The Coronavirus Thread

[Joe]

The founding generation of the Republic did things in the yellow fever epidemics of 1793 and 1805 that would have blown these people's minds. It's amazing how we don't know our own history.

[JimC]

New Zealand records another 41 Covid cases as it braces for biggest outbreak of pandemic

Cluster has grown to 148 people, with experts saying it could grow to 1,000 and take four to six weeks to stamp out

New Zealand is bracing for its biggest coronavirus outbreak yet as cases rise, the locations of interest balloon to more than 400 sites, and the number of close contacts swells to more than 15,700 people.

On Tuesday, the country recorded 41 new positive cases, bringing the total number in its outbreak to 148 – the majority of whom are Samoan, and linked to a sub-cluster who assembled at the Assembly of God church in Mangere, Auckland before the lockdown.

A nationwide, level 4 lockdown – the highest setting – has been extended until at least the end of the week, as the country battles to contain the outbreak of the Delta variant.

Why is such a tiny country not fully vaccinated?

Like us, they had very low covid numbers for quite a while (and, in the scheme of things, still very low in comparison with most of the world) and so did not make rapid vaccination a priority. A mistake in hindsight, for sure...

[macdoc]

winnowing the herd

[macdoc]

New Zealand is larger than the UK so no, not a "tiny country" FFS and population is very spread out. They have taken a zero covid stance.
So NZ hammers any outbreak with lock downs. Will be difficult with the new strain to contain.

Canada, a large country has taken the vaccination route and reached 75% fully vaccinated ....

You live in a "tiny country" - what's your excuse for only 62%.

[Tero]

Ron Filipkowski
@RonFilipkowski
42m
Dennis Newberry, the Mayor of the City of Ozark, MO, is “throwing a hail merry pass” for his friend in the hospital with covid. “I have procured some ivermectin for him and will be driving it to him today.”
https://mobile.twitter.com/RonFilipkows ... 9214307333

[Scot Dutchy]

New Zealand is larger than the UK so no, not a "tiny country" FFS and population is very spread out. They have taken a zero covid stance.
So NZ hammers any outbreak with lock downs. Will be difficult with the new strain to contain.

Canada, a large country has taken the vaccination route and reached 75% fully vaccinated ....

You live in a "tiny country" - what's your excuse for only 62%.

Do you have data to support these claims? Of course not. Go and ride your bike.

[Tero]

Here is a solution to the US pandemic: we pay Trump to talk weekly to huge crowds in indoor arenas. Millions get infected, go home, infect many millions more.

Even with their somewhat lower immunity we will achieve herd immunity in no time.

[JimC]

Some horrible people would no doubt suggest that the inevitable high number of deaths amongst Trump supporters would be a bonus of your plan, Tero...

[NineBerry]

Its not nearly enough dead people. But it might make dinner people overthink their positions.

[pErvinalia]

Dinner people? Is that in rainbow's cooking pot?

[JimC]

Research in Melbourne which clearly shows that areas with less wealth, and more jobs requiring face-to-face contact have higher rates of covid infection. Wealth buys you health - I'm fairly certain the pattern will be fairly universal...

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/vict ... 58law.html

The index shows Melbourne is a city divided by coronavirus, with fault lines split across those able to work from home, those in secure jobs and secure housing, and those in neither and who face the virus daily.

Melbourne University researchers have developed the mapping tool – which predicts the city’s neighbourhoods most likely to see outbreaks – based on people’s employment and living conditions.

The research also maps Sydney’s suburbs and, like Melbourne, confirms those areas with high concentrations of people working in jobs requiring close contact with others, and experiencing household crowding or housing insecurity, are also areas with higher rates of COVID-19.

Victoria’s 21,500 coronavirus cases since last March have already shown this trend, but the new index charts more precisely that the more precarious a job and the more mobile a worker, combined in some cases with higher housing density, the more susceptible they are to the virus.

The index also correlates with data from the federal Health Department this month that showed wealthy pockets of Melbourne and Sydney had some of the country’s highest vaccination rates, while poorer parts of both cities have among the lowest coverage.

And the research mirrors findings from the United Kingdom where the pandemic has uncovered stark differences between the poorest 10 per cent of areas, where people are almost four times more likely to die from COVID-19, and the wealthiest.

[Hermit]

New Zealand is larger than the UK so no, not a "tiny country" FFS and population is very spread out. They have taken a zero covid stance.
So NZ hammers any outbreak with lock downs. Will be difficult with the new strain to contain.

Canada, a large country has taken the vaccination route and reached 75% fully vaccinated ....

You live in a "tiny country" - what's your excuse for only 62%.

Do you have data to support these claims? Of course not. Go and ride your bike.

Where are yours?

Not that it matters. If your assertion that population size made vaccinating it easier were correct, Canada would have a much lower percentage of vaccinations than the Netherlands. It doesn't. In fact, it's a bit higher.

Code: Select all

  Country       Population (million)      Fully vaccinated
Netherlands            17.13                          62%
Canada                   37.74                          66%

Data to support these claims (current on 23-08-2021)

[JimC]

The number of factors which influence the differences between countries in both vaccination rates and covid health burdens are many, I suspect. Non-partisan, objective and evidence-based analysis of the data will need to wait until the current pandemic is mostly over.

I just hope the analysis will be complete before the next global pandemic...

[Hermit]

The number of factors which influence the differences between countries in both vaccination rates and covid health burdens are many, I suspect.

Same here. I have mentioned that the differences are multifactorial at least three times in that thread.

Non-partisan, objective and evidence-based analysis of the data will need to wait until the current pandemic is mostly over.

It would not surprise me if some people have already made a good fist of objective and evidence-based analyses of the data already and others will never be capable of doing so now or at any time in the future.

[macdoc]

Fuck...

Fitness trainer declined vaccine. Stunning photos show what happened to him

Colorado fitness coach Bill Phillips is urging others to get the Covid-19 vaccine after ending up in the emergency room and losing 70 pounds fighting for his life from coronavirus.

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/us/2021/ ... g-vpx.kusa