Coronavirus Australia live updates: NSW Arts Minister resigns; Australia ‘on cusp’ of defeating pandemic; JobKeeper funds ‘may extend beyond six months’
NSW Arts Minister Don Harwin has resigned two days after it was revealed he had decamped to his central coast holiday home during the coronavirus crisis.
- Nation ‘on cusp’ of controlling pandemic
- Death toll now 54
- Victorian death brings national toll to 52
- JobKeeper funds ‘may be extended’
- US death toll closes in on Italy, Spain
- Where you can, can’t go this weekend
Welcome to live coverage of the continuing coronavirus crisis. Australia is ‘on the cusp’ of defeating the pandemic, the deputy CMO says, as infection rates lower despite the national death toll reaching 54. The Morrison government has flagged it may consider extending $130bn JobKeeper package beyond six months if economy fails to recover.
Imogen Reid 10.05pm: Tasmania confirms 11 new cases
Tasmania’s acting director of public health Scott McKeown has confirmed 11 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the state’s tally to 122.
Eight of the cases are healthcare workers who have worked at either or both the North West Regional Hospital and North West Private Hospital. The other two NWRH patients.
Imogen Reid 9.55pm: Queensland tightens border restrictions
Queensland police have announced further restrictions, tightenening state border controls in an attempt to reduce the spread of coronavirus.
In a statement on Friday it was revealed that Queensland residents returning from interstate will require a new Queensland Entry Pass from midnight on Good Friday. All existing green entry passes will be invalid from 12:01 on Saturday April 11.
“An exempt resident who arrives in Queensland must self-quarantine for fourteen days if they have been in a COVID-19 hotspot area unless their travel was for an essential purpose,” the statement read.
“There is no change for interstate freight transport services which will remain exempt.
“The intent of the restrictions is to minimise social contact and non-essential travel to protect the health and safety of everyone in the community.”
Entry passes will be issued on an individual basis. All individuals entering the state, including children, will require their own pass.
AAP 9.45pm: Rapid testing rolled out in regional NSW
Regional NSW towns will soon have access to rapid coronavirus testing meaning samples won’t have to be sent to Sydney for analysis, AAP reports.
Broken Hill health workers will over Easter repurpose a machine used to rapidly test flu samples so it can detect the novel coronavirus.
It should be operational by Monday and more regional areas will follow as specific hardware is imported.
“That is really important, particularly for the more distant sites,” NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said on Friday.
“Having that point-of-care testing, or testing that comes back in about an hour, is very useful because it gives us more rapid identification of cases.” St Vincent’s Hospital is already using its repurposed GeneXpert machine in its emergency department and will also begin trialling another molecular test in the coming days.
Of the 137,000 people tested for coronavirus in NSW since January, 70 per cent have been in Sydney or on the Central Coast.
Just 322 people in far western NSW have been tested while northern NSW and the Murrumbidgee are the two regions where there have been fewer than one test per 1000 residents.
Those three regions account for 100 positive cases.
Dr Chant defended the current turnaround time for testing - which can see results for Sydney-based cases returned within 24 hours.
“The issue for rural and remote areas is the time it takes for specimens to come down to Sydney,” she said.
“As we get more (novel coronavirus) cartridges for our GeneXperts, we will be looking at deploying this test across various sites.
“We’ll have a mind to supporting rural and regional communities so we can give them access to the testing that is much more prompt in the metropolitan area.” NSW has so far recorded 2822 cases and 22 deaths from COVID-19.
AAP 6.55pm: NSW minister resigns after breaching ban
NSW Arts Minister Don Harwin has resigned his portfolio two days after it was revealed he had decamped to his central coast holiday home during the coronavirus crisis.
Mr Harwin on Thursday returned to his primary residence in Sydney on the premier’s instructions before announcing his resignation on Friday evening. He’d been fined $1000 by NSW Police for relocating from Elizabeth Bay to Pearl Beach “in contravention of a current ministerial direction”.
“There is nothing more important than the work of the government in fighting the coronavirus crisis,” Mr Harwin said in a statement on Friday evening. “I will not allow my circumstances to be a distraction from that work and I very much regret that my residential arrangements have become an issue during this time.” Mr Harwin said he’d sought at all times to act in accordance with public health orders and “remains confident” he had done so.
But, he acknowledged, “perception is just as important during these times”. Premier Gladys Berejiklian said in a statement that Mr Harwin had “appropriately resigned from cabinet”.
“The police, who have been tasked by my government with enforcing these health orders, came to the conclusion that Minister Harwin breached the order,” the Liberal leader said on Friday evening.
“While Minister Harwin has served the people of NSW well, and he continues to assure me that he did not break the rules, the orders in place apply equally to everybody.” The minister earlier this week said he’d been mostly living on the central coast for four months for health reasons.
“I live in a very built-up area in Sydney with high density and here I have windows that can open so I can have the fresh air and I can walk in fresh air and I have more room in my house here than I would have in my small apartment,” he told the Daily Telegraph in Pearl Beach.
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller has previously said people should be in lockdown at their primary residence to prevent regional hospitals from potentially becoming overwhelmed with sick city-dwellers.
Officials across the world have been caught flouting self-isolation rules and reprimanded including Scotland’s chief medical officer Catherine Calderwood and New Zealand Health Minister David Clark.
Victoria Laurie 5.50pm: Cruise passengers to be released from quarantine
Around 800 passengers from the cruise ship Vasco da Gama will be released from their two-week quarantine in Perth today, but 600 of the interstate passengers cannot return to other states until flights are organised.
West Australians from the ship who were sent to sit out 14 days isolation on Rottnest Island, 20 kms off Perth, were due to be reunited with families at the ferry terminal in Fremantle late on Friday. They are all in good health.
But Health minister Roger Cook admitted that his department is still trying to organise flights to repatriate the large group of interstate passengers, who have spent 14 days unable to leave their Perth hotel rooms.
“Flights have been severely interrupted, so it might take some days,” Mr Cook said.
Brisbane-based passenger Paul Bailey and his wife Sarah have been told their booked Qantas flight to Brisbane early next week has been cancelled and no seats are available for rebooking.
He said a government official contacted him to say 1500 people are all seeking flights out of Perth, just as Qantas and Virgin have drastically reduced or cancelled domestic schedules.
Qantas’ reduced services during the Easter period are due to a 95 per cent decline in demand.
Brisbane-headquartered Virgin Australia has announced it will axe all domestic passenger routes, and will operate just one daily service between Sydney and Melbourne.
Mr Bailey says Vasco da Gama passengers now face days in limbo in Perth awaiting flights. “Our quarantine exemption status in our home states depends on us travelling directly there after release and is now also possibly in jeopardy,” he said.
“We support the quarantine process as necessary in the national interest, but it has been poorly executed to date in Western Australia.”
He said 120 New Zealand passengers from the Vasco da Gama were on flights back to Auckland within 48 hours of the ship docking in Fremantle on March 27, after their government arranged a special Air New Zealand flight.
West Australian passenger Wendy Wiklund said she was glad to be leaving quarantine at the former holiday destination of Rottnest Island, and returning to her home and family.
“We were treated well, we had lots of food delivered and we were able to exercise and have a glass of wine outside in the sunshine,” she said. “The interstate people stuck in hotels, with no alcohol and nobody allowed to go out for even 30 minutes of exercise, had a much harder time.”
Minister Cook said WA had only 11 new Covid-19 cases overnight, four of which were more infected crew members from the German cruise ship Artania.
It brings to 65 the positive-tested cases from the Artania, which has also suffered two deaths of Covid-affected passengers. The Artania is responsible for more cases than the 53 cases in WA connected to the Ruby Princess, which last month in Sydney offloaded 2700 passengers who returned to their home states and spread the virus widely.
Mr Cook said the Artania’s remaining crew of around 400 were self-isolating on board. They were being monitored by Ausmat and Australian Border Force, and the ship was now due to leave Fremantle on April 18.
READ MORE: The COVID-19 mistakes that will leave us poorer
Richard Ferguson 5.20pm: Australia’s COVID-free towns revealed
Large tracts of Australia remain free of coronavirus as Scott Morrison urges city-dwellers to stay home and prevent outbreaks in largely unaffected rural and remote parts of the country.
More than 135 regions and local government areas have recorded no COVID-19 cases up until Friday in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia.
The vast majority of the COVID-free zones are small regional towns and the biggest bulk are in heavily locked down WA.
Read the full story here.
Brent Read 4.40pm: NRL ‘not a law unto itself”, health authorities warn
The NRL’s plan to return next month has come under fire after NSW’s Health Minister and the country’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer questioned rugby league’s haste to resume their competition.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard told a media conference this morning that it had been four or five weeks since he heard from NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg or ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys
“The only meeting that I have had with about a month ago with Todd Greenberg and Peter V’landys. This was before they made a decision to shut the game down so I have not had any discussions at this stage.”
Within hours, deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly chimed in as he urged the NRL to act with caution.
“Whether May is the time will remain to be seen and definitely they’ll need to get some permission to do that,” Professor Kelly said.
Asked whether rugby league was a law unto itself, Professor Kelly added: “Some of the players and coaches may think so, but they’re part of society, but they’re part of society and they have a part … to support not only safety for themselves but all of us.
“There’s other people around the teams — Wayne Bennett is in his 70s, he would be in a vulnerable group, Ricky Stuart with the mighty Raiders, he would potentially be in a vulnerable group.
Christine Kellett 3.45pm: Good news as recovery rates in SA hit 40pc
Forty per cent of people infected with COVID-19 in South Australia have now recovered, health authorities say.
The state has recorded seven new confirmed cases overnight, bringing South Australia’s total to 428. Four of those are currently in a critical condition.
Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Dr Mike Cusack said 179 people had now recovered.
“Not that we think we’re through this in any way, we’re still in the opening rounds of the coronavirus,” Dr Cusack said.
He said recent infections included no further cases linked to the Ruby Princess cruise ship.
“I think the peak is going to be pushed down and further out.”
Christine Kellett 3.35pm: Tasmanian death brings nationwide fatalities to 54
The death of an elderly man in Tasmania overnight pushes Australia’s national death toll to 54.
Tasmania’s Health Minister Sarah Courtney said the man died in the North-West Regional Hospital, where there has been an outbreak of the virus. Four people have now died in Tasmania from coronavirus.
The island state, which has shut its borders under its “Fortress Tasmania” strategy several weeks ago, has recorded 111 COVID-19 infections in total, including four new cases overnight.
All staff who have worked in North West Regional Hospital’s medical and surgical wards have been asked to quarantine for 14 days to combat the virus cluster.
READ MORE: Terrible reality of using ventilators
Tim Dodd 3.20pm: Free SIM cards and data for struggling students
Optus will donate SIM cards and free data to high school students who are struggling to get online to take classes during the coronavirus lockdown.
Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin said, as schools shifted to remote learning, it was essential that school students were able to stay connected.
The company is working with not-for-profit Australian Business and Community Network (ABCN) to distribute up to 6,000 SIM cards to students in disadvantaged high schools across the nation.
In the first stage of the program, called Donate Your Data, several hundred students in some NSW disadvantaged high schools will receive SIM cards loaded with free data.
Tim Lloyd, principal of Plumpton High School in Sydney which is participating in the program, said 30 per cent of his students don’t have reliable internet access at home.
“One of our high achieving Year 11 refugee students is panicking about missing out – the only device she has is a basic phone and her mother can’t afford much data for her as well as four siblings,” Mr Lloyd said.
“Without internet access she is isolated even though the school has provided her a laptop.”
ABCN chief executive Allegra Spender said some parents were nearly in tears when they heard that free data would be available for their children.
“It will certainly ease the stress on families who are hurting,” she said.
Optus mobile customers can support the program by donating their data through the My Optus app.
READ MORE: $25m aid fund for international students
Richard Ferguson 2.30pm: Australia ‘on the cusp’ of defeating pandemic
Australia is “on the cusp” of defeating the coronavirus pandemic as the range of people infected by one COVID-19 patient is getting lower and lower.
Deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly said Australia is not at the danger rate of infection — an average of five people infected by one direct source — and that the epidemic could die out in several weeks at the earliest: as long as shutdown measures remain in place and people continue to socially distance.
“Ideally, where you want to be is below one. So less than other person being infected, once the person themselves is infected,” he said in Canberra.
“Once you get to that point, the epidemic dies out. At the moment, we’re probably on the cusp of that in Australia.
“Whether that’s where we’re going to be in several weeks or months’ time remains to be seen. But at the moment, we’re certainly not anywhere near five (people being infected by one person).”
Dr Kelly said it was still too early to lift social distancing restrictions and urged Australians to stay home for Easter.
Encouraging figures showed the infection rate rising just 1.8 per cent over the past three days.
Australia’s daily increase in cases fell below 100 on Thursday, the first time it has slipped under that daily threshold for three weeks.
More than 6100 people in Australia have contracted coronavirus, with 53 deaths — including new deaths on Friday in NSW and Victoria.
READ MORE: Kohler: Three big mistakes leave us poorer
Lachlan Moffet Gray 2.10pm: A COVID-19 patient needed ECMO. What is it?
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has revealed one coronavirus patient in intensive care has required use of an ECMO because their condition had deteriorated beyond the point a standard ventilator would be helpful. But what is it?
An ECMO, or Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Machine, is used to treat patients whose heart or lungs have shut down.
The device oxygenates blood in the patient’s body by manually removing it from the bloodstream, pumping it with oxygen, removing carbon dioxide and then re-circulating the oxygenated blood into the body.
The machine is typically used in instances of severe respiratory failure, or when an individual suffers serious cardiac arrest.
Doctors in China began using ECMO as early as February of this year to treat around three per cent of coronavirus patients whose condition has deteriorated to the point that even with the assistance of a ventilator, oxygenation of the blood is impossible.
READ MORE: How coronavirus attacks your body
Tim Dodd 1.40pm: International students to get $25m in aid
Deakin University will spend up to $25 million in the next six months in emergency aid for its 16,000 international students, many of whom have lost their part-time jobs and have no way to support themselves in Australia.
In an email to Deakin students on Thursday, vice-chancellor Iain Martin said “some of those students face a very desperate situation where their part-time and casual work is gone or drying up, and they can’t return home yet can’t afford to stay.”
The aid for international students is in addition to other support the university is giving to domestic students who are experiencing hardship because of COVID-19.
International students are required to come to Australia with enough money to support themselves for their first year, but in later years typically take casual work – usually in the retail and service sectors – to support themselves. They are allowed to work 40 hours a fortnight under the conditions of their student visas.
Read the full story here.
Lachlan Moffet Gray 1.02pm: NZ confirms second coronavirus death
New Zealand has confirmed its second coronavirus death and 44 additional confirmed cases, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 1,283.
The latest victim, a woman was in her 90s, died in Burwood Hospital in Christchurch.
Deputy Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay said the woman died on Thursday and had a number of underlying age-related health problems.
New Zealand’s level four lockdowns, which ban all non-essential travel and shut all non-essential businesses, meant the woman’s family could not visit her in hospital prior to her death.
The woman was part of a confirmed cluster at the Rosewood aged-care centre in Christchurch, several residents of which have been hospitalised with coronavirus in recent days.
Dr McElnay said not all the residents of the home had been tested, but all were being treated as probable cases.
“A number of these residents are elderly and frail and so this is where the probable definition comes in, where we may not have been able to test people because it is not a pleasant test and, particularly for older people who may not understand exactly why the test is being done,” she said.
Forty per cent of cases in New Zealand are linked to overseas travel and 44 per cent are linked to already confirmed cases. Just two per cent of cases are considered to be acquired locally.
“What we would expect to see over the next two weeks is that our new cases will be linked to other cases that we already know about, there will be some household transmission, is what we would expect to see,” Dr McElnay said.
“If we see anything outside of that, that might be telling that our current restrictions are not actually being followed.”
“This is our two weeks to really get our level of disease down to an absolute minimum within New Zealand.”
READ MORE: Isolation a harbourside breeze in MP Don Harwin’s flat
Lachlan Moffet Gray 12.50pm: Three new cases in ACT brings tally to 103
The ACT has recorded an additional three cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the territory to 103.
Of the new cases two are women and one is a man, the youngest 26 and the eldest 51.
Of the 103 cases, 59 have recovered and four are being treated in the ACT hospital system.
A further three cases are under investigation.
As the number of negative tests rockets past 6000, ACT Health says it now has the capacity to test symptomatic people who have not returned from overseas recently, or have been a contact of a confirmed case.
Acting ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Vanessa Johnston said the extra testing added to the surveillance already in place was to try and identify potential community transmission in the ACT.
“Community transmission is when we start to see a large number of locally acquired cases where a direct source of exposure cannot be identified,” Dr Johnston said.
“Although we still have three cases under investigation we have not seen any evidence of this so far in the ACT. This is despite actively looking for it by testing members of the community who have no history of overseas travel or contact with known confirmed cases.
“For several weeks this group has included symptomatic healthcare and aged-care workers, as well as people who live and work in high-risk settings. Since Monday, 6 April, this has also included a random sample of people who present to designated clinics who are symptomatic but do not otherwise meet the criteria.
“With some extra capacity created by declining demand for testing from groups that meet the criteria, we are now increasing the number of random tests to give us an even better view of potentially unidentified cases.”
READ MORE: ‘Virus doesn’t take a holiday’
Lachlan Moffet Gray 12.40pm: Hazzard ‘happy to chat’ with NRL on restarting season
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has said he cannot comment on the fact the NRL have received permission to train in preparation for the next season, but says he doesn’t disagree with it happening, subject to health advice.
“If the NRL want to go ahead, happy to have the chat and make sure, with medical advice, as to whether or not it’s appropriate,” Mr Hazzard told reporters on Friday.
“The only meeting I’ve had that I can tell you about is around about a month ago, with Todd Greenberg and Peter V’landys, to talk about the issue.
“But that was before they actually made a decision to shut the game down. So, I haven’t had any discussions with them at this stage.”
Stating that “there’s a balance to be struck here”, Mr Hazzard said the continuation of the NRL could have mental health benefits.
“Whether this is the right balance, I’m happy to talk to the NRL, because as Health Minister, I also know that we need to have a sense of balance about our life, a sense of mental health,” he said.
I know a lot of people enjoy seeing sport. We can have that conversation with them. I’m not giving any indication one way or the other.
“As long as there’s health advice that it would be acceptable. If there’s not health advice, at this stage I can’t comment.”
READ MORE: Player health our priority, says Broncos boss
Rachel Baxendale 12.30pm: $40m COVID-19 domestic violence package for Victoria
The Andrews government has announced a $40.2 million package to ensure women and children escaping family violence have safe accommodation during the coronavirus pandemic.
Almost half of the funding will go towards providing short-term accommodation for people who do not feel safe at home during the pandemic.
The remaining $20.2m will be provided to family violence services to help them address an anticipated increase in demand as a result of families spending more time in isolation together during the lockdown.
Almost $10.4m of the portion of funding diverted to services will be targeted at helping women and children get access to safe longer term accommodation and related support, while $5.1m will go towards “flexible support packages”.
Just under $5m will provide new technology and protective equipment for up to 120 family violence and sexual assault organisations, so they can adapt to a changed work environment and increased demand during the pandemic.
Minister for Prevention of Family Violence Gabrielle Williams said the package also included targeted funding for Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to meet additional demand for family violence case management and crisis support.
The investment adds to $6m from the federal government to help meet the needs of Victorians experience family violence during the coronavirus pandemic.
People requiring help and support as a result of family violence can visit safesteps.org.au or call safesteps 24/7 on 1800 015 188.
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 12.20pm: ‘Disappointed’ NSW police fine 50 more ‘COVIDIOTS’
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said that in the last 24 hours almost 50 people had been issued with Personal Infringement Fines of $1000 for ignoring public health orders, and that he was “disappointed.”
“Right around this state, police are reporting that there’s a good deal of consideration and compliance with those requests around not travelling, social distancing,” Commissioner Fuller said.
“But it’s also disappointing, at the same time, to say that in the last 24 hours nearly 50 people have been issued infringement notices for $1000.
“Those people who just failed to get the severity of the situation that we face in these last few months and days.
“These people need to be sent a very clear message that it won’t be tolerated, it won’t be tolerated by the police or the community.”
Commissioner Fuller also said he regretted that a new $5000 fine for those who spit or cough on an emergency service worker was necessary.
“If you had said some time ago, when this crisis started, that people would go out and cough and spit on emergency service workers and people working in pharmacies and hospitals, I would have thought that was remote,” he said.
“But we already have seen this sort of activity.”
The Commissioner said that officers could also enforce a court attendance notice for repeat offenders.
READ MORE: Lockdown L-plater cops fine lesson
Rachel Baxendale 12.10pm: Confusion reigns over holiday house virus restrictions
Victorians with holiday houses have been left confused as to whether they are allowed to visit them this weekend, after Premier Daniel Andrews repeatedly said he would not prohibit people going to properties they own, despite urging them not to travel.
The Victorian approach contrasts with that of NSW, where Arts Minister Don Harwin has been fined $1,000 and ordered back to Sydney after he was caught at his Central Coast holiday house, in contravention of Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s prohibition on non-essential travel.
Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein has meanwhile called out the Westpac rescue helicopter to help with a police blitz on Tasmanians trying to sneak to their shacks for Easter.
The Andrews government’s mixed messages over travel to holiday houses have also led to anger in coastal and rural communities, with Surf Coast Mayor Rose Hodge urging out-of-towners who may own houses in the area southwest of Geelong to “stay in their usual postcodes”, and locals erecting signs telling visitors to stay away.
Eleven days ago Mr Andrews said there was “no prohibition” on travel to holiday houses – a message he has since reiterated.
“There’s no prohibition on people going to properties they’ve got a lease over or properties that they own. I’m not going to get into trying to enforce beach house rules,” the Premier said.
“There’s no purpose I don’t think in diverting police resources to look at those sorts of issues, however, I would ask people to be as considerate as they can be of smaller regional communities and smaller coastal communities.”
Asked to clarify the government’s position on holiday houses on Friday, Minister for Women Gabrielle Williams said ministers and the premier had been “really clear”, that their preference was for people to “stay at home”.
“Obviously if people own holiday houses, there is technically, you can go if you are only going with those that you would normally reside with, but we are strongly urging you not to,” Ms Williams said.
Questioned over whether Victorians could be fined for travelling to their holiday houses, given the Premier’s comments that it is not prohibited, Ms Williams did not offer a yes or no answer, saying the government had imposed “very strict guidelines around what is essential and what is not”.
“We are urging people to comply with that,” she said.
“If it’s not essential, don’t go.
“I wouldn’t regard going to a holiday house as essential.”
READ MORE: Harwin fined for holiday home trip
Lachlan Moffet Gray 12.05pm: NSW death brings national toll to 53
Another person in NSW has died of coronavirus and 49 additional cases have been confirmed since Thursday, bringing the national death toll to 53 and the number of cases in the state to 2822.
The death was a 69-year-old man who passed away at the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the number of new cases was a sign of the effort the public are making to abide by social distancing rules.
“First of all, I’d just like to update where we’ve got to in the last 24 hours up until 8:00pm last night. We have had a very small — a modest — increase. The day before,
Of course, over the 24-hour period, we had a remarkable number of only 39 new cases. In the last 24 hours, we’ve seen a very modest increase to 49 cases,” Mr Hazzard told reporters on Friday.
“So, 49 new cases. I’ll just remind everybody that that still reflects a great effort by our community.
“Back on 24 March, we had got up to 211. And on 30 March, my recollection is it was about 212.
“So, I want to thank the community for doing what you’re doing, because the efforts that you’re making are actually keeping us all safe.”
Mr Hazzard said that of the 2822 confirmed cases in NSW, 211 were receiving hospital treatment, with 29 of those in ICU.
“We have talked a lot about ventilation, and obviously once you have to be ventilated, it’s a much more serious level of your presence in the intensive care unit,” Mr Hazzard said.
“Of the 29 people in the ICUs in our hospitals, 23 are ventilated. One is on ECMO [extracorporeal membrane oxygenation]. ECMO, of course, is a higher level of need for the patient, extra corporeal oxygenation, making sure your organs are being oxygenated.”
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant praised the community for coming forward for testing and said the state’s health services remain open over the Easter holidays.
Dr Chant said the 69-year-old man who died of coronavirus in Newcastle was not a passenger on the Ruby Princess, and didn’t contract the disease overseas.
“He acquired the disease locally, probably during a recent trip interstate,” she said.
“We have known that a number of states have recorded locally acquired cases that don’t have links.
“And that is the reason we have embarked on strengthened social distancing measures across the nation.
“Obviously, we are watching locally acquired cases, and I think from the beginning I’ve explained that they raise the major concern for me, because they reflect areas where we might need to have that focused testing to establish there’s not broader transmission in the community.”
Dr Chant said the man had recently travelled to Queensland.
READ MORE: Brace for things to get worse
Lachlan Moffet Gray 11.55am: Aussies stranded off Uruguay finally have flight home
More than 90 Australians and dozens of New Zealanders trapped on the Greg Mortimer cruise ship off the coast of Montevideo, Uruguay, are set to escape the ship on a charter flight home to Melbourne.
The small adventure vessel operated by boutique Australian cruise firm Aurora expeditions made international headlines when a man was evacuated off the ship on March 31 and to a Uruguayan hospital, where he tested positive to coronavirus.
Since then all 217 people on board have been tested by Uruguayan health authorities, with more than half returning positive.
At least six coronavirus patients have been evacuated to hospital after exhibiting severe symptoms of the disease.
This Saturday a flight will charter the Australian and Kiwis to Melbourne, with a connecting flight permitted to allow the New Zealand nationals to return straight home without having to enter mandatory quarantine in an Australian hotel.
Aurora says the plane will be set up into risk zones, with passengers “seated by test results and level of care” required.
Unlike other Australians who have been overseas and sought to return home via a charter flight, passengers of the Greg Mortimer will not have to pay a cent as the flight has been covered by Aurora’s insurance.
Aurora is working to get the few EU and UK nationals aboard the ship through a charter flight, and will continue to monitor their health in the meantime.
READ MORE: Pete Evans slammed over COVID-19 ‘cure’
Lachlan Moffet Gray 11.55am: NSW health minister Brad Hazzard to speak at noon
NSW health minister Brad Hazard has a press conference scheduled for midday. Watch live in the video at the top of this article.
Lachlan Moffet Gray 11.35am: Police on ‘COVIDIOT’ patrols turn up more drugs offenders
NSW police patrolling for people violating public health orders have resulted in a further two instances of people being arrested for drug supply and one for drug and weapon possession.
At 3.30pm on Thursday officers patrolling the CBD’s Chinatown region stopped and searched a man on Thomas Lane, finding a plastic bag allegedly containing meth, a fake soft drink can with a secret compartment that allegedly concealed more meth, two mobile phones and more than $350 in cash and jewellery.
The 39-year-old was taken to Day Street Police station and charged with supplying prohibited drug and possessing prohibited drug – and as he could not provide a valid reason for being away from his Burwood home, he was charged with not complying with public health orders.
He was refused bail to appear at Parramatta Local Court next Friday.
At 7.45pm on Thursday police stopped a man driving while on his mobile phone in nearby Ultimo.
Searching the 23-year-old man’s car, they found nine small bags of cocaine that had allegedly been hidden in the man’s shorts. Further searches revealed a wallet and $250 cash.
The man was also taken to Day Street Police Station and charged with supplying a prohibited drug, dealing with proceeds of crime and using a phone while driving. He was also given a warning for breach of the health Minister’s direction.
The man, who lives in the suburb of Belmore was granted conditional bail to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday 1 July.
Also on Thursday NSW Police in the northern NSW town of Lake Macquarie police approached a 30-year-old man in the driver’s seat of a parked car in Morisset.
It is alleged that the man did not have a reasonable excuse for being there and upon searching him and the vehicle they found meth and a throwing axe. .
The man was taken to Toronto Police Station, where he was charged with possession of a prohibited drug, failure to comply with a public health order, having custody of an offensive implement and breaching bail conditions.
READ MORE: Gold Coast airport shuts down
Lachlan Moffet Gray 11.20am: Aussie mercy flight lands in Melbourne from Peru
280 Australians stranded in Peru have arrived in Melbourne, where they will be made to quarantine in hotels for 14 days.
280 Australians, from a no of locations in Peru, have arrived safely in Melbourne this morning. This âœˆï¸ was a result of good cooperation between embassy staff, 🇦🇺 & 🇵🇪 governments & airlines in what are unprecedented times. Thank you all. @dfat @embauslima
— Marise Payne (@MarisePayne) April 10, 2020
Foreign Minister Marise Payne confirmed the safe arrival of the Australians on Twitter on Friday, one day after she revealed a deal had been struck with Qantas to repatriate stranded Australians in far-flung locations where Australian airlines do not fly direct like India.
The overseas Australians will have to pay for their seats, although emergency assistance will be available.
“Australians are paying for those tickets themselves, where there is a great difficulty or a real difficulty for Australians to afford those flights, we have of course encouraged them to engage with friends, engage with family,” Ms Payne said on Thursday.
“We also do have provision for traveller emergency loans.”
READ MORE: Mercy mission for stranded Aussies
Lachlan Moffet Gray 11.10am: New cases in China ‘imported’ from travellers
China has reported 42 new coronavirus cases on Friday, 38 of which were “imported” cases from travellers.
The figure is down from Thursday’s figure of 63 cases, but in line with recent announcements from the National Health Commission that have seen case growth and deaths on the mainland slow to a crawl in the last fortnight.
There are now 81,907 confirmed cases in mainland China, 77,679 of which have reportedly recovered. The death toll rose by just one to 3336.
READ MORE: Australia withdraws Jakarta ambassador
Victoria Laurie 11am: Quarantined Perth passengers fear flight limbo
Hundreds of quarantined cruise ship passengers with homes interstate are due to be released from Perth hotels today, but they say they fear their quarantine may be extended because there are not enough flights out.
Premier Mark McGowan said on Thursday that the quarantined passengers off the cruise ship Vasco da Gama would be released this afternoon, but more than 600 people who have completed 14 days isolation in the Crown Metropol Hotel say they have not been given confirmation or any details of their release.
Another 200 West Australian passengers from the Vasco da Gama have been given instructions they will be ferried off Rottnest Island today, after their 14-day isolation.
Brisbane-bound Paul Bailey says his Qantas flight home, which he booked days ago, has been cancelled and seats on flights to the east coast are unavailable. Qantas has only one daily flight from Perth to Sydney.
“A possible read on this might be the state government will not release us because there are not enough flights to get people out. It seems to have had no liaison with the airlines about the large number of quarantine stayers needing flights home.”
Qantas’ reduced services during the Easter period are due to a 95 per cent downturn in demand. Brisbane-headquartered Virgin Australia has announced it will axe all domestic passenger routes, and will operate just one daily service between Sydney and Melbourne in response to plunging demand.
Mr Bailey says Vasco da Gama passengers now face days in limbo in Perth awaiting flights. “Our quarantine exemption status in our home states depends on us travelling directly there after release and is now also possibly in jeopardy,” he said.
“We support the quarantine process as necessary in the national interest, but it has been poorly executed to date in Western Australia.”
READ MORE: Passengers in dark on release
Rachel Baxendale 10.45am: Another death in Victoria brings national toll to 52
The death of a man in his 80s in a Victorian hospital overnight has brought the state’s coronavirus death toll to 13 and the national death toll to 52.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Victoria rose to 1241 on Friday – an increase of just 13 since Thursday.
There are currently 43 people in hospital — seven fewer than on Thursday — including 13 patients in intensive care.
In the past 24 hours 120 Victorians have recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total who have so far recovered to 925.
One more healthcare worker was on Friday confirmed to have the virus, bringing the total number of infected healthcare workers to 158.
More than 62,000 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in Victoria, with 116 cases acquire in the community through an unknown source — up six since Thursday.
READ MORE: ‘Darkest day in New York for a generation’
Lachlan Moffet Gray 10.35am: Queensland could hold state election by post
Queensland’s upcoming state election could be conducted by post, depending on the severity of the coronavirus pandemic in October.
Annastacia Palaszczuk said the attorney-general has been in discussions with the Electoral Commission of Queensland about the possibility of a postal vote for the October election.
“We have to have a state election this year, there’s no ifs and buts about it,” Ms Palaszczuk told the ABC on Friday.
“One of the measures we’ll probably be looking at is a full postal vote.”
Ms Palaszczuk said a decision will be made “in the next month or so” and will be contingent on federal government modelling on the spread of coronavirus based off Australian data.
“It depends where we are in terms of the curve,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
Initial predictions suggest coronavirus cases in Queensland would peak through July, August and September, which would raise serious issues for an October election.
“That would have been absolutely problematic, being in a peak and asking people to go to a polling booth,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“When I get that modelling, I will be able to give you a definitive answer.”
In the last 24 hours Queensland has confirmed 13 new cases, bringing the state total to 966.
Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles said the decline in daily case confirmations was a testament to widespread social distancing measures, but warned that hundreds were still disobeying orders.
“Queensland Police advised me that they have issued … 289 fines for breaches of the public health emergency orders,” Mr Miles said at a press conference on Friday,
“They are very substantial fines starting at just over $1300 on-the-spot fines.
“There’s nearly 300 people regretting, I suspect, their decision to breach those orders. Don’t be one of those people. Don’t do it. Not just because of the fines, but because of the risk it puts you at.”
Mr Miles said that at least one person has been charged for allegedly spitting at a nurse, and that the Queensland CMO will today publish a list of coronavirus hot spots in Australia. If someone has recently visited these areas and then returned to Queensland, they may need to enter quarantine, Mr Miles said.
READ MORE: Will other states follow $400m land tax relief package?
Remy Varga 10.15am: Vic police issue 98 fresh social distancing fines
Nine youths gathered in a private residence are among the 98 social distancing fines issued by Victoria Police in the last 24 hours.
Victoria Police said on Friday that another man was fined after he being warned four times that he was in breach of the public health directive.
Operational Sentinel, the 500-strong COVID-19 taskforce, have conducted 724 spot checks at homes, businesses and non-essential services in the last 24 hours.
Since March 21, a total of 18,386 spot checks have been conducted.
READ MORE: Shutters fall on Easter getaways
Lachlan Moffet Gray 10.10am: Man charged for spitting on woman at restaurant
A man has been charged by NSW Police after allegedly spitting on a woman at a north-west Sydney fast food restaurant on Thursday.
At 11.40am on Thursday a man attended the restaurant — reportedly a McDonalds – on Windsor Road, Kellyville and ordered food.
The 42-year-old took a seat in the outdoor section of the restaurant, prompting staff to tell him that he was not able to eat his food on the premises, in line with current coronavirus-related public health orders.
The man refused to leave and a 34-year-old woman, also at the restaurant, began to film him on her mobile phone.
The man then allegedly approached the woman and spat in her face before leaving the scene.
Officers attached to Quakers Hill Police Area Command attended and arrested the man, charging him with common assault.
He is due to appear at Blacktown Local Court on Monday July 6.
READ MORE: Vile act ‘on way to COVID-19 test’
Lachlan Moffet Gray 9.15am: Trump praises US testing regime
As the number of coronavirus deaths in the US passes 16,000, US President Donald Trump has taken to the bully pulpit to praise his country’s testing regime and continue to assert his belief that the country will soon re-open.
Speaking to reporters at The White House on Friday morning AEDT, President Trump said there have been more than two million coronavirus tests conducted in the US.
“I’m reporting today that we passed two million tests conducted in the United States,” Mr Trump said, adding that the results were “accurate”.
“Other countries are looking to what we are doing, and our testing operation has now become, far and away, the most sophisticated and the best anywhere.”
Out of two million tests, the United States has returned more than 456,000 positive cases. and has a testing ratio of one to 168, far behind other advanced nations South Korea, who have tested one in 113, and Germany, one in 90.
President Trump conceded that if the country was to reopen, it is unlikely that testing could expand further – but claimed it wasn’t necessary anyway, saying “there are certain sections of the country that are in phenomenal shape already”.
“We want to have it (testing) and we’re going to see if we have it,” he said.
“Do you need it? No. Is it a nice thing to do? Yes.
“We’re talking about 325 million people and that’s not gonna happen, as you can imagine, and it would never happen with anyone else, either.”
READ MORE: Abe asked to lead world response
Lachlan Moffet Gray 8.55am: Drugs, weapons found in public health order check
NSW Police unwittingly uncovered a cache of drugs and weapons after stopping a car to perform a routine public health order check.
On Thursday morning, officers from Liverpool in south west Sydney stopped a Hyundai sedan that was allegedly driving dangerously.
After speaking to the 43-year-old male driver, police allege that he and his two male passengers aged 28 and 29 did not have a reasonable excuse for travelling and were acting in contradiction to NSW public health orders.
The driver was subjected to a roadside drug test and allegedly returned a positive result, leading to his car being searched.
The search unveiled heroin, MDMA, meth, a tazer, a knife, drug paraphernalia and $16,460 in cash. The items were confiscated.
All three men were arrested and the 29-year-old has been charged with 21 offences, including 10 counts of posses prohibited drug and three counts of supply prohibited drug.
The 28-year-old man and 43-year-old man were both charged with fail to comply requirement – public health order, and breach of bail.
All three were refused bail to appear at Parramatta Local Court today.
All three men were refused bail to appear at Parramatta Local Court today.
READ MORE: ‘Virus doesn’t take a holiday’
Kieran Gair 8.45am: Social distancing hits Sydney Fish Market
Customers hoping to snap up a deal at Australia’s biggest seafood outlet are having to submit to temperature checks before being granted entry.
The Sydney Fish Market, which usually attracts more than 40,000 people over the Easter long weekend, has introduced a raft of new security measures in an effort to adhere to strict social distancing rules.
Only 400 people are being permitted inside the market at any one time.
Antonio Muollo from De Costi Seafoods said turnover was down by about 20 per cent.
“It’s a bit surreal to see the market so empty,” he told The Australian. “I’ve been working here since I was 10 years old and I’ve never see it like this.”
While online sales are up 70 per cent, the market’s CEO Greg Dyer said he expects turnover to be half the usual $10 million.
The market’s five seafood retailers are limiting the number of customers allowed inside at any one time and are operating under a one-traffic system.
The market will remain open until 5pm on Good Friday.
READ MORE: Retailers should open if they can: Scentre chief
Lachlan Moffet Gray 8.42am: EU reaches rescue package deal
The EU have agreed on a half-trillion euro support package for its coronavirus-battered member states, Spain, France and Italy.
The package will consist of low-interest loans, financed mainly from the EU’s bailout fund and assisted by the European Commission and European Central Bank.
The agreement was reached following Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s warning that a failure to reach an agreement could result in the collapse of the EU, urging the “frugal four” – Germany, Austria, The Netherlands and Finland – to get over their aversion to assisting economically fragile southern states.
The deal does not address the equally important question of how to fund an economic recovery measure in the aftermath of the crisis.
Spain and Italy had been pushing for joint EU bonds to be issued, but this has been resisted by northern states who do not want to underwrite the debt of the south.
“Europe has shown that it can rise to the occasion of this crisis,” said French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, adding that the agreement paved the way for debt assistance.
But his Dutch counterpart, Wopke Hoekstra, said the opposite.
“We are and will remain opposed to eurobonds. We think this concept will not help Europe or the Netherlands in the long-term,” Hoekstra said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel also made clear that Berlin would not support jointly issued debt but said other avenues were available.
READ MORE: ‘Frugal four’ must help south
Rachel Baxendale 8.40am: Accommodation for homeless self-isolating
The Andrews government will spend almost $9m to repurpose former aged care sites in inner Melbourne to provide accommodation for homeless Victorians required to self-isolate during the coronavirus pandemic.
Housing Minister Richard Wynne on Friday announced $8.8m for four pop-up facilities to provide health care and supported accommodation for more than 200 rough sleepers over the next six months.
The facilities will be located at four sites in inner Melbourne and will be operated by Anglicare Victoria, Brotherhood of St Laurence, Launch Housing, Sacred Heart Mission and VincentCare Victoria.
Mr Wynne said St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne would lead clinical responses in all facilities.
To be eligible for the accommodation, people must be experiencing homelessness, have undergone testing for coronavirus and be awaiting results, have tested positive, or have been ordered to self-isolate.
Homelessness services staff will provide 24-hour support to people in the facilities alongside St Vincent’s Hospital staff, and will work with people as they recover to look at their options after they leave the facilities.
Mr Wynn said people without secure accommodation were at greater risk of contracting coronavirus because they could not self-isolate or quarantine.
“This will help keep them safe and slow the spread of virus,” Mr Wynne said.
READ MORE: Why not ban smoking?
Lachlan Moffet Gray 8.21am: Man arrested after Chinese consulate demonstration
NSW Police have arrested a Sydney man for allegedly cracking a whip and making threats while wearing an akubra outside of the Chinese consulate building in the city’s inner west last week.
On March 31 a man was recorded standing outside the consulate, cracking a large stock whip and yelling comments implying the Chinese government deliberately released coronavirus as an act of biological warfare.
It is being alleged that the man threatened members of the public in a line outside the consulate with the whip and verbally, saying “we’ll get you”.
Following inquiries, investigators arrested a 55-year-old man at a home in Dee Why in the city’s Northern Beaches on Thursday morning.
The 55-year-old was taken to Many Police Station and charged with attempt stalk/intimidate, intend fear of harm and armed with intent commit indictable offence.
The man was granted strict conditional bail and is due to appear at Manly Local Court this Wednesday.
READ MORE: Quick departure for Wuhan care flight
Lachlan Moffet Gray 8.15am: ANU to use Year 11 results for 2021 entry
The Australian National University will offer entry to undergraduate courses in 2021 to students on the basis of their year 11 results, due to the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The only university to devise an alternative entry scheme thus far, ANU Chancellor and former foreign minister Julie Bishop said the move was made to minimise anxiety in students struggling through a “difficult time.”
“We recognise that this will be a very difficult year, not only for year 12 students, but also their families,” Ms Bishop told Channel 9’s Today on Friday.
“So we have decided to offer year 12 students, who want to study at ANU next year, a place based on their year 11 results.
“Now, they can apply between now and 25 May and then we will assess their year 11 results, as well as their curriculum vitae generally, their leadership qualities, whether they are volunteers, what part-time work they’ve done, sport, all of those more general personal circumstances.
“And then we will make them an unconditional offer if they meet our eligibility requirements in August, so then the students can focus on their studies and completing year 12 without all of the anxiety of knowing whether they did or didn’t get into ANU.”
Ms Bishop said in-house research conducted last year showed that 90-95 per cent of students performed consistently across year 11 and 12.
READ MORE: Will other states follow $400 million land tax relief package?
Lachlan Moffet Gray 8am: Uni entrance requirements may be lowered for 2021
Australian universities may lower prerequisites required of undergrads seeking to get into a degree next year in a bid to minimise the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking to Channel 7’s Sunrise on Friday, NSW education minister Sarah Mitchell said the federal government was in conversation with Australia’s universities to figure out how to accommodate year 12 students whose end-of-year results may be affected by the pandemic.
“We are having conversations about that, Dan Tehan is working with universities, we will come back with the Minister shortly,” Ms Mitchell said.
“Looking at what the pathways will be, we know what universities will want, the students are relying on them coming in.
“We need to look at the options going forward given we are in highly unusual circumstances.”
Ms Mitchell said NSW schools would maintain a focus on distance learning in semester two, despite the federal government’s insistence on maintaining a physical learning environment.
“We want to move to doing more distance working,” Ms Mitchell said.
READ MORE: Student decline ‘will be worse in semester two’
Lachlan Moffet Gray 7.45am: $130bn JobKeeper package ‘may be extended’
The federal government is prepared to expand its flagship $130 billion wage subsidy Jobkeeper program beyond its much-touted six month lifespan if the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the economy, Senator Simon Birmingham said.
Speaking to Channel 9’s Today on Friday, the federal Minister trade, tourism and investment said the government would look at extending the expensive scheme if need be.
“Our hope is that it doesn’t come to that,” he said.
“Australia is doing an incredible job so far in terms of flattening the curve … it is more like the countries that have dodged the disaster. We are saving lives and that is the important outcome.”
The JobKeeper scheme will subsidise workers to the tune of $1500 a fortnight from 30 March 2020 for a current maximum of six months. Payments will begin in the first week of May.
Tonight the Australian Parliament delivered for the Australian people passing the $130 billion #JobKeeper payment with around 6 million Australians expected to receive $1,500 a fortnight.
— Josh Frydenberg (@JoshFrydenberg) April 8, 2020
We are doing all that we can to keep Australians in jobs & businesses in business. pic.twitter.com/wJBKxVHemH
Senator Birmingham also said the government was frustrated that it had to organise a series of rescue flights with Qantas to bring Australians home from overseas, given the government urged travellers to return home last month.
“There were frustrations, no doubt,” he said.
“We were one of the countries early in the world to urge travellers to come home and to ultimately urge them to or tell them that travel was not to be undertaken.”
Appearing on the same panel, shadow treasury spokesman Richard Marles commended the government’s JobKeeper scheme, even though he said it failed to include more than one million casual workers who had been with their employers for less than a year.
“We have been saying to the Government that we are very pleased that they have come down this path,” Mr Marles said.
“This is a really important step to take. And this isn’t a time for partisan politics. I actually think that the sort of different colours we wear, Labor and Liberal have faded over the past few weeks.”
“The sitting that we had during the week was absolutely historic and I was pleased to be a part of it”.
READ MORE: MPs turn tap on JobKeeper cash splash
Lachlan Moffet Gray 7.15am: ‘Speak the truth’ — Obama’s warning to leaders
Former US President Barack Obama has told more than 300 mayors and local government authorities at a virtual summit hosted by Bloomberg Philanthropies to avoid misinforming their communities about the coronavirus.
Addressing the virtual crowd alongside failed Democratic nominee for president Michael Bloomberg on Thursday, President Obama said local authorities had to set an example for their communities and “speak the truth.”
“Speak it clearly. Speak it with compassion. Speak it with empathy for what folks are going through,” he said.
Mayors have been working hard to help us get through this pandemic, and they’ll have just as big a task to help people through hard times ahead. I spent some time with many of them today to thank them for their efforts, and asked them to keep up the good work. https://t.co/YzqPMPo8m2
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 9, 2020
“The biggest mistake any of us can make in these situations is to misinform, particularly when we’re requiring people to make sacrifices and take actions that might not be their natural inclination.
President Obama also urged mayors to build strong advisory teams of experts and to support their most vulnerable residents.
“We’re seeing disparities in how people are affected in cities and towns and communities across the country,” he said.
“Look out for the vulnerable. When you start looking at issues of domestic abuse and you start looking at racial disparities that are popping up in your cities, paying attention to that is the kind of leadership I know all of you aspire to.
“You have to be intentional about it, and dedicate folks to thinking about those issues.”
The 44th president of the United States typically avoids commenting on contemporary political issues but has not shied away from making his voice heard amid the coronavirus pandemic, on Wednesday contradicting messaging from the White House by tweeting support for social distancing measures.
Social distancing bends the curve and relieves some pressure on our heroic medical professionals. But in order to shift off current policies, the key will be a robust system of testing and monitoring – something we have yet to put in place nationwide. https://t.co/evkTSrzReB
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 8, 2020
READ MORE: ‘Darkest day in a generation for New York’
Lachlan Moffet Gray 7am: Virus brings ‘significant update’ for Oxford dictionary
The definitive record of the English language, the Oxford English Dictionary, has added a raft of new but familiar terms in a “significant update” prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, the BBC reports.
Only one of the new words or terms — COVID-19 — is a neologism (completely new), while the rest have warranted entry due to their heavy usage in recent months. They are:
■ COVID-19
■ Elbow bump
■ To flatten the curve
■ Infodemic
■ PPE and personal protective equipment
■ R0 (basic reproduction number)
■ Self-isolate. self-isolated, self-isolation
■ Self-quarantine, self-quarantined
■ Shelter in place
■ Social distancing
■ Social isolation
■ WFH (Work From Home)
Great social change brings linguistic change, and the OED editors have been tracking the developments of the language of COVID-19.
— The OED (@OED) April 9, 2020
Learn more about this, here: https://t.co/tnCaBU1tei pic.twitter.com/cgp3htmrKs
The OED said the update, made outside of its quarterly publication cycle, was made to track “the development of the language of the pandemic” and to offer “a historical context to their usage.”
“Social distancing first used in 1957, was originally an attitude rather than a physical term, referring to an aloofness or deliberate attempt to distance oneself from others socially — now we all understand it as keeping a physical distance between ourselves and others to avoid infection,” the OED said.
“And an elbow bump, along with a hand slap and high five, was in its earliest manifestation (1981) a way of conveying celebratory pleasure to a teammate, rather than a means of avoiding hand-touching when greeting a friend, colleague, or stranger.
The OED said it would continue to update as it saw fit “to help tell the story of these times”.
The @OED is the official record of the English language. They usually issue quarterly updates; now they’ve put out a special update thanks to this dastardly pandemic. All the new entrants are COVID-19 related. My favourite: “infodemicâ€
— Amol Rajan (@amolrajan) April 9, 2020
Blog for @BBCNews: https://t.co/3Z15gdMV4e
READ MORE: University of Melbourne takes $500 million hit
Lachlan Moffet Gray 6.25am: WHO warns Africa faces ‘economic, social devastation’
The World Health Organisation has warned the further spread of coronavirus in Africa could cause widespread “economic and social devastation” on the continent of more than one billion.
The number of African cases officially increased to 10,000 across 52 countries, with a total of 500 deaths. But the WHO expects actual numbers to be much greater, with many countries lacking the healthcare infrastructure for widespread testing of the population.
Dr Matshidiso Moeti, a WHO Regional Director for Africa, said “a new front has been opened” in the fight against the virus as it moves beyond major cities, and warned that there is not the capacity in most of Africa to battle the virus.
As the #COVID19 pandemic spreads to more provinces & districts in Africa, @MoetiTshidi calls for a more decentralized response. This means ensuring regional governments can tackle outbreaks & engaging community health workers, volunteers & partners. pic.twitter.com/gDSSsfgyaj
— WHO African Region (@WHOAFRO) April 9, 2020
WHO figures showed the total number of ICU beds in 43 of Africa’s 54 countries was less than 5000 — around five beds per one million people. In Europe, there is an average of 4000 beds per one million people.
In addition, there are less than 2000 ventilators across the continent — the same amount as Australia, despite a forty-fold difference in population size.
“This requires a decentralised response, which is tailored to the local context,” Dr Moeti said.
“Communities need to be empowered, and provincial and district levels of government need to ensure they have the resources and expertise to respond to outbreaks locally.”
#COVID19 cases in #Africa have risen to more than 10,000. Tackling this pandemic requires a decentralised response. Communities must be empowered and get the resources/expertise needed to tackle outbreaks locally. https://t.co/SjX6XrZDt9 pic.twitter.com/qRKLb1Nppw
— Dr Matshidiso Moeti (@MoetiTshidi) April 7, 2020
READ MORE: Aussie spenders go cashless to curb coronavirus contagion
Lachlan Moffet Gray 6.10am: US death toll now closing in on Italy, Spain
The coronavirus death toll in the US has surpassed 15,900, leaving it behind only Italy and Spain for total virus fatalities.
There are 451,491 confirmed cases of the virus in the United States — four times more than any other country.
The 1918 Spanish flu hit in 3 waves.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) April 9, 2020
We are only in the first wave.
We can’t assume that because we are seeing some positive signs this will be over soon or that additional waves won’t hit.
NYS will not underestimate this enemy.
The nation’s top US infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci, urged people to continue to stay home.
“We’ve got to continue to redouble our efforts at the mitigation of physical separation in order to keep those numbers down and hopefully even get them lower than what you’ve heard recently,” said Mr Fauci.
.@OANN A key CoronaVirus Model is now predicting far fewer deaths than the number shown in earlier models. That’s because the American people are doing a great job. Social Distancing etc. Keep going!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 9, 2020
Continued stay-at-home measures have severely impacted the US economy, with the Department of Labor now saying 16.8 million American workers — about 10 per cent of the nation’s labour force — have in the past three weeks applied for jobless benefits.
In New York, the hardest-hit state in the US, governor Andrew Cuomo said new cases admitted to hospital fell to a low of just 200 on Thursday — a welcome sign, even though the state recorded a record-breaking 799 deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total to 7067.
“9/11 was so devastating, so tragic and then in many ways we lose so many more New Yorkers to this silent killer,” he said.
“It was a silent explosion that just ripples through society with the same randomness, the same evil that we saw on 9/11.”
It is anticipated by academics at the University of Washington that up to 60,000 Americans could die of coronavirus by August 4.
READ MORE: ‘Monster’ slashes USA’s city of death
Jacquelin Magnay 5.40am: UK lockdown measures to be reviewed next week
Britain’s caretaker leader, Dominic Raab, has confirmed the nation’s lockdown measures will be reviewed at the end of next week.
“Let’s not undo the gains we have made, we must not give the coronavirus a second chance to kill more people and to hurt our country,” Mr Raab said, shortly before pleasing news that coronavirus-stricken Prime Minister Boris Johnson had been moved out intensive care at London’s St Thomas’ Hospital.
👇The news we all wanted to hear ðŸ‘
— Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) April 9, 2020
Thank you to all the NHS staff helping the country and the PM to beat #coronavirus. Together we can all do our bit by staying home and protecting the NHS #StayHomeSaveLives https://t.co/GJp49HELhr
Mr Raab warned social isolation measures would remain for the short term.
“We need evidence that clearly shows we have moved beyond the peak,” he said.
There were 881 deaths recorded in the past 24 hours in the UK, bringing the total deaths to 7978, but scientists said the death rate was levelling off and there was capacity in the hospital and intensive care system.
“Deaths continue to rise, this will not change for a few weeks … and we need to see this go down as well,” chief scientific officer Sir Patrick Vallance said.
4/5 - COVID-19 patients in critical care pic.twitter.com/VugyEIJfWz
— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) April 9, 2020
The rate of serious complications from coronavirus has also slowed, from doubling of cases every three days several weeks ago to doubling every week at the moment.
Mr Raab said at 10 Downing Street’s daily press conference: “At this stage the government is continuing to gather relevant data about social distancing measure, early signs seeing impact but too early to say that conclusively, we will keep measures in place under review. We don’t expect to be able to say more on this til the end of next week.”
2/5 - New UK cases of #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/5s0q4FSWTA
— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) April 9, 2020
One of the factors being considered is the current rate of infection already in the wider community, which Sir Patrick believed to be in the order of “single digits, or just above single digits”. That could translate to six to eight million Britons having the virus, many of them asymptomatic or with mild symptoms.
Stay home. Stop the spread. #Coronavirus #StayHomeSaveLives pic.twitter.com/5j63MLLxqA
— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) April 9, 2020
READ MORE: Greg Hunt — ‘Virus doesn’t take a holiday’
Jacquelin Magnay 5.15am: UK PM moved into general ward at London hospital
Boris Johnson has been moved out of intensive care into a general ward at London’s St Thomas’ Hospital after three days of high concern over his coronavirus fight.
The welcome news has buoyed the United Kingdom and comes just half an hour before the weekly “clap for carers”, where neighbourhoods bang pots and cheer for a minute for all of frontline medical staff.
People across the UK take part in the third "Clap for Carers" event and show their appreciation for NHS workers and other staff on the front line fighting the coronavirus pandemic
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) April 9, 2020
Latest updates: https://t.co/p4uza3JHxk pic.twitter.com/FbV0WUxWJX
A Downing Street spokesperson said on Thursday evening (UK time): “The Prime Minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery. He is in extremely good spirits.”
Fantastic news Boss! Now @BorisJohnson rest up and come back to lead us soon pic.twitter.com/fUWmahiwnY
— Conor Burns (@ConorBurnsUK) April 9, 2020
READ MORE: NSW minister Don Harwin fined $1000 for holiday home trip
Jacquelin Magnay 5am: EU’s ‘frugal four’ must help south, Conte says
Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte has warned Brussels that the European Union faces collapse if the rich northern states fail to financially bail out the south.
Both Italy and Spain have urged four states dubbed the Frugal Four — Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Finland — to support those countries ravaged by the coronavirus with the issuing of financial instruments called corona bonds.
The corona bonds would be joint debt of the EU and help Italy and Spain, as well as other hard-hit southern European countries like Greece and Portugal, deal with the sharp collapse of their economies due to hard lockdowns.
But so far The Netherlands and Germany — both with tenuous coalition governments — have led fierce resistance to issuing corona bonds because they don’t want to have to guarantee the debts of fragile economies.
They have pointed to the stimulus of the European Central Bank, which is purchasing €750bn of bonds throughout 2020 and lowering lowered borrowing costs for euro zone countries, as ways for the southern states to manage the crisis.
Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte is leading the hardliners. He has said issuing corona bonds would “bring the euro zone into a different realm”, likening it to a transfer union.
“I cannot foresee any circumstances in which we would change that position (to oppose corona bonds),” he added.
But Mr Conte, who called the coronavirus pandemic “the biggest test since the Second World War,” said the EU needed to rise to the challenge. Over the past week he has threatened Italy would go it alone, refusing to accept any disciplinary terms as a condition for loans.
“If we do not seize the opportunity to put new life into the European project, the risk of failure is real,” Mr Conte told the BBC on Thursday. He had earlier told the German newspaper Bild — in a blunt message to the German chancellor Angela Merkel — that the EU could even be written off.
“There’s no benefit to Germany if Europe falls into recession. Our economies are being put to the test. We need to develop fiscal instruments to respond. We are not demanding that Germany and the Netherlands pay our debts.
“We must not fall behind in competition with the US and China. They are now each providing 13 per cent of their GDP. I’m calling for the fiscal rules to be relaxed. Otherwise we’ll have to write off Europe and everyone will do their own thing. We can’t end up with ‘operation successful: patient dead’.”
Mr Conte, whose country faces a drastic contraction of more than 10 per cent of GDP as Italian deaths linked to coronavirus reaches 17,000, urged “all peoples of Europe to help each other”, promising that when countries were better off, they would then help others again.
“We have to put aside selfishness in this crisis. All countries will be affected. Europe isn’t just about the economy, Europe is also about human dignity,” he said.
Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez has also demanded action from the EU, saying it was “now or never” for seamless solidarity.
READ MORE: Italy offers hope for other democracies
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