Covid-19

[Geo101]

On the "Latest COVID-19 case locations in NSW" webpage, they are reporting the 418 as two variants: Bus Route 418-70 and Bus Route 418-138.

https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/latest- ... ort-routes

Any idea what this is all about?

[eddy]

It seems to me the problem with the quarantine is the aerosols in poorly ventilated buildings and as winter is approaching, I suggest hiring a few cruise ships to be anchored in northern Australia allowing the people in quarantine to even sleep on the deck if they wish.

[Merc1107]

It seems to me the problem with the quarantine is the aerosols in poorly ventilated buildings and as winter is approaching

That is the biggest problem. Properly air-conditioned spaces should allow for a percentage of fresh-air intake to ensure the air does not become stale. These sorts of systems are usually found on ducted air-conditioning systems in larger commercial installations, although they were often used on older residential ones too. We had such a system in a previous home. It was great being able to leave the bathroom window ajar and have the moist air exhausted with the A/C on, same went for the kitchen when cooking.

In the case of quarantine facilities, it could allow air to be exhausted through a window kept ajar, or the centralised exhaust systems found in the bathroom/toilet facilities.

[eddy]

It is hard to believe that a country as clever as Australia is still trying to quarantine in places that get cold at night in hotels.

Why not just put some tents on an aircraft carrier anchored near Brisbane?

[1whoknows]

Australia has only ever had 4 aircraft carriers. All were scrapped long ago.

[eddy]

Australia has only ever had 4 aircraft carriers. All were scrapped long ago.

Thanks mate.

[Nugget]

Australia has only ever had 4 aircraft carriers. All were scrapped long ago.

In some navies the Adelaide and Canberra would be classified as aircraft carriers.

[boxythingy]

Masks no longer mandatory on public transport in NSW just as we are heading into a cooler season and every week there are more and more passengers than during the period that masks were mandatory????????

[CityRail]

Masks no longer mandatory on public transport in NSW just as we are heading into a cooler season and every week there are more and more passengers than during the period that masks were mandatory????????

There has also been some flu like bugs going around, and I think even if it is not mandatory, it would be beneficial to wear face masks on public transport to reduce the risk of transmission and infection.

Nonetheless, the long term solution to COVID-19 is vaccination. I really hope the vaccination can go as fast as possible so that things can go back to normal again.

[Swift]

I don't like how rushed the vaccines have been.
Who knows what long term health effects may show.
Did they work on them around the clock?
Don't forget they wouldn't likely have started on them until well after the disease got global, so less than a year.

Governments are not to be trusted. Financial pressure has caused them to drop well thought out protocols and normal duration for approvals.
Governments are not made up of religious leaders (mostly). They are made up of many unscrupulous types.

[boxythingy]

Masks no longer mandatory on public transport in NSW just as we are heading into a cooler season and every week there are more and more passengers than during the period that masks were mandatory????????

There has also been some flu like bugs going around, and I think even if it is not mandatory, it would be beneficial to wear face masks on public transport to reduce the risk of transmission and infection.

Absolutely, it can also hide unsightly open mouths should some people choose to nap in such a manner on the train

[SBD]

I don't like how rushed the vaccines have been.
Who knows what long term health effects may show.
Did they work on them around the clock?
Don't forget they wouldn't likely have started on them until well after the disease got global, so less than a year.

Governments are not to be trusted. Financial pressure has caused them to drop well thought out protocols and normal duration for approvals.
Governments are not made up of religious leaders (mostly). They are made up of many unscrupulous types.

What makes you say the vaccines have been "rushed"? One of the challenges to get other vaccines to market is how to get 30,000 or more people to try it out, especially when they also need exposure to the virus that the vaccine is to prevent. Apparently that often takes years, but this one could get that number of trial participants in days to weeks.

Every COVID-19 vaccine available in Australia has been used on millions of people overseas already. The vaccine developers were working round the clock on only this vaccine for the last year or so, with much more funding than they would have been used to for other vaccine development. They also have the experience and background of having been developing vaccines for other vaccines over the years.

I find it interesting that people seem to want to choose which vaccine they receive. How many of us check which of the five licensed flu vaccines we will get this year? Did you check the alternatives when you were vaccinated against polio, tuberculosis, whooping cough, rubella or anything else?

We don't yet know whether one vaccination for COVID-19 will last forever or if we will need regular updates like we need for influenza. Coronavirus seems to mutate slower than influenza, but because it is currently active in the global population, the mutations are showing up, and being detected. I expect that once most of the world is vaccinated or isolated, the mutations will develop much slower. We know that for other viruses, the consequences of an unvaccinated population are much worse than the consequence of a vaccine that occasionally causes a disease itself, such as the live poliovirus vaccine (and no COVID vaccines are based on live virus anyway).

[boronia]

Sydney:

I see TSA R6 now has individual COVID check-in QR in their buses, with a sticker on every window.

Has STA or other operators done this, haven't been on a STA bus for a while.

[Campbelltown busboy]

Sydney:

I see TSA R6 now has individual COVID check-in QR in their buses, with a sticker on every window.

Has STA or other operators done this, haven't been on a STA bus for a while.

Interline has the check in QR on every window

[Linto63]

I see TSA R6 now has individual COVID check-in QR in their buses, with a sticker on every window. Has STA or other operators done this, haven't been on a STA bus for a while.

These have been around for months including on charter vehicles.

[CityRail]

I don't understand why RTBU has failed to attack the government for not including all transport workers in Phase 1B of COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
I am highly concerned should we have an outbreak and a bus driver is infected, then there will become a super-spreading event across all passengers in the bus, particularly now not everybody is wearing a face mask.

[Swift]

Do what London does and close the driver off behind a glass barrier. At least the riff raff commoner passenger can't cough or launch a golly at them.

[Merc1107]

Do what London does and close the driver off behind a glass barrier. At least the riff raff commoner passenger can't cough or launch a golly at them.

The air-conditioning will soon take care of any seeming 'barrier' between driver and their pax...

[eddy]

The premier of WA says it is stupid to take the risk in hotels but rather put mandatory quarantine in warmer areas like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICXmy7sEexE&t=2s

[Swift]

Do what London does and close the driver off behind a glass barrier. At least the riff raff commoner passenger can't cough or launch a golly at them.

The air-conditioning will soon take care of any seeming 'barrier' between driver and their pax...

Drivers separate system.

[SBD]

The premier of WA says it is stupid to take the risk in hotels but rather put mandatory quarantine in warmer areas like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICXmy7sEexE&t=2s

Howard Springs is a relatively modern FIFO work camp. Surely WA's mining industry has scattered abandoned work camps all over the state with airports next to them. They would probably need a dedicated air ambulance to get sick cases back to Perth or another large hospital, but likely they don't need to set up the entire camp like most other states would need to.

[Jurassic_Joke]

The tape covering the front row of seats on the light rail in Sydney has been removed, after a year, these seats now have green stickers denoting you may sit here. Interestingly to note however, the same does not go for buses yet - front seats on this mode of transport remain strictly closed off. On Light Rail, doors are still opened automatically at all stops by the driver.

[Merc1107]

The premier of WA says it is stupid to take the risk in hotels but rather put mandatory quarantine in warmer areas like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICXmy7sEexE&t=2s

Howard Springs is a relatively modern FIFO work camp. Surely WA's mining industry has scattered abandoned work camps all over the state with airports next to them. They would probably need a dedicated air ambulance to get sick cases back to Perth or another large hospital, but likely they don't need to set up the entire camp like most other states would need to.

The trouble with having it in NW WA is you then add extra layers of movement for quarantine. Another flight up north (and back), buses to and from quarantine. The possibility of the RFDS being tied up with COVID patients. The limited resources of Hospitals in the region (Royal Darwin, for example, is the last place you want to find yourself for an ordinary medical emergency, nevermind COVID!).

Unless a facility can be setup on the fringe of the Perth metro area, probably not worth it.

[SBD]

Howard Springs is a relatively modern FIFO work camp. Surely WA's mining industry has scattered abandoned work camps all over the state with airports next to them. They would probably need a dedicated air ambulance to get sick cases back to Perth or another large hospital, but likely they don't need to set up the entire camp like most other states would need to.

The trouble with having it in NW WA is you then add extra layers of movement for quarantine. Another flight up north (and back), buses to and from quarantine. The possibility of the RFDS being tied up with COVID patients. The limited resources of Hospitals in the region (Royal Darwin, for example, is the last place you want to find yourself for an ordinary medical emergency, nevermind COVID!).

Unless a facility can be setup on the fringe of the Perth metro area, probably not worth it.

Given that inbound aircraft are not fully loaded, and might have a short hop to Perth next, I figured that some of the remote FIFO airports or RAAF Base Learmonth might be able to be set up with customs and immigration to have the inbound flight land close to the quarantine station. The issue might be runway width more than length.

I would expect that part of the effort of setting up the facility would include the state providing an appropriate air ambulance either instead or as a capability/capacity boost to the RFDS.

[Campbelltown busboy]

In the last couple of months I’ve noticed a few buses with the untaped front seats and it’s only a few buses witch might have been re taped since I’ve caught them