Australian Reports of the Virus Spread

[oznflfan]

Depends on the entry requirements for the country you are going to some require no tests, others a -ve RAT and others a -ve PCR and then there is also the rules of the airline/s you are flying and any countries you are transiting.

I understand if the country requires a negative PCR, you will either need a negative PCR (unlikley for some some months if you are recently recoverd) or a negative RAT plus a medical clearance certificate from a doctor who has examined you and declared you are fully recovered and not infectious.

Hence my question a few posts earlier about how easy/hard this could be to get for those with no regular GP.

Once cases subside and we return to say October 21 COVID situation, this PCR garbage for international travel will become a hot potato and eventually canned. Don't hold out much home for this PCR garbage to end by mid year school holidays, but by Christmas 2022 it will hopefully be all gone though.

 

[Lynda2475]

Once cases subside and we return to say October 21 COVID situation, this PCR garbage for international travel will become a hot potato and eventually canned

Again that requires consensus from Aus governments and destination governments and airlines.

Going to be quite a burden on GPs for clearance certificates, given how many Aussies will have had Covid by March and how many plan to travel.

 

[Lynda2475]

Sharp rise in Qld hospitlisations.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Once cases subside and we return to say October 21 COVID situation, this PCR garbage for international travel will become a hot potato and eventually canned. Don't hold out much home for this PCR garbage to end by mid year school holidays, but by Christmas 2022 it will hopefully be all gone though.

Perhaps, if you don't travel Qantas. On another thread it seems QF international need extra clearance to travel as a recovered non-infectious positive traveller

What happens if you catch COVID whilst overseas?

The irony that its easier to get into Australia than it is to get onboard a Qantas flight. Spirit of the nation Exactly the point I've been trying to make for a while now... Stupid policy

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[Lynda2475]

Some PCR testing trends (not sure why not available for all states). Can see the immediate impact of the removal of day 5 test for Qld, but with positivity ate rising we are seeing rising testing again.

 

[oznflfan]

Again that requires consensus from Aus governments and destination governments and airlines.

Going to be quite a burden on GPs for clearance certificates, given how many Aussies will have had Covid by March and how many plan to travel.

UK cancelled pre-departure tests this week. Just what we should do. No impact on destination governments as we get to choose who we visit, we don't get to choose who we return to (our home in Australia, sorry, correction, the individual state we reside in as we are only a federation of states, no longer a 'country'.

Boris Johnson told the Houses of Parliament that the previous measures were “having limited impact” on the spread of Omicron.

He added that pre-departure tests “discourage many from travelling for fear of being trapped overseas and incurring significant extra expense.”


Transport Secretary Grant Shapps confirmed on Twitter that as “Omicron is the dominant variant and is widespread in the UK, these measures are no longer proportionate.”

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Qld reporting 11,174 positives, 33k tests, 349 hospital, 17 ICU

Is there any word about their RAT+?

ACT still out of action (perhaps watching the dead Ashes Test/live World Test Championship match)

Nothing extraordinary seems to be happening numbers today of concern (positives/tests/hospital/ICU) and we got to 115k positives today (with an assist from historical RAT+ in Vic)

 

[Lynda2475]

Is there any word about their RAT+?

Their web form only went live a couple of hours ago, so you wont see any RAT numbers before tomorrow.

Two deaths in Qld today both in 30s, from Covid induced myocarditis.

ACT still out of action

Incorrect their results have already been widely reported in the news today

ACT: 1,305 cases and no deaths; 24 people in hospital, including five in ICUs

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Definitely not a RAT race........

Dangerous to extrapolate numbers, but using Vic first day reporting of RAT+, NSW could be about 11k RAT+ today and a further 37k RAT+ (historical). Hopefully Vic has a mechanism to remove potential duplicates (eg RAT+, but still waiting for PCR+ result and reported to RAT+)

The Vic Health Minister said the system will take a little while to settle down and catch up, including that initially that there will be some duplicates.






However as I have said a few times now the important thing is that positives are registered and known, and not the total numbers of cases.

Due to the sudden surge in cases in a holiday period yes the overall system is struggling, but it is a step in the right direction.

The more seriously affected are being helped in the main. But hospitals, paramedics etc are all under the pump.

Those that mildly affected just need to isolate at home and self_care just as they would for a cold or flu.

The webform supplies details to allow some screening.

It is not perfect, but given the massive surge in infections it would delusional to expect instant care of the mildly affected.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

ACT just coming out with their numbers in the last 30 minutes

1305 positives, 4.3k tests, 24 hospital, 5 ICU

 

[Lynda2475]

ACT just coming out with their numbers in the last 30 minutes

Incorrect again, Casey Briggs published todays ACT numbers over 50 minutes ago and the ABC reported them an hour ago. The ACT health tweet was late but numbers shared with the media and reported widely before then.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

The Vic Health Minister said the system will take a little while to settle down and catch up, including that initially that there will be some duplicates.






However as I have said a few times now the important thing is that positives are registered and known, and not the total numbers of cases.

Due to the sudden surge in cases in a holiday period yes the overall system is struggling, but it is a step in the right direction.

The more seriously affected are being helped in the main. But hospitals, paramedics etc are all under the pump.

Those that mildly affected just need to isolate at home and self_care just as they would for a cold or flu.

The webform supplies details to allow some screening.

It is not perfect, but given the massive surge in infections it would delusional to expect instant care of the mildly affected.

Thanks. Any word on whether RAT+ trigger Vic QR code contact tracing alerts?

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Thanks. Any word on whether RAT+ trigger Vic QR code contact tracing alerts?

I don't know as I am holidaying on the Murray and so am not across everything.

The webform did ask exposure etc, but I did not do all the iterations of yes/no to get to see all the questions.

 

[Lynda2475]

Do the Qld and Vic check-in apps show venue alerts in your history the way NSW does?

If relying on a person to sms you, would be very inefficient, given contract tracing interviews arent needed anymore and rarely done.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Qld - category 2 (some) and 3 surgeries suspended until 1 March

 

[jase05]

Depends on the entry requirements for the country you are going to some require no tests, others a -ve RAT and others a -ve PCR and then there is also the rules of the airline/s you are flying and any countries you are transiting.

I understand if the country requires a negative PCR, you will either need a negative PCR (unlikley for some months if you are recently recovered) or a negative RAT plus a medical clearance certificate from a doctor who has examined you and declared you are fully recovered and not infectious.

Hence my question a few posts earlier about how easy/hard this could be to get for those with no regular GP.

Thank you.
So is their a list on here or elsewhere of airlines from Australia that do/don’t require PCR tests and likewise countries?

 

[Pushka]

Thank you.
So is their a list on here or elsewhere of airlines from Australia that do/don’t require PCR tests and likewise countries?

It isn't what the airlines want, in the case of Qatar and likely others, but the requirements of the final country. So now, you can fly to the UK on Qatar without PCR but not Qantas I think.

 

[Lynda2475]

So is their a list on here or elsewhere of airlines from Australia that do/don’t require PCR tests and likewise countries?

Not a comprehensive one that I am aware of. The rules seem to be quite dynamic, changing frequently.

Lots of info on AFF re UK, US, Fiji and NZ entry, and re QF's criteria but there are hundreds of other countries and many other airlines.

Best to check both the airline websites, smart traveller and govt sites for the relevent destinations in the days leading up to you trip. The rules today could be completly different next week or month.

 

[Scarlett]

can I ask what country you're in? If you don't want to disclose no problems

Indonesia.

They appear to be in the ‘fear of Omicron overwhelming everything’ stage. Hence the pcr test on arrival and 10 days quarantine still required. Domestic life here remains pretty much normal.

Australia appears to be post that due to two reasons: an otherwise overwhelmed system which couldn’t cope with the politically driven rules; and, high vaccination rates which have seen significant case numbers translate to limited sickness.

Indonesia is an interesting contrast, they’re not highly vaccinated and in many cases used ‘different’ vaccines to those in Australia. Plus they have the rather horrible experience from last year with the oxygen shortages and mortalities event, which was a pretty mass event but fortunately relatively short in duration.

 

[Pushka]

Damn. Son who returned from UK last night positive RAT. Has had PCR. Had booster around 15th. Feels fluey. Isolating at home separately from the family.