News Articles
World's weekly COVID cases hits record
Date of Posting: 27-01-2022
The World Health Organisation says there were 21 million new coronavirus cases reported globally last week, the highest weekly number of COVID-19 cases recorded since the pandemic began. The number of deaths was largely unchanged, at more than 50, Read More...
New S.Korea testing scheme as virus surges
Date of Posting: 27-01-2022
South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases have exceeded 13,000 for the first time, driven by the spread of the Omicron variant, as the government launches a new pilot testing scheme to meet skyrocketing demand. The record 13,012 cases for the Read More...
Vic doctor banned for fake vaxx exemptions
Date of Posting: 27-01-2022
A doctor who handed out 149 fake vaccination exemptions over two years and altered a letter from Victoria's deputy chief health officer has been banned from practising. John Piesse was this week reprimanded under national law, following action Read More...
Concern for mental health in virus wave
Date of Posting: 26-01-2022
Concerns are growing that people needing mental health support are not reaching out for help amid the COVID-19 Omicron wave, as hospital presentation rates fall. A similar effect was observed at the start of the pandemic two years ago, NSW chief p Read More...
AUSMAT heads to remote NT community
Date of Posting: 26-01-2022
The Northern Territory has reported 286 new COVID-19 cases as an Australian Medical Assistance Team and the military step in to help combat a remote Aboriginal community outbreak. The cluster in Galiwin'ku on Elcho Island, 515km east of Darwin Read More...
Disability staff with COVID still working
Date of Posting: 26-01-2022
Two COVID-19 positive disability support workers at a residential facility in regional Victoria have been granted an exemption by the state's health department to continue working. The Health and Community Services Union has confirmed to AAP t Read More...
Families of children with cancer say the pandemic has helped them feel seen
Last Updated: 25-01-2022
For billions of people across the world, life as we knew it stopped in 2020. Families and friends were separated. Masks mandated. Hand washing essential. Every trip outside became risky. As news of deaths, variants and long-term Read More...
Researchers find new way to treat listeria
Date of Posting: 25-01-2022
Researchers have found another way to fight listeria infections that can cause severe illness in pregnant women and people with immune deficiencies. The team from the University of Queensland discovered a new method of blocking the bacteria from m Read More...
Vitamin D won't increase life expectancy
Date of Posting: 25-01-2022
Monthly vitamin D supplements won't increase life expectancy for older Australians, a study has found. However, results from the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute's landmark trial indicates large monthly vitamin D doses may slightl Read More...
Women vulnerable under Tas health system
Date of Posting: 25-01-2022
Women are particularly vulnerable under Tasmania's "stressed" regional healthcare system, with long wait times, high turnover of locum doctors, and lack of childcare impeding access, a Senate inquiry has been told. Women's Health Read More...
Private patients to swell Qld virus cases
Date of Posting: 24-01-2022
Queensland's COVID-19 hospitalisations and deaths are getting harder to accurately record as authorities reveal that private hospital virus patients haven't been included in its figures. Another 10 people died and 11,947 new cases were rec Read More...
Eczema treatment subsidy to help thousands
Date of Posting: 24-01-2022
Relief is in sight for Australians faced with bills of almost $30,000 a year as a treatment for a severe type of eczema is listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Atopic dermatitis is a chronic skin condition that can have a significant impa Read More...
Pfizer CEO wants annual vax, not boosters
Date of Posting: 24-01-2022
Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla says an annual COVID-19 vaccine is preferable to more frequent booster shots in fighting the coronavirus pandemic. Pfizer and BioNtech's COVID-19 vaccine is shown to be effective against severe disease and Read More...
What have we learnt from deaths in aged care?
Last Updated: 24-01-2022
Australia’s aged care homes are being devastated by the current wave of COVID infections, with more than 1,100 outbreaks affecting over 7,000 residents and staff. Fear of outbreaks has prompted other homes to lock down and their residen Read More...
A healthier heart can protect your brain too. 5 lifestyle changes to prevent dementia
Last Updated: 24-01-2022
When we think of dementia, we often fear a loss of control. But the reassuring news is up to 40% of dementias can be prevented or delayed if we change our health habits. Nearly half a million Australians are living with dementia. With Read More...
SA virus cases fall by almost a third
Date of Posting: 23-01-2022
South Australia has posted a major decline in COVID-19 cases, with 2193 new infections or almost a third fewer than on Friday. However the state has recorded a further three virus-related deaths.[subscribe] Health officials say the latest fatal Read More...
Vic to unveil back-to-school COVID plan
Date of Posting: 23-01-2022
Victoria is expected to detail its back-to-school plan, as extra teachers are recruited in a bid to cope with COVID-19 disruptions when classes resume. The state government is yet to reveal what safeguards will be rolled out to protect students an Read More...
UK probes Omicron sub-lineage BA.2 variant
Date of Posting: 23-01-2022
The UK Health Security Agency has designated a sub-lineage of the dominant and highly transmissible Omicron coronavirus variant as a variant under investigation, saying it could have a growth advantage. BA.2, which does not have the specific mutat Read More...
Latest on worldwide spread of coronavirus
Date of Posting: 22-01-2022
WASHINGTON, D. C., RAW - EUROPE * European Union health ministers were told to prepare to deploy a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccines as soon as data showed it was needed, as the bloc faces a surge in cases of the Omicron variant.[subscribe] * Th Read More...
Qld cuts COVID-19 booster waiting time
Date of Posting: 22-01-2022
Queensland has recorded 13 COVID-19 deaths and 16,031 new cases as the state moves to cut the waiting time for a booster vaccine. The new virus cases emerged after 37,121 tests in the 24 hours to 6.30am on Friday, taking the number of active infec Read More...
Concern grows over stretched Vic hospitals
Date of Posting: 22-01-2022
When endometriosis sufferer Tess Nicholson heard IVF treatments were recommencing after a COVID-induced pause in Victoria she felt a "major wave of emotions". "I was afraid, I felt like endo and these other surgeries were just being Read More...
Two COVID deaths in ACT, 826 new cases
Date of Posting: 21-01-2022
The ACT has had its equal deadliest day of the pandemic, with two new fatalities reported in the national capital. A man in his 60s and a man in his 90s died in the latest reporting period, taking the ACT's death toll since the start of the pa Read More...
Omicron wave costs Vic economy $30m a week
Date of Posting: 21-01-2022
The Omicron wave gripping Victoria is costing its economy $30 million a week, a fraction of the losses felt by the state during last year's sixth lockdown. Treasurer Tim Pallas on Friday revealed the Victorian economy is faring much better in Read More...
Omicron sends childcare centres scrambling
Date of Posting: 21-01-2022
Hundreds of Australia's early education centres are closed as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 washes over the country, and there are calls for more financial support for the struggling sector. Some 286 centres were on Thursday closed temporari Read More...
Boosting physical activity participation to support mental health
Last Updated: 21-01-2022
Australians living with mental health conditions from rural and remote, culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD), lower socio-economic and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities received a significant boost in access to physical activi Read More...
Older nurses dealing with fatigue and a lack of respect
Last Updated: 21-01-2022
Older nurses and midwives are battling fatigue, physical changes and lack of respect in the workplace, according to new Australian research. This study, published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing, featured interviews with 50 nurses and midwives Read More...
It's not about the cancer - it's about treating the patient
Last Updated: 21-01-2022
A specialist bowel cancer nurse has revealed that empathy and listening are at the heart of the long-term relationships she builds with patients. And that is what helps her patietns feel less lonely on their journey and more comfortable in talking ab Read More...
Helping people as an osteopath is 'addictive'
Date of Posting: 21-01-2022
Whether she’s caring for Serena Williams on tour, or providing long-term care for patients through different stages of their lives, osteopath Michelle Funder told HealthTimes that she loves every facet of her work. “Hands down, what I Read More...
Two new cases, hospital staff iso in WA
Date of Posting: 20-01-2022
A man with COVID-19 who presented a Perth hospital emergency department has forced some of its staff into isolation. The vaccinated man in his 60s turned up at Fiona Stanley Hospital with non-respiratory symptoms, Health Minister Amber-Jade Sander Read More...
NSW opens booster door to 1.8m more adults
Date of Posting: 20-01-2022
Some 1.8 million NSW residents are newly eligible for a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine after the NSW government cut wait times between shots. People who received their second shot three months ago can book into one of the state's 40 vacc Read More...
Call for military help on NT outbreaks
Date of Posting: 20-01-2022
Indigenous groups are calling for urgent support from the military and federal government, saying the Northern Territory's COVID-19 pandemic response has failed. NT Health Minister Natasha Fyles backed the request for more commonwealth resourc Read More...
Booster campaign on NSW's deadliest day
Date of Posting: 19-01-2022
NSW's top doctor "can't stress enough the urgency of getting boosters" as the state reported a record 36 COVID-19 deaths. Just a handful of the 22 men and 14 women who died were triple-vaccinated, Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant Read More...
Blood donor COVID recovery wait time cut
Date of Posting: 19-01-2022
Australians who recover from a bout of COVID-19 will only need to wait seven days to give blood under a new policy change amid the Omicron wave. With more than 700,000 active cases isolating around the country - and many more close contacts and pe Read More...
SA health system crushed by COVID-19
Date of Posting: 19-01-2022
The coronavirus pandemic has "steamrolled and crushed" South Australia's health system, a state parliamentary committee has been told. Australian Medical Association state President Michelle Atchison said SA did not have enough ambul Read More...
Booster jabs urged as Qld virus toll rises
Date of Posting: 18-01-2022
Queenslanders are being urged to get a COVID-19 vaccine booster after the state recorded seven deaths on its deadliest day of the pandemic. The number of people who died with the virus in the 24 hours to Monday morning has equalled the state's Read More...
EU faces threat of prolonged 'twindemic'
Last Updated: 18-01-2022
Influenza has returned to Europe at a faster-than-expected rate this winter after almost disappearing last year, raising concerns about a prolonged "twindemic" with COVID-19 amid doubts about the effectiveness of flu vaccines. Lockdowns, Read More...
Vic male nurse banned from health sector
Date of Posting: 18-01-2022
A male nurse jailed for sexually assaulting a patient and recording videos of colleagues undressing at a Melbourne hospital has been banned from nursing for at least 10 years. Sean Farrow was jailed in 2019 after admitting to installing hidden cam Read More...
Signs of Omicron peaking in NSW and ACT
Last Updated: 18-01-2022
Health Minister Greg Hunt says there are clear signs that the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is peaking. His prediction came as tens of thousands of Australians continued to be struck by the highly infectious strain and the death Read More...
Boosters urged in Qld after seven deaths
Date of Posting: 17-01-2022
Queenslanders are being urged to get a COVID-19 vaccine booster after the state recorded seven deaths on its deadliest day of the pandemic so far. The number of people who died of the virus in the 24 hours to Monday morning matched the state's Read More...
Funding to broaden telehealth applauded
Last Updated: 17-01-2022
Doctors and health groups have applauded the Morrison government's decision to provide additional funding to assist the temporary widening of telehealth consultations at a time of high Omicron infections. The $24 million will also cover the co Read More...
