Macca

As for a new variant ... when we get to September next season we might be having to deal with a new more potent covid variant (that is more contageous and debilitating) Or the variant we have at the moment - Delta According to the AFL and their 'Show must go on' mantra, that effectively means that (for instance) 6 or more players could be ruled ineligible to play on the day of a match. That includes the GF In overseas sports the game often involves 'squads' rather than our way which often surrounds best 12-15 or at the very least, best 22 So that is the covid connection and until we hear otherwise, that connection stays In my view, we need some wiggle room rather than a blanket rule. We could easily end up in a farcical situation otherwise

That doesn't surprise me but let's just for a moment imagine that we took up a stance of completely ignoring covid along with not bothering with vaccines The disease would be completely out of control, our hospitals full of covid patients with ICU units overflowing The elderly would be dying by the truckload and chaos would reign supreme The young being effected by the constant covid talk is unavoidable. The vaccines offer hope but that's not the end of it. So like it or not, we still had to act. And there cannot be half measures either. We have reacted here in the same way as nearly every country has. Lockdowns, vaccinations, the whole box and dice A lot of the decisions made have been forced upon us. The reaction from around the world (apart from the deniers) has been to fight back against covid. And when new strains emerge, we have to keep upping the ante. Annoying and time consuming but necessary This thread doesn't attract the majority of people here. In fact, most avoid this thread in my view. Can't say I blame them either My advice is that if talking about covid is bothersome, don't open the thread Different viewpoints? I welcome them

Personally, I'm able to cope quite well and lockdowns are good for my business But the young deserve a world that they can live in free of undue worry. I'm a parent and as a parent, I'd like to imagine that our politicians can lead and govern without any self interest Morrison banning those international flights aids all the State governments especially here in Victoria (where we do not want any more lockdowns) We need all our governments both State & Federal to work together I understand the whole numbers bit and the likelyhood of death through covid but the undeniable stat that can't be ignored is how our hospitals could easily be overrun if Covid runs rampant (the overseas models as the pointer) ICU units included So with Delta and our high vaccination rate it is looking like a manageable situation but we don't need another stronger strain of covid Morrison has made the right move. As previously stated, you don't invite trouble If the new strain turns out to be no more dangerous than Delta, all that will have happened is the cautious card being played. No harm done

Covid seems to have it's own unique set of rules regarding time ... one day seems like a week or longer, Dante Anyway, it's good to see good old Scotty go from 'No concern' to 'We are concerned' in the space of 24 hours. And Dan was probably getting mildly excited where he might have been able to enact his new pandemic rules. Lockdown Dan will have to bide his time for now Mind you, there are 20 from South Africa in isolation up in NT. With one positive case ... lets hope it's not 'Omicron' and that others from that plane load all test negative But this Omicron variant will find it's way here soon enough ... fingers crossed it's no more dangerous than the Delta variant

3 months off which included a huge loss of earnings amounting to hundreds of 1000's was punishment enough And I can't back a winner today Gorg ... no good!

No one is calling for a lockdown

It's a new variant so we adjust our thinking accordingly ... we are not dealing with old info

Yes ... clamp down on a number of International flights until we find out more info on the new variant Or take your chances and ignore (and hope for the best)

The issue at hand is whether we ban travel from 6 African countries The to and fro with regards to nearly everything else belongs in the general discussion area And yes, it is related to footy because if we get a new strain, all bets are off

It's not about politics or which side one supports ... it's about governance We all deserve better. One side pulls the trigger too quickly and the other sits on their hands too much Each issue is separate so in my view, we should be closing our borders to these African nations where this new variant has emerged. Morrison needs to use some common sense. What is the rest of the world doing? And of course it's footy related because if we need any more lockdowns possibly dealing with a stronger strain of covid, we're going to need hubs etc and we go through the whole process again and again. Another interrupted season With the Delta variant only and because of our high vaccination rate, we've got a chance at managing the whole situation Better to be safe than sorry The World Health Orginisation has now identified the new strain as a variant of concern ... calling it 'Omicron' And closing the border to 6 African nations is not panicking

Singapore, Japan, Netherlands & soon enough the whole EU and probably the USA as well (cutting off flights from 6 African nations) Morrison is saying that there is nothing to be concerned about unless there is something to be concerned about. Yes, Prime Minister We are a highly vaccinated country but you don't invite trouble. There's a chance this new variant could lessen the effectiveness of vaccines (apart from a whole lot of other factors)

The UK has just closed its borders to 6 African countries. Not time to panic but it is time to act (and swiftly) We should follow suit with regards to our borders

Could be the D/land NFL tipping comp curse at work t_u Those who have won have often struggled the following season (although Gorg did go back-to-back and Clint has buttered up well after his 2 wins) But all the others have not even gotten on the podium the following year

So a few days after Jamie Kah wins her day in the Supreme Court, Racing Victoria decides to make Jamie ineligible to win the Jockey Premiership Never mind that Jamie has served a 3 month disqualification and never once complained It's a poor move by RV in my opinion. Petulent & spiteful with no need Jamie would get much better treatment in NSW ... the champion jockey could take her talents to the Northern beaches and who could blame her? It's any wonder that NSW & Sydney racing is fast becoming the No.1 destination in Australia

And the overseas model of players missing games through covid is what will happen here It seems they just get on with it and in one game last year the Denver Broncos (NFL) took the field with a makeshift Quarter Back More so a case of you win some, you lose some but the reaction will be different in footy re Star players missing big games and finals (especially a GF) And covid will be popping up everywhere regardless of all the precautions in place. Of course, many contracting covid will be fully vaccinated

Stafford has 3 wins at Lambeau in the last 6 seasons. Not too shabby, all things considered Although Rodgers was injured early in 1 loss and was out injured for another of the losses Playing all those years in Detroit, Stafford will be well used to inclement weather

@Gorgoroth @Dappa Dan @DeeSpencer @JV7 @Dee Zephyr @Go the Biff @titan_uranus @Clintosaurus @DemonDave @layzie Go the Biff has made a decisive move in the tipping comp! Passing 'Chiquita Lodge', Gorg has also moved up from midfield. Backmarkers DemonDave, layzie & Macca have made their moves as well It's a bunched field but we're only 2/3rds of the way through the race Leaderboard - Tipping Comp 8 - Go the Biff, 6 - Clintosaurus, JV7, Gorgoroth 5 - Dee Zephyr, DemonDave, layzie, Macca 3 - titan_uranus, DeeSpencer Freezing cold & snowing up at Lambeau to a point where there is a sheep weather alert ... that includes Rams so venture forward with trepidation, LA! 1 point only to play for this week so good luck

If people are wondering why we are still getting a number of covid cases in Victoria, there are at least 7 municipalities that are lagging behind the rest with regards to vaccination rates The following percentages and real numbers apply to those aged 16 and over It's important to note that Victoria overall is sitting at 89.60% fully vaccinated Yarra 75.3% (approximately 22,000 people not fully vaccinated) Stonnington 80.2% (20,000) Darebin 79.0% (30,000) Maribyrnong 81.20% (15,000) Melbourne 72.9% (46,000) Moreland 80.3% (31,000) Port Phillip 77.9% (23,000) As as we've seen from the overseas models, even 80% vaccinated just isn't a big enough percentage to quell covid And nearly all of those municipalities listed above are inner city and high density Other patterns within those municipalities could be indentified as well Footnote; The percentages and real numbers are based on historic population numbers for each of the municipalities ... and those numbers might be a bit skewed with the (now) lower numbers of overseas students. So for instance, the numbers for 'Melbourne' may or may not be correct

Not vaccinated, no entry. Not a threat, common sense. Greater good and all that. We are still in the mode of curtailing the spread of covid (for good reason) I'm not really into handouts but maybe some sort of taxation break to push things closer ... dangle some sort of carrot You got any ideas apart from a cash incentive?... didn't Albanese have an idea to offer $350 per person to hurry things along? My preference is 100% double vaxxed and I've noticed we've achieved that percentage for first dose in the nations capital. Seems a stretch but surely we can get to 97% if 95% is achievable While I've got you LDvC ... if we assume that covid positive footy players have to sit it out, do we do the same with close contact players to that covid positive player? (or players) Coaches as well? What if that scenario happens on the morning of a match? If we have hard and fast rules then the teams are going to have players in and out of the side (remembering that double vaxxed players can still contract covid)

The 2nd paragragh I agree with ... so many unknowns abound. Here in Australia though (sport aside) we'll have a much easier time of it For instance, if we had pro-rata cases similar to the UK (over 44,000 covid cases today) we'd be pushing 20,000 cases per day (140,000 in a week) Then our hospitals would be at breaking point ... but we're heading towards 95% double vaxxed so in my view, we won't hit those sorts of numbers at all With regards to Molnupiravir, yes there will be issues of availability but it's still a huge game-changer. How many do we have at high risk in ICU? We should be able to look after the extreme cases (if we keep the covid numbers down) Google up Fareed Zakaria for his views on the new antiviral medication

You worry too much dieter Deal with what you need to deal with and stop concerning yourself with doomsday thinking

With regards to the footy re covid Crowds will be back but capacity crowds can't be expected or to be concerned about (at least in the short term) A certain percentage will be covid-shy and won't want to be subjected to crowded situations (more so the over 55's) That thinking could change though if the covid cases drop to much lower levels (specifically here in Victoria and to a lesser extent, NSW*) And more people are now used to watching live sport at home in HD on huge screens ... a much cheaper alternative I can see membership sales being maintained and/or increased though (across the board) That connection and support will be continued We could hit 60k-65k members but will we pack out the MCG consistently? Initially yes but after that? *A healthy attendance of 24k attended the Western Sydney Wanderers vs Sydney FC game last night

And I cannot blame anyone for talking through their hip-pocket. A lot of people have gone out of business because of the lockdowns You just have to let people vent in these special circumstances I know a couple who own a gym and there were a few times where they were staring at bankruptcy... somehow they have scraped through (but they are heavily out-of-pocket) One of 1000's of stories ... their dreams squashed. They either do something else or start all over again Part of the protest group? High probability for many (in my view)

And let's not forget the huge game-changer ... Molnupiravir. Already available for emergencies and just approved in the UK And I don't even want to think about a new strain IRW ... all bets are off if that happens!

My only concern is that unless those 12yo or younger get vaccinated they have a greater chance of contracting the disease (albeit in a much milder way) More so aged 5 - 11 And of course if they bring the disease home to unvaccinated family members, the disease keeps spreading There was an article about a week or 2 ago where high profile health professionals from 4 effected countries warned Australia about the measures we still had to put in place ... one of those measures was to get the young vaccinated. The other issues surrounded keeping vigil on safeguards and to not let our guard down But we're coming up to school holidays so I'm expecting a mass vaccination of the children once the new school year starts. There was talk of late 2021 (Pfizer) but no approval yet