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Coronavirus Australia live updates: Two more aged care homes in lockdown

A fresh outbreak of coronavirus cases in Victoria has prompted two-week lockdowns of a number of facilities in the state. 

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May 19, 2020 - 1:17AM
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Two aged care homes in Victoria have been placed in lockdown following the detection of new positive cases.

 

 

It comes after the nation's death toll reached 100 on Tuesday after a 93-year-old woman became the 19th person to die at Newmarch House aged care home in Sydney's west, a facility that  accounts for almost a fifth of all known coronavirus deaths in Australia.

Earlier today Qld's Health Minister Stephen Miles said authorities were preparing for thousands of positive cases every day following a case at a nursing home in Rockhampton.

Remarkably, none of the hundreds of residents and staff from the centre have returned positive tests since the drama emerged last week, but Mr Miles said it's too early to feel relieved as testing continues.

MORE: Follow the latest virus news here

Australia has recorded 7067 cases of COVID-19 so far with 100 deaths.  Cases include 3078 in New South Wales, 1573 in Victoria, 1057 in Queensland, 439 in South Australia, 557 in Western Australia, 226 in Tasmania, 107 in the Australian Capital Territory and 30 in the Northern Territory. 

Our live coverage has ended for the day, here's how it played out. 

Updates

World Health Authority resolution adopted

The World Health Authority has voted to adopt a resolution to investigate the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The focus of the inquiry is understood to be on the response to the virus and not its origin or spread, making it different to the inquiry Australia and other countries including the US have pushed for.

China's embassy labelled claims Australia was vindicated by the announcement as a "joke" on Tuesday.

As reported earlier today the inquiry will consider “the circumstances that allowed this pandemic to develop” as well as “recognising a number of other elements”, including the importance of all countries to have “unhindered and timely” access to diagnostic kits, medicines and vaccines, according to European Commission Foreign Affairs and Security Policy spokesperson Virginie Battu-Henriksson.

New lockdowns after fresh cases in China

Another Chinese city has gone into lockdown after a fresh outbreak in the northeast of the country.

The city of Shulan, home to around 700,000 people in the province of Jilin brought in new restrictions on Monday after a fresh cluster of cases in recent days.

"We will further strengthen the epidemic prevention and control work in the city [with] the most stringent control measures," the government of Shulan said in a statement on Chinese social media WeChat.

Those measures include no one being allowed to enter or exit the area.

Households also have to nominate one person to venture out for supplies, and they have to be back home within two hours.

The restrictions are reminiscent of those placed on the city of Wuhan in Hubei, where the virus was first detected.

The new cluster is believed to be linked to a laundry worker for the Public Security Bureau, according to the South China Morning Post.

It's not yet known where she contracted the disease as there had been no local cases reported for 73 days.

Sewage on beach tied to toilet paper hoarding

The toilet paper shortages on grocery store shelves brought by widespread panic buying in the early days of the coronavirus’ presence in Australia has largely subsided, but some flow on effects of the hoarding are only now coming to light.

A recent sewage spill on a Tasmanian beach has been tied to people not being able to get enough toilet paper, and instead throwing far less biodegradable wet wipes down the toilet.

The weekly Kingborough Chronicle reported on Tuesday morning that a recent sewage spill on a beach south of Hobart was caused by a blockage of wipes and other materials like paper towels.

Kingston beach was cordoned off by the local council and beachgoers warned to avoid the area following the spill, which was quickly cleaned up.

TasWater told the newspaper the increase in wet wipes being flushed down the toilet had been causing problems.

“It is important for everybody’s health and the health of the environment that we only flush the three P’s down the toilet, paper, poo and pee,” TasWater’s manager of southern networks, Justin Cordwell told the Kingborough Chronicle.

“Please, if you need to use something other than toilet paper, put it in the bin rather than flush it.

“It’s the best way you can help stop our sewers from getting blocked and protect the environment.”

Holidays could be back on from June

NSW is reportedly "looking at" reopening tourist hotspots from June 1 to allow residents to vacation within the state.

The announcement is officially expected to be made tomorrow morning.

Deputy Premier John Barilaro has reportedly been working on the plan for "some time", after tourism operators asked the government to allow them to reopen.

Rusty promises masks for any Souths fan older than the coach

As the NRL approaches its return, Russell Crowe has promised free facial masks for the oldest members of his rugby league team.

The actor, a joint owner of the South Sydney Rabbitohs, shared a picture of coach Wayne Bennett, 70, wearing a mask adorned with the foundation club's bunny logo.

The masks sell on the team's store for $19.95, but every Souths member over the age of 70 has been promised one for free.

Crowe said around 1700 masks will be sent out to those members.

COVIDSafe app still not being used in biggest state

Australia's most populous state and the one with the most confirmed cases of coronavirus still hasn't used any of the data from the government's COVIDSafe app.

The voluntary app was made available to download on April 26.

Earlier this month it was revealed at a Senate committee that none of the app data had been accessed, and the app didn't work properly on the iPhones used by almost half of all Australian smartphone owners anyway.

The delay in using the data was due to an agreement still being worked out between the Commonwealth and the states.

Only state health authorities and the Digital Transformation Agency are allowed to access the COVIDSafe app data.

The Guardian is now reporting NSW Health still hasn't accessed any of the data yet, more than four weeks after millions of people downloaded the app.

With case numbers falling it's possible the data may never be used.

"We are evaluating the use of the COVIDSafe app … we will be using it in every new case identified where there are potential contacts and we’ll update you on the utility of that but there is a formal evaluation under way and we’re working closely with Commonwealth colleagues,” NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said at a press conference Tuesday morning.

Europe claims credit for inquiry after Australia branded a "joke"

The disagreements in Europe and China’s “complex” and “multi-faceted” relationship have been highlighted by the coronavirus pandemic, and an upcoming inquiry could reveal more.

The European Commission (the executive branch of the European Union) Foreign Affairs and Security Policy spokesperson Virginie Battu-Henriksson spoke on ABC News from Brussels this afternoon about the inquiry.

She said the EU and its member states “have been spearheading a resolution which is looking at the entirety of the COVID-19 response”.

That comes after criticism from China’s embassy, who branded Australia's claim it helped lead the push for an inquiry as "nothing but a joke".

The resolution will be presented for adoption today by the World Health Assembly.

It considers “the circumstances that allowed this pandemic to develop” as well as “recognising a number of other elements”, including the importance of all countries to have “unhindered and timely” access to diagnostic kits, medicines and vaccines, Ms Battu-Henriksson said.

The actual origin of the virus won’t be a key focus.

The EU’s chief diplomat Joseph Hovell has said any investigation of the origin needs to be objective and impartial, steering clear of the “battlefield'' between China and the United States.

Ms Battu-Henriksson said the EU wants to work together with China, and has in the past on issues like climate change and the Iran nuclear deal, but there were still “differences” between the Union and China.

“It's also a systemic rival… our systems are not the same and are not necessarily compatible. There are a number of things on which we don't see eye to eye. The pandemic has made this relationship more apparent and, in a way, has accelerated some of the aspects,” Ms Battu-Henriksson said.

She highlighted the differences in the help offered to each other during the throes of their outbreaks as one of the areas where approaches can differ.

“When China was dealing with the pandemic in the beginning, the European Union brought some help in a rather discreet way, but we did.

“In return, when Europe was at that point, facing the pandemic much more virulently than before, China did bring a lot of help and made sure that the world knew about it.”

“What's important is that there was mutual solidarity, but you could see… the different aspects of the relationship,” she said.

More lockdowns after fresh outbreak

Two Victorian aged care homes have been put in lockdown amid fears of fresh outbreaks following positive cases at the facilities.

The HammondCare Caulfield aged care home and Lynden Aged Care Camberwell are reportedly in lockdown following positive cases.

The VillaMaria facility in Bundoora was put in lock down earlier this week.

Victorian Deputy Chief Health Officer Annaliese van Diemen said the woman who tested positive at the Caulfield facility has since tested negative on a second test, but that the facility will still be closed.

"We treat all positive cases as positive cases and we don't take any chances," she said.

The facilities will be locked down for two weeks.

Contact tracing is underway to determine the source of the new infections and anyone they may have had contact with.

Two other aged care homes in Victoria have also gone into lockdown while two residents with flu-like symptoms await test results.

Private schools with a 'plan' to get funding early

Private schools will be given payments ahead of schedule if they have a plan to reopen for students, but the government won't check if they actually reopen.

Private schools with a plan to fully reopen classrooms at the start of June will receive some of their federal funding ahead of time.

But all they need is the plan.

“The requirement for the eligibility is that schools have a plan to reopen, so we won’t actually be checking on schools that they have students … it’s about having a plan,” Department of Education deputy secretary of schools Alex Gordon told a Senate inquiry on Tuesday afternoon.

Ms Gordon said the funding allocation was considered low-risk since the schools would eventually get the money anyway.

Nearly 680 schools have applied for the first payment, set for May 21, with slightly fewer requesting the second payment on June 9, which requires at least half their students being back in regular classrooms by June 1.

NRL announce venues for resumed season

The Australian Rugby League Commission has announced the six stadiums that will host NRL games when the competition begins a phased return on May 28.

Three stadiums in NSW, two in Qld, and Melbourne's AAMI Park will host NRL games, with fixtures locked in until round nine of the competition.

Further rounds will be scheduled closer to then based on the nature of the pandemic at that time.

The North Queensland Cowboys and Melbourne Storm will get sole use of their stadiums, while the Broncos will share their usual home ground with the Gold Coast Titans.

NSW teams and the Canberra Raiders will share three stadiums.

Parramatta's BankWest stadium will be shared amongst the Eels, Bulldogs, Rabbitohs, Sharks and Roosters.

The Central Coast stadium will host the Newcastle Knights, Warriors, and the Manly Sea Eagles.

Campbelltown Stadium will host the Dragons, Tigers, Panthers, and Raiders.

Acting Chief Executive Officer Andrew Abdo said the strategy was designed to ensure all venues provided the safest possible environment for players and staff, based on the NRL’s strict biosecurity protocols.

“The competition will begin with a consolidated approach to venues.

"Each venue requires customised infrastructure to meet our strict biosecurity requirements. We’ve adopted a phased approach for venues should restrictions be eased in the future,’’ he said in a statement released today.

“We’ve chosen three consolidated venues for clubs in and around Sydney to ensure there are no double headers at venues and in different parts of the region to meet the geographical challenges we face.”

The official draw for the restarted competition will be released on Thursday.

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