HEALTH COACH RETURNS TO COAST IN NICK OF TIME
STEPH Harmon reckons she is the luckiest girl on the Gold Coast, having landed back in her hometown just a day before new isolation rules surrounding Victorians came into play.
The health coach decided to ditch Melbourne and return to her family on the Glitter Strip.
Now in self-isolation for 14 days, her decision to leave means she did not have to quarantine in a hotel on the
Gold Coast at her own cost. “I was on my own in Melbourne so isolation was tough not being near family, I decided I would come up here for a while and settle back,” said Ms Harmon, who lived in the Melbourne hot spot of South Yarra.
“I was starting to feel extremely anxious about what was going on. I didn’t leave my house much during the first lockdown.
“When all the cases started flaring up I got concerned. I wasn’t going to come if I had to spend two weeks in selfisolation, but eventually I decided it was a much better idea than another six-week lock down.
“I got on the flight last Thursday morning, just before the Government arranged hotels.
“We had a check at the border at the airport where we waited for about 40 minutes then into isolation.
“We get texts every other day reminding us of our obligations and warnings that we will be checked in on.”
VICTORIA was smashed by an extra 165 cases on Thursday as its coronavirus crisis continued to spiral out of control with people told to make their masks.
The public health messaging for the state significantly escalated with authorities urging people to wear masks if they could not socially distance when in public.
Victoria’s Cchief Health Officer Brett Sutton warned many store-bought masks were not suitable to protect against COVID-19 and urged people to make their own.
Professor Sutton said the Victorian Government was working on a public education campaign about how best to do that.
“I think people will need masks, but I don’t think there should be a rush on buying single-use masks, for example. In fact, some masks purchased at retail aren’t necessarily good for rewashing and reuse over days and days,” he said.
“We are working up communication materials that will give a bit of guidance about how to make a basic mask that can be rewashed.”
There have now been 3098 cases.
Australian Medical Association president Tony Bartone said masks were useful on public transport or in crowded locations such as shops and markets.
“This is especially the case in those suburbs where we know community transmission is high,” Dr Bartone said. But he said masks were not “a silver bullet, particularly when not worn correctly”.
“Isolation, physical distancing, and regularly washing your hands is more effective at reducing transmission than masks,” he said.
“However, the worsening situation in hot spots means everybody must be extra vigilant and extra careful to minimise the risk of spread of the virus. Mask use is just one additional way that safety precautions against transmission can be achieved.”
Premier Daniel Andrews revealed yesterday the extent of the crisis in Melbourne’s public housing towers, with more than 10 per cent of residents in one block infected. There are fears the infection rate could rise higher than 25 per cent.
Up to 53 residents have tested positive at one tower, prompting Mr Andrews to announce it will stay in quarantine for the full 14 days. The other eight towers will reopen from 11.59pm on Thursday night. It follows a testing blitz of 2515 tower residents in five days.
“The case numbers within these towers confirm just how rapidly – and dangerously – coronavirus can spread,” he said.
Prof Sutton supported the move, saying the infection rate was likely to rise to more than double.
Meanwhile, public hearings are expected to form part of the judicial inquiry into Victoria’s bungled hotel quarantine system.
It is understood ministers, departmental staff and security guards involved in the program will be called to testify. But questions have been raised about whether the inquiry would be hindered by its terms of reference.
However, Mr Andrews said he expected the Justice heading the inquiry would not be inhibited in any way and would be free to run it as she deemed necessary.