Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly has warned Australia is in a “very dangerous time” and reinforced the need for vigilance against coronavirus amid the outbreak in Victoria.
Follow today’s events as they unfold.
Live updates
By Liam Butterworth
NSW coronavirus restrictions: What you can and can’t do from next Friday
As the Crossroads Hotel coronavirus cluster continues to grow, NSW Health authorities are scrambling to tighten not only public gatherings but the monitoring of people out and about.
Today’s announcement of fresh restrictions will tighten movements of people at venues and public gatherings as NSW enters what officials are calling “COVID normal”.
A prime focus is the recording of contact details and tightening compliance requirements.
It has become clear that since the relaxation of pub restrictions on June 1, recording of patron information has not been as concrete as is needed.
By Sophie Meixner
All Menarock Life Aged Care residents moved to hospital
All remaining residents at the Menarock Life Aged Care home in Essendon are being transferred to hospital.
There are 38 cases at the Menarock cluster and two have died. Twenty residents from this facility had already been transferred to Royal Melbourne Hospital.
15 residents still being cared for at Menarock Life and three residents at Royal Melbourne Hospital will now be moved into La Trobe Private Hospital in Bundoora.
Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians Richard Colbeck said decisions to transfer residents from residential aged care facilities to hospitals were made on a case-by-case basis, taking into account individual residents’ clinical care needs and preferences, the clinical and other advice of the experts helping to manage the outbreak, and the capacity of the facility to manage infection control.
By Sophie Meixner
Our NT reporters spoke to some travellers arriving in the Territory today
Traveller Cullen Shoesmith, from Zimbabwe, left Canberra on June 10 to come to the NT but had to wait it out in South Australia until restrictions lifted.
“I worked a month at a cattle farm. It was an experience, I learnt a lot,” Mr Shoesmith said.
He had been camped at Marla in South Australia and crossed the border this morning, with plans to head as far north as he could get today.
“I’m going to go at work in Darwin and hopefully that will get me through the next six months until I can figure out what’s happening with corona,” he said.
Meanwhile, grey nomads Bill and Heather Lucas left their rest stop in South Australia at about 4: 30am this morning, and said the border was quiet when they crossed at about 6: 00am.
“We were the only ones going through [then], but there was about 20 vans at the rest stop we were at, and about 20 across on the other side,” Ms Lucas said.
“The guys on the border were terrific, they came up to the rest area yesterday and made sure we had all the right forms to make sure it was easy to get across.”
The pair left the Territory two years ago and had been travelling ever since. Mr Lucas said the plan was to head to Mataranka hot springs until they could “thaw out”.
By Mitchell Abram
By Sophie Meixner
COVID-19 case also at Cabrini Hospital, Malvern
One case has been confirmed at at Cabrini hospital in Malvern this morning.
The hospital is only open to patients and is no longer accepting any visitors except those visiting critical or terminal patients.
By Sophie Meixner
COVID-19 cases at ATO call centre
Two COVID-19 cases have been confirmed at an Australian Taxation Office call centre operated by Serco in Melbourne’s east.
The ABC has seen an email from a manager at the centre which was sent to staff yesterday afternoon confirming the positive tests at the Box Hill.
The worker who tested positive last worked at the Whitehorse Road call centre on July 10.
Manager Bill Kanellis writes in the email that about 300 staff at the centre had been cleared to work from home, and that the site was closed last night for a deep clean but reopened this morning.
The cases come at the busiest time of year for the ATO, when millions of individuals and businesses finalise their tax returns.
Serco has been contacted for comment.
By Nino Bucci
By Sophie Meixner
Remdesivir is being used in Victoria, and we have supplies
Remdesivir has been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for use in Australia. We were ahead of the game there compared with many other countries. We do have a supply, it is being used. It is not a silver bullet, if you like, in terms of the treatment. It does assist in a very small group of people, particularly those in intensive care. So it is being used in Victoria right now, and we do have supplies.
By Sophie Meixner
Paul Kelly says the reproduction rate is ‘looking very positive’
The ACMO is asked about Victoria’s reproduction rate — the number of people infected by a single positive case.
I will be talki