Coronavirus Australia live news: Clusters in towers and Al-Taqwa ‘linked’ as Victoria records 165 new cases
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer has revealed an “epidemiological link” between Victoria’s two biggest COVID-19 clusters.
- Hard lockdown ends for eight towers
- PM extends Hong Kong visas
- NSW on ‘high alert’
- Queensland shuts out Victorians entirely
- Trudeau: We did better than US
- Brits told: Eat to save economy
Hello and welcome to The Australian’s rolling coverage of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. All but one of Melbourne’s nine locked down public housing towers will reopen, despite 158 people across the nine towers testing positive to COVID-19. As the state undergoes its first day of a new lockdown Victoria records another 165 cases. Australia has torn up its extradition agreement with Hong Kong and extended the length of skilled, student visas.
AFP 8.40pm: Attenborough appeal to save London Zoo
Naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough has warned the coronavirus crisis could kill off the world’s oldest zoological society, along with the London Zoo and the animal conservation projects it supports worldwide.
The Zoological Society of London was founded in 1826, runs both London Zoo and Whipsnade Zoo north of the British capital, and supports conservation projects in more than 50 countries.
But the zoos, home to some 20,000 animals, were shut for three months under a nationwide lockdown, and visitor numbers are now restricted because of social distancing guidelines.
Attenborough, 94, praised ZSL’s “outstanding contribution to conservation and to our understanding of wildlife”, and said many of its animals, from dart frogs to tigers, are endangered.
“ZSL now faces its toughest challenge to date. Put bluntly, the national institution is now itself at risk of extinction,” he warned in a new campaign appeal video.
He added: “Without your help we could see the closure of the world’s oldest scientific zoo, the place where generations of people have forged a love of wildlife through their joyful encounters with animals.”
READ MORE: Why you need new running shoes for the pandemic fitness kick
Chandni Vasandani 8.05pm: Jakarta cinemas to open despite spike
Cinemas will reopen in Jakarta this week, despite the Indonesian capital recording a record 357 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday.
Read the full story here
AFP 7.40pm: US infections top three million
US has topped three million confirmed coronavirus cases as President Donald Trump pushes for schools to re-open amid a COVID-19 resurgence in many southern hot spots.
Read the full story here
Jacquelin Magnay 7.15pm: UK budgets to eat its way out of recession
The British government has unleashed a £30bn ($54bn) economic stimulus for the country to eat away at the coronavirus slump.
Read the full story here
Rachel Baxendale 6.45pm: Tower tests ‘85 per cent success rate’
Asked whether anyone in the nine housing commission towers the Andrews government locked down from Saturday had refused to be tested for COVID-19, Police and Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville said the program had an “85 per cent success rate”.
“People have been re-offered (testing) today,” Ms Neville said.
“It might have been people weren’t there, they didn’t answer the door.
“That’s been a bit of an issue around language, so that’s happening again.”
Ms Neville said those who refused to be tested would have to stay locked in their homes for 14 days from last Saturday.
Temperature and symptoms checks and repeat testing will continue to be offered to residents.
READ MORE: Vaccine hunger games
Rachel Baxendale 6.30pm: Sutton defends Vic health system critic
Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has described as “a very clever ID physician” an infectious diseases expert who condemned the state’s health department.
Dr Lindsay Grayson on Wednesday wrote that while some staff in the department such as Professor Sutton were “outstanding”, “the system they work in is paper thin”, blaming a bizarre organisational structure and decades of under-funding for Victoria’s COVID-19 crisis in an opinion piece for Nine Newspapers.
Dr Grayson panned “one of the worst-funded and dysfunctionally organised health departments in the nation”.
Asked to respond to the article on Thursday, Professor Sutton did not dispute Dr Grayson’s claims.
“Lindsay’s a mate. He’s very clever ID physician. I think every public health person in Australia is an advocate for resourcing for public health,” Professor Sutton said.
“We have contributed to half of the increase in life expectancy in the last generation. Public health punches above its weight. So I have been a tireless advocate for public health for years, and I would love to see public health get as much as it possibly can into the future.
“I think now my focus is absolutely on addressing this pandemic. There’ll be time for a review and for contemplation about any structural or resourcing issues long term after this.”
Asked whether he and his team had started on the back foot as a result of years of under-funding, Professor Sutton said Victoria had a “very competent and experienced public health team in Victoria”.
“A pandemic of this type challenges absolutely everyone. Actually Victoria drove down cases in the same way as the rest of Australia, so I think we’ve done as well, if not better, than any other jurisdiction in Australia.”
Professor Sutton said about 1300 people were working in Victoria’s COVID-19 contact tracing team, including several hundred working remotely from interstate.
READ MORE: Victoria pays for collapse of democracy
Rachel Baxendale 5.55pm: Clusters in towers and Al-Taqwa ‘linked’
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer has revealed an “epidemiological link” between Victoria’s two biggest COVID-19 clusters in housing commission flats in Melbourne’s inner northwest and the state’s largest Islamic school in the outer west.
Professor Brett Sutton said families who live in seven towers linked to at least 158 cases of COVID-19 attend Al-Taqwa College in Truganina, which has been linked to 113 cases.
Both those clusters overtook Victoria’s previously biggest cluster — 111 cases at western suburbs abattoir Cedar Meats — to become the state’s largest and second-largest on Thursday.
However, Professor Sutton said he had not been able to conclude whether one cluster had caused the other.
“I think it was asked yesterday: Do we know how it got into the towers? No we don’t,” he said.
“An epidemiological link between Al-Taqwa and the towers is just a link.
“It might have gone in one direction, it might have gone in the other direction.
“There may well be multiple importations of virus into these towers.
“Indeed, there might have been multiple importations into Al-Taqwa College.
“These are communities that cross over between Truganina and these towers.”
Professor Sutton said a direct link had yet to be established between the two clusters and Victoria’s bungled hotel quarantine system, which late last month was linked to a high proportion of the state’s active COVID-19 cases.
“Epidemiologically we investigate the individual in cases might have acquired it from. It doesn’t tell us about generations back, necessarily,” he said.
READ MORE: When cancer returns in times of pandemic
Rachel Baxendale 4.50pm: Hard lockdown ends for eight towers
All but one of Melbourne’s nine locked down public housing towers will reopen from Thursday night, despite 158 people across seven of the nine towers testing positive to COVID-19.
During a late afternoon press conference, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced 2515 residents had been tested since Saturday, with 158 positive cases.
The highest number of cases were found at 33 Alfred Street, North Melbourne, with at least 53 confirmed cases, representing approximately 11 per cent of residents.
All residents in that building are now being classed as close contacts and will not be able to leave their homes at all for a total of 14 days, including the five days already elapsed.
“We’ll continue to support these Victorians with food, back to school resources and any other kind of assistance they might need as they stay home and stay safe,” Premier Daniel Andrews said.
“Daily exercise will be scheduled and supervised.”
Onsite medical teams are expected to provide medical care and regular testing of these residents.
From 5pm on Thursday, residents of 5 Pampas Street and 159 Melrose Street are free to revert to the Stage Three restrictions which apply to the rest of Melbourne, after none of them tested positive.
Six other towers with smaller numbers of infections: 12 Sutton Street, 76 Canning Street, 12 Holland Court, 120 Racecourse Rd, 126 Racecourse Road and 130 Racecourse Road will also be reopened from 11:59pm on Thursday night, with those residents subject to Stage Three restrictions.
Positive cases and their close contacts in the eight towers which are reopening will have access to an alternative offsite accommodation for the period of their isolation.
However, Mr Andrews said the decision of whether to relocate was up to the residents.
“For those who choose not to relocate, each resident will have their own single point of contact with daily check-ins and food, medical care and mental health support services all provided,” the Premier said.
“This includes having a dedicated team of community leaders and community nurses who’ll be on hand to provide care door-to-door.
“Consistent with all positive cases and close contacts, regular checks will be undertaken to ensure these residents remain at home.”
Communal laundries in all towers will remain closed, with external laundry services provided to residents.
Deep cleans of all floors will occur each day, with high touchpoints in lifts and stairwells cleaned at least five times a day.
Medical clinic marquees will also be set up outside each tower to check the symptoms of residents as they exit and enter, with testing and health checks also available.
Victoria Police will continue to guard towers with positive cases, in smaller numbers than during the full lockdown.
READ MORE: State not fit to trace second wave
Angelica Snowden 4.36pm: Melbourne residents urged to wear masks
Deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth says COVID-19 is not an “airborne virus” and the “overwhelming” evidence suggests it is transmitted through droplets, but people in Melbourne hotspots should wear masks.
Dr Coatsworth made the comments after an open letter was signed by 200 scientists to the WHO claiming there was evidence the coronavirus was airborne.
“Respiratory viruses, and COVID-19 is no exception, have their primary mode of spread through contact and droplet,” Dr Coatsworth said.
“So what about this aerosolisation, is this an airborne virus?” he said.
“The evidence suggests the majority of transmission, the vast majority of transmission, is contact and droplet.”
He said the Australian Health Protection Committee would keep a “watching brief” on the letter but that the position of the AHPPC would not change.
“That is not to say we will ignore emerging evidence, we certainly won’t,” he said.
Only people who cannot physical distance in Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire should wear a surgical mask, he said.
“If you have to leave your home for any of those reasons for which it is permissible, and you are likely to find yourself in a situation where you cannot maintain 1.5m distance, it is advisable to be covering your face with a mask,” he said.
Dr Coatsworth said the AHPPC did not give advice on the decision to cancel a university pilot scheme to bring back international students in Melbourne.
He confirmed that 182 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded across the country, and six patients require ventilators.
READ MORE: Who will qualify for vaccine?
Rachel Baxendale 4.10pm: Andrews to address tower lockdown shortly
Premier Daniel Andrews’s office has finally sent out an alert for a 4:30pm press conference, after Victorians spent most of the first day of their six week lockdown none the wiser as to when they would hear from the state’s leader.
Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton was spotted walking into Premier’s office at 1 Treasury Place shortly before 4pm.
The Premier and CHO will be joined at the press conference by Health Minister Jenny Mikakos and Housing Minister Richard Wynne, with an announcement expected on the fate of 3000 housing commission tower residents who have been locked in their homes since Saturday, for what was initially set to be a five-day lockdown.
Testing of the residents in the towers concluded on Wednesday, with at least 111 positive cases identified in the nine towers in North Melbourne and Flemington, in Melbourne’s inner northwest as of Thursday.
Further results from the testing are expected to be made known at the press conference.
More than two further cases would make the cluster the state’s largest, after Al-Taqwa College, in Melbourne’s outer southwest, which reached 113 cases on Thursday – eclipsing the previous Cedar Meats abattoir record of 111.
It is understood some children who live in the housing commission towers attend Al-Taqwa College.
READ MORE: Victoria pays for collapse of democracy
Rachel Baxendale 3.47pm: ‘Give towers residents certainty’
Victorian opposition leader Michael O’Brien also called on Premier Daniel Andrews to give the residents of nine locked down housing commission towers in Melbourne’s inner northwest some certainty, with no word on when they will be allowed to leave their buildings.
“Last Saturday the Premier announced they’d be locked down for five days,” Mr O’Brien said.
“The five days is up. A lot of people just don’t know what’s happening and it’s been really tough on them: not being able to exercise, not being able to go out, to even go to the shops.
“The Premier needs to be really upfront with these vulnerable communities, explain to them if it’s going to be longer than five days, and if so, why.
“All people are asking for is some certainty, because their lives have been turned upside down by these lockdowns, and it’s really important that the Premier and the government just be open and honest and tell people when they’ll be allowed to leave.”
Mr O’Brien said he supported the Andrews government’s announcement earlier on Thursday that it would roll out temperature checks at schools, but called for the program to be expanded to the whole state, and not just the lockdown area in metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire.
He called on Victorians to take the lockdown seriously and abide the rules.
“It does show you that while the rest of the country is getting on with life, we’re not in that position yet, so it is important that people listen to instructions, don’t try and break the rules, because the sooner we can get through this lockdown period, hopefully, the sooner we can rejoin the rest of the country and get our lives back,” Mr O’Brien said.
READ MORE: Melbourne property faces repeat blow
Rachel Baxendale 3.45pm: Small businesses ‘need cash support now’
Victorian opposition leader Michael O’Brien has called on the Andrews government to step in and help small businesses – a substantial number of which may be forced to close permanently as a result of the state’s second lockdown.
Mr O’Brien said many hospitality businesses had been given no choice but to throw out food after being ordered to once again close at short notice.
“They need cash support now because we need them to stay open, and we need the jobs that these hospitality businesses provide,” the Liberal leader said.
“It’s not their fault. It’s no one’s fault, but the fact is the state government has imposed these restrictions, and a lot of small businesses simply won’t survive it unless they get some assistance and support from the Andrews Labor government.
“Previously the state government provided cash grants to small businesses, they provided payroll tax relief last time we were in lockdown.
“This time around there’s been nothing. We need to see that support come back, because a lot of small businesses simply won’t survive unless the government steps in and gives them a helping hand now that they need it.”
READ MORE: Shutdown serves up a second course of pain
Tim Dodd 3.26pm: Return of international students to ACT delayed
The return of 350 international students to the Australian Capital Territory later this month has been postponed because of the re-emergence of the COVID-19 virus.
The University of Canberra and the Australian National University said on Wednesday that plans had been well-advanced for the return of the students to the two institutions, but would be put on hold until there was “a clearer picture around the COVID trajectory”.
“We always said we would only undertake this program when it was safe for both our students, our campuses and the wider community,” said ANU vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt. “This is not an end to the program – just a delay – and we remain committed to ensuring our students can continue their studies back in Australia when the time is right.”
University of Canberra vice-chancellor Paddy Nixon said that the health and safety of students, staff and the broader community had to come first.
The postponement was expected following the closure of the Victorian border because Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said that international students won’t return until state borders are open.
The postponement is disappointing for the two universities because it was intended as a pilot for the return of students in larger numbers next year.
READ MORE: Wanted: 100,000 students or else
Rachel Baxendale 3.19pm: Where the cases are in Victoria
The City of Melbourne and Moonee Valley, which collectively take in the nine housing commission towers currently locked down and linked to at least 111 COVID-19 cases, recorded the highest net increase in active cases on Thursday.
There was an net increase of 21 cases in Moonee Valley and 20 in the City of Melbourne.
Wyndham, in the outer southwest, also recorded an increase of 13 active cases and is home to Al-Taqwa College, linked to a cluster of 113.
In a slightly heartening sign, Hume and Brimbank, which were two of the first areas to be locked down, have recorded net decrease or status quo case numbers for Thursday.
Hume, in Melbourne’s outer north, still has 143 active cases on Thursday, but this is a net decrease of seven in 24 hours, while Brimbank in the outer west has 75 active cases – the same number as Wednesday.
Concerningly, there has been an increase in cases in regional areas outside the Metropolitan and Mitchell Shire lockdown, including a net increase of four cases in Geelong for a total of six active cases, and a net increase of three cases in Bendigo for a total of four active cases.
There are 14 known active cases outside the lockdown, including a case each in the Surf Coast LGA, East Gippsland, Greater Shepparton and Wodonga.
The Mitchell Shire, immediately north of Melbourne, which is regional but included in the lockdown, has six active cases – a net decrease of two since Wednesday.
READ MORE: ‘Ring of steel’ traps millions
Paige Taylor 3.00pm: Palmer’s WA border challenge delayed
Clive Palmer’s challenge to Western Australia’s closed border has been delayed in the Federal Court in part because an expert witness is busy dealing with the coronavirus crisis in Victoria.
Federal Court Justice Darryl Rangiah adjourned the case on Thursday for a two-day hearing on July 27 and 28 after explaining that public health expert Kamalini Lokuge had been called to Victoria on July 1 by the chief medical officer to help with the response to the outbreaks there.
Justice Rangiah described associate professor Lokuge’s work in Victoria as critical. She would need to devote about 10 hours to preparing for a conference in Mr Palmer’s case and July 20 was the earliest she would be able to do that.
Associate professor Lokuge is an epidemiologist for international health organisations with rare expertise in public health responses to humanitarian crises. She leads the Humanitarian Research Program at Research School of Public Health at Australian National University. She was described at Thursday’s Federal Court hearing as one of a very small number of people in Australia with the skills to help authorities respond to the recent outbreaks of coronavirus in Victoria.
Mr Palmer, a billionaire miner, objects to the McGowan government’s closed border because he has business interests in WA and wants permission to go there.
Once the facts of the case are established in the Federal Court, it will be heard in the High Court.
The Commonwealth has sided with Mr Palmer in opposing WA’s interstate border restrictions.
However, the matter has not progressed swiftly and on Thursday Justice Rangiah urged all parties to at least agree on what it is they are disputing.
“If the parties can’t even agree what issues are in dispute that is a problem,” he said.
READ MORE: Queensland Nickel liquidators appeal Clive Palmer win
Rachel Baxendale 2.41pm: Victorian cases found in hospitals, aged care
Victoria’s new cases today include three at Melbourne hospitals and six aged care facilities.
The hospital cases include:
– Two healthcare workers who have tested positive at the Royal Melbourne Hospital;
– Two healthcare workers at Sunshine Hospital emergency department who have tested positive;
– One new case in a staff member which has been linked to the Northern Hospital in Epping, with the total in that cluster now 11, made up of nine staff and two household contacts.
The aged care facility cases include:
– Cases in two staff members who worked at Menarock Life Aged Care in Essendon, in Melbourne’s northwest;
– A staff member who attended BaptCare The Orchards Community in Doncaster, in Melbourne’s northeast, while infectious;
– A staff member who worked at Benetas St George’s in Altona Meadows, in Melbourne’s west, while infectious;
– A staff member who worked at BlueCross Ivanhoe, in Melbourne’s northeast, while infectious;
– A staff member who worked at Aurrum Aged Care facility in Healesville, in the Yarra Valley northeast of Melbourne. The staff member was not infectious at the time;
– A staff member who worked at Holmwood Aged Care facility in Healesville. The staff member was not infectious at the time;
These facilities are in lockdown, and cleaning, contact tracing and appropriate testing is underway.
Victoria has recorded 165 new cases of #coronavirus (#COVID19) since yesterday. More information: https://t.co/6FkN1iMkob #COVID19Vic pic.twitter.com/mklKKG7v6w
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) July 9, 2020
Adeshola Ore 2.36pm: Another ACT man tests positive
An ACT man in his twenties has tested positive to coronavirus, following the end of the territory’s COVID-free month on Wednesday.
ACT Heath said the man was a close contact of a previous case.
ACT COVID-19 update (9 July 2020)
— ACT Health (@ACTHealth) July 9, 2020
There has been 1 new COVID-19 case recorded in the past 24 hours bringing the total to 112. The individual is a male aged in his 20s and is a close contact of a previously confirmed case. He is currently in quarantine
â„¹ï¸ https://t.co/YGW9pOHG3e pic.twitter.com/9WrkQmvKuc
The health authority said the man visited the Vodafone store in Gungahlin on Monday 6 July 2020 between 3.00pm and 3.30pm while infectious.
On Wednesday, the territory confirmed three new cases of coronavirus from the same household, two from people who had recently returned from a Melbourne hotspot. Before this, the ACT had not recorded a new case of the virus for more than one month.
The territory now has four active cases of the virus.
The ACT has recorded three COVID-19 related deaths.
READ MORE: Wine exports threatened by US lockdowns
RACHEL BAXENDALE 2.15pm: Victoria records 165 new virus cases
Victoria has confirmed 165 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday – the second highest daily increase after Tuesday’s record of 191.
The cluster of cases at Victoria’s largest Islamic school, Al-Taqwa College, has now become the state’s largest-ever cluster, with 113 cases.
Previously the largest cluster was western Melbourne suburbs abattoir Cedar Meats, with 111 linked cases.
Six new cases have been linked to the school in Truganina, in the outer western suburbs on Thursday, as well as three previously notified cases.
Victoria’s total number of cases has surpassed 3000 – reaching 3098 and closing in on the NSW total of 3264.
The overall total for Thursday rose by 156, after nine previously notified cases were reclassified, largely due to duplication.
Of Thursday’s 156 new cases, 30 have been linked to known outbreaks and 135 are under investigation. None are in people in hotel quarantine.
The death toll remains 22, with no deaths since Monday.
There have now been 477 cases with no established source, including 237 in the past fortnight.
There are now 932 known active cases – an increase of 769 in the fortnight to Thursday.
There are now 40 people in Victorian hospitals with COVID-19, including nine in intensive care, while 2142 have recovered from the virus.
Of the total cases, 2,723 cases are from metropolitan Melbourne, while 270 are from regional Victoria, while 1,629 have been in men and 1,447 in women
More than 1,030,000 tests have been processed to date.
The number of cases linked to the nine locked down North Melbourne and Flemington public housing towers in Melbourne’s inner northwest has now reached 111.
Testing was completed at the estates on Wednesday night, with further lab results which are not included in Thursday’s number expected later on Thursday.
An outbreak at the Catch.com distribution centre in Truganina, in Melbourne’s outer west has now reached four cases after one new positive on Thursday.
The same suburb is home to Al-Taqwa College, with 113 cases, and a family outbreak linked to at least 17 cases, which is connected with the school cluster.
There have now been eight cases linked to the Collins Street Hugo Boss outbreak in Melbourne’s CBD after an additional household contact tested positive.
READ MORE: Islamic school’s alarming virus spike
Alice Workman 2.07pm: Bunnings to sizzle with sausages again
BREAKING NEWS: Bunnings sausage sizzles have been out of action since March 18, but Strewth has been told BBQs will be up and running very soon.
READ the full story here
Jared Lynch 2.03pm: New truckies permit to resolve border chaos
The NSW government has created a new permit for truck drivers to ensure they can transport thousands of tonnes of freight across the Victorian border each day without being told to self-isolate for at least 14 days.
READ the full story here
Adeshola Ore 1.13pm: Australia axes HK extradition deal, extends visas
Australia has torn up its extradition agreement with Hong Kong as Beijing’s crackdown on national security intensifies.
Mr Morrison said the national security law constituted a “fundamental change of circumstances.”
“We have formally notified Hong Kong and advised Chinese authorities,” he told reporters at a press conference.
It comes after Beijing’s controversial national security law, which silences criticism of China, was imposed on the region last week.
The new law criminalises acts of “subversion and secession,” “terrorism” and “collusion” with foreign forces with potential life imrpisoment. The law triggered a fresh wave of protests in Hong Kong.
Australia is extending visas for those on skilled or student visas
Hong Kong nationals with skilled and graduate temporary visas in Australia will be offered an immediate five-year visa extension, with a pathway to permanent residency.
The announcement follows China’s security crackdown on the region with a draconian law that was imposed last week.
Mr Morrison said the changes would apply to current and future students.
The Prime Minister said arrangements would be enacted to help Hong Kong applications study and work in regional areas to address skills shortages.
“Our immigration system is the best in the world. It has the best controls, it has the best targeting, it has the best focus,” he said.
Mr Morisson said there were currently 10,000 Hong Kongers living in Australia.
The decision follows British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement that the country would create paths to UK citizenship to up to three million Hong Kong British nationals who may flee new laws outlawing criticism of China. China’s Ambassador to the UK responded to the moving by calling it a “gross interference.”
Mr Morrison said a five-year-visa with a pathway to permanent residency would be provided for future temporary skilled visas, subject to meeting the requirements of an updated skills list.
The federal government will also explore incentives to attract “export-oriented” Hong Kong-based businesses to relocate to Australia.
“If there are businesses that wish to relocate to Australia, creating jobs, bringing investment, creating opportunities for Australia, then we will be very proactive in seeking to encourage that,” Mr Morrison said.
The Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge said the visa changes would “generate more wealth and more jobs for Australians.”
READ MORE: DFAT’s timely advice on China
Adeshola Ore 1.09pm: Thank you for your response Victoria: PM
Scott Morrison has thanked Victorians for their response, as the state begins its first day of a six-week lockdown.
“They know, the drill. We all know the drill when it comes to social distancing,” the Prime Minister said as he addressed the nation from Parliament House in Canberra.
“We must continue to follow the social distancing protocols all around Australia … Please don’t think any of the states or territories are immune.”
Mr Morrison said Victoria was conducting about 25,000 tests a day in response to the state’s surge in community transmission.
READ MORE: NBN Co to axe 800 jobs
Remy Varga 12.30pm: School students to undergo temperature checks
Melbourne students will undertake daily temperature checks when they arrive at school with pupils recording temperatures of 37.5 degrees Celsius asked to return home.
The Victorian government announced more than 14,000 non-contact infrared thermometers would be given to government, independent and Catholic schools in metropolitan Melbourne as well as Mitchell Shire, both of which are under stage-three restrictions for six-weeks.
Students with high temperatures will be encouraged to undergo testing for the coronavirus.
READ MORE: Home loans in record slide
Richard Ferguson 12.11pm: Australians face deportation from China
Australians are being warned they face deportation to mainland China and “vaguely defined” national security charges if they remain in Hong Kong.
The Department of Foreign Affair and Trade’s updated travel advice says the new Hong Kong security clampdown — which silences criticism of mainland China — could see Australians break the law there without intending to.
“The new national security legislation for Hong Kong could be interpreted broadly. Under the law, you could be deported or face possible transfer to mainland China for prosecution under mainland law,” the SmartTraveller website reads on Thursday.
“The full extent of the law and how it will be applied is not yet clear. You may be at increased risk of detention on vaguely defined national security grounds.
“You could break the law without intending to. If you’re concerned about the new law, reconsider your need to remain in Hong Kong.”
The ramped up travel warnings come as Scott Morrison is set to unveil plans to offer Hong Kong citizens safe haven in Australia.
DFAT has also recently warned Australians in mainland China they could face arbitrary detention.
READ MORE: Western data in Hong Kong under a cloud
McKenzie Scott 12.08pm: Melbourne property faces repeat blow
Melbourne house sales and new listings are set to plunge as the market faces another round of selling restrictions and blows to consumer confidence, says CoreLogic.
READ the full story here
Adeshola Ore 11.28am: Tasmania extends state of emergency until Aug 31
Tasmania’s state of emergency will be extended until the end of August.
Announcing the decision, premier Peter Gutwein said the decision was vital to protest the health of Tasmanians if a second wave occurred.
“Tasmania does not have an emergency within the state’s boundaries at the moment, but what we do have, is we have the risk of one because of what’s happening in Victoria.”
“While our island status is our best defence, we need to ensure that we do everything that we can. We obviously must continue to monitor this situation as we move forward.”
The state of emergency was due to end today and will now be extended until August 31.
The state of emergency means the Director of Public Health has powers to implement public health measures, alongside the Commissioner of Police.
READ MORE: A world away in Tasmania
Yoni Bashan 11.10am: Premier weighs charging returning travellers for hotels
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the government is considering charging overseas travellers for hotel quarantine arrangements.
“They’ve had considerable time to consider their options,” she said.
The premier said there was no evidence overnight of community transmission through NSW but reiterated that residents of border towns needed to remain in place.
There were 13 cases of COVID-19 diagnosed overnight, 11 of which were returned travellers, said NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant. Two residents of the southern town of Albury have also tested positive, she said, though these were suspected cases identified earlier in the week.
The NSW-Victoria border was sealed on Wednesday morning. That day Ms Berejiklian described the likelihood of further contagion spreading north as “extremely high”.
There were some 18,500 tests conducted across NSW overnight, many of them in the Albury region.
“What we’re doing is mopping up potential seeding,” Ms Berejiklian said.
READ MORE: Is our China trade past its peak?
Adeshola Ore 10.49am: Expect queues as Queensland border opens
NSW Police have warned people travelling between the state and Queensland to expect queues of up to 20km long, ahead of the border reopening tomorrow.
New South Wales residents who travel into Queensland from tomorrow will require a border pass to enter the state.
Byron Police Commander Dave Roptell said thousands of motorists are expected to travel between the Far North Coast region when the state lines are open.
“If you are choosing to cross the border in the next 72 hours, please be aware we anticipate there will be extensive delays at the major checkpoints – these delays could be more than a couple of hours,” he said
READ MORE: Pentagon: China now biggest military threat
Staff writers 10.42am: NSW records 13 new cases
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the state is on “high alert’’, but there were no new cases of community transmission in the past 24 hours.
13 new cases of #COVID19 have been diagnosed in NSW between 8pm on 7 July and 8pm on 8 July.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 9, 2020
11 of the new cases are returned travellers in hotel quarantine. The earlier reported 2 probable cases in Albury are now confirmed cases. pic.twitter.com/d9H3PSkHgi
Rachel Baxendale 10.19am: Silence from Andrews on first day of lockdown
At midmorning on the first day of Victoria’s six week lockdown, there is no clear indication of when Premier Daniel Andrews will be giving a press conference.
All Mr Andrews’s office will say is that it is likely to be “after lunch”.
Late press conferences in recent days have generally been a sign of bad news.
Journalists were not told of the Premier’s 3.15pm announcement on Tuesday of the lockdown until 2.30pm — on the day the state recorded its highest number of COVID-19 cases: 194.
On Saturday, when there were 108 cases – then the highest tally since 111 on March 28 – an alert was sent out at 3:39pm for the 4pm press conference at which Mr Andrews announced he would be subjecting the 3000 residents of nine public housing towers to the severest of
lockdowns, effective immediately, which has prevented them from leaving their buildings ever since.
That lockdown was initially planned to last five days, but it is expected to last longer — with results pending after testing of residents was completed on Wednesday.
As of Wednesday, 75 residents had tested positive.
READ MORE: Sheridan – Victorians paying for collapse of democracy
Sarah Elks 9.16am: Queensland to completely ban Victorians
Queensland will shut out Victorians entirely as the coronavirus situation worsens in that state, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced.
From midday tomorrow, visitors from Victoria will be turned around at the Queensland border, and will no longer be able to quarantine in Queensland for two weeks to gain access.
“Given the developing situation in Victoria, Queensland is hardening its border,” Ms Palaszczuk tweeted.
BREAKING: Given the developing situation in Victoria, Queensland is hardening its border.
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) July 8, 2020
From noon, July 10, visitors from Victoria will no longer gain access or be able to quarantine in Queensland.
They will be turned around.#COVID19Vic #Victoria #Queensland pic.twitter.com/GwsAW223t5
“From noon, July 10, visitors from Victorians will no longer gain access or be able to quarantine in Queensland. They will be turned around.’’
There will be very few exemptions awarded, but Ms Palaszczuk said some will be granted for essential specialist workers, and for health, legal or compassionate grounds.
Deputy Premier and Health Minister Steven Miles said there was an extra risk because of the lag between the NSW border closure and the Queensland border closure – three days.
It means some NSW residents, who had been in contact with Victorians, are able to enter Queensland, creating a “period of a week to 10 days when there’s an escalated risk,” Mr Miles said.
“Tomorrow we lift our borders to other states and territories other than Victoria,” Mr Miles said.
“Because of that escalating rate in Victoria, and because of that lag in the community transmission and the application of the NSW border (closure) … the period of time between the 7th, when the NSW closed, and the 10th (when the QLD border will reopen to NSW) … there’s a period of a week to 10 days when there’s an escalated risk.”
Mr Miles said some people might enter QLD during their incubation period of COVID-19, before they can be tested.
“We can’t afford to import that risk from other states,” he said.
“For people who have been in Victoria, or have lived in Victoria (in the past) 14 days, they will no longer be able to travel to Queensland … we need to reserve hotel accommodation for people who need to be quarantined.”
As well, people who enter Queensland will have to be tested for COVID-19 if they develop any symptoms at all within 14 days, as a condition of their border pass.
Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young says there will only be “very very limited circumstances” where she will grant exemptions to the border closure to Victorians.
Dr Young said Victorians can visit if a relative is dying. But, they will have to go into mandatory self-paid hotel quarantine first for two weeks, and it depends on whether a hospital or palliative care service is able to supervise and provide PPE.
“(Then) that person can visit their dying relative,” Dr Young said.
“There are no exemptions to come to Queensland for a funeral.”
Dr Young said there had been consideration given to keeping the QLD border shut. But she said the state had very good systems in place to deal with the expected increase in cases from other states.
She said if Queensland had “uncontrolled community transmission,” like Victoria, the border would be closed again.
Deputy police commissioner Steve Gollschewski said Queensland residents returning to the state from Victoria would have to be placed in mandatory self-paid quarantine in hotels for two weeks.
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Robert Gottliebsen 9.13am Eight simple measures to lift economy
Apartment stamp duty and planning reforms. Masks compulsory outdoors and on planes. These can provide boosts that won’t cost Australia too much.
READ more of Robert Gottliebsen’s ideas here
Agencies 8.53am: Players take a knee as Test cricket returns
International cricket resumed after a four-month coronavirus shutdown on Wednesday as England and West Indies players, who rekindled the powerful imagery of clenched fists inside black gloves, took a knee under grey skies in Southampton in support of the global campaign against racial injustice.
READ the full story here
Adeshola Ore 8.47am: McManus: Why workers still come in when they’re sick
Australian Council of Trade Unions Secretary Sally McManus has repeated calls for a paid pandemic leave scheme, as Victorians wake to their first morning of a six-week lockdown.
Ms McManus said casual workers were economically disadvantaged because they do not receive sick leave payments.
“People have gone to work when they have been sick,’’she told the ABC on Thursday morning. “We now that from some of the outbreaks.”
Ms McManus said some people may be refusing tests because they feared losing their income if they had to self-isolate for two weeks.
“We can’t penalise people for needing to isolate. Or even if you have been in contact with someone, you need to isolate. They are protecting all of us, protecting our jobs and lives.”
“People will make rational decisions, they’ll say ‘oh, maybe that bit of a scratchy throat is fine and I don’t need to get tested,’ and really in the back of their minds they’re scared about losing their jobs and losing their income.”
READ MORE: Lockdown hitting property market
Adeshola Ore 8.26am: Firms will struggle to survive second wave
The Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has warned some businesses will not survive the state’s second lockdown.
About 5 million Victorians have begun a six-week lockdown, imposed on Metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire to slow the surge in community transmission of coronavirus.
The chamber’s chief executive Paul Guerra said Melborune’s hospitality and tourism sectors would be the worst-hit.
“The cash flow that they have been unable to generate for the past four and five weeks is not going to be enough to hold them through for the next six weeks,” he told Channel 7 on Thursday morning.
“We had businesses in the first six week lockdown that had reinvested back into their business and now unfortunately, another lockdown is going to mean that they can’t get that investment back.”
On Wednesday, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the government was planning to extend support packages for businesses struggling to survive.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is also drawing up plans to extend the wage subsidy JobKeeper beyond September for businesses most affected by the pandemic.
READ MORE: Cloud of pessimism over Victorian economy
Adeshola Ore 8.16am: Visitors to Victoria ‘should quarantine’
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro has called for returning NSW residents who visit Victoria to spend two-weeks in hotel quarantine.
Currently, NSW residents who return from Victoria must self-isolate for 14 days.
“I think there’s merit in that argument, what we just can’t afford is anyone to be relaxed about these laws,” he told 2GB radio on Thursday morning.
“We need to go as hard as possible with a tight border, with a hard border. We know that quarantine works, we know that Victoria is a hotspot so it should apply that there are quarantine rules.”
NSW Health this week announced a 450-passenger cap on overseas arrivals at Sydney Airport from midnight Saturday.
READ MORE: Family link to 100 school infections
Adeshola Ore 7.55am: Flights warning as quarantine under review
Health Minister Greg Hunt has flagged possible delays for Australians returning home due to a review of the country’s hotel quarantine system.
National cabinet will consider an extension of Victoria’s suspended hotel quarantine program tomorrow. Mr Hunt said 70,000 people have been brought through the country’s hotel quarantine system. But he warned there could be delays as each state’s capacity is reviewed.
“For Australians who are coming now, five months after the virus first started, then obviously each will have their own circumstances. And if they do have to wait, we ask them to be patient,” told the ABC on Thursday.
Mr Hunt said Friday’s national cabinet meeting will look at the capacity of the country’s hotel quarantine system.
“In seven out of eight states and territories, there’s been a magnificent job,” he told 2GB radio on Thursday morning.
“Over 400 cases have been detected and prevented from getting out into the community so that has protected lives and saved lives.”
Infection control breaches by privately contracted security guards in Victorian hotels has been linked to some of the state’s recent cases.
Mr Hunt said the surge of cases in Victoria was contained, but warned people to remain vigilant.
“There could be outbreaks, anywhere, at any time. No state, no community, is immune from this.
Both Western Australian and NSW this week announced caps on flight arrivals.
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Adeshola Ore 7.40am: Hunt: Defence personnel offer still on table
Health Minister Greg Hunt says the federal government’s offer of defence personnel for Victoria quarantine system is still on the table.
Corrections Victoria have been placed at the helm of the state’s heavily criticised hotel quarantine system, where privately contracted security guards have been linked to outbreaks in the state.
“We have offered the Australian Defence Forces. That hasn’t been taken up, but that offer remains standing,” Mr Hunt told Channel 9 on Thursday morning.
“Our focus now, though, is to make sure that there’s border protection, the testing and if you do feel ill or are in contact with somebody, please get tested, no matter where you are in Australia, but especially within the Melbourne area.”
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Adeshola Ore 7.16am: Traffic flows freely between border towns
The Mayor of Wodonga says traffic is moving more smoothly at the NSW and Victoria border, after lengthy delays on Tuesday when travel between the two states was blocked.
Anna Speedie said she wanted the border moved north of twin-towns Albury and Wodonga, an idea flagged by the NSW Premier.
“It would make a lot of sense in this region and allow people in Albury-Wodonga to get to work a lot more comfortably,” she told 2GB radio on Tuesday.
Ms Speedie said a colour-coded system of permits would expedite the border checkpoint process for local residents.
READ MORE: Police establish ring of steel
Adeshola Ore 7.00am: Trudeau: We controlled virus better than US
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has condemned the US’s handling of coronavirus, in a rare comment on the country’s faltering effort. Mr Trudeau says the situation is stabilising in Canada, which has recorded 106, 167 cases and 8, 711 deaths.
“We were able to control the virus better than many of our allies, particularly including our neighbour,” Mr Trudeau told a briefing.
The number of cases in the US has topped three million, including 131, 336 deaths. Health authorities have reported an alarming rise in daily cases in two dozen states over the last two weeks. Non-essential travel between Canada and the US has been blocked between the two nations, with discussions underway on whether to extend the ban beyond July 21 when it expires.
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has reported he is faring well after testing positive to the virus. Mr Bolsonaro, who has previously downplayed COVID-19, joined a small list of world leaders who have contracted the virus on Tuesday. He has credited an unproven drug, hydroxychloroquine, for his mild symptoms. There is little scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of the anti-malarial to treat COVID-19 but Bolsonaro, and Donald Trump, has promoted its effects. Brazil has confirmed 1.6 million cases of the virus, making it3 the worst hit-country outside the United States. The virus has killed more than 66,000 people in Latin America’s largest country.
In Europe, France’s number of new coronavirus cases and deaths was higher than the daily average seen over the past week. One of the country’s top health officials has warned that the country should brace itself for a potential second wave of the virus. France has the sixth-largest death toll from the coronavirus in the world. The country reported 633 confirmed cases of the virus on Wednesday and 32 deaths.
Globally, there have been more than 11 million confirmed cases of the virus and 545, 980 deaths, according to the John Hopkins University tally.
READ MORE: Plenty of blame to go around
Remy Varga 6.15am: Rush to test as tower cases mount
The number of coronavirus cases linked to nine public housing towers in hard lockdown has soared to 75, with dozens of health workers attending the two estates in Melbourne’s inner north.
And the 3000-plus residents trapped in the towers will have to “wait and see” if their hard lockdown continues, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said.
The news came as community groups called the state government’s handling of the hard lockdown an “epic failure”.
Mr Andrews told reporters on Wednesday morning that he was “very confident” testing in the public housing towers would be completed that day, with extra time for the results to be processed.
“Our orders run for 14 days: five days is the time we set ourselves and whether we can deliver that exactly to the hour, we’ll have to wait and see,’’ he said.
“But the quicker everyone gets tested, the quicker we can get those results.”
READ the full story here.
Jacquelin Magnay 5.45am: Brits told ‘eat out to save economy’
The British government has unleashed an eye watering £30bn economic stimulus for the country to try and ”eat” away at the coronavirus slump.
In an unprecedented move, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has called on people to ‘eat out to help out’, giving Britons half-priced restaurant meals in August to get newly reopened restaurants back on their feet.
The £500m meals scheme will involve taxpayers subsidising restaurant bills up to £10 a head for every dining experience – and paid to businesses within five days – and is just one of a number of plans to reverse the 25 per cent plunge in GDP the country has suffered during the 15 week COVID-19 lockdown.
The country’s extraordinary and shocking economic plunge, the worst in over 300 years – has erased the past 18 years of progress.
Mr Sunak said the hospitality boost was designed to “get customers back into restaurants, cafes and pubs and protect the 1.8 million people who work in them”.
Restaurants, pubs and cafes were only allowed to open from last Saturday, with strict coronavirus measures in place.
Mr Sunak has also eliminated stamp duty on homes under £500,000 until March 2001, providing bonuses to companies that take back furloughed staff until January as opposed to making them redundant; slashing VAT from 20 per cent to 5 per cent for the hospitality industry until January and providing £2 billion ‘kick-starter’ wages for young people, paying their wages for six months.
Mr Sunak said: “People need to know that although hardship lies ahead, no one will be left without hope.”
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Robyn Ironside 5.30am: Jetstar passengers arrive in Sydney unchecked
A planeload of Jetstar passengers from Melbourne was allowed to leave Sydney Airport on Tuesday night without being screened because health workers were busy with another airline.
It’s been confirmed that 48 of the 137 passengers on flight JQ520 were able to walk out of Sydney Airport without any processing, sparking fears of another “Ruby Princess” style outbreak.
The other 89 passengers were tracked down within the terminal, and screened and cleared.
A New South Wales Health spokeswoman said of the 48 who left the airport without being checked, 45 had been contacted and arrangements made to screen them.
READ the full story here
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