Coronavirus live news: Donald Trump ‘no longer transmission risk’; Victoria to ease lockdown

Doctor says president not replicating virus, but no word on whether he has tested negative; Europe records 100,000 daily cases for first time. Follow latest updates

Mainland China reported 21 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus on 10 October, up from 15 a day earlier, the country’s national health authority said on Sunday.

All the new cases were imported infections involving travellers from overseas, the National Health Commission said in a statement.

The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed, fell to 23 from 39 a day earlier. All of them were imported.

The total confirmed Covid-19 cases in mainland China stands at 85,557, while the death toll remained at 4,634.

In Australia, the ACT has confirmed no new coronavirus cases. From the statement sent by the ACT government:

There have been no new cases of COVID-19 recorded in the ACT in the past 24 hours, leaving the ACT’s total at 113. There are no active cases in the ACT.

A total of 110 cases have recovered from COVID-19 in the ACT.

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Coronavirus live news: Brazil records 290 deaths in 24 hours; Italy plans new restrictions

South American country has now registered 150,488 deaths; Italy moves as daily infections reach highest levels since March

Slovakia will impose stricter coronavirus restrictions from Thursday, including making face masks compulsory in public and limits to public gatherings, the country’s health ministry said on Sunday.

The government will also debate on Monday whether to limit gatherings to six people, health minister Marek Krajci said.

Brazil confirmed 290 coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours and 12,345 new cases, the nation’s health ministry said on Sunday.

The South American country has now registered 5,094,982 total confirmed coronavirus cases and 150,488 total deaths.

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Unexploded 45kg bomb found off Australia’s Lord Howe Island

Navy divers remove live bomb after fisherman called in find on Lord Howe Island’s Elizabeth reef

An unexploded 45kg bomb has been towed into deep waters after being found off the New South Wales coast.

The weapon was found by a fisherman on Lord Howe Island’s Elizabeth Reef. Defence personnel said it could have posed “a significant risk to the general public”.

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Kevin Rudd petition calls for royal commission into News Corp domination of Australian media

Petition set up by the former PM caused problems for the Parliament House website after more than 38,000 people signed in 24 hours

The former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has launched a petition calling for a royal commission into NewsCorp’s dominance of Australia media, arguing Rupert Murdoch’s media company employs tactics that “chill free speech and undermine public debate”.

The petition, launched on the Australian Parliament website on Saturday, had gained more than 38,000 signatures by Sunday morning, with Rudd tweeting that the popularity of the petition had caused the website to suspect users signing it were robots.

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The race for a Covid vaccine: inside the Australian lab working round the clock to produce 100m doses

The Guardian is given a unique insight into the operations of CSL, which is making vaccines that could help end the crisis

Some call it the “happy soup”.

Take a dash of modified Covid-19 protein DNA, mix it with cells from a Chinese hamster’s ovary, and place the combination in two state-of-the-art 2,000L bioreactors in a sprawling scientific facility on Melbourne’s northern fringes.

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NSW Covid hotspots: list of Sydney and regional case locations

Here are the current coronavirus hotspots in New South Wales and what to do if you’ve visited them

New South Wales health authorities have released a list of hotspots where Covid-positive people have visited while infectious.

Those who attended some locations must isolate immediately for 14 days, others must monitor for symptoms.

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Yang Hengjun: Australian writer held in China for almost two years officially charged with espionage

Move paves way for Yang, who was arrested in January 2019, to face trial in China

An Australian writer who has been detained by Beijing for more than 20 months has been charged with espionage by Chinese authorities.

Sources with knowledge of the case told the Guardian the supreme people’s procuratorate had informed Yang Hengjun and his legal team that his case had been transferred to Beijing second intermediate court for prosecution.

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Telstra denies Victoria police requested Graham Ashton’s phone records for hotel quarantine inquiry

Phone records of former police chief considered crucial in investigation to determine who made the decision to use private security guards

Victoria police never formally requested Telstra provide ex-police chief Graham Ashton’s phone records to help the hotel quarantine inquiry uncover who made the decision to use private security guards in the botched program, Guardian Australia can reveal.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Victoria police told Guardian Australia that police “did contact Telstra and request incoming call data for the former chief commissioner’s phone”.

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Coronavirus Australia update: Victoria reports 11 new cases and NSW 10 as Peta Credlin questions Daniel Andrews – live

The number of locally transmitted cases in Sydney is growing, dashing hopes of the Queensland border reopening next month. Follow live

Scott Morrison says it is the GST top up with has allowed WA to declare a budget surplus.

So, you’re welcome, Mark,” he says

Q: The RBA has warned today that Australia’s historically low population growth rate will heighten the risk of falls in property values in the future. And Treasury has said your housing measures bring forward demand for future years. What will the Government do?

Scott Morrison:

Well, the impacts from the COVID-19 recession are obvious. Whether it’s programs like HomeBuilder and others, there will always be an excess of demand over the supply of housing in this country. Always has been. And that’s what has fundamentally driven house price values all around the country.

And that is still true today. There is still a surplus of demand over supply. And that’s why our HomeBuilder program - and to give you an idea of its impact, what we’ve done in the housing sector is we’ve been unlocking and bringing forward the decisions that home builders want to make. And that will see some 20,000 homes built at a cost of around $500 million.

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Coronavirus live news: Spain imposes state of emergency in Madrid; Europe records 100,000 daily cases for first time

Court had struck down lockdown measures in Spanish capital; Cases in Europe have been steadily rising over the past week

US President Donald Trump has approved a revised Covid-19 relief stimulus, White House Economic Advisor Larry Kudlow has said.

Stocks immediately rallied on the news, Bloomberg News tweets, while the president himself (or one of his staff) has has also been on Twitter in the last few minutes

Covid Relief Negotiations are moving along. Go Big!

Related: Pelosi says medication has Trump 'in an altered state' in 25th amendment bid – live

Most people in the UK who have Covid-19 or are a contact of somebody who has tested positive fail to fully self-isolate, despite its necessity in preventing a resurgence of the pandemic, according to government advisors.

Newly released papers reveal that behavioural science experts privately warned last month that only 18-25% of people who needed to were self-isolating. Others were still going out to work or to shop, even though they risked infecting others, according to the details of the briefing for ministers by the UK government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) .

Related: Coronavirus: at least three-quarters of people in UK fail to self-isolate

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NSW deputy premier John Barilaro to lose driving licence – report

The Nationals leader reportedly has a string of driving infringements including speeding in a ministerial car

The New South Wales deputy premier, John Barilaro, will reportedly lose his driving licence after a string of driving infringements in the lead up to his decision to take mental health leave last month.

The Daily Telegraph reported on Thursday that Barilaro, who took four weeks of leave from mid-September after his threat to blow up the Coalition government over plans to protect koala habitat backfired, is on the verge of losing his licence after being caught speeding while behind the wheel of a ministerial car.

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Australia coronavirus news: NSW reports eight new cases of community transmission as Victoria records 11 – live updates

Victoria reports no new deaths as NSW Health warns of several new Sydney locations linked to Covid-19. Follow all today’s news

NSW says a new cluster of three people is likely linked to an existing cluster. The premier Gladys Berejiklian is also warning that the public will be told of “additional venues, additional locations” to respond to during the day.

The remaining three cases of community transmission are all linked, and that source is being investigated by Health. Health has not ruled out also being able to establish a link between that new cluster of three people and also an existing cluster. It’s also important to note that we anticipate during the day there will be additional venues, additional locations, which we’ll be asking the public to respond to.

We anticipate that because we’ve identified these eight cases, that a number of close contacts and family members could be found to be positive as a result, so it’s really, really important for everybody to stay on high alert, look at the information which Health provides during the course of the day, and please react and make sure you take that advice. If you’re asked to get tested and stay home for 14 days, please make sure you do that.

In NSW, another four cases were recorded from returned travellers.

Of the eight locally-acquired cases, one is under investigation and seven are linked to a known case or cluster. NSW Health said:

One new case reported today was locally acquired, is likely to have been infected some days ago and appears linked to the Liverpool Hospital Dialysis cluster. Four more cases are close contacts of this case.

One new case is locally acquired whose source is under investigation. The remaining two cases today are close contacts of this case.

Testing numbers have dropped recently, which is a concern. NSW Health renews its call for increased testing across Sydney, even if you have the mildest of symptoms like a runny nose or scratchy throat, cough, fever or other symptoms that could be COVID-19.

This is especially important for people across West and South West Sydney with these new cases and after the state’s sewage surveillance program detected fragments of the virus at the North Richmond and West Camden treatment plants.

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Coronavirus live news: Brazil cases pass 5m; Trump calls catching Covid ‘a blessing in disguise’

France sees record cases; one in seven people tested in Belgian capital is positive; Trump returns to Oval Office against CDC’s isolation guidelines. Follow the latest updates

As far as we understand, that memo means that around 7 more people than are currently known to be infected have contracted the virus.

Per our most recent story:

Related: At least 27 in Trump’s circle have tested positive for coronavirus

From that ABC report:

The coronavirus outbreak has infected “34 White House staffers and other contacts” in recent days, according to an internal government memo, an indication that the disease has spread among more people than previous known in the seat of American government.

Dated Wednesday and obtained by ABC News, the memo was distributed among senior leadership at FEMA, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security and the agency responsible for managing the continuing national response to the public health disaster.

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Coronavirus live news: Madrid court rejects partial lockdown as ‘harmful to basic rights’; Brazil cases pass 5m

Madrid court strikes down partial lockdown order in city; Trump returns to Oval Office against CDC’s isolation guidelines; France sees record cases rise

British airline easyJet said it will open a new base in Faro, the main city in Portugal’s popular Algarve tourist region, which has been hammered by the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Joao Lopes, easyJet’s executive director in Portugal, told reporters the airline would allocate three aircraft to Faro next year, making it the company’s third base in the country. It already has bases in Lisbon and Porto.

The US president, Donald Trump, said talks with Congress have restarted over further Covid-19 relief and that there was a good chance a deal could be reached, but gave no other details about a possible agreement.

“Now they are starting to work out,” he told Fox in a telephone interview, after previous statements via his Twitter account earlier this week that he had cut off negotiations.

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Coronavirus live news: Brussels closes cafes and bars for a month; clashes over restrictions in Israel

One in seven people tested in Belgian capital is positive; Facebook and Twitter act against Trump for suggesting Covid just like flu

The European Commission has agreed with US company Gilead to buy additional doses of its Covid-19 drug Remdesivir to treat about 3,400 patients, amid shortages of the medication in Europe.

A spokesman for the EU executive said Brussels agreed with Gilead last Friday to supply nearly 20,300 additional doses “which help almost 3,400 patients” at a cost of €7m ($8.24m). That is in addition to 30,000 courses of treatment it bought at the end of July.

For White House staff and senior visiting officials and journalists, the coronavirus outbreak in Donald Trump’s inner circle has become like a whodunnit amid a shortage of information and mounting anxiety.

As cleaners in hazmat suits have been pictured disinfecting areas – including briefing rooms and the White House press and communications “shop” where three staff have been infected – the questions now being asked are: who caught Covid from whom and when and where? And who might be next?

Related: White House coronavirus cluster: who has tested positive?

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Scott Morrison says 2020 budget spending plans to go ahead even if forecasts proved wrong

Prime minister says post-budget debate over underlying assumptions, including turbo-charged economic growth next year, is ‘overstated’

Scott Morrison has declared the government will deliver all the big-spending elements of Tuesday night’s budget even if the rosy assumptions underpinning the economic statement turn out to be wrong.

As the government embarked on the traditional media blitz to sell the budget, the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, was preparing to use Thursday night’s budget reply speech to outline elements of new childcare policy and a commitment on energy.

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Australian budget reaction updates: Coalition punts on business for Covid recovery – politics live

Josh Frydenberg’s budget relies on tax cuts and business incentives, but rests on some optimistic assumptions. Follow all the reaction and coronavirus news

Meanwhile, once upon a time

I know it is a bit much for her to be morally consistent but. https://t.co/jKpD1iHTu7 https://t.co/UmUUfDSMfe pic.twitter.com/U7WUbxPPXP

High from being retweeted and quoted by Donald Trump, who proved he had learned more about the seriousness of Covid by forcing public employees to drive him around in a sealed vehicle, and then removing his mask for a photo op, Miranda Devine continues to do Australia proud, making even a Fox News host raise an eyebrow

"It's incredibly selfish of older people or neurotic people who are timid & afraid & won't come out of their basements to confine children & young people to miss out on the most important part of their lives" - Fox News is now straight up blaming old & vulnerable people for Covid pic.twitter.com/mLhiwDHmrN

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Coronavirus live news: Belgium limits gatherings to four people; Italy set to make masks mandatory outdoors

‘People are tired, we know,’ says Belgian PM of new measures; Lazio and Campania already enforcing face-covering rules

Reuters reports that US cruise operator Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd has extended suspension of sailings until 30 November, excluding those originating from Hong Kong, as the Covid-19 crisis continues to hurt the demand for voyages.

The company said its cruise brand Celebrity Cruises will suspend its 2020-21 winter program in Australia and Asia, while its Azamara cruises will suspend winter sailings throughout Australia and New Zealand, South Africa and South America.

The US Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden tested negative for Covid-19 in a test conducted on Tuesday, his campaign said in a statement.

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How much will I get from the 2020 federal budget tax cuts? More if you earn over $100,000

The Coalition’s stage 2 cuts give medium-income earners up to $1,080 – for one year – but those on high incomes a permanent cut of $2,430

The government has chosen to stick with tax cuts as its big-ticket stimulus measure and so medium-income earners will get a tax cut of up to $1,080 for one year.

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More than 14m tonnes of plastic believed to be at the bottom of the ocean

Thirty times more plastic on ocean floor than surface, analysis suggests, but more trapped on land than sea

At least 14m tonnes of plastic pieces less than 5mm wide are likely sitting at the bottom of the world’s oceans, according to an estimate based on new research.

Analysis of ocean sediments from as deep as 3km suggests there could be more than 30 times as much plastic at the bottom of the world’s ocean than there is floating at the surface.

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