Covid-19 is back in the news in new, super-infectious variants, and in the podcast this week we ask the highly relevant question of what do you do if it comes to your apartment block?Do you expect everyone in your block to be told that someone is self-isolating because they have been tested, or were in a certain place at the same time as an infected person, or if they just have a bit of a cough and the sniffles?Would you be annoyed if you were that person and all your neighbours were warned to stay well clear of you? Do we have to wait for a resident to get the bug? And should our entire block be locked down if someone does?LISTEN HEREShould residents in “hot” zones be wearing masks in lifts and carparks right now or do we have to wait for the state government to tell us what to do?The Owners Corporation Network is asking NSW Health to take strata seriously (they say they are) and strata lawyer Amanda Farmer has advised us all to stay vigilant.We say, most blocks watch the states’ health departments’ notices slavishly, so we need some clear advice now, so we can be ready.Then we follow the story of the woman whose leaky balcony was getting up her nose – literally – in the form of black mould.And that story has led to a revelation about Victorian balconies in the Forum.And, finally, three big developers face a range of negative reactions as their projects are rejected or are in serious trouble, while real estate agents are in the crosshairs for not warning prospective purchasers.All that and more in this week’s Flat Chat Wrap. Transcript in FullJimmy 0:00 There's a lot going on in apartments this week and a lot of news and not much of it very good. We've got the lockdown of the apartment block in Melbourne. We've got the spread of the Coronavirus in Sydney and the call by OCN for New South Wales Health to actually have protocols for apartment blocks.Sue 0:24 Sounds like a good idea.Jimmy 0:26 And we've got developers getting themselves into all sorts of trouble. Plenty to talk about! I'm Jimmy Thomson; I write the Flat Chat column for the Australian Financial Review.Sue 0:38 And I'm Sue Williams and I write about property for DomainJimmy 0:41 And this is the Flat Chat Wrap.[MUSIC]JimmySo, lockdown of an apartment block in Melbourne and then virus spreading through... I mean, I don't know if you can even call it casual contact... Passing clouds.Sue 1:10 Absolutely! That's a real worry, isn't it?Jimmy 1:12 It is and they are connected, these things. The apartment block in Melbourne; apparently, the transmission of the virus was through people passing in the carpark. These are townhouses, although it looks like an apartment block from the pictures. These are basically townhouses and they have their own front doors to the outside. So you're thinking, well, how's the transmission going on here? Apparently, it was in the communal carpark, underneath.Sue 1:43 That puts it on another level completely, doesn't it?Jimmy 1:47 Well, yes, in so many ways, Sue. Then, we hear about the spread from the Bondi Junction shopping center and they've actually found CCTV, where they've got the original infected person and saw him basically brush past. I don't know even if they
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Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.
