COVID19 thoughts

[Kohinoor]

Well, after Jan 2023, I wasn't able to post, or read anything, but now that I can once more, let me share something else about the handling of Covid that frankly blew me away.

I had posted this on another forum, but the thoughts are valid for any future pandemics, so let's share it:

https://www.afr.com/policy/health-an...0210804-p58fxc ? This is now a Subscriber only article of the Fin Review. But you'll still see the headline and a paragraph or two...

Someone in Govt (a Senator) is finally taking a hard-nosed look at the "numbers" re how much we are spending/losing while endeavouring to save Covid lives. I'd always thought Govts should be considering all sides to an economy, not just the "Covid cost". e.g. lockdowns produce very serious health risks to so many people - especially to those businesses who are trying to keep their heads above water. Lockdown after lockdown is beating many of them senseless.

And now (in the link above) a dollar value has been ascribed to the saving of a life, and it is $330 million per life saved !!!!!!!!

Can we really afford this? The Senator makes the statement that we as a nation "can't afford the same healthcare facilities in the bush as in a big city - it is a fact of life". As per the start of this paragraph, can we really afford to pay $330m to save each Covid life? And meanwhile, what other lives suffer, and how dreadfully? How about the single mum who is having to sleep with her family in their car because her work stopped and they can't afford now to rent a house? How about the business owner who might be "going down for the third time" with yet ANOTHER lockdown that siphons income away from his business? Anxiety and depression must be having a field day in the midst of all this. What cost to those held in the grasp of THOSE "pandemics"? Is anyone even counting?

We focus on Covid (or any future pandemic virus) to the exclusion of all else at our peril.

Koh

PS of interest perhaps is the value of a human life according to the Govt. Check this out:-
https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/...u-re-worth#mtr but you'll have to subscribe to read it, or read my summation below instead:-

Apparently, we are worth $4.5m or, in another measure, $195k per annum if we needed that amount spent on us. So you can see that $330m to save one life is pretty steep eh?