Stress out Women Image by Tumisu from Pixabay The Andrews Labor Government has released a blueprint to build and support Victoria’s mental health workforce, with extra funding to immediately deliver more than 350 jobs to make sure the once-in-a-generation mental health reforms are matched with a workforce to deliver the specialist care Victorians need, close to home. The new Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Strategy 2021-2024 will guide the Labor Government’s work to grow the mental health system’s most important asset: a workforce that delivers world-class care, with clinicians who feel rewarded and supported in their vital work. The Strategy was a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System and includes initiatives to deliver four key priorities: increasing workforce supply; improving workforce skills, knowledge and capabilities; supporting the safety, wellbeing and retention of the workforce; and supporting better system planning a
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Queensland Ambulance Photo Blow the Truth The Palaszczuk Government is hiring an extra 108 frontline ambulance officers to meet the ever-growing demand for ambulance services. With 44 of the new officers having already commenced their induction training, those new officers will be on-road or taking Triple Zero (000) calls by Christmas. The remaining new recruits will be out in the field by March 2022. “The government has already recruited an additional 179 ambulance officers this financial year and now there are an extra 108 ambulance officers on the way,” Minister for Fire and Emergency Services Mark Ryan said. “Obviously this boost will help address the record demand in our health system and support the government’s COVID-19 response.” Acting QAS Commissioner Dr Stephen Rashford said the additional positions would enhance roster coverage and continue to allow the QAS to remain agile and flexible in its pandemic response. “In addition to traditional ambulance service delivery, the
Austria Protests, No Fake media may say there were one hundred People. The Truth is there were10,000's of Austrian People. Austria Ends COVID Lockdown for Vaxxed as Tens of Thousands Protest Mandatory Jabs Austria lifted its lockdown on Sunday for people with a “2G” pass, meaning they were vaccinated against COVID-19 or recently recovered from the illness. People without the certificate are only allowed to leave their homes to go to work or for other essential purposes. There is an 11pm curfew for restaurants and an FFP2 mask is required on public transport and in indoor spaces. Many cultural venues will be able to reopen on Sunday although some of the rules depend on the region. For cultural gatherings or events, there are caps on the number of people depending on whether it is indoors or outdoors. Austria imposed a national lockdown in late November shortly after placing restrictions on the unvaccinated. Since then, daily infections have come down significantly as the chart below
The Palaszczuk Government has today announced new response measures to COVID cases, commencing on 1 January 2022. Minister for Health Yvette D’Ath said that these measures are consistent with Australia’s national plan for reopening. “Queensland’s management of COVID-19 so far has meant we’ve experienced significantly less cases than other jurisdictions, and after hitting that 80 per cent vaccination target, our borders are re-opening,” Minister D’Ath said. “To continue moving forward, we also need to acknowledge that the coming months will inevitably bring a rise in cases and increased community transmission. “For every COVID positive person, there will also be close and casual contacts. Managing the testing, tracing and quarantine of these people – along with bolstering surge capacity in our hospitals – will be key in keeping businesses and borders open. “As with the restrictions that are set to start on 17 December, what you have to do if you are a close contact will be all about you
The rise of Omicron, the latest SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern, reminds us how quickly things can change during the pandemic. Only a few weeks ago, we were hearing about a range of potential new COVID-19 antiviral drugs and antibody treatments . Now researchers are asking if such drugs will still work to treat Omicron, with its multiple new mutations . We’ll be hearing more about this in the coming weeks. However, another approach to treating COVID is to “treat the host”. Rather than target the virus itself, this involves treating the body’s overwhelming response to the virus. This approach is less susceptible to new viral variants. And for this, we have some progress with, at first glance, an unlikely group of drugs to treat COVID-19 – antidepressants. These include fluoxetine (for example, Prozac) and the related drug fluvoxamine (for example, Luvox). It’s early days yet. But here’s what we know so far. How could antidepressants treat COVID? The antidepressants under inv
As part of the Victorian Government’s new pandemic management framework, Premier Daniel Andrews has made a formal pandemic declaration applying to the State of Victoria from 11:59pm, Wednesday 15 December 2021 until 11:59pm, Wednesday 12 January 2022. The declaration is made under section 165AB (1) of the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 and replaces the current State of Emergency declaration, which expires at 11:59pm on 15 December and will not be extended. The pandemic declaration was made after consultation with and consideration of advice from the Chief Health Officer (CHO) and Minister for Health. In making the declaration, the Premier was satisfied on reasonable grounds there was a serious risk to public health throughout Victoria arising from the coronavirus pandemic disease. In advising the Premier to make a pandemic declaration, the CHO noted the widespread community transmission of coronavirus in Victoria and the presence of active cases in the community – a significant
Star Casino Photo Blow the Truth Queensland’s state border restrictions are easing, allowing travellers from Covid-19 domestic hotspots to enter the state without having to quarantine from Monday. From 1am, December 13, anyone entering Queensland from domestic hotspots such as New South Wales and Victoria, will have to complete a border declaration pass. Travellers can arrive by road or air provided they are fully vaccinated and can provide evidence of a negative Covid-19 PCR test in the previous 72 hours. They will also have to obtain a Covid-19 test on day five after their arrival. You must receive a negative Covid-19 result before applying for a border pass, unless you live within the border zone area. More information about getting a Covid-19 test in New South Wales is available here , or testing information for Victoria is available here . Residents living in the declared border zone will be able to move freely across the border without the need for a PCR test, however, the
Remarks by Joe Biden in Meeting with Members of the White House COVID-19 Response Team on the Omicron Variant J oe Biden: Hello, folks. I’m about to get a briefing from my COVID team on Omicron variant. And we got some encouraging news from Pfizer yesterday. Preliminary lab data has indicated — it shows that — that three doses of the Pfizer vaccine protects avents [sic] — protects against the Omicron And today, we’ve got even more good news from the FDA and the CDC: 16- and 17-year-olds are eligible for boosters. So, my message is really very straightforward and simple. If you got vaccinated six months ago — and I say to all of you in the press as well, not a joke — I say to all of you: If you got vaccinated six months ago, get your booster right away. We’re seeing a lot more Americans do just that. Fifty million — fifty million people are — now have gotten their booster shots. And we’re getting people their booster shots at a record pace — roughly a million people a day. And
Phil Galewitz, Kaiser Health News For nearly a month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s online vaccine tracker has shown that virtually everyone 65 and older in the United States — 99.9% — has received at least one covid vaccine dose. That would be remarkable — if true. But health experts and state officials say it’s certainly not. They note that the CDC as of Dec. 5 has recorded more seniors at least partly vaccinated — 55.4 million — than there are people in that age group — 54.1 million, according to the latest census data from 2019. The CDC’s vaccination rate for residents 65 and older is also significantly higher than the 89% vaccination rate found in a poll conducted in November by KFF. Similarly, a YouGov poll , conducted last month for The Economist, found 83% of people 65 and up said they had received at least an initial dose of vaccine. And the CDC counts 21 states as having almost all their senior residents at least partly vaccinated (99.9%). But several
By Sarah Jane Tribble and Arthur Allen In January — long before the first jabs of covid-19 vaccine were even available to most Americans — scientists working under Dr. Anthony Fauci at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases were already thinking about potential booster shots. A month later, they organized an international group of epidemiologists, virologists and biostatisticians to track and sequence covid variants. They called the elite group SAVE, or SARS-Cov-2 Variant Testing Pipeline. And by the end of March, the scientists at NIAID were experimenting with monkeys and reviewing early data from humans showing that booster shots provided a rapid increase in protective antibodies — even against dangerous variants. Fauci, whose team has closely tracked research from Israel, the United Kingdom and elsewhere, said in an exclusive interview with KHN on Wednesday that “there’s very little doubt that the boosters will be beneficial.” But, he emphasized, t
Hospitals Refused to Give Patients Ivermectin. Lockdowns and Political Pressure Followed. Matt Volz HELENA, Mont. — One Montana hospital went into lockdown and called police after a woman threatened violence because her relative was denied her request to be treated with ivermectin. Officials of another Montana hospital accused public officials of threatening and harassing their health care workers for refusing to treat a politically connected covid-19 patient with that antiparasitic drug or hydroxychloroquine, another drug unauthorized by the Food and Drug Administration to treat covid. And in neighbouring Idaho, a medical resident said police had to be called to a hospital after a covid patient’s relative verbally abused her and threatened physical violence because she would not prescribe ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine, “drugs that are not beneficial in the treatment of covid-19,” she wrote. These three conflicts, which occurred from September to November, underline the pr