Australia’s performance in fighting Covid has declined as scientists say researchers are set back by inadequate data systems. Deaths are rising more than predicted, strain on hospitals too. Michael Sainsbury reports the latest on a pandemic which just won’t go away, amid heightened concerns over Long Covid, vaccine impact and the threat of new strains.
Source: Michael West Media – investigative journalists – always independent
Evidence of past infection was detected in 46% of samples, compared with 17% in February
Almost 50% of Australians had been infected with Covid as of mid-June, blood survey shows | Coronavirus | The Guardian
Politics still stands in the way of Science and Covid
Long COVID should be recognised as a chronic medical condition so more Australians can access appropriate care, health experts say.
Source: Australia lags on long COVID recognition – Michael West
At the same time RAT tests are being reported to be inaccurate in 4 out of 10 cases and the subsidy on the tests is being dropped nevertheless passengers are being allowed to leave. Are we witnessing the repeat of the Ruby Princess time-bomb?
After departing Eden on the New South Wales south coast with more than 2,300 people onboard, the Coral Princess berthed at Circular Quay just before dawn on Wednesday, where it will remain for a day before returning to its home port of Brisbane.
Passengers will have to record a negative result on a rapid antigen test before disembarking but the crew will have to remain.
Source: Covid-hit Coral Princess cruise ship docks in Sydney | Health | The Guardian
COVID-19 cruise ship to dock in Sydney – Michael West
A cruise ship due to dock in Sydney will arrive carrying scores of people who have tested positive for COVID-19.
Passengers will have to record a negative result on a rapid antigen test before disembarking, while crew will have to remain on board.
COVID-19 cruise ship to dock in Sydney – Michael West
The outbreak aboard the Coral Princess has mostly infected crew, with 114 of them in isolation on Tuesday.
COVID-19 complacency has resulted in infections and deaths skyrocketing and Dr Kerryn Phelps reminds us that it’s far from over yet.
AustraliaAustralia is on the precipice of the grim milestone of 10,000 COVID-19 related deaths, with more than 7000 fatal cases reported in the last six months.
Source: COVID is poised to claim its 10,000th Australian life
Australia’s Omicron wave earlier this year was much larger than we thought, recent research has confirmed. We also heard Health Minister Mark Butler acknowledge Australia can expect a “very big wave” of people with long COVID over the next few years.
Source: We need to brace for a tsunami of long COVID. But we’re not quite sure the best way to treat it
WEAR MASKS AUSTRALIA
Australia’s COVID rules wound back – despite surging cases “The findings reinforce the need to provide adequate resources and support for ICUs, particularly during times of unusually high demand,” Dr Begum said. There were almost 50,000 COVID-19 cases and 82 deaths across Australia over the weekend. There are about 227,000 active cases nationwide, the highest mark since June 7. There are also over 3100 patients in hospital care, the most in five weeks
COVID cognitive decline more widespread than thought, say researchers at Australia’s first long-COVID clinic – ABC News
COVID cognitive decline more widespread than thought, say researchers at Australia’s first long-COVID clinic – ABC News
team has found something startling.
Around one quarter of the ADAPT study’s participants were experiencing noticeable cognitive decline a year after getting COVID.
Nobody’s thinking about the pandemic anymore masks are off, 80k people are at the MCG but the daily death rate keeps rising our hospitals are overrun and underemployed. The daily cases are unknown but we know are underreported. State politics seems to have determined our new attitude to death and it’s not good.
“The truth is we simply don’t have enough hospital beds open, so we’re looking at private and peri-urban health beds to free up capacity in the system.”
Source: New subvariant detected in SA as state records 11 COVID-related deaths – ABC News
Morrison campaigned on the basis that he bested Covid and saved lives. Did we believe him? Or simply take it off the agenda of care?
In a poll conducted by the Guardian in August 2021 about the number of deaths Australians would be willing to accept as restrictions eased, only 3 per cent of respondents felt that 5000 or more COVID-related deaths per year would be acceptable. Sadly, we have surpassed that milestone in the first four months of this year alone. Each day, an average of 45,000 Australians are reporting cases of COVID, a number that is rising and likely a substantial underestimate. Yet where are the sensible public health measures to stem the tide of illness and death? People are dying of COVID
Source: Cases are high and winter is coming. We need to stop ignoring COVID
Can we even bother to believe him will the camera be there? He won’t be the only one in the L-NP to have contracted Covid-19. Morrison is looking for sympathy in all the wrong places. Mr Hulot (Scamo) takes a holiday yet again and during the war on floods to plan promises he won’t keep and on how and to whom he will sell his $16Bn war chest for votes.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he has tested positive to COVID-19 but will continue to carry out his responsibilities while he recovers. “I am experiencing flu-like symptoms and will be recovering over the next week,” Mr Morrison said in a statement announcing that he had tested positive on Tuesday night.
Source: Prime Minister Scott Morrison reveals he has COVID-19
The Queen has tested positive for COVID-19 but will continue working as she experiences mild, cold-like symptoms, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.
Source: COVID latest: Queen tests positive, Australia’s first tourist flights arrive
While the Australian per capita Covid fatality rate was one of the lowest in the world, Omicron and the new “let it rip” approach has us on a trajectory to catch the leading high-fatality-rate nations.
Source: Living with Covid, or dying from Covid – » The Australian Independent Media Network
“We’re going to see more heart disease, strokes, blood clots, and other problems,” warns one epidemiologist.
Source: Covid Survivors at Higher Long-Term Risk of Cardiovascular Damage: Study
Morrison blamed Itagi for the delays in approving RATs. Journalist Michael Pascoe of the New Daily proved he was lying. Itagi had approved their use as far back as August last year. It was on Morrison’s head to act and he didn’t. Itagi has already approved a 4th dose of vaccine for the vulnerable and again is simply waiting for Morrison to act. He hasn’t will he blame on them again?
Email Twitter6 Facebook184 LinkedIn Print While Australia’s booster program of COVID vaccines is just getting going, governments overseas are evaluating the need for a fourth dose program. Earlier this year, Israel began offering a fourth dose of the Pfizer mRNA vaccine to people who are immunocompromised, older people, and front line health workers. Israeli medical experts have since suggested fourth doses for everyone over 18. A number of other countries are deploying or considering a fourth dose program. Meanwhile, the UK have ruled it out for the time being. In Australia, a fourth dose for significantly immunocompromised people – such as those with certain cancers – was approved by ATAGI in early January and is being evaluated for other high-risk populations by the government. While there is evidence a fourth dose would help protect our most vulnerable, it may not be the answer for the broader Australian community.
Source: Israel is rolling out fourth doses of COVID vaccines. Should Australia do the same?
The ALP’s Pink Bats were an accident politicized by the LNP with relish. They danced on the dead’s graves while the ALP mourned. 6000 Covid -19 Deaths have been excused by Scott Morrison as nothing really to do with him, “all the world is suffering”. We weren’t and we held the line until we realized Morrison wasn’t going to do anything other than call it “a natural disaster” which we can’t control, and must simply push through. It’s not his fault even when he’s forced to say “sorry”.
But death will lead the stories. That’s what we have been afraid of, either personally, or for vulnerable friends and family. That’s our collective trauma. More than 5.7 million deaths around the world so far. More than 5,900 in Australia.
Are we making variants healthier and stronger smarter and more virulent?
The BA.2 subvariant of the Omicron coronavirus variant, which has quickly taken over in Denmark, is more transmissible than the more common BA.1 and more able to infect vaccinated people, a Danish study has found. The study, which analysed coronavirus infections in more than 8500 Danish households between December and January, found that people infected with the BA.2 subvariant were roughly 33 per cent more likely to infect others, compared to those infected with BA.1.
Individuals no matter how wealthy or expert struggle to get their message across against corporate giants even if they are part of the elite and wealthy class. Media giants are there to maintain the illusion that a Capitalist Democracy is the best of all possible worlds. Just as media in a totalitarian State is. Simply put both are propaganda models with fringes tolerated in differing degrees.
The Joe Rogan Experience is the top-rated podcast on Spotify, which holds exclusive rights to the program.Rogan, 54, has stirred controversy with his views on the pandemic, government mandates and vaccines to control the spread of COVID-19.Earlier this month, 270 scientists and medical professionals signed a letter urging Spotify to take action against Rogan, accusing him of spreading falsehoods on the podcast.
Source: WHO backs Neil Young’s Spotify boycott over Joe Rogan’s COVID-19 vaccine ‘misinformation’ – ABC News
The California Department of Health confirmed on Tuesday that it had identified 11 cases throughout the state of BA.2, a sub-variant of omicron. At the time of this writing, 96 people around the country in total have been diagnosed with the BA.2 sub-variant in the United States. The World Health Organization (WHO) has dubbed the strain a “variant of concern,” or a virus that will spread more rapidly, hinder public health precautions more effectively or in some way prove to be more dangerous than other forms of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (which causes COVID-19). Unfortunately, there are early signs it may be more transmissible than the earlier strain of omicron (now known as BA.1), as Imperial College London virologist Tom Peacock opined on Twitter.
In the face of Cuban humanitarian efforts
“A European bank, established in the Netherlands, has decided to put the interests of the U.S. government above the lives of millions of people.”
Source: Bank Blocks Donations Supporting Cuban Effort to Vaccinate World
Morrison makes it perfectly clear education isn’t his priority “Child Minding” is so you can get back to work. RATs Oh they’re a secondary thought for which we can all pay.
Teachers – many of whom also want schools to stay open – say this isn’t enough.
“We have no sense from the PM’s announcement that education is actually a priority,” Australian Education Union president Correna Haythorpe told The New Daily.
Source: Teachers want rapid antigen tests so school can restart face-to-face
A groundbreaking new study published this week identified what could be an unexpected tool in the world’s fight against COVID-19: cannabis. Yes, you read that right. According to a peer-reviewed paper published this week in the Journal of Natural Products, titled “Cannabinoids Block Cellular Entry of SARS-CoV-2 and the Emerging Variants,” at least three compounds naturally occurring in the cannabis plant were shown in lab tests to be effective at stopping coronavirus molecules from entering human cells. The mechanism effectively mimics the activity of antibodies, with the cannabis compounds attaching themselves to the virus’ spike protein, one of the authors told Salon. The study concludes:
Source: Could cannabis prevent COVID? To the authors of a new study, it sure looks like it | Salon.com
The Morrison “plans” don’t fly!! “Gunna Scott Morrison PM” does it again and again and again. He fails!! Fails to deliver on his god damned ever changing plans.
He called the ALP incompetent back in 2013 “for Pink Bats” ” for a Government debt 1/3rd of today’s” “for Saving us from the GFC” and “for making us the world’s best economy” Our media buries that historical news today with their hands out hoping for the promised rewards the cashed-up LNP has. A political war chest x 5-10 times that of the ALPs ready to be distributed via ads like Harvey Norman’s JobKeeper bonus has been. Corporate Socialism was Mussolini’s idea of Fascism too.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese has blasted the Coalition government for overseeing a COVID “crisis” in aged care, with barely half of Commonwealth facilities having received vaccine booster shots so far and hundreds of homes battling active outbreaks. Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said 1500 of the nation’s 2600 Commonwealth aged-care facilities had received vaccine boosters, with the remainder scheduled to receive them by the end of January. But with hundreds of homes battling outbreaks and thousands of residents in effective lockdown, Mr Albanese claimed the Morrison government had dropped the ball. “How is it that in spite of what has occurred before, the aged-care system, which is run, funded and regulated by the federal government, still hasn’t got this right?” the Labor leader said. “It’s something that should just not have happened. It could have been foreseen.”
Source: Almost half of aged care homes waiting for boosters amid 500 outbreaks
Washington: Hospitalisations of US children under five with COVID-19 soared in recent weeks to their highest level since the pandemic began, according to government data released Friday on the only age group not yet eligible for the vaccine. The worrisome trend in children too young to be vaccinated underscores the need for older kids and adults to get their shots to help protect those around them, said Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Source: US COVID: Hospitalisations of kids too young for vaccines soar
Critically understaffed public hospitals in New South Wales are planning to fly in nurses from overseas, a leaked memo reveals, as managers beg staff to cancel leave and take on extra shifts amid surging Covid cases.
A legal expert has warned of the powers that religious organisations have to hire and fire staff after a fringe church sacked a worker who got the COVID-19 jab because it said that went against its beliefs. Lainie Chait is seeking damages for unfair dismissal after she was allegedly sacked by the Newcastle-based Church of Ubuntu for getting a COVID-19 vaccination.
Source: Sacked for being vaxxed: ‘Church’ defends decision to terminate worker who got COVID jab
If you are unfortunate to end up with long Covid, common symptoms include abnormal breathing, constant fatigue, malaise, sore chest, sore throat, heart abnormalities, headache, muscle pain, abdominal problems, nerve pain, insomnia, dizziness, brain fog, anxiety and depression. In fact, just about any organ in your body can be damaged by the virus. On a more cheerful note, at least one study has found that children are less likely to get long Covid.
Covid, Covid everywhere but $2Tn spent on military cover not medical or climate.
Global South leaders have regularly decried vaccine inequities, with some linking the shortfalls with ever-increasing military spending. At September’s United Nations General Assembly, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez noted that 80% of doses had been distributed to middle- or high-income nations, comparing that statistic to the nearly $2 trillion in global military spending—more than one-third of it by the United States. “How many lives would have been saved,” asked Díaz-Canel, “[if] those resources had been invested in health or the manufacturing and distribution of vaccines?”
Source: The Pentagon Just Got $778 Billion, But USAID Is Running Out of Money for Covid-19 Vaccines?
It’s always been apparent and obvious, to me at least, that opening up too soon without retaining other precautions such as masks and distancing was a recipe for an eventual return to more stringent restrictions, sooner or later. Perrottet may think that his hope-filled, glass-half-full approach to the virus and his almost crusading zeal to bring about a free and happy conclusion to two years of COVID-19 misery is the way to go. I have reservations about that, and I’m possibly in reasonably good company. To me, rather than bringing about a new freedom to the NSW people, it seems more likely that the state government has simply given up and feels it can no longer cope with this health emergency.
Source: NSW, the land of hope, freedom and glory – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Australians love reality shows maybe it’s time to witness “hospital reality” and what Covid wards look like filled with the non-jabbed, while patients without Covid, but with serious conditions, are being turned away. Maybe it should be shown on the big screens of Melbourne when anti-vaxxers and freedom marchers are protesting about their inconvenience.
Most CEOs were not OK with it. Their decisions to ban reporters, taken one by one and with an impact that was collective, helped turn the sudden battle against Covid-19 into a long war with hundreds of thousands of victims whose terrifying plight could not be witnessed. This spared Americans from the medieval inconvenience of seeing the suffering and death of a plague in their midst. In its first months, the pandemic was defined by empty streets and grounded planes, by 6 feet of distance between nervous people, and by the strained faces of hospital workers who were swamped and frightened.
Source: Omicron Surge Gives Hospitals Reason to Let Journalists In
Angela Merkel is a scientist and Dan Andrews listens to scientists to devise the necessary policies to defend our Universal Public Health System and protect our hospitals and us which are currently Federally underfunded. The LNP want our health system Americanised and privatized and run by insurance companies. How many anti-vaxxers and anti- mandaters demonstrating have private health insurance? Not too many it would seem as 35 have COVID with only one vaccinated and 12 seeking the hospital space other Victorians now don’t have. How many more expect rooms to be made available to them in the public space?
Overseas, the big news is that Germany has decided to lock out unvaccinated people from much of public life as leaders agree on a plan to make vaccines mandatory.
Source: COVID: NSW cases include child, Germany plans mandatory vaccines
Eric Metaxas, the anti-vax talk show host, finally came back on air after a two-week absence and explained how devastating COVID was to him and his family. “If you been wondering where I have been, I have no idea where I’ve been. I’ve been in a perspiring haze for days and days and days,” Metaxas told his audience. COVID is no f**king joke. Back in July this evangelical talk show host told Steve Bannon’s War Room that he’s not afraid of getting COVID and wants people to rise up and rebel against it.
Source: Anti-Vaxxer Eric Metaxas’ Family Devastated By COVID | Crooks and Liars
Planning is a necessity in preparation for war and Dan Andrews is doing just that and he’s doing it for all Victorians and setting an example for the rest of the country. No matter the protestors screaming “what about “me” they are largely drops, stains, in the larger ocean of “we”. Over 90% of Victorians are vaccinated. Ask just how many of the protestors were. The LNP politicians were, Credlin and Kelly most likely are. How many of those protestors were false flags?
A new coronavirus variant has been detected in South Africa that scientists say is a concern because of its high number of mutations and rapid spread among young people in Gauteng, the country’s most populous province, Health Minister Joe Phaahla announced Thursday.
Source: South African scientists detect new virus variant amid spike | The State
CUBA LIBRE
“Cuba knew it would be hard to obtain Covid vaccines, so it made its own… and they could be key to vaccinating the world.”
Source: Cuba’s Homegrown Covid-19 Vaccines Poised to Protect Millions in Poor Nations
Is vaccination enough? It will take more than high vaccination rates to prevent hospitalisations and deaths in Australia at levels that hurt the health system in future, Baxter said.
The first thing Kevin Rogers wants you to know about his home community of Rockhole is that it’s a “wonderful place”. Key points: A Rockhole resident will spend a hard lockdown confined to an overcrowded and old home The small community near Katherine could be in lockdown for “weeks” after COVID-19 was discovered in a neighbouring community The Australian and NT governments disagree over who is responsible for new housing in homelands like Rockhole “Rockhole is about 13 kilometres from Katherine township along the Katherine River,” he said. “It’s a quiet place, it’s a wonderful place. “We have families, kids running around — more kids than adults.” The Aboriginal community of around 130 people is now in a hard lockdown after nine COVID-19 cases were discovered in neighbouring Binjari, just on the other side of the river. No-one in either community is allowed to leave their homes or their yards. The outbreak now stands at 35, with three people in hospital.
From mid-January of this year until October 1, 29,000 Texans were killed by COVID-19. Texas health authorities estimate that only 8% of those were fully vaccinated. Of that 8%, half were over 75 and probably those elderly people had health conditions that made them vulnerable. So if you are under 75 years of age and relatively healthy, you have a vanishingly small chance of dying if you are vaccinated. This is true even though the delta variant is nearly twice as deadly and ten times more transmissible than the original alpha variant. All this should be good news. It is overshadowed by the bad news of our 2021 massive death toll, most of it avoidable.
Here’s a thought experiment: If these same events, meaning Trump’s handling of the pandemic and his regime’s numerous other crimes against democracy and human decency, had taken place in another country, how would the American people and news media respond?
Such a country would be labeled as an international pariah. The regime and its leaders would be described as tyrants and criminals. There would be calls for regime change, and many members of the international community would demand that the wrongdoers be brought to trial for crimes against humanity at the Hague.
Here’s a thought experiment: If these same events, meaning Trump’s handling of the pandemic and his regime’s numerous other crimes against democracy and human decency, had taken place in another country, how would the American people and news media respond? Such a country would be labeled as an international pariah. The regime and its leaders would be described as tyrants and criminals. There would be calls for regime change, and many members of the international community would demand that the wrongdoers be brought to trial for crimes against humanity at the Hague.
Hence we arrive at a 20-fold reduction in risk when hanging out with a vaccinated person compared to someone who’s not vaccinated.
Source: Your unvaccinated friend is roughly 20 times more likely to give you COVID
Health authorities in the United Kingdom, Germany and Russia are dealing with a surge of coronavirus cases amid talk of curbs returning to stem the spread of infections. The UK recorded the highest number of new cases of COVID-19 since July over the past week, government figures showed on Saturday, just one day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson played down the prospect of a return to lockdown. Data showed 333,465 people in the UK tested positive for COVID-19 over the past seven days, up 15 per cent on the previous week and the highest total since the seven days to July 21.
Source: Alarming wave of fresh COVID cases rolls across Europe
Sabrina is a foreign-trained doctor, or international medical graduate (IMG), as the Australian Medical Council (AMC) refers to her. She landed in Australia in 2018 and completed her AMC MCQ in 2019, less than a year later. She began studying for her AMC clinical exam, which she was planned to take in early 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit Australia. All of a sudden, all the scheduled examinations were cancelled and she has been attempting to book one ever since, as this is the only way to get into the Australian employment market. This isn’t just her tale. It’s about an entire community of highly skilled people who are being held back by a system.
Source: International doctors endure hardship in COVID Australia
Morrison’s Plan is Gaslighting Australia Singapore is the Canary in in the coalmine not the answer 80% will continue to produce a strain on our Public Health system.
Dr Leong said 80 per cent was “not good enough because it can still burden the hospital system very significantly and there will be too many excess deaths”. “The numbers are mind-boggling, given what’s possible over the next few weeks,” he said. Prime Minister Scott Morrison set a vaccination target as part of his four-step opening plan for Australia, with phase C triggered when double vaccination reached 80 per cent.
Source: Singapore reaches 80 pc double-vaccination rate but life is not returning to normal – ABC News
Yes, we have a ‘roadmap’ all the way out of Covid NSW and Health Minister Hazzard is sprouting thought bubbles just like Morrison, now that we won’t be listening to him and Gladys every day – Less bags of wind and heaps more sun and fresh air. That will sort everything out all the way to Christmas. Hell let’s not wait till mid-October, we can start opening up right now – Hunger games are just getting started.
Whose Lab and for whose use?
The Intercept contain new evidence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the nearby Wuhan University Center for Animal Experiment, along with their collaborator, the U.S.-based nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance, have engaged in what the U.S. government defines as “gain-of-function research of concern,” intentionally making viruses more pathogenic or transmissible in order to study them, despite stipulations from a U.S. funding agency that the money not be used for that purpose.
Source: Documents Provide New Evidence U.S. Funded Gain-of-Function Research
In an amazing feat, both leaders shift attention away from their past performances and on to future freedoms to be granted, based on decisions made by the public
Rio de Janeiro: Just a few weeks ago, COVID-19 was spreading with alarming ease across a cluster of nations in South America, overwhelming hospital systems and killing thousands of people daily. Suddenly, the region that had been the epicentre of the pandemic is breathing a sigh of relief.
Source: ‘Not easy to explain’: Sharp drop in South America’s COVID infections stuns experts
Playing with the heads of Nova Castrians Hazzard tells them the “good news”
More than 1500 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases have been reported in NSW – another record high – and four deaths. Announcing 1533 cases on Saturday morning, Health Minister Brad Hazzard stressed that vaccinate rates were the “good news”.
Source: More than 1500 new COVID cases in NSW | The New Daily
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