Who thinks they should stop closing borders

[Elorac123]

5 hours ago, Kiwi Kruzer said:

The States could all become individual countries and determine their own future .

That is how it is at the moment is it not or so it appears

Australia is not as ONE

Cheers Carole

[ilikeanswers]

15 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

Everyone has been moved from the hotel. I don't think it would be a good idea to let them lose in the community to self-quarantine at home. That hasn't worked in the past as many people think it is OK to go out - maybe they think no-one would notice. 

 

Self quarantine could work if we put electronic tracking devices on them that would alert authorities if they tried to leave the house 😉. They did this in Taiwan worked pretty well but I doubt the Australian public would find this acceptable. Though personally if I had the option I would happily slap on a tracking device to quarantine at home

[By The Bay]

9 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Self quarantine could work if we put electronic tracking devices on them that would alert authorities if they tried to leave the house 😉. They did this in Taiwan worked pretty well but I doubt the Australian public would find this acceptable. Though personally if I had the option I would happily slap on a tracking device to quarantine at home

Singapore has a similar device called TraceTogether. I would imagine China would have something similar.

[OzKiwiJJ]

29 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Self quarantine could work if we put electronic tracking devices on them that would alert authorities if they tried to leave the house 😉. They did this in Taiwan worked pretty well but I doubt the Australian public would find this acceptable. Though personally if I had the option I would happily slap on a tracking device to quarantine at home

That's the sort of thing the Federal Government should have been setting up and making available to all states. Home quarantine with tracking devices, combined with regular visits by local medical staff to ensure all those concerned are healthy and also to do testing when required. Of course, this would only work if there were no other residents at that property other than those who needed to quarantine. There would still be a need for some hotel-type quarantine for people who couldn't quarantine at home or who refused to wear a tracking device but it would take a lot of the stress out of the current system. Plus quarantining in your own home would be a lot more comfortable than a hotel room, and far better when children are involved.

Edited January 14, 2021 by OzKiwiJJ

[NSWP]

What's this rumour a Covid positive tennis US player has been allowed to travel to OZ for the Strayan open, hope it is fake news.

[By The Bay]

14 minutes ago, NSWP said:

What's this rumour a Covid positive tennis US player has been allowed to travel to OZ for the Strayan open, hope it is fake news.

The Guardian is reporting: "Tennys Sandgren returned a positive result after taking a PCR test on Monday but was still allowed to board a charter flight to Melbourne. Australian Open organisers say their decision to allow US tennis player Tennys Sandgren to fly to Melbourne is because the positive test picked up virus still in his system from his November diagnosis."

[NSWP]

9 minutes ago, By The Bay said:

The Guardian is reporting: "Tennys Sandgren returned a positive result after taking a PCR test on Monday but was still allowed to board a charter flight to Melbourne. Australian Open organisers say their decision to allow US tennis player Tennys Sandgren to fly to Melbourne is because the positive test picked up virus still in his system from his November diagnosis."

Thanks, makes a mockery of our border policies relative to Covid. Sports stars exempt, prima donna tennis players at that.🥵 Sounds like the hierarchy of Australian Tennis are running Australian Border Force now and the Victorian Health Authorities. I am flabbergasted.

 

STOP PRESS: Another media report states the aircraft with Sandgren turned back to LAX terminal before it left the runway, so now we don't know if he took off in it enroute to Melbourne, or was taken off it because of intervention.

Edited January 14, 2021 by NSWP

[ELep]

2 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Self quarantine could work if we put electronic tracking devices on them that would alert authorities if they tried to leave the house 😉. They did this in Taiwan worked pretty well but I doubt the Australian public would find this acceptable. Though personally if I had the option I would happily slap on a tracking device to quarantine at home

I would certainly accept it. I heard of a poor lady who has just done 14 days with her two young children and now has to do it again. I think that would send me over the edge...

Edited January 14, 2021 by ELep

[ELep]

4 hours ago, Bubbeh said:

To the best of my knowledge in WA we've not had a case of community transmission since mid March - https://covidlive.com.au/wa.  Shutting our borders has clearly worked and has certainly been to the benefit of Western Australians.   In general conversation with a variety of people over the last 10 months or so, I've only met one person who disagreed with our Premier and thought the borders should be totally opened.  This person is a died in the wool conservative and would rather burn their own eyes out that support any Labor policy.  So, their opinion is hard to take seriously especially as they use pejorative language and  lack facts to back up any argument.  Like it or not,  our lives are progressing as normal here.  While we we're travelling OS or cruising and apart from requested social distancing and signing into certain businesses, we don't have any other social restrictions on events, restaurants, beaches etc etc etc. 

 

I for one, look at the current situation and restrictions on my fellow Australians and it just breaks my heart to see so much misery and confusion.  Grandparents who don't see grandchildren, parents who don't see kids etc etc, this is beyond sad.  However, the situations in Britain and the US are much sadder.  

 

Long before anyone'd ever heard of COVID-19, Mark McGowan was elected to look after our physical and financial welfare and that's exactly what he's done.  

 

 

 

I have a sister in WA, and get that all in WA seem to love him. (McGowan). WA, with Perth as the most remote capital in the world was always in a good position to keep COVID at bay. I think the tone and language used by most of the premiers however is just not helping the situation. Plus the seeming lack of willingness by most to seriously work out a plan that will work of the whole of Australia. 

[ELep]

7 hours ago, lyndarra said:

 

The problem QLD has is one of containing a more virulent strain of the where it has been shown there have be breaches of isolation among the 'detainees' e.g. passing items between themselves from balconies thereby possibly passing on contamination.

 

I have not heard any mention on NSW media of guests breaching as per your example here and would be interested in the link for that.  If that is the case, I wonder why I am just hearing from the premier and health officer that "we don't know how it got out" ?  If feel everyone would feel more comfortable and less fearful about the possible leakage if this type of breach was stated. It's explainable.  It does seem pretty remarkable that so far, as I understand it,  only the cleaner and household contact have contracted this more virulent strain of COVID (other than the four people in the hotel on this floor) and given that the employee was supposed to have had something like 180 contacts with plenty of locations visited. I know we have not got to 14 days yet so something could still come to light.

[Thorpe]

Just like to add that border closures while effective last year are a real pain for those of us who live in the Vic/NSW  “border bubble “. 
Same as other border areas QLD/NSW etc I imagine where your normal day to day activities now involve a border check numerous times a day. 
oh well .....

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, By The Bay said:

The Guardian is reporting: "Tennys Sandgren returned a positive result after taking a PCR test on Monday but was still allowed to board a charter flight to Melbourne. Australian Open organisers say their decision to allow US tennis player Tennys Sandgren to fly to Melbourne is because the positive test picked up virus still in his system from his November diagnosis."

That could happen. My DIL's sister tested positive for seven weeks after she recovered from COVID. She was told she was not infectious during nearly all that period.

[Porky55]

23 hours ago, NSWP said:

The Constitution can be changed Gut.

Changes to our Constitution take forever though - those in power can’t agree on the simplest of things - a change like this would cause chaos among the Politerati 🙄

[Porky55]

13 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

15 hours ago, By The Bay said:

The Guardian is reporting: "Tennys Sandgren returned a positive result after taking a PCR test on Monday but was still allowed to board a charter flight to Melbourne. Australian Open organisers say their decision to allow US tennis player Tennys Sandgren to fly to Melbourne is because the positive test picked up virus still in his system from his November diagnosis."

That could happen. My DIL's sister tested positive for seven weeks after she recovered from COVID. She was told she was not infectious during nearly all that period.

So, how do we know, if someone tests Positive, that they aren’t someone who has HAD Covid and has recovered and is not infectious - like Sandgren?? Particularly the incoming travellers form OS? (Like Sandgren)

[SinbadThePorter]

18 hours ago, ELep said:

Plus the seeming lack of willingness by most to seriously work out a plan that will work of the whole of Australia.

 

You would think that a plan for the whole of Australia would be the job of the government that has responsibility for the whole of Australia. Instead we've seen the Feds run away from covid responsibility faster than Usain Bolt.

 

Each state is going to do what they think is best for their state. That is what state governments are for. We had Federation in 1901 to create a government that had responsibility for the welfare of the nation.

 

Border closures are caused by covid outbreaks from the hotel quarantine of international returnees and also possibly the free movement of international flight crews.

 

Why are international returnees and crews a state responsibility? Where is Border Force in all this?

 

Who thought quarantining in the middle of the largest cities in the country was a good idea? Almost every city in Australia has a historical quarantine facility situated somewhere isolated, not in the center of the city. That sounds like a very good idea.

[ELep]

2 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

You would think that a plan for the whole of Australia would be the job of the government that has responsibility for the whole of Australia. Instead we've seen the Feds run away from covid responsibility faster than Usain Bolt.

 

Each state is going to do what they think is best for their state. That is what state governments are for. We had Federation in 1901 to create a government that had responsibility for the welfare of the nation.

 

Border closures are caused by covid outbreaks from the hotel quarantine of international returnees and also possibly the free movement of international flight crews.

 

Why are international returnees and crews a state responsibility? Where is Border Force in all this?

 

Who thought quarantining in the middle of the largest cities in the country was a good idea? Almost every city in Australia has a historical quarantine facility situated somewhere isolated, not in the center of the city. That sounds like a very good idea.

I think I agree with you. 🙂 We do seem to be stuck in a quandary in AU currently. COVID is a global problem and AU borders are a federal issue, but it's left to states to manage in a way that best suits them. I don't think this strategy is in the best interests of us who are supposed to be "all in this together"

 

I do understand that this situation cannot be changed without changing in the constistuation. I think I would be a great great great grandma before that happened.

 

I was thinking the other day about this time last year, when bushfires did not recognize state borders: those awful fires jumped backwards and forwards across state borders, certainly between VIC and NSW. A virus however has stopped most people in most states at some point since March from moving in or out of their state. 

[NSWP]

On 1/15/2021 at 7:11 AM, Porky55 said:

So, how do we know, if someone tests Positive, that they aren’t someone who has HAD Covid and has recovered and is not infectious - like Sandgren?? Particularly the incoming travellers form OS? (Like Sandgren)

At the end of the day, the tennis entourage should not have been allowed to enter Australia for the big tennis carnival.  The risks were there, now look what has happened. The Vic and federal govts should show some intestinal fortitude and send them all back to LAX.

[ilikeanswers]

3 hours ago, NSWP said:

At the end of the day, the tennis entourage should not have been allowed to enter Australia for the big tennis carnival.  The risks were there, now look what has happened. The Vic and federal govts should show some intestinal fortitude and send them all back to LAX.

 

There are still Aussies stuck overseas and they are being pushed to the back of the line because all the tennis people are taking up the quarantine space. Priorities anyone😳? 

[possum52]

1 hour ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

There are still Aussies stuck overseas and they are being pushed to the back of the line because all the tennis people are taking up the quarantine space. Priorities anyone😳? 

Sorry, that is absolute rubbish! Where do you hear or read that? The tennis people are in hotels that don't do HQ for returned travellers. The returned traveller numbers were reduced by National Cabinet at their last meeting because of the outbreaks. Victoria did not have their number dropped so they are still taking the same number of travellers that have been coming since the beginning of December.

 

 

Leigh

Edited January 18, 2021 by possum52

[ilikeanswers]

7 minutes ago, possum52 said:

Sorry, that is absolute rubbish! Where do you hear or read that? The tennis people are in hotels that don't do HQ for returned travellers. The returned traveller numbers were reduced by National Cabinet at their last meeting because of the outbreaks. Victoria did not have their number dropped so they are still taking the same number of travellers that have been coming since the beginning of December.

 

It is pretty much being reported as such everywhere. Just heard it on the TV a few minutes ago again. But thanks to your comments I did a deep dive and it seems you are correct. ABC online is the first report I have seen that three hotels have been added to the HQ program. So for future reference my previous comment should be ignored😉. But I do hope after the tennis they can keep using them for returning Aussies so we can more home quicker. 

[Kiwi Kruzer]

13 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

There are still Aussies stuck overseas and they are being pushed to the back of the line because all the tennis people are taking up the quarantine space. Priorities anyone😳? 

Returnees are having numerous problems. Heard of one case where a booking was cancelled 4 times and one of the reasons was there was not enough passengers to make the flight viable ,as they did not have pre arranged quarantine. It’s even worse for Kiwis as they have to transit through Australia .

COVID-19: Trying to get home

Additional commercial flights to Australia

https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/COVID-19/trying-get-home

[possum52]

13 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

It is pretty much being reported as such everywhere. Just heard it on the TV a few minutes ago again. But thanks to your comments I did a deep dive and it seems you are correct. ABC online is the first report I have seen that three hotels have been added to the HQ program. So for future reference my previous comment should be ignored😉. But I do hope after the tennis they can keep using them for returning Aussies so we can more home quicker. 

ilikeanswers, I read a news item this morning where the person in charge of HQ in Vic said that Victoria would be increasing the number of returnees it will be taking in February and the hotels being used for the tennis people will become part of the HQ program.

 

Leigh

[ELep]

On 1/18/2021 at 7:24 PM, possum52 said:

Sorry, that is absolute rubbish! Where do you hear or read that? The tennis people are in hotels that don't do HQ for returned travellers. The returned traveller numbers were reduced by National Cabinet at their last meeting because of the outbreaks. Victoria did not have their number dropped so they are still taking the same number of travellers that have been coming since the beginning of December.

 

 

Leigh

This is true, but, I get skeptical  when I recall the states announcing they will take less o/seas arrivals into quarantine whilst they "work out what this new variant of the virus is doing" and "protect our health system" and "protect our citizens". If you take in more people from o/seas you are increasing the likelihood of leakage from quarantine and strain on the health system. And they are supposedly still working out the new virus variant behavior. And they are not letting in people from Sydney (or BNE until yesterday) even though they do know where the virus is there and which strain it is. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, ELep said:

This is true, but, I get skeptical  when I recall the states announcing they will take less o/seas arrivals into quarantine whilst they "work out what this new variant of the virus is doing" and "protect our health system" and "protect our citizens". If you take in more people from o/seas you are increasing the likelihood of leakage from quarantine and strain on the health system. And they are supposedly still working out the new virus variant behavior. And they are not letting in people from Sydney (or BNE until yesterday) even though they do know where the virus is there and which strain it is. 

Actually it wasn't the states that made the decision to reduce the overseas arrivals for a few weeks, it was the Federal Government.

[By The Bay]

10 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Actually it wasn't the states that made the decision to reduce the overseas arrivals for a few weeks, it was the Federal Government.

Was it not a National Cabinet decision announced by the PM, Scott Morrision?