Police arrest anti-vaxxers at Convoy to Canberra protest; Australian flag flown upside down
Anti-vaccine mandate protesters have been arrested as some of them used bizarre symbols during a massive rally in Canberra. SEE THE PHOTOS.
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Three people have been arrested after about 10,000 anti-vaccine mandate protesters swarmed Canberra.
Convoy to Canberra protesters have been gathering at the nation’s capital for the past two weeks, with the main focus on Saturday at Parliament House where people arrived after a march in the morning.
The crowd was so huge that it spread out over the grass areas between Old Parliament House and Parliament House, as well as the lawns to State Circle.
One man was arrested after he breached a fence and ran onto the forecourt area, with police quickly tackling him to the ground.
Two other people were also arrested during the protest, police revealed.
“One man was charged with multiple offences after he drove his truck through a roadblock and two men were taken into custody for breaching the peace,” a spokesperson said.
Police estimated up to 10,000 protesters moved down Commonwealth Ave and congregated in the Federation Mall.
“The crowd was generally well behaved,” a spokesperson said.
Some protesters held signs and flags as they marched, including one that read: “No more mandates.”
Many also joined in to chant: “Sack them all!”
There were fears the protesters might attend a children’s “Superhero Day” vaccination event at the Australian Institute of Sport clinic, but police said that did not eventuate.
“ACT Policing reminds people camping at Exhibition Park in Canberra that they must leave the venue by Sunday to ensure preparations for the Royal Canberra Show can occur,” the spokesperson said.
Many protesters chose to fly the Australian flag upside down.
The signal is meant to warn people of extreme danger to life and property but misusing the Australian flag breaches national protocols.
Pictures show people flying Australian flag upside down flooding the streets during the protest against Covid vaccine mandates on Saturday.
One man with the upside down flag embroidered on his hat can be seen starring down police.
In Australian national flag protocols, the government says Australians should never to fly the flag upside down.
“As one of Australia’s most important symbols, the flag should be used with respect and dignity,” the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet says.
“Do not fly the flag upside down, even as a signal of distress.”
Protesters have also flown the Australian red ensign, which has historically been associated with Australian ships.
But recently it has been used at anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine mandate demonstrations.
The Returned & Services League of Australia (RSL) last year condemned the misuse of both flags.
“The disrespect of these people apparently knows no bounds. They dishonour Australian service men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, and they dishonour our national flags,” RSL president Greg Melick said at the height of Melbourne’s anti-lockdown protests last year.
“Their actions to further their own selfish cause and ambitions are reprehensible, particularly at a time when all Australians should be coming together to deal with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our veterans did fight for the right for Australians to freely express themselves, but they did not fight to enable these people to desecrate our memorials and national flags.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison earlier said Australia was “a free country” and protesters had a right to voice their opinion, but he asked they do it in a “peaceful and respectful way”.
“The Commonwealth government have only ever supported mandates that relate to aged care workers, disability workers and that those that are working in high-risk situations in health system,” he told reporters in Sydney.
“My government has only ever supported mandates that have been recommended right across the country by the medical expert panel and our chief medical officers.
“All other mandates that relate to vaccines have been imposed unilaterally by state governments.”
Protesters had indicated they were displeased with the way the Morrison Government had handled the pandemic, but the Prime Minister said Australia had the lowest death rate of almost any country in the world.
“We have one of the strongest economies to come through Covid that of any country in the world, particularly advanced economies, and we have one of the highest vaccination rates with 95 per cent of our population over the age of 16 having had their vaccinations — this is what is keeping Australia safe,” he said.
“We now have a record that is the envy of almost any other country in the world.
“Now, if others want to criticise us for that, they are at liberty to do so.
“If others want to seek to undermine that recovery or pretend that they would have done things differently or got better outcomes, well, there are plenty of armchair critics out there.”
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese told the protesters to “go home”.
“It doesn’t advance any cause, it doesn’t assist any of the nonsense we’ve seen of people dressed up in military camouflage walking around Canberra,” he said.
“If you think that’s the way that you win support for your view in Australia, I think you’re very wrong.
“I think these people need to just go home and think about the facts which are out there and the facts are that you are far more likely to avoid getting Covid if you’re fully vaccinated.
“The fact is that if you do get Covid, you’re far less likely to have an acute health concern if you’re fully vaccinated and you’re far less likely to suffer death if you’re fully vaccinated.”
Meanwhile, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson took to social media saying: “I hope you’re all behind this Convoy to Canberra.”
“Convoy to Canberra has arrived,” she also posted.
“Say hi if you’re here and see me.”
ACT Police had been prepared for the AIS event to be disrupted.
The dress-up event was aimed at children aged five to 11 to “channel their inner superpowers” and make the experience of lining up for their first jab more enjoyable.
“ACT Policing would like to reassure all of Canberra’s young superheroes, and anyone attending the AIS Arena mass vaccination clinic (on Saturday), that they will be able to do so safely,” ACT Police wrote on social media on Friday.
“There will be a police presence with a zero-tolerance approach to anyone who seeks to intimidate or harass those attending the clinic.”
Lifeline Canberra decided to close the doors to its book fair to keep its staff and patrons safe during the protest.
The Capital Regional Farmers Market was also cancelled due to safety concerns and logistics for customers.
“It is a devastating result for our farmers and producers following on from the last two years,” the market’s social media post read.
Protesters have targeted Parliament House and other parts of the nation’s capital over the past two weeks.
There have been major disruptions to traffic with the Convoy to Canberra clogging roads and police putting measures in place to restrict access to parliament.
Demonstrators marched through Canberra’s city centre on Thursday afternoon, then rallied through the courts precinct on Friday morning, with some moving to the city police station later in the day.
BOOSTER SHOT NEEDED
Current vaccines used to protect Australians from Covid-19 can wane from 80 per cent to as little as zero in just four months.
The latest advice released by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) revealed the early estimates of vaccine efficiency indicated “lower initial vaccine effectiveness” with just two doses of the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine against the Omicron variant.
It means a double-dosed person could lose about 50 per cent of their protection within 120 days, according to the expert panel.
Vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation with Omicron showed a “a similar pattern” of waning, falling to 52 per cent.
But ATAGI said there was an 88 per cent increased effectiveness against hospitalisation from a booster dose.
“There have been no safety signals of concern for an earlier booster dose given from three months after the primary series where this is used overseas,” the expert immunisation panel said in a statement.
“It is expected that a booster will increase protection against symptomatic infection and this should lead to a parallel increase in protection against transmission, therefore providing some indirect protection to the wider population.”
Under ATAGI’s latest advice, a person must have all doses recommended for their age and individual health in order to be deemed “up to date” and those who waited more than six months to get their booster shot would be classified as “overdue”.
It was also recommended that anyone aged 16 years and older receive a booster dose three months after their primary course.
QUEENSLAND: 13 MORE DEATHS
Queensland has recorded 13 more Covid-19 deaths and 3660 new cases over the past 24 hours.
Chief health officer Dr John Gerrard said Saturday’s true case figure was likely higher because of a technical issue with the data.
All 13 deaths were people aged in their 50s to 90s.
Six of the people were unvaccinated and four had their third jab.
Hospitalisations continue to decline with the number of patients now at 508, while there are 49 people in intensive care units.
SPIKE IN NSW COVID DEATHS
NSW has recorded 8183 new Covid-19 cases and 32 deaths over the past 24 hours.
Currently, 1650 people are in with 104 in intensive care, compared to 1716 and 108 respectively from Friday.
Of Saturday’s cases, 3288 came from PCR test while 4895 were detected in rapid antigen kits.
While the numbers have fluctuated for about a week, Saturday’s case numbers have decreased from the 8950 new infections reported on Friday.
But it is the highest daily death toll since February 3 when 38 fatalities were recorded.
Almost 1700 people have died with Covid in NSW since the start of the pandemic.
Premier Dominic Perrottet on Friday said the state had responded to the Omicron wave better than the modelling predicted.
It was suggested that 270 people would be in intensive care at the peak of the wave in the best-case scenario, but the actual figure reached at 217.
“So well below where that best case was, and for context, under Delta we had 240 people in ICU,” Mr Perrottet said.
The best case for hospitalisations was predicted to reach 3158, but the premier said the figure was actually 2758.
“So very pleasing … it does not mean our hospital system has not been under pressure
LATEST VICTORIAN CASES
Victoria has recorded 7224 new Covid-19 cases and 19 deaths in the past 24 hours.
Of the new infections, 2545 came from PCR tests and 4679 from rapid antigen kits.
There are 487 people hospitalised with 79 in intensive care and 20 on ventilators.
The total number of active cases now stands at 55,102.
On Friday, 8521 new cases and 13 Covid deaths were reported.
The state’s code brown restrictions are set to end on Monday because the number of infected people in hospital continues to plummet.
The restrictions — which aimed to ease pressure by streamlining emergency management systems due to the high number of Covid patients — were put in place in mid-January following Victoria’s Omicron peak.
Once the code was triggered, hospitals were able to postpone staff members’ leave, redeploy workers to areas of urgent need and redistribute hospital resources.
Health Minister Martin Foley said elective surgeries could recommence at hospitals across the state.
“It’s important that those pressing cases get dealt with first, but of course if you’re that person waiting, everything is important and critical,” he said.
COVID DEATH IN WA
An unvaccinated man has become the second person in Western Australia to die after contracting Covid-19 in the community since the pandemic began.
Premier Mark McGowan described the development as “significant and tragic”.
The man aged in his 70s, who had Covid-19 as well as other underlying medical conditions, died at Joondalup Hospital.
Mr McGowan said WA Health had no record of him being vaccinated.
It is the second death of a person in WA who acquired the virus locally since the start of the pandemic.
WA recorded 51 local cases of the virus on Friday — up from 37 the day before, as cases in the latest Omicron variant outbreak surged.
This is our WA COVID-19 update for Friday, 11 February 2022.
— Mark McGowan (@MarkMcGowanMP) February 11, 2022
For official information on COVID-19 in WA, visit https://t.co/zTYXZCJrTJhttps://t.co/PdPzUKI8P3pic.twitter.com/ZXNfCxwJqx
Total new cases on Friday were 99, including 35 from interstate and 13 from overseas, taking the total number of active cases to 482 in WA.
“Over the space of just a few days we’ve seen the number of local infections start to take off,” Mr McGowan told reporters.
“That growth in cases is what we expected since Omicron was first detected in Perth on January 2.
“But we are starting to see a clearer picture of what we are dealing with. Omicron is well and truly here in WA.
“It is no cause for panic. However, we do need to ensure we continue our Covid-safe measures to limit infection risk.”
MASSIVE VACCINE RULE CHANGE AS PM ISSUES NEW COVID DIRECTIVE
Australia’s definition of being fully vaccinated against Covid-19 is set to change, with people now only considered “up to date” with their vaccinations if they have had their booster shots.
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) has recommended moving away from the term “fully vaccinated”.
State and territory leaders met with the Prime Minister on Thursday to discuss the latest Covid developments.
It was agreed Australia would not set mandates for three doses of the Covid vaccine nationally, except for aged care workers.
However states will have the option to set local mandates if they choose to.
The prime minister also ordered an audit to check Australia will be able to handle an expected Covid wave in winter that’s expected to combine with the flu.
Scott Morrison directed a winter preparedness audit be carried out by the second week of March to ensure systems are prepared for the challenge of “flu-rona”.
It will be led by the federal health department working alongside the state chief health officers.
Victoria’s government “welcomed” the advice from ATAGI.
“Now we have the certainty we need, we will now work with our health experts to consider what this means for Victoria,” a government spokeswoman said on Thursday night.
“The best thing Victorians can do to protect themselves from Covid-19 is to get their third dose as soon as they’re eligible.”
It remains unknown whether the state government will enforce a triple dose mandate on international travellers, as initially flagged.
Premier Daniel Andrews on Thursday backed down from his initial hard-line stance to hint the possibility that he would now welcome double jabbed overseas arrivals.
“It might be different rules for someone who isn’t necessarily a citizen, but is a resident for the purposes of international study, and stuff like that,” he said.
“In some circumstances, people who are here short term, for instance, there might be different rules for people who are here longer term.
“It might not be perfect for but we’ll try to make it as close to one set of rules as we can.”
The comments appeared to be a backflip from his initial position on Tuesday, where he said three doses would be required for everyone, pending the ATAGI advice.
BABY CAUGHT COVID IN WOMB
The first ever case of an Aussie baby catching Covid while in its mother’s womb has been reported and the girl was so sick she had to be delivered prematurely and put on a ventilator.
The case, which happened last year during Sydney’s Delta outbreak, was reported by Dr Robert Duguid in the European Journal of Epidemiology.
The 29-year-old father of the baby was the first member of the family to test positive for Covid, three days later his pregnant 25-year-old partner caught the virus, both were unvaccinated and had a mild illness.
Eight days after testing positive the pregnant mother developed abdominal pain, vaginal bleeding and felt her baby was moving less than usual in the womb so she went to hospital.
A measurement of the babies heart rate found it was abnormal and doctors decided to deliver the 32-week-old child by emergency caesarean.
The baby girl developed respiratory distress soon after birth and required continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy and later was put on a ventilator.
Five days later she was able to breath on her own but continued to have a runny nose and occasional diarrhoea until she was two weeks old.
A PCR test for Covid was carried out on the baby when she was three days old.
It returned a positive result and the baby’s fecal and urine tests were also positive for Covid.
Dr Duguid said it was extremely unlikely the baby caught the virus off her mother after birth.
“The mother and child were separated immediately after birth and did not have any close contact until after the mother was de-isolated on day 14 of Covid-19 illness,” he wrote.
“The father was not present at the delivery and did not have any contact with the baby until day 5 of life,” he said.
There was as yet no evidence Covid can be transmitted via breast milk, he said.
It was also unlikely the baby acquired the infection in the hospital.
“All staff members involved in the care of the baby were tested negative to SARS-CoV-2 as part of our surveillance testing program, and all were fully vaccinated,” he said.
“To our knowledge this report also describes the first case of neonatal Covid in an Australian Tertiary Newborn Care Centre,” he said.
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