Leading the pack, at about number 92, Australia bans flights from South Korea
South Korea added to Australia’s coronavirus travel ban list, restrictions for travellers from Italy
[ABC News] The Federal Government has expanded its coronavirus travel ban to include South Korea, and added additional precautions for travellers from Italy, amid fears about the spread of the disease.
The revised bans will be in place until Saturday, March 14 but the Government will review the situation within a week to determine if the travel restrictions need to be extended further.
Since the government was at least one week too late with the Iranian block, how will the medical experts stay ahead of the curve on other countries with no testing? Eg Indonesia? Or in this case, Europe and Dubai?
First case of Coronavirus in Western Australia that was brought in accidentally:
The woman in her 30s from Perth’s southern suburbs returned a positive result after holidaying in Iceland and the UK, and returning to WA via Dubai on Monday.
It’s still a soft loopholey quarantine:
Foreign nationals who have been in mainland China, Iran and South Korea are not allowed into Australia for 14 days from the time they left those countries.
But if they can find another country to fly to, or a cruise ship, they can still come.
The Government has also upgraded its travel advice to South Korea and is now urging Australians to reconsider their need to travel to the country.
How does that work? You can fly there but not fly home? Must be a misprint.
Groupies — Countries banning flights from South Korea jumped from 36- 96 today:
96 countries and territories have banned travelers from South Korea
[CNN] As many as 96 countries and territories have imposed entry restrictions or tougher quarantine measures on travelers coming from South Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported citing the foreign ministry. As of 9 a.m. local time, 36 countries and territories, including Singapore and Hong Kong, imposed entry bans on those who had traveled to South Korea in the last 14 days, Yonhap said.
Real leaders move first.
15 staff from a major Brisbane hospital have been placed in home quarantine.
150
If all the hospital staff are in Quarantine, who will look after Us?
170
If you’re not immune compromised, over 80 and immune compormised and just a normal, mostly healthy person, likely just yourself. A few tissues, aspirin, fluids and rest and stay home. You know the drill. We do this every year since the legendary swine flu of 1968 (for those of us who queued up for that round of vaccines). And every second or third year over the past fifty-some years.
Unless you’re immune system is shot, going to hospital, even for testing, should be weighed against the fact that that is where the most virulent and severe strains are concentrated, and there’s all sorts of other killers there from fresh eating bacteria to highly resistant contagions and as the lead of this article points out, even the highly trained hosptial staffs can be infected.
I read this AM that Aussies are closing all schools. Great! You can use those for temporary hospitals immediately. All it will take is a bit of furniture and equipment. I.E., you have the physical structures as you shutter your activities, just pick an empty building. Then the issue is do you have enough oxy equipment, suction devices, monitors, etc., to furnish them? Most forget that well over half the issue of making a hospital is not the walls but equipping and staffing them.
And, not much to fear at hospital once one gets past how they concentrate diseases there because, as noted, the staffs should be able to care for those truly needing 24/7 medical equipment and drugs. Maybe someone on this blog can describe when you absolutely need to go in to get a bed.
83
Too bad we haven’t as yet developed robots to take care of us in such circumstances.
81
The robots would quickly become virus carriers
And thus infect those they are caring for.
70
Not necessarily. They can be disinfected far beyond what a human can be and they might be able to make them with materials that make it much harder for viruses to be carried. Anyway, we are a long way away from having the technology.
91
Thank goodness he’s safe.
Did he do his 14 day’s quarantine or did he not go home for the Chinese new year?
Who did he catch it from?
(The Courier’s story may provide the answers. However, it’s behind a pay-wall (quarantined) so it’s not available to those of us who don’t pay the subscription).
110
Continuing on from #1:
… They are believed to be the only health workers in Queensland who have gone into home quarantine after assessing a suspected COVID-19 case.
“The actual risk is low, this is a precautionary measure,” the Mater said in a statement.
The Courier-Mail understands Mater Hospital emergency department patients who may have had exposure to the infected Chinese student are also being contacted.
Queensland’s latest development in the quest to contain the novel coronavirus comes as two new cases were diagnosed – a man, 81, who recently returned to the Sunshine Coast from Thailand and a Brisbane woman, 29, who flew home from London, via Singapore.
The man is listed as stable in the Sunshine Coast University Hospital and the woman is in isolation at home, with her condition described as “well”.
Queensland Health is tracing contacts of both cases.
60
Continuing on from #1:
101
So, all those travel bans and procedures for getting Chinese students back into the country have really worked well then?
190
… sing it with me:
gotta love the intelligence in our higher education [factory] system.
50
A young university student showing positive for WuFlu after a long delay? Not picked up by NAT on blood, urine and stool because there was no need to test that as it’s not like there are ACE2 receptors in the small intestine or kidneys. Gosh! Who could have predicted that?!
120
On a lighter note, a semi caught fire in the Gateway Bridge last night. It was loaded with toilet paper which is in short supply on supermarket shelves!
70
I reckon “toilet paper” will be the word(s) of the year!
61
Speaking of toilet paper and words . . . . 🙂
50
Not to worry . . .
https://www.foxnews.com/world/coronavirus-australia-newspaper-toilet-paper
60
Wow, Millicent has become the focus of the world! Who would ever have thought? My brother-in-law and his family used to work at the factory then called Apcel at Snuggery near Millicent. I thought it had closed but obviously not.
Thanks for the link Joseph. Love the humour of the NT newspaper.
50
A family accidentally bought 2,300 toilet rolls a month ago before the Great Toilet Paper Stampede. The father accidentally ordered 48 cartons of TP instead of 48 rolls. A $3,264 debit appeared on their credit card and 2 pallets appeared on their front porch.
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/family-accidentally-buys-2300-toilet-rolls-prior-to-national-supermarket-sell-out/ar-BB10OvEC?ocid=spartandhp
50
Epping Boys High School in Sydney closes after student gets coronavirus. Time to close all schools?
140
Reckon they will be used for hospital overflow initially.
I suspect during the next “pandemic” they will become “black holes”…so to speak….
61
There is a hot spot; Epping High, Macquarie University, Macquarie Field Nursing home and Ryde Hospital. All within 5 kilometres. Also suburbs with a higher number of homeowners from China and Korea.
90
Here’s the ABC story. The boy is the son of a worker from the hospital.
…
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-06/coronavirus-cases-increase-in-nsw-as-authorities-trace-virus/12031678
…
Cheers
Dave B
10
The “loopeyhole” quarantine is also circumnavigated when company A does not inform company B.
The Red Kangaroo use contractors to clean their aircraft.
I was informed that the Red Kangaroo flight that evacuated Australian citizens to Darwin was then flown to Sydney to be cleaned.
The contract workers were not informed that possible COVID-19 positive passengers were previously aboard the aircraft.
No hazmat or PPE was used by the contract cleaning staff in conducting their duties to clean that aircraft.
I was informed that the aircraft was cleaned as if it was a usual flight. Which was quickly done, as the aircraft needed to resume services.
A contract cleaner raised concerns when she found out that the aircraft was used to transport people to Quarantine.
I understand she has been stood down for raising her concerns.
These allegations were told to me first hand.
If true it is a worry.
Not only were the contractors health allegedly risked, you could have also flown on that aircraft, that had been ineffectually cleaned later that day.
200
Extremely sloppy on the part of the company but not surprising. Much like the government companies are slow to react. It’s not an excuse though so the directors of the company risk being sued or even put in prison if a worker happens to die from contracting the virus.
100
Yes I agree PeterS, but the directors or CEO and management will not be held responsible. They never are.
Try to prosecute a case in court and prove that you were infected as a passenger or crew member on a flight or of cleaning that said aircraft.
It is very hard to do when a lawyer will say that your illness could be the result of transmission from social contact in your daily life.
CEO’s and directors very, very rarely, if at all go to prison. They still get their bonuses whilst shirking responsibility.
But their employee/worker can be stood down and censured for trying to ask questions or tell the truth.. a career gone, lives at risk… go figure
100
It’s how it is in our broken system of government and business. We have the right to elect a party to make things right but the problem is we don’t have a viable party to elect in the first place. Politicians on both sides have lost the plot. Some minor parties are not much better.
100
The only way for your dream to come true is for a revolution to replace the Westminster System. This is highly unlikely.
30
On the contrary it is inevitable; after the crash and burn. History is screaming out that’s the case.
10
There won’t be a crash and burn, so the TPP will remain in place.
10
Be careful what you wish for.
Unfortunately, our TPP system at least delivers a result less likely to be a perpetual hung parliament.
Look at the Netherlands and Israel to see how total paralysis can ensue without a TPP system in the Age of Sectarianism (will only get worse due to the wokeumism).
Situations where the parliament can’t reach a majority for prolonged periods cause complete policy paralysis and then decisions which are made are called into question and their legitimacy perpetually debated.
I agree with you that both sides have now lost the plot, but this is the same in every western nation now, but at least our system can still select a government without such a chance of paralysis.
30
“The only way for your dream to come true is for a revolution to replace the Westminster System. This is highly unlikely.”
———
Here’s my proposal for “after the revolution”:
“Demarchy—small, sample electorates electing officials”
From Cornucopia of Ideas, the Social Inventions Journal for 2001, pages 237–44
Online at:
https://www.academia.edu/38701375/Demarchy_small_sample_electorates_electing_officials
To Download click:
https://www.academia.edu/attachments/58784483/download_file?s=work_strip
——–
“Sortition” is getting a lot of traction in political science—over 500 papers have been published on it, and “citizens assemblies” are on the verge of becoming the next big thing. “Against Elections” is a big seller in Europe. One website (mostly leftist but fairly fair and highbrow) where one can follow the topic is https://EqualityByLot.com.
10
Was she a member of the union?
And the union did what, exactly?
Perhaps one of the lefties who frequent this blog might like to inform us?
GA seems to know everything.
101
“Was she a member of the union?”
I don’t know. I would be guessing and I am not going to do that.
I will ask.
80
Her name was Alice and she lived in a palace. Her union took the money in a brown paper bag.
11
I like how you think unfair dismissal is a left wing thing
13
You mean like how the union helped Prof Peter Ridd?
70
Here’s the story.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/qantas-inadequate-plane-cleaning-an-infection-risk-safety-watchdog-20200305-p54715.html
80
Thanx Beowulf. I did not see that report. I was informed a few weeks ago.
I believe that there is truth behind the allegations that I was told.
60
If they’re not using VHP, then the cleaning is inadequate.
Further, banks of 275 mn LEDs should have been installed in all toilets (switched to high power when unoccupied) the moment the ACE2 receptor pathway was identified.
This virus is spreading at “the Speed of Stupid”.
90
Unfortunately you can not modify aircraft with electrical fitting without a lengthy and thorough process that meets with civil aviation processes and regs. It’s weeks to months to do anything non standard and non-manufacturer approved like that.
Good idea to incorporate in future though but the main cabin is going to still be a serious problem. But if part of the cleaning process for the cabin is 15 mins of such exposure before cleaning or next boarding, then that would help a lot.
But what of the terminals and their staff, plus baggage and its handling and searching?
60
WX, you are right about the approval times for alterations to aircraft electrical systems.
However the LEDs available would only need battery power. Lead acid gel cells would suffice. Forget recharging. $80 for 18 amp hours. Just throw them in recycling at the end of each flight. Cheaper than training staff how to recharge them off the aircraft.
Given what we know about the virus, airline unions should be demanding these simple measures now.
40
Cleaning of public spaces is a huge issue. Ships, planes, ferries, buses, offices, hospitals and the list goes on and on. Cleaners in many ways are at the forefront of the fight against the spread of the virus. Essential items like masks, gloves and hazsuits are probably in short supply. Can these items be made recyclable, say washable and reused. Can they be sterilized after use?
GeoffW
50
Yes, there are many ways to sterilize and we are disposing of too much that can be reused.
This is the good news: the corona virus is very easy to kill. UV-C exposure for just 2 seconds at 1w/cm2 will suffice. Elevate surface temperatures to 70C and it’s cactus. And if you want to also kill the horse it rode in on, use Vaporised Hydrogen Peroxide.
(Just imagine Quentin Tarantino doing a movie where all the players are viruses).
30
“you can fly there but not fly home”
If you fly there, when you come home you must be a good little chappie and self isolate at home for 14 days. Home Affairs says so.. Oh, be a good sport and don’t call in at the supermarkt on your way home.
This applies to Australians, permanent residents and immediate family members. Don’t know what is happening to people who arrive having been where they shouldn’t within 14 days but I don’t have a lot of confidence that enforcement will be strict.
90
A Clayton’s quarantine strategy !
Do they wonder why it doesn’t work ?
61
Hi Bill.
You want a non-Clayton’s quarantine….
Lets look at the origins of the word. My mum and i were talking about ‘quarantine’ and the origins of the word. Very interesting.
From Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarantine
“The word “quarantine” originates from the Venetian dialect form of the Italian quaranta giorni, meaning “forty days”. This is due to the 40-day isolation of ships and people practiced as a measure of disease prevention related to the plague.
120
“people who arrive” as in non residents. Sorry
30
It’s time for SLOMO, Hunt & Murphy
To be honest with all Australians.
It’s clear that they really in their hearts think
“THIS IS THE VIRUS THAT AUSTRALIA HAS TO HAVE”….
But I suspect such actually honest with us
Is not in their game plan !
Bugger !
70
I believe they are so inane that they think they can sell the line “It will naturally mutate to a less dangerous strain”.
Of course there is no evolutionary pressure that would currently force this virus to do this.
60
Once or twice a day I check out the Thailand Medical News.
I do not know who runs it or funds it.I suspect that as it has been critical of the Thai government
At times on it’s Corona Virus response
Those people are lying low.
Thailand is not a democracy !
But each time I drop by I find news not being reported elsewhere
And tonight there was this :
Ohhhh Bugger !
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/singapore-coronavirus-study-shows-that-virus-lingers-in-rooms-and-toilets
70
There is loopholey and then there is loopholey.
It is still politically incorrect to talk about America’s Southern Border,
and the 80,000 or so undocumented from 60 countries intercepted each month
(with an unknown number ‘missed’, many with a nod nod wink win by ‘sanctuary city’
authorities.
I find myself waking up one morning, and thinking I am looking at spots of competence
in a sea of mediocrity, and the next fearing I am an unwilling part of yet another a giant experiment
progressives are imposing on us.
[SNIP. ] I have funny thoughts when I read old science fiction. For those who would like a light reading but mostly accurate exposition of what one might do when facing a truly unique threat: “The Andromeda Strain” is very good….the book, not the movie.
Hominids such as ourselves and the animals who harbor virii that can jump to us have co-existed for a few millenia. Bats, Camels,. Civets, and a few other species that seem to be the villans, as well as domestic cats that may be the trnasmitters have been around a long time. We may actually have faced threats capable of wiping us out; but were saved by tribal isolation.
Perhaps we are on our way to “the Naked Sun” Asimov. Why yes, I am tucked in at home re-reading a few old books. Thank you for asking. And I’m chatting with a few friends online. Seems healthy.
120
Richard:
“The Naked Sun” is one of my all-time favorite Asimov novels. That, and “The Gods Themselves”. He was surely a gift to all of us. Pity neither has been made into a movie. Either or both would be easy to make with modern CGI. I’d need assurance that they would not mess it up like they did, “I, Robot”.
Help me out here: Was “A Fall of Moondust” Asimov, or Clark?
Vlad
40
Per Amazon.com
A Fall of Moondust
by Arthur C. Clarke
March, 2002
30
Most grateful for that. One of Clark’s best (other than “Childhood’s End”) was “The City and the Stars”. That would be another great movie, impossible to film in the ’60’s (with that ‘stop-motion’ special effects) but a piece of cake with CGI today.
So much material, so few good films (’cause we’re hung up on ‘superheros’ and ‘reality TV’, which is the greatest oxymoron in the universe … … … ).
TDaMDVtI
110
My favorite Arthur C. Clarke books are “Rendezvous with Rama” and its sequels “Rama II” and “Garden OF Rama”.
30
Rama was excellent, but II was unreadable. It’s described as a romance novel with a spaceship in it.
My favorite author has always been Frank Herbert. Some great stories in there. Asimov, Heinlein and Clark could all be used for movies but aren’t. Perhaps nobody reads these days.
30
Ann Mccaffrey’s Dragon Riders of Pern books would also make good movies and could be done with modern CGI.
31
I have to give Ric an up vote here. I’m a big Clarke fan, but most don’t know Mccaffrey’s dragon series is actually science fiction not fantasy.
20
It’s been a long time since I read “The Naked Sun”. I may dig it out of my book collection and re-read it. Asimov was one of the truly great sci-fi writers. He also wrote several good books on science. His only real miss was on his predictions about Peek Oil (“Isaac Asimov: The Nightmare Life Without Fuel”, https://peakoilindiablog.wordpress.com/2015/02/26/isaac-asimov-the-nightmare-life-without-fuel/ ) though it does appear that politicians these day are endeavoring to make his vision a reality.
40
I’m surprised no one has mentioned Asimov’s ‘Nightfall’ and the effect of hysteria ramped up by fear.
Tony.
80
“I’m surprised no one has mentioned Asimov’s ‘Nightfall’…”
That was an excellent short story. In checking on the book listing I see that Asimov later teamed up with Robert Silverberg to expand the story into a full novel. I don’t remember ever reading this novel so I’ll have to look into getting a copy (probably the hard cover addition if it is available as these old eyes can’t deal with the small print in paperbacks anymore. Sigh).
10
Get yourself a Kindle. I resisted for a while, because I love the feel of books, but arthritic hands eventually forced it on me and now I love it. You can have hundreds of books on this tiny, lightweight thing that isn’t backlit and so doesn’t cause eyestrain. If you travel a lot, like I do, they’re great – I can browse the Kindle store and buy books while lying on my hotel bed.
I just checked and the Asimov/Silverberg novel ‘Nightfall’ is available for AUD10.99. A bit steep for an old classic, but sounds like you would think it worthwhile.
I’m currently re-reading the Louis L’Amour classic western novels and having a ball. No mention of viruses though.
10
I have a Barnes and Noble Nook-book. I don’t have a kindle but I do have the Kindle app on on my PC. That actually works out well for reading as I have my PC connected to my 56 inch (142 CM) TV. I’ll have to check into getting the book from Amazon.
10
There’s a pdf I’ll look at; Thanks.
10
This is interesting. A Chinese academic paper suggests there might be (heaven forbid) a genetic link to the virus: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.01.26.919985v1.full. Helps explain why Africa is largely unaffected by the virus despite woeful heath systems and ongoing Chinese colonisation.
40
Excerpt:
We also noticed that the only Asian donor (male) has a much higher ACE2-expressing cell ratio than white and African American donors (2.50% vs. 0.47% of all cells). This might explain the observation that the new Coronavirus pandemic and previous SARS-Cov pandemic are concentrated in the Asian area.
40
But that paper is based on a small sample of 8 donors.
30
This paper is withdrawn ? due to criticism of a very small sample. Later studies do not confirm the conclusions made.
20
I am suspicious about number of reported cases in Africa. It could be widespread before there is any reliable data coming out of the region.
20
Coronavirus Kills an Airline: UK’s Flybe Collapses as Bookings Fall
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/03/05/coronavirus-kills-airline-uk-flybe-collapses-bookings-fall/
40
I had three comments on this thread that have now disappeared along with a few other comments from someone else. No abuse, no profanity, nothing outlandish. At worst some mild sarcasm in one of the comments. I don’t understand.
[ Apologies Ted but the hosting site was having some difficulties during an upgrade , nothing in moderation at the moment from you. ] AD
30
I’ve had trouble with speed of loading lately; thanks AD for explanation. Still slow this morning, was worried that Jo herself was having problems with the site.
[ Apologies Annie and to all who are experiencing difficulties with speed and access but unfortunately it’s a glitch that is out of our hands but being sorted .AD ]
80
Likewise – up to a minute to open comments; way longer than in the past. Joannenoca.com.au is the only site that has slowed down in the past week.
20
Reply above took 89 seconds to upload!
10
As always it is business before health, we don’t ban Italy yet but will after the formula one gp.
72
Just the normal isolation treatment for me I see – are you scared that I’ll infect the commentators with logic, reason and other leftist thoughts?
33
Glad you went to the effort of listing logic and reason separate from ‘leftist thoughts.
40
% green thumbs for you Fitz !
Surely a record !
40
The number is now ^ Bill!
10
Didn’t you mean trolling, schemimg and subterfuge.
10
Ferrari was jumping up and down threatening to throw a tanty if their travel was restricted to Oz.
The feeble excuse given by the government was that due to free population movement within the Schengen Zone, if they banned travellers from Italy, they would have to ban travel from the entire EU, and they didn’t consider that appropriate.
Italian travellers will now be subject to “enhanced screening measures”.
“Travellers from Italy will be asked mandatory questions at check-in and anyone who fails the checks will be denied approval to board an aircraft.”
Whew! That should keep the virus out then.
It’s like the Monty Python skit at the Bridge of Eternal Peril or whatever it was. What is your quest? What is your favourite colour? Do you have coronavirus? No. Right off you go then.
40
From the BBC re Corona Virus 19 in Italy
“Italy death toll rises to 148
Italian officials have confirmed 41 new deaths in the country on Thursday, bringing the national death toll to 148.
The number of deaths is the highest for a single day since the outbreak began in the country last month.
The number of confirmed cases has also jumped by a new high of 769, and is now 3,858.”
And still we welcome Italian tourists without any quarantine requirements..
They just have to answer a few questions online..
PS Australians returning from Italy should also be put in quarantine…
Then we here in Mt Barker and elsewhere
Would not be wondering how to respond when
A Flight Center shop in our main mall is closed
Because a staff member has the disease
Having just come home from an Italian holiday.
That Flight Center shop is a busy one
And the Mall has about 4-5000 people go through each day
This is how “Community Transmission ” begins.
Thanks for your efforts SLOMOm Hunt & Murphy !
70
It’s madness to continue in this vane. The government seems only to have eyes for business.
Ultimately we will not be able to prevent our exposure to the virus, but slowing it down must be the aim to give us time to better react.
GeoffW
60
Geoff
Yes ‘OUR” government has listened to the Airlines and tourist industry
Who face big problems with a strict quarantine for lack of customers.
So they decided this is the virus we have to have !
Buggered policy IMO !
Meanwhile ordinary Australians or many overseas, are not deceived.
They are cancelling or delaying travels plans
So the airlines and tourist businesses are in trouble anyway.
Serves them right !
50
They’ve taken their eyes of that too. The Qantas incident is unacceptable.
50
Meanwhile Summit Health Center in Mt Barker has decided that
It needs a stricter quarantine than our dopey government’s wants :
It has issued the following public notice :
“Summit Health CentreLike Page
March 3 at 4:39 PM ·
CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) UPDATE
Please do not attend the Summit Health Centre if you fit the following criteria:
• You have left or transited through South Korea, Iran or China in the last 14 days
• You have been in contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case in the last 14 days
• You have been specifically tested for COVID-19 and are awaiting test results
• You have left or transited through Italy, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, Singapore, and and/or Thailand in the last 14 days AND have respiratory symptoms or a fever
If you require medical care and fit any of the above criteria please phone ahead before coming into the Centre.
For more information, contact the Coronavirus Health Information line on 1800 020 080 or go to http://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/novelcoronavirus”
The local dcotor’s seem to have a better grasp on the serious nature of this situation than our Federal government.
70
Same notice on front door at clinic in Woodside.
40
If you bothered to access the links from that site you will notice the advice comes from the Federal government’s Department of Health. So I don’t understand your comment about them not taking it seriously enough as the doctors are. They are all singing from the same hymn sheet, namely the Chief Medical Officer. What no one is taking seriously enough is the amount of tests to detect the virus across as many people as possible, and isolation procedures. Everyone is taking more of a wait and see attitude. Not good enough.
40
“Please do not attend the Summit Health Centre if you fit the following criteria…”
This reminds me, I am scheduled to donate blood to the American Red Cross on March 22. The list of things that you can’t have done in order to donate blood gets longer each time I go. They have probably added all of the Coronavirus things to the list now, so it will be even longer than the last time I donated blood. I understand why they do this and don’t really have a problem with it but it does make the process of reading through the paperwork and answering all of the questions prior to being allowed to donate blood a lot more tedious. It seems like the pre-donation process is taking as long as actually donating the pint of blood. Sigh.
40
Can anyone suggest a disinfectant to buy in Australia? CNN mentions lysol and clorex but I can’t see if I can buy them here and I’m not sure if Domestos or White King are the same? Will methylated spirits do?
My son’s flatmate (a doctor) has to isolate at home as she was coughed over by a patient just back from Iran. My son has to stay somewhere else for a while and when he returns he will need to disinfect door knobs etc.
40
“Human coronaviruses can remain active on surfaces such as metal, glass, or plastic for up to 9 days after exposure. The best way to deal with that problem is by cleaning those surfaces with a solution that’s 62% to 72% ethanol, .5% hydrogen peroxide, or 0.1% sodium hypochlorite within 1 minute of contamination, according to investigators with University Medicine Greifswald and Ruhr University Bochum in Germany whose study ran as an article in press in the Journal of Hospital Infection (JHI).”
Bleach at the supermarket based on sodium hypochlorite.
You can use methylated spirits also by mixing it 3:1 with water.
Metho is 90-95% ethanol.
40
Try Isocol its 64% alcohol based….Available in a 75ml spray bottle and you can buy a larger bottle to top the spray up. Mainly available at Chemists… I am having trouble finding it last couple of days, but have been advised it is on order. !
I use it regularly and its the closest I can get to 70%. The solution kills most bacteria and viruses.
10
I wonder if I can get my ticket to Seoul changed to Taipei?
23
Don’t bother Taiwan is locked down
20
not from Australia.
01
The government is now admitting any efforts to contain the spread is pointless other than it will help to put a lid on the speed of the spread. There should now be more emphasis on detection and isolation rather than taking the wait and see attitude as they are doing.
80
They are all floundering a bit it seems. No one has the courage or nous to lead on the issue and I guess it’s all a bit new. I smirked a little when a lady hops off a crowded A380 from Europe/Dubai in Perth with an infection and the local health minister said the likelihood of transmission was low? Those passengers were out and about for 3.5 days before the flare went up. Some will still be out and about.
80
The best they can do is..slow the spread and hopefully take pressure off the hospitals and medical people. More importantly ICU Units, where critical patients with respiratory problems will need to be admitted.
10
Epping Boys High School went into Lockdown today due to Coronavirus, all kids told to stay home.
50
I arrived at Sydney international airport terminal late last night from overseas and found little evidence of any concerns on COVID19.
Firstly, the first two electronic check-in machines I queued for were either out of paper cards or broken. When I found one that worked it asked me if I’d been to Italy or Iran recently.
I saw no signs, banners, verbals or handouts saying what to do if I felt unwell.
The bathroom I visited had no soap or paper towels.
Overall – a very big fail!
90
Welcome to Australia Mate; she’ll be alright.
Here, have a beer.
50
“A person I talked to recently is going to Borneo. When asked if that was a bit of a brave act the answer was
“We can’t get our money back”.
They are prepared to treat a fortnight on Christmas Island as “another exotic destination” and have checked out the centre near Darwin as “Doesn’t look too bad”
70
We are told that Borneo and Christmas Island will be underwater in a ‘few’ years.
Visit while you can!
40
Definitely! It’s like 97% Club Med and 3% Club Dead.
60
Just to put things in perspective -https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/- https://www.worldometers.info/abortions/
21
And from same sight
190,000 suicides this year
20
To the extent the public understanding of the situation depended on media reporting of government statements, the public’s understanding changed quite quickly last week. The contrast was so great that it almost sounds like an episode of Unsolved Mysteries narrated by Robert Stack.
On the morning of Friday 28 February 2020, the weather was mild, birds tweeted in the trees, and the official status was: “In Australia, the coronavirus has been effectively contained.”
The advice was: “nothing substantially changes for the everyday person at the moment” and “go about your daily business” and even the imperative “go out to the football or the Grand Prix”.
Oh, well that sounds alright, nothing to worry about then, yeah?
So everyone went about their usual business over the weekend, like putting hands on escalators, buttons, touchscreens, and door handles, eating in open-air kitchens, holding big festivals and conferences, and generally partying like it’s COVID-99.
By the following Monday, 3 Feb, the official status was: “first person-to-person transmission within Australia” which was “particularly concerning” in a situation that was “unfolding”. The first instance was received by a health worker who “has not travelled overseas for three months”, implying another missing link in the infection chain was busy spreading virus around Sydney before the Friday. The second domestic transmission was a case of another man who flew in from Iran and then spread it to his sister who had been in Australia the whole time.
The new advice is: “discretion” and “No handshaking” and “do commonsense things”, even though commonsense behaviour is what people normally do – which is what spreads the virus. Business-as-normal handshakes are no longer acceptable.
It takes a minimum of 4 days to become symptomatic, sometimes 12 days. It takes 1 day for a PCR test to run and yield a result. The PCR test result on the Iran passenger was not known until Sunday 1 March, implying the test was not started until 6 days after they had landed, which is also likely the time they became symptomatic.
Having infected people infect more people that they normally see regularly is apparently part of “containment”.
There’s a couple of questions for health experts and politicians to answer:
• How can Person X spread the virus to a health worker on the 25th February and an unknown number of other people if the virus has been “effectively contained” by Feb 29?
• How can a person travelling from the COVID19 hotspot Iran infect a resident outside of quarantine on Feb 23 when the virus was “effectively contained” by Feb 29?
• How can the 15 staff at Mater Hospital in Brisbane get exposed to the virus this week when the virus had been “effectively contained” last week?
• When the virus spreads for several days before symptoms appear and arrivals are not tested until they show symptoms, how can test results show the virus is “effectively contained” at any time?
The obvious answer to all these questions is “they cannot”. It is the community spread that is the reality, not the containment.
Of the 164 Australian citizens repatriated from the Diamond Princess only 10 of them caught COVID19 on the ship, but Australia now has 60 cumulative cases. It is still low numbers compared to the international experience, but increasing numbers of infected is not what “containment” looks like. The WHO/ArcGIS page shows Australia’s total cases climbed from 23 to 43 in the 6 days after the virus had been pronounced “effectively contained”.
As ridiculous as some people’s choice of hoarding product was this week, it is completely understandable that some people would freak out and go into survival mode when it became obvious that the reassurances from so-called UTS health experts and federal government ministers would have been worth more if written on toilet paper.
90
It should obvious to everyone at this point that being governed by a greens/labor coalition would have been a total disaster as they would totally refuse to close entry on purely ideological grounds.
After all if 50% of Australians ultimately catch this virus that still only equates to 12,697,360 people, with a 3.44% mortality rate, which is a trifling 436,982 dead bogans, and a mere 939,633 Australians who would need an intensive care bed to make sure the mortality did not get significantly higher.
So we’re extremely fortunate that we elected Slomo instead who only refused to close entry to known infected countries with community spreading on business and economic grounds.
Whew, that’ll be so much better.
80
The trouble with the lesser of two evils/weevils principle is we still end up with evil/weevils.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4PzpxOj5Cc
40
Better video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=440l8poSQiA
10
Here in South Australia, march is referred to as “Mad march”
Why ?
Because we have Womadeliade, The V8 Super cars carnival, the Adelaide Festival and the Fringe Festival !
All bring large numbers of people together. And many of the performers & the spectators are from interstate or overseas.
So just PERFECT for importing the virus some more & spreading around some more the virus which we know is already here..
But naturally NODODY in the state of Federal governments has mentioned a word of warning. Not even a ‘wear a mask’ warning !
No one wants to SPOOK the punters !
But the proverbial has hit the fan today with Brett Dean, an invited conductor being diagnosed in Adelaide with the disease. He flew in from Taiwan especially to perform here & brought the Corona 19 virus with him from Taiwan..And of course anyone coming from Taiwan can fly in to Australia any time they like.There is NO QUARANTINE AT ALL
Meanwhile a Taiwanese tanguera friend went home to Taiwan on holiday in January. She tells us that Taiwan is almost shut down because of the virus ! But our SLOMO government is completely ignorant of this fact !
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-06/composer-brett-dean-diagnosed-with-coronavirus-in-adelaide/12031874
40
Curious. Without anyone breaching ‘Internal Use Only’ and ‘Company in Confidence’ has anyone’s employers put into place their own COVID-19 policies?
Mine has and first started in January.
40
I was at Timaru hospital in NZ yesterday visiting my mother. The nurses I spoke with had no plans and had not been advised what will happen if the virus takes hold. Hospital was almost full with ‘everyday patients’ and no contingencies known by working staff.
20
Mine has:-
Dear colleagues,
As you may be aware, the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation is evolving, and while there is no need to panic, I’d like to ensure you all know where to find the most up-to-date information and how to reduce the risk to yourself, your family and colleagues.
The wellbeing of our employees, and wider community, is paramount. According to the latest Queensland Health advice, these are some steps you can take to protect yourself and others:
• regularly cleaning hands with soap and water or alcohol-based hand rubs
• covering your nose and mouth with a tissue or flexed elbow when coughing or sneezing
• avoiding contact with anyone who has symptoms such as fever, a cough, sore throat, fatigue, and shortness of breath
• staying at home if you are unwell and, if you begin to exhibit any symptoms such as fever, a cough, sore throat, fatigue and breathing difficulties, then you should contact your GP or call 13HEALTH (13 43 25 84).
If you are travelling overseas
• Please monitor the Australian Government Department of Health and https://www.smartraveller.gov.au to inform yourself on the latest advice.
• Talk to your supervisor about your travel plans and expected return date, maintaining clear communication.
• If you develop fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical advice promptly as this may be due to a respiratory infection or other serious condition. Call your GP, Emergency Department or 13 HEALTH in advance and tell your provider of any recent travel or contact with travellers.
If you are feeling unwell
If you are showing any signs of being unwell, you are to stay home until feeling better, as per normal procedure. While COVID-19 is of concern, it is important to remember that most people displaying symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat or tiredness are likely suffering with a cold or other respiratory illness—not COVID-19. However, if you are concerned, please seek advice from your GP.
Learn more about COVID-19
• To keep up with the latest information on COVID-19, please visit the Australian Government Department of Health and Queensland Health websites.
• Find out more about coronavirus (COVID-19) and how to protect yourself.
• Separate fact from fiction by reading coronavirus myth busters on the World Health Organization website.
• Call the National Coronavirus Health Information Line on 1800 020 080. It operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Please contact your supervisor or People & Culture if you have further questions related to your personal circumstances.
Best regards
Warren
Warren Bunker | Acting Chief Executive Officer
Office of the CEO | Sunshine Coast Council
30
Oh. I don’t want to go too deep into details because of the big ‘Internal Use Only’ flags attached, but my lord and paymaster already has harsher restrictions in place.
Maybe our CEO is more concerned for our health and a fan of Tough Love than our PM is?
When the apocalypse comes it seems Big Industry will look after its own.
10
“• covering your nose and mouth with a tissue or flexed elbow when coughing or sneezing”
I find that “flexed elbow” arrangement hard to achieve. I find coughing into the back of my forearm about six inches up from my wrist to be more reasonable. I’m surprised it isn’t being recommended.
10
Over breakfast this morning my wife (who works for Qld Health – technical not clinical) and I were discussing the 15 medical staff that have been quarantined. We were saying how clinical staff will likely put themselves in harm’s way because of their calling. On the other hand, for support staff such as cleaners, cooks, domestics, wardies, etc, this is just a job. Will they want to hang around a potentially dangerous environment and risk taking this home with them?
Right on cue, my wife received an email today asking for her private contact details in case she is needed on the front line. She has no idea what she could possibly do, and doesn’t want to put me in danger (I’m in the high risk group). I didn’t see the email and don’t have the full details, but it is interesting that these kinds of things are being planned for.
10
Dr Campbell on COVID 19
Thursday afternoon UK time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=163&v=9HpU_x9OgQ4&feature=emb_logo
10
Went to my local supermarket in Townsville this morning and the shelves were getting as empty as during a major cyclone warning. I didn’t expect people to be much concerned about it, but apparently many are preparing for a serious situation to develop. And I must admit as I walked around I’m think, should I be taking it more seriously now? I’m currently thankful for recent very hot humid weather (which is now coming to end) but this didn’t stop another case appearing in NT yesterday. I got home and spent some time washing things, not just my hands.
60
There is a Youtube claiming to be by Dr Richard Cheng in China who talks about a number of IV Vit C trials to reduce nCoV-19 effects, in particular, pneumonia. Will try and link it when back home at my computer. I also read a Brisbane newspaper article about Vit D and how we fight off viri better when Vit D is optimal so, here in sunny Au, we may get off lightly. I’m sure that once the bog-roll-blues have worn off we’ll start taking effective immune system fortifications with voluntary crowd avoidance and just let the virus take it’s course.
20
Meanwhile in China researchers suggest that prevention of fecal-oral transmission
Must be taken into consideration to control the spread the virus !
Not just via the respiritory tract but also the gastro-intestinal tract !
researchers suggest that prevention of fecal-oral transmission should be taken into consideration to control the spread the virus
20
“researchers suggest that prevention of fecal-oral transmission should be taken into consideration to control the spread the virus”
One way to reduce that risk is to lower the big toilet seat cover before flushing, I’ve read.
30
FORGET TOILET ROLLS
THE REAL ISSUE IS SANITISERS !
I’m just back from the Anytime gym at Mt Barker.
There was no hand sanitiser jell i are out so I asked the staff if they had any more.
Answer : NO & it is UNAVAILABLE
They can’t buy any of the normal stock.
I was told to use the hand wipes instead
But I think they will run out shortly as well.
10
No idea as to validity but here’s a claim , has the virus mutated ?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2020/03/04/coronavirus-has-mutated-aggressive-disease-say-scientists/?fbclid=IwAR0ezLsuGQoAtJKlYml01ZVpWUhVy0fA1OMkS4usKNQi9YY7FBYvzGhSuy4
10