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Australia's international border restrictions will remain this year, predicts Health Department boss
By Ben Grubb
Health Department boss and former federal chief medical officer Brendan Murphy predicts Australia will spend most of this year with overseas border restrictions still in place despite a vaccine rollout
"I think that we'll go most of this year with still substantial border restrictions - even if we have a lot of the population vaccinated, we don't know whether that will prevent transmission of the virus," Professor Murphy said on ABC TV's News Breakfast this morning.
"And it's likely that quarantine will continue for some time. One of the things about this virus is that the rule book has been made up as we go.
Professor Brendan Murphy was highly trusted by the public for his leadership in the coronavirus crisis.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
"I was very careful early on and I remember saying this to the Prime Minister I don't want to predict more than two or three months ahead. The world is changing.
"So I think at the moment, we've got this light at the end of the tunnel - the vaccine. So we're going to go as safely and as fast as we can to get our population vaccinated and then we'll look at what happens."
Melbourne hotel quarantine staff test negative after preliminary positive COVID swabs
By Richard Baker
We have a major update on the news we brought you earlier and it's good news: A nurse and a police officer working at a Melbourne quarantine hotel have tested negative to coronavirus after initially returning positive preliminary COVID-19 tests.
The positive preliminary saliva swabs led to 41 other workers at the Holiday Inn on Flinders being stood down while they awaited their own test results.
The Department of Health and Human Service’s outbreak squad visited the hotel on Sunday and areas where the nurse and police officer worked have been cleaned.
Health authorities confirmed a short time ago that subsequent tests have come back negative.
Melbourne quarantine hotel workers test positive, 41 staff awaiting test results
By Richard Baker
[Editor's note: The workers have since tested negative]
A nurse and a police officer working at a Melbourne quarantine hotel have returned positive preliminary COVID-19 tests, leading to 41 other workers being stood down while they await their own test results.
The Victorian government has yet to publicly announce the suspected transmission between returning travellers to staff at the Holiday Inn hotel.
The Holiday Inn on Flinders, one of two "hot" hotels that house coronavirus-positive patients.Credit:Luis Ascui
But documents seen by The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald show the nurse and police officer returned positive saliva swabs over the weekend.
The Department of Health and Human Service’s outbreak squad visited the hotel on Sunday and areas where the nurse and police officer worked have been cleaned.
The Alfred Health nurse worked in a "front of house" role at the hotel and was responsible for checking temperatures on those arriving there. She wore full personal protective equipment and a face shield.
The Victoria Police officer worked as a floor monitor.
DHHS contact tracers are investigating where both have travelled outside of work in the past week.
Alfred Health has stood down 36 staff at the hotel, including 33 nurses and three cleaning staff.
At least four other Victoria Police members have been put into isolation after dining with the officer who returned the positive saliva swab.
The Holiday Inn is being used as a "hot" hotel to quarantine COVID-19 positive returning travellers.
Transmission of the virus between returning travellers and private security guards in May and June last year sparked Victoria’s second wave of COVID-19, causing hundreds of deaths and months of hard lockdowns.
DHHS and Victoria Police have been contacted for comment.
Djokovic lists demands for Australian Open players in hotel quarantine
By Marissa Calligeros
World No. 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic has reportedly issued a letter to Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley asking for more support for players now in strict quarantine after people on their flights to Melbourne tested positive for COVID-19.
Spanish tennis website Punto de Break reports Djokovic has called upon Mr Tiley to provide more fitness and training material in players' hotel rooms and better food "according to the level of the tournament and [for] and elite athlete".
Novak Djokovic waves as he arrives at Adelaide Airport on Thursday. Credit:Getty
The letter was reportedly sent before more players were isolated on Sunday after a person flying to Melbourne on third Australian Open charter flight tested positive. There are now 72 players in isolation.
Djokovic has also reportedly called for:
- A reduction the days of isolation for the 47 [now 72] isolated players, carrying out more tests that confirm that all are negative
- Permission to visit your coach or physical trainer, as long as both have passed the PCR [test]
- If the previous proposal has the green light, that both the player and his coach are on the same floor of the hotel
- Move, as much as possible, as many tennis players to private houses with a court to train
Djokovic is not in Melbourne - he is spending his quarantine at a hotel in Adelaide.
Comment is being sought from Djokovic and Tennis Australia.
French player apologises for 'tactless' remarks on Australian quarantine protocols
Alize Cornet has apologised after many social media users hit out at the Frenchwoman for criticising Australia's strict COVID-19 quarantine protocols ahead of next month's Australian Open.
Seventy-two players and their entourages have to isolate for two weeks and cannot leave their hotel rooms in Melbourne to train after infections were reported on three flights ferrying players.
Cornet said the situation was "insane" because weeks of training was "going to waste" but was quickly reminded that she was better off than many Victorian residents who endured worse as authorities looked to curb the spread of the virus.
"After my last (deleted) tweet I feel like I need to apologise to you Australian people," she wrote on Twitter.
"Your reaction to this tactless comment made me realise what you've been through last year and how much you suffered. I guess I feel a bit anxious about all this and I better have shut my mouth.
"But sometimes we make mistakes and the last thing I wanted to do was to hurt your feelings. Don't be mad at me Aussie people, you've always been one of my favourite. I promise I'll stay quiet for a while."
The year's first Grand Slam is scheduled to begin on February 8, which will give quarantined players only one week of practice to get into shape.
New Zealand's Artem Sitak said tournament organisers Tennis Australia (TA) were doing their best in a difficult situation to make them more comfortable but admitted these were not ideal conditions, especially for singles players.
Reuters
Australian Open rocked by third COVID-affected plane, more players to isolate
By Ashleigh McMillan
On the trail of NSW's 'patient zero'
By Carrie Fellner
Three mystery cases of the same strain of COVID-19 that erupted within hours of each other at opposite ends of Sydney's northern beaches are at the centre of the hunt for the outbreak's patient zero.
However, the popular theory that Sydney's latest wave of cases was spawned by a celebrity or a business identity self-isolating on the beaches’ affluent northern peninsula appears to have been debunked by authorities.
NSW Health has revealed it did not grant any exemptions to isolate outside of hotel quarantine to any local residents in the month leading up to the outbreak.
Find out what else health authorities know so far about "patient zero".
Hello and welcome
Welcome to a new working week. Thanks for joining us for our ongoing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
Here's a quick recap of where we're at as we start the day.
Stick with us as we follow these and other stories throughout the day.
Biosecurity and airport staff in PPE and masks are seen around the chartered flight QR7176 after it arrived in Melbourne carrying Australian Open players.Credit:Getty Images
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2021-01-17 20:14:00Z
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