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Coronavirus Australia live updates: Virus sign put up at Chinese Embassy

A sign has appeared outside the Chinese Embassy in Canberra urging people against calling COVID-19 the "Chinese virus".

Lexie Cartwright, Natalie Wolfe and Ally Foster
less than 2 min read
June 29, 2020 - 9:28PM
Victoria records 75 new COVID-19 cases as second infection wave continues

A sign has appeared outside the Chinese Embassy in Canberra urging people against calling COVID-19 the "Chinese virus".

 

The sign reads: "Let’s call it the CCP Virus, not the Chinese Virus".

This comes after China's state media claimed Australia is ramping up spying efforts against Beijing as diplomatic ties come under heavy pressure.

RELATED: Australia accused of spying on China

RELATED: Suburbs at risk under lockdown plan

Prime Minister Scott Morrison avoided addressing the issue directly when asked about it.

“I wouldn’t be relying on Chinese state media for your sources for questions,” he told reporters in Sydney on Monday.

Australia has recorded 85 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, including 75 in Victoria, seven in NSW and three in South Australia. 

Follow our live coronavirus updates below.

Updates

ADF personnel land in melbourne

Dozens of Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel landed in Melbourne tonight in a bid to help bring Victoria's coronavirus outbreak under control.

About 70 ADF specialist medical personnel landed in Melbourne from Brisbane and Darwin, along with another 30 who drove down from Albury.

Assistance from the ADF was requested by Victoria last week, with troops set to assist in the testing blitz taking place in ten COVID-19 hotspots.

The testing blitz will aim to test at least half the residents in Keilor Downs, Broadmeadows, Maidstone, Albanvale, Sunshine West, Brunswick West, Fawkner, Reservoir, Hallam and Pakenham.

This comes after the number of defence personnel requested to assist Victoria was revised last week.

About 1000 ADF troops were originally requested to be deployed to help with monitoring hotel quarantine, along with providing medical support for testing.

But plans to have 850 ADF members involved in hotel quarantine are were revised, and the government only requested about 150 members of the military to assist in its coronavirus efforts.

“Our top priority is on planning and logistics assistance, and medical personnel to support our suburban testing blitz,” a state government spokeswoman said.

“We are finalising our plans for hotel quarantine, including any additional roles the ADF might be able to play.”

Virus sign appears outside Chinese Embassy

A sign has appeared outside the Chinese Embassy in Canberra urging people against calling COVID-19 the "Chinese virus".

The sign reads: "Let’s call it the CCP Virus, not the Chinese Virus".

CCP stands for the Chinese Communist Party.

US President Donald Trump has constantly referred to COVID-19 as the "Chinese virus" or the "Wuhan virus", with many criticising the terms as racist.

The emergence of this sign comes after China's state media claimed Australia is ramping up spying efforts against Beijing as diplomatic ties come under heavy pressure.

Picture: Lukas Coch/AAP

The Chinese Communist Party-run Global Times tabloid accused Australia of waging an intensifying espionage offensive through sending spies to China.

It also claimed Australia is instigating defections, spying on Chinese students and feeding “fake news” to the media to hype up theories about Chinese spying.

The story, which is based on an anonymous source from a Chinese law-enforcement agency, said Australia tried to install wire taps in the Chinese embassy in Canberra.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison avoided addressing the issue directly when asked about it.

“I wouldn’t be relying on Chinese state media for your sources for questions,” he told reporters in Sydney on Monday.

The Global Times published photos of “spying materials” including a compass, a USB flash drive, a notebook, a mask, gloves and a map of Shanghai, said to have been seized from arrested Australian agents.

The state-owned newspaper warned Chinese agencies would take a harder line on Australian espionage operations.

-With AAP

Ardern says travel bubble with NZ up to Australia

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has placed the ball firmly in Australia’s court for the creation of a trans-Tasman bubble.

Regular travel between the two allies has been suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, and there is no shortage of people eager to see it return.

Ms Ardern, who won’t risk the return of transmission of the disease in her country, says a reopening of borders will come down to Australian leaders.

“Ultimately it’s up to Australia to decide whether or not they’ll go for a whole of country approach, or a state-by-state approach,” she said. “Obviously where there is community outbreak that is a no-go for New Zealand.

“Where they have border controls in place and where they’ve had no community transmissions for sustained periods of time that may be a different scenario.”

Victoria has suffered from a major uptick in COVID-19 cases while NZ has not recorded a positive test outside of its border regime in five weeks.

Earlier this month, an expert group endorsed by Scott Morrison and Ms Ardern’s governments reported back with a blueprint on how to resume regular travel across the Tasman in the age of COVID-19.

Ms Ardern says her government is now doing that work while waiting for an Australian decision.

-AAP

Vic paramedic tests positive for COVID-19

A Victorian paramedic has tested positive for COVID-19 amid the states growing outbreak.

They are the second paramedic in the state to be diagnosed with the virus.

Ambulance Victoria said neither cases was acquired on the job.

Ambulance Victoria CEO Tony Walker said the organisation has maintained an unwavering focus on patient and paramedic safety over many months.

“Paramedics wear Personal Protective Equipment to every case they attend to protect their patients and themselves from the risk of infection," he said.

Question over Vic second wave answered

Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer Alison McMillan has said Victoria is not experiencing a second wave of coronavirus, despite the dramatic jump in cases.

Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, Ms McMillan said what is happening in Victoria has not yet spread enough to be classified as another wave of COVID-19.

"I have heard a suggestion that we are seeing in Victoria, a second wave," she said.

"I want to reassure all Australians that while we are very concerned about what we see in Victoria, what we have is a community outbreak, and one part of the city, and one state of the country."

Picture: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Ms McMillan said the government is offering "every assistance" to Victoria in order to correctly respond to the rise in cases.

When asked what a second wave would look like, Ms McMillan said there would be a lot more cases of community transmission.

"That is not easy to describe, we would see a wider spread of community transmission across the country, we are seeing this localised to a particular area of Victoria, and Victoria are working very hard to contain that, and minimise the spread," she said.

"But we are watching this very closely. Label is less important than actions we take, and the actions we are taking a positive to containing the further spread."

WA pushes back plan to reopen borders

The plan to reopen Western Australia's borders has been pushed back as a result of Victoria's increasing coronavirus cases.

There was a plan to reopen the borders on August 8, but Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson said Victoria must dramatically reduce its virus numbers before that can happen.

“If we look at Queensland, they haven’t had any cases now for three or four weeks. NSW has had some, but they’ve got low levels,” Dr Robertson told ABC radio.

“If either they’ve got no community spread or we’re fairly confident that what little community spread (exists) is well under control and being effectively managed, that would be the time we would provide that advice (to reopen).”

WA had five active cases as of Sunday, all in hotel quarantine, with only the steady return of travellers from overseas keeping WA’s numbers above zero.

But with most restrictions on gatherings now lifted, Dr Robertson urged West Australians to remain vigilant and maintain good hygiene practices.

“People are assuming that it’s all gone away and it won’t come back. We have to realise that it can come back,” he said.

“We are obviously protected to a degree by our borders … (but) there’s certainly quite a bit of traffic now on aircraft coming across from interstate.”

He said COVID-19 could be reintroduced into WA and then, “given that we are reasonably open now, we could expect further outbreaks”.

SA records new virus cases

South Australia has recorded three new coronavirus cases from travellers returning from overseas.

Chief Health Officer Nicola Spurrier announced the three positive cases were from passengers that arrived in Adelaide on a flight from India over the weekend.

Those infected include a three-year-old girl, a woman in her 30s and a woman in her 40s.

"As we have done previously, we have a lot of nursing staff and GPs involved, to make sure that everybody in that facility is being monitored on a daily basis," Ms Spurrier said.

"If anybody does develop respiratory symptoms they will get another test, and we will be testing around day 12 as people are preparing to leave that quarantine facility."

The flight carrying the infected people was carrying more than 250 Australian citizens and permanent residents.

These are the first coronavirus cases the state has recorded in more than a month, bringing the total number of cases in South Australia to 443.

READ MORE: State's first virus cases in a month

'Pandemic is not over': Warning for Australia

With Victoria seeing a concerning jump in coronavirus cases, people across Australia have been warned this is "not the time to be complacent".

While delivering an national update on Australia's COVID-19 response, Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer Alison McMillan reminded people the pandemic is far from over, pointing to the outbreak in Victoria.

"This is very serious and we all need to take note, as we have warned that this pandemic is not over," Ms McMillian said.

"While Victoria is doing an enormous job and we are, we congratulate them on the effort they are taking to contain this community spread, it's an important reminder to everyone, of the responsibility we all have to keep doing the right thing.

"We are taking this very seriously and we are concerned, I will remind everyone, as we have said before, this pandemic is not over.

"We have seen an enormous achievement in Australia, but now was not the time to be complacent. So we all need to keep doing the right thing."

Australia has recorded 7767 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, with an increase of 85 cases in the last 24 hours alone.

There are 15 people in hospital across the country, with one person in intensive care.

More than 2.4 million coronavirus tests have been conducted in Australia.

Plan to lift SA border restrictions with Vic 'under a cloud'

A plan for South Australia to lift border restrictions with Victoria is now “under a cloud” amid the continuing spike in coronavirus cases in Melbourne, Premier Steven Marshall says.

Mr Marshall has insisted that SA will not lift quarantine requirements for anyone arriving from Victoria if it is not safe to do so.

Under current arrangements, SA is due to lift those measures on July 20.

“So we’ve still got three weeks, but that is now under a cloud,” the premier said on Monday.

“We will look very closely at this and update the people of South Australia as soon as we possibly can.

“We are very concerned about the numbers coming out of Victoria at the moment, there’s no doubt about that.”

Victoria reported 75 coronavirus cases today after revealing 90 new infections over the weekend.

Picture: David Mariuz/AAP

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said he would take advice from the experts in SA Health in relation to the efforts in Victoria to contain the virus and to properly establish the extent of the spread into the Victorian community.

“The reality is, the numbers we’re seeing today relate to activities that occurred over the last two weeks, so we may see a much better performance from Victoria over the next few days,” Mr Stevens said.

“It’s important to everybody that Victoria gets this under control.”

From Wednesday, SA is also moving to a pre-approval system for all people entering the state as part of ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.

Anyone wanting to come to SA by road or air will need to apply through an online form, a process officials say will speed up access at the state’s borders.

People arriving from Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory will not be required to quarantine, but 14 days of isolation will continue for anyone from NSW, Victoria and the ACT.

SA reported no new coronavirus cases on Sunday, taking the state’s run of days without a new infection to more than a month.

However, 250 repatriated Australians arrived in Adelaide from India on Saturday and local health officials have warned that could result in some new cases.

-AAP

New coronavirus protocols throw AFL into chaos

The AFL is exploring all options to continue its season after fresh Queensland coronavirus protocols threw fixturing into chaos.

Six clubs have already been impacted by a round-five fixture reshuffle, with AFL boss Gill McLachlan warning of more changes to come.

Queensland health officials have issued new directives that will force Brisbane and Gold Coast into 14-day quarantine should they play a Melbourne-based club.

The Lions and Suns would also have to quarantine if they played in Melbourne, and against any team that had been in Melbourne in the preceding 14 days.

The directive has forced the AFL to recast round-five scheduling as Victoria’s coronavirus spike continues to worsen with 75 new cases announced today.

“In football, people love predictability, order, routine,” McLachlan told reporters.

“This is a season where predictability, order and routine has been and will continue to be difficult.

“Flexibility and agility are going to be to the key traits needed to navigate the challenges provided by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“One thing we do know is there will be more challenges and with every challenge football will find a way through.”

RELATED: AFL in chaos after COVID-19 update

Richmond’s scheduled Thursday night game against West Coast on the Gold Coast has been postponed.

Instead, Carlton will play St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Thursday night in Melbourne – a game initially scheduled for Sunday.

Richmond will now play Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday, with the Eagles now to meet Sydney on the Gold Coast on Saturday.

But Gold Coast’s game against Geelong in Geelong will proceed, though the high- flying Suns may not return to Queensland afterwards.

“They might not go back to Queensland, they might go other routes … we will have advice on that in the coming days,” McLachlan said.

“The AFL would work through the implications for the following rounds before announcing any changes required for rounds six and seven.

“We have options on the table and we are ready if we need them,” McLachlan said.

“But at the moment we have got a fixture that is put out for this weekend and we will continue to look at things day-by-day.”

– AAP

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/australia/coronavirus-australia-live-updates/live-coverage/59c74b561c4d5ae93f0b9c275d667542