Coronavirus update, 24/3 - 'My Bad'
Robert "jumped the gun" - toilet paper is back - and wholesome possums
Hello, welcome to #6 of ‘5+5: coronavirus edition’ for March 24.
Each day I’m bringing you 5 big things to know, and 5 other bits, about the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. I’ll be calling out misinformation and dodgy claims; sharing good news and bad news; giving you resources to do your own fact-checks, to not fall for shit, and keep abreast of the latest info — because who honestly has time to consume every bit of the fire hose of news that’s being blasted out every day?
You can email me at joshb2@protonmail.com or find me on Twitter at @joshbutler if you have tips, feedback, ideas or just want to chat. If I’ve made a mistake, shared something I shouldn’t have, or done something wrong, please tell me. I’ll be here.
Wash your hands and sneeze into your elbow. Practise physical distancing - at least 1.5 metres of separation. “Stay the fuck at home”.
5 BIG THINGS
Today’s statistics:
The latest stats from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering (as of 5.55am Sydney time on 24/3) report 372,563 confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide. There have been 16,318 deaths, and 100,885 people have recovered.
[Note: I’ve been directing people to the World Health Organisation’s numbers (you can find those here) but they’re only updating once a day, are often more than 24 hours old and the JHU numbers are coming more regularly.]
In Australia — the latest federal Department of Health stats (as of 3pm Monday) show 1709 cases, a jump of 313 since the day before. That’s obviously going to go up a fair bit soon as states report their newest figures — NSW, for instance, this morning announced a spike of 149 overnight. This is the latest graph from the federal department:
Stuart Robert’s explanation: “my bad”
There’s a new instalment in the saga of Stuart Robert And The Cyber Attack That Never Was. As detailed yesterday, Centrelink queues stretched for blocks around the nation as people tried to apply for new unemployment payments, and despite the government (belatedly) telling people to apply online instead, the MyGov website went down. Government services minister Stuart Robert claimed just after 1pm that there had been a cyber attack on the website, causing it to go down, but less than two hours later, he admitted that wasn’t the case. Many had questions — including, from yours truly, “sorry, what the fuck?”
Well, Robert has detailed on 2GB what happened, admitting he “jumped the gun” and appeared to say he didn’t wait for an investigation into the online incident before confidently blaming it on a cyber attack in a nationally televised press conference. Oh well, we’ve all been there. Robert’s explanation:
“After a couple weeks of some quite serious cyber activity, at 9.40[am] we had massive spikes, 98,000 concurrent requests, normally it's 6000, all of our cyber warnings go off, then we investigated and I probably should have waited for the investigation before jumping the gun and believing the warnings.”
Robert then said “my bad” for “not realising the sheer scale of the decision on Sunday night by national leaders that literally saw hundreds of thousands, maybe a million, people unemployed overnight.”
Meanwhile, queues outside Centrelink offices remain.
Good news for Centrelink recipients
While Robert has shed some light on the cyber attack that never was, he also had some good news for people lining up nationwide. He claimed that even if applicants couldn’t put in their forms for a few days, they would not lose out on much-needed cash, and that they would be backpaid from Monday (yesterday) when their first payment arrives.
“You don’t need to queue up on Centrelink… no-one will go without, we’re surging resources into MyGov,” he said, asking people also to call up the MyGov phone lines on 132 850, with “thousands” of new call centre workers and extended hours from 8am-8pm weekdays, and 9am-5pm on weekends. Here is the online link.
Other good news is that late-night amendments in parliament last night saw Austudy, Abstudy and Youth Allowance payments added to the coronavirus supplement, after they were initially left out of the payment increase.
Testing to be expanded
On ABC’s Q&A last night, deputy chief medical officer Dr Paul Kelly (not the gravy man) flagged changes to Australia’s testing regime which could see a wider range of people screened for COVID-19. Currently, people generally need to have been overseas recently, or been in contact with a known case, and have the symptoms, to get a test — but Kelly said the travel part could be relaxed soon. This comes after Australia’s borders were effectively shut to foreigners, meaning fewer people will be returning directly from overseas at this point.
“We'll be removing the traveller component but we're working on that at the moment," Kelly said.
Toilet paper is coming back
It seems, in some parts of the country, the great toilet paper shortage is over. Maybe people have already bulk-bought enough to assemble their Quilton thrones, maybe they’ve simply realised that — yes, even in a shutdown — the supermarkets will remain open; but photos all over the nation are showing huge stacks of toilet paper showing up in shops, and they’re not being accompanied with bloodsport-style conflict to purchase them.
I haven’t seen toilet paper on shelves in literally weeks, and was beginning to think I’d imagined it ever being there — was it all a dream? — but even my housemate walked through the door with a packet yesterday. What a time to be alive.
Hope you manage to get some!
5 OTHER THINGS:
IOC member Dick Pound says the Olympics won’t happen in July (story here)
Brits are being told to stay home, and only leave for essential purposes (story here)
NSW bars, told to shutdown and not admit guests, have been allowed to offer drinks and cocktails for home delivery (story here). A good move which hopefully allow a few bars to stay afloat during this shutdown period.
This ad:
This isn’t coronavirus-related, but it will help you through self-isolation. Kailas has been spending a lot of time on Kangaroo Island, helping rescue koalas and other wildlife injured in the devastating bushfires (god, doesn’t that feel like a long time ago?). I interviewed him a while ago, and his Twitter feed is one of the most wholesome things in the world, and this video of a possum eating an almond is my little treat to you today. Go check him out for more similarly good stuff (story here)
IMPORTANT EVERY DAY:
be hygienic; wash your hands properly, for at least 30 seconds with soap and water, multiple times a day (here’s how you need to do it, plus a handy Dr Karl video tutorial); sneeze and cough into your elbows; use hand sanitiser
Good hygiene is in your hands. Regularly wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap and water. Learn more at health.gov.au #COVID19Listen to only official information from the World Health Organisation and legitimate health bodies
World Health Organisation latest statistics here
Australian government latest statistics here
Don’t share dodgy stuff on Facebook. If it looks too good (or bad) to be true, it often is. Verify, fact-check, don’t be part of the misinformation problem
Signing off - stay safe, be healthy, look after yourself and others
Josh