They've got an actual doctor at this presser saying that the 'indirect benefit' of vaxing kids is they might stop school closures. Yeah, that's a policy decision - not medical. Utterly foul using this.
They've trotted out a pediatrician dooming about the increase in positivity % in tests.
She has at least admitted that the only kids getting very unwell are those who have noted other health issues but they recover. Says even symptomatic kids unless urgent should recover at home.
Uhhh she's claimed getting your kid vxd will prevent covid. That's.. not even remotely accurate at the moment.
OH. Now it's about how bad it is if staff get exposed & have to furlough. Yeah again that's a policy decision to stand down people who aren't sick from working.
Jacinta "Code red happens from time to time". Blames covid, then says it can also happens during natural disasters.
Look I don't even know where to start with this now.
Journo asks the question about getting better data on WHY people are in hospital eg from or with covid.
Jacinta says it kind of doesn't matter (??) because their policy means once they're positive staff have to follow diff protocols to treat them. Yeah, it does actually matter.
WTF. Jacinta doubles down on the idea Djokovic needs to justify to the public why he got allowed in.
"It's only the decent thing to do".
YOU APPROVED IT BY YOUR OWN POLICY RULES. WHAT.
She wants him to explain the "reasons and motivations" that brought him to come here.
What, and I can't say this strongly enough, the fuck is wrong with these people.
She then doubles down on the idea that the exemption process is managed by ATAGI and applied equally across the country and to all travellers, so there's no special treatment. Then WHY are you asking him to explain himself?
It's over. Thank god. Two trainwreck pressers in a day is enough for everyone.
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VIC gov updates. Anyone with covid who finds out by rapid test, they're now responsible for reporting their own case & doing their own contact tracing. The hotline for reporting will exist 'from some time tomorrow'.
Lmao. Apparently a positive RAT is 90-95% accurate, so just as good as PCRs. But all the CHO advice on the Pandemic Orders is that they couldn't be used due to their high level of inaccuracy.
Foley claims there's been increased pressure across all healthcare, including GPs. Yeah because you kept telling everyone who didn't know what to do to call their GP? Think maybe that had an impact?
Comments on the Novak rejection and the inaccurate reporting of what the issue seems to be.
There's a lot of very loose claims this is a 'VISA issue'. First up, no Aus VISA has been legally amended to be linked to vax status. Vax status is a fully separate & different doc requirement that while needed is not technically a 'VISA issue'. Claiming it is, is inaccurate.
While Novak appears to have correctly received an exemption from a VIC panel on the basis of prior infection, which is in line with ATAGI guidelines & have been granted to hundreds of Aussies, that doc obviously isn't internationally recognised.
Presser today sees socialist barbie & captain weiner pushing boosters & addressing the testing issues.
We've got interchangable use of 'third dose' and 'booster'. Might need another media workshop guys, can't be breaking the echo chamber.
Weimar seems incredibly shocked that following his own words telling people to only get tested if they're actually sick or a close contact, higher % of tests are coming back positive. Shocking. Groundbreaking. Couldn't have been forseen as an outcome.
Comments on the Pandemic report tabled last week. 🧵
Tabled last week was 1/3 the required docs. It was the 'pandemic declaration report' required under sect 165AG that has to be published within 3 days. We're now waiting on the Pandemic Orders report (sect. 165AP), where the human rights advice is, which must be up within 7 days.
The final part is the publishing of these Orders in full in the Government Gazette, which also still hasn't happened (sect 165AR), which must be up within 10 working days.
New Pandemic Orders are up.
Brief notes based off the main questions received.
In short - other than the under 18's being exempt now they changed very little except the fines, which are pretty outrageous.
Bizarrely, they did the exact same penalty units for 'failure to comply with an Order'. For ALL the orders. It's 60 units for a person, 300 units for a company. That's $10,898.4 and $54,492. The govt will now fine you over $10k for not wearing a mask. This is not a joke.
This is outlined under the Movement and Gathering Order which relates to mandating masks. The only exception to this is a 'restricted retail premises', which are defined as just beauty and hair - they're exempt from the mask mandate on site.
In comparison, the NSW presser "we're asking the community to take personal responsibility".
Dom is coming across confident. Tells journos to make sure they report on hospital numbers, not just cases.
"We trust our health system in NSW, we've invested in it heavily and we have confidence in our people".
This is like watching something from another country. Surreal.
He's openly hammering the media to stop focusing on case numbers and instead focus on hospital and ICU numbers. Talks about the importance of living alongside the virus and 'people taking personal responsibility'.