Summary
- Still suffering from COVID-19, US President Donald Trump has returned to the Oval Office and to social media, tweeting broadsides against Democrats, floating false disease figures and pushing lawmakers to take up piecemeal economic aid proposals.
- Hundreds of Kilmore residents have come forward for COVID-19 testing as the Victorian government trials a new tactic of asking "third ring" contacts to isolate, in an attempt to contain outbreaks before they spread.
- NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has expressed her concern after hearing state must find sources for any mystery coronavirus cases within 48 hours to prevent Queensland from resetting its border clock.
- As COVID-19 infections rise across Europe, Italy has told residents they must wear masks outdoors, while restrictions will be ramped up in France.
Latest updates
Virus-hit Britain recruits Dr Karl Kennedy from Neighbours
There isn't a lot of lighter news involved in coronavirus coverage. But this is one of them. Our Europe correspondent Bevan Shields filed this report from the UK overnight:
The United States has Dr Anthony Fauci. Victoria has Professor Brett Sutton. In Britain, we have Dr Karl Kennedy.
Alan Fletcher, the actor behind Australian television's most enduring GP, has been recruited by the National Health Service to help spruik its new coronavirus app. Neighbours still rates its socks off here, and calling up Ramsay Street's popular medico is a shrewd move. Strict adherence to government rules is needed to avoid a major second wave but fatigue is setting in and new voices are needed to cut through.
Actor Alan Fletcher, who plays Dr Karl Kennedy on Neighbours.
"There are a lot of people in Australia who still have very strong affiliations with the UK and we watch what is happening there with as much dread as we watch in our own country," said Fletcher, who has played Dr Karl for 26 years and shares the title of longest-serving cast member with Jackie Woodburne, who plays his on-screen wife Susan.
"I was thrilled to be asked to help because for me the UK is really a second home. For the last 20 years I've been over at least once a year. This is probably the first year I won't get over. I have friends there, I have family there.
"My heart goes out to anyone who has suffered in the UK and I love doing any small thing I can to help promote good practices."
'Is she for jobs or not?' PM on Palaszczuk
By Mary Ward
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has criticised Queensland's rules for reopening to NSW, asking: "Is she for jobs or not?"
Queensland has threatened to reset its border clock if NSW does not find sources for three mystery coronavirus cases identified yesterday.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison wants Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to open the borders to Gladys Berejiklian's NSW.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer/Alex Ellinghausen/Brook Mitchell
The state will not reopen its borders to NSW or Victoria until the states record 28 days without community transmission.
Speaking to Ben Fordham on 2GB this morning, the Prime Minister said of Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk: "Is she for jobs or not? It's as simple as that.
"Being for jobs means you've got to balance the risks that you face like NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian is," he said.
"They are managing to basically keep cases to an incredibly low level, they're doing a great job with their testing and tracing regime ... and Queensland can do the same thing."
Pandemic response to dominate debate between Mike Pence, Kamala Harris
Still in the US, it's VP debate day. Senior reporter Farrah Tomazin will be running our blog from about 11am AEDT, ahead of the noon debate. We'll give you a heads up when the blog is live.
Here is the latest from Salt Lake City:
As COVID-19 sweeps through the upper reaches of government, Republican Vice-President Mike Pence and Democratic challenger Senator Kamala Harris will face off this morning (AEST) in a debate highlighting the parties' sharply conflicting visions for a nation in crisis.
VP debate: Kamala Harris and Mike Pence.Credit:
The candidates will be separated by plexiglass barriers in an auditorium where any guest who refuses to wear a face mask will be removed, an extraordinary backdrop for the only vice-presidential debate of 2020.
Ultimately, the prime-time meeting is a chance for voters to decide whether Pence or Harris, a US senator from California, is ready to assume the duties of the presidency before the end of the next term. It’s hardly a theoretical question: President Donald Trump, 74, is recovering from the coronavirus, and 77-year-old Joe Biden has not been infected but would be the oldest president ever.
For those reasons and more, the debate at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City may be the most meaningful vice presidential debate in recent memory. It comes at a precarious moment for the Republicans in particular, with growing concern that Trump's position is weakening as more than a dozen senior officials across the White House, the Pentagon and inside his campaign are infected with the virus or in quarantine. AP
The President, the pandemic and the pundits
Can't get enough Trump? (To be fair, he did go missing for nearly two days while he "recovered" at the White House). Here's a mash-up of the tumultuous journey so far from one of our creative gurus, Tom Compagnoni.
'Not fair': Berejiklian shocked by Queensland's 48-hour rule
By Mary Ward
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has said she was "concerned" to hear her state would need to find sources for any mystery coronavirus cases within 48 hours to prevent Queensland from resetting its border clock.
Yesterday, Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles said NSW Health would need to find sources for three western Sydney coronavirus cases identified on Wednesday within 48 hours, or else they would be regarded as community transmission.
Queensland will not reopen its borders to NSW until the state has recorded 28 days without community transmission.
Speaking to Ben Fordham on 2GB this morning, Ms Berejiklian said she did not know where "this 48-hours business" had come from.
"That's not anything official I've ever heard before, since the pandemic started back in February," she said, adding sometimes genomic testing took "a few days" to be completed.
"I just think the Queensland government is really just thinking up every excuse you can as it goes along and I don't think that's acceptable."
The Premier said Queensland's border rules were "not fair" as her state had kept its state open to buoy the nation's economy. She also said the closed borders were preventing NSW residents from visiting loved ones.
"NSW has been pretty brave ... other states like Queensland and Western Australia have just kept their borders up: they're living in a false sense of security because they haven't really been tested."
Chadstone cluster grows, Kilmore residents await COVID test results
By Kate Lahey and Rachael Dexter
All eyes are on the "Chadstone cluster" in Melbourne now as COVID-19 infections continue to drop.
Health experts have split the initial cluster into three now: calling them the Frankston cluster, the Chadstone cluster and the Kilmore cluster. Earlier this week the Frankston cluster was deemed under control, but there are still concerns about Chadstone and Kilmore.
Here's what we learned yesterday:
Hundreds of Kilmore residents have come forward for COVID-19 testing as the government trials a new tactic of asking "third ring" contacts to isolate, in an attempt to contain outbreaks before they spread.
The town has two active cases of coronavirus after a visiting Melbourne resident connected to The Butcher Club-Chadstone outbreak went to the Oddfellows Cafe there. The Chadstone outbreak has grown to 31 cases, with linked cases stretching from regional Victoria to Frankston.
The trial comes as the manager of The Butcher Club was rushed to intensive care with COVID-19 after his condition deteriorated on Tuesday.
Peter Robinson, co-owner of the business, said the manager, aged in his early 50s, was receiving oxygen and was expected to be in the ICU for the next two days. Five of the business' nine staff had tested positive to the virus, although two were asymptomatic.
Jeroen Weimar of the Department of Health and Human Services said anyone who visited the Kilmore cafe between last Wednesday and Saturday should get tested and self-isolate immediately whether they had symptoms or not. More than 230 people were isolating by Wednesday.
Trump returns to Oval Office while recuperating from COVID-19
He's baaack... US President Donald Trump has returned to the Oval Office and to social media, tweeting broadsides against Democrats, floating false disease figures and pushing lawmakers to take up piecemeal economic aid proposals after nixing negotiations on a broader assistance package.
It was Trump’s first visit to the Oval Office since being discharged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre on Monday. While there, he was briefed on Hurricane Delta, which is bearing down on the US Gulf Coast, and on economic stimulus prospects.
A marine is posted outside the West Wing of the White House, which means the President is in the Oval Office.Credit:AP
Trump’s doctor reported on Wednesday that the President continued to make progress in his recovery. Dr Sean Conley, the White House physician, said Trump had declared, "I feel great!"
Conley added in a memo that Trump had been symptom-free for over 24 hours, and that his oxygen saturation level and respiratory rate were normal. The memo also said a blood test Monday showed Trump had coronavirus antibodies, substances that fight infection, but he had been given an experimental drug on Friday containing these.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals says it’s not possible for this type of blood test to distinguish between antibodies Trump’s body may be making and those supplied by the company’s drug. Most likely, the ones detected in the Monday test are from the drug, the company said.
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says individuals can discontinue isolation 10 days after symptom onset. While reports of reinfection are rare, the CDC recommends that even people who recover from COVID-19 continue to wear a mask, stay distanced and follow other precautions.
Aides were instructed to take extensive precautions to prevent themselves from catching the coronavirus from the President. And while aides say he is working, White House officials have offered scant details of what he’s up to beyond noting that he’s spoken with Republican leadership and worked with senior advisers in recent days.
Trump was working out of makeshift office space on the ground floor of the White House residence, in close proximity to the White House Medical Unit’s office suite, with only a few aides granted a face-to-face audience. The West Wing was largely vacant, as a number of Trump’s aides were either sick or quarantining after exposure to people infected with the virus, or otherwise working remotely as a precaution.
First lady Melania Trump was isolating upstairs in the White House.
AP
Italy imposes outdoor mask law in a bid to curb second COVID-19 wave
Italy has imposed a nationwide outdoor mask mandate on Wednesday with fines of up to €1000 ($1650) for violators, as the European country where COVID-19 first hit hard scrambles to curb second-wave infections rates.
The government passed the decree even though Italy’s overall per capita infection rate is currently among the lowest in Europe.
Visitors descend the Spanish Steps in Rome on Tuesday,Credit:AP
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte warned that a steady, nine-week rise in infections nationwide demanded new preventive measures to stave off closures and shutdowns that would prove devastating for the economy.
"We have to be more rigorous because we want to avoid at all cost more restrictive measures for productive and social activities," Conte said.
The decree was passed on the same day that Italy added 3678 new infections and 31 victims to its official coronavirus toll, the highest increase in new cases since the peak of the outbreak in April. Both hard-hit Lombardy and southern Campania added more than 500 cases each.
Italy now has more than 36,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths, the second-highest number in Europe after the UK. AP
French President announces new COVID-19 restrictions
The numbers are going up in France – almost 19,000 cases over the last 24 hours – and restrictions are set to get tougher again. Here's the latest from Paris:
France reported on Wednesday a second daily record of new COVID-19 infections in five days, with almost 19,000 additional cases over 24 hours, while hospitalisations for the disease stood at a three-month high.
French President Emmanuel Macron.Credit:AP
French health authorities said there were 18,746 extra cases, versus a previous record on October 3 of 16,972 and also sharply up from Tuesday's tally of 10,489.
The total number of cases since the start of the pandemic in March now stands at 653,509, the world's 10th highest.
French President Emmanuel Macron flagged new restrictions to contain the pandemic, which come on top of measures already put in place by the government, such as bars being ordered to close at 10 pm in major cities including Paris.
"In places where the disease is circulating too quickly ... there will be new restrictions," Macron said during an interview aired on France's two main television channels. Reuters
Good morning!
Good morning from rainy, locked-down Melbourne. I'm Hanna Mills Turbet and I'll be bringing you all our COVID-19 news until early this afternoon.
Feel free to shoot me an email – hanna.turbet@theage.com.au – or leave a comment in the blog if you have any news tips or something to share.
Most Viewed in National
https://news.google.com/__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?oc=5
2020-10-07 20:06:00Z
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
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Coronavirus updates LIVE: Trump returns to Oval Office; Chadstone cluster continues to grow in Victoria as NSW community transmission increases; Australian death toll stands at 897 - The Sydney Morning Herald"
Post a Comment