Coronavirus Australia: ‘This is not a popularity contest, it’s a pandemic’
Daniel Andrews has hit back at lockdown critics as his quarantine boss apologised for the way a man has been treated after he used a nebuliser.
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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has hit back at lockdown critics’ claims he has been motivated by political popularity, as the state recorded one new case of locally acquired COVID overnight.
It comes as he deferred all questions about a man’s controversial use of a nebuliser in hotel quarantine for his asthma to Victoria’s quarantine boss Emma Cassar. The man has been blamed for Victoria’s Holiday Inn outbreak and has claimed he has been made to “feel like a criminal”.
Ms Cassar said she was “deeply sorry” for the way he had been treated.
She said the man had done nothing wrong, despite his claims he was never told not to use the device.
Nebulisers are used to treat respiratory illnesses by converting a liquid into a fine spray or vapour which is then breathed in.
It is thought the use of the device caused fine aerosolised particles carrying coronavirus to be suspended in the air and spread throughout the hotel.
Ms Cassar said they had no evidence he declared a nebuliser. He is now in ICU.
Victoria entered its first of a five-day lockdown ordered by Mr Andrews in a bid to curb the spread of the virus, linked to an outbreak at the Holiday Inn.
The latest case, a man in his 30s who is a friend of a hotel worker, brings the number of confirmed cases at the hotel to 14.
Contact tracers are now working with 996 close contacts of the Holiday Inn cases. All are isolating and being tested.
The state recorded 20,116 tests yesterday, bringing the total number of tests in Victorian since the pandemic began, to 4,672,661.
Mr Andrews held a lunchtime press conference, where he was grilled about his decision to implement the lockdown despite criticism he was overreacting. He said he was not ‘shopping for advice’ when making these decisions.
“This is not a popularity contest, it’s a pandemic,” he said “Whether it be popular or not is of no concern to me.”
“When you have gotten advice to make tough calls, it’s very painful, it’s not easy, they are not easy decisions to make, because you know the gravity of them. There is no option.
“I can’t ignore advice. You know, you’ve got to make the tough calls and that is just the job I have got. And that is the job I will continue doing.”
Mr Andrews said the lockdown would end on Wednesday at midnight if cases remained stable.
VIC PREMIER REIGNITES INTERNATIONAL ARRIVALS DEBATE
Premier Andrews has flagged cutting the number of international arrivals as the state begins day one of its third lockdown and records one new case of locally acquired COVID.
The move comes little more than a week after Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that the national cabinet had agreed to increase the cap on international passenger arrivals from February 15.
The number of international arrivals into Queensland, NSW and Western Australia were halved in early January in a bid to stem the spread of the new coronavirus strain from the United Kingdom.
national cabinet agreed to reinstate the caps to the previous levels for NSW and Queensland – 3010 people and 1000 people respectively.
Western Australia will remain at reduced capacity. South Australia has increased its cap by 40 people a week to 530.
However in a press conference on the eve of Victoria’s third COVID lockdown, he said he would be raising the issue of Australia’s international arrivals policy at the next national cabinet meeting.
He suggested a smaller program might be the best way to stop the spread of the more infectious UK and South African COVID strains beyond the hotel quarantine setting.
“I think there needs to be a cold, hard discussion, and I’m happy to lead it if I have to, about whether, with this UK strain — and we haven’t even got on to South Africa yet, because it’s just as bad — should we be having the total number of people coming home?” he said.
“Or should it be a much smaller program that’s based on compassionate grounds?”
Mr Andrews said Victoria was planning to increase its international arrivals by nearly 200 people to 1310 from Monday, but this would not be going ahead.
“Instead of doing 1310 maybe we should be doing hundreds,” he said.
“That is all I was saying. I’m not casting aspersions on anyone travelling home or the people who issue visas or any of that. But it’s a different virus.
“Therefore, we should have a mature discussion about just how many people are coming back and the circumstances in which they are coming back.”
INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS INTO VIC BANNED AMID HARD LOCKDOWN
International flights into Victoria are now banned from as the state enters its third lockdown to stem the state’s latest COVID-19 outbreak. Freight will not be affected.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced the reintroduction of stage 4 restrictions from 11.59pm Friday.
Victorians who arrived in NSW any time in the past two weeks were ordered to follow “stay-at-home” rules from midnight tonight for the next five days. That included PM Scott Morrison who returned to Sydney from Melbourne on Friday afternoon.
NSW Health clarified the rule would apply to anyone arriving in NSW from Victoria after 11.59pm on Friday, February 12 – meaning the PM will no longer have to isolate in Sydney.
The news came after the Holiday Inn cluster rose to 13 – 10 are community transmission. More than 900 close contacts are currently isolating.
Mr Andrews said the “circuit breaker” was essential in stopping the spread.
“Victorians will be well familiar with the term ‘UK strain’ or ‘UK variant of concern’. We have talked about this for a long time, because it is so hyper-infectious, and moves so fast, that it is presenting a very, very real challenge to our status, our stay-safe, stay-open, our precious thing that we’ve built – all of us – throughout 2020,” Mr Andrews said.
“These restrictions are all about making sure that we respond appropriately to the fastest-moving, most infectious strain of coronavirus that we have seen.”
“I know this is not the news that Victorians want to hear today. I know it’s not the place that we wanted to be in. However, we’ve all given so much, we’ve all done so much. We’ve built something precious, and we have to make difficult decisions, and do difficult things, in order to defend what we’ve built. I am confident that this short, sharp circuit breaker will be effective. We will be able to smother this. We will be able to prevent it getting away from us,” Mr Andrews said.
“We have to use an abundance of caution.”
Under the new rules, Victorians will be able to leave the house for grocery shopping, care giving, essential or permitted work, and exercise.
Masks will be mandatory whenever leaving the house and a 5km radius will be reintroduced.
There is a ban on all private gatherings or having visitors to homes.
Primary and high schools will close for general students, but remain open for children of essential workers or vulnerable children. Child care and early childhood centres will remain open.
Religious services and gatherings, and weddings, are not permitted. Funerals can have no more that 10 attendees.
From 11:59pm Friday until midnight on Wednesday next week, hairdressing and beauty services, real estate auctions and inspections, indoor physical recreation and sport venues, outdoor physical recreation and community sport and swimming pools will close.
Hospitality will move to takeaway only.
MPs ORDERED TO HIT THE ROAD
Melbourne-based federal MPs were urgently advised to fly or drive to Canberra before midnight to attend parliament next week as soon as there was a hint of the Victorian government weighing up a snap lockdown in Melbourne.
An email seen by NCA NewsWire that was sent to MPs on Friday said it was “highly recommended any Members who are in the greater Melbourne area bring forward their travel plans to arrive in Canberra today, Friday, February 12.
“There are currently no border restrictions for Victoria with the ACT, except for individuals who have been in the exposure sites connected with the (Holiday Inn) outbreak,” the email said.
“We understand that chief health officers are meeting to discuss the developing situation. We will circulate any relevant updates on the situation from ACT Health when available.”
Federal Labor MP Julian Hill is among the members who made the dash from Vic to the ACT.
He said there was considerable traffic midway during the seven-hour drive to the nation’s capital.
“I packed a bag last night just in case,” Mr Hill told NCA NewsWire.
“I’m on the road at the moment in central Victoria and it seems like a pretty crowded highway.
“We have an obligation to be present for the sitting periods of national parliament so I agree with the recall to Canberra.”
VACCINE PROGRAM ‘ON TRACK’
Australia is “on track” to have the majority of citizens vaccinated against COVID-19 by October, the government says.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said Australia is on track for rollout of the Pfizer vaccine to commence in late February, and pending TGA approval, the AstraZeneca vaccine to rollout early March.
“All of those are proceeding and that means we are on track to complete this vaccination program for Australians by the end of October,” Mr Hunt said on Friday.
At the same press conference, Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for “a proportionate response” to the growing COVID-19 cluster in Victoria.
During a press conference at Australia’s CSL factory, Mr Morrison said Victoria needed “a proportionate response that enables those, the tracers and others, to be able to get on top of it and get the same successful result we have seen in other states.
“That can, and will be, achieved here,” Mr Morrison said.
“Our role as the Federal Government is to support those efforts, to support Premiers, to support health ministers, to support the health workers here to ensure they can do the best they possibly can in the job that they have.”
I
MANDATORY VACCINES SLAMMED
One of Australia’s top coronavirus experts has rejected calls for mandatory COVID vaccinations of healthcare and aged workers.
Dr Nick Coatsworth, Australia’s former deputy chief medical officer, says it’s better for health workers to get vaccinated voluntarily.
Dr Coatsworth, who was one of the faces of the pandemic due to his regular press briefings, told ABC’s Q&A that Australia had been historically good at vaccinating its population.
Flu shots are required for most hospital and aged care workers, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison has suggested public health authorities would consider something similar for coronavirus vaccines.
But Dr Coatsworth said he would not support a directive for all staff at his hospital to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
“We need to convince our healthcare workers just as much as the community at large that this is an effective vaccine and a safe vaccine and like the community, we can’t force anyone to take the vaccine,” Dr Coatsworth said.
Dr Coatsworth, who now works as a senior administrator at Canberra Hospital, was speaking in response to Melbourne University epidemiologist Tony Blakely, who had said that while it was unethical to have a definitive rule requiring vaccinations, employers responsible for the care of sick or vulnerable people in nursing homes or hospitals were a unique case.
“If you’re the employer running an intensive care unit or an aged care facility, it’s entirely appropriate at the institutional level to require that anybody working in that facility is vaccinated,” Professor Blakely said.
Hospital and aged care staff will be among the first groups in line for a vaccine as early as this month, along with quarantine and border workers.
NEW NSW VIRUS ALERT ON ‘VENUES OF CONCERN’
Anyone who has been in Victoria since January 27 has been urged to check whether they have been to any exposure sites.
The warning comes as the growing cluster at the Holiday Inn in Tullamarine now stands at 13 as more cases were recorded on Thursday. NSW has gone 25 days without community transmission.
“The list of venues has been updated today and further updates may follow, so please keep a careful watch on the website,” NSW Health said in a statement.
“If you have been to any of these locations at the times listed, you are at risk of COVID‑19, so please follow the health advice provided.”
Arrivals are being screened at Sydney Airport.
The department said in many cases people will be required to isolate for 14 days.
Since February 4, anyone arriving into NSW by air has been made to fill out a passenger declaration form, detailing whether they have been to venues of concern.
The list of coronavirus exposure sites in Melbourne continues to grow in the wake of more positive cases.
Sunbury Square Shopping Centre was added to the list late on Wednesday after it was visited by someone who was infected with COVID-19 on Friday between 3.40pm and 4.30pm.
Commonwealth Bank and HSBC in Glen Waverley were added to the “Tier 1” hot spot list earlier in the evening, meaning anyone who attended at the days and times listed must isolate for 14 days regardless of their test result.
Health officials said a positive case visited the Commonwealth Bank between 1.30pm and 2.45pm on Tuesday and was at the neighbouring HSBC branch between about 2.15pm and 3.30pm the same day.
AUSSIE FAILURE ON INFECTION CONTROL
The expert panel in charge of drawing up infection control guidelines to control COVID-19 has failed Australians by refusing to recognise it is an airborne disease, the Australian Medical Association has declared.
It comes as South Australia tightened its border with Victoria following the Holiday Inn virus outbreak.
Anyone who arrived into South Australia from the greater Melbourne area after midnight on Wednesday was locked out, SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said, but regional Victorians were not affected.
The AMA is demanding higher grade personal protective equipment be made available to quarantine workers to stop the spread of the virus from quarantine hotels to the community.
Commenting on the latest outbreak of COVID-19 among hotel quarantine workers, AMA president Dr Omar Khorshid said the new Holiday Inn outbreak is “more evidence that these calls should have been heeded earlier”.
“It’s most likely that these cases are the result of airborne spread, yet the experts advising Government, the Infection Control Expert Group (ICEG), have continually played down airborne transmission in the spread of the virus in hotel and healthcare settings,” AMA president Dr Omar Khorshid said.
Last September Health Minister Greg Hunt committed to reviewing guidelines for protecting healthcare workers from COVID-19, specifically focusing on the question of airborne spread.
“It’s been almost six months and Infection Prevention and Control Panel is yet to produce the goods. We cannot wait any longer for ICEG to act,” Dr Khorshid said.
“It is clear, as the AMA raised in our appearance at the recent Senate inquiry, that ICEG has failed in its duties to date.
“Ministers, through national cabinet, need to act and act now. Anyone involved in hotel quarantine and all healthcare workers must be protected from all methods of SARS Cov-2 spread in any situation where there are possible, suspected, likely or confirmed cases of infection,” he said.
Smart changes need to be made to airflow in facilities, and better personal protective equipment (PPE) including N95 masks and eye protection for workers in hotel quarantine, he said.
“If hotels cannot be made safe through PPE and other controls, alternatives must be found now that will allow some travel in and out of Australia while protecting all Australians from this virus, including the new strains,” he said.
WHEN INTERNATIONAL TOURISM BAN WILL BE LIFTED
International tourists will potentially be allowed to enter Australia by early 2022, Tourism Minister Dan Tehan says.
The nation’s borders have been closed since March 2020 due to the global pandemic.
Mr Tehan said the ban on overseas tourists — who spent $45 billion a year before the pandemic — could remain in place for the rest of 2021.
“Our hope is that by this time next year we’ll have international tourists back,’ Mr Tehan told Seven Network show Sunrise on Monday.
Mr Tehan said the government was considering setting up travel bubbles with Singapore and “potentially with Japan, if they can get the virus under control again”.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he hopes Australian can make “real progress soon” on a travel bubble with Pacific Island nations by working with them on their COVID-19 testing capabilities.
Speaking to John Laws on 2SM on Monday morning, the Prime Minister said he would “love to see a Pacific bubble”.
“We are working (with) countries like Vanuatu, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Fiji and so on, because we also have a lot of seasonal workers,” he said.
“We don’t have full confidence yet that they are just going to a complete what’s called a green lane. But we’re working with them to ensure we can just lift that confidence. We’ll be seeking to support them with their testing over there and I hope we can make some real progress on that soon.”
HOTEL QUARANTINE PROGRAM TO BE REVIEWED
Australia’s chief health officer Professor Paul Kelly has said the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) will be reviewing the hotel quarantine program from pre-flight testing, to transport, to the 14-day stay in hotels.
The review comes after recent transmission in hotels in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia.
He said he has asked NSW to put forward a proposal on day 16 tests for returned travellers to AHPPC.
“I’ve asked my New South Wales colleagues to give a proposal through to AHPPC and we will be looking at that later this week around that particular component but that is one of many things we are looking it,” he said.
QUARANTINE WORKERS TO GET PAID FOR TESTS
Victorian hotel quarantine workers will be paid to undergo coronavirus tests on their days off in a further bid to stop community transmission.
The state’s Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville said workers would be tested on their days off on a voluntary basis until officials worked out the legal arrangements to make it mandatory.
“People on their days off, once you ask them to get a test, that becomes a work day,” Ms Neville told the Herald Sun.
“Inside their contracts they are required to do their on-duty testing. We are now working through those issues.”
SYDNEY PUB, CAFE PATRONS ORDERED TO ISOLATE
Patrons at two venues south of Sydney have been ordered into 14-day quarantine after a returned overseas traveller tested positive to COVID-19 two days after leaving their mandatory hotel quarantine stay.
People who visited the Headlands Hotel’s beer garden in Austinmer on February 2 between 1-3pm or the Bulli Beach Cafe on February 6 between 1.30-4pm are now close contacts, according to a statement from NSW Health, The Daily Telegraph reports.
“Anyone who was in the beer garden of the Headlands Hotel or who dined in at the Bulli Beach Cafe at the times listed below is now considered a close contact and should immediately get tested and self-isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result,” a NSW Health statement read.
“Anyone who was at the Headlands Hotel (in all areas other than the beer garden) and anyone who got takeaway from the Bulli Beach Café at the times listed below is now considered a casual contact who should monitor for symptoms.”
“If any symptoms develop, get tested immediately and self-isolate until you receive a negative result.”
All up, NSW Health has issued a fresh warning for 11 venues across Wollongong and southeast Sydney.
Health officials said the returned traveller was not showing any symptoms and had low levels of infection, but had been tested on day 16 as part of a beefed up follow-up protocol for people returning from overseas.
The person recorded two negative tests during their 14 days in hotel quarantine.
HOW AUSSIES WILL PROVE THEY GOT COVID JAB
Digital “proof of vaccination” certificates will be stored and displayed on phone apps as part of the federal government’s plans for the national coronavirus vaccine rollout.
The Express Plus Medicare app and MyGov accounts will both store digital proof-of-vaccination certificates, while those who require a hard copy will be able to access a printout from vaccine providers and Services Australia offices.
Cabinet approval for the scheme is due in the next two weeks, Nine Newspapers reported on Sunday.
An update to the Medicare app will also be developed as part of the plan, which aims to make proof of vaccine quick and easy to access.
It is expected the certificates will simplify visits to nursing homes and hospitals, and could even be required for interstate travel if future lockdowns are needed.
They will also play a role in the reopening of international borders, which is expected to begin from later this year.
The Pfizer vaccine is due to be rolled out nationally from the end of this month, while the distribution of AstraZeneca is due in March.
The federal parliament last week passed laws that require vaccine providers to record all the vaccines they administer, including the COVID-19 vaccine, on the national register.
Previously, the reporting of vaccinations had been voluntary.
PM ACCUSED OF ‘GOING MISSING’
Scott Morrison has been accused of “going missing” during the coronavirus pandemic, as the federal opposition continues to question his leadership on issues including state borders and national quarantine.
Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles said the Prime Minister has failed to unite the states during the crisis.
“When the states have disagreed, the ability of this prime minister to get consistency at a national level, across the states, has been essentially zero,” he told the ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday.
“He has gone missing when the going has got tough.”
Mr Morrison has no legal powers to override state leaders closing their borders for health reasons.
But Mr Marles said the federal government had “relegated itself to the sidelines” and should be part of the decision-making process around closures.
“I think we would have had much greater consistency” he said.
“In crises before, what you’ve actually seen is national governments which have led within our federation.”
The deputy Labor leader also called on the government to show greater leadership around possible reform to the federal quarantine system.
He said it needed to “dust off” a report written former senior public servant Jane Halton last year, which recommended facilities including the Learmonth RAAF base be used for “surge” capacity.
“I think one of the really marked aspects of the COVID-19 crisis, which we’ll look back on, is the degree to which the government has been prepared to abrogate itself of responsibility when there have been moments of greatest crisis,” he said.
“That’s particularly the case in relation to quarantine.”
NSW
NSW has not closed its borders but strongly advises against all non-essential travel to Victoria. Anyone arriving in NSW from Victoria after 11.59pm on Friday, February 12, must remain at their home or place of residence for the five-day period announced by the Victorian Government. Anyone arriving in NSW by air, rail or road will also have to complete a declaration form if they are arriving from the greater Melbourne region.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
From 12.01am Thursday, February 11, persons who have been in Greater Melbourne on or after February 4 will not be allowed to enter SA unless an essential traveller or exempt.
VICTORIA
People from anywhere in Australia entering Victoria must apply for a permit to enter the state.
Victoria has also reopened its border to the majority of NSW.
The Perth metropolitan area, the Peel region and the South West region of WA has now changed to an orange zone.
People in orange zones can apply for a permit to enter Victoria provided they had not been in close contact with a coronavirus case and do not have any symptoms.
On arrival in Victoria, orange zone permit holders must isolate at their home or accommodation, get a coronavirus test, and continue isolating until they have received a negative result.
NORTHERN TERRITORY
The Northern Territory have declared Melbourne and Tullamarine Airport a COVID hotspot.
Anyone arriving must isolate at the Howard Spring quarantine facility or take the first return flight home.
Anyone who is already in the Northern Territory and has been in Melbourne, including the airport, since February 7 must self isolate until they receive a negative result.
All arrivals to the Northern Territory must: fill in a Border Entry Form, complete 14 days of mandatory supervised quarantine at your own expense, if you have recently been in an active declared COVID-19 hot spot. This includes children returning from a hotspot.
QUEENSLAND
The Queensland border will close to Melbourne from 1am Saturday, February 13. If you have been in Greater Melbourne since January 29 and arrived into Queensland you should get tested – even if you do not have symptoms – and isolate until you receive a result.
Specific areas of Western Australia have been declared COVID-19 hot spots.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
From 6pm Friday, February 12, WA introduced a hard border with Victoria for 72 hours, meaning no one can enter the state.
Other interstate travellers are now permitted to enter WA, subject to meeting strict conditions.
All people arriving into WA from overseas are subject to the Commonwealth Government’s mandatory quarantine period of 14 days in a State Quarantine Facility (hotel quarantine) at their own expense.
TASMANIA
Tasmania will shut its border to Victorians from midnight Friday, February 12.
Travellers who have spent time in a high-risk domestic region or premises (including in Western Australia, Victoria and New Zealand) in the 14 days before arriving in Tasmania are not permitted to enter Tasmania, unless approved as an Essential Traveller.
If entry is approved, there may be a quarantine requirement in government-designated accommodation (fees can apply).
AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
The ACT will introduce travel restrictions with Victoria from midnight Friday, February 12.
ACT residents who return home before midnight do not need to quarantine but should get tested if they experience any symptoms. If they return after midnight they will need to self-quarantine for five days, in line with Victoria’s lockdown.
– with Kathryn Bermingham, Evin Priest, Sue Dunlevy, Tiffany Bakker, Erin Lyons
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Originally published as Coronavirus Australia: ‘This is not a popularity contest, it’s a pandemic’
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