Coronavirus news Australia: evacuation flights for stranded citizens in India as some states ease Covid-19 restrictions – as it happened

To recap, this afternoon there were 6,929 Covid-19 cases in Australia, with the death toll at 97.

There had been 16 new cases in the last 24 hours, four of which were related to the Cedar Meats cluster in Victoria.

The deputy chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, pleaded with Australians to resist any urges “to cuddle our mums” ahead of Mother’s Day on Sunday, urging people to be cautious as coronavirus restrictions begin to be eased.

Here’s our summary of today’s major developments.

That concludes our coverage for the day. We’ll be back tomorrow, but in the meantime follow the Guardian’s global live coverage here. Thanks for reading and stay safe.

There are just two people in South Australia considered to be active cases of Covid-19.

No further cases were recorded when the state health department released updated statistics on Saturday, with South Australia’s total tally remaining at 439.

It comes as the state is set to loosen restrictions from Monday, with leaders keen to encourage South Australians to travel within their state.

The premier, Steven Marshall, has reassured South Australians regional travel is safe because the state is “one of the safest places in the world at the moment”.

We want people to get out and explore our fabulous regions. It is safe for regional travel in South Australia.

AAP reports that from Monday, all country accommodation can reopen, including caravan parks, hotels, motels and Airbnb services.

Other restrictions to be lifted in SA include the return of alcohol-free outdoor dining at cafes and restaurants and the resumption of outdoor sports training.

Universities and Tafe colleges will be allowed to resume face-to-face learning, public swimming pools, places of worship and libraries can reopen, and open house inspections and home auctions will be permitted.

In almost all cases, numbers will be limited to 10 people at a time and all social distancing provisions will still apply.

However, SA will allow up to 20 people to attend a funeral indoors and up to 30 people outdoors.

AAP is reporting that the Cronulla captain, Wade Graham, has called on those NRL players who are refusing to get a flu shot to remember they have chosen to compete in a team sport.

The NRL’s restart on 28 May has hit a hiccup with around 20 players refusing to be vaccinated for various reasons, including past adverse reactions to the flu shot and religious reasons.

However, speaking on Triple M on Saturday, Graham said getting the flu shot was a “no brainer”, and refusing to do so based on just personal preference goes against a team-first mentality.

If it was a pure personal preference, I’d say it’s a team sport boys. It’s not an individual sport and you need to do things sometimes that are not in your comfort zone, or that are not in your best interests, for the greater good of the team.

That’s what great teams are built on … I think in this situation, you have to not think about your own personal situation and think about the rest of the playing group.

On Friday, the Gold Coast Titans confirmed Bryce Cartwright and Brian Kelly were both stood down for refusing the vaccination after an intervention by the Queensland government. Fellow Titan Nathan Peats and Manly’s Marty Taupau both hesitated to get the shot due to past adverse reactions, but eventually had the injection.

As of Saturday afternoon, the Titans were still awaiting confirmation from Cartwright and Kelly over whether they would agree to be immunised and resume training.

It’s understood Dylan Walker, Addin Fonua-Blake, Josh Papalii, Joseph Tapine, Iosia Soliola and Canterbury’s Sione Katoa all signed a waiver to remain compliant under the NRL’s guidelines and continue training.

It has sparked confusion over how different states and territories will enforce the NRL’s return to training protocols, and casts doubt over whether unimmunised players will be allowed to play in Queensland.

Graham, who sits on the RLPA’s board of directors, said the confusion was always a risk as the game rushed to resume training. He believes players and clubs could have sacrificed another week of training as a team to ensure these loose ends in the biosecurity guidelines were tied up.

Should the NRL decide to bow to government pressure and enact a ‘no jab, no play’ policy, Graham says players will need to consider the strength of their convictions against their livelihoods.

I know for me, if I don’t like a flu jab, if it puts my livelihood at risk preventing me from making some money to feed my family, I’m getting the flu jab.

It’s simple in my eyes … It depends on how strong their convictions are on an individual level. If they want to sacrifice their rugby league game for their personal preference not to get a flu shot, that’s their prerogative.

The deputy chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, has also doubt on the chances of fans attending finals footy this year – another rubbing of salt into an already heavily seasoned wound.

There are some iconic moments in Australian sport coming up in that period – the last weekend in September is dear to many of us. I must admit I am doubtful that we will be able to fill the MCG by that time, but let’s see how we go on this road.

The deputy chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, has also pleaded with Australians to resist any urges “to cuddle our mums” ahead of Mother’s Day on Sunday.

Absolutely if you are feeling sick yourself, do not go and visit your mum. Please don’t. If you are feeling well and you really want to see your mum, I’m sure it is fine. But for elderly mums, just be a little bit cautious and probably keep that 1.5-metre distance for now.

I know it is hard and we all want to cuddle our mums on Mother’s Day and a big shout out to all of the mums out there, but let’s just wait a little bit longer.

He also reiterated that Australians over 70 should be more cautious about rushing back into normal life as lockdowns are eased in some states.

For people over the age of 70, I would just say be cautious over these next couple of weeks. Even if things are opening up and people are gathering, shops, cafes and so forth are now available. But for people over the age of 70, I would just urge caution about your own health and consider that, including having people over to your house.

The deputy chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, has defended the government’s roadmap out of Covid-19 restrictions unveiled by Scott Morrison on Friday, as NSW and Victoria indicate they will keep current restrictions in place for the time being.

This is a roadmap, we are all on the same road across Australia. It is just that different states and territories have had different starting points and they will be using that same roadmap, but at slightly different speeds. I want to really be clear there are no roadblocks in this roadmap.

Kelly also revealed there are 6,929 cases in Australia as of Saturday afternoon, with the death toll at 97. There have been 16 new cases in the last 24 hours, four of which are related to the Cedar Meats cluster in Victoria.

He also said the testing positivity rate is now under 1%, and said of the 900 Australians who are sick with Covid-19, 51 are currently being treated in hospital, with 19 of them in intensive care and 15 of those cases relying on ventilators.

Those figures are way less than what we were having even a couple of weeks ago and this is all very good news.

Kelly also said there had been “extraordinarily good uptake” of the CovidSafe tracing app, with 5.4 million downloads as of Friday.

Over on the Guardian global live blog my colleague Rebecca Ratcliffe reports that Roy Horn, of the double act Siegfried and Roy, has died after contracting Covid-19.

He died in Las Vegas on Friday, aged 75.

The duo’s performances – in which the illusionists would ride on elephants, cavort with tigers and make animals disappear – became one of Las Vegas’s biggest attractions.

In 2003, Horn was left in critical condition after being mauled by an albino tiger during their stage act. He eventually recovered and was able to return to the stage.

The cause of his death was complications from Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, Horn’s publicist, Dave Kirvin told the New York Times.

Another 10 cases of Covid-19 were reported Saturday morning in Victoria, with four linked to an outbreak at the Cedar Meats facility, AAP reports.

Victoria’s coronavirus tally is a 1,477, with just over 100 of those being active cases.

My colleague Matilda Boseley has been covering the Cedar Meats outbreak, and you can read her latest piece here.

WA records no new cases.

The WA health department has released updated Covid-19 statistics, with the state’s tally not rising above its previous total of 552.

There are now seven active cases across the state, with just one in regional WA.

Four people are being treated for Covid-19 in Perth hospitals, with one in intensive care.

The state has performed 54,563 Covid-19 tests, 490 of which were conducted yesterday.

So far 536 people in the state have recovered from the virus.

Just to further clarify the death on Friday night of 92-year-old Fay Rendoth at Newmarch House that was announced this morning.

AAP reports that NSW Health’s Dr Jeremy McAnulty said the infectious disease doctor looking after the Newmarch residents does not believe her death was related to Covid-19.

The doctor is in the best place to understand what the illness was and the cause of death.

Without going into personal details, we understand that the person had Covid, had recovered, had other illnesses and was elderly and died.

He acknowledged Covid-19, like any other illness, could influence the person’s stamina and ability to recover.

The Guardian has sought clarification from Anglicare, the operator of Newmarch House.

The 17th resident to die since the outbreak was declared at Newmarch, Rendoth’s granddaughter, Savannah Robinson, believes her death was Covid-19 related.

It was the confinement in her room and the by-product of Covid-19 social, physical isolation that had detrimental impacts on her health and led to her passing.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has accused the federal government of lacking an economic plan to go with its road map to lift coronavirus-related restrictions.

AAP reports:

“We have said there needs to be a full release of the budget outlook, something the government is ducking at this stage,” Mr Albanese told reporters in Queanbeyan on Saturday, campaigning in the Eden-Monaro electorate ahead of the by-election.

He said the government’s promise of a “snap back” in the economy once the crisis has passed is nothing more than “a marketing slogan from the prime minister who doesn’t have economic plan”.

“We will be calling for the government to outline its economic plan.”

Albanese said there is a “big threat” to the economy if people suddenly get cut off from their jobkeeper and jobseeker payments on some arbitrary date.

Prime minister Scott Morrison and state and territory leaders agreed on Friday to a three-step plan to restart business and community activities.

However, the states and territories are set to move through the three stages at different speeds, depending on their health situation and local conditions.

Treasury says it is possible to restore 851,000 jobs in coming months if things go to plan.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said regional and interstate travel restrictions need to be lifted as soon as is practicable to breathe life back into regional and urban economies.

“Australian businesses depend on operating as seamlessly as possible between states and territories, as many supply services and source goods interstate,” ACCI CEO, James Pearson, said in a statement.

“We recognise state and territory-specific timetables for the three-stage plan will be based on the current pandemic impact trend and will be subject to any change in health outcomes and ongoing reviews. We hope there are no significant detours or U-turns on the road to recovery.

The Business Council of Australia has set up a series of expert working groups, headed by some of the country’s top executives, to identify practical and achievable solutions to create jobs and boost the economy.

The groups will not only look at how to restart business and industry but put in place structural reforms to drive growth and higher wages.

Good afternoon, it’s Elias Visontay here. Thanks to my colleague Ben Doherty for taking us through the morning.

Foreign affairs minister Marise Payne has announced a government-organised evacuation flight for Australians stranded in India that will leave Delhi tonight:

Our high commission in India has so far assisted over 3,500 Australians to leave, with another Qantas flight departing Delhi this evening. The government has arranged four additional Qantas flights to Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai in the coming fortnight.

More than 300,000 Australians and permanent residents have returned from overseas since the government recommended that people reconsider the need to travel abroad.

We have facilitated the return of 16,500 of those Australians, including around 6,500 from cruise ships around the world.

This has been one of the largest consular challenges Australia has dealt with. Dfat staff in Canberra and at posts abroad have been committed to providing Australians with practical solutions to return to Australia.

The NSW Health department has released updated Covid-19 statistics, which are current up to 8pm on Friday.

There have been five new cases recorded in NSW, bringing the state’s total to 3,051.

NSW has also set a new record for a single day, with 13,692 tests conducted in the previous 24 hours. The state has tested 294,949 people since the declaration of the pandemic.

No new deaths have been reported in the state as of Friday evening, but this doesn’t include the recent death announced at Newmarch House. However this is not so straightforward because while the resident who died did have Covid-19, it has been reported they recovered before passing away.

There are now 2,504 people who have recovered from Covid-19 in NSW, while 110 cases are being treated in hospital. Eight of those people are in intensive care, with seven of them requiring ventilators.

On Saturday, NSW health minister Brad Hazzard also announced a $12.7m initiative to employ final year medical students in NSW to work in hospitals across the state. If the students opt in to the program and are deemed to have the required skills, they will be supervised in roles including admitting and reviewing patients and performing procedures including taking blood.

Thank you all for your company and correspondence. Ben Doherty signing off now. I’m handing you over to my charming, brilliant, and incorrigibly handsome colleague Elias Visontay.

Be well. Stay safe, and look after each other.

The ACT government has updated its Covid-19 statistics.

There have been zero new cases of Covid-19 recorded in the ACT in the past 24 hours. The ACT’s total is still 107.

A total of 103 cases have recovered from Covid-19 and have been released from self-isolation.

The ACT has recorded three deaths.

The number of negative tests in the ACT is now 11,167.

The ACT has further eased Covid-19 restrictions to support families and our economy.

From today, all indoor and outdoor gatherings can have a maximum of 10 people (including children). This includes gatherings at a person’s home.

Many public spaces are closed across the territory, but parks, reserves and sports grounds are open. Cafes, restaurants and bars are closed for dining, but open for take-away and home delivery.

“We hope that by easing the restrictions we can support the mental and physical wellbeing of Canberrans,” ACT chief health officer Dr Kerryn Coleman said.

“We still want families to be able to visit each other, and two households that come together resulting in a gathering of more than 10 people is allowed. However, this is not an invitation to bring together people from multiple households for parties.

“We still need Canberrans to play their part to prevent a new wave of Covid-19 cases in the ACT.”