Peaks and troughs

VICTORIANS WARNED TO BRACE FOR PEAK

Following news of 322 new COVID-19 cases in Victoria and 19 deaths — Australia’s highest number of deaths since the pandemic began — epidemiologists speaking with The Age warn Victorians need to brace for a hard week as the death toll is predicted to peak in the next week, while the number of new cases starts to fall.

The Age reports that while Deakin University epidemiology chair Catherine Bennett said Victorians should be prepared for potentially high numbers over the coming week, “that will be the pattern this week, but hopefully it will be relatively short-lived”.

The news comes as the state government announced that in-home testing would become available for vulnerable Victorians unable to leave their homes due to chronic illness or disability — a measure that follows the release of DIY kits that, for multiple reasons, may not have been accessible — and that contact tracing is ramping up even with 105 new “mystery cases” with no known source.

Additionally, the state government’s COVID-19 inquiry is set to resume this morning with witnesses to include Dan Andrews, Health Minister Jenny Mikakos, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton, Acting Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng, and President of the Australian Medical Association Julian Rait.

PS: In fresh allegations over Victoria’s hotel quarantine program, The Australian ($) reports of fresh security breaches and tensions at Melbourne’s Hotel Brady and Grand Chancellor in Lonsdale Street, while the Herald Sun ($) has released a video played to Department of Jobs, Precincts and the Regions staff on April 24 boasting of their work as a “massive inbound super trade mission”.

AGED CARES CONTINUE

According to both The Conversation and The Australian ($), the royal commission into aged care has heard that neither the federal health department nor the aged care regulator — the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission — developed a COVID-19 plan specifically for the aged care sector.

Further, The Age reports that the commission admitted it was told of a COVID-19 outbreak at St. Basil’s four days earlier than it first claimed — leading to headlines last week over an alleged delay in alerting authorities — in a correction Labor health spokeswoman Julie Collins criticised as a failure to alert the federal Department of Health and Ageing.

Finally, the regulator slammed NSW’s reluctance to move infected residents into hospitals in contravention to federal advice as “intolerable”.

NEW ZEALAND MAN DIES IN MELBOURNE DETENTION

According to The Guardian, a 46-year-old New Zealand man has died in an immigration detention centre in Melbourne.

Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge offered his condolences for the man, but, speaking to ABC’s RN Drive, emphasised that the man was in the process of being “evicted from the country because of a criminal background”.

The news follows opposition from the New Zealand government over the Morrison government’s decision to detain and deport even long-term residents with served criminal sentences.

Lifeline Australia (13 11 14); Beyond Blue (1800 512 348).

LEBANON'S GOVERNMENT RESIGNS

According to Al Jazeera, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab has announced the resignation of his government amidst growing public outrage over last week’s devastating explosion triggered by more than 2000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate at Beirut’s port.

Additionally, Diab declared that corruption in Lebanon is “bigger than the state” — which, as the ABC explored last week, has overseen a collapsing economy and hyper-inflation — and called the blast that killed at least 163 people and injured over 6000 a “crime” born from endemic corruption.

ANOTHER HONG KONG CRACKDOWN

On the other end of the fascism spectrum, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has postponed September’s elections for 12 months, disqualified 12 pro-democracy candidates from running, and, last night, overseen the arrest of pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai under China’s new national security laws.

PS: Similarly, The Hill reports that Black Lives Matters protesters in Utah could face life sentences over “mischief” charges if they are convicted of splashing red paint and smashing windows at the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office.

NO WAY, HUAWEI!

Finally, in news set to make Australia’s conspiracy theorists just that much more insufferable, the AFR ($) reports that a review into China’s spying activities in Papua New Guinea notes that outdated encryption software and insufficient firewall settings used by Huawei to build PNG’s National Data Centre exposed secret government files to being stolen.

The report was commissioned by PNG’s National Cyber Security Centre, written by a cyber security contractor hired by DFAT and subsequently handed to the Australian government.