Coronavirus Australia: AMA recommends pause on lifting restrictions

The head of the Australian Medical Association has called for a pause on the lifting of restrictions after Victoria's surge in cases.

The head of the Australian Medical Association has called for a pause on the lifting of restrictions designed to stop the spread of coronavirus after Victoria's recent surge in cases.

Victoria has recorded 74 new cases of coronavirus overnight as thousands of Melburnians get used to their first full day in strict quarantine lockdown across scores of public apartment blocks. Almost 30 cases were identified in the flats, just north of the CBD.

Residents of the blocks, who won't be able to leave home for at least five days, will get $1500 in hardship payments and rent relief for the next fortnight.

Australia has recorded a total 8253 cases of COVID-19, with 3230 in New South Wales, 2543 in Victoria, 1065 in Queensland, 443 in South Australia, 607 in Western Australia, 228 in Tasmania, 108 in the Australian Capital Territory and 29 in the Northern Territory.

Australia’s coronavirus death toll stands at 104.

Updates

8:37 pm July 5, 2020 Highlight

AMA calls for pause on restrictions being lifted

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has called for a pause on the lifting of coronavirus restrictions around Australia following a surge in cases in Victoria.

Two more Melbourne postcodes were put in lockdown yesterday after 108 new cases were recorded.

Victoria has been ramping up testing.

It has also locked down several public housing blocks.

The AMA estimated more than 300,000 residents of Melbourne were under "hard lockdown", including 3,000 in the towers.

AMA president Dr Tony Bartone said the new outbreaks showed the threat of COVID-19 is far from over.

“These new outbreaks send a strong signal that the other States should rethink the pace of easing of their COVID-19 restrictions until community transmission in Melbourne is under control to avoid the risk of a similar situation playing out in their own communities,” Dr Bartone said.

“We all want to get our lives back to normal, but it has to be a gradual and cautious process – and it must be with strict adherence to the medical advice and public health guidelines."

He said that governments are dealing with huge challenges trying to balance the protection of public health with the economy.

" As pubs and restaurants open up to more people, as the restart of elite and community sporting events picks up, and as the return to workplaces for thousands of workers accelerates nationally, the COVID-19 spikes in Melbourne are a warning for all Australians how quickly virus outbreaks can occur anywhere in the country," Dr Bartone said.

He said it was a "stark reality check" about how rapidly things can change.

Dr Bartone said it was disappointing that many of the Melbourne hotspots were " directly linked to failures to follow established and successful public health guidelines", was particularly worried about those that related to AFL players.

"The AFL teams were given privileged exemptions, with strict guidelines, but some players have disrespected these privileges and then sought to plead exceptional circumstances in their defence."

"We all can and must do better," Dr Bartone said.

“Before rushing back to the pub, the footy crowds, or the big weddings and parties, Australia should pause and play it safe until the Melbourne hotspots are back under control.”

6:00 pm July 5, 2020 Highlight

Police call for guidance over tower lockdowns

The secretary of the Victorian Police Association has called for more planning to be done about exactly how police are going to guard nine public housing blocks in Melbourne.

Sergeant Wayne Gatt has said no planning has been done and called for clear direction to be given to officers tasked with monitoring the apartment complexes in Flemington and North Melbourne.

“We don’t have a plan at this point,” Sgt Gatt told reporters on Sunday afternoon.

“We have some ideas and I’m hoping that through discussions with Victoria Police this afternoon we actually arrive at a plan that can work," Sgt Gatt told reporters on Sunday afternoon.

Critics of the lockdowns have argued there are better options than armed police for guarding the block, such as social workers.

Sgt Gatt said it was up to the Victorian government to decide what agencies were tasked to support the lockdown, but said police would work with anyone to help get the job done.

Victorian opposition leader Michael O'Brien called for the Australian Defence Force to be brought in to assist.

— with wires

5:02 pm July 5, 2020 Highlight

WHO records record increase in cases

The World Health Organisation has just reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases with 212,326 recorded in the last 24 hours.

The massive increase follows in surges in United States, Brazil and India.

According to WHO data, just under 130,000 of those new cases were in the Americas, including the US, Brazil and Mexico.

India recorded a record day, with over 24,000 cases overnight.

Prior to this, the biggest daily global increase had been 189,000, recorded on Tuesday.

4:05 pm July 5, 2020 Highlight

WA records six new cases

Western Australia has reported six new cases of coronavirus, all of whom are returned travellers in hotel quarantine.

The six people – four women and two men aged between 40 and 64 – were all passengers on a flight from Dubai which arrived in Perth on 1 July.

This takes the total in WA to 613.

3:20 pm July 5, 2020 Highlight

Airline staff to work in quarantine hotels

Qantas and Jetstar airline staff will replace private security operators in Melbourne quarantine hotels, according to The Herald Sun.

Thousands of now-jobless airline workers are helping at several major hotels in Victoria, with much of the transmission of the virus linked to quarantine hotels, the newspaper reported.

There are suspicions that security guards are linked to the spread of the virus from the hotels to major community outbreaks in recent weeks.

1:11 pm July 5, 2020 Highlight

Andrews gets tough on people refusing to test

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has said that for the residents of the nine public housing blocks that are in hard lockdown, the only response to a request they should be tested is “yes”.

The government has been caught off guard by reports of up to 10,000 Melburnians refusing to be tested in hot spot suburbs.

Andrews said that wouldn’t be happening in the North Melbourne and Flemington flats. He’s told people to call out their non-testing neighbours.

All 3000 people in the housing blocks will asked to test.

The government has said it needs five days to test all 3000 residents and get their results back. The premier hinted that if people refused to test, the tough lockdown could last longer.

“I expect that everybody will consent to a test because the sooner we have the testing process concluded the sooner we will be able to make decisions based on the data about the restrictions that are appropriate for those nine towers,” he said at a press conference today.

“If someone knocks on your door to do a test the only answer you should give is yes.

“And if you see someone in your family group, in your friendship group, in your street, who is not taking this seriously, then call them out.”

Andrews said he expected only a “small number” of people to refuse a test.

“My message to those residents is consent to the test, agree to the test and find out exactly how much of this virus is in these towers”.

12:24 pm July 5, 2020 Highlight

'Big infection numbers' expected in coming days

Premier Daniel Andrews has said he is not calmed by the lower numbers today and fully expects infections to go up.

On Sunday, 74 new cases were diagnosed in Melbourne which is a fall on the 108 cases yesterday.

"Obviously 70 odd cases is better than 100. But we are going to see some big days, big numbers in the days ahead. You can't go and test 3000 people in such a focused and concentrated way and not have numbers go up," he said.

"We might be pleasantly surprised and they don't, but I think it is far more likely that we are going to find what we're looking for, and that is the strategy working.

"There is no good not knowing about virus out there, and then the only proxy measure becomes a number of people presenting at hospital for a machine to help them breathe."

Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton said if the virus "exploded" in the towers it would get far beyond the current locked down postcodes.

Four new COVID-19 cases have been found across the nine tower blocks that are currently in hard lockdown.

Thirteen cases have been diagnosed in the North Melbourne flats and 14 in Flemington, totalling 23 infections across the public housing cluster.

RELATED: Where Victoria's new cases are coming from

Chief health officer Brett Sutton said he expected that to rise as residents were tested.

"If this had exploded within the towers, and there were literally hundreds and hundreds of people who became infected and they were going about their normal business, it would have spread beyond the postcodes even. So I think the early, if imperfect control, is the really key element here."

We're getting a bit more detail now on where those other cases have come from.

Two new cases have been diagnosed among staff in Epping Hospital bringing to five the infections there. The Stamford Plaza Hotel outbreak has grown to 42 with a guard and two family members of guests testing positive.

At the Al-Taqwa College cluster, a further eight cases have been identified.

11:51 am July 5, 2020 Highlight

$1500 for residents of Melbourne blocks

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has laid out support measures for the thousands of residents of the nine public housing blocks that are currently in strict lockdown.

No rent will be charged for the next for the next two weeks.

Those who are employed, and cannot go to work, will receive a $1500 hardship payment. For those households where there is no-one in employment, they will receive a $750 hardship payment.

Premier Daniel Andrews in Melbourne this morning.

He added there would be support to provide food, essentials, drug and alcohol support, mental health support, family violence support, physical healthcare and support for those who have preexisting medical conditions.

"There will be a single point of contact for each and every one of those 3000 residents so that they can have everything from just wanting to talk to somebody about their circumstances all the way through to very specific and detailed requests to meet their needs," he said.

"There are cultural and language barriers in terms of appropriate communication with people. We will make sure that all of our support meets the very diverse needs within these towers. "

For more on the support for residents see the story below.

RELATED: Free rent, $1500 for tower residents

11:49 am July 5, 2020 Highlight

'People will die' unless we lockdown flats: Andrews

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has said "people could die" if the nine blocks were not shut down.

"This is not going to be a pleasant experience for those residents but this is not about punishment but protection," he said this morning.

Daniel Andrews said the "hard lockdown" was not a punishment.

"We cannot have a cohort of people, many of whom are in poor health to start with. We cannot have this virus spread. We have to do everything we can to contain the virus and that is why

staying in your unit, staying in your flat, is absently essential.

"If we have a large group of people who already have preexisting and underlying health challenges infected with this virus then people will die."

Andrews said every single resident would be tested.

"I expect that everybody will consent to a test, because the sooner we have the testing process concluded, the sooner we will be able to make decisions based on the data, the results of those tests, about the restrictions that are appropriate for those nine towers."

11:40 am July 5, 2020 Highlight

74 new cases in Victoria

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has said there have been 74 new cases of coronavirus in the state overnight.

There were 108 new infections yesterday, the second highest in the state since the pandemic began.

Of the new cases 53 of those are under investigation. There are 26 Victorians in hospital, and three of those are in intensive care, Andrews said.

To stem new infections, the government yesterday increased the number of suburbs in lockdown with nine public housing blocks now completely off limits with residents forced to remain in doors for at least five days.

However, no new suburbs, postcodes or blocks were added to the local lockdown on Sunday. That means it's currently the nine housing estate blocks in Flemington and North Melbourne under "hard lockdown" and 12 suburbs where there are only four reasons to leave home.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCPPXNNlqei

Earlier, the Premier announced on Instagram that every household that activity boxes with Lego, games and puzzles would be delivered to all kids in the nine blocks.