Jim05 wrote:73 new cases in Victoria today
NSW imposing $10k fines or jail for anyone from a hotspot trying to enter NSW.
... in solitary confinement, one would hope!
by Pseudo » Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:29 pm
Jim05 wrote:73 new cases in Victoria today
NSW imposing $10k fines or jail for anyone from a hotspot trying to enter NSW.
by Wedgie » Thu Jul 02, 2020 2:09 am
Armchair expert wrote:Such a great club are Geelong
by LaughingKookaburra » Thu Jul 02, 2020 4:57 am
by Corona Man » Thu Jul 02, 2020 6:03 am
Wedgie wrote:I think we need to be less hard on Victorians at the moment, it must be awful living there and at the end of the day 99% of the people that live there have done nothing different to us, its just a bigger place with lots of movement from overseas which we're lucky we don't get.
I've been as guilty as anyone and I know some people around the border who are in SA with Vic number plates are getting an awful time and I know its affected friends on facebook who now feel like lepars and I'm sure even our mate Corona Man (so ironic) has probably had enough of it too but probably doesn't want to say anything for fear of being branded a whimp or something.
I reckon we need to lay off a bit, enjoy our lifestyle and feel a bit of empathy for those over the border who can't enjoy the same things as us at the moment.
Just my 2 bob.
by LMA » Thu Jul 02, 2020 8:11 am
Corona Man wrote:Wedgie wrote:I think we need to be less hard on Victorians at the moment, it must be awful living there and at the end of the day 99% of the people that live there have done nothing different to us, its just a bigger place with lots of movement from overseas which we're lucky we don't get.
I've been as guilty as anyone and I know some people around the border who are in SA with Vic number plates are getting an awful time and I know its affected friends on facebook who now feel like lepars and I'm sure even our mate Corona Man (so ironic) has probably had enough of it too but probably doesn't want to say anything for fear of being branded a whimp or something.
I reckon we need to lay off a bit, enjoy our lifestyle and feel a bit of empathy for those over the border who can't enjoy the same things as us at the moment.
Just my 2 bob.
Correction 99.99999% of people in Melbourne have done the right thing.
by Booney » Thu Jul 02, 2020 9:18 am
Wedgie wrote:I think we need to be less hard on Victorians at the moment, it must be awful living there and at the end of the day 99% of the people that live there have done nothing different to us, its just a bigger place with lots of movement from overseas which we're lucky we don't get.
I've been as guilty as anyone and I know some people around the border who are in SA with Vic number plates are getting an awful time and I know its affected friends on facebook who now feel like lepars and I'm sure even our mate Corona Man (so ironic) has probably had enough of it too but probably doesn't want to say anything for fear of being branded a whimp or something.
I reckon we need to lay off a bit, enjoy our lifestyle and feel a bit of empathy for those over the border who can't enjoy the same things as us at the moment.
Just my 2 bob.
by Bum Crack » Thu Jul 02, 2020 9:56 am
Wedgie wrote:I think we need to be less hard on Victorians at the moment, it must be awful living there and at the end of the day 99% of the people that live there have done nothing different to us, its just a bigger place with lots of movement from overseas which we're lucky we don't get.
I've been as guilty as anyone and I know some people around the border who are in SA with Vic number plates are getting an awful time and I know its affected friends on facebook who now feel like lepars and I'm sure even our mate Corona Man (so ironic) has probably had enough of it too but probably doesn't want to say anything for fear of being branded a whimp or something.
I reckon we need to lay off a bit, enjoy our lifestyle and feel a bit of empathy for those over the border who can't enjoy the same things as us at the moment.
Just my 2 bob.
by JK » Thu Jul 02, 2020 10:06 am
Wedgie wrote:I think we need to be less hard on Victorians at the moment, it must be awful living there and at the end of the day 99% of the people that live there have done nothing different to us, its just a bigger place with lots of movement from overseas which we're lucky we don't get.
I've been as guilty as anyone and I know some people around the border who are in SA with Vic number plates are getting an awful time and I know its affected friends on facebook who now feel like lepars and I'm sure even our mate Corona Man (so ironic) has probably had enough of it too but probably doesn't want to say anything for fear of being branded a whimp or something.
I reckon we need to lay off a bit, enjoy our lifestyle and feel a bit of empathy for those over the border who can't enjoy the same things as us at the moment.
Just my 2 bob.
by Dutchy » Thu Jul 02, 2020 10:17 am
by stan » Thu Jul 02, 2020 10:46 am
I'm fairness to Dan, his comments were taking out of context.Bum Crack wrote:Wedgie wrote:I think we need to be less hard on Victorians at the moment, it must be awful living there and at the end of the day 99% of the people that live there have done nothing different to us, its just a bigger place with lots of movement from overseas which we're lucky we don't get.
I've been as guilty as anyone and I know some people around the border who are in SA with Vic number plates are getting an awful time and I know its affected friends on facebook who now feel like lepars and I'm sure even our mate Corona Man (so ironic) has probably had enough of it too but probably doesn't want to say anything for fear of being branded a whimp or something.
I reckon we need to lay off a bit, enjoy our lifestyle and feel a bit of empathy for those over the border who can't enjoy the same things as us at the moment.
Just my 2 bob.
I think people would be more empathetic if ol mate Dan didn't have a dig at SA the other week. Although it was petty, people get quite upset about little things that and hold grudges. I feel sorry for all the business owners over there for sure. Having said that, the State have brought it upon themselves at the end of the day. Whether it's 100 or 1000 doing the wrong thing, they know the rules and have now ruined it for everyone.
by Bum Crack » Thu Jul 02, 2020 10:54 am
stan wrote:I'm fairness to Dan, his comments were taking out of context.Bum Crack wrote:Wedgie wrote:I think we need to be less hard on Victorians at the moment, it must be awful living there and at the end of the day 99% of the people that live there have done nothing different to us, its just a bigger place with lots of movement from overseas which we're lucky we don't get.
I've been as guilty as anyone and I know some people around the border who are in SA with Vic number plates are getting an awful time and I know its affected friends on facebook who now feel like lepars and I'm sure even our mate Corona Man (so ironic) has probably had enough of it too but probably doesn't want to say anything for fear of being branded a whimp or something.
I reckon we need to lay off a bit, enjoy our lifestyle and feel a bit of empathy for those over the border who can't enjoy the same things as us at the moment.
Just my 2 bob.
I think people would be more empathetic if ol mate Dan didn't have a dig at SA the other week. Although it was petty, people get quite upset about little things that and hold grudges. I feel sorry for all the business owners over there for sure. Having said that, the State have brought it upon themselves at the end of the day. Whether it's 100 or 1000 doing the wrong thing, they know the rules and have now ruined it for everyone.
He was saying that you don't need to go to SA as it's better to Holdiay in Victoria and indeed in areas effected by Bushfires or something like who wants to go there when we can holiday here etc etc.
It was something like that, but the media grabbed the bit about who what a to go to SA after he was asked about the SA border staying closed.
by Jim05 » Thu Jul 02, 2020 11:52 am
by Jimmy_041 » Thu Jul 02, 2020 11:54 am
stan wrote:I'm fairness to Dan, his comments were taking out of context.Bum Crack wrote:Wedgie wrote:I think we need to be less hard on Victorians at the moment, it must be awful living there and at the end of the day 99% of the people that live there have done nothing different to us, its just a bigger place with lots of movement from overseas which we're lucky we don't get.
I've been as guilty as anyone and I know some people around the border who are in SA with Vic number plates are getting an awful time and I know its affected friends on facebook who now feel like lepars and I'm sure even our mate Corona Man (so ironic) has probably had enough of it too but probably doesn't want to say anything for fear of being branded a whimp or something.
I reckon we need to lay off a bit, enjoy our lifestyle and feel a bit of empathy for those over the border who can't enjoy the same things as us at the moment.
Just my 2 bob.
I think people would be more empathetic if ol mate Dan didn't have a dig at SA the other week. Although it was petty, people get quite upset about little things that and hold grudges. I feel sorry for all the business owners over there for sure. Having said that, the State have brought it upon themselves at the end of the day. Whether it's 100 or 1000 doing the wrong thing, they know the rules and have now ruined it for everyone.
He was saying that you don't need to go to SA as it's better to Holdiay in Victoria and indeed in areas effected by Bushfires or something like who wants to go there when we can holiday here etc etc.
It was something like that, but the media grabbed the bit about who what a to go to SA after he was asked about the SA border staying closed.
by Jimmy_041 » Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:25 pm
by MW » Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:52 pm
by Wedgie » Thu Jul 02, 2020 1:06 pm
MW wrote:The Vics have been calling us a backwater and pissant state for years and when we get upset about it they say its only a joke you cant take a joke...and as soon as they get some back they go to water and get upset. Funny that.
Armchair expert wrote:Such a great club are Geelong
by MW » Thu Jul 02, 2020 1:09 pm
by Jimmy_041 » Thu Jul 02, 2020 1:34 pm
Security firms used in Melbourne quarantine hotels probed over fake guards rort
A security guard has blown the whistle on Melbourne’s quarantine hotel fiasco, revealing he only received five minutes of training before being deployed to work. Other alarming claims have emerged of guards’ sexual dalliances with guests, and being caught sleeping on the job.
Mark Buttler, Grant McArthur and Matthew Johnston, Herald Sun
Subscriber only
July 2, 2020 12:12pm
Illegal cash payments to guards, undertrained workers and billing rorts have been exposed in Victoria’s COVID-19 hotel quarantine debacle.
And a security guard has blown the whistle, breaking a gag order to reveal he received only five minutes of training before being tasked to one of Melbourne’s quarantine hotels.
“And that was the PPE and everything, the box and dice and then we were sent up to your level,” he told the Today show this morning.
He also said security guards were only given one face mask and one glove to use for an entire shift.
It comes amid revelations that unscrupulous security firms, being probed over their part in triggering Melbourne’s second coronavirus wave, also exploited the pandemic by charging taxpayers for shifts never worked.
The rort — known as “ghosting” — led to hazardous understaffing in hotels, with those who questioned operators even being threatened.
Cash payments agreed between providers and workers, long a scourge in the security industry, were also widely used.
Other alarming claims detailed by security industry figures and quarantine-hotel insiders include:
HOTEL guards slept with guests;
SECURITY personnel wore personal protective equipment for up to eight hours without changing it;
GUARDS shook hands and shared lifts in a major breach of regulations;
SOME of them had just six hours of infection control training and were caught sleeping on the job; and
QUARANTINED families were allowed to go between rooms to play cards and games with others.
Under the ghosting rort, operators would charge authorities for providing a certain number of staff for a shift, say 30, but hired several fewer, for example 20. Fake names would be given for the non-existent workers.
A source within the hotel quarantine program told the Herald Sun ghosting was rife, and the Andrews Government had been warned about the dangerous racket months ago.
“Hotel staff often found that processes were incomplete. When this was raised with the people running various security, they were threatened … it’s a common practice,” the source said.
“Operators are cowboys.”
In the quarantine setting, the practice of ghosting raises the risk of spreading coronavirus because it means there are not as many guards overseeing guests as health officials are led to believe, while increasing the guests each working guard has to interact with.
Regarding the cash payments, one worker said a contractor deposited his wages without paperwork or any evidence of them carrying out employer obligations. “They just put the money into the account,” the worker said.
Cash wages allow rogue operators to win contracts with much lower quotes than their rivals because it is saving on tax and other expenses.
It can also be revealed that security staff at the Stamford Plaza in the CBD, where all positive cases are relocated, did shifts at at least two other quarantine hotels.
And there have been issues with staff going from jobs at the quarantine hotels to private industry shifts. Such practices greatly increase the risk of cross-contamination.
An Andrews Government spokeswoman refused to address claims of ghosting and cash payments directly, saying an inquiry into the entire program had been ordered.
Claims security staff slept with some guests in coronavirus isolation will be examined as part of the inquiry. The allegations are sweeping police, hotel industry and even government circles.
So far, verified breaches of infection control include car pooling, sharing of cigarettes and lighters, and hugging between staff at hotels.
But the accusations of more serious breaches — including sexual dalliances and fights — will also be investigated.
Premier Daniel Andrews said coronavirus was so contagious that something as innocuous as sharing a cigarette lighter could cause a spread in cases — and that this had happened in Victoria.
Questions have been raised about the quality of security agencies contracted for some of the high-level health protection, with one source predicting that a “clusterf--- of issues” would emerge.
Following the National Cabinet’s decision to establish the hotel quarantine program security contracts were signed within 24 hours and exempted from a tender process.
Victorian contracts were awarded to MSS, Unified and Wilson, which in turn employed subcontractors.
More than 20,000 travellers arriving in Victoria have undergone 14 days of isolation since the program started.
This week, allegations of a bed bug infestation at Carlton’s Rydges on Swanston hotel quarantine site, were defended as “part and parcel” of the hospitality industry.
Health Minister Greg Hunt has instructed states to "throw the book" at anyone in breach of protocols following explosive claims security personnel hired at Melbourne...
CALL TO PROSECUTE ‘COWBOY’ OPERATORS
Victoria should “throw the book” at companies involved in Victoria’s botched hotel quarantine if explosive allegations about their misconduct were upheld, said Health Minister Greg Hunt.
“If those claims are correct, then that is completely and utterly unacceptable, and we would encourage the Victorian authorities to throw the book at them, either individuals or if there’s any systematic inappropriate action at those that are responsible for it,” Mr Hunt said on Thursday morning.
“What we are seeing is a large number of cases because of the genomic history which have clearly come from these hotel quarantine systems.
“Many Victorians are going into lockdown again today, in part, the hotel quarantine system has been a contributing part of that.”
But Labor leader Anthony Albanese came to the defence of Premier Daniel Andrews over the alleged hotel quarantine mismanagement.
He said claims of serious misconduct by the operators were “pretty extraordinary” but that Mr Andrews was not to blame for the issue.
“I don’t think Daniel Andrews was on the security himself personally,” Mr Albanese told Sky on Thursday morning.
“Look, the fact is, private security firms are used for a range of measures.
“That shouldn’t be beyond the capacity, of these firms who are responsible, if these firms breached, what is essentially, a contract.
“It’s an extraordinary breach if these suggestions are proven to be fact.”
LEGAL VETERAN HEADS QUARANTINE PROBE
Calls are growing for the inquiry into the state’s botched hotel quarantine system to include public hearings.
Premier Daniel Andrews said on Wednesday those who had done the wrong thing by breaching infection control standards would be held to account, as he revealed experienced retired judge Jennifer Coate would probe the hotel quarantines.
But it’s unclear whether the inquiry — or indeed the report likely in two months — will be made public.
Ms Coate was last month appointed to the Victorian Law Reform Commission after serving as a commissioner to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
In a career spanning four decades, she has served as a magistrate, a County Court judge and as the state coroner.
The decision to announce an inquiry comes after weeks of pressure over problems with security that was run by private firms. Now, Corrections Victoria staff will be involved in monitoring hotels.
The government has refused to release a genomic report the Premier relied on to call the inquiry. He said it provided evidence of quarantine staff spreading the virus.
“That left me in no doubt that if not right now, but certainly back weeks and weeks ago, there was a significant infection control problem,” Mr Andrews said. Genomic tracking shows the markings of COVID-19 — like a fingerprint of each strain of virus — were common among multiple hotel contacts who spread it through family members.
The report won’t be released because it contains private health details.
Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said the inquiry should be public and extended to probe the Cedar Meats cluster linked to more than 100 cases.
“We trust the inquiry will investigate a number of problems and have access to key documents, which have been previously refused by the Andrews Labor Government under Freedom of Information,” she said.
The NSW government called a public investigation into the Ruby Princess debacle early in the coronavirus crisis, with key staff taking the stand to explain how infected travellers from the cruise ship were released into the community.
Other states have a different quarantine system. NSW Police Chief Commissioner Mick Fuller has overseen operations there. Queensland has used health staff, defence force personnel and police.
South Australia on Wednesday flew 29 nurses and paramedics to help Victoria, while Queensland has sent dozens of nurses.
Acting federal Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said Victoria was proof of “how easily it can spread when infection control is not adequate”.
by DOC » Thu Jul 02, 2020 4:02 pm
by LaughingKookaburra » Thu Jul 02, 2020 9:12 pm
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