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WA coronavirus LIVE: Premier moves to ban evictions but warns tenants 'must still pay rent'

Kate Hedley and Hannah Barry

Updated April 14, 2020 — 7:28pm,first published April 14, 2020 — 8:03am

What we know so far

There are currently 527 confirmed COVID-19 cases in WA, 75 of which are linked to cruise ship Artania.
296 people have recovered from COVID-19 in WA, and 12 people are in ICU.
The Australian death toll from coronavirus is 61.
The global death toll from coronavirus has passed 119,000. There are more than 1.9 million known cases of infection, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.
Perth healthworkers are currently signing up for a trial to test the tuberculosis vaccine BCG and its effectiveness against COVID-19.

7.28pm on Apr 14, 2020

That's a wrap

We're now bringing our live blog to a close.

WAtoday will continue providing live coverage of the latest developments, and we will see you back here tomorrow.

Stay safe, take care of one another, wash your hands and continue to practise social distancing.

6.55pm on Apr 14, 2020

Nurses cop abuse, demand apology for 'illegal dinner party' rumour

By Dana McCauley

Tasmanian nurses want chief medical officer Brendan Murphy to apologise for airing a "damaging" rumour that a COVID-19 outbreak in the state's north-west may have been caused by healthcare workers who attended an "illegal dinner party".

Nurses are demanding an apology from the chief medical officer.

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Tasmanian secretary Emily Shepherd said Professor Murphy's comment to a New Zealand parliamentary committee on Tuesday morning - which he has now withdrawn - had sparked a torrent of online abuse of her members.

"They feel that he should apologise for commenting on some fairly malicious rumours that they feel have caused significant distress," Ms Shepherd told the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

6.35pm on Apr 14, 2020

By the numbers: How WA is coping

By Heather McNeill

6.05pm on Apr 14, 2020

Aussies could have phones tracked to help map the spread of coronavirus

Australians could soon have their mobile phones tracked to see if they have come into contact with coronavirus.

Health authorities are mulling over how closely Australians could be monitored once travel restrictions and social distancing rules are relaxed.

Singapore is using the TraceTogether application to help track the spread of the disease.

Australia has been given the code to develop its own surveillance software.

"We're very keen to use it and use it perhaps even more extensively than Singapore," Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy told a New Zealand parliamentary hearing on Tuesday.

He acknowledged there were privacy concerns.

"Obviously there's a conversation to have with the community about the acceptability of it, but we think that idea, the TraceTogether app, is a really excellent one," he said.

"We're actively looking at that as part of a measure that might be used to perhaps consider some relaxation of measures."

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly says tracking technology is being discussed by governments as part of the next steps.

"We're very much interested in relation to what we can do to find close contacts of cases as quickly as possible," he told reporters in Canberra.

TraceTogether uses Bluetooth to detect other users in close proximity, with encounters stored on a person's phone.

They then have to share the records with authorities when asked to be part of a tracing investigation.

AAP

5.40pm on Apr 14, 2020

SCSA launches new website for WA's upper high school students

5.30pm on Apr 14, 2020

Evictions banned but you ‘must still pay rent’

By Hamish Hastie

Tenants in hardship won’t escape rent payments but landlords won’t be able to evict them for at least six months under drastic tenancy laws being introduced to WA Parliament this week.

In order to manage the economic devastation caused by the coronavirus pandemic both residential and commercial rental laws will be given a temporary overhaul that will make it illegal to evict tenants falling behind on their rent for six months.

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However, Premier Mark McGowan said that did not mean rent did not need to be paid.

“It is important for residential tenants to understand that what we’re introducing is a moratorium on eviction, not a moratorium on rent,” he said.

“Under the proposed reforms, tenants must continue to pay rent. If a tenant can’t pay their rent they will still have to pay it later, so continuing to pay rent will increase your chances of keeping debt to a manageable level.”

The Residential Tenancies (COVID-19 Response) Bill 2020 will see a moratorium placed on evictions for six months.

Exceptions apply in circumstances that include family violence, abandonment or a tenant or landlord is experiencing undue hardship.

Landlords will also still be able to evict a tenant causing serious damage to the property, injury to the landlord or a person in an adjacent building.

The bill will also see a freeze on rent increases, continuation of rental agreements during the emergency periods and removing obligations for landlords to conduct repairs if they can't afford them.

Tenants will also be able to break their lease without fees, though rental debt and damage charges will still apply.

Attorney General John Quigley said the new laws would protect the Magistrates Court and State Administrative Tribunal from being flooded by residential tenancy dispute applications.

The Commercial Tenancies (COVID-19 Response) Bill 2020 will introduce a moratorium on evictions for small commercial tenancies and introduce a code of conduct for landlords and tenants consistent with the national code announced last week.

Under that code landlords must offer tenants proportionate reductions in rent payable in the form of waivers and deferrals on a case-by-case basis, based on the reduction in the tenant’s trade during the pandemic and recovery period.

Mr McGowan urged tenants and landlords to discuss arrangements over the pandemic period.

4.49pm on Apr 14, 2020

What could the BRACE trial mean for future pandemics?

Telethon Kids Institute director Jonothan Carapedis spoke to Radio 6PR's Morning Show to discuss the new BRACE trial and if it will be able to be rolled out to fight future pandemics.

Listen to the interview here:

4.46pm on Apr 14, 2020

What the collapse of Virgin would mean for travellers

In the short term, there's little doubt airfares would rise if Virgin (and its budget rival to Jetstar, Tigerair) stopped flying.

Australians have enjoyed cheap air travel for more than a decade. Until the coronavirus outbreak, even accounting for inflation, air travel had never been cheaper.

According to figures from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics, airfares have gone down, on average, 37 per cent since Virgin entered the market.

Read the full story here.

4.14pm on Apr 14, 2020

Premier: Restrictions could be 'tweaked' on medical advice, but WA border to stay shut

By Nathan Hondros

Premier Mark McGowan has signalled there could be a "tweaking" of coronavirus restrictions based on medical advice if the state's success at preventing new infections continued.

"If we get to a point based on the best health advice we will move to remove or tweak some of the restrictions," he said.

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"I don't want to take any unnecessary chances here."

The Premier said overall the community's response to restriction over the Easter weekend had been positive. He said there had been 36,896 people stopped at regional border crossings, with 876 denied entry or turned around.

There was also a 90 per cent decrease in traffic compared to last year.

But Mr McGowan said the state's borders would remain shut "for a long time".

"We can all be proud of how we have handled the pandemic," he said.

"The fact we had only one new COVID-19 case is because of all the West Australians who are doing the right thing.

"It's the sixth consecutive decline in active cases."

Mr McGowan also said he would introduce new legislation to provide relief for commercial and residential tenancies with a moratorium on most evictions and a freeze on rent increases.

"This way we can get through this period and out the other side," he said.

"Rent must still be paid. Tenants who can't pay their rent will have to pay it later.

"We are not legislating to require a reduction in rent."

3.42pm on Apr 14, 2020

WA workers to 'roll up sleeves' to test vaccine

By Hannah Barry

Thousands of WA healthcare workers will take part in a new trial to test whether an existing tuberculosis vaccine will reduce their chance of contracting COVID-19.

WA Health Minister Roger Cook announced about 2000 frontline health staff from Fiona Stanley, Charles Gairdner and Perth Children's Hospital would participate in the Australian-run BRACE research trial, which would see half injected with the existing Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine.

It is hoped the vaccine, originally intended to fight TB, will reduce their chances of contracting coronavirus, lessen the severity of symptoms and boost immunity in the long-term.

The Minderoo Foundation committed $1.5 million to the Telethon Kids Institute for the trial.