Businessman Govind Kant is the second Australian to die from coronavirus in India; Morrison refuses to commit to a vaccination level at which regular flights will resume. Follow all the day’s news
- Virgin boss says Australia’s borders should reopen sooner than mid-2022 even though ‘some people may die’
- How Covid changed the way Australians move: more traffic jams, less public transport
- Only 999 out of 26,000 Australian disability care residents vaccinated
6.00am BST
So, a interesting little tidbit has emerged from the newspoll results published this morning, with more Labor voters wanting the government to rein in spending:
Urgh more ALP voters want to “rein in spending and reduce debt” than Coalition voters pic.twitter.com/q6DUk2RzKT
5.45am BST
The Australian Medical Association [AMA] is calling on national cabinet to adopt interim steps to strengthen hotel quarantine and to establish long-term dedicated quarantine facilities to manage the ongoing risks of Covid-19.
The AMA federal council today released a communique on the issue, and AMA president Dr Omar Khorshid said with the virus continuing to spread internationally we need to better prepare for it continuing to reach our shores. Australia cannot keep its international borders closed indefinitely, he said.
While international border closures have sheltered Australia from the worst impacts of Covid-19, we know these are having a significant detrimental impact on some areas of the Australian economy.
At some point, it will not be possible to justify the maintenance of border closures given their impact on lives and livelihoods. Internationally, Covid-19 continues to spread rapidly.
