Coronavirus Thread IV: Legends, Laments and Lockdowns

[Greater vakolicci haven]

Encouraging people to expose themselves to the virus is very obviously a bad idea, even in warm weather.

Not what I said. What I said was send people to the warm areas to avoid the virus, not to expose them to it

Hasn't Australia largely avoided most of the impact of the virus? It surely can't be long until it's gone from the country like it is in NZ.

[Australian rePublic]

Not what I said. What I said was send people to the warm areas to avoid the virus, not to expose them to it

But the likelihood of them getting exposed to it there is much greater, as first they need to travel there, and you are putting people who don't normally have contact with each other into contact with each other. It's a stupid idea.

Fair enough

[Australian rePublic]

Not what I said. What I said was send people to the warm areas to avoid the virus, not to expose them to it

Hasn't Australia largely avoided most of the impact of the virus? It surely can't be long until it's gone from the country like it is in NZ.

Just two cases of community transmission in NSW

[Ifreann]

You can't avoid the virus by going somewhere warm.

But this thread seems to suggest that we can

No it doesn't. I don't know why you think that when the posts you are quoting are very clearly saying that warm weather can potentially help slow the spread of the virus, it does not at all stop the spread of the virus.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

Then shouldn't we be encouraging travel to hot climates? At least here in Australia where we have large swathes of tropics. If heat is supposed to slow down this virus, then why would QLD close all regional travel of less than 250 kilometres? Shouldn't they be encouraging people to holiday up in Townsville or Cairns?

Encouraging people to expose themselves to the virus is very obviously a bad idea, even in warm weather.

Levels of infection are very low in all states, though it is getting wintry in the southern states. Levels might go up.

Meanwhile, Queensland has a large tourism industry and it depends mostly on domestic tourism (yeah I was surprised too, but 75% of tourism revenue in Aus is domestic tourism ... foreigners think Australia is going to be a cheap holiday, but when they see the price of pretty much anything they put their wallets away ...).

There's going to be a balance between good sense and business sense, and I wouldn't be surprised if Queensland goes for the latter.

[Rojava Free State]

Here are two great ways to slow the spread of the virus.

•Stand 6 feet from someone
•Wear a mask if you can't and try not to directly face them

[Australian rePublic]

But this thread seems to suggest that we can

No it doesn't. I don't know why you think that when the posts you are quoting are very clearly saying that warm weather can potentially help slow the spread of the virus, it does not at all stop the spread of the virus.

Slowing it is better than nothing. Considering how large Australia's tropics are, we can set up temporary camps away from existing cities, for the people from down south, isolated from the rest of the tropics. The only problem is finding a source of water

[Kyapo]

You can't avoid the virus by going somewhere warm.

But this thread seems to suggest that we can

The number of reasons this idea is bonkers are too many to count.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

Actually the Southern Hemisphere coming into winter will be interesting. It might not just be a mirror image of the Northern experience. Maybe (just maybe) low levels of vitamin D in the North was a more important factor than cold air beating up viruses. If so, there WON'T be a surge in the South as cold weather sets in. People will still have their vitamin D from the fading summer.

Btw, Australia isn't just warm, we also have low average cloud cover (in the most populated south anyway). Enough rain when it comes, but most days are clear. So we have a UV advantage too.

[Australian rePublic]

Encouraging people to expose themselves to the virus is very obviously a bad idea, even in warm weather.

Levels of infection are very low in all states, though it is getting wintry in the southern states. Levels might go up.

Meanwhile, Queensland has a large tourism industry and it depends mostly on domestic tourism (yeah I was surprised too, but 75% of tourism revenue in Aus is domestic tourism ... foreigners think Australia is going to be a cheap holiday, but when they see the price of pretty much anything they put their wallets away ...).

There's going to be a balance between good sense and business sense, and I wouldn't be surprised if Queensland goes for the latter.

Business sense is good sense with low infection rates. Did you see my earlier post about why sustained lockdowns are, in my opinion, a bad idea. Palaszczuk will have to open the borders sooner or later, it's an election year. Plus, there are hundreds of thousands of people who live on one side of the border and work on the other side of the border. They're gonna need free access sooner or later

[Nobel Hobos 2]

Here are two great ways to slow the spread of the virus.

•Stand 6 feet from someone
•Wear a mask if you can't and try not to directly face them

That last one is interesting. I've been doing it but I've never heard anyone suggest it.

6 feet would be great. Our government recommendation is 1.5 metres, just a bit under 5 feet. Boo. Should be 2 metres!

[Australian rePublic]

Actually the Southern Hemisphere coming into winter will be interesting. It might not just be a mirror image of the Northern experience. Maybe (just maybe) low levels of vitamin D in the North was a more important factor than cold air beating up viruses. If so, there WON'T be a surge in the South as cold weather sets in. People will still have their vitamin D from the fading summer.

Btw, Australia isn't just warm, we also have low average cloud cover (in the most populated south anyway). Enough rain when it comes, but most days are clear. So we have a UV advantage too.

I've heard that a reason why viruses love winter is because everyone is snuggled up inside. Scomo wants to focus on outdoor dining, so...

[Fartsniffage]

Here are two great ways to slow the spread of the virus.

•Stand 6 feet from someone
•Wear a mask if you can't and try not to directly face them

That last one is interesting. I've been doing it but I've never heard anyone suggest it.

6 feet would be great. Our government recommendation is 1.5 metres, just a bit under 5 feet. Boo. Should be 2 metres!

It's part of our government instructions for meeting a person. Stand 2 meters apart and don't face each other if possible.

[Australian rePublic]

Here are two great ways to slow the spread of the virus.

•Stand 6 feet from someone
•Wear a mask if you can't and try not to directly face them

That last one is interesting. I've been doing it but I've never heard anyone suggest it.

6 feet would be great. Our government recommendation is 1.5 metres, just a bit under 5 feet. Boo. Should be 2 metres!

Once again, write to our politicians? Where do you expect everyone to get face masks? I've heard that there's still shortages. Plus, with the economy the way it is...

[Fartsniffage]

That last one is interesting. I've been doing it but I've never heard anyone suggest it.

6 feet would be great. Our government recommendation is 1.5 metres, just a bit under 5 feet. Boo. Should be 2 metres!

Once again, write to our politicians? Where do you expect everyone to get face masks? I've heard that there's still shortages. Plus, with the economy the way it is...

https://www.google.com/search?q=improvi ... e&ie=UTF-8

[Valrifell]

Once again, write to our politicians? Where do you expect everyone to get face masks? I've heard that there's still shortages. Plus, with the economy the way it is...

https://www.google.com/search?q=improvi ... e&ie=UTF-8

Building off this a bit, I should also point out that you don't need medical grade N95 masks to do your essential shopping. Most people that I've seen wearing them don't even do a good job of wearing them right, so it's better to leave those for professionals to prevent shortages. A wet rag around your mouth will be fine.

[Australian rePublic]

Encouraging people to expose themselves to the virus is very obviously a bad idea, even in warm weather.

Levels of infection are very low in all states, though it is getting wintry in the southern states. Levels might go up.

Meanwhile, Queensland has a large tourism industry and it depends mostly on domestic tourism (yeah I was surprised too, but 75% of tourism revenue in Aus is domestic tourism ... foreigners think Australia is going to be a cheap holiday, but when they see the price of pretty much anything they put their wallets away ...).

There's going to be a balance between good sense and business sense, and I wouldn't be surprised if Queensland goes for the latter.

So what would you do? Keep everyone in the south lockdown till summer? Not only can we not sustain lockdowns for that long, but also, what's gonna stop it from coming back next winter? Prey it goes away in summer, wasn't that Donald Trump's approach?

[Nobel Hobos 2]

Levels of infection are very low in all states, though it is getting wintry in the southern states. Levels might go up.

Meanwhile, Queensland has a large tourism industry and it depends mostly on domestic tourism (yeah I was surprised too, but 75% of tourism revenue in Aus is domestic tourism ... foreigners think Australia is going to be a cheap holiday, but when they see the price of pretty much anything they put their wallets away ...).

There's going to be a balance between good sense and business sense, and I wouldn't be surprised if Queensland goes for the latter.

Business sense is good sense with low infection rates. Did you see my earlier post about why sustained lockdowns are, in my opinion, a bad idea. Palaszczuk will have to open the borders sooner or later, it's an election year. Plus, there are hundreds of thousands of people who live on one side of the border and work on the other side of the border. They're gonna need free access sooner or later

Tourism is low down my list of "essential" industries and long distance travel is still a bad idea. So we disagree.

Well I can agree on opening the border. So long as people aren't travelling a long way into either state.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

Levels of infection are very low in all states, though it is getting wintry in the southern states. Levels might go up.

Meanwhile, Queensland has a large tourism industry and it depends mostly on domestic tourism (yeah I was surprised too, but 75% of tourism revenue in Aus is domestic tourism ... foreigners think Australia is going to be a cheap holiday, but when they see the price of pretty much anything they put their wallets away ...).

There's going to be a balance between good sense and business sense, and I wouldn't be surprised if Queensland goes for the latter.

So what would you do? Keep everyone in the south lockdown till summer? Not only can we not sustain lockdowns for that long, but also, what's gonna stop it from coming back next winter? Prey it goes away in summer, wasn't that Donald Trump's approach?

If you are going to define lockdown as "you can't take a holiday in Queensland" then yes. Lockdown it is.

[Australian rePublic]

Business sense is good sense with low infection rates. Did you see my earlier post about why sustained lockdowns are, in my opinion, a bad idea. Palaszczuk will have to open the borders sooner or later, it's an election year. Plus, there are hundreds of thousands of people who live on one side of the border and work on the other side of the border. They're gonna need free access sooner or later

Tourism is low down my list of "essential" industries and long distance travel is still a bad idea. So we disagree.

Well I can agree on opening the border. So long as people aren't travelling a long way into either state.

So what you do if you were in charge? Also, tourism is one of our biggest industries

[Australian rePublic]

So what would you do? Keep everyone in the south lockdown till summer? Not only can we not sustain lockdowns for that long, but also, what's gonna stop it from coming back next winter? Prey it goes away in summer, wasn't that Donald Trump's approach?

If you are going to define lockdown as "you can't take a holiday in Queensland" then yes. Lockdown it is.

No, I meant the level of lockdown that we had 3 weeks ago. Pauline Hanson and Clive Palmer are suing QLD and WA for refusing to open their borders

[Nobel Hobos 2]

That last one is interesting. I've been doing it but I've never heard anyone suggest it.

6 feet would be great. Our government recommendation is 1.5 metres, just a bit under 5 feet. Boo. Should be 2 metres!

Once again, write to our politicians? Where do you expect everyone to get face masks? I've heard that there's still shortages. Plus, with the economy the way it is...

To change the social distancing recommendation I would have had to "write to our politicians" before I'd even heard of social distancing. They're not going to change it now ... notice how shops have lines taped to the floor, at 1.5 metre spacing ... where's you usual concern for business that you think I or government or anyone will make them pull the tape up and do it again? "Write to our politicians" sheesh.

Face masks should be recommended not required. As to where, I've seen them in shops. Or if you can't get a proper one, make a cloth one if you want to.

Can't afford a cloth mask, then sucks to be you. Can't follow the recommendation, you'll just have to go without the way Australian rePublic thinks you should anyway.

Why do you feel any obligation to follow negative recommendations from government? It's excessive obedience. Do all the safety things they recommend, but why follow their advice when (a) it's probably wrong, and (b) it's so weakly negative as "don't bother x"?

Face masks might help a bit and surely don't put anyone at risk, I recommend you wear one if going to a relatively crowded place, but you don't have to.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

If you are going to define lockdown as "you can't take a holiday in Queensland" then yes. Lockdown it is.

No, I meant the level of lockdown that we had 3 weeks ago. Pauline Hanson and Clive Palmer are suing QLD and WA for refusing to open their borders

Well of course I bloody don't. Remember I was calling for schools to be reopened, weeks ago? I had to go out today, I was very happy to see kids in large numbers walking home from school.

"So what would you do? Keep everyone in the south lockdown till summer?"

Why do you strawman so blatantly? Haven't you noticed how it makes other posters angry?

[Ethel mermania]

Boy #2 goes back to work Thursday. He still has not received his first unemployment check.

[Ifreann]

No it doesn't. I don't know why you think that when the posts you are quoting are very clearly saying that warm weather can potentially help slow the spread of the virus, it does not at all stop the spread of the virus.

Slowing it is better than nothing. Considering how large Australia's tropics are, we can set up temporary camps away from existing cities, for the people from down south, isolated from the rest of the tropics. The only problem is finding a source of water

The alternative to relocating the entire population of Australia isn't "nothing". There are lots of things people can do to slow the spread of the virus other than concentrating the whole country in one relatively small area. And even if the weather is warmer in that one area, moving the whole country there would massively increase the spread of the virus. One step forward, a hundred thousand steps back. And relocating the whole country would be enormously expensive. Like, you understand how many people are in Australia, yeah? You can't just hire a few fucking buses, we're talking about moving millions of people. Moving them to camps that you would first have to build, which would take years.

But even if we pretend that somehow you could magically create massive amounts of living space overnight and magically teleport everyone in Australia there, then what? You say in later posts that you don't think that the lockdown can be maintained, but what the hell are you planning to do after moving everyone up north?