Coronavirus updates LIVE: Victoria records 12 new COVID-19 cases as state flags easing of restrictions next week; Trump tests negative as Australian death toll jumps to 899 - The Sydney Morning Herald

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Authorities investigating whether RMH patients are contracting COVID-19

By Paul Sakkal

Victoria’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Andrew Wilson says the Victorian Health Department’s public health unit is examining the possibility that patients at the Royal Melbourne Hospital have been picking up the virus at the hospital.

He said it was not yet clear whether this had been occurring but authorities were working to determine reports it had received.

The Royal Melbourne Hospital.Credit:Pat Scala

Meanwhile, Professor Wilson told ABC radio there was no evidence poor personal protective equipment protocols played a role in the outbreak at Box Hill hospital which grew to 11 cases on Monday.

He said fit-testing - where high-grade masks are appropriately fitted to each healthcare worker’s face - had not yet been rolled out at all Victorian hospitals.

“What’s supposed to be in place by the end of the month is the development of the program,” he said, adding that fit-testing had been undertaken at some hospitals in the northern and western suburbs.

“It’s a complex program to set up, to do it all very quickly and across the whole of our huge health system but it’s definitely underway and moving ahead.

“The number of workers infected, even though we’ve had patients in the hospital, has been coming down because of a range of things people have been doing.”

Analysis: Time to open up more, but we need to prioritise what we value most

It has been a disconcerting two weeks, writes University of Melbourne epidemiologist Tony Blakely.

Five-day COVID-19 daily numbers have stubbornly refused to go below 10 cases per day and have even started increasing again.

Melbourne's deserted CBD.Credit:Quinn Rooney

It is now mathematically impossible that we are going to achieve the target set out in the road map of an average of five new cases per day to release to step three on October 19.

The second target, less than five mystery cases in the past 14 days, looks unlikely.

I can run arguments both ways – to release to step three on October 19, and to not release to step three.

Read the rest of Mr Blakely's analysis here.

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Victoria records 12 new cases and one death

Victoria has recorded 12 new cases of coronavirus and one death in the past day.

The state’s 14-day rolling average is now 10.4, up from 10.3 on Monday.

Tuesday’s figures come after 14, 12 and 15 cases in the last three days.

Trump tests negative for COVID-19: White House physician

US President Donald Trump's White House doctor says Trump has tested negative for COVID-19 on consecutive days using a newer rapid test from Abbott laboratories.

The assessment from Navy Commander Sean Conley comes as Trump is travelling to Sanford, Florida, to headline his first campaign rally on Monday since becoming infected with the coronavirus.

Conley had said in a written memo released over the weekend that Trump is no longer at risk of spreading the virus to others.

Conley said in a fresh update released on Monday that Trump tested negative for COVID-19 on consecutive days using a newer 15-minute test. He did not say when Trump was tested.

Trump announced October 2 that he had tested positive for the disease caused by the coronavirus. He was admitted to Walter Reed military hospital that night and released on October 5.

Over the weekend, Trump addressed scores of supporters who crowded onto the White House lawn from a balcony.

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More than 19,000 COVID-19 fines in Victoria issued but only 845 paid

By Erin Pearson

The state has issued more than $27.8 million in coronavirus-related fines since the start of the pandemic, but only 845 of the more than 19,000 penalty notices have been paid.

New data from Fines Victoria shows 1424 of the 19,324 COVID-19 fines issued up until August 24 have been withdrawn or cancelled.

Coronavirus breaches were the 20th most common crime in the year to June, out of 114 distinct offence categories that police track.Credit:Justin McManus

The data also shows 18 per cent of fines issued have reached a "notice of final demand" stage. A further 3455 have been registered with Fines Victoria for enforcement.

Of those fined, 1638 people have signed up for payment plans to help them manage the impost.

Read more about the most recent fines data here.

$7m push for Australians to 'Holiday Here This Year'

By Paul Sakkal

The federal government is urging Australians to book road trips and interstate travel as part of a $7 million tourism campaign to “Holiday Here This Year”.

The advertising campaign, fronted by comedian Hamish Blake and his author partner Zoë Foster Blake, will launch across the country today.

Hamish Blake and Zoe Foster Blake are the new faces of Tourism Australia's Holiday Here campaign. 

Federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said the campaign will be targeted to areas of the country that are able to travel without restrictions.

“This campaign is targeted in terms of spending to reflect the reality that not all parts of Australia can travel at present,” he said on ABC’s Radio National.

“But across the rest of the country there are borders open to different jurisdictions and so we do want people to start planning, booking and undertaking holidays because one in 13 Australian jobs depend on our tourism industry.

“We will step into the Victorian market when they are ready and able to do so, and we hope that is as soon as possible.”

Mr Birmingham said the tourism industry, a key employer, would be crucial to the country’s economic recovery.

“Australians have shown enormous enthusiasm already to leave big cities, hop in their cars and undertake road trips within just a few hours of those homes,” he said.

“What we now want them to think about during the summer holiday and beyond is booking a real holiday where they take a week or two, hop on a plane, support the jobs of people in airlines, hotels, hire car operators and our tour operators.”

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Today's main stories

Here is a wrap of the stories making headlines today.

Andrews to face fresh scrutiny as Parliament resumes

By Sumeyya Ilanbey

The Andrews government will face fresh scrutiny over the bungling of the hotel quarantine program and its two major scalps - Health Minister Jenny Mikakos and the head of the public service Chris Eccles - when Parliament resumes today.

The Opposition will this week move a motion of "no confidence" in Premier Daniel Andrews, but it is unlikely to garner any support in the Legislative Assembly where Labor has a 55-38 majority.

The Andrews government has been plunged into crisis following the explosive testimonies of senior cabinet ministers and top public servants at the hotel quarantine inquiry, that has so far been unable to establish who made the fateful decision to hire private security to guard returned travellers.

The bungling of the hotel scheme has led to a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, infecting almost 20,000 people and killing more than 750.

Health Minister Jenny Mikakos last month resigned after the Premier gave evidence he held her “accountable” for the hotel quarantine program, directly contradicting her statement that the scheme was “shared accountability”.

Department of Premier and Cabinet Secretary Chris Eccles resigned on Monday following his access to phone records that revealed he called then-Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton in a key six-minute window that could hold the answer to who made the decision to use private security.

Mr Eccles maintains neither he nor his department made the decision hire guards for the hotels scheme.

Victorian retailers should open at current case numbers, says industry chief

By Paul Sakkal

The Victorian director of one of the nation’s peak industry associations says Victoria’s retail sector should be allowed to reopen after Premier Daniel Andrews acknowledged daily case numbers may not drop any lower.

On Monday, Mr Andrews said the daily case average of about 10 may be “as good as it gets” and the state could enact more significant easing of restrictions despite the slightly higher risk of a surge in cases once rules are relaxed.

Bunnings, like other retail stores in Melbourne, is limited to click and collect services.Credit:Eddie Jim

But the Premier said rules for the retail sector are unlikely to change on Sunday when some social restrictions will be eased. The Australian Industry Group’s Tim Piper said shutting non-essential retail had helped to achieve the strategy of limiting movement and thereby suppressing the virus’ spread.

“But we’ve now reached the stage where we’re not getting any further,” he said.

“[Mr Andrews’ announcement on Monday] was very dispiriting for literally every business in Victoria because there was an expectation, a strong one, that we were going to be back on deck.

“We’d been given every indication over the last few weeks that was going to occur.”

Many businesses - including hairdressers which had installed perspex screens - had already implemented COVID-safe plans in anticipation of opening, Mr Piper said on ABC Radio National.

The industry chief floated the idea of businesses opening for a few days a week or at night-time only in order to minimise movement of people while stimulating a level of business activity.

Mr Piper said he had received calls from some small businesses who were concerned about their ability to pay bank debt that had already been deferred.

He said he was in regular contact with people in the Victorian government about its contact tracing system. He said he believed the program had improved but was not confident it was operating with the level of precision he believed NSW had demonstrated an ability to achieve by pinpointing time periods and exposure sites.

“If we had the right contact tracing, we may be able to deal with up to 10 cases every day,” he said.

Which COVID restrictions are likely to be eased next week?

By Tom Cowie, Craig Butt and Benjamin Preiss

It's official: Melbourne cannot reach its target to take the next step out of lockdown.

It had looked unlikely in the past week, as cases stubbornly refused to dip towards the number required, and it is now mathematically impossible to reach the goal by October 19.

But all is not lost. Premier Daniel Andrews has hinted some freedoms will be granted next Monday despite not hitting the step-three target of an average of five cases a day over 14 days.

At his daily briefing on Monday, he indicated any changes next week would be focused "broadly on the social space rather than economic easing".

Epidemiologists have offered suggestions about which rules it might still be safe to relax, including one that has frustrated many: the requirement to stay within five kilometres of home.

However, gatherings of up to five people from another household within a home may be ruled out for the near future, due to the risk of transmission posed by family clusters.

Read more about what epidemiologists have said here.

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2020-10-12 22:39:45Z
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