Covid: Australia

Sonya Heaney said:

I saw that everyone's selling out of sewing machines, too. I'm actually wondering if the people panic buying them know how to use them.

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These will turn out to be the same people who broke out the bread machines at the start of the pandemic. I wonder how many of them ever managed to make a loaf?

That's an excellent piece by Anna.

Crossed the border back into Queensland today. The cops were very, very focused on Victoria.

I had a feeling a couple of days ago that the lower case numbers in Victoria would be followed by a huge surge afterwards. I feel for Dan Andrews. He's there, all day, every day, not taking any garbage from the tabloid journalists poking at him to try and get sensational headlines. He must be exhausted.

It feels so strange to be somewhere where there's no virus, but knowing other parts of the country are so badly hit. I remember in March there was an article titled "Did he really say 'six months'?" (about one of the prime minister's speeches) - it seemed like an impossibly long time. We're almost there now, and we're nowhere near finished with this thing. Now we're talking about *years* of border closures.

Not the most important thing in the world at the moment, but I feel really sorry for the younger people who'll never get to do all the things around the world I did in my late teens and my twenties.

frimble3 said:

These will turn out to be the same people who broke out the bread machines at the start of the pandemic. I wonder how many of them ever managed to make a loaf?

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Yep. It's all fun and cute at the start ... I've managed to not bake or sew or make a Tik Tok thingy since it all began.

When the situation deteriorated in Victoria, I put together a not entirely un-useful list of things to do and published it on Medium. Here's the friends' link (bypasses the paywall) for anyone interested: Return of the Lockdown: What will we do now?

(Mods, please delete if it's not appropriate to share here.)

Helix said:

When the situation deteriorated in Victoria, I put together a not entirely un-useful list of things to do and published it on Medium. Here's the friends' link (bypasses the paywall) for anyone interested: Return of the Lockdown: What will we do now?

(Mods, please delete if it's not appropriate to share here.)

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That’s a fantastic article, but if you think I’m going to try and make butcherbird sounds you’d better think again! (How are such cute birds so loud?) We have a few generations of butcherbirds here, and because I named the first one Steve, now they’re all “Steve”. ‘There's a Steve on the back deck,’ we all say now.

I went out to lunch at a pub this afternoon, and it always feels wrong, but—apart from a brief scare with returned travellers from Victoria—we haven’t had the virus in the ACT for months. There are still strict rules inside the pubs and restaurants (an $8000 fine for standing up while drinking alcohol, for example), but university is about to start back, and today there were a lot of students in the CBD greeting each other with hugs and kisses.
I’m thinking I won’t go out next weekend—wait and see how the student and NSW situations go … We spent this afternoon cleaning out an investment property in the city to put up for sale, and it couldn’t be a worse time to sell an apartment.

I'm guessing those daytrippers are from the Greater Sydney Area.

Huge numbers of caravans here in FNQ, but most of them have Qld number plates. Still, I'm treating all tourists as potentially pestilent.

Melbourne, checking in.

It's all a bit sombre down here atm, as expected. Mostly, we're tired of shit-stirring interstate pollies (and our own, in the case of T*m Sm@!h), Murdoch hacks, and RW commentators who don't live here telling us how to feel and act. Like, STFU and go away.

I'm just waiting around to hear Dan's presser on what businesses will have to shut down over the next few weeks/months. It'll be a tough patch, but we'll get through it (if only for myself coz I just braved the supermarket and have stocked up on staples like chocolate and wine. So I'm set for the long haul). At least the weather's warming up now, so that will help with the mental side of things, I think.

mccardey said:

Love that article, Helix.

Poor Victoria is in lockdown - sending love to all the Victorian AWers. Check in and let us know how you're doing.

My kids (Sydney) think there'll be a sharp shock there in the next week or two, so my son and his wife came down to my house for the weekend in case we can't catch up again for months. (I'm in their safe bubble. My son is very high risk because Reasons)

It's awful stressful - but I'm glad to see that down here, now that the mask thing has been resolved, the few people out and about tend to be covered. Except for the weekends when we are still seeing many more day-trippers, masked-now-but-not-social-distancing, clogging up all the entries to cafes and antique shops.

What's the point of a limit of 6 customers, if it means 20 are milling around in the doorway, waiting? And where's my spray can of TouristBegone?

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I saw a lot more masks out and about today in the main street, but like you not much in the way of distancing. I did go to a restaurant the other night for my Dad's birthday, against my better judgement, and let's say the concept was non-existent there. I'm not eating out again till this is over.

I'm not sure if/when we'll get a surge in NSW. I've taken some leave, because it was all getting a bit much for me, honestly. Of course now I'm just worried the second wave will time itself for my return to work, lol. NP, I'm sure a week sitting indoors and doomscrolling will have made the anxiety go away.

be frank said:

Melbourne, checking in.

It's all a bit sombre down here atm, as expected. Mostly, we're tired of shit-stirring interstate pollies (and our own, in the case of T*m Sm@!h), Murdoch hacks, and RW commentators who don't live here telling us how to feel and act. Like, STFU and go away.

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I saw NSW benchwarmer/questionably sentient pork-golem Craig Kelly was joining in today. Wanting Dan the man to be PROSECUTED FOR ANTI CHOLOROQUINE CRIMES. I'd like to apologise on behalf of the rest of NSW for the existence of Hughes electorate* and the fact they keep voting for him. Please don't blame the rest of us.

Seriously, stay safe, bf.


*And I'm not sure we can blame the voters there, either. There's a nuclear reactor at its exact geographic centre. It's basically Australia's Chernobyl red zone.

Albedo said:

I've taken some leave, because it was all getting a bit much for me, honestly. Of course now I'm just worried the second wave will time itself for my return to work, lol. NP, I'm sure a week sitting indoors and doomscrolling will have made the anxiety go away.

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Sitting indoors and doomscrolling? That sounds familiar... (No, it doesn't help. But no, I can't stop myself.)

I'm glad you've taken some leave. It must be so stressful working in frontline health right now. Pamper yourself for the next little while. You stay safe, too!

ION, I spoke too soon about the weather improving here. The last week has been lovely, but apparently from tomorrow it will be our most miserable August week in ~ 30 years. Thanks, Antarctica!

be frank said:

Sitting indoors and doomscrolling? That sounds familiar... (No, it doesn't help. But no, I can't stop myself.)

I'm glad you've taken some leave. It must be so stressful working in frontline health right now. Pamper yourself for the next little while. You stay safe, too!

ION, I spoke too soon about the weather improving here. The last week has been lovely, but apparently from tomorrow it will be our most miserable August week in ~ 30 years. Thanks, Antarctica!

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Hopefully the antarctic weather encourages people to stay inside! I must say hearing about doctors my age in Melbourne being intubated and in ICU keeps it a bit real. And we're also anaesthetists, nurses, pharmacy workers ... half my family are health care workers of one kind or another. I bet your area has been majorly affected, as well. I'm gunna use this week to order some fashion masks, and go fully masked from when I go back, I think.

I mean, I could just wear this bird head all the time.

I had to hear what a Butcherbird sounded like. It was not disappointing. Australia has the best birds!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlAb-ObjIH4

mccardey said:

A love letter to Melbourne, right from Sydney's heart.

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I loved that piece!

It seems the virus is back in Batemans Bay on the NSW South Coast. I wonder if it was in the community for the last few weeks (after the last outbreak) and nobody knew.
Batemans Bay is 50% Canberrans. Because our Chief Minister won't close our borders, we might be in some trouble here.

Albedo said:

I mean, I could just wear this bird head all the time.

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If we had to teach in person (and we don't at my college) I would want to get a replica of one of those old bird-face plague masks and maybe put it on over my normal cloth mask!

Hope you guys are all doing okay in Australia. Better than we are, anyway!

This is something to watch: New Zealand records the first new local Covid-19 cases in 102 days. Auckland has gone into lockdown and there's extensive testing underway to work out where the eff these infections originated.

We're with you, Aotearoa.

Roxxsmom said:

If we had to teach in person (and we don't at my college) I would want to get a replica of one of those old bird-face plague masks and maybe put it on over my normal cloth mask!

Hope you guys are all doing okay in Australia. Better than we are, anyway!

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All I really need now is the broad-brimmed hat and black cloak and a stick for poking buboes, and I'd be the spitting image of a plague doctor, I think.

Helix said:

This is something to watch: New Zealand records the first new local Covid-19 cases in 102 days. Auckland has gone into lockdown and there's extensive testing underway to work out where the eff these infections originated.

We're with you, Aotearoa.

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If it turns out that this spread to NZ in frozen goods, which is what I've seen suggested, it's gunna have some major implications for global supply chains. The only other thing I can think of is, what if there's an animal reservoir for it? Mysterious af.

We are the animal reservoir.

Check the sheep!

Given the lack of infections in New Zealand over the past three months, they may be the perfect "laboratory" for determining other ways, besides direct contact between people, the virus can spread.

They're pretty sure this isn't a re-emergence of virus that's been smoldering silently in New Zealand for months, because it's a different strain that what was circulating there initially. It came in from outside, whether via something frozen or via a person who ducked quarantine or (possibly) had a silent case that was undetectable for longer than normal.

I hope they stamp this out quickly. It looks like they are taking it seriously, though I'm just waiting (sigh) for some Trump lover to ask (in that disingenuous way they do) why the New Zealand government is allowed to postpone their election.