NPR

CrazyIslander wrote: ↑Mon Aug 17, 2020 1:55 am

Carter's Choice wrote: ↑Sun Aug 16, 2020 12:11 pm Interesting to read that 80% of the active cases in NZ are in the Pacific Islander community

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/arti ... d=12356818

This aligns with the situation in Melbourne, where migrant families have been disproportionally impacted.

Not adhering to lockdown?

It started with a family of four: Rydges seeded 90% of Victoria's second-wave COVID cases
For our free coronavirus pandemic coverage, learn more here.
By Tammy Mills and Noel Towell
August 18, 2020 — 12.08pm

More than 90 per cent of COVID-19 cases in Victoria's deadly second wave have been traced to a family who arrived back from overseas in May and were quarantined at Melbourne's Rydges on Swanston hotel.

Dr Charles Alpren, an epidemiologist at the Department of Health and Human Services, told the inquiry into the state's hotel quarantine program on Tuesday that the rest of the cases could be traced back to three more travellers who were quarantined at the Stamford Plaza the following month.

The epidemiologist told the inquiry that Victoria's efforts to control its second surge of COVID-19 could have been improved by a better understanding of at-risk and marginalised communities and that although Victoria had a large scale testing program while the second wave developed, "you've got to test the right people".

Dr Alpren said he and his colleagues had been unable to pinpoint the exact "transmission events" at either hotel when the virus escaped from the quarantined travellers to staff, although "opportunities for transmission" had been identified.

Monday's hearings heard that returned travellers, quarantined the Rydges on Swanston and Stamford Plaza, were the source of more than 99 per cent of the state's current COVID-19 cases.

But the DHHS specialist provided more detail on Tuesday morning about how the outbreaks, which have forced Melbourne into a strict stage four lockdown and claimed dozens of lives, spread from returned travellers, via hotel workers and security guards and into the community.

Dr Alpren said the Rydges hotel outbreak started with a family of four who arrived in Australia on May 9 and who all fell ill and were diagnosed in the subsequent nine days.

He did not specify which country the family returned from, but they are believed to have come from Bangladesh.

On May 25, three members of staff, identified in Dr Alpren's evidence as a "mixture of Rydges employees and external staff", were then diagnosed with COVID-19.

When asked by lawyer for Rydges, Andrew Woods, if the external staff were government-contracted security guards, DHHS lawyer Claire Harris, QC, objected to the question and the inquiry upheld the objection.

Dr Alpren referred in his witness statement to a suggestion that the family was taken by security guards for a walk outside the hotel on May 18, but there is no conclusive evidence that the virus was passed on during the walk.

By June, 17 staff members and people close to them, such as their family members, contracted coronavirus.

It all stemmed from the family of four, Dr Alpren said.

The Stamford Plaza outbreak has been traced back to a couple and another returned traveller.
The returned traveller – a man – returned to Australia from overseas and commenced mandatory quarantine on June 1, Dr Alpren said.

He became symptomatic the same day and was diagnosed with COVID-19 on June 4.

The couple returned to Australia on June 11 and were diagnosed on June 15 and 16.

The $3 million inquiry into the hotel quarantine system, set up by the Andrews government and led by former judge Jennifer Coate, also heard on Monday that DHHS advice to guards at quarantine hotels was "inappropriate" for use in a high-risk setting.

Asked for his view about what might improve the state's response to outbreaks of transmissible diseases, Dr Alpren said community understanding was crucial.

"There is nothing as far as case and contact tracing that beats local understanding," Dr Alpren said.

"Understanding the communities that are affected by whatever disease you are seeking to control is crucial to be able to bond with those communities and work with them to reduce disease transmission."

mat the expat wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 6:21 am And that's how airborne and surface transmissable viruses work....

Carter's Choice wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 6:39 am

mat the expat wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 6:21 am And that's how airborne and surface transmissable viruses work....

Yup, everything could have been done right and people will still catch this virus. Thats why 1000 Victorian hospital doctors and nurses have covid-19, because even PPE is no guarantee of safety.

mat the expat wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 6:50 am

Carter's Choice wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 6:39 am

mat the expat wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 6:21 am And that's how airborne and surface transmissable viruses work....

Yup, everything could have been done right and people will still catch this virus. Thats why 1000 Victorian hospital doctors and nurses have covid-19, because even PPE is no guarantee of safety.

Unless you read Newscorp..

Carter's Choice wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 2:06 am Another good day in QLD, although 1 new case (in hotel quarantine) is not ideal.

Ellafan wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 9:20 am Hotel Security guard from the Marriott at Circular Quay caught the virus.

And has worked at a couple of other places while infectious.

mat the expat wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 2:06 pm

Ellafan wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 9:20 am Hotel Security guard from the Marriott at Circular Quay caught the virus.

And has worked at a couple of other places while infectious.

Let's hope Newscorp and the Feds Pile on the Liberal Premier........

Carter's Choice wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 11:30 pm 240 news cases in Victoria today. 13 deaths.

Jimmy Smallsteps wrote: ↑Thu Aug 20, 2020 12:07 am

mat the expat wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 2:06 pm

Ellafan wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 9:20 am Hotel Security guard from the Marriott at Circular Quay caught the virus.

And has worked at a couple of other places while infectious.

Let's hope Newscorp and the Feds Pile on the Liberal Premier........

What are the odds? Write that story and enjoy a small nib on p56 if you're lucky. On a bad day you'll incur the wrath of your angry paymasters.

Jimmy Smallsteps wrote: ↑Thu Aug 20, 2020 12:08 am

Carter's Choice wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 11:30 pm 240 news cases in Victoria today. 13 deaths.

Not surprising to see the numbers bobbling about. As long as the cases continue to trend downwards. It's a long, drawn out battle.

mat the expat wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 2:06 pm

Ellafan wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 9:20 am Hotel Security guard from the Marriott at Circular Quay caught the virus.

And has worked at a couple of other places while infectious.

Let's hope Newscorp and the Feds Pile on the Liberal Premier........

Ellafan wrote: ↑Thu Aug 20, 2020 8:19 am

mat the expat wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 2:06 pm

Ellafan wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 9:20 am Hotel Security guard from the Marriott at Circular Quay caught the virus.

And has worked at a couple of other places while infectious.

Let's hope Newscorp and the Feds Pile on the Liberal Premier........

I'm sure the taxpayer funded ABC will even things up for you

Ellafan wrote: ↑Thu Aug 20, 2020 8:29 am I don't actually watch Fox news.

What's it like?

C69 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 20, 2020 8:40 am You guys have less than 500 deaths.
You seem to have it under control tbh.

Compared to the UK anyway

Ellafan wrote: ↑Thu Aug 20, 2020 8:19 am

mat the expat wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 2:06 pm

Ellafan wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 9:20 am Hotel Security guard from the Marriott at Circular Quay caught the virus.

And has worked at a couple of other places while infectious.

Let's hope Newscorp and the Feds Pile on the Liberal Premier........

I'm sure the taxpayer funded ABC will even things up for you

'More tough decisions': Qantas to cut more jobs as COVID, Virgin threats loom
By Patrick Hatch
August 20, 2020 — 5.34pm


Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce has flagged a gruelling year ahead for the airline and more job cuts as it faces a slower recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and fiercer competition from a relaunched Virgin Australia.

After revealing the second worst result in Qantas' history, a $1.9 billion statutory full-year loss, Mr Joyce said that continued state border closures meant he had thrown hopes held in June of domestic flying bouncing back to three-quarters of pre-pandemic levels by December out the window.

International services will likely not resume before June next year, he said, with flights to the United States not expected until the end of 2021, after a vaccine can bring the virus under control there.

"There is still going to be more tough decisions to be made in the forthcoming weeks and months ahead," Mr Joyce said, describing the current environment the worst in Qantas' 100-year history.

"We keep on adjusting the plan to make sure we have the bandwidth to get through this environment, to make sure we have the strength to grow as we come out of it."

Mr Joyce said that will include further job losses on top of the 6000 announced in June, representing 20 per cent of the workforce, as part of a three-year COVID-19 recovery and cost-cutting program designed to deliver $15 billion in savings by 2023 and $1 billion in annual benefits after that.

Amid dire predictions for the financial future of Qantas, the airline chief has criticized state border closures, suggesting they are crippling the already-damaged airline.

Around 20,000 Qantas staff remain stood-down from work, from a pre-COVID workforce of 29,000. Four thousand jobs will be made redundant by the end of September.

Mr Joyce said the restructure program was now even more important in light of the announced plans for Virgin Australia's relaunch out of bankrupt under the ownership of private equity firm Bain Capital, which had promised to take the fight to Qantas with a dramatically lower cost base.

"They will come out leaner and meaner and that’s a big challenge for us because the margin [advantage] that Qantas had is really important," Mr Joyce said. "If Virgin were able to overcome that cost base advantage, that’s a long term threat to Qantas."

There were both "opportunities and challenges", however, and Qantas had already seen a number of Virgin's corporate customers jump ship. Qantas said that it expects its share of the post-recovery domestic market to grow from 60 per cent to 70 per cent given Virgin has announced plans to trim back its fleet and shut its budget arm Tigerair.

Qantas' net after-tax loss of $1.9 billion was driven by a $1.2 billion write-down of its Airbus A380 superjumbos, which have been sent to deep storage in the Californian desert for at least the next three years.

Excluding write-downs and one-off costs Qantas remained in the black at an underlying level, reporting a $124 million profit, down 91 per cent from last year.

Sondal Bensan, an analyst at Pendal Group, which is Qantas’ largest shareholder, said Thursday’s key revelation was that the company’s weekly cash burn of $50 million in the second half came from balance sheet-related items and paying down debt - not its operations.


"The key is that whilst you’re waiting for the recovery there’s not a huge cost as a shareholder - you're not losing a lot of franchise value while you’re waiting for borders to reopen," he said.

Qantas said it collected $267 million in payments through the JobKeeper scheme, with the majority going to stood down workers and the rest used to subsidise the wages of staff continuing to work. It received another $248 million through aviation-specific government support schemes. There was a net benefit to Qantas' bottom line of $15 million from the $515 million in total government support.

Qantas did not declare a final dividend. Shares closed flat at $3.76.

Jimmy Smallsteps wrote: ↑Thu Aug 20, 2020 11:31 am Maybe Eh eh Joycey could give up half his salary and keep half of those loyal staff members in gainful employment.

'If we've got premiers pursuing elimination, the country will go broke': Dutton
By Mary Ward
Federal Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has once again criticised his home state's premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, for the closure of Queensland's borders.

The minister – who has been known to be partial to a hard border himself – made the comments on Today this morning.

"When you hear about families separated from sick kids or [people who] can't get medication, can't get to work, their business is on one side of the border and they live on the other, these are the practical implications of this closed Queensland border scenario," he said.

"And it's driven by politics at the moment which I just think is frustrating a lot of Queenslanders. We've got borders closed with the ACT as well [despite] no cases in the ACT. It's not based on medical advice, and that's the Prime Minister's point as well."

Mr Dutton went on to state "if we've got premiers who are pursuing an elimination process, the country will go broke".

"I was talking to the Brisbane Airport Corporation yesterday, they are down 98 per cent in terms of their international travellers, they are running at 20 per cent of domestic flights and it's just – it is crippling," he said.

"Thousands of jobs will go as a result of it. So we've got to get some activity up and going and single digits in NSW at the moment is realistic of what to expect into the future."

From today, only Victorians who are essential travellers are allowed to enter South Australia. Premier Daniel Andrews has promised to ask South Australian Premier Steven Marshall for permits for border communities at today's national cabinet meeting.

Carter's Choice wrote: ↑Fri Aug 21, 2020 12:19 am 179 new cases in Victoria over the past 24 hours, ad sadly 9 deaths.

This is the first time it's been under 200 daily new cases since July 13th. Keep up the great work Victoria!

Carter's Choice wrote: ↑Fri Aug 21, 2020 12:22 am Peter Dutton was back in the media today attacking Premier Palaszczuk for her border closures, warning that the country will go broke if this continues. Does he not realise that the only reason QLD's economy is anything close to normal is because peopke are feeling safe so they are going out and spending money?



https://www.theage.com.au/national/vict ... 55nv9.html

'If we've got premiers pursuing elimination, the country will go broke': Dutton
By Mary Ward
Federal Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has once again criticised his home state's premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, for the closure of Queensland's borders.

The minister – who has been known to be partial to a hard border himself – made the comments on Today this morning.

"When you hear about families separated from sick kids or [people who] can't get medication, can't get to work, their business is on one side of the border and they live on the other, these are the practical implications of this closed Queensland border scenario," he said.

"And it's driven by politics at the moment which I just think is frustrating a lot of Queenslanders. We've got borders closed with the ACT as well [despite] no cases in the ACT. It's not based on medical advice, and that's the Prime Minister's point as well."

Mr Dutton went on to state "if we've got premiers who are pursuing an elimination process, the country will go broke".

"I was talking to the Brisbane Airport Corporation yesterday, they are down 98 per cent in terms of their international travellers, they are running at 20 per cent of domestic flights and it's just – it is crippling," he said.

"Thousands of jobs will go as a result of it. So we've got to get some activity up and going and single digits in NSW at the moment is realistic of what to expect into the future."

From today, only Victorians who are essential travellers are allowed to enter South Australia. Premier Daniel Andrews has promised to ask South Australian Premier Steven Marshall for permits for border communities at today's national cabinet meeting.

Queensland records nine new COVID-19 cases, six linked to detention centre cluster
August 22, 2020 — 8.38am


Six new COVID-19 cases have been linked to a case at the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre, a cluster the Queensland Premier says is of concern because "people have been out and about in the community".

Three additional cases have been detected in crew members on ships, but Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said at a press conference on Saturday morning that those cases were not of concern.

Ms Palaszczuk said both indoor and outdoor gatherings in south-east Queensland would be limited to 10 people "effective immediately".

A supervisor at the youth detention centre, a 77-year-old Ipswich woman, tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday night, triggering a massive health response.

Authorities are still working to discover how the supervisor first contracted the virus, with genomic testing under way to determine if there was any link between the woman and a small outbreak in Ipswich and Logan last month. Queensland Health has tested 127 youths in detention and more than 500 staff.

The children, some as young as 13, have been locked down in their rooms and were expected to stay isolated for 14 days.

"We are concerned about this cluster because people have been out and about in the community," Ms Palaszczuk said.

The restrictions on gatherings will include "people living in the areas of Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan, Scenic Rim, Lockyer Valley and Moreton Bay and Redlands", Ms Palaszczuk said.

Gatherings outside the south-east corner will be restricted to 30 people – indoors and outdoors.

"What we are concerned about is that people, these people, have been out and about in the community, so what we also need are Queenslanders to realise, especially in south-east Queensland, is that if you have any symptoms whatsoever, we need you to get tested now."

Queensland Health Minister and Deputy Premier Steven Miles said it was likely more COVID-19 cases would be detected over the weekend following the latest outbreak.

"This is precisely what we have been planning for," Mr Miles said. "Our contact tracers are working and have been working through the night."

The state conducted 9447 coronavirus tests in the past 24 hours, "but we need to test more over this weekend", Mr Miles said.

He urged people in the greater Brisbane and Ipswich areas "with any symptoms at all" to get tested.

"There will be likely more cases over the weekend. If there are cases out there, we hope we find them."

Jimmy Smallsteps wrote: ↑Sun Aug 23, 2020 2:14 am 208 cases in Victoria. 17 deaths.