By Caitlyn Davey

By Caitlyn Davey

Vic DHHS exposure site is bugging again 

It won’t take long to be back up – the health team is probably just adding more exposure sites. Don’t panic. 

It was back fairly quickly earlier today. 

By Caitlyn Davey

Cargo ship carrying seven possible COVID-19 cases to dock in Fremantle for medical review

West Australian Premier Mark McGowan says a cargo ship carrying seven crew members with suspected COVID-19 symptoms is set to dock in Fremantle today or tomorrow.

By Caitlyn Davey

By Caitlyn Davey

By Caitlyn Davey

Let’s go back to the audience 

Hey Caitlyn, you must be knackered. great job today. Any golden retrievers up your sleeve for this exhausted Sydneyite, and my fellow lockdowners?

-Natty

Thinking of you Natty – stay strong (last week I said stay positive, which is wording that I regret on a COVID blog). Here’s some emergency cute: 

Still no deets from NSW Health on the exposure sites in Central West??! Or am I just completely blind…?

-On edge

Still not updated – it hasn’t been since last night from the looks of it. Hopefully soon. This is all the info we have at this stage.

Is Dan Andrews talking again today? I heard he was meant to be discussing the covid case in Mildura today, was supposedly to talk between 2 – 3 about this, there are a lot of us here in Mildura wanting to know more.

-Paul

Probably not a press conference, we’re expecting a press release or some more information out of Victoria though, as the premier alluded to. 

How many intimate partners are allowed to visit me?

-Susan

I’m assuming you’re in Sydney Susan? So I’d say none unless it’s on compassionate grounds – it depends what you mean by ‘intimate’ though – I’m not going to speculate on that one. 

This excerpt may help: 

If you have a partner who doesn’t live with you, you are still permitted to visit them. Health Minister Brad Hazzard said this decision was to strike a balance between compassion and common sense.

Apart from that, the Premier stressed that visitors are strictly prohibited from entering all homes (with the exception of essential health reasons).

“Nobody should be coming into your home, nobody that is outside of your household,” she said.

By Caitlyn Davey

Olympics: Competitors in athletes’ village infected with COVID-19

Tokyo Olympics organisers on Sunday reported the first COVID-19 cases among competitors residing in the athletes’ village, as its population swells ahead of the start of the pandemic-hit Games next week.

Two athletes from the same country and competing in the same sport staying in the village in the Harumi waterfront district tested positive for the virus, organisers said without providing further details.

Organisers on Sunday reported 10 new cases connected to the Olympics including a third athlete who was not staying in the village and down from 15 new cases a day earlier.

An International Olympic Committee member from South Korea tested positive for the coronavirus on landing in Tokyo.

Ryu Seung-min, a former Olympic athlete, is vaccinated, reflecting the infection risk even from vaccinated attendees.

Infection rates are climbing among the general population of the capital, topping 1,000 new cases for four consecutive days.

Polls show many Japanese oppose holding the Games with the influx of overseas visitors it entails.

The rainy season ended in Tokyo on Friday, bringing blue skies and intense heat.

The burden on participants has been increased by virus countermeasures like masking. 

Reuters

By Caitlyn Davey

NSW: Chinderah Ampol truck stop listed exposure site 

It’s the truckstop at the Murwillumbah turn-off. 

Two positive cases spent a night there last week.

The alert has been issued for the truck-stop – anyone who attended the site between 8:30pm on Tuesday and 7:30am on Wednesday is now considered a close contact. 

Anyone who was there must isolate and get a COVID test. 

Those two people did not enter Queensland. 

By Caitlyn Davey

Some questions and comments from the audience 

Hi,

Are Uber drivers allowed to work under the current restrictions?

Thanks

Sean

-Sean

Hi Sean, I’m not sure specifically where you are located, but I am guessing in Sydney. 

So, according to NSW outlines, if you’re in those three Sydney LGAs that are locked down, no, you’re not allowed. 

“Those who work in road transport (passenger and freight) are allowed apart from taxi and rideshare services,” is the directive. 

Re: apartment building in Fitzroy, there has actually been no one on site, no tests happening and no real communication with residents. Currently it’s just a building of anxious residents waiting to hear something and reading in the news that we have been contacted. It’s really strange 🙁

-Fitzroy

Oh dear, thinking of you Fitzroy. I imagine you’ll be getting more information very soon as the COVID Commander and CHO have said they’re working with the people in these apartment buildings – but you’re not considered high risk which is good news. 

We’ll update if we hear any more out of Vic. 

With 33,000 people overseas waiting to come home… and our cap of 3,000 people per week….

My calculations are around 12 weeks to get everyone home from overseas…

So why is the number of people going down so slowly?

-Me

There aren’t just citizens waiting to get home, there are people granted exemptions for work, compassionate reasons, national issues and so on. The airlines are limited to passengers they can bring in per flight, and per destination, and then there are celebrities, politicians and sports people in amongst the arrivals too which means less slots. It would be nice if we could have all those stranded Aussies back in 10 weeks! 

Is there a presser in Tassie today? If so what time?

-Tasmanian

No word from the premier about Tasmania appearing today, so it doesn’t look likely – but sometimes they pop up at the last minute. 

Any formal update on Appleton st apartments. We’ve had correspondence a confirmed case is here and we’ve just had department of health out inspecting the property but delays on getting any formal direction or information!

-Appleton resident

No formal updates as yet – but as Vic said, apartment complex positive cases are being monitored, and considered somewhat lower risk than other exposures. Hopefully you’ll get information quickly. 

By Caitlyn Davey

 Hundreds of ACT university students stuck in lockdowns across state borders 

 Lockdowns in Greater Sydney and Victoria have thrown the plans of hundreds of university students into a spin, as many struggle to re-enter the ACT with just a few days before classes go back.

Exemptions are available, but only if students can prove they can isolate safely on arrival — but for a large portion living in shared student accommodation, that’s just not possible.

By Caitlyn Davey

Any staff or student in a Tasmanian govt school affected by the Victorian mask wearing requirement should not attend school until Thursday 22 July

14,000 people arrived from in Tasmania from Victoria between 8 July and 15 July.

These people are required to wear masks and do not have to quarantine

By Caitlyn Davey

More exposure sites added in Victoria in Cremorne 

Check the list here – these are in addition to the ones on Yarra Trams. 

Link to full list here. 

Via Victoria Health

By Caitlyn Davey

Support during lockdown if you’re lonely 

Thanks for posting the numbers of mental health supports, so important.

Loneliness is also a big problem during lockdown, could you also please share this number for Friendline 1800 424 287. A volunteer staffed phone line where callers can have a friendly chat.

Thanks bloggers! You guys are awesome 🙂

-Loneliness in lockdown

Another good one to note – thanks LiL!

By Caitlyn Davey

Far-right British commentator Katie Hopkins’s visa under review after bragging about flouting hotel quarantine rules

The visa status of controversial British commentator and reality television contestant Katie Hopkins is being reviewed after she bragged about flouting hotel quarantine rules in Sydney.

Ms Hopkins has been sacked as a newspaper columnist and radio host in the United Kingdom for comparing migrants to cockroaches and calling for a “final solution” for Muslims and was permanently banned from Twitter in 2020 for breaching the platform’s “hateful conduct” policy.

She is in hotel quarantine in Sydney so she can take part in Channel Seven’s reality television show Big Brother.

After posting videos on Instagram outlining how she’s deliberately breaking safety rules in hotel quarantine, the Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews ordered a review of her visa status.

“Yesterday I directed Australian Border Force to immediately consider the facts of this matter and urgently review whether this individual is complying with the requirements of her visa,” Ms Andrews said in a statement.

According to the federal government, ‘Big Brother’ contestants have been granted extra hotel quarantine places above the caps in place for returning Australians.

“Contestants on Big Brother received an exemption based on support by the NSW government,” Ms Andrews said. 

“The NSW government approved quarantine for Big Brother contestants above the quarantine cap.”

There are currently about 34,000 Australians registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as wanting to return home. 

Read the story here. 

By Caitlyn Davey

QLD-NSW: Concern among border residents

What about Tweed Exposure site? Not much of a mention today…

-Geoffrey O’Malley

Queensland residents are on alert, amid COVID-19 cases being recorded in Chinderah, on the Queensland-New South Wales border, sparking concern among border residents.

In a statement, Queensland Health said the positive cases did not enter Queensland, and contacts associated with the venue had so far tested negative.

“The situation in New South Wales is very concerning and is rapidly evolving,” it said.

Queensland Health said it was monitoring the situation closely each day and advised anyone who attended a truck stop at 112 Tweed Valley Way to immediately isolate and get tested.

Queensland closed its border to Victoria. Greater Sydney also remains locked out in response to the southern states’ growing outbreaks.

More than 10,000 tests have been carried out in the past 24 hours.

Read the story here. 

By Caitlyn Davey

On-edge region appeals for better COVID protection from Sydney, fearing Delta outbreak ‘a matter of time’

Central West locals are taking drastic steps to avoid people from Greater Sydney’s COVID-19 lockdown zone, worrying it’s just a matter of time before a visitor from across the Blue Mountains sets off an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant.

Their concerns were reinforced yesterday when police charged three removalists who allegedly knew they were COVID-positive before travelling from locked down Greater Sydney to Molong, near Orange, on Friday. 

Police say the men also stopped in the Illawarra, South Bowenfels and Orange. 

Another team of removalists from Greater Sydney helped deliver the latest outbreak in Victoria that has led to a statewide lockdown, dozens of active cases and border closures.  

NSW Central West residents and traders are on edge and calling for tighter policing of major routes into the region — akin to Melbourne’s “ring of steel” last year — to try to head off the threat from someone “not doing the right thing”.  

Call for ‘essential’ clarity 

Lithgow City Council Mayor Ray Thompson said confusing messaging from NSW Health could help bring the virus to the Central West. 

Under the latest public health orders, essential workers travelling outside the restriction zone by more than 50 kilometres for work must prove they have tested negative for coronavirus within seven days.

The rules mean those leaving the lockdown area for closer towns like Lithgow, Taralga and Oberon were exempt from testing.

That, said Cr Thompson, defied common sense. There should be a stricter testing regime for people travelling to communities closer to Greater Sydney, he said.

Read the full story here. 

By Caitlyn Davey

Australia passes 10 million vaccine milestone 

At our current pace of roughly 969,477 doses a week, we can expect to reach the 40 million doses needed to fully vaccinate Australia’s adult population in mid February 2022.

You can see all the data about the vaccine rollout here. 

So far, 10,067,446 doses have been delivered across Australia.

By Caitlyn Davey

A reminder on mental health services 

Is there any way we could get a reminder about the contact numbers for mental health help in the daily update? With the constant depressing news, I think we need to be reminded that there’s help available.

Could we also get the numbers pinned to the top of the blog? They need to be easily accessible!

-Mental Health Reminder

Good shout – it can feel like a long and endless battle, but a reminder that there are services available to help you. 

If you or anyone you know needs help:

By Caitlyn Davey

More information on the Mildura case 

Mildura Base Hospital CEO Terry Welch said he could not confirm if the man presented to emergency because of his symptoms.

He said the man was in a stable condition and “doing well” today.

Mr Welch said he could not confirm when the man returned to Mildura, a city of more than 30,000 people on the banks of the Murray River,  or if he had been infectious in the community. 

Mildura has been COVID-free for more than a year.(ABC Mildura-Swan Hill: Sarah Tomlinson)

Mr Welch said the hospital was bracing for more cases.

“That’s a reality. We have to be well and truly prepared for a higher number of potential cases,” he said.

Read about it here.