Covid-19 in Australia

[WIP]

Was watching the news this morning and it was reported that Australia has an extremely low infection and death rate from Covid-19. I don't recall the exact numbers but I think it was stated that today there are only about 135 active cases and so far just over 900 total deaths related to the pandemic.

They did report that Australia closed it's borders to the world in April except for residents and a few rare exceptions. One exception given was some tennis players that were there now for a major tournament. They also reported that everyone that entered the country after the closed boarders were required to remain isolated for two weeks in a government monitored facility.

Obviously, closing the border wasn't the only thing done to keep the numbers low because once the virus enters the country it can spread without additional carriers coming in. So, I'm curious, what else did Australia to to keep this virus in check so well?

 

[Christ_empowered]

social programs. universal health care, anti-poverty programs, lower rates of incarceration than the US, less poverty, less homelessness, less 'deep poverty,' less a massive gap between (very) rich and the rest of society and then the poor...

infrastructure in place to roll out health care, including outpatient and inpatient treatments and now, vaccinations. worker protections, so missing a day or so of work does not = going homeless. renter's rights.

more progressive society, basically.

 

[jasonc]

social programs. universal health care, anti-poverty programs, lower rates of incarceration than the US, less poverty, less homelessness, less 'deep poverty,' less a massive gap between (very) rich and the rest of society and then the poor...

infrastructure in place to roll out health care, including outpatient and inpatient treatments and now, vaccinations. worker protections, so missing a day or so of work does not = going homeless. renter's rights.

more progressive society, basically.

New York and California have that .

what I pay in my mortgage won't cover rent in those states

 

[WIP]

social programs. universal health care, anti-poverty programs, lower rates of incarceration than the US, less poverty, less homelessness, less 'deep poverty,' less a massive gap between (very) rich and the rest of society and then the poor...

infrastructure in place to roll out health care, including outpatient and inpatient treatments and now, vaccinations. worker protections, so missing a day or so of work does not = going homeless. renter's rights.

more progressive society, basically.

None of this explains how the virus didn't spread.

What you're talking about could possibly be an argument for how the virus was managed to reduce death counts. But, with only 900 or so total cases, it never became a pandemic in Australia at all so what you're describing had no impact.

 

[jasonc]

look ,I know that is a not political thread per se. for 9 months of the pandemic ,we didn't cut off anyone or give non paymen t notices ,we now do .the only,difference is the same folks pre pandemic. are on these lists . we don't cut off for under 100.some go over a year not paying .as wip said

 

[WIP]

I've done some more digging about this. The news report I heard either wasn't accurate or I misunderstood. Total cases so far is actually just short of 29,000 and the total deaths so far is about 900. But, this still doesn't change my question. 29,000 cases is not even close to a pandemic in Australia. As an example, the 2019 flu season saw over 310,000 cases of influenza. So what did they do differently?

 

[jasonc]

must be those drop bears

 

[WIP]

I don't know their form of government. From what I've been reading it is some kind of cross between a monarchy and a representative republic similar to ours. Other countries that have totalitarian governments seem to be handling it better but therein lies the problem. We in the US do not accept that form of government control and will resist authoritative government although it does seem that we are becoming more and more submissive as years go by.

Did Australia impose extreme control measures and did they also include business lockdowns or something else?

 

[humble soul]

Strict lockdowns
Quarantines 2 weeks mandatory for interstate and international travellers.
Daily communication from state leaders on tv
Police policing those who flout lockdown rules

 

[humble soul]

We took the pandemic seriously
Nipped it in the bud..
Especially my state. WA

 

[Christ_empowered]

even if the US had been led by a different, more motivated President...

-shrug- the public health system is under-funded. many are uninsured, under-insured. for those who do have insurance...the co$t of treatment is often enough to equal disaster, all by itself.

i vote for a -strong- social class component to covid-19 in the us. the mainstream media is forever trying to make it a racial issue, but given how strongly race and social class are correlated in the US...

I think the real issue is social class.

 

[humble soul]

Businesses suffered but in most cases briefly. Some industries are still suffering like tourism and aviation.
Government supported those forced out of work due to covid. This support helped businesses with payroll.
I think the conclusions will be:
In pandemics, go hard go early. Ignore the moaning libertarians who haven't got a clue. Have very strict lockdowns to shorten the effects.

 

[Corn Pop]

What happened to the 2020 flu season?

 

[daninthelionsden]

None of this explains how the virus didn't spread.

What you're talking about could possibly be an argument for how the virus was managed to reduce death counts. But, with only 900 or so total cases, it never became a pandemic in Australia at all so what you're describing had no impact.

Ivermectin is being used to treat/prevent COVID there, but I don't know how widespread its use. I watch Sky News Australia on Youtube. I also watch the news from New Zealand. What the US is doing/allowing in this country is abysmal.

 

[WIP]

Ivermectin is being used to treat/prevent COVID there, but I don't know how widespread its use.

This again only could help reduce the death rate of those that do get infected, not the rate of spreading. Somehow, Australians are not getting infected in the first place. I'm trying to understand how the spread was kept so low.

Here in my state of MN in addition to orders to practice social distancing, wash hands regularly, and wear face masks when social distancing is difficult or impractical, the following venues were ordered locked down.

• Restaurants, food courts, cafes, coffeehouses, and other places of public
  accommodation offering food or beverage for on-premises consumption, excluding institutional or in-house food cafeterias that serve residents, employees, and clients of businesses, child care facilities, hospitals, and long term care facilities.
• Bars, taverns, brew pubs, breweries, microbreweries, distilleries, wineries, tasting rooms, clubs, and other places of public accommodation offering alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption.
• Hookah bars, cigar bars, and vaping lounges offering their products for on-premises consumption.
• Theaters, cinemas, indoor and outdoor performance venues, and museums.
• Gymnasiums, fitness centers, recreation centers, indoor sports facilities, indoor exercise facilities, exercise studios, and spas.
• Amusement parks, arcades, bingo halls, bowling alleys, indoor climbing facilities, skating rinks, trampoline parks, and other similar recreational or entertainment facilities.
• Country clubs, golf clubs, boating or yacht clubs, sports or athletic clubs, and dining clubs.

As far as providing financing for displaced workers, government can only afford to pay for people not working for so long. The more things are shut down and the longer they are shut down, the less funding government has available to pay for them. Money doesn't just appear out of nowhere.

I'm asking what is Australia doing differently?

About the only thing I can think of is that Australia is a single entity. Here on our mainland we are composed of 48 individual states, which could be similar to individual countries. Would it have been better if we had imposed interstate travel bans? That would have been similar to the Australian border lockdown.

 

[jasonc]

This again only could help reduce the death rate of those that do get infected, not the rate of spreading. Somehow, Australians are not getting infected in the first place. I'm trying to understand how the spread was kept so low.

Here in my state of MN in addition to orders to practice social distancing, wash hands regularly, and wear face masks when social distancing is difficult or impractical, the following venues were ordered locked down.

• Restaurants, food courts, cafes, coffeehouses, and other places of public
  accommodation offering food or beverage for on-premises consumption, excluding institutional or in-house food cafeterias that serve residents, employees, and clients of businesses, child care facilities, hospitals, and long term care facilities.
• Bars, taverns, brew pubs, breweries, microbreweries, distilleries, wineries, tasting rooms, clubs, and other places of public accommodation offering alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption.
• Hookah bars, cigar bars, and vaping lounges offering their products for on-premises consumption.
• Theaters, cinemas, indoor and outdoor performance venues, and museums.
• Gymnasiums, fitness centers, recreation centers, indoor sports facilities, indoor exercise facilities, exercise studios, and spas.
• Amusement parks, arcades, bingo halls, bowling alleys, indoor climbing facilities, skating rinks, trampoline parks, and other similar recreational or entertainment facilities.
• Country clubs, golf clubs, boating or yacht clubs, sports or athletic clubs, and dining clubs.

As far as providing financing for displaced workers, government can only afford to pay for people not working for so long. The more things are shut down and the longer they are shut down, the less funding government has available to pay for them. Money doesn't just appear out of nowhere.

I'm asking what is Australia doing differently?

About the only thing I can think of is that Australia is a single entity. Here on our mainland we are composed of 48 individual states, which could be similar to individual countries. Would it have been better if we had imposed interstate travel bans? That would have been similar to the Australian border lockdown.

impossible to enforce .
95,75,10 closed ?
us us 90,17,41,1,and 441 ,27 travel .private jets land where I live

 

[daninthelionsden]

This again only could help reduce the death rate of those that do get infected, not the rate of spreading. Somehow, Australians are not getting infected in the first place. I'm trying to understand how the spread was kept so low.

Here in my state of MN in addition to orders to practice social distancing, wash hands regularly, and wear face masks when social distancing is difficult or impractical, the following venues were ordered locked down.

• Restaurants, food courts, cafes, coffeehouses, and other places of public
  accommodation offering food or beverage for on-premises consumption, excluding institutional or in-house food cafeterias that serve residents, employees, and clients of businesses, child care facilities, hospitals, and long term care facilities.
• Bars, taverns, brew pubs, breweries, microbreweries, distilleries, wineries, tasting rooms, clubs, and other places of public accommodation offering alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption.
• Hookah bars, cigar bars, and vaping lounges offering their products for on-premises consumption.
• Theaters, cinemas, indoor and outdoor performance venues, and museums.
• Gymnasiums, fitness centers, recreation centers, indoor sports facilities, indoor exercise facilities, exercise studios, and spas.
• Amusement parks, arcades, bingo halls, bowling alleys, indoor climbing facilities, skating rinks, trampoline parks, and other similar recreational or entertainment facilities.
• Country clubs, golf clubs, boating or yacht clubs, sports or athletic clubs, and dining clubs.

As far as providing financing for displaced workers, government can only afford to pay for people not working for so long. The more things are shut down and the longer they are shut down, the less funding government has available to pay for them. Money doesn't just appear out of nowhere.

I'm asking what is Australia doing differently?

About the only thing I can think of is that Australia is a single entity. Here on our mainland we are composed of 48 individual states, which could be similar to individual countries. Would it have been better if we had imposed interstate travel bans? That would have been similar to the Australian border lockdown.

I have seen a couple of videos where healthcare workers say they are being told to report deaths as COVID related even though they weren't. One nurse had a video in which she showed non-COVID patients being mixed with COVID positive patients thereby artificially spreading the virus within the hospital.........in America.

 

[daninthelionsden]

This again only could help reduce the death rate of those that do get infected, not the rate of spreading. Somehow, Australians are not getting infected in the first place. I'm trying to understand how the spread was kept so low.

Here in my state of MN in addition to orders to practice social distancing, wash hands regularly, and wear face masks when social distancing is difficult or impractical, the following venues were ordered locked down.

• Restaurants, food courts, cafes, coffeehouses, and other places of public
  accommodation offering food or beverage for on-premises consumption, excluding institutional or in-house food cafeterias that serve residents, employees, and clients of businesses, child care facilities, hospitals, and long term care facilities.
• Bars, taverns, brew pubs, breweries, microbreweries, distilleries, wineries, tasting rooms, clubs, and other places of public accommodation offering alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption.
• Hookah bars, cigar bars, and vaping lounges offering their products for on-premises consumption.
• Theaters, cinemas, indoor and outdoor performance venues, and museums.
• Gymnasiums, fitness centers, recreation centers, indoor sports facilities, indoor exercise facilities, exercise studios, and spas.
• Amusement parks, arcades, bingo halls, bowling alleys, indoor climbing facilities, skating rinks, trampoline parks, and other similar recreational or entertainment facilities.
• Country clubs, golf clubs, boating or yacht clubs, sports or athletic clubs, and dining clubs.

As far as providing financing for displaced workers, government can only afford to pay for people not working for so long. The more things are shut down and the longer they are shut down, the less funding government has available to pay for them. Money doesn't just appear out of nowhere.

I'm asking what is Australia doing differently?

About the only thing I can think of is that Australia is a single entity. Here on our mainland we are composed of 48 individual states, which could be similar to individual countries. Would it have been better if we had imposed interstate travel bans? That would have been similar to the Australian border lockdown.

Yes, I believe Australia and NZ are better able to isolate themselves from importation of the virus. Here in Hawai'i, we had a very low COVID related infection/death rate until forced to "re-open". COVID then spread through the islands. Kauai (north island) has the lowest rate as they try hard to remain isolated.
But, I do believe they're finding Ivermectin thwarts infection when used as a preventative.....that is if I heard the report correctly.

 

[WIP]

The thing is, if one person has it, even after borders are closed it can spread to another and they can spread it to others and it spreads exponentially. How is Australia not seeing that result? What are they doing different?

I'm not trying to be a pain in the backside. The reason for my repeated asking this question and digging like I am is that it is believed by many that we handled it poorly. So, I would like to understand how a country like Australia handled it differently than we did to get the resulting low numbers. Like I said, it's not even a pandemic in Australia. Just another virus. I would hope that our own states and maybe even federal government are asking questions like this rather than just feeding their own specific agendas.

 

[humble soul]

. How is Australia not seeing that result?

As I said we took the pandemic seriously. It was a united effort. Businesses shut down soon.. very limited social gatherings.
Do it early. Nip it in the bud.