Australian Reports of the Virus Spread

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Now officially a Federal hotspot

TRAVELLERS, HOTEL WORKERS AND SPOUSES INFECTED

Chief medical officer Professor Paul Kelly said on Friday that two cases have been identified as “having worked in Tullamarine Airport whilst infectious”.

The second airport worker was a cleaner who also worked at a school, and had already been identified as a primary close contact of a Holiday Inn case, the Herald Sun reported.

Prof Kelly has now declared the Greater Melbourne area a COVID-19 hotspot for the purposes of Commonwealth support, for an initial period of three days. He said this was because of “the increased risk posed by the B117 (UK) variant of concern, the occurrence of cases in the community whilst infectious, and the risk of spread to other jurisdictions in Australia”.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Regardless, the point is that this mass panic over a single case and this insane aspiration for “zero” is not practical, required or reasonable.

I guess that will come down to individual circumstances! Lots of people - perhaps the majority? - very happy with the benefits.

 

[kyle]

Interesting too that the BBC said where the people had travelled from, info we never seem to get from Aust media.

I remember reading it in The Age or News.com.au. From memory without searching, it's Nigeria or another African country for that family with the high viral load.

 

[drron]

I guess that will come down to individual circumstances! Lots of people - perhaps the majority? - very happy with the benefits.

What benefits exactly come from mass panic over a single case.none that I can think of but plenty of harmful effects.

 

[Must...Fly!]

I remember reading it in The Age or News.com.au. From memory without searching, it's Nigeria or another African country for that family with the high viral load.

The Age mentioned it as Europe last night in the revelation.

The returned traveller, who had been living in Europe, said the family all tested negative for the virus before boarding their first flight into Australia and wore N95 respirators on the numerous connecting flights to Melbourne.

‘I feel like a criminal’: Traveller says he told authorities about nebuliser

A returned traveller blamed for spreading coronavirus through the Holiday Inn says he was repeatedly given permission to use the medical device.

www.theage.com.au

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

When did the Vic Premier do this??? I only heard overseas arrivals into Melbourne temporarily suspended



Daniel Andrews has been lashed as “despicable” for suggesting stranded Australians could be blocked from returning home, as the idea drives a wedge between federal and state Labor.

Victoria was plunged into its third lockdown on Saturday after the highly-contagious UK COVID-19 strain leaked out of the state’s quarantine system.
But announcing the five-day lockdown on Friday, Mr Andrews flagged a “cold, hard discussion” on barring 40,000 stranded Australians from returning unless given a compassionate exemption.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

The Age mentioned it as Europe last night in the revelation.

‘I feel like a criminal’: Traveller says he told authorities about nebuliser

A returned traveller blamed for spreading coronavirus through the Holiday Inn says he was repeatedly given permission to use the medical device.

www.theage.com.au

Show how useful the pre-test is in my opinion, but that ship has sailed.

 

[Gremlin]

What’s stopping Qld doing it??? I guess Qld need Federal money and local community buy-in

They need a lot more than money from the Feds. For a start, Wellcamp isn't set up to process international pax. So needs Federal agreement to support the appropriate Border Force capabilities there. Qld can't unilaterally accept pax across an international border. There's a myriad of other complexities that mean this can't simply be a state-led solution. From what I understand, if it could be, then it would already be in operation.

But I've heard a few whispers that there are more than enough people that want to see the Wellcamp idea fail. Sadly it sounds far more like it's to do with politics than meeting the needs of the community or those Australians stranded overseas. So a large proportion of the freight that travels with incoming pax could also be distributed across the nation from Wellcamp rather than say, SYD. More freight to WTB = more revenue to Qld and less revenue to NSW. But surely that's not the reason it isn't being supported Federally? Is it? Is it?

 

[Must...Fly!]

When did the Vic Premier do this??? I only heard overseas arrivals into Melbourne temporarily suspended



Daniel Andrews has been lashed as “despicable” for suggesting stranded Australians could be blocked from returning home, as the idea drives a wedge between federal and state Labor.

Victoria was plunged into its third lockdown on Saturday after the highly-contagious UK COVID-19 strain leaked out of the state’s quarantine system.
But announcing the five-day lockdown on Friday, Mr Andrews flagged a “cold, hard discussion” on barring 40,000 stranded Australians from returning unless given a compassionate exemption.

It was a broader discussion which was spun as basically pointing the finger at the Federal jurisdiction for not rolling out vaccines yet.

A very poor show at deceiving and directing attention away from the actual problem

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

It was a broader discussion which was spun as basically pointing the finger at the Federal jurisdiction for not rolling out vaccines yet.

A very poor show at deceiving and directing attention away from the actual problem

So during yesterday’s press conference??

The facts are now coming out....Vic DH or the Covid commander has blood on their hands.

It seems pretty straightforward - infection control should be done by trained professionals....only that can be considered gold standard. Anything less is just spin.

If infections get out after that point only then can we say it’s inevitable.

The last end-to-end review of quarantine led by Vic (resulting in shift testing and pre-tests) was rubbish and a waste of time and the next review will also be probably rubbish.

 

[jase05]

So a large proportion of the freight that travels with incoming pax could also be distributed across the nation from Wellcamp rather than say, SYD.

I very much doubt this would be feasible as the freight arriving in a major hub such as SYD has the ability to to be processed and forwarded on.

 

[Must...Fly!]

He is just shifting the blame to CQV now.

Ridiculous. I don't think he has mentioned "hyper speed" though...

 

[OATEK]

They need a lot more than money from the Feds. For a start, Wellcamp isn't set up to process international pax. So needs Federal agreement to support the appropriate Border Force capabilities there. Qld can't unilaterally accept pax across an international border. There's a myriad of other complexities that mean this can't simply be a state-led solution. From what I understand, if it could be, then it would already be in operation.

But I've heard a few whispers that there are more than enough people that want to see the Wellcamp idea fail. Sadly it sounds far more like it's to do with politics than meeting the needs of the community or those Australians stranded overseas. So a large proportion of the freight that travels with incoming pax could also be distributed across the nation from Wellcamp rather than say, SYD. More freight to WTB = more revenue to Qld and less revenue to NSW. But surely that's not the reason it isn't being supported Federally? Is it? Is it?

Nothing like a few whispers to keep the conspiracy going.

 

[Anna]

Victoria's was announced as being from 11.59pm last night.

Yes but I heard DA say that it will end at "midnight Wednesday" which at the time left me none the wiser whether he meant 12.01am Wednesday or 11.59pm Wednesday.

 

[Pushka]

Was up during the early hours and looked out to the sea and being very dark, saw possibly seven container ships waiting it out to berth. It’s been months since there were any reports of COVID amongst crew members in Australia, yet before there would be multiple. Can’t imagine COVID has gone so what has changed?

 

[jakeseven7]

So 11 of the 12 airport cafe workers have now come back negative.

This super infectious mutant seems to have a bit more to do yet to live up to its name....

 

[Lynda2475]

It’s interesting how many infectious escapes from the hotels designated for positives (everyone uses different terminology).....my observation, none.

My understanding is the postive family of 3 were in two different Holiday Inns - a regualr HQ then transferred to a Medi-Hotel, before ending up in hopsital. Based on interview this morning he used nebulizer in both hotels and I thought there were staff infections in both?

 

[Lynda2475]

Growing to enjoy these:

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Yes but I heard DA say that it will end at "midnight Wednesday" which at the time left me none the wiser whether he meant 12.01am Wednesday or 11.59pm Wednesday.

11:59pm Wednesday would be 5 x 24 hour periods

Post automatically merged: Feb 13, 2021

Was up during the early hours and looked out to the sea and being very dark, saw possibly seven container ships waiting it out to berth. It’s been months since there were any reports of COVID amongst crew members in Australia, yet before there would be multiple. Can’t imagine COVID has gone so what has changed?

Perhaps being at sea for long periods and having COVIDSafe practices when refueling, restocking etc

 

[ethernet]

News: The simple and cost-effective solution that could reduce the risk of airborne COVID-19 in hotel quarantine
Seems some people know ventilation is not all it could be. In Portland, during the September fires, people were shown to make a cardboard box, duct tape, use a fan heater in fan only setting, or a /box fan/muffin fan, and an old pillow sacrificed for a filter, but vacuum cleaner bags and sheets were also in the mix. Dont need no stinkin $800 bits of plastic. A/C filter cloth was not available, at all back then.

I think the takehome from Vic Lockdown is fingerpointing, but not spending the bucks to investigate the root cause or go looking for active protocol breaches. If the cost of each unplanned lockdown is X, then the cost of having some airflow audits is chickenfeed. The so called expert advisory panel did NOT answer with a simple 'Yes, we know about that and those checks were done'. Part B is potential legal action against the certifying contractor who certified suitability.