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IMPORTANT // Please look after your loved ones, yourself and be kind to others. If you are feeling that the world is too hard to handle there is always help - I implore you not to hesitate in contacting one of these wonderful organisations Lifeline and Beyond Blue ... and I'm sure reaching out to our PRE community we will find a way to help. T.
Coronavirus
- Thread starter Tigers of Old
- Start date
Breaking the rules is a birth rite. ...... never, ever trust a Carlton supporter!
Woolworths under the pump again for dodgy pokies practices
Woolworth's management has consistently said there is nothing wrong with this side of its business. It's time it changed its mind.
www.crikey.com.au
She did isolate at home (which is pretty limited when you’re a receptionist) for the 9 days.
Think the mask ruling is ridiculous and pointless. People will not wear and more importantly handle them properly resulting in a false sense of security and a greater risk of transmission.
Limit gatherings both in public and private. They should limit them until a vaccine is found. No parties, no pubs no big mass celebrations. It’s clearly not Bunnings/shopping centres that are risky places (no food courts should operate) and limit customer numbers in store.
They need to start releasing the tracing data.
Limit gatherings both in public and private. They should limit them until a vaccine is found. No parties, no pubs no big mass celebrations. It’s clearly not Bunnings/shopping centres that are risky places (no food courts should operate) and limit customer numbers in store.
They need to start releasing the tracing data.
Fears 40 aged-care residents will die (paywalled)
Stephen Lunn
The Australian
July 19, 2020
Authorities are anticipating that 40 of the 110 COVID-positive nursing home residents in Victoria won’t survive as they introduce new measures to try and control the “alarming” second wave outbreak.
In the past two weeks 49 nursing homes in Victoria have been linked to coronavirus, with 110 residents infected, federal Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck said.
Another three nursing homes reported cases on Sunday, and two more nursing home residents, both in their 90s, died.
“This is a genuine concern. These cases have all occurred in the last two weeks, which is very alarming,” Mr Colbeck told The Australian. “They are the most vulnerable.”
“If you look at this nationally the mortality rate is about 37 per cent, so 35 to 40 out of 100 (in residential aged care) who have the virus won’t survive,” he said.
“It’s much higher in these settings because the people are there for a reason, with comorbidities that make them more vulnerable to the virus.”
Mr Colbeck said the COVID-positive residents were situated in just 11 of the homes, with the remainder of the positive cases being care staff.
A significant number of aged care workers are employed in more than one nursing home, either working in different homes operated by the same provider, or even working for different providers. They are likely to be unwittingly transmitting the virus into facilities.
To counter this threat the federal and Victorian governments on Sunday announced a series of new measures, including financially supporting providers and employees to ensure carers only need to work in one home.
Five new mobile COVID-testing teams have been deployed to test staff and residents across the lockdown zones of metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire, even if they don’t have symptoms.
And agreement has been reached with private hospitals to provide additional capacity for any nursing home residents who need treatment.
Mr Colbeck said those in residential aged care who contracted the virus would receive hospital treatment if it was required, but transfer to hospital was not automatic in Victoria and would continue to be looked at on a case-by-case basis.
He warned that if all nursing home cases were transferred automatically to hospitals in the current second wave outbreak it would quickly overrun available resources.
Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos also announced that visitation in the state’s nursing homes would, from July 22, be restricted to those who are considered a resident’s carer, and even they will be limited to just one hour a day.
“We know that this will be difficult for Victorian families, but ultimately this is about keeping the people we love safe,” Ms Mikakos said.
Provider advocate Pat Sparrow from Aged and Community Services Australia said given the rapidly accelerating positive cases in aged care, it was pleasing to see governments acting quickly, but more detailed work was needed to ensure the outbreak could be contained.
“There are high mortality rates, and providers don’t want it to get into aged care and have to be able to manage it when it does,” Mr Sparrow said.
“It’s good governments have found extra capacity in private hospitals, but we think given the high mortality rate an overarching policy should be adopted that positive cases are automatically transferred to hospital to give them the best chance of survival.
“We will also need to work on the detail of the one worker-one facility policy to ensure that no worker is disadvantaged and that providers are appropriately resourced,” she said.
Leading Age Services Australia manager of policy and advocacy Tim Hicks welcomed the federal funding commitment to keep staff at individual locations, but added that “it is crucial that no staff or providers are disadvantaged”.
Stephen Lunn
The Australian
July 19, 2020
Authorities are anticipating that 40 of the 110 COVID-positive nursing home residents in Victoria won’t survive as they introduce new measures to try and control the “alarming” second wave outbreak.
In the past two weeks 49 nursing homes in Victoria have been linked to coronavirus, with 110 residents infected, federal Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck said.
Another three nursing homes reported cases on Sunday, and two more nursing home residents, both in their 90s, died.
“This is a genuine concern. These cases have all occurred in the last two weeks, which is very alarming,” Mr Colbeck told The Australian. “They are the most vulnerable.”
“If you look at this nationally the mortality rate is about 37 per cent, so 35 to 40 out of 100 (in residential aged care) who have the virus won’t survive,” he said.
“It’s much higher in these settings because the people are there for a reason, with comorbidities that make them more vulnerable to the virus.”
Mr Colbeck said the COVID-positive residents were situated in just 11 of the homes, with the remainder of the positive cases being care staff.
A significant number of aged care workers are employed in more than one nursing home, either working in different homes operated by the same provider, or even working for different providers. They are likely to be unwittingly transmitting the virus into facilities.
To counter this threat the federal and Victorian governments on Sunday announced a series of new measures, including financially supporting providers and employees to ensure carers only need to work in one home.
Five new mobile COVID-testing teams have been deployed to test staff and residents across the lockdown zones of metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire, even if they don’t have symptoms.
And agreement has been reached with private hospitals to provide additional capacity for any nursing home residents who need treatment.
Mr Colbeck said those in residential aged care who contracted the virus would receive hospital treatment if it was required, but transfer to hospital was not automatic in Victoria and would continue to be looked at on a case-by-case basis.
He warned that if all nursing home cases were transferred automatically to hospitals in the current second wave outbreak it would quickly overrun available resources.
Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos also announced that visitation in the state’s nursing homes would, from July 22, be restricted to those who are considered a resident’s carer, and even they will be limited to just one hour a day.
“We know that this will be difficult for Victorian families, but ultimately this is about keeping the people we love safe,” Ms Mikakos said.
Provider advocate Pat Sparrow from Aged and Community Services Australia said given the rapidly accelerating positive cases in aged care, it was pleasing to see governments acting quickly, but more detailed work was needed to ensure the outbreak could be contained.
“There are high mortality rates, and providers don’t want it to get into aged care and have to be able to manage it when it does,” Mr Sparrow said.
“It’s good governments have found extra capacity in private hospitals, but we think given the high mortality rate an overarching policy should be adopted that positive cases are automatically transferred to hospital to give them the best chance of survival.
“We will also need to work on the detail of the one worker-one facility policy to ensure that no worker is disadvantaged and that providers are appropriately resourced,” she said.
Leading Age Services Australia manager of policy and advocacy Tim Hicks welcomed the federal funding commitment to keep staff at individual locations, but added that “it is crucial that no staff or providers are disadvantaged”.
Can't believe it's gotten to a point where we need to wear masks in Australia for a undefined period.
Not being able to see each others faces will drive society further apart than ever.
I particularly feel for the younger generation who are looking to establish friendships & relationships & worry about mental health issues that will flow on from this.
Thanks a lot China.
Not being able to see each others faces will drive society further apart than ever.
I particularly feel for the younger generation who are looking to establish friendships & relationships & worry about mental health issues that will flow on from this.
Thanks a lot China.
Can't believe it's gotten to a point where we need to wear masks in Australia for a undefined period.
Not being able to see each others faces will drive society further apart than ever.
I particularly feel for the younger generation who are looking to establish friendships & relationships & worry about mental health issues that will flow on from this.
Thanks a lot China.
it's wearing a mask when you go out, it's not the end of the world.
In most of Asia people just do it and they don't *smile* and moan about it either. First world problem.
If you say so ant. Personally whilst I'll be wearing one for the good of society, I think it flat out sucks that we've gotten to this point.
The whole situation sucks, agreed. Wearing a mask is a pretty small price to pay to reduce infection rates. I wear one whenever I leave the house here, felt weird at first but I got used to it.
Having been forced to wear masks when not at home for a couple of months now, my advice is to fin the thin neoprene washable type. Easily the most comfortable to wear for extended periods of all the masks I've tried. It's the only type I can wear for 8 hours straight when in the office.
Yep, no one gives wearing a mask a second thought it. It makes sense to wear one for yourself and for society. We're all in this together and only with everyone on the same page will it work.
Yep, no one gives wearing a mask a second thought it. It makes sense to wear one for yourself and for society. We're all in this together and only with everyone on the same page will it work.
Can't believe it's gotten to a point where we need to wear masks in Australia for a undefined period.
Not being able to see each others faces will drive society further apart than ever.
I particularly feel for the younger generation who are looking to establish friendships & relationships & worry about mental health issues that will flow on from this.
Thanks a lot China.
two points
1. young ugly people may be able to establish better physical relationships wearing a mask?
2. Theres growing evidence that China was the first to experience an outbreak of a dormant global virus.
It's interesting that we are now being forced to wear masks when out of our home and will get fined if we don't comply. Don't have an issue with it personally.
I'll stand to be corrected but I can't recall seeing anything where the Govt has mandated compulsory coronavirus testing where required? As recently as a few weeks ago people in lockdown areas were refusing testing yet with no ramifications. People in hotel quarantine were refusing to be tested; as high as 30% of those in quarantine yet no ramifications.
Has this been rectified? If not this mask mandate seems a bit ridiculous. Talk about putting the cart before the horse. Mandatory testing when requested should be the priority and should be used in conjunction with mask wearing.
I'll stand to be corrected but I can't recall seeing anything where the Govt has mandated compulsory coronavirus testing where required? As recently as a few weeks ago people in lockdown areas were refusing testing yet with no ramifications. People in hotel quarantine were refusing to be tested; as high as 30% of those in quarantine yet no ramifications.
Has this been rectified? If not this mask mandate seems a bit ridiculous. Talk about putting the cart before the horse. Mandatory testing when requested should be the priority and should be used in conjunction with mask wearing.
agree wholeheartedly, masks seems a bit of an easy way out & will be easy to prosecute / fine
It's......interesting the change in advice about the benefits of wearing or not wearing a mask. The advice seems to have changed once there were plenty of masks available.
You really have to question the advice given that schools are fine to reopen.
www.nytimes.com
Older Children Spread the Coronavirus Just as Much as Adults, Large Study Finds (Published 2020)
The study of nearly 65,000 people in South Korea suggests that school reopenings will trigger more outbreaks.
Yes I think there is some truth to that.
Considering the panic buying and hoarding that occurred when lockdown we're first introduced, its not hard to imagine it being worse had masks been made mandatory at the same time.
