Received

Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 20 January 2022; Hits: 110

Tasmania will give students a back-to-school pack containing two coronavirus rapid antigen tests as part of the plan for returning to the classroom on February 9.

Students should only be tested if symptomatic and further rapid tests would be provided to schools to distribute as required, Premier Peter Gutwein said.

Students or teachers won't be considered a close contact and required to isolate if there are a "small number" of infections in a classroom.

If there are five or more cases in a classroom within a week, the scenario will be managed as an outbreak.

Students will still be required to abide by the household close contact rules, which require people to quarantine for seven days if they've visited the house of a case for more than four hours.

"The public health advice is really clear, and that is schools are safe. The best place for children to learn is in a school," Mr Gutwein told reporters.

Masks are mandatory for teachers and for high school students, but not for primary school students or in early education.

Lunch breaks will be staggered under the plan, which is in place for at least five weeks.

State Health Commander Kathrine Morgan-Wicks said it was "critically important" children have a least one vaccine dose before returning to school.

Some 4600 kids aged 12 to 15 are not vaccinated and 44 per cent of children aged 5 to 11 have not been booked in for a first dose, she said.

Deputy Public Health Director Scott McKeown said household and classroom close contacts are being managed differently because of different risk levels.

"When a single case, or a small number of cases, occur within a classroom, they will be identified," he said.

"The education department will inform the carers and parents of those children and any staff in that learning group of a case.

"They will be advised to monitor their child or their student or as a staff member very closely for symptoms and get tested ... if any develop."

Tasmania recorded 927 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, with the number of people in intensive care increasing from two to three. Two of them are on ventilators.

Thirty-one people with the virus are in hospital, with 14 of those being treated specifically for virus symptoms.

An outbreak in a medical ward at Mersey Community Hospital in the state's northwest has forced the facility to move to level three of its COVID-19 management escalation plan.

The outbreak, described by health authorities as "contained", increased by one case on Thursday to 11 and includes nine patients and two staff

The medical ward is not admitting new patients and is not allowing visitors or transfers. Overnight elective surgery at the hospital will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Staff are being requested to reconsider taking leave and all non-critical meetings have been cancelled.

Tasmania has 6127 active infections, a drop from Wednesday's figure of 6323.

Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 20 January 2022; Hits: 110

Prospective parents will be able to resume IVF in Victoria after the state government reversed its decision to pause some treatments during its latest COVID-19 outbreak.

Acting Health Minister James Merlino announced some services will restart from Thursday, with hospitals scaling up their operations to enable procedures to resume from 11.59pm on Tuesday.

IVF clinics were contacted by authorities earlier this month and asked to cancel some appointments as part of a pause on elective surgeries in response to the rising number COVID-19 hospitalisations.

The most time-critical IVF procedures for patients such as couples whose eggs were about to expire and women who took pre-cycle medication before January 6 were still able to go ahead.

The move attracted criticism from Prime Minister Scott Morrison and prospective parents, while Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy described it as "cruel and heartless".

An online petition to reinstate fertility and IVF treatments garnered almost 140,000 signatures.

Mr Merlino said he received advice from the chief health officer that restrictions on IVF procedures can be removed, given the "specialist nature of the workforce and the facilities and equipment used are not imperative to support the pandemic response at this time".

The health department will work with the Royal Women's Hospital to prioritise urgent patients, ensuring the changes do not affect the COVID-19 response in that hospital.

"IVF is a challenging journey for anyone to go through, let alone in the midst of a global pandemic, and we're deeply sorry for the distress caused," Mr Merlino said.

Premier Daniel Andrews also apologised for the distress caused by the pause at a press conference on Thursday.

"I just want everyone to know across the community, everyone's doing their very best just to keep people safe. That's what drives us," he said.

He said the pause was based on "very, very conservative" advice provided to the government by health authorities, which is currently under review.

"There's a process going on at the moment to review the advice and a number of other day surgery and day procedures. So hopefully, I can make some announcements next week to add to that list," Mr Andrews said.

Melbourne IVF Medical Director Fleur Cattrall welcomed the reversal.

"We are relieved that the ban has been lifted today; a continued ban for many months would sadly have meant some Victorians would miss out completely on having a baby," she said in a statement to AAP.

"We believe resuming IVF treatment is the right thing to do, and it can continue in a COVID safe manner and without impacting on the current public health response to the pandemic."

Dr Cattrall said the fertility provider had already begun contacting patients to resume treatment.

Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 20 January 2022; Hits: 106

Australia's high commissioner to Tonga has described the damage from a tsunami in the Pacific nation as catastrophic, as more disaster relief supplies arrive.

Rachael Moore said the underwater volcanic eruption and following tsunami had led to large amounts of buildings being wiped out on small islands.

"Through the region, these places are devastated, they're described as a moonscape," she told ABC Radio on Thursday.

"We've seen reporting of zero houses remaining on some of the small islands and along the western beaches. There's a moonscape where there were once beautiful resorts and many, many homes."

It comes as Australia is set to send two C-17 planes with humanitarian supplies to Tonga that will arrive later on Thursday afternoon.

The HMAS Adelaide is also ready to be deployed from Brisbane either on Thursday or Friday, loaded with humanitarian and disaster relief supplies, along with critical equipment to help recovery efforts.

It's expected the voyage to Tonga will take five days, and the ship will serve as a base for relief work.

Ms Moore said freshwater contamination in the country following the tsunami had caused significant issues.

"Water is an extremely high priority here and it's something the government is working on, and development partners here are working closely with them on ensuring that they have what they need," she said.

After several days of limited access, phone communications have been restored in Tonga, allowing residents to get in touch with family abroad.

However, internet connections will still take longer to repair after an underwater cable was severed.

It's expected the repair of the cable will take several weeks.

Volcanic ash, which has covered parts of the country, has hampered efforts. Crews have had to wait for ash to be removed from the country's airport before supplies can land.

Complicating matters was Tonga's border measures due to the pandemic, which have kept the Pacific nation COVID-free.

Disaster relief efforts are expected to be led by locals on the ground in order to avoid a spread of virus cases on top of the tsunami damage.

A Royal NZ Air Force C-130 Hercules is on its way to Tonga carrying aid supplies, including water, temporary shelters, generators and communications equipment.

The offshore patrol vessel HMNZS Wellington carrying a helicopter as well as mapping and diving personnel is also due to arrive on Thursday.

The maritime sustainment vessel HMNZS Aotearoa - which has bulk water supplies on board - is expected to arrive in Tonga on Friday.

The Aotearoa can carry 250,000 litres, and produce 70,000 litres per a through a desalination plant.

The HMNZS Canterbury, with two NH90 helicopters on board, is planning to leave on Saturday.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison spoke with his counterpart Siaosi Sovaleni on Wednesday afternoon and said Australia's priority remained delivering assistance in a COVID-free manner.

"I reassured him that Australia stands shoulder to shoulder with the Kingdom of Tonga as it responds to the undersea volcanic eruption and tsunami," Mr Morrison said.

"I conveyed Australia's deep sadness for the loss of life and the damage caused by the disaster, and wished those injured a speedy recovery."

Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 20 January 2022; Hits: 110

One C-17 plan has left Australia and a second is due to follow as improving conditions are allowing the federal government to send aid to Tonga.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton said the planes were loaded with equipment to help rebuild Tonga's communication network after a vital underwater cable was damaged during the submarine volcano eruption which sparked a tsunami.

The planes are also loaded with equipment to help assist with runway operations in the Pacific nation after a blanket of ash prevented humanitarian supplies from landing earlier.

"We are working closely with Tonga and listening to their needs and their requests," Mr Dutton told 2GB on Thursday.

Three chinook helicopters have also been loaded onto the ship.

It's expected the voyage to Tonga will take five days, and the ship will serve as a base for relief work.

Australia's high commissioner to Tonga has described the damage from a tsunami in the Pacific nation as catastrophic, as more disaster relief supplies arrive.

Rachael Moore said the volcanic eruption and tsunami led to large amounts of buildings being wiped out on small islands.