International travellers no longer need a COVID test for departures to Australia.

In this latest change to the COVID testing regime it really makes me grimace. Now international travellers who could possibly bring in the latest COVID variants no longer need to be tested before heading off to Australia. It makes me shudder.

Australia to scrap Covid test entry requirement for overseas arrivals | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site

Yes, these people need to prove they're double vaccinated, but being vaccinated (even with four doses) does not stop you getting COVID or reduce the peak infection. Being vaccinated just helps the body to respond and shorten the period of infection.

If you were booked for an international trip and someone around you had COVID would that stop you from travelling? Most likely not.

Surely a RAT test could be completed whilst people wait. Anyone who travels knows there's a lot of waiting time involved.

To make things even more confusing this is a Federal government change, but each states still have it's own rules, whatever they may be.

Kelvin Eldridge

Covid risk calculator and chart

Tonight I came across an article on a Covid  risk calculator so decided to investigate. I think it turned out to be worthwhile.

On the Immunisation Coalition's they've provided a Covid risk calculator and a useful chart which shows the Risk of Dying from COVID-19. Both I feel are quite useful pieces of information to help inform people about the risk of not getting vaccinated. Each of us need to keep ourselves educated and I feel this type of information can only help.

Covid Risk Calculator | Immunisation Coalition

Covid risk charts all versions (immunisationcoalition.org.au)

The Covid Risk Calculator only covers the situation where there's up to 2,500 cases per day which is quite a lot lower than the current level of cases in Victoria. I don't know if it would be correct to assume that means the risk is four times higher (with the current level of daily cases) but it's never good to assume.

Sadly what I did get out of the calculator is I have a much higher chance of getting a speeding ticket in Australia than catching or dying from Covid. Now if I get a chuckle from this comment that is probably a good thing. At least you're reading this article and may check out the links above.

And for those who want to reduce the chances of getting a speeding ticket perhaps check out www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au

Kelvin

Australian celebrities who have caught COVID-19

A little while ago I started collecting links to Australian celebrities who caught COVID-19. My original reason is so many people believe (and it feels like the government and media have supported the belief) that if you're vaccinated you can't catch COVID-19. There's even a catch phrase "break-through cases" to make it sound like it's rare. 

From what I read it's not true. Being vaccinated does not stop you from catching COVID-19. Even the peak dose load does not change. What does change is the ability to more quickly fight and recover from infection if vaccinated. The idea people excluding non-vaccinated people and treating them less perplexes me. Unvaccinated people are more at risk of serious illness, but whether we're vaccinated or not, we can still catch and spread COVID-19.

Having said that, what I did find interesting is that each celebrity has their own and unique story to share and thought sharing their stories may be of interest to others. Each celebrity's personal experience lets us better know what to expect if we get infected. I am thankful the celebrities took the time to share their experience. As I read stories of other celebrities I'll add them to the list.

Jessika Power

Peter Helliar

Chrissie Swan

Hugh Jackman

Martha Kalifatidis and Michael Brunelli

Mel McLaughlin

Georgia Love

Anthony Callea

Tristan McManus

Glenn McGrath

Bernard Tomic

Natasha Exelby

Karl Stefanovic

Leigh Sales

Take care everyone.

Kelvin Eldridge
Victoria - Cases By Postcode

Some interesting figures on the cost of COVID-19 testing in Victoria.

An interesting article came out recently where pathology practices were lobbying the government to maintain the current charge of $85 per COVID-19 test.

Australia COVID: Pathologists lobby Canberra for massive COVID test subsidy to continue (smh.com.au)

If we look at today's figures for Victoria we see the following.

Number of tests to date: 13,777,569

Number of positive COVID-19 cases to date: 98,130

Coronavirus update for Victoria – 8 November 2021 | health.vic.gov.au

At $85 per COVID-19 test that could equate to a potential cost of  $1.17 billion. I say potential because according to the article only public labs only get half the rebate.

Another interesting figure is the number of positive cases compared to the total number of tests. One case per 140 tests. Again this figure doesn't take into account if a person is positive they'd need multiple tests.

I have to say I'm quite surprised the number of tests per positive case is much lower than I would have thought at 0.7%. Personally the scatter gun approach to testing I would have thought would have been much less efficient. Detecting one positive case for around 140 test to me is an excellent result. Of course that's just my unscientific personal opinion.

It will be interesting to see how the costs change over time with rapid antigen tests now becoming available at a much lower cost. Whilst not as accurate as PCR testing, the "new era of living with COVID-19" no longer requires us to eradicate the virus, just to reduce the spread. Anything that reduces the spread would appear to be worthwhile and if required, could be followed up with a PCR test. Overall this could reduce the need for as many PCR tests and thus the cost to the government and us as a community.

What is a rapid antigen test? Where can you buy them in Australia and how much do they cost? - ABC News

A quick check of the web finds test kits out of stock at Woolworths, but available for a pack of 5 from Chemist Warehouse online only. At about $10 per test, getting a pack for a family or a group of families just in case, may not be a bad idea. For larger organisation buying in bulk would expect to halve or better this price. Whilst less convenient, getting tested at a drive-through centre is still cheaper since it's bulk billed and we never directly see the actual cost.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the $85 COVID-19 test subsidy when it's up for review at the end of the year. A rapid antigen test for under $5 in bulk or an $85 PCR test is certainly going to be tempting for the government to consider.

Kelvin

NOTE: Nothing in this article should be taken as advice in any shape or form. I am simply sharing my observations and am not qualified in any medical capacity.

When should you get your second dose of AstraZenica? (NOTE: This is not medical advice.)

The question as to when you should get your second dose of AstraZenica is often discussed with family and friends. I couldn't help feeling the shorter time of 6 weeks reduced from 12 weeks may have been more to meet government targets than the health needs of people. Having said that, in areas where there was substantial risk the shorter period could well have been warranted. The level of risk across Australia is not the same but unfortunately the messages we may be receiving from the mainstream news media does not differentiate the level of risk.

Ultimately each of us has to take responsibility for our own health choices. With so much information, misinformation, and sometime questionable information, it can be very hard to make better choices. Sometimes pressure from those around us will lead us to make  choices that may not be in our best health interests.

I keep a close watch on the level of risk around me so if possible my choice is to see if I can wait 12 weeks for the second dose of AstraZenica. Why? Because in theory this should give me a greater level of protection based on the efficacy research. I don't consider this to be a perfect choice, just a potentially better choice.

A second and potentially more important point comes from the reference linked to from the document linked below which states:

"Yet we do know two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine protects against serious COVID-19 after infection with the Delta variant, whereas one dose doesn’t."

The link provided then leads to the research article which states:

"Sera from individuals who had received one dose of the Pfizer or the AstraZeneca vaccine had a barely discernible inhibitory effect on the Delta variant. Administration of two doses of the vaccine generated a neutralizing response in 95% of individuals, with titres three- to fivefold lower against the Delta variant than against the Alpha variant. "

This to me is more of a concern. Children are now back at school and in childcare centres. Borders are starting to open up. The risk of catching COVID-19 would appear to be rapidly increasing. Increased efficacy is good, but not if a single dose doesn't protect you against serious COVID-19 infection. That is the quandary we're all faced with.

Please keep in mind I have no medical background. Do not take the information provided as advice or guidance. This is just my own personal choice.

To help guide my choice I've read a considerable amount of information on the internet so I decided to find an article I felt could summarise the efficacy information. The following is from doctors in Erina NSW who summarise the information well and provide supporting links. I've not yet found the actual information in the Lancet, but it does correspond with other information I've found.

WHEN SHOULD I HAVE MY 2ND ASTRAZENECA VACCINE? – Your Family Doctors

The linked article is quite good to read as it concludes that even if getting the AstraZenica second dose early may be sub-optimal, if this is followed up by a later Pfizer dose this will further boost immunity.

One missing piece of information I've not yet found is that whilst we know the booster is needed for Pfizer as protection diminishes over time, I've not seen evidence this is the case for AstraZenica. I feel the government will recommend a Pfizer booster as it is a simpler message, but is it needed if you've waited the full 12 weeks for a second dose of AstraZenica. Only time and further research will tell.

I hope the information provided helps in some way.

Kelvin

Titbits on COVID-19 I find interesting and useful

The Victorian government has a lot of interesting and useful information but unfortunately most of the time we don't have access to that information. However, sometimes some of that information gets published and if we're lucky we got to read it. The aim of this post is to collect what I feel to be useful titbits of information.

"According to the Victorian government, 45 per cent of all household primary close contacts test positive even when fully vaccinated"
Covid-19 Victoria: Isolation for fully vaccinated close contacts reduced to 7 days | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site

"Within yesterday’s cases, there are 1245 newly impacted households which previously did not have COVID-19 present." - There were 2,297 cases.
Department of Health and Human Services Victoria | Coronavirus update for Victoria - 14 October 2021 (dhhs.vic.gov.au)

"almost 90 per cent of people infected with the Delta variant turn positive by day seven"
Covid-19 Victoria: Isolation for fully vaccinated close contacts reduced to 7 days | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site

For me this information is very useful as it helps me to get an idea of the level of COVID-19 around me and thus the risk of exposure. From the above we can estimate:

1. Around half the cases are in new households.

2. Around half the cases will occur within a household when someone is already infected.

3. We know those who are a household where someone's already infected they could perhaps already be quarantine so present little risk to the community.

4. The new case for a household may have only been in the community for a short period of time whilst infected.

5. What is missing but may be interesting to know is how many of the new infections for a new household is a direct contact or an existing infected person. The reason is if they're a direct contact they may have already been in quarantine when they test positive so also a lower risk to the community.

By using the Victorian government's COVID-19 data by postcode I collate the data so I can see how the data is changing over the last seven days (Victoria COVID-19 Cases By Postcode (onlineconnections.com.au).

Using the information about I can make rather loose assumptions that for each household where there's a new case there will be an additional case that occurs. Thus I can halve the number of cases in an area as they'll be in the same household. In addition, once the first person is found to be infected, that person plus the entire household will need to be in quarantine. Thus the second infected person (or half the cases) may generally not be a risk to the community.

By shopping, socialising and exercising in areas with low numbers of COVID-19 infections I am hopeful I can reduce my level of risk when I'm not at home. At this point in time I work from home and no longer go out to clients. I only go out a couple of times a week to shop, socialise or exercise so my movements  and contact with others is fairly limited so hopefully my risk is limited. 

However I do accept the risk will increase as the Victorian government has failed to suppress COVID-19 in the community, so will now open up the community on the basis that being vaccinated will reduce the risk of severe infection by a factor of 2-5 for Astrazenica and 5-10 for Pfizer and this shouldn't overwhelm our health system.
Living Evidence - COVID-19 vaccines | Agency for Clinical Innovation (nsw.gov.au)

As I find more useful titbits I hope to add them to this post.

Kelvin

Update: 19 October 2021
The Victorian government has stopped publishing tier 2 sites and in fact even before doing this did not include sites people had told me about. In essence leaving us blind as to the level of exposure in our community. Since shopping is something we all do most weeks, if not more often, it's good to see Coles and Woolworths still publishing COVID-19 exposure sites for customers.

COVID-19 updates | Coles

COVID-19 store updates and latest news | Woolworths Group COVIDSafe

Aldi also have a page which looks to be up to date, but in the past I've found their page not always as good as it could be. Hopefully they've improved since last year. To be fair to Aldi, every recent exposure site I could find in the media is listed on the page. Aldi's layout is different as cases are listed together for each site. What is also good from a risk point of view is each shop generally has very few cases.
Customer Notices: COVID-19 Cases - ALDI Australia

"Covid-19 has a mortality rate of 1.06 per cent in Australia"
I do think it's poor that Greg Hunt didn't quantify the mortality rate for double vaccinated.
Greg Hunt reveals the likelihood of catching Covid-19 if you’re fully vaccinated | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site

Figures from the UK give us a better idea of the mortality rate for those double vaccinated. Out of 51,281 deaths during the period given there were 256 breakthrough deaths. Breakthrough deaths are those who had been double vaccinated and infected 14 days after second dose of vaccine. That's roughly 1 in 200. There were 2,159,287 cases during the nominated period which is a death rate of 2.37% overall and 0.012% for double vaccinated. It should also be kept in mind double vaccination rates went from less than 1% on the 2nd of January to 49.7% on the 2nd of July. Using a very rough average of 25% of the UK population double vaccinated this could possibly mean numbers could increase by a factor of 4 if the UK population was fully vaccinated. As figures are updated a better picture of the mortality rate for double vaccinated will become more apparent.
Deaths involving COVID-19 by vaccination status, England - Office for National Statistics
Cases in the UK | Coronavirus in the UK (data.gov.uk)
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccinations - Statistics and Research - Our World in Data

Update: 14/11/2021
I was thinking about hospitalisation rates for those who get infected and thought the following was an interesting summary showing relative likelihood of being hospitalised based on age.
Risk for COVID-19 Infection, Hospitalization, and Death By Age Group | CDC

Update: 23/11/2021
Nick Coates, the earlier face of COVID-19, advises against vaccine mandates for under 12s.
Nick Coatsworth advises against Covid vaccine mandates for under 12s | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site

Update: 23/11/2021
Peak viral loads for vaccinated and unvaccinated similar but faster decline for vaccinated.
Community transmission and viral load kinetics of the SARS-CoV-2 delta (B.1.617.2) variant in vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals in the UK: a prospective, longitudinal, cohort study - The Lancet Infectious Diseases

Scanning QR code at Sandown Racecourse vaccination centre didn't work. Who designs these things!

I can't imagine how many millions are being spent on Victoria's QR code system yet so many times it fails. Good people are trying to do the right thing but whatever the Victorian government is doing just doesn't work consistently. It's not the QR code technology, it's not the people, it's not the mobile phones, it's the people developing the systems that need to improve what they're doing and the government shouldn't tolerate a system that fails so often.

Recently I've had QR code failures at the Bank of Queensland in Croydon, Officeworks in Doncaster and more recently and much to my surprise, when I went to check in to get my Astrazenica shot at the Sandown Racecourse vaccination hub. Yes I was checked in by one the staff, but really this shouldn't have been necessary.

When sharing my story I asked two other people to show me what they see when they go to check in. This is what they saw and I've also seen this screen.

I just shake my head when I see a screen like this. It tells people nothing about what they need to do.

I've seen people take pictures of QR codes thinking they've checked in.

I've seen people who get this screen who think they've checked in.

I've seen people who don't realise they need to click on the Check-in button to complete the check in.

The government should review the check-ins for the day I was at Sandown Racecourse and audit the number of valid check-ins against the number of people attending on the day. Then at least they might be able to see how often their QR code system is failing. Yes you can manually check-in, but who does that.

The system needs to be very simple. Very consistent. Screens like the above should never appear. The QR code system should rarely fail, but for me it's failed many times, so the QR code system I suspect is failing for many others.

Given the probably millions being spent it really isn't good enough.

If I were to make one suggestion it would be for the Victorian government to provide a sample QR code I and other IT people could use the train people. The sample QR code could then store the person's information ready for when they use a live QR code. The sample QR code does not need to store anything. People could then use the sample QR code to make sure they're doing the right thing.

Kelvin

Easier way for Victorians to find out about new public exposure locations around them.

I was finding it hard to keep up with the public exposure locations for coronavirus in Victoria. There's roughly a thousand hotspot (public exposure locations) so checking them each day or every few days can be a bit overwhelming.

I decided to write a web page where I could put in my postcode and up to 10 postcodes around me. That would allow me to see those postcodes that were of interest to me rather than a list with just one postcode, or the entire list. I then decide to extend the page with a quick fill feature which finds the 10 postcodes around your current location.

Having done that I add the result page to my Home screen on my mobile and can quickly check if there's any new public exposure locations around me. Even better family and friends can do the same.

IF anyone is interested in a neat tool that can help find out about Victorian public exposure locations you can find it at the following location.

Victoria Exposure Sites (onlineconnections.com.au)

Kelvin

New features added to the 5km Radius site. 10km radius and Bike Trails.

Two new features have been added to the 5km Radius website.

• 10km radius
• Bike Trails

10km Radius

In both Victoria and NSW there has been 10km radius restrictions. In case the 10km radius restriction occurs again this has been added to the 5km Radius site. In NSW at one point there was both a 5km radius restriction and a 10km radius restriction so we need to be prepared.

Bike Trails

It can be hard to find things to do when you're in lockdown and restricted to a 5km radius. One activity I do is to go for a bike ride but in doing so I need to keep in mind I'm still restricted to 5km.

The Bike Trails map shows the bike trails around your area. A 5km ride doesn't sound like much but with a bit of creative thinking I've manager to create a number of 5km circuits in my area and you can see those rides as I add them to YouTube. I can tell you I've come back quite exhausted from the 5km circuits and I've not even been doing more than half the 5km radius area. Keep in mind if you could ride around the circumference of a 5km radius area that would be close to 31km. Throw in some hills and slow section you may even find it hard to complete in the time allowed.

Kelvin
www.5kmRadius.com.au

The 5km radius website unfortunately is exceeding the daily quota at times.

I wrote the 5km radius website to help family and friends. I made it available to the public in case it also helps others.

Unfortunately I didn't anticipate the level of traffic to the site with both Victoria and NSW in lockdown at the same time, with the same 5km radius limit. This higher than expected usage has caused all my mapping sites to stop working so I've had to try to find a way to keep my other sites working as well as the 5km radius site.

For this reason the 5km radius site now uses a separate mapping service which has a quota, but should at least enable many people to use the site before the quota is reached. This will literally be many thousands of people a day. I apologise to those who miss out on the day but please be aware the quota resets each day.

Thank you for visiting my site. Again my apologies for anyone who misses out. I simply cannot afford to fund the site above the quota provided as I have limited income at this time.

Kelvin

Update: 24 Aug 2021
Recent changes I've implemented appear to be working so for most weekdays the quota may not be reached. Weekends tend to peak higher so quota limits may still kick in at night on weekends. If that happens try again the next morning.

Interesting article on rates of serious coronavirus infections for vaccinated and unvaccinated.

I like to keep links to interesting articles which share what I consider to be useful information. In the following article the number of serious cases of coronavirus for vaccinated and unvaccinated people is provided.

Delta strain: Israel records spike in hospitalisations, deaths despite 78 per cent vaccination rate, Pfizer booster shots (news.com.au)

The important figures are:

For over 60 the number of serious cases is 178 per 100,000 unvaccinated people. For vaccinated people over 60 this figures is reduced to one ninth. I suspect this means approximately 20 per 100,000 serious cases for vaccinated people over 60.

For unvaccinated people under 60 the number of serious cases is 3.2 per 100,000 people.  This was a little more than double those people who had been vaccinated. I suspect this means around 1.6 people per 100,000 for vaccinated people under 60.

It would be interesting to see these age groups broken down further to see the rates per 100,000 people.

Kelvin

Pleased to see 5kmradius.com.au on News.com.au site today.

There's quite a bit of work involved in building and maintaining websites so today it was very pleasing to see people mentioning 5kmradius.com.au and the site appearing on the news.com.au site.

Northern Beaches Narrabeen locals discuss Sydney Covid travel restrictions (news.com.au)

Kelvin Eldridge
www.5kmRadius.com.au

10km radius map - Victorian government increase 5km limit to 10km limit from 11:59pm on Thursday the 3rd of June.

The Victorian government has announced that from 11:59pm on Thursday the 3rd of June 2021 the 5 kilometre limit will be increased to 10 kilometres.

If you need a 10km radius map I've created the website (10km Radius - 10km Radius from home, 10km Radius from location).

Hope it helps in some way.

Kelvin

Efficacy of the Pfizer/BioNTech, Oxford/AstraZeneca and Noravax.

I thought I'd link to the following article as it details the efficacy of the three vaccines currently considered for Australia.

Efficacy of the Pfizer/BioNTech, Oxford/AstraZeneca and Noravax

Kelvin Eldridge

Thirty three elderly people in Norway who had received a coronavirus vaccine, subsequently passed away.

This week we saw the first article relating to deaths of 33 elderly people in Norway who had received a coronavirus vaccine. There is no evidence the people died as a direct result of the vaccine.

Pfizer vaccine deaths: No direct link between vaccine and 33 Norway deaths (news.com.au)

What is interesting is I recall when in one country the elderly weren't vaccinated, but the young. If I recall correctly, I believe this was for the flu. By vaccinating the young the elderly were protected. In Australia we  vaccinate the elderly against the flu.

Given there may be some concern for the elderly with vaccination against COVID-19, it may be worth considering if vaccinating the elderly is the best option. If all people that come in contact with the elderly needed to be vaccinated, is that enough to protect the elderly.

When you get vaccinated for the flu you can have a significant reaction. Some people actually feel so bad they feel like they've caught the flu from the vaccine, but that's not possible. Their body however appears to react as though they have. If an elderly person's body responds as though they have caught the virus, the question becomes, is that sufficient for the elderly to experience severe complications, possibly leading to death? 

I certainly don't know, but with around 1 in a 1,000 people dying in Norway who have received a vaccine, it's important people remain very aware.

Kelvin Eldridge

Almost a third of people who go to hospital, return to hospital and of those one in eight may die.

I thought the following article was particularly eye opening. It turns out almost a third of people who go to hospital, return to hospital and of those one in eight may die.

Almost a third of recovered Covid patients return to hospital in five months and one in eight die (yahoo.com)

Kelvin Eldridge

Perhaps it's time the government used larger events to find if there's COVID-19 cases in the community.

I was reading the news article on the partying at Bondi Beach and whilst I'm not in favour of large scale gatherings in general due to the risk of COVID-19, particularly in hotspot areas, it did give me an idea.

Coronavirus live updates: Backlash grows over North bondi party (news.com.au)

In Victoria COVID-19 cases are currently zero in terms of community transmission. There may still be infected people that don't know they're infected and in time those people will infect others. Either that or there is really no community cases of COVID-19.

The idea that came to mind is if there are hidden cases of COVID-19, if we had large controlled events where people registered (think The Australia Open or football matches) then if a COVID-19 case did occur, the contact tracers could more easily trace where the case came from. Yes it does mean there is a risk of people getting infected, but if there's no cases in the community, there's no risk. If there are cases it's one way the government can find the cases and enable people to do what they want to do, knowing there's a risk involved.

Even a party at Bondi could be held as long as everyone who went registered. People would actually be helping the community by partying.

Perhaps it's time the government was a little more creative and looked for ways to give people more freedom rather than their current strategy of excessively removing freedoms.

Now it could easily be argued that to allow people to participate in risky activities should never be allowed, but we also have to remember in the early days of COVID-19, Queensland held two elections where millions of people turned out and not one case of community transmission was reported to my knowledge (although I'm happy to stand corrected). We can live in fear or we can look for ways where people can do more in a controlled way.

Kelvin Eldridge

When our leaders get it wrong during the coronavirus pandemic, it's a reminder that anyone can get it wrong.

When one of our leaders breaks the very rules they're asking the rest of us to follow, it's a reminder that all of us, no matter who we are, or the position we hold, are just as fallible. It is a reminder that we should be tolerant of those who make mistakes and don't do what we'd normally expect of them during the coronavirus pandemic. 

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian admits she didn't isolate after coronavirus test last week - ABC News

It's very easy for us when we see news items to judge others, but in the moment we can all make mistakes and errors in judgement, even our leaders do.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/

Dan Andrews flip-flops between using dates and trigger points.

I noticed at one point the Dan Andrews announced the opening up of Victoria would not be based on dates but reaching trigger points.

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/news/coronavirus-victoria-new-date-for-step-three-in-melbourne/news-story/f80b425404010ab75273586a872bcbb5

If you were to revisit earlier roadmaps for Victoria you'd notice the next step for easing restrictions was when Victoria reached no new cases for 14 days, yet a few days ago the Victorian government flip-flopped from using the trigger point of now new cases for 14 days to the next step being on the 22nd of November, well over a week later.

From roadmap on the 9th of November.

From roadmap on the 11th of November

As of today there's 13 consecutive days with zero cases of coronavirus in Victoria, tomorrow hopefully that will reach the 14 days. If that happens Victoria would have reached the milestone required for the last step, yet the government has yet again moved the goal posts. You would think reaching a virus free target would be far less arbitrary than a nominated date, yet the government has flip-flopped on Dan Andrews statement. You have to wonder why?

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/

An interesting observation. How many coronavirus cases were there that started with a healthcare workers in Victoria?

It occurred to me that an interesting figure would be the number of cases of coronavirus occurred as a result of an infected healthcare worker passing coronavirus on to family, friends and coworkers. This isn't to highlight one group, but to highlight the importance of ensuring our healthcare workers are given the best possible equipment and support to keep themselves and the community safe.

When I was growing up I recall there was the Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital and I couldn't help wonder what is done now in terms of infectious diseases. With a relatively low number of cases of coronavirus, a single hospital with the best facilities and controls could keep or minimise infections reaching the community via healthcare workers. It appears there's now infectious disease departments in multiple hospitals which means multiple points of exposure for the community.

As an example, if we look at the most recent outbreak at the East Preston Islamic College, there was a total of 39 infections across 11 (/13) households. The originating case for this outbreak appears to be a healthcare worker from the Box Hill hospital.

As of November 8th there were 3,574 healthcare workers that had been infected. One of these healthcare workers in theory was the origin of possibly 38/39 cases. With a total of 20,345 coronavirus cases so far in Victoria, it's not inconceivable to think that perhaps the majority of coronavirus cases may have come about from healthcare workers if one infected healthcare worker can result in 38/39 cases. This highlights how critical it is to ensure everything that is possible is done to ensure healthcare workers are given everything above and beyond what is needed.

It would certainly be interesting to see what the final number of cases of coronavirus were that started with a healthcare worker as it might highlight where one of the greatest exposures are in terms of the spread of the coronavirus and where more resources could be focused.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/