the federal government officially abandoned zero covid early after delta's inception, and a long way before omicron. managed re-opening is the norm now in australia and new zealand. it was the proposed policy of the CCP too, but it's foreseeable that they will u-turn and flop on this until the olympics are done. totalitarian countries are politically threatened by this thing in direct proportion to how much social control they exert: draconian restrictions plus failures of containment is a major legitimacy crisis for any regime.
dilbert is still calling for zero-covid or suppression strategies, despite the leaders of aus/NZ both publicly saying they don't work or justify their huge social and economic costs anymore.
even with closed borders, the minimal amount of cross-border traffic, in persons and in goods, that still must occur in order for modern states to function is evidently enough for escapes and leaks. even with long and strict quarantines, there are still exceptional cases of escape. with delta+omicron, that's basically game over for contact tracing. they are simply too infectious. hence zero covid as a viable strategy belongs in the dustbin.
the problem is dilbert and his ilk can't produce any constructive alternative. he puts his head in the sand and pretends that every country, everywhere, can close their borders permanently without any hit to their economies or functioning. he seriously maintains that the only people who need open borders are selfish backpackers and tourists. it's utterly bizarre. this is whilst he orders things online with international shipping on the weekly
dilbert is also willingly confusing this recent wave of travel measures, put in place when unknown scary omicron was announced, as some sort of 'proof' that states are reversing on their reopening decisions. they're not. the paradigm is still 'living with covid', going forward, as that's surely the only fucking feasible one in any medium term. closing travel down whilst we examine a new variant, or during the worst of winter, is not the same as trying to suppress covid. if that were the case, all the european states to bring in travel restrictions would have also enforced strict lockdowns and curbs on social life. they haven't.
dilbert is still calling for zero-covid or suppression strategies, despite the leaders of aus/NZ both publicly saying they don't work or justify their huge social and economic costs anymore.
even with closed borders, the minimal amount of cross-border traffic, in persons and in goods, that still must occur in order for modern states to function is evidently enough for escapes and leaks. even with long and strict quarantines, there are still exceptional cases of escape. with delta+omicron, that's basically game over for contact tracing. they are simply too infectious. hence zero covid as a viable strategy belongs in the dustbin.
the problem is dilbert and his ilk can't produce any constructive alternative. he puts his head in the sand and pretends that every country, everywhere, can close their borders permanently without any hit to their economies or functioning. he seriously maintains that the only people who need open borders are selfish backpackers and tourists. it's utterly bizarre. this is whilst he orders things online with international shipping on the weekly
dilbert is also willingly confusing this recent wave of travel measures, put in place when unknown scary omicron was announced, as some sort of 'proof' that states are reversing on their reopening decisions. they're not. the paradigm is still 'living with covid', going forward, as that's surely the only fucking feasible one in any medium term. closing travel down whilst we examine a new variant, or during the worst of winter, is not the same as trying to suppress covid. if that were the case, all the european states to bring in travel restrictions would have also enforced strict lockdowns and curbs on social life. they haven't.
Last edited by uziq (2022-01-02 06:17:44)
