COVID-19 Stuff Here

[Braveheart81]

If they think the rules are actually worth enforcing they have the tools to enforce those rules.

When there was the anti lockdown protests, they seem to have the tools, the amount of tools needed is just maths and logistics

They let protests go ahead a weekend or so ago with no major interference from what I can gather.

Is it really in the government's interests to crack down hard on protests relating primarily to the treatment of black people by law enforcement? It seems like it would be a massive own goal.

 

[Up the Guts]

I’d say letting a mass gathering go ahead while trying to enforce social distancing laws is a pretty massive own goal.

At least when this thing goes ahead despite the threats from government it might wake up some of the proles.

 

[fatprop]

They let protests go ahead a weekend or so ago with no major interference from what I can gather.

Is it really in the government's interests to crack down hard on protests relating primarily to the treatment of black people by law enforcement? It seems like it would be a massive own goal.

So the "politics" is now more important than the "pandemic" ..............................


Cool so let's all socially distance at a few rugby matches

This whole thing is stupid

 

[Aurelius]

It’s really not..... how do you propose they stop the protestors from gathering?

It’s only hypocritical if they support or promote the rally, which they’re not - the government’s message is for people not to attend.

The government's message is for people not to attend?

Well, that's rather undercut by the fact that the police have already stated that they won't be issuing any fines for those who do.

Making a demand of the public that they know will be widely ignored and that they won't enforce when it is - that's incredibly disingenuous.

If the government is going to start selectively applying which social distancing measures it's going to enforce, then all that does is prove how arbitrary many of them are and why (certainly at this point in time) they're really not worth a damn.

 

[Braveheart81]

I'm not really sure cracking skulls at a protest rally achieves social distancing either.

 

[fatprop]

I'm not really sure cracking skulls at a protest rally achieves social distancing either.

Pretty sure if Hillsong had an outside meeting, there would be plenty clammering for heads to be cracked

 

[Up the Guts]

I'm not really sure cracking skulls at a protest rally achieves social distancing either.

You don't need to crack skulls. You just need the threat of fines/punishment and most will stay away. Basically all policing works on this panopticon approach where the threat of punishment is all that is needed to keep the majority of the population acquiescent.

 

[Slim 293]

You don't need to crack skulls. You just need the threat of fines/punishment and most will stay away. Basically all policing works on this panopticon approach where the threat of punishment is all that is needed to keep the majority of the population acquiescent.

Do you honestly believe that? Especially considering the subject of the planned protests?

 

[Up the Guts]

Do you honestly believe that? Especially considering the subject of the planned protests?

Yes, I think it unlikely that 30 000 turn up if it is made unlawful.

 

[Slim 293]

Well, it seems to be a moot point anyways as Vic Police have threatened fines, and NSW police have gone to the Supreme Court to get the Sydney protest shut down.............

We’ll see if it has any impact on numbers, but in this case I suspect the Melbourne forecast will play a more determining factor than police threats.

 

[Froggy]

Be interesting to see what happens in NSW. Gladys has very specifically banned the protests, which in light of the rules everyone else has to obey is perfectly reasonable.
The really interesting bit will be how she goes about enforcing this. The left will be outraged if there is any police attempt to tell them to go home, the right will be looking for the rubber bullets if they don't disperse. Hopefully our police force will have the skills needed to disperse the crowd with minimum confrontation. That will be difficult of course because there will be those among the protesters whose mission will be to provoke a confrontation.

 

[boyo]

'Can't quite believe it': New Zealand tiptoes towards elimination of coronavirus

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...nd-tiptoes-towards-elimination-of-coronavirus

 

[fatprop]

No evidence of secondary transmission of COVID-19 from children attending school in Ireland, 2020

They tracked six confirmed cases in a school setting and didn't find one further transmission within the school. There were over 1000 contacts.

https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.21.2000903

 

[Aurelius]

I may have experience peak Covidiocy this morning. I tried having breakfast at a restaurant I've been to several times before, but my coffee was brought in a takeaway cup and my meal was brought in a cardboard takeaway tray with plastic cutlery.

I find it impossible to believe that anyone's gotten sick from using stainless steel knives and forks to eat off porcelain, but all this place has achieved is pretty much guaranteeing that I'll never bother eating there again.

What a load of rubbish.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Where's the hypocrisy being complained of when the protest meeting was banned by the Supreme Court and the Government urged people not to attend? Simply in the decision not to fine or take action? When that was the only pragmatic course really open to them.

If FP, FF (Folau Fainga'a) and Aurelius, and other critics of the restrictions placed on the spread of the virus, feel so strongly, maybe they should be organising their own protest meetings knowing that, although illegal, no action will be taken against them if the numbers turn up. Would probably even achieve something useful if it was linked to rugby in some fashion - maybe a march to the ground at the first non-spectator game?

EDIT : just saw that the ban was overturned in the Appeals Court. Probably confirms no action to be taken against protesters to be the correct course. Still think a march on the first game could have legs.

 

[fatprop]

Where's the hypocrisy being complained of when the protest meeting was banned by the Supreme Court and the Government urged people not to attend? Simply in the decision not to fine or take action? When that was the only pragmatic course really open to them.

If FP, FF (Folau Fainga'a) and Aurelius, and other critics of the restrictions placed on the spread of the virus, feel so strongly, maybe they should be organising their own protest meetings knowing that, although illegal, no action will be taken against them if the numbers turn up. Would probably even achieve something useful if it was linked to rugby in some fashion - maybe a march to the ground at the first non-spectator game?

EDIT : just saw that the ban was overturned in the Appeals Court. Probably confirms no action to be taken against protesters to be the correct course. Still think a march on the first game could have legs.

You can't insist one day that large groups are literally killing granny and then allow thousands to group up. It seems numbers and the reason for the protest will protect you from harm of infection. Who knew

Yesterday we we had massive protests in the same area where we had stores and restaurants having to limit capacity or face fines

You just can't have both

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

..... the ban was overturned in the Appeals Court......

Do we know why?

 

[formerflanker]

Do we know why?

“IT’S THE VIBE OF IT. IT’S THE CONSTITUTION. IT’S MABO. IT’S JUSTICE. IT’S LAW. IT’S THE VIBE AND AH, NO THAT’S IT. IT’S THE VIBE. I REST MY CASE.”

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

You can't insist one day that large groups are literally killing granny and then allow thousands to group up. It seems numbers and the reason for the protest will protect you from harm of infection. Who knew

Yesterday we we had massive protests in the same area where we had stores and restaurants having to limit capacity or face fines

You just can't have both

That's where I stand. We can either be enforcing social distancing or we can have mass protests but we can't practically have both. I have no issue with people protesting at all, it's their right to do so, but come on. If this isn't going to be stopped by law enforcement or the Courts then let's everyone go back to normal.

 

[Ignoto]

Do we know why?

The CoA will publish their reasoning next week.

I agree that it's an important issue that needs to be discussed, but not at this time. What makes the protest even worse is, the audience it's aimed at helping are more than twice as likely to die from respiratory diseases than non-indigenous people.

Add in the evidence we've seen from other countries that diabetics and those with heart disease have a higher mortality rate with this virus, which are huge problems with the indigenous population. Perhaps we'll be lucky with so few cases of COVID that these protests won't be as problematic as we think.

Looking at the sheer numbers that turned out, other than bringing the army in, there's not much the police could have done other than to help minimise the impact (i.e. Qld Police were providing masks to the public). The Police have also fined the organisers up here with a failure to keep social distance, which is probably as much as you could reasonably expect them to do.

For Qld at least, the Anti-Lockdown/5G/Vaccers were treated the same way that the BLM protesters were. So those complaining about consistency can put their pitchforks down.