COVID-19 updates comments and concerns

[Autocon]

They down played Trumps reaction to Covid so people are saying its not a big deal.

He did a drive by while still infected so all those in the car may be infected now. He is going to win the election again.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Covid-19 isn?t a big deal if you have a specialist team of doctors caring only for you 24/7, helicopter medivac, an executive suite in a top military hospital and access to the full range of drug treatments...all without having an expensive medical bill at the end.

[griffin]

Some new seasons of American TV shows started this week, and they all had Covid as a plot device or in the background as a real-time issue. (NCIS, Bull, NCIS New Orleans, and probably others too)

Even though we shouldn't be ignoring the seriousness of this virus, I think that fiction is where we should be able to escape those parts of reality when we are trying to relax with a moment of entertainment.
It is something that is all over the news, and in ad-breaks, and I feel that in America where the virus is so much worse (with most Americans knowing someone who has been infected or died from it), this decision was not a good idea. Either it looks like they are trying to make ratings from a current real-world tragedy, or they are not realising that people are already suffering anxiety from the virus (from catching it or the fear of catching it), to not be able to watch a prime-time fiction program that keeps reminding them about Covid.
Even I'm having trouble watching these new episodes (I switched off one of them), because of how much I see of the virus on the American news programs, which often features victims and doctors, to try to encourage the virus deniers that it is indeed real, and a serious virus. (one nurse that recently quit, had patients who were dying, who were adamant to their dying breath that the virus wasn't real - if catching the virus and being near death won't convince Americans to take precautions and wear masks, nothing will, because too many Republican political leaders are still telling citizens to not wear mask, to go back to work, and to do Thanksgiving-Christmas as normal - it is no wonder the worst hit states since the second wave are almost all Republican).

[griffin]

The Sydney outbreak just shows how quickly the virus can spread, when people "get back to living a normal life" after virus was eliminated. It just takes one person breaching the rules (I think it was someone who was part of an airline flight crew that was just here for a day) from north of Sydney, and we apparently have infected people ending up in Victoria and QLD within days.
When it is a holiday/tourist spot, it makes it easy for people from around the country to catch it and spread it on the way back to their city or state, through the airports.
It was the scenario in pandemic movies like 12 Monkeys and Contagion, using the "express lane" of travel that we call air travel, taking a virus to anywhere in the world before the first person is showing symptoms (2-4 days).
It's always a game of catchup, which is why these lockdowns and contact-tracing procedures go large, to capture most or all of the infected people who have already travelled away from the point of contamination, because they won't show symptoms quickly enough, and testing can still take several hours... and how far can you fly or drive in seven hours.

It annoys me when a state premier complains about states locking out her entire state... because unless she can guarantee that she can stop all of the residents in greater Sydney from travelling to other parts of NSW, there is no other way of preventing an infected person from entering other states, especially during the summer holiday period. If it could spread so quickly around Sydney and into other states from just one infected visitor to the country, is she that stupid (or uncaring) to not think it could just as easily be spread into other parts of the country, also by just one infected person leaving NSW.

It may suck for people and businesses affected by these temporary restrictions, but we can either act fast and prevent deaths (like in NZ), or wait until the case numbers get out of control (with about 1 death from every 100 cases), because the politicians believe it is political suicide to enforce restrictions (like in VIC).
Besides, with only about 11% of Australians being committed Christians, why is Christmas so important to the rest of the people, to need to be on that one day? Why do people need that one day to be the only excuse to do all the family things that people do, when they should (and many do) do family things throughout the year.
Just because major retailers (more specifically, the small number of rich CEOs and major shareholders) have commercialised this religious/family day to the point of people feeling obligated to spend a lot of money on presents and dinner gatherings, when the dinner gatherings shouldn't need the excuse of a single day of the year to organise, while presents should be more modest and personal/creative, and not excessive, which just has kids expecting more and more extravagant items, even though parents can't afford it (and still rack up debt just so that their kids don't "hate them" for not helping them keep up with their friends... or if they still believe in Santa, they don't think that he thought they weren't a good enough child this year to get what they wanted).
And the more presents you give kids these days, the less they value them... because there are plenty more to come next year. (it should be quality, not quantity)
When I was a child, kids would do up a christmas wish list, but we knew that it was just that... a wish list that you might be lucky to get something from it... not a checklist of everything we "needed" to see under the tree or in the stocking, just to get our love or affection.

Okay, rambling a little... but I just feel that Christmas has become so commercialised and materialistic, that it has lost its meaning of being a reason for friends and family to just spend time together... without obligations or expectations of getting something out of it.
And when you take out the materialism and commercialism, it is something people should be doing throughout the year... coming together and valuing the time we have left with our family and friends, instead of focusing on just one day a year that ends up prioritising the valuing of gifts and how much you can spend.
Gatherings throughout the year is something that the temporary lockdowns aren't getting to prevent forever... so unless you have some religious commitments that need to be done on that day, I don't see why people on TV and online (here and overseas where the virus is a lot worse) are making such a big fuss about missing out on something that they can do any other day when the virus or lockdowns are over.

[1AZRAEL1]

Our premier is a *word cannot be used here*

When we have politicians more worried about the economy over people's lives and getting this under control as quickly as possible. The economy was gonna crash no matter what. But if we locked down quick and hard, we wouldn't still be limping on

[griffin]

Our premier is a *word cannot be used here*

When we have politicians more worried about the economy over people's lives and getting this under control as quickly as possible. The economy was gonna crash no matter what. But if we locked down quick and hard, we wouldn't still be limping on

And that's why our economy is doing so much better than other countries despite our two biggest income "exports" being hit (tourism and foreign students), as more people here are able to get back to work, because we didn't do a half-assed job that let people just do what ever they wanted due to politicians fearing voter backlash or having an election around the corner (like in the US) to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of lives in an attempt to stay president. The US are estimated to end up with about half a million deaths from this virus, which would be more than double the amount they would have had if they had adopted measures by even the worse European countries.
All because other Republicans preferred to prioritise their own positions of power than the health of the people they are supposed to be representing, by not growing a pair and speaking up against a president who was publicly calling for his supporters to reject the measures that could have reduced the spread (masks, limiting going out, and no crowds).
The worst thing about the virus being out of control, is that they are losing so many doctors, nurses and first responders to the virus... which will impact their medical system for decades to come, and it will be the poorest people who will suffer, because the rich will be be able to secure doctors by paying them more to prioritise them.

[1AZRAEL1]

Comparatively, we definitely did a better job. But when Gladys kept harping on "open your borders because tourism/economy etc" and I am glad the other states stuck to their guns. The spread could have sparked up again sooner or been worse.

[G1Optimal]

What do you people think aboute the mutated covid19 being more infectious?

[shockNwave]

Was trying to contact my sister and niece who are holidaying in Mallacoota NSW due to the border shutting soon and now I hear the news that there are 8 cases here in VIC.🙄

[SMHFConvoy]

So has the Prime Minister resurfaced yet or is he still hiding?