Summary
- Premier Daniel Andrews has confirmed more lockdown restrictions will be eased this weekend, beyond those he previously flagged, after declaring the Victoria is winning the battle against coronavirus. Victoria recorded 15 cases on Wednesday, bringing Melbourne's crucial 14-day average down to 29.4.
- NSW residents can now travel to South Australia without needing to self-quarantine after border restrictions were scrapped this morning. Meanwhile, two leading epidemiologists say it is time to allow residents of regional Victoria to travel interstate.
- A rapid test that can diagnose the coronavirus within 15 minutes could offer hope of a COVID-normal future for millions of locked-down Victorians.
- A huge international study of a COVID-19 vaccine that aims to work with just one dose has begun. The phase three Johnson & Johnson study will be one of the world's largest coronavirus vaccine trials so far, testing the shot on 60,000 volunteers in the US, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.
- The tally of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide has passed 31.7 million. The global death toll has exceeded 973,000 after the US reached the grim milestone this week of 200,000 fatalities.
Latest updates
Businesses can keep trading: Bankruptcy law changes to keep firms open
Taking a closer look at today's front-page story, business owners will gain a faster way to fend off financial collapse using new bankruptcy laws that will give them more control over how they restructure their debts and recover from the recession.
The new regime will promise a flat fee for companies that call in advisers to trade their way out of trouble, as experts predict a wave of insolvencies from forced shutdowns to halt the spread of COVID-19.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is changing insolvency laws for small businesses to help them avoid collapse in the recession.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
The changes will take effect as millions of employers and their workers are losing access to the $101 billion JobKeeper wage subsidy, forcing them to survive without the extraordinary taxpayer support.
In the biggest overhaul of bankruptcy law in decades, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will embrace key features of the United States' Chapter 11 laws that allow business owners with liabilities of less than $1 million to stay in charge while they deal with their debts.
The changes come as Mr Frydenberg resets fiscal policy to drop old assurances about a return to surplus amid widespread estimates the October 6 budget will show a deficit of more than $200 billion.
The Treasurer will use a speech today to outline a two-step strategy that offers financial support during the recovery and is followed by a second phase that rebuilds the budget while keeping taxes low.
Read more from chief political correspondent David Crowe here.
Front pages of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald
Now to what's making headlines of the front pages of today's papers:
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is changing bankruptcy laws for small businesses to help them avoid collapse in the current recession, chief political correspondent David Crowe reports. It comes as as experts predict a wave of insolvencies from the COVID-19 lockdowns.
The Age looks at the shocking evidence heard at yesterday's hotel quarantine inquiry, when senior Andrews government ministers admitted they had little or no knowledge of key decisions about the ill-fated quarantine program until after they were made – and in some cases their departments did not brief them on developments.
Johnson & Johnson begins giant study of one-dose COVID-19 shot
From rapid COVID tests to one-shot vaccines: A huge international study of a COVID-19 vaccine that aims to work with just one dose has begun.
Hopes are high that answers about at least one of several candidates being tested in the US could come by year's end, maybe sooner.
It comes as top US health officials seek to assure a sceptical Congress and public that they can trust any shots the government ultimately approves.
Dr Anthony Fauci told a Senate hearing that no corners would be cut in the testing of vaccine candidates.Credit:AP
"We feel cautiously optimistic that we will be able to have a safe and effective vaccine, although there is never a guarantee of that," Dr Anthony Fauci, infectious disease chief at the National Institutes of Health, told a Senate committee.
FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn pledged that career scientists, not politicians, will decide whether any coronavirus vaccine meets clearly stated standards that it works and is safe.
"Science will guide our decisions. FDA will not permit any pressure from anyone to change that," Hahn said. "I will put the interest of the American people above anything else."
As for the testing of vaccine candidates, Fauci added: "There is no cutting corners."
A poster asking for volunteers for another vaccine trial, by pharmaceutical giant Moderna.Credit:AP
The phase 3 Johnson & Johnson study will be one of the world's largest coronavirus vaccine trials so far, testing the shot on 60,000 volunteers in the US, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.
The vaccine is being developed by Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies division. If trials prove successful, Janssen plans to produce more than 1 billion doses of the vaccine for distribution throughout 2021.
Manufacturing will be centred on the company's main plant in Leiden, the Netherlands, with additional manufacturing capacity at external third-party plants in the US, Italy and elsewhere.
A handful of other vaccines – including shots made by Moderna and Pfizer – are already in final-stage testing in the US. Testing of another experimental vaccine, made by AstraZeneca in partnership with Oxford, remains on hold in the US after a patient experienced an adverse reaction during the phase 3 trial. Studies have resumed in other countries.
15 minutes to diagnosis: The quick COVID test that could 'change the game'
Reporting team Sumeyya Ilanbey and Noel Towell tell us in an exclusive story this morning that a rapid test which can diagnose the coronavirus within 15 minutes could offer hope of a COVID-normal future for millions of locked-down Victorians.
A Melbourne doctor is in talks with the state government about rolling out nasal swab tests across aged care facilities, which will be subject to tough COVID-19 restrictions until next year.
Peter Walsh with one of the rapid diagnostic tests, which he hopes will roll out in aged care facilities.Credit:Chris Hopkins
Peter Walsh, who has advised the federal government on the pandemic, has described the antigen test as a "game-changer" in containing the spread of coronavirus as the economy begins opening.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved the rollout of the NowCheck COVID-19 Antigen Test in Australia.
But Melbourne’s Doherty Institute – which is studying the performance of a range of rapid tests for the state government – cautioned on Wednesday against "hype", saying the effectiveness of the antigen testing had not been proven in the Australian context.
"They may well have a role to play, but the work is still ongoing," professor of microbiology Deborah Williamson said. "We don’t have any preliminary findings of studies yet."
Dr Walsh has a personal stake in seeing the test distributed in aged care facilities, because he has not seen his mother in her nursing home for several months.
"It’s a game-changer in the testing world," he said. "It takes 15 minutes to complete, requires no additional equipment, can be done anywhere, and it picks up asymptomatic and symptomatic COVID results."
South Australia reopens to NSW
By Mary Ward
First off this morning, there's significant news for NSW residents. Pack your bags, you can travel to South Australia without having to quarantine.
NSW residents can now travel to South Australia without needing to self-quarantine after border restrictions were scrapped this morning.
The reopening was announced on Tuesday, but South Australian Premier Steven Marshall said it would only go ahead if NSW did not record any community transmission between then and today.
NSW has since recorded two consecutive days with no local cases.
A Qantas flight from Sydney is due to arrive in Adelaide just before 11am, as the airline moves to increase the number of flights on the route next week in light of the border reopening, which has come as both states enter school holidays.
The border change means people from every Australian state and territory bar Victoria are now able to enter South Australia without completing quarantine.
A border zone is in place on the Victoria-South Australia border, but all other residents are not allowed to enter without an exemption.
On Tuesday, Mr Marshall said it was likely the state would first reopen to regional Victoria before Melbourne.
Good morning
Good morning, Welcome to our rolling pandemic coverage on this Thursday, September 24. It's Marissa Calligeros here and I will be with you for much of the day, bringing you the latest developments from across the country and the world.
For those of us who are counting, Melbourne is now 53 days into its extended stage four lockdown. But Premier Daniel Andrews has flagged he's prepared to ease more restrictions this weekend than initially planned. With that in mind, here's a tune to kick off the morning:
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2020-09-23 21:12:00Z
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