Covid 19 -

[Citroënbender]

Originally Posted by Beastie

We haven't been to war for a while - I wonder if govmit has a plan for that...

Defence of our country would be put out to tender after a Royal Commission. Successfully won by the opposing entity, who would sublet our defence to a new, specially created category of migrant visa workers that coincidentally all came from the aggressor country.

It’s metaphorical. ;-)

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by jmack

who are you referring to

Oops my bad.... was distracted here and confused Ross with T3 sorry.

I still don't see any racism there

[zilo]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

For an example of this, a mate’s 80 year old father had advanced dementia, he had a fall and broke his hip, while laid up he developed pneumonia and in the rehab gym (still being treated for pneumonia) he caught Coronavirus. He died, which was frankly a blessed release. I understand that at the time of his death, it was logged as having died from the virus but that pays no heed to underlying ailments. (This was, however, in the US.)

I seem to recall reading a while back that in the US, hospitals were paid a little bit extra if a covid related death happened on their premises.

[zilo]

Originally Posted by T3rminator

We should be ok for future pandemics. After vaccination is complete, we will have contact tracing chips in all of us.

yeah....we will all be in the same boat...the same safe thoroughly tested world best practice vaccines in ALL our bloodstreams.

The best part? Every body willingly tested for covid has given their full identification down to DNA level to their friendly govt, much better than fingerprinting all of us....and now covid passports to eliminate anyone not caught in the drag net.

[russellw]

Originally Posted by leesa

Do you see what I'm saying? All of our efforts have nuances that we've had to learn as we went along. The covidsafe app, I doubt that's going to be mentioned in any of your articles but that was a lesson we had to learn also.
We didn't just have a list pre-prepared that we could follow. Almost everything we've had to date we've had to figure out a way forward. The next time it comes around, we'll know not to attempt a covidsafe app because it's not effective enough. We'll know not to trust paper-based sign-ins for people because people lie. We'll know to enact digital sign-ins because they're more effective. We'll know how many people to let into the country, whether they should be staying in medihotels or hospitals, and who should be permitted to transport them. We'll also know not to use private security to run hotels for quarantine hotels. All of that learned experience will form part of a plan and we'll be better prepared next time.

If that still doesn't make sense then I think we're just going to have to agree to disagree.

Do you have a bad case of literal-itis?

The whole purpose of a pre-emptive 'plan' such as the Queensland one and the others that our Governments have at both the State and National levels is to outline a range of measures that might be used in the event of a declared pandemic (or war, or nuclear incident or AoG) as well as to identify what agencies are involved and the various powers available to them.

The only correct thing you have stated thus far on this topic is that there wasn't a specific plan for COVID19 given that it couldn't possibly have been known to exist before it did but there clearly were plans in situ to deal with a novel coronavirus which is what COVID19 fundamentally is. Those plans were most recently updated in the wake of the previous two major novel coronaviruses (SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV).

No one would reasonably expect a pre-emptive plan to cover all possible scenarios - not even public servants are that anally retentive - but a lot of the measures that we have used had been identified in those plans and the various responsible agencies have added to them as we have learnt and progressed through the pandemic.

Will we be better prepared for the next one? Certainly.
Were we sufficiently prepared for this one? Probably.
Were the plans comprehensive enough? Possibly not but that's the trouble with crystal balls.
Did we really do enough last year? I think history will probably say we didn't if only because we didn't manage, as some other countries did, to keep it away from our most vulnerable people, those in aged care, who make up 752 of our 910 deaths.

Worth adding that if we hadn't lost the battle in aged care then our CMR would be one of the lowest globally at 0.5% and not the almost 3% it currently is which is worse even than the UK (2.669%) or Brazil (2.792%) and only just slightly better than Italy (2.995%) which had similar issues in aged care.

[Trevor 57]

Originally Posted by Mulva

We watched that conference live at work and everyone thought that Sky guy came across as a total dick - not just with Nicola, with Marshall too. Even colleagues that are Sky-devotees thought he was out of line and just spoiling for a fight - trying to push his own narrative no matter what they said. Then driving home heard plenty on the radio echoing same sentiments.

He's lucky he wasn't asking questions of Commissioner Stevens as he would have had his **** handed to him in no uncertain terms.

EDIT: Just watched Sky's selectively edited package in that linked video - I notice they have cut all the bits where he made a fool of himself, which was majority of what went on.

Like seriously, he's unpacking a press conference in which they reported 5 cases but we are not going into lockdown, and he literally then says "They are on a hair-trigger here in South Australia; they will go into lockdown in this state if there are one or two cases." In fairness to him 5 cases is not 1 or 2 cases, so maybe he is right - maybe 1 or 2 cases we'll lockdown, but not for 3+ cases??

its SkyNews - what do you expect - the trolls of the TV world, the commentators have migrated from sitting in a cellar trolling people on the internet to getting a voice on TV

[FairmontGS]

Risk of dying from AstraZeneca vaccine blood clots exposed

As mixed messaging about AstraZeneca vaccine access reaches fever pitch this week, new graphics have emerged comparing the risk of death from the vaccine to other scenarios.

Released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the data compares the risk of death from developing the rare blood-clotting syndrome TTS after having the AZ jab against other activities.

The graph shows the risk of dying from TTS after having the vaccine is 0.5 in one million or one in two million, which is only slightly higher than the risk of dying from a lightning strike, which is 0.4 in one million.

https://www.news.com.au/world/corona...a1d51c6facf304

[Burnout]

Originally Posted by FairmontGS

Risk of dying from AstraZeneca vaccine blood clots exposed



image

https://www.news.com.au/world/corona...a1d51c6facf304

You'll die if you take it, according to the QLD CMO.

[T3rminator]

Originally Posted by FairmontGS

Risk of dying from AstraZeneca vaccine blood clots exposed

https://www.news.com.au/world/corona...a1d51c6facf304

Now do one for the at risk group, say under 40s.

[T3rminator]

Originally Posted by zilo

I seem to recall reading a while back that in the US, hospitals were paid a little bit extra if a covid related death happened on their premises.

True, but no conspiracy, apparently....

Verdict: Partly false claim
https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-f...-idUSKBN22I2KR

[T3rminator]

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-57260463


So how many cases of VITT have there been in the UK?

A review by the MHRA has so far identified 332 cases of these rare, serious blood clots combined with low platelet levels, after 34.9 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine - up to 19 May 2021
Almost all are after the first shot
The incidence is one in 77,000 after the first dose
The incidence is one in 629,000 after the second dose
There have been 58 deaths - around two per 1.2 million doses (or 1 in 600,000)
By contrast, there have been 1,900 deaths per million from Covid in the UK

I'd be interested to see what happens to the odds if the samples were taken for the "at risk" groups only. How many 16s to 40s do we have in Aust, so how many deaths can we expect.

[HIPO]

Originally Posted by FairmontGS

Risk of dying from AstraZeneca vaccine blood clots exposed



image

https://www.news.com.au/world/corona...a1d51c6facf304

so wheres the covid death risk figure......

[DJR-351]

National Cabinet set to slash the number of Australians allowed home

https://www.9news.com.au/national/co...b-1d4923183eb6

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will be under pressure to slash the number of international arrivals at today's National Cabinet meeting.

The Labor states want international arrivals slowed to a trickle to reduce the risk of bringing in the Delta variant of COVID-19.

There are about 34,000 Australians still trying to get home from overseas.
Queensland, Victoria and WA want the 6000 people allowed into the nation each week to be cut.

"My view is it's better to lock some people out than lock everyone down," Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said, arguing hotel quarantine can't cope with the more infectious variant of COVID-19.

"We have it within our power to dramatically reduce the number of people coming back, just for the next three to four months until we get a critical mass of people a jab," he said.

Excluding New Zealand flights, which are separate as part of the travel bubble, weekly international arrivals are capped at just over 6000.

Sydney takes about half with 3010 passengers, Brisbane and Melbourne taking 1000 each and just over another 1000 is split between Adelaide and Perth, which take 530 each.

Some special repatriation flights go to Howard Springs at Darwin but are not subject to the flight caps.

Queensland Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, wants her numbers cut to half.

"Our hotels are not built to contain it and obviously our hospitals are not built to contain it either," she said,
Western Australia also wants numbers slashed, with Premier Mark McGowan saying "it's the biggest threat to Australia and it needs to be cracked down on now."

Victoria says the cap on arrivals should be cut by as much as 80 per cent.

The borders are closed amid some of the tightest rules in the world, with only Aussies, Permanent Residents and their spouses and children allowed to come in and nobody allowed to leave without permission.

But there are exemptions being given.

Everybody has to pay $3000 for 14-days of quarantine during which they are tested multiple times, plus people must test negative to coronavirus before they get on a flight to Australia.

Many of the stranded Australians say flights have never resumed in places where they are stuck, others have been unable to get a flight yet due to the tight numbers and expense, while some expats didn't want to return home before, but now need to come back.

National Cabinet will meet today where the issue will be a hot topic among the nation's leaders.

"The Morrison Government wants credit for its border lockdowns," says Simon Birmingham, Finance Minister.

"We have also shown a willingness to tighten it even further, such as during the India outbreak."

Federal Labor argues the Prime Minister has failed by not having purpose-built quarantine stations.

"If he'd done his job on quarantine we wouldn't now be having a difficult conversation about stranded Australians," MP Tony Bourke, said.

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull has joined the conga line of Government critics over the hapless vaccine rollout.

[zilo]

Originally Posted by FairmontGS

Risk of dying from AstraZeneca vaccine blood clots exposed



image

https://www.news.com.au/world/corona...a1d51c6facf304

Ah...relative pervasion again....another political sell job

What about take Pfizer/Moderna/Sputnik and not get the blood clots at all?

[zilo]

Originally Posted by T3rminator

True, but no conspiracy, apparently....

Verdict: Partly false claim
https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-f...-idUSKBN22I2KR

(a) no one mentioned a conspiracy
(b) please read your own link it states they were paid 15% more not 20%...who cares what the magnitude of the payment was...not this little black duck...merely stating a fact.

[tweeked]

Originally Posted by zilo

Ah...relative pervasion again....another political sell job

What about take Pfizer/Moderna/Sputnik and not get the blood clots at all?

They do have them, just not as much.

https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/cli...-mrna-vaccines

There is also concerns about Pfizer and Heart inflammation

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-...tion/100254282

On the whole the RNA are more effective and have less side effects. Would be my choice off the shelf, but it is old mother hubbard here for those.

[zilo]

Originally Posted by tweeked

They do have them, just not as much.

https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/cli...-mrna-vaccines

There is also concerns about Pfizer and Heart inflammation

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-...tion/100254282

On the whole the RNA are more effective and have less side effects. Would be my choice off the shelf, but it is old mother hubbard here for those.

Yep...and if they wanted to share statistics with us it should have been related to other vaccines, not lightning strikes.
How many people would die from a lightning strike if all 25 million aussies sat outside during a storm? Then did it twice for a second dose?

But of course that doesn't produce the same headlines.


Maybe a better statistic would be which vaccine is most effective versus the potential health risks?

AZ would be bottom of every list.

[T3rminator]

Originally Posted by zilo

(a) no one mentioned a conspiracy
(b) please read your own link it states they were paid 15% more not 20%...who cares what the magnitude of the payment was...not this little black duck...merely stating a fact.

I should have not assumed, cos it made an *** of U and ME.

Yes I did read it, hospitals were compensated, but a LOT less than what people had thought, as it only applied to patients on medicare, which accounts for ~16% of the new york population.

[zilo]

Originally Posted by T3rminator

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-57260463


So how many cases of VITT have there been in the UK?



I'd be interested to see what happens to the odds if the samples were taken for the "at risk" groups only. How many 16s to 40s do we have in Aust, so how many deaths can we expect.

1 in 77,000 + 1 in 629,000 is about 17 per million?

Ahh...they are reporting only the deaths...not all those who suffer minor stuff like heart damage or strokes or paralysis as a result of blood clot complications....clever...clever...clever

[russellw]

Data valid as at 00:00 GMT July 1st, 2021.

Note: As not all Australian States report at the same time, the data below is based on the previous full day reporting.

31 new cases for Australia and no deaths so the CMR is 2.970%.

No cases and no deaths for NZ so CMR is 0.948% and active cases 31.

The UK had a higher 27,556 cases yesterday and higher 22 deaths.

A lower 14,504 new cases in the USA yesterday and higher 334 deaths sees CMR at 1.796%.

Other notable points:
Global cases pass 183M, the last 1M in 3 days;
Europe passes 48M cases;
South America passes 33M cases;
India passes 400k (official) deaths;
Africa set a new daily case high of 41,442;

Fiji (431);
Thailand (5,533);
Tunisia (6,776); and
Indonesia (24,836)

... recorded new daily highs; those in blue for the second consecutive day and those in red for a third or more consecutive day.

The United Kingdom, Cyprus, Kazakhstan and Iran move above the 90th percentile for the 10 day period while no countries drop below.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Got my first jab yesterday.

Whole procedure was well organised and trouble free.

Got a bit of a sore arm but that's the only issue so far.

Get the next one in 3 weeks.

Actually only issue was that I couldn't give feedback - apparently my Hotmail account is not a real account? And the feedback app is set up in a way that you are telling a 'story' or some airy fairy arty farty rubbish.

Just give me a survey and a score to fill out for goodness sake.

Good to hear on the radio this morning that they are considering travel incentives for vaccinated people.

That should give more the motivation to get the jab.

Hurry up... I have a passport that needs filling.

[FairmontGS]

GETTING A COVID JAB IS SAFER THAN TAKING ASPIRIN
The risk of rare side effects from COVID-19 vaccines like AstraZeneca are greatly exaggerated as they are far safer than many medicines people are taking every day

By Professor Nathan Grills, University of Melbourne

For the family of the woman who recently died from a very rare blood clot after her AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination, it’s no comfort that ‘only’ two people have died despite nearly four million doses of AstraZeneca in Australia.

But this one-in-two-million risk should reassure everyone else, including the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI). After all, we are four times more likely to get struck by lightning in 2021.

I have also lost a friend due to AstraZeneca– not because he had the vaccination, but because he didn’t.

He was 70 years old and listened to scaremongers and decided against vaccination, only to die from COVID-19 in India.

Perhaps it’s because the media – and anti-vaxxers – are very good at making rare side effects seem very common by focusing all the attention on those effects. This trick starts with a fact – like AstraZeneca can cause blood clots – from which risks are extrapolated and exaggerated, scaring vulnerable people.

The fact is that all vaccines can cause very serious adverse events like anaphylaxis, cellulitis and even death. The obvious danger of writing this last sentence is actually the point of this article – someone claims, out of context, that public health physicians warn vaccines cause serious conditions and death.

https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/artic...taking-aspirin

[Citroënbender]

I think the desire of Australian residents to travel beyond Australia, will become a pivotal issue in politics. Soon as one party says they’ll lessen outbound restrictions, they’ll get a lot of support from younger voters.

[lumen8]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

I think the desire of Australian residents to travel beyond Australia, will become a pivotal issue in politics. Soon as one party says they’ll lessen outbound restrictions, they’ll get a lot of support from younger voters.

Im not sure we will see that from the big two anytime soon.

Some of the others already espousing such things, like liberal democrats.

https://www.ldp.org.au/

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by lumen8

Im not sure we will see that from the big two anytime soon.



Some of the others already espousing such things, like liberal democrats.



https://www.ldp.org.au/

I think we will.

The constant backflips and prior confusion has caused great political harm and now they realised that once NA, Europe and Asia start allowing travel abroad in a metered and methodical manner they must follow suit.

That graph of vaccination statistics based on countries was an embarrassing eye opener.

On the radio last night they were saying there are still many tens of thousands coming and going each month. I can't recall the statistics but I thought WTF are all these people using as an excuse for coming and going?

Praying I can go to SG next holidays with my kids. Somewhere different again at Christmas.

Fingers crossed ay...

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

I think we will.

The constant backflips and prior confusion has caused great political harm and now they realised that once NA, Europe and Asia start allowing travel abroad in a metered and methodical manner they must follow suit.

That graph of vaccination statistics based on countries was an embarrassing eye opener.

On the radio last night they were saying there are still many tens of thousands coming and going each month. I can't recall the statistics but I thought WTF are all these people using as an excuse for coming and going?

Praying I can go to SG next holidays with my kids. Somewhere different again at Christmas.

Fingers crossed ay...

South Gippsland?

[lumen8]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

I think we will.

The constant backflips and prior confusion has caused great political harm and now they realised that once NA, Europe and Asia start allowing travel abroad in a metered and methodical manner they must follow suit.

Im not sure about the must part, continued pressure on them would assist with that but they dont seem to be worried about it now, we dont have a population that pushes for these things in numbers (see huge protests in UK for example last weekend)

They kept moving the goalpost last year, and this year, now its 'mid 2022' , who is to say they cant just move it again, nobody stops them from doing so.

And when people were using the NZ bubble to skip on further, because NZ cant actually stop Australians leaving to go to other countries, they dont have the laws to do that, Greg Hunt made it max 5 years prison and 60k fine for doing Australians doing so... they seem quite keen to keep people in as long as possible.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by GasoLane

South Gippsland?

Just checked.

They don't have a Mustafas

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by lumen8

Im not sure about the must part, continued pressure on them would assist with that but they dont seem to be worried about it now, we dont have a population that pushes for these things in numbers (see huge protests in UK for example last weekend)

When the whole world was restricted we didn't complain much as we were all in the same boat.

Now with the rollout of the vaccination things have changed.

I don't care much for TV, but listen to talkback several hours a day.

There is a growing resentment with the fact we can't go anywhere.

Just wait a few more months to when we see all our international friends and family posting their first 'Post Covid' holidays to different countries.

Only now are we starting to get talk of targets, concessions for the vaccinated and news articles actively promoting the jab and explaining where to get it sooner.

All of a sudden banned medical centres are being given permission to deliver vaccinations. I can now book online simply and easily. AZ is now fine for anyone who wants it.

Where was this months ago when things were going so great for us?

The tide is turning. Big business is hurting and we don't have the hundreds of thousands of foreigners here to fill the jobs we can't be bothered getting out of bed for.

It didn't help Scomo's case that he took a detour while on official business to tour an area exploring his family roots. Shame on him for being so insensitive of our situation while advising the rest of us we don't have any desire to travel.

He was probably advised by his minders to do the 14 days in full so as to not rub more the wrong way.

Shame on Gladys for instructing those at the party she attended with a positive Covid case to seek testing and quarantine for 14 days no matter what the results only for her to get an exemption after making a few calls and playing with the rules to suit herself.

All the while people who are fully vaccinated and proven Covid free must farewell dying family via a zoom call.

The reason? They blame us, we blame them. If not it's the medical advice. C'mon. I'm used this this petty BS in year 3...

Unless you are rich, or famous then you can do as you please.

If there was ever a protest I would be at the front of the line. I believe it will come soon enough.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Locked-down Aussies face being trapped for years on 'prison island'
Olivia Day For Daily Mail Australia

Fully vaccinated Brits may soon be allowed to travel quarantine-free to dozens of sun-soaked countries across the globe - but Australians face the very real possibility of being trapped on a 'prison island' well into next year.

Government ministers in the UK on Thursday revealed travel rules for vaccinated Britons could be eased from July 26, which would allow them to take international holidays almost anywhere they please.

These freedoms are in stark contrast to the ongoing cycle of shutdowns and re-openings in Australia, where snap border closures, draconian restrictions and lengthy lockdowns have become the norm.

Scott Morrison announced a Friday crisis meeting with the states to try and get some agreement on what fully vaccinated Australians can do - including thresholds for lockdowns and travel exemptions for the fully vaccinated.

But just 7.9 per cent of the Australian population have had both shots of a Covid vaccine, compared to 46 per cent in the United States and 47 per cent in the United Kingdom.

That UK figure could give Britons the freedom to travel to countries around the world - some on Australia's doorstep - while Aussies are still banned from flying anywhere.

The UK's high inoculation rate has helped millions start to enjoy a new Covid normal, with a string of coronavirus restrictions set to be lifted on July 19.

And while Britain is still recording thousands of new cases daily, hospitalisations and deaths are on a downward track due to the efficient vaccine rollout.

The UK Government is still advising against travel to and from 'amber list' countries, with people returning to Britain from those nations forced to quarantine for 10 days.

But British bureaucrats want to ease the current international travel rules in time for the start of their school summer holidays in just over three weeks time.

They have flagged scrapping quarantine requirements for the double-vaccinated, which could give UK residents the right to travel to more than 100 countries without needing to go into isolation on return.

A UK minister told The Times it is hoped the 'amber list' change for the fully-vaccinated 'will be in place by the first week of the summer holidays' - which is less than a month away.

Back in Australia, there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel for international border closures, as the jab rollout remains in tatters and holiday-starved Aussies begin to reach the end of their tether.

Previously, the country had prided itself on effectively eradicating local transmission of the virus through swift border closures and snap lockdowns.

Now, with 12 million Australians under strict stay-at-home-orders and the Indian Delta variant continuing to spread across Sydney, calls have been renewed to stop the crippling lockdown strategies.

Australians have been locked in their own country for 15 months and counting - with the government unwilling or unable to provide a timeline for reopening.

But in welcome news for holiday-hungry Australians the 'magic numbers' at which vaccine thresholds will be set for international travel could be revealed in a critical cabinet meeting on Friday.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will finally seek agreement from premiers and chief ministers to eliminate lockdowns, and grant domestic and international travel exemptions for fully vaccinated Australians.

Mr Morrison told The Australian that it was important to think of the benefits of a vaccinated population and start calculating much-anticipated vaccine thresholds.

'It's time to start laying it out for the Australian public. It is imperative that the premiers, chief ministers and I address that question', he said.

'It comes down to the medical science and what are the magic numbers.'

'Australians have been patient and that has helped us achieve what we have achieved to protect lives and livelihoods. We now need to get to the next level. The package the public deserves needs a consolidated agreement from all of us.'

The PM said the Federal Government had already done modelling on the UK Alpha variant and would now apply the same testing on the Indian Delta variant in order to set a threshold marker going forward.

He noted that the patience of the Australian public had helped officials achieve what they had done so far to protect lives and livelihoods.

The controversy surrounding border closures began last year when the Federal Government optimistically predicted Australian would re-open to the world in October 2021, after the adult population were predicted to have gotten the jab.

Mr Morrison also emphasised there would be no escaping the 'prison island' until herd immunity was reached - with around 80 per cent of the population needing to be vaccinated before reopening the country's borders.

Some 40,000 Australians remain stranded overseas due to an arrival cap of 6,370 a week with residents in the country still isolated from their families abroad.

Australians had previously been warned that reaching a population-wide vaccination target would not guarantee the recovery of international travel.

Mr Morrison argued the United Kingdom was recording more than 4,000 new cases a day despite 77 per cent of adults having received one dose.

The prime minister said international borders would remain shut for as long as was needed to protect health and the economy.

'There's no medical advice that I've received at any point in time, which gives a magical number of vaccinations that enable you to provide that level of assuredness to Australians about when that can occur', he said.

Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said at current rates it would take a long time to vaccinate the world.

'It will take a huge commitment from developed, rich countries that have vaccine manufacturing capabilities to share that with the whole world,' he said.

'That's how we get out of this together.'

However, with less than eight per cent of the population fully vaccinated and the more infectious strain on the loose, Australia's vaunted 'zero Covid' strategy is on precarious ground.

Australia's suppression strategy has kept the nation's borders closed and seen states go into lockdown over a handful of cases.

Part of the reason for the delayed re-opening is the glacial pace of Australia's vaccine rollout.

One in five of the country's doses are going spare due to a lack of interest in getting vaccinated, with new data revealing 19 per cent of vaccines have not been used.

Almost 16 million vaccine doses have been administered to date, but only a small fraction of people have received both jabs.

Israel has vaccinated almost 60 per cent of its population followed by Chile with almost 55 per cent, while almost half of Britons and Americans have rolled up their sleeves, according to a graph compiled by Our World in Data.

Australia is also trailing behind Latvia, Turkey, Mexico and Colombia and even New Zealand, which only uses the Pfizer jab.

While those countries with a better-managed rollout are already opening up to overseas travel and trade, Australians face many more months and perhaps years of isolation, with even domestic holidays ruined by national border closures.

Back in Britain, the government's plans to scrap the quarantine requirement for the double-vaccinated could potentially reopen dozens of countries for foreign travel.

The extent of the possibility of trips will be determined by border closures in the European capitols, with the news coming as a reprieve for holiday-starved Brits.

UK Ambassadors have been instructed to start negotiations with EU member states to ease restrictions on British travellers who could soon travel quarantine-free.

The government is still advising against travel to and from 'amber list' countries, with people returning to the UK from those nations forced to self-isolate for 10 days.

There are also growing hopes that the 'green list' of safe countries will be significantly expanded, with Australia, New Zealand, Barbados, Singapore, Malta, and the Turks and Caicos Islands all considered 'safe' destinations.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is even pushing for the lifting of mask laws in almost all settings to help return life to 'as near normal as possible'.

Key social distancing measures, including the one-metre rule, the rule of six and the 30-person limit on the size of outdoor gatherings, are also set to be scrapped on the new 'Freedom Day'.

However, Covid cases are continuing to surge across the country with 26,068 new cases recorded on Wednesday – a rise of almost 70 per cent in a week, and the highest figure since late January.

By contrast, daily hospitalisations due to Covid were running at 263, up by just 6.4 per cent in the last week and far below the January peak of 4,579 in a single day.

Quoted in full for future reference.

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/austr...?ocid=msedgntp