Coronavirus Australia live news: All over 40s to be eligible for vaccine: PM; Army leader to head new jab taskforce
Multicultural communities call for governments to bolster their information campaigns amid ‘confusion’ on vaccines as more become eligible.
- Employers say Melbourne lockdown can end
- Army chief to head new vaccine push
- PM ‘leaning heavily’ towards mandatory jabs for aged care workers
- Delta variant found in family cases
- Green light for quarantine facility
- Four new cases in Victoria
- Authorities still concerned by ‘stranger-to-stranger’ cases
Welcome to live coverage of the latest developments in Australia’s battle with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Victorian employers believe the Melbourne lockdown can end soon, but seven new exposure sites are named. Lieutenant General John ‘JJ’ Frewen will lead a new vaccine taskforce, as Scott Morrison says he is ‘leaning heavily’ towards making the vaccination of aged care workers mandatory. Genomic sequencing has revealed two cases within a family of four who travelled to NSW from Victoria have the Delta strain of the virus.
Nicholas Jensen10.45pm:Queen’s Bday clash sheduled for SCG
The NSW government has confirmed that the AFL Queen’s Birthday clash between Collingwood and Melbourne - traditionally held at the MCG - will now be played at the SCG.
Earlier on Friday, it was reported that both Adelaide Oval and the SCG were in contention to host the game, with AFL officials scrambling to rearrange the fixture after the announcement of Victoria’s extended lockdown.
The match will be played in “COVID-safe conditions” at the SCG on Monday 14 June, with the game’s Big Freeze Fundraiser for Motor Neurone Disease “to take a distinct Sydney style”.
Minister for Tourism Stuart Ayres said “Sydney would be a perfect backdrop for this important AFL fixture”.
“The NSW Government is excited to partner with the AFL to host the Queen’s Birthday clash at the SCG so the game can go on and Sydney can shine as part of this prominent football moment.”
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said the SCG will be an ideal venue for the marquee match.
“Queen’s Birthday Monday on the AFL fixture has quickly become one of the competition’s marquee matches, with big crowds and a big broadcast audience, and we are excited to be able to take the game to the SCG,” Mr McLachlan said.
Rachel Baxendale8.45pm:Breakdown cluster sparks hunt for source
Health authorities in multiple states are checking genomic sequencing data for all known Delta variant cases of coronavirus in Australia, as mystery surrounds the origins of a cluster of seven cases linked to a West Melbourne family who spent six days in NSW.
The revelation that the seven cases are unrelated to Melbourne’s other community-acquired cases came amid confusion over the Andrews government’s handling of two false positive cases revealed late on Thursday, which contributed to Wednesday’s decision to extend Melbourne’s lockdown.
Business groups and the state opposition called for the lockdown to end as soon as possible, as Victoria recorded four new cases, all of which were in quarantine and close contacts of existing cases.
Of 67 community-acquired cases diagnosed in Victoria since a man in his 30s caught the virus in an Adelaide quarantine hotel and returned to the outer northern Melbourne suburb of Wollert on May 4, 54 are linked to the main Whittlesea cluster across Melbourne’s northern suburbs and an associated workplace in Port Melbourne, while five are associated with a cluster linked to the Arcare aged-care facility in Maidstone in Melbourne’s west.
Read the full story here.
Rhiannon Down7.15pm:Ethnic groups call for vaccine info
Australia’s multicultural communities are calling on state and federal governments to bolster their information campaigns surrounding the Covid-19 jab, as concerns mount over the risk posed by dangerous vaccine conspiracy theories to people with limited English language skills.
Melbourne father of eight Ambrose Mareng, who founded the Sudd Foundation to support his South Sudanese community, said many people in his tight-knit community with limited English had struggled to access reliable information about the vaccine.
Mr Mareng, 52, said his organisation had been left to “bridge the gap” left by government information, translating Covid-19 information into Dinka to share on social media, and hitting the phones to reach those not online.
“There is a lot of negativity (surrounding the vaccine) in the media which confuses individuals and families,” he said.
Read the full story here.
Jacquelin Magnay6.45pm:The country with zero vaccine hesitancy
For many months now, millions of Britons have arrived at sports stadiums, pharmacies, halls and even the science Museum and Poets Corner in Westminster Abbey for coronavirus inoculations.
Patiently awaiting their turn, there is next-to-no hesitancy or any delay in accepting the jabs: surveys show across the UK just six per cent of people are reluctant to be vaccinated right now. Of that very small number, a few say they just want a bit more time to gain confidence in the vaccine process.
The broad, almost universal acceptance of getting the vaccine – not once, but twice – even in the midst of worries about extremely rare side effects – has been extraordinary.
More than nine in ten Britons want the vaccine, any vaccine. Unlike in Australia, there are no demands here for a particular brand, indeed most people here don’t know what variety they will get until they have exposed their arm for a jab from the doctors, nurses, vets, and even students and health administrators who have undergone special training. Only recently the government advised that under-40s will be offered an alternative to AstraZeneca.
I received AstraZeneca in a re-purposed medical centre; my partner got his, the Moderna shot, in the open air at a Wimbledon football stadium. A friend got a Pfizer inoculation at the science Museum while marvelling at the Wellcome Galleries exhibit detailing developments in vaccination, a year after the world first heard of this new virus.
Getting vaccinated is seen across Britain as the only way to minimise the risks of getting coronavirus, and then if you do contract it, of suffering less debilitating effects. It is perceived as the quickest route for the wearisome coronavirus countermeasures to stop. The more the vaccine has rolled out, the more popular it has become: the vaccine acceptance rate was just 78 per cent before Christmas, whereas now it is 94 per cent.
Read the full story here.
Kat Lay5.45pm:Delta victims ‘more likely’ to need hospital
An Indian COVID-19 variant known as Delta is dominant in the UK and appears twice as likely to lead to hospital admission as the Kent, or Alpha, strain identified in Britain about six months ago, the Health Department agency Public Health England has said.
Officials have urged people to “exercise caution” in the face of rising numbers.
Cases of the variant in Britain have increased by 5472 in the last week to 12,431 and it represented 73 per cent of all sequenced cases.
UK scientists believe the variant first seen in India now known as Delta has overtaken the Alpha variant, the BBC reports.
Dr Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, said: “With this variant now dominant across the UK, it remains vital that we continue to exercise caution, particularly while we learn more about transmission and health impacts.”
Government figures on Thursday showed 5274 new cases of COVID-19 in Britain, with the seven-day average up 39 per cent. There were 18 deaths within 28 days of a positive test, with the seven-day average down 5 per cent.
Read the full story here.
Rachel Baxendale4.30pm:Employers press for faster end to lockdown
The employers group, the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is calling for the state’s lockdown to end soon and the pandemic risk to be “managed’’, in light of confirmation late on Thursday that two previously diagnosed coronavirus cases were false positives.
VECCI chief executive Paul Guerra says “we need to quell the fear in the community. We can continue to manage the risk of COVID-19 through QR code compliance, vaccination, contact tracing and wearing a mask in public settings.’’
Mr Guerra says greater Melbourne should move to the same restrictions as regional Victoria, and snap back to the restrictions that were in place prior to lockdown if community transmission of COVID-19 remains low and any new cases are linked, “by mid-next week at the latest”.
“Locking down the entirety of metropolitan Victoria for linked cases in isolation is disproportionate. NSW manages some level of community transmission without locking down the entire state,” Mr Guerra says.
“We need to be able to do the same or we risk falling further behind and damaging our economy for decades to come. Businesses, livelihoods and jobs will continue to be lost,’’ Mr Guerra says.
“Let’s stay safe, have a proportionate response and get business back to work.”
Victoria has 64 active cases of coronavirus across two genetically distinct clusters, with more than 6000 primary close contacts identified.
Within the main cluster, linked to a man from Wollert in Melbourne’s outer north who caught the virus in an Adelaide quarantine hotel on May 3, there are two missing links, firstly between the Wollert man and the main Whittlesea cluster, and secondly between the Whittlesea cluster and a cluster associated with the Arcare aged care facility in Maidstone in Melbourne’s west.
Health authorities revealed on Friday that a third cluster of seven cases linked to a West Melbourne family is a different strain of the virus altogether, with questions remaining unanswered about where it has originated.
ALSO READ:Victoria's quarantine project on fast track
Rachel Baxendale3.45pm:Seven new exposure sites in Melbourne
Seven new coronavirus exposure sites in Melbourne’s southwest, CBD and inner north have been added to the Victoria Health Department’s list on Friday afternoon.
The sites span May 26 to 31 and include an Indian restaurant and Kmart in Point Cook, an optometrist and jeweller in the CBD, and a Coles supermarket and greengrocer at Barkly Square shopping centre in Brunswick, with the shopping centre itself also declared an exposure site.
The restaurant, Kmart and Jeweller are listed as Tier 1 sites, requiring anyone who was present during the listed times to get tested and isolate for 14 days, while the remainder of sites are Tier 2, requiring all visitors to get tested and isolate until they receive a negative test result.
Shops at Barkly Square were previously listed last week as having been exposure sites on May 22. The latest exposures at Barkly Square relate to May 27.
Friday’s four new cases in Victoria include two parents and a grade five child who have been linked through the child to the West Melbourne cluster. This cluster is now not believed to be related to Melbourne’s other current cases, because it involved the Indian Delta B.1.617.2 strain, and not the Kappa B.1.617.1 strain of the coronavirus.
The fourth new case, who has been quarantining during their infectious period, is a member of a Southbank couple whose partner already tested positive. This couple is indirectly linked to the Port Melbourne branch of the main Whittlesea cluster.
Victoria currently has 64 known active community-acquired coronavirus cases in total. There have been 67 known community-acquired cases in Victoria since a man in his 30s returned to his Wollert home on Melbourne’s northern outskirts on May 4, having contracted the virus in an Adelaide quarantine hotel the previous day.
These include those of the Wollert man, the cases associated with the Whittlesea northern suburbs cluster which emerged on May 24 and spread to Stratton Finance in Port Melbourne, and five cases linked to the Arcare aged-care facility in Maidstone in Melbourne’s West, all of which are genomically linked. They also include the seven genomically distinct West Melbourne cases. Three cases, including that of the Wollert man, are no longer active. Two previously reported cases have been deemed to be false positives.
STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN:
Across the 64 active cases, there are more than 6000 primary close contacts, 90 per cent of whom have returned negative test results.
Three cases are currently in hospital. These include a 99-year-old woman and an 89-year-old man who are Arcare residents.
Since the Whittlesea cluster emerged 11 days ago, 477,000 Victorians — or about 7 per cent of the state’s population — have been tested for coronavirus, with 87.7 per cent of test results returned within 24 hours.
Over the same period, 330,000 vaccination doses have been administered across Victoria, including 170,000 through state-run centres, and 160,000 through GP clinics.
More information is available on the Health Department’s website.
Nicholas Jensen3.29pm:Repatriation flight from India touches down
More than 145 passengers have just landed at Adelaide Airport after being repatriated from India on a commonwealth-chartered flight.
Prior to departure, all passengers were instructed to isolate and undertake a COVID-19 test. The chartered flight flew from New Delhi, touching down in Darwin and terminating in Adelaide.
After the passengers are processed, they will receive another test and be escorted to the Pullman Hotel in Adelaide’s CBD, where they will complete their 14 days of quarantine.
Any positive cases from this fight will be transferred to the Tom’s Court Hotel, a medi-hotel that hosts people who test positive for the virus.
One person tested positive before departing India and was unable to board.
READ MORE:‘Oh, come on’: Wong snaps back
Rachel Baxendale2.39pm:Timeline: what we know about west Melbourne outbreak
Joseph Lam1.58pm:Covid payments ‘under minimum wage’
The founder of Australia’s most widely-used shift scheduling apps says the federal government’s temporary COVID payment is simply not enough.
Ashik Ahmed said analysis from Deputy, which services 250,000 workplaces from head offices in San Francisco, Atlanta and London, revealed the payment would on average be $5 less than minimum wage.
“Following a grim seven days of lockdown in Victoria, the emergency payout of up to $500 for workers is not a good enough response from the federal government, especially as it won’t be given to workers for the past week of lockdown,” Mr Ahmed said.
“Data collected through the Deputy app shows that shift workers work an average of 34hrs a week, meaning the $500 payout is equivalent to just $15 an hour. This is almost $5 below minimum wage, meaning many people will struggle to make ends meet.”
Mr Ahmed urged the federal government to provide further support for vulnerable workers.
“We strongly feel more should be done at the federal level to support shift workers, who are the backbone of our community and economy and who are the innocent bystanders of this lockdown situation.”
READ MORE:Wage theft laws need ‘urgent revisit’, Deputy CEO says
Richard Ferguson1.37pm:All Indigenous Australians, NDIS users eligible for jab
All Indigenous Australians over the age of 16 and people who use the National Disability Insurance Scheme are now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.
Scott Morrison announced on Friday that all Australians aged 40 to 49 will be eligible for a jab from June 15.
Department of Health secretary Brendan Murphy added that all Aboriginal Australians and both users of the NDIS and their carers will be allowed a jab.
“They are simplifications. We’ll look at what happens over coming weeks with the over-40s uptake. In future, we will make further changes endorsed by national cabinet,” Professor Murphy said.
READ MORE: New strain possibly originated in NSW
Richard Ferguson1.30pm:Four Corners’ Qanon report ‘poor form’: PM
Scott Morrison says he is deeply offended that the ABC’s Four Corners would attempt to link him and his family to Qanon conspiracy theorists.
The Four Corners story by reporter Louise Milligan was slated to air next Monday. But ABC managing editor David Andersonrefused to approve the program after it was “upwardly referred” to him by news director Gaven Morris, according to a report in Nine newspapers on Thursday.
The episode was due to investigate links between Mr Morrison and a man who promotes the Qanon conspiracy theory – which claims the world is controlled by a cabal of paedophiles connected to Hollywood and the US Democratic Party.
Mr Morrison said the mooted Four Corners project was “poor form”.
“I find it deeply offensive that there would be any suggestion that I would have any involvement or support for such a dangerous organisation. I clearly do not,” Mr Morrison said.
“It is also disappointing that Four Corners would seek to cast this aspersion, not just against me but by members of my own family. I just think that is really poor form.”
READ MORE:ABC boss blocks Four Corners episode
Richard Ferguson1.14pm:Mandatory reporting of vaccines for aged care workers
Aged care workers will have to legally report where they got a COVID-19 vaccination jab from June 15.
As the national cabinet deliberates whether to make jabs themselves compulsory for anyone working in aged-care homes, Health Minister Greg Hunt said the mandatory reporting will keep to provide a clearer picture.
“I have taken the decision which has been done in consultation with the aged care sector to make mandatory from 15th June the reporting of all aged care worker vaccination,” Mr Hunt said.
“We have asked all facilities to step forward and it will be mandatory for them where an aged care worker has been vaccinated outside the facility to provide the information so we have full accounting of every facility and every aged care worker.”
Richard Ferguson1.06pm:All over-40s eligible for vaccine from next week
All Australians over the age of 40 will be eligible for Pfizer vaccinations against Covid-19 from next week, Scott Morrison has announced.
Victorians aged 40 to 49 are already eligible for the jab, but the national cabinet has agreed to expand the eligibility nationwide.
Mr Morrison said there has been a large push in the past week to open up vaccinations and this will be assisted by greater supplies of Pfizer arriving in coming weeks.
“A record number of doses delivered in the previous 24 hours,” Mr Morrison said.
“We are now over a million doses in 10 days. Over three quarters of a million doses in the space of three weeks and that is a significant improvement.”
READ MORE: How it ends for the anti-vaxxers
Richard Ferguson1.01pm:Head of new vaccination task force appointed
The army’s Lieutenant General John “JJ” Frewen has been appointed the head of a new COVID-19 vaccination task force.
Lieutenant General Frewen is already the commander of the Australian Defence Force COVID-19 task force.
Scott Morrison said Lieutenant General Frewen would direct all vaccination work within the federal government, expanding his current role leading Defence Force assistance to the COVID-19 effort.
“This change gives us the opportunity to step up another gear,” Mr Morrison said on Friday.
The Prime Minister also announced Caroline Edwards, deputy secretary of the Department of Health, would retire in the coming weeks.
Ms Edwards was acting Health Secretary at the beginning of the pandemic last year and is highly regarded within government for her leadership fighting COVID-19.
READ MORE:Urgent evacuation after toddler case
Richard Ferguson12.55pm:PM ‘leaning heavily’ towards mandatory jabs for aged care workers
Scott Morrison says he is “leaning heavily” towards making the vaccination of aged care workers mandatory and pushing the states and territories to make the necessary orders.
After a meeting of national cabinet on Friday, the Prime Minister said the vaccination of aged care workers against COVID-19 is a key priority for all.
Mr Morrison in Canberra said states will need to make health orders to see aged care workers mandatorily vaccinated, and made his view on the matter clear. He said this was the “in-principle” disposition of the national cabinet.
“Make no mistake, we are leaning heavily into this as a government and myself as Prime Minister to see a move towards mandatory vaccination for aged care workers,” he said.
“We have had further advice from the AHPPC to advise how this can be done including
a timeline how that can be achieved and will be waiting for such advice.
“The vaccinations to be made mandatory, for aged care workers, that has to be done by public health orders as it’s done for flu vaccinations and followed by states and territories.
“Ultimately, that is finally a determination of the states and territories.”
READ MORE: Our children are suffering the most
Richard Ferguson12.49pm:Morrison confirms Victoria quarantine deal
Scott Morrison has confirmed a new quarantine facility will be built in Victoria after a meeting of the national cabinet.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ government will run the new centre for international arrivals and the Morrison government will develop it.
“The commonwealth government will meet the capital costs of that … the Victorian government will make the operational costs,” Mr Morrison said in Canberra.
“This will both assist them, and the risk management of the various groups that they are providing for in the quarantine system, and deliver additional capacity for the quarantine system in Victoria.”
While Mr Morrison has not yet gone into the details of the centre, The Australian reported on Friday that it will be a $200m, 500-bed facility near Avalon Airport.
READ MORE:PM’s deal for 500-bed quarantine
Tessa Akerman12.40pm:Driver fined for breaching regional travel ban
There might not be a “ring of steel” cutting metro Melbourne off from regional Victoria, but one driver has already been found in breach of the health directions since they came in force at midnight.
The fine for breaching the chief health officer’s directions and travelling into regional Victoria without a valid reason is $1652.
Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Rick Nugent said about 400 cars had been checked between midnight and 11am and only one was non-compliant with the CHO’s orders.
The 27-year-old from Little River, in metro Melbourne, was visiting friends in Geelong and was also detected with a blood alcohol level of 0.266.
Deputy Commissioner Nugent urged Victorians to “please don’t bother” trying to travel in breach of the directions and putting others at risk.
“It is only a few who make it difficult for the many,” he said.
Deputy Commissioner Nugent said 450 police would be patrolling the major arterial roads as well as backroads using licence plate recognition technology rather than stopping every vehicle, which happened last year at major checkpoints as part of the “ring of steel”.
He said officers would also monitor public transport.
Deputy Commissioner Nugent said the use of police in this lockdown was less resource intensive than the “ring of steel” and would also result in fewer traffic delays.
READ MORE: Editorial — Morrison squandering Covid voter dividend
Joseph Lam12.35pm:Coalition missed the boat on quarantine: Albanese
Anthony Albanese says the best time to build purpose-built quarantine facilities was last year.
“The best time to build stand-alone quarantine facilities that were fit for purpose was last year. The next best time is today,” Mr Albanese said.
He said the government had also failed aged-care residents and workers.
“The issue here is that people who are desperate to get vaccinated, haven’t been able to,” he said.
“Healthcare workers have not been able to access the vaccine just like so many aged-care residents haven’t been able to access the vaccine, disability-care residents haven’t been able to access the vaccine.”
Mr Albanese said the government had only provided support once people came “kicking and screaming” for help.
READ MORE: Brittany Higgins admitted to hospital
12.08pm:Delta, Kappa Covid variants explained
Joseph Lam11.40am:How health authorities are tracking down Delta source
Covid-19 Testing Commander Jeroen Weimar says Victorian authorities will spend the next few days tracing all leads from “diplomats, ships, any other cases”.
Mr Weimar on Friday said 70 per cent of the more than 300 primary contacts associated with the Delta strain had already returned a negative result and “that is the kind of number we expect to see”.
“It will take us a few days to work our way through and follow leads. The real priority for the next few days is testing,” he said.
Mr Weimar said investigations were already underway with other states.
“Conversations happening with colleagues in NSW, ACT and the commonwealth around whatever information they have around, particularly positive cases in their care,” he said.
“So we are looking at any records we have of positive cases in hotel quarantine. The vast majority do sequencing. Diplomats, ships, any other cases that may have come into our community.”
READ MORE:New strain spreads between kids
Simeon Thomas-Wilson11.34am:AFL to investigate Adelaide mask-wearing claims
Adelaide has asked the AFL to investigate claims that several players and staff were not fully complying with Covid-19 protocols on the Crows’ flight back from Sydney on Sunday.
The Crows played Richmond at Giants Stadium on Sunday, after Melbourne’s lockdown meant the game had to be shifted from the MCG.
Adelaide flew to Sydney on Saturday and arrived back in SA on Sunday following the tough loss.
But after a person contacted Triple M on Thursday and claimed several Crows players weren’t appropriately wearing masks on the flight from Sydney, the club asked the AFL for an investigation.
The female passenger said the stewards on the flight had told the Crows travelling party that they had to wear masks on the plane.
“And as soon as they were told they took them off, they totally disregarded everything,” she said.
“They were walking around the plane, I wasn’t the only one who was noticing it. There were people near me and behind saying ‘hang on why do they get to take their masks off?’
“It was complete disregard for everyone else on board.”
The AFL is aware of the matter and is currently looking into it.
NCA Newswire
READ MORE:Buckley speaks up about Magpies board turmoil
Joseph Lam11.25am:First time Delta variant transmitted locally
Brett Sutton says the two Delta Covid-19 cases declared on Friday are the first authorities have seen transmitted locally.
The chief health officer said the variant, which has been seen in hotel quarantine, had not previously been seen outside of overseas travellers.
“This variant has been known in hotel quarantine. It is becoming a common variant, including in Europe,” he said.
“We are seeing it in international travellers. In terms of closely genetically sequenced related cases, we don’t have anything across Australia that matches.
“There are some sequences that cannot be fully sequenced and therefore they are not available for matching.”
Asked how authorities would deal with the new cases and whether this development impacts the lockdown timeline, Professor Sutton said the health department would urgently try to track down the source.
“I think we review as we always have just what else emerges. We will shut down the downstream transmission as was referenced, all those people who had been exposed from this family, we need to understand where it has come from,” he said.
“That means there are unidentified upstream cases, whether they are in Victoria or elsewhere is to be determined.”
READ MORE:Fauci emails show Covid probe needed
Joseph Lam11.19am:‘Family could have contracted Delta strain in NSW’
Brett Sutton says there’s a possibility that two family members who have tested positive for the highly-infectious Delta Covid-19 staring from India could have contracted the virus in NSW.
The chief health officer on Friday, when asked if the family could have contracted the virus in NSW, said “it is not unexpected”.
“The average incubation time for SARS-CoV-22 is about six days. There will be some individuals who go through a much more rapid transmission cycle, there will be a longer one,” he said.
“Five or six days puts it in New South Wales, Jervis Bay territory, or indeed earlier.”
ALSO READ: NSW Health Minister says no evidence of state origin
Joseph Lam11.02am:Unlinked Delta variant cases detected in outbreak
Genomic sequencing has revealed that two cases within a family of four who travelled to NSW from Victoria have the Delta strain of the virus.
chief health officer Brett Sutton on Friday revealed that testing showed the two cases were not linked to any other case in Australia.
“That sequencing has identified a new variant that is unrelated to all of the other cases in our cluster thus far in Melbourne,” he said.
“That variant is the Delta variant, it is now infamous in India and increasingly in the United Kingdom. It is a variant of significant concern.
“The fact that it is a variant different to other cases means it is not related, in terms of transmission, with these cases. It has not been linked to any sequence cases across Australia from hotel quarantine or anywhere else that it is not linked in Victoria or any other jurisdiction.”
READ MORE:How everyday act spreads virus faster
Joseph Lam10.43am:Disagreement over vaccine rollout ‘depressing’: AIG
Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox says the fact that the governments have not been able to reach an agreement on the vaccine rollout was “depressing”.
“What we would like, what industry would like is some agreement between the commonwealth and the states,” he said.
“There needs to be some agreement so there’s certainty.”
Mr Willox described the situation as a bit of a “carrot and stick approach”, adding “we need more carrots”.
“The abuse, the words, the slugging match that went on on Sunday about who pays for what was totally unedifying,” he said.
READ MORE:No forced aged-care staff jab
Rachel Baxendale10.01am:Victorian health officials to speak at 10.45am
Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley and chief health officer Brett Sutton are due to address the media at 10:45am.
The press conference comes after Victoria’s health department confirmed late on Thursday that two “fleeting contact” cases of coronavirus which contributed to Wednesday’s decision to extend the state’s lockdown had in fact been false positives.
Acting Premier James Merlino refused to answer questions over the issue at a press conference held early on Friday morning ahead of a national cabinet meeting, deferring to the Health Minister and department.
READ MORE: Merlino defends hotel’s dirty linen dump
Joseph Lam9.40am:No new Queensland cases ahead of aged care jab blitz
No new cases of Covid-19 were recorded in Queensland overnight ahead of the state’s aged-care vaccine blitz set to over the weekend.
The state announced that 18 new vaccination centres would open over the weekend including hubs at the Logan entertainment centre, Rocklead showgrounds and Springfield tower.
Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath on Wednesday invited aged-care and disability workers to come forward to be vaccinated.
Friday 4 June – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) June 3, 2021
• 0 new cases
• 10 Active cases
• 1,629 Total cases
• 2,645,176* tests conducted
Sadly, seven people with COVID-19 have died. 1,597 patients have recovered.#covid19pic.twitter.com/OfaanRuhrK
“It means in three weeks’ time we can have our aged-care workforce fully vaccinated,” she said.
Queensland has maintained its hotspot declaration for Victoria, with anyone entering Queensland from Victoria required to follow the state’s public health orders.
READ MORE: $100m weekly bill to keep casuals afloat
Paige Taylor9.29am:Ben Wyatt joins Rio Tinto board
Ben Wyatt, who was Aboriginal affairs minister in Western Australia when Rio Tinto blew up the ancient caves at Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara, will join the miner’s board.
Rio Tinto has appointed Mr Wyatt as a non-executive director, three months since he left the McGowan government where he served as treasurer and Aboriginal affairs minister.
He will become the first Indigenous Australian on the Rio Tinto board.
The destruction of the Juukan caves was approved in a deal between Rio Tinto and traditional owners in 2013 under legislation that Mr Wyatt had condemned as outdated. He was in the process of replacing the laws with an Aboriginal heritage act that compelled miners to consult early and meaningfully with traditional owners when the caves were blasted.
In a statement published by Rio Tinto on Friday, Mr Wyatt said: “I have deep respect for the resources sector in Australia and have long been impressed with the professionalism and commitment demonstrated by Rio Tinto. I was deeply saddened and disappointed by the events at Juukan Gorge but I am convinced that Rio Tinto is committed to changing its approach to cultural heritage issues and restoring its reputation, particularly in Australia and Western Australia. I am looking forward to working with the board in building on the momentum for change generated by the new leadership team.”
Rio Tinto chairman Simon Thompson said: “I am delighted to welcome Ben to the Rio Tinto board. With family links to the Pilbara and an impressive track record in public life, Ben’s knowledge of public policy, finance, international trade and Indigenous affairs will significantly add to the depth of knowledge on the board at a time when we are seeking to strengthen relationships with key stakeholders in Australia and around the world.”
READ MORE:Wyatt joins Woodside board
Joseph Lam9.12am:Green light for Victoria’s quarantine facility
Victoria Acting Premier James Merlino has confirmed the federal and state governments have signed a memorandum that will see the construction of a purpose-built quarantine facility.
Mr Merlino confirmed the signing on Friday, adding that the facility’s location had not yet been decided.
“Very pleased that the commonwealth government has indicated their support for Victoria’s proposal for an alternative quarantine facility and to fund its construction,” he said.
Potential locations for the facility include Melbourne’s Avalon Airport or Mickleham, in the city’s north.
Avalon has emerged as the Morrison government’s preferred site over the existing quarantine facility for pets in Mickleham due to the comparatively shorter distance from an airport.
Earlier this morning, Australian Medical Association Dr Roderick McRae told Sunrise that all medical associations supported purpose-built quarantine facilities.
“All Australian medical associations have been calling for a purpose-built facility, we welcome it, but we understand it won’t be there next Wednesday,” he said.
“By all means, get on with it and support the construction industry and provide useful jobs.
“There will be another pandemic once this one is quelled, we need these facilities because we’ve seen the impact of using hotel quarantine which has not been built for the purpose of housing people with a highly infectious virus.”
READ MORE:Deal for 500-bed quarantine in Victoria
Rachel Baxendale9.02am:Victoria records four new cases
Victoria has recorded four new locally-acquired cases of coronavirus in the 24 hours to Friday.
The numbers were confirmed in a health department tweet issued minutes after Acting Premier James Merlino refused to confirm them, as the Andrews government faces pressure to end its lockdown early following the confirmation of two false positive cases late on Thursday.
One of the cases confirmed to the ABC on Wednesday morning that her case was a suspected false positive, while the other is understood to have known his case was suspected to be a false positive as early as Tuesday.
Mr Merlino told journalists on Friday morning that he had only learnt of the false positives “overnight” on Thursday, citing an expert panel review process and referring all questions about how it was possible that he wasn’t aware of doubt over the cases until late on Thursday to the health department press conference later this morning.
“Public health will go through the detail in terms of the timeline,” Mr Merlino said.
Reported yesterday: 4 new local cases and 2 new cases acquired overseas (currently in HQ).
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) June 3, 2021
- 24,169 vaccine doses were administered
- 49,439 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicDatapic.twitter.com/0n0GQYqFAz
The latest cases bring the total number of community-acquired cases in Victoria since the Whittlesea cluster emerged on May 24 to 65.
Covid-19 logistics commander Jeroen Weimar has told 3AW all four new cases are linked to previously known cases, with three of today’s new cases linked to a West Melbourne family of four who travelled to NSW while possibly infectious.
That family is yet to be directly linked to the wider outbreak, despite genomic sequencing showing all community acquired cases in Victoria at present originate from a Wollert man who caught the virus in an Adelaide quarantine hotel on May 3.
The link between the Wollert man and the rest of the cases is yet to be established, as is the link between the main outbreak and cases associated with an aged care facility in Maidstone, in Melbourne’s west, meaning there are effectively three missing links.
There were 49,439 tests processed in Victoria in the 24 hours to Thursday night, down from Wednesday’s record of 57,519.
Victorians set a new state-administered vaccination record on Thursday, with 24,169 jabs given, compared with Wednesday’s previous record of 23,921.
The total number of active cases in Victoria is now 72, including seven cases in overseas travellers in hotel quarantine, two of whom tested positive on Thursday.
READ MORE:Margin Call – Quarantine project on the fast-track
Joseph Lam8.50am:Merlino pushes for additional vaccine supply
Acting Premier James Merlino has called for the federal government to double the number of AstraZeneca vaccines supplied to Victorian GPs.
Mr Merlino on Friday announced he had been in discussions with federal and state health ministers about the request.
“Our health ministers Martin Foley in Victoria, Greg Hunt federally have been in discussions and I’m very pleased that the federal government has indicated that it will do all it can to meet the request of Victoria,” he said.
“We also want to see additional Pfizer allocations, starting from an additional 100,000 from mid-June and some confidence in supply for that six-week period.”
READ MORE:Our children are suffering the most
Rachel Baxendale8.06am:Merlino to speak shortly ahead of national cabinet
Acting Premier James Merlino is due to address the media at 8:30am, prior to national cabinet.
Rachel Baxendale8.05am:Authorities still concerned by ‘stranger-to-stranger’ cases
Victoria’s health department has issued an early morning press release seeking to justify the state’s lockdown extension with eight examples of stranger-to-stranger coronavirus transmission, after news broke on Thursday night that two cases which had contributed to the decision to extend the lockdown had turned out to be false positives.
The reclassified cases include those of a woman who visited a display home in Mickleham in Melbourne’s outer northwest, and a man who dined at the bayside Brighton Beach Hotel — both of which had been linked to previous positive cases.
When Victoria‘s lockdown was extended on Wednesday, chief health officer Brett Sutton pointed to the Brighton case as proof of the heightened infectivity of the Indian B. 1.617.1 Kappa coronavirus variant.
In quotes issued to the media ahead of Wednesday’s announcement, Professor Sutton described the variant as a “beast”, warning that it had “moved faster than any other strain we’ve dealt with, and we’re seeing transmission in settings and circumstances we’ve never seen before”.
Victoria’s Covid-19 logistics commander Jeroen Weimar earlier on Tuesday made reference to “at least four incidents” where people unknown to each other had transmitted the virus through “fleeting contact”.
On Friday morning, the health department said its team was “checking and rechecking our information as we track down this virus”.
“Two fewer positive cases is welcome news but we still have a further eight instances of transmission through passing contact between people who have not directly interacted with each other – that’s the one in 10 we remain concerned about,” the department said.
“There are still five exposure sites where this has spread into the community through people who don’t know each other – where there is no record of direct interaction – and we need to be sure we have all those cases fully contained.
“We know (that) this variant is 50 per cent more infectious than what we were dealing with last year, and we will continue to follow the health advice to ensure we can run this outbreak to the ground.”
The eight “stranger-to-stranger” events across five locations include:
– Telstra Store The Clarendon Centre South Melbourne transmission site – x 1
– JMD Grocers & Sweets Epping transmission site x 2
– Doctors on Broadway Reservoir transmission site x 2
– Woolworths Epping North Shopping Centre 22 May transmission site x 2
– Craigieburn Central Shopping Centre transmission site x 1
Interestingly, the Epping North Woolworths site is also the supermarket visited by the original Wollert case who caught the virus in an Adelaide quarantine hotel on May 3 before flying home the following day.
The man visited the Epping North Woolworths on May 8, but after he returned a positive test result on May 10, the health department mistakenly declared a separate Epping Woolworths as an exposure site and did not correct the mistake for 10 days.
At least one as-yet undetected case is believed to have passed the virus from the Wollert man to other known members of the cluster.
READ MORE: Train services added to Covid alerts
Joseph Lam7.56am:‘More predictable’ approach to lockdowns needed: BCA
Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott has called for governments to introduce a “more predictable, more certain approach” to lockdowns to ensure business confidence.
Ms Westacott on Sky News on Friday said it was important the federal government outlined a clear approach.
“I think it’s really important that national cabinet today reaffirm our objective,” she said.
Ms Westacott also welcomed the temporary Covid-19 support payment introduced on Thursday.
“The good thing that the federal government announced yesterday is that this cash payment will be tied to what is declared as a commonwealth hotspot,” she said.
She added that statewide lockdown, as lifted in Victoria overnight, were unfair on regional towns and Victoria could take a lesson from Sydney.
“The people of Broken Hill would not be shut down because of something that’s happening in Sydney.”
READ MORE:‘Disaster pay’ for lockdown loss
Joseph Lam7.35am:Businesses won’t have to repay JobKeeper: Birmingham
The federal government will not pursue businesses that claimed JobKeeper payments while making a profit during the Covid-19 pandemic, finance minister Simon Birmingham said.
Appearing on ABC Breakfast, the finance minister was asked by presenter Michael Rowland to “take off your finance minister’s cap” and answer the question of whether Harvey Norman would be asked to repay $22 million in JobKeeper payments.
“I think companies who are in a position to pay some of the money back ought to look at doing so where indeed they did benefit out of the overall situation,” Mr Birmingham said.
“We don’t go back and change the laws after they have been passed. So we are not going to go back and go after businesses, be they small ones or big ones who claimed funds they were under the law entitled to.”
READ MORE:Terry McCrann — Frydenberg delivers his smart JobKeeper 2.0
Joseph Lam6.40am:‘Fleeting contact’ cases ruled to be negative
Two positive cases of Covid-19 in Victoria have been reclassified as negative.
The “fleeting contact” cases involved a woman who visited a display home in Mickleham in Melbourne’s outer northwest and a man who dined at the bayside Brighton Beach Hotel. Both cases were linked to previous cases.
Victoria chief health officer Brett Sutton had cited the cases when announcing on Wednesday Melbourne would remain under lockdown for a further seven days from Friday.
News of the false positives arrives after several epidemiologists and experts have called out the government of language used to describe the variant at the centre of Melbourne’s two clusters.
Two of the "fleeting contact" cases now found to be false positives. https://t.co/4FUdi81fut
— Rachel Baxendale (@rachelbaxendale) June 3, 2021
READ MORE:Margin Call — Victoria’s quarantine project on the fast-track
Greg Brown5am:‘Costs of Australia’s isolation continue to multiply’
The tourism, agriculture and education sectors are urging Scott Morrison to outline a road map to open the international border, warning the “costs of Australia’s isolation continue to multiply”.
Ahead of a meeting of national cabinet on Friday, the National Farmers Federation, the Group of Eight universities and the Tourism and Transport Forum have joined forces to demand clarity over when the border restrictions can be lifted, saying they are “struggling amid an absence of international workers, visitors and students”.
The industry bodies are calling for national cabinet to outline a road map that would clarify: the proportion of the population needed to be vaccinated before quarantine-free travel can resume; how Australians would be incentivised to meet vaccination targets; the criteria used to assess “border bubble” arrangements with other countries; and the time frame for new purpose-built quarantine facilities.
NFF chief executive Tony Mahar said there should be no further delay in national cabinet outlining a plan for opening the international border, describing the lack of clarity as an “embarrassment”.
“We’re not saying we need to reopen tomorrow. Public safety must always come first, but part of ensuring public safety is planning for the future,” Mr Mahar said.
Read the full story here.
Simon Benson4.45am:PM’s deal for 500-bed Avalon quarantine facility
Scott Morrison will commit $200 million to the construction of a 500-bed Victorian quarantine facility at Avalon under a plan close to finalisation ahead of Friday’s national cabinet meeting.
But under a memorandum of understanding sent to the Victorian government, the state would be required to pay for the costs of operating the centre. Construction of the facility would commence by September, with an opening expected in January.
The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet has been negotiating on key principles for the memorandum with the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet, although there remained sticking points on Thursday night.
The Australian understands the Morrison government wants the facility to be used for extra capacity to accommodate returning travellers from overseas on top of hotel quarantine, while Victoria is arguing it should be used to house high-risk people from hotel quarantine.
Once the risk presented by the pandemic has passed, the facility would be returned to the commonwealth.
Read the full story, by Simon Benson and Remy Varga, here.
Patrick Commins4.30am:$100m weekly bill to keep Victorian casuals afloat
About 200,000 casuals have likely been unable to work through Victoria’s fourth lockdown and could be eligible for the government’s new Covid disaster payment, at a maximum weekly cost of $100 million.
Scott Morrison on Thursday revealed a national approach to supporting Australians in commonwealth-recognised virus “hot spots” who have lost income as a result of restrictions.
Applicants who declare they remain without work for longer than seven days as a result of health measures will be eligible for payments of $500 or $325 for each week the restrictions continue, depending on whether immediately preceding the lockdown they worked more or fewer than 20 hours, respectively. Those receiving commonwealth income support or special pandemic leave from their employers will not be eligible, nor will workers with more than $10,000 in savings.
Read the full story here.
Damon Johnston4.15am:Bullying probe into Dan Andrews Covid-19 officer
An Andrews government cabinet adviser has been investigated for allegedly bullying Covid call centre staff and other workers following claims he boasted about making a female colleague cry and told staff he could “f. king kill somebody”.
The Australian can reveal that a Department of Health investigation was ordered into the conduct of the senior bureaucrat during last year’s second wave and lockdown, after staff complained about his behaviour.
The complaints stem from the bureaucrat’s role within the Covid-19 Policy, Strategy and Information Branch, which included a call centre and was charged with the key job of advising the government and public on the impact of lockdown restrictions.
In response to detailed questions from The Australian, the department failed to address the substance of the staff complaints or the outcome of the investigation, instead issuing a general comment about workplace safety.
Read the full story, by Damon Johnston and Ewin Hannan, here.
More Coverage
War will end when Israel’s foes stop attacking it
Hamas began hostilities on October 7 when it invaded southern Israel and began slaughtering and kidnapping Israelis. Only an evil or foolish leader would start a war. But nations are entitled to defend themselves against attack.
Australia is not the same country — but too many are in denial
Since the October 7 attacks, Australian values have been traduced. What is happening affects the entire country and the collective impact is profound.