COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Commonwealth announces financial support for childcare centres

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Original article by Katina Curtis, Sumeyya Ilanbey
The Age – Page: Online : 24-Aug-21

The federal government has announced new support measures for childcare centres and after-school care operators. Childcare centres in areas where state premiers have directed parents to keep children at home or that have been under lockdown for more than four weeks will receive 25 per cent of pre-pandemic revenue, along with the fee subsidies they would usually get if all children were in attendance; after-school care operators will get 40 per cent of pre-pandemic revenue. The new measures have been welcomed by the Australian Childcare Alliance and the Outside School Hours Council of Australia.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CHILDCARE ALLIANCE INCORPORATED, OUTSIDE SCHOOL HOURS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Banks eye mandatory jabs for staff

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 15 & 19 : 24-Aug-21

An Australian Banking Association working group is believed to have discussed the issue of mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for branch-based bank employees. Some banks have adopted a policy of voluntary vaccination for frontline staff, while the major banks are also seeking legal advice about the issue of vaccinations and their requirement to provide a safe working environment. National Australia Bank recently began offering the AstraZeneca vaccine to its employees, with an initial focus on staff in local government areas that are at the centre of Sydney’s current outbreak.

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AUSTRALIAN BANKING ASSOCIATION, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

PM’s blast for slow-jab states

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Aug-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has urged state leaders to support the federal government’s four-stage plan for reopening the economy. He has reiterated that restrictions must be eased when 70-80 per cent of the nation’s population has been fully vaccinated, while he has warned that Australians must live with COVID-19. However, there are concerns that some states are falling behind in meeting the vaccination threshold targets; based on current figures, Western Australia is unlikely to achieve a full vaccination rate of 80 per cent until late November, while Queensland will not do so until late December.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Doherty target risks death of 25,000 people

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Original article by Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 4 : 24-Aug-21

The federal government’s plan to reopen the economy once 80 per cent of Australians aged 16+ have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 is based on advice from the Doherty Institute. However, a group of economists and medical researchers has warned that this threshold is too low; they contend that the government should instead aim to fully vaccinate 90 per cent of Australians, including children. Australian National University economics professor Quentin Grafton says that retaining the 80 per cent threshold could potentially result in 25,000 deaths from COVID-19 and some 270,000 cases of so-called ‘long Covid’.

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. PETER DOHERTY INSTITUTE FOR INFECTION AND IMMUNITY, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

PM urges Berejiklian to keep up the fight

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Original article by James O’Doherty, Angira Bharadwaj
The Daily Telegraph – Page: 5 : 20-Aug-21

New South Wales has recorded 681 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, while the state’s death toll from the current outbreak has risen to 61. Premier Gladys Berejiklian has conceded that the Delta variant means that achieving zero new cases in the community is unrealistic, and the nation will have to "learn to live with Delta" when 80 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated and the economy reopens. However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has emphasised the importance of a suppression strategy in Sydney, arguing that the lockdown must work. The state government has extended the lockdown in regional NSW until 28 August, in line with the Greater Sydney lockdown.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Pressure on airlines to vaccinate workers

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 17 : 20-Aug-21

Alliance Aviation’s Scott McMillan expects more airlines to adopt a policy of mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for their employees. Alliance will require all staff and contractors to be vaccinated by 15 November; Qantas recently announced that it will also enforce a ‘no jab, no job’ policy. Michael Tooma, the managing partner of law firm Clyde & Co, says that mandatory vaccination is a "lawful and reasonable direction" for sectors such as aviation under occupational health and safety laws. He agrees that other airlines are likely to implement such a policy.

CORPORATES
ALLIANCE AVIATION SERVICES LIMITED – ASX AQZ, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, CLYDE AND COMPANY LLP

News chief urges bosses to champion the rollout

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Original article by James Madden
The Australian – Page: 7 : 20-Aug-21

News Corp Australasia’s executive chairman Michael Miller has called on Australia’s business owners and leaders to "cham­pion the vaccination rollout". He says the media company is doing all it can to encourage and help its staff to get vaccinated as soon as they can, and he urges all other businesses to adopt the same approach. Miller has called on federal and state leaders to set vaccination targets and a timetable that will enable all Australians "to plan for life in a new normal state of affairs".

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NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Movement in the Perth & Adelaide CBDs now at around two-thirds of pre-pandemic averages while Sydney & Melbourne CBDs locked down

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 20-Aug-21

A special analysis of movement data in Australia’s Capital City CBDs since the COVID-19 pandemic began shows movement in the Perth CBD and the Adelaide CBD increasing to around two-thirds of their pre-pandemic average in mid-August, even as extended lockdowns cause movement to remain well below pre-pandemic levels in both the Sydney CBD and Melbourne CBD. The average 7-day movement level in the Adelaide CBD was at 67% of pre-pandemic levels in mid-August, just ahead of the Perth CBD at 64%. This is the highest level of movement in both cities since late May. Both cities have had one short and sharp lockdown during the winter months and both have managed to snuff out their respective outbreaks of COVID-19. In contrast, movement levels in the Sydney CBD remain near record lows at only 14% of pre-pandemic levels – a slight increase since restrictions on the construction industry were relaxed somewhat in early August. The average movement levels in the Melbourne CBD were also at only 14% of pre-pandemic levels in mid-August as the city entered its sixth lockdown in early August. Since then the Melbourne lockdown has been extended until September and this week restrictions have been tightened with a curfew re-introduced and the banning of the use of children’s playground equipment. Just behind the two leaders in third place is the Hobart CBD with movement levels at 55% of pre-pandemic averages in mid-August. Movement in the Brisbane CBD was at 45% of pre-pandemic averages in mid-August and bouncing back quickly after the city’s fifth lockdown ended just over a week ago. Roy Morgan has partnered with leading technology innovator UberMedia to aggregate data from tens of thousands of mobile devices to assess the movements of Australians as we deal with the restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, UBERMEDIA

Get vaxxed or leave, Qantas chief warns

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 13 & 17 : 19-Aug-21

Qantas is the latest Australian company – and the largest so far – to require mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for its staff. CEO Alan Joyce contends that vaccination is necessary for the safety of the airline’s employees, customers and the destinations to which it flies. Joyce has advised that all frontline staff must be vaccinated by 15 November, and he has warned that those who do not have valid medical grounds for refusing a vaccination will need to look at career options in other industries. A survey of Qantas employees has found that 75 per cent of them support mandatory vaccination.

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QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

NSW to hit 2200 cases a day if virus continues to spread at current rate

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Original article by Lucy Carroll, Lucy Cormack
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 19-Aug-21

A record 633 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases have been reported in New South Wales in the last 24 hours; at least 92 of these people were active in the community while they were infectious. The state’s reproductive rate is currently 1.3, and Premier Gladys Berejiklian has warned that case numbers will keep rising until this falls below 1. University of Melbourne epidemiologist James McCaw says daily case numbers in NSW could potentially rise to around 2,000 within a month, given that there are now more than 3,800 mystery cases. The state’s death toll from the current outbreak has risen by three, to 59.

CORPORATES
NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET