Self-isolator: Day 52 [10 May 2020]<\/a>
Article 10: Diary of a Self-isolator: Day 54 [12 May 2020]<\/a>
Article 11: Diary of a Self-isolator: Day 65 [23 May 2020]<\/a>
Article 12: Diary of a Self-isolator: Day 74 [1 June 2020]<\/a>
Article 13: Diary of a Self-isolator: Day 84 [11 June 2020]<\/a>
Article 14: Diary of a Self-isolator: Day 98 [25 June 2020]<\/a>
Article 15: Diary of a Self-isolator: Day 106 [3 July 2020]<\/a>
Article 16: Diary of a Self-isolator: Day 115 [12 July 2020]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, self-isolating has never seemed so reasonable. It appears that almost everybody in this neck of the woods is taking the opportunity to socialise and get out and about whilst they can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reports filtering in to me from the UK suggest that the lockdown mentality has taken root and that whilst restrictions have been eased officially, many people remain cagey, with most of these believing that a second wave is not only imminent but has already begun. Indeed, the UK government and media seem to be actively preparing the populace for the second-coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, in Kaliningrad, and rumour has it in Russia per se, the attitude is markedly different. Being British, I have already been accused of hiding under the bedsheets, but on those brief occasions when I have upped periscope, although the masks go marching on, the general impression I have is that the attitude-ohmmeter swings widely across a spectrum which starts with hardened disbelief, travels across a broad swathe of resignation and ends with stoical resolve. Paraphrased it goes something like this: it is not as bad as we are being led to believe; whatever will be will be; we will do our best to avoid it but somehow life must go on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second Wave Coronavirus<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As an experiment, I popped over to Goggle News UK and in the search engine keyed in \u2018second wave in Russia\u2019. Herewith is a sample of the headlines my search returned:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No second wave of coronavirus infection expected in Russia \u2014 former chief sanitary doctor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia can avoid a second wave of coronavirus if everyone follows the rules and observes distance, says WHO<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No preconditions for second COVID-19 wave in Russia yet, PM says<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I then did the same with regard to western Europe, ie I keyed in \u2018second wave in western Europe\u2019. The search returned:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second corona wave emerges in Europe<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LIVE UPDATES: PM warns signs of second wave of virus in Europe<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spain’s second coronavirus wave swells, fuels concern across Europe<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And finally, I made the same search, but substituted Europe for UK, ie \u2018second wave in UK\u2019. The search returned:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cambridge scientists fear coronavirus second wave as ‘R’ rate rises across UK<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six towns where coronavirus is causing fears of UK second wave as Army brought in<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Government not doing enough to stop coronavirus second wave, says British Medical Association chief<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even allowing for the fact that the last headline is merely concerned with party politics, ie vote Labour and they will instigate a street demo which will outlaw coronavirus for inciting populism, the attitudinal difference inherent in the way in which Covid-19 is reported and discussed is an interesting one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forget the argument that the Russian version of events is to play the significance of the virus down whilst the UK and western Europe motive is to peddle sensationalism and stoke hysteria, the questions are: does the first reassure and the second sow panic, does the divergent tone of each influence opinion or reflect a herd immunity to it and, lastly, but most significantly, does the public really care? How does it go? You can fool some of the people all of the time but not all of the people all of the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My take on the dominant attitude towards coronavirus in Kaliningrad is that for the majority of its citizens opinion is formed not by the media but in the character-making crucible of history. To understand that statement you will need to have at least an elementary knowledge of Russian history, of the hardships endured and surmounted. After all, if it puzzled such a great thinker and statesman as Churchill ~ on Russia Churchill\u2019s famous definition was \u201ca riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma\u201d ~ what chance do you have? (alright, alright, there\u2019s no need to take it out on Churchill\u2019s statue ~ innit). However, you can shortcut the history lesson and understand the prevailing attitude towards the threat of coronavirus in Kaliningrad by remembering that Kaliningrad is in Russia, and Russia is the country that saw off Adolf Hitler!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for me, well, I carry my British credentials everywhere, not only in my passport, and, although I have emerged and have become more flexible in my day to day regime of self-isolation, I remain as cautious as the proverbial butcher\u2019s dog. Wait a moment, I think I may have botched the expression. Butcher\u2019s dogs are called many things, but are they cautious? Mine is ~ it\u2019s vegetarian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Will
Will there be a second wave?<\/strong>
(Photo credit: Vlad Kiselov<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a> {https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/6dTQbgj1hWs<\/a>})
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Copyright \u00a9 2018-2021 Mick Hart. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Diary of a Self-isolator: Day 138 [30 July 2020] It will all be over by Christmas … As the world\u2019s media focuses upon the race to see which country can get the first Covid-19 vaccine off the starting blocks, amidst wild accusations of vaccine poaching and dramatic speculation that the game has gone nationalist, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[75,6],"tags":[429,290,200,297,438,293,516,257,237,528,206],"class_list":["post-1882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diary-2019-2020","category-kaliningrad-mick-harts-diary","tag-coronavirus-arguement","tag-coronavirus-babble","tag-coronavirus-kaliningrad","tag-coronavirus-streets-kaliningrad","tag-covid-19-statistics","tag-diary-of-a-self-isolator-in-kaliningrad","tag-kaliningrad-social-distancing","tag-kaliningrad-top-of-self-isolators","tag-russia-coronavirus","tag-second-wave-coronavirus","tag-uk-media-headlines-coronavirus"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t