COVID Latest: NSW apology after Ruby Princess 'mistakes'
Monday: VIC' deadliest day; 'woeful' mental health response; 2021 vaccine?
Hi! It’s Monday, August 17. Here is today’s ‘5+5: coronavirus edition’ — 5 things to know about COVID-19 today, + 5 non-corona things as well.
As always, hit me up with thoughts, suggestions, ideas and tips. Email me at joshbutler.journalist@protonmail.com, or DM me on Twitter at @joshbutler.
Find my stuff at The New Daily here, and sign up for TND’s own excellent daily newsletter here.
Latest AU stats: as of 9pm Sunday, Australia has 23,288 reported cases of COVID-19 (that’s +285 since the day before), with 14,080 reported as ‘recovered’, and 396 deaths, according to the latest federal Department of Health stats. More stats below.
5 CORONAVIRUS THINGS
‘Woefully inadequate’ COVID mental health response
I’ve been looking into what the federal government has been doing for mental health issues spurred by the coronavirus pandemic - from stress and depression, to loneliness and self-harm, and fears of longer-term effects like domestic violence and ongoing trauma. In the words of one respected suicide prevention expert, it’s been “woefully inadequate”.
“Only $5 million for Headspace? You may as well have a bonfire, for the effectiveness it will have,” said John Mendoza, adjunct professor at the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre. “It’s completely off the scale for what’s needed.”
Read my full story here.
(I must note too, however, that since publishing that story this morning, the federal government has announced “an additional $31.9 million to create 15 mental health clinics across Victoria and further enhance essential support during the COVID-19 pandemic” - with health minister Greg Hunt to outline more today.)
VIC’s deadliest day
Victoria has just logged another grim record - 25 COVID deaths on Sunday, the highest single-day figure in the country (link). Of those, 22 were linked to aged care, with shocking stories still emerging from the state’s nursing home sector.
My colleague Sam and I worked on this story about the difficulties still being faced in aged care in Victoria, despite huge federal and state attention to stem the spiking cases. Two new homes in Victoria have come under attention this weekend, with dozens of new cases linked to the Goonawarra and Dhutta Galla centres, and some horror stories emerging from those facilities.
Vaccine by mid-2021?
Back on Greg Hunt, the health minister says he’s “optimistic” a COVID vaccine will be with us in coming months (link). Speaking Sunday, he said he was "cautiously but genuinely optimistic" that a jab was not far off, with Australia said to be in advanced negotiations with several promising candidates for vaccines. Currently, many dozens of vaccines are in development worldwide, with a race on to be the first useful example.
Australia is pushing to be toward the front of the line to get a vaccine when supplies become available, with hopes that we could get a decent supply line from overseas or start manufacturing our own stocks here. I’ve been writing about those negotiations a bit - here and here, if you’re interested in more.
Ruby Princess apology
The NSW government has apologised after admitting “mistakes” in how it handled the Ruby Princess cruise ship. Passengers were allowed to disembark the boat in March in Sydney, despite several onboard having COVID symptoms. Errors between NSW and federal authorities meant people were not stopped from leaving, and only later was it realised that some passengers had COVID. By then, it was too late - the Ruby Princess has been linked to more than 600 cases and around 30 deaths.
The exact circumstances have been the subject of hot debate. But finally, last week, a special inquiry found NSW Health had dropped the ball. On Monday, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian ofered a “heartfelt apology to anyone who experienced any additional hurt, stress and trauma due to the mistakes made by NSW Health” (link).
“We have learned from the Ruby Princess and the public can have confidence we will avoid such a situation occurring again,” she said.
Today’s stats:
The latest stats from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering (as of 9.30am AEST Monday) report 21,613,183 confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide. There have been 774,288 deaths.
The United States has 5,403,218 confirmed cases; Brazil is next on 3,340,197, then India (2,589,682). The U.S. has the most deaths (170,052), then Brazil (107,852) and Mexico third on 56,757.
In Australia, the latest federal stats (as of 9pm Sunday) show 23,288 cases, 14,080 people recovered, and 396 deaths.
5 OTHER THINGS
New Zealand has delayed its election for a month, citing fears around a sudden increase in cases (link) after the country had eradicated the virus.
The federal government is looking to cut “red tape” around licensing and qualifications for tradespeople. Currently, different states can have different schemes, meaning tradies have to obtain two or more licenses (and pay multiple application fees) to work in different jurisdictions - but changes proposed by the government would replace that with a system whereby state qualifications are recognised nationally. Read my full story here.
Younger Australians are worse off than their parents, with the COVID pandemic feared to only exacerbate the issue. A new actuarial report has found “today’s young people have significantly better health, education, and social outcomes than previous generations of young people – but worse economic, housing and environmental outcomes” (link).
Absolutely enormous protests in Belarus continue, after disputed elections saw its president Alexander Lukashenk returned to power - after evidence of poll-rigging and violence at ballot boxes, according to the BBC (link). They are described as the biggest protests in the country’s history, coming after Lukashenko’s political rivals were targeted and some forced to flee the country (link).
11 years ago, Usain Bolt did this. It’s a reminder that, in an alternate universe 2020, we’d all have spent the last few weeks enjoying the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, and yours truly would have been there covering it. Oh well. I’m definitely not still salty about it…
IMPORTANT EVERY DAY
Be hygienic; wash your hands properly, 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.
Listen to only official information from the World Health Organisation and legitimate health bodies — Don’t share dodgy stuff on Facebook. If it looks too good (or bad) to be true, it often is.
World Health Organisation latest statistics here; Australian government latest statistics here.
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Email me at joshbutler.journalist@protonmail.com for tips, ideas or just to chat. You can also find me on Twitter at @joshbutler; on Facebook; and Instagram.
Signing off — stay safe, be healthy, look after yourself and others.
Josh