Summary
- Premier Gladys Berejiklian has moved to address complacency towards coronavirus in Sydney, telling businesses they face significant penalties and harsher rules if restaurants and cafes continue to flout COVID-19 protocols.
- A new mother caught up in a coronavirus scare says delays and conflicting advice from Victoria's contact-tracing system left her terrified she could have unknowingly exposed maternity ward staff, parents and newborn children to COVID-19.
- Reopening the border to NSW on November 1 is "still not out of the question", but Queensland's deputy premier says a review by the state's Chief Health Officer would have the final say.
- The World Health Organisation has reported a record one-day increase in global coronavirus cases on Thursday, with infections rising by 338,779 in 24 hours.
Latest updates
Hazzard says he 'knows' Palaszczuk is not acting on health advice
By Mary Ward
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard says he "knows" Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk's border closure is a "political exercise" and not based on health advice.
Mr Hazzard told RN Breakfast the health of Queenslanders was "not the reason" for the closure.
"The reason is she is in an election phase, and she is playing games with the Queensland community," he said.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard dons a mask at a coronavirus briefing. Credit:Nick Moir
Asked by host Hamish McDonald how he knew that, Mr Hazzard said: "I have the evidence but I'm not going to share that.
"If it were that it was based on sound medical advice, of course we would accept it," he said, adding that he was "not going to tell" how he knew that was not the case, but he did know.
"It's been said a number of times in the public arena that the Premier of Queensland thinks it's a political advantage to herself."
Growing increasingly irate in the interview, the Health Minister said the timing of Queensland's possible border reopening – November 1, which has been placed in jeopardy by new local cases in NSW – provided further evidence.
"The date she keeps mentioning is the date straight after the election ... I would just remind her that many families who live in NSW have Queensland origins and have Queensland family members."
Mr Hazzard said he had not criticised any other state premier or health minister in the country because he recognised it was an unprecedented situation, but he believed he needed to speak out for the wellbeing of NSW families.
"I'm calling on [Ms Palaszczuk] just to think about the families ... while there is [an exemption] process in Queensland, that is directed by the attitude at the top."
In a later appearance on Today, which we reported on earlier in the blog, Mr Hazzard said he believed Queensland's border rules meant the state could be closed to NSW for years.
Floor of northern Sydney office in self-isolation
By Mary Ward
Workers on a floor of a northern Sydney office building have been directed to self-isolate, after a co-worker tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday evening.
A later identified coronavirus case worked at the Datacom contact centre at North Ryde while infectious, CEO Greg Davidson confirmed.
"We have taken further precautionary measures to close the entire floor where the person was working until further notice and have sent all our people home to self-isolate and get tested," he said.
Mr Davidson said most of the IT services company's Sydney employees had been working from home, but some roles required staff to work in the office.
Anyone directed to self-isolate was doing so on full pay, he added.
"We are monitoring the issue closely and working with NSW Health to ensure any further actions are taken."
Watch live: Treasurer Josh Frydenberg
It's been a big budget week for federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. He is due to face the media shortly:
Opposition calls for Andrews to resign over hotel quarantine debacle
By Rachael Dexter
Victoria's shadow attorney-general Edward O'Donohue has called for Premier Daniel Andrews to resign and a Royal Commission into the hotel quarantine program in the wake of former Health Minister Jenny Mikakos' bombshell response this morning.
As we reported a short time ago, Ms Mikakos said the Premier's evidence about private security in Victoria's hotel quarantine program should be "treated with caution" stating it was "implausible" to suggest that no one made the decision to use private security in the failed quarantine program.
"If he had any respect for the notion of responsible government, he would resign. If he had any respect for long-suffering Victorians, he should resign," Mr O'Donohue told 3AW's Neil Mitchell a few minutes after the story broke.
"I think what it shows is we have a government that is at war with itself. We have everyone in the Andrews government, or those who used to be in the Andrews government running for cover and trying to point the finger elsewhere, which simply shows the government isn't focused on Victorians, it's focused on itself."
He said the development showed there was a need for a Royal Commission into the saga, as there was "no appetite" to reopen the inquiry.
"It's clear this process of the hotel quarantine inquiry simply hasn't answered the fundamental question of who is responsible for this disaster that has cost 800 Victorian lives," he said.
"The inquiry doesn't have a remit to look at all the other issues that flow out of... the hotel quarantine issue as well, such as contact tracing and a range of other failures of this government."
One new mystery case confirmed in Victoria
By Craig Butt
One additional mystery case among people who have tested positive for coronavirus in recent days has been confirmed in Victoria overnight, analysis of health department data shows.
For metropolitan Melbourne to move to its third step of reopening on October 19, there have to be five or fewer cases where the infection source cannot be traced over the fortnight from October 3 and October 16. (The slight lag is because of the time it takes for the health department to carry out an investigation into how someone contracted COVID-19).
Today's new mystery case brings that total over that reference period up to four:
Essentially, that means that over the next 11 days there can only be one new mystery case confirmed statewide if Melbourne is to meet its reopening target on October 19.
But earlier this week, Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said he wouldn’t rule out Melbourne moving to step three if there were more than five mystery cases recorded over the reference period, depending on when the cases were confirmed.
"If all five of those cases were in the first week of that fortnight and the seven to nine days prior to the 19th that had no mystery cases, that’s a positive obviously."
I should mention the health department has not officially stated there was one new mystery case, but based on today's numbers I am confident enough to call it that there was a new one. For transparency, here is my reasoning for why there is a new mystery case. (You can stop reading here if before 10am on a Friday is not the ideal time for numbers talk)
The total number of mystery cases went from 14 on 22/9 to 5/10 to 12 on 23/9 to 6/10, a net decrease of two:
Now that we have moved one day further up the line, September 22 has dropped out of the reference window, and on that day there were three mystery cases confirmed.
If there were no new mystery cases confirmed in the past 24 hours, that would have made the 23/9-6/10 total 11. There is a net difference of two because of one new mystery case from the past few days being added to the total.
In addition, the only COVID-19 cases for which the source is still being investigated are people who tested positive from October 3 onwards, so I am confident the new mystery case falls within the reference period.
Let Qld cancer patient quarantine at home, says Wayne Swan
By Jocelyn Garcia
Former Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan is calling on the Queensland government to allow a brain cancer patient who had an operation in New South Wales to quarantine in his own home instead of at a medical hotel.
"I'm a cancer survivor, I feel about it very personally I must say," the national president of the ALP said on Nine's Today on Friday.
"I absolutely understand what that is like. It should be taken up very directly with the Queensland government – I'm happy to do it myself as well."
Wayne Swan said the issue needed to be taken up directly with the Queensland government.Credit:
Gary Ralph travelled to Sydney with his wife, Wendy Child, for an operation, but despite a letter from his doctor suggesting he should recover at home, Queensland Health denied him an exemption.
They are in quarantine for two weeks in Brisbane.
Ms Child told Today on Friday she and her husband were suffering mentally over the distressing position they were in.
“The Queensland government, all of Australia, has been banging on for months, maybe even years, about mental health,” she said. “The Queensland government has affected mine and Gary's mental health greatly.
New Box Hill hospital outbreak at three cases
By Rachael Dexter
Six of Thursday's 11 new cases in Victoria were linked to known outbreaks, including a single new case at an emerging outbreak at Box Hill hospital, which now includes two staff members and one patient.
The Department of Health and Human Services said contact tracing was under way with cleaning, testing and quarantining all taking place.
Of the remaining 10 cases on Thursday, three were linked to the Frankston family outbreak, one is linked to the Oddfellows Cafe in Kilmore and another was linked to a "complex case", according to the DHHS.
The other five cases remained under investigation by Thursday afternoon.
Of Thursday's new cases three were in Frankston, two in Hobsons Bay and single cases in Boroondara, Brimbank, Melton, Port Phillip, Mildura and Mitchell.
The single case in Mildura was thought to be a false positive, according to Professor Cheng, but further testing was taking place late on Thursday.
Mikakos tells hotel quarantine inquiry to treat Premier's evidence 'with caution'
By Tammy Mills
In breaking news, former Victorian health minister Jenny Mikakos says Premier Daniel Andrews' evidence about private security in Victoria's hotel quarantine program should be "treated with caution" in a stinging rebuke to the state's inquiry.
In her just-published extraordinary response to the inquiry's closing submissions last week, Ms Mikakos said it was "implausible" to suggest that no one made the decision to use private security in the failed quarantine program.
Jenny Mikakos, while still Health Minister, gave evidence at the hotel quarantine inquiry. She resigned two days later.
Lawyers for the inquiry submitted last week that the decision to use private security to guard returned travellers in Melbourne's quarantine hotels "[was] not really a decision at all" but a "creeping assumption" among top bureaucrats that was not questioned by anyone.
"With respect, such a submission has insufficient regard to the realities of governmental operation and decision-making," Ms Mikakos' submission reads.
"It is respectfully submitted that the Board ought to treat with caution the Premier's evidence where he sought to explain the reference to the use of private security in the hotel quarantine program."
Queensland border closure 'could go on for years': Hazzard
By Mary Ward
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has again criticised Queensland's border closure, saying, without a change in the rules, the issue "could go on for years".
Under Queensland's road map to recovery, the state has said it will not reopen to NSW or Victoria, respectively, until the states record 28 days without a "mystery" case ie. a case not linked to a known cluster.
However, in news which surprised the NSW government this week, these cases must be classified as such within 48 hours of being recorded.
Speaking on Today, the Health Minister repeated his comments from Thursday that the border closure is "cruel".
"It's not evidence-based ... she wants to look tough for Queensland residents," he said, adding: "If she keeps this up and we don't have a vaccine ... this could go on for years. This is a silly game you shouldn't be playing. She's playing with people's lives."
Mr Hazzard said he understood the need to be cautious, but "based on criteria she's plucked from nowhere", Ms Palaszczuk's state could still be closed to parts of the country in five years time.
"NSW is driving the economy for the country at the moment by opening up its economy and keeping a balance," he said.
"What I'm saying to Premier Palaszczuk is: please, please, please think about this ... Look at what we need in the long-term and make it work for all of us."
A Friday morning maths lesson on rolling averages
Nothing like a Friday morning for a little maths lesson (clearly, homeschooling a prep and grade one didn't do a lot for my understanding of averages!)
Each day, Victoria's Department of Health and Human Services releases the number of new COVID-19 infections, the number of people who have lost their lives and then, in a separate section, gives us a rolling 14-day average for metropolitan Melbourne and another one for regional Victoria.
Each day, we then combine those figures to come up with the Victorian average. In an earlier post, we said that average was 9.8, because it looks like the DHHS have added an extra, unaccounted-for, case on their website.
But it's actually 9.9. And our data guru Craig Butt says that's because regardless of whether there were 138 or 139 cases in total over 14 days, that still equates to 138/14 = 9.857 or 139/14 = 9.9285, both of which round up to 9.9.
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2020-10-08 23:03:00Z
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