Regional NSW - 7 day lockdown, August 15

I’m not losing my shit, Cacadajy. Typing a few naughty words on an iPad isn’t indicative of my emotional demise just yet. I’m usually chuckling as I’m thinking of things to write. I enjoy the act writing and that’s why I even respond to these kooks. Though I do reserve a little bit of genuine venom for Sheepy after he claimed I was a lying dog when I recently described my mother being rushed to hospital after a hectic vaccine reaction. I don’t pretend to apologise for that.

Thing is that no one wants to learn about what’s happening. I’m exchanging a viewpoint in good faith if any of them care to read what I’ve got to say, instead of just immediately responding with an insult.

Here’s something: Out of the 970 “Covid” deaths , 691 have occurred in residential aged care alone ( not including palliative care or geriatric ward or oncology etc ) . Crew like Sheepy then say “ They would have ten good years left!” But this is completely unrealistic and basically false.

Crew enter aged care when they are at full twilight of their lives. 40 percent of people entering aged care die within 9 months. The average life expectancy is 2.3 years for everyone. This number is so high because of the healthy outliers who are not prone to dying from Covid.

Deducting this figure leaves 279 people who have died out of the remaining 40.064 cases. This 279 deaths includes 95 year olds already in geriatric wards, people already dying in palliative care and young blokes who died from meningitis amongst many other similar tenuous deaths.

I’m not sure how much more evidence people need to realise this is not a virus which affects anyone who probably would have succumbed to anything as their lives are basically over through natural attrition.

I don’t say this to be cruel nor do I take pleasure in describing this situation. I say it to put into perspective the way society has been thrown into abject turmoil over a situation that does not appear to pose the unique threat to humanity as the media and others would have you believe.

Whats the current hospitalisation numbers by age?

as I've said, that is far more relevant to me.

I know only old people are likely to die.

what about end up in hospital?

cheers blowin, keep up the great work.

I respect your view of this virus and who is succumbing to it but I don't see it the same way.

I have personal (relative) experience. Late 20's Covid infected late last year. No known pre existing problems but now is having heart issues. Her Doc says there is a connection. Who am I to argue.

High profile case - Lewis Hamilton. Covid late last year says he is still struggling with on going issues. Obvious fatigue in his last race. This guy is a professional athlete who knows his own body because that is his Job.

No links or stats!!

So we have opposing views in some areas but I reckon we both want to achieve the same outcome.

"not pose the unique threat to humanity as the media and others would have you believe." is not the same as saying that Lewis Hamilton and your relative are impossible cases. Don't confuse the general with the particular.

Blowin wrote:

[

Interesting to see the stats like this, wow didn't realise so many kids actually got Covid.

Would love to see stats on condition of health etc and break down on the deaths under 50, i betting most did have other health issues.

BTW. in regard to aged care, my wife works in aged care and they seriously are pretty much waiting to die, some last less than a year, most dont last more than a few years max, they can be pretty much tipped over the edge by anything, a hot day, a little fall, the flue, hence why they died even from the Covid vaccine and off course Covid.

whats the sich like in Vietnam/Thailand Al?

Sorry IB?
Not getting the context of "not pose the unique threat to humanity as the media and others would have you beleive" in relation to what I said.

That's what Blowin wrote, and your response. Or did I misread something?

Death stats will start to skew towards more younger people dying from now on. As vaccination rates are higher in older age groups less in those groups will die. As vaccine uptake continues stats will change. At the moment stats don’t tell the full story.

Nah all good. Just me not reading properly.

And IB I get your point.

To think covid is only about mortality rates…simply shows a narrow uneducated view.

Family dinners must be a laugh at the blowin's
blowin: I love you very much mum and dad but old people dying of Covid isn't my problem. Lockdowns are my problem.
Mr blowin Snr: Aren't we important son?
blowin: I wasn't talking about you dying dad. It's other people's parents who should die so the economy can open up.
**Mr blowin Snr:** (Makes side eye gesture to blowin's mum)
Mrs blowin Snr: Let's find something else to talk about shall we. How's the fishing son?

freeride76 wrote:

Whats the current hospitalisation numbers by age?

as I've said, that is far more relevant to me.

I know only old people are likely to die.

what about end up in hospital?

I heard on ABC radio today there are teens and twenties in hospital on ventilators.

"Thing is that no one wants to learn about what’s happening. I’m exchanging a viewpoint in good faith if any of them care to read what I’ve got to say, instead of just immediately responding with an insult."

Thing is Blowin, your reputation on SN probably precedes you. People have forgotten that they can agree and disagree on multiple subjects...without automatically disagreeing as a base default due to personal grievances. However, you have probably pissed far too many people off on here to avoid insults. But hey, such is life. Your perspective on Covid and its surrounds, is grounded in your reality and a lot of other peoples too, mine included. Why should we go back to the gulags and use the dictatorships of the beginning of last century as a yardstick for what we put up with well into the 21st? That is not our lived experience nor should it be our perspective on what we currently accept from a contemporary government. Fuck that. A quick google search of authoritarianism during covid or health dictatorship provides ample evidence of our civil liberties being dictated against by people (health advice, remember?) we did not know previously, nor did we vote in. It seems the health advice is dubious and incoherent most of the time, which futher erodes confidence these cunts are getting it right. But we follow it anyway. My breaking point is 80% vax. This current brand of ongoing psychological conditioning and physical restriction will impact our youngest and our most emotionally vulnerable for years to come. It doesn't look like it's going to end anytime soon. Mass quarantine hubs approved and being built for a handover date mid 2022 up in Brisbane. Mid 2022... let that sink in. Significant govt expenditure with a detailed cost/benefit analysis. Hard to reconcile the message of 80% vax equals no more lockdowns with decisions such as these being made. What you have been saying in this thread and the perspective you are offering makes me think long and hard about things, keep it up. Really well written to boot.

Ben Harding wrote:

"Thing is that no one wants to learn about what’s happening. I’m exchanging a viewpoint in good faith if any of them care to read what I’ve got to say, instead of just immediately responding with an insult."

Thing is Blowin, your reputation on SN probably precedes you. People have forgotten that they can agree and disagree on multiple subjects...without automatically disagreeing as a base default due to personal grievances. However, you have probably pissed far too many people off on here to avoid insults. But hey, such is life. Your perspective on Covid and its surrounds, is grounded in your reality and a lot of other peoples too, mine included. Why should we go back to the gulags and use the dictatorships of the beginning of last century as a yardstick for what we put up with well into the 21st? That is not our lived experience nor should it be our perspective on what we currently accept from a contemporary government. Fuck that. A quick google search of authoritarianism during covid or health dictatorship provides ample evidence of our civil liberties being dictated against by people (health advice, remember?) we did not know previously, nor did we vote in. It seems the health advice is dubious and incoherent most of the time, which futher erodes confidence these cunts are getting it right. But we follow it anyway. My breaking point is 80% vax. This current brand of ongoing psychological conditioning and physical restriction will impact our youngest and our most emotionally vulnerable for years to come. It doesn't look like it's going to end anytime soon. Mass quarantine hubs approved and being built for a handover date mid 2022 up in Brisbane. Mid 2022... let that sink in. Significant govt expenditure with a detailed cost/benefit analysis. Hard to reconcile the message of 80% vax equals no more lockdowns with decisions such as these being made. What you have been saying in this thread and the perspective you are offering makes me think long and hard about things, keep it up. Really well written to boot.

And your better response to the current response is...........?

My first boss out of school (tough old bigger bit an awesome human) said to me early on "If you come to me with a problem without a solution pack your shit and walk". ' I Do Not care how shitty the solution but without it you are just a negative c (word).

"And your better response to the current response is...........?"

Lol what? If the government got their “response” right from the get go eg. adequate vaccines, appropriate international quarantine systems, adequate contract tracing, homogeneous government messaging and approach across all the States, then we probably wouldn't be in this mess to begin with mate. Or more acutely, if Sydney got on top of their caseloads 8 weeks ago, then we would definitely not be staring down the barrel of a lockdown til xmas. It's Groundhog day 2020.

Looking at me or any other citizens for the answers just goes to show how diabolical this shits show has been.

There you go.

Thinking about solutions is surely better than berating Govt and medical decisions made in the past.

What can you do to make things better now and moving forward within the current (arguably Arbitrary) restrictions?

Please, anyone who keeps insisting we are in a dictatorship, read Chapter 20 of Vasily Grossman's Everything Flows.
It's an account of the Terror Famine (Holomodor) when an actual Dictator (Stalin) starved millions of people to death.

it's here, it'll take less than an hour to read.

You might have a different perspective on what it means to have lived under actual dictatorship.

https://booksvooks.com/fullbook/everything-flows-pdf-vasily-grossman.htm...

"...But we follow it anyway. My breaking point is 80% vax. This current brand of ongoing psychological conditioning and physical restriction will impact our youngest and our most emotionally vulnerable for years to come. It doesn't look like it's going to end anytime soon. Mass quarantine hubs approved and being built for a handover date mid 2022 up in Brisbane. Mid 2022... let that sink in. Significant govt expenditure with a detailed cost/benefit analysis. Hard to reconcile the message of 80% vax equals no more lockdowns with decisions such as these being made. What you have been saying in this thread and the perspective you are offering makes me think long and hard about things, keep it up. Really well written to boot."

yep, seems people dont even want to contemplate those dates and numbers

...despite them indicating a hell of a lot...

mid 2022 people! ...quarrantine facilities just opening the doors!

and 80% pffffffff ....that's gonna change fuck all, that's if we even get there...

the atlantic... big tech. big pharma, big government, toe the line, hard core narrative follower gimps... so compromised in so many ways they are almost worthless... except for getting the most conservative accounts of 'the narrative' collapsing...

they finally faced huge harsh realities in this article, not least that even with a totally unrealistic 90% vaccination rate, that 'zero covid is a fantasy...'

and yes praise the gods for blowin doggedly pointing out the bleeding obvious... does my head in too that some seemingly smart crew on here cannot accept the most basic of realities and mathematics

Oh shit Sypkan didn't realise you were the all knowing. I gotta keep my free thinking, somewhat educated and individual thought having brain in check.

I don't agree with you so therefore I am deficient.

Blowin writes "Sheepy, Sheepy, Sheepy….you’re as bad with numbers as you are ugly, blotched skinned and relegated to living a loser’s life in some putrid cold backwater.

A sad, bitter old clown who’s taken life and wrestled as much misfortune out of it as humanly possible. The bloke who makes an art out of turning lemonade into sour lemons.

And a cunt to boot."

'When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.'

Not "my numbers', son. I supplied a link. Now you supply one

freeride76 wrote:

Please, anyone who keeps insisting we are in a dictatorship, read Chapter 20 of Vasily Grossman's Everything Flows.
It's an account of the Terror Famine (Holomodor) when an actual Dictator (Stalin) starved millions of people to death.

Yeah agree 100% . Australians have no idea about dictatorships. Most have only ever travelled to Bali.
Re old people dying.
A nation can be judged on how it treats its elderly and its animals. This "they're 80 plus so big deal" rhetoric the likes of Blowin sprout shows the heartless neoconic mind set that has taken grip of Australian society. It's another pandemic altogether, possibly more insidious than covid, with no real vaccine.
Covid is uncovering all of our moral weak spots

all those lockshdowns are waste of time , just get the virus and get over it, flue killed more people than this useless china virus. The government are just useless c@nts who can only collect your taxes and keep you locked nothing else. Voting mandatory, senseless sh!t mandatory, useless vaccine mandatory, stay at home mandatory, QR codes in toilets mandatory- is this democracy?

maka - I see that side and used to agree but look up (I hate using trending or woke terms but) Long Covid. Longer term affects are a thing in some who have had Covid.

So while I wish it was that simple it's kinda not.

I didn't say you were deficient at all cacadajy, you're actually one of the more reasonable ones...

my point is, (similar to what a conservative by nature chris uhlman is saying in his article) ...is that there is one narrative coming from big end media, and it is full of holes, half truths, and misinformation....

of course people are influenced by this, but the machine has gone so hard with their one narrative, quash all debate, belittle, and dismiss tactic, that people are vehemently beholden to positions where the reality of what we know now, is much much different to what it was 12 - 18 months ago

people are stressed and on edge, they have picked their teams and tactic, and are totally closed to new ways of dealing with the pandemic. this is especially the case in australia, we are astoundingly still at day dot pandemic tactics. ...whether you blame scotty for that, public complacency, or a bit of both, as I do, we are totally delusional and stuck in a pipedream, as anyone overseas or from overseas will let you know...

overseas media poking fun at dictator dan and co. for such ridiculousness as not removing your mask to drink, and shutting down playgrounds etc. just shows we have lost all perspective

it's insane

Im not anti mask, or even anti lockdown, but some of the shit and fear still going on in oz, when the actual affects of the pandemic are nothing at all like what we feared 18 months ago are just next level weird

To clarify. I wish we could all just ignore it, catch it and treat like the flu but.

maka2000 wrote:

all those lockshdowns are waste of time , just get the virus and get over it, flue killed more people than this useless china virus. The government are just useless c@nts who can only collect your taxes and keep you locked nothing else. Voting mandatory, senseless sh!t mandatory, useless vaccine mandatory, stay at home mandatory, QR codes in toilets mandatory- is this democracy?

Ironically, it's people like you with the attitude and the massive chip on your shoulder who didn't just listen and stay inside for two weeks the first time around. You reap what you sow. Don't whinge about the problem when you're partially responsible for it.

sypkan wrote:

"...But we follow it anyway. My breaking point is 80% vax. This current brand of ongoing psychological conditioning and physical restriction will impact our youngest and our most emotionally vulnerable for years to come. It doesn't look like it's going to end anytime soon. Mass quarantine hubs approved and being built for a handover date mid 2022 up in Brisbane. Mid 2022... let that sink in. Significant govt expenditure with a detailed cost/benefit analysis. Hard to reconcile the message of 80% vax equals no more lockdowns with decisions such as these being made. What you have been saying in this thread and the perspective you are offering makes me think long and hard about things, keep it up. Really well written to boot."

yep, seems people dont even want to contemplate those dates and numbers

...despite them indicating a hell of a lot...

mid 2022 people! ...quarrantine facilities just opening the doors!

and 80% pffffffff ....that's gonna change fuck all, that's if we even get there...

the atlantic... big tech. big pharma, big government, toe the line, hard core narrative follower gimps... so compromised in so many ways they are almost worthless... except for getting the most conservative accounts of 'the narrative' collapsing...

they finally faced huge harsh realities in this article, not least that even with a totally unrealistic 90% vaccination rate, that 'zero covid is a fantasy...'

and yes praise the gods for blowin doggedly pointing out the bleeding obvious... does my head in too that some seemingly smart crew on here cannot accept the most basic of realities and mathematics

Sypkan, I too am confused at how seemingly smart people cannot grasp that they can't just arbitrarily exclude whole sets of data to generate stats that support their narrative.

Sypkan "overseas media poking fun at dictator dan and co. for such ridiculousness as not removing your mask to drink and shutting down playgrounds etc. just shows we have lost all perspective
it's insane"
'overseas media' that would be Tucker Carlson, so pftttt
'dictator dan' pftttt again
'ridiculousness as not removing your mask to drink', actually a bit of genius. People abusing take away to hold street parties, well that fucks that.
"when the actual affects of the pandemic are nothing at all like what we feared 18 months ago are just next level weird". See what happens to the NSW Health system in the next two months.
It is spreading in playgrounds.

On the point of "the actual affects of the pandemic are nothing at all like what we feared 18 months ago" maybe that's got something to do with the most strict infection control measures in history that were applied.

Take a squiz at the situation in Indo (couldn't make coffins fast enough), or how it was in India (hundreds of corpses floating down the river).

It's the same short sighted thinking behind the whole 'Why are we locking down, there's only been x deaths'.

Sypkan - Apologies I may have gone a little too hard at you.

But getting caught up in the micro, us v Govt. we are sliding into some form of authoritarian rule situation stuff just annoys me. There is a bigger thing to deal with.

What ACTIONS can we take today to ensure a better Australia in 2022 and beyond for our kids.

Why argue about motives, failings, anti this pro that etc. It's naval gazing.

"Sypkan, I too am confused at how seemingly smart people cannot grasp that they can't just arbitrarily exclude whole sets of data to generate stats that support their narrative."

pretty simple mate, it's about quality of life (theirs), and being realistic about what would've taken em out anyway...

look at the gross death figures pre covid, and with covid, if they're not significantly higher with covid, there's the case...

@Ben Harding.
70%,80%, or Christmas - whatever comes first. If we are not a long way back to being free to move and live in our own country like we were pre-COVID I'll be marching in the streets, and bringing as many as I can with me.

"'ridiculousness as not removing your mask to drink', actually a bit of genius. People abusing take away to hold street parties, well that fucks that."

genius... i'm thinking banning street parties would be a stroke of 'genius' too, if that's ya bar...

""when the actual affects of the pandemic are nothing at all like what we feared 18 months ago are just next level weird". See what happens to the NSW Health system in the next two months."

we will see... Im not doubting there'll be a problem... whether it eclipses that problem a couple of years ago when the flu 'overwhelmed' the system will be the measure...

"It is spreading in playgrounds."

is it? ...do we know this as fact? ...with hard 'scientific evidence' ...like we require of every other measure?

I honestly don't know... and if it is... is it significant? ...if it is, surely it could be managed differently...

this is the issue, the wide ranging blanket rules, state wide, often 100's and 100's of km's from a single case... it's just dumb management tactics, and total overkill

Sypkan, whilst you and I may differ in opinions and beliefs in some areas the way you put forward your points is to be commended. To the point without swipes at others or belittling of others. So I read them and take time to think about them.

You're right re playgrounds. When it was first reported I was in support of closing playgrounds. At the very least it protects a very vulnerable section of the population.

But you are right. Without any real evidence, be it scientific or through robust testing why close playgrounds? Keep them open. Trust the people to socially distance themselves and their kids because I don't think any parent would actively put their kid in danger.

There are enough restrictions in place so lets wait until there is proof before putting any other places out of bounds.

Some more NZ perspective:

"Don't talk to your neighbour!"
"Dogs must not run off lead, even in dog parks or on dog beaches"

Jacinda 'Be Kind' Ardern

So how about that travel bubble, eh?

IB sounds harsh. But, in comparison nsw looks like it is heading for lockdown to at least Xmas.

That is true, Distracted. But you can at least surf.

Go early go hard. Let's see if it works in NZ.
Poor Vic can't take a trick. Covid in the homeless community must be brutally difficult to track.

NSW predicted to have 1000 to 2000 cases a day within a month. Is it time to just lift lockdowns say for areas with no cases within 50k's just to keep the economy limping along to deal with what is to come?

Sypkan, outdoor playgrounds listed in todays exposure sites.

Cacadajy wrote:

Go early go hard. Let's see if it works in NZ.
Poor Vic can't take a trick. Covid in the homeless community must be brutally difficult to track.

NSW predicted to have 1000 to 2000 cases a day within a month. Is it time to just lift lockdowns say for areas with no cases within 50k's just to keep the economy limping along to deal with what is to come?

Cacadajy.....the problem with unvaccinated people catching Covid is they will then overload the health systems and as you can see it just takes one person( or like we had in Vicco an engagement party, FFS) not following the rules and the spread is so quick .....that tracers are now struggling with the amounts......it's all about mitagating the infections and locking down....and get vaccinated, the science is in , the stats are in from other countries....we have all the info we need in Australia to combat Covid...we just don't have the number of Vaccinations high enough to let it loose....and until we do it's lockdowns to stop the spread!

Brutus, I have posted previously about our heath system being some what flexible but ultimately finite in capacity so agree wholly.

My comment was a bit of an airy flippant one lacking in any real conviction or thought really.

Read my other stuff. You and I have a very similar mentality.

Really hoping you Mexicans across the border smash through this one again. Today's numbers look bad but they show a pretty good level of containment.

brutus wrote:

Cacadajy wrote:

Go early go hard. Let's see if it works in NZ.
Poor Vic can't take a trick. Covid in the homeless community must be brutally difficult to track.

NSW predicted to have 1000 to 2000 cases a day within a month. Is it time to just lift lockdowns say for areas with no cases within 50k's just to keep the economy limping along to deal with what is to come?

Cacadajy.....the problem with unvaccinated people catching Covid is they will then overload the health systems and as you can see it just takes one person( or like we had in Vicco an engagement party, FFS) not following the rules and the spread is so quick .....that tracers are now struggling with the amounts......it's all about mitagating the infections and locking down....and get vaccinated, the science is in , the stats are in from other countries....we have all the info we need in Australia to combat Covid...we just don't have the number of Vaccinations high enough to let it loose....and until we do it's lockdowns to stop the spread!

100% right.

Most of these guys here focus on stats and lack of transmission as a reason to get back to being open and make it about their selfish right to move freely.
Not their fault they lack critical thinking and seeing the wider picture. Australia is keeping covid out for as long as possible to keep hospitals open, to allow diagnostic medicine to continue, to have surgery available, to have cancer treatments ongoing, to have chronic diseases treated ongoing. We have limited ICU beds per head of population available for accidents etc etc. The longer we lockdown the more knowledge in treating covid is gained, better medications become available…all of us will be exposed to covid in the years ahead, our medical fraternity knows this…and this is why Australia is taking the course we have.

It is getting harder and harder not to be even slightly sceptical of everything going on at the moment. With all the conflicting information and mis-information, facts, truths, part truths and half truths, ridiculously conflicting rules that even a complete moron (except maybe VicMoron) can see straight through.
Take for example the NT case at the moment.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-19/nt-covid-rules-quarantine-under-r...
Person travels from US to Aus because of work. All permitted and cleared by Gov. 14 days in quarantine in Sydney. 3 COVID test with the last one on the day of release, all showing up negative. Travels from quarantine direct to Syd airport, flys to Canberra and then transfers directly on to Darwin.
Now remember, there are no know cases in the NT (outside of quarantine). Believe me, life is normal in the NT. It’s like COVID doesn’t exist. No-one wears masks, there is zero social distancing, no change to normal life at all.
In Darwin for 2 days, has a mandatory COVID test, as per NT Gov rules, catches Ubers, Taxis, visits shopping centres, bars, restaurants, etc, rents a car and travels to Katherine for work. In Katherine, visits shops etc and gets a call that he has tested positive to COVID, later to reveal, Delta strain. Greater Darwin and Katherine thrown into 3 day lockdown.
Now, with all we know about the Delta strain and what is going on in all the eastern states, logic would tell you that SOMEONE is highly likely to have caught COVID from this guy. But so far, no, no known cases, no traces in sewerage, nothing. I’m sorry, but I smell a rat here. It just doesn’t make sense. All that interaction with the community for 3 days and not 1 single transmission. Meanwhile over east, it is running rampant.
Now, I am not a COVID denier, I am not an anti-vaxer, people can go on with all their conspiracy theories about this all they like, but there are people suffering throughout the country from these lockdowns, not just mentally, but financially too. Businesses are closing, people are on skid row and yet all these decision makers, government, health officials, hanger on’ers and so-called experts, are still going on with life near normal, no pay cuts, no pay loss, no financial burdens, nothing. The balance is just too far skewed.

Can someone help me understand this, please.

Current NSW 'active' locally acquired cases ... 7,948

Total NSW 'locally acquired' since January 2020 ... 7,085 (known source) + 4,290 (unknown source) = 11,375

So, the 'current' active locally acquired cases (known and unknown sources) represent 69.87% of the all the cases in NSW since January 2020? ... (7948 / 11375) x 100

Really? The current outbreak is worse than last year?

Data from here: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/covid-19/Pages/stats-nsw.aspx#t...

And.

Currently, there are 77 people in NSW in ICU with covid ...

Data from here: https://www.health.gov.au/resources/current-covid-19-cases-in-hospitals-...

So, that's 77 out of the 7948 current 'active' cases ... so, that's what 0.97% of all current active cases needing ICU care?

It's ICU care that's critical, right? Not general hospitalisations, but high care, intensive care needs to, you know, stay alive or be keep from deaths door. Yeah?

And, with the increase in capacity of ICU beds since the start of covid last year, are we at risk of running out of ICU beds?

Capacity doubled? https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/icu-beds-doubled-to-more-than-1000-t...

But, this suggests it didn't happen? https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-30/nsw-suspends-elective-surgery-as-...

Surely, the capacity was increased (and lets face it, NSW Health should have done so given the ongoing issues with covid) ... to say 1000 beds, and at any time, say 250 are needed for other cases (i.e. roughly 50% of the previous ICE capacity), that leaves say 750 ICU beds ...

Currently, 0.97% of active cases need ICU care ... so, total active cases of around 77,320 could be 'managed'?

With vaccination to reduce the severity of covid (as we know vaccination does not reduce transmission), the 'need' for ICU care will be reduced, right?

So, why the current lockdown? If the current 'active cases' are nearly 70% of all cases since January 2020, and the hospitals are coping and have increased capacity, is there really a problem?

Instead of bringing the economy to a slow crawl, why not let people be self responsible for their own health (wash hands, wear face masks, socially distance, etc etc) and just get on with life? The government handouts to support people due to no income could surely be better spent on better health care system, infrastructure, social housing, other health issues, etc.

Surely the mental health statistics look more alarming the the current reality of covid?

https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/mental-health

Roadkill - Agree. See post above to Brutus. I have given myself 10mins in the sinbin for a thoughtless comment I don't even agree with.