Good evening, and welcome to our daily roundup of the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic in Australia. This is Naaman Zhou bringing you the main stories on Tuesday 14 April.
‘Illegal dinner party’ turnaround
The chief medical officer, Prof Brendan Murphy, has retracted a claim he made that a cluster of coronavirus cases among Tasmanian health workers was due to an “illegal dinner party”.
Of Tasmania’s total 150 cases, more than 60 are in the state’s north-west, and 45 are healthcare workers and nine are patients. In a recorded phone call on Tuesday, Murphy told the New Zealand parliament that “most of them went to an illegal dinner party of medical workers ... we think”.
He later retracted this claim, saying it was a “possibility” but “following investigations I am confident it has not occurred.”
Virgin enters trading halt
Virgin Australia placed its shares into a trading halt as it looked for financial assistance to recover from the economic impacts of Covid-19. The airline’s planes have been grounded for weeks, and it has asked the government for an industry-wide $5bn bailout.
Victoria expands testing
Victoria’s health minister, Jenny Mikakos, said the state would expand testing to anybody with symptoms of Covid-19 (a fever, cough or sneeze), in what she described as “the most generous testing criteria” in Australia.
WA eviction moratorium
Western Australia will introduce legislation on Wednesday to prevent residential and commercial evictions for six months, but it will not include rent reductions. The premier, Mark McGowan, said the new protections would also include a freeze on rent increases, and no interest on rent arrears, but “we are not legislating to require a reduction in rent for residential tenancies”.
SA intensive care nurse tests positive
A nurse at the Royal Adelaide hospital who was treating Covid-19 patients in intensive care has herself tested positive, according to SA Health. The nurse, in her 20s, became “mildly symptomatic” on 10 April, and had 23 close contacts, including 22 hospital staff.
Morrison says NRL restart is “ambitious”
Scott Morrison said that the NRL’s plan to restart the season by the end of May was “ambitious” but he “liked that they’re planning to try”. However, he clarified that the league would not get any special treatment and it would be “subject to the health advice”.
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Ruby Princess investigation will take six months or more
The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, said that the police investigation into the Ruby Princess cruise ship will take at least six months and could take up to 12 months.
Universities ask for loan extensions
Australian universities have called on the government to immediately extend interest-free loans as they risk financial collapse. The University of New South Wales vice-chancellor, Ian Jacobs, said there was “a risk of a downward spiral”.
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