As so often with Morrison, there is no overall strategy – simply a series of reactive measures which, he hopes, will do the job unless a next one is needed. and then another one, and another one … (more…)
Category: Health
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JOHN TULLOH. Uncle Sam makes it an unhappy Persian new year in Iran.
One can only surmise at the quiet satisfaction among members of the Trump administration at the current distress of Iran regarding the coronavirus sweeping the country. (more…)
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GREG BAILEY. Predictability, Society and the COVID 19 Virus
The economic stimulus must adopt a whole of society approach, focusing on those of lower income, of a kind that it has consistently refused to do. If it does this and, above all, can be seen to be doing it, then Australia may emerge out of this crisis as a better country than it was it went in. (more…)
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IAN WEBSTER. Too many experts at a time of crisis.
This is a time when advice needs to be considered, balanced, respectful and well-founded.
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MARCUS REUBENSTEIN: This is NOT an economic crisis!
The global reaction to the consequences of COVID-19 is absolutely warranted BUT its low mortality rate has lulled some in Australia into ignoring the fight against a highly contagious virus. (more…)
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JAMES GRUBER. Managing our fears. Some practical advice.
Fear. It’s everywhere and palpable. Fear for the health of ourselves and our families. (more…)
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KERRY BREEN and KERRY GOULSTON.-An improved response to COVID-19 will not be achieved with the current approach.
One of the puzzling and troubling aspects of the Australian response to the Covid 19 public health crisis is that the actions taken or advised by government have often lagged behind what many in the community, including people with expert knowledge, are agitating for. (more…)
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RICHARD HORTON.- Scientists have been sounding the alarm for months. Why did Britain fail to act?(The Guardian 19.3.2020)
On 24 January, Chinese doctors and scientists reported the first description of a new disease caused by a novel coronavirus. (more…)
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JOHN DWYER. There is still a lot more that needs to be done to minimise harm in Australia from COVID-19.
Australian governments are taking a “measured approach” to minimising the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic adding new tactics/restrictions as the numbers grow. Far better to use all available measures now to minimise that growth. (more…)
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JOHN CARMODY.- A ‘civil society’ or a ‘competitive society’?
I suspect that the Australian people have never really abandoned their ethical view that people’s lives supersede profits. (more…)
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MILES LITTLE. Coronavirus – more than an ethical problem
There are support groups springing up at community level in various places, offering contactless food delivery for self-isolating people and for the elderly left without carers, and regular telephone calls for the isolated. (more…)
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JOHN CARLIN.- Time of Opportunity
The Corona virus could be a time of opportunity for the human race. (more…)
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JINHEE KIM. COVID-19: Lessons from South Korea’s quick response
In mid-February the number of cases of COVID-19 in South Korea suddenly increased and there are now over 5,000 confirmed cases. As a result South Korea has instituted containment strategies, designated clinics for mass screening and established over 200 public relief hospitals. How does Australia’s response compare?
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COLUM LYNCH and ROBBIE GRAMER.-U.S. and China Turn Coronavirus Into a Geopolitical Football (Foreigh Policy(USA) 11.3.2020)
Beijing is using the outbreak to boost its reputation for global cooperation while Washington plays the blame-Beijing game. (more…)
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LESLEY RUSSELL Coronavirus Highlights American Inequalities and Trump’s Inadequacies
In the United States there are serious problems with the adequacy and appropriateness of the health measures to control coronavirus and its impact. (more…)
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JOHN DWYER. Understanding the public health imperatives required to minimise infection with the Corona virus. (Part Two).
Providing communities with accurate, timely and logical information about the control measures required to minimise harms associated with infectious diseases is essential to avoid both complacency and panic. (more…)
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JOHN DWYER. Understanding the public health imperatives required to minimise infections with the Corona virus. (Part One).
Providing communities with accurate, timely and logical information about the control measures required to minimise the harm associated with infectious diseases is essential to avoid both complacency and panic. (more…)
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CATHIE HULL. COVID-19 Infection, Isolation and Action
I was caught unawares by being exposed to COVID-19, despite thorough knowledge of the online medical research. I am now in home isolation. If I can be caught unawares, you can too. (more…)
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JAMES GRUBER. China has effectively contained corona virus.
It’s now clear that draconian measures imposed in response to the crisis have worked. (more…)
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STEPHEN LEEDER. Health guidelines may be necessary but are not sufficient for optimal medical care.
There is a common belief that medicine in all it variety would be better practised according to strict rules and guidelines. (more…)
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JACK WATERFORD. Covid-19 no need to panic yet.
The risks are two-fold, First would be in neglecting an attack on the virus in our neighbourhood. The other is from an officious overreach of power by the department of Home Affairs and its armed Border Force officers. (more…)
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JACK WATERFORD.The big risk is this flu taking root in our neighbourhood, such as Indonesia, East Timor or PNG
Scott Morrison’s declaration of a coronavirus pandemic is premature, particularly for Australia, where the virus does not appear to have escaped quarantine and containment lines. (more…)
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MARCUS REUBENSTEIN: Please give this face a name
Western reports on COVID-19 have overwhelmingly been produced under a simple banner of ‘China’. It’s a homogeneous label that ignores the human face of Chinese people everywhere. (more…)
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MARK BEESON. What’s at stake in the Coronavirus crisis?
The Coronavirus is causing a political crisis as well as the more obvious medical variety. Some governments may not recover. (more…)
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TESS HOGUE. Living in Hong Kong through SARS and Covid 19.
I have a rotten cold. My eyes are watering, my head is pounding and I can’t stop sneezing. Normally I would get plenty of rest and fluids and just wait it out. (more…)
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IAN WEBSTER. The retreat from patients, a letter to young doctors
The idea that the pressures of patient care cause doctors to withdraw from direct clinical work has been in the background of my observations of my colleagues and their work since the 1970s.
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JOHN DWYER.The Opioid crisis should focus attention on the inadequacy of Primary Care in Australia.
John Menadue’s insightful essay on urgently needed reforms to health care in Australia ( P&I Feb 7) correctly emphasised that a “priority area for implementation and funding should be primary care with the rollout of multi-disciplinary primary health care clinics across Australia. (more…)
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ELENA COLLINSON and JAMES LAURENCESON. China and the Coronavirus. (Australia-China Relations Institute 10.2.2020)
Is China telling us everything it knows about Coronavirus? (more…)
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MARIO CAVALO. Something’s not right here folks”. The USA 2009 H1N1 Virus compared to China 2020 Coronavirus(China Daily8.2.2020)
This vicious, political, xenophobic racist attacks and smearing of all things China needs to stop