Australian Reports of the Virus Spread

[Flashback]

UK has continually missed their testing targets in the last week, I hope Australia can do better!

 

[SydneySwan]

Definitely WA now. Good luck! The more States that play in this territory of a streak of negative positives () the sooner Australia can free itself up again.

I am hoping that NSW will soon be an entrant. It hasn't had a zero day since early March I think but has got very close with a couple of days with only 2 infections. However Newmarch is the gift that keeps giving unfortunately.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

UK has continually missed their testing targets in the last week, I hope Australia can do better!

Daily tests are quite high at present in Australia

TESTS
Daily Confirmed Cases / Daily Tests

DATE	TESTS	DEL	NET	POSITIVE %
Fri 1 May	588,868	▲	25,227	0.0%
Sat 2 May	611,583	▲	22,715	0.1%
Sun 3 May	633,107	▲	21,524	0.1%
Mon 4 May	650,214	▲	17,107	0.1%
Tue 5 May	664,756	▲	14,542	0.2%
Wed 6 May	688,656	▲	23,900	0.1%
Thu 7 May	720,217	▲	31,561	0.1%

 

[RooFlyer]

Re Cedar meats. I heard there were personal relationships in that company with members of the Labor Government. Maybe rumour. But interesting. And that one worker there had a partner who works in an aged care facility.

Why?
Surely you are not implying that the Government would let "mates" flout rules or similar.

No, not flouting the rules but the Labor Government initially refused to reveal the identity of the company/facility. Now we can see why; lots of connections and donations to the Party. I'm not aware of any other facility that's had an outbreak that has been offered the cloak of anonymity by the government. Imagine if the NSW govt refused to identify which nursing home had that horrendous outbreak, especially if the nursing home management were donors to the Liberal party? There would be hell to pay.

 

[DC3]

More than six weeks after the flight, 20 March to 5 May, regarding the latest diagnosis in SA. It’s as though the month of April didn’t exist on reading the very limited information available.

This time period is not something that I’ve previously been aware of. I hope that this is an exception.

Edited

 

[Pushka]

No, not flouting the rules but the Labor Government initially refused to reveal the identity of the company/facility. Now we can see why; lots of connections and donations to the Party. I'm not aware of any other facility that's had an outbreak that has been offered the cloak of anonymity by the government. Imagine if the NSW govt refused to identify which nursing home had that horrendous outbreak, especially if the nursing home management were donors to the Liberal party? There would be hell to pay.

Yes, that's the issue I was referring to. Reluctance to publically name the entity. But named other much smaller pockets.

More than six weeks after the flight, 20 March to 5 May, regarding the latest diagnosis in SA. It’s as though the month of April didn’t exist on reading the very limited information available.

This time period is not something that I’ve previously been aware of. I hope that this is an exception.

Edited

LovestravellingOz explained it well in their earlier post. Likely always positive. Mild symptoms. Still shedding virus to be detected but likely not infectious after a period of time. This taste smell issue is quite interesting in people with mild symptoms. And maybe being older he didn't shrug it off early.

 

[Princess Fiona]

UK has continually missed their testing targets in the last week, I hope Australia can do better!

We have been doing better for quite a long time.
UK pop 66 million 1, 072 144 tests 19% Positive
Australia pop 6.6 million 688 656 tests 1% Positive

 

[lovetravellingoz]

No, not flouting the rules but the Labor Government initially refused to reveal the identity of the company/facility. Now we can see why; lots of connections and donations to the Party. I'm not aware of any other facility that's had an outbreak that has been offered the cloak of anonymity by the government. Imagine if the NSW govt refused to identify which nursing home had that horrendous outbreak, especially if the nursing home management were donors to the Liberal party? There would be hell to pay.

Cloak or anonymity, or just a delay in being named?

The latest Vic nursing home cluster was not made public straight away either. And that was in Hawthorn.

The recent Vic primary school case was not made public straight way either in terms of the actual school being named (though this has since turned out to be a false alarm with dead Covid 19 cells in the teacher's noce causing positive result when he was actually no longer positive.

Indeed from memory I think that this has often been the case. Cases announced, but the actual where often comes out later and often not at all for individual or smal clusters.


Maybe it more a case of just wanting to contact trace everyone first, and a bigger hotspot will take longer than a smaller one.

I would be most surprised of there was any real intention to try and not eventually name the facility.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Yes, that's the issue I was referring to. Reluctance to publically name the entity. But named other much smaller pockets.


LovestravellingOz explained it well in their earlier post. Likely always positive. Mild symptoms. Still shedding virus to be detected but likely not infectious after a period of time. This taste smell issue is quite interesting in people with mild symptoms. And maybe being older he didn't shrug it off early.

Without knowing the fine details. This case sounds like a massive outlier.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

No, not flouting the rules but the Labor Government initially refused to reveal the identity of the company/facility. Now we can see why; lots of connections and donations to the Party.

Just read the story:

Cedar Meats owner Tony Kairouz was a member of the party from 1993 until 2017, when his membership lapsed. He had been a member of Labor’s large Heidelberg branch. Cedar Meats donated $15,000 to the Victorian Labor Party in 2014

So hardly an active or current member.

 

[Pushka]

Without knowing the fine details. This case sounds like a massive outlier.

According to Prof Spurrier he arrived into Adelaide and self isolated. His only symptom was loss of taste and smell but because at that time that wasn't recognised as a symptom of Covid, he was never tested. When they opened up more general testing, he decided he could get a test which came back positive. As he doesn't know many in SA he only had contact with about 5 others. Prof Spurrier feels he developed it in the UK just before he left and likely not infectious on the flight.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

We have been doing better for quite a long time.
UK pop 66 million 1, 072 144 tests 19% Positive
Australia pop 6.6 million 688 656 tests 1% Positive

Missed a few Aussies there. 25,499,884

But yes our tests per head of population is higher and also as I understand it the quality of our testing has been much better and more accurate.

 

[Pushka]

Just read the story:

Cedar Meats owner Tony Kairouz was a member of the party from 1993 until 2017, when his membership lapsed. He had been a member of Labor’s large Heidelberg branch. Cedar Meats donated $15,000 to the Victorian Labor Party in 2014

So hardly an active or current member.

I did hear that three members of the Labor party gave a speech in Parliament a couple of years ago when one of the company people died. Can't tell, I don't follow Vic politics much at all other than the kids aren't going back to school yet because, well, I don't know why.

 

[RooFlyer]

Just read the story:

Cedar Meats owner Tony Kairouz was a member of the party from 1993 until 2017, when his membership lapsed. He had been a member of Labor’s large Heidelberg branch. Cedar Meats donated $15,000 to the Victorian Labor Party in 2014

So hardly an active or current member.

Well, its a bit more than that ...

In May 2018, the Andrews government’s then agriculture minister, Jaala Pulford, announced the Kairouz family’s Meatco abattoir in Mildura would receive $2m in “regional jobs” funding to refurbish and recommission the facility, with sheep and goat carcasses to be supplied to the Cedar Meats abattoir in the western Melbourne suburb of Brooklyn, which is at the centre of the COVID-19 cluster.
...

When one of the founders of Cedar Meats died in 2010, three MPs who are now part of the Andrews government paid tribute with condolence motions in parliament.

Upper House MP naz_h Elasmar went so far as to describe Samir Kairouz as “more than a brother to me”.

Read into that what you will, or not; I'm easy. Again, if one of the nursing homes had a history with the Libs as this place has with the Andrews government and its ministers, don't you think it would have been under scrutiny for the silence?

Not a biggie, but not a good look.

 

[OZDUCK]

W.A is now in the midst of an intensive test programme. it is aimed at testing schools and FIFO workers.

"The Premier said a new study for testing asymptomatic West Australians, which currently covers schools, would be expanded to fly-in, fly-out workers from Chevron, Woodside, Mineral Resources, Rio Tinto and BHP.

“Thirty thousand tests will be conducted during the life of this project,” Mr McGowan said."

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Not a biggie, but not a good look.

Perhaps, but that would mean that the Government interfered and directed the Vic Public Health Officials to do this. If so that would be surprising.

But surprising things do happen

 

[jakeseven7]

SA held the current streak of no case days. I wonder who has received the baton now - WA, ACT or NT?

I guess it doesn’t really matter, it’s clear now the virus is circulating causing mild/no symptoms in many, so if a state goes X days without a case they are not testing the ‘right people’ but through no fault of theirs.

The Melbourne abbatoir cluster spread was mostly due to incredibly mild / no symptoms.

Which could actually be a good thing - perhaps meaning our strain is highly transmissible but not highly severe in terms of health outcomes.

I suspect as people begin to realise this, restrictions will be lifted faster than we think and if they aren’t - people will just start ignoring them.

Was a good piece on ABC24 just discussing this.

 

[p--and--t]

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I guess it doesn’t really matter, it’s clear now the virus is circulating causing mild/no symptoms in many, so if a state goes X days without a case they are not testing the ‘right people’ but through no fault of theirs.

The Melbourne abbatoir cluster spread was mostly due to incredibly mild / no symptoms.

Which could actually be a good thing - perhaps meaning our strain is highly transmissible but not highly severe in terms of health outcomes.

I suspect as people begin to realise this, restrictions will be lifted faster than we think and if they aren’t - people will just start ignoring them.

Was a good piece on ABC24 just discussing this.

Unfortunately I did not hear that piece as I am sure it would have been interesting to hear.

Just a few discussion points though:

• I am not sure we an "our " strain as we have had infections arrive in Australia from many different different countries.
• " highly transmissible but not highly severe in terms of health outcomes" As long as a countries health system is not under duress this generally seems to be the case worldwide. ie Greece. Equally where they are under strain and testing is limited you tend to get the more severely affected as a proportion as the ones showing up as cases.
• "The Melbourne abbatoir cluster spread was mostly due to incredibly mild / no symptom" Interesting. Did they discuss the age profile of those infected, or indeed just working there?

As the abattoir has 350 odd employees, when one adds in their close contacts that will be a sizeable number of people who may end up as testing positive, no doubt we will hear a lot more about this cluster yet.

Hopefully though most of the infected will not be in the higher risk categories where outcomes could be poor.

 

[p--and--t]

For the abattoir "cluster" and inferences this is work related, I think people are forgetting workmates don't just mix at work. They will have bbqs, dinners etc, their kids will play together and their spouses will have jobs /acquaintances etc elsewhere - as per the nursing home.

It would be wrong to just focus on what distancing practices occurs in that workplace and fully investigate all potential contacts as I'm pretty sure they will be doing. It could be made faster, more efficient and less costly if Covid Safe was up and running and widely adopted by that cohort.