How Covid has shone a light on the ugly face of Australian antisemitism

‘The increased prominence of antisemitic incidents during the COVID pandemic may leave you wondering: has antisemitism always been part of the Australian social fabric, or are we facing a new, sinister trend? Members of Melbourne’s Jewish community have been subjected to a surge of antisemitic abuse in recent weeks, following breaches of public health orders by ultra-Orthodox Jewish worshippers.

‘And Victoria’s proposed law to ban Nazi symbols — a first for any state or territory — further reinforces how antisemitism is becoming an increasingly visible problem in Australia.’

Read here (The Conversation, Sept 22, 2021)

Europe is lashing out like a wounded animal but its injuries are self-inflicted

‘As if banning the shipment of 250,000 AstraZeneca doses to Australia earlier this month didn’t set a bad enough precedent, the EU went even further on Wednesday by threatening to take over AstraZeneca’s factories and strip the company of its intellectual property rights unless the pharmaceutical giant delivered more doses over the coming months.

‘European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has grounds to be upset: while Pfizer and Moderna have delivered on their first quarter commitments and pledged to deliver a combined 235 million doses in the second, AstraZeneca is dragging the chain. The firm will give the bloc only 100 million doses over the first six months of 2021 when the EU was expecting 270 million...

‘AstraZeneca certainly bears no blame for the week’s other baffling decision by some EU members to suspend the jab over unfounded safety fears.’

Read here (Sydney Morning Herald, Mar 19, 2021)

US and allies (India, Australia and Japan) promise one billion jabs for South East Asia

‘The leaders of the US, Australia, India and Japan have agreed to deliver one billion doses of coronavirus vaccine to much of Asia by the end of 2022. The joint commitment was made following the first leaders' meeting of the so-called Quad - a group formed in 2007. The vaccines - expected to be the single-dose Johnson & Johnson product - are set to be manufactured in India.’

Read here (BBC, Mar 13, 2021)

I was the Australian doctor on the WHO’s Covid-19 mission to China. Here’s what we found about the origins of the coronavirus

‘As part of the mission, we met the man who, on December 8, 2019, was the first confirmed COVID-19 case; he’s since recovered. We met the husband of a doctor who died of COVID-19 and left behind a young child. We met the doctors who worked in the Wuhan hospitals treating those early COVID-19 cases, and learned what happened to them and their colleagues. We witnessed the impact of COVID-19 on many individuals and communities, affected so early in the pandemic, when we didn’t know much about the virus, how it spreads, how to treat COVID-19, or its impacts.

‘We talked to our Chinese counterparts — scientists, epidemiologists, doctors — over the four weeks the WHO mission was in China. We were in meetings with them for up to 15 hours a day, so we became colleagues, even friends. This allowed us to build respect and trust in a way you couldn’t necessarily do via Zoom or email.

‘This is what we learned about the origins of SARS-CoV-2:

• Animal origins, but not necessarily at the Wuhan markets
• Frozen or refrigerated food not ruled out in the spread
• Extremely unlikely the virus escaped from a lab

Read here (The Conversation, Feb 22, 2021)

Covid-19 infection rates fall as millions are vaccinated in Britain

‘Infection rates in the over-80s have fallen by 36 per cent this month. Other age groups have seen similar falls. The biggest drop was recorded in people in their 20s. Rates in that age group have halved. Prof Harnden said: “The data we have is still is very early because it only reflects approximately three or four weeks of the program and it’s mainly based on the Pfizer vaccine.”

Read here (News.com, Feb 1, 2021)

Scientists call for pause on AstraZeneca vaccine rollout

‘The Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology says the federal government should immediately pause the planned rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine because it may not be effective enough to generate herd immunity.

‘Phase three clinical trials of the vaccine, which is the centrepiece of Australia's vaccination strategy, show it is only 62 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19 when given in the recommended dose. Trials suggest vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are about 95 per cent effective.’

Read here (Sydney Morning Herald, Jan 12, 2021)

Rapid Covid-19 home test developed in Australia approved for emergency use in US

‘A rapid, over-the-counter Covid-19 test developed by Australian firm Ellume has been given emergency approval in the United States. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Brisbane-based company’s 20-minute Covid-19 Home Test on Tuesday as the US battles the virus that has infected 16.5 million people and killed more than 300,000 people in the country.

“By authorising a test for over-the-counter use, the FDA allows it to be sold in places like drug stores, where a patient can buy it, swab their nose, run the test and find out their results in as little as 20 minutes,” the FDA commissioner, Stephen Hahn, said in a statement.’

Read here (The Guardian, Dec 16, 2020)

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce says proof of Covid-19 vaccination will be a condition of international air travel

‘Proof of COVID-19 vaccination will be a non-negotiable condition of international air travel, according to the Qantas CEO Alan Joyce. Anti-vaxxers will be grounded in the brave new world, with Mr Joyce confirming vaccination will be a requirement to fly internationally.

‘Mr Joyce has repeatedly warned that international air travel won’t resume until there’s a vaccine available for staff and travellers, but on Monday night he went a step further, telling A Current Affair host Tracy Grimshaw that as soon as a vaccine becomes available it will be a condition of travel. “For international travellers, we will ask people to have a vaccination before they get on the aircraft,’’ he said.’

Read here (News.com, Nov 23, 2020)

Three Australian kids baffle doctors after developing Covid antibodies without ever testing positive: Study published in Nature Communications

‘The kids – aged six, seven and nine – took the COVID-19 test and the results were negative. “It was jaw-droppingly amazing because they'd spent a week and a half with us while we were COVID-positive,” added the mother. While two kids had mild symptoms, one daughter remained completely asymptomatic. They were tested again, just to get negative results. This continued for several weeks, until everyone in the family tested negative.

‘What surprised the doctors was when the results came negative despite the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests of the kids showing antibodies of Sars-CoV-2. This definitely caused curiosity as the kids never tested positive for the virus. While the researchers are keen to do a further study on the immune response of the kids, paediatrician Shidan Tosif from the University of Melbourne said, “The fact these children were able to shut down the virus and without even showing a positive test result suggests they have some level of their immune system which is able to respond and deal effectively with the virus, without them ever becoming very unwell.”

Read here (Yahoo News, Nov 19, 2020)  

Experts warn coronavirus may cause 'wave' of neurological conditions including Parkinson's disease

‘COVID-19 can cause worrying neurological symptoms like a loss of smell and taste, but Australian scientists are warning the damage the virus causes to the brain may also lead to more serious conditions such as Parkinson's disease.

‘It has happened before... Five years after the Spanish flu pandemic in the early 1900s, there was up to a three-fold increase in the incidence of Parkinson's disease. Kevin Barnham from the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health said he believed a similar "silent wave" of neurological illness would follow this pandemic. "Parkinson's disease is a complex illness, but one of the causes is inflammation, and the virus helps to drive that inflammation," he said.’

Read here (ABC News, Sept 23, 2020)

India, Japan, Australia keen to boost supply chain security by reducing reliance on China

‘The Supply Chain Resilience Initiative will look to secure supply chains and reduce dependence on China in wake of the disruptions caused by the coronavirus. The supply chain initiative could also eventually be expanded to include the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).’

Read here (South China Morning Post, August 21, 2020)

Murdoch's misinformation: Covid-19, China and climate change

 ‘Is Rupert Murdoch's media empire responsible for spreading deadly misinformation on COVID-19? From the United States to Australia, Murdoch's media empire regularly courts controversy. Its coverage of COVID-19, however, is on another level. The Listening Post's Flo Phillips reports on the Murdoch factor in COVID-19 coverage.’

Also: ‘The Listening Post's Richard Gizbert speaks to someone who has known Rupert Murdoch for decades and is now one of his most outspoken critics: The former prime minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull.’

View here (Aljazeera, August 8, 2020)

Australian develops effective Triple Therapy to treat Covid-19

‘A combination of FDA and TGA approved Ivermectin, Zinc and Doxycycline has shown positive results for COVID-19 and should be considered immediately to fight the pandemic' says CDD Medical Director Professor Thomas Borody...

‘Australia's The Centre for Digestive Disease (CDD) Medical Director Professor Thomas Borody MB, BS, BSc(Med), MD, PhD, DSc, FRACP,FACP,FACG, AGAF, says FDA and TGA approved Ivermectin which he uses regularly in his hospital, has shown positive results for COVID-19 and should be considered immediately to fight the pandemic. Ivermectin was discovered in the 1970s and is on the World Health Organization (WHO) list of essential medicines.

‘Professor Borody has used the same methodology with the COVID-19 Ivermectin Triple Therapy as he used when he developed the world’s first cure for peptic ulcers saving millions of lives around the globe. He says this combination of 3 approved “off the shelf” drugs could be the answer to Australia’s COVID-19 crisis. “If nothing else, make it available in aged care homes immediately. Our elderly are at the highest risk and this is a very safe option especially when we have nothing else except ventilators. Also, our frontline workers deserve more protection with a preventative medication like this, and as an emergency treatment if they test positive,” says Professor Borody.

“An Ivermectin tablet can cost as little as $2 – which could make it by far the cheapest, safest, and fastest cure for Australians and the Australian economy," he added.’

Read here (Biospectrum, August 6, 2020)

Australia calls military in after virus surge

‘Australia's military was called in Wednesday to help tackle a coronavirus outbreak in Melbourne -- a surge in infections that has rattled the country's second-most populous city. Victoria has recorded double-digit increases in new daily cases for more than a week -- mostly in the state capital Melbourne -- representing a sizeable spike in cases in a country that has otherwise successfully curbed Covid-19.’

Read here (Today Online, June 24, 2020)

Coronavirus: the mask of white Australia drops in racist media coverage

Key points: Victims of racism say headlines can incite hate, fear and anger. More needs to be done to stop racism before it happens through education or a more responsible press.

‘Inquiry and curiosity are the best ways to surmount racism, as well-known racism academic and author of US bestseller White Fragility Robin DiAngelo tells me... As DiAngelo says to me: “The default of society is the reproduction of racial inequality, it is the norm. It is not an aberration. It is the default that all our institutions have set up, intentionally, to reproduce racial inequality for the benefit of white people. It was literally coded in law in both our [US and Australia] countries”. I just hope DiAngelo will be completely wrong one day.‘

Read here (South China Morning Post, May 30, 2020)

Australia has dug itself into a hole in its relationship with China. It’s time to find a way out

‘Common sense should put a dampener on a belief that, at the wave of a wand, “supply chains” linking Australia and China can be remodelled. This sort of naive view loses sight of the fact that, for as long as it is possible to foresee, bulk commodities will form the staple of the trading relationship. Given this, Morrison would be advised to cease acting like a global traffic cop in efforts to hold China to account for the coronavirus pandemic...

‘What Australia should be doing – and should have done in the first place – is support international efforts to bring about an inquiry. It will have early opportunity next week when the World Health Assembly considers a European Commission resolution along those lines.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, May 17, 2020)

‘Dangerous, damaging’: China trade dispute triggers national division

‘Victoria and Queensland have warned the federal government to be more diplomatic in pursuit of a coronavirus inquiry, fearing that Australia's escalating trade dispute with China will harm already fragile state economies...

‘Australia-China Business Council chief executive Helen Sawczak said the inquiry had been politicised for domestic point scoring and warned more Australian industries to prepare for trade strikes if the government could not negotiate with China.’

Meanwhile... ‘Beijing is also pushing new beef and resources deals with Brazil and barley trade with Canada and eastern Europe. Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro recently spoke with China's President Xi Jinping after China supplied medical equipment. The country is one of Australia's top rivals in the critical iron ore, coal and LNG sectors.’

Read here (Sydney Morning Herald, May 13, 2020)

The curse of ‘The Lucky Country’: In search of economic antidotes to Covid-19

‘The human tragedy and the knock-on economic effects of the COVID-19 crisis have sparked intense emotions. The past few months have triggered fear and uncertainty in even the most rational Australians. In McKinsey’s weekly sentiment polling, the majority of respondents say they are very or extremely concerned with all strands of the COVID‑19 situation—from the economy to their health to the length of the shutdown (and these figures are increasing each week) (Exhibit 1). This has coalesced into an arresting statistic: almost 80 percent of Australians say they are unsure or pessimistic about the country’s economic recovery.’

Read here (McKinsey & Co, May 4, 2020)

Inside a COVID-19 lab and why more people return inconclusive tests

The head of NSW’s busiest COVID-19 testing lab says rising numbers of people will return undefined coronavirus results as the testing blitz picks up cases that shed the virus weeks ago. According to Professor Bill Rawlinson, director of Serology, Virology and OTDS Laboratories (SAViD), NSW Health Pathology based at Prince of Wales Hospital, “We are at the stage when individuals may only be positive for one of the several targets that PCR tests pick up,” he said, referring to the molecular testing performed samples collected by the nasal and throat swabs at COVID clinics. “These indeterminate results are going to increase because there will be people who had [the virus] a long time ago and still have some residual RNA [ribonucleic acid].”

Read here (The Sydney Morning Herald, April 25, 2020)