2019 Novel Coronavirus Covid-19 Discussion

Forums › Health and fitness › 2019 Novel Coronavirus Covid-19 Discussion

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#2633726 11-Jan-2021 16:19

Yeah, not sure strain should be at all. SA one - 20C/501Y.V2 or B.1.351 lineage. Or variant.

Might be to appease the people. The word seems to be used a lot in (ironically what I found Last week while browsing Netflix, popular again..) Contagion and Outbreak

wellygary

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#2633761 11-Jan-2021 16:58

Well it looks like Victoria are about to throw a bit of a spanner into the works of travel bubbles, both within Australia and possible with NZ also.

Not sure requiring any Australian who wants to Visit VIC to apply for a permit is going to go down well with the Federal Govt.... mind you ScoMo's opinions of Dan the Man are already pretty low...

"every part of the country coded either red, orange or green for the purposes of travel into our state."

"Red zone (such as Greater Sydney and Brisbane): A red zone means that you will not be allowed to enter Victoria without an exception, permitted worker permit or exemption.

Orange zone (such as regional NSW): Those travelling from a designated orange zone must apply for a permit to enter Victoria. You cannot apply for a permit if you have coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms, nor if you have visited a red zone.

Green zone (everywhere else right now): Those travelling from a designated green zone must apply for a permit to enter Victoria. You cannot apply for a permit if you have coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms, nor if you have visited a red zon

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-11/coronavirus-live-news-covid19-brisbane-lockdown/13046370

vexxxboy

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#2633803 11-Jan-2021 18:34

wellygary:

Well it looks like Victoria are about to throw a bit of a spanner into the works of travel bubbles, both within Australia and possible with NZ also.

Not sure requiring any Australian who wants to Visit VIC to apply for a permit is going to go down well with the Federal Govt.... mind you ScoMo's opinions of Dan the Man are already pretty low...

"every part of the country coded either red, orange or green for the purposes of travel into our state."

"Red zone (such as Greater Sydney and Brisbane): A red zone means that you will not be allowed to enter Victoria without an exception, permitted worker permit or exemption.

Orange zone (such as regional NSW): Those travelling from a designated orange zone must apply for a permit to enter Victoria. You cannot apply for a permit if you have coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms, nor if you have visited a red zone.

Green zone (everywhere else right now): Those travelling from a designated green zone must apply for a permit to enter Victoria. You cannot apply for a permit if you have coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms, nor if you have visited a red zon

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-11/coronavirus-live-news-covid19-brisbane-lockdown/13046370

how does this even work, do you just get asked if you have been to red zone and if it is ,what idiot would say yes. It is unworkable.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

tdgeek

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#2633806 11-Jan-2021 18:41

Scott3:

While there is uncertainty about exactly how much more Transmissible the UK variant is, there is a consensus that it is substantially more contagious. This article estimates it as 56% more.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/23/health/coronavirus-uk-variant.html

I don't think you can draw any conclusion from the single Aussie case. Sample size is way to small. There seems to always have been high variability in how transmissible Covid-19, with things like who the host is, or how long they have been infected being possibilities for the reason. We have seen examples of the virus being spread via elevators despite the host riding alone, and I have an extended family member who rode in a car with a person symptomatic with covid-19 who didn't get infected.

Also many media outlets seem to be referring to the B.1.1.7 variant as a "strain". My understanding is that variant is the correct word.

Ive read 70%. Not great. But if the public did the right thing....

tdgeek

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#2633807 11-Jan-2021 18:45

vexxxboy:

how does this even work, do you just get asked if you have been to red zone and if it is ,what idiot would say yes. It is unworkable.

Its a bit like the UK. Fly in from some heavily infected country, please self isolate for 14 days. Humans are slack. If you force them to do the right thing, at least then you get a decent effort. Ask them, 50%, force them 90%

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#2633813 11-Jan-2021 18:58

wellygary:

Well it looks like Victoria are about to throw a bit of a spanner into the works of travel bubbles, both within Australia and possible with NZ also.

Not necessarily. The option of a Trans Tasman bubble between some states (WA has always been rumoured to be the first should this happen) could still happen. Things in Australia aren't as bad as many seem to be making out, their main problem is politics.

The problem is that a Trans Tasman bubble per se across both countries is probably now going to face serious limitations with our vaccine strategy. At this stage Australia plan to complete their vaccine rollout by Oct, and have the country open well before the end of the year.

With our rollout not due to start until July for the general public (with most people starting in August) and to be complete bt April 2022 (with planned July 1st border reopening) it could well mean that if a Trans Tasman bubble does happen that it could post some serious challenges for NZ once Australia starts letting people in.

The lack of a Trans Tasman bubble will potentially mean even bigger dramas for MIQ facilities in NZ. Right now we know 40% of arrivals are from Aussie, and I actually know a couple of people who have been through the process on a couple of occasions. If there is no bubble we're simply going to get a growing number of people quite willing to pay $3000 - $4000 to visit friends and family or travel for work purposes, and see people quite willing to visit friends and family in other parts of the world once things settle down and pay for MIQ when they come back. The only limitation of this may be countries who won't let NZers in if without being vaccinated.

Scott3

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#2633855 11-Jan-2021 20:16

sbiddle:

Not necessarily. The option of a Trans Tasman bubble between some states (WA has always been rumoured to be the first should this happen) could still happen. Things in Australia aren't as bad as many seem to be making out, their main problem is politics.

The problem is that a Trans Tasman bubble per se across both countries is probably now going to face serious limitations with our vaccine strategy. At this stage Australia plan to complete their vaccine rollout by Oct, and have the country open well before the end of the year.

With our rollout not due to start until July for the general public (with most people starting in August) and to be complete bt April 2022 (with planned July 1st border reopening) it could well mean that if a Trans Tasman bubble does happen that it could post some serious challenges for NZ once Australia starts letting people in.

The lack of a Trans Tasman bubble will potentially mean even bigger dramas for MIQ facilities in NZ. Right now we know 40% of arrivals are from Aussie, and I actually know a couple of people who have been through the process on a couple of occasions. If there is no bubble we're simply going to get a growing number of people quite willing to pay $3000 - $4000 to visit friends and family or travel for work purposes, and see people quite willing to visit friends and family in other parts of the world once things settle down and pay for MIQ when they come back. The only limitation of this may be countries who won't let NZers in if without being vaccinated.

You raise a good point regarding the vaccination timetable.

Australia as part of their long held pandemic planning have a facility to manufacture vaccines in Broadmeadows, Victoria. This means they don't need to compete global for doses like NZ, they can instead enter into an agreement to manufacture their own under licence.

For NZ to be at the front of the queue for vaccinations we would need to pay big bucks. Something that is hard to justify currently, and ethically a little dubious to be outbidding poorer countries too.

Regardless, having to shut down the trans Tasman bubble in a hurry when aussie reopens its borders (possibly leaving people with a supprise isolation stay on return from holiday) wouldn't be a great look for the government. People would be upset and lots of questions would be asked as to why aussie did vaccination better than us.

On top of that, it seems likely that both countries will keep getting leaks through our isolation facilities. Kinda hard to justify a bubble with an aussie state when they can't even keep interstate travel open domestically.

Regarding MIQ in NZ, we do need to start allocating capacity in a fairer way than fastest finger. Including have some means that those who's flights are moved / canceled have a high priority for the next available slot. NZ citizens / residents who have been outside NZ since the pandemic began would be the likely next pick for next highest priory.

Think it is time for the cira 50% subsidy of MIQ fees to holiday makers / business travelers to go as well. No reason these people can't carry the full cira $7000 /room (or person?) cost of providing that facility.

Will be interesting to see if private operators start securing and offering covid-19 vaccines for a fee to those who want to travel, but have not yet become eligible for the free vaccination from the governments stock.

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vexxxboy

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#2633859 11-Jan-2021 20:29

Scott3:

Think it is time for the cira 50% subsidy of MIQ fees to holiday makers / business travelers to go as well. No reason these people can't carry the full cira $7000 /room (or person?) cost of providing that facility.

the last report i saw on the payment of this fee by people who were charged it was down in the low teens % wise of who had actually paid it and the Govt was not actively chasing the people to pay it.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

ANglEAUT

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#2633867 11-Jan-2021 20:38

sir1963: ... These countries will be grabbing skilled workers from the rest of the world and will be able to pay much higher wages than NZ.

In particular the health sector , overseas so many of the healthcare workers are "burnt-out" and will probably leave their jobs, leaving a whacking great demand for our people to replace them.

...

Hopefully that will ease the pressure on "Real estate, post level 4" 🤣

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.

sbiddle

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#2633904 11-Jan-2021 21:30

Scott3:

Kinda hard to justify a bubble with an aussie state when they can't even keep interstate travel open domestically.

They could easily do that.. Their reasons for this are purely politics - you have Labor and Liberal states who in effect are their own countries and quite love points scoring because they hate each other.

GV27

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#2634001 12-Jan-2021 06:37

Trying to make a point of signing in at work - it's the only place I go but I barely ever sign in :(

gzt

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#2634004 12-Jan-2021 07:19

At some point Bluetooth QRs in doorways will be sensible. I usually scan and if I don't it's because I'm carrying something and I can't reach the phone.

sbiddle

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#2634009 12-Jan-2021 07:44

gzt: At some point Bluetooth QRs in doorways will be sensible. I usually scan and if I don't it's because I'm carrying something and I can't reach the phone.

Rippl had been working on an iBeacon style unit for auto checkin / checkout for months.

PolicyGuy

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#2634011 12-Jan-2021 07:52

sbiddle:

Scott3: Kinda hard to justify a bubble with an aussie state when they can't even keep interstate travel open domestically.

They could easily do that.. Their reasons for this are purely politics - you have Labor and Liberal states who in effect are their own countries and quite love points scoring because they hate each other.

The real road-block to individual Aussie individual State travel bubbles is that the Aussie PM is strongly against it.
The Federal government controls Immigration, so if the Federal Government says it wants an "all or none" policy, then that's what will happen.

Otherwise we could have had a travel bubble with Western Australia since October or November last year

kingdragonfly

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#2634019 12-Jan-2021 08:20

ANglEAUT:
sir1963: ... These countries will be grabbing skilled workers from the rest of the world and will be able to pay much higher wages than NZ.

In particular the health sector , overseas so many of the healthcare workers are "burnt-out" and will probably leave their jobs, leaving a whacking great demand for our people to replace them.

...

Hopefully that will ease the pressure on "Real estate, post level 4" 🤣

I've had several Americans healthcare workers contact me about possibly moving to NZ, for what it's worth.

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