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Original poster

Who thinks Australia and NZ have got it right ?

999 replies

marilenagrace · 18/04/2021 11:06

What do you think ? Do you think that keeping everyone out of the country is the right approach long term to deal with covid ? Do you wish we did that here in the UK ?

OP posts:
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15
JassyRadlett · 20/04/2021 15:43

I mean no wonder people in other countries think that the UK is currently a post-apocalyptic wasteland with some of the histrionic bullshit that gets posted here...

duffeldaisy · 20/04/2021 15:47

I wish we’d done the same.
Yes, they have strict external borders, but they can live normally while they wait for other countries (ideally to do the same), and help other countries to have vaccines.
Then, as this begins to die out, they will be able to make orders for the most up to date and effective vaccines, and miss out on all the psychological misery of not seeing friends and relatives. I’ve been arguing for proper, strict lockdown from the beginning because then that part is over so fast, rather than these months and probably years of not being able to socialise normally.

ButtonMoony · 20/04/2021 15:47

@JassyRadlett

I mean no wonder people in other countries think that the UK is currently a post-apocalyptic wasteland with some of the histrionic bullshit that gets posted here...
Is "Long Covid" the new "bad back"?

Probably. Easy to fake and difficult to disprove. With an added benefit of being the new in thing for the cool crown to be suffering from.

There are loads of people over the years suffering long term from virus like meningitis and glandular fever. Four weeks is no time for recovery from any virus

Tealightsandd · 20/04/2021 15:49

In the UK (unlike Australia and New Zealand and East Asia) many children have lost a parent to covid.

This poor man died a few days ago. One of many parents to leave behind young children. So sad.

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/dad-three-46-dies-after-20416513

Tealightsandd · 20/04/2021 15:52

Easy to fake

Right. So these poor people suffering debilitating conditions are liars, accordingly to you. Including the doctors who wrote to the BMJ detailing their own personal experiences of it. All liars, you say. Oh, and the heart and lung scans showing damage are all fake too. Says you.

duffeldaisy · 20/04/2021 15:52

“Is "Long Covid" the new "bad back"?

Probably. Easy to fake and difficult to disprove“.

The effects are quite measurable in all those who’ve got lung scarring, heart damage, kidney damage, diabetes or breathing difficulties.

Yes, some will improve, but this isn’t even like “normal” post-viral symptoms. This is potentially life-changing.

duffeldaisy · 20/04/2021 15:54

Plus, there’s a large percentage of medical professionals who are suffering long Covid symptoms. Are you calling them liars too?

Also, back problems can be really debilitating and take a while to mend. Have a bit of compassion.

TheKeatingFive · 20/04/2021 16:15

We just don’t know how big a problem ‘long’ COVID is yet. The data isn’t there. It’s also early days in measuring long term effects.

It’s not helpful to suggest more than a million can’t get out of bed because of it. That obviously isn’t true.

Flyornofly · 20/04/2021 16:30

@duffeldaisy
“ and miss out on all the psychological misery of not seeing friends and relatives”

You’d think you could RTFT which is literally about large numbers of friends & family being separated because of draconian border closures.

And re the aussies looking at the “shit show” here - I wish! My friends & family are in melbourne and as recently as February they were STILL telling me how much worse their lockdown was than our (multiple) lockdown(s). Life has absolutely not been normal for a large chunk of Australians - I lost a friend to suicide myself towards the end of the Victorian lockdown (ofc was not able to travel to the funeral compounding the misery).

Long covid is clearly a nasty thing for some people but is not a reason to lockdown or close borders, particularly in a vaccinated population.

PicsInRed · 20/04/2021 17:14

[quote Tealightsandd]In the UK (unlike Australia and New Zealand and East Asia) many children have lost a parent to covid.

This poor man died a few days ago. One of many parents to leave behind young children. So sad.

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/dad-three-46-dies-after-20416513[/quote]
The vast majority of covid victims were too elderly to have minor children so saying "many" really isn't accurate. Some, yes.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 20/04/2021 17:21

Is "Long Covid" the new "bad back"?

Havent vaccinations improved long Covid in some people?

I’m sort of wondering if this is the end of globalisation....

If virus escapes the vaccines and cases rise again, then hospitals are shafted, and normal medical treatments don’t happen. And this can’t continue indefinitely...

HedgePutty · 20/04/2021 17:41

Of course they have done everything right, their kids are in school, they are having concerts, they can see and hug family.
To those saying we have heard immunity, you know you can catch covid again 6months after having it right?

XiCi · 20/04/2021 17:48

The vast majority of covid victims were too elderly to have minor children so saying "many" really isn't accurate. Some, yes
Exactly. This thread just seems to have been hijacked by a hysterical rant about long covid and young covid victims. The average age of those dying from covid in the UK is 84 years of age. There will always be a rare case of a younger person dying bit this is nowhere near the norm and is the same for all illness. Young people can and do die of the flu. A friend of mine died of pneumonia at 24. And of course some people take longer to recover from viruses than others, sometimes longer term. This is post viral fatigue syndrome, its nothing new and can occur after any virus. And talk of millions being affected is just scare mongering and misinformation.

ButtonMoony · 20/04/2021 18:15

@HedgePutty

Of course they have done everything right, their kids are in school, they are having concerts, they can see and hug family. To those saying we have heard immunity, you know you can catch covid again 6months after having it right?
But they can't travel, haven't been able to for over a year and have no clear plan to allow that to change.

Six months ago if they had planned a world beating vaccine program and a policy to allow travel to resume about now then they would have done everything right.

As it is they have a lot of residents and their families seriously unhappy with the travel restriction which are pretty draconian and have no clear end date.

SaturdayRocks · 20/04/2021 19:21

As it is they have a lot of residents and their families seriously unhappy with the travel restriction which are pretty draconian and have no clear end date.

No, as has been said by those of us actually living in these countries, most of us are fine with it. We understand the need for closed borders to live an otherwise completely normal life. Grateful for a short, sharp lockdown, to be able to send kids to school, see friends and family, go to festivals and concerts, and just be.

And I say this as someone with elderly in-laws in Ireland. It’s not easy for DH not to be able to see them. But he’s not ‘seriously unhappy’ - because the ‘draconian restrictions’ have meant we’ve been living normal lives for months. He feels much luckier than friends and family back in the UK and Ireland.

Once again - the pandemic isn’t going to last forever. The borders will open again.

JassyRadlett · 20/04/2021 19:25

As sharing weblinks to individual stories seems to be all the rage on this thread...

The story of one man trapped abroad by rules that favour the rich.

XiCi · 20/04/2021 19:27

To those saying we have heard immunity, you know you can catch covid again 6months after having it right?
They don't know how long you have immunity for, there's no reliable data yet. 6 months is what appears to be the minimum time. If you do get it again symptoms are usually milder. Dont forget that for the majority symptoms are either very mild or they are asymptomatic. For me it was just a loss of smell and my DH had no symptoms at all. All my friends and family were similar. So I have no concerns about catching it again, the same as I would have no concerns about catching a cold again. And don't forget most people over 45 in the UK have been vaccinated as well so have extra protection

Delatron · 20/04/2021 19:43

T cell immunity from SARS has been shown to last at least 17 years. There’s a lot we don’t know about t-cells and immunity. They play a huge part abs don’t show up on antibody tests.

eaglejulesk · 20/04/2021 20:42

No, they are imprisoning the populations. It's inhumane.

Oh don't talk rubbish.

TattyDevine · 20/04/2021 21:41

They are now threatening citizens who try to travel beyond the New Zealand bubble with prison time 🙄

Tealightsandd · 20/04/2021 21:47

@TattyDevine

They are now threatening citizens who try to travel beyond the New Zealand bubble with prison time 🙄
Shocking. After all the hard work Australia and New Zealand have put it this last year, absolutely shocking that some selfish people (hopefully a small minority) would risk making it all for nothing.

Too right they should be appropriately punished if they do that. Hopefully the deterrent will be enough to stop them. If human decency isn't.

lljkk · 20/04/2021 22:27

What confuses me greatly about TattyDevine's links is...

they are all masked up. I thought life was "pretty much normal"

Why are they all masked on the plane & in the airport?

spottygymbag · 20/04/2021 22:31

Given Australia fines from $300 to $60,000+ for bio security and border breaches in normal times I'm not sure why it's a surprise that they would impose a heavy fine or jail time in these circumstances for breaching border conditions.
And if a traveller flies out via NZ then gets stuck because they can't get back in due to limited quarantine places, expensive flights etc... then what?

MarshaBradyo · 20/04/2021 22:33

How do you fly out? You can’t just jump on a random plane.. should just read article I know