Oz locks down
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-58021718
Australia has deployed hundreds of soldiers to Sydney to help enforce a Covid lockdown.
A Delta outbreak which began in June has produced nearly 3,000 infections and led to nine deaths.
Australian Defence Force soldiers will undergo training on the weekend before beginning unarmed patrols on Monday.
But many have questioned whether the military intervention is necessary, calling it heavy-handed.
The lockdown - in place until at least 28 August - bars people from leaving their home except for essential exercise, shopping, caregiving and other reasons.
Despite five weeks of lockdown, infections in the nation's largest city continue to spread. Officials recorded 170 new cases on Friday.
Soldiers will join police in virus hotspots to ensure people are following the rules, which include a 10km (6.2 miles) travel limit. -
Nine deaths in a major city in more than 30 days and you're using troops to keep people in their homes?
Dude, it's a virus. You can wash, rinse and repeat this darn near forever as the variants arise...
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@jolly said in Oz locks down:
Nine deaths in a major city in more than 30 days and you're using troops to keep people in their homes?
Maybe to keep the toll from going from 9 to 90 or 900? Maybe the Aussies looked around and got respect for Delta and are trying to head it off at the pass?
It's not like Delta hasn't caught everybody else flatfooted. It's like the virus said, "Oh, you think because you've got a vaccine everything is jake now? Watch this."
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What happens as soon as you let people back out of their homes?
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You can slow a virus down, but if you do not have a vaccine that completely works against it and any minor variants, you can't stop it.
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@copper said in Oz locks down:
It depends on your goal.
If you want zero virus transmissions.
Shut down your country.
Close all businesses.
Put everyone out of work.
Allow starvation to kill everyone.
Simple, no more virus transmission.
Well, there were reports the Chinese welded apartment building doors shut in Wuhan and let nature take its course...
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@copper said in Oz locks down:
It depends on your goal.
If you want zero virus transmissions.
Shut down your country.
Close all businesses.
Put everyone out of work.
Allow starvation to kill everyone.
Simple, no more virus transmission.
That would kill the virus as well. The virus is a living organism with as much of a right to life as any other. There are ethical and environmental considerations here beyond our selfish fixation on humans.