Australian Covid Observations

[Bob Crowley]

I'll be accused of raising a a boring topic, since we're all sick of hearing about Covid, but I thought I'd pass on a few personal observations.

First we can look at Australian vaccination statistics here -

COVID-19 vaccination daily rollout update

- which give rise to a few salient points.

The Australian Capital Territory is fully vaccinated. It's essentially public service territory with about 42% of the workforce in the Federal or ACT public Service, which might be part of the reason for the high rate.

Every other state has reached or is very close to 90% double vaccination, but reaching the last few percent is agonisingly slow.

It seems to me that about one percent of the population is getting a booster shot each day (around 250,000). That might not sound much, but in 3 months it would mean that about 90% of the population would have a booster shot as well.

About 80 people a day are dying in Australia from Covid, compared to about 2,400 in the US, and 280 in France. Our rates went up considerably when the states reopened their borders.

But ti's still causing a lot of issues - supply chain problems, top named Tennis stars being deported, government debt going through the roof, entertainment and hospitality industries hammered, and in our local situation the leaders of both my wife's and my own church coming down with Covid, possibly because their pastoral duties include visiting the sick.

Any other boring observations?

 

[dqhall]

I'll be accused of raising a a boring topic, since we're all sick of hearing about Covid, but I thought I'd pass on a few personal observations.

First we can look at Australian vaccination statistics here -

COVID-19 vaccination daily rollout update

- which give rise to a few salient points.

The Australian Capital Territory is fully vaccinated. It's essentially public service territory with about 42% of the workforce in the Federal or ACT public Service, which might be part of the reason for the high rate.

Every other state has reached or is very close to 90% double vaccination, but reaching the last few percent is agonisingly slow.

It seems to me that about one percent of the population is getting a booster shot each day (around 250,000). That might not sound much, but in 3 months it would mean that about 90% of the population would have a booster shot as well.

About 80 people a day are dying in Australia from Covid, compared to about 2,400 in the US, and 280 in France. Our rates went up considerably when the states reopened their borders.

But ti's still causing a lot of issues - supply chain problems, top named Tennis stars being deported, government debt going through the roof, entertainment and hospitality industries hammered, and in our local situation the leaders of both my wife's and my own church coming down with Covid, possibly because their pastoral duties include visiting the sick.

Any other boring observations?

There is less fear of COVID in America after the mRNA vaccinations began. People in the community are getting sick. Hospitalizations are near a record high. People calling in sick and needing COVID tests are a burden on the economy. A great majority of those dying of the virus are unvaccinated. Most of those 60 and older are vaccinated. Fewer of the youth are vaccinated. The U.S. printed trillions of dollars to combat the pandemic. The price of a single family home rapidly increased as people moved out of apartments. The price of condos increased when people could no longer afford single family homes and bought condos instead. Healthcare workers quit or retired. The cost of health insurance premiums have risen as people ignored warnings to get vaccinated, then hurried to the hospital when they had problems breathing. In one case hospitals were so full ambulance service was suspended.

 

[rocknanchor]

Any other boring observations?

Good morning!

Quite. Seems reasonable to me the pandemic of misinformation never was subdued by the virus. Update: The pandemic of misinformation of all viruses combined never subdued it, as one of the chief flags is of the many voices of expertise that were raised in counter findings and then blackened from sight.

 

[Carl Emerson]

This morning one of our top economists passed on his analysis of the financial impact of Covid.

The rich have done well, the poor have a lot less.

The price of petrol is going out the roof and this drives prices up.

 

[Carl Emerson]

The cost of the pandemic: the financial winners and losers

 

[Amittai]

As the US have joined in, here are some observations from England. I especially like the fact that this is a thread about all kinds of observations. It is so good to stop accusing each other of setting each other up or of grinding axes.

From memory and if I remember more later I'll post more later:

1. In Iceland over 2 years ago there were 40 (forty) varieties of covid 19 NOT counting many mutants of each already at the time.

2. There are five especially closely related classes of viruses, that often potentise each other: corona-, adeno-, noro-, herpes and I forget which other grouping. This presumably explains the way covid makes shingles worse (I actually heard of far more cases of shingles and other illnesses in the year or two up to 2019). In the first year flu deaths were down very greatly indeed. This year, there is both more flu, and flu combined with omicron, and flu-like omicron.

3. Officialdom gave us the wrong list of symptoms - I don't think being actually "asymptomatic" was so widespread as the propaganda stated - and the wrong incubation periods.

4. All action was delayed for about 4 months until after the big race meet in 2020 and race people have been rewarded.

5. Contractors for inaccurate tests have been rewarded. In addition, there aren't enough kinds of tests and they aren't applied in the right circumstances.

6. Some of us can't get tests because our symptoms began at the "wrong" dates.

7. Too many people get pinged resulting in lost parcels, destruction of agriculture, food shortages, final collapse of GP surgeries undermined by the 2017 "reforms". In passing, pinging uses more electricity and water than it oughta.

8. One of the biggest single helps is the 6 ft rule - which politicians are always bragging about abolishing - which however must not be wrongly applied.

It doesn't rightly stop anyone walking a lady home, nor does it absolutely prevent visiting of singles sitting more than 6 ft apart with their windows open - at discretion.

Thus my home is a 6 ft rule zone whether politicians claim we are not to stick to 6 ft or not.

(In my young day everyone wore pullovers indoors as a matter of course AND buses and trains travelled along with their windows open.)

9. Australian residents had guns pointed at their doors without notice and we were shown the pictures to make an impression on us. (I'm not intending to cause OP anguish.)

10. Dumbing down by authority - NOT by the public OR independent information sources - is the main cause of confusion and demoralisation.

11. Christians aren't praying enough for the plagues to go away. (They were taught by the megapastors not to pray. McLuhan warned about the seizing of microphones and cameras.)

12. A large proportion of long term damage including neurological and endocrinological, is resulting. (Neurology and endocrinology have been pooh poohed by the professions for a long time altogether.) I would dread if those patients are in future going to be told they are malingering.

13. Mainstream charities have been pushing for the prescribing of suited antivirals in all viral illnesses for many years and dead hands constantly slow all this to a halt. The medical establishment sometimes loses sight of needs for remediation, and that judicious and effective prevention of spread of illnesses is an extremely valuable extra (often urgently needed of course).

14. The death rates in the UK so far, are less than forecast two years ago but admittedly we don't know how quick we'll die of these plagues. That in the US so far is equal to the UK in proportion to population. That in Sweden far lower.

The rate was going to be equal to the numbers for the commonplace types of flu in a bad year, on top of any flu, and flu was well down.

 

[Bob Crowley]

Thanks for your interesting reply. Point number 9 caused no offence - we’ve long had targets painted on the doors of known Poms!

 

[Bob Crowley]

7. Too many people get pinged resulting in lost parcels, destruction of agriculture, food shortages, final collapse of GP surgeries undermined by the 2017 "reforms". In passing, pinging uses more electricity and water than it oughta.

What is “pinging” as you’ve described it?

In Australia we’ve had a 1.5 metre rule rather than a six foot rule. It’s a compromise anyway. Nasal droplets can spread further than 1.5 metres or 6 feet following a sneeze or cough, but they had to draw a line in the sand somewhere.

 

[Amittai]

“pinging”

Test & trace system through mobile phones and other means, in the context of some other, probably not very well figured out factors, following 4 months' delay.

Hence the need for christians to pray that institutions will be run providentially according to true reason, to reduce muddles in the face of disasters.

God's message to Christians: "You were in this as well".

 

[Bob Crowley]

Now you've described it, we've had something similar. We are expected to use our mobile phones to capture a "QR" code if we visit a store, restaurant, gym or anywhere else.

Obviously people skip it a lot for short visits. If we're going to be in a service station for two minutes paying for fuel which we pumped outside, a lot of us don't bother.

But now the virus is so widespread, I don't see the point. It appears we have or have had 432,000 cases to date in Queensland, which is getting on for a tenth of the population. I can hardly see what difference it makes now where people are getting the virus.

 

[Paidiske]

More to the point, if they're not contact tracing any more, there's not really much point generating the record. Although venues are still being contacted by the department of health and instructed to deep clean etc (happened here a couple of weeks ago).

 

[Bob Crowley]

Did you have to "deep clean" the church, or was it a location nearby? Just curious

 

[Paidiske]

It was the church. Fortunately for me, I was on annual leave, but I understand the wardens had a massive task.

 

[Carl Emerson]

Cant wait for Sunday - first service for ages - masks on 100 max. we have to pre register on line.

There is a special service for the unvaxed.

 

[Bob Crowley]

We've got three churches in our parish. Two of them are smaller with fewer people (I usually go to one of them). For those two we have to use the QR code at the door, AND book into the church itself using an event booking app, or sign a piece of paper. That is to say it is a MASKED EVENT!! But not a masked ball...

The main parish church is worse - if you want to go to mass there, you also have to nominate a particular seat, due to larger numbers.

You'd think we were flying to Darwin.

Which reminds me - I have to book two seats with Virgin Australia or we could be sitting anywhere - Darwin in June, hopefully.