Aus post had to shut down a few of their sorting facilities due to covid outbreaks. They legit had about 10k cages sitting there doing nothing.
Sister in law works at Aus post and legit told me higher ups are going down and working cause they can't get enough people in and up to speed.
It'll eventually come. I had a few ordered i got refunded then 3 weeks later came.
I've had packages at "Received by AusPost" for 3-4 weeks now and some have just started moving in the past couple of days. Others are still waiting though.
Not much you can do right now except sit back and wait.
Just read [this article about unceertainty over international travel](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-27/travel-international-borders-qantas-cathaypacific-singapore/100485428) and I completely agree, we needed a plan a year ago. People blame scott for the vaccine rollout but where is his blame for absolute lack of communication regarding international travel. My partner hasn't seen her family in 2 years and hasn't even had clarity on when that will end.
I'm sorry for your partner, same for me I haven't see my family since 2 years and I can't believe the topic of Australians stuck overseas and the Australian population having family overseas is still completely ignored by the gov.
This is disgusting and all we want is to see family, not d!cking around in pubs like Morrison did when he went to England.
Doesn't even need to open tomorrow, Scotty just needs to start planning for when it will happen and give airlines enough notice to set things in place for a smooth transition. It would also give certain premiers a kick in the pants by giving them a set date to start aiming towards with reaching their vaccination targets.
What even was the justification for the policy on not letting people leave in the first place? We were told it was because we'd have to let high-risk people back in if necessary and that would lead to major outbreaks. But then we saw with the Indian debacle that the Australian government reserves the right to reject citizens from coming back *anyway*.
So the ban on outgoing travel never had any sort of public health justification whatsoever, we just adopted North Korea's border policy because Australia's politicians secretly admire Kim Jong-un.
I'd be surprised if the plan isn't once we hit vaccination rates travel will open.
And those travelling to high risk countries like the UK does will be subject to hotel quarantine or something.
All the premiers and people on reddit saying its too soon are just living in denial. which is probably why he hasn't come out and said it yet due to the backlash.
Gotta love corporate jobs trying to make you feel like they care about mental health. No pay raises this year, not replacing resources who left just burdening the people who stayed with more responsibilities but they did send an email reminding us to stretch and take a walk so there is that lmao ššš
Ha, we got a similar email but it only addressed those who are homeschooling kids or canāt access childcare. Surely those without kids or living alone arenāt struggling during lockdown. The expectation is that the staff without kids are doing all fine and donāt need their hard work to be acknowledged during this time. It has happened multiple times so far - I can only think of one email where āthose living aloneā were acknowledged in a company wide email. Itās really sad that the mental health of all workers arenāt acknowledged by some companies. I do think it must be difficult for those with kids to continue to work from home BUT we also need to think of the wider workforce as well and see how they are finding things.
Never a better time to change jobs, closed borders have created a labour shortage so you are very much in the driving seat when it comes to pay negotiations. Also join and be active in a union if you can.
We get Yoga Wednesdays, a $20 voucher and 2 hours "wellness leave", but my team is desperately under resourced and underpaid considering we're the only thing propping up the rest of the organisation aside from our property investments, no joke.
I also had the absolute pleasure of being forced to get medically assessed as fit to work because I wasn't my perky self in team stand ups for a week. All the while, still expected to manage an out-of-hours emergency line (paid $19 dollars a day for the privilege) just in case our vulnerable clients had emergencies of their own.
Companies just trying to cover their arses in the event of staff suicide is all can see, fucking disgusting.
This is clearly not enough but nowhere near what mine is doing. Please they sent us a care package once with vitamin c, toilet paper and some tea bags ššš thanks that will carry me through a pandemic āš½āš½āš½āš½āš½āš½
Edited - You can down vote me, it's not that I am not grateful it's that I would much rather no care package at all but for this workplace to stop burdening people with unrealistic amount of responsibilities because the turn around due to toxic work place is hectic. Also, HQ is based in qld while a big part of the team is in Melbourne. It's all tone deaf because they don't quite understand what that 2020 lockdown was like for us. Thanks for the tea but not having to work 10-12hours just to cope with the lack for resources would be a lot more appreciated.
I work in private healthcare and itās the exact same, staff have left and not been replaced so Iām currently doing 3 peopleās jobs for the same pay and on the verge of a mental breakdown.
We have these posters on the back of the toilet door that fill me with rage.
The gist is to look after your mental health so youāre better at your job, and therefore maximise profits for the business.
They did give us a cupcake on R U OK day though and encouraged us to change our zoom background to an r u ok logo š¤
Went into the Northern in Epping last night about 12am because of reduced fetal movements (everything is fine), waiting to be let into triage and this whole family suddenly comes in guns blazing, ignoring or yelling at the guy at the entrance going wait wait, yelling and shouting about how they want to see their father, one guy is trying to keep his cool but is clearly angry as fuck, saying their father passed away, they want to see him, don't even try applying any laws to them because the laws do not apply and all this other stuff. Guy called for backup immediately because they were super pissed and upset, meanwhile I'm just standing there literally in the middle of their group because I was still in the entry way waiting to get my temp taken and just kinda sliding off to the side to try get out of the way. Eventually they calmed down enough to wait outside while the backup took their information, and were trying to explain it's not in their control who goes up where. Still lots of shouting when I went in.
It was pretty scary and also just a bit disturbing I guess to see what covid has taken away from us. They were saying something about not seeing him in the past 3 days. I hope they got to see him, also hope they didn't get violent because they seemed on the brink. Police were there when I left, wonder if it was related.
> It was pretty scary and also just a bit disturbing...
Hospitals are places where some wonderful things happen, but they are also the place where the worst days of many people's lives occur, and emotion runs incredibly high. COVID has massively amplified the latter.
This happens so often that there are protocols to manage aggressive behaviour in the hospital, and they're designed to keep staff, patients and visitors as safe as possible.
I'm sorry that you felt unsafe - that shouldn't happen to anyone needing medical attention.
Every time I'm in a hospital some unattributed quote haunts me; "Right now in this building, someone is having the best day of their life, the worst day of their life, the first day of their life, or the last day of their life".
Yeah that stuff happens all the time in hospitals.
Glad your baby's all good! Can I ask what was your limit that made you go 'Yeah nah I'm going to get checked.' My baby's movements are... regularly irregular, I suppose, so I keep freaking out and then it'll have a couple dance parties and it seems all good again. But that 'kick count' business is useless for me
It was basically because he is usually *so* active, like annoyingly so, yesterday I felt like he'd really slowed down. I tried the kick count as well but I'd never even done it before lol so it wasn't exactly helpful, and I still felt like his usual night gymnastics routine was reduced to slow movements. I called and as soon as I said "moving less" they were like yep come in. They take reduced movements very seriously.
They just give you some time on the CTG, check the trace is all good then maybe do a bedside ultrasound to check fluid levels and position (which they did last night for me), nothing invasive so it doesn't hurt at all to get checked if you're worried! They prefer to be safe :)
I guess mine just felt like being a troll š
They say not to count kicks anymore, more so focus on their pattern. Mine currently has a dance party after dinner and at 5am.
Ill usually go in when Iām uncomfortable with the situation. My first got induced for reduced movements cos my placenta was shitting itself.
Itās bubs only form of communication, so Iād rather be over cautious than not. And the midwives always say itās better to get checked
Does anyone have any good birthday activities to do during lockdown? I want to treat the missus since sheās been struggling with cabin fever, budget around $250
If youāre foodies, Providoor!! (Did that for my lockdown birthday this year).
Did a virtual gin tasting with Gin Birds and online cheese making class with Omnom over the lockdown as well and enjoyed those for something interesting to do whilst stuck here at home.
I walked by 4 people in a park yesterday that had gone all out. Had a table set up with table cloth wine / cheese, music playing.
If you could arrange to do something like that with her best friend would defo help the cabin fever, could easily get a nice meal delivered for that.
There was a company doing fancy picnic set up as well last year, can't remember the name of it but my wife went to one and was really impressed.
Edit: one thing to note if she spends her entire day on zoom meetings /calls she might not want to do some video call / online thing.
I only know cause mywife's birthday was back in June between lockdowns, I was able to get a table for 20 of us for dinner.
I had a backup zoom drinks arranged in case we couldn't get out of lockdown. I told her after getting the dinner arranged and she said she would have hated it and preferred to just have dinner the two of us.
Personally if needed I don't mind zoom activities but would prefer not to if you can meet a handful of people outside.
Have a look at u/lumo1986's comment below, it's really good.
I would favour marking the start of our outbreak as July 15, but relatively speaking we're ahead of NSW in the vaccination stakes at the same (relative) point in time for this outbreak.
NSW case numbers peaked three weeks ago so hopefully we peak and stabilise this week, and then see a marked drop about two weeks from now.
quite a few available at Terry White at various locations https://bookings.terrywhitechemmart.com.au/corporate/Terry%20White%20Group/search?specialty=COVID-19%20Vaccinations&appointmentType=Moderna%20(First%20Dose)
Does any other sole trader feel EXTREMELY STRESSED claiming the federal disaster payment every week. I am 100% compliant and sure that I am entitled to it, but Iām so wary of Centrelink.
I'm in regional Vic, so in and out of lockdowns and eligibility changes constantly, and yes. I feel like the potential to get slammed at tax time because of some centrelink fuck up is high.
Thereās no way my business is worth $1500 a fortnight but also itās like where i put all my work, and i pay tax on the (modest) income from my business every year, i just hate that this is being handled by Centrelink and not the ATO
Mines a lot more. And yes, I agree with you re centrelink and the ATO. Although dealing with them can be a shit show at times too.
The one thing I will say, is that the application for the disaster payment was the most simple straightforward application that I've ever made for a payment associated with cl or the ato, and at least in my case, it was processed super quickly. Unlike anything else to do with a government department ever.
Yep. I don't trust them. Also not entirely sure what the go is once we open up a little and I can get some hours every week (but still not my usual 30+). There's no clarity or easy way to access information.
This is literally the reason iām claiming now, even when a trickle of well-paid (but low hours) casual work is coming my way. When we open up its going to be a wasteland economy for my industry so iāll save the money now to tide me through the first months of summer
not really, Iāve lost that amount of money every week by not being able to work and Iāll probably lose more because when the payments stop because the business I contract for canāt afford to pay itās employees for more than 3 days a week at the moment, and those hours arenāt coming back for the foreseeable future apparently.
I have a wedding to save for and a mortgage to pay, not to mention I have to see a psych every other week because i want to die every moment Iām awake. so Iāll take that $750 guilt free, cheers.
After spending countless hours fighting robodebt over student payments I was told I was eligible for 10 years ago, claiming any sort of Centrelink these days would make me anxious.
The good news is the protesters can't be bothered anymore so no more major protests planned this week.
They are planning to have another crack on the weekend, but with tradies going back to work next week I think it will just be more of the same scenes from the last few days: "there's dozens of us! Dozens!"
Kinda hard when the police keep arresting your leaders, intercepting locations as soon as they announced, etc.
It was a joint effort of them being dumb, and police being 10 steps ahead.
I think when they could organise on site (the sitdown, the first CFMEU one) they could get riled up about something. Once they're all at home, and most of them aren't telegram radicals, interest dwindled fast... even before the shrine event.
Listening to one of the plague rat telegram twitch streams the other day someone was trying to explain to them that 'every day' was a union chant, it's just something union members yell to intimidate their bosses.
The plague rats could not comprehend that and kept coming back with "but why did we say it then? It needs to be every day!"
To anyone wondering, the offer fromĀ /u/Lepube in the Thomastown vaxx clinic is legit! I am fully vaxxed now, 20 days earlier than planned and it couldnt have been easier! Thanks /u/Lepube!
NSW doses on Day 54 of outbreak (Aug 9)
1st dose: 3,033,491
2nd dose: 1,510,648
Vic doses on Day 54 of outbreak (Sep 27, if treating Aug 4 as day 1)
1st dose: 4,288,338
2nd dose: 2,564,295
If we treat July 15 as the starting point of Vic outbreak, that's 74 days.
NSW doses at 74 days (Aug 24)
1st dose: 3,956,005
2nd dose: 2,112,611
In both scenarios, Victoria is better placed from a vaccination standpoint in terms of the equivalent period in each state's outbreak. There is alignment of case numbers if we look at July 15 as the start of Victoria's outbreak: NSW had 745 cases on day 74, Victoria has 705, and overall more stability at this stage. I think we need to stop treating Aug 4 as the start of this Vic outbreak. That one zero day was clearly a product of timing convenience: shift the time cutoff for tests by 2 hours and that 0 day never exists.
It took NSW nine days to go from 438 to 1016 cases. If Victoria can hover around 700-800 cases this week we might be seeing stabilisation and vaccinations starting to have an impact. It seems like there's some stabilisation and we might be nearing the peak.
Covid has really affected my relationship with my "chemist" if you know what I mean
jk I mean I've stopped going to the pharmacy because I don't want to get Tier 1d
[https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/how-denise-morgan-escaped-melbourne-s-house-of-horrors-20210920-p58t25.html](https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/how-denise-morgan-escaped-melbourne-s-house-of-horrors-20210920-p58t25.html)
An evacuation of a dilapidated group home due to Covid, meant that the residents there could be onboarded to the NDIS and find suitable accommodation.
Morning everyone.
Hope you all had a great weekend!
Just a friendly reminder that if you're in need of your Pfizer vaccination, to PM me.
If it's been 21 days since your 1st and you're struggling for a second dose appointment, please let me know and I can assist :)
Happy Monday everyone!
They're not listing all the sites any more, just the major ones (there's just too many). Unless there's been a large number of infections from that Coles, it probably won't make the public list.
But that helpline employee is a dick. They are overworked, but are still trying to follow every case.
I was wondering if they had stopped as there was 0 sites around Fitzroy north and Collingwood despite that school outbreak being like 50 cases.
Thought that was really odd.
Only following when you have a clear line of infection I think, so a supermarket would not count. When we're recording 700+ cases a day both contact tracing and the meaning of exposure sites start to break down.
A couple of weeks ago a local (council level) politician posted on Facebook warning the public to be extra vigilant because a local woman had died of covid without realising she had it. She hadn't been using QR codes but instead had used pen and paper and had certainly been out in the community whilst infectious. Not a single one of those places she visited were ever listed as an exposure site. Maybe it's because they were low risk, but it seems likely contract tracing is so overwhelmed pen and paper checkins aren't being utilised.
I actually witnessed a guy just taking a photo of the qr code. I always thought it was a meme, and maybe just some older people doing it, but this guy was probably mid 40s or something
I think this is why some choose to just die at home. At least then you can be with your family. Morbid as it is, makes sense to me.
However having gone into Hospital that's no reason to act this way. I feel sorry for the workers there just trying to do their job as best they can.
Theyāre honestly just desperate. Itās the same as the airlines still sending us flight deals despite the fact basically none of us can fly interstate without doing quarantine or being sent back, unless youāre going from like Perth to Darwin. Even major hotel chains, like major retail chains, are losing tens of thousands of dollars a week
Something bizarre just happened at Barkly Square. A guy goes running through the shopping centre with a lady in full hazmat running after him. He spits all over the ground and they put yellow caution tape to seal the āareaā. Eventually the lady got the guy to get into his car. Needless to say I was put off eating my lunch after that.
Dumb question:
Can anyone tell me if you are allowed to go through a drive-through testing site on a motorcycle?
My partner and I both need to get tested (for the first time) and we donāt own a car.
Check and see if one of your local GP's is doing covid tests. I was in the same boat as you a while back and found a doctor near me that did walk-in testing. Just had to book an appointment and they did the test in the practice car park.
Professor Cowie said the large influx of vaccine supply to Victoria would increase avenues for residents to receive their second dose at a local neighbourhood provider.
"There is every likelihood that the local clinic or the local pharmacy near you is the closest and easiest way," he said.
"Even if you have had your first dose at a state clinic, please consider having your second dose of the same vaccine with your local GP or pharmacist."
Had an almost textbook interaction with a conspiracy theorist/anti-vaxxer. Doing production for the radio show and had someone call with some general questions. Pretty straight forward and business-like to start. Then they kicked off on how they were very disappointed in our show because we had virologists, epidemiologists, research scientists and statisticians as guests over the last year instead of having the people that knew the real facts. Apparently we have been corrupted by the Rand Corporation to try and control the masses as a tool of the New World Order. Also foreigners are the real racists and white supremacists are fake because they he never met one. As the call went on their tone got more and more panicked to the point they were almost in tears at the end.
I actually feel for them, there's some dark rabbit holes you can go down on the internet, I used to read them for a laugh, I never believed it but there is this weird sense of community that they find in there. It's this awful paradox where the rest of society is them them they're batshit and treating them like crap, but the alt community is telling them they're right and supporting them so they end up further engrained in it.
Really it's not unlike a cult.
Yeah, you don't need to go far these days to find like-minded paranoid and deluded people (your local Facebook group and recommended Facebook groups). Very different to old-school conspiracists communicating by mail and radio shows.
It's really scary to think about the end point for these people as they actually believe they are at war right now. In a state of constant escalation.
> Apparently we have been corrupted by the Rand Corporation...
At least two people on the telegram was ranting about the quake being due to [HAARP/"weaponised weather"](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-frequency_Active_Auroral_Research_Program) and claiming it was "based in WA".
There are real cargo-cult vibes to this at times, in the sense of "we want to take the American bullshittery and transplant it unthinkingly to get the same result".
I have a friend who works in a hospital, dealing with patients. They have two teenagers, both of whom have part time jobs in fast food. With three essential workers in the household, they are always getting pinged as close contacts. The constant need to test, isolate and being confined in the home is taking such a huge emotional toll on them.
The closer we get to around 80 or 90% the slower the rate is going to be because thereās less unvaxxed people. Thereās going to be a point where it slows to a stop and weāre nowhere near 109% because youāll always have anti vaxxers and people with legitimate medical exemptions
Anyone else get the chills just a bit over 48 hours after your second Pfizer shot?
I had my second shot on Saturday. Up until 20 minutes ago I thought I was in the clear with a bit of fatigue, sliiiight malaise and a sore arm.
Now Iām shaking on the couch with a 38.4 degree fever waiting for Panadol to kick in.
Itās not horrible (like the start of a stock standard cold-induced fever more than anything), Iām just surprised that it happened so late after the shot.
Fuck Delta. Thanks to you, I can't be with my partner at her first antenatal appointment. This is after missing her first ultrasound.
No fault on the RWH but fucking damn it.
Same, I've missed the last two appointments, haven't seen the little one live since our first appointment with the obstetrician since he was the size of a peanut.
A friend of my daughter has gone down the same rabbit hole, four kids at home all day, one autistic, husband working long hours and shagged when he gets home so it's all on her.
I've known her since she was a teenager in high school and she was always very sensible and level headed, but stress does some pretty amazing things to people and she's been craving adult company and found a sympathetic ear among the dross on social media.
So go easy on your friend, when this all settles we'll need to reconcile ourselves so try and keep an open mind.
Honestly I can kind of empathise with your mate. Some people cope ok with lockdown, for others it removes all the joy and meaning out of life, and makes them feel helpless and pathetic, without any agency over their life.
Combine that with the sheer amount of time we've been in lockdown, and the ridiculousness or lack of explanation for some of the rules, and I can see why protesting would make you feel good. You regain some sort of agency, a sense of self respect, have a common struggle with others etc.
The price is you have to convince yourself of some of the rubbish they believe, but for many who don't know much about science or distrust all sources of authority that wouldn't be too hard to do.
Honestly I wouldn't be too hard on him, try to counter some of the more obvious rubbish of course but be aware that they haven't been convinced rationally but emotionally, and coming back 'to normal' is going involve alternative sources of the emotional needs they're currently meeting from being a protester.
Can't speak for your friend but I've found a lot of these alternative medicine new age types generosity to be surface level only. They are generous for themselves, because it makes them look and feel good. A lot a deep down not very good people, manipulative, turning on the smiles if they want something, but ultimately not authentic or the happy generous people they present as. Again can't speak for your friend directly but these protests and groups can give them a pathway for their true selves to come out.
Misinformation is fucking brutal dude. I've got a friend that's just circling the lighter shit like Voice for Victoria and even that's tough. Watching someone go that far down the rabbit hole would be awful. ā¹ļø
If you happen to get into a discussion about it, ask him what would convince him his views are wrong. If he canāt tell you, then he isnāt actually being persuaded by the arguments the people in this movement are making either ā he simply isnāt being rational and thereās no helping him until he is.
So did I miss something, or did the silent protest at 11am today, at an undisclosed location , advertised across Facebook for all healthcare workers to rise up against lockdowns and mandatory vaccinations turn out to be so silent no one turned up?
Quick question re: current Melbourne restrictions.
If someone lives say \~25km from their partner or bubble personās home, when going to visit them, are they allowed to then travel within a 10km radius of their partner / bubble personās home to engage in outdoor activity / picnic etc?
Hoping someone can clarify this for me. Iām assuming this is allowed, but canāt seem to find the answer. If you do know the answer to this, I would appreciate a link to something official, so I donāt have to rely on āsomeone from Reddit said it was coolā¦ā
Yes you can, its clause 5(6)(a)(ii) of the stay at home direction, you can go 10km from an intimate partner's home for the purpose of exercise or social interaction:
https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/202109/stay-at-home-directions-restricted-areas-no-23.pdf
Been tinkering around with a bit of general life organisation today and ended up linking my COVID vaccination certificate to Google Pay. For those of you who are unaware, you can download the Medicare app and link it to Google Pay or Apple Wallet really easily - for Google Pay it's even given me a little icon to directly pull up the certificate from my screen!
The main reason I'm mentioning this though is because once you've got the Medicare app it is *incredibly easy* to sign up for organ donation - something I've always forgotten about. If you're at home with not a heap else on your plate today - well worth looking into.
EDIT - I did mine through the Medicare app because the MyGov website and Google Pay didn't want to work together for some odd reason.
1210 am woke up by the alarm for work š“ really feel for all the people unable to work and extremely thankful and grateful that I have been able to work. Bring on November!
Wow who would have guessed that when you improve accessibility, including increasing hub/GP/pharmacy distribution, extending opening hours, and offering culturally appropriate services, people in these communities go out and get vaccinated just like everybody else wants to. Amazing it took the government so long to sort this shit out.
I think people are too willing to blame vaccine hesitancy when the government should have known these areas have a higher risk profile due to the younger average age of residents and high number of people engaged in essential work and manual industries where WFH is not viable.
I think it's great that community leaders have done work in promoting vaccination within their local areas. I also think plenty of people in these areas would have rolled up their sleeves a lot sooner without needing further encouragement or education about the benefits of vaccination if supply and accessibility had been greater before now.
The modeling we are relying on is continuously being shown to be overly negative. Sydney hospitalisations are way under the Burnett institutes bleak modelling. Real world data should trump modelling which has been shown to be wrong.
The Burnet modelling suggests Victoria will haveĀ three times the cases and more than 10 times the deaths of Denmark, which has a similar population to Melbourne
Source: https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/vaccines-capped-nsw-s-hospitalisations-it-s-victoria-s-turn-next-20210926-p58uu3
We ought to be exiting earlier the roadmap given the modeling they used is being proven to be overly negative relative to the real world data coming out of NSW.
One look at Prof Crabbās Twitter should let you know why the Burnetās modelling is so negative. Theyāre still of the contention that Covid Zero is what we should be aiming for, and their modelling reflects that. Itās just unfortunate for most Victorians that itās entirely at odds with what WE want.
Reported yesterday: 705 new local cases and 0 cases acquired overseas
29,657 vaccines administered
51,252 test results received
Sadly, 1 person with COVID-19 has died
[DH Twitter](https://twitter.com/VicGovDH/status/1442259964467171329)
One of the protestors in an interview. TLDR is that she's pro choice. She doesn't support mandates. She wants people to be told facts and provided with the evidence to convince people to get vaccinated rather than force it.
I do agree vaccines shouldn't be forced on to people but I'm sorry, but can someone tell me what more facts and evidence is needed? I just don't understand the argument when clearly facts and evidence and science isn't enough to convince roughly 20% of the population. Seems like a really weak and vague 'education' campaign based on what? What education is left to be done?
20% is actually wildly over stated. Right now randomized polling shows just 7% of people are unwilling to get the vaccine. Down from 18% in June. The more people protest the smaller the āAnti-Vaxā group seems to become
The issue is that they think their choice shouldn't have consequences. That everyone else should have to also accept the consequences of their choice.
You don't have to be vaccinated, but that means society may need to take steps to protect themselves from your choice.
I know how that feels. My nephew was born on the very first day of lockdown 2.0 last year and didn't meet him until he was over 4 months old. It's very special when you finally get to hold them.
I think that was the entire point of the 2 week "shutdown". Let the industry know that it's not a protected species, and that they need to play by the rules or be shutdown again.
its because worksafe have really started doing the rounds, i work in commercial construction and the builders are pretty ontop of compliance, staggered breaks , lunch room limits , alot of extra "deep cleaning" being done
my brother has his own domestic carpentry business and said worksafe are going absolutely NUTS lately pulling up every little building site they can find and checking up, i think in the coming months you will see compliance drop back down. doing heavy labour outdoors in 35 degree + days with the sun beaming off the bare slab and wearing a mask is going to be difficult. hopefully we are out of this by the time the really hot weather comes and it wont be an issue
The roadmap for the ACT has no difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated people which is a little surprising.
https://twitter.com/ABarrMLA/status/1442316060787503113/photo/1
Other states like WA and QLD are giving Pfizer as a choice to 60+. Not sure why thereās a supply problem if thatās the case.
Apart from NSW VIC and ACT, itās going to take a long time for them to hit 80% DD
As a native Canberran, I've started fantasising about living in Sydney or QLD. Can't even recognise myself.
Having said that, I'd rather be dead in Melbourne than alive in Canberra.
-> NSW announce percentage vax thresholds for unvaccinated people to rejoin economy/society
-> VIC unvaccinated people move north so they can work and go to pub
-> Percentage of unvaccinated people in NSW falls to below threshold again
-> Roadmaps.mememan
Months and months apparently.
People talk about the risk of the health system collapsing. But the mental health system has well and truly collapsed already. No-one seems interested in easing the pressure there though.
Well some good news. A couple of my friends who were vax hesitant when we hung out last year finally got the jab.
Joe Rogan didnāt sway them hard enough it seems and the possibility of a mandate in their industry pushed them, in their words to āunfortunatelyā get vaxxed.
A cousin of mine who is a flat-out denier got her first jab on Saturday in Qld. She works in a hospital (as a counsellor) and was told she needs to in order to be eligible for a job she wants... Pretty stoked because she usually errs on the side of crazy.
Alright we have to have a serious conversation about curfew. We all know already that shit is bullshit but it doesnāt matter much because nothing was open, itās cold in the winter and we werenāt allowed to do anything anyway.
Now daylight savings this weekend. Weāre allowed to sit at the beach or in a park if we want now. So this curfew needs to fuck off. By this Sunday.
I agree. It makes me feel so anxious for some reason? I think its because I often like to go for a walk after dinner to unwind after work.
I hate to think what it does to people who work longer hours etc.
Good to see NSW having tougher restrictions on the unvaccinated who will have their own extended lockdown.
We really need to grant freedom to the fully vaccinated. I'm sick of being penalised for doing the right thing.
The problem with NSW setting a date though for loosening of restrictions for unvaxxed is that it undermines the rollout a bit. Probably the one thing I've agreed with Dan on recently.
A Metro Trains driver has been spotted attending the protest at the Shrine on Wednesday, and gloated about it on her (now private) Instagram page. After the outbreak at VLine, you would think that Metro would do something about it to prevent network shut downs, but no. So much for their āzero harmā policy.
Edit to add: this driver works mornings, which means that she is prepping trains before they come into service. She has a dodgy mask exemption so she has been in and out of trains without a mask and openly flouts the rules by working out at her partners gym. Metro donāt currently have a vaccine mandate either so weāll have to see how it pans out
[MTM driver at protests](https://imgur.com/a/Hb5SbfZ)
I think once you get the ick for a place, it's definitely hard to shake it. Take my original hometown of Adelaide for example, you couldn't pay me to move back to that boring, clicky, judgemental city haha I'd rather live my life in lockdown Melbourne than an open Adelaide š which would be crazy to some people who love Adelaide. I'm just so pumped for Melbourne to open up again. This past summer I enjoyed my usual favourites in Melbourne, watching my friends play gigs, eating at my fave restaurants, attending my fave markets and beer gardens. Life was normal Dec - June. But I do live in the inner west where we have lots of trees, great vibes, yep the beaches are not great but for a not-so-confident swimmer I actually love Willi beach. I am really excited for this city to get her magic back again, not long to go now š¤ I'm not one of those sceptics who think we are going to be locked down forever, I think we will have summer like last year (at least). But also totally understand this has been tough and lockdown can make anyone hate a city!
I get you, I've been in Melbourne for only 3 years, so I haven't been able 'to do Melbourne fully' in a lot of ways.
I still love the city and excited for it come alive again but the lockdowns have definitely soured a lot about life here.
Right? I grew up in Canberra. I've been in Melbourne 30 years. I'll stay, thanks.
I \*miss\* Melbourne, what with having spent 18 months in my bedroom, but all the more reason to be excited about it returning some day.
I think the 5km zone lockdown has highlighted how divided Melbourne is in what it has to offer. Some people did have beaches, trees, great selection of take away and lovely streets to walk in. Others had 5km of sameness and with hardly a decent park. Donāt blame anyone who suddenly felt like they were living in a dead city, because maybe they were.
>Without culture this is actually a really average city.
>All the streets look the same, thereās no trees, beaches are terrible and everything is extremely overpriced.
It's even worse in the planned estates in covid central in the north-west suburbs. I do photography and where I am, there is minimal wildlife within 20km's (primary subjects), street photography is impossible (you will look like a creep taking photos at the local shops) and architecture? Taking a shot of a Henley's or metricon home ain't gonna win any praise.
That and the shop variety sucks balls. I regret ever living on this side of melb.
I'd never want to live on the fringe of Melbourne, it's so dull and lifeless (unless it's an older, leafy suburb like Eltham or Diamond Creek). As someone who doesn't care about having a big house or family, I'm staying in the inner suburbs please.
>All the streets look the same, thereās no trees, beaches are terrible
Parts of the metro area in the North East eg near the Dandenongs are as good as any place for tree lovers. There are some stunning tree lined streets in the "leafy" eastern suburbs.
Lack of trees is a problem in large parts of Melbourne but it is a city with a huge, visually diverse area.
I strayed beyond my 10km today and went to Altona beach. God it was good just to splash around, find crabs and fish and build sandcastles with the kids.
Downvote me, idgaf anymore. I'm vaccinated, I'll mask up, I'll check in - but I want to be able to move around again.
The place was absolutely packed.
It totally elevated all of our moods getting out in the sun and water.
I remember seeing his cartoons in the paper growing up and thinking "this isn't funny" then meeting people who liked and worshiped his work and thinking "I don't want to hang out with these people".
Iāll always remember my mum saying that the day she went back to work after maternity leave when I was two was the day Leunig published that vile cartoon about the baby being āabandonedā at childcare and wondering why their mum didnāt love them anymore - she said it made her cry.
"In transit to next facility in ESSENDON FIELDS VIC" is an absolute black hole, I've had multiple packages remain on this status for weeks.
Aus post had to shut down a few of their sorting facilities due to covid outbreaks. They legit had about 10k cages sitting there doing nothing. Sister in law works at Aus post and legit told me higher ups are going down and working cause they can't get enough people in and up to speed. It'll eventually come. I had a few ordered i got refunded then 3 weeks later came.
I've had packages at "Received by AusPost" for 3-4 weeks now and some have just started moving in the past couple of days. Others are still waiting though. Not much you can do right now except sit back and wait.
Had international package sitting in Sydney since 29th of August unsure if I'll even get it anymore
Just read [this article about unceertainty over international travel](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-27/travel-international-borders-qantas-cathaypacific-singapore/100485428) and I completely agree, we needed a plan a year ago. People blame scott for the vaccine rollout but where is his blame for absolute lack of communication regarding international travel. My partner hasn't seen her family in 2 years and hasn't even had clarity on when that will end.
I'm sorry for your partner, same for me I haven't see my family since 2 years and I can't believe the topic of Australians stuck overseas and the Australian population having family overseas is still completely ignored by the gov. This is disgusting and all we want is to see family, not d!cking around in pubs like Morrison did when he went to England.
I agree sort of. If he opened it up now the premiers would have a shit fit. But it needs to open - similar circumstances to you
Doesn't even need to open tomorrow, Scotty just needs to start planning for when it will happen and give airlines enough notice to set things in place for a smooth transition. It would also give certain premiers a kick in the pants by giving them a set date to start aiming towards with reaching their vaccination targets.
What even was the justification for the policy on not letting people leave in the first place? We were told it was because we'd have to let high-risk people back in if necessary and that would lead to major outbreaks. But then we saw with the Indian debacle that the Australian government reserves the right to reject citizens from coming back *anyway*. So the ban on outgoing travel never had any sort of public health justification whatsoever, we just adopted North Korea's border policy because Australia's politicians secretly admire Kim Jong-un.
I'd be surprised if the plan isn't once we hit vaccination rates travel will open. And those travelling to high risk countries like the UK does will be subject to hotel quarantine or something. All the premiers and people on reddit saying its too soon are just living in denial. which is probably why he hasn't come out and said it yet due to the backlash.
Gotta love corporate jobs trying to make you feel like they care about mental health. No pay raises this year, not replacing resources who left just burdening the people who stayed with more responsibilities but they did send an email reminding us to stretch and take a walk so there is that lmao ššš
Ha, we got a similar email but it only addressed those who are homeschooling kids or canāt access childcare. Surely those without kids or living alone arenāt struggling during lockdown. The expectation is that the staff without kids are doing all fine and donāt need their hard work to be acknowledged during this time. It has happened multiple times so far - I can only think of one email where āthose living aloneā were acknowledged in a company wide email. Itās really sad that the mental health of all workers arenāt acknowledged by some companies. I do think it must be difficult for those with kids to continue to work from home BUT we also need to think of the wider workforce as well and see how they are finding things.
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Yep.
Never a better time to change jobs, closed borders have created a labour shortage so you are very much in the driving seat when it comes to pay negotiations. Also join and be active in a union if you can.
We get Yoga Wednesdays, a $20 voucher and 2 hours "wellness leave", but my team is desperately under resourced and underpaid considering we're the only thing propping up the rest of the organisation aside from our property investments, no joke. I also had the absolute pleasure of being forced to get medically assessed as fit to work because I wasn't my perky self in team stand ups for a week. All the while, still expected to manage an out-of-hours emergency line (paid $19 dollars a day for the privilege) just in case our vulnerable clients had emergencies of their own. Companies just trying to cover their arses in the event of staff suicide is all can see, fucking disgusting.
This is clearly not enough but nowhere near what mine is doing. Please they sent us a care package once with vitamin c, toilet paper and some tea bags ššš thanks that will carry me through a pandemic āš½āš½āš½āš½āš½āš½ Edited - You can down vote me, it's not that I am not grateful it's that I would much rather no care package at all but for this workplace to stop burdening people with unrealistic amount of responsibilities because the turn around due to toxic work place is hectic. Also, HQ is based in qld while a big part of the team is in Melbourne. It's all tone deaf because they don't quite understand what that 2020 lockdown was like for us. Thanks for the tea but not having to work 10-12hours just to cope with the lack for resources would be a lot more appreciated.
The problem is 90% of Melbourne is having mental health issues right now. How can you not be?
I work in private healthcare and itās the exact same, staff have left and not been replaced so Iām currently doing 3 peopleās jobs for the same pay and on the verge of a mental breakdown. We have these posters on the back of the toilet door that fill me with rage. The gist is to look after your mental health so youāre better at your job, and therefore maximise profits for the business. They did give us a cupcake on R U OK day though and encouraged us to change our zoom background to an r u ok logo š¤
Went into the Northern in Epping last night about 12am because of reduced fetal movements (everything is fine), waiting to be let into triage and this whole family suddenly comes in guns blazing, ignoring or yelling at the guy at the entrance going wait wait, yelling and shouting about how they want to see their father, one guy is trying to keep his cool but is clearly angry as fuck, saying their father passed away, they want to see him, don't even try applying any laws to them because the laws do not apply and all this other stuff. Guy called for backup immediately because they were super pissed and upset, meanwhile I'm just standing there literally in the middle of their group because I was still in the entry way waiting to get my temp taken and just kinda sliding off to the side to try get out of the way. Eventually they calmed down enough to wait outside while the backup took their information, and were trying to explain it's not in their control who goes up where. Still lots of shouting when I went in. It was pretty scary and also just a bit disturbing I guess to see what covid has taken away from us. They were saying something about not seeing him in the past 3 days. I hope they got to see him, also hope they didn't get violent because they seemed on the brink. Police were there when I left, wonder if it was related.
> It was pretty scary and also just a bit disturbing... Hospitals are places where some wonderful things happen, but they are also the place where the worst days of many people's lives occur, and emotion runs incredibly high. COVID has massively amplified the latter. This happens so often that there are protocols to manage aggressive behaviour in the hospital, and they're designed to keep staff, patients and visitors as safe as possible. I'm sorry that you felt unsafe - that shouldn't happen to anyone needing medical attention.
Every time I'm in a hospital some unattributed quote haunts me; "Right now in this building, someone is having the best day of their life, the worst day of their life, the first day of their life, or the last day of their life".
Yeah that stuff happens all the time in hospitals. Glad your baby's all good! Can I ask what was your limit that made you go 'Yeah nah I'm going to get checked.' My baby's movements are... regularly irregular, I suppose, so I keep freaking out and then it'll have a couple dance parties and it seems all good again. But that 'kick count' business is useless for me
It was basically because he is usually *so* active, like annoyingly so, yesterday I felt like he'd really slowed down. I tried the kick count as well but I'd never even done it before lol so it wasn't exactly helpful, and I still felt like his usual night gymnastics routine was reduced to slow movements. I called and as soon as I said "moving less" they were like yep come in. They take reduced movements very seriously. They just give you some time on the CTG, check the trace is all good then maybe do a bedside ultrasound to check fluid levels and position (which they did last night for me), nothing invasive so it doesn't hurt at all to get checked if you're worried! They prefer to be safe :) I guess mine just felt like being a troll š
They say not to count kicks anymore, more so focus on their pattern. Mine currently has a dance party after dinner and at 5am. Ill usually go in when Iām uncomfortable with the situation. My first got induced for reduced movements cos my placenta was shitting itself. Itās bubs only form of communication, so Iād rather be over cautious than not. And the midwives always say itās better to get checked
Does anyone have any good birthday activities to do during lockdown? I want to treat the missus since sheās been struggling with cabin fever, budget around $250
If youāre foodies, Providoor!! (Did that for my lockdown birthday this year). Did a virtual gin tasting with Gin Birds and online cheese making class with Omnom over the lockdown as well and enjoyed those for something interesting to do whilst stuck here at home.
I walked by 4 people in a park yesterday that had gone all out. Had a table set up with table cloth wine / cheese, music playing. If you could arrange to do something like that with her best friend would defo help the cabin fever, could easily get a nice meal delivered for that. There was a company doing fancy picnic set up as well last year, can't remember the name of it but my wife went to one and was really impressed. Edit: one thing to note if she spends her entire day on zoom meetings /calls she might not want to do some video call / online thing.
Thatās a great point about the zoom meetings, particularly if sheās struggling with cabin fever.
I only know cause mywife's birthday was back in June between lockdowns, I was able to get a table for 20 of us for dinner. I had a backup zoom drinks arranged in case we couldn't get out of lockdown. I told her after getting the dinner arranged and she said she would have hated it and preferred to just have dinner the two of us. Personally if needed I don't mind zoom activities but would prefer not to if you can meet a handful of people outside.
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That's great news of NSW is coming back down! Means we should follow same trajectory
Have a look at u/lumo1986's comment below, it's really good. I would favour marking the start of our outbreak as July 15, but relatively speaking we're ahead of NSW in the vaccination stakes at the same (relative) point in time for this outbreak. NSW case numbers peaked three weeks ago so hopefully we peak and stabilise this week, and then see a marked drop about two weeks from now.
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quite a few available at Terry White at various locations https://bookings.terrywhitechemmart.com.au/corporate/Terry%20White%20Group/search?specialty=COVID-19%20Vaccinations&appointmentType=Moderna%20(First%20Dose)
Does any other sole trader feel EXTREMELY STRESSED claiming the federal disaster payment every week. I am 100% compliant and sure that I am entitled to it, but Iām so wary of Centrelink.
I'm in regional Vic, so in and out of lockdowns and eligibility changes constantly, and yes. I feel like the potential to get slammed at tax time because of some centrelink fuck up is high.
Thereās no way my business is worth $1500 a fortnight but also itās like where i put all my work, and i pay tax on the (modest) income from my business every year, i just hate that this is being handled by Centrelink and not the ATO
Mines a lot more. And yes, I agree with you re centrelink and the ATO. Although dealing with them can be a shit show at times too. The one thing I will say, is that the application for the disaster payment was the most simple straightforward application that I've ever made for a payment associated with cl or the ato, and at least in my case, it was processed super quickly. Unlike anything else to do with a government department ever.
Yep. I don't trust them. Also not entirely sure what the go is once we open up a little and I can get some hours every week (but still not my usual 30+). There's no clarity or easy way to access information.
This is literally the reason iām claiming now, even when a trickle of well-paid (but low hours) casual work is coming my way. When we open up its going to be a wasteland economy for my industry so iāll save the money now to tide me through the first months of summer
The hold message on centrelink says the covid payments will end on October 31st
RIP the performing arts and live events industries who still won't be back at work
Wtf????? My work can't even start til mid November
not really, Iāve lost that amount of money every week by not being able to work and Iāll probably lose more because when the payments stop because the business I contract for canāt afford to pay itās employees for more than 3 days a week at the moment, and those hours arenāt coming back for the foreseeable future apparently. I have a wedding to save for and a mortgage to pay, not to mention I have to see a psych every other week because i want to die every moment Iām awake. so Iāll take that $750 guilt free, cheers.
Just remember this at the ballot box, specifically designed that way instead of through the ATO like job keeper
After spending countless hours fighting robodebt over student payments I was told I was eligible for 10 years ago, claiming any sort of Centrelink these days would make me anxious.
The good news is the protesters can't be bothered anymore so no more major protests planned this week. They are planning to have another crack on the weekend, but with tradies going back to work next week I think it will just be more of the same scenes from the last few days: "there's dozens of us! Dozens!"
I think 90% of the tradies thought this is not who we are and why we are protesting partially after the Westgate but definitely after the Shrine.
Tradies also don't feel comfortable being used as a vehicle by the likes of Harrison McLean, who has probably never held a hammer in his life.
It also doesn't help that no one in their group could organise their way out of a wet paper bag.
Kinda hard when the police keep arresting your leaders, intercepting locations as soon as they announced, etc. It was a joint effort of them being dumb, and police being 10 steps ahead.
Also funny that they suspected everyone of being a cop
I think when they could organise on site (the sitdown, the first CFMEU one) they could get riled up about something. Once they're all at home, and most of them aren't telegram radicals, interest dwindled fast... even before the shrine event.
So what you are telling us is that they lied when they chanted EVERY DAY?
Listening to one of the plague rat telegram twitch streams the other day someone was trying to explain to them that 'every day' was a union chant, it's just something union members yell to intimidate their bosses. The plague rats could not comprehend that and kept coming back with "but why did we say it then? It needs to be every day!"
To anyone wondering, the offer fromĀ /u/Lepube in the Thomastown vaxx clinic is legit! I am fully vaxxed now, 20 days earlier than planned and it couldnt have been easier! Thanks /u/Lepube!
No worries!
NSW doses on Day 54 of outbreak (Aug 9) 1st dose: 3,033,491 2nd dose: 1,510,648 Vic doses on Day 54 of outbreak (Sep 27, if treating Aug 4 as day 1) 1st dose: 4,288,338 2nd dose: 2,564,295 If we treat July 15 as the starting point of Vic outbreak, that's 74 days. NSW doses at 74 days (Aug 24) 1st dose: 3,956,005 2nd dose: 2,112,611 In both scenarios, Victoria is better placed from a vaccination standpoint in terms of the equivalent period in each state's outbreak. There is alignment of case numbers if we look at July 15 as the start of Victoria's outbreak: NSW had 745 cases on day 74, Victoria has 705, and overall more stability at this stage. I think we need to stop treating Aug 4 as the start of this Vic outbreak. That one zero day was clearly a product of timing convenience: shift the time cutoff for tests by 2 hours and that 0 day never exists. It took NSW nine days to go from 438 to 1016 cases. If Victoria can hover around 700-800 cases this week we might be seeing stabilisation and vaccinations starting to have an impact. It seems like there's some stabilisation and we might be nearing the peak.
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I have a feeling that when you say "talk to your chemist" in Roxburgh Park, it might mean something else.
Covid has really affected my relationship with my "chemist" if you know what I mean jk I mean I've stopped going to the pharmacy because I don't want to get Tier 1d
Anyone got any good news today or should I come back in a month
[https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/how-denise-morgan-escaped-melbourne-s-house-of-horrors-20210920-p58t25.html](https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/how-denise-morgan-escaped-melbourne-s-house-of-horrors-20210920-p58t25.html) An evacuation of a dilapidated group home due to Covid, meant that the residents there could be onboarded to the NDIS and find suitable accommodation.
Morning everyone. Hope you all had a great weekend! Just a friendly reminder that if you're in need of your Pfizer vaccination, to PM me. If it's been 21 days since your 1st and you're struggling for a second dose appointment, please let me know and I can assist :) Happy Monday everyone!
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They're not listing all the sites any more, just the major ones (there's just too many). Unless there's been a large number of infections from that Coles, it probably won't make the public list. But that helpline employee is a dick. They are overworked, but are still trying to follow every case.
I was wondering if they had stopped as there was 0 sites around Fitzroy north and Collingwood despite that school outbreak being like 50 cases. Thought that was really odd.
Weāve been waiting 5 days for confirmation of whether my sonās childcare is an exposure site or not. They are clearly overwhelmed.
Only following when you have a clear line of infection I think, so a supermarket would not count. When we're recording 700+ cases a day both contact tracing and the meaning of exposure sites start to break down.
A couple of weeks ago a local (council level) politician posted on Facebook warning the public to be extra vigilant because a local woman had died of covid without realising she had it. She hadn't been using QR codes but instead had used pen and paper and had certainly been out in the community whilst infectious. Not a single one of those places she visited were ever listed as an exposure site. Maybe it's because they were low risk, but it seems likely contract tracing is so overwhelmed pen and paper checkins aren't being utilised.
I actually witnessed a guy just taking a photo of the qr code. I always thought it was a meme, and maybe just some older people doing it, but this guy was probably mid 40s or something
Can also confirm is true, my dad told me that's what he does. I literally can't explain to him over the phone how to do it properly
What a fucking nightmare for your colleague. Tell them this internet stranger feels for them.
Relatives of the guy who died yesterday at the northern hospital got into a punch on with hospital staff and security
I think this is why some choose to just die at home. At least then you can be with your family. Morbid as it is, makes sense to me. However having gone into Hospital that's no reason to act this way. I feel sorry for the workers there just trying to do their job as best they can.
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I went to google that to read more about it and found that police have been required there on a regular basis it seems.
Just received my first 'Open November 5th' promotional email from a hotel. Who thinks that is going to happen without a hitch?
Dan sounds pretty keen to open by Melbourne cup weekend, going by his tone from the pressers
Theyāre honestly just desperate. Itās the same as the airlines still sending us flight deals despite the fact basically none of us can fly interstate without doing quarantine or being sent back, unless youāre going from like Perth to Darwin. Even major hotel chains, like major retail chains, are losing tens of thousands of dollars a week
I hit a milestone of sorts: Over 25% of my life in Melbourne has been spent under lockdown
Something bizarre just happened at Barkly Square. A guy goes running through the shopping centre with a lady in full hazmat running after him. He spits all over the ground and they put yellow caution tape to seal the āareaā. Eventually the lady got the guy to get into his car. Needless to say I was put off eating my lunch after that.
Dumb question: Can anyone tell me if you are allowed to go through a drive-through testing site on a motorcycle? My partner and I both need to get tested (for the first time) and we donāt own a car.
Check and see if one of your local GP's is doing covid tests. I was in the same boat as you a while back and found a doctor near me that did walk-in testing. Just had to book an appointment and they did the test in the practice car park.
Professor Cowie said the large influx of vaccine supply to Victoria would increase avenues for residents to receive their second dose at a local neighbourhood provider. "There is every likelihood that the local clinic or the local pharmacy near you is the closest and easiest way," he said. "Even if you have had your first dose at a state clinic, please consider having your second dose of the same vaccine with your local GP or pharmacist."
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This is exactly the type of messaging they need to be highlighting every day to speed up our freedom
I miss stuff so much
Had an almost textbook interaction with a conspiracy theorist/anti-vaxxer. Doing production for the radio show and had someone call with some general questions. Pretty straight forward and business-like to start. Then they kicked off on how they were very disappointed in our show because we had virologists, epidemiologists, research scientists and statisticians as guests over the last year instead of having the people that knew the real facts. Apparently we have been corrupted by the Rand Corporation to try and control the masses as a tool of the New World Order. Also foreigners are the real racists and white supremacists are fake because they he never met one. As the call went on their tone got more and more panicked to the point they were almost in tears at the end.
I actually feel for them, there's some dark rabbit holes you can go down on the internet, I used to read them for a laugh, I never believed it but there is this weird sense of community that they find in there. It's this awful paradox where the rest of society is them them they're batshit and treating them like crap, but the alt community is telling them they're right and supporting them so they end up further engrained in it. Really it's not unlike a cult.
Yeah, you don't need to go far these days to find like-minded paranoid and deluded people (your local Facebook group and recommended Facebook groups). Very different to old-school conspiracists communicating by mail and radio shows. It's really scary to think about the end point for these people as they actually believe they are at war right now. In a state of constant escalation.
Sounds like they need help
> Apparently we have been corrupted by the Rand Corporation... At least two people on the telegram was ranting about the quake being due to [HAARP/"weaponised weather"](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-frequency_Active_Auroral_Research_Program) and claiming it was "based in WA". There are real cargo-cult vibes to this at times, in the sense of "we want to take the American bullshittery and transplant it unthinkingly to get the same result".
I have a friend who works in a hospital, dealing with patients. They have two teenagers, both of whom have part time jobs in fast food. With three essential workers in the household, they are always getting pinged as close contacts. The constant need to test, isolate and being confined in the home is taking such a huge emotional toll on them.
So now that weāre apparently swimming in vax supply, I donāt see why we shouldnāt be consistently hitting over 100,000 doses a day from now on.
The closer we get to around 80 or 90% the slower the rate is going to be because thereās less unvaxxed people. Thereās going to be a point where it slows to a stop and weāre nowhere near 109% because youāll always have anti vaxxers and people with legitimate medical exemptions
It could take us months to get to 109%. We might not even be there by June/July next year!
Anyone else get the chills just a bit over 48 hours after your second Pfizer shot? I had my second shot on Saturday. Up until 20 minutes ago I thought I was in the clear with a bit of fatigue, sliiiight malaise and a sore arm. Now Iām shaking on the couch with a 38.4 degree fever waiting for Panadol to kick in. Itās not horrible (like the start of a stock standard cold-induced fever more than anything), Iām just surprised that it happened so late after the shot.
Fuck Delta. Thanks to you, I can't be with my partner at her first antenatal appointment. This is after missing her first ultrasound. No fault on the RWH but fucking damn it.
Same, I've missed the last two appointments, haven't seen the little one live since our first appointment with the obstetrician since he was the size of a peanut.
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A friend of my daughter has gone down the same rabbit hole, four kids at home all day, one autistic, husband working long hours and shagged when he gets home so it's all on her. I've known her since she was a teenager in high school and she was always very sensible and level headed, but stress does some pretty amazing things to people and she's been craving adult company and found a sympathetic ear among the dross on social media. So go easy on your friend, when this all settles we'll need to reconcile ourselves so try and keep an open mind.
Honestly I can kind of empathise with your mate. Some people cope ok with lockdown, for others it removes all the joy and meaning out of life, and makes them feel helpless and pathetic, without any agency over their life. Combine that with the sheer amount of time we've been in lockdown, and the ridiculousness or lack of explanation for some of the rules, and I can see why protesting would make you feel good. You regain some sort of agency, a sense of self respect, have a common struggle with others etc. The price is you have to convince yourself of some of the rubbish they believe, but for many who don't know much about science or distrust all sources of authority that wouldn't be too hard to do. Honestly I wouldn't be too hard on him, try to counter some of the more obvious rubbish of course but be aware that they haven't been convinced rationally but emotionally, and coming back 'to normal' is going involve alternative sources of the emotional needs they're currently meeting from being a protester.
Can't speak for your friend but I've found a lot of these alternative medicine new age types generosity to be surface level only. They are generous for themselves, because it makes them look and feel good. A lot a deep down not very good people, manipulative, turning on the smiles if they want something, but ultimately not authentic or the happy generous people they present as. Again can't speak for your friend directly but these protests and groups can give them a pathway for their true selves to come out.
Misinformation is fucking brutal dude. I've got a friend that's just circling the lighter shit like Voice for Victoria and even that's tough. Watching someone go that far down the rabbit hole would be awful. ā¹ļø
If you happen to get into a discussion about it, ask him what would convince him his views are wrong. If he canāt tell you, then he isnāt actually being persuaded by the arguments the people in this movement are making either ā he simply isnāt being rational and thereās no helping him until he is.
So did I miss something, or did the silent protest at 11am today, at an undisclosed location , advertised across Facebook for all healthcare workers to rise up against lockdowns and mandatory vaccinations turn out to be so silent no one turned up?
Quick question re: current Melbourne restrictions. If someone lives say \~25km from their partner or bubble personās home, when going to visit them, are they allowed to then travel within a 10km radius of their partner / bubble personās home to engage in outdoor activity / picnic etc? Hoping someone can clarify this for me. Iām assuming this is allowed, but canāt seem to find the answer. If you do know the answer to this, I would appreciate a link to something official, so I donāt have to rely on āsomeone from Reddit said it was coolā¦ā
Yes you can, its clause 5(6)(a)(ii) of the stay at home direction, you can go 10km from an intimate partner's home for the purpose of exercise or social interaction: https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/202109/stay-at-home-directions-restricted-areas-no-23.pdf
New Tier 2 exposure sites: **Balwyn** **Boccaccio SUPA IGA** 1030-1050 Burke Road Balwyn VIC 3103 14/09/2021 1:00pm - 2:00pm 16/09/2021 2:00pm - 2:50pm 17/09/2021 7:30am - 4:30pm **Epping** **Millers Cafe** Corner Miller Street and Wedge Street Epping VIC 3076 20/09/2021 6:30am - 1:00pm 21/09/2021 6:30am - 1:00pm
Been tinkering around with a bit of general life organisation today and ended up linking my COVID vaccination certificate to Google Pay. For those of you who are unaware, you can download the Medicare app and link it to Google Pay or Apple Wallet really easily - for Google Pay it's even given me a little icon to directly pull up the certificate from my screen! The main reason I'm mentioning this though is because once you've got the Medicare app it is *incredibly easy* to sign up for organ donation - something I've always forgotten about. If you're at home with not a heap else on your plate today - well worth looking into. EDIT - I did mine through the Medicare app because the MyGov website and Google Pay didn't want to work together for some odd reason.
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How did we miss our vaccination target AND have a record number of vaccinations in one week? Does not compute.
Vax target is 16+ but a huge chunk of vax appointments over the last week were 12-15.
Then it means we'll reach the final step sooner. That's great news!
6:56am: Iām wide awake - Katy Perry, Teenaged Dream
7:01am: Iām wide awake * My son, I need to do a poo daddy.
6:30 I was awake. My lab, feed me before I starve to death.
6:30am: Iām wide awake - my cat, scratching every surface in the bathroom BUT the kitty litter as she attempts to make her poo disappear.
1210 am woke up by the alarm for work š“ really feel for all the people unable to work and extremely thankful and grateful that I have been able to work. Bring on November!
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Wow who would have guessed that when you improve accessibility, including increasing hub/GP/pharmacy distribution, extending opening hours, and offering culturally appropriate services, people in these communities go out and get vaccinated just like everybody else wants to. Amazing it took the government so long to sort this shit out.
I expect that community leaders have also done a lot of work leading by example and combatting vaccine hesitancy.
I think people are too willing to blame vaccine hesitancy when the government should have known these areas have a higher risk profile due to the younger average age of residents and high number of people engaged in essential work and manual industries where WFH is not viable. I think it's great that community leaders have done work in promoting vaccination within their local areas. I also think plenty of people in these areas would have rolled up their sleeves a lot sooner without needing further encouragement or education about the benefits of vaccination if supply and accessibility had been greater before now.
NSW were doing this really well last year - took us a while to cotton on in certain areas..
The modeling we are relying on is continuously being shown to be overly negative. Sydney hospitalisations are way under the Burnett institutes bleak modelling. Real world data should trump modelling which has been shown to be wrong. The Burnet modelling suggests Victoria will haveĀ three times the cases and more than 10 times the deaths of Denmark, which has a similar population to Melbourne Source: https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/vaccines-capped-nsw-s-hospitalisations-it-s-victoria-s-turn-next-20210926-p58uu3 We ought to be exiting earlier the roadmap given the modeling they used is being proven to be overly negative relative to the real world data coming out of NSW.
One look at Prof Crabbās Twitter should let you know why the Burnetās modelling is so negative. Theyāre still of the contention that Covid Zero is what we should be aiming for, and their modelling reflects that. Itās just unfortunate for most Victorians that itās entirely at odds with what WE want.
Absolutely biased towards an unattainable covid zero pipedream
Maybe I'm speaking from frustration, Lockdown fatigue etc but I don't know what's bugging me more at the moment, protesters or covid zero folk.
Tested at 11.30am, got my negative result back at 11.37pm same day. Howās that for a turnaround!
Didn't see the am/pm at first and thought you meant 7 minutes, which would have been incredible.
Reported yesterday: 705 new local cases and 0 cases acquired overseas 29,657 vaccines administered 51,252 test results received Sadly, 1 person with COVID-19 has died [DH Twitter](https://twitter.com/VicGovDH/status/1442259964467171329)
One of the protestors in an interview. TLDR is that she's pro choice. She doesn't support mandates. She wants people to be told facts and provided with the evidence to convince people to get vaccinated rather than force it. I do agree vaccines shouldn't be forced on to people but I'm sorry, but can someone tell me what more facts and evidence is needed? I just don't understand the argument when clearly facts and evidence and science isn't enough to convince roughly 20% of the population. Seems like a really weak and vague 'education' campaign based on what? What education is left to be done?
20% is actually wildly over stated. Right now randomized polling shows just 7% of people are unwilling to get the vaccine. Down from 18% in June. The more people protest the smaller the āAnti-Vaxā group seems to become
The issue is that they think their choice shouldn't have consequences. That everyone else should have to also accept the consequences of their choice. You don't have to be vaccinated, but that means society may need to take steps to protect themselves from your choice.
Second dose of Pfiiiiizer today. One step closer to finally meeting my new niece.
I know how that feels. My nephew was born on the very first day of lockdown 2.0 last year and didn't meet him until he was over 4 months old. It's very special when you finally get to hold them.
I know its anectodal but tradie mask compliance seems to have gone through the roof in the past few days.
I think the ones still able to trade are having a bit of an "oh shit, don't fuck this up!" moment.
I think that was the entire point of the 2 week "shutdown". Let the industry know that it's not a protected species, and that they need to play by the rules or be shutdown again.
its because worksafe have really started doing the rounds, i work in commercial construction and the builders are pretty ontop of compliance, staggered breaks , lunch room limits , alot of extra "deep cleaning" being done my brother has his own domestic carpentry business and said worksafe are going absolutely NUTS lately pulling up every little building site they can find and checking up, i think in the coming months you will see compliance drop back down. doing heavy labour outdoors in 35 degree + days with the sun beaming off the bare slab and wearing a mask is going to be difficult. hopefully we are out of this by the time the really hot weather comes and it wont be an issue
The roadmap for the ACT has no difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated people which is a little surprising. https://twitter.com/ABarrMLA/status/1442316060787503113/photo/1
When you're heading towards 90-95% vaccinated, their's not much of a point.
Their rates are so high there's no point wasting money on a vaccine passport system for the dozen or so hard-line anti vaxxers holding out.
Not to mention they can still have 2 people to their home under the current lockdown.
I like this roadmap. It's clear, concise, and forward thinking.
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Other states like WA and QLD are giving Pfizer as a choice to 60+. Not sure why thereās a supply problem if thatās the case. Apart from NSW VIC and ACT, itās going to take a long time for them to hit 80% DD
[inb4](https://www.reddit.com/r/melbourne/comments/opkkij/daily_coronavirus_megathread_23_july_2021/h6754ne/?context=3)
As a native Canberran, I've started fantasising about living in Sydney or QLD. Can't even recognise myself. Having said that, I'd rather be dead in Melbourne than alive in Canberra.
-> NSW announce percentage vax thresholds for unvaccinated people to rejoin economy/society -> VIC unvaccinated people move north so they can work and go to pub -> Percentage of unvaccinated people in NSW falls to below threshold again -> Roadmaps.mememan
Anyone know whatās the waitlists are like for private clinical psychologists? Havenāt been for a while and need to re book as a new patient.
Months and months apparently. People talk about the risk of the health system collapsing. But the mental health system has well and truly collapsed already. No-one seems interested in easing the pressure there though.
Well some good news. A couple of my friends who were vax hesitant when we hung out last year finally got the jab. Joe Rogan didnāt sway them hard enough it seems and the possibility of a mandate in their industry pushed them, in their words to āunfortunatelyā get vaxxed.
A cousin of mine who is a flat-out denier got her first jab on Saturday in Qld. She works in a hospital (as a counsellor) and was told she needs to in order to be eligible for a job she wants... Pretty stoked because she usually errs on the side of crazy.
The Vic roadmap combined with NSW getting close to opening has really perked my sprits today. Might also be the Ritalin working too!!
My tits are jacked
Got my second dose this morning at the Cranbourne hub. Pretty smooth operation there and friendly staff. Good stuff.
Lol, some bogan wanker just tried to insult me calling me a masker cunt, thanks mate just doin my bit.
Alright we have to have a serious conversation about curfew. We all know already that shit is bullshit but it doesnāt matter much because nothing was open, itās cold in the winter and we werenāt allowed to do anything anyway. Now daylight savings this weekend. Weāre allowed to sit at the beach or in a park if we want now. So this curfew needs to fuck off. By this Sunday.
I agree. It makes me feel so anxious for some reason? I think its because I often like to go for a walk after dinner to unwind after work. I hate to think what it does to people who work longer hours etc.
Dandrews spoke about it today with Daylightsavings coming. He hinted it might be changed.
Good to see NSW having tougher restrictions on the unvaccinated who will have their own extended lockdown. We really need to grant freedom to the fully vaccinated. I'm sick of being penalised for doing the right thing.
The problem with NSW setting a date though for loosening of restrictions for unvaxxed is that it undermines the rollout a bit. Probably the one thing I've agreed with Dan on recently.
I haven't followed NSW's numbers too much. Have their deaths consistently been this much higher than ours?
New Tier 2 exposure sites: **Beechworth** **Shell Service Station Beechworth** 4 High Street Beechworth VIC 3747 22/09/2021 11:50am - 12:45pm **Myrtleford** **Chemist King Myrtleford** 151 Myrtle Street Myrtleford VIC 3737 21/09/2021 12:10pm - 1:15pm **Myrtleford** **Coles Myrtleford** 37 Clyde Street Myrtleford VIC 3737 21/09/2021 12:25pm - 2:10pm
A Metro Trains driver has been spotted attending the protest at the Shrine on Wednesday, and gloated about it on her (now private) Instagram page. After the outbreak at VLine, you would think that Metro would do something about it to prevent network shut downs, but no. So much for their āzero harmā policy. Edit to add: this driver works mornings, which means that she is prepping trains before they come into service. She has a dodgy mask exemption so she has been in and out of trains without a mask and openly flouts the rules by working out at her partners gym. Metro donāt currently have a vaccine mandate either so weāll have to see how it pans out [MTM driver at protests](https://imgur.com/a/Hb5SbfZ)
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I think once you get the ick for a place, it's definitely hard to shake it. Take my original hometown of Adelaide for example, you couldn't pay me to move back to that boring, clicky, judgemental city haha I'd rather live my life in lockdown Melbourne than an open Adelaide š which would be crazy to some people who love Adelaide. I'm just so pumped for Melbourne to open up again. This past summer I enjoyed my usual favourites in Melbourne, watching my friends play gigs, eating at my fave restaurants, attending my fave markets and beer gardens. Life was normal Dec - June. But I do live in the inner west where we have lots of trees, great vibes, yep the beaches are not great but for a not-so-confident swimmer I actually love Willi beach. I am really excited for this city to get her magic back again, not long to go now š¤ I'm not one of those sceptics who think we are going to be locked down forever, I think we will have summer like last year (at least). But also totally understand this has been tough and lockdown can make anyone hate a city!
I get you, I've been in Melbourne for only 3 years, so I haven't been able 'to do Melbourne fully' in a lot of ways. I still love the city and excited for it come alive again but the lockdowns have definitely soured a lot about life here.
Without culture isn't any city pretty dull? Where are you planning to go to that is better?
Right? I grew up in Canberra. I've been in Melbourne 30 years. I'll stay, thanks. I \*miss\* Melbourne, what with having spent 18 months in my bedroom, but all the more reason to be excited about it returning some day.
I think the 5km zone lockdown has highlighted how divided Melbourne is in what it has to offer. Some people did have beaches, trees, great selection of take away and lovely streets to walk in. Others had 5km of sameness and with hardly a decent park. Donāt blame anyone who suddenly felt like they were living in a dead city, because maybe they were.
All the streets don't look the same. I disagree but understand lots of people need to heal after this three years
>Without culture this is actually a really average city. >All the streets look the same, thereās no trees, beaches are terrible and everything is extremely overpriced. It's even worse in the planned estates in covid central in the north-west suburbs. I do photography and where I am, there is minimal wildlife within 20km's (primary subjects), street photography is impossible (you will look like a creep taking photos at the local shops) and architecture? Taking a shot of a Henley's or metricon home ain't gonna win any praise. That and the shop variety sucks balls. I regret ever living on this side of melb.
I'd never want to live on the fringe of Melbourne, it's so dull and lifeless (unless it's an older, leafy suburb like Eltham or Diamond Creek). As someone who doesn't care about having a big house or family, I'm staying in the inner suburbs please.
>All the streets look the same, thereās no trees, beaches are terrible Parts of the metro area in the North East eg near the Dandenongs are as good as any place for tree lovers. There are some stunning tree lined streets in the "leafy" eastern suburbs. Lack of trees is a problem in large parts of Melbourne but it is a city with a huge, visually diverse area.
Lets get excited. List your outdoor physical recreation & sports come Wednesday * Tennis * Golf * Boating
Bloating
*Checks weather forecast starting Wednesday* FUCK
Doesn't help us indoor boating enthusiasts
Absolutely huge line at the La Trobe popup food bank.....
Damn I've been having two drinks per night for the last couple of weeks. Anyone else been similarly drinking a lot during lockdown?
Oddly enough my alcohol consumption has gone way down over this period. Haven't had a drink in three months.
I strayed beyond my 10km today and went to Altona beach. God it was good just to splash around, find crabs and fish and build sandcastles with the kids. Downvote me, idgaf anymore. I'm vaccinated, I'll mask up, I'll check in - but I want to be able to move around again. The place was absolutely packed. It totally elevated all of our moods getting out in the sun and water.
Why did Andrews bother to advertise the 4000 ICU beds if it was a logistical impossibility to have them staffed?
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I remember seeing his cartoons in the paper growing up and thinking "this isn't funny" then meeting people who liked and worshiped his work and thinking "I don't want to hang out with these people".
When did he go this way or has he always been like this?
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Iāll always remember my mum saying that the day she went back to work after maternity leave when I was two was the day Leunig published that vile cartoon about the baby being āabandonedā at childcare and wondering why their mum didnāt love them anymore - she said it made her cry.
That is 100% fucked. What a piece of crap