11Sep
First-Res N95 Face Mask

Questions Raised Over Face Masks Used In Australian Hospitals

September 11, 2020By

Victorian and NSW public hospitals are using a batch of respirators that are at risk of tearing and may not meet Australian manufacturing standards.

The masks did not gain National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) certification as an N95 respirator until 7 June; however, many of the respirators currently in use across Victoria and New South Wales come from a batch manufactured on 5 May.

Wing You, General Manager of BYD Australia, told newsGP the respirator is ‘fully compliant with Australian standards’ and the batch is ‘definitely’ safe.

‘These masks were manufactured in May. They didn’t get approval from NIOSH, but they are the same model,’ he said.

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10Jul
first-res Melbourne Football Clubs

Three A-League Melbourne Football Clubs Allowed To Leave Victoria During Coronavirus Outbreak

July 10, 2020By

Football Federation Australia (FFA) said, three A-League clubs who were unable to leave Melbourne before the city went into lockdown due to Coronavirus have been given exemptions to travel to a hub in New South Wales ahead of the competition’s restart.

The FFA said the teams would travel to NSW as soon as possible to an “agreed facility” where they would quarantine for 14 days. With the season resuming on July 16, the Melbourne teams’ matches will have to be postponed.

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06Jul
first-res coronavirus spread through air

Coronavirus Update: Scientists Warn WHO That COVID- 19 Can Be Transmitted Through The Air

July 6, 2020By

In an open letter, 239 researchers from 32 countries will call on the WHO to change its recommendations regarding the form of protection against the new coronavirus.

Professor Morawska said, “Studies by the signatories and other scientists have demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that viruses are exhaled in microdroplets small enough to remain aloft in the air and pose a risk of exposure beyond 1m to 2m by an infected person”.

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02Jul
first-res Coronavirus vaccine

Coronavirus Vaccine Update: Adelaide-Based Company Vaxine To Start Human Trials

July 2, 2020By

The first human trials of a potential coronavirus vaccine developed in Australia are about to begin in Adelaide.

Vaccine research director Professor Nikolai Petrovsky said the human trials beginning in Adelaide today were the first for a vaccine developed in the southern hemisphere.

He said “I am very confident there will be successful vaccines against COVID-19.”

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29Jun
Alison McMillan | first-res

Alison McMillan Warned “This Coronavirus Pandemic is Not Over Yet”

June 29, 2020By

Australia’s chief nursing and midwifery officer Alison McMillan warned “this pandemic is not over” as the country recorded 85 new cases in the past 24 hours.

She described what a “second wave” of the deadly coronavirus would look like and warned that although younger people might suffer milder symptoms, they were absolutely at risk of infection and could spread the virus to more vulnerable Australians if they were not careful.

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23Jun
first-res coronavirus vaccine

Chinese Researchers Gets Approval To Begin Human Testing For Potential Coronavirus Vaccine

June 23, 2020By

Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical and the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences get approval to begin human testing for potential coronavirus vaccine from the National Medical Products Administration to launch clinical trials.

Chinese researchers and companies are testing six experimental shots in humans and more than a dozen vaccines are in different stages of clinical trials globally.

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