Australian Reports of the Virus Spread

[jakeseven7]

Do cruise ships have better ventilation than hotels? But I guess the rooms would be more cramped. Lol

I hear the Ruby Princess is available and NSW is prepared to go second time lucky with it

 

[kyle]

Here's something interesting from reddit:

Why the coughk are people working in hotel quarantine visiting half of Melbourne over several days?

Can we use common sense and hire introverts and people with mild agoraphobia.

 

[jakeseven7]

NT Gov has just issued an embarrassing retraction of its hotspot map/list - they colour coded several suburbs as hot spots when they weren’t at all impacted by exposure sites.

Whoopsies...

Sigh. Got to love this year...

 

[Lynda2475]

McGowan giving a presser now, started at 23:45 AEDT (just before 9pm AWST) very late indeed.

The purpose seems to be outline easing of restrictions that will come into effect at 6pm tomorrow until 14-Feb-20 provided no further cases.

Only half listening but sounds like they largely copied Vic, Schools opening Monday requiring highschool students to wear masks in class. Most businesses reopening. FIFO resuming. No travel outside Perth Metro area, no dancing at weddings, no night clubs.

 

[jeza]

McGowan giving a presser now, started at 23:45 AEDT (just before 9pm AWST) very late indeed.

The purpose seems to be outline easing of restrictions that will come into effect at 6pm tomorrow until 14-Feb-20 provided no further cases.

Only half listening but sounds like they largely copied Vic, Schools opening Monday requiring highschool students to wear masks in class. Most businesses reopening. FIFO resuming. No travel outside Perth Metro area, no dancing at weddings, no night clubs.

Link to transition info

Transition out of lockdown from 6pm, Friday 5 February

Details on the transition for Perth, Peel and the South West from lockdown

www.wa.gov.au

 

[Lynda2475]

Most on east coast would be asleep but there are some hilarious question and responses in this WA presser.

McGowan just said $1000 fine if you dont sign in at a venue and are caught !

 

[Lynda2475]

WA Transition Plan:

From 6pm, Friday 5 February the following will come into effect:

Perth and Peel will enter into a post-lockdown transition period until 12.01am, Sunday 14 February. This allows the full 14-day incubation period to run its course
South West will return straight to pre-lockdown conditions.

The post-lockdown transition period for Perth and Peel includes:

• Wearing a mask when in public and while at work, unless exempt or for vigorous outdoor exercise
• All businesses can reopen, except for the casino and nightclubs
• 4 square metre capacity rule in place for businesses and venues, up to a maximum of 150
• 150-person capacity at all events including weddings, funerals and community sport
• Seated service only at hospitality venues
• Dancing only permitted at weddings and dance studios
• 20-person limit for private indoor and outdoor gatherings
• Visits to aged care and disability care facilities restricted to compassionate grounds
• Residential school and boarding facilities can resume with a COVID Safety Plan
• Only essential travel permitted in and out of the Perth and Peel regions to other parts of WA.
• Under the post-lockdown transition measures, schools in Perth and Peel will start from Monday 8 February. Masks are required to be worn by all school staff and secondary students. They are not required for primary school students.

Masks are also mandatory for staff at childcare facilities, as well as students and staff in higher education including TAFEs and universities.

Teaching staff are permitted to remove their mask if teaching at the front of the classroom to enable clear enunciation.

People who need to leave the Perth and Peel region for essential purposes must wear a mask at all times in other regions of WA, as per the rules in place for Perth and Peel.

Elective surgery at WA public hospitals will resume once the lockdown has ended, and people will be contacted directly to reschedule and rebook their appointments.

FIFO workers will once again be able to leave the Perth and Peel regions, but documentation will be required and they must follow strict health protocols.

Pre-lockdown requirements for the entire State still remain in place, including:

• WA’s controlled interstate border arrangements
• Mandatory contact registers for most WA businesses and venues
• Capacity restrictions for major venues
• Restrictions on travel to remote Aboriginal communities.
• Contact registers and SafeWA will continue as part of post-lockdown life. Currently, it is mandatory for most businesses to ensure a contact register is available for patrons.

From 6pm, Friday 5 February, it will also be mandatory for individuals to check-in at businesses required to keep a contact register. Individuals could face penalties if they fail to check in. As always, a common-sense approach will apply.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Vic DHHS Media Release
4 February 2021

Extract

Update: International case under review​

Investigations have been completed after a woman in her 60s returned a positive coronavirus test on 31 January after arriving in the Philippines from Victoria.

This case has been determined to be a false positive and public health actions have been stood down.




Yet another example of a this type review, which are not just for ATO participants.

 

[dajop]

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.

That is one way of looking at it. But then why do we have software versions beta, 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 .... ?

Won't there ways be bugs in an IT system (QF and VA websites, hello anyone), and contingencies/risk management put in place to prevent those bugs being catastrophic, and software upgrade implemented as soon as identified. I'd argue now the system is not "bloody useless" but is doing the job it is meant to most of the time, and in Vic/NSW at least the contact tracing and isolation procedures seem to be the contingencies to manage the problems. And v 3.0 is on its way. [Now the HQ system built in a short space of time in Vic in March was bloody useless, as were the contingency plans and several were fired resigned as a result]

But relative to most of the rest of the world, the system does seem to be sort of working OK (low bar admittedly) .....

 

[jakeseven7]

Most on east coast would be asleep but there are some hilarious question and responses in this WA presser.

McGowan just said $1000 fine if you dont sign in at a venue and are caught !

Thats the fine.

$50,000 if you don’t pay and are taken to court.

Having been in Perth over summer they needed a big stick to get the population behaving more COVIDSafe, but this is a stretch....

 

[jakeseven7]

WA defending the lockdown again with a lot of commentators including medical professionals describing it as an overreaction.

Probably should have just moved to compulsory masks, put some social distancing measures in and implemented third ring containment measures..... And gone hard on the exposure sites.

Perhaps they actually can’t do third ring?? (Don’t have enough resources trained and ready to go?).

And why has it taken so long to test all of the guards close contacts?

——

WA Lockdown 'not overreaction': Premier ‘laid awake worried’ that it was​

The Premier said he had "laid awake at night worrying" about whether the five-day lockdown was an overreaction to a single case of COVID.

"Was it an overreaction? I don't think so because let's imagine had we not done this and we had cases out there incubating in the community and people moving around and spreading it, and then next week we suddenly had a big eruptions of cases around Perth," he said in defence, after locking down more than 2 million people with no new cases detected

Mr McGowan said 189 of the 191 close contacts of the security guard had now tested negative.

Test results for the other two are still pending.

All close contacts of Victorian hotel quarantine worker test negative for COVID-19

No new COVID-19 cases have been linked to a Victorian hotel quarantine worker who contracted the virus as the state records three infections in overseas arrivals.

www.abc.net.au

 

[RooFlyer]

Well, the Victorians certainly know how to party (link probably paywalled, sorry)

Hotel quarantine workers at the Australian Open held a party to celebrate their success after isolating tennis stars just days before the detection of the new Victorian COVID-19 case.

COVID Quarantine Victoria (CQV) held the event for 60 staff at the View Hotel, one of the Australian Open quarantine hotels, on Sunday.

Three days later a 26-year-old residential support officer was confirmed to have been infected.

CQV said it hosted a “small outdoor function” to thank the team “for their considerable efforts in facilitating the complex quarantine program for the Australian Open”.

Reminds me of a previous celebratory video in Victoria.

Pride comes before a fall.

 

[MelMel]

Hotel quarantine workers threw a PARTY to celebrate their success

Covid-19 Quarantine Victoria put on an outdoor event for about 60 staff associated with the Australian Open at the View Hotel on St Kilda Road, Melbourne, on Sunday.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Not paywalled

 

[Must...Fly!]

Now that's bad optics

 

[Pushka]

Now that's bad optics

But they look socially distanced, mostly wearing masks properly and it's outside and warm. Admittedly bad timing but not illegal and I'd hoped that all had been tested in the day or so before.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I'd reckon most businesses or companies have something go wrong at some time. Ban all parties or celebrations?

 

[RooFlyer]

I'd reckon most businesses or companies have something go wrong at some time.

I don't think anything went 'wrong' with the party, or afterwards. The positive person wasn't there. For me, its like the previous Vic Departmental celebration - a bit premature and, frankly unnecessary. But hey, they like their celebrations.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

 

[Must...Fly!]

I've got no problem with public service having thank you functions for jobs well done...but seriously, given the contentious nature of the tournament and all the surrounding issues I can't believe why anyone thought it was a good idea

 

[jakeseven7]

View attachment 240084

All but 2 of the close social contacts of the index case have now had their results - all negative so far.

This terrifying mutant virus certainly needs to up its game on transmission...

EDIT: now all but 1 have come back negative