Australian Reports of the Virus Spread

[Himeno]

I think under the work exception.......

I think woollies n Coles announced they will close at 745pm but their workers go home after curfew has started.

The stores are closing at 730 with last customers out by 745 (ie, no new customers enter after 730pm).
Staff are exempt from the curfew for travel to/from work.

 

[Hvr]

Staff are exempt from the curfew for travel to/from work.

Not exempt, they will have permits from their employer showing what time they are working allowing them to travel to/from home during the curfew times.

 

[Himeno]

You might want to let ACT health know - and surely that doesn’t apply to accommodation. Crazy policy if it is. ANU needs to clarify that, as these incorrect rumours spread around and of course it would have a very negative effect on people getting tested (particularly young people).

ACT Health should already know.
I got that from a reply to the daily update post by ACT Health. A reply asked if students should get tested if they feel sick. ACT Health replied yes of course they should, with a comment that the interstate students are scared to because they think they'll be kicked out of the campus housing with a positive result in reply.

 

[Himeno]

Not exempt, they will have permits from their employer showing what time they are working allowing them to travel to/from home during the curfew times.

There are details about the curfew exemptions which need clarifying. It seems that the government permit system has space to write the staff members normal hours, however there are questions about casuals who don't have "normal" hours and other staff who pick up/alter their normal shifts if/as needed.
Woolworths has told staff to have both the essential services letter and the new government permit along with their name badge and ID and phone numbers for store and line manager. If police want to question staff traveling to/from work for a shift not listed on their 'normal' roster, then the police can call the store/line manager to confirm.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

A little nugget from the PM and overseas arrivals / specified interstate arrivals hotel quarantine.....

The Prime Minister said the government was also “stress testing” the hotel quarantine arrangements in the wake of the Victorian COVID outbreak.

“There was also a very strong focus today on stress testing our national preparedness more broadly, specifically in the area of quarantine, as well as in aged care preparedness,‘’ Mr Morrison said.

“There was a report from Jane Halton who’s been undertaking that quarantine, a review. She’s been in two states now in New South Wales and up in Queensland. And there were some very good lessons and experience that she was able to pass on the need to ensure we conduct quality and assurance testings at the state level over these quarantine arrangements.”

edit: to add an illuminating read from ABC....

'I read it in the newspapers': Chief Health Officer questioned about hotel quarantine bungle

Tensions continue to run high over the lingering questions surrounding Victoria's hotel quarantine failures, which are believed to be responsible for the state's second wave of COVID-19 infections.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Flying mermaid]

ACT Health should already know.
I got that from a reply to the daily update post by ACT Health. A reply asked if students should get tested if they feel sick. ACT Health replied yes of course they should, with a comment that the interstate students are scared to because they think they'll be kicked out of the campus housing with a positive result in reply.

I have suggested to Canberra Times that they need to check it out and maybe get the Uni communicating better.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Interstate issue:

Travellers trying to get to ACT from Victoria blocked at NSW border
The ACT Government has confirmed people trying to travel from Victoria to Canberra by car are being blocked at the border into New South Wales.

ACT residents and those with an exemption, including federal MPs and staffers, are being told they are no longer allowed to transit through New South Wales.

The Chief Minister's office says it's raised the issue as a matter of urgency with the offices of the New South Wales Premier and the Prime Minister.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Finally......

The federal agency that advises Australia's health authorities has updated its guidance on how healthcare workers should be protected against coronavirus, but has stopped short of recommending the use of higher-grade masks.

The Infection Control Expert Group now advises that healthcare professionals should wear N95 masks when treating confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients who display challenging behaviours, such as shouting or exhibiting mental illness.

For all other patients, the group recommends using surgical masks.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Not sure if this was captured upthread.

Qld might have done enough to avoid disaster........potentially the second State/Territory to stop a community seeding event (after ACT)....fingers crossed.

NT revokes Brisbane's hotspot status
The Northern Territory Government has revoked "hotspot" status for Brisbane, Ipswich and Logan in Queensland.

The Government has also relaxed rules for travellers from the Blue Mountains and Eurobodalla shire in regional New South Wales.

The changes mean people in these areas will be able to enter the Northern Territory without having to go into supervised quarantine.

NT revokes coronavirus hotspot status for Brisbane, parts of NSW

People entering the NT no longer face mandatory quarantine if travelling from Brisbane, Ipswich and Logan in Queensland, or the Eurobodalla and Blue Mountains areas in New South Wales.

www.abc.net.au

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Finally......

The federal agency that advises Australia's health authorities has updated its guidance on how healthcare workers should be protected against coronavirus, but has stopped short of recommending the use of higher-grade masks.

The Infection Control Expert Group now advises that healthcare professionals should wear N95 masks when treating confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients who display challenging behaviours, such as shouting or exhibiting mental illness.

For all other patients, the group recommends using surgical masks.

My daughter's hospital in Melbourne will most likely stick to N95s Duckbills for all Covid Positive or Probable patients as they been doing that since early on, and well before the second wave. In addition there are areas where it may simply not be known what the status of the patient will be, ad so again N95s to be worn. Other areas have all been surgical masks areas since 1 July including just staff to staff areas.

The second wave means though that more of the hospital is now considered Covid Probable/ Positive as there are simply more wards/areas devoted to this now.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Qld border restriction No 11

Border Restrictions Direction (No. 11)

For the purpose of this direction, all travellers to Queensland including returning residents and workers should practise social distancing and risk mitigation measures such as remaining 1.5 metres away from other persons, regular washing of hands, and limiting travel outside of the home or...

www.health.qld.gov.au

 

[PineappleSkip]

Two hours to go before it comes into effect and the website to apply for the new border declaration pass is still not live

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Two hours to go before it comes into effect and the website to apply for the new border declaration pass is still not live

Based on a previous Qld change (I think border), the Qld Premier will be up to tweet it’s implementation

 

[Must...Fly!]

Well, the reporting from journalists at The Age this morning has fingers pointed firmly and squarely at Victorian state government mismanagement. Both articles are a good read...

A senior Department of Jobs official has been removed from their role as evidence mounts that the decision to use private security guards at Melbourne’s quarantine hotels was partly driven by a well-meaning attempt to provide jobs under "social inclusion" policies.

Hiring security guards 'an attempt at social inclusion'

A Department of Jobs official has been removed as another describes the "crazy weekend" setting up hotel quarantine.

www.theage.com.au

Victorians with coronavirus are waiting more than a week to be interviewed by health officials, stymieing efforts to contain the disease and threatening the success of costly lockdown measures.

Contact tracing is meant to be initiated within 24 hours, but the long delays are leading GPs to instruct their patients to call their close contacts themselves and urge them to be tested.

'It’s dire': Contact tracing delays threaten coronavirus fight

Contact tracing should be initiated with 24 hours, but doctors are reporting extensive delays they say could threaten prospects of containing the virus.

www.theage.com.au

 

[jakeseven7]

Worrying news from NSW with the number of unknown source cases increasing, indicating unchecked spread through Sydney....

And so far the government is holding back on placing any more restrictions on high risk venues except ‘urging the public to reduce their socialisation’...... mmmm what could go wrong here?

——

Increasing mystery COVID cases causing anxiety for NSW Health

Contact tracers are stumped in the hunt for the sources of a string of COVID-19 cases unknowingly spreading the virus among Sydney’s restaurants and pubs, as the government faces mounting pressure to tighten restrictions on high risk venues.

The next several days will prove pivotal in determining the extent of the fallout from a busy weekend for three men aged in their 20s infectious with COVID-19 who visited 17 venues between them in Sydney’s inner-west, the CBD, the western suburbs and Newcastle.

Thousands of diners, revellers and shoppers have been asked to self-isolate and watch for symptoms after being exposed to one of the infectious men.

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said the main concern is how the man who attended the Glebe restaurant caught the virus. He is one of eight cases with no known links to clusters or confirmed cases this week - a sign the virus is spreading undetected and quickly.

Mystery COVID cases causing anxiety for NSW Health

Contact tracers are hunting for the source of a string of COVID-19 cases unknowingly spreading the virus among Sydney’s restaurants and pubs.

www.smh.com.au

 

[SydneySwan]

Well, the reporting from journalists at The Age this morning has fingers pointed firmly and squarely at Victorian state government mismanagement. Both articles are a good read...

Hiring security guards 'an attempt at social inclusion'

A Department of Jobs official has been removed as another describes the "crazy weekend" setting up hotel quarantine.

www.theage.com.au

'It’s dire': Contact tracing delays threaten coronavirus fight

Contact tracing should be initiated with 24 hours, but doctors are reporting extensive delays they say could threaten prospects of containing the virus.

www.theage.com.au

Disappointingly I find none of this very surprising based on my experience working with both state and federal government departments in situations where temporary staff are hired in large numbers at very short notice.

 

[jakeseven7]

Another Sydney shopping centre closes for deep clean after customer tests positive

A shopping centre in western Sydney closed temporarily for cleaning after a customer tested positive for coronavirus.

Bonnyrigg Plaza centre management said the shopper visited the shops on Tuesday, August 4

They spent most of that time at Big W and briefly went to Bonnyrigg Fruit World.

As it happened: Victoria records 12 COVID-19 deaths, 466 new cases on Saturday as lockdown continues, New South Wales and Queensland borders restricted, Australia's death toll reaches 278

Australia continues to battle COVID-19 with Victoria still the centre of the attention as stage four lockdown begins to bite.

www.theage.com.au

 

[jakeseven7]

What could go wrong?

——

Quarantined travellers to be let out of Queensland hotel rooms

Pandemic travellers locked in Queensland hotels have won the right to leave their rooms and step out into the open air despite concerns that hotel quarantine breaches that have caused COVID-19 problems in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

No Cookies | The Courier Mail

No Cookies

www.couriermail.com.au

 

[dajop]

'It’s dire': Contact tracing delays threaten coronavirus fight

Contact tracing should be initiated with 24 hours, but doctors are reporting extensive delays they say could threaten prospects of containing the virus.

www.theage.com.au

I did read an article in the Bendigo Advertiser, that when contract tracing had been taken over by the local health provider (Bendigo Health), it was working much better and quicker than DHHS central tracing. I wonder, if like fighting bushfires, there's a need for much more in community support, not only to help with the work such as contract tracing and verifying compliance with , but better connect with people and better influence behaviours.

That aside, genuine question, I've read again and again that contact tracing is a specialised skill, that needs to be done by trained health officials. What are the specific skills that it involves beyond getting people to account for their every movement, locations visited and personal interactions over the days before they tested positive? I assume it takes some form of investigative skill.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

For those interested a relevant opinion piece by joe hildebrand

Real villain in Victoria’s virus crisis

COMMENT

www.news.com.au