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NSW Police officers urged to step up enforcement of virus rules
By Angus Thompson and Rachel Clun
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller has told his officers it's time to step up their enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions and "start to issue tickets overusing discretion" as health officials work to contain the spread of the virus in Sydney.
The Crossroads Hotel cluster grew to 40 on Thursday as NSW recorded 15 new cases of COVID-19, with health officials concerned about three mystery infections with no obvious links to known cases.
Scenes at the testing station for COVIE-19 at the Crossroads Hotel, Casula on Thursday. Credit:Peter Rae
The south-western Sydney outbreak has forced the NSW government to introduce new guidelines for community sport with only a single parent or carer allowed to attend games. Community rugby league in south-western Sydney, which was due to resume this weekend, has also been delayed by two weeks.
Coronavirus cases have also emerged in other parts of the state, including Ballina on the North Coast, after a man flew in from Melbourne and later developed symptoms, and in Wollongong where a man in his 30s has contracted the virus from an unknown source.
Queensland Police on Thursday erected a 700-metre barricade on the Gold Coast in an attempt to stop people from known hotspots illegally crossing the NSW border.
Victoria's coronavirus outbreaks are 'very serious': PM
By Sally Rowsthorne
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has branded the outbreaks in Victoria as "very serious", warning it will remain that way for some time.
Appearing on Today on Friday morning, Mr Morrison said the federal government would continue to assist Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews's government.
"More than 1000 Australian defence personnel are on their way," Mr Morrison said, noting he was in regular contact with the Victorian premier.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
The breaches of hotel quarantine the state has seen are a pertinent reminder of the need to continue with other safeguards, he said.
"It's a reminder of the need to keep on with the social distancing, to keep on with those other protections, and keep the tracing capacity up to scratch. That's your effective defence against a breakout like what we've seen in Victoria."
Asked if Australians should feel worried, the Prime Minister responded: "There is uncertainty. I know people are anxious. There is a reason to be anxious."
"The coronavirus spreads very, very rapidly. For all those who want to seek to dismiss it and treat it lightly you have to remember that on the broad figures, the fatality rate on the coronavirus is more than five times what it is for the flu each year."
Anxiety building among Victorian health workers: emergency medicine specialist
Anxiety is building among hospital staff, as more Victorian healthcare workers test positive for coronavirus and even more are forced into isolation after coming into contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case, emergency medicine specialist Stephen Parnis has said.
"The anxiety is palpable. It's the most anxious time I have seen in my 30 years in medicine," Dr Parnis, a former president of the Victorian branch of the Australia Medical Association, said.
Emergency medicine specialist Stephen ParnisCredit:Jeffrey Chan
"What we do, we turn to our training, the drills we've, we've had three months to prepare for this. And also we turn to each other. We look after each other. The provision of healthcare is an absolute team sport. And none
us could do these things alone," he told ABC's News Breakfast.
"We do that, but we turn to the public as well. We just shudder at the prospect of anyone being complacent (about observing lockdown restrictions), certainly in Victoria, at the moment... that's the only way that we can get these numbers under control."
When asked if Victoria should have gone harder in its restrictions to prevent a second wave, Dr Parnis said the state had done "all the right things".
"Hindsight is a wonderful thing, everyone can point to what was done a few weeks and months ago," he said, adding he and his colleagues are not interested in "finger pointing".
"I think that if adverse outcomes occur, we need to learn from them," Dr Parnis said.
"That's the basis of medical care, learn rather than point a finger, and I would strongly suggest to the media, to the community, to our political leaders, that is the focus at the moment, rather than saying who said what or who should have done something in February."
More than 300 healthcare workers in Victoria have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past fortnight, while hundreds have been furloughed temporarily because they came into contact with a confirmed coronavirus case.
Where are active coronavirus cases in Victoria?
This map shows where active coronavirus cases are in Victoria, broken down by the local government area where the infected person typically lives.
This data came out quite late in the day yesterday, so I didn't get a chance to post this map in yesterday's blog. Keep in mind this map is accurate as of yesterday - today's tally has not yet been released.
The number of active coronavirus cases in Victoria has passed 2000, with 2128 confirmed active cases statewide. The overwhelming majority are in the state's lockdown zone (which encompasses Greater Melbourne and the Mitchell shire), but there are 40 active cases in the rest of Victoria.
You can find a graph showing active cases in each local government area over time in this article: Ten graphs that show Victoria's coronavirus trends*
*Article now includes more than 10 graphs.
Private hospital in Melbourne confirm patient tested positive for COVID-19
By Timna Jacks
Cabrini Malvern, a private hospital in Melbourne, has a confirmed a patient has tested positive for COVID-19.
All staff who have been in contact with the patient admitted last week have been quarantined and will be tested and followed up during the next 14 days. A deep clean of all affected areas has been carried out.
Group Director Medical Services and Clinical Governance Dr Fergus Kerr said: “This is a low-risk situation, however we are taking every precaution to protect our staff and patients to reduce any risk of further infection.”
“Cabrini has stringent infection control procedures to ensure the safety of patients, staff and others and has a dedicated infectious diseases unit for any patients with coronavirus.”
It comes as Victoria's health department revealed on Thursday that there were 388 active coronavirus cases among healthcare workers statewide (this includes doctors, nurses and aged care staff), with hundreds of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals from major Melbourne hospitals remaining sidelined in isolation at home because they came into contact with someone who had contracted COVID-19.
Russia accused of 'trying to steal' virus vaccine secrets
By Latika Bourke
The United States, United Kingdom and Canada are accusing Russian intelligence services of launching "despicable" hacking attacks on western medical companies and research labs working on coronavirus vaccines and treatments.
In a joint statement the three governments said Russian hackers had been using a variety of tools and techniques, including spear-phishing and custom malware to steal research from medical companies and research labs.
A COVID-19 vaccine candidate being developed by UK scientists.
Canada's Communications Security Establishment, the agency responsible for the country's foreign signals intelligence, said the attacks served to "hinder response efforts at a time when health-care experts and medical researchers need every available resource to help fight the pandemic".
The agency said in May that it was "near certain" that state-sponsored actors had "shifted their focus" during the pandemic.
More than 150,000 cars from Victoria have travelled into NSW during the past week
By Sally Rowsthorne
More than 150,000 cars have travelled from Victoria into NSW since the border between the two states shut last week.
"The Public Health (COVID-19 NSW and Victorian Border) Order 2020, under section 7 of the Public Health Act 2010, directs that no one can enter NSW from Victoria, unless they can fulfil specific exemption criteria," NSW Police said on Friday morning.
Police stop and question drivers at the NSW-Victorian border.Credit:Getty Images
"It is an offence for a person to fail to comply with an order, and severe penalties apply, which include a maximum penalty of up to $11,000 and/or six months imprisonment for individuals."
In the past nine days, one person has been charged and another issued with a $1000 fine for breaching the ministerial direction.
More than 220,000 exemptions to enter NSW from Victoria have been granted by Service NSW, police said, with over 140,000 of those being given to residents of border towns.
Good morning and welcome to today's blog
Good morning and welcome to today's coronavirus blog. I'm Craig Butt, and I will be keeping track of all the latest COVID-19 news from Australia and all around the world today. When I'm on the blog, you can guarantee there will be at least 30 per cent more graphs than there would be normally!
As always, if you have something to share, please send me an email or leave a post in the comments section of the blog. There's certainly a lot to discuss at the moment - pretty much every day for the past fortnight there have been more than 1000 comments on the blog each day.
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2020-07-16 20:52:00Z
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