Another Melbourne Lockdown.

[glend (Glen)]

So another Melbourne Covid lockdown, and images of people fleeing Melbourne for other states. Why give them 12 hours notice of the lockdown, it just encourages people to panic and pack up the car to get out. The airlines have cancelled flights but it only takes a few hours to drive to the NSW border. What will Gladys do? Close the border?

I suppose the toilet paper horders will be stripping the shelves again.

I bet this increases the vaccine take up.

[AdamJL]

Originally Posted by glend

I bet this increases the vaccine take up.

Hopefully!

[rustigsmed (Russell)]

you would have thought quarantine facilities would have been operational by now.
maybe 2023 or maybe some more head burying in the sand will take care of it.

[The_bluester (Paul)]

Originally Posted by glend

I bet this increases the vaccine take up.

It already has increased the vaccine takeup, the last two days I understand to have set records at least in Vic.

And suddenly I am eligible for a Pfizer jab where I would not have been gotten around to for months! They announced that during the presser and that you needed (40 to 49 year olds) to book it via the state covid hotline, and if I interpreted what one of the journos said right, the demand for that was so high that the phone system crashed before the end of the press conf. I guess I will get trying on that and see how many weeks out that puts me booking wise.

They seem to be seriously pulling out the stops with 25 odd confirmed cases but contact tracing out to around 10K people directed to isolate already! I can't help thinking as I have done before, that the people that get it seem to be serious party animals going by the contact site lists. I was pondering the last Vic quarantine leak which started with one worker who had a contact site list for one afternoon that made me wonder how they fitted it all in!

[multiweb (Marc)]

I think that through the media and gvt bashing and finger pointing it always comes down to one simple thing: individual responsibility. Most people are dumbass or they don't give a sh|t. No amount of guidelines or facilities will change that. All they can do in time is get a bigger chunk of the population vaccinated so this thing doesn't mutate out of control. That Indian variant already goes past the Astrazeneca and Pfizer like if there was nothing to see here. That's a worry.

[The_bluester (Paul)]

Actually I don't know if that is right (The Indian variant not being caught by the current vaccines)

I can't argue though about the personal responsibility thing when one of the early cases has been said to have gone about his life, with symptoms, for around a week before getting tested! Even then you have to suspect they only finally got tested due to the outbreak. That is a long time to be out and about.

I spent all of last week in Mildura for work, I know from conversations that there were people where I was staying who were from Adelaide, and from Sydney. Look at that as a hypothetical of someone like me taking it up there and this week we would be talking about outbreaks in three states! Probably more as the ag field days were on there over the weekend just gone. I had trouble getting accommodation and didn't know why until I got past Red Cliffs and saw the signs for the field days. I got myself tested a while back for what turned out to be a six hour itchy throat! It was gone again by the time I actually got the test, let alone the (Negative) result.

[Nikolas (Nik)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

That Indian variant already goes past the Astrazeneca and Pfizer like if there was nothing to see here. That's a worry.

That's not actually correct the vaccine still stops those variants or at least nullifies their danger. Yes you may still get covid but it's impact will be no worse than a cold, however anyone who is not vaccinated may still get it from a vaccinated person and can still die, the more people vaccinated the batter.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by Nikolas

That's not actually correct the vaccine still stops those variants or at least nullifies their danger. Yes you may still get covid but it's impact will be no worse than a cold, however anyone who is not vaccinated may still get it from a vaccinated person and can still die, the more people vaccinated the batter.

I read 33% efficacy for both astrazeneca and pfizer 1st dose against the B.1.617.2 variant then 60% and 88% respectively after the booster shot. Given most people are still on their 1st dose that's still 2 chances in 3 to get sick.

[Nikolas (Nik)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

That Indian variant already goes past the Astrazeneca and Pfizer like if there was nothing to see here. That's a worry.

That's not actually correct the vaccine still stops those variants or at least nullifies their danger. Yes you may still get covid but it's impact will be no worse than a cold, however anyone who is not vaccinated may still get it from a vaccinated person and can still die, the more people vaccinated the better.

[Alchemy (Clive)]

It’s Victoria, we do stupidity better than any other state
People object to wearing masks, object to using QR code’s ( if ones even available) I could enter into a rant but what’s the point, what you sow is what you reap, there’s a reason ( actually lots of reasons) why Victoria has the worst record at this.
I apologise in advance to the other states, as our potential superspreader lemmings race into their zones, without thought that the idea is to contain the virus not spread it.

[Renato1 (Renato)]

Originally Posted by glend

I suppose the toilet paper horders will be stripping the shelves again.

I bet this increases the vaccine take up.

Oddly enough, while the shelves were nearly stripped of toilet paper at my local Woolworths, the shelves were pretty much full at my local IGA across the road from that Woolies. IGA even had plenty of rolls of one brand at half price.

Since State Governments across Australia don't distinguish between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated in terms of closing borders and applying the same restrictions to the vaccinated as the unvaccinated, I get the distinct message that they don't think the vaccines work. Which is in sharp contrast to the Federal Government that wants to open up the country to international visitors next year.

And don't forget - most of the elderly and other high risk people have been vaccinated across Australia - so why the lockdown? For the vast majority of people, COVID-19 has little or no effect. This isn't a year ago, so if the vaccines work, it makes little sense to impose hundreds of millions of dollars of cost on the community, to protect the at-risk recalcitrant few who don't want the vaccines for reasons like they believe the vaccines contain nano-robots, which record every detail of their lives for governments to peruse.

Regards,
Renato

[glend (Glen)]

Originally Posted by Renato1

Oddly enough, while the shelves were nearly stripped of toilet paper at my local Woolworths, the shelves were pretty much full at my local IGA across the road from that Woolies. IGA even had plenty of rolls of one brand at half price.

Since State Governments across Australia don't distinguish between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated in terms of closing borders and applying the same restrictions to the vaccinated as the unvaccinated, I get the distinct message that they don't think the vaccines work. Which is in sharp contrast to the Federal Government that wants to open up the country to international visitors next year.

And don't forget - most of the elderly and other high risk people have been vaccinated across Australia - so why the lockdown? For the vast majority of people, COVID-19 has little or no effect. This isn't a year ago, so if the vaccines work, it makes little sense to impose hundreds of millions of dollars of cost on the community, to protect the at-risk recalcitrant few who don't want the vaccines for reasons like they believe the vaccines contain nano-robots, which record every detail of their lives for governments to peruse.

Regards,
Renato

I would point out that there is currently no way to distinguish who has, or has not, been vaccinated (and had that first jab only, or fully). A national vaccine passport would address some of what concerns you. But the Karen's, Vaccine Influencers, etc are voters too, and vocal. Debate has been raging in the media today, with all the alleged experts rolled out to make their cases and allocate blame as thry see fit.
I would dispute your claim that " for the vast majority of people, Covid-19 has litttle or no effect", as overseas experience shows Covid recovery can be a long and life altering experience, for even those that seem to have brushed it off. It is much better to have never had it, then to embraced the disease and accept the consequences.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by Renato1

And don't forget - most of the elderly and other high risk people have been vaccinated across Australia - so why the lockdown? For the vast majority of people, COVID-19 has little or no effect.

That line of thinking didn't fare too well in India. That's what we're trying to avoid here.

[Nikolas (Nik)]

Originally Posted by Renato1

And don't forget - most of the elderly and other high risk people have been vaccinated across Australia
Regards,
Renato

Not correct

[Renato1 (Renato)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

That line of thinking didn't fare too well in India. That's what we're trying to avoid here.

First it was 2000 a day dead in India. Then it was 4000 a day dead from Covid in India, and bodies being burned all over the place.

Looks pretty terrible - except that on any given day the daily death rate in India from all causes is 27,000 a day. A 15% jump in daily death rate shouldn't lead to the catastrophic things we;ve seen on TV.

I suspect that, while bad as it is, what we are being shown is the Indian equivalent of New York in the USA and Bergamo in Italy, where those cities were overwhelmed by the deaths, but weren't typical of the rest of those countries.

And as I said - most of the vulnerable have been vaccinated - it could only happen here as you suggest may happen, if the vaccines don't work.
Regards,
Renato

[Renato1 (Renato)]

Originally Posted by glend

I would dispute your claim that " for the vast majority of people, Covid-19 has litttle or no effect", as overseas experience shows Covid recovery can be a long and life altering experience, for even those that seem to have brushed it off. It is much better to have never had it, then to embraced the disease and accept the consequences.

Five of my relatives in Italy have had COVID - no after effects.
A small sample yes, but I suspect typical.
Regards,
Renato

[Renato1 (Renato)]

Originally Posted by Nikolas

Not correct

Population of Australia = 25,000,000.
Percentage of over 65s = 15%
Number of doses of vaccine given out till two days ago = 4,000,000
Percentage of vaccinated Australians (with priority given to those most at risk) = 16%

Meanwhile, vaccination centres were half empty the last month and a half, so much so that Governments kept reducing the age eligibility for the vaccine.

I'd say I'm correct.
Regards,
Renato

[N1 (Mirko)]

Originally Posted by Renato1

Looks pretty terrible - except that on any given day the daily death rate in India from all causes is 27,000 a day. A 15% jump in daily death rate shouldn't lead to the catastrophic things we;ve seen on TV.

Maybe it shouldn't, but it obviously did. I suspect a 15% jump isn't something anyone in that business used to have to plan for, ever. If anything that's consistent with this being an unprecedented situation rather than what armchair scientists think it is.

[Nikolas (Nik)]

Originally Posted by Renato1

Population of Australia = 25,000,000.
Percentage of over 65s = 15%
Number of doses of vaccine given out till two days ago = 4,000,000
Percentage of vaccinated Australians (with priority given to those most at risk) = 16%

Meanwhile, vaccination centres were half empty the last month and a half, so much so that Governments kept reducing the age eligibility for the vaccine.

I'd say I'm correct.
Regards,
Renato

Most are first doses they are not yet fully vaccinated

[Nikolas (Nik)]

Originally Posted by Renato1

Five of my relatives in Italy have had COVID - no after effects.
A small sample yes, but I suspect typical.
Regards,
Renato

I know two people who had covid one died alone in hospital, the other is still in and out with recurring issues, small sample size I know.

Let's stop this now Renato please.