Coronavirus updates Australia: Largest single-day jump in COVID-19 cases recorded worldwide, global cases pass nine million - The Sydney Morning Herald

Summary

• Two primary schools in Melbourne have been closed for cleaning today after one student at each tested positive for COVID-19. Both schools are in local government areas identified as current coronavirus hotspots.
• Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says Australia’s borders will remain closed for “a significant amount of time”, in order to maintain its status as an “island sanctuary” from the coronavirus.
• A total of 18 new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Australia today: 17 in Victoria and one in New South Wales. 
• Two more staff members of US President Donald Trump's campaign who were in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for his rally on Saturday have tested positive for coronavirus. Eight staffers in total have now tested positive.
• The number of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide has passed nine million, with one million new infections being recorded in the past eight days.

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'Significant community transmission' among Victoria's latest coronavirus cases: Premier

By Rachael Dexter and Craig Butt

A total of 17 new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Victoria today, Premier Daniel Andrews has said.

Of these cases, one was someone in hotel quarantine, two were linked to known outbreaks, three were from routine testing and 11 are currently being investigated.

"So what we can be certain of is that there will be some significant community transmission within those numbers," Mr Andrews said.

"The exact amount of that will be determined following those processes that I've just alluded to."

"As we said on Saturday, and indeed again yesterday, this is still with us. This is not over."

Nationwide there have been 18 new coronavirus cases confirmed in Australia today, 17 in Victoria and one in New South Wales. The new case recorded in New South Wales is an overseas traveller in hotel quarantine.

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No evidence Melbourne dealing with a more virulent coronavirus strain: Victorian Deputy Chief Health Officer

By Rachael Dexter

There is no evidence yet that Melbourne is dealing with a more virulent strain of coronavirus, according to Deputy Chief Health Officer Annaliese van Diemen.

“The evidence does not indicate that at this point in time. Our overall hospitalisation, intensive care unit numbers, our overall death rates per numbers of cases are one of the lowest in the world, which indicates that we are finding a pretty good proportion of our cases,” Dr van Diemen said.

“There isn't any evidence at this point in time that the strain in Melbourne is any more virulent in terms of severity of disease in other countries, or in terms of transmissibility than in other countries,” she said.

Victoria's Deputy Chief Health Officer Annaliese van DiemenCredit:Paul Jeffers

Dr van Diemen said people should remember that the rest of the world continues to see major growth in cases.

“We saw 150,000 cases in a single day last week. That's the highest number ever reported for this disease,” she said. “We've had close to 500,000 deaths internationally.”

“So, we are somewhat in a bubble here, and that's fantastic, we're really lucky, but this hasn't gone away.”

No new coronavirus cases in Queensland for sixth day in a row

By Lydia Lynch

Another Queenslander has recovered from COVID-19 overnight as the state found no new cases of the virus for the sixth day in a row.

Deputy Premier and Health Minister Steven Miles said the state now had just two active cases of COVID-19.

"Both of them are on the Gold Coast, one of them is in hospital," he said.

"There continues to be 2931 people in quarantine in Queensland."

Mr Miles said the government remained concerned about the outbreak in Victoria.

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Why does the Premier think Victoria has had such an increase in numbers?

By Rachael Dexter

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has said the “most likely” reason Victoria has so many more coronavirus cases than other states is that there have been “low-level chains of community transmission" authorities had not been able to isolate.

“The fact that we weren't aware of that, even though we did a testing blitz of the best part of 175,000 tests, just makes the point," he said.

“Unless you test every single Victorian at the same time, and then somehow get the results of those tests at the same time, you can never have a total and complete picture of how much community transmission there is.”

Premier Andrews defended the performance of the government in handling outbreaks.

“This is not a zero cases every day strategy,” he said. “That's not the strategy that has been determined. That is not what we are aiming for at this point.”

“There is an acceptable level of new cases. We're not at that point now. The amount of community transmission that we've got is too high.”

Mr Andrews firmly pointed the finger at large families as the source of the biggest virus growth in the community.

“[They’re] making decisions that are not in accordance with the rules and are not the right thing to do.”

We're 'too good' on testing, says Trump

US President Donald Trump says the United States has done "too good a job" on testing for cases of COVID-19, even as his staff insisted the president was only joking when he said over the weekend that he had instructed aides to "slow the testing down, please".

The president's comments at a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday brought quick rebukes from the campaign of likely Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden as well as scores of Democratic lawmakers.

US President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday.Credit:AP

In an interview with Scripps for its local TV stations, Trump was asked on Monday whether he did indeed tell aides to "slow it down". He did not directly answer the question.

"If it did slow down, frankly, I think we're way ahead of ourselves, if you want to know the truth," Trump said.

"We've done too good a job," adding that the reason the United States has more coronavirus cases is that it does more testing.

Health officials say that testing in the United States early on was insufficient for optimal containment.

In early March, Dr Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, testified that the nation's testing system was "not really geared to what we need right now" and added: "It is a failing. Let's admit it."

But now, about a half-million people per day are being tested, and the president and his aides have been repeatedly touting the United States as leading the world in testing.

The United States has confirmed nearly 2.3 million COVID-19 cases, which represents about a quarter of the world's cases.

More than 120,000 people in the US with COVID-19 have died. The next closest nation is Brazil, with 50,600 deaths.

AP

“Army” of doorknockers to flood Victoria's coronavirus hotspot areas

By Rachael Dexter

Premier Daniel Andrews has pleaded with the Victorian public to speak to door-knocking health officials who have started visiting hotspot areas around Melbourne.

“They will do that job in providing public health advice and making sure that everybody, where language and other issues like that won't be a barrier,” he said.

“I would encourage people, if you get that door knock, take the time to have a conversation with the dedicated public servant who is going to speak to you, because they'll give you some information that you can in turn pass on to others, and that might lead to better behaviour.”

There are concerns COVID-19 messaging not reaching multicultural communities in hotspot areas in Melbourne’s north and western suburbs.

“There has been very deep engagement with localised communities, multicultural communities, multi-faith communities,” Mr Andrews said.

We think that that is appropriate, and we're really, really working hard to make sure that every Victorian, regardless of their circumstance, knows and understands the rules, knows and understands how serious this is, and knows and understands that their conduct, the conduct of each of us, will have a direct bearing on what all of us have to deal with.”

'Nowhere near the end': Virus surge jolts prospects for world economy

The global economy's fragile recovery is facing a fresh hurdle as the surge in coronavirus cases threatens to keep businesses closed and consumers on edge.

Cases of the deadly virus rose by a record for a single day on June 21, according to the World Health Organisation, with flare-ups across the US and new scares in Germany and Australia. While China said the latest outbreak in Beijing is under control, other large emerging economies including Brazil, India and Indonesia continue to see cases soar.

"The fight is nowhere close to being over," said Tuuli McCully, the Singapore-based head of Asia Pacific economics at Scotiabank. "A second significant wave of infections in advanced economies is a huge risk for the global economy that is still in very early stages of recovery."

Bloomberg

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'If you're sick, you can't go out': Premier's warning to Victorians

By Rachael Dexter

Premier Daniel Andrews has delivered a stern warning to Victorians over the coronavirus risk facing the state.

“If you're sick, you can't go out. If you've got even mild symptoms - you have to come forward and get tested,” he said.

“And if you're asked to quarantine - you need to do as you are asked. Not just for you, because it's not just about individuals. This is about all of us.”

Premier Andrews said the public need to follow, “the simplest of rules”.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.Credit:AAP

“Not going anywhere other than to get tested if you are unwell. Keeping your distance. Not shaking hands. Not greeting people with hugs and kisses. Not pretending, essentially, that this is gone - because it isn't."

“It is here, and whilst I'm confident that our public health team is doing everything they possibly can, they simply won't achieve the outcome that we want if people don't support them.”

The increase in coronavirus cases in recent days has been partially attributed to family catch-ups within Melbourne.

A total of 17 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Victoria in the past 24 hours (see post below).

'Significant community transmission' among Victoria's latest coronavirus cases: Premier

By Rachael Dexter and Craig Butt

A total of 17 new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Victoria today, Premier Daniel Andrews has said.

Of these cases, one was someone in hotel quarantine, two were linked to known outbreaks, three were from routine testing and 11 are currently being investigated.

"So what we can be certain of is that there will be some significant community transmission within those numbers," Mr Andrews said.

"The exact amount of that will be determined following those processes that I've just alluded to."

"As we said on Saturday, and indeed again yesterday, this is still with us. This is not over."

Nationwide there have been 18 new coronavirus cases confirmed in Australia today, 17 in Victoria and one in New South Wales. The new case recorded in New South Wales is an overseas traveller in hotel quarantine.

NSW Premier calls on state's tourism operators to reject hotspot travellers

By Mary Ward

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has called on the state's residents and businesses to avoid travelling to Melbourne, announcing her state did not have any locally acquired cases to report today.

Ms Berejiklian said she knew a "significant number" of organisations had reviewed their plans for interstate travel and called on others to "have activity elsewhere".

Speaking specifically to tourism operators ahead of the school holidays, Ms Berejiklian said the advice from health authorities in both NSW and Victoria is that travel to and from Melbourne's LGA hotspots should be avoided.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.Credit:Nick Moir

"I think it's the prerogative of every business, every organisation to not accept anybody from those hotspots at this time," she said. "That is basic pandemic management."

The six Melbourne local government areas identified as hotspots are Hume, Brimbank, Moreland, Darebin, Casey and Cardinia.

NSW has recorded no community cases in the latest 24-hour period, the Premier said, with the state's one new case recorded in a person in hotel quarantine.

Watch live: Press conference with Prime Minister Scott Morrison

A press conference with Prime Minister Scott Morrison is due to start at 10am. You can watch it live below:

A press conference from Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is about to start at 10am too (the live feed is in a post below). There is also a press conference with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian we are currently livestreaming. You're certainly spoiled for choice when it comes to press conferences this morning!

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2020-06-23 00:51:00Z
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