An obvious fix for the pandemic.

[dontmissthese]

Mostly restrict oldies to home quarantine after first establishing an efficient

home delivery system for essentials. 

Let all the young ones just go for it and get the economy rolling again.

Some will die but the flu also kills at about the same rate and it's usually

people with a pre-existing condition which makes them vulnerable so what

COVID-19 doesn't get the flu will.

For the most part it will be a mild case of the flu and we having been living

this way since the Spanish Flu pandemic.

The most vulnerable group ( oldies ) will be protected until a vaccine is developed.

We would have to FaceTime our relatives. A small price to pay for the good of mostly all.

Any oldies caught outdoors without an 'effective' face mask will be stripped of excursion rights.

The alternative is sending our country broke.

If put to a vote then most oldies ( including me ) would vote yes.

[tasfleur]

Quite frankly, I think it is 'warped thought' crazies who think the way they do that are more dangerous to humanity than any virus could be as a threat to innocent people ... 

Your "solution" reads like certain paragraphs from Mein Kampf!

[springyzone]

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@dontmissthese wrote:

Mostly restrict oldies to home quarantine after first establishing an efficient

home delivery system for essentials. 

Let all the young ones just go for it and get the economy rolling again.

Some will die but the flu also kills at about the same rate and it's usually

people with a pre-existing condition which makes them vulnerable so what

COVID-19 doesn't get the flu will.

For the most part it will be a mild case of the flu and we having been living

this way since the Spanish Flu pandemic.

The most vulnerable group ( oldies ) will be protected until a vaccine is developed.

We would have to FaceTime our relatives. A small price to pay for the good of mostly all.

Any oldies caught outdoors without an 'effective' face mask will be stripped of excursion rights.

The alternative is sending our country broke.

If put to a vote then most oldies ( including me ) would vote yes.

---

I think the main thing you have missed is the government is quite prepared to see the virus spread through the community. Resigned might be a better word. But what they are trying to do is slow the spread a bit so that our medical facilities can cope.

The young do seem to get through this better (unlike the spanish flu which hit a lot of healthy young adults) but all the same, they are not invincible and some will need intensive care to pull them through. That's the main thing, I think. To allow the virus to tick along to some extent but not to overwhelm the hospitals all at once.

The government so far has allowed a lot of industry to keep on keeping on. It hasn't been a complete shut down.

As for the oldies, I think we should give people a bit of a choice. You say strip people of excursion rights if they are without an effective mask. Where do you suggest they get one from? I haven't seen any in my shops. Others online are a rip off and some elderly don't use the internet.

Many older people are being cautious and are self isolating to a large extent but when things start to ease, they might need to have the choice of whether they see family or not. Expecting complete isolation for 2 years-some may prefer to take their chances, within reason.

[chameleon54]

The economic damage has the potential to cripple us for years to come. I don't think many have woken up to the impact this could have. The decline will be a slow grind, rather than anything quick. The Australian Government has done a pretty reasonable job of containing the economic damage as much as possible, but our wealth is based on exports of bulk commodities. If America tanks and Europe declines dramatically ( and Europe was already pretty sick before COVID 19 ) it will drag our economy into the doldrums for years. 

Add in the loss of so many small Australian businesses and employees who provide much of Australia's tax, the inevitable reduction in wages and reduced global demand for bulk commodities and the revenue streams for government look horrific.

This is all coming at a time when we need to pay off the mammoth debts accumulated through stimulus packages. Things look pretty grim for Government expenditure on Public servants wages and social security payments going forward.

It might all be rosy now while we are recieving $750 stimulus payments and " double dole ", but the sting in the tail is still to come and will probably result in extreme poverty for low income households for decades. Its actually quite a frightening prospect.

[rogespeed]

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@chameleon54 wrote:

As '' out there " as the OP's post is, it is highly likely to be the outcome regardless. It wont be stated by politicians or made obvious, it will just happen.

Most older people I know ( 70 + ) are already voluntarily isolating. I suspect most will keep isolating voluntarily until the virus no longer poses a threat. Governments around the world will start to remove restrictions in the months ahead as the train crash of economic oblivion that is heading our way becomes obvious to the public.

So what you will see is younger people out and about with some getting the virus and building herd immunity while the senior citizens self isolate at home.

We still don't have vaccines for SARS and MERS, two similar and most recent virus to COVID 19 and we cant all simply stay locked in our houses for years waiting in the hope that a vaccine will be developed for COVID 19.

The collateral loss of life from depression, loneliness, suicide, lack of regular medical care for other conditions ( as people are too afraid to attend medical clinics ) , domestic violence, rise in obesity and general mental health decline will be worse than the virus itself if this goes on for many months. Not to mention the collapse of our economic systems which will exacerbate the decline in mental health and suicide as well as causing threats to food stability. 

The threat to food stability is already happening as weedicide and fertiliser production and distribution have already been effected by international production and transport disruptions, as has transport and down stream processing of food products. Australian Wheat prices have currently spiked to near record levels as a result of looming world shortages being factored into international markets.

---

Some sectors of the Australian economy is actually booming ie mining , as for the rest is a matter of adapting to the new realities and getting on with trading ie making availability of goods and services easier for consumers-in-local-isolation to access , rather than sitting on hands for govt subsistence support and waiting for pandemic to subside assuming that everything should be the same

Seize the moment and prosper !  

[myoclon1cjerk]

No problems. 15% GST here we come.

[rogespeed]

---

@chameleon54 wrote:

The economic damage has the potential to cripple us for years to come. I don't think many have woken up to the impact this could have. The decline will be a slow grind, rather than anything quick. The Australian Government has done a pretty reasonable job of containing the economic damage as much as possible, but our wealth is based on exports of bulk commodities. If America tanks and Europe declines dramatically ( and Europe was already pretty sick before COVID 19 ) it will drag our economy into the doldrums for years. 

Add in the loss of so many small Australian businesses and employees who provide much of Australia's tax, the inevitable reduction in wages and reduced global demand for bulk commodities and the revenue streams for government look horrific.

This is all coming at a time when we need to pay off the mammoth debts accumulated through stimulus packages. Things look pretty grim for Government expenditure on Public servants wages and social security payments going forward.

It might all be rosy now while we are recieving $750 stimulus payments and " double dole ", but the sting in the tail is still to come and will probably result in extreme poverty for low income households for decades. Its actually quite a frightening prospect.

---

Not if we adapt to the new realities - Commercially do we  cower in the bunker or attempt to cultivate the wasted land of established trade and commerce ? 

[dontmissthese]

Maybe keep the 10% but drop the ridiculous exclusions ( thanks to the Greens )

and apply it to every bloody thing.

[tasfleur]

More likely to be 20%, but hopefully it won't be forever ... 

[rogespeed]

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@tasfleur wrote:

More likely to be 20%, but hopefully it won't be forever ... 

---

GST 20% - not required . the coronavirus mitigation is 320 Billion $ which is about 16.4% of annual GDP , which is extra debt of about $12,000 per citizen - and with mining booming .... 

[myoclon1cjerk]

I wouldn't be surprised at all if Morrison, Cormann and Frydenberg have already discussed raising the GST. It's a perfect scenario to "sell" it to the public.
What will be interesting is how the government’s going to recoup all that money. Will the general public bear the brunt while business gets an armchair ride,like what happened in the U.S during the GFC?