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| Coronavirus Australia update: NSW rules out lockdown over Crossroads cluster as Victoria hospital numbers grow – live news | Coronavirus Australia update: NSW rules out lockdown over Crossroads cluster as Victoria hospital numbers grow – live news |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Another shutdown ‘is an option we don’t want to take in NSW’, premier Gladys Berejiklian says as cases linked to Sydney pub reach 30. Follow live | Another shutdown ‘is an option we don’t want to take in NSW’, premier Gladys Berejiklian says as cases linked to Sydney pub reach 30. Follow live |
| The Northern Territory government is expected to make an announcement today on whether it will allow travel from NSW, when it lifts border restrictions on Friday. | |
| The territory is due to drop its mandatory 14-day quarantine period for domestic travellers, excepting those from hotspot areas. To date, that just means people from Victoria. But it could follow Queensland in declaring parts of NSW to be virus hotspots. | |
| NT health minister Natasha Fyles told AAP that officials are watching case numbers in NSW closely, particularly those involving community transmission. | |
| She says any decisions on border restrictions will be based on putting the lives of Territorians first. | |
| If you have been wondering why televisions reporters have not been wearing masks on camera, Paul Kennedy on ABC News Breakfast offered this explanation: | |
| The advice around face masks in Victoria – which is the only state to recommend their use – is that you should wear a mask in circumstances where you cannot socially distance, such as on public transport or in the supermarket. It is not compulsory to wear a mask, it’s just encouraged in those circumstances. | |
| You might note that the premier and chief health officer also aren’t wearing face masks when they give press conferences, even though those conferences are often indoors. | |
| In case you missed this one last night. | |
| NSW deputy premier, John Barilaro, told Sunrise on Channel Seven that the Covid-19 cluster linked to the Crossroads Hotel in Sydney’s southwest has been linked, through genomic testing, to the outbreak in Victoria. | |
| According to AAP, the number of cases linked to that outbreak now stands at 30. | |
| Barilaro told Sunrise: | |
| He continued: | |
| Barilaro said NSW had boosted its intensive care capacity from 530 beds at the start of the pandemic to 2,000, adding: | |
| Australia is pursuing a suppression strategy, not an elimination strategy, against Covid-19. Except, in six states and territories, the result (and the apparent intent from policy decisions, like border controls) has been elimination. | Australia is pursuing a suppression strategy, not an elimination strategy, against Covid-19. Except, in six states and territories, the result (and the apparent intent from policy decisions, like border controls) has been elimination. |
| The outliers are Victoria, where the chief health officer, Brett Sutton, has suggested he may be interested in an elimination strategy but the community transmission rates are currently too high to contemplate it, and NSW, where the premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has said elimination was never an option. | The outliers are Victoria, where the chief health officer, Brett Sutton, has suggested he may be interested in an elimination strategy but the community transmission rates are currently too high to contemplate it, and NSW, where the premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has said elimination was never an option. |
| Dr Stephen Duckett, a health economist with the Grattan Institute, sounded fairly unimpressed by Berejiklian’s views on the subject. He told Radio National: | Dr Stephen Duckett, a health economist with the Grattan Institute, sounded fairly unimpressed by Berejiklian’s views on the subject. He told Radio National: |
| Duckett said the suppression strategy was “a yo-yo”, sending the community in and out of lockdown as outbreaks pop up. But he said other states managed to achieve what is basically an elimination result under the same lockdown conditions that Victoria is currently under. | Duckett said the suppression strategy was “a yo-yo”, sending the community in and out of lockdown as outbreaks pop up. But he said other states managed to achieve what is basically an elimination result under the same lockdown conditions that Victoria is currently under. |
| He added that while a lockdown has an economic cost, “the economic cost of that yo-yo strategy is something people forget about”. | He added that while a lockdown has an economic cost, “the economic cost of that yo-yo strategy is something people forget about”. |
| Queensland’s health minister, Steven Miles, was also asked for his opinion: | Queensland’s health minister, Steven Miles, was also asked for his opinion: |
| Miles was also asked about Dannii Minogue, who flew into Queensland from the United States and is undergoing her mandatory 14-day quarantine in her luxury Gold Coast home, rather than in a hotel with the rest of the plebs. | Miles was also asked about Dannii Minogue, who flew into Queensland from the United States and is undergoing her mandatory 14-day quarantine in her luxury Gold Coast home, rather than in a hotel with the rest of the plebs. |
| He says that option is open to anyone – if they are able to pay for a level of security, testing, and health monitoring that is equal or greater to that provided in hotel quarantine. | He says that option is open to anyone – if they are able to pay for a level of security, testing, and health monitoring that is equal or greater to that provided in hotel quarantine. |
| The application is assessed and approved by the chief health officer. Radio National breakfast host Fran Kelly suggested that would mean there was one rule for the rich and one for the poor. Miles said that as punishment is not the object of the overseas quarantine policy, that’s a moot point. | The application is assessed and approved by the chief health officer. Radio National breakfast host Fran Kelly suggested that would mean there was one rule for the rich and one for the poor. Miles said that as punishment is not the object of the overseas quarantine policy, that’s a moot point. |
| Queensland is also increasing the maximum penalty for breaching its public health rules to a possible six-month jail term, bringing it into line with New South Wales. | Queensland is also increasing the maximum penalty for breaching its public health rules to a possible six-month jail term, bringing it into line with New South Wales. |
| Miles said that penalty would only be considered by police, who enforce the public health rules, for “really outrageous breaches and flouting, really serious flouting”. | Miles said that penalty would only be considered by police, who enforce the public health rules, for “really outrageous breaches and flouting, really serious flouting”. |
| That penalty could be imposed on people crossing the state border without a border declaration pass, from a restricted area, or who provide false information on their border pass. Miles said police had in some cases checked people’s phones to ensure they had not been in hotspot areas. | That penalty could be imposed on people crossing the state border without a border declaration pass, from a restricted area, or who provide false information on their border pass. Miles said police had in some cases checked people’s phones to ensure they had not been in hotspot areas. |
| The Queensland health minister, Steven Miles, says it is possible that additional areas of NSW could be declared a hotspot, and have travel restrictions imposed upon them, if levels of apparent community transmission increase. | The Queensland health minister, Steven Miles, says it is possible that additional areas of NSW could be declared a hotspot, and have travel restrictions imposed upon them, if levels of apparent community transmission increase. |
| Queensland yesterday declared the local government areas of Campbelltown and Liverpool in south-west Sydney to be hotspost areas, meaning non-Queenslanders who had been in those areas in the past 14-days would be turned around at the border and Queenslanders would have to quarantine, at their own expense, for 14 days. Those rules came into force at midday yesterday, and some people who arrived in Cairns on a flight from Sydney just after the rule came into force were told to turn around and get back on the plane. | Queensland yesterday declared the local government areas of Campbelltown and Liverpool in south-west Sydney to be hotspost areas, meaning non-Queenslanders who had been in those areas in the past 14-days would be turned around at the border and Queenslanders would have to quarantine, at their own expense, for 14 days. Those rules came into force at midday yesterday, and some people who arrived in Cairns on a flight from Sydney just after the rule came into force were told to turn around and get back on the plane. |
| On adding further hotspots, Miles told Radio National: | On adding further hotspots, Miles told Radio National: |
| On the Crossroads Hotel, which Miles had never heard of (you’re not alone there, mate), he said that 11 of the 18 Queenslanders who had been at the pub during the period of concern had now tested negative to Covid-19. The remaining seven are still awaiting their results. | On the Crossroads Hotel, which Miles had never heard of (you’re not alone there, mate), he said that 11 of the 18 Queenslanders who had been at the pub during the period of concern had now tested negative to Covid-19. The remaining seven are still awaiting their results. |
| We still haven’t solved the problem of how to feed international students who are not able to work during lockdown. | We still haven’t solved the problem of how to feed international students who are not able to work during lockdown. |
| With Melbourne back in stage-three lockdown, many international students are back relying on emergency food packages delivered by charities, as Luke Henriques-Gomes reports. He spoke to Angelina Sukiri, the founder of Kasih, one of the organisations providing emergency food boxes. | With Melbourne back in stage-three lockdown, many international students are back relying on emergency food packages delivered by charities, as Luke Henriques-Gomes reports. He spoke to Angelina Sukiri, the founder of Kasih, one of the organisations providing emergency food boxes. |
| Good morning. | Good morning. |
| The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has ruled out returning her state to lockdown at this stage, telling the ABC that is “is an option we don’t want to take in NSW”. | The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has ruled out returning her state to lockdown at this stage, telling the ABC that is “is an option we don’t want to take in NSW”. |
| It comes as the number of cases connected to the Crossroads Hotel, surely the busiest pub in Sydney, rises to 30. | It comes as the number of cases connected to the Crossroads Hotel, surely the busiest pub in Sydney, rises to 30. |
| Meanwhile, a pizza place in Belfield, Mancini’s Original Woodfired Pizza, has been closed for deep cleaning after a customer who ate their on Friday, and spent an hour there with a group of people, tested positive for Covid-19. | Meanwhile, a pizza place in Belfield, Mancini’s Original Woodfired Pizza, has been closed for deep cleaning after a customer who ate their on Friday, and spent an hour there with a group of people, tested positive for Covid-19. |
| In a Facebook post, the restaurant said: | In a Facebook post, the restaurant said: |
| Meanwhile, in Victoria, authorities are planning to train up bank call centre staff to undertake contact tracing phone calls, to prevent the current contact tracing taskforce from burning out. Premier Daniel Andrews said yesterday that they may not be needed, but if the number of infections continue to grow they will have to be stood up quickly. | Meanwhile, in Victoria, authorities are planning to train up bank call centre staff to undertake contact tracing phone calls, to prevent the current contact tracing taskforce from burning out. Premier Daniel Andrews said yesterday that they may not be needed, but if the number of infections continue to grow they will have to be stood up quickly. |
| Two people in their 80s died yesterday after testing positive to the virus, and chief health officer Prof Brett Sutton has warned that the death toll will grow, with “hundreds” expected to be hospitalised from the current wave of infections in the next few weeks. As of yesterday there were 85 people in hospital with Covid-19 – an increase of 13 from Monday – with 26 people in intensive care and 21 on ventilators. Sixteen of those in intensive care were over 60 years of age. | Two people in their 80s died yesterday after testing positive to the virus, and chief health officer Prof Brett Sutton has warned that the death toll will grow, with “hundreds” expected to be hospitalised from the current wave of infections in the next few weeks. As of yesterday there were 85 people in hospital with Covid-19 – an increase of 13 from Monday – with 26 people in intensive care and 21 on ventilators. Sixteen of those in intensive care were over 60 years of age. |
| And if you’re one of those who thinks it does not affect you, the youngest person in ICU is a man in his 30s. | And if you’re one of those who thinks it does not affect you, the youngest person in ICU is a man in his 30s. |
| It brings the Victorian death toll to 26 and the national toll to 110. Australia also passed the grim landmark of 10,000 coronavirus cases yesterday. According to the health department’s tally, it’s now at 10,251. | It brings the Victorian death toll to 26 and the national toll to 110. Australia also passed the grim landmark of 10,000 coronavirus cases yesterday. According to the health department’s tally, it’s now at 10,251. |
| You can follow me on Twitter at @callapilla or email me at calla.wahlquist@theguardian.com. | You can follow me on Twitter at @callapilla or email me at calla.wahlquist@theguardian.com. |