Australia pounds coronavirus curve: Just seven new cases in 24 hours as states ease restrictions

Australia recorded just seven new cases of coronavirus on Monday, as the country’s chief medial officer shed light on the ‘problematic’ issue of when to allow pubs and restaurants to reopen.   

A total of four states and territories recorded no new cases as Australia’s lockdown restrictions continue to smash the COVID-19 curve. 

Australia’s reduction of new infections is the envy of the world, with the global number of cases rising to more than three million globally on Monday night. 

Australia recorded just seven new cases of coronavirus on Monday as the Government said it would increase testing ahead of lifting restrictions

Western Australia, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory all had no new cases on Monday.

Victoria recorded one new infection but had a separate case reclassified to New South Wales – leaving the state’s total unchanged at 1,349.

New South Wales and Tasmania had two new cases each while Queensland had three. 

Australia now has a total of 6,721 confirmed cases of which 83 have died and 5,588 have recovered.

Of the 1,050 active cases, 43 people are in intensive care and 27 are on ventilators. 

Customers queue to be let in at JB Hi-Fi in Macquarie Shopping Centre, Sydney on Monday. Coronavirus restrictions mean only a few people can be in the store at any one time

Western Australia has relaxed the two-person limit on public gatherings on Monday with up to 10 people now allowed to meet. Pictured: a picnic in Sir James Mitchell Park, Perth, on Monday

Australia has crushed the curve of new cases, as Health Department figures from Monday show – but Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy warned people not to be complacent

Travel bans, closed borders and business shutdowns have slashed the number of new cases each day by up to 90 per cent in less than a month. 

Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said on Monday the government’s ‘suppression’ strategy was working.

He said that if the progress continued, restrictions may soon be gently relaxed – meaning people would be able to sit on a park bench or possibly hold small gatherings.  

Prof Murphy said if there were no outbreaks as a result of easing those restrictions, further shutdown measures would be relaxed.

Flowers outside Newmarch House in western Sydney on Sunday (pictured). A sixth resident died on Saturday morning at the nursing home where almost 50 people have been infected. NSW is the coronavirus epicentre of Australia with more than 3000 cases as of Monday

Macquarie Shopping Centre carpark, Sydney, with levels closed due to coronavirus on Monday

Prof Murphy said a major concern is that Australians would become complacent with social distancing as the curve continues to flatten.   

‘That’s an ongoing worry. Obviously it’s much better to be in the position we are now than the one we were in a month ago,’ he told the ABC’s 7.30.

‘Particularly in some states that have had no cases for some days, it is hard to keep that message. That’s why the National Cabinet wants to look at whether there are some safe measures that could potentially be relaxed in two or three weeks.

‘But they want to be able absolutely before we do that that we are really well prepared in our public health response for any outbreaks that can occur. We’ve seen already how infectious this virus is.’

Prof Murphy said the priority is getting children back to school. 

Northern Territory schools have resumed classes already while Western Australia and South Australia were on the way, he said.  

Restaurants are likely to reopen with restrictions sooner than pubs and clubs which would be more ‘problematic’, Prof Murphy said.  

‘If earlier relaxation were not accompanied by further outbreaks, we were still under good control, and a period of time had elapsed where measures had not had an adverse effect as it takes two weeks for measures to have an impact,’ he told A Current Affair on Monday night.

He was also optimistic about lifting the ban on international travel in the longer term.  

‘At the moment, we don’t look at changing the quarantine requirements. You have seen the number of cases in those countries,’ he said. 

‘There is a lot of work being done, we are looking at the next three and four months, then we will review. I don’t want to be crystal ball gazing, our priority is to keep Australians safe and let us return to normal life.’

Some changes would be permanent, however.

‘Hand hygiene is here forever. People won’t treat their hands the same way, ever,’ he said. 

Prof Murphy said people in the 20 to 29-year-old age bracket had the highest number of coronavirus cases in Australia, followed by those in their 40s. 

He said these people were also more likely to spread it because their symptoms were usually mild, so they may go to work not realising they are infectious.  

Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said testing would increase greatly before the National Cabinet decides whether to lift restrictions in a couple of weeks. Pictured: a FIFO worker at a drive-through mineral resources testing facility in Perth on Friday

A man runs past a tree in Melbourne on Sunday. The tree appears surprised that the jogger is not wearing a facemask, as heavy breathing can spread droplets further than 1.5m

The Health Protection Principal Committee talked on Monday about significantly expanding coronavirus testing across the country.

‘We’ll be starting tests in asymptomatic people to make absolutely sure we’re capturing every case we can,’ Dr Murphy told a press conference on Monday.

‘We don’t think we’re missing a significant number of cases but if we’re going to consider at the National Cabinet in a couple of weeks time the relaxing of social distancing measures, we have to be so well prepared.’  

The top priority will be health and aged care workers who may be tested randomly in what is called ‘sentinel’ testing to ensure the virus is not silently spreading asymptomatically through care workers to the most vulnerable.    

Dr Murphy said while it was unlikely, there was a possibility that Australia could lose control if it relaxed restrictions and there was a community outbreak that spread to tens of thousands of people such as what happened in New York and Italy.

‘That’s why we’re being so cautious, even though the case numbers are good,’ he said.

Dr Murphy said he had been excited by the rapid uptake of the CovidSafe app, designed to help trace contacts of anybody diagnosed with the deadly virus.

Federal Health Department figures for Monday showing the transmission breakdown of each state’s cases. Most cases were caught overseas but a worryingly large number in NSW have come from unidentified community transmission

Despite the successes, Prof Murphy said the virus was highly infectious and people had to remain vigilant, saying people would have to change the way they interact for the forseeable future.

Stage three restrictions on gatherings and leaving the house without a valid reason brought in on March 31 are expected to crush the curve over the remainder of April, however states encouraged by the gains are now moving to lift restrictions. 

Western Australia relaxed the two-person limit on public gatherings on Monday with up to 10 people now allowed to meet.

People in WA can also now take part in activities like fishing, boating, camping, hiking or having a picnic in the park as long as they are no-contact activities.

The state has a total of 549 coronavirus cases and has had no new cases for two day running.

WA Premier Mark McGowan warned this would likely change with four overseas flights carrying hundreds of returning Australians which arrive in Perth this week. 

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk yesterday announced the easing of restrictions in Queensland from next weekend, allowing residents to shop for non-essentials, sunbake at the beach or go on a picnic. 

People will be allowed out for a drive – but only within 50km of their home. 

Queensland had a total of 1033 cases as of Monday night. 

The Northern Territory, which has had no increase to its 28 cases in the three weeks since April 6, has also moved to ease restrictions.

Western Australia had no new coronavirus cases and eased its lockdown. Pictured is the bronze Eliza statue on the Swan River, dressed in a medical costume on Monday

NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner announced on Monday that the Territory is looking to reopen for business and would release a roadmap on Thursday.

The Territory’s national parks are also scheduled to reopen at noon on Friday allowing people to camp, swim and hike.

The Australian Capital Territory had no increase in cases on Monday to remain at a total of 106 – but stopped short of promising to ease restrictions.

Instead the ACT is to expand coronavirus testing, the Canberra Times reported. 

South Australia is also keeping its restrictions in place for now despite enjoying the fifth straight day with no new cases on Monday for the first time since the outbreak began. 

South Australia’s lockdown is not as tough as in other states with gatherings of up to 10 people allowed along with travel for non-essential purposes.

The state’s chief public health officer Professor Nicola Spurrier said restrictions would be eased off incrementally. 

New South Wales has some of the toughest restrictions in the nation, and Premier Gladys Berejiklian told Radio 2GB on Monday that they would be unraveled in stages, announced twice per month.

‘Once people ease back into normal active life … the number of cases will go up,’ she warned. 

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 6,721

New South Wales: 3,004

Victoria: 1,349

Queensland: 1,033

Western Australia: 549

South Australia: 438

Tasmania: 214

Australian Capital Territory: 106

Northern Territory: 28

TOTAL CASES:  6,721

RECOVERED: 5,588

DEAD: 83

Australia’s most populous state is the epicenter of the nation’s coronavirus epidemic with 3004 cases on Monday. 

Schools are set to partially reopen in NSW for face-to-face teaching from May 11, the ABC reported. 

Popular Sydney beaches have been reopened then closed again after authorities found people not keeping a safe distance from each other.

Bondi, Bronte and Tamarama beaches will reopen again on Tuesday morning but for local swimmers and surfers only, not for sunbathers, walkers or joggers.

The beaches will open from 7am to 5pm and have designated entry and exit points.

Victoria will not make a decision on easing its stage three restrictions until after a testing blitz of 100,000 people over the next two weeks. 

Premier Daniel Andrews said on Monday that no matter what the test results were, not all the restrictions would be lifted.

‘This is the biggest public health testing program that our state has ever seen and it will give us the data that will underpin the options that we will have in just a couple of weeks’ time,’ Mr Andrews said. 

Tasmania confirmed two more cases of coronavirus on Monday in an outbreak in the state’s northwest near the town of Burnie.

The outbreak was first said to be a result of an ‘illegal dinner party’ of healthcare workers but this has now been quashed by police.

Tasmania Police said on Monday that investigators found no evidence of such a gathering.

Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein said an independent review would be held into the outbreak. 

Mr Gutwein said Tasmania would not be lifting restrictions early unlike other states. 

‘I don’t want to have a knee-jerk reaction and take away restrictions too early only to have to bring them back again,’ he said on Monday.

AUSTRALIANS RUSH FOR CORONAVIRUS TRACING APP 

Almost two million Australians have downloaded the coronavirus tracing app within a day of its release, far exceeding expectations. 

The COVIDSafe app is designed to help health officials identify people who have come into contact with somebody infected with the disease.

The voluntary app became available for download on Sunday evening and has the backing of doctors, nurses, businesses, bankers and travel agents. 

By Monday afternoon 1.89 million people had downloaded the app, far exceeding the one million within five days that was initially expected.  

The government ultimately wants at least 40 per cent of the population on board.

The tech community has swung behind the new contact tracing software after analysing it with privacy concerns in mind. 

Software developer Matthew Robbins says the general consensus among his peers is that the app is fine.

‘It’s totally fine to install and it’s a good public service to do so,’ he told AAP. 

Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes urged the tech community to ‘turn the … angry mob mode off’ and instead help the government fight misinformation.

‘When asked by non-technical people ‘Should I install this app? Is my data/privacy safe? Is it true it doesn’t track my location?’ – say ‘Yes’ and help them understand,’ he wrote on the Hacker News discussion board.

‘Remind them how little time they think before they download dozens of free, adware crap games that are likely far worse for their data & privacy than this ever would be!’ 

Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said the commonwealth would never have access to the data collected.

‘We have locked this down so completely, so thoroughly with the biosecurity rule, with legislation that is coming, the only people who can access the data are the state and territory health officials,’ he told reporters.

‘We have a compact with the Australian public: this app will only ever be used by public health officials in the purposes of contact tracing.’

And Mr Hunt confirmed people concerned about privacy could use a fake name to register. 

Legislation making misuse of the data collected via the app a jailable offence is expected be taken to federal parliament in May. 

 Source: AAP

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