Coronavirus Australia live news: Warning of ‘higher’ NSW risk as Vic deaths rise; more health workers test positive
The top medical officer has warned NSW has a higher transmission risk than in Victoria, where three more deaths were reported amid an easing in new cases.
- National CMO warns of NSW risk
- Victoria reports third new death
- NSW records 15 new cases, clusters swell
- Parliament cancelled amid Victoria risk
- Islamic leaders fear conspiracy group
- Victoria faces longer lockdown
- NSW tightens restrictions on restaurants
Welcome to Saturday’s live coverage of the continuing coronavirus crisis. To sum up, Victoria has recorded 217 new cases of coronavirus as well as three more deaths. Meanwhile NSW was warned as pub, gym and restaurant clusters in NSW continued to swell.
Anthony Piovesan 6pm: Third new death in Victoria, making 35
A third new virus death has been reported in Victoria, taking the state’s death toll to 35 and the nation’s toll to 119.
The deaths of a man and a woman, both in their 80s, were announced on Saturday, and later it emerged a woman in her 90s had died as well, in a media release by Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Sutton Brett Sutton.
Three deaths were reported on Friday, making a death toll then of 32.
Victoria’s active confirmed cases by LGA have been updated here.
READ MORE: Victoria records 217 new cases
Jack Paynter 5.50pm: Supermarket chain tries to cover shifts
Workers at two Woolworths distribution centres in Melbourne’s southeast have been offered overtime shifts before they were told about positive coronavirus cases at the warehouses.
Despite the company having all employees’ mobile numbers to send texts offering extra work, staff said they had been left in the dark about multiple virus cases at the Mulgrave sites and relied on colleagues and media reports to keep them informed.
Two more positive cases were confirmed in contractors working at Woolworths’ Melbourne National Distribution Centre on Saturday morning, taking the total to four, while there has also been one case at the adjacent Produce Distribution Centre.
Full story here.
Dow Jones 5.30pm: US cases hit another daily record amid mask row
Plans laid out by California and Texas suggest many children in each state will start the school year virtually, as coronavirus cases rose to another daily record and measures to slow the spread of the virus continued to meet political resistance.
Confirmed infections in the US neared 3.6 million, as the country posted a single-day record of more than 77,000 new cases.
State and local leaders across the country have pushed back school start dates and delayed returning to in-person learning, saying it’s too dangerous to have children in classrooms as the virus continues to rage across the US.
President Donald Trump has demanded that school districts reopen or risk losing federal funding.
His administration has tied the reopening of schools to economic recovery, saying keeping schools closed presents a challenge to working parents. In some states, Democrats continued to meet resistance on preventive measures, including requiring residents to wear masks, which are seen by public-health experts as affordable and effective protection against the spread of the virus.
READ MORE: It’s not Trump the left hates, it’s America
Agencies 5pm: China battles new outbreak in far west Xinjiang
The number of confirmed cases in a new COVID-19 outbreak in China’s far west has risen to 17.
The National Health Commission said Saturday that 16 more cases were identified in the previous 24 hours in the Xinjiang region, on top of a first case.
The outbreak in the city of Urumqi is the latest to pop up since China largely contained the domestic spread of the virus in March. The largest was a recent outbreak in Beijing that infected more than 330 people.
Authorities in Urumqi have reduced subways, buses and taxis and closed off some residential communities, according to Chinese media reports. They also placed restrictions on people leaving the city, including a suspension of subway service to the airport.
China has been accused of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, the homeland of the largely Muslim Uighur ethnic community. The region has long been blanketed with extreme security, which China says is necessary to prevent terrorist activity.
AP
READ MORE: Greg Sheridan — Payne stands up to Beijing’s liars
Max Maddison 4.26pm: Virus transmission risk ‘worse in Sydney than Melbourne’
Acting national Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly has warned the potential for virus transmission is higher in NSW than Melbourne, as he urges people to avoid large gatherings.
With the reproduction rate, or R effective rate, currently at 1 in Victoria — a result of ongoing lockdowns — he said the risk of infection was higher across Sydney, where people were facing fewer restrictions
Professor Kelly said the R rate was about 1.4 in NSW.
“People are more mobile (in Sydney) they are mixing in greater numbers,” he told a press conference on Saturday.
“There are suggestions that people are not (heeding) those messages about physical distancing, hygiene and those key messages about decreasing the risk.
“As serious as case numbers currently are in Melbourne … the potential for transmission is higher in NSW.”
To people in south-west Sydney, where there have been outbreaks at a gym, pub and Thai restaurant, he warned: “please be careful.”
READ MORE: Cameron Stewart — Americans lost in a tragic kingdom
Rachel Baxendale 4.20pm: Active confirmed cases in Victorian LGAs
Active confirmed cases of COVID-19 by local-government area (LGA) as of Saturday, with net increase since Friday in brackets:
Wyndham (outer southwest): 308 (+9)
#Hume (outer north): 277 (-3)
#City of Melbourne: 289 (+25)
#Brimbank (outer west): 240 (+2)
#Moonee Valley (northwest): 234 (+11)
#Moreland (north): 137 (+5)
Whittlesea (outer north): 126 (+17)
Melton (outer northwest): 110 (+4)
Banyule (northeast): 110 (+3)
Yarra (inner northeast): 87 (+11)
Darebin (north): 78 (+8)
#Maribyrnong (inner west): 73 (+5)
Casey (outer southeast): 62 (+16)
Hobsons Bay (inner southwest): 59 (+6)
Whitehorse (east): 43 (+5)
Stonnington (inner southeast): 33 (+1)
Boroondara (east): 32 (+1)
Manningham (east): 32
Monash (southeast): 30 (+4)
Port Phillip (inner south): 28 (+3)
Greater Dandenong: (outer southeast): 21 (+3)
Mitchell (central regional Vic, north of Melb): 18 (+2)
Glen Eira (east): 15 (+2)
Kingston (southeast): 14 (+1)
Cardinia (outer southeast): 13 (+1)
Maroondah (outer east): 10
Nillumbik (outer northeast): 10 (-1)
Knox (outer east): 9 (-1)
*Ballarat (western regional Vic): 8 (+3)
Mornington Peninsula (outer southeast): 8 (+1)
Bayside (southeast): 7 (+2)
Frankston (outer southeast): 6
Yarra Ranges (outer east) 6
*Greater Geelong (southwest regional Vic): 6 (-2)
*Greater Bendigo (central regional Vic): 4 (+1)
*Macedon Ranges (central regional Vic): 4 (+1)
*Golden Plains (western regional Vic): 4
*Horsham (western regional Vic): 3 (+1)
*Moorabool (western regional Vic): 3 (+1)
*Baw Baw (eastern regional Vic): 3
*Colac-Otway (western regional Vic): 2 (+2)
*Greater Shepparton (northern regional Vic): 2 (+1)
*Latrobe (eastern regional Vic): 2
*South Gippsland (eastern regional Vic): 2
*Bass Coast (southeast regional Vic): 2
*Glenelg (western regional Vic): 1 (+1)
*Swan Hill (northwest regional Vic): 1
*Surf Coast (southwest regional Vic): 1
*East Gippsland (east regional Vic): 1
Interstate: 4
Unknown: 30 (-4)
TOTAL: 2608 (+146)
*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
Max Maddison 3.52pm: CMO defends decision to cancel parliament
The nation’s top medico has defended the decision to cancel the next sitting of federal parliament, as Australia records 233 new cases of coronavirus overnight.
Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly warned the “substantial number” of MPs and senators converging on the nation’s capital would constitute a mass gathering and pose a risk to the ACT community.
“There is a large number of people from all over Australia converging in one place for an intense period and then going back to their normal places,” Professor Kelly said of a parliamentary sitting.
“That would be deemed a mass gathering and we would feel that there is a high risk.”
Professor Kelly said a reduction in cases in Victoria — 217 new cases on Saturday, down from 428 on Friday — was a positive sign but Australians needed to remain vigilant.
READ MORE: Stage four restrictions — what do they involve?
Glenda Korporaal 3.15pm: Leaders warn on lockdown hit
Business leaders have urged governments to localise any future COVID-19 lockdowns to limit damage to the economy and hold down the potential unemployment rate as the nation braces for the full impact of the Victorian shutdown.
“Widespread, significant lockdowns really hurt the economy,” Wesfarmers chief executive Rob Scott told a round table of Business Council leaders organised in conjunction with The Australian this week.
The business leaders, who head up some of the 14 specialist committees set by the Business Council to deal with the pandemic, warned governments to be as targeted as possible in any future shutdowns.
“Lockdowns have an enormous negative effect on confidence,” said Mr Scott, whose company owns Bunnings, Officeworks, Target, Kmart, Catch.com.au and Geeks2U.
“Every week there is a significant lockdown, there’ll be businesses that simply don’t recover.
“We need to be doing everything we can to become a lot more sophisticated in our localised containment because we do need to learn to live with this going forward at least into the foreseeable future.
“The more we can have effective localised responses, then it will build confidence in consumers and in businesses.”
Read the full story here.
Simon Benson 2pm: JobKeeper program set to be extended
The $70 billion JobKeeper scheme is set to be extended beyond September, with Josh Frydenberg flagging an extra round of economic support in next week’s economic statement.
The Treasurer told the Australian that the Victorian Covid crisis would deliver another economic shock and threatened to undermine the broader national economic recovery.
“It is clear the economy will need further economic support and we will continue to do what it takes to keep businesses in business and Australians in jobs,” Mr Frydenberg said.
Read the full story here.
Bernard Salt 1.25pm: Why Melbourne has been hit so hard
One of Melbourne’s biggest strengths as a capital city has also made it uniquely susceptible to a surge in coronavirus. Its natural geology may also be playing a role.
In his analysis of the factors driving the COVID surge in Melbounre, demographer Bernard Salt writes: “If there is one major city where interfamily connectivity is likely to be strongest, for a range of reasons, it is Melbourne. But in a time of contagion, these deep-seated strengths of Melbourne can turn into something of a liability via clusters of infection.
However, there is one other factor that I think distinguishes Melbourne from Sydney and from other capital cities and that may help explain the virulence of the recent outbreak: Melbourne’s other distinguishing feature is its geology.”
Read the full story here.
Max Maddison 1pm: Hundreds of Victorian health workers infected
Hundreds of health care workers have been infected with COVID-19 in Victoria.
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Sutton Brett Sutton revealed an additional 11 healthcare workers had tested positive overnight, bringing the total number to 405.
It comes as cases were detected in three more nursing homes in Ballarat, Bendigo and Edithvale, including staff.
Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said the development was a stark reminder to the regions that they were not immune to the crisis gripping greater Melbourne.
“We stressed yesterday that regional Victorians should not become complacent, that this is not a Melbourne issue,” Ms Mikakos said.
READ MORE: Pandemic of paranoia — why conspiracy theories are taking hold
Max Maddison 12.30pm: Victoria’s ‘relief’ at drop in cases
Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has described the near-halving in new cases overnight as a relief.
However, he conceded the 217 cases announced on Saturday as “a figure that would have shocked us all a month ago.”
“We need to remember it is still a high number and there will be a number of people hidden in this number today who will require hospitalisation or intensive care in days to come,” Dr Sutton told a press conference this afternoon. He said there had also been a drop in the number of Victorians in hospital with COVID-19.
“Eighteen patients remain on ventilators which is a decrease of four since yesterday.”
He urged Victorians to continue to wear masks while out in public.
“It is a very protective measure, it is not foolproof, but it will protect you, it will protect those around you and I would say always have the healthcare workers in mind in doing this.”
READ MORE: Melbourne’s strength has been it’s COVID weakness
Christine Kellett 12.06pm Victoria records 217 new cases
Victoria has recorded 217 new cases of coronavirus across the state, a major drop from the 428 cases announced on Friday.
Two more people — a man and a woman in their 80s — have died overnight, bringing the state’s death toll to 34.
Eleven of the new cases are linked to known outbreaks and the rest are under investigation. Victoria has currently 2608 active cases of COVID-19.
Speaking at a press conference, Premier Daniel Andrews urged Melburnians to continue following stage three restrictions, saying the notion that the virus was “mild” for healthy people was incorrect
“If you don’t necessarily need additional supplies then you should not be going out to get those additional supplies,” Mr Andrews said.
“I know and understand it’s frustrating, it’s challenging, we’d all rather be in a very different position. Whether you are in Broadmeadows or Brighton, stay-at-home means stay-at-home.”
More to come …
Max Maddison 11.30am: McDonald’s, pub bistro patrons urged to isolate
NSW Health’s Dr Jeremy McAnulty has asked anyone who visited Sydney’s Albion Park McDonald’s on July 15 between 2pm and 2.30pm, or who visited the Soldiers Club bistro at Bateman’s Bay between 7pm and 9.30pm on July 13, to immediately self-isolate for 14 days.
However, he said the source of the Thai Rock restaurant cluster in Sydney’s Wetherill Park was still unclear.
15 new cases of #COVID19 have been diagnosed in NSW between 8pm on 16 July and 8pm on 17 July.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 18, 2020
For the latest list of COVID-19 locations, visit: https://t.co/pqkRdfh3cR pic.twitter.com/ZDTk7Li9ZO
“It may be that the worker had infection first and customers may have acquired it from there. We are still investigating that. It’s sometimes quite hard to know exactly where the first source came from and in this case we haven’t identified it,” Dr McAnulty said.
“Certainly, nobody did anything deliberate and that’s what it is so important that people come forward for testing with the mildest of symptoms.”
READ MORE: Greg Sheridan — How coronavirus has changed the world order
Christine Kellett 11.09am: NSW records 15 new cases
NSW has recorded 15 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, as the number of infections linked to the Crossroads Hotel cluster swells to 45.
Of the 15 new cases detected overnight, four are overseas travellers in hotel quarantine, five are contacts of patrons of the Crossroads Hotel in Casula, in Sydney’s south west, one is linked to the Thai Rock restaurant in the western suburb of Wetherill Park, and five are under investigation.
An additional case has also been linked to the Planet Fitness cluster.
Max Maddison 10.55am: WA toughens border restrictions
The WA government has toughened border restrictions, with hotel quarantine awaiting anyone who has travelled through Victoria and New South Wales.
The measures, which are effective for Victoria immediately, will also be applied to New South Wales from midnight on Sunday, will force people into hotel quarantine at their own expense. The restrictions will be in place for two weeks.
Speaking at a press conference, WA Health Minister Steven Cook said the decision was “what is needed to be done to keep West Australians safe”.
“For those West Australians thinking about going east: don’t go. For whatever reasons you’re contemplating going east, it’s in the best interest of yourself and all West Australians to stay here,” Mr Cook said at a press conference.
“We cannot guarantee you will be cleared to return immediately.”
READ MORE: Fear and loathing as Australia’s COVID refugees head north
Max Maddison 10.30am: Albanese questions decision to cancel parliament
Taking the advice of the Chief Medical Officer is “problematic”, says Anthony Albanese, as he questions the decision to suspend federal parliament for two weeks.
The opposition leader said three million Australians needed clarity as to whether JobKeeper would continue past the September cut-off date, saying it was “absolutely critical” that parliament sit in September.
“Labor has always said that we need to follow the advice by the health experts. When
it comes to this sitting though, it is problematic,” Mr Albanese said at a press conference earlier this morning.
“Because Labor has also always argued that the government needs to be held to account – particularly because of the uncertainty that remains with JobKeeper and JobSeeker.”
Mr Albanese said there was a “contradiction” between Scott Morrison urging states and territories to open up, while closing down the national parliament.
“What we need to do is to make sure that we recognise that the government here is saying that it’s not business as usual, that things won’t just snap back,” he said.
“ … and that’s another reason why JobKeeper needs to continue for those who need it, and JobSeeker needs to continue to provide support at the current time for people in need. A snapback will just snap our economy.”
READ MORE: ‘We’ll never win another election’: Labor’s climate revolt
Max Maddison 10am: Liberal MP questions stage four restrictions
Liberal MP Tim Wilson has questioned whether blanket stage four restrictions across Melbourne would be the most effective measure, as cases continue to soar.
The member for Goldstein said while he supported measures “based on medical advice”, he said targeted responses may be more sustainable.
“We know that, yes, they’ve had the worst results so far — a number of infections. If it continues going down this trend, it’s obviously going to present real challenges,” Mr Wilson told ABC Weekend Breakfast.
“I also think we need to be mindful that a lot of the outbreaks are occurring in targeted communities, and so blanket policies may not be the most effective ones – it might be targeted ones to targeted communities that may be more sustainable.”
READ MORE: Katrina Grace Kelly — ‘Bogeyman Dan’ blamed for it all
Max Maddison 9.30am: New Sydney cluster linked to restaurant
A Thai restaurant in Sydney’s western suburbs has become the latest coronavirus cluster concern, after NSW Health linked three confirmed cases to the establishment.
On Friday night, NSW Health issued a public health alert directing patrons who attended the Thai Rock restaurant in Stockland Mall Wetherill Park from July 9 to 14 to immediately get tested and self-isolate for 14 days.
The health authority upgraded their advice after a third confirmed case — a customer who dined at the restaurant on July 10 — was linked to the venue. Earlier on Friday, NSW Health advised that an employee in her 30s tested positive after working at the restaurant for five days.
A previously identified case was a customer who dined at the restaurant on July 10.
Contact tracing for all those who attended the restaurant in this period is underway.
In a post on social media, Thai Rock restaurant urged patrons showing symptoms to get tested.
“We have immediately activated our protocols at Stockland Wetherill Park and Thai Rock is closed for deep cleaning. The health and wellbeing of Stockland’s customers, retailers and employees is always our highest priority and we are working closely with NSW Health on this matter,” the post on Twitter said.
READ MORE: Clamps back on in NSW
Richard Ferguson 8.52am: parliament sitting cancelled over Victoria risk
The upcoming sitting fortnight of parliament has been cancelled, with Scott Morrison saying the Victorian COVID outbreak anc community transmission in NSW has made it too risky.
MPs were due to come back to Canberra on August 4, but will now have to wait until August 24, nearer the time the Melbourne lockdown is due to end.
The Prime Minister said acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly was advising against MPs sitting, as social distancing provisions were not enough to mitigate the risk.
“The Government cannot ignore the risk to parliamentarians, their staff, the staff within the parliament, and the broader community of the ACT that holding a parliamentary sitting would create,” Mr Morrison said.
In addition, it is not feasible nor desirable to hold a sitting of parliament that would exclude parliamentarians from a single state. Our Commonwealth parliament should have representatives from all members of our federation and it is the duty of Parliamentarians to attend parliament, if it is scheduled.”
Professor Kelly said Victorian and NSW MPs and their staff could threaten an outbreak of COVID-19 in Canberra, where there are only three active cases of coronavirus.
“The entry of a high-risk group of individuals could jeopardise the health situation in the ACT and place residents at unnecessary risk of infection,” the acting CMO said.
“In addition, the health risk to Members and Senators and their staff from other jurisdictions is a material concern. It is my medical advice that, despite proposed mitigation measures, these risks would be significantly higher in the context of a parliamentary sitting period due to the number of persons travelling from Victoria and the inevitable mixing with ACT residents, Members, Senators, staff and visitors within Parliament House.”
Mr Morrison has consulted with Anthony Albanese, House Speaker Tony Smith, and Senate President Scott Ryan about the postponement of parliament.
READ MORE: Most liveable city a shadow of its former self
Simon Benson 8.40am: JobKeeper set to be extended beyond September
The $70 billion JobKeeper scheme is set to be extended beyond September, with Josh Frydenberg flagging an extra round of economic support in next week’s economic statement.
The Treasurer told the Australian that the Victorian Covid crisis would deliver another economic shock and threatened to undermine the broader national economic recovery.
“It is clear the economy will need further economic support and we will continue to do what it takes to keep businesses in business and Australians in jobs,” Mr Frydenberg said.
“As we have done every step of the way, we will calibrate our response to the economic and health conditions that we face.
“We know that many sectors will take considerably longer to recover, even after restrictions are eased.”
Read the full story here.
Agencies 8.10am: Indian cases surpass 1 million, US adds 77,000 more
India’s total confirmed cases have surpassed 1 million, the third-highest number behind the United States and Brazil, and its death toll reached more than 25,000.
Globally, confirmed cases numbered more than 13.9 million overnight, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University, and COVID-19 deaths totalled more than 590,000. In its own count, the World Health Organisation reported a single-day record of new infections Friday: over 237,000. Experts believe that the true numbers are even higher.
US cases reportedly rose by 77,000 overnight, including 11,345 new cases in the state of Florida, which also recorded 128 more deaths.
AP
READ MORE: Americans lost in a tragic kingdom
Max Colchester 7.20am: Boris Johnson pushes for Christmas end to lockdown
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he hoped the country could return toward normalcy by Christmas, as he presented a provisional plan to ease coronavirus lockdown restrictions and get British people to return to work.
During a speech in which he set out a timetable for removing restrictions, he said employers should have more leeway to ask employees to come back to their workplaces, scrapping previous guidance for people to work at home where possible.
Today I announced the next chapter in our coronavirus recovery strategy.
— Boris Johnson #StayAlert (@BorisJohnson) July 17, 2020
Read my full statement here: https://t.co/uuziwLkUih pic.twitter.com/CslhJ1uSeU
From August 1, he said the government would give employers more discretion to ask people to return to work. From the same day, other leisure venues, such as bowling alleys, skating rinks and casinos, together with services such as beauticians to resume.
“It is my strong and sincere hope that we will be able to review the outstanding restrictions and allow a more significant return to normality from November at the earliest — possibly in time for Christmas,” he said in an address from Downing Street. — DOW JONES
READ MORE: Boris Johnson’s call, but Beijing will blast us over Huawei
Rachel Baxendale 7am: Department silent on rally attendees’ infection source
Victoria’s health department says there is no evidence to suggest six people who tested positive to COVID-19 after attending Melbourne’s Black Lives Matter protest acquired the virus at the rally last month.
But the department has refused to say whether a source of infection has been established for all six cases.
The Department of Health and Human Service has also declined to explain why it revealed only four of the cases in the weeks following the protest.
The department responded late on Friday to a series of questions by The Australian on Wednesday. The questions followed the newspaper’s report on Wednesday of the department’s confirmation of a link between a family cluster of at least 30 cases including two from the protest, and the outbreak of at least 280 cases in public housing towers in Melbourne’s inner northwest.
Read the full story here.
Greg Sheridan 6.30am: COVID-19 ‘transforming geo-strategic equations’
COVID-19 is not only spreading like wildfire around the world, with new energy and increased infections; it is not only killing people across continents, destroying national economies and creating a deep global recession; it is transforming geo-strategic equations, writes Greg Sheridan today.
“It has intensified US-China tensions to the point where they themselves are now spreading like a wildfire, with new issues of disagreement and acrimony between the two giants arising almost every day.
“For Australia, the fallout from the virus has led to serious trouble with Beijing, and on the flip side an intensification of Canberra’s strategic embrace of the US.”
Read Greg Sheridan’s full story here.
Remy Varga 5.45am: Islamic leaders fear spread of COVID-19 conspiracy
An emerging and dangerous group of coronavirus deniers is pushing an alarming theory that the COVID-19 pandemic is a government conspiracy, and people should ignore social-distancing rules and refuse to be tested.
As Victoria grapples with soaring numbers of the coronavirus, including a record 428 new cases on Friday, The Weekend Australian can reveal that a group called 99% Unite is telling its tens of thousands of online followers the deadly virus is just a cover for the global elite to consolidate their control over the masses.
Led by Melburnians Fanos Panayides and Raphael Fernandez, the group operates across several pages on Facebook in an apparent attempt to evade the social media giant’s crackdown on misinformation.
The largest page was started in April and boasts more than 65,000 members.
The 99% Unite follows and promotes a web of anti-public health theories, including that the coronavirus pandemic is a cover for the elite to solidify their power as well as bleeding into existing conspiracies around vaccinations and 5G technology.
The group, which tells its followers not to wear masks and to reject coronavirus tests, is planning a large protest later this month against what it sees as the coronavirus conspiracy.
Academics, community leaders and politicians have all urged people against following 99% Unite’s message, saying it is dangerous and ignores science and medical advice around the virus.
Islamic community leaders fear the message is being spread through social media and is taking hold within some Melbourne Muslim communities and are pleading for it to be ignored.
An Islamic community elder, who declined to be named, said he was alarmed by the message.
“These conspiracy theorists need to be carefully monitored. Facebook and other social media platforms need to be responsible for the content being put on the net,” he said.
“This particular group who is very vocal are also against health messaging and are asking people to refuse COVID testing.”
Read the full story, by Remy Varga and Damon Johnston, here.
Stephen Lunn 5.30am: Tighter restrictions loom for locked-down Victoria
A longer lockdown and tighter restrictions loom within days for Victorians as the COVID-19 second wave hit a record 428 new cases and three new deaths in the state on Friday.
Victoria has 5165 cases, double just 12 days ago, and a death toll of 32, prompting the Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton to warn of tighter restrictions if case numbers don’t plateau soon.
Professor Sutton conceded the horror number showed the state “hadn’t turned the corner” in the timeframe he had anticipated earlier this week, and was “concerning and disappointing”.
Premier Daniel Andrews said tighter restrictions were under consideration, given the growing case numbers, with Friday being the 12th day in a row of triple-digit increases.
“If the data shows the strategy is not being as effective as quickly as we would like then we may need to go to new rules,” he said.
“The best and most important contribution that every Melburnian and Victorian can make towards that not happening, making that less likely, is to follow the rules.”
However, hopes of a quick turnaround were tempered by the nation’s acting Chief Medical Officer, Paul Kelly, who said viruses such as COVID-19 became more contagious the longer they remained in the community.
Read the full story, by Stephen Lunn and Angelica Snowden, here.
Yoni Bashan 5.15am: NSW tightens restrictions on restaurants, weddings
The NSW government has again tightened restrictions for restaurants, cafes, weddings and funerals, introducing new measures it hopes will minimise COVID-19 transmissions if there is an outbreak.
While the state continues to maintain relatively low rates of daily infection, Premier Gladys Berejiklian pressed ahead on Friday with a suite of new restrictions targeting sectors deemed “higher risk” by the government’s health advisers.
The requirements, to take effect next Friday, will cut the maximum group booking in restaurants and cafes from 20 to 10, in line with pubs and clubs that had similar rules enforced earlier this week.
Read the full story here.
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