Summary
- Victoria recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic on Sunday, with 17 deaths. But Premier Daniel Andrews has warned Victorians not to read too much into Sunday's figure of 394 new cases which represents the state's lowest single-day tally in 12 days.
- Two NSW schools are closed today after students were among the state's 10 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday. NSW Health is also advising people who attended a service at St Agatha’s Catholic Church in Pennant Hills on Wednesday and Thursday to be alert for symptoms.
- Hundreds of people caught partying on a far-north Queensland beach could face charges after allegedly breaching coronavirus restrictions early on Saturday. Up to 300 people held a raucous party complete with a stage and DJ near Wangetti Beach.
- Confirmed coronavirus cases in the US hit 5 million on Sunday – a bleak milestone met with astonishment and alarm in Europe. Health officials believe the actual number is perhaps 10 times higher, or closer to 50 million, given testing limitations.
- More than 19.7 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 728,000 deaths, according to the tally by Johns Hopkins University. Nearly 12 million people have recovered from the virus.
Latest updates
Victoria's case numbers to be announced on Twitter each day
The way Victorians get their updates on the state's tally of new COVID-19 cases and deaths is about to change.
From today, the government will release the new cases numbers via the Department of Health and Human Services' Twitter page (@VicGovDHHS), ahead of Premier Daniel Andrews' daily press conference.
The Premier's press conferences attract a huge audience each day as Victorians anxiously await news of the daily figures.
Front pages of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald
Western Sydney primary school shuts after case
By Mary Ward
Let's turn our attention back home, where another NSW school has closed after a student tested positive for COVID-19.
Bonnyrigg Heights Primary School, in Sydney's south-west, has closed today. All students and staff have been asked to self-isolate as the school is cleaned and contact tracing begins.
Last week, students at nearby Bonnyrigg High School and Greenway Park Public School tested positive to the virus.
Tangara School for Girls, at Cherrybrook in the city's north-west, remains shut today after two students and a close contact of one of the students tested positive on the weekend.
Israeli jeweller makes $1.5m gold coronavirus mask
An Israeli jewellery company is working on what it says will be the world's most expensive coronavirus mask, a gold, diamond-encrusted face covering with a price tag of $1.5 million.
The 18-karat white gold mask will be decorated with 3600 white and black diamonds and fitted with top-rated N99 filters at the request of the buyer, says designer Isaac Levy.
Parts and a model of the gold mask are displayed in the Israeli jewellery company Yvel in Motza near Jerusalem, Sunday, August 9, 2020. Credit:AP
Levy, owner of the Yvel company, says the buyer had two other demands: that it be completed by the end of the year, and that it would be the priciest in the world. That last condition, he says, "was the easiest to fulfil".
He declined to identify the buyer, but says he is a Chinese businessman living in the United States.
The glitzed-up face mask may lend some pizzazz to the protective gear now mandatory in public spaces in many countries. But at 270 grams (over half a pound) — nearly 100 times that of a typical surgical mask — it is not likely to be a practical accessory to wear.
Isaac Levy, owner of Israeli jewellery company Yvel, next to parts of the gold mask.Credit:AP
In an interview at his factory near Jerusalem, Levy showed off several pieces of the mask, covered in diamonds. One gold plate had a hole for the filter.
"Money maybe doesn’t buy everything, but if it can buy a very expensive COVID-19 mask and the guy wants to wear it and walk around and get the attention, he should be happy with that," Levy says.
Isaac Levy holds part of the world's most expensive coronavirus face mask.Credit:AP
Such an ostentatious mask might also rub some the wrong way at a time when millions of people around the world are out of work or suffering economically. Levy says that while he would not wear it himself, he was thankful for the opportunity.
"I am happy that this mask gave us enough work for our employees to be able to provide their jobs in very challenging times like these times right now," he says.
Brazil's death toll passes 100,000; Germany reopens schools; NZ marks 100 days virus-free
Brazil has surpassed a grim milestone — 100,000 deaths from COVID-19. And five months after the first reported case, the country is showing no signs of crushing the disease.
The nation of 210 million people has been reporting an average of more than 1000 daily deaths from the pandemic since late May, and 905 were recorded in the latest 24-hour period to put Brazil above 100,000. The Health Ministry also said there have been been a total of 3,012,412 confirmed infections.
A COVID ward fit 50 patients into a space meant for 12 at a hospital in Tefé, a remote city of 60,000 in Brazil's Amazonas state.Credit:Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
The totals are second only to the United States. And experts believe both numbers are severe undercounts due to insufficient testing.
Here's a snapshot of what else is happening around the world:
- Germany’s 16 states are starting to send millions of children back to school. Berlin’s plan includes requiring students - and teachers - to wear masks in hallways, but not during class time or in the playground. Sports, music and drama will be allowed, but with restrictions, like requiring choir members to keep at least two metres from one another. The government recommends those groups don't mingle outside school either, but it's not clear how that will be enforced.
Health workers take blood samples from residents in New Delhi, India.Credit:Bloomberg
- The Indian Medical Association says 196 doctors have died of COVID-19 so far and, in an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requested adequate care for physicians and their families. The Health Ministry recorded nearly 64,000 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, adding to the country's more than 2.1 million cases. India also recorded 861 fatalities, driving the death toll to 43,379.
- South Africa’s number of confirmed coronavirus deaths has surpassed 10,000. The health ministry says the country with the world’s fifth-largest caseload now has 553,188 cases and 10,210 deaths.
- New Zealand marked 100 days without a domestic transmission of the coronavirus on Sunday, but warned against complacency. New Zealand's successful fight against COVID-19 has made the Pacific island nation of 5 million one of the safest places in the world right now.
- Hong Kong reported 72 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, of which 63 were locally transmitted, as authorities continue efforts to contain a resurgence of infections in the global financial hub over the past month. More than 4000 people have been infected in Hong Kong since January, 51 of whom have died. Sunday's figure was slightly up from Saturday's 69 cases.
- The novel coronavirus has been detected at a second mine in Papua New Guinea, after an employee at the Lihir Mine owned by Newcrest Mining Ltd tested positive for the disease. The 30-year-old male, who flew in from Port Moresby at the end of July, is among 26 confirmed cases reported on Sunday by the National Pandemic Control Centre in the capital Port Moresby.
AP, Reuters
Second wave fears sweep across Britain
Britain has recorded more than 1000 new coronavirus infections in a day for the first time since late June.
The rise coincides with new local lockdowns and worries over a second wave of infections.
According to government statistics, 1062 new cases of COVID-19 were reported on Sunday.
Football fans pass through the security checkpoint before the Irish Cup Final at Windsor Park in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Irish Cup final is the first sporting event in the UK to allow spectators to return. Credit:Getty Images
Britain has seen a gradual rise in coronavirus infections since it began lifting lockdown restrictions in mid-June. The government has put the next stage of reopening, which had been due to take effect August 1, on hold for at least two weeks.
There is now a widespread belief – pushed by scientists advising the government – that pubs may need to close again to curb the spread and allow schools to reopen in September.
The number of patients hospitalised with the virus continues to decline, as does the daily number of deaths. Eight new COVID-19 fatalities were reported Sunday.
Meanwhile, the number of British companies planning to cut staff numbers in June was five times higher than in the same month a year earlier, in an ominous sign of COVID-19’s economic impact.
Figures obtained by the BBC show that 1778 companies informed the government of plans to cut a total of 139,000 jobs. A year earlier the figure was 345 companies announcing a total of 24,000 job losses.
A shuttered shop on Oxford Street in London.Credit:AFR
Businesses are required to inform the Insolvency Service if they plan to cut 20 or more jobs.
During the pandemic, the government has been paying the salaries of almost 10 million furloughed workers. Economists are predicting a surge in unemployment when that program ends in October.
The UK economy shrank by more than 20 per cent in the first half of 2020, and despite some signs of recovery, the Bank of England says the economy will end 2020 9.5 per cent smaller than it started the year.
Britain’s official coronavirus death toll stands at 46,574, the highest in Europe.
AP
'Broken America': Grim US coronavirus milestone leaves Europe aghast
First off here are some key developments from overseas while Australia was asleep:
Confirmed coronavirus cases in the US hit 5 million on Sunday – a bleak milestone met with astonishment and alarm in Europe.
Perhaps nowhere outside the US is America’s bungled virus response viewed with more consternation than in Italy, which was ground zero of Europe's epidemic.
Italians were unprepared when the outbreak exploded in February, and the country still has one of the world’s highest official death tolls at 35,000.
After a strict nationwide, 10-week lockdown, vigilant tracing of new clusters and general acceptance of masks and social distancing, Italy has become a model of virus containment.
"Don’t they care about their health?" a mask-clad Patrizia Antonini asked about people in the United States as she walked with friends along the banks of Lake Bracciano, north of Rome on Sunday.
"They need to take our precautions. ... They need a real lockdown."
The line for coronavirus testing outside Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. America's failure to contain the spread of the coronavirus has been met with astonishment and alarm on both sides of the Atlantic.Credit:AP
That the most powerful nation on Earth could be found wanting has led to complete bewilderment on the other side of the Atlantic.
Much of the incredulity in Europe stems from the fact that America had the benefit of time, European experience and medical know-how to treat the virus that the continent itself didn’t have when the first COVID-19 patients started filling intensive care units.
Yet more than four months into a sustained outbreak, the US has reached 5 million cases, according to the running count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
Even so, health officials believe the actual number is perhaps 10 times higher, or closer to 50 million, given testing limitations and the fact that as many as 40 per cent of those infected have no symptoms.
AP, Reuters
Global cases pass 19.7 million
Good morning and welcome to our rolling coverage of the coronavirus pandemic on this Monday. It's Marissa Calligeros here and I will be with you for most of the day, bringing you the latest developments.
More than 19.7 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 728,000 deaths, according to the tally by Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are thought to be far higher due to a number of reasons including limited testing.
But there is one number to take comfort in – 12 million people have recovered from the virus.
You can explore our data centre (below) for the latest figures across the globe:
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2020-08-09 20:54:00Z
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