Reward for Failure

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result.

We are seeing a bit of that in relation to Coronavirus - most notably in Victoria. The second wave of infections have resulted in 127 deaths since July 5. Most have been linked to aged care facilities.

The craziness of the Victorian government response is that they are penalising the majority while failing to effectively protect those that need it.

It's repeating the demonstrable failures of the New York approach to dealing with Coronavirus and hoping it too won't be a disaster. That's illogical and placing hope over reason.

New York recorded more than 32,000 deaths which they attributed to Coronavirus. I write that figure with some reservation because the statistics around the world have been manipulated to induce as much fear as possible within the community.

That manipulation has seen healthy people become classified as Corona deaths even though they were killed in automobile accidents or were in the last days of fighting terminal cancer. In Australia, for a time one young chap in Queensland didn't even have the virus but was counted as a statistic.

In New York, even with the statistical manipulation, the chances of an infected person under the age of 65 dying from the virus is less that 0.02%. That's even lower than for the flu.

The statistics jump a lot as you move up the age profile with those aged over 75 being most susceptible.

The insanity comes from the fact that New York officials thought it was a good idea to isolate Coronavirus sufferers in aged care facilities. That mismanagement was the real killer.

And what are we seeing in Victoria?

Well, a significant proportion of those dying in this latest wave are in aged care facilities. I can find no other plausible explanation for that other than mismanagement.

Over the past few months authorities have learned a lot about this virus. Most importantly, we know that those aged 65 plus and/or with respiratory illnesses are most at risk of death.

Why then, has the quarantining and support of those in our aged care facilities been so ineffective?

Surely, applying the appropriate resources to those most vulnerable, whilst allowing others to get on with their normal routine is the sensible option.

Instead, we are destroying businesses and the economy, together with the associated human risk for millions, because a government cannot get its health act together.

Incredibly, despite the incompetence, recent polls show the Victorian government has majority public support.

That tells me that while you don't always get what you want, you often get what you deserve. Continuing to support incompetence only leads to more incompetence.

Expecting anything else is the definition of insanity.