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Coronavirus Australia live update: Victoria records 278 Covid cases and eight deaths as one death and 12 cases recorded in NSW Coronavirus Australia live update: Victoria records 278 Covid cases and eight deaths as one death and 12 cases recorded in NSW
(32 minutes later)
NSW authorities are concerned about a number of Covid-19 cases in the past six weeks where the source was unknown. Follow liveNSW authorities are concerned about a number of Covid-19 cases in the past six weeks where the source was unknown. Follow live
Allen Chung says authorities are watching the regional Victorian cases very carefully:
Deputy chief health officer Allen Cheng is hosting the medical aspect of today’s press conference in Melbourne.
He says we should start to see the effect of the lockdowns in the figures very soon.
The R-number is at 0.9 to 0.97 at last check, he says.
Victoria is also increasing the payment to casual workers, or those without sick leave, to get tested, and stay at home until the result comes through, to make up for missed shifts.
From today the $300 payment will be $450. That is on top of the $1,500 paid pandemic leave for self-isolation.
Daniel Andrews:
Daniel Andrews continues:
Daniel Andrews then addresses reports of how decisions of moving aged care residents are made:
As part of an attempt to stem the outbreak in aged care, Daniel Andrews announces the state has taken control of another three aged care homes:
Daniel Andrews:
From tomorrow, a regional testing push will be set up in Ballarat, Geelong and Bendigo, after an increase of cases in those centres.
As always, the Victorian premier starts with a breakdown of the new Victorian cases:
The company which owns Cadbury has responded to the court decision on leave for shift workers:
It means that all employees, irrespective of their shift roster or number of ordinary working hours, will receive the effect of two weeks’ personal/carer’s leave.
The decision will:• ensure continued equality between employees in the same workplace, who complete the same ordinary hours in their working week but on different rosters• provide certainty for all Australian employers with non-standard shift arrangements and those that employ part-time employees, including Mondelēz International and others such as those in the nursing, mining, building and construction and transport and distribution industries• ensure Cadbury Claremont 12-hour shift workers continue to have 96 hours/2.7 weeks of personal/carer’s leave.
We welcome the decision and are pleased the matter is now resolved.
Unions are calling for the government to legislate pandemic leave, after the Cadbury decision:Unions are calling for the government to legislate pandemic leave, after the Cadbury decision:
The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union is disappointed by today’s high court decision in the matter of Cadbury-Mondelez v AMWU.The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union is disappointed by today’s high court decision in the matter of Cadbury-Mondelez v AMWU.
The decision means that Australian shift workers are entitled to fewer than 10 days’ personal leave each year.The decision means that Australian shift workers are entitled to fewer than 10 days’ personal leave each year.
“While we respect the decision of the high court, this is a obviously a very disappointing outcome for us and for the delegates, Natasha and Brendon, who have been fighting for their personal leave entitlements through the courts for years now”, the AMWU’s Tasmania state secretary, John Short, said.“While we respect the decision of the high court, this is a obviously a very disappointing outcome for us and for the delegates, Natasha and Brendon, who have been fighting for their personal leave entitlements through the courts for years now”, the AMWU’s Tasmania state secretary, John Short, said.
The high court’s decision comes after the full court of the federal court ruled in August last year that for the purposes of calculating personal leave entitlements, a day was “the period of time in a 24-hour period that would otherwise be allocated to work”.The high court’s decision comes after the full court of the federal court ruled in August last year that for the purposes of calculating personal leave entitlements, a day was “the period of time in a 24-hour period that would otherwise be allocated to work”.
The decision has implications for workers working ordinary days of more than the standard 7.6 hours.The decision has implications for workers working ordinary days of more than the standard 7.6 hours.
“Cadbury workers do 12-hour days making the chocolate that we know and love. This decision means that they will get fewer days of personal leave per year than someone doing an office job working nine to five,” Short said.“Cadbury workers do 12-hour days making the chocolate that we know and love. This decision means that they will get fewer days of personal leave per year than someone doing an office job working nine to five,” Short said.
“While we are very disappointed in the outcome, we are very proud of our members and delegates who have taken up the fight at every stage. It’s not easy for a food worker to stand up in court against a big company like Cadbury-Mondelez that has got the backing of the federal government, but our members held their ground every step of the way.”“While we are very disappointed in the outcome, we are very proud of our members and delegates who have taken up the fight at every stage. It’s not easy for a food worker to stand up in court against a big company like Cadbury-Mondelez that has got the backing of the federal government, but our members held their ground every step of the way.”
The federal government intervened at every level in support of Cadbury-Mondelez – at the Fair Work Commission, at the federal court, and at the high court.The federal government intervened at every level in support of Cadbury-Mondelez – at the Fair Work Commission, at the federal court, and at the high court.
“We are now calling for the federal government to amend the Fair Work Act so that every worker has access to 10 days of paid personal leave every year, no matter what hours they work,” Short said.“We are now calling for the federal government to amend the Fair Work Act so that every worker has access to 10 days of paid personal leave every year, no matter what hours they work,” Short said.
Looks like Scott Morrison won’t be holding a press conference today either - Michaelia Cash will be holding the unemployment press conference.Looks like Scott Morrison won’t be holding a press conference today either - Michaelia Cash will be holding the unemployment press conference.
Prof Peter Collignon is an infectious diseases doctor and a former adviser to the World Health Organisation, and he has some thoughts about the cases in New Zealand.
He said the term “elimination” was problematic when it comes to a novel virus where most people have no immunity.
“I’ve always been concerned when people talk about New Zealand having eliminated the virus,” Collignon, who is advising the Australian government on its Covid response, said.
“While we have all been very hopeful about New Zealand, the fact is that a lot of young people and people in their 20s and 30s may develop the virus and never display symptoms, and so when you have this silent spread occurring it’s only a matter of time before it pops up somewhere again.”
He said the country was wise to use genomic sequencing, which analyses the virus sample taken from a diagnosed patient and compares it with other cases to help health officials understand where the virus may have originated. This was how Victoria identified that the virus had spread from the hotel quarantine program and into returned travellers.
“This data will really help us to understand more about what is going on,” he said.
That number doesn’t take into account the Victorian lockdown.
It also counts those on jobkeeper who don’t have a job to go back to – the so-called “zombie businesses” the wage subsidy is propping up (no shade – this is a pandemic and shiz is hard).
The participation rate is up by 0.6%, but there are still a lot of people who have just dropped out of the figures because they aren’t employed and they aren’t looking for work.
That puts the unemployment rate, unofficially, at 13% or so. Which would more accurately reflect what we’re all seeing.
I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been affected by this. And I doubt you do either.
The ABS has released its labour force figures for July.
Australia’s seasonally adjusted estimate of employment increased by 114,700 people with:
the number of unemployed people increasing by 15,700 people
the unemployment rate increasing by less than 0.1 percentage points to 7.5%
the underemployment rate decreasing by 0.5 pts to 11.2%
the underutilisation rate decreasing by 0.4 pts to 18.7%
the participation rate increasing 0.6 pts to 64.7%
the employment to population ratio increasing 0.5 pts to 59.8%.
Employment increased by 114,700 people (0.9%) between June and July with full-time employment increasing by 43,500 people and part-time employment increasing by 71,200. Compared with a year ago, there were 282,800 fewer people employed full time and 131,700 fewer people employed part time.The employment to population ratio, which is a measure of how employed the population (15 and over) is, increased by 0.5 pts to 59.8%.
There are now 13 active cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand.
That’s four more than Queensland.
As we wait for the ABS labour force statistics (due in less than 10 minutes) this is some pretty big news for much of the workforce:
New Zealand’s version of a chief medical officer, Dr Ashley Bloomfield says authorities still have no idea where the virus re-emerged from.
Just five of those 12 cases have come from hotel quarantine.
That’s down from the 18 which were recorded yesterday.
One woman, who had been in intensive care, has died.
New Zealand has gone from no cases to nine in just a day.