Summary
- Victoria is awaiting new numbers on Friday after 13 deaths and 723 new cases on Thursday.
- NSW recorded 19 new cases on Thursday and also closed several schools due to COVID-19 positive tests.
- There are health alerts for 11 sites in Brisbane after two women who travelled to Queensland from Melbourne via Sydney did not adhere to self-isolation directions and tested positive. A close contact has already tested positive.
- US death toll passes 151,000 people.
- The world has recorded over 17.1 million cases and 669,000 deaths so far.
PM, Victorian Premier talking about more extreme lockdown measures
By Rob Harris
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews have canvassed further extreme lockdown measures following the largest single day of positive COVID-19 results on Thursday.
Mr Morrison and Mr Andrews held emergency talks on Thursday night, which included the possibility of further restrictions on movement within Melbourne and potentially shutting down all non-essential industries, leaving only supermarkets, petrol stations, pharmacies and medical providers open.
Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews.Credit:Darrian Traynor/Getty Images
Several sources told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald that Friday's numbers would be critical to any further decisions made which could see the city adopt New Zealand-style lockdown for a number of weeks.
The nation's expert medical panel, the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, is expected to have updated advice for leaders on the Victorian situation as early as today.
State and territory leaders will join Mr Morrison on a long-planned phone hook-up on Friday to discuss security matters.
The meeting is not an official national cabinet discussion as is not expected to directly canvass further lockdowns.
Latest updates
NBA season resumes 140 days after COVID-19 shutdown
By Roy Ward
In late March the Utah Jazz were the team who kick-started the NBA's COVID-19 shutdown after centre Ruby Gobert and guard Donovan Mitchell tested positive to the virus.
So it was apt Gobert scored the first points as the NBA resumed its regular season in a hub at Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida this morning AEST.
Members of the New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz take a knee before Friday's NBA season resumed.Credit:AP
There will be two games today starting with the Jazz facing the New Orleans Pelicans and followed by the Los Angeles Lakers taking on the Los Angeles Clippers.
The league has sent 22 teams, those who still had mathematical chances to make the playoffs, to the hub and they will play some regular season games then head into the playoffs.
Players from the Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans bowed their heads and knelt during the playing of the U.S. national anthem while wearing Black Lives Matter T-shirts as the NBA returned for the first time since the coronavirus halted play in March.
Coaches and officials joined the players in taking a knee to protest against racial injustice and police brutality with Australian swingman Joe Ingles among them.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver released a statement soon after tip-off confirming the league would not penalise those who took a knee despite the league having a rule requiring everyone stand for the national anthem.
"I respect our teams' unified act of peaceful protest for social justice and under these unique circumstances will not enforce our long-standing rule requiring standing during the playing of our national anthem," Mr Silver said.
Black Lives Matter was also written on the court at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, where the NBA plans to finish its season with 22 teams inside a bio-secure bubble
Athletes from around the world have united in solidarity behind anti-racism protests sparked by the death in May of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis.
With Reuters
Aged Care minister admits 'we didn't get it completely right'
By Laura Chung
Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck had a Zoom call last night with almost 100 relatives of people who had been in aged care facilities.
"They were upset, they were distressed, some were angry. They were looking for answers about events that had occurred in the facility in the leadup to the outbreak," he told Today.
A sign outside St Basil's Aged Care, Fawkner on Friday.Credit:Joe Armao
"They wanted to know what their options are now - many of their family members are in hospital."
Queensland nurse sent to help with Victorian outbreak contracts COVID-19
By Toby Crockford
A Queensland nurse who went to Victoria to help local health officials try to contain the COVID-19 outbreaks across the state has contracted coronavirus herself.
Queensland chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young confirmed the diagnosis on ABC Radio Brisbane on Friday morning and says Queensland Health is working with the nurse to bring her back to Brisbane.
Dr Young says Queensland has recorded further COVID-19 cases overnight, but she would not go into specifics regarding the number, only revealing it was less than 10.
There is a media conference scheduled for 10am in Brisbane where officials are expected to reveal the exact number and Dr Young says health workers are trying to confirm how the new cases contracted the virus.
Perez the first F1 driver to test positive for COVID-19
Mexican Formula One driver Sergio Perez will miss Sunday's British Grand Prix after testing positive for COVID-19, his Racing Point team said.
The Canadian-owned outfit said the 30-year-old, who is the first driver to test positive since the pandemic-hit season started this month, was "physically well and in good spirits".
Sergio Perez will not race at Silverstone because of the coronavirus.Credit:Getty Images
They said they planned to replace him for the race at Silverstone.
With Britain extending the virus isolation period to 10 days from seven on Thursday, Perez also looks set to miss the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix - race five - at the same circuit on the following weekend.
Reuters
Deputy CMO calls Victorian numbers 'quite alarming'
By Laura Chung
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Michael Kidd said yesterday’s new case numbers are "quite alarming" despite the restrictions that remain in place with the possibility of further restrictions looming.
“Yesterday the AHPPC [Australian Health Protection Principal Committee] met and talked about possible recommendations for additional measures and ... the Prime Minister and the [Victorian] Premier have had further discussions overnight,” he told ABC News Breakfast on Friday morning.
Dr Kidd said while the possible new measures are a decision for the Victorian government, they had provided advice on what was working well both nationally and overseas.
“It is really important that we learn from the experience that happens in every single outbreak of COVID-19 occurring in Australia, and particularly the outbreaks occurring in such critical areas as residential aged care facilities, and we apply those learnings as we go along with other settings as well. ”
He added that wearing a face mask in areas that have high community transmissions, such as parts of Sydney and Brisbane, should be considered.
Watch: Treasurer Josh Frydenberg addresses the media at 9am AEST
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is scheduled to address the media at 9am AEST.
Wiped out: US economy suffers biggest fall on record as pandemic wreaks havoc
By Lucia Mutikani
The US economy suffered its biggest blow since the Great Depression in the second quarter as the COVID-19 pandemic shattered consumer and business spending, and a nascent recovery is under threat from a resurgence in new cases of coronavirus.
The bulk of the deepest contraction in at least 73 years reported by the Commerce Department on Thursday (US time) occurred in April when activity almost ground to an abrupt halt after restaurants, bars and factories among others were shuttered in mid-March to slow the spread of coronavirus.
The US economy has been hammered by the pandemicCredit:AP
More than five years of growth have been wiped out. With the recovery faltering, pressure is mounting for the White House and Congress to agree on a second stimulus package.
President Donald Trump, who is trailing Democratic challenger and former Vice President Joe Biden in opinion polls, said on Wednesday he was in no hurry. Trump on Thursday raised the possibility of delaying the November 3 presidential election.
"This is hard to swallow," said Jason Reed, finance professor at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business. "Right now, the American economy is speeding toward a fiscal cliff. Not only do we need Americans to take serious action preventing the spread of the disease, but we also need Congress to agree on another stimulus package and quickly."
Reuters
Morrison says aged care during COVID-19 is a challenge
By Laura Chung
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said managing the COVID-19 outbreak in Melbourne’s aged care facilities has been a difficult challenge.
For example, he said the situation at Epping Gardens, 20 km north of Melbourne's CBD, was different from that at Newmarch House in Sydney’s west.
St Basil's Aged Care in Fawkner on Friday morning.Credit:Joe Armao
“In Newmarch, the staff weren’t stood down… but there wasn’t a community outbreak around Newmarch," Mr Morrison said.
"The way that occurred was slightly different.”
Mr Morrison said Epping Gardens is heading towards a stabilised situation, with the prime minister to receive an update on the facility in the next 30 minutes.
“When you’ve got the level of community outbreak that we’ve seen in Victoria, then it gets into every workplace,” he said.
“The level of community outbreak and transmission in Victoria is the great challenge down there, and there is still a lot of work to do and we are not on top of it yet.”
PM denies Tim Smith's call for Victorian Premier to give powers to Canberra
By Laura Chung
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says there has been no “contemplation” of Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews referring his power to Canberra.
“We are always ready to support them [Victoria] with requests they have made and further offers,” Mr Morrison told 2GB.
"Those things haven’t been in contemplation.”
Earlier today, Victorian Liberal MP Tim Smith said people lacked confidence in Mr Andrews and called on him to refer his power to Canberra.
Mr Morrison said he was not interested in any politics, rather his job was to work with the premiers and chief ministers across Australia to keep people safe.
“I know there have been a few stories out and about trying to exaggerate some tensions. I can tell you everyone is picking up the phones, everyone is talking to each other, everyone is asking the questions they need to ask of each other,” he said.
“People are working together because that’s what we are elected to do.”
Dr Chant says NSW COVID-19 cases all linked to Victoria
By Laura Chung
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said the active COVID-19 cases in NSW are all linked to strains circulating in Victoria.
In some cases, like the Crossroads Hotel Cluster, health officials have been able to locate the exact source of the infection, she told 2GB.
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant.Credit:Edwina Pickles
Health officials believe the Thai Rock restaurant in Wetherill Park and Potts Point outbreaks originated from the same source and were waiting for further results from genetic sequencing to confirm the link to the Apollo restaurant, also in Potts Point.
Dr Chant said the border restrictions on those travelling between NSW and Victoria had been a difficult decision, but one that had been essential in preventing further outbreaks.
"We don't want people coming unknowingly infecting and the setting off chains of infections in NSW," she said.
"Health officials all recognise the preventing of movement of people from an area where you have high rates of disease to low rates of disease is one controls you need to put in place."
Dr Chant urged the community to minimise contact with others, practice good hand hygiene and wear a mask when unable to socially distance while NSW Health is “putting out spot fires”.
She also said anyone who had symptoms should not go out into the community, rather they should go and get tested.
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2020-07-30 23:24:00Z
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