David. As a doctor, you'd make a good vet! And your best skill? Euthanasia? So easy when the patient can't give or deny consent!

I get that you see older folk, mum and dad, grandpa and grandma, with the exception of right-wing pollies, having a use-by date. And like old dogs, need to be put down for the sake of convenience and cost?

After all the average age of those killed by the virus, would seem to be around 80? And like most of your contemporaries, you put no value on the wisdom of age and experience!

That you don't, I believe, process (demonstrable) normal human empathy and therefore specialized in veterinary practice.

I'm glad you're out of politics and are reduced to commenting here to sway or mould public opinion?

Yes, a few birds of a feather will listen and even believe your opinion. But let's understand that is all it is, opinion, that your medical knowledge and training is strictly, non-human.

Suggest you moo-ve on and leave public health as applicable to humans to those who specialize in it. Although you might win a few brownie points for such wonderful, neigh, neigh, 20-20 hindsight!

We'd be better served if your wisdom and intellect were directed at a maximised recovery, rather than this spilled milk shite stirring?

Albeit, you've stirred a few folks who always complain the loudest about stuff they know SFA about? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Woof, woof?
Alan B.

David,

The BLM protests are tending to occur in the big cities. If there is a surge in Covid-19 cases in the big cities, you may be onto something. But I suspect that the surges will come in the next week or two in the more rural areas, in the south, mid-west and west - i.e. amongst Trumpf's main supporters. Then a week or two later, a surge in deaths in those areas. And a panic amongst governors to re-impose restrictions. Oh, Mr Hart, what a mess !

Still, if they all just drank a teaspoonful of bleach or disinfectant every day, or shine a bright light up their arses, they'll be okay. Anyway, it's all a fraud, isn't it ? And no worse than the flu. Never mind, it will all be over by Easter.

Joe

It's a mistake to see the covid-19 response as something entirely unusual.
Imposing restrictions on everyone for fear of the occasional mishap is the normal way of Australian governments. Has been for some time. Even merely hypothesized threats are treated this way.
I'd suggest this has been the way since the Port Arthur shootings. The 'never again' response set the precedent.
The difference with this virus folly is the number of people feeling the impact at one time.
Mostly the 'for our own good' imposts are only felt by a handfull at any time. For example the cost and constraints of hyper safety building codes are only immediately felt when building. Another might be young people trying to get a drivers licence. The burden's only on those few at the time.
Ultimately the full cost's on everyone but fear of the odd thing obscures that.

Agree with David about the naivety of blind observance of these health "experts".
The air of prestige and infallibility held around this profession's dangerously misplaced. They're not better than everyone else. They're not wiser and all knowing and they're certainly not more likely to admit or even realize when they've made a mistake.
The average engineer is just as highly educated and in a field far more wide ranging. He commonly has many lives dependent on his insight but he's not held in anywhere near the high regard the medical professional is. It's quite peculiar.

Its been over 2 months now since I suggested on these pages that the lockdowns were a massive over-reaction to the virus and that we'd be paying for it for two or three generations. Even Morrison is now suggesting that, economically speaking, it'll be years before we get anywhere near where we were pre-lockdown.

But even back then I was pointing out that it was invalid to blame politicians for the initial over-reaction. They were given false information by people who fancied themselves as experts and who scared the governments and public into submitting to their wishes. If we knew then what we know now, the lockdowns wouldn't have occurred or at least would have looked very different.

Remember that the initial aims were to 'flatten the curve' so as to avoid runs on hospitals like those that occurred in Lombardy. But that ought to have lasted two weeks only and that was the initial claim. But then they got so enamoured of these new powers to compel obedience that they just couldn't stop. Even now they only reluctantly surrender their authority to decide who can and can't visit your house.

So the initial reactions were, if not justified, at least understandable given the paucity of information and that that information was usually wrong. But by late March that excuse now longer applied and so all the mayhem that has ensued since then, (which is most of the economic disaster) is squarely on the backs of the various governments around the nation.

I can't help but think that the shellacking Morrison got over the bush-fires made him gun-shy and caused him to show an abundance of caution. Had he not conceded to the 'experts' and the press, every death would have been slated home to him. Yeah, he's up in the polls...coupla million jobs lost is completely worth it.

Did the lockdowns save lives? Probably. Could they have been saved via other, less totalitarian means. Almost certainly.

Oh I see loudmouth is here again burbling on about the deaths in the US and how its all Trump's fault, or something.

But I've learned from experience that all you have to do is mention New York and LM runs a mile.

So LM, let's talk about New York....oh bye.

David,

Fact checking is becoming even more necessary in this world we live in. Those who rely on media reports, and what you have heard, are often misled.

May be of interest, is the practice of shutting down intensive animal enterprises to reduce disease burdens in the flock. Government regulation even mandate such responses with industry support.

Diseases such as Newcastle Disease have government enforced destruction of millions of livestock and quarantine of farms for 2 plus years in Australia.

Likewise risk management is an integral part of medicine.
Many of us less fortunate than yourself have had to to recognize the prevalence of side effects and risks of of treatments such as surgery and drug treatments. With advice of the doctors about risks, we can ignore a doctors advice. I am in a the minority with serious side effects from treatment but I am grateful for the disease control achieved and the doctors advice to proceed with my treatment.

With highly infectious diseases like SARs 2 early action and an abundance of caution is the only sensible reaction in the face of the limited knowledge, about the disease or, population compliance.

Past experience shows people and countries can recover and prosper after economic shocks much worse than the rules imposed on Australians.