Coronavirus updates LIVE: Trump’s doctors suggest Monday hospital discharge, Chadstone outbreak reaches regional Victoria, 894 deaths nation-wide

Summary

• A coronavirus cluster linked to a Melbourne butcher shop may be a superspreading event, Victoria’s Chief Health Officer has warned, as the number of cases linked to that outbreak grew to 20.
• US President Donald Trump, hospitalised with COVID-19, received supplemental oxygen on Saturday and is now being treated with a powerful steroid amid indications that his lungs may have suffered some damage, the White House physician said.
• British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ridiculed claims that he never fully recovered from coronavirus as “drivel” and “balderdash” while conceding some backbenchers aren’t happy with his performance.
• Melbourne’s controversial five-kilometre radius rule could remain in place – or even be extended – if Melburnians fail to observe COVID-19 restrictions at beaches and parks.
• There have been more than 1,034,000 global coronavirus deaths. The worldwide infection rate has passed 35 million, according to the John Hopkins University tally.

Doctor wanted to 'raise spirits' about Trump prognosis: White House

White House communication director Alyssa Farah has told Fox News the US President's doctor, Dr Sean Conley, was not entirely forthcoming during his weekend press conference about Mr Trump's health to potentially "to raise the spirits" of the President.

At a briefing in front of Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre outside Washington on Sunday, local time, doctors treating Trump continued to be upbeat about his condition.

One of his physicians said the President could be discharged as soon as Monday, but another conceded they had not been fully forthcoming in their initial medical briefing the previous day.

NSW has 'a reasonable chance' of reaching Queensland target: MJA editor

The editor of the Medical Journal of Australia believes NSW has "a reasonable chance" of reaching the 28 days without community transmission needed to Queensland to reopen its border on November 1.

The state has currently recorded nine days without a recent locally acquired case.

"It's really pleasing to see this occur, it doesn't mean we shouldn't be socially distancing; we still need to keep that up, we need to be sensible about this virus," Dr Nick Talley told Ben Fordham on radio station 2GB this morning.

"There could still be some low levels of the virus circulating in the community."

Dr Talley said there was "a reasonable chance" the state could reach 28 days without a community

transmission case, although it was important people were "sensible" during the school holidays.

Asked whether he thought US President Donald Trump would be discharged from hospital on Monday, Dr Talley said the range of treatments administered to the president – including steroids for his lung infection – indicated he had been hit hard by the infection.

"He's been pretty crook with this virus, it's obviously been serious – and we have to just wait and see what happens over the next five to seven days," he said.

Our front pages today

Here's what The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age look like in print today:

Trump thanks supporters outside hospital

It's currently about 4.40pm in Maryland. The US President has been active online over the past hour, posting this amongst other things.

Two charged after 2.5kg of cannabis found at border checkpoint

Two people from south-west Sydney have been charged after 2.5 kilograms of cannabis was discovered in a car crossing the NSW-Victoria border.

Police stopped a white Hyundai Accent as it drove through Tooleybuc, in the western Riverina region.

The driver, a 39-year-old woman, and passenger, a 35-year-old man, were both unable to produce a valid border permit, police allege.While searching the vehicle, police located 2.5 kilograms of cannabis in the boot.

The man and woman, from Casula in south-west Sydney, were arrested and taken to Dareton Police Station where they were charged with taking part in supplying cannabis and have been refused bail to appear in Dubbo Local Court today.

In other border news, police are reminding motorists travelling between NSW and South Australia that they are not allowed to travel through Victoria.

Crossing on the Barrier Highway at Broken Hill is recommended.

France to put Paris on maximum alert level: PM’s office

French authorities will put Paris and its region on maximum sanitary alert level at the start of the week following a rise in the number of coronavirus cases, the Prime Minister’s office said on Sunday.

The highest alert level implies additional restrictive measures for public places that will be detailed in a news conference on Monday, the Prime Minister’s office said.

All bars in Paris will be closed from Tuesday, the PM’s office said.

The new restrictive measures will be implemented from Tuesday and will last 15 days.

France on Sunday reported 12,565 new confirmed coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, falling from the previous daily toll that had a set a new record.

The total number of infections in France since the start of the epidemic rose to 619,190 cases, the health ministry said. France reported nearly 17,000 new infections on Saturday.

The number of deaths increased by 32 to 32,230.

There were 4264 new cases of people being hospitalised over the last seven days, including 893 in intensive care units. That is slightly higher than the previous report on Saturday.

The rate of positive coronavirus tests in France keeps rising, reaching 8.2 per cent on Sunday, up from to 7.9 per cent the previous day.

Trump receiving powerful drug but doctors remain upbeat

First thing's first, the latest on President Trump's condition from Washington:

President Trump, hospitalised with COVID-19, received supplemental oxygen on Saturday – a previously undisclosed episode – and is now being treated with a powerful steroid amid indications that his lungs may have suffered some damage, the White House physician said.

At a briefing in front of Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre outside Washington on Sunday, local time, doctors treating Trump continued to be upbeat about his condition. One of his physicians said the President could be discharged as soon as Monday, but another conceded they had not been fully forthcoming in their initial medical briefing the previous day.

Dr Sean Conley briefs reporters outside the Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre in Bethesda on Sunday.Credit:AP

Trump's hospitalisation, the most serious known medical episode involving the country's chief executive since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981, has roiled the presidential race a month before the November 3 election. It also represents a setback to the Trump campaign strategy of turning attention away from the pandemic that has killed nearly 210,000 Americans.

Trump offered his own assessment of his status the night before in a video from his hospital suite, saying he was beginning to feel better and hoped to be in the White House soon. He was also back on social media on Sunday morning, sharing a video of flag-waving supporters – most not wearing masks – outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre.

Read more here.

Good Morning

Good morning and welcome to our live coronavirus coverage for today, Monday October 5.

It's set to be a big week of COVID-related news, with US President Donald Trump remaining in hospital recovering from the coronavirus and at home the federal government is set to hand down an unprecendented budget.

If you'd like to get in touch with news tips, email [email protected] .

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