> Northern Territory police say they don't believe three teenagers who allegedly absconded from Darwin's Howard Springs COVID-19 quarantine facility this morning came into contact with members of the community.
> At a COVID update press conference, NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner confirmed the teenagers, aged 15, 16 and 17, tested negative for the virus yesterday.
> He said all three were from the Binjari community near Katherine and had been sent into quarantine as close contacts of positive cases.
1. Quarantine camps?!
2. The teenagers tested negative as recently as yesterday.
3. The risk posed by COVID-19 to children aged 5-17 is infinitesimal:
> Dr. Marty Makary, a professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and editor in chief of MedPage Today, argues that mandating vaccines for "every living, walking American" is, as of now, not well-supported by science. ... The risk of hospitalization from COVID-19 in kids ages 5 to 17 is 0.3 per million for the week ending July 24, 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We also know that the risk of hospitalization after the second vaccine dose due to myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle, is about 50 per million in that same age group.
I see. If authorities claim that they are vaguely concerned about a risk you might pose to others, then they can arrest and confine you with no due process for an indeterminate time period.
Perhaps I can provide some important context here.
I'm an Australian who's actually been through the Howard Springs quarantine facility, with my family, as a requirement to travelling interstate there.
First of all, the people who are there knew before travelling that this was part of the deal for keeping covid out of the NT.
Secondly, the Aboriginal communities in that area are considered some of the most vulnerable based on existing health standards and below-par vaccination rates.
Thirdly, the facilities really aren't that bad with decent wifi, private modern facilities and even a 50m swimming pool.
Lastly, as a broad rationale for Australia's strict approach to all of this:
But it's not like you've "weathered the storm" and are ok now. It just hasn't happened to you yet. Is there any evidence that if Australians ever come out of hiding, they won't just suffer similarly to the rest of the world? All you've done is oppress your citizens and cowered away for a couple years. I guess you're hoping that something will save you from what other places have experienced, but its just wishful thinking, it has no basis in reality.
Being an island and not having a bill of rights let you isolate yourselves and restrain your countrymen in a way impossible in other western nations, but so far it's just bought you time, if living under lockdown counts as living. It hasn't actually solved anything.
I think the idea was to vaccinate as many as possible before opening up. The vaccine rate is high, so maybe that's one thing solved.
Many in Australia were happy to get the jab. Others were pushed. Threats of job loss, or shamed with name-calling and segregation.
And others still were coerced over time. Worn down with endless messaging and fear-mongering. This government ad for example has an actor choking to death in ICU:
https://youtu.be/5v0Xc4dWYH4
Those are total population numbers in the denominator? We are at different points of endemnicity and generally its not too easy to compare numbers across countries due to different methods of accounting.
Australia doesn't look too well lately to be honest. Not really sad to live at the opposite side of the planet right now.
I think shielding vulnerable people from infection is a laudable and necessary goal for a state that wants to be a service to the population, I don't believe a state has an end in itself aside from consolidating the interest of the population.
This is clear evidence that states cannot responsibly manage their power if they aren't restricted by necessary boundaries.
> "But there is absolutely no excuse for the actions of these three this morning."
I disagree. I think these ridiculous rules are part that forced the teenagers hand and are therefore a health risk to everyone.
Nobody forced them to hop on a plane and submit to these predefined quarantine requirements. Compare Australia's death rates per capita then consider which is truly the less humane approach.
Bijari is a poverty stricken area, which are the hardest hit by covid. Despite the optics not being so great, it's a way to stem the increased risks they are subject to
> Northern Territory police say they don't believe three teenagers who allegedly absconded from Darwin's Howard Springs COVID-19 quarantine facility this morning came into contact with members of the community.
> At a COVID update press conference, NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner confirmed the teenagers, aged 15, 16 and 17, tested negative for the virus yesterday.
> He said all three were from the Binjari community near Katherine and had been sent into quarantine as close contacts of positive cases.
1. Quarantine camps?!
2. The teenagers tested negative as recently as yesterday.
3. The risk posed by COVID-19 to children aged 5-17 is infinitesimal:
Why COVID-19 Vaccines Should Not Be Required for All Americans https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/why-covid-19-vacci...
> Dr. Marty Makary, a professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and editor in chief of MedPage Today, argues that mandating vaccines for "every living, walking American" is, as of now, not well-supported by science. ... The risk of hospitalization from COVID-19 in kids ages 5 to 17 is 0.3 per million for the week ending July 24, 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We also know that the risk of hospitalization after the second vaccine dose due to myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle, is about 50 per million in that same age group.