Coronavirus

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greeneyed
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by greeneyed »

Dr Zaius wrote: January 4, 2021, 10:09 pm
greeneyed wrote:
gangrenous wrote: January 4, 2021, 12:29 pm
It’s easy to scoff at preventative measures.

There’s a big difference between what many people can do with zero cases and some cases in a community. Even if you think in most cases you can contact trace and keep it under control, the risk of a serious outbreak is not zero and the penalty is people’s lives.
I agree. The thing not to overlook is that NSW is not going to have controlled this outbreak simply by “gold standard” testing and contact tracing. It was serious and they had to lock down a very large part of Sydney and put geographic movement restrictions in place to get control. They have also now mandated masks, so they’re clearly not confident yet that it’s not spreading. As I’ve said before, I’m glad border restrictions have been put in place by the ACT Government... as we know this outbreak was spread to other States... and hopefully they can be removed quickly. The only downside of that is Azza will be able to go to Tuggeranong. ;)
Well that's certainly interesting. Because the mantra on social media, particularly from Victorians is that NSW has done nothing about this outbreak. Not a single thing.
You must follow some fascinating folks on social media Doc. Happy if that’s not the intention to suggest otherwise in quoting the post, but I think I’ve been entirely reasonable in my posts.
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greeneyed
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Re: Coronavirus

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Dr Zaius wrote: January 4, 2021, 10:17 pm
greeneyed wrote:
Dr Zaius wrote: January 4, 2021, 12:52 pm
greeneyed wrote: January 4, 2021, 11:16 am Only two cases in NSW today, very positive news... though they still seem concerned about testing numbers: https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavir ... e7f82ae127
Testing numbers are always lower on a weekend. In Sydney, in all states, and across the world.
They’ve been concerned for longer than that though.
Not overly
Their testing rate in the lead up to Xmas was ridiculous, peaking at 69,000

Last week was about half that, but still very good at around 30k on average during the week. Bear in mind Victoria was hitting around 25k during the week in July/Auguat when they were getting 700+ cases per day. Image
I was just repeating what they said in their press conferences post Christmas, when there was a dip, which you can see in the graph.
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gangrenous
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Coronavirus

Post by gangrenous »

Dr Zaius wrote:Well that's certainly interesting. Because the mantra on social media, particularly from Victorians is that NSW has done nothing about this outbreak. Not a single thing.
I think you need to stop following groups filled by numptys and bots.

It’s like reading the comments on a vaccination or climate change article. You know they’re gonna be filled with the dumpster fire end of humanity. Not that it ever gets less disappointing being reminded that there is an army of stupid out there...
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Azza
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by Azza »

Oh yeah, I'm REALLY looking forward to all the idiots who will be coming out and telling us why we shouldn't get vaccinated, because it's the government's attempt to control our minds for all eternity.
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gangrenous
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by gangrenous »

Albo should shut up about about rushing the vaccine through too. Doesn’t seem to be based on anything sensible.
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Azza
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by Azza »

The scary thought about this rubbish with the borders is it may go on for years. What a horrid situation.
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Re: Coronavirus

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So....how about the good 'ol UK government who has now decided that they need to speed up the rollout of the Pfizer vaccine...and to do so they are postponing the second dose to be up to 3 months after the first, rather than 3 weeks.

What could possibly go wrong?

What an absolute shambles.
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Re: Coronavirus

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Seiffert82 wrote:So....how about the good 'ol UK government who has now decided that they need to speed up the rollout of the Pfizer vaccine...and to do so they are postponing the second dose to be up to 3 months after the first, rather than 3 weeks.

What could possibly go wrong?

What an absolute shambles.
That's a real half assed way of doing it

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Seiffert82
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Re: Coronavirus

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-TW- wrote: January 5, 2021, 10:39 am
Seiffert82 wrote:So....how about the good 'ol UK government who has now decided that they need to speed up the rollout of the Pfizer vaccine...and to do so they are postponing the second dose to be up to 3 months after the first, rather than 3 weeks.

What could possibly go wrong?

What an absolute shambles.
That's a real half assed way of doing it

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk
Yep, let's go through the process of full-blown clinical trials and then just ignore the results and recommendations and make it up as we go.

They don't fully know how long the first dose is effective. If they **** this up, it could open the door for all sorts of virus mutations if people who have been half inoculated then catch the virus before the second shot.

Seriously. What the hell.
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by Northern Raider »

gangrenous wrote: January 5, 2021, 9:09 am Albo should shut up about about rushing the vaccine through too. Doesn’t seem to be based on anything sensible.
Yep. He's been fairly quiet as opposition leader through this time and for good reason. He should stay in his box a little longer. Will have plenty of ammo later on with benefit of hindsight.
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by The Nickman »

The UK seems to be doing a fantastic job at bungling the whole COVID response from start to finish.

You'd almost say they've done worse than the US when you consider their size and population.
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by greeneyed »

New COVID case, an 18-year-old man from Berala, travelled from Berala to Orange, Nyngan and then Broken Hill for a camping trip: https://au.news.yahoo.com/coronavirus-n ... 59444.html

A leading epidemiologist has called for Australia to stop international arrivals until a key change is made in hotel quarantine: https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-u ... f85d7cda39
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by Dr Zaius »

greeneyed wrote:
Dr Zaius wrote: January 4, 2021, 10:09 pm
greeneyed wrote:
gangrenous wrote: January 4, 2021, 12:29 pm
It’s easy to scoff at preventative measures.

There’s a big difference between what many people can do with zero cases and some cases in a community. Even if you think in most cases you can contact trace and keep it under control, the risk of a serious outbreak is not zero and the penalty is people’s lives.
I agree. The thing not to overlook is that NSW is not going to have controlled this outbreak simply by “gold standard” testing and contact tracing. It was serious and they had to lock down a very large part of Sydney and put geographic movement restrictions in place to get control. They have also now mandated masks, so they’re clearly not confident yet that it’s not spreading. As I’ve said before, I’m glad border restrictions have been put in place by the ACT Government... as we know this outbreak was spread to other States... and hopefully they can be removed quickly. The only downside of that is Azza will be able to go to Tuggeranong. ;)
Well that's certainly interesting. Because the mantra on social media, particularly from Victorians is that NSW has done nothing about this outbreak. Not a single thing.
You must follow some fascinating folks on social media Doc. Happy if that’s not the intention to suggest otherwise in quoting the post, but I think I’ve been entirely reasonable in my posts.
No sorry GE that's not meant to be a shot at you, rather commentary on the perception of the average Victorian keyboard warrior that NSW has simply thrown its hands in the air and gone "well what can you do?"
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by Dr Zaius »

greeneyed wrote:
Dr Zaius wrote: January 4, 2021, 10:17 pm
greeneyed wrote:
Dr Zaius wrote: January 4, 2021, 12:52 pm
greeneyed wrote: January 4, 2021, 11:16 am Only two cases in NSW today, very positive news... though they still seem concerned about testing numbers: https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavir ... e7f82ae127
Testing numbers are always lower on a weekend. In Sydney, in all states, and across the world.
They’ve been concerned for longer than that though.
Not overly
Their testing rate in the lead up to Xmas was ridiculous, peaking at 69,000

Last week was about half that, but still very good at around 30k on average during the week. Bear in mind Victoria was hitting around 25k during the week in July/Auguat when they were getting 700+ cases per day. Image
I was just repeating what they said in their press conferences post Christmas, when there was a dip, which you can see in the graph.
Absolutely there is a dip, and absolutely they want more people tested. You always want more people tested, and that needs to be the messaging. But there was always going to be a dip, because the testing numbers in the lead up to Xmas were ridiculously high. The current numbers are on par with when outbreaks occurred over July/August/September.
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Re: Coronavirus

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gangrenous wrote:
Dr Zaius wrote:Well that's certainly interesting. Because the mantra on social media, particularly from Victorians is that NSW has done nothing about this outbreak. Not a single thing.
I think you need to stop following groups filled by numptys and bots.

It’s like reading the comments on a vaccination or climate change article. You know they’re gonna be filled with the dumpster fire end of humanity. Not that it ever gets less disappointing being reminded that there is an army of stupid out there...
It's just Facebook pages such as ABC news, Sydney Morning Herald and the Age. The Guardian has become unbearable.
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by gangrenous »

The Nickman wrote:The UK seems to be doing a fantastic job at bungling the whole COVID response from start to finish.

You'd almost say they've done worse than the US when you consider their size and population.
What do they have in common? Both voted in right wing morons who do appear to do little of value beyond pandering to the base whims of the masses. Weird how that hasn’t worked out for them...
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by gangrenous »

Dr Zaius wrote:It's just Facebook pages such as ABC news, Sydney Morning Herald and the Age. The Guardian has become unbearable.
Yep can’t read the comments there. Actually, I’m not sure where *is* a good place to read Facebook comments on serious topics...
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by Azza »

NSW still seem confident they can get this under control quicker than they got the crossroads outbreak under control (4 months). That will of course heavily depend on whether too many acts of human stupidity let the virus spread.

The mutations in the UK and South Africa are concerning. If one of those gets out of the bag here (i.e. past hotel quarantine) I fear we're going to be back to square one.
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Re: Coronavirus

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We’ve had four outbreaks from hotel quarantine in NSW in the past month. There’s no breaches of protocols etc, as far as I’m aware, but that just shows how hard it is to contain. The new more infectious UK strain has already been reported in Australia... and if that gets out...

Meanwhile we’ve had infected people travel to Melbourne, and as far as Broken Hill, Nyngan, Orange and Eden.

It’s not a good combination. The next couple of weeks are going to be really critical... but then there’s the risk of the UK strain on top of that. Hopefully, what’s being done does the trick.
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by Dr Zaius »

I'm really not overly worried about outbreaks in small country towns. They'll be easily contained.
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Re: Coronavirus

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Dr Zaius wrote: January 5, 2021, 12:07 pm I'm really not overly worried about outbreaks in small country towns. They'll be easily contained.
Yep, geographically and numerically. Not ideal but not a huge threat in reality.
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Re: Coronavirus

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I heard a story the other day about a family in the UK that had been ‘postponed’ they’re flight/quarantine combo x4 times. An Aussie family who was abroad when this all happened and is trying to get home.

They have run out of savings, and are now living in a tent with their kids hoping their 5th scheduled flight/quarantine goes through.

It’s easy to say ‘stop international arrivals’ but it’s not just diplomats or movie stars trying to get in. It’s everyday aussies as well.
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Re: Coronavirus

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ACT border restrictions to NSW extended another week: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... /?cs=14225

Given that Victoria is refusing to allow its own residents to cross back to their own homes in their own State, under any circumstances, even if they go into quarantine, it makes even more sense... there's every incentive for Victorians to enter the ACT to try and quarantine here, before returning home.

But it is a deporable way for Victoria to manage their border restriction and treat their own people... and their rules have also put the ACT at more risk. I do believe you need border controls and quarantines/lock downs to deal with these outbreaks... but Victoria's rule makes no sense at all.
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Re: Coronavirus

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Coastalraider wrote: January 5, 2021, 1:30 pm I heard a story the other day about a family in the UK that had been ‘postponed’ they’re flight/quarantine combo x4 times. An Aussie family who was abroad when this all happened and is trying to get home.

They have run out of savings, and are now living in a tent with their kids hoping their 5th scheduled flight/quarantine goes through.

It’s easy to say ‘stop international arrivals’ but it’s not just diplomats or movie stars trying to get in. It’s everyday aussies as well.
Agree it would be very harsh on people like that. The Australian Government should be doing more to assist people in that situation.
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Re: Coronavirus

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Dr Zaius wrote: January 5, 2021, 11:19 am
gangrenous wrote:
Dr Zaius wrote:Well that's certainly interesting. Because the mantra on social media, particularly from Victorians is that NSW has done nothing about this outbreak. Not a single thing.
I think you need to stop following groups filled by numptys and bots.

It’s like reading the comments on a vaccination or climate change article. You know they’re gonna be filled with the dumpster fire end of humanity. Not that it ever gets less disappointing being reminded that there is an army of stupid out there...
It's just Facebook pages such as ABC news, Sydney Morning Herald and the Age. The Guardian has become unbearable.
I’m interested to know - what makes the Guardian’s comments unbearable?
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by Dr Zaius »

greeneyed wrote:ACT border restrictions to NSW extended another week: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... /?cs=14225

Given that Victoria is refusing to allow its own residents to cross back to their own homes in their own State, under any circumstances, even if they go into quarantine, it makes even more sense... there's every incentive for Victorians to enter the ACT to try and quarantine here, before returning home.

But it is a deporable way for Victoria to manage their border restriction and treat their own people... and their rules have also put the ACT at more risk. I do believe you need border controls and quarantines/lock downs to deal with these outbreaks... but Victoria's rule makes no sense at all.
The issue is that they don't have enough hotel rooms to quarantine everyone that was on holidays in NSW.
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Re: Coronavirus

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the bone wrote:
Dr Zaius wrote: January 5, 2021, 11:19 am
gangrenous wrote:
Dr Zaius wrote:Well that's certainly interesting. Because the mantra on social media, particularly from Victorians is that NSW has done nothing about this outbreak. Not a single thing.
I think you need to stop following groups filled by numptys and bots.

It’s like reading the comments on a vaccination or climate change article. You know they’re gonna be filled with the dumpster fire end of humanity. Not that it ever gets less disappointing being reminded that there is an army of stupid out there...
It's just Facebook pages such as ABC news, Sydney Morning Herald and the Age. The Guardian has become unbearable.
I’m interested to know - what makes the Guardian’s comments unbearable?
Don't get me wrong, I usually like the Guardian. I'm left leaning, centery type person. The problem with the comments at the moment is that they are full of rusted on Labor Party die hards. You know the type, the ones that "like" 20 odd Labor MPs and a page called "Death to Liberal Governments'.

Anyway, I don't consider those people to have the most non partisan view point on things. They are generally just death riding NSW because it is a Liberal Government, and are completely unable to be challenged lest they launch into personal insults.
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by greeneyed »

Dr Zaius wrote: January 5, 2021, 3:30 pm
greeneyed wrote:ACT border restrictions to NSW extended another week: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... /?cs=14225

Given that Victoria is refusing to allow its own residents to cross back to their own homes in their own State, under any circumstances, even if they go into quarantine, it makes even more sense... there's every incentive for Victorians to enter the ACT to try and quarantine here, before returning home.

But it is a deporable way for Victoria to manage their border restriction and treat their own people... and their rules have also put the ACT at more risk. I do believe you need border controls and quarantines/lock downs to deal with these outbreaks... but Victoria's rule makes no sense at all.
The issue is that they don't have enough hotel rooms to quarantine everyone that was on holidays in NSW.
It appears they're about to change that, having sent a letter to those in hotel quarantine that they are considering allowing them to quarantine at home.

COVID conspiracy theorists think a guitar pedal diagram is really for a secretive 5G chip in the vaccines: https://www.news.com.au/technology/onli ... b154512e6b
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Re: Coronavirus

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greeneyed wrote:
Dr Zaius wrote: January 5, 2021, 3:30 pm
greeneyed wrote:ACT border restrictions to NSW extended another week: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... /?cs=14225

Given that Victoria is refusing to allow its own residents to cross back to their own homes in their own State, under any circumstances, even if they go into quarantine, it makes even more sense... there's every incentive for Victorians to enter the ACT to try and quarantine here, before returning home.

But it is a deporable way for Victoria to manage their border restriction and treat their own people... and their rules have also put the ACT at more risk. I do believe you need border controls and quarantines/lock downs to deal with these outbreaks... but Victoria's rule makes no sense at all.
The issue is that they don't have enough hotel rooms to quarantine everyone that was on holidays in NSW.
It appears they're about to change that, having sent a letter to those in hotel quarantine that they are considering allowing them to quarantine at home.

COVID conspiracy theorists think a guitar pedal diagram is really for a secretive 5G chip in the vaccines: https://www.news.com.au/technology/onli ... b154512e6b
The sensible thing to do would be to put those from hotspots into hotel quarantine, and allow the rest to home quarantine. The even more sensible thing to do would be to have border restrictions on hotspots only.
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by The Nickman »

Coastalraider wrote: January 5, 2021, 1:30 pm I heard a story the other day about a family in the UK that had been ‘postponed’ they’re flight/quarantine combo x4 times. An Aussie family who was abroad when this all happened and is trying to get home.

They have run out of savings, and are now living in a tent with their kids hoping their 5th scheduled flight/quarantine goes through.

It’s easy to say ‘stop international arrivals’ but it’s not just diplomats or movie stars trying to get in. It’s everyday aussies as well.
Yeah, this is why I don't think you can ever stop international arrivals. Australians should always be able to come home.

The system we have is working just fine, despite so many contrary views trying to say otherwise while essentially ignoring the numbers.
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by Azza »

Our system is probably one of the better ones globally, but I don't think you can question there are concerns about hotel quarantine - particularly in major CBDs.

I've never questioned getting Australians home - but IMO there are grounds for arguing quarantine should be happening away from major cities where there's an ever-present and not insignificant risk to the community (as is evidenced by the current NSW outbreak).
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by Dr Zaius »

Surely there are more facilities like Howard Springs that can be used.
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by The Nickman »

Azza wrote: January 5, 2021, 4:14 pm Our system is probably one of the better ones globally, but I don't think you can question there are concerns about hotel quarantine - particularly in major CBDs.

I've never questioned getting Australians home - but IMO there are grounds for arguing quarantine should be happening away from major cities where there's an ever-present and not insignificant risk to the community (as is evidenced by the current NSW outbreak).
I'm not questioning hotel quarantine, no system is perfect, and there's obvious issues. I'm just saying our system, particularly in NSW, is world-leading, despite the naysayers who choose to ignore numbers and quote hysteria instead.

And like Zaius said, they all seem to be diehard Labor supporters. I hate how this thing has become a partisan argument.
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by Azza »

Yeah the WA premier was observed recently making sarcastic comments about NSW's "gold standard" contact tracing and hotel quarantine system. It's infuriating.
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Re: Coronavirus

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Dr Zaius wrote: January 5, 2021, 4:18 pm Surely there are more facilities like Howard Springs that can be used.
Not really. Other are either currently in use or if not they've been long dismantled. You would need to have about 20 times the capacity of Howard Springs to cope with the number of arrivals. Then there's the logistics challenge of moving people from the international airports to these remote facilities.

With city hotels the facilities already exist and arrivals can be bussed there immediately upon disembarking. While this situation is not perfect it's the best we have.
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