Coronavirus: Morrison announces Australian international arrival increase, new hotel quarantine cap
Victoria has recorded 21 new cases of coronavirus, while Boris Johnson says a second lockdown is likely in the UK and a British peer flies into Sydney to film a reality show as Aussies are left in limbo.
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Victoria has recorded 21 new cases of coronavirus and a further seven deaths overnight.
The dramatic drop in new cases comes after 45 cases were recorded on Friday, and now brings metropolitan Melbourne’s rolling 14-day average to 39.3.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the Melbourne needs to reach a 14-day rolling average of between 30 and 50 cases to see an ease in restrictions by September 28.
Despite the promising drop, experts say Victorians must remain vigilant in the coming weeks to ensure a new spike in cases does not occur.
Meantime, three new cases of coronavirus have been recorded in NSW overnight.
UK LOCKDOWN LOOMING
another national lockdown could be on the way in the UK, as Britain faces a second wave of coronavirus.
Britain’s daily cases hit 4,322 on Friday and 27 deaths – the highest number since May.
It comes as France and Spain have also seen a spike in cases, while Dublin has announced new restrictions, closing all pubs unless they serve food and have outdoor space.
Britain’s testing program has been widely described as shambolic, with people forced to wait days for results and tests unavailable in many virus hot spots as demand outstripped supply of laboratory processing facilities.
A “circuit breaker” two-week lockdown has been considered to interrupt the latest outbreak.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned there was worse to come.
“There’s no question, as I’ve said for several weeks now, that we could expect (and) are now seeing a second wave coming in,” Mr Johnson said.
“I don’t want to go into bigger lockdown measures at all, we want to keep schools open and it is fantastic the schools have gone back in the way they have. We want to keep the economy open as far as we possibly can, we want to keep businesses going. The only way we can do that is obviously if people follow the guidance,” Mr Johnson said.
The UK currently bans people from gathering in groups of more than six, but pubs, cafes, restaurants, shops and schools remain open.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan, said a second lockdown is now “increasingly likely”.
“It is increasingly likely that, in London, additional measures will soon be required to slow the spread of the virus. We will be considering some of the measures which have already been imposed in other parts of the UK.
“I am of the firm view that we should not wait, as happened six months ago, for this virus to again spiral out of control before taking action,” Mr Khan said.
“The best thing for both public health and the economy is new restrictions imposed early, rather than a full lockdown when it’s too late – but the government must urgently ensure there is a fully functioning testing system.”
Globally, confirmed cases of the coronavirus have topped 30 million worldwide, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.
France has reported more than 9000 daily cases, while Spain reported over 10,000 cases.
BRITISH BILLIONAIRE JETS INTO SYDNEY
The federal government has come under fire after a British billionaire filming a reality television show was able to travel to Australia while tens of thousands of citizens are still stranded overseas.
On Friday, Lord Sugar tweeted about his flight from the UK to Australia, saying, “I’ve not travelled on a commercial airline for 25 years. Yesterday I travelled to Sydney with Emirates. I have never experienced service like it in all my life. It was fantastic.”
The 73-year-old British peer, who usually travels via private jet, is in Sydney to film an upcoming series of The Celebrity Apprentice Australia and will enter 14 days of self-isolation.
With over 25,000 Australian citizens still stranded overseas and anxiously waiting to get home, many wondered how Lord Sugar had been able to make the journey, with one Twitter user asking, “our borders are supposedly closed to everyone except returning citizens and permanent residents. How did you get round the red tape?”
I've not traveled on a commercial airline for 25 years. Yesterday I traveled to Sydney with @emirates . I have never experienced service like it in all my life. It was fantastic . both on the ground and in the air. Amazing. For the skeptics it was fully paid for not free.
— Lord Sugar (@Lord_Sugar) September 16, 2020
Labor Senator and opposition foreign affairs spokesperson Penny Wong slammed the decision, tweeting, “As tens of thousands of Australians wait to see if their airline tickets will be cancelled yet again, the Morrison government has seen it fair to grant an exemption to British billionaire Lord Sugar, allowing him to travel to Australia to film a reality television show.
“Once again we see the Morrison government has one rule for the privileged few, while stranded Australians are told to ask for charity or to go to homeless shelters.”
VACCINE ROAD MAPS RELEASED
A comprehensive road map for potential vaccines has been released by two major drug companies in a bid to stem speculation from world leaders.
Moderna and Pfizer have revealed detailed information on their trials, including how participants are selected and monitored, the conditions for trial pauses or cancellations, and the evidence required by researchers to determine the vaccine viable.
According to the new information, Moderna’s study will involve 30,000 participants, while Pfizer’s will use 44,000.
Neither company’s plan provided a set date for a vaccine delivery, despite US President Donald Trump declaring earlier this week that a vaccine could be ready by October. Hours earlier, the head of the US’s Center for Disease Control had said a vaccine would not be widely available until mid-2021 at the earliest.
While pharmaceutical companies traditionally share information only after studies and trials are completed, Pfizer said in a statement they recognise “that the COVID-19 pandemic is a unique circumstance and the need for transparency is clear.”
A spokesperson for AstraZeneca, who is producing the Oxford vaccine, said the company intends to make its road map public within the coming weeks.
STRANDED AUSSIES OFFERED LIFELINE
Stranded Australians have been offered a lifeline home after the federal government announced it would increase its return traveller caps as early as next week.
The national cap for Australians returning from overseas is currently 4,000 each week, but will now move to 6000.
As of September 27, NSW will take an additional 500 travellers per week, while Queensland and Western Australia will take an additional 200 travellers respectively. Queensland will move to increasing their intake to the full additional 500 by October 4, while WA will move to the full additional 500 by October 11.
“Australians who are trying to get home at the moment are seeking to do that for many reasons, and particularly those more vulnerable, for circumstances completely outside their control. It’s not like they had an opportunity to come home early or anything like that,” Mr Morrison said during a press briefing.
“But we’ve got to remember, these are Australians coming home. These are Western Australians coming home to Western Australia. They are Queenslanders coming home to Queensland.”
There are over 25,000 Australian trying to get home from overseas locations.
NSW, Queensland and WA will manage the vast majority of returning traveller quarantines due to their major international airports.
The Prime Minister said he hopes to see the cap increased past 6000 weekly returns in the near future.
Mr Morrison also said Australia is managing the COVID-19 pandemic “better than almost any other part of the world in developed economies.”
“Australia is the envy, in many respects, of so many other countries around the world, in how we are managing both the health consequences of the COVID pandemic and the economic consequences of the COVID pandemic,” Mr Morrison said.
ALBANESE: MORRISON NEEDS TO “ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY”
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has launched a scathing attack on Scott Morrison, saying the Prime Minister needs to “accept responsibility” for Australians stranded overseas and stop pushing the issue back onto state and territory leaders.
During a press conference on Friday, Mr Albanese said, “the national prime minister has responsibility for our international borders. That is very clear. If that’s not clear, I don’t know what Scott Morrison is responsible for.
“The federal government clearly have responsibilities for these issues. These are a federal government responsibility. Quarantine and our national borders are the responsibility of the federal government. And the Prime Minister needs to accept that responsibility rather than continuing to pretend that he just happens to be the bloke who chairs a phone hook-up every couple of weeks. But he’s not accountable for any of the outcomes of those phone hook-ups,” Mr Albanese said.
QUEENSLAND OPENS FOR CANBERRANS
Canberrans will be able to visit Queensland from as early as next week.
“After a lot of work from our Chief Health Officer as well as detailed conversations between the Premier and the Chief Minister of the ACT and between our government and the Canberra airport, we are announcing today that we will lift border restrictions on the ACT from 1am next Friday,” Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles said.
The announcement comes as Queensland recorded no new cases on Friday.
During the state’s daily press conference Mr Miles said the government is urging Canberrans “to start thinking to come up to Queensland for a holiday” and said the restriction ease is “a great chance to come and visit friends and relatives, go to the reef, go to one of our wonderful tourism hot spots. This is great news for the ACT and recognition for the fact that they have been sometime without any cases.”
Any Canberrans wanting to visit Queensland will be required to fly into the sunshine state and sign border declarations upon arrival.
Australians travelling to Canberra in a bid to reach Queensland will still be required to quarantine for 14 days.
MELBOURNE OUTBREAK LINKED TO FIVE HOUSEHOLDS
Meantime, Victoria has recorded 45 new cases of coronavirus and five deaths overnight, bringing the state’s 14 day rolling average to 42.7 cases.
All of the overnight deaths have been linked to aged care deaths outbreaks.
On Friday, Department of Health and Human Services testing commander Jeroen Weimar said 34 active cases within Melbourne have been linked to five households engaging in illegal gatherings and travelling beyond their 5 kilometre radius in the city’s southeastern suburbs.
During his daily press briefing, though, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said anyone who breaks stage 4 restrictions and tests positive will be spared a $1600 fine if they provide contact tracers with a truthful account of their movements.
Mr Andrews said, “no amount of money would ever be anywhere near how valuable the information that person gives to us, because that that means, we can get the health problem fixed and then we can get the economic rebuild and repair. That’s not in the thousands of dollars, it’s billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs. People can be confident, and they should, out of whether it be a sense of pride in their state, a sense of duty, or just to get the rules off quicker, tell us the full story, and tell us quick.”
NSW has also recorded six new cases overnight.
JOBSEEKER TO DOUBLE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
The requirements for Australians receiving JobSeeker payments are set to double after a major government announcement on Friday.
Currently, people receiving the government unemployment benefit are required to apply for at least four jobs per month, but as of Monday September 28 the minimum requirement will double to eight applications per month for all Australians, with an exception to Victoria due to ongoing restrictions. Prior to the pandemic, the minimum requirement was 20 job applications per month.
Senator Simon Birmingham said the change was essential in getting Australia’s economy back on track, telling TODAY, “Around the rest of the country we are moving slowly, steadily back to where it was. Not jumping right back there, but just increasing that expectation for people to be out there, looking for work.”
EUROPE SET FOR COVID-19 SPIKE
The World Health Organisation has warned of “alarming rates of transmission” of COVID-19 across Europe after a September surge, cautioning countries against shortening quarantine periods.
WHO’s regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, said the number of coronavirus cases in September “should serve as a wake-up call for all of us”.
“Although these numbers reflect more comprehensive testing, it also shows alarming rates of transmission across the region,” he told an online press conference from Copenhagen.
WHO also said it would not change its guidance calling for a 14-day quarantine period for anyone exposed to coronavirus.
“Our quarantine recommendation of 14 days has been based on our understanding of the incubation period and transmission of the disease. We would only revise that on the basis of a change of our understanding of the science,” said Catherine Smallwood, a WHO Europe senior emergency officer.
For instance, in France, the recommended length for self-isolation in case of exposure has been reduced to one week.
In the UK and Ireland, it’s 10 days, and several more European countries, such as Portugal and Croatia, are currently considering reducing their recommendations.
“Knowing the immense individual and societal impact even a slight reduction in the length of quarantine can have … I encourage countries of the region to make scientific due process with their experts and explore safe reduction options,” Mr Kluge said, adding that the “concept of quarantine must be protected” and “continuously adapted”.
The 53 member states of WHO Europe have recorded nearly five million cases of COVID-19 and more than 227,000 related deaths, according to the organisation’s figures.
The number of daily cases recorded is between 40,000 and 50,000, comparable to a daily peak of 43,000 on April 1 – although testing in many countries has increased considerably.
Europe set a new record last week, with some 54,000 cases recorded in 24 hours.
US HEALTH OFFICIAL BLASTS COVID ‘POLITICISATION’
A prominent doctor in the US has lamented the politicisation of the fight against coronavirus after a public spat between Donald Trump and the US Centres for Disease Control director, Dr Robert Redfield, over masks and a COVID-19 vaccine.
On Wednesday, Dr Redfield told a senate hearing in the US that a vaccine would not be readily available until mid-2021 and that masks were a more effectiveweapon in halting the spread of coronavirus than any vaccine would be.
Mr Trump claimed that Dr Redfield was “confused” about the timeline for a coronavirus vaccine and attacked Dr Redfield over his assertion that masks are “the most important, powerful public health tool we have” to combat coronavirus.
Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, said on Good Morning America in the US that Dr Redfield was correct.
“The doctor is right” about masks, Dr Jha said.
“It’s a very difficult situation,” said Dr Jha. “We’ve got to let the CDC scientists speak and share their scientific expertise with us.”
Mr Trump has, for the most part, refused to wear a face-mask in public, while earlier this week the US President told voters that a vaccine was close.
“We’re within weeks of getting it,” Mr Trump stated. You know, could be three weeks, four weeks, but we think we have it.”
When asked about Mr Redfield’s comments during a White House press briefing on Wednesday evening local time, President Trump said the CDC Director was “wrong” and had been provided with incorrect information.