General lockdown and COVID-19 discussion

So, how is everyone doing? Anyone on the forum got this newfangled flu yet?

I don't like where this lockdown is going politically and if they want to "skop and donner" people we should start to "skiet and steek" back in my opinion.

Hi Admin.

Both my parents aged 64 returned from Austria 3 weeks ago and developed a flu. We had a high suspicion that it was Corona Virus so they went to get tested and they were both positive. My mom experienced general malaise, sore throat and fever which last for a week and then she was perfect. My dad who was born with 50% of his right lung had the same symptoms but additionally had a cough and shortness of breath. He was admitted to hospital and was given oxygen via a face mask for two days and then made a spontaneous recovery. He cough lingered for a week and his energy levels were low but he eventually recovered back to normal two weeks after the diagnosis.

Both my siblings who study in the UK also tested positive for the virus but displayed no symptoms.

I work in a public hospital and so far we haven't been affected. Only issue we are facing is the lack of masks, gloves etc. because everyone is stealing them and re-using them far too often. Upon driving to work I don't see many police and I am yet to see anyone from the army.

Personally, it seems as if the lock down by the government was meant more for those in townships as opposed to the middle and upper class.

Yeah, This lockdown has been screwing with me mentally alot. Having class online and being TOTALLY alone. Not fun - called my psychologist and suggests that I should go back to using anti depressants and see my shrink again when its done.

Its funny I havent been driving around but i went to do a whole day of shopping and fetching my grandparents meds as well as my dad's trt medication. Quiet - no-one wears masks. Well alot of people dont which i find funny. And i also havent seen a police or army vehicle.

Thinking of maybe just driving to my parents so I wouldnt be so lonely.

Another weird thing is im overeating... pickedup weight. About 2kgs the last few days and it doesnt feel like im trying - think it might be due to the lack of gym. But for now im enjoying my pre winter bulk.

Hope everyone is doing good and not having the blues like I am !

I been chesty for 3 weeks. Felt better a week back n started training, got worse. Went to doc today, he said mild bronchitis. Also said he had lost his first patient to coronavirus today...

My side as well, cops dont seem too worried. Lots ppl walking around, cops doing nothing. Occasionally they will stop or chase ppl.

I'm no expert and not going to pretend that I know anything about virology, but many experts say that the longer you contain a respiratory virus with a lockdown the longer it will take a population to reach herd immunity. I know what they are trying to do with "flattening the curve" and the idea is to not overload the health system, but influenza doesn't overload the health system and this virus is not that much more lethal... if at all. It's only trying to delay the inevitable and in the process completely destroy a suffering economy which in the long term will do far more damage than the virus ever could. We see a "bad flu" every few years and it's part of nature, it has always been like that and will always be like that. I would like to think that evolution is far smarter than a bunch of overreacting politicians and their hidden agendas and the immune systems of healthy people will be there to protect them. Experts say you need to isolate people that are more susceptible to dying which is the elderly and people with underlying health conditions for a few weeks until 80% of a population is immune (about 4 weeks later), but let the rest of the population go on as usual. I think it would have been better to do what they do in Sweden... tell the elderly and vulnerable to protect themselves by staying at home and rather offer them government support where needed instead of now trying to use that money in saving businesses that shouldn't have been forced closed in the first place.

I have absolutely no concerns as far as the virus is concerned, but I am really worried about the restriction on our rights and I'm annoyed as fuck seeing people being so submissive to all sorts of meaningless and overreaching government policies.

I dont know admin, if you see the people in Italy, its sad, doctors there are literally forced to choose whom "to kill" as they cant treat everyone. Vulnerable people to the virus from what i have been reading would be quite a few, myself as well as my wife would be in that category as we both have high bp and she is also diabetic. I personally, in my opinion, think the lockdown is a good thing in trying to save people and have the medical capacity to take care of them when the eventuality of 70% or so of us being affected with it comes around. I guess, being in the "vulnerable category" makes me a little bias..

The crazy thing for me is the fact we have such a contagious disease running around even though we have massive improvements of modern medicine such as vaccines, antibiotics,all sorts of antivirals and we have such a massive pandemic.

a friend of mine who is apart of SA's military intelligence has said to me that according to major 1st world countries intelligence, the crematoriums In Wuhan have spiked an 800% increase in power and gas usage and are now running 24/7. for a country with a population larger than London, that is fucking madness! also the number of cellphones no longer active on the networks. no in china 95% of the population has a cellphone and the government tracks you by that and to have massive number go off the grid just shows you that figures from china have been fudged.

a virus breaks out just before the Chinese new year,in the 2nd biggest manufacturing hub of the world and they have an infection rate and death rate lower than Italy? smell a rat much.


sadly many people are not getting the point of the lockdown and now that it is in the townships, the death rate is going to spike drastically and lockdown is going to be enforced for longer. However the rioting and looting going on is insane. people can't see past their noses. sad

It would be interesting to see proper non-politically motivated studies after this is over, I think the data coming from many countries paint the wrong picture. From what I have read 1-2% will die, that's just the way it is with a respiratory virus and since many countries only test those that already show symptoms it makes the virus look far more lethal than it really is... perhaps?

I agree that the situation in Italy looks bad, but how much of that is truth or media hype I don't know. My perception of this could be wrong, I am wrong many times per day... but I have allot more faith in nature than in any government of news report.

Empire wrote: The crazy thing for me is the fact we have such a contagious disease running around even though we have massive improvements of modern medicine such as vaccines, antibiotics,all sorts of antivirals and we have such a massive pandemic.

I don't find that very surprising considering that we have an influenza pandemic every year and a new virus every 10-15 years or so... evolution is just doing it's thing.

Empire wrote: a friend of mine who is apart of SA's military intelligence has said to me that according to major 1st world countries intelligence, the crematoriums In Wuhan have spiked an 800% increase in power and gas usage and are now running 24/7. for a country with a population larger than London, that is fucking madness! also the number of cellphones no longer active on the networks. no in china 95% of the population has a cellphone and the government tracks you by that and to have massive number go off the grid just shows you that figures from china have been fudged.

That's very interesting, I'm sure China is not reporting accurate data at all. Many large factories are starting back up though, so it's probably not as bad as in the west currently. Some claim that China already reached a herd immunity level that slows down new infections dramatically.

Empire wrote: sadly many people are not getting the point of the lockdown and now that it is in the townships, the death rate is going to spike drastically and lockdown is going to be enforced for longer. However the rioting and looting going on is insane. people can't see past their noses. sad

I agree that the death toll among the poor, people with malnutrition and immune suppressive diseases will be high... however a lockdown does not work in a township and it won't stop an airborne virus at all if your neighbour lives 2m from you. If a 3 week lockdown does not stop the spread then a 3 year lockdown won't help either. It will just cause more unrest I think.

but there has been a report of reinfection rate of about 18% to people who have had it. we don't know if the virus is going to mutate, and if you can get it multiple times so there is also that. but also with inaccurate reporting is there really a herd immunity or is there a lot of hidden details? we will never know.

vladtheimpaler wrote: Hope everyone is doing good and not having the blues like I am !

Good luck and if you can get to your parents without getting into trouble then I would think that's a good idea.

Empire wrote: but there has been a report of reinfection rate of about 18% to people who have had it. we don't know if the virus is going to mutate, and if you can get it multiple times so there is also that. but also with inaccurate reporting is there really a herd immunity or is there a lot of hidden details? we will never know.

Yep, I don't know and just speculating. I'm sure new evidence will surface for many years after all this.

What I do know is that I don't feel comfortable with the power-trip that Bheki Cele **** is on or many of the other government policies that is stepping on our civil rights.

yea I agree, it is madness and it bullshit the way they carry on. the abuse of people isn't warranted.

I agree with admin. Media will only show you what they want to tho. Within an instant the 1% that controls this population put us under lockdown and we accepted it with a nice big smile. If they can do that to us they can literally play monopoly with us, just my opinion tho. I've just never trusted media that only shows us what they want us to see and a government that only cares if their own stomach is full while the rest of the world starve.

Thanks admin. Just drove to my parents place. And i immediately felt the joy to reunite with my love. My doggo made me happy the moment i walked it. She went berserk. Lol

Just a little rant. Drove past big intersections and damn i got triggered seeing beggers and streetsellers still standing there doing business. Looks like the police is literally doing nothing here in Pretoria.

Interesting thing I also just read was the Crusaders team was found training during quarantine in the open. I find that this is quite unfair to other teams. If they took the new zealand shooting so seriously to change their logo i think they should also take the virus just as serious.

Wonder what the union is going to say.

Very interesting video and some theories regarding the situation in Italy.

vladtheimpaler wrote: Thanks admin. Just drove to my parents place. And i immediately felt the joy to reunite with my love. My doggo made me happy the moment i walked it. She went berserk. Lol

Great stuff.

vladtheimpaler wrote: Drove past big intersections and damn i got triggered seeing beggers and streetsellers still standing there doing business. Looks like the police is literally doing nothing here in Pretoria.

To be honest, they will have nothing to eat unless they are on the street begging and I guess hunger kills much quicker than COVID-19. What got them into that situation in the first place is another discussion for another day.

vladtheimpaler wrote: Interesting thing I also just read was the Crusaders team was found training during quarantine in the open. I find that this is quite unfair to other teams. If they took the new zealand shooting so seriously to change their logo i think they should also take the virus just as serious.

Wonder what the union is going to say.

I'm sure they will get plenty of bad publicity.

This isn't a conspiracy. We shouldn't be resisting the lockdown at this moment in time - this is not some government plan to keep anyone anywhere. It is a serious situation and it is ludicrous that people are not taking it seriously and mucking about in public. However, the current lockdown lacks a lot of foresight.

I have heard from somebody "in the know" that this will be extended by a week - a prediction I had beforehand that is simply a result of taking this situation on a weekly basis. The extension is inevitable.

The argument of herd immunity by getting EVERYONE infected is erroneous. We should focus on the healthy population running things and building immunity before introducing high risk populations back into the "herd".

However, given the guidance and decisions are made by unaware people is worrying.
I hope our measures work despite the lack of evidence proving its efficacy.

I hope everyone deals with this anxiety in this crappy time.

EDIT: Not sure anyone's personal experiences with online shopping - I am furious with Woolworths, a company that charges people pretty crazy prices cannot make a plan to contribute to the community in such a time with waiting times that are ludicrous. They can make a plan but they don't care about community.. It is all about the $$
Fuck em

Admin if i have it correct. The government did make provision for the to go to soup kitchens and kept a budget for it. Im furious because itwasnt implemented. But if i am mistaken they have my sympathies.

admin wrote: Very interesting video and some theories regarding the situation in Italy.

His statistics seem a lot more reasonable than most clout chasing "professionals".

The issue with Italy is largely due to the dense % of high risk population. I am not confident all this testing in certain countries is as wide spread as claimed. However after this fiasco we will see % much lower than 5%. Germany actually has figures a lot closer to a realistic figure as testing is more widespread and is indicating the isolation lockdown is not effective (unless it is a complete lockdown - no one in or out of their homes).

vladtheimpaler wrote: Admin if i have it correct. The government did make provision for the to go to soup kitchens and kept a budget for it. Im furious because itwasnt implemented. But if i am mistaken they have my sympathies.

Agree.

I saw beggars etc.
The police needs to crackdown. Send people to jail and give big fines - let's see how many smart inconsiderate fucks go out.

The issue is poverty and townships etc. 10 people living in one room... We do not have the capacity to handle it. So what is being done? Who knows... nothing is being done

I am strongly opposed to the lockdown even-though I do abide by the rules, for now.

MPhilosopher, check the video I posted above... it contains some really good arguments on the other side of the mainstream noice out there and from 25:00 there's a discussion about the disastrous impact a lockdown may have and that some simulation models predict a lockdown can last for 18 months if you decide to go down that route. We will not survive that.

vladtheimpaler wrote: Admin if i have it correct. The government did make provision for the to go to soup kitchens and kept a budget for it. Im furious because itwasnt implemented. But if i am mistaken they have my sympathies.

You're right, that's a valid point and I missed that.

admin wrote: I am strongly opposed to the lockdown even-though I do abide by the rules, for now.

MPhilosopher, check the video I posed above when you get a chance... it contains some really sane arguments on the other side of the mainstream noice out there and from 25:00 there's a discussion about the disastrous impact a lockdown may have and that some simulation models predict a lockdown can last for 18 months if you decide to go down that route. We will not survive that.

Yep heard it (will listen again) and I also agree with you that the lockdown is not optimal. But it only might work if EVERYONE abides.
I agree, we are fucking up our economy at a cost we do not understand. We cannot quantify who we are helping and if we are even limiting the spread. I believe the lockdown was essential in this country.- I cannot expect out govt to do anything near optimal (especially when 1st world countries are also far from optimal)

I think the lockdown was the right call at the time from the governments point of view, but if it fails it will be very unwise to extend it because when a solution fails there is no point repeating it just so that it can fail again...