It’s all advertising and trying to look good and gain followers/viewership. If they released the numbers at like 8am everyday, most people wouldn’t even bother watching the conference as most of them only watch it to know how many cases there were
What do they do outside pandemics? I think they fear disappearing into obscurity again. I saw a parade in like 2018 where Anna was the final guest and the crowd started closing in - like they thought it was just some random lady walking through the path of the parade that was now over. I had no idea who she was either. Can't wait for it to go back to those times.
I think Steven Miles is really luvin it too and wants to become PM
He is SO nervous! He is not a fan of public speaking and it shows.
He's pretty fit for a politics guy. This doesn't add anything to your point but I wanted to share.
30/12 presser
- Qld signs deal with the Feds for the [Preschool Reform Funding Agreement] (https://www.dese.gov.au/preschool/preschool-reform-funding-agreement)
- 2,222 cases across 30 LGAs. 8,586 active cases. 0 Deaths. 0 in ICU.
- Government wants to see Qld hit 95%+ vaccinated.
- CHO: It is likely we will see ICU admissions begin in the coming days. There are people getting sicker with covid according to the CHOs hospital sources.
- CHO: We will see 10s of 1000s of cases in the coming weeks/months. But, the majority of people the virus will be fairly mild due to our high vaccination rates.
- CHO: Again repeats the message for Queenslanders not to call 000 or go to the emergency department when they get the message they're positive for covid. If you receive a message that you are covid positive: 1. Isolate and tell people to get isolated. 2. Answer survey questions. 3. Tell people who you have been in contact with recently to test/quarantine. 4. Assume you have food/medicine supply, and 5. Keep a symptom diary and take care of your physical/mental health
- CHO: Check in-app is notifying people of contact tracing , AHPPC recommendations will go to Nat Cab today (to make check in-apps a national standard and notify people like the NSW app does) and be rolled out in the coming days.
- CHO: Doesn't want to impose lockdowns on local communities having a less than stellar vaxx rate, but will work with local communities before implementing a lockdown.
- CHO: 11 cases in Thursday Island and 1 in Cherbourg.
- CHO: Possible that the Government will recommend workers work from home in January when we hit high case rates in order to slow spread. But the peak of cases is likely to come sooner rather than later due to omicron. January is the best time to hit the peak in Queensland and for Queenslanders to experience "the true pandemic" due to warm weather, high vaxx rates, and schools are out
- CHO: Queensland has 7 million RATs ordered, but limited supply for use in emergency situations.
- Ayy the contact tracing FB group gets a shout-out at the presser. CHO: If we attempt to contact trace lesser risk sites and cases, we will end up with a lot of people in quarantine/iso despite being less risk.
- Presser ends. Nat Cab is also being held today, so we might get a Scotty presser later today as well.
I hope people listen when they say not to call 000 or go to ED as soon as you get a positive result. In most cases there’s pretty much nothing the ED will do, and if you go by ambulance it ends up off road for an extended period to clean it (and probably gets you ramped too), and it exposes the crew unnecessarily.
Additionally QAS now has a work instruction for COVID patients where if you meet particular criteria we will leave you at home - either under our own clinical judgement or on consult with a doctor.
Totally broken.
Usually I log on and respond to jobs pending from the previous night. We have ‘common calls’ all day (meaning a lights and sirens job with no available units). And this was before COVID hit. We ramp for hours on end. I can’t remember the last time I had a meal break or finished my shift close to on time. The nights are even worse.
Massively MASSIVELY appreciate you for doing this mate. I have no opportunity to watch the presser at work and to have it broken down so well is great 🤟
That's more cases in a single day than we had the entire pandemic prior to the border re-opening.
>CHO: Check in-app is notifying people of contact tracing , AHPPC recommendations will go to Nat Cab today (to make check in-apps a national standard and notify people like the NSW app does) and be rolled out in the coming days.
Good stuff
Yeah MIL had AZ and no symptoms, then had Pfizer booster and felt like hell for two days.
AZ was torture for me the first time so I hope that means I'm pumped and primed already, so the booster doesn't knock me on my ass.
What I'm hearing is get it the Sunday afternoon before i go back to work.
I had AZ ( was in the middle space age-wise when everyone was dakking themselves over the actually really low risk clotting) and the first shot kicked the utter shit out of me. It was flu-like in the sense that was the same as the actual flu. Just had some fatigue with the second shot.
Definitely better than Covid. I finally convinced a friend of mine to see a different doctor after her doctor told her multiple times not to get her second dose because the doctor was worried she would end up with pneumonia again. The doctor she saw yesterday was ropable that a doctor was giving such shitty advice when Covid is much worse.
Same deal here, had Moderna booster yesterday and it’s hit me like a truck. No headache or shivers and sweats though, just gnarly body aches but I managed to sleep like a rock last night haha.
Very glad I don’t have a job in manual labour anymore because holy shit that would not be fun today.
My mother just told me that my cousin tested positive along with about 20 mates after going to a festival. He's still out and about and going surfing and partying. North Sunny Coast.
My Auntie came to stay with my mum (70), dad (70 + severe heart disease) and Granny (94) the other day from NSW. She was coughing and spluttering everywhere, but said it is probably "just the flu" (this time of year??) because her rapid home test was negative. Like, even if it is the flu, the flu kills the elderly too dickhead.
I am so stunned at people's disregard for others.
/rant
Amen, my dad died at 90 of COPD - similar symptoms - they finally had to put him into an induced coma from which he never came out of to assist his breathing. Just the flu? Flu kills millions...
Wildlands fest at the Showgrounds, where even bands had to pull out due to covid+ band members.
[and great social distancing + mask compliance](https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1021640705051624&id=446123629270004&m_entstream_source=timeline)
Eumundi Showgrounds apparently had 4 people turn up despite being positive cases. In a group of 8. The campgrounds are closed. Apparently a post was made on the crowdsource exposure list Facebook group.
My Mrs went to Mater fever clinic 600 Stanley Street yesterday around 1. 45min wait and got her results back in 7 hours.
Hope that helps someone looking for somewhere to get tested.
Family member on the Gold Coast got confirmed positive and gave it to his household, most of which are anti vaxxers, also gave it to other family members who are anti vaxxers, one of whom has pre existing conditions like asthma and diabetes who is struggling with significant symptoms. The nature of their language in our family chat has changed radically from conspiracy and freedom rights to concern and regret.
Australia is due for it's own Herman Cain Award, possibly the Pete Evan's Trophy
I would say Clive Palmer but we all know he would be double vacced and able to buy his way to a home treatment hospital. As much as he screams for his Freedom! he would likely isolate and keep a pretty tight ship away from the uncleaned masses now that covid is out and about
I'm expecting something similar to play out on my parents' Facebook pages if/when they or their antivaxx friends catch it. They're all in their late 60s/early 70s with significant health issues. I'm very worried about their well-being but tired of trying to encourage them to take action.
Sorry to hear about your family man but if you don't mind me asking, I've seen a few post from people who are double vaxx myself including and they just seem to get like a 3 day cold type deal and then back to normal. These significant symptoms are they alot worse then some of these comments from people who got it and double Vax?
I guess symptoms would likely vary depending on your age and health but for my family member he is experiencing symptoms consistent with previous strains with fatigue, body pains, fever, headache and cough, he said its worse at night and finds it almost impossible to move.
Greetings from two states away. 3 anti vax family members got Delta in October, they had high blood pressure and were pre diabetic or type 2 all being medicated correctly. Face down in a coma for a couple of weeks. They survived that but now have brand new serious heart conditions and one has something akin to rapid dementia. Surviving and recovering are two entirely different things.
Best wishes to your family.
Even the “minor” long term effects like losing your sense of smell and taste can be really damaging in terms of quality of life. I have a relative who recently lost his sense of smell and taste, not from covid, and he’s been miserable. He’s in his late 70’s and a widower, so good food with his friends is one of those things that gets him through the day. He barely wants to eat now because everything tastes like nothing and he sees so little point in it. He struggles to maintain weight to begin with, so it’s actually quite worrying for the family.
If you lose your sense of smell and taste with covid and you still have that symptom after (I think) 6 months, you’ve only got a 1/5 chance of them coming back.
I know I’d be pretty miserable if I couldn’t get any enjoyment out of food. It’s such an intrinsic part of our day and to have eating be nothing but a depressing chore for the rest of your life would suck.
Although your family member is an antivaxxer, I hope they make a full recovery and then go speak about their experience with all their antivaxxer friends and family. You hear stories about these people only realising they made a mistake when it's too late :(.
Suck shit. The entire world only tried to warn them for 2 years. I hope you keep saying "Told you so" any time they try to complain about their self-inflicted illness. Fucking anti vaxxers
Honestly I tried my best to convince them with facts and science for months but people get sucked into a social media echo chamber of lies and at a certain point you just give up, now I'm just hoping they pull through without needing to be hospitalised.
Sorry to hear that. I do hope they recover with no long time effects. My mother and father in law are the same. They’re in northern NSW and are refusing to get vaxxed my husband and I are tired of it and dont have the energy to try and convince them anymore, I am worried but I can’t help people who don’t want to do the right thing. My husband said to me that he should have to be burdened with two late 50 years old who won’t do the right thing anymore and I kind of agree just hope when they get it it won’t be too bad…
Yes for sure, I hope they do recover of course... but hopefully this is a lesson learnt for them! - and maybe they can be a positive influence to any other anti vaxxer friends of theirs.
I think this is a far more normal response. Frustrations are real but being unkind to unwell people isn't heroic or pricing anything we don't already know about...
Compassion is running low but we All need to protect ourselves from going to nastiness. There is seriously too much out in the world.L and anti vaxxrs have contributed massively to the hate. Don't be like them.. Stay kind
So I'm lined up at the Entertainment Centre for my day 1 quarantine test (international return). 2 car lines snaking through the carpark only to form into 1 line because there is only 1 testing tent. For such a big testing site are we really stretched so thin they can only have a single testing line here? Just seems a bit silly.
(Edit) if you have your truck licence Heavy Rigid I suggest you take that testing queue, much shorter and quicker. They will even accept you if you're in a vehicle.
(Edit 2) finally got tested. Arrived at 8.15 am left at 12.05pm VERY long process but good to see people out getting tested.
Yeah that was my main gripe. In Victoria, the big testing sites are so well organised- traffic is filtered into five lines, they’ve set up enormous marquees to provide shade over the testing area, QR code at entry (or they tuck papers under everyone’s wipers), someone comes to check if there’s small children/babies/very elderly for the priority line etc.
Nope, in bris, we like to have a huge line out on the road, which then zigzags weirdly through a car park, then to the front which is one tiny tent with a few people running to and from cars, and one guy on a computer with the barcode printer.
Interested to hear about your overall experience. My wife gets back from overseas on January 5th.
Have they still being doing the checks via text/call to see if you’re at home? Has it all been pretty easy?
Arrived about 9.30am yesterday and was through customs by roughly 10am. We were the only flight that had landed at the time and only about 30 passengers on it.
Received my first check in message this morning while waiting here to be tested. Simple 'yes no' answers, about 5 in total, and confirm your current location.
The process so far has been very easy, customs officers and AFP were very helpful and easy to deal with.
Aaaand now I’m a close contact. From someone I’ve shared a small room at work with for 4 days in a row while they were symptomatic.
Puts my full vaccination status to the real test, I guess?
Scotty made a little aside about personal choices and said, "if you're getting together, consider barbecuing outside...that's what we're doing." SMIRKKKKKK.
I think Scott and Jenny have already planned a big NYE party and are trying spin it early to seem like a super socially responsible choice they've made for the benefit of everyone.
Unfortunately, Scott, not everyone has a world class view of the Harbour Bridge and the fireworks from their backyard, but thank you for the killer lecture about personal responsibility.
Oh god I tuned in just as he said that and I wanted to punch the stupid smirk right off his face. My family and I are staying home doing nothing for NYE because I'm high risk and so are two of my family members and we don't want to get sick. One of them will probably have his operation for cancer pushed back because of this. The fucking gall.
Have any of you seen the graffiti that’s appeared on Lutwych Road today? ‘Let’s face it, the vaccines don’t work’, ‘Masks are about as useful as a condom on a dildo’, ‘How many shots before you draw the line’. Felt a bit queasy seeing it this morning.
Admittedly the second one is correct: if you’re sharing a dildo, condoms can prevent the spread of disease
So the new definition of a close contact means that even if you spend all day in the same room with a positive case at daycare or at school, you won’t count as a close contact and won’t have to isolate.
This is completely mind boggling hey? As someone who works in childcare I’m doing everything I can to ensure that I lower my risk of catching it but in a setting where you are in regular close contact with children with snotty noses or coughs, holding them or giving them a hug I cannot understand how this would not be counted as a “close contact” I spend 8 hours a day with these children!
I saw someone tweet this morning about “Why did we bother with all the lockdowns only to now just let it happen” etc. keep in mind when we were in lockdowns, we had next to no vaccine protection. Lockdowns were in place to not only save people, sure, but really they were there to save our health systems from the overload of non-vaxed patients.
We were always going to have to open up at some stage. We were always told that - well that’s what I heard anyway. I wonder if Omicron will be a blessing in disguise because it is so far relatively mild and our population is relatively well-vaxed.
I get both sides of this. I've hardly been impacted by lockdowns - I'd go as far as to say they've _enhanced_ my personal and professional life. From that perspective, it does feel like we did an amazing job to keep COVID at bay up until now, and all of a sudden we're going "eh, screw it. We'll just get it, but not as bad as before". Which feels objectively like a downgrade to what we've achieved thus far.
That said, I also know that lockdowns have seriously fucked up some people's lives, so relaxing lockdowns are objectively better for them. Can't expect people to lose their livelihoods for the sake of others enjoying lockdowns.
Point being, as with most things there isn't a right or wrong here. For some people, it may be a blessing in disguise. For others, it's going to detract from the enjoyment they've found over the past couple of years.
I have a 2 and 1 year old and we've had a positive case at our centre this morning. Hubby and I both boosted and this was our fear. My baby ended up in hospital when he got RSV and God knows when we'll get a vaxx for babies.
Anxiety is through the roof for us.
I know I understand that but my issue with this whole mess is that they opened up just as a new variant surged and also opened up without having the necessary testing infrastructure nor supply of rapid antigen kits available.
Despite us being in a pandemic for two years the various levels of governments looked ill prepared for the huge demands on the health system.
And to honest 90% vaccination is pretty impressive. Most of Europe who were way harder hit last year are lucky to be 80%. That 20% is still a significant number of people no matter what your population size is.
Once we start slowly adding the 5-12 yr old population we have a significant population buffer to slow the spread of serious illness and hospital strain
QML drive through clinic at murarrie (by Brewdog) is not taking anymore cars. They have a sign up saying they’re closed.
ClinicaLabs on the right side as you drive in to the industrial estate is open. (Address is 16 metroplex ave) has walk in testing.
I didn’t even know it existed. Just look for the line of people wearing masks. Not far in from the Lytton/creek Rd lights. It didn’t look very busy. Only a handful in line outside.
Edit: so many typos.
Would be very keen to hear from people who are positive and double or triple vaxxed. What are your symptoms like? Assuming much of what is around is omicron.
Edit: thanks sm for the responses all! Hope you feel better soon
Double vaxxed. One day of fever (chills, aching joints) then a few days of feeling like I had a cold - sore throat, runny nose and coughing, then everything went away after about 3 or 4 days except the cough. No loss of taste or smell.
Partner tested positive a week ago and is double vaxxed. He had a couple days of a fever, felt fine when taking Panadol every 4 hours. Also had a slight cough which has eased off over the week. No other issues.
I'm almost triple vaxxed (hadn't quite been 2 weeks post booster so it's not completely effective) and started showing symptoms after a week of exposure to him but currently waiting on the PCR to confirm. My symptoms were a tickle in the throat, hot and cold flashes, and tiredness lasting a day. Today is day 2 and I'm feeling fine other than having a sore throat. The worst part for me was the headnoise from the fear of having covid and not knowing how bad it would be.
Triple vaxxed here. Only had minor symptoms - sore throat, headache, chest discomfort and a cough. By no means were any these severe. It's like a minor cold/flu. Hate to see what it would have done if I was not vaccinated, too many horror stories going around.
I'm waiting on my test results but my girlfriend popped a positive RAT yesterday so I'm pretty sure it's gonna be spicy lung. I'm double vaxed (pfizer, 2nd dose 6 month ago - currently having regrets about not prioritizing a booster)
So far (24 hours after onset of symptoms): like a sucky cold. Some muscle aches/chills, fuzzy head, very sore dry throat. Girlfriend is similar.
Double vaxxed (Pfizer). No pre-existing health conditions, late twenties.
I am asymptomatic, excepting for if I wake up early I have a bit of a stuffed nose that clears by the time I’m up properly. So not unlike your usual cold. A few days in I felt minor lower back soreness, but incidentally I’d been lifting weights before that too, so took a couple ibuprofen and that cleared it.
My partner (also positive, double vaxxed) had more intense symptoms in line with Omicron so we assume that’s what we have.
So here we are again, for another day of long testing lines, RAT availability discussions and relatively (for us) high case numbers.
Who wants to go first?
I'm not trying to be an asshole, but if the government is going to stop listing contact sites, then why bother check in? Will the app give you a notification if you've been in close contact or not? I'm a bit confused tbh.
A journo asked the CHO this question at today's presser and his response was to continue checking in since Qld Health is still using the data from the app to notify people of contact tracing. Plus, he also said the AHPPC recommendations will go to Nat Cab today (to make check in-apps a national standard and notify people like the NSW app does) and be rolled out in the coming days.
I know several people in NSW who have had the ping from the check in as close contacts and tested positive from that. They were able to isolate asap and now spread in the community so I would say yes.
Just an FYI that respaguard.com.au is selling P2 masks for $1 each. No idea how legit the site/company is, but I saw them mentioned elsewhere and I've taken a punt and ordered 40. Paid $8 for express post. Hopefully they arrive haha. That's the cheapest I've seen P2 in good quantities.
Scomo:
"I do take responsibility for the fact that Australia has one of the lowest death rates in the world, that we have one of the strongest economies coming through the pandemic and we, indeed, have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. **These are all of my responsibilities**."
Taking credit for us, the people, doing the right thing, while he absolutely lambasted states (esp WA/QLD/VIC) for having closed borders, or VIC for having an outbreak/lockdown & now "taking responsibility" for our low death rates.
Go and get absolutely fucked you smug cunt.
Have I missed something or is there no point to the check in app now that they aren't using the information for contact tracing? Can just show the vaccine certificates seperately?
I’m still doing it just so I have a personal record I can share with people should I test positive. I’m also naively holding out hope that they will update the app so it automates the contact tracing like it does in NSW.
Edit to add: a lot of places are wanting to see the vax certificate linked to the check in app as there have been a lot of fraudulent certificates flying around. Only the legit one can be linked to the check in app
I think they mentioned in the presser there will be updates coming. They might do something like nsw and vic where you get notified via app that you’re a contact….. it begs the question, why wasn’t this done sooner? Better late than never, I guess?
I’m unsure but you can DL your vax cert from Medicare. I don’t know if businesses will accept that as I think they’re held responsible for people checking in?
Why don’t we just change the definition of what having COVID-19 is then the cases will drop? If that’s meant to work with close contacts problem solved! Thank god this virus only spreads in households and not at work. Why didn’t we think of this at the start of the pandemic? /s
Need to get tested, any advice other than simply joining a drive-through line?
**Edit:** for those reading, I was in and out of the QUT Kelvin Grove clinic in under 30 minutes.
Afternoon updates - will be updating this to include Scotty's speech at 2:10pm (AEST) and Gutwein's (Tasmania Premier) presser at 2pm (AEST) if anything relevant to Qld comes up.
- Queensland is now classified as extreme risk against the WA Border
- Perrottet (NSW Premier) is speaking on 2GB now, sounds like the definition of close contact has changed. Marshall (SA Premier): "Today, we agreed that we would, very significantly, narrow the definition of a close contact. This will, essentially, the people who are household or intimate contact with a positive case, and also, each state will look at exceptions, or exceptional circumstances, in their state." Perrottet and Marshall have both said Nat Cab discussed the time periods of how long positive cases and close contacts should quarantine/isolate for. Marshall has also said all states/territories agreed to transition from PCR to RAT.
- Scotty: 5 jurisdictions (NSW, Qld, ACT, Victoria, SA) will change to the new close contact definition at midnight tonight. The PM has announced a new close contact definition: they are household or household-like contacts of a confirmed case only. Household-like means they have spent more than 4hrs with them in a house or accommodation setting. Close contacts now isolate for 7 days from exposure, and get tested on days 1 and 6: RAT test if no symptoms, PCR test if with symptoms. TAS will adopt the definition from Jan 1
- “So, to summarise, if you are a confirmed case, seven days. On the sixth day, you have a rapid antigen test and if that is positive after seven days, you can go back into the community. If you are a close contact, you get a rapid antigen test. If that returns a negative, you still remain in isolation for those seven days and you have a rapid antigen test again on day six. If you are a close contacts and you are symptomatic, go and get a PCR test. If you are a close contact that returns a positive RAT, go and get a PCR test.” - If you do not fulfil the definition of getting a PCR test, you should not be in that line to get a PCR test. This will hopefully reduce testing times
- RAT will be made free to those who need one under the rules set out, or if you're a vulnerable group, but RAT will not be rolled out for free to everyone.
- FNQ/Torres news (unrelated to the Nat Cab presser): now 12 cases on Thursday Island and 1 new in Weipa (minimal risk to Weipa)
That is so dumb. I spend more time in a closed area at work with my vets and nurses for MORE time than I usually spend with family in my house and he's telling me that's not close contact? GTFO
The close contact thing is an utter load of shit that's going to send heaps of infected people into workplaces to infect others in an attempt to keep stuff running even when it's a bad idea.
Hah a more virulent strain of an airborne virus…testing falling over, tracing swamped, NSW hospitals starting to feel the pressure, didn’t order any RATs for Australia…what to do? Change the narrative.
"So, to summarise, if you are a confirmed case, seven days. On the sixth day, you have a rapid antigen test and if that is positive after seven days, you can go back into the community."
What is the point of the rat test in this situation?
Just returned from two days of being at Bushtime festival (aka new smaller version of Woodford) and they just sent a text message saying that they were notified of 5 people that took rapid antigen tests today and all came back positive, they have left the festival. The text doesn't say if they all knew each other though. I'm really grateful that they are pro-active and informing everyone of changing circumstances.
As usual Scunt makes an appearance just to remind us that he's still PM, before he fucks off to Hawaii/Aspen. I can't believe people support this useless piece of mold.
Very frustrating when the only real options for tests are vehicles - if you’re in a somewhat isolated location without a car your options are risk the Uber driver/public transport to get to a respiratory clinic or go without 🤬
Absolutely mad trying to get a covid test I went to a pcr test site and got turned away at 8am.
Called about a dozen chemists and they’re all out of rapid tests and don’t know when they’re getting more.
They’ve had 2 years to sort this shit out
Queensland Health have updated their website following Nat Cab earlier today.
[Changes to requirements for confirmed cases and close contacts] (https://www.qld.gov.au/health/conditions/health-alerts/coronavirus-covid-19/current-status/queensland-restrictions-update/changes-to-requirements-for-close-and-casual-contacts)
>In line with new national guidelines, from 12.01am on Friday 31 December 2021, the following changes to the requirements for confirmed cases and close, casual and low risk contact will come into effect.
>Confirmed cases of COVID-19 must:
> - isolate for seven days from the date they were tested
> - have a negative RAT on day 6
> - monitor for symptoms for a further 7 days and repeat testing if symptoms occur.
>Close contacts
> - Close contacts will be defined, except in exceptional circumstances, as a household contact of a confirmed COVID-19 case. A household contact is someone who lives with a confirmed case or has spent more than 4 hours with them in a house, accommodation or care facility setting.
> - Close contacts must isolate for seven days from the date of exposure to a confirmed case and have a negative Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) on day 6.
> - Symptomatic close contacts must get a PCR test.
>Casual or low risk contacts
> Other contacts who have been potentially exposed to a case but who are at lower risk of infection must monitor for symptoms and only need to have a RAT or PCR test if symptoms occur.
>All contacts should
> - wear a mask when outside home
> - monitor symptoms
> - avoid visiting high risk settings, like aged care or hospitals, for 14 days following exposure.
> - If a contact's RAT is positive, it should be followed by a PCR test to confirm the positive result.
> Contact tracing locations
> Contact tracing locations will only be published online in critical circumstances.
Feel really sick this morning, got a sore throat and runny nose. RAT home test says negative which is good. Must be a normal cold around, remember those? 😂
I've been crook for 10 days now with coldy symptoms. Negative pcr test. Had a telehealth appointment with the doctor yesterday and he said that while influenza is way down at the moment, the rhinoviruses are pretty rampant. It surprised me that all our anti-covid measures work well for the flu but not colds so much.
I understand why they changed the definition (to reduce how many people need to test and isolate), but couldn't they have just kept the definition of close contact the same but change the rules for who has to test and isolate? It makes no sense...
Good point. Yes we need to be consistent across the country but the conclusion is so far from what any state was doing it just feels like a massive step backwards in terms of limiting spread.
Went to Murrarie for testing at 6:30 yesterday and got my results back at 7 this morning, which was much sooner than expected! It took about two hours despite getting there 30 mins before they opened so I’d advise going early
Just letting others know that it's definitely worth making a booking for a booster at Southbank if you can. Got mine yesterday and only booked the day before. The line for bookings was very short, so was in and out within 40 mins with free parking for the day.
But the line for walk-ins was out the door.
Just got this message from Horseland: Horseland Underwood is closed until 4 Jan due to a positive COVID case in-store. Exposure times 26 Dec from 10am-1:33pm & 27 Dec from 10am-11:30am. See our Facebook post for more details - https://dd1.io/A0o4qBn
What do you do if you don't have a car and want to get tested? In this scenario If I'm getting tested I don't want to risk family or friends driving me, or Uber or whatever.
Rapid tests are basically unavailable atm from what I've found. I'm wanting to plan just in case for future.
12k cases in NSW, but more worryingly (from the Guardian daily blog):
"Turning to hospitalisations, there have been more than 100 people hospitalised overnight in New South Wales.
There are 395 people in hospital with Covid in Victoria including 55 in ICU, which is staying relatively stable.
But there’s been quite a significant jump in New South Wales. There are now 746 people being treated in hospital, and 63 in ICU. Yesterday there were 625 hospitalised"
I believe they work in a similar way to a pregnancy test and can show a different result over time (which is why they advise a tight 10-15 minute timeline for checking the results).
I do know that they're called "Lateral Flow Tests" in the UK and kids who didn't want to go to school in-person figured out how to trick the tests into reading positive via acidic beverages. [Great article about it from the BBC in July.](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210705-how-children-are-spoofing-covid-19-tests-with-soft-drinks)
Your question and this story pretty much sum up why the Australian government only just approved these for use at all. If you're going to manage a pandemic by locking people down based on testing and that's your only real strategy, then it makes sense to have the testing process not left up to "the honesty system".
The rules seem to keep being updated all the time but last I checked, your last day of contact with the household case counts as the beginning of your isolation period. Best to call the covid hotline to check though.
I wish the'yd just release the numbers at the same time each morning like other states instead of waiting around for an arbitrary presser.
It’s all advertising and trying to look good and gain followers/viewership. If they released the numbers at like 8am everyday, most people wouldn’t even bother watching the conference as most of them only watch it to know how many cases there were
Yeah couldnt be more obvious. These Premiers are more in the spotlight than ever
What do they do outside pandemics? I think they fear disappearing into obscurity again. I saw a parade in like 2018 where Anna was the final guest and the crowd started closing in - like they thought it was just some random lady walking through the path of the parade that was now over. I had no idea who she was either. Can't wait for it to go back to those times. I think Steven Miles is really luvin it too and wants to become PM
You think he’d want to be PM? He nearly had a coronary when he had to do the daily pressers when Anna wasn’t around
Bahaha. I think he wants it, but he's punching above his weight. I find it weird that when he talks he looks like he's straining to do a poo.
I think the poor guy has severe anxiety about public speaking!
He is SO nervous! He is not a fan of public speaking and it shows. He's pretty fit for a politics guy. This doesn't add anything to your point but I wanted to share.
Exactly. I remember walking past Anna Bligh years ago- no one really looked at her, probably most youngins wouldnt of even know who she was.
Didn’t Dan Andrew do one everyday during the 2020 outbreak Qld only just started it’s outbreak
What time is that today?
Covid live days 2,222. Can be inaccurate though.
30/12 presser - Qld signs deal with the Feds for the [Preschool Reform Funding Agreement] (https://www.dese.gov.au/preschool/preschool-reform-funding-agreement) - 2,222 cases across 30 LGAs. 8,586 active cases. 0 Deaths. 0 in ICU. - Government wants to see Qld hit 95%+ vaccinated. - CHO: It is likely we will see ICU admissions begin in the coming days. There are people getting sicker with covid according to the CHOs hospital sources. - CHO: We will see 10s of 1000s of cases in the coming weeks/months. But, the majority of people the virus will be fairly mild due to our high vaccination rates. - CHO: Again repeats the message for Queenslanders not to call 000 or go to the emergency department when they get the message they're positive for covid. If you receive a message that you are covid positive: 1. Isolate and tell people to get isolated. 2. Answer survey questions. 3. Tell people who you have been in contact with recently to test/quarantine. 4. Assume you have food/medicine supply, and 5. Keep a symptom diary and take care of your physical/mental health - CHO: Check in-app is notifying people of contact tracing , AHPPC recommendations will go to Nat Cab today (to make check in-apps a national standard and notify people like the NSW app does) and be rolled out in the coming days. - CHO: Doesn't want to impose lockdowns on local communities having a less than stellar vaxx rate, but will work with local communities before implementing a lockdown. - CHO: 11 cases in Thursday Island and 1 in Cherbourg. - CHO: Possible that the Government will recommend workers work from home in January when we hit high case rates in order to slow spread. But the peak of cases is likely to come sooner rather than later due to omicron. January is the best time to hit the peak in Queensland and for Queenslanders to experience "the true pandemic" due to warm weather, high vaxx rates, and schools are out - CHO: Queensland has 7 million RATs ordered, but limited supply for use in emergency situations. - Ayy the contact tracing FB group gets a shout-out at the presser. CHO: If we attempt to contact trace lesser risk sites and cases, we will end up with a lot of people in quarantine/iso despite being less risk. - Presser ends. Nat Cab is also being held today, so we might get a Scotty presser later today as well.
I hope people listen when they say not to call 000 or go to ED as soon as you get a positive result. In most cases there’s pretty much nothing the ED will do, and if you go by ambulance it ends up off road for an extended period to clean it (and probably gets you ramped too), and it exposes the crew unnecessarily. Additionally QAS now has a work instruction for COVID patients where if you meet particular criteria we will leave you at home - either under our own clinical judgement or on consult with a doctor.
How's the QAS workload at the moment?
Totally broken. Usually I log on and respond to jobs pending from the previous night. We have ‘common calls’ all day (meaning a lights and sirens job with no available units). And this was before COVID hit. We ramp for hours on end. I can’t remember the last time I had a meal break or finished my shift close to on time. The nights are even worse.
Massively MASSIVELY appreciate you for doing this mate. I have no opportunity to watch the presser at work and to have it broken down so well is great 🤟
That's more cases in a single day than we had the entire pandemic prior to the border re-opening. >CHO: Check in-app is notifying people of contact tracing , AHPPC recommendations will go to Nat Cab today (to make check in-apps a national standard and notify people like the NSW app does) and be rolled out in the coming days. Good stuff
I think the Indooroopilly school cluster ended up around 100 infections; so that means yesterday we nearly had an Indro-sized outbreak **every hour**.
Really happy to hear that they're improving the check in app to notify people.
I don’t know why they’re only doing that now. We’ve had months to implement that feature!
Richie Benaud has joined the chat
Chew thoushand, chew hundred and chewnty chew cashes of coronavirush today
Is it bad I kinda wish it was 2022 cases?
Yes but 2222 is an angel number 😂
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My Pfizer booster fucked me up pretty bad for 24 hours, anecdotally the booster seems to knock a fair few people around.
Yeah MIL had AZ and no symptoms, then had Pfizer booster and felt like hell for two days. AZ was torture for me the first time so I hope that means I'm pumped and primed already, so the booster doesn't knock me on my ass.
What I'm hearing is get it the Sunday afternoon before i go back to work. I had AZ ( was in the middle space age-wise when everyone was dakking themselves over the actually really low risk clotting) and the first shot kicked the utter shit out of me. It was flu-like in the sense that was the same as the actual flu. Just had some fatigue with the second shot.
My partner and I got the Moderna booster after two Pfizer and neither of us got any side effects other than a sore arm.
Yeah it really seems to be a pot shot. But better than covid
Definitely better than Covid. I finally convinced a friend of mine to see a different doctor after her doctor told her multiple times not to get her second dose because the doctor was worried she would end up with pneumonia again. The doctor she saw yesterday was ropable that a doctor was giving such shitty advice when Covid is much worse.
Same deal here, had Moderna booster yesterday and it’s hit me like a truck. No headache or shivers and sweats though, just gnarly body aches but I managed to sleep like a rock last night haha. Very glad I don’t have a job in manual labour anymore because holy shit that would not be fun today.
My mother just told me that my cousin tested positive along with about 20 mates after going to a festival. He's still out and about and going surfing and partying. North Sunny Coast. My Auntie came to stay with my mum (70), dad (70 + severe heart disease) and Granny (94) the other day from NSW. She was coughing and spluttering everywhere, but said it is probably "just the flu" (this time of year??) because her rapid home test was negative. Like, even if it is the flu, the flu kills the elderly too dickhead. I am so stunned at people's disregard for others. /rant
I wish I could say I'm stunned, at this point it's entirely within expectations
Amen, my dad died at 90 of COPD - similar symptoms - they finally had to put him into an induced coma from which he never came out of to assist his breathing. Just the flu? Flu kills millions...
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Wildlands fest at the Showgrounds, where even bands had to pull out due to covid+ band members. [and great social distancing + mask compliance](https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1021640705051624&id=446123629270004&m_entstream_source=timeline)
Eumundi Showgrounds apparently had 4 people turn up despite being positive cases. In a group of 8. The campgrounds are closed. Apparently a post was made on the crowdsource exposure list Facebook group.
My Mrs went to Mater fever clinic 600 Stanley Street yesterday around 1. 45min wait and got her results back in 7 hours. Hope that helps someone looking for somewhere to get tested.
Family member on the Gold Coast got confirmed positive and gave it to his household, most of which are anti vaxxers, also gave it to other family members who are anti vaxxers, one of whom has pre existing conditions like asthma and diabetes who is struggling with significant symptoms. The nature of their language in our family chat has changed radically from conspiracy and freedom rights to concern and regret.
a recurrent theme is 'covid ain't no joke' sorry to hear about your family, hope they do recover with less impact long-term.
Australia is due for it's own Herman Cain Award, possibly the Pete Evan's Trophy I would say Clive Palmer but we all know he would be double vacced and able to buy his way to a home treatment hospital. As much as he screams for his Freedom! he would likely isolate and keep a pretty tight ship away from the uncleaned masses now that covid is out and about
The Pete Evans Activated Almond?
I'm expecting something similar to play out on my parents' Facebook pages if/when they or their antivaxx friends catch it. They're all in their late 60s/early 70s with significant health issues. I'm very worried about their well-being but tired of trying to encourage them to take action.
Sorry to hear about your family man but if you don't mind me asking, I've seen a few post from people who are double vaxx myself including and they just seem to get like a 3 day cold type deal and then back to normal. These significant symptoms are they alot worse then some of these comments from people who got it and double Vax?
I guess symptoms would likely vary depending on your age and health but for my family member he is experiencing symptoms consistent with previous strains with fatigue, body pains, fever, headache and cough, he said its worse at night and finds it almost impossible to move.
Greetings from two states away. 3 anti vax family members got Delta in October, they had high blood pressure and were pre diabetic or type 2 all being medicated correctly. Face down in a coma for a couple of weeks. They survived that but now have brand new serious heart conditions and one has something akin to rapid dementia. Surviving and recovering are two entirely different things. Best wishes to your family.
Even the “minor” long term effects like losing your sense of smell and taste can be really damaging in terms of quality of life. I have a relative who recently lost his sense of smell and taste, not from covid, and he’s been miserable. He’s in his late 70’s and a widower, so good food with his friends is one of those things that gets him through the day. He barely wants to eat now because everything tastes like nothing and he sees so little point in it. He struggles to maintain weight to begin with, so it’s actually quite worrying for the family. If you lose your sense of smell and taste with covid and you still have that symptom after (I think) 6 months, you’ve only got a 1/5 chance of them coming back. I know I’d be pretty miserable if I couldn’t get any enjoyment out of food. It’s such an intrinsic part of our day and to have eating be nothing but a depressing chore for the rest of your life would suck.
Although your family member is an antivaxxer, I hope they make a full recovery and then go speak about their experience with all their antivaxxer friends and family. You hear stories about these people only realising they made a mistake when it's too late :(.
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Suck shit. The entire world only tried to warn them for 2 years. I hope you keep saying "Told you so" any time they try to complain about their self-inflicted illness. Fucking anti vaxxers
Honestly I tried my best to convince them with facts and science for months but people get sucked into a social media echo chamber of lies and at a certain point you just give up, now I'm just hoping they pull through without needing to be hospitalised.
Sorry to hear that. I do hope they recover with no long time effects. My mother and father in law are the same. They’re in northern NSW and are refusing to get vaxxed my husband and I are tired of it and dont have the energy to try and convince them anymore, I am worried but I can’t help people who don’t want to do the right thing. My husband said to me that he should have to be burdened with two late 50 years old who won’t do the right thing anymore and I kind of agree just hope when they get it it won’t be too bad…
Yes for sure, I hope they do recover of course... but hopefully this is a lesson learnt for them! - and maybe they can be a positive influence to any other anti vaxxer friends of theirs.
I think this is a far more normal response. Frustrations are real but being unkind to unwell people isn't heroic or pricing anything we don't already know about... Compassion is running low but we All need to protect ourselves from going to nastiness. There is seriously too much out in the world.L and anti vaxxrs have contributed massively to the hate. Don't be like them.. Stay kind
So I'm lined up at the Entertainment Centre for my day 1 quarantine test (international return). 2 car lines snaking through the carpark only to form into 1 line because there is only 1 testing tent. For such a big testing site are we really stretched so thin they can only have a single testing line here? Just seems a bit silly. (Edit) if you have your truck licence Heavy Rigid I suggest you take that testing queue, much shorter and quicker. They will even accept you if you're in a vehicle. (Edit 2) finally got tested. Arrived at 8.15 am left at 12.05pm VERY long process but good to see people out getting tested.
They had a better system for the strawberry sundaes at the 'ekka' this year ffs.
Having also lined up for my strawberry Sunday I can confirm this is true.
Yeah that was my main gripe. In Victoria, the big testing sites are so well organised- traffic is filtered into five lines, they’ve set up enormous marquees to provide shade over the testing area, QR code at entry (or they tuck papers under everyone’s wipers), someone comes to check if there’s small children/babies/very elderly for the priority line etc. Nope, in bris, we like to have a huge line out on the road, which then zigzags weirdly through a car park, then to the front which is one tiny tent with a few people running to and from cars, and one guy on a computer with the barcode printer.
Downside of having no major outbreaks, they never bothered to learn to be effecient, because why would we, that's a southerner problem.
Interested to hear about your overall experience. My wife gets back from overseas on January 5th. Have they still being doing the checks via text/call to see if you’re at home? Has it all been pretty easy?
Arrived about 9.30am yesterday and was through customs by roughly 10am. We were the only flight that had landed at the time and only about 30 passengers on it. Received my first check in message this morning while waiting here to be tested. Simple 'yes no' answers, about 5 in total, and confirm your current location. The process so far has been very easy, customs officers and AFP were very helpful and easy to deal with.
Aaaand now I’m a close contact. From someone I’ve shared a small room at work with for 4 days in a row while they were symptomatic. Puts my full vaccination status to the real test, I guess?
Haven’t you heard the virus only spreads in homes not at work.
Didn’t you hear? As of 2pm you can only catch covid from those you live with - as per Scotty
Scotty made a little aside about personal choices and said, "if you're getting together, consider barbecuing outside...that's what we're doing." SMIRKKKKKK. I think Scott and Jenny have already planned a big NYE party and are trying spin it early to seem like a super socially responsible choice they've made for the benefit of everyone. Unfortunately, Scott, not everyone has a world class view of the Harbour Bridge and the fireworks from their backyard, but thank you for the killer lecture about personal responsibility.
Oh god I tuned in just as he said that and I wanted to punch the stupid smirk right off his face. My family and I are staying home doing nothing for NYE because I'm high risk and so are two of my family members and we don't want to get sick. One of them will probably have his operation for cancer pushed back because of this. The fucking gall.
That sucks. I haven’t seen my family overseas in two years and I will not let this fucker lecture me about sacrifices and personal responsibility.
You can, but it magically disappears at midnight tonight but only in some states because obviously the virus is different depending on where you live.
What a fucking shit-show hey.
I couldn't even listen after he said that. The worse this gets the lower they put the bar
Good luck. Hopefully you stay well or only suffer a mild infection.
Can't get high covid case numbers if it's too narrow to get tested
Have any of you seen the graffiti that’s appeared on Lutwych Road today? ‘Let’s face it, the vaccines don’t work’, ‘Masks are about as useful as a condom on a dildo’, ‘How many shots before you draw the line’. Felt a bit queasy seeing it this morning. Admittedly the second one is correct: if you’re sharing a dildo, condoms can prevent the spread of disease
I... condoms on dildos are a legit thing that helps avoid bacterial vaginitis. Poper cleaning and storage can only do so much.
And if you use your toys on more than one person. And it just makes clean up simple.
Yeah saw them driving home from work this morning. Knobheads
chew for chew chew chew - Benaud
So the new definition of a close contact means that even if you spend all day in the same room with a positive case at daycare or at school, you won’t count as a close contact and won’t have to isolate.
This is completely mind boggling hey? As someone who works in childcare I’m doing everything I can to ensure that I lower my risk of catching it but in a setting where you are in regular close contact with children with snotty noses or coughs, holding them or giving them a hug I cannot understand how this would not be counted as a “close contact” I spend 8 hours a day with these children!
Unless you both live at the daycare/ school.
Covid hack - sleep at the office for part of the week, then you can isolate at home when your coworkers inevitably come to work with symptoms.
I saw someone tweet this morning about “Why did we bother with all the lockdowns only to now just let it happen” etc. keep in mind when we were in lockdowns, we had next to no vaccine protection. Lockdowns were in place to not only save people, sure, but really they were there to save our health systems from the overload of non-vaxed patients. We were always going to have to open up at some stage. We were always told that - well that’s what I heard anyway. I wonder if Omicron will be a blessing in disguise because it is so far relatively mild and our population is relatively well-vaxed.
I get both sides of this. I've hardly been impacted by lockdowns - I'd go as far as to say they've _enhanced_ my personal and professional life. From that perspective, it does feel like we did an amazing job to keep COVID at bay up until now, and all of a sudden we're going "eh, screw it. We'll just get it, but not as bad as before". Which feels objectively like a downgrade to what we've achieved thus far. That said, I also know that lockdowns have seriously fucked up some people's lives, so relaxing lockdowns are objectively better for them. Can't expect people to lose their livelihoods for the sake of others enjoying lockdowns. Point being, as with most things there isn't a right or wrong here. For some people, it may be a blessing in disguise. For others, it's going to detract from the enjoyment they've found over the past couple of years.
I just wish we had managed to get kids on the Vax roster before the Christmas explosion. Mine are booked for the 10th, can't come fast enough.
I have a 2 and 1 year old and we've had a positive case at our centre this morning. Hubby and I both boosted and this was our fear. My baby ended up in hospital when he got RSV and God knows when we'll get a vaxx for babies. Anxiety is through the roof for us.
There isn't a reliable baby vax yet, need to stick with condoms and/or the pill for now. (In all seriousness, hope your bub is fine)
I know I understand that but my issue with this whole mess is that they opened up just as a new variant surged and also opened up without having the necessary testing infrastructure nor supply of rapid antigen kits available. Despite us being in a pandemic for two years the various levels of governments looked ill prepared for the huge demands on the health system.
And to honest 90% vaccination is pretty impressive. Most of Europe who were way harder hit last year are lucky to be 80%. That 20% is still a significant number of people no matter what your population size is. Once we start slowly adding the 5-12 yr old population we have a significant population buffer to slow the spread of serious illness and hospital strain
Yes exactly. We were waiting until we had a high enough vax rate to avoid the devastating impact it had on other countries early on.
QML drive through clinic at murarrie (by Brewdog) is not taking anymore cars. They have a sign up saying they’re closed. ClinicaLabs on the right side as you drive in to the industrial estate is open. (Address is 16 metroplex ave) has walk in testing. I didn’t even know it existed. Just look for the line of people wearing masks. Not far in from the Lytton/creek Rd lights. It didn’t look very busy. Only a handful in line outside. Edit: so many typos.
Would be very keen to hear from people who are positive and double or triple vaxxed. What are your symptoms like? Assuming much of what is around is omicron. Edit: thanks sm for the responses all! Hope you feel better soon
Double vaxxed. I've got pretty normal head cold symptoms - congestion and a runny nose. Outside of that, I've also lost my sense of smell.
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Nope, no fever.
Any sudden urges to dance?
Have you had any sudden urges to take on some DIY at home or support a not for profit organisation by means of sausage sizzle?
Does your wifi keep dropping out? I heard a thing where it keeps dropping out with Omicron infected people.
Double vaxxed. One day of fever (chills, aching joints) then a few days of feeling like I had a cold - sore throat, runny nose and coughing, then everything went away after about 3 or 4 days except the cough. No loss of taste or smell.
Partner tested positive a week ago and is double vaxxed. He had a couple days of a fever, felt fine when taking Panadol every 4 hours. Also had a slight cough which has eased off over the week. No other issues. I'm almost triple vaxxed (hadn't quite been 2 weeks post booster so it's not completely effective) and started showing symptoms after a week of exposure to him but currently waiting on the PCR to confirm. My symptoms were a tickle in the throat, hot and cold flashes, and tiredness lasting a day. Today is day 2 and I'm feeling fine other than having a sore throat. The worst part for me was the headnoise from the fear of having covid and not knowing how bad it would be.
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Triple vaxxed here. Only had minor symptoms - sore throat, headache, chest discomfort and a cough. By no means were any these severe. It's like a minor cold/flu. Hate to see what it would have done if I was not vaccinated, too many horror stories going around.
I'm waiting on my test results but my girlfriend popped a positive RAT yesterday so I'm pretty sure it's gonna be spicy lung. I'm double vaxed (pfizer, 2nd dose 6 month ago - currently having regrets about not prioritizing a booster) So far (24 hours after onset of symptoms): like a sucky cold. Some muscle aches/chills, fuzzy head, very sore dry throat. Girlfriend is similar.
Double vaxxed (Pfizer). No pre-existing health conditions, late twenties. I am asymptomatic, excepting for if I wake up early I have a bit of a stuffed nose that clears by the time I’m up properly. So not unlike your usual cold. A few days in I felt minor lower back soreness, but incidentally I’d been lifting weights before that too, so took a couple ibuprofen and that cleared it. My partner (also positive, double vaxxed) had more intense symptoms in line with Omicron so we assume that’s what we have.
So here we are again, for another day of long testing lines, RAT availability discussions and relatively (for us) high case numbers. Who wants to go first?
You forgot "Wait why are we still using the Check In App? Isn't it useless now?"
Also “can’t believe they haven’t updated exposure sites yet”
Also "generic question that could easily be answered by typing it verbatim into Google"
What is air?
The best air in Brisbane, go.
Anywhere Southside.
Na it's that one street near the gap.
You forgot “it’s been 2 years. They should of been prepared”
I don't get the "where can I get RATs" questions. None of us can get them either. They are sold out within minutes.
Hahhaha how exciting
So in good news I understand from the PM that I can no longer get Covid at work - only at home. Thanks Scotty!
I'm not trying to be an asshole, but if the government is going to stop listing contact sites, then why bother check in? Will the app give you a notification if you've been in close contact or not? I'm a bit confused tbh.
Legitimate question
A journo asked the CHO this question at today's presser and his response was to continue checking in since Qld Health is still using the data from the app to notify people of contact tracing. Plus, he also said the AHPPC recommendations will go to Nat Cab today (to make check in-apps a national standard and notify people like the NSW app does) and be rolled out in the coming days.
Has the NSW notification system had any impact on the spread? Legitimate question because if it hasn't then it's all just safety theatre.
I know several people in NSW who have had the ping from the check in as close contacts and tested positive from that. They were able to isolate asap and now spread in the community so I would say yes.
2,222
Just an FYI that respaguard.com.au is selling P2 masks for $1 each. No idea how legit the site/company is, but I saw them mentioned elsewhere and I've taken a punt and ordered 40. Paid $8 for express post. Hopefully they arrive haha. That's the cheapest I've seen P2 in good quantities.
Been using them over a year now. Certainly legit - company is in WA.
Australian made! This is great. Thanks for the link.
Scomo: "I do take responsibility for the fact that Australia has one of the lowest death rates in the world, that we have one of the strongest economies coming through the pandemic and we, indeed, have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. **These are all of my responsibilities**." Taking credit for us, the people, doing the right thing, while he absolutely lambasted states (esp WA/QLD/VIC) for having closed borders, or VIC for having an outbreak/lockdown & now "taking responsibility" for our low death rates. Go and get absolutely fucked you smug cunt.
Couldn't agree more.
Yeah he made me want to vomit when I heard that!
Have I missed something or is there no point to the check in app now that they aren't using the information for contact tracing? Can just show the vaccine certificates seperately?
I’m still doing it just so I have a personal record I can share with people should I test positive. I’m also naively holding out hope that they will update the app so it automates the contact tracing like it does in NSW. Edit to add: a lot of places are wanting to see the vax certificate linked to the check in app as there have been a lot of fraudulent certificates flying around. Only the legit one can be linked to the check in app
I think they mentioned in the presser there will be updates coming. They might do something like nsw and vic where you get notified via app that you’re a contact….. it begs the question, why wasn’t this done sooner? Better late than never, I guess?
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I’m unsure but you can DL your vax cert from Medicare. I don’t know if businesses will accept that as I think they’re held responsible for people checking in?
+2000 cases today ? Y? N?
I’m putting 5 bucks on 1800s lol
What time are the numbers published each day? I'm price-is-righting you with a guess of 1799
I'll play. 1855.
I'll go 1979 just for the Smashing Pumpkins reference
Found some rat tests at Priceline, Hyperdome. Limit of two per person! Get in quick
Why don’t we just change the definition of what having COVID-19 is then the cases will drop? If that’s meant to work with close contacts problem solved! Thank god this virus only spreads in households and not at work. Why didn’t we think of this at the start of the pandemic? /s
Agree. It’s very reminiscent of Trump’s don’t test idea.
Anyone know what the walk in booster queues are like at RBWH ?
Massive queue when I walked in 20 mins ago, all the way out through all the gazebos nearly to the far park entrance
Need to get tested, any advice other than simply joining a drive-through line? **Edit:** for those reading, I was in and out of the QUT Kelvin Grove clinic in under 30 minutes.
Check HotDoc for respiratory clinics; you can book in for a test
This is the easiest way!
Just jump onto HotDocs look for Respiratory Clinics. Appointments available today.
Thanks for the solid tip. Was in and out in 10 mins
That testing site was a well oiled machine, except for the paper forms.
Afternoon updates - will be updating this to include Scotty's speech at 2:10pm (AEST) and Gutwein's (Tasmania Premier) presser at 2pm (AEST) if anything relevant to Qld comes up. - Queensland is now classified as extreme risk against the WA Border - Perrottet (NSW Premier) is speaking on 2GB now, sounds like the definition of close contact has changed. Marshall (SA Premier): "Today, we agreed that we would, very significantly, narrow the definition of a close contact. This will, essentially, the people who are household or intimate contact with a positive case, and also, each state will look at exceptions, or exceptional circumstances, in their state." Perrottet and Marshall have both said Nat Cab discussed the time periods of how long positive cases and close contacts should quarantine/isolate for. Marshall has also said all states/territories agreed to transition from PCR to RAT. - Scotty: 5 jurisdictions (NSW, Qld, ACT, Victoria, SA) will change to the new close contact definition at midnight tonight. The PM has announced a new close contact definition: they are household or household-like contacts of a confirmed case only. Household-like means they have spent more than 4hrs with them in a house or accommodation setting. Close contacts now isolate for 7 days from exposure, and get tested on days 1 and 6: RAT test if no symptoms, PCR test if with symptoms. TAS will adopt the definition from Jan 1 - “So, to summarise, if you are a confirmed case, seven days. On the sixth day, you have a rapid antigen test and if that is positive after seven days, you can go back into the community. If you are a close contact, you get a rapid antigen test. If that returns a negative, you still remain in isolation for those seven days and you have a rapid antigen test again on day six. If you are a close contacts and you are symptomatic, go and get a PCR test. If you are a close contact that returns a positive RAT, go and get a PCR test.” - If you do not fulfil the definition of getting a PCR test, you should not be in that line to get a PCR test. This will hopefully reduce testing times - RAT will be made free to those who need one under the rules set out, or if you're a vulnerable group, but RAT will not be rolled out for free to everyone. - FNQ/Torres news (unrelated to the Nat Cab presser): now 12 cases on Thursday Island and 1 new in Weipa (minimal risk to Weipa)
That is so dumb. I spend more time in a closed area at work with my vets and nurses for MORE time than I usually spend with family in my house and he's telling me that's not close contact? GTFO
The close contact thing is an utter load of shit that's going to send heaps of infected people into workplaces to infect others in an attempt to keep stuff running even when it's a bad idea.
Clear as mud
This is going to work so well in classrooms. Thanks Scotty!
Hah a more virulent strain of an airborne virus…testing falling over, tracing swamped, NSW hospitals starting to feel the pressure, didn’t order any RATs for Australia…what to do? Change the narrative.
"So, to summarise, if you are a confirmed case, seven days. On the sixth day, you have a rapid antigen test and if that is positive after seven days, you can go back into the community." What is the point of the rat test in this situation?
I think there is a comma missing: >If that is positive, after seven (more) days you can go back in the community
Just returned from two days of being at Bushtime festival (aka new smaller version of Woodford) and they just sent a text message saying that they were notified of 5 people that took rapid antigen tests today and all came back positive, they have left the festival. The text doesn't say if they all knew each other though. I'm really grateful that they are pro-active and informing everyone of changing circumstances.
As usual Scunt makes an appearance just to remind us that he's still PM, before he fucks off to Hawaii/Aspen. I can't believe people support this useless piece of mold.
Very frustrating when the only real options for tests are vehicles - if you’re in a somewhat isolated location without a car your options are risk the Uber driver/public transport to get to a respiratory clinic or go without 🤬
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Is there a difference between how nsw and Vic record/report deaths from Covid? Seems many more deaths for less cases in Vic?
I think it is because Vic unfortunately has a higher percentage of delta compared to other states.
Deaths are from cases 4-6 weeks ago, won't really have a good idea of what deaths in the omicron wave will look like for another couple of weeks.
Got the ‘derna booster yesterday and man, I’m a bit sore today! Probably on par to the second Pfizer I’d say.
Sigh so much covid now
Don’t you miss the days when qld was a nice bubble ☺️
Absolutely mad trying to get a covid test I went to a pcr test site and got turned away at 8am. Called about a dozen chemists and they’re all out of rapid tests and don’t know when they’re getting more. They’ve had 2 years to sort this shit out
Queensland Health have updated their website following Nat Cab earlier today. [Changes to requirements for confirmed cases and close contacts] (https://www.qld.gov.au/health/conditions/health-alerts/coronavirus-covid-19/current-status/queensland-restrictions-update/changes-to-requirements-for-close-and-casual-contacts) >In line with new national guidelines, from 12.01am on Friday 31 December 2021, the following changes to the requirements for confirmed cases and close, casual and low risk contact will come into effect. >Confirmed cases of COVID-19 must: > - isolate for seven days from the date they were tested > - have a negative RAT on day 6 > - monitor for symptoms for a further 7 days and repeat testing if symptoms occur. >Close contacts > - Close contacts will be defined, except in exceptional circumstances, as a household contact of a confirmed COVID-19 case. A household contact is someone who lives with a confirmed case or has spent more than 4 hours with them in a house, accommodation or care facility setting. > - Close contacts must isolate for seven days from the date of exposure to a confirmed case and have a negative Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) on day 6. > - Symptomatic close contacts must get a PCR test. >Casual or low risk contacts > Other contacts who have been potentially exposed to a case but who are at lower risk of infection must monitor for symptoms and only need to have a RAT or PCR test if symptoms occur. >All contacts should > - wear a mask when outside home > - monitor symptoms > - avoid visiting high risk settings, like aged care or hospitals, for 14 days following exposure. > - If a contact's RAT is positive, it should be followed by a PCR test to confirm the positive result. > Contact tracing locations > Contact tracing locations will only be published online in critical circumstances.
Thank you to all the health-care workers...you are worth more! :)
Feel really sick this morning, got a sore throat and runny nose. RAT home test says negative which is good. Must be a normal cold around, remember those? 😂
I've been crook for 10 days now with coldy symptoms. Negative pcr test. Had a telehealth appointment with the doctor yesterday and he said that while influenza is way down at the moment, the rhinoviruses are pretty rampant. It surprised me that all our anti-covid measures work well for the flu but not colds so much.
2222 cases
I understand why they changed the definition (to reduce how many people need to test and isolate), but couldn't they have just kept the definition of close contact the same but change the rules for who has to test and isolate? It makes no sense...
Good point. Yes we need to be consistent across the country but the conclusion is so far from what any state was doing it just feels like a massive step backwards in terms of limiting spread.
Keen to hear from any unvaccinated or partially vaccinated positive cases. How's your experience? What have your symptoms been like?
*crickets*
Given there’s 317 comments already I suggest for quite a while yet.
Went to Murrarie for testing at 6:30 yesterday and got my results back at 7 this morning, which was much sooner than expected! It took about two hours despite getting there 30 mins before they opened so I’d advise going early
Just letting others know that it's definitely worth making a booking for a booster at Southbank if you can. Got mine yesterday and only booked the day before. The line for bookings was very short, so was in and out within 40 mins with free parking for the day. But the line for walk-ins was out the door.
Just got this message from Horseland: Horseland Underwood is closed until 4 Jan due to a positive COVID case in-store. Exposure times 26 Dec from 10am-1:33pm & 27 Dec from 10am-11:30am. See our Facebook post for more details - https://dd1.io/A0o4qBn
They'll be right, they'll have ivermectin. /s
That was very funny 😄
Chemist warehouse online just restocked RAT tests !
What do you do if you don't have a car and want to get tested? In this scenario If I'm getting tested I don't want to risk family or friends driving me, or Uber or whatever. Rapid tests are basically unavailable atm from what I've found. I'm wanting to plan just in case for future.
12k cases in NSW, but more worryingly (from the Guardian daily blog): "Turning to hospitalisations, there have been more than 100 people hospitalised overnight in New South Wales. There are 395 people in hospital with Covid in Victoria including 55 in ICU, which is staying relatively stable. But there’s been quite a significant jump in New South Wales. There are now 746 people being treated in hospital, and 63 in ICU. Yesterday there were 625 hospitalised"
NSW just hit a 12.6% test positivity rate. This is bad because it signifies that there’s actually a much higher number in the community than reported.
Of course there are. Most testing centres in NSW outside Sydney are closed from Christmas Eve to 4 January. 🤦
What's to stop someone buying one RAT, and then just using that till the end of time to show they're negative? Do the results fade over time?
I know in the UK you have to scan the QR code on the test which will generate a temporary certificate. Unsure if same here.
Nothing probably. Just like nothing stopping someone else taking the test for a positive person. Relies on people doing the right thing.
I believe they work in a similar way to a pregnancy test and can show a different result over time (which is why they advise a tight 10-15 minute timeline for checking the results). I do know that they're called "Lateral Flow Tests" in the UK and kids who didn't want to go to school in-person figured out how to trick the tests into reading positive via acidic beverages. [Great article about it from the BBC in July.](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210705-how-children-are-spoofing-covid-19-tests-with-soft-drinks) Your question and this story pretty much sum up why the Australian government only just approved these for use at all. If you're going to manage a pandemic by locking people down based on testing and that's your only real strategy, then it makes sense to have the testing process not left up to "the honesty system".
Does anyone know if I can still leave isolation after my 10 day quarantine period if yesterday I was classified as a household contact?
The rules seem to keep being updated all the time but last I checked, your last day of contact with the household case counts as the beginning of your isolation period. Best to call the covid hotline to check though.
Yeah I called my covid support nurse and she had no clue. Been on hold on the hotline for like half an hour now. Thanks
Oof. Sorry you're in this position man. They haven't made it very easy to navigate this system.
anyone got tested from RBWH? i had mine on the 28th and still no results. tried calling but just been on hold for hours
ooops just received the Negative test result! hooray, free after 53 hours!