COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Thousands face income hit as disaster payments are cut: UNSW

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Original article by Shane Wright
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 4-Oct-21

Research conducted by the University of New South Wales and the Australian Council of Social Service contends that many people in electorates across Melbourne and western Sydney will be adversely impacted by cuts to COVID-related disaster payments. The cuts are due to begin when 70 per cent vaccination targets are met, which is due to happen in NSW as soon as 11 October. The research contends that ending the payments will push thousands back into poverty, and could harm the nation’s recovery from the pandemic.

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UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE

$700m a week wiped from Victorian economy

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Original article by Jade Gailberger, Sarah Booth
Herald Sun – Page: 6 & 7 : 4-Oct-21

Victoria recorded 1,220 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases on Sunday, following a record 1,488 cases on the previous day. The state’s death toll from the pandemic has risen by three, and there are now 11,785 active cases state-wide. Meanwhile, Melbourne has now endured 246 days of lockdown since the pandemic began, overtaking the record previously held by Buenos Aires. It has been estimated that the lockdowns have cost the state’s economy about $700m per week. Melbourne will have been in lockdown for 267 days in total by 26 October, when 70 per cent of eligible Victorians are expected to be fully vaccinated and the economy starts to reopen.

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Victoria’s exit from lockdown could be delayed if grand final case spike becomes trend

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Original article by Paul Sakkal
The Age – Page: Online : 1-Oct-21

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says "some poor choices" resulted in the state reporting a record 1,438 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday. He has not ruled out pushing back the scheduled date for relaxing Melbourne’s lockdown restrictions if case numbers and hospitalisation rates continue to rise. Contact-tracing interviews suggest that about 500 of the new cases may be linked to illegal home gatherings on the AFL grand final long weekend. COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar has warned that the ‘superspreader’ event could potentially see case numbers reach the upper limit of modelling by the Burnet Institute, which formed the basis for the state government’s reopening roadmap. Victoria’s death toll from COVID-19 has risen by five, and there are now 11,018 active cases state-wide.

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Victorian cases surpass NSW for first time since Delta outbreaks began

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Original article by Clay Lucas, Sumeyya Ilanbey, Caitlin Fitzsimmons
The Age – Page: Online : 29-Sep-21

Victoria has recorded 867 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases, while the number of cases in recent days has been revised upwards due to a testing error by a third-party software vendor. The state’s toll from the current outbreak has risen to 29 after another four deaths. New South Wales has in turn reported 863 new COVID-19 cases, down from a peak of more than 1,500 during the current outbreak; however, Premier Gladys Berejiklian recently warned of a likely spike in cases when the state’s economy starts to reopen in October. Meanwhile, some lockdown restrictions in Victoria were eased at 11.59pm on 28 September in line with the state’s reopening roadmap, although there will be a snap seven-day lockdown in the regional local government area of Latrobe after four new COVID-19 cases were detected.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

29% of Australians now say Freedom is more important than the law

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Sep-21

New Roy Morgan data shows that since the COVID-19 pandemic began there has been a sustained increase in how Australians view freedom compared to the law of the land. Some 29.3% of Australians aged 14+ now agree that ‘Freedom is more important than the law’ – an increase of almost 8% points compared to the March 2020 quarter (21.6% of Australians), just prior to the onset of the pandemic. Agreement with this statement jumped 7% points in the June 2020 quarter to 28.6% of Australians and has remained between 27-31% over the last year. Meanwhile, 24.9% of women now agree with the statement, an increase of 8.4% points from the March 2020 quarter and close to the high of 25.2% reached in the March 2021 quarter; 33.8% of men also agreed with the statement in the June 2021 quarter, an increase of 6.8% points from the March 2020 quarter and above the pre-pandemic high of 32% reached briefly in the June 2019 quarter. The data comes from Roy Morgan Single Source, the nation’s largest and longest-running program of research into consumer behaviour and attitudes, continuously conducted year-round.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

PM to end money for lockdowns

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 29-Sep-21

The federal government’s temporary COVID-19 Disaster Payment will be phased out when the states and territories have achieved the vaccination rates that were agreed upon in the national plan to reopen the economy. The income support payments will be completely withdrawn two weeks after 80 per cent of the eligible population of a given jurisdiction has been fully vaccinated. States and territories that opt to set higher vaccination targets than the national plan will be required to implement their own income support programs. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the coronavirus cannot be eliminated, so Australia must learn to live with it.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Green light for ultra-fast Covid tests taken at home

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Original article by Clare Armstrong, Courtney Gould
Herald Sun – Page: 1 & 10 : 28-Sep-21

The Therapeutic Goods Administration is set to approve the use of self-administered rapid antigen tests that will allow Australians to know if they have COVID-19 within 20 minutes. Home test kits are already widely available in countries such as the US and the UK, but in Australia their use must currently be supervised by a health professional. TGA head John Skerritt expects home test kits to be approved for sale and use from 1 November, with the nation on target to have 70 per cent of the eligible population fully vaccinated by the end of October.

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AUSTRALIA. THERAPEUTIC GOODS ADMINISTRATION

Shorter vaccine intervals likely as Victoria races towards 80pc full vaccination target

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Original article by
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 28-Sep-21

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has ruled out applying the same COVID-19 rules to unvaccinated people once 90 per cent of the state’s eligible population is fully vaccinated. He says the state government has not begun to discuss the question of when all Victorians will be on an ‘equal footing’, adding that he has not received new medical advice about revising the state’s existing reopening roadmap. However, Andrews has flagged the possibility that the state could achieve its vaccination targets ahead of schedule, and signalled that the period between vaccine doses could be reduced if the state has certainty of vaccine supply. Victoria has recorded 705 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases, while the toll from the current outbreak has risen to 25 following the death of a man in his 70s.

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

NSW Premier reveals roadmap out of lockdown

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Original article by Ursula Malone
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 28-Sep-21

The New South Wales government has been criticised for ignoring the national plan for reopening the economy. Premier Gladys Berejiklian has revealed that some COVID-19 restrictions will be eased for fully-vaccinated people from 11 October, when 70 per cent of residents aged 16+ are expected to have had two vaccine doses. Restrictions will be further relaxed by 25 October, when the fully-vaccinated target of 80 per cent is slated to be achieved. However, most restrictions are set to remain in place for unvaccinated people until 1 December, when 90 per cent of the eligible population is expected to be fully vaccinated. NSW has reported 787 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases and 12 additional deaths from the current outbreak.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

COVID-19 pandemic drives Australians to increasingly shut themselves off from the rest of the world when at home

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Sep-21

New Roy Morgan data shows that the COVID-19 pandemic is driving significant changes in how Australians view their home. The latest figures from the June 2021 quarter show that 54.5% of Australians aged 14+ now agree that ‘When I’m at home, I like to shut myself off from the rest of the world’; this is an increase of 16% compared to the March 2020 quarter, just prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the pandemic agreement with this statement had barely changed over the preceding four years, increasing by just over 1% since the September 2016 quarter. Women have driven a larger share of this increase since the pandemic began than men. A clear majority of 58.5% of women agree with the statement in the June 2021 quarter, an increase of 19.8% points from the March 2020 quarter and up over 21% points from five years ago. In contrast only a narrow majority of 50.3% of men now agree with the statement, an increase of 12% points from the March 2020 quarter and up just over 13% points from five years ago. The data comes from Roy Morgan Single Source, the nation’s largest and longest-running program of research into consumer behaviour and attitudes, continuously conducted year-round.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED