Coronavirus Australia live news: NSW back to school next Monday
Students across NSW will return to face-to-face learning more than a week earlier than anticipated.
- China vows to tackle wet markets
- No interstate travel before July
- Barilaro slams ‘crazy’ border decision
- Palaszczuk firm on borders
- Nations back Australia’s inquiry push
- McDonald’s shuts 12 restaurants
Welcome to live coverage of the continuing coronavirus crisis. China’s Commerce Minister has vowed to tackle his country’s controversial wet markets. Qld outlines the ‘absolute earliest’ for reopening the state’s border. Australia has secured strong global backing for an independent inquiry into the coronavirus, with more than 100 countries signing up.
Richard Ferguson 10.15pm China slaps tariffs on barley farmers
China has finally slapped tariffs on Australia’s barley farmers, as Trade Minister Simon Birmingham warns the communist nation other businesses may find trading with them too risky in the future.
After 18 months of preparing for the trade hit, Australian grain growers were told late on Monday night by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce that they would face tariffs, which industry leaders say will wipe out their $600m foothold in China.
China and Australia are now set to face-off at the World Trade Organisation as grain growers reject Chinese claims that they are given substantial subsidies from Canberra.
“The investigating authority finally ruled that there was a subsidy for imported barley originating in Australia, the domestic barley industry was substantially damaged, and there was a causal relationship between the subsidy and the actual damage,” the Ministry of Commerce announced on Monday.
“According to the recommendation of the Ministry of Commerce, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council made a decision to impose countervailing duties on imported barley originating in Australia from May 19, 2020.
READ MORE: Border bans to wipe out tourism jobs
Agencies 9.10pm China backs review of pandemic response
Chinese President Xi Jinping says China supports a review of the global response to the outbreak after it is brought under control.
The Morrison government has led calls for an independent inquiry into the coronavirus.
China supports an “comprehensive evaluation” of the global response to the coronavirus pandemic after it “has been brought under control”, Mr Xi told the World Health Assembly on Monday night.
He told the virtual meeting via video that China has “always had an open, transparent and responsible attitude”, and had shared information on the virus in a timely manner.
China will also provide $US2bn ($3.1bn) over two years to help with the response to the pandemic.
Mr Xi did not specify where the injection of Chinese funds would go, but said “China will provide $US2bn over two years to help with COVID-19 response”.
He also said vaccine development and deployment of vaccines in China would be made a “global public good” and said China supported a review of the global response to the outbreak after it is brought under control.
READ MORE: Italy’s hardest-hit city struggles to put trauma behind it
Rebecca Urban 6.45pm NSW students back to school next Monday
Students across NSW will return to face-to-face learning next Monday — more than a week earlier than anticipated — as coronavirus fears abate.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Education Minister Sarah Mitchell are expected to announce the fast-tracked timeline on Tuesday for getting students back into the classroom.
Sources close to the state government confirmed the decision had been the result of a successful staged return, which had demonstrated the education system and the community were ready for school to resume full-time from next Monday.
The surprise move is expected to add to the pressure on the Victorian government, which will not begin its own staged return to school until May 26, when prep, Years 1 and 2 and Years 11 and 12 students will go back in class.
It will be a further four weeks until the rest of Victoria’s one million students return.
Following an extended term break and several weeks of remote learning, NSW announced in April that it would seek to get students back to school for one day a week from the third week of term two. Education department guidelines advised schools to increase the number of days students attended face-to-face in a staged way, with the aim of having all children back at school full-time by term three.
However, guidelines were always able to be adapted by each school according to their own circumstances and Ms Berejiklian had said she was keen to see students back by the end of May.
Many independent schools have already opened full-time.
Victorian Education Minister James Merlino on Monday defended the decision to delay the return of all students until June 9. He said advice from the chief health officer was that a gradual return to school was the safest option.
Mr Merlino was backed by the president of the Victorian branch of the Australian Education Union, Meredith Peace, who told the public accounts and estimates committee’s COVID-19 inquiry that it was unrealistic to expect schools to return to face-to-face learning immediately.
READ MORE: Top adviser to Scott Morrison backs ‘no jab, no play’ for all
Rosie Lewis 6.40pm Closing borders ‘doesn’t make sense’
Deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly has declared Queensland’s border closure “doesn’t make sense”, amid a stoush between the states over when to open up domestic travel.
Professor Kelly said the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, comprised of all state and territory chief health officers and chaired by Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy, had never advised states to close borders.
“I’ve never believed it’s been necessary to shut them down but the actual shutting down, and therefore the reopening, will be a decision by the elected governments of the particular states,” Professor Kelly told ABC radio on Monday night.
“That’s my opinion but it was also the opinion of AHPPC. Given that, now that the border is closed, I think it’s right that Queenslanders have the say as to when they want to open their border, the same as WA and the NT, South Australia and Tasmania.”
Pressed on why Queensland was basing its border closure on medical grounds, Professor Kelly responded: “If you look at what’s happening, there are very few cases anywhere in Australia, including NSW, which I presume is the major concern that Queensland has in terms of cases crossing the border.
“Indeed, yesterday there were more cases in Queensland than there were in NSW. They’d have to make their own decision there. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, to be honest, but that’s a decision for the Queensland government.”
READ MORE: The lockdown sceptic they couldn’t silence
AFP 6.15pm Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican reopens
Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican reopened to visitors on Monday after being closed for more than two months under Italy’s lockdown orders to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
A handful of visitors queued up, observing social-distancing rules, and were watched by police wearing face masks before having their temperatures taken to enter the church, which has been closed since March 10.
Italy was the first country to go into a full lockdown over two months ago, bringing the economy to its knees. The official death toll from the virus now stands at about 32,000.
The government started lifting restrictions on May 4, and on Sunday joggers, walkers and cyclists were plentiful on the streets of Rome’s historic centre.
Restaurants, bars, cafes, shops and hairdressers, among other businesses, were all expected to reopen on Monday, with public masses also resuming.
READ MORE: Italy’s hardest-hit city struggles to put trauma behind it
Rosie Lewis 4.40pm: Kelly against compulsory vaccine, tips voluntary uptake
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said he was not for compulsory vaccination but expected there would be a “very strong uptake” in Australia of any coronavirus vaccine.
He could not rule out it being difficult for Australia to access a vaccine developed by another country but said there was an enormous global effort to ensure it was made available for the world.
“There’s always a pocket of people that are against vaccinations,” Prof Kelly said.
“What I’ve found, though, in these sort of circumstances where there has been death and severe illness, people are much more attuned to getting the vaccine than previously. We’ve noticed, for example, almost double the number of flu vaccines have been delivered and injected already in this year compared with last year. And I think that’s part of this sort of general sense that vaccination is a good thing.”
READ MORE: PM’s adviser backs ‘no jab, no play’ for all
Angelica Snowden 4.25pm: US ‘will ultimately support’ virus inquiry call: Birmingham
Trade Minister Simon Birmingham says America “will ultimately support” the motion for an independent inquiry into the outbreak of coronavirus at the World Health Organisation Assembly on Tuesday.
“What we’re seeing is many countries signing up to co-sponsor the initiative,” Senator Birmingham said on 2GB.
“I think the United States will ultimately support the motion,” he said.
Senator Birmingham said the push for inquiry into the outbreak of COVID-19 is was not about “blame”, but learning lessons for the future.
“We have been clear all along from an Australian perspective,” he said.
“This isn’t about ascribing blame or anything else of that sort,” he said.
“It’s purely about what’s happened, how it has been handled around the world including through entities like the World Health Organisation so that we learn those lessons and are much better prepared for the future.”
Senator Birmingham said the Chinese ambassador Cheng Jingye’s comments that China would boycott Australian products were “unhelpful” but refused to say if he would be reprimanded by the government.
“They are part of the reason why so many people are asking me now whether these issues around barley and beef are as a result of having this investigation,” he said.
Senator Birmingham said Chinese authorities claim it blocked beef imports from four Australian abattoirs and is threatening to impose tariffs on barley because of “long running technical trade disputes”.
READ MORE: World coalition backs Australia
Rachel Baxendale 4.20pm: Hospital cluster not part of Cedar Meats tally despite link
Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services has revealed that it is not including close contacts of a Sunshine Hospital nurse who caught COVID-19 from a Cedar Meats worker in the tally of cases linked to the Melbourne abattoir.
In its daily press release on Monday afternoon, the department confirmed the number of cases linked to Sunshine Hospital had risen to three, after a close contact of a known case returned a positive result.
In the same press release, DHHS stated: “There are no new cases linked to the Cedar Meats outbreak – with the total number of cases currently linked to this cluster remaining at 99.”
This is despite the fact that the first person to contract COVID-19 at Sunshine Hospital was a nurse who treated a Cedar Meats worker who tested positive to the virus after being rushed to hospital with a severed thumb.
As The Australian revealed earlier this month, the nurse, aged in her 60s, was not wearing sufficient personal protective equipment during her first two shifts with the worker, because DHHS had not alerted the hospital to the risk after other Cedar Meats workers tested positive 24 and two days earlier respectively.
Of the eight new cases confirmed in Victoria on Monday, two were linked to the McDonald’s cluster, including the delivery driver and another close contact of a known case, one was linked to the Sunshine Hospital cluster, three were detected among returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine, and a further two remain under investigation.
READ MORE: Workers tracked 20km from infected abattoir
Rachel Baxendale 4.10pm: Nursing home resident among eight new Victorian cases
A resident of a nursing home in Melbourne’s north is among eight new cases of coronavirus confirmed in Victoria on Monday.
Premier Daniel Andrews and Victorian Deputy Chief Health Officer Annaliese van Diemen told a press conference on Monday morning that six new cases had been confirmed, but the Department of Health and Human Services on Monday clarified that there were in fact eight new cases, with two cases removed from the overall total - now 1567 - due to reclassification.
“Today’s new cases include a single case of coronavirus in a resident of the Villa Maria Aged Care facility in Bundoora,” DHHS said in a statement on Monday afternoon.
“The resident is being well cared for and has been isolated in their room since developing mild symptoms.
“Staff have been using full PPE to care for the resident since they developed symptoms.
“Comprehensive contact tracing is underway and testing of all staff and residents will take place over the coming days.
“Residents and families are all being informed, and the department is working closely with the facility to ensure appropriate public health actions have been taken, including isolation, quarantine and cleaning.”
DHHS said a delivery driver who was a close contact of an existing case linked to the McDonald’s Fawkner outbreak had now been added to that cluster, bringing the total number of Fawkner McDonald’s-linked cases to 12.
McDonald’s has closed 12 restaurants the driver had visited for deep cleaning.
The outlets include Melton East, Laverton North, Yallambie, Taylors Lakes, Campbellfield, Sunbury, Hoppers Crossing, Riverdale Village, Sandown, Calder Highway Northbound/Outbound, Calder Highway Southbound/Inbound, and BP Rockbank Service Centre Outbound.
“The case attended work during their pre-symptomatic period, and sought testing when they developed symptoms,” DHHS said.
READ MORE: Coronavirus closes 12 Victorian McDonald’s
Olivia Caisley 4.05pm: We’re angrier at each other than at our politicans
The frustration experienced by Australians and New Zealanders as a result of the coronavirus pandemic is more likely to stem from the behaviour of fellow citizens rather than the actions of their respective governments.
A new Singaporean study of 12,592 people from across the world, including 500 Australians, shows that 73 per cent of Australians reported feeling “angry” as a result of the outbreak with the majority attributing their frustration to the actions of their fellow citizens when failing to act responsibly.
READ FULL STORY here.
Richard Ferguson 3.45pm: We never suggested closing state borders: Kelly
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly says the coronavirus outlook has “changed a lot” compared to when the smaller states started closing their own borders.
As premiers fight over the opening of interstate borders and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says she may keep her state quarantined till September, Dr Kelly said national authorities never advised a clampdown on interstate travel.
“At the national level, we’ve never suggested that internal borders within Australia should be closed. That’s been a decision by various states, and it will be their decision as to whether to open them,” he said.
“But if you look at when those decisions were made — some weeks ago, we had a rapidly increasing number of cases each day right around Australia, but particularly
in the south-eastern corner of the nation.
“And so, when you look at what’s happening now with just very few cases, only just over 100 cases in the last week, and only 11 in the last 24 hours — I think that things have changed a lot. But that’ll be a decision for those states that have closed borders.”
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Paul Garvey 3.20pm: No thanks, Gladys: WA keeps hard border
Western Australia’s hard border with the rest of Australia will be one of the final coronavirus restrictions lifted by the state, with premier Mark McGowan saying he will prioritise WA’s economic recovery instead.
His NSW counterpart Gladys Berejiklian at the weekend urged the states to reopen their borders as soon as possible, but Mr McGowan told reporters on Monday that his focus was on relaxing other restrictions instead.
WA today moved into its second phase of eased restrictions, with restaurants, cafes, gyms and libraries reopening and school attendance becoming compulsory once again.
“If we keep our border with the east up, it means we can do more relaxation within WA. Today we’ve got 20 people able to sit in cafes, in NSW they’ve got ten,” he said.
“So our border with the east allows us to do more relaxation, more business, more social activities and more economic loosening within Western Australia while keeping potentially infected people from the eastern states out.”
Coronavirus has almost been eradicated in Western Australia, with just three active cases remaining in the state.
He said the higher rates of infection and community transmission in the likes of Victoria and NSW meant the WA border would remain closed for some time.
“She is persistent but our advice to her is no, we will make these decisions when the time is right,” he said.
“We have very low rates of infection here, they have much higher rates in the eastern states, so we will keep the borders up until we deem it is the right time for the health of West Australians.
READ MORE: NSW Premier urges states to reopen borders
Richard Ferguson 3pm: Payne changes tack on WHO-led probe
Foreign Minister Marise Payne has backed down on letting the World Health Organisation lead a global review into coronavirus, despite earlier saying such a scenario was a “bit poacher and gamekeeper.”
Australia has been highly critical of the WHO’s failure to contain coronavirus in Wuhan, China.
But Senator Payne said on Tuesday that the WHO’s independent oversight mechanisms could be used to review its own problems on COVID-19
“I think in what iss a comprehensive resolution, you will see the review is specifically referred to as impartial, independent and comprehensive. They are three factors which we particularly have sought,” she said in Penrith.
The Prime Minister and I have also discussed a number of mechanisms within the WHO, including their independent oversight advisory body, which has the capacity to do some of this work.
“But that is to be determined after the resolution is dealt with by the World Health Assembly.
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Rosie Lewis: 2.45pm: ‘No jab, no play’ threat for adults
One of Scott Morrison’s key advisers on the coronavirus has endorsed a “no jab, no play” policy for adults during the pandemic and encouraged the government to take such action if Australians refuse any COVID-19 vaccine.
National COVID-19 Coordination Commissioner Jane Halton, the former secretary of the Department of Finance and the Department of Health, also warned against “vaccine nationalism”, saying she feared the world may not be as united if and when there is a coronavirus vaccine.
“The government has got a couple of tried and true mechanisms in terms of people who are not happy to be vaccinated. We talked about childcare … We’ve seen a couple of pretty prominent cases in the footballing world just at the moment,” Ms Halton told the National Press Club.
“Forget the ‘no jab, no play’ for kids, it’s now ‘no jab, no play’ for adults and I would support that.
“There are some people for a variety of health-related reasons, they cannot be vaccinated. Everybody else, as far as I’m concerned, should actually step up and do the right thing.”
The Queensland government has announced a ban on interstate NRL players who have refused a flu shot for ethical or religious reasons.
Ms Halton said her support for ‘no jab, no play’ was limited to what actions had been taken to date and did not want to speculate on future government policy responses and what they could look like.
However she added: “I would encourage government to continue to take those sorts of decisions. And can I just say here and now, the term that I really object to in this space is people who say that they ‘conscientiously object’ to vaccination. Actually, unless you’ve got a good health reason, you’re a vaccine refuser.”
Ms Halton is also chair of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation, which is working to ensure poorer countries get access to a coronavirus vaccine and not just those that might develop the treatment or with the deepest pockets.
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Will Glasgow 2.35pm: China claims it’s ‘communicating’ with Australia
China’s commerce minister Zhong Shan continues to avoid questions on its trade frictions with Australia while insisting the two countries are communicating.
“We are communicating with each other,” Minister Zhong said when doorstopped leaving a press conference in Beijing on Monday.
At the hour long press conference - for which journalists were required to register three days in advance - Minister Zhong and his counterparts from the Ministry of Commerce refused to take any questions from international media, including those from Australia.
Australian Trade Minister Simon Birmingham is still to talk to Minister Zhong, his Chinese counterpart, to discuss China’s plans to impose an 80 per cent tariff on Australian barley and its decision last week to block much of Australia’s beef imports into the world’s second biggest economy.
The beef and barley actions have been linked by China’s state media to Australia’s initial leadership of an inquiry into the spread of the new coronavirus.
Despite Beijing’s opposition, 62 nations - ranging from the European Union to China’s strategic partner Russia - have co-sponsored a motion calling for the review that will be introduced to the World Health Assembly on Tuesday
While avoiding questions about Australia, Minister Zhong and his deputy vice minister Wang Shouwen on Monday told China’s trade partners to respect global rules.
“We call for WTO members to stand against unilateralism, protectionism and maintain the openness of their markets,” said Commerce Vice-Minister Wang, as he answered questions mostly asked by state media.
A report by China’s main broadcaster about the press conference was titled: “Ministry of Commerce: China’s foreign trade is facing unprecedented challenges”.
Australian Trade Minister Birmingham has asked for his counterpart to engage in an open dialogue, warning the “unpredictable regulatory interventions” has made it a riskier market for Australian businesses to invest.
“I would expect that many Australian businesses off the back of some unpredictable regulatory interventions, such as those we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks, would start to consider whether the risk profile has changed and may, therefore, look at other markets,” said Senator Birmingham.
China released its draft determination on the barley tariffs last Sunday and is due to finalise its decision on Tuesday, on the same day as the meeting of the World Health Assembly.
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Richard Ferguson 2.25pm: China admits ‘standards’ at wet markets not high
China’s commerce minister Zhong Shan has vowed to tackle the quality of controversial wet markets on the eve of the World Health Assembly backing a review into the origins of COVID-19.
As more than 100 countries back a European Union draft resolution calling for a review, Mr Zhong admitted that the standards at wet markets - blamed for the genesis of coronavirus in Wuhan - were not high and said the Chinese government was committed to tackling problems.
“There are wet markets of various sizes and patchy quality. Overall, the standards are not very high,” Mr Zhong told reporters in Beijing.
“Moving forward we want to push for their standardisation with an improved environment, richer choice and improved quality.”
The Chinese Commerce Minister’s comments come after months of stonewalling on the issue and as his nation appears to accept an international inquiry is inevitable.
State-owned newspaper The Global Times - which is often seen as a mouthpiece for the regime - has said any inquiry must be led by the World Health Organisation, as the EU motion calls for.
“A scientific investigation should be carried out. But first of all, it should be led by WHO rather than any country or regional organization,” the editorial reads.
“Second, the investigation needs to be scientific and fair. Not only China-related factors, but also those related to the US and other countries need to be included.”
READ MORE: Andrews passes the pub test
Staff Reporters 2.15pm: Foreign Minister set to address the media
Foreign Minister Marise Payne is planning to talk to reporters at 2.30pm AEST. It will be available to watch in the coronavirus live blog.
Lachlan Moffet Gray 1.40pm: SA refuses to relax border limits
South Australia will expand its testing criteria to target specific groups as it ramps up an effort to ensure the only coronavirus-free state in the country remains that way.
Premier Steven Marshall said that the new testing regime would focus on testing occupational groups like truck drives, aged care workers, health care workers and seasonal workers, as well as the homeless and people in prison.
The state will start by erecting temporary clinics in locations where truck drivers will find it easy to be tested, like the regional town of Bordertown.
Mr Marshall said the move would ensure that the state’s high testing rate would continue.
“Last week we averaged 1500 (tests) per day on our weekdays, and that is as high as it really has been right through this pandemic,” he said, adding that expanded testing would put the state “in a much better position to open up the economy.”
Mr Marshall also sided with Queensland and Tasmania on the issue of border controls, saying South Australia has done a fantastic job controlling the virus and “we’re not going to compromise that soon.”
“I think there will be a time when we open up the borders but it’s not now,” he said.
South Australia diagnosed no new cases, with the number of confirmed cases remaining at 439.
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Agencies 1.25pm: Perth already pondering Australia Day fireworks ban
The biggest Australia Day fireworks event in the country could be cancelled because of COVID-19 fears but the City of Perth has been urged not to make a premature decision, AAP reports.
The city is considering scrapping the Australia Day Skyworks event in 2021, as well as its nativity and New Year’s Eve events this year amid uncertainty about mass gatherings and the possibility of a second wave of coronavirus infections. “The City of Perth Skyworks event takes more than 10 months to plan to ensure the event is safe, accessible and enjoyable for the whole community,” the city said in a statement on Monday.
“Waiting until late 2020 to decide whether to go ahead would be a significant risk to the finances of both (Perth and South Perth) councils, and provide insurmountable issues for other event stakeholders, especially given the current economic climate.”
The city is considering diverting the money to other priorities, which reportedly include helping the homeless.
But Local Government Minister David Templeman said it would be premature to cancel the events now and said the City of Perth should consult more widely before making a decision.
He said while it remained uncertain when large-scale events could be held again in WA, it might be that Australia Day is just celebrated in a different way in 2021.
— AAP
READ MORE: The lockdown sceptic they couldn’t silence
Lachlan Moffet Gray 1.15pm: No active coronavirus cases in ACT, SA
The ACT remains one of only two mainland Australian jurisdictions without any active cases of coronavirus, confirming no further cases in the last 24 hours.
South Australia is the only other place with no active cases, with the Northern Territory closing in on the coveted title with just two active cases remaining.
Around 563 coronavirus cases remain active in Australia, the majority of which are in NSW.
The ACT has confirmed 107 cases, 3 of which have died.
ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman implored Canberrans to remember their physical distancing and social gathering responsibilities when dining out, something that was reintroduced over the weekend.
“I remind the community that our current 10-person limit for patrons dining at cafes and restaurants came into effect over the weekend,” she said. This 10-person limit includes children, toddlers and infants in the total number of patrons allowed on the premise, including indoor and outdoor combined.
“ACT Police were required over the weekend to educate and remind patrons and businesses on numerous occasions who were unaware that children are included in the total number.
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 1.05pm: Details of latest COVID-19 death revealed
NSW Health has confirmed that the latest coronavirus death in the state - a man in his 60s - died in Concord Hospital in Sydney’s inner-west.
The man was a confirmed case of a previous case and had pre-existing health conditions.
NSW has now had 48 deaths and Australia, 99.
The state has now conducted 371,881 coronavirus tests, confirming 3076 cases since the virus first arrived in the state - an infection rate of around one per cent.
2,612 cases have recovered, meaning there are 416 active cases of coronavirus in NSW.
100 of these cases are being treated by NSW Health, with six in ICU and two on ventilation assistance.
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 12.55pm: NSW tolls may be lowered as cars hit the road
NSW is in “constant dialogue” with toll road operators about potentially lowering fees to encourage more people to commute by car as the state develops strategies to avoid crowding on public transport.
NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance said that as well as reducing maximum passenger limits on public transport, expanding bike paths and erecting “pop-up” parking areas, the state is talking to the state’s largest toll operator - Transurban - about doing something about fees.
The operator, which manages the Cross City Tunnel, the M2, the Eastern Distributor and the Lane Cove tunnel recently increased tolls.
“I was irritated when Transurban lifted their tolls in the last quarter, and we are in constant dialogue in relation to this and we are in constant dialogue with them on this,” Mr Constance told 2GB on Monday.
“I think there is a need for everyone to play their part.”
However Mr Constance did not say if the government would take explicit action in this manner, citing the complexity of toll road contracts.
Mr Constance said another potential location for a pop-up car park could be Sydney Olympic Park.
Moore Park has already been identified as a site for temporary commuter parking, with the scheme set to start next Monday.
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 12.30pm: China cases spike as restrictions ease
The number of new coronavirus cases in China has started to tick up as restrictions are eased in the mainland’s most populous cities, with the National Health Commission reporting seven new cases in the past 24 hours, up from five a day earlier.
Two of the cases were from the northeastern province of Jilin, which is currently in partial lockdown due to a spike in infections numbering 33 since the outbreak on May 7.
Shanghai also recorded the first locally transmitted case since late March, a worrying sign as the city of almost 25 million people begins to ease restrictions, reopening flights, allowing some children to return to school, and last Monday reopening the Shanghai Disneyland theme park.
The other four cases were “imported” cases arriving in the northern region of Inner Mongolia from overseas.
China’s total number of confirmed cases remained at 82,954, with a death toll of 4633.
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 12.05pm: Tasmania holds the line on strict borders
Tasmania is joining its northern counterparts in holding firm on its strict border controls, with Premier Peter Gutwein saying a ban on travel into the state will not be lifted until “sometime later this year”.
Queensland, the Northern Territory, WA and South Australia have all closed their borders to interstate travellers and have refused to commit to a hard reopening date, to the chagrin of NSW and Victoria, who say Australia must open up domestic travel for economic reasons.
Mr Gutwein told ABC radio that the decision to ease border restrictions would depend on public health advice and the number of cases in other states.
“It’s important when looking at the border, that you look over the fence,” Mr Gutwein said. “It’s not so much what’s happening in Tasmania, it’s what’s happening in other states and territories.
“The last thing Tasmanians would want the government to do, would be to open the borders and let the virus back in.”
Earlier this morning Queensland’s chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said that Queensland would not be opening the border before July, although Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk earmarked September as a more realistic date.
WA and NT have said their border restrictions will be the final coronavirus restriction in their jurisdictions to go, meaning an easing of controls is unlikely to happen before July, when most states will enter the third and final phase of the government’s three step plan to reopen the country.
Of the 226 COVID-19 cases in Tasmania, just 16 remain active.
With AAP
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 11.55am: Virus drives NZ population to 5 million
New Zealand has officially passed a population of five million, driven in part by a flood of Kiwis overseas returning home amid the coronavirus pandemic.
On Monday Stats NZ released their quarterly population data showing that the milestone was technically reached in March.
Latest release: New Zealand’s population passes 5 million. https://t.co/HLJhOqzFKM pic.twitter.com/GUBI2f5BsS
— Stats NZ (@Stats_NZ) May 17, 2020
As of March 31, the specific count is 5,002,100.
Stats NZ population insights senior manager Brooke Theyers said it was the fasted one million people added to the population in the country’s history.
“This is a significant event for New Zealand,” she said.
“It is also the fastest million in our history, taking 17 years after reaching 4 million in 2003.”
Mrs Theyers said it was not known exactly who the fifth million New Zealander was.
“It is most likely the 5 million milestone was reached by a migrant arriving by plane, but could have been reached by a newborn baby,” she said, adding that net migration has been “boosted” by the coronavirus pandemic.
“The global COVID-19 pandemic has caused unusual international travel and migration patterns in recent months,” said Mrs Theyers.
“Net migration has been boosted by more New Zealand citizens returning home after living overseas.
“At the same time, New Zealand citizens may have been unable or reluctant to head offshore.”
The statistics agency is currently estimating that New Zealand will reach the next milestone - six million people - in 2040.
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Rachel Baxendale 11.50am: ‘Borrowing to fund election promises’
Victorian opposition treasury spokeswoman Louise Staley seized on Education Minister James Merlino’s confirmation during Monday’s Public Accounts and Estimates Committee hearing on Monday that some of Labor’s 2018 election commitments were now being funded from the $24.5bn the Andrews government has borrowed to address the economic downturn brought about by coronavirus.
It didn’t take long. Having butchered the budget before COVID19 and the bushfires, now they admit they are borrowing to fund 2018 election promises. Dodgy. #springst https://t.co/3ehgc0b3Fw
— Louise Staley MP (@LouiseStaley) May 18, 2020
“It didn’t take long,” Ms Staley tweeted.
“Having butchered the budget before COVID-19 and the bushfires, now they admit they are borrowing to fund 2018 election promises. Dodgy.”
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 11.40am: NSW releases transport changes
Transport for NSW has released a detailed list of changes that are being made to public transport in the state as residents head back to work.
* Transport limits: A standard double-door bus will be limited to 12 passengers, a Waratah train carriage, 35, and a standard Freshwater Ferry, 245.
* Physical distancing - ‘No dot, no spot’: Distinctive green dots will be used on trains, buses and ferries to show passengers the safest places to sit and stand. Excess passengers will be asked to wait for the next service and schoolchildren will be given priority access.
* Avoiding peak travel: Services are already close to capacity to allow for distancing at these times. Off peak times are between 10am and 2pm;
* Deep cleaning and more hand sanitisers: Intense and ongoing cleaning will occur throughout the transport network and there will be a continued rollout of hand sanitiser at key transport hubs, including at high demand stations;
* Boosting parking: Special event-style parking arrangements will be in place at Moore Park for people who are able to drive to work. Other locations will be rolled out soon. In addition car park operators will be offering special deals for all day parking;
* More cycling and walking options: The Government is working with councils on establishing at least an extra 10.3km of pop-up cycleways and to enhance pedestrian access to allow more people to find alternative routes to work;
* More data: Customers to be given real time information through Apps, social media and Transport Info to see which services have space available to maintain physical distancing; and
* More services: Changes will be considered to increase services. The government gave the example of more ferries, water taxis and other private vehicle passenger services on the water.
READ MORE: Ardern turned away from cafe
Lachlan Moffet Gray 11.30am: US unemployment reaches toward 25 per cent
The US could hit unemployment levels of 25 per cent before the American economy recovers from the economic devastation of the coronavirus pandemic, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has warned.
Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, says the trillions of dollars in additional federal debt to support the U.S. economy during coronavirus could be paid down over decades. https://t.co/sYXgPHmdSG pic.twitter.com/0ZIeJhXjDC
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) May 17, 2020
Speaking to American television show 60 Minutes, Mr Powell said that the deleterious economic impacts of the virus could continue through to June, adding to the more than 30 million Americans who have applied for unemployment benefits and equating to an annualised unemployment rate of around 20 per cent in the April to June period.
However, Mr Powell said that restrictions on economic activity must be lifted slowly.
“If we are thoughtful and careful about how we reopen the economy so that people take these social distancing measures forward and try to do what we cannot to have another outbreak ... then the recovery can begin fairly soon,” he said.
Mr Powell said that although the unemployment rate was reminiscent of the great depression, a sustained economic downturn was not on the table.
“Assuming there is not a second wave of the coronavirus, I think you will see the economy recover steadily through the second half of this year.
“For the economy to fully recover people will have to be fully confident and that may have to await the arrival of a vaccine.”
Mr Powell said the central bank was willing to expand current programs supporting businesses.
“We’re not out of ammunition,” he said.
READ MORE: Trump not the worst covidiot
Rebecca Urban 11.10am: New Vic schools already earmarked for 2022 opening
The 10 new schools that the Victorian government has announced it would build as part of a $2.7 billion package to kickstart the economy had been previously earmarked for opening in 2022.
Premier Daniel Andrews and Education Minister James Merlino unveiled the building works package on Monday, including more than $1.18bn in education infrastructure projects and $438.6 million to build 10 new schools to open in 2022 across the state.
However the 10 new schools, including the $119m Greater Shepparton Secondary College, had been listed on the website of the Victorian School Building Authority as among 100 new schools due to open by 2026 since at least February.
They include the Bridge Road (Melton) Primary School, Clyde North Station Primary School and Clyde North Station Secondary College, Endeavour Hills Specialist School, Grasslands Primary School, Greenvale Secondary College, Kalkallo Common Primary School and Wollert East Primary School.
However, despite each project being allocated a first-quarter 2022 opening date, funding commitments varied.
In the case of the Grasslands and Woolert schools, they received funding for land acquisition as part of the 2018-19 State Budget, however for Bridge Road and Kalkallo Common primary schools, “design and construction of this school depends on future State Budget funding”.
Appearing before the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee’s COVID-19 inquiry on Monday, Mr Merlino dismissed a suggestion from Polwart Liberal MP Richard Riordan that the announcement was “mutton dressed up as lamb”.
Mr Riordan said investment in school buildings had been around $6 billion over the past six years, meaning the new investment was in line with historical spending.
“Are you announcing what you were going to announce anyway?” He asked.
Mr Merlino said the $1.18bn of new funding would be in addition to what would be allocated in the state budget, which has been delayed until October or November.
He described the announcement as the biggest school building program the state had ever seen.
READ MORE: Albanese safe if Labor loses Eden Monaro
Lachlan Moffet Gray 11.00am: Queensland sets date to reopen border
Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young has provided further clarification on the criteria NSW and Victoria will have to reach before she considers opening the state’s border for domestic travel.
Earlier on Monday Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told ABC News that the decision to open belonged to Dr Young, and that the transmission rate needs to fall to a level that “my Chief Health Officer says is OK,” signalling September as a possible date when restrictions will be eased.
The move has been met with criticism from NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and her Deputy, John Barilaro, who say the border should be opened for economic reasons.
Dr Young said that the southern states need to “get all their problems sorted” before allowing border restrictions to ease, pointing to July as the “absolute earliest” when interstate travel may be permitted as she wants to see “no new cases for two incubation periods.”
An incubation period for coronavirus is typically considered to be 14 days, but can be as short as five.
I don’t know how long interstate travel will remain in this current situation, I suspect it will be until July,” Dr Young said.
“My advice is that we need to look at this very carefully and our premier is being very cautious.
“She is taking every single bit of advice that I have provided to her, and she is being fantastic in doing that.
“What we would need is to see no cases for two incubation periods...That is what I have advised the Premier directly.”
READ MORE: Defiant Trad will nominate for Labor
Lachlan Moffet Gray 10.35am: Nearly 6 million sign up for app
The government’s target of 40 per cent of Australians downloading and installing the COVIDSafe coronavirus tracking app is in reach, with 5.8 million Australians now using the app, according to government services minister Stuart Robert.
Mr Robert told reporters that although 40 per cent of Australia’s population is roughly ten million people, the Chief Medical Officer Dr Brendan Murphy has told him that of the 18 million Australians over the age of 18, just 83 per cent have a mobile device.
“That is like 16 million and 40 per cent of that is sort of six million plus, maybe
6.2 million,” Mr Robert said on Monday.
“We’re already at 5.8 million which is extraordinary.
I encourage all Australians, download the COVIDSafe app. It is highlighted as the feature app on the app store and the Google store.
“It is about keeping you, the individual, and your family safe.”
READ MORE: Businesses buoyed by early sales
Richard Ferguson 10.30am: More than 100 countries sign up for virus inquiry
Support for an international inquiry into the origins of COVID-19 has now increased to more than 100 countries before Tuesday’s World Health Assembly meeting.
There are now 121 countries signed up to back the coronavirus review petition - up from more than 60 on Sunday - in a move likely to infuriate Beijing.
Russia, Canada, Brazil, Britain, 54 African states, and all the European Union nations will support the motion tomorrow.
China and the United States have not put their names yet to the EU draft resolution.
READ MORE: World coalition backs Australia
Lachlan Moffet Gray 10.20am: Sharma plays down China trade dispute
Federal Liberal MP David Sharma has insisted China’s decision to suspend imports from four Australian abattoirs and potentially slam tariffs on barley exports as high as 80 per cent are not linked, despite Australian-Chinese relationships falling to new lows in recent weeks.
“I think we need to treat each of these trade disputes on a case by case basis. They’ve all got long and quite complicated histories, particularly the one involving barley and our anti-dumping measures,” Mr Sharma told Sky News Australia.
Mr Sharma - a former diplomat - said the inability of trade minister Simon Birmingham to get his Chinese counterpart to pick up the phone was “regrettable,” but insisted discussions were ongoing at different levels of government.
“I think it’s important to say here there would be and there are discussions happening at a number of levels between the Australian system and the Chinese system.
“There would be discussions at the World Trade Organisation missions in Geneva — which is the main basis for resolving these sorts of trade disputes — there would be discussions between our embassy in Beijing and Chinese counterparts and then with Chinese officials here in Australia.
“I think it’s regrettable that the Trade Minister hasn’t yet been able to speak to his counterpart but I think we’ve shown we are open to this kind of dialogue and an open dialogue is the best way to sort these sorts of issues.”
China has openly criticised Australia for persecuting the case for an independent investigation into the origins of coronavirus in China, a move that has earned the support of at least 62 other nations.
Last month China’s ambassador to Australia, Cheng Jingye said Australia’s push could result in a public-led boycott of Australian goods and services.
“If China isn’t prepared to have these discussions right now that really is a matter for them,” Mr Sharma said.
READ MORE: US may pay same amount as China
Lachlan Moffet Gray 10.10am: Barilaro slams ‘crazy’ border decision
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro has joined his premier Gladys Berejiklian in attacking Queensland for refusing to open their borders to southern states, calling the decision “crazy.”
Mr Barilaro said that comments made by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Monday which states the borders won’t open until the go-ahead is given made it sound like the bureaucracy was running things.
"We’ll need to open in the next few weeks."https://t.co/YAUX7YBMTm
— 2GB 873 (@2GB873) May 17, 2020
“We’ve got to get domestic travel moving, the prime minister of this country said that regional travel is something we can now embark on,” Mr Barilaro told 2GB’s Alan Jones on Monday.
“We’ve done all the heavy lifting...the infection rate is an absolute low, and we need to start rebooting tourism and the economy.”
Mr Barilaro said the borders needed to open within weeks.
“We will need to open, to be honest, in the next few weeks,” Mr Barilaro said.
“We need to start opening the regions up otherwise some small businesses will never start again.”
READ MORE: Berejiklian urges states to open borders
Rachel Baxendale 10.00am: ‘No susceptible’ workers back at Cedar Meats
Victorian Deputy Chief Health Officer Annaliese van Diemen said no workers who were “still susceptible” to COVID-19 were among those returning to work at Cedar Meats on Monday.
“The only workers who are going back are those who’ve cleared COVID and who now are no longer susceptible, and there’s a very strict process in place before any further workers are allowed back,” Dr van Diemen said.
The Department of Health and Human Services has previously used privacy laws to explain why it did not check a claim made by the first Cedar Meats worker confirmed as having COVID-19 on April 2 that he had not attended work for four weeks.
It is not clear how it is now permissible for DHHS to give Cedar Meats a list of names of workers who have cleared the virus, but was not permissible last month for DHHS to give the company the name of the first worker who tested positive to check whether he had been at work.
Dr van Diemen said workers who had tested negative but had not had the virus would not be allowed back at work for some days.
“This was a large outbreak, as, as you all know,” she said.
“There was a number of transmissions in households and in community members linked to Cedar Meats, so we just want to be really sure that all of those transmission chains have been broken before we have a large number of people back into that workplace, obviously a large number of them who are still potentially susceptible, so we just want to be really, really sure that those transmission chains have all been well and truly broken.”
There have now been 99 COVID-19 cases linked to Cedar Meats.
READ MORE: Andrews passes the pub test
Lachlan Moffet Gray 9.50am: I’d have done it differently: Anglicare director
Anglicare Sydney Director Grant Millard has said that “if I had the time again” he would have insisted residents infected with coronavirus at the Newmarch Aged Care Centre in Sydney be sent to hospital for treatment, but NSW’s Chief Health Officer has said decisions made in relation to the home shouldn’t be second guessed.
After the coronavirus was introduced to the facility by a staff member on March 11, the outbreak erupted, infecting 71 residents and staff and killing 16 residents while a further two have died after recovering from the virus.
Mr Millard said that although excellent health care was provided in the home after it was decided in conjunction with state and federal authorities a “containment strategy” would be pursued, in hindsight things should have happened differently.
“If I had the time again, I would be insisting that people who were COVID positive could go to hospital,” Mr Millard told ABC Radio National on Monday.
“In hindsight, that would have been my preference, that they went to hospital.”
Mr Millard said that any resident who requested a hospital transfer received one, but said a mass transfer of residents infected with the virus would have been more appropriate due to the higher number of nurses at hospitals and a larger supply of personal protective equipment.
“I think the challenges immediately were with staffing...from the outset everyone scrambled, it caught everyone by surprise,” Mr Millard said.
Speaking to media on Monday morning Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant she “wouldn’t want to second guess” the decisions made.
“There was a process of having expert clinical advice about what was in the best interests for the residents of Newmarch,” Dr Chant said.
“There are a lot of issues around balancing for elderly people, about moving them into a hospital environment.
“When you move people from their environment, they are exposed to other risks such as falls risks, disorientation - and they get other health issues.”
Dr Chant said there had been no new cases of coronavirus among residents at Newmarch for 19 days.
READ MORE: Hospital backlog ‘will take 18 months to clear’
Sarah Elks 9.40am: Independent inquiry ordered into nurse’s diagnosis
An independent investigation has been ordered into a nurse’s COVID-19 diagnosis at a Rockhampton state-owned nursing home in central Queensland.
Deputy Premier and Health Minister Steven Miles said the government wanted to understand what went wrong, why it went wrong, and to prevent the same thing happening at any of the other 16 state-owned aged care facilities in Queensland.
Mr Miles, in Rockhampton today, said he had asked his director-general to order an independent investigation.
He said 35 residents of the aged care centre had been moved to other facilities in Rockhampton, including hospitals, so remaining residents could have their own rooms in the centre. More residents will be moved within the centre today.
“All 39 of those residents who are thought to be contacts of the positive case will have their own rooms and bathrooms,” Mr Miles said.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said all staff who had worked at the facility for the last month – except for one who was on leave – had been tested and recorded negative results.
Dr Young said another 20 nurses had come up from metropolitan Brisbane to help staff the nursing centre to shift it to an “acute response,” with more nurses on duty than normal.
“We’ll now go forward over next 14 days from last Thursday, to assess all the residents, and all the staff, and we’ll have a very, very low threshold for testing any of them who have any symptoms at all,” Dr Young said.
She said some of the 114 residents had to be shifted out of the facility to Rockhampton’s two private hospitals, and public hospital, to allow for distancing.
In response to questions from journalists, Dr Young said she was sure the enrolled nurse did have COVID-19.
“There’s no way at all that was a false positive, it was absolutely a confirmed positive result,” Dr Young said.
Queensland has recorded two new cases of coronavirus in the south-east of the state, from women who had returned from overseas.
The state has now recorded 1057 coronavirus cases, with just 13 still active. Four are being treated in hospital, with one in intensive care.
The state has tested a further 1534 patients in 24 hours.
READ MORE: Palaszczuk ‘powering up’ economy
Lachlan Moffet Gray 9.30am: Trump hits back at ‘incompetent’ Obama
US President Donald Trump has hit back his predecessor Barack Obama after he made comments in a video to university graduates criticising the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus crisis.
“More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing,” Mr Obama said on an online address to graduates of historically black colleges and universities on Saturday.
“A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.”
On Sunday the comments were put to Mr Trump, who claimed to not have heard them but said Mr Obama was “grossly incompetent.”
Today, President Donald Trump called former President Barack Obama "grossly incompetent" after hearing Obama's criticism of the White House's response to COVID-19 yesterday. pic.twitter.com/QWyEkyHCp1
— ABC News 4 (@ABCNews4) May 17, 2020
“Look, he was an incompetent president, that’s all I can say. Grossly incompetent.”
Mr Trump then walked away, tweeting hours later that “The Obama Administration is turning out to be one of the most corrupt and incompetent in U.S. history.”
“Remember, he and Sleepy Joe are the reasons I am in the White House!!!”
The Obama Administration is turning out to be one of the most corrupt and incompetent in U.S. history. Remember, he and Sleepy Joe are the reasons I am in the White House!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 17, 2020
Mr Trump has heavily criticised his predecessor in recent days, tweeting that he was behind an effort to frame the Trump campaign in a Russian election interference conspiracy.
READ MORE: Leaders letting us down: Obama
Lachlan Moffet Gray 9.20am: ‘Closing borders doesn’t help any states’
The stoush between Queensland and NSW over border controls is continuing, with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian hitting back at her northern counterpart Annastacia Palaszczuk for saying she will not lift restrictions on external travellers until her chief health officer advises her to do so.
“Look, that’s a decision for her,” Ms Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney on Monday.
“I don’t agree with the decision - I think closing borders doesn’t help Australia, it doesn’t help any of the states, and it doesn’t help our population -it doesn’t help economic activity.
“We have to get real to the fact that many parts of the world will remain closed for a long period of time but if we in Australia can at least open up our internal borders, I think that will help everybody.
“Ironically, we actually had someone from Queensland come down to NSW with the virus last week.”
Ms Berejiklian said the notion of the virus being “eradicated” in Australia was not realistic.
“Of course we’d like to see that happen, but I can’t foresee it happening in a population of 25 million people,” she said.
“What we have to ask ourselves is what is the safest way of living with Covid? What’s the safest way of generating economic activity?”
“The sooner our internal borders come down the earlier we can increase our economic activity and not have this artificial construct, which I don’t think serves anybody well.
READ MORE: How will history judge our lockdown?
Lachlan Moffet Gray 9.00am: Nine new cases recorded across Australia
Australia has confirmed nine additional cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours and one death, according to Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Nick Coatsworth.
It brings the total number of cases in the country to 7054, with 99 deaths. Around 580 cases remain active.
The one additional death occurred in NSW and was a man in his 60s with underlying health conditions who died in hospital, it was announced on Monday morning.
One case has been confirmed in NSW on Monday, and six in Victoria.
Dr Coatsworth praised McDonald’s for closing 12 locations in Victoria after a delivery driver tested positive for coronavirus and urged Australians not to “soldier on” and turn up for work while sick like an aged care worker in Rockhampton did last week.
“I think we have got a long tradition, both in the healthcare industry but in the broader society of soldiering on,” Dr Coatsworth told Today.
“This is a really ingrained thing in the Australian community, that you do turn up to work, even if you are a little bit sick, because you are a little bit sick, because you are worried about what it might do to your colleagues or clients if you are not there.
“It has just got to change. And it is going to change. It is going to have to change for the whole of 2020, really, until we get to a vaccine or treatment.”
Dr Coatsworth said the situation at Anglicare’s Newmarch Aged care facility, where 16 residents have died of coronavirus, is “getting under control”.
“Obviously it has been an absolutely devastating situation for families, but also staff members there, and the lessons that we have learned from the Newmarch facility we are going to apply to any residential aged care outbreak to keep residents safe,” he said.
READ MORE: Faithful return to ‘God’s house’
Lachlan Moffet Gray 8.50am: Coalition of nations were ready: Birmingham
Many of the 62 countries who are now backing Australia in pursuing an independent inquiry into the global origins of coronavirus were actively “thinking about the need for this type of investigation,” Trade Minister Simon Birmingham has said.
Mr Birmingham said Australia actively discussed making a push for the inquiry with global “counterparts” and found that many nations were ready to commit to the idea.
“The Australian government has been having discussions right around the world with our counterparts, and indeed, of course, many other countries were thinking about the need for this type of investigation,” Mr Birmingham told Today on Monday.
“It is common sense. It is obvious. And it is really the least that the world can do.”
Mr Birmingham said he still is yet to have a conversation with his Chinese counterpart ahead of a decision being made by the Chinese government on whether to hit barley exports with tariffs.
In the event barley is hit with a tariff, which could be as high as 80 per cent, barley farmers may not receive government assistance, with Mr Birmingham refusing to commit to the idea.
“Australia’s farmers are some of the most competitive in the world,” Mr Birmingham said.
“We are continuing to work hard to make sure that every bit of evidence is provided so that Beijing makes an evidence-based decision in which case it should not be applying any duties to our farmers.
“We also continue to provide ever more market access opportunities for them. On the 5th of July, a new free trade agreement with Indonesia will come into place, which provides for 500,000 tonnes of additional feed, grain, to get into Indonesia, duty free, and that number grows every year.”
READ MORE: Coalition of 62 nations backs Australia’s push for COVID-19 probe
Rachel Baxendale 8.42am: Six new cases in Victoria
Victoria has confirmed six new cases of COVID-19 overnight, as well as reclassifying two new cases in close contacts of McDonald’s workers, after the fast-food chain closed 12 Melbourne stores on Sunday due to an infection in a truck driver.
The six new cases bring Victoria’s total number of cases to 1567.
While three of the new cases were detected in returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine, the other three remain under investigation.
The number of cases linked to the Fawkner McDonald’s cluster has reached 11, including a close contact whose partner had tested positive.
Not included in the Fawkner cluster is the truck driver, who tested positive after visiting 12 stores in Melbourne’s outer northwest, which did not include Fawkner.
There have been 99 cases linked to Melbourne abattoir Cedar Meats, after one case was reclassified, as the facility reopens its cold storage on Monday.
READ MORE: Andrews passes the pub test
Lachlan Moffet Gray 8.37am: ‘Everyone behaved’ during NT reopening: Gunner
Chief Minister of the Northern Territory Michael Gunner has said the territory’s first weekend with pubs allowed to reopen passed without incident or a single fine being issued.
Pubs, bars and clubs, as well as cafes and restaurants were allowed to reopen on Friday to serve groups socially distanced groups of up to 10 for a maximum period of two hours.
Mr Gunner said “everyone behaved” over the weekend, although there were “a few sore heads” on Saturday morning.
“No penalties over the weekend. Everyone behaved. Police officers had to educate a few premises, but everyone abided,” Mr Gunner told Today on Monday, adding that the state was at “half time” in its fight against coronavirus, with the territory ready to reopen TABs and nightclubs on June 5.
Mr Gunner said he personally pulled “over a dozen beers” on Friday, but did not wake up with a sore head on Saturday.
“It was bloody brilliant through town. The mood really lifted. Everyone was super charged. There was a lot of confidence around the place,” he said.
READ MORE: ‘Keg convoy’ helps northern pubs open again
Lachlan Moffet Gray 8.30am: Transport restrictions, bike lanes, pop-up carparks in NSW
Only 12 people will be allowed on a standard bus in NSW under new rules designed to avoid crowding on public transport, Transport Minister Andrew Constance has said.
Trains and ferries will be able to carry considerably more passengers, with a standard Waratah train carriage allowed to carry up to 35 people, and a ferry, 245.
Mr Constance said that stickers would be placed on public transport with the new limits, and that buses will sometimes have to miss stops and train stations closed to avoid crowding.
He also urged anyone who lived within 15 minutes of their workplace not to take public transport, but to walk or ride a bike instead.
Pop-up car parks and bike lines are some of the measures NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has flagged to reduce the number of people reliant on Sydney’s crowded public transport network, which poses a health risk in the age of coronavirus.
Ms Berejiklian said that from Monday pop-up car parks will be erected in employment hubs like Moore Park and the CBD, and 10.3km of bike lanes would be laid out in inner-city suburbs to encourage people within 15 minutes of their workplace to commute by bike.
“It is not a message you would give without COVID … we normally encourage people to catch public transport, but given the constraints in the peak and the fact we are exercising social distancing, we want people to consider different ways to get to work,” she said.
Ms Berejiklian also urged people to travel outside of public transport peak hours or to take different routes to work.
“We recommend that people who aren’t already on the system in the peak, especially on buses and trains, travel in the offpeak,” she said.
“So after 10.00am or before 2.00pm, to make sure that social distancing is there.
“On buses and light rail, there is capacity, so you might want to think about a different way to do your journey in the morning.
“You might want to get dropped off at a ferry wharf or a light rail route.”
READ MORE: It’s time to take care of business
Lachlan Moffet Gray 8.14am: 60-year-old man dies in NSW
NSW has recorded another coronavirus death as the state hit its second consecutive day detecting just one new coronavirus case.
Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said the victim was a “gentleman in his 60s with confirmed COVID” who died in hospital. The man had underlying health conditions.
Just one coronavirus case was detected, a returned traveller in quarantine, out of 5954 tests.
Ms Berejiklian said she wanted more people to present for testing.
“As we know, the number of tests always dips on a weekend,” she said.
“I expect to have a similar number of tests reported tomorrow. We need people to come forward and get tested. If you have the slightest symptom, the mildest symptom, come forward and get tested.”
READ MORE: Temporary hospital sites earmarked
Lachlan Moffet Gray 8.00am: ‘You’ll have to wait’: Premier firm on borders
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has again rebuked NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s insistence that the NSW-Queensland border be opened immediately, saying the decision – which is reviewed at the end of each month – lies with her Chief Health Officer Dr Jeanette Young.
“I know how much Gladys loves her holidays in far North Queensland. I’m sorry, Gladys, you will have to wait a little bit longer,” Ms Palaszczuk told Today on Monday.
“But we are reviewing the borders at the end of each month. I take the advice of the Chief Health Officer. It is not my decision.”
Ms Palaszczuk said the border would come down once the transmission rate in Sydney and Melbourne. When asked what that rate is, Ms Palaszczuk answered: “It needs to be at a safe rate that my Chief Health Officer says it’s okay.”
Appearing on ABC News later in the morning, Ms Palaszcuk said that a “travel bubble” between Queensland, WA, the NT and SA was more likely to happen than a relaxation of the borders with NSW and Victoria.
“I could see that happening before New South Wales and Victoria,” she said.
“But that’s a matter for the Premiers there as well.”
READ MORE: Berejiklian urges states to reopen borders before trans-Tasman bubble
Lachlan Moffet Gray 7.48am: Macca’s driver asymptomatic at time of contact
An external delivery driver whose coronavirus diagnosis forced the closure of 12 McDonald’s restaurants in Melbourne was asymptomatic at the time of contact with the restaurants, McDonald’s Australia CFO Andrew Gregory said.
Mr Gregory said the man was providing delivery services only to McDonald’s restaurants and none of the employees and any of the 12 locations have tested positive at this stage.
“We have identified all those restaurants and, look, the chances of further infections – it is possible, but the actions we are taking are about making sure we minimise further infections,” Mr Gregory said.
The locations are being closed for a deep clean and will reopen with staff from other stores.
The diagnosis of the driver comes after a cluster outbreak of coronavirus at a McDonald’s in Fawkner, which is now linked to ten cases of the virus.
READ MORE: McDonald’s closes 12 Vic stores over virus
Lachlan Moffet Gray 7.37am: WTO showdown likely if barley tariff introduced
Australia will likely take China to the World Trade Organisation if Australian barley exports are hit with a tariff as high as 80 per cent when a decision is made by the Chinese government on Tuesday, says Minister for Agriculture David Littleproud.
“(Trade) Minister Birmingham has been quite clear on this, reserving our rights, and has a strong record that when we believe that our case hasn’t been understood properly, that we take it to the independent umpire,” Mr Littleproud told ABC News on Monday.
“We’ve done that with trade partners like Canada with wine, and India with sugar. So we will look at the judgement by China tomorrow.
Unlike Mr Birmingham, who on Sunday said he has been unable to get his Chinese counterpart to pick up the phone and talk to him, Mr Littleproud said the Chinese Department of Agriculture has been forthcoming, without any “vitriol”.
“I reached out and they’ve come back to me and indicated that there is an opportunity for us to talk in the near future about the challenges that we’ve got,” he said.
Mr Littleproud said he agreed with Mr Birmingham’s statement that Australia should “spread the risk,” and diversify exports away from China.
Mr Littleproud also welcomed news that 62 countries were joining the Australian government in their push for an independent inquiry into the origins of coronavirus, saying wildlife wet markets had to be examined.
“We’re asking other nations to work with us, and I think that we’ll get better answers, and even the Department of Agriculture has put out there – and I led this to the G20 – looking at wildlife wet markets.”
“Six pandemics since 1980 have originated from wildlife wet markets. It is important to understand … how we transition these countries away from the wildlife wet markets. It’s a good thing to do.”
READ MORE: Coalition of 62 nations backs Australia’s push for COVID-19 probe
Lachlan Moffet Gray 6.55am: Europe death tolls reach new lows
Death tolls in Italy, Spain and the UK have fallen to new lows, a sign that the coronavirus pandemic in western Europe may have reached its peak.
The UK reported a death toll of 170, the lowest since lockdown began on March 23.
Spain reported deaths of 87, the lowest figure in two months and down from 102 the previous 24-hour period.
Italy recorded 145 deaths, the lowest since they entered lockdown in late February. The country has begun emerging from lockdown, with gyms and swimming pools to open May 25, and travel between regions to resume on June 3.
France recorded a larger figure of 483 coronavirus deaths, compared with 96 for the previous period – but included 429 additional deaths recorded in retirement homes over the past few weeks.
The French health ministry said the number of people in hospitals fell to 19,361 from 19,432 on Saturday and the number of people in intensive care units dropped to 2087 from 2,132 on Saturday.
Both numbers – key indicators for the French health system’s ability to cope with the epidemic – have been on a downtrend for four to five weeks and peaked at more than 32,000 and more than 7,000 respectively in early to mid-April.
With AAP.
READ MORE: Brazil outbreak now fourth largest in world
Lachlan Moffet Gray 6.50am: Queensland partygoers fined over social distancing
Queenslanders largely behaved themselves over the weekend, with Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski saying only 19 fines were issued for “people not doing the right thing.”
On Saturday restrictions across the state eased allowing up to 10 people to congregate in public, cafes and restaurants to seat up to 10 patrons (and 20 in rural areas), and for day trips up to 150km in length.
Commissioner Gollschewski said the bulk of the tickets were issued to attendees at a party at Fortitude Valley in Brisbane and Cherbourg in Central Queensland.
“Overall we saw people were listening to the messages by police. When police had to talk to them they complied very well,” he told Today on Monday.
He also said that there was no current police investigation into the Rockhampton Nursing Centre aged care home, where a COVID-19 positive employee was revealed to have attended the facility while awaiting the results of a coronavirus test. No further staff members or residents have tested positive for coronavirus.
“There is no police investigation. This is led by Queensland health,” he said.
“Obviously, Queensland police are part of the rapid response that’s gone into the community up there which was well planned for through our management disaster organisation.”
Commissioner Gollschewski said the state’s tough border restrictions were “working,” noting that 189,000 vehicles have been intercepted at borders by Queensland Police.
READ MORE: Walking tours back on track
Lachlan Moffet Gray 6.40am: New York mayor blasts crowds at bars, beaches
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has blasted residents of the city for venturing out over the weekend, as the rest of the state begins to lift coronavirus restrictions and testing capacity is expanded.
“We’re not going to tolerate people starting to congregate. It’s as simple as that,” Mr de Blasio said, after seeing footage of people congregating outside bars serving takeaway drinks without face masks.
“If we have to shut places down, we will.”
Parks, boardwalks and beaches attracted big crowds on Saturday, although New York City beaches aren’t officially open.
Mr de Blasio said opening the city’s strands “is not the right thing to do in the epicentre of this crisis.”
The comments come as the state moves to relax restrictions in a further two of New York City’s ten regions. Western New York and the Capital District have recorded a sustained decline in new cases and will be able to reopen some businesses once enough staff are hired to carry out contract tracing for coronavirus tests, that everyone who is experiencing flu-like symptoms can now receive.
Governor Andrew Cuomo marked the occasion by getting tested live on national TV.
.@NYGovCuomo demonstrates the ease of getting a #Covid_19 test. He says any New Yorker displaying symptoms, needs to be tested. @13WHAM pic.twitter.com/4fJeRBn348
— Dan Schrack (@DanSchrack) May 17, 2020
The US has 1,480,873 confirmed cases of coronavirus while 89,318 have died, roughly a quarter of which have been in New York State.
US Health Secretary Alex Azar on Monday (AEST) told CNN that a gradual reopening of the country is successful, saying “in places that are opening, we’re not seeing this spike in cases.”
“But re-open we must because it’s not health versus the economy. It’s actually health versus health,” he said, highlighting the health consequences of maintaining shutdowns, like mental health consequences and reduced physical fitness.
READ MORE: Sacked watchdog targeted Pompeo
Lachlan Moffet Gray 6.25am: 10,000 cruise ship crew stranded at sea
More than 100,000 cruise ship crew members remain stranded at sea around the world and at least two have committed suicide, according to the Miami Herald, as the coronavirus pandemic renders it difficult for cruise liners to moor in any country.
On May 10 a 39-year-old Ukrainian crew member died by leaping overboard the Regal Princess while the ship was moored in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Last month a crew member jumped off Royal Caribbean’s Jewel of the Sea near Greece.
The Herald also reports that at least 578 crew members have been diagnosed with coronavirus around the world, with at least seven dying.
In addition, the crew members still on board Norwegian, MSC, and Disney Cruise lines say that if they are not engaged in essential work, they are no longer being paid.
Carnival Corporation spokesman Roger Frizzell said it was extremely difficult to repatriate crew members under current conditions.
“Our goal has been to repatriate our crew members as quickly as possible, but that has proven to be much more difficult in recent weeks because of port closures, country closures and global travel restrictions,” he told the Herald.
“As a result, there have been numerous complications and challenges. For example, we have 7,500 Filipinos on our ships in Manila, currently waiting to be allowed to go ashore.”
Cruise companies began pausing operations in March and the US Centres for Disease Control banned cruise ships from operating in US waters until the end of July.
Carnival Corporation has repatriated 37 per cent of the crew left at sea by air or sea charter, MSC Cruises has sent home 76 per cent and Disney Cruise Line, 33 per cent.
READ MORE: Time to take care of business
Anne Barrowclough 5.55am: Heathrow to bring in heat checks
Britain’s largest airport is planning to increase flights from June, but will introduce measures including temperature screening for arrivals to ensure travellers’ safety.
From this week, thermal screening technology will be used in the immigration hall at Heathrow’s Terminal 2 as a trial.
Only the technology’s viability will initially be tested, although in the future the system could be used to identify passengers with a fever who could then be told to self-isolate, The Times reports.
Other technology will be trialled including the use of UV lights to sanitise security trays and “contact-free” security screening equipment.
READ MORE: PM’s post pandemic power play
Ben Packham 5.05am: Australia’s coronavirus inquiry push strongly backed
Australia has secured strong global backing for an independent inquiry into the coronavirus, with 62 nations coming together to co-sponsor a motion calling for the review at the World Health Assembly on Tuesday.
The new draft resolution updates an earlier EU version with significantly toughened language, and is backed by key nations including India, Japan, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Indonesia, Russia, and all 27 EU member states.
It demands WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus “initiate at the earliest appropriate moment … a stepwise process of impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation” of the international response to the pandemic, the actions of the WHO and its “timeline” of the pandemic.
The international support for the motion will infuriate Beijing, which has threatened Australian beef and barley exports to China over the Morrison government’s pursuit of the probe.
Read the full story here.
Remy Varga 5am: Daniel Andrews passes the pub test in Victoria
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews will relax the nation’s toughest remaining restrictions in two weeks by allowing restaurants, cafes and the dining area of pubs to reopen to limited trading.
As sunseekers ventured out to enjoy the autumn warmth after social-distancing restrictions were wound back, Mr Andrews said restaurants, cafes and the dining area of pubs would be allowed 20 patrons at a time from June 1.
The Victorian government was criticised for being the most cautious jurisdiction after the national cabinet on May 8 agreed to relax restrictions in three stages over the next two months.
But Mr Andrews’s announcement could lead to quicker relaxation of restrictions in Victoria than in other states. He said the number of allowed customers would increase to 50 from June 22.
Read the full story here.
Remy Varga 4.45am: McDonald’s shuts 12 stores after driver tests positive
McDonald’s will close 12 outlets in Victoria after a truck driver tested positive for COVID-19.
The driver was a close contact of a worker who tested positive at a McDonald’s outlet in Craigieburn in Melbourne’s northwest, a spokeswoman for the fast-food chain said on Sunday night.
“However, out of an abundance of caution, we have made the decision to close and conduct a deep clean of 12 restaurants in Victoria, following confirmation a truck driver for an external service provider has tested positive for COVID-19,” she added.
“The truck driver made deliveries to 12 restaurants and interacted with a small number of restaurant employees on each occasion while asymptomatic and unaware (he) had contracted COVID-19.”
The following restaurants will be closed:
■ Melton East
■ Laverton North
■ Yallambie
■ Taylors Lakes
■ Campbellfield
■ Sunbury
■ Hoppers Crossing
■ Riverdale Village
■ Sandown
■ Calder Highway Northbound/Outbound
■ Calder Highway Southbound/Inbound
■ BP Rockbank Service Centre Outbound
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