Australian Reports of the Virus Spread

[MEL_Traveller]

It is not semantics at all if what said that a worker is tested each shift at the workplace. That is very specific. That is what I recall. So what was done was what was said to be done. This is an improvement.

Ditto for the surveillance testing for surveillance testing at abattoirs etc, but where the frequency was from memory 50 % of the workforce tested each week. ie not daily. Workers only tested who were working.

I agree. When it was mentioned that quarantine workers were being tested daily I would have assumed that meant every day while they were at work... I would not have expected that to include days off, or if they had left employment.

If someone has a day off I wouldn't have expected them to spend part of that day going to get a test

However, the change to 'true' daily makes sense.

 

[RooFlyer]

Imagine being an IT designer/building architect/whatever and your creation sounds/looks good but a few days later you say 'Oh its just bloody useless, it didn't do the job required.' Most would be fired for the incompetence.

Ha ha. I’m still waiting for WorkSafe Victoria to take action under their Act against government employees, offices and even ministers for the Covid outbreak in age care etc.

Government officers etc are included under the Act and it’s hard to see how a private sector business, causing the deaths of hundreds through their own negligence would not have received a summons or whatever the procedure is, by now.

Can anyone imagine the CEO of such a business That negligently caused hundreds of deaths would still in place right now?

Post automatically merged: Feb 4, 2021

You missed the ‘if what’.....semantics

A late edit of mine

 

[Lynda2475]

SMH reports:

Queenslanders advised not to travel to Melbourne

Despite holding off introducing border restrictions with Melbourne, Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young has warned against travel to the southern city.

Dr Young said as a result of the new case in Melbourne, anyone who had been in Melbourne since January 29 should come forward for testing and isolate until they get a negative result.

If they’ve been in one of the venues that Victoria has listed as a concern, they need to then quarantine for 14 days after they’ve had that negative test result. That’s really important,” Dr Young said.

She added that there was no need to close the border at this stage but strongly advised people against travelling to greater Melbourne in case things deteriorate further.

Aged care, disability accommodation, corrective services, prisons and hospitals have been asked not to accept visitors who have been in Greater Melbourne since January 29, except in end-of-life situations.


Queensland investigating ‘three cases of interest’

While Queensland has added no new cases to its COVID-tally overnight, there are now “three cases of interest” under investigation.

Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said it was unclear whether the cases were new or historic, meaning the people could no longer be infectious.

Two people had been in hotel quarantine in Western Australia and have tested positive upon their return to Queensland – one tested positive in Townsville and the other on the Sunshine Coast.

Dr Young said the two people were most likely “persistently shedding” the virus and no longer infectious.

The third case, a woman in north Brisbane, returned a positive test but Dr Young believes it is a “false positive”. The woman will be tested again on Thursday.



Five people isolating in NSW after Melbourne hotel quarantine outbreak

Five people in NSW were staying at a Victorian quarantine hotel when COVID-19 spread between guests in adjacent rooms.

As we mentioned earlier, in addition to dealing with the COVID case in a hotel worker, Victorian health authorities are investigating the transmission of the UK variant of the virus within one of the state’s quarantine hotels after the virus jumped from a hotel room to a guest in the opposite room.

Victoria’s public health team believes viral particles may have exited the room of a family who all later tested positive. Somehow, the virus either lingered in the air or attached itself to a hard surface, which then caused a woman in another room to contract the same strain of the virus.

Five people who were at the same hotel at the time and who are now in NSW have already been contacted and advised to get tested and isolate for 14 days regardless of their test result.

They will be required to get tested again at the end of that period.

“NSW Health is closely monitoring the situation in Victoria and will update its health advice accordingly. We will continue to work closely with our colleagues in Victoria and other jurisdictions to ensure that appropriate public health measures are in place to protect the community,” the ministry said in a statement.

NSW Health is treating 50 COVID-19 cases, none of whom are in intensive care. Most cases (96 per cent) are being treated in non-acute, out-of-hospital care, including returned travellers in Special Health Accommodation

 

[lovetravellingoz]

You missed the ‘if what’.....semantics

Where is the semantics in?

What's changed from 11 January 2021​

• All quarantine facility workers must have a saliva test at each shift and a throat and deep nasal swab test every seven days.

It is black and white. That was the requirement. They were doing what they said they were doing.

That is what daily testing was defined to be for HQ workers including transport staff. In Victoria at least this has now been amended.






As for the if what:

Again it is not semantics, but logical process.

ie

IF viral load is low then check to see if it is a false positive, viral shedding case or if is just an early stage true positive case that is still building. Determine if the person is infectious.

IF genomic strain is one of the more infectious strains then take extra precautions, higher level of restrictions.

IF viral load is unusually high, then as transmission risk is higher then take extra precautions, higher level of restrictions.

IF when driving car the traffic light changes to red stop your car, if green continue, if amber stop if say to do so.

IF a protocol is found to be insufficient, then learn from it and amend the protocol = what has happened.


Conditional actions are just the normal operation of any process, and any procedural manual will contain then.

 

[Lynda2475]

SMH reports:

Airconditioning did not lead to Brisbane COVID cluster: Health Minister

Queensland’s Health Minister Yvette D’ath says an investigation into a cluster of COVID-19 cases in Brisbane’s Hotel Grand Chancellor last month has ruled out airconditioning and deliberate quarantine breaches as sources of the outbreak.

A total of six cases were eventually linked to the seventh floor of the hotel in Brisbane’s CBD, after a cleaner’s positive tests sparked a three-day city lockdown in early January.

Quarantine guests were eventually evacuated as police and health authorities investigated how the virus moved between guests and the cleaner. The cluster has now been deemed officially over.

Ms D’ath said she had received the final report from police late on Wednesday and would be in a position to make further comments about it in the coming days, but said the hotel’s airconditioning was not to blame and there were no deliberate breaches of protocol.

“We have ruled out airconditioning because the two rooms were on different air conditioning systems,” she said.

“But the point around what Victoria is seeing, what Western Australia is seeing, even [what] South Australia is seeing about corridors and air circulation is an issue that we need to be looking at.

“I can say there is no breach of hotel workers going into rooms against protocol and there is no evidence of people … who were quarantining in their rooms breaching quarantine and coming out against those practices. So there are no deliberate breaches.”

 

[jakeseven7]

So did Qld not adopt quarantine for 14 days if visited exposure site at the wrong time??

Test and isolate, same advice per VIC government.

Absolutely amazingly sensible response from my home state, for once!

Probably more distracted with our new 3 'worrysome' local cases that have popped up here (suspected to be SHEDDING)....

Post automatically merged: Feb 4, 2021

So anything from the screechy states yet? WA and TAS? On VIC?

 

[justinbrett]

Test and isolate, same advice per VIC government.

Absolutely amazingly sensible response from my home state, for once!

Probably more distracted with our new 3 'worrysome' local cases that have popped up here (suspected to be SHEDDING)....

Post automatically merged: Feb 4, 2021

So anything from the screechy states yet? WA and TAS? On VIC?

Queensland sound like they’re clearing their throat ready to shout “Close the border!”

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Where is the semantics in?

What's changed from 11 January 2021​

• All quarantine facility workers must have a saliva test at each shift and a throat and deep nasal swab test every seven days.

It is black and white. That was the requirement. They were doing what they said they were doing.

That is what daily testing was defined to be for HQ workers including transport staff. In Victoria at least this has now been amended.






As for the if what:

Again it is not semantics, but logical process.

ie

IF viral load is low then check to see if it is a false positive, viral shedding case or if is just an early stage true positive case that is still building. Determine if the person is infectious.

IF genomic strain is one of the more infectious strains then take extra precautions, higher level of restrictions.

IF viral load is unusually high, then as transmission risk is higher then take extra precautions, higher level of restrictions.

IF when driving car the traffic light changes to red stop your car, if green continue, if amber stop if say to do so.

IF a protocol is found to be insufficient, then learn from it and amend the protocol = what has happened.


Conditional actions are just the normal operation of any process, and any procedural manual will contain then.

I’ll raise you a PM statement - extract the relevant section (and add bold to the relevant paragraph)

Statement - National Cabinet | Prime Minister of Australia

www.pm.gov.au

Management of COVID-19 Variants and Brisbane Case​

Professor Kelly briefed National Cabinet on the emergence of new variants of COVID-19. New variants have a clear higher transmissibility, are rapidly becoming the dominant virus in the UK and are now being seen in more than 30 countries across the world, including Australia where there have been 12 occurrences of the variant.

Additional measures to further mitigate risks of the spread of COVID-19, including new variants, arising from international and domestic air travel were agreed and outlined below.

National Cabinet was briefed on the current situation in NSW, Victoria and Queensland. National Cabinet welcomed the decision taken by the Queensland Government following the confirmation of a positive case of the new variant. In recognition of the increased risk of transmission, National Cabinet agreed to include the Local Government Areas of Brisbane, Logan, Moreton, Redlands and Ipswich as hot spots.

National Cabinet agreed that the national standard for any worker involved in quarantine arrangements (transport, cleaners etc) will be to have daily COVID-19 tests, with jurisdictions to work towards meeting this standard as soon as possible

 

[RooFlyer]

Vic publicly said they were testing all HQ workers daily.

Where is the semantics in?

What's changed from 11 January 2021​

• All quarantine facility workers must have a saliva test at each shift and a throat and deep nasal swab test every seven days.

It is black and white. That was the requirement. They were doing what they said they were doing.

The ‘semantics’ come in when you say that the tests are “daily”, are challenged on that, and then you quote it being “each shift”. It’s not the same thing, unless every worker works a shift every day.

Again, not a biggie, until you start challenging similar things by others, asking for the ‘statements’.

 

[Lynda2475]

SMH pointed out:

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has inadvertently revealed that Western Australia has recorded a third day of zero community cases of COVID-19, an hour before the WA Premier is set to take the podium in Perth.

“In Australia, one community case today on the advice that we have from the National Incident Centre, obviously within Victoria, and no lives lost, no lives lost in January against a global figure of approximately 400,000,” Mr Hunt said.

Unless as per Sunday WA are withholdng the release of information.

 

[Carrots]

SMH pointed out:

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has inadvertently revealed that Western Australia has recorded a third day of zero community cases of COVID-19, an hour before the WA Premier is set to take the podium in Perth.

“In Australia, one community case today on the advice that we have from the National Incident Centre, obviously within Victoria, and no lives lost, no lives lost in January against a global figure of approximately 400,000,” Mr Hunt said.

Unless as per Sunday WA are withholdng the release of information.

What a brilliant slip by Hunt!

 

[OZDUCK]

In a rather a

SMH pointed out:

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has inadvertently revealed that Western Australia has recorded a third day of zero community cases of COVID-19, an hour before the WA Premier is set to take the podium in Perth.

“In Australia, one community case today on the advice that we have from the National Incident Centre, obviously within Victoria, and no lives lost, no lives lost in January against a global figure of approximately 400,000,” Mr Hunt said.

And I am sure that he didn't mean to step on anyone's toes. Anyway, I don't care who announces another 'nil case' day it is just good news. The Premier will have plenty of things to discuss with the fires. Which seem to be contained at present and the winds have moderated.

 

[Must...Fly!]

I don't blame them for undermining McGowan.

They (WA) are holding back information so he can grandstand on the podium, as Andrews did in Victoria until they realised that releasing from the department at the same time (more or less) each day was by far the better strategy.

Another day of no cases during a 2m+ person lockdown caused by zero community transmission.

 

[Pushka]

SMH pointed out:

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has inadvertently revealed that Western Australia has recorded a third day of zero community cases of COVID-19, an hour before the WA Premier is set to take the podium in Perth.

“In Australia, one community case today on the advice that we have from the National Incident Centre, obviously within Victoria, and no lives lost, no lives lost in January against a global figure of approximately 400,000,” Mr Hunt said.

Unless as per Sunday WA are withholdng the release of information.

Wasn't yesterday the third day of Zero? I lose track.

 

[Lynda2475]

McGowan just confirmed 0 cases, but confirmed that reopening to Vic without quarantine has been paused.

 

[Must...Fly!]

He keeps saying things that I want to point out are absolutely absurd.

The best one was that it was "thanks to the hard work of Western Australians that we have zero cases"

Mate, not even this guy's housemates have tested positive (negative TWICE now). So much for this super infectious strain.

Businesses on the other hand have lost a full week's trading.

Somehow I doubt the Premier is losing a week of his income.

 

[Lynda2475]

SMH reports: Noble Park Fire Brigade in Melbourne’s south-east has been temporarily shut down after a Country Fire Authority (CFA) volunteer working in hotel quarantine was diagnosed with COVID-19.

Co whilst HQ workers cant have a second "paid"job in Vic they can have volunteer ones.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I’ll raise you a PM statement - extract the relevant section (and add bold to the relevant paragraph)

Statement - National Cabinet | Prime Minister of Australia

www.pm.gov.au

Management of COVID-19 Variants and Brisbane Case​

Professor Kelly briefed National Cabinet on the emergence of new variants of COVID-19. New variants have a clear higher transmissibility, are rapidly becoming the dominant virus in the UK and are now being seen in more than 30 countries across the world, including Australia where there have been 12 occurrences of the variant.

Additional measures to further mitigate risks of the spread of COVID-19, including new variants, arising from international and domestic air travel were agreed and outlined below.

National Cabinet was briefed on the current situation in NSW, Victoria and Queensland. National Cabinet welcomed the decision taken by the Queensland Government following the confirmation of a positive case of the new variant. In recognition of the increased risk of transmission, National Cabinet agreed to include the Local Government Areas of Brisbane, Logan, Moreton, Redlands and Ipswich as hot spots.

National Cabinet agreed that the national standard for any worker involved in quarantine arrangements (transport, cleaners etc) will be to have daily COVID-19 tests, with jurisdictions to work towards meeting this standard as soon as possible

Yes and I supplied what the definition of what that actually was defined of as at that time. You will note that he also did not define the type of tests (PCR/RNA/antigen as well the detail on frequency of saliva/ nasal swabs. The more detailed statements did.

THE PM abbreviated a lot of the detail from the AHPPC and National Cabinet decisions.

You seem to have assumed it was something different which I can understand, but it was not what was indicated at the time in terms of what the daily testing actually meant and how it was to be done in the information that detailed it..

Vic has now enhanced that definition.

 

[OATEK]

Yes and I supplied what the definition of what that actually was defined of as at that time. You will note that he also did not define the type of tests (PCR/RNA/antigen as well the detail on frequency of saliva/ nasal swabs. The more detailed statements did.

THE PM abbreviated a lot of the detail from the AHPPC and National Cabinet decisions.

You seem to have assumed it was something different which I can understand, but it was not what was indicated at the time in terms of what the daily testing actually meant and how it was to be done in the information that detailed it..

Vic has now enhanced that definition.

What did we say when QF "enhanced" things.

 

[jakeseven7]

SMH reports: Noble Park Fire Brigade in Melbourne’s south-east has been temporarily shut down after a Country Fire Authority (CFA) volunteer working in hotel quarantine was diagnosed with COVID-19.

Co whilst HQ workers cant have a second "paid"job in Vic they can have volunteer ones.

Yea we should really just stop them doing anything, we really should just be locking them in the same hotel as the people they care for and not letting them go out, volunteer, shop, see friends, anything really. Its the safest way.

McGowan just confirmed 0 cases, but confirmed that reopening to Vic without quarantine has been paused.

What a joke. On both counts.