Coronavirus Australia live updates: Sydney school evacuated over virus fears
Waverley College in Sydney’s east texted parents this morning after a case was confirmed overnight and pictures show police escorting children from the school today.
“Urgent advice: a member of the Senior Campus has tested positive for COVID-19 and is in isolation,” the text read. “As a precaution, we ask that you collect your son immediately.”
Just hours later, Moriah College, also in the city’s eastern suburbs, asked parents to collect their children.
It comes just one day after students across the state returned to classrooms full-time.
READ MORE: Follow the latest virus news here
Australia has recorded a total 7124 cases of COVID-19, with 3090 in New South Wales, 1610 in Victoria, 1057 in Queensland, 439 in South Australia, 564 in Western Australia, 226 in Tasmania, 107 in the Australian Capital Territory and 30 in the Northern Territory.
Live Updates
Virus lay dormant in passenger for 10 weeks
James Hall
A passenger of the Ruby Princess who tested positive to coronavirus is suspected to have carried the “dormant” virus for almost 10 weeks before falling ill.
The woman was diagnosed in Cairns yesterday, taking the total number of Queensland cases to 1057, with just 12 remaining active.
Authorities suspect she is the latest coronavirus case to have carried the inactive virus and become sick weeks after exposure.
Last week another woman in Queensland was diagnosed two months after returning from India.
“We are monitoring that very closely to work out if it’s directly related to the Ruby Princess or if it was acquired in some other way,” Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.
AAP
Picture: Ezra Acayan/Getty Images
Government abandons controversial laws
Benjamin Graham
The Morrison government has abandoned controversial laws making it easier to deregister unions and ban officials.
The “ensuring integrity” bill was defeated in the Senate late last year.
But the draft laws were reintroduced, with the government insisting the harsh measures were needed to deal with misconduct in the construction industry.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the government had decided not to seek a further vote in the Senate in a show of good faith to unions.
“The government maintains its complete lack of tolerance for the kinds of behaviour we have particularly seen from the CFMEU on Australian construction sites in recent years,” he told the National Press Club in Canberra. “It’s not only illegal, it’s costing jobs.”
Mr Morrison wants to foster greater cooperation with unions as he seeks to reform workplace laws after the coronavirus pandemic.
But the government will still pursue measures to stop unions breaking the law.
“We are committed to ensuring that this happens in the simplest, fairest and most effective statutory form possible, which we will consider going forward,” the prime minister said.
Unions and Labor campaigned fiercely for the ensuring integrity bill to be dumped, arguing officials could be banned for minor paperwork breaches.
But the government insisted only repeated serious law-breaking would be targeted through the tougher compliance regime.
The bill would have also put a public interest test on union mergers after powerful registered organisations joined forces in recent years.
AAP
Another Sydney school shut down over virus case
Benjamin Graham
A second Sydney school has been shut down in one day after a pupil tested positive for the coronavirus.
Parents have been asked to pick their children up from Moriah College in the city's eastern suburbs during lunchtime.
Images from about 12.30pm show police assisting the evacuation.
A spokeswoman for the college said it found out about the infection shortly before noon.
She said the student was in attendance on its campus on Thursday.
"In accordance with NSW Health advice, the College has closed whilst contact tracing is conducted, and the school is cleaned and sanitised," she said. "The College is planning to re-open next week."
Picture: News Media Network
This comes just hours after nearby Waverley College was evacuated after a Year 5 pupil tested positive.
Moriah is an independent Modern Orthodox Jewish co-educational early learning, primary and secondary day school, located in Queens Park.
'We will not retreat into the downward spiral of protectionism'
Benjamin Graham
The Prime Minister says Australia will not turn in on itself in response to the coronavirus crisis.
"We will remain in Australia an outward looking, open and sovereign trading economy," he says.
"We will not retreat into the downward spiral of protectionism. To the contrary. We will be a part of global supply chains that can deliver the prosperity we rely on to create jobs, support incomes and build businesses.
"Our economic sovereignty will be achieved by ensuring our industries are highly competitive, resilient, and able to succeed in a global market. Not by protectionism. While a trading nation, we will never trade away our values or our future for short-term gain.
"With trade alliance and other partner, we will work to establish and maintain the balance needed for peace and stability in our region upon which everyone’s prosperity depends."
'We have led the world in this response'
Benjamin Graham
Mr Morrison says "there is reason to hope" for Australians as he looks to reopen the nation's economy.
"Australia is weathering this storm better than many and better than most. Indeed, together, with a handful of nations, we have led the world in this response," he said.
"Our response has followed a clear plan to save lives and to save livelihoods with strong and coordinated leadership across all governments, brought together through the innovation of the National Cabinet."
PM at the National Press Club: 'How good are Australians?'
Benjamin Graham
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is speaking at the National Press Club and he begins with a patriotic message.
"A year ago, I said, 'How good is Australia? And how good are Australians?'," he began by saying. "Over the past year Australians have proved this time and again.
"We are an amazing country. A view shared by all of my government, I'm sure all of the Parliament, my colleagues here with me today, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Treasurer, the Leader of the Government in the Senate, my many colleagues.
"We believe this passionately. Australians have stood up.
"Australians are proving once again that we are capable of doing extraordinary things, but in a very Australian way. I am thankful for the many sacrifices that Australians have made to get us to this point."
'We got all the boys out in 90 minutes'
Benjamin Graham
The virus-hit school that was forced to evacuate over infection concerns this morning said it had all of its pupils out in 90 minutes.
Deputy principal Patrick Brennan for Waverley College in Sydney's east said they had been preparing for this type of scenario for months.
"We've been in touch with those students and staff members in close contact with the student and are waiting further directions from New South Wales Health. Waverley College has been preparing for COVID-19 for months," he told reporters.
"And we have the procedures in place to deliver schooling online in the event of an extended closure.
"We got all the boys out in 90 minutes."
Elizabeth Warren, also a deputy principal at the school, said they couldn't answer any questions about the situation.
Teachers donned masks as they made their way through the school.
A spokeswoman previously told the Sydney Morning Herald: "The school is very prepared for this, being (in) a coronavirus hotspot".
Education minister, Sarah Mitchell, has defended sending kids back to school saying the case doesn't mean authorities made the wrong call.
"We know more about the virus now we know the risk at school is very low and we've got those processes in place," she said.
"We're much better equipped than we were at the end of term 1 and I think that keeping schools open is important, the health advice has always remain that that is something we should be doing and I'm confident that we can keep on this path."
Picture by Jeremy Piper
Two new cases in NSW
Benjamin Graham
NSW has recorded two new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, out of 4621 tests.
Both of them are returned travellers who are now in quarantine hotels.
That brings the state's total to 3092.
There are currently 85 COVID-19 cases being treated by NSW Health. This includes one person being treated in an intensive care unit. They require a ventilator.
There are now 2661 people in NSW who have recovered.
Ten days with no cases in Tassie
Benjamin Graham
Tasmania has now gone through ten days without a single coronavirus case.
There's eight active cases across the state and 205 people have recovered.
This comes one week into stage one restrictions with thousands of students returning to school yesterday.
New Queensland case could be linked to Ruby Princess
Benjamin Graham
There has been one new case of coronavirus confirmed in Queensland overnight, which could have come from the virus-ridden Ruby Princess.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the Cairns woman is believed to have been a passenger on the ship.
She said authorities were investigating whether the woman contracted the virus on the ship or within Queensland.
There are only 12 active cases in the state remaining and over 176,000 cases have been taken.
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