Health by Elise Williams
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Subscriber only A Brisbane man who had returned from Melbourne in the peak of its months-long lockdown claims he was forced to catch a taxi on two occasions from hospital while in mandatory state imposed hotel quarantine - despite not yet returning a negative result to COVID-19. Joshua Walker, aged in his 20s, had been working in inner city Melbourne during the height of the country s COVID-19 pandemic in August - while the southern state had been thrust into hard lockdown after recording hundreds of coronavirus related deaths. The information comes to light as The Courier-Mail yesterday revealed a police investigation had been launched in relation to an alleged quarantine breach at a Gold Coast hotel.
An infectious disease physician is not worried about COVID-19 ‘vaccine hesitancy’ among health workers at his hospital, one of six named as vaccine hubs.
Mason had two daughters, Casey and Taylor O’Brien-Smith, with same-sex couple Chris O’Brien-Smith and Meegan O’Brien. His sister, Cassandra Staps, remembered him as a “soft-natured soul” who enjoyed losing himself in a good book.
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Family and friends carried the coffin into the Christchurch chapel before a heartfelt memorial service was held. He was an “amazing swimmer”, an “incredible dancer” and loved the outdoors, she said. The eldest of five siblings, Mason initially trained as a hairdresser and would cut the hair of friends and family. He enrolled in Christchurch Polytechnic in 1993 to fulfil his “lifelong dream” of becoming a nurse and began an internship at Waikato Hospital in 1996.
At least 222 frontline health and care workers have been identified after dying with coronavirus.
Through tributes from loved ones and confirmation through sources such as local NHS trusts and other authorities, the PA news agency has confirmed the names of health and social care workers who have died after contracting Covid-19 since March 11 2020.
This chronological list contains people who were working in roles shortly before their deaths where they were likely to come into contact with patients.
The figure is likely to be lower than the true number of workers who have died, as the names of some victims will not yet be in the public domain.