Corona Virus

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Originally Posted by DiscoDB

Apparently NZ has had 0 community transmission in the last 14 days and the 40 active cases in NZ are all under Managed Isolation or Quarantine.

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Not correct:

New Zealand's three-week streak without local Covid case ends as port worker falls ill | World news | The Guardian

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Originally Posted by DiscoDB

Any suggestion that the arrivals from NZ could have brought COVID to Victoria is just ridiculous and fear mongering at its worse. Yes they could have picked up COVID on arrival in Sydney or even Melbourne, but so could anyone else coming into Melbourne from anywhere across Australia.

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Correct - so, there's at least 55 undocumented potentially infected individuals wandering around Melbourne. And they're unlikely to get infected here since we only have 1 or 2 community cases in a city of 5 million.

As I said above, and as I've said before, I was working in a client's office overlooking Circular Quay in January and February this year and I actually wondered why there didn't seem to be anyone checking the people coming off the cruise ships. Oh, I thought to myself, they're doing it on the ship. No, they weren't and I've been deeply sceptical of NSW Health and Border Force ever since.

Do you recall at the time of the Ruby Princess we were being assured that it was OK in any case because the ship had just done a loop out of Sydney to NZ and back, both of which had COVID-19 under control? Except, as it turned out, there were people on the cruise from the UK who were infected. NZ wisely didn't allow the ship's passengers to land there. This debacle seems like deja vu all over again.

So:

• Do you know for sure that none of these 55 people have been outside of NZ in the last month?
• Did any have to provide a recent clear COVID-19 test in order to enter? [I'll answer that one for you - no, the Federal Govt didn't make it a requirement.]
• Did any have to provide evidence that they'd only been in NZ for the last fortnight? [I'll answer that one for you again - no, because the Federal Govt didn't make it a requirement. They just signed a declaration, and people never lie do they.]
• At Kingsford Smith, are the people who aren't going into quarantine completely physically separated from those who are going into quarantine? I'll bet that they're not.

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Originally Posted by DiscoDB

The arrivals from NZ would be in hiding because of the xenophobic attitude of people who should know better. And the Premier of Victoria is the chief antagonist behind this appalling behaviour.

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If they've nothing to hide they'd've provided accurate contact details. Apparently many didn't. Were the declarations they signed true? Who knows, but Border Force sure don't.

The bottom line is that it appears that these weren't tourists, they were people who used a loophole left open by the Federal Government to move to/back to Australia.

On the other hand my mother is about to turn 90 and she'll likely spend her birthday alone. Pity that there's not a loophole we can use.

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Originally Posted by 4bee

I wonder if Border Force actually know what their function is?[bighmmm]

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The funny thing is Immigration used to be pretty good, although I did have to point out to them once that they'd allowed a woman without a passport or with any other checked ID into a sterile area.

I read that one of the 55 who supposedly went to Melbourne according to Border Force was contacted by the Victorian tracing team - in Byron Bay!
And 25 went to Perth, where they were put into hotel quarantine.
Good work Border Force - right up there with the Ruby Princess.

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Originally Posted by DiscoMick

I read that one of the 55 who supposedly went to Melbourne according to Border Force was contacted by the Victorian tracing team - in Byron Bay!
And 25 went to Perth, where they were put into hotel quarantine.
Good work Border Force - right up there with the Ruby Princess.

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Big question now is, where else did they get to? Have any tried to or actually entered Queensland?

It seems NZ went 22 days with no community transmission until 1 case was reported today related to a port worker. Outstanding result none the less and demonstrates how well they have the situation under control.

NSW continues to have new cases of community transmission - as does Victoria.

Some would have you believe those returning from NZ should be forced into 2 weeks quarantine on arrival and have their movements tracked by the government, but meanwhile people from NSW can still enter Victoria, as can every one in Australia from other states, no quarantine and no tracking of movements needed.

We manage this risk by having COVID restrictions on what we can and can’t do in Victoria - not by discriminating based on where you come from.

Classic xenophobia by the Victorian Premier to now make a big deal of those coming from NZ but still accepting people from NSW or any other state.

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Originally Posted by DiscoDB

Classic xenophobia by the Victorian government to now make a big deal of those coming from NZ but still accepting people from NSW or any other state.

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Isn't the point that NZ refused to include Vic in this travel bubble (which is supposedly for the purpose of tourism) because of our outbreak, so it was limited to NSW and NT because they wanted tourists and convinced NZ that they had COVID under control? Wasn't it therefore assumed that they'd stay in NSW and NT? Otherwise what's the point of limiting the arrangement to NSW and NT? And on that basis, isn't it more than a little surprising to belatedly discover that 55 of these "tourists" entered Victoria? Particularly when everything here is in lockdown?

I don't think that Daniel Andrews has been xenophobic - all that I've seen him say that is that the arrivees haven't done anything wrong but that they shouldn't be here. Which is correct.

Re xenophobia:

(a) I don't think that being concerned about unquarantined overseas arrivals turning up here unannounced is at all xenophobic - since it's not that they're foreign, they're just not supposed to have been here at all;

(b) I suggest that you check out what's being said about these people in NZ - quite a lot of anger about their actions, including from people who were waiting to come visit family in Melbourne and are now fearful that Vic will now put up border controls. Is the NZ criticism of the "tourists" - for the same reasons that are being expressed in Victoria - also xenophobic?

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Originally Posted by Arapiles

Big question now is, where else did they get to? Have any tried to or actually entered Queensland?

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Isn't Byron a southern burb of Surfers?

DL [thumbsupbig]

And either 4 or 5 "tourists" have turned up in Tasmania - amusingly the Tassie entry rules don't seem to countenance people arriving from overseas. Nonetheless, it's reported that they've had to go into quarantine.

Doesn't seem like much of a holiday - 2 weeks in quarantine in Tassie, see the State, back to NSW, back to NZ and another 2 weeks in quarantine.

From the Victorian Governments own website:

Department of Health and Human Services Victoria | Information for overseas travellers

Travelling to Victoria from New Zealand

A trans-Tasmin travel bubble is currently in place between New Zealand and parts of Australia. This allows travellers from New Zealand to arrive in New South Wales and the Northern Territory without having to quarantine for 14 days on arrival.

Currently the Victorian borders are open. If you are travelling from New Zealand and have passed all relevant immigration and biosecurity requirements as established by the Federal Government, New South Wales Government and Northern Territory Government, then you are able to travel to Victoria. You do not need to quarantine for 14 days on arrival in Victoria.

Perhaps no one told the Premier......

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...a8d766a63e.jpg

Oh and the best bit - this web page was last updated 12 October 2020.

According to this, one of the 55 has already returned to NSW:

Covid-19 trans-Tasman bubble: 55 passengers from NZ travelled to Melbourne, Victorian Premier says | Stuff.co.nz


In a statement Sunday evening, the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services said it had spoken with all 55 New Zealanders and given them information about the state’s rules.
Three of the 55 had not travelled into Victoria, it said. A further person who was in Victoria returned to New South Wales today.
Of the 55, 21 had arrived at Melbourne airport on Friday and Saturday, while the remainder used other forms of transport.
Most of the travellers were staying in private homes, it said.


NSW's border restrictions state that, because they've been in Vic, they'll have to do one of a range of things, which includes quarantining:

Apply for a COVID-19 NSW border entry permit | Service NSW