Australian Reports of the Virus Spread

[lovetravellingoz]

The word on the ground is that contract tracing in Melbourne is overwhelmed.
This isn’t surprising given the daily numbers of new cases.
Stage 4 will hopefully allow them time to not only catch up but get ahead of the game.

That I agree with, but there is no secret in it as it has been indicated in the public commentary. As have been the comments on the continued expansion of people working on the task.

That they are behind where they would want to be is clearly one reason why Stage 4 has been entered into as the task was continuing to build and past available resources and ability to train new staff despite the regular expansion.

But indicating that people have given up is just not so.


EDIT
However just to ease your mind, a quick google and:

View attachment 224084

 

[Princess Fiona]

That I agree with, but there is no secret in it as it has been indicated in the public commentary. As have been the comments on the continued expansion of people working on the task.

That they are behind where they would want to be is clearly one reason why Stage 4 has been entered into as the task was continuing to build and past available resources and ability to train new staff despite the regular expansion.

But indicating that people have given up is just not so.

Definitely not given up.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

You might want to double check if your impression is correct.

From the information I can dig up, pubs and other venues were due to increase on 22 June from 20 to 50

Victoria locks in next stage of eased coronavirus restrictions as nine new cases recorded

Victoria's Premier confirms the state will move ahead with the next stage of lifting coronavirus restrictions on June 22, allowing cinemas and theatres to reopen and boosting customer capacity for hospitality venues.

www.abc.net.au

I don't need to double check as I have a clear recollection.

Yes they were due to, but it never happened. As I have mentioned earlier in the thread it was cancelled due to rising cases.

22 June is one of my sisters birthday and we originally joked that she could have have a large event due to venues going to 50. The increase was repealed before it happened, and before her birthday.

I have also only been to one restaurant and pub since Australia Day.

The first a Chinese restaurant on 19 June where we had a booking for 10. This was the max allowed to be be booked, and in the restaurant there were 10 other people. three couples and a group of 4.

The pub was on 29 June and we had a table of 5 (3 of the friends from the proceeding weekend). The pub had two dining rooms , each with a max of 20.
When it was announced that the expansion to 50 was dropped my wife rang our friends to see if our booking at the pub would still be honoured due the venue finding out the weekend prior that the numbers would stay at 20. Our friends had booked early and so our booking was honoured.


EDIT;

However just to ease your mind I just did a quick google:

 

[p--and--t]

You might want to double check if your impression is correct.

From the information I can dig up, pubs and other venues were due to increase on 22 June from 20 to 50

Intended, announced, but never happened. Impending change withdrawn as soon as things started going awry.

 

[Seat0B]

According to QLD Health you only have to self isolate at home after testing if told to do so.

COVID-19 (Coronavirus) - NSW COVID-19 case statistics - up to 8pm 3 November 2020

Sources of COVID-19 diagnosed in NSW in last 24 hours, last 7 days and to date.

www.health.nsw.gov.au

Now if you were a contact of a case or had symptoms they should tell you to self isolate.However after the young ladies returned from Victoria thousands of asymptomatic patient from the suburbs they visited got tested.Likely they were not told to self isolate.

As a non-medical person, these loop holes that are being discussed just astound me. I recall doing my NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) training when I was in the ADF, and my god it scared the life out of me about how easy it is to spread stuff around. The number one thing that was dinned into us was to think, think, think, before we touched anything, removed anything or did even routine actions, as to what would be the result if one of these agents was on our person or our PPE. And it was also all about protecting our fellow soldiers, sailors and airpeople (we actually called them airmen in those days, but gender equity, you know) as much as ourselves. I really am astounded.

 

[JohnM]

The DPRV seems to have a new Deputy Chief Health Officer. Does that mean a certain person has been given an alternative sinecure?

But given that that person is still listed as the the Deputy responsible for communicable disease (About the Chief Health Officer), call me cynical, but WTF? .

And what is it that has most of these people being 'Professor'?

Just wonderin'...

 

[p--and--t]

The DPRV seems to have a new Deputy Chief Health Officer. Does that mean a certain person has been given an alternative sinecure?

But given that that person is still listed as the the Deputy responsible for communicable disease (About the Chief Health Officer), call me cynical, but WTF? .

And what is it that has most of these people being 'Professor'?

Just wonderin'...

Any links to this new appointment to share?

 

[JohnM]

Any links to this new appointment to share?

4:02 min mark here: ABC News WA

And referred to as 'new'.

 

[Princess Fiona]

4:02 min mark here: ABC News WA

And referred to as 'new'.

Any links to this new appointment to share?

Annaliese has moved on.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

The DPRV seems to have a new Deputy Chief Health Officer. Does that mean a certain person has been given an alternative sinecure?

But given that that person is still listed as the the Deputy responsible for communicable disease (About the Chief Health Officer), call me cynical, but WTF? .

And what is it that has most of these people being 'Professor'?

Just wonderin'...

Announced on 31 July

The Department of Health and Human Services secretary, Kym Peake, has been appointed to the role of State Controller for Health. Professor Allen Cheng, from The Alfred hospital, Professor Rhonda Stuart, from Monash Health, and Professor Paul Johnson, from Austin Health, have joined the DHHS as Professor Sutton’s deputies, after Deputy Chief Health Officer Annaliese van Diemen decided to return to her former role of managing other communicable diseases, including the avian flu.

Australia's top medical experts to spend Saturday deciding further Victorian restrictions

Ahead of an expected announcement on Sunday, Australia's panel of top medical minds has begun meeting to decide what restrictions will stifle Victoria's surging second wave.

www.theage.com.au

There is an avian flu outbreak in Vic at present. Also announced on 31 July.

Avian influenza detected in Victorian poultry

Agriculture Victoria has confirmed that AI H7N7 has been detected at an additional egg farm in the Golden Plains Shire, and AI H7N6 has been detected at an emu farm near Kerang in the Gannawarra Shire.

www2.health.vic.gov.au

PS: And quarantine for chickens is a lot harsher, evidently the chickens are not allowed out for exercise as they just exterminate the lot instead .

 

[p--and--t]

4:02 min mark here: ABC News WA

And referred to as 'new'.

Thanks. I note there were two of them in Vic before today (and the feds etc have 3 deputy positions) .

Allen Cheng seems to have the right credentials to join the team (and he calls himself Prof - because he is - at Monash Uni)

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Thanks. I note there were two of them in Vic before today (and the feds etc have 3 deputy positions) .

Allen Cheng seems to have the right credentials to join the team (and he calls himself Prof - because he is - at Monash Uni)

.
One of three new Deputies

 

[p--and--t]

PS: And quarantine for chickens is a lot harsher, evidently the chickens are not allowed out for exercise as they just exterminate the lot instead .

....and they probably don't have private security guards doing naughty things with them (oh wait, shouldn't make presumptions)

 

[JohnM]

Annaliese has moved on.

And sorely missed, no doubt...

 

[RooFlyer]

And sorely missed, no doubt...

Well, I'm certainly going to miss their historical context, if not their historical knowledge!

 

[Pushka]

The one case yesterday in SA suspected of being community transmission has now been determined not to be positive after secondary testing meaning that there is just the one cluster of four I think troubling SA but they werent out and about too much.

 

[jakeseven7]

NSW community transmission grows; Sydney childcare centre closes after positive COVID-19 test


Another new case of COVID-19 has been linked to a day care centre in Sydney’s south west.

Kids Learning Academy, Busby, has closed for deep cleaning after a child, who tested positive for COVID-19, attended the venue for one day while infectious.

Contact tracing is now underway.

Coronavirus NSW: COVID-19 case at Sydney childcare centre

Jim Korkees’ week changed in a flash on Monday when he received the phone call every childcare centre director had been dreading.

www.news.com.au

 

[Gremlin]

It was the state authorities that stopped using it - I guess stopped interrogating the phones of infectees. Yes, lots of issues with iPhone versions especially not being effective, but why on earth would you give up a potential short-cut?

Having spoken to a few people who have used the app for tracing, it isn't (wasn't?) a short-cut at all. The back end was very clunky, very difficult to extract the necessary data, very difficult to match up records and time consuming to use. Think one hour to do the in depth interview vs multiple hours to extract less info from the app, most of which was either of poor quality or a subset of the info already collected in the one hour interviews. Very little was actually incrementally useable. Really just a waste of scarce contact tracing resource at a time when Vic could least afford it.

From what I understand, some work has gone in to streamline the back end to the point where it is now possible to extract in a more timely manner and some cleansing is done automatically. This has meant it's adding incremental value without as much manual effort. Hence it coming back into play.

 

[Gremlin]

Qld closing borders to ALL of NSW and ACT from 1am Saturday morning

EDITED TO ADD: 1 new case in Qld in the West Moreton area. Under investigation

EDITED AGAIN: ACT added as apparently several pax from Sydney have been driving or flying to CBR and then flying onwards to try and avoid the quarantine requirements.

 

[james4321]

Qld closing borders to ALL of NSW and ACT from 1am Saturday morning

Excellent decision - not before time.