We are going to close this live coverage now. Thank you all for your company and your insights. Below, a summary of today’s Covid-19 news in Australia.
Be well all of you, and be kind to each other.
- Australia recorded two new Covid-19 deaths. One, in New South Wales, was a 94-year-old man. He was a resident at the Newmarch House aged care facility in western Sydney. It is the second death from the aged care facility after a significant outbreak. There are now 39 cases from the facility, including 13 staff. A man in his 80s from Victoria also died overnight.
- The foreign minister, Marise Payne, has called for an independent global investigation into the spread of Covid-19. Payne says she does not think the World Health Organisation should run the investigation, saying she shares some of the concerns expressed by the US about the agency’s handling of the pandemic. Payne was also reluctant to answer questions about whether she “trusts” China in terms of its response to the virus during an interview with the ABC.
- The federal health minister, Greg Hunt, said elective surgery and IVF could resume sooner than previously expected, thanks to an increase in PPE equipment available to Australia’s healthcare system. Hunt also took a swipe at the WHO, saying its response to the crisis “didn’t help the world”.
- The New South Wales health minister, Brad Hazzard, announced anyone who spat on a worker could receive a $5,000 fine. It’s an expansion of a previous decision to allow the fines for people who spat on health workers or police.
- Hazzard also said NSW had avoided some 700 deaths, based on projections during the peak of the outbreak.
- Beaches in some parts of the Sydney’s eastern suburbs will reopen from Monday. Randwick mayor Danny Said announced that Clovelly, Coogee and Maroubra beaches would reopen for exercise only from Monday.
Updated
No new cases of Covid-19 in South Australia
For the second straight day, South Australia has reported zero new cases of Covid-19.
From SA Health:
There have been no new cases of COVID-19 today. There remains a total of 435 cases in South Australia.
To date, 354 people have been cleared of COVID-19. There are only 77 active cases in South Australia.
There have been four reported deaths in SA from COVID-19.
Two people are currently in intensive care at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. A 68-year-old man is in a critical condition while a 75-year-old man is stable.
SA Pathology has undertaken more than 43,000 tests for COVID-19 so far. The average wait time for a test result is 17 hours.
Until 30 April, any South Australian who has a fever or respiratory symptoms consistent with COVID-19, no matter how mild, is encouraged to attend a COVID-19 clinic or their GP, for assessment and testing.
The state’s health minister Stephen Wade said he was cautiously optimistic the virus was being brought under control, but warned it was too early to abandon social distancing measures.
This is the third week where we have zero or single digit cases each day, but that should not be a seed for complacency – that should spur us on for even further efforts.
We’ve got to this point through social distancing and border control. There is the chance that people will get slack. Over the next two to four weeks, I would very much encourage the public to hold the course.
We will all stand to benefit at the end of this.
Internationally, while some countries - such as New Zealand - are looking at relaxing restrictions after successfully ‘flattening the curve’ of their Covid-19 infections, in other countries, they are asking, how did this all go so wrong.
In the UK, the distractions of Brexit and reshuffles, the ignoring of expert medical advice at critical times, and the (now-discarded) strategy of ‘herd immunity’. Extraordinary read here:
And in Sweden, there is growing anger over systemic failures in aged care homes.
Anglicare, which runs Newmarch House in western Sydney, has released a statement regarding the death of a 94-year-old resident today.
We are very sad to advise that a 94-year-old male resident of Newmarch House, who tested positive for Covid-19, passed away this morning.
The resident’s cause of death will be formally confirmed in the coming days.
The resident’s immediate family have been informed. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they grieve.
All Newmarch House residents and their families have been notified, as well as all staff. All relevant authorities have also been notified.
Although the cause of death has not been determined, this is tragically our second resident who has died in recent days, who had received a positive diagnosis of Covid-19.
The death of any of our residents is always difficult for their family, neighbours and friends, as well as for our staff and volunteers, many of whom know the resident closely having cared for the resident over a number of years.
Updated
First it was Llandudno in Wales being noisily browsed by a herd of goats. Then deer venturing into Nara, Japan. More wildlife reclaiming the world.
Protective Security Officers tracked a suspect wearing a grey fur coat hopping through the heart of the #adelaide CBD this morning. He was last seen on foot heading into the West Parklands 🦘🚔👮#animaltakeover #whatsthatskip #kangaroo #cityslicker pic.twitter.com/JPyVXIYQRw
— South Australia Police (@SAPoliceNews) April 19, 2020
107 Australians stranded in US and Caribbean because of flight bans for cruise ship crews
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has prohibited cruise ship crew from travelling on commercial flights within America, leaving 107 Australians stranded, an unable to get home.
Australian dancer Amber Jenkins is one of 107 Australian crew members stranded on 40 ships off the coast of the US and in the Caribbean after the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the cruise industry.
Jenkins, a 22-year-old from Kempsey on the NSW mid north coast, and three other Australian crew members are on Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas.
The ship offloaded its passengers weeks ago and there have been no cases of coronavirus on the vessel, but a lack of available flights has meant the Australians are floating off the coast of Florida not sure when they will be able to fly home.
“Amber is safe,” her mother, Tina Keast, told AAP on Saturday.
“She is being fed, is well looked after, has a guest room, and they are doing the quarantining and wearing the masks on the ship even though there is no virus on there and no passengers.”
Australia’s ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos used social media on Friday to write a letter to the stranded Australians, assuring them the government was “working tirelessly to assist with your safe and timely repatriation to Australia”.
If you're an 🇦🇺 crew member on board a cruise ship off the 🇺🇸 coast, Ambassador @A_Sinodinos has written a letter to you about the work being done to bring you home. If you haven’t already registered with our Embassy/Consulates, please email Consular.Washington@dfat.gov.au pic.twitter.com/9reujVLZWV
— Australia in the US 🇦🇺🇺🇸 (@AusintheUS) April 17, 2020
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has prohibited cruise ship crew from travelling on commercial flights in the US.
“This is making it extremely difficult for cruise lines to make viable logistical arrangements for the repatriation of its crew members,” Sinodinos wrote.
The Australian government has worked with cruise ship companies across the globe to help facilitate the return of Australian passengers and crew.
There are no longer Australian passengers on cruise ships, a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said.
Keast said her daughter was booked on a flight three weeks ago but it was cancelled. They hope a charter flight can be organised to get the Australians home.
The Adventure of the Seas is scheduled to dock at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Sunday for supplies, but Jenkins won’t be able to disembark unless she has a flight booked.
“The cruise company is really looking after them well and everyone on the ship is happy,” Keast said.
“If they can get a charter flight organised for all of them to fly home, they will all jump on and do it.”
Updated
(As the parent of a school-aged child, I find this interesting. My child is un-teachable anyway. Five years old, knows everything).
Parents in Queensland are not expected to teach their children from home amid school closures, the education minister Grace Grace has said.
Schools remain open for essential workers and vulnerable children when term two begins on Monday.
People uncertain about whether children should be at school should contact their school’s principal, health authorities have said.
Parents who have children at home with them are not required to take any classes.
That’s a job for teachers and teacher aides employed across the state who will help children learn via digital devices and hard copies of the curriculum, the education minister said.
“This is remote learning,” Grace told reporters on Sunday.
“No parent is required to be a teacher.”
Thousands of new electronic devices have been purchased for schools and print learning material has been prepared.
The school restriction measures are expected to be reviewed in five weeks and help lines have been established for those who have questions or need help.
Grace said she expected between 10% to 15% of students would attend schools from Monday.
New Zealand set to wind back its lockdown restrictions from Level 4 to Level 3
Good afternoon. Ben Doherty here in Sydney. Across the Tasman Sea from where I sit on this glorious autumnal Sunday, New Zealand looks likely to announce a relaxation of its lockdown laws, after low number of new Covid-19 cases for more than a week.
You can read more on how are countries are navigating their ‘exit strategies’ here.
From Ben McKay at AAP in New Zealand:
One day out from a decision on whether to relax New Zealand’s coronavirus clampdown, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has asked Kiwis to keep a diary of their daily movements.
Ardern believes the homespun idea could help the country’s contact-tracers with their work.
“I would ask New Zealanders to think about doing that. Just keeping a quick note of where you’ve been, and who you’ve been with,” Ardern said.
“It will not only help them, it will help us. If you imagine, even asking someone six days later to account every movement over a period of time, it’s an incredibly hard task.
“So I would ask New Zealanders to have new practises, new things that they do at the end of the day.
“The better that we are able to do ... the sooner we can move through down the alert levels and the sooner life feels more normal.”
On Monday, cabinet will meet to decide whether to end four weeks of level four restrictions and downscale to a level three lockdown, which mirrors many of Australia’s restrictions.
That will include re-opening schools, allowing more businesses – including the construction and forestry industries – to get back to work and let restaurants operate for delivery orders only.
It will also allow Kiwis to extend their bubbles of people with which they have personal contact, which presents a challenge for contact tracing.
Contact tracing is the process where health officials track down people that have been in contact with confirmed cases of Covid-19, asking them to self-isolate and get tested.
Just as in Australia, officials are hoping to use a tracking app to assist the process, along with diary entries.
On Sunday, health officials announced just nine new cases across the country, the eighth straight day in which new cases have been no higher than 20.
The country’s death toll stands at 12, after the death of a man in Invercargill last Tuesday was confirmed to be linked to Covid-19.
In keeping with the country’s health-first approach, Ardern announced four criteria that would decide whether the country would relax its restrictions – with none related to the economy.
The first is the satisfaction of health professionals that undetected community transmission is unlikely.
The second is strong contact tracing capacity, the third is the strength of border controls and the the fourth is the health system’s ability to stand up.
“Our focus has been to protect the health of New Zealanders,” Ardern said, while acknowledging the hurt in the business community.
“The best thing for the economy has been to stop the virus. But I do what to say thank you to a very special group ... small business owners and operators. Nobody underestimates how hard this situation is for all of you.”
The New Zealand government has paid out more than $NZ9bn ($A$8.8bn) in wage subsidies to businesses, representing more than 1.5 million people, to date.
Updated
Today, so far
That’s me done for today. I will leave you in the capable hands of my colleague Ben Doherty, who will take you through the rest of the afternoon and into the evening.
First, though, here’s a quick summary of what’s happened so far today:
- Australia recorded two new Covid-19 deaths. One, in New South Wales, was a 94-year-old man. He was a resident at the Newmarch House aged care facility in western Sydney. It is the second death from the aged care facility after a significant outbreak. There are now 39 cases from the facility, including 13 staff. A man in his 80s from Victoria also died overnight.
- The foreign minister, Marise Payne, has called for an independent global investigation into the spread of Covid-19. Payne says she does not think the World Health Organisation should run the investigation, saying she shares some of the concerns expressed by the US about the agencies handling of the pandemic. Payne was also reluctant to answer questions about whether she “trusts” China in terms of its response to the virus during an interview with the ABC.
- The federal health minister, Greg Hunt, said elective surgery and IVF could resume sooner than previously expected, thanks to an increase in PPE equipment available to Australia’s healthcare system. Hunt also took a swipe at the WHO, saying its response to the crisis “didn’t help the world”.
- The New South Wales health minister, Brad Hazzard, announced anyone who spat on a worker could receive a $5,000 fine. It’s an expansion of a previous decision to allow the fines for people who spat on health workers or police.
- Hazzard also said NSW had avoided some 700 deaths, based on projections during the peak of the outbreak.
- Beaches in some parts of the Sydney’s eastern suburbs will re-open from Monday. Randwick mayor Danny Said announced that Clovelly, Coogee and Maroubra beaches would re-open for exercise only from Monday.
Updated
Western Australia has recorded just one new Covid-19 case overnight.
But the state’s health minister, Roger Cook, has urged people not to become complacent. He announced a little earlier that the state had invested in preparing to give its health department significant “surge capacity”, going from a little more than 100 ventilator beds to “well over 660”.
That means we have a huge surge capacity to respond to anything that this virus throws against us. Obviously we need to make sure that we have that capacity where we need it, so that includes the capacity to be able to transport patients and equipment into a regional setting or back into the metropolitan area. But this means that we are ready, we stand ready if this virus does start to afflict a large number of people. As you know, we’re coming into our winter flu season. As a result of that we need to also make sure we have capacity to manage that cohort of patients and any Covid-19 patients. The current numbers suggest we’ve got this virus under control but we can’t be complacent.
Updated
Queensland Health have issued a correction. Instead of four new cases, the state has five. That includes the death of the 83-year-old man, which was announced yesterday.
Not Covid-19 related exactly, but this is quite a story from my colleague Malcolm Farr. A legal clash is looming after claims a senior adviser to the prime minister, Scott Morrison, has pirated Malcolm Turnbull’s memoir before its official publication on Monday.
A letter of complaint has been sent to a senior Morrison adviser from Nicholas Pullen of lawyers HWL Ebsworth, representing Turnbull and his publishers.
Lawyers for Turnbull and his publisher Hardie Grant believe unauthorised digital copies of the book, A Bigger Picture, were widely distributed with recipients encouraged to forward them to others.
I should stress that beaches in neighbouring Waverley – so Bondi, Tamarama and Bronte – remain closed for now.
On Saturday Waverley mayor Paula Masselos said the area remained “a hotspot for coronavirus cases and we have no intention of reopening our beaches at this time”.
The council is, however, looking at ways to provide managed access to the water for the sole purpose of ocean swimming and surfing for exercise. The council has been looking at ways to manage restrictions at our beaches ever since they were closed on 21 March due to limits on public gatherings introduced by the state government.
Masselos also said the council was working with Randwick City and Woollahra councils “on a coordinated approach to the situation at our beaches in consultation with our local police and health authorities”.
So, watch this space I guess.
Updated
Some of Sydney's eastern suburbs beaches to open for exercise
A number of beaches in Sydney’s eastern suburbs will reopen on Monday, but only for exercise.
Randwick Council says that from tomorrow Coogee, Maroubra and Clovelly Beaches will be made available for “exercise purposes only”. That means jogging on the sand, walking, swimming, surfing and other exercise activities will now be permitted.
Sydney’s eastern suburbs beaches were closed on 28 March after large crowds were filmed gathering at neighbouring Bondi Beach.
“Living along the coast, I know how important our beaches are to the mental and physical health of so many in the community,” Randwick mayor Danny Said said.
“The past three weeks have been difficult as we’ve all had to make changes and sacrifices to our daily routines. Our decision to close the beaches three weeks ago was not taken lightly and factored in the risk of coronavirus spread, particularly given the concentration of Covid-19 cases in the eastern suburbs area along with the popularity of our beaches.
“Our decision was also based upon expected crowd numbers and people’s initial behaviour in relation to social distancing rules.
“By not going to the beach, each of us has helped others in need. We’ve helped slow the spread and flatten the curve. I know it’s been tough, but I thank everybody for doing the right thing.”
Ocean rock pools in Randwick will remain closed until further notice as they are subject to a public health order to close.
Updated
Second death at Newmarch House aged care home
The ABC is reporting that there has been another death at the Newmarch House aged care home in Western Sydney after a 94-year-old resident died this morning.
It’s the second death at the aged care home, after a 93-year-old man died yesterday.
The New South Wales health minister Dr Kerry Chant said this morning that there were now 39 confirmed cases from the aged care home, including 13 staff. That’s an increase of nine cases from yesterday.
The outbreak occurred after a staff member attended work without realising she was infected.
Updated
Queensland recorded four new cases of Covid-19 overnight, taking the state’s total to 1,019.
The state’s health department says 275 of those cases remain active.
Thanks to Josh, as always.
Police in New South Wales charged seven people and issued 45 fines for alleged breaches of Public Health Orders in the past 24 hours.
A few of the fines handed out included:
- A 43-year-old man who was stopped by police in Kings Cross just after midnight. The man was driving a McLaren 650S in Potts Point. He told officers he was driving to Woolloomooloo to get petrol. After being warned, he informed officers driving is a form of exercise. The man and his 60-year-old passenger were each issued a $1000 fine. The driver allegedly told police “do what you want mate, I don’t care. This $1,000 fine won’t hurt with my $15m.”
- At about 8.40am, officers attended a home in Auburn and found four men congregating in a small room, with one man hiding behind the door. Only one of the four men, a 39-year-old, resided at the address and no one in the group – including a 25-year-old man from Guildford, a 36-year-old man from another Auburn address and a 40-year-old man from Fairfield East – are related. They were each issued a $1,000 fine.
- At about 12.30am, officers stopped and spoke to a 29-year-old man in Pendle Hill. The man was issued a $1,000 fine after telling police he was out to go a visit a friend.
- At about 2am, officers stopped and spoke to a 19-year-old woman in Enmore. The woman was issued a $1,000 fine after telling officers she was going to pay rent in Lakemba and then drive to Cabramatta to buy a pork roll.
- Just after 4pm, officers spoke with a 22-year-old man at a shopping centre in Mt Druitt about being in a public place without a reasonable excuse. The man had previously been warned and after telling police he was on his way to a friend’s house to “smoke weed” he was subsequently issued a $1,000 fine.
- At about 12.50am officers attended a home in Merewether, Newcastle, following reports of a party. Police found six people sitting on an upstairs balcony area. Three people were directed to leave as it was not their place of residence. One of the men – aged 40 – allegedly refused to leave and yelled at police. He eventually complied and together with a 49-year-old man and a 50-year-old woman, they were issued a $1,000 fine.
Updated
Good afternoon, I am now handing back the blog to Michael McGowan.
A handy bit of information from the agriculture department about Australia’s food security situation:
“Australia imports just over 10% of domestically consumed food and beverages, to meet consumer preferences for taste and variety. It is unlikely – but possible – that Covid-19 could disrupt these supply chains temporarily, resulting in inconvenience for some consumers. This would not threaten the food security of most Australians.”
You can read the full report here.
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 to 11 year old Gage, who dropped this in the letterbox of a friend in Melbourne. His respect for #AnzacDay & commitment to community should be an inspiration to all of us to #anzacathome next Saturday. 🇦🇺 🇳🇿 pic.twitter.com/OzSDqs97bH
— Simon Birmingham (@Birmo) April 19, 2020
On the coronavirus contact tracing app again, just worth noting that the deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly said yesterday that the app would not track location, so it is similar to the Singapore app in that respect.
Just a bit more on the NSW government fines for spitting and coughing:
“Unfortunately, there have now also been incidents in which retail staff and transport staff have also been subjected to this disgusting, dangerous behaviour, and it will not be tolerated,” NSW health minister Brad Hazzard said.
“Every worker in this Covid-19 crisis is now an essential worker and will have the added protection they deserve, including those in retail stores and those critical to our public transport system.
Updated
OK, I’m going to hand you over to my colleague Josh Taylor while I take a short break.
There have been no new cases of Covid-19 in the ACT for the sixth straight day. The territory still has 103 confirmed cases, 89 of which have recovered.
The 14 remaining cases are self-isolating at home, meaning there are currently no cases in Canberra hospitals.
The ACT has recorded three deaths in total during the pandemic.
A fascinating story from my colleague in San Francisco, Lois Beckett, on protests against Covid-19 restrictions in the US. A day after the US president Donald Trump encouraged Americans to protest against strict public health measures, demonstrations were held in state capitals in Maryland, Texas and Ohio.
Hundreds of people stood shoulder-to-shoulder at the Texas Capitol on Saturday, chanting “Fire Fauci!” as part of a protest organized by the conspiracy theory site InfoWars. Anthony Fauci is the top public health expert on the White House coronavirus taskforce.
Updated
Bowen is asked whether Australia should “trust” China in the wake of the spread of Covid-19. He says “trust is something that is earned and something constantly reinforced by good actions and by full accountability”.
Everybody around the world would want to trust China. Whether that is the case or not depends on the quality of information provided and whether it is credible. Of course we would call on the Chinese government to be as upfront as possible at all times with the information they provided. Looking back, could China have done more in relation to accountability and transparency earlier in this crisis? Yes. Many countries could have done more and better. In relation to trust, it is something which is not static – it’s something that is owned and maintained through being truthful and honest at all times.
Updated
Shadow health minister Chris Bowen is speaking in Sydney. He says his “inclination” would be to download the government’s Covid-19 tracing app.
My inclination would be to support efforts by downloading the app, but whether you are an MP, an ordinary Australian, any Australian, you are entitled to know more before being asked to download it. Like all Australians, I would look at the proposal being put forward by the prime minister. I’d look at all that information to see if it’s something I wanted to do. If the government is trying to do something positive with Covid-19, we’ve supported that as opposition and as individuals, but we are all entitled to see much more detail and accountability.
Updated
NSW was preparing for 700 Covid-19 deaths.
Quickly back to New South Wales, Hazzard is asked about that figure of 700 fewer deaths than projected. He says on the state government’s early predictions it had been preparing for 700 deaths.
He says that’s a “conservative” figure and that “700 lives have been saved”.
“We’re doing very well but let’s not get too excited at this point because as Dr Chant has said we’re barely halfway through the first quarter of this very long game.”
Updated
Government services minister Stuart Robert has slapped down former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce for refusing to download the government’s Covid-19 tracking app.
Joyce told the Nine Newspaper on Sunday he would not download the app, citing privacy concerns.
“I treasure the government knowing as little about me as possible,” Joyce told Nine newspapers on Sunday.
But Stuart, who has said the app would not track people’s location, said Joyce did not understand the purpose of the app.
“Look Barnaby, no one wants to know where you’ve gone, pal, we are not interested. And plus the app doesn’t do geolocation,” the minister told 2GB/4BC radio on Sunday.
“I’m not interested in where you are on the face of the earth.”
Stuart said the Bluetooth connecting app aims to digitise the present manual process and collects four things – name, mobile number, age and postcode.
“If you’re within one and a half metres of someone else with the app for more than 15 minutes, both of those apps swap mobile numbers or details,” Robert said.
“Then, if you confirm positive for the virus, that information goes to a secure national data store, then straight to state health authorities and then they can call people you’ve been in contact with, or, they can call you if you’ve been in contact with someone.”
Updated
NSW government extends $5,000 fine to people who spit at "all workers"
Hazzard has announced the $5,000 on-the-spot fine for people who spit or cough at healthcare workers has been extended now to include all workers.
Assistant police minister Karen Webb says that overnight, a 25-year-old man from Nowra was arrested for a number of offences including allegedly spitting at police officers.
Tony Smith, the state secretary of the fast food and retail workers union, has welcomed the extension of the fines.
Just in the last last week, I’ve had four matters raised with me by members across the state from people deliberately coughing or spitting on people ... It is vile and it is disgusting and unacceptable.
Updated
New South Wales health minister Brad Hazzard is providing an update on new cases in the state.
He says to 8pm last night there were 21 new cases of Covid-19, taking the state’s total number of confirmed cases to 2,957. There are 245 people being treated in hospital, including 21 in intensive care and 17 on ventilators.
There are nine new cases at the Newmarch aged care home in western Sydney, where a 93-year-old man died yesterday. There are now 39 cases at the aged care home, including 13 staff.
Hazzard says looking back to March when the state was seeing hundreds of new cases a day he “couldn’t have imagined we would be doing as well as we are”.
He says the state were expecting “up in the order of 700 deaths, possibly more”.
But, Hazzard says, there is still a long way to go.
“We’re doing much better than we could have expected at this point but I also want to remind the community this is a long game. It’s a team game. Probably at this point we aren’t very far into the game.
Extending the sport metaphor, Hazzard says that during a conversation with the chief health officer Kerry Chant he “wondered aloud whether we were at the end of the first quarter”.
She looked at me and said minister probably if we’re lucky we’re 10 minutes into the first quarter. There is no room here for us to forget this is a long game and a game with a lot more to go.
Updated
Health minister Greg Hunt and government services minister Stuart Robert have been out over the weekend explaining a bit more about the coronavirus contact tracing app.
Firstly, it will be open source, meaning the public can have more confidence that the app is only doing what it says it is going to do, and not collecting any more data than required.
Robert also said the privacy impact assessment would be made public and the government would delete the data once the pandemic is over.
Hunt said around 40% of the population would need to be using the app in order for it to be effective.
You can find out more about the app by reading our explainer.
Labor’s shadow foreign affairs minister Penny Wong describes the arrest of major pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic as “deeply concerning”
These arrests are deeply concerning. Freedom of assembly is enshrined in Hong Kong’s Basic Law. ‘One Country, Two Systems’ must be upheld. One of the arrested was Martin Lee, “the father of HK democracy”. The timing during a pandemic is of further concern. https://t.co/dppKD91ou7
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) April 18, 2020
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, will still make a commemorative address at the Australian War Memorial’s empty Dawn Service on Anzac day.
Anzac Day memorials will not go ahead as usual this year. Instead, the Dawn Service at the War Memorial will be broadcast nationally, while the Returned Services League has started a #lightupthedawn campaign year asking Australians to stand in their driveway, balcony or living room, with a torch or candle, immediately following in the televised dawn service
“ANZAC day is a sacred day for all Australians. It is an important time to remember the sacrifices of those who have gone before us, those who have laid down their lives or suffered great hardship to protect Australians’ way of life,” Morrison said.
“This year, we will not be gathering at the local cenotaph, or attending gunfire breakfasts at the local RSL, or gathering together to bow our heads in silence and listen to the bugles at dawn.
“But we will still remember the sacrifice of those who gave so much for us at Gallipoli and on many fronts, as we ourselves give what we can to protect Australian lives while we face this terrible virus.”
The dawn service will still include a ceremonial piper, didgeridoo player and bugler among other traditional elements, supplied by the Australian Defence Force.
The New South Wales shadow minister for health, Ryan Park, is speaking in Port Kembla addressing the delayed departure of the Ruby Princess cruise ship.
Can I say it is time the New South Wales government through the minister outline exactly what are the plans to get this ship moving. We don’t want to see this ship move until we’ve got a guarantee that the crew’s safety and wellbeing is paramount and is assured. What we don’t know is what is the criteria? What will the criteria be to allow this ship to set sail? What will be the health criteria, because we know that New South Wales police have effectively said it is up to [the] health [department] now to make the call about when this happens.
Park, who is also the local MP in Port Kembla, says he wants to know where the ship’s crew will be taken if they are deemed too sick to remain on board.
Updated
Some joy!
The Guardian is live-streaming the first six(!) hours of the One World: Together At Home event, organised by the World Health Organisation and Global Citizen in collaboration with Lady Gaga.
The Guardian will be streaming the first six hours today. Stars appearing in the earlier part of the show include John Legend, Megan Rapinoe, the Killers, Samuel L Jackson, Jameela Jamil, Jennifer Hudson and many more.
When I turned it on a little earlier Keith Urban was playing, though, so, you know, timing’s everything I guess.
Updated
Some housekeeping:
This morning, we briefly reported that the national Covid-19 death toll was 70. It is actually 69.
The mistake occurred because Queensland counts the death of any Queenslanders in its figures but two of those deaths have occurred in New South Wales and are counted there. On Saturday, both New South Wales and Queensland recorded deaths for the same person, an 83-year-old man who passed away in New South Wales after recently returning from the Celebrity Eclipse, an overseas cruise ship that docked in San Diego.
On the government’s Covid-19 tracing app, Hunt is asked whether any rollback of lockdown measures will be affected if the government fails to meet its target of having 40% of the population download the app.
It is a goal, but anything which adds to our tracing capability, adds to our ability to protect those who might have been inadvertently infected. What this is about is protecting those who might have been inadvertently in contact, inadvertently infected, and any uptake increases our capacity to help with the contact tracing which increases our capacity to save lives and protect lives, to protect our health workers and to limit the spread.
Updated
Health minister says WHO's response 'didn’t help the world'
Greg Hunt backs foreign affairs minister Marise Payne’s call for an independent review of the global response to Covid-19, including the role of the World Health Organisation. He also takes a swipe at the WHO’s handling of the crisis in the process.
What we have seen is Australia has been able to have, by global standards, just a profoundly important and successful human outcome, but we have done that by following the course that our medical experts here in Australia set out.
We do know there was very considerable criticism when we imposed on the 1 February the China ban from some of the officials and the WHO in Geneva. The regional body has done well in terms of polio, measles, malaria, but what we saw from some officials in Geneva, we think was a response which didn’t help the world. We have done well because we made our own decisions as a country.
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Elective surgery, IVF could resume earlier than expected.
Federal health minister Greg Hunt is speaking in Victoria. He says national cabinet will meet this week to discuss the resumption of elective surgery and IVF treatments after a boost of PPE supply.
Hunt announced Australia has received a shipment of 60 million masks two weeks earlier than expected, which “opens up the possibility of elective surgery and in particular, IVF, recommencing at an earlier date than had previously been thought possible”.
National cabinet is meeting on Tuesday and Thursday.
“The elective surgery decision was made on two grounds, one was PPE, of which masks were critical [and] the second was the concern that if the coronavirus had grown dramatically, our hospitals would have been under intense pressure.
“At this point, Australians have done magnificently and we are not facing a threat to our hospitals, now it is about securing the master and PPE and today is an important part of that and laying the foundation for this week on the road out.”
Hunt says there are currently 6,586 cases of Covid-19 in Australia. Of those, 185 are in hospitals, 51 in ICU, 33 on ventilation.
The rate of increase of new cases has been less than 1% for seven consecutive days.
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News Corp is reporting that a woman who was forcibly quarantined at a Sydney hotel after returning from overseas tested positive for coronavirus immediately after being cleared for release.
News.com.au reports the woman, in her 20s, felt “weird” and suspected she had been infected with Covid-19 on her travels, but was refused access to testing while in police lockdown.
The woman said she had no contact with healthcare workers until she was contacted by a nurse in the second week of her quarantine. She told the nurse she was experiencing mild symptoms but was told she didn’t need to be inspected further.
After she left quarantine she arranged to be tested and received a positive result.
Health experts have expressed concerns about Australia’s policy of forcing returning travellers to quarantine inside hotels. One Sydney doctor who has been treating returned travellers ordered into forced hotel isolation in NSW told the Guardian the situation was a “disaster” and said people are in conditions “worse than prison”.
In Western Australia an investigation was launched after a man ended up in an induced coma in intensive care despite his wife allegedly calling for a doctor nearly nine hours before he was admitted to hospital.
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Speaking on the ABC right now Sydney Kings star Andrew Bogut says he wouldn’t want to return to playing in the near future, saying it could set the wrong example while Australians were still locked down in their homes.
I think if we are urging the community and cafes and restaurants and everyday workers to not open their business and be around people, then I think we as athletes can’t be hypocritical and we probably need to wait until things are good and safe enough to go.
Because we know that children and everyone, even adults around the world look up to us. If we’re out there playing on a field they might think why can’t I go to the beach and hang out with my family or go to the pub. There is more than just playing sport and we want everything to be safe before we get out there.
Victoria police issued 65 fines for breaches of public health orders in the past 24 hours. Victoria have issued more than 1,000 fines since the lockdown rules came into place, far more than any other state. Since 21 March, police in Victoria have conducted a total of 24,102 spot checks of homes and businesses.
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AAP reports that flu vaccine manufacturing is being ramped up this season in the hope higher public immunity to influenza will free up hospitals to focus on coronavirus.
Melbourne manufacturer Seqirus has partnered with the federal government to make an additional two million influenza vaccines for the 2020 flu season, with nine million vaccines in total to be distributed across the country.
The company says there is already strong early demand for flu vaccines.
“This is a positive trend, because we know that flu vaccination programs will be more important than ever due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” Seqirus executive director Danielle Dowell told AAP.
The additional vaccines will be available through GP clinics, pharmacies and immunisation providers.
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Of Australians stranded overseas, Payne says that three flights returned from the Philippines this morning landing in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. She calls it “a mammoth effort”.
She says the government is working on further flights from India, where there are more than 6,000 Australians who have registered with the high commission there who want to come home.
There’s been a number of flights which have left from India supported by the high commission in India. As you know, it is also in lockdown. The different states have different rules. We are processing people to be able to be able to travel across those areas. We are also very focused on making sure that every single Australian who needs an application to leave India has that facilitated by the high commission. We are in discussions with a number of other airlines for the coming week to endeavour to identify further flights. But these are challenging times.
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Payne says it was “regrettable” that an Australian air force plane which was delivering supplies to Vanuatu after Cyclone Harold was unable to land because a Chinese plane would not move from the runway.
The supplies were delivered on April 12 ... There was an A-320 on the tarmac on the Sunday which had been unloading stores delivered from China. The unloading took a long period of time and the plane was still on the tarmac unexpectedly for Australia on the Sunday.
Speers asks Payne whether the Chinese plane had “deliberately” tried to prevent Australia from landing.
We have raised our concerns with officials in Vanuatu and in appropriate places with the Chinese government. I don’t know whether it was deliberate or not, David. I wasn’t there. But what is most important is that countries like Australia, countries like Australia and New Zealand working together, and others in the region, are able to support our Pacific neighbours in the way that is so important now.
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Payne says relationships between Australia and China “will be changed in some ways”.
What is really important is, in my view, in our view, how the world comes together now to cooperate, to rebuild, is absolutely key to this.”
Speers asks her whether the government’s trust in China has been “eroded” by the crisis. She says the government “would be very clear that we believe transparency is essential”.
All of these things will need to be reviewed, will need to be considered in the light of changes in the world economy. In the light of changes in international health security. And so many other things. And that is the work that we are doing at the moment.
Pressed for an answer, Payne finally says: “I trust China in terms of the work that we need to do together.”
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Foreign minister calls for international investigation into Covid-19 spread
David Speers is interviewing foreign affairs minister Marise Payne on Insiders. He asks her “what questions” she’d like China to answer about the origins of Covid-19, after ministers including Peter Dutton have criticised China’s handling of the virus in recent days.
She says she wants to see a global independent review, and “transparency” from all countries.
Well, we need to know the sorts of details that an independent review would identify for us about the genesis of the virus, about the approaches to dealing with it. and addressing it. [As well as] about the openness with which information was shared [and] interaction with the World Health Organisation into action with other international leaders.
She says it wouldn’t be appropriate for the World Health Organisation to run such a review. Payne says the government shares “concerns” about the WHO’s handling of the virus.
“We share some of the concerns that the United States have identified in relation to the World Health Organisation. That is certainly correct. I think it is about an independent mechanism, and I’m not sure that you can have the health organisation which has been responsible for disseminating much of the international communications material, and doing much of the early engagement and investigative work, also as the review mechanism. That strikes me as something poacher and gamekeeper.
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Anglicare have released a statement following the death of a 93-year-old resident yesterday.
In a statement the Anglicare CEO Grant Millard said the man had “multiple health issues” along with his positive Covid-19 diagnosis.
We know this is a very difficult time for you all and one which can cause significant anxiety. Anglicare management has put in place a number of measures to maximise the safety and wellbeing of those in our home.
Millard said Nepean hospital had established a “hospital in the home” which would mean all residents who have tested Covid-19 positive in Newmarch will still be cared for in the home, but with “access to hospital resources and with oversight by hospital specialists in infectious diseases, as if in the hospital setting”.
This will mean, if required, more intensive supports can be brought into the home under the direction of the hospital specialist. Anglicare is also sourcing more staff on site to ensure adequate coverage of care for all residents as well as recruiting some staff who are specifically dedicated to working with residents who have tested positive.
The aged care facility has seen a major outbreak after a staff member worked for six days without knowing she had the virus.
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Foreign affairs minister Marise Payne will join David Speers on the ABC’s Insiders this morning. I’ll bring you any highlights from the interview.
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What does the road out of lockdown look like? My colleague Ben Doherty has looked to what overseas countries are doing as a guide to how an exit strategy might look.
Don’t get too excited though: the Nine newspapers this morning quote Peter Collignon, a professor of microbiology at the Australian National University, saying he doesn’t expect pubs to be open until September.
The New South Wales government has announced an additional $25m to help fast-track research and clinical trials aimed at stopping the spread of Covid-19.
The funds are part of about $800m in extra health funding allocated by the government to bolster the health system last month.
NSW health minister Brad Hazzard said the funding would be directed to research on:
- accurate and timely diagnosis of Covid-19;
- support conducting Covid-19 clinical trials including vaccine trials;
- monitoring, developing and evaluating strategies to slow community transmission;
- developing and evaluating treatments for Covid-19.
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Andrews also said during that interview that he expected Victorian schools to remain closed throughout term 2.
That’s despite calls from Scott Morrison for schools to reopen as soon as possible, and NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian’s decision to have students return via a roster.
Andrews said it was “common sense” that students being at school would contribute to the spread of the virus.
“The Victorian chief health officer has a very firm view (that schools should be closed),” he told Sky.
“[But] if we were continuing to see very stable numbers … then of course we would always reserve the right to look at those restrictions.”
Premier @DanielAndrewsMP on golf: I'd love to be doing. I don't need to be doing it. It is frustrating. Playing golf isn't worth somebody's life. "The notion that we can just continue as normal is simply wrong". If you have 500 exemptions, you don't have a rule book. #springst
— Shannon Deery (@s_deery) April 18, 2020
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Victoria records its 15th Covid-19 death.
Victoria has recorded its 15th death overnight, the premier Daniel Andrews has confirmed.
Speaking on Sky News, Andrews said a man in his 80s died overnight in hospital. Andrews said the state had recorded nine new cases overnight.
As the prime minister, Scott Morrison, urges Australians to download its new Covid-19 tracing app it appears some MPs aren’t so keen.
The Nine newspapers are reporting former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce is refusing to download the app. He’s quoted this morning as saying: “I treasure the government knowing as little about me as possible”. Others including the Labor MP Julian Hill told the paper he was not inclined to download it, but “may be persuaded” if privacy concerns were addressed.
Morrison has said the app will not be mandatory, but the government wants more than 40% of Australians to download it to increase its effectiveness. On Saturday the government services minister, Stuart Robert, said there would be no surveillance, geo-location or tracking in the app.
Good morning, it’s 19 April. Welcome to today’s live coverage of all things Covid-19.
Here’s a quick wrap of what we learned yesterday:
- Australia recorded four new Covid-19 deaths. Three were in New South Wales; a 58-year-old woman, an 83-year-old Queensland man who died in Sydney and a 93-year-old man who was a resident of Newmarch House, an aged care facility where there has been an outbreak of the virus. A 74-year-old man also died in Tasmania’s Mersey hospital.
- The prime minister, Scott Morrison, said the government’s coronavirus contact tracing app would not be compulsory. The government services minister, Stuart Robert, said the app would not be a surveillance device.
- The Artania cruise ship departed Western Australia with 300 crew and 11 passengers on board.
- The Queensland government has offered $200m to struggling airline Virgin Australia, but with a number of conditions, including that the company keeps its headquarters in Brisbane.
- The deputy chief medical officer said as growth in new infections slowed, Australia needed to expand its testing regime to make it more proactive, rather than waiting for cases to present at hospitals and medical practices.
