Essential Research continues to disappoint on the voting intention front, but its latest fortnightly poll does include its monthly leadership ratings, which record a recovery in Scott Morrison’s personal standing after the battering it copped during the bsuhfires. Morrison now leads Anthony Albanese 40-35 as preferred prime minister after being tied 36-36 in the last poll, which his first lead out of the six sets of results published so far this year (three apiece from Essential and Newspoll). His approval rating is up two to 41% and disapproval down three to 49%, while Albanese is respectively steady on 41% and up two to 33%.
As related by The Guardian, the poll also finds 71% want investigations into sports rorts to continue, but I suspect that should actually say 51%, as 43% favoured the alternative option that the resignation of Sports Minister Bridget McKenzie should be the end of the matter. The poll also has the unsurprising finding that concern about coronavirus is growing, although we will have to wait for the publication of the full report later today to see by how much.
Other questions produce familiar findings on energy sources (71% favour further taxpayer research into renewables, compared with 57% for hydrogen, 50% for “clean coal” and 38% for nuclear energy) and economic management (the Coalition was rated better overall, but was also seen to favour big business whereas Labor was better at managing the economy to benefit workers). The poll was conducted from 1096 respondents from an online panel, no doubt from Thursday to Sunday.
UPDATE: Full report here. It turns out the poll doesn’t really find an increase in concern about coronavirus over the past month: there’s a two point increase in “very concerned” to 27%, but a five point drop in “quite concerned” to 36%, a two point rise in “not all that concerned” to 28% and a three point increase in “not at all concerned” to 9%. I’d have been interested to see breakdowns by party support on this – Democrats in the US are far more concerned than Republicans – but no such luck.
If you feel like shaking your head in disbelief check out the health screening at the international airport in Chicago. Social distancing?
https://twitter.com/davidenrich/status/1239004689338970113/photo/1
lizzie @ #3199 Sunday, March 15th, 2020 – 1:27 pm
It seems to be that Morrison and his boisterous certainty and impeccable advice have over shadowed common sense and created a rely on us attitude (which people who want to avoid doing inconvenient things will cling to; I think Karen Middleton made that point well) to the detriment of us all.
For the sports fans, a few unexpected ramifications of the suspension in play
1. The NBA has had a 3rd player test positive, Christian Wood of Detroit who was marking Rudy Gobert of Utah, the first player to test positive, in a game last week. So matching up against an infected player appears to transmit the disease. Hence suspending competitions is sound, once 1 player is tested positive.
2. The European football is cactus. Another Italian SerieA player positive. And the coach of Arsenal. The Premier League may have to abandon the season, with ramifications for promotion/relegation and qualification for Champions League. There is a push, therefore to extinguish all,results for the season to date – bad luck Liverpool, good luck the bottom 3.
3. Rugby League is on death’s door, according to New President Peter V’landys, ex racing urger. What they need is at least $200m from the Federal Government to survive. I’m sure SharkieScotty will oblige. On a more serious note, the major and minor codes could survive with injection of grants from the government/taxpayer to compensate for lost income. A $billion or 2 of real money should do it.
That article suggests the ratio between known cases and actual cases is 10 to 1.
I’d believe 25 to 1 or more in a failing state such as the US with severely inadequate testing.
Puts the current Australian cases at around 2500. About 1 in 10,000.
Late Riser
That being so why has Scrott not let people know there is a national plan in place and outline the various stages ? With people on edge it would provide some reassurance that there is a plan rather than pollies just making shit up as they go along.
Scoutsays:
Sunday, March 15, 2020 at 12:00 pm
Rex Douglassays:
Sunday, March 15, 2020 at 12:05 pm
Spears does not just do it to guests he does it to the other panel members as well. He is the facilitator and should shut up and let the other panel members speak.
ItzaDream
Sadly, I think you’re right.
:sigh:
If this nonsense lasts for another six months, I dread to think what the outcome will be, on a personal or national level.
Late Riser @ #3198 Sunday, March 15th, 2020 – 1:27 pm
I ordered and received a reusable, washable mask. I have only a couple of the required filters though. I ordered a box of filters in January which has never been received. A second box was supposedly sent in February but again no sign of it. I do not believe you can wash and reusable the paper like masks. Wish you could – I have a few from the smoke was really bad in Jan.
Maybe that Football Stadium folly in Sydney will become green parklands with ponds and ducks and laughing children breathing clean air. Oh, the irony.
poroti @ #3136 Sunday, March 15th, 2020 – 12:35 pm
There was a discussion (or similar) with and among some of PB’s medicos last night. It ended with my feeling not much reassured. There is a paternalistic instinct from our authorities that brings out a teenager’s response in me.
Political polls are designed to reduce bias, but we still are very careful about what we imply from those numbers. We should all be very careful about what we assume from virus numbers. When the WA government says there are 0 locally transmitted cases, what they mean is that local transmission is below the level of detection. We need to keep in mind what level of transmission would be detected and what that level would mean in terms of likely spread. Because the spread is logarithmic, a very small amount of undetected cases can very quickly become a large amount of actual cases.
Some fascinating and even entertaining “simulitis” graphics here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/
Dotard has announced a ban in flights from Europe, so everyone rushing back to the 13 designated US airports – unfortunately, nobody told them
Dallas Fort Worth – a 3 hour wait to get through Customs/Immigration
In Chicago O’Hare, a 6 hour wait to collect bags and get through – social distancing?
lizzie @ #3199 Sunday, March 15th, 2020 – 1:27 pm
Lizzie,
My Mum’s nursing home (a very short distance from the unfortunate nursing home with the two fatalities) is doing its best, a lot of it in the face of aggressive rudeness from visitors who refuse to accept the home’s policies. It’s actually mind-boggling. One infected visitor could spell curtains for dozens of the old dears.
Some stronger leadership from above would, I imagine, make it far easier for the staff at the home to implement their sensible policies.
Perhaps nursing homes could/should be screening visitors using a simple IR thermometer (we have two that I use in the kitchen when cooking) and a question on recent travel? If nothing else it educates about the risk.
Fort Lauderdale airport yesterday.
Roger Miller @ #3211 Sunday, March 15th, 2020 – 1:40 pm
Hmmm, not sure how much faith I have in the WA testing regime. My son returned to Perth from Japan last Sunday. Felt unwell, so attended an emergency department (as instructed) and waited six hours for a swab. After three days of self-isolation, they contacted him to say that they had tested for the wrong virus, so he would have to wait for another three days. Finally got the all-clear yesterday.
Thinking about wombat’s referencing eating together and sharing food as a major risk activity, I’ve been thinking about cafes and restaurants. The waiter/tress who takes a dirty plate (covered in viruses) from that other table back to the kitchen is the same waiter/tress who then without pause or hand cleaning picks up your freshly prepared plate and brings it to your table.
Itza:
It’s the same with getting takeaway food, even coffee. At least 2 people touch your keep cup when you get takeaway coffee: the person you give it to when you pay, the person preparing your coffee, and then potentially a 3rd person who hands it to you or moves it to the end of the counter.
Confessions @ #3219 Sunday, March 15th, 2020 – 1:58 pm
His last sentence is overly snarky. But as was noted more than once here this morning, he’s totally correct. Even if it is what they are thinking, it was feckless to say it on record. It can only come back to haunt them because of course it is going to get worse. Fools.
Simulations are powerful tools. My daughter just told me about “Corrupted Blood incident” in World of Warcraft. From Wikipedia:
NSW Health has updated the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state to 134.
That’s 22 new cases confirmed in the 24 hours from 11 am Saturday to 11 am Sunday.
Of the new cases, three people had recently travelled to the United States and their overseas travel is considered the likely source. Another case had returned from Singapore and another from the Philippines.
Five have caught the infection after contact with other confirmed cases of COVID-19. The source for the remainder of the 22 new cases is still being investigated. One of the cases under investigation is a 40-year-old man who had also recently travelled to the US and another 32-year-old man was also listed as having recently travelled overseas.
When it gets worse and they are asked why didn’t you do something earlier they’ll say and be on record as saying we were waiting for it to get worse. FACE PALM.
Itza:
No, as someone noted earlier, they’ll say this was unprecedented and things escalated despite their best efforts.
From the Guardian
Of course they dont know how she got infected as they are refusing to test the general community. So health workers will be the canary. Community transmission will have (already has) taken hold before they know it.
There is a groundswell of demand here in SA to close schools until they get their shit together. Every business I know has sat down and worked out policies, procedures, protocols and backup plans for the virus. Yet the Education Department (and associated Health Department advisers) is silent… other than useless statements like ‘wash your hands’, ‘dont come to school sick’ and ‘we will shut a school if someone tests positive’.
Rumours abound that school holidays will be brought forward. Maybe starting in a week. Maybe 3 weeks. FFS. Get off the hammock, stop the endless merry-go-round of meetings and do your job. You do not know if the virus is currently spreading in the general community – so assume it is (which seems a good assumption). So get procedures in place – proper hygiene training, better toilet facilities, no hot desking, no sharing of equipment, smaller class sizes so kids arent crammed together, more regular and thorough disinfecting of commonly used surfaces – or shut the f’ing schools till you do.
The only way travel restrictions can work is if community spread is controlled (halted, slowed, spread out). That way the health system has a chance to cope. It is a no-brainer isnt it? How impotent have our institutions become when they are led, dragged, by the people who seem to have a clearer picture of the complex than those well paid to do so but surrounded by a bubble of fringe benefits they see no forest?
ItzaDream @ #3174 Sunday, March 15th, 2020 – 12:55 pm
You can have my Borlotti beans and my Cannellini beans too. Sadly I have just used 3 tins of tomatoes in my 5 Alarm Chicken Chilli that will get us through the week. I can throw in 2 cans of Chilli beans if you give me all your chocolate. I need my Theobromine! 😆
There are lots of rumours flying around in Melbourne town.
Rumour being Construction industry to shut down this week. No idea if it is accurate
On a brighter note, relative working in Shanghai tells me a few minutes ago that the place is “about 75% back to normal” which may suggest that things in China are on the up…..that is, getting back to ‘normal’ whatever that is….The pictures at US airports shown here on PB were like this in Shanghai 6 weeks ago………………………..
Worth a read, and worth spreading. From The Guardian. (You can also find it on twitter.)
It goes on…ending with
I am fascinated by the apparent lack of contracting the virus or seriousness of the symptoms by young people. The theory is that their regular contact with colds and flus (especially coronavirus colds) makes them better equipped.
I am hoping that, as a parent who has caught almost every cold my kids brought home over the last 12years will also have a similar protective effect for me! I have not accrued any sick leave… fingers crossed I have accrued some immunity.
Confessions @ #3214 Sunday, March 15th, 2020 – 1:52 pm
Coronavirus says to itself: ‘Party time!’
C@tmomma @ #3227 Sunday, March 15th, 2020 – 2:16 pm
Chocolate not for trade. You’ll need the guns to get the chocolate.
I found myself unable to quote from this. Taks of “culling the elderly” being an economic benefit.
https://metro.co.uk/2020/03/11/telegraph-journalist-says-coronavirus-cull-elderly-benefit-economy-12383907/
5 alarm chilli???
If there’s a mushroom cloud somewhere over the Central Coast, I’ll know who to blame 🙂
ItzaDream @ #3224 Sunday, March 15th, 2020 – 1:11 pm
Perhaps, but you also can’t discount the possibility that even if they did “something” earlier it could still get just as bad anyways. Doing stuff doesn’t necessarily correlate to being effective.
An authoritarian response is good for making it feel lik e things are being done, but might not yield anything beyond a placebo effect. Even if it does, who knows how long it would have to be maintained for? Don’t think people are up for months (or however long a vaccine takes) of everything being shut down.
ItzaDream @ #3231 Sunday, March 15th, 2020 – 2:25 pm
Bugger! I only have baseball bats. That bastard John Howard and his gun control measures! 😆
A fish & chip shop in Canberra had a sign offering to trade a large serving of chips for a few rolls of toilet paper. I suspect they would need to offer somewhat more to entice people to part with the currently valuable paper commodity.
Lizzie
From the article..
Cud Chewer @ #3233 Sunday, March 15th, 2020 – 2:26 pm
Yet, I can never make it hot enough for my son. It has fresh birdseye chillis and a third of a jar of sliced Jalapenos, with the juice from the jar thrown in for good measure. Yet one of my sons used to put Tabasco sauce on top!
I think it will work a treat scaring the hell out of the Coronavirus though, if it’s hanging around. 😉
I’ve made up a mixture of 70% Diggers metho and 30% sorbolene and am waiting to see if my fingers rot!! Very fast evaporation and a smooth feel from the sorbolene.
Morrison seems to have taken his Sensible Tablets at last.
He is explaining the Early Peak v. Later Peak strategies. He has them on a screen, next to him.
The ABC, presumably terrified of getting into trouble for not keeping Morrison in centre frame, refuses to show the screen he is pointing to.
So we have the government strategy off in the air slightly to the left of camera, completely off screen.
If ‘effective’ means ‘stopping’ the virus then yes. If it means ‘slowing the rate of spread so the health system can cope’ then it would seem highly likely these measures will be successful and quite astounding the suite of measured being talked about havent happened earlier.
The only concern is the community getting fatigued by the measures if they are too prolonged and then ignoring them.
I was told yesterday that someone went into the local shopping centre toilet and heard the person in the next stall to them emptying out the toilet roll holder!
Cud Chewer
If it is not spicy enough I have some Carolina Reapers in the garden 🙂
Coronavirus won’t close Queensland schools tomorrow, Education Minister confirms
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-15/coronavirus-queensland-schools-not-cancelled/12054306
lizzie @ #3241 Sunday, March 15th, 2020 – 1:32 pm
We’ve done similar but with metho/aloe vera gel.
I’m wondering what happens when people cannot proceed past the bottom of the escalator. Do the airport authorities hit the STOP button or simply allow bodies to keep piling up?
poroti @ #3243 Sunday, March 15th, 2020 – 2:33 pm
Lol, we tried them once. Put a whole one in, no one could eat it! Next time, we pared it back to a 1/3. In a BIG pot. 😆
And I have a couple of young roosters in the garden that I am keeping… um…. in stock.