Summary
- Melbourne's stage four lockdown has taken full effect this morning, with non-essential retail stores shut and permits required to travel to work and access childcare. There has been confusion for many people, with the list of permitted industries updated again this morning.
- Victoria recorded 725 new cases on Wednesday, the highest daily case total of the pandemic. It was also Australia's deadliest day of the pandemic, with 15 Victorians dying with the virus including a man in his 30s. State police and the coroner are set to investigate the cluster at St Basil's aged care, where 159 cases have been recorded.
- Two new cases have been confirmed in NSW's Newcastle area, prompting the closure of a school and health alerts for several venues, including a Newcastle Jets game. A south-west Sydney buffet has also closed for cleaning. From Friday, NSW will require all people arriving from Victoria to spend 14 days in hotel quarantine, Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on Wednesday.
- Queensland has declared its borders closed to all NSW and ACT residents from Saturday, as teams race to prepare new border passes. The state recorded no new cases today, but the source of a case recorded yesterday is still unknown.
- The CSIRO has opened Australia's first accredited surgical face mask testing facility in Melbourne today. Previously, medical-grade masks had to be sent overseas to be accredited.
Latest updates
ACT Chief Minister gives a coronavirus update
At the same time as Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is addressing the media, ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr is also due to give a coronavirus update. You can watch his press conference below.
WATCH: Queensland Premier addresses the media
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is due to address the media at 11am.
'Hugely concerning' NSW worried about mask supply: Labor
NSW Opposition Leader Jodi McKay has said it is "hugely concerning" that one of the reasons Health Minister Brad Hazzard cited for not making masks compulsory in the state on 2GB earlier this morning was the possibility of demand exceeding supply.
"What about if we do end up in a situation like Victoria?" Jodi McKay asked reporters on Thursday. "We simply don't have a number of the number of masks that are required."
Ms McKay said Mr Hazzard's direction that people should "definitely wear" masks on public transport contradicted the current NSW Health advice that it is only strongly recommended.
"He's the health minister," she said. "He has complete control of the health orders: he can make a health order at any time, but he hasn't. So his advice is, you definitely wear it, but he hasn't actually made a health order."
Ms McKay accused the government of not being confident enough in the state's stockpile of masks to mandate wearing them.
The Labor opposition have called on the government to release the health advice on which they act to the public, as well as make mask wearing compulsory in places it is currently only recommended: on public transport, at the supermarket and in place of worship.
‘Not the time’: Queensland police looking to bar planned bridge protest
By Matt Dennien
Refugee advocates planning to block Brisbane’s Story Bridge at the weekend have been warned by police that the action will not be tolerated.
More than 3000 people have already indicated they are interested in attending the “mass sit-in” on Saturday calling for the release of about 120 asylum seekers held in a CBD hotel, who were brought to Australia from offshore detention to receive medical treatment.
“From a purely public health point of view that is not supported,” Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski told reporters on Thursday.
“This is not the time, and that is not the way.”
He warned that though police were looking at “every legal action we’ve got” to stop the event from happening, such action had failed to stop people turning up to events in other states and protesters would face arrest if they attempted to block traffic.
St Basil's deaths to be investigated by police, coroner
By Erin Pearson and Cameron Houston
A cluster of deaths among residents at St Basil's aged care at Fawkner is being investigated by Victorian police and the state coroner after COVID-19 began spreading into the high risk facility last month.
Sources have told The Age a police taskforce will be formed to lead the coronial investigation which is expected to include members of the homicide squad and detectives from the crime department.
“Victoria Police can confirm it is assisting the Victorian State Coroner with enquiries in relation to the death of persons associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and aged care facilities," a police spokeswoman said.
"As the matter falls within the jurisdiction of the Coroners Court of Victoria, it would be inappropriate to comment any further."
The Coroner's Court of Victoria has been contacted for comment.
As of yesterday, 159 coronavirus cases have been linked to St Basil's, the highest number linked to any aged care facility in the country.
Physios, carparks, puppies: Confusion on first morning of Melbourne restrictions
By Rachael Dexter
Talkback radio in Melbourne this morning has been a flurry of questions and confusion about what is and is not permitted as of today as harsh stage four restrictions come into effect.
A tweaked list of permitted work premises was posted to the Victorian Department of Health website at 11pm last night, just before the measures came into place. The list looks substantially different to the original document released on Monday.
For example, parking services were blanket-listed as closed in the DHHS document released on Monday, but the new list now states that carparks “supporting permitted workers and industries” are permitted sites.
It’s led to reported confusion around at least one Melbourne hospital where a carpark usually used by nurses is closed, with hospital staff restricted to two-hour on-street parking.
“I can’t come out of the ward every two hours to move my car,” a nurse who called 3AW’s Neil Mitchell said.We are also seeking clarity on the situation for physiotherapists.
In emails seen by The Age, sent by at least one Melbourne physiotherapy provider, clients had their appointments cancelled and were told they must obtain a GP referral to continue treatment during lockdown.
The newly listed rules now state that all AHPRA registered health workers (which would include physiotherapists) are considered permitted workers, but does specifically mention the requirement of a GP referral.
The DHHS has been contacted for clarity.
And Victorian Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton did his best to give advice on ABC Radio Melbourne’s Mornings program to a listener who wanted to know if she could pick up a puppy from Geelong.
“Can we get a permit to drive to Geelong, pick up the puppy, don’t stop and come straight home?” the woman asked.
“The reality is I don’t know the answer to that,” Chief Commissioner Patton said.
“I’m not trying to fob this off but ... go to the DHHS website.
“The reality is there are only four reasons: necessary goods and services, care or other compassionate/medical reasons, work, or education and exercise to a limited degree.”
National basketball players, coaches sent for testing
By Roy Ward
A selection of players and coaches from Basketball Australia's national teams are awaiting the results of COVID-19 tests after training at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre during the same period as Melbourne United's players.
Melbourne United announced last weekend that 12 members of their training squad had tested positive to COVID-19 and were in quarantine, while MSAC's showcourt has been shut for deep cleaning.
BA was also using the venue, which is a closed-off, two-court area, to train a selection of Melbourne-based national team members from its Boomers and Opals programs along with its Paralympic teams the Gliders and Rollers.
South-west Sydney buffet restaurant closes after diner tests positive
A Korean BBQ buffet restaurant in south-west Sydney has closed after a diner who attended subsequently tested positive.
"Last night at 9:00pm we were contacted by Liverpool Public Health to inform us that a patron with COVID-19 dined at BBQ City Buffet Bankstown on Saturday 1 August between 7:30pm and 10pm," the restaurant said in a Facebook post. "If you were at our venue during that time please immediately isolate and get tested."
The venue will be "closed until further notice" and all staff will be tested while the venue is deep cleaned, BBQ City Buffet management said.
The venue has not been added to the list of venues where attendees must "self-isolate and get tested immediately" on the NSW Health website. NSW Health have been contacted to clarify whether this is their advice.
Queensland police preparing for ‘increased quarantine pressures’ in border rush
By Matt Dennien
Queensland police are preparing for increased pressure on hotel quarantine as people rush to make it back from the newly declared hotspots of NSW and ACT.
Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski told reporters that planning was already in place to meet that increase “over the next few days”.
“We are seeing increased quarantine pressures on the hotels that we have and we are adjusting to that.”
The state directed 60 new domestic airline passengers into quarantine and refused entry to seven people in the past 24 hours from 60 flights.
On the road borders, a total of 64 people were refused entry and 48 placed into quarantine.
A flagged “blitz” on those in home quarantine this week has already checked in on 253 people, with 250 found to be compliant and three under investigation.
The updated online form to apply for new border passes for freight and cross-border residents is expected to be live by Friday afternoon, Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski said.
More information will be released later in the week about those trying to travel from South Australia.
What does your stage four look like?
Under the Victorian government's new stage four lockdown rules, Melburnians are only allowed only to travel within a 5km radius from their home to go shopping and exercise (with a few exemptions). Can you send us some pictures or words that tell us about your favourite places in your 5km radius?
And while we are asking things of you, we should point out that student submissions for The Age's special letters page close at midday today. If you are a school student who is back at learning from home, The Age wants to hear about your experience of school life during lockdown 2.0.
Please send your letters to education@theage.com.au. Include your full name, your age, home address and best contact number (your contact/address details will not be printed).
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2020-08-06 00:59:00Z
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