Yet a striking anomaly occurs when one sees that hospitals, airports and quarantine facilities are completely absent from this list! Does this not strike you as a glaring omission in a protocol already 7 months in effect?
The NSW Public Health Authority acknowledges that “testing can determine whether an outbreak is in progress.” And states, “a positive test would significantly change the management of an infection outbreak, then these tests should be prioritized”. Yet the gold standard NSW COVID infection control response, under the helm of both Messer’s Hazzard and Berejiklian, has failed in this one basic WHO recommended measure: no testing of ALL personnel associated with entry into Australia’ “gold standard” quarantine system!
Perhaps it is just me, but from my perspective such omissions are a shocking indictment of this ad hoc and hastily implemented legislation and policy. It is negligent to the public and a complete derogation of duty. Basically, from my observations, the “gold standard of infection control” as cited by our PM is an abysmal failure in infection control 101.
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Paradoxically, while no quarantine hotel staff in the Sydney area are tested for COVID, all who enter the quarantine hotel are. Without clear test results we are not discharged from this pseudo-jail! Does anyone note that without the regular mandated testing of staff within the facility, that any clear COVID test by the detainees, is compromised by this one simple but incredible oversight! Such basic omissions of WHO approved COVID control measures are ignored by our governing leaders! Possibly contaminated staff/asymptomatic staff, not only roam freely within the community, without masks, they conversely threaten the clear status of those newly arrived. It behooves me to mention that all quarantine detainees have less rights for exercise and fresh air than criminals in jail. While criminals are granted daily exercise, those in the majority of hotels do not have any exercise options in an up to 15-day period of quarantine.
The truth is I am at more risk of catching COVID in Sydney due to lax practices, such as the above and the overview tomorrow of the glaring gaps in infection control protocols in practice from entry into Sydney airport to detainment in mandatory quarantine facilities through to discharge. In the face of these hypocrisies and omissions, the Australian PM and the NSW Premier regularly pronounce that THIS NSW system is the GOLD Standard for infection control! I have a very different definition of gold standard.
To reiterate: Basic protocols are failing and basic human rights are being denied in a completely inept system of “infection control” that does not even do the basic- test the staff who are working with unknown numbers of community members at all times and are not even wearing face shields or full PPE.
Tomorrow let’s take a look at life as an inmate in one Sydney quarantine facility. This facility is staffed by lovely, caring, compassionate staff, who are well aware of the inadequate, and discriminatory arbitrary policies imposed by our government. They are trying to make our jail time as comfortable as possible when we are denied such basic human rights of daily exercise and fresh air.
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