Coronavirus Australia live updates: COVIDSafe tracing app data to be deleted: Hunt
Health Minister Greg Hunt moves to reassure Australians that their privacy will be protected, as big banks back COVIDSafe tracing app.
- Contact tracing app details revealed
- Qld announces easing of restrictions
- Tassie outbreak claims another life
- Report shows why schools are safe
- Global death toll surpasses 200,000
Welcome to live coverage of the continuing coronavirus crisis. Details of the government’s contact tracing app have been revealed; Australia’s death toll reaches 83.
Matthew Denholm 9.40pm Four more cases linked to Tasmanian hospital
Tasmania has recorded four more cases of coronavirus, all associated with the same Burnie hospital at the epicentre of the state’s worst outbreak.
“All cases are directly or indirectly linked to the outbreak at the North West Regional Hospital,” Public Health Director Mark Veitch said on Sunday night.
“Two are healthcare workers who worked at the NWRH, one was a recent inpatient at the NWRH, and one was a close contact of a previous NWRH healthcare worker case.”
They are aged from the 20s to their 70s. Three are women and one is a man.
Tasmania has now recorded 212 cases of coronavirus and 11 deaths.
READ MORE: Picnics back on as chains come off in two states
AAP 8.52pm Library capturing life during COVID-19
As Victorians socially isolate amid COVID-19, the State Library Victoria has found a way to capture the unique moment in time for future generations.
The library has launched Memory Bank, a project that collates and archives how people across the state are experiencing life in the pandemic. Each week participants will respond to a different theme or question and submit their photographs, videos or writing to the Memory Bank Facebook group, website and eventually, in person.
State Library Victoria chief executive officer Kate Torney said the Memory Bank project is vital to the preservation of the state’s diverse and ever-changing history.
“Isolation has given rise to new ways of connecting, learning, working and living — along with new challenges and anxieties about the future,” she said. “Through Memory Bank, we hope to capture the highs and lows of this period so that in five, 10 and 100 years there’s a collective memory of what life was like.”
The first task will ask Victorians to reveal what is in their fridges and pantries by taking an inventory and sharing with the Memory Bank group and using the hashtag #SLVMemoryBank.
READ MORE: Victoria not ready to open schools, relax hardline restrictions
AFP 7.40pm Masks made mandatory in city of 20m
Authorities in Nigeria’s largest city, Lagos, have made wearing of masks mandatory to halt the coronavirus.”
“Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced on Saturday that wearing of face masks in public was now compulsory in the state,” spokesman Gboyega Akosile said.
He said the measure was aimed at halting the spread of the virus in the megacity of more than 20 million people.
The disease has infected 1182 and killed 35 in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation of 200 million inhabitants.
Of this figure, Lagos accounted for 689 infections and 19 deaths. Sanwo-Olu was quoted as saying the state was firmly in the community transmission phase of the pandemic, prompting the need for more precautions.
He said failure by people in Lagos to use face masks in public places would attract sanctions.
“Let me now formally announce that face masks are now compulsory in public places in Lagos state. Failure to use masks in public will invite sanctions and penalties,” the governor was quoted as saying.
“We have commenced arrangements for the production of large quantities of face masks for the use of the people of Lagos state. This is indeed a great opportunity for many businesses, small and large, in the state, to contribute to the COVID-19 response while also getting a chance to do business and earn money.”
READ MORE: Richard Wilkins has Corona for life but never had a symptom
Reuters 6.50pm Italy to ease lockdown on manufacturing
Italy will start reopening its manufacturing industry on May 4 as part of plans to ease its coronavirus lockdown, and schools will reopen in September, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte says.
“We are working in these hours to allow the reopening of a good part of businesses from manufacturing to construction for May 4,” Conte told Italian daily La Repubblica on Sunday.
He said the measures would be presented by the beginning of next week at the latest.
Italy was the first European country to be hard-hit by the novel coronavirus, and the first to impose a lockdown in March.
Its path to reopening its economy is being closely watched around the world as other countries where severe outbreaks arrived in the following week contemplate similar moves.
Mr Conte said companies would have to introduce strict health safety measures before being allowed to open their gates.
But he said some businesses considered “strategic”, including activity that was mainly export-oriented, could reopen next week providing they got the go-ahead from local prefects.
Mr Conte said schools would reopen in September but added studies showed the risk of contagion was very high. Teaching remotely was working well, he said.
READ MORE: Risk assessment for homes of all NRL players and officials
Paige Taylor 5.55pm Mystery of cruise passenger’s positive test after quarantine
West Australian health authorities are investigating the unusual case of a cruise ship passenger found to have coronavirus after completing 14 days of quarantine in a Perth hotel.
The woman had been stranded on the coronavirus-infected cruise ship Costa Luminosa, which docked in Italy on March 21. She was among passengers flown home to Perth on a mercy flight on March 30.
The woman immediately went into forced quarantine in a hotel room in Perth and was released after 14 days, but then she got sick. She was found to have COVID-19 last week. Her positive test result was reported in official West Australian Health Department figures on Saturday.
WA Health Minister Roger Cook said it was possible the woman contracted coronavirus in the community after leaving quarantine, or she could be among a limited number of reported cases with an incubation period longer than 14 days.
“Long incubation periods have been reported in the international literature but most of these are obviously single-case reports, so it could be that this just an extensive outlier,” he said.
“Another explanation could be that they recontracted or contracted the disease after they left the hotel through other means.”
READ MORE: COVIDsafe app comes with privacy guarantee
Lachlan Moffet Gray 4.55pm Labor push for kids to go back to school
NSW Labor is urging Year 12 students to return to full time face-to-face study, calling the government’s policy for children to attend school one day a week from week three of the term, “confusing” and “unfair” for those sitting HSC exams.
Citing a report by the National Centre for Immunisation and Surveillance, which indicates it is safe for children to attend school, state opposition leader Jodi McKay said there was “no reason” why Year 12 students couldn’t resume full time study immediately.
“The Premier, or the Health Minister, or the Education Minister haven’t given us a reason why Year 12 cannot go back to school,” Ms McKay said on Sunday.
“They have to be the priority. It is the most difficult, challenging year for them, and they deserve support, and the evidence now supports them going back to school.”
Ms McKay said Labor supported an immediate return to studies for Year 12 coupled with a “staggered” approach for kindergarten and other years.
“This approach of one day a week on a roster basis from week three is just confusing,” she said.
“There needs to be a direction, a clear direction, given by government to parents, supported by teachers, that ensures kids get back to school as soon as possible.”
READ MORE: Schools ‘extremely safe’ but parents need to gain confidence
Lachlan Moffet Gray 4.50pm: Trump set to replace Health secretary
US President Donald Trump is reportedly considering replacing his secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, due to missteps made early in the coronavirus pandemic, the Wall Street Journal Reports.
Internal grievances concerning Mr Azar relate to the ousting of vaccine expert Rick Bright from the department earlier this week after numerous clashes and that he was the alleged source of a series of media stories that postured him as an early alarm sounder who attempted to warn the president of the coronavirus’s devastating potential as early as January.
The Wall Street Journal cited six sources close to the discussions who said frustration with Mr Azar was growing, but the administration was hesitant to make changes while the country was still battling the virus.
But White House spokesman Judd Deere denied it: “Any speculation about personnel is irresponsible and a distraction from our whole-of-government response to COVID-19,” she said.
HHS spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley dismissed the report, saying: “Secretary Azar is busy responding to a global, public health crisis and doesn’t have time for palace intrigue.”
News website Politico said the short list of names to replace Mr Azar include deputy HHS Secretary Eric Hargan, Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus coordinator and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services chief Seema Verma.
READ MORE: Hard work counting unemployed
Eric Johnston 4.40pm: Bank bosses back tracing app
The nation’s bank bosses have thrown their support behind the federal government’s COVID tracing app, saying the technology was important in further suppressing the virus and allowing everyone to return to normal life - including getting the economy back to work.
Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn said on Sunday he planned to download the app and use it himself.
“A tracing app will significantly improve what is largely a manual and imprecise process and add to the major success that Australia has had in substantially flattening the curve of infection and limiting the tragic loss of life to one of the lowest levels in the developed world,” he said.
“Such contact tracing technology will require broad adoption if it is to be successful. We fully support the need for this to be achieved on a voluntary basis as the backing of the community from the outset will be essential. The sole purpose of the tracing app will be to contain further transmission of the virus and in doing so help Australia get back to work. Once the economy is gradually re-opened and people feel safe to resume their lives, the app will have done its job and can be deleted from peoples’ phones.”
National Australia Bank chief executive Ross McEwan said the COVIDSafe app could play a role in improving community safety, helping reopen businesses and helping to regain some of our normal lives
“There’s clearly still a long way to go but improvements in contact tracing methods, further development of this app, and more testing of those with symptoms will be important to providing the confidence to slowly loosen restrictions while preserving progress on the health front.”
Mr McEwan also said he intended to download the app and would send a note to NAB’s 34,000 employees about its release.
READ MORE: The race to save a fallen airline
Lachlan Moffet Gray 4.25pm: SA continues flatline in new cases
South Australia has had its fourth day with no increases in coronavirus cases, with state health officials pivoting to encouraging residents of the state to resume GP consultation as concerns grow that people with chronic conditions are avoiding doctor visits.
Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael Cusack said that the state’s case count is holding steady at 438 cases, and more than 90 per cent of those cases have made a full recovery.
“Obviously, the number of patients who are on the mend has continued to increase, and now 411 have recovered,” Dr Cusack told reporters on Sunday.
“We still have four patients in the Royal Adelaide Hospital and, as was the case yesterday, there are still two in the intensive care unit.”
SA Health coronavirus response team member Dr Emily Kirkpatrick from SA Health spoke of the state government’s new “Keeping Well” campaign, designed to encourage South Australian residents to resume consultations with their GPs.
“We have seen a significant drop in presentations to GPs by community members.,” Dr Kirkpatrick said, noting that 78 per cent of GPs were reporting a drop in consultations.
READ MORE: A step closer to a return to normal?
Lachlan Moffet Gray 4.10pm: NSW Police issue fines, charges
NSW Police have charged four people for violating public health rules - two for spitting on other people - and issued 28 fines to people breaching social distancing rules in the past 24 hours.
A 28-year-old woman was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and violating public health orders on Saturday after an incident involving two security officers at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital - allegedly spitting on one of them - after becoming frustrated with waiting to be served. The woman, from Surry Hills, was granted strict conditional bail and is due to attend court on June 30.
At nearby World Square, police were called to assist paramedics when a 23-year old woman allegedly spat on one of the officers. After being treated at St Vincent’s Hospital, she was taken to Day Street Police Station and charged with assaulting police and not complying with public health orders. She was refused bail to appear at court on Sunday.
Of the 28 people issued $1000 fines for flouting social distancing rules on Saturday, one was a repeat offender and two had received prior warnings..
About 2.45am, officers attached to Orana Mid-Western Police District stopped a group of three males on Warrie Street, Gilgandra, in NSW’s west.
None of them were able to provide a reasonable excuse for not being home and while two were given formal warnings, checks revealed the third, aged 18, received a warning earlier in the week and received a breach notice the day before. He was issued a $1000 fine and the group was ordered to home.
READ MORE: App safeguards are crucial
Richard Ferguson 4pm: Tracing data will be deleted, Hunt says
Health Minister Greg Hunt says courts will not be allowed to access data from the COVIDSafe contact tracing app.
As he promoted the privacy protections in the controversial app, Mr Hunt said the data would be deleted after the coronavirus pandemic is over and claimed the data was the safest in the world.
“It is voluntary because we believe in that. Secondly, this is, as the attorney general has said, probably the safest data that has been provided by any group at any time in Australian history.
“It is the most basic of data, simply about helping to save your life, to protect your life and to protect the lives of our nurses and dock is and those with whom they come in contact.
‘The safeguards that have been put in place are the strongest ever. Not even a court order can penetrate the law .... not even a court order during the investigation of an alleged crime would allow the data to be used.
“So to the best of their knowledge there has never been a set of protections like those which have been put in place under law for this app.”
READ MORE: Schools ‘safe’ but parents need confidence
Richard Ferguson 3.50pm: Contact tracing app has ‘bolted on security’
Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy expects more than half of all Australians will download the COVIDSafe contact tracing app.
Scott Morrison has said 40 per cent of Australians would need to download it for social distancing restrictions to be lifted in full.
Professor Murphy did not have a firm baseline for the app to be considered successful, but expected Australians would welcome the app.
“Good uptake, in my mind, would be well over half the people and I think we will get it ... Australians will rise to the challenge because they have risen to the challenge of distancing, they have risen to the challenge of testing,” Professor Murphy said.
“We are one of the best countries in the world in our response and that is because of our people.
“All Australians want to know is that this app is safe in their privacy is protected and it is used for that purpose. This is bolted on security. I think they will take it up.”
READ MORE: Australian model tackles crisis
Richard Ferguson 3.40pm: Health Minister: You can use a fake name
Australians could use a fake name if they download the COVIDSafe contact tracing app, but Health Minister Greg Hunt has encouraged users to disclose their real identities.
As a doctor, I’ll be downloading the contact tracing app, and I’ll be encouraging my patients, colleagues, family, and friends to do the same #COVIDsafe
— AMA President (@amapresident) April 26, 2020
“You can use a fake name. That is legally available,” Mr Hunt said in Canberra. “This is about making sure that anybody who has been in contact with somebody diagnosed can be notified to protect them and we want to make sure that contact is there so a name helps.
“Obviously it is better, I think, if it is exactly who you are but above all else we want to be able to be in contact for the state health officials to be in contact.”
Mr Hunt’s push for Australians to download COVIDSafe is being supported today by the Australia Medical Association and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation.
READ MORE: Economists warn of second wave
Richard Ferguson 3.20pm: Coronavirus app won’t access private data
Australians will be able to register for the COVIDSafe contact tracing app from 6pm tonight.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said in Canberra that the app will help solve cases of coronavirus with no apparent source.
“There are over 500 cases in Australia where we never found the original source. It may be that two people have been standing in a line and one of them had accidentally been a little bit close. It may have been on public transport,” he said.
“How does it work? Very simply. Download the app and subsequently register from 6pm today. You then have your app open and it provides a Bluetooth handshake and it sits on your phone.
“No-one has access to that (data), not even yourself, no Commonwealth officials. Only a state public health official can be given access to that data, and only after you have then consented for a second time.”
READ MORE: Morrison needs to find finest hour
Paige Taylor 2.50pm: WA relaxes limits on social gatherings
West Australians will again be permitted to visit family, go camping, have picnics and go to home opens under new relaxed rules on gatherings.
Rules on indoor and outdoor non-work gatherings will be relaxed from Monday to allow up to 10 people. This is the same rule that applies in South Australia.
The McGowan Labor government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has included limiting gatherings to two people. WA also shut the border with the Northern Territory and South Australia and locked down the state’s nine regions to ban residents from moving around the state except for essential work.
At a press conference in his electorate of Rockingham south of Perth on Sunday, WA premier Mark McGowan said COVID-19 restrictions had saved thousands of lives but it had also been difficult for families especially elderly people. The effect on the WA economy had been devastating, Mr McGowan said.
Easing the restrictions would allow up to 10 people at once to go to a home open, while observing social distancing rules, and to display villages. Mr McGowan said this would help the building industry.
“Like many industries they have suffered grievously over the past few weeks,” Mr McGowan said. He described the more permissive rules as a reward for West Australians for doing the right thing. For the third time in a week, WA recorded zero new cases on Sunday. There are now just 55 active cases of COVID-19 in WA.
“There is also a responsibility to keep doing the right thing,” he said. “Let’s just watch what happens here, let’s see how it goes. We need to be patient, we need to be careful.
“Don’t have wild parties don’t do stupid things that mean we have to clamp down again.”
READ MORE: Tracking app’s alarming findings
Lachlan Moffet Gray 2.40pm: Health Minister to provide latest update
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt will address the media on the government’s coronavirus response at 3pm AEST.
Lachlan Moffet Gray 2.30pm: Germany anti-shutdown protest arrests
More than 100 people have been arrested in Germany following widespread protests on Saturday against government shutdown orders, with protesters from across the political spectrum gathering in Berlin and Stuttgart to express their discontent.
Germany has 156,513 confirmed cases of the virus - the fifth highest of any country in the world - but a proportionately low number of deaths at 5877, due to a strong medical system and the rigorous enforcement of shutdown measures imposed a month ago.
Despite the ban on demonstrations, about 1000 people gathered outside the Volksbuehne theatre in Berlin, with police cordoning off sections of the area to prevent crowding and using megaphones to order people to leave.
Calling for “an end to the state of emergency,” protesters wore T-shirts accusing German chancellor Angela Merkal of “banning life” and carried signs bearing slogans like “stop the pharmaceutical lobby”.
Some protesters handed out a paper called “Democratic Resistance,” which accused the coronavirus as a plot for governments to seize power by spreading fear.
Five police officers were injured and 105 arrested, Berlin police said in a statement.
“A total of 105 people were identified and administrative offenses and criminal proceedings for violations of the containment measures in connection with the Infection Protection Act were initiated,” the police said.
In Stuttgart, up to 500 people descended on the city centre to protest the loss of their rights.
The protest was organised by a group called Querdenken, and its head Michael Ballweg said the demonstration was addressing basic rights such as the right to associate and the freedom of belief.
— With AAP
READ MORE: Defiant Victoria keeps guard up
Lachlan Moffet Gray 2pm: NSW council workers to access job retention fund
Local Council employees in NSW — who are not eligible for the federal government’s JobKeeper wage subsidy program — are set to benefit from a new $112.5 million job-retention fund for council workers from the state government.
The “Council Job Retention Allowance”, announced Sunday, will match the jobkeeper subsidy allowance of $1500 per fortnight and will be paid for up to three months to eligible staff in the NSW local government sector.
“Our state’s 128 local councils are a critical part of the NSW economy, especially in many regional and rural towns where they are sometimes the largest employer,” NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said in a statement on Sunday.
“This is about keeping people in jobs which will allow councils to continue to provide essential services in their communities throughout the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and bounce back faster once we come out the other side.”
The subsidy, to be paid from the NSW Government’s Jobs for NSW fund, joins a further $280 million in support for local governments including $32.8 million to help councils meet increases in the 2020-21 emergency services levy and $250 million in low-interest loans to encourage infrastructure investment.
READ MORE: PvO — Grounds for confusion in school return push
Lachlan Moffet Gray 1.40pm: Virus app must remain vountary: Labor
Opposition health spokesman Chris Bowen has maintained that the government’s coronavirus tracing app, which launched on Sunday, must be “voluntary in every sense of the word” and not share its data with any other government agency outside of health agencies.
“I think that it is as simple as ensuring that any data that’s stored on the app is only used, only used for the purposes of tracing contacts for COVID-19 in a positive diagnosis,” he told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.
“Not for any purpose, by any other agency...Not by any court, not by any tribunal, not any department, or any government, other than for that purpose and that purpose strictly alone.
“And also that it not be the case that any institution can insist on the app being
downloaded. This is a voluntary app and it needs to be voluntary in every sense of the word.”
The app, given its current powers under federal biosecurity law, will be enshrined in legislation when Parliament resumes on the week of May 11 - and Mr Bowen said the opposition would seek to have Australians’ privacy concerns reflected in the legislation.
“The role that the Opposition can play is a constructive one is a positive one, but a constructive one.
“And ultimately provide for the Opposition to facilitate passage of good legislation through the Parliament. To ask the right questions. To ensure that the right matters are being addressed.”
READ MORE: PM to legislate privacy restrictions for virus app
Lachlan Moffet Gray 1.30pm: France follows Spain in easing restrictions
France is set to follow neighbour Spain in lifting coronavirus restrictions in May, with French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe set to announce a 17-priority plan to reopen the nation on Tuesday.
France, which has suffered 22,614 coronavirus-related deaths — the fourth-highest death rate of any country — has been under strict lockdown conditions since March 17.
But from May 11, the country will start progressively reopening schools and businesses, as well as restoring public transport services, Mr Philippe’s office told AFP.
The nation will also unveil an app for tracing the contacts of confirmed cases, similar to the coronavirus tracing app launched by the Australian government on Sunday.
A recent poll conducted for French Newspaper Journal Du Demanche showed that just 39 per cent of the French public have confidence in their government to effectively manage the crisis.
READ MORE: ‘Let me tell you, couples’counselling on zoom is a grim experience’
Michael McKenna 1.15pm: Border limits amid Qld rule easing
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the state’s borders will remain closed, despite an announced easing of restrictions.
Queenslanders will be able to go shopping, have picnics or go the beach to sunbake under the lifting of state COVID-19 restrictions next weekend.
Ms Palaszczuk said she was not yet ready to reopen the border or schools because of health advice.
All other rules including gatherings and limits on visitors remain in place. Ms Palaszczuk said the numbers of new infections would be watched closely and the measures reviewed after two weeks.
“The first sign of a spike we will not hesitate to clamp back,” the Premier said. “This is a test-run to see what effect easing restrictions has on the containment of COVID-19.
“I encourage all Queenslanders to back this first step so that we can keep the virus away and help everyone start to get their lives back.”
READ MORE: Send us your wealthy, huddled masses
Lachlan Moffet Gray 1.05pm: Blue Mountains ‘cluster’ fears allayed
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said an aged care facility in the Blue Mountains where a staff member was revealed to have contracted coronavirus on Saturday does not have any residents currently exhibiting symptoms of the disease, but testing will continue.
“I would like to emphasise that the aged care worker did not work whilst she had any symptoms, but as a precaution, we go back a period of time in case there can be transmission before the onset of symptoms,” she said.
“Pleasingly, the 20 residents in the wing where this healthcare worker worked, have all been screened, whether they had symptoms or not. And those test results have come back negative.”
Dr Chant said that other workers at the Boddington Catholic aged care facility in Wentworth Falls were undergoing “extensive testing,” with results due later on Sunday.
She said 52 people in NSW aged between 5-17 had been diagnosed with COVID-19.
READ MORE: This is our chance to wise up
Lachlan Moffet Gray 12.55pm: ACT reports no new virus cases
The ACT has recorded no additional cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, but has confirmed that one previously confirmed case contracted the disease from an unnamed cruise ship - and that the contacts of a young woman who contracted the disease overseas are being investigated.
The total number of the cases in the ACT remains at 106, an increase of two in the last week. The case who contracted the disease on an unnamed cruise ship - a man in his sixties - is not considered a risk to the community, ACT Health said, as he “did all the right things since returning to Canberra.”
The young adult female whose case “is likely related to overseas travel” is in isolation with ACT Health currently working with “a small number” of close contacts.
A total of 99 cases in the territory have now recovered from COVID-19 and have been released from self-isolation, ACT Health said.
One patient is in hospital in a stable condition with the remaining cases isolating at home.
READ MORE: Will coronavirus signal the end of narcissism?
Lachlan Moffet Gray 12.40pm: Patients not at risk after medico positive
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the female medical practitioner who tested positive for coronavirus while employed at the Nepean Hospital in Western Sydney also worked a shift at Sydney’s Adventist Hospital, but had not been undertaking face-to-face patent work or clinical work in the previous 48 hours before testing positive at either location.
Two close contacts identified in the “relevant period” from the Nepean Hospital have entered self-isolation, as have eight staff from the Adventist Hospital.
“So no patients, but staff,” Mr Hazzard said. “And it was a mixture of medical and non-medical staff. They’re all doing extremely well.
“There’s no indication at this stage that they’re ill.”
An additional three residents and two staff at Newmarch House have tested positive, bringing the total number of cases to 53, including 34 residents and 19 staff.
There have now been 2208 people who have recovered from COVID-19 in NSW. There are 182 COVID-19 cases being treated in the state’s hospitals, 19 are being treated in Intensive Care Units, with 15 of those requiring ventilators.
READ MORE: Pete Evans fined over virus ‘machine’
Richard Ferguson 12.30pm: PM moves to ease tracing app concerns
Scott Morrison will legislate privacy protections protecting the data of people who take up the COVIDSafe contact tracing app.
The app’s website says Health Minister Greg Hunt will also make a directive under the Biosecurity Act to ensure private data is only accessed by state health officials.
“Collection and use of information from the app is consent-based and consistent with the Privacy Act and Australian Privacy Principles,” the COVIDSafe site says.
“To further strengthen the app’s privacy arrangements the Health Minister made a Determination under the Biosecurity Act to protect people’s privacy and restrict access to app information to state or territory health authorities for contact tracing.
“These provisions will be enshrined in legislation when Parliament returns in May.”
READ MORE: High price of saving not many lives
Richard Ferguson 12.20pm: Contact tracing app goes live
Australians can now download a controversial contact tracing app designed to boost the government’s ability to find people who may potentially have COVID-19.
The CovidSafe app for mobile phone users will allow health authorities to alert Australians if they had come close to positive COVID-19 cases by using Bluetooth data, which recorded digital “handshakes” with other phones.
Scott Morrison has said 40 per cent of Australians will need to take up the app in order for it to be effective enough to loosen tough social distancing restrictions.
The app can be found at https://www.covidsafe.gov.au
READ MORE: Strict India joins easing
Lachlan Moffet Gray 12.15pm: NSW doing ‘extraordinarily well’
NSW has hit 3002 confirmed cases of coronavirus, as Health Minister Brad Hazzard announced a further eight new cases and confirmed the state’s 36th death.
An 82-year-old man died at the Anglicare Newmarch House aged care facility in Caddens, making him the sixth resident from the facility to die of COVID-19.
Despite the death, Mr Hazzard said the increase in cases was lower than Saturday’s increase of 12, evidence that NSW was doing “extraordinarily well” in fighting the virus.
“Total testing to date - 198,715 people. So we’re closing in on 200,000 people, which is an amazing effort from all of our health staff, but all of our community.
“So it reminds us that whilst this is a particularly difficult and challenging virus, we also know that it still hasn’t managed to get through the community in NSW - indeed Australia - to the extent that it certainly has in other jurisdictions like Italy and France and Spain and the UK.”
READ MORE: Fears grow for North Korea leader
Lachlan Moffet Gray 11.55am: Hospital worker tests positive to virus
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard will address the media at 12pm (AEST) on the state’s coronavirus response following the diagnosis of a health worker at the Nepean Hospital, in Western Sydney, with COVID-19.
The Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District on Sunday morning confirmed the positive diagnosis, but said the employee did not work while unwell.
“There is no ongoing risk to patients or staff and no impact on our services,” a spokeswoman said. “Health screening is carried out on all staff at the start of each shift.
“The healthcare worker was undertaking non-clinical duties during this time.”
Close contacts of the worker are being traced.
READ MORE: Cruise lines — this won’t sink us
Matthew Denholm 11.50am: Tasmania outbreak claims another life
Tasmania has recorded another death from COVID-19, and another infection among a healthcare worker, as an outbreak in the state’s northwest continues.
Health Minister Sarah Courtney on Sunday said the latest death was of a man in his 90s, who was being cared for at the Mersey Community Hospital, at Latrobe, in the state’s northwest.
It brings the state’s total death toll from the virus to 11; all but one of which have been in the state’s northwest, where a stricter lockdown due to expire on Sunday has been extended for at least another week.
With two northwest hospitals – the North West Regional Hospital and North West Private Hospital – yet to fully reopen following outbreaks focused on those facilities, Ms Courtney played down the risk to the Mersey Community Hospital of the latest health worker case.
“I’d like to be very clear that this man only worked in the COVID positive ward (and) we are working swiftly, and have been overnight, to identify close contacts,” Ms Courtney said.
Tasmania has now recorded 208 cases.
READ MORE: Lockdown triggers spike in brawls
John Ferguson 11.30am: Victoria’s COVID-19 death toll rises
A Victoria man in his 90s is the latest coronavirus victim. The man was in hospital and is the state’s 17th death.
There were a further three confirmed cases, bring the total to 1349, with 1265 recovered. Twenty-one people are in hospital, with 10 in intensive care.
Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said two of the new cases were instances of community transmission and one is a patient and the private psychiatric facility were a cluster of infections have emerged.
“At this stage, there are now 16 known cases linked to this outbreak, including seven patients,” Ms Mikakos told reporters on Sunday.
“There has been significant testing that has been under way of patients and staff at this clinic and we can provide you with further details but there is a lot of work going on in relation to dealing with particular outbreak.”
It comes as more overseas travellers are due to arrive in Melbourne today, including from Doha, Hong Kong and Auckland.
READ MORE: Cancellation after 1000 years
Lachlan Moffet Gray 11.20am: Qld Premier announces easing of restrictions
Queensland will reopen national parks, allow recreational drives, non-essential shopping trips and family picnics after recording three new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, a result Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has called “good news”.
There are now 1030 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state.
Ms Palaszczuk said the easing of restrictions would occur from Friday, but urged Queenslanders to maintain social distancing or the government would “clamp back down”.
“I say, this is a small step and one that we really need the public to 100 per cent co-operate with because if we do see mass gatherings, I will not hesitate to clamp back down,” she said.
“So, from midnight on Friday, we will be able to leave our homes for some forms of recreation. You will be able to go for a drive ... members of the same household can go and have a picnic or, if you are single, you can go with one other person.
“You will be able to go shopping for non-essential items, like clothes and shoes.
“Also, you will be able to go to National parks. We will be reopening the National parks,” she said, adding that public toilets and other facilities in the parks will remain closed.
Ms Palaszczuk said she hoped the measures would provide some relief to Queenslanders suffering from cabin fever, but warned they were subject to three restrictions:
“(As) I have mentioned, we have to keep up hygiene and social distancing. This social distancing is absolutely paramount,” she said.
“We have to stay within 50km of our homes ... what we do not want to see is large-scale movements of people, like Cairns to Townsville, people from the Sunshine Coast going to the Gold Coast.
“The other condition is that outings are limited to members of your own household. What we do not want is groups of friends meeting up with other friends at this stage. That is not what we are saying.”
READ MORE: Boris Johnson to make his hardest decisions
Lachlan Moffet Gray 11am: Hospital ship set to leave New York
A navy hospital ship in Manhattan is set to discharge its last coronavirus patients and set sail as COVID-19 hospitalisations in New York City fall to their lowest levels in three weeks.
The USNS Comfort, which was dispatched by the federal government from Virginia to New York City on March 30 to relieve the city’s overcrowded hospitals. will on Sunday discharge its remaining 12 patients, according to operator Northwell Health.
Originally designated to treat non-coronavirus patients, the city’s escalating infection rate meant that the navy hospital ship had to accept infected individuals. It treated at least 182 patients in a three-week stint.
Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman did not give a departure date for the ship but said its looming exit was a welcome sign.
A temporary hospital set up at a Manhattan convention centre has also seen lower than projected patient volume. As of Saturday, the facility had treated about 1100 patients, with 125 still receiving care.
The impending departure of the USNS comfort comes as new data showed hospitalisations for coronavirus in the state falling to their lowest level in three weeks.
A little more than 13,000 people were in hospital with the disease on Friday, about the same level the state was at on April 1.
The state’s COVID-19 hospitalisation tally peaked at 18,825 on April 12 and has fallen every day since.
New hospitalisation for the disease are also continuing to drop.
A rolling three-day average showed about 1200 new hospitalisation for coronavirus on Friday, Governor Andrew Cuomo said, the fewest since March 25.
The number of people dying in the state from the disease is also trending lower, though Friday’s total of 437 deaths was up slightly over Thursday’s tally. The state peaked with 799 deaths in one day on April 9.
New York State has seen more than 282,000 people contract the virus and 16,599 deaths.
— With AAP
READ MORE: NT to be the first government to ease restrictions
Remy Varga 10.25am: Victoria police continue crackdown
Victoria Police have issued 87 social distancing fines in the past 24-hours. Breaches include a hotel party, group gatherings in private residences and people who don’t live together found in a car without a reason for their travel.
Victoria Police coronavirus taskforce Operation Sentinel conducted 688 spot-checks at homes, businesses and non-essential services across the state, bringing the total to 30,028 since March 21.
READ MORE: Grounds for confusion in schools push
Lachlan Moffet Gray 10.10am: Trump says his daily virus briefings ‘not worth it’
US President Donald Trump has said his daily coronavirus press briefings are “not worth the time & effort” after eyebrows were raised by the lack of briefing on Saturday, two days after he made controversial comments about the effectiveness of injecting disinfectant into coronavirus patients to fight the virus.
Discussing potential ways to fight the virus on Thursday, Mr Trump said: “I see the disinfectant, it knocks it out in a minute, one minute and is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning, because you see it gets on the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs.”
What is the purpose of having White House News Conferences when the Lamestream Media asks nothing but hostile questions, & then refuses to report the truth or facts accurately. They get record ratings, & the American people get nothing but Fake News. Not worth the time & effort!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2020
On Friday’s Mr Trump walked the comments back, telling journalists: “I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen.”
On Saturday President Trump took to Twitter to ask “What is the purpose of having White House News Conferences when the Lamestream Media asks nothing but hostile questions, & then refuses to report the truth or facts accurately,” signalling a potential shift in the way the President will communicate with the public about the crisis.
READ MORE: Crisis puts Trump in the fight of his life
Richard Ferguson 9.55am: ‘Government must to more on virus app’
Opposition home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally wants privacy protections for a controversial coronavirus contact tracing app legislated.
The app will be launched later today and Scott Morrison has previously said 40 per cent of Australians will need download it for contact tracing to be high enough for social distancing restrictions to be lifted.
Senator Keneally said the app could be useful, but the government must do more work to reassure Australians their personal data will be protected.
“The tracing app could be a great tool. It could be a great tool to protect Australia’s public health,” she told ABC News.
.@KKeneally says Labor would like to see privacy protections legislated when it comes to the tracing app.
— Insiders ABC (@InsidersABC) April 25, 2020
"It could be a great tool... However, Australians will only download the app if they have confidence that their privacy will be protected."#Auspol pic.twitter.com/eFlFnuFWEk
“However, Australians will only download the app if they have confidence that their privacy will be protected.
“And so, we are encouraging the Government to ensure those privacy protections are built into the app.
“That the app has legislation around it that means that the data cannot be used for any other purpose except contact tracing, and that when this crisis is over, that authorities ensure that that data is deleted.”
READ MORE: What you need to know about the government’s tracing app
Richard Ferguson 9.45am: Labor floats border control review after cruise fiasco
Opposition home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally has floated a review of Australia’s medical border controls, saying there were “too many cooks in the kitchen” when the Ruby Princess docked in Sydney.
Senator Keneally — who has laid blame for the Ruby Princess docking in Sydney at the feet of the Commonwealth — told ABC News on Sunday there were gaps in the biosecurity controls at Australian ports, and there was room to clear up responsibilities.
“It does seem like there are too many cooks in the kitchen, so to speak, when it comes to our border security,” she said.
“What the right arrangements should be, I don’t think that we should start to draw that out here today. But I do think that it does need to be examined.
“What Ruby Princess has exposed is that there are gaping holes in our border security.”
An special commission is underway into the Ruby Princess - which is responsible for a large bulk of coronavirus cases and deaths - and both federal and state officials have been blamed for the scandal.
READ MORE: Timeline to tragedy aboard the Ruby Princess
Lachlan Moffet Gray 9.29am: Virus-ravaged Italy sees positive signs
Italy, once the epicentre of the coronavirus crisis, has recorded its lowest daily death toll in almost two weeks while Spain — with a death count not far behind Italy — is eyeing relaxing bans on outdoor exercise by next month.
On Saturday Italy’s death toll rose by 415 to 26,384, the lowest since March 17, while the infection number hit a five day low of 2357.
Spain’s death toll rose by 378 to 22,902, with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez saying that Spaniards may be permitted to exercise outdoors by May 2 if the rate continues to fall.
“If we act with prudence, this first relief measure will be followed by another one a week later,” Mr Sanchez said.
“If the evolution of the pandemic keeps moving in a positive manner, starting on May 2 outings will be allowed for individual activity and for walks with the people that we live with.”
Mr Sanchez said that his government would consider lifting restrictions even further later in May, but warned against making rash decisions.
“I would like to convey to you the importance of being cautious,” he said.
“This is not a race to see who is the first to reopen a shopping mall or a small business establishment.”
READ MORE: No one noticed Italy’s silent time bomb until it exploded
Lachlan Moffet Gray 9.15am: Britons urged to mask up as death toll passes 20,000
The head of the British Medical Association has urged the UK government to provide masks to all essential service workers and encourage broader widespread use of masks as the nation’s death toll surpasses 20,000, with 813 hospital deaths on Saturday alone.
Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance on March 17 said keeping the number of coronavirus deaths in the UK before 20,000 would be a “good result.” With that target missed, BMA chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul is departing from most of his international counterparts in lobbying for compulsory PPE for workers outside of the health sector,
Dr Nagpaul told the UK’s Daily Telegraph that the workers who should be made to wear masks includes transport workers, shopkeepers, carers or supermarket staff.
“Common sense tells you that a barrier between people must offer a level of protection, however small,” Dr Nagpaul said, adding that the government “must pursue all avenues of reducing the spread of infection.”
“This includes asking the public to wear face coverings to cover mouths and noses when people leave home for essential reasons.”
The Australian Medical Association is yet to suggest widespread public mask wearing, with Vice President Dr Chris Zappala previously saying that the organisation will wait for more evidence on the efficacy of mask usage before changing its advice.
“The AMA remains quite comfortable with the current advice around use of masks and limiting surgical mask use largely to healthcare facilities and people who are unwell,” Dr Zappala told the ABC at the start of April.
Dr Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia said the UK death toll will escalate before the virus is contained.
“So I think the first thing to emphasise is that this unfortunately is not going to be something we will begin to get over in the next few weeks,” he said.
“We know for a fact the figures reported every day are an underestimate, possibly a significant underestimate of the total number of deaths,” adding that the UK may hit 30,000 or 40,000 deaths in hospital before the pandemic is brought under control.
READ MORE: Do you need to wear a mask in public?
Lachlan Moffet Gray 9am: Archbishop pleads with Premier to ease restrictions
Sydney’s most senior Catholic has written a letter to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian imploring her to begin lifting restrictions on gatherings for the purpose of religious worship.
In a pastoral letter Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher said that not being able to physically gather for worship is “hard” as “our religion is so sacramental, physical, palpable.”
“On behalf of the Bishops of New South Wales, the clergy and the lay faithful I’ve written to the Premier pressing the case for the reopening of churches, initially for private prayer and confession,” the Archbishop wrote.
“It’s likely that such a ‘soft opening’ will happen before we can resume public Masses.
“And whether it’s for prayers or Mass, we are determined to abide by government directives regarding numbers, density (or distancing) and hygiene.”
READ MORE: China blasts Australia’s pandemic inquiry push
Richard Ferguson 8.40am: Dutton flags tougher airport biosecurity measures
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has flagged stronger biosecurity measures at Australian airports once international travel resumes.
Mr Dutton told Sky News that the Australian Border Force’s policy focus will remain keeping out terrorists and criminals, but it will level up its anti-coronavirus procedures in coming months.
“In this downtime we can look at some of the emerging technologies - look at the way in which we can assess if people are healthy or not,” he said.
“There are massive limitations clearly ... we need to look at that biosecurity threat.”
READ MORE: CEO’s rallying call — reignite reform
Richard Ferguson 8.35am: Virus tracing app to be launched today
A controversial coronavirus contact tracing app will be launched later today, with Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton saying privacy will be protected.
The app for mobile phone users would allow health authorities to alert Australians if they had come close to positive COVID-19 cases by using Bluetooth data, which recorded digital “handshakes” with other phones.
Mr Dutton - who recently recovered from coronavirus - told Sky News that the app would have strong privacy protections and is necessary to get Australia back to normal.
“There are absolute protections that are guaranteed around the privacy,” he said.
“All of us have numerous apps on our phones which collect more data than we have here.
“If we’ve got somebody who’s identified positive and look at their contacts over the course of the last 24 hours or seven days, contact those people, get them tested, we won’t have the spread we have seen in Italy.”
READ MORE: Jokowi slams door on 32 million
Agencies 8.20am: Another death at Sydney aged-care home
NSW’s COVID-19 death toll now stands at 36 after a sixth resident died at a western Sydney aged care home where almost 50 people have been infected.
The 82-year-old man, who resided at Newmarch House in Caddens, died on Saturday morning, operator Anglicare Sydney said.
This follows the death of a 96-year-old woman on Friday morning, a woman in her late 70s on Thursday and earlier fatalities of a woman and two men all aged in their 90s.
The facility is the state’s largest ongoing cluster, with some 31 of the almost 100 residents having been infected as well as 17 staff members. An aged care worker at healthcare facility in the Blue Mountains also tested positive for coronavirus, one of 12 new cases confirmed in NSW on Saturday. The worker from Catholic Healthcare Bodington had not been at the aged care home within 48 hours of showing symptoms, Channel 7 reported.
NSW Health said no other positive cases had been confirmed at the facility. The total number of confirmed cases in NSW is 2994, more than 44 per cent of Australia’s total number of cases at 6695. Some 19 people are in intensive care in NSW.
The national death toll now stands at 81.
READ MORE: Coronavirus infection rates — check your suburb
Agencies 8am: No evidence students infected school staff: study
There is no evidence students at NSW schools have infected staff with COVID-19, according to a study cited by the federal government in its push to reopen schools.
The National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance probe looked at all 18 cases of COVID-19 found in NSW schools.
Researchers tracked the nine teachers and nine students along with their 863 close contacts.
They found only two additional cases of COVID-19, both students.
“Our investigation found no evidence of children infecting teachers,” the chief investigator Professor Kristine Macartney told the Sun-Herald. “We have seen an extraordinarily low rate of transmissions in schools,” Prof Macartney said.
The federal government is increasing pressure on the states to return schools to normal as soon as possible, while jurisdictions continue to take a range of approaches.
READ MORE: PM to teachers — go back to class
Agencies 7.05am: No evidence infection leads to immunity: WHO
The World Health Organisation warns there is no evidence that people who have had the new coronavirus are immunised and protected against reinfection, raising doubts over the use of “immunity passports” to allow some people at least to return to normal life.
“There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from #COVID19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection,” WHO said in a statement.
“People who assume that they are immune to a second infection because they have received a positive test result may ignore public health advice,” it said.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has launched an international push for a vaccine, with the UN chief saying the effort will require co-operation on a global scale and calling on international organisations, world leaders and the private sector to join the effort.
READ MORE: Principal’s plea — Let’s not waste this crisis
Agencies 6.45am: Restrictions lift despite global death toll passing 200,000
As the global death toll from the coronavirus surpassed 200,000 on Saturday, countries took cautious steps toward easing lockdowns imposed amid the pandemic, but fears of a surge in infections made even some outbreak-wounded businesses reluctant to reopen.
Italy, France, Spain, the US and Britain have each recorded 20,000 deaths, according to the World Health Organisation.
Spaniards will be allowed out for exercise and to take walks from next weekend and the government will on Tuesday unveil its broader lockdown exit plan that will likely be put into action in the second half of May.
India reopened neighbourhood stores that many of the country’s 1.3 billion people rely on for everything from beverages to mobile phone data cards. But the loosening didn’t apply to hundreds of quarantined towns and other places hit hardest by the outbreak that has killed at least 775 people in the country.
Elsewhere in Asia, authorities reported no new deaths Saturday for the 10th straight day in China, where the virus originated. South Korea reported just 10 fresh cases, the eighth day in a row its daily increase was under 20. There were no new deaths for the second straight day.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson faces hardest decisions of his life
Agencies 6.30am: Queensland expands testing criteria
COVID-19 testing criteria has been expanded as record high testing confirmed just two new cases in Queensland on Saturday.
Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles on Saturday said the state was conducting over 2000 tests a day, with new testing to incorporate anyone who has fever (or history of fever) or acute respiratory symptoms.
“We’re determined to find and trace every case in Queensland,” Mr Miles said in a statement.
The state’s total COVID-19 numbers were revised on Saturday and remain at 1026 despite two new cases being confirmed.
There are currently 217 people being treated in the state, with 803 - almost 80 per cent- of the total cases having recovered from the virus. More than 97,000 tests have been undertaken and only nine new coronavirus cases have been confirmed since last Sunday.
READ MORE: Adam Creighton — High price of saving not many lives
Agencies 5.30am: National death toll rises to 80 as more charged
NSW Police have slammed ‘arrogant, entitled’ citizens who continue to flout social distancing restrictions as the national coronavirus death toll rose to 80 and Victoria’s deputy health officer Annaliese van Diemen warned “this is not over”.
Tasmania recorded its tenth COVID-19 fatality yesterday after a 90-year-old man died at the Mersey Community Hospital in Latrobe. It took Australia’s coronavirus death toll to 80 as a plane-load of Australians and New Zealanders was due to arrive on a rescue flight out of Buenos Aires.
The more than 150 Australians and 20 New Zealanders left the Argentinian capital at 2pm Saturday local time after being stranded in South America since the outbreak.
The nation’s total confirmed cases now stands at 6694, a relatively modest increase on 6565 a week ago. At the peak of the crisis at the end of March, cases were rising by more than 200 a day.
Authorities around the country have warned against complacency, urging people not to be lulled into a false sense of security just because daily confirmed case numbers were decreasing.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard described the virus as “energetic” and “sneaky” as NSW police charged three people under the Public Health Act and issued 23 infringement notices in the 24 hours to 2pm on Saturday.
Among those charged was a 23-year-old man in Blacktown who told officers he was on his way to “a mate’s party” after having already received five infringement notices for not obeying public-health orders.
A 36-year-old man was also charged in inner Sydney’s Haymarket after police saw another man approach the accused’s car for a brief encounter before walking away. Police searched the car and allegedly seized cocaine and cash. He was charged for disobeying the public-health order along with related drug offences.
“Whether it’s arrogance, ignorance, or entitlement, I’m not sure,” NSW Police assistant commissioner Karen Webb said.
— AAP
Agencies 5.15am: Nations tentatively begin rolling back restrictions
As the global death toll from the coronavirus surpassed 200,000 on Saturday, countries took cautious steps toward easing some lockdowns, while fears of infection made even some pandemic-wounded businesses reluctant to reopen.
In the USA, Republican governors in states including Georgia and Oklahoma allowed salons, spas and barbershops to reopen, while Alaska cleared the way for restaurants to resume dine-in service and retail shops and other businesses to open their doors, all with limitations.
In India, easing restrictions meant reopening neighbourhood stores that many of the country’s 1.3 billion people rely on for everything from cold drinks to mobile phone data cards. But the loosening didn’t apply to hundreds of quarantined towns and other places hit hardest by the outbreak that has killed at least 775 people in the country and terrified its multitudes of poor who live in slum conditions too crowded for social distancing. Shopping centres remain closed nationwide.
Elsewhere in Asia, authorities reported no new deaths Saturday for the 10th straight day in China, where the virus originated. And South Korea reported just 10 fresh cases, the eighth day in a row its daily jump came below 20.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson set to make most difficult decision of his life
Agencies 5am: NY extends antibody testing to healthcare workers
New York is starting to test healthcare workers for coronavirus antibodies and will do the same next week with transit and law enforcement workers as the state eases away from the worst days of the pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.
Doctors, nurses and other employees at four New York City hospitals that have handled high volumes of coronavirus patients will be the first tested under the new program, Mr Cuomo said.
Antibody testing is a way of determining if a person has been infected by the coronavirus even if they hadn’t shown symptoms.
Making such testing widely available is seen as a key to reopening society, but the World Health Organisation warned there was currently no evidence that people who had antibodies were protected from coronavirus.
NEW: Today we are conducting antibody testing for frontline healthcare workers at 4 NYC hospitals:
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) April 25, 2020
-Bellevue Hospital
-Elmhurst Hospital
-Montefiore
-SUNY Downstate Health Sciences
Next week we will conduct antibody testing for MTA/transit workers, NYPD and State Police.
READ MORE: Muslim Hajj pilgrimage threatened for first time in 1000 years
More Coverage
Oasis announce Australian shows
The band will headline a stadium show in Melbourne on October 31, then Sydney on November 7.
Burke mulls cancelling visa of academic who called Oct 7 ‘a celebration’
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke is considering the visa status of a US-based academic who attended Monday’s Hizb ut-Tahrir-associated rally in Sydney, praising the Houthi rebels and saying Hamas's attacks were a day of 'growth' for Palestinians.