Summary
- The number of cases around the globe has passed 9 million with a worldwide death toll now over 490,000.
- Victoria continues to grapple with how to trace and slow ongoing new cases in several different suburbs
- Australia has had over 7500 cases and 104 deaths.
- The states are divided on whether to make new arrivals take compulsory COVID-19 tests
- UK looks to make up for botched start to pandemic
Wear face masks on public transport and while shopping, experts say
By Melissa Cunningham
Victorian authorities should strongly urge people to wear face masks on public transport and at other busy public spaces to slow the spread of coronavirus, experts say.
As Victoria grappled with its 10th consecutive day of double-digit rises in the number of infections, Burnet Institute epidemiologist Professor Michael Toole said new research had proven the case for masks.
“The effectiveness of masks reducing transmission is now really clear,” Professor Toole said.
“If you look at all coronavirus hotspots in Victoria, they are all in fairly low-income areas where I imagine many people would be using public transport, so I wonder, what to do we really have to lose by not mandating face masks?”
Professor Toole said a global review of the effectiveness of face masks published in The Lancet medical journal this month found wearing a face mask could reduce the risk of infection by 85 per cent, though the researchers noted there remained higher amount of uncertainty on mask wearing than physical distancing.
Latest updates
Banks have deferred $266 billion in loan repayments during COVID-19
By Nicole Precel
Australian banks have deferred $266 billion worth of loan repayments since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, two-thirds of which were residential mortgages.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said about 20 per cent of customers who were receiving the deferred payments had begun repaying their mortgages again, but those who cannot due to the coronavirus crisis will continue to be supported by the banks.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg speaks to the media in Melbourne on Saturday.Credit:Nine
The treasurer and Prime Minister Scott Morrison met with the CEOs of Australia's leading banks, together with the governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia and the prudential regulator yesterday to discuss economic conditions and the future of those loan deferral programs yesterday.
"In March of this year, when the number of coronavirus cases was increasing by more than 20 per cent per day, when treasury believed that if we faced a full lockdown that GDP could fall by more than 20 per cent in the June quarter and Australian was facing the economic version of armageddon, many people turned to their banks for help and the Australian banks responded," Mr Frydenberg said.
"It was a team Australia moment."
He said the discussions with the banks and regulators were designed to ensure there was continued support being provided to those who needed it.
Mr Frydenberg said the banks were "very clear".
"They supported their customers on their way into this crisis and they'll be supporting their customers on the way out."
Mr Frydenberg encouraged mortgage holders who could make repayments to do so and that those who could not due to COVID-19 to work with their banks to find alternative options.
"Banks are working with regulators to ensure an orderly transition through this period. We know with restrictions coming off across the economy people are starting to get back to work, that's vitally important but there are still some sectors and the workers in those sectors who are doing it very tough," he said.
The government is already partnering with banks through the SME loan, is continuing to review the JobKeeper program and unemployment figures are set to be updated on July 23.
Watch: WA Premier Mark McGowan, Health Minister Roger Cook speaks to media
WA Premier Mark McGowan and Health Minister Roger Cook are scheduled to speak to the media at around 1.15pm AEST.
Tourism industry braces for $55 billion hit with overseas travel likely banned until July
By Mike Foley and Jennifer Duke
The Australian tourism sector is expected to cop a $55 billion hit over the next financial year amid uncertainty over the reopening of state borders and the assumption international travel bans will remain until July 2021.
Tourism expenditure is forecast to fall from $138.5 billion in 2019 to $83.8 billion, and the dire forecast is spurring warnings that regional economies will be devastated if JobKeeper payments for workers aren't extended beyond the current September end date.
Tourism operators are calling for JobKeeper payments to be extended beyond September.Credit:Tourism Queensland
The prediction comes from a report in May by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission seen by The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age.
It assumes international travel bans will remain until at least July 2021 but state border restrictions will be lifted.
The economic impact could be even worse if internal travel restrictions aren't eased as anticipated, which is worrying tourism lobby groups and operators.
Storm secure Sunshine Coast base but wait on Munster injury
By Roy Ward
Melbourne Storm have secured a temporary home on the Sunshine Coast but they are yet to learn how long they will be without star playmaker Cameron Munster.
Several days of negotiations the NRL and Queensland government ended late on Friday night when the Storm were given a state government exemption to send a party of 55 players and staff to set up at the Twin Waters Resort on the Sunshine Coast.
Cameron Munster, left, in action against the Raiders during round three at AAMI Park. Credit:Getty Images
The Storm will also have their showdown with arch-rivals Sydney Roosters moved from AAMI Park to Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Thursday night with a crowd of 10,000 expected to be allowed due to Queensland's newly relaxed COVID-19 restrictions.
Treasurer says quarantine tests a state matter
By Nicole Precel
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said it was up to state and territory governments as to whether all people in quarantine should be tested.
"As in New South Wales, people who are not being subject to the test are
kept for longer," he said.
"It is very important that people do put themselves forward to have these tests because ultimately if someone gets the coronavirus they are endangering the lives of others across the community, so I know that the governments, through the National Cabinet are discussing these very issues, because it is important that we are able to test and trace as many people as possible so we can prevent the spread of the virus," he said.
NRL in crisis talks with homesick Warriors as trio indicate desire to return to NZ
By Adrian Proszenko
At least three star Warriors players have indicated they want to head back home to New Zealand immediately as the pressure of being away from their families takes its toll.
Ken Maumalo, David Fusitua and Agnatius Paasi have told club management they want to return to New Zealand straight away after becoming frustrated at the prospect of more time apart from their loved ones.
New coach Todd Payten understands their plight and won't stand in their way, but asked them to consider remaining in Australia until after their round 10 clash against Cronulla on July 19.
The trio don't want to leave the club in the lurch and have agreed to the request in the hope that travel restrictions between Australia and New Zealand will be eased so that a 14-day quarantine period will no longer need to be served.
The Warriors' Australian contingent of players have been able to see their families since local restrictions have eased, but those based in New Zealand haven't been able to reunite since arriving in Australia on May 3.
The NRL appreciates the sacrifice the club has made to keep the competition going and is involved in emergency talks with club officials on Saturday.
Watch: Treasurer Josh Frydenberg speaks to the media
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg spoke to the media in Melbourne on Saturday.
Penrith man among six new coronavirus cases in NSW
By Michaela Whitbourn
A Penrith man in his 70s is among six new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in NSW in the 24 hours to 8pm on Friday.
The other five travellers are returned travellers in quarantine.
NSW Health said on Saturday all close contacts of the Penrith man had been contacted and the case was under investigation.
A record 23,733 tests were conducted in the period compared with 15,278 the previous day.
"There are currently 58 COVID-19 cases being treated by NSW Health, with none in intensive care. In NSW, 2,784 people are known to have recovered from COVID-19," the department said.
Amid reports that some returned travellers were refusing to take a coronavirus test on day 10 of their mandatory 14-day quarantine, NSW Health said less than 2 per cent of travellers had declined to do so.
Those who do will have their quarantine period extended by 10 days.
NSW Health said it "strongly discourages travel to and from areas of Melbourne with COVID-19 outbreaks until control of community transmission has been contained".
States divided on compulsory testing of international travellers
By Dana McCauley
State governments are divided on how to manage thousands of returned travellers refusing to undergo COVID-19 testing while in hotel quarantine.
Travellers entering NSW will face extra time in hotel quarantine if they refuse a COVID-19 test, after national cabinet agreed on stricter measures to stop thousands of people being released into the community while potentially carrying the deadly coronavirus.
A person receives a COVID-19 test at a Coronavirus pop-up testing facility in Broadmeadows.Credit:AAP
People who arrive on an international flight to Sydney will have an extra 10 days added to their 14-day quarantine if they will not agree to be tested, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard told the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday.
But the Victorian government will not make testing compulsory, despite revelations on Friday that 30 per cent of returned international travellers - 5400 people - had refused to be tested in Melbourne's quarantine hotels, two of which have sparked COVID-19 outbreaks.
Crisis talks: Why combating future pandemics needs a collective mind shift today
By Greg Callaghan
Is COVID-19 the worst catastrophe of our lifetime? Don’t bet on it, says Italian physicist and author Paolo Giordano, who warns that without social and political change, other diseases are likely to put coronavirus in the shade.
Paolo Giordano: "It’s easy to point the finger than accept the deep complexity of nature and how our relentless and pervasive disruption of its processes is leading to major health consequences."Credit:Ilaria Magliocchetti Lombi/contrasto/Headpress
You were finishing your book, How Contagion Works – one of the first about the pandemic – as Italy was becoming the disease epicentre in Europe. How are things in Rome now restrictions are lifting?
This may sound selfish, but Rome has never been more beautiful than it is now. At this time of year, the city is normally packed with tourists; it’s really nice being able to stroll through quiet, almost empty streets. But cities like Rome, Florence and Venice would die without tourists, so I’m hoping a more sustainable tourism industry can be managed in the future.
You have a PhD in theoretical particle physics; you’re also a novelist and non-fiction writer. What insights does your background in physics give you about the scale of the medical and social crisis that is COVID-19?
A lot about COVID is to do with assembling data and interpreting numbers correctly. But maths is more the science of relations than numbers; it’s why behaviour that doesn’t surprise scientists can shock everyone else. This is why a sudden, exponential increase in the number of COVID-19 cases is reported as an “explosion” and “dramatic” in the media, when nature – and in this case, infectious disease – doesn’t behave in a linear fashion. The increase in the number of infected, if a lockdown isn’t put immediately and firmly in place, can be vertigo-inducing.
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2020-06-27 03:13:00Z
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