Coronavirus Australia live news: Contact tracing teams swamped as Melbourne BLM protest numbers worse than feared
All 32 locked-down local government areas in Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire had at least three known active cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday.
- More cases linked to BLM protest
- Pub cluster patient zero identified
- Qld to become AFL central
- Divorce rate set to soar
- Andrews style lockdown not for NSW
Hello and welcome to The Australian’s rolling coverage of the continuing coronavirus pandemic. Health authorities reveal a growing number of Melbourne cases linked to the BLM protest. As Daniel Andrews weighs tightening restrictions in Victoria even further, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has explained why it’s unrealistic to expect to eliminate the virus in her state. Victoria has recorded 238 new cases today and a woman in her 90s has died, while the cluster in NSW grows with 10 new cases added to it.
Angelica Snowden 11:00pm: School in Melbourne closes due to virus
A prestigious Anglican school in Melbourne has been shut after a teacher tested positive to COVID-19.
Lowther Hall principal Elisabeth Rhodes confirmed in a letter to parents on Wednesday night that a teacher had contracted the virus.
“It has come to our attention that a staff member within the Senior School Lowther Hall community who was on site today has tested positive to COVID-19,” Ms Rhodes said in the letter.
“The staff member was asymptomatic and undertook the test as part of the generalised suburb- based testing, as encouraged by the Premier,” she said.
“As a result of this information, we will now be closing the School campus for the remainder of the week so that we can undertake a deep clean.”
Students and staff who were deemed to be in close contact with the senior school teacher will be contacted by the school. They will have to self-isolate until they are contacted by the Department of Health.
The all-girls school in Essendon will be closed for the remainder of the week. Only kindergarten students will go back to school on July 20.
All other students from year one and up will be shifted back to remote learning.
Ms Rhodes said she was “disappointed to be starting the term in this way” and acknowledged that some families “will be feeling highly anxious”.
“But please be assured that we will do everything necessary to make the site safe and to follow up with anyone at risk,” she said.
The school has a reputation “for providing a well-rounded education for girls in an intimate environment of 800 students from Kindergarten to Year 12”, according to its website.
Penny Hunter 9.05pm: Domestic travel spontaneity is out the window
The reality for Australians travelling domestically is that spontaneity is out the window, patience is a virtue.
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Rachel Baxendale 8.30pm: Contact tracing teams swamped
In a clear demonstration of just how widespread the virus is across the city, all 32 locked-down local government areas across metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire on Wednesday had at least three known active cases of COVID-19.
In 24 of these, there were at least 10 cases while 12 had at least 50 cases.
In a further indication of the challenge facing authorities with Victoria’s second wave, there have been 790 cases of COVID-19 with no identified source, including 458 in the fortnight to Wednesday, with cases added to that tally only once the contact tracing process has been
Another 209 of Victoria’s 238 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday remained “under investigation” as contact tracing teams struggled to keep up with 1931 active cases and their close contacts — 1516 more than they were dealing with two weeks ago.
As the active cases have risen, so have hospital admissions, with the number hospitalised with coronavirus passing 100 for the first time on Wednesday.
There are 105 people in hospital, including 27 in ICU, of whom 22 are on a ventilator.
Read the full story here
Patrick Commins 7.40pm: Investors at higher risk of scams
Consumer complaints to the corporate watchdog had spiked by 20 per cent during the COVID-19 pandemic, ASIC chairman James Shipton told a parliamentary committee.
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Anne Marie Chaker 7.15pm: Has COVID killed helicopter parenting?
The pressures of the pandemic have forced families to abandon the hypervigilant approach popular since the 1990s.
Read the full story here
AFP 6.40pm: Hong Kong reimposes tough restrictions
Hong Kong reimposed tough social distancing measures on Wednesday — shuttering many businesses and making facemasks on public transport mandatory — after a spike in coronavirus cases threatens to undo months of success against the disease.
The finance hub was one of the first places to be struck by the coronavirus when it emerged from central China late last year.
But it had impressive success in tackling the disease with just over 1500 infections, eight deaths and local transmissions all but ended.
In the last two weeks, however, more than 200 local infections have been recorded and officials believe the virus is spreading again among the densely populated city of 7.5 million.
Health authorities described the situation as “very worrying”, with more than 70 of the recent local cases having an unknown origin.
Hongkongers widely adopted facemasks to deal with the epidemic when it first emerged, but from Wednesday they were made compulsory on public transport.
A 70-year-old man was the first to be arrested for not wearing a mask on the city’s subway under the new regulations, local newspaper Apple Daily reported.
Those who breach the rules face a HK$5000 ($927) fine.
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Agencies 6.12pm: Five workers infected at Royal Children’s Hospital: report
Five healthcare workers have tested positive to COVID-19 at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports seven other staff members are self-isolating at home for 14 days.
READ MORE: Sydney’s patient zero located
Richard Ferguson 5.25pm: UNSW to shed 500 full-time jobs amid virus crisis
UNSW is set to shed 500 full-time jobs and faces a $600m COVID-induced budget black hole, but vice-chancellor Ian Jacobs is adamant Sydney’s second biggest university will soon become one of the top 50 academies in the world.
Professor Jacobs on Thursday will release his planned restructure of UNSW to face the huge financial losses caused by COVID-19 and the dearth of high-fee paying international students, which will see faculties and administrative roles at the university streamlined.
UNSW staff on Thursday will also be offered the chance to apply for voluntary redundancies, before the university begins looking at compulsory lay-offs.
The vice-chancellor told The Australian on Wednesday a big boost in Australians looking to study during the pandemic and the loyalty of foreign students sticking with UNSW via online courses had prevented even more dramatic job losses.
READ the full story here.
Victoria Laurie 4.35pm: WA records spike in Covid cases
Western Australia has recorded eight new cases of COVID-19 overnight, a small but significant spike in the state’s recent period of low or nil rates of new infections.
All of the eight new cases relate to returned overseas travellers who are in hotel quarantine, meaning that WA continues to have virtually no cases of community-based transmission.
WA’s Health Minister Roger Cook said he was going to “double down” on domestic arrivals from Victoria to limit any potential spread of the virus. Victorian arrivals will be tested as thoroughly as international arrivals, he said, and would be required to wear a mask, be tested on arrival, and then re-tested 11 days later.
“”This means we have the most rigorous airport screening procedure in Australia,” he said.
There are now 29 active COVID-19 cases, of which 22 are from WA and seven are from interstate.The state’s total now stands at 644, with 606 people already recovered from the virus in WA.
Yesterday 753 people presented to state COVID-19 clinics, and of those 715 were swabbed. To date there have been 214,685 COVID-19 tests performed in WA.
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Rachel Baxendale 4.20pm: All locked down LGAs have virus infections
Every single one of Victoria’s 32 locked down metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire local government areas has at least three active cases of COVID-19.
There are 24 with more than 10 cases of coronavirus, and 12 of those have at least 50 cases, showing just how widespread the virus is across Melbourne.
Wednesday’s Victorian LGA COVID-19 active case data shows the most significant net increase since Tuesday was in Wyndham, in Melbourne’s outer southwest, with a net increase of 18 active cases.
Wyndham now has the most active cases of any local government area, with 249, outstripping Hume in the outer north with 235 active cases and a net decrease on Wednesday of 11, due to people recovering from the virus.
Wyndham is home to Al-Taqwa College, which is Victoria’s second-largest cluster to date and has been linked to 150 cases.
The City of Melbourne and Moonee Valley, with 209 active cases each, round out the top four.
Those two local government areas are home to eight public housing towers in North Melbourne and Flemington, in Melbourne’s inner northwest, which have so far been linked to 247 cases.
The City of Melbourne is also home to a cluster of 36 cases in public housing in Carlton, in the inner north.
The number of active cases in regional areas outside the lockdown again rose to 35 active cases, up from eight cases a week ago and 32 on Tuesday.
Active confirmed cases of COVID-19 by LGA as of Wednesday, with net increase since Tuesday in brackets:
Wyndham (outer southwest): 249 (+18)
Hume (outer north): 235 (-11)
Moonee Valley (northwest): 209 (+14)
City of Melbourne: 209 (-2)
Brimbank (outer west): 156 (+3)
Moreland (north): 111 (+14)
Whittlesea (outer north): 71 (+1)
Melton (outer northwest): 69 (+11)
Banyule (northeast): 63 (+12)
Maribyrnong (inner west): 59 (+7)
Darebin (north): 56 (+5)
Yarra (inner northeast): 57 (+10)
Hobsons Bay (inner southwest): 39 (+7)
Casey (outer southeast): 34 (+5)
Whitehorse (east): 34 (+5)
Manningham (east): 26 (+2)
Monash (southeast): 23 (+2)
Boroondara (east): 23
Stonnington (inner southeast): 21 (+1)
Port Phillip (inner south): 20 (+3)
Mitchell (central regional Vic, north of Melb): 14 (+2)
Greater Dandenong: (outer southeast): 11 (+6)
Cardinia (outer southeast): 11 (+3)
Nillumbik (outer northeast): 10 (+2)
Glen Eira (east): 9 (+3)
Maroondah (outer east): 8
Kingston (southeast): 7 (+2)
*Greater Geelong (southwest regional Vic): 7 (+1)
Knox (outer east): 5 (-1)
Mornington Peninsula (inner regional, southeast): 5 (+3)
Yarra Ranges (outer east) 5
Bayside (southeast): 4 (-1)
*Macedon Ranges (central regional Vic): 3 (+2)
*Golden Plains (western regional Vic): 3
*Bass Coast (southeast regional Vic): 3
*Baw Baw (eastern regional Vic): 3
Frankston (outer southeast): 3
*Greater Bendigo (central regional Vic): 3 (-1)
*Horsham (western regional Vic): 2 (+2)
*South Gippsland (eastern regional Vic): 2
*Moorabool (western regional Vic): 2
*Latrobe (eastern regional Vic): 1
*Campaspe (northern regional Vic): 1
*Swan Hill (northwest regional Vic): 1
*Warrnambool (southwest regional Vic): 1
*Surf Coast (southwest regional Vic): 1
*East Gippsland (east regional Vic): 1
*Greater Shepparton (northern regional Vic): 1 (-1)
Interstate: 3
Unknown: 37 (-1)
TOTAL: 1803 (+128)
*Denotes LGAs outside the Melbourne metropolitan/Mitchell Shire lockdown
Source: Victorian Department of Health and Human Services
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Patrick Commins 4.05pm: Nation’s fiscal horror story revealed
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Rachel Baxendale 3.45pm: BLM protest numbers worse than thought
Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services has revealed six people who have tested positive to COVID-19 attended the Black Lives Matter protest in Melbourne’s CBD on June 6.
The department has previously only confirmed four COVID-19 positive protest attendees.
The statement follows The Australian’s report on Wednesday of the department’s confirmation of a link between a family cluster of at least 30 cases including two of those protest attendees, and the outbreak of at least 242 cases in public housing towers in Melbourne’s inner northwest.
In a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, DHHS said:
“We are aware of six confirmed cases who attended the Black Lives Matter protest. Currently there is no evidence to suggest they acquired the virus from the protest.
“None of these cases are (sic) known to reside at a major public housing complex. Currently no known nor suspected episodes of transmission occurred at the protest itself.”
Here’s what DHHS has previously confirmed about four of the six confirmed cases in protest attendees:
June 11: DHHS confirmed a non-indigenous man in his 30s had tested positive through “routine testing” and “may have been infectious” while at the rally.
June 15: DHHS confirmed a second protest attendee had tested positive, saying: “The source of infection is under investigation, but at this stage there are no links to the previous case who attended the protest. They were not thought to be infectious at the time of attending the protest.”
June 18: DHHS confirmed an H&M Northland worker who was “was not infectious at the time” of the rally had tested positive. “The source of acquisition for this case is unknown, and no links have been identified between this and other cases previously reported as having attended the march. This new case worked at the H&M store at Northland while infectious,” DHHS said.
June 22: DHHS confirmed another H&M worker who was part of a larger cluster of H&M workers and family members had attended the protest “but is not thought to have acquired the infection from the protest.”
The Australian has put the following questions to the department, in response to the statement on Wednesday afternoon:
- When did two previously unpublicised positive cases who attended the protest test positive to COVID-19?
- Why were their cases not made public, given the other four were?
- Has a source of infection been established for all six cases, and if not, how have you been able to conclude that they did not contract the virus at the protest, particularly given you’re aware of at least one person who “may have been infectious” at the protest?
- Can you rule out the two previously unpublicised cases having been infectious at the protest?
READ MORE: Protesters linked to tower cluster
Ewin Hannan 3.20pm: Victorian workers warned to wear masks
Construction workers and managers in Victoria have been told to wear masks and undergo temperature checks at work given the increase in COVID-19 cases on building sites and the escalation of community transmissions In Melbourne.
“Emergency advice” issued by employer associations and unions on Wednesday said further measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 cases were required to “protect lives, save jobs and businesses”.
A Melbourne apartment project remains shut down after at least eight workers recently tested positive to COVID-19, the first documented cluster at a Victorian construction site.
The advice from employers and unions said wearing face masks and undertaking temperature testing were now “considered essential” as the measures could help significantly reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19 on sites.
Builders workers have been told to wear masks when travelling to and from work where they could not physically distance and on public transport.
Masks should be worn at work when in a hoist or lift, and when in a confined space.
“For most activities on building and construction sites, physical distancing can be maintained and has been,” a joint statement by employers and unions said. “Therefore, so far, there has been very few cases of COVID-19 on sites.
“However, like the rest of our community, there has been an increase in cases with the recent escalation of community transmission of the virus. Employer Associations and Unions worked together to act swiftly in the first wave of COVID-19, and we are acting swiftly again.
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Rachel Baxendale 3pm: 209 Victoria cases from unknown source
Of Victoria’s 238 new cases on Wednesday, only 29 have so far been linked to known clusters, with the remaining 209 under investigation.
Here’s what we know about the size of clusters with new cases on Wednesday:
- There are now 247 cases linked to public housing in North Melbourne and Flemington, in Melbourne’s inner northwest, up from 242 cases on Tuesday;
- There are now 36 cases linked to public housing in Carlton, in Melbourne’s inner north, up from 32 on Tuesday;
Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services says “investigations are continuing” into “if and/or how” the cases in the towers in all three suburbs are linked.
In other outbreaks:
- 150 cases have been linked to Islamic school Al-Taqwa College in Truganina, in Melbourne’s outer west, up from 147 cases on Tuesday;
- 33 cases have been linked to Somerville Meats retail services in Tottenham, in Melbourne’s west, up from 14 on Tuesday;
- 29 cases have been linked to Menarock Life Aged Care Facility in Essendon, in Melbourne’s northwest, up from 28 on Tuesday;
- 21 cases have been linked to JBS abattoir in Brooklyn, in Melbourne’s west, up from four on Sunday. This is in the same suburb as the Cedar Meats abattoir cluster which reached 111 cases in May;
- 12 cases have been linked to LaManna Supermarket Essendon, up from 11 on Tuesday;
Of new clusters not previously reported by DHHS:
- Nine cases have been linked to Embracia Moonee Valley aged care, in Melbourne’s northwest;
- Five cases have been linked to Steel Mains water pipeline manufacturer in Somerton, in Melbourne’s outer north;
- Four cases linked to Waste Equipment and Hiab Services in Ardeer in Melbourne’s west;
- Four cases linked to TD Cabinets in Dandenong South, in Melbourne’s southeast;
- Three cases linked to Bell Collision Repair Centre in Preston, in Melbourne’s north;
- Two cases linked to St Basil’s Homes for the Aged in Fawkner, in Melbourne’s north.
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Hannah Moore 2.41pm: Suppression is ‘the only option for NSW’
Suppressing the spread of coronavirus is “the only option” for NSW, Premier Gladys Berejiklian says, claiming it is “unrealistic” to consider we could eliminate the virus from the state.
Speaking at the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) on Wednesday, Ms Berejiklian said there would always be an element of risk because of the state’s large population and its obligation to welcome home returned travellers.
“I think suppression is our only option, especially when you’re welcoming Australians coming home,” she said.
“There’s always an element of risk.”
Ms Berejiklian said the disease was “insidious and virulent” and could be “bubbling away without detection” as some people never exhibit symptoms.
“Suppression is the right strategy, especially for a state the size of ours,” she said.
“You might be able to do it if you have a small population, but we don’t have that.”
While the Premier believes elimination is an “unrealistic strategy”, she believes the virus can be managed through the actions of individual people.
“Our next round of success or failure relies on people and their behaviour,” she said. “We know the rules and we know it works.”
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Rachel Baxendale 2.35pm: 790 Victorian cases with no identified source
There have now been 790 cases of COVID-19 in Victoria with no identified source, including 458 in the fortnight to Tuesday.
As of Tuesday, there are 1931 known active cases of the virus in the state - an increase of 1516 in two weeks.
Of Victoria’s total 4448 cases, 4017 have been in metropolitan Melbourne and 305 have been in regional Victoria, while 2329 have been in men and 2109 in women.
More than 1,197,300 tests have been processed.
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Sarah Elks 2.26pm AFL teams to move north for up to 10 weeks
AFL chief executive Gil McLachlan said Victorian teams would move to Queensland for up to 10 weeks, which would take the league to the end of the home and away season.
A “transition hub” will be set up in Queensland, where the players’ loved ones and “top up players” will have to quarantine for 14 days.
“This is a clear plan that makes Queensland the base for our competition and provides greater certainty for everyone,” Mr McLachlan said.
Anyone seen the new Queensland tourism billboards? #AFL pic.twitter.com/o4BgIra1hM
— NedsAU (@NedsAus) July 15, 2020
He said Melbourne, which is currently NSW-based, would move to Queensland next week.
Mr McLachlan said there was no decision to shift the Grand Final away from Melbourne, despite Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s bid to host it in QLD.
“There is no decision made on the grand final, this is the home and away season…the grand final is at the MCG until there are circumstances and reasons it can’t be and we’ll make a decision then,” he said.
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Erin Lyons 2.11pm: Disturbing flaw in COVID-19 testing
A flaw in testing for COVID-19 could result in 20 per cent of cases being missed, according to concerning new research.
Health authorities in Australia and across the world have been using the test and trace method in the battle against the deadly disease, but there are fears a disturbing number of cases are being missed.
Research from Johns Hopkins University in the US found people with the virus rarely returned a positive result during the first three days of their infection.
Instead, researchers found testing is more accurate between day six and eight of being infected, but even then it’s missed in one in five cases.
Professor of biostatistics at the University of Adelaide, Adrian Esterman, said in general the majority of tests produced both false negatives and positives, which was normal until that rate was “so large it causes major concern and would make (them) testing a waste of time”.
Prof Esterman said false positives were just as much of a concern.
As Victoria battles to stem its latest COVID-19 outbreak, the Andrews Government continues to test thousands of Melburnians from virus hot spots whether or not they have symptoms of the disease.
Despite a testing blitz not detecting every case, Prof Esterman said it was still the right way to go.
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Rosie Lewis 1.45pm: Why suppression is better than elimination
A key employer group has warned the COVID-19 outbreaks in Greater Melbourne and six-week lockdown should not be used by premiers and chief ministers to switch from a suppression to an elimination strategy, saying it would “tank the economy”.
Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox urged the states to remain united on a suppression strategy to combat the coronavirus, as divisions appear with Victoria saying eradication is “worthy of consideration”.
“Australia’s businesses and their employees will welcome today’s comments by the Prime Minister calling out the prohibitive costs of adopting an elimination strategy to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mr Willox said.
“The Victorian experience should not be seen as a reason to switch to an elimination strategy that would tank the economy. Rather, we should get the execution of the suppression strategy right, identify and correct mistakes and do our utmost to locate, isolate and treat new infections.
“Pursuing an elimination strategy would require us to close ourselves off from the rest of the world indefinitely and it would require draconian restrictions on Australian citizens and businesses. The costs of going down this route would be far greater than the extra benefits of seeking complete elimination.”
Mr Willox also endorsed NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian’s resistance to any further lockdowns in NSW while noting the costs of an elimination strategy would only sap business confidence, especially as government stimulus support measures are wound back.
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Sarah Elks 1.39pm: Queensland may expand Sydney hotspot suburbs
Queensland could add more of Sydney to its coronavirus “hot spots” list of residents banned from the state, as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she would not apologise for delays at the borders.
People who have been in Victoria, or Sydney’s Campbelltown or Liverpool regions, in the past 14 days are being turned around at the Queensland border.
Police are reporting delays of up to two hours at the M1 road border this morning, as they check every car with NSW number plates.
Ms Palaszczuk said she was not sorry about the delays.
“I don’t make any apologies about delays at the borders. I’ve asked people to plan their trips, it’s really important because we have hotspots in NSW and we have closed borders to Victoria…the police, the SES, and our firies are doing a brilliant job,” she said.
The Premier was asked whether more areas of Sydney could be added to Queensland’s banned list.
“We’re keeping a daily (watch) on it…we’re very comfortable with the process we’ve put in place at present,” she said.
She said the whole of Sydney would not be banned “at this stage…we’d have to see greater spread of the outbreak”.
“At this stage the outbreak is confined to those areas, and the Chief Health Officer is comfortable with those areas we’ve declared as hot spots,” she said.
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Sarah Elks 1.30pm: Queensland to become ‘centre of AFL’
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says Queensland will become “the centre of AFL” in Australia, if talks between the government and football officials are successful.
AFL boss Gil McLachlan rang Ms Palaszczuk shortly before she went into parliament on Wednesday morning, suggesting more Victorian teams be based in Queensland as the coronavirus crisis worsens in the southern state.
Currently, six of Victoria’s 10 teams are in Queensland. Under Mr McLachlan’s proposal, a further two teams would reportedly be shifted north. Currently, there are no Victorian teams based in Victoria.
Ms Palaszczuk said it was likely the teams would be based on the Gold Coast, and games are expected to be played at Metricon stadium in that city, and Brisbane’s the Gabba.
“In times like this we want to help Victoria out, and today I’m going to urge Queenslanders that when we have the other teams coming here, let’s adopt a Melbourne team and make them feel at home. It’s not often you get a Queensland Premier saying that,” she said.
Ms Palaszczuk said she had put in a bid for the grand final to be played in Queensland.
READ the full story here
Erin Lyons 1.24pm: Stop at work, then a party at the pub
More details have emerged about the Melbourne man identified as ‘patient zero’ responsible for the outbreak at the Crossroads Hotel in Sydney’s south-west.
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Anne Marie Chaker 1.09pm: Has virus ended helicopter parenting?
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Anthony Piovesan 12.57pm: Four try to flee Victoria on freight train
Four men allegedly tried to sneak out of locked-down Victoria by stowing away on a Perth-bound freight train overnight.
The train departed Melbourne about 10.30pm on Tuesday, and the Victorians were seen on-board the train at Adelaide Freight Terminal at Regency Park on Wednesday morning, Nine News reported.
Police swooped on the train yard, arresting the men aged 22, 26, 29 and 29, and charged them with breaching COVID-19 restrictions.
They were refused bail and are expected to appear at Adelaide Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
South Australia has closed its border to Victoria after a surge in virus cases.
It comes as Victoria nears further lockdown measures with the State Government refusing to rule out stage four restrictions.
Further lockdown laws would be inevitable if Victoria’s soaring coronavirus tally continues to rise after the state recorded 270 new infections yesterday, the chief health officer said.
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Adeshola Ore 12.41pm: Military specialists sent to help Victorian tracers
Specialist military logisticians will be deployed to Victoria to help the state governments with its coronavirus contact-tracing.
Making the announcement, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the help had been requested by the Victorian government.
“We are very much stepping in, underneath, at the request of and to support Victoria. This will increase the tasking,” he said.
Mr Hunt said there were 8 Victorian aged-care residencies where residents had COVID-19 and 24 where staff had the virus. All residents who test positive to the virus will be removed from the aged-care centre and sent to hospital for treatment.
The federal government will also send 500,000 masks to aged-care facilities in south-western Sydney in response to the region’s outbreak.
Health Minister Greg Hunt says all community transmission in NSW was due to the Crossroads Hotel outbreak, which he described as “heartening news.” He said NSW health authorities were on “vigilant watch” to contact-trace people who had visited the hotel during the window of concern.
“They are testing, they are tracing, they are isolating, so they are taking those steps,” he said.
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Adeshola Ore 12.02pm: Melbourne man identified as NSW ‘patient zero’
NSW Health have identified “patient zero” of the state’s recent outbreak, a Melbourne man in his 30s.
NSW Health epidemiologist Jennie Musto said the man who works in the freight industry travelled into NSW on June 30.
He attended his office in Sydney and then went to the Crossroads Hotel for a staff party, infecting six colleagues and 32 of the cases from the Crossroads Hotel.
Amos Aikman 11.50am: NT adds most of greater Sydney to hotspot list
The Northern Territory has added the majority of Greater Sydney to its coronavirus hotspot map. Anyone who has spent time in a hotspot will have to quarantine for two weeks after arriving in the Territory, even once the jurisdiction’s border controls are eased this Friday.
The new hotspot declarations, which came into effect on Wednesday morning, bring the total to 52 spanning much of the NSW and Victorian metropolitan capitals.
Chief Minister Michael Gunner said he would keep police on the Territory’s borders indefinitely.
“This situation in Sydney has the potential to get worse before it gets better, and we need to assume that it will get worse,” he said.
“To open our borders to Sydney right now, when we don’t know the full extent of this cluster, would be a roll of the dice. And I don’t gamble with the lives of Territorians.”
He promised to review Sydney’s hotspot declaration in a fortnight.
“I want to be clear: Sydney is not Melbourne. New South Wales is not Victoria. The problem is not as bad,” he said.
“We will review the Sydney hotspot declarations in two weeks – one full replication cycle of the virus – to see if they need to be extended or amended. I don’t anticipate this declaration being in place for as long as Victoria’s – but I will not make any promises about a date. This will stay in place for as long as we need it to – until we are confident it is under control.
Mr Gunner said anyone arriving from a hotspot would be offered the choice to turn around or pay $2500 to go into mandatory quarantine.
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Sarah Elks 11.43am: Queensland denies entry to 35 hotspotters
More than 35 people from NSW hotspots and Victoria have been refused entry to Queensland in the past day, after Queensland increased its coronavirus border restrictions.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced on Tuesday that people from Sydney hotspots, Liverpool and Campbelltown, would be turned around and not allowed into Queensland, along with people who had been to Victoria in the past 14 days.
Gold Coast chief superintendent Mark Wheeler said there were now “significant delays” at Queensland’s border on the M1 at the Gold Coast, because police were stopping every Victoria and NSW number-plated car.
There are delays of up to two hours, he said.
Since lunchtime yesterday, five people were turned back at the Coolangatta airport, and more than 30 were turned around at the road border.
Queensland’s health minister Steven Miles says the state may restrict travel for residents of more NSW areas if the state’s community transmission rates continue to climb.
“We will be constantly monitoring levels in other states and declaring hotspots, “ Mr Miles told ABC radio.
“That’s the system that will allow us to keep our border open, otherwise we would have to shut out all of NSW.
Anyone arriving in Queensland is required to present a completed border declaration form. The penalty for making a false declaration is $4000.
This week, Queensland announced it would introduce a potential six-month jail term for breaches of the public health order. The legislation brings the state in line with NSW’s maximum penalties.
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Samantha Bailey 11.37am: House prices to fall for rest of year
Australian house prices will fall for the rest of 2020 as the economy contracts and labour-market conditions deteriorate, Fitch Ratings analysts predict.
The ratings agency said nominal home prices will fall in the UK, Spain and Australia, while prices will be flat to slightly negative in the US and China. Prices are tipped to remain broadly flat in Germany for the remainder of the year.
“Under our baseline scenario, we forecast home prices to largely stabilise in the UK and Spain with a higher possibility of muted growth in Australia in 2021,” the analysts said.
“Any growth in the US, China and Germany will also be muted and prices could fall slightly in the US and Germany.”
Fitch said the pandemic was expected to have the smallest impact on house prices in China, due to a number of factors, including pent-up demand, lower mortgage rates.
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Adeshola Ore 11.21am: NSW records 13 new cases, 10 from pub outbreak
NSW has recorded 13 new coronavirus cases, including ten at Crossroads Hotel in south-west Sydney. There are now 34 confirmed cases of the virus linked to the Crossroads Hotel.
The state’s chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said six of the new cases attended the venue, two are close contacts of the pub’s patrons and two attended the Planet Fitness Gym in Casula.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said additional pop-up clinics had been set up in south-western Sydney in response to the recent outbreak.
“You don’t have to wait in long queues, just pick another spot. There are some more that are much quieter,” he said.
Dr Chant said anyone who attended Planet Fitness in Casula from July 4 to 10 must self-isolate and get a COVID-19 test.
There are now three COVID-19 positive people who attended the gym while infectious.
The other venues attended by COVID cases linked to Crossroads Hotel include:
- Western Sydney Leagues Club, infectious person visited July 11, between 9pm and midnight
- Western Sydney Leagues Club, infectious person visited July 12, between midnight and 0200 subsequent morning
- The Macarthur Tavern, infected person visited July 11, between 9.15pm and midnight
- Woolworths Bowral, infected person worked at store July 11, and July 12, between 12pm to 9pm both days
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Rachel BAxendale 11.11am: Victoria record 230 cases, one new death
The death of a woman in her 90s has brought Victoria’s COVID-19 toll to 27, as the number of people in the state’s hospitals with the virus surpasses 100.
The woman’s death follows the deaths of a man and a woman, both in their 80s, on Tuesday, with five deaths in as many days.
Victoria has recorded 238 new cases on Wednedsay, bringing the number of active cases in the state to 1931.
The 238 new cases from 27,040 tests processed on Wednesday represent a 0.88 per cent positive test rate - much better than Tuesday’s 1.23 per cent rate, but the third-worst positive test rate on record.
Victoria has now had a total of 4448 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
There are 105 people in hospital, including 27 in intensive care.
On Tuesday, this included a man in his thirties, four people in their forties, and five people in their 50s.
Of the 238 new cases, 29 have so far been linked to known outbreaks, and the remaining 209 are under investigation.
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Patrick Commins 10.51am: Pandemic sends consumer complaints soaring
Consumer complaints to the corporate watchdog have spiked by 20 per cent during the COVID-19 pandemic, ASIC chairman James Shipton has told a Parliamentary committee this morning.
Fake crypto currency term deposit products and fake investment schemes featured strongly among the complaints to ASIC, Mr Shipton said.
Head of assessment and intelligence Warren Day pointed to the “prevalence of scams during this time of people working from home and being remote from each other and looking for investment opportunities online”.
Mr Shipton said ASIC was also concerned about a “significantly bigger” uptick in retail investors involved in day trading and investing in complex financial products during the pandemic.
“We would implore retail investors to be very careful, considered and cautious, and don’t go in too headstrong.”
ASIC is “actively” considering which of its special regulatory reliefs implemented to assist businesses during the pandemic could eventually be made permanent, Mr Shipton said.
He said that the special rules allowing companies to hold virtual annual general meetings is an example of a regulatory relief which could outlive the health crisis.
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Kieran Gair 10.33am: NSW in new phase as transmissions grow
Health officials are concerned NSW is entering a new phase of contagion being fuelled by widespread community transmission after it emerged a growing number of pubs, supermarkets, and restaurants were exposed to the virus over the weekend.
The Crossroads Hotel cluster has also been genomically linked to the COVID-19 crisis gripping Melbourne after NSW Health revealed a Blue Mountains resident who dined at the venue on July 3 is linked to the Victorian outbreak.
It comes as two southwestern Sydney pubs announced their doors would be shut from Wednesday after infected patrons linked to the Crossroads Hotel cluster visited the venues over the weekend.
The Wests League Club in Leumeah and Macarthur Tavern in Campbelltown shut overnight after patrons infected with coronavirus visited the venues on Saturday, July 11.
Belfield restaurant Mancini’s Original Woodfired Pizza in Sydney’s west has also closed after a man with COVID-19 spent an hour at the store on Friday.
A Woolworths worker in the state’s Southern Highlands has also tested positive to COVID-19 in a worrying sign that the virus could be already spreading beyond Sydney.
In a statement on Wednesday, the supermarket confirmed a staff member at the Bowral outlet returned a positive test after working in the store on July 12.
The Crossroads Hotel outbreak grew to 30 cases on Tuesday night with the discovery of two new infections linked to the Planet Fitness gym in Casula.
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PAIGE TAYLOR 10.22am: WA to open border to island residents
Western Australia is about to open its border to residents of Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Australian territories untouched by the pandemic. The islands have been locked down since March 18 and there have been no cases of COVID-19 detected there.
The McGowan government has confirmed its border to other states and territories remains closed indefinitely, even to West Australians who wish to return home unless they meet strict criteria, but it is close to a deal with Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island that would allow the island residents to fly to Perth without the need for an exemption or any quarantine period. About 500 people live on Cocos (Keeling) Islands and about 1200 people live on Christmas Island. They are both Australian territories. Many residents routinely travelled to Perth three to four times a year to shop, see family or to simply take a break from their very small communities. West Island on Cocos, where public servants live, is a beautiful atoll but it is only 14sqkm. One resident told The Australian people were going “stir crazy” and needed to get off the island for a bit.
The new arrangement could result in a huge boost to businesses on Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island if it is extended to West Australians who wish to holiday on the Australian territories. Tourism operators on Cocos and Christmas islands have been trying for decades to entice more West Australians there for snorkelling, fishing, swimming with whale sharks and to see an array of rare wildlife including the annual red crab migration.
This has been hard because flights are expensive and, until the pandemic hit, West Australians could go to Bali for a fraction of the price.
“The WA Government is proposing to establish a travel zone between WA and the Indian Ocean Territories of Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, which will allow for the easing of travel restrictions,” a state government spokeswoman told The Australian on Tuesday.
“The arrangements to ease restrictions mean those entering WA from Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands will no longer be required to seek an exemption to enter or undertake self-isolation upon arrival.
Health authorities in WA have grown increasingly confident there is no community spread of COVID-19 and the state’s economy has slowly opened up.
Travel from the islands to Asia had been allowed on infrequent commercial flights before then, but it remains banned.
Perth is the only gateway airport from the islands to the Australian mainland.
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Adeshola Ore 10.15am: South-west Sydney: Long queues as people get tested
The Mayor of Wollondilly Shire in Sydney’s south-west has urged people to get tested for coronavirus elsewhere, after the queues of cars stretched to over one kilometre this morning.
Hundreds of cars lined up at Victoria Park testing clinic in Picton before the facility opened this morning, for the second day in a row.
Matthew Deeth told 2GB radio those who wanted to get tested in Picton should “bring a book and feel free to sit in the queue.”
It comes as a Woolworths store in Bowral, south-west of Sydney was closed overnight for cleaning after a staff member tested positive for the virus.
A pizza store in the south-western Sydney suburb of Belfield has also shut after a customer tested positive for COVID-19. In a Facebook post, Mancini’s Original Woodfired Pizza said the store had been notified by NSW Health about the infection.
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Adeshola Ore 10.09am: NSW regional club bans Sydney residents
A regional NSW RSL club has banned Sydney residents from visiting, as the state’s south-western cluster of coronavirus cases grew to 30 on Tuesday.
It comes as a second south-west Sydney pub confirmed a coronavirus case in a patron on Wednesday morning.
In a Facebook post, the Bathurst RSL said it had “taken the very difficult decision” to only allow members from regional and rural NSW to enter the venue for the next two weeks.
“Visitors from Victoria, Albury, Sydney, Greater Sydney and the Blue Mountains are being asked not to attend the Club,” the post read.
Bathurst RSL General Manager Peter Sargent told 2GB radio the decision was made to protect the club’s community.
“This is not intended to create any offence to anybody. We’re not looking to upset anybody or single anybody out in this,” he said.
“The last shutdown that we went through closed us down for three months, we can’t afford to close down again. We just don’t want to take that risk.”
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Richard Ferguson 10.02am: App being used extensively in Victoria: PM
Scott Morrison says the controversial COVIDSafe contact tracing app is being used to track down potentially positive people in 300 coronavirus investigations in Victoria alone.
The app has been derided by Labor after state health officers said the app has not been the primary tool in tracing COVID-19 cases since it was launched.
The Prime Minister said the app was now being used extensively to help quell the Melbourne outbreak and was “doing its job.”
“It is working. I know some are taking potshots at this (app) but that’s just politics,” he told Melbourne’s Triple M radio.
“I know some 300 cases are being supported through tracing of the app in Victoria.
“It’s supposed to work in combination with the physical tracing done by the contact officers. The two go together.
“Technically, it’s working fine and (working on) 300 cases. It’s doing its job.”
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Sarah Elks 9.54am: 18 Queenslanders come forward after Sydney pub visit
More than 18 Queenslanders have come forward to say they’ve been to the Crossroads Hotel in Casula in NSW, with 14 testing negative for COVID-19.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the remaining four were still waiting for their results, and he presumed more people who had visited the pub would come forward.
People coming over Queensland’s reopened border are also being asked whether they’ve been to the Crossroads Hotel between July 3 and July 10 and are being told to quarantine and get tested.
He said Queensland set a new testing record yesterday, with more than 6000 people being tested – all tests came back negative.
Zero new cases have been recorded, just four active cases remain in the state.
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Sarah Elks 9.48am: Palaszczuk wants AFL teams, plus the grand final
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the AFL has approached Queensland to shift more teams to the state — and the Premier wants the Grand Final played in Queensland too.
Ms Palaszczuk said strict protocols would have to be enacted.
“This is another way Queensland is helping Victoria,” she said.
Queensland has had zero new coronavirus cases overnight, and just four active cases remain.
“(We have had) no cases of community transfer since May,” she said.
AFL boss Gil McLachlan approached Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk today asking to shift more teams and players to Queensland.
Ms Palaszczuk told parliament Mr McLachlan was looking to book accommodation for “hundreds of players and officials at Queensland hotels for two months”.
“You can imagine what that means to those businesses,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“I stress none of these measures can happen without strict quarantine protocols and the COVID management plan that has allowed the AFL season to proceed.”
Ms Palaszczuk said the move was another “tick for the legacy of the Commonwealth Games and the Gold Coast’s Metricon Stadium”.
“It’s more fire in the belly for the (Gold Coast) Suns and the (Brisbane) Lions,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“And, as I told Gil, if the season is based here, then the Grand Final should be played here too.”
Negotiations between the AFL and the Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young are continuing.
Currently, Queensland is hosting six Victorian AFL teams, on the Sunshine Coast and on the Gold Coast. Games are being played at the Gold Coast’s Metricon stadium and Brisbane’s the Gabba.
Under the new proposal, eight of the 10 Victorian teams would be based in Queensland, with two more in Western Australia.
It appears no further home or away AFL games will be played in Victoria for the rest of the season.
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Adeshola Ore 9.38am: Positive case at yet another Sydney pub
A south-western Sydney pub says a patron has tested positive to coronavirus, amid a growing cluster of cases in the region.
In a Facebook post, The Macarthur Tavern said the customer visited the venue on Saturday, July 11 between 9pm and midnight.
“We are working closely with NSW Health on this case. Our patron’s safety is of utmost concern during these difficult times,” the post read.
“We have had strict procedure in place to prevent and control the spread of this virus and these procedures will continue to be put into action,”
The venue is currently shut for deep cleaning.
READ MORE: Crossroads cluster rising
Richard Ferguson 9.22am: Elimination ’cure’ would do more harm than good: PM
Scott Morrison has warned any pivot to a COVID-19 elimination strategy would double unemployment and a total lockdown “cure” would cause more harm than good.
With community transmission growing in Sydney and the Melbourne outbreak ongoing, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has resisted calls to put her state in total lockdown.
The Prime Minister backed that move on Wednesday, and said the suppression strategy and the slow re-opening of the national economy was still the right path to take.
“You don’t just shut the whole country down. That is not sustainable,” he told Melbourne’s Triple M radio.
“I’ve heard that argument. You’d be doubling unemployment potentially and even worse.
“The cure would be worse than what would be delivered (healthwise) arguably anyway.
“The right strategy is one we’ve all been pursuing together ... our federation is working better than it ever has.”
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Shae McDonald 9.14am: Covid lockdowns send divorce rate soaring
Australia’s divorce rate looks set to skyrocket as coronavirus restrictions and ongoing job losses push struggling relationships over the edge.
Google searches for the term ‘divorce’ surged to their highest point in 12 months at the end of June, surpassing the usual spike after Christmas and new year.
Couples on Queensland’s Gold Coast and the Central Coast in NSW are most unhappy, followed by those in Adelaide, Canberra and Perth.
Australian Family Lawyers head of legal Courtney Mullen said jokes made at the start of the first COVID-19 lockdown about a baby or divorce boom appeared to be coming to fruition for the latter.
“It’s consistent with the spike we’ve seen in inquiries,” she said, adding she and her colleagues had observed a marked increase in the number of people wanting information about separation.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next year or two we see more married couples file for divorce.”
Ms Mullen said that was consistent with what occurred after the global financial crisis in 2008.
There was an almost five per cent jump in divorces the following year.
“That to me says people were getting divorced because they had separated a year earlier,” she said, noting in Australia couples need to be apart for 12 months first.
The actual rate of breakups could be much higher when considering those in de facto relationships.
Ms Mullen said while plenty of people were making inquiries, not all of them were making it official.
“There are more cases at the moment, I think, of clients not being able to physically separate,” she said.
“One of the reasons is the cost of funding two households, while secondly it’s parents insisting on having parenting arrangements in place before they move out of the home.”
But the family lawyer predicted it could be a different story when economic condition improved and lockdown measures eased.
“When they’ve got that financial security again, are not socially isolated again and not having to work from home, it’s certainly possible we’ll see more people physically separating,” she said.
While there may be more divorces in the years ahead, the reasons for splitting haven’t changed, with cheating and debt remaining high on the list.
Ms Mullen said lockdown had resulted in couples spending more time together at home, perhaps giving them an opportunity to stumble upon things they wouldn’t ordinarily see.
“It’s flushing out some of the problems people are already having in their relationship,” she said.
Anyone who may be feeling distressed can contact the following organisations for support: Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636 SANE Helpline 1800 18 72 63 Lifeline 131 114
—NCA Newswire
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Adeshola Ore 8.33am: Hunt confident of tracking down all Crossroads contacts
Health Minister Greg Hunt says he is confident NSW health authorities can find all contacts of coronavirus cases linked to the Crossroads Hotel outbreak.
The number of confirmed cases linked to the pub in south-west Sydney is now 30.
Mr Hunt said NSW’s health authorities were well equipped to find the close contacts of positive cases from the outbreak.
“They are very professional at tracking and tracing. They have in place one of the most developed tracking and tracing systems, not just in Australia, but within the world,” Mr Hunt told Sky News.
Mr Hunt said the genomic link from the outbreak to Victoria was “not surprising.”
“This is one of the reasons why the Prime Minister, the two premiers made the difficult decision to quarantine Victoria to protect the country,” he told Sky News on Wednesday morning.
Mr Hunt said the Victorian government could impose further restrictions, after the state recorded 270 new cases of the virus yesterday.
“The level of restrictions will always be determined by the number of cases and the direction of cases, whether they are growing, whether they are on a path to significant expansion or whether they are stable.” he said.
“It’s in the balance in Victoria now, is the honest answer. The Victorian government has clearly and deliberately not ruled out the potential for further measures.”
The federal government has deployed 1000 Australian Defence Force personnel to assist with contact tracing in the southern state.
READ MORE: Lock down myopia may sink us
Adeshola Ore 8.22am: Unborn baby contracts virus in womb
Doctors in France have reported a case of an unborn baby contracting COVID-19 from their mother in the womb.
The case, published in Nature Communications Journal, involved a 23-year-old mother who was diagnosed with the virus in March. The scientists found evidence that the virus had crossed into her baby via the placenta. But the lead author of the paper said that in most cases there would be no health risks to the baby.
Until now, there had been limited evidence that suggested an unborn child could contract the virus from inside the womb.
Both mother and baby in the French case recovered well and were discharged from hospital.
Experts say cases of transmission of coronavirus from pregnant mothers to their babies are rare.
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Lindsay Wise 8.03am: Trump ends preferential treatment for HK
Donald Trump has signed into law a bipartisan bill that requires sanctions on Chinese officials who crack down on the rights of Hong Kong residents to free speech and peaceful assembly, as well as the banks that do business with those officials.
READ the full story here
Agencies 7.53am: US team in final stage of human vaccine trials
The US biotech firm Moderna said Tuesday it would enter the final stage of its human trials for its COVID-19 vaccine on July 27, becoming the first company to do so.
The trial will recruit 30,000 participants in the US, with half to receive the vaccine at 100 microgram dose levels, and the other half to receive a placebo. — AFP
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Adeshola Ore 7.42am: COVIDsafe app doing its intended job: Hunt
Federal Health Minister Gregt Hunt has defended the government’s contact tracing app, saying it has traced over 200 positive cases linked to outbreaks.
“It does what it is intended to do and that is to find people who are within proximity of others for a period of 15 minutes, which was the medical advice, within a distance of 1.5 metres,” he told Channel 9 on Wednesday morning.
“Think of it this way, not to have it would be beyond question. To have over 200 cases identified is the advice that was provided to the states and territories to the medical expert panel only yesterday.”
On Tuesday, Labor leader Anthony Albanese labelled the app a “dud”.
“We were told by the government that it would be a critical element in being able to trace people and we know that has not occurred for a single person. So, this is, at this stage, it would appear that it’s a $2 million dud,” he told reporters
On Tuesday, The Deputy Chief Medical Officer confirmed 6.5 million Australians have downloaded the COVIDSafe app. The federal government has said 40 per cent — or some 10 million people — would be needed for contact-tracing to be most successful.
Mr Hunt warned that more lives would be lost from the virus, as Australia surpassed 10,000 cases on Tuesday.
The Minister was asked today on @SkyNews about his attempt to put a mask on: "My wife was so disappointed. The whole family has declared it an epic fail....as someone wrote, it was unintended marketing genius. It did mean people were talking about it." #lols #auspol https://t.co/pSK1ZF6xhE
— Stephanie Borys (@StephieBorys) July 14, 2020
“There will be more people admitted to ICU and more on ventilation,’’ he said. “We are getting better, as is the world, in treating people,” he said.
On Tuesday, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Michael Kidd said he was concerned about the number of Australians on ventilators in intensive care. Of the 90 Australias in hospital for coronavirus, 85 are in Victoria.
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Adeshola Ore 7.25am: 30 NSW ‘hotspotters’ turned back at Queensland border
Queensland police turned 30 people away from the Gold Coast border crossing point on Tuesday, after the state announced two NSW LGAs were coronavirus hotspots.
Chief superintendent Mark Wheeler said the majority of the 30 people turned away came from the designated NSW hotspots.
“We saw five people turned away at the Coolangatta airport who had flown directly from Sydney to Queenlsand and they were put on the next plan and returned to NSW,” he told Channel 9 on Wednesday morning.
“The reason we’re checking all NSW registered vehicles at the moment is the public haven’t had a chance to catch up on the border declaration system... They haven’t been able to declare they haven’t been in a local government area of Liverpool or Campbelltown.”
Earlier this week, Queensland Police issued six Victorians fines, totalling $24,000, for crossing the state border.
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Adeshola Ore 7.05am: Queensland picking on Liverpool, says Lib MP
Liberal MP Craig Kelly has slammed Queensland’s decision to ban arrivals from residents of NSW’s coronavirus hotspots in response to the outbreak at the Crossroads Hotel.
On Tuesday, Queensland’s Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced that non-residents who have visited or live in Liverpool and Campbelltown would be unable to enter Queensland. The affected areas include 77 suburbs across NSW.
Mr Kelly, whose electorate includes Liverpool, said there was “no science” behind the decision.
“Just to arbitrarily pick on the whole of the Liverpool LGA without understanding that there’s a lot of other suburbs much, much, closer to the Crossroads Hotel,’’ he told 2GB radio on Wednesday morning. “It just seems completely discriminatory to me.
“Why not also ban people from suburbs like Cabramatta that are closer to Crossroads?”
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Adeshola Ore 7.00am: Global virus tally more than 13 million
COVID-19 has now infected more than 13 million people worldwide and killed more than 570,000, according to the John Hopkins University tally.
In the US, Alabama, Florida and North Carolina reported record daily increases of coronavirus deaths on Tuesday. The number of new cases began rising in the past six weeks, particularly in southern and western states which have lifted restrictions to ease the economic impact of job losses.
Florida reported 135 news COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday, while Alabama confirmed 40 deaths. North Carolina recorded 35 deaths, as the state’s governor ordered schools to reopen if safety measures can be met. Both Florida and New York also plan to return to face-to-face learning.
India is nearing 1 million cases – now the country with the third-most number of infections in the world. The country now has more than 906,000 cases, with 100,000 recorded in the past four days. The Indian Ministry of Health announced more than 24,000 new cases on Tuesday. India now has the third highest number of coronavirus cases in the world.
In Hong Kong, Disney has announced that Disneyland Park will close on Wednesday following fresh coronavirus restrictions announced on Monday. Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam announced new measures, including a ban of public gatherings of more than four people to stop the region’s rise of locally transmitted cases.
READ MORE: California rolls back reopening
Angelica Snowden 6.45am: NSW pub cluster linked to unique Victoria strain
A unique Victorian strain of COVID-19 has been linked to Sydney’s Crossroads Hotel outbreak, deepening concerns the virus could spread further into NSW from Melbourne.
The genomic sequence found in the NSW case has not been seen before in the state, official NSW Health advice stated
Medical advice, sent to chief health officer Kerry Chant, confirms that laboratory analysis had mapped four of the current NSW cases to Victoria. One of the cases was a man from the Blue Mountains who visited the Crossroads Hotel in Casula on July 3.
The number of cases linked to the pub in south-west Sydney is now 30.
Authorities are examining truck and logistics companies linked to Victoria to identify patient zero.
The Sydney spread will increase pressure on Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews over the state’s hotel quarantine failings, with Victoria’s chief health officer Professor Brett Sutton stating it was “conceivable” that all active COVID-19 cases in the state stemmed from the bungle.
Three other cases include:
A man who drove his caravan from Melbourne to south east Sydney on July 7
A woman from Albury who drove to Melbourne and one of her close contacts
Other cases linked to the Crossroads Hotel outbreak are still being genomically sequenced.
READ MORE: Lockdown myopia may sink us
Yoni Bashan 6.00am: Andrews style lockdown not for NSW
The NSW government has committed itself to avoiding a “Daniel Andrews-style lockdown” of the state to deal with rising cases of COVID-19 transmission, with the Victorian government’s policy being regarded as an economic catastrophe that will cripple businesses and jeopardise ongoing JobKeeper support from the federal government.
The Australian can reveal that senior members of the Berejiklian cabinet have united around a long-term COVID-19 strategy that does not support wide-scale lockdown measures of the kind deployed in Victoria and instead has warmed towards testing the state’s fortified hospital system against the impacts of the virus.
These school holidays, don’t take #COVID19 with you to the family catch-up or holiday. Stay in and get tested instead. Find a COVID-19 clinic near you: https://t.co/LmeATJ8ltz pic.twitter.com/LaQjRNbzYt
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 14, 2020
This is in part due to the disastrous effects of lockdowns on the broader economy, but also because relying on lockdowns will be unsustainable over the next two or three years once JobKeeper payments are switched off and the virus continues circulating without a vaccine.
The growing view among some senior NSW government ministers is that in order to survive the pandemic, members of the public will inevitably have to “get sick” and the state’s newly armoured healthcare system, which has tripled its ICU capacity, will have to be tested.
“There’s complete unity in the government that we will not go into lockdown, we do not want to go into a Dan Andrews-style lockdown,” one NSW government minister said.
READ the full story here.
Mackenzie Scott 5.45am: Uncertainty rules as house sales recoil
More than half the homes taken to auction since April failed to sell under the hammer in a market forced to adapt quickly to nationwide coronavirus restrictions.
The national capital city clearance rate fell to 47.9 per cent over the quarter from April to June, according to property researcher CoreLogic.
Falls reflected the strict six-week lockdown of the property market put in place at the end of March, which banned open homes and public auctions to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Uncertainty caused many nervous sellers to hold off or withdraw their homes from the market, with the number of auctioned properties falling 27 per cent in the past three months.
CoreLogic head of research Eliza Owen said the fall was felt across the whole property market.
“The initial market response to COVID-19 was a severe drop in sales and listings across both auction and private treaty sales methods. Many vendors who did not have to sell were initially unwilling to take their property to market in a time of high uncertainty,” she said.
READ the full story here.
Rachel Baxendale 5.30am: Grim warning for ICU wards
A man in his 30s and four people in their 40s were among 26 people in intensive care in Victoria with COVID-19 on Tuesday, as the state’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton warned that he expected “a couple of hundred” people to be hospitalised with the virus in the coming days.
The frightening intensive care ward statistics followed the deaths of a man and a woman, both in their 80s, bringing the state’s coronavirus death toll to 26, with four deaths in as many days.
There were eight people in their 60s in Victorian ICU with COVID-19 on Tuesday, representing the most common age bracket, as well as five in their 50s and six in their 70s.
A total of 85 Victorians were in hospital with COVID-19, up from just 15 a fortnight ago. Of the 26 patients who were in ICU, up from just two a fortnight ago, 21 were on ventilators.
READ the full story here.
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