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As it happened: Victoria records 15 new COVID-19 cases as SA reconsiders border restrictions; Australian death toll jumps to 888

Mary Ward and Pallavi Singhal

Updated October 1, 2020 — 7:46pm,first published October 1, 2020 — 7:11am

Summary

Victoria recorded 15 new cases and, sadly, two deaths on Thursday, bringing the state's death toll to 800. Traces of the virus have been found in sewage in the coastal town of Anglesea, prompting authorities to boost testing in the area.
The Victorian government has stood down private security in the state’s remodelled hotel quarantine program and sent in police to guard people infected with coronavirus after concerns were raised about poor infection control.
NSW recorded three new coronavirus cases on Thursday, including an old locally acquired case.
The federal government will promise industry $1.5 billion to sustain local manufacturing as part of a budget plan targeting six priority areas ranging from food to medicine and clean energy.
There have been 33.8 million coronavirus cases recorded worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally. The global death toll has passed 1 million.

7.46pm on Oct 1, 2020

Thanks for joining us

Thanks for following today's coverage of the pandemic. Here are some of the day's big stories:

Australia recorded 19 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, including 15 in Victoria, three in NSW and one in WA, and two deaths, both linked to aged care facilities in Victoria.
NSW is in its sixth consecutive day without recent community transmission, with one old case making part of its total on Thursday.
The aged care royal commission has made six recommendations in its report and called on the government to act immediately to fund additional staff for facilities and allow families to have more meaningful access to their relatives in care. The Morrison government has accepted all of the recommendations.
Queensland’s borders will remain closed to most of NSW until after the Queensland election on October 31, regardless of whether NSW meets the northern state’s requirement of achieving 28 consecutive days without local transmission of the virus before then.
South Australia has further eased restrictions to allow dance floors at weddings and reintroduce standing drink service in pubs. The last time the state recorded a locally-transmitted case was on March 20.

We'll be back tomorrow morning.

7.28pm on Oct 1, 2020

NRL fans warned of longer public transport wait times

Public transport officials in NSW have warned fans attending NRL games that public transport wait times may increase to ensure physical distancing is maintained, as stadium capacity limits are increased from today.

Stadiums can increase their capacity from 25 per cent to 50 per cent if they have detailed COVID-19 action plans in place.

Outdoor stadiums, such as ANZ, will be allowed to be filled to 50 per cent capacity. Getty Images

Under the new limits, up to 40,000 people can attend ANZ Stadium, 23,000 can attend the SCG and 15,000 can attend Bankwest Stadium.

Transport for NSW's chief operations officer Howard Collins said regular train, bus and light rail services will be running for games and that all services will require physical distancing.

“Those attending games are expected to wear a mask when they are not sitting at their seat. This includes walking to and from designated seats, using stadium facilities and of course on public transport when getting to and from the venue," Mr Collins said.

"If you are able to, we urge you to drive, walk, cycle or catch a taxi or Uber to see your team play in an effort to reduce numbers on public transport. Please abide by the road rules, pre-plan your parking and allow extra travel time.

“If you must catch public transport make sure you plan ahead and please maintain physical distancing, sit or stand on green spot approved places, maintain good hygiene, use Opal and contactless payments where needed, and we strongly recommend wearing a mask.

“You will likely encounter longer wait times, so please be patient."

Mr Collins said people attending games should use trip planning apps to monitor whether transport services are at capacity.

"If it is please wait for the next one, or seek out a different way of getting to the game," he said.

“Our trains, buses, ferries and light rail services will continue to be cleaned regularly, and we will be monitoring patronage and have staff at key locations across the, with marshals out to help customers navigate busy interchanges.”

7.03pm on Oct 1, 2020

Last Qantas A380 put into storage

By Craig Platt

The last Qantas A380 has made its final flight for the time being, arriving in California ahead of entering storage.

The superjumbo, registration VH-OQI, flew from Dresden, Germany, to Victorville on Monday.

A Qantas Airbus A380 arrives at Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville.AP

From there, it travelled to the Mojave Desert, where it will be stored along with the rest of Qantas' fleet of 12 A380s until demand for international travel returns.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has estimated that won't happen until 2023, grounding the A380s for three years. Several Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which are also used for international long-haul routes, have also been put into storage at Mojave.

However, Qantas will use a Dreamliner next month for a sightseeing flight that will depart and land at Sydney Airport after flying over Australian icons like the Great Barrier Reef and Uluru. Qantas Dreamliners will also be used for the first time by Antarctica Flights for their annual summer sightseeing trips over Antarctica.

"The A380s have to remain on the ground for at least three years until we see those international volumes brought back," Mr Joyce said in June.

"The aircraft are being put into the Mojave desert because it's better for them to be sitting there.

The environment protects the aircraft a lot more, and we have the intention, at the right time, to activate them."

Investigation still underway into new hotel quarantine worker infections

By Chloe Booker

An investigation is still underway into whether nine workers contracted COVID-19 inside Victoria's revamped hotel quarantine program, despite government claims that none of the workers were infected as a result of their participation in the program.

Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng said on Thursday that genomic data about how the workers came to be infected was still being processed.

The government said on Tuesday none of the workers – which included five Spotless subcontractors – were infected as a result of their work in the program.

However, Professor Cheng said on Thursday the investigation of the cases and the genomic data testing was still ongoing.

"We know that it's not part of one big outbreak because they're in different times and different places, but I understand that the investigation is ongoing," he said.

What would you like to see in the upcoming budget?

Australians will be watching next week's federal budget will more interest than ever, particularly those left jobless by the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Morrison said the JobKeeper and JobSeeker measures the government put in place as COVID-19 took hold are staying in place in the short term. What comes after that, however, is still unclear.

5.38pm on Oct 1, 2020

Morrison government accepts all aged care royal commission recommendations

By Dana McCauley

The Morrison government has accepted the six recommendations of the aged care royal commission's COVID-19 report.

Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck would not say how much the government would spend to bring its COVID-19 response in line with the recommendations, which he said were "quite constructive", but said the government would provide extra funding to help aged care residents access allied health services during the pandemic.

Senator Colbeck announced an initial $40.6 million response, including $29.8 million to bring forward the date of the serious incident response scheme, first recommended by the Australian Law Reform Commission almost four years ago, to "early 2021."

Once established, the SIRS will require residential aged care providers to manage incidents such as assaults, neglect, psychological abuse and inappropriate use of chemical restraints "with a focus on the safety and wellbeing" of residents and reduce preventable incidents from recurring.

The minister also announced an additional $10.8 million "to enhance skills and leadership of aged care nurses" by expanding the Australian College of Nursing scholarship program, establishing an aged care practice program and creating "skills development programs for nurses and personal care workers in aged care."

Senator Colbeck rejected the suggestion that the government had not had a COVID-19 plan for aged care, outlining a number of factsheets and letters sent to providers.

Asked why the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee had not provided any written advice to providers during the peak of Victoria's second wave, the minister said he was "very satisfied that the AHPPC was providing appropriate advice at the appropriate time."

"We were dealing with very rapidly moving circumstances at the time [and] the information flow was rapid," Senator Colbeck said, referring to the period between June 20 and August 3, when hundreds of Victorian aged care residents died of COVID-19.

"There was a constant level of communication, not necessarily formal, between the government, the sector and the AHPPC," he said.

Asked about provider concerns that "no one was in charge" and that state and federal advice was conflicting, he said: "There was always a clear understanding that the states were responsible for the public health response."

The minister said he "expected" every aged care provider to have an onsite infection control officer and that the investment in nurse training would help providers to comply.

Health department officials told a COVID-19 Senate inquiry hearing on Tuesday that providers did not have to employ full-time infection control officers on site to meet the conditions of the federal government's $245 million pandemic funding, contradicting the minister's announcement on August 31.

Senator Colbeck would not commit to unannounced site visits by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, saying that "short notice" visits would continue in areas that had community transmission as announced visits "may be difficult", although they were "a desirable part of managing residential aged care."

He said the AHPPC's Aged Care Advisory Group, established last month, "will be made permanent."

5.03pm on Oct 1, 2020

Send in your photos

If you've developed a bit of a green thumb during lockdown, we'd love to see photos of your garden.

4.38pm on Oct 1, 2020

Royal Commission calls for immediate funding for additional aged care staff

By Julie Power

The aged care royal commission has called on the government to act immediately to fund additional staff in aged care facilities to allow families to have more meaningful visits to see their loved ones in care.

The commission has made five recommendations in its report, tabled in parliament this afternoon. And it added a special requirement that the Australian Government report to the Australian Parliament no later than December 1, 2020, on the progress of their implementation.

Commissioners Tony Pagone and Lynelle Briggs say: "It is appropriate to release this special report now because, although no-one knows how long the pandemic will last, aged care residents continue to suffer and, tragically, more may die as a result of COVID-19.

"There is too much at stake to apportion blame at this time. However, the public needs to know what lessons have been, and can still be, learnt."

The report coincides with another two deaths in aged care in Victoria, lifting the number of deaths to 637.

It also calls on the Australian Government to create Medicare Benefits Schedule items to increase the provision of allied health and mental health services to people living in residential aged care during the pandemic to prevent deterioration in their physical and mental health.

And it calls for the government to publish a national aged care plan for COVID-19 and establish a national aged care advisory body.

Last, it recommends that the Australian Government should require providers to appoint infection control officers and arrange for the deployment of accredited infection prevention and control experts into residential aged care homes.

Read the full story here.

4.14pm on Oct 1, 2020

Top 4 countries exporting COVID-19 cases to Sydney

By Kate Aubusson

Australians flying home from Pakistan, the US, Britain, India and cruise ship passengers account for the bulk of NSW's COVID-19 cases imported from overseas, as community transmissions slow to a trickle.

Sydney's network of quarantine hotels could soon become the last remaining foothold for the virus in NSW.

Travellers in quarantine have been the only new COVID-19 cases reported in NSW for six days straight.

On Thursday, NSW Health reported two new cases in returned travellers in hotel quarantine and a case of a man in south-western Sydney that the ministry believes is an old case only just detected.

With confirmed cases isolated and Sydney's COVID clusters burning out the virus is being starved of new bodies to infect, but Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant warned it is still circulating undetected and called for constant vigilance, especially in south-west Sydney.

Since March 29, there have been 786 confirmed COVID-19 cases among returned travellers in hotel quarantine. Cruise ships, Pakistan, the US, Britain and India accounted for more than 58 per cent of COVID-19 infections in quarantine.

Read the full story here.

4.05pm on Oct 1, 2020

Australians stacking away $50 and $100 notes

By Shane Wright

Businesses may be requiring customers to use tap-and-go to buy goods and online shopping is soaring but new figures show Australians can't get enough high value notes in their shoeboxes or under the mattress.

Data from the Reserve Bank released on Thursday showed over the past year, the value of $50 notes in circulation climbed by 23.1 per cent to $47.1 billion.

Australians can't get enough high value notes in their shoeboxes or under the mattress.Louise Kennerley

It is the fastest rate of growth in almost 12 years when, during the global financial crisis, Australians rushed to stack away $50 notes.

The value of $100 notes in circulation has jumped by 14.4 per cent over the past year, the fastest pace since Australia's last recession 29 years ago.

In September, the value of $5, $10 and $20 notes in circulation all fell. But the value of $50 notes increased by $186.4 million while the value of $100 notes grew by $353 million.

CommSec senior economist Ryan Felsman said the jump in high value notes being hoarded was a clear sign of nervousness by consumers.

"One guide to the measure of ‘fear’ in the economy is the amount of $50 and $100 notes in circulation," he said.

"Aussies may not use high value notes for everyday transactions – ‘tap and go’ is the preference in the COVID era. But Aussies are clearly keeping notes on hand at home – just in case there are new health or economic emergencies."