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Post by lessingham on Nov 25, 2020 5:10:33 GMT -5
The vaccine seems to be like nucleas fusion energy, always almost ready! I suppose I will be eligible for tbe first tranche, elderly male with history of pneumonia. Quantas will be demanding proof of vaccination before allowing passengers and this may become the norm. But who checks? I imagine vaccine certificates will be readily available "round the back" in most dodgy areas of town.
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Post by baza on Nov 25, 2020 20:31:07 GMT -5
Some better news from my jurisdiction (the state of Victoria in Australia)
Victoria pop is app 6,000,000.
After the first wave (March) things went quiet for a bit, then the 2nd wave hit in early August.
All the adjoining states closed their borders to Victoria, trying to turn the Victoria into a huge quarantine area.
Victorians become something like persona non-gratia.
The Victorian Government enacted hard and harsh legislation concerning testing, curfews, greatly restricted travel, contact tracing, quarantining areas, social distancing, masks etc etc etc and etc, and etc.
And still the infection rate (and the death count) kept rising and rising and rising as covid cut a swathe through nursing homes, workplaces etc. Then, one fine day in late August, the new cases stabilizes, then started to fall as the citizens sacrifices started to kick in.
And the reduction then started to fall pretty quick.
So the Victorian authorities essentially isolated the capital (Melbourne) to restrict travel in to the regions (where things weren't so dire.
The toll continued to fall, but our Victorian Government kept the choke hold on, and the toll started to drop off even quicker.
Cautiously, some business' were permited to reopen, and when that didn't cause a fuck up, other restrictions were eased.
Testing for covid continues in this jurisdiction.
There has not been a single new case for over 30 days now, and the last hospitalised case was discharged yesterday.
So as of today there a no current cases of covid in Victoria, and no cases in hospitals.
Essentially Victoria is covid free - at this point.
A far cry from August.
Most (not all) restrictions have been suspended, the borders have been opened and life is returning to "normal".
Vigilance and continued testing continues, ready to stamp on any cluster outbreaks that may emerge.
Couldn't have happened without the citizens of Victoria (and the other states) embracing the necessary restrictions (it has been reported that the restriction put in place in Victoria had a 92% compliance rate).
It might be a cultural thing (invariably in Australia one of the states in in the shit at any given time with fire, flood, drought etc and the other states always chip in to help out).
Anyway, just wanted to make the point that with decent leadership and a fact based action plan, things can get better.
Now, the task is keeping the lid on covid, and starting to repair the trashed economy.
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Post by TMD on Nov 25, 2020 20:54:54 GMT -5
That’s good to hear, Baz.
I listened to a great podcast with a historian who talked about what the difference is between cultures that can successfully manage something like a pandemic. Apparently is the difference between a culture that values the group and is willing to follow the rules, even if it means a sacrifice. As compared to an individualistic society that is less rules oriented and more, “me,” motivated.
I’m sure if bears some weight, along with bold leadership.
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Post by Handy on Nov 25, 2020 21:07:46 GMT -5
WTG Baza. Population of MT 1,068,77 New cases today 1,013 Total Covid cases 58,565 Recovered 42,012 Active cases today 15,901 Active Hospitalizations 462 Total Hospitalizations 2,474 Deaths 652 Total Tests 627,851 MT current rate of Covid infection is 1,500% compared to the March 2020 case numbers. Minimal restrictions. Some stores are required to operate at 50% capacity. Masks required but not 100% enforced. On your honor self quarantine if you travel from county/state to county/state, not enforced. It is suggested but not followed from what I see.
There are only 14 Walmart in MT and only about 7 or 8 towns with what are called "Big Box Stores." Most counties do not have the stores or medical service to support the people's needs so inter-county and state travel is almost a requirement.
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Post by saarinista on Nov 25, 2020 21:11:05 GMT -5
Apparently, folks in Australia care about one another more than some folks in the US do?
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Post by baza on Nov 25, 2020 22:03:45 GMT -5
Apparently, folks in Australia care about one another more than some folks in the US do? I am most certainly NOT making that claim Sister saarinista . I would suggest that it is easier to get 26,000,000 people spread over 5 States and 2 Territories to agree on a plan than it might be if you had say 328,000,000 spread over say 50 States. Lest I painted too rosy a picture in my post, the actions our Victorian Government took were deeply unpopular and definitely infringed on personal liberties. But, the facts were the facts, whether we liked them or not. And, there were some horrendous mistakes made by the authorities (they let an entire cruise ship dock and discharge the passengers - many of who had covid, and they spread it far and wide into the community like wildfire) as they wrestled with this pandemic for which there was no playbook. |
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Post by TMD on Nov 25, 2020 22:07:38 GMT -5
Apparently, folks in Australia care about one another more than some folks in the US do? That’s my supposition. It’s not meant to be controversial. But I do think that caring about more than ones’ self means individuals will make an effort to limit spread, as possible as it can be. Even here in Canada I think there’s a difference between provinces and how well they’ve managed spread. We have a little despot as head of our provincial gov’t. I have heard first hand that they don’t mask up or socially distance in his offices. And the measures provided aren’t working well — in part because he is inefficient in inspiring the population to hunker down. |
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Post by saarinista on Nov 25, 2020 22:09:56 GMT -5
Not suggesting you made that claim baza. I'm postulating a thesis, which may or may not be correct. |
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Post by Handy on Nov 25, 2020 23:29:19 GMT -5
COVID-19 deaths per one million population as of November 25, 2020, by country China 3.39 New Zealand 5.08 South Korea 9.92 Australia 35.76 Norway 58.71 Germany 178.41 Russia 254.03 Canada 310.62 Netherlands 516.88 USA 788.44 UK 834.02 Italy 850.88 Belgium 1,387.84 www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-million-inhabitants/Isn't it interesting, the country where this all started has the lowest death rate?
Maybe the numbers are massaged to make the government look good. OR Maybe authoritarian rules work. OR It could be both?
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Post by baza on Nov 26, 2020 0:41:21 GMT -5
I think geography plays a role.
For example, New Zealand's death toll per 1m population is 5.08
Australia death toll per 1m is 35.76
Both these jurisdictions are islands with no shared borders - which makes it a bit easier to insulate from infections coming in over the border (for example Germany 178.41 and Belgium 1387.84 - who share a border)
Australia essentially shut it's borders, so from that time it stopped any new cases coming in from overseas, leaving the authorities to concentrate on the community cross infections already present in the population at alarming levels.
I think New Zealand did the same.
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Post by worksforme2 on Nov 26, 2020 8:56:16 GMT -5
As long as we are postulating I will add one thought. In the US we arguably have the absolute worst political leaders in the world. And the statement extends across both major political parties. Take your pick. Mayors, Governors, Presidents, they're just God awful. And I feel fairly confident saying very few of them merit much respect and even less trust as exhibited by the actions and inactions of the populace.
I both envy and abhor the willingness in some countries to adhere to the mandates laid down on them. But those mandates would never work here. The pandemic will come to an end here when a sufficient # of inoculations have been given to bring about herd immunity.
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Post by worksforme2 on Nov 26, 2020 11:30:55 GMT -5
 Is this woman on to something? |
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Post by Handy on Nov 26, 2020 14:45:18 GMT -5
Will my old Norton Anti Virus CD from 2012 work?
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Post by baza on Nov 26, 2020 20:44:10 GMT -5
As long as we are postulating I will add one thought. In the US we arguably have the absolute worst political leaders in the world. And the statement extends across both major political parties. Take your pick. Mayors, Governors, Presidents, they're just God awful. And I feel fairly confident saying very few of them merit much respect and even less trust as exhibited by the actions and inactions of the populace. I both envy and abhor the willingness in some countries to adhere to the mandates laid down on them. But those mandates would never work here. The pandemic will come to an end here when a sufficient # of inoculations have been given to bring about herd immunity. Just to add to this. There's a helluva lot of undeveloped countries that simply would not have the resources to manage a pandemic. And as an aside concerning "Australia" - we are generally a pretty cynical lot, mistrustful of of our politicians ..... but the science behind the measures State and Federal took was overwhelming. And, for a fleeting period of about a month, party politics took a back seat, and *everyone* was on the same page. That created enough time to get a science based resolution underway. Of course that bi-partisan situation is done and the politics are back in play in Victoria. *All* the politicians now want to claim ownership of having fixed up covid. |
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Post by isthisit on Nov 27, 2020 1:50:24 GMT -5
On the whole the covid situation has been managed in a non partisan way here in the U.K. as far as national politics goes. I would say the U.K. public wholly trust the scientists, if not all or any of the political lot. I think this underpins the compliance. The mayor of Manchester stood up to BoJo when he overtly tried to stiff the north a few weeks ago, to great acclaim so that’s as close as we got to political aggro.
I have watched the early politicisation of the pandemic in the US with dismay. Along with eye watering misinformation, paranoia, conspiracy theories and the like the pandemic has exposed recent and concerning undercurrents in society which are possibly enhanced by new technologies and the arrival of social media. I mean, just HOW stupid would a person have to be to retain the belief that covid does not exist by now?
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