Coronavirus - Australia
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@barbarian said in Coronavirus - Australia:
Scomo is well behind in the polls now
Meaningless, really. The ALP don't look interested in governing - too much like hard work. Better to just pussyfoot around and take your pension at the end.
As for Dom - he just looks like another incompetent suit who got to this point through the same relative level of ability as the rest of them i.e. knowing the right people and appealing to enough constituents to keep the job. And where he is in Sydney, he's never losing that seat.
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@barbarian said in Coronavirus - Australia:
It will be interesting to see if there are any political ramifications for how the States have handled this given they are now practically on the same page.
It's hard to read here in NSW. There's a vocal group online who hate the LNP and think Perrottet has 'blood on his hands', as if he spliced the virus in his home lab to create Omicron... but I don't think reasonable people see it that way.
It doesn't help when you see shit like this:
Prof Nick here isn't an infectious diseases expert. He's not a cardiologist, virologist or respiratory specialist. He's not in the inner sanctum to know what medial advice the government has received and he's making idiotic claims without a shred of evidence.
There's obviously frustration about testing but I think that will subside in a few weeks when supplies hit the shelves.
I wouldn't be at all surprised to find the supply comes just as the need dissipates.
I don't know. I don't feel white hot anger in the community, but we all live in our bubbles. Scomo is well behind in the polls now, and I think COVID has a bit to do with that but it's not the whole picture.
I'd vote his government out in an instant. And then I look at Labor... Below the line is going to get a workout at the next election.
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@nta said in Coronavirus - Australia:
@barbarian said in Coronavirus - Australia:
Scomo is well behind in the polls now
Meaningless, really. The ALP don't look interested in governing - too much like hard work. Better to just pussyfoot around and take your pension at the end.
As for Dom - he just looks like another incompetent suit who got to this point through the same relative level of ability as the rest of them i.e. knowing the right people and appealing to enough constituents to keep the job. And where he is in Sydney, he's never losing that seat.
I'm pretty sure the ALP's whole election campaign is to be basically silent until the end, then come out and say "the covid response was bungled, it's 100% ScoMo's fault, make him pay" and it will probably work.
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@antipodean said in Coronavirus - Australia:
@barbarian said in Coronavirus - Australia:
It will be interesting to see if there are any political ramifications for how the States have handled this given they are now practically on the same page.
It's hard to read here in NSW. There's a vocal group online who hate the LNP and think Perrottet has 'blood on his hands', as if he spliced the virus in his home lab to create Omicron... but I don't think reasonable people see it that way.
It doesn't help when you see shit like this:
Prof Nick here isn't an infectious diseases expert. He's not a cardiologist, virologist or respiratory specialist. He's not in the inner sanctum to know what medial advice the government has received and he's making idiotic claims without a shred of evidence.
There's obviously frustration about testing but I think that will subside in a few weeks when supplies hit the shelves.
I wouldn't be at all surprised to find the supply comes just as the need dissipates.
I don't know. I don't feel white hot anger in the community, but we all live in our bubbles. Scomo is well behind in the polls now, and I think COVID has a bit to do with that but it's not the whole picture.
I'd vote his government out in an instant. And then I look at Labor... Below the line is going to get a workout at the next election.
Ha ha, I agree with all of this, dont know why Im laughing about it but I agree entirely. By the time the supply of tests turn up to meet the current demand (that is required for various jobs) then its likely there wont be a need. Whether that need is because of another rule change or just an even milder version I dont know.
Neither Labour nor LNP look great and it is not like there is any geniune alternatives either
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@nta said in Coronavirus - Australia:
@barbarian said in Coronavirus - Australia:
Scomo is well behind in the polls now
Meaningless, really. The ALP don't look interested in governing - too much like hard work. Better to just pussyfoot around and take your pension at the end.
As for Dom - he just looks like another incompetent suit who got to this point through the same relative level of ability as the rest of them i.e. knowing the right people and appealing to enough constituents to keep the job. And where he is in Sydney, he's never losing that seat.
A couple of things. Politicians don't get pensions any more, so that's not a thing. The ALP strategy at the moment is sound - keep their head down and let Scomo keep shooting himself in the foot. Their greatest attribute is they aren't the Liberals, and opening their mouths can only make things worse.
When the campaign starts they unveil a small suite of targeted policies, but for the most part they merely point out the Government's flaws and hope the old adage rings true - oppositions don't win elections, Governments lose them.
As for Dom, I have seen no real evidence that he's incompetent. There's a section of the press desperate to paint him as some sort of ideological warrior, but that's not based on anything more than vibe. Trying to paint him as some sort of reckless freedom lover because he... repealed the mask mandate for certain indoor settings for two weeks in December? Hardly Trump 2.0.
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@barbarian said in Coronavirus - Australia:
Trying to paint him as some sort of reckless freedom lover because he... repealed the mask mandate for certain indoor settings for two weeks in December? Hardly Trump 2.0.
there's this weird disconnect where there is this overwhelming desire to brand the unvaccinated as science-denying lunatics, while at the same time screaming for policies that pretend the vaccine doesn't exist, or doesn't work.
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@mariner4life said in Coronavirus - Australia:
@barbarian said in Coronavirus - Australia:
Trying to paint him as some sort of reckless freedom lover because he... repealed the mask mandate for certain indoor settings for two weeks in December? Hardly Trump 2.0.
there's this weird disconnect where there is this overwhelming desire to brand the unvaccinated as science-denying lunatics, while at the same time screaming for policies that pretend the vaccine doesn't exist, or doesn't work.
And just the general view that the current policy settings correlate with 'letting it rip'.
We wear masks everywhere, there are capacity limits at venues, events have been cancelled. This isn't life as normal or pretending the virus doesn't exist.
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@barbarian said in Coronavirus - Australia:
A couple of things. Politicians don't get pensions any more, so that's not a thing.
There are still a few in the house who qualify, Albanese included. The rest get a "Reskilling" allowance or some shit, which varies but is a tidy lump sum for people with few skills, I guess. Wonder if coal miners will get the same?
I realise you and I are diametrically opposed on the value of politicians, but nobody with a straight face could say Scott Morrison is worth half a million in the private sector, or that paying Bronwyn Bishop is good value in retirement at $255k.
@barbarian said in Coronavirus - Australia:
As for Dom, I have seen no real evidence that he's incompetent.
"Looks like". To me, he's no better or worse than the rest.
Except Mark Latham. Fuck that guy.
Trying to paint him as some sort of reckless freedom lover because he... repealed the mask mandate for certain indoor settings for two weeks in December? Hardly Trump 2.0.
Never said he was. And let's face it: the repeal of that measure only lasted 2 weeks because he had to backflip under pressure - not like he planned it that way.
He was all for opening up as quickly as possible once we'd gotten over the hump with Delta, but none of the governments at state or Federal level seemed to treat Omicron with the least bit of gravity, particularly with summer holidays coming up.
Had we all had enough of wait-and-see? Yep, you betcha. Is the system going to collapse under the strain? Nah, probably not.
But if politics is optics, having to reverse out of the position you wanted never looks great.
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@barbarian said in Coronavirus - Australia:
And just the general view that the current policy settings correlate with 'letting it rip'.
The current settings don't, because they were hounded back into masks and other restrictions.
Everything up to that point was indicative of let it rip. Let's not be revionist about a backflip.
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@nta said in Coronavirus - Australia:
@barbarian said in Coronavirus - Australia:
And just the general view that the current policy settings correlate with 'letting it rip'.
The current settings don't, because they were hounded back into masks and other restrictions.
Everything up to that point was indicative of let it rip. Let's not be revionist about a backflip.
How so? All they did was repeal the requirement to check in via QR code, and the requirement to wear a mask in certain (but not all) indoor settings.
There were still limits on capacity, limits on events, you still had to wear a mask on public transport.
They backflipped on a few things because of the growth of Omicron, but it was hardly a staggering backdown.
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@nta said in Coronavirus - Australia:
@barbarian said in Coronavirus - Australia:
A couple of things. Politicians don't get pensions any more, so that's not a thing.
There are still a few in the house who qualify, Albanese included. The rest get a "Reskilling" allowance or some shit, which varies but is a tidy lump sum for people with few skills, I guess. Wonder if coal miners will get the same?
I realise you and I are diametrically opposed on the value of politicians, but nobody with a straight face could say Scott Morrison is worth half a million in the private sector, or that paying Bronwyn Bishop is good value in retirement at $255k.
I reckon coalminers will do all right given most of them live in marginal electorates, but that's beside the point.
Of course they aren't worth that. The previous pension scheme was absurd.
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@barbarian said in Coronavirus - Australia:
They backflipped on a few things because of the growth of Omicron, but it was hardly a staggering backdown.
Well that's a bit subjective. I wouldn't say "staggering", but my point is that we knew it was coming from late November, we knew it was highly infectious, and the government proceeded regardless.
(I believe they also reintroduced the 2sqm rule - whatever that is worth).
Hazzard said they weren't going to backfip on their roadmap, and yet they did backfip on parts of it. Good public health policy to do so in that event to try and contain Omicron, but poor public policy to do it in the first place.
That's the optics of the "personal responsibility" directive and the subsequent failrues to ramp up PCR testing or acquire RAT in sufficient quantity. Now we've got places like aged care providers shutting their doors to visitors again because they're unable to operate in the fashion they'd like.
While only 2 or 3 things might have been walked back, the consequences of that are far-reaching, particularly right on the cusp of school holidays.
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@nta said in Coronavirus - Australia:
That's the optics of the "personal responsibility" directive and the subsequent failrues to ramp up PCR testing or acquire RAT in sufficient quantity.
My understanding is the PCR testing wait times were twofold:
- A needless requirement for people who may have been exposed to isolate when contrasted against symptomatic cases and vaccination status of the country.
- The ridiculous demand for healthy people to secure a negative test prior to crossing a State border on holiday.
For the RAT debacle you can look no further than the medical community and thank them for actively trying to prevent their adoption despite overwhelming evidence overseas.
Now we've got places like aged care providers shutting their doors to visitors again because they're unable to operate in the fashion they'd like.
Good. Better them than everyone else and it almost approaches good risk management practises given NINDSS data as of 16th January has 80.2% of deaths coming from 4.2% of the population (i.e. 70+). Meanwhile 0.01% of the estimated population has died from covid and only 0.19% of confirmed cases in Australia have died.
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@nta said in Coronavirus - Australia:
@barbarian said in Coronavirus - Australia:
They backflipped on a few things because of the growth of Omicron, but it was hardly a staggering backdown.
That's the optics of the "personal responsibility" directive and the subsequent failrues to ramp up PCR testing or acquire RAT in sufficient quantity.
Well the RAT failure is surely a Federal matter more than a NSW matter, and I agree that should have happened better than it did.
PCR testing was tougher. Clearly they didn't plan effectively but I'm not sure if you could ever have successfully planned for the influx they have.
The reality is NSW (and every other state bar WA) was caught on the hop by a variant that spread faster than anyone expected. It happened to hit at Christmas which was a bad time on a number of fronts - plenty of parties to spread the virus and plenty of workers on leave to ensure that there weren't enough staff to deal with it.
If you want to hang your hat on two weeks when we didn't wear masks in certain settings as evidence of failure then go for it. But to me we're in this situation regardless of whether that decision was made or not.
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@voodoo said in Coronavirus - Australia:
NSW today:
- Cases UP 30,000
- Hospitalisations DOWN 82
- ICU DOWN 5
Active cases down to 278k from a high of 342k just 5 days ago.
cautious optimism?
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@mariner4life exactly the phase i was searching for, am i being naive thinking we may have peaked?
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@kiwiwomble said in Coronavirus - Australia:
@mariner4life exactly the phase i was searching for, am i being naive thinking we may have peaked?
even the more alarmist news sites are using that word.
I'm still hoping to be in Sydney in March so it may be a different world by then. Maybe