Summary
We’re going to leave things here for the evening. It’s been a quieter day with people out enjoying the easing of restrictions. Here are the key events:
- Some states and territories have begun easing some restrictions, with pubs, clubs and cafes reopening to limited numbers of patrons.
- The number of coronavirus tests conducted in Australia passed the 1m mark on Saturday. New South Wales and Victoria have some of the highest per capita testing rates in the world.
- Health authorities warned that while restrictions are starting to be eased, the pandemic is not over. The NSW health minister, Brad Hazzard, expressed concern some people were not observing social distancing requirements while they were out.
- Victoria recorded 11 new cases, two linked to the Cedar Meats outbreak and one to the McDonald’s Fawkner outbreak. NSW recorded three new cases. South Australia and the ACT again recorded no new cases. Tasmania broke its seven-day run of no new cases, recording one confirmed Covid-19 infection in the past 24 hours.
Thanks for joining us, we’ll be back again tomorrow morning. In the meantime, you can keep up to date with the Guardian’s global coronavirus liveblog. Take care.
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Golden hour in St Kilda 🌅 Been a while since Prince has seen so many people on the foreshore below. Happy weekend, peeps. Have fun; stay safe🤞#Covid19 #Melbourne #PuppyLove #IsoLife pic.twitter.com/YjqXGsACJ9
— Farrah Tomazin (@FarrahTomazin) May 16, 2020
Sydney will host the resumption of the coronavirus-affected Supercars calendar, with racing planned to return next month.
Supercars have not held a complete race meet since the season-opening Adelaide 500 in February.
The Supercars website revealed Sydney Motorsport Park will be the venue of the long-awaited two-day second round on 27-28 June, albeit without fans.
The full revised calendar is expected to be released later this weekend.
Sydney had been scheduled to run as a night event in late August but the Covid-19 pandemic prompted a change of approach.
“We’ll be running at daytime only,” the Supercars CEO, Scott Seamer, said.
“On the basis that we are chartering the teams in and out on tight turnaround times, the night racing doesn’t work and obviously they need a bit more time to complete the (permanent) light towers.”
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But there are signs some things are returning to normal...
It is hilarious how I know it is Saturday because Kmart and Bunnings trends and it's basically people bitching that everybody is at Kmart and Bunnings even though they are there too. So basically they're annoyed they have to wait in line.
— Téa Smith 🤪 (@tealou) May 16, 2020
AAP reports that police are praising NSW residents for exercising restraint in the first two days of eased restrictions for pubs, bars and clubs.
Dining venues were from Friday able to take up to 10 patrons if they maintain social distancing, including alcohol table service with a meal at pubs and clubs.
The NSW police assistant commissioner, Joe Cassar, told reporters on Saturday police would continue to work with venue proprietors as patrons return to their local haunts.
He admitted rainy conditions in Sydney on Friday night had suppressed the number of people seeking tables, with 10-person limits and distancing requirements easier to implement.
“We’ve got early feedback from our police on the ground there’s an acceptance conditions have been relaxed and there’s been compliance with the new conditions,” Cassar said.
“We’re in a very positive situation with low numbers being recorded and just ask members of the community to continue to comply with those conditions.”
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NSW Labor has criticised the Berejiklian government for taking too long to announce relief measures for stranded international students.
On Friday, the state government announced a $20m relief package that includes funding for temporary crisis accommodation through approved student accommodation or homestay providers.
It will also fund a 24-hour advice line on rental, medical, legal and mental health support issues.
Labor’s tertiary education spokesman, Clayton Barr, said the package failed to address serious cost of living pressures for students who have lost work and are ineligible for both jobkeeper and jobseeker.
“I’ve spoken to students who have had to walk up to 8km each way for the one meal that they have each day. They can’t afford food, they can’t afford transport,” Barr said.
“The Berejiklian government simply hasn’t done enough. This package pales in comparison to the relief measures announced by Victoria, which made sure international students had money to feed themselves with.”
International students and other temporary visa holders locked out of federal government support are relying on food banks and restaurants giving away free meals to survive during the coronavirus pandemic.
Images of long lines outside emergency relief services have emerged in the international student hubs of Sydney and Melbourne, as well as smaller cities including Darwin.
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AAP reports that South Australia is preparing in case there is a second coronavirus wave and expanding its paediatric emergency department capability, despite having no new or active cases.
The portable ward at the Women’s and Children’s hospital in Adelaide will make way for nine new beds to respond to any surge in cases or other respiratory illnesses in children during the coming months.
The premier, Steven Marshall, said he hoped the site does not needed to be activated.
He said there were a number of places around the world that were in the same situation as SA, having no or low Covid-19 cases, only to have a spike weeks later.
“We have worked so hard to get to where we are at the moment and we have to continue,” Marshall said on Saturday.
The extension will be connected to the hospital via an external corridor.
No infections were reported in South Australia on Saturday, with only one new case confirmed over the past 24 days.
The state’s total remains at 439.
Royal Adelaide hospital has been SA’s main coronavirus facility with 18 people admitted to its intensive care unit.
One person remains in hospital but is no longer infectious.
It was announced on Friday that the state no longer had any active cases, but it was wrong to be considered “coronavirus-free”.
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That’s where I’ll leave you for the day. I am passing over the live blog to Lisa Cox to take you through the rest of the afternoon.
Take care.
One of the two cases from WA is from a cruise ship. She was sick on the cruise ship six weeks ago, and tested negative when she returned to WA.
The other one was a close contact of another case who also tested negative.
When they both had blood tests, it showed they’d had coronavirus.
The Western Australian health minister, Roger Cook, says those two additional cases in WA are historical cases, so there are no new cases technically.
This is why the two additions were not included in the active cases tally.
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Kidd says the commonwealth will be getting a report from the state and territory chief health officers next week about the use of the Covidsafe app.
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Back to the app, Kidd is asked whether it’s unlikely many people using the app will test positive.
Kidd points to 20 cases across Australia and says it’s not surprising the app hasn’t been used in Victoria yet, but he says it remains an important tool for contact tracers.
“What we hope is the measures we have in place in Australia will not result in a resurgence in Australia of Covid-19,” Kidd says on people being complacent.
He says some people do feel relaxed, but we need to remain vigilant.
Kidd is asked whether the Covidsafe app is being used yet.
He says the commonwealth has no view over whether the data is being used yet, by design of who can access the data – ie just the contact tracers.
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We are now up to 5.7m downloads for the Covidsafe app, Kidd says.
Again, I repeat, downloads are not active users.
Kidd says people who are over 70, immune compromised or have other health conditions should stay home.
It’s essential that healthy people take care of those less well and maintain social distancing, Kidd says.
“This is a very tricky virus,” he says. The symptoms can be mild for one person, and life-threatening for another.
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More than one million tests now conducted in Australia
Australia’s deputy chief medical officer, Michael Kidd, says there are 20 new cases of coronavirus nationally.
As of 3pm today, 1,015,652 tests for coronavirus have been conducted in Australia.
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In the Senate committee hearing on the Covidsafe app earlier this month, Senator Rex Patrick, a former engineer, asked a lot of pointed technical questions about the development of the contact tracing app, including asking the Digital Transformation Agency to provide the test data it had on the app working on Android and iPhone devices.
They didn’t provide the test data, but did reveal 179 functional tests were conducted including Bluetooth encounters between a variety of Android and iPhone devices in various states including phone locked and unlocked, app open and not open.
“All tests satisfied the baseline design requirements. Performance tests were also conducted against the technical requirements,” the DTA said.
“In these tests, the system met and sustained the requirements and remained stable through the testing process.”
Those technical requirements:
- The app should be able to achieve targeted registration volumes of 3 million per hour and 5,000 per second, and achieve 9 million registration API requests per hour and 2,500 per second as a minimum.
- The app should be able to achieve encounter upload volumes of 5,700 per hour and 1.58 per second, and achieve 34,200 API requests per hour and 9.5 per second.
- The app should be able to achieve temporary ID both volume and API requests of 18 million per hour and 5,000 per second.
- The app response times should be less than 0.5 milliseconds at 95th percentile.
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Queensland Health to move some North Rockhampton Nursing Centre residents
Central Queensland Hospital and Health will move 35 of the less frail North Rockhampton Nursing Centre residents from the centre to Mater and Hillcrest hospitals in Rockhampton after a nurse tested positive to Covid-19 on Thursday night.
Since then, 193 staff and residents have tested negative, including all 114 residents, but moving those residents will allow quarantining of all residents if required.
It’s a temporary move, the Queensland chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young, said.
“The system has prepared for this, our staff are prepared for this and Central Queensland has planned for this,” Young said.
“Safety of every single one of our aged care residents is our top priority.”
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Community football can also return to training in groups of 10 on Monday week in Victoria and Tasmania. Via AAP:
Clubs will ease back into modified training sessions, but are no closer to knowing when games can get under way.
“AFL Victoria will release its return to train protocols early next week and is endorsing a return to club sanctioned training from 25 May,” AFL Victoria community football head Stephen O’Donohue said.
“Each state government is responsible for determining what level Australian football is in their state and approving when we can transition into the next stage.
“We will continue to work with the state government to ensure alignment with their advice.”
Ten players will be able to train together in Victoria and Tasmania, with coaches and support staff not included as part of the total.
Two groups can train on a ground at the same time, but players will need to keep to their designated areas.
Despite training bans being lifted, extreme doubt lingers if any senior community leagues will stage games this year amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Country and suburban leagues and clubs have made it clear it would be financially impossible to operate if crowds are barred.
The Northern Territory will allow crowds at competitive sport from 5 June, but most states have conceded it is likely fans will be locked out of games until at least late in the year.
Without gate takings, as well as revenue from food and drink sales, most clubs would run at a significant loss if games went ahead.
In Western Australia, community football training will be allowed from 18 May under “set conditions and protocols”.
South Australian clubs will be able to resume on Monday in groups of 10.
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Some more information on the Tasmanian case. It ends a seven-day streak for the state. The person who tested positive is a close contact of another confirmed case, and also travelled on the Ruby Princess.
He was in quarantine during the infectious period.
UPDATE: The man is a close contact of a previously confirmed case and had also travelled on the Ruby Princess. He was in quarantine when he was most likely to have been infectious #politas #covid19tas https://t.co/GzrMldiQDf
— Monte Bovill (@MonteBovill) May 16, 2020
Australians venture back to weekend activities as restrictions ease
As coronavirus restrictions begin to ease, Australians have started venturing back to weekend activities such as dining out, going to the beauty salon and attending birthday parties while observing social distancing rules.
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WA records two cases of coronavirus
According to Western Australia’s handy snapshot tool, the state recorded two cases of coronavirus overnight, after not reporting any cases on Friday.
The total in the state is 556 cases, with six currently active cases, and no hospitalisations.
I’m sure we will get an update from the state about the origins of those cases some time this afternoon.
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An interesting read from The Conversation on the whole “let it rip” versus the “shut it down” model we’ve been living under.
“In the cold calculus of cost-benefit analysis, a highly pessimistic view of the economic costs of Australia’s shutdown comes to around $90 billion.
It is a small price to pay compared to the statistical value of lives the shutdown should save, around A$1.1 trillion.
It produces a simple message. The shutdown wins.”
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Tasmania reports one new case of coronavirus
Tasmania has reported one new case of coronavirus in the state, taking the Apple Isle’s total to 226, with 18 cases active.
There were 357 tests conducted in the past 24 hours in the state.
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More than 1,200 AFL players and officials have tested negative for Covid-19 as the game prepares for players to begin training from Monday. Via AAP:
AFL chief Gillon McLachlan has been receiving a daily log of test results to ensure the league operates under a strict set of health and safety measures before games restart on 11 June.
Players face daily health checks and twice-weekly Covid-19 tests, and their movement with the community outside football’s bubble will be limited.
“Over the last two months I’ve been getting updates every single day. I’ve got a log of anyone who checked in with a symptom that has been tested,” McLachlan told Fox Footy on Saturday.
“There’s over 1,260 tests that have been done and they’re all negative.
“The players have been unbelievably cooperative and demonstrated great leadership on this.”
McLachlan said it would be decided on a case-to-case basis what would happen if there was a positive coronavirus test in AFL ranks.
“Broadly, that player will be sat out, and anyone who has had close contact in the 24 or 48 hours leading up will determine anyone else who has to be stood down,” he said. “Then it will be a question for the doctors about the scale and the implications.”
Players or officials caught breaching restrictions will be charged under the AFL’s new “conduct unbecoming” rules and face stiff penalties.
McLachlan said the unique nature of the 2020 season meant this year’s premiership would be more than memorable.
“Whoever wins, they’re going to have had a different set of circumstances to clearly anything they’ve done before,” he said.
“[For] whoever wins the premiership this year, it’s going to be an amazing, amazing thing.”
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None of the three new cases of coronavirus in NSW were in the Newmarch House aged care facility.
In total in NSW, 101 people are being treated for coronavirus, six of those in intensive care. Three of those people are on ventilators.
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It is a little quieter today, as you’d expect, so maybe it’s time to do a bit of a rundown on where things stand with the Covidsafe app:
- Around 5.5 million Australians have downloaded and registered to use the app. It’s important to note this does not reflect people using the app. The government has not released data on active users, just people who went through the initial stage of downloading and registering.
- Legislation for the app passed parliament this week, making it a crime to force people to use the app, move data from the app out of Australia, and access data from the app for any reason other than administrative or contact tracing purposes.
- There are concerns that Amazon, which secured the $709,000 contract to host the data, could be subject to US law and could hand over the data to US law enforcement. The government insists that’s not an issue because it’s against our law, but it’s unclear what would happen if the two came into conflict.
- An update was issued last week that could appear to resolve some of the Bluetooth issues with the iPhone version of the app (meaning less need to keep it open and unlocked) but the government hasn’t been too upfront about its updates so we’re not entirely sure yet.
- That update also fixed some of the security issues that had been raised by developers.
- State contact tracers were supposed to be able to access the data this week, but the Victorian chief health officer, Brett Sutton, said they’d not used any yet.
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ACT records no new cases of coronavirus
The ACT health department says there have been no new cases of Covid-19 confirmed in the last 24 hours, meaning the total number of cases in the territory stays at 107.
There were 361 test results returned in the past 24 hours.
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Josh Taylor back again for the next few hours. Thanks to Lisa Cox for allowing me to go have my hour’s exercise outdoors on this fine Melbourne day.
NSW records three new coronavirus cases
The NSW director of health protection, Jeremy McAnulty, is speaking.
There were three new Covid-19 cases confirmed in NSW in the past 24 hours.
One was a returned traveller who had been in quarantine, another was a close contact of another confirmed case. The third case is under investigation in western Sydney.
Three cases is a small number, McAnulty says, but “we do know that the virus is bubbling underneath the surface, and the really important message is that people get tested if they have any symptoms at all”.
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Hazzard is talking about the easing of restrictions in NSW. He’s encouraging people to enjoy some of the new freedoms with cafes, pubs and restaurants open under strict conditions.
But he is concerned some people are not adhering to social distancing when they are out.
“From what I have seen, there are a lot more people out, but there are also a lot of people who are not actually adhering to the social distancing message,” Hazzard says.
“I know that even in my local area this morning I saw a group of bicycle riders obviously getting the Saturday morning exercise, and sitting quite close together.”
The main message from Hazzard: “Social distancing at all times. Basically, treat yourself and others as if they have Covid-19,” he says.
NSW health minister wants more people to get tested
The NSW health minister, Brad Hazzard, is speaking.
He is reminding anyone with any symptoms at all, whether it’s a cough, cold or runny nose, to get tested for Covid-19.
He says in the 24 hours to 8pm Friday there were 9,892 tests but the government wants more.
“We would like to see people coming forward,” Hazzard says.
He says there are 101 cases currently being treated by NSW Health.
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South Australia offers $1m package for music industry
South Australian artists, bands and live music venues hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic will receive state government support with a $1m package.
AAP reports the Music Development Office project will help musicians who write and perform original music as well as local businesses who support those artists’ development, delivery or production.
Grants up to $5,000 are available to artists while music businesses can apply for up to $20,000.
Applications will be assessed by an industry panel and successful candidates will be announced before the end of the financial year.
The innovation and skills minister, David Pisoni, said on Saturday the creative sector as a whole was important to the state’s economy and social and cultural structure. It contributes about $170m and employs more than 2,300 people.
“We recognise the enormous economic challenges facing the live music industry,” Pisoni said.
“We’re doing everything we can to ensure our talented acts and wonderful venues get through this period and emerge stronger.”
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I am going to hand over to my colleague Lisa Cox for the next hour or so.
The Australian Medical Association president, Dr Tony Bartone, has warned people to not relax their social distancing and to keep vigilant as restrictions ease. Via AAP:
“If we do the wrong things, we risk undoing all the gains that we’ve made so far, Dr Bartone told the ABC on Saturday.
“So, the message is, yes, appreciate all the efforts, appreciate the opportunity to release some of those measures, but let’s not have a party, let’s not go to town.”
He said people must still maintain social distance, cough etiquette, washing hands regularly and staying away from others if they are unwell.
“Those messages are really the backbone as we progressively lift those restrictions,” he said.
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The ongoing tensions between Australia and China have farmers worried it might spread beyond the current disputes over beef and barley, via AAP:
China is threatening to slap a large tariff on its barley imports from Australia following an anti-dumping investigation, while it has blocked beef imports from four Australian abattoirs.
Such actions have come within weeks of Australia calling for an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, sparking a furious response from China.
But National Farmers’ Federation president Fiona Simson is quick to point out the investigation into barley dumping has been in place for 18 months, while on beef she said it is a technicality around labelling, something that has been an issue in the past.
“It is sometimes tricky to work through some of the differences and makes it harder when we can’t just jump on a plane and talk to people face-to-face,” she told the ABC on Saturday.
Even so, “farmers are worried”.
“It’s a big market, not just for beef and barley, but for a number of other commodities as well,” she said.
Commodities like wool, cotton and seafood depend on the Chinese market.
“So I think it’s concerning if these sorts of shockwaves and threats do actually start to come,” she said.
“And so we need to make sure that the government is continuing to invest, continuing to talk, continuing to work through these difficulties.”
Prime minister Scott Morrison says the push for an independent inquiry into the Covid-19 crisis is “completely unremarkable” and Australia will stand its ground.
But China’s foreign minister Wang Yi has lashed out at foreign politicians for politicising the epidemic.
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On the Rockhampton nurse, the state’s chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young, says the nurse had been sick for some time before getting tested, and it’s vital people get tested as soon as they start showing any symptoms.
Young says there are 2,000 contact tracers in the state, which should help trace outbreaks going forward.
“The other thing that everyone can do to help us in terms of contact tracing is to download the Covidsafe app. That will help us. It’s an additional tool. It’s not instead of what we’ve been doing, it will just give us more information. Because as we know, people will start going about their normal lives, which is what we all want.”
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Queensland records one new coronavirus case
Queensland health minister Steven Miles is holding a press conference, and has confirmed one new case of coronavirus overnight.
The state is testing over 3,000 people per day, and the new cases tend to be largely people who have returned from overseas, he says.
“That gives us great confidence going into today, the next round - that step one of easing of restrictions, more substantial easing of restrictions.”
On the case of the nurse from the North Rockhampton reported yesterday, 42 contacts including 39 staff and three members of the community have been identified: 193 people have been tested, including 114 residents, and all tests have come back negative.
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An interesting profile on CMO Brendan Murphy in the Herald Sun today, revealing, among other things, his new-found celebrity status.
“It’s quite disconcerting,” Murphy says.
“People are almost invariably nice and positive, but it is an unusual phenomenon for someone like me to be recognised in public.”
Sutton: “I would encourage everyone to download the [Covidsafe] app.”
He says it will be easier to identify people like, say, in a queue who you won’t know.
He says it’s less important to have the app in a school setting because contact tracing in a school setting would test those close contacts in classrooms, so it’s easier to identify than in the broader population.
Mikakos says it is “inevitable” there will be have more coronavirus outbreaks. The risk is there.
She says while people can go do more things now, they should consider whether they should go do those things.
Sutton says it only takes one case in a setting where transmission can occur. Testing is key, he says, and outbreaks need to be cracked down on as soon as they’re identified.
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Sutton reveals that Victoria has not had any confirmed cases of coronavirus where the person with coronavirus was using the Covidsafe app, so contacts could be traced via the app.
It’s only this week that state health officials have been able to access the data, and I am guessing it will be a while before we get a case where the data could be used because of our low infection rate currently, and because there’s only 5.5m people with the app.
Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton says if a clean has been done of the McDonald’s to the satisfaction of the local council, then it is OK to open, and evidence suggests there is minimal risk of coronavirus being transferred via food.
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Mikakos confirms 10 cases of coronavirus now confirmed at the McDonald’s in Fawkner. All the close contacts have been contacted and are isolating, and 101 employees at the store have now been tested
There’s one case of an employee at a Cragieburn McDonald’s with coronavirus, but Mikakos said the employee is a relative of someone who works at the Fawkner McDonald’s.
The Craigieburn McDonald’s staff are isolating, but the restaurant may open with staff from another McDonald’s.
There’s also a salmonella outbreak at the Lincoln Bakery Cafe in Carlton in Victoria, with 36 people diagnosed.
The shop has been closed since 8 May, pending further investigation with the Victorian health department and City of Melbourne.
Mikakos said there was hope that by the end of June, elective surgeries in Victoria could be back to 75% of the normal load, and by the end of July, back to normal.
Surgeries would be back up to 50% by the end of this month, but it would take some time to get surgeries and lists ready, and to make sure there was enough PPE, she said.
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Mikakos said teachers in Victoria could now get tested for coronvirus ahead of school going back, regardless of whether they had symptoms or not.
So far 1,200 teachers have been tested, but Mikakos said she couldn’t say what the results of those tests were at this stage.
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Victoria reports 11 new cases of coronavirus
The Victorian health minister, Jenny Mikakos, is holding a press conference.
She says there are 11 new cases of coronavirus in the state, bringing the total confirmed to 1,554 in the state.
Two of those are linked to the Cedar Meats outbreak, and another four previously reported cases have now been linked to that outbreak, bringing the total at that cluster to 98, including 64 staff and 34 close contacts.
There are 110 active cases, and 158 cases as a result of community transmission, up by four from yesterday.
Mikakos says Victoria has now conducted 324,000 tests, and this week since Monday the state has conducted more than 56,000 tests, putting Victoria at the highest testing rate per capita in the country at 4,887 per 100,000.
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Queensland can have up to 10 people dine-in in restaurants and cafes, now, and AAP has the latest on what the experience has been like for restaurants and cafes opening today”
Coffee Club in the leafy inner-city Brisbane suburb of Ascot was among the many cafes that opened their doors to customers early on Saturday.
“It is great to see some familiar faces returning,” manager Kaili Yang told AAP.
Regular Peter Lepper joked it had been a long 10 weeks being locked out of his favourite cafe as he tucked into bacon and eggs.
“It will be nice to begin returning to our normal routines,” he said referring to the lifting of some social distancing restrictions that were imposed to control the spread of the virus.
A maximum of 10 people can now also attend a wedding, while up to 20 people are permitted at indoor funerals, and 30 at those held outside.
Road trips are also back on the agenda from Saturday with residents allowed to travel up to 150km from home, increasing to 500km for those in the outback.
However, 115 residents and 180 workers at an aged care facility in central Queensland are being tested for Covid-19 following the diagnosis of a nurse.
Chief health officer Jeannette Young said it was “very unfortunate” the woman went to work at the North Rockhampton Nursing Centre while she was unwell.
“We’re clarifying what exactly happened there,” she said on Friday.
Health minister Steven Miles said the last active case of coronavirus in Rockhampton was believed to have been resolved on 1 May.
“This just serves to underline that even after cities have long periods of time without active cases, things can turn very, very quickly,” he said on Friday.
Meanwhile in the Netherlands:
Single men and women are being advised to organise a seksbuddy (sex buddy) after criticism of rules dictating that home visitors maintain a 1.5-metre distance from their hosts during the coronavirus lockdown.
The Australian Banking Association has revealed today that one in 14 mortgages have had payments deferred, adding up to $153.5bn.
That’s 429,000 mortgages in total.
The ABA said banks have hired 1500 new staff during the coronavirus pandemic, and have redeployed 2200 staff to call centres and other frontline areas to meet the surge in demand for support.
Employment minister Michaelia Cash is excited.
Employment Minister @SenatorCash rather enjoyed the idea of Australians "having a curry for the country" to help support re-opening small businesses 🍛 🇦🇺 #auspol @SBSNews pic.twitter.com/4b6hnEJQ1H
— Brett Mason (@BrettMasonNews) May 15, 2020
AFL players are returning to training on Monday, and the AFL Players’ Association doesn’t want people to be trying to catch AFL players out in breaching restrictions, stating it would amount to a witch hunt.
They’ll be tested for coronavirus twice a week, and then once a week once the season recommences. Those found to breach the rules will face stiff penalties.
AFL Players’ Association chief Paul Marsh told AAP he hoped the players were not being set up to fail.
“Players won’t set out to breach the restrictions here - they’ll attack this trying to do the right thing,” Marsh said.
“I just hope we don’t have a witch-hunt trying to find players who may get things slightly wrong throughout this journey.
“Hopefully we won’t have players who get anything wrong, but they’re human beings.”
The exact details of restrictions on players are still being negotiated between the AFL and AFLPA, but will be finalised in the coming days.
West Coast, Fremantle, Adelaide and Port Adelaide players face even tighter restrictions as they restart the season in Gold Coast quarantine hubs.
A bit more on what it’s been like for NSW residents having restrictions eased, via AAP:
Bartenders have relished the “phenomenal” feeling of pouring a beer into a glass pint and diners have embraced a glimmer of normality as NSW restaurants and bars reopened after an easing of Covid-19 restrictions.
The state’s restaurants, cafes, pubs and clubs are now able to have up to 10 patrons if they maintain social distancing after the NSW government wound back several restrictions from Friday.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has warned Covid-19 case numbers will inevitably rise as rules are eased, but punters on Friday night seemed comfortable returning to their favourite bars and eateries.
In Sydney’s inner west, Shannah Baichoo was among the first to return to popular Summer Hill bar The Rio, resuming what was once a regular Friday night ritual with her husband.
“It’s like a signifier of life becoming normal again. It feels amazing,” Baichoo told AAP.
Nearby, Lisa Polsek said visiting the bar offered a bit of normality but “baby steps” were important.
“The worst thing would be is if we all have to go back again,” she said.
For The Rio’s operational manager Fabrizio Culici, pouring his first beer into a glass pint felt “phenomenal” after weeks of take-aways and deliveries.
“The sense of relief is just fantastic,” Culici said.
“We just hope ... that this is certainly not going to be a short-lived thing and we go back to deliveries, because it’s going to be very hard to survive if that happens.”
A couple of doors down at The Temperance Society, co-owner Alex Fensham shared similar concerns about having to wind back again.
He welcomed having people back at the bar but said they were “pretty nervous” about opening trade for just 10.
“It took an enormous shift and it actually cost us a lot of money to shift at short notice from being a bar to a take-away,” Fensham told AAP.
“We’re all feeling pretty happy to have people in here now, but whether it actually works out financially, I don’t know yet. It’s worth a shot.”
Under eased restrictions, outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people are now permitted and up to five people, including children, can visit another NSW household.
Religious gatherings and places of worship can welcome up to 10 people, and 10 guests are also allowed at weddings, 20 at indoor funerals and 30 at outdoor funerals from Friday.
Outdoor equipment including gyms and playgrounds can now be used with caution, with people encouraged to wipe down the equipment, while outdoor pools are open with restrictions.
Updated
Another instance of supermarket violence, via AAP:
A man has allegedly beaten a woman over the head with a bottle after she asked him to physically distance in a southwest Sydney supermarket queue.
The pair were standing in line for the supermarket checkout in Miller on Friday morning.
The 59-year-old woman said the man stood closely behind her and she asked him to step back.
He later allegedly approached her from behind and hit her over the head with a bottle, which did not break, and fled the store.
The woman was treated by paramedics and taken to Liverpool hospital as a precaution.
The man was not located by police.
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Speaking of medical transfers, we learned the other day that Australia had made an agreement with Nauru to allow its citizens to travel to Australia for medical treatment, despite the international travel ban.
I asked the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade about whether this meant Nauruans travelling to Australia would be held in detention similar to the asylum seekers coming from Nauru. The department indicated that the travel and accommodation was organised by Nauru, not the Australian government – so in short, no.
Nauruan citizens, like other foreign nationals in the region, can access urgent or critical medical treatment in Australia (including medical evacuations) on a case-by-case basis, with the agreement of relevant commonwealth and state and territory agencies. In the context of Covid-19 travel restrictions, Australia has advised Nauru that existing arrangements would continue to be honoured. This will be done in strict accordance with medical and quarantine protocols to ensure the health and safety of Nauruans and Australians.
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Two more refugee activists were fined $1,334 each for protests at Kangaroo Point in Brisbane yesterday.
They’re protesting against the 120 asylum seekers being held in the hotel there. They were transferred to Australia for medical treatment and have not returned, or been allowed to leave the hotel.
The protesters are planning to return at 4.30pm this afternoon.
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Restrictions ease for weekend
Good morning and welcome to the coronavirus live blog for Saturday 16 May.
I’m Josh Taylor and I’ll be taking you through the morning.
Here’s some of the global news on coronavirus as we head into Saturday:
- China has now gone a whole month without any new coronavirus deaths announced
- Germany has gone into a recession after reporting two consecutive quarters of economic contraction
- Germany is also easing rules for travellers from the EU and the UK, and Italy will allow free travel within its country from 3 June.
You can follow our global live blog here.
Locally, in Queensland, restaurants, cafes, bars and pubs have been allowed to open with 10 sit-down customers.
Pubs have also reopened in the NT.
ACT and NSW are also easing restrictions, and Victoria is having its first weekend of being able to have up to five visitors at a person’s home. It’s still a while before we are expecting Victoria to ease restrictions on restaurants and cafes in line with other states.
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