COVID-19 Virus.

[old man emu]

I don't think that the Masters of Our Universe can comprehend the size of our population, piddlingly small though it is, nor the time it takes to actually obtain the necessary identification data from the people being tested, and then to do the test. Perhaps it's bad thinking, but if I was supervising a testing station, I would go along the queue with the blank paperwork and have the people fill it in before they got to the front of the queue. Then all that is needed at the testing site is the swabbing, labelling and packaging.

 

But then, to me that seems a sensible thing to do, therefore, it must be incorrect.

[pmccarthy]

The people who queued for five hours at Bendigo yesterday were families who had driven all day or all night to get back from Sydney with screaming kids by that stage, or sick  people who should have been in bed. Many were turned away when the testing station closed at 6pm. I gave up today and don't know whether I will try again.

[red750]

I have been tested twice at a station in the staff carpark of our local health centre. Make a phone call for an appointment, and done in under 15 minutes.

[old man emu]

If the Government makes it mandatory to wear masks in certain places, and imposes fines for failing to do so, then shouldn't the Government supply the masks? Why should people have to pay to comply with a law?

[octave]

Should  cycling helmets also be free?

 

[red750]

Or seatbelts?

[red750]

In Victoria, we've been wearing masks for a few months, not only in certain indoor situations, but walking down the street, walking the dog etc. That's how we got 700 cases a day to zero for 61 days, till the borders opened to NSW and someone brought the virus back and spread it. It was only after weeks of no transmission that the Boxing Day test had spectators.  We had no football, lost the Grand Final, and were restricted to a 5 km radius for travel for weeks. I didn't like it, but it worked. Ya gotta get serious.

[octave]

I have just spent a week in South Australia and was struck by lax attitude which I guess may be a result of SA having a relatively good run.   Although masks are not a legal requirement checking in when entering a business is.   It seemed to me that only about 50% of people bothered to do it.   We went to lunch with the in-laws an my mother in-law didn't check in saying that "they know me here" , as if in the event of an outbreak they would say "ah yes, Mrs A was here at a particular time.  The phone QR check in allows good tracking in terms of who was there and also where they went subsequently.  Even for those who are not concerned with the common good, self interest ought to be enough.  A new drug is being trialed in the UK that is given if you may have been exposed . 

 

British scientists are trialling a new drug that could prevent someone who has been exposed to coronavirus from going on to develop the disease Covid-19, which experts say could save many lives.

 

Knowing you may have been exposed before you get sick is worth it.

 

My other annoyance is those people who are too dumb to know that the mask also goes over the nose.

[facthunter]

IF you are always patting yourself on the back your vision will be restricted. Not much mention of the Gold Standard lately. It doesn't take many to bugger up a good result. I think the worst is yet to come. Covid normal is an unknown condition and a deceptive term.  Humans can extract a sample from  a piece of space rock and return it to earth but can't eat out safely to save their lives. OR don't want to.  The weakest link in a chain determines it's strength.  Nev

Edited January 3, 2021 by facthunter
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[willedoo]

10 minutes ago, facthunter said:

IF you are always patting yourself on the back your vision will be restricted. Not much mention of the Gold Standard lately. It doesn't take many to bugger up a good result. I think the worst is yet to come. Covid normal is an unknown condition and a deceptive term.  Humans can extract a sample from  a piece of space rock and return it to earth but can't eat out safely to save their lives. OR don't want to.  The weakest link in a chain determines it's strength.  Nev

Don't worry Nev, Gold Standard Gladys is still the teacher's pet. Only question is will she be forced by necessity to go the Full Dan.

[red750]

I was pointing out the old rule: Stupidity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result.

 

Allowing people to walk around without masks, gather in large numbers (the cricket), etc., when things look like they could be getting out of hand is a recipe for disaster.

[facthunter]

Agree totally Red. Once Politics gets into it, reason and truth go out the window. Nev 

[onetrack]

I'm with SWMBO and currently visiting the stepson on the Gold Coast for his 50th birthday. I'm surprised at how lax the Queenslanders are with regard to social distancing and tracking - particularly when one considers the NSW border is only a few kms away, and travellers from NSW must be sneaking through or avoiding the roadblocks.

 

We originally planed to fly Perth to Coolangatta, because OOL is only a few kms from the stepsons place. But there were no direct flights with Virgin from PER to OOL, so we had to do a short stopover in Sydney, each way.

However, no sooner had we booked the flights, and the Sydney, Northern beaches virus outbreak occurred. So we quickly cancelled the flights and went direct PER to BRI.

That cost us $280, which was annoying, but at least we won't have to go into quarantine when we get back to W.A. now - provided there's no outbreak in QLD. We're crossing our fingers here.

[willedoo]

It's sad to see politics putting people's lives at risk. A simple thing like a virus, and the world is having a lot of trouble cooperating  with one another to defeat it. If they can't handle this, what chance would they have with a potential extinction threatening asteroid strike.

 

A good example is what's happening with Ukraine. Countries like that are way down the pecking order in deliveries of vaccines from the US, UK and EU. America has an export ban and won't export theirs until all Americans have access. As a result, Ukraine has no viable orders locked in for the near future. Russia has offered to supply their Sputnik V vaccine but have so far had their offer refused. Right Sector and their supporters (who are not a minority) would rather see people die than be seen to eat humble pie. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister has referred to Russia's sputnik V vaccine as a 'weapon of hybrid warfare'.

 

Now a pharma company in Kharkov has applied to register and licence produce the Russian vaccine for use in Ukraine. It's still not decided if the authorities will approve it, but if they refuse on political grounds it would be a crime against their own people. Why can't they forget the politics for once and just let people get vaccinated.

[willedoo]

2 minutes ago, onetrack said:

I'm surprised at how lax the Queenslanders are with regard to social distancing and tracking - particularly when one considers the NSW border is only a few kms away, and travellers from NSW must be sneaking through or avoiding the roadblocks.

You're right, onetrack. We really need to pull our socks up. We've gone about 3 months without community transmission and people are noticeably slackening off. With current practices from the public, it will spread like wildfire if it gets loose.

[red750]

My daughter just told me there are 2,000 people in isolation in Sydney, not related to northern beaches, but to the BWS store where two people worked over Christmas after coming in contact with someone arriving from overseas. OMG. Standby!

[red750]

It is reported that Larry King has been admitted to hospital with Covid-19. At his age and with his medical history, the chances are not great.

[pmccarthy]

So what is the opposite of Larry King Live?

[Jerry_Atrick]

I met some parents of my son's old classmate at a supermarket today. They hadn't been outside their house (a very nice old Rectory) for over 2 months. They are both artists (she is, or was accredtied as the youngest artist to design a stamp in the UK). He was telling me about how he had is best exhibition yet - all but a couple of his pieces sold in Sydney - an online exhibition, too.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Yesterday, we had the highest numbers of infections at 62,322 and the highest numbers of deaths since April 2020 at 1,041. That is almost 120,000 people infected for Monday and Tuesday of this week alone. We are back into a lock down proper - well almost... For some reason, relgious services are still allowed...  Face coverings are only required when indoors. University students in subjects suchg as Medicine, Vetinary Science, Education (initial teacher training), Social Work, and similar are expected to attend face-2-face lessons/lectures, etc. The amount of businesses that can remain open is mind-boggling.. Garden centres, hardware stores (thing Bunnings), etc.

 

Yet, despite all this, a number of rebel Tories voted against the lockdown measures - as being too harsh.. FFS...

 

The UK government loves to quote Australia at the moment.. We have an Australian style points based immigration system just implemented since the end of the Brexit transition period; there was the possibility of moving to an Australian style relationship with the EU if a deal couldn't be agreed (in other words, on std WTO terms except for some piecemeal sector specific agreements).. They have referenced Australia's lead in a few other things. But they are not quite so quick to follow Australia's lead on handling the pandemic.

[spacesailor]

BUT

what is the chance, of Someone in that queue having a Positive result !.

Or are they All in cars, with no pedestrian attendees.

Just my thought, like keep well away from crowds.

spacesailor

[pmccarthy]

My theory is:

 

If there are going to be two new cases in Victoria tomorrow then I have a one in 3 million chance of being that person. Very long odds, why bother getting tested.

Then someone says "But what if everyone else felt that way?"

And as Yossarian once said "If everyone else felt that way then I would be a damn fool to feel differently!"

[old man emu]

I reckon that you can't trust the next bloke in this, so wear a mask to filter the air you are breathing in. It's not a case of my trying to protect the other bloke from my bugs.

 

I can't fathom the logic of not requiring children to wear masks in the same places as those over 12. True, it seems from experience that the virus does not affect young children. Yes, some children have become ill from it, but you'd have to look at the child's history. My grandson is asthmatic. We worry about his respiratory system every winter. He's been hospitalised with asthma and even pneumonia.

 

Be that as it may, the virus might not cause illness in the very young, but that doesn't stop them from carrying the virus and spreading it.

[red750]

The population in our area is becoming more and more Asian. You see lots of Asian kids as young as 4 or 5 wearing masks in the street. Asians have worn masks in winter, and in hay fever season, for many years. Some of our neighbours regularly wear masks when mowing their lawn. It seems to be the normal thing to do.

[Bruce Tuncks]

pmc, I reckon your chances are a lot less than 1 in 3 million. There is very little said about what infected people did to catch it, but I reckon they all did something stupid.

So if you haven't gone to a party and tongue-kissed strangers, I bet you won't catch anything.