‘Ignore the anti-vaxxers’, authorities urge following nationwide rallies
Disgraced celebrity chef Pete Evans vows to ‘speak his truth’ as dissenters arrested in nationwide protests targeting roll-out of COVID-19 vaccine.
- Anti-vax rallies kick off in Melbourne and Sydney
- Victoria records zero new cases
- Airport to introduce tests before take-off
- Spread of UK variant limited to close contacts
Australians have been urged to ignore the conspiracy theories and misinformation spread by anti-vaxxers who gathered across the country yesterday to protest the national roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Victoria’s chief health officer Professor Brett Sutton said Australians who had questions about vaccines should obtain information from trusted health officials.
“Fervent anti-vaxxers are in a really small minority … I am going to ignore them, frankly, and I would encourage you to do the same,” Professor Sutton said.
“It is legitimate to ask questions and I would encourage all those individuals who have seen information that they are unsure about the legitimacy of that information to go to trusted individuals, go to your GP … go to trusted information sources.”
Twenty people were arrested yesterday as anti-vaccination protesters gathered at Fawkner Park in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra.
As hundreds of protesters disrupted traffic on Toorak Road, before moving back towards St Kilda, a heavy police presence — including Air Wing and mounted officers — was deployed.
Two Sunday Herald Sun journalists were also handcuffed and issued with a notice of a potential $1652 fine as they attempted to cover the Melbourne rally.
In Sydney, disgraced celebrity chef turned political aspirant Pete Evans joined hundreds of anti-vaxxers as they marched from Hyde Park through the city, chanting “f*** Bill Gates” and holding signs that said “just say no”, “coronavirus is a scam” and “vaccines kill”.
“I don’t have the answers. No one is coming to save you except you,” Mr Evans told the crowd.
“Each and every one of you has to stand up in whatever capacity you can.”
Deregistered physician Andrew Katelaris also made an appearance, reportedly claiming that COVID-19 was made in a lab.
No arrests were made in Sydney, while large crowds also gathered at the Botanical Gardens in Brisbane.
A total of 11 rallies were held across the nation on a day in which zero cases of community transmission were recorded in Australia.
Advice received of zero cases of community transmission nationwide in the last 24 hours. This is thankfully the 3rd of 4 days w zero cases nationwide. Agonisingly over 10,000 people lost their lives to COVID globally on Friday. Our thoughts are with those lost & their families.
— Greg Hunt (@GregHuntMP) February 20, 2021
Staff writers7.30pm:Journalists arrested at Melbourne anti-vaxxer really
A Sunday Herald Sun journalist and photographer were arrested while reporting on the protest against the coronavirus vaccine.
Reporter Olivia Jenkins and senior photographer Jake Nowakowski were handcuffed and escorted from the protest after being caught in a group of anti-vaccination protesters at Fawkner Park.
Jenkins and Nowakowski were wearing their Sunday Herald Sun accreditation cards around their necks and identified themselves as journalists but were detained by police and then given a notice that they may be issued with a $1652 fine for failing to comply with the Chief Health Officer’s directions.
Both were wearing masks and were released by police after about 10 minutes.
“I was really shocked they arrested us knowing we were from the media,’’ Ms Jenkins said.
“The officers who arrested us weren’t rough. But it was very confronting.
“We were there to cover the protest — to do our jobs — just as the police were there to do theirs.”
Read the full story at the Herald Sun.
Nicholas Jensen5.55pm:Police arrest 20 at Melbourne anti-vaxxer rally
Victoria Police have made 20 arrests at Melbourne’s anti-vaxxer rally this afternoon, with authorities using pepper spray to quell demonstrators.
Hundreds of protesters converged on South Yarra’s Fawkner Park where they chanted slogans and held placards in opposition of the government’s vaccination program.
The rally was closely observed by Victoria Police, which had mounted officers watching the speeches.
The rally also disrupted traffic on Toorak road before it moved towards St Kilda.
No arrests were made at the anti-vaxxer rally held in Sydney.
READ MORE:Gerard Henderson — Aunty takes a stand, but will activists get message?
Hannah Moore5.12pm:Victoria flags easing of restrictions
Victorian health officials have signalled they will consider easing coronavirus restrictions next week.
The positive development comes as the state recorded no new cases of coronavirus, after a night spent on high alert.
Health Minister Martin Foley on Saturday said advice would be guided by the exposure sites, and when people who tested positive were last in the community.
“We are looking at next Friday as a pivotal time for reviewing this current level of restrictions,” Mr Foley said.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton reminded Victorians that until then, a number of conditions remained in place.
“You must wear a mask indoors and outdoors where you cannot physically distance,” he said.
“If you are going out, please remember that, particularly in the indoor settings.
“If you are having people over, that number cannot exceed five and if you are going camping with a big group it cannot be more than 20 individuals.”
READ MORE: Greg Sheridan — Is Covid on the run at last?
Caroline Schelle4.44pm:Police Minister to take time off over health
Victoria’s Police Minister has been forced to take three months off work after a chronic health condition flared up, leaving her in hospital.
Police and Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville, a key figure in Victoria’s coronavirus response, announced the leave period in a statement on Saturday, explaining she has been in hospital since last week as a result of Crohn’s disease.
“The clear advice from my doctors is if I don’t take this period of rest and recovery I will be faced with major bowel surgery and risk long term consequences to the quality and length of my life,” Ms Neville said.
READ MORE:Gideon Haigh — Ugly trend that can poison Indian cricket
Nicholas Jensen4.08pm: Melbourne’s anti-vax rally turns violent
Melbourne’s anti-vaxxer rally has turned violent, with reports that Victorian police have made a number of arrests as protesters marched through inner city suburbs.
Hundreds of protesters carrying placards have gathered to protest the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccines in Fawkner Park in South Yarra.
The rally was closely observed by a heavy police force, including Air Wing and mounted officers who watched speeches.
The rally disrupted traffic on Toorak Road before moving back towards St Kilda.
The Herald Sun is reporting that at least four arrests were made, with one man being dragged from a cricket field after interrupting a suburban cricket match.
NSW Police said there were no arrests made in relation to the anti-vaxxer rally held in Sydney today.
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Joyce Moullakis3.45pm:Covid claims ‘a big insurance cloud’
QBE Insurance’s interim chief executive Richard Pryce says COVID-19 business interruption claims pose the “greatest uncertainty” for the sector, and in Australia ongoing legal test cases to clarify issues could spill into next year.
His comments came as QBE flagged a better 2021 after axing its final dividend for last year, due to marked losses of $US1.5bn and lower investment income.
QBE operates in 27 countries globally and has substantial operations in North America, Europe and Australia. The issue of whether business interruption insurance policies cover global pandemics has been highly topical, and tested in court in the United Kingdom and Australia.
The insurance sector failed in the initial UK and Australian test cases on the issue, although the Insurance Council of Australia is seeking leave to appeal to the High Court after its high-profile defeat last year.
“It is difficult to see any clarity emerging with respect to Australian business interruption in the first half of 2021, and the time frame could easily extend toward the end of 2021 and beyond,” Mr Pryce said.
“The group considers that it has allowed for potentially extreme, albeit it highly unlikely, Australian business interruption claims scenarios.”
Read the full story here.
Tom Dusevic3.15pm:Pandemic drives regional revival — but will it last?
The pandemic recession never made it into Dubbo, in the NSW central west. When border closures, shutdowns and social distancing measures unplugged capital cities and drove the national jobless rate to 7.5 per cent last July, unemployment plunged to 1.4 per cent in the bustling region of 54,000.
According to the National Skills Commission, the annual increase in job vacancies in the broader Dubbo and western NSW region was almost 90 per cent last month, the strongest growth of the nation’s 37 regions.
Megan Dixon, who runs the Orana office in Dubbo of the non-profit Regional Development Australia, says the place is humming. “We have work, so come out here,” Dixon tells Inquirer. “There is support available to people who make the move.”
Tourism is going “gangbusters”, according to the region’s mayor. Hotels are at 80 per cent occupancy and visitor numbers have doubled for popular attractions. Dixon says some local five-day businesses have become seven-day operations, home building has taken off and job vacancies soared.
Yet 18 months ago Dubbo was in the grip of dust and drought, facing an imminent “day zero” if it did not rain or emergency measures were not taken. Running out of water for the first time would have plunged communities, even resilient places with scale such as Dubbo, into a wretched economic and social spiral.
Read the full story here.
Nicholas Jensen2.25pm: Pete Evans revvs up the crowd at anti-vaxxer rally
Anti-vaxxer rallies are being held in Melbourne and Sydney this afternoon, with campaigners gathering to hear speeches and voice their dissent against the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.
In Sydney, hundreds of protesters have marched from Hyde Park through the city, holding signs saying “just say ‘no’”, as well as chanting “F**k Bill Gates”, who has become a vocal advocate for the uptake of global vaccination programs.
Former reality star Peter Evans addressed the crowd, speaking about his political aspirations at an anti-vaxxer rally in Sydney.
“I don’t have the answers. No one is coming to save you except you,” Mr Evans told the crowd.
“Each and every one of you has to stand up in whatever capacity you can.”
Deregistered physician Andrew Katelaris has also made an appearance, reportedly claiming that COVID-19 was made in a lab.
Deregistered doctor Dr Andrew Katelaris up now talking about how COVID-19 was made in a lab.
— CAMERONWILSON (@cameronwilson) February 20, 2021
Speaking about Dr Fauci: "Budda taught us the worst thing an enemy can ever do is make you hate them. I don't hate him, but I do want him dead." (audience cheers) pic.twitter.com/bwM30SbVlL
Mr Katelaris attacked the US Chief Medical Adviser Dr Anthony Fauci, saying “Budda taught us the worst thing an enemy can ever do is make you hate them. I don’t hate him, but I do want him dead.”
Meanwhile, in Melbourne’s Fawkner Park, anti-vax campaigners have taken aim at the Victorian premier Daniel Andrews following the conclusion of the state’s snap five-day lockdown.
A disturbing amount of people have turned up for an anti-vaccination rally in Sydney today pic.twitter.com/VnRfKD4VkX
— Eden Gillespie (@edengillespie) February 20, 2021
Placards read, “No confidence in Dan”, with another saying “Health cannot be injected”
The rallies come just days before the rollout of the government’s vaccination program due to commence on Monday, with hopes of completing it by October.
READ MORE:Paydays amid the pandemic
Nicholas Jensen1.44pm:WA record no new cases
Western Australia’s Department of Health has recorded no new cases of COVID-19 overnight.
Yesterday 662 people were tested at WA Health COVID clinics. The State’s total number of cases stands at 910.
WA Health continues to monitor three active cases, with 898 people having recovered from the virus.
To date, 22 cases of variant strains have been detected in WA.
READ MORE:Simon Benson — WA’s Liberal collapse should ring alarm bells
Robyn Ironside1.20pm:Dash from lockdowns fires up housing market
An exodus of almost 3000 people a month from Melbourne is turning up the heat on already sizzling property markets in other parts of the country.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data for the June and September quarters, showed 16,000 people left Melbourne in six months last year, reversing a 20-year trend of population growth in the city.
Property analyst and buyer’s agent Simon Pressley of Propertology said even for a city of five million, that was a lot to lose.
“It’s not only the loss of people it’s the loss of their financial contribution to the city,” he said. “For everyone who leaves, that’s a potential income of $100,000 and the spending power that goes with it; that’s gone out of Melbourne.”
Regional Australia was gaining from the exodus, with places such as the Gold Coast and Noosa in Queensland, Geelong and Ballarat in Victoria and Orange in NSW enjoying record demand for housing, Mr Pressley said.
Of the capitals, Brisbane was the frontrunner, with a net gain of 6400 people from interstate between April and September.
Read the full story here.
Nicholas Jensen1.10pm:SA records zero new cases
South Australia has recorded zero locally acquired cases and no new cases in hotel quarantine.
There were 4066 test results received in the past 24 hours.
South Australia currently has two active cases.
In total, the state has recorded four COVID-19 deaths and conducted 1,063,172 tests, with 602 patients recovering from the virus.
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Nicholas Jensen12.35pm:Virus detected in sewage across Melbourne
Victoria has recorded zero locally acquired cases and no new hotel quarantine cases.
There were 17,700 test results received across the state in the past 24 hours, as health authorities monitor 25 active cases.
While health authorities remain confident they’re bringing Melbourne’s recent outbreak under control, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has urged Victorians to remain alert for symptoms after the virus was detected at sewage sites across the state’s capital.
For those planning Saturday nights, he said there are still a number of conditions in place: “You must wear a mask indoors and outdoors where you cannot physically distance. If you are going out, please remember that, particularly in indoor settings. If you are having people over, that number cannot exceed five and if you are going camping with a big group it cannot be more than 20 individuals.”
Professor Sutton implored Victorians to ignore the campaigns of the anti-vaccination movement, saying the vaccine program is “our only way out of this” pandemic.
He said current restrictions will be reviewed at the end of next week.
Victorians will also be allowed to re-enter West Australia from today, but they must still self-quarantine for 14 days and get tested on day 11.
Despite new cases in Victoria, WA Health authorities say new cases in Victoria pose no increased risk because they were already in quarantine.
READ MORE:John Ferguson — Lay oof, Victorians are still bleeding
Chris Smyth12pm:Johnson tells G7 to help vaccinate developing world
Boris Johnson has told world leaders that there is “no point” in vaccinating Britons and others in the west if poorer nations are left behind.
The G7 group of industrialised nations agreed yesterday to help the developing world as they discussed an international treaty to improve global responses to pandemics. Leaders committed themselves to offering more assistance to the World Health Organisation and global distribution efforts.
President of France Emmanuel Macron did not raise his suggestion that the west give away 5 per cent of their doses. The idea has been rejected by the UK, which committed itself to donating up to 80 per cent of surplus doses to poorer nations once all British adults have been vaccinated.
However, a government adviser said the government should send doses to healthcare staff overseas before most adults have been vaccinated in Britain.
“Once the UK has vaccinated our most vulnerable communities and healthcare workers we should make vaccines available to other countries,” Sir Jeremy Farrar told The BMJ.
Farrar, 60, who is head of the Welcome Trust research charity, said: “I would much rather vaccinate vulnerable people and healthcare workers elsewhere in the world than have the vaccine myself.”
Johnson, who is chairing the G7 this year, said that “science is finally getting the upper hand on Covid”. But he opened by telling leaders: “There is no point in us vaccinating our individual populations – this is a global pandemic and it’s no use one country being far ahead of another.”
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Angelica Snowden11.40am:Nurses ‘excited, relieved’ to get Covid jab
Victorian nurses have completed a final “dry run” before they start administering the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday after a full year of battling the virus on the front lines.
At least 100 healthcare workers are expected to be vaccinated at the Monash Medical Centre in Clayton, in Melbourne’s southeast, on Monday. Nurse manager of the intensive care unit at Dandenong Hospital, Rachel Hogben, will be one of the first.
“I’m feeling really excited and (have) a big sense of relief,” the 39-year-old said. “Monash Health have recruited a huge number of nurse vaccinators and it’s been a massive undertaking in a short time.
“(Last year) was certainly difficult, and I think that is why there is this huge sense of relief. We know that the answers are not immediate, it won’t be COVID normal immediately after the vaccine, but we know now we are making some really positive steps towards that and that’s why we are so excited.”
Three vaccination rooms will be used from Monday at the Clayton hub to administer the Pfizer/BioNTech jab from 7.30am until 7pm. The clinic will operate with those hours seven days a week.
Read the full story here.
Nicholas Jensen11.15am:NSW, Qld record another day of zero cases
NSW has recorded another day of zero locally acquired cases, with 1 case recorded in hotel quarantine.
There were 16,422 test results received across the state in the past 24 hours.
NSW Health authorities have detected fragments of the virus that causes COVID-19 in a sewage network site at Auburn, saying in a statement “people who are recently recovered from COVID-19 can sometimes continue to shed virus fragments into the sewerage system for several weeks even after they are no longer infectious”.
The catchment takes sewage from the suburbs of Condell Park, Bankstown, Potts Hill, Birrong, Sefton, Bass Hill, Chester Hill, Regents Park, Chullora, Homebush West, Strathfield, Rookwood, Sydney Olympic Park, Newington, Granville, Clyde, Lidcombe, Auburn, South Granville, Guildford, Silverwater, Rosehill, Berala and Yagoona.
Meanwhile, Queensland has also recorded zero locally acquired cases and no new hotel quarantine cases.
There were 6339 test results received across the state in the past 24 hours.
Queensland currently has five active cases.
In total, the state has recorded six COVID-19 deaths and conducted 1,903,452 tests, with 1309 patients recovering from the virus.
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Ellie Dudley10.25am:Covid survivors to solve reaction mystery
Queensland researchers need the help of Australians who have had COVID-19 to uncover one of the big mysteries of the pandemic: Why are reactions to the virus inconsistent across patients?
A new study, conducted by the University of Queensland (UQ), aims to discover why there are differences in the severity and symptoms between patients.
Professor Naomi Wray, from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience and Queensland Brain Institute, hopes the analysis will help find new treatments to manage the virus.
“People with COVID-19 get very sick because they’ve got other comorbidities, but you also have to wonder about people who get really sick but are usually quite healthy,” she said.
“Our research goal is to get information on the breadth of symptoms to understand the differences between people and in symptoms and then map those to the differences in their DNA.”
Professor Wray has issued a call-out for former COVID-19 patients to participate in the study.
Read the full story here.
John Lethlean10am:Talent racing back home in time for dinner
What’s the converse of brain drain? Intel ingress?
Whatever. In West Australian food circles it’s been happening quickly, as Australian cooking talent flees home from overseas to escape COVID-19. And it’s helping reverse a time-honoured tradition of ambitious food pros seeking greener pastures … abroad.
In the Perth suburb of Mount Lawley, Paul Bentley is back on the pans at Si Paradiso, an inner-city hipster paradise. The cognoscenti might ask: isn’t that the same Perth chef who went away at 22, at the turn of the century, and ended up a partner in eight restaurants in Mexico and more in Hawaii?
The very same.
“I fought for so long to get out of Australia, and I stayed away 20 years,” says the chef “and now I realise, it’s pretty damned good … Australia has some of the most creative food I’ve had anywhere in the world.’’
And this from a guy who became sous (second) chef at Daniel, the revered Manhattan institution of Frenchman Daniel Boulud, before discovering Mexico after answering a job ad on Craigslist.
Read the full story here.
Dow Jones9.30am:Evidence points to spread in China before first confirmed cases
New evidence from China is affirming what epidemiologists have long suspected: The coronavirus likely began spreading unnoticed around the Wuhan area in November 2019, before it exploded in multiple different locations throughout the city in December.
Chinese authorities have identified 174 confirmed COVID-19 cases around the city from December 2019, said World Health Organisation researchers, enough to suggest there were many more mild, asymptomatic or otherwise undetected cases than previously thought.
Many of the 174 cases had no known connection to the market that was initially considered the source of the outbreak, according to information gathered by WHO investigators during the four-week mission to China to examine the origins of the virus. Chinese authorities declined to give the WHO team raw data on these cases and potential earlier ones, team members said.
In examining 13 genetic sequences of the virus from December, Chinese authorities found similar sequences among those linked to the market, but slight differences in those of people without any link to it, according to the WHO investigators. The two sets likely began to diverge between mid-November and early December, but could possibly indicate infections as far back as September, said Marion Koopmans, a Dutch virologist on the WHO team.
This, and other evidence, suggest the coronavirus might have jumped to humans sometime during or shortly before the second half of November, she said, sickening too few people to attract attention until it led to an explosive outbreak in Wuhan. By December, the virus was spreading much more widely, both among people who had a link to the market and others with no tie.
“There must have been many, many more cases in December that people didn’t know or recognise,” Dominic Dwyer, an Australian microbiologist on the WHO team, said.
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Christine Kellett9am:Victoria records zero new cases
Victoria has recorded no new cases of coronavirus from more than 17,000 tests.
There are currently 25 active cases in the state — 22 of them linked to the Holiday Inn cluster.
One of the cluster has been transferred to the ICU for treatment, the ABC reports.
Yesterday there were no new cases reported. 17,701 test results were received. Thank you to those who got tested - #EveryTestHelps.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) February 19, 2021
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicDatapic.twitter.com/ijQvlhAaSz
More to come …
Damon Kitney8.55am:Airport to introduce tests before take-off
Avalon Airport, owned by the billionaire Fox family, will be the first in the nation to roll out fever-testing kiosks after the machine’s inventor won approval from the TGA.
Developed in partnership with Amazon Web Services, the so-called HealthGate uses artificial intelligence to detect the appropriate area of a person’s face for testing and then a sensor measures whether they have a fever.
Designed and manufactured in Australia, HealthGate offers automated health screening for entry into public facilities such as healthcare centres, event venues and now airports.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews this week flagged his government’s interest in building quarantine facilities at Avalon and Tullamarine airports for international travellers.
Avalon chief executive Justin Giddings said the proposal would allow international arrivals to live in cabins near the terminal, and health officials could visit them outdoors.
Read the full story here.
Rachel Baxendale, Natasha Robinson8.30am:Spread of UK variant limited to close contacts
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says the UK variant of COVID-19 is “hyperinfective” and travels at “light-speed”.
Yet the coronavirus mutation has infected no one other than close contacts of cases linked to the original source of the latest outbreak, the Holiday Inn at Melbourne Airport.
At crucial points in the decision-making process over how to manage the cluster, the Victorian government assumed the virus may be spreading undetected, with asymptomatic cases seeding further spread. But as it happened, infected cases visited a large number of exposure sites without spreading the virus.
The Holiday Inn cluster — which as of Friday comprised 22 cases linked to 3515 primary close contacts — is believed to have begun when a 38-year-old man used a nebuliser to inhale asthma medication on February 3 and 4.
Late the following Sunday, February 7, an authorised female officer in her early 50s became the first Holiday Inn worker to test positive for the virus.
Despite the woman visiting a series of locations in Melbourne’s west over the course of the weekend, the only community member she is believed to have infected is a member of her household who tested positive in the early hours of February 12.
Read the full story here.
Ewin Hannan8am:Firms can force customers to prove Covid vaccination
Employers will be able to require customers and visitors to prove they have been vaccinated as a condition of entry to their premises, new updated guidance by Safe Work Australia about the vaccine rollout says.
But the national body says employees will generally not be able to refuse to come to work because a colleague has not been vaccinated.
In new guidance to employers and workers released on Friday, the SWA says it is unlikely work, health and safety laws will require a business to ask customers and visitors for proof of vaccination.
“However, you still might want to require this as a condition of entry to your premises,” it says.
“Before you take action to impose this kind of requirement, you should seek advice as there might be privacy and discrimination issues that apply.”
Read the full story here.
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