Project COVID Skies - Part 12

July 26, 2020 Geoffrey O'Hearn

Stage 3 restrictions continue for metro Melbourne. We are now 2.5 weeks into what is going to be at least a 6 week restriction period. The government states they are not looking to progress to “stage 4” restrictions and there is no clear guide to what that might mean.

The numbers of new cases each day have still been very high, however on the positive side, the numbers have not been growing exponentially. The new cases from Monday 20th July 2020 to today Sunday 26th July 2020 for the state of Victoria were; 246, 347, 450, 386, 280, 339, 437.

On Wednesday 22nd July at 11:59 pm the wearing of face masks became mandatory when leaving your home. The few exceptions include, for medical reasons, jogging, travelling in your car alone or with family and consumption of food, drink, etc. The penalty for non compliance is currently $200.

Generally most of the population has been accepting of this requirement. As with everything there is a minority of the community resisting these changes and there have been a few people fined already.

NSW still has concerns with a few outbreaks, mostly in the South Western Sydney region, although there has been outbreaks at Port Stephens and Batemans Bay. The NSW numbers of new cases have remained low, around the teens and most of those are linked to the known outbreaks.

The rest of Australia has next to no new cases being diagnosed and as such are able to go about there business with much more freedom. In South Australia on Monday there was almost 14,000 fans at the football to watch Adelaide take on St.Kilda and that was surpassed on Saturday night as about 20,000 fans watched top of the ladder Port Adelaide get beaten by St.Kilda. There has also been crowds in WA around the 20,000 mark.

Again this week the clouds have been rather grey and unspectacular. This is what you come to expect being the middle of winter. I did manage to still get a couple of images of above so I hope you enjoy.

Project COVID Skies - Part 11

July 19, 2020 Geoffrey O'Hearn

At the end of the first full week of the return to stage 3 restrictions in Victoria, we have been given the news that from 11:59 pm Wednesday 22/7/20 the rules will again change, this time to mandate the wearing of masks in public. The fine will be $200 and children under 12 years of age are exempt from this rule.

This mandate requiring masks to be worn comes off the back of a significant week of record high numbers of cases being announced. This week was always going to be bad as it falls within the time lag from acquisition to symptomatic prior to the lock down being re-introduced.

The daily number of cases announced through the week from Monday 13th July through to today Sunday 19th July were; 168, 257, 224, 302, 415, 188, 343. Breaking the 300 barrier and then the 400 barrier were a shock to many Melbournians such that the once shocking amount of 200 cases had become a relief.

Hopefully the coming days will see the new case numbers decrease as a result of returning to stage 3 restrictions.

NSW has been closely watching outbreaks related to the Crossroads Hotel in Casula, South West of Sydney. The numbers are still low in NSW, just in the teens, however the potential for those numbers to take off like they have in Melbourne is still there.

The weather hasn’t been massively kind in providing great photos. I have managed only a few shots this week. I had managed to get some photos of the local cygnets which I am posting on my Facebook page.

Project COVID Skies - Part 10

July 12, 2020 Geoffrey O'Hearn

Back by (un)popular demand, Melbourne stage 3 restrictions and project COVID skies are back. This time around there will not be as many photos. In my own best interests, I need to also spend time working on other aspects of my photography.

On the 9th of June 2020, the state of Victoria had an increase of zero cases of COVID-19. Fast forward a few weeks and the numbers were starting to get out of hand.

Monday 29th June the state of Victoria had an increase of 71 cases of COVID-19. This has been followed by daily increases of 60, 72, 72, 65, 101, 67, 124 and 164 on Tuesday 7th July. With this increase, came the announcement that Melbourne would be re-entering stage 3 restrictions. Already, days prior many post codes in the west and north of Melbourne had been placed into stage 3 restrictions. Along with those restrictions there were nine public housing towers that had been placed into a hard lock down where the residents were unable to leave their apartment for any reason.

Stage 3 restrictions commenced for all of greater Melbourne plus the Mitchell shire on 9th July. Just one month on from the last zero count for a day. Testing numbers have been very high around Melbourne with approximately 30,000 tests per day being conducted and our overall total has surpassed 1 million.

Very different to the first round of stage 3 restrictions, we are now dealing with community transmission. This makes the spread a lot easier and it is hard to contain where unknown cases are and effective tracing can’t be completed. We are also dealing with changed attitudes of some of the general public and a certain level of complacency.

There have been events that have lead towards this increase in numbers. Whilst not directly attributable, the black lives matter protests have been seen as a signal to the general populous that mixing is OK and the restrictions don’t need to be followed so rigorously. If 10,000 people can gather in a place then sure 30 at a family event is fine. There has been a number of clusters that have formed from large family gatherings including of religious significance. This is why certain areas of Melbourne have become hotspots for Corona virus. One factor which I think had most people flabbergasted was that security guards at the quarantine hotels had been fornicating with some of the returned travellers and had as such caught COVID-19 and then shared it with their families and the community. It was also revealed that many travellers were not tested prior to being let out of quarantine. Hopefully now these issues and any other potential for issues have been taken care of and a much more thorough approach initiated.

The numbers of new cases from the start of restrictions on the 9th July has been 156, 281, 181 and 239 further cases announced today.

9th July 2020 7:22 am Stage 3 restrictions are back for the greater Melbourne area.

Project COVID Skies - Part 9

May 31, 2020 Geoffrey O'Hearn

After nine weeks this is the final instalment of “Project COVID Skies” in its current format. From 11:59 pm tonight restrictions will be relaxed enough to the point that we are no longer bound to our homes and have freedom of movement. There are still a number of restrictions in place for the handling of the pandemic, mostly to do with numbers of people in a location with guidance on proximity, and it is far from over.

Over the last nine weeks I have published over 300 images and I have processed over 700 images. Whilst I now have the ability to leave my house for photography, it is not an option I will be looking at taking great advantage of. It is time dedicate my efforts to different projects and learning in the world of photography.

Habits break hard so there will be photos still taken of the sky and they will be published in future blogs under the “Project COVID Skies” banner, just not at the same frequency as has been through the project. I also intend on putting together a behind the scenes post on this blog.

Thank you to anyone who has followed this project and I look forward to continue to share my passion for photography with you.

25th May 2020 9:32 am Not a cloud in the sky

25th May 2020 11:35 am OK, I turned around and found one, but that was it for the day.

26th May 2020 8:48 am Morning fog burning off.

26th May 2020 2:55 pm Flying nice and low.

Project COVID Skies - Part 8

May 24, 2020 Geoffrey O'Hearn

Here we are another week down and another week closer to the easing of more restrictions. Social (or physical, really!) distancing is still imperative as restrictions get eased with more announced. In Victoria from the 1st June, we will be able to have gatherings of up to 20 people and pubs and cafe’s can open with limits of up to 20 people. The serving of alcohol will only be available to seated patrons.

The number of new cased as ticked along at a steady slow rate with most coming from known sources. High levels of testing will need to remain and the public really needs to take the advice to not go out if displaying even the mildest of symptoms of a cold or flu. The simple message is if not 100% well then stay home.

The easing of restrictions and the return of workers to office buildings will be one the biggest challenges in terms of keeping transmission low. There will be much higher risk as people travel more, spend more time in close proximity to others and use more shared touch points. The increase in people travelling to work and the return of students to school will pose many difficulties as capacity on public transport is reduced which will put greater strain on the road networks. As such, if you can work from home then you should still work from home.

The weather is cooling down more. We had a few nice days with a chill in the air and a few days with some rain including one 2:00 am storm that did some serious damage in the Melbourne area and hitting Geelong the hardest.

Project COVID Skies - Part 7

May 17, 2020 Geoffrey O'Hearn

Another week down and there have been a slight easing of restrictions. Victoria is still the strictest of the states. The trajectory of the number of new cases per day has been heading up due to a couple of clusters involving Cedar Meats and the Maccas at Fawkner which has spread to the Maccas at Craigieburn.

The easing of restrictions in Victoria, is to allow some recreational activities, including golf, fishing and tennis. Essentially solo or non-contact sports are OK. It is also now OK to visit family and friends with a maximum of 5 visitors at a time. Importantly social distancing must be maintained with at least a 1.5 meter space between yourself and others.

Other states are now allowing food venues to open to patrons but with a cap of 10 people. The amount of guests at a wedding and funeral has been doubled and 10 people at a time are allowed in a place of worship. The football codes now have their plans in place for the resumption of their seasons in June.

The weather has been cold this week but generally quite good with the end of the week providing cloudless sunny skies.

16th May 2:38 pm This was all that was in the sky all day long. The rest of the day was cloudless.

17th May 12:33 pm No breeze, no clouds and a nice 17ºC

Project COVID Skies - Part 6

May 10, 2020 Geoffrey O'Hearn

The weeks are ticking by steadily and the conversation from the government has now changed from staying at home to restarting the economy. In one corner you have some of the population keen as ever to get out and about and in the other corner you have the others wanting the restrictions to continue.

Today is mother’s day (Happy mother’s day to all mums who are, will be, have been and almost been, who have made so many sacrifices,) and whilst many people in Australia will be able to visit their mothers, in this state of Victoria that is still off the agenda. It shouldn’t matter if you can or can’t physically see your mum, there are many ways you can honour her.

The week that has been has seen an upswing in dissent and unease for the people wanting to get back out again. Australia’s numbers remain low and are mostly from a couple of known breakouts including Cedar Meats in Melbourne and Newmarch aged care facility in Sydney.

Victoria and New South Whales certainly have the highest numbers and the greatest risk. The other states are able to make a quicker progression to freedom. Whilst this can be frustrating for some Australians to see others can go to the beach or play golf when they can’t, it is something that should be expected in a country of such vast distance and differences.

The weather has been typical Melbourne, ie anything goes!!! There have been some really nice days and some bitterly cold and rainy days.

4th May 2020 8:11 am May the fourth be with you

5th May 2020 8:21 am. First fog of the year.

5th May 2020 10:01 am. The fog finally burning off.

7th May 2020 8:46 pm Last “super moon” of the year