Originally Posted by
Turnleft080
Bend a lot, what your saying in last two posts is pretty much what I said in #776.
80% of us can get working now. 20% lockdown.
Here is another thing about borders. If every state/territory registered say 20 cases each then we are all on a level playing field.
What difference does it make. The only difference is if the aliens attack. Then all the states would then work together. Far fetched yeah but the principle
is interesting. Funny that.
No quite - that is just 20% of the work force not 20% of the population. (non workers and workers under 60 with health conditions,
severe obesity etc diabetes is 1.25 million people alone up to 54 years old)
They not only need protection if they were singled out for "lockdown" but they also need to be replaced in the workforce.
2016 in the medical workforce 33.7% males and 17.8% females were 55 years or older.
A quick look across the top end of Australia finds 2 hospitals with ICU beds, both with similar numbers of patients and bed numbers in 2018/19. Cairns reported being over capacity, so Darwin would be similar. Both this time of year attract lots of tourists. Excepting 20 cases in the North would make a level playing field - does not pass the pub test.
I am interested in how your idea of "isolating the vulnerable" would actually entail such as what isolation would consist of, how services are supplied, what the compensation would look like (or the age discrimination lawsuits from Clive, Gina & Twiggy) given you can not discriminate by age in the workplace. Also how the hospitals would hope with a second/third wave as people other than vulnerable still get sick with this.
Currently in many places (in Australia) travel is possible even if a 2 week isolation or quarantine is required (not always the case) then movement is pretty normal - should there never be a vaccine how long would your age lock-down last indefinite? Given retirement age is 66 and vulnerable age starts at 60, not a lot of incentive for people near 50 to work - Sell the house, the cars, the kids and live it up before lock-down.