The Coronavirus Thread

[pErvinalia]

So terrible that conservative nutbags keep dying.

[Hermit]

Gladys Berejiklian, the Premier of New South Wales, cheerfully announced today that "We are going to show the way in Australia as to how you can live with COVID." The irony seems to be lost on her, for NSW has acquired 1,218 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. The entire nation of Australia has not had this many in a day during the entire epidemic. If this is leading the way as to how the country can live with COVID, the prospects look thoroughly depressing.

The Premier's unwillingness to do what must be done has also had the unfortunate effect of spreading the virus to rural towns all over the state. In the past few days 510 new cases were reported in 9 of them: Wilcannia, Broken Hill, Dubbo, Narrowmine, Burke, Nyngan, Brewarrina, Bathurst and Mudgee. Undoubtedly, there will be more new cases and there will be more towns affected.

Berejiklian is also of the opinion that once 70% of the state's population is fully vaccinated (currently it is 35%), a target she hopes will be will be reached some time in October, NSW can have its freedom (the Premier has a problem saying "lockdown") back. If anyone has told her that herd immunity is not expected to be attained until 90% of the population is vaccinated, she is studiously ignoring the message. And yes, I am sure she has been told.

[pErvinalia]

She's fucking ridiculous. As cases go up she offers more freedoms. Totally fucking bizarre.

[Sean Hayden]

I think that will become the norm as this thing drags on and we tire of coping.

[Brian Peacock]

We are the hapless - caught between the myth of exponential monetary growth and the pressure of actual exponential viral growth. Over time we've devised and developed systems predicated on perpetual monetary growth, to such an extent that governments are seen to derive their legitimacy from placing economic growth as their central policy goal. "It's the economy, stupid!" and all that. Any political party aspiring to power which doesn't place economic growth at the forefront of its objectives literally removes itself from the ranks of 'sensible' or 'serious' parties. Domestic growth-above-all objectives have not only resulted in calamitous and malevolent consequences for so many people in our societies, but also for people in societies beyond the domestic boundary. Growth as a goal stopped government taking early measures which would have prevented the arrival and spread of the pandemic, just as is stopping them from taking action climate change, or child poverty, or non-military R&D. Early on in the pandemic, when we heard politicians of all strips saying that "We cannot let the cure be worse than the disease," they were basically saying that our lives, yours and mine, the lives of our loved ones, colleagues, and neighbours are worth less than a fall in economic growth. That the economy is more important than the health of the people they were elected to represent and protect. Worth less, and worthless.

These structural problems aside, the myth of perpetual growth is also a well-honed distraction from the massive problems which face us all, a distraction that stymies the discussion and appraisal of the positive alternatives we could put in place and that we actually need to be thinking about to secure our well-being in the present and for the future. Part of that myth is that growth benefits everyone in society. It clearly doesn't, and yet we carry on under the pretence that it does.

Another part of the myth is that we each have a part to play in the growth of the economy, and moreover that this is our duty or obligation, which therefore makes us individually responsible for things we literally have no hand in and no influence over. This is central to neoliberal ideology - even though 'the market' is the cause of the majority of our social problems today the neoliberal solution is always 'moar market', and we go along with this because, essentially, we've swallowed the myth that individuals and individual behaviour are responsible for social conditions rather than the economic structures the wealthy have put in place over time.

Isn't it time we stopped accepting 'growth' as an excuse from these self-serving pig fuckers!?!!?


Here endeth the lesson.

[macdoc]

Growth is never a pre-requisite. It's a choice. Human's behaving badly or not on whatever scale you choose.

[Seabass]

We are the hapless - caught between the myth of exponential monetary growth and the pressure of actual exponential viral growth. Over time we've devised and developed systems predicated on perpetual monetary growth, to such an extent that governments are seen to derive their legitimacy from placing economic growth as their central policy goal. "It's the economy, stupid!" and all that. Any political party aspiring to power which doesn't place economic growth at the forefront of its objectives literally removes itself from the ranks of 'sensible' or 'serious' parties. Domestic growth-above-all objectives have not only resulted in calamitous and malevolent consequences for so many people in our societies, but also for people in societies beyond the domestic boundary. Growth as a goal stopped government taking early measures which would have prevented the arrival and spread of the pandemic, just as is stopping them from taking action climate change, or child poverty, or non-military R&D. Early on in the pandemic, when we heard politicians of all strips saying that "We cannot let the cure be worse than the disease," they were basically saying that our lives, yours and mine, the lives of our loved ones, colleagues, and neighbours are worth less than a fall in economic growth. That the economy is more important than the health of the people they were elected to represent and protect. Worth less, and worthless.

These structural problems aside, the myth of perpetual growth is also a well-honed distraction from the massive problems which face us all, a distraction that stymies the discussion and appraisal of the positive alternatives we could put in place and that we actually need to be thinking about to secure our well-being in the present and for the future. Part of that myth is that growth benefits everyone in society. It clearly doesn't, and yet we carry on under the pretence that it does.

Another part of the myth is that we each have a part to play in the growth of the economy, and moreover that this is our duty or obligation, which therefore makes us individually responsible for things we literally have no hand in and no influence over. This is central to neoliberal ideology - even though 'the market' is the cause of the majority of our social problems today the neoliberal solution is always 'moar market', and we go along with this because, essentially, we've swallowed the myth that individuals and individual behaviour are responsible for social conditions rather than the economic structures the wealthy have put in place over time.

Isn't it time we stopped accepting 'growth' as an excuse from these self-serving pig fuckers!?!!?


Here endeth the lesson.

Unfortunately, the US will never outgrow this shit. Because of racism.

“I’ll tell you what’s at the bottom of it. If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.” —LBJ

[Seabass]

Another one rides the bus.

A police captain who refused the vaccine and took the anti-parasitic ivermectin to combat COVID-19 dies from the virus

[JimC]

I would love to know the stats of the number of wilfully unvaccinated people in the US who have died of Covid - not just the ones in the public eye...

[Hermit]

I would love to know the stats of the number of wilfully unvaccinated people in the US who have died of Covid - not just the ones in the public eye...

You never will because there are no absolute facts.

Seriously, an exact number is impossible to obtain because there are 50 health departments in the US, all with their own reporting methods and formats. I think a couple of states release no reports at all. The matter is further complicated by the fact that health matters are a privately run industry.

Nevertheless, the number of unvaccinated people who died from being infected by the Coronavirus can be estimated, and I am confident some estimates can be reasonably accurate. One such study has been published here. It is a preprint and not peer reviewed. An article based on it can be found here.

I lifted a chart from the article. The number of unvaccinated people who died from Covid-19 is represented by the grey area.

Estimated U.S. seven-day rolling average of daily deaths with and without vaccination


My conclusion is that the result works in favour of the Democratic Party in the 2022 and 2024 elections. If it is strong enough to countervail the election restriction laws introduced by various Republican controlled states remains to be seen.

[JimC]

It is a very substantial difference - thanks for the research, Hermit.

Other points remain, of course. Earlier in the year, one would think that a fair few of the unvaccinated were not staunch refusers, but for a variety of reasons, hadn't yet got the jab, but perhaps were intending to. There is no reason to suppose that Trump supporters were excessively prevalent in such a group. In more recent times, it would be reasonable to assume that the unvaccinated are most likely the recalcitrant, and also that they are indeed more likely to be die-hard Republicans...

[pErvinalia]

They're certainly going to DIE-hard.

[Seabass]

In more recent times, it would be reasonable to assume that the unvaccinated are most likely the recalcitrant, and also that they are indeed more likely to be die-hard Republicans...

Not necessarily. Polling data shows that Republicans are far more anti-vax than other groups, but in some states, blacks and hispanics trail whites in actual vax rates. I'm not sure what the cause of this disparity is, but if I were to guess, it's probably the usual culprit: poverty. Black and brown people are going to be more likely to be poor, and so less likely to have a car, more likely to have to use public transit (which sucks ass in most of the US), less likely to able to take time off work, less likely to have internet, less likely to have insurance (you don't need insurance to get the jab, but I have to figure a lot of people who don't consume news might not know that?), etc...

[JimC]

In more recent times, it would be reasonable to assume that the unvaccinated are most likely the recalcitrant, and also that they are indeed more likely to be die-hard Republicans...

Not necessarily. Polling data shows that Republicans are far more anti-vax than other groups, but in some states, blacks and hispanics trail whites in actual vax rates. I'm not sure what the cause of this disparity is, but if I were to guess, it's probably the usual culprit: poverty. Black and brown people are going to be more likely to be poor, and so less likely to have a car, more likely to have to use public transit (which sucks ass in most of the US), less likely to able to take time off work, less likely to have internet, less likely to have insurance (you don't need insurance to get the jab, but I have to figure a lot of people who don't consume news might not know that?), etc...

Good points, Seabass. Here in Oz, for a variety of reasons, indigenous communities and groups of recent migrants with language issues have been lagging in the vaccination race, for reasons other than idiotic recalcitrance, and more to do with disadvantage and distrust of government...

[Scot Dutchy]

Here special teams were set up and worked via the community houses to vaccinate the minority groups which worked extremely well.

Dont you have to pay in certain states for vaccines? Therefore poverty would play a role. Did the poor actually get the vaccine? What control is there?