Back to Australia: The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has also given some guidance on restrictions.
On Friday, the national cabinet agreed that under step three of the national guidelines, states could possibly remove the 100 person cap for venues and implement a one person per four square metre rule instead. Meaning that some larger venues could have more than 100.
Andrews said Victoria was still “testing” whether this would work for venues in the state. And that the national cabinet could still alter that rule.
“That work will be done over the next fortnight and when we next meet as a national cabinet, a fortnight from last Friday, we will make a decision or not, but that matter is being tested, if you like,” he said.
“Because I know that there are a number of pubs, for instance, a number of venues where there is no way of getting 50 patrons in but enclosed space because the room simply isn’t big enough, from a square metre point of view.”
He also said that electronic gambling could be back by 20 July.
“Electronic gaming, that is still some way off, and you will see in the release that we have foreshadowed the 20th of next month.
“It is probably longer than the industry would have liked, but it is important to be cautious about this. It will not be electronic gaming as we know it. It will be spacing, there will be not necessarily every machine, all that is to be worked through.”
In Beijing, AFP reporters saw hundreds of police officers, many wearing masks and gloves, and dozens of paramilitary police deployed at the market. The new cases have prompted worries about the safety of the food supply chain and some other markets in the city have also been closed.
Beijing’s market supervision authorities ordered a city-wide food safety inspection focusing on fresh and frozen meat, poultry and fish in supermarkets, warehouses and catering services.
Nine nearby schools and kindergartens have been closed and Beijing has delayed the return of students to primary schools. Sporting events, group dining and cross-provincial tour groups have also been stopped.
The rest of the cases reported Sunday were brought into the country by Chinese nationals returning home from overseas.
China reports 57 new virus cases, highest daily count since April
More now on China, which on Sunday reported 57 new cases of the coronavirus, the highest daily figure since 13 April, as concerns grow about a resurgence of the disease.
The National Health Commission said 36 of the new cases were domestic infections in Beijing, with 2 more domestic infections in northeastern Liaoning province. Local health officials said they were close contacts of the Beijing cases.
The new cluster of domestic infections has prompted fresh lockdowns with people ordered to stay home in 11 residential estates near to the market. The cases are the first in Beijing in two months.
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New South Wales, Australia scraps 50-person limit at cafes, restaurants, churches
The 50-person limit at cafes, restaurants, and churches will be scrapped in NSW with venues instead to follow the one person per four square metres rule, AAP reports.
The new rule, announced by the NSW government on Sunday, will be in place from 1 July and applies to most indoor venues including pubs and workspaces. It will allow for more people to attend gatherings, but the size of the space will be crucial with one person allowed for every four square metres.
Outdoor cultural and sporting venues with a capacity of up to 40,000 will from 1 July also be allowed to seat 25% of their normal capacity.
The relaxation of restrictions is in line with the national cabinet’s decision on Friday to tweak the third stage of easing Covid-19 rules. It comes as all students at a primary school in southern Sydney have been told to stay at home after a staff member tested positive for Covid-19.
Laguna Street Public School will stop on-site learning until Thursday following the diagnosis, according to the NSW education department. All school students have been deemed close contacts of the employee and should start self-isolating, a statement from the department said on Saturday night.
A staff member at Rose Bay Public School in Sydney’s eastern suburbs was also confirmed to have tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday.
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The Australian government’s push for economic talks among finance ministers from countries in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance remains vague, with no details yet about the frequency of meetings or their agenda.
But some experts have argued the move to coordinate economic policies with Australia’s traditional security partners reflects a “very deep misunderstanding” of our modern economic interests given the group excludes Asia and most of Europe.
The government indicated this week that Australia had secured support from the other countries in the Five Eyes pact – the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and New Zealand – to hold “regular” meetings to coordinate economic responses during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The existing intelligence-sharing arrangement has its origins in the 1940s – and during the Cold War was focused on the Soviet Union – but over time the cooperation between partners has broadened beyond signals intelligence to include issues such as terrorism, organised crime, law-enforcement and borders:
In addition to 50 people being allowed in cafes, restaurants and pubs and patrons being allowed to consume alcohol without a meal, restrictions on some community sports will be eased.
Victorian health minister, Jenny Mikakos, also said that non-contact community
sport would return on 22 June – for both adults and kids, both indoor and outdoor.
Under 18s will be able to play competitively with full contact from 22 June, while adults will be able to train with contact from 13 July, then resume with full contact competition from 20 July.
Victoria, Australia announces nine new cases
The state of Victoria, Australia has announced nine new cases of coronavirus today, three of whom are in hotel quarantine.
One person contracted the virus from an unknown origin, and that is being investigated. Five cases are linked to two known outbreaks, including an outbreak linked to a GP who tested positive.
“The GP worked at three different clinics but did absolutely the right thing,” the health minister, Jenny Mikakos, said. The doctor was tested and stopped working while waiting for results.
Mikakos said they expect six new hotel quarantine cases each day in the state, as residents return home.
