Aussies warned to reconsider cruise travel amid coronavirus outbreak fears
Australians have been told to “reconsider” taking an overseas cruise as they will not be able to rely on the government saving them if there is a coronavirus outbreak.
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Australians have been told to “reconsider” taking an overseas cruise as they will not be able to rely on the government saving them if there is a coronavirus outbreak.
People who still decide to go on a cruise should consult with a medical professional before travelling, according to new advice on the Smartraveller website.
“Australians, particularly those with underlying health concerns should reconsider taking an overseas cruise at this time due to COVID-19,” the website said.
“Repatriation from cruise ships affected by COVID-19 should not be relied upon as an option.”
The cruise industry has put strong measures in place for the health and safety of passengers, including screening everyone before they board.
Cruise lines will deny boarding to anyone who has visited or transited the most affected countries including China, Iran, South Korea and parts of Italy in the 14 days before the ship departs.
AUSSIES TURNED AWAY FROM BALI
Hundreds of Australian travellers have been turned away from Bali with local authorities refusing to allow their cruise ship to berth despite no-one reporting sick and health officials screening and clearing all from carrying coronavirus.
The captain of MV Viking Sun travelling with 900 tourists, mostly Australians and Americans, declared “a clean bill of health from every port it has docked in” on its voyage around the world.
But it was last night forced to steam toward the Suez Canal on its way to Europe after a tense standoff and eventual refusal to enter port with Bali authorities declaring it was not risking its resort island ports.
Bali decides to deny entry for the MV Viking Sun, following authorities in Surabaya and East Java over health concerns regarding #COVID19, the ship currently anchored near Benoa Port #coronavirus #CoronaAlert #SARSCoV2 pic.twitter.com/EmDCprmIoR
— COVID19 Updates in Asia (@SEACoronavirus) March 7, 2020
Local authorities specifically called out the fact the ship was carrying Australians and had come from here for their decision, noting the country had a growing coronavirus problem.
The cruise ship was scheduled to dock at Bali’s Benoa Port for a two-day stay before moving to Lombok.
Bali Governor Wayan Koster said after a meeting with health authorities in capital Denpasar he decided to “scrap” permission to dock.
“As the best tourist destination in the world, we are very prone to health issues. Thus, we have to be careful,” Mr Koster said.
“We don’t want to chase a small amount money if it could have a major negative impact on tourism, the backbone of Bali’s economy.”
Tourism to Bali has already plummeted in line with a plunge of tourism and travellers globally.
After an initial offshore stand off, Health officials from Denpasar were dispatched to the port ready to greet the ship and screen disembarking passengers but later in the day word was passed to order the ship away.
A spokesman for Viking said they were extremely disappointed and every precaution had been taken and it was following all advice given by the Department of Foreign Affairs in Australia and its equivalent in New Zealand.
“The ship has received a clean bill of health from every port it has docked in since the start of its voyage,” a Viking spokesman said.
“We are extremely disappointed by the decision of the authorities to refuse entry of our vessel and the reasons we have been given are not based in fact and were not correct.”
Authorities in East Java also turned the ship away from Surabaya as did Semarang authorities.
Surabaya mayor Risma Rismaharini said he had received information there were two sick passengers with fever on board.
The ship was allowed to berth in Central Java capital Semarang but only to take in stock with passengers blocked from leaving the ship.
The vessel had earlier docked at East Nusa Tengarra, the southern most province of Indonesia famous for the Komodo National Park, where health authorities thermal screened all 930 passengers and 465 crew with all being declared healthy.
“The ship made stops in Australia. We don’t know what happened while they were there,” Semarang Mayor Hendrar Prihadi said.
FURTHER RESTRICTIONS FOR CUSTOMERS
Customers of Coles and Woolworths are facing tighter restrictions on toilet paper purchases nationwide, with the supermarket giants today announcing new limits are in place.
Now shoppers are only able to buy one pack per customer at Coles and two at Woolworths just days after
Coles shoppers are now limited to one pack per transaction, both in-store and online.
It comes just days after the competitors limited customers to four packs per transaction.
Coles Group CEO Steven Cain said the decision came as many stores were selling out within an hour of delivery and many shoppers, particularly the elderly and people unable to purchase in large volumes, were missing out because of stock piling amid coronavirus outbreak fears.
It is Coles' priority that everyone is able to access toilet paper, therefore today we have made the decision to temporarily change the limit to 1 pack per customer.
— Coles Supermarkets (@Coles) March 8, 2020
For the most up to date information on product availability please head to our website -https://t.co/mS51Csb2TJ
“We have asked our suppliers to focus on increasing production of larger pack sizes and we are prioritising the delivery of these packs to our stores, as a pack of 30 rolls should last an average family for around 3 weeks,” he said.
“We are grateful to our team members and suppliers who are working tirelessly to do the best job possible under the circumstances, and we thank our customers for their understanding and support.”
A Woolworths spokeswoman said the company encouraged customers to purchase only what they require.
“To ensure more customers are able to purchase what they need, we now have a two-pack per transaction limit on toilet paper, both in-store and online,” she said.
“We continue to work closely with our suppliers to get products onto shelves as quickly as we can.
“The makers of Kleenex, Sorbent, Quilton and Woolworths own range of toilet paper are continuing to produce extra stock in Australian facilities to meet the demand.
“As a result, large volumes of toilet paper supply are flowing through daily to our stores nationwide.”
Coles and Woolworths, however, are not the only supermarket giants limiting toilet paper purchases per customer.
Costco has limited customers to two 48-packs of toilet paper while Aldi has restricted shoppers to four packs per customer and enforced a longstanding 10 pack limit on essentials including long-life milk, tissues, paper towels and hygiene products.
ADF OFFICER TESTS POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS
An Australian Defence Force officer who travelled from Sydney to Canberra for a meeting last month has tested positive to coronavirus.
The NSW resident, a man in his 40s, was one of two ADF personnel who have been confirmed to have contracted COVID-19.
The man attended a meeting at Defence Headquarters in Russell, ACT on February 28.
A second person in the ADF has also tested positive for the coronavirus but it is not yet known if they attended this meeting or what state they are from.
There are currently no confirmed cases of coronavirus in the ACT.
About 270 people in Canberra have been tested so far but all have returned negative results.
The coronavirus death toll in Australia has risen to three after a man in his 80s died in NSW.
The 82-year-old, who contracted the virus from an infected aged care worker in her 50s at BaptistCare’s Dorothy Henderson Lodge in Macquarie Park, died overnight, NSW Health chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said.
The man’s death follows that of a 95-year-old woman who was also a resident at the Dorothy Henderson Lodge aged care home and a 78-year-old man in Perth who had been a passenger on the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
GET YOURSELF TESTED: HEALTH MINISTER
Anyone in doubt about potentially coming into contact with the coronavirus should get themselves tested even though it could stress the health system, the Morrison Government has advised.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said the position was “very clear” if a person believed they may have come into contact with COVID-19 they should self isolate but also not hesitate to seek a test if they become concerned.
“If in doubt, get yourself tested. That’s the important message,” he said.
“Even though it can be a little bit of a stress on the system, we would rather people over test than under test.”
Mr Hunt said Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Brendan Murphy would be providing more health advice on Monday but in principle people with flu symptoms needed to be vigilant.
“No country is immune but Australia is deep in preparation and already activation for making sure that people are protected,” he said.
More than 105,000 people have now been infected with the disease across 95 countries and at least 3600 have died.
Mr Hunt said Australians must rise to face the “challenges” presented by coronavirus and support nurses, medics and aged care workers trying to do their jobs.
“Our job, working with the states and territory … (and) working with the community, is to make sure that we are not just prepared, but that we are unified,” he said.
It comes after Melbourne doctor Chris Higgins, father of Australian singer Missy Higgins, faced criticism for continuing to work for more than a week with an unknown mild case of coronavirus.
Mr Higgins was criticised by Victoria’s Health Minister Jenny Mikakos for returning to work but the GP hit back on Sunday to explain his decision.
“I had a mild cold when I returned from the USA last Saturday morning, which had almost resolved itself by Monday morning, hence my decision to return to work,” he said on social media.
“I hesitated to do a swab because I did not fulfil your criteria for testing but did one anyway on Thursday evening for sake of completeness, not imagining for one moment it would turn out to be positive.”
ITALY TO LOCK DOWN LOMBARDY REGION
Italy is preparing to quarantine more than 10 million people across the financial capital Milan and the tourist mecca Venice for nearly a month to halt the spread of the new coronavirus.
A draft government decree published by Italy’s Corriere Della Sera newspaper and other media said movement into and out of the regions would be severely restricted until April 3.
It was not clear from either the decree or the reports as to when the measure would go into effect.
Corriere Della Sera said it was “imminent” and those who violated the measures could be jailed.
The Italian government has found itself at the forefront of the global fight against an epidemic has convulsed the markets and paralysed global supply chains since first emerging in China late last year.
Italy has recorded 233 deaths and 5883 infections the past two weeks.
The virus has now spread to all 22 Italian regions and the first deaths are being recorded in Italy’s less well medically equipped south.
The entire Lombardy region is home to 10 million and is one of Italy’s richest.
The government decree also covers parts of the Veneto region around Venice as well as Emilia-Romagna’s Parma and Rimini.
Those three cities have a combined population of around 540,000 people.
The month-long ban on entry to places such as Venice could deliver a crippling blow to the city’s already-struggling tourism industry.
There was no immediate word on whether the Italian Stock Exchange in Milan would remain open.
GOLD COAST WOMAN ON BOARD SHIP
One of four Australians trapped on a cruise liner in international waters off the US west coast where an outbreak of coronavirus has occurred is a crew member on the ship, the Grand Princess.
Gold Coast-born woman Kylie Chappell, who works as a cast manager and performer on the vessel, lives in San Antonio, Texas.
Her friend Brooklyn Pascoe told Seven News the news of her friend’s predicament was “just a bit of shock”.
“To not actually know someone … well hopefully not affected by it but on the ship, it’s really scary, it really brings it home,” she said.
Her husband Johnathan Wagner is a drummer with Princess Cruises. It is not known if he is on the ship with her.
The Grand Princess, with 3500 people aboard, has been in international waters off San Francisco since Friday.
Twenty-one passengers have so far been confirmed to have the virus.
The ship belongs to Princess Cruises, the same company which operated the ship held off Japan last month on which more than 700 people tested positive for coronavirus.
Authorities want it to dock in a non-commercial port so everyone aboard can be tested, amid reports there were a cluster of coronavirus cases during an earlier voyage.
So far only 46 passengers have been tested.
A military helicopter crew lowered test kits on to the 290m ship by rope on Thursday and later retrieved them for analysis.
The ship is under orders to keep its distance from shore and US officials are still deciding where it should dock.
All passengers have been ordered to remain in their cabins.
“Those that will need to be quarantined will be quarantined. Those who will require medical help will receive it,” US Vice-President Mike Pence said.
US President Donald Trump, speaking at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said he would have preferred not to let the passengers disembark on American soil but would defer to the recommendations of medical experts.
CONFIRMED CASES IN FRANCE TRIPLE
The number of people in France diagnosed with the new coronavirus jumped by 336 to 949 on Saturday.
That is the biggest daily increase France has recorded.
French health authorities said another seven people have died, taking the total to 16.
Most have been over 70 years of age.
The virus has reached every region of France and three overseas territories in the Caribbean and South America.
The head of the national health agency said that French hospitals are preparing emergency measures, including eventually bringing in retired doctors and students to help with growing demand if needed.
POPE TO LIVESTREAM SUNDAY SERVICE AS CORONAVIRUS HITS VATICAN
Pope Francis will not address the crowd for Sunday services from a window overlooking St Peter’s Square because of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy, Vatican officials said.
Francis will instead lifestream the traditional Angelus Prayer from a library inside the Vatican.
The pope will not hold his general audience from the window on Wednesday either, the church officials said on Saturday.
Italy is the European country hardest hit by the virus, with at least 4636 reported cases and 197 deaths - the most in the past week.
The Vatican on Friday reported its first coronavirus case, saying it had suspended outpatient services at its health clinic after a patient tested positive for COVID-19.
The clinic inside the tiny city state – which has some 1000 residents – will be deep cleaned, while the emergency room will remain open, spokesman Matteo Bruni said.
The patient tested positive on Thursday.
The clinic is used by priests, residents and employees – including those now retired – as well as their relatives.
Mr Bruni said the Vatican was getting in touch with all those who had passed through the clinic, as per protocol.
Pope Francis, who is active on social media, told his 18.1 million Twitter followers he wished to “express again my closeness to those who are ill with the coronavirus and to healthcare workers who are caring for them”.
The few tourists strolling around the normally crowded Saint Peter’s Square in the Vatican on Friday sounded anxious about the rapid spread of the new illness.
“I am afraid because it is a new thing. There are many cases, many deaths,” Lucilia, a 41-year-old Brazilian nun who has spent nine years living in a small Italian village and was visiting the Vatican on her way back to Brazil, said.
“Everything is happening very quickly and we are scared because we are sure of nothing.”
Most of the Vatican’s employees live in the Lazio region, where 44 people have tested positive for the virus.
Pope Francis has recently suffered from a bad cold but reportedly tested negative for COVID-19.
Mainland China accounted for more than 3000 deaths, while the toll in Italy stood at 148.
There are 85 countries outside China reporting infections, with South Africa, Palestine and Bosnia reporting initial cases in the past 24 hours (as at Friday).
More than half of those infected have reportedly recovered, including more than 53,000 in mainland China.
RELATIVES OF GRAND PRINCESS PASSENGERS SAY IT’S A ‘DEATH TRAP’
There are 3500 passengers stranded on the Grand Princess, among them elderly people at risk of illness or worse.
Lisa Egan, whose 90-year-old father is stuck on the boat, has warned authorities he could die if the vessel is not allowed to dock in San Francisco soon.
“Keeping people on the ship is going to be a death sentence for many of the elderly passengers,” Egan told The Telegraph.
“He [her father] has to take several medications daily, and he’s going to run out today [Saturday]. I’m sure that’s true for many passengers’.”
On Friday night, the captain of the Grand Princess announced that a passenger in need of “urgent medical assistance” would be flown to the mainland.
CNN reported the passenger was collected by helicopter and taken to San Francisco for treatment.
It was unclear whether or not the person was one of the 21 people aboard the ship who tested positive for coronavirus.
A total of 19 of the 21 passengers with coronavirus are said to be crew members, sparking fears that proper cooking and cleaning services are now at risk.
Grand Princess passengers Neil and Victoria Hanlon appeared on ITV expressing their fears after sharing an elevator with ill passengers.
“They were going down to where the medical centre was, Mr Hanlon said.
“We asked them if they were okay – their breathing was horrendous.”
Mr Hanlon said one man had told them he had bronchitis but added “whether that was the truth, I don’t know.”
The British couple said they are “fed up just sitting and lying around and getting no exercise” and say they are “in the dark” in regards to coronavirus testing for other passengers and the ship’s itinerary.
Passengers had been told to stay in their rooms until the latest round of test results for coronavirus came in.
The tests were to take four to six hours and passengers were expected to get results the following morning.
PRINCE WILLIAM AND KATE MIDDLETON MAY CANCEL TRIP TO AUSTRALIA
Prince William and Kate Middleton could be forced to cancel their trip to Australia amid coronavirus fears.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had been expected to travel Down Under later this year to support communities devastated by bushfires.
But it has since been claimed the couple’s plans could be affected by COVID-19 as the deadly bug continues to spread across the globe.
No official dates had been announced for the Oz trip, however it was earlier reported officials had been in talks with Scott Morrison, Australia’s Prime Minister, to finetune details.
Seven News reported there were concerns for the couple who travel on commercial flights and meet with people from all walks of life.
Kate and William had previously visited Australia in 2014, taking Prince George with them.
Kensington Palace has been contacted for comment.
It comes after Prince William joked with medics earlier this week about spreading the bug while visiting Ireland.
The dad-of-three asked Joe Mooney, an advance paramedic with the National Ambulance Service: “I bet everyone’s like ‘I’ve got coronavirus, I’m dying’, and you’re like ‘no, you’ve just got a cough’.
“Does it seem quite dramatic about coronavirus at the moment? Is it being a little bit hyped up do you think in the media?”
And he later grimaced with mock horror as he said: “By the way, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are spreading coronavirus, sorry.
“We’re keeping an eye on that, so do tell us if we need to stop.”
The couple shook hands with dozens of people while on their three-day whistle stop tour.
Meanwhile the Queen took precautions against coronavirus – wearing gloves for the investitures ceremony this week.
The 93-year-old donned the white gloves as she recognised worth Brits – the first time she has worn the accessory for the event at Buckingham Palace.
ELON MUSK CALLS CORONAVIRUS PANIC ‘DUMB’
Billionaire Elon Musk, no stranger to controversy, caused a social media storm on Friday with a tweet about coronavirus.
The tweet has collected over a million likes and plenty of critical responses.
The coronavirus panic is dumb
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 6, 2020
Musk made these comments on a day five people in the US died from coronavirus, bringing the total of US fatalities to 17.
There have now been 334 total cases reported in the US.
sure is easy to say when u are a billionairepic.twitter.com/f99e1v67GH
— peytøn (@peytnhaag) March 6, 2020
Agreed elon they did the same over global warmin and its still snowing in lots of places
— Ned (@Nedsfeed) March 6, 2020
I mean I guess if you're a billionaire and don't have to worry about dying
— Sergio Siano (@SergioJSiano) March 6, 2020
On Friday President Trump signed an $8.3 billion measure to combat the crisis in the US. “Anyone who wants a test can get a test,” Mr Trump said, despite there being mass shortages of tests available in the US.
Musk’s comments have been interpreted by some as evidence of his cavalier attitude towards the wellbeing of his staff.
In 2015, an employee claimed he was disciplined for choosing to attend his child’s birth over a company event. Musk denied those claims.
A Tesla “Anti-handbook handbook” was leaked last month, which says people must use their “paid time off” for sick leave if they have accrued it, otherwise they will go unpaid.
Tesla stock has fallen more than 20 per cent since news of the coronavirus outbreak triggered a broader sell-off in the stock market around mid February.
From late January to early February, the Tesla factory in Shanghai was forced to close as a result of the virus, which has had a knock-on effect on the company’s supply chain.
MORE MASKS AS NEW STOCKPILING CONSIDERED
An extra 260,000 masks will be immediately released from the federal stockpile to primary health networks, but doctors and others can ask for them.
“Most of the cases we have had so far, luckily at this point, have been quite mild, so the symptoms have recovered much quicker,” Australia’s deputy chief medical officer Professor Paul Kelly said on Saturday.
The virus has spread to more than 90 countries.
Prof Kelly said the global supply of masks had been disrupted and they would look to step up local production of masks.
But he said there was no issue with “vital drugs” Australians need, even though many may find shortages at their local pharmacy.
Prof Kelly had a message for unwell people, especially workers: “Don’t soldier on.”
He also said the government is considering stockpiling some antibiotics and antivirals to a stockpile but none have been proved to be effective against coronavirus.
People are urged to go about their lives as normal – without hoarding food or toilet paper – as the health department can organise supplies for those caught short by self-isolation.
He added Australia is offering support to Indonesia for testing and other control measures for the coronavirus outbreak.
Health authorities in Victoria confirmed a new case of coronavirus – with a doctor now among the infected, who has been named as Missy Higgins’ father Dr Chris Higgins.
The doctor, aged in his 70s, displayed mild symptoms on a flight from the US. He is now in isolation at home after last night being confirmed positive to the virus.
He had recently travelled to Denver and Vail in Colorado via Los Angeles, and was there for 12 days prior to becoming ill.
It Is believed he was infected in the US.
LEBRON JAMES SAYS HE WON’T PLAY TO EMPTY STADIUMS
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has said he will not play games to arenas with no fans as coronavirus fears sweep the NBA.
“We play games without the fans? Nah, that’s impossible,” James told The Associated Press. “I ain’t playing if I ain’t got the fans in the crowd. That’s who I play for. I play for my teammates, and I play for the fans. That’s what it’s all about. So if I show up to an arena and there ain’t no fans in there, I ain’t playing. They can do what they want to do.”
An NBA memo was distributed warning players about the possibility of playing games without fans or media as a preventive measure to stem the spread of coronavirus.
The move has already been taken by sports leagues in Europe.
Teams should be ready “for the possibility of implementing temperature checks on players, team staff, referees, and anyone else who is essential to conducting such a game in the team’s arena,” the memo reads.
US UNIVERSITIES CLOSE TO STEM THE OUTBREAK
Stanford University officials announced on Friday campus classes would be halted from Monday in an attempt to stop the spread of coronavirus. Scheduled exams would be changed to a take-home format, officials said.
In Seattle, The University of Washington will also cancel in-person classes from Monday until March 20 at the earliest, and Seattle University also said it would move to online classes for the rest of the winter quarter.
There are now 76 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state of New York, prompting Governor Andrew Cuomo to declare a state of emergency as the number of cases is expected to increase.
About 4000 people are under a precautionary quarantine in New York, with 44 under mandatory quarantine, Mr Cuomo said on Friday.
MAJOR US FESTIVAL CANCELLED
South by Southwest, a major US festival staged in Texas, has been cancelled amid concerns about the deadly coronavirus, organisers confirmed on Friday, with serious doubt now hanging over the future of Coachella.
“The City of Austin has cancelled the March dates for SXSW and SXSW EDU,” South by Southwest’s organisers said in a statement.
“SXSW will faithfully follow the City’s directions.”
Austin mayor Steve Adler said he had declared the city a “local disaster” in response to the coronavirus and had “issued an order that effectively cancels South by Southwest for this year”.
The music, tech and film festival was slated to take place from March 13 to 22.
Even before it’s official cancellation, major brands like Netflix, Apple and Amazon had already pulled out.
More than 400,000 people attended last year’s SXSW, staged in the Texas capital’s convention centre with events spread throughout the city.
Texas has so far recorded a handful of coronavirus cases, with more than 200 confirmed cases across the United States.
The SXSW announcement came on the heels of Miami authorities cancelling Ultra Music Festival, the annual electronic dance festival which was expected to draw more than 160,000 revellers.
The March 20 to 22 event was to feature Gesaffelstein and Sofi Tukker.
There have been more than 100,000 confirmed coronavirus infections across 92 territories worldwide, according to AFP’s latest toll, and almost 3500 deaths.
Doubt is now hanging over Californian festival Coachella, which due to be held across two weekends in April, near Palm Springs.
The festival’s organisers, Golden Voice, have not responded to requests for comment.
TRUMP’S $8.3B CORONAVIRUS PLEDGE
US President Donald Trump has signed a $US8.3 billion ($A12.51 billion) measure to help tackle the coronavirus outbreak which has killed 12 people in the US and infected more than 200.
The legislation provides federal public health agencies with money for vaccines, tests and potential treatments and helps state and local governments prepare and respond to the threat. The rapid spread of the virus has rocked financial markets, interrupted travel and threatens to affect everyday life in the United States.
The Senate passed the measure to help tackle the outbreak in hopes of reassuring a fearful public and accelerating the government’s response to the virus.
Its rapid spread is threatening to up-end everyday life in the US and across the globe.
The money would pay for a multifaceted attack on a virus which is spreading more widely every day, sending financial markets spiralling again on Thursday, disrupting travel and potentially threatening the US economy’s decade-long expansion.
The plan would more than triple the $US2.5 billion ($A3.77bn) amount outlined by the White House 10 days ago.
The bipartisan leadership of the House and Senate Appropriations committees negotiated the increased figure and other provisions of the legislation in a burst of bipartisan co-operation that’s common on the panel but increasingly rare elsewhere in Washington.
The legislation would provide federal public health agencies money for vaccines, tests and potential treatments, including $US300 million ($A452 million) to deliver such drugs to those who need it.
More than $US2 billion ($A3 billion) would go to help federal, state and local governments prepare for and respond to the coronavirus threat. An additional $US1.3 billion ($A1.96 billion) would be used to help fight the virus overseas.
In a press conference Mr Trump described the virus as an “unforeseen problem” but said, “We’re taking care of it.”
Trump’s comments came as two passengers and 19 crew members on a huge cruise ship being held off the California coast tested positive for the virus, Vice President Mike Pence announced.
Federal officials working with the state plan to bring the Grand Princess to a non-commercial port where the more than 3,500 people on board can be tested for COVID-19.
Pence said those needing to be quarantined will be and those needing medical attention will get it. Princess Cruises said 45 people were included in the first round of testing aboard the ship held off San Francisco.
BORIS JOHNSON’S PLAN TO COMBAT VIRUS
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has held private talks in Downing Street to discuss measures that would include a monetary policy to address the coronavirus outbreak.
Mr Johnson initially said on ITV’s This Morning that the country was still at the stage where “the single best thing we can do … is just wash our hands”.
But now it is possible that panic around the virus will disrupt Mr Johnson’s Brexit timetable, as well as the British economy.
It comes as The Sun reports that British Airways has confirmed two of its baggage handlers have tested positive for coronavirus.
The staff members are understood to have been working at Heathrow Airport and have now been placed in self-isolation.
The news will spark fears over how many items of luggage the workers may have handled while carrying the virus.
A British Airways spokesman confirmed the positive tests, saying: “Public Health England has confirmed that two members of our staff, have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.
“The colleagues have been isolated and are recovering at home.”
Heathrow said in a statement: “The welfare of our passengers and colleagues is our top priority.
STARBUCKS BANS REUSABLE CUPS
Coffee giant Starbucks has banned reusable cups from stores across Europe as the war against coronavirus hits new heights.
Starbucks in the UK announced the change early Saturday, Australian time, in the bid to contain the spread of the deadly virus.
The UK has more than 120 cases of coronavirus and one confirmed death.
“We are actively monitoring the situation and taking precautionary measures to ensure the ongoing wellbeing of our employees and customers,” Starbucks said in a statement.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we are pausing the use of personal cups or tumblers in our stores across the UK. However, we will continue to honour our 25 pence ($A0.50) discount for anyone who brings in a personal cup.”
Starbucks chains across Germany have also banned keep cups however the few stores across Australia are not adopting the same strategy.
The 10 cent paper cup surcharge has been stopped in both the UK and Germany until the virus is contained.
More than 100,000 people are now infected with coronavirus across the world, with the disease killing 3400 people since it spread from Wuhan, China in December.
Italy has been one of the worst hit outside of China with 148 people dying in the past two weeks.
Businesses are adopting increasingly drastic strategies to contain the virus with fears up to one in five workers could be home sick in the coming weeks.
VIRUS COULD PEAK IN MAY, EXPERTS WARN
Experts are predicting the current outbreak of COVID-19 spreading throughout Australia won’t peak until May if it becomes uncontrolled and then it will take eight to 12 weeks to contain.
This means it will be a major burden on the health and hospital system at the same time as our annual flu season.
These predictions were relayed to medicos meeting with federal government officials on Friday.
The meeting was also told that if the virus was better controlled it would have a smaller peak, fewer people would be infected, but if would take longer to wash through the community.
Australian National University epidemiologist Professor Peter Collignon said at this stage the COVID-19 was not yet uncontrolled in Australia.
“You can still identify in most cases where the source of the infection came from,” he said.
It would be classified as uncontrolled if suddenly there were 50 to 100 people with COVID-19 with no known contact with each other and spread across multiple areas, he said.
University of Queensland virologist Associate Professor Ian Mackay has predicted that over time, almost every Australian would contract the virus.
It was still too early to predict the course of the virus in Australia because we did not know enough about the number of mild cases that did not come to the attention of health authorities, Professor Collignon said.
It would only be when we had an antibody blood test that could tell whether a person had the coronavirus in the past that this would become possible.
“People are doing modelling all the time but the problem is we still don’t have a lot of the basic data,” he said.
“The Swine flu in Mexico was said to have a mortality rate of six per cent but that was because they didn’t know about all the mild cases,” he said.
“In Australia if you calculated Swine flu mortality on people hospitalised it was three per cent but a true population study found the mortality rate was 0.3 per cent,” he said.
Professor Catherine Bennett from Deakin University said the irony was that the faster the virus spread the quicker it would be controlled.
“There are fewer people left to infect,” she said.
If it was not possible to control the spread by quarantining those infected and promoting hand hygiene, health authorities must work to protect those most vulnerable to the disease – the elderly, she said.
EUROVISION REVIEWING OPTIONS AMID VIRUS
A co-organiser of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam is reviewing its options in light of the coronavirus outbreak.
A spokesman for Dutch broadcaster NPO said that organisers would follow the advice of health authorities in deciding what form the event, due to be held on May 12-16, would take.
Eurovision usually attracts a live audience of tens of thousands and a TV one of close to 200 million.
Public gatherings have so far not been restricted in the Netherlands.
Vormer gave no details of what alternative plans might be.
Australia selected Montaigne to compete in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with the tune Don’t Break Me.
AUSTRALIA’S BILLION DOLLAR PLAN TO TACKLE VIRUS
The coronavirus outbreak could cost Australian taxpayers about $1 billion in health spending as a school, nursing home, hospital and childcare centre in the same area of Sydney have created fears of a virus cluster.
Epping Boys High School was shut down on Friday and could be closed for a fortnight after a student tested positive while three staff and four residents of a nearby nursing home in the city’s northwest have been infected.
The infected Year 11 student’s mother works at Ryde Hospital with a doctor who has the virus. However, the student’s mother isn’t ill, but is awaiting test results, while more than 100 people from the hospital are in isolation.
And 17 children from a local childcare centre who visited the Dorothy Henderson Lodge nursing home in Macquarie Park last month have tested negative but told to stay home for the 14-day quarantine period.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a special shared funding deal to help states and territories shoulder hospital, health service and other response costs.
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“This is demand driven. We are estimating … this could be as much as about $1 billion – $500 million each – that we would at least have to be allowing for,” Mr Morrison told reporters.
“I hope it’s not that much. It could be more.”
Friday’s deal is separate from other hospital funding agreements, with hospitals to account separately for costs associated with coronavirus cases.
Talks on epidemic planning were held on Friday for the aged care sector, and Queensland was pressing on with what it called “war gaming”, where they look at a range of scenarios to decide the threshold for drastic measures like the closure of schools.
MATILDAS TO PLAY GAME BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
Vietnam’s women footballers will play the second leg of their Olympics playoff against Australia behind closed doors over concerns of COVID-19, football authorities said on Friday.
The March 11 game will be held in the Cam Pha stadium in northern Quang Ninh province.
The Matildas are on the verge of Tokyo Olympics after thrashing Vietnam 5-0 in the first leg of their playoff at home on Friday.
A statement released by Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) on Friday said the match organiser decided not to open ticket sales to the public “due to the complicated development of COVID-19 outbreak”.
“Spectators should not come to the stadium area … avoid large public gatherings, to ensure effective prevention of the outbreak,” according to the statement.
VFF General Secretary Le Hoai Anh told AFP that “only accredited people can attend the game”.
Vietnam last month suspended all sporting competitions in the country in February in order to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
All games in the season-opening round of Vietnam’s top football division V.League 1, which are held from March 6 to 8, will be played behind closed doors.
However, Vietnamese authorities said the country’s inaugural Formula One race would go ahead as scheduled on April 5.
– with Reuters, AAP
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