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Australia coronavirus live: health minister backs calls for global investigation into Covid-19 spread – latest updates Australia coronavirus live: health minister backs calls for global investigation into Covid-19 spread – latest updates
(32 minutes later)
Greg Hunt supports foreign affairs minister Marise Payne’s call for an independent review that must not be run by WHO as fresh privacy concerns raised over government’s contact-tracing app. Follow the latest news liveGreg Hunt supports foreign affairs minister Marise Payne’s call for an independent review that must not be run by WHO as fresh privacy concerns raised over government’s contact-tracing app. Follow the latest news live
Bowen is asked whether Australia should “trust” China in the wake of the spread of Covid-19. He says “trust is something that is earned and something constantly reinforced by good actions and by full accountability”.
Shadow health minister Chris Bowen is speaking in Sydney. He says his “inclination” would be to download the government’s Covid-19 tracing app.
Quickly back to New South Wales, Hazzard is asked about that figure of 700 fewer deaths than projected. He says on the state government’s early predictions it had been preparing for 700 deaths.
He says that’s a “conservative” figure and that “700 lives have been saved”.
“We’re doing very well but let’s not get too excited at this point because as Dr Chant has said we’re barely halfway through the first quarter of this very long game.”
Government services minister Stuart Robert has slapped down former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce for refusing to download the government’s Covid-19 tracking app.
Joyce told the Nine Newspaper on Sunday he would not download the app, citing privacy concerns.
“I treasure the government knowing as little about me as possible,” Joyce told Nine newspapers on Sunday.
But Stuart, who has said the app would not track people’s location, said Joyce did not understand the purpose of the app.
“Look Barnaby, no one wants to know where you’ve gone, pal, we are not interested. And plus the app doesn’t do geolocation,” the minister told 2GB/4BC radio on Sunday.
“I’m not interested in where you are on the face of the earth.”
Stuart said the Bluetooth connecting app aims to digitise the present manual process and collects four things – name, mobile number, age and postcode.
“If you’re within one and a half metres of someone else with the app for more than 15 minutes, both of those apps swap mobile numbers or details,” Robert said.
“Then, if you confirm positive for the virus, that information goes to a secure national data store, then straight to state health authorities and then they can call people you’ve been in contact with, or, they can call you if you’ve been in contact with someone.”
Hazzard has announced the $5,000 on-the-spot fine for people who spit or cough at healthcare workers has been extended now to include all workers.
Assistant police minister Karen Webb says that overnight, a 25-year-old man from Nowra was arrested for a number of offences including allegedly spitting at police officers.
Tony Smith, the state secretary of the fast food and retail workers union, has welcomed the extension of the fines.
New South Wales health minister Brad Hazzard is providing an update on new cases in the state.
He says to 8pm last night there were 21 new cases of Covid-19, taking the state’s total number of confirmed cases to 2,957. There are 245 people being treated in hospital, including 21 in intensive care and 17 on ventilators.
There are nine new cases at the Newmarch aged care home in western Sydney, where a 93-year-old man died yesterday. There are now 39 cases at the aged care home, including 13 staff.
Hazzard says looking back to March when the state was seeing hundreds of new cases a day he “couldn’t have imagined we would be doing as well as we are”.
He says the state were expecting “up in the order of 700 deaths, possibly more”.
But, Hazzard says, there is still a long way to go.
Extending the sport metaphor, Hazzard says that during a conversation with the chief health officer Kerry Chant he “wondered aloud whether we were at the end of the first quarter”.
Health minister Greg Hunt and government services minister Stuart Robert have been out over the weekend explaining a bit more about the coronavirus contact tracing app.Health minister Greg Hunt and government services minister Stuart Robert have been out over the weekend explaining a bit more about the coronavirus contact tracing app.
Firstly, it will be open source, meaning the public can have more confidence that the app is only doing what it says it is going to do, and not collecting any more data than required.Firstly, it will be open source, meaning the public can have more confidence that the app is only doing what it says it is going to do, and not collecting any more data than required.
Robert also said the privacy impact assessment would be made public and the government would delete the data once the pandemic is over.Robert also said the privacy impact assessment would be made public and the government would delete the data once the pandemic is over.
Hunt said around 40% of the population would need to be using the app in order for it to be effective.Hunt said around 40% of the population would need to be using the app in order for it to be effective.
You can find out more about the app by reading our explainer.You can find out more about the app by reading our explainer.
Labor’s shadow foreign affairs minister Penny Wong describes the arrest of major pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic as “deeply concerning”Labor’s shadow foreign affairs minister Penny Wong describes the arrest of major pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic as “deeply concerning”
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, will still make a commemorative address at the Australian War Memorial’s empty Dawn Service on Anzac day.The prime minister, Scott Morrison, will still make a commemorative address at the Australian War Memorial’s empty Dawn Service on Anzac day.
Anzac Day memorials will not go ahead as usual this year. Instead, the Dawn Service at the War Memorial will be broadcast nationally, while the Returned Services League has started a #lightupthedawn campaign year asking Australians to stand in their driveway, balcony or living room, with a torch or candle, immediately following in the televised dawn serviceAnzac Day memorials will not go ahead as usual this year. Instead, the Dawn Service at the War Memorial will be broadcast nationally, while the Returned Services League has started a #lightupthedawn campaign year asking Australians to stand in their driveway, balcony or living room, with a torch or candle, immediately following in the televised dawn service
“ANZAC day is a sacred day for all Australians. It is an important time to remember the sacrifices of those who have gone before us, those who have laid down their lives or suffered great hardship to protect Australians’ way of life,” Morrison said.“ANZAC day is a sacred day for all Australians. It is an important time to remember the sacrifices of those who have gone before us, those who have laid down their lives or suffered great hardship to protect Australians’ way of life,” Morrison said.
“This year, we will not be gathering at the local cenotaph, or attending gunfire breakfasts at the local RSL, or gathering together to bow our heads in silence and listen to the bugles at dawn.“This year, we will not be gathering at the local cenotaph, or attending gunfire breakfasts at the local RSL, or gathering together to bow our heads in silence and listen to the bugles at dawn.
“But we will still remember the sacrifice of those who gave so much for us at Gallipoli and on many fronts, as we ourselves give what we can to protect Australian lives while we face this terrible virus.”“But we will still remember the sacrifice of those who gave so much for us at Gallipoli and on many fronts, as we ourselves give what we can to protect Australian lives while we face this terrible virus.”
The dawn service will still include a ceremonial piper, didgeridoo player and bugler among other traditional elements, supplied by the Australian Defence Force.The dawn service will still include a ceremonial piper, didgeridoo player and bugler among other traditional elements, supplied by the Australian Defence Force.
The New South Wales shadow minister for health, Ryan Park, is speaking in Port Kembla addressing the delayed departure of the Ruby Princess cruise ship.The New South Wales shadow minister for health, Ryan Park, is speaking in Port Kembla addressing the delayed departure of the Ruby Princess cruise ship.
Park, who is also the local MP in Port Kembla, says he wants to know where the ship’s crew will be taken if they are deemed too sick to remain on board.Park, who is also the local MP in Port Kembla, says he wants to know where the ship’s crew will be taken if they are deemed too sick to remain on board.
Some joy!Some joy!
The Guardian is live-streaming the first six(!) hours of the One World: Together At Home event, organised by the World Health Organisation and Global Citizen in collaboration with Lady Gaga.The Guardian is live-streaming the first six(!) hours of the One World: Together At Home event, organised by the World Health Organisation and Global Citizen in collaboration with Lady Gaga.
The Guardian will be streaming the first six hours today. Stars appearing in the earlier part of the show include John Legend, Megan Rapinoe, the Killers, Samuel L Jackson, Jameela Jamil, Jennifer Hudson and many more.The Guardian will be streaming the first six hours today. Stars appearing in the earlier part of the show include John Legend, Megan Rapinoe, the Killers, Samuel L Jackson, Jameela Jamil, Jennifer Hudson and many more.
When I turned it on a little earlier Keith Urban was playing, though, so, you know, timing’s everything I guess.When I turned it on a little earlier Keith Urban was playing, though, so, you know, timing’s everything I guess.
Some housekeeping:
This morning, we briefly reported that the national Covid-19 death toll was 70. It is actually 69.
The mistake occurred because Queensland counts the death of any Queenslanders in its figures but two of those deaths have occurred in New South Wales and are counted there. On Saturday, both New South Wales and Queensland recorded deaths for the same person, an 83-year-old man who passed away in New South Wales after recently returning from the Celebrity Eclipse, an overseas cruise ship that docked in San Diego.
On the government’s Covid-19 tracing app, Hunt is asked whether any rollback of lockdown measures will be affected if the government fails to meet its target of having 40% of the population download the app.
Greg Hunt backs foreign affairs minister Marise Payne’s call for an independent review of the global response to Covid-19, including the role of the World Health Organisation. He also takes a swipe at the WHO’s handling of the crisis in the process.
Federal health minister Greg Hunt is speaking in Victoria. He says national cabinet will meet this week to discuss the resumption of elective surgery and IVF treatments after a boost of PPE supply.
Hunt announced Australia has received a shipment of 60 million masks two weeks earlier than expected, which “opens up the possibility of elective surgery and in particular, IVF, recommencing at an earlier date than had previously been thought possible”.
National cabinet is meeting on Tuesday and Thursday.
“The elective surgery decision was made on two grounds, one was PPE, of which masks were critical [and] the second was the concern that if the coronavirus had grown dramatically, our hospitals would have been under intense pressure.
“At this point, Australians have done magnificently and we are not facing a threat to our hospitals, now it is about securing the master and PPE and today is an important part of that and laying the foundation for this week on the road out.”Hunt says there are currently 6,586 cases of Covid-19 in Australia. Of those, 185 are in hospitals, 51 in ICU, 33 on ventilation.The rate of increase of new cases has been less than 1% for seven consecutive days.
News Corp is reporting that a woman who was forcibly quarantined at a Sydney hotel after returning from overseas tested positive for coronavirus immediately after being cleared for release.
News.com.au reports the woman, in her 20s, felt “weird” and suspected she had been infected with Covid-19 on her travels, but was refused access to testing while in police lockdown.
The woman said she had no contact with healthcare workers until she was contacted by a nurse in the second week of her quarantine. She told the nurse she was experiencing mild symptoms but was told she didn’t need to be inspected further.
After she left quarantine she arranged to be tested and received a positive result.
Health experts have expressed concerns about Australia’s policy of forcing returning travellers to quarantine inside hotels. One Sydney doctor who has been treating returned travellers ordered into forced hotel isolation in NSW told the Guardian the situation was a “disaster” and said people are in conditions “worse than prison”.
In Western Australia an investigation was launched after a man ended up in an induced coma in intensive care despite his wife allegedly calling for a doctor nearly nine hours before he was admitted to hospital.
Speaking on the ABC right now Sydney Kings star Andrew Bogut says he wouldn’t want to return to playing in the near future, saying it could set the wrong example while Australians were still locked down in their homes.
Victoria police issued 65 fines for breaches of public health orders in the past 24 hours. Victoria have issued more than 1,000 fines since the lockdown rules came into place, far more than any other state. Since 21 March, police in Victoria have conducted a total of 24,102 spot checks of homes and businesses.
AAP reports that flu vaccine manufacturing is being ramped up this season in the hope higher public immunity to influenza will free up hospitals to focus on coronavirus.
Melbourne manufacturer Seqirus has partnered with the federal government to make an additional two million influenza vaccines for the 2020 flu season, with nine million vaccines in total to be distributed across the country.
The company says there is already strong early demand for flu vaccines.
“This is a positive trend, because we know that flu vaccination programs will be more important than ever due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” Seqirus executive director Danielle Dowell told AAP.
The additional vaccines will be available through GP clinics, pharmacies and immunisation providers.
Of Australians stranded overseas, Payne says that three flights returned from the Philippines this morning landing in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. She calls it “a mammoth effort”.
She says the government is working on further flights from India, where there are more than 6,000 Australians who have registered with the high commission there who want to come home.
Payne says it was “regrettable” that an Australian air force plane which was delivering supplies to Vanuatu after Cyclone Harold was unable to land because a Chinese plane would not move from the runway.
Speers asks Payne whether the Chinese plane had “deliberately” tried to prevent Australia from landing.