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Melbourne A-League teams fail to make border crossing
By Michael Lynch
The FFA will seek exemptions to the NSW border closure after players from Melbourne Victory, Melbourne City and Western United were left trapped on the tarmac at Tullamarine Airport late on Monday night.
The three Victorian clubs scrambled to meet at AAMI Park at short notice on Monday night and the players gathered and were told to get on a number of buses to take them to the airport.
Besart Berisha and Migjen Basha share a moment after their flight was cancelled.Credit:Alessandro Diamante/Instagram
The plane was due to take the teams to Canberra, where they could then travel on to Sydney. But despite everyone making it onto the plane, low visibility in Canberra meant the flight could not depart and everyone had to get off and go home.
One insider described the chaotic events as they unfolded, leaving players, coaches and support staff frustrated and bewildered.
Albury mayor 'waiting with trepidation' but expects leniency for locals
Albury Mayor Kevin Mack has said he is "waiting with trepidation" to see what the public health order which will govern the operation of his border town will look like.
"There are no checkpoints in place ... I think it's going to take them at least three or four days to get [the border closure] sorted," Cr Mack told 2GB this morning.
Albury Mayor Kevin Mack.Credit:Blair Thomson
Speaking on ABC News Breakfast later in the morning, Cr Mack said he understood his residents would not immediately have to apply for permits when they are – hopefully – made available today, less than 24 hours before the NSW-Victoria border closed.
"There is a level of discretion involved, they'll look at licences and identification of locals, and they will consider that as part of their right of passage across the border," he said.
Cr Mack said he and Wodonga Mayor Anna Speedie both had proposals for the closure to occur in a ring around their border town (rather than straight through it) rejected by their respective state governments.
Cr Mack said the move was really just "a message to Melbourne", saying the border closure was seemingly only in place for the "5 per cent of clowns" not listening to the message.
“I think people have got to stop being so bloody selfish," he told 2GB. “We’re experiencing one of the worst events since World War II and these clowns are not taking it seriously.”
WHO reviewing scientists' concerns over airborne spread of COVID-19
The World Health Organisation is reviewing a report that suggested its advice on the novel coronavirus needs updating, after some scientists told the New York Times there was evidence the virus could be spread by tiny particles in the air.
The WHO says the COVID-19 disease spreads primarily through small droplets, which are expelled from the nose and mouth when an infected person breathes them out in coughs, sneezes, speech or laughter and quickly sink to the ground.
Medical personnel prepare to test hundreds of people lined up in Phoenix in the US on the weekend.Credit:AP
In an open letter to the Geneva-based agency, 239 scientists in 32 countries outlined the evidence they say shows that smaller exhaled particles can infect people who inhale them, the newspaper said on Saturday.
Because those smaller particles can linger in the air longer, the scientists - who plan to publish their findings in a scientific journal this week - are urging WHO to update its guidance, the Times said.
Situation in Melbourne 'an issue we all share': Deputy CMO
Federal Deputy Chief Medical Officer Nick Coatsworth has called for unity in response to "deeply concerning" coronavirus outbreaks in Melbourne public housing towers.
"This is a real partnership between people in those towers, between Victorians and the rest of Australia and its government to get this under control," Dr Coatsworth told ABC News Breakfast this morning. "This is an issue that we all share."
A resident stuck in their flat at a locked down tower in Flemington.Credit:Justin McManus
Dr Coatsworth said the outbreaks in north and west Melbourne were largely among younger people and groups who have different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, making them different from cruise ship outbreaks, which occurred in an older population.
"People are getting milder illness, and that means it's so much more important now that, even with mild symptoms, people actually go and get tested," he said.
After Victoria recorded 127 new cases – its highest ever daily total – yesterday, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer urged people to remember interventions would take around two weeks to have an impact on the daily case numbers.
Asked about the possibility of removing people with the virus from the towers, Dr Coatsworth said this was probably unnecessary given the lockdown and the pop-up hospital near the towers was a better solution.
"People are within their homes, they're within their flats, and the virus isn't going to travel from flat to flat if people are remaining within there, as hard as that is," he said.
"Then the issue of outbreaks within households is critical, but in vulnerable situations, separating households has its own negative effects that need to be considered above and beyond the virus."
XPT train stopped at Albury
The XPT train has terminated unexpectedly at Albury this morning, with the Sydney to Melbourne service not crossing the Victorian border.
It is understood passengers boarding in Sydney were not aware they would not make it to Melbourne on the train.
An XPT which left Sydney's Central Station last night has terminated at Albury.Credit:Nick Moir
They have now been placed on a bus service to complete their journey through Victoria to Melbourne's Southern Cross Station.
A Transport for NSW spokesperson said the NSW TrainLink Melbourne to Sydney XPT service will cease travelling across the NSW-Victoria border from today in preparation for tomorrow morning's border closure.
"Transport for NSW and Department of Transport (Victoria) are currently assessing other public transport services which operate between NSW and Victoria," the spokesperson said.
The XPT will continue to operate between Sydney and Albury.
Do you know more? Contact mary.ward@smh.com.au
Melburnians' travel further restricted after NT introduces quarantine
By Anthony Colangelo
The Northern Territory will require people from Melbourne – or who have travelled to Melbourne – to quarantine for 14 days at their own expense once its borders open to interstate travel.
The NT’s borders are currently closed to all interstate travellers until July 17 and last night Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the greater Melbourne area is now considered a coronavirus hotspot.
“The [NT] Chief Health Officer’s advice is that there are outbreaks in Melbourne suburbs that have not yet been identified as hotspots,” Mr Gunner said.
“This means that from 17 July, anyone who lives in or has visited the greater Melbourne metropolitan area will still not be permitted free access to the Northern Territory.
“Our borders will stay closed to Melbourne until further notice.
“Any arrivals will be required to undertake 14 days of mandatory supervised quarantine, most likely at the Howard Springs facility, at their own cost.
“These rules apply to everyone, not just Victorians. That includes Territorians. Territorians should reconsider any planned travel to any location in Melbourne in the near future.”
He did not rule out this order being extended to all of Victoria if deemed necessary.
Victorian government needs to communicate with tower residents better: Shorten
By Anthony Colangelo
Former Labor leader and member for Maribyrnong in Melbourne – where some of the housing commission flats in lockdown are located – Bill Shorten says the residents must be treated better.
“We and the state government needs to do a better job of communicating with people there, and we need to be a bit more switched on,” Mr Shorten, who has spent a lot of time on the ground at the buildings, told Today.
“These [people] are not prisoners. They haven’t broken any laws. So we need to make sure if they’ve got a phone line to ring it gets answered in a timely fashion and they need to know who can assist them with their needs.
“There’s 60 people there with NDIS packages … we have got to switch on even more than the last 72 hours.
“We just need to treat these people as decently as we can.”
Mr Shorten predicted people would lose their jobs over the Melbourne hotel quarantine fiasco.
“I think on balance [Daniel Andrews] has done a good job,” Mr Shorten said.
“I think there has been mistakes made where some of the quarantine travellers from overseas were monitored and kept locked down and so I think there will be heads to roll over that.”
'Do not travel to Victoria,' Health Minister asks NSW
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has said the two cases recorded in Albury yesterday afternoon demonstrate why the closure of the NSW-Victoria border was necessary.
"They are indicative of why the NSW government has a high level of concern about what is occurring in Melbourne," he told 2GB this morning.
The two cases are in self-isolation at home, Mr Hazzard said.
The Health Minister urged NSW residents to not go to Victoria, even though they are technically not barred from entering the state, just required to self-isolate for 14 days on their return.
"Do not travel to Victoria, you would have to have an extremely necessary reason to go there," he said.
Asked about the feasibility of actually blocking all 55 border crossings, Mr Hazzard admitted they may not all be being patrolled by midnight tonight, but said it would not be worth someone attempting to sneak across.
"But if it isn't, and someone does manage to cross the border – or, as [Police Commissioner Mick Fuller] suggested, swim across the river – then they should know that any Victorian who comes here past midnight tonight is up for a potential $11,000 fine and six months jail."
NSW permits should be available today: Berejiklian
With the NSW-Victoria border set to shut after midnight tonight, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has said she is "hoping" permits to enter her state will be available today.
"I know we've had people working through the night to make that possible," Ms Berejiklian told ABC News Breakfast this morning.
The permits will be available for download by NSW and Victorian residents through the Service NSW app and website.
The Premier flagged that closing the border would not be an easy process, and she did not know how long the closure would be in place.
"There will be queues, there will be frustration, there will be lots of questions, but we're doing this to keep everybody safe and to also make sure that the Victorian government has the resources it needs to focus on containing the spread," she said.
"And that's why we're making sure that all of our resources in NSW will be dedicated to this border protection and taking heat off some of those health officials and authorities on the other side of the border."
Addressing comments from the Australian Industry Group this morning that closing the border between the country's two biggest states was like building a Berlin Wall, Ms Berejiklian said: "fair enough".
"But consider this – what if NSW then had to shut down as well?" Ms Berejiklian asked. "Then where would the economy be?"
'Where are the social workers?' asks Melbourne MP
By Anthony Colangelo
The federal Labor MP for the Melbourne electorate of Wills, and a former housing commission resident himself, Peter Khalil, is “very upset” and “very concerned” about the lockdown at nine public housing estates.
Mr Khalil told the ABC on Tuesday morning that he understands the health justification for the lockdown of 3000 residents, but has strong reservations about what was or was not done in the lead up to mitigate the need for such a measure.
“Why wasn't there a reach out to community and faith leaders months ago about communications with respect to the barriers?” Mr Khalil said.
“There was a real lack of notice to the people in the towers.
“People are struggling, as you reported just this morning, with basic food supplies and medication. Where are the healthcare workers? Where are the social workers? Where is the mental health support? There's a big police presence, but what about all of that?”
He said this was not a “Labor or Liberal thing” and the government must try and mitigate risks at other towers in the state immediately.
“It's the fact that people who live in housing commissions are often an afterthought,” Mr Khalil said.
“We need to make sure that communications go to the residents. They use not just translations or fact sheets, but also verbal communications through faith and community leaders that the people listen. I mean, in my own community, I not only sent out letters to migrant communities in community, but did ads on SBS radio because people need to hear it.”
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2020-07-06 22:41:00Z
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