London: Britain's disastrous decision to abandon testing for coronavirus occurred because health systems could only cope with five cases a week, official documents show.
Newly released papers from Sage (the Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies) show routine testing and tracing of contacts was stopped because Public Health England's systems were struggling to deal with a handful of cases.
Britain's Health Secretary Matt Hancock (left) and Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty outside 10 Downing Street on May 4.Credit:PA
At a meeting on February 18, advisers said PHE could only cope with testing and tracing contacts of five COVID-19 cases a week, with modelling suggesting it might only be possible to increase this to 50 cases.
Advisers then agreed it was "sensible" to shift to stopping routine testing, despite acknowledging that such a decision would "generate a public reaction".
Beijing is exploiting differences within countries and regions over the Belt and Road Initiative all over the world, national security experts warn, as it ramps up its push to become a global health and infrastructure leader in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Victoria is now in an escalating feud with the Morrison government and the Department of Foreign Affairs over its decision to sign on to the $1.5 trillion global infrastructure initiative, which will allow for Chinese investment in Victoria and for Victorian companies to participate in Chinese government projects overseas.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews faces questions about the state's Belt and Road agreement with China.Credit:James Ross
There is now a growing a concern, held at the highest levels of the Morrison government, that China will use the Victorian agreement as a propaganda win to claim the Victorian government has broken ranks with Australia's China policy.
An end to the federal government's childcare rescue package would force parents in 60 per cent of households currently using care to reduce work. And it would mostly be mothers who needed to stop or cut back their hours.
A national survey of 2280 families by the parents' group The Parenthood found a "snap back" to normal fees would mean one-third (34 per cent) of parents would need to reduce their work days or remove their children altogether from care.
In 68 per cent of households in which parents said their work hours would need to reduce to cope with the end to the government's early childhood education and care relief package, it would be the women whose work would go.
The group has joined the national organisation for women leaders, Chief Executive Women, in calling for the childcare lifeline to be extended and no out-of-pocket fees to be charged until the end of September.
Two years ago John Elliott was a businessman heading for burnout and dreaming of leading a team of camels across Australia’s deserts, from the east to west coast.
In little over a year, he learned how to handle camels, acquired five of them, and set off from a Queensland beach.
But a few weeks into the trip, he had an epiphany. He observed that seeing the camels, with their laid-back gait, humps and stately expressions, made other people happy.
Expeditioner John Elliott (right) with his camel train and dog Bruski in Lakes Entrance catches up with camel trainer Russell Osborne.Credit:Rachel Mounsey
So he "turned left", heading south down Australia’s more populated eastern side, leading camels Ted, Jackson, Arthur, Bill, and Charlie through communities from Narrabri to Tallangatta to Mansfield.
For vulnerable residents living in aged care facilities everywhere life under lockdown has been lonely, frightening and dull.
But for the residents of one Sydney retirement village, that monotony was broken in spectacular fashion on Friday with a private concert from one of Australia’s best-loved opera stars.
Star soprano Jane Ede serenades the residents of Alan Walker Village.Credit:Louise Kennerley
Under a light drizzle, 20 of the retirees living at Alan Walker Village in Carlingford looked on from their balconies and patios as Opera Australia principal soprano Jane Ede presented a selection of some of the greatest arias in the repertoire, including Musetta’s Waltz from La Boheme and the Vilya aria from The Merry Widow.
The quirky concert - “up there” with some of the more unusual she has done, according to Ede - was the idea of Amy Saunders, granddaughter of resident Paul Shelton.
In the heart of central Jakarta, about 20 minutes from Joko Widodo's Presidential Palace, the Pramuka Bird Market is open for business.
The aisles throng with people, few wearing masks, and hum with the din of humans, birds, reptiles and mammals all mixed together. It stinks too.
A live lizard is displayed for sale in a cage at the Satria market in Bali, Indonesia.Credit:Amilia Rosa
Today, Vonis, a local trader who uses just the one name, is holding forth about the origins of the coronavirus that has infected nearly 6 million people, killed more than 360,000, up-ended the global economy and more.
It is thought to have passed from bats, via an unidentified animal, to humans at a wet market in Wuhan, China.
"It's hoax. It is not true that bats caused COVID-19. I've been selling this [bats] for many years, nobody gets sick here. No one. Also, many Indonesians eat bat meat and nobody is sick. I myself healed my asthma after consuming bat. It happened when I was around 25 years old. I'm a bit over 40, I am healthy now," he says.
Queenslanders will be able to travel anywhere within the state from noon on Monday, in a major easing of coronavirus travel restrictions designed to help the ailing tourism sector.
But the state borders remain closed amid ongoing acrimony at a state and federal level.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Sunday announced the government had brought forward stage two easings of restrictions from the federal road map to recovery because the state's confirmed virus cases stayed low after earlier measures.
“From [Monday] lunchtime, Queenslanders can travel anywhere in Queensland and that means you can stay overnight,” the Premier said.
Children identified as close contacts of the students who tested positive to COVID-19 last week have been told they need to be tested as well as isolate for 14 days before returning to school.
But those who simply shared a campus with the infected students do not need to get tested unless they developed symptoms, with infection control specialists advising parents that the risk of infection between children was very low.
Students leave Moriah War Memorial College after a COVID-19 case is detected.Credit:Louise Kennerley
The sources of infection are unknown for each of the three cases that have caused temporary school shutdowns over the past fortnight at St Ignatius, Riverview, in Hunters Hill, Moriah College in Queens Park and Waverley College in Waverley.
Some parents drove their children straight to the pop-up testing clinic in Bondi.
The NRL will meet the NSW government this week armed with the threat of moving the grand final away from Sydney if the state doesn't deliver up to four boutique suburban stadiums over the next decade.
With the state government on Saturday dumping plans for the $800 million redevelopment of ANZ Stadium as it deals with the financial fallout of the COVID-19 crisis, NRL powerbrokers are set to demand funds be redirected towards suburban venues as part of a push to regenerate tribalism in rugby league.
The 30,000-seat Bankwest Stadium in Parramatta cost around $300 million to build.Credit:Getty
The NRL recently signed an extension to keep the grand final in Sydney until 2042, but that agreement hinged on a $2 billion promise that included new stadiums at Parramatta and Moore Park, as well as the redevelopment of the former Olympic venue into a rectangular facility.
According to sources with knowledge of the NRL's stadia strategy, the governing body is delighted with the decision by NSW government to scrap ANZ Stadium refurbishment plans, and will now lobby for up to four 15,000-20,000 seat stadiums worth around $150m-$200m each.
The NRL understands the government's predicament given the toll of the coronavirus crisis, and is expected to extend the time frame if it agrees to roll out a suburban venue plan that will cater for communities and sporting clubs across many codes.
The Australian sharemarket is tipped stumble to into a new week as investors gauge whether the easing of lockdowns - and the promise of accelerated retail spending - will fend off concerns a COVID rally has gone too hard, too fast.
The SPI futures contract is pointing to a fall of 24 points or 0.4 per cent when the ASX opens on Monday, having sagged into the weekend against a familiar backdrop of geopolitical tension. The index slipped sharply at Friday’s close after profit takers cashed in on a remarkably strong week as relations between Beijing and Washington again threatened to boil over.
The market is posed for a soft open on Monday.Credit:Louie Douvis
Global equities were already jittery ahead of US President Donald Trump’s address on Chinese security laws for Hong Kong and Wall Street closed lower amid the heightened volatility.
Tribeca Investment Partners portfolio manager Jun Bei Liu said this tense undercurrent is one of the few factors that could prevent the ASX from continuing its COVID rally on Monday.
She said optimism around the next step of NSW lockdowns easing on June 1 will herald a consumer spending surge, and further stoke sharemarket confidence.
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2020-05-31 08:25:00Z
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