Australian Reports of the Virus Spread

[I love to travel]

Hope it stays open until Monday week and then son is fine.

Next Saturday is my milestone but even then how much can people really relax anymore when away from home. I have given mum "permission" not to come if she feels it is too risky.

 

[Pushka]

Next Saturday is my milestone but even then how much can people really relax anymore when away from home. I have given mum "permission" not to come if she feels it is too risky.

He has to go up just for the day to get biometrics done. Agree, not relaxing at all.

 

[Austman]

Just received this email...

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Just received this email...

View attachment 223815

An ok response ...my query is what other shifts did they work prior to the last shift?? Clearly rhetorical.....

if someone shopped on 28/7 and got infected, then it might mean surfacetrasmission (eg self service)

 

[Must...Fly!]

Woolworths Victoria Harbour had a positive case in an employee about 10 days ago, I received the same templated e-mail. Transparency is good I suppose

 

[AIRwin]

NT health authorities say an adult male found out he had tested positive while he was flying

The QF flight status page is showing the man's flight JQ678 arrived at the International terminal in DRW and departed back to MEL less than an hour behind schedule... Hope the aircraft VH-VGQ had time for a deep clean!

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

How to get an exemption

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Minogue, 48, explained that her crippling claustrophobia allowed her to receive a medical exemption from the Queensland government, and that she’d followed protocol to the letter.

“I wouldn‘t ask for a ‘celebrity’ treatment or to have anything special granted to,” she told the publication.

“I went by the book, I made sure my priority was keeping everyone safe – everyone.

“I took a lot of time to pull the whole thing together so that the Queensland Government were happy, the Queensland health officials were happy and that I’m happy. I added extra things into (the COVID-19 safe plan) so I know that I can sleep at night.”

Dannii Minogue reveals why she was exempt from hotel quarantine

Dannii Minogue has revealed the reason she was able to skip mandatory hotel quarantine after arriving back in Australia from Los Angeles last month.

www.news.com.au

 

[Seat0B]

Here’s the current NT direction. It seems that there is a transit exemption for people who flew in, stayed at a hotel less than 5k from the airport, and went nowhere else. See drection 4(d).

Unfortunately NT’s instant hotspot declarations have these sorts of outcomes. Really sorry your fam member got stung.

cheers skip

So good news update - my sister made it through. There was some sort of exemption for people whose travel was already underway provided they stayed at an airport hotel, wore a mask, did not use public transport and did not eat in a restaurant. So she eventually arrived, starving hungry after meagre in-flight offering, a three hour wait to be border/COVID checked, have her phone checked, show receipts for hotel etc and no quarantine required. Thanks to all who have offered helpful suggestions, advice and information, and support/sympathy. Really appreciated at a stressful time.

 

[Seat0B]

And we really don't know how many have successfully crossed borders by lying etc.
Last night Channel 7 Brisbane interviewed a man from ipswich who lied on the border pass application that he and his daughter hadn't been in a Sydney hotspot.He had been to Canberra for his son's Military graduation It occurred the day before the QLD border closed to the hot spots.He had already arranged for the day of the border closure to pick up his daughter in Sydney to come home as she was now without a job.However they have been self isolating at home and now I think at the end of their 14 days.
Criminal or not?
The reason given for doing it was that they could not afford the hotel quarantine bill.

I'm sure that cost will drive a lot of avoidant behaviour. Not saying I agree with that choice, but I can see how people might decide to avoid a heavy cost impost on them personally for what they perceive to be no benefit to them personally.

 

[get me outta here]

Great outcome, sense prevailed and lucky she qualified. She must have been stressed as well as hungry.

So good news update - my sister made it through. There was some sort of exemption for people whose travel was already underway provided they stayed at an airport hotel, wore a mask, did not use public transport and did not eat in a restaurant. So she eventually arrived, starving hungry after meagre in-flight offering, a three hour wait to be border/COVID checked, have her phone checked, show receipts for hotel etc and no quarantine required. Thanks to all who have offered helpful suggestions, advice and information, and support/sympathy. Really appreciated at a stressful time.

 

[Seat0B]

I feel for your sisters situation but you have unfairly taken my comments out of context.

@Lynda2475 my apologies for causing you concern with my post, and thank you for clarifying your comments.

 

[Seat0B]

Great outcome, sense prevailed and lucky she qualified. She must have been stressed as well as hungry.

She was stressed, we were stressed, everyone was stressed. Awful experience. What a poor way to run a border closure, especially when we here have practically no option to travel to Darwin same day or even at all any more with transit via Melbourne out, Adelaide out, Sydney out and now Brisbane also all but out.

 

[Seat0B]

Also, a bit OT, but my sister paid $1600 one way on Virgin for this flight . She has not yet booked her return travel as she is planning to stay a while to help out with the new baby, but it will be interesting to see what the cost is on return.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Are they out of home for one of the four valid reasons? Are they wearing a mask or hold a medical certificate?....

Police shut down anti-masker meeting

Victoria Police have intervened to quash a planned gathering of anti-mask coronavirus conspiracy theorists at a gym in the Melbourne suburb Cranbourne.
A family member of one of the event's organisers has told The Age she contacted police to warn them it was happening.
"We were trying everything possible to get the meeting stopped," she said.
"We're all just trying to do the right thing."
Dozens of police showed up to surround the venue with roadblocks.
The Herald Sun reports officers smashed in the window of a young female driver's car around 6:30pm after she refused to speak to them.
They briefly arrested the woman, before letting her go a short time later.
Channel 7 reporter Cameron Baud took video footage of the incident. There are also photos, taken by Suzan Delibasic.

...more on news.com.au Covid live blog.

 

[Himeno]

The thing with the forced payment for hotel quarantine...
They are forcing interstate/international arrivals to go somewhere the government picks and get made to pay excessive amounts, with no way to make it cheaper (eg, by ordering your own food via supermarket delivery) and not being allowed to leave said location of the governments choosing for a given time. This could be seen as wrongful imprisonment. Because they might have Covid.

Meanwhile, someone tests positive and they are allowed to return home. The only government forced imposition on them is that they are not allowed to leave their home. They get to choose where they will spend their isolation period and they are not being forced to pay for it. They do have Covid.

Might have = $$$$.
Do have = ....

No one should be getting forced to stay anywhere of the governments choosing then be made to pay for it, unless it can be shown that the person in question can not or will not follow an at home self isolation directive, in which case, that person who won't follow the directive can then be taken to a location of the governments choosing for the isolation period and be made to pay for it. Both arrivals and new resident cases.

Those 100 odd people in Melbourne who could not be contacted by the health department and were then found not to be at home. They get off with a smallish fine and get to stay home.
Send them to the quarantine hotel and make them pay.

 

[dajop]

Might have = $$$$.
Do have = ....

I think I mentioned in one thread or another a gazillion posts ago, that I found it odd that inbound travellers, who might have the virus, or even those who probably don't (eg arriving from NZ) are required to be quarantined in a hotel, because they can't be trusted to self isolate at home. Yet those who absolutely are a risk (tested positive) are allowed to "self isolate" at home, just based on trust ... as they can be trusted. I think there's some politics of envy at play here, almost certainly some legal interpretation that says you can't detain someone for a medical condition (but can detain people arriving from outside the country).

People from O/S should be held in hotel for 2-3 days, tested, and if negative, allowed to self isolate at home for the remainder of the 14 day period. Focus the resources where the risk is greatest.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

The thing with the forced payment for hotel quarantine...
They are forcing interstate/international arrivals to go somewhere the government picks and get made to pay excessive amounts, with no way to make it cheaper (eg, by ordering your own food via supermarket delivery) and not being allowed to leave said location of the governments choosing for a given time. This could be seen as wrongful imprisonment. Because they might have Covid.

Meanwhile, someone tests positive and they are allowed to return home. The only government forced imposition on them is that they are not allowed to leave their home. They get to choose where they will spend their isolation period and they are not being forced to pay for it. They do have Covid.

Might have = $$$$.
Do have = ....

No one should be getting forced to stay anywhere of the governments choosing then be made to pay for it, unless it can be shown that the person in question can not or will not follow an at home self isolation directive, in which case, that person who won't follow the directive can then be taken to a location of the governments choosing for the isolation period and be made to pay for it. Both arrivals and new resident cases.

Those 100 odd people in Melbourne who could not be contacted by the health department and were then found not to be at home. They get off with a smallish fine and get to stay home.
Send them to the quarantine hotel and make them pay.

I agree with the sentiment, and I have previously advocated for the one strike quarantine option, but you might be comparing apples to oranges.

Victoria is where things need a massive reset.

I’ve not seen reports of Widespread quarantine dodging by known NSW Covid positive cases...and the handful of cases In other States and Territories seem to be under control (partially because the total numbers at any point in time is small).

Recently, someone pointed out that NSW positivity rate is 0.1% (which I’ve not checked myself). If you compare that to these NSW Health figures from today’s report

Returned travellers in hotel quarantine to date

Since 29 March 2020	Count
Symptomatic travellers tested	4,214​
Found positive	119​

Since 30 June 2020	Count
Asymptomatic travellers screened at a day 2	9,447​
Found positive	67​

Since 15 May 2020	Count
Asymptomatic travellers screened at a day 10	23,463​
Found positive	113​

each of the overseas arrivals test categories are higher than 0.1%.

and don’t forget in the early days there was quite a bit of isolating dodging from overseas arrivals.

I’m now thinking a bond process might be a suitable/ideal solution, but of course difficult to manage/administer. Pay a bond (that cover quarantine and follow up personnel costs), bond is forfeited after one strike and then you are transferred to quarantine hotel.

its an ideal solution, but would be difficult to administer eg NSW Phase 2 venue.

but as I indicated no option is really workable in Vic which needs a massive reset.

 

[dajop]

each of the overseas arrivals test categories are higher than 0.1%.

Yet, the positive test rate of those testing positive is also much higher than 0.1%, in fact it is 100%, yet they are allowed to self isolate at home (now of course there are many reasons for this, like caring for family etc).

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Yet, the positive test rate of those testing positive is also much higher than 0.1%, in fact it is 100%, yet they are allowed to self isolate at home (now of course there are many reasons for this, like caring for family etc).

Hence my ideal solution of a bond.

edit: Vic positives seem to behave differently to the Rest of Australia positives.....

 

[drron]

Be like Taiwan.Don't wear a mask on public transport NT3000-15000 fine (AUD 140-700).

Taiwan to implement heavier punishment for mask-lesspublic transport passengers | Taiwan News | Apr. 3, 2020 15:04

www.taiwannews.com.tw

And if you are in Mandatory quarantine you are up for a huge fine and possibly a gaol sentence.You are checked upon a few times a day and GPS tracked as well.

In Taiwan, the pandemic is playing out very differently. What does life look like?

Cellphones tracked, restaurants with X's taped on every other chair, thermometers to enter a building. Taiwan shows that the post-virus normal is different.

www.nbcnews.com

Taiwan used police surveillance, government tracking, and $33,000 fines to contain its coronavirus outbreak

Critics say the Taiwan's success with the coronavirus has come at the expense of its citizens' privacy.

www.businessinsider.com

So Taiwan with a population close to 24 million has had 474 case of Covid with 7 deaths as of yesterday.And much less economic damage as well.So GPS tracking or spend many billion dollars with more deaths and cases.