Coronavirus live coverage: Carey Grammar shuts its doors; more cases confirmed
A Melbourne private school has suspended classes for 24 hours amid a feared virus outbreak as more cases are confirmed across Australia.
- School closures ‘the new normal’
- WA confirms sixth case
- Authorities investigate ‘cluster of transmission’
- Students test positive
- Frydenberg on stimulus package
- Cruise ship remains at sea
- Italy in lockdown
- Global cases hit 110,000
Welcome to The Australian’s live coverage of the coronavirus crisis. Six more cases have been identified in NSW, including at two Sydney high schools which have been evacuated after three students tested positivefor COVID-19, bringing the state’s total of confirmed cases to 46. Victoria has also reported three new coronavirus cases taking its number of cases to 15, while WA has reported two more positive tests. Josh Frydenberg has confirmed the government’s coronavirus stimulus package — expected to be worth about $10 billion — will focus on supporting business cash flow, and left the door open to using the budget to inject further money.
David Ross 8.30pm: Prison in lockdown
A unit in the Melbourne Assessment Prison was today placed in lockdown over concerns an inmate was infected with COVID19, the Herald Sun reports.
The inmate is believed to be housed in the protection unit, which houses the most high profile prisoners.
All prisoners entering the prison are reportedly being screened for symptoms of COVID19 and infected inmates are expected to be quarantined.
The maximum-security prison, in the heart of Melbourne, houses prisoners on remand awaiting transfer and trial and as a result has a high rotation.
Damon Johnston 7.26pm: First Victorian school shuts doors
A Melbourne private school has suspended classes for 24 hours amid a feared coronavirus outbreak.
Carey Grammar, which charges parents annual fees of more than $25,000, has cancelled school for Tuesday after a suspected outbreak of the virus at its Kew campus.
An adult member of the school community exhibiting side effects has been tested and is awaiting results, forcing the school to take the dramatic step. Carey is the first Victorian school to shut its doors in the global crisis.
In a statement emailed to parents on Monday night, Carey said the school would be suspended for one day as a precaution.
In a statement issued to parents shortly before 7.30pm, Principal Jonathan Walter said:
“Today Carey was advised of a case of exposure to coronavirus (COVID-19) that has occurred within the Carey school community.
“An adult in our community (Kew campus) has had direct contact with a person with COVID-19 and they have developed symptoms consistent with the virus. This person is now being tested.”
Mr Walter said the dramatic action was being taken as the “health and safety of our community is our first priority”.
With Rebecca Urban
David Ross 7.00pm: Third ADF case confirmed
A third ADF member has been diagnosed with coronavirus after two other members tested positive today.
The member, who was stationed on a ship that was in port in Sydney, tested positive at 11am and is under isolation.
“The member was being managed as a close contact of a known positive COVID-19 case external to Defence,” an ADF statement said.
Matthew Denholm 5.20pm: School closures ‘the new normal’: Hazzard
Tasmanian authorities are considering heavy fines for people ignoring directions to self-quarantine, after the state’s second coronavirus victim went to work and visited bars while awaiting test results. Read more here.
Natasha Robinson 4pm: School closures ‘the new normal’: Hazzard
The two schools that have been affected by coronavirus in Sydney are likely to remain closed until Wednesday.
NSW Education Department chief executive Mark Scott praised the response of parents after authorities ordered the urgent shut-down of Willoughby Girls High School today.
He said the school was expected to re-open on Wednesday.
St Patrick’s Marist College will also remain closed until Wednesday while authorities trace contacts of the infected students and organise a deep clean of the school.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said it was likely that more school shut-downs would follow as coronavirus continues to spread in the state.
“This is likely to be the new normal,” Mr Hazzard said.
“I don’t doubt that like the rest of the world, we’re seeing more and more people who are having transmission by contact and it’s likely that we will see more of this.”
Mr Hazzard said school students should take the disease seriously, even though young people generally are not hit hard by virus symptoms.
“The virus impacts generally young people in a very, very light way, the symptoms are not profound and they might see it as simply a light cold,” Mr Hazzard said. “But it is not a laughing matter. It is not a joking matter.”
Mr Hazzard said that even if young people were not badly affected if they caught the virus, “your mums, your dads, your aunties might not be in the same position”.
“The message here to all the kids is this is not a joke This is quite serious.”
Mr Scott said all schools had been instructed to send students home if they displayed any signs of illness.
Paul Garvey 3.50pm: WA confirms sixth case
A sixth case of coronavirus has been confirmed in Western Australia. The son of a woman who arrived in Australia from Jakarta has tested positive for the disease.
Earlier today, WA health authorities said the wife of a man who had travelled to Iran had also tested positive.
Australia imposed a travel ban on Iran on February 29.
“Community spread is an inevitability — it’s a question of when not if,” Mr Cook said.
Natasha Robinson 3.35pm: Authorities investigate ‘cluster of transmission’
NSW Health authorities are investigating a potential “cluster of transmission” between employees of the Australian Defence Force, the Ryde Hospital and a nursing home in Sydney’s northwest that has been hard hit by coronavirus.
NSW’s health minister Brad Hazzard has given an update on COVID-19 cases in the state. He said that the fathers of two students from St Patrick’s Marist College in Sydney’s west who tested positive had also been diagnosed with coronavirus. Those two men worked for the Defence Force, and have previously been reported as cases.
The mother of a year 7 student from Willoughby Girls High School has also tested positive for COVID-19. The mother is of Iranian background, but she has not recently travelled overseas.
NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said authorities were investigating whether COVID-19 cases among staff members from Ryde Hospital, cases from the Dorothy Henderson Lodge aged care facility, and the cases among the families of the diagnosed schoolchildren were linked.
“We are actively investigating a cluster of cases which are linked between the aged care facility, Ryde Hospital and also the defence (cases),” Dr Chant said.
Dr Chant said health authorities were investigating family links between people that had been diagnosed from those services.
Rebecca Urban 2.45pm: Aussie case first swab on road to vaccine
Details of Australia’s first reported case of the coronavirus have emerged, with researchers from the Doherty Institute revealing that a 58-year-old man visiting Melbourne from China had been central to it’s bid to develop a vaccine against the illness. Read more here.
David Rogers 2.35pm: Fake wealth set to pop
Sharemarket and property investors are about to experience a reckoning that sweeps away the pretence of “fake wealth and artificial economy”, Lucerne Investment Partners portfolio manager Jerome Lander says.
In a note to clients issued on Monday, Mr Lander said investors were “reacting in horror to the reality of the coronavirus as it begins its exponential growth around the world”.
His note came as the Australian sharemarket was experiencing its biggest one-day fall since the global financial crisis, with the S&P/ASX 200 plunging 6 per cent to a 14-month low of 5840.90 amid a collapse in oil prices. Read more here and here.
2.35pm: PM considers ‘Rudd era’ cash handouts
The Morrison Government is considering a Kevin Rudd-style cash handout as part of its multi-billion dollar coronavirus stimulus package, says Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell.
He says Prime Minister Scott Morrison is in discussions with his team for ways to distribute close to $10 billion in stimulus to help the economy.
Mr Clennell said “even cash handouts to ordinary citizens” were still “on the table” but the idea was facing fierce opposition from Finance and Treasurer officials who were reluctant to offer the package to ordinary citizens.
“Even cash handouts to ordinary citizens are still on the table as the government wrestles with its stimulus package,” Mr Clennell said.
“I understand cash handouts similar to what occurred in the Rudd era have not been ruled out but Finance and Treasury officials are said to be pushing back against this sort of stimulus and the PM would seem reluctant on it as well.”
The Coalition will also consider dishing out hundreds of millions in cash to small businesses — most likely those with a turnover of $50 million or less — in wage subsidies to keep the economy going and attempt to keep people in jobs
Also on the table are business tax incentives, including potentially increasing the asset write-off under which businesses with a turnover of between $10 million and $50 million are able to claim the full amount of a capital cost – like buying a van or a trailer – up to $30,000. That write-off could be increased to $50,000 for example.
Elias Visontay 2.15pm: ‘Pass on oil price slump at pump’
As global oil prices tumble on the back of the coronavirus crisis, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has issued a stern warning to petrol companies to pass on tumbling global oil prices to Australian consumers. Read more here.
2pm: SA priority care centre
A new priority care centre in South Australia will help the state cope with the impact of coronavirus, the health minister says.
Adelaide’s fourth centre was opened at Marion by Stephen Wade, who said it would deal with some patients who would have presented to an emergency department. “This new centre, together with the new coronavirus centre near the RAH and the many initiatives focused on easing pressure on the state’s emergency departments, mean we are better prepared for an increase in coronavirus cases,” he said on Monday.
Kieran Gair 1.45pm: Worried parents pull children out of schools
Worried parents rushed to Willoughby Public School on Monday morning to pull their children out of class after the NSW government closed the neighbouring high school because a year 7 student was diagnosed with COVID-19.
The public primary school informed parents via email that NSW Health had closed Willoughby Girls High “until further notice” and that they could pick their children up if they were concerned about the spread of the virus.
Louise Relf, whose two children, Zoe, 9 and Fletcher, 7, attend Willoughby Public, told The Australian she had decided to take her children out of school as a “precaution.”
“I was a bit worried when the school told us that Willoughby Girls had been closed down because of the coronavirus,” she said. “I think it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Adeshola Ore 1.40pm: Temperature checks at child care
A childcare centre in Sydney’s north-west, where a cluster of coronavirus cases have been confirmed in recent days, has ramped up its screening measures.
Staff at Kids Planet Academy are checking the temperatures of everyone who enters the facility and banning entry of anyone with a temperature over 37.8 degrees.
The centre’s director, Alex Guan, said the measure which began on Monday was a necessary precaution.
“There have been incidents very close to us. Our parents have concerns as well. By putting out this procedure we want to ensure our centre is protected, particularly our children. We want to take the top level of caution.” he told The Australian.
Mr Guan, who is also a parent of children at the centre, said the facility’s procedures were likely to be the strictest in the region.
“I’m pretty worried, especially now that the schools have been closed.”
The centre is asking any students with symptoms of the virus or a temperature to stay home and get clearance from their doctor.
The Australian Childcare Alliance’s NSW Branch says all childcare centres already have in place strict infectious disease protocols.
Courtney Walsh 1pm: Indian Wells off
The biggest tennis tournament outside the grand slams has been cancelled due to the coronavirus. Stars including world No 1 Ash Barty were due to play at Indian Wells, which is situated in southern California, over the next fortnight. But tournament director Tommy Haas, a former Australian Open semi-finalist, announced the lucrative tournament would be postponed after crisis meetings with players. It followed the announcement of a public health emergency in the Coachella Valley, which is where the Indian Wells site is situated, after a case of Coronavirus was detected. “We are very disappointed that the tournament will not take place, but the health and safety of the local community, fans, players, volunteers, sponsors, employees, vendors, and everyone involved with the event is of paramount importance,” Haas said. Tournament organisers are considering options in the hope of being able to hold the event later this year.
The 2020 BNP Paribas Open will not be held.https://t.co/BVKQmmcbth pic.twitter.com/CHOd0PgJeV
— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 9, 2020
Natasha Robinson 12.45pm: State by state numbers
There are now 91 confirmed cases of the virus in Australia, including three deaths.
NSW: 46
QLD: 15
VIC: 15
SA: 7
WA: 5
TAS: 2
NT: 1
Total: 91 cases in Australia.
12.20pm: WA records fifth case
A West Australian woman aged in her 60s has contracted coronavirus from her husband after he returned from Iran, making her the state’s first person-to-person transmission of COVID-19.
WA Health Minister Roger Cook said the man had returned from Iran in the past fortnight, and was apparently no longer symptomatic. Efforts are underway to trace people he had contact with. The woman is WA’s fifth case of coronavirus. — AAP
Adeshola Ore 12pm: Students advised to self isolate
A spokesman for Catholic Education in NSW said health officials will today help identify students and staff who had close contacts with the confirmed cases of coronavirus at St Patrick’s Marist College, Dundas. “The advice from NSW Health for any student or staff who feels unwell is not to attend school, but call ahead first,” a spokesman from Catholic Diocese Parramatta in a statement. “Close contacts will need to self isolate for 14 days. Any students who cannot attend school due to self-isolation will be able to receive their learning programs at school.”
Kieran Gair 11.50am: Willoughby Girls evacuated
Hundreds of schoolgirls are milling around outside the front gates of Willoughby Girls High School in Sydney’s north after they were ordered to “go home” because a year 7 student had tested positive to COVID-19. Concerned parents are arriving at the school to accompany their children home while other students are filing onto public buses in large groups, with some girls clutching hand sanitiser and holding medical masks to their faces. One mother, who asked not to be named, said she was “shocked” to receive a call from her daughter just before 11am on Monday informing her that the school had been closed amid fears students were at risk of contracting the deadly virus. “I left work straight away to come and pick her up,” she told The Australian outside the school gates. “I didn’t really think it was wise for her to be put on a public bus with all of the other girls.”
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the school would be closed for “at least one day” and classes would be non-operational until NSW Health decides whether it is safe for students to return. In what will come as some comfort to parents, however, the girl who tested positive was not in class on Monday. Willoughby Girls High is about 13 kilometres away from Epping Boy High School, which was closed on Friday after a 16-year-old student was diagnosed with COVID-19.
11.35am: Three new coronavirus cases in Victoria
Three new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Victoria, taking the state’s total to 15, Health Minister Jenny Mikakos announced on Monday.
Authorities confirmed on Monday two of the most recent cases are returned travellers from the United States and Iran. The most serious case is a woman in her 50s who returned from Tehran via Kuala Lumpur on MH0149, arriving on March 6.
She is in hospital in isolation being treated for pneumonia and is in a stable condition after becoming unwell in Tehran on February 18 with a cough, fever and shortness of breath.
On arrival in Melbourne she was immediately driven to hospital by a relative.
A man and woman who travelled from the US are recovering in home isolation. The man in his 50s was on flight UA60 on February 29 and has a very mild illness. It is not clear if he contracted coronavirus from the flight or while overseas. Before he was diagnosed he visited Wine by Sam in Seymour on March 3 for a winery tour and lunch, and attended Cinema Nova at Carlton from 7.30pm to 10.30pm for a private screening of The Amber Light. The second traveller from America is a woman in her 20s who arrived from Colorado on QF94 from Los Angeles to Melbourne on March 6 — AAP
Adeshola Ore 11.20am: Six more cases in NSW
NSW Health has confirmed another six cases of coronavirus on Monday morning, including at two separate schools. Health Minister Brad Hazzard said there are two confirmed cases of Year 10 students, a male and female, at St Patrick’s Marist College in Dundas and a Year 7 student at Willoughby Girls High School plus her mother, who is of Iranian background. Students from both schools are being sent home on Monday and will be closed tomorrow.
Two other people, aged 50 and 59, with contacts to a previous case, have also tested positive. The additional positive tests bring the number of cases in NSW to 46.
“Health is busy trying to work through the contact tracing at the moment, interviewing the mum, interviewing the student and also in regards to the two students, at St Patricks Marist at Dundas, they are also being interviewed,” he told a press conference on Monday.
He said it is likely both schools would be closed for “at least one day.”
Rosie Lewis 11am: Less choice in supermarkets
Australians have been warned to expect far less choice at supermarkets as the coronavirus outbreak sets in, but Industry Minister Karen Andrews says manufacturers are well placed to deal with disruptions to the supply chain. As Ms Andrews prepares to convene a roundtable meeting on Wednesday with business groups, manufacturers and key stakeholder bodies to discuss emerging supply impacts, she said panic-buying was unnecessary and running out of toilet paper was not going to be an issue. Read more here.
Adeshola Ore 10.40am: Year 10 students test positive
A Sydney high school will be closed after two Year 10 students tested positive for COVID-19. St Patrick’s Marist College at Dundas found out about the confirmed cases on Monday morning and has asked parents to come and collect their students from the school.
Epping Boys High School, which was closed on Friday after a year 11 student tested positive, was reopened today. The school will be closed tomorrow and the ABC is reporting about 50 students may have had close contact with the two students who tested positive.
10.30am: China cases slow
China reported its first day without new locally transmitted coronavirus cases outside the city where the pathogen had emerged, just as Italy imposed a mass quarantine similar to the sweeping measures Beijing has used to contain the epidemic. Chinese health authorities logged 44 new infections nationwide, including 41 cases in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people where the epidemic began and which officials have sealed off since late January as part of an unprecedented quarantine effort locking down tens of millions of people. The remaining three cases — two in Beijing and one in northwestern Gansu province — were “imported,” meaning the patients were infected abroad, China’s National Health Commission said. The weekend tally was the lowest one-day case count China has reported since it started disclosing such figures in late January. It also marked the second straight day in which China reported new infections in double digits, down from hundreds of cases a day a month ago. — Wall Street Journal
David Rogers 10.20am: Oil prices crash 30pc
Crude oil has plummeted on fear of a price war adding to a coronavirus demand shock.
Brent crude oil futures dropped $US14.60 or 31 per cent to a four-year low of $31.020 a barrel when trade resumed early Monday after falling almost 10 per cent on Friday. West Texas crude oil futures dropped 27 per cent to a four-year low of $30.00 a barrel. If sustained throughout the global day these falls would be the biggest in 29 years. Read more here.
Heather McNab, Rebecca Gredley 10am: Vaccine at least one year away
A vaccine to combat coronavirus is still at least one year away, the Australian chair of a global alliance set up to fight epidemics says. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations is co-ordinating the development of a vaccine in laboratories across the world and is calling on the federal government to help further fund research. CEPI chair Jane Halton, a former federal Department of Health head, says about $3 billion is needed so multiple versions of potential vaccines can be developed.
Researchers at the University of Queensland have chosen a vaccine candidate for pre-clinical work while a US team is gearing up for trials, but more are needed. “While you have something in the lab that looks good, either you can’t actually get it to generate the outcome in a human being that you want, or it proves not to be safe or it proves hard to manufacture,” Ms Halton told ABC radio on Monday.
“So you need a series of candidates to ensure you end up with one, or preferably more, actual vaccines.” But a potential vaccine was still 12 months away if “absolutely everything went optimally”.
It would then take “many, many months to produce the hundreds of millions of doses that will be needed for this vaccine”, Ms Halton added. The federal government has put $2 million towards a local fund to develop a vaccine and has so far pledged less than $5 million to CEPI. — AAP
Adeshola Ore 9.30am: UK records third death
The UK has recorded its third death from coronavirus. The National Health Service said the man in his 60s had recently returned from Italy. He died at North Manchester Hospital where he was being treated by the hospital’s infectious diseases unit. A spokesman for the hospital said the man had “underlying health problems.”
Elias Visontay 9.15am: Frydenberg on stimulus package
Josh Frydenberg has confirmed the government’s coronavirus stimulus package — expected to be worth about $10 billion — will focus on supporting business cash flow, and left the door open to using the budget to inject further money as the impact of coronavirus on the economy grows. On Monday morning, the Treasurer said he wanted the stimulus package to make employees feel confident about their job security, but did not answer whether the announcement — expected this week — would include measures to provide casual workers with paid sick leave to stop anyone from returning to work when they should be in isolation.
“It’s about focusing on investment jobs and supporting the cash flow of businesses, but obviously we will also have the budget in a matter of weeks after that announcement so there will be other opportunities too to continue to provide the support to the economy where it needs it,” Mr Frydenberg told Sky News.
“Our focus is on keeping people in jobs and businesses in business. That is the clear focus for us. This is about business continuity, this is about ensuring that they get through this challenging period where we’ve seen outbound tourism from China grow to a halt.
“Obviously that’s prevented 95,000 international students studying their course here in Australia, and of course the number of planes coming to our country has slowed down quite dramatically, particularly from places in Asia. So the impact has been severe, but we’ve got the plan, we are prepared and we’ll continue to take what is the required action to keep the Australian economy strong.”
Mr Frydenberg said the package will be “very comprehensive and very substantial”, and would acknowledge the economy has struggled through drought and bushfires before the coronavirus, as well as “many things that have been beyond the government’s control which has obviously hurt the economy”.
When asked about paid sick leave for casual workers, Mr Frydenberg said: “Our goal here is to get a cooperative workplace where businesses obviously need to be flexibility (sic) during this time and employees want to feel confident about their job security.”
His comments come after ACTU secretary Sally McManus said the union movement will use meetings planned with the federal government on Tuesday to push for casual workers who may have to self-isolate because of coronavirus fears to be get paid sick leave. Read more about the $10bn virus rescue operation here.
Lachlan Moffet Gray 8.55am: New advice: get tested
NSW health authorities are working with GPs to ramp up their access to coronavirus testing as they urge people who are experiencing mild symptoms to get tested. The state’s chief medical officer Dr Kerry Chant on Monday said authorities were looking at ways to increase access to COVID-19 testing for GPs. “We are looking at scaling up testing and we are working with our colleagues in general practice to support them having greater access to testing,” Dr Chant told Sunrise. For people who feel “severely unwell,” the advice is to visit a hospital emergency department. Dr Chant reassured people that the detection system in NSW is effective and authorities are working hard to trace people who have been in contact with confirmed cases. “The group that causes us the most challenge are those where we do not know a source,” she said. “We’re investigating intensively to identify chains of transmission in the community to stop those chains.” — With AAP
Elias Visontay 8.45am: ‘Supply chains are okay’
Minister for Industry Karen Andrews has said the government is looking at ramping up local manufacturing to fill the void of any shortfalls in supply of foreign goods as a result of the coronavirus. Ms Andrews specifically mentioned packaging supplies and issues in sourcing packaging from China as holes in the supply chain that Australian manufacturing could address, but said it would be “poor practice” to have already formulated a policy or financial support for local industry before meeting with business leaders this week.
“We’re certainly looking at where supply has been affected, particularly out of China,” Ms Andrews told ABC Radio. “Now (that) parts of China are back up and running again, it then becomes a logistic issue to get that product out and into the market. We’re looking at ramping up our Australian manufacturing capacity as we can.
“Anecdotally what we’re hearing is that the supply chains are OK … That there is opportunity to purchase many of the supply needs, the inputs, from other countries. DFAT has put in a tremendous amount of work to make that happen. We’re looking at where we can source that (packaging) potentially from other countries we will also look at what we can do to ramp up packaging operations here in Australia. We are not at the critical stage or even close to it.”
Lachlan Moffet Gray 8.30am: Minister defends school reopening
Dan Tehan has defended the NSW government’s decision to re-open Epping Boys’ High School in Sydney after just one day of closure following the diagnosis of a year 11 student with coronavirus. “We’re listening to the very best medical advice. That’s what the NSW government has acted upon — they considered what was the best course of action they should take over the weekend,” the Federal Education Minister told Today on Monday.
Mr Tehan confirmed that 69 staff and students who were “close contacts” of the infected boy will self-isolate for 14 days, but said families of those close contacts will not be forced to self-isolate also. “If they weren’t feeling well, if they started to get symptoms then we would ask them to see and contact their doctor … We don’t want to cause unnecessary panic,” he said. Mr Tehan also said it was “highly likely” that other schools will be impacted by coronavirus. “We are putting plans in place to be able to deal with it … That’s why I met with education ministers the Friday before last. We want to make sure we have the very best plans in place to be able to put the rings of containment in place if a student or if a teacher tests positive for the coronavirus.”
Lachlan Moffet Gray 8.15am: Labor to support ‘sensible’ stimulus
Shadow minister for agriculture and resources Joel Fitzgibbon has invoked Ken Henry, saying the government’s upcoming $10 billion coronavirus response stimulus package must “go early, go hard and go families”.
“I think action is overdue. The economy was struggling before the bushfire and coronavirus,” Mr Fitzgibbon told Sunrise. “We (Labor) are there to support sensible measures on the investment and consumption side, we need to do something about those workers who have been asked to self isolate at the risk of both losing their personal leave and beyond that some cash as well.”
Appearing on the same panel, Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce called for “a reality check” amid the coronavirus outbreak which he argued posed less of a threat to Australians than snakes. “Look, it’s tragic, we’ve had over 3000 deaths globally, but you’d need about 30 to 40 times that number to equate to the deaths from snake bites,” he said
“We need to make sure we get a reality check … what are you going to do with toilet paper? How does this work? I can’t go home and have a crap because the toilet paper is gone.”
Elias Visontay 8am: ‘Stimulus could be expanded’
Liberal MP Dave Sharma says the government’s planned coronavirus stimulus package, expected to be almost $10 billion, could be expanded after the initial announcement as the impact of the outbreak evolves. “This has been an evolving challenge to the global economy,” the Wentworth MP told Sky News on Monday morning.
“This is something we need to be responding to in a continued and progressive fashion. It (stimulus package expected this week) may not be the last step in this regard. This is an evolving challenge to the global economy so our response will need to be evolving with it. The most important thing to restore here is investment and consumer confidence.”
Mr Sharma also raised concern over the plight of Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert — who has been detained in an Iranian prison since October 2018 — amid fears there has been an outbreak of coronavirus in the Evin prison in Tehran where she is held. “I am particularly concerned for her health and her welfare,’’ Mr Sharma said. “I don’t think she was in a strong health state to begin with as indicated by the letters that she smuggled out … We’ve been very active on her case,” Mr Sharma said. Read more about the government’s $10bn virus rescue operation here.
Lachlan Moffet Gray 7.45am: Sydney school to reopen
Students at Epping Boys’ High School in northwestern Sydney will be able to return to school following the facility’s closure on Friday after it was discovered a boy in year 11 had coronavirus. The 16-year-old boy contracted COVID-19 through his mother, who is an employee at Ryde Hospital, where a doctor was diagnosed with the virus last week. Over the weekend the school was “thoroughly cleaned” in preparation for the return of students, with school management saying it will be cleaned every day to ensure vigilance “in implementing the department’s infection control procedures.” Although a vast majority of the school’s 1200 students will be able to resume their studies, the school has identified students and staff who are close contacts of the year 11 boy and have asked them to self-isolate for 14 days. The school is also urging any student or staff member who is feeling unwell to remain at home.
Lachlan Moffet Gray 7.30am: Cruise ship remains at sea
A cruise ship hit by coronavirus and headed to the port of Oakland, California, will remain in international waters for at least another day as officials work on plans to transport passengers to federal facilities. The Grand Princess ship, which is carrying more than 3500 people from 54 countries including four Australians, is expected to dock Tuesday Australiana time.
Grand Princess Captain John Smith, in a recording provided by passenger Laurie Miller of San Jose, told passengers that “after docking, we will then begin a disembarkation process specified by federal authorities that will take several days.”
Ship passengers who need medical treatment or hospitalisation will go to health care facilities in California, while state residents who don’t require acute medical care “will go to a federally run isolation facility within California for testing and isolation,” the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services said in a statement on Sunday. “The crew will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship, but importantly, the ship will only stay in Port of Oakland for the duration of disembarkment. This ship will depart Oakland as soon as possible and will remain elsewhere for the duration of the crew’s quarantine,” the statement said.
US guests from outside California will be transported by the federal government to facilities in other states. Smith said the information he was given did not include what would happen to passengers from other countries. California officials did not provide those details.
Some Americans will be transferred to military bases in San Antonio, Texas, and Marietta, Georgia, officials said. It was not clear when the groups would arrive.
Vice President Mike Pence announced on Friday that at least 21 people aboard the ship, including 19 crew members, have tested positive for the virus.
Australian passenger Bill Pearce told Sunrise that the delay was also due to the Oakland docking facility being unused for most of the year.
“From what we heard from the captain, it sounds like they needed more time for preparations for the docking area. And what I understand, the dock is usually an unused portion of the Oakland docking facility,” he said.
“We have been circling 20 or 30 miles off the coast. A couple of times we have come in and we could see the golden gate bridge. We could get cell service on our phones. So close, very frustrating.” — With AAP
Lachlan Moffet Gray 7.15am: Latest in Australia
Authorities are tracking an audience from a weekend Perth orchestral performance in the latest coronavirus scare as the death toll rose to three on Sunday and federal officials moved to allow doctors to consult with patients by phone to protect them from infection.
NSW Health confirmed another two cases of the virus on Sunday night, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 40. The number of diagnosed cases nationwide hit 81, including two Australian Defence Force personnel who travelled from Sydney to Canberra on February 28 and spent time at Defence headquarters. One of the new cases in NSW is a man in his 40s who has not travelled recently and attended St Vincent’s emergency department in Sydney on Friday. The hospital is in the process of contacting patients who may have come into contact with him.
The third Australian victim of Coronavirus was an 82-year-old resident of the BaptistCare Dorothy Henderson Lodge aged care centre in northwest Sydney – the man is the second resident of the facility to succumb to the virus following the death of a 95 year-old woman last week.
As panic buying of consumer staples continued, supermarket giant Coles placed further limits on the amount of toilet paper purchases, announcing on Sunday that shoppers could now buy only one pack per transaction.
The move came as NSW Police laid charges and urged calm after two women were charged with affray on Sunday after footage emerged of a group brawling over toilet rolls at Woolworths Chullora in the city’s southwest on Saturday morning.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said all Australians with flu-like symptoms should get tested for the virus, overturning previous advice suggesting only those returning from overseas be tested as the government announced telehealth conferencing should be comprehensively established by the end of the week. Read more here.
Lachlan Moffet Gray 7am: Global cases hit 110,000
Around the world the number of global cases has reached 110,000 with the number of deaths closing in on 3800, according to Worldometer. The vast majority of these cases and deaths are in China where over 80,000 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed.
About 3100 in China have died, not including at least six people who died yesterday when a hotel housing infected coronavirus patients collapsed in the city of Quanzhou. Some 28 people are still missing in the rubble of the building.
There are now 484 cases of the virus in the United States, prompting Oregon to follow New York City in declaring a state of emergency. The largest school district in Northern California has cancelled classes for a week after it was discovered that a family in the district had been exposed to COVID-19. The Elk Grove School District, which is near Sacramento, has nearly 64,000 students. At least 19 people have died in the United States from the virus so far.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is considering quarantine measures for every person entering the country, be they Israeli or not. The country has already imposed quarantine measures on China, Italy and Japan but the director-general of the Health Ministry says restrictions against individual countries are no longer effective.
Formula One’s Bahrain Grand Prix will run this month without spectators as the island kingdom fights an outbreak of the new coronavirus, organisers announced last night. The wider Mideast now has over 6980 confirmed cases of the virus. The vast majority are in hard-hit Iran, where the reported death toll jumped by 25 per cent yesterday Sunday to 194 out of 6566 confirmed cases.
Egypt announced its first fatality Sunday when a 60-year-old German tourist died in a hospital in Hurgada, a Red Sea resort town. The Health Ministry said the man tested positive for the virus Saturday and had been travelling in the country for a week.
The UK has also recorded a large jump in cases over the weekend, announcing 67 new confirmed patients — bringing the total to 273. Two people have died in the UK, both older people with pre-existing health conditions. — With AAP.
Lachlan Moffet Gray 6.45am: Plight of casual workers
ACTU secretary Sally McManus says the union movement will use meetings planned with the federal government tomorrow to push for casual workers who may have to self-isolate because of coronavirus fears to be paid leave. “You think about where casual workers are. They’re all in person to person industry, retail hospitality and of course in health care and aged care,” she said. “We don’t want people with the virus or people with symptoms going to work — but they are going to have to choose between paying the bills and feeding themselves or going to work.’’
People being forced into self quarantine is cause for concern for Australia's 3.3 million casual workers, who fear two weeks of no work and no pay if they're caught up in the COVID-19 crisis. #9Today pic.twitter.com/OOoiaIpTBf
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) March 8, 2020
Cliona O’Dowd 6.30am: Here we go again: stocks set for big fall
Investors are bracing for another volatile day on the local sharemarket, with futures pointing to heavy falls on Monday amid heightened panic over the COVID-19 virus and a rush to safety. The local sharemarket is tipped to drop 1.5 per cent, or 93 points, at the open after data showed China’s exports collapsed in the first two months of the year due to the coronavirus outbreak, with business activity grinding to a halt, triggering a supply shock. Follow the markets in our Trading Day live blog here.
Lachlan Moffet Gray 6am: Italy cases soar
The number of coronavirus deaths in Italy jumped by a third overnight, jumping by 133 to 366 coronavirus deaths across the country, according to the nation’s Civil Protection agency.
Confirmed cases have also increased, jumping by 1492 to 7375.
The surge in deaths and cases comes as Italy begins a lock down of most of its northern region, including the financial capital of Milan. The unprecedented restrictions, which aim to limit gatherings and curb movement, will impact some 16 million people and stay in force until April 3.
They were signed into law overnight on Sunday by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
The new measures say people should not enter or leave Lombardy, Italy’s richest region, as well as 14 provinces in four other regions, including the cities of Venice, Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia and Rimini.
Only people with proven, work-related reasons, or health problems will be able to move in and out of the exclusion zones. Leave has been cancelled for health workers.
Head of the Lombardy regional crisis response unit Antonio Pesenti told the Corriere della Sera newspaper the health system in Lombardy was “a step away from collapse.’’
“We’re now being forced to set up intensive care treatment in corridors, in operating theatres, recovery rooms. We’ve emptied entire hospital sections to make space for seriously sick people,” he said. — With AAP
5.30am: No apology for Vic doctor
Twelve people have been confirmed with the coronavirus in Victoria, as a doctor who tested positive awaits an apology from the health minister over damning comments.
The state’s latest confirmed case is a woman aged in her 50s who is visiting from Indonesia, the health department confirmed on Sunday. She flew from Jakarta to Perth on February 27, and arrived in Melbourne last Monday before testing positive on Saturday night for the virus. She is in self- isolation.
The woman visited Pho Hung Vuong 2 Vietnamese Restaurant in Richmond on Friday. It follows Dr Chris Higgins, the father of singer Missy Higgins, who tested positive after he had treated more than 70 patients while having what he thought was a mild cold.
Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said on Saturday she was flabbergasted a doctor with flu-like symptoms had continued to treat patients. Her comments caused the Australian Medical Association and Dr Higgins to see red and demand an apology given he had followed the current guidelines. Dr Higgins, his patients and staff at The Toorak Clinic in Melbourne are now self-isolating, along with two patients he visited at Malvern’s Mecwacare nursing home.
On Sunday, Ms Mikakos did not apologise; instead she urged everyone to play their part.
“All of us have a responsibility to do what we can to prevent the spread of this virus,” she said in a statement. — AAP
5am: State by state numbers
There are now 81 confirmed cases of the virus in Australia, including three deaths.
NSW: 40
QLD: 15
VIC: 12
TAS: 2
NT: 1
WA: 4
SA: 7
Total: 81 cases in Australia, including three deaths.
Additional reporting: Lachlan Moffet Gray
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