Coronavirus Australia live updates: Aged care link to abattoir outbreak
One of two aged care staff members in Victoria who have tested positive to COVID-19 is a close contact of a worker at the Cedar Meats abattoir where a cluster has emerged.
- Queensland plans cafe, restaurant reopening
- Frydenberg given 24 hour security
- Queen calls PM Scott Morrison
- Andrews making ‘different calls’
- Victorian cluster gets ‘headstart’
Welcome to live coverage of the continuing coronavirus crisis. An aged care worker who have tested positive to COVID-19 is a close contact of a worker at the Cedar Meats abattoir where a cluster has emerged. Commonwealth inspectors visited the Melbourne abattoir linked to 49 virus cases, with fears they potentially spread the virus. Scott Morrison has dismissed the notion of a herd immunity strategy and says he hasn’t seen any proof coronavirus originated in a Wuhan lab. Josh Frydenberg has been given 24-hour security after threats over JobKeeper. And the Queen has wished Australians well in dealing with coronavirus, bushfires and drought.
Associated Press 8.45pm New York subway shut down
New York’s subway system went silent on Wednesday, as part of a plan for the normally round-the-clock system to shut down for train cleaning.
The trains, which had been running on a reduced schedule since late March, are now going to be stopped from 1am. to 5am each day.
Police officers escorted people out of Brooklyn’s Coney Island station, the end of the line for several trains, and told them they would have to board buses to get to their destinations. Cleaners carrying bottles of bleach then boarded the trains.
Fewer trains had been running in the overnight hours anyway, but the shutdown allows for daily cleanings and for city workers to move homeless people who have been more visible in subway cars during the coronavirus.
The New York Police Department has assigned more than 1000 officers to secure many of the system’s 472 stations, as fewer than 200 can be physically locked up.
READ MORE: Scientists urge caution over ‘new dominant COVID-19 strain’
Olivia Caisley 7.40pm World leaders calling for advice, says PM
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other world leaders have sought Australia’s advice about minimising the spread of the coronavirus, Scott Morrison says.
The Queen had expressed her pleasure that Australia had kept the number of deaths relatively low compared to other countries, the Prime Minister tldo news.com.au on Wednesday night.
“She’s so pleased that down under we’re doing well,” he said.
Mr Morrison refused to be drawn when asked about US President Donald Trump’s recent comments about the potential benefits of injecting disinfectant.
But he confirmed his children would return to Sydney next week to go back to school.
Mr Morrison said he understood the reopening of schools had caused confusion, but added that the medical advice made clear it was safe for students to return to classrooms across the nation.
“My youngest actually does like staying in Canberra, and it’s nice to have her with me, and the sad part is that they’ll go back to Sydney and, of course, I’ll be here and we’ll be separated again, but that’s a big part of this job and we’ve always understood that.”
READ MORE: Pandemic gave peace a chance, and nobody took it
Olivia Caisley 7.10pm No return to normal without a vaccine: Morrison
Scott Morrison has warned that life will not “return to normal” until a vaccine for the deadly coronavirus becomes available, but expects some restrictions might be loosened after Friday’s national cabinet meeting.
Speaking to News.com.au on Wednesday the Prime Minister said he would not pre-empt any of the measures that are expected to be relaxed on Friday but said Australians should expect to see gradual changes.
“You get to see changes happening gradually,” he said. “They’re not always going to happen at once, and they’ll continue to happen over the weeks and months ahead.
“Until there’s a vaccine then there isn’t the possibility of us getting fully back to normal, but we want to get back to it as close as we possibly can.”
Mr Morrison reassured Australians who may be worried that social-distancing restrictions are being relaxed too quickly.
“We are in a very different time and place to what we were six weeks ago,” he said. “But since then, we’ve been able to triple our ICU capacity. We’ve been able to get access to all the testing equipment we need so we can stay on top of any outbreaks.”
The government’s tracing $1.5m app would help to keep Australians safe in the event of further outbreaks, he added.
“People often say, ‘Well, why should I do this?’” Mr Morrison said of the app. “The number one reason is: it keeps you safe.”
READ MORE: Scientists urge caution over ‘new dominant COVID-19 strain’
Stephen Lunn 6.24pm: Virus-ridden nursing home could have licence revoked
The government’s aged care quality body has taken the first step toward revoking the licence of Anglicare’s Newmarch House nursing home after the death of 16 elderly residents from COVID-19.
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, which regulates aged care standards, issued Newmarch House with a Notice to Agree on Wednesday afternoon, citing four conditions the facility must accept by 5pm Thursday or risk having its licence revoked.
The conditions included a commitment to accept no new residents into the facility, and to accept an independent advisor nominated by the commission appointed by the commission to “ensure the safety and wellbeing of care recipients.”
The commission called out the facility’s lack of systems and processes to control the outbreak, and the lack of information provided to residents’ families, as two of the reasons for taking its action.
“The commission has identified that there is an immediate and severe risk to the health, safety and wellbeing of care recipients at (Newmarch House),” its notice said.
“(And it) has serious concerns in relation to the approved provider’s compliance with respect to (a range of quality standards).”
These include patient dignity and choice; personal and clinical care; ongoing planning with residents; and organisational governance.
Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner Janet Anderson said COVID-19 outbreak at Newmarch House “has been one of the most devastating in Australia, with 16 residents having lost their lives to the virus.”
READ MORE: 300,000 jobs lost... and counting
Olivia Caisley 5.50pm Officials admit COVIDSafe app faults
Government officials behind the COVIDSafe app have admitted the contact-tracing tool has faults, declaring its performance is “highly variable” on iPhones but still helpful to health authorities.
At a Senate committee hearing into the government’s response on Wednesday it was revealed 5.1 million of the nation’s 16 million smart-phone users had installed the application.
However, Digital Transformation Agency CEO Randall Brugeaud warned that while the $1.5m app was being “constantly improved”, the quality of bluetooth connectivity “progressively deteriorates” when iPhones are locked and the app is running in the background.
“I cannot provide a view that the app will work 100 per cent of the time with all handsets where the devices are locked,” Mr Brugeaud said. “There will be circumstances where the app does not capture a bluetooth handshake.”
He flagged that Australia would be “one of the first” adopters of the application programming interface developed by Apple and Google to fix Bluetooth issues and improvements would continue to be rolled out.
“Within a fortnight or thereabouts — it depends on the timing of the Apple Bluetooth release — the performance will be as good in locked phones as it is in unlocked phones,” he said.
Scott Morrison has repeatedly said the government needed at least 40 per cent of Australia’s smart-phone users to install the app for it to be effective.
But under questioning from Labor Senator Murray Watt it was revealed the Prime Minister’s target was not based on any information provided by the Department of Health.
Acting department secretary Caroline Edwards told the committee every user was helpful.
“I’ll take one, I’ll take 10 per cent, I’ll take the five million we’ve got … and if it gets to 40 per cent and beyond, well, I’ll be even more delighted,” she said.
Senator Watt expressed concern about the link between app downloads and the lifting of restrictions on businesses.
“Here we are two days before that national cabinet meeting with an app that doesn’t work all the time, that doesn’t necessarily work when iPhones are locked, it doesn’t necessarily work when Bluetooth signals are low, it doesn’t necessarily work when it’s in the background. Only half the number of people have downloaded it that the Prime Minister said was required,” he said.
“I’m just questioning whether we can have any confidence that this app is where it needs to be for Friday’s meeting when we’re all hoping that we’re going to see some restrictions lifted.”
At a separate press conference Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly thanked the public for the huge uptake of the app.
“The app was launched just over 10 days ago now and what was told to me today, is that apparently this is the fastest that Australia has ever got to five million downloads of any app, ever, onto smart phones,” Dr Kelly said. “I think that is a remarkable statement about how the Australian public has listened to our appeal for this particular piece of the puzzle.”
READ MORE: Scott Morrison is right to hold the line on China lab ‘conspiracy’
Rachel Baxendale 5.19pm: Aged-care link to abattoir cluster
One of two aged care staff members in Victoria who have tested positive to COVID-19 is a close contact of a worker at the Cedar Meats abattoir where a cluster has emerged.
Two new coronavirus cases have been linked to Victorian aged care facilities.
A staff member at the Footscray Aged Care Home in Melbourne has tested positive.
The staff member last worked at the facility, the Footscray Aged Care Home, on Sunday April 26.
The facility, owned by Doutta Galla Aged Care, is now closed to visitors and undergoing a deep clean.
In a statement, Doutta Galla Aged Care chief executive officer Vanda Iaconese said the incident had not led to a broader outbreak or cluster.
“The staff member has no symptoms, they are now in isolation in their home. The staff member last worked at the home on Sunday 26 April 2020 and has not worked since that date.”
“There is not an outbreak nor a COVID-19 cluster, and no resident or staff are showing signs of infection.
A staff member at the Grant Lodge nursing home in Bacchus Marsh has also tested positive, with the home now in lockdown.
A statement from the home’s owners, Djerriwarrh Health Services, said all residents were being tested for the virus, and staff members who had interacted with the infected staff member have been sent home for isolation and are being tested.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton confirmed the Footscray aged care worker was a “close contact” of a Cedar Meats worker.
Professor Sutton said there was no known link between the Bacchus Marsh case and Cedar Meats.
Stephen Lunn 5pm Aged-care royal commission to examine Newmarch
The aged-care royal commission will examine the fatal Newmarch House coronavirus outbreak as part of its final deliberations.
Commissioners Tony Pagone and Lynelle Briggs have confirmed they will consider how aged-care facilities such as Newmarch House have managed COVID-19 for inclusion in their final report.
“The Royal Commissioners ... are very concerned by reports of deaths due to COVID-19 in agedcare facilities,” a statement from the Commission released on Wednesday said.
“Since March, the commissioners have been collecting information, including from submissions to the public, so that their final report may be informed by the lessons learnt from the pandemic — including the lessons from what has happened at Newmarch House, and other aged-care facilities.”
But the commission recognised that providers in the middle of a coronavirus pandemic had little scope to also prepare material for a royal commission.
“The commissioners may need to inquire into particular events relating to COVID-19 in particular residential facilities. However, any such inquiry must in no way distract providers from giving residents of aged care facilities the care that they need in these difficult times,” the statement said.
Aged-care facilities have been at the centre of a number of coronavirus outbreaks in Australia. Newmarch House in western Sydney has had more than 60 coronavirus cases confirmed for staff and residents, with 16 residents dying of the disease.
Six elderly residents also died that the Dorothy Henderson Lodge in Sydney’s north after a COVID-19 outbreak.
READ MORE: Scientist quits for conducting affair during lockdown
Paige Taylor 4.50pm Restaurants to open on Christmas and Cocos islands
Cafes and restaurants will reopen on the Australian territories of Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, where no coronavirus has been detected throughout the pandemic.
The islands are 980km apart in the Indian Ocean and have a combined population of fewer than 2000 people, though essential workers from mainland Australia, including Australian Border Force personnel and health workers, continue to go there.
The islands, known as the Indian Ocean territories, are the second jurisdiction in Australia after Norfolk Island to permit dining in at restaurants and cafes.
The islands are operating under what are essentially state of emergency rules overseen by two Australian Federal Police officers appointed territory controllers for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic.
The decision to allow dining from 11am on Friday was announced by controllers Kylie Lawson and David Williams in an email to residents.
“As the Indian Ocean Territories (IOT) remain COVID-19-free and the IOT community has been compliant with our social distancing, hygiene and social gathering restrictions, careful planning has been under way to relax some more of these restrictions in stage 2,” the controllers said on Wednesday.
“Everyone is still required to maintain social distancing and adhere to strict hygiene and handwashing practices. These changes are consistent with national protocols and the exemptions available for isolated regional hubs like the IOT in relation to public gathering and non-essential businesses.”
The controllers are now considering allowing travel between the two islands, a 90-minute flight.
READ MORE: Scientists urge caution over ‘new dominant COVID-19 strain’
AFP 4.25pm Germany to reopen shops and schools this month
Germany will fully reopen shops and schools this month after weeks of shutdown imposed to control the spread of the coronavirus, according to a draft agreement between Chancellor Angela Merkel and regional premiers seen by the news organisation Agence France-Presse.
“Even after initial steps to open up were introduced from April 20, the number of new infections remained low,” the document read, with “no new wave of infection” so far detected — justifying the bolder reopening steps.
READ MORE: The ‘America first’ model on how not to fight COVID-19
3.42pm: 26 new virus cases in Australia in 24 hours
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly says the majority of 26 new virus cases in Australia in 24 hours come from two clusters in Melbourne and Sydney.
Cedar Meats in Melbourne’s west has been linked to 49 coronavirus cases, while 16 elderly residents have died after contracting COVID-19 at Anglicare Newmarch House in Sydney’s west.
Dr Kelly said that 688,000 virus tests had been conducted across the nation and 5.1 million Australians had downloaded the government’s app.
READ MORE: Pandemic unleashes internal conflict for liberals
Amos Aikman 3.27pm: Rotation of US Marines to go ahead in NT
The annual rotation of United States Marines, a cornerstone of Australia’s most important strategic alliance, will go ahead despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said that after speaking to her US counterpart, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, that the rotation would happen in a modified form.
“I was pleased to inform Secretary Esper that after careful consideration, the government has decided that a modified 2020 Marine Rotational Force – Darwin (MRF-D) can proceed later this year, adhering to strict measures in place to protect against COVID-19,” Minister Reynolds said in a statement.
“The decision was based on Australia’s record to date in managing the impacts from COVID-19, as well as strict adherence by deployed US Marines to the mandatory 14-day quarantine and other requirements.”
She also revealed that US and Australian researchers were cooperating to study “the survival of the virus that causes COVID-19 on various surfaces, and how it is impacted by environmental factors such as temperature and humidity.”
The 2020 MRF-D had hitherto been widely expected to be cancelled.
READ MORE: PM’s right to hold the line on lab ‘conspiracy’
Paige Taylor 2.50pm: Seven days with no virus cases in WA
Western Australia has detected no new cases of coronavirus for a week.
The seventh day of zero new cases comes after an expanded detection regime that has resulted in close to 50,000 tests.
In WA on Wednesday, 14 people had coronavirus.
WA premier Mark McGowan has been planning for relaxed restrictions, including by training hospitality workers in COVID-safe practices ahead of restaurant and cafes reopening. However no date for this has been set.
“We will continue to take a cautious and considered response to protect West Australians and get our economy going again,” Mr McGowan said.
“We expect Western Australia will be in a position to release a West Australian roadmap as early as this weekend.
“I want to stress that whilst Western Australia has responded strongly to the COVID-19 threat, we are not out of the woods yet.
“We will only make changes where it is safe to do so.”
WA has begun testing students and teachers without symptoms and will soon test fly-in, fly-out mine workers who do not have symptoms. It is expected that an additional 30,000 tests will be done to try to find out if there is a secret mass of coronavirus in the community.
READ MORE: Biggest threat yet to come: Bernardi
Rachel Baxendale 2.28pm: Commonwealth inspectors visited virus-ridden abattoir
Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud has requested an investigation after it emerged Commonwealth inspectors visited the Melbourne abattoir linked to 49 COVID-19 cases.
Mr Littleproud said the workers had visited Cedar Meats in Melbourne’s west, as well as other meat processing facilities, potentially spreading the virus.
“I’m just getting to the bottom of when we were notified, because obviously they make an inspection in one abattoir and move to another,” Mr Littleproud said.
He said questions about why an April 2 infection was not flagged as a potential risk to the Cedar Meats workplace were matters for the Victorian government.
“They are responsible for the health outbreaks in their individual states,” Mr Littleproud said.
“I want to understand when we were notified and how we were notified, because potentially, those Commonwealth Department of Agriculture personnel who were in that abattoir and then moved to another one potentially could have spread the virus.
“I want to get an understanding of what Victorian state officials undertook in that, so it’s very careful, before we start pointing the finger, I think we need to understand what’s happened.”
Mr Littleproud said he was not aware of any agriculture department workers testing positive to COVID-19 “at this stage”.
“This is a fluid situation and we’re obviously trying to piece together the chain of events, and that’s very important that we do that, and we do that calmly, methodically and provide support to each one of those employees that were in contact through that facility.”
Mr Littleproud said meat consumers could be confident they would not catch COVID-19 from meat processed at Cedar Meats.
Mr Littleproud said he was confident the Cedar Meats cluster was an “outlier”, despite three per cent of abattoir workers in the US being infected with COVID-19.
READ MORE: PM seeks G20 support for inquiry
Amos Aikman 1.57pm: Rapid testing to protect remote NT communities
Ten of the first 28 rapid point-of-care coronavirus testing facilities will be in the Northern Territory, with most aimed at protecting remote communities.
NT Health Minister Natasha Fyles said just three active COVID-19 cases remained in the Top End, one in a long-term Territorian and the other two in defence personnel who had recently returned from overseas.
She reiterated that there was no evidence of community spread of deadly coronavirus but argued rapid testing was needed to protect vulnerable indigenous people as the economy gradually opened up.
The federal government had committed to distributing rapid point-of-care testing equipment to 83 locations, most of them in the bush.
Ms Fyles said health authorities would also ramp up “sentinel” testing aimed at finding cases in people with very mild symptoms.
Chief Minister Michael Gunner last week unveiled a three-stage plan for economic recovery with most businesses allowed to restart from 15 May and the aim of reaching a “new normal” by early June.
READ MORE: UK scientist quits for lockdown affair
Adeshola Ore 1.45pm: Two new virus cases in New Zealand
New Zealand has recorded two new cases of coronavirus and one death overnight.
The latest fatality was a woman in her 60s with underlying health conditions who resided at an aged-care facility. It comes after two days of the country reporting no new cases.
Last week, New Zealanders began life under relaxed lockdown restrictions after the country slowed the spread of the virus.
The country’s coronavirus death toll stands at 21.
READ MORE: Qantas fares to tumble
Rachel Baxendale 1.40pm: Authorities ‘relied on abattoir worker’s claim’
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer says authorities relied on a COVID-19 positive abattoir worker’s claim that he had not been at work while infectious when they failed to treat the facility as a possible exposure site more than three weeks before detecting the second case.
The cluster of cases linked to Cedar Meats reached 49 on Wednesday, with those infected including a nurse at the Sunshine Hospital.
Hi @VictorianCHO. I heard you on @3AW693 news accusing the media of “obfuscation†in their reporting of DHHS handling of the Cedar Meats case. Not sure what that means, but grateful if you can explain how my report differs from this statement sent by DHHS at 7:50pm last night. pic.twitter.com/vMTBs3krPQ
— Rachel Baxendale (@rachelbaxendale) May 5, 2020
In an interview with Melbourne radio host Neil Mitchell on Wednesday, Professor Sutton admitted that the infectious worker’s version of events was not challenged.
Adeshola Ore 12.50pm: PM has not seen proof virus came from Wuhan lab
Scott Morrison has dismissed the notion of “herd immunity”, describing it as a “death sentence.”
He said if Australia had taken a softer approach to its fight against coronavirus, thousands of people would have died.
“Nobody’s got herd immunity,’’ he told Sydney radio 2GB. “The United States hasn’t reached it, Sweden hasn’t reached it. The UK hasn’t reached it. You need to get to two-thirds of 60 perc ent of your population.”
Mr Morrison said he had not seen any proof that supports the US government’s claim that coronavirus originated in a Wuhan lab.
“I haven’t ruled it out. But what this demonstrates is our quite straight forward, transparent, reasonable request that there be a review into what happened, where did it happen, how did it start. These are important questions and I don’t intend to back down from asking them.
“If this happened in Australia, I would expect inspectors to come here and look into it and be open to that.”
Mr Morrison said the virus was most likely passed from an animal to a human at a wildlife wet market in Wuhan.
Health Minister Greg Hunt will also pursue the topic at the World Health Assembly on May 18, where Australia will vote for motions put forward by the European Union, paving the way for an inquiry.
READ MORE: Greg Sheridan — PM is right to hold the line on China lab ‘conspiracy’
Nastasha Robinson 12.40pm: CSL joins Red Cross on plasma product
Global vaccine giant CSL will join with the Red Cross to develop an anti-coronavirus plasma product that would have the potential to treat people with serious complications of COVID-19.
Plasma containing antibodies of people who have recovered from COVID-19 will be injected directly transfused into COVID19 sufferers, and CSL will also work on an investigational product, to be known as COVID-19 Immunoglobulin, which will be a concentrated form of the antibodies to be injected into patients.
Plasma will begin to be collected from recovered COVID19 patients by the Red Cross from next Monday after which clinical trials will begin. CSL hopes it will have a plasma product ready for the market by the end of the year.
The plasma treatment would initially be given to people in hospital suffering serious illness from COVID-19, but CSL said the treatment could also be given to healthcare workers as a preventative remedy if they had been exposed to high amounts of virus during the course of their work.
CSL’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Charmaine Gittleson, it was hoped that clinical trials could begin into a plasma treatment in coming weeks. “This treatment is a concentrated product of COVID-19 antibodies, which are taken from patients that have recovered from COVID-19,” Dr Gittleson said “This is a treatment not a vaccine. And this treatment because it has antibodies that neutralize the virus, can be given to people who present with respiratory symptoms.”
CSL’s research will involve two phases. In the first phase, a small batch of COVID-19 Immunoglobulin will be produced and used to develop tests to detect the presence of the antibodies that fight the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.
The second phase will involve a larger batch of COVID-19 Immunoglobulin that will be used in clinical trials in Australia’s hospitals to establish the safety of the product.
The product will be developed using donations of plasma made in Australia by people who have recovered from COVID-19
Red Cross Lifeblood is calling for donations of blood plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19. It hopes to attract 800 donors in the coming months.
READ MORE: CSL to step up flu vaccine output amid rush for flu shot
Adeshola Ore 12.30pm: ACT records no new cases for third consecutive day
The ACT has recorded no new cases of coronavirus for the third consecutive day. The territory’s coronavirus tally remains 107, with three recorded deaths. ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman urged Canberrans to get tested if they had symptoms of the virus.
“Testing as many people as possible is critical to giving us the best view of COVID-19 in the community and provides us with the data we need to move forward,” she said.
READ MORE: March retail sales data sets new growth record
Agencies 12.10pm: Trump tours mask factory —without wearing a mask
President Donald Trump has conceded that more Americans will die in reopening the US economy but underlined his insistence on a dwindling coronavirus threat by refusing to wear a mask, even as he toured a mask-making factory.
Asked by Awhether a lifting of social distancing measures and reopening of the shuttered economy will lead to higher death tolls, Trump said “it’s possible there will be some.” “Because you won’t be locked into an apartment or a house or whatever it is,” Trump said at the Honeywell factory in Phoenix, Arizona, which he visited on his first major trip since the coronavirus lockdown began.
“Will some people be affected badly? Yes,” he admitted earlier at the factory. “But we have to get our country open.”
Praising the Honeywell workers, who churn out masks used by medical staff and other first responders, Trump reiterated that it’s time to look ahead. “I want to be a cheerleader,” he said.
Trump’s audience at Honeywell was at odds with US government recommendations and their own company rule, which was clearly displayed on a sign in the facility reading: “Please wear your mask at all times.” Trump had teased as he left Washington that after months of resistance he might finally cover his face.
Vice president Mike Pence caused an uproar a week ago when he was photographed mask-less during a visit to the Mayo Clinic hospital in Rochester, Minnesota, which requires visitors to cover up. Pence publicly admitted he’d been wrong. “I didn’t think it was necessary, but I should have worn a mask,” he said on Sunday. — AFP
READ MORE: Hospitals at odds on safety of face masks
Agencies 11.45am: Infected crew member’s family sues Royal Caribbean
The family of a cruise crew member who died after testing positive for COVID-19 filed a lawsuit against Royal Caribbean Cruises saying the company failed to protect its employees as the pandemic ravaged sailings around the world.
The wrongful death case filed in circuit court in Miami says Pujiyoko, 27, worked in housekeeping on the Symphony of the Seas and suffered from flu-like symptoms including a fever and shortness of breath but was not tested for six days.
The lawsuit also argues Royal Caribbean failed to follow basic safety precautions allowing buffets and parties and mandating crew members to participate in drills even after the US government had issued a no-sail order to curb coronavirus infections.
For the cruise ships that were at sea when the order took effect, companies negotiated for their passengers to disembark, wrangling with countries and local governments wary of sick travelers. But for the most part, crew members remained on board vessels floating off-coast.
Pujiyoko, of Bali, Indonesia, was disembarked in a life boat and taken to a hospital in Fort Lauderdale on March 30, seven days after first reporting to the ship’s medical facility. He died on April 11.
Michael Winkleman, a maritime lawyer representing the family, says Pujiyoko had no underlying conditions and had passed preemployment and reemployment medical screenings to work for Royal Caribbean.
READ MORE: COVID-19 blunders that cost lives
Adeshola Ore 11.20am: More than 5 million download COVIDSafe app
The Health Minister says more than five million Australians have downloaded the government’s COVIDSafe app. Greg Hunt said it was an “extraordinary achievement,” and signalled the government could make progress towards the “recovery plan” of easing restrictions.
“More to be done, but we’re ahead of schedule. We’re achieving what we hoped,” he said on Wednesday. “I want to thank and honour all of those Australians who are participating in this national cause of making it easier to find those who might yet be undiagnosed, but have been in contact.”
The federal government has said its target for uptake of the app is 40 percent of the population, or 10 million people.
READ MORE: No app? Leave your name and number
Stephen Lunn 11am: Nursing homes should ban all visitors: poll
Almost 70 per cent of Australians believe nursing homes should ban visitors during the COVID-19 crisis, other than on compassionate grounds, a new poll shows. The Essential poll of more than 1000 people, commissioned by aged-care provider group Aged and Community Services Australia, finds just 10 per cent of people oppose visitor bans.
The survey comes as national cabinet moves to finalise a nationally consistent policy on aged-care visits by Monday. The policy, which includes an obligation on homes to allow face-to-face visits but creates responsibilities on relatives such as ensuring they have had a flu vaccination, are open for consultation until Thursday.
It comes amid a continuing outbreak at the Newmarch House care home in Sydney’s west, in which has so far seen more than 60 people have been infected and led to the deaths of 16 residents.
The aged-care visitor access code was deemed necessary after a stoush between providers and national leaders, who criticised the sector for introducing access restrictions that went beyond the national cabinet’s recommendation of just two visitors per resident per day.
At the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak many nursing homes moved to lock out all visitors unless there were compassionate reasons, such as if a resident was close to death.
State and federal leaders said keeping the elderly locked away from loved ones endangered the mental health of already vulnerable people.
Scott Morrison said that unless the homes backed down, regulations would be introduced. An industry code was the compromise.
ACSA chief executive Patricia Sparrow said the survey provided critical information ahead of the finalisation of the draft code. “We want to avoid what we’ve seen happen when COVID gets into a facility, which has happened both overseas and here in Australia,” she said.
“We want to have visitors coming in, but equally the code has to balance that with making sure we can keep COVID out.
“It’s been great to see the government shift its approach with aged care because now we are working hard with them to get the code right. Everyone understands how difficult this is.
“The UK estimates around 20 per cent of their homes have outbreaks. In Belgium, Italy, Spain, Norway, Canada and more, aged care accounts for more than 50 per cent of all coronavirus deaths.”
READ MORE: Death No 16 as Newmarch House home in hygiene horror
Adeshola Ore 10.45am: PM says aggressive Ruby questioning ‘out of line’
Scott Morrison has described the aggressive line of questioning at the Ruby Princess inquiry as “a bit out of line.”
On Tuesday, senior epidemiologist Kelly-Anne Ressler broke down in tears after she was questioned by inquiry commissioner Brett Walker SC.
“I think to see her reduced to that under the aggressive line of questioning, you’ve got to get the balance right on this one and I hope Mr Walker would reflect on that,” the Prime Minister told 2GB on Wednesday.
READ MORE: Pent-up Ruby rage unleashed on official
Rachel Baxendale 10.35am: Suspected drug users fined over social distancing
Four men sitting in a parked car, suspected of using drugs were among 33 people issued with fines by Victoria Police for breaching physical distancing rules on Tuesday.
Police on Wednesday confirmed they had conducted 1,139 spot checks at homes, businesses and non-essential services in the 24 hours to 11pm on Tuesday.
They have conducted 37,951 spot checks since March 21.
Examples of breaches that resulted in fines on Tuesday include four men, including two with outstanding warrants, who were found sitting in a parked car and suspected of using drugs, and people engaged in multiple prohibited gatherings in private residences and public spaces, including people who have previously received warnings.
READ MORE: Hygiene ‘blind spot’ for health staff
Adeshola Ore 10.20am: JobKeeper badly implemented: Chalmers
Opposition Treasury Spokesman Jim Chalmers has criticised Josh Frydenberg’s “mishandling” of the JobKeeper program, saying too many workers are left out.
Mr Chalmers said the wage subsidy program was a “good idea”, but was “badly implemented.”
“When the treasurer says this program is coming in under budget, what he really means is that it is too hard for many businesses and too many workers to access the scheme,” he said on Wednesday.
Mr Chalmers said the government’s poor communication had left the business community confused over eligibility of staff.
“It should be true of more workers, including casuals who may have been working in the same industry for a long time, but have changed employers within the past twelve months.”
“The longer the unemployment queues get, the harder it will be for our economy and our society to recover from what has been a diabolical challenge for our economy.”
READ MORE: Tax cuts, help for hardest hit
Matthew Denholm 10.00am: Tas hospital worker tests positive
Ten medical staff at the Launceston General Hospital are being tested for COVID-19 after one of their colleagues tested positive for the virus overnight.
Health authorities said the staff member, who was working in the LGH COVID ward, tested positive late on Tuesday and 10 colleagues who had worked with them had been or were being tested and kept away from work.
The staff member with the virus, aged in their 40s, had not worked for almost a fortnight because they had been unwell.
“The infection of the health care work will be thoroughly investigated,” said Acting Public Health Director Scott McKeown. “The likely source (of infection) is as a result of their work in providing care to someone on the ward, but we do need to assess all possible sources of infection.
“Ten staff members have been identified (as close contacts and) won’t return to work until they have been tested…”
It follows a major COVID-19 outbreak in two Burnie hospitals, which has claimed 12 lives and forced the closure of the facilities for weeks.
However, Dr McKeown said authorities were “very reassured that the person hasn’t worked while they were sick”.
“It was only a very short period of time, before the onset of their symptoms, when they would have been infectious, (that) … they worked,” he said.
Meanwhile, Premier Peter Gutwein said he seeking public health advice about an AFL proposal to hold fly-in, fly-out football games in the state as part of the game’s latest plans to restart its season.
Tasmania recorded two further cases of the virus overnight on Tuesday, taking its total to 223. Of these, 42 are active cases.
READ MORE: PM commits $350m for vaccine research
Rachel Baxendale 9.25am: Victoria abattoir cluster rises to 49
Victoria’s number of coronavirus cases has risen by 17 to 1440, with an additional four cases linked to the Cedar Meats cluster.
There have now been 49 cases linked to the cluster at Cedar Meats, which as The Australian reports today was given a three week head start after the health department decided the Melbourne abattoir was “not considered an exposure site” because the first infected employee, diagnosed on April 2 “had not been at work while infectious”.
Another seven cases were detected in overseas return travellers in hotel quarantine, while the remaining six are under investigation.
There have been no deaths in recent days with Victoria’s death toll steady at 18.
Eight Victorians are in hospital, including six in intensive care.
There have now been 162,000 tests conducted, including more than 10,000 in the past 24 hours.
There have now been 145 community transmission cases, with no known link to overseas travel or other infections.
READ MORE: Abattoir outbreak spread for three weeks
Sarah Elks 9.20am: Queensland plans staged reopening of cafes, restaurants
Queensland has recorded another zero-case day, as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk prepares to meet with operators of restaurants, cafes, and tourism businesses to devise a staged reopening.
Ms Palaszczuk said with the state’s coronavirus cases so low, it was crucial to get the economy restarted.
The state has had 1043 COVID-19 diagnoses in total, but now has only 52 active cases, nine of whom are being treated in hospital. Four are in intensive care and three are being ventilated. More than 120,000 tests have been conducted. 985 people have recovered.
The Premier said her meetings with restaurants, cafes and tourism operators would happen tomorrow, while today the state would host a virtual domestic violence summit with 52 people.
Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence Di Farmer said coronavirus meant domestic violence victims’ ability to escape violent relationships was reduced because of isolation.
Ms Farmer has previously told The Australian assaults were becoming “significantly” more brutal during the pandemic.
Health Minister Steven Miles said emergency departments were reporting that road trauma and sporting injuries were being replaced by domestic violence injuries, a “disturbing” trend.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said schools would start to return from Monday, and then the easing of other restrictions would progressively be considered.
Ms Palaszczuk said nightclubs would reopen much later than cafes and restaurants.
“Night clubs are much further down the track,” she said.
READ MORE: Biggest threat ‘yet to come’
Adeshola Ore 9.15am: Andrews slammed over abattoir cluster silence
Victoria’s opposition leader has criticised Premier Daniel Andrews for the state government’s handling of the coronavirus cluster at a meat facility responsible for 49 cases of the virus.
The Australian revealed that in a major oversight, state health authorities decided that a Melbourne abattoir was not considered an exposure site because the infected employee had not been at the work site while infectious.
Is this the same meatworks that Daniel Andrews tried to keep secret - despite naming schools, hospitals and aged care homes?
— Michael O'Brien (@michaelobrienmp) May 5, 2020
Is this the same meatworks that donated $15,000 to Labor just before Daniel Andrews became Premier?
You know the answer... #springst https://t.co/P2flMwxApZ
On Twitter, Michael O’Brien slammed Premier Andrews for the health department not naming the facility when the outbreak was announced on the weekend.
On Tuesday, the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services confirmed that the first case of coronavirus linked to Cedar Meats was diagnosed on April 2, three weeks before a second case was identified.
The cluster, which is one of the state’s largest, is now linked to 45 coronavirus infections.
READ MORE: Outbreak allowed to spread for weeks
Adeshola Ore 9.00am: Frydenberg given security detail over threats
Josh Frydenberg has been issued a twenty-four hour security detail after allegedly receiving threats about the federal government’s JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme.
The West Australian reported that the Australian Federal Police detail was deployed for Mr Frydenberg last month. It is the first time an Australian treasurer has been issued with the security protocol.
Mr Frydenberg said he was not unsettled by the threats.
“They’re matters for the Federal Police handle and I will leave any comments to them and the Minister for Home Affairs. You know, they make their assessments and I behave accordingly,” he told the ABC on Wednesday.
“I’m getting about my daily job.”
READ MORE: Treasurer pulls rug from unis’ JobKeeper bids
Adeshola Ore 8.50am: ‘No indication’ Ruby testers brought virus to Newmarch
The state’s chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said there was “no indication” that Aspen Medical staff who attended Newmarch House after testing the Ruby Princess crew members brought the virus into the aged-care facility.
The Guardian has reported that two Aspen Medical staff involved in testing the cruise ship members later worked a shift at the ill-fated Newmarch House where 16 residents have died from the virus.
Dr Kerry Chant said NSW Health understood the original aged care worker was the first person to introduce the virus into the facility.
“In terms of workers we have no indications that they were in anyway the source of infection,” she said on Wednesday.
“If every time a healthcare worker cared for a patient with COVID was then required to take 14 days we wouldn’t have health care workers to care for patients.”
READ MORE: Pent up Ruby rage unleashed on official
Adeshola Ore 8.15am: NSW records nine new cases
New South Wales has recorded nine additional cases of coronavirus in the last twenty-four hours, bringing the state’s total to 3,042.
Coronavirus Update: Nine people have tested positive for the coronavirus in New South Wales over the last 24 hours says Premier @GladysB. 6,899 people were tested. An 88-year-old female died at the Newmarch House nursing home yesterday. https://t.co/OF81oZFF1j #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/k6KiWTmSS8
— 7NEWS Sydney (@7NewsSydney) May 5, 2020
Almost 7,000 tests were conducted across the state yesterday.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the state’s health authorities wanted the number of daily tests to rise and urged people with even mild cold and flu symptoms to get tested.
Ms Berejiklian encouraged business owners reopening their doors to create a COVID-safe environment.
“Please make sure you keep your customers safe by having hygiene available on site, and making sure that people respect the four square metre rule and 1.5m rule between individuals,” she said.
Chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said one of the new cases had attended a health care facility, with all staff involved in their care swabbed.
Two of the cases related to returned overseas travellers who were quarantined in hotels, while five were being investigated for their source.
An 88-year-old woman at Newmarch House became the state’s latest COVID-19 fatality, as reported on Tuesday.
There are now 66 confirmed cases at the aged-care facility, 29 staff and 37 residents.
A 52-year-old female nurse at a GP surgery in the Illawarra Shoalhaven area has also contracted the virus. She did not work during her infectious period and investigations are underway.
There are currently 129 coronavirus cases being treated by NSW Health, with 13 in ICU and nine requiring ventilators.
READ MORE: Janet Albrechtsen writes: Every life has a different value
Adeshola Ore 7.55am: ‘Sitting ducks’: Newmarch relative slams home
The relative of a coronavirus patient at Newmarch has slammed the medical care at the ill-fated aged-care facility where 16 residents have died from the virus.
Anthony Bowe’s 76-year-old mother Patricia Shea tested positive to COVID-19 two weeks ago.
The son of a resident of Newmarch House has labelled NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian "delusional" over her comments that everything is being done to prevent another aged care tragedy. #9Today pic.twitter.com/PRtpQb2Cf7
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) May 5, 2020
Mr Bowe said he was waiting for his mother to test negative to the virus before she could leave the facility.
“There’s no clarity on whether you can get it for a second time. She’s just like all the other negative people at the moment, they’re sitting ducks,” he told Channel Nine.
“How can you check someone’s temperature from behind a computer screen in your living room? I mean doctors aren’t even in the room with a patient. It’s horrible.”
READ MORE: Death number 16 with home in hygiene horror
Adeshola Ore 7.40am: Airbnb lays off 25 pc of workforce
Home sharing company Airbnb will lay off a quarter of its workforce, about 1,900 staff, in response to the coronavirus pandemic bringing global travel to a halt.
In an email to employees, co-founder Brian Chesky said the company needed to reduce its investment in “activities that do not directly support the core of our host community.”
“Airbnb’s business has been hit hard, with revenue this year forecasted to be less than half of what we earned in 2019,” the email read.
The redundancies come despite the company raising $2 billion in the last month through debt financing.
In March, the company suspended its marketing activities to save $800 million in 2020.
It also announced its founders would take no salary for six months, while executives would take a 50 per cent pay cut.
READ MORE: Outbreak to extend for weeks
Adeshola Ore 7.30am: Staggered schools reopening ‘to ensure hygiene’
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the state’s staggered reopening of schools from next week will ensure hygiene measures are consistent across the education sector.
Schools in the state will return to face-to-face lessons one day a week from Monday.
“We wanted to make sure in NSW that every school had extra soaps, had extra hygiene products, had extra medical supplies in case something happens unexpectedly,” Ms Berejiklian told Channel 9 on Wednesday.
“If the first two weeks go well, we do want to hope to get full-time kids back, full-time students back by the end of May if that’s possible.”
READ MORE: Hygiene ‘blind spot’ for health workers
Adeshola Ore 7.00am: UK records highest death toll in Europe
The United Kingdom has overtaken Italy to report the highest coronavirus deaths in Europe, with over 32,000. On Tuesday, 693 people died in hospitals and nursing homes across the country.
Separate modelling for The London Times, examining death rates beyond those who have tested positive, suggests that the virus has caused more than 55,000 deaths in Britain.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the number of deaths was a “massive tragedy,” but added that it was too soon to make reliable international comparisons.
“I don’t think we’ll get a real verdict on how well countries have done until the pandemic is over and particularly until we’ve got comprehensive international data on all-cause mortality,” he said.
In Italy, deaths from COVID-19 climbed by 236 on Tuesday, compared to 195 the day before. Spain reported its third day in a row with under 200 deaths, while France recorded more than 300 coronavirus deaths for a second day in a row on Tuesday. The World Health Organisation said a report that the virus emerged in December in France was “not surprising”, and urged other countries to investigate early infections.
In the US, the death toll surpassed 70,000 on Tuesday. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo argued that officials who reopened economies needed to be upfront about the human cost. As other states begin to lift restrictions, Mr Cuomo opted for a slower approach that would phase in economic activity if benchmarks were reached. There have been more than 19,000 deaths in New York since the beginning of the outbreak.
In Asia, Coronavirus cases reached a quarter of a million on Tuesday, spurred by outbreaks in Singapore, Pakistan and India, even as China, South Korea and Japan significantly slowed the spread of the disease.
Globally, more than 3.59 million people have been infected by the coronavirus and more than 250,000 people have died.
READ MORE: Queen sends Oz best wishes
Jacquelin Magnay 6.40am: UK’s top COVID-19 adviser quits over affair
The scientist whose doomsday coronavirus advice prompted Boris Johnson to lock down Britain has been forced to resign after he broke social distancing rules to maintain a romantic tryst with a married woman.
Imperial College epidemiologist Professor Neil Ferguson met the woman, Antonia Staats, 38, on at least two occasions at his home in London, the first after he had recovered from coronavirus, all the while preaching to the British public that they had to maintain strict and, in the cases of dying relatives, very cruel social distancing measures.
For the past seven weeks, as the daily death toll has risen, the public has been terrified by government slogans into not leaving their homes except to buy food or to exercise once a day. But Prof Ferguson, who is one of the most influential scientists leading the government’s coronavirus strategy, didn’t follow his own advice.
Prof Ferguson told the UK’s Telegraph: “I accept I made an error of judgment and took the wrong course of action. I have therefore stepped back from my involvement in SAGE [the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies].
“I acted in the belief that I was immune, having tested positive for coronavirus, and completely isolated myself for almost two weeks after developing symptoms.
“I deeply regret any undermining of the clear messages around the continued need for social distancing to control this devastating epidemic. The government guidance is unequivocal, and is there to protect all of us.”
4/4 - Without those controls, our assessment remains that the UK would see the scale of deaths reported in our study (namely, up to approximately 500 thousand).
— neil_ferguson (@neil_ferguson) March 26, 2020
Prof Ferguson, 51, had been insistent on the tough measures to try and bring down the infection rate of the coronavirus after his Imperial College team had made a miscalculation in early March, misrepresenting by half the number of people who might require intensive care.
As a result of the changing advice, Mr Johnson did an about face and reversed the early herd immunity approach into one of trying to suppress the virus.
But other scientists, especially from Oxford University, have questioned why the government followed Prof Ferguson’s alarmist Imperial College assessments - warning of 500,000 deaths - especially as he had a history of over representing deaths in previous animal diseases.
In the situation with foot and mouth disease, government inquiries subsequently found Prof Ferguson’s wrong advice had led to the unnecessary slaughter of six million animals.
British media reported Ms Staat visited Prof Ferguson on Monday March 30, shortly after the coronavirus lockdown began and at a time when Prof Ferguson was telling the public that lockdown would have to remain until at least June.
Then the same woman - who is married with two children - made a second visit on April 8. It was also reported that Ms Staats has also told friends her husband has symptoms of coronavirus.
While Prof Ferguson and Ms Staats continued their relationship, government ministers repeatedly warned the public to stay at home to save lives.
Scotland’s chief medical officer, Dr Catherine Calderwood, resigned last month when she was discovered making two trips to her second home during the lockdown.
READ MORE: Pandemic unleashes internal conflict
Marty Silk 5.15am: Queen wishes us well in COVID-19, bushfire recovery
The Queen has wished Australians well in dealing with coronavirus, bushfires and drought and is pleased to hear horse races are still going on in the country.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the monarch called on Tuesday night to check on Australians amid the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns. He said the 94-year-old also wanted to hear about the bushfire recovery and the ongoing drought.
“Was very kind to receive Her Majesty’s call this evening to check in and see how we’re all getting on in Australia,” Mr Morrison wrote on Facebook on Tuesday night.
“The Queen was very interested to hear about our progress in combating COVID-19 and was so pleased we have managed to prevent the terrible impacts. Our recovery from the bushfires was also a key area of interest for her as well as the ongoing drought.
“Her Majesty was also pleased to hear our horse races were still running in Australia and sent her very best wishes to all Australians.” — AAP
READ MORE: Paul Kelly — Pandemic unleashes internal conflict for liberals
Geoff Chambers 5am: Andrews making ‘different decisions’ on schools
Scott Morrison has called on the states and territories to reopen schools and support getting a million Australians back to work, as new Treasury analysis reveals classroom closures have contributed to more than 300,000 job losses and a 3 per cent hit to economic activity.
Ahead of a crucial national cabinet meeting on Friday to relax crippling social restrictions, the Prime Minister warned that the COVID-19 economic cost would continue as long as Australians were unable to open their businesses, go back to offices and send children back to school.
Mr Morrison singled out Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews for his decision not to return children to the classroom, arguing he was making “different decisions” to the leaders of other states and territories, which were embracing a staged reopening of schools.
Read the full story here.
Yoni Bashan 4.45am: Victorian COVID-19 cluster ‘given three-week headstart’
Health Department blunders in two states have led to major coronavirus outbreaks, including the nation’s two most deadly clusters which are responsible for more than a third of the Australian deaths from the pandemic.
At the heart of the Newmarch House crisis is lax infection control that has contributed to a death toll that on Tuesday reached 16, the nation’s second-deadliest outbreak.
The Australian can also reveal that Victoria’s largest outbreak of COVID-19 was given a three-week headstart, after the state’s Health Department decided a Melbourne abattoir was not considered an “exposure site” because an infected worker had not been at work while infectious.
Read the full story here.
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