COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus, 2019-nCoV) News

In local ahem “news” on Prime (or is that crime) TV, they just had a fitness instructor saying something very similar to: we know heat kills the virus, so you need to get out and work up a sweat…

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An article regarding Australians stuck in India pleading for the Federal Government to rescue them.

So if they are evacuated and the housed in a 5 star hotel at the taxpayers’ expense for 14 days, should they be justly entitled to bitch about their accomadation?

If they want to, perhaps they might as well just stay there and enjoy the Indian hospitality.

Some articles regarding the coronavirus.

The 5 strategies that Singapore used.

Australian AI tech used to analyse coronavirus.

Early signs that the rate of new cases may be slowing down.

Experts say that the coronavirus is a wake up call.

The coronavirus may have been spreading for years.

Hoarding stupidity is not exclusive to Australia.

And a champion Victorian greyhound gets a name change.

Australian astrophysicist’s design fail.

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Why is Australia without essential items such as surgical masks?

Next question.

Last I looked we were all in the same world. Unfortunately sometimes mainstream media and entertainment providers (tautological?) not so much. Have a happy life in your world anyway. Cheers.

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Might not be very effective, but something to keep hands busy.

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There is nothing online sellers will not do for a dollar. Illegal in Australia, and apparently illegal in China…

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Just when a few more dullards are taking it seriously, many only courtesy of instant fines, Andrew Bolt comes out of his hole and voila.

What could be said for the man? Not much in my opinion. His employers only see dollars because his talent is rage, and rage sells. Check those 1.1K likes :roll_eyes:

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Vlad the Impaler is not pussy footing around with idiots who fail to comply with coronavirus restrictions in Russia.

Meanwhile, Donald does not appear to know what to do between wanting all the churches packed for Easter and the White House warning that the US death toll will be between 100,000 and 240,000.

I guess this cartoon sums it up nicely.

image

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So the cracks in government solidarity are appearing.

COVID-19 threatens to cause a debt nightmare we can’t wake from says the ex leader of the National Party.

Quotes:

Anything that is borrowed must be repaid and with interest. The global stimulus packages are going to take many nations to debt levels far beyond their control. And when is debt beyond one’s control? When it is unable to be paid down.

When the world is confronted by catastrophic problems it must manage them with what resources it has knowing there is a finite limit to those resources.

No economy including ours can afford to buy all the economic toilet paper in the supermarket. It might discover it has spent money needlessly, in a way that is not effective in dealing with an economic crisis.

I wonder if Mr Joyce would let us in on what he wants to do instead of prop up the economy with a lot of money and what he would do without such spending if the economy collapsed into a depression. Maybe he has been following Andrew Bolt and they know it’s just a storm in a teacup.

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This is old and focused on the UK, but still relevant to us. COVID-19 could be considered a “Black Swan” event. Taleb literally wrote the book on that.

CSIRO begins coronavirus vaccine trials.

CSIRO begins trials on potential COVID-19 vaccines

Supplied: CSIRO (file photo)

It’s the big news this morning — the CSIRO has started the first stage of trials on two potential vaccines for COVID-19.

It’s happening at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) in Geelong, where ferrets are being injected with the vaccines .

The animals will be exposed to the virus about four weeks later.

The CSIRO is among dozens of organisations around the world racing to produce an effective vaccine , which the World Health Organisation hopes will be on the market before the middle of next year.

It was the first research institute outside of China to produce enough stock of the virus for pre-clinical studies on COVID-19, and in March, it established the first biological model to confirm ferrets react to the virus.

However, human trials are still at least a few months away.

“Beginning vaccine candidate testing at CSIRO is a critical milestone in the fight against COVID-19, made possible by collaboration both within Australia and across the globe,” CSIRO chief executive Larry Marshall said in a statement.

“CSIRO researchers are working around-the-clock to combat this disease which is affecting so many.

“We will keep working until this viral enemy is defeated.”

One of the vaccine candidates being tested in Geelong has come from England’s University of Oxford. The other is from US company Inovio Pharmaceuticals.

The CSIRO is also looking at how a vaccine could be most effectively delivered — including whether a nasal spray could be better than a needle.

Bridget Judd about 2 hours ago(Updated: about 2 hours ago)

Warning regarding ineffective hand sanitizers.

Similarities between coronavirus and the common cold.

Supercar engineers create medical supplies.

Germany was ahead of the coronavirus curve.

Retired medical professionals to be recruited to help with coronavirus.

Where’s @SueW? Your country needs you.

Locals appear to defy bans in Coogee, Sydney

By Sarah Swain 08:30

!

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/world/georgia-mayor-cancels-social-distancing-order-amid-coronavirus-pandemic/ar-BB122wk3?ocid=spartandhp

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/coronavirus/turkmenistan-bans-the-word-coronavirus-report/ar-BB122gSk?ocid=spartandhp

Another perspective on the effectiveness of face masks:

Meanwhile, in the Land of the Free:

I really don’t see what help a gun would be. Viruses are tiny targets. You’d need to be a good shot! :rofl:

[edit 1]
Not the most credible of sources, but:

[edit 2]
And our government seems to be shooting itself in the foot :roll_eyes::

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A post was split to a new topic: Coronavirus donations

What many of us were hoping would not happen.

It may be stressful for many of us. The Privately owned and run aged care facility our mum is at locked us out nearly three weeks ago. This is more restricted than the Federal Govt advice to allow two visitors daily for up to 15minutes. We keep in touch twice daily by phone. Perhaps a good move.

Some observations.

  1. Should all the facilities with evidence of COVID-19 infection be advising family and residents?
  2. How have the infections been detected and who is infected (staff, residents, contracted services)?
  3. How critical is it to the safe operation of a nursing home that the source of every instance involving a nursing home is traced and identified?

A tough question.
Is it now the time to enforce quarantine - mandatory self isolation on all nursing home staff when they are not at work? Currently practices such as health and temperature monitoring of staff including testing can reduce the risk, but it does not eliminate it. All staff and workers are exposed away from the homes to the possibility of infection. Acquiring it or carrying it in with what they bring from home every day.

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A few coronavirus articles.

Australia is faring better than many other countries.

An update on the spread in Australia.

Some 95% of deaths in Europe aged over 60.

https://www.9news.com.au/world/coronavirus-age-more-than-95-percent-over-60-who/4d83c7c2-5df3-497a-9b9c-e9c17ab843e2

Elderly victims in the UK get thrown under the bus.

Scientist calls for all Australians to wear face masks.

https://9now.nine.com.au/today/coronavirus-why-australian-scientist-is-urging-all-citizens-to-wear-masks/216ab53d-00e3-455c-a05c-3c5529617126

US vaccine being tested.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/coronavirus-first-peer-reviewed-research-into-a-vaccine-shows-promise/efcd1014-70bd-40e4-9e33-b21bd378804c

And in today’s “You just can’t help stupid” segment.

Idiots in NSW fined for failing to comply with rules.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/coronavirus-police-issue-fines-for-alleged-breaches-of-public-health-act-in-nsw-australia/ef767578-b86e-4545-af32-572f7df2644a

Around 16,000 idiots travelled overseas in defiance of the Government’s advice.

And this.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/coronavirus-alleged-drug-dealer-charged-trying-to-deliver-fruit-basket-in-new-south-wales/9b3890f0-7fbc-440b-8e3d-cfb97c3ceb32

How many people have been confirmed with the virus in your area? Download the data (for NSW) here.

This is a CSV file that you can search or sort for your postcode. It is NSW only, I imagine other states have similar data but I haven’t checked. It shows usual postcode of residence not where the disease was contracted. I believe it is updated daily.

Before anybody gets carried away I am not suggesting a witch hunt or anything similar (the data is anonymous) but it may suit you to have an idea of the size of the problem in your area when considering how much effort you are going to make to prevent contagion. Nor am I saying if the numbers are small in your postcode you don’t need to do anything. Quite the reverse, if the numbers are large you may consider doing more than the minimum.

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This Guardian page shows it also. Hovering over a local government area displays the number of cases in each.

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