Apparently, the hospital sounded the alarm, when a great number of patients were admitted due to Covid19 complications, same day, and when on August 20, HOH reached a record of 83 Corona patients, with 118 new infections, GOA stepped in, in an attempt to stop the spread, as the island wrestled with a record of 1,055 active cases.

You know about the new rules, reintroducing curfew from 10pm to 5am, limiting restaurant capacity, 50%, and service hours, until 9pm, banning agglomeration, alcohol in public places, and keeping masks on, plus social distancing. No parties, no events, no night life.

Aruba’s collected data proves that indeed vaccinations save lives. We do however still have few fully vaccinated adults who passed away, because islanders are troubled by co-morbidities, suffering many pre-existing conditions, which unfortunately overcome the benefits of the vaccine.

Among seriously sick, 14 patients that were airlifted to Colombian hospitals at the cost of $50.000 per transport, seriously burdening the local health care provider with additional cost, and that was only transportation, without other involved expenses.

We’re in trouble.

As you know last week, schools remained closed, and never opened for the new school year. My friends in education report, they have NOT seen it coming. Bars and clubs were allowed to stay open, offering business-as-usual night-life, the logic for which escaped us.

In a press conference on Saturday morning, the DVG representative states unequivocally that Aruba may trace this current wave of infection to Spula Krijt, where just one night of bacchanalia, the annual rinse the chalk off, at the end of the school year, on July 9^th, started an irreversible acceleration in the number of daily infections. Some people argue, how about the elections, they say? The parades? The sweaty, sticky victory gatherings?

In honor of the elections, and also during the first week of July, we were carefree, bound by less restrictions, I even wrote that the pandemic will from now on become endemic, manifesting itself in small flair-ups every once in a while. And then the Delta variant arrived in full force, more contagious and carrying a bigger viral load.

There is no point in pointing fingers. SIMAR should focus all its energy in getting teachers vaccinated, and DVG has many other mountains to climb.

The F&B association wrote a letter on Saturday. It stated that it would have made a BIG difference to our economy with a 10pm, last service, and 11pm closing. Just one more hour of operation. I tend to agree. They complain about not being consulted, not being part of the decision making process. If they had been part of the decision making process, they would have embraced the outcome. However, my sources report they were consulted, but not obeyed.

The stricter rules outlined went into effect Sunday, until September 1^st, to be reevaluated after 2 weeks.

From a previous blog: We enjoyed a very low two-digit number of active cases, at the beginning of July, then a few days after Spula Krijt, an event which propelled everyone to hug, kiss, dance and drink, let their guard down, the crisis team banned concerts and public event. That was July 15^th, they knew what was coming.

July 18^th, 81 active cases; July 19^th, 87, active cases; July 20^th, the testing decree when entering from the USA is reintroduced; July 20^th, 97, active cases; July 21^st, 111, active cases; July 22^nd, 130, active cases; July 23th, 158, active cases; July 24^th, 182, active cases; July 25^th, 210, active cases; July 26^th, 225, active cases; July 27^th, 252, active cases; July 28^th, 302, active cases.

That’s how it goes with Delta, it is a more efficient virus.

In my kingdom, I would mandate all my residents to vaccinate.

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