Australian Reports of the Virus Spread

[Must...Fly!]

An hour after checking in at a bar in Sydney I got a monitor for symptoms notification from Service NSW. How that is possible I don't really know other than people not isolating?

 

[Lynda2475]

If planning to travel internationally in near term and test positive on RAT, then yes register it so can get a recovery clearance certificate to fly, as you may still test PCR positive. This is a travel benefit not a health benefit.

 

[RooFlyer]

In Vic a positive RATs will be reportable.

Same now in Tas.

It’s a sensible compromise between PCR- only testing and only having ‘official’ RATs at testing stations. As you said, it gives access to support, if you want/ need it.

If you don’t report, then

 

[woodyren]

As a data point I can confirm that in my current situation I have only received a single text message after testing positive on Tuesday. I am over 65 and it informed me of my result and my isolation requirements. There is also a link instructing me to "complete the form". The link does not work for me.

I am quite well and would just call my GP or an ambulance if I thought otherwise.

Now going through the workers comp process as I am casual and in all likelihood I caught it at work.

 

[Pushka]

Let’s see how long that lasts once there’s no food on the supermarket shelves.

Because we implemented number restrictions just after Christmas Day and kept homes to 10, so far things haven’t exploded yet like they did just before Christmas and I heard today that those close contacts are now pretty much back at work again. Maybe we got lucky but next few days will tell. Mask compliance is excellent now and people just aren’t going out. NYE was severely restricted here.

Post automatically merged: Jan 7, 2022

Same now in Tas.

It’s a sensible compromise between PCR- only testing and only having ‘official’ RATs at testing stations. As you said, it gives access to support, if you want/ need it.

If you don’t report, then

Then you call up 000 when you do! There won’t be any support until then.

 

[Quickstatus]

keep hearing hospitals clogged with high %% unvaxd.

7 admissions with covid at my place of work. 5/7 for Covid. None in ICU


Can’t tell Vax status
All over 70yrs

Not clogged at all…

 

[Quickstatus]

non Category A

Actually Category 1,2,3

3 is elective surgery - can be done within 365 days
2 is elective surgery - should be done within 90 months
1 is elective surgery that should be done within 30 days

The clock starts when the surgery booking is made.

See the Categorisation of each type of surgery. Final categorisation depends on the clinical picture.

(have posted this before but couldn’t be bothered looking.m)

As of today Category 3 are stopped

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

An hour after checking in at a bar in Sydney I got a monitor for symptoms notification from Service NSW. How that is possible I don't really know other than people not isolating?

There is still a small amount of surveillance testing happening.

 

[jb747]

Let’s see how long that lasts once there’s no food on the supermarket shelves.

Well, the various governments can always resort to the Chinese famine theory.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

So our hospitals are struggling to some extent.

As I see it, let's pause all non Category A surgeries cos we're taking in unvaxd covid patients.
There basically choosing them over vaccinated ppl needing various surgeries... I think that stinks, really starting to annoy me. If hospitals are reaching capacity, why would they choose unvaxd covid patients over all others as in my eyes that's what's happening. Clearly!

You have covid and your unvaxd, sorry we can't take you cos person B needs leg surgery, we only have 1 bed atm.

I don't have anyone in this situation, but keep hearing hospitals clogged with high %% unvaxd. Bugger'em.

As an example, for the week to Christmas in NSW the fully vaxxed % is
72% of all new positives
59% of all new hospital patients
45% of all new ICU patients.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I think some are missing that it's not the healthcare support you're talking about - that will happen irrespective of test results. Aren't you really talking about financial support? Previously to be eligible for financial support whilst isolating you had to have a positive PCR test, now a positive RAT will make someone eligible for financial support.

Yes support can be many things. Advice on what to do, Physical health, mental health, financial, access to food etc etc

Plus other factors like too many people were getting a positive RAT and then ringing 000 or heading off to emergency or a GP too quickly.

We are as a community in the process of transitioning to living with Covid.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Yeh, I’ll bet that’s going to work for them.

As not too many of their other web sites work, I don’t know that I’d hold my breath about the definition of ’soon’.

I just had a look. The Web portal is now up and running.

I started a report and it seems to be functional.

I did not complete as I did not want to create a bogus report.

 

[jase05]

Anna is not sending kids back to school in the middle of a Omicron outbreak and will look to delay the start of school term date

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Anna is not sending kids back to school in the middle of a Omicron outbreak and will look to delay the start of school term date

Oh dear. No kids at school means at least one parent needs to be at home (at least for kids say under 10-12)

 

[Pushka]

Anna is not sending kids back to school in the middle of a Omicron outbreak and will look to delay the start of school term date

Heard that under fives will be delayed in SA too. And I cannot imagine how childcare is going to function for emergency workers.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Heard that under fives will be delayed in SA too. And I cannot imagine how childcare is going to function for emergency workers.

When its happened previously in other States/Territories usually emergency workers get an exemption/exception for their kids.

 

[oznflfan]

Oh dear. No kids at school means at least one parent needs to be at home (at least for kids say under 10-12)

Including nurses and doctors

 

[Must...Fly!]

Anna is not sending kids back to school in the middle of a Omicron outbreak and will look to delay the start of school term date

This is ridiculous IMO. When is an acceptable time? When there's no covid?

 

[drron]

Hospitals are not under strain due to unvaxxed covid patients in Hospital. Nor indeed with vaxxed covid patients who now make up over 50% in some States.
Here is the data of hospital discharges for 2019/20. Incidentally the numbers were down by 2.8% in Australia compared to 2018/19.

Table 1: Separations(a) with a COVID-19 diagnosis(b), states and territories, Australia, 2019–20
	U07.1 [COVID-19, virus identified]	U07.2 [COVID-19, virus not identified]	Separations with a COVID-19 diagnosis	U06.0, COVID-19, ruled out(c)	Total separations
New South Wales	750	65	815​	32,189	3,062,899
Victoria	267	58	325​	33,163	2,859,387
Queensland	1,008	14	1022​	16,478	2,725,004
Western Australia	146	0	146​	5,908	1,116,312
South Australia	208	9	217​	1,977	783,707
Tasmania	58	1	59​	970	224,948
Australian Capital Territory	15	1	16​	1,316	170,656
Northern Territory	26	2	28​	1,876	195,099
Total	2,478	150	2,628	93,877	11,138,012

Current numbers in hospital with covid today.
NSW -1738 .Does that number compared with 3 million discharges in 2019/20 suggest NSW is overwhelmed by numbers?

Victoria -644 v 2859387 discharges in 2018/19.

Tasmania - 8 v 224948 discharges in 2018/19.

So it is not covid case numbers. The problem as it was pre covid is staffing. I have worked in all States except Victoria. Each State relies on Agency nurses to keep staff levels for nursing reasonable.This was pre covid. In those days a lot of those temporary nurses were from OS and that supply has dried up.
The next problem is staff unavailable due to isolation requirements. Today here there are ~ 40 nurses down due to this. As well 9 junior doctors have been required to isolate in the last 2 days.
None of the nay sayers have come up with any plan to ease this situation. It would not have been helped by increasing vaccinations as there are virtually no HCW that are not fully vaccinated. There are a few with legitimate exemptions.

So around Australia people are waking up to the fact that the Australian Health system has been struggling for years. The simplest but yet the most difficult in practical terms would be to cut the bureaucracy by at least 10% and replace them with frontline HCW. In 2005 the DG of QLD Health admitted under oath that 60% of the Heath Department's budget went on non clinical staff. It almost certainly has got worse since. From my experience QLD is unfortunately not the worst in this respect.

 

[Bundy Bear]

This is ridiculous IMO. When is an acceptable time? When there's no covid?

The 5 to 11 years will be able yo get vaccines starting from 10 January and it gives a bit of time for parents to vaccinate the children before going back to school.