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| Coronavirus Australia live updates: national cabinet eyes Christmas reopening as stranded travellers en route to Darwin | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Today’s meeting between federal, state and territory leaders will focus on removing social and border restrictions to jumpstart the economy. Follow live | Today’s meeting between federal, state and territory leaders will focus on removing social and border restrictions to jumpstart the economy. Follow live |
| Some good news for Friday. Victoria has recorded one new case of Covid-19 and no deaths. | |
| The rolling average for metro Melbourne is now down to 5.5. So close to the 5 average for easing restrictions. The mystery cases is still at 10, but we were told yesterday it would be a couple of days before more mystery cases within that 14-day window would drop off. | |
| In the question and answer section of the online address to the Australian Public Health Conference, Prof Brett Sutton responded to online criticism and some of the disinformation and misinformation online. | |
| People are “precious about the lockdown and that’s understandable,” Sutton said. He said people had been awfully and personally affected by the lockdown and had very personal experiences of it, which they were sharing online. But he added: | |
| He said that it had been “exhausting” and his colleagues and family had been “unbelievably supportive”. | |
| On Thursday night the chief health officer of Victoria, Professor Brett Sutton, gave an address to the Australian Public Health Conference, speaking about the frontline experience of Covid-19 in Victoria. | |
| He presented alongside Professor Devi Sridhar, the Chair of Global Public Health and Edinburgh University Medical School. | |
| Sutton spoke briefly about the importance of strong leadership in a pandemic, telling attendees; “I hope I played my role in that space”. | |
| Sutton also spoke about public health communication, and the need to tailor messages to different audiences throughout a pandemic. He said risk communication is critical and needs to be engaging to multiple different parts of the community; one message for all people is not good enough. | |
| “I think they all need an honest and authentic voice,” Sutton said. “I think that needs to speak to the things that are working the things that are not working... the things we know, the things we don’t know, but also be motivating where fatigue is so real, where a crisis that would have been tough for a month has been going for nine months. It needs to take people on a journey that they can remain engaged with.” | |
| Sutton’s leadership has been under question in recent weeks following his appearance at the hotel quarantine inquiry when he said he had no knowledge of the decision to use security guards in hotel quarantine. The Age revealed last week an email chain showing Sutton had authorised a response to the federal government in March which said Victoria would rely on private security at quarantine hotels. | |
| Sutton has been asked by the inquiry to provide an affidavit answering questions raised by the newly-released emails. | |
| Today also marks the second and final debate between US president Donald Trump and Democrat nominee Joe Biden. That will likely take up much of the air time today, after Trump released an unedited 60 Minutes interview ahead of its air-date. He walked out of that one. | |
| And amid reports a Dutch hacker was able to log into his Twitter account by guessing his password as ‘maga2020!’ | |
| You can follow all the updates on our other live blog here. | |
| Today is also the second and last day of final submissions from counsel assisting in the two-year-long aged care royal commission. AAP has this: | |
| The inquiry was told on Thursday an estimated 50 elderly people were sexually assaulted in aged facilities per week in Australia. | |
| Lawyers have submitted 124 recommendations, including mandatory staffing ratios and new laws to protect the rights of elderly people, which will be considered ahead of a final report due in February. | |
| It is proposed from July 2022, residential care providers must have nurses and other personal care workers dedicate at least 215 minutes to the average resident per day. | |
| Commissioner Lynelle Briggs said the federal government should, as part of approving services, ensure the boards of aged care providers have the right culture.“We will need to see providers championing the reforms we propose,” she said. | |
| “We need to nudge providers along to take their leadership responsibilities more seriously and make them accountable.” | |
| Here is AAP’s report on today’s national cabinet meeting: | Here is AAP’s report on today’s national cabinet meeting: |
| Prime minister Scott Morrison will push to increase the weekly cap of 6000 international arrivals when he chairs a national cabinet meeting on Friday. | Prime minister Scott Morrison will push to increase the weekly cap of 6000 international arrivals when he chairs a national cabinet meeting on Friday. |
| More than 32,000 Australians remain overseas. | More than 32,000 Australians remain overseas. |
| Morrison imposed the weekly incoming passenger cap to ease pressure on hotel quarantine. | Morrison imposed the weekly incoming passenger cap to ease pressure on hotel quarantine. |
| Foreign Minister Marise Payne wants states and territories to steadily increase their quarantine capacities. | Foreign Minister Marise Payne wants states and territories to steadily increase their quarantine capacities. |
| “We would hope that it does gradually increase through the states and territories as they are able to deal with quarantine,”Payne told ABC radio on Friday. | “We would hope that it does gradually increase through the states and territories as they are able to deal with quarantine,”Payne told ABC radio on Friday. |
| It also wants Victoria to restart its quarantine scheme after bringing a second wave of coronavirus under control, given Melbourne was Australia’s second-largest international entry point. | It also wants Victoria to restart its quarantine scheme after bringing a second wave of coronavirus under control, given Melbourne was Australia’s second-largest international entry point. |
| The federal government has organised a burst of repatriation flights for vulnerable Australians. | The federal government has organised a burst of repatriation flights for vulnerable Australians. |
| The first flight from London will arrive in Darwin on Friday before the 161 passengers are taken to Howard Springs. | The first flight from London will arrive in Darwin on Friday before the 161 passengers are taken to Howard Springs. |
| Senator Payne said the government had eight chartered flights in planning. | Senator Payne said the government had eight chartered flights in planning. |
| One will take off from New Dehli in India next week and another from Johannesburg in South Africa. | One will take off from New Dehli in India next week and another from Johannesburg in South Africa. |
| An in-depth review of the state-by-state schemes will be examined by national cabinet. | An in-depth review of the state-by-state schemes will be examined by national cabinet. |
| Former health department boss Jane Halton began her review in July and wrapped up on September 30. | Former health department boss Jane Halton began her review in July and wrapped up on September 30. |
| Halton has examined the way clinical, hotel and security staff were trained in infection prevention and control. | Halton has examined the way clinical, hotel and security staff were trained in infection prevention and control. |
| She also investigated evidence of community cases linked to international travellers in hotel quarantine. | She also investigated evidence of community cases linked to international travellers in hotel quarantine. |
| As well, she looked at the management of suspected and confirmed cases, provision of support services, management of vulnerable people and cultural diversity, and making more capacity available. | As well, she looked at the management of suspected and confirmed cases, provision of support services, management of vulnerable people and cultural diversity, and making more capacity available. |
| Victoria’s head of contact tracing, Prof Euan Wallace, is on ABC RN Breakfast talking to Dr Norman Swan. | Victoria’s head of contact tracing, Prof Euan Wallace, is on ABC RN Breakfast talking to Dr Norman Swan. |
| He says in that northern Melbourne outbreak, the contact tracing team has “put a ring around it” in terms of “making sure that we keep that fire break between cases and contacts on the rest of the community”. | He says in that northern Melbourne outbreak, the contact tracing team has “put a ring around it” in terms of “making sure that we keep that fire break between cases and contacts on the rest of the community”. |
| He says the outbreak is mostly between and within households, and households that know each other. He indicates that again it seems as though households were mixing when that is against the rules. | He says the outbreak is mostly between and within households, and households that know each other. He indicates that again it seems as though households were mixing when that is against the rules. |
| Wallace is talking up the improvements on the contact tracing system, including there now being 12 metro and regional hubs for tracing that are more embedded in the local communities, and he said some of the commentary around the contact tracing team has been “unjust”. | Wallace is talking up the improvements on the contact tracing system, including there now being 12 metro and regional hubs for tracing that are more embedded in the local communities, and he said some of the commentary around the contact tracing team has been “unjust”. |
| Hello and welcome to Friday. Josh Taylor here on the liveblog for you until this afternoon. | Hello and welcome to Friday. Josh Taylor here on the liveblog for you until this afternoon. |
| There is a bit of anxiety in Victoria today as a potential outbreak from a school in the northern suburbs of Melbourne could put at risk the run of low case numbers in the state over the past week. | There is a bit of anxiety in Victoria today as a potential outbreak from a school in the northern suburbs of Melbourne could put at risk the run of low case numbers in the state over the past week. |
| Premier Daniel Andrews has insisted everything is being thrown at it, with around 500 people who are close contacts or close contacts of close contacts currently isolating and awaiting test results. It’s a public holiday in Melbourne today for the AFL grand final which is not being held in Melbourne tomorrow, but we are expecting the usual daily press conference today. | Premier Daniel Andrews has insisted everything is being thrown at it, with around 500 people who are close contacts or close contacts of close contacts currently isolating and awaiting test results. It’s a public holiday in Melbourne today for the AFL grand final which is not being held in Melbourne tomorrow, but we are expecting the usual daily press conference today. |
| Ahead of the announced easing restrictions on Sunday, Guardian Australia has learned the Victorian government is seeking out intelligence firms to identify workplaces at risk of breaching Covid-safe rules. | Ahead of the announced easing restrictions on Sunday, Guardian Australia has learned the Victorian government is seeking out intelligence firms to identify workplaces at risk of breaching Covid-safe rules. |
| There is a national cabinet meeting today, where the focus will be on removing the restrictions and getting the economy restarted. | There is a national cabinet meeting today, where the focus will be on removing the restrictions and getting the economy restarted. |
| The first returned travellers on a Qantas flight subsidised by the government is currently on its way from Darwin. | The first returned travellers on a Qantas flight subsidised by the government is currently on its way from Darwin. |
| In federal politics, outgoing minister for finance, Mathias Cormann, has been spruiking a green recovery as part of his pitch for the job of secretary general for the OECD. | In federal politics, outgoing minister for finance, Mathias Cormann, has been spruiking a green recovery as part of his pitch for the job of secretary general for the OECD. |
| The Australian embassy in Paris has accidentally revealed the email addresses of people looking to get home by failing to put them in a BCC field of an email, the third such incident in recent months. | The Australian embassy in Paris has accidentally revealed the email addresses of people looking to get home by failing to put them in a BCC field of an email, the third such incident in recent months. |
| There will likely be some more wash up from Senate estimates this week today, potentially around Australia Post and those watches, but until then, let’s get into it. | There will likely be some more wash up from Senate estimates this week today, potentially around Australia Post and those watches, but until then, let’s get into it. |