Death toll rises, Dan Tehan retracts Daniel Andrews attack
Thanks for following along today, readers. We’re going to wind up the blog shortly.
But first, let’s summarise the events of the day.
- Australia’s death toll has risen to 95 following another death in NSW at the Newmarch House aged care home, and the death of an 83-year-old woman in WA.
- Australia’s progress otherwise remains positive. Only 18 new cases have been recorded in the past 24 hours, remaining within the target of 20 new cases.
- Brendan Murphy, the chief medical officer, continued to urge caution, saying “there are still small outbreaks detected in Victoria and New South Wales, there is still evidence of some low level community transmission”
- He flagged a potential restart of face-to-face university activities and said the medical advice on schools remains clear: children are not high level transmitters and are at extremely low risk.
- About one in four adults with access to a smartphone have now downloaded the COVIDSafe App. Murphy said the more it is used, the more likely it is that authorities will be able to take bold steps to lift restrictions.
- In Victoria, a teacher tested positive for Covid-19 at the Meadowglen primary school in Epping. The school is to be closed for three days for deep cleaning. Victoria has otherwise recorded 13 new cases.
- Dan Tehan, the education minister, was forced to withdraw an attack on Daniel Andrews after accusing him of a failure of leadership on schools on Sunday morning. Tehan said he had overstepped the mark and withdrew his comments.
- The NRL team, the New Zealand Warriors, has arrived in Tamworth ahead of a planned resumption of the competition later this month. One player stayed home after feeling unwell.
-
South Australia is hopeful of being completely free of Covid-19 after its 11th consecutive day without a new case. It only has seven active cases.
They’ve barely touched down, but Tamworth has already claimed the NRL’s New Zealand Warriors as its own.
Tasmania has recorded its second consecutive day with no new Covid-19 cases. Sarah Courtney, the state’s health minister, said the results were positive, but said Tasmanians must remain vigilant to avoid any second wave.
“We know in other jurisdictions, we know in other countries we have seen second waves which have had devastating consequences,” she said.
Only NSW, Victoria and Queensland have recorded new cases today.
Updated
The New Zealand Warriors have just touched down in Tamworth. They are planning to base themselves from the NSW town for the upcoming resumption of the NRL season and were given an exemption from travel restriction by the Australian Border Force.
Breaking the @NZWarriors have arrived in Australia ! Bring on the re-start #footy @7NewsSydney pic.twitter.com/fSJtwOpOzx
— Michelle Bishop (@7michellebishop) May 3, 2020
Updated
NSW police say they have charged three people for breaching Covid-19 laws in the past 24 hours, including two alleged teenage trespassers in Edgeworth, a 63-year-old man in Redfern who was allegedly drinking alcohol in an alcohol-free zone, and a 37-year-old woman in Dulwich Hill who police say was driving erratically.
Police allege that none could provide a reasonable excuse for being outside.
We heard a brief update on the number of COVIDSafe App downloads a little earlier. Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said about one in four adults with a smartphone had downloaded the app.
He said the degree of confidence he could give to national cabinet about easing restrictions would be influenced by use of the app.
“The more confidence they can have, the more bold they might be,” Murphy said.
Updated
Meanwhile, in news neither related to Covid-19 or a looming by-election in Eden-Monaro, new “temporary accommodation pods” have just arrived in Cobargo for bushfire victims. Remarkable timing.
Nine temporary accommodation pods have arrived in Cobargo for residents hit hardest by the recent bushfires.
— John Barilaro MP (@JohnBarilaroMP) May 3, 2020
The NSW Government and @minderoo are doing everything to keep families and communities together in recovery. #nswpol pic.twitter.com/naUn0HbR8g
Updated
The day so far
Let’s take a moment to recap the day’s events.
- Australia recorded just 18 new cases in the past 24 hours, remaining within its target of 20 new cases.
- Education minister Dan Tehan was forced to withdraw remarkable comments he made this morning, accusing the Victorian premier Daniel Andrews of a failure of leadership on his approach to the state’s schools. Tehan later said he had “overstepped”.
- South Australia has expressed hope of becoming Covid-19 free. It has just seven active cases and has had no new cases for the past 11 days.
- In New South Wales, another death has been recorded at the Newmarch House aged care home, the site of an outbreak. The 76-year-old woman who died became the 14th resident to die at the facility after testing positive to Covid-19. Four new cases were recorded in NSW, two of which were connected to Newmarch House.
- In Victoria, a teacher tested positive for Covid-19 at the Meadowglen primary school in Epping. The school is to be closed for three days for deep cleaning. Victoria has otherwise recorded 13 new cases.
- An 83-year-old woman who contracted Covid-19 from close contact is the latest confirmed death in WA. She was admitted to hospital in mid-April and died on 30 April. The state otherwise recorded no new cases overnight, the fourth consecutive day of zero cases. They now have only 19 active cases across the state.
- Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said universities were likely to begin resuming some face-to-face activities this week.
- The New Zealand Warriors are flying to Australia today to begin preparations for a resumption of the NRL later this month. One of their players reportedly had to stay behind due to illness. The team were given a special exemption from travel restrictions.
- The ACCC says it was preparing to take Flight Centre to court over its policy of charging a cancellation fee of $300 to every per person that requests a refund for Covid-19 related cancellations. The legal action was avoided when Flight Centre said on Saturday it would waive the fee.
- States including Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia and the Northern Territory enjoyed their first weekend with loosened physical distancing restrictions.
Updated
South Australia has now registered 11 consecutive days of zero new coronavirus cases. That’s a pretty remarkable run.
As I mentioned, Nicola Spurrier is hopeful the state could soon be free of Covid-19, with only seven active cases.
South Australia has just seven active Covid-19 cases
The South Australia chief medical officer Nicola Spurrier is speaking now. She says the state now only has seven active cases, with 427 people now recovered from Covid-19. The state has a 98% recovery rate, she says.
If we don’t have any more cases, soon we will be able to say that we have no one with Covid-19 in the state, which will certainly be something to celebrate.
Spurrier is also announcing that playgrounds and skate parks will be reopened.
Looking at the risks involved, and also because we now have our schools back, I thought it was time that we should lift some of the restrictions on playgrounds.
Updated
A quick note that comments on this blog will close in about five minutes.
Murphy is asked about a report that one member of the New Zealand NRL team, the Warriors, had to stay behind for a Covid-19 test as the rest of the team travelled to Australia. He says he would be surprised if the test was positive, given New Zealand’s current low rates of Covid-19.
He’s asked whether more members of the team should be tested. Murphy says it is pointless testing people who are well.
There’s not a lot of value in testing well people, because you could be incubating the virus, we don’t know what that means.
Murphy warns anyone with any sign of illness, no matter how small, to stay away from aged care facilities. Even so much as a sniffle should be enough to prevent aged care visits, he says.
You have to be perfectly well to walk into the door of an aged care facility, that’s my message.
Universities likely to start 'cautiously' recommencing face-to-face
Murphy says a “cautious” restart of some university face-to-face activities will be discussed in national cabinet this week. He says it is likely that some face-to-face activities will resume.
I think universities are clearly in the mix of things that we’re talking about with national cabinet this week. It is likely that they will start to re-commence some activities, without pre-empting the decision of national cabinet.
Children are not high transmitters: Murphy
The advice has not changed on schools and school-aged children, Murphy says.
Children are not high transmitters, he says. There is little risk to children.
We think that children are not high transmitters of this virus in the school environment. We have always said there is a potential risk for adults, in the staff room, adult interactions at the school, pick ups and drop off.
Murphy is asked how that squares with the Victorian government’s position.
He says the Victorian decision is based on the state’s desire to stop movement, rather than any concern about the safety of children.
Murphy is asked what permanent personal hygiene changes we will need to make as a result of Covid-19. He’s asked, for example, whether cricketers will have to stop using saliva to shine cricket balls.
Murphy says many aspects of our society will have to change permanently, including our hygiene practices.
We as a first world very wealthy country have become a bit relaxed about hygiene and I think it’s time we focussed on those things.
For the record, Murphy doesn’t think using saliva on cricket balls is a good idea.
Murphy says the monitoring of Australians shows there has be an increase in movement in recent days since restrictions were relaxed in some state.
This virus is still in our community, it’s still with us, we are... in a much better position than just about any other country in the world, but we have to be careful as we chart the next couple of months.
Australia records 18 new cases in last 24 hours
The chief medical officer Brendan Murphy is speaking now. He says there are currently 6,801 cases, increase of 18 cases in last 24 hours.
He says the number of new cases is still below the target of 20, and says the government is continuing to look at what measures can be relaxed. But he warns against complacency.
There are still new cases and there are still small outbreaks detected in Victoria and New South Wales, there is still evidence of some low level community transmission. That’s why we’ve been saying for some time we cannot be complacent.
Updated
While we wait for Brendan Murphy, there was some news this morning that large volumes of PPE had been seized at the border by the Australian government. The Daily Telegraph reported this morning that Australian Border Force officers have stopped 1,500 shipments of personal protective equipment (PPE) using new export controls designed to prevent profiteering during the crisis.
The newspaper reported that about 29,800 pairs of gloves, 120 consignments of sanitiser products, 234,090 face masks, and 104 mask filters have been seized int he past two weeks, as part of what the ABF dubbed “operation hangfire”. Jason Wood, the assistant customs minister, said the ABF was working to ensure “dodgy” medical equipment didn’t enter the country.
The chief medical officer Brendan Murphy is expected to hold a press conference shortly. I’ll bring you updates as soon as they happen.
We’ve learned today that the consumer watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, was preparing to take Flight Centre to court over its policy of charging customers a $300 fee per person, per booking for Covid-19 related travel cancellations.
Flight Centre said yesterday it would now waive the fee, which had provoked widespread customer anger.
But the ACCC says its next step to deal with Flight Centre was legal action.
ACCC chair Rod Sims said the company’s decision would allow the issue to be dealt with more quickly than legal proceedings.
“This is a very welcome move made by Flight Centre for thousands of customers impacted by Covid-19 travel cancellations,” Sims said on Sunday.
“We are continuing to discuss issues in relation to refunds and cancellations with the travel sector, and encourage travel providers to treat consumers fairly in these exceptional circumstances.”
The full report is here:
Updated
That might be where I leave you for today, but never fear, you are in good hands with Christopher Knaus, who will guide you through the rest of Sunday’s news.
The most recent death in WA brings Australia’s death toll to 95.
WA Premier Mark McGowan said he is not currently planning to lift intrastate borders.
I know there’s a lot of pressure around that but I wouldn’t think so. We’ll just take medical advice on that. The main thing we’re focused on is getting this right, and making sure we don’t make changes that we then have to lock down again in the future...
There are a lot of people in the regions who want us to keep the borders in place for longer.
Updated
WA records new death
WA Premier Mark McGowan has confirmed the death of an 83-year-old woman who contracted Covid-19 from close contact.
She was admitted to hospital in mid-April and died on 30 April.
WA recorded no new cases overnight, the fourth consecutive day of zero cases. They now have only 19 active cases across the state.
Updated
NSW’s public education union had this to say on today’s political education news:
Is it any wonder that teachers, principals and parents are stressed, confused and still struggling under the weight of contradictions? #insiders
— Teachers Federation (@TeachersFed) May 3, 2020
Updated
Some more from the statement Tehan published this afternoon:
The consistent advice from the expert medical panel, the Australian Health Principles Protection Committee, comprising all state and territory chief health officers and the federal chief medical officers has been that schools can be fully open.
Not withstanding this position, the Victorian chief health officer has provided more cautious advice to the Victorian premier, who has been acting on this advice in relation to Victorian state schools...
As education minister it is my job to take a national view of education and do everything possible to ensure our children are getting the best possible opportunities. I will continue working constructively with my state counterparts as they run their state school systems to support them with the best medical and education expert advice the federal government can offer.
Updated
Tehan says he "overstepped" in his criticism of Andrews
It seems to have been a morning of regret for federal education minister Dan Tehan.
After an explosive ABC Insiders interview, he released a statement saying he “overstepped the mark” in his criticism of the Victorian premier Daniel Andrews:
All premiers and chief ministers are seeking to make balanced judgements, in the best interests of their state or territory, on the basis of the advice they have available to them...
It is important to note that this will not always result in all states and territories and the federal government agreeing on all points.
The statement goes on to discuss how remote learning will negatively impact remote, disadvantaged and Indigenous students:
It was those examples I was thinking of this morning during my interview on Insiders when I expressed my personal frustration that more schools weren’t starting more in-class learning in my home state.
It was this frustration that led me to overstep the mark in questioning premier Andrew’s leadership on this matter and I withdraw.
Updated
Exclusive an @NZWarriors player has failed a screening test and refused permission to board the flight to Australia. Details @7NewsSydney @7NewsBrisbane @7NewsMelbourne
— Michelle Bishop (@7michellebishop) May 3, 2020
There have been rumours floating around Twitter this morning that the ABC Insiders panel were aware of the Victorian school closure before their interview with federal education minister Dan Tehan.
Executive Producer Sam Clark has posted to say this was “patently untrue”.
Don’t normally do this, but this has received more than 200 retweets and comments and is patently untrue.
— Samuel Clark (@sclark_melbs) May 3, 2020
The news came to @David_Speers after the interview. I look forward to Eddy correcting the record (and getting better sources) but won’t hold my breath #insiders https://t.co/f3K85rBlLe
Updated
Summary
The Meadowglen Primary School in Epping will be closed from Monday until Wednesday after a teacher, who was onsite, recently tested positive for Covid-19.
However, the school’s principal, Loretta Piazza, told Melbourne radio station 3AW the teacher had not been in contact with students in person this year, the AAP reports.
She said contact tracing at the school has been completed and only two other teachers will need to enter quarantine for two weeks.
The music teacher undertook the test which came back positive because a family member was tested.
“It’s my understanding that he was involved in a cluster very early on and he did go to get tested and he tried a number of times to be tested but was knocked back.”
Updated
Staying on NSW for a moment, there are plans to relax restrictions in the real estate sector.
The AAP has this report:
The changes will be implemented from next weekend with real estate agents urged to limit the number of people viewing properties and attending auctions and to follow stringent cleaning guidelines including ensuring people don’t touch surfaces.
NSW health minister Brad Hazzard said it won’t be like the “old ways” with social distancing to be adhered to and real estate agents to keep detailed contact records of people attending open homes and auctions and to consider extended times for open house viewings and inspections.
“The community has done an outstanding job in limiting the spread of Covid-19 and we need to make sure we continue to exercise vigilance and care,” he said.
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the relaxing of restrictions was a sign of the ongoing success in limiting the spread of Covid-19, but warned there was no place for complacency.
Updated
NSW reports four new cases overnight
NSW health minister Brad Hazzard said NSW has had a bumper weekend for testing so far with more than 7,000 tests conducted on Saturday.
Four new cases were confirmed, two of which were connected to the Newmarch House aged care facility.
NSW now has 3,035 Covid-19 cases with 14 people in intensive care including 11 who require ventilators. More than 2,300 people have recovered from the virus.
Updated
Just back to the NSW Health Minister’s press conference.
Brad Hazzard said he was confident the state government had done everything it could to assist Newmarch house control the outbreak.
I’m relying on health advice obviously... but talking to the front line staff, the top of the top in terms of an infecious disease specialist. He is certainly saying we are, and so is the federal government and so is Anglicare in a sense.
But it’s been very challenging because obviously they have a huge number of people who were taken offline initially. The federal government had to then get Aspen medical, who then had to rely on a whole lot of agencies to bring people in ...
My only debate with Anglicare was about communication.
Updated
The most recent death of a Covid-19 positive patient at the Newmarch House aged care home is reported to be 76-year-old Ann Fahey.
My colleagues Michael McGowan and Elias Visontay spoke to Ann’s son Mark last week after he learned his mother had been diagnosed.
She had previously tested negative to Covid-19 twice before she returned a positive test on Thursday.
You can read their full report on the situation at Newmarch House here:
Updated
Queenslanders are taking advantage of relaxed restrictions today, which, among other things, allows residents to go for a drive within 50km of home, use boats and jet skis, have picnics, visit national parks and shop for non-essential items.
Updated
We’re expecting the NRL’s New Zealand Warriors to arrive in the country today, after being given an exemption from travel restrictions by home affairs minister Peter Dutton.
They’ll base themselves in Tamworth ahead of the season’s resumption on 28 May.
They’re expected to be away from home until October, though Warriors boss Cameron George has expressed hope players’ families may be able to follow in coming months.
Warriors gym getting set up at their facility in Tamworth and the training field looks a picture. Details tonight on @10NewsFirst . @Sandra_Sully @theprojecttv pic.twitter.com/tPFN3WpW6X
— Michael Cain (@caineyten) May 3, 2020
Updated
More from Plibersek on schools:
If the federal government is really concerned about educational disadvantage, then it should properly fund all schools based on need, they’re not doing that. So you’ll excuse me for being a little bit sceptical about their newfound interest in disadvantaged students...
Suddenly you’re trying to bully or control or bribe schools to return against the medical advice in those states. That makes no sense at all.
Federal shadow minister for health Tanya Plibersek is speaking now in Sydney.
She criticised federal education minister Dan Tehan’s comments on ABC this morning:
A few weeks ago Scott Morrison was saying, ‘listen to your state premiers when it comes to sending your kids back to school’. And this morning we saw the federal education minister, sending the most confusing messages to parents about sending their kids to school, saying that they should do so immediately.
This is a very difficult and stressful time for families, families are doing the very best they can, in extraordinary unprecedented circumstances, and to have a big political fight between the states and the Commonwealth, and accounts to schooling is the very last thing they need.
Updated
Two more cases associated with Newmarch House
NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said two more people connected with Anglicare’s Newmarch House has tested positive to Covid-19. Neither are residents.
“One of those was someone who had been in close contact with the case and had been in isolation for a period of time,” she said.
She said the other case was under investigation.
“We’re continuing to test the residents in a regular fashion, looking for signs and symptoms.”
Today, Anglicare confirmed the death of a 76-year-old female patient, who was being treated at the Nepean Hospital.
She is the 14th resident to die at the facility after testing positive to Covid-19.
Updated
NSW health minister Brad Hazzard is speaking now about the Anglicare Newmarch House aged care home, which today confirmed the 14th death of a resident.
There will now be a daily testing regime of every staff member walking into that facility.
That will obviously have its own challenges ... I’m asking staff just to be patient of what is quite an uncomfortable procedure on a daily basis...
I seemed to me that, in talking to the infectious disease specialists, that this is a really good step we could take.
Hazzard said it’s “not a good thing to be blaming people who are at the front line”. This comes after criticism of Newmarch House’s infection control procedures as staff and residents continue to test positive despite more than two weeks of lockdown.
Updated
When the chair of the National Covid Coordination Commission singled out an ammonia plant at the top of the list of projects to kickstart the economy, it raised a few eyebrows.
Anne Davies has the full report:
Just back to Queensland for a moment, they have recorded only one new case of Covid-19 overnight.
Bringing the total number of active cases across the state to 53, AAP reports.
Health minister Steven Miles said the state total was now 1,035 with 976 having recovered from the virus.
Forty-six of the active cases are located in the south-east of the state, four in Cairns, two in Townsville and one in the Wide Bay region.
Nine people are in hospital and four in intensive care.
Miles also said the government would consider a staggered reopening of schools, which remain closed until 22 May other than for students of essential workers and vulnerable children.
He said the results of this week’s easing of restrictions would help the government plan how and when to send children back to the classroom:
In some ways, the restrictions that we eased this weekend will help inform that decision because ... those restrictions were related to mobility.
Once schools open up more, we will create a lot more mobility ... parents taking kids to school, teachers in the classroom, kids going to and from school.
Updated
Australia isn’t the only country with a contact tracing app, but how does ours compare?
Guardian Australia’s Josh Taylor explains exactly how our app stacks up:
More from Mikakos on Tehan’s condemnation of the Victorian government approach to schools:
We look forward to the prime minister coming out today and explaining what he thinks of these comments. [If they] reflect the position of his government.
I refer you back to the prime minister’s comments only recently that Victorian parents should listen to the advice of the Victorian premier.
Updated
Stacey has shared this photo of her family outing to Mount Coot-tha, taking advantage of Queensland’s relaxed lockdown laws.
Send me your weekend pics on Twitter (@MatildaBoseley).
@MatildaBoseley queenslanders enjoying the sunshine yesterday and then home for homemade dumplings for dinner 😍 pic.twitter.com/RCP2ItFDcF
— Stacey Cain (@StaceyLee_85) May 3, 2020
Updated
Mikakos was asked if the state government should name the meat processing plant currently experiencing an outbreak to allow concerned truck drivers to be tested.
This is a closed work setting where more than 300 staff members have now been tested ... all the staff have been provided with the relevant information.
I would encourage if anyone has any concerns whatsoever about this potential about this outbreak and potentially feel that they might have been exposed in some way that they can call the crime of our virus hotline.
In this case the decision has been made by the public health team that there’s no need to identify this location by name.
Journalists at the press conference have questioned why Mikakos named the school affected by Covid-19 earlier in the press conference but not this meat processing plant.
Updated
Mikakos holds firms on Victorian children learning from home.
From day one we have always said that we will share all the information the advice with the Victorian community that’s what we’ve been doing.
We have been saying that we are following the advice of Victoria’s chief health officer and advice remains unchanged...
If your child can learn at home, they must learn at home.
Victorian health minister Jenny Mikakos was asked about federal education minister Dan Tehan’s comments on Insiders this morning.
I think, Victorians understand and know who’s been leading Victoria, to keep them safe to suppress the number of cases that we’re seeing of coronavirus in Victoria, and it’s certainly not been Dan Tehan...
I encourage Victorian parents to continue to heed the advice of our government, and we are in fact the government that runs our schools in Victoria...
If we just look to the fact today that we’ve had a staff member [at a Victorian school] test positive. I’m sure that then Tehan would have liked to have had that knowledge that the premier has had, that I have had, that our education minister has had, before making those remarks earlier today.
Updated
Victorian school closed due to Covid-19
Health minister Jenny Mikakos says a teacher has tested positive for Covid-19 at the Meadowglen Primary School in Epping.
The schools will be closed for three days ... to enable a thorough cleaning to occur.
She said students who can not undertake online learning would be supported in attending a neighbouring school for these days.
This comes as the federal government continues to put pressure on Victoria to reopen schools to all students.
Updated
13 news cases in recorded in Victoria
Health Minister Jenny Mikakos says there are 13 new cases in Victoria.
Six are from an outbreak in a meat processing factory, four were from recently returned overseas travellers and three were discovered Victoria’s “testing blitz”.
This brings the state total to 1,384 cases.
There were no new deaths overnight.
Updated
Queensland purchases 35 anaesthetic machines
Queensland health minister Steven Miles says the state government has purchased an additional 35 anaesthetic machines in part as a safeguard in case of a second wave in Covid-19.
We ordered these machines as part of our surge planning, when we were planning for the worst, when we anticipated the worst, when we thought Brisbane and Queensland would look like New York City today.
Queensland police handed out 32 fines on first day of "freedom"
The AAP is reporting Queensland police handed out dozens of notices for breaches of Covid-19 directions on the first official day of eased lockdown laws.
From Saturday, residents could travel up to 50km from their home to shop, visit a park or even go to the drive-in, but the two person gathering limit and physical distancing requirements still applied.
Police handed out 32 on-the-spot fines for $1,334 on Saturday.
So far 1,664 on-the-spot fines for Covid-19 related infringements have been issued, totalling more than $2.19m.
Updated
ABC is reporting that the Victoria government will announce the closure of a school due to Covid-19.
This comes as federal education minister Dan Tehan accuses Victorian premier Daniel Andrews of taking a “sledgehammer” to education by refusing to reopen schools along with other states.
Victorian health minister Jenny Mikakos will front press around 10.30am this morning and hopefully, we will be able to bring you more details then.
Updated
.@DanTehanWannon calls out @DanielAndrewsMP for not having a plan to re-open schools.
— Insiders ABC (@InsidersABC) May 2, 2020
"We have one Premier in particular who is jeopardising the national consensus on this."#Auspol #Insiders pic.twitter.com/7PvIjGw244
Newmarch House has confirmed the 14th death of a resident diagnosed with Covid-19.
They released this statement this morning:
Anglicare is saddened to advise that a resident of Newmarch House who had tested positive for Covid-19 passed away in hospital yesterday 2 May. The family has been contacted as have all relevant authorities.
This is a very sad time for the family and a distressing and challenging time for residents and staff as we deal with the impact of this dreadful virus. As of yesterday afternoon, 37 residents have tested positive and tragically now 14 have died. In addition, 26 staff have tested positive and as a consequence 63 have been in isolation.
Anglicare has, in consultation with the commonwealth government, been able to source infection control specialists with experience in dealing with highly infectious diseases. Their roles will be to monitor and supervise all infection control protocols and advice and direct development of additional procedures should they be required.
The carers who we discovered were infected on Friday and announced yesterday, were experienced with infectious disease situations which indicates just how contagious this is and how difficult to contain.
Alternative accommodation options for people who are Covid-19 negative are being discussed with some residents and their families and of course, this is possible, provided there is a good understanding of the risks and precautionary measures that this would involve – for the resident and their families. Families of residents who have questions about this are encouraged to contact OPAN (Older Persons Advocacy Network).
Our prayers and thoughts are with our grieving Newmarch House families and also with our staff who have worked so closely with the residents and their families.
We are thankful for the ongoing support provided by government departments and their specialist staff.
Updated
Federal education minister Dan Tehan was asked if it still the federal government’s advice that Victorian parents only need to listen to the premier as to whether they should send their kids to school.
His response:
So the prime minister said that after seven national principles had been agreed by the national cabinet. The first of those principles was then having teachers in the classroom and students in the classroom is the best way we educate our children. The fifth one of those was that we need to make sure that we’re following the national medical advice and state medical advice important national or state medical advice.
Serious escalation of rhetoric this morning on schools from the feds. Dan Tehan says Daniel Andrews is "taking a sledgehammer" to schooling and accuses him of a "failure of leadership" and "jeopardising" the national cabinet process. #insiders pic.twitter.com/kxuMnQ96iE
— Fergus Hunter (@fergushunter) May 2, 2020
Updated
Tehan accuses Andrews of a "failure of leadership"
One of the most controversial points from Dan Tehan’s Insiders interview, he slammed Victoria premier Daniel Andrews for refusing to reopen schools.
"This is a failure of leadership from @DanielAndrewsMP" @DanTehanWannon says about Victoria's decision to keep schools closed. @InsidersABC.
— Samuel Clark (@sclark_melbs) May 2, 2020
Updated
Over the past week, education minister Dan Tehan has been pushing a hard line on schools reopening sooner rather than late, at odds with Victoria’s cautious approach.
He was asked if online schools should continue after the lockdown is over:
It depends ultimately on the capability of the school to be able to do it but I think one of the good things which has come out of this pandemic, if there is good thing, is that our ability to be able to provide online learning, when students need it.
So for instance, if a student’s sick, you might have a student who’s suspended. If you will be able to offer online learning so that implication plays playing so I think it’s really, really important.
Updated
Some states enjoy their first weekend of eased lockdown laws
States including Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia and the Northern Territory are enjoying their first weekend with loosened physical distancing restrictions.
If you are among the lucky ones, tweet me (@MatildaBoseley) photos of your weekend activities and I might share them here on the blog.
Each state and territory is doing things slightly differently, so here is the breakdown:
Queensland – Residents in the sunshine state are once again allowed to enjoy the sunshine. No longer do you have to be exercising (or pretending to) in order visit a park. Picnics are legal again, so are weekend drives and getting out on the water on a boat or jet ski. But you have to stay within 50km of home and the two-person gathering rules still apply.
NSW – Up to two adults (and any children in their care) are allowed to visit any other person’s household. Physical distancing must still be observed, but you can travel as far as you want (within NSW), and even stay the night.
Western Australia - The two-person limit on gathering has been increased to ten, but social distancing must still be observed.
Northern Territory – Outdoor activities are back on the table, such as public swimming pools, going to national parks or fishing with a mate. If you are having an outdoor wedding or funeral the restrictions on visitor numbers have also been lifted.
You can find a full description of each state and territory’s laws here:
Updated
Flight Centre to refund cancellation fees
Travel agency Flight Centre will refund thousands of customers who it hit with fees to cancel trips called off because of the coronavirus crisis, the consumer watchdog says.
From 13 March, Flight Centre charged customers $300 to cancel an international flight or $50 to cancel a domestic one.
In a statement, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said:
Flight Centre’s decision follows weeks of pressure from the ACCC for Flight Centre to improve its treatment of customers during Covid-19 travel restrictions.
The ACCC said its next step would have been court action if Flight Centre did not change its position. This announcement will provide faster relief for consumers than would have been likely to have resulted from any court action.
The refunds are to be paid to customers of Flight Centre and other agents in its corporate group – Aunt Betty, Travel Associates, Student Universe, Universal Traveller and Jetescape Travel (trading as Byojet Travel).
Updated
Fourteenth death at Newmarch House
ABC is reporting a 14th resident has died at Newmarch House.
The aged care home is in the centre of a Covid-19 outbreak.
There have been 61 cases at the western Sydney aged care home.
More details to come.
Updated
Newmarch House considers moving patients to hospital
Anglicare’s chief executive says the organisation will raise the possibility of extracting residents from its western Sydney aged care home at the centre of a Covid-19 cluster with those living inside the facility.
AAP reports that Newmarch House’s infection control capacity has been brought into question after infections of residents and staff continue despite more than two weeks of lockdown.
There have been 61 cases and 13 deaths related to transmission at the aged care home.
Anglicare Sydney chief executive Grant Millard said “it would seem that’s fairly obvious that there have been failings”.
When asked whether there would come a point where Anglicare would decide to remove some residents from the aged care home, Mr Millard said the option would be brought up with those living at Newmarch House.
“In small numbers to date that we’ve had discussions and this is something that we’re going to raise with residents in our communication shortly,” Mr Millard said.
NSW Labor leader Jodi McKay called on the government to give all Newmarch residents, even ones who were healthy, the option of being moved to the public hospital system.
Updated
Qantas passenger diagnosed with Covid-19
Passengers on a Qantas flight to Brisbane are being urged to contact Queensland health officials after one person was diagnosed with Covid-19.
This report via AAP:
The state’s single new case was confirmed on Saturday and has prompted a public health alert.
Passengers on flight QF614 from Melbourne to Brisbane on 22 April are being told to call 13 HEALTH to speak to officials, who will ask about their health and give some advice.
“We ask that passengers seated in rows 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 of this flight, who have not already been contacted by Queensland Health to call 13 HEALTH and advise that you were a passenger on this flight,” a statement from the health department said.
“All other passengers are considered very low risk, however anyone with health concerns can contact 13 HEALTH.”
The passenger who tested positive had recently returned from overseas and is linked to a cruise ship carrying passengers who later tested for the virus, health minister Steven Miles said on Saturday.
Not all of the passengers on the flight will be asked to go into quarantine.
Updated
Good morning everyone, Matilda Boseley here to guide you through this fine Sunday morning.
To start, why don’t we have a look back at what happened yesterday.
- The Northern Territories broke its 25-day streak of no new Covid-19 cases. Two Australian defence force members recently returned from the Middle East, tested positive. This brings the total active cases in the NT to five.
- Three other states recorded new cases on Saturday. Queensland had one, New South Wales five and Victoria seven. There were no new deaths announced.
- A coronavirus cluster emerged at an unnamed Melbourne meat processing facility, with eight workers testing positive.
- Some states started to lift restrictions. Queenslanders were allowed non-essential travel up to 50km from their homes for recreation, but had to stick to social distancing rules.
- The National Rugby League’s hopes for a restart by 28 May were boosted when the New Zealand Warriors were told they could fly into the Tamworth tomorrow.
- Australia’s peak medical body, the AMA, urged the NRL and other sporting codes to be cautious as they planned their returns.
- Australia’s US ambassador, Arthur Sinodinos, said calls for an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus were not about retribution or revenge against China, but “getting the facts”.
As we travel along today let me know if I’ve missed anything over Twitter or at matilda.boseley@theguardian.com.au
Updated
