Squiz Today – Monday, 23 November

SQUIZ SAYINGS

“The mood was that 'if he's gone this far for this team, I've got to turn it up tonight too.'"

Said Lions FC coach Darren Sime of goalkeeper Luke Borean’s decision to play in the National Premier Leagues Queensland semi-final game on Saturday - arriving straight from his wedding ceremony. His new wife Ellen, who attended in her bridal gown, is a keeper. Seriously, she also plays goalkeeper for local club Souths United…

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MOVING FORWARD ON COVID AFTER LAST WEEK’S WHIRLWIND

THE SQUIZ

Further steps towards ‘COVID-normal’ were taken across the country over the weekend. Which surely has to be one of the most awful terms to come out of the pandemic so far…

LET’S GET TO THE NEWS...

Roger that. In Victoria, the requirement to wear a mask outdoors was relaxed, except in situations where social distancing can’t be assured. Visitor/crowd/patron limits were also raised and sport for adults can recommence. However, there was bad news for Victorians hoping to get out of hosting Christmas lunch this year - up to 30 people can visit homes from 13 December. The state yesterday recorded 23 consecutive days of no new coronavirus cases. And the NSW-Victorian border opened overnight with southerners now able to head north unfettered. Border communities have lived through 137 days of hassle to help stop the spread of Victoria’s second wave of cases. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian yesterday said; “We never want to see this ever again. This is the last time in our lifetime this border is closed”. Rumours she knocked on wood after her press conference weren’t verified

AND WHAT’S THE GO IN SOUTH OZ?

Good question. The state-wide stay-at-home order was lifted yesterday as was the ban on things like weddings and funerals as a new set of restrictions was put in place for 8 days, including a requirement to wear masks outside the home. The harsh 6-day lockdown was lifted when a man who was thought to have caught the virus after ordering pizza ‘fessed up to working there, which had increased his exposure to the virus. Reports say the 36yo Spaniard lied to contact tracers because he’s on a student visa, had been working in the state’s hotel quarantine program and thought he might get into trouble over his second job. His initial version of events led officials to believe they were dealing with a hotted-up super-spreading-strain that required drastic action. Fending off accusations they didn’t nail down the facts before acting, Premier Steven Marshall took a glass-half-full attitude yesterday saying the state "avoided a catastrophic situation”. There are 26 cases linked to the Parafield cluster.

 

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SQUIZ THE REST

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AND FURTHER AFIELD ON THE COVID FRONT...

Global leaders gathered for a different looking G20 summit on the weekend (including a distracted US President Donald Trump for part of it…) where they vowed to help poorer countries fight the coronavirus with access to vaccines, treatments and tests. The health and economic responses to the pandemic dominated the 2-day virtual summit where member nations were urged to back their commitment with financial support. PM Scott Morrison (who was possibly wearing this ensemble) backed the push saying "no one is safe until we are all safe." Meanwhile, the US continues to struggle with the spread of the virus as most of California, the country’s most populous state with almost 40 million people, was put under a night time curfew. Officials there say a vaccine could be available as soon as 11 December. And Canada’s largest city Toronto has gone into a hard lockdown as cases surge. Over in the UK, PM Boris Johnson will today outline a plan for how Christmas in England will go down. The daily rate of new cases in the UK has slowed, but it’s still high at about 20,000 a day.

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ANOTHER WEEK, ANOTHER ROUND OF LEGAL CHALLENGES

No sooner had the battleground state of Georgia been officially declared for Democratic candidate Joe Biden, that Team Trump called for a recount yesterday. That’s possible when a candidate’s vote tally is within 0.5% of the winner - and that’s the case here with Biden declared the winner with a slim lead of 12,600 votes. It comes after lawyers for President Trump, including a sweaty Rudy Giuliani, claimed “a plan from a centralised place to execute these various acts of voter fraud” had stolen the election from the Republicans. In another setback, an effort to invalidate millions of Pennsylvania votes was yesterday thrown out of court. President-elect Biden, who is expected to announce his Cabinet this week, called Team Trump’s actions “outrageous”. “I’m confident he knows he hasn’t won, is not going to be able to win and we’re going to be sworn on January 20th,” he said.

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RARE SHARK ATTACK IN WA’S NORTH

Broome in Western Oz yesterday recorded its first fatal shark attack since 1993 after a man in his 50s was killed off the tourist haven of Cable Beach. WA's Deputy Police Commissioner Col Blanch yesterday said the man - who reports say was a local - was bodyboarding in relatively shallow water before 9am when the attack happened. He was recovered from the water by a couple swimming nearby but he was unable to be saved. The beach was closed as authorities searched for the shark. WA recorded its last fatal shark attack last month when surfer Andrew Sharpe went missing near Esperance. Authorities recovered his damaged surfboard, but he was never found. There was also tragedy in Queensland yesterday after a car overturned in a reservoir near Beaudesert. Two children died (5yo and 13yo), and a six-month-old baby, a 1yo child and two adults are in hospital. Passers-by were praised for their rescue efforts.

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DIFFICULTIES GETTING FRESH

Veggie-dodgers rejoice… If you’re heading into salad season and fast running out of excuses to duck the green, leafy matter, you might soon have a new card to play. Labour shortages on farms across the country are causing problems for the picking/harvesting and packing of fruit and veg which could see prices go up, and the quality drop, we’ve been warned. COVID restrictions on state and international borders have made it hard to get the backpacker/nomadic workers the horticulture industry relies on. And producers are worried that as borders open, travellers who have been here for a while head home as their visas run out. Those producers are expecting to do it tough for the next couple of years, so maybe eat your greens and a fruit salad for them…

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UNCERTAINTY HANGS OVER OZ OPEN

The world’s top tennis players and Aussie fans have been told to chillax for a couple of weeks as officials and the Victorian Government work out how and when the Australian Open will happen. As the first big tournament of the year, there’s been mounting speculation it could be staged in February or later - weeks after its usual mid-January start date. And it’s not just the Open to worry about, there are other tournaments - including the 24-team ATP Cup - that will be impacted. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has only said that he’s confident the Open would be held “in the early part of next year”. Which is almost as sketchy as when your parents told you the family would go to Disneyland ‘one day’... But Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley yesterday said arrangements would be finalised soon. “Our intention is to deliver a summer in conditions that allow the players to prepare and perform at their best and the fans to enjoy their efforts - all in an environment that is safe for all concerned,” he said.

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AND IF YOU DON’T HAVE ANYTHING NICE TO SAY...

...then hit the mute button. One as yet unnamed film director has learned that the hard way…

SQUIZ THE DAY

A birthday for champion swimmer and Survivor winner Shane Gould (1956) and singer Miley Cyrus (1992)

The anniversary of the death of author Roald Dahl (1990)