This fabulous yarn appeared last week.
Secret report slams COVIDSafe as ‘high cost, low benefit’
Denham Sadler
National Affairs Editor
30 August 2021
The federal government was warned early this year that its $16 million COVIDSafe contact tracing app was ineffective in “very high-risk settings” and was wasting the time of state health authorities in a report it attempted to keep secret.
Health Minister Greg Hunt tabled a report on the effectiveness of COVIDSafe, which uses a smartphone’s bluetooth technology to log close contacts between users and sends this information to a national database if a user tests positive for COVID-19, last month, well after he was required to under legislation.
But the report tabled by the government differs greatly from the full report provided by independent consultancy Abt Associates, which has now been revealed following a freedom of information battle by The Canberra Times.
The government had earlier released a version of the full report nearly entirely redacted, before tabling a summary version in Parliament.
The version put forward by the government is stripped of most of the critical information on the app, including that it was unlikely to provide any benefit in high-risk settings such as restaurants and supermarkets, where significant transmission has been seen this year, and that it is often taking up hours of contact tracers’ precious time with little reward.
Despite being billed as akin to putting on sunscreen and a key part of the easing of restrictions following the first national lockdown early last year, the app has only unearthed 17 unique close contacts since it was launched, all in New South Wales. It has not found any new close contacts this year, despite a number of outbreaks around the country.
The report tabled by the government included a foreword by Mr Hunt, saying COVIDSafe is an “important element” of Australia’s contact tracing efforts.
But the full report provided by Abt Associates for $250,000 paints a very different picture.
“The app has identified less than 2 per cent of the total pool of close contacts identified in NSW and no new contacts were identified by COVIDSafe in Victoria or Queensland between March and November 2020. COVIDSafe has technology constraints, complications with manufacturer phone settings, and there are limitations to its use in high-risk settings,” the report said.
“Overall, the state contact tracers interviewed for this report have suggested it has not been a highly effective complementary tool for their state contact tracing systems.”
The report, which reveals the government has spent about $16 million on the development and promotion of the app, found that due to various constraints, COVIDSafe cannot be effective in high-risk environments such as bars, restaurants and supermarkets.
More revelations here:
https://www.innovationaus.com/secret-report-slams-covidsafe-as-high-cost-low-benefit/
Basically this article simply reveals that Minister Hunt is a purveyor of ‘fake news’ and it genuinely leaves you wondering just what you can believe of what he says and has said.
This is a classic situation where we are seeing the attempted cover-up lead to way more damage and distrust than merely coming forward with the truth and going about fixing the problem!
We mere mortals know we can make errors and get things wrong so why not the pollies. Hubris? Stubbornness? Or just plain dishonesty?
This sort of attitude and behaviour is having a corrosive effect on our trust and confidence in both Digital Health innovations but also our whole system of governance.
A pox on the houses of all who claim to lead and then, when they get into power, just plain lie! They should not believe what the do goes unnoticed!
In the same vein we have this report from last week:
Australians redirected to My Health Record for vaccine certificates despite opting out
Finn McHugh
Australians looking to access their Covid vaccine certificate are being directed to My Health Record, even if they have opted out of the scheme.
Fully vaccinated Australians have been able to receive a digital vaccination certificate to their phone for the past week, via Medicare's Express Plus app or myGov.
To access the certificate via myGov, users must ensure their account is linked to their Medicare profile.
But people whose myGov account and Medicare profiles aren't linked have been directed to the My Health Record website, even if they have opted-out of the contentious service, via a link which promises to "Get proof of your vaccinations".
Services Australia general manager Hank Jongen insisted there was no error in the system, saying My Health Record was just one way to access a vaccine certificate.
"People may see a link to My Health Record in myGov, even if they have opted out of My Health Record. It does not mean that they have to access proof of vaccination through My Health Record," he told The Canberra Times.
"When people sign in to myGov they may see a quick link that directs to either Medicare, My Health Record or Individual Healthcare Identifier.
"The service they're directed to depends on which services they have linked to their myGov account. Medicare is the default if more than one of these services is linked."
There were over 11 million Medicare online accounts linked to a myGov account as of early August.
Australians who cannot access their vaccination certificates online can have their immunisation history printed and mailed to them. They can also receive a hardcopy via the Australian Immunisation Register.
It comes months after the Health Department was forced to amend the My Health Record website, after users were reminded to get their second AstraZeneca dose just four weeks after their first.
Lots more here:
Just another little sneaky way the ADHA is trying to push up apparent #myHealthRecorf usage when it is perfectly possible to get your electronic vaccination certificate directly and indeed more simply.
Really this mob can’t ‘lie straight in bed’! Well done to the journalists who spotted all this!
David.
re "Basically this article simply reveals that Minister Hunt is a purveyor of ‘fake news’ and it genuinely leaves you wondering just what you can believe of what he says and has said."
ReplyDeleteNot that he actually does anything worthwhile, in spite of all the spin
Health Minister first met with Pfizer for COVID-19 vaccine after other countries had already made deals
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-08/pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-meeting-health-minister/100443360
The Health Minister's office didn't meet Pfizer executives until a fortnight after the USA and UK had already signed supply deals for COVID-19 vaccines, despite the pharmaceutical giant repeatedly advising the federal government to show urgency.
Newly surfaced documents suggest Pfizer initiated contact with the government on June 26 last year to request a meeting, warning four days later that the "vaccine development landscape is moving swiftly", including with other nations.
etc etc.
I see it's being reported that that an independent group of specialists has suggested that the current Sydney lockdown and vaccine rollout has possibly prevented 5000 deaths and half a million infections.
ReplyDeleteI bet we don't see how many deaths and infections would have been avoided if the government hadn't been asleep at the wheel.
The phrase "blood on their hands" comes to mind.
What do you expect when you put a lawyer in charge of health policy?
ReplyDeleteI wonder what part Brendan Murphy played. Must be a bit embarrassing for him.