Summary
- Melbourne's 15-week lockdown ends at midnight tonight.
- In NSW, new poll shows voters fear a second wave of COVID-19 in the state.
- Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is expected to make an announcement on home visits today.
- Just over half of Victorians back the Premier's handling of the pandemic.
- No new cases recorded in Victoria yesterday, NSW had three - two in quarantine.
Latest updates
Beattie and Shorten disagree on Queensland's hard border
By Mary Ward
As we reported earlier, former Queensland Labor premier Peter Beattie has been doing the media rounds this morning, saying Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk should lift her hard border with NSW and follow her southern neighbour's lead when it comes to contact tracing.
However, Mr Beattie's comments have attracted the attention of another former Labor leader, Bill Shorten, who told Nine's Today he disagreed with the former premier's stance.
"I don't think he is right on this one," Mr Shorten said, adding he believe Ms Palaszczuk had shown "good leadership".
"Annastacia Palaszczuk, during the COVID crisis, she has been a real leader. She has withstood some of the reckless calls by her opponent to open up prematurely."
Asked about Mr Shorten's comments, Mr Beattie said he was "talking about the past".
"I don't have a disagreement with any of that. I'm talking about what happens on Friday. Where we go from here."
Under the Queensland government's roadmap to recovery, Ms Palaszczuk was open to allowing NSW residents to cross the border from this Sunday, provided the state recorded 28 days without a case of community transmission (which, alas, it will not have).
That date, the day after Saturday's Queensland state election, has raised some eyebrows.
"I don't care about popularity – I'm old and cranky – I want to see something happen for my country and I have family in Brisbane and family in Melbourne," Mr Beattie told Today.
"I understand a lot of pain that families have gone through on this. This is very personal."
Second COVID-19 wave swells across US and Europe as winter looms
By James Mackenzie and Lisa Shumaker
The US, Russia and France set new daily records for coronavirus infections as a second wave swelled across parts of the northern hemisphere, forcing some countries to impose new curbs.
More than 42.9 million people are reported to have been infected by the coronavirus globally and 1,151,929 have died, according to a Reuters tally. The US has the highest number of deaths and infections.
A nurse takes a swab from a patient at a drive-through coronavirus testing site in Salt Lake City.Credit:AP
Word that a vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca Plc produced immune responses in both elderly and young people offered some positive news as autumn turns to winter in northern countries and people socialise indoors.
However, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock cautioned that the vaccine would not be widely available until next year and said "we're not there yet".
The seven-day average of new daily cases in the US has reached a record high of 69,494, according to a Reuters tally, while deaths, hovering around 800 per day, are on an upward trend.
At more than 41,500, the number of hospitalised COVID-19 patients is at a two-month high, straining healthcare systems in some states.
US President Donald Trump, facing a tough re-election battle on November 3, lashed out again at reports that the coronavirus is surging.
Read more of the Reuters report here.
Household visits a high concern to Victorian health authorities
By Kate Lahey
Professor Euan Wallace, the deputy secretary of case, contact and outbreak management at the Department of Health and Human Services, said the recent outbreak in Melbourne's north reinforced the danger of family transmission.
An announcement on home visits in Melbourne is expected today.Credit:Penny Stephens
"The lessons from the recent outbreak in the northern suburbs - but not just that outbreak several other outbreaks over the last month or so - has been that intra-household and entire household transmission has been one of the key methods of this virus spreading," he told ABC Radio National on Tuesday morning.
"So we need to just hold off on the massive family gatherings and we all want to have just a bit longer.
When Melburnians are allowed to meet indoors again, they will need to be extremely careful, Professor Wallace said.
"We have examples of very human things, you know, passing newborn babies around ... with infants have the virus, and then spread the virus across multiple households.
"These are normal, normal human things that we want to do want to hug each other."
However, he said he remained hopeful that Christmas could feel "much more normal" if people continue to follow the rules.
Professor Wallace also said NSW should look to Victoria's success in handling the northern suburbs outbreak when considering opening the state's border.
"I think the greatest confidence that both our own citizens can have but [also] the rest of the country is just to look at the response to the northern outbreak this past week, and just how effectively that has been managed, how little it has spread outside the key households.
"That is the measure of how effective we are."
Premier Daniel Andrews is expected to make an announcement on home visits today.
'We've got to be Australians': former Queensland Premier criticises hard border
By Mary Ward
Former Queensland Premier Peter Beattie has criticised the current holder of the position – from his own party – saying Annastacia Palaszczuk's hard border closure with NSW is unnecessary.
In comments to News Corp papers this morning, Mr Beattie said Ms Palaszczuk should "follow NSW's lead" and reopen her border.
Peter Beattie.Credit:James Brickwood
"I understand states being cautious: when we didn't know a lot about the virus, it was natural for us to close our borders, I understand that," Mr Beattie told ABC News Breakfast.
"But now, we're getting a better understanding of how it works and we've looked at different models in Australia and around the world. It's quite clear that in NSW, where the contact tracing has identified outbreaks and then got people to be tested, that method works better than anything else."
Mr Beattie told the ABC he was "not being critical of what's happened in the past, but we're now at a junction where we've got to be Australians".
"Frankly, if we don't open up, then Australia is going to go broke. It's a fact. It's not a political comment."
Asked whether a former Labor leader telling a current one to follow the lead of a Liberal government could ever not be political, Mr Beattie doubled down saying "whoever wins the Queensland election" will be "faced with an economic tsunami".
"The reality is that the method adopted by the NSW government, and I couldn't care about the political persuasion, that contact tracing works."
NSW sites to monitor
Here's the latest update on locations to watch in NSW:
Virus rebel Professor Edward Holmes named NSW Scientist of the Year
This is a good read from Sydney Morning Herald health editor Kate Aubusson.
University of Sydney’s Professor Edward Holmes has been named NSW Scientist of the Year.
NSW Scientist of the Year Professor Edward Holmes. Credit:Louie Douvis
Kate writes Professor Holmes spent 30 years unravelling the mysteries of elegantly designed parasites, but he also published the SARS-CoV-2 genome code on January 5 despite Chinese authorities telling him and his colleagues not to publish, he said.
"We did the right thing and I would do it again in a heartbeat," Professor Holmes said.
You can read the story here.
Victorian sites to monitor
Here's some key sites to be aware of in Victoria:
First repatriation flight from India landing today
By Mary Ward
The first repatriation flight carrying Australians stranded in India is due to land in Darwin at 8.20am today.
It is the first of four flights from New Delhi scheduled under a new federal government repatriation scheme, which began with a flight from London on Monday.
About 5000 Australians will be brought home on eight subsidised flights from London, New Delhi and Johannesburg in the coming weeks.
The group will complete their two weeks of hotel quarantine at the Howard Springs facility in the Northern Territory before travelling on to their home states and territories.
Last month, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said more than 26,000 Australians had registered as wanting to come home, including 4000 who were classed as vulnerable.
Publicans prepare to open again
By Ashleigh McMillan
Andy O’Brien, the venue manager at Melbourne’s oldest licensed hotel The Duke of Wellington, said the announcement that hospitality venues could reopen was "what we’ve all been waiting for and hoping for".
Managers at The Duke, Andy O'Brien and Tim Hale celebrates the good news from the Premier Daniel Andrews last night.Credit:Eddie Jim
Under the changes, retail, restaurants, cafes and bars will open on Wednesday with a maximum of 20 people indoors and 10 people per space, and with a maximum of 50 people outdoors in total, with one person per two square metres. Beauty, personal services and tattooing will also reopen.
"There’s overwhelming excitement - our bookings hit 100 per cent capacity for this Saturday and Sunday within 30 minutes, the rest of the week is coming along steadily too," he said.
“Hospitality has really come together during this second lockdown. We’re really hopeful we can get to that next phase with more patrons, because hospitality really is the backbone of Melbourne at Christmas-time.”
Mr O’Brien said the pub would have dedicated guest check-in staff and contactless ordering as part of their COVID-safe plan.
“The pub has never been a safer environment considering all we learnt and implemented in June and July,” he said.
“We’ve been gearing up in the background, and we’re ready to rock and roll and get the people of Melbourne back into what they love - catching up with friends over a nice cold tap beer or wine.”
Fears of a second COVID wave and another lockdown on NSW voters' minds
By Alexandra Smith
Fears of a second wave of COVID-19 in NSW and being forced back into lockdown are top of mind for three out of five voters in the state, with most also worried about a drawn-out recession.
An exclusive Ipsos poll for The Sydney Morning Herald and Nine News reveals 63 per cent of voters are concerned that NSW could follow Victoria and be hit with a high number of COVID-19 cases.
NSW had one new locally acquired case and three cases in hotel quarantine on Monday while Victoria recorded its first day in four months of no new cases, allowing it to ease restrictions.
Gladys Berejiklian has an approval rating of 63 per cent after her handling of the pandemic.Credit:James Brickwood
NSW Health confirmed the locally acquired case in Sydney is a household contact of a positive test linked with the Oran Park cluster, which has been connected with 23 coronavirus cases.
The poll shows more than 60 per cent of voters are worried about an ongoing recession over the next year, and almost half (49 per cent) are worried about not being able to travel interstate or overseas.
Mental health is also highlighted, with 45 per cent believing their mental health has been affected "a great deal" or "fair amount" by the pandemic and the lockdown.
The impact is significantly higher for those living in metro areas (48 per cent) and for younger people (65 per cent among those aged 18-24 and 61 per cent among those aged 25-39).
Younger people are more worried about their employment prospects than older groups.
Voters aged over 55 are significantly more concerned about catching the virus than others, and people born overseas are also more worried about getting COVID-19 (44 per cent) than those born in Australia (36 per cent).
Read the full story here.
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2020-10-26 21:25:00Z
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