Two border force officers test positive to coronavirus
Two Australian border force officers have tested positive to coronavirus, multiple outlets have reported.
Australian Border Force confirms two of its officers have tested positive to coronavirus. One of the officers is in NSW, the other is in Queensland. Border Force says contact tracing has been conducted @abcnews
An ABF spokesperson told SBS: “Both Queensland and NSW Health are providing the officers with medical advice and guidance, and contact tracing has been conducted with other ABF officers and other staff who may have had close contact with the officers.”
A second woman recently returned from a cruise in Europe on the MSC Fantasia.
The NT health department is contacting passengers who sat close to these people on their flights. It is not required under national medical guidelines for the woman on the cruise because of a delay between her return and becoming unwell, a government statement said.
Australian soldiers will help police and health officers enforce quarantine restrictions in Darwin this week as new restrictions on the sale of takeaway alcohol were also introduced to stop public gatherings.
A 52-year-old man in Darwin who returned from overseas eight days ago had been fined $1,099 for failing to adhere to the 14-day self-quarantine order, NT police said in a statement.
The NT Liquor licensing director, Philip Timney, has introduced controls as part of the public health emergency that require people buying alcohol to show ID proving they live or are staying in that area to prevent public gatherings of people drinking, breaching social distancing rules.
The Northern Territory government is not yet enforcing tough new social restrictions that limit public gatherings to two people but says it will do so if the public does not comply.
NT police would enforce limits on 10 people for now but the health minister, Natasha Fyles, urged people to follow Australian government and World Health Organization guidelines to gather in groups of no more than two or just with family members to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
“If we need to act, if we don’t see compliance, of course, we will need to shift our focus,” Fyles said.
“Right now the 10 people is what will be enforced but we do encourage people to minimise their contact, minimise going out in public to avoid the coronavirus in the Northern Territory.”
Another four Darwin residents who recently returned from overseas had been been diagnosed with the coronavirus on Tuesday, taking the total in the NT to 19.
Two Darwin men, aged in their late 20s, had been in self-quarantine since returning and are now in Royal Darwin hospital. The first man flew from Sydney to Darwin on flight VA1351 on 20 March. The second man travelled on flight QF838 from Melbourne to Darwin on 25 March.
A woman in her 40s had been in the Philippines before returning to Darwin on flight QF840 from Sydney last Friday and had tested positive.
That’s significant as the Rugby League Players Association seeks to make a new pay deal with the NRL. The AFL and AFLPA inked an agreement last week.
The ABC report suggests the new wage subsidy might bring the AFL and the players parties to the table and that it will have an impact on negotiations within rugby league.
Kmart store shut after two staff test positive for Covid-19
A Kmart store at Australia’s largest shopping centre has been forced to shut its doors after two staff members tested positive for coronavirus.
The store is at Chadstone, in Melboure’s south-eastern suburbs.
A Kmart spokesperson confirmed “two casual team members at the Chadstone store who worked on Saturday 28 March have returned a positive result for Covid-19”.
“As soon as we were made aware, we immediately closed the store as a safety precaution and commenced a thorough sanitisation of the store,” the spokesperson said.
“We are working closely with the department of health and have been advised that there is minimal risk to any customers.”
It might seem obvious that local councils have now cancelled their citizenship ceremonies in the midst of the coronavirus crisis.
Initially last month there was a suggestion that ceremonies could go ahead without handshakes. Rules around social distancing have put an end to that.
For some, the delay might have serious consequences.
“I get the law is the law and I knew that when I moved here, but to be in the situation where only a ceremony prevents me from gaining my citizenship papers seems crazy,” Aaron Bell, a New Zealander, told Guardian Australia.
Bell has been in Australia nine years and had his citizenship approved after a long and costly process. Now all he needs is to attend a ceremony.
Although he notes that New Zealanders have been granted access to the government’s new jobkeeper program, he is worried that he remains locked out of the wider welfare safety net.
“If I were to lose my job I have no access to any income support, a situation many immigrants from varying countries would also be in depending on the visa they hold,” he said.
“Whilst it hasn’t happened yet and maybe I will end up being kept on thanks to the jobkeeper benefit for my company, the stress is real. I have a mortgage, a wife and two children under 11 – the bills keep coming if my income has gone.
“Believe it or not my next door neighbour from Ireland is in the same situation. It just seems like an easy fix for one group of people.
“Surely some common sense could be used for the hundreds if not thousands that are in my situation. Forgo the ceremonies and make us citizens now. Livelihoods are at stake.”
Land councils in the Pilbara have launched an emergency response group and website to provide local information about the response to the coronavirus crisis.
The group, Recov19er, hosts a daily teleconference update at 11.30am to ensure accurate information is being shared among Pilbara Aboriginal communities.
People can email in specific questions. Western Australia has introduced penalties for people travelling between regional areas, unless it’s for work, education, or another “essential” purpose, and has also closed access to some remote Aboriginal communities in an attempt to prevent the virus from spreading to those areas.
The portal is a collaboration between Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation, Nyamal Aboriginal Corporation, and other native title groups and Aboriginal leaders in the Pilbara.
The Nyamal Aboriginal Corporation co-director, Gavin Mitchell, said they were “working to ensure we are listening to all of our communities’ needs at this critical time to allow us to continue to provide information through to those assisting with this health emergency”.
“We thank you all for your input so far and if you have any questions, comments, feedback or suggestions, please get in touch with us.”
Felicity Sowerbutts, from the Young Workers Centre, told Radio National it (and the union movement) are campaigning for “no worker to be left behind” by the government’s new wage subsidy, the jobkeeper payment. She cites the fact that 1m casuals who have been with their employers for less than a year and 1.1m temporary visa holders are not eligible.
She said:
“Some workers [who miss out] can apply for the jobseeker allowance, but temporary visa workers cannot – so they are left high and dry.
“For those eligible, they can do that, but a wage subsidy we think should apply to all workers, because it keeps workers connected to their employers. When we’re through these tough times employers can get up and running more quickly, so that employers and workers can bounce back quicker.”
Sowerbutts also makes the point that many casual workers in the worst-affected sectors such as hospitality and retail have already lost their jobs, and will now need to approach their (former) employers and ask them to opt-in to the jobkeeper payment.
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