Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #84

[Tigerlily75]

Australian food banks report huge surge in demand during Covid pandemic

Casual workers and international students among ‘newly food insecure groups’, Foodbank report says.

“In 2019, 15% of Australians experiencing food insecurity were seeking food relief at least once a week,” the report said.

“In 2020, this has more than doubled to 31%. Although charities are seeing demand for food relief become more erratic and unpredictable, overall numbers are up by an average of 47%.”

The report found 39% of charities providing food bank services had seen an increase in demand among international students, who are barred from access to jobseeker or job keeper payments.

Guardian Australia has reported on how thousands of international students have turned to foodbanks to survive, with some research suggesting as many as one in six have relied on charity for emergency food relief.

I live in the heart of Melbourne city (the locked down city!) and every Sunday the line for the Foodbank at the Cross Culture Church is massive. Unfortunately, international students and foreign visa workers were excluded from JobKeeper and JobSeeker and basically told they should go home. A lot did go home, but for whatever reasons, it wasn’t practical for everyone to shut down their life here and just “go home”. People have been calling on the federal government to include them in support payments but sadly they didn’t budge.

 

[katydid23]

Acknowledging we disagree...
It makes me uncomfortable that anyone would suggest that people refrain from protesting and expressing their view about any issue
I value that right

My view

I agree. And many people who attend rallies also consider it a 'protest' of sorts. And it is also a protected and valued right.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Indiana is #12 in literacy. Go Hoosiers.

We busted yesterday's record with a new one today.

I can't recall who posted above, yet was a great post... grrrr, cannot recall who it was.

They pointed out that US was low on science/critical thinking. I do do do know that many critical thinkers are here at WS though from my experience. (vs. folks who cannot parse MSM information to drill down to the evidence/science MOO)

MOO

 

[dixiegirl1035]

CASES IN LAST 7 DAYS (US)
387,022

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the U.S.

And deaths crossed 1,000 per day again.

So given the trajectory we are now on, with +70,000 new cases per day, we will add nearly half a million cases this coming week. And more the week after that.

How is our medical system supposed to cope with this???

The most concerning issue to me right now is that these are rural infection growths.. who only have rural hospitals.

So far, so good as to death rates.. but do they have the monitoring as we have with NYC etc to even know of such?

 

[SouthAussie]

Covid: One-way 'travel bubble' opens between Australia and NZ
Covid: One-way 'travel bubble' opens between Australia and NZ
Published 1 day ago
None of the passengers on the flight from Auckland to Sydney will be required to quarantine in Australia.

However they will have to pay for their own quarantine in a hotel when they return to New Zealand.

At the moment, the bubble is one-sided, with Australians not allowed to enter New Zealand.

Australia and New Zealand are among the first countries in the Asia-Pacific region to loosen restrictions on international travel since Covid-19 travel bans came into effect earlier this year.

Singapore and Hong Kong announced on Thursday that they had agreed to quarantine-free travel between the two cities. They did not say when travel would begin.

They are saying that most of the NZers who arrived here this week came on one-way tickets. Presumably Aussies returning home or Aussies/NZers coming to stay with family/friends for the duration.

A big advertising blitz is going on at the moment, encouraging us to travel within Australia over our long summer. I think they will do their best to hold off on allowing travel to the northern hemisphere until a vaccine is here and everyone has been vaccinated.

Here is one short ad that they are running here at the moment. Using a much-liked personality to help (light-heartedly) promote the idea.

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[LadyL]

Seatbelt laws were a hard sell in state capitals as opponents argued they were uncomfortable or an imposition on personal liberty. Sound familiar?

In Fights Over Face Masks, Echoes of the American Seatbelt Wars

 

[Trino]

There were MANY protesters without masks. And they were not always outside moving. They often stood or sat in large groups, listening to speakers or SINGERS.

They also marched arm in arm many times, WHILE CHANTING AND SCREAMING, which is known to increase chances of contagiousness.
6/08/20. NYC BLM Protest

Loic Venance/AFP via Getty Images


Wash DC BLM protest. 5/30/20

• 

NYC is not the Bemidji Minnesota rally. This is the story and my post.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Sometimes I like to revisit a subject because I missed the first timely discussion. RSBM

In the last two days, I have posted an opinion or thought as I was thinking.. thinking.. thinking.. and someone gave me a refresher.

I think this group is FABULOUS in helping others. I was ignorant on TWO items in the last three days, and others helped guide me to research on my own. And I'm sure they would have given a link to refresh if I came back to ask.

This is moving soooooooooo fast, and love all the folks here that help others with the ignorance that I had. I was wrong, and they helped.

Great folks here!

 

[SouthAussie]

I can't recall who posted above, yet was a great post... grrrr, cannot recall who it was.

They pointed out that US was low on science/critical thinking. I do do do know that many critical thinkers are here at WS though from my experience. (vs. folks who cannot parse MSM information to drill down to the evidence/science MOO)

MOO

Yes ... as well, the article that is being referenced by some speaks of 'prose literacy'. The ability of understanding what you read (not whether you can read and write). When I look at the demographic of the states that have scored better and scored worse - by drilling down into each state's information - it is clear that their demographics are very different. Which explains a lot to me.

IMO

 

[katydid23]

NYC is not the Bemidji Minnesota rally. This is the story and my post.

I know they are different protests. I was replying to those that said protesters are mostly marching and masked and therefore safe.

I just wanted to post examples where that was not the case.

 

[Tigerlily75]

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 18th October: 2 new cases, 0 deaths. Rolling 14 day average now 7.5 cases for Melbourne, 0.5 for regional Victoria. Some restriction easing will be announced today but is expected to be fairly minor. Staying the course!

 

[SouthAussie]

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 18th October: 2 new cases, 0 deaths. Rolling 14 day average now 7.5 cases for Melbourne, 0.5 for regional Victoria. Some restriction easing will be announced today but is expected to be fairly minor. Staying the course!

So good that you guys are managing to do this. It sounds as if you will be able to travel further (20km) and stay outside as long as you want. Fishing and other safe recreational activities back on the table.

These small things will ease the burden. We were allowed these things during our lockdown back in March, and it barely felt that we were locked down.

As well, I like the humour that Andrews is using at times. When they graffitied the outside of his office ..... his comment was "graffiti won't stop the virus".


“What I’d say to those individuals and all Victorians is graffiti doesn’t work against this virus, it simply doesn’t,” he said.
NoCookies | The Australian
(this link should work for everyone, you are allowed one free article a month)

 

[tresir2012]

They are saying that most of the NZers who arrived here this week came on one-way tickets. Presumably Aussies returning home or Aussies/NZers coming to stay with family/friends for the duration.

A big advertising blitz is going on at the moment, encouraging us to travel within Australia over our long summer. I think they will do their best to hold off on allowing travel to the northern hemisphere until a vaccine is here and everyone has been vaccinated.

Here is one short ad that they are running here at the moment. Using a much-liked personality to help (light-heartedly) promote the idea.

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For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

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Are there any other countries you can travel to if NZ is needing 14 days quarantine?

 

[tresir2012]

NYC is not the Bemidji Minnesota rally. This is the story and my post.

Several posters have been discussing protests and rallies in general too though. Anyone can jump in with links or opinions. It's not anyones particular story IMO.

 

[Tigerlily75]

Are there any other countries you can travel to if NZ is needing 14 days quarantine?

No we can’t leave Australia at all without an exemption. Our borders are closed. Future “travel bubbles” are being worked out with safe countries such as NZ, South Korea, Singapore, Japan. Kiwi’s being allowed to come here just this past week is the very first baby step towards the safe travel bubble.

 

[tresir2012]

Yes ... as well, the article that is being referenced by some speaks of 'prose literacy'. The ability of understanding what you read (not whether you can read and write). When I look at the demographic of the states that have scored better and scored worse - by drilling down into each state's information - it is clear that their demographics are very different. Which explains a lot to me.

IMO

Could you give some examples? I am not really following the demographics, unless you are thinking ages, ethnicity, population density. Is that what you mean? What is the article you mention?

 

[tresir2012]

No we can’t leave Australia at all without an exemption. Our borders are closed. Future “travel bubbles” are being worked out with safe countries such as NZ, South Korea, Singapore, Japan. Kiwi’s being allowed to come here just this past week is the very first baby step towards the safe travel bubble.

Oh, so you really do have to holiday at home for the summer then, but you have the whole of Oz right and Tasmania?

 

[Tippy Lynn]

Yes ... as well, the article that is being referenced by some speaks of 'prose literacy'. The ability of understanding what you read (not whether you can read and write). When I look at the demographic of the states that have scored better and scored worse - by drilling down into each state's information - it is clear that their demographics are very different. Which explains a lot to me.

IMO

Could you give some examples? I am not really following the demographics, unless you are thinking ages, ethnicity, population density. Is that what you mean? What is the article you mention?

I’m not following how literacy and demographics relates to Covid cases.

 

[SouthAussie]

No we can’t leave Australia at all without an exemption. Our borders are closed. Future “travel bubbles” are being worked out with safe countries such as NZ, South Korea, Singapore, Japan. Kiwi’s being allowed to come here just this past week is the very first baby step towards the safe travel bubble.

Yes, the son of a guy I work with was allowed to leave Australia a couple of months ago. He was returning to his sweetheart who lives in France, with the understanding that it could be some time before he can return to Australia.

I think Vanuatu is one of the countries being considered for a travel bubble also. Which is great, as many Aussies love Vanuatu.

 

[tresir2012]

Not just a Trump-touted 'cure': Monoclonal antibodies may be 'bridge' to coronavirus vaccine

Antibodies are our natural response to an infection. They can be harvested from the blood of recovered patients, or -- using modern technology -- manufactured synthetically in a lab.

The idea to use antibodies as medical treatment dates back as early as the 1890s when Emil von Behring successfully treated children suffering from a severe bacterial infection called diphtheria using antibody-containing serum from the blood of horses recently exposed to the same bacteria. The discovery earned him the first Nobel Prize in medicine.

More at link.