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LIVE: COVID-19 latest updates – April 21

Latest News

Eclectic Selection for the week beginning 10 June 2026

Eclectic Selection: What’s on this week is a taste of some of the events that can be found in the Byron Shire and beyond this coming week.

Other News

Ayusa Tea: clarity, energy, calm focus

Allie Godfrey At the New Brighton Farmers Market, it’s not just coffee drawing a crowd – there’s also growing interest...

Council tightens ‘affordable housing’ rules

Byron Council has tightened its definition of ‘affordable housing’ in a bid to make access to housing more equitable on major projects like the former Mullumbimby Hospital site and 57 Station Street.

Financial woes

Byron Shire’s financial woes are not the result of a lack of money, but rather the waste of it....

Mandy Nolan’s Soapbox: Saying Goodbye to a Very Handsome Man

Last week an old friend of mine died. His name was Gary Cook. We met here in Byron Bay, when I was 23. He would have been in his early 30s. He was handsome. And funny. And weird. And self-involved. He used to come to Ringos, where I worked as a waitress. He’d sing to himself, bludge cigarettes, and shine up the serviette holder. He loved looking at himself. He’d laugh and say, ‘God, I’m a handsome man,’ and then he’d laugh this really infectious laugh

Earth to stars

Is the world we live in, more than what we understand? Theories challenge the known facts, so does any...

Minimum requirements were never meant to be aspirations

The Echo’s recent report (2 May) on Cr Elia Hauge’s proposal for a community assessment panel for the old Mullumbimby Hospital site contained a sentence that deserves more than a passing read.

With a constant stream of information and misinformation about COVID-19 (coronavirus) circulating, Echonetdaily will endeavour to update this page as news comes to hand.

UPDATED April 21, 7.50am

Queensland police COVID-19 statistics – April 21

The Queensland Police Service (QPS) is providing ongoing support to Queensland Health as part of a co-ordinated whole of government response to the COVID-19 situation.

Under the provisions of the Public Health Act, police officers can take enforcement action against anyone who is failing to comply with public health directions set out by the Chief Health Officer.

An integral part of the QPS response is to ensure compliance with directions particularly around self-isolation, state borders, non-essential business activity, home confinement, movement and gathering.

Officers can also issue on the spot fines of $1334 for individuals and $6,672 for corporations which fail to abide by the health directions.

QPS COVID-19 response statistics 

The following preliminary statistics are current as at: 12:01am Tuesday, April 21.  

 

 

Last 24hrs  Cumulative total since March 27
Breach of public health directions infringement notices 29 1,235
Compliance checks conducted on individuals in quarantine 94 4,264
Compliance checks conducted on non-essential businesses 0 6,195
Vehicles intercepted at state borders 3,011 101,642
Vehicles turned around at state borders 21 1,684
People directed to quarantine at state road borders 78 3,869
Domestic airport passengers arriving into Queensland 215 16,851
Domestic airport passengers directed to quarantine 3 3,064
People refused entry to Qld at domestic airports 1 51

 


UPDATED April 21, 7.40am

Stats in Australia

As at 3pm on 20 April 2020, there have been 6,619 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia. There have been 26 new cases since 3pm yesterday.

Of the 6,619 confirmed cases in Australia, 71 have died and 4,258 have been reported as recovered from COVID-19. More than 431,000 tests have been conducted across Australia.

 
Location Confirmed cases*
Australian Capital Territory 104
New South Wales 2,963
Northern Territory 27
Queensland 1,019
South Australia 435
Tasmania 197
Victoria 1,329
Western Australia 545
Total 6,619
  • * Note that under National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System reporting requirements, cases are reported based on their Australian jurisdiction of residence rather than where they were detected. For example, a case reported previously in the NT in a NSW resident is counted in the national figures as a NSW case.

Daily overview of cases

Data used in the daily overview are updated every afternoon based on the data received by April 20 at 3pm from states and territories.

This graph shows new cases of COVID-19 in Australia by date of notification. See the Description field on the publication page for a full description.

To date, the majority of confirmed cases in all states were acquired overseas.

This graph shows new cases of COVID-19 in Australia by state and territory. See the Description field on the publication page for a full description.

Queensland: no new cases of COVID-19 yesterday

Queensland has no new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus on April 20

Queensland Health’s Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young thanked Queenslanders for playing their part in reducing the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

‘I would like to thank Queenslanders for their role in limiting the spread of COVID-19 by staying home and social distancing, said Dr Young.

‘It’s excellent news that we had no new cases in Queensland overnight, and this is a clear indictor that our social distancing measures are proving to be effective.

Dr Young said that over the last few days, Queensland had seen a handful of cases each day. ‘The last time we didn’t announce any new cases was on 9 March, 2020.

‘All the strategies in place are working and Queenslanders have heard the message.’

Dr Young said currently, 93 per cent of confirmed cases have recently travelled overseas or had close contact with someone who travelled overseas, such as their partner or flatmate.

‘We’ve seen very limited community transmission in Queensland, with only 40 cases where we don’t know the source of infection,’ said Dr Young.

‘This is a sign that we’re flattening the curve, but it’s not time to be complacent just yet. There’s still Queenslanders returning from overseas and interstate.

‘It’s very encouraging that numbers have stayed low over the past week, and we want to keep it that way.

Dr Young said care was still needed and that lifting restrictions too early could cost lives. ‘We need to keep up our current approach, and ensure we can sustain these low numbers over a period of weeks until we can look into lifting restrictions.

‘When it’s appropriate to do so, we will see if there’s some measures we can lift in conjunction with National Cabinet that will not lead to a bounceback of cases.

‘Any lifting of restrictions will be conducted in a phased approach – they will not be lifted all at once. We will need to maintain a number of social distancing measures for many months to come to continue to contain the spread of COVID-19,’ she said.

Dr Young said a total of 85,870 tests for COVID-19 has been undertaken in Queensland.

Most Queenslanders who have contracted COVID-19 have experienced mild symptoms. Currently, 20 of the 275 active confirmed cases are in hospital, with seven of these in intensive care. The remainder of active cases are currently recovering at home.

Contact tracing continues for recent cases. Queensland Health will notify the community if any other public health alerts are required.

‘We want everyone to continue playing their part to protect themselves and the more vulnerable in our community. Please continue to follow the recommended advice from us and our federal counterparts in regards to social distancing, public gatherings and general wellbeing.

‘Critically, make sure you are practising good hygiene and staying home, especially if you’re sick. Washing your hands properly and often is the gold standard of health advice that can help prevent viruses from entering your body.’

A person will generally be tested if they have a fever (or history of fever) or acute respiratory symptoms, and, in the last 14 days:

  • they were a close contact or a household contact of a confirmed case
  • they had been overseas, including on a cruise.

Testing may also be done for people who have a fever (or history of fever) or acute respiratory symptoms, AND:

  • work in vulnerable settings such as healthcare, aged or residential care, military, a school or child care, correction facilities, detention centres, police and boarding schools.
  • live in Brisbane, Gold Coast or Cairns
  • live in or travelled from a COVID-19 hotspot
  • live in or travelled from another state
  • live in a First Nations community.
The current state total remains at 1,019
HHS* Active cases Recovered cases Deaths Total confirmed
cases to date
Cairns and Hinterland 5 28 0 33
Central Queensland 2 6 0 8
Central West 0 0 0 0
Darling Downs 15 25 2 42
Gold Coast 52 137 0 189
Mackay 4 11 0 15
Metro North 77 235 3 315
Metro South 76 167 0 243
North West 0 0 0 0
South West 0 0 0 0
Sunshine Coast 13 75 1 89
Torres and Cape 0 0 0 0
Townsville 5 19 0 24
West Moreton 11 26 0 37
Wide Bay 15 9 0 24
Overseas 0 0 0 0
Total 275 738 6 1019**

* HHS level case data may include a patient’s residential address, Public Health Unit managing or location where test was ordered.

** Changes may occur in the number of notifications reported from day to day. This is due to ongoing maintenance and update of notification details as new information becomes available, or where discrepancies are detected through data quality assurance activities.

Queensland Health is urging anyone who meets this criteria for testing, to contact a doctor immediately.

Before your appointment, please call ahead and advise of your symptoms and recent travel they can prepare for your visit.

The most up-to-date reliable information is available on the Queensland Health website at www.health.qld.gov.au/coronavirus


COVID-19 (coronavirus) world stats updated April 21, 7am AEST

World Health Organization stats on COVID-19 cases as at April 21, 2020 – 7am AEST.

 

World Health Organization stats on COVID-19 deaths as at April 21, 2020 – 7am AEST.

 


UPDATED April 20, 1.30pm

NSW COVID-19 case statistics

Since the last Northern NSW Local Health District update on Friday 17 April, there have been no new cases of COVID-19 recorded in residents in the area.

The totals for NSW as of 8pm, 19 April, 2020

Cases Count
Total confirmed cases 1 2,963
New cases reported since 8pm 18 April 2020 1 6
People tested since 8pm 18 April 2020 12 3,489
People tested and excluded since 8pm 18 April 2020 12 3,483
Total people tested 12 168,626
Total people tested and excluded 12 165,663
Total deaths 3 30

 

Areas for increased testing and surveillance

  • Blacktown Local Government Area
  • Canada Bay Local Government Area
  • Cumberland Local Government Area (and all of postcode 2145 including the suburb of Westmead)
  • Goulburn Mulwaree Local Government Area
  • Inner West Local Government Area
  • Liverpool Local Government Area
  • Parramatta Local Government Area
  • Penrith Local Government Area
  • Randwick Local Government Area
  • Ryde Local Government Area
  • Waverley Local Government Area
  • Woollahra Local Government Area

Find your Local Government Area by suburb.

Table: Confirmed COVID-19 cases in NSW by age group and gender

Age group​ Female Male Total
0-9 14 16 30
10-19 49 43 92
20-29 353 281 634
30-39 248 244 492
40-49 158 209 367
50-59 221 219 440
60-69 239 226 465
70-79 145 165 310
80-89 44 51 95
90-100 22 15 37
​Total 1493 1469​ 2963​

Note: Excludes cases notified without a date of birth and/or gender.

Graph: Confirmed COVID-19 cases in NSW by age group and gender

Table: Confirmed COVID-19 cases in NSW by likely source of infection

So​urce Cases
Overseas acquired 1,738
Interstate acquired​ 67
Locally acquired – contact of a confirmed case and/or in a known cluster 790
Locally acquired – contact not identified 358
Under investigation 10
Total 2,963

 


UPDATED April 20, 10.05am

Is keeping the border closed working for Queensland?

As at April 19, Queensland has five new confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19), which includes the death of the 83-year-old man from Metro North announced yesterday, raising the state total to 1019.

HHS* Active cases Recovered cases Deaths Total confirmed
cases to date
Cairns and Hinterland 5 28 0 33
Central Queensland 2 6 0 8
Central West 0 0 0 0
Darling Downs 15 25 2 42
Gold Coast 52 137 0 189
Mackay 4 11 0 15
Metro North 77 235 3 315
Metro South 76 167 0 243
North West 0 0 0 0
South West 0 0 0 0
Sunshine Coast 13 75 1 89
Torres and Cape 0 0 0 0
Townsville 5 19 0 24
West Moreton 11 26 0 37
Wide Bay 15 9 0 24
Overseas 0 0 0 0
Total 275 738 6 1019**

* HHS level case data may include a patient’s residential address, Public Health Unit managing or location where test was ordered.
** Changes may occur in the number of notifications reported from day to day. This is due to ongoing maintenance and update of notification details as new information becomes available, or where discrepancies are detected through data quality assurance activities.

Contact tracing is underway for the five new cases. Queensland Health will notify the community if any other public health alerts are required.

The majority of cases are from patients who have travelled overseas, or have had direct contact with a confirmed case who had travelled overseas.

The number of confirmed cases we see each day is expected to vary as we continue to respond to the COVID-19 situation across the state.

We want everyone to know they can play their part to protect themselves and the more vulnerable in our community. Please follow the recommended advice from us and our federal counterparts in regards to social distancing, public gatherings and general wellbeing.

Critically, make sure you are practising good hygiene and staying home, especially  if you’re sick. Washing your hands properly and often is the gold standard of health advice that can help prevent viruses from entering your body.

A person will generally be tested if they have a fever (or history of fever) or acute respiratory symptoms, and, in the last 14 days:

  • they were a close contact or a household contact of a confirmed case
  • they had been overseas, including on a cruise.

Testing may also be done for people who have a fever (or history of fever) or acute respiratory symptoms, AND:

  • work in vulnerable settings such as healthcare, aged or residential care, military, a school or child care, correction facilities, detention centres and boarding schools.
  • live in Brisbane, Gold Coast or Cairns
  • live in or travelled from a COVID-19 hotspot
  • live in or travelled from another state
  • live in a First Nations community.

Queensland Health is urging anyone who meets this criteria for testing, to contact a doctor immediately.

Before your appointment, please call ahead and advise of your symptoms and recent travel they can prepare for your visit.

The most up-to-date reliable information is available on the Queensland Health website at www.health.qld.gov.au/coronavirus


UPDATED April 20, 7.55am

COVID-19 (coronavirus) world stats

Cases

The World Health Organization COVID-19 stats map (cases) updated at 20/04/2020 7am AEST

 


Deaths

The World Health Organization COVID-19 stats map (deaths) updated at 20/04/2020 7am AEST

 


Recent stories, information and updates regarding COVID-19

COVID-19 reduces Australian life expectancy

New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Life shows life expectancy in Australia has decreased slightly for the second year in a row.

Wuhan market increasingly likely origin point for COVID-19

An international team of researchers has found more evidence that COVID-19 came from animals in a Wuhan food market.

Editorial – There’s a bat in my lab! 

The lab-leak theory that Covid-19 came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology – instead of a nearby wet market – was thrashed about in public recently, with the US Senate Homeland Security Committee holding a hearing into Covid-19. 

Fresh air federal funds for Northern Rivers schools in need

Eighteen schools in the Northern Rivers division of Richmond have received $25,000 each as part of the federal government’s School Upgrade Fund, Labor Member for Richmond Justine Elliot said last week.

COVID-19 pandemic has cut life expectancy globally

COVID-19 reversed earlier trends toward longer life expectancies. During the pandemic, life expectancies globally dropped by 1.6 years according to a new study published in the Lancet medical journal.

COVID-19 update for New South Wales

Let’s not forget that Covid-19 is still a big issue in our community with 31,935 cases reported across Australia in the last week – an average of 4,562 cases per day.

Five graphs you need to see before the Global Carbon Budget...

The Global Carbon Budget is about to be refreshed, giving the world a critical insight into how efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are (or are not) progressing.

Public transport mask mandate to end

Masks will no longer be mandatory on public transport from tomorrow, Wednesday 21 September.



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