Coronavirus: Better Call Sol - CORONAMANIA (6 Viewers)

[Lili Marlene]

Interesting (free to read I think) article in the Financial Times today on the spread of COVID in China - talking about how China's top-down system was really bad for stopping it early on because everyone was dithering waiting for higher-ups to give them the go-ahead, but once that go-ahead was given it was wayyyyyy more effective than any western country, suppressing the virus in almost totality over the course of about a month.

For all of the Chinese system’s shortcomings in the earliest days and weeks of the outbreak, the rest of the world should have been on high alert. As soon as human-to-human transmission was confirmed and Wuhan went into quarantine a few days later, countries could have prepared themselves for its arrival as effectively as Taiwan and South Korea did, among others.

Most did not.

From what I can work out in Ireland, we've just been firefighting day to day and week to week rather than doing what I guess @Cormcolash has been calling for. I still want to know how we would stop the northern Ireland border fucking it up completely if tried though.

 

[pete]

From what I can work out in Ireland, we've just been firefighting day to day and week to week rather than doing what I guess @Cormcolash has been calling for. I still want to know how we would stop the northern Ireland border fucking it up completely if tried though.

we'd "just" need to focus on physical borders, not political ones

 

[therealjohnny]

had a quick google, and what i'm seeing is the wording in this article - could just mean bars are closed, and not everything (including off licence sales) affected?

Netherlands imposes ‘partial’ lockdown to contain spread of coronavirus

The Netherlands will return to a "partial lockdown" on Wednesday, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said, closing bars and restaurants as it battles to control the coronavirus in one of Europe's major…

www.france24.com

It was a Dutch guy on Morning Ireland that said it. Bars are coded but he also said they were curbing the sale of alcohaol too. Maybe they just decided this today.

 

[Cormcolash]

I still want to know how we would stop the northern Ireland border fucking it up completely if tried though.

What border?

 

[Cormcolash]

Interesting (free to read I think) article in the Financial Times today on the spread of COVID in China - talking about how China's top-down system was really bad for stopping it early on because everyone was dithering waiting for higher-ups to give them the go-ahead, but once that go-ahead was given it was wayyyyyy more effective than any western country, suppressing the virus in almost totality over the course of about a month.

For all of the Chinese system’s shortcomings in the earliest days and weeks of the outbreak, the rest of the world should have been on high alert. As soon as human-to-human transmission was confirmed and Wuhan went into quarantine a few days later, countries could have prepared themselves for its arrival as effectively as Taiwan and South Korea did, among others.

Most did not.

From what I can work out in Ireland, we've just been firefighting day to day and week to week rather than doing what I guess @Cormcolash has been calling for. I still want to know how we would stop the northern Ireland border fucking it up completely if tried though.

Anyway the reason China and Taiwan and Korea dealt with Covid so effectively is simply that they took it seriously right from the start (aside from the afore-mentioned delay in China when they were figuring out just how dangerous the thing actually was).
The WHO had warned everybody back in January that this was a really serious virus and countries should prepare.
The fact is, Covid could have been completely stopped in it's tracks in February if countries had listened to the WHO and put in place a collaborative travel ban/quarantine system for anyone going to/from the regions that were affected at the time, which was basically just China and Korea for the most part. China would even have helped to enforce the travel measures; short-term, it would have cost some people some money, long-term there would have been no Covid. We could have actually wiped it out before it had the chance to spread.
I was saying this shit back around February, that if we simply followed China's lead in this instance – given that they were the ones who actually knew the most about the virus seeing as it originated in Wuhan and they had by far had the most time to study it at that point, and also considering that the WHO were actually saying we needed Chinese-type measures for this – then given a month or two of pain for some people, everything could go back to 'normal' afterwards.
Instead of this, the response of Europe and America was basically the total opposite. In Europe there was a lot of "It's China, you can't trust them, they're Chinese", in America Trump led the "The WHO are lying to you" brigade. As far as I recall there were people on Thumped giving the whole "Oh yeah but CHINA" shit, because Tiananmen Square etc etc. Anyway end result of lack of action from elected idiots with no medical expertise = worldwide virus rampage.
And it's really really clear that it's an utter failure of global capitalism, because when the opportunity was there to shut things down in the short term, the politicians owned by big business were too unwilling to take any kind of economic hit to act on it. The countries that dealt with the virus effectively are largely the ones that aren't just owned by banks and multi-nationals. Now we are living with longer-term damage caused by shortsightedness, ineptitude, and total lack of any actual knowledge of their jobs from our elected governments.
Sure isn't it great, it'll all be grand. Sure didn't they fix the roads?

 

[Lili Marlene]

Instead of this, the response of Europe and America was basically the total opposite. In Europe there was a lot of "It's China, you can't trust them, they're Chinese", in America Trump led the "The WHO are lying to you" brigade. As far as I recall there were people on Thumped giving the whole "Oh yeah but CHINA" shit, because Tiananmen Square etc etc. Anyway end result of lack of action from elected idiots with no medical expertise = worldwide virus rampage.

This is true, but pointing it out doesn't do anything. Russia currently has a vaccine that no one will touch for similar reasons.


And it's really really clear that it's an utter failure of global capitalism, because when the opportunity was there to shut things down in the short term, the politicians owned by big business were too unwilling to take any kind of economic hit to act on it. The countries that dealt with the virus effectively are largely the ones that aren't just owned by banks and multi-nationals. Now we are living with longer-term damage caused by shortsightedness, ineptitude, and total lack of any actual knowledge of their jobs from our elected governments.
Sure isn't it great, it'll all be grand. Sure didn't they fix the roads?

Yes, I agree. It's in the name: capitalism, money is more important than people. How do we convince people to give it up though? The abstract sell of "the world won't fall apart" doesn't seem to work on the majority of people over 50 because either they don't give a fuck or they'd rather not admit that they have worked hard their whole life in a system that is wrecking the planet. Even a global pandemic isn't working.


Christ that's depressing.

 

[Unicron]

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[egg_]

The fact is, Covid could have been completely stopped in it's tracks in February if ... etc etc ... capitalism etc

Go back and look at the start of this thread - if the people here were running the world there's no way we could have agreed on the right course of action back in Feb.

Just to remind yiz all

Covid 19 seems to be no more deadly than the common cold.

It's going to come here eventually so why fight it?

Every single medical professional I have seen interviewed or questioned has said that they are not concerned, and think that the MEDIA are blowing this out of all proporition and causing widespread, unnecessary, panic

Those stupid masks make absolutely fuck all difference, right?

IMO it's pretty childish to blame "capitalism" if even the anarcho lefties here couldn't agree

 

[magicbastarder]

Anarcho lefties can't agree. That wouldn't be anarchy.

 

[Lili Marlene]

Good thing i'm not an anarcho leftie because I see capitalism as a good shorthand for the problem, childish or not, just as the other childish people who actually run things see it as the solution.

 

[Cormcolash]

I was wrong about the masks until I saw some evidence, except that hey you wouldn't need rona masks at all if the cunts 'in charge' of countries had actually taken proper measures from the beginning.

 

[error type 11]

Lets hope that those of us that are doing masks, washing hands etc, make at least an appreciable difference in the flu figures this winter. Surely the less of that the better around now.

 

[YoungHearts]

Hello everyone, hope you're all doing as well as you possibly can be-I echo the sentiments of @dudley. I have had similar experiences, the getting out early in nature...feeling filled up with hope...and then coming across people still going from the night before, keeping the "session" going. I still believe in the good in most people-but the depressing thing is that I know (for a fact) that people are having house parties, and these people are in their thirties and forties (the ones I know of, I mean). It makes me lose respect for them. I don't think they know how to be with themselves, who they are without the "session"-I feel like Batman needs to swoop in to deliver some street justice.

 

[ernesto]

Hello everyone, hope you're all doing as well as you possibly can be-I echo the sentiments of @dudley. I have had similar experiences, the getting out early in nature...feeling filled up with hope...and then coming across people still going from the night before, keeping the "session" going. I still believe in the good in most people-but the depressing thing is that I know (for a fact) that people are having house parties, and these people are in their thirties and forties (the ones I know of, I mean). It makes me lose respect for them. I don't think they know how to be with themselves, who they are without the "session"-I feel like Batman needs to swoop in to deliver some street justice.

Batman is not real.
Sorry

 

[Unicron]

Not even gonna get the good bit of lockdown, not having to work, this time.

 

[rettucs]

Hello everyone, hope you're all doing as well as you possibly can be-I echo the sentiments of @dudley. I have had similar experiences, the getting out early in nature...feeling filled up with hope...and then coming across people still going from the night before, keeping the "session" going. I still believe in the good in most people-but the depressing thing is that I know (for a fact) that people are having house parties, and these people are in their thirties and forties (the ones I know of, I mean). It makes me lose respect for them. I don't think they know how to be with themselves, who they are without the "session"-I feel like Batman needs to swoop in to deliver some street justice.

if only those pricks had a 'report' button like thumped has.

We should show them all this thread.

 

[GARYXKNIFEDX]

Dont worry,they have a whole 6 weeks to put a plan in place for the mad rush on xmas shopping when the shops open just a few weeks before xmas.

 

[YoungHearts]

Batman is not real.
Sorry

Oh he very much is. I am Batman.

 

[YoungHearts]

Batman is not real.
Sorry

And by "Batman", I mean incredibly into street vigilantism.

 

[Lili Marlene]

Dont worry,they have a whole 6 weeks to put a plan in place for the mad rush on xmas shopping when the shops open just a few weeks before xmas.

A lot of businesses saying they will go under if they don't get christmas sales, and tbh even if all restrictions were taken off today I don't know if they would get the sales because a large amount of people wouldn't want to risk it.

We can laugh at "end capitalism" as a childish idea, and it is, but some big economic decisions are probably going to have to be made about this no matter what way we we look at it.