Next Federal Parliament sitting cancelled due to spread risk from Vic, NSW
By Nick Bonyhady
The government will announce on Saturday that it is cancelling the next sitting of Federal Parliament because of the risk of coronavirus transmissions as cases rise in Victoria and NSW.
Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly told the government that parliamentarians and their staffers coming from interstate could "jeopardise the health situation in the ACT" and "place residents at unnecessary risk of infection".
Parliament was going to sit for a fortnight from August 4 but the next sitting week, in which the government can pass legislation and the opposition can scrutinise its agenda, will be on August 24.
The Parliament was previously reduced to a skeleton sitting in March to pass one tranche of the government's coronavirus stimulus.
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What is Victoria's ICU capacity, and could we exceed it?
By Liam Mannix, Dana McCauley and Aisha Dow
Victoria’s daily infection rate would need to quadruple for there to be any chance of intensive care departments being overwhelmed, new modelling indicates – and that’s without including surge capacity.
On the biggest day of the pandemic so far, with 428 new cases of COVID-19 recorded in Victoria on Friday, the modelling should come as a relief to Victorians.
A ward set up at Melbourne's Austin Hospital for the expected increase in coronavirus patients.Credit:Justin McManus
The analysis, done by the Grattan Institute at the request of The Age and based on official government models, suggests Victoria would need to record between 960 and 1885 new infections daily for 10 days to fill the state's existing intensive care beds.
The government says those bed numbers can be quickly increased.
That modelling bears out what politicians, health authorities and emergency doctors have been saying: the state is well-equipped to cope with an increase in infections.
Opinion: Australia is about to blow a once-in-a-generation opportunity
By Kevin Rudd and Patrick Suckling
As the International Monetary Fund recently underlined in sharply revising down global growth prospects, recovering from the biggest peacetime shock to the global economy since the Great Depression will be a long haul.
There is a global imperative to put in place the strongest, most durable economic recovery. This is not a time for governments to retreat. Recovery will require massive and sustained support.
Beijing is approving plans for new coal-fired power plants at the fastest rate since 2015. Credit:Getty
At the same time, spending decisions by governments now will shape our economic future for decades to come. In other words, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity and can’t blow it.
But it’s looking like we might. This is because too few stimulus packages globally are reaping the double-dividend of both investing in growth and jobs, and in the transition to low emissions, more climate-resilient economies. And in Australia, this means we risk lagging even further behind the rest of the world as a result.
As Australia’s summer of hell demonstrated, climate change is only getting worse. It remains the greatest threat to our future welfare and economic prosperity. And while the world has legitimately been preoccupied with COVID-19, few have noticed that this year is on track to be the warmest in recorded history. Perhaps even fewer still have also made the connection between climate and biodiversity habitat loss and the outbreak of infectious diseases.
Stimulus decisions that do not address this climate threat therefore don’t just sell us short; they sell us out. And they cut against the grain of the global economy.
Staying the distance: should we lock down, or just live with coronavirus?
By Deborah Snow
Public health veteran Stephen Leeder is sceptical about the latest iteration of the great coronavirus debate, which erupted with new vigour as things went from bad to worse south of the NSW border this week.
"It's hard enough to know what the differences are when you're a professional, let alone a layperson," says Leeder, who is emeritus professor of public health and community medicine at Sydney University. "It's like theologians arguing about the Virgin birth while the world goes up in smoke."
Leeder is referring to the ongoing battle between what might be called the eliminationists and the suppressionists. The former advocates a New Zealand-style strategy with tough measures - including lockdowns - imposed for as long and hard as it takes to return to zero virus circulating in the community. The latter argue the country has no option but to live with the stealthy invader, and try to tamp down inevitable outbreaks as they occur.
Now there are "aggressive suppressionists" to add to the mix, a term wheeled out by federal deputy chief medical officer Dr Nick Coatsworth in the Herald this week and picked up by the Prime Minister.
Coatsworth argued that "elimination and suppression are not mutually exclusive concepts" but "a continuum that can be adjusted to local circumstances." You could forgive the general public for being confused.
'Knife-edge': Remand centre prisoner tests positive sparking outbreak fears
By Tammy Mills
A prisoner on remand has tested positive to coronavirus, prompting fears of an outbreak through Victoria's prisons.
It is the first time a positive case has occurred in Melbourne's prison system.
The Metropolitan Remand Centre prisoner returned a positive test on Friday morning, according to Corrections Victoria.
The maximum security Melbourne Remand Centre.Credit:Justin McManus
Human rights and criminal lawyers say the situation was on a knife-edge, warning if it spread through the prison then a new community hotspot could be created.
The prisoner was swabbed when he first arrived at the remand centre at Ravenhall on Monday and, as per Corrections' protocols for new remandees, placed in 14-day protective quarantine and separated from the rest of the prison.
The asymptomatic prisoner had not completed his 14-day quarantine when the positive test was returned.
He will remain isolated from other remandees in protective quarantine as a result.
Income support coming as Frydenberg says Victorian outbreak hurting confidence
By David Crowe
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has promised a new burst of income support to add to $70 billion in JobKeeper payments amid fears of a new hit to the national economy from the Victorian spike in coronavirus cases.
Mr Frydenberg said the new measures would tackle the "diminished confidence" across the country from the growing infections, rejecting claims of a sudden halt to income support.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says Victoria's COVID-19 outbreak is hampering the nation's economic recovery.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
The government's internal estimates show the effective rate of unemployment has fallen to 11.3 per cent, a sign of the extreme pressure on workers but an improvement on a 13.3 per cent estimate one week ago and a 15 per cent estimate in May.
This means there were an estimated 1.55 million people who were effectively unemployed at the end of June compared to 1.9 million in May, an improvement of 350,000 according to Treasury calculations.
Mr Frydenberg said the national recovery remained on track but hinged on whether states and territories could hold the line against the Victorian outbreak.
"There will be another phase of income support," he said in an interview with The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.
'If I kneel down I'll never get up': The Queen knights Tom Moore, 100
By Danica Kirka
London: In the end, Sir Tom didn't need to rise.
On a day infused with emotion, Queen Elizabeth II tapped the blade of a sword once owned by her father on the slender shoulders of 100-year-old Tom Moore, making a hero of a nation a knight of the realm on Friday.
Moore captivated the British public by walking 100 laps of his garden in England and raising some £33 million pounds ($59 million) for the National Health Service in April. The Queen knighted him with the traditional sword tap, but the World War II veteran was not required to take a knee before the monarch.
Instead, Moore steadied himself against his now-famous walker and wheeled himself across the grass to stand in front of Queen Elizabeth.
"I have been overwhelmed by the many honours I have received over the past weeks, but there is simply nothing that can compare to this," he tweeted after the ceremony. "I am overwhelmed with pride and joy."
'This time it's bad': Healthcare workers on edge as patient numbers surge
By Melissa Cunningham
Nurses and doctors at the coalface of the fight against COVID-19 are becoming increasingly aware of the dangers of their role as a surge of high-risk patients hits hospitals.
Victoria's health department confirmed 394 healthcare workers have tested positive to the virus since the start of the pandemic. Of those, more than 240 have recovered.
The Health Services Union said hundreds more have been forced to isolate due to exposure to infected people.
Nurse Tamie Adams outside the Austin Hospital on Friday.Credit:Eddie Jim
As Victoria recorded 428 new coronavirus cases and three more deaths, the state's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the high number of new cases were "a daily tragedy".
"We have not turned the corner here," Professor Sutton said. "Worse than that there will be dozens of individuals who will require hospitalisation from these 428 people. Tragically there will be several who require intensive care support and a number of people will die."
On Friday, 122 Victorians with the virus were in hospital, including 31 people fighting for their lives in intensive care. Five people in their 40s are among the intensive-care patients.
Next Federal Parliament sitting cancelled due to spread risk from Vic, NSW
By Nick Bonyhady
The government will announce on Saturday that it is cancelling the next sitting of Federal Parliament because of the risk of coronavirus transmissions as cases rise in Victoria and NSW.
Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly told the government that parliamentarians and their staffers coming from interstate could "jeopardise the health situation in the ACT" and "place residents at unnecessary risk of infection".
Parliament was going to sit for a fortnight from August 4 but the next sitting week, in which the government can pass legislation and the opposition can scrutinise its agenda, will be on August 24.
The Parliament was previously reduced to a skeleton sitting in March to pass one tranche of the government's coronavirus stimulus.
AMA president calls for stage four restrictions to be considered
By Roy Ward
Australian Medical Association president Dr Tony Bartone has called for the Victorian Government to consider stage four restrictions as a ‘matter of urgency’.
In an interview with Channel Nine this morning, Dr Bartone said the growing numbers in Victoria were very concerning and unless they dropped in the coming days stricter measures had to be considered.
“With the numbers we are seeing, that points to a really high level of community transmission that was present when the lockdown measures were introduced,” Dr Bartone said.
“What we are seeing, is what was happening 10-14 days ago and with the incubation period we should see numbers starting to go down but if they don’t start going down soon that will be a real worry.
“That’s why we need to be thinking about stage four lockdown measures as a matter of urgency.”
Dr Bartone said he thought stage four restrictions would likely see all businesses and schools close except for essential services.
“Stage four would curtail everything but essential services like grocery shopping, chemists, medical services, petrol stations but all other business and schools would close and all travel severely curtailed as would the time you can spend outside your home,” Dr Bartone said.
“That’s what stage four could look like. If we don’t stop the mixing and spreading of the virus in our community then we won’t be able to keep a lid on these numbers.
“This is really concerning.”
'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."
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2020-07-17 23:32:00Z
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