Username Taken wrote: ↑Mon Dec 28, 2020 5:28 pm

I'm in Melbourne now and no one and I mean no one is listening to these bans anymore, you're meant to still wear masks inside I just got back from the supermarket and no one is wearing them not even the people working in the store I also went to a work Christmas party at the strippers last week with no masks and well over the limit of people aloud.

Covid-19 discovered in second group of Russian mariners
Charlie Gates 21:36, Jan 10 2021

A Covid-19 cluster has emerged for the second time among foreign mariners in a Christchurch isolation facility.

The 11 cases of Covid-19 were discovered in a group of 190 mariners who flew into the city from Russia on Wednesday to work on fishing boats in New Zealand waters.

The group was originally scheduled to arrive in November, but was delayed after more than 30 Covid infections emerged in the first group of 137 Russian and Ukrainian mariners who arrived in October.

Sharp rise in UK strain at New Zealand border
There were 31 cases of Covid-19 recorded in the last three days. ...

The latest group was further delayed by high demand for managed isolation facilities over the Christmas period.

The Ministry of Health said only three of the 11 cases were current and the rest were historical. They were Covid tested on arrival at the Christchurch facility.

The mariners have been given special permission to work in New Zealand following the normal isolation process as the deep-sea fishing industry has struggled to recruit Kiwi workers.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/ ... n-mariners

Covid: Australian city of Perth goes into snap lockdown after guard tests positive

Published 10 hours ago

The Australian city of Perth has begun a snap five-day lockdown after a security guard working at a quarantine hotel tested positive for coronavirus.

Western Australia - the state of which Perth is the capital - had not had a case of locally acquired coronavirus for 10 months.

The lockdown began at 18:00 (10:00 GMT) and runs until Friday night.

Schools, restaurants, bars, cinemas and gyms have been ordered to close.

Only essential travel is allowed and masks must be worn.

People in the city of two million - along with people living in the nearby Peel and South West regions - must stay at home, except for essential work, healthcare, food shopping or exercise, said Western Australia state Premier Mark McGowan.

A scheduled return of schools on Monday has also been delayed by a week.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-55877150

It's like communism
you have to stamp out every vestige if you want a free society.

Covid-19: One-way Australia travel bubble resumes, Aucklanders need test
Feb 20 2021

The one-way trans-Tasman travel bubble is back in business from Sunday, but anyone who has been in Auckland will need to have a recent negative test.

The resumption of quarantine-free flights from 12.01am Sunday Australian eastern time was announced by the country's chief medical officer, Professor Paul Kelly, on Saturday evening.

They were suspended following the emergence of several new community Covid-19 cases in Auckland.

“All passengers travelling from New Zealand on a green zone flight, who have been in Auckland for any period (with exception of the airport for travel) over the last 14-days, will be required to provide evidence at check-in of a negative PCR test conducted within 72 hours of the scheduled flight departure,” the statement said. “Routine pre-departure and on arrival screening will continue."

Kelly said the situation in New Zealand showed the recent cases identified there posed a low risk of the virus spreading in Australia.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/300 ... -need-test

Kiwis Fly to Australia At their Own Risk:
Jacinda Ardern warns Kiwi travellers could get stuck when the trans-Tasman bubble opens
Brook Sabin16:54, Mar 18 2021

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has warned that Kiwi travellers could get stuck in Australia when a trans-Tasman travel bubble opens.

Stuff understands the Cabinet could decide as soon as Monday to open a quarantine-free bubble with Australia from mid-April.

Air New Zealand has a significant increase in trans-Tasman flights loaded in its booking system from April 19.

A spokeswoman for the airline told Stuff: “The schedule is a continuation of our ‘pre-Covid’ schedule. This will likely change once the Government announces a start date for the trans-Tasman bubble.”

Asked about a possible April start date, Ardern wouldn't be drawn publicly but said she'd like to see it “soon”, adding that she would “present people with some definitive dates they can plan around”.

It is understood that a paper is currently being discussed in a Cabinet committee regarding the final form of the bubble and that a meeting of the full Cabinet could make decisions early in the next week. The decision is expected to be signalled in the coming week, for a mid-April start.

Covid-19 Recovery Minister Chris Hipkins told Parliament this week that Auckland Airport would require 10 days to be ready for the bubble, while the airlines have indicated that they would require three weeks to get geared up and ready to fly.

Ardern said airports “have a level of preparedness” given that quarantine-free flights are already under way with the Cook Islands and Niue, but “there are some additional things we need to do because of the volume”.

Ardern indicated the Government would outline certain scenarios for travellers so they can “understand the basis on which we may see short-term closures”.

Asked if people could get stuck in Australia, Ardern replied: “Yes, they could. This is why we take so seriously the planning and protocols we need to put in place – because Australia is dealing with the equivalent of one state, New Zealand, and we're dealing with multiple.

“And that means there is a chance we could have an outbreak that could cause a pause in travel, and we need to put in place protocols to manage that. And we also need to put in place forewarning to people that may occur.”

Hipkins said insurance companies were “unlikely” to cover Covid-19 cancellations and he indicated travellers wouldn’t get any financial support if they got stuck.

“The Government is unlikely to be in a position where we are providing compensation for people who are stranded in Australia.”
Hipkins added that stranded travellers would “need to be able to support themselves financially”.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/300 ... bble-opens

Covid lock downs predicted again now the Americas Cup has finished,

For the past year, nurse Srey has been the Khmer Kerry Chant
By Mary Ward
April 17, 2021 — 10.30pm
At the height of the pandemic, the people of NSW became accustomed to getting their dose of COVID-19 news from Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant at their daily 11am briefing.

But for the state’s Khmer speakers, regular updates also came from another source: Srey Kang, a palliative care nurse from Cabramatta West, who used her lunch break to film her own news bulletins, broadcast on Facebook Live.

Ms Kang realised early last year that some people in her community were struggling to understand the rapidly changing rules, while some were also believing misinformation they had read on social media.

The news was moving too quickly for her weekly community radio show and, although government resources were being printed in Khmer, she says some in the community – particularly older people – couldn’t read the language due to disruptions in their education during war.

“If I see any hotspot, any update, I jump on and do a video letting the community know,” says Ms Kang, who is president of the Khmer Community of NSW group.

As the nation shut down, videos included “Information for people working in another state who want to come back to Sydney” and “Is it okay to go fishing in a situation like now?“.

But when cases reached peak levels in western Sydney mid-last year, she pivoted to listing exposure sites, changing restrictions and social distancing practices, with cameos for prayer from the monks at Bonnyrigg Temple.
https://www.watoday.com.au/national/nsw ... 57h6n.html

Joy, actually: happy reunions fill Auckland airport as trans-Tasman bubble begins
The trans-Tasman travel bubble between New Zealand and Australia began on Monday
Michael McGowan and Tess McClure in Auckland
Mon 19 Apr 2021 07.51 BST

Lisa Tetai warned her son not to take a sick day when he picked her up from Auckland airport. “I thought there might be media there,” she explains.
She wasn’t wrong.

As she stepped into the arrivals hall on Monday afternoon, Tetai, like hundreds of others who travelled to New Zealand on the first day of what has been dubbed the trans-Tasman travel “bubble” with Australia, was swamped; a flash of cameras, journalists buzzing with anticipation, then, pushing through the crowd, the people she had actually come to see. Cue tears.

“I was supposed to be here for a funeral,” she said. “My uncle was admitted to hospital and I booked the earliest ticket I could get. He didn’t make it. They had the funeral last week, but I wanted to see my son and my grandson.

“I’ve got family all over the North Island and before the pandemic I came back four or five times a year. It has been really, really hard.”
Full article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... ble-begins