-
IP addresses are NOT logged in this forum so there's no point asking. Please note that this forum is full of homophobes, racists, lunatics, schizophrenics & absolute nut jobs with a smattering of geniuses, Chinese chauvinists, Moderate Muslims and last but not least a couple of "know-it-alls" constantly sprouting their dubious wisdom. If you believe that content generated by unsavory characters might cause you offense PLEASE LEAVE NOW! Sammyboy Admin and Staff are not responsible for your hurt feelings should you choose to read any of the content here. The OTHER forum is HERE so please stop asking.
Serious Jialat! Racist Australia let this Shitizen Stranded in India!
- Thread starter Pinkieslut
- Start date
Pundeks will blame everyone else except himself for going out of Australia and get stuck.
What the fuck was this shitskin fucker doing in India? Fucking his mother's black cheebye?
I doubt any aussies give a shit..
Fucker bastard deserves it for flying around. What’s wrong with staying in motherland India? Lol… oh I guess it’s shit ?
All these entitled filthy Indian shit. Fuck your australian citizenship, you are a filthy shitkin. Sunny Cheebye
Save
Share
Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size
24
View all comments
Indian-Australians who were barred from boarding a repatriation flight from Delhi have been told to leave their quarantine hotel and say they have been “left in limbo” after returning positive COVID-19 tests.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed 80 people were able to board the first flight since the government lifted its flight ban on India, compared to the 150 people who were initially offered a spot.
Australian citizen Sunny Joura and his 72-year-old mother Darshan Kaur Jour, who has multiple illnesses, were barred from the repatriation flight.
Australian citizen Sunny Joura and his 72-year-old mother Darshan Kaur, an Australian permanent resident, were banned from boarding the flight after Mr Joura returned a positive test with a low viral load.
Mr Joura has been trying to return to Melbourne since June last year after travelling to care for his dying father last May. He has not seen his wife or children in more than a year.
As per the Australian government’s requirements for the flight, Mr Joura and his mother entered hotel quarantine in Delhi last Tuesday and were given a COVID-19 test on Thursday.
Mr Joura, who is in a group chat with at least 40 others who tested positive, said some people barred from the flight had tested negative before entering the hotel, while others had returned weak positive results.
“We suspect it has either spread in the airconditioning in the hotel or it’s a false positive or there’s something wrong in the testing,” he said.
“We were not offered any retest, which I thought should have been done because some of us are vaccinated as well – my mother and I are both vaccinated – so sometimes we will get a false positive because of vaccinations.”
All positive cases, including Mr Joura and his mother, were told to leave the hotel by 2pm on Friday and were sent home to isolate for 14 days before they could reapply for another repatriation flight.
Mr Joura’s home is 45 minutes away in Delhi, but others like 53-year-old Australian permanent resident Pragya Chandel and his family had travelled hundreds of kilometres across state lines to get to Delhi.
Despite Mr Chandel, his wife and two adult children all testing negative on May 9 in their home town of Nangal in Punjab state, three out of the four returned positive results on Friday before the flight.
The Chandels had to take a seven-hour taxi ride 350 kilometres back to Nangal after they were ordered to leave the quarantine hotel.
Mr Chandel said he was angry that there was no contingency for those who had tested positive.
Australian permanent resident Pragya Chandel (second from left), his wife and two adult children were knocked back from the first repatriation flight out of Delhi after three of the four family members tested positive.
“Either they can hire a medical facility and take the people direct to the medical facility and keep them for the next 14 days and treat them until the opportunity for the next flight ... or they should manage one separate flight for the positive people because you can’t leave them to die,” he said.
Brisbane woman Neha Sandhu who organised an online support group for people refused a spot on the flight, said others who had travelled from interstate were now unable to go home.
“Some had travelled interstate and there are restrictions in those states about travelling,” she said.
“These are already vulnerable people; to leave them behind is not a good idea. They’ve been left in limbo.”
Mr Joura said he was worried about the prospect of having to do hotel quarantine again once he and his mother were allowed to travel.
“It was a bad idea for getting everyone into this hotel 72 hours prior to the flight in a hotbed area like Delhi where the viral load is so high and knowing full well that there can be issues with hotels in terms of airconditioning,” he said.
“The whole point of taking us to Howard Springs is that there’s no airconditioning there and it’s considered the gold standard.”
Mr Joura, who is now isolating in a separate room to his frail mother, said he was not showing any symptoms yet, but was worried if he deteriorated over the coming days and weeks.
“If it does get worse, there is no healthcare here. There’s no hospital beds, there’s no oxygen supply either. Even influential people don’t get the treatment. I’ve heard a lot of people that I know have died because of lack of healthcare and, in some cases, lack of oxygen,” he said.
Mr Joura said even if his mother remained COVID-negative, she was still extremely vulnerable and it was “next to impossible” for her to see a doctor for her existing conditions due to the overwhelmed healthcare system.
India recorded more than 316,000 cases on Thursday, taking the total to more than 23.7 million confirmed cases. The country has recorded almost 260,000 deaths, but numbers are widely believed to be much higher as the country’s health system struggles to cope with the deadly third wave.
Ms Sandhu said the government needed to provide practical arrangements for those left behind, especially for those who had to stay in Delhi, which is overrun with coronavirus.
“If something happens and someone gets serious with COVID symptoms – what will be the scenario then? They need to plan to have oxygen there,” she said. “There should always be a plan B for them.”
Ms Sandhu said many people who were booked for the next repatriation flight on May 22 needed to travel from the south of India and were spooked about what would happen if they tested positive in the Delhi hotel quarantine.
“Especially people with kids,” she said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said vulnerable Australians overseas were DFAT’s “highest priority” and was working directly with the positive cases to find their next flight options and provide financial assistance while they recover.
”Since the start of the pandemic, DFAT has helped over 45,700 Australians return on over 500 flights including over 18,800 people on 128 government-facilitated flights,” they said.
‘In limbo’: The Australians left behind in India as flight leaves without them
By Rachael Dexter
May 15, 2021 — 4.10pmSave
Share
Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size
24
View all comments
Indian-Australians who were barred from boarding a repatriation flight from Delhi have been told to leave their quarantine hotel and say they have been “left in limbo” after returning positive COVID-19 tests.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed 80 people were able to board the first flight since the government lifted its flight ban on India, compared to the 150 people who were initially offered a spot.
Australian citizen Sunny Joura and his 72-year-old mother Darshan Kaur Jour, who has multiple illnesses, were barred from the repatriation flight.
Australian citizen Sunny Joura and his 72-year-old mother Darshan Kaur, an Australian permanent resident, were banned from boarding the flight after Mr Joura returned a positive test with a low viral load.
Mr Joura has been trying to return to Melbourne since June last year after travelling to care for his dying father last May. He has not seen his wife or children in more than a year.
As per the Australian government’s requirements for the flight, Mr Joura and his mother entered hotel quarantine in Delhi last Tuesday and were given a COVID-19 test on Thursday.
RELATED ARTICLE
Updated
Coronavirus pandemic
COVID-positive Australians blocked from mercy flight will get priority next time
On Friday afternoon, Mr Joura was informed he was positive but his mother was negative, despite staying in the same room.Mr Joura, who is in a group chat with at least 40 others who tested positive, said some people barred from the flight had tested negative before entering the hotel, while others had returned weak positive results.
“We suspect it has either spread in the airconditioning in the hotel or it’s a false positive or there’s something wrong in the testing,” he said.
“We were not offered any retest, which I thought should have been done because some of us are vaccinated as well – my mother and I are both vaccinated – so sometimes we will get a false positive because of vaccinations.”
All positive cases, including Mr Joura and his mother, were told to leave the hotel by 2pm on Friday and were sent home to isolate for 14 days before they could reapply for another repatriation flight.
Mr Joura’s home is 45 minutes away in Delhi, but others like 53-year-old Australian permanent resident Pragya Chandel and his family had travelled hundreds of kilometres across state lines to get to Delhi.
Despite Mr Chandel, his wife and two adult children all testing negative on May 9 in their home town of Nangal in Punjab state, three out of the four returned positive results on Friday before the flight.
The Chandels had to take a seven-hour taxi ride 350 kilometres back to Nangal after they were ordered to leave the quarantine hotel.
Mr Chandel said he was angry that there was no contingency for those who had tested positive.
Australian permanent resident Pragya Chandel (second from left), his wife and two adult children were knocked back from the first repatriation flight out of Delhi after three of the four family members tested positive.
“Either they can hire a medical facility and take the people direct to the medical facility and keep them for the next 14 days and treat them until the opportunity for the next flight ... or they should manage one separate flight for the positive people because you can’t leave them to die,” he said.
Brisbane woman Neha Sandhu who organised an online support group for people refused a spot on the flight, said others who had travelled from interstate were now unable to go home.
“Some had travelled interstate and there are restrictions in those states about travelling,” she said.
“These are already vulnerable people; to leave them behind is not a good idea. They’ve been left in limbo.”
Mr Joura said he was worried about the prospect of having to do hotel quarantine again once he and his mother were allowed to travel.
“It was a bad idea for getting everyone into this hotel 72 hours prior to the flight in a hotbed area like Delhi where the viral load is so high and knowing full well that there can be issues with hotels in terms of airconditioning,” he said.
“The whole point of taking us to Howard Springs is that there’s no airconditioning there and it’s considered the gold standard.”
Mr Joura, who is now isolating in a separate room to his frail mother, said he was not showing any symptoms yet, but was worried if he deteriorated over the coming days and weeks.
“If it does get worse, there is no healthcare here. There’s no hospital beds, there’s no oxygen supply either. Even influential people don’t get the treatment. I’ve heard a lot of people that I know have died because of lack of healthcare and, in some cases, lack of oxygen,” he said.
Mr Joura said even if his mother remained COVID-negative, she was still extremely vulnerable and it was “next to impossible” for her to see a doctor for her existing conditions due to the overwhelmed healthcare system.
India recorded more than 316,000 cases on Thursday, taking the total to more than 23.7 million confirmed cases. The country has recorded almost 260,000 deaths, but numbers are widely believed to be much higher as the country’s health system struggles to cope with the deadly third wave.
Ms Sandhu said the government needed to provide practical arrangements for those left behind, especially for those who had to stay in Delhi, which is overrun with coronavirus.
“If something happens and someone gets serious with COVID symptoms – what will be the scenario then? They need to plan to have oxygen there,” she said. “There should always be a plan B for them.”
Ms Sandhu said many people who were booked for the next repatriation flight on May 22 needed to travel from the south of India and were spooked about what would happen if they tested positive in the Delhi hotel quarantine.
“Especially people with kids,” she said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said vulnerable Australians overseas were DFAT’s “highest priority” and was working directly with the positive cases to find their next flight options and provide financial assistance while they recover.
”Since the start of the pandemic, DFAT has helped over 45,700 Australians return on over 500 flights including over 18,800 people on 128 government-facilitated flights,” they said.
Don't blame the kangaroos. Blame the ah nehs for being corrupt.
Repatriation process questioned as passengers bumped from Indian flight test negative
Exclusive by South Asia correspondent James Oaten and foreign affairs reporter Stephen Dziedzic
Posted 8h
A man and a woman roll there luggage past people in PPE after arriving in Darwin from India.
Eighty repatriated Australians arrived in Darwin from India on Saturday morning, after almost half the flight was not allowed to board.( AAP: Royal Australian Air Force/Stewart Gould )
Share
A laboratory used to pre-screen passengers for a Qantas repatriation flight from India had its accreditation suspended by the nation's laboratory board in April, the ABC can reveal.
And at least three of the Australians blocked from returning home on Saturday's flight from New Delhi to Darwin, because they tested positive for COVID-19, have since tested negative for the virus.
Key points:
CRL Diagnostics tested passengers before a repatriation flight from India to Darwin
Almost half of the passengers who were meant to be on the flight were not allowed to board after 46 people tested positive
An epidemiologist says the very close range of test results from the flight and the lack of symptoms in passengers raises a red flag
The two revelations raise serious questions about the medical screening process set up by Qantas and the federal government for the resumption of travel between India and Australia.
CRL Diagnostics was used to conduct COVID tests on 150 "vulnerable" Australians who had been staying in a hotel as part of pre-flight quarantine measures.
The testing found 46 positive cases, meaning they and an additional 24 close contacts were barred from boarding the flight, which landed in Darwin on Saturday with only 80 people on board.
But CRL is no longer accredited by India's National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) after it was suspended in April, according to the NABL website.
NABL chief executive N Venkateswaran said the suspension was for "non-compliance with NABL accreditation norms".
"Suspension is temporary invalidation of accreditation and can be revoked," he told the ABC.
CRL Diagnostics managing director Ravi Tomar told the ABC the suspension was for misusing the NABL logo. He said it was a "mistake" that was fixed and the company had appealed against the suspension.
Malini Aisola from the All India Drug Action Network said there was a lack of strong regulation of laboratories in India, and the NABL was a "voluntary" accreditation intended to ensure "quality" control.
"This is a moment when people are really depending on test results," she said.
The company is, however, still registered with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a national medical research body, to do COVID tests.
The ABC has surveyed 23 of the 46 would-be passengers who recorded a positive test with CRL and were subsequently forced to stay in New Delhi.
But as of Saturday, none had yet displayed any symptoms of COVID-19, and many told the ABC they were bewildered when they got the result.
Nineteen of them recorded a test with what experts regard as a "low viral load", while four others have not yet been given their detailed results.
'I'm not really sure what to believe anymore'
University of New South Wales epidemiologist Mary-Louise McLaws said the very close range of results – combined with the fact that few, if any, passengers appeared to be displaying any symptoms – raised a red flag.
"The range of the [testing results] are so similar, that I'd want another test to ensure that this wasn't a lab error or a testing error, and ensure that in fact, they really are infectious," she told the ABC.
Workers in PPE stand by luggage from a repatriation flight.
Questions have been raised as to how prospective passengers could have caught the virus while isolating.( ADF )
Many passengers have also got their own tests in the wake of being bumped from the flight.
One passenger – Jatin Wig – said he was told on Friday that he and his family would be barred from going home because his wife and toddler had tested positive for COVID-19 at the hotel.
But the family immediately went and got a second test for his wife because neither she nor their child had felt at all unwell.
A man and woman hold their young son and smile
Jatin Wig with his wife and son earlier this year.( Supplied )
On Saturday they got the result, and it came back negative.
"This is crazy. I'm not really sure what to believe anymore," he told the ABC.
"Obviously, there is something wrong with the initial tests, so many of them showed positive [results] and all of them [are] asymptomatic."
He said he was "relieved" his wife was not sick, but deeply frustrated that he might have been prevented from returning to Australia for no good reason.
Another prospective passenger, Priyanka, said she was sceptical when she was told her elderly father – who was also due to get on the flight to Darwin – had tested positive to COVID-19.
"We had our doubts in our mind. So rather than going home, he straight away went to the testing centre, the same provider which had done the testing [for the flight] and he got himself tested," she said.
Play Video. Duration: 52 seconds
A passenger who made it to Darwin filmed the journey.
"We just now we have received the result that he's negative."
She said the confusion and uncertainty had taken a toll on the whole family.
"I can't tell you the emotions we have been going through," she said.
"My mother is 70-plus, and she hasn't eaten the whole day thinking that my dad has tested positive."
Passengers also complained to the ABC that the results showed grossly inaccurate testing times, as well as individual cases where the wrong age or sex was listed.
The ABC put the complaints about testing to Mr Tomar and he responded by saying that another company was responsible for working with the data.
Shadow Foreign Minister Penny Wong slammed the federal government over the uncertainty.
"The Australians impacted and the loved ones they’re separated from deserve an explanation from the Morrison government for this bungled process," she said.
"It can’t happen again."
Epidemiologist questions pre-flight testing process
Passengers coming back from India on repatriation flights in the wake of the government's brief Indian travel ban must undergo and return a negative result on two tests before they get on the plane — a PCR test in the two days beforehand and then a rapid antigen test.
That process was agreed to by the federal government and Qantas in order to protect both airline staff and to reduce the risk of overwhelming Australia's quarantine system with new COVID-19 cases.
Under the testing regime, those who registered any sort of positive result under the PCR test were then immediately bumped from the flight, and were not asked to take the rapid antigen test as well.
A Qantas plane sits on a tarmac, being loaded with wrapped containers of COVID-19 supplies
Australia sent COVID-19 supplies from Sydney to India last week.( Supplied: DFAT )
Professor McLaws said it would have been far better for passengers who registered a very low CT (cycle threshold) level to be allowed to take the antigen test, to check if there was a false result, as they were all so similar and yet asymptomatic.
She said that would help to ensure the person was not just carrying tiny amounts of the disease in their system from an old infection.
"The stakes of having a positive test result while in India are so high. It means that they can't come home … these low levels need to be validated with a second test," she said.
"And particularly, a test that is a different type of test, a rapid antigen test, which picks up very low levels of viral load that would indicate whether somebody actually had an infection."
Pathology Technology Australia chief executive Dean Whiting also said the number of positive results in the passenger cohort was higher than in the broader Indian population.
"Given that I imagine most of these people are highly motivated to fly they would have been taking huge precautions in the first place, isolating themselves," he told the ABC.
He said while PCR testing was "enormously reliable" when done in a good quality laboratory, there was always a risk of contamination.
"You can find circumstances where the tests are not used correctly, where you have contamination from one sample to the next, or where the environment for testing the samples isn't standard," he said.
"You could imagine contamination from one sample to the next. That would give you the low viral load kind of result that you're talking about."
Qantas has told the ABC that the decision to use CRL was made by another major diagnostic agency which it had hired to conduct the tests.
A spokesperson said "we have reiterated to our diagnostic agency that they must ensure that any laboratory they use has all current and appropriate accreditations" and emphasised the airline would "continue to work with DFAT to ensure the process is working as it should".
"The reason we went to India was to bring home as many Australians as possible. Together with DFAT all the protocols put in place were designed to minimise the risk of importing the virus and maximise the safety of everyone on board," they said.
In a statement, a spokesperson for DFAT said: "The system implemented to ensure the resumption of flights from India has been carefully and rigorously established."
"Qantas has established in good faith the testing processes to ensure the safety of all passengers and crew. Questions relating to the testing protocols and testing provider should be directed to them.
"The introduction of the rapid antigen testing in addition to the PCR testing, as well as the strict protocols introduced by the hotel, added an additional layer of assurance.
"DFAT will prioritise those passengers who were unable to board for future flights from India."
Repatriation process questioned as passengers bumped from Indian flight test negative
Exclusive by South Asia correspondent James Oaten and foreign affairs reporter Stephen Dziedzic
Posted 8h
A man and a woman roll there luggage past people in PPE after arriving in Darwin from India.
Eighty repatriated Australians arrived in Darwin from India on Saturday morning, after almost half the flight was not allowed to board.( AAP: Royal Australian Air Force/Stewart Gould )
Share
A laboratory used to pre-screen passengers for a Qantas repatriation flight from India had its accreditation suspended by the nation's laboratory board in April, the ABC can reveal.
And at least three of the Australians blocked from returning home on Saturday's flight from New Delhi to Darwin, because they tested positive for COVID-19, have since tested negative for the virus.
Key points:
CRL Diagnostics tested passengers before a repatriation flight from India to Darwin
Almost half of the passengers who were meant to be on the flight were not allowed to board after 46 people tested positive
An epidemiologist says the very close range of test results from the flight and the lack of symptoms in passengers raises a red flag
The two revelations raise serious questions about the medical screening process set up by Qantas and the federal government for the resumption of travel between India and Australia.
CRL Diagnostics was used to conduct COVID tests on 150 "vulnerable" Australians who had been staying in a hotel as part of pre-flight quarantine measures.
The testing found 46 positive cases, meaning they and an additional 24 close contacts were barred from boarding the flight, which landed in Darwin on Saturday with only 80 people on board.
But CRL is no longer accredited by India's National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) after it was suspended in April, according to the NABL website.
NABL chief executive N Venkateswaran said the suspension was for "non-compliance with NABL accreditation norms".
"Suspension is temporary invalidation of accreditation and can be revoked," he told the ABC.
CRL Diagnostics managing director Ravi Tomar told the ABC the suspension was for misusing the NABL logo. He said it was a "mistake" that was fixed and the company had appealed against the suspension.
Malini Aisola from the All India Drug Action Network said there was a lack of strong regulation of laboratories in India, and the NABL was a "voluntary" accreditation intended to ensure "quality" control.
"This is a moment when people are really depending on test results," she said.
The company is, however, still registered with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a national medical research body, to do COVID tests.
The ABC has surveyed 23 of the 46 would-be passengers who recorded a positive test with CRL and were subsequently forced to stay in New Delhi.
But as of Saturday, none had yet displayed any symptoms of COVID-19, and many told the ABC they were bewildered when they got the result.
Nineteen of them recorded a test with what experts regard as a "low viral load", while four others have not yet been given their detailed results.
'I'm not really sure what to believe anymore'
University of New South Wales epidemiologist Mary-Louise McLaws said the very close range of results – combined with the fact that few, if any, passengers appeared to be displaying any symptoms – raised a red flag.
"The range of the [testing results] are so similar, that I'd want another test to ensure that this wasn't a lab error or a testing error, and ensure that in fact, they really are infectious," she told the ABC.
Workers in PPE stand by luggage from a repatriation flight.
Questions have been raised as to how prospective passengers could have caught the virus while isolating.( ADF )
Many passengers have also got their own tests in the wake of being bumped from the flight.
One passenger – Jatin Wig – said he was told on Friday that he and his family would be barred from going home because his wife and toddler had tested positive for COVID-19 at the hotel.
But the family immediately went and got a second test for his wife because neither she nor their child had felt at all unwell.
A man and woman hold their young son and smile
Jatin Wig with his wife and son earlier this year.( Supplied )
On Saturday they got the result, and it came back negative.
"This is crazy. I'm not really sure what to believe anymore," he told the ABC.
"Obviously, there is something wrong with the initial tests, so many of them showed positive [results] and all of them [are] asymptomatic."
He said he was "relieved" his wife was not sick, but deeply frustrated that he might have been prevented from returning to Australia for no good reason.
Another prospective passenger, Priyanka, said she was sceptical when she was told her elderly father – who was also due to get on the flight to Darwin – had tested positive to COVID-19.
"We had our doubts in our mind. So rather than going home, he straight away went to the testing centre, the same provider which had done the testing [for the flight] and he got himself tested," she said.
Play Video. Duration: 52 seconds
A passenger who made it to Darwin filmed the journey.
"We just now we have received the result that he's negative."
She said the confusion and uncertainty had taken a toll on the whole family.
"I can't tell you the emotions we have been going through," she said.
"My mother is 70-plus, and she hasn't eaten the whole day thinking that my dad has tested positive."
Passengers also complained to the ABC that the results showed grossly inaccurate testing times, as well as individual cases where the wrong age or sex was listed.
The ABC put the complaints about testing to Mr Tomar and he responded by saying that another company was responsible for working with the data.
Shadow Foreign Minister Penny Wong slammed the federal government over the uncertainty.
"The Australians impacted and the loved ones they’re separated from deserve an explanation from the Morrison government for this bungled process," she said.
"It can’t happen again."
Epidemiologist questions pre-flight testing process
Passengers coming back from India on repatriation flights in the wake of the government's brief Indian travel ban must undergo and return a negative result on two tests before they get on the plane — a PCR test in the two days beforehand and then a rapid antigen test.
That process was agreed to by the federal government and Qantas in order to protect both airline staff and to reduce the risk of overwhelming Australia's quarantine system with new COVID-19 cases.
Under the testing regime, those who registered any sort of positive result under the PCR test were then immediately bumped from the flight, and were not asked to take the rapid antigen test as well.
A Qantas plane sits on a tarmac, being loaded with wrapped containers of COVID-19 supplies
Australia sent COVID-19 supplies from Sydney to India last week.( Supplied: DFAT )
Professor McLaws said it would have been far better for passengers who registered a very low CT (cycle threshold) level to be allowed to take the antigen test, to check if there was a false result, as they were all so similar and yet asymptomatic.
She said that would help to ensure the person was not just carrying tiny amounts of the disease in their system from an old infection.
"The stakes of having a positive test result while in India are so high. It means that they can't come home … these low levels need to be validated with a second test," she said.
"And particularly, a test that is a different type of test, a rapid antigen test, which picks up very low levels of viral load that would indicate whether somebody actually had an infection."
Pathology Technology Australia chief executive Dean Whiting also said the number of positive results in the passenger cohort was higher than in the broader Indian population.
"Given that I imagine most of these people are highly motivated to fly they would have been taking huge precautions in the first place, isolating themselves," he told the ABC.
He said while PCR testing was "enormously reliable" when done in a good quality laboratory, there was always a risk of contamination.
"You can find circumstances where the tests are not used correctly, where you have contamination from one sample to the next, or where the environment for testing the samples isn't standard," he said.
"You could imagine contamination from one sample to the next. That would give you the low viral load kind of result that you're talking about."
Qantas has told the ABC that the decision to use CRL was made by another major diagnostic agency which it had hired to conduct the tests.
A spokesperson said "we have reiterated to our diagnostic agency that they must ensure that any laboratory they use has all current and appropriate accreditations" and emphasised the airline would "continue to work with DFAT to ensure the process is working as it should".
"The reason we went to India was to bring home as many Australians as possible. Together with DFAT all the protocols put in place were designed to minimise the risk of importing the virus and maximise the safety of everyone on board," they said.
In a statement, a spokesperson for DFAT said: "The system implemented to ensure the resumption of flights from India has been carefully and rigorously established."
"Qantas has established in good faith the testing processes to ensure the safety of all passengers and crew. Questions relating to the testing protocols and testing provider should be directed to them.
"The introduction of the rapid antigen testing in addition to the PCR testing, as well as the strict protocols introduced by the hotel, added an additional layer of assurance.
"DFAT will prioritise those passengers who were unable to board for future flights from India."
Because of their corruption. A repatriation flight has been wasted bcos it was below capacity due to false negatives
Well said...this kpkb articles is actually the left trying to make news
Yes Indeed , I just finished listening and the part he say he will revert back to his home instead of staying in the Hotel !
Clearly if He wanted to come back in June 2020 he could have done that like many, who flew to Nepal, Maldives etc etc
to Singapore before flying back to Australia.
Australia Government is right, there is ample time for them to fly back if they choose to, in any case the Gov is responsible to other Australian still in Australia by preventing the virus from spreading to the whole population .
If He was posted there by a corporate or company to operate or take care of business over in South Asia, I am sure the company would have made the necessary arrangement, it looks more likely he was there to spend time with his families in India ?
Government sticks to its guns on border closures despite claims Australia could become 'hermit outpost'
Posted 9hShare
Senior government ministers are standing by the international border closures, amid criticism from some backbenchers that Australia could soon become a "hermit nation".
Key points:
- The government is continuing to prioritise the safety of those already in Australia, despite pushback from Labor
- Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Insiders the international border closures have made Australia more safe
- Some Liberal MPs have been pushing for a faster vaccine rollout to ensure freedom of travel
Labor has accused the government of failing to protect Australians overseas but Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said the safety of Australians here, in the country, came first.
"We are working to make sure that we can continue the repatriation of Australians from India, but we're doing so in a way that doesn't jeopardise the health outcomes and the economic outcomes that Australia has enjoyed throughout this pandemic," he told Sky News.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese argued there were measures the government could address right now to get the border open sooner.
"We've got to get the vaccine [rollout] right, and we've got to get quarantine right before we can open up the economy, and we do need to open up the economy because the rest of the world is opening up now," he said.
That has frustrated some Liberal MPs who are pushing for a faster vaccine rollout to ensure freedom of travel.
Backbenchers Dave Sharma, Jason Falinksi and Tim Wilson told Nine newspapers that the international border should open up before the middle of next year, with Mr Wilson saying if it didn't happen soon enough, Australia would turn into "a hermit outpost".
Pushed about the government's border policy on Insiders, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg insisted the government's focus was to protect jobs and the health of people in Australia.
"We will follow the medical advice that has served us very well through this crisis," he said.
"Don't forget the Prime Minister acted very quickly ahead of the rest of the world, to close our international borders, at the time starting with China and then more broadly.
"He was criticised for it, but the net result has been that Australia has been a lot more safe as a result."
Mr Birmingham also stressed that the border closures have kept people in work.
"They [border closures] remain a very important ongoing factor in how we don't just save Australians' lives but also how we save Australian jobs and businesses and secure our economic future," he said.
Instead, senior government ministers have indicated their hope is that most people will receive at least their first dose by Christmas.
Speaking from Queensland, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that even with the vaccine program completed many people still wouldn't be immunised, and medical experts needed to weigh up the risk to the wider community.
"You're still talking about many Australians, millions of Australians who wouldn't have been vaccinated because they are children or they have chosen not to be," he said.
"And you are also making assumptions about what the rest of the world looks like with COVID at the end of this year, and the [possible] introduction of new variants and strains."
Mr Morrison did suggest the government wanted to provide more flexibility to people who were fully vaccinated, and said he had asked medical experts to look at travel exemptions.
"The next step is being able to, for Australians who have been vaccinated, to firstly be able to travel around Australia, particularly if there are states that are putting in place restrictions and things like that from time to time," he said.
Mr Morrison said it would not be appropriate for people to travel to countries where there were high rates of COVID-19, but that those destinations with low rates of infection could be an option.
However, he said, there would still be some form of quarantine requirements when people returned.
"For people to be able to do that on an abridged or a different form of quarantine on their return, this is something we have been working on now for some months and I still think there are many months ahead of us before we are able to achieve that."
Borders and the budget
The government's focus to put more people into work and rebuild the economy goes beyond border closures.This year's budget again included the government's long-running policy to introduce additional tax cuts in 2024, which it believes will stimulate economic growth.
Budget tax calculator
The move will result in anyone earning over $45,000 and up to $200,000 being taxed at the same rate.Mr Frydenberg was pushed on who benefitted the most but was unable to provide a clear answer and instead defended the decision to make structural reform to the tax system.
"What you are doing is you are rewarding effort, you are encouraging aspiration, you are returning more people's hard-earned money back to them," he told Insiders.
Labor is yet to confirm whether they would keep or scrap the stage-three tax cuts if it wins the next election.
Posted 9h
He should become Sinkie, will be welcome welcome!
Similar threads
