Coronavirus Australia live news: Victorian Health Minister silent on hotel quarantine despite green light
Jenny Mikakos has cited the hotel quarantine inquiry in refusing to release a key document, despite the inquiry’s chair today saying there is no legal restriction.
- ‘No reason not to answer quarantine questions’
- Travellers from Vic must quarantine in Sydney
- Victoria records 725 new cases
- Virgin axes 3000 jobs, Tigerair
- Queensland slams border shut
Welcome to The Australian’s coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. The head of the hotel quarantine inquiry says there’s no reason questions about the fiasco can’t ba answered, but Health Minister Jenny Mikakos is still refusing to release a key document. A man in his 30s is among 15 deaths in Victoria as the state recorded 725 new cases. Daniel Andrews announces the report into the state’s hotel quarantine inquiry will be delayed. Every returning traveller arriving in Sydney from Victoria will have to go into mandatory hotel quarantine, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced.
Queensland will close its borders to NSW and the ACT from 1am on Saturday August 8, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced.
David Penberthy 11pm: Lib ‘dinner for 700 sends wrong Covid message’
SA Liberals are under fire for holding a 700-strong dinner in the same week as the state government reintroduced limits on funerals and weddings.
Chris Griffith 10.30pm: Update COVIDSafe app, expert urges
An Australian academic is urging users of the government’s COVIDSafe app to update it.
Vanessa Teague, an adjunct associate professor at ANU and CEO of Thinking Cybersecurity, says users may have continued using old versions of COVIDSafe that had problems with signal detecting the Bluetooth signals from other phones. Other bugs affecting an iPhone’s ability to detect other phones.
There was also concern about the app not working properly in the background on phones.
“Until recently, some people have been walking around with very old versions of the COVIDSafe app on their phone”, she told The Australian.
READ MORE: Virgin to kill 3000 jobs and Tigerair
David Tanner 10pm: Victorian spike ranks among developing nations
If Australia’s coronavirus-stricken state were a country, it would rank 13th in the world for the greatest increase in COVID-19 cases, in percentage terms, since June 26, according to analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.
African countries dominate the top 20 countries, taking up 11 places including the top three: Lesotho, Namibia and Gambia.
Olivia Caisley 9.30pm: 100-plus nursing homes ‘non-compliant’
More than 100 nursing homes across the nation failed federal standards brought in to ensure they were prepared for a COVID-19 outbreak.
Joe Kelly 8.50pm: Morrison slams Albanese’s ‘point scoring’
Scott Morrison has accused Labor of “engaging in self-serving, political, partisan point scoring” after Anthony Albanese moved to pin the blame for the second wave of infections in Victoria on the federal government.
Speaking on 2GB, the Prime Minister said the public would “make their own ruling” on who was at fault for the outbreak in Victoria but argued it was not the time to make political points out of the health crisis.
“If politicians don’t have something constructive to say or helpful to add to the conversation, then I think the public would prefer that they just allow those who have responsibilities to get on with the job,” Mr Morrison said. “And that’s what we’re seeking to do in as constructive a way as we can.”
“The situation in Victoria is extremely serious and the best way I can help is to help them get it right.”
Speaking in Canberra on Tuesday, the Opposition Leader said the Morrison government had failed to adequately defend aged-care centres from the coronavirus or stem community transmission by implementing a paid pandemic leave scheme earlier on.
Opposition industrial relations spokesman Tony Burke said swifter action by the Morrison government on pandemic leave could have led to a “less severe” second wave, and that the new federal payment had come “too late to prevent loss of life and an economy smashing lockdown”.
On Monday, the government announced a $1500 COVID-19 disaster payment for Victorians who had used up their sick leave but were required to enter into quarantine.
Mr Morrison dismissed the Labor criticism on Wednesday, saying he would not be distracted.
“Politics,” he said. “It’s that simple. And that’s why I just ignore it. I mean, honestly, engaging in self-serving, political, partisan point scoring is ... I think the public will make their own ruling on that.”
He also said the commonwealth could not dictate how any state responded to the crisis, arguing that was “how Australia runs” and that he was “pressing firmly on the supports that are needed and any issues that need to be addressed.”
Mr Morrison said the commonwealth was open to extending the disaster payments made to Victoria to other states and territories and had also moved to support parents and childcare centres affected by the strict stage four lockdown in Metropolitan Melbourne.
“It’s all hands on deck here,” he said.
READ MORE: The pandemic is just a rehearsal for a new chaotic world order
Amy Dockser Marcus 8.20pm: Blood plasma reduced death rate
Patients who received earlier transfusions of blood plasma rich in antibodies to the coronavirus show a lower mortality rate.
Rachel Baxendale 7.55pm: Active cases across Victoria
Just one of metropolitan Melbourne’s 31 local government areas has fewer than 48 known active cases of coronavirus, and two now have more than 1600 active cases between them.
Wednesday’s 725 new cases of COVID-19 in Victoria resulted in a net increase of 521 active cases which were scattered right across the state.
While the highest increases were in the areas with the highest caseloads, there were steady increases across the board, broadly in proportion to existing caseload, showing very few parts of the state where the virus is not still increasing.
This is despite stage-three restrictions coming into force across metropolitan Melbourne four weeks ago and masks becoming mandatory a fortnight ago.
Wyndham, in Melbourne’s outer southwest, had a net increase of 94 active cases on Wednesday, bringing its total to 860 — the highest in the state.
Brimbank, in the outer west, had a net increase of 42, to 791 active cases.
Other LGAs with double-digit increases included Whittlesea, in the outer north, with a net increase of 45 active cases, to a total of 509, Hume, also in the outer north, with a net increase of 37, to a total of 528, Melton, in the outer northwest, with a net increase of 30, to 434, Maribyrnong, in the inner west, with a net increase of 28, to 234, Moreland, in the north, with a net increase of 18, to 394, Casey, in the outer southeast, with a net increase of 16, to 326, Banyule, in the northeast, with a net increase of 15, to 148, and Greater Geelong, in southwest regional Victoria, with a net increase of 12, to a total of 132.
The semi-rural Mornington Peninsula, in the southeast, was the only metropolitan Melbourne LGA to have fewer than 48 active cases, with a total of 23 following a net increase of five.
The number of active cases across regional Victoria increased by 34 on Wednesday to reach 436 cases across 35 local government areas.
Mildura, in Victoria’s far northwest, recorded a single new case for the first time in months.
Active confirmed cases of COVID-19 by LGA as of Wednesday, with net increase since Tuesday in brackets:
Wyndham (outer southwest): 860 (+94)
Brimbank (outer west): 791 (+42)
Hume (outer north): 528 (+37)
Whittlesea (outer north): 509 (+45)
Melton (outer northwest): 434 (+30)
Moreland (north): 394 (+18)
Casey (outer southeast): 326 (+16)
City of Melbourne: 299 (+1)
Moonee Valley (northwest): 238 (+6)
Maribyrnong (inner west): 234 (+28)
Darebin (north): 212 (+37)
Greater Dandenong: (outer southeast): 193 (+7)
Yarra (inner northeast): 191 (+9)
Banyule (northeast): 148 (+15)
*Greater Geelong (southwest regional Vic): 132 (+12)
Yarra Ranges (outer east) 132 (+3)
Hobsons Bay (inner southwest): 118 (+9)
Bayside (southeast): 98 (+13)
*Colac-Otway (western regional Vic): 91 (+4)
Monash (southeast): 85 (+6)
Kingston (southeast): 83 (+3)
Glen Eira (east): 75 (+9)
Boroondara (east): 71 (+1)
Port Phillip (inner south): 66 (+9)
Whitehorse (east): 66 (+1)
Nillumbik (outer northeast): 65 (+6)
Manningham (east): 63 (+4)
Stonnington (inner southeast): 59 (+6)
Frankston (outer southeast): 57 (+3)
Cardinia (outer southeast): 55 (+3)
Knox (outer east): 50 (+2)
Maroondah (outer east): 48
*Macedon Ranges (central regional Vic): 36 (+6)
*Mitchell (central regional Vic, north of Melb): 31 (+4)
*Greater Bendigo (central regional Vic): 29 (+4)
Mornington Peninsula (outer southeast): 23 (+5)
*Latrobe (eastern regional Vic): 13 (+3)
*Ballarat (western regional Vic): 13 (+1)
*Moorabool (western regional Vic): 13 (-1)
*Glenelg (western regional Vic): 13
*Golden Plains (western regional Vic): 12 (+2)
*Baw Baw (eastern regional Vic): 6 (+2)
*Surf Coast (southwest regional Vic): 6 (+1)
*Horsham (western regional Vic): 6
*South Gippsland (eastern regional Vic): 5 (-1)
*Bass Coast (southeast regional Vic): 4 (+1)
*Mount Alexander (central regional Vic): 4
*Mansfield (northeast regional Vic): 4
*Loddon (northwest central regional Vic): 3
*Swan Hill (northwest regional Vic): 2
*West Wimmera (western regional Vic): 2 (+1)
*Mildura (northwest regional Vic): 1 (+1)
*Greater Shepparton (northern regional Vic): 1
*Moira (northern regional Vic): 1 (+1)
*Ararat (western regional Vic): 1
*Campaspe (northern regional Vic): 1
*Warrnambool (southwest regional Vic): 1
*Murrindindi (northeast central regional Victoria): 1
*Southern Grampians (western regional Vic): 1
*East Gippsland (east regional Vic): 1
*Moyne (southwest regional Vic): 1
*Wodonga (northeast regional Vic): 1
*Queenscliffe (southwestern regional Vic): 1
*Hepburn (central regional Vic): 1 (-1)
*Northern Grampians (western regional Vic): 1 (-1)
*Pyrenees (western regional Vic): 1 (-1)
Interstate: 15 (+1)
Unknown: 201 (+15)
TOTAL: 7227 (+521)
*Denotes regional Victorian LGAs
Source: Victorian Department of Health and Human Services
Rachel Baxendale 7.30pm: Worst non-aged-care clusters
Victoria’s large non-agedcare clusters on Wednesday.
Abattoirs smallgoods
A total of 189 cases have been linked to Bertocchi Smallgoods in Thomastown, in Melbourne’s north, up from 155 on Tuesday.
The Somerville Retail Services abattoir in Tottenham, in Melbourne’s west, has been linked to 164 cases, up from 133 on Tuesday.
A total of 80 cases have been linked to Australian Lamb Company in Colac, in southwest regional Victoria, up from 78 on Tuesday.
Ingham’s poultry processing in Thomastown, in Melbourne’s north, is now linked to 29 cases, up from 27 on Tuesday (+2);
Golden Farms Poultry in Breakwater, central Victoria, is now linked to 28 cases, up from 25 on Tuesday.
Hospitals
A total of 81 cases have been linked to Melbourne Health Royal Park Campus, up from 74 on Tuesday.
Logistics and warehouses
A total of 57 cases have been linked to the Woolworths Distribution Centre in Mulgrave, in Melbourne’s southeast, up from 37 on Tuesday.
A total of 44 cases have been linked to the Linfox warehouse in Truganina, in Melbourne’s outer west, up from 32 cases on Tuesday.
Schools and childcare
A total of 36 cases have been linked to Catholic Regional College in Sydenham, in Melbourne’s outer northwest, up from 34 on Tuesday.
A total of 39 cases have been linked to Nino Early Learning Centre in Bundoora, in Melbourne’s north, up from 38 on Tuesday.
The department is also looking into cases linked to St Joseph’s Primary School in the Bendigo suburb of Quarry Hill, in central Victoria.
Caregiving
A total of 29 cases have been linked to Respite Services Australia in Moonee Ponds in Melbourne’s northwest, up from 22 on Thursday.
READ MORE: Covidiots are not new
Ewin Hannan 7.05pm: PM open to extending disaster leave
Scott Morrison has declared the Commonwealth is prepared to extend a $1500 COVID-19 disaster payment beyond Victoria to other states and territories if they want to mirror the funding deal struck with the Andrews Government.
The Prime Minister and the Attorney-General Christian Porter said the federal government was open to extending the joint arrangement which provides a $1500 payment to Victorians forced to isolate for 14 days.
The federal payment runs in tandem with the Victorian government’s $1500 Worker Support payments, which help temporary visa holders not eligible for commonwealth coronavirus welfare schemes. The disaster payment, applies only in Victoria to workers who have exhausted sick-leave entitlements.
Mr Morrison said “if other states or territories want to enter into a similar arrangement, then I will be making an offer to those states and territories if they wish to do that”.
“Of course, they are not facing the same level of challenge and the health advice we had out of Victoria was to do this so we are pleased to do it,” he said.
“That option is there for other states and territories where they believe they need to move to that stage.”
Mr Porter said that “if other states want to talk to us about mirroring that cooperative relationship, if a set of circumstances approximating those that have arisen in Victoria occur in another state, then that is clearly an open door”.
“But it is an example where there‘s compromise, cooperation at the highest levels, to try and fix a problem, and it’s a problem that we don’t even know the scale of,” he told Gareth Parker.
“I mean, whether or not this is a reason why people are not abiding by requirements to isolate, we just don‘t have the data on.
“But if it is a possibility, then closing off that reason or potential reason for people not to do the right thing is definitely, I think, good policy and we‘ve done it in a cooperative way. And yeah, it could be extended but that’s a conversation to have between the Prime Minister and premiers and through national cabinet, I think.
ACTU secretary Sally McManus said paid pandemic leave was a preventative measure which is why it must be available to all parts of the country where there was community transmission.
“Once a state of disaster is called it is too late. We need to stop community spread in the first place” she said.
“This virus spread in Victoria partly because workers without sick leave went to work. This is a lesson and a warning to us all. We know what needs to happen to minimise this risk, give all workers sick leave via a paid pandemic scheme immediately.”
READ MORE: Pandemic a rehearsal for new chaotic world order
Rachel Baxendale 6.41pm: Mikakos fails to address written questions
Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos has cited the ongoing hotel quarantine inquiry in refusing to release a key document, despite the inquiry’s chair today saying there is no legal restriction or prohibition on ministers or the Premier answering questions about their hotel quarantine program while the probe is ongoing.
The refusal was among a series of written responses to questions Ms Mikakos refused to answer in upper house Question Time on Tuesday, which were tabled late on Wednesday.
Earlier on Wednesday, retired judge Jennifer Coate, who is conducting Victoria‘s Hotel Quarantine Board of Inquiry confirmed her investigation was “not a court”, after being asked whether there was a valid reason for Premier Daniel Andrews and his ministers to refuse to answer questions about their bungled hotel quarantine program.
Read the Crozier Doherty response here
“Under law, unlike a court, there is no general restriction or prohibition which would prevent a person from commenting publicly or answering questions to which they know the answers on matters which are the subject of examination by this Board of Inquiry,” Justice Coate said.
Ever since he announced the inquiry on July 2, Mr Andrews and his ministers have refused to answer questions about the issue, claiming doing so would cut across the work of the inquiry.
Breaches in quarantine hotels run by the Andrews government have been genomically linked to a high proportion if not all of Victoria’s crippling second wave of coronavirus cases, with the links detailed in a Doherty Institute report that the government has refused to release.
Opposition Health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier asked Ms Mikakos in Question Time on Tuesday: “Will you release the report today?”
In her written response on Wednesday, Ms Mikakos wrote: “Detailed epidemiological and genomic analysis has been provided by the Department (of Health and Human Services) and the Doherty Institute to the Board of Inquiry into the COVID-19 Quarantine Program and it will be the focus of public hearings as part of that formal judicial process. We will not be providing a commentary while the Inquiry is ongoing.”
Ms Mikakos also refused to release the working and scientific papers that have formed the basis for the Chief Health Officers directions in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Rachel Baxendale 5.50pm: 98 coronavirus deaths linked to aged care in Victoria
As of Wednesday, there are 1435 active cases of coronavirus across 103 Victorian aged care facilities.
This is an increase of 249 cases in the 24 hours to Wednesday, up from 1186 cases across 99 facilities on Tuesday.
There have been 1754 cases linked to Victorian aged care since the pandemic began.
Of the total number of aged care cases since the pandemic began, 810 have been in residents, 641 have been in staff, and 303 have been in other close contacts.
This represents and increase of 122 cases in residents, 46 cases in staff and 163 cases in other close contacts in the 24 hours to Wednesday.
There have been 98 coronavirus deaths in Victoria linked to aged care facilities - up from 88 on Tuesday.
The 98 deaths represent 60 per cent of Victoria’s total death toll of 162 since the pandemic began.
All of these deaths have occurred since July 5.
The largest aged care clusters include:
- 159 cases linked to St Basil’s Homes for the Aged in Fawkner, in Melbourne’s north, up from 142 on Tuesday. This includes 84 residents, 50 staff (+3) and 25 others (+14);
- 155 cases linked to Heritage Care’s Epping Gardens facility in Melbourne’s north, up from 135 on Tuesday. This includes 83 residents (+4), 52 staff (+1) and 20 others (+15);
- 139 cases linked to Estia Health in Ardeer, in Melbourne’s west, up from 107 on Tuesday. This includes 51 residents (+1), 58 staff (+1) and 30 others (+30);
- 114 cases linked to Kirkbrae Presbyterian Homes in Kilsyth, in Melbourne’s outer east, up from 110 on Tuesday. This includes 46 residents (+1), 43 staff and 25 others (+3);
- 93 cases linked to Estia Health in Heidelberg, in Melbourne’s northeast, up from 89 on Tuesday. This includes 27 residents (+2), 49 staff (+1) and 17 others (+1);
- 78 cases linked to the Arcare aged care facility in Craigieburn, in Melbourne’s outer north. Up from 45 on Friday. This includes 24 residents, 27 staff and 17 others;
- 74 cases linked to BaptCare Wyndham Lodge in Werribee, in Melbourne’s outer southwest, up from 56 on Tuesday. This includes 34 residents (+7), 27 staff and 12 others (+11);
- 72 cases linked to the Glendale aged care facility in Werribee, in Melbourne’s outer southwest, up from 65 on Tuesday. This includes 34 residents (+1), 24 staff (+1) and 14 others (+5);
- 68 cases linked to Aurrum aged care facility in Plenty, in Melbourne’s outer northeast, up from 64 on Tuesday. This includes 45 residents (+3), 16 staff (+1) and seven others;
- 67 cases linked to the Menarock Life aged care facility in Essendon, in Melbourne’s northwest, up from 64 on Tuesday. This includes 20 residents, 26 staff and 21 others (+3).
READ MORE: Jack the Insider — Australia’s covidiots aren’t new
Rachel Baxendale 4.50pm: ‘Nothing stopping’ Andrews answering questions
Victoria’s opposition legal affairs spokesman, Edward O’Donohue, has weighed into comments made by the former judge who will oversee the hotel quarantine inquiry.
Justice Coate today said there was no reason the inquiry didn’t preclude Premier Daniel Andrews and other ministers answering questions about the debacle.
Mr O’Donohue said Justice Coate had recognised “what the community has known all along”.
“There is nothing stopping Daniel Andrews, (Health Minister) Jenny Mikakos, (Jobs Minister) Martin Pakula and (Police and Emergency Services Minister) Lisa Neville from giving full, honest and truthful answers to the decisions they made and what they knew when and where regarding this fiasco,” Mr O’Donohue said.
“With the delay in public hearings and the Inquiry report date now delayed until 6 November 2020, Daniel Andrews must come clean about his knowledge of the botched hotel quarantine program.
“When Daniel Andrews is asking Victorians to work together, the least he can do is be honest about how this disaster, the largest public policy failing in Victoria’s history, came to pass.
“The hotel quarantine fiasco and the spread of COVID-19 it facilitated is costing lives, billions in lost economic activity and causing immeasurable angst and stress in the community. “Daniel Andrews needs to recognise the loss his mismanagement has caused and come clean with the facts. The time for ducking, dodging and obfuscation is over.”
READ MORE: Victoria credit rating under threat
Max Maddison 4.30pm: Deputy CMO warns vaccine could be years away
With a COVID-19 vaccine potentially years away, the deputy Chief Medical Officer, has warned the nation to be prepared to live with the virus for “as long as possible”.
After another 15 people died from coronavirus, including a man in his 30s, the deputy CMO Michael Kidd said the dangers posed by the virus weren’t limited to the elderly.
“This is a stark reminder that while most of the deaths from COVID-19 are in older people, COVID-19 infection can be fatal to anyone at any age,” Professor Michael Kidd told a press conference this afternoon.
The other deaths in the past 24 hours included four people aged in their 90s, six people aged in their 80s and four people aged in their 70s.
With a report from the Director-General of the World Health Organisation warning that a vaccine may never be developed, Professor Kidd said Australians should be prepared to live with the virus.
“This may even be years, until an effective and safe vaccine has been developed and is able to be distributed and administered to people right around the world,” he said.
“So we do have to be preparing to live with COVID-19 for as long as possible. Clearly the aim in Australia is that we will continue to drive community transmission levels down to as low as possible to allow the people of Australia to get on with their lives.”
READ MORE: Labor tries to peg back Morrison
Rachel Baxendale 4.05pm: More than 2000 cases with unknown source
There have now been 2281 known cases of coronavirus in Victoria where contact tracers have been unable to establish a source - including 1127 in the fortnight to Wednesday, and 1980 since July 1.
This does not include thousands more cases which remain under investigation.
Of Victoria’s 723 new cases, only 164 have so far been linked to outbreaks, with 561 still being investigated.
There were 3625 cases still under investigation in Victoria on Tuesday, with the number yet to be updated on Wednesday.
As of Wednesday, Victoria now has 7227 active cases, with 5424 people having recovered.
There have been 13,035 cases since the pandemic began.
There have been 11,958 cases in people from metropolitan Melbourne and 771 in those from regional Victoria.
The total number of cases includes 6327 men and 6591 women.
In slightly more positive news, the number of active cases in health workers decreased slightly, from 731 cases on Tuesday to 729 on Wednesday.
However, this was largely due to a similar number of recoveries to new cases, with the total number of health worker cases since the pandemic began increasing from 1242 on Tuesday to 1285 on Wednesday.
READ MORE: Treasurer to host business leaders
Rachel Baxendale 3.55pm: A breakdown of hospitalisation, death rates
There are 17 people aged under 60 in Victorian intensive care wards with coronavirus on Wednesday, including a child under 10, three people in their 20s and two in their 30s.
The hospitalisation figures come after a man in his 30s died with COVID-19 in the previous 24 hours, becoming the youngest person in Australia to succumb to the virus.
Also in intensive care are one person in their 40s, 10 in their 50s, 15 in their 60s, eight in their 70s and two in their 80s.
Those in hospital but not in intensive care include three children under 10, one person aged 10-19, 15 in their 20s, 14 in their 30s, 14 in their 40s, 28 in their 50s, 46 in their 60s, 82 in their 70s, 194 in their 80s and 99 aged 90 or more.
There were 538 people in Victorian hospitals with coronavirus on Wednesday, including 42 in intensive care, up from 456 people in hospital on Tuesday, of whom 38 were in ICU.
Sixteen people aged under 70, all but two of them men, have died with coronavirus in Victoria since the pandemic began.
Those who have died include a man in his 30s who on Wednesday became Australia’s youngest victim of the pandemic, a man in his 40s, five men in their 50s, and seven men and two women in their 60s.
There have also been 37 people in their 70s, 64 in their 80s and 45 aged 90 or more who have died with coronavirus in Victoria.
The death toll of 162 includes 72 women and 90 men.
All but 20 of the deaths have occurred since July 5.
READ MORE: Australia’s Covidiots nothing new
Charlie Peel 3.45pm: Qld pair charged with falsifying border forms
A man and woman in their 60s have been charged with falsifying their border declaration passes to enter Queensland without having to quarantine after travelling through a declared COVID-19 hotspot.
The couple, a 63-year-old man and 68-year-old woman, were arrested in Nanango, northwest of Brisbane, on Tuesday and issued notices to appear in the Richlands Magistrates Court on August 19.
They are charged with failing to comply with the Queensland Border Direction and fraud.
The couple had crossed the border near Goondiwindi on July 27 and is now in mandatory quarantine in a hotel.
Separately, a 22-year-old man from Weipa, on Cape York, was also issued with an infringement notice for failing to comply with the Queensland Border Direction after being intercepted in Cairns Airport on Tuesday.
He had allegedly been staying in Sydney, a declared hotspot, before driving to Canberra to catch a flight into Queensland.
The man is in hotel quarantine.
Since the Queensland border reopened on July 10, 12 people have been issued with notices to appear in court while 24 have been issued with infringement notices for providing false information on their border declaration pass.
The continued non-compliance led to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Wednesday declaring the border would be closed to NSW and the ACT, to prevent similar violations.
READ MORE: Pandemic a rehearsal for new world order
Rachel Baxendale 3.30pm: Elective surgery suspended in parts of Victoria
The Andrews government has instructed public hospitals in regional Victoria to wind back all non-urgent surgery as Stage Three restrictions come into effect from 11:59pm on Wednesday night in all of Victoria outside the metropolitan Melbourne Stage Four lockdown.
As of Tuesday there were 402 cases of coronavirus spread across 34 regional Victorian local government areas - up from just 14 cases when Melbourne went into Stage Three lockdown on July 9.
Category Three and non-urgent Category Two surgery which has already been booked will still take place where possible and at the hospital’s discretion, but no new non-urgent surgery may be booked.
The announcement follows last week’s decision to suspend all Category Three and non-urgent Category Two elective surgery in metropolitan Melbourne and reduce elective surgery lists across public and private hospitals.
Category One and urgent Category Two surgeries will continue to take place, and IVF activity will be exempt from the restrictions.
Ms Mikakos said the government would reinstate an elective surgery blitz across Victoria as soon as it was safe to do so, “aiming to catch up on any backlog”.
She said the state now had 800 ICU beds across the state, “with hundreds more ready to be rapidly scaled up and down as needed to be suitable for coronavirus patients”.
Victoria also has more than 1,500 ventilators with access to “thousands more if needed” to convert additional beds into ICU capacity.
On April 1 the Andrews government announced that they would spend $1.9bn adding 4000 ICU beds to what was then 476 beds across the state.
READ MORE: Rent required at pubs with no beer
Matthew Denholm 3.15pm: Tasmanians urged to resists panic buying
Tasmanians have been urged not to panic buy goods in response to fears supply lines with Victoria may be disrupted by that state’s second wave of COVID-19.
Premier Peter Gutwein said state ministers responsible for freight logistics were meeting on Wednesday and there was “no reason for anyone to be concerned”.
“Victoria has the main ports through which we receive most of our goods into the state,” he said. “(However) importantly, the Port of Melbourne remains open…
“We’ve been assured that those supply lines will be kept open… There is no reason for anyone to be concerned…
“There is no need to rush to the shops to stock up … (or) buy extra supplies. That is simply not required.”
However, the government had set up a hotline for Tasmanian businesses to call should they have any difficulties sourcing supplies from Victoria during that state’s lockdown. That number is: 1800 440 026.
Tasmania has no known active cases of coronavirus and has conducted 71,000 tests. Its borders remain closed to non-essential travelers.
Tasmania Police Commissioner Darren Hine said about 1,000 Tasmanians were in home quarantine and more than 30 people had been charged with quarantine breaches.
READ MORE: Plunging demand to test building trade
Rachel Baxendale 2.56pm: Workers to get tick from boss for childcare permit
In order to obtain a Victorian Access to Childcare Permit, workers will need to get their employers to attest that they are employed in a permitted category and the employee
will need to attest that there is no one in their household who can supervise their child.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said reasons for this may include because the other parent is also a permitted worker or because they are a single parent.
He said a list of permitted workers would be made available later on Wednesday.
Under the Permitted Worker Scheme, from 11:59pm on Wednesday night, employers that are permitted to have their staff onsite will be required to issue a worker permit to their employees – attesting that the worker cannot work from home and outlining what tasks they will perform at work.
The new permits are intended to assist Victoria Police in enforcing the Chief Health Officer’s directions and ensuring only people who genuinely need to be out are moving around the community.
Penalties of up to $19,826 for individuals and $99,132 for businesses will apply to employers who issue worker permits to employees who do not meet the requirements of the worker permit scheme or who otherwise break the rules.
There will also be on-the-spot fines of up to $1,652 for individuals and up to $9,913 for businesses for anyone who breaches the scheme requirements, including for employers and employees who do not carry their worker permit when travelling to and from work.
Information on the Permitted Worker Scheme can be found at www.vic.gov.au/worker-permit-scheme.
Mr Andrews said access to childcare permits would be available in the same place later on Wednesday.
READ MORE: Rent required at pubs with no beer
Remy Varga 2.48pm: No reason not to answer: ‘Hotel inquiry not court’
The former judge overseeing the inquiry into the disastrous hotel quarantine program says the probe is no reason those responsible can’t answer questions on the fiasco.
Announcing the state of disaster declaration as well as stage four lockdown measures would see a delay to the probe, the Honourable Jennifer Coate said the ongoing inquiry was not an excuse not to comment.
“This board of inquiry is not a court,” she said.
“Under law, unlike a court, there is no general restriction or prohibition which would prevent a person from commenting publicly or answering questions to which they know the answers on matters which are the subject of examination by this board of inquiry.”
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews as well as his fellow ministers have repeatedly used the inquiry to dodge questions on the disastrous program, which is believed to be responsible for most if not all of the coronavirus currently in the Victorian community.
The inquiry was due to hear from infectious disease experts at its first public hearing on Thursday but Ms Coate said due to the state of emergency declaration as well as the stage-four lockdown, she had chosen to delay the hearings until August 17.
“This inquiry, of such magnitude and importance, must not suffer from being rushed through a less than through process,” she said.
Ms Coate said Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews had granted a six-week extension to the due date of the report into the bungled program, which is believed to be responsible for most if not all of the coronavirus currently in the Victorian community.
She further said there had been a “variance in compliance” of government departments and entities in handing over evidence to the inquiry, with some of the 106,000 documents already received redacted for privacy reasons.
“I am acutely aware, as are those assisting me, of the community’s need to have a thorough understanding of what has happened in the quarantine program and the ramifications,” she said.
READ MORE: Revealed: Quarantine hotel ‘crazy floor’
David Rogers 2.40pm: S&P alert on Victoria’s AAA rating
S&P Ratings has put Victoria’s AAA rating on “creditwatch with negative implications” following the declaration of a “state of disaster” over coronavirus this week.
“We expect to resolve the CreditWatch listing within the next few months, when there is greater clarity about the fiscal effect of the latest lockdown, the government’s policy direction, and the government’s ability to control the latest outbreak,” the ratings agency says.
READ MORE: Trading Day — ASX pares back decline
Rachel Baxendale 2.20pm: Andrews delays hotel quarantine inquiry report
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has approved a delay in reporting for Victoria’s hotel quarantine inquiry, pushing the September 25 date out to November 6.
Mr Andrews appointed retired judge Jennifer Coate to look into breaches in his government’s bungled hotel quarantine scheme, which have been genomically linked to a high proportion if not all of Victoria’s crippling second wave of coronavirus infections.
The state’s Government Gazette for August 5 notes “amended terms of reference for the board of inquiry into the COVID-19 hotel quarantine program”.
The amendment reads as follows:
“The Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Premier under section 53 of the Inquiries Act 2014, amends the Order in Council dated 2 July 2020 establishing the Board of Inquiry into the COVID-19 Hotel Quarantine Program by:
1. For the words ‘25 September 2020’ under the heading ‘Reporting Dates’ substituting ‘6 November 2020’.
This order comes into effect on the date it is published in the Government Gazette.
Dated 5 August 2020
Responsible Minister:
THE HON. DANIEL ANDREWS MP
Premier”
Despite having had to sign off on the delay of the hotel quarantine inquiry’s report, Mr Andrews declined to confirm it during his press conference this afternoon.
Asked whether he was confident the inquiry would be able to complete its work by September amid Stage Four coronavirus restrictions and a State of Disaster, Mr Andrews said it was “entirely a matter for Justice Coate”.
“It would not be appropriate for me to be making announcements,” Mr Andrews said.
“She has, as understand, there’s a hearing later on today and I’ll leave to her as is completely appropriate to talk about the conduct of that inquiry.”
READ MORE: NSW’s new Victorian limit, Queensland to close border
Paul Garvey 1.58pm: Election cost to Palmer’s WA border bid
Clive Palmer’s ongoing legal challenge against Western Australia’s border closure has cost his political party any hope of a preference deal at next March’s WA election.
Opposition leader Liza Harvey has ruled out any agreement between her Liberal Party and Mr Palmer’s United Australia Party, reflecting the widespread unpopularity among Western Australians towards the billionaire’s High Court legal challenge.
Ms Harvey had previously called for a travel bubble between WA, South Australia and the Northern Territory but now supports an ongoing closure of the border until the coronavirus outbreak is back under control.
The Commonwealth government at the weekend withdrew its support for Mr Palmer’s case, and Ms Harvey on Wednesday urged the mining magnate to pull the matter.
“He should apply for a permit, fill it in correctly, and let the authorities decide as to whether he should be permitted access to WA or not,” she said.
“I don’t agree with the High Court challenge and I certainly will not entertain any preference deal with Clive Palmer or his party.”
Ms Harvey said her change in position on WA’s borders reflected the changed circumstances in Victoria and NSW.
“Leaders in every jurisdiction have had to change their position as the environment around COVID 19 changes. That’s what the premier has done, and I back in the premier’s decision around the borders, that’s what the Prime Minister has done around the High Court challenge,” she said.
“As things change, the positions of our leaders need to change to adapt.”
As Mr Palmer’s home state of Queensland announced it was introducing its own border closure, WA premier Mark McGowan on Wednesday again urged Mr Palmer to withdraw his court action and flagged that lawyers for WA were pushing to have the evidence previously submitted in the matter by the Commonwealth struck out.
“No-one I’ve met, and I’ve met hundreds of people, have said they support what he’s doing. I just say to him, you’re not listening to Western Australians, pull out of this case,” he said.
He noted the court challenge was being bankrolled with royalties Mr Palmer collects from the Sino Iron mine in WA’s Pilbara region.
“He uses money generated in WA through West Australian mining projects to try and bring down our borders and damage the health of West Australians. It’s very very selfish,” he said.
READ MORE: Iron ore prices hit 12-month high
Sarah Elks 1.17pm: Why Queensland is locking NSW, ACT out
Queensland’s state disaster coordinator says the state’s border shutdown to NSW and ACT is a “pre-emptive” lockdown to stop travellers from Victoria from lying their way into QLD and spreading the coronavirus.
Deputy Police Commissioner and state disaster coordinator Steve Gollschewski told 4BC Radio that the decision was made by the government based on health advice, which he would then implement.
“These are really extraordinary times. What we’re seeing in Victoria is they really have a big issue down there, and they’re struggling to get on top of it,” Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski said.
He said while Sydney was recording “consistent numbers” of infections, NSW was doing a “fantastic job” to try and curb that outbreak. But he said there was “uncertainty” about whether NSW’s measures would work.
“(This is a) pre-emptive measure to really lock down things to make sure people aren’t getting through,” he said.
Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski said the police had now charged 15 people with falsifying border declarations to get into Queensland, including two women from Logan who were infected with COVID-19.
He acknowledged that the ACT had zero active COVID-19 cases, but said that territory needed to be excluded as well.
“It’s in part because of that broader VIC, NSW conundrum. Also we had a case yesterday where a person had transited out of (the) hotspot in Sydney (through ACT) into Queensland (by deceit),” he said.
READ MORE: Queensland slams shut border to NSW, ACT
Yoni Bashan 1.08pm: Quarantine for all Victorian travellers: Berejiklian
Every returning traveller arriving in Sydney from Victoria will have to go into mandatory hotel quarantine, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced.
From Friday morning travellers will be subjected to the same quarantine arrangements as international arrivals.
“Given the escalating situation in Victoria, and also the fact we are on high alert, and while the number of cases in NSW is pleasingly stable, we continue to be at high risk,” Ms Berejiklian said.
Health officials confirmed 12 new cases of COVID-19 in NSW in the 24 hours to 8pm on Tuesday.
The government said returning domestic travellers would have to pay for hotel quarantine at their own expense.
“All returning NSW residents, unless they live within the NSW border regions, will only be allowed to return to NSW through Sydney airport,” a statement said.
There would be no change to existing arrangements for border communities, the premier confirmed.
Rachel Baxendale 1.02pm: Youngest Covid victim not a healthcare worker
The 30-year-old man who has become Australia’s youngest person to die from coronavirus was not a health worker, Premier Daniel Andrews has confirmed.
A Northern Health trainee doctor in his 30s was one of at least three health workers in intensive care in Victoria with coronavirus earlier this week, prompting inaccurate speculation that he may have been the man in his 30s who died.
READ MORE: Denigrate, divide: Labor sinks lower
Remy Varga 12.58pm: Cops issue 155 fines over masks, curfew
Victoria Police have issued a total 155 fines in the last 24 hours for public health breaches, including 36 for failing to wear a mask or face covering and 25 for curfew violations.
Among the examples of the breaches is a man walking to a petrol station to buy food at 4am in Maribyrnong, a man not wearing a mask on board a train to Flinders Street station at 9.46pm and a woman who travelled to a shopping centre more than 5km away to purchase makeup.
In addition, a 41-year-old woman has been arrested after assaulting a police officer at a vehicle checkpoint on the Maroondah Highway in Coldstream.
As well, a man has been charged with seriously threatening Victoria Police officers after he refused to wear a face mask in Geelong department store.
READ MORE: Victoria’s shutdown sends big chill through economy
Imogen Reid 12.53pm: Victorian man ‘attempted to flee to NSW’
A Victorian man has been charged after attempting to enter New South Wales using an invalid permit and drugs, cash and a knife were discovered in his car.
The 36-year-old was stopped at a border checkpoint on Wodonga Place in South Albury around 6pm on Tuesday.
Police spoke with the man from Rutherglen in north-eastern Victoria who produced a permit but was unable to provide any documentation relating to the essential work he was conducting in NSW.
“When questioned further, the man allegedly became aggressive towards police and refused to cooperate,” NSW Police said in a statement.
“It’s alleged the man wond his window up and attempted to drive off before officers were able to stop the vehicle, but the name refused to get out or comply with police directions.”
The man was arrested after he eventually opened up the door to his car.
“Doing a subsequent search of the man and his vehicle, police located a knife, $1600 cash in a bag containing items consistent with the supply of illicit drugs,” the statement read.
The man was taken to Albury Police Station where he was charged with not complying with noticed direction - COVID-19, goods in custody and having custody of a knife in a public place.
The man was granted strict conditional bail and has returned to Victoria. He will appear at Albury Local Court on Monday 21 September.
READ MORE: Jack the Insider — Covidiots aren’t new
Stephen Lunn 12.47pm: Childcare access for permitted workers only
Victorian parents will only be able to send their kids to childcare if they are a permitted worker and attest there is no one else in their household who can look after the children.
The state’s premier Daniel Andrews said this would mean thousands of families will no longer be able to use childcare during the current stage four lockdown.
“There will be a further permit system, as simple as possible, (that) if you are a permitted worker, regardless of whether you are working in person or from home and attest there is no one else in your household that can look after your children, you will be able with that very simple permit, to access child care,” Mr Andrews said.
“There will be many, many families who will not be able to access child care as they normally would, and that is essential to driving down movement (of people),” he said.
His announcement came after the federal government announced further measures to help families retain a place in childcare centres with an extra 30 days of allowable absences.
“If you are a permitted worker, regardless whether you are working in person or from home and you attest that there is no-one else in your household that can look after your children you will be able, with that very simple permit, to access childcare,” Mr Andrews said
“I know that that will mean that many people who have been using child care and rely upon child care will not be able to do that.
Mr Andrews said the same rules would apply to whether kinder and primary school students were allowed to be in classrooms.
“I know this will cause significant concern and it will be very challenging for many families but if I were to simply greenlight the best part of a quarter of a million kids going to and from childcare every day we will not drive these numbers down,” the Premier said.
“These are very difficult decisions to make and I know they have direct impacts.
“I apologise to those families because child care is not there, but there is no alternative.”
READ the full story here
Richard Ferguson 12.28pm: PM to Premier: ‘Come clean on border closure’
Scott Morrison has called on Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to be fully transparent about her reasons for closing Queensland’s borders to NSW and the ACT.
Reports have emerged that the Queensland Premier did not inform her NSW and ACT counterparts Gladys Berejiklian and Andrew Barr about the decision to re-close the Sunshine State.
The Prime Minister said Ms Palaszczuk should release the full medical advice and noted the NSW-Victoria border closure was a result of a “very open” consultation between him and state governments.
“She’ll make her decisions and I’ll leave it to her to explain them and the medical advice on which they’re based. These decisions should be driven by that advice and nothing else,” he told Sydney’s 2GB radio.
“And there needs to be transparency around that.
“The arrangements between NSW and Victoria came about a result of a very open discussion between Gladys Berejiklian, Dan Andrews, and myself. And then that flowed through to how do we manage that.”
Ms Palaszczuk has declared the ACT a virus hotspot despite the fact it has no active cases and last recorded a positive coronavirus test 26 days ago.
Mr Morrison also raised the case of a COVID-positive private contractor who flew from Sydney to the Sunshine Coast, with Queensland’s government saying he was wrongly considered a diplomat when he arrived.
The Prime Minister said on Wednesday that it was the Queensland government that provided the exemption and the contractor was never subject to diplomatic quarantine arrangements.
“The arrangement was that for those diplomats who were returning into Australia, where they could go directly into a private vehicle - and they were going to Canberra - and transfer immediately and commit to self-isolation in their own isolation,” he said.
“What happened here is Queensland gave an exemption for people to go on a plane on the Sunshine Coast and go to Toowoomba. That has nothing to do with the arrangements the federal government has.”
READ MORE: If NZ’s the model, we’re in strife
Rachel Baxendale 12.16pm: Man in 30s among 15 new Victorian deaths
A man in his 30s is among 15 people who have lost their lives to coronavirus in Victoria in the 24 hours to Wednesday.
The 15 new deaths bring Victoria’s COVID-19 death toll to 162. All but 20 of these deaths have occurred since July 5.
The deaths also represent a grim new daily record.
Previously the highest number of COVID-19 deaths recorded in a day in Victoria was 13 each on Monday and Thursday.
The other recent deaths include those of three men and a woman in their 70s, three men and three women in their 80s, and three men and one woman in their 90s.
Of the 15 deaths, 12 were linked to aged care facilities.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed Victoria had reached a new record of 725 new coronavirus cases in the 24 hours to Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases since the pandemic began to 13,035.
The state’s previous record was 723 new cases last Thursday.
The 725 positive cases come after approximately 24,000 tests were processed on Tuesday, resulting in a 3.02 per cent positive test rate - the third highest positive test rate on record, but significantly lower than the record of 3.63 per cent last Thursday, from 723 positive cases and 19,921 tests.
There have been 1,721,953 tests conducted in Victoria since the pandemic began.
There are 538 Victorians in hospital with coronavirus on Wednesday, including 42 in intensive care.
Victoria now has 7227 active coronavirus cases, representing a net increase of 521 cases since Tuesday - just short of the record net increase of 546 last Thursday.
There are now 1435 active cases linked to aged care facilities - an increase of 249 since Tuesday.
READ MORE: Frydenberg brokers Victorian business crisis talks
Imogen Reid 11.39am: Victorians granted childcare cost reprieve
Education Minister Dan Tehan has announced another 30 days allowable absences for children in Melbourne where most childcare centres have been shut down.
Mr Tehan said parents who are unable to send their child to care will be able to use those absences without paying as the gap fee will be waived.
“That’s 30 days, additional allowable absences, on top of the 42 days we’ve already allocated for that,” Mr Tehan said.
“That means parents who have to keep their children at home can do so without the cost because we’re asking providers to waive the gap fee.”
Mr Tehan urged parents to keep their children enrolled in a bid to keep the service viable.
“Please, keep your children enrolled,” he said.
“It won’t cost you anything to do so, but it means, as we come out of this pandemic, those positions will be there for you at your child care centre, so once you go back to work, the position is there, it’s available to you and it means it will be much more seamless for you to be able to get back to work once we’ve got through this pandemic.”
However, Mr Tehan said it will be up to the providers whether or not the gap payment will be given to parents.
“Ultimately the decision to waive the gap fee is up to the provider themselves,” he said.
“But what this package does is incentivise providers to waive the gap fee.
“This means enrolments will stay strong, they will also get access to the child care subsidy and also to that additional 5 per cent top-up payment.”
Mr Tehan said that it will provide all centres revenue of between 80 to 85 per cent based on the pre-COVID fortnight period.
READ MORE: Stage 4 will hit home in property
Agencies 11.29am: ‘It’s complicated’: Nadal pulls out of US Open
Rafael Nadal will not defend his US Open title this month. The 19-times grand-slam champion announced on Wednesday he would “rather not travel” because of the “very complicated” health situation at present.
READ the full story here
Rachel Baxendale 11.23am: Andrews, Mikakos to address media at midday
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews will address the media at midday, alongside Health Minister Jenny Mikakos.
Mr Andrews is expected to confirm that Victoria has recorded 725 new cases of coronavirus in the 24 hours to Wednesday, eclipsing last Thursday’s record of 723 new cases.
It is also understood there has been a record number of deaths in the previous 24 hours, including the death of a person in their 30s.
Ms Mikakos’s appearance comes after she repeatedly refused to answer questions in parliament on Tuesday regarding the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, instead offering to provide written answers on Wednesday.
WATCH live in the video above from midday.
READ MORE: Mikakos refuses to answer Covid questions
Imogen Reid 11.13am: 12 new NSW cases as Sydney clusters grow
Twelve new cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed in New South Wales in the last 24 hours.
NSW Health said one previous case has been excluded after further testing, bringing the total number of infections in the state to 3631.
Of the 12 new cases, one is a traveller in hotel quarantine, two are linked to the Thai Rock cluster in Wetherill Park, two are associated with the Apollo restaurant at Potts Point and six have been traced to the Bankstown funeral gatherings cluster.
One case is locally acquired with an unknown source.
The state’s health authority said the reported case at the Kids Learning Academy in Busby attended the facility on 29 July.
“The case is a child of a previously reported case, linked with the Mounties in Mount Pritchard,” NSW Health said in a statement.
“The centre is closed for deep cleaning while contact tracing is underway.”
Gladys Berejilkian will address the media at 1.00pm today.
READ MORE: Queensland border slams shut to NSW, ACT
Imogen Reid 11.07am: Mandatory face mask for McDonalds workers
McDonalds has announced face masks will be mandatory for all staff members across New South Wales.
The fast food giant is the latest major business to introduce the measure.
McDonalds Australia CEO Andrew Gregory made the announcement on 2GB this morning, saying it was “the right thing to do.”
The move follows Bunnings who made face masks mandatory for all employees, while Woolworths and Kmart have asked customers and staff members to wear masks.
Staff members across the state’s 333 stores will be given a three-ply surgical face mask before each shift.
“We listened to the Premier and took that on board and that highly recommended for people to wear masks in the community and that’s where McDonalds needs to take responsibility given the number of employees and customers we have in our restaurants, I think it’s just the right thing to do,” Mr Gregory told 2GB’s Ben Fordham.
READ MORE: Joko to push mask wearing
Rachel Baxendale 10.14am: Victoria registers new record with 725 new cases
Victoria has recorded a daily increase in coronavirus cases of 725 cases on Wednesday, eclipsing last Thursday’s record of 723.
It is understood the state’s COVID-19 deaths in the 24 hours to Wednesday include that of a person in their 30s.
The 725 new cases increase Victoria’s seven day average number of new cases to a record 573, up from the previous record of 518 on Sunday.
The Australian also understands a record number of deaths have occurred as a result of COVID-19 in Victoria in the 24 hours to Wednesday.
The previous record was 13 deaths each last Monday and Thursday.
There were 11 deaths in the 24 hours to Tuesday, bringing Victoria’s COVID-19 death toll to 147 - all but 20 of which have occurred since July 5.
The lowest daily number of cases Victoria has had in the past seven days is 397 on Saturday.
It is not yet clear when Premier Daniel Andrews will address the media, although it is understood his press conference will take place after federal Education Minister Dan Tehan briefs journalists at 11.05am on childcare measures for Victorian families.
READ MORE: Andrews has the laws, so let’s crack down
Imogen Reid 10.10am: ‘Inexcusable’ for positive people to leave home
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Michael Kidd has criticised those flouting self-quarantine rules in Victoria, saying it is “absolutely inexcusable” that individuals with COVID-19 are leaving their homes.
“People must stay at home for the duration of their isolation,” Professor Kidd said.
“This obviously is to protect the health and wellbeing of everybody in the community.”
It comes after 800 of 3,000 people who were meant to self-isolate were not home when state authorities carried out routine checks.
However, Professor Kidd remains hopeful the amount of daily cases Victoria is recording will “decline quite rapidly” during the six-week lockdown.
Professor Kidd said enforcing a “blanket measure” to manage what may develop in Queensland or New South Wales would be difficult, explaining that every outbreak needs to be dealt with individually.
“Clearly the response which we have right now across the country of widespread testing, of very rigorous contact tracing so we understand exactly how transmission is occurring and then putting people into isolation who have been exposed or who have been infected with COVID-19,” he said.
“So every outbreak needs to be looked at in its own context and the response needs to be in response to what’s actually happening on the ground.”
Sarah Elks 9.56am: Police ‘happy’ with consulate exemption
Police have closed an investigation into a Queenslander who was granted an exemption from hotel quarantine after returning from working at the Australian embassy in Afghanistan.
The man in his 20s from Toowoomba has since tested positive to COVID-19.
Queensland granted the man an exemption from having to quarantine in a hotel on his return into the state, after he entered Australia through Sydney. The exemption was based on him being a “consular official” even though he worked for a private security contractor.
The matter was referred to police on Tuesday, after DFAT raised concerns about his status.
Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said the investigation had concluded and police were happy the man had done nothing wrong.
“We’re very comfortable that this person has done the right thing,” he said.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Tuesday night closed the consular staff “loophole”.
Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski said he was confident this had solved the problem.
“There was a system issue that’s been addressed, and we think it’s been dealt with appropriately,” he said.
READ MORE: Consular exemption to be scrapped
Rachel Baxendale 9.41am: ‘Sums up Andrews righteous approach to failure’
The Victorian Department of Justice has confirmed their website has crashed as employers and employees across Melbourne rush to download forms for the permitted worker scheme.
In a turn of events that one of The Australian’s frustrated contacts has suggested “kind of sums up the Andrews government’s righteous approach to failure”, the work permit website is now not only down, but is displaying an error message saying: “This works!”
They have now posted links to the forms on Twitter.
Our website is down but you can get access to the information and forms on https://t.co/S0bbndLbh0 andhttps://t.co/dZkuLN1I7l
— Department of Justice and Community Safety (@justice_vic) August 4, 2020
The permit went online after 10pm on Tuesday, but the website had crashed by 8.30am today. It was accessible just after 9am, but has since crashed again.
READ MORE: Isolation exercise loophole closed
Sarah Elks 9.35am: ‘Wrongdoers posing great risk to Queensland’
Deputy Chief Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said two people in their 60s had been charged for lying on their border passes to get back into Queensland.
He said police are also investigating a Queenslander who allegedly drove into the ACT from Sydney to fly to Cairns to avoid the border closure, because he was “frustrated” with the restrictions and wanted to go to back to work.
“There are clearly a small percentage who are doing the wrong thing, and are deliberately deceiving the system...for their own purposes,” Mr Gollschewski said.
“While those numbers are small, the risk is too great.”
Importantly, after 1am August 8, any Queenslander who wants to return to Queensland will not be able to drive back in, apart from via NT. They must fly, and then enter 14 days’ mandatory hotel quarantine — which they will have to pay for.
Mr Gollschewski said the tougher restrictions would allow police to do more auditing of those allowed through the closed border.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk rejected a suggestion the decision went too far.
“Definitely not...my job is to protect Queenslanders’ health, to protect our economy, and to protect our lifestyle,” she said.
She said there were more than 200 active cases in NSW, with more than 100 reported in the last seven days.
“We cannot put Queenslanders at risk,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
She said Victoria now had more active cases in aged care alone than Queensland had recorded in total since the pandemic began.
She acknowledged the border closure would be tough for small businesses, particularly on the Gold Coast.
“But what would be more catastrophic...would (be) having to shut the Gold Coast (because of an outbreak),” Ms Palaszczuk said.
Ms Palaszczuk denied the decision was about politics, three months out from the state election on October 31. She said coronavirus was a matter of “life and death”.
“This (the border closure) is going to be tough for a few months, but everyone, we are in a world pandemic,” she said.
There will be exemptions for people living in border communities in the Tweed, allowing those residents to travel into Queensland to work and attend medical appointments. There will be a special border pass for those residents, which will rely on photo ID.
Ms Palaszczuk repeated her allegation that she had asked the NSW Premier some time ago to allow the QLD border to be pushed into NSW temporarily to include those NSW border communities, but Gladys Berejiklian had rejected the suggestion.
READ MORE: Flyers told to mask up or cop fine
Robyn Ironside 9.22am: Virgin axes 3000 jobs, Tigerair gone
Virgin Australia will shed 3000 jobs from its 9000-strong workforce in an effort to be a “stronger, more profitable carrier”.
An update to the ASX which will be shared with employees on Wednesday revealed the airline will go to a simplied all-Boeing 737 fleet; dicontinue budget carrier Tigerair but maintain its commitment to regional and charter flying.
International routes will be suspended until the global market recovers from COVID-19, which could be two to three years away.
Virgin Australia CEO Paul Scurrah said together with new owners Bain Capital, the Virgin 2.0 plan would secure 6000 jobs and re-establish the carrier as “an iconic Australian airline”.
Virgin Australia went into administration on April 21 with debts of $6.8bn owed to aircraft lessors, airports and other landlords, bondholders, employees and suppliers.
READ the full story here
Sarah Elks 9.09am: Queensland slams border shut to NSW, ACT
Queensland will close its borders to NSW and the ACT from 1am on Saturday August 8, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced.
Ms Palaszczuk said all visitors will be denied entry except for rare exemptions.
Ms Palaszczuk said border passes would be granted to residents from the Tweed.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young is declaring NSW and ACT a hotspot, from Saturday at 1am.
“This is the right thing to do,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“But your health comes first...we need to protect our economy.”
Ms Palaszczuk said now was not the time to travel to NSW or Victoria.
“We’ve seen that Victoria is not getting better and we’re not going to wait for NSW to get worse, we need to act, and we’ve taken the decisive decision to act,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“Today is the day I say to Queenslanders, we’ve listened to you...today is the day we say we’re putting Queenslanders first.”
Queensland has recorded one new case of COVID-19 overnight.
Ms Palaszczuk said the decision had been driven also by “continuous breaches” of the border by Queenslanders lying to get back into the state.
BREAKING: Queensland borders will close to New South Wales & the Australian Capital Territory from 1am Saturday, August 8.
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) August 4, 2020
All visitors will be denied entry except for rare exemptions & returning Queenslanders will have to pay for 14 days mandatory hotel quarantine.#COVID19au pic.twitter.com/Yc7BxKJ3GW
Deputy Premier and Health Minister Steven Miles said the number of active cases was 11 in Queensland, with five in hospital. The origin of the new case today is not yet known.
“We went 63 days with no community transmission...but that all changed seven days ago, a lot can change in a week,” Mr Miles said.
Seven days ago, three women from Logan allegedly lied about being in Melbourne to get back into Queensland; two of the three have tested positive to COVID-19.
Mr Miles said in that week, nine cases had been recorded in Queensland.
“We cannot afford to have that second wave here in Queensland; there is also intelligence to suggest some people are flying to the ACT to avoid our hotspot lockdown,” Mr Miles said.
He said the state’s economy was just getting back on its feet and the government could not risk the recovery.
“There will be some critics, like the LNP, it might be Clive Palmer, but we are doing the right thing to keep Queenslanders safe,” he said.
“Border restrictions have proven to be one of the most effective tools (against COVID-19).”
The road border between QLD and NSW will be closed to all but a very limited number of exemptions, including those living in border communities and freight.
The border pass system will be strengthened, and people will have to provide photo identification. The road border between QLD-NSW will be closed to all but a few, with Queenslanders having to enter via NT or air.
Mr Miles said the border closure would be reviewed at the end of the month.
The border closure inconvenience is “nothing” compared to the Stage 4 lockdown in Victoria, he said.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said an extra two historical cases had been added to Queensland’s total.
The single new case is a 68-year-old woman who lives in Ipswich. Dr Young said health authorities were working with her to trace her infection source.
Dr Young asked people to maintain social distancing because “we don’t know where we might get a new case in Queensland”.
READ MORE: Queensland to go it alone on quarantine
Jack Paynter 9.03am: Snow icing on cake for Melburnians
As if Melburnians aren’t coping with enough today as Stage 4 lockdown commences, its CBD is shivering through snowlike conditions this morning after experiencing a rare snowfall as an icy blast crossed the state.
Video posted to Twitter on Tuesday shows it snowing out the window of the Aurora apartment building at Melbourne Central with the flakes large enough to settle on the glass.
@VicStormChasers @BOM_Vic snowing in the CBD out of our window at Aurora Melbourne Central earlier today .. pic.twitter.com/SAzkXrzptO
— Adrian R (@Age_R) August 4, 2020
It also snowed at Craigieburn, Greenvale and Dallas for “about six seconds” with it cold enough for the flakes to settle on the ground, while cars in Sunbury were covered with a dusting of snow.
READ MORE: R&D policy critical for manufacturing revival
Rachel Baxendale 8.42am: Victorian work permit scheme site crashes
The Victorian Department of Justice website has all too predictably crashed on Wednesday morning, as employers and employees across Melbourne rush to download forms to comply with the Andrews government’s permit scheme.
From 11.59pm on Wednesday, workers who are away from home, particularly between the curfew hours of 8pm and 5am, will be required to show authorities their papers in the form of a work permit.
Thank you. pic.twitter.com/A2RkFxE9ks
— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) August 4, 2020
The form for this permit went online after 10pm on Tuesday, but by 8.30am today, the https://www.justice.vic.gov.au/permitted-worker-scheme website had crashed.
An “authorised person” at an employing business to fill out start and end times for each of their staff members for each day of the Stage Four restrictions, which end on September 13.
The permit must be signed by the employee and the “authorised person”.
Employees must carry the worker permit and photo identification when travelling to and from the workplace.
A worker permit can be shown electronically to authorities such as a photo, or scanned copy, on a mobile device.
There are penalties of up to $100,000 for employers who issue permits to employees who don’t meet the requirements of the scheme.
Health and emergency workers do not need to fill the form out and can show their work ID instead.
The website came back online shortly before 8:45am, after crashing for at least 20 minutes. It then crashed again at about 9am.
READ MORE: Woolies demands lockdown ‘certainty’
Imogen Reid 8.25am: ‘Get real’: PM’s message to anti-maskers
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called the assault made against a young Victorian police officer by a woman who refused to wear a mask “disgusting” and has urged people to “get real” during the lockdown.
“The report that I saw of the Victorian police officer being assaulted by someone pretending to do this in the name of liberty was just disgusting,” Mr Morrison said.
“I know it’s frustrating. I know it’s hard to understand and it’s confusing. I understand all of that. But we’ve got to make this work. We’ve got to push through that.”
The 26-year-old officer allegedly had her head repeatedly beaten into the ground and her hair pulled out after questioning a 38-year-old woman why she was not wearing a mask in the Frankston area on Monday night.
Chief Commissioner of the Victoria Police Shane Patton said the constable has suffered bruising and abrasions, headaches, and has been confused since the attack.
He said while she has remained in “reasonable spirits” she is “nonetheless set back by a completely unprovoked attack by someone who claimed they didn’t have to wear a mask of all things in this current approach.”
The chief commissioner said the decision to not wear a mask was selfish, labelling it an “arrogant approach” which the state police force will not stand for.
“To say in this environment that I’m an anti masker, I don’t believe in the laws, I don’t have to abide by them, I don’t have to wear a mask, it’s totally unacceptable.”
READ MORE: Margin Call — Covid comes to Kooyong
Robyn Ironside 8.20am: Virgin reboot: Lounges in, Tigerair grounded
Virgin Australia will divulge more details of how the airline will look post-administration today, with management expected to confirm the retention of business lounges, the eventual resumption of international routes and the demise of Tigerair.
CEO Paul Scurrah will deliver the update to the ASX and the media, following weeks of speculation about the airline’s future after its sale to US firm Bain Capital.
Virgin Australia went into administration on April 21 with debts of $6.8bn, triggering a race to find a suitable buyer.
After an accelerated process, administrators’ Deloitte named Bain as the successful bidder on June 26.
Details of the sale agreement were subject to a court-approved confidentiality clause and will only be released to creditors later this month.
Although Bain’s Australian CEO Michael Murphy provided some clues as to how Virgin Australia would operate when it emerged from administration, questions remained over the size of the carrier including its fleet, network and workforce, and its position in the Australian market.
Like most other airlines rocked by the COVID crisis, Virgin Australia was expected to be a much leaner operation in the years ahead with about 50 fewer aircraft and between 5000 and 6000 employees, down from more than 9000.
In response to the more streamlined workforce, the airline’s Brisbane-based headquarters was set to relocate from its sprawling complex at Bowen Hills next month.
Employees will instead be accommodated over five floors of the Southpoint building at South Bank, which also houses travel company Flight Centre.
READ the full story here
Imogen Reid 8.10am: PM assures Victorians on childcare
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has assured Victorians that facilities such as childcare will remain viable with an additional sustainment payment as well as guaranteed employment with the pandemic leave disaster subsidy.
Mr Morrison said his government will provide a “triple guarantee” to parents that their children’s places at facilities will be kept during lockdown.
“We will keep paying the childcare facility the subsidies related to their child’s attendance at childcare facilities so they can keep them home and not lose their place,” he said on Nine’s Today show.
“They won’t be up for any gap payments or anything like that.
“That means the facilities with an additional sustainment payment from the Commonwealth will mean those facilities will continue to be supported.”
Mr Morrison said the arrangements were settled upon last night.
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Imogen Reid 7.59am: Berejiklian defends allowing Victorians to fly in
New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has defended the move to let 200 Victorians fly into Sydney, saying the vast majority of the people arriving are students returning home from overseas.
“It’s very difficult to say to someone who lives in New South Wales you can’t come back home,” she said.
“So when they are coming back home, there is only a very small number of people who are actually Victorian who, for exceptional circumstances, may be required to be in New South Wales and are checked very carefully and vigorously and similarly those New South Wales residents coming back.”
Ms Berejiklian said she will leave no stone unturned when it comes to border controls, claiming the state’s processes are “rigorous” and has thanked the vast majority of people complying with restrictions.
“We have 55 road crossings between Victoria and New South Wales. We have strict processes in place. We have health and police monitoring all of those borders,” she said.
“But, at the same time, no border is impenetrable. We can’t expect 100 per cent compliance and that is why we say to everybody in our state please always be on high alert when you leave your home.
“The vast majority of people are doing the right. And I’m deeply thankful for that. And we need to keep going.”
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Erin Lyons 7.30am: Covid-19 case closes day care centre
A new case of COVID-19 has been linked to a day care centre in Sydney’s south west.
Kids Learning Academy, Busby, has closed for deep cleaning after a child, who tested positive for COVID-19, attended the venue for one day while infectious.
Contact tracing is now underway.
It is understood the boy is a close contact of another positive case.
The news comes after NSW recorded another 12 cases of coronavirus on Tuesday.
Of those, three were household contacts of a Victorian case and eight were locally acquired.
Only one was a returned traveller in hotel quarantine.
READ MORE: Sheridan — States need lessons on national security
Imogen Reid 7.12am: Young people leading rise in cases globally: WHO
The World Health Organisation says young people are leading the rise of coronavirus cases around the globe, with the amount infected increasing substantially over the past five months.
From an analysis of 6 million infections, WHO found the number of people aged 15-24 years-old rose to 15 per cent from 4.5 per cent.
“Younger people tend to be less vigilant about masking and social distancing,” Neysa Ernst, a nurse manager at Johns Hopkins Hospital’s biocontainment unit in Baltimore, Maryland told Reuters.
She said young people are more likely to go to work, the beach, pubs and supermarkets and increase their chance of being exposed to the virus.
“Travel increases your chances of getting and spreading COVID-19,” she said.
Countries in Europe including Spain, Germany and France, and Asian countries such as Japan have said they have recently recorded a high number of infections in young people, prompting some to put in place restrictions on travel and lockdown laws, like wearing face masks and encouraging social distancing.
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Imogen Reid 6.50am: France warned to expect second wave
Scientists say a second wave of coronavirus is highly likely in France during the autumn or winter, as authorities struggle to control an increase in new cases.
It comes as the amount of people admitted to intensive care units in French hospitals increased for the second day in a row after falling for 16 days.
On Tuesday, the number of people in ICU rose by four to 388 after it increased by 13 on Monday, ministry data shows.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases rose by another 1,039 to 192,334 in the past 24 hours while the death toll increased by two, the lowest amount recorded since the pandemic hit in March.
More than 121 new cases of coronavirus were recorded in Greece on Tuesday, the largest daily increase since the end of April.
The increase in cases has prompted authorities to introduce measures including mandatory face masks in indoor and enclosed spaces.
There are 4,855 confirmed infections in the country and 209 deaths.
In Britain, tough new lockdown laws will come into force on Wednesday in parts of northern England, including Manchester, parts of east Lancashire and west Yorkshire after cases increased.
Under the new restrictions, people from different households are banned from meeting in private homes or gardens.
Despite undergoing substantial vaccine testing, experts say Brazil will struggle to produce their own vaccine, leaving them reliant on imports to contain the second biggest coronavirus outbreak in the world. Researchers can get results faster by testing vaccines where the spread of the virus is high.
There are more than 2.7 million reported cases in Brazil and almost 95,000 deaths.
In Ireland, plans to reopen pubs that do not serve food on Monday are expected to be cancelled, after Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said the cabinet would discuss plans and seek advice from the country’s National Public Health Emergency Team.
Mr Varadkar said a “very cautious” approach would be taken and the move would be a “further blow” to industries waiting to open.
Globally, there have been more than 18.3 million people infected with the virus, while the total number of COVID-19 deaths is 695,848.
With agencies
READ MORE: If NZ is the role model, we’re in strife
Staff writers 6.35am: Aged care workers told ‘you can’t catch virus at work’
Staff at a Victorian aged care facility have been told they could not contract coronavirus at work and would only be allowed to self-isolate if they provided a medical certificate.
Employees at Mecwacare, which operates 13 facilities across the state, were told in an email from management they couldn’t catch the virus if they wore protective equipment propertly, the Herald Sun reports. They were also told they could only catch COVID-19 in the community.
Complaints were lodged with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation which issued an urgent notice to members to disregard Mecwacare’s advice, saying it was insulting to the 1000 Victorian healthworkers who had contracted the virus..
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Damon Johnston 6.10am: Hotel quarantine probe at risk of delay
Victoria’s inquiry into the hotel quarantine fiasco may be delayed because of the state of disaster declared by Premier Daniel Andrews.
The Australian has confirmed that senior figures associated with the board of inquiry are considering postponing Thursday’s opening into the bungled quarantine program that is suspected of igniting Victoria’s deadly second coronavirus wave.
In a statement released on Tuesday night, the board of inquiry said: “There will be an extraordinary sitting of the inquiry to advise of the impact of the declaration of the state of disaster and the move to stage-four restrictions on the conduct of the inquiry.”
The emergency sitting of the inquiry, which is being held before former judge Jennifer Coate, will be held on Wednesday to announce a decision on timing.
There is a view within the board of inquiry the opening has to be delayed because of tighter restrictions coming into force at midnight on Wednesday.
READ the full story here.
Rachel Baxendale 5.30am: Mikakos refuses to answer coronavirus questions
Victoria’s Health Minister has refused to answer a single question about her handling of the coronavirus pandemic — including questions about her knowledge of the state’s bungled hotel quarantine program — at the first sitting of state parliament since Melbourne was plunged into its worst ever health and economic crisis.
Jenny Mikakos responded to seven questions and their supplementaries during Tuesday afternoon’s Legislative Council question time by saying she would provide a written answer on Wednesday.
Ms Mikakos’s move, which was slammed by the opposition and crossbenchers as “smug”, ”arrogant” and ”anti-democratic”, came after Labor cited advice from Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton in using its numbers to prevent the state’s Legislative Assembly from sitting, but was unable to do the same in the upper house, where the government holds 17 of 40 seats, the crossbench 12 and the Coalition 11.
It was the first sitting of state parliament since June 18, weeks before Victoria’s coronavirus numbers escalated to reach 6706 active cases on Tuesday, and it will be the last sitting before September.
READ the full story here
Tessa Akerman 5.25am: Panic buying sets in at Melbourne supermarkets again
Melbourne’s new restrictions have led to a return to panic buying and confusion over the wording of regulations and what Premier Daniel Andrews is saying in his daily presentations.
Supermarkets across Melbourne were empty of beef mince and one chilled vegetable section at a Woolworths in Melbourne’s inner east was empty apart from a tub of eggplant.
Australian Retailers Association chief executive Paul Zahra said the association had been working with the Victorian government since Saturday on the new restrictions and the allowance of services such as contactless click and collect.
“It could have been worse, seeing the majority of sales are done in-store,” he said. “It cushions the blow.”
He said click and collect and postal delivery would allow people to continue to shop locally but the restrictions were taken with a safety-first approach.
“The other states are watching nervously,” Mr Zahra said.
READ the full story here
Joe Kelly 5.15am: Keneally wants Ruby probe extended
Labor home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally has asked Gladys Berejiklian to extend the inquiry into the Ruby Princess coronavirus outbreak and persuade Scott Morrison to “reconsider his decision to block commonwealth officials” from providing evidence.
Senator Keneally wrote to the NSW Liberal Premier on Monday, saying the Morrison government refused to allow a Department of Agriculture Biosecurity Official to answer questions on how 2700 passengers were allowed to disembark the cruise ship in Sydney on March 19 without proper health checks.
Senator Keneally wrote that Bret Walker, who is leading the Special Commission, issued a summons “for that individual to appear before the inquiry” but the Morrison government claimed he did not have the authority to call the official. “As a result, no commonwealth official has appeared before this inquiry into the Ruby Princess to date,” she wrote.
READ the full story here.
Crisafulli’s $50m anti-crime canoe camps
Children who wag school will have their phones confiscated and be sent on taxpayer-funded camps to canoe and learn coding under a Liberal National Party plan to drive down youth crime rates in Queensland.
Pro-Gazan pianist and MSO open to mediation
Jayson Gillham is suing the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in the Federal Court, with a trial likely to be scheduled in March next year if mediation fails.