Good morning, this is Emilie Gramenz bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Wednesday 6 May.
Top stories
Private medical responders who boarded the Ruby Princess cruise ship to test stranded crew for Covid-19 were just days later sent into a Sydney nursing home that is now suffering its own outbreak. Guardian Australia has confirmed two Aspen Medical surge staff clinicians, who tested crew on board the Ruby Princess when it was stuck off the coast of Port Kembla, later worked a shift inside the Newmarch House aged-care facility. Aspen Medical said both of the workers tested negative for Covid-19 before being deployed to the home. Guardian Australia does not suggest the workers were personally responsible for any further spread of the virus at the facility.
Meanwhile, new polling shows two-thirds of Australians back the right of aged-care homes to ban visitors. The ACTU says the Morrison government has “no excuse” not to extend jobkeeper wage subsidies to foreign workers and shorter-term casuals. Australian researchers will call on the government to introduce minimum requirements for building ventilation, questioning the role of airborne transmission in the pandemic. And Australia’s restaurants and cafes hope to reopen to diners next month.
A US government scientist has said he was ousted from his position after raising concerns over hydroxychloroquine. Scientist Rick Bright alleges he was reassigned to a lesser role because he resisted political pressure to allow widespread use of the anti-malaria drug promoted by Donald Trump. As the death toll in the United States surged past 70,000, a political ad critical of Donald Trump’s response to the pandemic rankled the president, who tweeted a string of name-calling, angry comments and derided his critics as “loser types”. There are reports the administration is looking to wind down its coronavirus taskforce in coming weeks – even though the rate of infections continues to rise across the country.
The World Health Organization has urged countries to look for more early cases of Covid-19. It comes after a French study suggested a man in that country was infected with Covid-19 as early as 27 December. There are now more than 3.6 million confirmed cases worldwide. Covid-19 infections are growing rapidly in Russia and there are concerns about the lack of PPE for medical workers. In the UK, the number of key workers who are testing positive for Covid-19 has overtaken the number of sick people testing positive in hospitals, and the government’s own science adviser has admitted it’s yet to come to grips with the number of coronavirus deaths in UK care homes. A key expert working on the UK’s response has resigned from the government’s advisory group after admitting to breaking lockdown rules.
Australia
A group of senior Australian scientists have warned in an international journal that logging native forests makes fire more severe and is likely to have exacerbated the catastrophic bushfires over summer. In an article published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, the scientists call for a clearer discussion about forestry practices and fire risk.
A royal commission’s findings about Cardinal George Pell’s knowledge of historical child sexual abuse complaints will be released within days. The attorney general says he’s been advised the two royal commission reports can now be published in full.
The Nationals have traded blows over John Barilaro’s aborted tilt at federal politics. The NSW deputy premier and Nationals leader had been mulling his options to run in the Eden-Monaro byelection but withdrew from contention.
The world
Greta Thunberg and a group of other children have pushed forward their legal complaint at the UN against countries they accuse of endangering children’s wellbeing through the climate crisis. Brazil, France and Germany have replied to the petition, saying it should not be admissible.
Reported cases of domestic violence in Russia have more than doubled during the country’s coronavirus lockdown, according to its human rights commissioner. Complaints and reports to non-governmental organisations in Russia are reported to have spiked from around 6,000 in March to more than 13,000 in April.
The human cost of the climate crisis will hit harder, wider and sooner than previously believed, according to a study that shows a billion people will either be displaced or forced to endure insufferable heat.
Dozens of paving stones made from Jewish headstones have been found during redevelopment work in Prague’s tourist district. The find confirms speculation that the former communist regime raided synagogues and graveyards for building materials.
Recommended reads
How can I persuade my parents to have a practical conversation about mortality? That’s the tough question our advice columnist and ethicist Eleanor Gordon-Smith tackles today. She says a gentle approach is key: “Part of why talking about death is so hard is that when you talk about it you make it real. When death feels real, it can be very hard to keep feeling alive.”
Pregnancy and its physical changes are often talked about as miraculous, but they can take a particular toll on those with a history of disordered eating. Laura Elizabeth Woollett has lived with disordered eating for half her life and explores the “terrifying loss of control” pregnancy can trigger for women in recovery.
Join us for Guardian Australia’s first Zoom book club with Phosphorescence author Julia Baird. Host Michael Williams and Baird will discuss her prescient new book, which examines bright elements that get us through dark times.
Listen
Scott Morrison has said of the coronavirus pandemic, “we’re all in this together”, but his government has excluded more than 1 million people from assistance. In today’s Full Story podcast, Laura Murphy-Oates talks to some of those people and Ben Doherty analyses the government’s response.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
Australian sport is preparing to restart. As restrictions due to Covid-19 begin to ease, tentative steps are being taken to resume professional leagues. Read about the path back for major sports like rugby league, Aussie rules, netball and cricket.
Formula One has presented its proposed long-term roadmap for budget reduction to the teams, with a decision expected next week. It is understood that figures include a cap set for $145m in 2021, coming down to $140m in 2022 and then to $135m for 2023-25.
Media roundup
The Sydney Opera House could take over operations at Carriageworks after the performance space called in administrators on Monday, according to a story in the Sydney Morning Herald today. The Australian reports one of Victoria’s largest outbreaks of Covid-19, at a Melbourne abattoir, was given a three-week head start following an oversight by the state’s health department. In the Courier Mail, Queensland’s fire service reveals back-up plans after nearly 5,000 volunteer firefighters were stripped of uniforms and banned from fire stations after criminal background checks . And the West Australian examines a dramatic day in the Claremont serial killings trial.
Coming up
There will be further hearings today of the inquiry into the Ruby Princess Covid-19 cluster.
And if you’ve read this far …
A huge fast-food chain in the United States has had to stop selling hamburgers and other beef-based menu items because of a meat shortage. The problem is affecting as many as one in five Wendy’s, or 1,000 restaurants. The company has confirmed it’s experiencing problems with beef suppliers and the problem is worse in some states – including Ohio, Michigan and New York.
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