Coronavirus Australia live news: ‘Disgusting’ Sydney quarantine hotel evacuated; Josh Frydenberg concerned about Daniel Andrews’ emergency power bid
More than 350 returned travellers are being evacuated from a Sydney quarantine hotel after complaints to police about lax hygiene standards.
- NSW records 3 new cases
- Victoria records 148 cases, 8 deaths
- Andrews defends emergency extension
- First case of reinfection recorded
Welcome to The Australian’s rolling coverage of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Josh Frydenberg says he is concerned by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ bid to extend his emergency powers by 18 months, and says the state government has a lot of questions to answer. Victoria records 148 new cases and eight deaths. NSW records just three new cases. A team of researchers in Hong Kong has documented a case of COVID-19 reinfection.
Ben Wilmot 11pm: Sydney shopping centre warns weekend visitors
A major shopping centre in the inner-Sydney suburb of Glebe has warned that customers who visited over the weekend could have been exposed to the coronavirus.
The shopping centre, managed by Mirvac, has since been deep cleaned but the company said it had received a notification from NSW Health authorities.
NSW Health said a customer who tested positive to COVID-19 visited The Apple Store and Kmart at Broadway Sydney on Saturday between 3.30pm and 5pm.
“Any customer who visited these stores during this time should monitor their health and, if they develop any COVID-19 symptoms, get tested immediately and self isolate,” Broadway said in a message to customers.
The Apple Store and Kmart were undertaking deep cleaning and working with NSW Health.
The shopping centre manager said that based on health advice, customers who may have visited other retailers in the centre, or visited at other times should not be alarmed. The centre and all other retailers will remain open.
The Broadway centre underwent a full centre clean Saturday evening and the manager said It would o-operate with NSW Health.
Rebecca Urban, Damon Johnston, Nicola Berkovic 10.30pm: Revolt over Andrews’ power grab
Daniel Andrews’ bid to extend Victoria’s state-of-emergency powers by a year is facing defeat after backlash from civil rights and Labor figures, as well as crossbench MPs.
Paige Taylor 10pm: Covid money buying ‘grog chaos and gambling’
Money from COVID-19 measures such as JobSeeker and the ability to tap superannuation accounts is creating misery in vulnerable communities, Indigenous leader Noel Pearson warns
Simon Benson 9.30pm: $1bn to boost ADF projects, recovery
Scott Morrison will bring forward $1bn from the budget to fund a COVID-19 jobs recovery and stimulus plan for defence industries.
Rosie Lewis 9.10pm: National cabinet’s secrecy to be challenged in court
Independent South Australian senator Rex Patrick has initiated legal proceedings over Scott Morrison’s bid to keep secret the national cabinet discussions and deliberations of Australia’s chief medical officers.
Olivia Caisley 8.40pm: Morrison has Colbeck’s back as sacking calls increase
Scott Morrison has defended Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck as demands grow for the Prime Minister to sack him over his handling of coronavirus outbreaks in the sector.
Rebecca Urban 8.10pm: Deficient practices blamed for surge
Poor practices have been blamed for a dramatic surge in the proportion of Victoria’s health sector employees acquiring the illness at work.
Olivia Caisley 7.40pm: Di Natale bids farewell to parliament
The former Greens leader has called for a reset of national politics as he said goodbye to the federal parliament.
Patrick Commins 7.10pm: Record fall in super contributions
Australians pulled more money out of super than they put in over the three months to June – the first quarterly drop in net contributions since the compulsory regime began in the early 1990s.
Adeshola Ore 6.40pm: Hundreds evacuated from quarantine hotel over hygiene
More than 350 returned travellers are being evacuated from a Sydney quarantine hotel after complaints to police about lax hygiene standards.
NSW Police said the Travelodge Hotel in inner-city Surry Hills “did not meet the expectations required as part of the quarantine program”. The operation, which began on Tuesday night, was expected to take 12 hours.
Luke Smith, 27, who checked into the budget hotel on Monday said he found a bloodstained mattress, mould on his bin and hairs on the carpet.
“I’m really excited about it (leaving the hotel) and to be moved into a place that is fit for humans,” he told The Australian.
“It was a bit like Big Brother, with an announcement coming over the hotel loud speaker saying we would be transferred out.
“It felt like you wanted to wear shoes the whole time. It was pretty disgusting.”
Mr Smith said he expected better after paying $3000 for his mandatory quarantine.
“It’s not right to be paying for this, locked up in a room. It raises concerns when the bathroom is unclean, there is hair on the bed. It’s a big hygiene hazard as well.”
Philip Willan, Oliver Moody 6.25pm: Young Italians blamed for rise in cases
Coronavirus cases have surged in Italy, topping 1000 on both days of the weekend and raising fears that the country may be facing a devastating second wave.
The new clusters are scattered around the country and are being blamed on young holidaymakers who ignore government guidelines as they drink and socialise. On Monday there were 953 new cases and four deaths.
Italy was the first European country to be engulfed by the pandemic and one of the first to emerge after a strict 70-day national lockdown. It was cited as a virtuous example for other countries that ignored the science and pursued the phantom of herd immunity. By last month Italians’ cautious behaviour had flattened the infection curve, with new cases often coming in at under 200 a day. But as the situation deteriorated in other European countries this month, so too have Italians seen the curve rise.
Of the 1210 new cases reported on Sunday, 239 were in the northern region of Lombardy — the centre of the first wave of infection — and 145 in its neighbour Veneto. The central Lazio region, which includes Rome, had the second-highest rate of infection, with 184 new cases.
Experts blame the rise on holidaymakers returning from at-risk countries such as Croatia, Greece, Malta and Spain and young people coming back from Sardinia, known for its pristine beaches and lively nightlife.
The Times
READ MORE: Covid lockdowns: overly blunt, costly
AFP 5.55pm: Seoul schools go back online
South Korea ordered all schools and kindergartens in the greater Seoul region to switch to online classes on Tuesday as authorities battle multiple coronavirus clusters.
The country’s “trace, test and treat” approach to curbing the virus has been held up as a global model, but it is now trying to contain several outbreaks, mostly linked to Protestant churches.
South Korea reported 280 new infections on Tuesday, taking the country’s total to 17,945.
The numbers are low in global terms but represent the South’s 12th consecutive day of triple-digit increases after several weeks with numbers generally in the 30s and 40s.
Most of the new cases have been centred in the greater Seoul region, home to half the country’s 52 million people.
READ MORE: Pandemic may be the lesser threat
Charles Bremner 5.25pm: Nudist resort tourists get nasty surprise
Tourists at France’s best-known naturist and partner-swapping resort are experiencing an exceptionally high rate of coronavirus infection, the health authorities said.
The regional health agency revealed a “very worrying” outbreak at Cap d’Agde, on the Mediterranean near Montpellier, after 30 per cent of 800 people tested were found to be infected.
The rate of positive tests is four times higher among people at the naturist colony than among people in the Cap d’Agde family resort, it said. People staying there were strongly advised “to practise all protection measures”.
The local authorities ordered people to wear masks everywhere at the naturist village, which has 35,000 visitors in usual summers, but fewer this season.
Tourists said social distancing was difficult in the colony’s sex clubs. “In the evening we’re all jammed together, one against the other,” one told France 3. “This is a place for meeting up. We don’t come to play cards.”
France reported almost 4900 new cases over 24 hours on Sunday, its highest figure since May. Health Minister Olivier Veran said the rising level carried a risk of starting a second round of the pandemic with the national return to work and schools next week.
“The virus is circulating four times more among the under-40s than among the over-65s,” Dr Veran said.
The Times
READ MORE: Jail stint for woman who snuck into WA
Richard Gluyas 4.55pm: State lockdowns put spike in loan deferrals
The second lockdown in Victoria has led to an increase in home-loan deferral applications and correspondingly eroded the state’s level of spending, Commonwealth Bank has said.
CBA retail banking services boss Angus Sullivan said deferral applications in Victoria had spiked 10-15 per cent at the halfway point in the six-week lockdown. Read more here
Rohan Smith 4.30pm: When will Victoria hit single figures?
An expert mapping COVID-19 trends predicts exactly when Victoria will have less than 10 new daily cases and it might be sooner than you think.
Another 148 cases overnight in Victoria. A bit higher than yesterday, but still nice downward trend with Reff now below 0.7 at 0.68. Here is the chart. pic.twitter.com/yVRL2yaS35
— Professor Adrian Esterman (@profesterman) August 24, 2020
New coronavirus cases in Victoria continue their downward trend over the all-important 7-day average, and experts say that if the trend continues Victoria could get out of stage four restrictions in just a few short weeks.
There were 148 new cases in Victoria on Tuesday, a slight rise on the 116 new cases on Monday.
An epidemiologist who has been watching the numbers closely says they are exactly where they need to be.
Professor Adrian Esterman from the University of South Australia tweeted on Monday that 116 new cases “fits beautifully” on his trend line for the state.
Still predicting 100 or less daily cases in Victoria by next weekend, and down to single digits the week after. However, will need to get infections in nursing homes and healthcare workers under control.
— Professor Adrian Esterman (@profesterman) August 25, 2020
On Tuesday, he shared a graph courtesy of covid19data.com showing the basic reproduction number of the virus in Victoria has dropped below 0.7, meaning one active case on average infects less than one other person.
He wrote that he is “still predicting 100 or less daily cases in Victoria by next weekend, and down to single digits the week after” but it came with a caution over the rates of infection in nursing homes.
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Max Maddison 4.10pm: Nursing chief calls for vigilence on testing
Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer Alison McMillan has urged the public to remain vigilant and continue getting tested for the slightest of symptoms, after high testing levels began to taper off across the weekend,.
After the nation recorded another 151 new cases and eight deaths - with 148 cases and each of the fatalities coming from Victoria - Ms McMillan said while she wasn’t sure what had led to the decline, testing levels needed to remain high to ensure the virus was defeated.
“Now, we are aware that we are seeing some decrease in the amount of testing, perhaps some of this is as reported particularly on the eastern seaboard, poor weather over the weekend that we all saw,” Ms McMillan said at a daily briefing on Tuesday afternoon.
“...but it is important for me to re emphasise and remind everyone however mild those symptoms might be, even if you have been tested before, and certainly, even if you have been positive before, please, if you have symptoms, do go and get tested.”
Fresh fears about the period of virus immunity were raised after Hong Kong University confirmed a 33-year-old man had been reinfected after initially contracting the virus in March. With new information about the virus arising daily, Ms McMillan said health authorities would continue to monitor the evidence.
“This is the first documented case in the literature of an individual who has now substantiated evidence of reinfection,” she said. “We said all alone our understanding of this virus is relatively new, and we continue to learn new things all of the time.”
READ MORE: Lockdowns rethink — costly and unnecessary
DAVID PENBERTHY 3.53pm: Reprieve for SA-Victorian border communities
Cross border communities straddling the SA-Victorian border have won a major reprieve with the SA Government scrapping its onerous crackdown which was preventing Victorian children from going to school just a few kilometres away in SA and subjecting farms and businesses to chaos and even closure.
As of last Friday, SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens controversially scrapped the border crossing exemptions for all Victorians to enter SA, save for grave medical emergencies, and narrowed the definition of essential work meaning that many Victorian business owners living east of SA townships such as Bordertown and Pinnaroo were forced to shut their doors.
That decision caused outrage along the border, especially in shires that had recorded close to zero cases, with families telling The Australian they were being unfairly punished for a crisis that was largely unfolding in Melbourne.
Few people in these border communities visit Melbourne at all for their medical needs, relying instead on services in nearby Adelaide, from which they were banned.
But following a meeting of the SA Covid Transition Committee on Tuesday Premier Steven Marshall and his Police Commissioner announced that the ban would now be reversed on account of continuing low Covid case numbers along the Victorian border.
From this Friday, the cross border exemption permit will be reintroduced allowing border residents to travel within a 40km radius, meaning Victorians such as Bec Oakley, who lives in Panitya 2km over the Victorian border but runs a retail business in Pinnaroo, will be able to return to work. It also means Ms Oakley will be allowed to resume her one-day-a-week teaching job at Pinnaroo Primary School, and that the school will no longer be forced to bar Victorian children from attending.
“It’s great news,” she told The Australian yesterday. “We can get back on with our lives.”
Premier Steven Marshall said it had never been SA’s intention to make life hard for these families but that the coronavirus crisis in Victoria had required a cautious response.
“We know it’s been hugely disruptive,” he said.
“We’ve always said we won’t keep [the rules] in place for one day longer than we need to.”
Mr Marshall said the next stage in lifting restrictions would hopefully be the removal of the mandatory 14-day quarantine for visitors to SA from NSW and the ACT.
“If we continue to see low levels it is quite possible that we will remove the requirement for 14 days’ isolation in the next two weeks,” Mr Marshall said.
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Patrick Commins 3.17pm: More job losses as Victorian lockdown bites
The country’s second wave of job losses intensified and broadened over the two weeks to early August, as Melbourne’s stage four lockdowns and harsher restrictions across the state weighed on the labour market.
READ the full story here
Richard Ferguson 3.08pm: Morrison denies ‘benching’ Aged Care Minister
Scott Morrison has denied he has removed key responsibilities from Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck, and has vouched for his confidence in the beleaguered frontbencher.
Health Minister Greg Hunt has snatched responsibility from Senator Colbeck for declaring if and when an Aged Care Emergency Response Operations Centre — aimed at suppressing outbreaks in nursing homes — is mobilised.
The Prime Minister told the House that Mr Hunt is responsible for this because the Health Minister is in charge of relaying advice from Australia’s chief medical officers, and said he speaks to Senator Colbeck regularly.
“The Minister for Aged Care, I speak to, Mr Speaker, every single day,” he said.
“The Minister aged care is regularly providing briefings to the expenditure review committee of cabinet...In addition to that, providing briefings to the national Security committee of cabinet where those matters have been relevant to his portfolio,
The Minister for Aged Care over these many months has been responsible for the outcomes that I have referred to earlier ... Australia has been in a position where 97% of facilities in this country, despite the significant community outbreak in Victoria, which the Leader of the Opposition has a blind spot on.”
READ MORE: PM benches his aged care minister
Shae McDonald 3.01pm: WA loses bid for fresh trial against Palmer on border
Clive Palmer’s legal bid to tear down Western Australia’s hard border closure is likely headed for the High Court.
Federal Court Justice Darryl Rangiah on Tuesday said WA’s decision to keep out other Australians was more effective in stopping the spread of COVID-19 than other measures such as hotel quarantine.
Justice Rangiah said because of the fast-moving nature of the pandemic, a cautious approach should be taken.
READ the full story here
Richard Ferguson 2.30pm: Frydenberg concerned about Andrews emergency law
Josh Frydenberg says he is concerned by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ bid to extend his emergency powers by 18 months, and said the state government has a lot of questions to answer.
Mr Andrews has defended his bid to extend the state of emergency as necessary to keep his constituents safe.
The Treasurer lamented the coronavirus performance of his own state against NSW and said many Victorians were concerned by Mr Andrew’s plan to extend his powers.
“Victorians look at NSW and they ask, why not us? They look at New South Wales with lower number of cases and a lower number of deaths. They look at the fact that in New South Wales there has been 315,000 jobs created in recent months,” Mr Frydenberg told the House.
“Now, I understand why Victorians are now very concerned by the Victorian government announcing yesterday that it wants to extend the emergency powers for another 12 months.
“I share those concerns, Mr Speaker, and the Victorian government has to explain its decision.”
“At the end of the day we will do everything to support Victorians get to the other side of this crisis, but the Victorian government has a lot of questions to answer.”
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Richard Ferguson 2.24pm: Gas is what country needs for Covid recovery: PM
Scott Morrison has pitched gas as a prime factor for a COVID-19 economic recovery, and used it to mock Labor’s divisions over the transition fuel.
When attacked by Greens leader Adam Bandt in question time over his support for gas, the Prime Minister said gas was needed to boost jobs and secure renewables.
“Gas is the important transition fill for the changes in our energy needs for this country, for the future,” he told the House.
“That is why we want to see more of it and get more out of the ground, Mr Speaker, so we can fuel the jobs that this country needs it to come out of the COVID-19 recession. ‘
Labor frontbencher Joel Fitzgibbon has offered the Morrison government bipartisan support for taxpayer backing of gas projects, a move which has caused some anger within opposition ranks.
Mr Morrison used the Greens’ question to paint Labor’s gas stance as “confusing”.
“I know who does like our gas plan. The Member for Hunter. He likes our gas plan,” Mr Morrison said.
“I can hear many interjections from the Labor side. I don’t know if they are interjecting against each other on gas or against me
“I suppose they can go down to the Otis restaurant and got together and go to another restaurant at another place and try to decide what their position on gas is.”
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Paige Taylor 2.18pm: Six-month jail stretch for woman who snuck into WA
A woman who hid in the back of a truck to enter Western Australia undetected has been given the nation’s steepest penalty for a breach of pandemic rules: six months and one day in prison.
READ the full story here
Rosie Lewis 1.26pm: Labor to support Morrison on JobKeeper 2.0 package
Labor will support the Morrison government’s JobKeeper 2.0 package and an extension of emergency industrial relations powers, guaranteeing its passage through the parliament.
While the opposition is concerned about stand down provisions being applied to workers who no longer receive JobKeeper payments and will work on amendments, their support is not contingent on those amendments passing parliament.
Of chief concern to Labor is whether it will be easier for “legacy employers” – businesses that will stop receiving JobKeeper from late September – to reduce employees’ hours under the Fair Work Act provisions, compared to companies that were never on the wage subsidy scheme.
Opposition industrial relations spokesman Tony Burke said Labor would support the legislation because the government had “abandoned” any move to extend the stand down provisions to businesses that had fully recovered during the pandemic.
Businesses must have suffered a 10 per cent turnover reduction relevant quarters this year compared to last year in order to continue accessing the IR changes.
“We are still working through the details of the impacts the legislation will have on workers at so-called ‘legacy businesses’ (workers who qualified for JobKeeper 1.0 but not JobKeeper 2.0) and we may move amendments to further improve the legislation when it reaches the Senate,” Mr Burke said.
READ MORE: Covid lockdowns: Overly blunt and costly
Emily Cosenza 1.18pm: SA set to reopen border to NSW, ACT travellers
Travellers from News South Wales or the Australian Capital Territory could be allowed to enter in South Australia without quarantining within two weeks.
Premier Steven Marshall said the transition committee was closely monitoring the situation interstate and was pleased with the continuing “good performance” of the two jurisdictions.
He also announced travellers coming from jurisdictions with open borders to the state could transit from Canberra or Sydney airports without having to do 14 days of isolation as of Friday.
“Were looking at this very closely and if we see very low levels like we’ve been seeing, we will look at removing that border restrictions within the next two weeks,” Mr Marshall said.
Despite ACT’s low number of new infections, Mr Marshall said not having an effective border with NSW was the issue.
“We were ready to open to NSW on July 20 then there was the three clusters so that was what cruelled our chances to open to them earlier.
“Since then, there has been a significant increase in testing, excellent contact tracing and have got on top of those clusters; probably caused from an early influx of people coming from Victoria before they put their hard border arrangements in place.
“We feel they’re getting on top of that.”
He also announced the limit of gatherings in private residents will increase to 50 people on Friday.
Under current restrictions, only 10 people are allowed to be in a dwelling at one time — in addition to those living at the address — with a maximum of 20 people.
The previously announced 40km buffer zone for cross border communities will also be reinstated next Friday.
However, Mr Marshall said the eased restriction was dependant on community transmission.
“When we first announced there was going to be this border arrangement, we saw a massive escalation in Victoria and the seedings and community transmission in regional Victoria.
“Since that time, the government has put stage 4 lockdown in place (and) been able to significantly reduce the number of new infections.
“That’s given the transition community the confidence to put that buffer arrangement back in place, provided there are no additional cases of community transmission in regional western Victoria between now and midnight on Thursday.”
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Richard Ferguson 12.46pm: State, international borders worry regional MPs
Coalition MPs have aired their concerns about the tightness of state and international borders at the government’s first joint party room meeting since the Victorian second wave hit.
The Australian understands multiple regional MPs on Tuesday raised issues with internal border closures — which have struck border community economies and have also led to some people struggling to access healthcare.
Scott Morrison has sought to set up a cross-border code for agriculture and has intervened on a number of border cases.
Partyroom sources also said NSW parliamentarians Jason Falinski and Dave Sharma also spoke about the struggles of Australians overseas to get home, as quarantine caps and skyrocketing airline prices keep many stuck in foreign countries.
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Greg Brown 12.42pm: Andrews has ‘everyone freaking out’: Shorten
Bill Shorten has issued a veiled swipe at Premier Daniel Andrews’s messaging on COVID-19, declaring the 12 month state of emergency “had everyone freaking out”.
Mr Shorten, a federal Victorian MP, said Mr Andrews needed to clear up confusion of the 12 month state of emergency, which is a lower level than a state of disaster.
“I think all he wants to do with it is to be able to still have some powers, to get people to wear masks and make sure workplaces have safety plans. But I think it would be handy if he cleared it up today, because I think that figure of the 12 months had everyone freaking out last night,” Mr Shorten told the Today Show on Tuesday morning.
“And I think the explanation is a lot more benign. But probably time for Dan the Man to put his explaining skills on display today and just calm the farm.”
Rebecca Urban 12.39pm: Emergency powers are state’s insurance policy: Andrews
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has defended his bid to extend the state’s emergency powers for a further 12 months, describing it as an “insurance policy”.
Mr Andrews said the government needed a legal framework to enforce rules to keep workplaces and the community safe and assured that “these restrictions will not be in place for one day longer than they need to be”.
The rules related to social distancing and limits on hospitality venues, not curfews, he said, and the powers would be extended in four-week blocks only if the health advice deemed it necessary.
“We will continue to need existing tools we can draw on,” he said.
The comments come amid growing opposition to the extension, with both the Coalition and key cross-benchers indicating they would vote against it.
New case numbers across the state have come in below 150 for a second day in a row, and the number of active cases continue to fall.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said he hoped “we can get under 100 next week”. He said hospitalisations, including the numbers of people in intensive care and requiring a ventilator, had stabilised.
New data has revealed that 69 per cent of coronavirus cases reported in July and August were healthcare workers, mostly in the aged care sector, compared to just 22 per cent in the first wave.
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Richard Ferguson 12.14pm: Social work, psych students win uni fee reprieve
Social work and psychology students will be spared skyrocketing university fees after the Morrison’’s radical overhaul of university funding passed the Coalition joint party-room with changes.
In a victory to Regional Education Minister Andrew Gee, the joint party room approved his push to take social work and mental health courses out of the same fees cluster as humanities and law - where the cost of degrees will go up 113 per cent to $14.500 per year.
Social work and mental health courses will now only cost $7700 a year and sit with allied health courses.
A planned $5000 teriarty access payment for rural and regional students will now go out as scholarships from universities, to encourage more young Australians to study in the regions.
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Rebecca Urban 12.11pm: Andrews faces uphill battle to extend emergency laws
Staunch opposition is brewing to a bid by Daniel Andrews to change the laws that would enable a 12-month extension to the state’s emergency powers, with several crossbenchers indicating they would join the Opposition in voting against the bill.
Sustainable Australia MP Clifford Hayes released a statement on Tuesday morning saying he was not satisfied with the bill in its current form. Mr Hayes said the year-long extension was “a huge overreach”.
“Extraordinary amount of time for a govt to be making unchecked decisions without scrutiny of Parliament,” he said on Twitter. “Imagine if hotel quarantine had been subject to [Parliamentary] scrutiny.”
Fiona Patten, a key crossbencher in the Victorian Upper House, said she would not support the government’s bid for extraordinary powers. She urged the Premier to negotiate an equitable outcome with cross-benchers and has suggested that a three or six month extension might be possible.
It is understood the Hinch Party has declined to support the bill in its current form.
Ms Patten is part of a multi-party committee, including the Victorian Government, that will meet today to discuss how the Victorian Parliament will safely meet next week in order to facilitate debate of this and other important business currently before it.
Greg Brown 11.48am: Labor leaders weigh backing new JobKeeper laws
Labor’s leadership group will make the final call on whether it will back an extension of flexible industrial relations laws to accompany a new phase of JobKeeper.
In a caucus meeting on Tuesday morning, Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke said he did not have enough detail on the changes to put to a vote of the caucus.
The leadership group will meet when it receives the legislation this week.
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Staff writers 11.28am: Auckland cluster grows with seven new cases
There are seven new confirmed cases of COVID-19 to report in New Zealand today, the latest statement from the nation’s Ministry of Health says. All are related to the community cluster in Auckland.
There are no new imported cases.
Of the seven community cases, two are linked to a church in Auckland. Two are household contacts..
One previously reported case is now considered recovered.
The total number of active cases in New Zealand is 129, of which 19 are imported cases from managed isolation facilities.
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PATRICK COMMINS 11.13am: Aussies pull more money out of super than they put in
Australians pulled more money out of the superannuation system than they put in over the three months to June — the first quarterly drop in net contributions since the compulsory super regime began in the early 1990s.
Benefit payments surged by 77 per cent cent to $37.4bn in the second quarter of the year, new statistics from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority reveal, driven by the spike in lump sum payments as savers rushed to take advantage of the Morrison government’s COVID-19 early release of super scheme.
Lump sum payments accounted for $26.8bn of benefits paid in the quarter, while pension payments totalled $10.7bn.
Net contributions — contributions and net benefit transfers less benefit payments — fell by $2.3 million, the data showed.
More than 3 million Australians have ripped $31.7bn out of their retirement savings since the introduction of the early access scheme, which allows savers to make two withdrawals, each worth up to $10,000, from their super accounts. The scheme only asks applicants to self-certify that they need the money to help assist them through the COVID-19 recession.
As many workers run down their savings, Scott Morrison has said he is considering delaying or scrapping the lift in the compulsory rate from 9.5 per cent to 10 per cent in July next year.
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Lane Sainty 11.08am: NSW records just three new virus cases
Three new cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed in New South Wales up to 8pm on Monday.
One was a returned traveller in hotel quarantine, and two are close contacts of previous cases.
One of the two close contacts was a health worker at Liverpool Hospital and the other a student at Our Lady of Mercy College in Parramatta.
Both had already been identified as close contacts and were in self-isolation for their infectious period.
It brings the total number of cases in the state to 3802.
Across NSW 84 people are in hospital being treated for COVID-19 – seven of them in intensive care, with four on ventilators.
Chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant urged people to continue to get tested if they had any symptoms, particularly if they had attended a venue where an infectious person had been.
“We would urge the community to regularly look at the website and take action accordingly,” she said.
Three new cases of #COVID19 were diagnosed in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, bringing the total number of cases in NSW to 3,802.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) August 25, 2020
Of the three new cases reported:
• One case was acquired overseas and is in hotel quarantine
• Two are close contacts of previous cases pic.twitter.com/WiEa2TAeiD
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Robyn Ironside 11.02am: Bain’s offer for Virgin revealed
US private equity firm Bain Capital will pay $3.5bn for Virgin Australia, effectively saving the airline from liquidation.
Administrators Deloitte has revealed the figure following the release of their report to creditors ahead of the second creditors meeting on September 4.
Virgin Australia went into administration on April 21 with debts of $6.8bn.
READ the full story here
Shae McDonald 10.17am: Virus checks for Horn-Tszyu fight
Southeast Queenslanders flying north to attend the Jeff Horn fight will be subjected to increased scrutiny in a bid to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Health authorities in Townsville have been tasked with meeting all flight arrivals in the lead-up to his Wednesday night clash with Tim Tszyu at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
It comes as Brisbane and the surrounding regions remain on high alert after a coronavirus cluster emerged at the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the added layer of protection was designed to stop the virus from potentially spreading to other parts of the state.
“We have a large number of people from indigenous communities that are coming to the fight,” she said.
“It is very very important that no one goes to the Jeff Horn fight if you have symptoms, you must stay home.”
Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said while she believed after seven months of living with COVID-19 people had gotten the message to stay home if they were sick, it wouldn’t hurt to issue a reminder.
“If they’re not well, this is not the time to be going to the event,” she said, adding the chances of an infected person flying to Brisbane and infecting someone at the fight was “very, very, very low”.
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Charlie Peel 9.48am: Queensland outbreak strain linked to women travellers
Queensland health authorities have confirmed the strain of COVID-19 in the state’s latest outbreak is the same as one of the three Logan women who returned from Melbourne last month.
Two of the women tested positive for the virus after they allegedly falsified their border declarations to hide that they had been to Victoria.
Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles said genome testing of the virus had shown that the strain that one of the women had – B1125 – was the same as the strain affecting 10 people linked to the Wacol Youth Detention Centre.
Five staff members and five of their family members have tested positive to the virus and tests have been carried out on the centre’s detainees.
Mr Miles said further tests over the next two days would determine for certain whether the outbreak had stemmed from the Logan women.
“Early results indicate the first case had the same strain of COVID-19 as one of the women who travelled to Melbourne as well as the diners who contracted it from them,” Mr Miles said.
The transmission link between the women and the diners who contracted it after eating at the same restaurant as one of them, and the detention centre staff, has yet to be found.
Dozens of cafes, shops and restaurants have been marked on a list of places visited by the ten people with the virus.
The outbreak has prompted renewed restrictions limiting public gatherings and for health officials to urge people to get tested for the virus.
There have been long queues at testing centres across Brisbane, prompting the government to open new fever clinics.
The state has recorded no new cases of the virus overnight, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.
The large number of tests has increased the turnaround time for results to about 30 hours.
Health officials will be stationed at Townsville airport to identify anyone flying into the city with symptoms of the virus ahead of the Jeff Horn fight against Tim Tszyu on Wednesday.
Ms Palaszczuk confirmed the government would have “preliminary discussions” today with the AFL about moving the grand final to Queensland.
READ MORE: Cricketers resort to luxury bio-bubble
Imogen Reid 9.29am: Former AMA chief backs emergency extension
The former president of the Australian Medical Association has supported Premier Daniel Andrews’ announcement to potentially extend Victoria’s state of emergency, saying the decision is “necessary” in controlling the virus.
“Another 12 months extension of the state of emergency in the middle of a stage four lockdown, when we are seeing the first glimmer of hope that we are actually getting on top of this latest wave, was obviously news that was confronting, perhaps, but it is also necessary to understand the reasons behind [it],” Dr Tony Bartone told Today.
“It wasn’t a signal that [Victoria] was going to extend the current lockdown, and perhaps that’s how some people interpreted, but it is about having the necessary ability to allow the Chief Health Officer’s directives to be enforced.”
Dr Bartone said he understood why Victorian residents would be caught “by surprise” by the move and said further communication was needed from the state government for the community to understand the decision.
“Already some people are starting to show signs of fatigue of those restrictions,” he said.
“It is a journey of getting to the other side, and we all have a part to play - and we have to be very careful about the way we introduce new measures and take everyone along with us.”
READ MORE: Business calls on Andrews to reveal opening plan
Imogen Reid 9.21am: Usain Bolt in quarantine after Covid test
Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt is in self-imposed quarantine while he waits for the results of a COVID-19 test after celebrating his 34th birthday in Jamaica last week.
“I’m just waking up, and like everybody else I checked social media which is saying I am confirmed to have COVID-19,” Bolt said in a video posted on his Twitter account.
“I did a test on Saturday because of work. I am trying to be responsible so I am going to stay in and stay here for my friends.
Stay Safe my ppl ðŸ™ðŸ¿ pic.twitter.com/ebwJFF5Ka9
— Usain St. Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) August 24, 2020
“Also I’m having no symptoms so I am going to quarantine myself and wait on the confirmation to see what is the protocol and how I should go about quarantine myself.
“Until then, ta-ta to my friends and I am saying anyone who has had contact with me should quarantine by themselves just to be safe and just to take it easy.”
Jamaica has reported 1,413 COVID-19 cases and 16 deaths.
READ MORE: Trading Day — Markets rise on vaccine hopes
Staff writers 8.56am: Victoria records 148 new cases, eight deaths
As Daniel Andrews defends his controversial plans to extend Victoria’s emergency powers, the state has recorded 148 new cases, as well as eight deaths.
#Covid19VicData for August 25, 2020.
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) August 24, 2020
There have been 148 new cases of #coronavirus (#COVID19) detected in Victoria in the last 24 hours, and 8 deaths. Our thoughts are with all of those affected.
More information will be available later today. pic.twitter.com/X2DprabMoQ
The state government is working to alter the Public Health and Wellbeing Act to allow the state of emergency provisions, which currently have a six-month cap, to run for another 12 months. The six-month limit is due to end on September 13.
Furious MPs yesterday hit out at a lack of consultation over the proposal that was described as an “arrogant ambush” by a power hungry premier, who will now need to lobby the Victorian cross bench for support.
Mr Andrews took to social media last night to defend the move.
“Extending the state of emergency is about ensuring that we can legally make the changes our health experts need to keep us safe,” he claimed.
“This does not change how long our current lockdown will last, or increase the restrictions we face.
“Getting back to normal won’t ever be an option if we can’t protect what we’ve already achieved.
Liberal Democrats MP David Limbrick will lobby members of the cross bench to block the proposed extension, the Herald Sun reports.
“The Victorian government has had six months to come up with solutions that are compatible with a liberal democracy and their time is up,” Mr Limbrick said.
“They seem to be insulated from the real world and have no idea about the harm they have caused and are continuing to cause.
Meanwhile, former premier Jeff Kennett said Mr Andrews had effectively signed the state’s death warrant saying even if his legislation was blocked, he had signalled that Victoria was closed for business.
READ MORE: Van Onselen — ‘Anti-democratic, autocratic and unnecessary’
Imogen Reid 8.17am: Brisbane testing clinics flooded after new cases
Testing clinics in Brisbane have been flooded with people seeking COVID-19 tests after a number of new cases were reported over the weekend.
Long lines of cars waiting to reach the testing clinic at Murarrie in the city’s east began forming at 5am after many drivers were turned away last night and told to return this morning.
Health officials at the clinic are redirecting cars into a car park across the road to ease congestion.
One man told Today he came back to the clinic this morning after he was turned away on Monday.
“I lined up yesterday for a couple of hours but I got turned around,” he told Today.
It comes after nine new locations were added to the state’s list of impacted areas. One new case was recorded in QLD yesterday.
Anyone who visited the following locations is urged to get tested:
711 service station, Springfield - August 16, 12:10-12:15pm
Calamvale Shopping Centre, Calamvale - August 17, 1:30-2pm
United Fuels, Springfield – August 18, 6:05-6:12pm
Officeworks, Ipswich - August 19, 11-11:10am
Sherwood Transport and Main Roads Customer Service Centre, Sherwood - August 19, 12:30-1pm
711 service station, Springfield - August 19, 7:30-7:35pm
USQ Campus Cafe, Springfield - August 20, 12:05-12:13pm
Coles supermarket, Forest Lake - August 20, 3:15-4pm
Orion Shopping Centre, Springfield - August 21, 4:15-5pm
READ MORE: Queensland gets high pandemic pay, commits less stimulus
Imogen Reid 8.03am: Andrews ‘power grab to keep Victorians locked in’
Victoria’s Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien has called Premier Daniel Andrews’ move to extend state emergency powers a “power grab” to keep Victorians locked in their homes for another year.
“It’s quite clear that Daniel Andrews only has a plan to keep Victoria locked down. He doesn’t have a plan to get us out of lockdown. He doesn’t have a plan to get us back to work or back in business,” Mr O’Brien said.
“That’s what Victorians are looking for.
“It’s a power grab, it’s a power grab plain and simple.”
Mr O’Brien argued there was no justification for seeking to extend the state of emergency provisions six-month limit, and said he wants to see a return of democracy to Victoria.
“These are extraordinary powers. Victorians are going through curfews at the moment. Most businesses are closed down. It is an extraordinary level of restriction we live under and no government, no politician should be able to do that indefinitely.
“Daniel Andrews has had that power for six months. He now wants it for another 12 months with no accountability.
“Why should Victorians trust him with a blank check for another 12 months.”
It comes after Mr Andrews defended his decision to extend coronavirus restrictions on Twitter, saying the move was about protecting what the state had already achieved.
“Extending the State of Emergency is about ensuring that we can legally make the changes our health experts need to keep us safe,” Mr Andrews wrote on Twitter last night.
“This does not change how long our current lockdown will last, or increase the restrictions we face.
“Getting back to normal won’t ever be an option if we can’t protect what we’ve already achieved.
“These changes are about saving lives and keeping Victorians safe - nothing more, nothing less.”
However, one Twitter user responded to Mr Andrews post saying he was “strangling your state to death,” while another accused the Premier of telling “absolute lies.”
One posted: “His posse of clowns caused this second wave of COVID-19 and these (must be public servants) shills want him to be accountable?”
Another said Victorian residents were fed up with not knowing “what’s going on” and said Mr Andrews had killed Victoria.
“No Dan. People have had enough of not knowing what’s going on. All we get is you telling us to obey the rules! You give us no insight to our future… you’ve killed Victoria. People are angry and full of hate now,” they said.
READ MORE: Firms clear to juggle staff hours
Imogen Reid 7.30am: Andrews defends ‘life saving’ emergency extension
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has defended his decision to seek to extend coronavirus restrictions well into 2021, claiming the move is about “saving lives and keeping Victorians safe.”
The state government is working to alter the Public Health and Wellbeing Act to allow the state of emergency provisions, which currently have a six-month cap, to run for another 12 months. The six-month limit is due to end on September 13.
Extending the State of Emergency is about ensuring that we can legally make the changes our health experts need to keep us safe.
— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) August 24, 2020
This does not change how long our current lockdown will last, or increase the restrictions we face.
“Extending the State of Emergency is about ensuring that we can legally make the changes our health experts need to keep us safe,” Mr Andrews wrote on Twitter last night.
“This does not change how long our current lockdown will last, or increase the restrictions we face.
“Getting back to normal won’t ever be an option if we can’t protect what we’ve already achieved.
“These changes are about saving lives and keeping Victorians safe - nothing more, nothing less.”
Shadow Minister for Government Services Bill Shorten told the Today show he believed Mr Andrews needed to explain his comments to avoid any confusion.
“I think all he wants to do with it is to be able to still have some power to get people to wear masks and make sure workplaces have safety plans,” Mr Shorten said.
“But I think it would be handy if he cleared it up today. I think that figure of the 12 months had everyone freaking out last night.
“I think the explanation is a lot more benign, but probably time for Dan the man to put his explaining skills on display today and just calm the farm
READ MORE: ‘Male, pale’ monopoly must be broken
Imogen Reid 7.15am: Sydney security guard positive after breaching rules
A security guard on hotel quarantine duty at the Marriott Hotel in Sydney who breached quarantine rules while waiting for the results of a COVID-19 test has tested positive for the virus.
The 22-year-old guard from Unified security firm — the same company involved in Victoria’s bungled hotel quarantine system — contracted coronavirus from an American tourist in quarantine at the hotel in Circular Quay.
Police say the Campsie man travelled to Westfield Burwood in Sydney’s inner-west after being tested on Thursday where he shopped for groceries and a blanket, the Daily Telegraph reports.
The next day, the man allegedly left home again to visit a Service NSW branch in Burwood.
“The man underwent a secondary test at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital on the Friday and about 8am on Saturday 22 August, was informed he had returned a positive test result for COVID-19,” police said in a statement.
“He was transferred to a NSW Health COVID-19 quarantine facility where he will stay for the remainder of his quarantine period.”
READ MORE: Pandemic may be lesser threat
Imogen Reid 6.50am: China authorises ‘emergency’ vaccine
China’s head of the National Health Commission’s science and technology centre has revealed the government had authorised the “emergency use” of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate for essential workers, including health care workers and border officials.
Zheng Zhongwei said it has been administered lawfully since July under powers that allow the use of unapproved vaccines during serious public health events.
The country has gone seven days without reporting a locally transmitted case.
The World Health Organisation’s Chief Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan has stressed there is “very low evidence” Donald Trump’s emergency authorisation of convalescent plasma is safe and effective.
“There are a number of clinical trials going on around the world looking at convalescent plasma… but only a few of them have reported on results. The results are not conclusive,” Dr Swaminathan said.
“The trials have been relatively small and the results in some cases point to some benefit but have not been conclusive.”
In France, authorities are planning to impose a 14-day quarantine on all travellers from Britain in the next couple of days.
“We will have a measure called reciprocity so that our British friends do not close the border in one single way,” French Junior European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune told local television.
“For travellers returning from the United Kingdom, there will probably be restrictive measures decided in the next few days by the Prime Minister and by the defence council.”
Globally, there have been more than 23.5 million people infected with the virus, while the total number of COVID-19 deaths is 810,051.
READ MORE: ‘Vicious cycle’ in deadly outbreak
Agencies 6.00am: First case of reinfection recorded
A team of researchers in Hong Kong has documented a case of COVID-19 reinfection, offering evidence that patients who have recovered from the viral disease could be infected a second time, months after the initial episode.
In a paper accepted on Monday by the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal, scientists from the University of Hong Kong reported the case of a 33-year-old man who had an asymptomatic COVID-19 episode 4 1/2 months after a symptomatic infection.
The findings, based on a single patient, would if replicated bolster the theory that immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, could last only a few months, similar to coronaviruses that cause the common cold.
That would have implications for recommended precautions for recovered patients and for cycles of vaccinations once they become available. The case report also highlights the importance of widespread rapid testing and isolation of cases, experts said.
The paper didn’t specify whether the patient was infectious the second time around, but infectious-disease researchers and virologists have said for months that social distancing, good personal hygiene and masking would continue to be important for stemming the spread of the virus until more is known about how long immunity lasts, whether from natural infection or vaccination.
While suspected reinfections have been reported anecdotally, it wasn’t clear whether patients had been reinfected or were merely displaying residual effects from the same infections. The paper is the first to report a confirmed reinfection, based on scientific evidence including genetic sequencing and clinical data.
Scientists said the findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2, similar to human coronaviruses associated with the common cold, such as 229E and NL63, may persist in the population because immunity may be short-lived and different people are going through infection cycles at different times.
In some cases, vaccines can produce stronger immune responses than natural infections, infectious-disease experts said.
It is possible a second round of natural infection could be milder than the first due to some residual immunity, the authors wrote in the study. During the first episode, the patient in the report experienced a cough, fever, sore throat and a headache for three days, according to the paper. During the second, he was asymptomatic.
Using next-generation sequencing, the scientists determined that the virus involved in the first infection was most closely related to strains from the U.S. or England collected in March and April, while the second was most closely related to strains from Switzerland and England collected in July and August.
READ MORE: Bored guard told to isolate but went back to work
Jacquelin Magnay 5.45am: Aussie techs awarded for pandemic website
A team of Australian software engineers has been recognised for a quick, flawless production of a British charity website during the coronavirus pandemic which has raised millions for British frontline workers.
Raymond Siems, a Davis McCaughey Cambridge Australia Scholar and his team worked behind the scenes with a friend he had met at Cambridge University while studying, Ravi Solanki, a neurodegenerative disease doctor, to help another doctor Dominic Pimenta set up a charity called HEROES.
Mr Siems and his team has been awarded with a Pandemic Services Award from the Royal Academy of Engineering and they will receive a silver medal from the Princess Royal.
At the start of the pandemic, the team had a sleepless weekend creating a website helpthemhelpus.co.uk and a platform to accept donations after volunteering their expertise.
The British football star Joe Cole was about to promote the new charity, which was to raise monies for National Health Service staff, on the popular morning breakfast show Good Morning Britain, but his appearance was scheduled for 36 hours time on the Monday morning.
‘’Its never a good idea to do a live demo, but in such a short space of time that’s what happened,’ said Mr Siems, adding:
‘’It didn’t crash’’.
In that first few hours there were 3,000 views on the website raising A$100,000 in donations.
The charity has since raised more than A$2million and has received much more in goods from various companies, including donated artworks. Recently, money from the charity has been used for grants to NHS workers to help pay for childcare while they are working, and their children are not at school.
Mr Siem’s company, called CatalystA1 is based in Cambridge, and includes a school friend from Armidale, Evan Martin, a software engineer at Catalyst A1, as well as Wilson Griffiths from Grenfell, a software designer, and Callum MacBeth from the Gold Coast, a systems engineer.
The company usually works in areas as broad as agri-tech helping to predict the yields of crops to using technology to help stop suicides on Transport For London tube network.
READ MORE: Plea for border waivers for healthcare
Tom Dusevic 5.30am: Mandarins fear pyjama policy impact
As almost two-thirds of federal public servants, or 93,000 staff, work from home, their masters are worried about the sustainability of pyjama policymaking, rising costs to taxpayers and good government.
Senior officials fear a slide in productivity from staff missing in action, the waste of vacant office space, a lack of mentoring and networking for disengaged junior staff and the potential for sub-par advice in the land of Zoom.
Low-density, COVID-free Canberra, we have a problem, and it has prompted a search by Australian Public Service chiefs for hard data to evaluate the effect of remote working on productivity, culture, service delivery and costs.
According to the Department of Finance, office tenancies cost the federal government $1.34bn a year, or $9575 per public servant.
“It’s fine to ask people about how productive they feel about working from home,” says a senior government figure. “But we need to measure with rigour the outcomes, delivery and true cost to taxpayers if we are to come out of the pandemic in better shape”.
READ the full story here.
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