Delta variant tempts us to trade lives for freedom, a COVID-19 choice we didn't anticipate
3 years, 3 months ago

Delta variant tempts us to trade lives for freedom, a COVID-19 choice we didn't anticipate

ABC  

Last year COVID-19 seemed simple. Last year Australia recorded fewer than normal doctor-certified deaths, in part because the COVID restrictions stopped deaths from influenza, and in part because they snuffed out COVID-19 early, ensuring hospitals weren't overwhelmed. COVID restrictions stopped deaths from influenza last year and stopping COVID-19 spread early ensured hospitals weren't overwhelmed. While last year's lockdowns didn't do the psychological and health and educational damage that was feared, lockdowns without end would. An analysis across US states suggests 90 per cent of last year's collapse in face-to-face shopping was due to fear of COVID rather than formal COVID restrictions.

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History of this topic

Australians admit they kept showing up to work despite having Covid-19 symptoms
2 years, 7 months ago

Australians admit they kept showing up to work despite having Covid-19 symptoms

Daily Mail  

About 20 per cent of Australians admit they risked working while having Covid-19 symptoms to make ends meet. Around 20 per cent of Australians admit they risked working while having Covid-19 symptoms in order to make ends meet. stock image The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work director Jim Stanford said millions of workers had either used up their paid …

Op-Ed: I nearly died from COVID. Now I’m letting go of the fear
2 years, 9 months ago

Op-Ed: I nearly died from COVID. Now I’m letting go of the fear

LA Times  

COVID hospitalizations are far less deadly now than they were two years ago. Today, COVID-19 is far less dangerous than it was two years ago, and I wonder: By telling my harrowing story, did I contribute to a climate of fear that we now find difficult to dispel? It’s time for a full accounting of our response Two years ago, …

Australia's economic decline smaller than feared during latest east coast COVID lockdowns
3 years, 1 month ago

Australia's economic decline smaller than feared during latest east coast COVID lockdowns

ABC  

Australia's economy has recorded its third-biggest fall on record, as COVID lockdowns shut economic activity across the mainland's south-east. Key points: Australia's GDP fell 1.9 per cent in the September quarter, but economists had expected a 2.7 per cent slide A 4.8 per cent slump in household spending led the drop, due to lockdowns across the south-east Household saving rose …

As Australia enters the 'living with COVID' phase, experts say the population needs to focus on hospitalisations, not case numbers
3 years, 2 months ago

As Australia enters the 'living with COVID' phase, experts say the population needs to focus on hospitalisations, not case numbers

ABC  

The divide could not be starker. As New South Wales "opened up to the world", on the other side of the country in the COVID-free state of WA, the population got its first early glimpse into what "living with COVID" could mean — when its hard border is lifted. The numbers As New South Wales became the first state or …

Victoria to remain in lockdown as COVID cases surge but Andrews hopeful of driving down numbers
3 years, 4 months ago

Victoria to remain in lockdown as COVID cases surge but Andrews hopeful of driving down numbers

ABC  

As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the state, Victorians have been told to prepare for another lockdown extension. "Obviously with almost 100 cases today, where many of them remain mysteries, many of them were out in the community during their infectious period, it is not going to be possible for us to open up our Victorian community in just …

Australia COVID-19 panel backs reopening plans amid Delta surge
3 years, 4 months ago

Australia COVID-19 panel backs reopening plans amid Delta surge

Al Jazeera  

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says ‘forever’ lockdowns will do more harm than good to the country, even as he acknowledges concern about infections. Australia can proceed with its reopening plans when the country reaches 70 to 80 percent vaccination levels, the government’s pandemic modelling adviser said, even as some states hinted they may not ease border curbs if Sydney fails …

Prime Minister says country must prepare for more COVID-19 cases and an end to lockdowns
3 years, 4 months ago

Prime Minister says country must prepare for more COVID-19 cases and an end to lockdowns

ABC  

The Prime Minister has warned state and territory leaders they must not be afraid of COVID-19 cases rising once enough of the population is vaccinated against the virus. Key points: The Prime Minister says states and territories must hold to an agreement to wind down COVID-19 restrictions as more people are vaccinated The Prime Minister says states and territories must …

Lockdowns or vaccines? 3 Pacific nations try diverging paths
3 years, 4 months ago

Lockdowns or vaccines? 3 Pacific nations try diverging paths

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The discovery of a single local COVID-19 case in …

Melbourne's sixth COVID lockdown extension cuts deep as community deals with cumulative effect
3 years, 4 months ago

Melbourne's sixth COVID lockdown extension cuts deep as community deals with cumulative effect

ABC  

Melburnians are waking to two more weeks of being in lockdown — and this time it will be a tighter, stricter affair, with the police promising to crack down on anyone who breaks or bends the rules. "In Melbourne … in the second wave, people did that very successfully," Professor Hickie said. "We're now faced with the stark reality of …

Nearly HALF of people say the COVID-19 crisis is getting worse
3 years, 5 months ago

Nearly HALF of people say the COVID-19 crisis is getting worse

Daily Mail  

Americans are feeling pessimistic about the future of the COVID-19 pandemic for the first time in several months, a new poll finds. Conducted by Gallup, the survey found a sharp decline in people who feel the country's coronavirus situation is getting better, from 89 percent in June to only 40 percent in July. Only 40% of Americans believe the COVID …

Sydney lockdown extended four weeks as Covid delta surge worsens
3 years, 5 months ago

Sydney lockdown extended four weeks as Covid delta surge worsens

Live Mint  

Sydney’s month-long lockdown will be extended by at least another four weeks, with Australian authorities failing to flatten an outbreak of daily Covid-19 cases that on Wednesday surged to another record. Berejiklian has been criticized by some health experts and political rivals who say she was too slow to implement lockdown in the city of 6 million people, in a …

Do sudden, sharp lockdowns help to control the Delta COVID-19 variant?
3 years, 5 months ago

Do sudden, sharp lockdowns help to control the Delta COVID-19 variant?

ABC  

As Victoria and South Australia emerge from snap lockdowns this morning, the country's lived experience seems to indicate fast, hard lockdowns are the only effective tool to stop the highly-infectious Delta coronavirus variant spreading while we wait for our population to be vaccinated. Key points: States that lockdown within two days of transmission can lift restrictions sooner, data shows Delay …

Fear and uncertainty are as contagious as COVID as Delta rewrites 2021
3 years, 5 months ago

Fear and uncertainty are as contagious as COVID as Delta rewrites 2021

ABC  

This mess we're in. May's federal budget listed what then seemed vaguely ambitious but now looks wildly foolish, an assumption of no "extended or sustained state border restrictions" over the next few years. Victoria today announced a further $282.5 million in business support, bringing to almost half a billion dollars what it's spent in just this lockdown: the state's fifth. …

Lockdown returns in Australia’s Melbourne due to growing Covid clusters
3 years, 5 months ago

Lockdown returns in Australia’s Melbourne due to growing Covid clusters

India TV News  

Amid concern over rising Covid cases in Australia, country's largest city Melbourne has been put under 5-day strict lockdown, starting tonight. Melbourne’s fifth lockdown of the pandemic will apply across Victoria state, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said on Thursday. A three-week lockdown of Sydney and surrounding communities in New South Wales state had been due to end on Friday. Health …

Australia further curbs new arrivals due to risks of variant
3 years, 6 months ago

Australia further curbs new arrivals due to risks of variant

Associated Press  

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia plans to halve commercial passenger arrivals due to virus risks as parts of the country emerged from lockdowns Friday. Australia will reduce its cap on arrivals from 6,000 passengers a week to 3,000 by July 14 to reduce pressure on hotel quarantine, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said after a meeting with state and territory leaders. “If …

Column: The evidence is clear — COVID lockdowns saved lives without harming economies
3 years, 7 months ago

Column: The evidence is clear — COVID lockdowns saved lives without harming economies

LA Times  

The pandemic may be ebbing, at least in the U.S. and some other well-vaccinated countries, but debate over the government and public response to the crisis is destined to live on. A team of UCLA researchers, in a paper first published in May 2020 and updated later, found that “likely Trump voters” reduced their movements by 9% following a local …

Are we finally done with lockdowns? Here's what public health experts say
3 years, 9 months ago

Are we finally done with lockdowns? Here's what public health experts say

Raw Story  

Every day, million more Americans are inoculated with one of the three COVID-19 vaccines. "I don't think you're going to see anything like what's happening in Europe happening in the United States," said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center. "Where we see cases going up, but they're not necessarily going to translate into hospitals going …

COVID-19 cases rise as states ease restrictions; CDC director warns of "impending doom"
3 years, 9 months ago

COVID-19 cases rise as states ease restrictions; CDC director warns of "impending doom"

Salon  

News of the vaccination roll-out might have misled Americans into believing that it was okay to relax. Indeed, as states begin to roll back COVID-19 restrictions, infections are going up rapidly in the United States — prompting one high ranking official to warn of "impending doom." "I'm going to pause here, I'm going to lose the script and I'm going …

Strict covid-19 lockdowns may speed up economic recovery: IMF
4 years, 3 months ago

Strict covid-19 lockdowns may speed up economic recovery: IMF

Live Mint  

Early lockdowns in an epidemic can substantially reduce infections, and policymakers should be wary of lifting them to jumpstart their economies when infections remain high, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday. The COVID-19 pandemic showed that government lockdowns succeeded in lowering infections, the IMF wrote in a chapter of its forthcoming World Economic Outlook, but they also contributed to …

As Melbourne moves to stage 4, how do its coronavirus restrictions compare to the world's toughest lockdowns?
4 years, 5 months ago

As Melbourne moves to stage 4, how do its coronavirus restrictions compare to the world's toughest lockdowns?

ABC  

Melbourne has now moved into a stage 4 lockdown with a night-time curfew imposed on the city for the first time in its history. New Zealand epidemiologist Michael Baker, from the University of Otago, said the term "lockdown" — borrowed from situations where authorities try to control a prison riot, for example — appears to have stuck. But even though …

Australia: Five million begin lockdown in Melbourne
4 years, 6 months ago

Australia: Five million begin lockdown in Melbourne

Live Mint  

Five million people in Australia's second-biggest city began a new lockdown Thursday, returning to tough restrictions just weeks after they ended as Melbourne grapples with a resurgence of coronavirus cases. The state of Victoria, which announced a further 165 new cases Thursday, has been effectively sealed off in an effort to preserve the rest of Australia's success in curbing the …

COVID-19 cost more than 700,000 Australians their jobs in just a week
4 years, 8 months ago

COVID-19 cost more than 700,000 Australians their jobs in just a week

ABC  

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a 5.5 per cent slump in jobs in the first week after extensive business shutdowns and social-distancing limits were introduced to contain the virus. Key points: ABS numbers suggest 780,000 jobs were lost as COVID-19 restrictions ramped up Around 90pc of those jobs were lost in the first week of April, after tougher COVID-19 restrictions …

COVID-19 lockdowns have cost 1.6 million Australians their incomes, ABS survey shows
4 years, 8 months ago

COVID-19 lockdowns have cost 1.6 million Australians their incomes, ABS survey shows

ABC  

Around 8 per cent of adult Australians, or more than 1.6 million people, appear to have lost their incomes in the first week of the total COVID-19 lockdown, according to early official estimates. Key points: The survey is based on the first week of the current tough coronavirus restrictions Official unemployment figures released last week which showed little change were …

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