[COVID-19] General Discussion

[Leonormous Boozer]

It's been so long since I studied Judicial Review in English law but I recall it really is very limited in how much scope judges can strike down the exercise of power. It is only available on certain grounds. Novak's lawyers are arguing on the minister reached his decision "irrationally" .

Yeah it really has to be on grounds of not having a fair trial or some administrative error iirc.

Nearly everything to do with visa and immigration law in Ireland (and therefore presumably the UK and Aus by extension) gives the minister wide discretionary powers so I'd be amazed if he gets to stay on an appeal.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Novak Djokovic Q&A: a wild day, what happens next and the legal view

After another extraordinary day in the Novak Djokovic saga ahead of the Australian Open, what now for the world No 1?

www.theguardian.com

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

'High confidence' Omicron is less severe in UK

Health advisors say vaccines give them confidence that most people will not become severely ill with Covid.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Bada-Bing!]

'High confidence' Omicron is less severe in UK

Health advisors say vaccines give them confidence that most people will not become severely ill with Covid.

www.bbc.co.uk

But no high confidence yet that Omicron does not lead to long Covid. To be fair being 2 years into the pandemic no epidemiologist can answer this yet, especially with this new variant.

I, for one, will still stick to my way of getting through this - likely annual booster (to reduce risk of severe disease from it) plus wear a proper fitting FFP2 grade mask in congregate settings (to reduce chances of catching it in the first place, transmit to vulnerable peeps and getting long Covid). Measures I can control; not getting so fed up every time a new variant comes up and watching cases rise/hospitals under pressure etc.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

There is always somewhere run even worse than your own backyard, amid consistently high deaths in Poland.

Doctors resign from Poland's COVID council over government 'inaction'

13 of the 17 members of the Prime Minister's dedicated council have stepped down.

www.euronews.com

 

[Yulia]

There is always somewhere run even worse than your own backyard, amid consistently high deaths in Poland.

Doctors resign from Poland's COVID council over government 'inaction'

13 of the 17 members of the Prime Minister's dedicated council have stepped down.

www.euronews.com

Yes, there's a lack of real actions from the government here. And almost noone asks Covid certificates, almost no restrictions (except masks in public places)..I don't know what are they waiting for

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Yes, there's a lack of real actions from the government here. And almost noone asks Covid certificates, almost no restrictions (except masks in public places)..I don't know what are they waiting for

They are waiting for spring! Or a Polish made vaccine. It is hard to be a populist nationalist government and tell the public they urgently need to take vaccines produced by other nations. Its not a good look to accept vaccines sourced by the EU and produced in Germany when your policy platform is about how the EU bullies you. That's how you end up with a 57% vaccination rate.

The Law & Justice party are sceptical about foreigners because of how Russia and Germany destroyed Polish freedom and killed lots of Poles. The party now shows that killing Poles (via mishandling Covid) and destroying the freedom of Poles (attacks on the judiciary and suppressing / controlling the media etc) is clearly the job of the Law & Justice party alone.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Texas scientists’ new Covid-19 vaccine is cheaper, easier to make and patent-free

Dr Maria Bottazzi says their vaccine, called Corbevax, is unique because they do not intend to patent it

www.theguardian.com

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Novak Djokovic: Tennis star deported after losing Australia visa battle

The unvaccinated tennis star gets a flight out of Melbourne Airport after losing his visa challenge.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[McTallshort]

Novak Djokovic: Tennis star deported after losing Australia visa battle

The unvaccinated tennis star gets a flight out of Melbourne Airport after losing his visa challenge.

www.bbc.co.uk

Oh dear, nevermind, how sad

 

[ncurd]

The only thing ridiculous is how long this has gone on for. I appreciate that after the first attempt failed for reasons no other migrant would be benefit from they wanted a legal tight case.

I'm amazed any country is letting anyone in without proof of vaccine.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

I watched a bit of the legal arguments last night before giving up and going to bed.

It was a futile appeal this time around by Novak's legal team as it was a Judicial Review and Novak's team just has too high a bar to clear to prove this minister had reached his decision on an illegal or irrational basis. This appeal was never about the merits of the case.

But yes, ultimately Novak really could have avoided this to begin with by getting vaccinated.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Here's his statement in full:

"I would like to make a brief statement to address the outcomes of today's Court hearing.

"I will now be taking some time to rest and to recuperate, before making any further comments beyond this.

"I am extremely disappointed with the Court ruling to dismiss my application for judicial review of the Minister's decision to cancel my visa, which means I cannot stay in Australia and participate in the Australian Open.

"I respect the Court's ruling and I will cooperate with the relevant authorities in relation to my departure from the country.

"I am uncomfortable that the focus of the past weeks has been on me and I hope that we can all now focus on the game and tournament I love.

"I would like to wish the players, tournament officials, staff, volunteers and fans all the best for the tournament.

"Finally, I would like to thank my family, friends, team, supporters, fans and my fellow Serbians for your continued support. You have all been a great source of strength to me."

 

[Bada-Bing!]

The only thing ridiculous is how long this has gone on for. I appreciate that after the first attempt failed for reasons no other migrant would be benefit from they wanted a legal tight case.

I'm amazed any country is letting anyone in without proof of vaccine.

Yeh a number of FUs on a number of levels. But it should never have gotten so far. Novak had the financial resources and status to fight this but others don't.

I Am sure there'll be a full investigation by Tennis Australia and there will be compensation paid out to players and officials who were told testing positive in last 6 months was a contraindication from getting vaccinated and now have to leave. And heads will roll like that of the Chief Executive.

Still, a good case study for how it will become increasingly difficult for the unvaccinated to travel.

 

[Which Tyler]

Yeh a number of FUs on a number of levels. But it should never have gotten so far. Novak had the financial resources and status to fight this but others don't.

I Am sure there'll be a full investigation by Tennis Australia and there will be compensation paid out to players and officials who were told testing positive in last 6 months was a contraindication from getting vaccinated and now have to leave. And heads will roll like that of the Chief Executive.

Still, a good case study for how it will become increasingly difficult for the unvaccinated to travel.

I think the question on Tennis Australia is - did they make it clear that that was their house rules, to be allowed to play; or were they saying that was Australian Immigration rules?
If the latter, then it's a private matter, and anyone thinking the house rules of the tournament trump national law, needs their head looking at - it the latter, then they've overstepped their bounds.

Ultimately, I've no sympathy for anyone who's anti-vaxx and publicly unvaccinated, not being allowed into a country that requires vaccination to be allowed it.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

I think the question on Tennis Australia is - did they make it clear that that was their house rules, to be allowed to play; or were they saying that was Australian Immigration rules?
If the latter, then it's a private matter, and anyone thinking the house rules of the tournament trump national law, needs their head looking at - it the latter, then they've overstepped their bounds.

TA have gone a bit quiet on this point. Victoria State on the other hand washed their hands of it when Novak got detained and said that Novak entering the country was the Federal Government's jurisdiction.

TA or Craig Tiley just pointed to conflicting advice from the Federal Government despite there being a letter from them at end of November from the Federal Government that a positive test in previous 6 months was not for visa/entering the country's purposes a valid exemption from getting vaccinated to enter Australia.

I think with TA they just used the two medical boards (one from them and the other Victoria state) issuing an exemption to Novak to play as their way of covering their arses but didn't make clear to Novak that this did not mean that any unvaxxed player could then use it as an exemption to enter the country . That that was a separate matter for the Federal Government.

But if TA were confused with the Federal rules, then it should have clarified on behalf of Novak before getting him to come to Australia.

One big muck up by TA.

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

Novak's argument appeared to be that the minister didn't consider the potential for rioting if he was deported. That's always gonna be a losing argument I feel.

 

[McTallshort]

Rumours of Bojo binning off all Covid restrictions in 10 days. Just a rumour at this point but might be an attempt of saving himself

 

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

Sage scenarios vs actual: an update

‘Deaths could hit 6,000 a day,’ reported the newspapers on 17 December. A day later documents for the 99th meeting of Sage were released which said that, without restrictions over and above ‘Plan B’, deaths would range from 600 to 6,000 a day. A summary of Sage advice, prepared for the Cabinet...

www.spectator.co.uk

Really interesting

 

[Bada-Bing!]