PM calls for vaccine to be shared, says JobKeeper at $100 billion, as Victoria records 450 new cases

Scott Morrison has called on other nations to share COVID-19 vaccine advances with Australia, while JobKeeper spending hits $100b, and Victoria records 450 new cases and 11 deaths. The Prime Minister also said the national cabinet was given an update on the progress of a vaccine. “We won’t know when a vaccine will come. But as Professor [Paul] Kelly will tell you, there’s never been a global effort like this and there are some positive signs there that we can be hopeful about. “Australia is positioning itself well to take advantage and be in a position to be able to manufacture and supply vaccines, should they be developed,” Mr Morrison said. “There are many projects that are underway around the world and we have a process for identifying those that we can are believe we can take an early position on. “But the other thing Australia has been saying, and it’s supported strongly by the premiers, and I made this point earlier in the week, and that is whoever finds this vaccine must share it. Any country that were to find this vaccine and not make it available around the world, without restraint, I think would be judged terribly by history, and that’s certainly Australia’s view and we’ll continue to advocate that view in every conversation we have, as I certainly have.” Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly said he remains hopeful for a vaccine. “I think as the PM has said, there is really strong optimism here. We can’t promise that there will be a vaccine or when it may occur. We have never had a vaccine for a coronavirus in the world before, but the very best minds in the world are concentrating on this. “Many companies, well over a hundred different types of vaccine that are in development, and many of those are already in clinical trials in what has been described by some as warp speed. So these things normally take years. It’s taking months, even weeks, to get through there.” “In Australia, we’re very prepared. And as the PM has mentioned those prongs – the things that we’re looking at very specifically in relation to research and development and support there not only for researchers here in Australia, but also through international bilateral and multilateral relationships,” Prof Kelly said. “We’re looking very clearly and carefully about purchasing – advance purchasing option as well as local manufacturing options. We’re looking, of course, at the regulatory aspects to make sure that whatever does become available is – it works as well as being of high quality and, of course, being safe.” Mr Morrison has also announced an additional investment of $15 billion to JobKeeper, bringing the total to more than $100 billion. “This is the largest program of this nature the country has ever undertaken,” Mr Morisson said following the morning’s national cabinet meeting. The Prime Minister also stressed that JobKeeper is not just for Victorians. “This is a national program. This is not an arrangement that has been put in place specifically for Victoria, it’s a national program and I was able to remark to the other leaders today at the meeting there’ll be many people in their states and territories who will also benefit from the changes that have been made for eligibility to make sure the JobKeeper reaches to those parts of the country where they’re also continuing to do it tough,” Mr Morrison said. CASE NUMBER FALL IN VICTORIA COULD TAKE WEEKS Victoria has recorded 450 new cases of coronavirus and 11 deaths overnight. Seven of the 11 deaths are connected to aged care. The state’s death toll is now at 181. 66 of the new cases are mystery cases with no known trace or source. Despite the number being a drop from Thursday’s 107 cases, Premier Andrews said “it is still far too many of those mystery community transmission cases that we can’t find the source or the circumstance behind that infection.” As hundreds of thousands of Victorians face joblessness and employment uncertainty, the Premier acknowledged the pain facing many industries. “These are challenges, the likes of which we’ve never faced before and there are a number of industries that will feel it in a more acute way than others. “There’ll be a massive job to repair the economy, and in order to get the health problem fixed and to get the numbers down to a level where we can start to open up again,” Mr Andrews said. Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said Victorians can expect to see a significant change in new case numbers within the next two weeks. “We do expect within 14 days of a really significant intervention that we’ll see a change in numbers. So, you know, certainly, 14 days from the really widespread implementation and the behaviour change that happens with stage 4 restrictions, we’ll get a different average daily numbers, I would expect,” he said. CHANGES FOR YEAR 12 STUDENTS Victorian Education Minister James Merlino also announced an additional $28.5 million in funding formental health and wellbeing support for school students, and changes to students preparing for Year 12 VCE exams. “This year is like no other, it is an unprecedented year and we need to support our students in an unprecedented way,” Mr Merlino said. “We’ve got time to re-engage those students who have disengaged from school. But for our Year 12 students, this is it. This is their last year of school.” Moving forward, VCE students will be individually assessed and any adverse impacts stemming from the pandemic will be reflected in their ATAR ranking. Considerations will include school closures and extended absences from lessons, increases in family responsibilities due to COVID-19, and mental health and wellbeing. “They’ll go into their exams knowing that their final scores and their ATAR ranking will be a fair reflection of their year, and they will not be disadvantaged as a result of COVID-19,” Mr Merlino said. Victoria Police issued 196 fines relating to COVID-19 breaches overnight. Of these, 51 were to people failing to wear masks outside of their homes, 43 were for breaches of the 8pm to 5am curfew. Police are also investigating 500 cases of potential isolation breaches where people have not answered the door or been at home during ADF and Department of Health officers spot check-ins. Meanwhile, NSW has recorded 11 new cases of coronavirus overnight, as a Newcastle cluster continues to grow. The Newcastle outbreak, which has grown to three people in the last 24 hours, has caused St Francis Xavier’s College in Hamilton East to close. The NSW Government is calling on anyone who attended the campus between August 3 – 5 to present for testing if symptoms arise. The source of the cluster is still unknown. Premier Gladys Berejiklian has also called on young people within the state to limit their socialising during the pandemic after a man in his 20s with coronavirus was found to have visited seven venues last weekend. “If you have the virus and you go out five times a week to different places, you could potentially be spreading it to five different locations, and then we have to contract trace everybody,” Ms Berejiklian said. “It’s not anybody’s fault, but it’s just the nature of the virus. It’s so contagious that if you don’t know you have it and you are still socialising you have the potential to give it to so many people.” NSW Police have issued two people with fines after a Nimbin woman was found to have breached self-isolation rules after returning from Victoria, while another woman was discovered playing a gaming machine at an Albury pub on an essential worker permit that only allowed her to enter the state for work. JOBKEEPER TO EXCEED $100 BILLION The cost of the JobKeeper scheme will now exceed $100 billion as the federal government eases criteria to cushion the blow of the Victorian coronavirus disaster. Victoria’s second COVID- 19 wave is expected to add an extra $15.6 billion to the cost of the program following emergency changes designed to keep as many people connected to their jobs as possible during the crisis. Instead of having to show at least a 30 per cent decline in revenue consistently since the start of the pandemic, businesses will now be able to access the subsidy if their turnover has dropped in only the most recent quarter. The changes to the scheme came as the Federal Government revealed that damage done from both the stage 3 and stage 4 lockdowns in Victoria is expected to cost Australia between $10 billion and $12 billion overall. Prime Minister Scott Morrison is expected to give more detail on Jobkeeper changes today. The Jobkeeper changes agreed to late yesterday mean employers who may have started to experience some recovery after the first wave of the pandemic are able to continue to qualify for JobKeeper if their business plummeted again. From September 28 the payments will drop to $1200 a fortnight for full-time and $750 for part-time workers for the remainder of the year, with a further decrease to $1000 and $650 respectively in 2021. The subsidies will now also be available for full, part-time and long-term casual staff who were employed on July 1, instead of March 1. Treasury estimates the restrictions in Victoria are directly responsible for about $4.5bn of the extra cost of JobKeeper, while the changes in eligibility make up the remainder of the $11.1bn. A further 530,000 Victorians are expected to be getting JobKeeper in the September quarter, an increase from 970,000 to 1.5 million people. In the December quarter the increase in Victorians on the subsidy is expected to swell to 740,000. By March the proportion of JobKeeper employees who are Victorian will be 60 per cent, compared to 44 per cent prior to the second wave. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said changing the qualifying start date for employment would allow more workers to access the payments. “We … recognise that businesses have experienced employee turnover since JobKeeper was originally introduced,” he said. Mr Frydenberg said the stage four restrictions in Victoria would have a “severe economic impact” on the Australian economy. “The combined effect of the economic deterioration in Victoria, which will see more firms needing to rely on JobKeeper and the changes we are making to the program, will see the cost of JobKeeper increase by around $15.6bn,” he said. “As we have said all along, we will continue to do what is necessary to cushion the blow and help Australians get to the other side.” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia was facing a situation that was “constantly changing”. “Our response is to get the right support to all those Australian families, workers and businesses that need us, as these circumstances change,” he said. “This means more support for more workers and more businesses for longer, as we battle this latest Victorian wave.” RUSSIA’S VACCINE CLAIMS Russia says it has created the first COVID-19 vaccine and will roll it out to medical workers and government employees in Moscow. The vaccine has been declared safe by the country’s medical experts after passing clinical trials, according to a report. At least one hospital is preparing lists of workers who want to be inoculated with the drug developed by Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute, a doctor who received an invitation told Bloomberg. A city government official said that similar invitations for volunteers to receive the vaccination had been sent out to staffers, according to Bloomberg, which reported that it had seen one of the letters. The Moscow City Government’s press service declined to comment to the outlet. The Gamaleya vaccine, which was developed with the Russian Direct Investment Fund, is expected to receive conditional registration this month, requiring trials on 1,600 more people. Production is expected to begin in September, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova told President Vladimir Putin during a July 29 meeting. Regulators plan to register the vaccine within a week, a person familiar with the process claimed. The testing data on the vaccine hasn’t been published yet, however, and the speed with which Russia is moving to make the inoculation available has raised questions in other countries, the outlet noted. ‘HEAVY BLOW’ OF LOCKDOWN Uber has joined the growing list of companies encouraging all customers to don face masks in outbreak areas. The online ride company announced on Thursday it would be encouraging all drivers and riders to wear masks in NSW. A Uber spokesperson told News Corp that the company was working to provide masks for free to their drivers. Uber’s announcement follows retailers such as Woolworths and Bunnings publicly encouraging customers to wear masks. It comes as Victoria’s hard lockdown is expected to wipe up to $12 billion from the economy and leave up to 400,000 people without work, with Australia’s unemployment rate expected to peak at 13 per cent. The state recorded 471 new coronavirus infections in the 24 hours to Thursday, and a further eight deaths, four linked to aged care, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed. Meantime in NSW, there have been 12 new cases of coronavirus in New South Wales, out of more than 28,000 tests. And the Federal Government revealed that damage done from both the stage 3 and stage 4 lockdowns in Victoria is expected to cost Australia between $10 billion and $12 billion overall. Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the new Treasury estimates, calling the economic impact of Victoria’s stage 4 restrictions a “heavy blow”. Mr Morrison said about 80 per cent of stage 4’s estimated $7-$9 billion cost to the economy would be felt in Victoria, with the remainder attributed to the nationwide impact of lower consumer confidence and investment. When added to the damage left by the stage 3 lockdown, it will cost the nation $10-$12 billion. “This is a heavy blow, a heavy blow: 80 per cent of this economic cost is expected to be in the affected areas of Victoria, of around $6-$7 billion in that state,” Mr Morrison said. “The remainder represents a preliminary estimate, and I underline that, of the broader impact of confidence in other states and supply chain impacts from the shutdown of certain industries in Victoria.” Mr Morrison said unemployment was estimated to hit at least 10 per cent in December, however the “effective unemployment rate” – people with no job or working zero hours – would include an extra 50,000 to 400,00 people than previously thought. Mr Morrison said the rate of employment will head back to the peak of the “high 13s”. ANDREWS DODGES QUARANTINE QUESTIONS Premier Daniel Andrews has copped a barrage of hard-hitting questions about the government’s botched hotel quarantine scheme. But Mr Andrews refused to clarify when he first became aware of growing outbreaks in hotels across Melbourne. “I am accountable because of the job I have, I have never moved away from that responsibility,” he said. “Mistakes have been made and I will own those errors, but I cannot conduct an official inquiry from this podium while an official inquiry is underway.” “In terms of who made decisions, how decisions were made, how they worked, whether enough safeguards were put in place is for Judge Coate to examine.” It comes after an emergency briefing on Wednesday, when Judge Jennifer Coate made it very clear public commentary about hotel quarantine was allowed. “Under law, unlike a court, there is no general restriction or prohibition which would prevent a person from commenting publicly or answering questions to which they know the answers on matters which are the 10 subjects of examination by this board of inquiry,” she said. ‘LET PEOPLE KNOW’ It came as Mr Morrison outlined a new plan to support Australians’ mental health during COVID-19. Speaking in Canberra on Thursday, Mr Morrison unveiled millions of dollars in additional funding for Beyond Blue, Headspace and Lifeline, as well as more resources for Victorians dealing with mental health concerns during stage four lockdown. “Mental health and suicide prevention is one of my government’s highest priorities,” Mr Morrison said. “For Victorians this is last few weeks have been devastating and the loss of freedom that comes from the first lockdown now combined with the second one with the Victorian wave not being able to connect with friends and loved ones, concerns about employment, all of this takes a toll.” Mr Morrison unveiled a further $5 million for Headspace, $2 million for Kids Helpline, $2.5 million in funding for Lifeline, and $2.5 million to Beyond Blue. “Specifically in Headspace, that is to increase outreach services to young people in the community who are in severe distress,” Mr Morrison said. “If you’re feeling vulnerable, let people know,” he said COVID-19 PEAK ‘STILL AHEAD’ The number of COVID-19 infections in Victoria will continue to spike in the coming days, leaked data shows. Citing the State Government’s modelling and estimates, The Australian reports that average daily cases are expected to peak at 1100 by the end of next week, and will remain above 1000 “for eight days”. When questioned about the modelling, Mr Andrews said: “No-one in the government has ever seen it.” By mid-September – when stage 4 lockdown is due to end – daily infections will remain around 300 a day, The Australianreports. Federal Deputy Chief Health Officer Professor Michael Kidd said COVID-19 cases may rise in Victoria before it gets any better. “It may be that the numbers will go even higher over the coming days, before they start to come down as a result of the impact of the restrictions and the changes in behaviour,” Professor Kidd said. CHILDCARE BOOST A further 30 days of absence for childcare services will be provided for Melbourne families during the stage 4 lockdown. Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan urged parents to keep their kids enrolled in childcare centres and use the absence days so they could rejoin the service when they returned to work. Childcare services will be urged to wave the gap fee so there would be no cost to parents in the scheme, that came in effect on Thursday. “For all Victorian parents, for all Victorian families, you will be getting an extra 30 days of allowable absences,” Mr Tehan said. “That means if you’re not in a position to be able to send your child to care, you can use those absences, providers can waive the gap fee so there will be no cost to you for keeping your child enrolled while you can’t access child care for the next 30 days.” Mr Tehan continued: “Parents who have to keep their children at home can do so and can do so without cost because we’re asking providers to waive the gap fee”. “And I would say to parents, please, keep your children enrolled. It won’t cost you anything to do so.” Providers will also be given a five per cent top-up payment, on top of 25 per cent centres are already receiving. Mr Tehan said he expected the state government to clear up confusion over the work permit system and clarify whether both parents will need a permit to be eligible to use childcare. Regional and rural Victorian families will have access to the same arrangements currently in place for outside school-hours care made available to Melbourne and the Mitchell share. TIGERAIR FOLDS, VIRGIN CUTS JOBS Virgin Australia said it would slash 3000 jobs and retain just 6000 roles out of its formerly 9000-strong workforce as part of a simplification strategy. Virgin Australia entered voluntary administration in March after the grounding of the aviation industry due to COVID-19. “Demand for domestic and short-haul international travel is likely to take at least three years to return to pre-COVID-19 levels, with the real chance it could be longer, which means as a business we must make changes to ensure the Virgin Australia Group is successful in this new world,” Virgin chief executive Paul Scurrah said. The company will also discontinue its budget airline brand Tigerair Australia and suspend all long-haul international fights. Virgin scrapped the low-cost carrier due to a lack of demand to support two brands within Australia’s aviation market. The company said it would retain its Air Operator Certificate to give it the option to bring back a low-cost carrier in the future “when the domestic market can support it”. QUEENSLAND SHUTS BORDER Queensland will close its borders to New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory from this Saturday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced. All visitors will be denied entry from 1am after Queensland’s chief health officer declared all of NSW and the ACT as coronavirus hot spots. Returning Queenslanders will also have to pay for their own 14-day mandatory hotel quarantine after the deadline. People living in border communities will need to provide a proof of address and photo ID to get a pass to cross into the Sunshine State. Essential workers, like truck drivers, will also still be allowed to enter. Exemptions to the rule – including for compassionate reasons – will be limited, the Government said. The border closure will be reviewed at the end of the month. ‘IT’S NOT UNREASONABLE’ Prime Minister Scott Morrison has delivered a stern message to so-called anti-maskers and “sovereigns”, who have been flouting Victoria’s COVID-19 lockdown and rules, including mandatory masks in the state. “People are doing their job, seeking to have these arrangements followed and complied with,” Mr Morrison said on Channel 7 on Wednesday. “It is not unreasonable to wear a mask, not unreasonable to do the most basic things around distancing. “Another toughest stuff because you can’t go to work, but the stuff is to close your business, the stuff is to close your business, the toughest as for your kids to not be able to go to school. He added: “It is tough. That is why we are providing the scale support we are.” Mr Morrison also referred to a disturbing incident in Victoria, where a police office was assaulted. “We have to get through this, we have to make sure this work,” he said. “What we don’t need as those of the special incidents we saw with that attack, but assault on a police officer just doing their job.” COVID-19 DRUG TRIAL America has begun late-stage clinical trials for a drug to fight the deadly COVID-19, US officials have confirmed. The medicine is an antibody against the new coronavirus called LY-CoV555, which was identified in the blood sample of a recovered patient by Canada’s Abcellera Biologics. It was then developed synthetically for mass production by US-based Lilly Research Laboratories in partnership with Abcellera. The Phase 3 trial will initially enrol some 300 volunteers around the world who have been hospitalised with mild to moderate COVID-19 with fewer than 13 days of symptoms. Each will be assigned either the medicine, which will be injected intravenously, or a placebo. Patients will also receive standard care for COVID-19, including the antiviral Remdesivir. The new Phase 3 trial is being led by Jens Lundgren, of the University of Copenhagen and Rigshospitalet, and could expand to up to 1000 people, including the more severely ill, if LY-CoV555 appears safe and effective after the fifth day. The trial’s main goal is the patients’ sustained recovery for 14 days after release from the hospital. At the same time, the new drug is also being tested on people with mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19 who have not been hospitalised, as part of a parallel middle-stage trial also announced on Tuesday. “Studying the impact of this investigational therapeutic on multiple patient populations at the same time is critical to determining whether it can help COVID-19 patients with differing levels of disease severity,” said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Allergies and Infectious Diseases. Antibodies are infection-fighting proteins made by the immune system that can bind to the surface of viruses and prevent them from invading cells. Vaccines work by teaching the body to make its own antibodies, while scientists are also testing ready-made antibodies from the blood of recovered patients, called convalescent plasma. But it is not possible to make convalescent plasma a mass treatment. Researchers can also comb through the antibodies produced by recovered patients and select the most effective out of thousands, and then manufacture it at scale. FRANCE COULD ‘LOSE CONTROL’ OF VIRUS France could “at any moment” lose control over the spread of the coronavirus, the government’s COVID-19 scientific council warned on Tuesday (local time) as official data showed the first rise in intensive care patients since April. In an opinion prepared for politicians, the council warned “the virus has recently been circulating more actively, with an increased loss of distancing and barrier measures” since France emerged from a strict two-month lockdown in May. “The balance is fragile and we can change course at any time to a less controlled scenario like in Spain, for example,” it said. And the council warned of a possible “resumption of circulation of the virus at a high level” by autumn 2020, after the August summer holidays. In the short term, retaining control is largely in the hands of citizens, it said. The message was underscored by French President Emmanuel Macron who urged the people of France to remain “vigilant” and continue applying anti-infection measures such as keeping a safe distance from others, regular handwashing, and wearing masks in public spaces. Data released by the health department on Monday showed the number of people in intensive care had risen by 13 over the weekend, breaking a downward trend observed since April, when the country was under strict stay-at-home orders to curb the spread of the virus. Twenty-nine new deaths were reported over the same period, bringing the country’s toll to 30,294. At the height of the outbreak in April, more than 7100 people were at one point receiving intensive care in French hospitals, which had 5000 intensive care beds available when the crisis hit. The country registered thousands of confirmed new infections last week, prompting some cities and regions to impose local restrictions amid reports of people ignoring social distancing and public mask-wearing guidelines. The rate of confirmed infections has exceeded 1000 per day since late July. Prime Minister Jean Castex on Monday urged France “not to let down its guard” in order to prevent a new national lockdown. “We are seeing an increase in the figures for the epidemic which should make us more attentive than ever,” Castex said. “I call on every French person to remain very vigilant. The fight against the virus depends of course on the state, local communities, institutions, but also on each of us,” he added.

PM calls for vaccine to be shared, says JobKeeper at $100 billion, as Victoria records 450 new cases

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