DOUBLE BLIND RANDOMISED PLACEBO CONTROLLED TRIAL SINCE 1986 The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 36 #10 • August 18, 2021 • www.echo.net.au
Byron locks the surf down
Unclear messaging over vax rollout Mia Armitage
Ironically, they may have to put up a ‘Locals Only’ sign at The Pass after increased traffic at the popular surf spot last Sunday. Meanwhile, two surfers were fined at Lennox over the weekend for being outside their Local Government Area (LGA). Photo Jeff ‘Yokel Since 1986’ Dawson
Health authorities say they are prepared As the Delta variant moves the goalposts globally, local health authorities say they are confident they are prepared for any case surge. Yet when asked how many ventilators are on hand in the region, a Northern NSW Local Health District spokesperson said they did not have that information. Acting Chief Executive, Lynne Weir, told The Echo her department has a ‘detailed escalation and surge plan for COVID-positive patients within our district’. Ms Weir says, ‘In NSW, we have a large, highly-integrated, networked health system with sufficient surge capacity to ensure all patients who require intensive care will receive it’. ‘In our District, there are more
Seniors’ lockdown angst ▶ p3
than 20 intensive care (IC) beds spread across our three major hospitals in Grafton, Lismore and Tweed, with plans in place to surge staffing and intensive care capacity, if and when required, across all our health facilities. Throughout the early stages of the pandemic, we sourced additional equipment, including ventilators, in the event it’s required for any surge in intensive care patients that may occur in our region. ‘From the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Northern NSW Local Health District has been actively increasing its staffing and upskilling its workforce in readiness to care for COVID-19 patients in our region. ‘An additional 62 nurses were recruited across the District,
Council rezoning ‘illegal’ ▶ p5
including Assistants in Nursing, Enrolled Nurses and Registered Nurses. ‘Additional training programs were developed for nurses, midwives, and allied health staff, with more than 265 staff attending surge training in Intensive Care, Emergency and Immunisation specialties to provide additional capacity to care for patients. ‘In June this year, an additional staffing allocation of 3.7FTE was added to the Lismore Base Hospital Intensive Care Unit, which is currently being recruited to. ‘We regularly review our stocks and supply chains of resources, including PPE and pharmacy items, to ensure adequate supplies’.
IPCC report leaves no doubt on the need for climate action ▶ p14
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‘[That] data would be handy,’ said Pharmacy Guild of Australia NSW Branch President David Heffernan, when asked on Monday how many pharmacies in the Northern Rivers had AstraZeneca vaccines available. While the NSW government says COVID-19 cases will continue throughout September and October, the calls for people to ‘get vaccinated’ are increasing. Yet the basics, such as who can get what vaccination, when, where and how in the Northern Rivers, were still unclear, with various peak bodies, government agencies and local providers offering varied and constantly changing advice to The Echo. Checking the ‘find a pharmacy’ website, which offers links to getting vaccinated, wasn’t much help either, as Mr Heffernan readily agreed. There were zero outlets showing up for COVID-19 vaccine availability in the Byron Shire on Monday. And it’s unclear how many Pfizer vaccines have been allocated to the Northern Rivers, or how many have been administered. ‘Only statewide vaccination numbers are provided’, said a NSW Health spokesperson, when The Echo asked the question on Friday. That’s statewide numbers on AstraZeneca and Pfizer combined too; State authorities were yet to provide a breakdown between the two vaccines when The Echo went to press this week. The Northern NSW Local Health District have three dedicated COVID-19 vaccination clinics listed:
Local small businesses deserve our support ▶ p16
zŽƵ ĐĂŶ ŐĞƚ Ăůů ƚŚĞ ƉŽǁĞƌ LJŽƵ ĞǀĞƌ ŶĞĞĚ ĨƌŽŵ ƚŚĞ ƐƵŶ ŽŶ LJŽƵƌ ƌŽŽĨ͘ WŽǁĞƌ LJŽƵƌ ŚŽŵĞ͕ LJŽƵƌ ĐĂƌ ĂŶĚ ƐƚŽƌĞ ĞŶĞƌŐLJ ĨŽƌ ƌĂŝŶLJ ĚĂLJƐ͘ EĞǀĞƌ ƉĂLJ ĨŽƌ ƉŽǁĞƌ Žƌ ŚĂǀĞ Ă ďůĂĐŬŽƵƚ ĂŐĂŝŶ͘ ƵŝůĚ LJŽƵƌ ƐĞĐƵƌĞ ŚŝĚĞĂǁĂLJ ĨƌŽŵ ƚŚĞ ƚƌŽƵďůĞĚ ǁŽƌůĚ͘
Feeling the need for some healing ▶ p18
ĞƌŽ ĂƌďŽŶ Ͳ ĞƌŽ <ĂƌŵĂ͊ dŚĞ ĞƐƚ dĞĐŚŶŽůŽŐLJ ŝŶ ^ŽůĂƌ WŽǁĞƌ͕ KĨĨ 'ƌŝĚ͕ ZĞƐŝĚĞŶƚŝĂů Θ ƵƐŝŶĞƐƐ
džƉĂŶĚ LJŽƵƌ ŐŽŽĚ ĨŽƌƚƵŶĞ ďLJ ĐůŽƐŝŶŐ LJŽƵƌ ĐĂƌďŽŶ ĂĐĐŽƵŶƚ ǁŝƚŚ ŵŽŶĞLJ ƐĂǀŝŶŐ ĨƌĞĞ ĞŶĞƌŐLJ ĨƌŽŵ ϴϴϴ ^ŽůĂƌ dĞŬ͘ ǀĞƌLJƚŚŝŶŐ ǁĞ ĚŽ ǁŝůů ƐĂǀĞ LJŽƵ ŵŽŶĞLJ ĂŶĚ ŐŝǀĞ LJŽƵ ŐŽŽĚ ĨĞĞůŝŶŐƐ ĂďŽƵƚ ĞŶĚŝŶŐ LJŽƵƌ ĚĞƉĞŶĚĞŶĐĞ ŽŶ ĐŽĂů͕ ŐĂƐ ĂŶĚ Žŝů͘
dĞƐƚ ƌŝǀĞ Ă EŝƐƐĂŶ >ĞĂĨ s͊ tĞ ŚĂǀĞ Ϯϰ͕ ϯϬ Θ ϰϬ ŬtŚ ĐĂƌƐ Ăƚ ŚĂůĨ ƚŚĞ ŶĞǁ ƉƌŝĐĞ͘
'Ğƚ ƚƌƵƐƚĂďůĞ͕ ƌĞůŝĂďůĞ ŐŽŽĚ ƐĞƌǀŝĐĞ ĨƌŽŵ LJŽƵƌ ůŽĐĂů ƐŽůĂƌ ŚĞƌŽƐ Ͳ ϳ LJĞĂƌƐ ŝŶ ƐŽůĂƌ ƉŽǁĞƌ ŚĞƌĞ͘
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one in Grafton; one in Lismore at the Lismore Square Shopping Centre; and another at the Tweed Mall in Tweed Heads. Meanwhile, Healthy North Coast is responsible for a significant portion of the Northern Rivers COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, with Wellness Executive Director, Monica Wheeler, describing the group as a non-government organisation, receiving funding from the federal government to manage the distribution of vaccines to GPs and other federally resourced health services, including aged care facilities. The federal government has also set up two vaccine clinics on the Northern Rivers, Ms Wheeler said, one in Murwillumbah and the other in Grafton. As of going to press, here are some of the developments around the current lockdown, which is expected to end on Saturday: Q Police have increased their mask wearing compliance presence in Mullumbimby. Q Health authorities reported no cases in the Northern Rivers on Tuesday, despite COVID-19 traces in the Ballina and Lennox STPs. Q A new Lennox Head testing clinic opened at the QML Pathology drive through clinic, Epiq Sporting Field, Hutley Street. It’s open daily from 9am–2pm. Q The Qld government said on Monday that essential workers needing to cross the border would have to have had at least one COVID19 vaccine dose, with the new rules coming into effect from this Friday.
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