Australian Reports of the Virus Spread

[Seat0B]

they didn’t give any notice. NSW made a snap decision with immediate effect leaving people already enroute with valid permits stranded

Like my sister's recent experience en route to Darwin - but at least in the end they had an exemption for people en route. It's no way to run a country or to get people who are your near neighbours to cooperate with you when arbitrary short notice decisions are made on a two class of citizen approach. I'm not sure how a Vic MP is more valuable than a returning ACT doctor who had been helping our neighbours in country Victoria.

 

[Lynda2475]

Their permits were approved almost instantaneously when they applied on Wednesday - the same day the NSW announcement took place.

You just proved my point. On Wed there was a soft border in place, had he travelled using that permit on Wed or any time before 12:01 am Friday he could have transited NSW. But he tried to use pass after the rule changed. Entering NSW is entering, whether you intend to stay or pass through enroute to somewhere else. The information provided was clear, he should not have made an assumption.

 

[get me outta here]

Even Tim Wilson doesn’t agree.

“ On ABC's Q&A on Monday night, in response to a question from one of the stranded Canberrans, Anne Cahill Lambert, he said the situation was unacceptable.

"I do know that when I ... drove up from Victoria over the weekend there was cancellation of our permits as well. We were able to get them reissued within time to cross the border," he said.

"I do consider this to be completely unacceptable and that fact there are vulnerable people and people who could be used to control this pandemic and assist and aid others and they're stuck in limbo at the border I think is unacceptable."

You just proved my point. On Wed there was a soft border in place, had he travelled using that permit on Wed or any time before 12:01 am Friday he could have transited NSW. But he tried to use pass after the rule changed. Entering NSW is entering, whether you intend to stay or pass through enroute to somewhere else. The information provided was clear, he should not have made an assumption.

 

[antycbr]

Even Tim Wilson doesn’t agree.

“ On ABC's Q&A on Monday night, in response to a question from one of the stranded Canberrans, Anne Cahill Lambert, he said the situation was unacceptable.

"I do know that when I ... drove up from Victoria over the weekend there was cancellation of our permits as well. We were able to get them reissued within time to cross the border," he said.

"I do consider this to be completely unacceptable and that fact there are vulnerable people and people who could be used to control this pandemic and assist and aid others and they're stuck in limbo at the border I think is unacceptable."

Perhaps it’s time for someone to take the NSW Government to court. Clive Palmer style.

 

[SydneySwan]

I have finally realised what you were on about. The problem is you didn’t realise how draconian my dictatorship would be. No transfers from Queanbeyan, Cooma, Goulburn et al would be allowed. Air ambulance to Sydney only. I reckon it would take all of 3 hours for Gladys to arrive at a solution.

I have two thoughts on her tactics.

1). Gladys is in a funk because internal predictions show cases are spiraling out of control

2). She wants to show her voters that she is just as hardline as other premiers at protecting NSW. So the stranding of ACT people is generating good press for her, as everyone hates ACT anyway.

I suspect option 1 is in play. There are just so many warnings now in NSW about people who were at a certain place between certain hours to isolate and get tested that Services NSW should create an app to advise the local communities based on driving licence details. Not perfect but it would be a start. And not hard to do.

 

[jakeseven7]

I suspect option 1 is in play. There are just so many warnings now in NSW about people who were at a certain place between certain hours to isolate and get tested that Services NSW should create an app to advise the local communities based on driving licence details. Not perfect but it would be a start. And not hard to do.

Option 1 for sure.

They need to put some broader restrictions on Sydney now, I think these 10 warnings a day are clearly not reducing the cases

 

[Flying mermaid]

When border rules change all exisiting passes are cancelled at the point in time the new rules come in, and people need to apply again under new criteria. This is why they always give a few days notice, so residents likely to be impacted can return under old permit rules.

So someone given a permit before the changes which well publicised came into effect needed to monitor the border rules given the situation is fluid (and if away from home you cant afford not to) and reapply.

This isnt unique to NSW. Qld works the same, all NSW residents in Qld border towns had to reapply for new passes to enter Qld when their rules changed last Saturday. The new permit only going live at 1 am. Qld residents from outside border bubble trying to drive home after 1 am, had to leave their cars and fly home.

To be unfair they would have had to apply for their permit after 12.01am last Friday, have had it approved and then revoked since then. Is this what happened ?

Any assumption that a pass issued under the soft border closure would still apply under the hard border closure is ignorance.

This couple claim to have checked with NSW health before leaving Melbourne but were still refused when they got there. Not sure how that is ignorance

Canberrans could be stuck in Victoria for 'a few days', ACT Government warns

ACT residents stuck in Victoria are warned of the "reality" of the situation — they may be unable to cross the border into New South Wales for "a few days" yet.

www.abc.net.au

 

[moa999]

seeing the Victorian bureaucracy congratulating itself on a job well done.

Not sure what else people were expecting.

Any Govt just doesn't have people sitting around ready to respond to a pandemic
In this case they seem to have retasked people - who used to deal with trade delegates (obviously now non-existent). And they did ok for a while.

Where there issues.. obviously

 

[love_the_life]

Cafe? Last time I went to anything like that was early March

Though we are able to do that in Canberra. Even in the takeaway only restrictions you could get a coffee and sit outside with it in a park or similar. We used to do that at Maple and Clove around the corner as there is a small park adjacent with benches. We could get some fresh air.
It might be harder if you need to drive though.

 

[RooFlyer]

Not sure what else people were expecting.

Sure, but to congratulate yourself on a job well done, the job should first be done well. In this case the job was implementation of hotel quarantine but also quarantine that worked.

Meanwhile,

A senior Victorian public health official was axed on Tuesday night after complaints he was scheming to sell grog for profit to alcohol-dependent guests at two city hotels used in the government’s coronavirus isolation program.

Just hours after The Australian submitted questions about the allegations against the Department of Health and Human Services manager, the government acted swiftly to remove the public servant and order an investigation into the scandal.

“A DHHS employee has been stood down from his role at the Brady Hotel,” a spokesman for the Department of Justice and Community Safety said.
...

According to a written complaint, seen by The Australian, the DHHS official made the comment during a debate over whether guests at the Brady Hotel and the Grand Chancellor should be provided with alcohol.

“(The official) suggested that he could go and purchase alcohol for guests ‘at profit’ and that he would be charging people for delivery. This did not appear to be an ethical or practical way to manage this,” the written complaint by a staff member at the Brady states.

 

[Pushka]

Not really good. Bet they wish they could turn back time. Maybe its paywalled but it sure is a congrat fest.

No Cookies | Herald Sun

No Cookies

www.heraldsun.com.au

Vic today. 410 positives and 21 deaths.

 

[PineappleSkip]

The vehicle transport industry must be having a field day with all the motorists stuck on the wrong side of the border. Melbourne to Brisbane, Melbourne to Sydney, Sydney to Brisbane, would all create a lot of business, but possibly a lot of empty trucks returning. Adelaide to Brisbane also, given the only road routes now would be via NT or Birdsville. Can’t find any media on any of this (yet), but a website admission from one of the transporters that ‘delays will be inevitable’.

The pricing seems modest compared with the cost of quarantine, one offering leadin prices of $500 Mel-Syd and $550 Syd-Bne. That would no doubt be for a sedan and depot to depot. Suspect it would be more expensive to transport from a more convenient regional point like TMW than from SYD, and the time to get home would be not much different if you factor in 14 days quaro.

Returning from Vic might be a bit more problematic, one company mentioning that Stage 4 means depot dropoffs are out and that means door to door (and higher cost). The temptation to gouge might be there, but no doubt that will be reported if so.

cheers skip

 

[Flying mermaid]

Though we are able to do that in Canberra. Even in the takeaway only restrictions you could get a coffee and sit outside with it in a park or similar. We used to do that at Maple and Clove around the corner as there is a small park adjacent with benches. We could get some fresh air.
It might be harder if you need to drive though.

I don’t drink coffee, as you know, so there wasn’t a huge attraction for us to go to a cafe. With a big reserve on our doorstep, walking the fur babies gave us plenty of exercise. The number of people walking in the reserve trebled during the restrictions, so there was plenty of socially distanced human interaction as well.

 

[Pushka]

The number of people walking in the reserve trebled during the restrictions, so there was plenty of socially distanced human interaction as well.

At height of SA restrictions the number of people walking along the beachfront was packed. We felt much less safe than if we had gone to our secluded place on the river and we wouldnt have used any public facilities as we BYO everything. But we werent allowed to.

 

[drron]

One thing we saw out in SW QLD was a lot of caravans pulled by 4WD's with SA plates coming in through Innamincka then on to Thargomindah.They could also go through Quilpie so possibly a lot more than we saw.

 

[Pushka]

One thing we saw out in SW QLD was a lot of caravans pulled by 4WD's with SA plates coming in through Innamincka then on to Thargomindah.They could also go through Quilpie so possibly a lot more than we saw.

The trip north to Qld, usually via NSW coast is incredibly popular in SA. One day we will hire a Brit Van and do it. Caravans arent our thang. Maybe we can tow a small car behind the van

We will be hiring a car at Cairns airport next week. Better not get one with Vic/NSW plates.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

VicGovDHHS
@VicGovDHHS
There were 410 new cases of #coronavirus (#COVID19) detected in Victoria in the last 24 hours.

We are sad to report that there have been 21 deaths. #Covid19VicData








Political Alert

@political_alert
Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews, will hold a press conference at 10:45am #springst #COVID19Vic
9:55 AM · Aug 12, 2020

 

[Lynda2475]

When stage 4 was first applied in Vic, it was mentioned that Qantas Freight was impacted - does anyone know if this is back up and running? I find it terribly frustrating that reporting for Vic is so poor wrt impacted workplaces and venues, the other states much more forthcoming with details.

 

[get me outta here]

What’s the date on that video that I have not been able to look at? Was it like in the beginning, in the middle or recently?

Sure, but to congratulate yourself on a job well done, the job should first be done well. In this case the job was implementation of hotel quarantine but also quarantine that worked.

Meanwhile,

A senior Victorian public health official was axed on Tuesday night after complaints he was scheming to sell grog for profit to alcohol-dependent guests at two city hotels used in the government’s coronavirus isolation program.

Just hours after The Australian submitted questions about the allegations against the Department of Health and Human Services manager, the government acted swiftly to remove the public servant and order an investigation into the scandal.

“A DHHS employee has been stood down from his role at the Brady Hotel,” a spokesman for the Department of Justice and Community Safety said.
...

According to a written complaint, seen by The Australian, the DHHS official made the comment during a debate over whether guests at the Brady Hotel and the Grand Chancellor should be provided with alcohol.

“(The official) suggested that he could go and purchase alcohol for guests ‘at profit’ and that he would be charging people for delivery. This did not appear to be an ethical or practical way to manage this,” the written complaint by a staff member at the Brady states.

 

[Flying mermaid]

At height of SA restrictions the number of people walking along the beachfront was packed. We felt much less safe than if we had gone to our secluded place on the river and we wouldnt have used any public facilities as we BYO everything. But we werent allowed to.

Fortunately it wasn’t like that, although I saw photos of some of the walks round the lake in Canberra and they were packed. We were so used to having “our” reserve to ourselves with maybe a few regular dog walkers, that the increase was a bit strange.