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Should we still be using RATs to test for COVID? 4 key questions answered

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hassan-vally-202904">Hassan Vally</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a> We’re currently navigating <a href="https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/life/health/2023/11/15/covid-australia-eighth-wave">an eighth wave</a> of <a href="https://theconversation.com/were-in-a-new-covid-wave-what-can-we-expect-this-time-216820">COVID infections</a> in Australia. However the threat COVID poses to us is significantly less than it has ever been, thanks to immunity we’ve acquired through <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(22)00801-5/fulltext">a combination</a> of prior infection and vaccination. That said, COVID is by no means behind us. The threat of severe illness remains higher for many people, and we’re all potentially at risk of developing <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/topics/covid-19/long-covid">long COVID</a>. While many people appear to be doing fewer rapid antigen tests (RATs) than they used to – if any at all – with rising cases, and as we head towards the festive season, testing continues to be important. So what do you need to know about testing in this wave? Here are four key questions answered. <h2>1. When should I do a RAT?</h2> There are a few situations where determining your COVID status is important to inform your actions, particularly during an uptick in infections. With more circulating virus, your index of suspicion that you have COVID if you’re experiencing cold-like symptoms should be higher. RATs work best when they’re used to confirm whether you have COVID when you <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/products/covid-19/covid-19-tests/how-testing-works-covid-19">have respiratory symptoms</a> and are infectious. So the primary use of RATs should be to determine your COVID status when you’re sick. A positive test should prompt you to isolate, and if you’re eligible, to seek antivirals. Testing might also be worthwhile if you’ve come into contact with someone with COVID but you haven’t developed symptoms. If you find you have in fact contracted the virus, you can take steps to avoid spreading it to other people (you can infect others even <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/what-is-asymptomatic-covid#prevalence">when you’re asymptomatic</a>). This is especially important if you’re going to be socialising in large groups or in contact with people who are vulnerable. Another situation in which to consider testing, particularly at this time of year, is before attending large social gatherings. While the reliability of a RAT is never perfect, do the test as close to the event as possible, because your disease status <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/omicron-rapid-test-hour-before-party-not-day-before-expert-2021-12">can change quickly</a>. <h2>2. Should I test multiple times?</h2> Yes. RATs are not as sensitive as PCR tests, which is the trade-off we make for being able to do this test at home and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/public-health-officials-pursue-covid-19-tests-that-trade-precision-for-speed-11599562800">getting a rapid result</a>. This means that while if you test positive with a RAT you can be very confident you have COVID, if you test negative, you cannot be as confident that you don’t have COVID. That is, the test may give you a false negative result. Although RATs from different manufacturers have different accuracies, all RATs approved by Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration must have a sensitivity of <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/products/covid-19/covid-19-tests/covid-19-rapid-antigen-self-tests-home-use/covid-19-rapid-antigen-self-tests-are-approved-australia#:%7E:text=For%20rapid%20antigen%20tests%2C%20this,specificity%20of%20at%20least%2098%25.">at least 80%</a>. The way to increase your confidence in a negative result is to do multiple RATs serially – each negative test increases the confidence you can have that you don’t have COVID. If you have symptoms and have tested negative after your first RAT, <a href="https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/safety-communications/home-covid-19-antigen-tests-take-steps-reduce-your-risk-false-negative-results-fda-safety">the advice</a> is to repeat the test after 48 hours, and potentially a third time after another 48 hours if the second test is also negative. <h2>3. Do RATs detect the latest variants?</h2> Since RATs <a href="https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/covid-19/testing#:%7E:text=Rapid%20antigen%20tests%2C%20or%20RATs,of%20proteins%20of%20the%20virus.">detect particular surface proteins</a> on SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID), it’s theoretically possible that as the virus evolves, the reliability of these tests may be affected. However, RATs were designed to detect a part of the virus that is not as likely to mutate, so the hope is these tests <a href="https://www.health.com/do-covid-tests-work-new-variants-7967102">will continue to hold up</a> as SARS-CoV-2 evolves. The performance of RATs is continually being assessed by manufacturers. So far, there’s been no change reported in the ability of these tests to <a href="https://www.ama.com.au/articles/tga-updated-advice-rats-nearing-expiry-and-rats-efficacy-current-strains#:%7E:text=The%20TGA%20has%20received%20evidence,19%20RAT%20post%2Dmarket%20review.">detect the latest variants</a>. <h2>4. Can I rely on expired RATs?</h2> At this point in the pandemic, you might have a few expired tests at the back of your cupboard. Technically the most appropriate advice is to say you should never use a diagnostic test <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/products/covid-19/covid-19-tests/covid-19-rapid-antigen-self-tests-home-use/covid-19-rapid-antigen-self-tests-are-approved-australia">past its expiry date</a>. As a general principle the performance of a test cannot be guaranteed beyond this date. The risk is that over time the components of the RAT degrade and if you use a test that’s not working optimally, it’s more likely to indicate <a href="https://www.health.com/can-you-use-expired-covid-test-6827970">you don’t have COVID</a> when you actually do, which may have consequences. However, as for all things COVID, the answer is not so black and white. Since these tests were new when they were introduced earlier in the pandemic, manufacturers didn’t have specific data on their performance over time, and so the expiry dates given were necessarily conservative. It’s likely these tests will work beyond the expiry dates on the packet, but just how long and how well they work is a bit of an unknown, so we need to be cautious. The other thing to consider is ensuring you store RATs correctly. Storage instructions should be found on the packet, but the key issue is making sure they’re not exposed to extreme temperatures. In particular, <a href="https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/how-to-properly-store-your-at-home-covid-19-rapid-antigen-tests-c-5465412">high temperatures</a> may damage the chemicals in the test which may reduce its sensitivity. <h2>The path from here</h2> Regular upticks in COVID cases are something we’re going to have to get used to. At these times, we should all be a bit more cautious about looking after ourselves and others as we go about our lives. What this looks like will vary for different people depending on their personal circumstances. However, being up to date with <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-the-new-covid-booster-vaccines-can-i-get-one-do-they-work-are-they-safe-217804">booster vaccinations</a>, having a plan for <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/topics/covid-19/oral-treatments">accessing antivirals</a> if you’re eligible, <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-covid-surging-should-i-wear-a-mask-217902">wearing masks</a> in high-risk settings and testing all continue to play an important role in responding to COVID.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218016/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hassan-vally-202904">Hassan Vally</a>, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-we-still-be-using-rats-to-test-for-covid-4-key-questions-answered-218016">original article</a>.

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Is my RAT actually working? How to tell if your COVID test can detect Omicron

You’ve tested negative for COVID using a rapid antigen test (RAT), but are a close contact of a positive family member and have symptoms. So you might be wondering if you’re really COVID-negative or if the test is working as well as it should. There are many reasons why your RAT may not give you <a href="https://theconversation.com/15-things-not-to-do-when-using-a-rapid-antigen-test-from-storing-in-the-freezer-to-sampling-snot-176364">the results</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/my-rats-are-negative-but-i-still-think-i-might-have-covid-should-i-get-a-pcr-test-194527">you expect</a>. But one factor is whether RATs can detect the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID). We know the virus has mutated during the pandemic. So health authorities and researchers are investigating whether RATs can still detect the <a href="https://www.who.int/activities/tracking-SARS-CoV-2-variants">more recent versions</a> of the virus. The good news is, based on the <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-10/post-market-review-of-antigen-and-rapid-antigen-tests-table.pdf">limited data released</a>, all RATs meant for use at home in Australia that have been independently tested so far seem to be able to detect Omicron. The bad news is that not all RATs have been independently tested yet. Yours might be one of those. <h2>What do mutations have to do with RATs?</h2> RATs diagnose COVID infection by detecting specific viral proteins. So there are concerns that as the virus evolves and produces altered viral proteins, this may affect the tests’ ability to diagnose COVID as well as they detected previous variants. Whether RATs can adequately detect Omicron has been raised by authorities and researchers in various countries including <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj-2022-071215">The Netherlands</a>, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35458384/">Belgium</a> and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36339133/">Chile</a>, as well as Australia. One <a href="https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jcm.01097-22">Australian study</a> tested six RATs on Delta, and Omicron lineages BA.4, BA.5 and BA.2.75. The researchers found the kits performed equally well across the different samples at higher viral loads (higher concentrations of the virus), although one kit’s overall sensitivity fell below minimum sensitivity requirements. However, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36339133/">some international studies</a> have found RATs are less able to detect Omicron, particularly when <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36339133/">viral loads are lower</a>. <h2>So what’s the case in Australia?</h2> Australia’s regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), initially relied on <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/products/covid-19/covid-19-tests/post-market-review-antigen-and-rapid-antigen-tests">test data</a> provided by RAT manufacturers to determine the test kit met World Health Organization <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/technical-specifications-for-selection-of-essential-in-vitro-diagnostics-for-sars-cov-2">standards</a> for acceptable sensitivity (ability to detect a positive case). The TGA also requires manufacturers to send updated test data as new variants arise to demonstrate their test still meets those WHO standards. But the TGA has also commissioned <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/products/covid-19/covid-19-tests/post-market-review-antigen-and-rapid-antigen-tests">independent testing of RATs</a> to verify how well they detect the more recent COVID variants. They are tested for their ability to detect the wild-type virus (the original strain), the Delta variant, and the Omicron variant. The TGA does not state which specific lineages (descendents) of Omicron are included in the testing. As it completes its analysis on individual tests (or groups of tests), the TGA reports them in a <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-10/post-market-review-of-antigen-and-rapid-antigen-tests-table.pdf">table that’s publicly available</a>, which will be updated as more data come in. <h2>What does the table tell us?</h2> You can look up the brand name, manufacturer and batch number of the RAT you have at home. Look for those labelled “self-tests” (more on the different types of tests and their results later). The most important columns in the table are those that indicate whether the kit passed its independent validation. Look for four ticks to indicate the kit meets minimum standards for detecting the original virus, Delta and Omicron variants, and has passed the quality test. A cross indicates is has not passed that component of the validation. Haven’t found a result for your RAT? If a product comes in two versions – a self-test and a type of test used in health-care facilities known as a point-of-care test (POCT in the table) – only one may be tested. If that’s the case, the symbol † means testing was only done on one version and you can use those results for your test. Look for a matching registration number to make sure you’re comparing like with like. The final column indicates what type of data the manufacturer has provided. Some manufacturers have tested the sensitivity of their kits for Omicron lineages BA.4 and BA.5. <h2>What does the table not tell us?</h2> Just because your test has no ticks or crosses against it, this doesn’t mean it can’t detect Omicron. It could be that the independent validation has yet to be completed or uploaded to the table. So the jury is out. The table also does not tell us what lineages of Omicron were tested for, although in some cases the manufacturer has supplied clinical test data. The table data were only current as of October. Seeing as the number of cases of sub-variant infections <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-can-we-expect-from-this-latest-covid-wave-and-how-long-is-it-likely-to-last-194444">has risen since then</a>, so we don’t really know if that is impacting on the sensitivity of even those tests that have recently been validated. <h2>I’ve grappled with the table, now what?</h2> If your brand of RAT has the ticks, particularly for Omicron, it has been assessed has having an acceptable sensitivity. If you are buying a RAT, check the table to see if that brand has been tested for sensitivity to the Omicron variant. If your test has been sitting in a cupboard for months, check the expiry date before you use it. Also consider whether it has been stored at the correct temperature during that time (the instruction leaflet will tell you what that is). Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-my-rat-actually-working-how-to-tell-if-your-covid-test-can-detect-omicron-196210" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

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COVID-19 virus-detecting mask can alert of exposure via your smartphone

Move over <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/covid/rise-of-rapid-antigen-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">inaccurate RATs</a>. Get out of my nose and throat PCR swab tests. There’s a new method of COVID-19 detection and it’s wearable. A research team from Tongji University in China, has created a face mask that can detect COVID-19 (as well as other common respiratory viruses such as colds and influenza) and send an alert to your smartphone. The mask is highly sensitive, with the inbuilt sensor able to detect the virus <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/lets-clear-the-air-on-ventilation-cosmos-weekly-taster/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in the air</a> after only ten minute’s exposure at extremely low concentrations – far less than produced by sneezing, coughing or talking. “Previous research has shown face mask wearing can reduce the risk of spreading and contracting the disease. So, we wanted to create a mask that can detect the presence of virus in the air and alert the wearer,” says Yin Fang, an author of the study and a material scientist at Shanghai Tongji University. <div class="newsletter-box"> <div id="wpcf7-f6-p214217-o1" class="wpcf7" dir="ltr" lang="en-US" role="form"> </div> </div> The sensor on the mask has tiny synthetic molecules – called ‘aptamers’ – which are able to be tweaked to detect proteins unique to specific pathogens, such as SARS-Cov-2, H5N1 (colloquially known as ‘bird flu’) and H1N1 (‘swine flu’). Once the aptamer detects the virus, the sensor amplifies the signal via a specialised component known as an <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344400852_Ion-Gated_Transistor_An_Enabler_for_Sensing_and_Computing_Integration" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ion-gate transistor</a> (which is highly sensitive and able to detect very low voltage signals) and sends an alert to the user’s phone. “Our mask would work really well in spaces with poor ventilation, such as elevators or enclosed rooms, where the <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/covid-ventilation-standards/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">risk of getting infected is high</a>,” Fang says. The device is also highly customisable and can be swiftly modified to detect new and emerging threats. This is not the first time <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/smart-masks-to-detect-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">‘smart masks’ have been created</a> to detect COVID-19, but what sets these devices apart is their sensitivity and ‘tunability’ to different viruses. The team is working on reducing the detection time and increasing the sensitivity of their devices. In the future, they hope the technology could be expanded to further applications and wearables for other conditions such as cancers and heart diseases. “Currently, doctors have been relying heavily on their experiences in diagnosing and treating diseases. But with richer data collected by wearable devices, disease diagnosis and treatment can become more precise,” Fang says. <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=214217&title=COVID-19+virus-detecting+mask+can+alert+of+exposure+via+your+smartphone" width="1" height="1" /> <div id="contributors"> <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/covid-19-detecting-mask-smartphone/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/clare-kenyon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Clare Kenyon</a>. Clare Kenyon is a science journalist for Cosmos. An ex-high school teacher, she is currently wrangling the death throes of her PhD in astrophysics, has a Masters in astronomy and another in education. Clare also has diplomas in music and criminology and a graduate certificate of leadership and learning. Image: Getty Images </div>

Technology

One of Australia’s last surviving ‘Rats of Tobruk’ passes away aged 102

Dennis Davis, a World War II veteran and one of Australia’s last surviving ‘Rats of Tobruk’ has passed away aged 102. Mr Davis was one of 14,000 diggers who held out against German and Italian forces in the 241-day siege on Libya’s Tobruk port in 1941. The Aussie soldiers, along with another 5,000 allied soldiers, were dubbed the ‘Rats of Tobruk’ for their efforts over the eight-month campaign. After falling ill in the days before Anzac Day this year, Mr Davis secured a leave pass from the hospital so that he could still attend an Anzac ceremony at Sydney’s Town Hall, where he laid a wreath in honour of his fellow veterans. “It was harder to get out of the hospital than it was to get out of the army,” he joked to his family, according to the Australian Remembrance Foundation. During Channel 7’s ‘Lest We Forget’ concert tribute to the ANZACs earlier this year, Mr Davis was the subject of a Veteran’s Tribute, before he laid the wreath at the Town Hall Anzac Day service. <iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oaq3RS9Rffk?start=904&end=1174" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> On Monday, August 15, Mr Davis attended a ceremony at the cenotaph in Sydney’s Martin Place with fellow veterans to mark the 77th Victory in the Pacific Day. The foundation announced Mr Davis’ passing on Thursday, August 18, as reported by the AAP. <a href="https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/stories-service/veterans-stories/dennis-daviss-story" target="_blank" rel="noopener">His story</a> is also included in the Department of Veterans’ Affairs stories of service program, which shares the experiences of veterans to support education in Australia’s military history. After migrating from London to Australia, Mr Davis enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1940, serving in the Middle East, New Guinea and Borneo during WWII. Following his involvement in the Seige of Tobruk and battles at El Alamein, Mr Davis was sent to serve in a newly formed ski unit. On his return to Australia, he married his fiancé Margaret before departing again to serve in New Guinea and Borneo. Mr Davis was finally discharged in November 1945 and returned to his job at the tax office. He was married to Margaret for 61 years before she passed away in 2004, and they are both survived by two children, seven grandchildren, and 20 great-grandchildren. Image: Veterans’ Foundation (Facebook)

Caring

Could your phone replace your RAT?

A new smartphone app could replace Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) by detecting whether you have COVID-19 or not based on one telling symptom - the sound of your cough. ResApp, a digital health company based in Brisbane, <a href="https://www.resapphealth.com.au/resapp-announces-positive-results-for-a-new-novel-smartphone-based-covid-19-screening-test/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> in late March that its new screening test, which you take with your smartphone, had successfully detected the virus in 92 percent of people who were infected. The promising results come from the company’s pilot clinical trial of its machine learning technology, which analysed coughing sounds from 741 patients, including 446 who were confirmed to be infected with Covid using RATs. It was also found that the technology could correctly identify eighty percent of those who didn’t have the virus as being negative. However, the technology will still need to be tested in double-blind clinical trials and successfully pass through the process for regulatory approval before it hits the shelves, per <a href="https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/could-ai-replace-the-rat-covid-patients-are-coughing-into-their-smartphones-to-find-out-c-6235219" target="_blank" rel="noopener">7News</a>. Dr Lucy Morgan, the Chair of the Lung Foundation Australia and a professor of respiratory medicine, told 7News the technology could be a promising alternative to RATs. “What’s so exciting about this pilot project, a relatively small project, is that this app has been able to predict that a cough is due to COVID-19 at a very, very high rate,” she said. But, Dr Morgan stressed that it still wouldn’t replace the technology currently used to diagnose COVID-19. “It’s not a diagnosis. It’s not a blood test, it’s not a PCR test, it’s not a RAT test. It’s coughing into your phone and predicting,” she explained. This isn’t the first time scientists have turned to our smartphones to diagnose Covid either. In January, a <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/entertainment/technology/what-if-your-phone-could-tell-you-if-you-had-covid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">team of US researchers</a> published a paper detailing how they developed an inexpensive testing kit. Using a similar method to PCR tests to make copies of DNA in a saliva sample, the test then uses your smartphone camera and an app to detect whether any DNA from the virus is present. Meanwhile, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have been training their own Artificial Intelligence (AI) using a database of over 5000 forced coughs. They <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34812418/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> that over 98 percent of Covid-positive samples were correctly identified by the AI, and that more than 94 percent of those without Covid were correctly identified as being Covid-negative (known as specificity). Their findings were even more promising with asymptomatic subjects, with 100 percent of Covid-positive subjects being correctly identified (known as sensitivity). In comparison, the trial of the new ResApp technology used significantly fewer subjects, but Dr Morgan said there was no reason the results could be replicated in a trial with a larger sample size. However, she noted that it’s unknown whether having underlying illnesses, such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), could affect how sensitive the test actually is. “How do we know the cough for a person who has background lung disease is going to be as sensitively detected to have Covid as someone who was previously well and then develops a cough?” she said. Though this and other questions are still unanswered, the numerous tests required before the technology can be approved are sure to resolve at least some. Image: Getty Images

Technology

Senator claims dog tested positive to Covid in Australian first

Northern Territory Senator and former veterinarian Sam McMahon says a dog in Darwin has tested positive for COVID-19 via a rapid antigen test.Senator McMahon conducted two telehealth appointments with the symptomatic pooch and believes the positive result marks the first case of its kind in Australia.“It’s quite an unusual case … the dog appears to have contracted Covid from its owner,” Senator McMahon told ABC Radio Darwin.However, animal virus expert Dr Farhid Hemmatzadeh said the tests were not accurate or reliable enough to test dogs - or any other species besides humans.“[From] a scientific point of view, the [rapid antigen test] hasn’t been validated for use in any other animal species except humans,” Dr Hemmatzadeh told the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-16/dog-diagnosed-with-covid-by-federal-senator-sam-mcmahon/100830230" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ABC</a>.“Of course, the test detects the COVID-19 viral antigen, but regarding all unevaluated materials in dog nasal cavity, the results are not reliable as a valid test in dogs.”Although cases of dogs contracting the virus that causes COVID-19 have been <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11357-021-00444-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recorded </a>elsewhere in the world, it is understood that there have been no recorded cases of Covid in dogs in Australia until now.The symptomatic dog, a three-year-old crossbreed, developed a “loud cough” after its owner tested positive to Covid.“They called me because their dog - which is young, healthy and fully vaccinated with routine canine vaccinations - was suddenly coughing,” Senator McMahon said.The owner tested the dog for the virus using a rapid antigen test, which returned a positive result on February 9.Senator McMahon said she was “satisfied that the owner had performed the test correctly and that the test was highly likely to be accurate”.Though the Department of Agriculture’s animal health committee recommends testing animals at the CSIRO Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness to confirm whether they have COVID-19, Senator McMahon said no further tests were done on the dog in question “due to the owner’s Covid status”.Given that pets seem to exhibit only mild symptoms of Covid if they test positive, there are currently no vaccines against the virus for pets, according to the RSPCA.Dr Hemmatzadeh said it was uncommon for dogs to contract Covid, and that serious illness is “extremely rare”.“The virus stays in the nasal cavity of the exposed dogs for a couple of days, and it will disappear when the dogs are not exposed to the virus from other people,” Dr Hemmatzadeh said.Professor Glenn Browning, a veterinary microbiologist, said that some dogs may be susceptible to contracting Covid, but that there was no evidence of pets transmitting the virus to humans.“People are the danger to the pets rather than pets being a danger to [their] owners,” Professor Browning said.Senator McMahon said the dog has since made a full recovery.Image: Getty Images

Family & Pets

Man's horror at what he found inside burger

A Queensland hospital worker was disgusted to find a dead rat inside his burger that he was initially enjoying on his lunch break. The medic found the cooked rat between the buns of his burger from the Wellbean Co Cafe, run by the Toowoomba Hospital Foundation, according to the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.thechronicle.com.au/" target="_blank" class="editor-rtflink">Toowoomba Chronicle</a>. He took a photo to show staff, who quickly apologised. <img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7838781/rat-body.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/488e3d2c876344578778af55d86e97f6" /> <div class="body_text redactor-styles redactor-in"> Darling Downs Health Service released the following statement to media about the incident. “We have taken this incident very seriously, with our highest priority being the health and safety of our community, patients, and staff,” a spokesperson said. “We have been assured that the Wellbean Co cafe operators, the Toowoomba Hospital Foundation, comply with all food and hygiene standards. “The Toowoomba Hospital Foundation has been in contact with the supplier and has reviewed their process for washing and inspecting all products brought in to the cafe. “The foundation has had the Toowoomba Regional Council Food Safety Division and our Public Health Unit inspect the cafe, which has been cleared to continue operating. “The cafe has apologised to the customer and I would like to thank the Toowoomba Hospital Foundation for their immediate and proactive response to this incident.” Photo credits: <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/queensland-hospital-worker-finds-dead-rat-inside-burger-on-break/news-story/991a93a50e7bdd065bb26ce0c4fb2a24" target="_blank" class="editor-rtflink">news.com.au</a> </div>

Food & Wine

Nick Kyrgios hits back after Boris Becker calls him a rat

Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios has clashed with former World No. 1 Boris Becker over the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the way that the tennis community is handling it. Kyrgios called out German tennis star Alexander Zverev on Monday after he was spotting at a club in the French Riveria. Zverev played at Novak Djokovic's Adria Tour in Belgrade and Croatia earlier this month which led to four competitors contracting coronavirus. Zverev claimed he would "follow self-isolating guidelines" but apologised when footage emerged of him in the club. “No matter how lazy, sloppy and selfish players are about following public health guidelines mid-pandemic, they sure can spring to quick action to cover their asses,” respected tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg said. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Sascha Zverev six days ago after Adria Tour coronavirus cluster: “I deeply apologize to anyone that I have put at risk...I will proceed to follow self-isolating guidelines...stay safe 🙏.” Sascha Zverev four hours ago: <a href="https://t.co/vqBXvYdxkv">pic.twitter.com/vqBXvYdxkv</a> — Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) <a href="https://twitter.com/BenRothenberg/status/1277307634807382016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2020</a></blockquote> Zverev tested negative to coronavirus last week, but Kyrgios was quick to slam the behaviour. “Sascha Zverev again, man. Again, again, how selfish can you be?” Kyrgios said. “If you have the audacity to put out a tweet that you made your management write on your behalf, saying you’re going to self-isolate for 14 days, and apologising to the general public about putting their health at risk, at least have the audacity to stay inside for 14 days. “Jesus, man. P***ing me off. This tennis world is p***ing me off, seriously. How selfish can you all get?” Becker quickly jumped to Zverev's defence, calling Kyrgios a "rat". “Don’t like no rats! Anybody telling off fellow sportsman/woman is no friend of mine!” Becker posted to Twitter on Tuesday. “Look yourself in the mirror and think your (sic) better than us.” Kyrgios defended his comments. “For goodness sake Boris, I’m not competing or trying to throw anyone under the bus,” the 25-year-old replied. “It’s a global pandemic and if someone is as idiotic as Alex to do what he has done, I’ll call him out for it. Simple.” However, Becker continued to call Kyrgios a "rat". “We all live in the pandemic called COVID-19! It’s terrible and it killed to many lives,” the German posted. “We should protect our families/loved ones and follow the guidelines but still don’t like rats. “(Zverev) broke the quarantine rules and he should be ashamed of himself! He is a role model for many tennis fans a bright star on the horizon but still don’t like rats. “There is an unspoken understanding between athletes! Whatever happens on the court stays there including the lockers! Nobody will talk about it.” Kyrgios continued to hold firm and poked fun at Becker. “Rats? For holding someone accountable? Strange way to think of it champion, I’m just looking out for people,” Kyrgios tweeted. “WHEN my family and families all over the world have respectfully done the right thing. And you have a goose waving his arms around, imma say something. “(Becker) is a bigger doughnut than I thought. Can hit a volley, obviously not the sharpest tool in the shed though.” After receiving massive backlash on Twitter for his remarks, Becker joked with Kyrgios. “Your funny guy … how is it down under? Respect all the guidelines?” Kyrgios wasn't having any of it and bluntly replied. “Haha nah bro I’m good, don’t act like you’re my friend now because you got sat down.” This isn't the first time Kyrgios has called someone out, as he slammed Novak Djokovic and his wife for their "boneheaded decision" to organise the tournament during a pandemic. “Prayers up to all the players that have contracted COVID-19,” Kyrgios tweeted last week. “Don’t @ me for anything I’ve done that has been ‘irresponsible’ or classified as ‘stupidity’ — this takes the cake.”

Legal

4 ways to combat rat problems in the garden

Controlling rats is as ambitious as understanding the meaning of life, and if some higher power gave me a call on Monday morning and offered me either, I know which one I’d take. That’s because we like a bit of mystery and until recently there was a fair bit of mystery in our veggie patch. Then we started finding rats. To survive and indeed flourish (and then perhaps take over the world), rats need food, water and shelter. In a veggie patch, food and water are givens, but shelter – for a rat – can take a number of different forms. Buried in a sequence of tunnels throughout the soil, or nestled in the warm depths of your compost bin perhaps or, as was the case on our rooftop garden (Federation Square Pop Up Patch), within the polystyrene pods we used to reduce the loading on the car park. The first sign was finding plants that had seemingly been pulled out and then thrown back on the soil, as if an act of vandals. Rats have an annoying habit of eating the stem base of mature plants – that of parsley, silverbeet (Swiss chard) and beetroot (beets) in particular – until they are felled to the ground, like a pine tree harvested for timber in a forest. The second sign was finding hundreds of dislodged polystyrene balls underneath that crate when we moved it, and the third and final giveaway was dropping it too swiftly with the pallet jack and dislodging three rats from underneath. When you have a rat problem, it is a problem that requires action. So what are your options? <img width="498" height="245" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/45273/image__498x245.jpg" alt="Image_ (20)" style="text-align: center;"/> 1. Hygiene Keep your garden as hygienic as possible. Pick fruit regularly and don’t let it overripen. Don’t leave mess in the garden – need to make the place as neat as humanly possible. That includes cleaning the BBQ of all those delicious-smelling meaty oils (for a rat, that is). We know that keeping things clean is a real task for a lot of people, but the threat of a plague of rats (rather than the usual jibes by your partner) should be enough to send you into action. 2. Fortification Next, fortify the patch. Simple netting will be a deterrent for the lazy rat, but those with a bit more determination will chew right through or burrow underneath - like the ones that tunnelled under concrete to find an entrance to our compost bin. For the netting to be truly effective, it will need to be wire mesh and will have to extend underground, too. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it. 3. Scent bombs You can try any number of scent bombs that will work with varying success, depending on the tastes of your rats (yes, yours). Try dipping cotton balls into a peppermint concentrate (like the one you use for desserts) and place them around their housing spots. Another more effective scent is ammonia. Mix 1 tablespoon of liquid detergent, ¼ glass of water and 1 glass of ammonia and place where they frequent. <img width="498" height="245" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/45272/image__498x245.jpg" alt="Image_ (19)"/> 4. Predators Finally, enlist some hunters. We’ve always found that our rat problem has hinged on the amount of time our neighbourhood cat has spent around our property. When she’s hanging out and happy, the rats seem to go on vacation. However, when she finds a better place to reside – as is the case now – they quickly return. If you’re not a cat person, perhaps consider that they are the number one predator for rats. Cats can be a powerful ally. <img width="148" height="187" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/45271/grow-food-anywhere-cvr_148x187.jpg" alt="Grow Food Anywhere CVR" style="float: right;"/> This is an edited extract from Grow. Food. Anywhere. by Mat Pember & Dillon Seitchik-Reardon published by Hardie Grant Books RRP $45 and is available in stores nationally. Image credit: John Laurie

Home & Garden

Never-before-seen photos of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack revealed

<div class="yiv7522977270" id="yiv7522977270yui_3_16_0_1_1448574137999_7820"> A new book called The Rat Pack has released a collection of never-before-seen vintage photographs of some of your favourite Hollywood stars from the 50s and 60s. The images offer the public an unprecedented fly-on-the-wall look at what it was like to be part of the exclusive Rat Pack group, which included Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Muhammad Ali to name a few. Take a peek at their extravagant lives with these revealing new photos. <img width="595" height="845" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/11/25/04/2EC849A200000578-3332980-Sammy_Davis_Jr_and_James_Dean-a-72_1448425563820.jpg" alt="Sammy Davis Jr and James Dean" class="blkBorder img-share" id="i-ce682978efa7152"/> <img width="595" height="845" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/11/25/04/2EC8498600000578-3332980-Sammy_Davis_Jr_and_Muhammad_Ali-a-73_1448425563826.jpg" alt="Sammy Davis Jr and Muhammad Ali" class="blkBorder img-share" id="i-edca3ef58b648ab"/> <img width="596" height="397" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/11/25/04/2EC8499E00000578-3332980-Sinatra_Lawford_Dean_Martin_and_Davis_Jr_having_some_fun_during_-a-80_1448425564274.jpg" alt="Sinatra, Lawford, Dean Martin and Davis Jr. having some fun during a live performance in 1960 " class="blkBorder img-share" id="i-693b358e0e4b0dde"/> <img width="597" height="460" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/11/26/14/2EC849AE00000578-3332980-Sinatra_has_a_laugh_with_President_John_F_Kennedy_at_dinner_as_P-a-2_1448547448274.jpg" alt="Sinatra has a laugh with President John F. Kennedy at dinner as Patricia Kennedy Lawford sits between the two" class="blkBorder img-share" id="i-1faab5c3aab9dae8"/> <img width="598" height="390" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/11/25/04/2EC849AA00000578-3332980-Sinatra_performs_a_trick_with_a_tablecloth_for_friends_while_in_-a-77_1448425564062.jpg" alt="Sinatra performs a trick with a tablecloth for friends while in a Miami hotel room in 1965" class="blkBorder img-share" id="i-f7026eda72fa2ff9"/> <img width="597" height="390" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/11/25/04/2EC8499A00000578-3332980-Sinatra_on_his_private_plane_heading_for_a_performance_at_the_Ca-a-71_1448425563536.jpg" alt="Sinatra on his private plane heading for a performance at the Cal Neva Lodge in Crystal Bay, Nevada" class="blkBorder img-share" id="i-eaff15606af079a5"/> <img width="608" height="406" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/11/25/04/2EC849BE00000578-3332980-The_book_s_publisher_Reel_Art_Press_writes_Frank_Sinatra_s_legen-a-75_1448425564051.jpg" alt="The book's publisher Reel Art Press writes: 'Frank Sinatra’s legendary clique defined life in the fast lane throughout the late fifties and early sixties, dominating American culture'" class="blkBorder img-share" id="i-9acba73d9e3e230f"/> <img width="602" height="404" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/11/25/04/2EC8499200000578-3332980-Sinatra_in_a_private_moment_on_the_phone_while_sitting_by_the_po-a-76_1448425564056.jpg" alt="Sinatra in a private moment on the phone while sitting by the pool at the Cal Neva Lodge in Nevada" class="blkBorder img-share" id="i-d828da1d6617a744"/> <img width="605" height="931" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/11/25/04/2EC849B700000578-3332980-Sinatra_enjoys_a_hot_dog_in_his_tuxedo_while_out_in_Miami_in_196-a-74_1448425564037.jpg" alt="Sinatra enjoys a hot dog in his tuxedo while out in Miami in 1965" class="blkBorder img-share" id="i-b5acdb534fb7d21"/> </div>

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