Coronavirus Australia live news: Victoria records 114 new cases, 11 deaths; Border spat intensifies
Daniel Andrews has teased a plan to wind back stage four restrictions, but says virus cases ‘will explode’ if implemented now.
- Premier teases roadmap out of stage four
- Victoria records 114 cases, 11 deaths
- Australia records 600th virus death
- Queensland’s border swipe at PM
- Virus vaccine results later this year
Welcome to our rolling coverage of the continuing coronavirus pandemic. Victoria has recorded 114 new cases and 11 deaths overnight. Queensland’s Deputy Premier Steven Miles has take an extraordinary swipe at Prime Minister Scott Morrison over border closures as Australia recorded its 600th coronavirus death.
Geoff Chambers 11pm: Taxpayers repay $2bn student loan debts
More than $2bn in student loan debts under the defunct VET FEE HELP scheme have been recredited to almost 130,000 students since 2016.
Geoff Chambers, Kieran Gair 10.30pm: Cruel border bans bad medicine
Josh Frydenberg is pushing premiers and chief ministers to show ‘more compassion’ on border shutdowns
Geoff Chambers 10pm: Union wants medicare levy to fund aged-care reform
Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese face grassroots marginal seat campaigns unless they adopt a bipartisan approach to fix the nation’s COVID-ravaged nursing home system, including increasing the Medicare levy to fund almost 60,000 new aged-care jobs.
New modelling released by the Health Services Union and Equity Economics on Monday will call for the Medicare levy to rise from 2 per cent to 2.65 per cent, raising up to $20bn over four years.
HSU national president Gerard Hayes said action to repair the aged-care sector must not be shelved until after the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety’s final report, which is due by February 26.
He also warned of a “robust and well-resourced marginal seat campaign” to force both major parties into delivering long-term aged-care funding blueprints, describing commitments at last year’s federal election as “underwhelming”.
Mr Albanese, who is considering various aged-care funding proposals for Labor to take to the election, on Sunday would not rule out an increase to the Medicare levy to inject funding into the aged-care sector.
Mr Hayes welcomed the Opposition Leader “opening the door” to the proposal but called for more immediate reform across the aged-care industry.
“We don’t need to wait for the royal commission to report. We are seeing both a jobs and aged-care crisis unfold in real time. Lives are being lost every week. Both sides of politics need to act with urgency,” Mr Hayes told The Australian.
Simon Benson 9.30pm: PM’s rating dips as voters back premiers’ rights
Popular support for Scott Morrison has fallen for the first time since the height of the pandemic as Newspoll shows Labor and the Coalition deadlocked.
Emily Ritchie 9pm: Surveillance reveals 30pc wearing masks
NSW Health is urging people to wear face masks on public transport as the state recorded seven new coronavirus cases on Sunday, with multiple train and bus routes flagged as a concern.
Passengers on eight different bus and train routes were identified as close contacts of some of the state’s new cases on Sunday, including buses 442 and X39 and train journeys between Merrylands and Parramatta in the west. Anyone associated with the routes between August 24 and August 27 is being urged to monitor symptoms and get tested immediately if feeling unwell.
Surveillance footage revealed that mask-wearing levels at Sydney stations were as low as 30 per cent in August, prompting renewed calls for the government to make it compulsory.
The state’s seven new cases on Sunday included a student at a western Sydney school and five linked to Sydney’s CBD cluster, which has grown to 28 cases.
Health authorities urged people to stick to the 1.5m rule, but also singled out public transport as a situation where people should be wearing masks.
Read the full story here.
Graham Lloyd 8.15pm: CO2 levels fly high even as airlines don’t
The slump in air travel and stand down of industry because of the COVID-19 pandemic have failed to stop the rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
AFP 7.45pm: Half of Lebanese could face food shortages: UN
More than half of Lebanon’s population risk facing a food crisis in the aftermath of a Beirut port blast that compounded the country’s many woes, a UN agency said on Sunday.
“More than half of the country’s population is at risk of failing to access their basic food needs by the year’s end,” the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia said.
ESCWA executive secretary Rola Dashti added: “Immediate measures should be taken to prevent a food crisis.”
Lebanon’s government, she said, must prioritise the rebuilding of silos at the Beirut port, the country’s largest grain storage.
Lebanon was mired in an economic collapse even before the cataclysmic August 4 cataclysmic blast at Beirut’s port, which killed 188 people, wounded thousands and destroyed swathes of the capital.
Lebanon defaulted on its debt, while the local currency has plummeted in value on the black market and poverty rates have soared, on top of a spike in the number of coronavirus cases.
“The yearly average inflation rate is expected to be more than 50 percent in 2020, compared with 2.9 percent in 2019,” ESCWA said in a statement.
AFP 7.15pm: Shi’ites mark Ashura at Iraq shrines
Thousands of tearful Shi’ite pilgrims wearing gloves and masks flooded Iraq’s holy city of Karbala on Sunday to mark Ashura, in one of the largest Muslim gatherings since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Ashura, on the 10th day of the mourning month of Muharram, commemorates the killing of the Prophet Mohammed’s grandson Hussein at the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD — the defining moment of Islam’s confessional schism.
Typically, millions of Shi’ites from around the world flock to the golden-domed shrine where Hussein’s remains are buried, to pray and cry, shoulder-to-shoulder.
But with coronavirus numbers spiking across the globe, this year’s commemoration is subdued.
“Honestly, this year is nothing like the millions-strong commemorations of other years,” said Fadel Hakim, who was out early on Sunday in the streets around the shrine, a blue medical mask cupping his chin.
“It stands out because there are so few people.”
Small clusters of pilgrims gathered in the vast courtyards outside the main mosque, wearing the customary black mourning clothes along with less traditional masks and gloves.
Wading through the crowds were teams of shrine employees spraying disinfectant mist through long, thin hoses or distributing masks to any bare-faced visitor.
To be allowed into the shrine, people had their temperatures taken at grey gates resembling metal detectors.
Inside, signs on the carpet floor indicated the required distance between worshippers as they pray.
Nylon sheets prevented people from kissing the walls, a traditional sign of reverence.
But in the enclave where Imam Hussein is buried, pilgrims pressed their unmasked faces up against the ornate grille separating them from the mausoleum.
Many visitors were crying or sniffling, wiping their faces with bare hands -- actions that could help the virus spread.
AFP 6.30pm: Venice takes lead role as first film festival in pandemic
What if you threw a film festival and nobody came?
That is the challenge facing organisers of this year’s Venice Film Festival, the glamorous annual competition where stars, critics, photographers and industry executives mingle on the bustling Lido, overlooking sandy beaches and the blue Adriatic.
Provided, of course, it’s a normal year. In 2020, the world’s oldest film festival is forced to walk a tightrope between preserving its lustre as the premier launch pad for Academy Award-winning films, while navigating the coronavirus crisis.
Opening on Wednesday and continuing until September 12, the prestigious event now in its 77th year will be the first international film festival since the pandemic shuttered competitions around the world.
It has put in place a host of safety measures — from limited seating to thermal scanners, to a fan-free red carpet — to protect attendees as COVID-19 cases continue to climb in Italy and around the world.
Organisers are scrambling amid uncertain attendance and last-minute cancellations.
Whereas Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep and Scarlett Johansson provided the star firepower at last year’s festival, travel restrictions mean most Hollywood elites will be no-shows, along with actors and directors from China, India and South America.
Those arriving from outside Europe’s Schengen zone will have to submit results of a COVID-19 test just before their departure, with a second test carried out in Venice.
The festival announced last week that American actor Matt Dillon would be a last-minute substitute on the jury for Romanian director Crisit Puiu.
No reason was given for Puiu’s absence, but industry trade magazines noted he had given a speech this month in which he said it was “inhumane” to watch movies with a mask on.
Those confirmed as attending include, among others, British actress Tilda Swinton, Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, US director Oliver Stone and Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen.
The uncertain lineup of stars and dearth of top names leaves Australian actress Cate Blanchett, president of the jury, to take up the mantle of celebrity — and social activism — at Venice.
Blanchett was the leader of the #MeToo women’s march up the red carpet steps at Cannes two years ago that sought to bring attention to the lack of parity and diversity in cinema.
The presence of Blanchett helps raise such awareness while the festival seeks to stanch criticism levelled in recent years over the glaring lack of women directors in festivals’ top lineups.
The Oscar-winning headliner told Variety magazine on Thursday that this year’s eight women directors in the main competition lineup of Venice is “a direct response to the positive advances that have been made this year”.
AFP 5.45pm: India sets world record for cases in one day
India set a coronavirus record on Sunday when it reported 78,761 new infections in 24 hours — the world’s highest single-day rise — even as it continued to open up the economy.
Home to 1.3 billion people, India is already the world’s third-most infected nation, with more than 3.5 million cases, behind the US and Brazil.
It has also reported more than 63,000 deaths, according to the official health ministry toll.
The US set the previous record on July 17 with 77,638 daily infections, according to a tally by the news service Agence France-Presse.
In his regular monthly radio address on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not comment on the milestone but called on Indians to observe health safety measures.
“It is important that every citizen is healthy and happy and we defeat coronavirus completely together,” Mr Modi said in Hindi.
“Corona(virus) can only be defeated when you remain safe, when you fulfil the resolve of keeping a safe distance of two yards and wearing masks.”
Experts warn that while a ramp-up in testing in recent months was encouraging, more needed to be done to capture the scale of the pandemic in the world’s second-most populous nation.
The virus has badly hit megacities such as financial hub Mumbai and the capital New Delhi, but is now also surging in smaller cities and rural areas.
READ MORE: If Covid has taught us anything, we must prepare for this
AFP 5.15pm: German government condemns protest
The German government has slammed the “unacceptable” behaviour of protesters during a mass rally against coronavirus restrictions in which hundreds were arrested and some attempted to storm the Reichstag parliament building.
The Reichstag is the “symbolic centre of our democracy”, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told Sunday’s edition of the Bild newspaper.
“It is unacceptable to see extremists and trouble-makers use it for their own ends.”
Police said about 38,000 people, double the number expected, had gathered in Berlin on Saturday to protest against restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus, such as the wearing of masks and social distancing.
Several hundred protesters broke through barriers and a police cordon to climb the steps leading to the entrance to the Reichstag.
They were narrowly prevented from entering the building by police, who used pepper spray and arrested several people.
Rebecca Le May 4.45pm: Cops called to crowded Sydney beaches
Police are ordering sunseekers at Sydney’s popular Coogee beach to move on, with the local council saying warm weather has seen the area get too busy, sparking concerns about social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic.
As temperatures reached 24C, an unverified estimate of visitors at Coogee beach and nearby parks and reserves was a whopping 15,000.
“The first warm weekend and people are flocking to the beaches,” a Randwick City Council spokeswoman said.
“It is quite busy down there.”
She said signs reminding beachgoers to socially distance had been erected “everywhere” but police were needed to disperse the crowd.
“Lifeguards don’t have the legislative powers to kick people off the beaches,” she explained.
A NSW Police spokesman said officers had also responded to concerns about crowding at Clovelly, Little Bay and Gordons Bay, where 50-60 people were having a party.
People are being told to move on and no fines have yet been issued, he said.
Read the full story here.
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic 4.15pm: Is this the moment to shift gears?
Countries with women in leadership have suffered six times fewer confirmed deaths from COVID-19 than countries with governments led by men. The media has swelled with stories of their pragmatism, prowess and humanity.
Will this influence our collective readiness to elect and promote more women into power?
In both business and politics, leaders of the world have spent the past few months facing a real-time leadership test. Instantaneous, global scrutiny puts their every action and every communication in full view. Whatever the future brings, one thing is certain: those in charge will be judged on how they manage this crisis — and nowhere are the stakes higher than in government.
Heads of states are reluctant participants in this leadership contest, subjected to daily reviews of virus statistics, with journalists as judges. The best way to evaluate leaders’ performance has always been to look at how their teams and followers are performing, especially compared with others. But the pandemic and its grim death tolls introduce entirely new pressures; standardised, data-driven global metrics invite people everywhere to easily compare, at the click of a mouse, the relative effectiveness of elected officials.
In this competition, few comments have received more attention than the stellar performance of female leaders. Many articles have highlighted the female-led countries managing the crisis better.
Read the full story here.
Heath Parkes-Hupton 3.35pm: Pete Evans in new coronavirus rant
Controversial celebrity chef Pete Evans has taken a swipe at former MasterChef judge Matt Preston for urging Australians to be COVID-19 safe and wear a mask.
The former My Kitchen Rules judge slammed a Victorian government advertisement showing Matt Preston dining at a closed restaurant, urging Victorians to wear a mask to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
In his Instagram post, Evans said the ad is “demeaning and disgraceful” and wearing a mask does “f**k all” to prevent the spread of the virus.
“This ad has only enabled the govt to extend its lockdown in Victoria by spreading misinformation,” he said.
“I would have hoped that the people that appeared in these ads would have explored the science that pertains to wearing a mask.”
Evans’ view is not shared by the majority of Australia’s medical bodies, which claim wearing a mask does help prevent the spread of the virus.
His latest anti-lockdown tirade comes after he shared an interview with a prominent US anti-vaxxer, who likened the pressure to wear a mask during the coronavirus pandemic to “psychological warfare” akin to children spying on their parents in Nazi Germany.
Evans posted the chat with Sherri Tenpenny to his 271,000 followers on Instagram on Sunday, during which the American claimed mandatory face mask laws were a step toward “subjugation” of the public.
Tenpenny, an osteopathic physician who supports the theory that flu vaccinations can cause autism, said she believed masks and social distancing were being used as a tool to “separate us” and had turned the community against each other.
READ MORE: Janet Albrechtsen — Shock and awfulness of Victoria’s not-so-artful dodger
Caroline Overington 3pm: Tragedy that should end the border debate
Queensland hospitals are for Queensland people?
No.
That is not what hospitals are for.
Hospitals are for treating the sick. They are for people who need help in an emergency.
Oh, but the Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told reporters last week that this was no longer the case.
“People living in NSW, they have NSW hospitals,” she said. “In Queensland we have Queensland hospitals for our people.”
It’s wrong, and it’s cruel, and of course we know what happened, just after she said it.
The life of an unborn child was lost.
Queensland‘s Health Minister Steven Miles now says there was a “communication problem” south of the border.
He says an emergency medical flight carrying Kimberley and her unborn twins would not have been turned away.
But you can’t erase those words – “In Queensland we have Queensland hospitals for our people” – so easily.
Read Caroline Overington’s full analysis here.
Rebecca Le May 2.17pm: Why Victoria’s lockdown has to work
The threat of Victoria’s summer bushfire season starting early again in the midst of a pandemic is one of the reasons the current strict lockdown regime has to work, Premier Daniel Andrews says.
The bushfires in eastern Victoria in December and January that killed five people and razed more than 1.5 million hectares of land were so fierce firefighters flew in from the US to help.
Mr Andrews says coordinating the response to such a disaster, were it to occur again this year while the state remains in the grips of the second wave, would be “very, very, very challenging”.
“We could have fires well before Christmas — that’s what we had last year — that’s why you’ve got to pull this up now,” he told reporters on Sunday.
“You’ve got to end this second wave properly, not leaving it there smouldering, you’ve got to put it out.
“That will give us much greater certainty on the other side. And part of the other side will be a long, hot, dry, dangerous fire season.
“It will be easier and less complicated if have truly defeated the second wave now.”
However Mr Andrews said he was confident quarantine measures could be put in place to allow firefighters to come to the state to help, or allow Victorian firefighters to go and help other jurisdictions.
“Borders may be closed across the country but I don’t think they’d ever be closed to emergency services, particularly those who are coming to the aid and support of other states,” he said.
“Let’s hope that we don’t have a fire season as challenging as the last one but you’ve always got to assume that you will.
“That’s just one reason among many why we have to defeat this properly, comprehensively now.”
READ MORE: Chris Kenny — We need an inquiry into climate alarmism, not bushfires
Frances Vinall 1.30pm: Lockdown protester shares bizarre arrest video
The organiser of an ongoing anti-lockdown protest in Dandenong appears to have been arrested by police in his own Facebook Live video.
Jemal Abazi was filming on Facebook Live on Monday which shows him passing the camera over to another person while interacting with police before he appears to be arrested in the vision.
A police officer is heard telling him he is charged with incitement in the video.
About 4.50pm on Monday Mr Abazi began filming a Facebook Live video of himself walking around Dandenong where he is seen without a mask on, in defiance of lockdown orders.
The video had more than 215,000 views on Saturday night.
“We’re going to the local park – and doing our exercises – and we have a lot of police there waiting for us,” he says in the vision.
“Why they’re wasting the taxpayers money is beyond any recognition whatsoever.
“People need to wake up. Please share, and let’s see what happens.”
He said he wanted to “see what attitude, this time, they’ve got” in regards to police. He also criticised “Dictator Dan and his gangster mates – gangster police officers”.
He said the “good ones” in the police force need to “wake up”.
Mr Abazi said police should “go and arrest the paedophiles”.
“We’ve got rapists and paedophiles and everything – they (police) are not doing their job, they protect them,” he said.
He arrived at George Andrews Reserve, the site of an alleged ongoing protest, about halfway through the 14-minute video, where he is approached by police and asked why he isn’t wearing a mask.
Mr Abazi handed his phone to another person while he interacted with the police officers.
He then walked around the reserve theatrically counting police cars while the police officer checked his ID.
READ MORE: QAnon — The online cult that is a danger to the real world
Richard Ferguson 12.45pm: Treasurer slams border ‘cruelty’ as tensions rise
Josh Frydenberg says there is “too much cruelty” in the administration of the closed borders, and the federal government would not allow the states to hinder the nation’s economic recovery.
Locked-border premiers are being shamed into opening their largely COVID-19 free states after the death of an unborn twin provoked new warnings from Scott Morrison that the nation faced “economic ruin” and a damaging “retreat into provincialism” from continuing closures.
The Prime Minister on Friday demanded answers from Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk about why a pregnant woman in Ballina in northern NSW had to travel 750km to Sydney for medical care instead of obtaining an exemption to cross the border for treatment in Brisbane.
The Treasurer said on Sunday there needs to be more common sense in the administration of borders and that some of the restrictions were “inexplicable.”
“There’s too much confusion and, and ultimately too much cruelty, in the way that the borders have been closed. And what we need is more compassion,” he told Sky News.
Read the full story here.
Rebecca Urban 12.10pm: Victorians flock to the beach as weather improves
Police issued close to 200 fines for breaches of pandemic restrictions on Saturday, but Melbourne’s warmer weather failed to translate into increased enforcement activity.
Over the past 24 hours, 192 fines were issued: 20 for failing to wear masks, 26 at vehicle checkpoints and 69 for curfew breaches.
Among those fined was a Hawthorn woman located parked in St Kilda, who claimed she was out looking for somewhere to buy toilet paper “but got lost”, a woman fined after holding a birthday party for a five-year-old at a house in the Latrobe area and attendees of another house party at Warrnambool.
Melbourne’s temperature reached 19C on Saturday, prompting people to flock outdoors. St Kilda Beach was particularly busy.
Asked about the scenes, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews acknowledged the improved weather but urged Victorians to “not make any choices that put at risk the progress we’ve made”.
“We’ve just got to stay the course”, he said.
Police conducted 4284 spot checks on Saturday, including checking cyclists ID along the foreshore to ensure they were within 5 kilometres of home.
READ MORE: When can you travel overseas?
Remy Varga 11.33am: Scared parents delaying kids’ health care
Victorian parents are delaying routine vaccinations and health checks for sick and injured children amid fear of exposing them to coronavirus.
A Royal Childrens’ Hospital survey of over 2000 Australian parents of 3500 children found about a third of kids who had been injured or unwell during the pandemic had their healthcare delayed. One in five under the age of five years old has also had a routine vaccine delayed since March.
RCH paediatrician Anthea Rhodes said there was enormous risk to children and the herd immunity of the general population if immunisation and healthcare was delayed.
“The main reason parents gave for delaying care was fear or concern about their child or themselves catching COVID-19 in a healthcare facility or service,” Dr Rhodes said.
Dr Rhodes said almost two out of three families had delayed or cancelled their appointments to the Royal Children’s Hospital Immunisation Service in June.
“It is important that families realise that in fact, if we do not keep our kids up to date with their routine vaccines, when we do return to face-to-face learning, which we hope is not too far away, and children go back to childcare environments and the like, that those children who are not up to date with vaccines will be at risk of contracting vaccine preventable diseases, and that is things like whooping cough, measles, chickenpox. If our community as a whole is not up to date with vaccinations, we risk the herd immunity coming down, and that means we could see outbreaks of these preventable diseases.”
Dr Rhodes said health services were safe places for children and healthcare could not be delayed.
The Royal Childrens’ Hospital in Melbourne has now set up a drive-through vaccination service to combat the issue, she said.
READ MORE: How to keep safe at the supermarket
Remy Varga 11.22.am: Cases will explode if restrictions ease, says Premier
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says the state would see coronavirus numbers “explode” if restrictions eased, saying it was too soon to map a definitive plan out of lockdown.
Mr Andrews urged patience on Sunday, telling reporters it would not be too much longer before he’d be able to provide a roadmap back to normal.
“Everyone wants this to be over, nobody more than me,” he said.
Mr Andrews said there were currently 472 Victorians battling COVID-19 in hospital, with 25 in intensive care and 11 hooked to ventilators.
He said nine of the 11 coronavirus deaths reported on Sunday were linked to the aged sector, bringing the total to 382.
The number of “mystery cases”, which can’t be linked to a known outbreak, increased by three, bringing the total to 4226.
READ MORE: No quick return to life as we knew it, says Premier
Adeshola Ore 11.15am: Sydney’s CBD cluster grows to 28 cases
NSW has reported seven new cases of coronavirus, with five linked to the Sydney CBD cluster.
The outbreak linked to the City Tattersalls Fitness Centre has now risen to 28 cases. of the five cases linked to the cluster, one was a household contact of a previous case and two had attended the centre.
One of the cases is a student at St Paul’s Catholic College in western Sydney. The school will be closed for cleaning on Monday.
Seven new cases of #COVID19 were diagnosed in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, bringing the total number of cases in NSW to 3,851.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) August 30, 2020
Locations linked to known cases and areas identified for increased testing can be found here: https://t.co/EVlm25boYj pic.twitter.com/V352nk2yTT
One infection is in a returned traveller in hotel quarantine and one case is under investigation.
NSW Health is now treating 66 COVID-19 cases, with six in intensive care and three requiring ventilation.
READ MORE: Corona cash spared 2.2 million from poverty
The Times 11.06am: BP to sell London HQ amid WFH shake-up
BP is planning to quit its historic international headquarters in central London as the energy giant cuts 10,000 jobs and scales back its office space.
The FTSE 100 group, which employs 6,500 office staff in the UK - in the capital and in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey - plans to rent back the building from the new owner for up to two years before leaving for good.
BP is the latest big employer to signal a permanent change in the way its staff work. Chief executive Bernard Looney has said it will move to a more “hybrid work style”, including a mixture of home and office working.
Shifts in behaviour brought on by the coronavirus have cast a cloud of uncertainty over the property market. A sale of BP’s building on St James’s Square, expected to be priced at more than pounds 300m, will be a key test of appetite for prime London floorspace.
Just 17 per cent of people were back at work this month in the country’s 63 biggest urban centres, according to analysis of mobile phone data. In London, the number was 13 per cent. Schroders, KPMG and Twitter have already said that staff will be able to work from home, all or part of the week, permanently.
READ MORE: Welcome to the post-pandemic office
Robyn Ironside 10.30am: Masks ‘now a good idea in Queensland’
Queensland has recorded another four cases of COVID-19, all linked to a cluster tied to the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre and Queensland Corrective Services Training Academy.
The latest cases which include three members of the same household at Forest Lake in Brisbane’s south-west, take to 23 the number of infections linked to the cluster.
Queensland’s chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said although the cluster was confined to “known contacts” of the original cases, she was not confident it was completely contained.
“As long as people comply with COVID-safe plans, and they minimise those gatherings down to ten people where there isn’t an approved COVID-safe plan in place, this could be enough to get us out of this cluster,” Dr Young said.
She urged people in southeast Queensland to wear face masks where social distancing was not possible, such as on public transport, in taxis and rideshare services.
“This is a time to get out those flat surgical masks that you can now buy anywhere, it’s really time to start using them. They’re not as good as social distancing but they’re an additional protective factor,” said Dr Young.
She also encouraged people to continue working from home if that was working for them and their employer.
“There is nothing to stop you going to work but if you are working from home and it’s working for you and your manager and your colleagues, you should keep doing that just to lower the amount of engagement out there.”
Amid ongoing criticism of the Queensland border closure, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she “was not going to put Queenslanders at risk” by bowing to pressure from the Prime Minister and the likes of Clive Palmer.
“The closure of our borders has been one of the most effective measures we have in combating this virus,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
READ MORE: Art of the Covid cover-up
Richard Ferguson 10am: Mistakes but Victoria’s testing regime fine, says Albanese
Anthony Albanese says Victoria’s coronavirus tracing regime matches NSW, despite its failures being constantly pinpointed as a key factor behind Melbourne’s second wave.
Scott Morrison has repeatedly said that NSW’s superior tracing regime has helped Sydney face a hard lockdown, with numerous reports that Victoria’s tracing system struggled under the pressure of the initial June outbreaks.
The Opposition Leader agreed Victoria had made mistakes in the hotel quarantine system, but said Victoria and NSW’s tracing regimes were largely the same.
“Well, there are issues. The numbers for Victoria as a proportion to New South Wales are about the same,” he told ABC News.
.@AlboMP says there has been problems in Victoria with coronavirus quarantine and the use of security guards was "a mistake" but Victoria's efforts in terms of contact tracing have matched NSW's. #auspol #insiders pic.twitter.com/TNewtfGx97
— Insiders ABC (@InsidersABC) August 29, 2020
“Yes, it has (matched NSW) Yes, as a proportion.
“Of course there’s problems. We want to see 100% of the tracing. But we were told that the key was the (COVIDSafe) app. Anyone who saw the ads, the key to tracing was going to be the app, and that hasn’t eventuated.”
READ MORE: Greg Sheridan — Victorian government’s four stupidest mistakes so far
Heath Parkes-Hupton 9.30am: Sydney Catholic school closed over infection
A boys’ high school in Sydney’s west will be closed after a case of coronavirus was identified at the school over the weekend.
St Pauls Catholic College in Greystanes will shut for deep cleaning on Monday following the announcement on Saturday night.
The boy’s school, which caters for Years 7 to 12, has more than 800 students.
In a statement posted to its Facebook page, the school confirmed it would close on Monday after “a case of COVID-19 was identified at the school” on Saturday.
“The school will be deep cleaned as soon as possible,” the statement said.
“The school is working with NSW Health to notify ‘close contacts’ of the case.
“Health and wellbeing are our priority as we respond to COVID-19. Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta will keep the community updated, including about when the school will reopen.”
The Catholic Education of Parramatta said in a statement it was “working very closely with NSW Health to ensure the health and safety of students and staff are maintained”.
“Students and staff have been advised to self-isolate while contact tracing occurs.”
READ MORE: Katrina Grace Kelly — Where’s the real plan, Prime Minister?
Richard Ferguson 8.42am: Labor’s $1200 safety net ‘would cost livelihoods’
Josh Frydenberg says his JobKeeper extension is focused on saving jobs over keeping people on the same level of pay, saying Labor’s push to put a $1200 a week safety net on all government wage subsidies would cost livelihoods.
Anthony Albanese’s upper house team will push amendments to ensure that an extension on flexible workplace rules for businesses coming off JobKeeper — but still considered distressed — will not see JobKeeper workers paid less than the minimum wage.
The Treasurer on Sunday said he opposed the Labor amendments, saying it would force employers — no longer on JobKeeper — to pay people at full hours, despite not having the capacity to, and that would lead to businesses going under.
“It’s not about ensuring the worker is getting exactly the same pay that they were previously,” he told Sky News.
“It’s about ensuring that they maintain their job.
“Ultimately, Labor’s proposal could cost jobs. If you were to force an employer to pay someone, even if there was not the work for them, ultimately that could lead to more sackings.”
READ MORE: Terry McCrann — Some see a lifesaver, some see poison
Christine Kellett 8.32am: Victoria records 114 new cases, 11 deaths
Victoria has recorded 114 new cases of coronavirus and 11 more deaths.
That number is slightly up from 94 cases recorded on Saturday — the first time daily cases had dropped below 100 in nearly two months.
#COVID19VicData for 30 August, 2020. There were 114 new cases detected in Victoria yesterday. Sadly we report 11 lives lost - condolences to all affected. More information will be available later today via our media release. pic.twitter.com/4voh37S3oM
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) August 29, 2020
Premier Daniel Andrews warned restrictions would not be eased until health officials were confident the numbers were under control.
More to come...
Charles Bremner 8.15am: Just the plane for social distancing
Private, Covid-safe plane travel could be coming to the masses. A US company has unveiled a futuristic aircraft billed as an alternative to executive jets which can be hired for the price of an airline ticket.
Developed in secret for a decade, the bullet-shaped plane, the Celera 500L, has intrigued the aviation world since it was spotted at Victorville in the Mojave high desert in 2017.
Otto Aviation unveiled its creation during the week, saying the revolutionary plane had made 31 test flights since November and proved itself to be “the most fuel-efficient, commercially viable aircraft in existence”.
It would serve as a long-distance air taxi for families or small groups with seats costing no more per person than a commercial flight. “Of course, we didn’t anticipate Covid-19 but there are enhanced market opportunities in being able to afford to fly with only those you choose to,” he told CNN.
Read the full story here.
Dow Jones 7.45am: US virus deaths top 182,000, six million infected
Confirmed coronavirus cases neared 25 million world-wide, while the US closed in on six million infections and other countries saw case numbers rise.
Several prominent US companies are reporting a new wave of layoffs, as businesses reassess their staffing needs and brace for an extended period of economic disruption.
The US reported 46,156 new cases—the daily case count has now risen for five days straight—and 976 deaths on Friday, the most recent data compiled by Johns Hopkins University show. That brings the total number of confirmed cases to more than 5.9 million. The total US death toll topped 182,000.
MGM Resorts International became the most recent big US employer to announce staff reductions. The company said it was laying off 18,000 furloughed staff members in the U.S., as the slowdown in global travel batters the casino industry.
Stanley Black & Decker Inc. also recently told some employees they wouldn’t be placed back on the payroll. Salesforce.com Inc., Coca-Cola Co., American Airlines Group Inc. and United Airlines Holdings Inc. have all warned of looming job cuts.
The Treasury Department began implementing President Trump’s plan to allow a payroll tax deferral, an executive action meant to help households weather the economic fallout from the pandemic but which also faces some hurdles.
READ MORE: Greg Sheridan — Trump’s next task is to normalise his presidency
Agencies 7.15am: Anti-mask protesters gather around the world
German police have halted a Berlin march by thousands of people opposed to coronavirus restrictions in the biggest of several European protests against anti-virus curbs and masks to halt the pandemic.
With new COVID-19 cases on the rise, European nations are starting to tighten controls while trying to avoid the major lockdowns imposed earlier this year to contain the outbreak that has killed more than 800,000 people worldwide.
Across the globe, governments are struggling to revive battered economies while managing public frustration over new restrictions and masks to curb infections.
In Germany, around 18,000 people massed in Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate, before the rally was forced to stop due to a police injunction because many were not respecting social distancing measures.
The demonstration had initially been allowed to go ahead after a bitter legal battle.
About 1,000 anti-mask protesters also gathered in the Swiss city of Zurich and a similar number demonstrated in London at Trafalgar Square, many holding home-made banners.
One called for an “End to medical tyranny”; another read “No to mandatory vaccines” while one man waved a placard declaring “Masks are muzzles”.
Around 300 people protested peacefully in Paris to denounce the government’s decision to make masks obligatory in all public places as cases rise in the French capital.
Protesters, some waving placards stating “Stop the lies”, were quickly surrounded by police who handed out 135 euro fines to those not wearing masks.
“There is no scientific proof of the usefulness of wearing a mask outside,” said Anais, a sociology student.
“COVID-19 is not so dangerous, it mainly kills people over the age of 60.”
READ MORE: Think pandemics are bad? Prepare for the main event
Christine Kellett 6.50am: Andrews ‘makes deal’ on emergency powers extension
Premier Daniel Andrews has reportedly struck a deal with crossbench MPs in Victoria’s upper house that will give him a six-month extension to his state of emergency powers beyond September 14.
Labor will be forced to return to the parliament in March if it still believes the powers are necessary, Nine Newspapers reports.
“I have indicated that I will vote for a one-off extension of the government’s state of emergency powers for six months,” Ms Patten is quoted as saying.
“However, I have requested that the legislation have a sunset clause on this time period, meaning that any future state of emergency will again be limited to six months.”
Mr Andrews faced a revolt from civil rights groups, Labor figures and the crossbench over a perceived power grab when plans to extend the state of emergency for 12 months surfaced last week.
The legislation would enable the government to continue to impose stay-at-home orders, business restrictions, limits on public and private gatherings, and on-the-spot fines for a further 12 months.
READ MORE: Janet Albrechtsen — The real tragedy is how Victorians have been tamed into submission
Dow Jones 6.15am: How Covid overpowered the WHO
Sylvie Briand landed in China looking for answers. Nearly a month had passed since word of a mysterious pneumonia had emerged. It was now late January and the World Health Organisation was struggling to learn more about it.
Frustrated with mounting cases and limited information from China, the WHO’s top brass, including Dr Briand, flew to Beijing to resolve a burning question: How easily did this new disease spread?
By the time the WHO received answers, the Covid-19 pandemic was stumbling into emergency rooms on three continents. Its spread around the world had already begun on January 30 when the WHO declared a global public-health emergency, its one and only level of alert.
The announcement was a dud. Few countries paid enough attention. Over the next weeks, the WHO warned nations the virus was headed their way. “Now is the moment for all countries to be preparing themselves,” director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared on February 4, when the WHO reported more than 20,600 cases in 25 countries.
The WHO spent years and hundreds of millions of dollars honing a globe-spanning system of defences against a pandemic it knew would come. But the virus moved faster than the UN agency, exposing flaws in its design and operation that bogged down its response when the world needed to take action. The WHO relied on an honour system to stop a viral cataclysm.
Read The Wall Street Journal’s full investigation into how Covid overpowered the WHO here.
Staff writers 5.30am: Nation passes grim milestone but fewer in hospital
Australia has passed a grim new milestone with more than 600 deaths from COVID-19.
Despite the rising death toll, the nation’s chief nursing and midwifery officer Alison McMillan said more than 500 people were battling the deadly virus in hospital and that represented a “significant” drop in the past week.
Of 112 new cases of COVID-19 reported across the country yesterday, 94 were in Victoria and 14 were in NSW.
With higher-than-average temperatures across Australia, Ms McMillan warned Australians not to be complacent as we approach spring.
“As we see the sun come out, it’s still really important to stay 1.5m away and hygiene your hands with soap and water,” Ms McMillan said.
“We are seeing some signs of community transmission in both NSW and Queensland, and we’ve got additional restrictions in place today from 8am from the chief health officer for the Gold Coast so we all need to remain extremely vigilant and make sure that we’re all doing the right thing.”
Ms McMillan said some people were delaying getting tested for COVID-19 to see whether symptoms worsened. She said it was important to get tested “immediately”.
READ MORE: Grim milestone as Sydney CBD cluster grows
Frances Vinall 5.15am: Queensland Deputy Premier’s border swipe at PM
Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles took a swipe at Scott Morrison on Saturday, when asked about the tragic death of an unborn baby.
A northern NSW woman lost one of her unborn twins this week after waiting 16 hours for a flight to Sydney for treatment rather than going to the Mater Hospital in Brisbane.
Brisbane was closer to her Ballina home and was able to provide the specialised treatment she required for her unborn babies. But the woman, and doctors at Lismore Base Hospital, believed she would have to apply for a permit to cross the border for care.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has demanded an explanation from Queensland as to how the “terribly distressing” incident could happen. But Mr Miles told him to stick to his own responsibilities.
“Scott Morrison should spend a bit more time on the things he’s responsible for, like international borders, like aged care,” he said.
Mr Miles said the border restrictions were “clear” that those requiring medical care, or support people for those requiring medical care, were allowed to cross the border.
He said there was “no border” that would prevent health care workers from “saving lives” and that he would write to the NSW Health Minister to ensure NSW hospitals were aware of the rule.
Queensland opposition leader Deb Frecklington also criticised the government over the tragedy, but Mr Miles said it was a “private matter”.
“I want to say a few things about this case because a lot has been said about it,” he said.
“This last 24 hours, watching politicians use this tragic event to further their political arguments … it makes me sick.
“I can assure you we are doing everything we can to ensure these border restrictions do not limit patients (requiring care).
READ MORE: Plan to lift lockdowns in Victoria on hold
Agencies 5am: Toll nears 840,000 deaths and 25m cases
Here are some of the latest global developments in the coronavirus crisis at midnight:
More than 838,000 dead: The pandemic has killed at least 838,271 people worldwide since surfacing in China late last year. More than 24.7 million cases have been registered.
The US has recorded the highest number of deaths with 181,779, followed by Brazil with 119,504, Mexico with 63,164, India with 62,550 and Britain with 41,486 fatalities.
Berlin “anti-corona’’ protest: Berlin police call for the dispersal of a mass demonstration against pandemic restrictions and mask wearing because participants are not respecting social distancing measures.
Thousands of coronavirus sceptics have descended on Berlin for the protest that has been allowed to go ahead after a bitter legal battle.
Canada extends travel ban: The government announces it will extend a ban on most travellers entering Canada until the end of September. Canadian citizens and permanent residents returning from abroad will still be subject to strict quarantine measures — a restriction in force since mid-March.
Gold mine dispute: Operations resume at the world’s biggest gold mine in Indonesia after more than 1000 workers had blocked access to the site in protest at being stopped from visiting their families over virus concerns.
The miners reached an agreement with US-based operator Freeport, which says it will restart bus services for workers to return home. These services had been cancelled over fears about the spread of infections, leaving many workers unable to leave the site for six months.
Domestic travel lifts China aviation: China’s biggest airline reports less severe losses in the second quarter as domestic travel picks up with the outbreak in the country brought largely under control.
China Southern Airlines, the nation’s largest carrier in terms of passenger numbers, posts losses of 2.9 billion yuan ($570m) in April-June, compared with 5.3 billion yuan in the first quarter from January to March.
Tour on tenterhooks: As the world’s greatest bike race the Tour de France gets under way after a two-month delay, the Tour’s director Christian Prudhomme says teams will be expelled if at least two members from the whole entourage, staff as well as riders, test positive for the virus.
The announcement reinforces a growing sense of doom for the 2020 Tour with positive test numbers growing by the day in France and worries over the race making it to the Paris finish line in three weeks.
🆠Jerseys and rankings after Stage 1 ðŸ†
— Tour de Franceâ„¢ (@LeTour) August 29, 2020
🆠Maillots distinctifs et classements après l'Etape 1 ðŸ†#TDF2020 #TDFunited pic.twitter.com/Cb7fhdZoz2
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The Times 4.45am: Fauci predicts virus vaccine results this year
Trials under way in the US are expected to show before the end of the year whether a COVID-19 vaccine is effective and safe, the country’s leading infectious diseases expert has told The Times.
Anthony Fauci, a senior adviser to US President Donald Trump, said that high infection rates across the US were boosting the chances of conclusive safety and efficacy data being available for at least one jab before Christmas.
Three vaccines have been lined up for testing under the White House’s “Operation Warp Speed” plan to deliver 300 doses by January. Having results by November or December was “a safe bet”, Dr Fauci said. “It is conceivable that we would get an answer before that.”
He added that he would oppose any attempt to rush through a vaccine for political purposes. It was alleged this week that the White House had considered skirting normal regulatory procedures, in order to make an announcement before the presidential election on November 3.
“I would not be satisfied until a vaccine was proven to be safe and effective, before it was actually approved for general use,” Dr Fauci, who leads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said.
FULL STORY: Vaccine tested for safety this year: Fauci
‘I have two black belts’: McManus reveals life of fear after CFMEU clash
ACTU boss Sally McManus has spoken of how she changes homes regularly and rarely goes out since the ACTU voted to suspend the CFMEU following allegations of criminal behaviour and bikie infiltration.
Bronwyn podcast: Husband had ‘inside running’ from cops
A senior detective told missing mother Bronwyn Winfield’s estranged husband about aspects of the investigation at a time when he should’ve been a key person of interest, police were told.