Let's take a look at a country that properly addresses COVID-19. Their economy, schools, businesses and everything else are open. This is what happens when you properly lock down and use contract tracing & testing to eliminate the disease. They now have beaten COVID a second time after incoming travelers did not stay in the quarantine center. New Zealand "beat the virus again," PM Jacinda Ardern says https://www.axios.com/-9290fb75-dff5-43d2-8f9a-3203813e5a29.html Auckland will join the rest of New Zealand this week in enjoying no domestic coronavirus restrictions after the city's outbreak was deemed "under control," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Monday. Driving the news: The second COVID-19 outbreak that began in August in New Zealand's most populous city grew to 179 cases, Ardern said at a briefing. "Only five people from the cluster are yet to recover," she said. The big picture: New Zealand went 102 days with no detected cases in the community before COVID-19 re-emerged in Auckland, which went into a lockdown that was less severe than the first one earlier this year. Masks were mandatory on New Zealand public transport, and contact tracing was stepped up. Lesser restrictions were reintroduced elsewhere in the country. These were later lifted when it became clear that the cluster had been contained to Auckland. Of note: Ardern cited statistics shared with Axios last Friday by Te Pūnaha Matatini, a research center advising the government, showing there's a 95% chance that COVID-19 has been eliminated in the community. As a result, Auckland's restrictions will lift at 11:59pm Wednesday local time. However, Ardern urged New Zealanders to remain vigilant against the virus' threat and vowed to keep testing rates up. What else she's saying: Ardern noted that Auckland going into lockdown again after the virus' re-emergence "felt harder" and longer than the previous one, when the entire country was placed under some of the world's toughest coronavirus restrictions. "But despite that, Aucklanders and New Zealanders stuck to the plan, which has worked twice now and beat the virus again," Ardern added. What they did: Te Pūnaha Matatini director Shaun Hendy said in an interview with Axios Friday that the cluster had been contained to Auckland because of the city's short, sharp lockdown and rigorous coronavirus testing rates. Ensuring workers at air borders like Auckland Airport are tested regularly means "we'll catch [cases] early and stop them turning into a bigger outbreak," Hendy said. What's next: Te Pūnaha Matatini has developed a compartment model that can be used for targeted interventions to avoid widespread lockdowns should any future outbreaks occur. This computer modeling can predict down to the suburb where the virus might spread. "We might be able to look at particular industries or workplaces and come up with targeted measures that are cheaper ... to implement and have less impact on people's lives," Hendy said. "It's probably less a model that will run in reaction to an outbreak and more so that we can use in the planning for the next outbreak." Go deeper: Australia and New Zealand to open "safe travel zone"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/10/08/coronavirus-covid-live-updates-us/ Live updates: Trump could return to public engagements by Saturday, doctor says, as campaign pushes on debate White House physician Sean Conley predicted that the president will be able to resume “public engagements” by Saturday, the 10th day since Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis was announced. The announcement came as Trump’s campaign called on the Commission on Presidential Debates to reverse its decision to hold the next contest between Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden virtually, claiming there is no public health threat to doing it in person.
Now for some history -- a lengthy but good read. Here's what brought history's worst pandemics to an end https://www.grunge.com/258395/heres-what-brought-historys-worst-pandemics-to-an-end/
Virus that causes COVID-19 survives up to 28 days on surfaces, Australian scientists find https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10...rfaces-28-days-australian-scientists/12752108 The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 can live for up to 28 days on surfaces such as mobile phone screens and ATMs — much longer than previously thought — new Australian research has found. CSIRO scientists tested the SARS-CoV-2 virus to see how long it survived on surfaces such as cotton, paper, stainless steel, glass and vinyl. Trevor Drew, director of the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, said the research team used the same amount of virus that would be found in someone who was infected. "It's important to know how long this virus can last so we know how often we need to disinfect things and what sort of risk common surfaces pose," Professor Drew said. He said the fact the virus lasted for so long on surfaces such as glass was important, with the results published today in Virology Journal. "Touchscreen devices such as mobile phones, bank ATMs, supermarket self-serve checkouts and airport check-in kiosks are high-touch surfaces which may not be regularly cleaned and pose a transmission risk," Professor Drew said. Previous research revealed the virus that causes COVID-19 could be detected in aerosols for up to three hours and on plastic and stainless steel surfaces for up to three days. But this new study found the virus hung around intact on most surfaces for about six to seven days before starting to lose its potency. "What we found was that even after two weeks, there was still plenty of live, infectious virus there which could potentially infect someone," Professor Drew said. "We could extrapolate that to say even crockery in a restaurant was a potential source of infection because stainless steel is commonly used for cutlery." And on some surfaces, such as glass and paper banknotes, the virus was still there after one month. Debbie Eagles, deputy director of the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, said the findings were surprising. "It seems that it lasts longer than other viruses such as influenza, which only lasts a few days, or even other coronaviruses," she said. Surface contact and the COVID-19 risk Experts said people were more likely to contract coronavirus through direct contact, such as someone sneezing or coughing near them. But someone can still be infected if they touch a contaminated surface before touching their face, nose or mouth, and potentially ingest the virus. "That's why regularly using disinfectant wipes and hand sanitiser makes a difference," Professor Drew said. "This really reinforces the mantra that you must wash your hands, don't touch surfaces unless you absolutely have to, and don't touch your face and mouth." Dr Eagles said if someone who was infected with COVID-19 sneezed or coughed near a phone, the virus could stay on the phone for a long period if it wasn't cleaned properly. "And it's exactly the same for eftpos machines and public transport, but there is obviously exposure to a lot more people there than just your own phone, where you are the only one that has close contact with it," she said. "We know that on surfaces like public transport, there has been a lot more cleaning of public spaces, because with effective cleaning you can remove the virus."
This is an extension of the article... at the same url as the article in the above post -- found at the bottom of the page. Cold weather keeps the virus alive for longer The scientists also tested the effect of temperature and found the colder it was, the longer the virus survived on a surface. That means countries could be more likely to face outbreaks of COVID-19 during cooler weather. "We found temperature has a very profound effect on the virus, so if you reduced the temperature to around 6 degrees Celsius, you could extend the life 10-fold," Professor Drew said. The findings could also explain the outbreaks of COVID-19 involving meat processing and cold storage facilities. Several Victorian meatworks and a butcher have had large outbreaks of COVID-19. There was also a mystery case of the virus in New Zealand which was thought at one point to be linked to frozen food storage. Dr Eagles said the colder temperatures required in those workplaces could have been a factor which contributed to the clusters. "There's a number of factors at play at an abattoir," she said. "For example, the close contact, perhaps some difficulties in wearing personal protective equipment, and colder temperatures may have a role to play." In hotter temperatures, such as 30C, the virus was much less likely to survive. When it comes to cash, the virus survived longer on paper banknotes than on plastic ones like Australia's polymer-based currency. "It is really important that we clean and sanitise frequently touched areas like public spaces, shops, eftpos machines," Dr Eagles said. "If they are cleaned well, cleaning is really effective."
Reminder, you can't go to church or school because you'll catch the Covid. But this is just fine. COVID doesn't come to celebrations.