Coronavirus Australia live news: Heads roll over Victoria’s hotel quarantine scandal
Senior bureaucrats have been dumped from Victoria’s hotel quarantine taskforce after revelations security guards contributed to suburban virus outbreaks.
- Appeal for non-testers to ignore COVID-19 ‘conspiracy’
- Third-worst virus suburb escapes lockdown
- Super spreader fear in hotspot
- Victoria records 66 new cases
- Hotel fiasco ‘Victoria's Ruby Princess’
- Victoria exporting cases across Australia
Hello and welcome to The Australian’s live coverage of the continuing coronavirus pandemic. Victoria’s bungled hotel quarantine program will be overhauled with senior government bureaucrats axed from the task force. Deputy chief medical officer Michael Kidd has implored Victorians to ignore conspiracy theories about the coronavirus as more than 10,000 people refuse tests. Victoria will spend the weekend mulling over widening lockdowns as third-worst virus suburb escapes restrictions. Victoria’s Health Minister has warned of a ‘super spreader’ in Melbourne, while revealing more than 10,000 have refused testing. The state has recorded 66 new cases, its fifth straight day of more than 60 cases. Melbourne’s hotel quarantine fiasco is the state’s “own Ruby Princess”, says Victoria’s Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien amid revelations Victoria allowed a COVID-19 positive man to leave hotel quarantine and travel interstate without requiring a coronavirus test.
AFP 9.55pm: Beijing to lift restrictions
Beijing has contained transmission of a new coronavirus outbreak and will lift travel restrictions on most residents at midnight, city authorities said Friday, weeks after a new wave of infections broke out in the Chinese capital.
All people living in areas of the city considered “low risk” may leave Beijing without a negative virus test result starting Saturday, the municipal public security bureau’s spokesman said at a press conference.
The city’s massive track and trace campaign has “effectively cut off virus transmission channels” with fewer than three cases discovered each day in recent days, spokesman Pan Xuhong said.
“The risk factor has been greatly reduced,” he said, adding that there had been no sign of wider community spread of the virus, with most cases discovered through monitoring of high-risk communities.
The announcement comes after Beijing lifted several localized lockdowns imposed after hundreds of new cases linked to a sprawling wholesale market were discovered in June, prompting fears of a virus resurgence.
The capital tested more than 10 million people between June 11 and July 3, nearly half the city’s population, Beijing official Zhang Qiang said Friday.
But nucleic acid tests have not been entirely foolproof, with multiple confirmed cases in the city returning negative days before testing positive in recent weeks.
On Thursday, a woman was taken to hospital from a mall in Beijing’s Shijingshan district and 204 contacts put under quarantine after the woman’s fourth virus test in three weeks came back positive -- despite her testing negative the previous day, city officials said Friday.
China had largely brought the deadly outbreak under control before the new Beijing cluster was detected last month.
The government has since also imposed a strict lockdown on nearly half a million people in neighbouring Hebei province to contain a fresh cluster there, adopting the same strict measures imposed at the height of the pandemic in the epicentre of Wuhan city earlier this year.
Rachel Baxendale 6.17pm: Bureaucrats axed amid hotel quarantine scandal
Victoria’s bungled hotel quarantine program will be overhauled with senior government bureaucrats axed from the task force, after it was revealed security guards contributed to outbreaks in Melbourne suburbs.
In a statement, the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed changes had been made within the department amid the hotel quarantine overhaul.
“To meet the challenges of (sic) the global pandemic is having on Victorians, the (department) has been involved in delivering services to Victorians in a dynamic and changing environment,” the statement said.
“To assist us continue to deliver these programs, the structures within the department will be refined to continue to support the necessary services we are providing.”
Department of Health and Human Services secretary Kym Peake announced Operation Soteria to start from Monday.
But department insiders say senior bureaucrats previously involved had been left out of the new taskforce, including deputy secretary Melissa Skillbeck, who had been the head of the COVID-19 Emergency Accommodation and Enforcement Compliance functions, the Herald Sun reports.
It comes as department sources also revealed links had been found between a third Melbourne quarantine hotel and a cluster of cases in Melbourne, however the transmission link, or whether social distancing rules were breached, has not yet been established.
READ MORE: Lockdown as quarantine guards set corona free
Heath Parkes-Hupton 6.08pm: Bid to stop Black Lives Matter rally fails
The NSW Supreme Court has given the green light for a Black Lives Matter protest to be held in Newcastle at the weekend, dashing a NSW Police attempt to outlaw the event.
Justice Christine Adamson refused an application from the NSW Police Commissioner to prohibit the event organised by Fighting In Solidarity Towards Treaties on the grounds it could allow the spread of COVID-19 among attendees.
Justice Adamson said due to time restraints she would publish her written reasons by noon on Sunday, an hour before the protest is set to begin.
Sunday’s rally, highlighting the impact of racism on Indigenous justice and health, is predicted to draw about 500 people to Newcastle’s Civic Park about 1pm, with speeches and a march to Pacific Park to follow.
Justice Adamson’s ruling means protesters will not fall foul of police as long as they adhere to public health and order laws. The police were also ordered to pay costs for the hearing.
After the ruling, organiser Taylah Gray said the court would be on “the right side of history”.
Newcastle-based NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Max Mitchell believed the event would create an “unacceptable and unnecessary risk” of spreading the disease among participants and attending police.
“We are in uncertain times with COVID-19, and that is the issue,” he told the court.
Commander Mitchell denied he had been under “political pressure” to oppose the event, stating he felt the “wider community” expected police to enforce health orders restricting public gatherings to 20 people.
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Rachel Baxendale 4.55pm: Latest Victorian virus case stats by area
Almost half of Victoria’s active coronavirus cases as of Friday are outside local government areas which include the state’s 10 locked down postcodes.
The five local government areas which include the locked down postcodes account for 229 of Victoria’s 442 active cases, or 52 per cent.
The other 48 per cent, or 213 cases, are outside the lockdown.
Of the LGAs which include locked down postcodes, Hume in the outer north has 98 active cases including a net increase of 13 cases on Friday, Brimbank in the outer west has 52 active cases, Moreland in the north has 35 active cases, Moonee Valley in the northwest has 32, and Maribyrnong in the inner west has 12.
Outside the lockdown, the City of Melbourne has 32 cases, including a net increase of three cases on Friday.
The City of Melbourne overlaps with Victoria’s third-worst COVID postcode, 3031, which includes the suburbs of Flemington and Kengsington but is not locked down despite having 20 active cases.
Another area likely to be reconsidered for inclusion in the locked down postcodes is Wyndham, in the outer southwest, which has 28 active cases, including a net increase of six cases on Friday.
Wyndham is home to Al-Takwa Islamic College, which has been linked to 23 COVID-19 cases, including three new cases on Friday.
Other LGAs outside the lockdown with high caseloads include Whittlesea in the outer north with 22 active cases, Melton in the outer northwest with 20, Casey in the outer southeast with 16, and Yarra in the inner northeast with 14.
Active confirmed cases of COVID-19 by LGA as of Friday, with change since Thursday in brackets:
*Hume (outer north): 98 (+13)
*Brimbank (outer west): 52 (+3)
*Moreland (north): 35 (+3)
City of Melbourne: 32 (+3)
*Moonee Valley (northwest): 32
Wyndham (outer southwest): 28 (+6)
Whittlesea (outer north): 22 (+1)
Melton (outer northwest): 20 (+1)
Casey (outer southeast): 16 (-5)
Yarra (inner northeast): 14 (+2)
*Maribyrnong (inner west): 12 (+2)
Stonnington (inner southeast): 7 (+1)
Darebin (north): 7 (-1)
Mitchell (central regional Vic, north of Melb): 6 (+1)
Hobsons Bay (inner southwest): 5
Kingston (southeast): 4
Port Phillip (inner south): 4 (-1)
Manningham (east): 3 (+1)
Greater Dandenong: (outer southeast): 3
Knox (outer east): 3
Whitehorse (east): 3
Banyule (northeast): 3 (-1)
Glen Eira (southeast): 3 (-1)
Bayside (southeast): 2
Boroondara (east): 2
Yarra Ranges (outer east) 1
Monash (southeast): 1
Frankston (outer southeast): 1
Nillumbik (outer northeast): 1
Latrobe (Gippsland, eastern regional Vic): 1
Swan Hill (northwest regional Vic): 1
Greater Bendigo (central regional Vic): 1 (-1)
Greater Geelong (southwest regional Vic): 1 (-1)
Interstate: 3
Unknown: 15 (-1)
TOTAL: 442 (+27)
Rachel Baxendale 4.30pm: Recall Vic parliament to handle crisis: O’Brien
The Victorian opposition has requested state parliament return early from the winter break to deal with the state’s coronavirus crisis.
Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien said the 310,000 Victorians in locked down postcodes needed answers over “government failures” in hotel quarantine which have led to a second wave of the virus.
Mr O’Brien accused Premier Daniel Andrews and Health Minister Jenny Mikakos of hiding behind their $3m judicial inquiry into hotel quarantine.
The inquiry’s terms of reference include the role of “government agencies”, but there is no explicit mention of government ministers.
Police Minister Lisa Neville on Thursday said she understood there was nothing in the inquiry’s terms of reference to preclude Andrews government ministers from being called to give evidence.
Ms Neville said it would be up to retired judge Jennifer Coate, who is conducting the inquiry, to determine whether or not to hold public hearings.
Mr O’Brien said the inquiry terms of reference fell short of allowing ministers to be called and “could be carried out without public hearings.”
He and opposition upper house leader David Davis have written to the Speaker and Legislative Council president “requesting parliament returns so the Andrews Labor government can face the scrutiny that is expected of a government”.
“Because of Andrews’ incompetence, more than 310,000 Victorians are now back to square one facing strict lockdowns again,” Mr O’Brien said.
“These people are owed answers as to how the Andrews Labor Government got hotel quarantine so wrong resulting in Victoria’s second wave of lockdowns.
“No other state has had these problems. Daniel Andrews and his Health Minister Jenny Mikakos need to take responsibility for their bad decisions and provide Victorians with the answers they deserve.
“With Terms of Reference that don’t include the role of government ministers, Labor’s inquiry looks more like a cover up. That is why parliament needs to be recalled immediately.”
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Rachel Baxendale 4.10pm: Why Victoria didn’t test Woolies worker twice
Victoria’s Deputy Chief Health Officer Annaliese van Diemen says she is confident that a man who tested positive to COVID-19 after being allowed to leave Victorian hotel quarantine did not pose a risk to the community.
NSW quarantined 50 staff members at a Woolworths in Balmain in Sydney’s inner west on Thursday, after the man developed symptoms and returned a positive test.
He had tested positive to COVID-19 in hotel quarantine in Melbourne on June 16, after returning from Bangladesh.
However, he was cleared on June 24 to leave quarantine and fly back to Sydney on June 26, without having to take another test.
Asked why he was not tested a second time before being allowed to leave, Dr van Diemen said Victorian authorities had followed national release-from-isolation criteria which were consistent with World Health Organisation criteria.
“That is when a patient has had 10 days or more since their onset of symptoms, including 72 hours of being symptom free and fever free, they are released from isolation, they are clinically cleared and released from isolation,” Dr van Diemen said.
“The reason that that doesn’t include a clearance test is because people can shed this virus for weeks to months. Shedding the virus is not the same as being infectious with the virus.
“This man met that criteria, and then stayed another two days on top of having met the release from isolation criteria, because he was still in hotel quarantine.
“He would have been released from any hotel quarantine in the country based on that criteria, including any hotel quarantine in Sydney for a Melbourne person coming back to Melbourne.”
Asked whether she was confident the man’s release had not risked public safety, Dr van Diemen said: “Yes, I am confident.”
Richard Ferguson 4pm: Appeal for non-testers to ignore COVID-19 ‘conspiracy’
Deputy chief medical officer Michael Kidd has implored Victorians to ignore conspiracy theories about the coronavirus as more than 10,000 people in the south refuse COVID-19 tests.
Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos revealed on Friday that she was getting reports people in lockdown suburbs were refusing tests because of conspiracies or a belief COVID-19 would not affect them.
Dr Kidd said in Canberra he was disappointed by the number of Victorians refusing tests and called on all Australians to not listen to online theories over government health advice.
“I’m very concerned … The more we can test – the more people in the wider community who are approached, have a test, they are negative, they are okay – that will put everyone’s mind at ease,” Dr Kidd said on Friday.
“The single source of information in truth I recommend is the health.gov.au website. If you hear different theories and you are not sure about it, do a search, look at the Australian government advice, it comes from the best experts we have right across the country, based on evidence around the world.
“Do not listen to the theories that you may be coming across on social media.”
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Rachel Baxendale 3.55pm: Unknown source for 363 Victorian cases
Victoria has now had 363 cases of COVID-19 with an unknown source of transmission, including 118 in the past week alone.
Of the state’s 66 new cases on Friday, 17 are linked to known outbreaks.
This includes three new cases linked to a family in Roxburgh Park, in Melbourne’s north.
That cluster has now reached 23 cases, across at least eight households.
Five cases have been linked to Al-Taqwa Islamic College in the outer western suburb of Truganina, bringing the total number of cases linked to the school to 23. All staff and students have been quarantined and are being tested.
One case is in a student linked to Albanvale Primary School, in Melbourne’s west bringing the total number of cases linked to that school to 15.
Three new cases have been linked to the Stamford Plaza quarantine hotel outbreak, bringing the total number of cases in that cluster to 35.
Combined with an earlier cluster of 17 cases linked to the Rydges on Swanston quarantine hotel, there have now been 52 primary and secondary cases officially linked to hotel quarantine security staff.
But the problem is believed to be much more significant, after genomic sequencing earlier this week linked a high proportion of Victoria’s current cases to hotel quarantine breaches.
The three new Stamford Plaza cases were in two close contacts of a known case and one contracted security guard member who was already in quarantine.
There has also been an additional case related to Orygen Youth Health in Footscray, bringing that cluster to three, including two workers and a close contact.
A childcare worker at Villa Bambini early learning in Essendon has also tested positive, bringing the total number of cases linked to the facility to three.
A new outbreak has been identified in North Melbourne, with one new case notified overnight on Thursday night.
Through contact tracing, 10 cases have now been linked to this outbreak, with multiple households involved. Further contact tracing, testing and deep cleaning is underway.
Another new outbreak has been linked to the Northern Hospital emergency department with two healthcare workers confirmed as positive cases.
Contact tracing of staff and patients is underway. All emergency department staff will be tested as a precaution.
The Victorian health department says workers wore appropriate PPE during patient interactions on the shifts worked.
Another new case has been detected in a child who attended The Hive Early Learning Centre in Fairfield in Melbourne’s northeast. Contact tracing and other appropriate public health actions are underway.
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Erin Lyons 3.50pm: Hazzard slams Victorian train arrival
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has lashed a Victorian man from a virus hot spot who arrived in Sydney by train, saying it should serve as a warning to others.
Authorities intercepted the man, aged in his late 50s, at Central Station on Friday after he arrived on an XPT from Melbourne.
When health authorities on the ground asked the man to produce his licence, it revealed an address located within one of the 10 Victorian hotspot suburbs currently in lockdown following a new spike in COVID-19 cases.
The man now faces up to $11,000 in fines or six months behind bars after earlier this week the Berejiklian Government announced those crossing the border into NSW from a virus hot spot would be penalised.
Mr Hazzard is believed to have signed a public health order on Wednesday that would give police the power to fine people from Victoria’s virus-riddled areas who had disobeyed orders and entered the state.
Passengers arriving from Melbourne have their temperature taken at Sydney’s Central Station. Picture: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images
“Let this be a message for Victorians from a hot spot, do not come to NSW unless you have a very good reason or have an exemption to come here, particularly for a medical reason, or something else extraordinary,” he told reporters on Friday.
Mr Hazzard said the Melbourne man argued he had not lived at the address listed on his licence for some time but he had visited a storage unit in one of the hotspot areas.
Currently NSW Health has 70 employees working on tracing in Victoria in order to provide some relief to health authorities in the southern state. The Health Minister said it was their job to “help cut the chain of transmission” by being able to ask the right questions.
Mr Hazzard said the man’s arrival today should act as a warning to Victorians.
“Nobody should be coming to NSW with identification showing you’ve come from that area,” he said.
“We shouldn’t have NSW citizens put in that situation and we shouldn’t have our health staff having to dig into where you’ve come from.”
The man’s accommodation in NSW had also been cancelled likely because the provider realised where the guest was travelling from, Mr Hazzard explained.
Rail passengers arriving from Melbourne queue at a COVID-19 safety screening area at Central Station. Picture: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images
“We have now had to provide accommodation for that gentleman in our health hotel, which is at the huge expense of the NSW taxpayer, unless we can find a way to get him or the Victorian Government to pay for it,” he said.
“Don’t come to NSW on a half-baked situation which shows you have a licence coming from a hot spot but then claim you don’t come from there. We’ll assume you did and that’s how you’ll be treated.”
When asked whether the man will be fined or jailed, Mr Hazzard said NSW Police would now review the case and whether the man intended to breach public health orders.
He also urged the Andrews Government to implement a screening process at stations in Victoria for outgoing travellers.
On Thursday NSW health authorities intercepted a female traveller who took a train from Melbourne to Sydney despite showing symptoms of COVID-19.
She had also failed to wait to receive her pending test results. However, she was reportedly on the train prior to the new public health order kicking in.
NSW recorded no new cases of coronavirus today, while Victoria registered 66 new COVID-19 cases.
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Rachel Baxendale 3.10pm: Third-worst Melbourne virus suburb not locked down
The Melbourne postcode with the third-highest number of active coronavirus cases is not among the 10 which were locked down by the Andrews government on Wednesday night.
Health Minister Jenny Mikakos revealed postcode 3031, which takes in Flemington and Kensington in the city’s inner northwest, has 20 active cases of coronavirus.
Victoria’s top four hotspot postcodes are 3064 (Craigieburn, Roxburgh Park, Mickleham, Kalkallo, Donnybrook), with 52 active cases, 3047 (Broadmeadows, Dallas, Jacana) with 25, 3031 (Flemington & Kensington) with 20 and 3021 (Albanvale, Kealba, Kings Park, St Albans) with 16.
Ms Mikakos revealed some of the locked down postcodes have as few as two or three active cases, but warned that some of them may be home to dozens of close contacts currently in quarantine.
Postcode 3031 is spread across two local government areas, namely the City of Melbourne and Moonee Valley.
The Australian has asked the Andrews government whether this may explain why it has not been locked down.
Premier Daniel Andrews said the health department had a three step process for determining which postcodes to lock down.
“The first step is to identify priority local government areas with more than twice the state case rate, then secondly to review all postcodes within that local government area, and thirdly to identify priority suburbs with more than five cases and a rate greater than 20 per 100,000,” Mr Andrews said.
He said bureaucrats would spend “many hours” over the weekend considering whether the lockdown needed to be expanded to other areas.
“Many hours over the weekend will be spent analysing, considering, discussing back and forth what the statuses of other postcodes are, and then we’ll have further announcements to make, if indeed we need to, based on what that data tells us,” the Premier said.
“The clarity of that formula is very, very important. I can’t for a moment guarantee that that formula won’t at some point in the future change.
“I’ve tried to be as upfront as I can in saying I certainly cannot rule out other suburbs being shut down, but the key point here is that … people follow the rules.”
Asked whether there was a danger of losing control of coronavirus outside the locked down postcodes, Victorian Deputy Chief Health Officer Annaliese van Diemen said she hoped not.
On Thursday there were 208 cases in local government areas which take in the 10 locked down postcodes, and 207 cases outside those areas.
“I certainly hope not. The message to everybody is stay home if you’re sick, be vigilant, get tested if you’ve got any symptoms at all, and that applies across the state regardless of whether you’re in a hotspot suburb, whether you’re in metro Melbourne or whether you’re in a regional area, so I certainly hope not and we absolutely are not changing our intensive case interviewing and contact tracing of every case, regardless of whether they’re in a hotspot suburb or not, so that that doesn’t change at all,” Dr van Diemen said.
TOP FOUR:
3064 (Craigieburn, Roxburgh Park, Mickleham, Kalkallo, Donnybrook): 52
3047 (Broadmeadows, Dallas, Jacana): 25
*3031 (Flemington & Kensington): 20
3021 (Albanvale, Kealba, Kings Park, St Albans): 16
*not locked down
Others locked down:
3060 (Fawkner): 11
3046 (Glenroy, Hadfield, Oak Park): 10
3032 (Maribyrnong, Ascot Vale, Travancore): 9
3012 (West Footscray, Maidstone, Kingsville, Brooklyn, Tottenham): 8
3038 (Keilor Downs, Keilor Lodge, Taylors Lakes): 4
3055 (Brunswick West): 3
3042 (Airport West, Keilor Park, Niddrie): 2
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Debbie Schipp 3pm: Australia-NZ travel bubble isn’t off table: Ardern
NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says a trans-Tasman bubble is on “the horizon and real”, despite Victoria’s surge in cases.
In an interview on New Zeakan’s Newstalk ZB local radio, Ms Ardern said bubble concept between Australia and New Zealand is in the works, but certain targets must be reached before it can happen.
“This is a surging pandemic,” she told radio host Kerre McIvor.
“Yes we absolutely need to think about the future. For instance, we are continuing to work in earnest on the possibility of the work required for a trans-Tasman opening. There are states in Australia that have the same status as us that are essentially within community COVID-free.”
She said her heart went out to Victoria, currently dealing with an upsurge of COVID-19 cases and fresh lockdowns.
“That demonstrates why we need a series of safety nets. Quarantine is one, contact tracing is another, testing in our community is another. We need every time something fails, there needs to be protection at another layer,” she said.
Ardern opening of borders is looking less likely to other countries, but conversations are still on the table with Australia.
“We won’t be seeing the borders opening … quarantine-free travel … for the near future. We are working as quickly as we can on options around quarantine-free travel with Australia, so that’s an opportunity that is on the horizon and that is real, but then beyond that we are having to plan around some great unknowns.”
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Richard Ferguson 2.25pm: US welcomes Morrison’s pivot on defence
US Defence Secretary Mark Esper has praised Scott Morrison’s $270bn defence pivot as key to protecting a “free and open” Indo-Pacific.
The Prime Minister’s Defence Strategic Update will see a 10 year expansion of Australia’s military capabilities in the face of a rising China and greater instability in the region.
Mr Esper – US President Donald Trump’s Pentagon chief since last year – wrote on Twitter that the initiative would also boost the US’s presence in the region.
Australia’s Defence Strategic Update invests significantly in their future security. Our nations’ strong partnership continues to confront grave threats to regional stability by increasing alliance capabilities. Together, we will maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific. #Mateship
— @EsperDoD (@EsperDoD) July 2, 2020
“Australia’s Defence Strategic Update invests significantly in their future security. Our nations’ strong partnership continues to confront grave threats to regional stability by increasing alliance capabilities,” he wrote.
“Together, we will maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific. #Mateship”
READ MORE: Morrison is right: we need to protect ourselves
Adeshola Ore 2.20pm: Long testing queues after Balmain positive
A queue of cars in Balmain are lining up for coronavirus tests after a local Woolworths employee was revealed to have tested positive to the virus.
The NSW state government has urged Balmain residents to come forward for testing if they display symptoms of the virus.
On Friday afternoon, long lines of cars were awaiting tests at a local drive though testing centre in Rozelle, in Sydney’s inner west.
The COVID-positive Woolworths employee spent two weeks in quarantine in Melbourne after arriving from Bangladesh. He tested positive to the virus on June 18 and left hotel quarantine eight days later before travelling to Sydney.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said anyone who visited the Woolworths store on June 27 and 28 while the man was working should be tested if they experience symptoms. Fifty of the store’s employees have been placed in isolation.
The store has undergone a deep clean.
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Courtney Walsh 2pm: Sunshine State saves the AFL season
Queensland has emerged as the saviour of the AFL season, with six Melbourne teams to relocate to the Sunshine State. Read more here
Jack Paynter 1.25pm: Woolworths reintroduces limits on grocery items
Woolworths has joined competitor Coles in reintroducing more purchase limits on a number of staple grocery items across Victorian stores.
The supermarket giant announced the new measures on Friday afternoon as a surge in coronavirus cases led to an increase in panic buying across the state.
There will now be a purchase limit of two items on 18 products including frozen vegetables, bread loaves, chilled fresh milk, prepacked sausages, burger patties and tissues.
Victorian and Tasmanian Coles earlier reinstated more product limits after distribution centre workers tested positive for coronavirus, hurting the supermarkets giant’s ability to replenish shelves.
Panic buying has also re-emerged across Victoria in recent weeks as people raided shelves in anticipation of a second lockdown.
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Max Maddison 1.10pm: SA Premier rules out AFL hub set up
Premier Steven Marshall says he rejected requests to set up an AFL hub in the state, as he attempts to reassures South Australian’s about concerns over the quarantine system.
Speaking at a press conference, Mr Marshall said without teams from NSW and Victoria undergoing two weeks isolation, SA wasn’t in position to host a hub of AFL sides.
“Can I just reiterate that we are working with the AFL. We want to see this season get away. We want to see it completed. We want to see the South Australian teams back playing here in South Australia,” Mr Marshall said.
“So at this stage, it’s difficult. There is no possibility of a hub in the next couple of weeks but we will explore all options for the remainder of the season and we would love to see AFL at the Adelaide oval.”
Mr Marshall also sought to ease fears about the state’s quarantine system, saying there were clear distinctions between SA and the rest of the rest of the country.
“I can confirm to the people of South Australia that we have 100 per cent compliance with the testing regime that we have in place. It is not an optional arrangement in South Australia. It is compulsory and we have 100 per cent compliance with testing,” he said.
“I can also allay people’s concerns as to whether or not people that are in that supervised quarantine have the ability to go out and get exercise. That is not the case in South Australia.”
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Max Maddison 12.50pm: NSW demands tighter screening from Victoria
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has reiterated his call for robust screening at Melbourne railway stations, as the state tries to avoid further transmission of cases from Victoria.
Mr Hazzard said he would again strongly suggest implementing further measures to prevent people travelling to Sydney from Melbourne hot spots.
“I’m strongly of the view that they need to be implementing a screening process at the train station in Victoria, and to be looking at things that we’re looking at here. Obviously, one of those would be looking at any identification before they catch the train,” Mr Hazzard told a press conference.
“It would be helpful from our point of view here, that if people who had Victorian licenses or IDs for example, that showed hotspot addresses, that they wouldn’t be allowed to come here.”
On Thursday, after being tested for COVID-19, a passenger with “flu-like” symptoms, caught a XPT train from Melbourne to Sydney before being flagged by health staff while disembarking.
Mr Hazzard said the explanations offered by Victorian health authorities regarding the incident had been “acceptable”.
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Rachel Baxendale 12.30pm: Fears of a Melbourne ‘super spreader’
More than 10,000 Victorians in COVID-19 hot spots have refused to be tested for the virus, the state’s Health Minister has revealed.
The news comes as Victoria grapples with 442 active cases of the virus, which has already caused the lockdown of 10 suburbs in Melbourne’s north and west.
Health Minister Jenny Mikakos also warned about a potential “super-spreader” who could be responsible for “many cases” across Melbourne’s northern and western suburbs.
Ms Mikakos said more than 164,000 tests had been since the Andrews government began a testing blitz last week, targeting the hotspot suburbs but with tests conducted across the state.
Almost 95,000 doors were knocked in hot spots as part of the testing blitz, with 449 new cases confirmed since Thursday June 25, including 111 new cases of community transmission, where the source of the infection is unknown.
“Disappointingly, however, we have had more than 10,000 people who have refused to be tested,” Ms Mikakos said.
“Now that might be for a variety of reasons, including that they may have already been tested in a different location.
“We are analysing that data to see exactly why people are refusing, but it is concerning that the report that I have received is that some people believe that coronavirus is a conspiracy, or that it won’t impact on them.
“So what I want to stress here is that coronavirus is a very contagious virus. It can go through your family very quickly. It can affect your neighbours, it can affect your loved ones. It can affect your entire community.
“So for those individuals in those communities who have not yet been tested, we are urging them to get tested as quickly as possible.”
Victoria now has a testing rate of 13,359 tests per 100,000 people, with a total of 881,000 tests conducted since the pandemic began.
READ MORE: Nervous nation watches Melbourne
Jack Paynter 12pm: Victorians fined for breaching restrictions
Seven Victorians have been hit with fines for breaching coronavirus restrictions as 10 hotspot postcodes returned to lockdown restrictions again.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton confirmed on radio he was aware of at least seven fines handed out for breaches of the chief health officer’s restrictions on Thursday.
He said five of those fines were given to alleged offenders driving around in a car with drugs and weapons, on top of criminal charges.
Another was given to a woman from one of the hot spot postcodes who was allegedly found armed with a hammer in the CBD.
It comes as police said booze bus roadblocks would visit up to 15 different locations a day as authorities crack down on Victorians doing the wrong thing.
Police launched Operation Sanus on Thursday with booze buses and mobile police facilities being used as part of a highly visible roll out across the 10 restricted postcodes.
“They will be deployed in and around the 36 restricted suburbs so police can perform random checks on drivers and passengers to explain their reason for travel,” Sergeant Julie-Anne Newman said on Friday morning.
“The booze buses will be shifting locations during each shift and people living in or travelling through these suburbs can expect to see a highly visible police presence.
“The booze buses and mobile police facilities will visit approximately 15 different locations each day, but this number may fluctuate up or down as required.”
Mr Patton said the very small window of police discretion was rapidly closing.
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Max Maddison 11.30am: First time in 3 weeks NSW has zero cases
NSW has recorded zero new cases of coronavirus – the first time in three weeks.
In updated figures, NSW Health said despite 17,848 tests, no cases had been recorded in the hotel quarantine or in the community between 8pm on 1 July and 8pm on 2 July.
Total cases remain at 3211, with 67 active cases currently being treated by health authorities – one person remains in intensive care.
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Rachel Baxendale 11.12am: Victoria records 66 new cases, 6 in ICU
Victoria has recorded its fifth straight day of more than 60 new coronavirus cases and its sixteenth with a double digit increase, with 66 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday.
The new cases bring the state’s total number of cases to 2368.
Of the 66 new cases, 17 are linked to known outbreaks, one was in hotel quarantine, 20 were detected through routine testing, and 28 are under investigation.
More than 10,000 people have refused to take a test.
Premier Daniel Andrew said he was pleased to see a relative flattening of case numbers despite increased testing, but cautioned that there is still a way to go in bringing the number back down.
“While it may be too early for us to be talking about trends, a day with 66 is obviously far preferable to seeing a doubling and then a doubling again,” he said.
“We are starting to see all of the usual caveats, we can’t predict what tomorrow’s numbers will be, we do need more time in order to get a firmer hold on whether there is a positive trend there. But certainly, to see these numbers relatively consistent is a very pleasing.
“We will be able to talk in more definitive terms as the days pass.”.
There are now 442 active cases in Victoria.
Hospitalisations have increased from 15 on Wednesday to 23 on Friday, including six COVID-19 patients in intensive care.
There were 24,430 tests conducted on Thursday, bringing the total number of tests in Victoria since the pandemic began to 881,021.
The Andrews government on Friday announced an additional $1.95m for mental health support in locked down postcodes.
The money comes in addition to a previously announced $59.4m COVID-19 mental health package.
READ MORE: Nation watches as Victoria plays guinea pig
Max Maddison 11.00am: Two hospital workers test positive
Two emergency workers at a hospital in Melbourne’s north have returned positive coronavirus tests.
In an email to staff, Northern Hospital in Epping recommended that all emergency department employees undergo a swab test.
Hospital authorities said contact tracing has identified close contacts, and they are in self-isolation.
READ MORE: Fresh blow for virus capital
Yoni Bashan 10.55am: Harwin escapes $1000 COVID-19 breach fine
Former NSW arts minister Don Harwin has been cleared of a $1000 infringement notice for allegedly breaching COVID-19 restrictions in March, setting up his likely return to the Berejiklian cabinet.
The Office of the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions formally withdrew the charge at Gosford Local Court on Friday morning. The Australian revealed on Wednesday the matter had been handed to the DPP by the NSW Police Force because it was considered sensitive in nature.
The matter had originally been slated to be heard on October 28 but was expedited to an earlier date for reasons which both Mr Harwin’s legal team and the DPP have refused to comment upon.
Mr Harwin has been contacted for comment.
The former arts minister was fined by police in April after allegedly commuting between Sydney and his holiday home on the NSW central coast at a time when the state’s residents were banned from all non-essential travel.
As a result of the infringement, which was reviewed and upheld by NSW Police Commissioner Michael Fuller, Mr Harwin voluntarily stood aside from his numerous cabinet portfolios as well as his role as president of the NSW Legislative Council.
READ the full story here
Max Maddison 10.35am: Victoria hot spot residents barred across Australia
Victorian hotspot residents will be forced to quarantine for 14 days across the entirety of Australia – except for NSW.
As Victorian health authorities race to control the second wave of infections, state and territory governments have begun issuing directives to force people into quarantine at their own expense.
Earlier this morning, the ACT said the “unfolding” situation in Victoria meant anyone who visited from the 10 “hot spots” postcodes would have to return to their own jurisdiction if they didn’t wish to quarantine.
“Passengers on inbound flights from Melbourne flights will now be asked to provide identification when they arrive at Canberra Airport to support this new direction,” the Public Health Direction said.
“Penalties and fines may apply to people who fail to comply with the Direction.”
On Wednesday, Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner announced that the border reopening would proceed on July 17, however, Victorian hot spots would be excluded from those plans.
Visitors would need to declare if they had travelled through a coronavirus hotspot in the last 28 days, with anyone arriving from a hotspot forced to self-quarantine for two weeks in a regional centre at their own expense.
The directives follow Queensland, West Australia, South Australia and Tasmania which already have border restrictions in place for visitors, requiring people to self-quarantine.
However, the NSW government continues to resist calls to implement border restrictions, despite an infectious man flying from Melbourne to Sydney 10 days after testing positive to coronavirus.
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Agencies 10.30am: Current virus gene ‘more infectious than original’
The genetic variation of the novel coronavirus that dominates the world today infects human cells more readily than the original that emerged in China, according to a new study published in the journal Cell on Thursday.
The lab-based research suggests this current mutation is more transmissible between people in the real world compared to the previous iteration, but this hasn’t yet been proven.
“I think the data is showing that there is a single mutation that actually makes the virus be able to replicate better, and maybe have high viral loads,” Anthony Fauci, the United States’s top infectious disease specialist, who wasn’t involved in the research, commented to Journal of the American Medical Association.
“We don’t have a connection to whether an individual does worse with this or not. It just seems that the virus replicates better and may be more transmissible, but this is still at the stage of trying to confirm that,” he added.
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Richard Ferguson 10.15am: China hits out at HK safe haven offer
China has hit out at Scott Morrison’s offer of safe haven to Hong Kong nationals fleeing the mainland’s security crackdown, warning Australia not to go down the “wrong path.”
The Australian has revealed Hong Kong nationals would have a fast track to resettlement in Australia through the skilled visa program, under an option cabinet will consider next week.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said overnight that Australia should look at the Hong Kong laws – which threaten pro-democracy activity with life jail sentences – in an “objective light” and told the federal government to stop interfering in China’s affairs.
“We advise the Australian side to look at the national security legislation in Hong Kong in a correct and objective light,” he said in Beijing.
“Stop interfering in China’s internal affairs with Hong Kong as a pretext, and refrain from going further down the wrong path.”
READ MORE: Visa fast track for HK nationals fleeing crackdown
Max Maddison 9.35am: Barilaro: We’ll consider closing Victoria border
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro says he’ll give greater consideration to state border security, after an infectious man was allowed to leave quarantine and board a flight to Sydney.
Mr Barilaro said the incident demonstrated the current threat to NSW, but resisted calls to close the Victorian border, despite the virus making its way to Sydney.
“This is the problem. We’ve been worried about that border. We’ve trusted that Victoria would do the right thing with its quarantine, with the way its measuring and managing the crisis,” Mr Barilaro told Sky News.
“To see someone go into quarantine, test positive, then after ten days get on a plane to Sydney. That’s where the threat for NSW is. We’ll have to give this greater consideration.”
The issue with closing the border, Mr Barilaro said, was it would hinder efforts to rebuild the economy. However, he flagged further action if anything “abnormal” appeared.
“We’ve got a health system in place to pick up any of the slack if there’s any spike in NSW, let’s stick to our plan. If there’s anything abnormal outside of that, then of course, we’ll have to consider further action,” he said.
READ MORE: New limits as virus hits warehouse
Jack Paynter 9.30am: Coles brings back product limits
Victorian and Tasmanian Coles have reinstated more product limits after distribution centre workers tested positive for coronavirus, hurting the supermarkets giant’s ability to replenish shelves.
Panic buying has also re-emerged across Victoria in recent weeks as people raided shelves in anticipation of a second lockdown.
New two-pack limits apply to:
• Fresh milk
• Canned tomatoes
• Cheese
• Canned beans
• Butter
• Canned garden veg
• Margarine
• Pasta sauce
• Chicken breast
• Canned fruit
• Chicken thighs
• Canned baked beans and spaghetti
• Prepacked carrots
• Canned meat
• Prepacked potatoes
• Frozen fruit and veg, including potato
• Pasta
• Mince
• Flour
• Eggs
• Hand sanitiser
• UHT milk
• Sugar
• Rice.
The measures apply to supermarkets, Coles Express and Coles Online in Victoria and Tasmania, as well as Lavington, Albury and Deniliquin in New South Wales.
They are in addition to the two-pack limits announced last week in response to panic buying and the one-pack limits on toilet paper and paper towel across the country.
NWK news
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Rachel Baxendale 9.25am: Half of Vic active cases out of locked down suburbs
Only half of Victoria’s 415 active coronavirus cases are in local government areas covering the 10 postcodes locked down on Wednesday night, heaping pressure on the Andrews government to consider extending the lockdown to other postcodes or even the whole of Melbourne.
Hume, in Melbourne’s outer north, Brimbank in the outer west, Moreland in the north, Moonee Valley in the northwest and Maribyrnong in the west, all of which contain hotspot postcodes, have 208 active cases between them.
Victoria’s other 207 active cases, including at least 60 new cases confirmed on Wednesday and Thursday, are outside these locked down postcodes.
Outside the lockdown, the City of Melbourne, which covers Melbourne’s CBD, has had 17 new cases since Wednesday, only three of which are attributable to new cases in hotel quarantine, and now has a total of 29 active cases.
There was also a net increase of 10 infections on Wednesday and Thursday in the southwestern Melbourne LGA of Wyndham, which is home to the Al-Taqwa Islamic College in Truganina, so far linked to at least 10 cases.
Wyndham has a total of 22 active cases.
Other LGAs with high active caseloads but no postcodes in lockdown include Casey in the outer southeast and Whittlesea in the outer north with 21 each, Melton in the outer northwest with 19, and Yarra in the inner northeast with 12.
They compare with the hotspot postcodes of Hume with 85 active cases, Brimbank 49, Moreland and Moonee Valley with 32 each, and Maribyrnong with 10.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and Health Minister Jenny Mikakos are due to give a press conference at 11am AEST.
READ MORE: Cases surge outside locked down suburbs
Max Maddison 8.20am: Melbourne police officer tests positive
A Melbourne police officer has tested positive for COVID-19.
It is currently unknown how the officer, stationed at Werribee Police Station, in Melbourne’s south-west, contracted the virus, sparking a scramble to determine whether they had any contact with the public while infectious.
Police command were notified on Wednesday, with six police officers, who were close contacts with the infectious cop, told to self isolate for 14 days. Werribee Station underwent a deep clean before reopening this morning.
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Max Maddison 8.00am: Central Coast school closed as pupil tests positive
A Central Coast high school will close for the day after a possible case of coronavirus.
In a statement, Green Point Christian College Principal Phillip Nash said a senior student would undergo further tests to determine whether he had the virus, after NSW Health notified the school of a “possible, but unconfirmed” case of coronavirus.
BREAKING: Green Point Christian College on the Central Coast has been closed after a senior student was exposed to coronavirus. The school will be closed for students and staff while awaiting the confirmation of a second test. #7NEWS https://t.co/YZdgaO3OoQ
— 7NEWS Sydney (@7NewsSydney) July 2, 2020
“A senior student from our school will have further tests and the results will be known tomorrow afternoon,” Mr Nash said in a letter to parents.
“The school will be non-operational for the on-site attendance of staff and students today as an extra precaution while we await confirmation of the result.”
READ MORE: Postcode segregation the mother load
Max Maddison 7.55am: No other choice but to keep subsidies: Lambie
Scott Morrison doesn’t have “any other choice” than to continue JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments while the nation struggles with the virus, says Senator Jacqui Lambie, while calling for a significant increase to Newstart payments.
"I don't think the government has any other choice but to leave both JobSeeper and JobKeeker in." @JacquiLambie on the new research warning that the country could fall off an "economic cliff" when JobSeeker ends. #9Today pic.twitter.com/JJdfbRvvAk
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) July 2, 2020
While the country sorted out a “clear and precise” way forward, Senator Lambie said the wage subsidy programs continued to be crucial for local communities.
“I don’t think the government has any other choice but to leave both JobSeeker and JobKeeper in, because I can tell you now the last thing you want is people that are already under financial difficulties,” Senator Lambie told the Today Show on Nine.
“Putting them under more and every little bit of that money spent on the JobSeeker usually goes back into their local community which is helping those small businesses that have got this far that have survived, to try and keep surviving.”
Pointing to the federal government’s $270bn package on defence spending, Ms Lambie said there seemed to be “plenty of money sitting up there”.
“I can tell you now they could certainly do with a minimum $150 rise a fortnight. That’s at the very minimum, straight after that JobSeeker anyway, and leave it in there,” she said.
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Max Maddison 7.40am: Priority to fix Melbourne debacle: Birmingham
Trade Minister Simon Birmingham doesn’t want to see anymore “chronic failures”, like the Victorian hotel quarantine situation, as the nation scrambles to contain the virus before it spreads.
With the federal government providing “all the resources we can”, Mr Birmingham said the priority was getting the “incredibly disappointing” situation in Victoria sorted.
“The fact that you have the State and Territory government, the Federal Government, all of us putting partisanship aside to try to help Victoria get on top of this gives us the best possible chance,” Mr Birmingham told Today on Nine.
“We have to hope that we see no more of the chronic failures we have seen around hotel quarantine happen again.”
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Max Maddison 7.20am: Melbourne hotel fiasco ‘Vic’s Ruby Princess’
Melbourne’s hotel quarantine fiasco is the state’s “own Ruby Princess”, says Victoria’s Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien, as he calls for “heads to roll”.
With Victorians now suffering due to state government’s “bad decisions”, Mr O’Brien slammed the decision to leave the same “unqualified, untrained and unprofessional security guards” supervising some hotel quarantine.
State Health Minister @JennyMikakos is facing calls to be fired for her role in the “botched†quarantine hotels program. Do you think she should stay or go? 🤔https://t.co/pxlfJVHmpM
— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) July 2, 2020
“Well, some of those same private security guards are still guarding hotel quarantine. That is just unbelievable,” Mr O’Brien told Seven’s Sunrise.
“Why Daniel Andrews didn’t take up the offer to have ADF personnel, people who are trained, people who know what they’re doing, why he didn’t take up that offer is beyond me and unfortunately, 300,000 Victorians are facing extra lockdowns because of those bad decisions.”
With infections travelling to Darwin and Sydney, Mr O’Brien called on Health Minister Jenny Mikakos to “fall on her sword” and apologise to Victorians.
“The Victorian government has let the rest of the country down. It’s hard to put it any other way. Why would you allow someone who tested positive for coronavirus in quarantine and then letting them out for you test them again?,” he said.
“It beggars belief. Frankly, heads should roll. I have said the Health Minister needs to go, there has to be accountability when these mistakes are made.”
READ MORE: Rest of Australia watches Melbourne nervously
Mark Buttler 7.05am: Quarantined travellers ‘went shopping with guards’
Fresh claims of rorting and dodgy practices by private security contractors have emerged in the hotel quarantine scandal rocking the Andrews Government.
Industry insiders told the Herald Sun some guards received JobKeeper payments while taking cash for their quarantine shifts.
Pressure is mounting on Premier Daniel Andrews to explain how operators with limited experience were brought in to help manage the sensitive program, resulting in a huge spike in coronavirus infections in Melbourne.
New allegations have emerged of guards walking returned travellers, who were meant to be locked down, to 7-Eleven stores and to busy shopping centres.
One guard is also alleged to have done shifts as an Uber driver while employed at a hotel.
READ MORE: Cases surge outside Melbourne
Max Maddison 6.55am: Global virus cases reach toward 11m
Global confirmed cases of coronavirus are nearing 10.8m, with global deaths at 517,955, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
After a relative easing of recorded cases, Brazil saw confirmed infections spike to 46,712 yesterday, taking the country’s total 1,448,753 cases, and 60,632 deaths.
Confirmed cases in India tipped 600,000 after another 19,160 cases were recorded overnight, with the country’s battle with the outbreak showing little sign of abating. While Iran’s second wave of infections has stubbornly remained at high levels, consistently reporting around 2,500 new cases daily.
Recorded cases in Sweden exceeded 70,000 after another 947 were reported overnight. The Scandinavian country, whose herd immunity strategy has drawn widespread criticism, has 70,639 confirmed cases and 5,411 coronavirus-related deaths.
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Agencies 6.35am: Facebook to advise users to wear masks
Facebook said Thursday it would offer reminders to its users to wear protective masks, responding to the latest surge in US coronavirus cases, which has sparked renewed fears of containing the pandemic.
With the rise in COVID-19 cases in the US, we’re putting an alert at the top of Facebook and Instagram to remind everyone to wear face coverings and find more prevention tips from the CDC in our COVID-19 Information Center. https://t.co/M0oICJGPDT
— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) July 2, 2020
The social network giant said it would include the alerts at the top of feeds on Facebook and Instagram, starting in the United States with plans to expand in the future.
“With the rise in COVID-19 cases in the US, we’re putting an alert at the top of Facebook and Instagram to remind everyone to wear face coverings,” the company said in a statement.
READ MORE: US rolls back shut down
Staff writers 6.25am: US daily cases in record 50,000 rise
New coronavirus cases in the US have passed 50,000 for the first time in a single-day record, as some cities and businesses reversed course on reopenings ahead of the July Fourth holiday weekend.
The US accounts for about a quarter of more than 10.7 million coronavirus cases world-wide, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. A total of 50,655 cases were reported on Wednesday in America, according to Johns Hopkins data. The nation’s death toll climbed above 128,000.
While the US has the world’s highest number of fatalities, its percentage of fatal cases – 4.8 per cent – isn’t the highest. With more than 39 deaths per 100,000 population, however, the death rate per capita is among the top 10 countries in the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins.
READ MORE:
Rachel Baxendale 5.50am: Victoria exporting cases across the nation
Victoria has allowed a COVID-19 positive man to leave hotel quarantine and travel interstate without requiring a coronavirus test, sparking an infection scare in Sydney’s inner-west and a lockdown of 50 people.
A second interstate infection was also reported in the Northern Territory on Thursday after a man who had been in Victorian hotel quarantine, before visiting a Melbourne coronavirus hotspot, tested positive in Darwin.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt ordered the nation’s top health officials to investigate the NSW case after it emerged the man had tested positive to COVID-19 early in his stay in hotel quarantine in Melbourne, but been released later without a second test. The interstate spread of infection from the Andrews government’s hotel quarantine regime comes after a judicial inquiry was called into the operation of the program after breaches at two hotels resulting in at least 49 COVID-19 cases in private security contractors and their close contacts were genomically linked to much of Victoria’s renewed surge in infection rates.
READ the full story here
Steve Jackson 5.40am: Sydney guards suspected of sleeping on the job
Private security guards employed to enforce NSW’s strict hotel quarantines have been sleeping on the job, potentially exposing the state to further outbreaks of the deadly COVID-19 pathogen.
A series of images obtained by The Australian document private security personnel, hired by the state government and overseen by the NSW Police Force, appearing to doze off while on duty at Sydney hotels in May and June.
The serious security lapses mean returning travellers who were possible carriers of the contagion could have moved in and out of their designated 14-day quarantine zones undetected, rendering contact tracing of the virus virtually impossible.
It follows allegations of similar lapses in hotel quarantine security in Melbourne that have been blamed as the main cause of a second wave of coronavirus outbreaks across the city, forcing the lockdown of 37 suburbs and bringing into question whether private contractors are properly equipped to handle the task.
READ the full story here
Remy Varga 5.30am: Postcode segregation the mother load
Soula Ikonomopoulos and her mother, Irine, 80, have lived side by side in Melbourne’s inner north for more than 20 years but are now separated for the crime of living in different postcodes.
The two women live just metres apart but, while Ms Ikonomopoulos lives in Brunswick and receives mail to postcode 3056, her mother, on the corner, lives in Brunswick West, postcode 3055.
As the state government’s coronavirus postcode shutdown came into effect and more than 1000 Victoria Police officers armed with number plate recognition technology and drones started to enforce lockdown boundaries, the two women worry about how they will live under different laws and restrictions.
The Ikonomopoulos family had plans to head to their holiday home in Tootgarook on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula for the school break, but will no longer go now their yiayia is again subject to stage three social-distancing restrictions.
“She thinks she’s going to get into trouble,” Ms Ikonomopoulos said. “She said ‘I’m not going’ [and] we would do that together, so we’re not doing that now.”
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