Coronavirus Australia live news: Melbourne Cup spectators shut out of the race; Premier postpones lockdown easing
The Melbourne Cup and other major races will be held in an empty Flemington Racecourse after plans for a small crowd were scrapped
- Enough is enough, PM tells Andrews
- Premier crushes hopes of Melbourne reopening
- Mikakos slams Victoria’s ‘paralysis of decision-making’
- Seven new cases in Victoria
- US daily infections top grim new record
Welcome to The Weekend Australian’s live coverage of the coronavirus crisis. Daniel Andrews has crushed hopes of an easing of lockdowns in Melbourne, citing an outbreak in the city’s north. The decision has drawn fire from his former Health Minister Jenny Mikakos and federal counterpart Greg Hunt. Meanwhile, the US has hit a grim new daily infection record.
John Ferguson 9.45pm: Over-promised and then under-delivered
An exhausted, nervous Melbourne on Sunday watched an exhausted, nervous Premier kick the COVID-19 reopening can down Swanston Street.
As Daniel Andrews spoke, Melbourne’s central business district was more like Dubbo on a Sunday morning — the AFL grand final hangover parade of thousands of fragile tourists traded for the new normal of lifeless shops and the lost and homeless gathering in their ones and twos at the bottom end of Elizabeth Street.
The only frenetic activity was in the minds of thousands of shop owners wondering when the city would be resuscitated.
“Changing the goal posts is confidence-shattering for businesses struggling to hold on,” thundered lord mayor Sally Capp.
Max Colchester, Jason Douglas 9.15pm: How Europe’s Covid fight went awry
In the battle against COVID-19, Europe is looking back at a summer of squandered opportunities.
With the virus suppressed following months of intensive social restrictions last northern spring, European leaders quickly moved to accelerate the reopening of society to try to spur an economic recovery. But pockets of infection persisted, and few countries had put in place adequate systems to track and lock down local outbreaks.
Making matters worse, in several regions infection rates never fell to a level where such systems could work effectively.
The result: A second wave of infections washing across the continent that is proving difficult to manage and poses the risk that Europe will have to live with high infection rates well into next year.
Emily Ritchie 8.45pm: ‘Pause’ leaves restaurateurs with sour taste
Melbourne restaurateurs are frustrated about being stuck in a “massive limbo” over the constant changes to Victoria’s COVID-19 road map, saying clarity on dates is crucial to avoid staff confusion and wastage of produce.
Business owners were taken by surprise when Daniel Andrews decided to “pause” further moves out of lockdown on Sunday as the state continued to monitor an outbreak of coronavirus cases in the northern suburbs.
Melbourne chef Scott Pickett said he arrived at his Northcote restaurant Estelle on Sunday morning hoping to prepare for a reopening this week.
Instead, Mr Pickett spent the day cancelling food orders and telling staff not to come in.
“A lot of food has already arrived, and we’re in crisis mode trying to keep pivoting to the change of road map,” he said.
AFP 8.15pm: Europe in grip of new lockdowns
France extended its anti-COVID curfew to cover two-thirds of the population and Ireland locked down again on Thursday as governments warned of a dire situation in Europe where countries are registering record cases.
Most European governments have been reluctant to reimpose national stay-at-home orders after previous restrictions led to deep recessions and widespread bitterness. But Ireland became the first country on the continent to reimpose a full-on lockdown on Thursday, with its five million-strong population ordered to stay home for six weeks, and non-essential businesses told to shut.
“The infection rates, hospital occupancy rates but also death rates are rising all over Europe,” warned Andrea Ammon, head of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, in an interview with the BBC.
Olivia Caisley 7.45pm: Nothing sweet about this ‘hellish’ 2020
For Mogo Lolly Shop owner Theresa Matthews, there’s been nothing sweet about the year 2020.
The small business owner, whose home and shop’s entire stock was damaged during “hellish” fires that tore through the tiny coastal town on the NSW south coast on New Year’s Day, says she wants to erase the past 12 months from her memory.
“The anniversary is coming up, which is a bit nerve-racking,” Ms Matthews said.
Ahead of the release of the Royal Commission into Natural Disaster Arrangement’s final report on Wednesday, Ms Mat¬thews says she hopes the inquiry will recommend better communication systems and preparation protocols before and during a fire event.
“They should have told us to leave much earlier,” she said.
AFP 7.15pm: Top Pence aide tests positive
US Vice-President Mike Pence’s chief of staff has tested positive for COVID-19, a spokesman says, the latest in a list of figures connected to Donald Trump’s administration to do so.
Marc Short began quarantine and was assisting in the contract tracing process, Pence spokesman Devin O’Malley said on Sunday.
“Vice President-Pence and Mrs Pence both tested negative for COVID-19 today, and remain in good health.”
Mr Pence, who has been campaigning ahead of the November 3 election, will maintain his schedule in consultation with White House doctors, said the spokesman.
A surge in COVID-19 cases led to the US reaching a record number of daily infections for a second day running on Saturday, with nearly 89,000 new cases.
A list of people connected to the White House have contracted the virus, including the President. The virus has claimed more than 224,000 American lives.
READ MORE: Trump votes as Covid count soars
Rachel Baxendale 6.45pm: Top epidemiologist ‘disappointed’ over restrictions
Leading Victorian epidemiologist Catherine Bennett is “disappointed” at the decision not to announce an easing of restrictions on Sunday, saying it indicates authorities believe “we aren’t quite in a position yet to battle local outbreaks like these without stage-four restrictions”.
“After all, step three still comprises a level of restriction that comprises a level of restriction that provides a protective reduced transmission potential background for the public health response,” said Professor Bennett, who holds Deakin University’s inaugural Chair in Epidemiology.
“In-home gatherings may have to wait for a bit longer if there are concerns of wider ‘invisible’ spread, but hopefully the test results will come in and we can proceed with this safe, steady opening.
“It isn’t realistic to wait for a time when we might be cluster or outbreak free, and this is why it is a slow stepped path so the public health system can progressively adapt to their different working environment as we slowly open up over the next three staged steps.”
READ MORE: Three ways to live alongside the virus
Rachel Baxendale 6.20pm: Tests find no cases linked north Melbourne outbreak
No new positive cases have been linked to the coronavirus outbreak in Melbourne’s northern suburbs after more than 1100 associated swabs were processed on Sunday.
The news comes after Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews opted to delay a planned announcement on easing restrictions pending the test results.
In a statement released at 6pm, Victorian Commander of Testing and Community Engagement Jeroen Weimar said all 1135 tests linked to the outbreak that had been returned on Sunday had been negative.
This followed 2500 swabs process on Saturday, from which three additional cases have been confirmed in East Preston Islamic School Students, with another two preliminarily linked to the school.
Mr Weimar said more than 13,000 people had been tested in the northern suburban local government areas of Banyule, Darebin, Hume, Moreland and Nillumbik since October 20, with 1400 swabs taken on Sunday being processed throughout the evening and into Monday.
“This testing enables us to get a very clear picture of how many cases there are and ensure there is a plan in place for everyone who tests positive along with the close contacts,” Mr Weimar said.
“There will at times no doubt be delays as more people come forward, but we are so appreciative of everyone making the effort, particularly during these colder spring days.”
A total of 39 cases have been linked to the outbreak, including cases associated with East Preston Islamic College and Croxton Special School.
Mr Weimar said the Department of Health and Human Services was continuing to investigate links between the outbreak and other positive cases within the area.
“Mystery” cases with no known source of infection have been detected over the past fortnight in postcodes covering Reservoir and Broadmeadows in Melbourne’s north, Heidelberg in the northeast, and Box Hill and Wantirna in the east, with established links between the northern suburban cluster and a cluster at the Box Hill hospital.
Mr Weimar said a special paediatric pop-up site had also been established to cater for the very specific needs to the Croxton Special School community.
“People have really embraced this call to action for which we are very grateful. We continue to meet with community and business leaders to ensure everyone has the information they need,” he said.
READ MORE: Outside big smoke property’s on fire
Rachel Baxendale 5.50pm: Hospital worker caused outbreak
The coronavirus outbreak in Melbourne’s northern suburbs was caused by a hospital worker who contracted the virus from a patient in Box Hill Hospital’s COVID-19 ward, and was then allowed to work in a non-coronavirus ward.
The revelation comes as the Andrews government has cited ongoing testing relating to the northern suburbs cluster as its reason for delaying an easing of restrictions.
The government confirmed late on Sunday that a cluster at the eastern Melbourne hospital had been sparked after a patient on the COVID ward infected two staff members, one of whom worked while infectious (but before the onset of symptoms) on a different ward, transmitting the virus to another staff member and a patient.
The staff member who transferred the virus tested positive on October 6, with Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services first mentioning the Box Hill Hospital cluster on October 8.
On Sunday the government confirmed the same staff member who transferred the virus from the COVID ward to the non-coronavirus ward was also the index case for the northern suburbs cluster, releasing a map of the links between 11 affected households.
Among the households are 39 confirmed cases of coronavirus, and 25 close contacts.
The revelation comes nine days after The Australian asked Health Minister Martin Foley at the Premier‘s daily press conference who the index case for the Box Hill Hospital outbreak had been, and how the virus had been transmitted from the COVID ward to the non-COVID ward.
“I‘m happy to follow that up and get the Chief Health Officer’s daily report to perhaps address that issue,” Mr Foley said on October 16.“It‘s not something I’ve been briefed on.”
Later that day, the Chief Health Officer‘s daily press release stated: “Following investigation, it is believed the index case for the Box Hill Hospital outbreak was a patient cared for on the COVID ward. Investigations continue into avenues of transmission from that ward to other areas of the hospital.”
READ MORE: Premier leaves Vic reopening in doubt over cases
Cameron Stewart 5.20pm: Trump votes as infections hit record
Donald Trump has cast his vote “for a guy named Trump” as his push to catch Joe Biden in the final week of campaigning was hit by a new daily record in coronavirus infections across the US.
The US on Saturday (AEDT) had a single-day record of 83,757 cases, topping the previous record of 77,362 cases on July 16 as the virus makes its third surge across the nation since March.
It came as the president stepped up his attacks on his Democrat opponent after Mr Biden’s claim in last week’s debate that he would ‘transition’ away from the oil industry in favour of renewable energy.
Mr Trump said Mr Biden’s comments were ‘a massive stumble’ that would ‘put the nail in the coffin’ for the former Vice President in oil-rich swing states like Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Rosie Lewis 4.50pm: Unions back Andrews’ ‘cautious pause’
Victoria’s union movement labelled Daniel Andrews’ “cautious pause” on the easing of coronavirus restrictions “tough but critical”, saying the state must do everything in its power to prevent a third wave.
“Victorians want to get back to work, and they want to get back to work safely.
Today’s announcement is tough, but it is critical that when workers return to work they are confident that they and their families are not being put at risk,” Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Luke Hilakari said.
“The workers that have been on the front line of the pandemic since March are relying on us to get this right, and not put at risk all that we’ve worked so hard for.”
READ MORE: Grim milestone as Trump casts his vote
Damon Johnson 4.20pm: Melbourne Cup spectators barred
The Melbourne Cup and other major races will be held in an empty Flemington Racecourse after plans for a small crowd were scrapped on Sunday because of the coronavirus threat.
The Victoria Racing Club announced that in addition to the 160th running of the Cup, on November 3, Saturday’s Derby Day, Oaks Day and Stakes Day would also be staged without fans, after plans for a crowd of up 10,000 were abandoned.
VRC Chairwoman Amanda Elliott said: “While we are very disappointed not to be able to welcome our members and racegoers to Cup Week, we understand the government’s commitment to keeping our community safe. We also recognise the need for certainty and clarity for our patrons, being only six days out from Derby Day.
“We are still in discussions regarding the potential return to the track for a small number of owners, as is currently permitted in regional Victoria.
“What is certain is the Melbourne Cup Carnival will go ahead with viewing audiences watching from across Australia and around the world. The spirit of Cup Week, the high quality racing and the 160th running of the People’s Cup will be enjoyed by millions.”
READ MORE: Spain mulls national emergency
Agencies 4.15pm: New York fends off virus surge to vote early
Wary that polls showing Donald Trump behind could again be wrong, New Yorkers turned out massively Saturday to vote early as they hope to ensure a “really big win” for Joe Biden.
A long line stretched along 34th Street and then onto Seventh Avenue in Trump’s strongly Democratic hometown on Saturday, the first day for early voting in New York, as people calmly waited to enter a specially organised polling station in the cavernous confines of Madison Square Garden arena.
With the normal schedule of concerts and sporting events canceled by the coronavirus pandemic, NBA players were able to persuade authorities — following a series of enormous racial-justice demonstrations — to transform several huge sporting arenas into polling stations.
In this once hard-hit city that has so far managed to fend off a resurgence of Covid-19, voters — all in masks — seemed ready to wait for hours if need be before passing through the metal detectors leading to the voting booths.
Local media reported long lines in front of more than 80 voting sites on Saturday, as New Yorkers flocked to cast ballots even as polls predicted Trump would lose the election — as they did in 2016 when he snagged a surprise win over Hillary Clinton.
“There’s been so much going on it’s just, it’s a privilege to be waiting in a line like this,” Jerad Ashby, 38, a Biden supporter, told AFP. “I think we just have to exercise our rights, and I’m excited to be here.” “We need someone who is decent -- someone who will stand up for everybody and not just for those that agree with him.” For this respiratory therapist-turned-stay-at-home dad, it doesn’t matter that New York systematically votes Democratic -- as it has in every presidential election since 1988 — or that it is not among the battleground states expected to decide the November 3 election.
READ MORE: Lord of misrule — The making of Boris Johnson
Rosie Lewis 3.30pm: PM demands Andrews ‘move forward’
The Morrison government has demanded Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews “move forward” with his COVID-19 recovery and put his public health systems to work in an attempt to reinstall thousands of lost jobs and help people’s mental health.
Scott Morrison, Josh Frydenberg and Health Minister Greg Hunt declared Mr Andrews’ delay in announcing an easing of restrictions in Melbourne was “a profound disappointment” and encouraged the Victorian government to mirror the COVID-19 restrictions in NSW “for the sake of health, mental health and halting the loss of more than 1000 jobs per day”.
“At some point, you have to move forward and put your public health systems to work in a bid to reclaim the jobs that have been lost, and rescue the livelihoods and peace of mind of so many Victorians who have been affected by the inability to contain the outbreak that led to the second Victorian wave,” the Prime Minister, Treasurer and Mr Hunt said in a joint statement.
“Victoria’s public health systems are either up to the task of dealing with future outbreaks or they are not. The decision to keep businesses closed suggests that there is still not sufficient confidence within the government that their systems can support reopening.
“This is a profound disappointment. Of course, Victorians do not want to face another lockdown and of course they don’t want all of this to have been for nothing. That is why ensuring the state government’s capability to deal with outbreaks through their public health response is so essential. This is what you need for Victoria to open up safely and stay safely open.
“Borders and closures are not indicators of public health success. They are the opposite.”
READ MORE: National hysteria will lead to disproportionate suffering
Rachel Baxendale 3.25pm: ‘Deliver Victorians from this Premier’
Victorian Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien has called on the state Labor Party to “deliver Victorians from this Premier”, declaring a lack of confidence in Daniel Andrews following his failure to deliver a promised reopening plan on Sunday.
Mr O’Brien said Sunday marked nine months since Victoria’s first coronavirus case was identified.
“Labor has had nine months to get the basics right — contact tracing, testing and PPE — but has utterly failed to do so,” he said.
“That is why a small outbreak is keeping 5 million Melburnians locked up. In any other state this outbreak would be handled quickly so the rest of the state could continue living.
“But not in Victoria. Here a small outbreak keeps an entire city locked up because an incompetent Labor government is not up to the job.
“Every other state has been able to get open and stay open safely.
“Victorians have been denied that because we have an incompetent government led by an arrogant Premier who just wants to do it his way and continues to let Victorians down.
“After today’s non-announcement, no Victorian should continue to have confidence in Daniel Andrews’ competence to continue to serve as Premier.
“Andrews should go.”
Mr O’Brien accused Mr Andrwes of continually “moving the goalposts” for reopening.
“He keeps saying, ‘if you get to this number, you get below five (coronavirus cases), yes, you’ll have your freedoms back’.
“Well we put in the sacrifices, we get below five and we still don’t get our freedoms back.
“Who can have any confidence in this Premier for one day longer?
“The Labor Party needs to act. The Labor Party needs to actually deliver Victoria from this premier, because he’s just not up to the job.”
READ MORE: We’re paying for an epidemic of stupidity
Staff writers 3.15pm: Victoria’s Islamic community calls for testing
The Islamic Council of Victoria has issued a statement on Sunday calling on all community members to be tested.
Under the heading “please get tested”, the ICV stated: “The ICV is calling on all community members living in the northern suburbs to get tested.
“This is a precautionary measure and would not only you safeguard your families but also
contain the spread of infection.
“As it has been stated by the Premier and others this disease has no boundaries and can affect anyone and the rapidity in the way it spreads is of concern.
The ICV statement then lists 16 testing locations throughout Melbourne’s north-western suburbs.
READ MORE: LNP leader defends video of Steven Miles ‘eating a fly’
Rachel Baxendale 2.40pm: Construction industry disappointed by delay
Master Builders Victoria CEO Rebecca Casson said that like many other industries, the construction sector was “naturally disappointed” by the Premier’s decision to “pause” his reopening announcement.
“Many of our members that have projects in occupied premises, and those struggling in small scale construction with the five-worker limit, are continuing to experience huge financial and emotional strain for every day that this lockdown is in effect,” Ms Casson said
“This is especially difficult as these businesses were not eligible for any state government business support grants.
“We have advised the state government that our industry in metropolitan Melbourne doesn’t need time to plan or scale up. We’re ready to go to 100 per cent now and our track record proves that.
“In the lead up to the next announcement, Master Builders Victoria will continue to advocate forcefully to strike the important balance between virus control and everyone getting back to COVIDSafe work.”
READ MORE: Angela Shanahan — Let’s give these poor pollies a break
Rachel Baxendale 2.10pm: ‘We’re past tipping point’: Melbourne traders
Traders from the Chapel Street precinct in Melbourne’s inner southeast slammed the Andrews government’s failure to reopen on Sunday, saying it was clear they did “not have business’ best interests at heart”.
“Is the cure worse than the disease? For metro Melbourne, I’m afraid it now absolutely is,” Chapel Street Precinct General Manager Chrissie Maus said.
“Our economy is flatlining and we urgently need to start the long, hard road of our recovery right now.
“The mental health impact on our business owners and staff is past the tipping point and I am seriously concerned.
“Even the most resilient are being tested.
“This is the make-or-break Christmas quarter for many of our businesses.”
READ MORE: Has Biden really got what it takes?
Rachel Baxendale 2pm: Melbourne cluster linked to major hospital
An outbreak of coronavirus cases in Melbourne’s northern suburbs has been linked to a cluster at the Box Hill hospital, renewing questions about how the virus was able to be transmitted from staff in the hospital’s COVID ward to those in the non-COVID ward.
Citing pending test results from the northern suburbs cluster as its reason for delaying a promised announcement on an easing of restrictions, the Andrews government has on Sunday released a map of the links between 11 affected households.
Among the households are 39 confirmed cases of coronavirus, and 25 close contacts including a family of nine and a family of four from Broadmeadows all of whom are yet to test positive but are considered close contacts.
The map shows that the first affected family was a Heidelberg Heights family of eight, with five male and three female family members, who contracted the virus from a hospital outbreak, with the first family member testing positive on October 6.
The Australian has asked whether the relevant hospital outbreak was an outbreak at Box Hill Hospital in Melbourne’s east, given the Department of Health and Human Services stated on October 10 that: “There are now 10 cases linked to the Box Hill Hospital outbreak with five new cases from one family added yesterday.”
“This outbreak comprises three staff members, one patient and six household contacts,” DHHS said at the time.
“All cases are isolated and close contacts for the Box Hill staff identified and quarantined.”
On October 16 The Australian asked Health Minister Martin Foley at the Premier’s daily press conference who the index case for the Box Hill Hospital outbreak had been, and how the virus had been transmitted from the COVID ward to the non-COVID ward at the hospital.
“I’m happy to follow that up and get the Chief Health Officer’s daily report to perhaps address that issue,” Mr Foley said at the time.
“It’s not something I’ve been briefed on as to who the index client in that particular outbreak is.”
Later that day, the Chief Health Officer’s daily press release made it clear authorities did not know how the virus had jumped to the non-COVID ward.
READ MORE: LNP goes to water in hunt for Queensland votes
Rosie Lewis 1.40pm: Andrews’ delay backed by federal Labor
Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles, the opposition’s most senior Victorian MP, has supported Premier Daniel Andrews’ delay in announcing the next steps in his COVID-19 recovery roadmap.
“The Premier has outlined the reasons why a delay in easing restrictions is necessary,” Mr Marles told The Australian.
“Of course we all want the easing of restrictions to take place but they have to be done in a way which ensures we don’t go through this again. It has been a tough number of months for Victorians, however, we have battled this together and we are so close to beating this thing.”
READ MORE: Katrina Grace Kelly — Victorians are managing well so stop the shrieking
Olivia Caisley 1.30pm: Nation-wide vaccine rollout will take a year
Industry Minister Karen Andrews says it could take up to a year for a potential coronavirus vaccine to be rolled out across the nation.
Ms Andrews said a non-protein based vaccine could take between nine to 12 months to be manufactured and distributed to Australians.
Ms Andrews said healthcare giant CSL was equipped to manufacture a protein-based vaccine straightaway, however a non-protein drug would take much longer.
“I would hope that we would be able to do it in about the nine-month to 12-month time frame, but I think we need to be really conscious that with a vaccine, there are a lot of variables in there,” Ms Andrews told the ABC on Sunday.
“We don’t have the vaccine proven at this point in time, we don’t know what the base for that vaccine is going to be, so we are trying to prepare across a wide range.
“I know that you want me to say categorically this is what the time frame is going to be, but I don’t believe that there is anyone that can answer that question.”
The commonwealth is investing a total of $2.3bn to support Australian researchers and manufacturers to develop and produce a coronavirus vaccine with this month’s federal budget assuming a “population-wide” vaccination program would be in place by the end of next year.
Read the full story here.
Rachel Baxendale 12.55pm: Kennett: Andrews holding millions ‘hostage’
Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett has called on Daniel Andrews to resign as premier, accusing him of “holding 6.4 million Victorians hostage”.
The Liberal, who served as premier from 1992 to 1999 tweeted following Mr Andrews’ announcement on Sunday morning that he would be postponing a previously promised easing of coronavirus restrictions pending test results from outbreaks in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
Daniel resign.
— Jeff Kennett (@jeff_kennett) October 25, 2020
There are 7 new cases
And you are holding 6.4m Victorians hostage.
You are a disgrace.
Go go go
READ MORE: How one restaurant pivoted during Covid
Rachel Baxendale 12.48pm: Andrews promises announcement on Tuesday
More than an hour into his 75 minute press conference, having quashed Victorians’ hopes of a reopening announcement, Premier Daniel Andrews said the state was still “well and truly on track” to reopen on or before next Sunday November 1, promising to make the announcement by Tuesday.
“I wouldn’t want anyone watching here to be in any doubt, the first of November, absolutely, we are still well and truly on track to be able to have opening, have opening up before then, not on that day, in fact earlier than then,” Mr Andrews said.
“We had intended to be able to make announcements today, but it’s just not appropriate while we wait for these test results, to be assuming we know what the results are.
“We don’t know how many positive cases, we don’t know whether they’re going to be linked, but we are still well on track to announce and begin the process of opening up before the 1st.”
Asked why he had not made that clear an hour earlier at the beginning of the press conference, Mr Andrews conceded he was tired, after a late night and early morning of decision-making.
“I’m sorry if I have not been as clear as I try to be, it was a very long night and a very early morning and I have been trying to find an opportunity to come back to the podium, as your question indicated to me that perhaps I had not been as clear as I should have been,” he said.
“I’m not trying to be anything else other than clear, and if I was not 100 per cent clear, then I will try to be now.
“We have to wait for these test results, and in the next couple of days, I think I’ve made that point, we will have more to say, we will be able to make announcements.
“We are still on track for the 1st (of November) and we may even be able to begin the process of opening up earlier than then: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, that is our aim.
“But we can’t announce today and presuppose what the results of these tests are, because they’re in the labs, they’re literally at the labs now, and there’ll be a bunch more that’ll get, the samples will be taken today, they will go to the laboratories today and we won’t get them back probably until late Monday.”
Asked whether Victorians could expect an announcement on the plan for easing restrictions by Tuesday at the latest, Mr Andrews said: “I certainly want to be able to do that. Yes. And I apologise if I’ve not been as clear as I thought I was.”
Sunday marks 115 consecutive days during which Mr Andrews has appeared at daily press conferences, rather than deferring to his deputy James Merlino or another ministerial colleague.
READ MORE: Failure not an option as Andrews goes all in
Olivia Caisley 12.40pm: JobSeeker cut a mistake, says Labor
Opposition business spokesman Tony Burke says it would be a mistake to cut the JobSeeker supplement in the new year, declaring now is not the time to be winding back support for Australians struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The supplement was cut from $550 a fortnight to $250 last month and will revert back to its pre-pandemic level of $40 per day from December 31.
“Now is not the time to be cutting support for people who are unemployed at the moment,” Mr Burke told Sky News on Sunday.
“These liberals don’t seem to understand, it’s not their fault. There’s something like one job for every eight applicants out there at the moment.”
Mr Burke said it would be a long time before tourists return to Australia and so the nation’s economy was reliant on domestic demand.
Asked about Labor’s performance in NewsPoll with the party trailing behind the coalition on economic management, Mr Burke said the party’s leader Anthony Albanese could still win the next election.
“We have the finest parliamentary performer of our generation as leader of the Labor Party,” he said of Mr Albanese.
“We have someone who from his own life story – the whole way through - Anthony knows what it is to be going through difficult times as Australians are going through right now. But he’s been at the cabinet table. He’s got the experience.”
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Rosie Lewis 12.20pm: ‘We cannot go on like this’, business body warns
Australia’s peak big business body has warned “we cannot go on like this” and said it didn’t understand why Victorian authorities were “unable” to put effective controls in place like those in NSW to allow people to live and work alongside the coronavirus.
“It’s just inexplicable that a state with comparable or lower case numbers than NSW cannot adopt the same best-practice system used in NSW and implement that state’s tools and technologies to contain local outbreaks and effectively manage contact tracing and tracking,” Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott said.
“Why is the science and medical advice in Victoria so different to the expert advice in NSW?A pattern of delays, maybes and apologies doesn’t excuse Victoria’s failure to manage local outbreaks. It is taking too long and too much is being lost.
“We cannot go on like this. Victorians cannot hang on week-to-week. People are at a financial and mental breaking point.”
READ MORE: Andrews’ road map? Eliminate business
Rosie Lewis 11.55am: Business accuses Daniel Andrews of betrayal
Australia’s hospitality industry has labelled Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ decision to delay Melbourne’s reopening a “betrayal” of the sector, declaring it would be remembered by businesses “for years”.
“The original roadmap was 26 October, five cases. It will be 26 October in a few hours and Victoria is under five cases,” Restaurant and Catering Australia chief executive Wes Lambert said.
“The Victorian government has always known the capacity of contact tracing, they have known the capacity of testing, they have known that there would always every day be outstanding tests that were to be processed in labs. During a pandemic we must accept that there will be spotfire outbreaks, these are all known factors.
“What the government and the premier have shown today is they do not trust hospitality operators, they do not trust their own contact tracers and they do not trust the Victorian people.
“The announcement today is nothing short of a betrayal of the hospitality sector. It is an act that will stick in the minds of operators for years and it should hang as an albatross around the government’s neck.”
READ MORE: Janet Albrechtsen — Shock and awfulness of our very own totalitarian state
Rosie Lewis 11.47am: Hunt labels Victorian delay ‘profoundly disappointing’
Health Minister Greg Hunt pre-emptively declared a further delay in Victoria’s COVID-19 reopening “profoundly disappointing and deeply concerning” and says the only reason the state would not open up further is if they didn’t have confidence in its contract tracing.
Speaking shortly before Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced the reopening would be “paused” for at least a couple of days, Mr Hunt said on the commonwealth’s and state’s own metrics Victoria was in a position to continue opening up.
The commonwealth classifies a COVID-19 hotspot as a metropolitan area with a rolling three-day average of 10 locally acquired cases per day.
Melbourne’s 14-day rolling average is 4.6 new daily cases –meeting the target set by the Victorian government - but there have been nine cases in that time with an unknown source, which is higher than the state’s target for an easing of restrictions.
“The only reason we can identify why Victoria would not open further is if they did not have confidence in their contract tracing. We actually believe it has reached a level where at these case numbers it should be able to open,” Mr Hunt said.
“It is possible, it is desirable, it is simply the case that on the balance of evidence and risk Victoria is in a sufficiently strong place to replicate that which has occurred in NSW.
“I should note NSW had a rolling average of over 10 cases a day for 24 consecutive days in late July and early August and yet they were able to manage being predominantly open through a gold standard, world-class contract tracing process.”
Mr Hunt stressed the mental health impacts of lockdown in Victoria had been significant, with a 31 per cent increase in Medicare-subsidised mental health services compared to the previous year and a 77 per cent increase in the use of Beyond Blue services in the state.
Eating disorders among younger Victorians have also risen by 40 per cent compared to the previous year.
Mr Hunt said Victoria had substantially improved its contract tracing through localising its public health unit and tracing response, digitising its data and managing individual cases.
He conceded there were still improvements to be made on case management, pointing to the family in the northern suburbs of Melbourne at the heart of the latest COVID-19 outbreak.
“There were mixed messages given by the Victorian public health system (to that family) which led to a breach this week, we need to be honest about that,” Mr Hunt said. “But equally the Victorian contact tracing response to that breach I think was excellent and all credit to them for that response.”
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Angelica Snowden 11.38am: NSW has third consecutive day with no cases
NSW has reported no new cases of locally transmitted COVID-19 cases for a third day.
Seven new cases were reported in overseas travellers in hotel quarantine, bringing the state’s total COVID count to 4,193.
The last case of locally acquired COVID was reported on October 22 and was linked with a previously confirmed case in south west Sydney connected to the Liverpool private clinic cluster.
There are 13 cases linked to this cluster.
Concerns were also raised recently over a possible outbreak in south east Sydney after authorities recorded a positive case of COVID in the area on October 15.
The case was understood to have been linked with a person who was asymptomatic in early September.
NSW Health urged the community to get tested if they experience mild symptoms, particularly those who live south west Sydney, western Sydney and south east Sydney.
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Christine Kellett 11.10am: Mikakos slams Premier’s ‘paralysis in decision making’
Daniel Andrews is copping a grilling as he tries to explain why Melbourne will not be reopened despite Melbourne’s rolling daily average dropping below his own benchmark of five daily cases.
Former Health Minister Jenny Mikakos has taken to Twitter to call the Premier’s delay “unneccessary” and accusing his government of “paralysis in decision making.”
Vic has met the under 5 threshold which some thought was unachievable. This was a very cautious target. 6/7 of new cases are related to a known outbreak so the risk is manageable. The set reopening is gradual & safe so any delay is unnecessary. It’s paralysis in decision-making.
— Jenny Mikakos #StayHomeSaveLives (@JennyMikakos) October 24, 2020
Meanwhile, in a tense exchange with reporters, the Premier said he would not ignore the fact that an outbreak in the northern suburbs had not yet been quantified.
“Victorians are devastated,” one reporter told him. “Today they thought they would be significant announcements and you have been saying that all week. The roadmap said we could reopen if there was less than five cases on average and that is where we are at.”
Mr Andrews said he understood the frustration in the community but the government “only has one chance to do this properly.”
“We have had a significant outbreak and we cannot properly understand all of the elements until these test results come back I know it is frustrating and the labs are working as fast as they can there are teams, hundreds of people, out there on the ground working across the northern suburbs to track down every single lead.
“It cannot be turned around in an hour. And for the sake of waiting until we get those results, that will give us the confidence, hopefully, to know that these cases are linked and that there is not widespread community transmission in the northern suburbs.”
Rachel Baxendale 10.50am: Victoria’s active cases rise to 100
Victoria now has 100 active cases of coronavirus — an increase of two since Saturday.
Of seven new cases on Sunday, six have been linked to outbreaks in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, while one is in a health worker.
Five children from East Preston Islamic College have now tested positive.
As of Sunday there are seven people in Victorian hospitals with coronavirus, down from eight on Saturday.
None of these people are in intensive care.
There have been 3,052,477 coronavirus tests processed in Victoria since the pandemic began, including 12,894 in the 24 hours to Sunday.
This represents a positive test rate of 0.05 per cent - up from 0.04 per cent on Saturday and 0.01 per cent on Friday.
There are eight active cases linked to health workers, including aged care workers, up from seven on Saturday, and four linked to aged care, down from five on Saturday.
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Rachel Baxendale 10.37am: Andrews calls off Melbourne easing for now
Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews has opted not to ease any coronavirus restrictions on Sunday, citing 1000 pending test results from a series of cases in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
The decision comes despite Victoria reaching a seven day daily average of 4.6 cases on Sunday, with seven new cases.
Of the seven cases, six have been linked to the northern suburbs outbreaks, while the remaining case is in a health worker.
“We had hoped today to be able to announce that metropolitan Melbourne would take
significant steps, not from today but from mid week, round retail, hospitality and a whole range of other, important next steps,” he has told a press conference.
“We are not in a position to do that today because we have at least 1000 test results from that northern metropolitan outbreak that are in the labs. We will get those today, probably the balance of them tomorrow, and they will be additional testing conducted throughout the day.”
“This is not anything other than a cautious pause, to wait to get that important information, to get the results of those tests, just to rule out whether there are, whether there is more virus there than we think.”
Mr Andrews said the decision was based on the latest medical advice.
“It’s just not safe at this stage to make those annoucements.”
“It is appropriate just to be doubly sure that there is not more virus out there in the northern suburbs than we think. We have found linkages, we have found chains of transmission.”
However, regional Victoria will have its restrictions eased from Sunday, with gyms able to open for up to 20 people with a maximum of 10 per indoor space, school graduations able to go ahead, food courts reopening, and religious celebrations expanded to 20 people indoors and up to 50 outdoors.
Following extensive testing after three cases in the northern Victorian town of Shepparton, Greater Shepparton will now fall under the rules of the rest of regional Victoria.
More to come...
Jack Paynter 10.20am: Police force anti-Andrews protest bus off road
The owner of a bus with “Sack Andrews” emblazoned on the side says police spent two hours scouring over his vehicle to find a “slight” fault to take it off the road.
The coach, which has become a prominent addition to Melbourne’s streets over the past few weeks, was parked at the city’s anti-lockdown protest on Friday for only a few minutes before it attracted the attention of police.
Eventually, after two hours of “crawling” meticulously over the vehicle, owner Laurie Pincini – whose business has taken almost a $4 million hit due to coronavirus – told NCA NewsWire police issued him with a $341 fine and a defect notice that rendered the bus unroadworthy.
Mr Pincini said the officers from Victoria Police’s Heavy Vehicle Unit found a “slight” cut on a tyre, a “very small” fray in one seatbelt and an oil leak under the bus, which he said was dry on the road even though the bus hadn’t been there for long.
The bus was then sent back to the depot just after 10am before the protest got under way at the Shrine of Remembrance at 2pm.
Mr Pincini said Transport Safety Victoria had also been hassling him about the vehicle after it was spotted on Melbourne’s roads.
The bus, which has recently been chartered by advocacy group Reignite Democracy Australia, has won both supporters and haters for it’s bold messaging about metropolitan Melbourne’s continuing lockdown.
When asked if he believed police sought out his bus at Friday’s protest, he said, “Yeah correct, they did.”
But he said the officers who actually issued the infringement were very professional and empathetic.
Victoria Police said it could not comment on individual infringements but all vehicles needed to meet roadworthiness requirements and registration standards.
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Agencies 9.45am: Trump has screwed up virus response, says Obama
Former US president Barack Obama has slammed Donald Trump’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic as he hit the campaign trail for his former vice president Joe Biden.
“The idea that somehow this White House has done anything but completely screw this thing up is nonsense,” Obama has told Democratic supporters at a drive-in rally in Miami, Florida, of the pandemic as cases rise across the US ten days before the November 3 election.
Damn. This @BarackObama guy IS GOOD. pic.twitter.com/ZvCiJKJzYe
— ken olin (@kenolin1) October 24, 2020
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Rachel Baxendale 9am: Melbourne’s case average finally falls below five
Today’s seven new cases of coronavirus in Victoria follow seven on Saturday, and come as Victorian health authorities battle to control a series of recent cases in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, some of which have been linked to the East Preston Islamic College.
They also come after Premier Daniel Andrews warned ahead of his planned announcement on an easing of restrictions on Sunday that a mass reopening could be jeopardised by the northern suburbs outbreak.
Melburnians have been living under stay-at-home lockdown since early July, and retail and hospitality businesses have been closed since early August for all but click and collect and takeaway.
“A lot of people had been banking on tomorrow as the day where we would have absolute clarity about what October and November looks like. If we can do that, we will. But the appropriate thing to do, if you have thousands of tests in the laboratory being processed … you have to wait for the results,” Mr Andrews said.
However, Sunday’s 14-day daily average for Melbourne has fallen below five for the first time since June, reaching 4.6 and down from five on Saturday, with the regional 14-day daily average steady at 0.2.
There have been nine cases in Melbourne with an unknown source of infection in the most recent fortnight for which the statistic is available, spanning October 9 to October 22.
This represents 9.5 per cent of the 95 cases over that fortnight.
Regional Victoria has had no “mystery” cases over the same period.
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Rachel Baxendale 8.40am: Victoria records seven new cases
Victoria has recorded seven new coronavirus cases in the 24 hours to Sunday, and no deaths.
Yesterday there were 7 new cases & no lost lives reported. Cases with unknown source are down, as is the 14 day rolling average in Melb, this remains stable in regional Vic. There is more info here: https://t.co/eTputEZdhs #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/m1Myk7MnfV
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) October 24, 2020
Melbourne’s 14-day rolling daily case average has fallen to 4.6, however an anticipated easing of restrictions across the city from midnight are likely to hinge on test results from a cluster in the norther suburbs.
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Cameron Stewart 8am: US daily infections top 83,000
Donald Trump has cast his vote “for a guy named Trump” as his push to catch Joe Biden in the final week of campaigning was hit by a new daily record in coronavirus infections across the US.
The US on Saturday (AEDT) had a single-day record of 83,757 cases, topping the previous record of 77,362 cases on July 16 as the virus makes its third surge across the nation since March.
It came as the president stepped up his attacks on his Democrat opponent after Mr Biden’s claim in last week’s debate that he would ‘transition’ away from the oil industry in favour of renewable energy.
Mr Trump said Mr Biden’s comments were ‘a massive stumble’ that would ‘put the nail in the coffin’ for the former Vice President in oil-rich swing states like Pennsylvania and Ohio.
The Biden campaign has tried to clarify his comments, saying Mr Biden was talking about phasing out taxpayer subsidies for fossil fuel companies, not the industry altogether.
Mr Biden spent Sunday (AEDT) in Pennsylvania, where he made two speeches, both focusing heavily on Mr Trump’s management of the pandemic.
“Yesterday we saw the highest number of new cases in one day since this pandemic began. That was yesterday — the worst day we’ve ever had,” Mr Biden said.
“Yet at the debate on Thursday night, Donald Trump was still saying, “We’re rounding the corner … It’s going away … We’re learning to live with it.”
But as I told him — we’re not learning to live with it. We’re learning to die with it, and there is a dark winter ahead.’
The pandemic has so far claimed almost 230,000 lives in the US.
Read the full story here.
Emily Ritchie 7.30am: Premier rejects localised lockdowns
Fresh COVID-19 outbreaks in Melbourne’s north have thrown Victoria’s anticipated reopening into doubt, with Premier Daniel Andrews rejecting the idea of localised lockdowns in hotspot suburbs as a potential containment strategy.
The state recorded seven new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, six of which were connected to known cases and clusters and most of which are located in Melbourne’s northern suburbs — the East Preston Islamic College outbreak, Croxton Special School, the Hoppers Crossing community outbreak and Estia aged care in Keilor.
Despite using localised lockdowns for hotspot regions before, Mr Andrews said he “didn’t think that would be the appropriate response” as a possible replacement for wider restrictions.
“Ultimately, unless you have no movement out of a dedicated or specified geographic area, then that does not work,” the Premier said.
“The better way is to say, ‘here is a group of people, albeit a large group, and their contact may be passing, if any’. But because there is a linkage of any sort, all of those people, secondary contacts, primary contacts, and cases, we lock them down, rather than locking down an entire suburb,’’ he said.
“That is what has worked in Shepparton, Kilmore, and being applied in the northern metro region.”
The Premier on Saturday tempered people’s expectations, especially those of hospitality and retail businesses, saying his anticipated announcement of an easing of restrictions on Sunday may not be as wide-ranging as some had hoped because the northern suburbs outbreak could jeopardise a mass reopening.
“A lot of people had been banking on tomorrow as the day where we would have absolute clarity about what October and November looks like. If we can do that, we will. But the appropriate thing to do, if you have thousands of tests in the laboratory being processed … you have to wait for the results,” Mr Andrews said.
Read the full story here.
Agencies 7am: New rules as Spain mulls national emergency
New coronavirus restrictions were taking effect in Madrid on Saturday as the Spanish government weighed declaring a national state of emergency to allow curfews to be imposed.
Just days after Spain registered more than one million virus cases, the country’s regions — responsible for managing public healthcare — have heaped pressure on the government to give them legal right to impose tighter restrictions.
In practice, that would involve the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez declaring a national state of emergency which would enable the regions to impose a curfew — a measure increasingly applied across Europe.
So far, nine of Spain’s 17 autonomous regions have formally requested such a measure, with the government expected to decide at an extraordinary meeting on Sunday.
Although the government can impose an emergency for up to a fortnight, it would need parliamentary approval to extend it.
Spain used the powers in spring to enforce one of the world’s tightest lockdowns, and a similar measure has been in force in Madrid for the past fortnight — although only to impose movement restrictions on the capital and various nearby towns.
Read the full story here.
Tom Whipple 6.30am: Three scenarios for living with the virus
According to most histories, the Spanish flu ended in 1920. The greatest pandemic of the 20th century burnt out and the world moved on.
Most histories are wrong: it did not end, and the virus did not stop killing. Spanish flu’s descendants, in fact, are still with us. Every winter, mutated versions of the 1918 virus still kill. Some years, notably in 1957 and 1968, they shuffle their genes with other viruses and cause mortality in the hundreds of thousands.
The British government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, says the greatest pandemic of the 21st century will not go away either.
Even with a vaccine we will never eradicate the virus. Instead it will become endemic: part of our lives, along with all the other seasonal circulating viruses. What does that mean?
Here are three ways we may be able to live with the virus.
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