Summary
- Victoria recorded 295 new cases on Tuesday, its lowest daily increase in more than a week. The state saw nine additional deaths, including seven in aged care facilities. The Victorian death toll is at 92 and the national death toll is at 176.
- It has been revealed that Victoria's public health unit was considered one of the worst resourced in the country. Victorian schools have also reported frustration with a lack of information from the DHHS, with some waiting more than a week for guidance after recording a positive case.
- In NSW, four Sydney schools have closed today after being connected to coronavirus cases. The state reported 19 new cases on Wednesday as Queensland announced it would be closing its borders to all Sydneysiders from Saturday.
- 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.
- There have been more than 16.8 million cases of coronavirus confirmed worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally. The global death toll has passed 660,000.
Latest updates
'It's just manageable': NSW's race to stay ahead of the COVID-19 outbreak
By Pallavi Singhal
A combination of rapid contact tracing and good fortune has stopped NSW's rise in community transmission of COVID-19 from exploding beyond its double-digit daily case numbers to Victorian levels.
About 10 days into its spike in local infection, NSW was closely following Victoria's early trajectory. But while case numbers nearly tripled between the 10th and 16th day of double-digit infections in Victoria, they increased by less than 60 per cent over that same period in NSW.
Mary-Louise McLaws, a professor of epidemiology at UNSW and an adviser to the World Health Organisation on COVID-19 infection prevention and control, said NSW is battling a very different outbreak to that in Victoria.
"It's good fortune that we haven't had an outbreak in a highly-connected group, it's all about the ability of contact tracers to get to each [potentially infected] person within three days to ensure they can get isolated and stay in isolation," Professor McLaws said.
Cause for 'cautious optimism' in Victoria's daily numbers: epidemic modeller
There is some cause for "cautious optimism" in the way Victoria's daily coronavirus numbers are tracking, Associate Professor Nick Golding, an epidemic modeller at Curtin University, has said.
"Although we had a jump up in cases on Monday, the modelling showed the numbers were coming down," he said.
"If we just look at the daily case numbers they will jump around a lot, they will go up even when the number of infections are coming down. That's because they are not reporting the number of infections that day or a set time ago, but new positive test results, which could go up because contact tracers have found a whole bunch of new cases."
Speaking to Radio National, Associate Professor Golding said it took longer for people to lock down in Melbourne the second time in July, meaning community transmission rates have not slowed as much as hoped.
He said the effective reproduction number (the R number), a measure of how much the disease is being spread to others, was coming down and was at one or slightly below one.
When it is at two, it suggests that people with coronavirus are infecting two other people on average, which would cause numbers to start doubling in a matter of days. When it is below one, people are not infecting others, and daily case numbers should start to decline.
He said if the reproduction number was slightly below one, new cases will decrease slowly, but there would still be "hundreds of cases a day" for some time.
Two women at centre of Queensland's COVID-19 scare identified
By Toby Crockford
The two 19-year-old women, who have triggered a public health alert in south-east Queensland after bringing COVID-19 into the state, have been identified.
Olivia Muranga and Diana Lasu have been named by Nine News as the teenagers who flew to Brisbane from Melbourne via Sydney on July 21.
They both tested positive for COVID-19 - one late on Tuesday and the other early on Wednesday - before health officials confirmed a 22-year-old woman, who was a close contact of the pair through YMCA Chatswood Hills Outside School Hours Care, also had the virus on Wednesday afternoon.
Ms Muranga and Ms Lasu allegedly failed to tell Queensland border authorities they had been in the declared hotspot and provided false information to border authorities.
Queensland police have launched an investigation but no charges have been laid.
Victoria's aged care a 'profound challenge', Queensland border closure against medical advice: Hunt
By Mary Ward
AUSMAT medics have started work in Victoria today, as federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says the government is "stepping in as a country to help one state which is facing a profound challenge".
"Victoria has a massive task," Mr Hunt told 2GB this morning. "We've stepped in, we're helping them. But we know it comes with an immense human cost once this disease is out in the community in a significant way."
About 950 cases in aged care have been confirmed in Victoria's second wave across 87 facilities. More than 46 aged care residents have died.
St Basil's Home for the Aged in Fawkner, where a large number of residents have tested positive for coronavirus.Credit:The Age
Asked about Queensland's decision to close its border to Sydneysiders, Mr Hunt said such action was not the advice of the federal medical expert panel. The Health Minister also criticised the two women who are at the centre of a possible outbreak in Logan near Brisbane who did not self-isolate after travelling to Melbourne and subsequently tested positive.
"[We] can save a life or risk lives with our actions. For those who are not following those rules, they are not games," he said. "These are literally decisions which can have catastrophic consequences for elderly Australians."
Car clocked going 200km/h to avoid lockdown checkpoint in Victoria
By Mathew Dunckley
Victoria Police have caught a man driving 100km/h over the speed limit on Melbourne's fringe as he attempted to avoid a lockdown checkpoint.
In a statement, Victoria Police said a Holden Commodore was spotted heading towards the city on the Princes Freeway travelling at 110km/h and in a 100 km/h zone about 2am this morning.
The car then accelerated as it approached the checkpoint.
"The car drove past police and sped up to 200km/h," the statement said.
The man's car was clocked going about 200km/hCredit:Robert Banks
Police managed to stop the car near the Werribee multi-bypass and spoke to a 36-year-old Norlane man.
"He allegedly told police that he was headed towards Melbourne to go to Colac via Ballarat Road to avoid the Geelong checkpoint," the statement said.
"The man, who did have a valid reason for travel, is expected to be charged on summons with several traffic offences including speed dangerous, excessive speed and driving whilst disqualified."
Police said the Commodore, which belonged to the man’s aunt, was impounded.
Bondi lifesaving club closes as members await test results
By Mary Ward
Bondi Surf Bather Life Saving Club in Sydney's east has closed today after four of its members dined at The Apollo restaurant at Potts Point.
Three of the members have returned negative test results, the club's president told News Corp, but the club has remained shut out of caution.
The Apollo restaurant in Potts Point.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer
The fourth member is expected to receive their result today.
NSW Health recommends anyone who dined at The Apollo between Wednesday 22 July and Sunday 26 July should self-isolate immediately and get tested even if they do not have symptoms.
Victorian woman from viral checkpoint video arrested in Melbourne
By Rachael Dexter
A woman who posted a video of herself breaching coronavirus restrictions has been arrested by police, who broke her car window after she refused to cooperate for a second time.
Eve Black, 28, from Warrandyte, was arrested following a vehicle intercept on Princes Street in Carlton about 2pm on Wednesday.
A police spokesman said Ms Black was asked for her name and address, her licence and an explanation for why she was travelling - all of which she refused to give.
"During the arrest, police were forced to break the woman’s car window as she refused to speak to them, wind down her window, or step out of the vehicle," the spokesman said.
"The woman has been released pending summons for traffic-related offences, failing to produce a licence, failing to produce name and address, and breaches of the Chief Health Officer’s directives."
Police pulled over Ms Black's car on Wednesday to speak with her about an incident last week, when she filmed herself refusing to comply with an officer at a checkpoint in Bunyip in Gippsland, south-east of Melbourne.
ABC News Breakfast staff self-isolating
If you have tuned into ABC's News Breakfast this morning you will have noticed some different faces than usual in the show's studio.
The wife of the program's floor manager Joe has tested positive for coronavirus, so the show's regular line-up of presenters, Michael Rowland, Lisa Millar and weatherman Nate Byrne are self-isolating until he receives his test results.
Areas of Sydney's south west and inner west on alert
By Mary Ward
Here is the coronavirus news you may have missed in Sydney overnight.
- Three schools in Sydney's south-west have closed for cleaning after being connected with confirmed cases. A year 12 student and a year 9 student have tested positive at Freeman Catholic College at Bonnyrigg Heights, closing the school for a week. Its feeder primary school, Mary Immaculate Catholic Primary School at Bossley Park, has also closed. The two schools had just reopened after previously being connected to a case. Everlearn Preschool at Prestons is also closed after being connected to a case.
- Fort Street High School at Petersham, in Sydney's inner west, has been closed today due to a "possible case" of COVID-19. The person is being tested and results will be confirmed today, the Department of Education said.
- A pizza restaurant at Camperdown, also in the inner west, has closed for cleaning after a person attended and later tested positive for COVID-19. The person ate at Frank's Pizza Bar, on Parramatta Road, on July 26 between 6pm and 8pm. "NSW Health has advised us that we are of low risk, as the customer was in the restaurant for two hours and stayed within his group," the restaurant said on their Facebook page. It will reopen on Tuesday.
Recap: yesterday's key coronavirus updates
Here is a quick summary of Australia's key coronavirus news from yesterday:
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2020-07-29 21:04:00Z
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