News Coronavirus (COVID-19) Discussion Thread II

[Firestarter]

"Open up the shops and let us out!"
<Cases start spiking>
<Surprised Pikachu face>

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

"Open up the shops and let us out!"
<Cases start spiking>
<Surprised Pikachu face>

It’s been bouncing between 5-15 for a while now.

 

[DaveyBoy123]

I do wish that sometimes they give a little more details on what the "previous underlying health issue" is:

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30-year-old man becomes Queensland's seventh coronavirus-related death

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has confirmed a 30-year-old man was found dead in his home on Tuesday. A post-mortem later found he was positive for COVID-19. A coroner is now looking into the case further.

The man, from Blackwater, is believe to have had previous underlying health issues. His partner is currently in self-isolation, but an initial test for coronavirus came back negative.

This is Blackwater's first case of coronavirus. Queensland currently has seven active cases.

 

[DaveyBoy123]

Eight new coronavirus cases confirmed in Victoria

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says the number of cases of COVID-19 in the state has risen to 1,618 — eight more than yesterday.

Two cases are linked to an aged care facility "that's been discussed previously", the Premier said... One case is from hotel quarantine, four cases are the result of routine testing and one case is under investigation.

Mr Andrews said Victoria had conducted more than 200,000 tests for the virus since May 11 but reiterated people must continue to work from home until at least July.

"I want to reiterate if you have been working from home you must continue to work from home for all of June," he said. "That may change beyond June but at this stage, the Chief Health Officer is particularly concerned about hundreds of thousands of Victorians returning to office blocks. Logic tells you if that many people are crammed in on public transport, sharing spaces, then all that will do is pose an unacceptable risk and transmit the virus, no one wants that. We are beating this but it's not over yet."

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

Victoria’s testing numbers:

 

[Sillygit]

Victoria’s testing numbers:
View attachment 882178

Is that similar to what happened with the testing numbers for NSW yesterday? Or did we legit set a new pb?

 

[giantroo]

 

[DaveyBoy123]

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly says there were only 11 new cases in the last 24 hours, but the encouraging sign was that there are less than 500 active cases in the country.

"That's continuing to drop that number. 30 people are in hospital, 6 in ICU and only 3 on ventilators. That is all very good news."

Professor Kelly says the government is still ramping up testing.

"We are continuing to do a lot of testing. There are now over 1.3 million tests done in Australia since the beginning of this pandemic and 35,000 tests in the last 24 hours. The positivity rate remains extremely low and this is a good sign that we are picking up cases if they are indeed there," he said.

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

 

[DaveyBoy123]

Victoria update
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton is currently speaking. He says there are 10 new cases in Victoria, six of which are household contacts with previously confirmed cases, including five from the one household.

The number of deaths fortunately remains at 19 and the numbers of cases in Victoria that we call "community cases" or those with an unknown source has decreased by 18 since yesterday.

So this means we have found a link with those 18 cases, and I'll be able to update in coming days on exactly what they might have been linked to, but it brings the number unknown course cases in Victoria down to 165. So about 10 per cent of our total cases.

There are currently 61 active cases in Victoria. Only three in intensive care, so a decrease of one since yesterday and only eight in hospital in total. So happy to take questions.

 

[krakouers]

well, we were doing well:

Six more COVID-19 cases recorded on virus ship

WA now has eighteen active cases of the deadly coronavirus after six more crew members on the Al Kuwait returned positive tests.

thewest.com.au

Coronavirus WA: Six more crew members on Al Kuwait live export ship test positive for COVID-19
Peter LawThe West Australian
Thursday, 28 May 2020

WA has seven new cases of COVID-19, including another six crew members from the Al Kuwait live export ship.
It brings the total number of infected crew to 12 out of the 48 who were on board when vessel sailed into Fremantle last Friday.
The seventh new case recorded on Thursday was a traveller who had returned from overseas. They were already in hotel quarantine.

Three of the infected Al Kuwait crew were still aboard when they returned positive tests and they were today transferred to hotel quarantine.
The other three crew were already in quarantine after they disembarked on Wednesday.
Another two crew were being taken from the ship and put in quarantine as they had “significant contact” with their infected colleagues.
The 10 crew remaining on the ship have been swabbed and all those in hotel rooms would also be tested.
There were now 18 active cases in WA, with one recovery overnight. There were no confirmed cases in Perth hospitals.
It comes as Mark McGowan said WA would remain in a state of emergency while thousands of Australians overseas continue to come home.
The Premier said there were more than 16,000 Australians overseas who wanted to return and emergency powers were needed to put them into hotel quarantine.
He cited the family of four from Victoria who flew into Perth on a flight from Doha who earlier this week tested positive to COVID-19.
Mr McGowan was forced to backtrack after he wrongly claimed the Federal Agriculture Department had not warned WA there were sick crew on the vessel before it arrived in Fremantle.
Health Minister Roger Cook said teachers with no symptoms of the virus could be eligible for swabs as part a testing blitz of healthy frontline workers which began on Thursday.
Healthcare workers, police officers, meat workers, supermarket and retail staff and hospitality employees who are asymptomatic can be swabbed for the next two weeks.
Mr Cook said a decision on whether to include teachers would be announced on Friday.
Health teachers were to be tested as part of study at 80 schools and education centres, but the program has yet to start due to the ethics approval process.

 

[DaveyBoy123]

Argh.

The below insinuates that the teacher & student could not have passed it onto each other somehow... But it's a coincidence that they both attend the same school!

Also, does anyone know what these "shared classes" are/were? Surely, that would have been huge no-no over the past month or two.

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Positive coronavirus case at a school in Victoria

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has said that a student at Keilor Downs Secondary College in Melbourne's north west has tested positive for coronavirus. The student was one of seven new cases recorded in the state yesterday, bringing the state's total to 1,634. That's an increase of six, but there are seven new cases, one existing case was removed from the total due to a data issue.

The case is associated with a recent family cluster, but it’s likely they were infected when on campus on Tuesday. The school has been closed for cleaning.

The student was also in a shared class with students from schools in St Albans and Taylors Lakes, and those students are also self-isolating.

A teacher at the school tested positive earlier in the week, but at the time authorities said the teacher had not been on campus while infectious.

 

[giantroo]

Businesses face fines for breaching 'work-from-home' orders
By Anthony Colangelo
From Monday, the Victorian government will have the power to enforce people and businesses to work from home.
Breaching this could lead to fines.
"If an office that had currently, say, 80 per cent of their staff working from home then say 'oh well, we’ll just ignore the Chief Health Officer and we will have everybody come back Monday,' then they would be in breach of the public health orders," Mr Andrews said.

This is what the government wants to avoid.CREDITANIEL POCKETT

Mr Andrews said there will be spot checks on businesses potentially breaking those rules.
He said staff could even ring up and dob in their employers for making them work from the office.
"We will see more cases [if the rules are not followed]."

 

[Tectonic]

Businesses face fines for breaching 'work-from-home' orders
By Anthony Colangelo
From Monday, the Victorian government will have the power to enforce people and businesses to work from home.
Breaching this could lead to fines.
"If an office that had currently, say, 80 per cent of their staff working from home then say 'oh well, we’ll just ignore the Chief Health Officer and we will have everybody come back Monday,' then they would be in breach of the public health orders," Mr Andrews said.

This is what the government wants to avoid.CREDITANIEL POCKETT

Mr Andrews said there will be spot checks on businesses potentially breaking those rules.
He said staff could even ring up and dob in their employers for making them work from the office.
"We will see more cases [if the rules are not followed]."

aniel pockett giving musk ideas for his next baby name lol

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

The Council of Australian Governments will be abolished and replaced with a new system after the success of the national cabinet, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced.


He said the national cabinet of premiers and chief ministers will continue operating and continue to meet on a fortnightly basis "during the COVID period".


"In a normal year it will meet on a monthly basis [and we] won't meet in person. One of the things we've learned from meeting so regularly [is] we can work effectively together with the telemeeting facilities," he said.


COAG was founded by the Keating government in 1992 as a forum for state and territory leaders to debate with one another, and the federal government, on matters of national importance. Mr Morrison convened the new national cabinet in mid-March in response to the coronavirus crisis.


The premiers and chief ministers have met with the Prime Minister regularly, sometimes several times a week, to coordinate key messages and debate policy responses to the pandemic.

 

[DaveyBoy123]

Businesses face fines for breaching 'work-from-home' orders
By Anthony Colangelo
From Monday, the Victorian government will have the power to enforce people and businesses to work from home.
Breaching this could lead to fines.
"If an office that had currently, say, 80 per cent of their staff working from home then say 'oh well, we’ll just ignore the Chief Health Officer and we will have everybody come back Monday,' then they would be in breach of the public health orders," Mr Andrews said.

This is what the government wants to avoid.CREDITANIEL POCKETT

Mr Andrews said there will be spot checks on businesses potentially breaking those rules.
He said staff could even ring up and dob in their employers for making them work from the office.
"We will see more cases [if the rules are not followed]."

This WAS basically what happened at my work... BUT the order/law (just like most other things at this time) is so grey that hardly any company will "technically" be fined.

I say "WAS" in my case because employees were called back from working from home 4 weeks ago... For no real reason other than CEO directive. I can already see the technical reply in this case. "If an office that had currently, say, 80 per cent of their staff working from home...".

 

[DaveyBoy123]

Who remembers the "PEANUTS" guy at suburban grounds?

=====

India sets new record for number of coronavirus cases

AP


India registered another record daily increase with 7,466 new coronavirus cases... The Health Ministry's new figures on Friday show India now has 165,799 cases with 4,706 deaths, which both now exceed China.

India's two-month lockdown is set to end on Sunday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is expected to issue new guidelines this weekend, possibly extending the lockdown in worst-hit areas as it promotes economic activity.

Most cases are concentrated in states with densely populated cities, but cases have been increasing in some of India's poorest eastern states as migrant workers who lost jobs in the cities returned to their native villages.

 

[glenn2479]

Back to work Monday . This has been a great thread, thanks to all, especially to DaveyBoy for the constant updates and Val Keating who seemed to constantly post what I was thinking. I know where I’ll be coming to when the next pandemic hits- peace out.

 

[DaveyBoy123]

Rodgers is under 50, so this is a bit of a reality check:

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Brendan Rodgers: Leicester City manager says he had coronavirus

Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers says he "had no strength" after contracting the coronavirus in March. Rodgers is the second Premier League manager to confirm he has had Covid-19, with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta also testing positive in March. .

The 47-year-old says he suffered with "breathlessness" before fully recovering from the virus. "I could hardly walk and it reminded me of walking up Mount Kilimanjaro," he told BBC Radio Leicester. "We had a week off when we were supposed to play Watford [14 March] and then the week after that, I started to struggle. "For three weeks I had no smell or taste. I had no strength, and a week after, my wife was the same. We were tested and both of us were detected with the virus."

Rodgers climbed Kilimanjaro in aid of charity in 2011, weeks after winning the Championship play-off final with Swansea and guiding the club to the Premier League for the first time. He was part of a 17-strong team representing the Football League.

"It reminded me of when I climbed Kilimanjaro. The higher you went the more you suffered with acclimatisation and the harder it was to breathe," he added. "I remember trying to run for the first time [after becoming ill] and it was hard to go 10 yards. I had no real appetite and it was a weird sensation of eating food without ever tasting and smelling what it was. "It has made me really appreciate being fit and healthy."

 

[krakouers]

Finally:

Pubs, playgrounds, gyms and Rottnest open next week

WA will take a giant leap towards normal life next weekend when the State charts its own course back from the coronavirus crisis. Here’s what you’ll be able to do.

thewest.com.au

Phase three: WA government to lift restrictions on pubs, playgrounds, gyms and Rottnest from June 6
Peter Law, Josh Zimmerman and Peter de Kruijff
The West Australian
Saturday, 30 May 2020
WA will take a giant leap towards normal life next weekend when the State charts its own course back from the coronavirus crisis.
From June 6, the doors at beauty salons will swing open, treadmills will be whirring at gyms, kids can return to playgrounds, sport is back on and parents can blow the foam off a well-deserved pint — served without a meal.
An estimated 25,000 hospitality workers will return to their jobs after WA Chief Health Officer Andrew Robertson gave the green light to break ranks with national guidelines and revise the 4qsm per person rule down to 2sqm.

The maximum size of indoor and outdoor gatherings will increase to 100 people, up from 20, with venues that have multiple zones allowed to welcome up to 300 customers.
Almost all hospitality venues are expected to reopen under the “100/300 rule”, along with Rottnest Island, Perth Zoo, cinemas, TABs and attractions such as galleries, museums, concert venues and theatres.
Mark McGowan said after 12 days of life in Phase Two there was no evidence of community spread, and spikes in cases from overseas flights and ships were under control.
“These are all major steps forward for Western Australia. This is a big leap, but it’s one we can make,” the Premier said of the latest changes.

He said Dr Robertson had advised that WA’s hard border with the East meant the State was “now in a position to move ahead of national advice” by ditching the 4sqm rule.
Mr McGowan said the State’s economy — forecast to experience its worst recession on record next financial year — couldn’t reopen in a COVID-safe way without border security.
He gave no timeline on when interstate travel might resume, but said it was “not in the short term and, I would expect, it’s a longer-term proposition”.
He described the border closure as a “trade-off” that allowed WA’s economy to reopen in a COVID-safe way faster than the other States.

Responding to pressure to allow interstate travel, including a High Court challenge by billionaire Clive Palmer, Mr McGowan said “the economic value of having people from NSW or Victoria fly to Perth is nowhere near the economic value of opening up businesses and opportunities within our State”.
“The hard border actually allows us to have a more vibrant, more successful and higher employment economy than bringing down the hard border at this point in time,” he said.
The Premier said WA was only able to chart its own course on recovery from coronavirus thanks to its quarantine measures, isolation and hard border.
“It’s a trade-off, but I think the trade-off we have engaged in creates more jobs within Western Australia than it takes away,” Mr McGowan said.
“Other States have a different view. Other States want people to be flying everywhere at this point in time. We basically don’t agree.”
Among the few activities not permitted in Phase Three include gambling at Crown Casino and dancing at nightclubs. Phase Four is earmarked to start three weeks after June 6, with bigger crowd numbers at concerts and AFL matches among the other key issues.
Australian Hotels Association WA chief executive Bradley Woods said he expected “95 per cent, if not 100 per cent” of hospitality venues would reopen as a result of the 2sqm rule.
“It’s pubs, taverns, hotels, restaurants, but it’s also places that are restaurants down in wineries, it’s tourism, hospitality venues, it’s those businesses that just couldn’t justify opening with these very low numbers,” he said, adding the decision to allow venues to serve alcohol without a meal would be “warmly welcomed” by both operators and patrons.
Fitness Australia chief executive Barrie Elvish predicted gyms would be swamped next Saturday. “It is really good news for the industry and I think a lot of people have been busting a gut to go back,” Mr Elvish said, adding “common sense” had prevailed.
Full-contact sport and training can resume, paving the way for a full resumption of community sport, and playgrounds and skate parks will also reopen. Large community sports facilities that can accommodate more than 300 people, while allowing for 2sqm per person, can apply for an exemption to the limit.

Weddings and funerals can have up to 300 outdoors or 100 indoors, while home auctions can resume. Mr McGowan said he hoped travel to and from the Kimberley would be permitted with Commonwealth approval.
Health Minister Roger Cook said the 20 infected crew from the Al Kuwait ship showed the virus was “very much active”, but highlighted WA’s quarantine measures were working.
WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said the state of emergency was still in place and police would crack down on anyone breaching the rules.
Australian Medical Association WA president Andrew Miller said the easing of restrictions went “further and faster” than expected but the State had “probably earned that right”, given its success containing coronavirus to date.
First drinks to kick off at Australia’s biggest pub
Australia’s biggest pub is back in business with Phase 3 changes set to put pints of amber back on the menu as punters flood in.
The Camfield in Burswood will be able to seat 300 people come June 6.
While in ordinary circumstances, the venue can hold 2000 punters across its massive 9000sqm block, co-owner Tim McLernon said the relaxation of restrictions was most welcome.
It has been running at just 1 per cent capacity over the past few weeks.
“We opened so it didn't seem like we were throwing our toys out of the cot but the financial reality was it wasn’t worth it,” Mr McLernon said.
With new seating limits only a week away, the publican’s mind has shifted from wondering if 20 years of work had gone down the toilet to optimism for the future.
“We’re a bit off from having 2000 people at The Camfield to watch the footy,” Mr McLernon said.
“But we’re absolutely ecstatic to have 300 people allowed. What it really means is we can start thinking about not losing thousands of dollars every week.
“Now there’s a light at the end of the tunnel we’re thinking we’re not going to lose this business.”
Mr McLernon said JobKeeper had been a fantastic initiative that was not going to be around for ever.
Today at The Camfield there will be one bar tender and one member of floor staff. From next Saturday this will increase to about 20 people.

 

[DaveyBoy123]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

=====

 

[Hojuman]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

=====

Qld. The Alabama of the southern hemisphere.

Keep their borders closed and don't let them out.

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

=====

My moronic anti-vaxxer brother amongst them.

Absolute cultists.

 

[Hojuman]

My moronic anti-vaxxer brother amongst them.

Absolute cultists.

Given up trying to talk sense to him ?

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

Given up trying to talk sense to him ?

Yep.

Rationality has gone out the window.