Daily News Roundup

 

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2

Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced 17 new coronavirus infections in NSW and only one is a returned overseas traveller in hotel quarantine.     

Some 15 cases are linked to known clusters; eight to the Sydney CBD cluster, six to the cluster at St Paul’s College in Greystanes – where the original source is still under investigation, and one with Liverpool Hospital.

It comes after NSW reported 13 new cases yesterday, sparking health alerts for a number of locations, as well as bus and train routes.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says two new cases of coronavirus were recorded in the state overnight.

Ms Palaszczuk said the latest cases were linked to existing known cases and authorities were comfortable with the results..

One of the cases is a female healthcare worker aged in her 30s, while the other is student at the Staines Memorial College in Redbank Plains, west of Brisbane.

Three students at the school have now contracted coronavirus.

The school remains closed.

Ms Palaszczuk said the cases in South East Queensland were “contained” and did not consider the current outbreak significant.

The total number of active cases in Queensland is now 28 with just over 18,000 tests conducted in the last 24 hours.

Victoria has recorded 90 new coronavirus cases overnight, marking the third consecutive day of double-digit increases in the state.

Six more deaths have also been reported, however Premier Daniel Andrews said three of those occurred before yesterday.

All six deaths were linked to aged care outbreaks.

This week’s numbers have pushed Victoria’s seven-day average of new cases below 100 for the first time since early July.

Mr Andrews said Victoria’s state of disaster would be extended to September 13, in line with the current end date of the state of the emergency.

“We think having both of those frameworks on the same timetable is important and will serve us well when we get to announcements on the weekend about the roadmap [and] about what the weeks and months ahead will look like,” he said.

On Tuesday, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said Victoria was “on the right pathway” but urged people to continue to get tested if they had symptoms.

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US President Donald Trump has toured damage left by riots in the wake of the police shooting of a black man in Kenosha, calling the events of past several days “domestic terror”.

Soon after arriving in the Wisconsin city for a visit, which state and local leaders had warned would inflame tensions after protests had died down, Mr Trump toured a block badly damaged by violence and fire.

“These are not acts of peaceful protest, but really domestic terror,” he later told a group of local business leaders.

The city had been embroiled in protests and violence since the August 23 shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man shot seven times in the back by police as he was getting into a car while they were trying to arrest him.

Mr Blake appeared to be shot multiple times in the back at close range.

Peaceful demonstrators have complained violent agitators hijacked their protests with property damage. But many have also sharply criticised the police, saying the United States needs to completely rethink its law enforcement practices.

On the eve of his visit, Mr Trump defended a teenage supporter accused of fatally shooting two men at a demonstration in Kenosha last week.

The President also accused Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden of siding with “anarchists” and “rioters” in the unrest.

Yesterday Mr Biden denounced the “senseless violence of looting and burning and destruction of property”.

“I want to be clear about this: Rioting is not protesting. Looting is not protesting. Setting fires is not protesting. None of this is protesting, it’s lawlessness, plain and simple,” Mr Biden said.

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Australians could soon find a new $1 coin in their wallets, but this one has a catch and it’s for the greater good, reports news.com

The Royal Australian Mint has unveiled its new Donation Dollar, a $1 coin designed to be donated which 57 per cent of Australian said they would donate if they found one in their coin purse, the report said.

It went on to say millions of these coins will join circulation during the next few years with the aim to release 25 million eventually, or one for every Australian.

And they could appear in people’s wallets from as early as Wednesday with three million already released into circulation.

The Donation Dollar is designed to be donated to a charity of your choice. Picture: Handout via NCA NewsWireSource:Supplied

Each of the coins feature a green centre with a gold ripple design. The hidden meaning behind the design is it is intended to act as a symbol of the ongoing impact each donation makes to those who need it most.

The Mint said the scheme comes in response to a difficult year for many Australians who faced the worst bushfire season on record, followed by the coronavirus crisis which triggered economic recession.

If every Australian donated their Donation Dollar just once a month the initiative has the potential to raise $300 million annually for those who need it most.

Speaking to NCA NewsWire, chair of The Community Council for Australia and former chief executive of World Vision Australia, Tim Costello, said he hopes the scheme allows for a behavioural change among Australians.

“It’s so different to any dollar we’ve had before and the ripples make you think, ‘yeah I know someone is homeless, I was touched by their story on the news’,” he said.

“Suddenly there’s a behavioural changes because your compassion is being aroused and triggered just by a donation coin, suggesting the needs are ongoing and a person doesn’t have to just wait.”

The Australian Generosity Report found one in five Australians will require some degree of charitable aid over the next 12 months, either for themselves or family.

Royal Australian Mint CEO Ross MacDiarmid said the proposal should tap into Australians’ “spirit of generosity”.