nCoV 2019

[crocos]

Metropolitan Melbourne: Must wear masks (from this Thursday).

GOOD.

[Ab]

Originally Posted by crocos

Have been looking at options for moving back to NZ to escape the madness that is Victoria. Alas it's looking less than practical right now.

Looks like that's about to become a lot more expensive too, the government is talking about quarantine charges.

[crocos]

As an Australian citizen, I actually don't have the option right now unless I was to apply for compassionate reasons or something, so doesn't really matter.

However if I'm being charged for quarantine, I want a say in what I'm being charged FOR. EG: If I'm getting charged $3k but don't get a choice between Plaza International Hotel or a Quality Hotels, then I'd be PISSED if I got pushed into a Quality Hotels outlet.

[fixed_truth]

I reckon they should only bill people without a NZ passport and citizens & residents returning from travel where they left after lockdown.

[blynk]

Originally Posted by fixed_truth

I reckon they should only bill people without a NZ passport and citizens & residents returning from travel where they left after lockdown.

I would include a time away as well.
Been away <2 years, thats fine, probably an O.E. or something else.
Been away >2 years, then you pay.

Been away 20 years. Fuck off

[Ab]

Originally Posted by blynk

Been away 20 years. Fuck off

*cough* oi.

If I, a registered member of two well-resourced iwi, with whakapapa up to here, returned to Aotearoa and were detained by the white colonialist establishment and forced to pay for my detention, I would make such a Treaty issue out of it that children yet unborn would one day be reading woke thinkpieces about it in The Spinoff.

[pxpx]

We shall tear down a statue of Cook, and replace it with a bronze of you passed out on a pinball machine :P

[Lightspeed]

[Ab]

New Zealand I love you

https://twitter.com/Pickupthepace22/...47180268322817

[Nothing]

John Campbell doesn't really know who he's interviewing

[Nothing]

GabeN doing his best impression of Kevin Flynn from Tron Legacy.

[crocos]

RIP HL3

[Lightspeed]

Fun!

Originally Posted by crocos

RIP HL3

I mean, we got 'im. So, he doesn't get out till we get it. HL3 confirmed, NZ come out heroes once again.

[pxpx]

Lets make it happen

[StN]

And my Axe.

[crocos]

COVIDIOTS strike again - this is becoming a disappointingly common tale:
https://twitter.com/sexenheimer/stat...74291138572288

Starts when an unidentified wannabe lawyer woman rocks in to Bunnings and is asked to put on a mask, present a medical certificate as to why she can't, or leave.

[crocos]

Vic: Over 700 in last 24h, extending regions covered by lock-down.

Still only at a level 3-ish lockdown + masks, it feels like Melb is busier than prev lockdown.

And cherry on top: Someone diagnosed positive went to work. Several found to not be home.

[Ab]

Vic up to 723 now (midday), 16 deaths. holy shit.

[Nich]

We'll never know if lock downs actually worked to slow the virus. But they certainly worked to boost suicides by 7x and bankrupt over 50% of SMEs. So I'll eat my hat and never say government is ineffectual ever again.

[Nich]

Here's a daily dose of sanity to stem the fear mongering and forces that are turning us into stool pigeons.

We Are Victims of the Greatest Crime in History - Vernon Coleman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhYX8RzyMC4

Remember to not pay the numbers too much attention:
- The PCR tests are still wildly inaccurate: https://www.health.gov.au/resources/...e-pcr-platform
- Australia accepts any old test anyway in the interest of expedience even though there is little evidence of their accuracy: https://www.tga.gov.au/covid-19-test...-professionals
- Australia's mining magnates are still China's bitch: https://www.theguardian.com/australi...covid-19-tests
- China is running the largest global DNA dragnet and COVID is an opportunity to increase its data collection https://www.aspi.org.au/report/genomic-surveillance

[Lightspeed]

I figure it would be the people dying that would have you afraid.

[bradman]

Heh - tell the almost 200K DEAD in amerikkka, and watch the oz dead pile up nich. And keep calling your BS.

Just for the record as I think nich is such a pussy and can't answer facts he's bungholed me in ignore, hahaa. cancel culture! Heh, dumbass.

And oh yeah, got that one StN =]

[blynk]

Originally Posted by Nich

We'll never know if lock downs actually worked to slow the virus. But they certainly worked to boost suicides by 7x and bankrupt over 50% of SMEs. So I'll eat my hat and never say government is ineffectual ever again.

Wowsers. Please link your sources.
7 times the number of suicides. Are you telling me that in Australia, between March - June, where there would normally be 1000 suicides. There were 7000 suicides.
So over twice the annual rate in 4 months.

+ the 50% SMEs bankrupt. I don't have stats for that, but I call BS as well.

[bradman]

I can't recall the word for wankers who wah on about something else in a discussion to obfuscate an issue. Is it sealioning?

[bradman]

Man you comedy goldness. You realise I'm in NZ?
You think the lock down here didn't work?

Spin that with bullshit.

Bang up your source for 7k suicides and ill find some sources of deaths from c19. The orange dipshit normally says a number before he says he saved 2 million. Last one he said was 160k.

[bradman]

Those are at tin foil hatterach nich too =)

[[fe]]

Originally Posted by Nich

We'll never know if lock downs actually worked to slow the virus. and bankrupt over 50% of SMEs.

I will be interested to see how approach of aggressively shutting down for a short period here in NZ shakes out compared to other approaches. We were at a packed out pub today for lunch, and have been quite a few times in the past weeks. No limitations for social distancing etc. If covid was a threat day to day there is zero chance I would gone there and spent money.

[Lightspeed]

It definitely worked here. I'm not sure there are many other places they've attempted a complete lockdown. They've bucked them before they've run their course.

[crocos]

Originally Posted by Nich

We'll never know if lock downs actually worked to slow the virus. But they certainly worked to boost suicides by 7x and bankrupt over 50% of SMEs. So I'll eat my hat and never say government is ineffectual ever again.

Zero idea on the SME impact though I do know it's been considerable here in AU. Ditto I have nothing on the suicide stats. However from a "get it done" POV, the sooner and harder places have locked down the quicker they have recovered. NZ being a great example, but even compare the Aussie states: WA and SA locked down early & hard, and while still isolating externally are internally back to business as usual.
QLD and NSW locked down not as hard and it took longer to get case numbers under control. NSW had some shitty luck with cruise ships and then started easing up too early, which is why their numbers are climbing again.
VIC was starting to get it's shit together with the L3-lite lockdown it initially did, but hiring idiots (security guards) rather than getting the ADF in caused some spread, and then VIC started letting up WAY to early - it's no surprise we're back to masking up. At least it's mandatory this time.

Originally Posted by Nich

Here's a daily dose of sanity to stem the fear mongering and forces that are turning us into stool pigeons.

Nich you've got a bit of cheek calling out about fear & uncertainty then trying to add more to the trash-fire. And calling Coleman unbiased is like saying the Proud Boys aren't racist, though I grant he's a VERY slick talker.

Originally Posted by Nich

Remember to not pay the numbers too much attention:

Fun - you're criticizing the results based on the numbers found but then saying to ignore them? Dude, pull ya head out.

Originally Posted by Nich

- The PCR tests are still wildly inaccurate: https://www.health.gov.au/resources/...e-pcr-platform

Read through this. Seems to work well from actually reading this. Not perfect by any rate - but the ones failed on are extreme dilutions, far less diluted than typically used, though if someone was only just recently infected it's possible that effective dilution level is likely - but they've said all along that C19 isn't readily detectable early, it's one of the major issues with it.
False positive rate is acceptably low.
To call the tests "wildly inaccurate" is itself wildly inaccurate.

Originally Posted by Nich

- Australia accepts any old test anyway in the interest of expedience even though there is little evidence of their accuracy: https://www.tga.gov.au/covid-19-test...-professionals

Uh, that's so very much not what that says. It's a "trust but verify" approach, which DOES leave opening for error and variance, but the approaches are very rigorously reviewed and requires ongoing test results to be monitored

Originally Posted by Nich

- Australia's mining magnates are still China's bitch: https://www.theguardian.com/australi...covid-19-tests

Your statement: Yes, nothing has changed there
Regards the actual too&fro with BGI, BGI are an equipment & training supplier in the Australian context - they're not actually performing the tests and the testing on their kits was on-par with the reference kits already in use. Only issue is political BS and if Foster is a corrupt fucker (he probably is IMO) using this as a chance to make bank.

Originally Posted by Nich

- China is running the largest global DNA dragnet and COVID is an opportunity to increase its data collection https://www.aspi.org.au/report/genomic-surveillance

And none of the companies used in Australia (no idea about elsewhere) have known links to the Chinese beyond equipment & consumables. Is it possible? Yes, but in this case I actually consider it unlikely.

[crocos]

Melbourne's in a so-called "level 4" lockdown.
Same as level 3 plus -

• curfew 8pm-5am
• 1 hr max once per day exercise
• Max two people while exercising (vs simply "can be out exercising") and MUST be from same household (some exceptions for exercising w. children)
• stay within 5km of home when out (with some exceptions, eg if nearest super is over 5km)

Everything still open, including bottlo's (in a VERY Aussie move this was specifically highlighted).
Intimate partners can ignore the 5km rule when visiting.
Many exceptions.

So not REALLY level 4, more like 3.5

[crocos]

... SOME shops shut, more details coming tomorrow apparently.

[pxpx]

Time to bite the bullet and do a proper kiwi style lockdown

[Cyberbob]

Meanwhile, today's a full school day. WCGW.

[Ab]

Originally Posted by pxpx

Time to bite the bullet and do a proper kiwi style lockdown

The thing about the Kiwi lockdown is that there was community support for it. Team of five million, all that stuff. No such unity exists on this side of the Tasman.

[StN]

Originally Posted by Ab

The thing about the Kiwi lockdown is that there was community support for it. Team of five million, all that stuff. No such unity exists on this side of the Tasman.

I used to think of these as cringe worthy - now evidently, they are part of our makeup:

1974.

1986.

No cringe in this one!

[Nothing]

Originally Posted by StN

No cringe in this one!

That song is awesomely hilarious, and also makes me all emotional.

[blynk]

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/ind...-john-key-says

The former National Party leader and three term prime minister said consumer confidence and buoyant equity and property markets were being propped up by low interest rates and not a true reflection of the real economy.

Bit rich from JK about not a true reflection of the economy, when his whole term as PM the economy was boosted because of immigration and not really a true reflection of the economy.

[Know me.]

Originally Posted by blynk

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/ind...-john-key-says

Bit rich from JK about not a true reflection of the economy, when his whole term as PM the economy was boosted because of immigration and not really a true reflection of the economy.

Immigration adds to the economy. Borrowing and printing money is a takeaway. Guess you could call it a Chinese takeaway.

[Lightspeed]

Immigration is useful tool that has limits and consequences. Likewise with debt and currency manipulation.

Both add to the economy when done well, both are to the detriment of the economy when done poorly.

We've had a long glut of immigration to make up for the lack of borrowing for the sake of political expediency.

[Nothing]

John Key on the news tonight saying that we have to be creative and flexible and open up the border. Hopefully that will give enough people an idea of what National will do that National won't get in.