Sydney virus outbreak a 'national emergency' as cases spike

@BigYen

I remember that you told me a while ago, that the Australians like that situation of restrictions, lockdowns...

You said the Australians are happy like it is.

Do you still back up your opinion?

I am just asking out of curiosity, because I am curious to know how the Australians are thinking about how their government is handling the things.

...and Tokyo is correct, as "cases" means nothing. A meaningful figure would be hospital capacity, but we never hear about that.

Number of cases is not meaningless, it is a very important indicator of the state of the pandemic control, hospitals don't just suddenly become full, or drop dead without any indication of being sick, that means that keeping an eye on the number of cases can let the experts predict how things are going to develop in the following days or weeks. That is why the experts give to them so much importance and only people without any knowledge and experience say they "mean nothing".

Authoritarian countries have huge advantages in the control of infectious diseases, because they can turn the strictness of their measures up to eleven without having to take care of non important things like human rights. Countries that are much more democratic don't have that luxury and therefore can't get the same "easy" results.

Also, ignore completely the media, the ones saying non-pharmacological measures are not only necessary but can be extremely efficient are the experts in related fields, criticizing the media is pointless when they are not saying anything different from the experts.

@Big Yen

Thank you for your answer.

I understand.

I hope the situation in Australia will be back to normal soon and that all of you can go back to your daily life and especially enjoy life.

Hang on Man.

Certain experts. They ignore ones that don't fit their narrative like the HART group:

When those experts do not engage on scientific discussions (as in a proper methodology to originate or analyze information) then it is not like it is everybody else's fault to not consider them a proper source. Specially when they keep promoting things that have been scientifically proven false above any reasonable doubt.

https://bylinetimes.com/2021/04/27/mendacious-approaches-great-barrington-group-letter-co-signed-by-government-advisors/

If you search around medical and scientific institutions of recognized trajectory (like those that have actually originated scientific advancements that improved public health in the past) and you can't find even one that agrees with what a group with terribly obvious conflicts of interest is trying to push, that is a very heavy indication of that group being wrong. And if they are not sustaining their message in actual scientific information (as in making studies and publishing scientific reports) that becomes a certainty.

The media can't be criticized for not giving those people, very likely to be wrong and in complete opposition of the scientific consensus, a forum to repeat their mistaken views, that would be a clear example of false balance, where people make the mistake of thinking that to balance truthful information lies should be also given a space.

A 'zero covid' policy will require permanent isolation for Australia and NZ and persistent lockdowns.

Only until the populace is vaccinated.

"Zero covid" was a good plan in 2020. Now it's clear that we need to live with Covid and get on with our lives. Covid cases will happen, some will die, while the vast majority will be OK. Calm down and get back to normal, folks.

No sympathy for the Government. They got this so wrong. They had a great start and managed to contain it in 2020. They only had to look at the rest of the World when second waves began to emerge to see that eradication was impossible and that getting hold of vaccinations (of both varieties) should have been top of the list. Feel so sorry for the Residents of Sydney who may well be under these ludicrous restrictions for weeks now. Completely backed themselves into a corner - along with the borders still sealed, public unrest is not far away.

The whole debate about AstraZeneca there is just fueling the crisis. What stupid members of Government called its safety into question when there was nothing else on the table? The benefits STILL far outweigh the risks. Sadly, Nutcase Anti-Vaxxers have things even worse via Social Media.

I still don’t understand why this vaccine has not been licensed out to other countries with well equipped factories very capable of producing the various vaccines. Don’t you think it would help?

This virus is used as a political tool

Can’t disagree with that. Plenty of tools using it politically.

I prefer the human, common sense approach. Leave the politics and team sports to the tools.

Not clear at all, folks. This cavalier "some will die" may be OK where you are from, but Aussies know better. They won't condone needless death.

Yeah, these countries with people who say 'oh, it's only old people who will die, what do the rest of us care?' are pretty pathetic. Aussies value the lives of their citizenry.

There is a fair chance that covid will persist, as flu, HIV, Hep A and other problems do. A 'zero covid' policy will require permanent isolation for Australia and NZ and persistent lockdowns.

I much prefer living with it, vaccinating the vulnerable and taking whatever hit we get. The Nightingale hospitals were barely used in the early lockdowns. If they are needed, the capacity is there.

The vaccines work well enough. They do what they are supposed to. The rest is down to individual responsibility. Get vaccinated, wear a mask and behave sensibly as we get on with life.

Most of the world is not like Australia and will not accept the long-term lockdowns and travel restrictions required for 'zero covid'. There would be civil unrest (which I would support). If the Aussies are OK with it, that's their choice. Just let people escape if they have relatives elsewhere and wish to emigrate back home.

GBR48

There is a fair chance that covid will persist, as flu, HIV, Hep A and other problems do. A 'zero covid' policy will require permanent isolation for Australia and NZ and persistent lockdowns.

Nope. Think measles. Most of the population gets vaccinated and herd immunity ensues. Sure there is the occasional outbreak from some unvaccinated anti-vaxxers' kids, but in the most part you don't hear about it.

...and Tokyo is correct, as "cases" means nothing. A meaningful figure would be hospital capacity, but we never hear about that.

We heard about it in May, particularly in Osaka, but not now as there are barely any critical cases and a lot of elderly are vaccinated. The capacity % is a joke anyway, since the government just needs to show private hospitals the money and more beds will magically open up.

@BigYen: You just summed it up. That's LAST year.

The Global community must share vaccines. They must find the political will to do so. It wont be a straight forward task, it must happen.

Wobot

criticizing the media is pointless when they are not saying anything different from the experts.

Certain experts. They ignore ones that don't fit their narrative like the HART group

Why do you cling to your sources of misinformation? Give it up and follow the science.

J @Tokyo

"Zero covid" was a good plan in 2020.

If it was good in 2020, then it's good in 2021.

Now it's clear that we need to live with Covid and get on with our lives. Covid cases will happen, some will die, while the vast majority will be OK. Calm down and get back to normal, folks.

Not clear at all, folks. This cavalier "some will die" may be OK where you are from, but Aussies know better. They won't condone needless death.

anon99999

100 cases a day is a national emergency for Australians barely allowed to go outside, but almost 2000 a day in Tokyo is nothing and it is all go gold for the Olympics

...and Tokyo is correct, as "cases" means nothing. A meaningful figure would be hospital capacity, but we never hear about that.

This virus is used as a political tool, as you can with CCP China where it is officialy defeated, which is of course a nonsensical claim. But instead locking people in and destroying the economy, the Chinese media ignore the virus, and life proceeds as normal.

Australia is being used as a "test case" by researchers across the world watching the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant, with the country's low vaccination rates and comparatively low case numbers allowing "clean data" for analysis.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-23/australia-covid-19-delta-spread-gives-experts-insight/100313568

100 cases a day is a national emergency for Australians barely allowed to go outside, but almost 2000 a day in Tokyo is nothing and it is all go gold for the Olympics. 80,000 people into a far bigger emergency without quarantine including many Australians is okay by them. The hypocrisy of Australia with such strict rules and standards or their own country , where they have already cancelled far smaller international events scheduled for much later in the year, but completely reversed and ignored for Japan seems to me a form of racism. JLM too, not gold medals for Australia at any cost to lesser countries than their esteemed selves. Anyhow they can keep watching reruns of any gold medals they get from their locked down homes for months to come as they are not getting out of it for some time to come.