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Australian Troops Will Help Enforce a Coronavirus Lockdown in Sydney, July 30

43 points by salemh 5y ago

newaccount2021 5y ago
This is crazy...if Australians eat this, they'll eat anything. Why stop there? Force "violators" to surrender all their belongings and report to a re-education facility. I mean, isn't it worth it if a single 400lb 70 year old lives six months longer?
mikestew 5y ago
If you're not Australian (and therefore it might not be news), I think the lede got buried. 14% fully-vaccinated rate? WTH is going on down there? Even the reddest of red states in the U. S. are still at 34%. "No country has got their pandemic response 100%." OTOH, most countries aren't bordering on a single digit vaccination rate, either.
- tinus_hn 5y ago
  They were too busy gushing over the success of their zero infections strategy, until it failed. Meanwhile they didn’t prioritize vaccinations.
  - bellyfullofbac 5y ago
    It seems many governments did this, though. "We've bought some time, what should we do now? Maybe shore up our healthcare system in case a wave hits us?" "No. We... wait.".
    - refurb 5y ago
      Pretty much this. I have friends in Singapore and they kept case numbers very low and didn’t feel a lot of pressure to secure vaccine supplies ASAP. Then subsequent waves hit and they realized “were going to stay locked down for 5 years if we don’t vaccinate”.
  - monkeydreams 5y ago
    No. Like in many western nations, it came down to politics. State governments and the Federal government hold different powers. In Australia the exercise of health care is a state-level responsibility, hence state-wide health orders leading to successful COVID management. The management of prescription medicines and their costs is borne by the Federal government. The states that "beat" COVID are currently led by progressive parties, while the Federal government is conservative and, allegedly, incredibly corrupt. The Federal government is to blame for the vaccination rate. The states that "beat" COVID have generally done so by going against the Federal government's advice to 'open up and live with it'.
    - Overton-Window 5y ago
      > The states that "beat" COVID are currently led by progressive parties No. The states that dropped the ball on COVID were the progressive states. They only "beat" COVID in the sense they let it run rampant in the first place. Australia's red state equivalents have all handled COVID near flawlessly.
      - dwd 5y ago
        That's a little confusing. The red (Labor) states are the more progressive ones (both are very centrist and tend to steal each others policies). In Australia the conservative party is "blue". NSW is a conservative-leaning state and has had a few missteps (Ruby Princess and now). Victoria (Labor) had a bad period last year because their contact tracing was not good enough, and they left lock-down to long rather than going hard (NZ style). QLD and WA are both Labor and have both done well and got lucky with their missteps. Queensland* has ~5 million people mostly living in the SouthEast metro areas and 7 deaths from about 1,800 cases. *About to go into lockdown again in 3 hours, but these short sharp ones are fine and then we go back to living like there is no Covid.
      - anakaine 5y ago
        What? The Liberal party is generally considered conservative, and Labor progressive. The federal government is currently formed by the Liberal Party (that is actually conservative). Their colour is blue. The states that have handled covid spread well have Labor governments in power, Labor is progressive, and their colour is red.
- Scoundreller 5y ago
  Worse than that, Australia’s population post-infection immunity is likely the worst in the world too. It’s like a forest that has never done a controlled burn, never had a forest fire and it hasn’t rained in a very long time.
  - ipspam 5y ago
    Covid 0! Be happy! Socially distance! Do your part! Flatten the curve. Stay at square 0.
  - jpmoral 5y ago
    I think it has to be pointed out that the other side of this is that there have been very few serious illnesses and deaths due to Covid. I'll take that over better post-infection societal immunity due to so many having had the disease. Unfortunately, the vaccination rollout has been an absolute shambles and the NSW government reacted late IMO to the Delta outbreak.
- sg47 5y ago
  The joys of a conservative government.
  - gtvwill 5y ago
    Not sure why you got downvotes but 100 percent Australia's slow ass Vax rollout is the result of a "conservative" government. Though they are closer to resembling an authoritarian corprotocracy rather than anything truly conservative or liberal.
    - mikelward 5y ago
      I'm guessing because vaccinations are higher in several countries (UK, Germany, Israel, ?) where there are conservative governments. (And Trump did order a bunch of vaccines in the US.) So yes, probably because of this conservative government. Even because of these conservative governments (State and Federal). But not simply because of a conservative government.
    - Overton-Window 5y ago
      Because progressive governments all over the world dropped the ball too. Didn't hear anyone attributing Australia's success to the conservative government when the country was being heralded as a miracle just a few months ago.
      - kwyjobojoe 5y ago
        If anything Australia's success was in spite of the federal government. Quarantine is a federal responsibility, and they keep shirking it just so they can blame state governments when covid escapes quarantine.
        legostormtroopr 5y ago
        And health is a state responsibility - yet people were all too willing to throw Scotty from Marketing under the bus on that. The fact is the Australian federation model has an odd separation of responsibilities which makes this challenge uniquely difficult for Australia.
- fmakunbound 5y ago
  > WTH is going on down there? Apparently the Morrison government completely bungled the vaccine rollout. My elderly parents can’t even get a shot and it’s not for lack of trying.
  - mmerlin 5y ago
    Also Australian crony capitalism is rife (see the "Game of Mates" book). The selection criteria for choosing AstraZeneca was their lobbyist being former Chief of Staff of the Liberal party.
    - dwd 5y ago
      Being able to manufacture locally was still a good idea but the thrombosis issue (and the overreaction) turned people off taking AstraZeneca, and there was no Plan B or C. Governments don't have a lot of credibility to start with, so no one believes them when they say it's better than Covid - similar situation with the J&J vaccine in the US. Maybe a few more deaths and more lockdowns will turn people around.
- 908B64B197 5y ago
  14%? Is that a joke? Argentina and Peru are doing better than Australia... What's the excuse now?
  - kwyjobojoe 5y ago
    Politics
- notadev 5y ago
  Why do people keep referring to “red states” when discussing lack of vaccination and not demographics? It appears that lower income, as well as predominantly black and brown people are leading the numbers of non-vaccinated people. Even NPR makes it sound like all unvaccinated people are white conservative Trump supporters when that is clearly not the case. https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/latest-data-on-covid-19-vaccinations-race-ethnicity/ https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/latest-...
pageandrew 5y ago
I thought Australia beat covid? /s
- anakaine 5y ago
  Not with the number of vaccines the federal government has been purchasing, or with the speed they've been rolling them out, or with the length of time its taken to approve any local manufacturing.
anonymouswacker 5y ago
Australian government increasingly treats its citizens like they are still a prison colony. They shouldn’t have given up their guns.
- anakaine 5y ago
  This is a terrible take. There is a tonne of freedom to do and say as one wishes in Australia. The guns are not absent, they are licensed and backed by background checks and regular license renewals that are tied to criminal history checks, police databases, and mental health proceedings. Health care is largely free, education is excellent, almost every town has perfectly drinkable water (almost), and there's plenty of food to go around. Our passport works, our wages are competitive, and out anti corruption , pro employment, pro consu.er rights laws are some of the best in the world. I'd say you should review your take on the situation.
- bufferout 5y ago
  Freedom to not die from infectious disease? 36 deaths per million, versus US at 856.
telxos 5y ago
I mean you could see the black plague as what loosened a 1000 year grip on society the Church had. At this point, liberalism could be in the same position with COVID. I don't even see the evidence that liberalism is compatible with the internet so it might have already been in trouble in 2019. When you add Covid on top of that only digital authoritarianism seems compatible with what you get. I think people right now would even vote for digital authoritarianism if given the choice so you can't blame politicians for following the will of the people in a democracy. I am just glad I am old with no kids.

43 points by salemh 5y ago

newaccount2021 5y ago

This is crazy...if Australians eat this, they'll eat anything. Why stop there? Force "violators" to surrender all their belongings and report to a re-education facility. I mean, isn't it worth it if a single 400lb 70 year old lives six months longer?

mikestew 5y ago

If you're not Australian (and therefore it might not be news), I think the lede got buried. 14% fully-vaccinated rate? WTH is going on down there? Even the reddest of red states in the U. S. are still at 34%. "No country has got their pandemic response 100%." OTOH, most countries aren't bordering on a single digit vaccination rate, either.

tinus_hn 5y ago
They were too busy gushing over the success of their zero infections strategy, until it failed. Meanwhile they didn’t prioritize vaccinations.
- bellyfullofbac 5y ago
  It seems many governments did this, though. "We've bought some time, what should we do now? Maybe shore up our healthcare system in case a wave hits us?" "No. We... wait.".
  - refurb 5y ago
    Pretty much this. I have friends in Singapore and they kept case numbers very low and didn’t feel a lot of pressure to secure vaccine supplies ASAP. Then subsequent waves hit and they realized “were going to stay locked down for 5 years if we don’t vaccinate”.
- monkeydreams 5y ago
  No. Like in many western nations, it came down to politics. State governments and the Federal government hold different powers. In Australia the exercise of health care is a state-level responsibility, hence state-wide health orders leading to successful COVID management. The management of prescription medicines and their costs is borne by the Federal government. The states that "beat" COVID are currently led by progressive parties, while the Federal government is conservative and, allegedly, incredibly corrupt. The Federal government is to blame for the vaccination rate. The states that "beat" COVID have generally done so by going against the Federal government's advice to 'open up and live with it'.
  - Overton-Window 5y ago
    > The states that "beat" COVID are currently led by progressive parties No. The states that dropped the ball on COVID were the progressive states. They only "beat" COVID in the sense they let it run rampant in the first place. Australia's red state equivalents have all handled COVID near flawlessly.
    - dwd 5y ago
      That's a little confusing. The red (Labor) states are the more progressive ones (both are very centrist and tend to steal each others policies). In Australia the conservative party is "blue". NSW is a conservative-leaning state and has had a few missteps (Ruby Princess and now). Victoria (Labor) had a bad period last year because their contact tracing was not good enough, and they left lock-down to long rather than going hard (NZ style). QLD and WA are both Labor and have both done well and got lucky with their missteps. Queensland* has ~5 million people mostly living in the SouthEast metro areas and 7 deaths from about 1,800 cases. *About to go into lockdown again in 3 hours, but these short sharp ones are fine and then we go back to living like there is no Covid.
    - anakaine 5y ago
      What? The Liberal party is generally considered conservative, and Labor progressive. The federal government is currently formed by the Liberal Party (that is actually conservative). Their colour is blue. The states that have handled covid spread well have Labor governments in power, Labor is progressive, and their colour is red.
Scoundreller 5y ago
Worse than that, Australia’s population post-infection immunity is likely the worst in the world too. It’s like a forest that has never done a controlled burn, never had a forest fire and it hasn’t rained in a very long time.
- ipspam 5y ago
  Covid 0! Be happy! Socially distance! Do your part! Flatten the curve. Stay at square 0.
- jpmoral 5y ago
  I think it has to be pointed out that the other side of this is that there have been very few serious illnesses and deaths due to Covid. I'll take that over better post-infection societal immunity due to so many having had the disease. Unfortunately, the vaccination rollout has been an absolute shambles and the NSW government reacted late IMO to the Delta outbreak.
sg47 5y ago
The joys of a conservative government.
- gtvwill 5y ago
  Not sure why you got downvotes but 100 percent Australia's slow ass Vax rollout is the result of a "conservative" government. Though they are closer to resembling an authoritarian corprotocracy rather than anything truly conservative or liberal.
  - mikelward 5y ago
    I'm guessing because vaccinations are higher in several countries (UK, Germany, Israel, ?) where there are conservative governments. (And Trump did order a bunch of vaccines in the US.) So yes, probably because of this conservative government. Even because of these conservative governments (State and Federal). But not simply because of a conservative government.
  - Overton-Window 5y ago
    Because progressive governments all over the world dropped the ball too. Didn't hear anyone attributing Australia's success to the conservative government when the country was being heralded as a miracle just a few months ago.
    - kwyjobojoe 5y ago
      If anything Australia's success was in spite of the federal government. Quarantine is a federal responsibility, and they keep shirking it just so they can blame state governments when covid escapes quarantine.
      - legostormtroopr 5y ago
        And health is a state responsibility - yet people were all too willing to throw Scotty from Marketing under the bus on that. The fact is the Australian federation model has an odd separation of responsibilities which makes this challenge uniquely difficult for Australia.
fmakunbound 5y ago
> WTH is going on down there? Apparently the Morrison government completely bungled the vaccine rollout. My elderly parents can’t even get a shot and it’s not for lack of trying.
- mmerlin 5y ago
  Also Australian crony capitalism is rife (see the "Game of Mates" book). The selection criteria for choosing AstraZeneca was their lobbyist being former Chief of Staff of the Liberal party.
  - dwd 5y ago
    Being able to manufacture locally was still a good idea but the thrombosis issue (and the overreaction) turned people off taking AstraZeneca, and there was no Plan B or C. Governments don't have a lot of credibility to start with, so no one believes them when they say it's better than Covid - similar situation with the J&J vaccine in the US. Maybe a few more deaths and more lockdowns will turn people around.
908B64B197 5y ago
14%? Is that a joke? Argentina and Peru are doing better than Australia... What's the excuse now?
- kwyjobojoe 5y ago
  Politics
notadev 5y ago
Why do people keep referring to “red states” when discussing lack of vaccination and not demographics? It appears that lower income, as well as predominantly black and brown people are leading the numbers of non-vaccinated people. Even NPR makes it sound like all unvaccinated people are white conservative Trump supporters when that is clearly not the case. https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/latest-data-on-covid-19-vaccinations-race-ethnicity/ https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/latest-...

pageandrew 5y ago

I thought Australia beat covid? /s

anakaine 5y ago
Not with the number of vaccines the federal government has been purchasing, or with the speed they've been rolling them out, or with the length of time its taken to approve any local manufacturing.

anonymouswacker 5y ago

Australian government increasingly treats its citizens like they are still a prison colony. They shouldn’t have given up their guns.

anakaine 5y ago
This is a terrible take. There is a tonne of freedom to do and say as one wishes in Australia. The guns are not absent, they are licensed and backed by background checks and regular license renewals that are tied to criminal history checks, police databases, and mental health proceedings. Health care is largely free, education is excellent, almost every town has perfectly drinkable water (almost), and there's plenty of food to go around. Our passport works, our wages are competitive, and out anti corruption , pro employment, pro consu.er rights laws are some of the best in the world. I'd say you should review your take on the situation.
bufferout 5y ago
Freedom to not die from infectious disease? 36 deaths per million, versus US at 856.

telxos 5y ago

I mean you could see the black plague as what loosened a 1000 year grip on society the Church had. At this point, liberalism could be in the same position with COVID. I don't even see the evidence that liberalism is compatible with the internet so it might have already been in trouble in 2019. When you add Covid on top of that only digital authoritarianism seems compatible with what you get. I think people right now would even vote for digital authoritarianism if given the choice so you can't blame politicians for following the will of the people in a democracy. I am just glad I am old with no kids.