RECAP: Sydney Black Lives Matter protest organisers slam police response after six arrested

That's where I'll leave the live blog today - thanks for reading.

You can keep up with the latest coronavirus news via the SBS News social media channels and website. You can also catch SBS World News at 6:30pm AEST tonight and listen to SBS Radio podcasts on demand.

See you next time, and remember:

• Residents in metropolitan Melbourne are subject to stay-at-home orders and can only leave home for essential work, study, exercise or care responsibilities. People must also wear masks in public.
• People in Australia must stay at least 1.5 metres away from others. Check your state's restrictions on gathering limits.
• If you are experiencing cold or flu symptoms, stay home and arrange a test by calling your doctor or contact the Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080.
• News and information is available in 63 languages at sbs.com.au/coronavirus

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) has closed all its sites after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19.

"Given the unprecedented pandemic impacting all our lives, we have been planning for this scenario for months," CEO Kon Karapanagiotidis said in a statement.

"We have taken early and swift action to close down all ASRC sites to protect staff, people seeking asylum and the community.

"The ASRC has the capacity to deliver essential services remotely and will continue to do so."

Earlier today, Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos became emotional while speaking about an outbreak at the St Basil's aged care facility.

Many Greek-Australian families have lost loved ones there due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

Here's the video:

A Fitness First gym in Sydney's Kings Cross has undergone deep cleaning after one of its members tested positive for COVID-19.

The gym released a statement on Tuesday afternoon.

"Fitness First Kings Cross was made aware by the NSW Health Department that an individual who subsequently tested positive for COVID-19 visited its Kings Cross club on July 20 to attend a class only, and did not use the gym floor or facilities.

"NSW Health has already contacted those members that have been identified as being in close contact with the person diagnosed with COVID-19.

"Fitness First has been advised that all members who are required to self-isolate have been contacted and no other members, staff or visitors to the club are at risk.

"The club has undergone a process of deep cleaning in addition to increased daily cleaning that has been taking place since the club reopened in June."

Earlier in the day, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in nearby Darling Point said a case had been found there.

Two restaurants in area - Thai Rock and The Apollo - also have confirmed cases.

Meanwhile, in non-COVID news from the Northern Territory, the rape trial of former NT Assistant Police Commissioner Peter Bravos is underway with opening statements heard at Darwin's Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Mr Bravos, 53, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual intercourse without consent involving one alleged victim, a former NT police officer.

The alleged incident dates back to 2004.

A number of high profile witnesses including NT Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker and former parliamentary speaker Kezia Purick are expected to appear at the trial, which is scheduled to run for four weeks.

Thanks to Aneeta Bhole in the NT for covering.

Afternoon all. Nick Baker here. I'll be picking up where Maani Truu left off.

To start, here are a few stories from my colleagues around SBS today.

SBS Malayalam talked to a Melbourne husband and wife who were diagnosed with coronavirus.

SBS Urdu made this video of Muslim women serving free food during the Melbourne lockdown.

And NITV has some great coverage of the Black Lives Matter rally in Sydney.

Thanks for reading SBS News' rolling coverage of the coronavirus crisis in Australia. 

I'll soon be handing blogging duties to my colleague Nick Baker who will take you through the rest of the afternoon, but before I go let's quickly recap today's major developments:

• Victoria recorded 384 new coronavirus cases, down from 532 on Monday. A further 14 were confirmed in NSW, and one in Western Australia. 
• Australia's coronavirus death toll sadly increased to 167, after six more Victorians died as a result of the virus. Twenty-two people have died of COVID-19 in the state over the past three days.
• All elective surgeries other than Category 1 and extremely urgent Category 2 procedures have been suspended in Victoria to free up hospital beds and health care workers to assist with the aged care response. 
• The federal government announced a four-step response to the coronavirus crisis in Victoria's aged care homes, including the establishment of the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre, the deployment of the AUSMAT team to the state, a call-out for interstate nursing staff and a further five million masks from the national medical stockpile.  
• An unauthorised Black Lives Matter protest in Sydney was quashed by police and six protesters arrested. 

A man in his 40s has tested positive for coronavirus in hotel quarantine in Western Australia, taking the state's total number of active cases to three.

Earlier on Tuesday, Premier Mark McGowan said there was no chance of his state participating in travel bubbles with other states that have low levels of coronavirus transmission, stating there was no way to guarantee people hadn't recently visited NSW or Victoria.

"People can jump from Victoria or NSW to other states without us having any control," he said on Tuesday.

"We've just kept a very, very strong arrangement in place to keep the borders closed, to make sure it's easily understood that we keep people from elsewhere out. And thus far it's worked."

Western Australia has not recorded any community transmission of the virus since 12 April.

Back to the lockdown situation in Melbourne, mental health helplines say they are receiving a massive surge in calls for support and counselling as approximately five million people adapt to the second round of Stay at Home orders. 

Lifeline calls spiked by 22 per cent in the days after nine Melbourne public housing towers were placed under lockdown, while Beyond Blue and Kids helpline also reported an increase in calls for support.

“COVID didn't exist in the public's mind six months ago, and now dominates almost half the calls that we get,” Lifeline chairman John Brogden said. 

"Please don't think nobody cares. Please don’t suffer in silence."

You can read the full story from my colleague Naveen Razik here. If anyone reading this is in need of support, the following services are available:

Lifeline crisis support - 13 11 14

Suicide Call Back Service - 1300 659 467 

Kids Helpline (for people aged 5 to 25 years old) - 1800 55 1800

And more information is available at Beyond Blue.org.au and lifeline.org.au.

An organiser of the shut-down Black Lives Matter protest in Sydney has slammed the police response, which led to a number of arrests and the cancellation of the event. 

Paddy Gibson, an organiser and one of the six protesters arrested, said he was told that only 20 people would be permitted in The Domain, which has an area of 34 hectares.

"We weren't allowed to give it a run even though Westfield is allowed, as well as the casino and the NRL," the 37-year-old told AAP following his arrest.

Rally organiser Paddy Gibson during the protest on Tuesday. Source: AAP

"People are allowed to come together to make profits but they're not allowed to come together to say Black Lives Matter - that's a disgraceful situation in NSW.

"They don't want to see us build unity, build power, demand accountability and demand justice from this government because it's too politically sensitive."

Activist Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts, who was also arrested at the protest, tweeted that she had been released.

"The last time I was handled by police with hands put behind my back was the night they removed me," she said.

Queensland has recorded no new coronavirus cases overnight as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told her constituents to forget about travelling to NSW.

"I would advise Queenslanders at the moment not to travel to New South Wales," Ms Palaszczuk said on Tuesday.

"Now is not the time to leave Queensland, now is the time to stay in Queensland."

Six protesters have been arrested after a planned Black Lives Matter protest in Sydney was shut down by police.

Three men, aged 40, 37, and 22, and two women, aged 50 and 23, were arrested and issued $1,000 fines for breaking the public health order, while a third woman, 25, was issued a Criminal Infringement Notice for offensive language. 

NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing said there were "many hundred" police officers on the ground for the event, which had previously been banned.

A man is detained by NSW Police during a Black Lives Matter protest in Sydney. Source: AAP

In response to the protesters who said they were spaced out across The Domain, a large park in Sydney's CBD, and in groups of no more than 20, Assistant Commissioner Willing said they were "arrested for a reason". 

"Those persons who received infringement notices can have those dealt with at court if they wish to do so," he added.

He also warned protesters against attempting to congregate at a second location, stating that police were "prepared for everything".

"Please don't do it. We will be issuing infringement notices, making arrests. We didn't want to do that but have had to do," he said.

READ MORE

Huge police presence smothers protesters at Sydney Black Lives Matter rally

A spokesperson for NSW Police is expected to address the media shortly after the planned Black Lives Matter protest in Sydney was shut down and a number of people arrested.

You can watch the media conference live below. 

Labor's spokesperson for ageing and seniors has called on the government to provide better communication to families of aged care residents, accusing them of failing to learn from earlier outbreaks in NSW.

"We shouldn't have to be playing catch-up all the time," federal Labor MP Julie Collins said. "In Newmarch House in NSW, one of the big lessons was the families didn't get enough information at the right time about their loved one.

"To say that we didn't know all of this would happen or that it wouldn't happen this way is just not true."

The statement followed Health Minister Greg Hunt's announcement that the federal government would supply a further five million masks from the national medical stockpile to Victoria and the establishment of the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre.

But, Ms Collins said, the response was too late. "It's been almost two weeks since the first infection in Victoria in residential aged care and we're looking at it today."

Continuing on with the federal coronavirus update, Health Minister Greg Hunt has hit back at claims the Victorian aged care outbreaks could have been avoided with better staff training, pointing the finger squarely at the bungled hotel quarantine system.

An emotional Mr Hunt said he would "not hear a word against" aged care nurses, after sharing that his father had lived in an aged care facility towards the end of his life.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt. Source: AAP

"I cannot imagine better care that my family and my father could have got, and I speak, I think, for hundreds of thousands of families around the country," he said.

"Let us go back to the source of this, a massive breach of hotel quarantine. Nearly 7,000 Victorians have been infected just this month."

Many aged care staff members had not experienced any symptoms before testing positive, he added.

"Imagine the circumstance of St Basil's [aged care facility], where 100 per cent of the staff were immediately furloughed on a public health order, then we've actually gone in, stepped in as a consequence. There couldn't have been a more difficult situation."

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has outlined the federal government's plan to respond to the coronavirus crisis in Victorian aged care facilities, which have now been linked to 769 active cases.

At least 1,463 Australian Defence Force members have so far been deployed to Victoria and are assisting with checkpoint control, isolation, testing, and managing outbreaks in aged care facilities. 

"In addition they've been very prominent in the tracing system. They've been involved to ensure that the public health system in Victoria has support in terms of logistics of achieving that goal of every case, every day," he said. 

Aged care residents represent approximately 70 per cent of the cases in Victoria which have been diagnosed since 1 July, Mr Hunt said. As a result, the government has established the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre, which will manage the workforce and the transfer of residents to hospital.

The AUSMAT team, which Mr Hunt called the "SAS of the medical world", would also be deployed to the state, while a call-out for interstate nursing staff to assist in Victoria was underway. 

"All of these measures are coming together to provide that additional support for our beautiful, older Australians," he said. 

"This disease particularly preys on the elderly. It's indiscriminate but, in particular, it focuses on the elderly. That's our task. That's our responsibility." 

Some good news at last: there have been no further positive cases linked to neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne.

On Monday it was revealed that a newborn baby, two parents and one staff member connected to the NICU had tested positive for COVID-19, sparking fears for the other vulnerable babies in the ward.

Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said all but one test had been returned, and they were all negative. 

"I think that is very good news, very positive news that I wanted to share with the community, because I know that this particular incident is one that would have caused a great deal of distress to many," she said.

A Melbourne private school has been criticised for releasing guidelines that say students can only wear face masks that match the school colours.

The guidelines, which were sent home to parents of Lighthouse Christian College in Melbourne’s southeast last week, stated that face masks must be plain, without patterns and in blue, grey, white, or black.

Lighthouse Christian College has released guidelines on student mask wearing. Source: Supplied

"People are going to have a hard enough time finding fabric as it is, let alone having to make sure it is one solid colour," one Facebook user said in response to the guidelines.

The school has since said students will not be prevented from wearing masks that don't comply with the guidelines. 

Read the full story from SBS News' reporter Jarni Blakkarly here.

The Sydney Black Lives Matter protest has been cancelled before it began, after police arrested a number of attendees before midday. 

SBS News reporter Omar Dehen, who is at the event, says "very few" protesters remain at The Domain, but "scores of police" are still present.

One of the protesters, human rights activist Vanessa Turnbull Roberts, told reporters she was arrested while telling attendees to go home.

"I was completely complying by orders. The only people who are breaching health safety orders are the police," she said.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has made a number of announcements during his daily coronavirus update. Here are the key points:

Cases down from yesterday

The state has recorded 384 new coronavirus cases since yesterday, when they announced a record-breaking 532 new cases. There are now 4,775 active cases across the state, including 769 in aged care and 414 that are health workers. 

Six more coronavirus fatalities

The state has sadly recorded six more coronavirus deaths; two people in their 90s, three in their 80s, and one in their 60s. Four of the deaths are linked to aged care.

Elective surgeries cancelled

All elective surgeries other than for Category 1 and the "most urgent Category 2" will be suspended to free up hospital beds and health staff as the aged care crisis continues to unfold.

"That is appropriate because that will free up beds and it will free up staff. Staff is the biggest issue. It's not so much about equipment," he said.

"It's about having staff who are able to provide care and support to the most vulnerable residents in and coming out of private sector aged care."

Not all aged care residents will be moved from facilities with outbreaks

But Mr Andrews said this did not mean all residents of aged care facilities where there is an outbreak would be moved "en masse" to hospitals.

Residents would continue to be moved from their residence "on clinical need", he said, when there is "no confidence in infection control".

Aged care outbreaksVictoria's Chief Medical Officer Brett Sutton also gave a rundown of the major outbreaks linked to aged care facilities, they are as follows:

88 cases in Estia aged care in Ardea, 86 in St Basil's home in Fawkner, 82 linked to Epping Gardens in Epping, 76 linked to Kirk Brae Presbyterian homes in Kilsyth, 62 linked to Menarock Life aged care in Essendon, 53 linked to Glen Dale aged care in Werribee, 51 linked to another facility in Werribee, 50 cases linked to Estia aged care in Heidelberg, and 40 cases linked to Outlook Gardens aged care in Dandedong North. 

READ MORE

Victoria escalates response to aged care crisis as state records 384 new coronavirus cases