Australia's Victoria reports 108 new coronavirus cases, biggest jump since March

[rooster59]

Australia's Victoria reports 108 new coronavirus cases, biggest jump since March

 

FILE PHOTO: A motorist waits in a car as he crosses into South Australia from Victoria during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Bordertown, Australia, March 24, 2020. REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy

 

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's second most-populous state, Victoria, reported its biggest jump in coronavirus cases since late March on Saturday, forcing the expansion of stay-at-home orders to more Melbourne suburbs and the complete lockdown of nine public housing towers.

 

The southeastern state recorded 108 new cases on Saturday, up from 66 on Friday and more than 70 new cases in each of the previous four days.

 

"These numbers are a very real concern to all of us," Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews told a news conference.

 

The spike in Victoria is being closely watched as the rest of the country has reined in the virus that causes COVID-19.

 

Australia's most populated state, New South Wales, reported six new coronavirus cases on Saturday, five of them returning travellers from overseas.

 

The sixth is a past infection and not an active case, according to health officials. The state reported no new cases on Friday.

 

Overall, Australia has weathered the coronavirus pandemic much better than most other nations, with just over 8,300 cases and 104 deaths so far.

 

The nine towers in Melbourne consists of 1,345 units, housing about 3,000 residents.

 

They will be locked down for at least five days, effective immediately, after many residents from those towers returned a positive COVID-19 test.

 

Police will be placed on each floor of the towers and law enforcement authorities will also control access points.

 

"These are very challenging times," Premier Andrews added.

 

"The alternative is this gets right away from us and we have not just 12 postcodes in lockdown but every postcode locked down. I don't want to get to that."

 

(Reporting by Swati Pandey; Editing by William Mallard and Christian Schmollinger)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-07-05

 

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[ezzra]

No surprising at all...I happened to watch Australia news every day and if you see how those victorian people behaviour you'd be excused to think that this killer Covid/Coronavirus/epidemic is nothing to worry about and "She'll be right mate" attitude and " i'm ok, i'm not to get to be infected, and if i will, so what? so much so that thousand of people are even refused to be tested, stupidity and ignorance at its best...

[DoctorG]

We might have laughed or cried when Wuhan welded people into their apartments but this is no different. The high-rise housing consists of low income families and migrants. They are being held as virtual prisoners. Damned if I know how they are going to manage the variety of dietary requirements.

Edited July 5, 2020 by DoctorG

[samran]

19 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

We might have laughed or cried when Wuhan welded people into their apartments but this is no different. The high-rise housing consists of low income families and migrants. They are being held as virtual prisoners. Damned if I know how they are going to manage the variety of dietary requirements.

Firstly I hope that people in these places will be taken care of, but if this isn’t an excuse to rip down those commission flats once and for all then I don’t know what is. There has got to be a way to do social housing that doesn’t involve eyesores which also serve as petrie dishes.

[Brunolem]

4 hours ago, rooster59 said:

The nine towers in Melbourne consists of 1,345 units, housing about 3,000 residents.

The Singapore syndrome! 

[Traubert]

50 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

We might have laughed or cried when Wuhan welded people into their apartments but this is no different. The high-rise housing consists of low income families and migrants. They are being held as virtual prisoners. Damned if I know how they are going to manage the variety of dietary requirements.

Strange, how gullible people can be.

[4MyEgo]

4 hours ago, ezzra said:

No surprising at all...I happened to watch Australia news every day and if you see how those victorian people behaviour you'd be excused to think that this killer Covid/Coronavirus/epidemic is nothing to worry about and "She'll be right mate" attitude and " i'm ok, i'm not to get to be infected, and if i will, so what? so much so that thousand of people are even refused to be tested, stupidity and ignorance at its best...

Victoria's best of the west Bogans no doubt.

[4MyEgo]

55 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

We might have laughed or cried when Wuhan welded people into their apartments but this is no different. The high-rise housing consists of low income families and migrants. They are being held as virtual prisoners. Damned if I know how they are going to manage the variety of dietary requirements.

Bangers and mash, too easy.

[4MyEgo]

40 minutes ago, samran said:

Firstly I hope that people in these places will be taken care of, but if this isn’t an excuse to rip down those commission flats once and for all then I don’t know what is. There has got to be a way to do social housing that doesn’t involve eyesores which also serve as petrie dishes.

Public housing has been slowly sold off over the years and they aren't increasing the build on more, the welfare system is appalling, the workers work to support those that scam the system day in and day out by paying taxes, they have mortgages and families to feed, with no incentive, and the government just increases more welfare for different types of things, while the worker paying all these taxes and is getting fed up.

 

To think one just has to live in Australia for 35 years, and not have worked can qualify for the old age pension, ridiculous, no contribution through taxes, yet throwing money at them, what is that, oh yes welfare, here you go dear/sir, $945 per fortnight plus, plus, plus for not contributing to the nation.

 

Have a kid, earn a low income and we will provide you with around $10,000 per annum, more per child, plus, plus, plus, no wonder everyone wants to live in the lucky country.

 

 

Edited July 5, 2020 by 4MyEgo

[Tie Dye Samurai]

4 hours ago, ezzra said:

No surprising at all...I happened to watch Australia news every day and if you see how those victorian people behaviour you'd be excused to think that this killer Covid/Coronavirus/epidemic is nothing to worry about and "She'll be right mate" attitude and " i'm ok, i'm not to get to be infected, and if i will, so what? so much so that thousand of people are even refused to be tested, stupidity and ignorance at its best...

As a Yank I resent this statement, Sir....when it comes to stupidity and ignorance about action policy and self centered denial over the Covid-19 virus, **WE** are the best. 

[samran]

1 hour ago, 4MyEgo said:

Public housing has been slowly sold off over the years and they aren't increasing the build on more, the welfare system is appalling, the workers work to support those that scam the system day in and day out by paying taxes, they have mortgages and families to feed, with no incentive, and the government just increases more welfare for different types of things, while the worker paying all these taxes and is getting fed up.

 

To think one just has to live in Australia for 35 years, and not have worked can qualify for the old age pension, ridiculous, no contribution through taxes, yet throwing money at them, what is that, oh yes welfare, here you go dear/sir, $945 per fortnight plus, plus, plus for not contributing to the nation.

 

Have a kid, earn a low income and we will provide you with around $10,000 per annum, more per child, plus, plus, plus, no wonder everyone wants to live in the lucky country.

 

 

Nah, I don’t agree. I’d rather not us turn into a USA in the South Pacific with people and families thrown out into the cold if they aren’t ‘useful’ to society. 
 

Most people just want to earn a living and go about doing so. I’m forever grateful for such a system personally when for a couple of years meant that I couldn’t work to look after a dying relative for a few years a decade ago. As a result, I’m more than happy to pay my Australian taxes even though I’m based in Thailand. 
 

In the scheme of things people will always take the <deleted> for sure, but am I going to be more annoyed with a family who might be able to scam a few hundred extra per fortnight or a multi national who’s set up in the Bahamas via Ireland, the Netherlands and Malta? You take a guess. 

[mike787]

Uh huh! ok!...Now what...

[4MyEgo]

5 hours ago, samran said:

Nah, I don’t agree. I’d rather not us turn into a USA in the South Pacific with people and families thrown out into the cold if they aren’t ‘useful’ to society. 
 

Most people just want to earn a living and go about doing so. I’m forever grateful for such a system personally when for a couple of years meant that I couldn’t work to look after a dying relative for a few years a decade ago. As a result, I’m more than happy to pay my Australian taxes even though I’m based in Thailand. 
 

In the scheme of things people will always take the <deleted> for sure, but am I going to be more annoyed with a family who might be able to scam a few hundred extra per fortnight or a multi national who’s set up in the Bahamas via Ireland, the Netherlands and Malta? You take a guess. 

Good point, but do the multi-nationals even compare when you look at the figures below ?

 

In 2016–17, the Australian Government estimates that it will spend around $158.6 billion on social security and welfare, and around $191.8 billion in 2019–20

 

 

The tax leaderboard

individual income tax at $170 billion or 39.3% of all revenue collected in Australia, income tax on enterprises at $77 billion or 17.7% of all revenue, GST at $55.5 billion or 12.8% of all revenue, and. excise taxes at $26.4 billion or 6.1% of all revenue.

 

The above is from a 2015 article.

Edited July 5, 2020 by 4MyEgo

[samran]

1 hour ago, 4MyEgo said:

Good point, but do the multi-nationals even compare when you look at the figures below ?

 

In 2016–17, the Australian Government estimates that it will spend around $158.6 billion on social security and welfare, and around $191.8 billion in 2019–20

 

 

The tax leaderboard

individual income tax at $170 billion or 39.3% of all revenue collected in Australia, income tax on enterprises at $77 billion or 17.7% of all revenue, GST at $55.5 billion or 12.8% of all revenue, and. excise taxes at $26.4 billion or 6.1% of all revenue.

 

The above is from a 2015 article.

It’s hard to estimate what tax is being avoided but I will note that a treasury and ATO task force has gotten back something like $5bn (or was it $8bn) recently from multi nationals.

 

Thats sure as hell more than being scammed by benefit bludgers.

 

Beyond that, the numbers don’t say much apart from our tax base is inefficient and too narrow. I’ve got a lot of time Ken Henry who knows more about this stuff than most anyone.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/what-ken-henry-really-thinks-about-tax-reform-20200703-p558no.html

 

[metisdead]

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