Coronavirus Australia live news: Qantas fires latest shots in borders battle
Qantas urges 20,000 stood-down staff to petition states and territories to re-open borders and find a common definition for a ‘hot spot’.
- Qantas fires latest shots in borders battle
- Sutton, police chief point finger over curfew
- Oxford trial participant received vaccine
- Victoria records 51 cases
- ‘Don’t bank on vaccine soon’
- Interview ‘refusal’ claims debunked
- NZ lockdown costs $8m pa per life saved
Welcome to The Australian’s rolling coverage of the ongoing pandemic. Qantas has stepped up its borders campaign, urging 20,000 stood-down staff to sign a petition calling on the states and territories to re-open. Victoria’s Police Chief Commissioner has said the decision to impose an 8pm to 5am curfew on Victorians did not come from police. Victoria has recorded 51 new cases as Daniel Andrews’s claim that coronavirus-positive people have refused to be interviewed by contact tracers is proven false.
Rosie Lewis 11pm: $3bn bid to survive eat-out drought
Victorians need to receive JobKeeper payments worth nearly $3bn in the December quarter to help revive the state’s stricken hospitality industry.
Robyn Ironside 10.30pm: Qatar boss warns passenger caps don’t fit service
Qatar Airways’ chief executive has warned the airline may have to withdraw flights to Australia if passenger caps are not relaxed.
Jamie Walker, Sarah Elks, Mackenzie Scott 10pm: Covid-free, shattered family left to grieve apart
At a time when Sarah Caisip, should have been consumed by grief, she was instead overwhelmed by rage and disgust. And the rest of Australia looked on in utter disbelief. This is what we’ve become.
Rachel Baxendale 9.30pm: Leaders play pass the buck over curfew
Daniel Andrews refuses to say who originally pushed for Melbourne’s 8pm to 5am curfew, after his Chief Health Officer and police chief distanced themselves from the decision.
Alice Workman 9pm: Ashes to ashes
Forget the polls — an obituary concisely captures the current mood of Melbourne.
Jacquelin Magnay 8.35pm: Assange trial halted over infection fears
Julian Assange’s extradition trial has been halted because of fears members of the court may have coronavirus.
One of the lawyers representing the US prosecution team is being tested for the virus after her partner came down with symptoms.
But if the test is returned positive, the entire Old Bailey courthouse could be shut.
The entire prosecution team representing the US government joined the court hearing via the remote video link from their homes on Thursday.
Two members of Mr Assange’s legal team, including Mark Summers, QC, were seen in the Old Bailey courtroom wearing masks for the first time.
Judge Vanessa Baraitser said she had been informed on Wednesday night, local time, that one of the barristers might have had exposure to the virus.
“For that reason the prosecution team doesn’t attend here in person and some of the defence is not here, out of caution, and are attending remotely by videolink,’’ she said.
She added that testing for “all concerned’’ will take place today and the outcome known sometime on Friday.
Assange’s lawyer Edward Fitzgerald told the judge it had to be assumed that the lawyer had coronavirus.
“If that’s a correct assumption…we shouldn’t be here, COVID-19 would be here in the courtroom and it’s not possible to tell how far it is,’’ he said.
“Court staff are themselves at risk and indeed yourself at risk and our client Mr Assange has culpabilities you are aware of and he will be at risk in the court.’’
Judge Baraitser said she had not ruled out continuing the trial by video link but would hear submissions on that issue if needed next week, adjourning the case until Monday.
Assange, 49, is fighting extradition to the US, where he faces 18 counts, 17 of which are under the Espionage Act which could result in a maximum term of 175 years imprisonment.
The trial continues.
READ MORE: Hypocritical one day, cruel the next
John Ferguson, Damon Johnston 8.30pm: Mikakos ‘sidelined’ over foul-ups
Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos is under pressure over her role in the state’s failed coronavirus response.
Greg Brown 8.20pm: Curfews ‘a violation of people’s rights and freedoms’
Liberal MP Tim Wilson has asked the Australian Human Rights Commission to examine whether Victoria’s arbitrary curfews were a violation of people’s ‘rights and freedoms’.
Imogen Reid 7.30pm: Alert over Sydney hospital
NSW Health has issued an alert to anyone who attended Concord Hospital’s emergency department in Sydney on Sunday after a person with COVID-19 was in the waiting room.
The positive case was present between 2.20pm and 5pm and was wearing a mask. Health officials have said the person was asymptomatic at the time.
“Those patients who were present in the waiting room for one hour or more at the same time as the case have been identified and are currently being contacted by NSW Health,” the statement read.
“They have been advised to get tested for COVID-19 and self-isolate for 14 days (even with a negative test result) until Sunday, September 20, inclusive.”
NSW Health has directed anyone else who visited the waiting area for less than one hour to be alert for symptoms.
Hospital staff have been informed and are undergoing testing.
READ MORE: Woolies warns of Christmas shortages
Imogen Reid 7.30pm: Morrison denies he wanted public funeral row
Scott Morrison says he never wanted Sarah Caisip’s case to become a public issue after Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s claim that he “bullied” her in a phone call.
The Prime minister said the conversation between the two leaders on Thursday was intended to be about the nurse from Canberra who has been denied permission to attend her father’s funeral.
“It’s not about me, it’s not about her. It was about Sarah, it was about Isabelle, it was about Merna, and it was about Bernard,” he told Sky News on Thursday night.
“That’s the only stuff that mattered today. I mean, it wasn’t about borders, it wasn’t about whether they should be up or down, it wasn’t even about jobs today, and jobs are incredibly important.
Mr Morrison said he hoped today “something different” could have been done so Ms Caisip could have been granted a quarantine exemption.
“Sarah doesn’t get today back, she never gets it back, and that just fills my heart with sadness,” he said.
Mr Morrison said he did not “want this to be an ongoing thing,” with the Queensland Premier, who said she thought the Prime Minister would tell the media about their phone conversation.
“I’ve probably raised more than 40 cases by correspondence. I haven’t made those a public matter of record,” he said.
“I didn’t want to see this become a public issue today.”
READ MORE: Qantas fires latest shots in borders battle
Olivia Caisley 7.05pm: PM ‘mystified’ by funeral ban on grieving daughter
Scott Morrison says he is “mystified” by the Queensland government’s decision to refuse a woman from COVID-free Canberra an exemption to attend her father’s funeral, declaring he is sad he couldn’t convince Annastacia Palaszczuk to change her mind in time.
The Prime Minister told Sky News on Thursday he had raised more than 40 cases with various state and territory leaders regarding the granting of exemptions on compassionate grounds.
“I’ve dealt with the Queensland premier on other issues. Sadly, today I didn’t have the influence that I would have hoped to have,” he said. But Sarah doesn’t get today back. She never gets it back and that just fills my heart with sadness.”
Mr Morrison was interviewed hours after he made an impassioned plea to the Queensland Premier to let Sarah Caisip, 26, attend the funeral and pointing out there had not been a case of COVID-19 in the ACT in more than 60 days.
Mr Morrison said he had been upset to see the images of Ms Caisip being escorted by police to see her father’s body in private but not attend the funeral — a compromise struck by Queensland health officials.
“It just must have been the most horrible of days for her,” he said. “I’ve seen the images when she went to see her dad and there have been some shocking days during the course of this pandemic, and today that was the case.”
Mr Morrison said he hoped the issue wouldn’t lead to ongoing tension with the Premier.
“I really don’t want this to be an ongoing thing between me and the Premier,” he said.
“We need to work together on so many other issues ...but we’ve got to find ways... when these cases present and surely we could have dealt with this better today.”
READ MORE: Queensland backs ban as Sarah grieves alone
Cameron Stewart 6.37pm: Trump ‘admitted playing down virus danger’
Donald Trump deliberately minimised the danger of the coronavirus, saying it was no worse than the flu when he knew it was “deadly” according to an explosive new book by Watergate author Bob Woodward.
The president told Mr Woodward that he publicly downplayed the virus in February because he wanted to avoid panic, but his Democrat Opponent Joe Biden said the revelations amount to a “life-and-death betrayal of the American people”.
The claims in the new book immediately dominated the election campaign after it revealed a conversation between Mr Woodward and Mr Trump on February 7 where the president said of the virus: “This is deadly stuff. You just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed. And so that’s a very tricky one. That’s a very delicate one. It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flu.”
Sarah Elks 5.53pm: Canberra nurse grieves father’s death alone
Denied permission to attend her father’s funeral, distraught Canberra woman Sarah Caisip has worn full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to view his body one last time.
It came as Queensland’s Chief Health Officer defended her decision to refuse Ms Caisip a quarantine exemption to attend the funeral service.
Ms Caisip, 26, a Canberra nurse, was in hotel quarantine as her father was dying in Queensland, but was denied an exemption to go to the funeral and comfort her mother and 11-year-old sister.
Remy Varga 5.29pm: CMO offered ADF personnel for hotel quarantine
Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy offered Australian Defence Force personnel to use in the bungled hotel quarantine program instead of security guards to his Victorian counterpart Brett Sutton, an inquiry has heard.
As well, the probe into the hotel quarantine fiasco heard that Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton wanted to lead Victoria’s response against the pandemic but was denied by the health department.
Giving evidence at the inquiry on Thursday, Department of Health and Human Services deputy secretary Melissa Skillbeck said she was unaware of the CMO’s offer to Professor Sutton and his deputy.
When counsel assisting Ben Ihle asked Ms Skillbeck if she was aware “the chief medical officer of the Commonwealth, Dr Brendan Murphy, had offered to the Chief Health Officer and the deputy Chief Health Officer in Victoria, ADF assistance in lieu of private security guards”.
She replied: “I don’t believe I was.”
Mr Ihle said the offer was made a few days before June 23.
On June 24, Emergency Management Victoria Commissioner Andrew Crisp requested 850 troops before rescinding the request the next day.
The Australian sought comment from DHHS.
READ MORE: 38,000 have wiped out super, says fund
Oliver Moody 5.16pm: Sweden ‘vindicated’ as Covid cases ease
Sweden has registered its lowest rate of positive coronavirus tests yet even after its testing regime was expanded to record levels in what one health official said was a vindication of its relatively non-intrusive Covid-19 strategy.
Over the past week the country carried out more than 120,000 tests, of which only 1.3 per cent identified the disease.
At the height of the pandemic the proportion was 19 per cent.
Jacquelin Magnay 4.46pm: Desperate Aussies may be stranded overseas until 2021
Demand from desperate Australians trying to get back into the country has continued to rise, with airlines now not accepting any new bookings this year.
The Australian High Commission in the United Kingdom has now deployed staff to Heathrow terminals to help stranded Australians who are routinely bumped off flights back to Australian ports when they go to check in.
Some passengers have been bumped more than ten times trying to return over the past six months and have now been told they cannot be re-booked onto a flight until 2021.
The federal government caps on arrival numbers has many that the backlog continues to escalate even though most expats with ties to Australia have given up seeing their families until well into 2022.
But others with a terminally ill parent, a new job opportunity or those travellers still trapped by repeatedly cancelled flights since March are increasingly frustrated and angry at not being allowed back. The Australian government tells the airlines how many passengers they can load for each flight into the country, but many people don’t find out they have been bumped until they are refused at check in.
People are still trapped around the world from Cyprus to Spain to India. One man seeking to come back from the Philippines has had seven flights cancelled since March 2: three of them with Philippine Airlines, two with AirAsia and two with Thai Airways. All of these airlines offer credit notes for the cancellations with no refunds.
A Lebanese woman has had her fights cancelled twice and now Emirates tells her there is “absolutely no flight available’’ in the near future and is unable to offer a new booking date.
READ MORE: Trial participant received ‘vaccine’
Jared Lynch 4.20pm: Lockdown puts Christmas supplies at risk: Woolies
Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci has told the Victorian government that the state runs the risk of running out of some food staples for Christmas if the current tough and onerous restrictions on workplaces, warehouses and distribution centres are maintained.
In what was described by a number of parties as heated phone call between business figures and government representatives including job Minister Martin Pakula, deputy chief health officer Allen Cheng and Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions secretary Simon Phemister on Wednesday night, the Woolworths boss was frank and direct in his warnings about the impact stage four restrictions would have.
Mr Banducci warned that supermarkets ran the risk of running short of some foods, especially Christmas staples such as meat, ham, vegetables, seafood and other groceries for the holiday rush, thanks to the limited number of workers allowed at key sites under the stage four lockdown.
READ the full story here.
Rachel Baxendale 3.30pm: We feared looting, mayhem: police justify BLM response
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton says police had “significant concerns” that trying to stop the Black Lives Matter protest going ahead in Melbourne on June 6 would have resulted in violence, looting and “mayhem” as was seen overseas.
Mr Patton was asked to explain the police response to the protest, which was attended by more than 10,000 people at a time when outdoor gatherings were limited to no more than 10 people in Victoria due to coronavirus restrictions, in light of the arrest last week of pregnant Ballarat mother Zoe Lee Buhler.
Ms Buhler was arrested and charged with incitement in front of her partner and young children after she called for people to attend a protest against coronavirus restrictions in a Facebook post.
Outdoor gatherings of more than two people from different households are banned in regional Victoria under Stage Three stay-at-home restrictions, and all protest activity is prohibited.
Mr Patton said demonstrations involving up to 10 socially distanced people were permitted under an interpretation of the “recreation” exemption when the Black Lives Matter protest went ahead on June 6.
“I can still remember at the time, I said, ‘Absolutely, this should not go ahead, it’s going to be illegal, I don’t support it, and we will … investigate and issue infringements to the organisers,’ which we did.” Mr Patton told ABC radio.
“The major consideration and the distinction then is, we did not have the absolute spread of the virus that we do have now, and that would put a completely different framework around the decision-making process, but I think the really significant thing to remember back then, even though we said this was illegal and did not want it to go ahead, we had around the world cities that were burning, we had protests that were violent, we had people being injured, we had property being damaged, places being looted, and absolute mayhem in many societies around the world.
“We made a decision here that our priority was public order, and on that basis, it was going to be impossible to have a peaceful protest if we were going to try and stop 10,000 to 20,000 people.
“We had significant concerns that we would have that type of mayhem in Melbourne, and so as a result, we reluctantly took the approach we did. And that is the reason.”
No one who attended the Black Lives Matter protest was arrested or fined, except for three organisers who each received $1,652 fines for breaching coronavirus restrictions, rather than being charged with incitement or any other offence relating to their role in encouraging thousands of others to breach the rules.
READ MORE: Do we now understand VicPol’s power?
Sarah Elks 3.15pm: Queensland CHO defends funeral refusal decision
Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young has defended her decision to deny Sarah Caisip a quarantine exemption to attend her father’s funeral.
Canberra 26-year-old nurse Ms Caisip was in hotel quarantine as her father was dying in Queensland, but was denied an exemption to go to the funeral and comfort her mother and 11-year-old sister.
Chief Health Officer Dr Young on Thursday afternoon allowed Ms Caisip to attend a private viewing of her father’s body, but she was not allowed to have contact with her family.
“Although I understand the enormous toll this is taking on people to come here to Queensland to attend a funeral of a loved one … they can’t do that until they’ve been in quarantine for 14 days. The last thing I’d want to happen is to have an outbreak at a funeral,” she said.
Dr Young said: “funerals are very, very high risk for transmission of the virus”.
In the initial days of the pandemic, Dr Young processed every single exemption application, a couple a day.
“I’m extremely risk-averse and I’m not going to do anything that puts the Queensland population at risk,” Dr Young said.
There is now a team of eight processing requests for exemptions, and there are thousands of applications each day.
Dr Young said Canberra and the ACT were still defined as a hot spot, despite not having any COVID-19 cases for weeks. She said she understood why it was difficult for Canberrans to accept they could not freely travel into Queensland.
“Canberra is defined as a hot spot because it’s within the middle of NSW, and we know there are cases around them, and the other part is, early on, there were a lot of cases in Bateman’s Bay, and a lot of people in Canberra have weekend residences in Bateman’s Bay, and we’ve seen that happen,” Dr Young said.
Dr Young said she was determined to prevent any death she could.
“Every single death is a really difficult death for someone, including me. I don’t want to see Queenslanders dying from COVID-19 that I could have prevented. I can’t prevent every single death, but those I can prevent … I make no apologies, that I will do my best to prevent,” Dr Young said.
“Having said that, I also understand the awful situation for people who are coming into Queensland from interstate and overseas who can’t attend a funeral to mourn their loved one.”
READ MORE: Sutton, police chief point finger over curfew
Rachel Baxendale 2.55pm: Vic region restrictions could ease next week
Victoria’s regional areas have been offered a glimmer of hope, with Daniel Anderson saying falling case numbers in country areas could see their lockdown end as early as next week.
The regions’ 14-day increase stands at 4.5 new daily cases, just below the threshold to move into third step of the state government’s recovery plan.
“If the trend continues, and the numbers are very promising, we’ll be able to take a step, or steps, as early as toward the end of next week,” he said.
“And that then avoids having to divide the state up into regions, have police enforce all of those boundaries.”
Regional Victoria has 72 active cases and a 4.5 daily increase over the past 14 days.
There have been 154 cases in metropolitan Melbourne and eight in regional Victoria in the past 14 days where contact tracers have been unable to establish a source of infection.
READ MORE: Myer boss mauls Vic retail shutdown
Olivia Caisley: 2.30pm: Qantas turns up heat on ‘open the borders’ campaign
Qantas has stepped up its borders campaign, urging 20,000 of its stood-down staff to sign a petition calling on the states and territories to re-open and agree on a common definition of a COVID-19 “hot spot.”
The airline has also written directly to state and federal MPs to make the case for a common, medically-based framework for reopening.
In the letter, Qantas says COVID-19 and the associated Queensland border restrictions have contributed to an 82 per cent drop in the domestic tourism spend and noted “significant pent up demand from customers who wish to visit family and friends or holiday in Queensland.”
“Now is the time for Australians to visit Australia,” the airline says.
“Arbitrary border restrictions are having a profound economic and social cost to communities, businesses, supply chains and jobs in Queensland.”
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce in August said it was difficult to understand why states with no or low levels of COVID infection were closed to other states with similarly low levels.
Andrew Parker, Qantas Group Executive, used his letter to argue that while he acknowledges the role that border restrictions have played in containing the virus, domestic border restrictions continue to have a “devastating impact on Queensland’s tourism sector and the local jobs and livelihoods that depend on it.”
Mr Parker said the airline and its staff are calling for a nationally consistent framework that is balanced and proportionate, “with defined thresholds informed by medical advice for the safe reopening of internal borders.”
READ the full story here.
Olivia Caisley: 1.55pm: Cause of adverse vaccine side-effects ‘still unclear’
Health Minister Greg Hunt says it is still unclear why a participant in the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine trial experienced “adverse side effects”, declaring the illness is neurological in nature, but still undiagnosed.
He said there had been no change in the timeline for delivery of the vaccine in Australia despite the trial being dramatically halted on Tuesday after a female participant showed symptoms of transverse myelitis (TM), a rare inflammatory condition that affects the spinal cord.
Mr Hunt said he had spoken with Australia’s head of AstraZeneca on Thursday morning, who told him the patient was “recovering quickly” and likely to be discharged from a UK hospital in the next 24 hours.
“The best advice that AstraZeneca Australia has from the global firm and from Oxford University is at this stage the illness, although neurological in nature, is undiagnosed in terms of its specific form and nor is the source known,” he said.
Mr Hunt said the trial was part of the “highest and most rigorous of safety oversight programs imaginable.”
READ MORE: Five calls before body found in hotel
Olivia Caisley: 1.30pm: ‘Show Sarah some compassion’ on funeral: Hunt
Health Minister Greg Hunt has called on Queensland Premier Annastasia Palaczszuk to “show compassion” and change her mind to allow 26-year-old Sarah Caisip to attend her father’s funeral.
Mr Hunt said the Commonwealth had worked quietly behind-the-scenes on many cases, which had resulted in a positive outcome for those involved.
“I know that the Prime Minister and myself and so many others are urging the Queensland Government to show compassion,” he said.
“This is a very difficult situation and somebody facing the loss, the agony that Sarah has faced, as we all do at different times in our journeys, I think is deserving of compassion and we have quietly worked behind-the-scenes on many cases with many states and had very strong compassionate outcomes and I would gently, but clearly, urge the Queensland Government to show compassion in this case.”
Asked specifically about the Queensland government’s decision to allow Ms Caisip to have a private viewing of her father’s body, but not attend today’s funeral, Mr Hunt said there needed to be a transparent system where people could appeal decisions.
“We would like to see a very transparent system,” he said. “So there is a capacity to appeal for exemptions or compassionate or other grounds … and there is a transparent process to make that appeal.”
Mr Hunt said he thought the most sensible and compassionate thing to do with regard to Ms Caisip’s case is if she were able to attend the full funeral in a “COVID-Safe way”.
“I think that would be the most humane, compassionate thing to do.”
READ the full story here.
Sarah Elks 12.41pm: Denied access to funeral, but no censure for Premier
Opposition health spokesman Chris Bowen refused to say Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was wrong to deny Sarah Caisip access to her father’s funeral, but encouraged “everybody to take as compassionate approach as possible” based on health advice.
“In every case exemptions that are put in place for various reasons, they will be and should be worked through as cooperatively and carefully and compassionately as possible,” Mr Bowen said.
“We have to say we’re all in it together, we have to mean it. While the border restrictions are very important, and we continue to support all premiers regardless of partisanship in those decisions they’ve taken based on health advice, of course there will need to be exemptions made and exemptions are made.
READ the full story here.
Sarah Elks 12.41pm: Partial respite: Sarah allowed to view father’s body
Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young has granted young Canberra woman Sarah Caisip an exemption from hotel quarantine to view her father’s body.
The 26-year-old will not be able to attend the funeral in Brisbane on Thursday afternoon, despite Prime Minister Scott Morrison ringing Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk about the case this morning.
The Australian understands Ms Caisip will be allowed to attend a private viewing after the funeral. It is not clear whether she will be able to see her grieving mother and 11-year-old sister.
READ MORE: Qld: Hypocritical one day, cruel the next
Olivia Caisley 12.21pm: Qld border exemption declined after dad’s death
A 26-year-old woman, who is being prevented from attending her father’s funeral due to Queensland’s tough border restrictions, says that her exemption to stay in the state was revoked once he passed away.
In a post to her Facebook page Sarah Caisip said an exemption to attend the viewing of both her dad’s body and his funeral were declined.
She told Nine News that a previous exemption to visit her dad was rescinded once he died.
“Why am I in QLD? I am supposed to surprise my dad for Father’s Day and now I am too late,” she wrote on Wednesday.
“Am I going to the viewing of the body and or the funeral? No because my exemption to attend either was declined by Qld Health.”
“Did I call Qld Health or any hotline I was given at the border? Yes. I spoke to about 6 people yesterday.”
Ms Caisip has been forced to isolate for two weeks because she had travelled to Brisbane from the ACT, despite the territory not recording any active coronavirus cases in nearly two months.
Scott Morrison on Thursday made an impassioned plea to Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to allow Ms Caisip to attend her father’s funeral.
“I appealed to overrule the decision that would allow Sarah to go to the funeral today and to be honest, it’s not about borders. It’s not about Federation, it’s not about politicians, it’s not about elections,” he told 2GB.
The Prime Minister said she should be granted an exemption because she had travelled from COVID-free ACT.
“Somehow coming from ACT with (sic) no COVID case for exactly 57 days, I still have to quarantine,” Ms Caisip wrote on her Facebook page. “Why? Because ACT borders are open.”
However, the Queensland Government’s decision to forbid Ms Caisip from attending the funeral flies in the face of health advice that features on its own website.
“Hot spots are places in Australia where health officials have found a lot of people with COVID-19,” it says. “Hot spots are legally listed so that people travelling from those high-risk areas into Queensland can be identified.”
READ MORE: Sheridan — World-class virus response? It’s time to run and hide
Eli Greenblat 11.59am: Myer CEO launches blistering attack on Andrews
The chief executive of the nation’s biggest department store Myer, John King, has launched a blistering attack on the Victorian government’s poor handling of the COVID-19 crisis, dismissing the promised consultation with business as a “one way street” and labelling the night time curfew as unnecessary.
Mr King, whose flagship Myer store dominates the Melbourne CBD which is now a ghost town, made light of Premier Daniel Andrews’ constant referral this week to a supercomputer that helped model the pathway out of stage 4 restrictions by demanding instead the government find a “common sense supercomputer”.
He also said constant press conferences from state premiers “waxing lyrically” about infection rates hurt consumer confidence, while he echoed concerns of other retail CEOs this week that a “one size fits all” model to treating retailers by Premier Andrews was flawed.
“I think the best case is we are frustrated and disappointed, I think the worse case is devastation for small business and I am concerned, for us we will ride through it, but we need to be open in October and this whole thing of putting retail in one bucket is completely skewed,’’ Mr King told The Australian as Myer released its full-year result that showed the hit from COVID-19 sank it to a $172.5 million loss.
Rachel Baxendale 11.56am: Victoria’s 14-day daily case average now 70.1
The 14-day daily average of coronavirus cases is now 70.1 in metropolitan Melbourne and 4.5 in regional Victoria, taking the statewide figure to 74.6.
There have been 154 cases in metropolitan Melbourne and eight in regional Victoria in the past 14 days where contact tracers have been unable to establish a source of infection.
In order for Melbourne to move to the second step of relaxing coronavirus restrictions by September 28, the 14-day daily average needs to reach 30-50.
This would enable public outdoor gatherings of up to five people from up to two households, the resumption of childcare, and a staged return to the classroom for Prep to Grade Two and VCE students.
For the third step, which would see Melburnians released from a stay-at-home lockdown and a curfew by October 26, the statewide 14-day daily average needs to fall below five cases, with no more than five cases with an unknown source over that entire period.
Regional Victoria will be able to take this step much sooner, based on the same metrics.
READ MORE: Melbourne elite marooned in Byron
Erin Lyons 11.51am: Seven new virus cases detected in NSW
Seven new cases of coronavirus have been diagnosed in NSW. Two are returned travellers in hotel quarantine and five are linked to a known case or cluster.
One is a student at St Pauls Catholic College Greystanes, two are linked to the Concord Hospital outbreak, bringing the hospitals (including Liverpool Hospital) cluster to 14.
Two new cases are from Sydney’s south east and both visited the Eastern Suburbs Legion Club at Waverley where diners have been warned to isolate immediately.
NSW Health said one of Wednesday’s confirmed cases which was under investigation also attended the club.
Seven new cases of #COVID19 were diagnosed in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, bringing the total number of cases in NSW to 3,953.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) September 10, 2020
Of the seven new cases:
•Two are returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine
•Five are linked to a known case or cluster pic.twitter.com/MmSE82FFKf
A positive case attended the Legion club on several occasions while infectious. Now health authorities are racing to identify members who attended at the same times.
Anyone who attended the Legion Club on the following days and times are now considered to be a close contact and must isolate for two weeks and get tested.
- Tuesday, September 1 from 6.00pm
- Friday, September 4 from 4:30pm
- Saturday, September 5 from 4.15pm
- Sunday, September 6 from 5.00pm
- Monday, September 7 from 3.00pm
The news comes just a day after NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she “begrudges” the Queensland Premier for her tough border restrictions.
READ MORE: Hypocritical one day, cruel the next
Rachel Baxendale 11.20am: Victoria cases total 19,728
Victoria’s 51 new coronavirus cases on Thursday have brought the number of cases since the pandemic began to 19,728.
Seven deaths in the 24 hours to Thursday bring the state’s death toll to 701, 547 of which have been linked to aged care, and all but 19 of which have occurred as a result of Victoria’s second wave of cases, linked to breaches in the Andrews government’s hotel quarantine program.
The latest deaths include those of four men in their 70s, and two women and one man in their 80s.
Four of the seven are linked to aged care.
There have now been 4306 cases where contact tracers have been unable to establish a source of infection – a decrease of 31 since Wednesday.
There are 1483 active cases statewide – a decrease of 139 since Wednesday.
There are 251 active cases in health workers – a decrease of one since Wednesday.
Aged care facilities are currently linked to 763 active cases, down from 829 on Wednesday.
The number of cases linked to residential disability accommodation is now 16, including 10 staff and six residents, down from 17 on Wednesday.
The number of active cases in regional Victoria has fallen by 10 since Wednesday to 72.
READ MORE: Myer’s crippling loss
Olivia Caisley 11.15am: PM, Dutton appeal on ‘heartbreaking’ Queensland funeral
Scott Morrison has made an impassioned plea to Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to allow a 26-year-old woman leave hotel quarantine to attend her father’s funeral.
Sarah Caisip is stuck in hotel quarantine after fighting to enter Queensland, from COVID-free-Canberra, to see her father before he lost his battle with cancer.
The 26-year-old, who didn’t get to say goodbye to her dad, has been denied an exemption to attend his funeral on Thursday afternoon.
The Prime Minister, who struggled to talk at times when reflecting on his own father’s death earlier this year, said he had spoken with Ms Palaszczuk this morning to appeal for an exemption for Sarah.
“I appealed to overrule the decision that would allow Sarah to go to the funeral today and to be honest, it’s not about borders. It’s not about Federation, it’s not about politicians, it’s not about elections,” he told 2GB.
“The only thing that matters today is that Sarah can be with her 11-year-old sister, Isabel, and her mother Myrna to mourn the passing of their father and husband.”.
Mr Morrison said it was heartbreaking Ms Caisip had missed the opportunity to say farewell to her dad because she was in quarantine.
“All of us who have been through that process know how important a day like today is,” Mr Morrison said, his voice breaking. “It’s still fresh in my mind.”
“This isn’t about the Premier of Queensland and me or anyone else – it’s just about that. Surely, in the midst of all of this, in COVID, and everything that everyone’s going through. Surely just this once. This can be done. It can be done,” he said. “There’s been no COVID cases in the ACT for more than 60 days.”
“I just hope they don’t change their mind.”
Earlier, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton attacked Ms Palaszczuk, saying people were suffering because of her “pig headed” border policies.
“This young lady, tragically, will be scarred for life. She’s missed her father’s dying moments, she’s going to miss the funeral and these are obviously moments you can’t get back,” he told 2GB.
“This is Australia in the 21st century. There can be border restrictions put in place if there are good health reasons for it but there’s no health reason, there’s no argument from the doctors here in Queensland for the borders to be shut.
“It’s all for political reasons and unfortunately a lot of people are suffering and feel the consequences of this action.”
Mr Dutton urged the bureaucrats involved in the case to use discretion, saying it was unnecessary to prohibit someone from Canberra – where there have been no new coronavirus cases for more than 60 days – from entering Queensland.
“It’s really upsetting and heartbreaking,” he said.
“I just can’t understand why the government would put someone through that extra grief.”
READ MORE: Hypocritical one day, hideously cruel the next
David Ross 11.10am: Melbourne Mayor calls for help on recovery
Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp has called on state and federal governments to ensure “a strong and swift recovery” for the city as a PricewaterhouseCoopers report suggests it could lose 79,000 jobs over the next five years.
The report charts the cost of the stage-four lockdown and assumes public health restrictions remain in place by 2021, suggesting the economy of the City of Melbourne would contract by $23.5bn, or 22 per cent, as well as shedding 15 per cent of all jobs.
Cr Capp said more needed to be done to help small businesses reopen or else the city faced a repeat of its 1980s-90s downturn.
“The way in which we respond to reactivating and reopening the city economy is paramount in returning to the city we love.” she said.
Cr Capp also addressed reports City of Melbourne workers sought to stop the delivery of a box of Pauline Hanson branded stubby holders to residents of the North Melbourne flats.
Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate threatened to call the police unless the City of Melbourne workers allowed the stubby holders to be delivered.
The stubby holders were sent to the residents after Ms Hanson said the residents had not “adhered to the rules of social distancing”.
Cr Capp said her team had decided not to deliver them based on the “pressure and intensity” of the lockdowns on the flats and said she believed they had “made the right inquiries”.
READ MORE: NRL: There’s more pain to come
Sarah Elks 11.00am: Palaszczuk defends decision over funeral denial
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has defended her government’s denial of an exemption for a grieving young nurse to attend her father’s funeral.
In a letter tabled in parliament by the LNP Opposition, Sarah Caisip said she was in hotel quarantine in Brisbane after trying to come to Queensland to see her father before he died.
Ms Caisip said her father died on September 2, but she had been denied an exemption to attend his funeral this afternoon.
“Dear Premier, my dad is dead and you made me fight to see him, but it was too late, and now you won’t let me go to his funeral, or see my devastated 11 year old sister,” Ms Caisip’s letter reads.
Opposition leader Deb Frecklington asked Ms Palaszczuk to order a review into “Sarah’s case,” but Ms Palaszczuk said it was “disgusting” that the LNP would raise a personal case in parliament, even though the LNP said it had been asked to by Ms Caisip.
“Everything we do in this house is about saving people’s lives from a pandemic no one asked for,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
She said the bullying and intimidation she had faced over the border closures were the worst she’d seen, to which Opposition MPs interjected: “the Premier is not the victim”.
Ms Palaszczuk said Ms Caisip’s case was “absolutely tragic” but she did not make decisions about exemptions, the Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young did.
READ MORE: We’ve never been so bored
Rachel Baxendale 10.30am: Vic police, health point fingers over curfew
The Victoria Police Chief Commissioner has said the decision to impose an 8pm to 5am curfew on Victorians did not come from police.
Shane Patton told ABC radio this morning he believed the decision had been made on “health advice”, contradicting comments from Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton on Tuesday.
The police chief said the curfew was contained within the Chief Health Officer’s directions.
“The Deputy Chief Health Officer has signed those, presumably under the direction and with the endorsement of the CHO,” Mr Patton told ABC radio.
Mr Patton said police were only told about the curfew a few hours before it was due to begin on August 2.
‘I was never consulted,’’ Mr Patton told 3AW radio. “I’ve made inquiries to determine if anyone in the organisation was briefed on the matter.”
Professor Sutton told 3AW on Tuesday the curfew had not been imposed as a consequence of his health advice.
Quizzed over whether the measure was one he had recommended to the Andrews government, the CHO said it was not.
“The curfew came in as part of the State of Disaster, for example. It wasn’t a State of Emergency requirement, so that was something that was introduced, but it wasn’t something that I was against from a public health perspective,” Professor Sutton told 3AW.
“I was consulted on it, but it was a separate decision-making pathway,” he said.
Asked whether he would have introduced it had the decision been his, Professor Sutton said: “ I’m not sure. I haven’t reflected on it. I think it has been useful. If I put my mind to it, probably.”
The Victorian Premier is due to address the media alongside his Attorney-General Jill Hennessy at 11am.
READ MORE: Curfew decision not mine says Sutton
Olivia Caisley 10.20am: Oxford trial participant received vaccine
A British participant in the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 trial, who experienced “adverse side effects”, had been injected with the potential vaccine and not a placebo.
The trial was dramatically halted on Tuesday after a female participant showed symptoms of transverse myelitis (TM), a rare inflammatory condition that affects the spinal cord.
Stat, the health industry website which first reported the trial’s temporary pause, said that the woman was suspected to have TM but the diagnosis was not confirmed.
She was expected to be discharged from hospital on Wednesday UK time with the trial of the potential coronavirus vaccine to resume within days
There are nearly 20,000 test subjects enrolled in the phase-3 study.
Scott Morrison announced this week a $1.7bn production and supply deal for Australian drugmaker CSL to deliver more than 80 million doses of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine and another being developed by researchers at the University of Queensland with CSL help.
In rare instances, vaccines have triggered cases of transverse myelitis, which is a serious condition involving inflammation of the spinal cord that can cause muscle weakness, paralysis, pain and bladder problems, but it can also be caused by viral infections.
READ the full story here
Sarah Elks 9.50am: No cases recorded in Queensland
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has confirmed the state has recorded zero new cases of COVID-19 overnight.
Ms Palaszczuk told state parliament there were now 27 active cases, and more than one million tests had been conducted since the pandemic began.
Deputy Premier and Health Minister Steven Miles said the state recorded its one-millionth test, after it had taken six months to reach half a million tests.
“It only took six weeks to (reach) the magic million mark,” Mr Miles said.
He praised health workers for preventing “much greater devastation” in Queensland, and for putting themselves between the deadly disease and others.
David Ross 9.20am: AMA VP calls for review on health workers masks
Australian Medical Association Vice President Dr Chris Moy has called for a review on the grades of surgical masks issued to healthcare workers on the back of a spate of infections.
As of yesterday, more than 3300 healthcare workers had contracted the coronavirus in Australia over the course of the pandemic.
Dr Moy, speaking on Sky News, said the AMA was supporting the push to increase monitoring of healthcare workers to determine the cause of the rash of infections.
“The AMA’s point is people working with people with Covid we should have the higher level of mask,” he said.
He said the government should look to supply P2 grade masks over the more common surgical mask and ensure all masks were fitted properly on users.
The problem has been until now is the advice, for example, has been the normal rectangular surgical mask for the routine care of people with Covid,” he said.
“The AMA’s view was that‘s based on droplet spread within 1.5 metres but there’s increasing evidence where there’s airborne spread.”
Dr Moy said the fight against the virus was helped in Australia by the onshore production of P2 and high-grade masks, an issue which had presented itself early on in the pandemic.
However, he said he was not hopeful of a vaccine before mid-to-late-2021.
“We hope for the best and expect the worst,” he said.
This comes after Wednesday’s news that the potential AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine trial had been paused on the back of health complications in one trial participant.
“I think there’s a long way to go and what the government is trying to do at the moment is try to hedge the bets,” Dr Moy said.
“There is that small chance it may not work. There has never been a coronavirus vaccine successfully created.”
READ MORE: Resilience key to surviving Covid
David Ross 8.45am: Hanks escapes hotel to sit out quarantine in resort
Tom Hanks has slipped the net that has landed thousands in hotel quarantine after being given an exemption to complete his quarantine in a room at a Gold Coast resort.
Mr Hanks, along with his wife Rita Wilson, contracted coronavirus in the early stages of the pandemic.
Hanks is not believed to be staying in a hotel participating in the quarantine scheme, but rather will be staying in a resort in Broadbeach. He is not allowed to leave the resort during his 14 day quarantine.
The Hollywood star landed in the Gold Coast on Tuesday night to recommence filming of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley biopic.
The initial outbreak of the coronavirus in March caused production of the Presley biopic to be suspended.
The special arrangements for Hanks comes after singer Dannii Minogue was also granted an exemption to quarantine for 14 days at a private Gold Coast residence.
However, not everyone has been exempted from Queensland’s tough border restrictions which have come in for serious criticism from the NSW side of the border in recent days.
A dying man has been told only one of his four children will be allowed to visit him in hospital due to coronavirus restrictions.
Mark Keans, 39, who has inoperable cancer in his brain and lungs, is dying in a Brisbane hospital.
His family must now decide which of his four children can visit him.
But the Queensland government has defended its restrictions, with Premier Anastasia Palaszczuk saying the decision to allow exemptions for border restrictions for celebrities was not her decision.
“When it comes to individual cases, they need to refer the individuals to the exemptions unit. I don’t make these decisions, they are made by clinicians,” she told parliament.
However, in recent days the Queensland government has relaxed some restrictions, including those for children at boarding schools in the state and their parents.
Parents from an area which as not had a case of COVID-19 in recent weeks will be allowed to enter Queensland by road to collect their kids.
They must return home on the same day they enter by the most direct route practicable.
But students travelling by air to Queensland to return to school will be required to quarantine.
READ MORE: We’re not all in this together
Rachel Baxendale 8.20am: Victoria records 51 cases, 7 deaths
Victoria has recorded 51 new cases of coronavirus in the 24 hours to Thursday, and seven deaths.
#COVID19VicData for 10 September, 2020.
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) September 9, 2020
Yesterday there were 51 new cases reported and sadly 7 lives lost. Our thoughts go out to all those affected. More information will be available later today. pic.twitter.com/xgriowNMS1
The seven deaths take the state’s death toll to 701 – all but 19 of which have occurred as part of Victoria’s second wave of coronavirus cases, sparked by breaches in the Andrews government’s hotel quarantine program.
Thursday’s 51 new cases represent the lowest daily increase since June 28, except for Monday, when there were 41 new cases.
They bring the state’s 14-day daily average down to 79.3, and the seven day daily average to 63.3.
In order for Melbourne to move to the second step of relaxing coronavirus restrictions by September 28, the 14-day daily average needs to reach 30-50.
This would enable public outdoor gatherings of up to five people from up to two households, the resumption of childcare, and a staged return to the classroom for Prep to Grade Two and VCE students.
For the third step, which would see Melburnians released from a stay-at-home lockdown and a curfew by October 26, the statewide 14-day daily average needs to fall below five cases, with no more than five cases with an unknown source over that entire period.
READ MORE: $23bn blow that will break Melbourne’s heart
Staff writers 8.00am: Vaccine company boss slams Andrews’ ‘map for misery’
CSL chairman Brian McNamee has slammed Daniel Andrews’ lockdown, labelling it a “map for misery”.
Brian McNamee warned Victoria’s harsh measures risked disaster for the state, and criticised Daniel Andrews for having “zero” interaction with independent experts, the Herald Sun reports.
Melbourne-based Dr McNamee said: “Our response is disproportionate to the medical challenge.
“The Premier is saying his opinion won’t change because of anger, but the truth of the matter is that I don’t think he even understands the severity of what is occurring, both in the economy and also in the human consequences.
“I don’t know anyone who supports this plan.
“We are an absolute outlier internationally.
“It’s the most crushing policy in a sophisticated modern country with a dynamic city like Melbourne.”
Dr McNamee predicted Mr Andrews would eventually have to buckle, saying: “I’m concerned the targets being established will mean that our misery will be a permanent state.
“So we’re only in some ways debating when the Premier has to back down and not if.”
READ MORE: Andrews urged to release modelling
David Ross 7.30am: French PM in self-isolation after Tour de France visit
French Prime Minister Jean Castex is in self-isolation after coming into contact with the director of the Tour de France, who has tested positive to the coronavirus.
The positive case comes as viral cases across France expand, with the daily average hovering around 7000 and a growth in the number of patients in intensive care.
The second wave hitting France comes after months of low cases in the country and is a familiar story across several other European countries.
At least 30,770 people have died of COVID-19 in France since the start of the pandemic and more than 373,788 have been infected.
The United Kingdom on Wednesday moved to limit public gatherings after several days of 3000 cases a day, with restrictions limiting public gatherings to six people coming into effect from Monday next week.
The second wave in the UK appears to be driven by young Britons, who are not being admitted to hospital or dying in as great a number as was seen in the first wave of COVID-19 to hit the UK in May.
The virus’ path in the United States continues to decline with some states recording their lowest new infections numbers since late March.
New cases of COVID-19 peaked in July and have been falling since, however some experts say the rate of decline appears to be slowing, with daily cases now hovering around 40,000.
This comes as recordings of US President Donal Trump have emerged showing he knew of the possible severity of the virus as early as February emerged.
Speaking on a recording with The Washington Post’s journalist Bob Woodward Trump acknowledged the “deadly” nature of the virus telling him that the coronavirus is “more deadly than your, you know, your — even your strenuous flus”.
The tapes show Trump wanted to play down the severity of the virus, saying “I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down,”. He said this was because “ I don’t want to create a panic”.
More than 190,478 Americans have now died of COVID-19 and 6.3m have been infected by the virus.
READ MORE: Jakarta to go back into lockdown
David Ross 7.15am: Alert over Sydney legion club, surgeries halted
Warnings have been issued by NSW Health after two people with COVID-19 visited the Eastern Suburbs Legion Club at Waverly on several occasions while infectious.
NSW Health will be working with the club to contact and assess the risk of exposure to club members and attendees.
This comes as viral cases in NSW linked to the growing CBD cluster and Liverpool and Concord hospitals cluster continued to grow on Wednesday.
Nine new cases were reported on Wednesday bringing the total in the state to 3946.
Seven of the new cases were linked to known clusters and cases, while one was in hotel quarantine. The source of one case is known.
PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) September 9, 2020
NSW Health is alerting the public to new locations visited by confirmed cases of COVID-19. See the full media release here: https://t.co/nsbgFWgZX2
Locations linked to known cases and advice on testing and isolation can be found here: https://t.co/6PUOQ3J3tO pic.twitter.com/mqY9gggFzZ
Five of the locally acquired cases were linked to Concord Hospital, where two healthcare workers, one patient, and two household contacts of the patient were found to have contracted the virus.
Non-urgent surgery at Concord hospital will be cancelled today and will resume on Friday. Visits to the hospital are being denied until deep cleaning of all the wards is completed.
NSW Health is also warning attendees of the following venues and trains on these dates to be aware of symptoms and to get tested if they develop any as they are considered close contacts:
Macquarie Shopping Centre, including Food Court, Coco Tea, Myer, Time Zone and Tommy Gun’s Barbershop, on Saturday 5 September from 2:00pm – 5:00pm.
The Railway Hotel, Liverpool on Friday 4 September from 10:00pm – 11:30pm.
T1/T9 North Shore Line on 7 September between 9:17 – 9:29am from Milson’s Point to St Leonards
T1/T9 North Shore Line on 7 September between 9:53 – 10:14am from St Leonard’s to Milsons Point
READ MORE: PM’s definition in a hotspot of bother
Staff writers 7.00am: ‘Don’t bank on a vaccine soon’
The chairman of the company charged with manufacturing a vaccine for Australia has warned the government not to assume the trial’s success.
CSL chair Brian McNamee said the Victorian government’s lockdown strategy relied on the arrival of a vaccine that could be a very long way off.
“If they had asked us we would have told them that drug development is a very complex thing,” Dr McNamee told the Herald Sun.
“We can’t bank on a vaccine. I think the treatments are improving but we have to learn to live with COVID. We have to manage it.”
Dr McNamee downplayed the halt in the trial of one of the vaccines developed by the company AstraZeneca in collaboration with Oxford University after a participant developed an unexplained illness.
Scientists in the UK are scrambling to understand whether the serious “adverse reaction” experienced by one of the nearly 20,000 test subjects so far enrolled in the phase-3 study was due to side-effects of the experimental drug.
The shockwaves washed through the international effort to produce a fast-tracked antidote to the coronavirus, with the Oxford University candidate vaccine being ranked on the top rung of the 160 different immunisers being developed globally.
The federal government and CSL have contracts to produce two vaccines, including the AstraZeneca one being trialled, if they are shown to be successful.
Dr McNamee said the pause was no surprise.
“This happens quite frequently in drug development so it’s not a shock,” he said.
“If you’re giving something to 30,000 people, odd things happen that may or may not be related to the vaccine but you have to work it out.
“This is why drug development is expensive, long and complex and risky.
READ MORE: Vaccine setback ‘no cause for panic’
Rachel Baxendale 6.00 am: Interview ‘refusal’ claims debunked
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’s claim that “one or two” coronavirus-positive people “on any given day” have refused to be interviewed by contact tracers has been shown to be false, after his health department released data showing no one has refused an interview in the past month.
Mr Andrews made the claim on Sunday, while under pressure to explain contact tracing failures, and repeated similar claims on Monday and Tuesday.
“Let me explain to you why there might be 5 or 6 or 7 per cent of people who we can’t get to in 24 hours,” the Premier said on Sunday, with reference to Department of Health and Human Services interviews with coronavirus-positive people and their close contacts.
“On any given day there are one or two people who will not consent to being interviewed,” he said, suggesting there may be some among Sunday’s 63 cases.
“There will be one or two: ‘I don’t want to be interviewed.’ There will be one or two or three who cannot be found, despite ringing as many times as we can, despite doorknocking, and that’s happening to every single close contact and every single positive case — we won’t be able to find them at home, or contact them, speak to them, within that 24-hour period.”
Asked how many people had refused to be interviewed and what could be done, Mr Andrews said: “Well I don’t know that there is much action we can take against someone … But I don’t use the example to be blaming those one or two people.”
On Tuesday, the Premier reiterated: “There will from time to time be people who are not willing to be part of that (interview) process.”
READ the full story here
Adam Creighton 5.45am: NZ lockdown ‘costs $8m pa of life saved’
New Zealand’s hard lockdown policy is thought to have prevented the deaths of 1000 people at a cost of $NZ8.5m ($7.8m) for each year of life saved, according to a new analysis casting doubt on the effectiveness of Victoria’s extended shutdown.
The $NZ8.5m figure is 190 times greater than a $NZ45,000 value public health experts had ascribed to a year of life before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the analysis.
Martin Lally, an economist who advises Australian and New Zealand government price regulators, said Victoria’s tough lockdown, like New Zealand’s, would save lives only at an “extraordinary” cost that fell disproportionately on private businesses and the unemployed.
“Victoria illustrates one of the many problems with lockdowns; you do it, incur huge costs in the form of GDP losses and then discover you have wasted your time,” he said, referring to the reinstatement of lockdown in Auckland in August after a spike in coronavirus cases.
Dr Lally’s analysis put the cost of the coronavirus pandemic to New Zealand in terms of GDP at $NZ87bn, to which the decision to have a hard lockdown contributed $NZ22bn. “Some of these GDP losses would have arisen without government-imposed restrictions because some people would have reduced their interactions with others anyway,” he said.
READ the full story here
Rebecca Urban 5.30am: Rules for Covid-safe HSC exams revealed
Students sitting HSC exams will be screened for illness and quarantined from those in other year levels under new coronavirus protocols for schools unveiled on Wednesday.
Schools across NSW have been issued with updated health advice ahead of the start of written exams on October 20, which also recommends they ramp up their cleaning regimens, hire extra exam staff and prearrange an alternative exam venue in the event they are forced to close because of a confirmed COVID-19 case.
No more than 75 students will be permitted in each exam room, to enable social distancing.
NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the state’s 75,000 HSC students could be reassured that everything was being done to make sure they could sit their exams without disruption.
“HSC trials were held without major incident and we are now working with schools to implement guidelines and procedures that reduce the risk of a COVID-19 disruption for our HSC students,” Ms Mitchell said.
“We are prioritising health advice as we support schools in planning for and operating the HSC exams. The safety of students and staff remains a priority”.
The guidelines, developed in consultation with NSW Health, have been sent to principals by the NSW Education Standards Authority, which is responsible for the HSC.
READ the full story here
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Man charged with poisoning wife’s tea with insecticide in court
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LNP leader Crisafulli tight-lipped on abortion conscience vote
David Crisafulli has again refused to say whether Liberal National Party MPs will be given a conscience vote on legislation to repeal or restrict access to abortion in Queensland as pressure mounts from conservative crossbenchers hoping to force the issue.