Public Health expert professor Jack Chow says coronavirus could take months even years to eradicate

COVID-19: Australia’s death toll rising as global infections push one million

Sarah Blake in New York, Stephen Drill in London, Clare Armstrong with staff writers, APNews Corp Australia Network

Scott Morrison has announced parents who need to send their children to childcare will receive the service for free, as two more infected Australians died and global infections pushed one million.

With childcare centres on the brink of collapse, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has intervened to keep the sector open and provide crucial care for families that need it.

From Sunday night, care will be free, with the existing rebate and subsidy system switched off during the pandemic.

Under the plan, the government will pay half of the sector’s fee revenue up to existing hourly caps, based on their operations before parents started withdrawing their children as Australians were forced to work from home.

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The childcare sector is also expected to receive more than $1 billion in wage subsidy payments through the government’s $130 billion JobKeeper scheme.

Scott Morrison in Canberra announcing childcare relief for parents.
Camera IconScott Morrison in Canberra announcing childcare relief for parents. Credit: ABC

“Relief is on its way for around a million Australian families and thousands of early learning educators and carers,” Mr Morrison said.

“These services are vital for so many parents so they can provide for their family, and children need as much familiarity and continuity as we can help provide at this unsettling time. Priority will be given to working parents, vulnerable and disadvantaged children that need early education more than ever and parents with pre-existing enrolments.”

The government has also heeded calls from childcare services to waive gap fees for families who keep their children at home.

The free childcare system will be in place for at least three months, with an extension to be considered after that.

The largest childcare provider, Goodstart Early Learning, said it might still have to shut its 665 centres if it can’t get access to the new JobKeeper wage subsidy.

Goodstart annual turnover of slightly more than $1 billion – the level at which the threshold for access to the subsidy increases for a 30 per cent decline in business to 50 per cent.

It is the only operator in the sector in that position.

“We are seeking an urgent commitment from the Government thatGoodstart can access the Job Keeper payment at the 30 per cent benchmark for our people – only with that commitment can (we) keep our services open for 60,000 families,” Goodstart said in a statement this afternoon.

The government has announced a childcare package to assist the sector through the coronavirus pandemic.
Camera IconThe government has announced a childcare package to assist the sector through the coronavirus pandemic. Credit: Supplied, Thinkstock

It comes as Australia’s death toll from the coronavirus has increased to 23 following the death of two more people in Victoria and Queensland.

A woman in her 70s died of COVID-19 in hospital in Victoria yesterday, becoming the state’s fifth coronavirus victim.

An 85-year-old man died in a Toowoomba hospital overnight, becoming the state’s third coronavirus fatality.

But Health Minister Greg Hunt said a “ring of steel” around the country and strict social distancing measures were helping to flatten the infection curve in Australia.

Speaking at Frankston Hospital this afternoon, Mr Hunt said was cautiously hopeful looking at the infection rates around the country.

“Our numbers have reduced from 25 to 30 per cent a day, to the low tens, down to now below 10 per cent,” Mr Hunt said.

Four key efforts – closing borders to non-residents and citizens, mass testing across much of the country, contract tracing and tight social measures – were making a big difference, he said.

Minister Hunt thanked retired doctors and nurses for considering returning to the workforce to create a surge workforce.

“What I am seeing is the best of Australia at the worst of times,” he said.

US BABY BELIEVED TO BE YOUNGEST VIRUS VICTIM IN THE WORLD

A six-week-old baby died from coronavirus in the US, the youngest reported victim, as the number of people infected with the virus globally pushes towards one million.

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont confirmed the tragedy, saying the baby died late last week.

“It is with heartbreaking sadness today that we can confirm the first paediatric fatality in Connecticut linked to #COVID19,” Mr Lamont said.

“A 6-week-old newborn from the Hartford area was brought unresponsive to a hospital late last week and could not be revived.“

Mr Lamont said testing on Tuesday, local time, confirmed the baby had the virus.

A patient arrives at the Samaritan's Purse field hospital in New York's Central Park.
Camera IconA patient arrives at the Samaritan's Purse field hospital in New York's Central Park. Credit: AP

It was not immediately clear if the newborn had any underlying health conditions.

“This is a virus that attacks our most fragile without mercy,” he said.

“This also stresses the importance of staying home and limiting exposure to other people. Your life and the lives of others could literally depend on it. Our prayers are with the family at this difficult time.”

Mr Lamont said he believed the baby was one of the youngest victims of the disease.

“Testing confirmed last night that the newborn was COVID-19 positive. This is absolutely heartbreaking,” he said.

“We believe this is one of the youngest lives lost anywhere due to complications relating to COVID-19.”

The World Health Organization yesterday warned coronavirus was not just a disease for the elderly after a 13-year-old boy was killed in England.

“We have reports of the deaths of children, one in China and one in America,” said Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, from the WHO’s emergency diseases unit.

It came as America’s death toll continued to climb and hospitals reported they were overwhelmed.

US President Donald Trump last night warned America was facing “a hell of a bad two weeks” and there would be more than 2000 deaths a day within a fortnight.

Patrons wait in line at a Trader Joe's location in the Queens borough of New York.
Camera IconPatrons wait in line at a Trader Joe's location in the Queens borough of New York. Credit: AP

The country needed to brace for a best-case scenario of at least 100,000 deaths, and up to 240,000, Mr Trump said.

Trump today said that he is weighing grounding domestic flights between coronavirus hot spots as he ramps up efforts to try to contain the pandemic’s spread.

“We’re thinking about doing that,” Trump told reporters at a White House briefing.

Limited flights continue to run between cities like New York and Detroit, though passenger counts have plummeted across the nation.

The Transportation Security Administration screened just 146,348 passengers Tuesday, down from 2,026,256 the same day last year.

Worldwide, more than 900,000 people have been infected and more than 45,000 have died, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University, though the real figures are believed to be much higher because of testing shortages, differences in counting the dead and large numbers of mild cases that have gone unreported.

World Health Organization director Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was “deeply concerned about the rapid escalation and global spread of infection”.

“Over the past five weeks, we have witnessed a near exponential growth in the number of new cases reaching almost every country, territory and area,” he said.

“The number of deaths has more than doubled in the past week. In the next few days, we will reach one million confirmed cases and 50,000 deaths.”

INFECTED SAILORS TO BE TAKEN OFF SHIP

Nearly 3000 sailors aboard a US aircraft carrier where the coronavirus has spread will be taken off the ship by Friday, Navy officials said today as they struggle to quarantine crew members in the face of an outbreak.

So far, fewer than 100 of the nearly 5000 sailors assigned to the USS Theodore Roosevelt, now docked in Guam, have tested positive for the virus, but the Navy is moving sailors into various facilities and probably will begin using hotel rooms in the coming days.

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly, however, made it clear that while several thousand will leave the ship, other sailors will remain on board in order to continue to protect the ship and run critical systems.

“We cannot and will not remove all sailors from the ship,” Modly told Pentagon reporters.

He said officials will send as many sailors off the ship as possible while still maintaining safety.

He said about 1000 have gone ashore, and that number will grow to at least 2700 in a couple of days.

The Navy leaders said that they are trying to track down any sailors who came in contact with those now ill and place them in quarantine.

They said almost 1300 sailors have been tested, and as of today, nearly 600 of those tests came back negative. Officials are awaiting more results and more testing.

UN CLIMATE SUMMIT CANNED AMID PANDEMIC

The UN’s COP 26 climate change summit due to take place in the Scottish city of Glasgow in November has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the British government said today.

“In light of the ongoing, worldwide effects of COVID-19, holding an ambitious, inclusive COP26 in November 2020 is no longer possible,” the government said in a statement, adding that dates for a rescheduled conference in 2021 would be announced later.

Some 30,000 people, including 200 world leaders, had been due to attend the 10-day conference for crucial talks to halt rising global temperatures.

A UN panel in 2018 concluded that avoiding global climate chaos needed a major shift in society and the world economy.

Global CO2 emissions needed to drop 45 per cent by 2030 and reach “net zero” by 2050, to limit temperature rises at 1.5 degrees Celsius – the safe cap set as a goal in the Paris accord.

UK CALLS IN ARMY, WIMBLEDON CANCELLED

The UK Government has called in the Army reserves to fight the coronavirus, as Wimbledon was cancelled for the first time since World War II.

There were 563 coronavirus deaths in Britain on Thursday (Australian time) – the equivalent of a patient dying in the UK every two and a half minutes – with criticism about a lack of testing of frontline health workers, let alone the general population.

Britain’s positive COVID-19 cases also rose with 29,474 people infected – up from 25,150 on Tuesday.

Britain’s Department of Health confirmed the number of deaths in the UK have now risen to 2352 – a jump of 563 in 24 hours.

That is the biggest day-on-day increase for the second day running.

Germany has been testing 500,000 people a week, while the UK struggled to test 10,000 a day.

Now the government has called in 3000 army reserves to help its coronavirus fight after the military set up a 4000-bed Nightingale Hospital in East London, which was due to open this week.

Meanwhile, Wimbledon was cancelled for 2020 instead of being postponed.

Organisers were unable to move the fixture because they could not guarantee that courts would be able to stand up to two weeks of play during the cooler months.

“This is a decision that we have not taken lightly, and we have done so with the highest regard for public health and the wellbeing of all those who come together to make Wimbledon happen,” Ian Hewitt, the All England Lawn Tennis Club Chairman, said.

“It has weighed heavily on our minds that the staging of The Championships has only been interrupted previously by World Wars but … we believe that it is a measure of this global crisis that it is ultimately the right decision to cancel this year’s Championships.”

UK Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said the 3000 reservists would be needed for six months.

“Our reservists are a truly remarkable group of people, each with their own skills and experience from their civilian careers beyond the armed forces,” he said.

“I know that our reservists will answer the nation’s call with real enthusiasm and will play a key part in our response to COVID-19.”

Only 2000 of the National Health Services 1.2 million staff have been tested, as authorities assess the quality of millions of tests they have ordered from China.

And it comes after a hero doctor, Dr Alfa Saadu, 68, was killed by the coronavirus after the National Health Service asked medics to come out of retirement to help fight the disease.

There have also been concerns about a shortage of masks and protective equipment for medical staff.

“It is now clear that the lack of PPE for frontline workers has become a crisis within a crisis. Workers are being exposed to unreasonable and unnecessary risk by the ongoing failure to provide key workers with adequate PPE … Key workers deserve better. They are risking their own health and safety for us”, a joint statement from UK medical unions said on Thursday Australian time.

There were 10,000 people in the UK in hospital with the disease on Thursday Australian time, with more than 3000 of those in London, amid warnings 80 per cent of people on ventilators will die.

The UK public appeared to be sliding from its adherence to its lockdown rules, with car traffic rising.

Yvonne Doyle, director of health protection for Public Health England, said: “This shows a slightly concerning trend, because we have seen an uptick in motor vehicle traffic.

“Most are doing the right thing, as you can see from the rapid decline in public transport use.

“Everyone needs to do that.”

Meanwhile, British American Tobacco has made the bold claim that it had found a vaccine that could be produced in six months, despite rivals saying it could take up to three times longer.

The company has been producing a tobacco plant with a COVID-19 antibody it said would fight the disease.

ITALY RECORDS LOWEST DAILY INCREASE IN DEATHS

Italy added another 4782 virus infections to bring its official total to 110,574.

And Italy’s death toll, already the highest in the world, increased by another 727 victims to 13,155 – the lowest number since March 26.

But the rate of new infections continued its levelling off, and Lombardy officials reported continued easing of the pressure on intensive care units, where the numbers have fluctuated from 1328 patients on Sunday to 1342 on Wednesday.

Local officials and statisticians, however, have noted that Lombardy’s ICU numbers might not be rising because ICU are full and because many elderly people aren’t being brought to hospitals and are dying at home or in nursing homes where their deaths might not even be recorded as COVID-19 because they were never tested.

But if the trend of fewer hospital admissions continues and more ICU beds free up, “probably we’ll be able to admit patients who are being treated at home, because we can treat them at home, but just not in optimal safety” said Dr. Guido Marinoni, president of the order of doctors in hard-hit Bergamo

TEEN VICTIM ‘COULD’VE BEEN SAVED’

It comes as a “healthy” teenager who died after developing coronavirus could have been saved if he had been diagnosed earlier, according to Italian authorities.

Luca Di Nicola, 19, from the town of Nereto in eastern Italy, died at the North Middlesex Hospital in north London on 24 March.

The teen, originally from Italy but living in North London, is one of the UK’s youngest COVID-19 victim with no underlying health conditions.

Luca had visited his GP with coronavirus symptoms last week but was reportedly given paracetamol and told he had “nothing to worry about”.

His condition reportedly deteriorated on 23 March and he was visited at home by his GP, who is said to have told him, “you’re young, strong and you shouldn’t worry about this bad influenza”.

But his condition worsened and he was rushed to North Middlesex Hospital after his lips “turned purple” and he collapsed.

The teen passed away the next day.

A spokesman for the hospital said in a statement a 19-year-old man had “very sadly” died “soon after” arriving at A&E. He tested positive for COVID-19 after he died.

The deputy mayor of Nereto, Maria Angela Lelii, told the BBC there would be “a different conversation” had Mr Di Nicola returned to Italy for treatment.

His dad Mirko Di Nicolahas told La Repubblica newspaper he has since received a letter from North Middlesex Hospital confirming his son had tested positive for the killer virus.

Paying tribute, he added: “Luca has been tested positive for coronavirus.

“Rest in piece my little angel, keep on flying. You are in our souls.”

National Health Service staff wait in their cars to take a coronavirus test at a drive through centre in north London.
Camera IconNational Health Service staff wait in their cars to take a coronavirus test at a drive through centre in north London. Credit: AP

PANAMA SEPARATING MEN AND WOMEN

Starting Wednesday (local time), only women will be allowed to leave their homes to buy necessities on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Men will be allowed out to run errands on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Everyone will have to stay home on Sundays.

The restrictions will last for at least 15 days, according to government officials, CNN reports.

Panama has 1075 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 27 deaths, according to health officials, and has already taken some of the toughest measures in the region to stop the spread of the illness.

Five health workers have tested positive to coronavirus in the remote Kimberley Region.

The new cases have been detected in a community where half of all residents are indigenous.

Those diagnosed, The Australian reports, include an employee of the WA Country Health Service in Halls Creek, a service hub for remote Aboriginal communities.

Three of the other Kimberley health workers were in Broome and one was in Kununurra near the Northern Territory border.

Australia’s death toll has risen to 21 and the number of cases is 4860 but authorities say the curve is “flattening”.

The new comes as the US on Wednesday (local time) surpassed 200,000 novel coronavirus cases, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.

The pandemic has claimed the lives of at least 4361 people in the United States, which leads the world in the number of confirmed infections with 203,608, by the Johns Hopkins count.

The death toll was at 4361, doubling within three days. Forty per cent of the fatalities were in New York State, which has been the epicentre of the virus in the US.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly says the curve is flattening but Australians must not be complacent.
Camera IconDeputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly says the curve is flattening but Australians must not be complacent. Credit: AAP

The number of cases in Spain has surpassed 100,000 while the number of fatalities reported has reached a new record, the country’s health ministry says.

The number of cases rose to 102,136 on Wednesday up from 94,417 on Tuesday, the ministry said.

Overall fatalities caused by the disease rose to 9053 from 8189 on Tuesday. The daily death toll reached a record 864, though the increase was lower in percentage terms than during the previous days.

Despite the figures, Spain’s Health Minister assured the nation the pandemic is “stabilising”.

An employee of Great Asia food store sprays disinfectant as a preventive measure against coronavirus in Melbourne.
Camera IconAn employee of Great Asia food store sprays disinfectant as a preventive measure against coronavirus in Melbourne. Credit: AAP

China’s National Health Commission has reported 36 new COVID-19 cases, one day after announcing that asymptomatic cases will now be included in the official count.

The commission said there were 130 new asymptomatic cases reported over the previous 24 hours, and two were reported as confirmed cases.

So far there were 1367 asymptomatic cases under quarantine, said Mi Feng, spokesman of the commission.

The move to disclose the number of asymptomatic cases comes amid scrutiny of China’s reported figures, which previously only included people who exhibited symptoms.

Federal parliament will resume for a special sitting next Wednesday to consider the JobKeeper legislation so cash can start flowing to businesses as soon as possible.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has spoken to Labor leader Anthony Albanese about the matter with the final details yet to be decided.

More than 452,236 businesses applied to access the wage subsidy in the first three days since it was announced.

The subsidy is expected to hit businesses on May 1, but will be backdated to March 30 meaning employers can pay workers $1,500 a fortnight now and get reimbursed once the measure kicks in.

It comes as one of the nation’s top health chiefs has revealed Australia’s coronavirus curve is “flattening” but that it was vital that people still continue following social distancing guidelines.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly advised all Australians to get their seasonal flu shots as quickly as possible.

He warned “it is not time to take the foot off the brake” when it comes to strict social isolation measures.

“We haven’t had a large increase in the last 24 hours although the numbers continue to increase,” Dr Kelly said. “We are continuing to get more cases but the curve is flattening and rather than thinking about a peak we should be thinking about a long haul. That’s really the most important thing.

“This is very good news but it is not time to take the foot off the brake. We need to continue those measures, possibly for some months.”

Dr Kelly said he did not think Australia could eliminate the COVID-19 virus without a vaccine, but cautioned it could take between 12 to 18 months.

RETIRED DOCTORS CALLED IN

Up to 40,0000 retired doctors, nurses, midwives and pharmacists are being urged to return to work to boost the fight against the coronavirus.

From Monday, Australian health authorities will re-register qualified medics who have left work in the past three years under a “pandemic response sub-register”.

Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency CEO Martin Fletcher said the potential addition of thousands of practitioners would and relieve the pressure on those already working.

“Even if we get only 5 per cent or 10 per cent of practitioners wanting to stay on the sub-register, we’re talking about somewhere between 2,000 to 4,000 additional practitioners available to the health system,” he told the ABC.

“I think every bit is going to help.”

– with staff writers and AP