Australia fights new virus clusters as parts of country ease restrictions

VERY COOL: Scuba tour companies re-populating reefs

Since due to the shut downs there is a lack of tourists to the barrier reef, those who used to hold guided scuba tours are re-populating dead sections of reef with live coral, With about 1, 000 re-seedings already done, and obviously many more to go.

https://brightvibes.com/1713/en/with-no-tourists-australian-scuba-tours-are-planting-coral-instead

The headline is misleading. They are not really clusters. There are a number of new cases in two nursing homes. One in Melbourne and one in Sydney.

https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/covid-19/Pages/stats-nsw.aspx#clusters

This list includes locally-acquired clusters only; where a cluster represents 2 or more confirmed COVID-19 cases associated in location and time.

Name of Cluster

Anglicare Newmarch House 10/04/2020 City of Penrith 41-50 cases

The headline is not misleading. It is a cluster as defined by the authority in NSW.

Northernlife:

Maybe should have done nothing like Sweden who knows...

I have been watching numbers in Sweden for months.

One worrying fact is that their corona related death rate (per million) is one of the highest (7th and higher than USA) in the world. And it's getting worse.

Belgium: 677

Spain: 540

Italy: 475

UK: 414

France: 379

Netherland: 295

7. Sweden: 265

USA: 204

.... Japan: 4

.... Australia: 4

.... New Zealand: 4

Maybe should have done nothing like Sweden who knows...

Sweden did not do nothing. The government and the Swedish people are taking precautions (see extracts below) However, Sweden has a population of around 10 million, so far it has 22,082 cases and 2669 deaths. Australia has a population of around 25 million, so far it has 6,799 cases and 95 deaths. Below are extracts of an online article:

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/how-sweden-faced-the-virus-without-a-lockdown-1.4240944%3fmode=amp

Gatherings of more than 50 people are banned. Museums have closed, and sporting events have been cancelled. At the end of March, authorities banned visits to nursing homes.

On Sunday, five restaurants were closed down for failing to observe social distancing requirements. They were not fined, however, and will be permitted to reopen after passing an inspection, said Per Follin, regional medical officer with the Department of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention.

This is not to say that Sweden has escaped Covid-19’s deadly consequences entirely. The Swedish Public Health Authority has admitted that the country’s seniors have been hit hard, with the virus spreading through 75 per cent of the 101 care homes in Stockholm. Employees of the homes complain of shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Thanks Yoshisan but what I meant is they didnt shut down the economy lock people in their houses take away their personal freedoms..but if you just down this app we will lift your restrictions...

You are welcomed. I do wonder if some restrictions implemented by the Australian federal and state governments are overkills. A balanced approach is needed but it is very difficult to find one when people's lives are at stake.

Yoshisan, you are right, finding a balanced approach is the best solution but it’s very difficult to achieve when dealing with different people with different mentality, I think ASEAN countries have done well so far

Maybe Aussie should have gone with stricter measures like NZ after all.

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/a-virus-cluster-at-an-auckland-school-has-australian-parents-worried-should-they-be-20200430-p54orw.html

Medical experts have assured Australian parents a coronavirus cluster at a New Zealand school that has so far infected 94 people is no reason to fear sending their children back to classrooms.

The cluster began at Marist College in Auckland, a Catholic girls' school, with a teacher who tested positive on March 22. The New Zealand Herald reported she had not been overseas or in contact with any returned traveller, and the origin of her infection is still unknown.

Please remember that here in Australia and over in New Zealand the flu season is kicking in. I guess Argentina will also face this soon too.

So we have had to be extra careful and will still probably have to be careful. The virus spread fast in Wuhan in the peak of winter despite strong efforts to shut it down. Who knows what winter will bring in the southern hemisphere from now on?

Maybe it will not make a big difference.

Australia has been business as usual aside from no overseas visitors, no interstate travel and no dine in restaurants, bars or sporting events. Most shops have been open and office staff have worked from home. About 90% of the economy has not been affected. Mining, construction, political grifting, agriculture and land clearing has carried on unabated.

The headline is misleading. They are not really clusters. There are a number of new cases in two nursing homes. One in Melbourne and one in Sydney.