 Poster: A snowHead
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These virus hang around for decades with different strains appearing as a constant, that is how flu started out. Learning to live with it means something different to me than to the money grabbing, media driven, self obsessed politicians though. Their version of learning to live with it is to wet the bedsheets, slam into a lockdowns. have knee jerk reactions like closing borders and creating new recessions whilst hiding indoors and avoiding all chance of herd immunity like we are going to out run the dan thing somehow.
My version is more along the lines of, walk into a test centre, go for a coffee, get you result via your app 30 mins later, go to the airport, wear a mask, go on holiday, follow social distancing if necessary (eased off during times when the cases are lower) and carry on with life as best as possible.
To constantly lock down at the first sign of a case and rely on 6 monthly vaccines is not the best way to approach a "forever" living with a virus.
They can start by sacking off all these money grabbing private test companies and use some common sense with the times between testing and flying as it s a logistical nightmare that only benefits the testers pockets. If we can waste 18 odd billion on a hapless track and trace we can put a couple toward a govt run national testing program surely. If we could at least use the ones the govt run for private usage it would be a start.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| ousekjarr wrote: |
| @Chris_n, 3 months after the first dose, which is good news generally, but may not be good enough to allow skiing trips in February if the requirement remains 2G. Our kids had theirs on 9th November, which could be cutting it pretty fine for a half term trip starting on 12th February. |
The JCVI advice for that age range is 12 weeks after the second dose, but this could change to 8 weeks if the epidemiological conditions indicate. I guess that means if Omicron takes off and infection rates rocket, then the JCVI could advise shortening the schedule to 8 weeks not 12.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@mheadbee, your suggestions are far too sensible for this forum, they'll never catch on.
Well said!
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| gandie wrote: |
@mheadbee, your suggestions are far too sensible for this government, they'll never catch on.
Well said! |
FTFY
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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A small snippet that might to point to more hopeful times. It is now planned that Austrian shops that are not currently allowed to open (ie supermarkets etc) will be allowed to open on Sunday 19th in an attempt to make up for the closed period. This is dependent on the general situation improving but it does show that plans are being made to "reopen" on the 13th.
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@munich_irish, I saw that and like you was pleased to see plans being made. Where is the fingers crossed emoji when you need it. On another note piste preperation has started in earnest here today, they will have to do it all again tomorrow after the 30 - 40cm we have had during the day.
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| munich_irish wrote: |
| A small snippet that might to point to more hopeful times. It is now planned that Austrian shops that are not currently allowed to open (ie supermarkets etc) will be allowed to open on Sunday 19th in an attempt to make up for the closed period. This is dependent on the general situation improving but it does show that plans are being made to "reopen" on the 13th. |
Let’s hope so for all those that were planning on going after 13th.
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| munich_irish wrote: |
| A small snippet that might to point to more hopeful times. It is now planned that Austrian shops that are not currently allowed to open (ie supermarkets etc) will be allowed to open on Sunday 19th in an attempt to make up for the closed period. This is dependent on the general situation improving but it does show that plans are being made to "reopen" on the 13th. |
I've cancelled my plans - maybe a little hastily; the hotel in Obergurgl doesn't know if they can open yet. The decider in the end was actually the UK policy for tests on re-entry and self isolation...in the week leading up to Christmas - a policy supposedly being reviewed in 3 weeks. Also, I'd be in Austria about the time that more feedback on Omicron would be apparent, and don't really fancy travel grinding to a halt just before Christmas, and my plans relied on both Germany and Austria allowing travel Any other time it would've been different.
I had 3 holidays booked this winter (ZellamSee in Feb and Obergurgl again in April) so am a bit more confident that things will be better by then.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| munich_irish wrote: |
| A small snippet that might to point to more hopeful times. It is now planned that Austrian shops that are not currently allowed to open (ie supermarkets etc) will be allowed to open on Sunday 19th in an attempt to make up for the closed period. This is dependent on the general situation improving but it does show that plans are being made to "reopen" on the 13th. |
Here's hoping!
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hotel I was due to stay at has now stopped advertising for the whole week starting the 11th & only taking bookings from the 18th, so that is the final nail in my pre xmas coffin trip. All because of a cough.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Mr.Egg wrote: |
| hotel I was due to stay at has now stopped advertising for the whole week starting the 11th & only taking bookings from the 18th, so that is the final nail in my pre xmas coffin trip. All because of a cough. |
Are you for real? Since when have 150,000 people died in the U.K. in under 2 years from a cough - even after we did goodness knows what to stop it being 500,000.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| buchanan101 wrote: |
| Mr.Egg wrote: |
| hotel I was due to stay at has now stopped advertising for the whole week starting the 11th & only taking bookings from the 18th, so that is the final nail in my pre xmas coffin trip. All because of a cough. |
Are you for real? Since when have 150,000 people died in the U.K. in under 2 years from a cough - even after we did goodness knows what to stop it being 500,000. |
Uhm...Black Death 1346-1353, Great Plague of London 1665-1666, "Russian" Flu Pandemic 1889-1890 (Which actually is now thought to have been a Coronavirus) and of course, the Daddy of them all, the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1920. Just saying.
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| RedandWhiteFlachau wrote: |
| buchanan101 wrote: |
| Mr.Egg wrote: |
| hotel I was due to stay at has now stopped advertising for the whole week starting the 11th & only taking bookings from the 18th, so that is the final nail in my pre xmas coffin trip. All because of a cough. |
Are you for real? Since when have 150,000 people died in the U.K. in under 2 years from a cough - even after we did goodness knows what to stop it being 500,000. |
Uhm...Black Death 1346-1353, Great Plague of London 1665-1666, "Russian" Flu Pandemic 1889-1890 (Which actually is now thought to have been a Coronavirus) and of course, the Daddy of them all, the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1920. Just saying. |
Obviously none of those are “coughs”.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
ousekjarr wrote:
@Chris_n, 3 months after the first dose, which is good news generally, but may not be good enough to allow skiing trips in February if the requirement remains 2G. Our kids had theirs on 9th November, which could be cutting it pretty fine for a half term trip starting on 12th February.
The JCVI advice for that age range is 12 weeks after the second dose, but this could change to 8 weeks if the epidemiological conditions indicate. I guess that means if Omicron takes off and infection rates rocket, then the JCVI could advise shortening the schedule to 8 weeks not 12.
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Does anybody know whether Austria allows a grace period after a child's 12th birthday, during which they're effectively treated as still under 12 for covid regulations? For example, I've seen items suggesting Canada's rules cut in at 12 years 4 months. (I'm really interested in the approach pre-Omicron, to get a feel for where things might land if everything calms down again.)
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| RedandWhiteFlachau wrote: |
| buchanan101 wrote: |
| Mr.Egg wrote: |
| hotel I was due to stay at has now stopped advertising for the whole week starting the 11th & only taking bookings from the 18th, so that is the final nail in my pre xmas coffin trip. All because of a cough. |
Are you for real? Since when have 150,000 people died in the U.K. in under 2 years from a cough - even after we did goodness knows what to stop it being 500,000. |
Uhm...Black Death 1346-1353, Great Plague of London 1665-1666, "Russian" Flu Pandemic 1889-1890 (Which actually is now thought to have been a Coronavirus) and of course, the Daddy of them all, the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1920. Just saying. |
Kinda making his point there with the last of those being a century ago.
Back on topic. Planned Obergurgl from 17th to 23rd of Dec. So far sticking to these plans until I hear otherwise from the hotel, or Austria extends the lockdown. Currently cases in Austria are dropping (appeared to roll-over prior to strict lockdown, indicating that the lockdown for unvaccinated was also showing effects), and average daily vaccination numbers are up significantly. If things continue down this path until the 12th, they could well lift the general lockdown and continue with lockdown for unvaccinated.
My bigger worry atm is Germany, as my travel involves flying to and from there as well as staying both with a relative and one night in a hotel (prior to departure due to an very early morning flight). Seems like they are introducing more and more measures and things are still trending in the wrong direction there.
Then of course Omicron can still throw a spanner in the works.
Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Tue 30-11-21 18:51; edited 1 time in total
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Poster: A snowHead
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@ski_free, exactly my worry (Germany) and are you flying back to U.K. on 23rd? Getting a test result is going to be tricky before Christmas.
“Decade” … think you meant “century”!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| buchanan101 wrote: |
@ski_free, exactly my worry (Germany) and are you flying back to U.K. on 23rd? Getting a test result is going to be tricky before Christmas.
“Decade” … think you meant “century”! |
Haha, century yes!
Actually flying on to Spain to visit family there (the back to UK on 30th). Have managed to erect a delicate house of travel cards that could come crashing down at any moment, though as of now it still stands.
Though in terms of arrival testing, there are some in terminal ones that typically have a one day turnaround (depending on airport). I have used ExpressTest a few times for PCRs for travel, and I believe only once did it take longer than 24h to get back results. So if you get tested right on arrival, isolation period shouldn't be too long.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@ski_free, good luck. I will be jealous.. must not look at Obergurgl webcams….
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@ski_free those are also my concerns. Due to travel on 17th also via Germany. Due back on 25th Dec. I'm not cancelling unless forced to by the lockdown in Austria being extended. We'll see how this pans out and how much of a spanner omicron throws into the works.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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We're still hopeful that we can travel to SZG on the 21st. The concern is our transit through Germany. We won't be leaving the airport. We have an hour layover on the way out and 4 hours on the way back. I can't find any information on how potential German restrictions will impact transit though, anyone have any ideas.
And of course I'm torturing myself with the webcams. Conditions today are incredible.
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@Owlette, there is no restriction at the moment, Germany seem in no hurry to panic about the Omicron variant. I'm sure @munich_irish will update this thread if anything happens on the German side.
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| buchanan101 wrote: |
@ski_free, exactly my worry (Germany) and are you flying back to U.K. on 23rd? Getting a test result is going to be tricky before Christmas.
“Decade” … think you meant “century”! |
I wouldn't worry about getting a result before Christmas. The R&W family (5 of us) have done a total of 36 PCR arrival tests in the last 20 months. All of which were done with Goverment approved companies. Of the 36, 22 returned negative results within 48 hours, the other 14 returned no results at all!!! I think someone would have called if any of the missing 14 were positive. Every test with Boots the Chemist came through in record time.
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@Owlette, despite ongoing discussions about changes to the various regulations there is no suggestion whatsoever that there would be any change which would affect people in transit of 24 hours or less through Germany. You might have more to be concerned about if you were planning a visit to the Christmas market in Bremen!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Thanks both, I said as much to Mr. Owlette yesterday, but it certainly feels like we can't fully relax at the moment, just waiting for more restrictions to pop out of left field.
With the new PCR testing announcement, I went to book ours. The cheapest postal one I could find was £35 a head. Or LHR have a click and collect service for 0.85p. Our flight is before the earliest appointment so we've now booked into the same hotel that you collect from the day before to collect them. It's cost us £85 including breakfast but at least we're not leaving home at 4am now. We'd rather spend the money on the hotel and £3.50 on tests than line the pockets of those sodding private companies. Still £85 (plus dinner the night before) we weren't anticipating.
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It sounds like everywhere is making the right kind of noises for reopening on 13th Dec…..but who knows?
I took the free change offer just now with my trip to Cervinia on 12th Dec and have shoved it over until Dec 2022 instead so this way I can just book late or book with free cancellation close to departure depending on what the situation is and decide where to go! Or stay at home!
It’s not too bad a price to fly 15th to 22nd Dec Gatwick to Innsbruck with EasyJet (about £300 including skis and luggage so more expensive than usual but not horrendous) but a far cheaper way and probably less likely to get cancelled is Lufthansa Heathrow to Munich.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Does anyone know how much notice they have to give if they do decide to extend the lockdown past 13th Dec? I know they said originally it would be 13th Dec at the latest and one political party would only agree to it if it was a set period time but is there anything stopping them turning around on say 10th Dec and saying it’s extended again for x days?
I can imagine the hotels would be pretty angry if they did that but I’m just thinking what’s the likelihood of an ‘about turn’?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| Owlette wrote: |
Thanks both, I said as much to Mr. Owlette yesterday, but it certainly feels like we can't fully relax at the moment, just waiting for more restrictions to pop out of left field.
With the new PCR testing announcement, I went to book ours. The cheapest postal one I could find was £35 a head. Or LHR have a click and collect service for 0.85p. Our flight is before the earliest appointment so we've now booked into the same hotel that you collect from the day before to collect them. It's cost us £85 including breakfast but at least we're not leaving home at 4am now. We'd rather spend the money on the hotel and £3.50 on tests than line the pockets of those sodding private companies. Still £85 (plus dinner the night before) we weren't anticipating. |
Is this a PCR test on departure or on your return to the UK?
I hate all this uncertainty about not knowing whether we are going to be able to go or not!
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@VolklAttivaS5, the Tiroler Tageszeitung has some relevant news items on its blog https://liveblog.tt.com/414/coronavirus the suggestion is that things are looking positive and a decision will be made towards the end of next week over the 13th. Reports I saw yesterday on extending for the second 10 days were very much that there would be no extension beyond that.
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You know it makes sense.
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@munich_irish, great thanks will have a look at that.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Also, the last day is currently set to be the 11th, though some places will remain closed on 12th because it's a Sunday.
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Poster: A snowHead
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The 7 day index Index is coming down nicely (less than 900 now) but one figure still worries me - the number of occupied intensive care beds, it jumped up by 16 in the last report. Currently 644 vs all time high of 709 on 24/11/20.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I think I will book my Lufthansa flight then in case the price goes up next week as I can always change it free of charge to another date if necessary.
Can sort some accommodation a bit nearer the time.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Scarlet wrote: |
| Also, the last day is currently set to be the 11th, though some places will remain closed on 12th because it's a Sunday. |
Yeah I was thinking of leaving it until 13th anyway as it’s a cheaper flight price on a weekday.
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@DB, case numbers and hospitalization are typically about 10-14 days out of phase, so I'd expect the ICU numbers to peak after the weekend if they are going to follow the same trend.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@DB, how’s the vaccination levels going?
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New rules announced in Irleland yesterday means any persons coming back into the country must have a negative PCR test 72 hours prior to their flight.
If you have a positive test you have to isolate in the country your in for 10 days before being allowed to fly home.
We have booked Zell am See for Jan 15th but am now wondering is it worth the risk.
This applies to people who are vaccinated also.
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| VolklAttivaS5 wrote: |
| @DB, how’s the vaccination levels going? |
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Not sure. The figures say 66.9% active certificates while the graph says 62.97 % of the Austrian population have had their second shot.
Most of the recent vaccination shots have been for people having booster shots (dark green in the graph).
Had hoped there would be a storm on the vaccines from those not yet vaccinated but the light green in the chart hasn't changed that much.
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| DB wrote: |
| Not sure. The figures say 66.9% active certificates while the graph says 62.97 % of the Austrian population have had their second shot. |
Some of that disparity will be because recovered people only need one shot to activate the certificate, though that doesn't apply to me so I don't know how long it lasts. I always thought it was a bit daft that the stats sites show how many people have had one/two/three doses, but that doesn't directly correspond to being fully vaccinated because it depends on your circumstances  Showing how many people have an active certificate is more useful to see how well vaccinated the population is as a whole, though recent first doses shows motivation in this group.
I went to the big vaxx centre in Innsbruck yesterday. Compared to last summer, there was a fraction of the number of people there, and they were only actively running a small number of the available booths.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Chick wrote: |
New rules announced in Irleland yesterday means any persons coming back into the country must have a negative PCR test 72 hours prior to their flight.
If you have a positive test you have to isolate in the country your in for 10 days before being allowed to fly home.
We have booked Zell am See for Jan 15th but am now wondering is it worth the risk.
This applies to people who are vaccinated also. |
It’s only a PCR test for unvaccinated, it’s a ‘supervised’ antigen test for vaccinated
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@DB, Damn statistics  The graph shows that 1st doses have increased from 60% (of total population) to 71% since late Summer. On 1 January 2021, there were 1.721 million children and young adults (aged 0 to 19) living in Austria, nearly 20% of the total population. I'll be generous and say that 15% of total population are not able to have the vaccine due to age or other health reasons. So the maximum level of 1st doses that this particular graph can show is 85%. That means the "real" vaccination rate for 1st doses is 83% of those eligable versus the UK at 88%.
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FAQ
