What we learned today, Thursday 14 January
With that, we’ll be closing the blog for today. Here’s a recap of the day’s big news stories:
-
A woman and her three young children have been found dead at a home in Melbourne’s north. Victoria police say the woman’s husband, and the father of the three children – aged seven, five and three – is assisting with the investigation but people should not presume culpability on that basis because “that would be grossly unfair”. When asked if the deaths had been a murder-suicide, Victoria’s acting deputy police commissioner, Robert Hill, said: “That could possibly be relevant.”
- The US tennis player Tennys Sandgren is bound for Melbourne after Tennis Australia reportedly intervened so he could board an Australian Open charter flight despite testing positive for coronavirus.
- Air conditioning has been raised as a possible cause of transmission in the Queensland Grand Chancellor Covid-19 cluster, prompting more questions about the safety of using hotels to quarantine returning travellers. The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, says the air conditioning will be one aspect examined as part of a major investigation into how four travellers, who were all staying on the same floor, a hotel cleaner and her partner became infected.
- A man has been seriously injured after being bitten on the leg by a two to three-metre bull shark while swimming in Perth’s Swan River.
- Australia has recorded zero community transmission in the most recent day of reporting – when almost 750,000 cases were recorded around the world.
- The Australian treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, has conceded that some businesses will not make it to the other side of the Covid crisis, as he defended the planned end of the federal government’s jobkeeper wage subsidy at the end of March.
Updated
Organisers of the Invasion Day rally in Melbourne have told participants to wear a mask at all times and stay in groups of no more than 100, 10 metres apart, to comply with Covid-safe rules.
Details of the march have just been announced. It will begin at 10.30am at Parliament House in Spring Street on 26 January and march to Federation Square.
Anyone who has cold or flu-like symptoms has been told to stay at home and participate in the protest online.
As well as wearing a mask, participants are told to bring hand sanitiser to use “frequently” throughout.
They also said:
You must organise in groups of 100 and each group of 100 must stay 10 metres apart as directed by the marshals on the day.
Everyone must follow the directions of the marshals on the day who will implement the Covid safety plan.
Updated
A racing pigeon that survived a 13,000km Pacific Ocean crossing from the United States to Australia now faces being euthanised as a quarantine risk.
Kevin Celli-Bird says he discovered that the exhausted bird that arrived in his Melbourne backyard on Boxing Day had disappeared from a race in Oregon on 29 October.
Experts suspect the pigeon that Celli-Bird has named Joe, after the US president-elect, Joe Biden, hitched a ride on a cargo ship to cross the Pacific.
Celli-Bird says the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service called him on Thursday to ask him to catch the bird, after its arrival was reported in the media.
Updated
Air conditioning has been raised as a possible cause of transmission in the Queensland Grand Chancellor Covid-19 cluster, prompting more questions about the safety of using hotels to quarantine returning travellers.
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the air conditioning would be one aspect examined as part of a major investigation into how four travellers, who were all staying on the same floor, a hotel cleaner and her partner became infected.
How did it get transmitted? Was it in the air conditioning? Was it movement? Was it picking up something? We just don’t know those answers yet. The investigation will go through that and we don’t know enough about this particular strain of the virus either, so we are dealing with something that is incredibly complex.
Health authorities are particularly concerned because those infected have the B117 variant of the virus, which was first identified in the UK and is highly transmissible.
Outbreaks in the community linked to hotel quarantine have now occurred in several states including Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria, where more than 20,000 cases and 800 deaths have been reported throughout the pandemic.
Hotel quarantine was “of national concern, not just to Queensland, but everywhere else” Palaszczuk said. In the meantime, the Grand Chancellor has been closed and more than 120 people staying there have been moved to other accommodation to restart quarantine.
Updated
The Australian Open’s organisers have released a statement about their decision to allow US player Tennys Sandgren to board one of its specially organised charter flights to Melbourne despite testing positive to Covid-19 on Monday.
More information on #AusOpen COVID-19 protocols.
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 14, 2021
cc @TennysSandgren pic.twitter.com/frI9CohXn1
The statement essentially reiterates comments made from the tournament’s official Twitter account on Thursday afternoon, saying Sandgren’s infection was historic and that authorities have cleared him as no longer being infectious.
You can read more about the situation in this report from my colleagues Luke Henriques-Gomes and Christopher Knaus:
Police say four people found dead at Melbourne home were mother and children
The four people found dead at a Melbourne home were three children and their mother, Victoria police have confirmed.
Speaking about the discovery at the Tullamarine home, Victoria’s acting deputy commissioner, Robert Hill, said the situation is “heart-wrenching”.
The body of the mother, who was 42 years old, was found along with the bodies of her seven-year-old-daughter, five-year-old daughter and three-year-old son.
The 48-year-old father of the family was at the home when ambulance crews arrived at the Burgess Street home about 12.20pm today.
Police say he is assisting detectives with inquiries and they are not seeking anyone else in relation to the deaths.
Hill said:
These people died in suspicious circumstances.
As to who is culpable for the death of the four people, that is yet to be determined.
But we should not draw conclusions that that male may be culpable for this offending. We’ve got a long way to go before we can understand and appreciate exactly what occurred.
Asked if the deaths had been a murder-suicide, Hill says: “That could possibly be relevant to this particular event.”
Asked if the father is considered a suspect, Hill says it would be “grossly unfair” to “draw any conclusions” about the father’s culpability.
Patton also says he doesn’t expect to be laying charges this evening.
Police say there was no history of violence within the family and there is no further threat to the public from the incident.
Updated
Couple rescued in outback after changing travel route due to Covid restrictions
The Flying Doctor is urging Australians to take extra precautions when driving in outback areas after the rescue of a couple from Adelaide who drove through remote South Australia because their planned route was changed due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The engaged couple had planned to drive from Cairns home to Adelaide through New South Wales, but opted to drive through remote South Australia after a hard border was reintroduced to stop coronavirus spread from NSW.
Jose, 29, and Nicky, 32, were travelling with their puppy when their Toyota RAV4 became stuck in sand on 3 January.
They abandoned their car and, without phone reception, walked more than 40km while scrawling “SOS” in the dirt.
grim pic.twitter.com/2I7bz5Ia8F
— casey briggs (@CaseyBriggs) January 14, 2021
At one point, Jose resorted to drinking his own urine.
The pair spent two days without food or water until Craig, a remote worker from Santos, found them at a satellite station after seeing their SOS notes in the roadside. Their dog Loki also survived.
Craig says he only takes the road once every six weeks, and the pair were 25km from the nearest town, Innamincka.
Jose says:
It was so hot, and we were scared, I thought we were going to die.
My phone said SOS only, and I kept trying over and over again to call for help, but the call wouldn’t go through.
We had a little food left but we couldn’t eat it because we had no saliva and couldn’t swallow.
They said they “hardly spoke” to each other because their mouths were so dry.
Updated
What we've learned so far today
Here’s a quick recap of what’s happened over the past few hours:
- Four people have been found dead at a home in Tullamarine in Melbourne’s north-west.
- US tennis player Tennys Sandgren appears bound for Melbourne after Tennis Australia reportedly intervened so he could board a charter flight despite testing positive for coronavirus.
- A man has been seriously injured after being bitten on the leg by a two to three-metre bull shark while swimming in Perth’s Swan River.
- Australia has recorded zero community transmission in the most recent day of reporting – when almost 750,000 cases were recorded around the world.
- The Australian treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, has conceded that some businesses will not make it to the other side of the Covid crisis, as he defended the planned end of the federal government’s jobkeeper wage subsidy at the end of March.
Updated
Western Australia records no new locally-acquired cases
Western Australia has recorded no new locally-acquired cases of Covid-19.
However, the WA Department of Health has reported two new cases of Covid-19 – both returned international travellers who tested positive while in hotel quarantine in Perth.
Updated
Four recent travellers to South Australia may have quarantined at Brisbane’s Grand Chancellor hotel, now shut down over a Covid-19 scare, AAP reports.
SA Health says two people who were at the hotel and later travelled to South Australia are no longer in the state.
It says checks are still being made to confirm if two more people from the hotel had recently arrived in SA via Victoria.
The information comes after the Grand Chancellor was shut down when six people linked to the quarantine facility tested positive for the more contagious UK coronavirus variant.
A cleaner and her partner, who are among the six, were contagious while in the community and triggered a three-day lockdown in Brisbane last weekend.
South Australia’s chief health officer, Nicola Spurrier, says if any people who stayed at the Grand Chancellor are found to be in SA, they will be required to return to quarantine.
South Australia reported no new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, leaving the state with 11 active infections, all returned travellers in hotel quarantine.
Updated
The decision to push ahead with the Australian Open has angered Australians still stuck abroad.
News about the remarkable effort going into hosting the tournament – including charter flights for staff and players and extra resources for hotel quarantine – is not going down well in Facebook groups like Aussie’s Abandoned Abroad, where users share horror stories about cancelled flights, family turmoil, stress and heartbreak.
One user described the stress of repeated flight cancellations as he attempts to return to Australia before his daughter gives birth to twins.
Luckily 1,200 tennis players and staff flying in for the Oz Open!!
Another user posted a link to a news article about Victoria’s quarantine plans for the tournament, saying only:
I have no words ....(Or at least none I’d be willing to post here).
Others wondered how it was that Tennis Australia was able to manage charter flights to bring players and staff to Melbourne from all over the world for quarantine, when the federal government could not.
Tennis Australia could manage to organise 15 charter flights in such a short time from around the world but the Aust Govt can’t? Mind boggling! or it’s about money?
Updated
Four people found dead in Melbourne home
Four people have been found dead at a home in Melbourne’s northwest, AAP reports.
A man is assisting homicide detectives, while a crime scene has been set up at the Tullamarine property.
Police say there is no ongoing threat to the community.
The exact circumstances around the incident are under investigation and we will provide more information when it’s appropriate to do so.
Police are currently at a property in Tullamarine following reports four people have been found deceased. @9NewsMelb pic.twitter.com/TYeoFhb7bt
— Elisabeth Moss (@Elisabeth_Moss9) January 14, 2021
Updated
Covid-positive tennis player allowed to board Australian Open charter flight
The Australian Open’s organisers are scrambling to defend their decision to allow American tennis player Tennys Sandgren to board one of its charter flights to Melbourne despite testing positive to coronavirus.
Sandgren, who also tested positive to Covid-19 in November and recovered, is understood to have returned a positive result after taking a PCR test on Monday.
Covid positive over thanksgiving
— Tennys Sandgren (@TennysSandgren) January 13, 2021
Covid positive on monday
Yet pcr tests are the “gold standard”?
Atleast I get to keep my points 😂
Sandgren initially tweeted “at least I get to keep my points”, suggesting he had been barred from flying to Melbourne under the organisers strict travel program for players and their entourages.
Wait hold on I think they are trying to get me on 15 min after the plane was supposed to depart.. my bags still aren’t checked lol
— Tennys Sandgren (@TennysSandgren) January 14, 2021
Minutes after tweeting that his plane had left the departure gate at Los Angeles airport without him, the world No 49 said he was on the plane, and praised tournament director Craig Tiley as a “wizard”.
Wow I’m on the plane
— Tennys Sandgren (@TennysSandgren) January 14, 2021
Maybe I just held my breath too long..
Craig Tiley is a wizard
The Australian Open’s official Twitter account has since replied to questions on the social media site, suggesting Sandgren had been allowed on the flight because Monday’s test result had picked up virus still in his system, and that he is not currently infectious.
Victorian Government public health experts assess each case based on additional detailed medical records to ensure they are not infectious before checking in to the charter flights.
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 14, 2021
Sandgren’s has previously generated controversy over his Twitter presence, with the player forced to deny he subscribed to alt-right views after tweeting evidence of the “Pizzagate” conspiracy.
Guardian Australia has contacted Tennis Australia for comment.
Updated
Josh Frydenberg condemns US Capitol attack as 'abhorrent' and despicable'
The treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, has described the deadly storming of the US Capitol building last week as an abhorrent, despicable attack on democracy.
Frydenberg was asked today to comment on Donald Trump becoming the first president in US history to be impeached a second time. The sole article of impeachment – which charged the defeated president with “inciting an insurrection” – was backed by 10 House Republicans.
Frydenberg, the deputy Liberal party leader, said it was not for him to provide a running commentary on political and democratic processes in the US – but he was notably stronger in his language than that used by Scott Morrison last week.
What I can say is those images we saw of the riots in Washington DC were abhorrent – it was despicable, it was disgusting. It was condemned by the Morrison government. Those sorts of riots, those violent demonstrations have no place in the United States or here in Australia … That was an attack on America’s democratic institutions and therefore an attack on democracy itself and it was very, very concerning to see.
Australia’s acting prime minister, Michael McCormack, earlier this week touched on Trump’s own role in inciting the violence, describing Trump’s refusal to concede defeat in the presidential election and his inflammatory tweets as “unfortunate”.
But McCormack drew flak for comparing the deadly riots to the Black Lives Matter protest movement and saying “all lives matter”.
Overnight, Human Rights Watch urged the Morrison government to treat the deadly mob assault on the US Capitol as “a wake-up call” and for Australian security agencies to be vigilant in countering the growth of rightwing extremism at home.
The Australian director at Human Rights Watch, Elaine Pearson, said: “The Australian government should speak plainly and consistently in condemning the actions of those who undermine democracy, even when it is the president of the United States.”
Updated
Treasurer says some businesses will 'not make it to the other side of the Covid crisis'
The treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, says some businesses will not make it to the other side of the Covid crisis, as he defends the planned end of the federal government’s jobkeeper wage subsidy at the end of March.
During a visit to a cafe in Torquay, Victoria, today, Frydenberg said the government intended to allow the jobkeeper program to conclude in line with its currently legislated end date. The government also had “no plans to change the major parameters of the jobkeeper program” despite calls for it to continue for harder hit industries.
Frydenberg played down concerns of a fiscal cliff at the end of March, instead pushing a more upbeat message:
As the restrictions are eased, as confidence comes back, as the economic support that we have provided continues to roll through the economy, more people will find jobs, businesses will stay on their feet, and we’ll get through this crisis.
Pressed on whether he expected to see a wave of insolvencies, Frydenberg said:
Well certainly there will be some who have deferred their insolvencies from last year that may go into that position this year, but overall the economy will continue to strengthen even when those temporary emergency measures come off and that insolvency legislation that passed the parliament will be a great support.
Frydenberg said it was “always the case that some businesses would not make it to the other side of the Covid crisis” but the government’s focus had “always been to give every business the best chance of getting to the other side”.
The government has cited figures indicating an additional $200bn is sitting on household and business balance sheets compared to the start of last year. Frydenberg said it was not for him to tell people when or how to spend these savings, but he was “confident that people will spend that money across the economy – that will help generate economic activity”.
Updated
Western Australia’s premier Mark McGowan has thanked kayakers who helped to rescue a man who was bitten by a bull shark in his state earlier today.
Paramedics responded to reports of a shark bite at Point Walter Reservoir, along the Swan River, shortly after 8am (local time) on Thursday.
The man, who was swimming at the time of the bite, was taken to Royal Perth Hospital before 9am, and is understood to have suffered a serious injury to his upper right leg.
McGowan said:
I understand it’s quite a serious bite but we all hope and wish for the very best for the man involved and hope he recovers fully,
We haven’t had an attack by a bull shark in the river for 50 years. The last time someone was killed by a bull shark in the river was 100 years ago. So this is unexpected and surprising.
Updated
Advice from the National Incident Centre of zero cases of community transmission Australia-wide today. Sadly there have been almost 750,000 cases & over 16,000 lives lost globally today. It is a deep reminder of what we have achieved as a nation in saving lives & protecting lives
— Greg Hunt (@GregHuntMP) January 14, 2021
Thanks for bringing us the morning’s developments Matilda.
I’m Elias Visontay and I’ll be taking you through the next part of the afternoon.
If you see anything you think I should be aware of, you can contact me via email at elias.visontay@theguardian.com or via Twitter @EliasVisontay.
With that, I might leave you and hand you over into the safe hands of Elias Visontay.
Just a bit more on that shark attack in Perth.
It’s understood that a man has suffered a serious injury to his upper right leg when swimming at a popular spot Point Walter Reservoir, along the Swan River.
Paramedics were called to the scene at 8.05 am this morning and he was treated at the scene including receiving CPR.
He was transported to the Royal Perth Hosptial at 8.49 am as “Priority One”, which means he was in a serious condition.
I’ll bring you an update on his condition as soon as I can.
Updated
Two officers have been injured during an alleged incident with a prisoner at the Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre, reports the AAP.
One officer suffered a laceration to the head while a second received a laceration to the face shortly before midday on Wednesday.
They were treated at the scene by Queensland Health staff then taken to hospital in stable condition for further treatment, Queensland Corrective Services confirmed.
The prisoner was restrained and transferred to the detention unit.
The centre was locked down to allow responding officers to debrief with management.
Updated
Update: return to onsite work
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) January 14, 2021
From 18 January 2021:
➡️up to 50% of office workers who are not in the public service can return to on-site work
➡️up to 25% of public service workers can return to on-site work
➡️ face masks are not required to be worn in offices (1/2) pic.twitter.com/WpnJawlCEx
Tasmania re-quarantines 14 travellers from Queensland hotspot hotel
I’ve just got an alert through from Tasmanian authorities. They have confirmed that 14 recently returned international travellers who quarantined in the Brisbane Hotel Grand Chancellor will have been contacted and asked to be re-tested and re-quarantine while the situation is investigated.
The hotel has been the site of a small cluster of the highly contagious UK variant of Covid-19 and there are fears that the disease may have spread through the hotel, essentially nullifying guests two weeks of quarantine.
Deputy state controller Scott Tilyard has released a statement:
At this stage there is no information to indicate any of the people have posed a Covid-19 risk to the community.
They completed their 14 day quarantine period in Queensland as required and none were displaying any symptoms on their release from quarantine. All had returned negative tests at their time of departure from their quarantine in Queensland.
However as a precautionary measure, due to a number of Covid cases in the hotel that was used in Brisbane, Tasmania is being extra cautious.
Updated
Perth man injured in shark attack
A man has been attacked by a two to three-metre bull shark in the Bicton area of Perth around 8am this morning.
We haven’t got an update on his condition just yet but a water police vessel has been deployed to clear people from the water.
WA authorities have warned people in the area to take care, adhere to beach closures and report any shark sightings to the water police on 9442 8600.
You can find a bit more information on the Shark Smart website here.
Updated
ABC reverses editorial decisions on Capitol breach and Craig Kelly Covid posts
The ABC has reversed two editorial decisions about its reporting on the assault on the US Capitol and misinformation about Covid-19 spread by the MP Craig Kelly.
On Tuesday Mark Maley, the ABC’s manager of editorial policy, banned unattributed use of the word “insurrection” in news reporting to describe the 6 January attack.
But by Wednesday afternoon the ABC had reversed its position, with Maley issuing fresh guidance admitting there was “overwhelming prima facie evidence” that the Capitol attack, in which five people were killed, qualified as an insurrection.
In an email to news and current affairs staff sent on Tuesday morning, Maley said that “many US Democrats and a small number of Republicans are calling the events of 6 January an ‘insurrection’ and that is what is going to be alleged in the impeachment [of Trump]”.
You can read Ben Butler’s full story below:
The daily stats from ABC reporter Casey Briggs has come out on which posts from Australian politicians got the most traction on Facebook yesterday.
In a fairly predictable turn of events, controversial Liberal MP Craig Kelly has taken out the top spot.
26.2% of all interactions on Australian politician Facebook pages yesterday were on posts by Craig Kelly.
— auspol_posts (@auspol_posts) January 14, 2021
Then:
Anthony Albanese (12.5%)
George Christensen (7.6%)
Pauline Hanson (6.3%)
Richard Marles (4.4%)
Jason Wood (4.2%)
Ed Husic (3.6%)
We mentioned it a little while ago but here is a bit more info on what the Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has to say about those trying to get home from Sydney to Melbourne.
Just in relation to Sydney and the red zone, I’ve got no announcements to make today, but I can foreshadow what we’re working towards delivering as soon as is safe.
We’re working to reduce the total red zone down to some priority or local government areas of highest concern. If conditions in Sydney are suitably favoured for us to be able to reduce our focus down to a smaller geographical footprint and therefore a smaller number of people, then we’ll absolutely do that.
That is becoming increasingly important given the return of school and the fact there may well be not yet certain, but there may well be quarantine requirements upon those people when they come back to Melbourne or any other part of our state.
We’ll make those announcements and confirm those arrangements as soon as we possibly can.
Updated
Some of you thought you may have seen the last of me today, but no, you aren’t that lucky. It’s me Matilda Boseley back in the seat now.
Thank you to Nino Bucci for holding the fort and doing it with style!
Updated
Victorians from Qld infected hotel may need to re-isolate
So just going back to the Daniel Andrews press conference for a second, and the main point of discussion today was this UK variant strain in Queensland.
Unfortunately, it looks like there will be Melburnians who after just getting out of quarantine and returning to their home states will have to be retested and possibly isolate.
Queensland reported some significant issues in their hotel quarantine arrangements. We wish our friends in Brisbane and Queensland well. And we thank them for the positive partnership we have at a public health level, officials as well as minister to minister level.
We have about – well, 18 – it was 20, and two have gone to South Australia, so we have 18 people who were in hotel quarantine during the relevant period. We’re contacting them. We’re testing them. Some will need to isolate, some will simply need to get a negative test. It’s very difficult. There’s not one blanket answer, it depends on when they were in hotel quarantine.
Updated
A few more bits and pieces from that NSW press conference:
- A positive result recorded at an Ulladulla sewerage treatment plant in recent days is now considered to be negative.
- Restrictions in Illawarra/Wollongong are likely to continue, despite a string of days without cases.
- Health minister Brad Hazzard said we had to get used to new variants popping up, as the UK variant becomes prevalent in hotel quarantine. NSW deputy chief health officer Dr Jeremy McAnulty said there had been 18 “variants of concern” detected since November.
- Hazzard also said he was comfortable with current arrangements regarding working from home, which largely leaves the decision to workplaces.
Updated
Hazzard says non-mask-wearers will have 'full weight of the law thrown at them'
NSW health minister Brad Hazzard has absolutely slammed people who are not wearing masks in the state, saying those who do not do so are “kidding themselves” and should have “the full weight of the law thrown at them”.
I just say this, wearing a mask is absolutely the fourth line of defence. We talked about the various lines of defence that we have.
Wearing a mask is something we should all be doing if it’s within the environment that’s been laid down by the public health orders.
And certainly, if someone is asked to wear a mask when they’re entering premises, they should comply. People who don’t will have the full weight of the law thrown at them.
We’re all in this together. For heaven’s sake, individuals who think they cannot wear a mask are kidding themselves. Wear the damn mask is the message.
Updated
Here is what will change with masks in Victoria from midnight Sunday. They will only be mandatory in: airports/on flights, hospitals, on public transport or taxis/ride share vehicles, supermarkets and shopping centres.
NSW health minister Brad Hazzard is asked again whether a regional hotel quarantine model may work better because it requires staff to stay on site, reducing the possible leakage of the virus into the community. He used the question as an opportunity to again point out that NSW is doing the heavy lifting when it comes to international arrivals.
Each of the states and territories are taking nowhere near the number of people from overseas that we take. A fraction, in fact. And that in itself presents an entirely different situation. If we consider for example Western Australia, we alone have ... 3,000 air crew a week coming through New South Wales. They have less than 300. Victoria for a long while had nobody. Queensland has far less than what we have.
We have the biggest system by far. Roughly 43% of all of the people who come through our hotel system, we are looking after for other states and territories.
There’s no doubt from the public health staff’s advice to the government the current arrangements are the best possible.
Having said that, the public health team have also stepped up audits of the hotels and looking at any holes – it’s a human system, as we talked about many times, over the last year.
Updated
There are 18 people in Victoria who were in the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Brisbane and have been chased up, premier Andrews confirms.
Premier Andrews says there’s 18 people in Vic who were at the Brisbane Hotel grand chancellor Quarantine. Vic authorities are in contact and they are isolating. @abcmelbourne
— Richard Willingham (@rwillingham) January 14, 2021
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has flagged that the government is working to reduce red zones to certain local government areas in Sydney, rather than the entire greater Sydney region. This would make travel between the places far easier. He said no announcement on this was likely today.
Updated
NSW health minister rules out relocating quarantine facilities to regional areas
NSW health minister Brad Hazzard has ruled out any change to the hotel quarantine system in the state, after Queensland said they were considering relocating some quarantine facilities to regional areas.
He makes some very fair points, so I’ll include the bulk of them:
There’s been some question marks about whether or not we should be using regional hotel facilities for our hotel quarantine system.
I just want to emphasise that this has been looked at very closely by the New South Wales public health team over the full duration of this particular pandemic which is almost, for us, a year ago it commenced. It was 25 January we had our first four cases.
And on any one day, in our hotel quarantine system, we have about 3,500 staff ... in our hotel – health hotels, our special health accommodation, we have 650 people in that situation. That’s ... slightly bigger than the Royal North Shore hospital.
There’s strong views held in our public health team it makes sense to continue to have the hotel quarantine arrangements we currently have.
One of the other very serious concerns that public health would have, if they were moved into the regions, first of all, there are challenges around the transportation of people who have come from overseas, with the possible virus from overseas, being in a bus for an hour or two, to whichever region may be considered.
But we simply do not believe, the public health advice here in New South Wales, we don’t believe there would be an advantage, in fact, distinct disadvantages to consider moving our public health hotels out of the Sydney regional area.
There’s also another critical factor, and that’s if we do get people who deteriorate, we want them to be able to transferred to a major tertiary hospital as quickly as possible. In other words, one that has the preeminent specialists available to look after the people who may end up with Covid.
Updated
NSW records no new locally acquired Covid cases
NSW has recorded no new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. The last time there were no locally acquired cases in NSW was the 24 hours to 8pm on 6 January.
Two cases were recorded in returned travellers, bringing the total number of Covid-19 cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 4,854.
There were 20,437 tests reported to 8pm last night, compared with the previous day’s total of 20,664.
Updated
Victoria to start staged return to work in offices next week
A staged return to work in offices will start in Victoria next week, premier Daniel Andrews has confirmed in a press conference which is going on now (at the same time as a press conference in NSW). Mask restrictions will go back to what they were before the recent outbreak of cases in Victoria (shopping centres, public transport, but not all indoor settings).
Masks rules to go back to what they were; only shopping centres, public transport etc. as Premier announces a return to office work from next week. 25% public service and all other offices 50%. @abcmelbourne #springst pic.twitter.com/ntbVUYAXZJ
— Bridget Rollason (@bridgerollo) January 14, 2021
Updated
The first tennis players arriving in Melbourne for the Australian Open are set to land on a flight today. All had to return a negative Covid test before travelling to Australia, have to have daily tests while here, and can only train with one support person. Here’s some more of the restrictions that will apply during their time here:
First flight of players arriving today for @AustralianOpen lots of discussion about quarantine restrictions, here are some of the key facts... pic.twitter.com/sBgubOROOI
— Todd Woodbridge (@toddwoodbridge) January 13, 2021
Updated
Here’s a story on those people who had to move from the Hotel Grand Chancellor to other hotels and spend another fortnight in quarantine (potentially less, if Queensland Health find the source of infection).
Updated
So the big thing that had to happen in Queensland last night was the massive task of moving 129 (potentially very infectious) returned travellers from the Grand Chancellor hotel to other facilities.
Health minister Yvette D’Ath spoke about this effort:
We want to thank everyone who is involved in the logistics of yesterday. We moved 129 people from the Grand Chancellor to other hotel quarantine. And I appreciate that for those 129, particularly the ones who were due to be released, it is a difficult choice to require them to quarantine up to another 14 days depending on what we find with the investigation. So we thank them very much for their cooperation.
I want to thank all of the people who have previously left hotel quarantine and the staff who we are contacting and all quarantining and getting tested for their cooperation.
Thank you to the Grand Chancellor for their efforts and support and cooperation through all of the investigation and the work ...
Big shoutout to our health workers, to the Queensland Ambulance Service for transporting everyone safely yesterday. All 129 were removed from the Grand Chancellor before midnight last night.
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Chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young is speaking now:
Now, I am very confident that we have found the close contacts of both the cleaner and her partner and because we had those three days that people weren’t leaving their home and people followed those instructions brilliantly, then I have very little concern that that spread in the community ...
So far we haven’t had any positives which is good, but we all have to remember that 14-day incubation period. So those people do need to stay in isolation for the full 14 days from when they potentially had contact with someone with the virus. So that’s all working very, very well.
Young commended the cleaner who was originally affected at the quarantine hotel with the UK variant.
This is a virus, a very, very contagious virus and I absolutely want to thank the cleaner for all the help she’s provided and she’s continuing to provide. That is critical. Remembering she’s infected with it, so she is unwell, so she is providing us all of that assistance while she’ll also be concerned. So thank you.
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Queensland to consider quarantining people in mining camps
Palaszczuk has been pretty worried about hotel quarantine systems in Australia, especially now that the highly contagious UK variant is out and about.
Yesterday she was speaking vaguely about talking to national cabinet about big changes to the program, but this morning she had gone into greater detail:
We are going to look at all options and one of those options is to look at some of the mining camps that we have in Queensland. Now, for a start, some of these mining camps are four-star. They are of a very good quality high standard.
My understanding is some of them have – most of them – the ones we’re looking at have balconies, so there’s a lot of fresh air for guests and also, too, there’s the capacity for all of the staff and the cleaners and everyone to also be based on those sites as well.
Now, I’m going to put this forward as an option to the federal government and I also – and we’ll be having those discussions, so we’ll look forward to those discussions over the next few days. But also, too, I do want to discuss it at national cabinet, that will be held on Friday week. I hope the AHPPC advice will also go to national cabinet.
It’s a matter for states and territories, but I think with this new strain, we have to put all options on the table and these are sensible, rational options. The Howard Springs works very well in the Northern Territory and there’s no reason why we couldn’t do something similar here in Queensland or if not around the country. But, of course, that’s a matter for other jurisdictions.
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Queensland records no new local Covid cases
And would you look at that Queensland’s Annastacia Palaszczuk is speaking now:
We only have four new cases and all of them are in hotel quarantine and none of them were in the Hotel Grand Chancellor ...
I want to personally thank police, health and ambulance staff and especially those in the Grand Chancellor Hotel. All of the guests were removed yesterday and transported to another hotel. That was very smoothly done and I do want to thank all of those agencies for working so cooperatively together to make that happen. So all 129 guests have now been relocated.
Now, of course, too, all of the actions that we have been taking, Dr Young has had the full endorsement of the AHPPC. Dr Young has been talking to her colleagues on a regular basis about everything that we are doing and that is being backed up nationally.
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In case you were wondering when our great leaders will be speaking today NSW’s Glady’s Berejiklian is expected to stand up in the next little while. She will be chatting about the new direction for anyone in NSW who visited a quarantined hotel in Brisbane to re-quarantine and get tested. (This comes after a small cluster of the highly contagious UK variant of Covid-19 was discovered there).
Victoria’s deputy chief health officer Dr Allen Cheng will be speaking at 11.
Cashed-up households can support economic recovery, says Frydenberg
Josh Frydenberg has spoken this morning, saying he believes households have sufficient savings for the economy to continue its recovery even when jobkeeper ends in March.
The federal treasurer jumped on new figures showing households and businesses have amassed more than $200bn in savings during the pandemic.
There is a huge sum of money available to be spent across the economy helping to create jobs and maintain the momentum of our economic recovery.
The unprecedented economic support provided by the Morrison government during the crisis means that even as jobkeeper and other temporary emergency support measures taper off, a fiscal cliff is avoided.
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority data shows household deposits increased by around $113bn between January and November last year.
Non-financial businesses saved $104bn over the same period.
Unsurprisingly, the shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers disagrees.
One of the reasons household savings have been higher than usual is because many people have been reacting to a lot of uncertainty.
If only the treasurer was as focused on creating jobs as he is obsessed with generating headlines and congratulating himself while some workers, small businesses and communities are still struggling.
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Competition regulator Rod Sims has foreshadowed possible further legal cases against tech groups as a result of inquiries into mobile phone app stores and how ads are sold online.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which Sims chairs, has been investigating so-called “ad tech”, where search engine Google is a major player, and the stores both Google and competitor Apple use to sell mobile phone apps, as part of its broader agenda to examine the power of tech companies.
Sims handed a report detailing the findings of his inquiry into ad tech to the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, on 31 December, and the government is expected to release it before the end of the month.
You can read the full story below:
Airlines react to reduced Australian hotel quarantine caps
I’ve just heard back from Cathay Pacific about how that airline is managing the reduction in the hotel quarantine caps, which affect its commercial flights coming into Sydney and Brisbane.
They have not said how they are selecting which passengers will fly as scheduled and which will be bumped, but said they are “committed to supporting our customers as best we can during this challenging time”.
Our ‘Fly Worry Free’ program remains in effect and guarantees unlimited ticket changes or a full refund for any passengers impacted by the government cap adjustments.”
And Etihad said this:
Following regulations being updated by the Australian authorities, a further limit on the number of passengers per flight allowed to disembark at Sydney International Airport has been applied. As a result, Etihad Airways is temporarily restricting the number of passengers carried between Abu Dhabi and Sydney from 15 January until 15 February 2021.
Travellers returning to Australia are encouraged to contact Etihad Airways to ensure their travel plans are not disrupted. We will work closely with impacted guests and travel agents to notify them of the changes to their itineraries and re-accommodate them on alternative flights. Etihad continues to adhere to the guidelines set by the relevant authorities in the UAE and Australia.
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Thunderstorms will impact parts of eastern Australia over the coming days, possibly severe.
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) January 13, 2021
Activity will kick off in eastern #Vic & southern #NSW & #ACT today, extending across eastern NSW on Thurs/Fri, before moving into southern #Qld over the weekend https://t.co/XVOAznfBIf pic.twitter.com/GiBQjkjIfL
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The buzz call of the cicada is a familiar sound of the Australian summer and this season is what David Emery calls a “super year for our summer chorusing friends”.
A veterinary immunologist at the University of Sydney and cicada expert, Emery has been monitoring the insects for decades and, along with many residents of coastal New South Wales and beyond, has registered that the volume is more ear-splitting than usual.
In NSW, Victoria and South Australia, more cicadas have emerged this summer than in recent years.
Emery says one reason is the abundance of winter and summer rainfall Australia has received.
“You often see a good emergence after drought and that may be due to plant regeneration and growth inspired by the rain,” Emery said. “After the fires, we see that regrowth as well.”
You can read the full story below:
Three dead in separate drownings in Victoria
Just on those drownings here is a bit more information.
Three people are dead after separate drownings on Victoria’s coastline, while a child is fighting for life after being recused from waters in southeast Melbourne.
A woman in her 20s died after swimming out to rescue a teenage girl struggling in the water at Venus Bay (a popular Victorian Holiday town), about 7.30pm on Wednesday.
The woman was one of several people who dived into the waters to save the girl, but she began to struggle before she was pulled from the water by an off-duty lifeguard. The others made it safely back including the teenage girl.
Earlier in the afternoon, four people were swept off rocks at Bushrangers Bay near Cape Schanck on the Mornington Peninsula. Police say two onlookers then entered the water to assist.
One woman died and five other people were rescued but four required hospitalisations. It’s not yet known if she was one of the two people who attempted the rescue.
The third death was a man in his 80s, who was brought to shore already unconscious at the popular Rye front beach in Tootgarook, on Wednesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, a three-year-old girl was found unresponsive at Lysterfield Lake in Narre Warren about 5.50pm on Wednesday. She was rescued from the water and taken to hospital in a critical condition.
Police say they have launched an investigation into the incident.
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An Adelaide man says he felt “powerless” and disrespected when two employees from his disability employment agency turned up at his house without permission or prior warning, a likely breach of government guidelines.
Jobseeker Franklin Araya, 59, said two employees from Multiple Solutions arrived at his home unannounced on Friday, 8 January.
He said they asked him to sign a form that indicated he had been working for a certain number of weeks and hours – documentation that can allow providers to claim bonuses, known as outcome payments, though there is no allegation the information on the form was false.
The incident bears similarities to a case last year, where a newly unemployed man said he felt harassed by an employment agency job coach who showed up at his home unannounced and which Guardian Australia can reveal resulted in a “breach notice” being issued to the provider.
You can read the full story below:
This isn’t Australian news, but I think we can make an exception.
#BREAKING: US President Donald Trump has been impeached for a second time, making him the first in US history to face the most serious of political charges twice.
— Kathryn Diss (@KathrynDiss) January 13, 2021
The US House of Representatives voted impeach the president on a charge of "incitement of insurrection".
You can check out all the updates from the impeachment vote today on our US live blog.
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Victoria records no new Covid cases
Bing bing bing! It’s my favourite time of the morning! (No prizes for guessing what state I live in).
Victoria has recorded no locally acquired cases yesterday and no cases in hotel quarantine.
Triple doughnuts baby!
Yesterday there were 0 new locally acquired cases reported and 0 new cases in hotel quarantine. Thanks to all who were tested – 16,533 results were received. #EveryTestHelps. More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/zOan8txQEo
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) January 13, 2021
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I mentioned before that Life Saving Victoria had taken to social media to talk about how heartbreaking yesterday was along the state’s beaches after three died and five were put in hospital in three separate incidents.
Here is one of those posts:
(1/6) Today has been a challenging day for @LifeSavingVic lifeguards and volunteer lifesavers. It breaks our hearts to have three tragic drownings in one day; three families that will never be the same again.
— Kane Treloar (@KaneTreloar) January 13, 2021
(2/6) But shouldn’t be forgotten is that today on Port Phillip Bay, 2 young @LifeSavingVic lifeguards pulled a young woman unconscious from the water and performed a successful resuscitation saving her life with the help of @FireRescueVic and @AmbulanceVic
— Kane Treloar (@KaneTreloar) January 13, 2021
(4/6)Tonight in Gippsland, at around 8pm a young LSV volunteer pulled a young child from a dangerous rip; saving that child’s life. His clubmates rushed to the beach to help him.
— Kane Treloar (@KaneTreloar) January 13, 2021
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In possibly the worst news I have ever heard in my life a wild Australian sea lion has been diagnosed with tuberculosis, for the first time.
The discovery by Australian researchers has sparked concerns the disease, which was found in the mammal’s abdomen, could transfer to humans, the AAP reports.
University of Sydney researcher Rachel Gray said there was a risk of transmission.
There is risk of transmission for researchers handling the animals, as well as anyone involved in animal rescue or washed-up carcass disposal, or those working at rehabilitation centres and involved in the disease diagnostic process.
In humans, tuberculosis typically affects the lungs.
The infected seal was a dead three-year-old male found on a beach at Kangaroo Island in South Australia in 2017.
Tuberculosis was discovered in its intestines during an autopsy.
This unusual finding means we need to maintain constant vigilance around zoonotic disease risk for any person in close contact with free-ranging pinnipeds (seals, sea lions and walruses) of juvenile age or older.
The research was published in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases.
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The federal communications minister Paul Fletcher is speaking on Radio National now. He is chiefly being asked about the Liberal and National party’s reluctance to condemn MPs George Christensen and Craig Kelly for spreading misinformation on social media.
Kelly on Monday posted misleading statistics to his Facebook page, labelling mandatory mask-wearing laws “child abuse”.
The Australia Medical Association, former prime minister Malcolm Turnball and the federal opposition have all called on the LNP to censure Kelly.
Unsurprisingly Fletcher isn’t too forthcoming with any condemnations:
I’m not going to comment on individual cases of what people say online. You know as Australia’s communications minister if I’m asked to comment on anything that anybody says online, there are millions of Australians online, every day.
Let’s be very clear. Australia’s medical advice comes from the chief medical officer of the department of health, the minister for health. The government’s advice is very clear on what people should do, and the management of the pandemic in Australia compares very favourably to any anywhere around the world, but I’m not going to get into commenting on individual posts, made by individuals.
Just a reminder that the “individual” he is talking about is an elected member of government and part of Fletcher’s own political party.
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More from Berejiklian on this new UK strain of the coronavirus:
What we need to do is take a breath over the next month to learn what the new strains of the virus are doing.
They will eventually become the dominant strains because this particular strain – which has been dubbed the UK strain – is actually already in over 30 countries, so it’s not one country, one strain we need to worry about. It’s now become a strain which is prevalent in many countries where Australians are, where Australians are trying to come home from. And, therefore, we have to be extra vigilant. We have to take to time to learn.
The premier was asked if states should consider moving hotel quarantine to regional areas.
Well, I don’t think that will really make difference.
It depends on the health advice, but we know that transmissibility or the contagiousness of a virus goes up in smaller vehicles, so when you’re actually transporting people, when you’re travelling those longer distances and spending a longer time in close confines, it actually increases the likelihood of the spread of the virus.
So whilst it might sound good in theory, we do need to take the health advice on that. Unfortunately, the health consequences could be worse.
What we do need to do, though, is make sure that if there is also human error involved, we get to the bottom of it. There are thousands of unbelievably brave people working in our hotel quarantine system every day across the nation. And they do a fantastic job.
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Oh, speaking of, the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian is on ABC News Breakfast now addressing the worrying Brisbane hotel cluster.
She says the new Covid-19 variant is a real worry.
Well, certainly we’re saying to anybody who stayed at that hotel at that time to make sure they have been tested and they’re isolating for at least 14 days.
What we also [know] about the new strains of the virus is that after 14 days, you may still be contagious and that’s why it’s important for them to get tested, stay at home and isolate for at least the 14 days and to wait for the health advice before they go back out into the community. This is to make sure that the virus doesn’t escape into the community which is the aim of all of the states …
When you have an issue like this, where you don’t know how the virus was transmitted, you don’t know whether people left the building unintentionally with the virus or not knowing they got the virus … that’s when it’s a real worry. That’s why I strongly supported halving welcoming Aussies back home through Sydney during January and February from 3,000 a week to 1,500 a week.
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Good morning all, Matilda Boseley here ready to take you through all the important news this Thursday.
If you see anything that you think belongs in the blog, make sure you send it through to me on Twitter @MatildaBoseley or by email on matilda.boseley@theguardian.com.
So, one of the big things to watch today is NSW issuing an alert for anyone who has been at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Brisbane, fearing a highly contagious strain of coronavirus may have spread across the border.
The hotel, which has been used to quarantine returned travellers, is linked to six cases of the UK variant of Covid-19, with multiple guests and a staff member all contracting the disease on the same floor. Queensland Health has now shut the facility for deep cleaning and has moved all guests, restarting their two-week stay.
NSW Health on Wednesday urged anyone who had been at the hotel since December 30, as a returned traveller or worker, to immediately get tested and isolate for 14 days regardless of the result.
This strain is said to be up to 70% more infectious than the “regular” coronavirus, although it doesn’t seem that the disease the virus causes is more virulent or deadly. But still, state leaders are terrified that if this variant seeds in the community, it could be exponentially harder to bring under control.
In other news:
- Australia’s chief medical officer has rejected calls to pause the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine after some doctors expressed concerns about the vaccine’s efficacy rate, which ranges from 62% to 90%, depending on how doses are administered. But the chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, is standing by plans to distribute AstraZeneca to most Australians.
- Human Rights Watch’s annual report says Australia’s global reputation on human rights has been marred by the government’s failure to address longstanding abuses against First Nations people. The New York-based rights group also highlighted misuses of police powers during Covid-19 lockdowns and the continued mistreatment of asylum seekers.
- The first of 1,200 international tennis players, support crew and officials are expected to arrive in Melbourne for the Australian Open, as health authorities issue a new alert for a Covid-hit Brisbane quarantine hotel. AAP is reporting a charter flight carrying athletes and staff is scheduled to land at Tullamarine early Thursday evening.
- Three people drowned and five ended up in hospital in three separate incidents along Victoria’s beaches yesterday. Life Saving Victoria members have spoken on social media how “heartbreaking” the summer day had been.
Police will prepare a report for the Coroner after the death of a woman at Venus Bay this evening.
— Victoria Police (@VictoriaPolice) January 13, 2021
The investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident is ongoing.
🔗 https://t.co/mELymXSwym pic.twitter.com/X4ok3dXGgU
Okay guys, let’s get started.
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