Professor Brett Sutton has admitted health authorities are concerned by the rising number of coronavirus cases in Victoria, but a testing blitz will allow them to find and isolate all of the community transmission. Follow live.
Follow today’s events as they unfold.
Live updates
By Peter Marsh
42 new cases of coronavirus in South Korea
The figures announced by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday brought the national caseload to 12,757, including 282 deaths. Twenty-four of the new cases were reported from capital Seoul and nearby metropolitan areas, which have been at the center of a virus resurgence since late May. At least 12 of the new cases were linked to international arrivals, the Associated Press reports.
The AP says Health Minister Park Neung-hoo announced that the government is prepared to implement stronger social distancing measures if the epidemic continues to grow. He said the strongest measures — including banning all gatherings of more than 10 people, shutting schools, halting professional sports, and restricting operations of non-essential businesses — will be enforced if the daily increase in infections doubles more than two times during a span of a week.
By Peter Marsh
More from you on masks
My family have worn face masks since the pandemic hit Australia, ignoring government “advice” as we realised that was due to a shortage of protective gear! In my suburb masks are a rare sight, and people seem suspicious – even stepping off the footpath to avoid us. I can’t understand why so many Australians can’t use their own initiative to protect themselves and others, but wait for someone in authority to tell them what to do.
-Masked
Could you please start balancing this blog with some facts?Masks do work. No one ever said they didn’t. Claiming that masks do not work or should not be worn is nothing more than ill informed opinion.The advice in Australia has been that masks are not mandatory or “necessary at this time”.Now in Victoria that advice has been updated and changed to: masks should be “considered” when in public and especially on public transport. Humans have been wearing masks to stop the spread of infectious diseases for more than a hundred years.During the last pandemic in Australia almost a hundred years ago was controlled with lockdowns and mask wearing!Please make some facts available to balance those uneducated opinions?
-Sally
Mask wearing is a no brainer.And a mask, while uncomfortable, is probably a better option for society than another lockdown. And the research is clear, masks work.But I do concede, that regardless of the research, mask wearing maybe an issue or more difficult for individuals who maybe deaf or experience sensory or some other type of medical conditions and infants and very young children may need to be exempt. But otherwise, the evidence is quite clear that masks help stop or slow down the rate of infection with a highly infectious disease like Corona Virus.
-Dr Bree
By Peter Marsh
Is Queensland’s border going to reopen?
Hi Peter, thanks for all your helpful answers so far! I’m in Melbourne (not in a hotspot) and have a holiday booked to QLD for the end of July. As it stands I believe they were planning to open the borders as of 10th July but it’s looking less like QLD will let anyone from Melbourne in. Do you have a date when they will make an announcement on the border restrictions? Thanks.
-Seeking sunshine
Hi Peter, What are the chances of QLD opening their borders on the previously predicted 10 July?
-Asking for a Friend
We haven’t got any updates on Queensland’s border restrictions today. The current proposed date is still July 10, but a final decision on that is expected by the end of the month.
Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young previously set a border reopening threshold for southern states to have two full incubation periods without any cases of community transmission.
By that measure, the reopening of the Queensland borders won’t happen on July 10.
By Peter Marsh
Back to New South Wales for a moment
Earlier we had confirmation that there were seven new cases in the state today. My NSW colleagues have broken that down a bit further for us:
- All are in returned overseas travellers who are in hotel quarantine.
- There were a total of 11,833 tests in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, down by more than 6,000 from the previous day.
- There are currently 53 COVID-19 cases being treated by NSW Health, with none in intensive care.
- In NSW, 2,784 people are known to have recovered from COVID-19.
- In the past three months, 3 per cent of symptomatic returned travellers have tested positive.
- Over the past month travellers have also been screened on day 10 of quarantine. Of 12,167 screened on day 10 of quarantine, 64 tested positive.
By Peter Marsh
Is the call coming from inside the house?
Hey Peter, No Sophie for a while now, no Bridget or James either. Simon Smale is still here though- highly suspicious and if I was you I would keep on eye on him.
-He Walks Among Us
Since the ‘retirement’ of Bridget and James, (looking at you Simon Smale), there has been