Coronavirus Australia live news: Baby infected in neonatal ICU outbreak; Police blast non-mask wearers
A baby is among four coronavirus cases linked to the neonatal intensive care unit at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s hospital.
- Don’t go to work if you feel sick: Premier’s plea
- ‘No one has human right to infect others’
- Today’s numbers ‘might be peak’
- Six more die in Victoria
- ‘All options’ on table for Victoria: PM
- Victoria records 532 new cases
- ‘The most dangerous act during a pandemic’
- BLM protesters may defy court
Welcome to live coverage of the continuing coronavirus crisis. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews begs sick people to stay home and police blast ‘selfish, childish’ non-mask wearers have been blasted by police on Victoria’s grimmest day. Six more people have died from coronavirus in Victoria, as the state sets a new record with 532 cases in the 24 hours to Monday. Prime Minister Scott Morrison meanwhile has flagged the possibility of harder lockdowns in Victoria.
John Ferguson 10.40pm: How the young are fuelling the pandemic
Nearly 2000 young Victorians are the dominant group suffering soaring infection rates that are fuelling the pandemic and killing scores of people.
Those aged between 20 and 29 have dominated infection rates, sparking impassioned calls from government leaders for the young to follow the rules amid the boredom and stress of the second wave.
Analysis of state and federal government data shows that 1947 men and women in the 20 to 29 age group in Victoria have been infected during the pandemic, significantly outstripping other cohorts.
Read the full story here
Tessa Akerman 10.10pm: Coronavirus deniers in acts of defiance
Victorians are spreading conspiracy theories online and breaching social-distancing rules in organised defiance of health regulations.
Read the full story here
Greg Sheridan 9.30pm: Deniers of reality must get a grip
What a pity COVID-19 cannot read all those blogs saying it’s really just like a bad flu season and the world has overreacted.
Read the full story
Bernard Salt 9pm: Green-shoot dreams blooming amid devastation
The coronavirus has given us a more complicated picture: unrelenting hotspots, green shoots, skills in demand and opportunities for small businesses.
Read the full analysis here
Amanda Hodge 8.35pm: Jokowi on back foot as cases escalate
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has defended his government against claims it has shifted its COVID-19 focus from health to economic recovery, as the country experiences a rapid escalation in infections that has pushed its caseload past 100,000.
Read the full story here
Angelica Snowden 8pm: Two cases linked to restaurant, pub and club
Another two Sydney cases have been linked to a restaurant, a pub and a club.
A staff member at The Apollo restaurant in inner-city Potts Poin tested positive to COVID-19 after working between July 23 and 25.
NSW Health is calling anyone who visited the restaurant in Macleay St — near the night-life hotspot of Kings Cross in the eastern suburbs — on those days to quarantine for 14 days.
Anyone who has been in the Potts Point area in the past two weeks is urged to get tested if they have any COVID-19 symptoms.
A patron who visited a pub and a club in Mount Pritchard, southwest Sydney, last Thursday and Friday has also been infected, NSW Health confirmed on Monday night.
The patron was infectious when they visited the Mounties club and Pritchards Hotel.
Authorities are contacting anyone who visited Mounties last thursday between midnight and 3am and on Friday from 11am to 3pm and 8pm to midnight, as well as on Saturday between midnight and 3am.
They are also alerting anyone who attended the bistro of Pritchard’s Hotel on Thursday between 7pm and 7.45pm.
Anyone who develops symptoms, including a runny nose or a sore throat, should get tested.
READ MORE: Masks mandatory as HK builds field hospital
Ewin Hannan 7.35pm: Aged-care workers win pandemic leave
Workers in residential aged-care facilities have been awarded access to paid pandemic leave for three months after the Fair Work Commission found the low-paid workers would be exposed to “significant financial difficulty” if forced to self-isolate during the pandemic.
A commission full bench said workers in the residential aged care sector were exposed to an “elevated risk” of having to self-isolate given the outbreak of COVID-19 cases in Victoria.
The full bench said there was a real risk that employees who did not have access to leave entitlements “might not report COVID-19 symptoms which might require them to self-isolate, but rather seek to attend for work out of financial need”.
“This represents a significant risk to infection control measures,” it said. “These matters weigh significantly in favour of the introduction of a paid pandemic leave entitlement.”
The full bench said employees required to self-isolate may have exhausted their leave entitlement or, if they were casuals, did not have an entitlement to paid leave.
“The requirement for self-isolation is primarily to prevent the spread of infection which, in the aged-care sector is especially critical because of the vulnerability of aged persons to COVID-19 fatalities,” it said.
“Thus, the requirement to self-isolate may be said to be in the public interest. However, absent a paid pandemic leave entitlement or access to other leave entitlements, the employee bears the cost of this. For low-paid employees, this is likely to place them in significant financial difficulty and even distress.”
Employers had earlier opposed varying the aged-care award to provide for paid pandemic leave but the commission said financial assistance measures announced by the Morrison government “will substantially reduce, if not wholly remove the cost of any paid pandemic leave entitlement which might be established for the most affected residential aged care employers”.
“Aged-care workers are in the ‘frontline’ of the community’s efforts to care for, and to protect from infection, the aged, who are the group most vulnerable to fatality in the current pandemic,” the full bench said. “The establishment of a paid pandemic leave entitlement for such workers is necessary to support them in their critical work”.
The provision entitles residential aged care employees to up to two weeks’ paid leave on each occasion they are required to self-isolate because they display symptoms of COVID-19 or have come into contact with a person suspected of having contracted COVID-19.
Casuals employed on a regular and systematic basis will be eligible but the commission rejected an ACTU bid to apply it to casuals who did not fit that definition.
READ MORE: No country for old men
AFP 7pm: China to help build field hospital in HK
China will help Hong Kong build an emergency field hospital as coronavirus cases rise in the semi-autonomous city, a senior government official said on Monday.
“The central government has agreed to help us build a ‘Fangcang Hospital’... which can provide up to 2000 beds,” Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung said, referring to the temporary facilities built in the Chinese city of Wuhan when the coronavirus first surfaced.
READ MORE: Bleak City auctions reflect the name
Kellie Southan 6.30pm: Map of active cases
Rachel Baxendale 6.15pm: Half of deaths in aged-care homes
Almost half — or 35 of 77 — of Victoria’s COVID-19 deaths have been in aged-care facilities.
The 35 deaths also account for 60 per cent of the 57 deaths in the state since July 5 — little more than three weeks ago.
Since the pandemic began, there have been 394 cases in nursing home residents in Victoria.
There are currently 683 active cases among staff, residents and close contacts, across 61 aged care facilities in the state.
READ MORE: Self-centred panic masking humanity
AFP 6.05pm: Mandatory masks in HK after ‘remarkably severe’ outbreak
Hong Kongers must wear masks whenever in public, authorities ordered Monday, as they unveiled the city’s toughest social distancing measures yet to combat a new wave of coronavirus infections.
“The epidemic situation in Hong Kong is remarkably severe,” Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung told reporters as he announced new measures, including a ban on more than two people gathering in public and restaurants only being allowed to serve takeaway meals.
READ MORE: One in 11 expect COVID crisis will change their lives forever
Rachel Baxendale 5.35pm: Full list of areas with cases
Active confirmed cases of Victoria’s COVID-19 by LGA as of Monday, with net increase since Sunday in brackets:
#Brimbank (outer west): 526 (+11)
Wyndham (outer southwest): 519 (+43)
#Hume (outer north): 381 (+27)
Whittlesea (outer north): 327 (+65)
#City of Melbourne: 291 (+12)
#Moreland (north): 265 (-6)
Melton (outer northwest): 230 (+19)
#Moonee Valley (northwest): 219 (+2)
Casey (outer southeast): 178 (+21)
Banyule (northeast): 151 (-2)
Yarra (inner northeast): 149 (+16)
#Maribyrnong (inner west): 131 (+3)
Darebin (north): 100 (+4)
Greater Dandenong: (outer southeast): 99 (+12)
Yarra Ranges (outer east) 80 (+43)
Hobsons Bay (inner southwest): 72 (-4)
Boroondara (east): 57 (+5)
Whitehorse (east): 57 (+2)
Kingston (southeast): 55 (+9)
Monash (southeast): 55 (+2)
*Colac-Otway (western regional Vic): 50 (+3)
Port Phillip (inner south): 46 (+2)
Stonnington (inner southeast): 43 (+3)
Nillumbik (outer northeast): 38 (+4)
Manningham (east): 38
Knox (outer east): 36 (+3)
Glen Eira (east): 35 (+4)
Maroondah (outer east): 31 (+7)
*Greater Geelong (southwest regional Vic): 31
Frankston (outer southeast): 30 (+2)
Bayside (southeast): 30
Cardinia (outer southeast): 27 (+4)
Mitchell (central regional Vic, north of Melb): 13 (+2)
Mornington Peninsula (outer southeast): 13
*Macedon Ranges (central regional Vic): 10 (+2)
*Ballarat (western regional Vic): 10 (-1)
*Moorabool (western regional Vic): 9
*Greater Bendigo (central regional Vic): 8 (+2)
*Horsham (western regional Vic): 7
*Latrobe (eastern regional Vic): 6 (+2)
*Glenelg (western regional Vic): 6
*Golden Plains (western regional Vic): 5
*South Gippsland (eastern regional Vic): 4
*Surf Coast (southwest regional Vic): 4
*Baw Baw (eastern regional Vic): 3
*Loddon (northwest central regional Vic): 2
*Swan Hill (northwest regional Vic): 2
*Wodonga (northeast regional Vic): 1 (+1)
*Warrnambool (southwest regional Vic): 1
*Mansfield (northeast regional Vic): 1
*Mount Alexander (central regional Vic): 1
*East Gippsland (east regional Vic): 1
*Bass Coast (southeast regional Vic): 1
Interstate: 10 (+2)
Unknown: 48 (-15)
TOTAL: 4542 (+309)
*Denotes LGAs outside the Melbourne metropolitan/Mitchell Shire lockdown
#Denotes LGAs with postcodes locked down from 11:59pm on July 1
Source: Victorian Department of Health and Human Services
READ MORE: Masked ministers touch down in US
Rachel Baxendale 5.20pm: More than 1000 cases in just two areas
Two Victorian local government areas now have more 1000 active cases of COVID-19 between them.
Brimbank, in Melbourne’s outer west, has 526 active cases, with a net increase of 11 on Monday, and Wyndham, in the outer southwest, has 519 active cases after a net increase of 43.
Ten Victorian local government areas recorded double digit net increases in active COVID-19 cases between Sunday and Monday — the vast majority of them in Melbourne’s outer suburbs, as the stage-three lockdown does little to limit spread among essential workers.
The other eight (alongside Brimbank and Wyndham) are Whittlesea, in the outer north, which recorded a net increase of 65 active cases, Yarra Ranges, in the outer east, which more than doubled its number of active cases to a total of 80 — a net increase of 43 — Hume in the outer north, with a net increase of 27, Casey in the outer southeast with 21, Melton in the outer northwest, with 19, Yarra in the inner northeast with 16, and Greater Dandenong in the outer southeast, and the City of Melbourne, with 12 each.
Of the 31 Melbourne metropolitan local government areas, 29 of them have at least 30 active cases.
The only Melbourne LGAs with fewer than 30 active cases are Cardinia, in the outer southeast, with 27 active cases, and Mornington Peninsula, with 13.
The Mitchell Shire, north of Melbourne, which is in stage-three lockdown alongside metropolitan Melbourne, also has 13.
Two other regional Victorian LGAs have now exceeded or equalled the Mitchell Shire’s tally, with a total of 50 active cases in Colac-Otway (home to the Australian Lamb Company abattoir cluster of 47 cases) and 31 in Greater Geelong.
A net increase of eight active cases occurred outside the metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire lockdown zone in the 24 hours to Sunday.
There are now 163 active cases in regional Victoria outside the lockdown zone, across 21 LGAs.
When the Melbourne and Mitchell Shire lockdown was imposed on July 9, there were 14 active cases across six LGAs.
READ MORE: No country for old men
Kieran Gair 4.50pm: Unauthorised: Black Lives Matter rally appeal dismissed
A Black Lives Matter rally planned for Sydney on Tuesday is an unauthorised public assembly, the NSW Court of Appeal ruled on Monday, upholding a NSW Supreme Court decision a day earlier.
In a dramatic last-minute hearing, Chief Justice Tom Bathurst, Court of Appeal President
Andrew Bell, and Justice Robert McFarlan, ordered that the assembly at Town Hall in the Sydney CBD — planned for at least 1000 people — was unauthorised, dismissing the protest organisers’ appeal.
The court dismissed an argument by barrister Dominic Toomey SC, who acted for the protest organisers with fellow barrister Felicity Graham, that the Supreme Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the police application for a prohibition order for the march.
READ THE FULL STORY here.
Rachel Baxendale 4.40pm: Abattoir, smallgoods coronavirus cases rise
Of Victoria’s 532 new cases on Monday, 154 have so far been linked to known clusters, with the remaining 378 under investigation.
Here’s what we know about the size of clusters with new cases on Monday, other than those linked to aged care and the Royal Children’s Hospital NICU cluster, which were detailed in previous posts:
Abattoirs:
– 95 cases have been linked to Somerville Retail Services abattoir in Tottenham, in Melbourne’s west, up from 90 on Sunday;
– 71 cases have been linked to JBS abattoir in Brooklyn, in Melbourne’s west, up from 69 on Sunday;
– 47 cases have been linked to Australian Lamb Company in Colac, in southwest regional Victoria – the same number as Sunday;
– Eight cases have been linked Diamond Valley Pork in Laverton North, in Melbourne’s west, up from six on Sunday;
Smallgoods:
– 69 cases have been linked to Bertocchi Smallgoods in Thomastown, in Melbourne’s north, up from 60 on Sunday;
– Six cases have been linked to Don KR in Castlemaine, in central Victoria, up from five on Sunday;
Logistics:
– 13 cases have been linked to the Linfox warehouse in Truganina, in Melbourne’s outer west, up from 12 cases on Sunday;
Supermarkets:
– 26 cases have been linked to LaManna Supermarket in Essendon Fields, in Melbourne’s northwest, up from 24 on Wednesday;
Hospitals:
– 22 cases have been linked to Brunswick Private Hospital, up from 16 on Friday July 17;
Social services/youth justice
– Six cases have been linked to Parkville Youth Justice, in Melbourne’s inner north; This follows six cases linked to the associated Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre in central Victoria;
– 12 cases have been linked to Respite Services Australia in Moonee Ponds, in Melbourne’s northwest, up from 11 on Friday;
Public Housing:
– 303 cases are residents of previously locked down public housing towers in North Melbourne and Flemington, in Melbourne’s inner northwest – the same number as Sunday and up from 296 on Friday;
– 66 cases are residents of public housing towers in Carlton, in Melbourne’s inner north – the same number as Sunday and up from 61 on Thursday.
READ MORE: Pandemic boosts Hungry Jack’s revenue
Rachel Baxendale 4.35pm: The Melbourne aged care facilities hit by COVID-19
Monday’s 683 active cases relating to outbreaks across 61 aged care facilities include new single cases in staff members at eight aged care facilities, including:
– St Andrews Aged Care in Sunshine, in Melbourne’s west;
– Mercy Place Wyndham Aged Care Facility in Werribee, in Melbourne’s outer southwest;
– Mercy Place Keon Park Aged Care in Reservoir, in Melbourne’s north;
– VMCH Corpus Christi Aged Care in Clayton, in Melbourne’s southeast;
– VMCH Aged Care in Berwick, in Melbourne’s outer southeast;
– Cumberland Manor Aged Care Facility in Sunshine North, in Melbourne’s west;
– Uniting AgeWell in Box Hill, in Melbourne’s east;
– Japara Bayview Aged Care in Carrum Downs, in Melbourne’s outer southeast;
As previously mentioned by Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton, the largest aged care outbreaks are:
– 84 cases linked to St Basil’s Homes for the Aged in Fawkner, in Melbourne’s north, up from 78 on Sunday;
– 82 cases linked to Estia Health in Ardeer, in Melbourne’s west – the same number as Sunday;
– 77 cases linked to Heritage Care’s Epping Gardens facility in Melbourne’s north, up from 24 on Sunday – although families of residents at the facility were told on Sunday that 83 cases, including 61 residents and 22 staff members, had been linked to the home;
– 62 cases linked to the Menarock Life Aged Care facility in Essendon, in Melbourne’s northwest, up from 55 on Thursday;
– 53 cases linked to the Glendale Aged care facility in Werribee, in Melbourne’s outer southwest, up from 52 on Sunday;
– 57 cases linked to Kirkbrae Presbyrterian Homes in Kilsyth, in Melbourne’s outer east, up from 19 on Sunday;
– 50 cases linked to Estia Health in Heidelberg, in Melbourne’s northeast, up from 48 on Sunday.
READ MORE: Nursing home outbreaks risk Estia funding
Patrick Commins 4.30pm: 10 per cent say COVID life changes are permanent
One in eleven Australians believe their lives will never return to normal in the wake of the coronavirus, and nearly a fifth believe it will take longer than a year.
The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics survey on the household impact of the coronavirus also revealed 47 per cent of respondents anticipated life would return to normal within 12 months, including 51 per cent of men and 43 per cent of women.
In contrast, the ABS also reported that 16 per cent of Australians said their lives were already back to normal.
The survey was conducted between July 6 and July 10, when the second virus wave of infections had hit Melbourne, triggering a six-week lockdown of the country’s second largest city.
Rachel Baxendale 4.05pm: Four COVID cases linked to children’s hospital NICU ward
A baby is among four coronavirus cases linked to the neonatal intensive care unit at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s hospital.
Victoria’s health department confirmed on Monday afternoon that the cases included two parents, one patient and a healthcare worker.
Alarmingly, the department has indicated people could have first been exposed to infection within the ward, also known as Butterfly Ward, more than a fortnight ago.
“All babies, staff and parents, including any RCH staff who have spent more than two hours on Butterfly Ward since 12 July will be tested,” the department said.
Rachel Baxendale 4.00pm: Virus cases now 683 across 61 aged care facilities
As of Monday, Victorian health department figures show there are now 683 active cases relating to outbreaks across 61 aged care facilities in the state.
This compares with 447 cases across 35 facilities according to Department of Health and Human Services figures last Thursday, just four days ago.
There have now been 749 coronavirus cases in healthcare workers in Victoria, including 400 cases which remain active, up from a total of 719 cases on Sunday, 381 of which were active, according to the state’s health department.
The discrepancy between the two days’ figures is explained by previously diagnosed healthcare workers recovering.
READ MORE: St Basil’s ‘sorry’ but families still in pain
Angelica Snowden 3.50pm: Aged care facility outbreaks ‘deeply concerning’: Kidd
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd says Australia’s latest COVID case numbers are “very concerning”, after confirming 549 people were diagnosed with coronavirus in the last 24 hours.
Professor Kidd said it was the “single largest daily number in our country” after 502 daily cases were recorded five days ago.
Over the past 24 hours 532 cases were recorded in Victoria and 17 were recorded in NSW.
In NSW, eight cases were overseas acquired and in hotel quarantine while nine were locally acquired.
There have now been 161 deaths associated with COVID-19 in Australia.
Professor Kidd said authorities remained “deeply concerned” about outbreaks in Victoria and “especially in residential aged care facilities”.
The number of cases in Victorian aged care facilities has risen to over 600 including residents and staff.
“Community transmission continues to drive the cases that we are seeing among aged care staff,” Professor Kidd said.
“Five per cent of all cases of COVID-19 in Victoria since April have been among the residents of aged care facilities,” he said.
“And four per cent of all cases in Victoria since April have been among the staff working in aged care.”
Despite reports that families have been left in the dark about their loved in aged care facilities, Professor Kidd said “family members are kept up-to-date”.
“Every case of COVID-19 in an aged care facility is a cause of grave concern,” he said.
“The people affected our much loved parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.”
He implored Victorians to stay at home and adhere to social distancing guidelines to stop the spread of COVID-19.
READ MORE: Bracing for air travel’s hard landing
Rachel Baxendale 3.40pm: More than 1000 Victorian cases with no identified source
Victoria has now had 1007 cases of COVID-19 since July 1 where contact tracers have been unable to identify a source of transmission, and 1308 since the pandemic began.
This number does not include hundreds of cases which remain under investigation as contact tracers battle with a backlog of close contacts, including 378 of today’s 532 new cases.
Of the 8696 people diagnosed with coronavirus in Victoria since the pandemic began, 3817, or 44 per cent, have recovered.
There have been 8086 cases in people from metropolitan Melbourne, and 463 in those from regional Victoria, as well as 4317 cases in men and 4280 in women.
READ MORE: COVID Commission to live on: PM
Richard Ferguson 3.20pm: Masked ministers touch down in Washington
Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds have landed in Washington DC for the annual AUSMIN talks with their US counterparts.
In their first overseas trip since the pandemic began, Senator Payne and Senator Reynolds got off the plane in the US capital wearing protective masks.
Arriving in Washington with @MarisePayne ahead of #AUSMIN2020. This visit is a testament to the importance of our enduring Alliance. 🇦🇺🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/KQqbjrk7UE
— Linda Reynolds (@lindareynoldswa) July 27, 2020
“Arriving in Washington with @MarisePayne ahead of #AUSMIN2020. This visit is a testament to the importance of our enduring Alliance,” Senator Reynolds tweeted.
The pair will have to self-quarantine for 14 days once they return to Australia.
Scott Morrison earlier on Monday said both ministers had to go to the US because of the importance of the alliance, and he still intends to go to Washington later this year for the G7 summit.
READ MORE: Pandemic boosts Hungry Jacks revenue
Rachel Baxendale 2.45pm: You can’t go to work if you feel sick: Andrews
Premier Daniel Andrews said Victoria’s coronavirus case numbers had continued to increase because people had gone to work with symptoms.
“It’s not the only issue, but it is the biggest driver of transmission. It is the biggest driver of these numbers going up rather than going down,” Mr Andrews said.
“So my message, my request, my plea to all Victorians, particularly those in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, but this does apply to every single Victorian regardless of their workplace: if you are sick, even mildly, you just can’t go to work.
“The only thing you can do is get tested. The only thing you can do is then wait at home, not going to the shops, not going anywhere, until you get your test results, and if you’re negative, then you can go about your business.
“If you are positive, then you’ll need to be at home for that 14-day period.”
Mr Andrews said he had received “feedback” that some people had felt embarrassed or reticent to discuss feeling ill with their family members, employers or workmates.
“They might see that as somehow being a reflection on their family or a reflection on them. This does not discriminate,” he said.
“No-one will be criticised or judged for doing the right thing. That’s exactly what we want to see happen.
“If you’ve got a sniffle, a scratchy throat, a headache, fever, then you can’t go to work.
“We have too many people who have symptoms and they are going to work and what that means, even with mask-wearing, even with hand hygiene, even with distancing, that is an unacceptable risk in terms of transmitting this virus.
“That is what is driving these numbers up, and the lockdown will not end until people stop going to work with symptoms.
“It’s not a matter of blame, it’s not a matter of judgment. These are the facts, and unless we see a change, then we’re going to continue to see these numbers at an unacceptably high level.”
Mr Andrews said there were $300 payments in place for those who needed to stay home from work after getting a test who did not have symptoms, and $1500 for confirmed cases and their close contacts.
He promised to provide and update on the uptake of those payments later this week.
Late last week only 182 people had received the payment, despite more than 1200 having applied since it was established a month ago.
Mr Andrews also said almost 150 WorkSafe inspections had been conducted in the past week to ensure essential workers at key workplaces were following protocol to prevent transmission of COVID-19.
“I can’t talk too much about compliance in that I haven’t got a full briefing, but in the main, those WorkSafe inspectors have found employers to be doing the right thing, employees to be doing the right thing, people taking this very, very seriously,” Mr Andrews said.
Amos AIkman 2.35pm: NT extends border ban on Sydneysiders for a month
The Northern Territory has extended a coronavirus hotspot declaration covering all of Greater Sydney for another four weeks as the Chief Minister warns there is “no end in sight” for border closures with Victoria. Michael Gunner said the nation had received a reality check in recent weeks, dashing hopes that the crisis might be other quickly. “Right now, we can’t see the finish line,” he said.
“We’re in this for the long haul: coronavirus isn’t going anywhere, which means that our hard borders are not going anywhere.” He added that the advice from NT health experts was that a vaccine for deadly COVID-19 would more than likely not be available until the end of 2021.
READ MORE: Stubborn BLM protest beyond stupid
Richard Ferguson 2.05pm: PM’s visit to US for still on despite worsening pandemic
Scott Morrison intends to still head to Washington DC later this year for G7 talks, despite the worsening coronavirus situation in both Australia and the United States.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds are currently heading to America for AUSMIN talks with their US counterparts, but will have to self-quarantine for 14 days once they return.
The Prime Minister on Monday defended taking his two ministers overseas, and said it was important he take up US president Donald Trump’s invitation to attend the G7 summit in September.
“I intend to visit Washington myself and should the G7-plus meeting go ahead, which will be held in Washington. These are important opportunities for Australia. It would be extraordinary if we didn’t seek to attend these meetings,” Mr Morrison said in Sydney.
“Our alliance with the United States is the bedrock of Australia’s defence strategy. So would it be highly irregular for us not to seek to take every opportunity for those meetings to be held face-to-face and I’m very pleased that they are proceeding on that basis.
“This is a regular dialogue that we have with the United States and it’s a timely opportunity for us to be talking about the many issues that are involved in our partnership right now, and not just defence issues.”
Mr Trump has proposed Australia come to the summit — if it goes ahead — along with Russia, South Korea and India in the hope they will become permanent members of the group.
READ MORE: PM to attend G7 as guest of Trump
Rachel Baxendale 2.00pm: No one has a human right to infect others: police
Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Rick Nugent has slammed as “selfish” and “childish” the behaviour of people who have actively refused to wear face coverings in public, claiming it was a breach of their “human rights”.
Footage of one woman who was arrested after refusing to wear a mask and argued with staff at a Melbourne Bunnings hardware store went viral over the weekend.
Mr Nugent said police were aware of a number of incidents over the weekend where people deliberately breached the Chief Health Officer’s directions to wear a face covering when leaving home.
“Thankfully this selfish behaviour is an exception and the vast majority of people are doing the right thing to protect the health and safety of our community,” he said.
“However, the behaviour of those who blatantly choose to disregard the rules on the insistence their human rights being breached is alarming.
“Worse yet, it seems these people are more interested in notoriety and getting likes on social media than the health and wellbeing of their fellow Victorians.
“My message to anyone planning to break the rules is simple: no one has a human right to infect other people and place the entire Victoria community at risk.
“In fact, this type of behaviour is childish and is completely unacceptable when police are working incredibly hard to keep the community safe.”
Mr Nugent said police would continue to use the powers available to them under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 to enforce the Chief Health Officer’s directions.
“We will not hesitate to issue $200 fines to people who are obviously and blatantly failing to wear a face covering without a valid reason, such as a medical condition,” he said.
“Police also have the power to arrest people who choose not to wear face coverings and subsequently fail to comply with a police directive to provide proof of identity.”
READ MORE: Video unmasks ‘Karen’ from Bunnings
Richard Ferguson 1.45pm: Ten fined for attending church in worst virus area
Ten people attending a church service in the Melbourne local government area with the highest number of active coronavirus cases are among 152 Victoria Police issued with fines for breaching the Chief Health Officer’s coronavirus directives in the 24 hours to Monday.
The 10 were attending a church service in St Albans, in Melbourne’s west — part of the Brimbank LGA, where there were 515 active cases of COVID-19 as of Sunday.
Others issued with fines included those attending multiple gatherings and parties at short-term rental accommodation in Melbourne’s CBD.
Of the 152 fines, 31 were issued as a result of 12,283 checks at vehicle checkpoints on main arterial roads around Melbourne, while 23 were for failing to wear a face covering in public.
Victoria Police conducted 4073 spot checks on people at homes, businesses and public spaces in the 24 hours to Monday, with a total of 170,020 spot checks conducted since 21 March.
Richard Ferguson 1.35pm: COVID response uniquely Australian: PM
Scott Morrison has refused to say conservative icons Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan will inspire his post-COVID recovery agenda, saying he will lead a “uniquely Australian” response.
Josh Frydenberg defended drawing inspiration from Thatcher and Reagan when it comes to economic reform on Sunday, declaring the reason the former British Prime Minister and American President were “figures of hate for the Left” is because they were so successful.
The Treasurer’s nomination of Thatcher and Reagan – who both led their nations in the 1980s – has earned the ire of the trade union movement, who are strongly opposed to both late leaders’ supply-focused economic policies.
The Prime Minister on Monday agreed with the Treasurer that supply-side economic reform will need to be addressed through the recovery, but distanced himself from the comparison with Thatcher and Reagan
“We’re leading an Australian response to this. A uniquely Australian response,” Mr Morrison said in Sydney.
“And that Australian response requires us to address the supply side issues in our economy.
“It’s jobs that drive the Australian plan, nothing else.”
READ MORE: Frydenberg defends Thatcher, Reagan inspiration
Rachel Baxendale 1.25pm: Today’s Vic numbers ‘should be the peak’
Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said health department modelling based on the current R0 (R naught) value for coronavirus in Victoria showed Monday should represent the peak in daily new infection numbers.
However, he cautioned that due to the volatility of outbreaks in settings such as aged care, this may not be the case.
The R0 value, also known as the reproduction number is a measure of the average number of new infections each current infection will generate.
If this number is above one, as it has been in Victoria since early June, the number of active cases will continue to increase. If it is below one, the number of active cases decreases.
Professor Sutton said he was confident of “getting on top” of Victoria’s COVID-19 infections, but the task remained a challenge.
“Every country in the world, essentially, apart from a few notable ones, get on top of it,” he said.
“You do need to keep looking into what you have to do, and it can take longer in some settings. It can take longer in a second wave. That certainly seems to be the case internationally, but you get to the other side and we will get to the other side.
“Modelling, with our effective reproductive number that I have seen most recently, suggests that today should be the peak.
“Now I’m not going to sit back and say today is the peak.
“We have to see what happens in coming days, but driving that effective reproduction number down below one is the thing that will start to see numbers drop, and as numbers drop, outbreaks drop.
“At the moment, I’m more concerned that we’ll probably see a rise in numbers because the outbreaks are really volatile.
“In aged care settings, the numbers can increase very significantly in a very short period of time, even as community transmission might be coming down.
“So it’s encouraging to see that effective reproduction number come to one or just below one, but we have to keep at it every day.”
READ MORE: Where job seekers went during pandemic
Rachel Baxendale 12.55pm: Aged care cases disturbing: Sutton
Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton gave an update on case numbers in aged care facilities, saying it was an “inescapable fact” that the elderly residents were at “significant risk of dying”.
As of Monday, there are 683 active cases linked to residents and staff in aged care facilities in Victoria.
“The aged care outbreaks are absolutely a consequence of community transmission, but they represent a tragedy for the families involved,” Professor Sutton said. “For some private aged care facilities, the numbers are disturbing.”
Monday’s tallies for the largest aged care outbreaks in Victoria include:
– 84 cases linked to St Basil’s Homes for the Aged in Fawkner, in Melbourne’s north, up from 78 on Sunday;
– 82 cases linked to Estia Health in Ardeer, in Melbourne’s west – the same number as Sunday;
– 77 cases linked to Heritage Care’s Epping Gardens facility in Melbourne’s north, up from 24 on Sunday – although families of residents at the facility were told on Sunday that 83 cases, including 61 residents and 22 staff members, had been linked to the home;
– 62 cases linked to the Menarock Life Aged Care facility in Essendon, in Melbourne’s northwest, up from 55 on Thursday;
– 53 cases linked to the Glendale Aged care facility in Werribee, in Melbourne’s outer southwest, up from 52 on Sunday;
– 57 cases linked to Kirkbrae Presbyrterian Homes in Kilsyth, in Melbourne’s outer east, up from 19 on Sunday;
– 50 cases linked to Estia Health in Heidelberg, in Melbourne’s northeast, up from 48 on Sunday;
“It’s hard to read these out without considering that the residents in these facilities will be people’s parents, grandparents, great grandparents, and they are at significant risk of dying,” Professor Sutton said.
“That’s an inescapable fact in these settings.
“Where there are outbreaks in aged care, the mortality is extremely high.
“We know that from European outbreaks in particular, where there were a number of people in aged care. Deaths in aged care made up almost half of deaths in the UK.”
READ MORE: Family of aged care victim say goodbye
Staff writers 12.30pm: Two hot spots ‘coming under control’
Cases in two of Melbourne’s hot spots appear to be coming under control, according to Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton.
Dr Sutton said on Monday that North Melbourne and Flemington had seen “some stability” in case numbers.
“That really relates to the intensive management of those cases in the towers and speaks to the fact that if you can support people to get tested, support them in their isolation and quarantine, then you can drive down numbers across entire postcodes,” he said.
“There are a number of other postcodes where we are absolutely seeing numbers plateau.
“There are some others where it’s ticked up in the last few days, Brimbank, Greater Dandenong are both examples.
“We’re looking into what might be driving that, but again sometimes it’s related to those aged care or other work settings where outbreaks occur.
“We’re always looking into where we’re seeing trends going in the right direction or the wrong direction so we can understand it better. So we know what our policy responses need to be.”
READ MORE: Where Victoria’s 532 cases are from
Imogen Reid 11.50am: 4 NSW cases linked to funeral cluster
NSW Health have issued an alert after four of the state’s 17 new cases were found to be linked to the funeral cluster at St Brendan’s Catholic Church in Bankstown.
NSW Health is urging anyone who visited the following restaurants to monitor for symptoms and if they develop symptoms to self-isolate immediately and get tested. People must remain isolated until they receive their test result. Read more: https://t.co/iDdDB6kIQ8 #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/d90aELtPRD
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 26, 2020
A couple who tested positive for COVID-19 following the funeral attended two restaurants while infectious. NSW Health is urging anyone who attended Tan Viet Noodle House Cabramatta between 1pm and 2pm on 22 July or An Restaurant Bankstown between 9am and 11am on 23 July to be tested if they experience any virus symptoms.
Three of the new cases are linked to the Thai Rock restaurant, taking the amount of associated cases to 70.
READ MORE: Driver tries to ram police at checkpoint
Imogen Reid 11.42am: Premier’s plea to Black Lives Matter protesters
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has issued a plea to those planning to attend the Black Lives Matter rally in Sydney this week, urging people to consider the ramifications of participating.
“Can I please extend a plea to all of you who are contemplating conducting what is now an illegal act given the court has deemed it such: please refrain,” she said.
“Please use your energy in a different way, get your point across in a different way, do not breach the health orders, do not breach the rulings of the court.
“Police don’t want to have to make arrests but they will if they have to keep the community safe.”
Police won a last-minute NSW Supreme Court Battle to stop the protest from going ahead at Sydney’s Town Hall on Tuesday amid fears of a second wave of COVID-19.
The Premier reiterated the state is at a critical junction, and residents must stay on high alert.
“Whilst we’re holding the line and we’re so incredibly thrilled about the number of people who have come forward to get tested, it is still a critical time for New South Wales,” she said.
READ MORE: BLM protest thrown out of court
Imogen Reid 11.21am: NSW records 17 new cases, one with unknown source
New South Wales recorded 17 new cases of coronavirus overnight, eight of which are in hotel quarantine and nine linked to local cases, with just one without a known source.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said while the state is doing “OK”, she added “we are still on high alert” and stressed the need for residents to remain vigilant.
She said she had seen a vast improvement from businesses and patrons in their adherence to COVID safety plans, but said there is still more to be done.
“The rules came in on Friday and there has been a marked improvement, but our compliance officers and the police will be forever vigilant to clamp down on businesses who aren’t COVID safe, but also patrons who are doing the wrong thing,” she said.
“At the end of the day, it is up to all of us to keep getting tested if we have the mildest symptoms.
“If we’re asked to stay home for 14 days, make sure it is 14 days. Not 12, not 13, but the full two weeks because this is critical in controlling the spread and making sure NSW gets on top of the virus so the virus doesn’t get in control of our state.”
READ MORE: Threat to ‘slam door shut’ on NSW
Rachel Baxendale 11.11am: Six more deaths on Victoria’s grim record day
Six more people have died with coronavirus in Victoria, bringing the number of deaths since July 5, little more than three weeks ago, to 57, and the death toll since the pandemic began to 77.
Five of the six were residents of aged care facilities.
The six include a man in his 50s, a man and a woman in their 70s, a man and a woman in their 80s, and a woman in her 90s.
Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed a record 532 new cases in the 24 hours to Monday, bringing the number of active cases to 4542, and the number of cases since the pandemic began to 8696.
There are 245 people in Victorian hospitals with COVID-19 on Monday, including 44 in intensive care.
There were 17,588 tests processed in the 24 hours to Monday, meaning the 532 positives represents a record positive test rate of 3.02 per cent.
This follows a record high of 42,973 tests processed on Saturday.
There are now 683 active cases linked to aged care facilities, and approximately 400 active cases in health workers.
READ MORE: How aged care workers feel during the pandemic
Richard Ferguson 11.07am: Black Lives Matter protesters ‘breaking the law’: PM
Scott Morrison has slammed Black Lives Matter protesters who plan to rally in Sydney this week in defiance of the NSW Supreme Court, saying they are “breaking the law”.
Police won a last-minute NSW Supreme Court battle to stop the rally from going ahead at Sydney’s Town Hall on Tuesday amid fears of a second wave outbreak of COVID-19.
But BLM organiser Padraic Gibson, who is acting on behalf of the family of David Dungay Jr — an Aboriginal man who died in custody in 2015 — said the court decision would be appealed and the rally would go ahead regardless of the result.
The Prime Minister on Monday said the BLM protesters had to follow the law.
“I would describe it as breaking the law. That is what I would describe it as,” Mr Morrison said in Sydney.
“That is what it is. We are all subject to the law. I would encourage everybody to follow the law.”
READ MORE: PVO: Stubborn BLM protest beyond stupid
Richard Ferguson 10.58am: ‘All options’ on table for Victoria: PM
Scott Morrison says “all options” must be open to Victoria in the face of increasing COVID-19 cases, including tougher lockdown rules.
As Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews gets set to announce a new batch of more than 500 cases, the Prime Minister said decisions on tougher Melbourne lockdowns would likely be made in the next week.
“The advice to me is it is premature at this point to be making those calls, but it also is important to keep all of the options on the table,” Mr Morrison said in Sydney.
“I heard the Premier say over the weekend that effectively mandatory masks indicated a whole other level and I would agree with him about that.
“He will take advice and make assessments, I would think, over the next week or so about what further may be required at the end of the period that he’s set out.
“But I stress again … we need to be patient. There has been significant community transmission in Victoria. That will take some time to get on top of and that is what the actions are directed to addressing right at this very moment.”
READ MORE: Aged care crisis centre ramps up
Richard Ferguson 10.52am: COVID-19 Commission to advise on post-pandemic agenda
Scott Morrison’s COVID-19 Coordination Commission will be reconfigured to advise the government on its “JobMaker” agenda for the post-pandemic recovery.
The COVID-19 Commission was set up early in the outbreak – led by former Fortescue Metals chief executive Nev Power – to co-ordinate with business to deal with logistical issues.
It will now advise the Prime Minister on a range of reforms including on industrial relations, federation reform and infrastructure.
Mr Power will remain the chairman, and he will be joined by some new members including former Australian Workers Union secretary Paul Howes.
“They have done a fantastic job working across so many different sectors and keeping me and my Cabinet informed and up-to-date on what was happening on the ground,” Mr Morrison said in Sydney.
“We believe that commission needs to now move into a new gear, as we have sort of moved through a lot of the early problem-solving tasks.
“As a result I have decided to re-establish it as an advisory board to myself as Prime Minister to work across the full spectrum of our JobMaker plan. It is designed to set us up for the post-COVID recovery.
“The COVID Commission will work within the government. It won’t be an external agency. It will work within government and can form part of the cabinet deliberative processes, which is an important innovation.”
READ MORE: World’s highest wage rate ‘to hurt recovery’
Rachel Baxendale 9.58am: Victoria records grim milestone: 532 new cases
Victoria has reached a grim new milestone, with 532 new cases of coronavirus confirmed in the state in the 24 hours to Monday.
The previous record was 484 cases last Wednesday.
The new number will see Victoria’s seven day daily average rise above 400 for the first time, from 380 on Sunday to 416 on Monday.
Premier Daniel Andrews is also expected to confirm more deaths in the 24 hours to Monday.
There have been 51 COVID-19 deaths in Victoria since July 5 and 71 since the pandemic began.
Mr Andrews is due to address the media at 11am.
READ MORE: Ferguson: Andrews’ hardest day, until the next
Rachel Baxendale 9.49am: Nursing home cluster’s size at odds with official numbers
Families of residents at a Melbourne nursing home have been told it now has the highest number of COVID-19 cases of any aged care facility in Victoria, despite the state’s health department on Sunday reporting 24 cases.
Relatives of residents at Heritage Care’s Epping Gardens facility in Melbourne’s north were told on Sunday that 83 cases, including 61 residents and 22 staff members, have now been linked to the home.
Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services said there were 560 active cases linked to aged care in Victoria on Sunday.
Other aged care clusters on Sunday included;
– 82 cases linked to Estia Health in Ardeer, in Melbourne’s west;
– 78 cases linked to St Basil’s Homes for the Aged in Fawkner, in Melbourne’s north;
– 52 cases linked to the Glendale Aged care facility in Werribee, in Melbourne’s outer southwest;
– 48 cases linked to Estia Health in Heidelberg, in Melbourne’s northeast;
– 39 cases linked to Arcare Aged Care in Craigieburn, in Melbourne’s outer north;
– 27 cases linked to Aurrum Aged Care in Plenty, in Melbourne’s outer northeast;
– 25 cases linked to Regis Aged Care in bayside Brighton in the southeast,
– 19 cases linked to Kirkbrae Presbyrterian Homes in Kilsyth, in Melbourne’s outer east;
– 11 cases linked to Outlook Gardens Aged Care in Dandenong North, in Melbourne’s outer southeast;
– Nine cases have been linked to CraigCare Aged Care Facility in Pascoe Vale, in Melbourne’s northwest.
READ MORE: Family of aged-care victim say goodbye
Adrian McMurray 9.27am: Queensland could ‘slam shut’ NSW border
Queensland has recorded no new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, but Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says “complacency is our enemy” as the state government monitors outbreaks in NSW.
With around 600,000 Sydney residents living in coronavirus hot spots now barred from entering the Sunshine State, Ms Palaszczuk said closing the border with NSW completely is an option, but would only be introduced on the advice of Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young.
“Every single day we are monitoring what is happening in NSW,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“We will not hesitate to declare hot spots or if it gets out of control, to slam the border shut. “Anything can happen at any time.”
Queensland has just five active cases.
READ MORE: Queensland could ‘slam shut’ NSW border
Adeshola Ore 8.36am: Bunnings video ‘disturbing’: Deputy Chief Medical Officer
Australia’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer has labelled footage of a woman refusing to wear a mask inside a Victorian Bunnings store as “disturbing”.
The video, widely shared on social media, shows the woman walking into a southeast Melbourne store and being stopped immediately by a staff member and asked whether she had a mask. The woman accuses the store manager of discrimination for requesting she wear a mask and threatens to sue the store.
“It’s such disturbing footage,” Dr Nick Coatsworth told Channel 7 on Monday morning.
“We really got to get real here and just have a little bit of self-control. If you don’t like wearing a mask, you’ve got a very clear option. Stay in your home. If you go out in greater Melbourne or Mitchell Shire, you need to be covering your face.
“This is something we can all do. This is a partnership.”
READ MORE: Karen from Bunnings: customer unmasked in Facebook video
Adeshola Ore 8.15am: Queensland ban on new NSW suburb begins
Queensland’s ban on NSW residents from Fairfield entering the state has come into effect overnight.
There are now more than 100 NSW suburbs, including in Liverpool and Campbelltown, designated as coronavirus hot spots.
Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said the authorities had adjusted quickly to the new rules.
“It really is a long game in this. We know this is going to be with us for quite some time and yet we have to keep at it. We’re guarding against complacency,” he told Channel 9 on Monday morning.
Commissioner Gollschewski said the introduction of push notifications to let people know when their border passes are due for renewal had sped up the border checkpoint process.
“If they’re in a new hotspot such as Fairfield, people get a message knowing they have to upgrade their pass.”
READ MORE: Death and dismay as longer lockdown looms
Adeshola Ore 7.50am: Protest will be ‘safe, spaced out event’: organiser
The organiser of Tuesday’s illegal Black Lives Matter rally says protesters will be “safe and spaced out” at the event.
On Sunday, NSW Police won a Supreme Court case to block the rally, but protesters claim they will still attend.
Padraic Gibson, who is acting on behalf of David Dungay Jr’s family — an Aboriginal man who died in custody in 2015 — said people could socially distance and not breach restrictions. The protesters are planning to march in separated groups of 20, the maximum number of people allowed for public gatherings under NSW’s current restrictions.
“We can spread out in a way that actually doesn’t violate the covenants and regulations. You can stay completely spread out in groups of less than 20,” he told Channel 7 on Monday morning.
“At our rally, we will be safe and spaced out. People won’t come if they are sick and everybody will wear masks.”
READ MORE: Editorial: Selfish act on a grim day
Adeshola Ore 7.20am: ‘The most dangerous act during a pandemic’
NSW Police Minister David Elliott has slammed the organisers of a planned Black Lives Matter protest, describing it as “the most dangerous act that anybody could do during a pandemic”.
On Sunday, NSW Police won their Supreme Court bid to prohibit a Black Lives Matter rally in Sydney on Tuesday afternoon, but organisers say they will go ahead even if their appeal is quashed.
Mr Elliott said pushing on with the illegal protest was a show of “arrogance” by the organisers.
"It's actually arrogance and it's probably the most dangerous act that anybody could do during a pandemic; organise a mass gathering." Organisers of a #BLM protest say they'll march the streets of Sydney DESPITE a court order blocking the demonstration. #9Today pic.twitter.com/GjpAgvhOFM
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) July 26, 2020
“It’s probably the most dangerous act that anybody could do during a pandemic itself is organise a mass gathering,” he told Channel 9 on Monday morning.
“Particularly given that the type of protest that we see, there is no social distancing.”
Mr Elliott warned that the protesters will be met with “no shortage of police officers”.
“If they go ahead there will be police resources deployed and they could find themselves with up to six months incarceration. It shouldn’t be seen as punitive action, it should be seen as punishment.”
READ MORE: BLM protest thrown out of court
Adeshola Ore 7.15am: Aged care surge down to underfunding: AMA
The Australian Medical Association says the surge of COVID-19 cases in Victorian nursing homes is a result of systematic underfunding of the sector.
There are now more than 500 cases of coronavirus linked to the state’s aged-care centres. The association’s president Dr Tony Bartone said while lessons had been learnt from Newmarch House in NSW, the “real issues in aged care stemmed from before COVID-19”.
“Underfunding, workforce issues, guidelines, accreditations, all the issues we have seen highlighted in the royal commission on this sector clearly underpin a lot of what’s happening now,” he told the ABC.
“You can’t really fix that in the middle of a pandemic.”
Mr Bartone said staff moving between multiple centres had also been a contributing factor to the high number of cases.
“There has been attention focused recently on trying to provide support to try to limit the movement of staff between clearly, but also the lack of trained appropriate aged care workers has been chronic in the industry.”
READ MORE: United front to handle state aged care crisis
Adeshola Ore 7.00am: Florida overtakes New York, hope for India
Florida has become the second state after California to overtake New York, the previous epicentre of the virus, for the number of COVID-19 cases. On Sunday, the state’s cases rose by 9300 to 423,855. New York has recorded 415,827 cases, while California leads the country with 448,497. New York has still recorded the most coronavirus deaths out of any US state.
The British government has defended its overnight decision to require holiday-makers returning from Spain to quarantine for two weeks. The foreign secretary Dominic Raab said the government’s “swift, decisive action” was made in response to Spain’s surging number of coronavirus case numbers. Mr Raab told Sky News UK the government “can’t make apologies” for its decision.
“We must be able to take swift, decisive action, particularly in relation to localised (surges), or internationally in relation to Spain or a particular country, where we see we must take action,” he said.
“Otherwise, we risk reinfection into the UK, potentially a second wave here and then another lockdown.”
In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the public to be “extra vigilant”, amid a rise of cases. The country has recorded nearly 1.4 million cases and more than 30,000 deaths. On Sunday, the country reported a record number of patient recoveries in a day, with over 36,000 people discharged from hospital. But in a monthly radio broadcast, Mr Modi warned that “the danger of corona is far from being over”.
Morocco has imposed fresh restrictions on people entering and leaving some of its biggest cities. The cities to be locked down include Casablanca, Tangier, Marrakech, Fez and Meknes. Morocco’s health ministry announced 633 new cases on Sunday, one of the biggest daily rises since the pandemic began.
Globally, more than 16 million people have been infected with COVID-19, according to the John Hopkins University tally. There have been more than 646,000 deaths.
With agencies
READ MORE: North Korea reports ‘first COVID case’
Jacquelin Magnay 6.00am: Chaos as UK travellers told suddenly to quarantine
Quick-acting quarantine measures implemented by the British government to try and temper COVID-19 infections has resulted in chaos and fury among 600,000 travellers.
On Saturday the UK suddenly announced two weeks mandatory quarantine for travellers arriving back from Spanish holidays – just hours after reconfirming Spain was one of the safe “air bridge’’ countries for travel that did not require any quarantine.
The sudden about-face has now thrown the August holiday season into disarray as families fear the rules could change for any country at any time and many can’t risk a two-week period in self isolation at the end of the break.
Transport Minister Grant Schapps has been caught out on holiday in Spain and will have to quarantine at home for a fortnight upon his return.
The decision to impose quarantine measures on Spain, one of the favoured holiday destinations for Britons seeking some sun, has thrown up legal difficulties for employees.
Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said on Sunday that employers would have to wear the costs, insisting employers could not penalise those who had to stay at home.
“If someone is following the law in relation to quarantine and self-isolating the way they should, they can’t have penalties taken against them,’’ he told Sky News.
READ the full story here
Emily Ritchie 5.15am: BLM protesters may defy Supreme Court ruling
Black Lives Matter activists face a confrontation with NSW Police after threatening to defy a court ruling and proceed with an illegal protest even if their appeal is quashed.
Police won a dramatic last-minute NSW Supreme Court battle to stop the rally from going ahead at Sydney’s Town Hall on Tuesday amid fears of a second-wave outbreak of COVID-19.
In a special out of hours session on Sunday, judge Mark Ierace ruled against the BLM organisers, who had sought a permit for up to 1000 protesters to attend the rally.
But organiser Padraic Gibson, who is acting on behalf of David Dungay Jr’s family — an Aboriginal man who died in custody in 2015 — said the court decision would be appealed and the rally would go ahead regardless of the result.
“Racism cannot be defeated by staying isolated in your house,” Mr Gibson said outside court.
Read the full story here.
John Ferguson 5am: Longer lockdown looms as Victorian infections spike
The deadliest day in Australia’s coronavirus pandemic and another sharp rise in infections in Victoria have increased doubts Melbourne’s six-week lockdown will end on time in a potential blow to the national economic recovery.
Premier Daniel Andrews said he could not guarantee the state’s second lockdown would finish in six weeks after the state recorded 10 deaths and another 459 new coronavirus infections, its second highest rate of infections since the pandemic began.
An angry Mr Andrews savaged residents who were failing to use masks or comply with other health orders.
“This is not about human rights,” he said. “There are 10 families that are going to be burying someone in the next few days. Wear a mask — it’s not too much to ask.”
Read the full story here.
Emily Ritchie 4.45am: ‘Karen from Bunnings’ unmasked in viral video
Footage of a woman who refused to wear a mask inside a Victorian Bunnings and threatened to sue staff for discrimination has gone viral.
The 3½-minute video, widely shared on social media, shows the woman walking into a southeast Melbourne store and being stopped immediately by a staff member and asked whether she had a mask.
“Well it’s clear I don’t, and you are not authorised to ask me or question me about it,” she says.
When another staff member tells her the mask is a condition of entry under strict government health orders, she lashes out.
“That’s discrimination and I can have you sued personally for discriminating against me as a woman,” she says.
Read the full story here.
Pro-Gazan pianist and MSO open to mediation
Jayson Gillham is suing the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in the Federal Court, with a trial likely to be scheduled in March next year if mediation fails.
RBA leaves all options on the table in inflation fight
Despite keeping interest rates on hold at its September meeting, the RBA left the door open for additional tightening in its efforts to tame inflation, minutes show.