Coronavirus: Italy-style lockdown could be on cards for Australia, WA AMA chief says
The lockdown of Italy could be an indication of what is to come in Australia, the president of the AMA’s WA branch has warned.
- ‘Only the Chinese have been successful’
- Parents demand schools close
- Trump announces stimulus
- Eight new cases in NSW
- Whole of Italy in lockdown
The Australian’s live coverage of the growing coronavirus crisis for Wednesday March 11 continues here: Scott Morrison imposes Italy travel ban, UK health minister has virus
Here is how yesterday unfolded: As the number of confirmed cases in Australia reaches 100, and the whole of Italy is placed in lockdown, Scott Morrison has announced a multi-billion dollar response to the virus. The president of the AMA’s WA branch has warned Italy’s lockdown could be an indication of what’s to come in Australia.
Craig Johnstone 6.40pm: Three new Queensland virus cases
Another three new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Queensland, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 18.
However, eight of these people have been cleared by their treating team and discharged from hospital.
Queensland Health said one of the new cases was the partner of a Sunshine Coast woman diagnosed with coronavirus last week after she travelled from London through Dubai.
The 42-year-old woman is in isolation in the Sunshine Coast University Hospital in a stable condition.
The other two new cases are a 46-year-old Brisbane women who is in isolation and in a stable condition in the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital after recently travelling to Austria and France and a 22-year-old Brisbane man who travelled to Spain, Italy and France. He is in isolation in Prince Charles Hospital in a stable condition.
Queensland Health said contact tracing was underway for the new cases and it would announce if any other public health alerts were needed.
“Only those who have had face-to-face contact with a confirmed case for a period over 15 minutes, or those who have shared an enclosed space with a confirmed case for a prolonged period of more than two hours, are considered as a close contact,” it said.
Paul Garvey 6.37pm: ‘Keep confidence in economy’
Western Australian premier Mark McGowan has urged the public to get out and support local businesses as the state feels the economic impact of coronavirus.
The Premier on Tuesday said small business in particular were suffering.
“Continue to go out and buy products, buy cars, go out to cafes, picture theatres. Do whatever it might be to keep our economy strong,” he said.
“Clearly we are in dangerous economic times and we need to keep confidence in the economy.”
He said the government was currently weighing up targeted stimulus measures to help the economy, but said maintaining the budget surplus remained a top priority.
“This is a serious economic situation for Western Australia. We are a trade-exposed state so we need to continue to monitor that,” he said.
Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Chris Rodwell said the group was working closely with hundreds of businesses that were looking for advice on issues such as a downturn in trade and supply, and planning for the self-isolation of workforces.
He also backed the call from Prime Minister Scott Morrison for large business to fast-track their payments to smaller suppliers.
“Waiting out long payment terms is a tough ask for WA’s small and mid-sized businesses,” Mr Rodwell said.
“The significant cashflow issues experienced by many businesses reinforce the need for timely payment of invoices.”
Craig Johsntone 5.40pm: Queensland warns of random police checks
In Queensland, hospitals are preparing for a rapid increase in the number of people presenting to be tested for coronavirus.
Am email distributed by the Mater Hospital in South Brisbane said: “We may notice an increase in presentations from the public seeking to be tested for COVID-19 after it was announced by the Federal Minister for Health that any Australians with flu-like symptoms be encouraged to be tested for COVID-19”.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has also urged people who have the virus to take seriously the need to self-isolate for 14 days, warning that police will be conducting random compliance checks.
“It is very important that you don’t go to the shop and buy a bottle of milk and come home,” she said.
“This self isolation is very important.”.
Remy Varga 4.59pm: AFL faces prospect of empty stadiums
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan says the coronavirus could see AFL matches played in empty stadiums after the first local transmission of COVID-19 in Victoria was confirmed.
Mr McLachlan said a working group was being established to respond to any escalation of the coronavirus or changes of advice from the state and federal government.
“If mass gatherings are suspended then we’ll play games in stadiums with no crowds,” he said.
“We’re also working on other protocols to protect not only players and staff but our members and supporters.
The news comes after Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday warned the public to prepare for school closures, major event cancellations and working from home.
Mr McLachlan said the sport was planning to push ahead with the current advice but said he was confident it was sufficiently resourced to respond to any escalation of the virus.
“We will be working with relevant authorities and doing what they say,” he said.
The AFL men’s season is due to kick off on Thursday March 19 with a match between Richmond and Carlton.
The first local transmission of the coronavirus occurred in Victoria on Monday night after a teacher came into contact with an infected person in her home.
Carey Baptist Grammar School in the east Melbourne suburb of Kew, where the teacher taught, will be closed for at least week.
4.55pm: Money Cafe podcast: Markets crisis special
James Kirby and Alan Kohler sit down for an extra coffee to discuss a dramatic few days on the market, and what could come next for the nation’s toilet paper stockpiles.
Rebecca Urban 4.05pm: Get ready for school closures, major event cancellations: Andrews
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has warned the community to get used to school closures, major event cancellations and working from home as the spread of the coronavirus enters a stage of significant transmission.
However he confirmed that, at this stage, the Formula One Grand Prix would go ahead as planned at the weekend.
“It’s not an if or if not, it’s simply a matter of when,” Mr Andrews told a press conference at the Royal Melbourne Hospital on Tuesday as dozens of people queued up on the street outside to be tested. Most were wearing face masks. Some had been waiting for two hours.
“We are told by the experts that we are going to reach a phase of such significant transmission in Victoria unrelated to overseas travel that we will need to ask Victorians to do things we’ve never had to ask before,” he said, adding there would be a significant economic hit.
The Premier said the reason the Grand Prix, which is expecting crowds of over 300,000 this weekend, was still going ahead was “the advice says we don’t need to do that”.
Mr Andrews’ admittedly “frank” comments come after confirmation of the first case of local transmission. Carey Grammar will close for the remainder of the week after a female staff member tested positive for COVID-19. It is believed she contracted it from a member of her household, a man in his 50s who flew in from the US last month on the same flight as another confirmed case.
Mr Andrews said that there would be more “proactive school closures” over coming months to prevent the spread of the disease. He said all business should be planning to enable staff to work from home.
Natasha Robinson 3.39pm: Sports, concerts and schools could be shut down: Health chief
The federal government says it will “not hesitate” to shut down large gatherings such as concerts or sporting games, as well as schools, if coronavirus continues to spread in the community.
Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said such actions would not take place until there was evidence of sustained community transmission of COVID-19 in Australia.
“Our advice is we’re not at that stage,” Professor Murphy said. “If we had more sustained community transmission then we wouldn’t hesitate to make recommendations about public gatherings, about schools and the like.
“We only have one episode of fairly limited community transmission in Ryde (where a doctor at the Ryde Hospital in northwest Sydney has been infected).
“We’re reviewing this every single day. If there was a reason to make significant public event moves we would do it.”
Elias Visontay 3.27pm: Coronavirus app to be released
Health Minister Greg Hunt has announced the government will introduce an app to disseminate information about the coronavirus as Australia records its 100th official case of the virus.
Mr Hunt also said phone staff on the government’s coronavirus hotline would be bolstered amid concerns wait times were escalating.
Australia’s travel advisories for Italy will also come under fresh review after the European nation announced an effective countrywide lockdown on Tuesday.
“We now have 100 officially confirmed cases, and it continues that, sadly, there have been three lives lost,” Mr Hunt said at a coronavirus briefing in Sydney on Tuesday.
“The Prime Minister and myself, through Professor Murphy (Chief Medical Officer), have requested the medical experts to review the status of Italian travel advisories.
“We have done that obviously on the basis of the growth in cases over the last 48 hours in particular, and with regards to Italy’s own decisions. That advice will be forthcoming over the course of the next 24 hours.
“We are now in the advanced planning and design phase for telehealth items. Those are currently being consulted on with the sector. We want to thank them for their work – the CMO led a round table on Friday, the day after the Prime Minister confirmed that we would be developing that, and pathology items to assist in bringing the private sector into the provision of pathology services.”
Regarding the idea of an app, which was also raised by Labor earlier on Tuesday, Mr Hunt said: “We’re very open to developing an app, and indeed we will be developing an app as part of this. And then there are the formal public advice sessions through television and radio, and all of the different channels that are available.”
In relation to the information hotline, Mr Hunt said: “The latest advice I have is that there have now been over 20,000 calls received and answered on the hotline.”
“I’m very aware that over the weekend there has been some additional pressure on it, and so we have added additional staff today. We are adding additional staff over the course of the week. I want to thank Australians for their patience.
“There are a number of ways that people can seek advice through their general practice, through an emergency department, through their state hotline, or through the federal hotline. So, there are multiple avenues.”
Natasha Robinson 3.08pm: Quarantine period under review
The federal government said it is reviewing the quarantine period for those at risk of contracting coronavirus amid evidence that the incubation period may be substantially shorter.
“That is under constant review,” said chief medical officer Brendan Murphy. “We would like to be in lock step with other nations who are also looking at that.
“As the data emerges around the incubation period it does seem to be more in the 5 to 7 day period and the 14 day period does have a margin for error.
“It would help significantly if we could consider a reduction in the quarantine period. … but no recommendation to change has been made at the moment.”
Natasha Robinson 3.00pm: Health chief outlines who should be tested
The federal government has acknowledged confusion over coronavirus testing, with moves underway to provide clear, consistent advice to those who believe they are at risk of virus.
Chief health officer Brendan Murphy said there had been confusion over where people should go for testing and in what circumstances they should be tested. There are also moves to beef-up the staffing of the national COVID-19 hotline, which has been swamped with calls.
“The national hotline will now be given a very clear with information about where people should go to get tested. GPs will be given that information as well.
“It started off, everything was going very well until we had a big run on tests at the weekend and that’s caused a little but of confusion but we will make sure that that information is well out there in the hotline and well out there in the minds of GPs.
“And we’ll make sure that those private pathology labs who are now gearing up to take on the testing … have identified those collection centres where they are going to do them and that information will be made readily available within days to health professionals.”
Professor Murphy reiterated that only those who has returned from travel overseas and had symptoms, or has been in close contact with a confirmed case, should present themselves for testing.
Professor Murphy also said that no one who has contracted the virus and recovered has contracted it for a second time, and that current medical advice indicates it can’t be caught twice.
Adeshola Ore 2.52pm: NSW readies for virus surge
NSW Health authorities are planning to open special coronavirus clinics in preparation for a surge in the number of cases.
Other plans that could be triggered could include making police responsible for guarding medical stockpiles and transport bodies working to control infection rates, The Daily Telegraph reports.
There could also be a closing of state borders and temporary closure of schools.
A NSW Health Spokesman said all health facilities across the state were preparing for an increase of respiratory illnesses in autumn and winter.
Will Glasgow 2.40pm: Xi travels to Wuhan
China’s President Xi Jinping has arrived in Wuhan – the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak – just over three months after he first gave orders on the health crisis in early January.
China’s state controlled CCTV has reported that Xi, who is also the General Secretary of China’s Communist Party, arrived in Hubei’s capital on Tuesday morning.
A report in the Hong Kong media over the weekend said that Xi’s trip to Hubei would include visits to coronavirus hospitals, including the two Leishenshan and Huoshenshan “flat pack” hospitals whose hasty construction has featured prominently in China’s propaganda campaign about the central government’s response to the crisis.
Ming Pao daily, a Hong Kong paper with close links to the Chinese Communist Party, reported that “candidates” who will meet Xi during home visits during the trip have been carefully vetted by local officials to ensure Xi’s absolute safety and the zero-risk of infection.
Local authorities today report 17 new cases of coronavirus in Wuhan, marking the fifth consecutive day of zero increase of new confirmed cases in Hubei, excluding Wuhan.
Videos from Chinese media also show that Wuhan’s Huanan seafood wholesale market, which is widely believed to be the source of the deadly virus, had undergone a final clean up in the days leading to Xi’s visit. Workers have rushing to seal and process the last “frozen” stock left since the urgent closure of the market over two months ago.
With Heidi Han
Damon Johnston 2.33pm: How to get a COVID-19 test – fast
One of Melbourne’s leading private emergency hospitals, The Epworth, is conducting coronavirus tests for $350 and telling suspected victims they will have the results within 48 hours.
The fast-track coronavirus diagnostic service is being offered as Victorians suffering symptoms are directed by GPs to call public emergency lines, which are being swamped by demand.
Those Victorians, who eventually get through to an expert on the lines, are then being subjected to a cursory questioning which has, in some cases, and resulted in advice to simply self-isolate.
Damon Johnston 2.15pm: Melbourne school closes
Carey Grammar has cancelled classes for the remainder of the week.
The Kew private school, which suspended classes for Tuesday after a teacher tested positive to the coronavirus, told staff in a memo sent in the past hour that the school would remain closed for this week. More than 2000 students attend the school.
In the email to staff, principal Jonathan Walter said the school would remain closed as “we conduct a thorough review of possible exposure to our community members”.
Paul Garvey 1.59pm: ‘Only the Chinese have been successful’
The extraordinary lockdown of Italy could be an indication of what is to come in Australia, the president of the Australian Medical Association’s WA branch has warned.
Andrew Miller said that only China had been successful in containing the virus to date, and had taken drastic steps to do so.
“Only the Chinese have been successful and they had to send 50 million people home,” Dr Miller told Perth radio station 6PR.
“We don’t want people to panic … but my sense is we’re about four or five weeks behind where we need to be in preparation in order to make this thing as minimal as we can.”
He said the latest decision by Italian authorities showed that containing the virus was a lot harder than first thought.
“Everyone’s got wishful thinking going on here that this thing might just fade out,” he said.
“We saw the experiment with the Diamond Princess of locking everyone up, that didn’t work. Italy tried to let the population move pretty freely and keep commerce going which you can understand, this is a bloody disaster for people if their businesses are affected by it. But what’s happened in Italy, it turned into a bigger problem because they didn’t manage to contain it.”
He said state and federal governments in Australia needed to work faster is tackling the problem, and said the three COVID Clinics opened in Perth today were nowhere near enough to cope with expected demands for testing.
“One thing we can do is get all doctors working remotely so people don’t have to go to health care centres and have mobile pathology happening straight away, almost like an army response,” he said.
Richard Ferguson 1.54pm: Labor offer policy solutions
Labor is calling on Scott Morrison to boost at-home tests for potential coronavirus patients and a “one-stop-shop” coronavirus app to help people get the latest information on the disease.
Opposition health spokesman Chris Bowen offered several policy solutions to the health crisis on Tuesday after weeks of being in lock-step with the government on the response.
Mr Bowen said a coronavirus app should be modelled on the one used recently by fire emergency services.
“It’s become increasingly clear to me that there is a significant degree of confusion in the community and a lack of information to general practitioners and healthcare professionals more generally,” he said in Sydney.
“(We need a) virtual one stop shop that anybody can log onto their telephone get the latest advice from the Chief Medical Officer, the latest advice as to what they should do if they fear they might have COVID-19, advice as to how to handle self isolation and quarantine et cetera.”
Mr Bowen also called for a boost to telehealth services and at-home tests so patients do not infect more people outside their homes including medical professionals.
“The most important and the most urgent (thing to do) is in my view to provide the telehealth rebate so that GPs and doctors can provide medical advice over the telephone, over video conferencing to people who fear they may be suffering from Corona,” he said.
“We sometimes argue and criticise the government about government-funded advertising, taxpayer-funded advertising. This is an appropriate case for a full and complete and comprehensive factual non-political advertising and public information campaign.
“Another suggestion that we would like to put on the table is for the federal government to facilitate home testing, ie a healthcare professional perhaps a nurse going into people’s homes who feel they might be exposed and conducting the test in the home to save the person going to the surgery.”
Adeshola Ore 1.48pm: Patients moved amid COVID-19 influx
Some cardiac patients at Sydney’s Westmead Hospital will be moved into the private system to ease the pressure on public hospitals.
Western Sydney Local Health district chief executive Graeme Loy said while surgeries had not been cancelled, some had been moved to the Westmead Private Hospital.
“Westmead Hospital has plans underway to manage expected increased patient demand in response to COVID-19,” Mr Loy said.
“We have engaged the Westmead Private Hospital to perform some cases of planned cardiac surgery to ensure we have intensive care capacity for any COVID-19 patients.”
He said two patients had received surgery at a private hospital on Monday and a further eight would be seen at a private facility in the coming days.
Remy Varga 1.30pm: Hotlines struggle with ‘extraordinary call volumes’
Victoria’s coronavirus hotline is buckling under “extraordinary call volumes” with the numbers dedicated to COVID-19 experiencing system issues.
Ambulance Victoria are working to increase the capacity of the Victorian Coronavirus Hotline 1800 675 398 as well as the Nurse-On-Call Hotline 1300 60 60 24, including increasing the number of staff working the phones.
A spokesperson thanked the public for their patience and said information on the coronavirus was available on the website www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/coronavirus.
“The dedicated Victorian Coronavirus Hotline 1800 675 398 and Nurse-On-Call Hotline 1300 60 60 24 are currently experiencing system issues due to extraordinary call volumes,” the statement said.
“We thank the community for their patience as we work to increase the capacity of the hotlines – including putting on additional staff.”
Melburnians are advised to call their GP before presenting themselves at clinics if they suspect they have contracted the highly contagious virus.
The total number of confirmed cases in the state has risen to 16 after a teacher at the elite Carey Baptist Grammar School in the east Melbourne suburb of Kew returned a positive result on Monday night.
Damon Johnston 12.06pm: Second Carey Grammar teacher tested
The Australian understands a second teacher at Carey Grammar has been tested for coronavirus after exhibiting symptoms.
A number of students have also been tested, and are awaiting results.
Adeshola Ore 10.50am: Passengers sue cruise company
A Florida couple on-board the coronavirus-struck Grand Princes are suing the cruise ship owner for what they claim was an inadequate screening process.
The couple are suing for more than $1 million and say the company, Carnival Corp, caused them emotional distress and trauma as they fear they will develop the virus.
Testing last week on the ship found that 21 people were infected with coronavirus. The ship was also linked to 12 coronavirus cases from a previous trip to Mexico.
Kieran Gair 10.30am: 4,000 demand school closures
More than 4000 people have signed an online petition demanding the NSW government close all schools across the state.
The change.org petition, titled “keep our children safe and close the schools”, was started by a “concerned parent” after a 16-year-old boy at Epping Boys High was diagnosed with the virus last Thursday.
Two schools in Sydney remain closed today after the NSW government confirmed two Year 10 students at St Patrick’s Marist College in Dundas returned positive results, as did a Year 7 student at Willoughby Girls High School.
NSW Health, however, has recommended schools not be shut unless there are confirmed COVID-19 exposure risks.
The dilemma over whether to close schools comes as COVID-19 cases top 100 across Australia, including a senior teacher at the prestigious Carey Baptist Grammar School in Melbourne.
The outbreak has had an unprecedented impact on schools worldwide, with the education of over 290 million students affected in 13 countries, according to the United Nations.
Adeshola Ore 10.05am: WA bars schoolkids from US
Western Australia has extended its travel ban for international school excursions to the United States and Canada. All public, private and Catholic schools will be banned from travelling to those countries.
The state’s Education Minister Sue Ellery said she was following the advice from the Chief Health Officer.
“We have a duty of care to school students and staff, with the aim of reducing the possibility of exposure to the coronavirus while overseas.”
10.00am: Virus ‘blindsided the world’
Donald Trump on Monday praised his administration’s efforts at dealing with the novel coronavirus but said that the disease had “blindsided the world.” The US “has a great economy, but this blindsided the world and I think we’ve handled it very well,” he told reporters.
Mr Trump said Tuesday he would unveil “dramatic” measures to soften the economic impact of the novel coronavirus.
“I will be here tomorrow afternoon to let you know about some of the economic steps we’re taking, which will be major,” he said.
Mr Trump refused to say whether he had been tested for coronavirus, although Vice-President Mike Pence admitted not taking the test.
Pence tells reporters he has not been tested for the coronavirus.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 9, 2020
He says he doesn’t know if President Trump has been tested, but will get an “answer from the White House physician very quickly†https://t.co/mwpcexQZkh pic.twitter.com/uJ1FhSOPck
AFP
9.50am: Trump announces stimulus plan
Donald Trump has said his administration will ask Congress to pass payroll tax relief, as he looks to calm financial markets’ fears over the impact of the coronavirus epidemic.
Mr Trump told reporters that the administration was seeking “very substantial relief.” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Larry Kudlow, the director of the national economic council, were expected to make the request of Senate Republicans on Tuesday afternoon.
#BREAKING Trump announces press conference Tuesday on economic 'dramatic' relief measures pic.twitter.com/2YSzKPmlWk
— AFP news agency (@AFP) March 9, 2020
Adeshola Ore 9.45am: Aussies warned over cruises
The federal government’s Smart Traveller website is warning Australians to reconsider overseas cruise travel.
“Australians, particularly those with underlying health concerns should reconsider taking an overseas cruise at this time due to COVID-19,” the statement on its website reads. The federal government says Australians should not rely on repatriated from cruise ships affected by the virus.
The advice is in line with the US State Department’s warning that US citizens with underlying health conditions should not travel on cruise ships.
Robyn Ironside 9.40am: Joyce forgoes salary
With travel demand evaporating throughout its network due to the coronavirus crisis, Qantas has responded by slashing almost a quarter of its international capacity through to mid-September and grounding most of its A380 fleet.
CEO Alan Joyce will take no salary for the next three months and chairman Richard Goyder will take no fees, and salaries of the group executive management team will by slashed by 30 per cent.
Read the full story here.
Adeshola Ore 9.30am: UK death toll at 5
The Uk’s death toll from coronavirus has risen to 5. The country’s health secretary said in a statement there had been 319 cases in the UK. The British government has announced an extra £46 million to find a vaccine.
In the meantime, anyone with minor coughs or colds will be told toe stayat home for a week.
Kieran Gair 9.25am: ‘Get some perspective’
Scott Morrison has urged Australians to “get some perspective” and remain “level-headed” after panic selling rocked global markets overnight amid the accelerating threat of COVID-19.
“It has nowhere near the mortality rates that we’ve seen from SARS and MERS,” he said.
“It’s still a very serious virus but it is moving more towards a very bad flu than it is to a dead type of virus,” he said.
Mr Morrison, however, conceded the virus had the “potential” to derail the government’s budget surplus ambitions and was likely to be a “greater” economic threat than the global financial crisis.
“Markets are attempting to re-price risk and what we are seeing at the moment is a slot of uncertainty regarding the future path and trajectory of this virus.”
Richard Ferguson 9.20am: Recession speculation ‘unhelpful’
Scott Morrison has refused to comment on the possibility of a recession due to coronavirus, after the ASX and Wall Street’s worst day of trading since the 2008 global financial crisis.
“I don’t find speculation on those things terribly helpful,” he told the AFR business summit in Sydney.
“What I find helpful is what we do and what we announce and explaining why we’re doing it and how we’re doing it and ensuring that we’re delivering on the things we say we’re going to do.
“What I’m pleased about is we’re going into this crisis with a balanced Budget and not $387 billion worth of higher taxes. I don’t think that would have put Australia at all in a good position to deal with this.”
When the Prime Minister last addressed the AFR Business Summit last year – he raised the spectre of recession when discussing his then-election opponent Bill Shorten.
I was one of those who entered the economy under Labor in the 1990s that went into recession,” Mr Morrison said on March 5 last year.
“I am one of those who does know what it’s like to live in an economy that is in recession and I did so as a young person coming out of university and others of my generation who knew what that was like.
“We can’t go back to that. We must go forward and we have the plan to take Australia there.”
Elias Visontay 9.10am: Seven principles of stimulus
Scott Morrison has vowed his government’s stimulus package responding to the coronavirus will “prevent the need for future governments to spend the better part of a decade restoring the fiscal position”.
The Prime Minister also said his measures would not be a waste of taxpayers’ money, and said the stimulus response would be curated taking state governments’ policies and situations into consideration.
He outlined seven principles guiding the stimulus package:
“First of those is that measures must be proportionate to the degree of economic shock and the impact on the economy.
“Secondly, they need to be timely and scalable, so they can be adjusted appropriately as the health and economic effects evolve.
“Third, the response needs to be targeted to address the specific issues we are confronting, supporting those most affected, and delivered where it will be most effective. We must not waste taxpayers’ resources.
Fourth, the response needs to be aligned with the many other arms of policy and activity, in particular monetary policy, and with the responses of other governments, particularly at a state and territory level.
“Fifth, we must use existing delivery mechanisms wherever possible. That’s where it goes pear-shaped, if you get that design wrong, as we learned from the last stimulus. We saw those mistakes of trying to rush a range of new programs in response to the GFC.
“Sixth, the measures must be temporary and accompanied by a fiscal exit strategy. We cannot bake into the bottom line this response for years to come, holding the budget under water.
“Finally we must favour measures that will lift productivity to enable the Australian economy to sustain an even stronger growth trajectory than we were on prior to the crisis.
“We will prevent the need for future governments to spend the better part of a decade restoring the fiscal position, and even longer paying back the debt.”
Elias Visontay 9.00am: ‘Biological, not financial contagion’
Scott Morrison has warned the government’s planned stimulus will be different to the one rolled out in response to the GFC because the coronavirus is “a biological contagion, not a financial one”.
The Prime Minister also said Australia’s response must primarily be a health response, ahead of a stimulus package announcement expected within days.
“It’s about a biological contagion, not a financial one. In our response, we must be careful to solve this problem, the one we’re facing now, not the last one,” Mr Morrison said.
“We need our response here in Australia. We also need to learn from the mistakes made from the global financial crisis, especially when it comes to ensuring that we have a clear fiscal exit strategy.
“The range of possible economic outcomes will depend on the spread, severity and duration of this health crisis, and its interaction with the demand side and the supply side effects.
“Now, that means, to fix our problem, our health response must be the primary response.
From a health perspective, our focus is to slow the spread of the virus and to resource and manage scaled-up demand on our health system. I’ll have more to say about that this week.”
Elias Visontay 8.55am: ‘COVID worse than GFC’
Scott Morrison has warned business leaders the impact of the coronavirus on Australia could be greater than the GFC because of our reliance on and proximity to China.
“COVID-19 is a global health crisis, but it also has very real and very significant economic impacts, potentially greater than the global financial crisis, especially for Australia,” the Prime Minister told a business forum in Sydney on Tuesday morning.
“The epicentre of this crisis as opposed to that one is much closer to home.
“The GFC impacts were centred on the North Atlantic, and back then China was in a position to cushion the blow for Australia.
“The initial outbreak of COVID-19 in China saw consumers stay away from shops, and many workers stay away from work, and that continues.”
Natasha Robinson 8.50am: Eight new cases in NSW
Eight new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in NSW overnight, bringing the state total to 55 and the national total of cases to 101.
The cases include a woman in her 20s who is a known contact of a previously confirmed case at Ryde Hospital, a woman in her 40s who recently returned from South Korea, and a male in his 20s, a Victorian resident who recently returned from Hong Kong, a woman in her 80s from the Dorothy Henderson Lodge aged care facility who had previously been transferred to the Ryde Hospital, and a woman in her 40s who is related to a deceased resident from the Dorothy Henderson Lodge.
NSW Health is so far unsure of the method of transmission of the three other cases, and are tracing the close contacts of the individuals to identify the source of their infection.
Health authorities are also contacting close contacts of three students that were diagnosed with COVID-19 on Monday. Two of the students go to school at St Patrick’s Marist College in Dundas in Sydney’s west and the other student attends Willoughby Girls High School on the north shore. Both schools are closed until Wednesday.
Elias Visontay 8.17am: Worker protections on agenda
On the same day Scott Morrison urges big business to take on some heavy lifting in an act of “patriotism” for a coronavirus-effected economy, union leaders and employers will meet with government to discuss protections for workers forced into quarantine.
Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter has previously urged employer groups and unions not to use coronavirus to push their own workplace reform agendas at Tuesday’s meeting.
Casual and gig-economy workers without sick leave who are forced into self-isolation are a main focus already floated by employee groups amid concerns they might opt to return to work before it is safe to do so.
On Monday, Josh Frydenberg acknowledged the concerns and said the issue would be raised at Tuesday’s meeting.
“I’m very conscious that Australians in employment, be it casual or permanent, will be concerned about their job security,” the Treasurer said.
“Our focus is on getting a cooperative workplace. Our focus is on ensuring that businesses are flexible given the stresses and the strains that we will see as a result of the spread of the coronavirus.”
Anne Barrowclough 8.15am: Virus can travel twice ‘safe’ distance
COVID-19 can travel up to 4.5 metres – more than twice the ‘safe’ distance advised by authorities, and can remain in the air for up to 30 minutes, Chinese epidemiologists have found.
The researchers also found the virus can last for days on surfaces where droplets land, increasing the risk of transmission, reports the South China Morning Post. The length of time it lasts on the surface depends on factors such as temperature and the type of surface; at 37C it can survive for two to three days on glass, fabric, metal, plastic or paper.
The findings, based on a cluster case on a bus in Hunan province, challenge official advice that people should remain at a ‘safe’ distance of one to two metres.
“It can be confirmed that in a closed environment with airconditioning, the transmission distance of the new coronavirus will exceed the commonly recognised safe distance,” the researchers wrote in a paper published in peer-review journal Practical Preventive Medicine
Anne Barrowclough 7.50am: Italy in lockdown
The whole of Italy has been placed in lockdown as Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte extended travel restrictions originally imposed in the north to the entire country.
All public gatherings including football matches have been cancelled.
Mr Conte said Monday night local time (Tuesday morning AEDT) that a new government decree will require all people in Italy to demonstrate a need to work, health conditions or other limited reasons to travel outside the areas where they live.
“There won’t be just a red zone,” Mr Conte told reporters referring to a lockdown of 15 million people in northern Italy instituted over the weekend.
“There will be Italy” as a protected area, he said.
As of Monday, at least 463 Italians had dead from coronavirus related deaths, with 9,000 confirmed cases.
Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has announced that the whole of the country is being put on lockdown in an attempt to contain the #coronavirus outbreak.
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 9, 2020
For the latest on #COVID19, click here: https://t.co/BnjqqFZLOz pic.twitter.com/hFF2zYmuMB
Damon Johnston 7.30am: Elite Melbourne school closes
A teacher at Melbourne’s Carey Grammar Has tested positive for the Coronavirus in the first person to person transmission in Victoria.
School principal Jonathan Walter said the school was preparing to map the spread within the school.
“We had confirmation yesterday afternoon a staff member who had come in contact with an individual who had coronavirus,” he said.
“Overnight, we have had a positive test come back on that staff member.
“We are going through the process of mapping the spread of the potential spread of the virus within the school.”
The major development at the private school – which has suspended classes for Tuesday – is likely to result in a longer shutdown.
More than 2000 students attend the school, which is based in Kew and Donvale.
Carey Grammar is the fourth school to shut down because of the widening coronavirus crisis; the other three are in NSW.
AAP
Will Glasgow 7.25am: How deadly is COVID-19?
The coronavirus is killing people in different countries at strikingly different rates — even in the developed world. It’s a development the Morrison government will no doubt be keeping an eye on.
Take South Korea and Italy, the two countries with the most cases of the new coronavirus outside of China, each with more than 7300, according to figures compiled by a team of experts at Johns Hopkins University.
In South Korea, the death rate is less than 0.7 per cent. In Italy, it is almost 5 per cent. That’s quite a spread for a life-and-death issue.
Read the full story here.
Courtney Walsh 7.20am: Fremantle Docker sent for test
A Fremantle footballer has undergone testing for coronavirus after falling ill following a visit from a friend who has recently returned from China.
The Dockers released a statement on Monday saying results from the test would be available in 48 hours, with the player now in isolation.
The AFL is planning to discuss the coronavirus outbreak at a meeting with club officials ahead of the official season launch on Tuesday night in Melbourne.
Read the full story here.
Nick Cater 7.15am: China’s deadly lies
Like Harland and Wolff, the builders of the Titanic, the Chinese government has adopted the line “It was fine when it left us”.
The Belfast shipbuilders stuck to that claim until the liquidators closed their shipyard 107 years later. Similarly, we can be sure the Chinese Communist Party will deny any responsibility for the coronavirus outbreak until its dying day, since autocratic elites are incapable of acknowledging mistakes, let alone learning from them.
Read the full article here.
Natasha Robinson 7.10am: School closures ‘new normal'
School shutdowns are likely to become “the new normal”, the NSW Health Minister says, as authorities trace the close contacts of three students who tested positive to the coronavirus.
Willoughby Girls High School on Sydney’s north shore and St Patrick’s Marist College in the west of the city were closed immediately on Monday after students tested positive.
Read the full story here.
Lachlan Moffet Gray 7.05am: Health system fails urgency test
I was tested for the coronavirus on Monday. If the majority of attempts for a result are like mine, then as a nation we’re not prepared.
To read the full story, click here.
Elias Visontay 7.00am: Cash may be ‘super spreader’
Public health experts are raising the need to shift towards cashless payments to help prevent the spread of coronavirus, as the World Health Organisation warns the virus can be transmitted to customers via banknotes and coins.
The calls come as South Korea and China begin burning and disinfecting currency en masse, with world-famous tourist attractions, including the Louvre in Paris, announcing they will no longer accept cash payments.
Read the story in full here.
Paul Vigna 6.55am: Wall St hits brakes
US stocks careened on Monday, pushing major indexes closer to bear-market territory as a price war for oil and the fallout from the coronavirus frightened investors, who sought shelter in government bonds and propelled yields to unprecedented lows.
Read the story in full here.
6.50am: Virus cruise ship docks
A cruise ship with a cluster of coronavirus cases that was forced to idle off the California coast for days has arrived at a port in the San Francisco Bay Area as officials prepared to start bringing passengers to military bases for quarantine or get them back to their home countries.\
The Grand Princess pulled into the Port of Oakland with more than 3,500 people aboard, 21 of whom are infected with the virus.
US passengers will be flown or bussed from the port – chosen because of its proximity to an airport and a military base – to bases in California, Texas and Georgia for testing and a 14-day quarantine. The ship is carrying people from 54 countries, and foreigners will be flown home.
About 1,100 crew members, 19 of whom have tested positive for COVID-19, will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship, which will dock elsewhere, California Governor Gavin Newsom said.
The ship had been held off the coast since Wednesday amid evidence it was the breeding ground for infections tied to a previous voyage.
AP
6.45am: Ireland cancels St Patrick’s Day parades
Ireland has cancelled all St. Patrick’s Day parades across the country in an attempt to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.
Prime Minister Leo Varadkar announced the cancellation and said “further advice about mass public gatherings will be issued in the next few days.” The annual March 17 parade in Dublin is one of Ireland’s biggest tourist events, and typically draws half a million people onto the city’s streets. Tens of thousands more flock to parades in Ireland’s second-largest city, Cork, and smaller communities.
Ireland has 21 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
AP
Anne Barrowclough 6.30am: Threat of pandemic ‘very real’
The World Health Organisation has warned the threat of a coronavirus pandemic has become “very real.” In a statement on Monday, As global reported cases reached over 100,000 in 100 countries, WHO admitted: “It’s certainly troubling that so many people and countries have been affected, so quickly. Now that the virus has a foothold in so many countries, the threat of a pandemic has become very real.”
The organisation said it was crucial for early action to be taken at all levels from governments down to individuals to control the spread of infections.
With AAP, AP
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