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Post by ndgradbuthcfan on Jan 5, 2022 18:03:09 GMT -5
Novak won't be defending his Australian Open title, apparently, as his Covid medical exemption visa was cancelled by Australian officials shortly after he arrived in that country. I am a tennis nut and enjoy watching him (he is probably the greatest ever) but I also am in favor of rules being applied equally to all.
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Post by sader1970 on Jan 5, 2022 18:07:07 GMT -5
I have not been following this story closely but saw he initially got a Covid waiver but never saw how he qualified for that and what that actually meant. My impression was this was a version of Aaron Rogers
So, why did they give it at first and then why did they reverse course?
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Post by bfoley82 on Jan 5, 2022 18:20:23 GMT -5
I have not been following this story closely but saw he initially got a Covid waiver but never saw how he qualified for that and what that actually meant. My impression was this was a version of Aaron Rogers So, why did they give it at first and then why did they reverse course? Here is the AP article BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Novak Djokovic was denied entry into Australia and had his visa canceled after arriving in Melbourne late Wednesday to defend his title at the season-opening tennis major. The Australian Border Force issued a statement early Thursday local time saying Djokovic failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet entry requirements and “has visa has been subsequently canceled.” The top-ranked Djokovic flew in after receiving a medical exemption from the strict coronavirus vaccination requirements in place for the Australian Open, where he is a nine-time winner. Australian media reported that Djokovic’s team had applied for the wrong type of visa for a person with a medical exemption. Djokovic’s lawyers are expected to appeal the decision, which came after the 20-time major winner had to spend more than eight hours at the at Melbourne Tullamarine Airport waiting to find out if he would be allowed into the country. Djokovic’s father, Srdjan Djokovic, told the B92 internet portal that his son was held “in a room which no one can enter” at the airport, guarded by two policemen. Djokovic’s participation in the Australian Open has become a hot political topic, with many Australians furious that he was granted an exemption to enter the country. Meanwhile, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Instagram that spoke to Djokovic while he was being held at the airport, and added that Serbian authorities were taking measures “so the harassment of the best tennis player in the world be stopped in the shortest possible time.” Speculation of a possible issue with the visa emerged while Djokovic was in transit and escalated with mixed messages from federal and state lawmakers. Djokovic’s revelation on social media that he was heading to Australia seeking a record 21st major title sparked some debate and plenty of headlines on Wednesday, with critics questioning what grounds he could have for the exemption and backers arguing he has a right to privacy and freedom of choice. Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley defended the “completely legitimate application and process” and insisted there was no special treatment for Djokovic. The Victoria state government-mandated that only fully vaccinated players, staff, fans and officials could enter Melbourne Park when the tournament starts on Jan. 17. Only 26 people connected with the tournament applied for a medical exemption and, Tiley said, only a “handful” were granted. Among the reasons allowed for those applying for a vaccination exemption can include acute major medical conditions, serious adverse reaction to a previous dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, or evidence of a COVID-19 infection within the previous six months. Djokovic tested positive for the coronavirus in June 2020 after he played in a series of exhibition matches that he organized in Serbia and Croatia without social distancing amid the pandemic. Concerns about Djokovic’s visa status took a while to circulate. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison initially said the medical exemption decision was a matter for the government of Victoria, where Melbourne is the state capital. “They have provided (Djokovic) with an exemption to come to Australia, and so we then act in accordance with that,” Morrison said. “States provide exemptions for people to enter on those basis, and that’s been happening for the last two years.” Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews then clarified the border process. “While the Victorian government and Tennis Australia may permit a non-vaccinated player to compete in the Australian Open, it is the Commonwealth government that will enforce our requirements at the Australian border,” Andrews said. “If an arriving individual is not vaccinated, they must provide acceptable proof that they cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons to be able to access the same travel arrangement as fully vaccinated travelers.” When asked again about Djokovic’s case, Morrison added: “If that evidence is insufficient, then he won’t be treated any different to anyone else and he’ll be on the next plane home.” “And so if medical exemptions had been provided by medical professionals and that’s been furnished to him as a proviso for him to get on that plane, well, that will have to stack up when he arrives in Australia,” the prime minister said.
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Post by longsuffering on Jan 5, 2022 19:05:52 GMT -5
No waltzing with Mathilda this year Novak. Next major is at Roland Garros. I wonder if the French will have the same backbone as the Aussies.
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Jan 5, 2022 19:40:24 GMT -5
once a great country, Australia has devolved into insanity
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Post by Tom on Jan 5, 2022 21:51:27 GMT -5
Shame on Djokovic.
It sounds like he got a waiver to play in the tournament and never thought about non-tournament requirements. This isn't that unusual. Toronto Blue Jays played a bunch of homes games in the USA because of issues crossing national borders. Last season, the NHL had a Canadian division and American.
Not going into the merits of the policy, but if you're going to make these rules, you might as well enforce them
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Post by bfoley82 on Jan 5, 2022 22:56:12 GMT -5
Shame on Djokovic. It sounds like he got a waiver to play in the tournament and never thought about non-tournament requirements. This isn't that unusual. Toronto Blue Jays played a bunch of homes games in the USA because of issues crossing national borders. Last season, the NHL had a Canadian division and American. Not going into the merits of the policy, but if you're going to make these rules, you might as well enforce them Seems like he didn't fit the exceptions to the COVID vaccine to get that VISA.
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Post by hchoops on Jan 5, 2022 23:49:14 GMT -5
once a great country, Australia has devolved into insanity Australia’s democracy is applying the rules to all in order to keep the citizenry safe amidst a pandemic. (apologize for the political response to a political post)
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Jan 6, 2022 0:47:04 GMT -5
The "insanity" judgment is not based on the Djokovic incident but on the Draconian measures the government has employed over the past year or so.
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Post by longsuffering on Jan 6, 2022 1:28:52 GMT -5
Australia deaths from Covid: 2302 US deaths from Covid: 853,612
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Post by sader1970 on Jan 6, 2022 5:54:29 GMT -5
I 💜 Australia!
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Post by hcpride on Jan 6, 2022 7:39:03 GMT -5
The "insanity" judgment is not based on the Djokovic incident but on the Draconian measures the government has employed over the past year or so. I’m not sure of the science (if there is any) regarding the current Australian Covid craziness but it seems an absurd situation right now (apparently he’s being kept under armed guard at an Australian detention facility while Australia works to deport him). Calls for a boycott
Across Melbourne, one of the world's most locked-down cities in 2021, tennis fans took to social media posting calls for an Australian Open "boycott."
The backlash against the exemption comes after Melbourne residents spent more than 260 days confined to their homes, forbidden to leave except to buy groceries or other essential items, mostly in two long stretches from July to October, 2020 and August to October, 2021. amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/01/05/tennis/novak-djokovic-australia-open-visa-spt-intl/index.html
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Jan 6, 2022 8:56:33 GMT -5
Absolute lunacy.
Next thing you know, the next time an unvaccinated leaves their home, he/she will be required to wear a patch to let others know their lack of vaccination.
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Post by hcpride on Jan 6, 2022 9:16:37 GMT -5
/\Ganz genau. I think Australia’s ‘Kein Covid’ plan has sprung a leak (which may or may not account for the Djokovic debacle): SYDNEY, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Fuelled by the highly transmissible Omicron variant, Australia's daily coronavirus infections soared to a fresh peak on Thursday, overwhelming hospitals, while isolation rules caused labour shortages, putting a strain on businesses and supply chains.
With Thursday's count still incomplete, Australia so far has reported 72,392 new infections easily exceeding the high of 64,774 set a day earlier. Western Australia is due to post its new cases later.
Having successfully kept a lid in its COVID-19 caseload through aggressive lockdowns earlier in the pandemic, Australia is now suffering infections rates far higher than elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, and some epidemiologists in the country predict that the worst is yet to come.
On Thursday, the government cancelled Novak Djokovic's visa to pacify public anger over the decision to give the world tennis number one a medical exemption from vaccination to play at the Australian Open.www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-suffers-record-covid-cases-straining-businesses-supply-chains-2022-01-06/
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Post by ndgradbuthcfan on Jan 6, 2022 10:42:05 GMT -5
Absolute lunacy. Next thing you know, the next time an unvaccinated leaves their home, he/she will be required to wear a patch to let others know their lack of vaccination. A perfect example of a comment that should not be dignified with a response.
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Post by hcpride on Jan 10, 2022 1:49:42 GMT -5
Djokovic’s visa was restored. While the scientific grounds for his recent visa cancellation were always elusive (to the extent that matters in the Age of Covid) it seems the legal grounds were too: CNN: Judge Anthony Kelly has quashed the government's decision to cancel his visa and ordered Djokovic to be released within 30 minutes of the decision. The respondent -- in this case, the Ministry of Home Affairs -- must pay Djokovic's costs as agreed or assessed, the order added. All his belongings, including his passport, must be returned to him "as soon as reasonably practicable." www.cnn.com/asia/live-news/djokovic-australia-hearing-live-intl-hnk/h_67fd1dac24ff4343e0c1c39c432a93bb
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Post by nhteamer on Jan 10, 2022 8:07:26 GMT -5
In a healthy person when one has has an infectious disease and lives one has antibodies to that antigen; it is the ultimate vaccine.
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Post by alum on Jan 10, 2022 8:43:00 GMT -5
The whole thing is a mess. They can't decide what the rules are how to enforce them. According to the article in the Times, the judge had concerns about what we would call due process. A law professsor in Australia said this: It’s a dog’s breakfast,” said Mary Crock, a law professor at the University of Sydney. “The rules are changing all the time, no one knows which rules apply, that’s the essence of this. You’ve got a massive conflict between the migration law, the biosecurity law, state decision makers and the federal government, and everything is in conflict.”
This doesn't change the fact that Djovovic either lied about testing positive in December or went out in public unmasked the day after he tested positive. www.nytimes.com/2022/01/09/sports/tennis/novak-djokovic-australian-open-vaccine.htmlLove the "dog's breakfast" idiom.
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Post by longsuffering on Jan 10, 2022 8:51:26 GMT -5
The dJoker is slick. This episode also showed the complexity of refugee law with the long term residents of the hotel/prison. With waves of climate refugees projected it isn't going to get simpler.
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Post by hcpride on Jan 10, 2022 9:04:30 GMT -5
The whole thing is a mess. They can't decide what the rules are how to enforce them. According to the article in the Times, the judge had concerns about what we would call due process. A law professsor in Australia said this: It’s a dog’s breakfast,” said Mary Crock, a law professor at the University of Sydney. “The rules are changing all the time, no one knows which rules apply, that’s the essence of this. You’ve got a massive conflict between the migration law, the biosecurity law, state decision makers and the federal government, and everything is in conflict.”
This doesn't change the fact that Djovovic either lied about testing positive in December or went out in public unmasked the day after he tested positive. www.nytimes.com/2022/01/09/sports/tennis/novak-djokovic-australian-open-vaccine.htmlLove the "dog's breakfast" idiom. I do like that expression. At the same time I notice Ms. Crock (BTW a fitting name for this mess) did not refer to science in listing all the conflicting rules. One suspects science has long left this convoluted situation. (Nobody in Australia seems to be claiming that Djokovich poses a specific threat to the good people down under. Australia’s had 500,000 folks test positive for Covid in just the last week -none as a result of Djokovich. It would be nice if Covid - related laws were based on realistic concerns.)
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Post by sader1970 on Jan 10, 2022 9:19:22 GMT -5
The Aussies are perhaps the most entertaining people on earth (next to the Irish😉😂). Yeah, loved “dog’s breakfast” and never heard that when Down Under.
BTW, Tasmanian Devils are actually pretty cute - just don’t pet them.
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Post by bfoley82 on Jan 10, 2022 11:04:36 GMT -5
The whole thing is a mess. They can't decide what the rules are how to enforce them. According to the article in the Times, the judge had concerns about what we would call due process. A law professsor in Australia said this: It’s a dog’s breakfast,” said Mary Crock, a law professor at the University of Sydney. “The rules are changing all the time, no one knows which rules apply, that’s the essence of this. You’ve got a massive conflict between the migration law, the biosecurity law, state decision makers and the federal government, and everything is in conflict.”
This doesn't change the fact that Djovovic either lied about testing positive in December or went out in public unmasked the day after he tested positive. www.nytimes.com/2022/01/09/sports/tennis/novak-djokovic-australian-open-vaccine.htmlLove the "dog's breakfast" idiom. I read last night they might take away his visa again (some other way)....stay tuned as they already booted a Czech doubles player and an official for the Aussie Open over the same rule.
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Post by Tom on Jan 10, 2022 12:54:18 GMT -5
So. . . if the rule restricting people from going there was not done by due process, does that mean Australia is now wide open?
I hope so. In general, I am opposed to making special exceptions to rules for athletes or other famous people
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Post by hcpride on Jan 10, 2022 15:44:02 GMT -5
So. . . if the rule restricting people from going there was not done by due process, does that mean Australia is now wide open? I hope so. In general, I am opposed to making special exceptions to rules for athletes or other famous people While “Rules for thee but not for me” has been a particularly loathsome hallmark of Covid response and mandates, the judge in the hearing clearly indicated Djokovich had been denied due process (as a threshold matter).
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Post by longsuffering on Jan 10, 2022 19:32:58 GMT -5
And then the deficit was twelve.
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