Singapore, HK and Taiwan began screening arrivals from Wuhan on 3 Jan 2020, but Australia did nothing ,and then very little, a month later :Brendan Murphy's strongest advice at the end of January concerned xenophobia

by Ganesh Sahathevan

Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy speaks during a press conference updating on the novel coronavirus at Parliament House in Canberra. Source: AAP

From the Bloomberg story 1 Million People Infected: How Coronavirus Spread Around the World, by Rachel Chang:



By Jan. 3, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan -- Asian cities hit hard by the SARS pandemic -- institute fever screenings at airports for arrivals from Wuhan, a key transport and manufacturing hub for central China




Wuhan’s first known virus patient begins developing symptoms on Dec. 1, according to a paper published Jan. 24 in The Lancet medical journal. On Dec. 16, doctors at the Central Hospital of Wuhan send samples from another patient with a persistent fever for lab testing. Those results show a SARS-like virus and on Dec. 30 Ai Fen, the head of the hospital’s ER department, posts a picture of a lab report on Chinese social media, which is re-posted and circulated by several other doctors. They’re reprimanded by local police for “spreading rumors.”




In Australia on the other hand Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy was more concerned with other things, declaring that Australians were being racist and xenophobic for linking the coronavirus to anyone who appeared to be from China:

Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy has denounced the spread of racist prejudices towards Chinese-Australians as authorities continue to grapple with the impact of the new coronavirus.

His warning comes amid reports of shopping centres being deserted in areas with a strong concentration of people of Chinese-Australian heritage.

Mr Murphy said there was no reason for Australians to be wearing masks in public and urged against the outbreak fomenting racist attitudes.

Murphy must stand down and his advice to the Commonwealth investigated.
END

TO BE READ WITH 

Saturday, March 14, 2020

Wuhan Virus: City of Sydney Lunar New Year 2020 Festival became an obvious security risk by mid-Jan if not earlier-NSW Premier to blame, but did Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy's politicking contribute to the debacle

by Ganesh Sahathevan

Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy speaks during a press conference updating on the novel coronavirus at Parliament House in Canberra. Source: AAP

The City of Sydney Lunar New Year 2020 Festival became an obvious security risk by mid-January  if not earlier when reports had already emerged of the Wuhan Virus' pandemic (even if it was not being described as such then).


NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian must bear ultimate responsibility , but did the Commonwealth's  Chief Medical Officer  Officer Brendan Murphy's politicking contribute to the debacle ?

Readers will recall that in February Professor Murphy was admonishing Australians for being racist and xenophobic, instead of addressing the issue at hand ie the spread of the Wuhan Virus which now has this country facing a Wuhan style lockdown.


END

SEE ALSO

Saturday, January 25, 2020

City of Sydney Lunar New Year 2020 Festival became an obvious security risk by mid-Jan if not earlier, but no warning from NSW Emergency Management Committee, Clover Moore and no screening at airports

by Ganesh Sahathevan


                                                                     

Lunar Year 2020 banners in Martin Place 

The City Of Sydney's annual Lunar New Year celebrations are designed to attract visitors from China. These probably add to the large number of visitors from China who arrive daily in Sydney via Sydney Airport.

On 22 January 2020 the  WHO had advised:

On 31 December 2019, WHO was alerted to several cases of pneumonia in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. The virus did not match any other known virus. This raised concern because when a virus is new, we do not know how it affects people.

One week later, on 7 January, Chinese authorities confirmed that they had identified a new virus. The new virus is a coronavirus, which is a family of viruses that include the common cold, and viruses such as SARS and MERS. This new virus was temporarily named “2019-nCoV.”

NSW Emergency Management Committee  is responsible for community  safety but it does not seem to have had anything to say.The same can be said of the Mayor,Clover Moore, and the Premier NSW,Gladys Berejiklian.

Additionally, while airports in the US stared screening to coronavirus on or about 18 January 2020 and Thailand as early as 3 January 2020, Sydney and other Australian airports have only just started screening late last week. 
All this despite having in Sydney an annual event designed to attract visitors from China. END 

See Also

Did NSW Emergency Management Services ignore its own data, and fail to advise David Elliot of the likelihood of catastrophic bushfires? Chairperson Andrew Cappie-Wood's advise requires scrutiny

http://realpolitikasia.blogspot.com/2020/01/city-of-sydney-lunar-new-year-2020.html