COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria infection control manager stood down after allegedly breaching protocols

The head of infection control at the agency running Victoria's hotel quarantine program has been stood down after allegedly breaching their own protocols twice in the past two months.

Key points:

Matiu Bush has been stood down pending a review into their behaviour

In the first incident, the government says they refused to get tested at a quarantine hotel after a request by ADF personnel

In the second, they allegedly returned to a quarantine hotel after getting a coffee without changing their mask or sanitising

Minister for Government Services Danny Pearson said he became aware of the reports last night and had stood aside COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria's (CQV) general manager of infection prevention and control, Matiu Bush, pending a review into their conduct and behaviour.

"This issue with [Matiu] Bush goes more to [their] attitude and behaviour: there were infection control breaches, but they were of a very low level," Mr Pearson said.

"Public confidence is paramount, and I don't think the public would want to see someone in a senior leadership role continue to behave in this way, that's why [they have] been stood down."

The head of CQV, Emma Cassar, said the breaches were minor but disappointing.

She said the first incident involved Matiu Bush refusing to get tested at one quarantine hotel after a request by ADF personnel, but they were eventually tested at another site.

"[They] still met the requirement to have a daily test … but my understanding is the staff member did make comments about the fact [they] didn't need to be tested at that site," Ms Cassar said.

"We expect the highest standards from our staff, and this has fallen well short of that."

Another incident involved the infection control manager getting a coffee from a coffee shop and coming back to a quarantine hotel without changing their mask or sanitising.

Government stands by claim nebuliser sparked February outbreak

The leaked incident reports detailing the breaches were published in The Australian newspaper, which also published an internal report contradicting claims by the government that an outbreak at the Holiday Inn quarantine hotel in February was caused by a banned nebuliser.

Instead, the CQV infection control report said the "proposed working hypothesis" was that the leak was caused by a staff member who took an extended amount of time to swab a guest.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-05/victoria-covid-hotel-quarantine-infection-manager-stood-down/100116928

Biden Coronavirus Relief Prioritizes Funds for Non-White Business Owners

Restaurants and venues owned by white men will be last in line for federal relief under President Joe Biden’s “Restaurants Revitalization Fund” (RRF), prioritizing funds for women and minority groups first.

As part of Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the Small Business Administration (SBA) is opening the application process by which owners of restaurant, bars, and other venues can apply for federal relief to help make up for the loss of revenue as a result of economic lockdowns spurred by the Chinese coronavirus crisis.

The plan allows business owners to apply for relief of up to $10 million per business and no more than $5 million per physical location. Business owners do not have to repay the funds so long as the money is spent by March 2023.

The relief, though, is being prioritized based on race, gender, and whether or not business owners are considered “socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.” White men, for example, who are not Veterans of the United States Armed Forces, are not eligible for “priority period” processing and funding.

Under the guidelines of the RRF, the SBA is giving priority processing and funding to “small business owned by women, veterans, or socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.”

To be eligible, the business must be “at least 51 percent owned by one or more individuals who are women, veterans, or socially and economically disadvantaged and if the management and daily business operations of the applicant are controlled by one or more women, veterans, or socially and economically disadvantaged individual.”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/05/04/biden-coronavirus-relief-prioritizes-funds-for-non-white-business-owners/

Biden’s Stimulus Springs Leaks as March Trade Deficit Explodes to Highest Level Ever

The direct stimulus payments that hit bank accounts across the U.S. in March increased incomes by a record amount—but much of it found its way into foreign coffers, pushing the trade deficit up to the highest level on record.

The U.S. international trade deficit rose to a record $74.4 billion in March with more imports on the books than exports, the Commerce Department said in a report Tuesday.

Exports of goods and services through international trade for the month rose 6.6 percent to $200 billion compared to imports of goods and services (up 6.3 percent to $274.5 billion), the report said.

The reasons so much of the stimulus leaked out of the U.S. economy are straightforward. U.S. production was expanding but still restrained by pandemic restrictions in March and low tariff barriers mean that increases in consumer spending typically translate into higher imports. It’s likely that other countries where domestic demand is depressed by the pandemic are off-loading goods and services to the U.S.

PNC Senior Economist Bill Adams says demand for foreign-made goods was aided by $1,400 stimulus payments given out last month for pandemic relief.

“Stimulus has kept American consumers spending through the pandemic, but restrictions on high-contact industries have diverted consumer spending from domestically-produced services to goods, much of which are imported,” Adams wrote in Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly. “As the pandemic comes under control in the United States, American consumers will spend less on imported goods, shrinking imports; and foreigners will buy more U.S. exports as their economies recover further.”

The record deficit — the difference between what the United States buys from overseas and what it sells to other nations — represents a 58 percent increase from the same period a year ago and marks the highest deficit since the data series began in January 1992.

In March, imports increased most ($4.5 billion) in consumer goods, including textile apparel, furniture, household goods, toys, games, sporting goods and cellphones.

The March deficit was up about $4 billion from February and occurred amid widening gaps with China ($36.9 billion) and Mexico ($8.4 billion). The deficit with the European Union decreased more than $2 billion.

The United States recorded a $681 billion deficit for all of 2020, the largest yearly gap since 2008, largely because the near-economic collapse around the world due to the pandemic and restrictions severely depressed demand for U.S. goods and services.

https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2021/05/04/bidens-stimulus-springs-leaks-as-march-trade-deficit-explodes-to-highest-level-ever/

Facebook permanently removes LifeSiteNews’ page

Big Tech's censorship continues with the deplatforming of an information provider that goes against their beliefs and agenda regarding coronavirus vaccines.

In a quick series of notices and emails to LifeSiteNews’ marketing department, Facebook delivered the shocking news, accusing LifeSite of publishing “false information about COVID-19 that could contribute to physical harm.”

Facebook also said that they deplatform Facebook pages that publish “vaccine discouraging information on the platform.”

Facebook cited an article posted on April 10, 2021, headlined “COVID vaccines can be deadly for some.”

“Much like when LifeSite was removed from YouTube, this comes with little surprise,” noted LifeSiteNews Marketing Director Rebekah Roberts. “We have known this day was coming for months now.”

“Facebook has been silencing any voice that goes against their beliefs and agenda,” continued Roberts. “Our LifeSiteNews Facebook page has been removed simply because we have shared reports of doctors, nurses, expert researchers, and even the former Pfizer VP speaking out against the COVID shots. We’ve also been tagged for the numerous articles we have shared making the connection between the COVID shots, and really all vaccines, and aborted baby cell lines.”

“This all comes down to another case of Big Tech silencing free speech on their platform,” she added.

“At this time, I encourage those of you who are still on Facebook, Twitter, and other Big Tech platforms to continue sharing LifeSiteNews articles with your friends and family, please!” urged Roberts. “I also encourage you to follow us on these alternative platforms:”

Telegram: https://t.me/lifesitetelegram

Gab: https://gab.com/LifeSiteNews

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https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-facebook-permanently-bans-lifesitenews-page

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