Massive surge in Aussie virus cases

By | March 14, 2020

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton was diagnosed with the COVID-19 disease on Friday, after attending a Cabinet meeting with the PM on Tuesday. But the Prime Minister’s office insists there’s no need for Mr Morrison to be tested nor self-isolate.

READ MORE: Follow more coronavirus updates here

More than 200 cases of the coronavirus have now been confirmed across Australia, and three people have died.

There are 112 cases in New South Wales, 36 in Victoria, 46 in Queensland, 19 in South Australia, 17 in Western Australia, five in Tasmania, one in the Northern Territory, and one in the ACT.

On Thursday afternoon there were 141 virus cases across Australia. That jumped to 200 by the same time on Friday – an increase of 41 per cent.

On Saturday, 20 new cases were confirmed in NSW, while Queensland jumped by 11 – the biggest jump for both states since the outbreak began.

The PM introduced a ban on public gatherings of more than 500 people, starting tomorrow.

Prof Murphy said this was the easiest way to stop the spread of the virus. But if there were more community transmissions it could lead to more restrictions, such as schools and public transport closing.

Follow our live, rolling coverage of the coronavirus pandemic below.

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The number of coronavirus cases in Queensland soared by 11 yesterday, taking the state’s total number of cases to 46.

It comes after the state began a trial to drive-through fever clinics in two regional centres.

The new cases range from 19 to 69 years old, and all are reported to be in a stable condition.

All are in the Brisbane, West Moreton, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast regions except for a 48-year-old woman in the Wide Bay region.

The 46 cases include three from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Queensland Health has confirmed all cases remain isolated, with contact tracing still underway for these new cases.

NSW has also recorded its biggest jump in coronavirus cases to date, with the number of people infected with COVID-19 now over 100.

NSW Health confirmed there had been 20 new cases of the virus in the 24 hours between Friday and Saturday morning, bringing the state’s total to 112 – the most out of any other state in Australia.

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Of the new cases, 11 are male and 9 are female, the eldest a 69-year-old male who recently travelled from Italy and the youngest a 24-year-old woman.

Seven of the new cases are people who recently returned from travel overseas. It’s unclear where the other 13 cases contracted the virus.

Of the state’s 112 cases, 51 were acquired overseas, 32 came into contact with another confirmed case, 18 are under investigation and for 11 cases, the source is unknown.

Apple Inc has announced it will close all its retail stores for the next two weeks to minimise the coronavirus outbreak, with the exception of Greater China.

“We will be closing all of our retail stores outside of Greater China until March 27,” Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in a letter posted on the company’s website.

“In all of our offices, we are moving to flexible work arrangements worldwide outside of Greater China,” he added.

“That means team members should work remotely if their job allows.”

Here’s a full statement from Tim Cook:

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Peter Dutton says he is feeling “much better” following his coronavirus diagnosis.

The Home Affairs Minister tested positive for the virus on Friday, but today said his fever has subsided and he is receiving treatment at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

“I had a sore throat – nothing different than what you’d get in a normal flu. So not a sort of a phlegmy cough or anything like that just a dry cough,” he told Triple M yesterday.

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“But I might have coughed you know three or four times so not anything more than sort of a tickle in the throat. And then a temperature and a fever was the most obvious thing, but no real joint pain either.”

Mr Dutton’s wife Kirilly and children are in self-isolation without any symptoms.

A coronavirus advertising blitz was rolled out last night by the Federal Government across TV, radio, newspapers, social media, billboards and bus stops around the nation.

Strong emphasis has been placed on the need for good hygiene, with simple hand-washing front and centre.

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The campaign includes TV spots and two full-page newspaper advertisements featuring a letter from PM Scott Morrison, Health Minister Greg Hunt and Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy.

There will also be a 30-second video advertisement called “Good Hygiene Starts Here”.

The $ 30 million public health campaign forms part of the government’s $ 2.4 billion package designed to help stop the spread of the disease.

The health plan also includes $ 205 million for 100 pop-up respiratory clinics and $ 100 million for a tele-health service allowing people to have consults remotely.

Woolworths has partnered with Meals On Wheels to deliver toilet paper to Australia’s seniors.

“We’ve now partnered with Meals On Wheels to begin the delivery of toilet paper directly to seniors in need,” the supermarket wrote.

“The first deliveries were made in NSW today and we’re doing what we can to expand this service in the weeks to come.”

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It’s the latest in a series of measures taken by Woolworths – and other supermarket giants Coles and Aldi – to help control Australia’s panic-buying behaviour.

Australia hasn’t reached the peak of infections, Professor Lyn Gilbert said on ABC News 24.

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The professor from the Infection Prevention and Control Expert Advisory Group said Australia had done a good job in limiting the number of infections, which stands at 200 across Australia at the moment.

“The whole rationale for strategy has been to try to delay the peak as long as possible,” she said.

She said delaying the peak was vital so health services could cope.

“As you know we have opened a number of clinics, special clinics to increase the number of people who can be tested, we are certainly making a lot of effort to make sure there is enough supply, laboratory supplies and personal protective equipment and so on, and this all takes time.

“I think the problem with some of the other countries, where things I got out of control, is that there has already been widespread transmission before these controls were put in place.”

The government is facing more backlash over its decision to impose the ban on public gatherings from Monday.

Some have questioned why Scott Morrison didn’t just bring the ban on gatherings of more than 500 people straight away when he announced it on Friday.

Instead it won’t come into effect until tomorrow, meaning NRL and AFL games along with any other large scale events can still go ahead.

But the Australian Medical Association president Tony Bartone said the delay made no sense.

“The virus doesn’t respect what day of the week it is,” he told the Saturday Telegraph.

He said it was “unfortunate” the ban didn’t start straight away.

But Australia’s chief health officer was asked yesterday about the Monday decision.

“There’s no immediacy about this, but we need to get ahead of the curve and so the recommendation was Monday and the premiers and the prime minister agreed with that,” he said.

“It wouldn’t have mattered if they’d made a decision one or two days either side. It was felt that that was a reasonable time to progress.”

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