War cabinet set up to tackle coronavirus
The COVID-19 pandemic has struck at the heart of government with Peter Dutton testing positive for the virus, as a new bipartisan war cabinet of national leaders was set up.
The COVID-19 pandemic has struck Scott Morrison’s inner circle with Peter Dutton testing positive for the virus as a new bipartisan war cabinet of national leaders was set up ahead of an unprecedented ban on non-essential mass gatherings.
The Prime Minister, who will not be tested for the virus nor enter self-isolation despite being with the Home Affairs Minister at a cabinet meeting in Sydney on Tuesday, was forced to cancel his plans to attend Saturday’s NRL match between Cronulla and South Sydney, despite saying hours earlier he would go.
Mr Dutton, who returned to Australia last weekend after meeting Ivanka Trump and US Attorney-General William Barr in Washington, said he woke up on Friday with a high temperature and sore throat.
He subsequently tested positive for the virus and was admitted to hospital on the advice of Queensland Health where he issued a statement saying he “felt fine”. Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Energy Minister Angus Taylor have also travelled to Washington DC this week to meet US counterparts.
— Peter Dutton (@PeterDutton_MP) March 13, 2020
The ban on mass gatherings of more than 500 people, commencing on Monday, will disrupt major sporting matches, festivals and religious events. Medical experts warn the virus’s spread will surge in the next eight weeks.
Mr Morrison used a COAG meeting on Friday to announce the formation of the first national cabinet — which would include the Prime Minister as well as state and territory leaders — to assess when and if the ban should be expanded to schools, universities, workplaces, train stations and airports in coming months.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister said the advice from Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly was that only people who had close contact with Mr Dutton in the 24 hours before he became symptomatic needed to self-isolate. “That does not include the Prime Minister or any other members of the cabinet,” Professor Kelly said.
The decision to restrict non-essential mass gatherings came after the cancellation of Sunday’s Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne, where up to 300,000 fans were expected.
And Telstra on Friday ordered all its office staff to work from home for at least two weeks from Monday, making it the largest company to have introduced a work-from-home policy.
As the number of COVID-19 cases across Australia surged to 199 on Friday, Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said the virus outbreak was expected to peak towards the middle of the year.
With federal MPs returning to Canberra on March 23 and the government urgently moving to pass legislation through parliament to support its $17.6bn stimulus package, Mr Morrison described parliament sitting as “essential”.
Australian Medical Association federal president Tony Bartone urged Mr Morrison to review the upcoming parliamentary sitting agenda. “I think that parliament will have to look at and review its sitting agenda,” Dr Bartone said. “As more and more Australians indeed develop COVID-19 infection, obviously the risk to continued community transmissions progresses and escalates.”
The stock exchange rallied as reports emerged of government plans to restrict mass gatherings, ending the session 4.4 per cent higher after slumping by as much as 8 per cent earlier in the day, trimming recent losses to 23 per cent on the February peak.
Mr Morrison, who urged Australians against non-essential overseas travel after receiving updated advice from DFAT, said the advice against gatherings of more than 500 people was aimed at “exercising an abundance of caution”.
“Based on the advice we’ve received about the increasing number of cases and the evidence of community transition it has been recommended to us that we move to a position by Monday where we will be advising against organised, non-essential gatherings of persons of 500 people or greater,” Mr Morrison said.
Organisers of major events across Australia began shelving or postponing upcoming festivals, shows and conferences, with Sydney’s Royal Easter Show cancelled on Friday.
With the NRL season underway and the AFL premiership due to launch next week, Mr Morrison said the government was setting the “ground rules about how these events can be run in the future”.
Major sporting codes are expected to follow overseas models where matches are being played in empty stadiums. Mr Morrison and Anthony Albanese were due to attend the same NRL match, which involves their respective teams. Mr Albanese pulled out first on Friday afternoon; Mr Morrison’s spokesman said he had also withdrawn because of the “potential for the Prime Minister’s attendance to be misrepresented”.
Australian National University chancellor Julie Bishop said on Friday the university was “cancelling all public events from now until June 20 based on the unanimous advice of the ANU infectious disease experts”.
The Weekend Australian understands the COAG decision to restrict mass gatherings from Monday was to avoid panic and ensure private events, including weddings, were not disrupted over the weekend. The COAG meeting was presented with data showing spikes in COVID-19 cases across the next five to eight weeks. Restrictions on mass gatherings are aimed at alleviating stresses on hospitals.
Mr Morrison will hold a telephone hook-up with state and territory leaders on Sunday in the first major meeting of the national cabinet. Professor Murphy and state chief health officers will be permanent advisory members of the national cabinet.
Professor Murphy described the measures restricting mass gatherings as “precautionary” and based on COVID-19 cases “slowly increasing over the course of the last week”. “You might only have one or two people at a very large event who might be carrying the virus, and the chance of that being spread out at those large events accelerates the rate of progression of this virus,” Professor Murphy said.
The COAG communique said Australia had “demonstrated its resilience during past shocks” but conceded the coronavirus economic shock was “significant”.
Additional reporting: Greg Brown, Elias Visontay
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