COVID-19 Virus.

[red750]

I'm just watching Have You Been Paying Attention, on Channel 10. They played a clip of a woman at a podium reading out the new rules for tennis following the covid restrictions.

 

"Players must bring their own tennis balls. You must not handle other players tennis balls. You can kick their balls........."

 

[Yenn]

It has been very interesting to watch how different countries have handled the pandemic.

Most people would consider the USA to be a leading nation in all matters technical, but look at how it has handled the virus. It is about number 7 in the world for cases per million population and getting worse by the day. The UK certainly considers itself superior in all respects, but is not much better than the USA. One surprise is Singapore, which I would have expected to fare well, but its cases are very high per million population, due to migrant workers in hostels.

There are a few countries with high case numbers per million, but they are very small countries, like Andorra, where 1 case makes a big difference.

The stand out is China with a massive population and a very small number of cases, better in fact than Australia and they did not have the advantage of any prior warning.

I really wonder what goes through the minds of those dictators who are putting their citizens at risk. Trump for instance declaring that they are doing very well and everything is going to be rosy. Boris Johnson, who only seems to be trying to emulate Churchill by using Buzz words.

For years I have been saying that there are too many people on this earth and predicting that nature would find a way to thin us out. It is happening and those failures of government are aiding nature. Should we consider this a good thing or a bad thing?

[old man emu]

Mathew 24:7

For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

 

Well, we've got the nations and kingdoms in conflict. Earthquakes and volcanoes are happening. Maybe not famine yet, but a few dry years might bring that on. COVID is the pestilence and disease. Not being aware of large forests, young Matt missed the wildfires, and I suppose that floods were not common in the Holy Land.

[red750]

1 hour ago, old man emu said:

a few dry years might bring that on.

The predicted locust plague might have some impact.

[pmccarthy]

I have seen plagues of locusts, mice and crickets. Dead mice so thick they turned the highway red. Crickets piled a foot deep under street lamps, stinking. Yet the world continues to turn.

[Bruce Tuncks]

Firstly, I am not a racist.  Now I have been told that the recent outbreaks of virus in Melbourne have been due to " ethnic minorities following their cultural practices ". 

The mainstream media is so fearful of being called racist that they don't tell the whole story anymore. But they are still more trustworthy than some alternatives.

Does anybody know the real facts?

 

[old man emu]

6 hours ago, Bruce Tuncks said:

" ethnic minorities following their cultural practices "

Didn't you see the "Black Lives Matter" gathering? White university undergraduates (ethnic minority) doing what they have been doing since we went all the way with LBJ (following their cultural practices).

[red750]

Yes Bruce, you are right. Nobody is game to mention which group caused the outbreak by holding a religious function. Apparently a burka dies not double as a face mask. The areas where these cases are being found are areas with a concentration of this group. 

 

It is not unreasonable to expect an increase in the number of positive cases when testing has been stepped up with door to door testing in these areas. What would be a more meaningful stat is what is the percentage of tests proving positive?

 

I know anyone north of the Murray looks down on us Mexicans, but it's a bit unfair tarring us all with the same brush. How would Sydneysiders feel if there was an outbreak (hotspot) at Guildford and everyone from Manly to Tamworth was treated like a leper? How would Queenslanders feel if a hotspot at Logan resulted in everyone from Southport to Townsville being treated like a leper?

 

What I cannot understand is how people living in the affected areas are able to refuse to be tested. They should be locked up to protect those who take the precaution.

[Admin]

We here in Vic have to put up with this idiot Premier for another 2.5 years...we won't survive

[Yenn]

So what is this idiot premier doing wrong. Being a Queenslander as well as an Australian I have not been able to see exactly what is happening in Vic. I am affected, because normally my daughter who lives in Vic would be a grey nomad, wintering in the Sushine State although we seem to have a deficit of sunshine this year.

There is a big push for our government to open the borders and allow the flood of grey nomads into Qld and get our economy going, but she is supposedly consulting with our chief health officer. Does the Vic premier consult?

[facthunter]

I certainly don't agree with you there Ian. and our two Vic. medicos are great You can actually believe what they tell you. There's a huge" non- English first language people" here and young ones who want a normal life even if it kills granny and Pa.. Please don't JUST read the Herald Sun, even if it's free. Truth is evasive these days.   He does always  rely on the medical evidence Yenn, but I don't expect you"ll read about that North of the tweed. Nev

Edited June 30, 2020 by facthunter

[Admin]

The HUGE push on testing...well, all those people that wait up to 4hrs to be tested, get tested, then walk into the shop that afternoon and catch the virus from someone, get their results the next day and think they are clear but they are not...our money wasted and the virus keeps spreading so YES, the Premier AND the Health professionals advising him are just idiots.

 

The solution...LOCK THE WHOLE STATE DOWN FOR 3 WEEKS and lock up anyone leaving their house without a pass...anyone that is allowed to leave their house are tested every single day, no greedy company is allowed to charge for electricity, gas, freeze on house payments with no interest charged for the period (greedy large corporate have been getting their profits from us so it is time they gave back)...and food, chemist etc shopping you call a number to place your order and it is delivered the next day to your home.

 

And the idiot premier apply a law that every person in quarantine is tested before released to go to their home state OR they bloody STAY in quarantine until they agree to being tested.

 

I am forced to stay at home while everyone else goes out on their merry way keeping the virus out there all because the bloody state government lets them and many of my older aged friends are the same, they feel they can't go out while Vic keeps having new cases and a ball less Premier is stuffing the State up...I am not the only one, his approval rating is now down to ONLY 31%

 

Oh, and the fact the Premier hasn't done what he did months ago when we are today getting the same number of infections as we were a few months ago makes a mockery of either what he did back then OR what he is doing now!!!!!

[Admin]

OMG how bloody stupid the Victorian Government and the so called health advisors are...just now heard on the news they are putting the hot spots into lock down, 10 post codes, BUT BUT BUT no problem, loved ones and family members from outside those zones are allowed to come and go visiting their family and loved ones in the zones when ever they wan. The young idiots from outside the zones go and visit their girlfriend/boyfriend in the zone, get infected and then travel back outside the hot spot zone and spread the virus to more areas and work places. What's more is that workers are allowed to also come and go and most of the outbreaks are coming from work areas of these people.

 

I told you this Vic premier is a down right IDIOT and turning our State into chaos and will prolong our suffering for months costing our State more and more BILLIONS of dollars sending us down into spiralling debt.

[red750]

Further to my post of earlier today, I have also heard tat it was a Greek Easter, with lots of hugging and kissing, then everyone going home to their own home.

[nomadpete]

I don't get it.

I thought that Vic had invoked a lockdown?

 

That's not a lockdown!

 

Grrrrrrrrr!

[Admin]

Even Covid-19 thinks Melbourne is the most livable city

[Admin]

Have heard from several people I know in the lockdown postcodes that many people there have already packed their car and moving out of the area to go and stay with friends...effectively now just moving the virus across other areas.

 

I am telling you this State government and so called health advisors are just bloody idiots...they should be locked up in prison for attempted murder of many innocent people OR sent to a mental asylum for the brainless idiots

[old man emu]

C'mon, Ian. What have you got against brainless idiots that you would dump ivory tower morons on them?

[Jerry_Atrick]

I have to admit, I haven't been following events in Aus recently - and the reason is ironic to be posted at some later date if it works.. But, I can see there has been a spike of cases mainly in northern suburbs of Melbourne.. Not sure why... but if it was an endemic problem, surely, it would have spread more randomly through the population. Be that as  it may, and lets assume the Andrews Government and the MHC made a or some mistakes, they seem to be taking responsibility for it (or at least not denying it) from what I have just read and taking action on it. Those actions of lockdown and the other states reactions would have seemed a little heavy handed in earlier stages of the pandemic..

 

But, in all of this, I can't help that at this stage, people who know the risk and live in the 10 affected postcides and decide to pack their cars and move to relatives/friends in other areas aren't also the idiots. The government has identified a problem regardless of who is responsible for making it and are acting on it.. but people are refusing to comply or seeking to take advantage of a loophole and get out early.. Are they not also the idiots? And should they also not be charged with attempted murder?

 

BTW - I agree.. Just lock down the state (or the country) for 3 weeks; you will know my then who has it and who is/has been in contact with it and can control it.. SHould have been done globally day 1. Economy wouldn't have suffered the way it has and life would be pretty normal now.. Easier said than done, and of course 20/20 hindsight is a great thing.

And Vic did have a lockdown as I recall. For some reason, they eased the lockdown based on their analysis of the data; And probably allowing the BLM protest had a negative effect, but to be honest.. a spike in cases afterwards was not unexpected.

Edited July 1, 2020 by Jerry_Atrick

[red750]

You are right Jerry, there are lunatics out there thumbing their nose at the instructions. Inexplicably, testing is on an offer and accept basis, so many are refusing. There are the loonies who still don't believe that it is deadly, and the lockdown is a government plot to allow them to install 5G towers. I have a niece who is one, and she is nearly 50 with a kid. Also an anti-vaxer and vegan.  The test should be compulsory, with a penalty of imprisonment for refusing, with the only exceptions with a doctors certificate for something like my wife's thyroidectomy. The test is not a pleasant experience, I have had it and so has my son who lives in one of the locked down postcodes. Not something I would choose to do on a quiet Saturday afternoon, but if the circumstances warrant it, I would be willing, not necessarily happy, to do it again. NSW is threatening gaol for any Victorian trying to cross the border, Dan the Man needs to get serious.

[red750]

This image is a mock up for illustration purposes.

 

Right now, as a result of using postcodes to determine lockdowns, we have in Melbourne the situation where house 1 is in a safe postcode, and the residents can come and go as they please, while house 2 is in a hotspot postcode, and the residents are locked down till the end of July.

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

People should be counting their lucky stars. Over here, a wealther country by GDP (5th or 6th largest economy):

• Tests are still restricted to NHS and key workers - or those that are showing symptoms of the virus.
• The completely screwed up rolling out a tracing app. I sent an email to just buy the Aussie one as it was rolled out... They (the government) spent £20m on it and abandoned it. It has been a while since Ihave been programming. BoJo has claimed that the uK will eb the fist in the world to have an app!!! Germany had 15m downloads for theirs on the day he announced it.. And how many in Australia?
• They decide to lock down the borders through self-isolation but will realistically not provide the resources to enforce it... Then the airlines decide to challenge them and they may as well have capitulated. Complete mess.
• Now they are saying they want to open the borders to low-COVID countries - which other low COVID country in their right mind would agree to reciprocate? And it was in direct refernce to NZ.. but I don't recall any direct flights from NZ to the UK...
• They still can't get PPE right.. just sent back a bunch of faulty face masks...

 

People were claiming BoJo was doing a great job.. Only Nigel Farage had the "audacity" to vocally criticise the PM and suggest an immediate lockdown. Many thought it was driven by his desire for little Britain to return.. Whether or not it was, he got it right (for once).

 

[edit]

This article popped up in my feed: https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/melbourne-s-hot-hotel-still-guarded-by-private-guards-despite-outbreaks-20200701-p5584d.html. When will governments learn if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys...

Edited July 1, 2020 by Jerry_Atrick

[old man emu]

Just out of curiosity, but isn't closing State borders contrary to the free trade between States assured by Section 92 of the Constitution of Australia?

 

"Trade and commerce" and "intercourse" are two separate concepts, as noted in Cole v Whitfield (1988) 165 CLR 360 (2 May 1988), High Court (Australia).

The notions of absolutely free trade and commerce and absolutely free intercourse are quite distinct and neither the history of the clause nor the ordinary meaning of its words require that the content of the guarantee of freedom of trade and commerce be seen as governing or governed by the content of the guarantee of freedom of intercourse.

In that regard:

1. "trade and commerce" includes "the mutual communings, the negotiations, verbal and by correspondence, the bargain, the transport and the delivery",

2. "intercourse" is the ability "to pass to and fro among the States without burden, hindrance or restriction"

[octave]

It is all too easy to mock covid measures but this is not something that we have much previous experience in dealing with.  It must be remembered that as a country we have done exceedingly well compared to most other countries.  This outbreak is not unexpected, a second wave was always predicted and this has happened in other countries that have generally done well.  I cant see what Vic has done things markedly different from other states and I predict that other states will also have outbreaks.  Every state has made errors whether it be the security guards in Vic or the tourists in SA traveling around wineries in the Barossa or the Ruby Princess in NSW.  But I challenge anyone to name more 2 or 3 countries that have done better.  

I think it is a bit harsh to brand the government's response, either state or federal as being idiotic.  Experts give advice to politicians which is only concerned with mitigating the spread but politicians then need to decide the best way to proceed.  Politics is said to be the "art of the possible" by way of an example the government could save a great deal of money by banning smoking with stiff penalties. the government could save many lives cut health cost reduce violence and crime by  prohibiting alcohol use.but this would be difficult if the community were not  somewhat on board. The point is a full lockdown cannot last forever without public support. Even authoritarian governments such as China are not dealing with their second wave with full lockdowns.

 

It is all too easy to believe the experts in the field who publish their findings and whose findings are challenged by other experts are the idiots and the folks with no history in the field and have not perused the data are the smart ones who know exactly what should be done.

 

The people I feel more animosity towards are those who mocked the experts in the earlier part of this pandemic, calling them idiots because" it is just flu isn't it?"  Of course mistakes have been made in every state and country however these mistakes would not be so serious if everyone did their bit with regards social distancing.

Today i went for a drive down the great ocean road, most towns had cafes and pubs with .patrons clearly not socially distancing - these are the idiots in my view.

[Jerry_Atrick]

52 minutes ago, octave said:

patrons clearly not socially distancing - these are the idiots in my view.

Bang on, squire. Although, I would say, if the patrons were socially distancing between tables, it would be better as it would be more likely that those on a, say 4 or 2 seat table are from the same household.. what are the protective measures for the staff?