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| Coronavirus Australia live updates: national Covid-19 cases pass 8,000 as Victoria suburbs in lockdown | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Prof Michael Kidd says the milestone was passed in the last 24 hours; stay-at-home orders in place for 10 postcodes in Melbourne’s north | |
| Before we go any further: this is not a reason to go out and panic buy yoghurt. Do not rush to your freezer section; you will be absolutely fine. | |
| Right. So. Coles has announced this afternoon that it will introduce a purchase limit of two packets per customer for a range of chilled products. These limits will apply in Victoria and Tasmania. | |
| The reason for the limits is that a number of staff members at the Coles distribution centre at Laverton, western Melbourne, have tested positive to Covid-19 and that is causing staff shortages, because anyone who was a close contact of those staff members is under home quarantine. | |
| Coles said it has “worked with the Victorian Health Department to conduct contact tracing for positive cases” and asked “a significant proportion of team members at the Laverton distribution centre” to self-quarantine, as a precaution. | |
| It goes on: | |
| Hence, purchasing limits. I’ll tell you those products in the next post. | |
| Lest anyone think Victoria Police are the only ones currently enforcing coronavirus-related public health orders, NSW Police have issued a statement this afternoon to say that they, too, are out and about fining people. | |
| From the NSW Police statement: | |
| Economists have called on the Australian government to increase and extend economic stimulus measures or face a setback in the recovery. | |
| The Senate’s Covid-19 committee has been hearing this afternoon from a number of economists, including Saul Eslake, who warned that Australia’s path out of the economic downturn was “likely to be much less steep than the path into it was”. | |
| Stephen Koukoulas, the managing director Market Economics and a former economic adviser to the Gillard government, said he saw a “stingy” and “timid approach” in the Morrison government’s economic response to Covid-19. He called on the government to “stop obsessing with the budget deficit and provide meaningful policy stimulus to get the economy back on track and to deal with the disasters in the labour market”. | |
| Koukoulas suggested the government should consider providing additional stimulus of about $100bn per year, for two years, but this would depend on a number of factors including the speed of vaccine development and global economic conditions. | |
| Richard Denniss, chief economist at the Australia Institute, said economists “shouldn’t underestimate the scale of the problem and in turn we shouldn’t underestimate the need for stimulus to address that”. | |
| Denniss said withdrawing stimulus measures in the second half of this year would be “incredibly premature”. | |
| As Kidd said in that national update, New South Wales has recorded eight new coronavirus cases, all of which are linked to hotel quarantine. | |
| They include the person who returned to NSW and went to work at Woolworths in Balmain after undergoing hotel quarantine in Victoria. | |
| Health officials in NSW have asked 50 of his workmates at the store to quarantine and are also chasing up close contacts from Jetstar flight JQ510 from Melbourne to Sydney on 26 June. | |
| NSW Health said that 3% of symptomatic returned travellers tested in hotel quarantine since 29 March have tested positive to Covid-19. That’s 112 of the 3,558 symptomatic travellers. | |
| NSW conducted 18,347 coronavirus tests in the past 24 hours, about 2,000 more than the day before. | |
| There are currently 68 coronavirus cases being treated by NSW Health. That doesn’t mean those cases are in hospital, just that they’re being monitored and checked on by health workers. One person with Covid-19 in NSW is in intensive care. | |
| Earlier, Kidd urged those 300,0000 Melbournians who have been placed back into lockdown until 29 July to look after their mental health and stay connected – remotely, of course – with family and friends. | |
| He urged people who were struggling to reach out to services like Lifeline and Beyond Blue. You can also access Victoria-specific public mental health services here. | |
| Kidd was asked about the case in Sydney, of a staff member at Woolworths in Balmain who tested positive in hotel quarantine, completed quarantine and then returned to work. He has since tested positive again and 50 staff from the store have been put into quarantine. | Kidd was asked about the case in Sydney, of a staff member at Woolworths in Balmain who tested positive in hotel quarantine, completed quarantine and then returned to work. He has since tested positive again and 50 staff from the store have been put into quarantine. |
| Said Kidd: | Said Kidd: |
| Kidd says that federal health authorities are generally happy with how well hotel quarantine has worked. | Kidd says that federal health authorities are generally happy with how well hotel quarantine has worked. |
| Kidd says the increase in the number of people in hospital is “very concerning”. | Kidd says the increase in the number of people in hospital is “very concerning”. |
| As previously reported, the new cases in the past 24 hours include 77 in Victoria, one in the Northern Territory, and eight in NSW. | |
| The NSW cases are all from hotel quarantine, the NT case is someone who travelled from Victoria. | The NSW cases are all from hotel quarantine, the NT case is someone who travelled from Victoria. |
| The death toll remains at 104. | The death toll remains at 104. |
| There are currently 24 people in Australia in hospital with Covid-19. Five of those people are in intensive care. That’s a big increase from yesterday, when it was 18 people in hospital. | There are currently 24 people in Australia in hospital with Covid-19. Five of those people are in intensive care. That’s a big increase from yesterday, when it was 18 people in hospital. |
| Kidd says: | Kidd says: |
| Australia has now recorded 8,001 coronavirus cases, deputy chief medical officer Prof Michael Kidd says. | Australia has now recorded 8,001 coronavirus cases, deputy chief medical officer Prof Michael Kidd says. |
| We passed that milestone of 8,000 cases in the past 24 hours. | We passed that milestone of 8,000 cases in the past 24 hours. |
| Kidd is giving the national update now. | Kidd is giving the national update now. |
| Guardian Australia’s Melbourne bureau chief Melissa Davey is in a lockdown suburb in northern Melbourne, and has some views from behind the stay-at-home curtain. | Guardian Australia’s Melbourne bureau chief Melissa Davey is in a lockdown suburb in northern Melbourne, and has some views from behind the stay-at-home curtain. |
| There are fairly long queues for the mobile testing sites. | There are fairly long queues for the mobile testing sites. |
| But apparently if you bump into the public health teams out door knocking, they will give you a test kit to use on yourself at home. | But apparently if you bump into the public health teams out door knocking, they will give you a test kit to use on yourself at home. |
| This is allegedly an easy process. | This is allegedly an easy process. |
| Also, the police are definitely doing spot checks. | Also, the police are definitely doing spot checks. |
| Victorian Liberal MP Tim Smith, who has been calling for lockdown provisions to be lifted since at least the first week of May, has a new graphic. | Victorian Liberal MP Tim Smith, who has been calling for lockdown provisions to be lifted since at least the first week of May, has a new graphic. |
| That’s me done for the day – the lovely Calla Wahlquist will take you through the remainder of the afternoon. | That’s me done for the day – the lovely Calla Wahlquist will take you through the remainder of the afternoon. |
| We’ve got another national update coming from Prof Michael Kidd in the next 30 minutes or so, so stay tuned for that. | We’ve got another national update coming from Prof Michael Kidd in the next 30 minutes or so, so stay tuned for that. |
| And Donald Trump has declared masks are cool, because he looks like the Lone Ranger when wearing one, which is now a heartening sentence to type, because this is 2020. | And Donald Trump has declared masks are cool, because he looks like the Lone Ranger when wearing one, which is now a heartening sentence to type, because this is 2020. |
| Stay safe, wash your hands, and do the thing that makes you feel better. Thursdays are always the roughest day of the week. | Stay safe, wash your hands, and do the thing that makes you feel better. Thursdays are always the roughest day of the week. |
| I’ll be back tomorrow. Thanks so much for joining me – and take care of you. | I’ll be back tomorrow. Thanks so much for joining me – and take care of you. |