Tips for enjoying your Australia Day

The City of Perth Australia Day Skyworks is the State’s biggest annual celebration.                                                                                            

The spotlight is on Perth as we celebrate our beautiful country with the biggest and best Australia Day event in the country.

With warm weather expected and activities running from 7am to 8.30pm, here are some tips for enjoying the day:

o Plan your journey: Transperth will be providing additional train and bus services for Skyworks and Skyworks coordinators encourage everyone to plan their journey to the City in advance by visiting www.transperth.wa.gov.au  

Also, due to unusually low tides, Transperth will be unable to operate the ferry services from the first trip in the morning till 12.30, therefore these Australia Day ferry services will be replaced by buses.

o Stay hydrated: While free drinking water tanks and food stands will be conveniently located throughout the Perth foreshore, please remember to keep up your water intake. Dehydration can lead to dizziness, nausea and other symptoms that might spoil your day.

o Bring a radio: Obviously, a radio will allow you to enjoy the simulcast fireworks display at the end of the day, but additionally, you’ll be able to get updates throughout the day on parking, road closures and other important news from City of Perth Skyworks partner MIX 94.5.

 A torch: Why let the pyrotechnicians have all the fun? Be part of the traditional torch ‘call and response’ from each of the main viewing areas and see why Perth is known as the City of Lights!

o Plan your day: Australia Day in the City is far greater than the 30 minute pyrotechnic display at 8pm. Catch the train in early and enjoy the range of free entertainment on offer. The Too Solid Indigenous Music Festival, the Youth Zone on Langley Park, the Criterium, the Family Zone on the Esplanade, the AIR BP Air Show and the Water Show are just some of the many highlights of the day. Visit the Australia Day program of the www.perth.wa.gov.au/skyworks  website for more information.

o Community spirit: The City of Perth Australia Day Skyworks is a major community event, with all of the presenters working closely with some unsung heroes – Fire and Emergency Services, Police, and the St John Ambulance first aid volunteers. Let’s make this a celebration to be proud of and get into the spirit of the day!

What not to bring:

o Alcohol: The City of Perth Skyworks is an alcohol-free event. The City of Perth fully supports the efforts of the Police and the Public Transport Authority to stop anti-social behaviour at the celebration by confiscating alcohol at the event.

o Bad behaviour: Although the vast majority of Skyworks patrons enjoy the celebrations without incident, the organisers believe that everyone should be able to enjoy the Australia Day celebrations in the way they are intended – as a community, and as proud Australians. All of the authorities involved with Skyworks support a “no tolerance” approach to anti-social behaviour during this major Australia Day celebration.

o Glass: Broken glass has been identified as a significant cause of injuries at previous Skyworks. Please do not bring glass bottles or containers – it is very hard to clean up all the pieces if they break, especially in grassy areas or in low-light conditions, and families with children will be sharing the public spaces with you.

 Furniture: Both the City of Perth and the City of South Perth have Special Event Local Laws which limit people from bringing couches, mattresses, fridges or other large objects into event areas. This does not apply to lightweight shade structures or other picnic equipment which can be easily carried by hand. These laws are designed for public safety and prevent illegal ‘dumping’ – please respect the beautiful environment of the areas around Perth Water.

http://perth.wa.gov.au/skyworks/

Source  :  http://www.cityofperth.wa.gov.au/web/Media-Centre/?article=363

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Two more swine flu cases in WA, Scotch College student ill

NEARLY 100 staff and students at WA’s exclusive Scotch College are being tested for swine flu after an 11-year-old boy fell ill with the virus.

Eleven-year-old Scotch College student, Harry, who returned from Melbourne on June 1, has tested positive for the H1N1 virus.

A 23-year-old woman, who returned from Melbourne on June 3, was also confirmed to have it.

Harry had flown to Melbourne with a youth football team and on returning to Perth went on a school music camp before developing symptoms.

He did not return to school after the camp because he was feeling sick.

“I had a really burning temperature,” Harry said yesterday from home quarantine.

“It was really hot. I was sweating.”

Harry’s mother, Jennifer, said: “It was a really big shock. If there was no talk of swine flu and no Melbourne issue I would have just thought it was the same old cold or flu he has had before.”

Eighty-nine students and 10 staff also on the Scotch College camp are being tested for the virus and anyone with flu-like symptoms is being urged to stay home.

Four teammates suffering “flu symptoms’

It is believed four other boys in Harry’s football team are suffering from flu-like symptoms.

Scotch College acting principal Peter Freitag said there were no immediate plans to close the school down.

“It would be very difficult to close the school,” he said.

“It’s a boarding school, we have 170 boarders.

“We wouldn’t want to close the school unless we have to.

“At this stage we’re not anywhere near that.”

However, Health Department’s communicable disease control director Paul Effler did not rule out temporarily closing the school if students on the music camp tested positive to swine flu and had since been to school.

WA flu tally reaches four

The Health Department confirmed that WA’s swine flu tally had reached four.

“We are contacting the students, parents and teachers who participated in these events with the young boy and the close contacts of the young woman,” Dr Effler said.

“The close contacts of the cases have been asked to remain in home quarantine and have been provided with anti-viral medication as a precaution.

“The school has been very co-operative in helping us reach students, families and staff in a timely manner.”

More than 1000 cases of swine flu have been confirmed in Australia, with the most in the eastern states.

On Thursday the Health Department issued a statement extending its voluntary quarantine policy for children who have recently travelled to areas affected by swine flu, including Victoria.

Dr Effler said there was no need for the public to panic because in most instances the swine-flu virus appeared to cause a relatively mild illness.

“I would encourage people to make sure they cover their nose and mouth if sneezing or coughing, to wash their hands frequently (and) most importantly, stay home if you are sick to limit the spread of the viruses in our community,” he said.

Dr Effler said people should continue to get their annual influenza vaccine, particularly people in vulnerable groups, including those aged over 65 and under five.

While the influenza vaccine won’t protect against the new strain of swine influenza, it will protect against serious illness caused by seasonal influenza.

If you think you have swine flu phone your doctor or call healthdirect Australia on 1800 022 222. For more information on swine flu visit 

Department of Health website  www.health.wa.gov.au

Source  www.news.com.au

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WA flu man cleared as cases top 400

WA’s only confirmed case of swine flu has been cleared after a week in quarantine, Ten News has reported, while the nation’s swine flu tally has passed 400.

The  man, who tested positive last week after going to hospital with mild flu symptoms, was in home quarantine with his wife and their eight children.

Australia’s Eastern States has been particularly hard-hit by the flu and Victoria has recorded a massive surge in cases, most of them children.
 
By this afternoon the number of confirmed cases in the State had risen to 306, a rise of 94 in 24 hours.

Most of the new cases in Victoria also involved young people aged five to 18, prompting a twelfth Victorian school to be closed today.
 
According to Federal Health Department figures, there were 64 confirmed cases in NSW, 18 in Queensland, six in South Australia, four in the ACT, and one each in Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
 
However, Queensland Health officials say the State now has 22 confirmed cases, the latest being teenage girls.
 
Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the Government was assessing whether to elevate the nation’s response to the disease from the contain to the sustain phase.
 
Victoria is already preparing to move into the sustain phase, under which quarantining is limited to those who share a home with a confirmed swine flu patient.
In the contain phase, anyone who has had contact with a swine flu patient is quarantined voluntarily and given antiviral drugs for a week.
 
The nation’s chief medical officer, Professor Jim Bishop, said the advice to people with flu-like symptoms may change as swine flu evolved.
 
At present, people who come down with flu-like symptoms, especially if they have recently travelled to an affected country, are being advised to seek medical advice.
 
Professor Bishop said in the future, fit and healthy people may be told to stay at home and only those in at-risk groups, including those with seek medical advice and asthma, will be advised to visit their GP.
 
“A lot of people that have these sorts of symptoms of course will, as this thing progresses, stay at home and not necessarily seek medical advice if in their own case it is a at-risk groups— and that we expect to see more of,” he said.
 
“As we move along in this marathon race, what we will need to do is obviously identify those people that we’re concerned about.
 
“If there is large numbers involved, we want to make sure the system is looking after people we most want to look after.”
 
The swine flu-affected ship Pacific Dawn docked in Sydney this morning after NSW Health authorities gave it the all-clear.
 

The P&O ship was forced to cut short its trip to the Barrier Reef last week when three crew tested positive for the virus.
 
A senior NSW Health doctor and 25 nurses boarded the ship in Brisbane on Saturday, testing all 2500 people on board during the two-day voyage to Sydney.
 
While disappointed the cruise didn’t go to plan, passengers said they still enjoyed the journey.
 
David Geers, from Brisbane, joked it was the perfect place to be quarantined for seven days.

 “If you had to be quarantined somewhere I couldn’t have thought of a better place … because we got fed, the drinks tasted the same and the staff were fantastic,” he told reporters at Darling Harbour.
 
More than 15,000 people in 53 countries have tested positive to swine flu, with deaths totalling 99.

Source www.thewest.com.au

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