Coronavirus update, 23/3 - 'the pub is shut'
Olympics unravelling - welfare queues - border closures
Hello, welcome to #5 of ‘5+5: coronavirus edition’ for March 23 - and what a day it was, exemplified by the fact that it’s 9.30pm and I’m just now finding time to write what is meant to be a morning email.
Each day I’m bringing you 5 big things to know, and 5 other bits, about the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. I’ll be calling out misinformation and dodgy claims; sharing good news and bad news; giving you resources to do your own fact-checks, to not fall for shit, and keep abreast of the latest info — because who honestly has time to consume every bit of the fire hose of news that’s being blasted out every day?
You can email me at joshb2@protonmail.com or find me on Twitter at @joshbutler if you have tips, feedback, ideas or just want to chat. If I’ve made a mistake, shared something I shouldn’t have, or done something wrong, please tell me. I’ll be here.
Wash your hands and sneeze into your elbow. Practise physical distancing - 1.5 metres. “Stay the fuck at home”.
5 BIG THINGS
(Like, honestly, where to start?)
Today’s statistics:
The latest stats from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering (as of 8.07pm Sydney time on 23/3) report 341,722 confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide. There have been 14,765 deaths, and 98,869 people have recovered.
[Note: I’ve been directing people to the World Health Organisation’s numbers (you can find those here) but they’re only updating once a day, currently they’re more than 24 hours old (current as of 10am Sunday, Sydney time), and the JHU numbers are coming more regularly.]
In Australia — the latest federal Department of Health stats (as of 3pm Monday) show 1709 cases, a jump of 313 since the day before.
"The pub is shut”
Clubs, restaurants, gyms and pubs are now shut (although some gym owners are pushing their case to stay open because they reckon “gym” wasn’t defined, so TBA on that ambit claim). Scott Morrison announced federal rules in a late night Sunday presser, but on Monday, the states came out to share their own individual plans tinkering around the edges of that. Each state may be slightly different. Check your local guides (story here).
While many people have been left confused and wide-eyed about what they’re meant to be doing — due in no small part to the back and forth between state and federal leaders — VIC Premier Daniel Andrews gave perhaps the most blunt and plain-spoken warnings so far (right about the same time he flubbed and said funerals were cancelled, when in fact they aren’t).
Dandrews put the hard word on, telling people not to have friends over, drinks nights or any decent-sized gathering, and saying a dinner party of 12 people saw most of them infected from just one person.
“The pub is shut,” he said firmly.
Centrelink queues, and the cyber attack that never was
What happens when you double the Jobseeker payment (a very good initiative and to be commended) but don’t tell people the full story about how they can apply for it? This:
These lines snaked around Centrelink offices nationwide today, with thousands in the streets and many definitely not social distancing. People are desperate, and need the money. Clearly offices were overwhelmed, but little information was passed to those needing help. It was hours before Services Australia advised that people should start their application online, and that much of the process could be done over the phone. But by that stage, many vulnerable and shell-shocked people had already waited ages, with some still there at nearly 5pm (story here).
Also, after telling people to apply online… the MyGov website crashed. Or did it? Not according to government services minister Stuart Robert, who confidently said there was no crashing, but instead overwhelming demand, coupled with a cyber attack.
Wait, what?
Yes, just after 1pm, Robert claimed the website “suffered a distributed server attack on our main channels”. Then, less than two hours later, he admitted in parliament that there was “no evidence of a specific attack", but that a distributed server attack alarm was tripped by excess demand, which can look like a DDOS attack.
You keeping up? So the website didn’t crash, it was attacked. But also there was no attack, it was just that the site went down because of too much demand… but it wasn’t a crash.
In any case, I hope someone can go and explain to these poor people — some left crying in the street — why they have to go home with no money in their pockets tonight, and little more than “try again tomorrow” as advice.
NRL: suspended
One of the very last holdouts of the Australian sporting landscape was the National Rugby League, which had been planning some kind of hail mary play to keep the season going by (seriously) moving the whole playing roster of all 16 clubs to regional QLD. But then Queensland announced plans to shut its border, and the plan fell apart. Rugby league won’t be played until May at least (let’s be honest, probably far after that), joining AFL, Super Rugby and more on the sidelines.
Less than 12 minutes after the announcement, my dad — exactly one point ahead of me in our family footy tipping comp, after two rounds — sent me the above Facebook message, not missing a chance to rub it in. I don’t begrudge him — at least someone can find a silver lining in this dung heap of a year.
Just social distance, for the love of God
The quicker we do this, the quicker this thing will get burnt out, and the quicker we get back to our normal lives. We’ve got a LONG way before this thing is over… so we may as well get cracking early. Stay 1.5 metres apart from others. Stay inside and at home where possible. Go out only when necessary. Sorry, this next few months will be boring, but if you’ve got a choice between a long boring stretch or countless deaths… take your pick. Check out these resources. They explain it far better than I could.
5 OTHER THINGS:
The Olympics seem less and less likely every day. Canada and now Australia have flagged they won’t send athletes, even if Tokyo manages to find some way to stage the Games. It’s not over yet, but each passing day makes postponement seem more an inevitability than an option (story here)
Big mood honestly:
Flatten the curve, explained with one McDonald’s tweet
Cruise ships. Honestly, what’s the go there? This Ruby Princess — you remember, the one they allowed to unload swarms of boomers into Circular Quay— seems to be just spitting coronavirus all over the country. 48 cases identified by NSW officials alone, and more in other states. Some people have been isolating at home for more than a fortnight already, doing all they can to flatten the curve… and these passengers are wandering around belching virus on us all. An absolute calamity, and heads in some level of government deserve to roll for this flub.
And a last one — everyone is very horny for these Spanish soldiers
IMPORTANT EVERY DAY:
be hygienic; wash your hands properly, for at least 30 seconds with soap and water, multiple times a day (here’s how you need to do it, plus a handy Dr Karl video tutorial); sneeze and cough into your elbows; use hand sanitiser
Listen to only official information from the World Health Organisation and legitimate health bodies
World Health Organisation latest statistics here
Australian government latest statistics here
Don’t share dodgy stuff on Facebook. If it looks too good (or bad) to be true, it often is. Verify, fact-check, don’t be part of the misinformation problem
Signing off - stay safe, be healthy, look after yourself and others
Josh