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Forums - General Discussion - Coronavirus (COVID-19) Discussion Thread

JRPGfan said:
EricHiggin said:

Trump did say it, because some of the Dems and media were saying it and it was being used against him as if he didn't care because he wasn't saying it. Usually he goes against their slogan's, but because it's true and he also agrees it made sense to use it.

Can't honestly answer that because I don't trust the numbers. When it's been shown that this year the total deaths are in line with what's been normal for the last decade, even though it should be much higher because of covid, I can't help but wonder. Especially when it get's blocked and taken down soon after.

Things like the amount of cold and flu deaths being lower, which isn't a surprise, because if covid is worse then odds are high that some of those people are going to die from covid instead. In which case, if statistically a certain amount in general die every year from the cold and flu, and some of them died of covid instead, why is that being added to the death count, or blamed on anyone else? If they were unfortunately going to pass from one of those illnesses, due to underlying conditions or whatever, why is that someone else's fault? We never say anything about it otherwise.

I will say it's not just about how many. Who matters just as much. There are certain age ranges that are more important to keep healthy in a more hostile outbreak. Gender would also come into play if that ever was a target and the illness was bad enough.

Bullshit.  Eric what you just said is wrong (so either you dont know better, or are lying).

Excess Mortality for the USA back in early october 2020, was up over 300,000 deaths.
This was back when US counted 198,000+ deaths due to Covid19.

Now that offical numbers are roughly ~318,000 deaths...... Im pretty sure excess deaths in the USA is over 480,000.

The thing is, the USA doesnt show the public, its own numbers on stuff like Mortality Excess.
You only get news of it, when someone thats got access to it, speaks about it.
(in alot of european countries, you can actually go view statistics like that, open to the public)

Source: (of my claim, about excess mortality being over 300k back in oct)
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6942e2.htm


Also you shouldn't trust the numbers.
They are higher than the ones reported.
Goverment doesnt want panic, or backlash about handleing of the pandemic, so most go out of their way to rather under-report, than other way around.

Theres proof, of counting changeing after CDC handed it over to the whitehouse HHS department run by Trump.
Without a doubt, Trump people are underplaying it.

The CDC is a federal agency and the last 4 years have shown that the federal government only lies. So can we really trust them?



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EnricoPallazzo said:
SvennoJ said:

Out of context, yet if you want to apply it to this situation it becomes

"Those who temporarily give up a little freedom, purchase long lasting safety"


EnricoPallazzo said:

 I think what really helps is that they just hard closed their borders. And somehow they were not being attacked for it.

I remember the first thing I thought when the pandemic started was "just close the borders!!!". In UK that never really happened and it was just sad, when Italy was in the middle of a chaos there were daily flights arriving here from Italy, people even filmed them entering the country by Heathrow and not even being asked questions.

Later on before the second wave things were getting better then a lot of people flew to other countries for vacation and then when they came back the rate of infection increased again.

NZ did the right thing, ignored those complaining about closing the borders and the political impact of it and now they just beat it. But just try to open borders again and you will see that it will come back. It is a nasty virus.


You have a point there, one of the reasons we can't get rid of it. NZ doesn't have truck drivers that cross the border on a daily basis nor people working cross border as a daily commute, nor Americans traveling through the country to get to Alaska or their second homes or business.

Canadians do the same thing, heck even now people are going to Florida for the winter. You can't stop your own population from leaving and you can't deny them re-entry. Plus we won't put incoming people in quarantine hotels, we just tell to them to self isolate for a few weeks and hopefully they listen.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-u-s-border-travel-covid-19-1.5843872

In late March, Canada closed its borders to foreigners visiting for non-essential reasons. Since then, there have been more than seven million entries into the country by land or air by Canadians and foreigners
.

Vinette said truck drivers account for the largest group of people entering Canada during the pandemic, making up about half of the total entries so far.

The second-biggest group is individuals who live in border towns and have jobs on the opposite side of the border, he said.

Both groups are exempt from Canada's 14-day quarantine requirement — which was designed to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

The virus will keep coming in. It seems to be impossible to hand trucks off at the border so drivers don't cross borders, only the trailers. Plus making arrangements for those working cross border is too complicated as well, while nurses etc have to live away from home as a precaution...

Of course we can still do much more to limit community spread, yet people need to live (have fun) and (short term) money is more important in the end. It could be worse, it's just a bit over 100 deaths per day...

Agree 100%. NZ deserves the kudos for handling the situation but we need keep those things in mind when people say "ZN did why cant we do the same?". It is a very different situation. Still I think government could have been more nefarious in dealing with the situation. I would much rather close the borders 100% and deny people entering and leaving the country to be able to have a life that is closer to "normal" and keep stores open and us being able to see family and friends, than live at least 2 years in this miserable situation. What happened after people came back from summer holidays was so predictable. 

What you said about 100 deaths per day, I believe vaccination will bring this number drastically down while contamination will still he high. Which brings me to my initial point which was considered by some as nonsense:

- If we know the vast majority of the people that die are older than 70 and people in group risk, and this people is being vaccinated and the number of deaths will go down drastically, what would be the threshold for us to come back to normal? 10 deaths per day? 1? Maybe hospital capacity? 

- What about the people that refuse to take the vaccine (50% in France) still keeping the rates high? Are they still going to keep us locked because of it?

- What about religious groups that still refuse to cancel their gatherings, keeping contamination and death rates high? Are they still going to keep us locked because of it?

There needs to be a moment when government will tell us "now it is under your responsibility regarding your life, you are allowed to leave home now". And if you want to stay forever locked just do it. If you want to be part of a gangbang with strangers just do it. Want to go to a football game, just do it and you deal with the consequences.

How would closing the borders 100% and keeping the stores open at the same time even work? What would they sell when truck drivers or ship crews can't pass the borders? After all, tons of wares are manufactured abroad.

How would you secure the borders of continental countries? You'd need to position a border guard every 100m or so in order to keep someone from entering or leaving. Many countries have border cities or villages where you can easily walk from one country to the other without even having to use roads. Just a short trip through a forest or a field and you're on the other side. Therefore for many countries you'd need tens of thousands of border guards. That's pretty much the reason why the GDR built a wall back in the days (and fences) to stop people from fleeing into West Germany.

Also you can't legally deny entry to your own citizens. No constitutional court would allow that.

And once the virus has spread enough in your country, closing the borders won't have a bif effect for your own country.

Last edited by Barozi - on 18 December 2020

The FDA authorises Massachusetts-based Moderna's vaccine for emergency use:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-19/us-fda-authorises-moderna-covid-19-vaccine-for-emergency-use/13000626



Yesterday the prices for the vaccines got leaked accidentally. These are prices that were negotiated between the vaccine manufacturers and the EU.

Price per dose from cheapest to most expensive:

1. AstraZeneca (GB/SWE): €1.78

2. Johnson & Johnson (USA): €6.94

3. Sanofi/GlaxoSmithKline (FRA/GB): €7.56

4. Curevac (GER): €10

5. Pfizer/BioNTech (USA/GER): €12.00

5. Moderna (USA): €14.70

Last edited by Barozi - on 19 December 2020

Well just i heard this morning the virus has reappeared in Sydney Australia from The Northern beaches and Greater Sydney is now on alert.



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People are such sheep. Currently there is over an hour line up at our local supermarket, outside, around the store. Thursday morning there was hardly anyone. What changed, yesterday Ford warned we would be going to red zone status on Monday. Shops close, but not supermarkets. Yet people are hoarding again anyway.

I heard from my sister that he Netherlands locked down again. All the holiday shopping caused a big spike so now everyone has to stay home again. We'll be next.



SvennoJ said:

People are such sheep. Currently there is over an hour line up at our local supermarket, outside, around the store. Thursday morning there was hardly anyone. What changed, yesterday Ford warned we would be going to red zone status on Monday. Shops close, but not supermarkets. Yet people are hoarding again anyway.

I heard from my sister that he Netherlands locked down again. All the holiday shopping caused a big spike so now everyone has to stay home again. We'll be next.

Same thing happending in denmark.
From the 25th to the 3rd of jan, we re going full lockdown.
(only allowed to visit crocery stores, basically)

In a attempt to stomp out some of the increased spread likely to come from christmas.
What this does to new-years eves? no idea... wonder how many will disreguard it.

"I heard from my sister that he Netherlands locked down again. All the holiday shopping caused a big spike so now everyone has to stay home again. We'll be next."

Yep, we already closed down most "normal" shops back december 16th.
Shopping malls ect, and they where barely given any warning (ei. a days warning, to close down malls ect). The short warning, was done on purpose so it would cause a massive spike in people going out shopping at mauls last minute.


The good news is something like 8 outta 10, danes are more than willing to go get vaccinated.
No idea what the split is like other places, but thankfully most danes seem fine with takeing a shot to get back to normal.



Weekly update, cases keep climbing

In total 4.57 million new cases were reported last week (up from 4.37 million) to just shy of 76 million total.
Also 79,906 more deaths were reported (up from 76,833) to a total of 1,680,295

USA and Europe are close together, Europe is on the rise again. Reported deaths are increasing again in Europe, and still increasing in the USA.

The continents

North America reported 1.75 million new cases (up from 1.68 million) and 23,727 more deaths (up from 22,664)
Europe repored 1.48 million new cases (up from 1.38 million) and 34,788 more deaths (up from 33,264)
Asia reported 723K new cases (down from 816K) and 10,134 more deaths (down from 10,833)
South America reported 488K new cases (up from 430K) and 8,633 more deaths (up from 7,691)
Africa reported 125K new cases (up from 110K) and 2,672 more deaths (up from 2,368)
Oceania reported 709 new cases (646 last week) and 12 deaths (13 last week)

Corners of the world

USA reported 1.59 million new cases (up from 1.52 million) and 18,095 more deaths (up from 17,200)
Brazil reported 328K new cases (up from 301K) and 5,234 more deaths (up from 4,472)
India reported 178K new cases (down from 219K) and 2,509 more deaths (down from 2,926)
Iran reported 53.2K new cases (down from 75.5K) and 1,546 more deaths (down from 2,032)
South Africa reported 56.4K new cases (up from 39.3K) and 1,333 more deaths (up from 989)

Canada reported 46.5K new cases (46.3K last week) and 789 deaths (755 last week)
Japan reported 18.6K new cases (up from 16.3K) and 281 deaths (261 last week)
South Korea reported 6.73K new cases (up from 4.45K) and 73 deaths (36 last week)
Australia reported 83 cases, no deaths

Europe in detail

Germany takes the hot seat, UK is close behind.
The Netherlands is experiencing a surge and has now closed down.
Denmark is still rising, as well as Sweden although their data is only stable up to a week behind

With Brazil and South Africa back on the rise, USA not going down yet, totals keep creeping closer to 5 million infections a week.



Rab said:
EricHiggin said:

"Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." Ben Franklin disagrees.

That's out of context and you know it :P

We all give up some "freedom" to be together in a harmonious community, covid has shown some communities are better than others at this, to have absolute freedom means being alone, few including yourself choose that path  

SvennoJ said:
EricHiggin said:

"Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." Ben Franklin disagrees.

Out of context, yet if you want to apply it to this situation it becomes

"Those who temporarily give up a little freedom, purchase long lasting safety"

The Gov should not be choosing who lives and dies (unless the situation was different and significantly more dire). The Gov should have been more clear and consistent to begin with. You can't change from don't bother with masks to you have to wear one. You can't shut down small businesses who follow the rules but allow big box stores to remain open. You can't install rules and guidelines then disregard them yourself. The Gov should be doing extra to specifically take care of those at risk, even though it may be a considerable inconvenience for those at risk individuals.

If the Gov sends individuals to war (in which case they ask first and don't force you to unless it's an extremely serious threat to many of it's people), they don't arm the population with a uniform, helmet, gun, ammo, etc. Just those who are the most at risk. Everyone else is asked to chip in however they can, though they aren't forced either, again, unless it's dire for many.

In this situation, as it's understood, asking for social distancing and masks indoors up front, would've made sense. Forcing everyone to do so, along with lockdowns, and curfews in some places, is the kind of thing you would expect when millions upon millions or more of your people are expected to succumb. The only way lockdown would make sense in this situation is if the Gov could guarantee that others who weren't at risk, wouldn't suffer much or die, which they certainly didn't achieve.

It's about individuals freedom of choice. The choice to come together or be apart when individuals see fit. Yes, by all means, give up some freedoms if you choose to, but you then have to deal with the consequences. Don't force others to give up their freedoms if they don't see the need to, otherwise eventually they'll decide to 'return the favor' in some manner. Everyone giving up some of their freedom has led to people suffering and dying who likely wouldn't have. The answer is to do a professional job of convincing most to protect those at risk, within reason, not take away everyone's right to choose. If you do a good job, are logical, and can unite (which is easier said than done), people will follow.



EricHiggin said:

The Gov should not be choosing who lives and dies (unless the situation was different and significantly more dire). The Gov should have been more clear and consistent to begin with. You can't change from don't bother with masks to you have to wear one. You can't shut down small businesses who follow the rules but allow big box stores to remain open. You can't install rules and guidelines then disregard them yourself. The Gov should be doing extra to specifically take care of those at risk, even though it may be a considerable inconvenience for those at risk individuals.

If the Gov sends individuals to war (in which case they ask first and don't force you to unless it's an extremely serious threat to many of it's people), they don't arm the population with a uniform, helmet, gun, ammo, etc. Just those who are the most at risk. Everyone else is asked to chip in however they can, though they aren't forced either, again, unless it's dire for many.

In this situation, as it's understood, asking for social distancing and masks indoors up front, would've made sense. Forcing everyone to do so, along with lockdowns, and curfews in some places, is the kind of thing you would expect when millions upon millions or more of your people are expected to succumb. The only way lockdown would make sense in this situation is if the Gov could guarantee that others who weren't at risk, wouldn't suffer much or die, which they certainly didn't achieve.

It's about individuals freedom of choice. The choice to come together or be apart when individuals see fit. Yes, by all means, give up some freedoms if you choose to, but you then have to deal with the consequences. Don't force others to give up their freedoms if they don't see the need to, otherwise eventually they'll decide to 'return the favor' in some manner. Everyone giving up some of their freedom has led to people suffering and dying who likely wouldn't have. The answer is to do a professional job of convincing most to protect those at risk, within reason, not take away everyone's right to choose. If you do a good job, are logical, and can unite (which is easier said than done), people will follow.

The government is made up of fallible people just like you and me. It took a long time to find proof in all the data how useful masks were. At first, the masks we use now, were not working for first responders. They are still pretty useless for long exposure, breathing the air in the same enclosed space. However then the data showed that mask use still reduces the rate of infection, and mandating masks allows loosening of other restrictions, ie opening up businesses with social distancing rules in place.

Big box stores playing by different rules is scummy, agreed. Talking to my sister she told me that in the Netherlands everything but grocery stores had to close. However some stores, like walmart here, sell groceries on the side. Thus many big stores got exemptions that way, and even added groceries to get around it. (Now the rules have been updated that stores have to be 90% groceries to be allowed to remain open)

I grew up when conscription was still normal, called up, tested, approved, but got an exemption for going to university first. I would have been recruited, against my will, however conscription was abandoned just in time. You had the freedom to choose jail over joining the army though...


We're dealing with the consequences of apparently too much freedom right now. It was left up to the population from summer until now to self regulate and get the numbers down. No amount of advertisements, reporting, announcements, pleas, and appealing to common sense helped to get the second wave under control. Sadly people won't follow.