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.
Latest updates
Wiped out: US economy suffers biggest fall on record as pandemic wreaks havoc
By Lucia Mutikani
Washington: 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.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
“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 premieres 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.”
Fair Work Commission rejects Deakin Uni cuts
By Anna Patty
The Fair Work Commission has rejected Deakin University's plan to cut 400 jobs.
The National Tertiary Education Union said the Fair Work Commission has rejected Deakin University management’s plan to cut 400 jobs, "forcing it back to the drawing board".
The NTEU said the university announced a plan in May this year to cut 100 jobs and make 300 staff redundant.
NTEU Deakin President Dr Kerrie Saville said staff at Deakin University "are navigating a difficult and stressful time".
"This was made worse by the University’s attempt to impose its will without properly consulting staff," she said.
“We are fighting tooth and nail to save every job we can at Deakin University. Robust and genuine consultation is critically important to that process.
“Deakin University management must come back to the negotiating table in good faith. But they should do so with the right motivation – to save as many careers and livelihoods as we possibly can.”
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.
Another person caught trying to lie to get through QLD/NSW border after three women charged
By Toby Crockford
A matter of hours after police laid charges carrying hefty fines and possible jail time against three women accused of lying to border officials, another person has tried to pull the same trick at the Queensland/New South Wales border.
Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski says it is "incredibly difficult" to check where people have been and whether they are being truthful, before allowing them across the interstate border.
“Even as early as this morning when a person trying to get through on a false declaration at Coolangatta, they were given a $4000 fine and turned around after coming out of Fairfield in Sydney," he tells ABC Radio Brisbane.
"The system is working, but there is always going to be people who try to deceive us."
It comes as ABC News reports Queensland detectives are looking into whether three young women at the centre of the state's COVID-19 scare were coached by an organised crime syndicate to cover their tracks at the border.
"That’s absolute news to me," Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski tells ABC Radio Brisbane in response.
"There are ongoing investigations but these are the sorts of things we deal with every day, so I’m not going to comment further."
Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski says all three women have cooperated with detectives and disclosed their true movements interstate and upon their return to Queensland.
One of the women was not cooperating on Thursday.
Herman Cain, one-time Republican presidential candidate, dies from coronavirus
Former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has died after battling the coronavirus. He was 74.
A post on Cain's Twitter account announced the death on Thursday morning, US time.
Herman Cain was hospitalised with coronavirus earlier this month.Credit:AP
It was not clear when or where Cain was infected with the virus, but he learned of his diagnosis on June 29, nine days after attending President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He spent most of July in an Atlanta hospital.
The former pizza company executive had been an outspoken backer of the President and was named by the campaign as a co-chair of Black Voices for Trump.
AP, Bloomberg
Queensland’s virus wake-up call: honesty is essential to stop spread
By Stuart Layt
Queensland's COVID-19 cluster should serve as a "wake-up call" and reinforces the risk of people giving "false details" to authorities which slowed down contact tracing, experts warn.
Queensland has recorded six new COVID-19 cases in two days, three of which are linked to a group of young women who travelled to Melbourne and then allegedly lied about where they had been on their return to Brisbane.
Dr Jeannette Young says the next few days are crucial in getting ahead of a potential second wave of the virus in QueenslandCredit:Jack Tran/Queensland Government
Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said contact tracing and testing was under way, and she was happy that out of 6800 tests carried out across the state on Wednesday, none had come back positive on Thursday morning.
"We need to have a lot more testing over the next 48 hours before we can say we’ve got it in hand," Dr Young said.
"It’s reassuring we’ve not got any more positives but it’s far, far too early to be complacent."
Opinion: Alone on the podium, Premier faces the music - and it's the blues
By Tony Wright
If a Premier is supposed to be in tune with the people, Daniel Andrews was on song on Thursday.
It wasn’t a merry sort of tune, however. More of a solemn slow march. Or the blues. Suitable for a people grown bone-tired of hearing bad news while locked up and wearied of adjusting face masks to walk their streets.
Premier Daniel Andrews during his daily briefing on Thursday.Credit:Getty Images
The Premier looked and sounded exhausted, as if he would rather be doing anything but delivering the latest record figures of new coronavirus infections, knowing the graph that would appear on every news outlet would look akin to an engineer’s drawing of an unfinished Eiffel Tower.
He appeared dispirited at lecturing those who, having tested positive, were still going to work, and positively burdened when apologising to country Victorians for finding it necessary to require them to mask up.
He had no one but a very busy Auslan interpreter to share his burden for most of the long, long press conference.
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.
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2020-07-30 22:37:00Z
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