Commenting on the story: ‘Not acceptable’: Swamped testing stations spark calls for more resourcing

It seems that SA Health and the Government haven’t adequately prepared for the number of interstate arrivals requiring to test twice within six days of entering the state.

My daughter and son-in-law drove to Adelaide from Melbourne (Sunday) and after a nine hour drive didn’t relish the thought of queuing in the car last night to be tested, so waited until Monday morning. They left my home in Kensington at 6.00am for Victoria Park, although they tested negative in Melbourne prior to leaving there.

They were told at the testing site it would be a minimum of a four hour wait so they headed to Firle, where the wait was almost as long, with limited access and staff. They waited for 90 minutes for the site to open and by that time the queue snaked around nearby streets. They were angry that they are required to queue for hours during their short holiday break here and with their next test due on Christmas Day are wondering how much of that day they will spend in a testing queue instead of being with family and friends they haven’t seen in 13 months.

The state opened up, managed to negotiate the Test Cricket to be held at the Adelaide Oval but didn’t considered how much time double vaccinated and pre-arrival tested interstate arrivals would have to sacrifice in time and energy waiting in long testing queues. There will be many unhappy visitors. – Kathy Coutts

The government have created this problem themselves through applying the same testing regimes as though we were in an elimination strategy and ramping up the hysteria over cases despite a highly vaccinated society.

Covid testing should be limited to those who genuinely need to be tested because they actually have symptoms or are a genuine close contact. However, authorities continue to want everyone who has been within 500 yards of a case two weeks ago to get tested. That is not living with a virus where a vast majority of cases are mild and can be treated at home, which they’ve said themselves.

Health care and by extension testing needs to be set aside for those who genuinely need it, and when they do they can access it quickly. Remember back to previous winters when they asked you to only go to emergency when you need to? That same logic should apply here.

The definition of a close contact also needs to be changed so that it’s more practical and genuinely close, not some Venn diagram on steroids. This also applies to the unnecessary testing for travellers. – Luke Harrington

Why do we not have access to rapid antigen testing? That would remove those close contacts with no symptoms. If they test positive they get a PCR test and do not clog up the testing sites. – David Price

Commenting on Notes on Adelaide: Libs leave exile to sweat | Knoll’s hits and misses

Five days a week, every week, I drive to and from work, a round trip of 170km. Five days a week, every week, I travel at my expense – fuel, wear and tear and parking – work a 10 hour shift and then drive home.

The true miss here is not one of self incurred intrusions or ambiguity of definition, but rather an entitled belief of being deserving of more than one’s constituents.

Stefan Knoll, like many of his counterparts, and an elected member of a shiftworking, long distance travelling community, is sadly not alone. – Steve Beyer

Commenting on the story: SA unemployment falls amid national jobs surge

Again, it’s not all joy. “The state’s underemployment rate however was among the nation’s highest at 8.1 per cent, up 0.1 percentage points from October.”

So many of these jobs will be insecure, casual, contract and not the secure, well paid jobs that workers should be able to secure. – Helen Chadwick

Commenting on the story: Port Adelaide marketing boss to lead News Corp in SA

I note the use of the words “digital focus” by the next managing director for SA.

It is to be hoped that News Corporation is not planning to cancel home deliveries. – Maggie Richards

Commenting on the opinion piece: Public interest the key to media reform

One only needs to look at the USA to see that protection and promotion of real journalism is a critical need.

The Murdoch-owned media in the USA no longer has the pretence of news: it is abject, non-stop, unapologetic right-wing propaganda. The extreme division amongst Americans could not have descended to its present level without the number one cable network, Fox – whose viewers live in an alternative reality.

The waves of disinformation are washing against our shores, while a disinformation cyclone is brewing. Dividing a society from within using disinformation is a proven tactic. I don’t know the answer, but I can see the problem quite well. – Mike Martens