primary spreaders who by being double vaccinated give just a 4% protection against transmission according to to state daddy himself. He has said ‘to keep our children safe’

the point is we accept a certain number of road deaths otherwise vehicles would be banned completely. McGowan didn’t accept ANY death from Covid previously, hence he shut the borders to enforce Covid 0

Same with cigarettes - we accept a number of deaths despite all the death reducing initiatives we have. We could adopt what NZ and Singapore is thinking of introducing - a total ban on the young generation taking up smoking which eventually will eliminate cigarettes from legal existence after some time.

the point is we need to accept Covid deaths as well

apples to oranges of course as vehicles are needed and Covid isnt. But the acceptance of death is the similar point.

If it was proven banning alcohol would stop covid in its tracks ( as well as car accidents , family breakups and health issues ) would Australians agree to prohibition of alcohol ? Highly unlikely ! I can hear the masses now saying , covids just a flu , does not kill many , let’s just have a beer , calm down and get on with it .

Sure- but it's a cost/benefit analysis. Bear in mind, Covid ALSO adversley effects the ecconomy the "let her rip" crowd claims to value- we've kept a decent amount of ecconomic activitey going while keeping damage to a minimum. Even McGowan knows therewill be a time deaths are inevitable, but is of the opinion that damage can be minimized and that it's worth the longer restrictions.

I don't neccessarliy agree with him, but I do see hos point.

Two steps forward, one step backwards. I think most of Australia would rather that then to have the nation sit on its hands indefinitely. I’m pretty sure the ‘let it rip’ crowd would also be calling for changes to the isolation rules.

There's some very early indications as the peak in cases has passed over east that people are now going out and spending in the economy again. Wednesday's public holiday will be an interesting comparison, I'm not sure what the situation is over east but in WA there's already trepidation over the Skyworks and numbers will probably be down there and at other public events. Very quickly the argument that WA is having a relatively normal period of holiday economic activity compared to the east is going to be a moot point.

There is a very brief window when the optimal protection from the boosters is going to be - March, in addition to the risk of allowing an outbreak in winter.

No doubt relevant businesses and the media will push him on this point. AJ on local Perth radio this morning said they are going to talk to the government and want some type of assurance about dates regarding the Perth London route, and pretty much said they have a deadline of about a week before deciding whether or not to keep it going via Darwin for either April or the peak (dry) season. As an aside he does seem to want the route to eventually return to Perth as a first preference and seems to want assurances or other commitments to keep that service in Perth for the months after it's scheduled to restart, whether it's firm dates or money or something.

Qantas CEO says customers are ‘extremely disappointed’ about WA border shut out

Not sure how others are, here we have had February wiped clean. Sounds like no one is traveling at all. Just as I thought SY was getting busy again.

mate I’m double jabbed and I’ve had covid. To be honest, if I hadn’t have tested I’d have never have known. Family of varying ages have experienced cold like or mild flu like at worst.

get jabbed and move on - there’s no need to root the economy any more than it has been. It isn’t 2020, we know what we’re dealing with, there’s vaccines and it’s mutating into weaker strains.

if you all want to huddle up and hide, that’s fine, but let the rest of us get on with paying taxes to fund the health system.

Australia has a sick obsession with case
numbers and testing. 1,119,442 active cases with 1,119,050 in mild or less condition. 392 in serious or critical condition, with 138 on ventilators. And those reported case numbers are likely to be 10% of the actual case numbers, according to some state health authorities. Wake up Australia

Judge in the defamation case with Palmer and McGowan has ruled McGowan must travel to NSW for trial. Watch that slimy piece of sh&$ try and weasel his way out of quarantine. He’s got two choices, do the hotel quarantine and taste his own medicine. He’ll probably get some respect for that. Or, the more likely outcome is he snakes his way out of it because he sees himself as too important. He’ll be smashed by all media. If he now opens, it will look like he’s only done it so he doesn’t have to quarantine. He’ll try to hide behind the ‘worlds best medical advice’ , but again, the media will smash him.

Good one Justice Lee.

Before you start getting all excited and frothing at the mouth, the Premier has already stated this morning he will do 2
weeks quarantine. And in fact, he does not have to, as politicians are exempt. But he had stated he is happy to do it.

Glancing through the previous posts posts on this subject, there seems to be various strains of Omicron depending on your Geography! The strain where I live ,which for the fully vaccinated, is more of an inconvenience than a dangerous illness. All my family and I contracted it over New Year, no more symptoms than the usual UK Winter sniffles, Fully recovered after 8/9 days. Although there are still many infections, hospitalisation and deaths are falling (Mainly the unvaccinated need hospitalisation)
Most restrictions on the public are being removed in the next week, or so, as are mandatory testing for travel in and out of the Country. And nearly full A380s fly happy pax to SA, USA and the Gulf.

Then there seems to be the far more dangerous Omicron strain feared for example, in China, parts of Australia and New Zealand which require full Isolation,no travel, and vast Lockdowns??

the election variant

May have change of PM this year,, but no General Election for a couple of years!! Are you saying the C19 stats and medical experts here are politically motivated in their advice to the public??

I would be happy to as well if I was on 400K to spend 2 weeks at home on the payroll

in Australia and NZ - yes. It’s been 100% politics for at least rhe last year

Politicians are exempt exempt from inbound restrictions but must still do 2wks home quarantine. If Marko does that at his home, his whole family has to quarantine as well.

You are 100 percent correct.

Just need NSW to introduce a short term C*ckhead quarantine rule.

But then, why would he do that?

I guess that Scott Morrison better not travel to Canberra then?
Wait, I misread your post. Morrison will be ok, he is a long term cockhead!

Seems ppl can’t wait to vote a bigger c**khead in.

And McGowan is benefiting from NSW's more liberal position too. If they were following his "abundance of caution" model he'd be locked up for a month, two weeks in NSW then 2 more in WA.

Perhaps those forum posters that also fit the C*ckhead mould should look at their travel plans....mmmh.

But, hey, bet there would be support for "Each Way Albo" to enter each of the Labor Fiefdoms to sprout his offer, whilst denying Morrison entry, or the Indies, or the Greens, etc etc....nice way to shut down fair democracy.

As long as 'Albo' is 'head honcho' of the opposition, that is where 'they' will remain OI rekkon......

Come on next election...or is that 'chinese' for my next wish from the 'good fairy'..??

The two weeks on return to the state of Wait Awhile is correct but NSW should be enforcing the two weeks quarantine while the medical profession check to see what version of delusion he is suffering from. We wouldn't want to spread his disease in NSW and other states.

He has no intention of opening the border this year. unless I’m not interpreting this properly. Read the bit about the quarantine facilities.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-...tent/100783900

I don't think you're interpreting it properly. Those quarantine facilities are also being built in Queensland and Victoria, and they already have one in the NT (Howard Springs), yet those places are open. These facilities are more about long term needs for quarantine in the future (to avoid what happened in this pandemic with so many Australians being kept outside the country for so long), or the accommodation of a large group of people in a facility for other purposes.

WA proposals for future entry do include quarantine on unvaccinated arrivals, so in the context of this current pandemic it may be about them and then putting them into a purpose built quarantine facility rather than hotels, whilst vaccinated travelers (hopefully soon) are not required to quarantine.

In terms of when WA will open to the vaccinated? Probably when more RATs arrive and workable close contact rules have been finalised to avoid workforce disruptions seen in the east over the last month. Meeting with mining companies to finalise those rules tomorrow and there should be 25 million RATs in the state by end of February. Other reasons like declining booster protection in the already boosted elderly and impending winter surge will require WA to be open soon, I still predict this delay to extend no more than early March, about 4 weeks from original.

I do hope you’re right doc. I just don’t understand why hotel quarantine facilities would be all chocked up going into August if the border is indeed open.

It's a 500-1000 bed facility.

Unvaccinated travelers still have to do 14 days quarantine. That's only about 35-70 new people coming into the camp per day. Even now with the extreme risk to all other states there's far more entrants into the state as a whole per day.

So if they were estimating about 2000 international arrivals per day that's only about 3.5% of the estimated arrivals who could be accommodated in this facility. It could hold those who come down with symptoms inflight, or those who test positive on arrival. Or any other diseases, say another Ebola outbreak?

Given that it'll only hold 35-70 new entrants per day at maximum theoretical capacity then it isn't going to be used for the vast majority of people planned to come into the state, only the very few who need to quarantine for a specific reason. And this discounts the greater number of domestic arrivals who are now coming from a non Covid Zero locations, so essentially and practically the same level as international arrivals.

Now if they were planning on a 20-50,000 bed facility then I'd say Covid zero is the long term plan. As they aren't then a long term hard border is not the plan as far as I can see.

And to think the country is worried about plastic straws.

Let’s waste 2 RAT kits per child per week for no benefit. If you presented to a lab for PCR test with no symptoms they would send you away.

And in addition to what I posted above I've just found this article just posted which explains those comments a bit better. States the Quarantine Facility is not going to be used for mandatory isolation once borders open. What it'll be used for is travelers who test positive and need to isolate, but don't have a place to isolate because the hotel quarantine system has been shut down.

The premier said WA had to keep its hotel quarantine system operational because once the borders reopened, there would be infected people with nowhere to isolate. He said the hotels would be needed until at least July or August when the federal government’s Bullsbrook quarantine hub opened.

So the comments regarding the purpose built Quarantine facility aren't a long term plan for a hard border. It's simply for those who need a place to isolate once the border reopens and the hotel quarantine system has been shut down.

What happened to him saying he was waiting for triple vaccination or has that been canned already because it didn't poll very well? I read the AMA have got stuck into him about the irrationality of his decision making.

Yeah I think the backlash was greater than he thought. Even the previously sympathetic West Australian newspaper has gotten stuck into him since last week's delay. There is some benefit to waiting to get as many people boosted as possible before allowing higher spread (assuming this current wave doesn't take off, and seeing it has hit nightclubs and festivals it probably will). So the triple dose mandate was implemented for 75% of the workforce and generally not a source of discontent, and predictions are 75% booster rate should be hit by March 2. But unlike the drive to get to 80-90% double vaxxed there now is a latest possible time they can hold off for. Late March is peak booster efficiency in the already boosted elderly, and the wave will take 6-8 weeks to pass through, so it definitely has to open up in March for it to end before winter.

Puzzled from afar, while presently watching a nearly full arena at a tennis match in Victoria. Have WA identified a more deadly strain of Omicron, than other parts of Australia, that need a China style lockdown/isolation?

No one outside of WA can answer ? It’s a mystery to us all .

they can't handle any omicron cases as the hospital's are full already even with zero cases.

Full hospitals with ambulance ramping up to four hours but McGowan does have $5.6 billion surplus.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-...date/100438990

I am not convinced the WA lockdown means much to eastern states aviation activity. There are no border restrictions here in the engine room of the economy*, yet the terminals are pretty much deserted, and the few flights well under capacity. I am just starting a roster and will be lucky to do half of my pre covid hours.

*gratuitous piss take of WA

QF, which were planning on 100% of pre Covid domestic capacity and 30% of international capacity around now. When the Xmas/NY wave hit the east coast that went down to 70% of Domestic capacity, and 20% of International capacity for Feb/March. WA's extended closure only took that domestic number down from 70 to 60% for Feb/March.

For instance all Honolulu flights have been suspended until the end of March.