As it happened: Victorian state of emergency set to be extended as state records 116 new COVID-19 cases; Australian death toll jumps to 517

Thank you for joining Marissa Calligeros and I for our rolling coverage today. Much of the news focused on the behaviour of security guards working in Melbourne and Sydney's quarantine hotels.

In Melbourne, a Rydges hotel security guard who caught COVID-19 told Victoria's inquiry into hotel quarantine that he delivered food while awaiting his test result, and again after he was told to self-isolate, and that security guard at Sydney's Marriott Hotel infected with COVID-19 has been fined $2000 for failing to self-isolate and going to a shopping centre while he waited for his test result.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.Credit: Joe Armao

The other big revelation was that Victoria’s state of emergency could be extended for up to another 12 months, but Premier Daniel Andrews needs the support of the opposition and crossbenchers in parliament first.

Here are some of the other key developments of the day:

• The royal commission into aged care has rebuked the federal government for failing to act on persistent problems across the sector, with new research sparking a clash in Parliament over measures that might have saved lives.
• The new coronavirus case numbers in Victoria over the past few days have been “extremely reassuring”, Deakin University epidemiology chair Catherine Bennett says. The state recorded 116 new cases on Monday – the lowest daily increase since July 5.
• Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews all but conceded on Monday that the grand final was lost to the state and said he would continue negotiations with the AFL to get the best compensation for Victoria.
• A new data dashboard will be released by Victoria's Health Department that provides more information on coronavirus cases in local council areas. People will be able to see if a known case has visited their local supermarket, cafe or other location;
• About 15 "mystery" cases in NSW are not connected to any known clusters, prompting Premier Gladys Berejiklian to encourage more people to come forward and get tested;
• Genomic testing is required to determine if Queensland's latest COVID-19 cluster is linked to the two women who returned from Melbourne infected with the virus last month, the state's Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young says;
• Businesses that have fallen off JobKeeper will retain the power to cut staff hours by as much as 40 per cent if they can show their turnover has fallen at least a tenth under a Morrison government plan to save jobs.
• No bintang? Foreign tourists are expected to be locked out of Bali until 2021; and
• Auckland’s level three lockdown has been extended by four days, while wearing face masks on public transport will be mandatory, after nine new cases emerged.

You can follow all the updates in our live coverage on Tuesday here. 

Premier Dan Andrews has said he intends to extend Victoria’s ‘‘state of emergency’’ for an extra 12 months past the September 13 deadline. Whether that ends up happening will reveal just how much our society values democracy.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.Credit: Joe Armao

The DHHS directions that enforce the current COVID-19 restrictions come under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act, and are only allowed to be made when a state of emergency has been declared. Importantly, under these laws a state of emergency cannot be in force for more than six months. Current stage 4 restrictions are due to run until September 13, which also marks six months since the government’s original declaration of a state of emergency.

Andrews says he does not intend to extend the state of disaster, which operates under different legislation.

So why does all this matter? Because the restrictions and controls being made by the DHHS are made under executive power – and this power is about to run out. This means that the State parliament is going to need to pass a new law amending the Public Health and Wellbeing Act to extend the amount of time a state of emergency may be in place for. This shouldn’t be allowed to happen.

Read the full opinion here.

Investors are fleeing from childcare provider G8 Education today after coronavirus restrictions whacked occupancy levels, melted first-half revenue, and helped drive the firm to a $239 million loss.

Shares in the company - which runs 450 centres across the country - are currently down 5.2 per cent at 92 cents.

G8 Education chair Mark Johnson.

A previously flagged non-cash impairment charge of $237 million was a blight on the ASX-listed firm’s books, while revenue for the half fell 28 per cent to $308 million as families withdrew their kids after the onset of the coronavirus.

Underlying earnings of $29 million were down 44 per cent which G8 said was largely driven by the government’s initial childcare support package, which capped revenues for providers irrespective of occupancy levels.

The firm, which tapped shareholders for $290.1 million equity in June, said occupancy and attendance levels hit a low in April, but recovered as initial COVID-19 cases were managed and the childcare support package came into play.

G8 said the cessation of the package on July 12, and the re-introduction of the Child Care Subsidy on July 13, has not impacted the business as significantly as expected.

Occupancy has been growing steadily in all states with the exception of Victoria.

“Current occupancy is at 69 per cent with attended occupancy of 50 per cent with COVID-19 impacts varying by region and state at various times,” G8 said on Monday.

The JobKeeper program contributed $70.8 million to G8 during the half and another $14.1 million is expected in the second half of the year. The removal of the government stimulus is expected to impact unemployment levels and bookings.

“COVID-19 impacted trading conditions are expected to continue and given this backdrop the Group will continue its disciplined approach to cost and cash management,” G8 told investors. The firm did not provide earnings guidance and said its dividend policy remains temporarily suspended to preserve cash.

The deferred CY19 final dividend of 6 cents per share will be paid on October 30

A dividend may, subject to financial performance, be paid in respect of CY21.

Hundreds of university staff have voted to take unprotected industrial action in protest against widespread job cuts and a lack of federal government funding support at a time when the sector grapples with the loss of international student revenue because of COVID-19.

A group called the National Higher Education Action Network, which includes disaffected members of the National Tertiary Education Union from universities around the country, held a Zoom meeting on Monday afternoon that endorsed the motion to strike.

Staff at the University of Sydney fear the threat of future job cuts.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Sydney academic and NHEAN spokesman Nick Riemer said more than 330 staff had voted in support of the motion, which opposes the government’s proposed higher education reforms.

"Our motion commits us to the goal of ‘making democratically planned unprotected industrial action possible’," he said.

"Striking is the tried and tested means of securing rights for working people and advancement for society."

Read Anna's full story here.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews all but conceded on Monday that the grand final was lost to the state and said he would continue negotiations with the AFL to get the best compensation for Victoria.

"For the sake of one event as important, as religious almost as it is, the notion that you would take a holiday from the coronavirus for a day so you could have a big crowd together and a dose of normal … that doesn't make any sense," Mr Andrews said.

Daniel Andrews: "It’s just a matter of dealing with the facts."Credit: Joe Armao

"It hurts, but not as much as potentially spreading the virus more."

He would not elaborate on his ongoing talks with the league.

Read Jake's full story here.

Premier Daniel Andrews faces a tough fight in state Parliament as he pushes ahead with plans to extend Victoria's state of emergency by another 12 months.

Victoria recorded 116 new cases of coronavirus in the past day, and 15 more people have died, all of them in aged care.

Opposition to the proposal was growing on Monday afternoon, in the wake of the Premier's announcement that he would seek the unprecedented extension, with the Coalition and significant numbers of key crossbench MPs declaring their vehement opposition.

The government would need to recall parliament, probably in early Septemeber, to pass the legislation needed for another year of state of emergency powers, and win the support of at least three non-government members of the upper house, where Labor does not command a majority.

If disgraced former minister Adem Somyurek breaks his self-imposed exile from Parliament and returns to vote against his former Labor colleagues, the government will need four crossbench votes to prevail.

Read the full story here.

Coronavirus transmission rates in Victoria have plummeted to their lowest point since June and the seven-day average for new cases has dipped below 200 for the first time in more than a month.

Victoria recorded 116 new cases of coronavirus on Monday, its lowest daily tally in seven weeks. Fifteen more people died, all of whom were linked to outbreaks in aged care.

Medical professionals perform COVID testing at a drive-through clinic.Credit: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Every 10 people who have the virus are now infecting an average of five other people, which has resulted in a decline in the number of new infections.

Deakin University epidemiology chair Catherine Bennett said the reproductive factor, which measures the rate at which those infected transmit the virus onto others, was hovering at 0.5, based on her calculations.

That's a significant drop from a reproductive factor of 3, which Victoria reached according to her calculations when daily cases were at their peak in early August.

Read the full story here.

A security guard who tested positive to COVID-19 while working at one of Victoria’s troubled quarantine hotels has told an inquiry into the scandal that he then went to work as a food delivery driver because he was bored.

The guard, who can only be identified as Security 16, gave evidence on Monday that the security business he worked for ordered guards to hide shortages of protective gear from Rydges Hotel staff.

By mid-May, Security 16 was working at Rydges for SSG Security, which was acting as a subcontractor to Unified Security. He told the inquiry he received no training before being put to work at quarantine hotels, where returned overseas travellers were in mandatory isolation.

The guard told the inquiry that some of his colleagues were working 84-hour weeks on the quarantine project and that working second or third jobs was also commonplace. He said he was given no guidance on symptoms.

Read Noel's full story here.

Foreign-born Australians are more than twice as likely as their native-born neighbours to wear a face mask but a national survey has revealed growing fatigue among all residents towards measures aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus.

A survey of households by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, released on Monday, shows the proportion of people wearing face masks, avoiding crowds or even using hand sanitiser is falling despite the ongoing transmission of COVID-19.

An ABS survey has revealed a drop in the proportion of people taking public health measures to stop the spread of coronavirus, including wearing a face mask.Credit: Rhett Wyman

The ABS found a quarter of people surveyed in June used a face mask, down 2 percentage points on the same question asked in May.

But that 25 per cent was buoyed by foreign-born Australians, of which 40 per cent said they had worn a face mask in the past four weeks. Among native-born Australians, the proportion wearing a face mask fell to 17.5 per cent in June, from 20.4 per cent in May.

Across 12 of 13 separate measures tracked by the bureau, foreign-born Australians were more likely to take actions to protect themselves or their families from the coronavirus compared to local-born residents.

Read the full story here.

Politicians, the unkind suggest, spend their professional lives hiding behind masks, lest ghastly intentions be revealed.

And so it has come to pass.

Ministers Alan Tudge and Michael Sukkar wearing masks on arrival for Question Time on Monday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Parliament House in Canberra was a-swirl with masks as politicians, parliamentary staff and the media mixed for the first time in months, fear of a pandemic infecting the rarefied air and suppressing great egos.

Who was grinning; who was scowling and who was practising the art of factionally-aligned whispering? No one could tell.

Here was the Finance Minister, Mathias Cormann, having done a media appearance, struggling with a hook of a pesky mask attachment.

Read Tony's full sketch here.