The Reality of Living in Australia and Covid

[JPA Cate]

One challenge I see here is that isolation due to low population (Australia's land mass is almost as large as the USA, but the total population is less than that of California) has given outside, more rural areas a false sense of security, and hence, they are not clamoring for a more efficient approach for vaccinating the outback communities.

Another challenge is that the under 40's have often shown an "it won't happen to me" --I won't get really sick from it--and it is only now, 18 months or so after the pandemic was declared--that they are beginning to see the need for vaccination to mitigate risk of serious illness.

In addition, the body covering use of medications has not made it "okay" for doctors to administer the Pfizer vaccine to people who got blood clots following the A-Z jab and who do not want to risk another A-Z jab. They need to re-write their "suitable for purpose".

Ann

[El Pinguino]

Good news today in Victoria

https://www.theage.com.au/national/a...=p52sox#p52sox


'Victoria hits 60 per cent target ahead of time
By Roy Ward
Victoria has passed the 60 per cent first dose target with 29,915 doses administered in state-run hubs on Saturday.

Premier Daniel Andrews said this weekend has been the busiest for state hubs since the rollout began with 2,583,499 doses administered by Victoria.

Many more vaccines have been administered by GPs and pharmacies who are supplied by the Commonwealth government."

Now here is the interesting thing. No figures seem to be available for the GPs and pharmacies - which are supplied directly by the commonwealth - it is a very strange system.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

There was another violent anti vaxx / anti lockdown demo planned for Melbourne on Saturday.

Seems nobody turned up - well maybe 3 or 4 people.

I like that the horse has PPE.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Yes, it is a growing problem in the US, too. Not a popular subject of conversation. You could start a new thread about it in the Covid forum, if you think we need to talk about it.

Ce’? Was that in response to my post?

[JPA Cate]

A few days ago, we were being told "it is not a race." Now NSW is bragging about 40% vax rate; meanwhile, VIC is bragging about 60% attained and still working.

On a positive note though, here is a link to a story about a new quarantine facility in NSW, at show grounds (think County Fair Grounds, if you're a Yank). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-...-hub/100434846

No, GILow, to Cadence's. But I caught the part about abuse for monetary gain where I had bolded your quote, so say to both of you.

Ann

[pdjb]

Can you who owns any king of boat in Australia, leave the country in a boat,?

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by pdjb

Can you who owns any king of boat in Australia, leave the country in a boat,?

Of course we can, just like the rest of the world.
Though I don't know what extra hurdles are in place with the current plague.

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by pdjb

Can you who owns any king of boat in Australia, leave the country in a boat,?

due to covid folk cannot legally leave oz via any means (including your own boat) unless you apply for and receive special permission

of course it is technically possible, but you will be thrown into jail at your first port outside australia for not having a clearance from last port

however it is not all that difficult to get permission to leave, especially if you undertake not to return

cheers,

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by chrisr

due to covid folk cannot legally leave oz via any means (including your own boat) unless you apply for and receive special permission

of course it is technically possible, but you will be thrown into jail at your first port outside australia for not having a clearance from last port

however it is not all that difficult to get permission to leave, especially if you undertake not to return

cheers,

back during the 'Cat 1 for foreign flag' business in NZ New Cal authorities weren't fussed if you turned up from NZ with no clearance. More recently Panama wasn't bothered about yachts arriving from Ecuador with no clearance..

That said leaving Australia with permission isn't the issue - its getting let into another country. Indonesia? Nope. New Zealand? Nope. Chile? Nope.

I note today that PMfM has said that the state borders will be opening when we hit 80% vaxxed. Which is strange as state borders are nothing to do with him. Meanwhile nothing much from him re-opening our international borders which are everything to do with him.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

I'm not saying it is relevant in any way, but my Finnish doctor has been forcing me to take vitamin D supplements for years.

As the doctor should be doing per their national policy on vitamin D supplements. I will talk about my doctor shortly.

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

Thats probably because they don't see the sun for 9 months of the year.

Being dark for a part of the year does not matter for vitamin D update from the sun. Which is surprising to me but I learned that the hard way.

For most of the YEAR, being north of 37 degrees, means there is little to no vitamin D production from the sun.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/stayi...more-vitamin-d

Except during the summer months, the skin makes little if any vitamin D from the sun at latitudes above 37 degrees north (in the United States, the shaded region in the map) or below 37 degrees south of the equator. People who live in these areas are at relatively greater risk for vitamin D deficiency.

All of Europe, but the tip of southern Spain, does not get enough UV, except for the summer months, for people to produce vitamin D. This is why people used to eat Cod liver oil, be exposed to sun lamps and why food was, and is, supplemented with vitamin D. But that is not really enough and people should be taking supplements and/or eating fish. They need to get tested to check their vitamin D levels as well.

Flip side, those Down Under can get vitamin D from the sun during the winter as long as they don't lather up in sunscreen. New Zealand, not so much.

I was looking for the information on latitude to fact check myself and found this study published in June of 2020 regarding COVID death rates and countries relationship to the equator, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32599103/

Abstract
Background: Since Vitamin D is known to be vital in regulating the immune system, and sunlight UV radiation exposure on the skin produces Vitamin D and UV intensity is highest nearest the equator, a study was done to examine the correlation between the latitude and COVID-19 fatality rates for countries.

Methods: Eighty-eight countries were selected based on their likelihood of providing reliable data. Using death rates/million for each country from the "worldometer" website, a correlation analysis was done between death rates and a country's latitude.

Results: A highly significant, positive correlation was found between lower death rates and a country's proximity to the equator (Pearson r = 0.40 P < .0001, 2-tailed t test). The R squared of 0.16 means that 16% of the variation in death rates among nations is accounted for by the latitude of the country. Evidence is presented suggesting a direct correlation between sunlight exposure and reduced mortality.

Discussion: This study is the first to document a statistically significant correlation between a country's latitude and its COVID-19 mortality and is consistent with other research regarding latitude, Vitamin D deficiency, and COVID-19 fatalities. Limitations of this study are noted.

Conclusions: Further research is needed to confirm the correlation between latitude and COVID-19 fatalities, and to determine the optimum amounts of safe sunlight exposure and/or vitamin D oral supplementation to reduce COVID-19 fatalities in populations that are at high risk for vitamin D deficiency.

Vitamin D has been know to fight respiratory diseases for years. Research has also shown that those who have low levels of vitamin D have much higher changes of going to the hospital, ICU, and dying with the virus than those who have the correct amount of vitamin D. If one has the correct level of vitamin D your chances of going into the ICU or dying are close to zero.

Years ago I went to the doctor and he checked my blood for this and that including vitamin D. My level was 17. This is NOT good. This is bad. One should be between 30 and 100. Being under 30 increases one's risk with a certain virus. Catching the virus with a level of 17 has a very large probability of a trip to the ICU and death.

I thought my vitamin D levels would have been most excellent due to being outside quite a bit and diet. I was WRONG. I was also tested in the winter...

Years prior to this test, I got Whooping Cough! How was that possible? I have been vaccinated dozens and dozens of times for Whooping Cough including a year to two prior to getting The 100 Day Cough.

My area was having an outbreak and I think I picked it up on the fuel pump handle at the gas station. My vitamin D level almost certainly was low, I did get Whooping Cough in the winter, it is a respiratory illness, and I likely picked up a variant. Ever since, I have been carrying, and using, hand sanitizer when refueling the truck and going to the grocery stores.

In spite of me being at home for close to 100 days with the cough, my family did not get The 100 Day Cough. They have been vaccinated, as had I, so the best we could figure, they did not get Whooping Cough because they had adequate vitamin D levels.

Whooping Cough is THE WORSE illness I have ever had.

Later,
Dan

[C420sailor]

Quite true about the D. Supplementation is important if you can’t get it from foods or the sun.

I live at 41°N, and my doc did a vitamin D test on me a few years back. Very low as well. I’m a 30-something year old, 6’1” and 195lbs, about 10% BF. Ultra runner. Pretty healthy and my levels were trash.

What drives me nuts with this pandemic is that no one came out and pushed fitness, diet, fat loss, etc. General health. It’s like politicians and doctors alike are afraid of telling people that not being a morbidly obese diabetic alcoholic can dramatically improve your chances of shrugging this virus off.

Taboo, I guess.

[RaymondR]

El Pingo,

Let me try to explain to you why many Australians find the behavior of certain of our state premiers and their border closures offensive and I'm going to do it by an appeal to emotion, a technique I generally abhor when involved in rational debate.

You may be aware that one of the border closing culprits has again closed the Queensland/NSW border giving as reason a lack of quarantine facilities. However this closure appears to have been in part in support of a madcap scheme to promote the construction of dedicated quarantine facilities in a place 80 miles distant from the main port of entry.

However this tin pot demagog then allowed about 200 footballers and their wives and children and club officials to enter and use the non existing quarantine facilities to enter "her" state to play a game of football.

Meanwhile her border closure had separated a small boy who was visiting NSW from his parents. The image illustrates the reunion of the small boy with his mother after the three week separation.

By now there will be thousands of examples of the heartbreak being caused by the futile attempts to "eradicate" the virus using state boundaries primarily for political purposes.

Unfortunately our prime minister commits folly to expect the left of politics to cooperate in a combined effort to manage the crisis. The culprits are members of a political organization with a long history of using national crisis to further their political aims.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by dannc

As the doctor should be doing per their national policy on vitamin D supplements. I will talk about my doctor shortly.

Being dark for a part of the year does not matter for vitamin D update from the sun. Which is surprising to me but I learned that the hard way.

For most of the YEAR, being north of 37 degrees, means there is little to no vitamin D production from the sun.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/stayi...more-vitamin-d

All of Europe, but the tip of southern Spain, does not get enough UV, except for the summer months, for people to produce vitamin D. This is why people used to eat Cod liver oil, be exposed to sun lamps and why food was, and is, supplemented with vitamin D. But that is not really enough and people should be taking supplements and/or eating fish. They need to get tested to check their vitamin D levels as well.

Flip side, those Down Under can get vitamin D from the sun during the winter as long as they don't lather up in sunscreen. New Zealand, not so much.

I was looking for the information on latitude to fact check myself and found this study published in June of 2020 regarding COVID death rates and countries relationship to the equator, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32599103/

Vitamin D has been know to fight respiratory diseases for years. Research has also shown that those who have low levels of vitamin D have much higher changes of going to the hospital, ICU, and dying with the virus than those who have the correct amount of vitamin D. If one has the correct level of vitamin D your chances of going into the ICU or dying are close to zero.

Years ago I went to the doctor and he checked my blood for this and that including vitamin D. My level was 17. This is NOT good. This is bad. One should be between 30 and 100. Being under 30 increases one's risk with a certain virus. Catching the virus with a level of 17 has a very large probability of a trip to the ICU and death.

I thought my vitamin D levels would have been most excellent due to being outside quite a bit and diet. I was WRONG. I was also tested in the winter...

Years prior to this test, I got Whooping Cough! How was that possible? I have been vaccinated dozens and dozens of times for Whooping Cough including a year to two prior to getting The 100 Day Cough.

My area was having an outbreak and I think I picked it up on the fuel pump handle at the gas station. My vitamin D level almost certainly was low, I did get Whooping Cough in the winter, it is a respiratory illness, and I likely picked up a variant. Ever since, I have been carrying, and using, hand sanitizer when refueling the truck and going to the grocery stores.

In spite of me being at home for close to 100 days with the cough, my family did not get The 100 Day Cough. They have been vaccinated, as had I, so the best we could figure, they did not get Whooping Cough because they had adequate vitamin D levels.

Whooping Cough is THE WORSE illness I have ever had.

Later,
Dan

And I'm above 60N


Reading this, I'm glad I listened to my doc.



Didn't stop me from getting a really bad case of covid in January, 2020. THAT was the worst illness I ever had, and the worst thing about it was the cough. I thought I would cough my lungs out. I didn't sleep for at least a week until my doctor gave me some narcotic cough syrup. Have you ever been a WEEK without sleep? I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

[RaymondR]

Family gathering Australian style.

You cannot see it in the image but there is a plastic wall designating the state border between this man and his wife and other images showing babies being passed between parents over the barrier.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

...........
By now there will be thousands of examples of the heartbreak being caused by the futile attempts to "eradicate" the virus using state boundaries primarily for political purposes.

Unfortunately our prime minister commits folly to expect the left of politics to cooperate in a combined effort to manage the crisis. The culprits are members of a political organization with a long history of using national crisis to further their political aims.

RayR, do you really believe the various states are closing borders for 'primarily for political purposes'?

Like, really believe it! If so, you have any credible evidence to support this claim? Additionally, if you do believe it is politically based, are both sides just as guilty of using a health crisis for poltical purposes or do you think only one side is doing such?

For the record, I think there are thousands of examples of the heartbreak being caused by the futile attempts to "eradicate" the virus using state boundaries primarily for health purposes.

Do I see pollies from both sides sniping at each other - yes I do and it isn't helpful but to be expected (sadly).

Do I read media reports that are clearly biased and offer only one side of the story - yes I do but that is no reason to take the articles as the gospel truth. In fact, just the opposite, it behoves one to seek other views, think critically and not parrot half truths.

It is one thing to criticise the actions of a politician but another to use their actions to promote a political viewpoint. I'm all for the former but not the later (especially on CF).

Correct me if I'm wrong but in reading your recent posts, it appears to me you are critical of the border polices of say the QLD premier because of her party affiliation yet you make no such criticisms of similar border policies of say the TAS premier who is has the opposite party affiliation (what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander).

Lastly, do you think the hard national border is primary in place for health or political reasons?

The questions aren't rhetorical, I'm genuinely interested.