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'The fight of our lives': Doctors call for virus elimination strategy as stage four restrictions loom
By Noel Towell
Victoria moved a step closer on Friday to even tougher COVID-19 restrictions with 428 new cases statewide and another three lives lost.
The first case of coronavirus in a Melbourne prison was also diagnosed, sparking fears the pandemic could take hold among the state's 8100 prisoners.
As the grim news mounted, prominent infectious disease and health experts urged a "stringent" lockdown, shutting all schools and allowing only chemists and supermarkets to trade.
Austin Hospital nurse Brigid Algie and her colleagues are braced for an influx of people suffering from COVID-19. Credit:Eddie Jim
The group of physicians said 80 per cent of the workforce should be sent home to eliminate community spread of the illness, warning there was no chance current restrictions would clear Victoria of the illness by the time they were due to expire on August 19.
On Friday, 122 Victorians with the virus were in hospital, including 31 in intensive care.
Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said: "This is a serious situation. We are in the fight of our lives."
WHO reports record daily increase in global coronavirus cases
By Freida Frisaro and David Crary
The World Health Organisation has reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases, with the total rising by 237,743 in just 24 hours.
The biggest increases on Friday were from the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa, according to a daily report. The previous WHO record for new cases was 230,370 on July 12. Deaths have held steady and averaged less than 5000 a day in July.
A healthcare worker uses a grabber to collect a nasal swab sample at a COVID-19 drive-through testing site in California.Credit:AP
Total global coronavirus cases were approaching 14 million on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, marking another milestone in the spread of the disease that has killed more than 590,000 people in seven months.
In the US, teams of military medics were deployed in Texas and California on Friday to help hospitals deluged by coronavirus patients, as Miami area authorities began stepping up enforcement of a mask requirement — echoing efforts in many parts of the world to contain surging infections.
In California, military doctors, nurses and other health care specialists were being deployed to eight hospitals facing staffing shortages amid a record-breaking case in numbers. In Houston, an 86-person Army medical team worked to take over a wing of United Memorial Medical Centre.
More than 75,600 new coronavirus cases were reported in the US on Thursday, according to a New York Times database, the 11th time in the past month that the daily record was broken.
AP, with Reuters
Lorna Jane fined almost $40,000 for 'anti-virus activewear' line
By Matt Dennien
Popular activewear brand Lorna Jane has been hit with fines totalling almost $40,000 over a new range it initially spruiked as "anti-virus", advertising Australia’s medical watchdog warned could create complacency during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The clothing line, launched earlier this month, promised to protect wearers from viruses and germs. By Thursday, the company website was instead referring to the leggings and tops as "anti-bacterial".
Lorna Jane has rebranded its 'anti-viral' activewear range and updated its description of the product on its website.
After confirming it was investigating the range, the Therapeutic Goods Administration issued a statement late on Friday saying it had issued the Brisbane label with three fines worth $39,960.
The watchdog, which comes under the federal Health Department, alleged in advertising the "anti-virus activewear", Lorna Jane had implied it was a therapeutic good "effective against COVID-19".
New COVID-19 cluster found as NSW tightens rules for public gatherings
By Lisa Visentin and Rachel Clun
A new coronavirus cluster emerged in a western Sydney shopping centre on Friday, hours after NSW announced tougher restrictions on gatherings at restaurants, weddings and funerals.
A worker and two customers at the Thai Rock restaurant, at Stockland Mall in Wetherill Park, have tested positive to COVID-19. The cluster has not yet been genomically linked to the outbreak at the Crossroads Hotel at Casula, from which 42 people have contracted the virus.
The cluster emerged after Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced a tranche of restrictions on gatherings, including a new 150-person limit at weddings, while funerals and church services will be capped at 100 people.
The measures, which will be effective from next Friday, will also include an extension on the 10-person limit on group bookings at pubs, announced earlier this week, to restaurants, cafes and bars.
NSW Health also announced its contact tracing team had expanded to more than 380 from just six employees at the start of the pandemic in an effort to have close contacts of all new cases isolated for the full incubation period of 14 days.
Over 1 million: India joins U.S., Brazil in grim coronavirus club
India on Friday became the third country in the world to record more than one million cases of the new coronavirus, behind only the United States and Brazil, as infections spread further into the countryside and smaller towns.
Given India's population of around 1.3 billion, experts say, one million is relatively low - but the number will rise significantly in the coming months as testing increases, further straining a healthcare system already pushed to the brink.
Reuters
Good morning all!
By Roy Ward
G'day everyone! It's Roy Ward here and I'll be leading our COVID-19 live blogs for this weekend.
I hope you are all going well this morning. We will have important developments to come today as this pandemic continues around the world.
In Victoria, the focus will be on whether the new case numbers begin to fall or whether yesterday's new record of 428 cases is broken. It seems like either is possible right now just a week into the latest lockdown.
In New South Wales, officials will be hoping their new numbers remain low after the Crossroads Hotel outbreak but time will tell on that one.
In several countries, the virus is still spreading as well.
So we will have plenty to come today. Please feel free to leave a comment on the blog or shoot me a tweet directly at @rpjward on Twitter.
Thanks for joining us once again and enjoy the stories to come.
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2020-07-17 22:08:00Z
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