With all the uncertainty w.r.t.
and it's numerous variants, I was in a quandary at to what to do about this year's
2022 Annual RAN Skilled Hands Sydney Rocks Xmas Pub Crawl Smokey... When the State/ Federal Governments decided it was all too hard/ too expensive
to keep track of infections, it was left to some sort of vague
'honour system' for individuals to report their own cases...
...which has obviously let the whole
show get out of control, leading to reckless individuals not reporting their cases and certainly not quarantining, nor wearing masks or social distancing, resulting
in the public only having hospital beds/ ICU stats to assess the extent of Omicron and it's variants as to whether they should restrict their own work/ social activities...
Added to that, the plethora of information/ mis-information regarding the transmissibility and the severity of the various variants, whether cases are in decline/ increase, are there more waves/ variants to
come, and if so, when..? Here's a link to the latest from the
NSW Health Dept. re: COVID-19 in NSW - up to 4:00PM 13th August (yesterday) for you to consider...
Now that it's been determined that having caught
before offers no assurance that you won't catch it again, let alone pass it on to others, and that double vaccinated/ double boosted won't prevent
you from catching it/ passing it on, along with the fact that most of us fit into the
'danger zone' for prognosis, and that so-called
'long Covid' should be avoided if at all possible, I am left to ponder just how
responsible it would be of me/ us to proceed with the Pub Crawl..?
I'm guessing there'll be a huge surge of cases following events like
'Splendour In The Grass' and yesterday's
'Sydney to Surf' Fun (?) Run, etc., should I add to it by putting all of us at risk in November..?
Following the first enquiry I received from
Dave Warren,
(below) I started a small survey among some of our
'regulars' to see how others felt before I made a final decision and either deferred the 2022 Rocks
Run for 12 months, or went ahead with gathering numbers to reach a
'quorum' whereby the Run may still be viable...
The following are some of the e-mail exchanges I've had, prompting the
POLL above...
(I don't think there's anything too private in the e-mails, but I'll apologise in advance if there is...) --------------------------------------------
From: D & D Warren
Sent: Monday, 8 August 2022 2:27 PM
To: Rick Pengilly
Subject: Rocks Run 2022
Hi Rick,
Just had a look at the website and there seems to be no mention of a Rocks Run this November. Is one anticipated?
Cheers,
Dave W.
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From: Rick Pengilly
Sent: Tuesday, 9 August 2022 12:04 AM
To: 'D & D Warren'
Cc: Brian Staples; Chris O'Keefe; John Kelly; Mike Moore; Pete Williamson; Robin King; Steve Shepherd
Subject: RE: Rocks Run 2022
Thanks for asking, Dave, with all the under-reported Covid-19 variants running rife, being double-vaccinated/ double-boosted, even
having caught it before, doesn’t prevent acquiring it, nor passing it on to others, and that our bunch of septuagenarians are arguably
the most at risk,
(who needs 'long Covid' when you can settle for dementia..?) I was about to suggest that we put it off for a year, but
before I announce it, what are your thoughts…?
--------------------------------------------
From: D & D Warren
Sent: Tuesday, 9 August 2022 11:40 AM
To: Rick Pengilly
Subject: Re: Rocks Run 2022
Hi Rick,
I fully understand your, and indeed everyone’s reluctance to venture out still. I’m happy to give it a go so long as things keep improving.
Maybe have a quick survey of the regulars to get a consensus to see if there’s enough interest and make a decision after that.
I’m going to the Frisco Friday arvo/ night as my old boss and a fellow worker at Garden Is. are retiring. My first outing for over a year.
Cheers,
Dave W.
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From: Mike Moore
Sent: Tuesday, 9 August 2022 11:42 AM
To: Rick Pengilly
Subject: RE: Rocks Run 2022
Hi Rick,
I have been thinking about this for a few weeks now principally because of my wife's health which is ok, but her immune resistance is
compromised. I am still cautious and continue to wear a mask where space is compromised and am careful to maintain use of
sanitisers etc. Consequently although I will be traveling to Sydney and Port Macquarie at that time we will be able to maintain a
reasonably controlled environment without unduly increasing our risk exposure levels, but I am concerned that the exposure risk on the
run will be higher with an environment that will increase that risk, either consciously or subconsciously.
With all that in mind, I am afraid, that I must now consider myself an unlikely starter unless things change significantly.
Cheers
Mike
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From: Henry Schubert
Sent: Saturday, 13 August 2022 1:10 PM
To: 'Rick Pengilly'
Subject: 2022 Pub Crawl
Ricky is there to be a 2022 Pub Crawl or is it cancelled due to extreme age?
Rgds
H
Henry Schubert
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SO IN SUMMARY... If the
results/ consensus of the
POLL ABOVE determines that we should defer it for 12 months,
so be it... HOWEVER, if there are
sufficient Members/ Partners (
let's say, 10 starters,) I'm willing to proceed with accommodation and restaurant bookings for those willing to put their
names on the list as attendees...