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Brisbane youth detention centre in lockdown after case
By Lydia Lynch
A Brisbane youth detention centre has gone into lock down after an Ipswich woman worked five shifts while infectious. The woman, aged in her 70s, tested positive for the virus on Wednesday night.
“What you're going to hear today is a story of a woman who was sick and still went to work,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said. “Now a whole lot of contact tracing has to happen.
“We will be speaking with her close contacts, with her family members to try and identify a connection of where it has come from.”
Ms Palaszczuk said no visitors had been permitted into the Wacol detention centre since late July.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said it was believed the woman had worked five shifts while infectious.
“She developed symptoms, we believe, on the 10th of August, although that has been clarified now.” she said.
“At this stage, we're working with the centre to test all of their residents. They have approximately 130 youths in detention there and all of the staff.
“There are over 500 staff.”
Victoria's hotel quarantine inquiry starts up again
Victoria's inquiry into hotel quarantine has started up again this morning.
We will be bringing you the big takeaways from today's hearing – which will see nurses and returned travellers give their firsthand accounts of their experiences in the system – on this blog but you can catch up on everything as it happens on our separate blog dedicated to the inquiry.
Due to some technical difficulties, we won't be streaming the video live, but you can watch via the inquiry website, here.
Melburnians who drove to the park will have fines reviewed
By Rachael Dexter
Any Melburnian who has been fined for driving to a park within 5km of their homes for exercise will now have their fine reviewed, the Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner has revealed this morning.
It comes after the state’s Chief Health Officer stepped in yesterday to overturn the COVID-19 restriction amid community backlash.
Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Rick Nugent.Credit:Getty Images
Deputy Commissioner Rick Nugent told Melbourne radio station 3AW that all police officers were sent advice last night informing them of the overturned rule, meaning from today no one will be fined for driving to their local park inside stage four lockdown areas.
“We’re going back and reviewing those fines,” he said.
Mr Nugent said he “wouldn’t expect” there would be a high number of fines, but could not give a specific number.
The policy backflip came about after police took to social media earlier this week to issue a reminder that they had been directed to issue $1652 fines for anyone driving to an area within 5km of their home for exercise.
Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton was asked about the restriction in a press conference yesterday where he indicated he would get the rule changed.
“I don't want anyone to feel unsafe getting to a place of exercise,” he said.
Queensland Premier gives a coronavirus update
AFL teams seek Queensland border exemption for early player return
By Peter Ryan
Geelong and Richmond have asked the Queensland government for an exemption that would allow Gary Ablett and Shane Edwards to enter the state and start quarantine in a private residence ahead of the next AFL-designated flight on September 1.
The Geelong forward returned home from the hub for family reasons a month ago but he is hoping to fly to Queensland as soon as possible so he can begin his 14-day quarantine immediately. If he left as early as Friday he would be able to to rejoin the Cats on September 4.
Gary Ablett is hoping to rejoin his Cats teammtes on September 4.Credit:Geelong Football Club
This would give him the chance to be available for the final three rounds, with all likelihood he would play at least round 17, against Richmond, and round 18, against Sydney.
The Tigers' premiership midfielder is in the same boat having stayed home for the birth of his baby, with Richmond playing Fremantle, Geelong and Adelaide in the final three rounds.
Brisbane youth detention centre worker tests positive
By Matt Dennien
A woman in her 70s who works at a youth detention centre in Brisbane has tested positive to COVID-19.
Three close family contacts have tested negative, with authorities trying to determine what contact the night shift worker had with young people inside, Nine has reported.
Earlier this morning, Deputy Premier Steven Miles told reporters in Townsville he would not comment on the case until he received a validated report from Queensland Health.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was expected to address media on Thursday morning.
Coca-Cola Amatil joins companies announcing big losses today
By Darren Gray
Coca-Cola Amatil has slumped to an $8.7 million net loss for the June half as the closure of restaurants, cafes and pubs in the COVID-19 lockdowns hit sales and the drinks giant took a $101.2 million impairment of its Indonesia division.
The loss comes after the company recorded a $168 net profit in the first half of last year. This year's performance was also hit by widespread bushfires over summer, which disrupted holiday trading conditions and kept large numbers of tourists away from coastal areas in NSW and Victoria.
Coca-Cola Amatil boss Alison Watkins.Credit:Louie Douvis
Total revenue for the ASX-listed beverages business was down 9.2 per cent to $2.19 billion, which was ahead of the $2.15 billion consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg
"We experienced unique, market-wide challenges this half, ranging from Australian bushfires and Indonesian floods through to the COVID-19 pandemic which impacted all our businesses," said Coca-Cola Amatil boss Alison Watkins.
You might have gone to Bunnings a lot, but Wesfarmers' profits still fell
By Dominic Powell
Retailing conglomerate Wesfarmers has seen its profits slide after the company took a massive writedown of more than $500 million to its struggling Target department store.
The Bunnings, Kmart, Target and Officeworks owner on Thursday morning reported a 16.4 per cent fall in profit from continuing operations to $1.62 billion. Revenue came in at $30.8 billion, up 10.5 per cent for the year.
Profits and Bunnings and Officeworks were up.Credit:Pat Scala
A litany of writedowns and provisions were listed in relation to the company's Target chain, which Wesfarmers is in the process of restructuring, closing around 75 stores and converting another 92 into Kmarts as it tries to reduce the discount chain's 'unsustainable' cost base.
Wesfarmers booked a pre-tax impairment of $525 million for the restructure, along with $110 million in associated costs and provisions. Wesfarmers also made a $310 million impairment of its industrials and safety division, which operates businesses such as Blackwoods.
The writedowns were partially offset by a $510 million gain on the company's sale of Coles shares earlier this year, and by a revaluation of its retained 4.9 per cent stake in the supermarket chain.
Taking into account Wesfarmers' $3.1 billion gain from the Coles demerger and other asset sales, which occurred in the prior financial year and had massively inflated last year's profit, statutory net income fell 69.2 per cent.
However profit excluding all significant items rose 8.2 per cent to $2.1 billion, slightly ahead of analyst expectations.
“COVID-19 and the bushfires last summer had a significant impact on our customers, team members and the communities in which we operate during the 2020 financial year,” chief executive Rob Scott said.
“The group’s result is a testament to the dedication of team members and leaders across all businesses who have been highly effective in responding to the changing needs of customers and supporting their local communities."
Hardware store Bunnings was the company's strongest performer for the year, with earnings up 13.9 per cent to $1.85 billion. Officeworks also performed well, with profits up 13.8 per cent to $197 million.
Wesfarmers has been forced to temporarily close 168 stores across its divisions in Victoria due to the state's strict stage four lockdown, though the retailer was hoping to land an exemption from the government to allow it to continue trading.
The company said while sales had been strong across the country through the start of the new financial year, stage four restrictions were having an impact, particularly for Kmart and Target.
Wesfarmers declared a final dividend of $1.52 a share, along with an additional 18 cent special dividend from the selldown of its Coles shares.
WATCH: Qantas CEO addresses the media
Japanese traveller cared for sick father in Brisbane before testing positive
By Matt Dennien
A woman who has sparked urgent contact tracing efforts after testing positive to COVID-19 on her return to Japan spent most of her time in Brisbane caring for her sick father, Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles has confirmed.
He also told reporters in Townsville that a further update on Thursday would provide more details on any new cases following reports of a woman in her 70s who works at the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre testing positive.
“It’s important that each day I wait for the validated report [from Queensland Health],” he said.
A public health alert was issued by the health authorities late on Wednesday for flight VA962 from Brisbane to Sydney on Monday, August 17, and anyone who dined at The Jam Pantry cafe in Greenslopes on Sunday, August 16.
The woman had arrived in Australia in mid-July and quarantined in a Sydney hotel before travelling to straight to Brisbane on August 1, Mr Miles said. Though she did dine once at the cafe in Brisbane’s south.
Six close contacts have been tested and placed into quarantine.
“It’s hard to tell exactly what’s happened here, particularly given that she’s now in japan and not available to our public health staff to do further testing,” Mr Miles said.
“Because we have the resources we can treat this as though it’s a positive case.”
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2020-08-20 00:17:00Z
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