Corona

[Dead Planet]

Just now, Dead Planet said:

Well buddy you made me do something that I haven't done in many years....at first I thought you had seriously messed up the spelling but after looking it up ,it turns out that spruiking is actually a real word....I'll be damned....

 

[Glen]

8 hours ago, Geoff said:

 

UK opens up fully in 3 weeks time. I don't know if I'm being over-the-top when I say it still looks about 3 years away down here. If ever, if they keep up this moronic "we can't open back up again until we're down to 0 cases" mentality. 

the only reason it is opening is due to the successful vaccination programme.

(oh and # )

[auslander]

4 hours ago, Dead Planet said:

 

I think it might be an Aussie thing. We have these annoying people outside restaurants or clubs in Melbourne who try to convince you to go in there. They are called spruikers. It became part of what we say day to day now.

[CureTheSane]

On 7/2/2021 at 11:20 PM, Leykis101 said:

My question wasnt anything to do with the UK, I dont live in the UK, so I cant comment on it, I do live in the US, and I know that you people outside the US get fed a steady stream of one side, and have no clue about the other side, I know because it doesnt get reported, Mass shootings are on the rise because of the complete lack of fear of consequences, I have no idea what goes on in the UK, I have a girlfriend who lives in Manchester, and she always says weird shit to me, like asking me if I was going to get a wank over a hot chick, or tells me what I say is rubbish, or bullocks, outside of that, I just know I hate that fucking family who married a below mediocre actress and the rest of the world seems to be captivated by them, they are like the Kardashians, maybe worse cause they didnt even make a fuck tape to get noticed, they just happened to be born. Very uninteresting.

Very true.
Has to be 'reality TV style' controversial to make it to the local news in Australia.
Trump is the perfect example.
Many would argue that own news is biased against Trump as the he's been little US government news since he was ousted.
Nut the reality is that Biden is boring and bot 'newsworthy'

Another great example is the building collapse.
Just saw this morning that there were landslides near Tokyo, some dead, 20 missing.
Not as spectacular as the Florida building collapse, so only got a mention on the world news on a lowly channel here, will be lucky to even get a mention on the main news.
kind of racist as well possibly...

[auslander]

2 hours ago, CureTheSane said:

Very true.
Has to be 'reality TV style' controversial to make it to the local news in Australia.
Trump is the perfect example.
Many would argue that own news is biased against Trump as the he's been little US government news since he was ousted.
Nut the reality is that Biden is boring and bot 'newsworthy'

Another great example is the building collapse.
Just saw this morning that there were landslides near Tokyo, some dead, 20 missing.
Not as spectacular as the Florida building collapse, so only got a mention on the world news on a lowly channel here, will be lucky to even get a mention on the main news.
kind of racist as well possibly...

All building collapses look the same...

[Leykis101]

4 hours ago, CureTheSane said:

Very true.
Has to be 'reality TV style' controversial to make it to the local news in Australia.
Trump is the perfect example.
Many would argue that own news is biased against Trump as the he's been little US government news since he was ousted.
Nut the reality is that Biden is boring and bot 'newsworthy'

Another great example is the building collapse.
Just saw this morning that there were landslides near Tokyo, some dead, 20 missing.
Not as spectacular as the Florida building collapse, so only got a mention on the world news on a lowly channel here, will be lucky to even get a mention on the main news.
kind of racist as well possibly...

Thats right buddy, they are racist against my people, the japanese got a fucking atom bomb dropped on them, I guess i could cry and complain that we are oppressed, I mean those people in hiroshima were really oppressed, or compressed, but I should start saying everyones racist, I think Glenn doesnt like my view points not because they tend to lean right, but it's because he hates Japanese people

[auslander]

It's not racism that news stations focus on the English speaking world when covering tragedies, it's just that (obviously) those countries that share history, language and culture are more relateable to us all. It's just life. It is also because the US basically makes the world go round whether the commies want to admit it or not. If the US economy sneezes, the rest of the world's economies gets the flu... I mean coronavirus, there back on topic!

[CureTheSane]

23 hours ago, auslander said:

It's not racism that news stations focus on the English speaking world when covering tragedies, it's just that (obviously) those countries that share history, language and culture are more relateable to us all. It's just life. It is also because the US basically makes the world go round whether the commies want to admit it or not. If the US economy sneezes, the rest of the world's economies gets the flu... I mean coronavirus, there back on topic!

That's a weird comment for me.
Makes little sense.
supply and demand.
The reason news leans to 'English speaking countries" if it does, is because that is what they define as what people want to see.
I can't see hoe people would be more empathetic to US citizens dying in a disaster than they would be to Asian or Indian, etc citizens dying the same way
Look at the Ethiopian hunger crisis 20 or so years ago.
everyone cared and helped.
And it seems to be all starting again, yet has received no press.

Maybe it's a "been there, done that" mentality?

[Geoff]

Biggest news story in this wonderful state in this wonderful country today is $350K worth of fines dished out to 12 players from an NRL football team for breaking covid protocols. Outrage, outrage, fucking outrage! Every commentator I heard today was calling for a lifetime ban from the NRL, and basically stopped short of giving them a death sentence each. Outrage, fucking outrage!

So if we just let the dust settle a bit on the worst crime ever committed in Australian history, let's actually have a look at the problem here. Yes, there are rules in place for the NRL following the latest lockdown. But what's really the problem here? These guys breaking these new (and very easily argued, stupid) rules, or the fact that the stupid christ forsaken rules are even there in the first place in this piece of shit country we used to love?

To break it down, these guys have trained together all year, including last week, played together all year, including on Friday night, the day before this all happened. They share locker rooms together and basically spend their lives tackling and embracing each other. But, christ FORFUCKINGBID the guys get together to share a fucking sausage between themselves on the weekend. 

I know if you want to follow the technicalities and letter of the law (as of a week ago), yes, they broke the NRL protocols, but what fucking country are we actually living in? Is this really what happens now? 

Because I get so fired up about this subject in this shithole at the moment, I thought I'd look at some numbers today. Source - https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/australia/

Total covid cases in Australia since the start - 30,803

Total number of people who have died a covid related death - 910

This blew my mind, but current cases - 488     

Currently in mild condition - 487

Currently serious or critical - 1

Cases since 20th October 2020 - 3,374

Deaths since 20th October 2020 - 5

I'd be amazed if even the Glens of the world can look at these numbers and think this all makes sense. Nationwide masks and lockdowns for this? We are living on a prison island for that? Really?

125 infringement notices issued in NSW this weekend for people seeing another person, or going to a beach, or not wearing a mask. I don't know. Who knows? Every heroic story I see on the news about police persecuting some small business trying to stay alive, or manhandling someone for not wearing a fucking mask... each story proudly sprayed across all news formats, telling the world that safety is our government's number one concern. And of course it is. How could you poke holes in that? 

Anyway, that's it for today. I know I need to stay away from any and all news formats, but as a fan of the NRL this one kind of knocked on my door.

Edited July 5, 2021 by Geoff

[Glen]

45 minutes ago, Geoff said:

Biggest news story in this wonderful state in this wonderful country today is $350K worth of fines dished out to 12 players from an NRL football team for breaking covid protocols. Outrage, outrage, fucking outrage! Every commentator I heard today was calling for a lifetime ban from the NRL and basically stopped short of giving them the death sentence. Outrage, fucking outrage!

So if we just let the dust settle a bit on the worst crime ever committed in Australia history, let's actually have a look at the problem here. Yes, there are rules in place for the NRL following the latest lockdown. But what's really the problem here? These guys breaking these rules, or the fact that the stupid christ forsake rules are there in the first place in this piece of shit country we used to love?

To break it down, these guys have trained together, including last week, played together all year, including on Friday night, the day before this all happened. They share locker rooms together and basically spend their lives tackling and embracing each other. But, christ FORFUCKINGBID the guys get together to share a fucking sausage between themselves on the weekend. 

I know if you want to follow the technicalities and letter of the law (as of a week ago), yes, they broke the NRL protocols, but what fucking country are we actually living in? Is this really what happens now? 

Because I get so fired up about this subject in this shithole at the moment, I thought I'd look at some numbers today. Source - https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/australia/

Total covid cases in Australia since the start - 30,803

Total number of people who have died a covid related death - 910

This blew my mind, but current cases - 488     

Currently in mild condition - 487

Currently serious or critical - 1

Cases since October 2020 - 3,374

Deaths since 20th October 2020 - 5

I'd be amazed if even the Glens of the world can look at these numbers and think this all makes sense. Nationwide masks and lockdowns for this? We are living on a prison island for that? Really?

125 infringement notices issued this weekend for people seeing another person, or going to a beach, or not wearing a mask. I don't know. Who knows? Every heroic story I see on the news about police persecuting some small business trying to stay alive, or manhandling someone for not wearing a fucking mask... each story proudly sprayed across all news formats, telling the world that safety is our government's number one concern. And of course it is. How could you poke holes in that? 

Anyway, that's it for today. I know I need to stay away from any and all new formats, but as a fan of the NRL this one kind of knocked on my door.

can you please stop referring to me in every post you make on this subject please.

The only question I ever asked was whether Australia's handling on the pandemic was better than US or UK based on death stats / number of cases.

I have never defended what your country is doing now. NEVER. 

However, I can only assume they continue these drastic measures as there is no vaccination rollout in progress, so your country is rapidly going from best in class to worst in class and for that I have no explanation.

I am patiently waiting on our governments announcement later today but I fully predict the message will be that the country fully re-opens from 19.07 (the last stage was indoor gigs, nightclubs) and the wearing of masks will be a personal choice 

The ONLY reason this step is being taken though is that 75% of the adult population has received a first jab and over 50% are fully vaccinated. 

[auslander]

4 hours ago, CureTheSane said:

That's a weird comment for me.
Makes little sense.
supply and demand.
The reason news leans to 'English speaking countries" if it does, is because that is what they define as what people want to see.
I can't see hoe people would be more empathetic to US citizens dying in a disaster than they would be to Asian or Indian, etc citizens dying the same way
Look at the Ethiopian hunger crisis 20 or so years ago.
everyone cared and helped.
And it seems to be all starting again, yet has received no press.

Maybe it's a "been there, done that" mentality?

Sorry, that's rubbish. We view people in the UK and US as brothers because we share culture and values. It doesn't matter what race a person is, what counts is cultural similarity. It's just virtue signalling to pretend you feel exactly the same to a stranger as you would to "family" or care about their situation to the same extent. And that is why the news focuses on those countries,  because we care more. It's just reality.  To pretend it isn't is just being dishonest. 

[Geoff]

15 minutes ago, Glen said:

can you please stop referring to me in every post you make on this subject please.

The only question I ever asked was whether Australia's handling on the pandemic was better than US or UK based on death stats / number of cases.

I have never defended what your country is doing now. NEVER. 

However, I can only assume they continue these drastic measures as there is no vaccination rollout in progress, so your country is rapidly going from best in class to worst in class and for that I have no explanation.

I am patiently waiting on our governments announcement later today but I fully predict the message will be that the country fully re-opens from 19.07 (the last stage was indoor gigs, nightclubs) and the wearing of masks will be a personal choice 

The ONLY reason this step is being taken though is that 75% of the adult population has received a first jab and over 50% are fully vaccinated. 

I never refer to you unless I am replying to you, and that was nothing but a passing remark in that post. 

For the record, there is a (slow and delayed) vaccination rollout in progress and I'd even go as far as to say that a massive percentage of the "most vulnerable" have already had at least one shot. The explanation for why we're going from best to worst is because we are fucking dumb country. It's as simple as that. Our government are over-reactive, disproportionate twats, and to the rest of the world, maybe that was a good thing at the start of this thing when no one really knew what we were dealing with. But it's April 2020 in Australia at the moment and the fucking idiots need to wake up and realise it's 18 months later now. 

I am genuinely very happy for you guys in the UK, and so many other countries which seem to be trying to get things back on track. Just wish there was any sign at all here that we were going to join the party at any point.    

[Glen]

42 minutes ago, Geoff said:

I never refer to you unless I am replying to you, and that was nothing but a passing remark in that post. 

For the record, there is a (slow and delayed) vaccination rollout in progress and I'd even go as far as to say that a massive percentage of the "most vulnerable" have already had at least one shot. The explanation for why we're going from best to worst is because we are fucking dumb country. It's as simple as that. Our government are over-reactive, disproportionate twats, and to the rest of the world, maybe that was a good thing at the start of this thing when no one really knew what we were dealing with. But it's April 2020 in Australia at the moment and the fucking idiots need to wake up and realise it's 18 months later now. 

I am genuinely very happy for you guys in the UK, and so many other countries which seem to be trying to get things back on track. Just wish there was any sign at all here that we were going to join the party at any point.    

your vaccination programme is appalling

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jul/01/fewer-than-than-8-of-australians-fully-vaccinated-four-months-into-rollout

even for high risk categories.

This is why you are suffering with stringent measures 

[Glen]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57715496

 

v interesting reading. 

so looks like there will still be resistance (around mask wearing) but not from the government,  from industry and unions. I guess there is still fear of suing as a result of failure to protect an employee.

Good news in the main part though. 

Edited July 5, 2021 by Glen

[Geoff]

58 minutes ago, Glen said:

your vaccination programme is appalling

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jul/01/fewer-than-than-8-of-australians-fully-vaccinated-four-months-into-rollout

even for high risk categories.

This is why you are suffering with stringent measures 

It is a strange situation. My observations are that people wear masks not because they're scared of covid, but because they don't want to get fined. I know because I'm one of them. People adhere to lockdowns for the same reason. And I guess people aren't getting vaccinated because they're not scared of covid, but eventually we'll probably all have to do it just to be able to interact with the rest of the world. On one hand, it's kind of cool to see there's a lot of people out there maybe computing that it doesn't all add up, but it's unfortunate that we're controlled by a shitful government. 

Which is why what was discussed above is still the obvious best way to move forward. If you want to get vaccinated, go for it. If you don't, don't, but let's all move forward. This holding the country captive isn't doing anyone any favours. 

And further to what I typed above about the very low rates of covid impact on Australia, I was looking for suicide rates in that same time but it's so hard to find that data. What I managed to find was that there were 104 suicide deaths in January this year. Apparently usually over 3000 a year. So lets just say, approximately, there have been somewhere between 1000-2000 suicide deaths in the same period of time in Australia that there have been 5 deaths from covid, over the past 10 months or so. I wonder how many of those deaths can be attributed to the affects of the disproportionate covid restrictions?

[Geoff]

11 minutes ago, Glen said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57715496

 

v interesting reading. 

so looks like there will still be resistance (around mask wearing) but not from the government,  from industry and unions. I guess there is still fear of suing as a result of failure to protect an employee.

Good news in the main part though. 

Seems your PM has a bit of common sense about him. Wouldn't mind some of that down here. Funny how - as has probably been the case worldwide - you also have these cunty little "health experts" trying to fuck it up for everyone else. But I guess someone out there's reaping the benefits of face mask sales and covid tests.

[Dead Planet]

2 hours ago, auslander said:

Sorry, that's rubbish. We view people in the UK and US as brothers because we share culture and values. It doesn't matter what race a person is, what counts is cultural similarity. It's just virtue signalling to pretend you feel exactly the same to a stranger as you would to "family" or care about their situation to the same extent. And that is why the news focuses on those countries,  because we care more. It's just reality.  To pretend it isn't is just being dishonest. 

News coverage has changed over the decade as news organizations cut back on costs....they used to have reporters all over the world covering every major story but now they rely on local coverage in most countries or ignore the stories for the most part because they don't have the money to properly cover the story....often you get a quick video of an issue and they move on...heck Canadian coverage of the bldg collapse in Surfside is being reported on by CNN reporters not Canadian reporters...only really big news organizations send reporters around the world anymore (CNN) and then the rest of the world uses that coverage for their news and if those organizations don't feel a particular story needs to be covered then the world doesn't cover it...

So most news in the West these days is mainly concerned with English speaking countries where they can easily speak to a local reporter at little or no cost....I expect they simply return the favor to the same news org when they want to report on a story in Canada.....also I now see Canadian coverage of some areas where there is conflict being done by a local resident over Zoom using broken English ffs....its not that no one cares about what is going on around the world, its all about the money and the loss of income being experienced by news orgs.....

[Glen]

1 hour ago, Geoff said:

It is a strange situation. My observations are that people wear masks not because they're scared of covid, but because they don't want to get fined. I know because I'm one of them. People adhere to lockdowns for the same reason. And I guess people aren't getting vaccinated because they're not scared of covid, but eventually we'll probably all have to do it just to be able to interact with the rest of the world. On one hand, it's kind of cool to see there's a lot of people out there maybe computing that it doesn't all add up, but it's unfortunate that we're controlled by a shitful government. 

Which is why what was discussed above is still the obvious best way to move forward. If you want to get vaccinated, go for it. If you don't, don't, but let's all move forward. This holding the country captive isn't doing anyone any favours. 

And further to what I typed above about the very low rates of covid impact on Australia, I was looking for suicide rates in that same time but it's so hard to find that data. What I managed to find was that there were 104 suicide deaths in January this year. Apparently usually over 3000 a year. So lets just say, approximately, there have been somewhere between 1000-2000 suicide deaths in the same period of time in Australia that there have been 5 deaths from covid, over the past 10 months or so. I wonder how many of those deaths can be attributed to the affects of the disproportionate covid restrictions?

but until you all get vaccinated this - restrictions, lockdowns, face masks - will never go away.

if collectively Australians all hate the restrictions. you must collectively all get vaccinated. 

Then the government will have to bow to pressure and ease everything. 

[nyoilers]

37 minutes ago, Glen said:

but until you all get vaccinated this - restrictions, lockdowns, face masks - will never go away.

if collectively Australians all hate the restrictions. you must collectively all get vaccinated. 

Then the government will have to bow to pressure and ease everything. 

Yes everyone should get vaccinated.

That's the best way to defeat this virus.

[auslander]

5 hours ago, nyoilers said:

Yes everyone should get vaccinated.

That's the best way to defeat this virus.

I think the genie is out of the bottle and this virus will not be defeated. I think we will have to learn to live with it just like we live with influenza. I bet we have to get annual booster shots to keep up with all the variants year in year out. Hopefully at some point it becomes old news and we can have the elites controlling the masses by making us fearful of something else again, like the sun for instance.

[Geoff]

19 hours ago, Glen said:

but until you all get vaccinated this - restrictions, lockdowns, face masks - will never go away.

if collectively Australians all hate the restrictions. you must collectively all get vaccinated. 

Then the government will have to bow to pressure and ease everything. 

We're going in roundabouts but I essentially do agree that without mass vaccinations there will definitely not be progress. Whether I agree with that or not is another story.

But I think the worry is that 30% have had at least one jab, which granted is not anywhere near where other countries are at... but it's not nothing. 30% of 25 million people is still a hell of a lot of people, and if you were thinking logically, you'd guess that probably most these jabs have taken place in what have been considered "hot spots." And a massive portion of this country has never experienced covid at all. And I think those numbers I posted above stand alongside the fact that a lot of the perceived danger has been negated.

But nothing - absolutely nothing - has changed. Even despite the advancements we may have made, we are still locked down and in masks and getting fined for being alive, just like we were 18 months ago - in fact, as far as I know, it's worse than 18 months ago. The fines and enforcement of overbearing restrictions are stronger than it was in the earlier days. 

So even though people are trying to get things going in the right direction, things are actually going backwards, and that's why I understand the vaccine hesitance. If 30% have had a jab and things are getting worse, how do we get optimistic about things getting better if more people get jabs? Like I've said for months, as much as I don't want it, I'd get it tomorrow if I thought it would change anything. But at the moment it's not changing anything at all.  

[Dead Planet]

2 hours ago, Geoff said:

We're going in roundabouts but I essentially do agree that without mass vaccinations there will definitely not be progress. Whether I agree with that or not is another story.

But I think the worry is that 30% have had at least one jab, which granted is not anywhere near where other countries are at... but it's not nothing. 30% of 25 million people is still a hell of a lot of people, and if you were thinking logically, you'd guess that probably most these jabs have taken place in what have been considered "hot spots." And a massive portion of this country has never experienced covid at all. And I think those numbers I posted above stand alongside the fact that a lot of the perceived danger has been negated.

But nothing - absolutely nothing - has changed. Even despite the advancements we may have made, we are still locked down and in masks and getting fined for being alive, just like we were 18 months ago - in fact, as far as I know, it's worse than 18 months ago. The fines and enforcement of overbearing restrictions are stronger than it was in the earlier days. 

So even though people are trying to get things going in the right direction, things are actually going backwards, and that's why I understand the vaccine hesitance. If 30% have had a jab and things are getting worse, how do we get optimistic about things getting better if more people get jabs? Like I've said for months, as much as I don't want it, I'd get it tomorrow if I thought it would change anything. But at the moment it's not changing anything at all.  

Your government needs to communicate their plan....50%, 65% or 75% fully vaccinated and then all restrictions go away...

[Geoff]

9 minutes ago, Dead Planet said:

Your government needs to communicate their plan....50%, 65% or 75% fully vaccinated and then all restrictions go away...

There was some stupid four phase plan released by the prime minister the other day, which to me at a glance, basically seemed to outline everything that's already happening. No definitive numbers as you suggest above - just more vagueness. 

A couple of quotes from the article;

"A yet-to-be-determined vaccination threshold will trigger the second phase of the plan.
Mr Morrison said it would be a "scientific" number, not one motivated by political considerations."

And the bit that has annoyed several;

"Lockdowns would only occur in extreme circumstances to prevent escalating hospitalisation and fatality."

Which is exactly what we have at the moment. Lockdowns have only ever been considered a "last resort" and nothing has changed. The attitude towards what constitutes a last resort has to change. In other words, politicians and "health experts" need to cease being dumb fucks. Keeping in mind, 1-3 cases have been causing lockdowns in states for the last 18 months, in a time when they were already meant to only be used as a last resort. 

[nyoilers]

16 hours ago, auslander said:

I think the genie is out of the bottle and this virus will not be defeated. I think we will have to learn to live with it just like we live with influenza. I bet we have to get annual booster shots to keep up with all the variants year in year out. Hopefully at some point it becomes old news and we can have the elites controlling the masses by making us fearful of something else again, like the sun for instance.

With this being a pandemic you're probably right about it not being defeated.Especially when only 10% of the world is vaccinated.The main point is to minimize it.

The main difference between covid 19 and the flu is that I've known many people to get the flu but no one died from it.As for covid 19,I've known people,neighbors,etc... who died from it,

Right now we have in the USA we have a president who,if you believe the former president,is going to hurt God.So God answers to Joe Biden so all of us Americans have nothing to fear !

[heavyharmonies]

Don't kid yourself. Tens of thousands of people die from the "common flu" every year, but as with COVID, most had exacerbating conditions.

I think the notion of getting down to single-digit cases per day/week/month or having COVID disappear entirely is a pipe dream. The goal should be to get above X% of the population vaccinated, at which point presumably "herd immunity" is achieved, and cases of the viruses are outliers rather than waves (new variants notwithstanding).

This of course assumes that the parties in power are actually striving for herd immunity and return to normal rather than as a societal control mechanism... I'm not sold on that front.