June 18, 1919…Let it Rip!


…And they did!

They weren’t even confined to their houses, and two goes were enough.

If only we actually learnt from history.

A further violent recrudescence of the influenza epidemic places the State Government in an unenviable position. Owing to the precautionary measures insisted upon by the use of sovereign powers during the two previous outbreaks of the disease, the public purse has been already drawn upon to an extent that cannot yet be calculated, but which must run into six figures. Naturally the Government is loth to undertake further heavy financial responsibilities in this connection.

On the other hand, as we have previously pointed out, the loss of human life cannot be estimated in figure representing pounds, shillings, and pence. It is the first and the most sacred duty of any government to protect the lives of citizens. Nevertheless, people will always be found ready to criticise what is done. Generally, we accept the view that the precautionary measures taken by the Government were dictated by the best evidence available, and that its policy exercised an appreciable influence upon both the area and the virulence of the disease.

It is now reported that the Cabinet gave the matter serious consideration yesterday, but that no decision was reached, beyond calling for a report as to the hospital accommodation for patients suffering from the more serious forms of the malady…

…As far as other restrictions are concerned, the Government may be excused for hesitating. There is a stage at which governmental responsibility for the public health ends…This is the third wave of the epidemic. By now the general public has been educated in the method of infection and the seriousness of the malady. It should be sufficient now to warn them against the voluntary acceptance of risks which can be avoided.

Sydney Morning Herald, 18 June 1919, page 10

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rosie
rosie
August 19, 2021 7:41 am

It might already be ripping.

Lockdown or no lockdown.

Premier god complex is the biggest disease afflicting Australia.

Mother Lode
Mother Lode
August 19, 2021 9:29 am

I wish j’ismists still wrote that well.

Naturally the Government is loth to undertake further heavy financial responsibilities in this connection.

The kiddies these days would look at it and say “Loth? Of bread? Geez old people are stupid.”

Not Trampis
August 19, 2021 9:32 am

Was the reproduction rate 8 like the Delta variant?
Was there anything comparable to long covid which affects somewhere between 1 in 3 to 1 in 8 and then did it exacerbate other problems which led to deaths of 1 in 12?

If delta id rising at an exponential rate under lockdown where do you think it would be without one. hint look at India.
hospitals would be exploding and staff severely over worked which would mean more deaths.

There is no choice between health and economic outcomes.

dover0beach
Admin
August 19, 2021 9:33 am

Ah, the prudence of our forebears. The comparison is stark and damning for our current crop of ‘leaders’.

Shy Ted
Shy Ted
August 19, 2021 10:08 am

Yeah but 1919 wasn’t driven by the great reset.

Cassie of Sydney
August 19, 2021 10:11 am

“Not Trampissays:
August 19, 2021 at 9:32 am”

Do you know how to put a sentence together and use capitals?

Cassie of Sydney
August 19, 2021 10:12 am

“Shy Tedsays:
August 19, 2021 at 10:08 am
Yeah but 1919 wasn’t driven by the great reset.”

Exactly, this is all a dress rehearsal for the coming climate lockdowns.

rosie
rosie
August 19, 2021 10:36 am

Let’s compare ourselves to India, which doesn’t have a functionality medical system and had many other fine third world features.

Actually I’m somewhat loth to do so.

(It should be no surprise that new mutations are emerging in vast unvaccinated populations like India).

Boambee John
Boambee John
August 19, 2021 11:16 am

Non Compos Trampis

If the reproduction rate for Delta were anything like 8, the whole of Australia would already have been infected.

I realise that you are simply an ignorant troll, and not a very good one, but what do you find so difficult to understand about the definition of virulent (extremely severe or harmful)? It has nothing to do with proportions of people infected, but the impact on those people.

Kindly take your gross ignorance (defined as 144 troll posts) elsewhere.

How are you going with the definition of “lubricious”? Too hard for you?

Boambee John
Boambee John
August 19, 2021 11:20 am

Mater

Re Non Trampis Mentis, and your response that “In your effort to separate the two, you show yourself to be a goose. To try to stop one in favour of another, smacks of ill intent.”

The silly goose said yesterday on one of your earlier threads that people in Australia are either working from home, or not working at present. He/she/xe has absolutely no clue about such basic economic matters as how food gets from farm to supermarket, or how fuel gets from well to petrol station.

A complete idiot, who makes the socks of Grigoogle look intelligent.

Professor Higgins
Professor Higgins
August 19, 2021 11:51 am

Good get, Mater!

Not Trampis
August 19, 2021 12:55 pm

Well take a look at john Cochrane’s blog which I visited this morning. He now favours masks!

What occurred in 1919. Well the Spanish flu did die out but not after it took a terrible toll.
Could they have had lockdowns?
I doubt it.
You could not work from home . The federal government was quite small. It did not even have income tax for a start. This means it could not help anyone at all. It was also heavily in debt after a world war. Why a person would compare it to now heaven only knows.

Mater you are making a choice by being silly and saying you do not want a lockdown. We already know those countries who reduced covid had the better economic outcomes. Noah smith had a good article on this if you are interested.
You also have yet to come to terms with the delta variant growing at an exponential rate here and we have a lockdown!
India is very easy to explain. the data is very poor and thus should never be used. We know how bad it is was India because we saw (and some of us have Indian friends as well) to know people were in cars outside hospitals. they were on oxygen they had to buy themselves. An example of what occurs when the hospital system blows up!

some people need to look up projection. Very insecure people feel the need to use disparaging language to others.

Cassie of Sydney
August 19, 2021 1:13 pm

“some people need to look up projection. Very insecure people feel the need to use disparaging language to others.”

Moron.

rickw
rickw
August 19, 2021 1:17 pm

Yeah but back then they weren’t trying to wreck the country….

Boambee John
Boambee John
August 19, 2021 1:22 pm

Non Compos Mentis

You also have yet to come to terms with the delta variant growing at an exponential rate here and we have a lockdown!

You have yet to provide evidence to support this claim.

feelthebern
feelthebern
August 19, 2021 1:30 pm

Was there anything comparable to long covid which affects somewhere between 1 in 3 to 1 in 8 and then did it exacerbate other problems which led to deaths of 1 in 12?

Long COVID = over ventilated patients during the initial stages of the COVID19.
Health workers were so scared they caused long term damage to the people they were meant to care for.
Amazing how “Long COVID” only impacts the cohort of people who stupidly trusted health providers at the start of the outbreak.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
August 19, 2021 3:35 pm

Letting it ‘rip’ is not the easiest solution right now. Our politicians have turned us into an unexposed population faced with a sudden virus called Delta turned about R1.3 and we have thus no herd immunity and as yet only a limited vaccine immunity. That’s why they are ramping up the vaxx levels by ramping up the panic levels about something that is not 1919 Redux but which still can push up hospital admissons and deaths. It seems that the horse has bolted anyway and we need to cope with what happens now. After offering the vax widely by October 1 we should start looking at letting go of lockdowns except in areas of concern – immigrant areas, aboriginal areas and aged-care institutions. Lockdowns do a lot of harm and not much good from where we are currently placed. Our hospitals should be able to cope.

By 1919 the Third Wave came through and was reasonably mild, but the 4th wave coming through in 2020 was a kicker. You can’t always predict these things.

Not Trampis
August 19, 2021 5:03 pm

Mater read what I said and then apologise. It is pretty well established within health circles. I have rarely known John to be so wrong on such a subject.

The PPE in 1919 was not really up to speed was it. do you think that might be a factor?
Spanish flu had mostly two waves of which the second was the most deadly and then died out.

The spanish flu has no relevance for today.
nothing compared to long covid which keeps people from work for long periods nor as far as I know di it exacerbate existing problems and kill people indirectly. If you make a reasonable assumptions that the counties with low vaccinations have more people die from the delta variant nearer 1% than 0.3% then you are advocating either killing or severely injuring a lot of people.

We still do not know the long tern implications of long covid as yet.
Let it rip is absurd because of the legal responsibilities of employers. you would end up with an informal lockdown

JC
JC
August 19, 2021 5:34 pm

Oh no, Not Trampis (Homer) has found the blog. Get ready for a combined IQ drop of at least 70% with him posting comments here.

Homer, is Skanke Ho really an Asian Warlords mistress? You clown Homer, you complete doofus.

JC
JC
August 19, 2021 5:36 pm

Mater:

Don’t waste a single fraction of a second posting comments in direct reply to Homer. He’s the worst idiot on Australian blogs and I mean a thorough imbecile without qualification.

Boambee John
Boambee John
August 19, 2021 5:40 pm

Non Compos Trampis

If you make a reasonable assumptions that the counties with low vaccinations have more people die from the delta variant nearer 1% than 0.3% then you are advocating either killing or severely injuring a lot of people.

Please provide the basis for your “reasonable assumption”.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
August 19, 2021 7:27 pm

The main difference for the third wave of H1N1 ‘Spanish’ influenza was that by this 1919 there was a lot of herd immunity around to fight off the virus. Our politicians have foolishly placed us in the situation of being a totally ‘unexposed’ population, so a fairly hefty viral ‘rip’ might be expected with a full opening up, even with a good level of vax immunity. I say ‘might’ because it is not at all certain that this is what would happen, for many people would take their own avoidance precautions, vaxed or not, and there may be a natural level of immunity due to previous Corona viruses as ‘colds’ as well as the vaxed immunity. Also viral exhaustion or loss of virulence might occur with increasing transmissability as the virus fights to survive in an increasingly vaxed environment. You can see they are trying to keep the lid on spread, but that horse has probably by now bolted anyway.

Cassie of Sydney
August 19, 2021 7:31 pm

“Matersays:
August 19, 2021 at 6:08 pm
Thanks JC.
Noted.
Binned.

He came across as Bob-like anyway.”

Noted…..Stevie from Brisbane has surfaced on another thread too.

JC
JC
August 20, 2021 4:40 pm

Mater says:
August 19, 2021 at 6:08 pm

Thanks JC.
Noted.
Binned.

He came across as Bob-like anyway.

Mater, trust me. He’s a million times more stupid than Numbernutz.

Trampis (Homer) argued for years that when Mark Latham referred to a female journo, he didn’t mean she was a skanky whore. He was trying to argue that it meant there was a woman in Asia named Skanke Ho and she was an Asian warlord’s mistress.

There’s no level of imbecility that could describe Homer’s imbecility.

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