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It's been another big week at @CroakeyNews, as you’d expect, which looks to provide a different lens on #coronavirus (and broader health) issues & amplify different voices in Aust. Leading the charge over the last week were @MelissaSweetDr & @DrRuthAtLarge.
You can find @CroakeyNews here: https://croakey.org/
We put out a weekly e-bulletin to subscribers each Thursday at 7am (AEST). $60/year (incl. GST) or trial subscription – $25/3 months (incl. GST). Or you can straight out donate to support #PIJ. Is a button on the home page.
We put out a weekly e-bulletin to subscribers each Thursday at 7am (AEST). $60/year (incl. GST) or trial subscription – $25/3 months (incl. GST). Or you can straight out donate to support #PIJ. Is a button on the home page.
Leading this week's bulletin was a wake up call from Walgett, a community that has already suffered poor access to water after local rivers dried up. Now food insecurity is exacerbating concerns around the #coronavirus https://croakey.org/walgett-community-unites-to-tackle-pandemic-related-food-shortages/ @SummerMayFinlay @BronFredericks
Thanks to Vanessa Hickey and Wendy Spencer from the Dharriwaa Elders Group, and Dr Jacqui Webster from @georgeinstitute for writing how city panic buying has highlighted food system inequities, plunging remote areas into food shortages, with reports of residents going hungry.
They write that many families rely on the meals provided by the school canteen and breakfast programs; now that the children are at home, they are running short of food and ongoing shortages at the Walgett IGA are exacerbating this food insecurity. https://croakey.org/walgett-community-unites-to-tackle-pandemic-related-food-shortages/
The Dharriwaa Elders Group – working with key local organisations and @UNSW @gwiwater @georgeinstitute @NSWHealth – has formed the Walgett Food and Water for Life Working Group. It needs funding to improve access to food and safe drinking water - @NACCHOAustralia @NACCHOChair
Also visiting Walgett is this must read from @peta_ivy_ on the growing concern that Aboriginal people are fighting a battle on two fronts – against the novel coronavirus and against punitive government interventions https://croakey.org/when-public-health-becomes-punitive-rather-than-supporting-communities/ @atsils @rightsagenda @CommunityLawVic
. @peta_ivy_ writes that the Dharriwaa Elders Group is working hard to mitigate the risk of potential harm caused by coercive compliance, through advocating for an alternative approach which is community-led and community-focussed, namely:
Speaking of equity, & in collab with @insidestorymag @MelissaSweetDr canvases concerns re whether the new public/private hospital deal will benefit those most in need while PHI looks set to profit by the billion from the #COVID19 crisis https://croakey.org/lets-not-waste-this-crisis/ @insidestorymag
In another excellent wrap of the latest #coronavirus research/policy developments, @AlisonSBarrett looks at homelessness, transmission, the need for targeted messaging, learning from China, and important points from @DrTedros https://croakey.org/covid-19-wrap-providing-shelter-understanding-transmission-messaging-matters-learning-from-china-and-a-show-not-to-miss/ @CHPVic
And at her painstaking best, @DrRuthAtLarge provided this fantastic outline and analysis of the release this week of the modelling guiding Australia’s current response to the #coronavirus pandemic. It’s an excellent read. https://croakey.org/weve-seen-the-covid-19-modelling-now-the-real-work-begins/
We also ran 2 more in our Caring for the Frontline series, looking at the personal/professional pressures on health workers in Aust as they prepare for a #COVID19 surge https://croakey.org/the-doctors-shouldering-a-pandemic-in-an-already-stretched-system/ Here too is the previous one with @LisaKenway @DoctorJasonK https://croakey.org/amid-stressful-times-at-the-covid-19-coalface-we-find-glitter-gifts-and-hope/
A hastily compiled list of dotpoints from @KangarooBeach told graphically of life on the #coronavirus frontline for a rural GP who had already been through terrible bushfires this year @Fly_texan @DrMLivingston @RuralDoctorsAus @ACRRM
Melbourne GP Dr Cath Keaney also talked about multiple layers of pressure: for her at risk family, for patients and staff, the fear of being “invisible” in pandemic planning and an unexpected financial hit. Plus the loss of downtime and stress relief. https://croakey.org/the-doctors-shouldering-a-pandemic-in-an-already-stretched-system/
I asked @MyaCubitt how she felt at this point in the pandemic. “Torn,” she said of her work on the ED floor and in major policy/planning with @ACEMonline that may be making system changing improvements & managing life at home as a mum, wife and friend https://croakey.org/the-doctors-shouldering-a-pandemic-in-an-already-stretched-system/
Emergency doctor @SParnis wrote about the social & emotional impact of his own quarantine & the lingering question behind huge planning efforts: “Will this be enough when the time comes?” https://croakey.org/sent-to-quarantine-an-emergency-medicine-doctor-reflects-on-what-lies-ahead/ @ama_media @amapresident @eyerait58 @amavictoria @AusHealthcare
Another lingering and devastating question for many is, in a surge, who gets access to lifesaving support and who doesn’t. There has been much written about doctors weeping in hospital corridors over making such "ethical triage" decisions https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2005689?query=featured_home
. @HealthIssuesCtr was concerned that consumer voices have been conspicuously missing from ethical triage discussions so far. It held a forum to put their views front and centre, reporting back here: https://croakey.org/ethical-triage-where-vulnerability-means-increased-risk-not-certain-death/ You can watch the plenary: https://hic.org.au/covid-19-forum-video/
Also from the @CroakeyNews bulletin....as the rows over cruise ships continued to blaze across Australia (and, tragically, the infections from them) @BarnsGreg called on the Aust health sector to advocate for the health rights of passengers & crews https://croakey.org/health-sector-urged-to-advocate-for-health-rights-of-those-stranded-on-cruise-ships/
He asks: Why is there a criminal investigation into the docking of the Ruby Princess but no inquiries into the lack of a response to stranded cruise ships, consistent with international and domestic law by Australian governments since #COVID19 hit the nation over a month ago?
Most agree that Australian health authorities and politicians have got better in their messaging on the #coronavirus pandemic, after a particularly bad start and still nothing like this cracker video from @OHdeptofhealth
Kirsten McCaffery, Danielle Muscat and Jan Donovan look at what our #coronavirus comms need to do and not do, writing that never has the health literacy of our population and our institutions been so important https://croakey.org/an-urgent-call-for-governments-to-improve-pandemic-communications-and-address-health-literacy-concerns/ @VictorianCHO @MichaelKidd5 @CHFofAustralia
Meanwhile there is much we can learn on everything, including mental health, from those who have been hit by the #COVID19 curve & surge earlier than us. @RosenbergSeb gives us important takeaways from Spain https://croakey.org/speed-imagination-technology-flexibility-covid-19-and-mental-health-in-spain/ @Dpeters1977 @RCMentalHealth @AUMentalHealth
Many may have missed, in the tumult of #coronavirus news and developments, a critical call from @antonioguterres for a global ceasefire so that people living with conflict don’t face more threats. @MAPW_Australia outlines how Aust could and should respond https://croakey.org/healthcare-not-warfare-australia-urged-to-back-un-call-for-a-global-ceasefire/
And there's a big warning from Jason Agostino, Liz Sturgiss, Katherine Thurber and Nicole Gurran of the ramifications for the #coronavirus pandemic from Australia's housing crisis - and some solutions https://croakey.org/for-pandemic-control-housing-is-the-best-medicine/
Finally some fantastic @CroakeyNews initiatives. Twice weekly chair yoga led by the wonderful @Paula_OConnell (free for frontline health workers) https://croakey.org/sit-down-for-your-health-and-join-us-online-for-some-chair-yoga/
and our new podcast @CroakeyVoices, presented and produced by broadcaster @CateeC https://croakey.org/listen-up-its-the-second-croakeyvoices-podcast/
and our new podcast @CroakeyVoices, presented and produced by broadcaster @CateeC https://croakey.org/listen-up-its-the-second-croakeyvoices-podcast/
And here’s the call to action. Like so many media orgs, @CroakeyNews led by @MelissaSweetDr runs “keen but very lean” & has taken a big hit also in the pandemic, with the loss to revenues (and coverage) of our Croakey Conference News https://croakey.org/conference-reporting/Service and @CroakeyServices
We’re looking for new sponsors and subscribers, or you can buy some fab merch! Here's how you can help, if you're able https://croakey.org/supporting-croakey/
You can subscribe to Croakey here https://shop.croakey.org/ or make a donation via the home page https://croakey.org/ .
You can subscribe to Croakey here https://shop.croakey.org/ or make a donation via the home page https://croakey.org/ .
You could consider a #TwitterFest like #SAHeapsUnfair did.
Or now might be the time for @CroakeyServices if you’ve got a key project/publication coming up https://croakey.org/services/ .
Or now might be the time for @CroakeyServices if you’ve got a key project/publication coming up https://croakey.org/services/ .
