With all the madness in Wisconsin this slipped past the radar.... GWB’s wish comes true, at least in Australia. Australian Army Begins Transferring COVID-Positive Cases, Contacts To Quarantine Camps The Australian army has begun forcibly removing residents in the Northern Territories to the Howard Springs quarantine camp located in Darwin, after nine new Covid-19 cases were identified in the community of Binjari. The move comes after hard lockdowns were instituted in the communities of both Binjari and nearby Rockhole on Saturday night. https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/...ovid-positive-cases-contacts-quarantine-camps
LOL -- Zero Hedge. They are still spreading false information not found in any reputable mainstream or Australian media. Of course this nonsense is pushed on InfoWars and other sources which regularly push fake news. The Howard Springs quarantine camp is only for incoming travelers to Australia. They are not transferring people not recently arriving in the country to this quarantine facility. The only incident of note in the past few days at the facility is a 77 year old British man drinking himself to death with vodka. It should noted the Howard Springs facility is being phased out and will soon be closing.
Never mind the fake news zeroidea here's the more correct version... https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-21/nt-explainer-on-new-cases-in-binjari-and-rockhole/100638192 Northern Territory's COVID-19 outbreak has jumped to poverty-stricken fringes of Katherine. Here's the latest By Roxanne Fitzgerald Posted Sun 21 Nov 2021 Health authorities are on the ground in the remote community of Rockhole, assisting residents who have been plunged into a hard lockdown. (ABC News: Michael Franchi) Residents living in the remote communities of Binjari and nearby Rockhole have been plunged into a hard lockdown after nine new positive COVID-19 cases were recorded late on Saturday. The measures — the toughest actions deployed against the virus in the Northern Territory to date — will likely stay in place for the next 14 days. A 78-year-old woman has already been taken to the Royal Darwin Hospital and 38 close contacts have been identified and are being transported to Howard Springs. The new cases bring the Territory's cluster to 35. Northern Territory's Deputy Chief Health Officer, Dr Charles Pain, says he is bracing for even more cases as authorities ramp up testing efforts. And as temperatures soar to 40 degrees, stifling residents in overcrowded homes — some left without power for days now — concerns have been raised over how the next two weeks will play out. Case numbers expected to rise 'a lot', Chief Minister says NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner says he is expecting to see a rise in cases.(ABC News: Hamish Harty) At a press conference on Sunday morning, Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the "threat to lives is extreme", as case numbers continue to rise in the Territory's worst COVID-19 outbreak to date. Binjari and Rockhole, Aboriginal communities on the fringes of the NT's third-largest town, were already in lockdown after two COVID-19 cases were recorded in Katherine and Robinson River five days ago. But on Sunday, even stricter measures were put in place. Mr Gunner said he wouldn't be surprised if the entire community of Binjari — home to about 200 people — became close contacts, amid "substantial mingling between households". "These communities have very strong personal and family connections, it probably helps to think of them more as one big household rather than a lot of different households," Mr Gunner said. COVID case in remote NT The Northern Territory has recorded its first case of coronavirus in a remote community. "For these reasons, we do expect the numbers in Binjari, and probably Rockhole, to increase and they may increase by a lot." Health workers have begun door-knocking homes to boost vaccination rates in the communities, where Mr Gunner lamented rates were much lower than 70 per cent. In the past 24 hours, 29 people have been vaccinated in Rockhole, with 27 of those receiving their first injection. "What has become clear to us — based on the level of movement that's been happening in some communities outside of Katherine — is that there is a real risk that the virus has seeded to other connected communities further away," Mr Gunner said. Hot and confined to overcrowded homes, people are 'very scared' About 20 Australian Defence Force Personnel and army trucks are expected to be on the ground today, helping deliver emergency food packages to the residents of Binjari and Rockhole, and to coordinate the removal of close contacts. An expanded rapid assessment team has hit the ground to begin contact tracing and around 30 police officers have been deployed from Darwin and Alice Springs to assist residents. The NT Health COVID-19 rapid response team is on the ground assisting the locked down community of Rockhole after nine positive COVID-19 cases were discovered in the neighbouring community of Binjari.(ABC News: Michael Franchi) However, Debra Aloisi — who runs the Binjari Community Aboriginal Corporation — says a lack of information has people "very scared". "Some of the houses are severely overcrowded, with up to 15 people living in three-bedroom homes," she said. "A lot of the [residents] are ringing me up, saying their power has been off for days. "Three weeks' hard lockdown, they are going to get really, really frustrated and angry." Raymond Assan, who has lived in Binjari for the past seven years with his wife, said people in the community were stressed about the reality of the hard lockdown rules, but understand the necessity. "It's going to be hard. It was supposed to be 72 hours. Now it's going to be two weeks," he said. He said food packages have been delivered, but that calls for power cards to be topped up, to run air conditioners in the severe and stifling heat, have been ignored. "It's a bit rough, me and my partner are usually out in the bush, hunting and stuff … we're a bit angry … they brought a lot of food, there's no room in the cupboards," he said. "Everyone understands it's necessary, that it saves other people from getting sick and the virus from spreading, the general population is taking it on board and staying inside. "But it's a bit harsh when you can't do anything you've been doing for 40 years." Phone call to the PM for a helping hand Last night, Mr Gunner put in a phone call to Prime Minister Scott Morrison to ensure more help was on its way if needed. The federal government has already flown in Australian military trucks and personnel, but Mr Gunner says a further assessment will be made today around whether more resources will be needed. Stealthy virus infections could be seeding new outbreaks Authorities have been testing Katherine's wastewater ponds to track the spread of COVID-19. (ABC News: Michael Franchi) While the Deputy Chief Health Officer says he is "hopeful" authorities are moving fast enough to track and reign in the spread of the virus, "we're not out of the woods yet". Emergency text messages were sent to residents in Katherine East this morning, urging them to get tested, after wastewater results from the Bicentennial Road catchment turned up positive findings. COVID fears for remote community What began as an outbreak in Katherine has already spread to one remote Aboriginal community. Now, residents in another are anxiously awaiting test results after viral fragments were detected in wastewater. There has been an extensive testing effort today in a bid to establish the link, but concerns are rising about a large number of homeless Aboriginal people living in the Warlpiri Transient Camp, where vaccination rates are hovering at around just 17 per cent. "That means it is likely there is still a positive case or cases in that part of Katherine," Mr Gunner said. Elsewhere around Katherine, 11 other catchments have all returned negative wastewater test results. However, five additional close contacts have been identified in Borroloola, a remote community more than 650 kilometres away from Katherine. They've all tested negative and have been transferred to the Howard Springs Quarantine Facility. Dr Pain said that, while Katherine was "still an open book", particular attention needed to be paid to preventing the spread of the virus even further to Central Australia. "We have to keep a very close eye," he said. What are the new rules? Katherine's usually busy main street has been quiet during the NT's most significant COVID-19 outbreak. (ABC News: Michael Franchi) From Sunday, masks became mandatory for a number of communities surrounding Katherine in the West Daly and Roper Gulf local government areas. This includes Borroloola, Barunga, Beswick, Daly Waters, Mataranka, Pine Creek, Miniyeri, Ngukurr, Numbulwar, Yarralin and Kalkarindji. Mr Gunner said a decision on the Katherine and Robinson River lockdown would be made on Monday, but made a special point of mentioning that the next step would likely be a transition to a lockout, allowing only fully vaccinated residents to go about their lives normally. "When the lockdown ends, it won't go straight back to normal," Mr Gunner said. Mr Gunner said there was very little chance of Binjari and Rockhole exiting from "any form of lockdown in the next few weeks".
A 78-year-old woman has already been taken to the Royal Darwin Hospital and 38 close contacts have been identified and are being transported to Howard Springs.
Yeah? So? Zeroidea made it sound like the army was frogmarching residents. ....."The Australian army has begun forcibly removing residents" lmao.
I only posted it to add to GWB’s angst. It sounds like that area has some specific problems. I just find it funny that everyone jumps on the zerohedge source. They just said people were being sent to quarantine. GWB jumps on ZH, tries to correct me about the facility, then when that fails, he tries to rebrand the whole effort. It is what it is... I hope these people get the help they need.