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> am I misunderstanding why Australia is going to these extremes? Australia had 923 COVID deaths total, for a population of 25 million. That’s 36 cases per mil
by pacificmint 5y ago
> am I misunderstanding why Australia is going to these extremes?
Australia had 923 COVID deaths total, for a population of 25 million. That’s 36 cases per million.
For comparison, the US has 1,887 deaths per million. Most European states aren’t much better, or even worse, per capita.
Now, you can argue if these extremes are worth it, or not, but it seems clear that what they are doing is saving lives.
- Aeolun 5y agoSaving lives maybe, but how many people have basically lost 2 years of their lives by now?
- jackvalentine 5y agoIt’s been a bit inconvenient but quite a stretch to say anyone “lost two years”. Life was basically back to normal in Australia until June. In my city we’ve had practically no restrictions for over a year.
- easygenes 5y agoThe lockdowns have been relatively short-lived and only in the city metros which were then or are currently experiencing outbreaks. So most people have only been in lock down for a few months, if at all.
- nmcveity 5y agoAs a Melbourne resident I really want a citation for this. Maybe the whole thing has been a nightmare and I will wake up shortly, who knows?
- pjc50 5y agoAustralian lockdowns have been much more intermittent because of their effectiveness; there have been some periods of no restrictions. (Would be good if someone had a calendar recording this)
- 2muchcoffeeman 5y agoUp until June this year almost everything was back to normal. Even the economy was back on track. The government basically squandered a 12 month head start.
- bananapub 5y agowhy do people with no idea about what's happening bother to comment at all? australia's use of a few lockdowns and draconian border resitrictions eliminated covid within the country and meant there's been little restrictions for anyone for most of the pandemic.
- rglullis 5y agoYou are comparing an island with low-density population with huge continents, one of them with poorly enforced border control. The amount of confounding here makes it impossible to attribute Australia's success to its policies.
- Youden 5y agoThe very topic of this thread is about how Australia is quarantining a _city_ from the rest of the country. Australia quarantines internally, which is comparable, if not more difficult, than countries that close their international borders. Imagine if LA was quarantined from the rest of California. That's the closest analogy I can make to the subject of this thread. And yes Australia is a large island but if you take the briefest glance at a population density map, you'll see that the vast majority of the population is concentrated in a few coastal regions and particularly around Sydney and Melbourne.
- rglullis 5y agoI'd say it is the other way around. Trying to quarantine a city / aim for zero cases only make sense because the larger area it's easy to shut itself out at the country level. Lockdowns are not 100% effective, but just an attempt to slow down the transmission rate. Think of it as a type of defense-in-depth. Australia (and New Zealand's) true advantage is their natural isolation from the rest of the world and their ability to control/track who is coming into the country.
- jbsimpson 5y ago40% of Australia's population lives in just 2 cities.
- rglullis 5y agoStill an island, and that alone is the source of confounding.
- glenngillen 5y ago