WEDNESDAY JULY 22
Australia has recorded 502 new cases of COVID-19 in 24 hours, the single largest daily number of cases since the pandemic began.
The previous highest number reported in a single day was 469 cases, which was recorded in late March and mostly fuelled by returning international travellers.
The outbreak of the virus in Victoria reached a new peak today, with 484 cases recorded in 24 hours in the state.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd said 2,414 people had tested positive for COVID-19 in Australia over the past week.
“This is the single-largest daily number of diagnoses of COVID-19 in Australia since the pandemic began,” he said.
“We reported only two cases on June 9, less than six weeks ago and this shows how quickly outbreaks can occur and spread.”
There are currently about 3,500 active cases of COVID-19 in Australia.
Meanwhile, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says police and regulators “will throw the book at everybody who is not doing the right thing” as the state recorded another 16 coronavirus cases overnight.
The Premier said the “next few weeks are the most critical in NSW” and authorities would be cracking down on breaches of the public health order when restrictions tighten on Friday.
“Any business that doesn’t do the right thing, will have the book thrown at them,” she said.
“If we don’t find them ourselves, we expect members of the community to let us know or staff members for that matter.”
Restrictions, including mandatory COVID-Safe registration for venues and a reduced cap on group bookings, will come into force from 12:01am on Friday.
The Premier said until this point the State Government strategy was a “self-regulatory approach”.
A digital record of the patrons’ attendance will also be compulsory within 24 hours and venues will be required to have a hygiene marshal.
The Premier said people have been given ample time to ensure their businesses were COVID-safe and urged people “not to cut corners, not to turn a blind eye” and “not to pretend they are immune”.
“If you don’t do the right thing from Friday … you will be fined — worse than that, if you breach again you will be shut down,” Ms Berejiklian said.
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US President Donald Trump says he wishes alleged sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell well.
Mr Trump, speaking at his first coronavirus briefing in weeks, was asked if he thought Ms Maxwell would “turn in powerful men” following her arrest on allegations that she procured underage girls to have sex with her former partner, sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“I don’t know, I haven’t really been following it too much,” Mr Trump said of the case, reports the ABC.
“I just wish her well, frankly,” he added.
“I’ve met her numerous times over the years — especially since I lived in Palm Beach, and I guess they lived in Palm Beach — but I wish her well, whatever it is.”
Epstein associated with many high-profile figures in politics and business over the years, including Mr Trump, former president Bill Clinton, and Britain’s Prince Andrew.
Mr Trump added: “I don’t know the situation with Prince Andrew. I just don’t know, I’m not aware of it.”
Ms Maxwell, 58, was arrested early this month in New Hampshire, where authorities said she had been hiding at a sprawling property she bought while shielding her identity.
She has pleaded not guilty to charges of luring underage girls for Epstein to sexually abuse.
In her recent bail hearing filing, Ms Maxwell said her detention put her at “significant risk” of contracting coronavirus, after 55 inmates and staff at her Brooklyn jail tested positive for COVID-19.
The British socialite was a romantic partner of Epstein, who killed himself in prison several weeks after being charged with sex trafficking.
A US District Court judge in Manhattan denied bail at her hearing last week, saying she posed a flight risk.
Prosecutors have accused Ms Maxwell of helping Epstein recruit and eventually abuse girls as young as 14 between 1994 and 1997, and lying about her role in depositions in 2016.
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Last week a group of 40 insurgents stormed the village of Geriveh, in Ghor province, where Qamar Gul — believed to be aged around 15 — was living with her parents and brother, officials said.
The Taliban came to Ms Gul’s house because her father had complained about Taliban demands for tax payments, Abdul-Hamid Nateqi, a member of the Ghor provincial council, told the ABC.
The insurgents beat her parents before shooting them both dead, but Ms Gul grabbed her father’s rifle and opened fire, killing two of the attackers and wounding a third, Mr Nateqi said.
Local reports said she and her younger brother continued to fight other Taliban before more of the villagers grabbed weapons and drove the attackers from the village.
A photo of the girl holding an AK-47 rifle went viral on social media, with many praising her bravery.
Interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian called her a hero in a post on Twitter, adding the Afghan Government praised her courage.
The girl and her younger brother have been moved to a safer area under government protection, Mr Nateqi told the ABC.
He said their parents had been threatened and beaten by the Taliban before.
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NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says police and regulators “will throw the book at everybody who is not doing the right thing” as the state recorded another 16 coronavirus cases overnight.
The Premier said the “next few weeks are the most critical in NSW” and authorities would be cracking down on breaches of the public health order when restrictions tighten on Friday.
“Any business that doesn’t do the right thing, will have the book thrown at them,” she said.
“If we don’t find them ourselves, we expect members of the community to let us know or staff members for that matter.”
Restrictions, including mandatory COVID-Safe registration for venues and a reduced cap on group bookings, will come into force from 12:01am on Friday.
The Premier said until this point the State Government strategy was a “self-regulatory approach”.
A digital record of the patrons’ attendance will also be compulsory within 24 hours and venues will be required to have a hygiene marshal.
The Premier said people have been given ample time to ensure their businesses were COVID-safe and urged people “not to cut corners, not to turn a blind eye” and “not to pretend they are immune”.
“If you don’t do the right thing from Friday … you will be fined — worse than that, if you breach again you will be shut down,” Ms Berejiklian said.
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