WATCH LIVE: Victorian coronavirus update
Premier Daniel Andrews is due to address the media at 11am with the state's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton. You can watch their press conference live, below:
Latest updates
Staff from banks, Telstra, Medibank being trained to join Victoria's public health effort
By Michael Fowler
Staff from Australia’s big banks will be trained up to help the public health effort in the future, Premier Daniel Andrews has announced.
They will be trained "not to use right now, but in the event for either fatigue management or if the task continues to grow, for them to be potentially deployed in some weeks' time," Mr Andrews said.
"That's just good forward planning."
Bank staff will be trained up in Victoria to join the effort to contain coronavirus.Credit:Tamara Voninski
The Premier said 200 Ambulance Victoria staff were also being organised, along with staff from Medibank, Telstra, Qantas and Jetstar.
He said Ambulance Victoria staff who "can’t be out on the road at the moment for a multitude of reasons" were being recruited.
"They are highly skilled [and] have a clinical background in dealing with challenging and complex circumstances," Mr Andrews said.
Victoria records 270 new COVID-19 cases
Victoria has recorded 270 new COVID-19 cases today, including 28 linked to known outbreaks and 242 which are still under investigation.
It's the ninth consecutive day of triple-digit growth in cases in the state, and just shy of the record number of infections (288) recorded on Friday.
"That's the story of recent days and weeks," Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters.
"Obviously with such large numbers, it's a real challenge to get to the bottom of exactly where those people have been, who they've spent time with, who are their close contacts."
On Monday, 21,995 tests were carried out.
NRL considering moving entire competition to Queensland
By Michael Chammas
The NRL is considering relocating the entire competition to Queensland as COVID-19 restrictions threaten to bring the season to a halt for a second time.
NRL powerbrokers have been working on contingency plans the past 48 hours, which include moving all 16 teams to Queensland in the coming weeks - a bubble plan which has been discussed in detail in the past.
Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'landys.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer
It comes as Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk declared Liverpool and Campbelltown in Sydney's south-west as COVID-19 hotspots, areas in which dozens of NRL players reside.
The Herald spoke to V'landys on Tuesday morning, with the ARL Commissioner admitting the game already had a relocation plan it could enact. The NRL will have 10 rounds to play in the regular season, plus four weeks of finals, after this weekend's round of games.
WATCH LIVE: Victorian coronavirus update
Premier Daniel Andrews is due to address the media at 11am with the state's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton. You can watch their press conference live, below:
Queensland borders could be closed again 'in the next week, or next month'
By Toby Crockford
The Australian Medical Association Queensland has warned closing the Queensland borders for a second time is "not completely out of the question".
Addressing the inquiry into the state government’s COVID-19 health response on Monday, AMAQ president Dr Chris Perry said another mass closure could happen "in the next week or next month".
"We have to watch social distancing in nightclubs and restaurants [and] waiting outside the nightclubs, that might need to be policed a little bit more," Dr Perry told the inquiry.
A police checkpoint in Coolangatta on the border of NSW and QLD.Credit:Elise Derwin
"We will watch what happens in Victoria and it's not completely out of the question that our borders may need to close again in the next week or next month and the nightclubs may need to close down."
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the main enemy of the state regarding the pandemic was "COVID complacency", with such a low number of active cases in Queensland.
The Premier said Queenslanders must maintain their vigilance regarding social distancing and testing rates, as other states try to manage multiple outbreaks.
Minogue avoids Queensland hotel quarantine, as CHO declares NSW hotspots
By Toby Crockford
Australian singer and television personality Dannii Minogue received a state government exemption and avoided hotel quarantine upon returning to Queensland from the US.
Speaking on ABC radio in Brisbane this morning, Queensland's Deputy Premier and Health Minister, Steven Miles, confirmed Minogue was instead allowed to quarantine for two weeks in her own home.
"Anyone can apply for those exemptions and the Chief Health Officer [Dr Jeannette Young] considers all of the advice put to her from other medical professionals," Mr Miles said.
Singer Dannii Minogue has been allowed to quarantine in her own home, unlike most people returning to the Sunshine State.
"In this case, I understand that the person in question is in quarantine and all of the quarantine conditions will be enforced on her.
"She has come from a high-risk location and so, like anyone arriving back from the United States, we need her to comply with those quarantine conditions.
"I understand she is quarantining at home under conditions put to her by Queensland Health."
Staying in her private residence, reportedly on the Gold Coast, means Minogue will be spared having to pay $2800 in hotel quarantine costs enforced on others crossing the border.
Queensland recorded no new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday and there remain only four active cases statewide. More than 425,000 people have been tested in the state.
Meanwhile, Queensland has declared the NSW local government areas of Liverpool and Campbelltown hotspots.
This means anyone who has visited or come from these areas in the past two weeks will be refused entry into Queensland.
However, if the person in question is a Queensland resident, they will be allowed back into their home state but must go into two weeks' quarantine.
Melbourne partygoers, travellers slapped with fines
By Simone Fox Koob
Partygoers and Melburnians trying to escape the city's lockdown zone have been slapped with fines in the last 24 hours.
Victoria Police issued 88 fines to Victorians, including infringements handed to 11 people gathered at a short term rental apartment in Melbourne's south-west.
The group was gathered at the Point Cook apartment for a party and were fined for breaching the Chief Health Officer's directions.
Two dozen Melburnians were fined at vehicle checkpoints yesterday.Credit:Luis Ascui
Another nine people were fined after they were found at a private residence in the CBD. Police suspect they were involved in drug activity.
Of the 88 fines, 24 were issued at vehicle checkpoints.
Police checked 24,956 vehicles on main arterial roads yesterday and conducted 5184 spot checks on people at homes, business and public places.
Should Australia pursue an elimination strategy?
As Melburnians endure a second lockdown and Sydney races to contain the Crossroads Hotel coronavirus outbreak, Professor Gregory Dore – an infectious diseases physician and epidemiologist at the Kirby Institute in NSW – says he has changed his mind about eliminating the virus from Australia.
Early in the COVID-19 epidemic, we relied on mathematical models to inform public health strategies, Professor Dore writes.
Very similar modelling led Australia to pursue a flattening the curve then suppression strategy, and New Zealand to pursue an elimination strategy.
The advantage we now have is access to empirical (real-world) data that indicates elimination of community transmission was feasible in New Zealand and all Australian states and territories apart from Victoria. Prior to this empirical data, I thought the feasibility of elimination was low – I was not on board the elimination bus – but, this data demonstrates my scepticism was misplaced.
There are several reasons why an Australian COVID-19 elimination strategy should be considered. First, as outlined, there is empirical data demonstrating feasibility. Second, despite the potential for prolonged restrictions in settings with current spread, I believe the community would support an elimination strategy.
Such a strategy would require enhancement of the existing public health response, although some measures are under way. This would include more prolonged physical distancing in Melbourne, likely stage 3 restrictions for two to three weeks beyond the absence of community transmission and the adoption of mask-wearing in parallel with these restrictions; the surveillance and protection of vulnerable populations; continued high-level testing (hopefully, NSW can test, trace, isolate out of the outbreaks here without having to go to stage 3); maintenance of overseas traveller hotel quarantine integrity; and strategies to build community support for elimination. A comprehensive elimination surveillance and monitoring plan would also be required.
Today's headlines
As we wait to hear from the Premiers of NSW and Victoria this morning, let's take a look back at the morning's headlines:
Lockdown starts to bite as Victorians close their wallets
By Jennifer Duke
There are early signs Melbourne's second lockdown is starting to hurt local businesses, with Victorians' spending for the week to Friday now in the red compared to the same time last year.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has this morning released household credit and debit card spend data over the week to Friday.
It shows a 7.2 per cent increase in spending compared to a year ago, but a decline week-on-week.
Melbourne's CBD on July 9, after the second lockdown took effect.Credit:Wayne Taylor
"Spending growth in Victoria is lagging behind the national average for some of the categories most affected by restrictions and lockdown," the research from CBA says.
This includes recreation, with entertainment venues shut, a sharp drop in spending on education and less spending on clothing and personal care.
CBA attributed Victoria's decline in education spending to the decision to delay the beginning of term three in schools, which "may mean that some households have delayed paying fees".
Transport spending has also dropped back in the state, though food expenditure was relatively in-line with the rest of the country, despite cafes and restaurants returning to takeaway services only.
The Victorian government imposed stage three "stay at home" restrictions from 11.59pm last Wednesday for metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire, which means residents can only leave their home to shop for food and supplies, medical care, caregiving, exercise, some recreational activities and study or work if it cannot be done from home.
Restrictions for specific postcodes experiencing outbreaks have been in place since July 1.
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2020-07-14 01:15:00Z
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