You might also bring up Christmas Island, Nauru, Manus Island and many other luxurious places government has made available for this and that.
Yet you dismiss those (who should be quarantined) kept in a smallish guarded room for 14 days without sunlight or air or exercise. I’ll not go further except to post I care about the welfare of all of the people in all of those places, and just because a hotel might be 5-stars does not mean the stay is at all enjoyable.
Decades of cuts to regional hospitals are coming back to bite us. This was posted to a community Facebook page and subsequently censored. Fortunately, a Councillor reposted it:
[edit]
A report from the front line:
I want to know why the North Head Quarantine station was sold and turned into a hotel? Who approved it and when, and why has it not been resumed to help with the current crisis?
It hasn’t been sold, but leased by the NSW (NPWS) government. Current lease commenced in 2006.
Often heritage buildings are leased to remove the ongoing cost burden of their maintenance from the taxpayer…or to allow their sympathetic restoration to their former glory…rather than deteriorate to a condition where they can’t be restored resulting in their historical value being lost for ever,
One has to also release these heritage quarantine stations (or other medical facilities) were built to the standards at that time and may not necessarily meet the standards of today.
There is information on why and when from the hotel website.
The ‘who’ and timeline between the ‘1990’s’ and 2006 is not included.
Nonetheless, its isolated location is ideal. They really should be using it now in its hotel form.
So what is your alternative?
Revert to allowing them to go home and hope they obey the self isolate rules?
And if they don’t and people die due to their stupidity, simply put it down to collateral damage?
Meanwhile, the idiots who were simply allowed to self isolate continue with their brain dead behaviour.
"WA man charged for breaching self-quarantine
By Belinda Grant-Geary14:08
An elderly man from Western Australia has been charged for breaching self-quarantine after being spotted at the local shops and going for a bicycle ride.
The 71-year-old Geraldton man had been ordered to self-quarantine for 14 days after returning from New Zealand on Thursday.
Police found him outside his unit after reports he’d been seen chatting to others in his retirement village, going to the shops and taking a bike ride."
Organised time on the roof garden, room by room if necessary for a start, with appropriate cleaning. It should not be so hard excepting for those who wish to make it so. Maybe cleaning up the hallways from the dirty 5-star dishes after meals rather than every few days (assuming the reports are accurate) would also be an improvement.
Interesting article by Professor Tony Blakely at Melbourne uni. This presupposes we immediately strictly quarantine our over 60s and most vulnerable. See https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/flattening-the-curve-to-help-australia-s-hospitals-prepare
Federal Government launches Coronavirus Australia app and WhatsApp feature.
Hi @Pete_And.
No one is asking for a quarantine of those over 60 or most vulnerable. It would appear reasonable any in this grouping are very intent on minimising their outside contact. It might be easier if everyone else was not over consuming and hoarding.
I don’t see the purpose or intent of the statistical analysis is to quarantine us older Aussies.
It simply demonstrates how if we flatten the curve there are benefits in reducing demand for ICU beds. The flow on benefit of doing so is also in reducing the infection transmission rate to those over 60 or vulnerable. These are those most likely to require ICU. All perfectly understandable.
Factually the analysis does not model our current infection rate. All the examples are for greater rates of infection. If I read the results correctly as of 28th March per the most optimistic analysis, we should have 7,000 in ICU and 2,000 new admissions daily.
P.S.
How many of our senior medical experts, public servants, business management, etc are still actively employed and over 60?
The most vulnerable demographics have been advised to self-isolate as much as practical, including those aged over 70 years, those with chronic conditions over 60, and Indigenous Australians 50 years and older. See https://www.businessinsider.com.au/coronavirus-australia-restrictions-gatherings-social-public-rules-two-people-2020-3?
Thanks @Pete_And. It’s far short of a call for quarantine. Isn’t everyone supposed to not go out except for … IE Self Isolate as far as practical?
It’s good advice regardless of age or health conditions.
Note:
Being over 60 and having family all the way through to their 90’s it has been a topic of discussion for some weeks. I’d suggest us older folk and others at risk have no difficulty understanding the need to minimise contact. And have been trying our best to do so long before Scott Morrison floated that thought bubble last night. Soon after he promptly avoided answering the most pressing question about shortages of key household items.
If everyone did what was asked plus a little more. 
Join @AlanKirkland, @mrafferty , @MattSteen and @ErinTurner today for a live session on COVID-19, how it’s affecting consumers and what we’re doing to help: https://bit.ly/2JoL4sq
Excited to chat at 1 - shoot any questions you have about our advocacy, testing, content or general org stuff here. If we can’t get to them in the session I’ll make sure I pop back to respond.
And another idiot who was caught 3 times due in court today.
"Man ‘broke isolation orders three times’
By Richard Wood10:27
A man accused of breaking self-isolation orders on three occasions after returning from overseas will face a Sydney court today.
On March 18, the 30-year-old man arrived at Sydney International Airport on a flight from Jordan and was told to self-isolate for a 14 days.
Two days later, he was arrested by police at Edensor Park in the city’s west for an outstanding warrant and granted court bail, which included a condition that he obey the government directions to self-isolate."
Many are using the term “self-isolate”, including the Prime Minister in that direct quote from the linked article. The correct term is quarantine when you are at risk and not actually known to be infected. Please see RACGP - So you have been asked to self-isolate or quarantine. What now? I believe that I used the correct language in my original post.
US centric using the CDC for reference. Maybe not crisp in real English re our colloquial usage?
Apologies, I can’t argue the technical use.
Just to note as you have, for common usage in my world, and perhaps the PM’s too.
If it’s quarantine then perhaps we should always call it so?
In my world quarantine is an enforced separation under direct supervision. Self Isolation seems a much softer and very different option. We get to choose where, how and who with.
A scathing article claiming China covered up the coronavirus outbreak.
