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New COVID-19 exposure sites listed in Melbourne
By David Estcourt
Contact tracers are working to find missing links in a growing chain of COVID-19 cases in Melbourne’s north as the health department added new exposure sites in Brunswick and Reservoir overnight.
The new sites include indoor soccer facility Futsal Brunswick on May 23 between 9am and 10am, BT Conor Reserve in Reservoir on May 21 between 8pm and 11.30pm and Coles Express in Reservoir on May 18 between 3.15pm and 4.15pm.
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton. Credit:Penny Stephens
The health department also added Nando’s Epping on May 19 between 8.30pm and 9.20pm, and store House and Party between 5.15pm and 5.50pm on May 22.
They join sites identified yesterday afternoon including Highpoint Shopping Centre in Maribyrnong, the Urban Diner Food Court in Epping, Jump! Swim Schools in Bundoora and Epping North Shopping Centre.
On Monday Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton warned that one of the infected people had been moving around the community with a high viral load. The exposure site dates back to Tuesday afternoon.
Epidemiologists said one or more undetected cases could have spread the virus beyond the northern suburbs, but Health Minister Martin Foley did not seek to tighten restrictions on Monday or declare a lockdown.
Confirmation of the new COVID-19 cases – among four family members spread over three households in Melbourne’s outer north – sent thousands of people into isolation on Monday.
The current positive cases include two men, a woman, and a child.
Professor Sutton said one of the infected people was “likely to be quite infectious” and warned Melburnians that further exposure sites and more positive cases could be confirmed in coming days.
Stay with us throughout the day for updates on this developing story.
‘Handful’ of Aussies decline pre-Olympics vaccination
By Sarah McPhee
Australian Olympic Committee chief executive Matt Carroll says a “handful” of the 1700 Australians, including athletes and officials, bound for the Tokyo Olympic Games have declined to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Earlier this week, we revealed three members of Australia’s Olympic skateboarding team had tested positive after travelling to the US for a qualifying event.
Australian Olympic Committee chief executive Matt Carroll has said team vaccinations need to begin in May to ensure it was done in time for the Olympics.Credit:Sam Mooy
Mr Carroll told 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Tuesday morning some of the athletes were out of the Games “because now they’ll find it difficult to quality”.
“There are a number of other skateboarder athletes who have qualified,” he said. “It’s not that they tested positive to the coronavirus, it’s just that it’s prevented them to complete their final qualifications.
“Many athletes around the world have had the coronavirus and recovered and are going to the Games.”
Mr Carroll told Nine’s Today show on Tuesday they had run vaccination hubs in Australian capital cities two weeks ago for a cohort of 1700 people attending the Olympics or Paralympics in Japan from late July to September.
“There are a small number, and I do mean a handful, [who] have declined,” he told 2GB. “We are working with their sports. Sometimes it’s medical reasons, which is fair. Others, there’s an objection to it, which we respect.
“We do strongly recommend, highly recommend, that not only just the athletes but the officials are all vaccinated.”
Mr Carroll said he had made COVID-19 vaccination compulsory for Australian Olympic Committee staff and other contractors. He said close to 90 per cent of all athletes and officials at the Games will be vaccinated.
Athletes will be confined to the village and competition venues and are not allowed on public transport or the streets, while families, friends, tourists and sponsorship staff are all barred.
“The load on the Japanese public from the Olympic Games is not like previous Olympic Games,” Mr Carroll said.
Four local cases of coronavirus in Melbourne
By Broede Carmody
Melbourne’s daily coronavirus numbers are in.
Victoria’s health department says there are four local cases in the community. It appears these are the same four cases revealed yesterday, which would mean no additional cases were detected last night.
However, Victorians have been told to brace for more positive cases today and later in the week.
Meanwhile, more than 8000 vaccine doses were administered across Victoria on Monday. Just under 15,000 test results were received.
Italy’s Eurovision winner returns negative drug test
By Broede Carmody
The lead singer of the Italian rock band Maneskin, Damiano David, has returned a negative drug test, according to the organisers of Eurovision.
It comes after days of speculation that the winner of this year’s European song contest had been caught snorting drugs when a camera cut to him leaning over a table during the live broadcast. However, the singer has dismissed the rumours – fuelled by social media – and says he was leaning over the table because his guitarist had just broken a glass.
Damiano David performs with Maneskin at Eurovision.Credit:EBU
The European Broadcasting Union says it has reviewed all the available footage from the evening in question, as well as the negative drug test, and now considers the matter closed.
Read the full story here.
Concerns Melbourne’s COVID-19 outbreak has spread
By David Estcourt
The Victorian boss of the Australian Medical Association says authorities’ current concerns are that the string of COVID-19 cases in Melbourne’s northern suburbs have spread to as-yet undiscovered locations throughout the city.
“The worry is of course that it spread elsewhere in Melbourne,” Julian Rait told the Today show. “There’s a risk there might be multiple cases of course at this stage. That’s what the government I am sure is concerned about.”
Australian Medical Association Victoria president Julian Rait.Credit:Justin McManus
Dr Rait said the recent outbreak reiterated the need for ongoing investment in public health services, which, despite the government’s efforts to scale up in the last 12 months, required years of investment.
“I think that it just emphasises again that there needs to be long- term investment in public health,” he said.
“You can’t just reinvent a first class contact tracing system overnight. Although they’ve tried to obviously upscale it over the past 12 months. This requires years of investment and building expertise and a number of different personnel so they actually can have very sound public health knowledge.”
Dr Rait was followed by Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, who said authorities needed to move quickly to identify anyone affected but urged against another lockdown in Victoria.
“What we don’t want to see is state premiers pressing any panic buttons and closing down their entire states because we need open borders,” Mr McCormack said.
“We need people to be able to move freely throughout our country. We need the economy to of course make sure it can tickle on nicely as it has been thanks to measures we put in place.”
Detained Belarusian blogger appears in state video; allies claim duress
By Broede Carmody
Yesterday we brought you news of how the Belarusian government scrambled a warplane so it could force a passenger jet to land and arrest a dissident journalist.
Various nations, including the US, have condemned the arrest and several airlines say they are now avoiding the airspace over Belarus.
Belarusian security checks luggage on the grounded Ryanair flight in Minsk on Sunday.Credit:AP
The blogger in question, Roman Protasevich, has now appeared in a state-sanctioned video saying he is in good health and acknowledges having played a role in organising anti-government protests in Minsk last year.
Protasevich’s supporters say the video was made under “physical and moral pressure”. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has faced mounting pressure in recent months due to mass protests over last year’s election result, which raised concerns from international observers. Lukashenko has been in power for almost 27 years and 35,000 people have been detained since August.
Read our latest coverage here.
‘A wake-up call’: Federal Labor debates its direction after NSW byelection loss
By Broede Carmody
NSW Opposition Leader Jodi McKay isn’t the only Labor leader under pressure to explain the party’s byelection loss over the weekend.
Federal leader Anthony Albanese was forced to defend his party’s direction yesterday after backbencher Joel Fitzgibbon went on a media blitz in which he urged Labor to shift to the right on certain issues.
NSW Opposition leader Jodi McKay on Tuesday.Credit:Nick Moir
Our chief political correspondent David Crowe has cut through the noise with a considered look at the bigger picture.
Here’s a taste: “The anxiety within the Labor caucus is real. MPs in marginal electorates are not jumping at shadows: they face an election within a year that will decide their careers and livelihoods.
“And the state result did not happen in a vacuum. Labor suffered a 9.5 per cent swing in the federal seat of Hunter at the last election.”
New COVID-19 exposure sites listed in Melbourne
By David Estcourt
Contact tracers are working to find missing links in a growing chain of COVID-19 cases in Melbourne’s north as the health department added new exposure sites in Brunswick and Reservoir overnight.
The new sites include indoor soccer facility Futsal Brunswick on May 23 between 9am and 10am, BT Conor Reserve in Reservoir on May 21 between 8pm and 11.30pm and Coles Express in Reservoir on May 18 between 3.15pm and 4.15pm.
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton. Credit:Penny Stephens
The health department also added Nando’s Epping on May 19 between 8.30pm and 9.20pm, and store House and Party between 5.15pm and 5.50pm on May 22.
They join sites identified yesterday afternoon including Highpoint Shopping Centre in Maribyrnong, the Urban Diner Food Court in Epping, Jump! Swim Schools in Bundoora and Epping North Shopping Centre.
On Monday Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton warned that one of the infected people had been moving around the community with a high viral load. The exposure site dates back to Tuesday afternoon.
Epidemiologists said one or more undetected cases could have spread the virus beyond the northern suburbs, but Health Minister Martin Foley did not seek to tighten restrictions on Monday or declare a lockdown.
Confirmation of the new COVID-19 cases – among four family members spread over three households in Melbourne’s outer north – sent thousands of people into isolation on Monday.
The current positive cases include two men, a woman, and a child.
Professor Sutton said one of the infected people was “likely to be quite infectious” and warned Melburnians that further exposure sites and more positive cases could be confirmed in coming days.
Stay with us throughout the day for updates on this developing story.
Europe tells China to have ‘proper discussion’ on Australian trade disputes
By Anthony Galloway
The European Union’s top diplomat in Canberra has urged China to have a “proper discussion” with Australia over its multibillion-dollar trade disputes and left the door open to the EU joining a claim against Beijing at the World Trade Organisation.
The EU’s ambassador to Australia, Michael Pulch, said Europe’s message to China was: “We do have an international system that guides our trade and China should apply these the same way that it expects others to apply them.”
The EU’s Ambassador to Australia, Michael Pulch, says Europe wants China to have a proper discussion with Australia.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Over the past year, China has imposed more than $20 billion of tariffs on Australian goods – including beef, barley, wine and lobster – in response to Canberra’s push for an independent inquiry into the coronavirus, as well as other national security decisions.
Read the full story here.
‘Value for money’: NSW government electricity contract to bolster solar, big battery
By Peter Hannam
A $3.2 billion NSW government electricity contract will help foster the spread of renewable energy, including the construction of a large new battery in the state’s Riverina region.
The 10-year contract awarded to Shell Energy and Edify Energy will result in a 100-megawatt battery being built alongside Edify’s Darlington Point Solar Farm, which began operations earlier this year.
A giant 10-year contract for power from the NSW government will help support renewable energy and a big new battery being built in the Riverina. Credit:David Gray/Bloomberg
That solar plant, with almost 1 million panels, has enough power to supply 115,000 households and avoid more than 150,000 tonnes of carbon-dioxide emissions annually.
Read the full story here.
This morning’s headlines at a glance
By Broede Carmody
Good morning and thanks for reading our live coverage on Tuesday, May 25. I’m Broede Carmody and I’ll be bringing you today’s biggest news stories as they unfold.
It’s set to be a busy day, with Melbourne bracing for more COVID-19 cases and pressure mounting on NSW’s Labor leader.
In the meantime, here’s what you might have missed overnight:
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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiuAFodHRwczovL3d3dy5zbWguY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL2F1c3RyYWxpYS1uZXdzLWxpdmUtbWVsYm91cm5lLWJyYWNlcy1mb3ItbW9yZS1jb3ZpZC0xOS1jYXNlcy1hZnRlci1vdXRicmVhay1pbi1ub3J0aGVybi1zdWJ1cmJzLXByZXNzdXJlLW1vdW50cy1vbi1uc3ctbGFib3ItbGVhZGVyLTIwMjEwNTI0LXA1N3VwZy5odG1s0gG4AWh0dHBzOi8vYW1wLnNtaC5jb20uYXUvbmF0aW9uYWwvYXVzdHJhbGlhLW5ld3MtbGl2ZS1tZWxib3VybmUtYnJhY2VzLWZvci1tb3JlLWNvdmlkLTE5LWNhc2VzLWFmdGVyLW91dGJyZWFrLWluLW5vcnRoZXJuLXN1YnVyYnMtcHJlc3N1cmUtbW91bnRzLW9uLW5zdy1sYWJvci1sZWFkZXItMjAyMTA1MjQtcDU3dXBnLmh0bWw?oc=5
2021-05-24 22:38:16Z
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