Coronavirus Australia live news: Over a dozen anti-lockdown protesters arrested
Over a dozen anti-lockdown protesters were arrested on Saturday in Melbourne, as those deliberately flouting stay-at-home orders clashed with Victorian police.
- NSW names ‘worst’ Covid venue
- Victoria records 76 cases, 11 deaths
- ‘Don’t go to protest’, Bartolo warns
- Queensland, WA united on borders
- Nursing home deaths fall, despite virus
Welcome to our rolling coverage of the continuing coronavirus pandemic. Victoria’s daily cases have fallen again, as a prominent anti-coronavirus conspiracy theorist charged with incitement has warned supporters to stay away from a planned lockdown protest in Melbourne today.
The Times 10pm: Putin promises to win Covid race
Russia’s most advanced vaccine candidate has successfully passed its early stages of clinical trials, according to preliminary results.
Initial findings from a small study of 76 people showed that there were no severe side effects and the vaccine elicited an antibody response.
Vladimir Putin has promised to roll out the use of the country’s “Sputnik V” vaccine before any other country, claiming it as a victory in a global race to escape the pandemic.
Three weeks ago Mr Putin told a government meeting, when announcing the country was going to engage in mass vaccination: “This morning, for the first time in the world, a vaccine against the new coronavirus was registered.”
He added, “I know that it is quite effective, that it gives sustainable immunity.” At the time there was no published evidence of its efficacy.
The latest results, published in The Lancet, confirm that like several other vaccine candidates the Russian offering has cleared the early hurdles of human trials. The vaccine takes an approach similar to that used by the team at Oxford University, using a benign virus known as an adenovirus to transport coronavirus proteins into the body.
Read the full story here.
AFP 9.15pm: More than a dozen anti-lockdown protesters arrested
Over a dozen anti-lockdown protesters were arrested on Saturday in Melbourne, as those deliberately flouting stay-at-home orders clashed with Australian police.
Ignoring official warnings and public health orders, several hundred people gathered at an illegal protest — promoted by several virus related conspiracy theory groups online — calling for an end to lockdown measures.
A huge police presence responded, arresting 17 as the crowd chanted “freedom” and “scam” towards lines of officers who repeatedly attempted to move people on.
Two protesters were seen raising their arms in a Nazi salute at officers and yelling “Heil Dan”, comparing the state of Victoria’s premier Daniel Andrews to Adolf Hitler, while standing on the forecourt of the Shrine of Remembrance — a war memorial which partly commemorates Australians killed fighting in World War II.
Demonstrators moved to a nearby park before being surrounded by police and eventually dispersing.
Officers said they issued 160 fines for breaching health orders and were expecting to hand out more in coming days.
Several attendees told AFP they were protesting the government’s response to the pandemic, which has killed more than 865,000 people around the world, labelling it overblown or an outright “scam”.
“We are in a city where the cure from Daniel Andrews is actually worse than what’s happening,” protester Fiona Kat said.
The “Freedom Day” events were largely promoted by several loosely-connected groups online that espouse anti-vaccination and virus related conspiracy theories.
Rallies were also held around the country, with 14 people arrested at protests in Sydney and Byron Bay.
Despite Victoria’s second wave, Australia has dealt relatively well with the virus allowing the rest of the country to roll back restrictions.
The nation has recorded over 26,200 cases and 748 deaths in a population of 25 million.
Before the protest, Victorian premier Andrews told people to stay home and warned the gathering could jeopardise a path out of lockdown, which is expected to be outlined on Sunday.
“It is not safe, it is not smart, it is not lawful,” he told media. “In fact, it is absolutely selfish.”
AFP 7pm: Nigerian doctors to strike over state-run hospital pay
Doctors in state-run hospitals in Nigeria will go on strike next week to demand a pay rise, better welfare and adequate facilities, union leaders have said.
The strike by the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), which represents some 40 per cent of doctors, is the latest in a string of stoppages by medics to hit Africa’s most populous nation as it struggles to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Strikes by medics have been common in Nigeria where the health sector is underfunded.
Authorities fear any reduction in capacity could severely hamper its ability to tackle the pandemic as the number of cases continues to rise.
Read more: In the world’s first coronavirus blind spot, fears of a silent epidemic
Meanwhile in Australia, a leaked draft of Victoria’s road map out of lockdown suggests coronavirus restrictions will begin easing on September 14, with some of the first changes being lengthening exercise quotas to two hours and gradual increases in the number of people that can gather together outdoors. The Australian
The draft, seen by The Australian, details the different levels of lockdown (Stage 4 being the harshest and Stage 0 or ‘COVID Normal’ being the most relaxed) and outlines the thresholds for easing restrictions.
For the lockdown currently imposed on regional Victoria to be eased from Stage 3 (Stay at Home) to Stage 2 (Go Outside), the draft document says there would have to be an average daily increase in the number of COVID-19 cases over the past fortnight to be less than 5.
Read the full story here.
AFP 5.50pm: India surpasses 4M Covid cases
India has become the world’s third country to pass four million coronavirus infections, setting a new record daily surge in cases on Saturday as the crisis shows no sign of peaking.
The 86,432 new cases took India to 4,023,179 infections, third behind the United States which has more than 6.3 million and just trailing Brazil on 4.1 million.
While the government has eased restrictions in a bid to revive the economy, India now has the world’s fastest growing number of cases at more than 80,000 a day and the highest daily death toll at more than 1,000.
The country’s caseload has gone from three to four million in just 13 days, faster than the United States and Brazil.
The pandemic is now spreading through rural areas which have poor health facilities but is also resurging in big cities like Delhi and Mumbai.
Maharashtra state, which includes Mumbai, has been at the centre of the crisis in India since a nationwide lockdown was imposed in March. It still accounts for nearly a quarter of the new daily cases across the country of 1.3 billion.
Shamika Ravi, an economics professor and former government advisor who has closely followed pandemic trends in India, said that India is “nowhere close” to a peak and Maharashtra must become the “focus” of the campaign against the coronavirus.
“There is no controlling Covid-19 in India without controlling the outbreak in Maharashtra,” she said on Twitter.
“Given its economic significance, Maharashtra will continue to influence the spread of infection elsewhere in the country
Read more: Rampant pandemic takes hold in India
Christine Kellett 5pm: Wastewater testing reveals virus in Vic holiday spot
Victorian health authorities will increase testing in the coastal town of Apollo Bay, after Covid was detected in wastewater taken from the local sewer network.
People from Apollo Bay and surrounding areas have been urged to get a Covid swab if they have even the mildest symptoms.
The positive virus trace was detected on Friday in a sample collected on September 1.
There have been no known cases of Covid in Apollo Bay, Chief Helath Officer Brett Sutton said.
“It can take several weeks for someone to stop shedding the virus and further analysis is required to assess the significance of the preliminary result. The fragments themselves are not infectious,” he said.
READ MORE: Pandemic exposes cracks in the Asian century
Christine Kellett 4.30pm: Wastewater testing reveals positive cases in SA
Wastewater testing in South Australia has returned two positive results, the state’s Chief Health Officer Nicola Spurrier has revealed.
Coronavirus was detected in wastewater at Bolivar and Angaston, which is on a freight route.
Professor Spurrier said both tests returned “weak positives”.
“We have been doing wastewater testing for some time and one of the reasons is, it may be an early surveillance way of checking on whether we have Covid in our community.”
“At Angaston, we were testing wastewater up there for a long period of time since the Barossa cluster but Angaston is also a freight route so we often have people who are driving trucks from interstate stopping through Angaston.”
Professor Spurrier said the results did not mean there were definitely active cases in those communities, as traces of the virus remained detectable in people’s faeces for some time after they had recovered.
“We can’t trace that back and say there is definitely people in these areas with COVID-19, but what we can say is this is really a reminder that COVID-19 hasn’t disappeared from our state and it may be a very plausible explanation to say that because we have had some Covid-positive people in South Australia, we have picked this up as a signal from our wastewater.”
More people are now being urged to get tested in South Australia, which recorded one new case of Covid in the past 24 hours — a woman in her 20s who had travelled from Victoria and was now being quarantined in a medi-hotel.
READ MORE: Paul Kelly — Fortress premiers betray our nation
John Stensholt 4pm: Covid cost-cutting raises match fixing risk
Deep cost-cutting due to COVID-19 at most Australian sports could provide headaches for underfunded administrators and leave players more susceptible to match-fixing, drug-taking and organised crime, leading integrity officials warn.
This week saw the departure of the NRL’s chief operating officer, Nick Weeks, who was in charge of the integrity unit, while there have also been cuts in the AFL’s integrity unit and at Cricket Australia. Other sports such as rugby union have also signalled the need for drastic cuts to administration numbers.
Meanwhile, Olympic sports such as weightlifting and gymnastics are dealing with doping cover-ups and vote-buying at international levels and athlete abuse allegations, respectively, and a world championship softball player was recently caught driving with cannabis in his system.
And after an extensive investigation by The Australian and Daily Telegraph into the life of ice-skater Katia Alexandrovskaya, Australian Olympic, Commonwealth Games and Paralympic authorities have created a working party with Sport Integrity Australia and the National Sports Tribunal to develop an “independent framework” to deal with abuse, intimidation and other safeguarding issues in Australian sport.
Iain Roy, who investigated the notorious “sandpapergate” incident while at Cricket Australia, told The Weekend Australian that as financial cutbacks were happening at almost all sports, big or small, it was questionable whether many would have the resources to cope with an increasing integrity and governance workload.
Read the full story here.
Christine Kellett 3.40pm: ‘Don’t put your dad at risk tomorrow’
The nation’s deputy chief medical officer has implored Australians not to risk the health of their dads on Father’s Day tomorrow.
Professor Michael Kidd said Father’s Day would be difficult for many, especially those kept apart by border closures, lockdowns and other Covid restrictions, but it was ultimately for the best.
“Like many of our special days over the past eight months, Father’s Day is going to be different for many people in Australia this year,” Professor Kidd said.
“If you can’t see them in person, you can still reach out by telephone or video chat and come together virtually on the special day. Please do not breach any restrictions in your local area to see your father or put his health and well-being at risk, especially if you are living in an area of community transmission or under restrictions.”
READ MORE: Bernard Salt — An old-school lesson for dads
Erin Lyons 3pm: Virus may have spread to Queensland islands
A woman who tested positive to COVID-19 in Queensland overnight may have exposed vulnerable islanders and ferry travellers.
The woman, aged in her 60s and the only new Queensland case, is believed to be linked to the existing correctional academy cluster.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the woman travelled to and from Russell Island on a ferry while possibly infectious in the past three or four days.
“We have been concerned throughout the pandemic about the Southern Moreton Bay Islands,” he told reporters on Saturday.
“People on those islands, they are vulnerable and they often have difficulty accessing health services.
“We wanted to get a message out very quickly to people on those islands, or who have travelled on the Russell Island ferry to monitor their health very, very closely.
“If they have any symptoms whatsoever … please go and get tested.”
A fever clinic is being set up on the island and authorities are working on logistics of having testing available on other islands.
Mr Miles said there was no cause for panic or undue concern, but there was potential for others to have been exposed to COVID-19.
Queensland currently has 26 active cases.
Asked about the hotspot plan, Mr Miles said Queensland would work with the Commonwealth.
“The most important thing for us though is that we maintain the ability to respond to the outbreak here in Queensland as Queensland requires,” he said.
The deputy premier said he would love to open the domestic borders by Christmas or sooner.
“That will really depend on what happens with the virus between now and then,” he said.
“I really would love to see the virus under control in Victoria by Christmas.”
Throughout Mr Miles’ press conference, a man stood behind him holding a sign that read “reset parliament”.
READ MORE: Paul Kelly — State premiers are holding Scott Morrison hostage
Rachel Baxendale 2.30pm: Clarity lacking on aged-care fatalities
Victorian authorities have failed to clearly explain why they have only this week included an extra 100 aged-care deaths in the state’s coronavirus toll, as the number of COVID-19 deaths linked to nursing homes reached 505 on Friday.
There have now been 650 COVID-19-related deaths in Victoria since the pandemic began, all but 19 of which have occurred as a result of the second wave of the virus, caused by breaches in the Andrews government’s hotel quarantine program.
On Friday, Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services added 53 historic deaths to the tally, adding to 33 deaths revealed on Monday, two on Tuesday, three on Wednesday and nine on Thursday.
Federal and state authorities told The Weekend Australian aged-care facilities notified families of the deaths at the time, and reported them to the federal government and Victoria’s registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
However, until August 8, when federal Health Department secretary Brendan Murphy wrote to private aged-care providers, the nursing homes were not required to notify DHHS of the deaths, despite the department having responsibility for the reporting of coronavirus cases.
Read the full story here.
Anthony Piovesan 2.10pm: Couple slugged $13,000 after trip cancelled
Emails from Australia’s largest travel retailer have revealed a big-shot cruise operator “would not be able to stay afloat” if they offered full refunds on every trip cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The correspondence, seen by NewsCorp, comes after a Newcastle pensioner who bought a European river cruise for his wife’s 50th birthday tried to get back the $28,026 he paid after the dream trip was cancelled.
Scenic offered Jon Jones full travel credit until December 2022 or a 50 per cent refund of $12,837.
But Mr Jones said he could not take up the future travel offer due to a fluctuating auto-immune condition.
He also said his wife Shelly had battled two bouts of breast cancer, and travelling in the future “could never be a certainty”.
“How can Scenic sting us for 50 per cent of what we paid or hold all of our money for more than two years when we never cancelled the trip?” Mr Jones said.
“We both have challenges with our health – we don’t know what’s going to happen in two days’ time let alone two years – it’s just too risky for some unknown party to hold our money for that long.”
Read the full story here.
Christine Kellett 1.30pm: Things get heated at Melbourne protests
Anti-lockdown protests in Melbourne appear to be spreading, with demonstrators massing at Albert Park and the Shrine of Remembrance.
Video footage shows protesters have been met by a major police show of force, including police on horseback and PolAir.
Thousands of anti-lockdown protesters have abandoned the Shrine and are heading down St Kilda Rd @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/MlQLHVvzBt
— Aneeka Simonis (@AneekaSimonis) September 5, 2020
Clashes have broken out and several protesters detained.
In Sydney, high-profile sportsman Anthony Mundine has turned up at a ‘Freedom Day’ rally in Hyde Park.
You can follow our updates on the protests here.
Patrick Commins 1pm: Holdout states told to wave farmers through
Farmers have urged Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania to join the other states and territories and sign up to a uniform code to streamline the movement of critical agricultural workers across borders where restrictions are in place.
At a national cabinet meeting on Friday, NSW, Victoria, South Australia, the Northern Territory and the ACT agreed to adopt the National Agricultural Workers’ Code. The federal government said the holdout states would “consider the code as part of their border restriction arrangements”.
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said that “with a bumper crop expected due to improved seasonal conditions, today’s decision could not have come at a better time for farmers and agribusinesses” across the five jurisdictions which signed up’’.
Read the full story here.
Emily Cosenza 12.30pm: Police face off with anti-maskers in lockdown rallies
Victorian police are out in force amid fears thousands of people would take to the streets for another anti-lockdown rally.
With great public interest on a ‘Freedom Day’ rally on social media, police have been seen on horseback and around Parliament House, which was believed to be one of the locations targeted by protesters.
There have also been reports of officers stopping early morning walkers outside of the centre of state government.
A man has also been arrested ahead of the planned rally behind Parliament House.
The man was holding a sign which read: “State law inconsistent with the Commonwealth of Australia, Constitution 1902.”
The man was seen was seen being taken into the back of a police car.
Further arrests have been made at Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance, including a woman who was taken Melbourne West police station and a maskless man who repeatedly called police “Nazi dogs”.
A woman and an elderly man wearing a green face protector were also placed in handcuffs before 10.30am.
Two women, including one in a tin foil hat, were also fined for breaching COVID-19 orders.
Following the arrests, protesters moved from the Shrine and began marching down St Kilda Rd.
READ MORE: Gerard Henderson — Truth unmasked, we’re not in this together
Emily Ritchie 12pm: Sydney’s ‘worst venue to date’ named and shamed
The state’s liquor authority has labelled the Bondi Bowling Club as “the worst venue to date” for failing to comply with coronavirus health orders, issuing a $10,000 fine for social distancing and hygiene breaches last week.
Liquor and Gaming director of compliance Dimitri Argeres said the state was “still on a cliff edge” in combating the virus and has encouraged the public to provide feedback - including complaints, compliments and suggestions - about venues’ levels of compliance with COVID-safety rules.
When inspectors visited Bondi Bowling Club on August 29 they found multiple group bookings of more than 10 people, no social distancing, people mingling while drinking and inadequate signage.
“While we came across Bondi Bowling Club’s breaches during a routine visit, we also use information and feedback from the public along with other sources of intelligence to focus our inspections on venues posing a higher risk,” Mr Argeres told the ABC.
He said the club was operating “as though the COVID safety measures were optional”. “This presented a pretty grim picture of patrons and staff who are simply ignoring the restrictions everyone else has to live with and putting the entire community at risk,” he said.
READ MORE: Greg Sheridan — Rampaging virus could change us forever
Emily Cosenza 11.51am: Cop offered $1000 to allow border crossing
A man has been charged for allegedly attempting to bribe a police officer to let him cross the NSW-Victoria border.
According to NSW police, the 66-year-old’s vehicle was stopped at the Barmah Bridge checkpoint about 2pm on Friday.
Officers spoke to the driver and asked for his border permit to enter the state.
That was when the man allegedly offered an envelope containing $1000 to the officer.
The Victorian man was arrested and taken to Deniliquin Police Station, where he was charged with giving or offering a bribe to a member of NSW Police.
He was granted strict conditional bail and is due to appear in Moama Local Court on November 4.
READ MORE: Queensland virus cluster grows
Emily Ritchie 11.25am: Six new cases in NSW, including hospital worker
There have been five new cases of coronavirus reported in NSW in the 24 hours to 8pm Friday, with a sixth new case diagnosed overnight.
One of the new cases is a returned traveller in hotel quarantine and four cases are locally acquired and linked to the CBD cluster. That cluster has now grown to 61 cases.
The sixth case is an emergency department health professional who worked two shifts earlier this week while potentially infectious.
One shift was at Concord Hospital emergency department on September 1 and another in the Liverpool Hospital emergency department on September 3.
The worker was wearing personal protective equipment while in contact with patients during those shifts and immediately isolated when they started feeling unwell on Friday.
Investigations are underway as to the source of their infection, and all close contacts have been contacted.
Another of the cases reported on Saturday went to Kuleto’s Cocktail Bar in Newtown on Friday August 28 between 6.30pm and 9.30pm. NSW Health is urging anyone who was there for at least one hour during that period to immediately get tested and isolate.
NSW Health is currently treating 94 active cases of the virus, including six in intensive care and four of those requiring a ventilator.
READ MORE: ‘Berejiklian the only premier who stuck to the strategy, and it’s working’
Emily Ritchie 11am: Thousands will die if we open now, says Andrews
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has warned “thousands” of people would die if the state was to lift restrictions based on current levels of infection and community transmission.
The state recorded 76 new COVID-19 cases and 11 new deaths on Saturday — six of those deaths were from the past 24 hours and another five deaths occurred over recent days.
Mr Andrews said 10 of those deaths were connected to aged care outbreaks, with one other new case under investigation with the source currently unknown.
Mr Andrews said the government would only ease restrictions once the coronavirus second wave was “truly defeated”.
“To open up with those numbers would, of course, see the total number of coronavirus infections explode,” Mr Andrews said.
“It would see many, many hundreds, indeed thousands, of Victorians infected with this virus. So, as frustrating, as challenging as it is, we need to stay the course on this. That’s why tomorrow we will outline a road map to ease these important restrictions, to ease out of the second wave, once it’s appropriately and properly defeated. Truly defeated.”
Mr Andrews said he would be announcing his government’s plan for a “slow, steady and safe easing” of restrictions on Sunday.
There are 298 Victorians in hospital being treated for the virus, 21 in intensive care and 15 of those requiring a ventilator.
The state’s chief medical officer Brett Sutton said he had “some impatience” about the slow decline in daily COVID-19 cases.
“It is heading in the right direction but it’s too slow for all of us,” Professor Sutton said.
“It’s too slow for me, but it is going in the right direction.”
He said the state was experiencing the “last gasp” of the virus and were on the cusp of defeating it.
“We are on the winning stretch now, there’s no question,” Professor Sutton said.
“This is the last gasp of the virus, and we need to work harder than maybe we’ve ever done before to make sure that that last gasp is, indeed, the last one.”
READ MORE: Janet Albrechtsen — Is this really Australia in 2020?
Robyn Ironside 10.39am: Virgin rescue ‘the save of the century’
Virgin Australia chief executive Paul Scurrah has predicted the airline’s rescue will go down as “one of the greatest achievements in corporate history”, after creditors overwhelmingly backed the sale to Bain Capital.
An impressive 99 per cent voted in favour of the $3.5bn sale by deed of company arrangement to Bain, with a majority of all stakeholder groups, including bondholders, backing the deal.
The result followed an intensive 4½ months of administration, following the appointment of Deloitte in April when Virgin Australia ran out of options.
With $6.8bn owing to more than 10,000 creditors and the pandemic devastating aviation, Mr Scurrah conceded things were not looking good.
“A lot of people had written us off,” he told The Australian.
But there was no shortage of interest from buyers, which Deloitte’s team, led by Vaughan Strawbridge, quickly whittled down to one.
Read the full story here.
Emily Ritchie 10.15am: Queensland records just one new case
Queensland has recorded one new case of COVID-19 overnight, with the Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk confirming it is a close contact of a previously reported case.
There are now 26 active cases of the virus in the state, and there have been almost 1 million tests conducted.
Saturday, 5 September – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) September 4, 2020
• 1 new confirmed case
• 26 active cases
• 1,129 total confirmed cases
• 960,993 tests conducted
Sadly, six Queenslanders with COVID-19 have died. 1,089 patients have recovered.#covid19au pic.twitter.com/dCUABKE7xZ
There have been six deaths in Queensland from the coronavirus, with 1089 people recovering from the illness.
READ MORE: Chris Kenny — Obsessed premier has lost touch with reality
Erin Lyons 10am: Three new Queensland venues put on high alert
Shoppers who visited two furniture stores or a Spotlight west of Brisbane have been put on alert and urged to monitor their symptoms after a positive COVID case visited the businesses.
The coronavirus case went to Spotlight and Fantastic Furniture at West Ipswich and Johnny’s Furniture outlet at Booval between 9.30am and 11.10am on August 29. The news comes just after a the 64-year-old skipper of a luxury superyacht that allegedly breached Queensland’s strict border ban has been charged by police.
Queensland Police said the man allegedly provided false information to an emergency officer about not leaving the yacht in NSW, when he actually had.
He has been issued with a notice to appear for breaching the public health act.
The Lady Pamela arrived at Coomera following a 15-day journey with seven people on board on August 25 after having previously travelled from NSW and virus-stricken Victoria.
Melbourne millionaire Mark Simonds and his family were allegedly on board.
It was reported that they were fined a total of $9000 fine.
It is understood Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young initially granted the passengers an exemption from mandatory quarantine.
Read the full story here.
Rachel Baxendale 9.30am: Clarity lacking on aged-care fatalities
Victorian authorities have failed to clearly explain why they have only this week included an extra 100 aged-care deaths in the state’s coronavirus toll, as the number of COVID-19 deaths linked to nursing homes reached 505 on Friday.
There have now been 650 COVID-19-related deaths in Victoria since the pandemic began, all but 19 of which have occurred as a result of the second wave of the virus, caused by breaches in the Andrews government’s hotel quarantine program.
On Friday, Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services added 53 historic deaths to the tally, adding to 33 deaths revealed on Monday, two on Tuesday, three on Wednesday and nine on Thursday.
Federal and state authorities told The Weekend Australian aged-care facilities notified families of the deaths at the time, and reported them to the federal government and Victoria’s registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
However, until August 8, when federal Health Department secretary Brendan Murphy wrote to private aged-care providers, the nursing homes were not required to notify DHHS of the deaths, despite the department having responsibility for the reporting of coronavirus cases.
Read the full story here.
John Ferguson 9am: Victorians are staring into an economic abyss
For the best part of six months, it has seemed that Melburnians have been locked up and shouted at in equal measure. The collective Victorian morale has been battered by a lot of venomous scapegoating as millions stare into an economic abyss.
In many instances, the loudest critics have had the least skin in the game, encouraging a form of back door civil disobedience that is doing nothing to take the national economy forward.
But commonsense, and basic statistics, say Premier Daniel Andrews’ approach is right. Open up too fast, and hard-fought gains would be lost in weeks. Even if Sunday’s road map to recovery provides limited relaxation of these awful curbs on our freedom. No one likes the loss of freedom.
The expert advice, with high double-digit new cases each day and higher, is that fully opening up the economy needs to occur progressively and only after the cases have been driven way down, possible even into single digits.
Read John Ferguson’s analysis on the strategy behind tomorrow’s road map announcement and why Premier Andrews is right to stay the course.
Christine Kellett 8.30am: Victoria records 76 new cases, 11 deaths
Victoria’s daily coronavirus cases remain in the double digits, with 76 new infections recorded in the past 24 hours, along with 11 deaths.
It follows 81 cases and 59 deaths recorded on Friday.
#COVID19VicData for 5 September, 2020.
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) September 4, 2020
76 new cases detected in Victoria yesterday. Sadly, 11 lives have been lost. Our condolences to their families. More information will be available later this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/VWGTREXhpV
Daniel Andrews has promised to unveil on Sunday his “road map” out of stage four restrictions, with a manageable suppression strategy expected to be the Premier’s plan of attack.
Read the full story here.
Agencies 7.54am: Boost for Trump as 1.37m jobs added in August
The US economy added 1.4 million jobs in August and the unemployment rate fell to 8.4 per cent as the country emerged from pandemic lockdowns, but the data shows the recovery is losing steam.
The drop in the unemployment rate from 10.2 per cent in July as reported by the Labor Department on Friday was welcome news for President Donald Trump, who called it “an incredible number” as he faces a tough fight for a second term in the November election.
Great Jobs Numbers! 1.37 Million Jobs Added In August. Unemployment Rate Falls To 8.4% (Wow, much better than expected!). Broke the 10% level faster and deeper than thought possible.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 4, 2020
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell also called the report “a good one” in an interview with National Public Radio, but said it would not shake the central bank from its strategy of keeping interest rates lower for longer since the recovery will take time.
Nearly a quarter of the August employment gains were in government jobs, particularly temporary work for the 2020 census, and employment in the world’s largest economy remains 11.5 million positions or 7.6 per cent below the level in February, before the coronavirus pandemic struck. — AFP
READ MORE: Gerard Henderson — Truth unmasked: No, we’re not all in this together
Agencies 7.25am: Encouraging results for Russian COVID-19 vaccine
Early tests of a Russian coronavirus vaccine showed encouraging results when details were published overnight, but experts said the trials were too small to prove safety and effectiveness.
Russia announced last month that its vaccine, named “Sputnik V” after the Soviet-era satellite that was the first launched into space in 1957, had already received approval.
This raised concerns among Western scientists over a lack of safety data, with some warning that moving too quickly on a vaccine could be dangerous.
Russia denounced criticism as an attempt to undermine Moscow’s research and a Russian investor claimed vindication when Britain’s prestigious Lancet published research that showed patients in early tests developed antibodies with “no serious adverse events.”
NEW—Preliminary results from Russian trials find that #COVID19 vaccine candidates led to no serious adverse events and elicit antibody response https://t.co/jGUwQa8oNd
— The Lancet (@TheLancet) September 4, 2020
Thread (1/8) pic.twitter.com/NWBpWDvUK3
In the Lancet study, Russian researchers reported on two small trials, each involving 38 healthy adults aged between 18 and 60, who were given a two-part immunisation.
Each participant was given a dose of the first part of the vaccine and then given a booster with the second part 21 days later.
They were monitored over 42 days and all developed antibodies within the first three weeks.
The report said the data showed that the vaccine was “safe, well tolerated, and does not cause serious adverse events in healthy adult volunteers”. — AFP
READ MORE: Angela Shanahan — ‘It’s the pandemic, stupid ... keep borders shut’
Agencies 6.30am: Iraq hospitals may ‘lose control’ after huge spike
Iraq has recorded its highest single-day rise in COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, prompting authorities to warn hospitals may “lose control” in the coming days.
According to the Iraqi health ministry, 5,036 new coronavirus infections were confirmed on Friday, bringing the total number of cases across the country to 252,075, of which 191,368 had recovered, but 7,359 had died.
The health ministry attributed the spike to recent “large gatherings” that took place without recommended safety measures, including mask-wearing or social distancing.
That included the marking on August 30 of Ashura, a major Muslim day of mourning that commemorates the killing of the Prophet Mohammed’s grandson Hussein in 680 AD.
On that day, tens of thousands of Shiite Muslims converged on the holy city of Karbala in southern Iraq.
Iraq’s hospitals have already been worn down by decades of conflict and poor investment, with shortages in medicines, hospital beds and even protective equipment for doctors.
Ahead of Ashura, the World Health Organisation had warned that COVID-19 cases in Iraq were rising at an “alarming rate” and said Iraq should take action to end the community outbreak “at all costs”.
READ MORE: Greg Sheridan — Rampaging virus could change us forever
Rachel Baxendale 5.30am: ‘Don’t go to protest’, conspiracy theorist warns
Police have raided the home of a prominent anti-coronavirus conspiracy theorist and charged him with incitement, ahead of a planned protest in Melbourne’s CBD today.
James Bartolo, 27, shared footage online of his dramatic arrest, saying he had been on the toilet when police smashed open the door and tackled him to the ground.
The former bodybuilder runs conspiracy website The Conscious Truth Network and is the fifth Victorian arrested this week over plans for an illegal “Freedom Day” rally on Saturday.
Police said they had executed a search warrant in the outer northwest Melbourne suburb of
Mr Bartolo told his social media followers he was “all good” following the arrest.
“Woke up this morning, jumped on the dunny, heard some knocks on the door,” he said.
“It was all the cops, they broke down the door, arrested me, they took computers, laptops (and my) phone.
“It is a bit of a pain in the ass. They stole my shit. Whatever. I’m fine.”
Mr Bartolo told supporters to not attend today’s rally because he was “concerned about the safety of the brave men and women who planned to go”.
“It is a trap, duh,” he said.
“It is the worst possible thing to do. It is a set up from the get go. It is all just terrible. Don’t go to that one. What is going to happen, Dan Andrews will blame the protest for the lockdown extension. Don’t go to the protest.”
READ MORE: COVID-19’s painful, lingering legacy revealed
Rosie Lewis 5.15am: Queensland sides with WA on border closures
Australia is a divided nation with Western Australia splitting from the rest of the country over a road map to lift state borders by Christmas and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk saying she will not be “intimidated” into removing her hard border with NSW.
After the 27th national cabinet meeting yesterday, Scott Morrison conceded the country had at times felt like it “could break apart” during the COVID-19 pandemic as he was forced to scrap the consensus approach that had been used to drive health and economic recovery until this week.
While the Prime Minister said seven of the eight states and territories agreed in principle to work towards reopening Australia by Christmas, including by lifting state borders, WA Premier Mark McGowan declared that, if he opened his state, people would die.
Ms Palaszczuk, who will head to the polls on October 31, tweeted late on Friday that she had not agreed to the commonwealth’s COVID-19 hot spot model in its current form and was siding with WA on borders.
Queensland has not agreed to the Federal Government’s hotspot definition @markriley7. I agree with WA - our borders protect our health and our economy.
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) September 4, 2020
Read the full story here.
Stephen Lunn 5am: Nursing home death toll falls, despite COVID-19
The number of deaths of nursing home residents has fallen by almost 1000 in the first seven months of 2020 compared with the year before, even taking into account those who have died this year from coronavirus.
Overall, 32,398 nursing home residents have died in the year to July, unpublished Department of Health data reveals, compared with 33,383 in the first seven months of last year.
In particular the autumn and winter months of May, June and July have experienced significant year-on-year falls. In July last year, 5455 nursing home residents died, compared with 4747 in July this year.
While most of the 505 COVID-19 related deaths in Victorian aged-care facilities to date were reported in August, the Andrews government this week added more than 80 deaths that occurred in July or August. Those deaths were reclassified after inconsistencies between the way state and federal authorities report them.
Twenty-nine nursing home residents died in earlier outbreaks in NSW, including 17 at Newmarch House.
Read the full story here.
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Teen murder accused ‘could face adult time’
The teenager charged over the accused killing of Universal Store co-founder Greg Josephson could become the first juvenile to be tried under the Crisafulli government’s tough youth crime laws.
Nation’s largest green hydrogen project axed
Labor’s centrepiece $12.5bn ‘green hydrogen’ hub in Gladstone has been quietly terminated, following the collapse of $100bn in green energy projects.
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