Coronavirus Australia live news: Last rites backflip amid fresh Victorian bungle
Dozens of coronavirus close contacts sent an erroneous text message by DHHS as Andrews reverses course on last rites for dying.
- NSW releases graduation guidelines
- Andrews defends curfew
- NSW has ten new cases
- Palaszczuk doubles down on borders
- Victoria numbers fall to 43
- PM chips in for dying dad’s family
- Marginal seats swing against Andrews
Welcome to The Australian’s rolling coverage of the ongoing pandemic.
Annastacia Palaszczuk has defended her state’s border exemption system and says she doesn’t make those decisions, amid intense criticism. Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has doubled down on his strict Melbourne curfew, saying it won't be changing. As Victoria cases fall to 43, five key marginal seats in Victoria have swung significantly against the Andrews’ government.
AFP 9.45pm: Thousands gather for Iraq’s first prayers
Thousands of supporters of Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr gathered at a mosque in east Baghdad on Friday for the first weekly prayers since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Iraq’s mosques have been closed to gatherings for close to six months, but notoriously outspoken Sadr said on Wednesday that he would hold open-air prayers in his stronghold.
In east Baghdad’s Sadr City on Friday, worshippers put on medical masks and gloves and had their temperatures taken before being allowed into the courtyard of the main mosque, where volunteers were spraying disinfectant.
“We urge everyone to abide by social distancing and protect themselves against this virus,” the imam said in the opening to his brief sermon.
Sadr had issued a list of restrictions on Twitter this week, including that worshippers must stand exactly 75 centimetres apart and sermons must last only 15 minutes.
One worshipper, Qassem al-Mayahi, 40, said he was “happy to finally be able to pray on Fridays, as this is one of the five pillars of Islam.” “We need to figure out how to live” with the virus, he told AFP. “We may as well pray.” Other prayers at Sadrist mosques were expected in the Shiite holy city of Najaf on Friday.
The coronavirus pandemic has hit Iraq hard, with nearly 280,000 confirmed cases and more than 7,800 deaths.
In March, Iraqi authorities shut down airports and imposed total lockdowns to halt the virus’s spread. Top Shiite authority Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani halted his weekly sermons, and they have yet to resume.
Read more: US to pull back troops from Iraq
Rachel Baxendale 7pm: Andrews government grants last rites visits
The Andrews government has reversed Department of Health and Human Services advice banning faith leaders from visiting dying people in hospitals and aged care facilities to administer last rites.
The about face comes after The Australian on Thursday revealed Melbourne’s Catholic priests were giving dying parishioners the last rites in defiance of the Andrews government’s stage-four restrictions.
Until Friday, Department of Health and Human Services questions and answers on Melbourne’s current stay-at-home restrictions stated: “Under Stage Four retrictions, faith leaders cannot visit someone in a hospital or care facility for last rites or to perform other religious ceremonies in person.”
“Last rites and religious ceremonies can be provided using video or livestreaming.”
On Friday, Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed the government would reverse the advice.
“In relation to sacraments at the end of a person’s life, I know and understand, the government knows and understands how critically important that is for many people of faith and their families,” Mr Andrews said.
“There was a little bit of confusion about this.
“We will have some updated frequently asked questions and some other details on the website very, very soon.
“Under the care and compassion grounds, it is completely permissible for you to have a minister come - a priest - whomever it might be, a Rabbi to come to you and administer the end-of-life sacraments.
“There will be always some finer details in relation to the way individual hospitals have got their own rules in place ... to try and protect staff and protect fellow patients, but in the broadest of terms, last rites and similar sacraments are, in fact, allowed, and we obviously apologise if there’s been any confusion about that matter.”
Mr Andrews said he had spoken with Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne Peter Commensoli on Friday morning.
The reversal of the rules around last rites came as Mr Andrews warned that Christmas 2020 was “not going to be a normal Christmas”.
“But ... we don’t want it to be a locked down Christmas. We want it to be a Christmas that can be as close to normal as possible, a COVID-normal Christmas,” he said.
Read more: We must be there for them, say priests defying ban on last rites
Imogen Reid 6.15pm: Outdoor dancefloors in NSW’s graduation guidelines
NSW Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell has released the COVID-19 guidelines schools must follow while holding Year 12 graduation ceremonies and formals.
The end of year events will be permitted from November 12, one day after the final HSC written exam.
Under the guidelines, dancefloors will be set up outside or in well-ventilated areas, tables will be restricted to 10 people and students will be required to bring their own pens for yearbook signings.
“Dancing with partners from outside the school community is allowed only if partners are from the same local community and have an established relationship and normally socialises with the student cohort,” Ms Mitchell said.
“Students should restrict the number of guests they bring to graduation events, and schools are encouraged to live-stream these ceremonies for anyone not able to attend.”
Schools are being urged to ensure the capacity of the event “does not exceed four square metres per attendee.”
Read more: Allgraduations are emotional, but tears flow freely these days
Joseph Lam 6pm: Service NSW app trials COVID Safe check-in
NSW residents with the Service NSW mobile app will now be able to fast track the sign-in process at COVID Safe businesses after the government agency launched a COVID-enhanced update of its mobile application.
The Service NSW app, which provides users a place to store digital copies of driver’s licences, check fines and check licence credentials, is trialling a pilot program to help speed up the contact-tracing process of venues where a confirmed coronavirus case has visited.
New app features include a QR code scanner for simplified check-in with pre-stored information as well as a COVID resources section with the latest statistics sourced from the Data. NSW website.
In a release sent to customers, Service NSW has confirmed only the business name and location will be kept by the government agency.
“This information is stored for 28 days and only for the purpose of contact tracing, if necessary. It’s a secure way for your information to be stored so you can be contacted easily if required.”
Read more : working to be COVID-safe
Rachel Baxendale 4.45pm: Active aged care cases at 665; 554 deaths linked
There were 665 active COVID-19 cases relating to aged care facilities in Victoria on Friday — a decrease of 98 cases since Thursday, some of whom will have recovered and some of whom will be among seven of the nine deaths in the 24 hours to Friday which were linked to aged care facilities.
As of Friday there have been 554 coronavirus deaths linked to aged care facilities in Victoria.
The 10 aged care outbreaks with the highest cumulative total numbers of cases as of Friday and deaths as of Tuesday are:
— 240 cases and 18 deaths linked to BaptCare Wyndham Lodge Community in Werribee, in Melbourne’s outer southwest (an increase of two since Thursday);
— 217 cases and 35 deaths linked to Epping Gardens Aged Care in Epping, in Melbourne’s north (an increase of one since Thursday);
— 210 cases and 44 deaths linked to St Basil’s Homes for the Aged in Fawkner, in Melbourne’s north (an increase of two since Thursday);
— 165 cases and 17 deaths linked to Estia Aged Care Facility in Ardeer, in Melbourne’s west (an increase of one since Thursday);
— 139 cases and 20 deaths linked to Kirkbrae Presbyterian Homes in Kilsyth, in Melbourne’s outer east;
— 127 cases and 20 deaths linked to Twin Parks Aged Care in Reservoir, in Melbourne’s north;
— 127 cases and 11 deaths linked to BlueCross Ruckers Hill Aged Care Facility in Northcote, in Melbourne’s inner north (an increase of three since Thursday);
— 124 cases and eight deaths linked to Cumberland Manor Aged Care Facility in Sunshine North, in Melbourne’s west;
— 119 cases and 17 deaths linked to Japara Goonawarra Aged Care Facility in Sunbury, in Melbourne’s outer northwest;
— 118 cases and 10 deaths linked to Estia Aged Care Facility in Heidelberg, in Melbourne’s northeast.
Non-aged care outbreaks with the highest numbers of active cases on Friday include:
— 17 active cases are currently linked to Bulla Dairy Foods in Colac in southwest regional Victoria, up from 15 on Thursday. There are currently 33 active cases in the Colac-Otway LGA. This cluster was first made public when DHHS confirmed they were investigating 10 cases in Colac on September 2;
— 13 active cases are currently linked to Dandenong Police Station, in Melbourne’s outer southeast, up from 12 on Thursday. DHHS first confirmed cases linked to this site on September 2;
— 10 active cases are currently linked to Vawdrey Australia Truck Manufacturer in Dandenong South, in Melbourne’s outer southeast, down from 11 on Thursday. DHHS first reported this cluster on August 23 when there were 21 cases. The cluster reached a total of 49 cases on September 5, but since that date DHHS has only published the number of cases still active;
— 10 active cases are currently linked to Peninsula Health Frankston Hospital in Melbourne’s southeast, down from 16 on Thursday. This cluster reached a total of 80 cases on September 5, but since that date DHHS has only published the number of cases still active;
The department is also investigating cases linked to two family clusters in Melbourne’s southeast, and a hospital ward at Monash Health, also in the southeast.
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Rachel Baxendale 4.35pm: Victoria by the numbers: mystery cases still a hurdle
Victoria has had 141 cases of coronavirus with an unknown source of infection in 14 days, including 134 cases in metropolitan Melbourne and seven in regional Victoria — demonstrating the challenge Melburnians face in meeting the Andrews government’s goal of no mystery cases for 14 days before they can be released from stay-at-home and curfew restrictions in October.
The Department of Health and Human Services says it is using a 14 day period 48 hours earlier than the 14-day period used to calculate our current 14 day daily average “due to the time required to fully investigate a case and assign its mode of acquisition.”
In order to be released from stay-at-home restrictions under the Andrews government’s road map next week, regional Victorians need to have no cases with an unknown source of infection in the preceding 14 days.
The same threshold applied on a statewide level for metropolitan Melbourne to be released from stay-at-home and curfew restrictions by October 26.
Only 16 of Victoria’s 43 new coronavirus cases on Friday have so far been linked to known outbreaks, while 27 remain under investigation.
The overall total number of cases increased by 39 on Friday to 19,767, due to the reclassification of four previously reported cases.
Of the 19,767, there are 17,661 people who have recovered from the virus – an increase of 177 since Thursday.
Of the 1336 current active cases in Victoria on Friday, 1249 are in people in metropolitan Melbourne, 74 are in those in regional Victoria (an increase of two since Thursday), nine are either from unknown locations or subject to further investigation, and four are interstate residents.
Of the total 19,767 cases since the pandemic began, 18,397 have been in people from metropolitan Melbourne, while 1195 have been in those from regional Victoria.
There have been 9425 cases in men and 10,329 in women.
The total number of cases in healthcare workers since the pandemic began increased to 3397 on Friday, with 13 new cases, despite the number of active cases falling by 28 to 223 due to recoveries.
Remy Varga 4.10pm: Vic CHO Sutton to front hotel quarantine inquiry
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton and former Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton will give evidence at the hotel quarantine inquiry next week.
Counsel assisting Ben Ihle said Emergency Management Victoria Commissioner Andrew Crisp as well as current Chief Commissioner Shane Patton will also give evidence.
Professor Sutton is slated to give evidence on Wednesday.
His former deputy chief health officer Annaliese van Diemen was due to give evidence on Friday but will instead give evidence next week after the inquiry ran out of time.
READ MORE: Sutton blocked from leading response
Rachel Baxendale 3.55pm: Colac contacts incorrectly cleared to leave quarantine
Dozens of coronavirus close contacts in the southwest Victorian town of Colac have been sent an erroneous text message from health authorities on Friday, telling them they are free to leave quarantine.
The Australian has been told some left their homes and visited local shops after days in isolation, only to receive another SMS telling them the first message had been sent in error.
The bungle comes after a litany of contact tracing failures in Victoria, including one notorious case where a woman’s family received a call from Department of Health and Human Services contact tracers a week after her death from coronavirus, and more than a month after she had been infected.
It also follows Premier Daniel Andrews’s decision earlier this week to accept an offer from NSW for DHHS and ADF personnel and Chief Scientist Alan Finkel to travel to Sydney on Friday to see what lessons Victoria can take from the northern state’s contact tracing achievements.
“We have reviewed your case details and are happy to inform that you meet the Department of Health and Human Service’s (sic) criteria for cessation of quarantine,” said the first text message, which was received by Colac close contacts early this afternoon and sent from the Geelong-based DHHS hub at Barwon Health.
“This message can be used as confirmation for your employer or educational facility to return to normal duties.
“We urge you to get re-tested if you develop any symptoms post receipt of the message. We thank you for your patience and cooperations during this period. Regards Barwon Health Covid Monitoring”.
An hour later, a follow-up message stated: “Please disregard previous SMS-Sent in error. You will receive clearance tomorrow 12.09.2020 by SMS as discussed. Please continue to isolate until you receive that SMS tomorrow.”
Local state Liberal MP Richard Riordan condemned the “carelessness” of health authorities.
“How many stuff-ups do Victorians have to endure?” he said.
“This carelessness is playing with people’s lives, and saw some people leave home immediately.
“What technology are these people using?”
Colac is battling its second wave of infections, after a resident returned from medical treatment for an unrelated condition in Melbourne, having contracted the virus, which spread to workers at Bulla Dairy – one of the town’s largest employers.
There were 33 active cases of coronavirus in Colac on Friday.
Colac’s first COVID-19 wave peaked at 92 on August 6, largely as a result of a cluster of 83 cases linked to the Australian Lamb Company abattoir in the town.
READ MORE: Andrews flips to fix tracing
Amos Aikman 3.55pm: NT to lift border restrictions on Sydneysiders in a month
The Northern Territory will lift a hotspot declaration covering Greater Sydney in four weeks time provided coronavirus case numbers continue to decline. Chief Minister Michael Gunner, who has resisted setting a strict hotspot definition, said the change could be made after Sydney saw 10 or fewer cases for seven days and praised the NSW government’s “superb” contact tracing and testing systems.
“For these reasons, the Northern Territory will plan to remove the hotspot status declaration for Greater Sydney in 28-days time,” he said. “From Friday 9 October, arrivals from Greater Sydney will not need to undertake 14 days of supervised quarantine.”
Mr Gunner said the Territory’s quarantine system was working but added there were “some issues” with people using the NT as a “backdoor to other states like Queensland”.
“Territorians do not want to subsidise someone’s trip to Brisbane to watch the AFL Grand Final. Territorians do not want to subsidise holidays to the Gold Coast,” he said. “I have raised this issue with National Cabinet before, that the Territory is carrying a heavy load of quarantine while others get the benefits.”
NT Chief Health Officer Hugh Heggie said that while Victoria would remain a hotspot for the time being, plans could be made within the next 28 days to downgrade to regional parts of the state with areas of Melbourne to follow thereafter.
READ MORE: Push to widen Jakarta restrictions
Imogen Reid 3.50pm: Victorian contact tracers meet NSW counterparts
Leaders of the contact tracing processes in Victoria and New South Wales have met today to streamline the measure within both states, Deputy Chief Health OfficerProfessor Michael Kidd said.
Professor Kidd said the meeting was attended by Australia’s chief scientist, Alan Finkel, to establish a comprehensive contact tracing response.
“This has been the hallmark of the response to COVID-19, both at a national level and in each of our states and territories,” he said.
“I note the improvements which have been announced by the Victorian Premier in the contact tracing process in that state.
“I wish to commend everyone who is involved in public health efforts in Victoria for their dedication and commitment to bringing this second wave rapidly under control.”
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Rachel Baxendale 3.20pm: ‘Grass too long’ among excuses for 100 virus breaches
A man and woman from Melbourne’s northern suburbs who had travelled to northern Victoria to attend to a rural property are among 100 people fined by Victoria Police for breaching coronavirus restrictions in the 24 hours to Friday.
Amid concerns over emerging bushfire risk posed by neglected rural properties whose absentee owners are prohibited from maintaining them, as well as disquiet among regional Victorians worried about people travelling to the country from COVID hot spots in Melbourne, the pair from Preston were found at an address at Koondrook, on the Murray River between Echuca and Swan Hill.
They told police “the grass would have got too long if we didn’t come up” when asked why they had made the trip.
Also fined were a man and two women having a birthday party at a short term rental property owned by the man’s parents on the Bass Coast, southeast of Melbourne, and two men from Craigieburn, in Melbourne’s outer north, who were in a taxi intercepted at a police vehicle checkpoint in the Yarra Ranges.
One man said he was out to buy tyres, while the other was travelling to nearby Gruyere to buy a vintage car, police said.
There were 22 $200 fines issued to people for failing to wear face coverings on Thursday, while 30 $1652 fines were issued for breaches of Melbourne’s 8pm to 5am curfew.
As a result of 22,172 checks at vehicle checkpoints, 31 fines were issued.
Police conducted 3,513 spot checks on people at homes, businesses and public places in the 24 hours to Friday, with a total of 409,681 spot checks conducted since 21 March.
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Rosie Lewis 3.05pm: Border wars: McGowan unleashes on ‘partisan’ attacks
West Australian Premier Mark McGowan has unleashed against the Morrison government for “partisan attacks” against Labor states and their border policies, warning the criticism was undermining the work of national cabinet.
The state leader said he had not criticised the commonwealth for the international border or raised issues when Australians were isolated overseas and requested the federal government “show the same respect towards the states of Australia and especially the Labor states”.
He also attacked Scott Morrison over the handling of 26-year-old Sarah Caisip’s case on Thursday, saying “these matters, rather than they be raised on radio programs with shock jocks, it’d be far better if conversations are had and matters are resolved as best they can behind closed doors”.
The Prime Minister personally appealed to Annastacia Palaszczuk to let Ms Caisip attend her father’s funeral, as did Labor ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr, and went on 4BC radio to publicly plea with the Queensland Premier.
Mr McGowan would not condemn Ms Palaszczuk or her chief health officer Jeannette Young for refusing to let Ms Caisip attend her father’s funeral while AFL executives had access to a resort and pool bar, noting in WA and in Queensland it was not politicians who made decisions on border exemptions.
“Tasmania and South Australia have borders, I don’t see them being attacked,” Mr McGowan said. “They have put in place all sorts of rules to prevent people coming into their states … I just urge everyone at a national level to pull back on partisan attacks. You can’t just attack Labor states and ignore the Liberal states.”
After recording more than 150 days with no community transmission in WA, Mr McGowan said a model other than his hard border where outbreaks were allowed was “ludicrous”.
Mr Morrison and Department of Health secretary Brendan Murphy have referred to NSW has the “gold standard” for contact tracing and COVID-19 management.
“I’ve seen commentary around the country that somehow the model that has outbreaks, that you then contact trace and you isolate people and you shut down parts of the economy, is better than the model WA has that has a border in place,” Mr McGowan said.
“I just find it ridiculous. I find it ludicrous that people would somehow suggest it’s better to have outbreaks than to have a state that’s COVID-free.”
Mr McGowan said “characters” like Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and Josh Frydenberg had gone “too far” in their attacks of Labor states – particularly Queensland and Victoria – and were making it harder for national cabinet to reach agreement on the COVID-19 response.
READ MORE: Curfews ‘a violation of people’s rights and freedoms’
Rachel Baxendale 3.00pm: It won’t be changing: Andrews defends curfew
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says his position on Melbourne’s curfew “will not be changing”, despite calls from human rights advocates and business for the measure to be overturned.
The Premier’s defence comes after Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton and Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton distanced themselves from the measure this week, saying it had not been imposed on their advice.
Under the Andrews government’s reopening road map, the curfew will not be lifted until October 26 – and only if Victoria reaches a threshold of a 14-day daily average of fewer than five cases, and no cases with an unknown source in that fortnight.
The curfew currently runs from 8pm to 5am, but will be delayed an hour to 9pm from Monday night.
To bolster his case, Mr Andrews’s office released mobility data on Friday showing an “immediate, pronounced and sustained drop” in road usage in all metropolitan local government areas between the hours of 7pm and midnight, and midnight and 6am.
The reduction was less pronounced in outer suburban LGAs, which Mr Andrews said was likely due to greater numbers of permitted workers in those suburbs.
“What it shows you is quite a massive drop in the amount of movement that we’ve seen right across Melbourne while ever the curfew has been on, and what’s clear, if you can limit movement, you will limit the spread of this virus,” Mr Andrews said.
“If you can limit movement, then you will see less (sic) people doing the wrong thing. “It’s much more easily enforced by Victoria Police.
“That makes opening up possible and it means that it happens much, much sooner.”
Mr Andrews was asked to respond to criticisms of the curfew, which include calls from the Australian Industry Group for the measure to be lifted immediately given it is not base on health or police advice, and the suggestion from Liberty Victoria that it may be unlawful.
Liberal MP and former human rights commissioner Tim Wilson has asked the Australian Human Rights Commission and its Victorian counterpart to examine whether the curfew is a violation of people’s “rights and freedoms” given it was not based on health advice.
“This is not about human rights. It is about human life. That is my answer to Mr Wilson,” Mr Andrews said.
“What he chooses to do with his time is a matter for him. Police need rules they can enforce. This strategy only works if we limit movement.”
“If we want our police to be spending all their time having to move people on from Macca’s car parks, where there are pop-up social gatherings that are not lawful – I’m going to have police wasting their time doing that.
“There are very few legal reasons to leave your home. The curfew doesn’t change that. It simply means police have an easier job.”
Asked whether there were minutes of the cabinet meeting at which the curfew was decided upon, given his claim on Thursday that he couldn’t “necessarily pinpoint for you the exact individual and exact moment it was suggested that we put a curfew on”, Mr Andrews said anyone who had a problem with the curfew, “can find fault with me”.
“Every decision ultimately is something that I’m accountable for as the head of the government,” he said.
“Let me be really clear with you: the curfew position at the moment will not be changing, because it is working.
“It is working, and if you don’t limit movement, you won’t limit the number of cases.”
READ MORE: Queries on curfew shake trust in Covid road map
David Penberthy 2.30pm: SA fast-tracks opening border to ACT, possibly NSW
While other states continue hard border closures, South Australia is poised to open itself up to visitors from the ACT and possibly also NSW within days, with Premier Steven Marshall confirming that the state’s Covid Transition Committee was finalising its analysis of health data to let visitors into SA.
But SA will take a “cautious, staged and gradual” approach to letting Victorian residents into SA, with the Premier giving no guarantees or timelines that the border with Victoria would even be back to normal by Christmas.
Mr Marshall said he had been buoyed by the sustained absence of infection in the ACT and heartened that the emerging cases in NSW were being contained and followed up through contact tracing.
While he had previously indicated that he wanted to wait another fortnight before looking at opening up to visitors from NSW and the ACT, he said on Friday that the current numbers there meant a decision could be made sooner.
The Australian understands that SAPOL and the state’s chief medical officer’s team are increasingly relaxed about the idea of Canberrans coming to SA, given there have been zero cases in the capital for weeks now.
SA’s Covid Transition Committee met Friday to examine the latest data from NSW and the ACT and will meet again Tuesday, but Mr Marshall said an announcement could be made before then.
“We are continuing to look at that,” he said. “They are gathering more detail. I am very hopeful that we can open up soon to the ACT and NSW.
“I want to open up the border because I think it’s really important not just from a business perspective but a family dislocation perspective. The sooner we can do it the better
but we will not be doing it until it is safe to do so.”
“But the second that we can lift the border than that’s exactly what we will do. Within reason we will be announcing it as quickly as possible.”
Mr Marshall did not make any criticism of other premiers over their hard border closures but noted the stories of family suffering that had occurred as a result of the closures, saying SAPOL and SA Health had modified their tough stance on Victorian border communities on account of low infection rates in western Victoria. He also said SA was giving exemptions where possible on compassionate grounds and emergency business grounds to people across the country in cases of genuine need.
He was less bullish about Victoria, refusing to be drawn on whether its residents would be allowed to re-enter SA as they wished by Christmas.
He flagged that if Victoria continued to improve the next step would be to allow Victorians in provided they self-isolated for 14 days, but even that could be a way off.
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Sarah Elks 2.00pm: Case-free ACT wants review of ‘unfair’ border bans
The ACT is being “unfairly treated” by Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia by locking borders to Canberrans, despite more than 60 days without an active case, Chief Minister Andrew Barr says.
Mr Barr has called for the Chief Health Officers in Queensland – and the three other states – to rethink their border closure to the ACT, arguing the territory is not a hot spot and has never been.
“It’s unfortunate we continue to be lined up with NSW when the evidence just does not support those concerns,” Mr Barr said.
“They were legitimate earlier in the pandemic, I’m not questioning that at all. What I’m saying now in September, is that the concerns that have been expressed about the ACT have never eventuated, and we’re now more than 60 days without a new case.”
“I respectfully request the Chief Health Officer (of QLD) to have a look at the circumstances here. I think she’s been on the public record previously that she wanted to see a couple of months without any new cases. We’ve now got over that threshold, it’s time for QLD, SA, Tasmania and potentially WA as well to have a look at this issue and not lump us in with NSW.”
A statement from Queensland Health issued on Friday morning said Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young had “made the decision to include the ACT as a hotspot due to the frequent movement of NSW residents in and out of the territory”.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told a press conference on Friday that the ACT was still excluded because a man with COVID-19 had entered Queensland through the ACT. This was incorrect. The man came from Sydney, via Canberra, into Queensland – but was never diagnosed with COVID-19.
A Queensland government spokeswoman later confirmed Ms Palaszczuk “misspoke”.
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Rachel Baxendale 1.35pm: Regional Victoria’s ‘potential two steps’ to reopening
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says regional Victoria is poised to take “at least a step and potentially two steps” towards reopening, with an announcement to be made next week.
Currently all non-metropolitan Melbourne local government areas are under Stage Three restrictions and only allowed to leave home for permitted work, exercise, essential shopping or medical care, as opposed to Melbourne’s Stage Four restrictions where there time limits on shopping and exercise and a curfew.
From 11:59pm on Sunday, regional Victorians will be permitted to have public gatherings of up to five people from a maximum of two households outdoors, with singles allowed to visit the home of a “social bubble buddy”.
The next step is dependent on regional Victoria reaching a threshold of a 14-day daily average of fewer than five new cases, and no cases with an unknown source over that period.
That will see stay-at-home restrictions removed, and gatherings of up to 10 people outdoors permitted.
Households will also be allowed to create a “household bubble” with a nominated household, enabling up to 5 visitors from that household in homes.
Restaurants will be allowed to serve up to 10 patrons, and private real estate inspections will be allowed to recommence, as will outdoor sporting activities involving up to ten people.
The 14-day daily average for regional Victoria reached 4.7 on Friday, although in the fortnight to Thursday there had been eight cases in regional Victoria where no source of transmission had been identified.
“Regional Victoria is poised to take at least a step and potentially two steps. We will have more to say about that next week as we get closer to that 14 day marker,” Mr Andrews said.
“It is an opportunity to say thank you to every single regional Victorian, in the big regional cities, the smallest of country towns, they’re doing a mighty job in coming forward, getting tested, following the rules, and that’s why we’ve been able to drive these numbers down.
“You can’t possibly hope to open up and keep numbers low if you don’t first get those numbers low.
That’s exactly what’s occurring in regional Victoria, and there is great cause for optimism and to be hopeful that what’s happened in regional Victoria is proof positive that this strategy can work, is working, and will continue to work and that’s something that’s not just important for regional Victoria, but I think it sends a really clear message to people in metro Melbourne as well, that it is possible to drive these numbers down to a very low level, and then keep them low.
The number of cases in regional Victoria rose slightly on Friday to 74, up from 72 on Thursday but down from a peak of 512 in August.
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David Ross 1.20pm: ACT plea on physical distancing as case-free run continues
The ACT is calling on people heading out this weekend to think about physical distancing at night-life venues.
ACT Health protection services will be working with police and access Canberra to ensure businesses “have the information they need to comply with the current restrictions” and is reminding them of the importance of continuing to follow their COVID Safety Plans and adhering to their occupancy limits.
They said people should think about how many are around them or in the values they’re attending.
“So this weekend, if you go to a venue or space that seems crowded, consider going elsewhere.,” they said.
“Maintain physical distancing if queuing outside a venue and be mindful of maximum number of people allowed in the venue you visit.”
The ACT not recorded any cases of COVID-19 since 10 July.
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Rachel Baxendale 12.35pm: Relief beckons in regional Victoria numbers
The number of active cases in regional Victoria has risen by two since Thursday to 74.
This includes 33 active cases in Colac-Otway in Victoria’s southwest — up two since Thursday, as well as 10 cases on Greater Geelong including one new one, two active cases in Greater Bendigo, neither of which is new, and no cases in Ballarat.
The 14-day daily average for metropolitan Melbourne is 65.3, while the regional 14 day daily average is 4.7.
In order for Melbourne to move to the second step of relaxing coronavirus restrictions by September 28, the 14-day daily average needs to reach 30-50 over the preceding fortnight, which begins on Monday.
This would enable public outdoor gatherings of up to five people from up to two households, the resumption of childcare, and a staged return to the classroom for Prep to Grade Two and VCE students.
For the third step, which would see Melburnians released from a stay-at-home lockdown and a curfew by October 26, the statewide 14-day daily average needs to fall below five cases, with no more than five cases with an unknown source over that entire period.
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Rachel Baxendale 12.30pm: Encouraging drops in Victoria virus numbers
There have been 4303 cases since the pandemic began for which Victorian contact tracers have been unable to identify a source of infection — a decrease of three cases since Thursday.
There are now 1336 active cases of coronavirus in Victoria — a decrease of 147 since Thursday — down from the peak of 7880 active cases on August 11.
There are 223 active cases in health workers – including in aged care workers — a decrease of 28 since Thursday.
There are 665 active cases linked to aged care, down from 763 on Thursday.
The number of active cases linked to residential disability accommodation is 13, including seven staff and six residents.
This is a decrease of three since Thursday.
READ MORE: Force Andrews to bear costs of damage he wreaks
Rachel Baxendale 11.25am: Victoria: 43 new cases, nine deaths; state death toll 710
Victoria’s 43 cases of coronavirus in the 24 hours to Friday have taken the total number since the pandemic began to 19,767.
Nine deaths over the same period have taken the death toll to 710.
The nine deaths include those of a woman in her 50s, a woman in her 70s, three men in their 80s and four women in their 90s.
Seven of the nine deaths have been linked to aged care, bringing Victoria’s aged care death toll from coronavirus to 554.
There are 140 people in Victorian hospitals with coronavirus on Friday, including 12 in intensive care, of whom eight are on ventilators.
This compares with 169 in hospital on Thursday, including 17 in intensive care, of whom 11 were on ventilators.
There were 13,341 tests processed in Victoria in the 24 hours to Friday, compared with 22,805 in NSW over the same period.
This brings the total number of tests processed since the pandemic began to 2,456,924.
The positive test rate for Friday is 0.32 per cent — Victoria’s equal-lowest positive test rate since July 3.
David Ross 11.15am: NSW records ten new cases, no mystery sources
Ten more COVID-19-cases have been diagnosed in NSW since 8pm last night.
Six of these cases were in travellers in hotel quarantine and four were linked to existing clusters.
There are no unknown source cases today. This comes after several mystery cases surfaced in South East Sydney in recent days.
One of the known cases was a household contact of an existing case linked to the outbreak at the Liverpool Hospital Emergency Department.
More than 100 people remain in isolation following the outbreaks in the Concord and Liverpool hospitals and are being monitored for COVID-19.
Two new cases attended the Eastern Suburbs Legion Club at Waverley and emerged after warnings were sounded about the club yesterday.
Attendees of the Legion Club are encouraged to monitor for symptoms.
Thankfully, a previously reported case in a staff member of Concord Hospital has been dropped and anyone previously identified as a close contact has been notified and informed they are no longer required to complete 14 days isolation.
NSW Health notes that this includes close contacts previously identified at Paperboy Café in Concord and Plus Fitness Epping.
NSW Health is treating 83 people for COVID-19 of which six are in intensive care of whom four are on ventilators.
READ MORE: Seven pulling plug on cricket
Sarah Elks 9.50am: I’ve lost loved ones too: Palaszczuk
Annastacia Palaszczuk has revealed she had “lost loved ones” during the pandemic.
“These are difficult decisions, they are heartbreaking, I am human just like everyone else,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
Zero new cases overnight is welcome news, but the battle against this virus is far from over.
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) September 10, 2020
Together, we’ve reached more than a million tests – but we need to keep it up.
I urge all Queenslanders to keep following the health advice and stay safe. pic.twitter.com/newOM0fAK1
“These issues hurt me deeply. They hurt me deeply because during this pandemic I’ve lost loved ones as well, so I know exactly what people are going through.”
Sarah Elks 9.35am: Palaszczuk passes buck on ‘heartbreaking’ restrictions
Annastacia Palaszczuk has admitted that everyone who saw images of young woman Sarah Caisip, dressed in full PPE to see her father’s body, was “heartbroken” including her.
“Everyone who has seen those images is heartbroken,” she said.
But she said it was not her decision about whether Ms Caisip and other people could have exemptions from hotel quarantine.
“I don’t make those decisions … under the Act, it’s her (Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young) decision,” she said.
Dr Young is absent today, taking a long weekend off.
“We’ve got to take the clinical advice here … it’s heartbreaking, families are not together at the moment,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
And she said she stood by her comments in parliament yesterday, that the phone call she received from Prime Minister Scott Morrison about Ms Caisip’s case was bullying and intimidatory.
“These are very, very heartbreaking issues, and as I said to the Prime Minister, I don’t make these decisions, I was very clear,” she said.
Ms Palaszczuk said she had asked her director-general Dave Stewart to advise whether there needed to be more staff in the unit that dealt with border exemptions.
There are now 28 active cases in Queensland.
Health Minister Steven Miles said the two new cases were linked to existing outbreaks: a seventh member of a household where everyone has COVID-19, and a confirmed community contact of a COVID-19 case.
Mr Miles spoke of Queensland COVID-19 patient, Richard, who has been in intensive care for 77 days, after the 81-year-old was a passenger on the Ruby Princess cruise ship.
He said next week, Richard would be moved to a rehab bed. He has been battling COVID-19 since March
READ MORE: ‘Ashamed to be a Queenslander’
David Ross 9.30am: Cormann, Dutton slam Queensland border ‘disgrace’
Peter Dutton and Mathias Cormann have criticised Queensland’s border restrictions, calling for compassion and coherency in the response.
Mr Dutton said Queensland Premier Anastasia Palaszczuk was making her decision “not based on health advice, but based on the fact that we have an election coming up at the end of October.
“We all want to make sure that everybody’s health is taken care of but at the moment this indiscriminate application of the border restrictions is really having a very negative impact on people’s mental health and it is really devastating families, as we have seen in the interviews this morning and there is no consistency,” he said on Nine’s Today show.
He said the decision to extend special arrangements to the AFL and Tom Hanks showed decisions were not happening in a consistent way.
“I think the consequences are very far-reaching and the Premier needs to fix the problem. It is a problem of her making and it needs to be fixed sooner than later,” he said.
“The Prime Minister feels very deeply about this, as we all do. We don’t want to see people suffering and the Premier is making these decisions not in a consistent way.”
Mathias Cormann, speaking on Sky News, said what was happening was “a plain disgrace” and Australia needed to be careful they didn’t “lose their humanity” by applying rules too harshly.
“I can’t get my head around why someone would be so cold-hearted and nasty to prevent a girl in those circumstances to say farewell to her dad and be there with her family,” he said.
“It’s a decision entirely driven by the election in Queensland in October.”
“All states should be practical sensible and empathetic rather than just focusing on the political approach.”
READ MORE: Shattered family grieves apart
Sarah Elks 8.35am: Palaszczuk doubles down on harsh border system
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has defended her state’s border exemption system, after intense criticism over denying a 26-year-old Canberra nurse access to her father’s funeral.
Addressing an abridged budget estimates hearing on Friday morning, Ms Palaszczuk said she knew there were incredibly difficult circumstances for families kept apart by the pandemic and border restrictions.
She said a specialist healthcare service had been set up on September 4 to consider border exemptions for visits with medical specialists and on hardship grounds.
That team has eight people in it, including nurses, doctors, paramedics and mental health professionals, who take calls between 7am to 7pm every day.
Overall, 40 people work on border exemption applications, Ms Palaszczuk said.
The eight-person team has fielded 400 calls, she said.
“People don’t think these exemptions are happening, but there were 31,000 freight exemptions granted, 170,000 border zone exemptions … and 229 exemptions for compassionate grounds and healthcare,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
The figures are yet to be confirmed, but the Premier said Queensland had recorded another two cases of COVID-19 overnight, but she believed both were already in quarantine.
READ MORE: Shattered family left to grieve apart
Rachel Baxendale 8.30am: Victoria numbers drop to 43
Victoria’s cases have dropped again, with 43 new cases reported in the past 24 hours. Nine people have died.
#COVID19VicData for 11 September, 2020.
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) September 10, 2020
Yesterday there were 43 new cases reported. Sadly, 9 lives were lost and our thoughts are with those affected. More information will be available later today. pic.twitter.com/Y5dxX1ixEK
The nine deaths take the state’s death toll to 710 – all but 19 of which have occurred as part of Victoria’s second wave of coronavirus cases, sparked by breaches in the Andrews government’s hotel quarantine program.
Friday’s 43 new cases represent the lowest daily increase since June 28, except for Monday, when there were 41 new cases.
They bring the state’s 14-day daily average down to 74.3 (down from 79.3 on Thursday), and the seven day daily average to 57.9 (down from 63.3 on Thursday).
In order for Melbourne to move to the second step of relaxing coronavirus restrictions by September 28, the 14-day daily average needs to reach 30-50.
This would enable public outdoor gatherings of up to five people from up to two households, the resumption of childcare, and a staged return to the classroom for Prep to Grade Two and VCE students.
For the third step, which would see Melburnians released from a stay-at-home lockdown and a curfew by October 26, the statewide 14-day daily average needs to fall below five cases, with no more than five cases with an unknown source over that entire period.
READ MORE: Big government vision blind to reality
David Ross 8.15am: PM chips in $1000 for dying Queensland dad’s family
Scott Morrison has chipped in $1000 to a GoFundMe page set up to fund the accommodation costs for dying father Mark Keanes’ children.
Mr Keanes is dying of brain and lung cancer in a Queensland hospital, but his four children have so far been unable to visit him due to border restrictions.
The Queensland government had initially offered to allow just one of his children to cross the border to visit him, before relenting late on Thursday but required them to pay $16,000 in fees for quarantine accommodation.
The fund, organised by Jamie O’Brien, has since raised more than $218,000 surpassing the goal of $30,000.
Mr Morrison’s donation forms one of more than 3,400.
Mr Morrison had spoken earlier about the case of Mr Keanes and other families who had been separated by the Queensland border restrictions, calling on the Queensland government to relent.
However, Mr Keanes’ situation has caused a series of copycat funds to be set up, with at least four other pages on GoFundMe purporting to be raising funds for the family.
READ MORE: What if some wheels came off federal chariot?
David Ross 7.45am: Palaszczuk ‘turns border wars into political war’
Queensland Liberal-National opposition leader Deb Frecklington has condemned Anastasia Palaszczuk for turning “the border wars into this political war just for her own votes” after a grieving daughter was denied an opportunity to attend her father’s funeral.
Sarah Caisip, 26, was only allowed to view her father’s body at the morgue, under police escort, after outcry yesterday against the hard-nosed quarantine measures from the Queensland government.
Mr Caisip had been unable to return to Queensland while her father was alive after her application was responded to late.
Ms Frecklington, speaking on Sunrise this morning, said the scenes of watching Ms Caisip view her father’s body in full PPE “just breaks your heart” and called for some “common sense, consistency” in how the Queensland government handled quarantine.
This comes after Tom Hanks was given special permission to quarantine at a luxury hotel on the Sunshine Coast earlier in the week.
“What would I have done is I would let Sarah go to her father’s funeral, I would have let her hug her mum, I would have let her hug her little sister, Isabel,” Ms Frecklington said.
“This is so unacceptable. What we need, is, yes, strong border controls but we need compassion in this decision-making. It is not good enough for the Premier to say it’s an authority’s decision.
“She is one of us, a 26-year-old, she is not a celebrity, not a movie star, not an AFL official. What she is, is a young girl who wanted to go to her dad’s funeral. “
READ MORE: Queensland doubles down on funeral decision
Staff writers 7.25am: Queensland’s cruel decisions over borders
The Queensland government is refusing to budge on its strict rules about attending funerals, amid outrage at the refusal to allow Sarah Caisip to attend her father’s funeral on Thursday.
Ms Caisip is not the only person who has suffered under Queensland’s rules. The Courier Mail has compiled a list of others who have been refused permission to enter Queensland despite desperate circumstances.
• A couple from northern NSW had their newborn son airlifted to a Brisbane hospital. The parents were told the only way they could enter Queensland to be with him was via a 14-day quarantine. They were separated for four days before the baby was returned to NSW.
• A man whose mother passed away has been seeking an exemption from quarantine to attend her funeral and support his elderly father. He was not granted an exemption earlier to visit before she died. He was allowed to cross the border because he was in the border bubble, but the hospital was outside the bubble.
• A breast cancer patient who had surgery in a Queensland hospital has been due for a follow up appointment, but has not received a response for her quarantine exemption request.
• A woman from a region in NSW with no COVID-19 whose sister was sexually assaulted was granted an exemption to travel north to comfort her. But she was placed into hotel quarantine, which was not stated in the terms of her exemption.
• The father of a girl in Queensland who was having a lump removed from her mouth was denied entry at the border, despite having a border pass and a letter from the doctor. He applied for an exemption, but never received a response.
• One woman was given an exemption to travel to Brisbane to visit her terminally ill father in hospital, but when he was discharged to his home she was initially not allowed to travel and see him at the different location.
READ MORE: Bereaved Sarah wears full PPE to view dad’s body
David Ross 7.15am: Sydney hospitals to reopen after cleaning
Concord and Liverpool hospitals are expected to reopen for non-urgent surgery and visitation after wards and facilities were deep cleaned.
This follows the outbreak of a viral cluster among staff and visitors at the hospitals, which has now grown to 14 cases.
Two new cases were linked to Concord Hospital yesterday, including one staff member and one close contact of a previous case.
More than 100 staff at the hospitals are currently in isolation.
NSW Health issued fresh alerts about the Concord Hospital’s emergency department yesterday, saying a person with COVID-19 attended the waiting room on Sunday.
The positive case was present between 2.20pm and 5pm and was wearing a mask. Health officials have said the person was asymptomatic at the time.
“Those patients who were present in the waiting room for one hour or more at the same time as the case have been identified and are currently being contacted by NSW Health,” the statement read.
“They have been advised to get tested for COVID-19 and self-isolate for 14 days (even with a negative test result) until Sunday, September 20 inclusive.”
NSW Health strongly recommends it is a good idea to carry more than one face mask with you when you go out. Keep your spare mask in a plastic or zip-lock bag.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) September 10, 2020
Visit https://t.co/slTYdpTTvZ to find out what situations you should wear a mask in. pic.twitter.com/fZykhI7EdI
NSW Health has directed anyone else who visited the waiting area for less than one hour to be alert for symptoms.
Warnings were also issued for the Eastern Suburbs Legion Club at Waverley in Sydney after two cases attended the club over multiple days.
NSW Health is working with the club to identify members who attended at the same times. Contact tracing and investigations into the source of the original infection are underway.
Anyone who attended the Legion Club on the following days and times are now considered to be a close contact and must immediately get tested and isolate for 14 days regardless of the result:
Tuesday, 1 September from 6.00pm
Friday, 4 September from 4:30pm
Saturday, 5 September from 4.15pm
Sunday, 6 September from 5.00pm
Monday, 7 September from 3.00pm
READ MORE: Curfews ‘violations of rights’
David Ross 7.00am: Global death toll heading to 1 million
The global coronavirus death toll has now topped 905,000, after reaching 500,000 at the end of June, in what has been a steady growth of deaths since March.
On current trajectories, the global death toll will pass a million within the month.
It comes as global cases near 28 million, with the real number likely to be far higher, with low testing rates in Africa and poorer countries hiding the true extent of the pandemic which is now gathering pace.
The pandemic appears to be regaining potency in several countries already hit in the first wave, with the United Kingdom and France both recording new highs of infections.
The UK recorded its fifth day in a row of more than 2000 new infections, as the British government moves to restrict public gatherings to no more than six people.
The high profile extradition case of Wikileaks whistleblower Julian Assange in London was put on hold until Monday after a lawyer representing the American government was potentially exposed to COVID-19.
France recorded 9,843 new cases, a high not seen since April, in an outbreak that has seen the prime minister potentially exposed to the virus.
French President Emmanuel Macron will likely announce new restrictions in a bid to constrain the spread of the virus today.
The expansion of the virus in Israel now leaves the country with the ignominious title of highest per capita new infections of anywhere in the world after recording 3532 new cases on Thursday.
The Israeli government has imposed two-week lockdowns in response to the virus after already closing schools and restrictions on severely affected towns.
The virus has also taken hold in the Gaza Strip.
The new cases in Israel come after the country was held up as a solid performer in the early days of the pandemic, with the country’s effective contact tracing regime able to stem the rate of infection.
India has also confirmed another record tally of COVID-19 infections, with 95,737 new infections on Thursday.
The rash of new infections in India has seen it overtake Brazil in total infections, with 4.46m Indians hit by the virus.
Analysts now expect the country to approach and even surpass the United States where 6.3m have tested positive.
READ MORE: $3bn bid to survive eat out drought
John Ferguson 5.45 am: Mikakos sidelined over virus bungles
A noticeable drop in Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos’s engagement with her caucus colleagues has fuelled speculation about her political future.
Senior Labor sources said the number of caucus briefings by Ms Mikakos had declined noticeably in the past few weeks, coinciding with a steep fall in public appearances with Premier Daniel Andrews.
MPs said Ms Mikakos had not been briefing caucus for about three weeks after having been heavily involved in engagement with Labor MPs from the start of the pandemic.
“She’s gone into hiding,” a colleague said.
Ms Mikakos was regularly by Mr Andrews’s side from March but this has diminished in the wake of the hotel quarantine fiasco and contact tracing problems.
Some Labor MPs and figures believe Ms Mikakos, whose public and operational performance over the six-month coronavirus pandemic has been criticised, has been deliberately sidelined. “She is intimately involved in the two major problems; hotel quarantine and contact tracing,” one source said.
“Both are her responsibility. And they are the two biggest f. k-ups in the history of the state, and she’s at the top of both.’’
READ the full story here.
Rachel Baxendale 5.30am: Leaders play pass the buck
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has repeatedly refused to say who originally pushed for Melbourne’s 8pm to 5am curfew, after his Chief Health Officer and police chief distanced themselves from the decision.
Saying he was “ultimately accountable” despite evading repeated questions about whose idea the measure was, Mr Andrews faced pressure from industry groups, civil libertarians and Liberal MPs to dump what amounts to the greatest incursion on personal freedom in Victoria’s history.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said on Thursday that as far as he knew, the curfew was “the Chief Health Officer’s” decision, and police had learnt of the measure only hours before it was announced.
His comments contradicted those of Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton, who on Tuesday said while he was consulted, the curfew was implemented via “a separate decision-making pathway” that did not involve him.
READ the full story here
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