Coronavirus Australia live news: CMO Paul Kelly says India’s Covid cases could be 60 million a week
Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly says India’s official figures are a ‘major underestimate’, warning of the risk to repatriation flights.
- Six repatriation flights possible
- No new cases in NSW
- We may never find missing link
- Payne pledges May 15 India travel
- Race to find NSW missing link
Welcome to our live coverage of the latest developments in the coronavirus pandemic.
Paul Kelly, Australia’s Chief Medical Medical Officer, says India could be at 60 million Covid cases a week, warning of the risk to repatriation flights. DFAT has revealed details of its repatriation flights plan from India. Scott Morrison says there could be six repatriation flights of Australians stuck in India this month. NSW records no new local cases but health authorities are scrambling to find the missing link between the state’s first new case and a returned traveller in quarantine identified as the origin of the transmission.
Stephen Lunn 10.00pm: $10bn fix needed to reform aged care
The Morrison government will need to find an extra $10bn a year in the budget to deliver the recommendations of the aged-care royal commission, and should consider abandoning promised personal income tax cuts to pay for it, a new report says.
The report also canvasses changes to negative gearing, capital gains tax, the treatment of franking credits and a 1.7 percentage point hike to the company tax rate as options to fund a better aged-care system.
And it urges the government to fund the most pressing of the commission’s 148 recommended reforms, even if they add to the COVID-19-generated budget deficit
The report by the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work, Funding High Quality Aged Care Services, notes Australia’s public spending on aged care is considerably lower than other industrialised countries, which combined with a lower overall tax take than the OECD average creates an opportunity for a better-funded aged-care system.
Read the full story.
Gerard Cockburn: 9.00pm: Qantas to add a million seats to Adelaide
Qantas will add an extra one million seats in and out of Adelaide as a result of the boom in domestic travel.
The nation’s premier airline announced a raft of services to and from the South Australian capital and a new Adelaide-Gold Coast route.
The new service will run four times a week.
Five Embraer E190 aircraft will be added to the Qantas fleet at Adelaide Airport and assist on QantasLink services to Darwin and Canberra.
The boost to QantasLink services is tipped to increase Qantas’s domestic capacity to 107 per cent above pre-coronavirus levels, while budget arm Jetstar is set to be flying at 120 per cent.
Additional services from Adelaide to Sydney and Melbourne will also be added to schedules across both Qantas and Jetstar
Read the full story.
Ellie Dudley 8.15pm:‘Tokenism’: Hanson on SA Indigenous voice
Senator Pauline Hanson has lambasted SA Premier Steven Marshall’s plan to create the nation’s first Indigenous Voice in parliament, deeming it “tokenism”.
Mr Marshall believes his plan - that would see a 13-member advisory committee open only to Aboriginal Australians to be appointed and elected by the end of this year - could become a model for a federal voice.
The federal model would see national elections held so Indigenous Australians could elect their own representatives to the federal body.
However, Senator Hanson told Sky News she was “sick of the divisive policies that have been brought in by politicians purely for tokenism or purely for the vote.”
She said that Indigenous Australians must “take responsibility for their own actions” before they receive a “helping hand”.
“I’ve met with the Aboriginals...they’re not sending their kids to school, the work ethic is hopeless, the alcohol and drug abuse... [but people] don’t talk about that because you’re called racist,” she said.
Meanwhile, the state Labor party accused the Marshall government of not going far enough, pushing the government to sign treaties with Indigenous groups to address past injustice and land use.
Agencies7.17pm: Germany’s third virus wave ‘appears to have broken’
Germany seems to have halted a surge of coronavirus infections driven by the British variant, Health Minister Jens Spahn said, cautioning however against lifting restrictions precipitously.
“The third wave appears to have broken,” Spahn told a press conference in Berlin.
“The infection figures are dropping again, but we are still at a high level. They are not yet falling everywhere at the same rate, but they are falling,” he said.
Germany’s Robert Koch Institute health agency recorded 18,485 new infections in the past 24 hours on Friday -- compared with 27,543 on the same day two weeks ago.
The number of new infections per 100,000 people over the past seven days stood at 125.7.
Under national virus measures introduced in April, areas with incidence rates below 100 are allowed to begin easing some restrictions.
But Spahn warned that easing curbs too much too soon “would only help the virus”.
READ MORE:Terry McCrann — China is the elephant in the room
Rosie Lewis 6.30pm:Visa win for tourism and hospitality sector
Foreign students will be able to pick up more hours working in cafes, restaurants and across tourism businesses as the Morrison government relaxes visa restrictions to try to fix critical labour shortages.
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke will on Saturday announce that the 40-hour cap on student visa holders will be removed for the hospitality and tourism sectors.
Temporary visa holders employed in those industries will also be able to access a special COVID-19 pandemic visa for a year, allowing them to stay in the country longer.
The move comes after the struggling hospitality and accommodation industries nominated labour shortages of 30 per cent or more as the biggest barrier to their revival.
Peak industry groups have warned for months that as parts of the economy pick up they have been unable to find the necessary workforce, forcing some businesses to reduce opening hours or close altogether.
Peter Lalor5.45pm:Stranded Hussey tests negative to Covid
Mike Hussey, who has been left behind in India after his compatriots left on Thursday, has returned a negative test to Covid-19 and must pass one more before he can leave India.
The Chennai Super Kings batting coach has been in isolation since being diagnosed with the virus earlier in the week.
Hussey believes he caught it by sitting next to bowling coach L Balaji who was one of three who first fell ill in the franchise.
Erin Lyons5.14pm:Australian citizen dies in Covid-ravaged India
An Australian citizen has died in COVID-19 ravaged India but it is not yet clear if they had the virus, a committee hearing has heard.
High Commissioner to India Barry O’Farrell was asked at a senate committee hearing on Friday whether he was aware of any Australian citizens who had died of COVID-19 in India while waiting to come home.
“The department is aware and providing consular assistance, in accordance with its charter, to the family of an Australian permanent resident who reportedly has died in India,” he said.
“I’m advised, owing to our privacy obligations, we won’t be providing any further comment.”
He said one of the reasons he wouldn’t make any further comment was because it was not yet clear how the person died and whether it was from COVID-19.
However, Mr O’Farrell went on to explain that India has been reporting a nightly infection rate that was “greater than the population of Canberra” and he didn’t believe “anyone can put hand on heart” and say that Australian citizens or permanent residents are not among the deaths.
Rosie Lewis4.30pm:India’s Covid figures ‘could be 60 million a week’
Repatriation flights to Howard Springs could be paused again if Covid infections increase to 50 cases or more, as Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly concedes the travel ban is directly linked to quarantine capacity.
Professor Kelly also said he believed the official case numbers coming out of India of about two million per week were a “major underestimate” of what was actually happening. He said there could be between 20 million and 60 million cases each week.
CMO Paul Kelly says he thinks India's official COVID-19 case numbers of about 2m a week are a "major underestimate" of what's actually happening. Says you could multiply that by 10 or even 30 #COVID19
— Rosie Lewis (@rosieslewis) May 7, 2021
“I’m sure there’s a major underestimate of what’s actually happening in India and it’s a terrible situation,” Professor Kelly said.
“Looking at the pressure it’s putting on the health system in India, particularly oxygen supplies but also just the ability for people to get just the basic healthcare, these are terrible scenes.
“This is a very large second wave that is occurring in India right now. So well over two million cases a week (officially), you could times by 10 or even 30 I would say on a basis of positivity rate.”
The Indian flights ban was introduced on April 27 when the positivity rate of COVID-19 cases skyrocketed above the agreed 2 per cent threshold at the Howard Springs quarantine facility.
Professor Kelly said there had been three prior occasions when the infection rate in the quarantine system had been above 2 per cent – before March last year at the start of the pandemic when there was an 8 per cent positivity rate, over Christmas and the New Year, and about six weeks ago when there was a large increase in cases from Papua New Guinea.
The government expects there to be zero COVID cases at Howard Springs by May 15 because of the travel ban.
Ellie Dudley4.20pm:Latest national vaccination figures revealed
More than 2.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been given to Australians, following the administering of 81,000 over the past 24 hours.
Some 2,554,531 doses have been administered through the country’s contentious roll out; 1,650,181 from the Commonwealth, and 904,350 through the state’s programs.
Victoria is leading the pack on the number of vaccine doses administered, having given a total of 249,405.
NSW is following close behind on 229,491, followed by Queensland (154,403) and WA (110,273).
Under the 100,000 mark is SA (67,198), Tasmania (42,374), the ACT (32,337) and the NT (18,869).
Chris Merritt4.05pm:Alan Tudge vindicated as ruling gets the flick
Even the best judges can make serious mistakes and unless it is possible to have them corrected, immense damage can be done to innocent people. Read more here
Ellie Dudley3.45pm:Contact of Sydney Covid cases in NZ lockdown
A contact of one of the COVID-19 cases in Sydney who travelled to New Zealand has been placed in a managed isolation facility in Christchurch.
The person had visited a potential exposure site at the same time as one of the cases which emerged in Sydney this week
“The contact is being tested for Covid-19 and the results will be available by tomorrow,” a spokeswoman for the NZ Ministry of Health said.
“The person is not symptomatic and local public health staff say they have cooperated fully with all requests.”
NZ health authorities on Thursday announced the country would enforce a temporary travel ban on people arriving from NSW, ending at 10pm on Saturday.
Adeshola Ore3.20pm:More details of repatriation flights revealed
A DFAT official has confirmed repatriation flights from India into Darwin are scheduled for May 15, 23 and 30.
All three flights will take passengers to the Howard Springs facility to quarantine.
Lynette Wood, a first assistant secretary at DFAT, said the government was still working on details about a further three flights that will land in other cities.
Ms Wood could not specify how many passengers the three initial flights would bring home, but estimated about 150 per flight.
She said prior to the pause of flight the government had eight repatriation flights from India. Labor Senator Kristina Keneally asked Ms Wood to confirm that the repatriation flights announced today are a “net reduction” compared to the original schedule.
“That’s right,” she said. “But the intent is to resume the flights as quickly as we can.”
Ms Wood said she understood Queensland, NSW and Victoria were “most likely” to receive facilitated commercial flights from India in the coming weeks.
She said the other state and territory governments were actively considering the proposal.
Adeshola Ore3.10pm:Keneally presses DFAT on repatrion flights for kids
High Commissioner to India Barry O’Farrell has told a Covid hearing that Air India flights would take unaccompanied minors on flights to Australia.
Labor Senator Kristina Keneally pressed Lynette Wood, a first assistant secretary at DFAT, on whether the government had considered a specific flight to repatriate children from India.
She said the government had not specifically asked DFAT to establish flights specifically for reuniting stranded unaccompanied children with their parents.
But she noted every time DFAT became aware of an unaccompanied minor it worked with the family to find a solution to bring them home.
Adeshola Ore3pm:20 children helped home from India since December
Ms Wood said DFAT could not provide the numbers of unaccompanied minors who were registered as wanting to return home.
She said typically, Australians wanting to come home “registered as family groups.”
Unaccompanied minors are not able.to return home on Qantas flights.
Ms Wood said DFAT assisted families with children stranded in India to “find a solution.”
Mr O’Farrell said since December last year the Australian government had helped 20 children return home from India.
Adeshola Ore2.50pm:Rise in Australians wanting to return home
The latest figures from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade reveal an increase in the number of Australians wanting to return home.
DFAT officials are now appearing at the Covid committee.
Lynette Wood, a first assistant secretary at DFAT, said about 9500 Australians are stranded in India and wanting to return home. Of the 9500, 950 are classed as vulnerable.
Ms Wood said she looked forward to the resuming of commercial flights to bring home Australians in India.
High Commissioner to India Barry O’Farrell said the Covid situation in the country had not been at a crisis level just one month ago.
Adeshola Ore2.25pm:Parents separated from four year old son in India
Appearing before the Covid Committee, Harjinder Singh Mandair told how he had been separated from his four-year-old son who has been stranded in India with his grandparents since September 2019. He told the committee his son missed his family terribly and he worried about him missing out on having a sibling relationship with his sister.
“His sister is here with us and every now and then we have a video chat with him but it’s not up to that mark when the kids are in one house, in one family and they play together and get to know each other,” he said.
“All those affections and connections a brother and sister should have are not happening.”
READ MORE: Banning citizens? Take flying leap
Rhiannon Down 2.20pm: NSW ‘pleased’ to accept stranded Aussies from India
Gladys Berejiklian says NSW is “pleased” to accept passengers from India as the government announces that charter flights will resume from May 15.
NSW, Victoria, SA and Queensland were reported to have been considering taking repatriation flights to help get stranded Australians home from India.
“NSW pleased to take flights from India under the new plan,” the NSW Premier said.
Scott Morrison said as many as six repatriation flights could be scheduled this month, and travellers on board will be required to produce two negative COVID-19 tests.
NSW pleased to take flights from India under the new plan.
— Gladys Berejiklian (@GladysB) May 7, 2021
Rhiannon Down 2.15pm:Harry, Meghan demand vaccine equity
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have called for vaccine equity, urging vaccine suppliers to increase their support of the Covax program.
Harry and Meghan said in an open letter addressed to the chief executives of Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca that the manufacturers should double their support for the aid program, The Times reported.
The couple also called on the firms to suspend intellectual property surrounding vaccine development to increase production.
The calls come as the couple celebrate the second birthday of their son Archie.
READ MORE:Restaurant slammed for check-in fail
Rhiannon Down2.05pm:Quarantine debate ‘descended into political argument’
Menzies Research Centre executive director Nick Cater has criticised the state and federal governments for allowing the debate over quarantine to descend into an “unseemly political argument”.
“What really disappoints me about this is it’s turned into this really unseemly political argument, trying to shove the blame here to state governments or the federal government” he told Sky News.
“The fact is the system was put in place where the state governments would take control of the quarantine and there’s a constitutional logic to that in that the states are in charge of health services.
Mr Cater said the public had demonstrated it prefered a “safety first approach” when it came to quarantine, warning against drastic measures.
“Anything of the size some people are talking about that was put in in a rush or panic would be really problematic,” he said.
“We’ve seen at the state level rush and panic leads to mistakes.”
READ MORE: West winning battle, world losing war
Rhiannon Down 1.55pm:Qld records no new local cases
Queensland has recorded no cases of local transmission and two new cases in hotel quarantine.
The state has vaccinated 2273 people in the past 24 hours and received 7399 tests.
Victoria and NSW have also reported another day of zero locally acquired cases.
Queensland #COVID19 update 7/5/21
— Queensland Health (@qldhealthnews) May 7, 2021
Queensland has recorded 2 new cases of COVID-19 today.
These new cases were overseas acquired and detected in hotel quarantine. pic.twitter.com/xKcWcVf8TQ
Rhiannon Down 1.45pm: PM ‘had just two main jobs’
Mark Butler has criticised the pace of the government’s vaccine rollout and “failure” to repatriate Australians stranded overseas.
“Scott Morrison had two main jobs this year, firstly to put in place a speedy, effective rollout of the vaccine,” the Shadow Health Minister said.
“And secondly a safe national system of quarantine which will protect the community in the meantime which will allow AUstralian citizens to return home quickly and return home safely and he has failed on both fronts.
“Over the last seven days, only 350,000 vaccine doses have been delivered in Australia.
“At the current weekly rate it will take two years for Australia to become fully vaccinated.
“Scott Morrison promised there would be four million doses by the end of March, there are only two and a half million well into May.”
READ MORE:Surprise factor in jobless fall
Rosie Lewis1.30pm: Six repatriation flights this month possible
Scott Morrison says there could be six repatriation flights of Australians stuck in India this month, now that some of the states are on board.
Each flight will carry about 150 people, meaning 900 people could return within weeks. There are 900 Australians listed as being “vulnerable” in India.
Rosie Lewis 1.25pm:Vax rollout surpasses 2.5m doses
Australia’s vaccination rollout has now surpassed 2.5 million doses, with over 80,000 vaccines administered on Thursday.
Scott Morrison said more than 10 per cent of the population over the age of 16 had received their first dose.
The rollout had been “stabilised”, the Prime Minister said, so national cabinet will go back to monthly meetings. For the past several weeks it had been meeting once a week.
Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said the rollout was “going very well” and he expected all aged care recipients would have received their first dose by the end of the month.
READ MORE: Facing threats on all sides
Rosie Lewis1.17pm:States consider taking repatriation flights
NSW, Victoria and Queensland are considering taking repatriation flights from India to help get stranded Australians home.
Scott Morrison said while direct commercial flights from India will not resume at this stage, those states had responded favourably to his request to accept repatriation flights.
South Australia was also open to taking charter flights.
“Those charter flights will, of course, be focused on bringing those Australian citizens, residents and families who have been registered with our high commission and consular offices within India. And it will also be targeted on those 900 most vulnerable of the group,” the Prime Minister said.
The charter flights will be crewed by Australians and those on board will have to have received two negative COVID-19 tests.
The government is particularly focused on bolstering the testing regime of returned travellers transiting through Colombo, Sri Lanka.
READ MORE:India ban tests our moral and medical responsibilities
Adeshola Ore1.12pm:PM details repatriation plan for India | WATCH LIVE
The Australian government will send repatriation flights to India, averaging one per 7-9 days, from May 15 when the current flight ban and biosecurity order lifts.
The first repatriation flight to Darwin will leave India on May 15. Another two will be scheduled in May.
The federal government estimated 1,000 Australians in the Covid-ravaged country will be home by the end of June. All returning citizens are expected to quarantine at the Howard Springs facility. But Scott Morrison has written to state and territory leaders asking them to lift their incoming traveller caps and receive direct repatriation flights from India.
The number of positive Covid cases in the Howard Springs facility has fallen to 21 compared to more than 50 infections a week ago.
Scott Morrison said he has given the quarantine system “space to operate safely and to protect Australians from the COVID-19 pandemic”
“The global COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage outside Australia’s borders and the temporary pause on flights continues to give our quarantine facilities time to reduce infection rates and reduce the risk of COVID escaping into the community,” the Prime Minister said.
Every Australian flying from India to the Northern Territory will be required to return a negative COVID-19 PCR test and a negative antigen test before boarding.
READ MORE:India’s Covid troubles bad news for us
Adeshola Ore1.05pm:Just bring us home, stranded Aussies plead
Australians stranded in India are calling on the government to provide a comprehensive repatriation plan after it confirmed rescue flights would resume on May 15.
Scott Morrison said three repatriation flights were scheduled for May, with a focus on the 900 Australians classed as “vulnerable.” The first repatriation flight from India to Darwin will depart on May 15. Another two will be scheduled for later in the month.
The government said it expected 1,000 Australians in the Covid-ravaged country would be home by the end of June. There are about 9,000 Australians in India who have registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as wanting to return home.
Melbourne man Sunny, who is currently stranded in India, told the Senate Select Committee on COVID-19 the federal government needed a plan to rescue all Australians in India.
“We expect a detailed roadmap from our prime minister so every stranded Australian in India and around the world,” he said.
Sunny said flight schedules should specify how many seats will be allocated per month.
“There is also a need to provide better communication, assistance and guidance for stranded Australians in terms of their repatriation options.”
He said there was a need for state, territory and commonwealth governments to work cooperatively to ramp up quarantine capacity. Scott Morrison today confirmed he has written to state and territory leaders asking them to lift their incoming traveller caps and receive direct repatriation flights from India.
He told the committee the street he and his mother, who is a permanent Australian resident, are living on is rampant with Covid, with some entire families infected.
“We stay holed in at the house, in fear for our lives, on a constant basis,” he said.
Sunny anticipated it was only a matter of time until he and his mother became infected with Covid.
“The Australian government should not abandon us in this life-threatening situation,” he said.
Sunny pointed to Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly’s advice to the government which flagged that Australians stranded in India could die overseas.
“Please note all stranded Australians in India are vulnerable,” he said.
“Please bring us all home,” he said.
Sunny said he and his elderly mother had received no advice from DFAT on vaccinations for Australians stranded in India and how to protect themselves from getting infected.
Both Sunny and his mother were vaccinated through the Indian government’s inoculation program.
Ms Arora was diagnosed with cancer while living with India but said despite disclosing this to DFAT she was not able to secure a seat on a repatriation flight.
“I was given an offer for a seat and I had to go through the links and book the flight but by the time you go through to the website to book the seats were gone,” she said.
READ MORE:Greg Sheridan — India’s lesson to the world is this virus is just getting started
Adeshola Ore12.45pm: Stranded Aussies in India suffering ‘financial stress’
The Senate Select Committee on COVID-19 is hearing from Australians stranded in India who are unable to return home under the current flight ban and emergency orders.
Melbourne man Sunny, currently in Delhi, travelled to India last year in May to help his mother care for his critically ill father. His father died the following month while Sunny was in quarantine.
Sunny and his mother, who is a permanent resident, have been unable to be reunited with Sunny’s wife and children in Melbourne due to the cancellation of multiple flights and the current travel ban.
He told the committee the cancellation of flights had led to “significant financial” stress amongst stranded Australians.
“It seems the government has been totally insensitive towards the wellbeing of the stranded Australians,” he said.
“After 11 months of misery I am still stranded in India with my elderly mother who has multiple medical conditions and mobility conditions.”
He said the area he and his mother are in is experiencing a “tsunami” of Covid infections.
Sunny and another stranded Australian Meg Arora told the committee they both do not know how long it will be until they return home.
“I don’t have any idea when I will be lucky enough to get a seat,” Ms Arora said.
“Are we supposed to be here for two years, three years, god knows how long,” Sunny said.
“This situation needs to be sorted out. Other countries have done it. Why can’t we?
READ MORE:Banning citizens? Take flying leap
Rhiannon Down12.35pm:Butler calls for purpose built quarantine facilities
Mark Butler has called on the government to establish purpose-built quarantine facilities, following the announcement that charter flights will resume from India.
The Shadow Health Minister, speaking from South Australia, said the government had been advised by the health authorities, including the Australian Medical Association, for months.
“How many outbreaks have to happen before Scott Morrison finally delivers a safe national quarantine system,” he told Sky News.
“The advice has been crystal clear, purpose built facilities outside of our CBD’s to take the pressure off hotels that were built for tourism, not for medical quarantine and robust national standards. He’s had that advice for months.”
Mr Butler also accused Scott Morrison of inaction during the pause on arrivals from India which ends on May 15.
“While Australians have been languishing desperately in India, closed off from returning home by the Australian Prime Minister, what has he been doing to put in place safer quarantine arrangements to allow them to return home quickly and safely,” he said.
READ MORE: Culprits in hotel quarantine must be accountable
Rhiannon Down12.30pm: McManus: Increase wages to correct skills shortage
Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus has called for government action to correct a shortage of skilled workers due to overseas workers being shut out by the pandemic.
Ms McManus said wage growth was important because “if you increase wages people will be more likely to want to do jobs”, as well as policy around training and migration.
“I think it’s a really good time for us to take a pause as a country and say we’ve got no choice with the borders closed, do we want one that is more focused towards permanent migration,” she told Sky News.
“Should we be focusing on young people in terms of training them up, should we have a different type of system that lets in workers we really need, and make sure we don’t have people coming in where unfortunately they get exploited.”
Adeshola Ore 12.20pm: First India repatriation flight set for May 15
The Australian government will send repatriation flights to India, averaging one per 7-9 days, from May 15 when the current flight ban and biosecurity order lifts.
The first repatriation flight to Darwin will leave India on May 15, according to a joint statement from the federal government and NT government. Another two will be scheduled in May.
Resumption of Indian repatriation flights to Howard Springs @ScottMorrisonMP@fanniebay#auspolpic.twitter.com/6Hw72ACJdR
— Political Alert (@political_alert) May 7, 2021
The federal government estimated 1,000 Australians in the Covid-ravaged country will be home by the end of June. All returning citizens are expected to quarantine at the Howard Springs facility. But Scott Morrison has written to state and territory leaders asking them to lift their incoming traveller caps and receive direct repatriation flights from India.
The number of positive Covid cases in the Howard Springs facility has fallen to 21 compared to more than 50 infections a week ago.
Scott Morrison said the has given the quarantine system “space to operate safely and to protect Australians from the COVID-19 pandemic”
“The global COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage outside Australia’s borders and the temporary pause on flights continues to give our quarantine facilities time to reduce infection rates and reduce the risk of COVID escaping into the community,” the Prime Minister said.
Every Australian flying from India to the Northern Territory will be required to return a negative COVID-19 PCR test and a negative antigen test before boarding.
READ the full story
Nicola Berkovic12.10pm: ABC won’t try to prove Porter rape claims
The ABC will not attempt to prove rape allegations against Christian Porter as part of its defence to landmark defamation action, and is expected to argue that its reporting merely conveyed there were grounds for suspecting he was guilty of the brutal crime.
Avoiding the case becoming a de facto trial into alleged events that occurred in 1988, the public broadcaster is expected to deny that an online article published on February 26 conveyed that the former attorney-general was a rapist, or even that police suspected he was guilty.
Instead, it is expected to argue that the article by journalist Louise Milligan conveyed that there were reasonable grounds for suspecting the former attorney-general assaulted his then-16-year-old debating teammate. It will rely on a defence of “justification”, which would require it to prove the substantial truth to this claim.
READ the full story
Rhiannon Down11.50am: Littleproud: China needs to understand our values
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud has refused to label China a bully but says it must understand Australian values after Beijing suspended an economic agreement with Canberra amid rising tensions.
The pausing of the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue is believed to be retaliation for the government’s review of the 99-year lease of the Port of Darwin Port owned by Chinese company Landbridge and recent vetoing of Victoria’s Belt and Road deal.
“I don’t think calling sovereign countries names is going to advance the cause and enrich dialogue,” Mr Littleproud told Sky News.
“We are ready to have that dialogue with Chinese officials but they need to understand the values of our nation and the sovereignty of our nation, that as a sovereign government we will protect it.
“There have been over 100,000 Australians who have lost their lives protecting that, and our legacy as custodians into the future, that we never relent to anyone trying to ask us to do things that are against (our values).”
READ MORE: Beijing labels government ‘insane’
Rhiannon Down 11.30am: Nobel Laureate: Get vaccines to poor countries
Nobel Laureate Professor Peter Doherty has called for vaccine production to be increased around the world in order to fight the pandemic.
It comes as US President Joe Biden called for a temporary waiver on patent rights for vaccine developments to boost global production, a move Trade Minister Dan Tehan now supports after previously refusing to back it.
“The World Health Organisation of course is very strong on this. As (Mr Tehan) implied... it is an enormously complex issue and what we really need is to boost manufacturing massively across the planet and to get these vaccines out to the poor countries,” Professor Doherty told the ABC.
Professor Doherty said Australia needed to step up its vaccine production facilities to be able to produce complex mRNA vaccines and help developing countries.
“The best thing Australia could do to help in this is really ramp up our own capacity to make vaccines and the diversity of vaccines,” he said.
“I think there is a long-term future advantage to Australia in doing that. It will take investment and where does that investment come from? Does it solely come from government? Do we persuade private investors to put substantially into this.”
READ MORE: India open to Aussie vaccines
Rhiannon Down 11.20am:New alert for Sydney Chinatown restaurant
NSW Health authorities have identified XOPP restaurant in Sydney’s Chinatown as a hotspot venue, with anyone who visited the venue on April 28 between 1.30pm and 2.30pm asked to get tested and isolate.
“NSW Health is concerned that compliance with QR code check-ins at XOPP restaurant was very low,” the department said in a statement.
A new venue of concern, XOPP restaurant in Sydney’s Chinatown, has been identified and advice for other venues updated as part of ongoing investigations into the two locally acquired cases of COVID-19 reported earlier this week.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) May 7, 2021
The new warning is in addition to alerts for patrons of Fratelli Fresh at Westfield Sydney on Tuesday April 27 from 1.15pm to 2.15pm and Bondi Beach’s Bondi Trattoria Thursday April 29 from 12.45pm to 1.30pm.
Authorities believe those who visited these venues could hold the clue as to how the virus leaked from hotel quarantine and infected the Sydney couple.
READ MORE:Masks on, borders remain open
Rhiannon Down 11.10am:NSW records no new local cases
NSW has recorded no new local cases in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. Five new cases were recorded in hotel quarantine, bringing the total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 5,332.
There were 13,339 tests reported to 8pm last night, compared with the previous day’s total of 11,579.
NSW Health administered 5,415 vaccines in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
NSW recorded no new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) May 7, 2021
Five new cases were acquired overseas to 8pm last night, bringing the total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 5,332. pic.twitter.com/gNugxphXAQ
Anthony Piovesan10.40am:Jim’s Mowing founder sues Vic government over lockdown
Jim’s Mowing founder Jim Penman will try a test claim against the Victorian government for compensation over lockdown in a legal move that could “open the floodgates” for hundreds of other business owners.
It can be revealed that Mr Penman has provided legal backing for his franchisee Steve Thompson to file a compensation claim against the Department of Health and Human Services in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) after he lost more than $24,000 during the lockdown last year.
Victorian barrister Ben Petrie will represent Mr Thompson at the upcoming hearing on June 9.
The 47-year-old franchisee from Doreen will argue he was “unfairly put out of work” during the lockdown and could have still operated his business without any risk of transmitting coronavirus as he was a sole trader and worked “outside only”.
READ the full story
Rhiannon Down10.25am: Victoria records zero new cases
Victoria has recorded zero cases of COVID-19 across the board.
Some 9158 vaccines were administered in the last 24 hours and 16,135 tests were received.
There are currently 17 active cases of coronavirus in the state.
Yesterday there were no new cases reported.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) May 6, 2021
- 9,158 vaccine doses were administered
- 16,135 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/2vKbgKHFvv#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicDatapic.twitter.com/mt83LB0qw6
It comes as NSW braces for the release of today’s COVID-19 figures.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian revealed this morning that she was “pleased” with today’s results.
Nick Evans10.20am: Rio flayed over Juukan Gorge destruction
Rio Tinto has suffered one of the biggest shareholder backlashes in Australian corporate history, with close to two thirds of its shareholders issuing a protest vote after Rio shattered its international image through the destruction of 46,000 year old heritage sites at Juukan Gorge.
But despite the shareholder sting, both the Rio chairman and chief executive Jakob Stausholm were upbeat about the company’s outlook on the back of renewed talk of a new resources “supercycle” as the world recovers from the pandemic.
Rio chairman Simon Thompson told shareholders he was concerned that rising political tensions between Canberra and Beijing could have further ramifications for free trade on global markets, but said Rio did not want to become involved in the politics of the situation, and was primarily focused on its direct relationships with its Chinese customers and partners.
READ the full story
Rhiannon Down 10.10am: Covid positive Aussies to be left in India
Scott Morrison has confirmed that Australians stranded in India will have to return a negative test result before they can board a flight.
It comes as the Prime Minister announced charter flights to ferry 900 vulnerable citizens and residents home once the flight ban is lifted on May 15.
“Rapid antigen testing is a requirement and a negative antigen to get onboard a flight to Australia,” Mr Morrison said.
“I’m sure that’s what all Australians would expect.”
READ MORE: Charter flights to end India ban
Rhiannon Down 10.05am: Mystery link ‘may take weeks to solve’
Sydney University immunisation expert Robert Booy says the mystery as to how the virus spread from a returned traveller to a Sydney man may take days or weeks to resolve.
Professor Booy said the airborne infections can pass between people in a number of ways, including through indirect contact.
“If you open the window, there is a small chance of mist going out and if you are below the window, a small chance of getting infected,” he told Channel 7’s Sunrise.
“Not a likelihood but remember they will work it out in time.
“It is between four days and 14 days after exposure that you can start having symptoms so it could be a little longer before they have worked out that time window to see who could possibly be the source, that intermediary person.”
Rhiannon Down9.55am: NSW residents line up for testing
NSW residents have begun lining up at Covid testing sites across Sydney, as the state enters its first day under restrictions.
Some 300 Covid testing sites are operational across the state with centres in Sydney’s eastern and northern suburbs running at increased capacity.
There are more than 300 COVID-19 testing locations across NSW.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) May 6, 2021
If you are in #Sydney, #EasternSuburbs and #NorthernBeaches, the following testing clinics currently have additional capacity. pic.twitter.com/QRTnt54JFO
It comes as health authorities race to uncover the missing link between a returned traveller and a Sydney couple who tested positive this week.
The man visited a number of locations across the city, including a number of BBQ outlets.
Two venues, Fratelli Fresh at Westfield Sydney and the Bondi Trattoria at Bondi Beach, were added as exposure sites, as authorities probe the link between the cases.
Public Health Alert - new and updated cases locations in NSW. pic.twitter.com/3y0CQkDxrt
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) May 6, 2021
Rhiannon Down 9.35am: More NSW restrictions ‘may be necessary’
Melbourne University epidemiologist Professor Nancy Baxter says further restrictions may be necessary in NSW, given the many unknowns regarding the chain of transmission.
“I think it’s just going to be very telling what happens in the next couple of days,” she told ABC.
“There needs to be broad spread testing. People in Sydney need to come out for testing so they understand if it’s spread in a community.
“But I think there may need to be more restrictions because, if we find that it’s spread further then obviously more restrictions then need to be imposed.”
Professor Baxter said the move to impose mandatory mask orders indicated a shift in the NSW government’s health response, compared to the Northern Beaches outbreak.
“One very interesting thing is one of the first measures here has been for people to mask up,” she said.
“We do know in the past it’s kind of one of the last measures that they would impose in New South Wales.”
READ MORE:Masks back on but borders open
Adeshola Ore 9.20am: Three repatriation flights to bring 900 home
Scott Morrison says three repatriation charter flights will bring vulnerable Australians stranded in India home after May 15.
The Prime Minister said he anticipated three flights during May that would focus on bringing the 900 people classified as “vulnerable” back to Australia. The returning citizens will quarantine at the Howard Springs facility near Darwin.
“In addition there will be rapid antigen testing in place for everyone getting on these flights,” he said.
Mr Morrison said the flight ban and biosecurity order, had “proved very effective” and would be in place until May 15.
No decision has been made on the resuming of commercial flights from India.
“The challenge we’ve had in terms of previous arrivals out of India has been the higher incidence of infection that we’re seeing in those arrivals and the stress that that was placing on the quarantine system,” he said.
“Whether at the national quarantine facility that we find to the tune of some half a billion dollars up in Northern Territory, or elsewhere around the country.”
Mr Morrison said the resumption of commercial flights with India would also be a focus of discussions between the state and territory leaders at the National Cabinet meeting today.
“So I’ll be advising the premiers and chief ministers on that decision this morning, and then we’ll be working on the many other matters that we need to attend to that the government has made no decision yet on the restarting of normal commercial flights from India,” he said.
READ the full story
Rhiannon Down 9.10am: NSW infection ‘shows hotel quarantine problem’
Strategic health consultant Professor Bill Bowtell has backed the NSW government’s decision to impose Covid restrictions, expressing concerns about the “serious problems” in hotel quarantine.
“It’s very good that the premier moved quickly to put on these new restrictions,” he told Channel 9’s Today.
“In the Northern Beaches episode at the end of last year, we had to wait till two or three hundred people were infected before the government moved.
“So it’s very good that two people have been infected and these restrictions are in place.”
Professor Bowtell said an infection in a Sydney man and his wife, which has been linked to hotel quarantine, indicated serious problems with the system.
“Since the end of last year, there’ve been 18 outbreaks from hotel quarantine around Australia,” he said.
“Eight of those have been in NSW. And every time it happens, there is economic and social disruption. People are worried for their health, quite rightly, and it’s just really not functioning as it should.
“We need a purpose-built quarantine facility, much better than the present hotel quarantine operation that is really struggling now in Australia, and in NSW.”
READ MORE:PM steps on gas to save supply
Rhiannon Down8.40am:Berejiklian: We may never find missing link
Gladys Berejiklian says health authorities may never find the missing link that infected a Sydney man and his wife.
On Thursday the NSW Premier revealed that a returned traveller from the US had tested positive for the same train, suggesting that this was the source of the infection.
“We may never find that missing link,” Ms Berejiklian told Channel 9’s Today.
“That’s why we ask everybody to get tested. Every time there’s a new case, we can
match it to see if it’s part of the same strain.
“Our health detectives have worked out that the genomic sequencing of the man in his 50s who was the original case in the community, matched a particular traveller on a particular day.
“We have 5500 people at any one stage in our hotel quarantine system. So the fact that they’ve managed to find the traveller who had the same genomic sequencing as this man in the community was outstanding, and now the race is on to find those missing links.”
READ MORE: Banning citizens? Take a flying leap
Adeshola Ore 8.30am: Tehan: Australia committed to China relations
Trade Minister Dan Tehan says Australia is committed to dialogue and diplomatic relationships with China after Beijing suspended an economic agreement with Canberra.
The immediate suspension of the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue is believed to be retaliation for the government’s vetoing of Victoria’s Belt and Road deal and review of the 99-year lease of the Port of Darwin Port by the Chinese company Landbridge.
“We’ll continue to work with China at the officials level. There is still significant trade that benefits China, that benefits Australia,” he told Sky News.
“We want to make sure the commercial relationship continues.”
Asked if Australia needed to tread carefully about its reviewing of the Port of Darwin, Mr Tehan said the government would make a decision in the country’s national interests.
Rhiannon Down8.30am: Berejiklian hints at good news ahead of case tally
Gladys Berejiklian says she is “pleased” with the state’s progress, ahead of the release of the state’s official tally at 11am today.
NSW Premier @GladysB has told Sky News she is “pleased with how things are going†but remains concerned there is one or more persons with the virus in the community who has not been identified.https://t.co/H8IUPi9SH8
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 6, 2021
“I’m pleased with how things are going,” the NSW Premier told Sky News.
“Obviously what remains of concern for us is there’s at least one, possibly more people who’ve had the virus for several days who’ve been mixing in the community.
“We don’t know where they’ve been, or what their occupation is or what they do, or how many people they’ve been exposed to.
“Which is why we’re taking these very proportionate restrictions or responses over the next few days and that’s to make sure that we prevent a super spreading event.”
Ms Berejiklian will give an update at a press conference at 11am.
READ MORE: Patient transport ‘the weak link’
Rhiannon Down 8.20am: Berejiklian disappointed at NZ travel pause
Gladys Berejiklian says she was disappointed that New Zealand had decided to pause travel with NSW, while the state grapples to bring the latest outbreak under control.
“Because when other states or New Zealand have cases, we just make sure we’re monitoring the people coming from those areas where those venues have been or those hotspots,” the NSW Premier told Sky News.
“But you know that’s a decision they’ve taken and not any sort of decision New South Wales would have taken.
“But these are the times in which we live and we just have to get on with it and make the most of it.
“Pleasingly they’ve just paused it for two days, so I’m hoping it’ll go back to normal on day three.”
Ms Berejiklian said she was also “pleased” that Queensland, WA and Victoria had so far kept its borders open with NSW.
“I hope NSW has been able to demonstrate to the other states that you can have a better balance of keeping everybody safe, and it is scary to make these decisions in a pandemic, it is scary,” she said.
“But it’s always about making the right balance and not putting additional burden on your citizens or our businesses unless you absolutely have to.”
READ MORE: Patient transport ‘the weak link’
Rhiannon Down 8.00am:Government still working out how to repatriate Aussies
Trade Minister Dan Tehan says the federal government is considering how it will repatriate stranded Australians in India when the flight ban lifts, but has remained tight-lipped on if defence assets will be deployed.
Overnight, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia would lift the ban on Indian arrivals, and the threat of five years jail and heavy fines, on May 15.
“They will be assisted flights. We have to go through the planning,” he told ABC Radio.
“We’ll be doing what we can, especially to get those most vulnerable passengers, repatriated back to Australia.”
There are about 9,000 Australians in India wanting to return home, including 900 classed as vulnerable. At national cabinet today, Scott Morrison will ask his state and territory counterparts to lift their quarantine caps to boost the number of returning travellers.
READ MORE: India ban to end next week
Rhiannon Down7.55am:Berejiklian ‘worried’ over ‘too tough’ criticism on restrictions
Gladys Berejiklian has admitted she was concerned about criticisms the restrictions placed on NSW yesterday were “too tough” as she defended the decision.
The NSW Premier said the measures, which included mandatory masks indoors and a limit on gatherings to 20 people, were fair while authorities track down the source of a mystery case.
“I was a bit worried when people were saying (that) the restrictions were too tough,” Ms Berejiklian told Channel 7’s Sunrise.
“We’re saying to businesses that it is business as usual. We are saying to families to just do what you would ordinarily do, just be extra safe and all we’re saying is if you go shopping or attend an indoor venue, wear a mask. That’s it.
“Please enjoy Mother’s Day, please make sure you go about your business just without ever extra level of safety.”
READ MORE:Post virus start-ups catch entrepreneurial bug
Rhiannon Down 7.50am: Returned NSW restrictions ‘reasonable’
Mater Health Services director of infectious diseases Associate Professor Paul Griffin has backed NSW’s new Covid restrictions, describing them as “reasonable”.
“We have very high rates of testing in the background so it’s unlikely there are lots of undiagnosed cases out there,” he told Channel 7’s Sunrise.
“There’s potentially one or more missing links to be identified but I doubt there will be a lot of cases.
“So bringing in some sensible restrictions is very reasonable for the time being.”
Associate Professor Griffin said the “missing link” being hunted by authorities who spread the virus between a returned traveller and a Sydney couple, could be an asymptomatic case.
“We know a proportion of people can get this infection without many symptoms and that is why we need people to have a low threshold to get tested,” he said.
“That is why our contact tracing does a fantastic job of finding all those people who could have been in that sort of situation.
“Hopefully in the next few days we will have a good idea of how this happened.”
READ MORE: Border limits hit NSW
Rhiannon Down 7.45am:Pope praises ‘tireless’ health workers in India
Pope Francis has praised the “tireless” efforts of health workers fighting a surge of infections in India, in a message of support delivered on Thursday.
The pontiff offered his “heartfelt solidarity and spiritual closeness to all the Indian people”, in a speech at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in India, AFP reported.
“My thoughts go above all to the sick and their families, to those who care for them, and in particular to those who are mourning the loss of their loved ones,” he said.
“I think too of the many doctors, nurses, hospital workers, ambulance drivers and those working tirelessly to respond to the immediate needs of their brothers and sisters.”
India has been swept by a wave of infections, recording another grim milestone of 412,431 new infections in 24 hours, the highest daily total to date.
READ MORE:Court date set for trvel ban challenge
Rhiannon Down7.30am:Health experts: AZ jab still safe
Infectious disease expert Dr Sanjaya Senanayake has reaffirmed his support for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, despite reports of five new clotting cases linked to the jab.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration on Thursday revealed there had been five new cases of blood clotting over the past week and a half, believed to be linked to the AstraZeneca jab.
The figure brings the total to 11 cases of the rare clotting disorder since Australia’s vaccine rollout began.
“In terms of risk and benefit, it hasn’t changed,” he said on Channel 7’s Sunrise.
“(Some) 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca have been given in Australia I believe, and we’ve had about 11 cases of the clot.
“So we have a bit less than one in 100,000 it is still the same.”
The Therapeutic Goods Administration on Thursday revealed there had been five new cases of blood clotting over the past week and a half, believed to be linked to the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine.
The figure brings the total to 11 cases of a rare clotting disorder that have occured since Australia’s vaccine rollout began.
Dr Senanayake said the Sydney outbreak served as a reminder of the importance of the vaccine rollout in overcoming the pandemic.
“We have also seen from what is this happening in Sydney now, and recently happening in Perth,” he said.
“That we can go from having no COVID-19 in the community and having an outbreak just like that. We are one super spreading event from it being a big outbreak.”
READ MORE: India asks for Aussie vaccines
Rhiannon Down7.05am:Compulsory masks in NSW a ‘reminder for vigilance’
Chair of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Jane Halton says the return to mandatory mask-wearing will serve as a reminder for Sydneysiders to remain vigilant.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced a return to restrictions on Thursday, after NSW recorded two cases of COVID-19, a Sydney man in his 50s and his wife.
Masks will be required in indoor settings and private gatherings limited to 20 people under the new health orders, as contract tracers race to locate the missing link that infected the couple.
“I think by putting back in place these mandates, the mask mandate, reminding people that we are not out of this pandemic yet and doing that in a way that keeps everybody on their toes is absolutely the right thing,” she told Channel 9’s Today.
“I don’t know about you guys, I’ve been out to dinner in Sydney in the last couple of weeks. “Everyone is out relaxing, having a good time, and I do think we have let our guard down a little bit.
“It’s time to say, ‘Oops, everyone back on your toes, let’s see if we can find this thing’.”
READ MORE:Full list of new COVID-19 restrictions in Greater Sydney
Rhiannon Down6.45am:Indian foreign minister thanks Australia for support
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has thanked Australia for its support during a meeting with Marise Payne during the Group of Seven summit in London.
Dr Jaishankar spoke with the Australian foreign minister via video link after the Indian delegation at the summit was forced into isolation when two members tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week.
The three-day G7 summit was meant to be the group’s first face-to-face meeting in two years.
Dr Jaishankar said the meeting focused on the situation in the Indo pacific and strengthening ties between the two countries.
“Great talking to (Foreign Minister) Marise Payne,” he said on social media.
“Appreciate the support from Australia on the current situation. Discussed the Indo-Pacific and agreed to further strengthen our many convergences.”
Great talking to FM @MarisePayne. Appreciate the support from Australia on the current situation. Discussed the Indo-Pacific and agreed to further strengthen our many convergences. pic.twitter.com/bdFoIMtwdL
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) May 5, 2021
READ MORE:Australian cricket players escape India
Rhiannon Down6.30am:Another daily infection record as India reels
India has broken a new grim record with the country reporting 412,431 new infections in 24 hours, the highest daily total to date, and 3980 deaths.
The figures bring the nation’s total case numbers higher than 21 million, according to Johns Hopkins University.
It comes amid reports the virus had spread to India’s rural areas, which medical experts fear will be ill-equipped to tackle a wave of infections.
So far New Delhi and other major cities have been hardest hit.
A lack of testing facilities and hospital facilities in rural India — which accounts for 70 per cent of the population — suggested a grim new turning point in the outbreak, Reuters reported.
READ MORE:India asks for Australian vaccines
Jacquelin Magnay6am:Payne’s pledge: India ban will lift on May 15
Australia will lift the ban on Indian arrivals, and the threat of five years jail and heavy fines, on May 15, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in London overnight.
Senator Payne, who had discussions with her Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Wednesday, said that on the basis of health advice at this point “we fully expect it (the ban) not to be extended beyond that date, and we intend for facilitated flights to resume beyond.’’
In a bruising press conference inside Australia House on The Strand, Ms Payne deflected a question whether she felt shame in threatening Australian citizens with jail for wanting to return home. She said the Biosecurity Act has been applied on “a very small number of occasions’’ and still applies to the arrival of any cruise ships into Australian waters.
My friend @DrSJaishankar & I are focused on strengthening 🇦🇺🇮🇳 cooperation in response to increased competition in the #IndoPacific. We reflected on progress made at the @G7 Meetings and I pledged 🇦🇺’s ongoing support as India combats the current COVID-19 outbreak. @AusHCIndia
— Marise Payne (@MarisePayne) May 6, 2021
Read the full story here.
Max Maddison5.10am:Race to find missing link in NSW mystery case
NSW health authorities are scrambling to find the missing link between the state’s first new case — a man in his 50s who tested positive on Wednesday morning — and a returned traveller in quarantine identified as the origin of the transmission.
It is the fourth hotel quarantine breach in the state since the start of March.
NSW yesterday reintroduced a raft of COVID-19 restrictions across Greater Sydney — including making face masks mandatory — after a second case of community transmission, with the man’s wife testing positive.
While genomic testing had traced the source of the infection to a returned traveller from the US who was in hotel quarantine, health officials were yet to ascertain how the eastern suburbs man had contracted the virus.
There are more than 300 COVID-19 testing locations across NSW.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) May 6, 2021
If you are in #Sydney, #EasternSuburbs and #NorthernBeaches, the following testing clinics currently have additional capacity. pic.twitter.com/QRTnt54JFO
With the returned traveller having transferred from the ParkRoyal hotel in Darling Harbour to Special Health Accommodation after testing positive, Murdoch University professor of immunology Cassandra Berry said transporting infected patients was a point of weakness in the quarantine system.
“You have to take the patient out of an isolated area and move them into a patient transport vehicle with personnel. So you’ve got that movement from a confined space through the community into another area,” she said.
Professor Berry said while quarantine workers would be wearing protective gear, they may have been wearing it incorrectly or could have picked up residual virus that had been left on inanimate objects.
Public Health Alert - new and updated cases locations in NSW. pic.twitter.com/3y0CQkDxrt
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) May 6, 2021
Read the full story here.
Ewin Hannan5am:Victorian quarantine worker had no training
A Victorian quarantine worker turned up for his first day on the job despite having no infection control and protection training, and staff have breached personal protective equipment procedures by entering hotels without masks.
A confidential incident report reveals COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria management discovered on April 27 — three weeks after resumption of the Andrews government’s hotel quarantine program — that the first-day worker deployed to the Novotel IBIS was untrained when he volunteered the fact after his induction.
The incident report says hotel management were alerted and the new worker was sent home. “IPC training is in the process of being arranged with HR and information requested regarding why staff member did not receive training,” the report states.
The training and other PPE breaches are set out in confidential CQV incident reports obtained by The Australian, detailing a litany of potentially hazardous mistakes by quarantine hotel staff across the system, including straying from safer “green” zones to potentially infectious “red” zones within hotels.
Read the full story, by Ewin Hannan and Damon Johnston, here.
Rachel Baxendale4.45am:CQV chief Matiu Bush’s breach ‘not significant’
The acting minister in charge of Victoria’s hotel quarantine program says the actions of disgraced health bureaucrat Matiu Bush “did not constitute a significant breach” of infection prevention and control protocol, despite his being stood aside.
Acting Police Minister Danny Pearson’s comments in question time on Thursday come a day after he stood the COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria general manager of infection prevention and control aside in response to The Australian’s publication of CQV documents that revealed Mr Bush had been reported to authorities twice since March, having defied a Defence Force request for a mandatory COVID-19 test and breaching infection-control protocols.
“Those matters were not raised with me because they did not constitute a significant breach of infection control protocols,” Mr Pearson said.
Asked whether Mr Bush would still be in charge of infection prevention and control in Victoria’s hotel quarantine program had his “flagrant disregard for health rules” not been made public by The Australian, Mr Pearson said: ”Look, all processes have been followed. He was counselled at the time. I took the view that public confidence is vitally important in our program, and action was taken. Mr Bush has been stood down, and the matter is being reviewed.”
Read the full story here.
More Coverage
RBA leaves all options on the table in inflation fight
Despite keeping interest rates on hold at its September meeting, the RBA left the door open for additional tightening in its efforts to tame inflation, minutes show.
‘You should stand condemned’: Dutton refuses to back PM’s Oct 7 motion
In an impassioned address responding to the PM's motion condemning the Oct 7 attacks, Peter Dutton accused Anthony Albanese of 'trying to please all people' after repeated attempts to reach a bipartisan position broke down.