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.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2020/jul/14/coronavirus-australia-update-nsw-crossroads-hotel-casula-cluster-sydney-truck-driver-pub-rules-victoria-melbourne-mitchell-outbreak-live-news
The article has changed 24 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Coronavirus Australia update: NSW to tighten pub rules as authorities investigate source of Crossroads cluster – live news | Coronavirus Australia update: NSW to tighten pub rules as authorities investigate source of Crossroads cluster – live news |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Venues will face a smaller cap on numbers and stricter requirements to take patrons’ details as dozens of cases traced to Sydney hotel. Follow live | Venues will face a smaller cap on numbers and stricter requirements to take patrons’ details as dozens of cases traced to Sydney hotel. Follow live |
| Poor little guy. Please do share if you’re in southwest WA. | |
| In some good news, it turns out that your hatred of leaf-blowers (and by extension anyone wielding a leaf blower at the god-awful time of Before You Were Ready To Get Up) is shared by the Australian Medical Association. | |
| In a submission to the Queensland government’s inquiry into its health response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the state branch of the AMA recommends the following: | |
| Ceasing the non-essential leaf and dust blowing in parks and streets. Blowers re-suspend small particles which remain airborne exposing those nearby to the polluted air. In addition the excessive noise impacts on mental health, with increased concerns due to COVID 19; | |
| Minimise other vehicle and equipment emissions; | |
| Adopt the air quality standards advocated by the health experts. This would have targets that incorporate all air pollution and particulates including dust and bushfire smoke, “attributable to a natural event”. | |
| There. You’re not being intolerant, you’re just concerned about the resuspension of small particles such as may increase air pollution and therefore exacerbate the risk of Covid-19. How eminently reasonable of you. | |
| A $2m failure? | |
| The Covidsafe app has been branded a “$2m failure” by Labor after it seemingly failed to identify any unknown close contacts in recent outbreaks in Victoria and New South Wales. | |
| The Victorian Health Department has told Guardian Australia it has now downloaded data from the app from people who tested positive for coronavirus 285 times, but the state’s chief health officer Prof Brett Sutton said yesterday it hadn’t identified any additional contacts not already found through existing tracing methods. | |
| Sutton said the app would be more useful in situations like the outbreak at the Crossroads Hotel in Casula, where you would be in contact with people you don’t know for more than 15 minutes, but state Labor MPs Jodi McKay and Anoulack Chanthivong who were at the venue in the period where infections have occurred said they haven’t been contacted. | |
| The NSW chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, said the app had not been the major feature of contact-tracing in the state. | |
| Federal Labor’s health spokesman, Chris Bowen, told Nine News the app had “played no role in effectively finding anybody who’s been exposed to COVID-19. This is a $2m failure.” | |
| Many of the ongoing issues with the app could be resolved by switching to the Apple and Google version of the app as the UK, Ireland and several other countries are now in the process of doing. Australia is reluctant, however, because it would mean users wouldn’t be forced to register their phone number, and Apple and Google would retain the power to deactivate the app if it was being used for non-contact tracing purposes. | |
| Aged care minister Richard Colbeck says he is “very concerned” about the number of coronavirus outbreaks linked to aged care service providers in Melbourne. He was speaking on Radio National just now about a new order requiring people working in aged care in Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire to wear masks. | |
| There are 35 coronavirus outbreaks in aged care service providers in Melbourne. Of those, 29 are linked to residential aged care homes – but all but five are at this stage limited to staff, not residents. Four of those outbreaks predated last week, but the rest are new. The rest are in-home service providers. | |
| Colbeck said: | |
| The facility with the highest number of residents testing positive to Covid-19 is Menarock Life aged care home in Melbourne, where 31 residents and staff have tested positive. Some residents have been moved out of the facility to allow them to isolate. That’s because the facility has shared rooms and shared bathrooms, Colbeck says, so it’s impossible to isolate in the home. | |
| Colbeck said: | |
| He added: | |
| Colbeck said the AHPPC’s order around wearing face masks in aged care was limited to Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire because that is where there is significant community transmission. But he said there was nothing stopping aged care providers from taking up that advice more broadly. | |
| The president of the National Farmers Federation, Fiona Simson, will address the national press club today about a plan for agricultural manufacturing, which the NFF says will provide a boost to the Australian economy post-coronavirus. | The president of the National Farmers Federation, Fiona Simson, will address the national press club today about a plan for agricultural manufacturing, which the NFF says will provide a boost to the Australian economy post-coronavirus. |
| More from AAP: | More from AAP: |
| Jane Halton, who is leading the national review into the management of hotel quarantine, and who is also the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), says she will alert government immediately if she discovers any issues or failures. | Jane Halton, who is leading the national review into the management of hotel quarantine, and who is also the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), says she will alert government immediately if she discovers any issues or failures. |
| Speaking to Radio National, Halton said: | Speaking to Radio National, Halton said: |
| Halton said she is not concerned about the use of private security guards in managing hotel quarantine per se, but is concerned about the adequacy of their training. | Halton said she is not concerned about the use of private security guards in managing hotel quarantine per se, but is concerned about the adequacy of their training. |
| She says hotel quarantine has “served us well to date”, the infection breach in Victoria exempted, and that it is likely the program will be in place for some time. | She says hotel quarantine has “served us well to date”, the infection breach in Victoria exempted, and that it is likely the program will be in place for some time. |
| Halton’s inquiry is separate to an inquiry instituted by the Victorian government, which will examine what went wrong to allow the coronavirus to escape from quarantine hotels. Her inquiry, she says, is prospective, and will be concerned with three issues: compliance with infection control protocols; management of active cases; and support for vulnerable people in quarantine. | Halton’s inquiry is separate to an inquiry instituted by the Victorian government, which will examine what went wrong to allow the coronavirus to escape from quarantine hotels. Her inquiry, she says, is prospective, and will be concerned with three issues: compliance with infection control protocols; management of active cases; and support for vulnerable people in quarantine. |
| The last is an area of particular concern to her, she told host Fran Kelly. | The last is an area of particular concern to her, she told host Fran Kelly. |
| Halton said she was “excited but not ecstatic” about the start of human trials of the prospective vaccine developed by the University of Queensland. She said Helen Clark’s warning that it could take two to three years for a vaccine to be developed and produced at the necessary scale was “very realistic”. | Halton said she was “excited but not ecstatic” about the start of human trials of the prospective vaccine developed by the University of Queensland. She said Helen Clark’s warning that it could take two to three years for a vaccine to be developed and produced at the necessary scale was “very realistic”. |
| The Kmart store in Casula, southwestern Sydney, near the Crossroads pub, will reopen today after being closed for deep cleaning because a staff member tested positive to Covid-19. | The Kmart store in Casula, southwestern Sydney, near the Crossroads pub, will reopen today after being closed for deep cleaning because a staff member tested positive to Covid-19. |
| A Kmart spokesperson said. | A Kmart spokesperson said. |
| Good morning, | Good morning, |
| Well, that did not last long. Pubs in New South Wales will be subject to tighter restrictions, for a given value of tight, after a special meeting of state cabinet last night. There will be a cap of 300 patrons allowed in any venue – remember venues still had to comply with the one person per four square metres rule – and group bookings will be reduced from 20 to 10. | Well, that did not last long. Pubs in New South Wales will be subject to tighter restrictions, for a given value of tight, after a special meeting of state cabinet last night. There will be a cap of 300 patrons allowed in any venue – remember venues still had to comply with the one person per four square metres rule – and group bookings will be reduced from 20 to 10. |
| The changes will be announced today, in response to the outbreak at the Crossroads Hotel, which is linked to 21 confirmed cases with potentially hundreds of close contacts. According to Nine newspapers, they will only apply to pubs – not to clubs or the Star Casino, which was fined $5,000 and had a case reported yesterday. | The changes will be announced today, in response to the outbreak at the Crossroads Hotel, which is linked to 21 confirmed cases with potentially hundreds of close contacts. According to Nine newspapers, they will only apply to pubs – not to clubs or the Star Casino, which was fined $5,000 and had a case reported yesterday. |
| The source of the outbreak is yet to be confirmed, and the NSW chief public health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, says that authorities are considering the possibility that it originated with a truck driver on the Melbourne to Sydney run. | The source of the outbreak is yet to be confirmed, and the NSW chief public health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, says that authorities are considering the possibility that it originated with a truck driver on the Melbourne to Sydney run. |
| Among those who patronised Crossroads during the at-risk period, of 3 to 10 July, were guards at Sydney’s Villawood detention centre. They are now self-isolating, but refugee advocates are concerned they could already have exposed refugees to the virus. | Among those who patronised Crossroads during the at-risk period, of 3 to 10 July, were guards at Sydney’s Villawood detention centre. They are now self-isolating, but refugee advocates are concerned they could already have exposed refugees to the virus. |
| In Victoria, Nine newspapers reports that public servants sent emails within 24 hours of the mandatory hotel quarantine program being implemented on 28 March, calling for a police presence on site and warning that private security companies were ill-equipped to manage the infection control risks. | In Victoria, Nine newspapers reports that public servants sent emails within 24 hours of the mandatory hotel quarantine program being implemented on 28 March, calling for a police presence on site and warning that private security companies were ill-equipped to manage the infection control risks. |
| And 57 police officers from Frankston police station are now in self-isolation following exposure to Covid-19. | And 57 police officers from Frankston police station are now in self-isolation following exposure to Covid-19. |
| And finally, happy Palace letters release day. More than 200 pieces of correspondence about the dismissal between the Queen, her private secretary, and the then governor-general, Sir John Kerr, will be publicly released today. | And finally, happy Palace letters release day. More than 200 pieces of correspondence about the dismissal between the Queen, her private secretary, and the then governor-general, Sir John Kerr, will be publicly released today. |
| You can follow me on twitter at @callapilla and email me at calla.wahlquist@theguardian.com | You can follow me on twitter at @callapilla and email me at calla.wahlquist@theguardian.com |