Coronavirus Australia live news: Victoria like watching a slow car crash unfold, AMA says
AMA launches a stinging attack on the Victorian government over virus response, detailing missteps and reiterating calls for royal commission.
- NSW has six new cases
- Andrews confident of deal on emergency law
- One new case for Queensland
- Victoria records 24 deaths, 149 cases
Welcome to The Australian’s rolling coverage of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The Australian Medical Association has launched a stinging attack on the Victorian government over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, likening it to witnessing a “slow car crash” unfold. China’s no. 2 top diplomat Wang Xining says Australia could harm its global financial reputation if it continues to “push away” Chinese investment as a result of “ill-founded” security concerns.
Daniel Andrews says he’s had ‘productive discussions’ with crossbenchers over his bid to extend emergency powers for a further year. Victoria records 24 new deaths, 149 cases. NSW has recorded six new cases and Queensland one.
Olivia Caisley 11.30pm: Albo’s eight-point plan for aged care
Labor leader Anthony Albanese will set out an eight-point plan to rectify key problems in the aged-care sector in an address to the National Press Club.
Remy Varga 11pm: Youth struggling from isolation
Victoria hasn’t seen a rise in suicide deaths in 2020, despite the isolation and uncertainty brought on by successive coronavirus lockdowns.
Mackenzie Scott 10.30pm: Gates lauds Aussie corona controls
Billionaire Bill Gates has praised Australia and South Korea as ‘doing great’ in handling the COVID-19 pandemic
Dennis Shanahan, Joe Kelly 10pm: Morrison urges Andrews to offer hope
Scott Morrison has directly urged Daniel Andrews to dramatically pull back from his year-long emergency power bid, in an attempt to quell public anger.
Nicola Berkovic 9.30pm: The slippery slope
The most radical assault on our civil liberties is raising concerns.
Geoff Chambers, Patrick Commins 9pm: ‘Struggle Street’ builders seek stamp duty relief
The national cabinet must deliver emergency support for the housing sector through a one-year moratorium on new regulations.
Rosie Lewis 8.35pm: ‘Bubble not blanket’: plan to guide states
Border closures would be scrapped and states could only impose ‘targeted and time-restricted local lockdowns’, under a new plan.
Olivia Caisley 8.10pm: It’s logo-a-go-go as ‘corona’ crest canned
The controversial Australia logo, which was attacked for looking like the coronavirus, has been quietly dropped.
AFP 7.40pm: UK government changes mind on masks in schools
The government has reversed policy on wearing facemasks in schools in England, sparking fresh criticism about its handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
Ministers had insisted face coverings were not necessary when children go back to school from next week after nearly six months out of the classroom amid concern about a rise in infections.
But in new guidance on Wednesday, the British government advised that secondary school students and staff should wear face coverings in corridors and communal areas.
The change is being seen as another U-turn, just weeks after ministers were forced to scrap the use of an algorithm which gave 17- and 18-year-olds lower-than-expected exam grades.
Teaching unions have been calling for English schools to follow guidance in Scotland, which has a separate education system, that requires pupils to cover their nose and mouth between lessons.
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Rosie Lewis 7.10pm: JobKeeper 2.0 amendment will ‘cost jobs’
Attorney-General Christian Porter has rejected Labor’s key amendment to the JobKeeper 2.0 package designed to help low-income workers, warning the proposal would cost jobs and “be the tipping point for the survival of many businesses”.
David Penberthy 6pm: Cricket Australia weighs Boxing Day Test shift
Having lost the AFL grand final and with the Melbourne Cup in doubt, the third jewel in Melbourne’s sporting crown, the Boxing Day Test, is officially under siege with Cricket Australia considering plans for the Adelaide Oval to host the fixture.
SA Cricket Association chief executive Keith Bradshaw told The Australian on Wednesday that while no one in cricket wanted to see the traditional Boxing Day Gest taken off Melbourne, the contingencies around COVID-19 in the Victorian capital were such that a plan B was needed.
With NSW having expressed interest in holding the Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests as a double-header, SA is using the lure of the new hotel within the Adelaide Oval as the ideal venue to create a two-test hub so the Indian team can be based in the state for two of the four tests this summer.
SA Premier Steven Marshall is using the same tactic to push for Adelaide to host the AFL grand final, even though the Gabba in Brisbane or Optus Stadium in Perth are regarded as front-runners to host the first-ever Aussie Rules season decider outside of Melbourne.
Cricket Australia was considering its options for the Boxing Day Test on Wednesday at its latest “cricket cabinet” meeting.
Crowds are key to the viability of these Tests. Melbourne may still be precluded from letting fans attend the game due to social distancing rules, whereas in SA, with its low rate of infection, crowds of 20,000 have already been allowed at AFL games, with the promise of bigger crowds to come.
“Should Melbourne not be able to host the Boxing Day Test we have let it be known to Cricket Australia that we are very much ready and able to stage it safely here,” Mr Bradshaw told The Australian.
“We are looking at housing the Indian team here at the hotel so they can quarantine and set up safely and comfortably for the duration. It is a unique opportunity to make it as smooth as possible, and we know the Tests themselves will be very well attended as they always are.”
Cricket Australia is expected to make an announcement on test scheduling as late as possible to give Melbourne the maximum chance to put a case as to how it could hold the traditional Test.
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Stephen Gibbs 5.20pm: Amazon city ‘has herd immunity’
An unexplained fall in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the Brazilian city of Manaus has led experts to consider whether a form of herd immunity has been achieved.
Manaus, capital of the state of Amazonas, was once a symbol of the threat the disease might pose to the developing world. Three months ago footage from drones showed mass graves as the virus ravaged the city and burials were running at five times their normal rate.
However, last week despite no formal lockdown and tests suggesting only 20 per cent of people had the disease, “excess deaths” were close to zero and the city’s field hospital had no patients.
Jarbas Barbosa da Silva, assistant director of the Pan American Health Organisation, told The Washington Post: “The hypothesis is that the peak we had in Manaus was very strong, and there was such widespread community transmission that it may have produced some kind of collective immunity.”
Mr Barbosa said the fall in cases was gradual enough to suggest “a natural dynamic”. More than 3300 people have died in the city of two million. “It was a tragedy,” he said.
Early in the pandemic the assumption among epidemiologists was that more than 70 per cent of people would need to be infected for the virus to decline naturally. Newer research suggests that herd immunity might be achieved with fewer infections, possibly due to some “natural immunity”.
The Times
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Bruno Waterfield 4.45pm: Reinfections raise fears of new strain
An adviser to the Belgian government says he fears a new variant of coronavirus has emerged after a woman became reinfected.
Health officials in Hong Kong this week recorded a reinfection of a man in his 30s, four months after his first bout. The Netherlands has also reported the reinfection of an elderly man with underlying health problems.
Virologist Marc Van Ranst said he feared the virus may now come in more than one strain, making the production of effective vaccines more difficult. “It is not good news,” he told the broadcaster VRT. “You hope you are out of harm’s way. Hopefully that is so in most cases. There are indeed enough differences to speak of a different strain, a second infection.”
He said reinfections could have implications for a vaccine. “Once you’re vaccinated you hope to be protected for a year,” he said. “We would have liked to have seen more time between the two infections. Maybe there will be more who will have it a second time after six months or nine months. For other respiratory viruses this is also known to be possible.”
Professor Van Ranst was concerned that the Belgian and Dutch cases could be the tip of the iceberg, but noted the reinfection cases involved mild symptoms.
However, Steven Van Gucht, the virologist leading Belgium’s fight against the virus, said the woman’s case did not involve a truly new strain, and there was evidence that the virus was weaker in the second bout.
“A new strain of the virus is not in play. Rather this is an instance of a slightly different variant of novel coronavirus causing the disease,” he said. “It’s not really surprising. We’ve witnessed this in other coronaviruses. Our immune system is quick to respond. We get milder or no symptoms the second time round. I suspect this will happen with the novel coronavirus too.”
In the Dutch case the patient was elderly with a damaged immune system and has not alarmed experts. Marion Koopmans, a virologist and adviser to the World Health Organisation, said the development had been discussed and was not necessarily a case for concern. “That someone pops up with a reinfection, doesn’t make me nervous,” she told NOS, the broadcaster. ”
We have to investigate these cases carefully and see if it occurs more often. We expect that [antibodies] will provide protection against a subsequent infection. So the only question is how long that protection will last,” she said.
The Times
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Max Maddison 4.10pm: Infected health worker numbers ‘unacceptable’: CMO
The number of healthcare staff being infected by coronavirus is “unacceptable”, says acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly, as he calls on the nation to do more to protect frontline workers.
In response to a report on protecting healthcare workers from COVID-19, released by the Victorian Department of Health, Professor Kelly said the federal government had been looking for the “best expert advice” in relation to how to protect workers in “high-risk settings”.
“It’s unacceptable that so many people have been infected,” Professor Kelly told a daily briefing on Wednesday afternoon.
“...we really need to understand why that’s the case and what else we can do as a nation to protect our healthcare workers, aged care workers, disability workers on the frontline of caring for people with COVID-19, and therefore at higher risk.”
However, with considerable uncertainty remaining as to how so many healthcare workers became infected, Professor Kelly said it was “absolutely fundamental” that health authorities determined what was the “main risk factor”.
“Was that at the bedside? Was that in some other part of the hospital? What else can we learn about those particular issues so we can protect our healthcare workers,” he said. “People should be able to go to work and feel safe from harm, and that’s a really important component.”
In his daily update, Professor Kelly said there had been an additional 149 cases in Victoria and six new cases in NSW. Almost 5.9 million tests have been conducted since the pandemic began.
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Richard Ferguson 3.36pm: QT wrap: PM repeating himself on aged care
Scott Morrison has repeatedly defended his government’s funding of aged care facilities, as Labor pummeled the Prime Minister over the COVID-19 retirement home crisis for the third day running.
Anthony Albanese and Labor MPs accused Mr Morrison of making $1.7bn in cuts to aged care when he was Malcolm Turnbull’s treasurer and linked it to deaths and neglect in the COVID crisis.
“Did the Prime Minister’s decision to cut $1.7 billion from aged care leave aged care homes better or worse prepared for the pandemic?” the Opposition Leader asked.
“The Aged Care Royal Commission’s interim report titled ‘Neglect’ revealed up to half of all older Australians in residential aged care are malnourished.
“They’re literally starving. Didn’t the Prime Minister’s decision to cut $1.7 billion from Aged Care leave frail and vulnerable older Australians worse off?”
Mr Morrison said since he has been Prime Minister the aged care budget has increased by $1bn a year and foreshadowed spending will go up in the October federal budget
The Liberal leader also reflected on his late father’s last days in care, and attacked Labor for politicising a “personal, sensitive” issue.
“I’ve already addressed the misleading statements made by the opposition that they continue to assert, and I’ve already informed the House of the significant increases in investments that have been made by the government when it comes to aged care,” he told the House.
“For those of us who have had to make decisions about putting our own family, our own parents, into aged care, we have known that, when we’ve done that, we are putting them into pre-palliative care.
“And it was certainly the case in my own experience, in the decision that my family had to make, that my brother and I and my mother had to make, when my father went into residential aged care.
“I don’t accept the interjections from those opposite, and I would ask them to show some respect on this very personal, sensitive issue.”
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Rebecca Urban 2.40pm: Victoria: ‘Like watching a slow car crash unfold’
The Australian Medical Association has launched a stinging attack on the Victorian government over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, likening it to witnessing a “slow car crash” unfold.
The doctors’ group has reiterated its call for a Royal Commission and has urged the government to reconsider whether its current structure for overseeing the crisis “is the most effective way to manage a pandemic”.
In a forthright submission to the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee’s current inquiry into the government’s COVID-19 response, AMA Victoria president Julian Rait details the government’s missteps during the past few months, singling out the “public perception of tolerance of large demonstrations” in reference to the Black Lives Matters protest that took place in contravention to restrictions at the time and the “mismanagement of the hotel quarantine system”.
Other issues highlighted include:
Poor (or non-existent) micro-communication of health messages to non-English speaking and CALD communities;
Delays in notifying people of positive cases and issues with contact tracing;
Inconsistent messaging and guidelines (for example, when people should isolate);
Lack of investment in planning and responses with general practice and primary health networks;
Lack of support to general practice, including delays in the ability to notify of positive results and clinical advice;
A lack of a two-way communication with external stakeholders;
Lack of responsive distribution pathways for resources, such as PPE;
Siloed decision-making within the Victorian Government that put individuals at risk, such as the decision to furlough all St Basil’s staff without ensuring a plan for care for residents, leaving their basic needs unmet;
Lack of transparency and accountability.
“The data and modelling informing the state government’s decision making is drip-fed to the public in daily press conferences,” Associate Professor Rait said.
“AMA Victoria would like to see more transparency from the state government so that information is more widely shared and better understood.
“It is AMA Victoria’s recommendation that a Royal Commission be called into Victoria’s Response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This type of inquiry will be necessary in order to learn and apply lessons learned from this pandemic and build a sustainable and resilient workforce and health system for the future.”
The PAEC inquiry is ongoing.
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Cameron Stewart 2.27pm: Melania to Covid victims: ‘You are not alone’
At the Republican National Convention Melania Trump has delivered a warm and conciliatory speech and urged unity and told victims of coronavirus: ‘You are not alone’.
READ the full story here
Remy Varga 2.07pm: Criminal inquiries underway into hotel security companies
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said “criminal inquiries” are underway into the security companies involved in the hotel quarantine program, parliamentary inquiry hears.
“Yes... Last week I was made aware complaints had been made to the Licensing and Registration division, which govern that area,” he said in response to a question asking if criminal enquiries were being made in relation to licensing and regulation breaches.
Commissioner Crisp was prevented from providing more detail when parliamentary committee’s chair Lizzie Blandthorn cut the answer short, saying questioner Bridget Vallence had run out of time.
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Rebecca Urban 1.42pm: Mikakos meets crossbencher over emergency power
Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos has met with key cross bencher Fiona Patten in a bid to secure a compromise over the Premier’s contentious bid to extend the state’s emergency powers for 12 months.
It is understood the government has indicated that it is open to compromise, after an almost universally hostile response.
The Reason Party leader put forward an alternative proposal late on Tuesday, which would grant an ongoing three-month extension to the state of emergency and the establishment of a Covid19 Select Committee to provide government with some oversight over decision-making in regards to enforcing restrictions such as stay-at-home orders, limits on gatherings and masks.
It would be chaired by a member of the Upper House cross bench, with an Opposition representative appointed deputy. Ms Patton would not seek the role of chairman.
“I held a very constructive conversation with the Health Minister and Deputy Leader of the Legislative Council, Ms Mikakos, yesterday evening,” Ms Patton confirmed.
“I was encouraged that the Minister was open to discussing how the concerns of not just myself, not just of many crossbenchers but of the entire community can be heard on this issue of extending the State of Emergency and of government decisions during the Covid19 crisis more broadly.
“The Minster indicated that the government would be willing to consider a plan that includes the extension of the State of Emergency as approved by the majority of members of parliament, whether that be three or a maximum of no more than six months is still to be determined, as well as a Covid19 Select Parliamentary Committee that can provide oversight into government decisions during the period of the State of Emergency.
“This is an ongoing solution that means we won’t be back in the same position again in six or twelve months as per the governments proposal. This is a little more nuanced - not such a sledgehammer approach.”
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Richard Ferguson 1.35pm: Diplomat won’t deny talents program is espionage
China’s no 2 diplomat in Australia Wang Xining has failed to deny Beijing’s Thousand Talents program — recruiting Australian academics — is espionage.
The Australian on Monday revealed that dozens of Australian scientists were involved with China’s Thousand Talents plan, where Australian scientists’ inventions are patented in China and they are not allowed to disclose their activities on the mainland.
Mr Xining would not deny the program was espionage despite multiple questions from The Australian and said he wanted to focus on the “sunny side” of Australia-China scientific co-operation.
“ I am more concerned about our cooperation in the field of science and technology because this is an integral part of our relationship. It has brought and will bring enormous good to our business, to our society and to our people,” he said at the National Press Club.
“The embassy has always been approached ... to ask some questions which, for me, is quite whimsical and absurd.
“It’s based on hearsay and gossip. I have no idea about that. I’m so sorry about that.”
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Remy Varga 1.25pm: Victorian health department behind ADF request
EMV Commissioner Andrew Crisp says Victoria’s health department was behind a June 24 request to the ADF for 850 troops to assist with the hotel quarantine program, parliamentary inquiry hears.
“I might sign the paperwork but I’m doing that on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services who are the control agency,” he said.
“That’s where the 850 number came from, it came from the Department of Health and Human Services and therefore I put in that request.”
Mr Crisp declined to name Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos as the responsible minister when pressed.
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Richard Ferguson 1.22pm: Push for virus inquiry a ‘Julius Caesar’ moment
China’s no 2 diplomat in Australia Wang Xining says Australia’s push for an international review into the origins of coronavirus hurt the Chinese people and was equal to the betrayal of the ancient Roman dictator Julius Caesar.
Mr Wang attacked Foreign Minister Marise Payne for her criticisms of the World Health Organisation and said the initial push was unfairly targeted at China alone.
“During that time Australian ministers claimed that the virus originated from Wuhan province, they did not point to any other places as a source,” Mr Wang told the Press Club.
“We were singled out, we don’t think it is fair. We believe the most authoritative global institute is WHO, and it was criticised by Australian politicians. The Australian minister (Senator Payne) said it was a poacher turned gamekeeper.
“If you are able read Chinese websites and the comments of the Facebook of your Embassy in Beijing, you will be able to note the intensity of emotion of our people, how much indignation, anger and frustration they expressed.
“They used a lot of Chinese idioms and sayings to describe the emotion, but it is difficult to translate. It is approximately identical to Julius Caesar in his final date when he saw Brutus approaching him.”
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Imogen Reid 1.15pm: 700 Frankston Hospital staff in isolation
Over 700 staff from Frankston Hospital in Melbourne’s south-east are in isolation due to fears they were exposed to the coronavirus after more than 50 workers were infected during an outbreak at the facility, Nine reports.
It comes a day after Premier Daniel Andrews said “70 to 80 per cent” of healthcare workers infected with COVID-19 contracted the virus at work.
The number of furloughed staff has raised concerns over the level of care and services provided to patients while they are in hospital.
Tragically, Victoria recorded 24 new deaths during the last 24 hours - the state’s second-highest daily death toll since the start of the pandemic after 25 deaths on August 17.
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Richard Ferguson 1.00pm: China warning: Don’t push away our investment
China’s no. 2 top diplomat Wang Xining says Australia could harm its global financial reputation if it continues to “push away” Chinese investment as a result of “ill-founded” security concerns.
Mr Wang — the Chinese Embassy in Canberra’s deputy head of mission — told the National Press Club that Australia should not interfere in China’s internal affairs, saying Beijing has never attempted to interfere in affairs in this country.
As China targets Australia’s beef, barley and wine exports in recent months, Mr Wang said Australia has been rated highly for investment but risked losing its reputation because of “imported concerns” about security, intellectual property, and technology.
China has protested multiple moves by the Coalition Government in the past few years to tighten foreign investment rules.
“China spares no effort in improving business environment ... I wish China would catch up to Australia the quicker the better,” Mr Wang told the Press Club.
“I also hope Australia will remain high on the list, not to be dragged down for pushing foreign business or investment away on account of ill founded - and in many cases imported - assertions of security breach, IPI infringement and forced technology transfer.”
ROSIE LEWIS 12.52pm: Labor set for JobKeeper showdown on low-income workers
Labor will attempt to pressure the government over low-income workers who stop receiving JobKeeper payments in late September, setting up a potential showdown over the extension of the wage subsidy scheme.
A day after Labor vowed to pass the extension of the program beyond September, the opposition’s industrial relations spokesman Tony Burke introduced two amendments the party will try and push through the Senate.
Labor’s substantial amendment would see a “safety net” set so that so-called legacy workers who received JobKeeper 1.0 but not 2.0 and are on the minimum wage or a low income cannot earn less than $1200 per fortnight.
The minimum wage is $753.80 per week, while the JobKeeper rate will reduce from $1500 per fortnight to $1200 ($600 per week) from September 28.
Under JobKeeper 2.0, businesses that become ineligible for the wage subsidy will continue to have access to emergency industrial relations changes if they can show a 10 per cent turnover reduction in relevant quarters this year compared to last year.
Those employers would only be able to reduce employee hours to 60 per cent of the time they were working in March.
Labor said for people on the minimum wage, this would mean a weekly income of about $450, which was too low, hence its push to introduce a floor rate of $1200 per fortnight.
“(If) the bill as drafted goes through, this parliament will have voted for people on the minimum wage to be allowed without their agreement to get a pay cut of $300 a week,” Mr Burke told the House of Representatives.
“But we’ll be providing support for people on JobKeeper and as businesses improve this parliament will have said, ‘as the business improves it’s okay for you to be paid less because your boss is doing better’. Now that is an absurd situation. That is what the bill currently says.”
Mr Burke urged the government to “work their way through” what he called an “anomaly”.
“I suspect or I hope the government simply hadn’t thought about how this anomaly would work and they worked it through based on people on average earnings, where you go down to 60 per cent of your hours and you’re still above the Jobkeeper rate,” he said.
“You can’t have a situation where it’s actually a worker is better off if the business they’ve worked for is more distressed and as the business is improving, the workforce will be dreading it because the employer is given the new power at that point to cut their hours to below the JobKeeper rate.”
It is unclear whether Labor will insist on the amendment passing in order to support the JobKeeper 2.0 package.
A party spokesman on Tuesday said Labor’s support for the next phase of JobKeeper was not contingent on its amendments getting up.
Labor will also try and remove the industrial relations flexibility changes for legacy workers altogether but conceded the government would not agree to that.
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Remy Varga 12.34pm: Andrews’ team in hotel quarantine planning meeting
Emergency Management Victoria Commissioner Andrew Crisp has confirmed representatives from the office of Daniel Andrews attended a meeting where the plan for the disastrous hotel quarantine was hatched.
Mr Andrews said a representative from Victoria’s Department of Premier and Cabinet attended a meeting on March 27 where the scheme was devised.
“There was a representative from DPC,” he said.
But Mr Crisp said Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services were the control agency.
“We have a health emergency so our control arrangements are that DHHS are the control agency,” he said.
Despite earlier testimony that the decision to use private security was made at the March 27 meeting, Mr Crisp said: “My clear understanding from what was happening on the 27th was that DJPR had already engaged private security.”
Mr Crisp said the meeting was recorded and a copy had been given to the hotel quarantine inquiry.
He said Victoria Police enforcing hotel quarantine was not discussed at hotel quarantine planning meetings on March 27 and 28.
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Ewin Hannan 12.24pm: Early payrise for Woolworths workers as dispute resolved
Woolworths Group will bring forward payment of a 1.75 per cent wage rise to tens of thousands of employees after resolution of a dispute with the shop assistants union.
Following talks on Tuesday night, Woolworths and the union withdrew legal action over the timing of the pay rise which will now be backdated to July 1 and be paid to employees at Woolworths Supermarkets, Big W, BWS and Dan Murphy’s outlets.
The dispute occurred after the Fair Work Commission decided to delay the annual award wage increase for retail workers to February 1, 2021.
The increase traditionally applies from July 1 each year in line with the annual minimum wage rise. The wording in the Woolworths’ enterprise agreements reflected this practice.
Following the recent commission decision, Woolworths Group sought to have the increase apply from February 2021 and the unions initiated Federal Court action to have the rise come into effect from July 2020.
Woolworths agreed and the pay rise will be backdated to July 1.
Gerad Dwyer, the union’s national secretary, said Woolworths had “done the right thing” and “should be congratulated for putting their team first”.
“Our members are providing an essential service to the community through the crisis of our generation and deserve every bit of this pay increase,” he said.
“We call on other large retailers to follow Woolworths’ lead on this issue and push through the Fair Work Commission’s pay increases immediately.”
Woolworths general manager of workplace relations Hayley Baxendale said the supermarket giant had reached a mutually agreeable outcome with the union which will provide a much quicker resolution for our team in these unsettling times.
“We care deeply for our team and feel that delivering these pay increases early - without lengthy legal proceedings - is just the right way to resolve the issue and move forward,” she said.
“Our frontline teams are doing an extraordinary job for our customers in the pandemic and we’re incredibly grateful for everything they do.”
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Staff writers 12.18pm: New cluster as NZ adds five cases
A new “mini cluster’’ has emerged at an Auckland church as the city records five new cases.
The source of New Zealand’s outbreak, first announced on August 11, remains a mystery, with a total of 110 cases now linked.
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Imogen Reid 12.08pm: Berejiklian wants NSW to lead nation on recovery
Premier Gladys Berejiklian says she wants NSW to lead the country in its employment recovery plan, particularly through programs supporting young people on major infrastructure projects.
“Yes, youth unemployment is a concern of mine. I’m passionate about it and passionate about jobs in New South Wales and I want the community to be rest assured that whilst we’re dealing with this pandemic, we have a firm eye on recovery,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“I want us to lead the nation and the most recent employment figures gave me some heart. A number of people who had previously lost their jobs have been able to regain jobs in New South Wales.
“So, whilst the unemployment figures are higher than I would like, we have managed in the last few months, because of our balance in managing the pandemic and keeping our economy going, we have been able to find jobs for people who had previously been displaced.
“That’s the path I want New South Wales to continue on.”
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Remy Varga 11.59am: Emergency boss denies ADF hotel help offered
Emergency Management Victoria Commissioner Andrew Crisp says the ADF did not offer troops to guard the hotel quarantine program linked to almost all of Victoria’s second wave coronavirus cases, inquiry hears.
Mr Crisp said ADF representatives were present at hotel quarantine planning meetings on March 27 but he did not recall if troops were offered.
“I don’t recall any direct offer made in relation to hotel quarantine,” he said.
“With the meetings on the 27th and 28th of March, when we were standing up Operation Soteria [hotel quarantine], there was not an offer from the ADF in relation to support for hotel quarantine — nor did I request that support.”
Questioned on a press release issued by the Victorian Premier on March 27 that said ADF would support the hotel quarantine program, Mr Crisp said he interpreted the statement in “broad terms”.
He said a meeting on March 27 where the hotel quarantine program was attended by representatives from the ADF, the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions and Victoria Police.
“With the meeting on the 27th and the subsequent meetings on the 28th, they [ADF] were playing a very clear role in supporting our planning effort [and] drawing up an operational plan for Operation Soteria [hotel quarantine],” he said.
Lieutenant-General John Frewen last week said 100 troops were put on standby to help Victoria after Prime Minister Scott Morrisson offered all state and territories with ADF support in quarantine efforts.
‘‘In the PM’s offer, the ADF, it was made plain, would be available to all of the states and territories to help with whatever arrangements were put in place for quarantine and quarantine enforcement,” he said.
Mr Andrews triggered a stoush between himself and the Commonwealth when he told a parliamentary hearing that it was incorrect to say there were hundreds of ADF troops on offer to assist with hotel quarantine.
Defence Minister Linda Reynolds responded by saying VIctoria had been offered help on multiple occasions but Mr Andrews has disputed the help related to hotel quarantine.
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Imogen Reid 11.58am: ‘Unusual’ number of complaints ahead of Travelodge move
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller has said an “usual” amount of complaints coming from travellers in quarantine at a Travelodge Sydney triggered Tuesday night’s operation to have them moved to Novotel Sydney on Darling Harbour.
“Every hotel has had a complaint at some stage, but it’s about balancing that and doing the appropriate orders,” he said.
“But certainly last week the volume of complaints was unusual, not just to police, but to health and also to those organising the hotels.”
Commissioner Fuller said the hotel quarantine operation will continue as normal with the NSW Police force in charge of the system.
“The only [rule] breached is the health orders from not self-isolating,” he said.
“So the hotel operation will continue with police being in charge, supported by the Defence, and the second tier of security will be those security guards.
It comes after a security guard on duty at the Marriott Hotel, who failed to self-isolate while waiting for his COVID-19 test results, tested positive for the virus.
READ MORE: Writedowns as Covid infects homes
Rebecca Urban 11.47am: Victoria may still need rules in 12 months: Andrews
Victoria could still be living under a cloud of the coronavirus pandemic beyond the next 12 months, the Victorian Premier has warned, as he pushes his plan to extend the state’s emergency powers.
Quizzed on why he was seeking to change legislation to extend the state of emergency for a year, he told reporters on Tuesday:“I couldn’t rule out that at the end of 12 months you wouldn’t still need some rules”.
“That’s not designed to frighten people; that’s just a statement of fact,” he said.
“There will be some rules in place, and hopefully they’re very light touch, [applying to] big big crowds, you know thousands of people. Things along those lines.”
Mr Andrews said there was no guarantee of a vaccine next year and the government needed to have the legal authority to ensure that those infected with COVID-19 isolated at home.
READ MORE: Albrechtsen — Class-action quandary for Andrews mates
Remy Varga 11.34am: Bureaucrat in quarantine video to give evidence
The top Victorian bureaucrat who featured in a video celebrating the success of hotel quarantine will give evidence at the inquiry into the bungled scheme.
Global Victoria chief executive officer Gonul Serbest will give evidence on Thursday as well as Claire Febey and Katrina Currie from the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions.
In the video, Ms Serbest as well as bureaucrats from various government agencies congratulate themselves on getting the program up and running.
“It’s been a really interesting and complex project but something that I think we will look back and really think about as something that’s been really rewarding,” she said.
“The fact that we have been able to help slow the spread of coronavirus makes us feel really proud of the work we have been doing.”
Friday’s hearings will focus on the role and perspective of the hotels involved in the quarantine scheme.
READ MORE: Creighton — Let’s face it, these are nonsense jobs
Rebecca Urban 11.15am: Andrews confident of emergency deal
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said he was confident of coming to an agreement with recalcitrant crossbenchers over his contentious bid to extend the state’s emergency powers for a further year to provide a “legal framework” so “we can open up and rebuild”.
Following a hostile reaction to the plan, to which several cross benchers said they would not support, Mr Andrews claimed on Tuesday that he was having “very productive discussions” with the Upper House members.
“I’m very grateful for the positive way in which we’ve been engaging with the cross bench,” he said.
“I’m very hopeful we will get an outcome that allows the Chief Health Officer to continue to ... make decisions based on science and evidence that are proportionate to the challenges we face that will underpin us opening up.
“The key to opening up is not going from stage four to stage zero with no rules...there has to be a framework.”
Victoria’s state of emergency is due to expire on September 13 after being in place for six months – the maximum period under the current laws.
The state’s COVID-19 new case numbers have come in under 150 for a third day running – at 149 – however 24 deaths have been recorded in the past 24 hours.
The victims include a woman in her 60s, three men in their 70s, three women and seven men in their 80s, and six women and four men in their 90s. Twenty-one were linked to aged-care outbreaks.
Mr Andrews reiterated that the bid to extend the state of emergency was not about continuing with the hard lockdown measures, including an 8pm curfew, that currently applies across metropolitan Melbourne.
He said it would provide the government with the power to enforce people staying home if they have the virus, and ensuring risky businesses complied with COVIDSafe requirements.
“We simply can’t have an opening up strategy unless you’ve got the ability to make those sorts of rules, “ he said.
Several crossbenchers have indicated they would consider a three or six months extension but described the Premier’s 12-month bid as a “huge overreach”
READ MORE: Revolt over Andrews’ virus power grab
Imogen Reid 11.04am: NSW records six new virus cases
There have been six new cases of coronavirus diagnosed in NSW up to 8pm on Wednesday.
Five of those were locally acquired and only one was a returned traveller in hotel quarantine.
Of the locally acquired cases, a man and woman in the same household in Sydney are household contacts.
One of them is a trainee bus driver who worked while infectious for one day and was wearing a mask at the time.
Chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said contract tracing is underway, but “we do think the risk to passengers is very low”.
The news comes after three schools and a gym were forced to close due to possible cases of coronavirus in students.
Riverstone High School, Wyndham College and Schofields Public School, all in Sydney’s north west, will not be open for on-site learning on Wednesday.
The campus will be cleaned and students are being tested.
NSW Health is also investigating two cases which attended City Tattersalls Fitness Centre on Pitt St in the CBD on August 19, 21 and 23.
Dr Chant said of the locally acquired cases, a man and woman in their 40s have been identified as household contacts while two unrelated cases, a man in his 60s and a woman in her 50s, are from South Eastern Sydney. One is a woman in her 30s from Sydney.
Another case is a trainee bus driver who worked while infectious. Dr Chant said contact tracing is underway and believes the risk to passengers is “very low.” The bus driver was wearing a mask while they worked.
There are currently 72 COVID-19 cases being treated by NSW Health.
Remy Varga 10.41am: Ministers face prosecution over hotel quarantine
Victorian government ministers could face prosecution over hotel quarantine under industrial safety laws, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.
Commenting generally in response to a question on poor infection control at hotel quarantine, WorkSafe chief executive Colin Radford said any “duty holders” could be held liable under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
“An employer does have a responsibility to provide a safe work environment,” he said.
He said government departments could be prosecuted under industrial manslaughter laws, which came into effect in Victoria on July 1.
Victorian Attorney-General Jill Hennessy, who is now the responsible minister for the rebooted hotel quarantine program, clarified legal action could be taken against ministers.
“The Crown is not immune and that means there can be ministerial responsibility in respect to that legal action,” she said.
“That was a decision the government proactively took in that legislation and I don’t quibble with that at all.”
The hotel quarantine inquiry heard this week of a security guard who likely caught coronavirus at the Rydges on Swanston as well as from Parks Victoria officer Luke Ashford who quit the program out of fears for his safety.
It is unclear which government minister was responsible for the hotel quarantine program in May, when poor infection control sparked Victoria’s coronavirus second wave.
Mr Radford confirmed WorkSafe were investigating eight worksites relating to hotel quarantine.
State departments investigated
WorkSafe is investigating Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions, the parliamentary inquiry has also heard.
WorkSafe chief executive Colin Radford confirmed the two state government departments were being investigated under workplace safety laws.
“In terms of the duty holders, DHHS and DJPR,” he said.
Both departments were involved in the hotel quarantine program but Mr Radford did not explicitly link the investigations to the bungled scheme.
He said the security companies were being investigated over failing to provide a safe work environment for guards.
Attorney-General Jill Hennessy said there were often investigations into high risk industries like healthcare.
“Healthcare is one of the highest ranked occupational health and safety areas of risk,” she said.
“Government is not immune from occupational health and safety laws.”
READ MORE: Sydney quarantine hotel evacuated
Staff writers 10.06am: Chinese diplomat to address National Press Club
The Deputy Head of Mission/Minister, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Australia, Minister Wang Xining, will address the National Press Club from 12.30pm today.
It comes at a time of widely acknowledged tensions in the Australia-China bilateral relationship.
READ MORE: Step ahead with Pacific jab diplomacy
Charlie Peel 9.45am: New case recorded in Brisbane detention centre
Queensland has recorded one new case of coronavirus overnight, the 11th case in the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre cluster, as testing rates soar.
Deputy Premier and Health Minister Steven Miles said he was pleased tests conducted in the past 24 hours had hit more than 20,000.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said it was still not known what the link was for the detention centre cluster, meaning there could be more undetected cases in the community.
“Anyone, with any symptoms at all, if you live anywhere in Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich or West Moreton area...that you come forward and get tested,” Dr Young said.
The new case is a close contact of one of the detention centre cases.
Deputy police commissioner Steve Gollschewski said in the past 24 hours 64 flights had come in, and nearly 3000 passengers had been processed.
Two people were refused entry to the state at the airports.
At the road borders, 3412 vehicles were intercepted and 107 people were turned back.
455 people have been placed in self-funded hotel quarantine.
Deputy commissioner Gollschewski said of the 94 children who had left the detention centre since July 22, only two had been outstanding.
“We don’t have particular concerns about those...and we anticipate finding them in the next day or so,” he said, adding they were in the greater Brisbane area.
Dr Young said she was not aware of whether either of the Logan women — who returned to Brisbane and tested positive to COVID-19 after allegedly lying about being in Melbourne - had relatives in the detention centre.
“That’s not information we have,” she said.
Dr Young said it was a “small cluster” but still a risk, because infected people had been out in the community.
Separately, a criminal investigation has been launched into a luxury yacht that had an exemption to come from Victoria to Queensland for repairs.
The yacht is called the Lady Pamela, and all seven people on board were yesterday ordered off the yacht and into hotel quarantine.
There is an allegation that not all of the people onboard were crew, and police are investigating whether the terms of the border exemption were breached.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was “disgusted” at the situation.
—With Sarah Elks
READ MORE: Kelly — Palaszczuk’s theatrics straight from Bjelke-Petersen playbook
Cameron Stewart 9.30am: All eyes on Melania for headline speech
Day two of the four day Republican National Convention will see speeches from more members of Donald Trump’s family and also his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The headline act today is a speech from First Lady Melania Trump from the White House Rose Garden, which she recently renovated.
Excited to honor history & celebrate the future in our beautiful @WhiteHouse Rose Garden this evening. Thank you to all who helped renew this iconic & truly gorgeous space. pic.twitter.com/ggiqLkdGbw
— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) August 22, 2020
Mrs Trump does not like the spotlight and is a reluctant campaigner, but this will be her most watched speech since the 2016 Republican Convention where she was criticised for plagiarising parts of Michelle Obama’s 2008 speech to the Democratic National Convention.
Mr Pompeo will give a prerecorded speech from Jerusalem in which he will outline Mr Trump’s achievements on the world stage.
Others to speak today include two of Mr Trump’s children, Eric Trump and Tiffany Trump.
Others expected to appear include a dairy farmer who will praise the president’s trade policy, a lobster fisherman who will give thanks for government assistance and a former Planned Parenthood employee from Texas who now opposes abortion.
Also appearing will be Nicholas Sandmann, a former high school student from Kentucky who had a widely publicised encounter with a Native American activist on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 2019.
FOLLOW the Republican National Convention live here
Richard Ferguson 9.25am: Tasmanian workers eligible for paid pandemic leave
Tasmanian workers will now be eligible for paid pandemic leave payments after a deal between Scott Morrison and Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein was struck.
Workers in the Apple Isle are now the second group in the country to receive the $1500 disaster payment if they are forced into COVID-related quarantine and have used up all their sick leave.
More than $8.8m has been paid out in disaster pandemic leave payments to Victorians so far, after 6000 claims were granted in August.
READ MORE: Covid money buying ‘grog chaos and gambling’
Andrew McMillen 9.20am: Falls Festival cancels its 2020 events
The organisers behind the annual multistate music event Falls Festival have pulled the plug on plans for all-Australian concert line-ups set to take place at the end of the year.
“Falls Festival will no longer be taking place this year,” said organisers in a statement released on Wednesday morning. “In May, as the nation seemed to be moving into recovery mode, we were optimistic about forging ahead and supporting our local industry with an all Aussie edition of Falls Festival.
“We were especially excited to reunite many live music fans, get industry crew back on the job and contribute to the economies of the communities where Falls takes place. However, given the current status of things and border restrictions in place, it won’t be possible to hold Falls Festival in our regular New Year’s time frame.”
READ the full story here
Jared Lynch 9.17am: Australia Post bosses delivered a blast
Senators have been scathing about Australia Post and its CEO Christine Holgate over responses to a parliamentary inquiry.
Senior Australia Post executives and staff showed “a lack of understanding of the critical scrutiny role played by the Senate” and have been urged to complete remedial training along with other government businesses to ensure they remain fully accountable to Australian taxpayers.
The Senate has completed its inquiry into regulatory changes to Australia Post, which will allow it to deliver letters every other day in cities and push out delivery times on some routes.
The inquiry was scathing about responses provided by Australia Post, which during the hearings delivered evidence from chief executive Christine Holgate and general counsel and corporate secretary Nick Macdonald.
READ the full story here
Agencies 9.01am: COVID spread to Australia from Boston via international meeting
An international meeting of Biogen managers in Boston last February likely helped spread the novel coronavirus from Boston to thousands of people as far away as Michigan, Virginia and Australia, according to researchers who conducted a new genetic analysis.
By identifying the genetic profile of the virus that infected meeting attendees or their contacts, the researchers found that the Biogen conference was a “superspreader event,” in which clusters of infections are created through rapid transmission.
From Boston, the virus strain spread out around Massachusetts and eventually to cities around the US and the world, the researchers said in a paper posted online in an database for early versions of scientific papers.
“Any infection that happens early on in an outbreak like this, where it’s exponential, it’s either going to peter out very quickly or wind up infecting a lot of people very quickly,” said Stephen Schaffner, a study co-author and computational biologist at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT.
“February 2020 was nearly a half year ago and was a period when general knowledge about the coronavirus was limited,” a Biogen spokesman said. “When we learned a number of our colleagues were ill, we did not know the cause was COVID-19, but we immediately notified public-health authorities and took steps to limit the spread.”
The coronavirus strain identified by the researchers likely originated in Europe before being introduced to the Boston area, their study said.
The strain was then spread at the two-day strategy meeting of 175 Biogen senior managers, according to the study, some of whom had travelled from other parts of the US and from around the world.
The researchers found evidence that the strain led to community transmission -- where new infections can’t be traced back to other infected or high-risk individuals -- in Michigan, Virginia and Australia.
Dow Jones Newswires
READ MORE: Trading Day — Markets cheered by US-China trade talks
Jacquelin Magnay 8.57am: Abbott appointed to UK trade role
Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has been lured to Britain to help boost global trade deals for the UK.
Mr Abbott, who last month told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to get his “mojo back’’ in taking a tough approach to dealing with migrants crossing the English Channel, has been appointed to Britain’s relaunched Board of Trade, an august body that first sat 400 years ago.
READ the full story here
Imogen Reid 8.52am: $1b injection to upgrade military bases
Australia’s defence force will receive a $1 billion injection to upgrade military bases and recruit reservists.
Scott Morrison unveiled the plan during a visit to Datapod in Canberra on Wednesday, which supplies the government with defence equipment.
A further 500 reservists will be enlisted over the next two years to assist with the COVID-19 pandemic and will also be trained to deal with natural disasters.
“Today is all about jobs,” the Prime Minister said.
“Today is once again about the JobMaker plan, doing everything we can as we grow out of the COVID-19 recession to ensure that we can keep Australians in jobs and keep businesses in business and one of the key areas we are going that is enduring how we are spending money in the defence industry.”
READ MORE: China military advances ‘pose higher threat’
Staff writers 8.40am: Victorian deaths spike to 24; 149 new cases
Victoria’s coronavirus daily total has spiked slightly, with 149 new cases recorded.
It comes after Tuesday’s total of 116.
And tragically, 24 Victorians have died — the state’s second-highest daily death toll so far after 25 deaths on August 17.
Health Minister Jenny Mikakos revealed the figures in an ABC radio interview, ahead of the official release by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Premier Daniel Andrews is expected to provide a detailed update later on Wednesday.
Imogen Reid 8.17am: Albanese has a blindspot for Victorian situation: PM
Scott Morrison says the Opposition Leader has a “blindspot” to the situation in occurring Victoria, accusing Anthony Albanese of failing to understand the severity of the state’s second wave.
Mr Albanese has attacked the Prime Minister repeatedly in question time over the past two days about the federal government’s response to coronavirus outbreaks in aged care homes in Victoria.
“I do find it strange though that Anthony Albanese has a complete blind spot. He must be the only person who doesn’t understand what’s happened in Victoria,” Mr Morrison told reporters this morning.
“I can assure you Victorians do. I’m not a Victorian and I can work that out.
“He needs to do a bit more work to understand what’s going on down there because he doesn’t seem to know.”
Mr Morrison also addressed the Victorian Liberal branch stacking allegations for the first time, saying it is being dealt with by the Department of Finance so he can handle the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These matters have been refereed by the Department of Finance and that’s the appropriate response,” he said.
“I’ve been dealing with the COVID crisis. I’ve been dealing with getting people back in jobs. The matter has been referred by the Department of Finance.
“I don’t think that Australians want me distracted by those issues.”
Mr Morrison said he had raised his concerns with the Victorian Premier over his plans to extend the state’s emergency provisions by 12 months.
“I think it is important to dispel any uncertainty and get clarity around that issue,” Mr Morrison said.
“People were concerned the lockdowns would extend for another 12 months. We received many calls to our offices right across Victoria, including in my office as well. There was great concern that that would occur.”
READ MORE: Editorial — Andrews plan a power grab too far
Imogen Reid 7.45am: Andrews ‘must explain’ emergency extension
Education Minister Dan Tehan says the Victorian government “has a lot of explaining to do” after Premier Daniel Andrews defended plans to extend the state of emergency provisions well into 2021.
The state government is working to alter the Public Health and Wellbeing Act to allow the coronavirus restrictions, which currently have a six-month cap, to run for another 12 months.
Mr Tehan told Sky news this morning the decision needs to be “clearly articulated” and called on the Victorian government to explain why they want to extend the state’s emergency powers.
“I think there’s a lot of explaining to do as to why the Victoria government wants to do this,” Mr Tehan said.
“I think people are deeply concerned by this extension for 12 months and I think they need to be clearly articulated and explained and the reason why needs to be put clearly, particularly when it comes to our democracy.
“Why extend such laws that give unfettered power in this regard without proper explanation.
“I really think this does need explaining and I join the Treasurer and my other Victorian colleagues in saying there needs to be a proper annunciation on why the Victorian government would want to put these powers in place.”
READ MORE: Revolt over Andrews power grab
Jacquelin Magnay 7.30am: Aussie family split between two worlds
An Australian family has been left heartbroken, split apart at either ends of the world for more than five months after six flight cancellations.
Such has been the trauma, a 13-year-old daughter, staying with relatives in Brisbane, has asked her parents stranded in Armenia: “Will you ever be back to see me walk down the aisle?’’
Strict Australian government caps on arrivals into the country, currently 4000 per week, and repeated airline cancellations have seen the Kardashian family living apart since mid March, and the chaos for more than 20,000 Australians stranded around the world looks set to extend to well after Christmas.
Arpy Kardashian, a 50-year-old social worker and Australian citizen, her truck-driving husband Harry, an Australian permanent resident and former Syrian refugee, are currently in Armenia with their ten-month-old baby girl Arpy.
They had been there for three years for work, but last December began the process to move back to Australia, selling their cars, giving away furniture and belongings and getting paperwork sorted for little Arpy, including booking flights to Australia for mid March.
But on the day of the flight, March 17, Arpy’s registration was still not complete so the older children Harmig, 14, and Anita, 13, both Australian citizens, left to start school in Brisbane, staying with an uncle while their parents waited behind expecting documents to come through within days.
However the painful separation has now ballooned out to nearly half a year.
READ the full story here.
Imogen Reid 7.00am: Usain Bolt tests positive after birthday party
Eight-time Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt has tested positive for coronavirus and is self-isolating in Jamaica after celebrating his 34th birthday at a party last week.
Jamaica’s health ministry confirmed Bolt had tested positive after he posted a video to his Twitter saying he was in quarantine while waiting for his results.
Stay Safe my ppl ðŸ™ðŸ¿ pic.twitter.com/ebwJFF5Ka9
— Usain St. Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) August 24, 2020
Bolt said he was tested on Saturday “because of work” despite being asymptomatic.
“I am trying to be responsible so I am going to stay in and stay here for my friends,” Bolt said.
“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.”
READ MORE: Covid money buying grog chaos, gambling
Imogen Reid 6.55am: Three Sydney schools closed amid testing
Three schools in Sydney’s north west will be closed on Wednesday while multiple students wait for the results of COVID-19 tests.
Riverstone High School, Wyndham College and Schofields Public School will not reopen until NSW Health advises it is safe to do so once the test results are received.
Students will learn from home while the campuses are cleaned.
HSC trial exams will be rescheduled at Wyndham College and those who have their HSC drama performance will be contacted by the school.
“NSW Health has requested anyone who has been unwell or develops any symptoms such as a fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, loss of smell/taste, muscle/joint pain or extreme tiredness to be tested at one of the COVID-19 clinics,” Wyndham College said in a statement.
Health officials are investigating the cases and conducting contact tracing.
READ MORE: Over-protective states throttling nation
Imogen Reid 6.40am: Coronavirus patients reinfected in Belgium, Netherlands
Two coronavirus patients in Europe have been reinfected with the virus raising concerns about immunity.
It comes after researchers in Hong Kong confirmed a man there had contracted COVID-19 for the second time four-and-a-half months after recovering from his initial infection.
Local broadcasters said on Tuesday a patient in the Netherlands and in one in Belgium had been reinfected with the virus.
Students in England will no longer be advised against using face masks during school hours after Prime Minister Boris Johnson changed the advice late on Tuesday just hours before pupils returned to the classroom.
Mr Johnson insisted schools would be safe after teachers urged the use of face masks.
In lockdown areas, which have greater COVID-19 restrictions, face masks will become mandatory in parts of the school where social distancing is not guaranteed.
In other areas, head teachers will be able to choose whether face masks will be required.
Meanwhile, colleges across the United States are seeing a spike in new coronavirus cases after campuses reopened in recent weeks.
The University of Alabama on Monday reported more than 550 staff and students across its campuses had tested positive for COVID-19 since classes resumed on August 19. More than 100 students at the University of South Carolina are in a 14-day quarantine after being exposed to the virus.
India has reported the highest number of new coronavirus cases globally for the 18th consecutive day, recording 60,975 in 24 hours.
Turkey has recorded its highest number of new daily infections since mid-June, reporting 1,502 new cases on Tuesday. The death toll has reached 6,163.
Globally, there have been more than 23.7 million people infected with the virus, while the total number of COVID-19 deaths is 815,248.
READ MORE: Virus hits multiple stores and gym
Jamie Walker 6.00am: ‘Huge milestone’ in UQ vaccine trials
ustralia’s promising coronavirus vaccine has proved effective in easing the symptoms of COVID-19 in advanced animal studies, its makers say.
Tests on laboratory animals showed the University of Queensland jab delivered better immunity levels than those of a person who had the virus and recovered.
After two doses, infected hamsters received the added benefit of a “marked reduction” in the severity of inflammation in their lungs and upper respiratory tract.
“The results we have obtained so far look like two doses do a really good job of protecting both against virus replication and the disease,” UQ scientist Keith Chappell said.
The encouraging findings were released overnight at an international scientific forum where leading vaccine developers swapped notes on their progress.
UQ’s molecular clamp immuniser is now in phase-1 human trials to prove it is safe to give to people and can generate a baseline immune response.
The lead-up tests in hamsters — judged a better fit than other animal models, including primates — demonstrated that the UQ vaccine engaged both arms of the immune system, stimulating responses from antibodies and T-cells to the coronavirus.
Dr Chappell said one shot of the formulation eradicated all traces of the virus from the lungs of about half the lab animals, while the rest recorded “very reduced levels” of infection. A follow-up dose pushed this even further, attacking viral particles lodged in the throat and sinuses.
Queensland Innovation Minister Kate Jones described the latest data as “a huge milestone in the development of a Queensland vaccine”.
“A vaccine is vital in putting an end to this pandemic,” Ms Jones said.
READ the full story here.
Olivia Caisley 5.45am: Morrison has Colbeck’s back
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.
Mr Morrison fired back at renewed attacks from Labor in question time, declaring Senator Colbeck’s successful response had meant that 97 per cent of nursing homes across the nation had not experienced an outbreak.
“The Minister Aged Care over these many months has been responsible for the outcomes that I have referred to earlier, which has seen Australia in a position where 97 per cent of facilities in this country (don’t have COVID-19), despite the significant community outbreak in Victoria.”
The Australian on Tuesday reported that Health Minister Greg Hunt and not Senator Colbeck would have the ultimate say if and when an aged care emergency response operations centre — to suppress outbreaks in nursing homes — was mobilised.
In question time in the upper house on Tuesday, Senator Colbeck dealt with claims he had been “sidelined” from the decision-making process to activate the new response measures. “I was well aware of all the decisions made by respect to the formation of a recovery centre,” he said.
READ the full story here.
Rebecca Urban 5.30am: Deficient practices blamed for surge
Poor infection control, staff interacting on tea breaks and the practice of grouping coronavirus-infected patients in the same room have been blamed for a dramatic surge in the proportion of Victoria’s health sector employees acquiring the illness at work.
More than 69 per cent of healthcare workers diagnosed with COVID-19 in July and August were infected in the workplace, compared with 22 per cent during the first wave of the pandemic, a new report has revealed.
On average, about 34 health workers have been diagnosed every day throughout August, with aged and disability carers the hardest hit.
Detailed analysis of infections, released by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday, has forced the government to unveil a raft of measures to stem the spread in healthcare settings.
Among them is an expansion of guidance on N95 respirators, which would increase their usage significantly from 50,000 to 800,000 a week as they are made available in emergency departments, intensive care units, COVID-19 wards and aged-care homes.
READ the full story here.
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