Health News at Your Fingertips

That is where we will leave the blog for today. Thanks for following along.

Here’s some of what you might have missed today:

• Scott Morrison announced targeted sanctions on Russian individuals and banks, and said Russia was acting like “thugs and bullies”.
• The opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, offered bipartisan support on the sanctions, as Penny Wong urged Australian nationals to leave Ukraine as soon as possible.
• One person has died in the floods in Queensland, as much of the east coast continued to be battered by heavy rainfall.
• The Moderna vaccine was approved for children aged six to 11 years old.
• NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, sought legal advice over the decision to close down Sydney’s train network on Monday, while he issued a stinging rebuke to his transport minister, David Elliott, saying he “should have been advised” about the shutdown before it occurred.
• Victoria’s chief health officer, Dr Brett Sutton, defended the decision to maintain mask mandates in primary schools, as other mandates are lifted.
• Construction giant Probuild is reportedly on the verge of collapse, with reports of tradies and workers are walking off sites or being let go.
• NSW recorded 8,931 new Covid cases and six deaths, Victoria recorded 6,926 new cases and 17 deaths, Queensland recorded 6,300 new cases and 37 deaths, the ACT reported 946 new cases, WA reported 645 new cases, SA reported 1,958 new cases, the NT reported 864 new cases and Tasmania reported 842 new cases.
• Jai Wright’s family released a statement, asking for privacy as they mourn and thanking the community for their support.

Thanks for reading.

Only five days after the the Victorian government’s proposed social housing levy on developers, the premier has accused the building and property sectors of reneging on a deal to allow them to make “super profits” in exchange for paying the contribution.

The decision has thrown the levy in doubt, with the initial announcement met with criticism by the building and property sectors.

You can read more on the story from Benita Kolovos at the link below:

The PM has formally confirmed the Russian sanctions in a statement released earlier.

Although not much is new or different to what he announced in the morning, he does specify the banks that will be affected: Rossiya Bank, Promsvyazbank, IS Bank, Genbank and the Black Sea Bank for Development and Reconstruction. These are in addition to the restrictions on state development bank VEB.

Morrison also added that visa extensions will be granted to all Ukrainian nationals currently in Australia, with visas set to expire by 30 June. The extension will last for six months.

Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from around Australia today, as the country records at least 60 deaths from Covid-19:

ACT

• Deaths: 0
• Cases: 946
• In hospital: 40 (with two people in ICU)

NSW

• Deaths: six
• Cases: 8,931
• In hospital: 1,246 (with 69 people in ICU)

NT

• Deaths: 0
• Cases: 864
• In hospital: 131 (with four people in ICU)

Queensland

• Deaths: 37
• Cases: 6,300
• In hospital: 379 (with 35 people in ICU)

South Australia

• Deaths: 0
• Cases: 1,958
• In hospital: 192 (with 14 people in ICU)

Tasmania

• Deaths: 0
• Cases: 842
• In hospital: 10 (with two people in ICU

Victoria

• Deaths: 17
• Cases: 6,926
• In hospital: 319 (with 22 people in ICU)

Western Australia

• Deaths: 0
• Cases: 645
• In hospital: five

The defence minister Peter Dutton has called the situation in Ukraine “ominous”, adding that it was “not beyond the realm of possibility” that missiles and weapons would strike hospitals and childcare centres.

Speaking on ABC Radio earlier, Dutton said that it could become a “bloody conflict” and that it was already in the early stages:

It’s not beyond the realm of possibility to consider that missiles and weapons fired can strike hospitals or daycare centres. I think if it goes to a full-scale war, full-scale conflict, then that’s exactly what will happen.

I think most of the indications are at the moment, that it will be a bloody conflict and most analysis is that we’re in the opening hours of that already.

There are reports that construction giant Probuild is facing collapse.

The ABC is reporting that a board meeting is expected to agree to either restructure the company or go into administration.

Probuild is one of the largest construction companies in the country, having built the Melbourne Convention Centre, the new headquarters of Victoria police and the glass wave of “The Ribbon” on Sydney’s Darling Harbour.

It has building sites across the country and there are reports of tradies walking off projects or were being stood down. An official statement on the issue is expected tomorrow.

Penny Wong has added to Albanese’s statement by urging Australians still in Ukraine to leave as soon as they can:

I echo the leader’s point that we do offer a full bipartisanship support to the government on the sanctions which have been announced, and on Australian playing its full part as a member of the international community, standing in solidarity with Ukraine and with the Ukrainian community.

I would also make this point. We do know that there are Australians who remain in Ukraine. I would echo the government and the view is that it is time to leave.

So opposition leader Anthony Albanese has stepped up, along with Penny Wong, and thrown his support behind Australia’s sanctions against Russia that Scott Morrison announced earlier today.

Albanese said it was “appropriate” that Australia introduce those sanctions, and said he was not looking for any disagreement on the issue:

This is a shocking development, whereby we have a situation [where] Russia has undertaken aggression against the people of Ukraine, and all Australians stand with the people of Ukraine against Russian aggression.

Labor supports the announcement that has been announced by the government. We believe it is important when it comes to national security that we express a common view on behalf of the Australian people, in support of democracy, in support of sovereignty, of Ukraine and against Russian aggression.

Jai Wright’s family have released a statement, asking for privacy as they mourn and thanking the community for their support.

Wright’s family also distanced themselves from rallies and fundraisers that were being organised in Jai’s name, saying they will be organising a march after Jai’s funeral.

They also say they hope to have “the opportunity to find the truth about Jai’s death”.

Jai’s family will not be making any further comments at this point in time. They also want the community to know they are not affiliated with any current march, rally or fundraiser, but will be organising a march in the days and weeks after Jai’s funeral.

The family are taking time to privately remember Jai and plan his funeral. They look forward to a coronial inquest and the opportunity to find the truth about Jai’s death.

Jai, 16, died after the trail bike he was riding and an unmarked police car crashed in Sydney’s inner-west on Saturday morning.

Police have launched a critical incident investigation into the crash, but Wright’s father, Lachlan, told reporters on Monday that an independent inquiry was needed.