Mornings with Simon Beaumont

Perth registered nurse Paris Brooks-Pope has recently returned from working on the COVID frontline in Victoria. 

Paris, along with two other nurses from SwanCare in Bentley took leave and spent a month at an aged care facility on the frontline where there was an outbreak of Covid-19.

The nurses went as part of The National Aged Care Emergency Response (NACER) which mobilised experienced aged care staff to care for people in aged care facilities affected by COVID-19.

Paris, speaking to us from quarantine says “our aim was to stay positive but test negative.”

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Lance contacted Gareth Parker to raise his concerns over a new McDonald’s store being built in Tapping which his property, along with other residents backs onto. 

The land that the McDonalds is being built on has been raised to the tops of the resident’s fences and their concern is that once the McDonald’s is built they will have absolutely no privacy.

Lance says that he is devastated and that they have requested to the City of Wanneroo that the developers need to build a retaining wall to help block out noise and retain their privacy. 

Mark Dickson, Director of Planning with the City of Wanneroo says they have acknowledged the concerns of the residents and are working with the developers to try and find a solution.

 

 

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Melbourne researchers are working on a promising new class of treatments which may be able to give people with Motor Neuron Disease (MND) another 10 years of life.

Researchers at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute have been working on the treatments which they think will dramatically slow the progression of the disease.

The team discovered how inflammation in MND is triggered, and found by blocking an immune sensor they could prevent much of that inflammation in cells.

Associate Professor Seth Masters, from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, told Gareth Parker that "the treatments won’t cure the disease or stop it from starting but they will slow the disease.”

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A Queensland invention could be the key to reopening borders and facilitating travel in the time of COVID-19, but Australians could miss out on access to the technology.

Brisbane-based biotech company, Ellume, has developed a rapid COVID-19 test which can deliver results in 15 minutes.

The test, which does not require any specialist equipment, has secured a $40 million grant from the US Government, but the Australian government has shown little interest.

Ellume founder, Dr Sean Parsons, said the test, which detects COVID-19 with 95 per cent accuracy, could be available very soon and that this will “enable people to test themselves before going to those high risk events.”

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Listener Cara Norris, the owner of Hair Affair in Greenwood has contacted us asking for help as she is now on Day 8 of her incoming phone line not working.  Cara says she suspects it could be linked to NBN but despite numerous phone calls has been getting no assistantance from Telstra.  Cara says “they have literally just lost our landline that has been in place for 40 years.”

Other business owners have contacting us and said they have been having similiar problems with their phone lines. 

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Murdoch University has announced it will not provide face-to-face lectures next year "unless learning and assessment experiences cannot be replicated authentically in an online environment".

The directive to staff from education pro vice-chancellor Kylie Readman in an email obtained by WAtoday comes in the wake of a wave of uncertainty from staff in recent months over the management of the university, including the sudden demise of a lucrative mathematics major.

Kylie Readman has told Gareth Parker "that this isn’t about getting rid of lectures but enhancing the student experience and there are lots of other ways that students can engage face to face.”

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South Australian employed but Perth-based FIFO workers are speaking out against WA's hard border closures which they claim are keeping their families apart unnecessarily.

Lee Greaves is a West Australian resident working FIFO in South Australia.  Lee was celebrating his 24th anniversary with his wife in Melbourne when Covid hit.  Lee went back to work and his wife came home.  Since then he’s only been able to get into WA once to see his family.  He says his mental health is suffering so much so that he’s considered self harm.

Lifeline: 13 11 14

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The border brawl is going national again.  2GB Breakfast host Ben Fordham says that the WA Premier is tearing families apart with his closed borders, asking his listeners what they make about him joking about giving Santa an exemption while Sydney siders are missing births, deaths and marriages of their families in WA.

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Dr Holly Seale says a COVID-19 vaccine isn't a silver bullet and society needs to accept public health measures, such as masks and social distancing, are not going away any time soon.

Dr Seale says the Government and the media need to communicate this to the public. 

Dr Seale also explains to Gareth Parker what an eventual vaccine roll-out might look like.

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Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers Jim Chalmers speaking with Gareth Parker and highlighting what he believes were the biggest missed opportunities from the 2020 Federal Budget.

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