Re: Chinese Coronavirus

The next fortnight sitting of Federal Parliament has been cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis.

The cancellation came after acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly issued advice saying there was a significant risk allowing politicians to come to Canberra, due to increased community transmission of COVID-19 in Victoria and the trends in New South Wales.

MPs and senators were to return to Parliament House for the first two weeks of August.

The cancellation of those sittings means Parliament is now due to return on August 24.

Re: Chinese Coronavirus

I don't know who wrote this, but Bravo to them for so succinctly stating this!

"Chicken pox is a virus. Lots of people have had it, and probably don't think about it much once the initial illness has passed. But it stays in your body and lives there forever, and maybe when you're older, you have debilitatingly painful outbreaks of shingles. You don't just get over this virus in a few weeks, never to have another health effect. We know this because it's been around for years, and has been studied medically for years.

Herpes is also a virus. And once someone has it, it stays in your body and lives there forever, and anytime they get a little run down or stressed out, they're going to have an outbreak. Maybe every time you have a big event coming up (school pictures, job interview, big date) you're going to get a cold sore. For the rest of your life. You don't just get over it in a few weeks. We know this because it's been around for years, and been studied medically for years.

HIV is a virus. It attacks the immune system, and makes the carrier far more vulnerable to other illnesses. It has a list of symptoms and negative health impacts that goes on and on. It was decades before viable treatments were developed that allowed people to live with a reasonable quality of life. Once you have it, it lives in your body forever and there is no cure. Over time, that takes a toll on the body, putting people living with HIV at greater risk for health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, diabetes, bone disease, liver disease, cognitive disorders, and some types of cancer. We know this because it has been around for years, and had been studied medically for years.

Now with COVID-19, we have a novel virus that spreads rapidly and easily. The full spectrum of symptoms and health effects is only just beginning to be cataloged, much less understood.

So far the symptoms may include:
Fever
Fatigue
Coughing
Pneumonia
Chills/Trembling
Acute respiratory distress
Lung damage (potentially permanent)
Loss of taste (a neurological symptom)
Sore throat
Headaches
Difficulty breathing
Mental confusion
Diarrhea
Nausea or vomiting
Loss of appetite
Strokes have also been reported in some people who have COVID-19 (even in the relatively young)
Swollen eyes
Blood clots
Seizures
Liver damage
Kidney damage
Rash
COVID toes (weird, right?)

People testing positive for COVID-19 have been documented to be sick even after 60 days. Many people are sick for weeks, get better, and then experience a rapid and sudden flare up and get sick all over again. A man in Seattle was hospitalized for 62 days, and while well enough to be released, still has a long road of recovery ahead of him. Not to mention a $1.1 million medical bill. As well as Broadway actor, Nick Cordero, who spent over 90 days in the hospital before passing away at the age of 41.

Then there is MIS-C. Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children is a condition where different body parts can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs. Children with MIS-C may have a fever and various symptoms, including abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, rash, bloodshot eyes, or feeling extra tired. While rare, it has caused deaths.

This disease has not been around for years. It has basically been 6 months. No one knows yet the long-term health effects, or how it may present itself years down the road for people who have been exposed. We literally *do not know* what we do not know.

For those in our society who suggest that people being cautious are cowards, for people who refuse to take even the simplest of precautions to protect themselves and those around them, I want to ask, without hyperbole and in all sincerity:
How dare you?
How dare you risk the lives of others so cavalierly. How dare you decide for others that they should welcome exposure as "getting it over with", when literally no one knows who will be the lucky "mild symptoms" case, and who may fall ill and die. Because while we know that some people are more susceptible to suffering a more serious case, we also know that 20 and 30-year-olds have died, marathon runners and fitness nuts have died, children and infants have died.

How dare you behave as though you know more than medical experts, when those same experts acknowledge that there is so much we don't yet know, but with what we DO know, are smart enough to be scared of how easily this is spread, and recommend baseline precautions such as:
Frequent hand-washing
Physical distancing
Reduced social/public contact or interaction
Mask wearing
Covering your cough or sneeze
Avoiding touching your face
Sanitizing frequently touched surfaces

The more things we can all do to mitigate our risk of exposure, the better off we all are, in my opinion. Not only does it flatten the curve and allow health care providers to maintain levels of service that aren't immediately and catastrophically overwhelmed; it also reduces unnecessary suffering and deaths, and buys time for the scientific community to study the virus in order to come to a more full understanding of the breadth of its impacts in both the short and long term.

I reject the notion that it's "just a virus" and we'll all get it eventually. What a careless, lazy, heartless stance."

Re: Chinese Coronavirus

I agree. Everyone else should wear a mask, without doubt.

But not me, because I haven't got it!

Re: Chinese Coronavirus

Are all these predictions about winter spikes touted to deter folks who haven't worked it out yet?

Re: Chinese Coronavirus

Covid data for Sunday, 19 July 2020

Global Cases 14,426,150
Global Deaths 604,917

Australia
Cases 11,802
Deaths 122
Critical 29
Cases per Million 463

UK
Cases 294,066
Deaths 45,273
Critical 142
Cases per Million 4,331

USA
Cases 3,833,271
Deaths 142,877
Critical 16,673
Cases per Million 11,577

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Residents in Metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire will soon be required to wear face coverings in public or risk a fine, as Victoria extends its state of emergency by another four weeks.

The new rule will come into effect from 11:59pm on Wednesday, and the fine for not wearing one will be $200.

Premier Daniel Andrews said "common sense" would guide the new rules and people would not be required to wear one when it was impractical, such as when actively jogging or visiting a bank.

Victoria has extended its state of emergency until August 16

Three people have died since yesterday, bringing Victoria's death toll to 38

It's hoped mandatory face coverings will drive down workplace transmission

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-...atory/12470424

Re: Chinese Coronavirus

Tonight at 8pm on our first minister's 50th birthday we are being urged by the faithful to clap for her handling of the covid19 virus.

Re: Chinese Coronavirus

Enjoy yourselves!

Re: Chinese Coronavirus

Covid data for Monday, 20 July 2020

Global Cases 14,645,947
Global Deaths 608,942

Australia
Cases 12,069
Deaths 123
Critical 32
Cases per Million 473

UK
Cases 294,792
Deaths 45,300
Critical 142
Cases per Million 4,341

USA
Cases 3,898,550
Deaths 143,289
Critical 16,552
Cases per Million 11,774

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

The death of three more coronavirus victims overnight in Victoria now means that more people have died in that state during the second wave of the pandemic than in the first.

A total of 38 Victorians have now passed away since the first case in Australia was identified on January 25. Australia’s toll stands at 123.

All of the past 20 deaths in Australia have been in Victoria, a trend that stretches back to May 23. In the first phase of the pandemic, 18 Victorians passed away.

There have been no other COVID-19-related fatalities in any other Australian jurisdiction since May 22.

Re: Chinese Coronavirus

Three more Covid deaths in Victoria.

IN NSW two people are in ICU, one is a man in his 30s the other, in his 70s, is on a ventilator.

I suspect that, judging by the Premier's comments, if things keep going as they are then NSW pubs, clubs and restaurants will close again soon.

There were crowds at the beaches in Sydney this weekend. Gladys (the Premier) was not pleased.

Meanwhile in Canberra...

The PM, Scotty from Marketing, has announced changes to the Jobkeeper and Jobseeker program but has extended the scheme until March 2021.

Payments will be cut but unemployed Australians and workers on the Federal Government's coronavirus wage subsidy program will continue to receive support beyond the planned JobSeeker and JobKeeper end date.

The JobKeeper wage subsidy will continue until March next year, but payments will fall from $1,500 to $1,200 a fortnight after September. People working fewer than 20 hours a week will receive $750.

The payments will fall again to $1,000 a fortnight, and $650 a fortnight for people working fewer than 20 hours, for the first three months of 2021.

The JobSeeker coronavirus supplement will continue for another three months but fall from $550 to $250 a fortnight, meaning people on the program will receive $800 a fortnight after September.

Re: Chinese Coronavirus

Interesting item on AM this morning. The normal number of business bankruptcies has fallen by 50% since the beginning of the lock down.

There is concern that "Zombie" companies who would normally be broke and cease trading are being kept in business by the Government subsidies and are accumulating unsustainable debts.

Is this happening in the UK?