Is Australia's hotel quarantine system worth the risk as COVID variants spread? Here are the alternatives. Just weeks after the virus jumped hotel containment lines in Queensland and Western Australia, Victoria now finds itself in the hot seat.
The latest cluster of more than a dozen cases is believed to have spread through the use of a nebuliser at the Holiday Inn near Melbourne Airport. "You can test everybody every day … but it's a different challenge now, it's not the 2020 challenge, it's a very different virus," Premier Daniel Andrews told the media on Friday, as the state was plunged into a five-day snap lockdown. With the emergence of international variants of the virus throwing a new spanner in the works, questions are again being raised about some of the weaknesses of Australia's quarantine programs, and how our lines of defence might be strengthened.
So how are other countries managing the crisis? And is there anything we can learn from their quarantine systems? Where can I travel to? Here are the current coronavirus border restrictions around Australia. With coronavirus clusters in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales seemingly under control, different states and territories have begun easing their coronavirus border restrictions.
Here are the various restrictions as they stand: I want to go to … Tap through to find out where you can travel to, depending on where you are travelling from: New South Wales. Business and health professionals call for states to standardise COVID-19 border rules. The economic shock of COVID-19 came at the worst time for Damien Munforti, the owner of a tour business that runs day trips to the Northern Territory's Litchfield National Park.
Key points: Tourism businesses say uncertainty over border rules has led to cancellationsIndustry groups are calling on states to work more closely together on national rulesHealth groups also hope states will homogenise their COVID assessment systems. NSW coronavirus outbreaks take three weeks to end, according to analysis of State Government data. NSW's current COVID-19 outbreak is likely almost at an end, if an analysis of State Government data is anything to go by.
Key points: Analysis shows it takes three weeks on average to end a COVID-19 outbreak NSW Health defines a cluster as three cases that are epidemiologically linkedThe Avalon cluster, at 151 cases, has been the largest cluster in NSW An ABC analysis of 18 coronavirus outbreaks in NSW since the beginning of July last year shows it has taken authorities three weeks on average to bring an end to each cluster. That means the Berala cluster, which began on New Year's Eve, could be in its last days. NSW recorded no locally acquired COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours to 8.00pm on Sunday. That same day, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said her state was "at the tail end" of dealing with the outbreak. The chart below shows how the 18 clusters in NSW since early July progressed. Where the UK coronavirus strain B117 has spread to around the world.
The new fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus in the UK has led to many countries around the world imposing travel bans on Britain to prevent its spread.
Yet the mutation known as the B117 lineage, which may be up to 70 per cent more infectious, has been detected in several countries. This includes Australia, though all cases reported to date have been detected in hotel quarantine. As the strain sows chaos throughout south-east England, here is a look at where confirmed cases of the strain have been found. United Kingdom The new UK variant was first identified in the English county of Kent on September 20. The UK's health secretary announced the existence of the variant on December 14. Health authorities suggested the virus could be up to 70 per cent more transmissible, with the UK's chief scientific advisor saying the new variant was becoming the dominant form in parts of England such as London, the south-east and the country's east.
What's the science behind mink and coronavirus? First case of coronavirus detected in wild animal. Victorian health authorities eye autumn as potential COVID danger period - ABC News. Victoria's health department is bracing for a potential spike in COVID-19 cases around March and April as the weather turns colder and people start to congregate indoors.
Key points: Victorian authorities are preparing for a potential coronavirus spike in autumn and winterThey are monitoring the northern hemisphere experience to see what lessons can be learntThe AMA says good forward planning will help prepare for future coronavirus cases The forecast is based on modelling of the northern hemisphere's coronavirus experience and patterns of other respiratory diseases heading into winter, the ABC has been told.
Departmental officials have pointed to the risk during meetings with health sector representatives in recent weeks, several sources said. It's one of several scenarios the department is considering for the coming months, and officials are closely monitoring the northern hemisphere experience to see what lessons can be applied here. Genomic testing shows spread of Novotel, Ryde Hospital coronavirus cases - ABC News. Not long after midnight on Thursday last week, New South Wales Health got the news it had been dreading.
A south-western Sydney woman had tested positive to COVID-19, ending the state's near month-long streak without any locally acquired cases. The woman was a cleaner at the Novotel and Ibis hotel quarantine locations in Darling Harbour, so there were concerns the system was not secure. As politicians scrambled to answer questions outside Parliament, scientists swung into action. By 8:08am, work was underway to sequence the genome of the latest positive sample. SA Police launch taskforce to investigate pizza worker accused of lying to contact tracers - ABC News. South Australian police have formed a taskforce to investigate all of the information provided to the state's coronavirus contact tracing teams.
Key points: A man misled contact tracers about working at an Adelaide pizza barIt led authorities to put South Australia into lockdownA police taskforce has been set up to investigate if any crime has been committed The head of the taskforce, Assistant Commissioner Peter Harvey, said it was clear that at least one person had not told the truth. He said Taskforce Protect was looking at numerous pieces of legislation which may have been breached, including criminal law, the Emergency Management Act or public health acts.
Hotel quarantine is our main line of defence against new COVID-19 cases. So does the system need improving? - ABC News. As another coronavirus cluster was linked to hotel quarantine, Acting Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly didn't mince words.
"That is our major risk now of reintroduction of COVID-19 into Australia, as we have seen in Adelaide over recent days," he warned on Wednesday, as South Australia prepared to introduce some of the nation's toughest coronavirus restrictions since the pandemic began. The Parafield cluster, which has grown to more than 20 confirmed cases, is but the latest in a series of problems linked to hotel quarantine. Victoria's second wave, for example, was found to have stemmed from failures in the state's "hastily assembled" system, while nearly 400 returned travellers were removed from a quarantine facility in Sydney following complaints over hygiene.
It begs the question: if quarantine facilities pose the biggest risk to Australia's path out of the pandemic, should we be doing more to safeguard them? Or is it time to find a new system? Special Issue : COVID-19 Global Threat: Information or Panic. Dr.
Carlos de las Heras-PedrosaWebsiteSciProfilesGuest Editor Department of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising, Universidad de Málaga, Malaga, SpainInterests: health communication; tourism communication; communication and social media; influencers on social media; institutional communication; stakeholder engagement Dr. The QR code has turned COVID-19 check-ins into a golden opportunity for marketing and data companies - ABC News. Tens of thousands of small and medium Australian businesses that rushed to outsource the management of their COVID check-in obligations could find themselves snared in a looming data privacy calamity.
Key points: Privacy advocates have warned of "marketing surveillance" operations tied to QR code data collectionThe ABC found some companies' privacy policies had fallen short of standardsCybersecurity experts called for states to adopt the New Zealand and United Kingdom QR code models At stake are the personal details of millions of Australians who have visited cafes, restaurants and pubs or attended places of worship, wedding and funeral venues since rules designed to help manage the spread of the virus were introduced earlier this year. These regulations, which operate in most states and territories, require customers and visitors to provide their name and contact details so that they can be traced in the event there's a potential virus transmission risk. Big, green tick of approval. Finally at zero new cases, Victoria is on top of the world after unprecedented lockdown effort.
If the past few months have been like a long-haul flight, Victorians are now standing in the aisles waiting for the cabin door to open, a little groggy and disoriented but relieved. They have every right to be. No other place in the world has tamed a second wave this large. Few have even come close. Read more: Of all the places that have seen off a second coronavirus wave, only Vietnam and Hong Kong have done as well as Victorians It’s not a competition Comparing different countries’ fights against COVID-19 is not a straightforward exercise, given differences in demography, geography, health system capability, and government strategy. Perhaps most importantly, not every country has tried to get down to zero, or near zero, community transmission. Also, as Victorians understand acutely, the virus is unpredictable. Is the 14-day rolling average of five new daily cases the wrong trigger for easing Melbourne lockdown? - ABC News. Many Melburnians have despaired in recent days as it became clear the next step on its roadmap out of lockdown will be taken a bit later than originally planned, or in smaller steps.
That's because Victoria is unlikely to meet the threshold needed to clear a key hurdle in the roadmap: a 14-day state-wide average of less than five new daily cases (and less than five cases with an unknown source in the last 14 days). Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said on Monday the 14-day rolling average for metropolitan Melbourne was 9.9; for regional Victoria, the figure is 0.4. The focus, for some time, has been on new daily case numbers. But what if we are looking at the wrong figure?
I'd argue that a useful alternative number we should focus more closely on is the average number of cases "under investigation" over the last 14 days. Coronavirus Victoria:'Ring of steel' comes down as police stood down from checkpoints after 'bizarre and strange' 123 days. "It was completely different to what we normally do. Here we are essentially checking people for moving around the state. Completely bizarre, it really is," he said on Monday. "But we were enforcing what the Chief Health Officer set out as to what the requirements would be to keep the virus from moving through the whole state.
" Like many other officers, it was a welcome move for Leading Senior Constable Gosling, who had been working at the Longwarry and Lang Lang checkpoints in the city's south-east. Coronavirus 2019-nCoV. Lancet Inf Dis Article: Here. Mobile Version: Here. Data sources: Full list. Esri. COVID-19 Resources. Number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and risk in the UK. Video: How to wash your hands properly. TrackCorona - COVID-19 Tracker and Live Map. COVID-19 tracker. Coronavirus Update (Live): 3,567,005 Cases and 248,313 Deaths from COVID-19 Virus Pandemic - Worldometer. How dangerous is the virus? There are three parameters to understand in order to assess the magnitude of the risk posed by this novel coronavirus: Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the UK. Coronavirus 10-day forecast.
Coronavirus world map: which countries have the most Covid-19 cases and deaths? Since first being recorded late last year in China, the Covid-19 coronavirus has spread around the world, and been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Coronavirus world map: which countries have the most Covid-19 cases and deaths? Covid-19-data-centre-coronavirus-by-the-numbers-20200401-p54g4w. COVID-19: Data Summary - NYC Health. Infection rates of viruses worldwide. Basic Account Get to know the platform You only have access to basic statistics. Single Account Your perfect start with Statista Instant access to 1m statisticsDownload in XLS, PDF & PNG formatDetailed references $59 $39 / Month *
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Bing coronavirus tracker from Microsoft. COVID-19: This tool tracks coronavirus's path in Europe. Geo data of immInent 2960 symptomatic cases of COVID-19. Coronavirus data reveals how COVID-19 is spreading in Australia. What are the different types of Covid-19 test and how do they work? Who is 'patient zero' of Victoria's coronavirus second wave? Here's what we know - ABC News. Victorian coronavirus hotel quarantine staff worked while infectious in Melbourne - ABC News. How did coronavirus end up in a Whitsundays sewage treatment plant when nobody is sick? - ABC News. What coronavirus modelling released by the Victorian Government says about schools and Melbourne's roadmap - ABC News. Hotel quarantine linked to 99% of Victoria's Covid cases, inquiry told.
Victoria and Melbourne Covid trend map: where coronavirus cases are rising or falling. CDC reverses controversial coronavirus testing guidelines. A day in the life of Victoria’s Covid contact tracers: ‘The puzzle is blank and once you get it together it's fantastic' The Lancet: Is India missing COVID-19 deaths? Department of Health and Human Services Victoria. Australian National Disease Surveillance Plan for COVID-19. These dogs are trained to sniff out the coronavirus. Most have a 100% success rate. Pneumonia of unknown aetiology in Wuhan, China: potential for international spread via commercial air travel. App helps travellers protect themselves against 'inevitable' infectious disease outbreak. Coronavirus News: This Canadian start-up used AI to track coronavirus and raised alarm days before the outbreak.
BlueDot: Outbreak Risk Software. Coronavirus: Sewage testing for Covid-19 begins in England. Should I get tested? What if I don't have symptoms? Will it hurt? Your COVID-19 testing questions answered - ABC News. Postcode data on coronavirus cases reveals Victoria's COVID-19 hotspots - ABC News. Coronavirus deaths: how does Britain compare with other countries? Microsoft Power BI.
Russian state-sponsored hackers target Covid-19 vaccine researchers. Some in Melbourne's COVID-19 hotspots dismiss the health risks as testing blitz gets underway - ABC News. Piloted in May, ditched in June: the failure of England's Covid-19 app. The coronavirus surveillance that's triggering memories for Sydney's Uyghur community - ABC News. What Happens Next? COVID-19 Futures, Explained With Playable Simulations.
Author of Guardian article on death tolls asks UK government to stop using it. Recovering from coronavirus: Data shows how Australia is rebuilding as COVID-19 restrictions ease. A 'pandemic drone' and other technology could help limit the spread of coronavirus and ease restrictions sooner, but at what cost? - ABC News. Coronavirus deaths could be much higher than official toll due to number of 'excess deaths' - ABC News. Coronavirus: April 15 day 2271 Americans will die from infection. Apple and Google team up in bid to use smartphones to track coronavirus spread. Tracking Africa's coronavirus cases. ABC coronavirus data charts COVID-19 spread in Australia.
One coronavirus number will let us know if Australia’s outbreak is getting worse. How the coronavirus pandemic would look in Australia if Ruby Princess had never docked. WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Situation Dashboard. Event Horizon - COVID-19. Surveillance, AI, and saving lives top agenda at coronavirus conference. Effectiveness of airport screening at detecting travellers infected with novel coronavirus COVID-19 (formerly 2019-nCoV) Temporal variation in transmission during the COVID-19 outbreak Coronavirus: Travel restrictions, border shutdowns by country. Amp.sbs.com. What Is Coronavirus: Mapping the Pneumonia-Like Respiratory Illness in China, Globally.
Coronavirus data shows which countries have it under control. What did they do right? Coronavirus. Online map. Tracking the Spread of the Outbreak. Fighting Coronavirus: A New Infection Alarm System on Your Smartphone - DER SPIEGEL. Cases by region: Stonnington records highest rate of coronavirus cases in Victoria. Modelling transmission and control of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. COVID-19 #CoronaVirus Infographic Datapack. Intelligence.weforum. Coronavirus update LIVE.
Coronavirus latest updates. Coronavirus update: Global death toll exceeds 30,000, Spain house-bound, Britain on 'emergency footing'