The sad thing that there are still a lot of donkeys happy to keep sacrificing everything in the hope of getting the imaginary carrot (elimination of covid)

Yeah why should I blame fuckwits  like u when it's clearly andrews fault that dickheads don't care about anyone else but themselves.  Thank u . My mother In law has a medical condition but nah your fucking holier than thou conspiracy theories are more important.  Get fucked

Poor carlito, the only person in Australia with a family member with a condition, let me get the violin out....but I assume your mother in law has been fully vaccinated, if so whats the issue, isnt she now fully protected? Why does the whole of society have to be frozen for her? It seems like you only care for yourself and have no consideration for what other people are experiencing....

Sorry, no conspiracy theory, just facts backed by WHO, US CDC, Euro CDC. But let me reiterate it for you, Covid is real, I have been double vaxed and we will have to learn to live with it like the rest of the world (ie the UK who just reported 23,438 cases yesterday with no lockdown). Chasing elimination of delta is a fools errand which now even the local politicians & left wing media agree with.

I know it's frustrating, believing what ever shite the government spins to you like a good donkey but never getting close to the carrot. It's much easier to blame the other donkeys than it is to wake up and realise you are not getting the carrot with the current plan, no matter how much you try or cry.

That seems unlikely. Restrictions are in place to trend numbers downwards. Its unlikely countries are going to open up to packed venues, full work places, etc... but then keep masks and social distancing as if the mere presence of these things will change things. Opening up is opening up. COVID just becomes another thing that hospitalises people like any other flu

Only Australia is likely to cement a few of their COVID restrictions for years to come. No other country seems to be as precious about them

Anyone know what capacity flights are in EU/USA ?

I saw Heathrow recieving their first vaccine approved USA passengers few weeks ago, wonder how the flight numbers ?

EPL 1st games this past weekend at full capacity - I watched countless of them hardly a mask seen.
Yet we spoke with a cousin based in London the other night - the infections/deaths a day are staggering as we know compared to us.

No, "opening up is not opening up". Opening up means relaxing measures and there's quite a broad scale that can happen on. 

As to no other country being "precious" about COVID restrictions.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/k-12-guidance.html
https://www.9news.com.au/world/france-coronavirus-pass-now-required-in-restaurants-trains-vaccine-passport/487e57c8-4d35-44c0-81fd-5e007ddcd0df
https://www.thelocal.it/20210623/covid-19-when-do-you-still-need-to-wear-a-mask-in-italy/

Seriously some people here are living in a fantasy land where it's all sunshine and rainbows overseas just because of the vaccine. Heaps of mental health impacts have occurred due to the stress of having a highly contagious and dangerous virus ripping through their community, difference is over there is that they're getting COVID deaths on top. 80% of adults vaccinated is not enough to stop a lot of hospitalisations and deaths on their own, it will still require sensible health measures as well. We owe it to our children under 12 who can't be protected at the moment via any other measure.

You are talking about "unwinding restrictions" which is where most countries are at. This is not the same as "opening up but keeping restrictions in place" with a long term view

One of the reasons for the continual rise in cases in NSW is the misconception that you can only catch the virus in the supermarket or public transport. The virus has been painted as a beast that is "out there" and people have responded accordingly. Chain emails work under the same psychology

Its hard to imagine you'll have countries that allow 50 people at home, gatherings of 500, sporting events of thousands, but you have to wear a mask in the supermarket or you risk getting COVID. The risk of COVID is the risk of COVID. Once a country has opened up its because they arent under a risk of being overrun. Its not about thinking that 50% of social activity is OK but 50% isnt, with a net result of lower transmission. Nobody has done a study on any kind of balance to that regard

If you can have 50 people at your house and attend a major sporting event then wearing a face mask at the supermarket to stop getting COVID bleeds of ignorance and naivety. I cant see countries doing it aside from Australia

So they've completely lost control in NSW.

Vaccinations are the only way out of this which is what Slomo should have realised 9 months ago.

On the upside a record number of vaccinations doled out yesterday.  2 of my kids now booked in for AZ. (The other is under 18 but Pfizer is not available where we are as yet.)

I don't think vaccines will have an impact until mid September. Until then, numbers will keep doubling every 2 weeks. 

They lost control in NSW weeks ago. Then seeing Victoria and S.A go into lockdowns with virtually no cases shattered the illusion that we were just waiting for cases to drop. 

Then (when lockdowns are clearly not working) they have the hide to tighten the vice and blame rising cases on the general public for "not doing the right thing". The same people who have shown time and time again during a crisis (bushfires, floods, storms, cyclones etc.) that they're willing to make sacrifices and behave selflessly for the greater good. That meme posted earlier with the donkey and the carrot is spot on.

And then they act baffled that people are protesting?

Oh for sure but once numbers are up around 70% we're good to go.

On the plus side whilst we are in lockdown without a single case for 400+ days the boat ramp is within our LGA and on Friday the weather is mint so that's me sorted.  

If we look at Iceland, they have a population of 360K and 72% is fully vaxed and 90% single vaxed and they are had 102 cases yesterday. Based on the covid zealotry exhibited by the Aus premiers there is no way we would open up with 100 cases, let alone the 1,000's that this extrapolates to for Aus population

Listened a podcast about that. Fascinating. They're getting a blow up of cases because 10's of thousands of them didn't get covid the first time. So in England when they opened up, because so many people had already had covid that cases went down. (It wasn't the sole reason, euros, school holidays, weather etc.) Still, was interesting. 

You're probably right though. I think Gladys will open up first. Not sure who would be next but I know that prick over in WA would detach himself permanently from Australia if he had half the chance. He'll definitely be last.

By the way pity the poor cops who have to tell mum their and toddlers have to get off the swings and slides in Victoria.

A-grade shithousery from Andrews.

Which is false . 

Melbourne sex worker among latest mystery COVID-19 cases

By Chanel Zagon12:24pm Aug 18, 2021

Mr Foley (Vic Health Minister) said there was no evidence of transmission occurring due to the woman's occupation, but implored sex workers to get tested. "I stress there is no evidence of transmission having occurred because of this person's occupation (being a street walker).

https://www.9news.com.au/national/melbourne-sex-worker-among-latest-st-kilda-area-mystery-covid19-cases/95fc2514-9fd3-4ea1-b168-3fc1e0a8908d


So just to clarify, according to Vic Health Minister, there is no evidence of sex work spreading covid, but playgrounds are a cesspit of infection and must be closed......seriously you couldnt make this shit up

So another interesting anecdote here-

I have a colleague in Melbourne we'll call Sam. Sam has basically been the polar-opposite of my other colleague Brian for the past 18 months. Sam was definitely in the "early adopter" category when it came to COVID-skepticism.

On the weekend, he posted a cryptic status update that read: Today I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I am excited for Melbourne, Australia and the World. Somebody asked him to expand on this, and he shared his story:

He said a colleague of his who's been very "guarded" voicing their opinion and compliant with rules, laws and government policies, got on a work call with Sam just this week and immediately said "Next protest I'm joining you!" Sam calculates that for his colleague to be voicing this sentiment, thousands of others are at this turning point as well. 

Sam then went on to echo Brian's sentiment: people are at the point of rupture, and it's getting past the point of no return for the government as more people begin to ask serious questions. Mental health is dangerously low, and even those in our police services are beginning to become polarised among the ranks.

I think the current NSW and to a lesser degree Vic experience is very telling in that despite weeks of lock down, the numbers have not improved significantly so it is highly likely that the vaccination thresh holds will be hit well before the cases reduce to zero so decisions will need to be made and I cant see how the public would accept continued lock downs at that point.

Another interesting article below on secondary effect in NZ.

New Zealand children falling ill in high numbers due to Covid ‘immunity debt’

Doctors say children haven’t been exposed to range of bugs due to lockdowns, distancing and sanitiser and their immune systems are suffering

New Zealand hospitals are experiencing the payoff of “immunity debt” created by Covid-19 lockdowns, with wards flooded by babies with a potentially-deadly respiratory virus, doctors have warned.

Wellington has 46 children currently hospitalised for respiratory illnesses including respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. A number are infants, and many are on oxygen. Other hospitals are also experiencing a rise in cases that are straining their resources – with some delaying surgeries or converting playrooms into clinical space.

RSV is a common respiratory illness. In adults, it generally only produces very mild symptoms – but it can make young children extremely ill, or even be fatal. The size and seriousness of New Zealand’s outbreak is likely being fed by what some paediatric doctors have called an “immunity debt” – where people don’t develop immunity to other viruses suppressed by Covid lockdowns, causing cases to explode down the line.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/08/new-zealand-children-falling-ill-in-high-numbers-due-to-covid-immunity-debt

By Dannielle Maguire

Victoria police union says keeping people off playgrounds is 'not something we signed up to do'

Police Association Victoria has taken a veiled swipe at the Andrews government over the closure of playgrounds as part of tougher COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria.

The move was announced on Monday by the Premier Daniel Andrews in response to what he said was a lack of compliance with the regulations.Authorities are investigating whether transmission between children occurred at a playground.

Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt said making officers enforce the closures risked damaging the relationship between police and the community. “Governments come and go but the police force remains and endures forever and we need to make sure that connection with community stays strong,” he told ABC Radio Melbourne.

“We don’t have to take a big stick to the community every time we try to educate and seek compliance. “Please don’t assume that our members will be bursting out of their beds this morning to do this. It’s not something they signed up to do, it’s not something that drives them.

”Mr Gatt said officers would not refuse to enforce the closures, but they didn’t want to lose people’s confidence. “If we lose the trust and confidence of the community because we are so black and white because we enforce rules without thought, if we act like robots, then what happens is the community will lose their trust in police.”

Reporting by Tim Callanan


https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-18/covid-live-blog-nsw-coronavirus-lockdown-cases-press-conference/100385366?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web#live-blog-post-1202954205

On the other side of that though normal flu hospitalisations and deaths are about a tenth(?) of what they'd normally be due to all the restrictions, mask and sanitisers.

Edit:  They're not down that many but they are down.  https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/causes-death/provisional-mortality-statistics/latest-release

Which bit?

Foley didn't say that sex work cannot spread the virus, he said that there was no evidence that this sex worker spread it in this particular case. They are asking anyone that hired a sex worker in St. Kilda recently to get tested, so they haven't ruled it out. This is in the article you posted. Sex work is banned in Melbourne under the current restrictions.

Sutton has said that there has been at least one transmission in the current outbreak between kids outdoors, and today Weimar said they are still investigating other potential transmissions between kids outdoors, so unfortunately playgrounds have to go for now. Of Victoria's 246 active cases, 56 are in children under nine years old.

So, I guess you can make that shit up.

Whats even more interesting is that a homeless sex worker in St Kilda is now "safely in quarantine" .....  where? 

https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/isolation-and-quarantine-extra-help-and-support#emergency-accommodation-for-community-residents

That police are patrolling parks. They were already doing that as part of their rounds . The police union only get quoted when the media need sound bites.  Also police weren't also flying a chopper at a park yesterday.  No police choppers were in Melbourne and the only chopper was a news chopper looking for a news story. 

Foley said: "I stress there is no evidence of transmission having occurred because of this person's occupation "

So there is no evidence that an infected sex worker spread the disease during performance of her occupation 

So breaking that down Vic Government believes
- sex with infected hooker in back seat of car = no proof of covid spread, low risk
- playing on swing with little johnny from school = risk of covid, shut down all playgrounds

As to what Sutton said, here is his actual quote:

“We are investigating a potential transmission in a playground,” Sutton said. “It is not definitive, and maybe we will not be able to make it definitive, but it looks like there has been transmission in a playground.

So basically Sutton said we cant prove it and will never find the evidence to prove it but trust us, there was transmission, no worries slugger we believe you, another first for Victoria

Everyone else reading this can see the dishonesty in your reinterpretation of Foley's quote and how you've ignored the facts that sex work is also banned and that they've appealed for clients of sex workers to get tested so I see no point in continuing to argue with you directly.

Only 2 people allowed to visit a cemetery together but you can go to Bunnings where there's 400 people. Or Coles or Woolies.

Can't go on a swing though.

Makes sense.

I hope not. The narrative has been shifting towards hospitalisations/deaths. I just hope when we're maxed out with vaccinations (70%, 80%, etc), we can focus on the right numbers. Covid will still spread even with 100% vaccination, so the premiers and public need to be educated about how post-vaccination looks like. 

I agree we need to live with it, but it shouldnt be because Gladys has lost control through her own inept, smug, negligent and selfish actions. Covid zero looks like it will never happen - ffs even the bubonic plague is still around

Once we get a high vaccine rate, and make sure all the vulnerable are taken care of then it's time to whip you willy's out and rub them all over the trams. We're having a party...wait...scrap that last bit.