‘Not the time’ to ease restrictions as Australians are urged to stay home over Easter during coronavirus crisis
It is still too early to lift restrictions despite Australia nearing a breakthrough in the fight against coronavirus, a leading medical authority has warned.
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Australians have been warned to “stay at home” over the Easter long weekend and obey strict social distancing rules as the coronavirus crisis continues.
It came as Deputy chief medical officer Professor Paul Kelly revealed Australia is “on the cusp” of a position in which COVID-19 may begin to die out locally – as long as shutdown measures remain in place and people continue to socially distance.
Professor Kelly said the effective rate of infection in Australia, the “R0”, was somewhere between one and two, meaning every infected person infects between one and two people.
“Where you want to be is below one – so less than one other person being infected after a person themselves has the infection,” Professor Kelly said in Canberra today.
“One you get to that point the virus dies out or the epidemic dies out, so at the moment we’re probably on the cusp of that in Australia … whether that’s where we’re going to be in several weeks or months remains to be seen.”
He said Australians would remain susceptible to coronavirus even if the virus was successfully eliminated from certain communities. The key message was still “to stay at home” this long weekend.
“This is not time for us to be changing the rules, in terms of social distancing and the other things we have done in society over recent weeks,” Professor Kelly said.
“It is a time to consolidate those gains, and then to consider what might happen in the future, but at this time, the stay-at-home message is really important.”
Health authorities are warning against complacency after encouraging figures showed the infection rate rising just 1.8 per cent over the past three days.
“There’s only a couple of thousand of those 6,000 cases (that) are actual local transmission,” Professor Kelly said.
“So, we need to see what happens with those and to learn from other countries that have going through a much more difficult time with much larger epidemics to see what happens as they pass that peak and see what happens from there.”
He added that now was not the time to be “complacent” when it comes to self-isolation measures.
“Those same messages we put in place and recognising how disruptive it is for so many people’s lives, it’s very, very important to stay the course at the moment,” Professor Kelly said.
“It is not time to take the foot off the brake. And we need to really consider how to go to the next phase very carefully, and weigh up the pros and cons of all that. That will be our task in the coming weeks.”
When asked about the possibility of COVID-19 immunity in the broader community, Professor Kelly said it was still “only very early”.
“That would be a very important thing to know. At this stage, we’re only – I calculated this week – 14 weeks into the virus,” he said.
“Only the first cases in Australia were in mid-to-late January. So it’s only very early.”
AUSSIE CRUISE PASSENGERS HOME-BOUND
More than 100 Australian and New Zealand crew and passengers of an Antarctica cruise ship anchored off the coast of Uruguay will fly into Australia over Easter.
The flight, scheduled to arrive at Melbourne in Sunday, has been chartered by Aurora Expiditions – the operator of the Greg Mortimer ship – and will fly from Montevideo.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said of the more than 200 people on the vessel, 96 were Australian and 16 were New Zealanders. “Our priority remains getting everyone on board disembarked as soon and as safely as possible,” the ship’s operator Aurora Expeditions said in a statement today. “It has been a very harrowing time for all involved.”
Five Australians have been taken off the Greg Mortimer and hospitalised in Montevideo, DFAT confirmed.
The flight comes as Australia’s COVID-19 death toll reaches 54 after another person succumbed to the disease in NSW on Friday.
The 69-year-old man’s death was the state’s 22nd and it came less than a day after Victoria recorded its 13th loss of life due to COVID-19. Victoria’s victim was a man aged in his 80s.
Of the more than 6180 confirmed cases nationwide, 1472 have recovered – leaving 4655 active at 12.15pm on Friday.
NSW health Minister Brad Hazzard announced the state’s latest death at a press conference, confirming the man “passed away, sadly, at John Hunter Hospital”.
With Gerard Hayes â¦â¦@HSUNSWâ© Brett Holmes â¦@nswnmaâ© ,Tony King â¦@PoliceAssocNSWâ© announcing new on spot $5000 fine 4 spitting or coughing on Health workers,police, pharmacists, â¦@AusBorderForceâ© . Backing colleagues in Covid 19 war. â¦@NSWHealthâ© pic.twitter.com/Xfg92O8xWK
— Brad Hazzard (@BradHazzard) April 9, 2020
Mr Hazzard sternly warned Australians not to spit or cough on frontline health workers.
“It is absolutely disgusting anybody could think it’s OK to cough or spit on a health worker, or any of the other workers,” he said.
“You’re gonna cop a $5,000 fine.
“Easter – a reminder, don’t travel. Parking – today it’s free for all health workers.”
Meantime, health authorities are warning against complacency following figures showing the infection rate rising just 1.8 per cent over the past three days in Australia.
The nation’s new daily cases fell below 100 on Thursday – the first time it slipped under the daily threshold in three weeks.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the reduced infection rate was an important development but strict social distancing measures must remain in place.
“This Easter is the time when any Australian can help save a life with their decisions, or inadvertently risk a life,” Mr Hunt said.
“This is the moment to lock in the gains, to stay at home, to protect other people, and if we do that, we give ourselves the best way through this.”
The warning comes as 16.8 million people in America lost their jobs in just three weeks as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
HOSPITAL UNVEILS RAPID COVID-19 TESTING
Doctors and nurses are now able to test critically ill patients within an hour at St Vincent’s Hospital, reports reveal.
The rapid test, a nose swab available at the emergency department, will allow individuals with serious respiratory problems to be assessed for COVID-19 quickly.
According to reports, the hospital can then move positive patients to intensive care, a ward for COVID-19 patients or another for treating respiratory illnesses.
The test detects the virus’ RNA and can detect cases of COVID-19 about 24 hours after the patients infection.
NY ‘VIRUS CAPITAL’ OF WORLD
New York is officially the coronavirus capital of the world, logging more COVID-19 cases than any other country across the globe.
As of Thursday (local time), New York State had recorded a total of 159,937 confirmed coronavirus cases – a jump of more than 10,000 new cases from the day before.
There have been 7067 deaths as a result of the contagion in the state so far, with a record 799 deaths overnight, reports the New York Post.
The state has now surpassed the coronavirus cases in every other country worldwide.
It is followed by Spain and Italy, which have 152,446 and 139,422 COVID-19 cases, respectively, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.
Germany has 113,615 cases, followed by France with 83,080, China at 82,883 and Iran with 66,220, the data shows.
It also states the UK has now logged a total of 61,497 coronavirus cases, while Turkey has recorded 38,226 cases.
Overall, the US has confirmed a total of 432,596 COVID-19 cases with 14,831 deaths caused by the disease as of Thursday (local time).
In New York City alone, official statistics released on Thursday show, 4426 people have died from coronavirus, while the number of confirmed cases has grown to 84,37.
“No one ever heard of this disease six months ago — it didn’t even exist yet and yet it’s visited upon us in a way that’s the worst in our nation,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a press conference.
The mayor added: “We have to fight back this virus and we have the power to do it in many, many ways. If we do it the way we’re capable of as New Yorkers – the toughest, strongest, most resilient people in this nation – we actually can push this virus back. We actually can overcome this phase we’re in.”
Earlier this week, the number of coronavirus deaths and infections in New York eclipsed those in China, Iran and Germany.
Total coronavirus fatalities are now at 3,339 in China, 4,110 in Iran and 2,349 in Germany, the latest data shows.
The country with the most fatalities so far from coronavirus is Italy with 17,669 deaths, followed by Spain with 15,238, according to the data.
‘I COULDN’T EVEN CONTEMPLATE WHERE WE ARE’
It comes as New York City is scrambling to hire more funeral directors to deal with the state’s massive COVID-19 death toll, which is nearly the same as the entire tally for all of the UK.
“It’s gotten to the point, quite frankly, where we’re going to bring in additional funeral directors to deal with the number of people who passed,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.
“If you ever told me that as Governor I would have to take these actions – I couldn’t even contemplate where we are now.”
New York-based funeral director, Jesus Pujols, 23, is working 80 hours a week to cope with the strain of dealing with the city’s coronavirus victims.
He has resorted to sleeping in the same mini-van he uses to transport the deceased.
“Right now, money is not worth it. It’s not worth it,” he said.
“I would give up my job any day for like a normal … job. I’d much rather be quarantined in my house right now.”
7000 people have died of coronavirus in New York, including 799 in the past 24 hours (up from 779 deaths the day before). In chilling news for developed nations around the world including Australia, the world’s largest economy – the US – has now recorded one in every 10 workers losing their job since the pandemic struck just weeks ago.
The news came as researchers found COVID-19 most likely made its way into the US via Europe – and not from Asia.
The New York Times said researchers believe the coronavirus strain most prevalent in the US came from Europe before the US closed its border to its northern hemisphere neighbours in mid-March.
The US Federal Reserve Bank announced loans totalling $A3.7 trillion would be made available to local governments and businesses in an effort to keep the world’s largest economy in good shape for when it finally emerged from lockdown.
Meanwhile, authorities expect Canada’s death toll to max out at about 22,000 from around two million cases of infection.
On Friday, the global death toll had reached nearly 90,000 with more than 1.5 million cases of infection.
The US continues to have the highest national tally with more than 430,000 cases and 15,000 deaths.
Numbers from Europe appeared to indicate the infamous “curve” was started to bend downwards.
On Thursday, the UK reported 881 new deaths, down from the 938 recorded the day before. Italy recorded a high of 969 deaths on March 27 and Spain 950 deaths on April 2.
BRITSH PM ‘OUT OF INTENSIVE CARE’
British Prime Minister Johnson is now out of intensive care and is in “extremely good spirits” as he continues to recover from coronavirus.
The Prime Minister was moved from the ICU at St Thomas’ Hospital, where he had been since Monday night.
The Sun reports that a spokesman said: “The Prime Minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery.
“He is in extremely good spirits.”
A spokesman said that he was not doing any work in hospital and was still stable but added that he was still having to receive oxygen treatment.
He was also passing the odd message back to fiancee Carrie Symonds and Downing Street via his medical staff, having been stripped of his phones when he was admitted to hospital.
Aides have stressed he is able to get in touch with anyone he needs to.
JOBLESS FIGURES ‘WORST ON RECORD’
Numbers released Thursday by the US, world’s largest economy, showed that 6.6 million American workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, on top of more than 10 million in the two weeks before that.
That means more than 1 in 10 US workers have been forced out of a job since the crisis took hold, the biggest, fastest pileup of job losses since record-keeping began in 1948.
The real numbers could be even higher because state unemployment offices around the country have been overwhelmed with claims, and some people have been unable to get through by telephone or website. And still more job cuts are expected. The US unemployment rate in April could hit 15 per cent – a number last seen at the tail end of the Depression.
MORRISON: ‘STAY HOME’ THIS EASTER
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has urged Australians to stay at home this weekend and spend time with their immediate families indoors as he delivered his Easter message.
Mr Morrison said the coronavirus meant that this year’s Easter “will be different and we will be staying at home”.
“It’s important because we cannot undo the tremendous progress we have made together in recent times,” he said.
“So this Easter we are staying at home. Don’t travel. Don’t go away.
The PM acknowledged that the lockdown was a challenging time for his fellow Christians, but urged them to “live out our faith”.
“For Christians, not being able to gather does not diminish the hope that we have through this important Easter period,” he said.
“This year, we will live out our faith by doing the right thing.
“That means staying at home, making sure we’re checking on our neighbours and supporting our communities and families, our friends.
“That’s what living our faith is all about.”
In signing off, he said he hoped Australians would enjoy Easter with their immediate family and that the weekend would be a “strong reminder of what’s most important.”
AUSTRALIA’S COVID-19 CURVE FLATTENS
Australia has recorded a daily increase in new coronavirus infections below 100 for the first time in three weeks.
Health Minister Greg Hunt announced 96 new cases of the disease, the lowest infection rate since strict social distancing measures came into place.
“This weekend there is good news for Australia, but there is a warning that we can either lock in the gains or lose those gains,” he told reporters in Canberra.
“This Easter is the time when any Australian can help save a life with their decisions, or inadvertently risk a life.”
More than 6000 Australians have contracted coronavirus, with 51 dead. There are 260 in hospital, 82 in intensive care and 35 on ventilators, but all those numbers are lower than at the peak.
Mr Hunt said Australians must stay at home over the long weekend to protect lives and give the nation a pathway to navigate the pandemic.
“This in many ways is the most important weekend we may face in the whole course of the virus,” he said.
He is remaining guarded on whether restrictions could be lifted early if infection rates continue to flatten.
“The more successful we are with the difficult but essential measures we are taking now, that gives us the chance to take steps out earlier,” Mr Hunt said.
“But we’ve been upfront that we see this as a six-month process.”
At the joint media conference, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Qantas would provide three specially chartered flights to get more Australians home.
QANTAS FLIGHTS TO BRING AUSSIES HOME
The federal government has struck a deal with Qantas on the flights, which are expected to happen in the next week.
A further 280 Australians are on a flight from Peru today in a separate government-organised rescue.
Senator Payne says Australia is looking at similar flights from India and The Philippines to bring more citizens home during the global pandemic.
“We are getting Australians home, we are harnessing our relationships overseas, we are leveraging our fantastic network,” Senator Payne said.
Earlier in the week, flights from Nepal and Cambodia brought people back to Australia.
There are thousands of Australians in India where strict border closures are hampering the efforts of people to get out.
Senator Payne said Australia was looking at options for a commercial charter flight through ongoing talks with the Indian government, which has enforced lockdowns.
“We thought we had made some headway earlier in the week but that did not progress, so we are continuing to do that,” she said.
Australians overseas have been told they must pay their own way home, with a seat on the flight from Peru costing $2550 a person.
Other countries are subsidising return journeys but Senator Payne signalled commercial rates would still apply for Australians.
“Where there is a real difficulty for Australians to afford those flights, we have encouraged them to engage with friends and family for the purposes of that process,” she said.
STEM CELL TRIAL
Aussie stem cell company Mesoblast has begun a clinical trial of a treatment that could help patients who develop an immune system overload in response to COVID-19 called a cytosine storm.
The immune reaction severely damages the lungs and is one of the reasons people with COVID-19 need ventilators which are in extremely short supply.
The treatment has already shown promise treating children who develop a similar reaction called graft versus host disease after a bone-marrow transplant.
Now it will be tested in 240 patients in a trial run by the US Cardiothoracic Surgical Trials Network established by the United States National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
The mesenchymal stem cell product, called remestemcel-L, was successful in a recent trial for acute graft versus host disease in children, a potentially fatal inflammatory condition due to a similar cytosine storm process as is seen in COVID-19.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in very large numbers of people suffering with Acute Respiratory Distress (ARDS) requiring ventilation in hospital intensive care units, with dismal outcomes, placing an enormous burden on the United States health system,” Guggenheim Professor of Health Policy at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Dr Annetine Gelijns, said.
The syndrome happens when the patients suffers an excessive immune response against the COVID-19 virus in the lungs, with the inflammatory cytosines produced by the immune cells (cytosine storm) destroying the lung tissue.
These inflammatory cytosines also can cause damage to other organs such as liver, kidney, and heart.
Remestemcel-L is believed to counteract the inflammatory processes.
Mesoblast Chief Medical Officer Dr Fred Grossman said the mortality rate in moderate to severe ARDS due to COVID-19 can be as high as 80 er cent.
Remestemcel-L has demonstrated safety, efficacy and significant survival.
Meanwhile, the University of Queensland’s COVID-19 vaccine is about to be tested on the virus for the first time to see if it works.
This comes as a third person has died of the virus in South Australia, bringing the Australian death toll to 51.
The research team has reached an agreement with a Dutch company Viroclinics Xplore to carry out these studies.
“These protection studies must be done in specialist biosecurity facilities as they use the live virus, and our longstanding partnership with Viroclinics Xplore gives us the confidence that this can be achieved as quickly as possible,” vaccine program leader Dr Keith Chappell said.
This crucial testing is needed before the vaccine can be tested on humans.
The vaccine uses the university’s viral clamp technology and the team is hoping to begin human trials after July.
The CSIRO animal testing lab in Geelong last week began animal trials on another COVID-19 vaccine made by a US company.
This meant the Queensland team had to negotiate its vaccine testing program with an overseas lab.
Special transport arrangements had to be negotiated to safely transport the vaccine and get it through current restrictions on world travel.
$130 BILLION JOBKEEPER SCHEME APPROVED
Meanwhile, the Federal Government’s $130 billion JobKeeper package has passed parliament.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s mammoth wage subsidy package to keep millions of Australians in a job during the coronavirus pandemic was approved late on Wednesday after a special one-day sitting attended by a reduced number of MPs.
Up to six million Australians will now receive a $1500 per fortnight wage subsidy.
Payments will be made to employers for up to six months, backdated to March 30.
The Opposition backed the legislation after it failed to expand the package to include more casual workers.
Earlier, Health Minister Greg Hunt announced 11 million masks would be sent to healthcare workers on the front lines of the pandemic.
CONCERNS OVER MALARIA DRUG
Research that suggested malaria drug hydroxychloroquine could treat COVID-19 is under question with the society that publishes the medical journal behind the study issuing a statement of concern.
In a statement the International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy said the research did not meet the society’s “expected standard”.
There could be better explanations for the patients in the study recovering, the society said in a statement and it questioned the criteria used to choose the patients included in the study.
Major criticisms of the study have emerged in recent days after Donald Trump sparked a worldwide run on the drug by tweeting it could be a possible treatment for coronavirus.
The drug is set to be included in a trial in 60 hospitals around Australia in coming weeks and there are 23 other trials looking at whether it works including a major trial sponsored by the World Health Organisation.
Australians were warned they may be risking their lives if they take hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 and there was no evidence it even works.
NPS Medicinewise, a government funded body that encourages the safe use of medicines, said despite news reports from around the world touting the treatment as a wonder drug, it was still in the testing phase.
The medicine “should only be used by people with COVID-19 in a clinical trial setting or for severely ill patients in hospital,” said Nerida Packham – pharmacist and Medicines Line manager at NPS MedicineWise.
If used incorrectly, hydroxychloroquine can be toxic to the heart (leading to a heart attack or heart failure), to the eyes (leading to irreversible damage), and to blood sugar levels (leading to severely low blood sugar), she warned.
Australian researchers surveying possible treatments for COVID-19 for the Medical Journal of Australia also warned against its use except in a clinical trial.
There have been reports of doctors using the drug to prevent infection even though there “is no clinical evidence of efficacy”, the authors said.
The same study told doctors that corticosteroid drugs should not be used in routine treatment of COVID-19 because they did not work.
The study said a drug called Tocilizumab which reduces the activation of the immune system and inflammation was being trialled to prevent a catastrophic over reaction of the immune system called a cytosine storm but it has severe side effects.
Further research was needed on whether giving COVID-19 patients the blood plasma from people who had recovered from the virus, the authors said.
Studies were still underway into whether experimental antiviral drug remedsivir worked, the authors said.
Originally published as ‘Not the time’ to ease restrictions as Australians are urged to stay home over Easter during coronavirus crisis