Covid-19

Addressing the needs of staff dealing with Covid-19.

Every death will stay with me forever, Nurse Vishalini Navaneetharajah told The BBC.

“There is a growing concern that the welfare of health care staff needs to be addressed in the weeks and months ahead,” The BBC reports, as we check in on Covid-19 again today. There have been 107.937,561 cases of Covid-19 worldwide and 2,367,122 deaths. In the UK, there have been … Read more

Today we reflect on Covid-19 deaths again.

Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden and Jill Biden remember the 400,000 Americans who have died from Covid-19. Photo by Evan Vucci AP.

Today, January 21, Worldometers says there have been 2,080,154 deaths from Covid-19, out of 97,218,195 infections. This as the new President of the USA, Joe Biden, on the eve of his inauguration grieved the 400,000 Covid-19 deaths in his country, saying: “To heal, we must remember.” “‘It’s hard sometimes to … Read more

Care in the carpark.

Love and trust, Jean Kittson on caring for her parents in a challenging time.

Updated February 2022 Jean Kittson’s latest role is caring for her parents in the challenging, frustrating time of COVID-19. My interview with Jean appears in this week’s editions of Mosman Daily, North Shore Times and The Daily Telegraph. Like so many of us today, Jean – well-known Australian commentator, actor, … Read more

Covid death and the nursing home – the report is tabled.

Covid death and the nursing home - the report is tabled

The “Aged Care and Covid-19 – a special report”, prepared by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety makes fascinating reading.  Released on September 30, it highlights the human cost imposed when elderly people are separated from their loved ones in the name of disease control and the … Read more

The challenges continue.

The challenges continue for those of us grappling with Covid-19 restrictions and the impacts for the elderly in aged care. This has become a very personal dilemma for me. My 96-year-old father has developed a sense of being imprisoned and I must say his distress over this has caused my … Read more

The little losses that make up 2020.

Parties, when we welcomed strangers

Photos of a big party at our house, celebrating my daughter’s 21st.  She stands, smiling broadly as she listens to the speeches, all manner of people unknown to me crowding around her. So different. What is it? And then it hits. Hard. These are pre-Covid days when we welcomed strangers … Read more

John Brogden shares chicken soup with Simon Marnie.

John Brogden, Chair of Lifeline.

We have settled into the rhythm of Covid-19 – we have dealt with the massive death toll, watched the social destruction it has caused, particularly in the USA, seen the cracks it causes to social cohesion in other places and we now brace ourselves for the real economic fallout, now … Read more

The Swedish model again.

Dr Raina MacIntyre, Kirby Institute, UNSW.

Hmmm, the Swedish model again. A fascinating report by Lisa Millar on this week’s ABC Foreign Correspondent, talked about the Swedish model for managing Covid-19. Her report looked at the latest phase of its evolution. Sweden has taken a liberal attitude to social restrictions because of Covid-19. To see Lisa’s … Read more

Burials Without Hugs – Our 2020 Moment

The Covid-19 crisis had its biggest consequences for these two most important rituals, the wedding and the funeral. “During the service I never pose people or use flash photography. Discrete candid photography allows me to capture the sombre mode of family embracing, children deep in thought, and friends crofting the … Read more

You can check out any time you like but …

We’re linking you through to a report from California

We’re linking you through to a news report from California which reveals frustration and anger over the way nursing homes were managed there through the Covid-19 crisis. In its June 28 report “As Coronavirus raged through nursing homes, inspectors found nothing wrong”, The Los Angeles Times claims the main problem … Read more

Four Corners looks at Newmarch House.

Nicole Fahey in the ABC's Four Corners.

For those who’ve followed Sydney’s Newmarch House Covid-19 infections, last night’s ABC Four Corners made for compelling viewing. At Newmarch House over a period of 39 days, 34 staff and 37 residents became infected with Covid 19. There were 19 deaths of residents. When we researched Newmarch House intensively for … Read more

How Funerals are changing.

How funerals are changing

“The limit on the number of guests allowed at funerals is the latest COVID-19 restriction to be eased in NSW,” Jenny Noyes reported in Sydney Morning Herald  yesterday, (June 14). From July 1, indoor venues will no longer be limited to 50 patrons but for funerals, the changes will come into … Read more

World figures show wide range in Covid-19 nursing home deaths.

Earlier this month, the NSW Coroner’s Court announced it will investigate the deadly outbreak of Covid-19 at Newmarch House aged care facility in Sydney’s outer western suburbs, where 19 residents died from the virus. This is good to hear. We’ll have an objective analysis, with scrupulous attention to detail, a … Read more

Work and end-of-life care – online for post-Covid times

Work has gone online – even, surprisingly, in the healthcare space. We’ve discovered more about what’s effective and what isn’t as lawyers, school teachers and sales people have developed new online practices. However, at times this can feel like two steps forward, one step back. Some Sydney lawyers report that … Read more

Where will Covid-19 take us next?

This is a review of where we are now, the gains and losses in managing the threat of death from Covid-19. What has changed, what has gone backwards, what has improved? Not all the threats to life will come from the virus itself, a space that health professionals are now … Read more

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