Commenting on the story: Medi-hotel workers refusing vaccine as SA records eight new cases

Working in the medi-hotel environment unvaccinated puts the population at large at risk, especially with general vaccination rates as low as they are currently.

It is a privilege to work on the frontline, which comes with risks and great responsibilities.

Individuals, who for whatever reason choose not to be vaccinated should in turn not be chosen for such jobs, and should be free to work elsewhere instead.

As simple as that. – Hubertus Jersmann

It should be simple. If you want to work in the medi-hotel centres, you get vaccinated.

Why are we giving so much choice to workers when the consequences of an outbreak impact the whole state and cost other people their jobs? – Darren Peisley

We our now sitting on a time bomb with the chances of COVID19 escaping from one of our medi-hotel facilities. It it is only a matter of time, particularly as there are more virulent varieties of the COVID-19 virus coming into Australia from overseas.

We have loosened up on the social distancing requirements in the community and the COVID vaccine rollout is shambles. Surely it is only a matter of time before a case of community transmission occurs again. I, and I am sure many others, feel very vulnerable. – Gerry Kandelaars

And I suppose these people don’t wear seat belts. – Michael Adams

‘It comes as the Government prepares to open its Adelaide Showgrounds vaccination hub on April 30, which Health Minister Stephen Wade said would be a dedicated facility to administer the Pfizer vaccine to eligible people aged under 50.’

What? 1A haven’t had theirs yet. I am 1B and my clinic has no vaccine. Then 2A was supposed to be next. 1B and 2A is 30million doses across Australia, say three million for SA.

I understand the need for special facilities for Pfizer; but after these other priority groups, surely. – Ian Fry

Commenting on the story: ‘I will not go silently’: Exiting mental health chief’s plan of action

As someone with a daughter navigating the mental system at the moment, I cannot stress enough how important it is that people speak up so we can create change.

What we walk past, we condone. The system is failing the most vulnerable people and we cannot ignore this.

Their needs matter. They deserve to get the care they need. – Angela Giacoumis

The major weakness in the way the plan is presented is that only identifies costs without also including the substantial savings. 

For example, Victoria has learnt from overseas experience and introduced Safe Haven Cafes. That could be described as costing about $250,000. However, a Price Waterhouse Report that compared the costs with the savings estimated that this initiative represents an annual cost savings of about $33,000. I

I am confident that were this 10 point plan be evaluated it would demonstrate that these measures will likewise result in a net saving to the system. – John Tons

Commenting on the story: Girl’s appendix burst in WCH emergency department after eight hour wait for surgery

The Government has nominated a new sports stadium at $700m the top priority item for them to win the next election. Do they have their head in the sand?

How can this be prioritised over the failing health system? If this was private enterprise, heads would be rolling. Imagine if $700m was injected immediately into health. Fix the health system, and ambulance ramping would also disappear. – Michael Atkins

Commenting on the story: Town Hall’s big bill to replace councillor after second exit

There will be a supplementary election for a City of Adelaide councillor in order to replace councillor Simms. InDaily reports that costs about a similar supplementary election held in 2015 were requested from council staff by Councillor Hyde.

Cr Hyde leads the majority of councillors on council. Cr Hyde’s question on notice about supplementary election costs was answered at the council meeting of 13 April.

At the special council meeting just three weeks ago on 23 March, Cr Hyde and his colleagues voted down a proposed east-west bikeway. This led to very big costs to council.

First, three million dollars left council coffers to be returned to the state government, because the terms of the east-west bikeway funding deed were not met.

Second, after 17 debates in the chamber over a number of years, and the development of three detailed sets of east-west bikeway plans, the planning work needed to be binned. What was the financial cost of all that staff work, and what was the morale cost to staff of all that work to no avail?

Third, a significant east-west bikeway consultation had been completed by a reputable consulting company. This consultation showed that a majority of every category of stakeholder consulted, including businesses, favoured going ahead with the bikeway.

Cr Hyde led the charge to ignore all the evidence of stakeholder support and all the expert evidence favouring the bikeway. Another big bill paid by council. So where should ratepayers look for big, really big council bills? – Peter Lumb