So how do the securely employed professional classes in the Australian population calculate poverty?

 

According to the 2021 Census, around half the people aged 15 years of age and older living in the seven local government areas of north east New South Wales have personal incomes averaging from $0 to $645 a week - which is way below the state average of $813 a week and the national average of $805 a week. Included in these figures would be the individual weekly incomes of those local residents who receive full aged pensions. 

One sometimes sees media coverage that describes this part of the state as a low income region. Indeed, the region made NCOSS mapping of economic disadvantage - coming in at between est. 8.7% to 21.3% of the population experiencing economic disadvantage across the region in 2016. By the same token, in 2016 the NSW Government rated the region's local government areas on the "Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage" (IRSAD) as between only 1 to 8 points where "1" represents most disadvantaged and "129" least disadvantaged relative to other state local government areas.

We live in a beautiful region but are not unaware that life can be a quiet struggle for many in our communities. Sometimes it is even ourselves, our own families and friends who struggle.

It should come as no surprise that when poverty in Australia is officially defined, none of those doing the defining are classed as poor or living in poverty.

Sometimes it seems the voices of those with no incomes or low incomes are confined to short quotes in submissions made to governments by registered charities and lobby groups.

So how, by way of example, are those living below a current poverty line doing financially in 2022, according to the professors, researchers and statisticians in one self-styled “pre-eminent economic and social policy research centre”?

Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research,

POVERTY LINES: AUSTRALIA, MARCH QUARTER 2022, July 2022, p. 4 of 4:

Click on image to enlarge

Although this March Quarter comparison table gives an indication of disposable income it is uncertain if it takes account of rising inflation in 2022, given the only table included in the report which factors in Cost Price Index ends its calculations in 2020-21. 

What it does calculate is that total maximum weekly disposable income in all but one of the pension and allowance categories is well below an Australian poverty line established in 1964. 

However, in doing so the report attempts to minimise the lived experience of others by, in the first instance by broadly assuming that all cats are black in the dark and differences in individual circumstances don't matter and long as final percentage totals reach 100.

As one example. Not every single lone aged or disability pensioner who rents and is eligible for rent assistance actually receives rent assistance as disposable income or that such rent assistance amount is credited to their actual real life cash rent payments. In New South Wales alone it is likely that somewhere in the vicinity of 58,924 lone pensioners who rent are affected. That number of NSW aged and disability pensioners are likely receiving a total weekly disposable income derived solely from welfare payments which is not as the report suggests $59.49 above a poverty line in 2022 but in fact is an est. $11.91 below that same poverty line.

In the second instance the report minimises the lived experience of others by choosing to define all those receiving federal government cash transfers through Centrelink as being better off in March Quarter 2022 than they were in the last 49 years up to 30 June 2021. 

The sources referred to, the many qualifications applied in compiling this data or even the contents of the four tables, will not be what media commentators, political advisors and public servants take away with them after reading.

No, what will be remembered is the impression given that all pensioners live above the poverty line instead of that most live in deeper poverty than that benchmark and the statement; “Put another way, the real purchasing power of the income at the poverty line rose by 60.7 percent between 1973/74 and 2020/21.”

BACKGROUND

Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research,

POVERTY LINES: AUSTRALIA, MARCH QUARTER 2022:

What are the Poverty Lines?

Poverty lines are income levels designated for various types of income units. If the income of an income unit is less than the poverty line applicable to it, then the unit is considered to be in poverty. An income unit is the family group normally supported by the income of the unit.

How the Poverty Lines are Calculated

The poverty lines are based on a benchmark income of $62.70 per week for the December quarter 1973 established by the Henderson poverty inquiry. The benchmark income was the disposable income required to support the basic needs of a family of two adults and two dependent children. Poverty lines for other types of family are derived from the benchmark using a set of equivalence scales. The poverty lines are updated to periods subsequent to the benchmark date using an index of per capita household disposable income. A detailed description of the calculation and use of poverty lines is published in the Australian Economic Review, 4th Quarter 1987 and a discussion of their limitations is published in the Australian Economic Review, 1st Quarter 1996.

The Poverty Lines for the March Quarter 2022

The Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research has updated the poverty line for Australia to the March quarter 2022. Inclusive of housing costs, the poverty line is $1,148.15 per week for a family comprising two adults, one of whom is working, and two dependent children. This is an increase of $5.16 from the poverty line for the previous quarter (December 2021). Poverty lines for the benchmark household and other household types are shown in Table 1.

The Poverty Lines are Estimates

As has been stated in paragraph 2, the poverty lines are based on an index of per capita household disposable income. The index is calculated from estimates of household disposable income and population provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Because the index is based on estimates, the poverty lines themselves will be estimates. As more information becomes available, the ABS may update population and household disposable income estimates for previous quarters. Whenever these estimates are changed, it is necessary to re-estimate the poverty lines. Accordingly, in addition to providing estimates of current poverty lines, we provide sufficient information for readers to calculate poverty lines for all quarters dating back to December 1973.

Click to enlarge

How to calculate poverty lines for other

quarters

Table 2 shows the estimated per capita household disposable income for all quarters between September 1973 and March 2022. This table may

be used to calculate poverty lines for any quarter within this period. For instance, to find the poverty line for the June quarter 1996 for any household type, multiply the current value of its poverty line by the ratio of per capita household disposable income in the June quarter 1996 to that in the current quarter; that is, the poverty line for a benchmark household in June 1996 would be 1,148.15 × 346.11 / 977.25 = $406.64.

Click to enlarge

Relative poverty and the cost of living Updating poverty lines according to changes in per capita household disposable income means that the poverty lines are relative measures of poverty. As real incomes in the community rise, so too will the poverty lines. The value of the poverty lines will therefore be reasonably stable relative to general standards of living, but may change relative to the cost of living. An alternative method for updating poverty lines is to use a cost-of-living index, such as the ABS Consumer Price Index (CPI). Poverty lines generated in this way are absolute measures of poverty. The real purchasing power of the income at the poverty line is maintained, but it may change in comparison to general standards of living. Table 3 compares annual movements in the poverty line for the benchmark income unit between 1973/74 and 2020/21 updated in these two ways. The table shows that, by 2020/21, an income unit whose income was adjusted to match movements in average household disposable income would have 60.7 per cent more income than one whose income was adjusted to match movements in consumer prices. Put another way, the real purchasing power of the income at the poverty line rose by 60.7 per cent between 1973/74 and 2020/21.....

Full PDF document online here.

WHO declares Monkeypox to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern & Australia declares it to be a Communicable Disease Incident of National Significance with NSW Health beginning vaccine rollout

 

Monkeypox: First deaths outside Africa in Brazil and Spain

Image: BBC, 30 July 2022

A statement from Professor Paul Kelly, Australian Government Chief Medical Officer, declaring monkeypox (MPX) a Communicable Disease Incident of National Significance.

28 July 2022

I have declared the unfolding situation regarding monkeypox (MPX) in Australia to be a Communicable Disease Incident of National Significance.

This follows the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring the global situation regarding MPX to be a public health emergency of international concern.

The latest data from 1 January to 28 July 2022 as reported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC) indicates there have been 20,311 MPX cases in 71 countries (including Australia) that have not historically reported MPX.

In Australia, there have been 44 cases – the majority of which have been within returned international travellers.

It is important to note that although I have declared MPX to be a Communicable Disease Incident of National Significance, it is far less harmful than COVID-19 and there have been no deaths reported during the current outbreak outside of countries where the virus is endemic.[inoperative statement as of 30.07.22] 

MPX is also not transmitted in the same way as COVID-19 – and is far less transmissible.

The decision to declare MPX a Communicable Disease Incident of National Significance was made under the Emergency Response Plan for Communicable Disease Incidents of National Significance, in consultation with the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee.

Since May, Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care public health experts have engaged with at-risk communities in partnership with key stakeholders and have been working very closely with their counterparts in state and territory health departments to ensure our response to MPX has been swift and coordinated.

The National Incident Centre has been activated to provide enhanced national coordination to assist states and territories to effectively manage the outbreaks within their jurisdictions.

MPX’s rash and flu-like symptoms are relatively mild, and in most cases, resolve themselves within two to four weeks without the need for specific treatments.

Most cases of MPX in Australia have been among people aged 21 to 40 years. The experience internationally and in Australia to date is most cases have been among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.

Although MPX is not usually considered a sexually transmissible infection, physical contact with an infected person during sexual intercourse carries a significant risk of transmission and intimate physical contact such as hugging, kissing and sexual activities represent a risk of infection, with infectious skin sores being the likely mode of transmission.

The rash usually occurs on the face before spreading to other parts of the body, including the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. However, in this outbreak it is being seen especially on the genital and perianal regions of affected people.

The rash can vary from person to person and take on the appearance of pimples, blisters or sores. The flu-like symptoms often include fever, chills, body aches, headaches, swollen lymph nodes and tiredness.

The National Medical Stockpile has available stock of MPX treatments, such as antivirals, for states and territories to access on request.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) has updated clinical guidance on vaccination against monkeypox using the ACAM2000 vaccine to include the use of MVA-BN vaccine to prepare for supplies of the third-generation vaccine being made available in Australia.

Further information about monkeypox is available from the Department of Health and Aged Care’s website www.health.gov.au/health-topics/monkeypox-mpx 

NOTE 

As of 28 July 2022 there were 45 cases (confirmed and probable) of MPX in Australia. This includes 25 in New South Wales, 16 in Victoria, 2 in the Australian Capital Territory, 1 in Queensland and 1 in South Australia [Australian Dept. of Health, 29 July 2022].

Eleven days later, on 8 August, it was reported that the number of cases has risen to 58 cases, with 33 of those cases being found in NSW. All but two cases appear to have been contracted overseas.

NSW Health has begun distribution of the JYNNEOS smallpox vaccine to groups considered vulnerable to MPX.

The Lancet, 30 July 2022:

WHO's declaration on July 23 that the current monkeypox outbreak constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) was unprecedented. It is the seventh such declaration, but the first made against the advice of a majority of the emergency committee (nine were against, six were for). Dr Tedros’ decision is a brave one. It needs to serve as a global wake-up call. The question is whether it will prompt the escalated efforts required to control the outbreak.

Dr Tedros gave three broad reasons for his decision. “We have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly, through new modes of transmission about which we understand too little, and which meets the criteria in the International Health Regulations.” The details make for a compelling case. So far this year, up to July 22, 16016 cases have been reported from 75 countries. Where monkeypox is endemic, such as in DR Congo, large new outbreaks have been reported in diverse populations. Outside of west and central Africa, the outbreak is concentrated, for now, in men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM). Why the disease's epidemiology has changed is still unclear, as are many other aspects of the outbreak. Recent case series from non-endemic countries have shown differences in clinical features compared with previous reports. Lethargy and fever seem to be less common, and several patients have no prodromal symptoms. Skin lesions are found predominantly in genital or perianal areas. Transmission is known to occur through skin-to-skin contact, but monkeypox DNA has been found in patients’ seminal fluid—whether it represents replication-competent virus remains unknown. The rapid worldwide spread of a disease, for reasons we are unsure of, was clearly an over-riding concern for Dr Tedros. An urgent energised research effort is now needed to understand these and other issues related to the outbreak.

Countries must strengthen public health preparedness and response. Case definitions should be updated and harmonised as new data emerge, with heightened surveillance, case detection, and contact tracing. Patients need to be supported in isolation and treatment, and targeted immunisation might be needed for people at high risk of exposure. Recent experience with COVID-19 might help countries institute these measures but many health systems are at breaking point already. There is a risk too that the public is fatigued by talk of pandemics and their control. Misinformation about monkeypox has already begun to circulate. The public need to be engaged and targeted risk-communication strategies developed. Monkeypox is not COVID-19. The R0 is around 1, and transmission mechanisms are entirely different. The clade of monkeypox that seems to be responsible for the outbreak largely causes mild self-limiting illness, although patients have been admitted to hospital, mainly for pain. Ensuring wide understanding of these points is key for managing public anxiety.

Engagement among many MSM has been high since the outbreak started, and this population is—as ever—keen to take care of its health (and do their part to protect others). Countries that criminalise homosexuality and marginalise LGBTI+ communities risk both patients’ wellbeing and chances of controlling transmission. Stigma and discrimination need to be fought. It would be wrong to categorise monkeypox as a disease of MSM.

The expedited pathways for research, development, regulatory approval, and manufacturing of medical countermeasures developed for COVID-19 should be repurposed for monkeypox. A lack of diagnostic tests is hampering case identification in some countries. Tecovirimat, originally produced to treat smallpox, has been licenced by European regulators for monkeypox, but not yet by the US FDA. Other promising treatments, such as cidofovir and brincidofovir, require clinical study. A monkeypox vaccine (sold as Imvanex in Europe and Jynneos in the USA) has been approved, but supplies of both treatments and vaccines are extremely limited. WHO will have to take a much more muscular approach to ensure global access and avoid the inequities of the COVID-19 response.

Whether or not you agree with WHO's decision, there has undoubtedly been a missed opportunity. Monkeypox is not new. It has been causing illness and death in large numbers for decades. Specialists have long called for affordable countermeasures, strengthened surveillance, and more study. But like Ebola and Zika, monkeypox only commands global attention when it hits high-income countries with predominantly White populations. As a result, the window of opportunity to prevent monkeypox becoming established in communities worldwide is closing. Now is a key moment. It warrants the strongest medical, scientific, and political global effort.

BACKGROUND

World Health Organisation:

Key facts

• Vaccines used during the smallpox eradication programme also provided protection against monkeypox. Newer vaccines have been developed of which one has been approved for prevention of monkeypox

• Monkeypox is caused by monkeypox virus, a member of the Orthopoxvirus genus in the family Poxviridae.

• Monkeypox is usually a self-limited disease with the symptoms lasting from 2 to 4 weeks. Severe cases can occur. In recent times, the case fatality ratio has been around 3–6%.

• Monkeypox is transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal, or with material contaminated with the virus.

• Monkeypox virus is transmitted from one person to another by close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding.

• Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease that occurs primarily in tropical rainforest areas of central and west Africa and is occasionally exported to other regions.

• An antiviral agent developed for the treatment of smallpox has also been licensed for the treatment of monkeypox.

• The clinical presentation of monkeypox resembles that of smallpox, a related orthopoxvirus infection which was declared eradicated worldwide in 1980. Monkeypox is less contagious than smallpox and causes less severe illness.

• Monkeypox typically presents clinically with fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes and may lead to a range of medical complications….

Outbreaks

Human monkeypox was first identified in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in a 9-month-old boy in a region where smallpox had been eliminated in 1968. Since then, most cases have been reported from rural, rainforest regions of the Congo Basin, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and human cases have increasingly been reported from across central and west Africa.

Since 1970, human cases of monkeypox have been reported in 11 African countries: Benin, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone and South Sudan. The true burden of monkeypox is not known. For example, in 1996–97, an outbreak was reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a lower case fatality ratio and a higher attack rate than usual. A concurrent outbreak of chickenpox (caused by the varicella virus, which is not an orthopoxvirus) and monkeypox was found, which could explain real or apparent changes in transmission dynamics in this case. Since 2017, Nigeria has experienced a large outbreak, with over 500 suspected cases and over 200 confirmed cases and a case fatality ratio of approximately 3%. Cases continue to be reported until today.

Monkeypox is a disease of global public health importance as it not only affects countries in west and central Africa, but the rest of the world. In 2003, the first monkeypox outbreak outside of Africa was in the United States of America and was linked to contact with infected pet prairie dogs. These pets had been housed with Gambian pouched rats and dormice that had been imported into the country from Ghana. This outbreak led to over 70 cases of monkeypox in the U.S. Monkeypox has also been reported in travelers from Nigeria to Israel in September 2018, to the United Kingdom in September 2018, December 2019, May 2021 and May 2022, to Singapore in May 2019, and to the United States of America in July and November 2021. In May 2022, multiple cases of monkeypox were identified in several non-endemic countries. Studies are currently underway to further understand the epidemiology, sources of infection, and transmission patterns.

Lismore City LGA residents locked out of top-level decision making when it comes to post-flood reconstruction and development

On 19 April 2022 NSW Premier & Liberal MP for Epping Dominic Perrottet and Deputy Premier, Minister for Regional NSW, Minister for Police & Nationals MP for Bathurst Paul Toole announced the formation of the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation (NRRC), a development corporation which is to manage the rebuilding of Northern NSW communities by coordinating planning, rebuilding and construction work across multiple government agencies, following the 2022 floods across Lismore and Northern Rivers region of NSW.

The NRRC works with the Northern Rivers Administrative Group in the Ballina, Byron, Clarence Valley, Lismore, Richmond Valley, Tweed and Kyogle local government areas.

It states of itself that it; operates as a ‘front door to government’ for all reconstruction and development activities in the Northern Rivers. It sets and implements reconstruction priorities in the region, and works with government agencies and departments to deliver those priorities quickly.

The NRRC became effective on 1 July 2022 and sits within the Department of Regional NSW and reports to the Deputy Premier.

David Witherdin (left) leads the development corporation as Chief Executive Officer. Mr Witherdin is Deputy Secretary, Commercial and Corporate Services, Dept. of Regional NSW.

The NRRC will have the power to compulsorily acquire or subdivide land, speed up and fast-track the building of new premises and accelerate delivery of planning proposals through the Department of Planning and Environment. The insurance, construction and infrastructure sectors will be important contributors, alongside local government, industry, businesses and residents.

The NRRC is to be assisted by an as yet somewhat shadowy advisory group consisting of local representatives, such as local members of parliament and mayors, as well as leaders in the community. It met with NRRC CEO David Witherdin for the first time on 5 August 2022.

On that same day Deputy Premier Paul Toole announced the names of the eight NRRC board members: 

Gary Barnes, Secretary, Department Regional NSW; 

Michael Cassel, Secretary, Department of Planning and Environment;

Peter Duncan, NSW Government appointed Commissioner, NSW Independent Planning Commission, former chief executive of Roads and Maritime Services;

Andrew Hall, Executive Director & CEO, Insurance Council of Australia;

Darren Kershaw, North Coast Aboriginal Development Alliance, Tweed Heads;

Jane Laverty, Business NSW - regional  representative, Ballina;

Ballina Shire Council Mayor Sharon Cadwallader, Northern Rivers Joint Organisation; and

Michael Rayner, former general manager Tweed Shire Council, Tweed community member.

TOP ROW: Michael Rayner, Andrew Hall, Gary Barnes, Jane Laverty. BOTTOM ROW: Peter Duncan, Sharon Cadwallader, Darren Kershaw &
Michael Cassel. IMAGE: indyNR.com

What is striking about this NRRC board is the complete absence of Lismore City local government or community members on the only body with full authority to make decisions concerning post-flood reconstruction and development. The design of the NRRC and its remit is as close to Sydney-centric and autocratic as a tone deaf state government can make it.

It should also be noted that the Insurance Council of Australia has a history of political donations to both major parties, with the majority of donations going to the Liberal Party in 2018 and 2021.

When the NRRC was created the original plan was for Resilience NSW to continue to be responsible for providing immediate relief resupplying impacted communities, restoring essential services, cleaning up properties and providing temporary accommodation in the short to medium terms. However, the future of Resilience NSW is now in doubt as speculation mounts that NSW Police is preparing to create a new executive role to handle emergency and disaster situations following the rumored negative findings of yet to be released independent flood inquiry and parliamentary flood inquiry reports. 

It appears that within government circles fevered brains have also left the door open to imagining an expansion of the NRRC sometime in the future to cover other towns, cities or regions as required.

A question springs to mind. In creating this particular version of a reconstruction and development corporation have Perrottet and Toole designed a carthorse or a camel?     

Monash University on the subject of climate change, evolving health impacts and future generations

 

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6Vqu3M1_3U

The Guardian, 21 July 2022:

We know climate change creates catastrophic weather events. But here’s what you may not know about the wider risks to our health.

The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that the human-induced climate catastrophe is a “grave and mounting threat to our wellbeing”. With a changing planet comes changing threats to our wellbeing. People’s health – and the infrastructure that supports it – will be increasingly affected by adverse weather events and the slow-onset effects of climate change.

As experts from Monash University explain, our future wellbeing is a complex issue. There are questions of new diseases, and old ones making a return, alongside the direct impacts of flood, fire and rising temperatures, disrupted education and supply chains, and the simple fact of living longer. Without serious intervention, the health risks we face in 2030 may be unrecognisable from today’s.

The most common health conditions will evolve

Dr Yuming Guo, professor of global environmental health in Monash’s School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, explains the potential physiological impact of climate change. “Climate change increases the temperature, which is directly related to the emissions and body function – for example, causing increased blood pressure and decreased lung function, and affecting metabolic and renal function,” he says.

These health issues can snowball. Professor Arthur Christopoulos, Monash’s dean of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, says: “You apply that to the next generation and you’ve got a real issue. Because on top of that, climate change is going to influence every aspect of this conversation. You’re affecting water quality and sources, food security, shelter and where you can access food. It’s a combination of factors.”

In Australia, the greatest health burden is currently cardiovascular disease – a condition known to be exacerbated by extreme heat and air pollution. But, Christopoulos says, other conditions are hot on its tail. “Because of air quality issues, respiratory diseases are going to go up. Because of the longevity aspect, age-related neurological diseases will increase – dementia is now the third-leading cause of disease burden. These global health burdens are not new, but they are going to get worse.”

Aerial overhead view of a multi-ethnic group of elementary age children drawing. They are seated around a table. The kids are using colored pencils to make a mural. The have colored a world map, objects found in nature, and symbols of environmental conservation.

The next generation will require more complex care

Alongside physiological issues exacerbated by climate, the incidence of psychiatric disease will continue to rise, especially in the next generation, Christopoulos says. “Depression and anxiety we’re going to be seeing a lot more,” he says. “Partly, they were already on the rise. But Covid, the world’s reaction to it, and isolationism are all factors.”

Professor Sophia Zoungas, head of Monash’s School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, says climate change presents a two-fold challenge: responding to acute health crises, such as communicable disease outbreaks after floods, while continuing to effectively manage pre-existing chronic conditions.

“Natural disasters arising from climate change, such as fires and floods, present immediate logistical challenges to people with chronic disease, as they struggle to access vital medications and care. We also need to consider the spiralling impacts of extreme physical and mental stress caused by these events on underlying chronic conditions.”

says professor Sophia Zoungas”

“The Covid pandemic has seen an increase in public health and healthcare expenditure. While that’s understandable, with climate change potentially driving more frequent disasters, we need to build such responses into our future plans. We need to ensure equitable access to healthcare, especially given the system is already under stress.”

Healthcare will need to change to deal with unprecedented demand

Increases in health concerns will inevitably require more healthcare. But while there will be direct concerns, such as a rise in diseases, they are not the only factor. Guo says weather events, climate-related sociopolitical unrest and increasing poverty will also have indirect impacts, such as supply and resourcing issues, including of medical practitioners themselves.

“The healthcare workforce is only projected to grow. But there is no workforce training without education and without access to education. There’s been chronic underinvestment. We need a greater push to develop the next-generation workforce for dealing with the healthcare needs of our society.”

says professor Arthur Christopoulos, Monash’s dean of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences”

According to Zoungas, sufficiently addressing those needs might mean investing in a whole new model. “Codesigning healthcare with the community will help us build a system with processes and goals that actually mean something important to patients,” she says. “We also need to improve the way we talk about health and share evidence with the public. We need super communicators who understand the science and can frame it in a way that makes sense to communities.”

Monash’s experts say we can learn from the past as we move forward. Technology, digitised healthcare and new modelling can all help us build a more sustainable healthcare system to face these unprecedented challenges.

“We are learning a new language in healthcare,” Zoungas says. “The pandemic has taught us how agile and proactive the medical sector can be. Clinical guidelines are being updated faster using living evidence models, telehealth has revolutionised routine healthcare, ethics approvals for research are being fast-tracked. It feels like an opportunity to move forward with a renewed can-do attitude and try to apply these learnings system-wide.”

We need change now more than ever. Join us to change it

NOTE: Advertisement feature paid for by Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria

Notice to Readers

 

North Coast Voices will not be publishing posts from today Sunday 31 July until Sunday 7 August 2022.

Apologies to regular readers and sometime browsers.

Tweets of the Week

The gas industry lobby group APPEA have put some ads on social media boasting about how much tax and royalties the gas industry pay.

Here's what they don't tell you.

Climate & Energy Principal Advisor @MarkOgge explains. #auspol pic.twitter.com/6WFafdobkZ

— Australia Institute (@TheAusInstitute) July 25, 2022

With inflation now running at 6.1% annually & wage growth at only 2.4% we have moved from the era of wage stagnation to the new era of cuts to real wages.

— Josh Bornstein (@JoshBBornstein) July 27, 2022

The question has to be asked. How many of the more than 9.23 million people who caught COVID-19 in the last 2 years and five months will have their lives diminished or shortened by chronic post-COVID health conditions?

It is time Australian society stops pretending it is on top of this pandemic.......

ABC News, 28 July 2022:

NSW Health looked at data from 639,430 people infected with COVID for the first time in January when the Omicron wave took off.

The analysis was done by matching the name, and date of birth, of cases.

It showed that within five months, 20,460 people, or 3.2 per cent, had been reinfected.

Reinfection was defined as a positive test four weeks after being released from seven-day isolation, or 36 days after testing positive.

More than 20,000 people reinfected with COVID within five months

Number and proportion of the 639,403 cases in January reinfected in subsequent months

…..Nick Wood, a paediatrician and immunisation expert from the University of Sydney, said in theory, the first exposure to COVID should give some natural immunity that would stop people getting as sick the second time around.

"Your prior immunological exposure, natural infection and vaccine history all probably plays into how you as the individual deal with your second infection," he said.

People who were immune-suppressed or who had ongoing respiratory problems from the first infection would be more impacted with subsequent infections, he said.

"That's all the difficulties in teasing it out how severe, but I think the general, the belief is that the second or third infection are probably less severe than the initial primary infection."

Dr Wood said the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants of Omicron were able to evade both vaccine-induced immunity and infection from a previous variant.

"The immunity that they generate is not enough to stop you being infected," he said.

He said that over time, experts hope that as new variants come along, the population is more able to deal with them because of past infections or vaccination……

On the 24th of this month The Sydney Morning Herald reported that:

Researchers investigating long COVID cases in Australia say 5 per cent of people infected with COVID-19 will develop the condition. The prevalence of long COVID before vaccinations were available was an estimated 10 per cent.

“The 55,000 people in Australia who tested positive today ... equates to 2000 to 3000 new cases of long COVID,” Kovacic said. To date, Australia has recorded almost 9 million COVID-19 cases.

Even after accounting for reinfection “we’re looking at almost half a million people who are going to be suffering long-term symptoms in the coming months”, Kovacic said.

The Guardian newspaper reported on 27 July 2022 that a serosurvey of antibodies to the virus detected in blood donations, conducted at the Kirby Institute and the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS), had found that in 5,139 blood donations received from adults between 9 June and 18 June evidence of past COVID-19 infection was detected in 46.2% of samples. A previous examination of blood donors in late February 2022 had found evidence of past infection in only 17% of blood donors.

Noni Winkler, an author of the findings and an epidemiologist at the NCIRS, said the sample size was large enough to reflect rates of the virus in the broader adult population. It should be noted that seroprevalence estimates may miss approximately 20% of infections.

According to the federal Dept. of Health, as of Thursday 27 July 2022 there were est. 373,868 confirmed active COVID-19 cases across Australia. A total of 499,566 of these cases were newly confirmed within the previous 24 hours.

At that point 5,364 COVID-19 infected people were hospitalised, with 145 in intensive care units including 38 patients requiring ventilation.

The national daily COVID-19 death toll on 27 July was 126 people.

By 27 July the cumulative total of confirmed COVID-19 cases stood at 9,235,014 – a figure that can only be described as a massive under reporting of the actual number of infected individuals between 25 January 2020 to 27 July 2022.

The cumulative total of confirmed deaths due to COVID-19 for the same time period is 11,387 deaths of men, women & children. The federal Dept. of Health records that 14 of these deaths were in children 0 to 9 years of age and est. 8,843 were in people aged 70 to 90+ years of age.

Needless to say, the highest cumulative death tolls up to 27 July are in the east coast mainland states of Victoria (4,433), New South Wales (4,051) and Queensland (1,510).

NSW Dept. of Health as at 4pm on Wednesday. 27 July 2022:

In the December 2021 - January 2022 during a SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant surge period in New South Wales, when the public health response was visibly failing to meet even the most basic needs (information, testing & general support) of people expected to self-manage their COVID-19 infection at home, anecdotal evidence began to surface in Northern NSW that individuals and whole families were no longer reporting the result of RAT tests to NSW Health or seeking PCR testing where it was still available.

It was at that point that official government pandemic statistics in Australia were broken beyond repair as a predictive tool with regard to future pandemic behaviour and, effective federal-state public health strategies withered away in the face of continuously climbing infection and mortality figures in the most populous states.