Gave me a laugh: https://theshot.net.au/general-news/melbourne-is-not-a-city-in-revolt-the-truth-is-far-more-incredible-and-far-more-boring/

Dan Andrews' approval rating is back up to 70% according to a Roy Morgan poll from a week ago, I wonder why I didn't see that in the news? http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/8518-victorian-stage-4-restrictions-september-10-2020-202009091315

NZ went six weeks without a community case. It is possible to hold out until a vaccine is developed, saving tens of thousands of lives and preventing the possible life changing long term medical issues in many others that will have a long term effect on the economy.

No doubt we do have some advantages, but like NZ has shown (who are further away and smaller again), its not possible to avoid this thing getting out. Plus, ow that much of the world is moving to a strategy of living with it, are we going to lock ourselves away from the rest of the world indefinitely?

pala don't think gone for good but hopefully under control especially in Melb.
Hopefully the fucktards have taken notice finally and thinking for all not about themselves so you guys can get back to a covid normality were all living with now.
Needs these bloody borders opened up so we can get on with life/business.

In Europe, perhaps. In a country with its own continent on the arse end of the planet we have an opportunity for the tyranny of distance to work in our favour.

28 new cases in Melbourne, 14 day average down to 44.4, which is below the target of 50 to take the next step on the 28th. Getting closer to fucking this prick of a virus off, hopefully for good.

'Zero infection rate does not exist': Europe learns to live with virus

Paris: In the early days of the pandemic, President Emmanuel Macron exhorted the French to wage "war" against the coronavirus. Today, his message is to "learn how to live with the virus".From full-fledged conflict to cold war containment, France and much of the rest of Europe have opted for coexistence as infections keep rising, the northern summer recedes into a risk-filled autumn and the possibility of a second wave haunts the Continent.

Having abandoned hopes of eradicating the virus or developing a vaccine within weeks, Europeans have largely gone back to work and school, leading lives as normally as possible amid an enduring pandemic that has already killed nearly 215,000 in Europe.

"We are in a living-with-the-virus phase," said Roberto Speranza, the health minister of Italy, the first country in Europe to impose a national lockdown. In an interview with La Stampa newspaper, Speranza said that although a "zero infection rate does not exist", Italy was now far better equipped to handle a surge in infections.

"There is not going to be another lockdown," Speranza said.

Hendrik Streeck, head of virology at a research hospital in the German city of Bonn, cautioned that the pandemic should not be judged merely by infection numbers, but instead by deaths and hospitalisations.

"We have reached a phase where the number of infections alone is no longer as meaningful," Streeck said.

https://www.theage.com.au/world/europe/zero-infection-rate-does-not-exist-europe-learns-to-live-with-virus-20200916-p55w4y.html

That's interesting. Do we have data on antibodies from Sweden? 

Sweden records its fewest daily Covid-19 cases since March

Chief epidemiologist puts low number of cases down to light-touch ‘sustainable’ approach

While many European countries are seeing their infection rates surge to levels not seen since the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Sweden – whose light-touch approach has made it an international outlier – has recorded the fewest daily cases since the virus emerged.

The Scandinavian country’s rolling seven-day average of new cases stood at 108 on Tuesday, its lowest level since 13 March. Data from the Swedish national health agency showed only 1.2% of its 120,000 tests last week came back positive.

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Sweden’s 14-day cumulative total of new cases is 22.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, against 279 in Spain, 158.5 in France, 118 in the Czech Republic, 77 in Belgium and 59 in the UK, all of which imposed lockdowns this spring.

Sweden also has fewer new daily infections than Norway and Denmark, its Nordic neighbours. Thirteen Covid-19 patients are in intensive care in Swedish hospitals, and its seven day average of coronavirus-related deaths is zero.

“We don’t have the resurgence of the disease that many countries have,” Anders Tegnell, the country’s chief epidemiologist and architect of its no-lockdown strategy, told broadcaster France-24 in an interview, adding that the country was broadly happy with its overall strategy.

“In the end, we will see how much difference it will make to have a strategy that’s more sustainable, that you can keep in place for a long time, instead of the strategy that means that you lock down, open up and lock down over and over again.”

Tegnell told France-24 the country’s high mortality rate was not related to its overall strategy but rather to a failure to prevent the catastrophic spread of the virus in the country’s care homes, where the majority of Sweden’s 5,846 deaths occurred. “Of course something went wrong there,” he said.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/15/sweden-records-its-fewest-daily-covid-19-cases-since-march

Already made it with the prepayments.

Soon they'll need a vaccine for Russian bullets.

-PB

Mad keen on making that cash lol

-PB

have all the anti govt protesters in Belarus died from c19 yet ?

thought not

We're getting close:

But I thought it was only power hungry dictator Dan imposing a hard lockdown?

Wow, its almost as if hard lockdowns are something that medical experts agree with.

Israel back on a 3 week nation wide hard lockdown

A 38 minute watch, but a comprehensive, evidence-based look at who is to blame, and who is not to blame: World Health Organization: Bad guy or fall guy? - YouTube

This. The UK are doing 3 times worse than us. But to be more on point, the UK is an example of poor health and economic management. I should be recognised however that the 7% dip has been a result of a collective effort by State and Federal Governments. I think the numbers would be much worse otherwise.

You're right, 7 is less than 20, thanks for pointing it out.

The recession was already coming in Australia covid or not, although of course the pandemic made it worse.

If only it was a lickdown, that would be much easier to take!!

it aint like Aus is doing great economically either

Australia in recession: Biggest economic contraction since Great Depression, ABS confirms

Australia has suffered its deepest economic contraction since the 1930s with new figures showing GDP collapsing by 7 per cent through the June quarter.



https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australia-in-recession-biggest-economic-contraction-since-great-depression-abs-confirms-20200902-p55rk4.html

Yep we're in a remarkable position covid wise where a little patience will see Victoria rejoin the rest of the Country out of lickdown but instead let's be like England. Great idea.

The UK economy shrank 20% last quarter - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-13/uk-economy-shrinks-more-than-20-per-cent-job-losses/12552538

With COVID around, consumer spending and sentiment will be depressed. 

Nice of you to crawl out from under your blanket, no misrepresentation, direct quote from WHO with link, and 3 seperate sources at that. 

England 6,000 cases in 2 days no lockdown. Melbourne 50 cases lockdown with billions in economic carnage and immeasurable psychological damage to its inhabitants, one is proportionate response the other isn’t. 

Well, those who are trying to say these measures are trying to paint it that way.

Because you are intentionally misinterpreting the source. Its clear the WHO isn't saying lockdowns are not an important tool, rather that efforts should be made to avoid situations where they aren't necessary.

Literally NOBODY is suggesting Victoria stay in lockdown indefinitely.

How is it deceptive when I provided the link to the actual source?

Also that speech was made on 21st August and the other WHO one I referenced was made on 4th September so how can they be related to the first wave?

Plus the only reason Melbourne is stuffed is because of Andrew's incompetence in managing quarantine hotels and contact tracing, so the risk of another wave will still be there once restrictions ease anyway.

Compare the UK response to 6,000 new cases in 2 days to Victoria's response. same with any number of countries around the world. There are so many people in Australia with coronaphobia that they are quite happy to cower under their sheets at home waiting for a vaccine which may never come.

Covid aint going away and the sooner we start learning to live with it the better for us all.

I saw those restrictions. NSW (or Sydney) would not be under the same restrictions since our daily count of unknown cases is much lower than 30-50. We would be at the third step/October level of controls. 

Not saying the restrictions don't suck, they do but to say all of those restrictions mean a full lockdown is not accurate.

even the left wing press are getting on board the Victorian Modelling is wrong bandwagon....

Victoria's roadmap out of Covid lockdown is 'a sledgehammer approach', expert says

Prof Catherine Bennett says it’s important for the public to understand how modelling data is being used to determine the lifting of restrictions

Wed 9 Sep 2020 16.32

Experts say they are unsure whether Victorian premier Daniel Andrews’ understands that modelling used for the roadmap to reopening is about more than just coronavirus case numbers.Photograph: James Ross/EPA

The Victorian government has “taken a sledgehammer approach” to its roadmap out of lockdown “when a hammer may have been just as effective”, Deakin’s chair of epidemiology Prof Catherine Bennett has said.Bennett said it was important for the public to understand that the model, developed by computer scientists and epidemiologists from the University of Melbourne, assumed all cases of Covid-19 in the community were randomly distributed, and that all cases are mixing in the community in the same way. In reality, many cases are already in isolation, or are part of outbreaks in workplaces where transmission and movements may be different.“Now, two-thirds of our cases are in health or aged care workers and their household contacts, and a third of cases are out in the community,” Bennett said. “So assuming we have 60 new cases per day by next weekend, that really means there would be roughly 20 community cases.”The model assumed all 60 cases would be random cases in the community and did not account for unique settings like aged care, Bennett said. But if someone was Covid-19 positive, for most infected people, their movements would be anything but random, she said, and they would mostly stay indoors.“This is not at all a criticism of the model or the modellers themselves, who have been very clear on what this model can and can’t do,” she said. But Bennett said she was unsure whether premier Daniel Andrews understood what epidemiology can offer, and that it is about more than just case numbers.

“Epidemiology is also the study of the determinants of the disease, or the risk, and involves investigating how disease spreads. Those two things used together prevent further cases. They see where virus is through testing and they know where cases are linked, but epidemiology is about also asking: ‘What’s different about these people getting sick when compared to another similar group?

’”The model was therefore setup to examine stage four and lockdown only, rather than what the effect might be if, for example, Victoria went back to stage three with mandatory masks. Or what might happen if curfew was dropped, but other measures kept in place.“We can learn more about our epidemiology and out intervention effectiveness by investigating this spread from the inside,” she said. “This might give them confidence to navigate through different scenarios. So they are using a sledgehammer on a nut, only because they actually don’t know how small the hammer can be to crack that nut.”