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News Worldwide impact of the novel coronavirus (covid-19)

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Meanwhile in Australia (aka the Ridiculously Lucky country), our one state that had a second wave recorded it's first Triple 0 day - no new cases, no current cases, no deaths. It was pretty emotional scenes at airports and state border crossings as people got to travel interstate and see family etc for the first time in over 4 months.

We've been lucky, but the attitude here by the majority (which I personally think is in large part due to consistent education and messaging across the board from the get-go - despite their in-fighting, none of our political leaders went down the "this is a hoax, nothing you need to worry about" route) is probably vastly different to other places.

My state didn't have a second wave at all (touch wood). But we're still using mandatory sign-in at most public places, hospitals, pools, aged care homes, etc), and most shops have left the stickers marking out social distancing places and plexiglass screens in place.

I've just been knocked back from visiting my nan on the basis that I don't have evidence of the flu jab I had earlier this year. No qualms about that personally - I can arrange a copy online, and aged care are high risk, so with or without covid it's probably not an stupid entry-requirement to have in place. Covid vaccine evidence will no doubt become a standard requirement for entry in due course.

But...I can very definitely see that simply not flying with the general public in other parts of the world.
 
Absolutely @Sideways Australia is a Ridiculously Lucky country, it's extraordinarily lucky, I am at the point of thinking about not taking such precautions, as we have, though I spoke to my psychiatrist this morning and she's been doing 11 hour days with the increased need for mental health assistance for medical staff across Australia and she suggested that we have to wait and watch this space. It could take off, which I didn't really want to hear as I have been coming to it's not really happening here. It is good that so many of us have been so diligent and it's had an effect.

Stupid things were said in the media by Morrison (not going to stop seeing friends, go to restaurants & the footy) and the opposition in Victoria and I think that did have an effect in that 1 in 4 positive folks in Melbourne weren't at home when their homes were visited, some weren't taking it seriously, and some needed the wage relief for those who had to work. But overall the public health messaging has been solid and folks were doing their own research as well. Our neighbour is super high risk and she really followed stuff closely, she didn't go as far as we did but she was careful. We've given each other support along the way.

I just so feel for the folks dying of the virus still thinking of it's a hoax. It's bewildering.

I have been listening to David Burns' podcasts on Coronavirus and that did help me a bit and it has helped to put it a bit more in perspective. TEAM-CBT has so much to offer. List of Feeling Good Podcasts | Feeling Good (there's 8 episodes at the bottom of this page of podcasts)

I also listen to Norman Swan and Tegan Taylor. Coronacast

Where have you got most of your information @Sideways?

I am interested to know the lense through which others have seen SARS-CoV-2. We watched 4 Corners and has been tracking in February what was going on and we went into lock down as B was just out of hospital and high risk. We just locked down. We had doctors friends that assessed that Australia didn't have enough PPEs and went into lock down as well. So we weren't the only ones who did it, and I know many folks who had kids who were super high risk that took their kids out of school and had the family live in two different house holds, in order to protect the vulnerable family member, but let the other children continue to go to school.

For us it's been a really good years as we are so much closer as a couple than we were, and we really worked well together. It's been concerning and a struggle at times but for me to have the downtime has been profoundly healing for me. Though right now I just want to go out and see folks and catch up and hang with people, but will hold out unless it's socially distanced outside, (I will wear a mask). I can see how the Covid19 Fatigue sets in, you just want it to be the hell over. I so get it. I am there. I have been so responsible and careful. I want it to be over. And what we have lived with isn't as hard as a lot of folks have had it by a long shot. If it did take off here we have organised all the deliveries. And we fixed up the garden and house so much, as well, which has been good. I have learnt to ground so much more this year.

This thread has been really informative and I so feel empathy for folks around the world.
 
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Where have you got most of your information
Like you, some of it's plain ol' anecdotal info. But beyond that? There no short list of places I get info from - different parts insist on different news sources for a variety of reasons.

But I can definitely say that I appreciate Dr N Swan's info. V level, keepin' it real attitude. Despite the early political issues with the WHO's relationship with China, they're still one of the best secondary sources for official stats globally. And one of the few sources that are looking beyond the US, China and Europe consistently.

The only secondary sources I do tend to avoid are the US media outlets - they're so ridiculously, unapologetically biased in the way they report things in one direction or the other. I mean, our commercial channels have their obvious biases, but the US mainstream channels are next level. I have a little internal tanty whenever something I'm reading or listening to starts politicising a covid story, so it's not worth the headache!

ETA "Tanty" = tantrum!
 
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Cases in my province have been exploding, to the point that only 10 ICU covid beds were left in the entire province earlier this week, contact tracers were overwhelmed and weeks behind, and 82% of new infections are community spread or unknown origin. Our Premier has been MIA for weeks, not even calling in or zooming/skyping in to the daily public update to provide direction.

Today.... only 4 ICU covid beds left, contact tracers are so overwhelmed that tracing has all but stopped which also means there are no stats for community spread or targeted restrictions. Our Premier finally emerged from his hole and declared a public health emergency with indoor social contact forbidden (except weddings and funerals), but then veered into talking about the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and how *air quote...lockdowns* (oh yes, he did air quotes on live tv) are a violation of our human rights. There are other minor things he announced, but he mostly went Trump-lite (ummm, we're not American), and didn't even mandate masks... except where the municipalities gave up on our government months ago and already mandated masks in indoor public spaces.

Yup. Taking things seriously in this province.
😡🤬😤🤯
 
but then veered into talking about the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and how *air quote...lockdowns* (oh yes, he did air quotes on live tv) are a violation of our human rights.
I mean... I'd much rather have my "human rights" "violated" than get infected...

It really saddens me to hear how leaders overseas aren't taking this seriously.
We currently have 4 community-based cases, all of which are now in isolation, and just this week our PM made masks compulsory on Auckland transport, because Akl is where the majority of recent community outbreaks have occurred (due to it being our major port).

The coronavirus can be transmitted easily when people are in confined spaces. Masks decrease the chance of that happening.

It seems so simple, and yet apparently isn't?
 
Masks decrease the chance of that happening.

It seems so simple, and yet apparently isn't?

Yes, Yes, and OMFG why isn't it?!?!?! He did proudly say that we were the first jurisdiction to recognize the evidence and importance of face masks (but we are the only province in the entire country without a mandatory mask order, and we have the highest infection rate in the country), and then he ordered masks to be worn but just in workplaces (not all public indoor spaces), and just in 2 cities.... but those cities have already had mandatory masking for all indoor public spaces for months, so there really isn't a mask order then, is there, if he's mandating something that has already been mandated municipally? We really just need a province wide mask order, for consistency and to keep the covidiots at bay.

I'd much rather have my "human rights" "violated" than get infected..

Exactly!!!!

And I don't think he's actually studied the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, because it expressly allows for limitations on individual freedoms when in the interest of the greater public good, as an extraordinary measure during emergencies... like pandemics, and if balance is maintained. And masks aren't covered in the Charter. That's just politicizing a pandemic, and health should be more important than politics, but our Trump-lite is playing to his base.
 
How am I supposed to run away to Canada if your leaders are as idiotic as ours!! sigh.
New Zealand here I come!

Not all of them, but this province's Premier is a complete asshat. He's actually the only one who hasn't had a popularity bump during the pandemic. Out of all the leaders to emulate I'm not sure why he chose Carrots. I'm actually wondering, since he came out of his hole today, is it like Groundhog Day, and if he saw his shadow and we're going to have 6 more weeks of winter????

I've thought about running away to New Zealand too, I am a hobbit afterall. And I'll wear a mask.
 
Australia isn't lucky
Those people in Wuhan were lied to by the CCP, but they worked out there was person to person transmission by watching people around them get infected and die. Folks were finding out on social media who was sick where and where the lock downs were - and if you watch China in Focus you can watch where the current lock downs are. Wuhan had a lot of crematoriums however many more ones were built right form the beginning. We will probably never know any where near the real numbers of deaths in China, but it was enough that their usual funeral/burial body disposal methods were overwhelmed. On Twitter a whistle blower came out discussing how many more crematoriums were being built. They built new hospitals in days. That shows you it is really serious.

In February in Australia we saw Foreign Correspondent where China was welding up doors to buildings, people were being dragged off the street by officials in full body suits, having total lock downs and people walked along the street just fell down dead and no one went to their aid. On Chinese social media folks were discussing that they had to go out to buy food but if you when out you could catch the virus and die and so it was a choice to be made. Australia was lucky not to be the first site of the spread of SARS-CoV-2. We also watched documentaries of what was happening with illness resulting lock downs in different countries. We saw a sobering one in Italy in February and we knew what was coming. So I think it's lucky not to be so adversely effected right out of the gate.

We could see what Italy did in the town of Vo by testing.

South Korea had mandated by law that all bodies were to be destroyed to prevent further infections.

We had more warning than the first places there were hit first or had no solid public health messaging. We got to learn, wash your hands, put on your mask, wash your hands without not getting it right didn't result in as much death as it did in other countries.

When I was exposed and spent close contact with someone who had just arrived from the UK in Feb and was really sick with a cold, for several hours, I went home and did 14 days quarantine to make sure if I had it I didn't spread it. I did that because of the prior information that Australians had available to them. So I consider myself very lucky. 1. I didn't get it. 2. I had the knowledge to make sure I didn't spread it if I got it. I quarantined myself from my partner and used a separate bathroom because of what I had read at that time.

Australians are smart
You are right Australians are smart. I know plenty of folks who had potential exposure and got tested and quarantined. I know medical folks who put in the long hours in terms of managing the situation. Australian parents removed 40% of children from schools 4 weeks before shut down. Many Australians had started to work from home. Lots of Australians were buying masks and socially distanced. We had some idiots that muddied the health messages but overall folks really put in the effort.

Important things happened = they realised that 1 in 4 Covid19 positive people were not at home in Victoria, when they visited them to see how they were going, they brought in wage relief so folks could afford to stay home. They bought in a payment so folks could afford to stay home after they were tested and got results. Insecure working conditions got to be seen as a contributing factor to virus spread.

I got tested and got my tests results back the same day.

As a casual relief teacher I was aware that I couldn't go between one school with 2500 students and 400 staff.

This morning our doctor friends contacted us, they had started to go out without masks, but have reassessed now due to the case at a High School in Woodville, the waste water testing results and the fact the borders are opening - they are going to lock down again until 2-3 weeks passes - and they let us know what they are doing and what their thinking is. So we are very fortunate to have the social connectedness that we have - and folks update as as their minds change from new knowledge. Of course for high risk folks it's different than for low risk folks.
They care about each other enough to do what is necessary to keep everyone safe
That's true.

When we saw a documentary of what was happening in Italy and immediately we started organising to get everything to be delivered and contacted local businesses to buy from them and then shared that information. We have assisted and supported high risk folks and did problem solving and trouble shooting to find out resources that they needed. So through multiple online forums we helped out. And other folks contacted us to give us information to share with other folks. Someone rings up to ask a minor question you stay on the phone until they get whatever it is off their chests and in the process give support and information and gain support and information. Everyone I know has supported a variety of communities. Being solid and being there is really important for social cohesion. So I have a list of folks that I check up each week or every second week. I listen as much as possible, occasionally someone needs a couple of hours, but as time went on most folks needed 15 minutes for a check in.

It's true Australian parents had removed 40% of children from schools 3-4 weeks before shut down. Many people I knew had cut down there interactions and a lot of lucky folks were able to work at home.

And if one person turns up unashamedly wearing a mask and socially distances, then it makes it easier for others to do the same. So I did the model best practice thing. Last night we went wearing masks to an indoor group and whilst we were the only ones there wearing masks, some of them came up and showed me the photos of them wearing masks on planes and other situations, so we are able to positively reinforce each other. There's a couple of folks that go into most of the bigger hospitals in Queensland so they are more at risk than other folks but with masks the risk is minimal. You do need some social interactions.

And we did the lock down in Melbourne in July it had similar numbers of infections like they did in France. Victoria and France are poles apart now.
That's how you get 000 days.
It is indeed.
Unlike the US where it's about being right -not alive
I have watched Fox News, MSNBC and CNN etc and I can see how, if you are not someone is in to Science, has a high level of critical literacy skills and is a bit stressed out and doesn't really watch the news that much how the divide formed. The information given out is very different depending on where you get your news and I really feel for those that don't understand and have been so badly misinformed. It's heart breaking. For everyone. I so feel for everyone.
 
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I was just watching the news and doing a little bit of reading America has had 2 million new infections in 2 weeks. I find this concerning, and distressing. I am going to go to a news block out. It's not helping me knowing this stuff.
 
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