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Australia coronavirus update live: two more deaths reported in NSW as national death toll reaches 74 – latest news Australia coronavirus update live: two more deaths reported in NSW as national death toll reaches 74 – latest news
(32 minutes later)
New South Wales chief medical officer says 231 people are now being treated for Covid-19, with 20 in intensive care. Follow liveNew South Wales chief medical officer says 231 people are now being treated for Covid-19, with 20 in intensive care. Follow live
How should Australia handle China, following the pandemic?
Malcolm Turnbull:
We know that the election promises and the economic settings the Coalition had in place before the pandemic won’t be around for much longer. But what should they do?
First and foremost, Malcolm Turnbull says, don’t test out any of their ideas in the media (something his government struggled with and obviously a lesson Turnbull believes to have been hard learned).
Why do we hear “listen to the experts” when it comes to the pandemic, but not climate change?
Malcolm Turnbull thinks it is because people getting sick is something very immediate and very visible:
Sabra Lane, who is the president of the national press club, asks about his points on the Ruby Princess:
And on Donald Trump’s response:
What does Malcolm Turnbull think about Scott Morrison’s response to the pandemic?
For the record, Paul Kelly disputed Malcolm Turnbull’s recollection of their conversation, which he called “colourful” but unbalanced:
Does Malcolm Turnbull have a solution to what he (and Kevin Rudd) have described as News Corp’s influence over Australia’s politics?
Has Australia’s 29th prime minister heard from anyone who he talks about in his book, who are not happy with having their messages shared?
Would Malcolm Turnbull still recommend people get into politics, given his experience?
He says if it is a calling, then you do what you have to to answer it.
But he says it has obviously changed:
Malcolm Turnbull is the guest of a special virtual national press club.
Asked about the legacy of writing his memoir, A Bigger Picture, the former PM says he was telling his story, including his experience with depression, and believes it is an important story to tell:
The G20 chats continue.
Scott Morrison has also spoken to Angela Merkel.
The German leader and PM obviously had a lot to say about each country’s response to Covid-19 when it came to both health and the economy. The pair also discussed the impact on other EU members.
The need for caution in easing movement and physical restrictions was discussed, as well as what each nation could do when it came to repatriations (there are still citizens stranded all over the world, who are unable to get home because of travel restrictions).
Of course trade was also discussed, as both leaders eye life after the immediate lockdowns and Australia is still in free trade agreements negotiations with a post-Brexit EU.
Following Merkel was a conversation with Emmanuel Macron over much the same things, but the Pacific was also spoken about, given France’s interests in the region.
Deputy chief medical officer, professor Paul Kelly will give the national update at 3.15pm today.Deputy chief medical officer, professor Paul Kelly will give the national update at 3.15pm today.
The crew from the Ruby Princess are being repatriated, but the debate over who is to blame for the cruise ship passengers being allowed to disperse into the community, without forced quarantine, given there were reportedly Covid-19 symptoms onboard, continues.The crew from the Ruby Princess are being repatriated, but the debate over who is to blame for the cruise ship passengers being allowed to disperse into the community, without forced quarantine, given there were reportedly Covid-19 symptoms onboard, continues.
Queensland is releasing its Covid-19 information on a new site, which will include:Queensland is releasing its Covid-19 information on a new site, which will include:
Total Queensland casesTotal Queensland cases
Total samples testedTotal samples tested
New Covid-19 cases recorded in Queenslander over the past 24 hoursNew Covid-19 cases recorded in Queenslander over the past 24 hours
Active casesActive cases
Recovered casesRecovered cases
Age and gender of confirmed casesAge and gender of confirmed cases
Cases by local government area and source of infectionCases by local government area and source of infection
Covid-19 mapping and cumulative graphsCovid-19 mapping and cumulative graphs
Self-quarantine statisticsSelf-quarantine statistics
You’ll find all that information, here.You’ll find all that information, here.
So much of Australia’s political “tactics” are grounded in what operatives thought was groundbreaking while at university.So much of Australia’s political “tactics” are grounded in what operatives thought was groundbreaking while at university.
We just see the same guff played out time and time and time again. Except now, they actually have positions of power. Malcolm Farr has the latest in the most recent round of ridiculousness:We just see the same guff played out time and time and time again. Except now, they actually have positions of power. Malcolm Farr has the latest in the most recent round of ridiculousness:
There is a reason most jurisdictions are looking to reopen schools in the next six weeks or so.
And the official report on the latest bilateral chat is out:
A little more on the ABS analysis of the March retail figures
Cricket Australia is the latest sporting body to have holes in its finances exposed by the pandemic.
As Sam Perry reports the sport has already lost $20m despite having all but completed the southern hemisphere season, and if India don’t tour this coming summer, it could lose $100m.
The restrictions may be relaxed, but we know the economy is not going to “snap back”, something the prime minister admitted last week.
And as Paul Karp has previously pointed out, employers are not going to want to deal with the applications – given their business won’t be “back on track” either.
As Paul Karp reports:
The Greens’ Rachel Siewert had asked the government to suspend mutual obligation requirements for jobseekers for six months.
After Michaelia Cash and Anne Ruston extended the suspension to 22 May, they have written back to the Greens, linking the new date to the prime minister suggesting on 16 April that a further four weeks of Covid-19 restrictions will be required.
All this tends to suggest that the rolling suspension of mutual obligation seems designed so that obligations to apply for jobs and work for the dole will “snap back” as soon as movement restrictions are lifted and businesses are back open.
This is very welcome news
Further to the Donald Trump chat this morning with Scott Morrison, John Hopkins has updated the US cases:
The Actuaries Institute has prepared an exit strategy report, on what its researchers think needs to happen to as restrictions relax, but a vaccine remains elusive.
You can find the whole report here, but the conclusions are:
· Recognition that there are no risk-free options, and that one-dimensional strategies which fight the virus without reference to the economic implications will kill more people from poverty and mental health issues than they save from the virus. The approach needs a careful balance between expanding economic activity and preventing the virus spreading exponentially.
· Phased introduction – perhaps by geographical region; starting with schools due to the low levels of health risk to younger people and the double-whammy of disrupted education for children and disrupted work for parents if schools are closed or only notionally open.
· A plan to deal rapidly with localised outbreaks by identifying, quarantining and testing people who may have been exposed to infection.
· A plan to lockdown again (perhaps by region) if the strategy does not work. Acknowledgement that some people will not follow the rules – so some high-risk people will be exposed by having contact with (say) family members.
· Acknowledgement that mild or asymptomatic cases could lead to further breakouts.
· Full testing within regions to ensure local elimination – as done in the north Italian town of Vo. While this could be viewed as intrusive, it is far less intrusive than requiring people to give up their livelihoods.
· Recognition that frequent heavy exposure kills healthy people – so we need to minimise people needing hospital care.
We will maintain:
Closed borders – we could have travel between cleared countries in time, perhaps starting with New Zealand.
Limited travel between regions until they are all clear or reliable tests can be carried out before travel and at points of entry.
The risk of going early is still large but it could be managed progressively – but the risk of staying out longer will be crippling for the economy. The further risk of staying out longer once community-transmitted cases have reduced to very low levels is that the community will simply stop complying.
All of that toilet paper hoarding had to have some impact.
The ABS has the receipts – we spent more in March then we did before the GST came into effect:
The prime minister has had a chat to the United States president this morning.
As you would expect, coronavirus dominated the talks, which included the health response, and how to get each country’s economy back up and running.
Transparency is also understood to have been on the agenda, which would have included the World Health Organisation response and communication on the pandemic.
The talks are part of the regular check-in the G20 leaders are having with each other, which also includes the more vulnerable nations around them, which, in Australia’s case, includes the Pacific.