Genuine question from a fellow software engineer (throwaway because COVID is such a wedge issue. And for the record I'm currently in Australia and spent the early part of COVID pandemic in the US so have familiarity with both sides of the equation): Does anyone have a plan to get the world out of COVID? Previous pandemics such as SARS/MERS were contained but had no vaccine, Spanish Flu wasn't contained but there were…
No new locally-acquired coronavirus cases in Australia yesterday
211–220 of 284 posts
Re: No new locally-acquired coronavirus cases in Australia yesterday
#212Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Lockdown has a death toll. This is just fact. I steeled myself to read this post in the most charitable possible light. Yes, lockdown most likely has some death toll. But the specific points you're making are very dubious and also very recognisable as the effect of consuming specific kinds of media. Firstly, the point about "not getting as much exercise" is frustrating. Back when we didn't have data on this, it was…
> Yes, lockdown most likely has some death toll. But the specific points you're making are very dubious and also very recognisable as the effect of consuming specific kinds of media. I find that an unnecessary slight. Since that topic is very taboo, you won't be able to read about it in mainstream media sources, but only in opposition sources and professional journals. Attacking it on those grounds is weak. It would…
Re: No new locally-acquired coronavirus cases in Australia yesterday
#213Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't understand. Is the plan to keep covid out of the country forever? That doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense at this point. Will there be a lockdown every time there's new infections?
I don't understand this attitude. It's seems to essentially be "it requires thought, planning, and effort, and therefore is impossible." Was this kind of mindset as common when the world irradicated Small Pox and Polio, as it is now?
This kind of thinking has become extremely common across many different topics, ideas and issues.
Improving healthcare, climate change, making better cars/public transport, etc. etc. It's like people have wholesale given up on trying to actually improve anything.
My personal suspicion is it comes from most people struggling under crippling debt, and desperation and no way out in their own life flows over into their broader thinking.
Re: No new locally-acquired coronavirus cases in Australia yesterday
#214Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's really great and you did far better than Europe, no doubt about it. But the borders vietnam shares with those countries are hard borders. You need a visa and pass a government controlled checkpoint when you enter. Europe (mainland) has no internal borders. There are no checkpoints, customs agents or chokepoints between countries. There's thousands of roads leading from every country into others. That, plus the…
I'm an Australian living in Europe, it's painful to keep hearing people say "it will never work in Europe", when it's been shown to work elsewhere in countries small to large, with borders or without. Borders can be shut, it was done earlier this year. Lockdowns can be enforced, it was done earlier this year. Governments can provide financial support, it's been happening all year. All this could be over in 4-6 months…
What makes you think another lockdown would eradicate it entirely in stead of it just coming back again?
Re: No new locally-acquired coronavirus cases in Australia yesterday
#215Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sounds like you’ve gone to the argument of “this can affect fit and healthy people in other ways that we may not even know.” It is clear that the death toll is overwhelmingly skewed toward the elderly. Many of whom died in the first wave as corona prob got into many nursing homes before we knew better. We are now very careful w nursing homes/ elderly, we might see cases go up but as long as you protect them the death…
> Sounds like you’ve gone to the argument of “this can affect fit and healthy people in other ways that we may not even know.” Not so much an argument of, than an observation regarding, the unpredictable mid to long term impacts of this infection in the demographic that includes most of the 'it's harmless' crowd. Ie, the 20-40yo, relatively healthy individuals. Most of whom, I hasten to add, are cautious rather than…
I think that the parent was referencing the improvements made in covid treatments over the past handful of months, which have been significant - not as many people in hospitals are dying
>Apologies -- but I do not understand the point you are trying to make here.
Young people, as a population, are not much impacted by this virus. As of Oct 10 there have been 5.3 deaths per 100,000 people under the age of 35 [0] in the United States. The headlines are often misleading about this. I think the parent may have been implying that young people are being misled.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_the_Unite...
Re: No new locally-acquired coronavirus cases in Australia yesterday
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I do worry about the US though Europe isn't looking much different right now.
Why is Europe's status something to care about in the U.S.? China is basically operating on all cylinders right now. It's insane how people in the U.S. don't get the damage that's being done on literally all fronts right now. The past year has had irreparable damage to the U.S. It's hard to know where to even start, from slow production due to job loss and just everything going slower, poor health due to active cases…
Re: No new locally-acquired coronavirus cases in Australia yesterday
#217Earlier quoted context omitted.
I live in Vietnam. It is neither a small island nor on a remote corner of the planet. We have a population of 95,000,000 people -- substantially more than any single country in Europe -- and share land borders China, Cambodia, and Laos as well as being within trivial sailing distance of Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Hong Kong. We have had 0 cases for over 2 months. You should stop with the "it i…
What would you say is the reason Vietnam has faired so well?
English version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGoodWEtV8c
Re: No new locally-acquired coronavirus cases in Australia yesterday
#218Earlier quoted context omitted.
We'll see I guess but I'm extremely skeptical.
I mean, it appears to be working in New Zealand. Island countries with relatively small populations seem like the places where this approach is feasible.
So it's a race between economic damage and global vaccination.
Re: No new locally-acquired coronavirus cases in Australia yesterday
#219Earlier quoted context omitted.
> First, deaths aren't the only measure. For every death there are many more people that just barely survive after a hospital stay, and data suggests a significant amount of those people will have long-term problems. ...where long-term means a few months at most. People do recover, just uncomfortably slowly. > Second, if the hospitals are overloaded by such people (even if most of them survive) then the IFR of Covid…
No, the current IFR of about 1% is the best case with current treatment options. It was much higher earlier on.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/planning-scena...
Re: No new locally-acquired coronavirus cases in Australia yesterday
#220So they achieved 0 infections without herd immunity via natural means or a vaccine? Isn't that a temporary win? Once a person enters the country with the virus its back on. Are we pattong our selves on the back too soon for these kinds of wins? The modern news cycle is so short sighted that the media makes money off this kind of thing without reporting the full picture.
Plenty of countries have maintained local transmission at zero or near zero thanks to travel restrictions: taiwan, vietnam, new zealand, the Atlantic region of Canada, Thailand The virus isn’t magic. If you have a testing and tracing system in place and act quickly with temporary restrictions you can squash any outbreaks that do make it through. And meanwhile life in those areas is basically normal. I’m in one now. F…
We know the virus is asymptomatic yet contagious in people for weeks.
All it takes is for one low paid person at a checkpoint to have a bad day or be bribed and let an infected person through and you have a pandemic again.
Additionally the tests aren't 100% accurate so even with perfect testing of borders someone could slip by given a large enough sample size.
I think those countries have either:
1. Reached herd immunity already due to wide spread infections or pre-existing cross immunity(possibly regional exposure to a related corona virus)
2. Living on borrowed time
Something doesn't add up.
I think you all may be patting yourselves on the back too soon.
Or the population actually has herd immunity already due to having been exposed to similar viruses.
That would explain why a lot of Asian countries in China's orbit are reaching minimal infections sooner. They may have had Corona or something similar for years.