Australian Reports of the Virus Spread

[RooFlyer]

Test. Test. Test.

Speaking on ABC's Radio National, GP and former federal MP Kerryn Phelps said "if you don't look, you don't find".

Perhaps she should go and look for the Easter Bunny.

Radio National

 

[jakeseven7]

Perhaps she should go and look for the Easter Bunny.

Radio National

She won’t need to look for that long.

Expect a few big announcements on testing in the next couple of weeks

 

[juddles]

I am a tad alarmed by some voices that seem to express something that suggests we have somehow beaten this thing.

Yes, Australia is certainly in a magnificent position compared to most other countries. It seems our brains trust in government and the medical side have nailed it, as much as anyone can. But the whole game plan is clearly an extended battle. This is NOT something that will be over in a few weeks.

Australia is clearly embarked on a plan of delaying and softening the medical impact via strenuous economic and social measures. This is a plan that will run for many months at least - more likely a year or more, at the shortest.

The medical industry knows that the silver bullet of a true vaccine is at least a year away - most likely more. And it is only with a vaccine that you can fundamentally drop the current measures.

Due to the lag between infection and detectable symptoms, we will need to wait a couple of weeks to actually get a real idea as to the spread of corona virus. As the chief medical officer said recently, this "noise" (the international arrivals) behind the stats makes interpretation difficult - but that noise is being quelled, magnificently, here in Australia.

So many nations are way behind us (or in front?) in that they have dropped the ball. For example, the UK has about 50,000 confirmed cases - but they have only tested about 200,000!!! It seems here we have managed over time to get the test ratio so very much higher - a good thing in anyone's view.

I cannot recall the source, but recent assessment of the UK's death figures is that they are wildly under-reported. That source said that apart from confirmed COVID deaths, the background general deaths in the UK were up over 30% for the recent past. In later times this will be revealed as untested corona deaths....

 

[DC3]

First flight in months from coronavirus-hit Wuhan lands in Sydney carrying masks, gowns and ventilators.

90 tonnes of protective masks, gowns and ventilators.

Wuhan freight flight lands in Australia with tonnes of medical equipment

A cargo plane from the city where coronavirus first appeared has landed in Sydney carrying 90 tonnes of masks, gowns and ventilators.

www.abc.net.au

 

[p--and--t]

I cannot recall the source, but recent assessment of the UK's death figures is that they are wildly under-reported. That source said that apart from confirmed COVID deaths, the background general deaths in the UK were up over 30% for the recent past. In later times this will be revealed as untested corona deaths....

I saw a report today saying the US figures will not be accurate as the country was basically in denial and haven't been looking for CV19 for the last couple of months even though it was rife throughout the country and death certificates were saying pneumonia/heart failure/flu as the patients were never tested . Secondly in the middle of the current turmoil in places like NYC at the moment ambulance staff are not bothering to take people to hospital if they don't think the patient will make it/can't be resussed quickly thus they also won't be tested either and the death will not necessarily be attributed to CV19.

 

[amaroo]

..

She won’t need to look for that long.

Expect a few big announcements on testing in the next couple of weeks

The bunny will be here in 5 days

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I am a tad alarmed by some voices that seem to express something that suggests we have somehow beaten this thing.

To be clear I am not suggesting we have beaten it. Just that we look to be able very soon to have beaten it back enough to live in Bubble Australia where here inside the bubble that life will be able to become somewhat more normal again and many jobs will be able to be re-activated.

The economic disruption around the world, as well as inside Bubble Australia, will certainly be affecting us in a negative way for a long long time.


Without a vaccine leisure travel outside the bubble will not be possible, and indeed I would imagine that such travel will not be possible for many months other a vaccine, or vaccines, have been deployed worldwide. Adding to that may well be a lack of airlines.


Caveat: Obviously we need to keep trending down. But by the end of April we could well be in position to start easing things in May.

 

[AIRwin]

The bunny will be here in 5 days

Ironically that was the 666th post on this thread...

 

[dajop]

Without a vaccine leisure travel outside the bubble will not be possible, and indeed I would imagine that such travel will not be possible for many months other a vaccine, or vaccines, have been deployed worldwide.

I wouldn't mind betting that if "Bubble Australia" emerges convincingly at some point and "Bubble NZ" emerges we might see travel possibities opening up across the ditch. But elsewhere, very difficult to see anything else opening up to leisure travel. Bali will suffer for a long long time.

 

[N860CR]

I wouldn't mind betting that if "Bubble Australia" emerges convincingly at some point and "Bubble NZ" emerges we might see travel possibities opening up across the ditch. But elsewhere, very difficult to see anything else opening up to leisure travel. Bali will suffer for a long long time.

Thats been my prediction for a while now. Australia and NZ have gone down similar paths and are getting similar results.

I believe the airlines have domestic schedules largely normalised from June and I’d suspect that’s realistic. Who knows with international. Depending on the economic impact, we may end up a slow opening to “safe” countries over a period of time.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I wouldn't mind betting that if "Bubble Australia" emerges convincingly at some point and "Bubble NZ" emerges we might see travel possibities opening up across the ditch. But elsewhere, very difficult to see anything else opening up to leisure travel. Bali will suffer for a long long time.

Yes I had thought that an ANZAC Bubble may be feasible, but suspect the Kiwis will be more nervous about it than the Aussies as a number of infections came via us and we had that one idiot who had his test before his flight to NZ and then to land and find that he was indeed positive..

 

[DC3]

Yes I had thought that an ANZAC Bubble may be feasible ....

ANZAC:

Australian and
New
Zealand
Army
Corps

 

[Princess Fiona]

Interestingly.... a whole lot of government employed RNs have been forced onto annual leave (or LWOP - stand-down basically) because a certain major hospital in Sydney is low on patients.

Really ???

 

[DC3]

Really ???

It’s a secret.

 

[Princess Fiona]

It’s a secret.

Interesting. I know there are plenty of employees in the private sector who have been stood down.
Would be astonished if Public sector nurses were given that they are advertising for them and actively recruiting.

 

[N860CR]

Interesting. I know there are plenty of employees in the private sector who have been stood down.
Would be astonished if Public sector nurses were given that they are advertising for them and actively recruiting.

Yep. Absolutely amazed me as well as I was literally sitting on the lounge watching ABC news and the head of the nurses federation spurting propaganda about people being “dragged out of retirement”, when I got the call from a friend at the hospital suggesting otherwise.

I know the “political” medical professionals who we see on the news are giving their predictions, but its very different to what’s happening on the front line.

 

[get me outta here]

I don’t know about your “spurting propaganda”, but perhaps you refer to this:

“As hospitals prepare for the worst of COVID-19, casual nurses are facing the Centrelink queue
There are fears casual and agency nurses could emerge as unexpected additions to the Centrelink queue, with their hours slashed as hospitals prepare for the worst of COVID-19.

Read in ABC News: As hospitals prepare for the worst of COVID-19, casual nurses are facing the Centrelink queue — ABC News “

Yep. Absolutely amazed me as well as I was literally sitting on the lounge watching ABC news and the head of the nurses federation spurting propaganda about people being “dragged out of retirement”, when I got the call from a friend at the hospital suggesting otherwise.

I know the “political” medical professionals who we see on the news are giving their predictions, but its very different to what’s happening on the front line.

 

[N860CR]

I don’t know about your “spurting propaganda”, but perhaps you refer to this:

As I said, not sure if it wasn’t clear, I was watching a nurses federation spokesperson live on ABC News clearly stating that retired nurses were being called to request a return to duty, while at the same time numerous full time RNs had been told by NSW Health that they’d need to convert duties next week onwards to annual leave or LWOP.

Sorry if that doesn’t match the information you’ve read.

 

[get me outta here]

I was making a suggestion perhaps this is what you were watching. If it wasn’t that’s fine. Perhaps you could find it and then we will know what it was about.

As I said, not sure if it wasn’t clear, I was watching a nurses federation spokesperson live on ABC News clearly stating that retired nurses were being called to request a return to duty, while at the same time numerous full time RNs had been told by NSW Health that they’d need to convert duties next week onwards to annual leave or LWOP.

Sorry if that doesn’t match the information you’ve read.

 

[N860CR]

I was making a suggestion perhaps this is what you were watching. If it wasn’t that’s fine. Perhaps you could find it and then we will know what it was about.

That looks to be a written article. As I stated, I was watching a live interview. The casual in the article you’ve linked to makes reference to people being pulled from retirement which matches the numerous reports already made from the same.

Not sure why there’s a debate here, but again, I can confirm that full time RNs are being forced onto leave, which certainly doesn’t match the reports of an influx of hospital cases.