Health News at Your Fingertips

Communications minister Paul Fletcher is on ABC News and was asked by host Patricia Karvelas whether he is worried that Facebook and Google could pull out of Australia if the new code announced today forced them to pay media companies.

He says Facebook and Google earn a lot from Australians who use the services, so the test will be whether they would want to walk away from the considerable amount of money they earn in Australia.

He says the companies will be able to provide feedback on the proposed code before it hits parliament.

So far they haven’t said much.

The number of reported data breaches is down slightly for the last six months in Australia (that is during Covid times), but ransomware attacks and social engineering are being used more often, according to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Here’s the summary of the latest report:

• 518 breaches reported
• 77% reported within 30 days of the breach
• 47 between two months and a year, and 14 reported over a year after
• Human error accounted for 39% while malicious or criminal act accounted for 61%
• There were 218 notifications involving phishing, malware, ransomware, brute-force attack and compromised or stolen credentials as the main source of the data breaches
• data breaches resulting from social engineering or impersonation has increased by 47% during the reporting period to 50 notifications

There were two protests this morning at the Shrine of Remembrance against the requirement for people to wear masks in Melbourne.

The first one at 7am had around 30 people, according to news reports, and they left the area when asked by police to do so.

A second one was held in the same location at around 10am.

In total across the two protests, police issued 18 $1,652 fines (not the $200 mask fine), and will “continue to investigate the event” to identify who was there and issue them with fines.

Two people were arrested for failing to provide details to police, and they too were issued with fines.

Michael Kidd says a decision on whether the Victorian lockdown should be extended is a matter for the Victorian government, but says we will have to see what happens in the coming weeks, including the impact of compulsory mask wearing, which has only been in place for a week now in Melbourne.

On the AHPPC advice to Victoria about further restrictions and whether it could be broader restrictions or industry specific, Michael Kidd says the advice provided to government does go down to industries, but he doesn’t indicate what specifically AHPPC has recommended.

Should people wear masks in Sydney?

Prof Michael Kidd says the advice from NSW is that people wear masks in areas of community transmission, particularly where physical distancing may be difficult and if you are a person at increased risk.

On Woolworths recommending customers in NSW and the ACT wear masks in store, Kidd says it will be up to each business to develop their own mitigation plans, but notes it’s not currently advice of the AHPPC.

The advice from the AHPPC, it’s not about wearing masks, unless people feel comfortable doing so, particularly if you find yourself in areas where physical distancing may be difficult and as we know, supermarkets can be one of those places where large numbers of people are coming together and there may be times where it might be difficult to physically distance from others.”

Michael Kidd says it has been a “very difficult week” and there will be more difficult weeks to come.

“My advice to you is that things will get better but it won’t happen overnight,” he says.

Kidd says Australia is not like many other countries where Covid-19 is out of control. The federal government is working together with the Victorian government, and more measures “may be needed” to bring the outbreak further under control.

The deputy chief medical officer Prof Michael Kidd is providing a national update.

He says 16,905 people have now been diagnosed with Covid-19 in Australia. Over the past 24 hours, 627 of these new cases were in Victoria, 21 new cases were reported in New South Wales, one case reported in Western Australia which was overseas acquired, one case in South Australia, locally acquired and related to interstate travel, and one new case in Queensland which is currently under investigation.

There are 196 deaths reported from Covid-19 in Australia.

The Tasmanian government will also be adding specific Queensland locations to that list of hotspots, Gutwein said.

Good afternoon. Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein says that from today if you travel by air or from tomorrow if you travel by sea to Tasmania, you’ll be required to stay in mandatory government-designated hotel quarantine at your own expense.

The cost will be $2,800 per individual, or $3,800 for couples, or between $4,300 and $4,800 for families, depending on the number of children.

There are also hardship provisions available.

The exceptions are people from Victoria or the hotspots in NSW, who will be asked to go back home.

On that note I will hand over to Josh Taylor who will take you through the afternoon, including the comments from Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein who is talking in Hobart now about their border controls.

Thank you for your company these past three weeks. Your regularly scheduled Amy Remeikis will return from Monday. Stay well and be kind to each other.

A Centrelink call centre in Epping, a moving company call centre in Docklands and a poultry factory in Geelong are among the new outbreaks listed today.

According to the DHHS, there are 13 cases linked to Golden Farms Poultry in Breakwater, a suburb of Geelong; 12 linked to a business called Dowell Windows in Bayswater; 11 cases linked to the call centre for My Moovers in Docklands; and six cases linked to Capral Aluminium in Campbellfield.

There were also six cases linked to the Centrelink office in Epping and five linked to Victoria police stations in Docklands.

None of those outbreaks were listed on yesterday’s update.

Today’s update also showed an increase of cases at meatworks.

The cluster around Bertocchi Smallgoods in Thomastown now sits at 134 cases, an increase of 13 from yesterday. The Australian Lamb Company in Colac is up four from yesterday, and is now on 68; and JBS meatworks in Brooklyn is up two to 84. Diamond Valley Pork in Docklands is up two to 13 cases.

Twenty five more cases have been linked to the Epping Gardens aged care outbreak, which prime minister Scott Morrison this morning said was the outbreak that was currently of most concern.

There are now 115 cases linked to the Epping Gardens aged care home in Epping Gardens, up from 90 on Thursday.

The biggest outbreak remains St Basil’s Home for the Aged in Fawkner, which increased to 124 cases today, up 13 from yesterday.

Estia aged care facility in Ardeer had 104 cases, up 10 from yesterday.

Kirkbrae Presbyterian homes in Kilsyth had 87 cases, up six from yesterday.

Estia aged care in Heidelberg had 82 cases, up 15 from yesterday.

The outbreak at Menarock Life aged care in Essendon increased by one, to 63, and Glendale aged care in Werribee increased by two, to 58.

Baptcare Wyndham Lodge in Werribee remained stable at 52 cases, while Outlook Gardens aged care in Dandenong North increased by six cases to 55, and Arcare aged care in Craigieburn increased by three to 45.

The following aged care homes reported their first case:

• Homestyle Aged Care in Point Cook – one staff member tested positive.
• Bupa Aged Care in Templestowe – one staff member tested positive.
• Royal Freemasons Bendigo – one staff member tested positive.
• Cumberland Manor in Sunshine North – one staff member tested positive.
• Gary Smorgon House in Caulfield – one staff member tested positive.
• Florence Aged Care Facility in St Albans – one resident tested positive

The number of Covid-19 cases attributed to untraced community transmission in Victoria has increased by 94 since yesterday, according to the daily coronavirus update issued by the department of health and human services.

As of today there are 1,792 cases that “may indicate community transmission,” DHHS said. That’s a pandemic-long figure, made up of both active and recovered cases.

Of the 627 new cases recorded since yesterday, only 77 have so far been linked to known outbreaks. The remaining 550 are under investigation.

The number of cases attributed to aged care outbreaks has increased by 51, and now sits at 928 (both residents and staff) and worryingly 65 more healthcare workers have tested positive to the virus, with the number of active cases among healthcare workers rising to 614.

Thirty more cases were reported in regional Victoria.

The outbreaks in the public housing towers appear to be stabilising – there has been no change since yesterday.

Victoria has recorded 627 new cases of coronavirus since yesterday, with the total number of cases now at 10,577.

The federal court hearing challenging Western Australia’s hard borders will finish today. Here’s how it’s going, from AAP:

Clive Palmer’s federal government-aided challenge to Western Australia’s tough border stance is wrapping up in the federal court as the prime minister repeatedly tips the state will lose.

The Queensland billionaire argues WA’s border closure is unconstitutional and damaging trade while premier Mark McGowan says it is necessary to protect citizens and is based on expert health advice.

The case continued for the fourth and final day in Brisbane on Friday, with WA’s solicitor-general, Joshua Thomson, saying no community transmission in the state since mid-April shows the border closure is working.

“His [WA chief health officer Andy Robertson] judgments have actually proved to be good ones,” Thomson said in his closing submissions.

He urged Justice Darryl Rangiah to give no weight to the evidence of Sanjaya Senanayake, an infectious diseases expert engaged by Palmer, who accepted he used assumptions from a “plausible but optimistic” UK study.

Thomson also took aim at the quality of evidence by infectious diseases expert Peter Collignon, who was engaged by the commonwealth and argued in favour of “targeted quarantine” for people from states with high levels of community transmission, such as Victoria and NSW.

Palmer’s barrister Peter Dunning said WA could reopen its border entirely and reduce the risk of an outbreak to “very little” by employing a suite of measures.

The state had high levels of contract tracing and compliance with “inconvenient” Covid-19 rules, and had experienced community transmission that didn’t lead to an outbreak, Dunning said.

The matter will ultimately be decided by the high court.

A person in Orange, in regional NSW, has tested positive to Covid-19.

The person is a close contact with a known cluster in Sydney, Western NSW Local Health District chief executive Scott McLachlan said today.

The case is currently in isolation in the Orange Local Government Area, but has a residential address outside of the health district. The case is linked to a known cluster in Sydney.

The public health unit has contacted all close contacts. They have been provided with public health information which includes to be tested for Covid-19 and remain in isolation for 14 days.

If you have not been contacted by the public health unit you have not been identified as a close contact.

The fever clinic at the Orange Health ervice has been reopened, and will run from 10am to 5pm from tomorrow until Monday for anyone who wants to get tested. A drive-through testing site has also been set up at the Orange showground.

The statement from Western NSW Local Health District was shared on Facebook by the local federal MP, Andrew Gee. He said he shared the information because “all this happened yesterday” and the public weren’t informed.