As the day unfolded: Victoria records 222 new COVID-19 cases as Sydney hotel quarantine guard contracts virus; Australian death toll jumps to 438

Thanks for reading. This is Matt Bungard signing off. We'll be back tomorrow with more live, free coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. For Wednesday's live coverage, click here.

This is what you need to know from today:

• Australia had 226 new cases today, 222 of which were in Victoria.

• A Sydney hotel quarantine guard has tested positive to coronavirus he most likely contracted from an international traveller staying at the Marriott Hotel in Circular Quay, before he went on to work at two other venues.

• The Australian Defence Force COVID-19 taskforce commander has told a Senate inquiry the same support offered to NSW and Queensland to establish and maintain their hotel quarantine regimes was available to Victoria.

• The global death toll passed 775,000, and cases have passed the 21.9 million mark.

• Victorian healthcare workers want the state to guarantee automatic WorkCover compensation for COVID-19, as they warn of being put at unnecessary risk of exposure.

• The activities of criminal networks in Queensland are "likely to have been disrupted by border travel restrictions", but COVID-19 has also "created new opportunities" for corruption to occur.

• Authorities say people with cold or flu-like symptoms are likely to have COVID-19 because the common cold and seasonal flu have "virtually disappeared" from Victoria.

• The Australian death toll rose to 438.

The public will learn new details about what happened inside troubled quarantine hotels when security guards, returned travellers and officials responsible for infection control front the hotel quarantine inquiry later this week.

On Thursday, two nurses and four returned travellers will give evidence to the inquiry chaired by retired judge Jennifer Coate.

The following day, two more returned travellers and a security guard will be questioned about their experiences. They will be joined by an authorised officer, a government worker seconded to a hotel to oversee day-to-day operations.

The Age has reported authorised officers, some of whom were brought in from disparate government agencies including Parks Victoria and the Environment Department, were responsible for monitoring infection control protocols at hotels.

The NRL has hit the Broncos and 10 of its players with fines totalling $140,000 for breaching biosecurity protocols during a pub visit.

The governing body issued a breach notice with a proposed penalty of $75,000 for the club, while each of the club's full-time players will be fined 5 per cent of their salaries - totalling $65,000 - for attending the Everton Park Hotel on August 1. The club's three development players at the venue will have a portion of their fines suspended.

The Broncos' season from hell has just gotten worse. Credit: Getty

At the time of the breaches, Brisbane players were permitted to dine at restaurants and cafes but were not permitted to sit in pubs and gaming areas. The players sanctioned are Jake Turpin, Kotoni Staggs, David Fifita, Cory Paix, Keenan Palasia, Sean O'Sullivan, Corey Oates, Ethan Bullemor, Josh James and Tyson Gamble. The latter three are development players and won’t be out of pocket if there are no further breaches.

"We have taken our time to thoroughly investigate this matter so we could gather as much evidence as possible to determine exactly what happened at the venue,” NRL chief Andrew Abdo said.

"It is our view that this breach involved a significant failure of the club to properly administer the League's biosecurity protocols."

Abdo said the players would face significant financial penalties.

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The Philippines' health ministry on Tuesday confirmed 4836 novel coronavirus infections, the seventh straight day of reporting more than 3000 cases, and seven additional deaths.

In a bulletin, the ministry said total confirmed cases had increased to 169,213 while deaths had reached 2687.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.Credit: AP

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday eased the strict coronavirus lockdown in the capital Manila and nearby provinces to reopen the economy and help struggling businesses, despite the country having the highest number of infections in Southeast Asia.

Indonesia reported 1673 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases in the Southeast Asian nation to 143,043, data from the country's health ministry showed.

The data recorded an additional 70 deaths, taking the total to 6277.

"The world has gone mad." If my long-suffering wife had a pound for every time she's heard me utter these five words over the last few months, she'd be a wealthy woman.

A Russian medic checks the temperature of passengers arriving from Italy on a plane at Sheremetyevo airport outside Moscow.Credit: AP

But some of the rules and regulations introduced by countries across the planet (all in the name of science, of course) warrant no further comment. Here are some of the most idiotic.

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Sydney's prestigious GPS schoolboy sporting competitions, including the opening round of first XV rugby matches scheduled to begin this weekend, have been suspended due to tightened coronavirus guidelines for schools.

Schools say players are devastated by the news, particularly year 12 students who have been training for years to represent their school at the top tier of the competition.

Devastated: Members of a 2019 GPS representative rugby squad.Credit: Paul Seiser/SPA Images

The Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of NSW, also known as GPS, announced the news on Tuesday after NSW Health said sporting competitions that brought together schools from different parts of Sydney would need to be suspended.

After members schools – including The Scots College, Newington and Riverview – met on Tuesday, AAGPS chairman Mr Mark Ticehurst, in consultation with the GPS Headmasters’ Standing Committee, said that all winter competitions and fixtures would be suspended immediately.

"The remainder of the 2020 calendar will remain as per scheduled, with schools permitted to conduct sporting activities within current government health and safety guidelines in preparation for the re-commencement of AAGPS sporting fixtures when it is deemed safe and appropriate to do so," he said.

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A former resident of a supported living facility in Melbourne’s inner south-east has potentially contaminated himself after entering the home days after it was evacuated due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

On Monday, all residents of Hambleton House in Albert Park had been taken to hospital for medical care.

Police guarded the front and back entrances of the residence to ensure the man does not leave.Credit: Erin Pearson

On Friday and Saturday, some of the home’s vulnerable residents were interacting with the public despite the virus spreading among them.

On Tuesday afternoon, a resident who had not lived at Hambleton House for weeks returned to the facility, where one staff member remains on site.

About a dozen police guarded the front and back entrances of the residence to ensure the man does not leave.

Due to the potential for contamination via surfaces in the home, the Victorian Health Department deemed the man a close contact and was attempting to find accommodation for him on Tuesday evening.

Earlier on Tuesday, Premier Daniel Andrews said he had not been briefed about why security guards were initially hired by the private facility’s management over the weekend to ensure COVID-positive residents stayed inside.

Concerned locals told The Age they were forced to call police as guards were unable to stop residents leaving the home five days after the state government was made aware of the cluster.

When asked on Tuesday why it took five days for all residents to be moved to hospitals for treatment and monitoring, Mr Andrews said it was a “complex and unique” environment.

“I'm not certain about those arrangements, this is a private facility,” he said.“It’s not one that we run … I’m not briefed and don’t have details as to those arrangements.”

Victoria's daily outbreak figures are in. While the largest aged care outbreaks have not changed since Monday, there are five more cases at BaptCare Wyndham Lodge Community in Werribee, bringing that cluster to a total of 136.

There are two more cases at Outlook Gardens Aged Care Facility in Dandenong North (111) and one more at Kirkbrae Presbyterian Homes in Kilsyth (131).

There are now 110 cases linked to Estia Aged Care Facility in Heidelberg, two more than on Monday. An outbreak at Japara Goonawarra in Sunbury has grown by 13 since Sunday, bringing it to a total of 100.

A cluster at Cumberland Manor Aged Care Facility in Sunshine has grown by six cases to 99.

A long-standing outbreak linked to Al-Taqwa College in the city's west, has grown again. Eleven additional cases bring that cluster to 210 cases.

An outbreak linked to Bertocchi Smallgoods in Thomastown has grown by two cases to 207, while another at JBS in Brooklyn is up four to 149.

A cluster at Linfox warehouse in Truganina continues to grow, up four cases to 63.

There are now 44 cases linked to Catholic Regional College in Sydenham, 35 linked to Hazeldene’s Chicken Farm in Bendigo and 33 cases linked to Ausfresh in Broadmeadows.

The Health Department is also investigating cases linked to the Austin Hospital, Knox Private Hospital and the West End apartment construction site in West Melbourne.

A man going to a help a friend with their new baby goats and another going to buy a fish tank for his frog were among those fined for breaching Victoria's coronavirus restrictions in the past day.

Victoria Police issued a total of 174 fines to individuals in the past 24 hours, including 31 to people not wearing face coverings and 55 for curfew breaches.

A man who was spotted by police on the Calder Freeway reversing to try and avoid a vehicle checkpoint was questioned, telling officers he was on his way to a friend's farm to help with their new baby goats.

A man driving erratically in Brimbank was stopped and told police he was on his way to buy a fish tank for his frog. He had already travelled through several suburbs beyond the 5km limit.

A woman who was out walking in Melbourne after 8pm was also fined after telling police she was going to the shops to get soft drink, as was a man sitting at Upfield Railway Station after 8pm not wearing a mask.

He couldn’t provide a reason for being out and despite being aware of the curfew, he "stated he didn’t care", police said.

The Prince of Wales – himself a former sufferer of COVID 19 – has reached for poetry to reassure Victorians that despite the darkness brought upon them by the coronavirus pandemic, better times will return.

"You will soon see sorrow go down with the sun," quoted the man who would be King of Australia in a message of hope to Victorians.

Recalling his relationship with Victoria that began with a "very happy six months" as a student 54 years ago at Geelong Grammar’s Timbertop campus in the state’s high country near Mount Buller, Prince Charles declared he had built a "special fondness" for Victoria.

Victorians, he said, like all Australians, had a reputation as tenacious and resilient "or indeed, as you might say in Australia, [they are] made of tough stuff."

However, referring to the bushfires and Victoria’s second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, he said that toughness had been put to a harsh test.

"My wife and I have endless admiration for your seemingly unceasing capacity for good humour in the face of great hardship," he said.

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