Coronavirus Australia live news: Victoria imposes 4-week lockdowns amid case spike
Ten postcodes will be locked down, flights into Victoria diverted and an inquiry will probe the hotel quarantine debacle.
- Victoria reveals strict lockdowns
- The 10 postcodes shut down
- Palaszczuk blasts PM
- SA scraps border reopening
- NSW calls for lockdowns
- Panic buying cycle set to continue
Welcome to live coverage of the continuing coronavirus crisis. Victoria has announced lockdowns amid a spike in cases. Qld has reopened its borders to all states except Victoria, which has recorded 64 new virus cases. SA has scrapped plans to reopen its borders amid a spike of cases in Victoria. Outbreaks of panic buying of toilet paper and pasta could occur again multiple times over the next 12 months, a new report has warned. And Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has suffered a sharp drop in support for his handling of the coronavirus.
AFP 8.45pm: UN rights chief slams response in China, Russia, US
The UN rights chief says COVID-19 was being instrumentalised to silence free speech, citing China and Russia, while voicing alarm at statements in the US that “deny the reality” of the virus.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet pointed to Russia, China, Kosovo, Nicaragua among others where “threats and intimidation against journalists, bloggers and civic activists, particularly at the local level, (were being used) with the apparent aim of discouraging criticism of the authorities’ responses to COVID-19”.
Ms Bachelet also voiced concern about “severe restrictions on freedoms of expression” in Egypt and “excessive and arbitrary enforcement” of pandemic response measures in El Salvador.
“Censorship and criminalisation of speech are likely to suppress crucial information needed to address the pandemic,” she told the 44th session of the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday.
The former Chilean president said it was vital for leaders to maintain “consistent, credible and fact-based communication” with citizens, praising South Korea’s “open” approach to its pandemic response.
“In contrast, in Belarus, Brazil, Burundi, Nicaragua, Tanzania and the United States — among others — I am concerned that statements that deny the reality of viral contagion, and increasing polarisation on key issues, may intensify the severity of the pandemic by undermining efforts to curb its spread,” she said.
READ MORE: Premier’s radical plan to stop spread
Imogen Reid 8.05pm: Bacteria risk as offices reopen
Australian experts have sounded the alarm on another health risk for office workers as buildings across the country reopen following the COVID-19 lockdown.
Building managers are being urged to follow the recommendations of the peak independent body Standards Australia for heating, ventilating, and cooling systems that have been in hibernation during the lockdown.
Experts have warned that during periods of inactivity, HVAC systems in indoor public spaces can become breeding grounds for the sometimes lethal legionnaires bacteria.
“With two legionella outbreaks already taking place earlier this year, the risks associated with turning these systems back on are very real,” said Nicholas Burt, chief executive officer of the Facility Management Association of Australia,
The Chair of Standards Australia committee on ventilation and airconditioning Ross Warner said legionnaire bacteria can bloom in dormant cooling towers.
“If the system hasn’t been shut down correctly, flushed and drained there could be a high concentration of the bacteria and these droplets can be emitted from the cooling tower,” he said.
READ MORE: Up to 1000 refused virus test in Melbourne hotspots
Agencies 7.30pm: Virus warning: ‘Worst yet to come’
The World Health Organisation has warned the “worst is yet to come” as the COVID-19 pandemic death toll passed 500,000 over the past six months.
“We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives. But the hard reality is this is not even close to being over,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual press conference as the number of confirmed infections topped 10 million.
“Six months ago, none of us could have imagined how our world — and our lives — would be thrown into turmoil by this new virus.
“Globally, the pandemic is actually speeding up.
“We’re all in this together, and we’re all in this for the long haul. We have already lost so much — but we cannot lose hope.”
Dr Tedros criticised misinformation and the politicisation of the virus, saying that unless international unity replaced fractious division, “the worst is yet to come. I’m sorry to say that”.
“With this kind of environment and condition, we fear the worst.”
He said the WHO was sending a team to China to work towards finding the disease’s source, six months after it was first informed of the outbreak in the central city of Wuhan.
The organisation has been pressing China since early May to invite in its experts to help investigate the animal origins of the coronavirus.
Read the full story here
Bojan Pancevski 6.50pm: World leaders reboot face-to-face diplomacy
After months of virtual interactions, world leaders are cautiously restarting face-to-face meetings amid growing frustration at the limits of remote diplomacy.
Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron of France were among the first in Europe to return to face-to-face meetings on Tuesday (AEST). The two met outside Berlin to discuss their proposal for a recovery fund to prop up European countries affected by the lockdown-induced economic downturn.
Government officials across the world said cancelling physical meetings had saved millions in travel costs since February as leaders, ministers and their aides stopped jetting around the world. Some diplomats also said the pandemic had revealed which non-essential gatherings might be dispensed with in the future.
But they said the lockdown had also complicated political deal-making. The lack of confidentiality inherent in video-conferencing — when anyone could be hiding outside the frame — has undermined trust while physical distance had gummed up negotiations and complicated compromise-building, according to officials and diplomats in Europe and the US.
Nowhere has the absence of tête-à-tête diplomacy been more disrupting than in the EU, a bloc of 27 nations that runs on finely calibrated compromises often forged during marathon nightly negotiations in Brussels.
Read the full story here
AFP 6pm: APEC summit goes online
New Zealand will host next year’s APEC summit of Asia-Pacific leaders online, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern warning there is no guarantee the global coronavirus pandemic will be over by late 2021.
The annual 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering was due to be held in Auckland in November 2021, attracting thousands of delegates, diplomats and journalists to New Zealand’s largest city.
But with international travel crippled and the World Health Organisation warning the pandemic is “not even close to being over”, Ms Ardern said her country was making an early call to stage the summit as a virtual event.
“There are benefits to holding a face-to-face meeting... however this is a period of uncertainty,” she said on Tuesday.
“We simply can’t guarantee what will be possible by the end of next year... we need to provide certainty, as a host, about how we’ll operate and that’s what we’ve done.”
READ MORE: Australian researchers to develop breath test for COVID-19
Matthew Denholm 5.30pm: ‘Local control will avoid a pink batts-style fiasco’
Australia must avoid pink batts-style disasters in its COVID recovery effort by giving more control to local government — not the federal bureaucracy — says ex-Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet chief Terry Moran.
Mr Moran, the nation’s most senior bureaucrat during much of the Global Financial Crisis and its aftermath, told The Australian lessons from that period should be applied in dealing with jobs, skills and other crises sparked by COVID-19.
“Pink batts should have been devolved down to the local level to administer and not rested in an administrative process operated out of Canberra,” said Mr Moran, DPM&C secretary from
“If you’d used the states or local government to do it, you’d have people who were accustomed to keeping an eye on the contractors.
“We have too much bureaucratic centralisation that often misses the real points. The only way to solve it is … by getting responsible people at the local level to take on the task of getting services delivered, within agreed budgets and to an agreed standard.”
The 2009-10 pink batts home insulation scheme, part of a suite of GFC stimulus measures introduced by the Rudd government, was marred by faulty installation, fires and the death of four workers.
Read the full story here
Agencies 4.30pm: Hit businesses in line for $5000 payroll refund
The businesses and facilities in the Melbourne areas that have been able to recently reopen, including beauty parlours, gyms, libraries and swimming pools, will again be closed, AAP reports.
Cafes and restaurants will only be open for takeaway and delivery. All affected businesses will be given a $5000 grant or a payroll tax refund. Mr Andrews said almost 17,500 tests were performed in the hot spot areas on Monday, bringing the total number of tests in the past three days to more than 93,000.
The suburbs with the highest number of new cases in the state are Broadmeadows, Fawkner and Albanvale.
READ MORE: Palaszczuk blasts the PM
Max Maddison 4.20pm: Andrews: I will lock down all postcodes
Imploring residents to continue to get tested, Daniel Andrews said he couldn’t “rule out other postcodes having to be locked down”.
“If we do not do this now then I won’t be locking down 10 postcodes, I will be locking down all postcodes. I can’t do this – the government can’t do it on our own. We need every Victorian to play their part,” Mr Andrews said.
“I ask respectfully, I ask – I am trying to be as clear, as direct, as sincere as I possibly can be, we cannot do this on our own. We need every Victorian family to follow the rules.”
He also wouldn’t rule out implementing tougher punishments for people who refused to be tested.
“I hope not to have to fine people. I hope people realise that this is very serious and that if we don’t get this under control in these given communities and beyond that,” he said.
“If everyone doesn’t follow the rules, if everybody lets their frustration get the better of them and they just act like it’s over because they wanted to be and I understand that. I understand that people are desperate for this to be over.”
READ MORE: Housing hangs in there
Max Maddison 4pm: Flights diverted as part of transport limits
In addition to lockdowns, main transport corridors in and out of the Melbourne’s hot spots will be subject to “booze bus-type checks”, while police would be conducting random stops on vehicles and asked to provide identity, including their address.
Since the testing blitz began last Thursday, Victoria has recorded 233 new cases of coronavirus, which Mr Andrews described as an “unacceptably high number”, which poses a “real threat to us all”. He also highlighted Broadmeadows and Keilor Downs as suburbs in which 923 tests had been refused by residents.
“Now, because of the unacceptably high rates of community transmission and the unacceptably high rates of new cases, even those where we can attribute their source, it is incredibly important that we take some next steps to deal with this challenge right now,” he said.
Genome sequencing revealed a “significant number” of outbreaks in the north of the city had been linked to staff members in hotel quarantine breaches. Consequently, Mr Andrews said asked Scott Morrison to divert all flights away from Melbourne for the next two weeks in an“abundance of caution”
“The sequencing report came to me first thing this morning. It is the most comprehensive genomic sequencing report I have received throughout the pandemic and on that basis I have taken this action,” he said.
“This is deeply frustrating. This is unacceptable and we will have that judicial inquiry to get to the bottom of exactly what has occurred.”
READ MORE: All your travel questions answered
Remy Varga 3.50pm: The 10 postcodes that face new restrictions
Victoria has announced a lockdown of hot spot postcodes from 11.59pm on Wednesday until at least July 29.
Postcode Suburbs
3012 Brooklyn, Kingsville, Maidstone, Tottenham, West Footscray
3021 Albanvale, Kealba, Kings Park, St Albans
3032 Ascot Vale, Highpoint City, Maribyrnong, Travancore
3038 Keilor Downs, Keilor Lodge, Taylors Lakes, Watergardens
3042 Airport West, Keilor Park, Niddrie
3046 Glenroy, Hadfield, Oak Park
3047 Broadmeadows, Dallas, Jacana
3055 Brunswick South, Brunswick West, Moonee Vale, Moreland West
3060 Fawkner
3064 Craigieburn, Donnybrook, Mickelham, Roxburgh Park, Kalkallo
Max Maddison 3.40pm: 10 Melbourne postcodes targeted in crackdown
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has reimposed draconian restrictions across swathes of Melbourne hot spots, as health authorities manage “unacceptably high rates” of community transmission and hundreds of people who refused to be tested.
Speaking at a press conference, Mr Andrews said ten postcodes would only be allowed to leave their house for four reasons – work, school, care or care giving, daily exercise, food and other essentials. Commencing at midnight tomorrow night, the lockdown will run for four weeks until July 29.
“These are extraordinary steps, these are not things we have had to do in the past but such is the nature of this virus, it is so wildly infectious that if we don’t take these steps now we will finish up in a situation than locking down ten postcodes we will be locking down every postcode,” Mr Andrews said.
Mr Andrews said police would be patrolling suburbs in lockdown and fining people who weren’t adhering to the guidelines.
“They will be patrolling throughout these communities and if people are out of their home then they will be politely asked why are you out of your home and if you are out of your home for anything other than a permitted reason then financial penalties apply – on-the-spot fines apply,” he said.
READ MORE: Source of Victorian cases a mystery
Max Maddison 3.25pm: Victoria lockdowns announced amid spike
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced lockdowns from midnight on Wednesday in some Melbourne suburbs. “The Chief Health Officer has advised me to reimpose restrictions in line with stage 3 so they will be stay-at-home orders except for four reasons to leave your home,” Mr Andrews said.
Victoria Laurie 3pm: WA records two new cases — via overseas
Western Australia has reported two new cases of COVID-19 in Western Australia overnight, both related to overseas travel.
A man in his 40s and a woman in her 60s both travelled to Perth this week from the UK and Pakistan respectively. They are both in hotel quarantine.
The state’s total is now 611.
Staff Reporters 2.35pm: Qld Premier ‘sick’ of being singled out
Qld Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk blasted her critics during Tuesday’s borders announcement.
“I think a national leader should have been able to bring all of the states and territories together,” she said.
“Frankly, I’m a bit sick that Queensland has been singled out as opposed to South Australia, and Tasmania, just to name a few.
“And perhaps if Victoria had been almost self-quarantined or quarantined, then the Prime Minister could have set a date for all of the other states and territories once Victoria has under control.
“At the moment, what we have is a bit of a confrontation where fights are being picked at different states and, frankly, I don’t think it’s good enough.
“I’ve been silent for a long time and I will not be silenced for standing up for what I believe to be right, for the health advice that I’m being provided for by [chief health officer Dr Young.]
“And Dr Young, and the advice that she has given us, has put Queensland in a very good position. We’re not out of it yet. We know that.
“We know we’ve got a long way to go. But we have been able to open up Queensland faster.
“I just want to share this with you, this is really important, because the total benefit of our internal restrictions being eased, that’s stages 1, 2 and 3, is worth about $1.82 billion a month and is under 167,000 jobs.
“Now, that’s a lot of people that are able to get back into work, into Queensland, and get the economy going in Queensland faster because of the health response that we have had here.”
Michael McKenna 2.25pm: Palaszczuk has ‘big concerns’ on Victoria
Ms Palaszczuk – who also brought forward the planned lifting of restrictions at bars and a ban on sports – said held “big concerns’’ about the recent COVID outbreaks in Victoria.
Under the plan, travellers from the rest of Australia will be allowed entry from July 10 but only after they have completed a declaration form.
That form will require people to declare their prior movements, including whether they have been in Victoria in the past two weeks. A $4000 fine will apply if a person is found to have lied on the form.
“Due to the current community transmission levels, the border with Victoria will remain closed and will be strengthened,’’ she said. “Anyone who has travelled from Victoria, including Queenslanders, will be prevented from entering or will have to quarantine at a hotel at their own expense for two weeks.
“We just can’t risk removing border restrictions for people coming from areas of Victoria right now. I hope Queenslanders understand why I am saying that.’’
Under the easing of restrictions, the 20 person limit at bars and pubs will be lifted, so long as there is enough space for one person per four metre’s squared.
The limit on weddings, funerals and private gatherings will be raised to 100 people and contact sports will be allowed.
Stadiums will also be allowed to accommodate half of their capacity or up to 25,000 people.
Deputy Premier and Health minister Steven Miles said Queenslanders should not go to Victoria.
“Can I urge Queenslanders, this is very serious, please do not go to Victoria,” Ms Palaszczuk said. “Stay in Queensland. I think these border wars have got to stop.”
Rachel Baxendale 2.10pm: Victoria reveals 64 new virus cases
Victoria has confirmed 64 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday. The new cases represent the fourteenth consecutive day of double digit increases, and come after 75 new cases were confirmed on Monday.
Four previously notified cases have been reclassified due to duplication, meaning Victoria’s total number of cases has increased by 60 since Monday, to 2159.
Of the new cases, 13 have been linked to known outbreaks, 20 have been identified through routine testing and 31 are under investigation.
None of Tuesday’s new cases have been detected in returned travellers in hotel quarantine.
Michael McKenna 2.05pm: Qld reopens borders, except to Victorians
Queensland will reopen its borders to residents of all of Australia’s states and territories with the exception of Victoria.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Queensland would also take a tougher stance over arrivals from Victoria after the recent outbreak of community transmission in that state.
Under the new measures, anyone arriving at the Queensland border from Victoria will have to agree to quarantine in a hotel for two weeks at their own cost.
Max Maddison 1.55pm: Border closures risks 40pc of tourism
Border closures are a “blunt instrument” risks the viability of up to 40 per cent of tourism and hospitality businesses, says James Pearson, chief executive of the Australian Chambers of Commerce.
With non-existent community transmission across most of the country, Mr Pearson said it didn’t make sense to apply a blanket approach that punished already struggling businesses.
“Border closures, blocking trade, and the movement of people between states is a very blunt instrument. What we should be very confident about here is Australia is that we’ve got the ability to target our response, as we’re seeing in Melbourne at the moment,” Mr Pearson told Sky News.
“It doesn’t make sense in our view to be holding back the opportunity businesses in other parts of the country, particularly in tourism and hospitality, from welcoming people who are coming from other parts of Australia.”
Mr Pearson highlighted “alarming” statistics that revealed around 40 per cent of hospitality and tourism could close their doors in the next three months if the country wasn’t opened up again.
There’s some really worrying statistics out here. We know that in the tourism and hospitality industries, if we can’t get more people through the doors of these businesses, over the next month or so, 15 per cent of businesses in that industry will close their doors,” he said.
“That’s an alarming figure, but that goes up to 40 per cent if they can’t get people through their doors in the next three months.”
READ MORE: Virgin creditors set to lose out
Staff Reporters 1.35pm: Premier Palaszczuk to address the media
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Health Minister Steven Miles will address the media at 2pm. You can watch live via The Australian’s coronavirus blog.
Wayne Smith 1.15pm: More than a quarter of NSW rugby staff axed
NSW Rugby Union, including the Waratahs, has been forced to reduce its workforce by 27 per cent. Read more here
Patrick Commins 1pm: Payroll figures point to jobs recovery
New payroll figures show a gradual recovery of the jobs loss in the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more here
Agencies 12.45pm: Cases spread across South Korea
South Korea has reported 43 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 from across the country as infections begin to spread beyond the greater capital area, which has been at the centre of a virus resurgence since late May, AP reports.
The figures announced by South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday brought national totals to 12,800 cases, including 282 deaths. Seventeen of the new cases came from the Seoul metropolitan area, where about half of South Korea’s 51 million people live, while infections were also reported in other major cities such as Daejeon, Gwangju, Busan and Sejong.
Twenty of the new cases were linked to international arrivals as the coronavirus continues to strengthen its hold in Southern Asia, the United States and beyond. Authorities in recent weeks have been struggling to track transmissions that have been popping up from various places as people increasingly venture out in public amid an erosion in citizen vigilance.
READ MORE: Worst financial year since the GFC
Victoria Laurie 12.10pm: WA sends expert help to Victoria
Western Australia has reached out to Victoria in providing support as the afflicted state recorded 75 new COVID-19 cases yesterday and more than 80 people diagnosed over the weekend.
It has sent one of the State’s most experienced pandemic experts, Professor Tarun Weeramanthri, to help Victoria’s Health and Human Services in managing their public health response.
Victoria recorded its highest spike in new cases in three months amid claims health authorities have lost control of the coronavirus situation in suburbs of Melbourne.
Premier McGowan says the escalation in COVID-19 cases in Victoria is a major concern. “We are in a position to provide support to Victoria, in their time of need. The escalation in COVID-19 cases in Victoria is a major concern and we are now assisting with their contact tracing. We have also offered additional support, if required.”
Professor Weeramanthri is the state’s former Chief Health Officer who has been advising the McGowan government on its pandemic strategy. He worked on national disaster responses to the 2009 influenza pandemic, co-ordinated foreign medical teams after the 2014 Ebola outbreak and in response to the Mumbai bombings and Pakistan floods.
Western Australia’s contact tracing teams are also remotely assisting Victoria to identify all close contacts of people diagnosed in the latest outbreak.
Western Australia has recorded zero new cases for several consecutive days and has no evidence of community transmission. It recorded one new coronavirus case yesterday, a traveller in hotel quarantine, bringing WA’s tally to 609.
READ MORE: Job losses to hamper recovery
Erin Lyons 11.45am: Hunt: Masks could be made mandatory
Health Minister Greg Hunt says wearing a mask in public could be encouraged or made mandatory in places like Victoria where cases of community transmission continue to pose a problem.
At the beginning of the pandemic Australian health authorities argued against the widespread public use of face masks, suggesting it is not necessary and supplies should be reserved for frontline workers.
Experts also fear it could make matters worse because people are more likely to become complacent when wearing a mask.
But the concept has caused such a divide. On Monday Victoria’s chief health officer Brett Sutton told ABC Radio National he’s “got a team working up some advice now”.
“We will talk about masks in those types of settings for people to choose it and provide some guidance on the masks that work and how much protection you get,” he said.
“I take the perspective that when you are really trying to drive numbers down to maintain your test and trace capability, it (wearing masks) needs to be considered.”
One of my local cafes not taking any chances... pic.twitter.com/wv2WdGdJob
— Rebecca Urban (@RurbsOz) June 30, 2020
In many other countries masks are mandatory, and given the recent spike in cases in greater Melbourne, authorities could shift to recommending Australians wear masks in public.
Speaking on ABC 7.30, Mr Hunt said the Communicable Diseases Network of Australia and the nation’s medical network panel were working together to develop a set of protocols.
The Health Minister explained masks may be necessary if you’re on public transport and in proximity with other people or if there is a community outbreak.
While there’s been a global shortage of many medical supplies, Australia has managed to acquire 220 million masks.
Many commercially available masks are also of poor quality and likely to be ineffective.
READ MORE: Stone and chalk expands focus
Max Maddison 11.30am: Community transmissions zero again in NSW
NSW recorded another day without community transmission, as the Berejiklian government held firm on the decision to keep the Victorian border open.
The five new cases recorded by NSW Health yesterday were all returned travellers in hotel quarantine. The additional infections brought the state’s total to 3189, with 56 active cases currently being treated by health authorities – none are in intensive care.
“Due to the concerted effort of all residents, NSW has successfully suppressed COVID-19 to very low levels,” NSW Health said in a statement.
“Non-essential travel between Melbourne and New South Wales is discouraged. In addition, restrictions on workers and visitors who have been in Melbourne in the previous 14 days to high risk settings have been implemented. Further restrictions may be implemented as the situation evolves.”
In total, 12,950 tests were carried out between 8pm on 28 June and 8pm on 29 June – more than 855,000 COVID-19 tests have been carried out in NSW.
READ MORE: Anti-science US may never beat the virus
Max Maddison 11.15am: Victoria-NSW border to stay open
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has resisted calls to close the Victorian border, but says NSW has to “be prepared” for another outbreak.
Ms Berejiklian said she was keeping a “close watch” on the rate of community transmission in Victoria, but implored people to remain vigilant.
“Can I say to anybody you are the boss of who comes into your home. Do not allow anyone from a hot spot in Melbourne or from greater Melbourne to come into your home. You have the right to say no,” Ms Berejiklian said at a press conference.
“Please, if you are a loved one, a friend or a family member, please don’t come up at this time until the community transmission is under control.”
However, pointing to multiple instances of interstate transmission, Ms Berejiklian said the state needed to prepare for the end of Job Keeper, which was “just a blink away”.
“We have to be prepared for that. We’ve already – can I put on the record – ironically we’ve already had people from Queensland and WA bring the disease to New South Wales,” she said.
“So we’ve already experienced that level of interstate transmission, if you like, and we’ve dealt with it. And that’s why I say to all the other states we’ve welcomed all the overseas travellers that live in other states.”
READ MORE: Second wave of early super calls loom
Max Maddison 10.50am: NSW calls for Melbourne lockdowns
Health Minister Brad Hazzard says he’s “made it clear” that he would like to see Melbourne hotspot suburbs put into lockdown.
“We have made it clear to Victoria that we would be happier, much happier, if the hotspot suburbs that currently have obviously got some challenges, were put into lockdown effectively,” Mr Hazzard told Ben Fordham on Sydney radio 2GB.
“Put into a situation where people were required to stay in their home, unless they were going as we did, for health and for education.”
However, he resisted calls to restrict the movement of people between the states, saying he believed the NSW government was managing the dual concerns well at the moment.
“At this point we think the balance remains trying to keep both the COVIDSafe issue, but also the health of the state mentally and through jobs and the economy, we think that’s the right balance,” he said.
READ MORE: America will be on the inside looking out
Agencies 10.35am: SA pulls pin on plan to reopen borders
South Australia has scrapped a plan to lift all its remaining border restrictions next month amid the spike in coronavirus cases in Victoria, AAP reports.
Premier Steven Marshall says the July 20 date to lift quarantine measures for Victoria, NSW and the ACT has been abandoned on the latest health advice. He says the state may move separately on NSW and the ACT but can’t make any move in relation to Victoria in the current circumstances.
“Our number one priority is the health, welfare and safety of all South Australians. At this stage we cannot lift that border (with Victoria) on the 20th July as we were hoping to do,” the premier told reporters on Tuesday.
READ MORE: Andrews halo slips
Max Maddison 10.15am: Melbourne mayor says health updates ‘slow’
Information from the Victorian health department has been a “bit slow”, says the mayor of a Melbourne hotspot, as the state government struggles to contain the outbreak.
Susan Rennie, the Mayor of Darebin in Melbourne’s north, said she would like “real time information” about testing, saying announcements were often made in the press before she was aware.
“Look, sometimes it would be fair to say the information that we’ve had has been a bit slow and that’s been difficult, so we’re working on that,” Ms Rennie told ABC News.
“I guess real-time information in terms of what we’re finding out about testing and I think we’re in an uncertain period.”
However, despite cases ballooning in recent days, she said a lockdown would probably be “ unhelpful” at this moment.
“Look, I have my doubts in terms of if you tried to narrow the area. I think there’s a risk that people might panic and try and avoid it by going elsewhere and that would be the last thing we’d like to see happen,” she said.
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Richard Ferguson 9.55am: China condemns Australia over spying claims
China’s Foreign Ministry has accused Australia of playing the victim over espionage claims, and say Chinese-propaganda on extensive spying by Canberra’s security agencies are “the tip of the iceberg”.
The Global Times – one of the Chinese Communist Party’s main state-owned media outlets – claims Australia is waging an “intensifying espionage offensive against China” and that Australian spies were caught “red-handed” two years ago with espionage equipment including a compass, a USB flash drive, a notebook, mask, gloves and a map of Shanghai.
The spying allegations are the latest in a series of attacks on Australia by the Chinese Communist Party since it pursued a global independent investigation into the origins of coronavirus.
On Monday night, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Australia had been conducting spy operations against China through the Five Eyes intelligence network.
“This is not a secret to anyone. And Australia, an important member of the Five Eyes, has been a fervent intelligence gatherer in relevant countries,” he said.
“I am afraid that what is revealed by the Global Times this time is just the ‘tip of the iceberg.’
“Some people and media in Australia are enthusiastic about producing such sensational stories as ‘China spying on and infiltrating Australia’, yet they cannot justify their stories with any solid evidence.
“In contrast, irrefutable evidence abound to prove Australia’s operation of spying activities in China. They steal information and data from other countries, jeopardising others’ sovereignty and security. But they play the part of the victim, peddling rumours and stoking confrontation by staging a farce of the thief crying ‘stop thief’.”
READ MORE: Huawei pushes for access to unis
Max Maddison 9.35am: Federal workers called in to help Victoria
Victoria has called in hundreds of federal government workers to battle the resurgence of coronavirus cases across Melbourne.
On Monday, the Daniel Andrews-led state recorded another 75 new cases, forcing the state government to call in 800 federal workers, in a bid to stem the spread of the outbreak.
One hundred team leaders will support co-ordination of community door knocking, 500 will form part of those community engagements and 200 clinical staff will be sent to fixed testing staff.
“This is a public health bushfire – just as we help out other states in summer, help is coming from across the nation now – and we are grateful for that,” a Victorian government spokeswoman said in a statement.
The hundreds of federal workers follows the 70 Australian Defence Force personnel who landed in Melbourne to assist with the response to the outbreak.
A testing blitz is underway in Albanvale, Broadmeadows, Brunswick West, Hallam, Fawkner, Keilor Downs, Maidstone, Pakenham, Reservoir and Sunshine West, which have seen high levels of community transmission in recent weeks.
— With AAP
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Rebecca Urban 9.10am: Melbourne primary pupil tests positive
The list of schools impacted by Victoria’s second-wave coronavirus outbreak has grown, with a primary school on Melbourne’s western fringe advising of a positive case.
Parkwood Green Primary School, in Hillside, confirmed a student had been infected with COVID-19 and as a result the school campus would have to close for three days for deep cleaning.
Principal David Allibon said health officials would be in contact with any staff or students to be considered close contacts of the child.
He wished the child a “speedy recovery”.
It follows six new schools being linked to new cases on Monday.
The schools are Queen of Peace Parish Primary School in Altona, in Melbourne’s southwest, Aitken Hill Primary in Craigieburn in the outer north, Maribyrnong College and Footscray High School in the west, Port Phillip Special School in the inner south, and Al-Taqwa College Truganina in the outer west.
Guardian Childcare Abbotsford in the inner northeast has also been closed for cleaning until Wednesday, following a positive case in a child.
It is currently school holidays in Victoria.
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Chris Griffiths 8.40am: Tour de France goes virtual
The coming virtualised Tour de France brings together multiplayer gaming and real life athleticism.
You can always give a team player a PlayStation or Xbox console and let them compete in a games depiction of their craft such as the ePremier league. But it’s a game.
Professional E-Sports motor racing gets closer to invoking the real world skill set. Some have successfully transitioned from virtual to real world car racing. The realism of the graphics used in virtualised Formula One, Le Mans 24 and Grand Prix events during coronavirus lockdown made them worthy events for sports channels to televise.
The virtualisation of cycling takes this to a new level because you can transfer the real athleticism of cycling – the speed and endurance of professional cyclists on trainers at home – into the virtual world.
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Max Maddison 7.40am: Melbourne outbreak ‘well in control’
The second wave of coronavirus in Melbourne is “concerning” but “well in control”, says Dr Tony Bartone, President of the Australian Medical Association, but warns a community lockdown will be necessary if cases continue to rise.
Dr Bartone warned the situation in Victoria was a “sign post” of what could happen anywhere in Australia if people become complacent.
“Certainly the situation is concerning, but all the authorities are well in control. It might not show by the numbers, but the localised outbreaks was always going to be a possibility, right from the beginning,” Dr Bartone told morning television program Today on Nine.
“We were warned that if at any stage during the relaxation measures the potential for localised outbreaks was always on the cards.”
But with the number of infections increasing daily, Dr Bartone said if the trend continued, the ten coronavirus hot spots should be placed in lockdown.
“If those numbers which we expect will show a slight uptick over the next few days, but if there is something more than that occurs we are obviously going to have to look at those measures of community lockdowns,” he said.
“Which was always part of the planned response as a potential option should things get to a significantly concerning level.”
READ MORE: Premiers sky high as Andrews’ halo slips
Max Maddison 7.30am: NSW-Victoria border to remain open
NSW has managed the health crisis the “best in the country”, says Health Minister Brad Hazzard, but maintains that the Victorian border will remain open.
Despite a resurgence of cases across Melbourne, Mr Hazzard rejected the assertion that borders should close.
“The most important aspect that we’ve actually found is the quarantine of international people. That’s not quarantining Victorians,” Mr Hazzard told Ben Fordham on Sydney radio 2GB.
“We’re quite satisfied the processes at the moment are working well.”
Despite the Ruby Princess fiasco resulting in 22 coronavirus-related deaths, Mr Hazzard said COVID-19 had been managed “very well here in NSW”.
“We’re managing it, probably the best in the country,” Mr Hazzard said. “Public health officials in this state have done an extraordinary job.”
READ MORE: Infections highest in three months
Max Maddison 7.20am: Shorten: Unemployed have taken one for the team
Former Labor leader Bill Shorten says he doesn’t believe people are choosing JobSeeker over employment, and claims the government is “kicking people while they’re down”.
Pointing to unemployment figures, Mr Shorten said with 1.64m unemployed people and only 130,000 job vacancies, he rejected the claim that businesses were struggling to find staff.
There are concerns JobSeeker payments are deterring people from finding jobs with people opting to stay on the dole rather than go back to work. #9Today pic.twitter.com/o70mbtFJwM
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) June 29, 2020
“In other words, in plain English, before the virus one job vacancy for every three unemployed, now there is one job vacancy for every 12 people,” Mr Shorten told Today on Nine.
“All these people unemployed during the virus, they’ve taken one for the team. They didn’t ask to lose their jobs, they haven’t lost their jobs because they’re bad at their job like a lot of small businesses haven’t lost business because they’re bad at small business.”
READ MORE: Jobless opt for dole over employment
Jacquelin Magnay 7.15am: UK city Leicester locked down as cases soar
The British government has imposed its first local lockdown, enforcing special measures on the city of Leicester for at least two weeks because of rising coronavirus cases in the city.
Health secretary Matt Hancock announced on Monday night that non-essential shops in Leicester will close from Tuesday and pubs and restaurants will not re-open on July 4, in line with what is planned for the rest of England.
In a special statement to the Commons Mr Hancock said schools in Leicester would also close, although only a small number of students in just three age years have been attending.
All but essential travel is banned to Leicester, Mr Hancock said, as he revealed the week long infection rate in the city is 135 per 100,000 people, three times higher than the next highest city and that cases have “continued to rise”.
“Within two hours of the final decisions being taken, I have come to this House ... in order to set the decisions out immediately,” Mr Hancock said.
“These Leicester-specific measures will apply not just to the city of Leicester, but also to the surrounding conurbation, including for example Oadby, Birstall and Glenfield.’’
He said Leicester cases made up ten per cent of the current infection rate.
“Admissions to hospital are between six and ten a day, rather than one a day at other trusts,” Mr Hancock said.
But the move by the government, described as a “whack-a-mole’’ strategy, risks creating further tensions and divisions in a country already deeply mistrustful of the government’s seemingly ad hoc and ineffective handling of the pandemic, which has claimed at least 43,000 lives.
It comes as deaths across the UK have lowered to 38 recorded on Monday. New infections were also declining, to 815.
READ MORE: Breath test to increase safety for travel
Max Maddison 7.00am: Australia makes it onto travel list for EU
Australia has made the list of countries allowed to travel into the European Union, but travel plans will be on ice for a while yet.
Along with 13 other states, Australia made the cut of countries that will be given access to Europe, as the EU attempts to ramp up tourism, while minimising the threat of coronavirus.
The US was a notable omission from the list, as it battles a resurgence of cases across the country. However, northern neighbour Canada, China and Thailand were all given access.
However, with a federal government ban on travelling overseas currently in place, travelling overseas will likely remain a pipedream until next year.
The agreement comes three months after the EU – including Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein – closed its external borders to all non-essential travel.
READ MORE: COVID-19 changes Aussies’ travel plans
Max Maddison 6.40am: Global cases near 10.2m
Global confirmed cases of coronavirus are on the brink of reaching 10.2m, while deaths have reached 502,946, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The resurgence of reported cases continued in the US, recording another 38,845 cases overnight. The country’s total has reached 2.56m cases, with 125,928 coronavirus-related fatalities.
Confirmed cases in the Jair Bolsonaro-led Brazil also show little sign of slowing down, reporting another 38,693 cases yesterday. Since the country reported its first case 123 days ago, health authorities have reported 1,344,143 cases, and 57,622 deaths.
Colombia set another morbid record, with the largest daily increase in cases of 7,335 almost 2,000 cases higher than the previous record. The South American country has reported 91,995 cases, and 3,256 deaths.
In South Asia, daily confirmed cases in India are also near record highs, with another 19,459 cases recorded yesterday. The country has reported 548,318 cases, and 16,475 deaths since the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed on January 30.
READ MORE: America on the inside looking out
Eli Greenblat 6.15am: Why panic buying will continue throughout nation
Outbreaks of panic buying of toilet paper and pasta will occur again multiple times over the next 12 months as fresh waves of the coronavirus pandemic trigger more grocery hoarding.
A Macquarie Wealth Management report noted a recent pick-up in grocery stockpiling in Melbourne and parts of Sydney, causing some shortages, and said this could continue to happen as fears grow of more COVID-19 outbreaks.
“The latest illion/AlphaBeta data suggests supermarket sales are 3 per cent below normal levels … purchase limits were reinstated in Victoria earlier this week, as stockpiling behaviours began to materialise again, while on Thursday, Sydney was reported as beginning to see product shortages again,” the report noted.
“We expect this cycle could repeat itself multiple times in the next 12 months each time there is fear of another wave occurring.”
Last week supermarket chains Woolworths and Coles were forced to reimpose buying restrictions in Victoria on a number of staple items such as toilet paper, paper towels, rice, UHT milk and mince. And as panic buying spread, they reinstated limited restrictions on groceries for the rest of Australia.
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 6am: How Aussies’ travel is changing, post-coronavirus
Auto and fuel retailers are set to benefit from changing Australian travel preferences, with a JPMorgan survey revealing that nearly half of all Australians plan to fly less domestically and 68 per cent will not fly internationally before a coronavirus vaccine is available.
The survey asked more than 500 respondents this month if they expected to fly domestically more often, less often or about the same amount once coronavirus restrictions in Australia were fully lifted, with 44 per cent saying they anticipated they would fly “less than before”.
Just under half of the respondents who said they would fly less did not anticipate a return to the skies until next year or later.
The age demographic likeliest to steer clear from domestic flights were those between 18 and 29, with those over 60 likelier to state they would fly “about the same amount” as before.
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Simon Benson 5.45am: Andrews cops voter backlash for virus response
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has suffered a sharp drop in support for his handling of the coronavirus, with federal authorities fearing the state could become the source for a second wave outbreak of the disease.
An exclusive Newspoll conducted for The Australian has revealed a marked fall in voters’ trust in the Victorian Labor leader to keep the virus under control amid threats of a return to lockdown following a blowout in the number of cases recorded in the state over the past week.
It stands in contrast to the increasing confidence voters in most other states are placing in their leaders who have all largely succeeded in suppressing the virus and are moving to rapidly phase out social restrictions.
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