World 22 million Ecuador 100K+ Bolivia 100K+
The federal royal commission into aged care has been running for two years. Now it’s examining the failure of the aged care system in the wake of this virus. There is also a royal commission into disability services. There’s been the enquiry into the Ruby Princess response in NSW which reported yesterday and an ongoing judicial enquiry into the hotel quarantine debacle in Victoria. The blame shifting is reaching epic proportions and is likely to escalate as more details emerge from these enquiries.
This virus has exposed the confusion and overlapping interface between federal and state responsibilities, and more importantly, the gaps that exist in government oversight. Still, we are a lot better off here than many other places around the globe. Ecuador and Bolivia are the latest countries to record over 100,000 cases of COVID-19. That makes 28 countries with over that number of infections.
Here in Victoria we’ve had another 17 deaths and 222 new cases. This is the lowest daily case number in one month, however Melbournians will have to become used to being under some form of restrictions. Professor Nancy Baxter, head of Melbourne University’s School of Population and Global Health said that she is optimistic about the downturn in cases, but that second wave infections always take longer to control. Though we may come out of Stage at some stage when numbers are far lower, she said that Stage Three or Stage Two will probably be in effect for a long time after that, potentially until a vaccine is available.