Australian Reports of the Virus Spread

[Princess Fiona]

I don't see an issue with having a requirement to be clean shaven if it is a matter of OH&S compliance so that a mask fits properly. Surgical masks also gape when someone is bearded so not really keeping aerosols in or out. Other occupations require people to keep their nails short, i see no real difference here.

I wore an N95 for just over 4 hours last night at theatre and was perfectly comfortable, whereas i personally find it near impossible to breathe with a surgical mask on and wouldnt have been able to last the distance if I had to wear one. I use a cloth masks when N95 not warranted. Im impressed by any medical worker who manages to wear a surgical mask for any length of time as they are really hot and its really hard to breathe.

I’ve been wearing a surgical mask for 10 hours straight in all of my shifts without any problems. I find the N95 masks at my hospital very uncomfortable after a short period.

 

[Lynda2475]

Apart from Cruise Ships I can't recall other marine breaches in Australia

Well there was a case a few days ago in Qld where a Pakistani worker on a Chinese ship, jumped ship at port and was MIA in the community for a few hours before turning himself into police and claiming asylum. Has tested negative so far but still possible he may be positive.

I consider workers at the international airport (cleaners, immigration), transport drivers and hospital workers who treat covid positive arrivals all part of HQ scheme.

Right now they have no obvious link between this gentlemen and anyone who works in HQ, the airport or with covid patients in hospitals. The genomic results should come through over night and we will therefore know pretty quickly if linked to recent HQ cases in NSW or the WA cases.

 

[Lynda2475]

I’ve been wearing a surgical mask for 10 hours straight in all of my shifts without any problems

I'm well impressed that you can mange this, cause I know I would personally pass out well before the 10 hour mark. Of course maybe the masks you are issued with are better than the surgical ones that are being sold to the public during covid.

However, I think one reason you see so many with surgical masks on their chin and not over their face is because of how incredibly hard it is to breath through them. Ive not noted the same degree of mask on chin wearing where the person is using a cloth or N95 mask.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Just in case anyone was confused, I was specifically talking of marine breaches that have involved transmission of Covid 19 to create a case in Australia (and NZ).

NZ has had cases from a cruise ship and a port worker from a merchant vessel. Australia has had the Ruby Princess.



There have been all sort of drug runners, marine travellers (international and interstate), marine crews, port workers, etc where there has been protocol breaches, but as yet not an actual transmission breach that I recall (though I might have missed it).

 

[OATEK]

I don't see an issue with having a requirement to be clean shaven if it is a matter of OH&S compliance so that a mask fits properly. Surgical masks also gape when someone is bearded so not really keeping aerosols in or out. Other occupations require people to keep their nails short, i see no real difference here.

I wore an N95 for just over 4 hours last night at theatre and was perfectly comfortable, whereas i personally find it near impossible to breathe with a surgical mask on and wouldnt have been able to last the distance if I had to wear one. I use a cloth masks when N95 not warranted. Im impressed by any medical worker who manages to wear a surgical mask for any length of time as they are really hot and its really hard to breathe.

When you have had to shave your face practically every day of your working life you might see it differently when you reach your 70s.

I don't find the N95 comfortable for longer periods, ok for an hour or so. Prefer the surgical mask myself, and don't find I get all hot and bothered. We are all different.

 

[nutwood]

I’ve been wearing a surgical mask for 10 hours straight in all of my shifts without any problems. I find the N95 masks at my hospital very uncomfortable after a short period.

I'm finding the discussion on masks interesting. My focus is more on industrial rather than medical, but I find a well fitting respirator, with side filters, to be unpleasant but totally wearable for long periods of time. The N95 appears to be a compromise between a surgical mask and a proper respirator.
There are workplaces where a respirator is compulsory. Respirators have serial numbers. You collect your respirator at start of shift, return at end of shift. Fit tests are mandatory. Perhaps HQ could learn from industry?

 

[suze2000]

I have tried the duck-bill type mask for work during the swine flu epidemic - it was fine, but I didn't enjoy wearing it.

I find cloth masks to be intolerable because no matter what, I cannot breathe through them (I've tried lots), and also my glasses fog up.

Standard surgical masks are no use to me unless I cross over the straps at my cheeks before tucking them behind my ears because my glasses fog up. So that is my choice of face covering. Unfortunately, standard surgical masks also irritate my skin so I get a nasty red rash unless I wear a very specific brand of mask. I horde them like they are gold when I find them. But still prefer any boring blue mask to all other types.

 

[Pushka]

The Optometrist the person in NSW visited is located in the Sofitel Quarantine hotel building but has a separate entrance.

 

[Saab34]

Surely connected you cannot tell me it isn’t.

All workers are tested in the hotels daily? It’s nearly been a week.

Air Con?

 

[N860CR]

Who’s ready to bet that it will be the new “scary, Indian” strain? If that’s not reported, I’ll run naked past the Sofitel on a cold evening.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Standard surgical masks are no use to me unless I cross over the straps at my cheeks before tucking them behind my ears

My daughter during her hospital shifts, and many of her colleagues, wear "ear-saver" like this one when they want a firmer fit. There are many other designs though.




It allows a firmer fit, and when people have to wear mask all day every day, it as the name says saves the ears. You jut connect each set of straps into it and wear at the back of the head.

Simple and effective.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

"The Holiday Inn COVID-19 outbreak that sparked Victoria's third lockdown last year was allegedly caused by the "lengthy swabbing" of an unmasked woman in an open doorway, The Australian reports.

I don't have access to The Australian, but from what I can glean it seems to be an odd sequence..

If that was the sequence, how did the The Australian explain the woman not testing positive till the Tuesday after she had left quarantine on the Sunday (so she would have had at least one negative test as otherwise would not have left quarantine), whereas the the nebuliser case tested positive during quarantine? Plus she did not infect any close contacts after leaving.

On the surface it would seem odd that the "Index Case" would generate a negative test after having infected another person with such a brief and distant exposure as you would expect that they would needed to have had a very high viral load, and to have tested positive well before she did. So she was meant to virulent enough that she was aerosolising the virus, but not virulent enough to generate a positive till many days after she supposedly was a spreader?

I mean if that swab was generating a super-spreader type exposure, surely the person being swabbed would have returned a positive test?

I would be interested in how The Australian explains how this all occurred.

 

[N860CR]

You’ve got to laugh.... all reporting on this one single case in Sydney shows Gladys front and centre like she’s about to send us to war. It’s like she’s standing up to say “I will not tolerate this aggression against Kuwait”

We are nearly 18 months into this “pandemic”, and a single case (yes one single case) is treated like the end of the world. Despite the fact that we have a cure that works in 98% of cases (a bit of a lie down) and a vaccine that appears to work in 100% of cases.

What has happened to our once great country?

 

[jakeseven7]

Well can WA even be bothered to shut NSW out again? After all they have been the sloppiest state as of late, what would be the point?

Then again they are DESPERATE to get the spotlight off them.

 

[OATEK]

I don't have access to The Australian, but from what I can glean it seems to be an odd sequence..

If that was the sequence, how did the The Australian explain the woman not testing positive till the Tuesday after she had left quarantine on the Sunday (so she would have had at least one negative test as otherwise would not have left quarantine), whereas the the nebuliser case tested positive during quarantine? Plus she did not infect any close contacts after leaving.

On the surface it would seem odd that the "Index Case" would generate a negative test after having infected another person with such a brief and distant exposure as you would expect that they would needed to have had a very high viral load, and to have tested positive well before she did. So she was meant to virulent enough that she was aerosolising the virus, but not virulent enough to generate a positive till many days after she supposedly was a spreader?

I mean if that swab was generating a super-spreader type exposure, surely the person being swabbed would have returned a positive test?

I would be interested in how The Australian explains how this all occurred.

Perhaps reading the leaked documents might help.

 

[suze2000]

My daughter during her hospital shifts, and many of her colleagues, wear "ear-saver" like this one when they want a firmer fit. There are many other designs though.

It allows a firmer fit, and when people have to wear mask all day every day, it as the name says saves the ears. You jut connect each set of straps into it and wear at the back of the head.

Yeah, but my problem is the air escaping up my cheeks to fog up my glasses. I made ear savers myself (crochet - my coworkers loved them) and tried them, and it's not the answer for me. It's just another situation where "one size fits all" is a load of bs.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Perhaps reading the leaked documents might help.

Do you have a link? Or just extracts of the relevant parts?

Thank you.

 

[Lynda2475]

yeah, but my problem is the air escaping up my cheeks to fog up my glasses

Which is why surgical masks do little to protect you, as lots of unfiltered air is in getting in and out if your glasses are able to be fogged.

I only wear glasses to read small print, but when Ive worn my glasses with N95 there is no fogging as the air doesnt rush out of the top of the mask, as a good seal is made. I feel safe wearing an N95 when physical distancing isnt possible (i.e. on a flight), whereas I do not believe a surgical masks does anything to protect the wearer only other people.

The only way to stop fog with a surgical mask is to use surgical tape to stop air escaping the top of the mask which is not comfortable on sensitive skin.

 

[ellen10]

The Optometrist the person in NSW visited is located in the Sofitel Quarantine hotel building but has a separate entrance.

Hmm, my information is more than one person in Sydney. One of my family member works in one of the venues shut down and their positive person who visited them is female.

 

[Lynda2475]

The link has been found, the other positive is the guys wife and all other close contacts have tested negative.

New restrictions for greater Sydney for next 3 days from 5pm today:
* no more than 20 people in your home.
* No singing or dancing at indoor venues (except weddings, 20 people on dancefloor or professional theatre productions).
* All indoor drinking at bars needs to be seated - no standing at bar.
* Masks back on public transport and supermarkets.