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Today, international flights once again land in Melbourne and Victoria’s previously ill-fated hotel quarantine program will resume for the third time since the pandemic began. This begs an obvious question: is the system up to scratch this time?
The program was first halted mid-2020 after the virus escaped hotel quarantine and seeded Victoria’s second wave. A revamped system was launched in December, but was halted again in February when an outbreak from an airport hotel sent the state into a five-day lockdown.
So what’s different this time around? As the Burnet Institute’s Michael Toole explains today, the latest system has sought to address past weaknesses. Crucially, this includes new measures to reduce the risk of airborne transmission – a pathway for the virus’ spread last time.
While the risks of hotel quarantine will never be zero, Victoria must get it right this time.
Meantime, Australia’s vaccine rollout appears to be faltering. As Mary-Louise McLaws argues, we must urgently stop relying on small GP and respiratory clinics and instead establish mass vaccination hubs at stadiums, schools and parks.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on Wednesday such a hub would be established in Sydney to administer 30,000 doses a week to public. But such expansion requires overcoming Australia’s shortfall of the AstraZeneca vaccine – and that’s another headache the Morrison government is now grappling with.
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Phoebe Roth
Deputy Editor, Health+Medicine
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Erik Anderson/AAP
Michael Toole, Burnet Institute
The revamped Victorian hotel quarantine system appears to have addressed the weaknesses of the previous system, particularly around the risk of airborne transmission.
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A mass vaccination hub in Genoa, Italy.
Luca Zennaro/EPA/AAP
Mary-Louise McLaws, UNSW
We need to stop relying on small GP clinics and urgently move towards using mass vaccination hubs like stadiums, schools and parks.
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Wes Mountain/The Conversation
Frank Bongiorno, Australian National University
After a string of disasters and scandals surrounding the Morrison government, Labor now has a chance to do what it has rarely done in modern Australian history: take government.
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Luong Thai Linh/AAP
Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
Michelle Grattan discusses the vaccine rollout with Stephen Duckett.
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workskil/Shutterstock
Renee Fry-McKibbin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University; Peter M. Downes, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University; Warwick J. McKibbin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Done right, JobMaker can support 100,000 jobs, but it'll have to happen soon.
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December 1972: Billy Miargu, with his daughter Linda on his arm, and his wife Daphnie Baljur. In the background, the newly painted kangaroo.
Photograph by George Chaloupka, now in Parks Australia's Archive at Bowali.
Joakim Goldhahn, University of Western Australia; Paul S.C.Taçon, Griffith University
How does rock art matter? New research finds it can act as a kind of intergenerational media –even when no longer visible to the eye.
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Shutterstock
Deanna Kemp, The University of Queensland; Eleonore Lebre, The University of Queensland; John Owen, The University of Queensland; Richard K Valenta, The University of Queensland
Unless mining is done differently, rushing to bring copper mines into production could unleash unacceptable, catastrophic impacts.
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Science + Technology
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Duane W. Hamacher, The University of Melbourne
Uncle Segar is an expert on many things including the land, sea and sky. This knowledge is then captured in his artworks.
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Ben Egliston, Queensland University of Technology; Marcus Carter, University of Sydney
Augmented reality has largely enjoyed cover from critique by being taken as a benign gaming technology. But recent developments suggest we need to get serious about it.
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Politics + Society
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Kyle J.D. Mulrooney, University of New England; Alistair Harkness, University of New England
New research shows that four in five farmers in NSW have been the victim of some type of crime, yet reporting of crimes to police remains stubbornly low.
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Health + Medicine
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Monica Barratt, RMIT University
I was an expert witness to the coronial inquest into five drug-related deaths across Melbourne between July 2016 and January 2017. Here's what we should do to prevent similar tragedies.
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Environment + Energy
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Richard Denniss, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Among modern Liberals it's patently heresy to ask how rushing to green light 11 proposed coal mines in the Hunter Valley helps the struggling coal industry.
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Arts + Culture
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Chari Larsson, Griffith University
Born in 1943, photographer William Yang has spoken of having to 'come out' twice: first as a gay man and secondly in search of his Chinese identity. A new exhibition marks his career.
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Business + Economy
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Kathryn Daley, RMIT University; Belinda Johnson, RMIT University; Patrick O'Keeffe, RMIT University
With younger people hit hardest by the pandemic's economic impacts, it's imperative to ensure an entire generation is not permanently disadvantaged.
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Level 21, 15 Broadway, Ultimo, New South Wales, 2007, Australia — University of Technology Sydney
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