Covid 19 -

[T3rminator]

Can understand the inconsistencies with borders but can't understand the inconcistencies with how close contact are being delt with across the states.

A family member of the English cricket team tested positive. The English team only needed to get a negative test this morning, and play resumed. Apparently if it happened in syd, which is where the next test is, match would have been cancelled as there is a mandatory 7 day isolation.

You'd think AHPPC could set some sort of standard.

[buggerlugs]

Daughter just drove over the border from Vic to South Aus. Basically waved thru with bugger all checks..............

[ford71V8]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

400 people sent home from isolation (or a hospital??) being told they are negative only to be called back due to them actually being positive.

Just heard it on the radio. How many other stuff ups are there that we never found out about??

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

So the update is another 995 people were given incorrect info

[Pooka]

A brief story of my experience in the last 24 months. I left Melbourne late November 2019 to work overseas in Japan and Korea. It was a long term assignment, but I was to travel back and forth between Melbourne and Japan/Korea often. After a quick visit for Christmas 2019, I flew out of Melbourne late December 2019. I was to come back home to Melbourne for short visits every couple of months when possible.

Well... that was the plan anyway.

Mid January 2020 there was news in Japan about a new contagious virus that had arrived in Japan from China. By end of Jan things were getting interesting. By early Feb 2020 it was getting serious in Tokyo. I had to make a choice of going back to Melb or staying. I decided to stay. Oopsy.

Long story short, I only got back to Melbourne end of last month. Spent the last 23 months travelling between Japan and Korea (that was an experience I will never forget) for work. There were few opportunities to get back home to Melbourne, but along with my work commitments, I was sort of forced to make the choice to stay overseas. Wasn't all that bad really as my kids are adults (just), and I managed keep in contact via video calls very often. Plus the wife seemed happier with me not around. And I obviously missed her dearly . The worst experience was trying to get the Covid-19 vaccination as a Australian citizen temporarily working overseas. After a lot of phone calls, paper work and a few strings being pulled, I got my jabs (I wanted Pfizer only) in Korea July and August of this year. Lucky to have managed to stay Covid free given the circumstances I was in.

I'd be interested to know of anyone else's experience of getting vaccinated overseas on a temp working Visa. How difficult was it to get jabbed overseas as a non-citizen? I have a working colleague (AU citizen) who was in a similar position to me, but says she managed to get jabbed while in the US without much drama.

Anyways, glad to be back in Melbourne. But... what the hell has been going on with my home town? I kept up with the Australian and Victorian news throughout the pandemic where possible. I am truly lost for words as to what has been going on in M-town with the anti-everything protests etc. Apart from CV-19, there seems to be some other virus that is infecting some peoples minds!! Very strange behaviour from some, especially in Melbourne. Me being overseas, and not being a political person (never have I given a **** about politics my entire life) I took a step back and watched on. What I have noted are some underhanded tactics by certain media outlets, and some of our local politicians aimed towards Melbourne/VIC. And didn't seem to happen as bad in certain other States/Territories of AUS. Hmmm . I have my own theories as to why this crap was aimed VIC's way, especially towards the VIC Premier, but I'm not going to get all political here. Let's just say that I think some people in VIC went looking for sunshine by sticking their heads up their own ****. Sad really.

Sorry, was meant to be brief.

[T3rminator]

Originally Posted by ford71V8

So the update is another 995 people were given incorrect info

Is this from the same mob that is saying everyone will get covid, so go enjoy your holidays, and that QLD should stop testing?

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by ford71V8

So the update is another 995 people were given incorrect info

Wow... just wow.

These people must be absolutely distraught. Possibly mixing with friends and family with the idea they are negative...

The hourly changes in policy, inconsistencies in rule checking, bickering between state leaders on policy, back to restrictions and checking in.

Now the booster has gone from 6 to 5 to 4 and now to I think every 3 months.

How long will this go on for? I don't know the answer but it's clear the confusion and uncertainty isn't doing anyone any good...

[arm79]

Originally Posted by Pooka

Anyways, glad to be back in Melbourne. But... what the hell has been going on with my home town?

Your story reminded me of the plot of the show The Last Ship, itself based on a book. The first 3 series anyways.

Bought back some memories and instant thoughts of similarities between the show and pandemic Australia. Bit of a premonition, like the Titan was to Titanic.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2402207/

Anyone else watch the show?

[Yellow_Festiva]

It seems results are taking in some cases many days to get after testing.

The delay seems to be a problem with firstly delays in getting tested and then delays in results.

Anyone hazard to guess what the actual time is to get a sample tested and a result generated? As in. from the moment the lab technician grabs the swab and starts assessing the sample to the results for that said swab?

Is it 5 minutes? 10? 2 minutes? Under 30 seconds?

Here is why I ask. Say all the people of Sydney (and other large cities) focus all their testing efforts in one central location - be it a stadium, University or other large facility able to cater for many tens of thousands at a time.

Say that place had large parking areas and multiple public transport options.

Am I crazy to think that a person can be in and out within 3 hours with results in hand?

This system of testing is clearly not efficient. Sitting 6+ hours in a car inching slowly forward only to then wait 3+ days for a result so that you can travel on a flight or do other time critical things is clearly not how this situation should be handled.

I do feel sorry for the people that are under the pump, both on the testing side as well as those being tested. They are only doing what they are asked to do but there surely must be a better way for this to be managed?

[Pooka]

As an example of what I mentioned in my post above on "underhanded tactics by certain media outlets", I was watching CH7 news Melb yesterday. They were reporting the VIC daily positive numbers, deaths, etc. Then in the same breath mentioned that 400 incorrect notifications were sent out by St Vincents Hospital straight after the daily update, without mentioning St Vincent's NSW?? If you weren't up to date you would've thought the incorrect 400 negative case notifications was sent out by St Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne.

The Age similarly reported "400 people given wrong COVID-19 test results on Christmas Day", and the image they used on their digital platforms was of St Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne (see image below).



The headline has now subsequently been changed to read "400 people in NSW given wrong COVID-19 test results on Christmas Day" and the image removed. I'm guessing after they had received complaints. But it's too late. People have already read yesterdays news.

[FairmontGS]

Originally Posted by Pooka

As an example of what I mentioned in my post above on "underhanded tactics by certain media outlets", I was watching CH7 news Melb yesterday. They were reporting the VIC daily positive numbers, deaths, etc. Then in the same breath mentioned that 400 incorrect notifications were sent out by St Vincents Hospital straight after the daily update, without mentioning St Vincent's NSW?? If you weren't up to date you would've thought the incorrect 400 negative case notifications was sent out by St Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne.

The Age similarly reported "400 people given wrong COVID-19 test results on Christmas Day", and the image they used on their digital platforms was of St Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne (see image below).

image

The headline has now subsequently been changed to read "400 people in NSW given wrong COVID-19 test results on Christmas Day" and the image removed. I'm guessing after they had received complaints. But it's too late. People have already read yesterdays news.

I left VicDanistan in the 90s and The ALP-ge was like Pravda was to the Soviet Union. Shirley you're not saying that they've parted ideological ways?

[arm79]

Originally Posted by Pooka

As an example of what I mentioned in my post above on "underhanded tactics by certain media outlets"

This would be a prime example of the fu*ken pathetic underhanded misinformation lying alarmist scaremongering sh*tshow that the Australian media has become.

Don't be surprised, this is the norm. You're better off looking for the truth and factual articles. But that's like a super difficult Where's Wally book in itself.

I've even seen on Q&A sites like Quora where international readers have posted Australian news articles to criticise the misinformation and tactics.

But nothing beats what Channel 7 (I think it was 7) did early last year, using footage of a full and hectic Italian Covid ICU ward pretending it was Melbourne hospitals. Scary thing was they'd used the same footage a couple of weeks earlier when talking about Italian hospitals. But not many people noticed.... And the Aussies lapped it up.

Welcome back to what was once Australia. Beware of the media landmines.

[ford71V8]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Wow... just wow.

These people must be absolutely distraught. Possibly mixing with friends and family with the idea they are negative...

The hourly changes in policy, inconsistencies in rule checking, bickering between state leaders on policy, back to restrictions and checking in.

Now the booster has gone from 6 to 5 to 4 and now to I think every 3 months.

How long will this go on for? I don't know the answer but it's clear the confusion and uncertainty isn't doing anyone any good...

Originally Posted by T3rminator

Is this from the same mob that is saying everyone will get covid, so go enjoy your holidays, and that QLD should stop testing?

Looks like its not quite the same as the 400 who were positive when told they were negative.
The 995 were told the same but results are yet to be determined in this error

[T3rminator]

Originally Posted by arm79

This would be a prime example of the fu*ken pathetic underhanded misinformation lying alarmist scaremongering sh*tshow that the Australian media has become.

Don't be surprised, this is the norm. You're better off looking for the truth and factual articles. But that's like a super difficult Where's Wally book in itself.

I've even seen on Q&A sites like Quora where international readers have posted Australian news articles to criticise the misinformation and tactics.

But nothing beats what Channel 7 (I think it was 7) did early last year, using footage of a full and hectic Italian Covid ICU ward pretending it was Melbourne hospitals. Scary thing was they'd used the same footage a couple of weeks earlier when talking about Italian hospitals. But not many people noticed.... And the Aussies lapped it up.

Welcome back to what was once Australia. Beware of the media landmines.

Well said. The lock downs were tough, but what was worse was all the twisted, and some clearly false, information being pimped.

[FairmontGS]

Originally Posted by arm79

This would be a prime example of the fu*ken pathetic underhanded misinformation lying alarmist scaremongering sh*tshow that the Australian media has become.

Don't be surprised, this is the norm. You're better off looking for the truth and factual articles. But that's like a super difficult Where's Wally book in itself.

I've even seen on Q&A sites like Quora where international readers have posted Australian news articles to criticise the misinformation and tactics.

But nothing beats what Channel 7 (I think it was 7) did early last year, using footage of a full and hectic Italian Covid ICU ward pretending it was Melbourne hospitals. Scary thing was they'd used the same footage a couple of weeks earlier when talking about Italian hospitals. But not many people noticed.... And the Aussies lapped it up.

Welcome back to what was once Australia. Beware of the media landmines.

Sounds like a Trump campaign spiel. The media is so dishonest...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by Pooka

As an example of what I mentioned in my post above on "underhanded tactics by certain media outlets"

What's the difference between an underhanded tactic and a mistake?
Not specifying the state doesn't seem real a dealbreaker. I mean, there isn't really a major issue in terms of the viewers, is there? So they made a mistake trying to get he news out quickly, **** happens?

[arm79]

Originally Posted by leesa

What's the difference between an underhanded tactic and a mistake?
Not specifying the state doesn't seem real a dealbreaker. I mean, there isn't really a major issue in terms of the viewers, is there? So they made a mistake trying to get he news out quickly, **** happens?

You're kidding right???

At a minimum they should have been checking what they wrote or said was accurate, specially in this climate.

If all the major newspapers were able to get the location of the hospital right when it was first reported late afternoon, when they should have got it right too.

Given there is a St Vincent's in both Sydney and Melbourne, surely you can understand why it is a deal breaker by failing to mention which one it actually was.

They aren't journalists or should consider themselves news if that is the best crap they can sling togehter.

[arm79]

Originally Posted by T3rminator

Well said. The lock downs were tough, but what was worse was all the twisted, and some clearly false, information being pimped.

This was the article this blog picked up on Quora.



Sunday Herald Sun 21/11/21, page 3.

They were questioning how a paper could get away with such twisting of the story using word play.

Skim reading the headline and first couple of paragraphs like most people do you get a completely different story than what is actually the truth.

Originally Posted by arm79

You're kidding right???

At a minimum they should have been checking what they wrote or said was accurate, specially in this climate.

If all the major newspapers were able to get the location of the hospital right when it was first reported late afternoon, when they should have got it right too.

Given there is a St Vincent's in both Sydney and Melbourne, surely you can understand why it is a deal breaker by failing to mention which one it actually was.

They aren't journalists or should consider themselves news if that is the best crap they can sling togehter.

You know whose job it is to get it right 100% of the time, or as close to it as practicable? The bomb squad. The neurosurgeon who operates on your brain. The electrician who wires up your house.

You know whose job has less consequence for making a mistake? a journalist.
People **** up sometimes, **** happens, let it go, it's highly unlikely to have been a conspiracy to make vic look bad.

Originally Posted by arm79

This was the article this blog picked up on Quora.

image

Sunday Herald Sun 21/11/21, page 3.

They were questioning how a paper could get away with such twisting of the story using word play.

Skim reading the headline and first couple of paragraphs like most people do you get a completely different story than what is actually the truth.

Perhaps there is a medical reason for it?
If someone lives with heart failure for several years but then has a massive stroke which ultimately kills them before the heart failure did, do you know what the cause of death is listed as? Heart failure. You'd think it'd be the stroke, but no.

What's sad is perhaps those kids could have lived reasonable lives with their comorbidities if covid wasn't a thing. There are plenty of sick people who previously wouldn't have had their premature deaths easily forgotten because they had comorbidities.

[wodahs]

Originally Posted by arm79

You're kidding right???

At a minimum they should have been checking what they wrote or said was accurate, specially in this climate.

kinda like the uk news anchor on a live broadcast announcing the death of the pope when the archbishop desmond tutu had died
just a bit of a fupar

or was it upon hearing the news on the pope that helped give the final push to the archbishop

oh and an edited disclaimer :~ the pope isnt dead

[Charliewool]

Originally Posted by Pooka

A brief story of my experience in the last 24 months. I left Melbourne late November 2019 to work overseas in Japan and Korea. It was a long term assignment, but I was to travel back and forth between Melbourne and Japan/Korea often. After a quick visit for Christmas 2019, I flew out of Melbourne late December 2019. I was to come back home to Melbourne for short visits every couple of months when possible.

Well... that was the plan anyway.

Mid January 2020 there was news in Japan about a new contagious virus that had arrived in Japan from China. By end of Jan things were getting interesting. By early Feb 2020 it was getting serious in Tokyo. I had to make a choice of going back to Melb or staying. I decided to stay. Oopsy.

Long story short, I only got back to Melbourne end of last month. Spent the last 23 months travelling between Japan and Korea (that was an experience I will never forget) for work. There were few opportunities to get back home to Melbourne, but along with my work commitments, I was sort of forced to make the choice to stay overseas. Wasn't all that bad really as my kids are adults (just), and I managed keep in contact via video calls very often. Plus the wife seemed happier with me not around. And I obviously missed her dearly . The worst experience was trying to get the Covid-19 vaccination as a Australian citizen temporarily working overseas. After a lot of phone calls, paper work and a few strings being pulled, I got my jabs (I wanted Pfizer only) in Korea July and August of this year. Lucky to have managed to stay Covid free given the circumstances I was in.

I'd be interested to know of anyone else's experience of getting vaccinated overseas on a temp working Visa. How difficult was it to get jabbed overseas as a non-citizen? I have a working colleague (AU citizen) who was in a similar position to me, but says she managed to get jabbed while in the US without much drama.

Anyways, glad to be back in Melbourne. But... what the hell has been going on with my home town? I kept up with the Australian and Victorian news throughout the pandemic where possible. I am truly lost for words as to what has been going on in M-town with the anti-everything protests etc. Apart from CV-19, there seems to be some other virus that is infecting some peoples minds!! Very strange behaviour from some, especially in Melbourne. Me being overseas, and not being a political person (never have I given a **** about politics my entire life) I took a step back and watched on. What I have noted are some underhanded tactics by certain media outlets, and some of our local politicians aimed towards Melbourne/VIC. And didn't seem to happen as bad in certain other States/Territories of AUS. Hmmm . I have my own theories as to why this crap was aimed VIC's way, especially towards the VIC Premier, but I'm not going to get all political here. Let's just say that I think some people in VIC went looking for sunshine by sticking their heads up their own ****. Sad really.

Sorry, was meant to be brief.

Many similarities to our situation, with the main difference being we are still in Costa Rica. We are from Melbourne too.
When we originally decided to move here, the world was such a “small place”.. abundant, cheap, hassle-free air travel that we “thought” would both enable us a trip or two back a year as well as enabling family and friends to visit us in our piece of tropical paradise!
How quickly THAT all went out the window!
We’ve had 2 (soon to be 3) grandkids born since we left that we’ve never physically met.. We’ve missed weddings, mates deaths and so many family events that are usually just taken for granted.
NOT to mention the financial impact the last 2 years has had on us!
(We run a holiday accommodation rental place)
From virtually year round full occupancy to 2 years of almost nada!
Similarly, we keep up with MS Victorian news and think “what the hell has Victoria turned into?.. Also fuelled by local Canadians and Americans informing us on what they’ve read about the new “down under communist state”!
We are double vaccinated (Pfizer).. Were also refused multiple times due to being non-Costa Rican citizens.. Ended up greasing some palms plus “friends of friends” of health care employed Ticos.. Was a hellova effort just the same!
Pooka.. I’m glad you posted your story! Thank you!
Unless you’ve actually experienced the whole world being turned upside down whilst being outside of Australia’s borders, it’s impossible to really convey how the daily turmoil and anxiety of the last 2 years impacts!

[xxx000]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

It seems results are taking in some cases many days to get after testing.

The delay seems to be a problem with firstly delays in getting tested and then delays in results.

Anyone hazard to guess what the actual time is to get a sample tested and a result generated? As in. from the moment the lab technician grabs the swab and starts assessing the sample to the results for that said swab?

Is it 5 minutes? 10? 2 minutes? Under 30 seconds?

Here is why I ask. Say all the people of Sydney (and other large cities) focus all their testing efforts in one central location - be it a stadium, University or other large facility able to cater for many tens of thousands at a time.

Say that place had large parking areas and multiple public transport options.

Am I crazy to think that a person can be in and out within 3 hours with results in hand?

This system of testing is clearly not efficient. Sitting 6+ hours in a car inching slowly forward only to then wait 3+ days for a result so that you can travel on a flight or do other time critical things is clearly not how this situation should be handled.

I do feel sorry for the people that are under the pump, both on the testing side as well as those being tested. They are only doing what they are asked to do but there surely must be a better way for this to be managed?

Yes but what you describe would involve large numbers of people congregating waiting for testing then results.

Plus the creation of labs at the same location.
I'd imagine the queues of traffic just to enter the parking stations would dwarf the debacle we have now.


The current system at least isolates people in their cars, out of the weather and reducing possible transmission.
The swab process is fast but having people then wait at the same location for the results is unnecessary and increases risk.

Homebush which would be probably the only site that would match your suggestion is currently being used as a mass vaccination hub but this is by appointment to limit traffic and issues. Been there and it works well.


More of what we have (drive through testing sites) would seem to be the answer with the samples still forwarded to offsite labs.
The current Fed and NSW Govts are now focused on being reelected so are keen to downplay Covid and so unfortunately don't seem interested in opening more facilities. The current labs are probably working 24/7 too and are stretched to their limit

[Cav]

Originally Posted by FairmontGS

I left VicDanistan in the 90s and The ALP-ge was like Pravda was to the Soviet Union. Shirley you're not saying that they've parted ideological ways?

I wuz once a southerner.

Qld is paradise, well so I thought, but we have 5, yes 5 cases in Rocky!

The plague of death will be here in Yap-Hoon soon enough because I want to check if my vaccinations, mask wearing, social distancing, will save me seeing as I is in the target group of those most at risk.

And don't call me Shirley.

[russellw]

NSW/VIC
NSW records 6,062 cases in the current period and the 10-day average growth rate decreases to 1.1047 (from 1.1210 while the actual line is about level with the predictive trend line.



VIC records 2,738 cases in the current period and the 10-day average growth rate increases to 1.0800 (from 1.0425) while the actual line is now slightly above the predictive trend.



Overlay…



Week 24 in Victoria ended with 143,879 cases to date compared to 20,155 at the same point of the 2020 outbreak and 77,777 for the NSW 2021 outbreak. Weekly case numbers see Victoria with just over 9x more cases than NSW in that week and overall case numbers for Victoria are up by 4,230 on last week. Note that we are comparing historical data for NSW with current data for Victoria as NSW is about 3.5 weeks ahead.



Mind you, if we continue that graph up to the end of the last full week week for NSW, it looks like this:

1158 new cases for QLD

[Charliewool]

Hospitalisations and deaths Vs the dramatic rise in case numbers are probably the statistics we need to establish just how lethal Omicron really is?

[russellw]

Data valid as at 00:00 GMT December 28th 2021.

10,086 new cases for Australia (a new record) and 7 deaths so the CMR is 0.704%. Queensland (787), SA (842) and the ACT (189) all set new daily highs again yesterday (27/12).

NZ reported 50 cases and no deaths for a CMR of 0.350%.

The UK recorded 97,815 cases and 143 deaths for a CMR of 1.212%. They also recorded 220,184 over the two days of non-reporting.

307,712 new cases in the USA yesterday (some from the day before) and 774 deaths sees CMR at 1.565%.

Other notable points: (holiday reporting)
Global cases pass 281M, the last 1M in 2 days;
The UK passes 12M cases;

Liberia (299);
Iceland (594);
Andorra (602);
Gabon (1,040);
Cyprus (1,925) – the previous high (1,152) on 15/7/21;
Ghana (2,521) – the previous high (1, 583) on 31/1/21;
Greece (9,284);
Australia (10,806); and
Denmark (15,525)

.... recorded new highs; those in blue for the second consecutive day and those in red for a third or more consecutive day.

No countries move above the 90th percentile for the 10 day period and none drop below.

[FairmontGS]

Maybe we ought to be ramping AZ production back up...

AstraZeneca vaccine could be ‘preventing lagged rise in deaths’ from Covid in UK compared to Europe

The use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in vulnerable people may be resulting in a lower death toll in the UK compared to Europe, according to the former chief of the country’s vaccine taskforce.

Clive Dix said the durable cellular immunity response produced by the AZ jab can potentially “last for life”.

Mr Dix told The Daily Telegraph: “If you look across Europe, with the rise in cases, there’s also a corresponding lagged rise in deaths, but not in the UK, and we have to understand that.”

He added: “I personally believe that’s because most of our vulnerable people were given the AstraZeneca vaccine.”

Mr Dix told the newspaper: “We’ve seen early data that the Oxford jab produces a very durable cellular response and if you’ve got a durable cellular immunity response then they can last for a long time.

“It can last for life in some cases.”

https://www.gbnews.uk/news/astrazene...-europe/191406

[russellw]

Originally Posted by Charliewool

Hospitalisations and deaths Vs the dramatic rise in case numbers are probably the statistics we need to establish just how lethal Omicron really is?

Spot on Mr Wool. It will take awhile for that data to get sifted into something meaningful and it will likely come out of the UK before anywhere else given the NHS is really good at data keeping and they had the common sense to identify which variant their cases had. At the moment, a lot of the cases are still Delta with only about 25% (at 20/12) of the UK case load being Omicron although it's rapidly rising.

The early data out of Scotland has suggested that Omicron cases are 60% less likely to be hospitalised and that boosters seem to have a significant impact but that research is based on small case numbers and hasn't yet been peer reviewed.

That has, however, been backed up by data published in the UK which has said that Omicron cases are between 50-70% less likely to be admitted to hospital than Delta cases but they did caution that the analysis is “preliminary and highly uncertain” because of the small number of Omicron patients in hospitals and the fact that most were in younger age groups.

What they have noted is that it spreads ~10x faster than Delta and has a much higher reinfection rate with some 10% of cases having previously been infected with another variant.

It's a useless piece of data without the missing number (total cases) but they reported 132 cases of Omicron had been hospitalised and 14 had died all aged between 52-96.

Digging around a bit found the UK daily Omicron report which thankfully has cumulative numbers in it. For the last reported day (26/12) there were 45,307 Omicron cases out of the 97,815 total cases which is 42.2%.
The cumulative total of Omicron cases is 353,478 of which 407 required hospitalisation and 39 have died. That's 0.115% hospitalised and 0.011% have died although that latter number may well climb a bit. Either way, it's well below the 0.4-.6% for Delta cases.

[T3rminator]

NSW hospitalisations have pretty much doubled in the last 7 days. Would be interesting to know how many are Omnicron and how many are "others".


My anti vax friend who caught Delta a couple of months ago.....she is sick again after Christmas partying. Flu like symptoms, splattering all over place....she only told me when I dropped over for a visit a couple of days ago (knew I was coming!!). But she reckons she tested negative using RAT the day before

Still, she was uncertain enough to don on the face nappy whilst I was there. I've not felt anything.....yet.