No joy for the nerves today as hopes of better news on the coronavirus front were once again dashed with 459 new cases and 10 deaths reported in Victoria, a record daily death toll for the state. Victoria now has a total of 8181 confirmed cases.
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Healthcare workers are still proving to be among the most vulnerable, with 381 active cases in that sector. The premier, Daniel Andrews has reminded Victorians that the young are not invincible as 30-40 per cent of cases now involved people between the ages of 18 and 29. Police on Sunday said they had issued 126 fines in the previous 24 hours for not wearing masks.
Today we saw a distinct division between left- and right-wing strategies for post-COVID economic recovery. In Victoria Labor's Daniel Andrews talked about the need to address the problem of "insecure work" highlighted by the pandemic and the need for basic entitlements for workers.
On the other side of politics Josh Frydenberg pointed to the 'trickle down' economics of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan as his inspiration, which features tax cuts for business and the wealthy to stimulate investment that is said to benefit society in the long term.
In NSW, Sydney's Thai restaurant coronavirus cluster has risen to 67 while a funeral and church cluster has also expanded as NSW records 14 new cases.
Queensland has maintained its tight hold over coronavirus with no new positive tests overnight and just five active cases across the state.
A Sydney Black Lives Matter rally has lost its status as an authorised assembly, opening up demonstrators to arrest and fines for breaching coronavirus restrictions on mass gatherings, but an appeal is underway. Protesters are asking why going to a footy game is significantly different than going to a protest.
Politicians still can't get their head around how parliamentary allowances work with South Australian Transport Minister Stephan Knoll and Primary Industries Minister Tim Whetstone quitting their cabinet positions after being embroiled in a scandal over pushing accommodation expenses onto taxpayers.
On a global footing the coronavirus toll has now reached 643,384 deaths, 146,460 of those have occurred in the US which has registered 4,099,310 cases, an increase of 74,818 cases from its previous daily count, and the number of deaths has risen by 1,145.
French health authorities are making COVID-19 tests available free of charge without prescription as they closely monitor an uptick in infections after the lifting of lockdown measures.
Brazil has recorded 86,449 fatalities and the UK 45,823.
Thousands of people have marched in the US city of Seattle in the largest Black Lives Matter demonstration in weeks, with a renewed energy sparked by violent clashes between activists and federal agents in nearby Portland.
On a sad musical note Fleetwood Mac founder Peter Green has died aged 73. Check out his version of Black Magic Woman.
On the lighter side, Monica Lewinsky racked up 350,000 likes for a joke she made on Twitter. It wasn't that funny, but hey ... or maybe it was?
And never to be outdone for sheer weirdness, Donald Trump yesterday visited a golf course for the 10th time in the past 29 days.
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