Australia will remain CLOSED !!

[rojaan19]

 

 

https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/australia/scott-morrison-says-australia-will-remain-shut-off-to-the-world-indefinitely/news-story/38da4e3b62dd8ad42bc3c44bb7b1f0cc

 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed Australia’s strict international border closure will stay in place indefinitely.

[turtlemichael]

The Prime Minister doesn't see a demand for travel. Perhaps we should let him know there is.  

Edited May 9, 2021 by turtlemichael

[Stumblefoot]

😢😢😢

[jpalbny]

We miss you!

[frantic36]

4 hours ago, turtlemichael said:

The Prime Minister doesn't see a demand for travel. Perhaps we should let him know there is.  

That is because our Prime Minister would prefer those of us who like to travel to stay here indefinitely and spend our travel money in Australia. I include our Premier in Perth in that statement just so you know it is not due to political bias.

[turtlemichael]

1 minute ago, frantic36 said:

That is because our Prime Minister would prefer those of us who like to travel to stay here indefinitely and spend our travel money in Australia. I include our Premier in Perth in that statement just so you know it is not due to political bias.

I repeat what I said in a different thread earlier. No government knows what will happen in 18 months. It could be a lot better or a lot worse. Let's hope it is the former.  But I cannot see Australians being as compliant as we are now if, say in the middle of next year, citizens of most countries are travelling with relative freedom because it is deemed reasonably safe at that point.  Nor can I see Australian business readily accepting they are being left out of a tourism boom. I too am trying not to be political.

[drron29]

And I will also repeat what I said in another thread also.The PM did not say Australians will be forbidden to travel indefinitely.he said that the next step will be letting vaccinated Australians leave with at most home isolation when they return.I can live with that.

 

However what he did say was that letting in foreign citizens was out indefinitely.Today he has said that there will be more travel bubbles but only mentioned the Pacific islands though in the past he has mentioned places such as Singapore and Vietnam.

 

If the UK continues to have a downtrend in case numbers I would expect travel there will become a reality within the next 6 - 12 months.Unfortunately the US numbers have not improved as much so that will probably take longer.

[turtlemichael]

So "nobody knows."

[Stumblefoot]

54 minutes ago, drron29 said:

Unfortunately the US numbers have not improved as much

Not sure what data source your using Ron, but according to CDC official reports the U.S. case #’s have been falling off a cliff, thank goodness.  As of the May 9th report, our daily cases are at their lowest level since June 15 last year.  They have fallen by two-thirds since April 29.

[drron29]

The trouble is Stumbles that your cliff was far too high.

the UK has a third the number of cases per 100000 cases compared to the US.That is using your 9/5 case from the CDC and 8/5 UK figures from their government covid stats website.

 

So your 7 day average on 9/5 was 37822.But here in Australia the total number of cases we have had in the last 7 days is 88 of which 86 were in returned travellers in hotel quarantine.

 

So you can see why we in Australia don't think the US is doing very well.

Edited May 10, 2021 by drron29

[Stumblefoot]

I don’t dispute what you say, Ron.  And, I certainly don’t think our country has done a good job managing the outbreak.  But, to say the U.S. #’s haven’t improved much just isn’t accurate, especially when you consider where we were just 2-weeks ago, let alone a month or a quarter.  Vaccinations are working.  So, literally, we are in the best shape we’ve been in 11-months.

[markham]

What the politicians may be doing in Australia is reminding us that their first interest is that of their domestic constituents, and that they like to tread very carefully. In this case we see they want to keep out foreign agents and virus variants, as long as possible. But in this case they also reveal an absence of vision and leadership. Do they think Australians don’t want to accommodate visitors, open up the economy, and demonstrate they are indeed a leading nation in the fight against Covid? 
 

Time will tell how long Australians (and their foreign partners and counterparts) put up with that kind of thinking. It’s rather depressing that the vaccine rollout, identified by other large countries as a major remedy to our current plight, does not demonstrate more success in Australia. Where is the transparency and disclosure? I expect the politicians are hiding behind their federal structure to waffle through this program at present. Not good enough, is it.

 

Many world cruises and repositioning cruises e.g. from Europe this Fall to East Asia include Australia, as usual. Does the Australian PM imagine that in 7-8 months the cruise industry is incapable of coordinating a fully vaccinated passenger and crew base, and put all international protocols in place? Ridiculous. 
 

What is wanting is leadership there and patience across the board. Let’s see how they clarify matters 

in the coming months.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[sanne]

Markham... a couple of points about your post.

 

Australian population is pretty happy with the way things are with regard to keeping the international borders closed until most who want a vaccine have had one. 
 

The issue with vaccine roll out has been one of supply. Pfizer let them down badly with the amount that was ordered, still only trickling in. Roll out is  ramping up well now with anyone over 50 able to get an AZ vaccine. Local GPs about to receive 500 doses a week instead of 50. Large vaccine centres opening up in major cities. 

 

Most have faith that as more real world data becomes available the Australian government will have a plan to open up the country safely. 
 

With the disaster of Ruby Princess it appears that the Australian government has very little appetite for allowing international cruise ships visit their country. It is possibly at the bottom of the list! 

 

 

[drron29]

20 hours ago, Stumblefoot said:

I don’t dispute what you say, Ron.  And, I certainly don’t think our country has done a good job managing the outbreak.  But, to say the U.S. #’s haven’t improved much just isn’t accurate, especially when you consider where we were just 2-weeks ago, let alone a month or a quarter.  Vaccinations are working.  So, literally, we are in the best shape we’ve been in 11-months.

The comment did say haven't improved as much and was in comparison to the UK numbers.

Sorry to have upset you Brian.

[Stumblefoot]

4 hours ago, drron29 said:

The comment did say haven't improved as much and was in comparison to the UK numbers.

Sorry to have upset you Brian.

Thanks, but I don't think you could upset me even if you tried.  Sorry that I gave you that impression.

And, I missed the comparison to the UK numbers.  I mistook your comment as a comparison between where the U.S. is now versus where we've been.

[Catlover54]

On 5/9/2021 at 10:08 PM, drron29 said:

The trouble is Stumbles that your cliff was far too high.

the UK has a third the number of cases per 100000 cases compared to the US.That is using your 9/5 case from the CDC and 8/5 UK figures from their government covid stats website.

 

So your 7 day average on 9/5 was 37822.But here in Australia the total number of cases we have had in the last 7 days is 88 of which 86 were in returned travellers in hotel quarantine.

 

So you can see why we in Australia don't think the US is doing very well.

Apart from any U.S. and Australia comparisons, how many ( if any) of the 86 returned travellers were fully vaxed (with reputable vaccines, not the Chinese or Russian versions)? 

Why doesn't Australia let *vaxed* foreigners come in, people who would help Australian tourism businesses earn money instead of having to rely on government bailouts or savings depletion? They could on top of that also do a rapid Covid test on arrival to help rule out the very, very rare cases of "infected though vaxed" people.  As long as Australia does not start requiring anal Covid swabs for travel ( as was required for travel in parts of China 😳), I would be fine with showing my vax card and testing on entry, which tourists could be charged a fee for.  
 

Of course what this is really about for me is that my bucket list SB Encore cruise in Australia was cut short last year due to sudden total lockdowns early Marcy, and with only 10 days in your country, I had barely started to appreciate all the joys you offer.  I am still in withdrawal and not getting any younger or healthier.
 

[drron29]

Hey they won't even let vaxxed Australian travellers out.

They don't give details of the covid cases but I would be surprised if many would have been vaccinated.

At least half of the recent arrivals are from India.

[megavfm]

FYI: some (limited) NSW data on those partially/fully vaxed returned travellers, but still later get COVID-19 (or at least test positive on PCR), https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/fully-vaccinated-travellers-test-positive-in-sydney-hotel-quarantine-20210507-p57pt4.html

(hope it's not behind a paywall, but official data on p13 here https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/covid-19/Documents/covid-surveillance-report-20210506.pdf).  The numbers are few. I won't comment as to whether the government's current overseas travel policy is good or bad; except it is what it is.

[drron29]

The bad news comes from Singapore.They began routine testing of workers at Changi airport on May 9th.They found 8 positives,none with symptoms and all vaccinated.The cluster has now risen to 46 with I think 22 workers at Changi at least 20 fully vaccinated.But 24 cases in the community all contacts of the Changi workers.All infected with the Indian B1617 mutation.

Covid-19: Four cleaners at Singapore’s Changi Airport T3 among new cases as cluster grows to 46 | Singapore | Malay Mail

[Stumblefoot]

10 hours ago, drron29 said:

The bad news comes from Singapore.They began routine testing of workers at Changi airport on May 9th.They found 8 positives,none with symptoms and all vaccinated.

Something similar here with the New York Yankees baseball club.  8 confirmed breakthrough cases (only 1 was a player), 7 were asymptotic, and all were fully vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.  I have not read any contact tracing news yet.

 

Have you read what vaccine the Singaporeans had been vaccinated with?

[sanne]

NY Times said the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine.