Saturday's Covid-19 developments
I think that’s where I will leave you for tonight. Thank you for joining us throughout the day.
Before I go, here is what you need to know of the day’s developments:
- South Australia has recorded only one new case, and nearly half of those who contracted Covid-19 in the state have now recovered.
- Numbers of new confirmed cases have either stabilised or fallen in Queensland, NSW and Victoria, despite more testing being conducted. The ACT recorded no new cases.
- Two more deaths have been recorded, taking the national toll to 56. A 91-year-old woman died in NSW, and a man in his 80s died in Victoria.
- In Tasmania, there is particular concern about an outbreak in the north-west, particularly in two hospitals. The Tasmanian government is adopting new measures to stop the outbreak spreading.
- The NRL insists it has been given the green light by the government to resume matches next month. It says it will adopt regular temperature testing and hand-washing protocols for safety.
- The Bondi to Bronte walk, one of Sydney’s most popular, has been closed after walkers continued to ignore advice on social distancing. Helicopters patrolled the walk today and barriers and barricades were erected.
- In Uruguay, 112 Australians and New Zealanders who were aboard the Antarctic cruise ship Greg Mortimer, which has been anchored off the coast of South America for 14 days after a coronavirus outbreak on board, are being allowed to dock and disembark. Australian and New Zealand citizens will be allowed to fly home on a special chartered medical flight.
- The Australian government has announced $100m in funding this week to help charities provide emergency relief during the coronavirus downturn.
Updated
Although the Western Australian government has warned they will close beaches if physical distancing requirements are not adhered to, so far they remain open to the public.
It’s just as well, as Perth residents sweltered through a 39.5C day, the hottest April day ever.
You can read more here:
Updated
A group of Australians required to quarantine in the Rydges hotel in Brisbane have banded together to create this video.
“On the bus ride to the hotel, we created a WhatsApp group. Lots of good chat going on and a few fun projects to pass the time,” wrote Jeff Osborne on Instagram.
Fun in quarantine pic.twitter.com/wNc2YtZvnD
— Jeff Osborne (@jeffosbornez) April 11, 2020
Updated
As mentioned earlier, the popular Bondi to Bronte walk was closed after walkers continued to ignore the advice on social distancing. Helicopters were patrolling the walk today and barriers and barricades were being erected.
But, while Australia closes its paths, other cities have been opening new ones, giving over now empty roads to pedestrians. This allows those on their daily walk more space to social distance.
Laura Laker has the full report here:
Updated
The ABC reporter Emilia Terzon tweeted this unconventional, but still delightful, retirement home birthday celebration.
Jean turned 92 last week.
— Emilia Terzon (@EmiliaTerzon) April 11, 2020
Her daughter Sharon couldn’t visit her inside her Melbourne aged care home due to #covid19australia but that didn’t stop the magic.
After the singing, Sharon says her mum “shut the window and said she was busy and had things to do.”
💕💕💕💕 pic.twitter.com/qmWPR9gaII
Updated
South Australia records only one new Covid-19 case
SA Health says that only one person has tested positive to Covid-19 in the past day.
Nearly half of the state’s 429 cases have now been cleared of the disease.
Seven remain in hospital, four in a critical condition.
South Australian COVID-19 update 11/4/20.
— SA Health (@SAHealth) April 11, 2020
For more information go to https://t.co/mYnZsGpayo or contact the South Australian COVID-19 Information Line on 1800 253 787. pic.twitter.com/bTzmiLyRad
Updated
As mentioned earlier on the blog, the NRL insists it’s been given the green light by government to resume matches next month.
But today the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, said she had not approved a return.
If you are keen to learn more you can read the full report here:
Updated
Cruise companies have been among the hardest hit in the Covid-19 crisis. Virtually every operator has had to suspend business and stories of stranded passengers across the world have plagued them in recent weeks. Not to mention the new “floating Petri dish” association.
Wealth correspondent Rupert Neate has this report on the challenges this industry now faces.
Updated
This is just one of many interesting interactions police have had with the public over the Easter weekend.
No rest for the wicked. A woman sitting in Sydney’s Rushcutters Bay park is asked by police to do exercise or go home. #COVID19Aus pic.twitter.com/PrYXOYg7uv
— Hugh Riminton (@hughriminton) April 11, 2020
Federal Labor says the $100m package the government announced to assist charities through the Covid-19 crisis does not go far enough.
Here is some of what the shadow assistant minister for treasury and charities, Andrew Leigh, said in a press conference today:
Today’s package is [a] $100m announcement for food relief charities, emergency services providers and financial counselling. $16m of this was announced a fortnight ago and is being re-announced today.
Labor welcomes the support being provided to the sector, but we have to keep it in perspective. This is a significant sector, so the $100m package announced today is less than 1/1000th of the size of the charity sector.
Labor calls on the government to ensure that charities that are providing early childhood services, charities providing disability support are able to stay afloat in these troubling times. There are charities right now missing out on jobkeeper.
We call on Josh Frydenberg to use his personal authority under the legislation to allow those significant charities to be brought back in.
Updated
West Australian businesses are pessimistic about the chances of a post-coronavirus economic rebound, with most expecting conditions to worsen in 2021.
This report via AAP:
A joint survey by WA Super and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA released on Saturday highlights fears the economic toll will stretch well beyond current efforts to suppress the deadly coronavirus in Australia.
Business confidence has plunged to a three-year low, with 86 per cent of surveyed WA firms expecting conditions to persist or worsen in the short term.
Three in five WA businesses expect the state economy to continue to worsen in 2021.
State and federal stimulus measures have provided some relief but many businesses are struggling to access finance.
WA Super chief executive Fabian Ross says businesses must adopt long-term thinking to get through the significant disruption.
“It is my view that we will get through this crisis, and knowing how resourceful WA people are, we will see new opportunities and innovations arise,” he said.
The state government last month unveiled a $1 billion relief package aimed at households and small businesses, including reduced electricity bills, payroll tax relief and waived licence fees.
The arrangements will be in place until September 30 when they will be reviewed ahead of the state budget, which has been deferred to October 8.
Updated
I’m going to hand over to reporter Matilda Boseley now, who will take you through the rest of the evening.
Thanks for sticking with me today.
Updated
Police in NSW and Queensland have just released new information about their Covid-19 related crackdowns.
In Queensland, police have issued 462 fines worth $616,308.
In NSW, police have charged 10 people and issued 50 infringement notices since their last update yesterday. Police have issued 38 court attendance notices and 295 infringement notices since 17 March.
The new enforcement in NSW includes:
- Fining a man $1,000 for sitting on a garden bed in Ultimo, Sydney without a reasonable excuse.
- Charging an 18-year-old man who “claimed to have no knowledge of Covid-19” in Sydney’s west. The man was allegedly breaching a domestic violence order. He has been charged with family violence offences and failing to comply with a public health direction.
- Fining a man $1,000 after being called to conduct a welfare check on him. The man was noticed wandering around on the road “rambling incoherently” in Banora Point. Police said he was in breach of his bail conditions and was “unable to provide a reasonable explanation for being away from his home”. Police said he was warned previously and had stolen goods on him.
- Fining a man $1,000 for attending Albury police station and telling officers he wanted to “hang out”. He was seen outside the station twice later that day, despite being told to go home, police said.
Updated
The NRL saga continues.
A bit earlier today, the NSW health minister, Brad Hazzard, suggested the NRL would need to talk to NSW Health before resuming play next month, as it intends to do.
But the ARLC chair, Peter V’landys, has again insisted that the NRL has all the clearances it needs from NSW already. V’landys has told AAP that he had checked with state authorities about whether the NRL was covered by an exemption to public health orders issued on 31 March. The government had told him it was.
“We’ve got a letter from the coordinator confirming that we can train and play,” V’landys told AAP.
“So I could dot the ‘I’s and cross the ‘T’s; I got a separate letter off the department which is the State Emergency Operations Centre that is implementing the health order.
“And it says it does not preclude the NRL from commencing the competition. It says in the absence of crowds at relevant stadiums.”
Updated
From AAP:
Qantas has hit back at union suggestions the airline is not adequately supporting its cabin crews who are ferrying stranded Australians home from overseas during the coronavirus crisis.
The ACTU says Qantas flight crews are concerned about insufficient health protections and leave entitlements should they be exposed, fall ill or are required to self-isolate.
But a spokesman for Qantas said the airline had fully complied with the requirements of Australia’s chief medical officer in relation to the quarantine exemptions for air crew.
It rejected the ACTU’s claim that if a cabin crew member fell sick because of the virus, the airline would not cover the cost of a hotel should the individual elect to stay in one for their 14-day quarantine.
The airline is operating the federal government’s rescue flights for a month and the cabin crew would be paid a full month’s roster, which covers any work they do plus self-isolation in the month.
Qantas Group’s medical director, Ian Hosegood, says the risk to staff “remains low”.
“We have put in place increased measures to protect our people while they are at work, and our customers, including enhanced cleaning at airports and on aircraft and providing necessary safety equipment,” he said.
The ACTU said 59 Qantas staff have been infected by Covid-19 and four families or flatmates were confirmed to have contracted the virus, with several more suspected cases awaiting test results.
Updated
AAP reporter Benita Kolovos has tweeted about what sounds like a truly awful experience at a funeral today. Police stood watching over her papou’s funeral to enforce social distancing.
The funeral director said police had been at every service he had run since 22 March.
Today we farewelled our Papou. He always wanted a small funeral but he wouldn’t have wanted this. Ten of us, separated into individual pews. Two uniformed police officers watching our every move. Neither bowed their head as the boys carried my Papou’s coffin out of the church.
— Benita Kolovos 🧼🧴 (@benitakolovos) April 11, 2020
Papou left Greece during the military junta, only to have cops policing his funeral here. I understand social distancing is imperative to keeping everyone safe but surely there has to be a better way of enforcing it? Couldn’t officers just watch from their cars?
— Benita Kolovos 🧼🧴 (@benitakolovos) April 11, 2020
Updated
Coatsworth says there is no concern about non-Covid-19 medication shortages.
He also says there is no direct concern about an increased spread of Covid-19 in winter, although the cold will increase other respiratory illnesses, such as influenza.
There is no evidence at the moment ... about a seasonal effect of Covid-19. The concern about winter is that there are other respiratory diseases like influenza which do have a seasonal component to them. With all the data we have with tracking flu in the community, with the social distancing that people have been doing, those numbers are plummeting. Which is just another great indicator of why this policy is actually working and that Australians are doing what is asked of them.
Updated
He says it’s too early to start talking about the relaxation of restrictions in Australia. He says it would need to be a very “nuanced” approach to relaxing restrictions.
I think another way to put it might be that it was very fast into the restrictions and they were very widespread, and it needs to be very nuanced on the way out. So you need to be very clear about if you’re lifting a restriction, that you have done everything you can to try and understand exactly what the implications of that lifting would be before you actually implemented. So whether it is slow or not, needs to be very targeted and focused and that is how it going to be I suspect
Coatsworth is asked about plans by the NRL to return to playing next month. He says it’s a matter for the state government, but:
I think at the Australian principal health committee level, we have to have an approach which covers all codes and I think at this point in time it is that we don’t have training and we don’t have matches and we keep social distancing, which is the object of not having sporting events. We do understand though that sport is a major part of the Australian psyche.
Coatsworth says it’s critical that people continue to treat other, non-Covid-19 health conditions, including by undergoing regular pathology testing.
I think at a broad level, you don’t want other underlying health conditions to get worse because people are afraid of Covid-19. This is an absolutely critical message and I will say to Australians that because they have done so well in flattening this curve, the chance of you actually encountering someone with Covid-19 when you get your pathology test is actually extraordinarily low. If you want to get a pathology test, an influenza vaccine, to do something where you [have] face to face ..., then by all means go and do it. Just follow exactly what we have been saying. If you have got a cold, don’t do it on that day. If you need to discuss things with your doctor, get in touch with them via telehealth first.
Updated
Coatsworth said the return of Australians from Uruguay, where they are disembarking a ship with a 70% infection rate, has been “meticulously planned”.
Well, there are obviously medical concerns about that which is why this entire operation has been meticulously planned, led by the cruise ship operator but with the support of the departments of health and foreign affairs, border force, and the Victorian government.
This is a very important thing that we have to get right but equally we have to bring these Australians back ... I am aware of the detailed plans to meet that aircraft when it arrives tomorrow morning. Making sure that all of the passengers get a thorough medical assessment ... and then depending on that medical assessment, either go to hospital – and the hospitals are prepared for that – or go into a hotel quarantine.
Updated
'We need to sustain the gains': deputy CMO
Nick Coatsworth, the federal deputy chief medical officer, is discussing new measures to expand Medicare-supported telehealth services, which are important to allow Australians to continue receiving healthcare during a time of social distancing.
He says there have been 3m consultations with 2.4 million patients.
Coatsworth says the tough measures Australia has adopted are working, but acknowledges they have been difficult.
I just want to make a particular statement about how difficult this has been for Australians, in particular during this difficult time over the Easter break.
We have asked you to change the way we live as Australians essentially overnight. And essentially overnight, we’ve come together as Australians and done just that. And it’s because of that reason that we can continue to give you, for several days now and including today, good news about the number of cases that are occurring. But we need to sustain those gains. We need to keep those number of cases low. We need to have that opportunity now to chart our way through and out the other side of this Covid-19 epidemic
He is asked about the spread of Covid-19 among frontline health workers, and whether the lack of personal protective equipment is a factor.
I don’t think a lack of masks or PPE has anything to do with current situations in Victoria and New South Wales. As I said, the national medical stockpile has been releasing millions of masks, not only surgical mask but and 95 masks for airborne production. The number of masks within the Australian healthcare community at the moment is sufficient and we are supplying them in very large quantities to the states and territories. Including [more than] 11m that have come in during the past week. So, no, I don’t that is a factor.
Updated
Australians from Greg Mortimer cruise to face 'strict' measures
A little more detail on those flights coming back into Melbourne this weekend. As reported, Victorian authorities are expecting stranded Australians to return from Peru, India and Uruguay this weekend.
More than 1,200 Australians are expected to land at Tullamarine airport this weekend.
The flight from Uruguay is bringing passengers of the Greg Mortimer cruise ship home. About 70% of Greg Mortimer passengers have tested positive for Covid-19.
The state government has issued a statement detailing the steps it will take to avoid any inadvertent spread from the returning passengers.
Each passenger will be subject to “strict quarantine protocols”. They will be medically screened, tested for Covid-19 if necessary, and transported to hotels for their 14 days’ isolation.
Victoria’s deputy chief health officer, Dr Annaliese van Diemen, said local health authorities have been working closely with the federal government to plan for the Uruguay flight in particular.
A field emergency medical officer team will be deployed to assess all the passengers, and paramedics will be on standby.
Passengers who are displaying symptoms will also be taken to hospital for assessment and testing, if needed.
All passengers returning from Uruguay will be taken to the same hotel for quarantine. Some returning New Zealanders will board private charter flights home.
“Significant planning has been undertaken to ensure that the movement of the passengers and staff from the Uruguay flight is as safe as possible for them, and for the wider Victorian community,” van Diemen said.
“Our team has detailed safety arrangements in place and they will be followed to the letter to protect Victorians and protect our hospital system.”
Updated
Just back to the NRL for a moment. We reported earlier that Peter V’landys, the ARLC chair, said the sport had been given the go-ahead by government to resume matches next month.
That doesn’t seem to accord with the messaging of the NSW government, which says the NRL must discuss its proposal with health authorities before kicking off again.
The health minister, Brad Hazzard, said on Saturday the matter was an issue for NSW Health, and not for politicians.
“It’s a ‘have a discussion with health authorities to see if it can be done safely’ [scenario],” Hazzard said.
Updated
Unions are calling for more information about a BHP mineworker who tested positive to Covid-19 in central Queensland. The CFMEU says it has had no information about exposure to others and the contact tracing efforts.
AAP reports:
BHP announced late on Good Friday that a worker at its Blackwater mine, about 200km west of Rockhampton, had tested positive to the coronavirus but he had not been on the site since 1 April.
CFMEU Mining and Energy Queensland’s president, Stephen Smyth, says the union has received minimal information about the positive test, including potential exposure and how tracing would take place.
“In this case, there are multiple points of potential cross-contamination including machinery, transport, mess facilities and camp accommodation,” Smyth said on Saturday.
“Workers across the whole operation need reassurance that all of these risks have been identified, that they are being managed, and that all potential exposure will be appropriately tracked.”
BHP said the worker was at home in the Rockhampton region and was receiving healthcare and support.
“All workers currently on shift were also temperature-tested by our paramedic overnight and no abnormal temperatures were returned,” the company said in a statement posted on its Facebook page.
Updated
Up to 70% of Greg Mortimer cruise ship passengers infected
Victoria’s deputy chief health officer, Dr Annaliese van Diemen, says a large number of Australians will return to Melbourne this weekend, including people from India, Peru and other areas.
Tomorrow Victoria is expecting a large number of people to return from Uruguay now that the Greg Mortimer cruise ship is to be allowed to dock after a trip to Antarctica. Its Australian and New Zealand passengers are being evacuated on a medical flight to Australia.
Van Diemen says 70% of the passengers are thought to be infected.
And tomorrow we are expecting a flight from Uruguay which will contain a number of people, over 100, from the cruise ship Greg Mortimer ...
We have reports that up to 70% of these patients have tested positive to Covid-19. The government has been working very, very closely with the cruise ship operators to organise this fight to come back to Australia.
Everyone on that flight from Uruguay will be assessed. If they are deemed to need testing, they will be tested.
Updated
The retail and fast-food workers union, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, says it would “welcome members returning to work” if safe.
It said some retailers outside of those considered to be essential services are looking to reopen their stores.
The union said it would welcome that where safe to do so, but will be guided by state and federal government news.
“The SDA would like to see business resuming where it is safe for staff and shoppers to do so, but would not support anything that would undermine the national effort and the restrictions imposed to defeat Covid-19,” its national secretary, Gerard Dwyer, said.
Updated
Unions say Qantas flight crews are being exposed to greater risk to Covid-19 while rescuing stranded Australians from overseas and are not being properly protected.
AAP has reported that the Australian Council of Trade Unions fears Qantas staff are being given insufficient health protections and left with inadequate leave entitlements if they do fall ill.
The ACTU says Qantas cabin crews ferrying people back to Australia are becoming infected, as are their families.
Passengers returning from overseas are required to enter into mandatory self-isolation for 14 days, but Qantas staff are not.
ACTU president Michele O’Neil said the exemption means there is no hotel room or support should crew or their family fall sick.
“This is a completely unacceptable way for Qantas to be treating its staff,” she said. “It is incumbent on Qantas to provide a safe working environment for its staff and to honour people’s earned entitlement leave.”
A total of 59 Qantas staff have been infected by Covid-19 and four families/flatmates are confirmed to have contracted the virus. Several more suspected cases await test results.
Updated
From AAP:
Two NSW men have been charged in separate incidents of allegedly spitting on police officers.
The first incident took place on Friday afternoon in Ashcroft in south-west Sydney, with a 24-year-old man verbally abusing police after being told to move on from a carpark.
He then allegedly spat at a male police officer and mentioned coronavirus while being arrested. He has since been fined $5,000 and charged.
The man was refused bail to appear before Parramatta bail court on Saturday.
In the other incident, on Friday evening a female police officer was spat at by a 62-year-old man in Metford in the NSW Hunter region. The man had approached officers as a 36-year-old man was being arrested over an alleged domestic violence-related incident.
He has been fined $5,000 and charged with assault and resisting a police officer, and will appear at Newcastle bail court on Saturday.
The younger man was also charged with punching a police officer in the head during his arrest.
Updated
Summary: two more deaths recorded in Australia
Let’s just take a moment to sum up what we’ve learned today.
- Two more deaths have been recorded, taking the national toll to 56. A 91-year-old woman died in NSW, and a man in his 80s died in Victoria.
- There is cause for continued optimism in Queensland, NSW and Victoria, where the numbers of new confirmed cases have either stabilised or fallen, despite more testing being conducted. Queensland has described its infection rate as “incredibly low” and has recorded only nine new cases. NSW has recorded 44 new cases, and Victoria has 24 new cases. Tasmania recorded 11 new cases. The ACT recorded no new cases.
- Authorities across the country have urged Australians to stay at home over the Easter long weekend. In Tasmania, there is particular concern about an outbreak in the north-west, particularly in two hospitals. The Tasmanian government is adopting new measures to stop the outbreak spreading.
- The NRL insists it has been given the green light by government to resume matches next month. It says it will adopt regular temperature testing and hand-washing protocols for safety.
- The Bondi to Bronte walk, one of Sydney’s most popular, has been closed after walkers continued to ignore the advice on social distancing. Helicopters have been patrolling the walk today and barriers and barricades are being erected.
- In Uruguay, 112 Australians and New Zealanders are aboard the Antarctic cruise ship Greg Mortimer which has been anchored off the coast of South America for 14 days after a coronavirus outbreak on board. The ship is now being allowed to dock and disembark. Australian and New Zealand citizens will be allowed to fly home on a special chartered medical flight.
- The Australian government has announced $100m in funding this week to help charities provide emergency relief during the coronavirus downturn.
Updated
Victoria's numbers
The Victorian government has released more detail on its Covid-19 statistics.
I mentioned a little earlier that the number of cases had increased by 24 from yesterday, up to 1,265.
Most (1,012) are in metropolitan Melbourne. Another 234 are in regional Victoria.
That total is made up of 661 men and 604 women. The cases range from babies to those in their early 90s.
The government says there are 118 cases that “may have been acquired through community transmission”. Forty-four people are in hospital, including 15 in intensive care.
More than 67,000 Victorians have been tested.
Updated
ACT has no new cases - total remains at 103
The ACT has just released new data on its Covid-19 cases.
It has recorded no new cases. The total remains at 103 confirmed cases with two deaths.
Four patients are still in hospitals. Sixty-two have recovered and released from self-isolation.
Authorities are still investigating three cases, including an intensive care unit nurse and a close contact of the nurse.
The acting ACT chief health officer, Dr Vanessa Johnston, praised the effort of Canberrans in flattening the curve.
“As I have said all this week, please stay home this Easter long weekend. Do not travel to the coast or interstate or gather in large groups with family and friends,” Johnston said.
“If you do need to go out for essential reasons, then complying with the rules on physical distancing and practising good hand and respiratory hygiene are the most important tools in slowing the spread of Covid-19.”
Updated
Labor has urged the federal government not to end Covid-19 stimulus measures too soon. Labor’s Amanda Rishworth has told the ABC that doing so may damage the economic recovery.
AAP reports:
Labor is urging the Morrison government not to be too hasty in removing stimulus measures once the coronavirus pandemic is declared over for fear of damaging the economic recovery.
The government has spent more than $320bn in recent weeks in its attempt to shield the economy from the worst impacts of Covid-19, including funding to keep workers employed, to improve unemployment benefits and provide free childcare.
A Liberal backbencher, Julian Leeser, said he entered parliament seeking not to increase the size of government, but added these were “extraordinary times”.
“[These measures] are to deal with a specific and unprecedented set of circumstances that the world is facing and that Australia is facing,” he told ABC television on Saturday.
“It is why the measures that have been devised here are targeted and that they’re temporary. There is no indication that these measures will be going on for all time.”
However, Rishworth warned against setting an arbitrary time rame for withdrawing support.
“I think we’ve got to see where the world is in six months time, in a year’s time,” she said.
“If they do it too quickly, if they do not closely calibrate it, what we could have is prolonged economic downturn, which will not be good.”
Updated
Bondi to Bronte walk closed after crowds ignored advice
A few development from Bondi, a Covid-19 hotspot. The local council has made what it says is “the difficult decision” to close the Bondi to Bronte coastal walk, one of the most popular in Sydney.
Barriers are being erected at entry points and fines will be issued to those who ignore the closure.
Waverley council said the decision was needed because large crowds were continuing to visit the area despite advice to stay home or find alternative places to exercise.
“Unfortunately, closing the coastal walk was the only way the council could help ensure that public health orders could be maintained along the walk,” the mayor, Paula Masselos, said.
“I appreciate that this temporary closure will be met with frustration from some residents. I also appreciate how important it is for people to be able to exercise for mental health. I encourage people to be a tourist in their own suburb and find places to exercise on other streets and parks.”
Meanwhile, our reporter Ben Doherty has reported that a police helicopter is patrolling the coastal walk.
Police helicopter patrolling the coastal walk at Bondi. The walk is completely shut off - and guarded - around Marks Park/Mackenzies Point (having been open for exercise previous days) and the helicopter is monitoring constantly. pic.twitter.com/vQkQJEdQJp
— Ben Doherty (@BenDohertyCorro) April 11, 2020
Updated
Kerry Chant, the chief medical officer, gave some detail of the latest death. A 91-year-old woman with pre-existing health conditions died in hospital, with an unknown source of infection.
She is asked about the premier’s comment that “the worst is yet to come”. When can we expect the worst?
She says community transmission rates have come down, which is pleasing. But a vaccine is still a long way off.
Our approach has been to buy us time, to get our health system prepared, and to also make sure that we have got those essential tools that will need to tackle Covid-19 over time.
That relates to having supplies of testing kits and using new, innovative testing kits which allow us to do the testing faster and quicker [and] to scale up public health contact tracing facilities.
But these are all matters that are under consideration as we look at what is happening around the world, as well as also sharing some of the scientific advances about treatments and vaccines, and have those discussions with the community around the course ahead of us.
Updated
An NSW police assistant commissioner, Karen Webb, says authorities were repatriating about 1,100 people who had completed their 14 days of quarantine at Sydney hotels.
I understand the operation is going smoothly, and more than half of those people have already left and are safely on their way home. Police have also been made aware that there are no cars on the road, either metropolitan or country roads, and we are very appreciative that people are listening to the messages and staying home.
Police have arrested two people, one for being outside without a reasonable excuse.
The other, she said, spat at police during a family violence incident.
He was issued a $5,000 fine. Spitting or coughing at public officials is disgusting, it is against the law. It is disgusting at any time, but particularly during Covid-19.
Updated
Kerry Chant, the state’s chief medical officer, says 88 tests of the Ruby Princess crew have been conducted. Another 44 positive cases were identified.
I also want to update you on the testing that was conducted on the Ruby Princess, among the crew. There were a total of 88 tests undertaken, and those tests were undertaken on those with mild respiratory symptoms, and those that were recovering from the illness on board the ship. 44 cases were positive, identified. Those tests are not unexpected given the COVID on the ship and I just want to stress that there is a combination of those that are recovering, and as part of our recovery process, we are testing them for clearance as well as those who have got some mild respiratory symptoms. There is action being taken, and I am pleased to say we are working cooperatively with Border Force, Aspen and New South Wales Health.
Another death in NSW, taking state's toll to 23
The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, is urging residents to stay at home over Easter, not attend church, and not hold family gatherings.
NSW authorities say they have recorded 44 new cases, taking the total to 2,857. Another death has been recorded. That takes the state toll to 23 and the national toll to 56.
About 212 people are being treated by NSW health.
The health minister, Brad Hazzard, says:
On behalf of the community and on behalf of our government I express our condolences to that person’s family. It doesn’t matter what the time, it is always tough when a family member [dies], and this is the toughest of times. So we are thinking of you.
Berejiklian says the number of tests being conducted has increased, but the number of confirmed cases has remained stable. She says this is “very pleasing”.
But we are nowhere near out of the woods. The worst is yet to hit us. But the early signs are encouraging that the restrictions are having a positive impact. When we look at what we are going through in NSW, in Australia, compared to other parts of the world, we can take stock and say that we have done the right thing at the right time, and we really need to continue that.
Updated
New Zealand's death toll doubles to four
New Zealand authorities have just reported two more Covid-19 deaths, taking the country’s death toll to four.
AAP reports:
A Christchurch man in his 70s and a Wellington man in his 80s both died on Good Friday after being admitted to hospital.
Both had underlying health conditions, as did the previous two Kiwis to die after contracting coronavirus.
The Christchurch man is the second to die from a cluster linked to the Rosewood rest home.
The director of public health, Caroline McElnay, said she “cannot rule out further serious illnesses or deaths” from that cluster.
So far, 30 people have tested positive to coronavirus at Rosewood, making it one of the country’s most significant clusters.
“Today’s news reinforces our move to alert level four,” McElnay said.
“This can be a very serious disease ... We want you to know that our health system will do everything it can to support the fight against Covid-19.”
Health officials also announced 29 new cases of the disease on Saturday, confirming New Zealand’s trend towards control of the disease.
There were 49 recoveries on Good Friday. The total number of cases is now 1,312.
Fifteen New Zealanders are being treated for coronavirus in hospital: five are in intensive care and one Dunedin patient is listed as critical.
Updated
Queensland police are speaking about implementing the state’s tough border and travel restrictions.
Queensland’s police chief, Katarina Carroll, said Queensland residents and residents of border towns who come into the state must have a pass.
She says there has been a “dramatic change” to the requirements overnight.
Those coming from one of 13 declared Covid-19 hotspots will need a special “red” pass and will be ordered to isolate for 14 days.
Carroll says:
Our strategy has been that we will always communicate, show compassion, then compliance. If there is blatant disregard, and there has been ... people will be issued with an infringement notice.
Police on the Gold Coast say they have intercepted 200 vehicles on the M1. They’ve turned 11 vehicles around because they had no reason to go to the Gold Coast. No infringement notices were issued.
Drones are also being used to warn people to get off the beach.
#LIVE: Commissioner Katarina Carroll and Gold Coast District Chief Superintendent Mark Wheeler are available to discuss the tighter restrictions coming into effect overnight. #9News https://t.co/nNHOiIGVBl
— Nine News Queensland (@9NewsQueensland) April 11, 2020
Updated
NRL insists it has green light to resume play
The NRL plans to conduct regular temperature checks and employ strict handwashing protocols when (if) games resume in May.
The ARL commission’s chairman, Peter V’landys, has also insisted the NRL has been given the go-ahead from government authorities to resume next month.
Here’s the AAP report:
NRL players will have their temperatures taken before they can go on to the field, and it will be checked at least three times on game day.
The NRL will implement strict biosecurity measures on the return to training next month, before the competition’s planned resumption on 28 May.
Central to that will be the heath of its players.
The NRL must ensure it has minimised any risk to players, and guidelines off the field will be well beyond the government’s public health measures.
Players can stay at home ... but could be asked to move if they live in a virus hotspot.
They will also be asked to self-isolate in the same manner that was floated before the competition was suspended.
“They can stay at home,” V’landys said.
“And as long as we have some pretty strict biosecurity measures ... we are pretty confident the risk will be extremely minimal.
“Each player’s temperature could be taken at least three times while they are in...our venues, they will have to wash their hands (and) they will have to undertake other biosecurity measures.”
V’landys has also managed to keep racing on the track during the virus in his role as chief executive of Racing NSW.
Rugby league’s measures had already been discussed by the NRL after the opening two rounds, and would have come into place last month had the competition not been suspended.
V’landys insisted the game had been given official permission to resume next month from government authorities.
It had also been in constant contact with the NSW premier’s office, as well as the sports department.
A meeting between the NRL and broadcasters this week will give a clearer recommendation on season structure, before Wayne Pearce’s Apollo committee reconvenes on Friday.
Pearce has already confirmed to AAP that a number of contingency plans will be put in place in case games are postponed due to a contamination.
But after watching Australia’s curve begin to flatten, V’landys is increasingly confident that would not be an issue and any question marks over the return will be erased.
Updated
From AAP’s Colin Brinsden:
The federal opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, is “encouraged but not complacent” about the decreasing rates of new Covid-19 cases, saying it shows that social distancing is working.
“This needs to continue for some time yet,” the Labor leader told Sky News on Saturday.
There are 6,215 cases of Covid-19 in Australia; 55 people have died.
Albanese, a rugby league fanatic, expressed caution about the NRL attempting to restart the season on 28 May, saying the priority had to be people’s health.
“It would be bad if we sent the wrong messages by trying to have rugby league games played at a time when we are still telling people to isolate,” he said.
Although there was nothing wrong with people preparing, the final go-ahead needed to consider the health of players, coaches and support staff.
“Also the health of other Australians who might get the wrong message if people were running around the football field,” he said.
In his Easter message, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, said the inability to gather should not diminish Christians’ hope, and they should live out their faith by staying home and supporting loved ones.
Updated
North-west Tasmanian hospital quarantine measures expanded
The outbreak on Tasmania’s north-west coast, Gutwein says, has occurred in health facilities, including the Northwest regional hospital and Northwest private hospital.
Gutwein says the state will “ring-fence” the area to take control of the outbreak. Operational control has now been taken from Northwest private hospital and will be managed by a dedicated outbreak management team.
I want to say to the staff and frontline health workers on the north-west coast that this is a particularly difficult time for you. We understand that. It is a particularly difficult time for the community in which you are embedded. We will do everything that we possibly can to support you. We will do everything that we possibly can in taking the steps ... to ensure that we quarantine this disease. ... Some of them will be difficult, but we will ask you to work with us and ensure we can get on top of this and control this outbreak. Ring-fencing is what we need to do, and ring-fencing is what we are going to do.
The Tasmanian government has announced new quarantine measures for those who have worked in, or been treated at, the hospitals. Some healthcare workers have already been asked to quarantine. Now their households will also be asked to quarantine at home.
Any patient who has been discharged from 27 March has been asked to self-quarantine at their homes.
Updated
Tasmania records 11 new cases of Covid-19
The Tasmanian premier, Peter Gutwein, is speaking now. He says the state has recorded another 11 cases of coronavirus, bringing the total to 122 positive cases. He says 52 people have recovered, leaving 70 positive cases in the state.
He says there is an outbreak on Tasmania’s north-west coast. The state is particularly vulnerable to Covid-19, due to its demographics.
We have a vulnerable community, an older community, a community that has in certain parts of its population more examples of underlying health challenges and other difficulties that people face.
That is one of the reasons why we have been so strident in the position that we have taken in terms of ensuring that people follow the rules. It is why we put in place the border controls sooner than other states. It is why we lead in terms of cruise ships.
It is why we have put in place the very strict rules in terms of shacks and coastal communities, because we want to protect the most vulnerable Tasmanians, and it is important that we all play our part to do that.
Updated
Victoria announces another death from Covid-19
Victoria’s health minister, Jenny Mikakos, has announced another death due to Covid-19. A man in his 80s has died in hospital.
There are also now 1,265 confirmed cases in Victoria, up from 1,241 yesterday. That includes 118 confirmed cases that authorities say may indicate community transmission, an additional two from yesterday.
Mikakos said 44 people are in hospital and 15 are in intensive care.
About 986 have recovered and more than 67,000 Victorians have now been tested.
There are now 1265 confirmed cases of #COVID-19 in Victoria. Sadly, another man in his 80s has died in hospital taking the number of people who have died in Victoria from #COVID-19 to 14. My thoughts are with his family #springst 1/2
— Jenny Mikakos MP #StayHomeSaveLives (@JennyMikakos) April 11, 2020
There are 118 confirmed cases that may indicate community transmission. 44 people are in hospital, inc 15 in ICU. 986 people have recovered & more than 67,000 Victorians have been tested. Our message is clear: stay at home #springst 2/2
— Jenny Mikakos MP #StayHomeSaveLives (@JennyMikakos) April 11, 2020
Updated
Miles is asked when a Covid-19 vaccination could arrive. He says realistically it is 18 months away, but the relaxation of drug laws will allow it to be distributed to Queenslanders as quickly as possible.
Scientists right around the world, including right here in Queensland, are working hard to find a vaccine. A number of candidate vaccines have been identified; some of them are on their way to animal trials right now. We do hope that that vaccine is not too far away. However, even 12 months would be considered a very ambitious time frame; 18 months is probably more reasonable.
The wait for a vaccine could be some time but it is important we do everything we can to prepare for that. That includes ensuring we have manufacturing capability, distribution capability, as well as now administration capability. That is what we are getting ready for.
Miles says that, despite Queensland’s successes, social distancing must be persevered with.
It is incredibly important we keep that up but it is true to say that we are now expecting, if we can keep this up, [fewer] Queenslanders to get sick, [fewer] Queenslanders to end up in hospital, [fewer] Queenslanders to end up in ICU requiring ventilation and, ultimately, [fewer] Queenslanders dying from this awful disease, and I think it is really important for us all to remember that that is why we’re doing this, so that other members of our community don’t die from this illness.
Updated
Queensland reports 'incredibly low' positive testing rate
The Queensland health minister, Steven Miles, is giving an update on the latest Covid-19 developments. He says Queensland has recorded nine confirmed cases of Covid-19 overnight.
Miles says there has been a “dramatic decline” in the weekly average of new cases. That is particularly encouraging because Queensland has been conducting more tests due to relaxed eligibility criteria.
The nine overnight brings our total for the week, our seven-day total, to 77.
When I spoke to you last Saturday it was 274. The Saturday before that it had peaked at 380. We have seen, in just two weeks, a very dramatic decline in the weekly average number of cases.
It is now five days since we relaxed those testing criteria to do more community testing, where we thought there could have been community spread on the Gold Coast, in Brisbane and in Cairns. I’m pleased to report that we haven’t seen an increase in positive tests. in fact, the number of positive tests have continued to decrease over that time.
The number of tests per day had dropped to roughly 600 from a peak of about 3,000. It is now back up over 2,000. We did 2,149 tests overnight. Considering that number of positive is just nine, that is a positive testing rate of just 0.42 over the past 24 hours – incredibly low by global standards.
Miles also announces he is relaxing the state’s drug therapy laws to give pharmacists the power to deliver the Covid-19 vaccine when it eventually arrives. Pharmacists will also be given the power to deliver a wider range of “emergency medications” if people can’t get to their prescribing medical practitioner.
To allow pharmacists a wider range of options for emergency medications, so that if people can’t get to their prescriber they will be able to access emergency medications.
To widen the circumstances in which pharmacists can substitute medications, but, most importantly, we are amending our drug therapy protocols so that pharmacists will be able to, when we have a Covid-19 vaccine, deliver that vaccine.
That means that communities right across the state, everywhere in this state, will have very quick access to the vaccine when it comes.
Updated
Hi everyone. Christopher Knaus here, taking over from Calla Wahlquist.
Just turning to one of our nearest neighbours, Papua New Guinea, for a moment. Reporter Kalolaine Fainu has filed this shocking piece on PNG’s preparations for Covid-19. The report reveals that medical staff in one hospital learned they were treating a Covid-19 patient when they saw the prime minister announce it at a press conference.
The report says:
The first that staff at Nonga General hospital in Papua New Guinea heard that they had been treating someone with coronavirus was when they saw the country’s prime minister announce it in televised press conference on Monday.
They had been treating the patient, a volunteer health worker at the hospital, for pneumonia. She originally came into the hospital in late March, but recovered and was discharged before her symptoms worsened and she was readmitted.
“This person wasn’t put into isolation or even a different ward,” said Margaret Melke, a nurse in Rabaul district, where Nonga Hospital is. “She has been walking around freely in the past few days and talking with us, so we are scared. We all left the hospital and are waiting for someone to come and explain what is happening.”
Updated
We have just been sent this image of Sydney Fish Market staff taking temperature checks on customers yesterday, Good Friday, on what is usually one of the market’s busiest days of the year. Photographer Peter Murphy said police were also monitoring the queues.
And with that I will hand over for a few hours to my colleague Christopher Knaus.
Updated
Victoria police fine 183 people
Four women “partying” in a short-term rental property and five people sharing an Uber are among 183 people fined by police in Victoria for allegedly breaching social distancing or self-isolation laws at the start of the Easter long weekend.
A spokesman for Victoria police said 893 spot checks were conducted on homes in the 24 hours to 11am yesterday.
Police said they discovered “multiple instances of private gatherings at residential properties”. Other alleged breaches were seven friends drinking in a schoolyard, and people fined for breaching public health orders while dealing drugs. (Those people also faced separate charges for, well, dealing drugs.)
Updated
Quarantine call-out: tell us how you’re getting home
Does your stay in mandatory quarantine finish today? We are interested in talking to people who are making their way home after being quarantined for 14 days and who may be facing difficulties with domestic flights being cancelled.
If that is you, please get in touch with Matilda Boseley at matilda.boseley@theguardian.com
Updated
Let’s go to Uruguay now, where 112 Australians and New Zealanders are aboard the Antarctic cruise ship Greg Mortimer which has been anchored off the coast of South America for 14 days after a coronavirus outbreak on board.
Australian and NZ passengers were scheduled to disembark in Uruguay at 6.30pm Friday (7.30am Saturday AEST) to fly home on a special chartered medical flight. Twenty other less fortunate European, US and UK passengers will have to remain on board pending negotiations for their return home.
A “humanitarian corridor” has been set up to shuttle passengers from the port of Montevideo to Carrasco international airport “with all the sanitary guarantees necessary for them and for society in general”, Uruguayan authorities said on Friday morning.
The fate of the remaining 20 passengers, and the ship’s crew of 85, mostly Swiss and Swedes, is still unclear.
“The [Uruguayan] government has not yet told Aurora [the cruise company operator] whether the ship will be allowed to remain at port or will be required to go back out to anchor,” Brian Meier from Chicago, one of the six Americans on board, who has been in quarantine in his cabin since 23 March, told me via WhatsApp on Friday morning.
The Greg Mortimer anchored 20km off the coast of Uruguay on 27 March with at least 128 coronavirus positive passengers and crew so far.
The ship had left the Argentinian southern port of Ushuaia on 15 March on an Antarctic cruise that had to be interrupted when passengers started developing symptoms.
A specially equipped Airbus 343 with medical personnel on board, chartered from the Portuguese Hi Fly air company, will leave for Melbourne at 1.40am Saturday.
“The plane will be set up into risk zones, with passengers seated by test results,” Aurora Expeditions told the passengers.
Migration formalities have been processed digitally to avoid any physical contact with the passengers, Uruguayan authorities said. A convoy of buses will transport them from the port to the airport, from which they will descend on to the tarmac to board the plane. Only hand luggage is being allowed “without manipulation of luggage to avoid contact”.
The fate of the remaining 20 passengers will probably depend on the results of a new round of coronavirus testing by Uruguayan doctors. “The non-AU/NZ passengers were tested Wednesday evening but we haven’t got any results back yet,” Meier told me.
Updated
While we are talking about possible exit strategies, Guardian Australia’s editor, Lenore Taylor, has written about the need to think very carefully before lifting social distancing restrictions.
She writes:
Governments have started to talk about the trade-offs involved in various exit plan options. Understandably, they are approaching the topic tentatively, because most of us will stay housebound for months, and because of the serious potential consequences of even a small relaxation of the rules. The national cabinet has asked health experts for advice and Australia-specific modelling. But these are not judgments that can be made solely on the basis of economic calculations or epidemiological forecasting. They are moral and ethical questions that require not just our heads but also our hearts.
You can read Lenore’s full piece here.
Updated
Queensland police issue fines totalling $385,526
Police in Queensland have fined 289 people with breaching social distancing laws and the ban on non-essential travel, issuing fines totalling $385,526.
The figures, provided by AAP, were current on Friday morning so they probably would have increased by now.
Among those fined were 18 people in 10 vehicles in an industrial area of Loganholme. Police have described the group as “hoons”. It follows an alleged illegal car rally in Brisbane last Saturday when a large group split across 150 cars gathered in a warehouse car park.
Queensland introduced tighter border restrictions at midnight last night, requiring all Queenslanders returning home from interstate to present a Queensland entry pass, which can be applied for online here.
The existing green entry and vehicle passes are now void.
Residents must then self-quarantine for 14 days if they have been to an area declared a Covid-19 hotspot – which includes Sydney – unless their travel was for an essential purpose.
Interstate freight transport services remain exempt from the border rules.
Updated
The ABC’s election analyst Antony Green has gone through the numbers from the Brisbane local government elections. Unsurprisingly, voting on polling day was significantly down.
The impact of Covid-19 on the #BrisbaneVotes election can be seen in the table of votes by type below. Polling day votes slumped from 66.0% to 26.5%, pre-polls and postals doubled, telephone votes up from 151 to 8,428. Pre-polls counted as Absents also leapt. pic.twitter.com/UwNCopxx0x
— Antony Green (@AntonyGreenABC) April 10, 2020
As I mentioned earlier, Ben Doherty has been taking a look at what the end of the lockdown period might look like in Australia. This week the prime minister, Scott Morrison, indicated restrictions might be lifted state by state at some undetermined time, with smaller states with lower infection rates providing a test case for larger states to follow.
Doherty writes:
Tasmania, with fewer cases, and the geographic advantage of being a small island with firmly established biosecurity laws, may be able to move sooner than other states. Those areas hardest hit by Covid-19 cases – New South Wales, Victoria and south-east Queensland – are likely to be the last to be able to move.
South Australia, with a low and falling infection rate and the highest per capita testing rate in the country, could also be an early mover.
Prof Lyn Gilbert, the chair of the infection prevention and control expert advisory group that reports to the nation’s chief health officers, has warned restrictions could wax and wane with the rate of infections.
“Everyone wants to know when it will end, and I know the politicians are desperate to be able to say when it will end, but I think we’ve got to be cautious,” she said.
“I think the only way to do it properly is to watch what’s happening and calibrate the response according to what’s happening. And if restrictions were lifted, at least partly, and the numbers started to go up again, they’d probably have to be reimposed.”
You can read the full piece here.
Updated
The Australian government has announced $100m in funding to help charities provide emergency relief during the coronavirus downturn.
It includes $37m to be shared among 200 emergency relief organisations to help them boost support and update their service delivery methods to comply with social distancing guidelines.
The funding also includes $16m to be split between Foodbank Australia, SecondBite and OzHarvest, which provide food parcels to growing numbers of vulnerable people, and $7m to help the Red Cross provide emergency relief.
Another $20m will go towards financial counselling services like the national debt helpline and problem gambling hotlines.
The social services minister, Anne Ruston, said the commonwealth already funded financial counselling support to 115,000 people a year. The additional funding will provide support to another 50,000 people.
The final $20m will go towards Good Shepherd to offer 40,000 people access to a no-interest loans scheme.
Ruston also announced a national coordination group to coordinate emergency relief across Australia:
Many people reaching out to these services may have never needed this type of assistance before so we need to make sure we have the right supports in place to help people through this period and bounce back stronger when it’s over.
I have been in constant communication with the sector which has told me what they need and we are responding.
Updated
Is this the end of the NRL island dream?
NRL chairman Peter V’Landys has told the Sydney Morning Herald that the league has permission to resume the competition “tomorrow if we wanted to”, appearing to crush our collective dreams of NRL island.
It comes after the deputy chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, hosed down suggestions the NRL could resume its season on 28 May, saying: “I don’t think they [the NRL] are a law unto themselves.”
V’Landys said the NRL had written permission from the NSW state emergency operations centre to resume, and said he had rung the NSW health minister, Brad Hazzard, on Friday to remind him that they were “exempted in the health order”.
He told News Corp that Kelly “unfortunately is unaware of the health order and our dealings with the relevant authorities”.
V’Landys told the SMH:
In reality we could do it tomorrow if we wanted to, but we’re not going to because we’re going to let the infection rate continue its stabilisation.
What we have juggled is to make sure we are no threat to the community’s health by spreading the virus. But I can’t see how we spread the virus if the players who are going there are all negative and playing each other in a sterile situation when we know they’re all negative.
We’ve got to go back to some sort of normality at some point in time. We just can’t be like this for the rest of our lives. And we would not do it if the risk wasn’t so low. We were playing and were allowed to play at 23% infection rate. It’s down to 1.48%. You should be able to get back.
On Friday the NRL has suggested it could resume its season on 28 May.
Updated
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the coronavirus crisis in Australia.
First, a large operation is under way to move the 1,300 people who have completed their mandatory 14-day quarantine in Sydney. They are the first group to have completed the hotel-based quarantine after returning to Australia on 28 March. Some have had their plans to return home interstate frustrated by the cancellation of domestic flights. On Friday, Virgin Australia suspended all domestic flights except one daily run from Sydney to Melbourne.
They are the only people who should be on the move this weekend. Police have repeatedly warned they will crack down on anyone travelling for Easter.
Yesterday the NSW arts minister, Don Harwin, resigned after being fined $1,000 for staying at his Central Coast holiday home in breach of a Covid-19 public health order. In Tasmania, the premier, Peter Gutwein, has warned that helicopters will fly along the north-west coast to see if anyone has breached orders to stay home by visiting their coastal shacks. And in Western Australia, the captain of the Fremantle Dockers, Nat Fyfe, has been cleared by police of what appeared to be breach of the travel ban after he was spotted surfing at Margaret River. Beaches in WA remain open, but the premier, Mark McGowan, warned they would be closed if they attracted crowds.
As of last night there are 6,203 cases of Covid-19 confirmed in Australia, and 54 people have died after testing positive to the disease. Globally the death toll has passed 100,000, with 980 people dying in the UK alone in the past 24 hours.
The daily incidence curve is continuing to fall. And experts have begun to consider Australia’s path out of this crisis, as Ben Doherty has reported in this in-depth piece.
If we miss anything, you can reach me on twitter @callapilla or at calla.wahlquist@theguardian.com.
Updated
