This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen
on .
It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
Coronavirus Australia update: Victoria reports 73 new Covid-19 cases as NSW announces $11,000 fines – live news
Coronavirus Australia update: Victoria reports 73 new Covid-19 cases as NSW announces $11,000 fines – live news
(32 minutes later)
Residents of 10 postcodes in Melbourne’s north and west have been ordered to stay home from midnight tonight. Follow live
Residents of 10 postcodes in Melbourne’s north and west have been ordered to stay home from midnight tonight. Follow live
Engineering construction was also down in the last quarter, the Australian Bureau of Statistics says.
That’s one unexpected cut to the ABC (building):
Housing approvals are down, the ABS reports – but it is not all down to Covid-19.
In another sign the economy wasn’t tracking quite as well as the government says it was, this started pre-pandemic:
The number of dwellings approved fell 16.4% in May, in seasonally adjusted terms, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.
“The decline was driven by private sector dwellings excluding houses, which fell 34.9%, in seasonally adjusted terms. The number of dwellings approved in apartment buildings fell sharply, to an 11-year low,” said Daniel Rossi, director of construction statistics at the ABS. “Meanwhile, private sector houses fell modestly in May, by 4.4%.”
“While minor effects of Covid-19 are apparent in the headline building approvals results, the fall in apartment approvals was broadly expected prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Dwelling approvals fell across all states, in seasonally adjusted terms. Double-digit falls were recorded in Tasmania (23.3%), Victoria (14.3%) and New South Wales (11.3%), while South Australia (9.3%), Western Australia (8.9%) and Queensland (7.4%) also declined.
Approvals for private sector houses fell in Queensland (9.9%), Western Australia (7.9%) and Victoria (3.9%), in seasonally adjusted terms. South Australia bucked the national movement in May, increasing 7.1%, while New South Wales rose slightly (1.0%).
The value of total building approved fell 13.5% in May, in seasonally adjusted terms. The value of residential building fell 17.3%, while non-residential building declined 7.1%.
It’s just as important we know what is happening with our neighbours in the Pacific, as we do with our neighbours interstate.
You can find regular updates, here:
Stephen Jones will be holding a press conference on the ATO website crashing.
He says it is because of the number of people trying to withdraw their superannuation.
Being the new financial year, the government’s early super withdrawal scheme kicks in for people who have been financially impacted by Covid-19 – they are able to access another $10,000 of their retirement savings from today.
The NSW treasurer, Dominic Perrottet, says when it comes to taxation reform, the nation’s treasurers are going to have to work together for the good of the federation:
The Australian War Memorial is officially open to visitors again, for the first time since closing in March.
The Australian War Memorial is officially open to visitors again, for the first time since closing in March.
Visitors need to register online before turning up, with numbers still limited due to social distancing.
Visitors need to register online before turning up, with numbers still limited due to social distancing.
Labor wants the government to release the Productivity Commission report into mental health.
Labor wants the government to release the Productivity Commission report into mental health.
Chris Bowen says the government received the final report yesterday - and now has to act.
Chris Bowen says the government received the final report yesterday – and now has to act.
That is one of the issues facing Australia post-Covid lockdown.
That is one of the issues facing Australia post-Covid lockdown.
Prepare yourself for quite a bit of “reform” in all sectors, from industrial relations, to tax, to how the federation itself is handled.
Prepare yourself for quite a bit of “reform” in all sectors, from industrial relations, to tax, to how the federation itself is handled.
David Thodey on why Australia needs to reform how it handles tax:
David Thodey on why Australia needs to reform how it handles tax:
This is happening right now, for those interested
Associate Professor Barbara Mintzes from the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre and School of Pharmacy said if remdesivir does prove effective in treating Covid-19, the drug would be needed not only in the US but globally, including in Australia.“The US arrangement to buy 500,000 doses of remdesivir from Gilead raises concerns not only about access in other countries but also how to prevent profiteering from the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuring that patients who need treatment are able to access it,” she said. “Gilead announced its global price for remdesivir on June 29 as US$390 per vial. The Guardian reports that the cost will be US$3,200 for a six-day treatment, or A$4,607. The cost of production of remdesivir has been estimated to be less than US$1 per day or US$6 (A$8.64) for a six-day course of treatment.“Gilead has licensing agreements with manufacturers in Egypt, India and Pakistan to supply remdesivir to 127 low to middle-income countries. The US deal with Gilead and limits on which countries can be supplied under this licensing agreement leave countries like Australia in the lurch: unable to access remdesivir from Gilead at a high price – as the US is doing – and unable to access it at a low price from generic manufacturers, as lower income countries can.”As for a solution, Mintzes said that under international trade agreements in a public health emergency, governments can issue compulsory licenses to bypass patent protection and either produce a drug themselves or buy the drug from generic manufacturers. The Netherlands is currently considering an amendment to its patent law to allow compulsory licensing of remdesivir.
“Currently we don’t know for sure whether remdesivir will prove to be an important treatment for Covid-19,” she said. “If it does, given that the US is buying out Gilead’s supply, and also given the extremely high price as compared with costs of production, the obvious solution for Australia would be to also consider compulsory licensing.”
This man is in charge of the country when the prime minister goes on holidays.
Which might be one benefit of the closed international borders.
[Continued from previous post]
Associate Professor Alice Motion from the school of chemistry at the University of Sydney, who works as part of open source drug discovery projects including the Breaking Good citizen science projet, said the actions of the US were a “real concern”.
“We would want to make sure something like this isn’t possible for a vaccine,” Motion said. “A vaccine should be available to people all over the world rather than one country, or a group of countries having preferred access to a medicine.
“Remdesivir is a medicine that helps people to recover faster, but imagine if the same thing happened with a vaccine that emerges.
“That would be terrible. It’s also a bit of a risk too because lots of different medicines that we all need across the world are not made in the countries where the patients live. If you start to buy up all the supply of one medicine you could see other countries that then might not be as willing to distribute or to share medicines with the US.”
She said the actions of the US raised fundamental issues about fair and equitable access to medicine.
“The other issue is whether everyone in the US will now have equal access to remdesivir too,” she said. “Equal access is not just an issue on a global level, but within countries.”
Professor Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases physician with the Australian National University, said similar issues were seen early on in the pandemic with access to personal protective equipment, with countries holding on to their supply while other countries struggled to get protective gear.
“Many countries prioritise their own,” he said. “Of course, I don’t agree with it. It’s not good practice and we need the arts and behavioural experts to look into this and this attitude.”
News emerged overnight that the US has bought up all supply of the drug remdesivir for the next three months. The drug has shown some promise in helping Covid-19 patients recover faster from Covid-19, and is manufactured by the US pharmaceutical giant Gilead.The Guardian’s UK health reporter Sarah Boseley wrote that: “Experts and campaigners are alarmed both by the US unilateral action on remdesivir and the wider implications, for instance in the event of a vaccine becoming available.
“The Trump administration has already shown that it is prepared to outbid and outmanoeuvre all other countries to secure the medical supplies it needs for the US”.
Guardian Australia has asked the federal health minister, Greg Hunt, about whether he is concerned about the US buying up supply, and whether Australia has enough of the drug in its national medical stockpile to manage in the meantime.
A spokesman said he would provide a response this afternoon.
Bronwyn Pike, the chair of UnitingCare, has told the Senate’s Covid-19 inquiry the prime minister’s claim that unemployed people were turning down work due to the boosted rate of jobseeker payment was wrong.“There’s a complete mismatch between those kinds of comments and the actual reality of the work environment we find ourselves in,” Pike said.
Pike said over time the Australian psyche had changed so that “we have got into this posture where people who are seeking income support are somehow lazy or not willing to participate in the workforce”.
“I don’t meet people like that. Even with the increased support it’s still a very low remuneration,” she said.
Toby O’Connor, the chief executive of the St Vincent de Paul Society, said the charity was worried about plans to remove the $550-a-fortnight coronavirus supplement in September.
He said: “We continue to be concerned about the most vulnerable people in our community.”
The committee also heard from Foodbank Australia and the Red Cross.
Foodbank Australia’s Brianna Casey said the charity had seen a “dramatic increase” in the number of people asking for food relief, including “new cohorts”.
UnitingCare Australia also said that its members had noted an increase in domestic violence during the pandemic. Although the increase was difficult to quantify, the UnitingCare’s
Claerwen Little said the issue was “reported in our meeting with members all the time”.
It’s the third day in a row we are getting a national update on Covid-19.
The Australian government acting chief medical officer, Professor Paul Kelly, will lay out the national situation at 3.30pm.
So the Melbourne positive test numbers this week were:
Monday: 75
Tuesday: 64
Wednesday: 73
The lockdowns in those northern Melbourne suburbs begin at midnight tonight.
We’re thinking of you Victoria, and are so sorry this is happening.
Daniel Andrews continues:
Asked why the government had taken so long to look at hotel quarantine security in Victoria, given the number of media questions over the last few weeks, Daniel Andrews says:
