Coronavirus Australia live coverage: ‘Too early for map to ease restrictions’, says Brad Hazzard
On the eve of a national cabinet meeting where the focus will be on reopening the economy, the NSW Health Minister says it’s too soon for a forward timeline.
- NSW Police probes Barilaro’s farm trip
- 13 new cases linked to abattoir
- No restrictions easing for NSW Mother’s Day
- ACT announces back to schools plan
- Queen to address nation on VE Day
- Litigators cashing in on coronavirus crisis
- Nurse exposed treating Cedar Meats worker
Welcome to live coverage of the continuing coronavirus crisis. NSW Police has determined NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro did not break the law by travelling to his farm at the weekend. Gladys Berejiklian won’t ease restrictions on gatherings before Mother’s Day.
AFP 8.40pm Madonna reveals she has recovered from COVID-19
Madonna says she has recovered from the coronavirus after pull out of a string of concerts in Paris in February and March.
The “Queen of Pop” said she had tested positive for antibodies, which may mean she had COVID-19 — though at the time she said she didn’t realise she had it.
“I am not currently sick,” she told her 15 million followers on Instagram on Thursday. “When you test positive for anti-bodies it means you had the virus, which I clearly did as I was sick at the end of my tour in Paris over seven weeks ago along with many other artists in my show.”
The 61-year-old star only played a single night in Paris on February 22 before calling off the next show, citing “ongoing injuries”.
She later called off two further Paris concerts — the last in her Madame X world tour — after French authorities banned large gatherings in a bid to stem the spread of the virus in early March.
“At the time we all thought we had a bad flu,” Madonna wrote in her post. “Thank God we are all healthy and well now.”
The singer revealed she had the virus after sharing an article about her donating $US1.1m ($1.7m) towards research to find a vaccine for the coronavirus.
Madonna was among 200 artists and scientists who signed an open letter Wednesday calling for radical change across the world rather than “a return to normal” after the coronavirus lockdowns.
Alongside Hollywood stars Cate Blanchett, Jane Fonda and Marion Cotillard and a clutch of Nobel Prize winners, she pleaded for an end to unbridled consumerism and a “radical transformation” of economies to help save the planet.
READ MORE: Pandemic spreads the chill over US-China relations
Associated Press 7.30pm British economy to shrink by a third
The British economy will suffer a historically deep recession as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, shrinking by nearly a third in just half a year, The Bank of England warned on Thursday.
In what it describes as a “plausible” scenario, the bank said the British economy will be 30 per cent smaller at the end of the first half of the year than it was at the start of it, with the second quarter seeing a 25 per cent slump alone following a 3 per cent decline in the first.
Unemployment is projected to more than double to around 9 per cent, but that figure does not include the six million workers who have been retained by firms as part of a scheme that sees the government pay up to 80 per cent of salaries, up to £2500 pounds ($4818) a month.
The central bank said the economy should start to recover during the second half of the year as the lockdown restrictions start to be lifted and “materially so” in the latter part of the period.
It anticipates that the economy will end up 2020 with a 14 per cent contraction. That would be far greater than anything seen during the world wars, the Spanish flu of a century ago or the global financial crisis of 2008-9.
READ MORE: Police investigate AFL players over isolation breach
6.10pm: Newmarch appoints external advisor amid virus crisis
Anglicare Newmarch House in Sydney’s west has appointed an externail advisor following a directive from the aged care regulator.
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission issued the directive yesterday, threatening to revoke the facility’s licence amid a coronavirus outbreak that has so far claimed 16 lives.
“Anglicare Sydney today announced that the adviser appointed to Newmarch House is Andrew Kinkade. This is in response to the Notice issued yesterday by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission,” Anglicare said in a statement.
“Andrew Kinkade has extensive experience in aged care in Australia and the UK and has been contributing to sector-wide preparations and responses to Covid-19.”
“He has a track record of managing complex situations and delivering high quality care. It is this background that gives him an understanding of the support that is needed at Newmarch House.”
READ MORE: China ‘back in business’
Ewin Hannan 6.00pm: Half nation’s pharmacy workers considering quitting
Half of the nation’s pharmacy workers were considering quitting due to a big increase in their workloads and concerns about their safety during the coronavirus pandemic.
A survey of 640 pharmacy workers has found many were dealing with a ’massive influx” of customers, some of whom might have been infected with COVID-19.
Professional Pharmacists Australia chief executive Gordon Brock said conditions were so difficult that half of all pharmacy workers were considering leaving the profession or have already decided to quit.
“Around a third of pharmacists believe members of the public with COVID-19 have visited their store and many believed sufficient safety precautions were not being adopted universally,” he said
“The COVID-19 crisis has led to a massive increase in workload for pharmacists with over 72 per cent dispensing more prescriptions than before the pandemic.
“To keep up, pharmacists were pushed to the limit with 42 per cent working extra hours and one in three working through their breaks to keep up with massive demand.”
Mr Brock said one in five pharmacies were not disinfecting the working environment, and 25 per cent were not directing potentially infected patients to the COVID-19 hotline.
“Only 40 per cent of pharmacies are providing COVID-19 specific training to staff and less than half have been given access to personal protective equipment,” he said.
“What’s deeply concerning is that the failure of employers to properly support pharmacists throughout the COVID-19 crisis may result in an exodus from the industry.
Of the workers thinking about quitting, two-thirds said their employer’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis had directly contributed to their decision.
“Pharmacists are on the frontline in the battle against COVID-19. They should be supported by additional staff and provided with appropriate training, personal protective clothing and safe working conditions,” he said.
READ MORE: What you can and can’t do this Mother’s Day
Rachel Baxendale 5.37pm: Andrews dismisses Cedar Meats Labor links
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has dismissed as “irrelevant” state opposition criticisms of his government’s initial refusal to name the Melbourne meatworks at the centre of the state’s largest coronavirus cluster, amid revelations of the close links between his MPs and the abattoir’s owners.
A Cedar Meats spokeswoman confirmed to The Australian on Thursday afternoon that the company’s General Manager Tony Kairouz was a member of the Victorian Labor Party from 1993 until 2017, when his membership lapsed.
The confirmation follows The Australian’s report on Thursday revealing that when one of the founders of Cedar Meats died in 2010, three MPs who are now part of the Andrews government paid tribute with condolence motions in parliament, with one describing Samir Kairouz as “more than a brother to me”.
Samir’s brother Pierre Kairouz made a $15,000 donation to the Victorian ALP on the company’s behalf ahead of Labor winning government in 2014, and in May 2018, the Andrews government’s then agriculture minister, Jaala Pulford, announced the Kairouz family’s Meatco abattoir in Mildura would receive $2m in “regional jobs” funding to refurbish and recommission the facility, with sheep and goat carcasses to be supplied to the Cedar Meats abattoir in the western Melbourne suburb of Brooklyn, which is at the centre of the COVID-19 cluster now linked to 62 cases.
Asked on Thursday about his comments on Monday that there was “no connection, other than by family name” between Consumer Affairs Minister Marlene Kairouz and the owners of Cedar Meats, Mr Andrews said the Kairouz name as “a very popular name amongst the Lebanese community.”
Asked about the $2m grant, Mr Andrews said it “would have been determined by departmental officers after a competitive process.”
Asked to respond to criticism from Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien over the government’s refusal to name Cedar Meats when it was linked to 15 COVID-19 cases on Sunday, despite naming a school linked to one inactive case, Mr Andrews said: “Well I don’t respond to criticism from people who are completely irrelevant to the work that I’m doing.”
The Meadowglen Primary School case was detected in a music teacher who was refused at COVID-19 test when he fell ill in the week following a gig at the Eaglemont Hotel, in Melbourne’s northeast, which has since been linked to 30 COVID-19 cases.
Mr Andrews said his Health Minister Jenny Mikakos had been stating “matters of fact” when she announced the teacher’s positive test result on Sunday and named the school.
READ MORE: Spare us virus of culture commissars
4.29pm: Three Newmarch staff members test positive in 24 hours
Three staff members at the coronavirus-hit Anglicare Newmarch House in Sydney’s west have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.
“The positive test results were discovered during our rigorous testing regime applied to all staff working at Newmarch House, which is now being conducted every second day,” a statement read.
The virus has had a devastating effect on the facility. 16 residents have died, while some 34 staff members and 37 residents have tested positive to the virus.
READ MORE: Threat to revoke licence for aged-care home
AAP 4.20pm: First South Australia virus case in two weeks
A man in his 70s has tested positive to the coronavirus six weeks after arriving in Adelaide from the United Kingdom, breaking South Australia’s two-week run of no new infections.
The man developed the unusual symptoms of loss of taste and smell several days after he arrived, but did not immediately associate them with COVID-19. However, he was tested for the virus earlier this week, returning the positive result.
Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said officials were confident the man had contracted the disease while still in the UK.
She said while he was still “shedding” virus, it was unlikely he was still infectious.
However, she said because his diagnosis had only just been confirmed his case was being considered active and the man had been placed in quarantine along with five close contacts.
“We feel quite confident here we do not have another case of community transmission,” Prof Spurrier said.
“In terms of any danger to the community, I think that is very low.” The man’s case took SA’s total so far to 439.
READ MORE: Return to work? Download the app
Rachel Baxendale 4.19pm: Andrews agrees cluster handled ‘absolutely perfectly’
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has stood by his Department of Health and Human Services, despite questions from federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud about why meat inspectors from his department were not warned about a cluster of COVID-19 cases at Melbourne abattoir Cedar Meats until April 30.
Asked why the federal Department of Agriculture was not warned until six days after the second case had been detected, particularly given commonwealth meat inspectors travel from abattoir to abattoir, Mr Andrews said the DHHS contact tracing team “make approaches to based on names provided to them and based on who they believe from their important detective work, who has come in contact with people that possibly have the virus.”
“Agencies are working closely together, state and federal,” Mr Andrews said.
“The Commonwealth department are having a look at what went on here.
“We’re working very closely with them and I suppose we’ll wait and see what comes out of that, but I’m very confident that the contact tracing team ... have done everything possible, and done it to the highest of standards, to trace every single person connected to each and every one of these cases.
“The agriculture department is looking into these matters and we’re working closely with them, and other government agencies and we’ll wait and see what comes of it.”
Asked whether he agreed with Health Minister Jenny Mikakos that the Cedar Meats cluster had been handled “absolutely perfectly” by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services, Mr Andrews said he had “heard what the Minister said yesterday, and I agree with the Minister.”
“Those professionals, we all should be very, very grateful to every one of them and every member of the health team for the massive effort, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of phone calls, emails, text messages, follow ups,” Mr Andrews said.
Mr Andrews defended DHHS contact tracers for not attempting to corroborate a Cedar Meats worker’s claim that he had not been to work for four weeks when he tested positive for COVID-19 on April 2.
Mr Andrews said DHHS contact tracers would get in touch with everyone who had tested positive to COVID-19 in Victoria and ask them a series of questions.
“If you say, regardless of where you work, if you say, ‘I have not been to work for four weeks’, then we take you on face value,” he said.
“The assumption is that people are giving us the accurate story.
“If we assumed that everyone wasn’t, I don’t know that we could ever have enough contact tracers.
“We wouldn’t need 1000, we’d need 100,000, and it’d become almost impossible.
READ MORE: Infected nurse not told of abattoir risk
Brent Read 4.00pm: NRL anti-vaxxers allowed to return to training
The ARL Commission will revise a clause in their waiver form to allow players who don’t vaccinate to play when the season resumes on May 28.
A handful of players had refused to have flu shots, and then declined to sign a waiver that would have allowed them to resume under the game’s current protocols.
The ARL Commission discussed the issue on Thursday afternoon and chair Peter V’landys confirmed they would make a slight alteration to the waiver to allow players to return to training.
However, any player who elects not to sign the altered waiver will be banned for the season.
“The is only one clause in there we are going to change because of their religious grounds, which we have no problem with,” V’Landys said.
“We will change that clause but anyone who doesn’t sign the waiver, will not be allowed to play.”
Gold Coast forward Bryce Cartwright was the highest-profile figure to make a stand on vaccinations, hitting out at critics of his stance as it emerged as many as three Canberra players had missed training on Wednesday over an issue that is fast dividing the game.
Cartwright has become the face of the vaccination debate, his wife Shanelle taking to social media early on Wednesday to defend her husband’s stance.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison was among those to suggest players shouldn’t be allowed to play unless they received a flu shot.
READ MORE:
AAP 3.43pm: Too early for virus road map: Hazzard
It remains too early for the NSW government to provide a specific “road map” for the easing of coronavirus restrictions, an inquiry has heard. Health Minister Brad Hazzard was on Thursday asked at a parliamentary inquiry into the NSW government’s handling of the virus if there was a plan or timeline for how the restrictions might be lifted.
“To ask for a forward map ... I don’t think that’s a reasonable prospect at this point, because the circumstances are changing daily,” Mr Hazzard told the inquiry.
Mr Hazzard’s comments came ahead of Friday’s national cabinet meeting, in which leaders will decide whether to relax some coronavirus measures across the country.
Mr Hazzard claimed the NSW rate of infection was lower than Japan’s and “the best, if not among the best in the world”, despite fatal clusters relating to the Ruby Princess cruise ship and Newmarch House and Dorothy Henderson Lodge nursing homes.
“Aged care facilities and cruise ships across the world have been highly problematic but NSW actually leads the world in its results at this point,” Mr Hazzard said.
“None of that detracts from me saying I’m sorry for the people who have lost loved ones.” NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said she wanted to see high rates of community testing and few infections before declaring the virus’ reproduction rate low.
Earlier in the inquiry, Labor’s Penny Sharpe asked Mr Hazzard why Aspen Medical staff who had been working on the Ruby Princess were “allowed to walk into Newmarch”.
“The question shows a profound lack of understanding of the NSW health system ... (which) has no control over those matters,” he said in response. Dr Chant said NSW Health would not have been told by Aspen or the federal government where its staff had previously worked.
READ MORE: It’s an occupational Hazzard for whom the buck stops
Brent Read 3.14pm: NRL star reflects on Mother’s Day at a distance
Sydney Roosters star Brett Morris was talking about the prospect of Mother’s Day visits being put on hold when news broke that the NRL had informed clubs that there would be no exception to their biosecurity protocols this weekend.
It means Mother’s Day will have to be conducted from a distance, unless of course you happen to live with your mother like Wests Tigers forward Michael Chee Kam. For Morris and his twin Josh, it means the phone will have to suffice.
“At the end of the day we all have phones, they all have cameras on them,” Morris said.
“You can FaceTime. She doesn’t need to see us face to face to know how much we love her.”
There had been a thought earlier in the week that players would be allowed to visit their nearest-and-dearest on the proviso that their mothers were showing no cold-like symptoms.
However, the stance changed after the NRL conducted further consultation with their medical experts.
“After further consultation with our medical experts, the NRL has determined Mother’s Day is not an exceptional circumstance for players or club officials to leave their residence,” they wrote in an email to the clubs.
“The protocol cannot be periodic if we are to achieve our objective; it cannot be subject to change because of personal events such as birthdays, anniversaries, or occasions such as Mother’s Day.
Clubs were also told that contact training had been delayed until Monday - club were originally scheduled to do so over the weekend.
READ MORE: Trans-Tasman bubble doesn’t go far enough
Paul Garvey 3.09pm: WA maintains hardline stance on AFL restart
Western Australia will deliver a roadmap for lifting coronavirus restrictions this Sunday after the state recorded an eighth straight day of no new cases.
But WA health minister Roger Cook has maintained the government’s hardline stance on an AFL restart, reiterating that there will be no exemption to the state’s quarantine rules for the competition.
Mr Cook told reporters on Thursday that another three cases had recovered, meaning there are now only 11 active cases remaining in the state.
The latest medical advice from tomorrow’s national cabinet will help the state finalise which restrictions it will lift first, including whether to lift some or all of WA’s intrastate travel restrictions.
The hard interstate border closure is likely to be one of the last restrictions lifted, complicating the AFL’s plans to resume the season with a normal home-and-away fixture.
All arrivals into WA are required to isolate for two weeks, and Mr Cook said those rules would apply to any football teams.
“This government won’t compromise on the health and safety of its citizens,” he said.
“The health advice is crystal clear: there is no confidence the AFL can maintain infection control and prevent infection spread among players and staff under the current proposed model. There is a risk it could contribute to the further spread of the virus.”
Despite the falling case numbers and looming easing of restrictions, Mr Cook stressed it was important that social distancing and hygiene practices continued, noting that he would not be hugging his mother on Mother’s Day.
The practices put in place have also led to a massive drop in flu cases in the state. Mr Cook said WA recorded only 20 flu cases during April, the lowest figure in the state’s history and well down from the 548 recorded in April 2019.
READ MORE: Second wave may be a tsunami
2.50pm: Barilaro didn’t break rules with farm visit: police
NSW Police have concluded that NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro did not breach the Public Health Act by by travelling to his farm in NSW’s south east over the weekend.
“Police were alerted today that Deputy Premier John Barilaro had travelled to his property at Nerriga last weekend, and it was reported that the visit may have contravened current Ministerial Directions under the Public Health Act,” NSW Police said in a statement.
“Subsequent inquiries by police from Southern Region revealed that he travelled to the property on Saturday (2 May 2020) and spent the weekend with his family.
“He also conducted various maintenance tasks at the property.
“Investigators deemed that neither the travel, nor the stay, breached the current Ministerial Directions, including guidelines that commenced last Friday (1 May 2020).”
Earlier, a spokeswoman for Mr Barilaro denied he contravened the public health orders as the public health act permits individuals to travel to secondary properties for purposes of maintenance.
The spokeswoman told The Australian Mr Barilaro spent the weekend fixing things up around the farm - which he sometimes rents on holiday rentals website Stayz for more than $1500 a night - as parts of the property were damaged in last summer’s bushfires.
The spokeswoman also said the farm is in his state electorate of Monaro, meaning he did not contradict statements made in March when he implored people not to travel to the regions as the pandemic took hold, saying: “the safest thing you can do right now is stay in your community.”
Former NSW Arts Minister Don Harwin was hit with the $1000 fine in April when he was caught travelling to his Central Coast holiday home in contradiction of public health orders.
READ MORE: Constance out after Barilaro quip
Rachel Baxendale 1.48pm: Andrews won’t ease rules for Mother’s Day
Premier Daniel Andrews has ruled out bringing an easing of physical distancing restrictions forward 24 hours to allow Victorians to see their mums on Mother’s Day.
Despite already surpassing his goal of testing 100,000 people in the fortnight to Monday May 11, with 106,000 people tested since April 27, including 18,200 tested on Wednesday, Mr Andrews said he would be sticking to his plan of analysing all test results received by Monday, with no change of rules before then.
National cabinet meets on Friday to discuss he lifting of restrictions.
“Monday the 11th of May will present us with an opportunity to, as we’ve said all along, to update you both on test results and on the rules that will apply, certainly for May, and indeed we may give you some indications about thinking and of decisions out of national cabinet beyond that,” Mr Andrews said.
“I can tell you what I will be doing on Mother’s Day,” the Premier said.
“I would not be visiting my mum, even if it was lawful for me to do that.
“She’s in her mid 70s ... she’s in good health, but she has some underlying health issues, and I just, I just wouldn’t do it. I’d very much like to.”
“Everyone wants to be with their mum, but let’s be really cautious, let’s be really careful not to be spreading the virus.”
READ MORE: Mr Morrison, we need a five-point recovery plan
Lachlan Moffet Gray 1.25pm: Princess Cruises extends global halt in operations
Princess Cruises has announced it will extend a global pause in ship operations through the end of the northern summer cruise season in August as the coronavirus pandemic and reduced flight capacity hampers the feasibility of the industry.
The move means that Australian-based cruises on the Sapphire Princess and Sea Princess will not proceed, as well as cruises in Europe, Asia and North America. Guests who have paid for any of these cruises in full will receive a 125 per cent credit for use at a future date while those who have paid a deposit will receive a credit equal to the value of the deposit paid.
A full refund can also be applied for.
“As the world is still preparing to resume travel, it is with much disappointment that we announce an extension of our pause of global ship operations and the cancellation of cruise vacations for our loyal guests,” said Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises.
“Among other disruptions, airlines have limited their flight availability and many popular cruise ports are closed. It saddens us to think about the impact on the livelihood of our teammates, business partners and the communities we visit.”
Despite Princess Cruises extending their global pause, sister cruise company Carnival on Monday announced it will resume operations in North America in August.
READ MORE: Carnival Cruise Line planning to set sail again
Lachlan Moffet Gray 1.10pm: ACT records no further cases in past 24 hours
The ACT has recorded no further cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours and only one case in the past 13 days. The sole case in almost a fortnight was a woman in her 20s who contracted the virus overseas and was diagnosed on Sunday.
ACT Health say the woman quarantined upon arrival and did not pose a risk to the greater community. She remains the sole active case in the territory after 103 coronavirus patients made a full recovery and three died.
The Territory’s low numbers have convinced the government to bring forward a return to school for students in the public system.
The previous plan was to keep most students working from home for the remainder of the term but this morning the ACT government announced that face-to-face learning would be phased in over the next month.
Despite the lack of coronavirus patients in the hospital ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman reminded the community that health services in the ACT still have visitor restrictions in place at key sites.
The restrictions apply to all Canberra Health Services campuses, including Canberra Hospital and University of Canberra Hospital and Community Health Centres, as well as Calvary Public and Private Hospitals, and National Capital Hospital.
“We are in a very strong position here in the ACT but Canberra’s hospitals would like to remind people of the restrictions they have in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19 among staff, patients, their friends and relatives,” Dr Coleman said.
“We know that hospitals can be potential transmission hubs with a population that is already compromised by episodic and chronic health issues.
“Restrictions imposed by Canberra’s hospitals include limiting visitor numbers to ‘one visitor per patient per day’ at their facilities.
“These health services would also like to remind people, where possible, not to bring children to hospital when visiting patients. This policy will be applied with compassion and common sense. For example, children who are well will still be able to visit a parent or sibling accompanied by an adult.”
READ MORE: Pandemic gave peace a chance, and nobody took it
Lachlan Moffet Gray 12.55pm: NZ to decide on Level 2 restrictions next week
More news from across the Tasman — the New Zealand government will make a decision as to whether to move from “level three’’ to “level two’’ restrictions next Monday after recording just one additional case in the past 24 hours.
The country entered harsh “level four’’ lockdowns in March forcing people to stay indoors with all businesses, schools and non-essential businesses closed for more than a month. On April 27 the country moved to level three, allowing businesses that do not interact physically with customers to reopen, as well as some schools.
If the country moves to level two on Monday, New Zealanders will have more freedom than most Australians, allowing businesses and schools to fully reopen, domestic travel to recommence as well as professional sport competitions, single-person dining in restaurants, and gatherings of up to 100 people to go ahead both indoors and outdoors.
But PM Jacinda Ardern warned that New Zealanders shouldn’t take the potential move to level two as a sign the battle against coronavirus was won.
“Every alert level to fight COVID-19 is its own battle. When you win one, it doesn’t mean the war is over,’’ Ms Ardern said on Thursday in a statement.
“In a nutshell, Level 2 is a safer normal designed to get as many people back to work as possible and the economy back up and running in a safe way, made possible only by our collective actions at Levels 4 and 3 to beat the virus and break the chain of transmission.
“Strong public health measures such as physical distancing, good hygiene and contact tracing will be essential to making Level 2 work.”
New Zealand and Australia are also considering implementing a “trans-Tasman” bubble that would lift restrictions on international travel between the two countries.
New Zealand has 1139 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 21 deaths.
READ MORE: Travel to boost economy, jobs
Lachlan Moffet Gray 12.45pm: Trump press secretary’s takedown of media critics
New White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has returned a swing directed at the Trump administration by the media, accusing several media outlets of hypocrisy over their statements on coronavirus.
When asked by a press gallery reporter whether she wanted to retract a previous comment she had made while a high-profile surrogate for the Trump administration to the effect of “President Trump will never allow coronavirus to come to the country”, the 32-year-old hit back by giving numerous examples of the media downplaying the deadly potential of coronavirus, despite now running commentary critical of the administration’s handling of the pandemic.
WATCH White House @PressSec @KayleighMcenany BLAST the Media for pretending like they didn’t downplay the Coronavirus.
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) May 6, 2020
Absolute Savage 🔥 pic.twitter.com/K2v5nh1JWw
“I guess I would turn the question back on the media and ask similar questions,” she said.
“Does Vox want to take back that they proclaimed that the coronavirus would not be a deadly pandemic?
“Does the Washington Post want to take back that they told Americans to ‘get a grip, the flu is bigger than the coronavirus’?
“Does the Washington Post likewise want to take back that ‘our brains are causing us to exaggerate the threat of the coronavirus’?
“Does the New York Times want to take back that ‘fear of the virus may be spreading faster than the virus itself’?
“Does NPR (National Public Radio) want to take back that the flu was a much bigger threat than the coronavirus?
“And finally, once again, the Washington post. Do they want to take back that the government should not respond aggressively to the coronavirus?
“I’ll leave you with those questions and maybe you’ll have some answers in a few days.”
READ MORE: Meet Kayleigh McEnany: Trump’s new champion in war against media
Stephen Wright 12.30pm: NZ lockdown gradual not single leap: Ardern
Further easing of New Zealand’s lockdown may happen gradually rather than in a single leap, the country’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern says.
New Zealand exited its strictest level of lockdown on April 28 and the Cabinet will decide Monday whether to relax restrictions further.
The “higher-risk elements” may be implemented in stages depending on advice from the health ministry, Ms Ardern said on Thursday.
New Zealand adopted a four-level system for managing movement during the pandemic and is currently at Level 3, the second-highest in terms of stringency.
“We will continue to act with caution and not move before it is safe to do, so entry into Level 2 could be phased, with higher-risk activity occurring when there is stronger evidence it is safe to do so,” Ms. Ardern said.
Travel within New Zealand, including for tourism, will be allowed once restrictions are loosened provided it involves appropriate physical distancing, she said.
Outdoor mass gatherings will be limited to 100 people. — Dow Jones
READ MORE: Dave Sharma — Trans-Tasman bubble doesn’t go far enough
Lachlan Moffet Gray 12.15pm: Ruby Princess arrives in Manila with 500 crew
The infamous Ruby Princess cruise ship has arrived in Manila Bay where some 500 remaining crew on board will be tested by the Filipino Coast Guard, disembarked and sent home.
The Princess-cruises operated ship — linked to more than 600 of Australia’s coronavirus cases and the death of 20 Australians — left Australian waters on April 23 after disembarking roughly half of the 1000 crew quarantined on board for weeks.
The ship slowly sailed north towards the Philippines, as The Australian revealed on Monday that a plan is underway to disembark the remaining crew after a period of quarantine and additional coronavirus tests.
A significant number of the remaining crew are Fillipino nationals and will be able to travel home, while flights will be arranged for other staff.
In a statement, a spokesman for Princess cruises staff on the Ruby Princess will be joined by crew from other ships in repatriation efforts. “Repatriation of our crew is very high priority and we will be pursuing this with vigour once Ruby Princess reaches The Philippines,’’ the spokesman said. “We have developed plans to repatriate our crew members from a number of our ships located off Manila and are working very closely with authorities in the Philippines to achieve this objective.”
Other Princess-operated ships like the Sun Princess are moored in Manila Bay awaiting testing of crew.
READ MORE: Cabin fever: on board the Ruby Princess
Agencies 11.50am: Budget airline charges for empty middle seat
A US budget airline has sparked anger by moving to charge passengers extra to guarantee they will sit next to an empty middle seat while flying during the coronavirus outbreak.
Politicians on Capitol Hill labelled the move by Frontier Airlines “outrageous”.
The chairman of the House Transportation Committee, Peter DeFazio, said the Denver-based airline was using the need for social distancing “as an opportunity to make a buck ... capitalising on fear and passengers’ well-founded concerns for their health and safety.”
Senator Amy Klobuchar added: “I don’t think it’s appropriate for some passengers who can’t afford to pay an additional charge for a seat to be less safe than other travellers.”
Your health and safety are our top priority. Beginning May 8, all Frontier customers will be required to wear a face covering over their nose and mouth throughout their journey. This will include all ticket counters, gate areas, and onboard our aircraft. https://t.co/dRTrHjyzJN pic.twitter.com/1JPaUm0Hlo
— Frontier Airlines (@FlyFrontier) April 30, 2020
US air travel has dropped more than 90 per cent from a year ago because of the pandemic, and many flights are nearly empty.
On Monday, Frontier announced that from Friday through to August 31, passengers can pay a fee, starting at $US39 per flight, to guarantee an empty middle seat next to them.
CEO Barry Biffle rejected the notion that his airline is charging for social distancing.
“We are offering the option, and it is guaranteed. We don’t believe you need it — if everybody is wearing a facial covering — to be safe,” he said.
READ THE FULL STORY here.
Lachlan Moffet Gray 11.35am: 6000 Australians recover from virus: Hunt
More than 6000 Australians have successfully recovered from coronavirus, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said, leaving just under 800 active cases in the country.
Clarifying the latest figures from the National Incident Centre, Mr Hunt said Australia had added 18 cases in the last 24 hours to bring the total to 6891.
But with 6023 Australians officially recovered and 97 dead, just 771 active cases remain. Of these 771 active cases, Mr Hunt said just 24 were in ICU, with 17 on ventilators.
Mr Hunt said that these impressive numbers were in large part due to health care workers as he announced the government has secured an additional 40 million masks for healthcare workers and additional mental health support.
“40 million masks from the national medical stockpile will be made available now on top of the over-34 million masks to date which have been made available,” Mr Hunt said.
“But as well as supporting the health of our health workers, we have to support the mental health. So, as of today, the Black Dog Institute’s online e-health mental health hub is
available to health workers at blackdoginstitute.org.au.”
Mr Hunt said more than 700,00 tests had been carried out in Australia and the government’s COVIDsafe app has been downloaded more than 5.2 million times.
Mr Hunt also addressed recently released modeling that suggested more Australians may die of suicide than of coronavirus due to depression enhanced by lockdown laws, saying the government had a three step plan to tackle mental illness.
“(Step) one is about the services — and all up, that’s involved over $500 million of mental health funding, additional, which has been allocated this year,” Mr Hunt said.
“The second thing we’re doing is providing the economic support through JobKeeper and JobSeeker. And the third part is helping people to recover their independence.
“And the National Cabinet tomorrow will be considering that path back and if that means that there are more young people or people of any age that are employed, that will help”.
READ MORE: Flying during the pandemic: social distancing, for a price
RACHEL BAXENDALE 11.25am: Birthday party ends with 35 people being fined
People caught having a birthday party were among 35 fined by Victoria police for breaching physical distancing rules on Wednesday.
Victoria Police said they had conducted 1032 spot checks at homes, businesses and non-essential services in the 24 hours to 11pm on Wednesday.
Since March 21, police have conducted a total of 38,983 spot checks.
Police said examples of breaches resulting in fined on Wednesday included multiple prohibited gatherings in private residences and public spaces, including a birthday party, and multiple people committing criminal offences, including drug related offences.
READ MORE: Return to work? Download the app
Olivia Caisley 11.15am: AFP: doubling of child abuse material on Darkweb
AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw has flagged that the federal police have detected an increase in communication in child abuse forums, including a doubling of child abuse material on the Darkweb compared with last year.
The Australian revealed last week the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation’s triage unit had been inundated over the past month with reports from the community about children being targeted online by pedophiles seeking to make contact.
“We’ve had an increase in our referrals of 123 per cent between October 2019 and March 2020 compared to the previous year,” the commissioner said, leading Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to launch the nation’s largest online safety initiative.
READ MORE: Shock at rise in online predators
Lachlan Moffet Gray 11.00am: Barilaro: I went to feed chickens, mow lawns
But in a statement, Mr Barilaro denied he contravened public health orders and his own advice, saying the public health act permits individuals to travel to secondary properties for purposes of maintenance and that the property, still in his electorate of Monaro, is not outside of his community.
He also said that he was allowed to visit the property - which he sometimes rents on holiday website Stayz for thousands of dollars a night - due to recent easing of restrictions in NSW that allow two adults and dependent children to visit other households, no matter the distance.
“In NSW you have always been permitted to travel to your farm or property to tend to it,” Mr Barilaro said.
“As of 1 May two adults and dependant children can visit another household no matter the distance required to travel.
“My property in Nerriga is located within my electorate of Monaro and is an acreage which requires maintenance.
“My farm was damaged during the recent bushfires but fortunately the local Rural Fire Service in Braidwood was able to save the house.
“Bushfires and COVID-19 restrictions have meant the property is not rented, and as a result we have had to let maintenance staff go, who would usually tend to the property.
“Last Saturday I attended the property to feed the chickens, mow the lawns and tend to maintenance and care as permitted within the rules.”
Former NSW Arts Minister Don Harwin was hit with the $1000 fine in April when he was caught travelling to his Central Coast holiday home in contradiction of public health orders.
READ MORE: Barilaro unloads on McCormack
Lachlan Moffet Gray 10.40am: NSW police probes Barilaro’s travel to farm
NSW Police are investigating whether NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro breached public health orders by travelling to his farm in NSW’s south east over the weekend, despite the fact he has led the charge to prevent people from travelling to the regions.
Orders made under the state’s public health act prevent unnecessary travel between residencies under the threat of a $1000 fine - but on Monday Mr Barilaro admitted that on the weekend he left his primary residence in the suburbs of Queanbeyan to travel to his 7-bed Nerriga estate 125 km away and mull over whether to run for the federal seat of Eden-Monaro.
Police confirmed they were investigating whether Mr Barilaro violated the public health orders to the Australian on Thursday morning.
A spokeswoman for Mr Barilaro denied he contravened the public health orders as the public health act permits individuals to travel to secondary properties for purposes of maintenance.
The spokeswoman told The Australian Mr Barilaro spent the weekend fixing things up around the farm - which he sometimes rents on holiday rentals website Stayz for more than $1500 a night - as parts of the property were damaged in last summer’s bushfires.
The spokeswoman also said the farm is in his state electorate of Monaro, meaning he did not contradict statements made in March when he implored people not to travel to the regions as the pandemic took hold, saying: “the safest thing you can do right now is stay in your community.”
Mr Barilaro is yet to formally issue a statement on the matter.
Former NSW Arts Minister Don Harwin was hit with the $1000 fine in April when he was caught travelling to his Central Coast holiday home in contradiction of public health orders.
READ MORE: Constance out after Barilaro quip
Olivia Caisley 10.35am: ‘Up to 150 victims of super access fraud’
AFP commissioner Reece Kershaw has confirmed reports of fraudulent activity in relation to the early access to superannuation, declaring the federal police believes there could be up to 150 victims of the alleged fraud with a total loss of $120,000.
Mr Kershaw told the Senate COVID-19 committee this morning five search warrants had been executed in relation to the matter and the ATO, Austrac and the AFP had been working closely together since being notified of the issue on May 1.
Australian Taxation Office commissioner Chris Jordan said the “limited fraudulent activity” had been acted upon immediately with the AFP notified within 24 hours.
As part of the government’s multibillion-dollar economic assistance package, Australians who are struggling financially can now access $10,000 from their super this financial year and the same again next year.
Mr Jordan said it was not correct to say the tax office had been hacked and stressed that Australians should keep their personal information private, including not sharing their tax file numbers with others.
Mr Kershaw described the alleged fraud as “quite sophisticated” with organised crime and offshore players potentially involved.
Mr Jordan had earlier confirmed that early super withdrawals had now reached $9bn, and while there have been “no serious problems”, the ATO would not drop their guard.
READ MORE: Aussies anxious but back measures
Amos Aikman 10.25am: ‘Activated copper’ technology ‘kills 96 pc of virus’
A Darwin-based 3D printing company has developed a technique for coating door handles and other surfaces in copper that it says kills 96 per cent of the virus responsible for COVID-19 in just two hours.
The company, Speed3D, describes the technology as “activated copper” and recently deployed it at the Northern Territory Department of Trade, Business and Innovation.
“The Australian NATA accredited clinical trial speciality laboratory, 360Biolabs, tested the effect of ACTIVAT3D copper on live SARS-CoV-2 and results showed that 96 per cent of the virus is killed in two hours and 99.2 per cent of the virus is killed in 5 hours. Stainless steel showed no reduction in the same time frame,” a statement said.
Speed3D claims to be able to coat door handles and touch plates in under five minutes and says its innovation has sparked global interest from other firms looking to protect their customers and staff against deadly coronavirus.
Separate research has previously suggested that SARS-CoV-2 can survive on hard surfaces for several days, creating a contamination risk in common areas. Cheap copper coating might offer a partial solution.
READ MORE: Recovered patients key to trials
Matthew Denholm 10.05am: Tasmania flags easing but not for Mother’s Day
Tasmania has flagged an imminent easing of COVID-19 restrictions on visits to parks and green spaces, and limits on the number of mourners allowed at funerals.
Premier Peter Gutwein on Thursday morning said all other restrictions on movement and social interactions would remain until at least May 15.
“The current restrictions are in place until the 15th (but) I am hopeful that we may be able to move a little earlier on the green space and access to parks,” he said.
“Also one matter that has been very difficult and troubling for many families are the number of people who can attend funerals…I hope to be able to do something earlier (on that).”
Mr Gutwein, who will on Friday announce a “road map” to the gradual easing of coronavirus restrictions, said one new case in Tasmania had been confirmed overnight: a man in his 30s in the state’s northwest, who was a close contact of an existing virus patient.
However, 10 staff at the Launceston General Hospital tested for the virus after a colleague succumbed to the disease this week had been cleared and would be assessed for a return to work.
Acting Public Health Director Scott McKeown declined to say he was confident the virus would not spread at the LGH and disrupt its operations.
However, he did say he was “confident the hospital is managing the situation … appropriately”.
Tasmania has recorded 224 cases and 13 deaths, most linked to a significant outbreak at two Burnie hospitals, believed to have been sparked by two Ruby Princess cruise passengers.
Forty-one cases remain active, while 126 close contacts of people with the virus remain in quarantine.
READ MORE: Ten good reasons for happy Mother’s Day
Rachel Baxendale 10.00am: Vic records 14 new cases, 13 linked to abattoir
Victoria has confirmed an additional 14 COVID-19 cases, 13 of which are linked to a cluster at Melbourne abattoir Cedar Meats.
The new cases bring the total number of cases linked to Cedar Meats to 62.
Seven of the new cases are in workers at the facility, while six are in close contacts.
BREAKING: 13 new coronavirus cases are linked to the Cedar Meats abattoir. #Coronavirus #7NEWS https://t.co/JgEtYgc411
— 7NEWS Sydney (@7NewsSydney) May 6, 2020
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews downplayed the new cluster cases, saying: “That’s the nature of outbreaks. This is a very infectious disease.”
Victoria now has a total of 1454 cases, 105 of which are considered active.
There are eight Victorians in hospital with COVID-19, six of whom are in intensive care.
The Andrews government has now surpassed its goal of testing 100,000 people in the fortnight to May 11, with 106,000 people tested since April 27, including 18,200 tested yesterday.
READ MORE: Infected nurse not told of abattoir risk
Lachlan Moffet Gray 9.45am: Asylum seekers lodge complaint over vulnerability
A group of 13 asylum seekers in detention centres across Australia will on Thursday lodge a complaint with the Commonwealth Ombudsman, asserting they are particularly vulnerable to a coronavirus outbreak in their facilities.
BREAKING: We are filing a group complaint with the Cth Ombudsman for 13 men in Aust immigration facilities who fear that a COVID-19 outbreak could be catastrophic for detainees, staff & the community https://t.co/xpkc6qn44e @NJP_Au @WeFightForFair @RACSaustralia #auslaw #auspol
— PIAC (@PIACnews) May 6, 2020
Every member of the group has a chronic medical condition that puts them at a higher risk of death if they catch coronavirus.
They are asking the Ombudsman for an urgent inspection of detention centre facilities and alternative places of detention to examine the adequacy of conditions in relations to social distancing guidelines.
“The men who have made the complaint are unable to follow public health advice and practice social distancing in crowded, shared facilities and have specific health conditions that increase their risk of serious harm in the event of an outbreak in detention,” said the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, who has filed the case on behalf of the group.
“They are held in close proximity and rely on shared facilities such as kitchens and bathrooms, making social distancing near impossible. Current detention conditions include instances of five men sharing one room and twelve men sharing one toilet and shower.”
It is the second legal action taken on behalf of asylum seekers over coronavirus concerns after the Human Rights Law Centre last month appealed to the High Court to move an at-risk detainee to a safer location where social distancing is possible.
The case is yet to be heard by the High Court.
READ MORE: Suicide epidemic to outstrip virus
Lachlan Moffet Gray 9.30am: Most NY hospitalisations retirees, jobless
A state survey in New York of more than 1200 coronavirus patients across 113 hospitals has found the majority of new hospitalisations were retirees and unemployed.
Retirees accounted for 37 per cent of hospitalisations while 46 per cent unemployed. Three quarters were 51 years or older, and 18 per cent had been transmitted from nursing homes, statistics that surprised New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
“We were thinking that maybe we were going to find a higher percentage of essential employees who were getting sick because they were going to work, that these may be nurses, doctors, transit workers. That’s not the case,” Governor Cuomo told reporters on Thursday AEST.
The survey also found that hispanics and African-Americans were being hospitalised at a greater rate than whites.
The number of coronavirus deaths is levelling off in the state - but is still in the triple digits - with 232 people dying of the virus on Tuesday. Around 600 people per day are being hospitalised for the virus.
New York City is tentatively planning to reopen, with Mayor Bill De Blasio ejecting hundreds of homeless people from the subway system for cleaning and establishing advisory councils with different industries to guide the city’s return to normal.
“Thank God things are getting better in New York City but we still have a long way to go,” Mr de Blasio said.
New York State 319,000 confirmed coronavirus case, while 19,415 people have died.
READ MORE: Trump’s man calls out China on threat
Rachel Baxendale 9.25am: Ten more cases linked to abattoir
Cedar Meats staff have been notified of at least 10 new coronavirus cases linked to the abattoir in Melbourne’s west, the Ten Network is reporting.
The new cases would take the total number linked to the cluster to at least 59.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and Health Minister Jenny Mikakos are due to provide an update at 9:30am.
READ MORE: Cluster has close links to Labor MP
Lachlan Moffet Gray 9.20am: Newmarch House appoints external adviser
The embattled Anglicare Sydney operated Newmarch House aged care centre will on Thursday appoint an external advisor in line with recommendations from the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission after the commission yesterday threatened to revoke the home’s aged care licence.
The commission, a federal body which regulates aged care centres, on Wednesday threatened to revoke the home’s licence for alleged quality violations in the areas of patient dignity and choice, personal and clinical care, ongoing planning with residents and organisational governance in relation to an outbreak of coronavirus at the home that has killed 16 residents.
The commission has given Anglicare until 5pm on Thursday to respond to the Commission’s concern and appoint an external advisor, which Anglicare Sydney will do before the deadline.
“Anglicare Sydney has received a Notice from the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission requiring us to appoint an external adviser to support Anglicare management to meet its regulatory obligations, during the COVID-19 outbreak at Newmarch House,” Anglicare Sydney said in a statement.
“Anglicare will be making this appointment today.
“The new adviser will be appointed by Anglicare for a period of three months. The adviser’s role does not extend to any other Anglicare residential aged care facility or any other Anglicare government funded program.
Anglicare Sydney is confident with the support of the adviser and the Commission issues at Newmarch House will be resolved expeditiously.”
Newmarch House cannot accept any new residents until the commission is satisfied their concerns have been addressed.
READ MORE: Nursing home visitor bans backed by 70 per cent
Sarah Elks 9.10am: Queenslanders allowed five Mother’s Day visitors
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will ease visiting restrictions for Mother’s Day on Sunday, allowing five people to visit a house.
The state recorded just two new cases overnight, taking the state’s total to 1045, with 50 active.
Of the two cases, both are on the Gold Coast and one contracted the virus on a cruise ship.
Ms Palaszczuk said the easing of restrictions from Sunday was due to the low number of cases in the state.
“From Sunday we will be allowing up to five members (to) visit a household, right across Queensland,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said one family of up to five people could visit another family.
“It’s about two households coming together, we don’t think that will increase risks,” Dr Young said.
Dr Young also said that people were permitted to travel further than 50km to visit households, so long as they did not go out into the broader community they were visiting.
“If you’re visiting another household, you can. You’ve always been able to. But you can’t go out into that community. You can only go to that residence, visit there, and leave. You can’t go shopping. You can’t go to the beach. You can’t go further in that community,” she said.
A household can also receive multiple visits throughout the day, meaning mums can “see one household in the morning and another in the afternoon,” Dr Young said.
The testing rate has again increased, 4665 people were tested in Queensland overnight.
Eight patients are in hospital, with three in intensive care and on ventilation.
READ MORE: States restore freedoms as cases drop
Lachlan Moffet Gray 8.55am: $102bn income lost in job cuts, reduced hours
Australian households will lose $102 billion of income due to job cuts and reduced hours as the coronavirus pandemic shakes up the economy, research from the Australian National University reveals.
The study of over 3000 people shows the proportion of Australians in work fell from 62 per cent in February to 58.9 per cent on April; five times more than any other two-month fall in unemployment.
Additionally, average hours worked fell by more than 13 per cent, from 35.1 to 31.1 hours a week.
The largest drops in employment and hours were in the young, followed by those of retirement age, with casual workers far more likely to have lost their work.
One in four people said their hours had been cut and one in eight said they’d been made to take paid leave.
“This is unprecedented in modern Australian economic history,” researcher Matthew Gray said.
“If previous periods of high unemployment are any guide, the effect on the young is likely to be felt throughout their working life, and those who leave the labour force when close to retirement age may never return.”
Overall, average household incomes dropped 10 per cent from February levels, something Professor Gray said would hit annual household income to the effect of $102 billion.
But he says one of the most important findings was that government support had actually led to the poorest households finding their weekly income grew by a third due to the doubling of the unemployment benefits and the $750 lump sum payment to pensioners.
READ MORE: States restore freedoms
Lachlan Moffet Gray 8.15am: Berejiklian rains on Mother’s Day parade
NSW will not implement any easing of restrictions agreed to in Friday’s National Cabinet in time for Mother’s Day, despite testing reaching an all time high and new case diagnoses reaching all time lows.
Breaking: NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says even if National Cabinet recommend it, she won’t be in a position to lift restrictions for home gatherings before Mother’s Day. #7NEWS #auspol
— Jennifer Bechwati (@jenbechwati) May 6, 2020
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the state tested the highest number of people for coronavirus in a single day on Tuesday, with 10,900 people examined unearthing just three new coronavirus cases, all of which were connected to individuals who previously tested positive.
“That’s a great result,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“If you compare that to a month ago, NSW was conducting a third of the number of tests with over 50 cases a day on average. It is a wonderful improvement and I want to say thank you to everybody.”
Two of the three new cases were workers at Anglicare’s Newmarch House, meaning 31 staff members have contracted the virus. 37 residents also have contracted the virus, 16 of which have died.
Despite the low number of new cases easily traced to previous outbreaks, Ms Berejiklian said that NSW would not implement any easing of restrictions made by National Cabinet -speculated to include a lift on bans on gatherings of more than ten people outside.
“And while National Cabinet is considering easing...some restrictions from Friday...I doubt very much that NSW will be in a position to implement anything before Mother’s Day, and I want to make that clear,” Ms Berejiklian said, killing any chance of a Mother’s Day picnic or visit to the beach.
“Having said that, please know that two adults and children can visit at any one time,
and a mother can accept multiple visits per day.
“That is a huge step forward from what would have happened a month ago.
“I want to manage expectations and say that even if National Cabinet does suggest easing rejections, they won’t be able to be made in time for Mother’s Day.”
NSW now has 3045 cases of coronavirus. 44 residents have died.
READ MORE: Small spike likely if restrictions eased
Lachlan Moffet Gray 8.05am: 21 new cases across Australia
Australia has seen 21 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours and over five million Australians have downloaded the government’s COVIDsafe coronavirus tracking app, according to Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer Alison McMillan.
It brings the total number of cases in Australia to 6877, while the death toll remains at 97.
Ms McMillan said that 5.2 million Australians had downloaded the COVIDsafe App and warned people not to expect a complete return to normalcy when National Cabinet decides what restrictions to ease on Friday.
“I think we will be expecting is some slow relaxation of these restrictions,” she told Today on Thursday.
“I think we heard overnight from the World Health Organization the advice that we should take it very cautiously and we should take it in a stepped stage.
“Certainly we’re not going to see a return to normal life for Sunday, for Mother’s Day, but there will be some carefully-considered staged approaches to reducing these restrictions and we’ll carefully monitor the impact of that through the numbers that we report to you every day, of course.”
READ MORE: CSL ramps up bid for plasma treatment
Lachlan Moffet Gray 8.00am: Rudd lashes PM over virus inquiry push
Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has criticised the way Scott Morrison has pushed for an independent global inquiry into the origin of coronavirus in China, saying he should have attempted to build support for the inquiry before announcing it, not “the reverse way.”
“It is important for the international community and Australians to know exactly how the virus came about, how it was transmitted, whether the WHO did its job.... the broad terms of reference covering those questions, I think, is right,” Mr Rudd told ABC News Breakfast on Wednesday.
“If you’re serious about a proposal like this, the first law of diplomacy is you bring a whole lot of other countries around with you to co sponsor the proposal.
“I notice from events of the last several days, it was only after the statements by Mr Morrison and Foreign Minister Payne that they decided to correspond with the G20 governments in order to try and pull together some support.”
It’s imperative that we get the truth about how COVID-19 emerged and spread. The world’s scientists should be empowered to answer those questions. Unfortunately, we’re instead getting nationalist grandstanding that won’t help anyone. My analysis in @TIME. https://t.co/u1b8qwFg5c
— Kevin Rudd (@MrKRudd) May 6, 2020
Mr Rudd said Mr Morrison also needed to propose a mechanism through which the investigation could take place, saying arguments over where the virus originated were pointless until an inquiry could be established.
“I think the bottom line is, none of us know the ultimate origins of the virus,” Mr Rudd said.
“Was it the Wuhan wet markets? Was it a laboratory? The bulk of opinion seems to favour the Wuhan wet markets, but this brings us back to where our conversation began today.
“What’s the appropriate impartial scientific mechanism to establish the truth of this so the peoples of the world, including Australians, can have some confidence about what we’re going to have to deal with in the future?”
READ MORE: Territory opens door to US marines
Lachlan Moffet Gray 7.45am: Ruby health staff ‘didn’t spread virus’ at nursing home
Federal aged care minister Richard Colbeck has denied private healthcare workers who operated on the Ruby Princess before working at the ill-fated Newmarch House aged care centre spread coronavirus in the aged care home.
On Wednesday it was revealed that private medical service company Aspen Medical sent two employees who had tested crew members aboard the Ruby Princess cruise ship to work shifts at the western Sydney aged care home.
But Senator Colbeck denied any suggestion that this move could have spread the virus further in the facility where 16 residents have died, saying the healthcare workers had tested negative for the virus before being deployed to Newmarch House.
“They went on the Ruby Princess to help clean the mess up, they did a great job and came to Newmarch to assist in that way,” Senator Colbeck told Sunrise on Thursday.
“They go through a strong screening regime, they have been tested for the virus.”
Senator Colbeck also said he expected that Anglicare Sydney, the operator of Newmarch House, would abide by decisions made by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission after it was revealed the commision was considering revoking the centre’s aged care licence.
The Commission identified breaches in the areas of patient dignity and choice; personal and clinical care; ongoing planning with residents; and organisational governance and demanded an independent advisor be seen to oversee operations of Newmarch.
“The person to come in has been identified and I understand is that all that has been agreed between the quality and safety Commissioner and Newmarch House,” Senator Colbeck said.
“That will happen today and that will continue to provide additional resources to Newmarch House in the aid of the residents and families.”
READ MORE: Threat to revoke Newmarch licence
Lachlan Moffet Gray 7.35am: Littleproud: Not told of abattoir outbreak for weeks
The federal Department of Agriculture was not informed of an outbreak of coronavirus at the Cedar Meats abattoir in Melbourne when the first case at the facility was diagnosed on April 2 - despite the department having two permanent inspectors on-site, federal agriculture minister David Littleproud has said.
The outbreak at the plant has infected at least 49 people with coronavirus.
“There were four Department of Agriculture employees at that facility, two permanent and
two that transit through there as meat inspectors that then move on to other facilities,” Mr Littleproud told Today on Thursday, adding his department was not formally informed by Victoria Health of the outbreak until April 30 - the same day the facility subjected all employees to testing.
“Victoria health and all state officials, health and all state officials, health officials, have a
responsibility to notify those people that have come into contact and particularly when you’ve got transient workforces, going from one facility to the next, it actually goes to the heart of our food security and supply chain security.”
“...We dodged a bullet here.”
Mr Littleproud said the transient inspectors had since been tested for coronavirus, and there was no risk of them having spread the virus to any other meatpacking facility.
“We had them subsequently tested, they have all come back negative and are in self-isolation for 14 days,” he said.
“We would have liked to have been further ahead of this to ensure particularly that we protected not only their wellbeing, but also the threat of that being spread further.”
READ MORE: Infected nurse not told of abattoir risk
Lachlan Moffet Gray 7.10am: US pushes for Taiwan to join WHO annual assembly
The US government is pushing for Taiwan to be granted observer status in the WHO’s World Health Assembly, a decision-making body convening for its annual meeting May 17-21.
The south east Asian nation sat in the body as an observer from 2009 to 2016, before being excluded due to objections from China, who claim the island of Taiwan as part of their territory.
The U.S. believes firmly that #Taiwan belongs at the table when the world discusses #COVID19 and other threats to global health. Before 2017, Beijing didn't object to Taiwan joining the World Health Assembly as an Observer. What's changed? #TweetforTaiwan
— IO Bureau @ State (@State_IO) May 1, 2020
Now the US is pushing for Taiwan to be reincluded due to their “successful and internationally lauded” model for battling coronavirus, according to the US State Department.
“Today, I want to call on all nations, including those in Europe, to support Taiwan’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly and other relevant United Nations venues,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters on Wednesday, directly asking WHO Director-GEneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to “invete Taiwan to this month’s WHA, as he has the power to do, and his predecessors have done on multiple occasions.”
The State Department’s Bureau of International Organisation Affairs also took to Twitter to rally support for the push.
Is it too much to ask that Taiwan be permitted to share their expertise, their commitment, with the rest of the world? Will the world succumb to the PRC's pressure and intimidation? It's time to be heard, and time to #TweetforTaiwan #TaiwanModel
— IO Bureau @ State (@State_IO) May 1, 2020
The push comes as the World Health Organisation has been accused by the US and other western nations of being overly influenced by China.
READ MORE: Greg Sheridan writes: Second wave may be pandemic
Lachlan Moffet Gray 7.00am: ACT backflips to open schools
Canberra public schools will return to full-time physical learning from mid May as the ACT government eases coronavirus restrictions, reversing an earlier policy of continued lockdown.
From Monday May 18 all preschool and kindergarten students as well as years 1, 2 and 7 will return for full time face-to-face learning while year 11 and 12 will return to a mixture of remote and on-campus learning.
On Monday May 25 years 3, 4 and 10 students will return, followed by years 5, 6, 8 and 9 from Tuesday June 2.
Remote learning will remain available for students with chronic health conditions or compromised immune systems.
Catholic and Independent schools will also return to full-time classes over the next month, the ACT government said.
The ACT government’s former policy was to encourage most students to learn at home for the remainder of term two, with just three per cent of students attending school physically over the past two weeks.
But with just one new coronavirus case in the last ten days, the territory’s government feels encouraged to relax restrictions in line with other jurisdictions.
Last week the ACT government relaxed restrictions around home visits, non-essential shopping trips and travel to NSW.
READ MORE: Contact tracing tool ‘variable but helpful’
Lachlan Moffet Gray 6.50am: Trump: Taskforce will stay in place
US President Donald Trump has assured the public his coronavirus taskforce, featuring expert figures such as Dr Anthony Fauci, will remain in place just a day after suggesting it could be disbanded.
On Tuesday Mr Trump told reporters that “we’re now looking at a little bit of a different form, and that form is safety and opening - and we’ll have a different group probably set up for that,” before adding, “I thought we could wind it down sooner. But I had no idea how popular the taskforce is until actually yesterday when I started talking about winding down.”
The comments caused a storm of speculation over the 22-person taskforce, prompting Mr Trump to take to Twitter on Thursday AEST to clarify his statements.
The White House CoronaVirus Task Force, headed by Vice President Mike Pence, has done a fantastic job of bringing together vast highly complex resources that have set a high standard for others to follow in the future. Ventilators, which were few & in bad shape, are now being....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 6, 2020
“The Task Force will continue on indefinitely with its focus on SAFETY & OPENING UP OUR COUNTRY AGAIN. We may add or subtract people to it, as appropriate. The Task Force will also be very focused on Vaccines & Therapeutics,” Mr Trump said in one of the tweets.
Mr Trump again repeated his belief in reopening the economy on his first trip from the White House in more than a month on Wednesday, where at an Arizona mask factory he defied regulations by not wearing mask and declared:
“I’m not saying anything is perfect, and yes, will some people be affected? Yes.
“Will some people be affected badly? Yes. But we have to get our country open and we have to get it open soon.”
There are more than 1.2 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the US and 73,211 people have died of the disease.
READ MORE: Recovered patients key to trials
Lachlan Moffet Gray 6.35am: Queen to adress nation on VE Day
The Queen will deliver her second televised address to the UK just five weeks after her last on the 75th anniversary of VE Day on May 8.
The Queen’s pre-recorded message will be broadcast on the BBC at 9pm Friday local time, (6am AEST), the same hour as her father, King George VI, made his radio address marking victory in Europe.
In her last address the Queen intertwined memories of the war with the current battle against coronavirus, telling the nation: “We will be with our friends again, we will be with our family again, we will meet again.”
This time she is expected to share personal memories of VE day and the broadcast will include footage when a million people celebrated in front of Buckingham Palace where the King and Queen and Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret appeared on the balcony.
It will be the sixth time the Queen has addressed the nation outside of her annual Christmas address, the others being her address earlier this year, the diamond jubilee in 2012, the death of the Queen Mother in 2002, the death of Princess Diana in 1997 and at the time of the first Gulf War in 1991.
READ MORE: Virtual travel to whet appetites
Lachlan Moffet Gray 6.20am: Spain extends state of emergency again
Spain is extending its coronavirus state of emergency for a second time as northern European nations begin to reopen, with Germany preparing to reopen all stores and restaurants.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez managed to negotiate a divided congress to extend coronavirus restrictions until at least May 23, ensuring that the country, which has been in lockdown since March 14, remains ready to battle any additional waves of the disease.
The number of confirmed cases in Spain is 219,332, with 25,613 deaths - the fourth highest toll of any country, despite the lockdowns reducing the contagion rate from 20 per cent at the height of the crisis to one per cent now.
Some restrictions have been eased to allow people to exercise outside.
“We have won a partial victory against the virus thanks to the sacrifice of all,” Mr Sanchez said on Wednesday.
“No one gets everything right in such an unprecedented situation but lifting the state of emergency now would be a complete error.”
The extension of lockdown orders and the state of emergency has angered regional and populist parties, who are threatening to push a vote of no-confidence in Sanchez’s centre left government.
To the north, Germany has announced a plan to return to normalcy with restaurants, hotels and all stores still closed to reopen over the next few weeks.
The nation’s soccer league will also resume play.
Germany, which entered lock down in mid-May, has 167,575 cases of coronavirus and 7190 deaths.
“We have a very, very good development of the figures for new infections, and that makes it possible for us to take further steps,” Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday, adding that there will be a catch to the relaxations - regional governments will have to reimpose measures if the infection rate increases above 50 per 100,000 people in a week.
“We must take care that things don’t slip out of our hands, and I have a good feeling because we agreed on this emergency mechanism today,” Chancellor Merkel said.
“We are not just saying what we are opening, but also that if something happens locally we won’t wait until it has spread through the whole republic.”
READ MORE: Aussies anxious but back measures
John Ferguson 5.15am: Litigators ‘turning justice system into a casino’
The economic misery wrought by COVID-19 in Australia is being targeted by global litigation funding firms, described as a “plague of locusts” using the legal system as a “money-making machine” by backing class actions against government and business.
The booming industry of litigation funding — which sees global firms absorb most, or all, of the costs of legal action on behalf of clients in exchange for up to a third of the proceeds if the action is successful — has sparked calls from the local business community for protection during the coronavirus crisis.
Global litigation funding giant Omni Bridgeway’s latest report to the ASX says funding applications for legal cases such as class actions have soared almost 18 per cent compared with the same time last year.
Liberal MP Jason Falinski has described litigation funders as a “plague of locusts” that had “turned our justice system into a casino”.
Read John Ferguson and Emily Ritchie’s full story here.
Rachel Baxendale 5am: Nurse exposed when treating Cedar Meats worker
A nurse infected with COVID-19 while treating a Cedar Meats worker with a severed thumb was left exposed because authorities had not alerted the hospital that another worker at the Melbourne abattoir had tested positive 22 days earlier.
The Australian has confirmed that the Sunshine Hospital nurse was not initially required to wear appropriate personal protective equipment while treating the worker, because the hospital had not been made aware of the risks.
The nurse, aged in her 60s, treated the worker during three consecutive shifts on April 24, 25 and 26, but was not required to wear PPE to protect her from possible COVID-19 infection until the third shift.
She experienced fatigue and a temperature last Friday and received confirmation on Sunday that she had tested positive to COVID-19.
Read the full story here.
Simon Benson 4.45am: Hunt to unveil new mental health package
Suicide rates in Australia are forecast to rise by up to 50 per cent due to the economic and social impacts of the coronavirus and tipped to outstrip deaths from the pandemic by as much as four times.
World-leading research by the country’s top mental health experts predicts the impact of the virus could result in an extra 1500 deaths a year over the next five years and a generational mental health crisis linked directly to the pandemic.
The modelling, conducted by Sydney University’s Brain and Mind Centre and backed by the Australian Medical Association, is expected to be taken to national cabinet next week by Health Minister Greg Hunt ahead of an accelerated second-phase mental health package.
Read the full story here.
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Ladies in red romp home as Apple Isle strategy bears fruit
Having virtually wiped the Liberals from the federal political map of Tasmania, Labor says it will apply the lessons learned to other looming battles.
Victorian ‘double trouble’ for Liberals
Peter Dutton hoped Victoria would be his pathway to the prime ministership, but it’s turned into a giant black hole for Liberals.
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