Australian Reports of the Virus Spread

[antycbr]

I actually know it well having stayed there. Great spot for a holiday which is why I stayed there and I highly recommended it to anyone who has not. Great and fascinating history as a quarantine station, great views and it has its own private beach too.

But the buildings there are not actually that suitable for a modern quarantine facility.

They could drop some dongas on to site but the pandemic would be over before the Environmental Impact Statement was completed.

 

[Carrots]

I understand that in an 'abundance of caution' Greg Hunt is about to announce that HQ is being extended from 14 days to 5 years and you will be billed $66k for your stay.

That's pretty cheap living.... $13k per year. I'm sure for the cost saving, we'd all be happy to be cooped up inside for that long right?

 

[suze2000]

Cabin type facilities do not have to be only in remote areas. There are locations that that can be used in or near most major cities. Sydney would be the hardest though.

This is the thing that confounds me. We have Avalon airport. The planes can land RIGHT THERE and put the people right into their own cabins straight from the plane - or use golf carts or similar to transport them (open air style so they can't give covid to the drivers) to the cabins. People think it's remote but there are thousands of cars driving past every day and there are two hospitals within 30mins in either direction. Howard Springs is a LOT further from RDH - must be more than an hour away. And being near the growth areas in the outer west of Melbs, there will be staff keen to take a position there - and people can commute from Geelong as well. Their commutes to Avalon wouldn't be anywhere near as long as the ones into city jobs. I really cannot understand why the state govt is proposing a Mickleham site instead (more than an hour out of the CBD and 40mins to the nearest - very overworked - hospital) when the owner of Avalon airport has already volunteered to build the thing himself!

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Good surge in those getting tested yesterday.

 

[jase05]

This is the thing that confounds me. We have Avalon airport. The planes can land RIGHT THERE and put the people right into their own cabins straight from the plane - or use golf carts or similar to transport them (open air style so they can't give covid to the drivers) to the cabins. People think it's remote but there are thousands of cars driving past every day and there are two hospitals within 30mins in either direction. Howard Springs is a LOT further from RDH - must be more than an hour away. And being near the growth areas in the outer west of Melbs, there will be staff keen to take a position there - and people can commute from Geelong as well. Their commutes to Avalon wouldn't be anywhere near as long as the ones into city jobs. I really cannot understand why the state govt is proposing a Mickleham site instead (more than an hour out of the CBD and 40mins to the nearest - very overworked - hospital) when the owner of Avalon airport has already volunteered to build the thing himself!

From chat within our industry there was massive kickback from the airlines over Avalon. I know SQ for example are making more money off freight than passengers and need to unload at MEL meaning passengers would still need to be processed at MEL and transported down to Avalon. For repatriation flights with QF it might make sense but if the other airlines refuse to fly there it creates further issues

 

[MelMel]

I just read TripAdvisor reviews for the Playford Hotel. “Fresh air” “ large balcony “ opening windows “ all from quarantine guests

 

[dajop]

Looking at the politics of quarantine facilities ...

Avalon won’t happen whilst the ALP is in charge in Victoria. The optics would not be good (Dan is a friend of the Fox family). That in addition to what jase05 has posted.

Also got to wipe marginal electorates off the list of potential places too - already the NIMBY backlash has started regarding Mickleham (oh I’m only 1km away ... what if staff use the same supermarket... ). Inner city Melbourne hotels are much better ... held by the greens anyway so no local political fallout for either major party.

(FWIW I live within 150m of 2 quarantine hotels in Singapore and am not concerned ... no sympathy here for the NIMBY brigade)

 

[bcworld]

This is the thing that confounds me. We have Avalon airport. The planes can land RIGHT THERE

If you want commercial airlines, already running a service that probably stacks up financially very badly, to decide not to bother altogether....then sure, force them to land at Lara Airport!

 

[jase05]

I just read TripAdvisor reviews for the Playford Hotel. “Fresh air” “ large balcony “ opening windows “ all from quarantine guests

Most of our regular medi hotels are similar. My wife walks past the Peppers medi hotel daily and the guests out on the balcony chat to people in the street.

 

[bcworld]

Howard Springs is a LOT further from RDH - must be more than an hour away.

28 mins according to Google maps. A lot of people seem to think Howard Springs is in the middle of nowhere...like Woomera or something. In reality it is essentially the edge of Palmerston...the nearest Maccas is 2 mins drive away and it has housing and a school on its boundary.

 

[Lynda2475]

Repatriation flights landing at DRW aren't commercially dependent on freight, they are government funded.

But diverting commercial flights to Avalon or other regional airports means freight (which is what is making the flight viable) is delivered to inconvenient locations without the infrastructure to quickly deliver to where needed - adding costs to freight business. Or planes have to land at MEL, offload freight whilst passengers and crews remain on board, then fly on to the regional airport (or vice versa) also adding costs.

If you land at MEL and then drive passengers to remote location, the transport risk is the same as transporting them to CBD - possibly higher as a longer drive.

Realistically moving to solely remote Quarantine locations will mean loss of seats on commercial flights, those commercial flights will become freight only into capital cities, leaving only repatriation/charter flights so over all intake falls and even fewer aussies get home.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

From chat within our industry there was massive kickback from the airlines over Avalon. I know SQ for example are making more money off freight than passengers and need to unload at MEL meaning passengers would still need to be processed at MEL and transported down to Avalon. For repatriation flights with QF it might make sense but if the other airlines refuse to fly there it creates further issues

Which is most likely why the Vic Gov has recommended Mickleham as the preferred location. Flights into MEL. Though could also build at MEL.

Or you can even have a second (and probably smaller) Victorian facility at Avalon as it does have some international flights, plus charter repatriation flights could be landed there.

I mean at present there are multiple HQ facilities in Melbourne. So why not multiple cabin quarantine facilities as well.

MEL is always going to be the volume airport though., and so traffic via needs to be the main focus for arrivals into Victoria.

 

[jakeseven7]

Good surge in those getting tested yesterday.

View attachment 247774

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Would be good if NSW testing reacted more strongly..... They still don't have great community support for testing.

 

[Lynda2475]

Would be good if NSW testing reacted more strongly..... They still don't have great community support for testing

The difference in number of tests conducted yesterday between Vic and NSW per head of population was 0.03%. NSW did more tests, but 0.03% less based on a larger population spread over an area 3 times as large. Hardly a difference to be concerned about.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Testing / population for each jurisdiction. NT the highest

Testing in Australia for COVID-19 (coronavirus) | covid19data.com.au

How does Australia's testing rate compare with other countries? Total number of COVID-19 tests in each state and territory.

www.covid19data.com.au

 

[drron]

This is the thing that confounds me. We have Avalon airport. The planes can land RIGHT THERE and put the people right into their own cabins straight from the plane - or use golf carts or similar to transport them (open air style so they can't give covid to the drivers) to the cabins. People think it's remote but there are thousands of cars driving past every day and there are two hospitals within 30mins in either direction. Howard Springs is a LOT further from RDH - must be more than an hour away. And being near the growth areas in the outer west of Melbs, there will be staff keen to take a position there - and people can commute from Geelong as well. Their commutes to Avalon wouldn't be anywhere near as long as the ones into city jobs. I really cannot understand why the state govt is proposing a Mickleham site instead (more than an hour out of the CBD and 40mins to the nearest - very overworked - hospital) when the owner of Avalon airport has already volunteered to build the thing himself!

Those 2 hospitals may not be too keen on having the Quarantine facility so close as it means they will need a Covid ward.Regional hospitals are not as well staffed as the teaching hospitals in the State capitals.I have no experience of Victorian hospitals but I know a lot of the staff at Toowoomba hospital are not enthusiastic about the proposed Wellcamp quarantine facility.

And you are probably being far too optimistic saying that staff would be keen to work there.From my own experience Howard Springs did have problems getting a physician.My agent was approached to offer me a 6 months contract at more than I currently get as a locum.I turned it down as at 74 I am not prepared to deliberately expose myself to Covid.But there were obviously many more doctors who didn't apply for the job.Locums are available at this time as no full time staff are taking holidays,study leave or travelling to conferences so the demand for locums is less than usual.

 

[Lynda2475]

It was reported that Howard Springs are currently struggling to fill all the positions being vacated by commonwealth supplied staff as it is being handed over to the NT government to run. I posted an article about it a few days ago.

Can Howard Springs handle it? These are the key numbers before flights from India to Australia start again

Howard Springs has repatriated Australians from Wuhan and the infamous Diamond Princess cruise ship. But the resumption of repatriation flights from India will see the facility face its greatest challenge yet.

www.abc.net.au

Currently, the Commonwealth's specialist Australian Medical Assistance Team (AUSMAT) is handing over control of the international quarantine program to NT health authorities. The handover has led to concerns the facility could become critically understaffed, with the NT government confirming on Monday it had hired only 160 staff out of the estimated 400 it needs to ultimately manage the facility itself.

This would indicate working in Quarantine is not a sought after role.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

They created a dedicated Covid Ward/Hospital in Geelong, but I don't think it ever had a patient and is probably in mothballs now.

This $8 million hospital ward hasn't admitted a single patient since it opened, but that was the plan

There are 50 beds inside Geelong's new coronavirus hospital, but the team who worked around the clock to hastily prepare this facility aren't bothered that they so far haven't seen a single patient.

www.abc.net.au

The Geelong Region is a booming area at present and so staff probably easy to access. (Darwin has 132,000 whereas the two cities adjacent to Avalon have well over half a million people between them).


The points raised earlier on where airlines prefer to fly to are probably the main reasons to favour MEL or Mickleham over Avalon.

 

[jakeseven7]

The difference in number of tests conducted yesterday between Vic and NSW per head of population was 0.03%. NSW did more tests, but 0.03% less based on a larger population spread over an area 3 times as large. Hardly a difference to be concerned about.

Who said anything about yesterdays testing in NSW? What on earth are you talking about (again.....)

 

[Lynda2475]

Who said anything about yesterdays testing in NSW?

You stated a desire for NSW testing to react more strongly and that NSW community support was lacking.

However the test rate for NSW and Vic yesterday (the most recent data point) was near identical, this demonstrates no current material difference in attitude towards testing. And NSW still holds the record by a long way for the most number of test conducted on a single day.

People will only turn out for testing if they have been at an exposure site or have symptoms. Reporting shows good compliance for close and casual contact testing. People quite rightly dont have any need to be tested if they havent been to a site of concern and have no symptoms.

Strange you are so concerned about NSW testing when it is significantly ahead of the national average.