Melbourne man becomes first Australian jailed for breaching COVID-19 rules.
A man who ignored a coronavirus quarantine directive, and repeatedly snuck out of a Perth hotel to visit his girlfriend, has become the first Australian jailed for the offence.
Jonathan David, 35, pleaded guilty in Perth Magistrates Court to two counts of failing to comply with a direction and will serve one month behind bars.
He was sentenced on Wednesday to six months and two weeks in prison but the majority of the term was suspended.
That means if he commits another crime over the next 12 months, he could be forced to serve the rest of the prison sentence.
He was also fined $2000.
David had travelled from Victoria and was sent into quarantine at the Travelodge Hotel in Perth for 14 days, but instead snuck out and used public transport.
Police said he even wedged open a fire exit door at the hotel so he could leave and return without staff seeing him.
A police prosecutor previously described David’s actions as “gross stupidity”.
Magistrate Elaine Campione said David had been “more than foolish” and was “selfish in the extreme” during a state of emergency.
“You chose to roll the dice with other people’s lives and that was breathtakingly arrogant,” she said.
US President Donald Trump has announced America will no longer fund the World Health Organisation.
US President Donald Trump says the US will no longer give funding to the World Health Organisation.
“Our countries are now experiencing – look all over the world – tremendous death and economic devastation because those tasked with protecting us by being truthful and transparent failed to do so,” said Trump.
“It would have been so easy to be truthful. And so much death has been caused by their mistakes.
“We will continue to engage with the WHO to see if it can make meaningful reforms. For the time being, we will redirect global health and directly work with others,” he added.
“We don’t have a king we have a president.” Trump’s clash with state governors.
American COVID-19 deaths have surpassed 25,000, doubling in a week with President Donald Trump facing pushback from state governors over his plans to reopen their economies.
Yesterday Trump aired selectively edited clips in a ‘propaganda video’ during his coronavirus briefing – lashing out at the “fake media” and state governors in an extraordinarily combative press conference.
“Because we’re getting fake news and I like to have it corrected,” he told the gathered media.
WATCH: Some of the press conference below. Post continues after video.
Trump said on Monday he believed he had “total authority” over states in terms of the US coronavirus response, a stance that is not supported by the Constitution and was immediately rejected by legal experts and some governors.
The Governor of New York – the States’ worst-hit location in the coronavirus pandemic – has said he will defy any order from President Donald Trump to reopen if it endangers people.
“If he ordered me to reopen in a way that would endanger the public health of the people of my state, I wouldn’t do it,” Andrew Cuomo told CNN overnight.
The goal is, "to provide delicious, nourishing food to our frontline healthcare workers in Sydney, and support local businesses struggling to stay afloat," Ms Maehashi said.
"With their focus on patients and the long hours they're working, too many healthcare workers are literally too exhausted to cook, and those who try are faced with empty supermarket shelves by the time their shift finishes," she said on her GoFundMe page.
"Meals are pre-approved by hospitals for food safety and handling requirements."
A week after setting up the service, donors had contributed almost $32,000, with the first batch of meals and snacks sent to workers at Sydney hospitals such as Westmead, RPA and Canterbury.
Ricky Gervais says celebrities should stop moaning.
Comedian Ricky Gervais says celebrities, including himself, should not be whining about having to stay indoors.
Over the last few weeks we've seen people like pop star Sam Smith break down in tears on Instagram in his $A23 million house, and Madonna crooning from a bath that we are all in this together and that coronavirus was the great "equaliser".
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Gervais said: "After this is over I never want to hear people moaning about the welfare state again, I never want to hear people moaning about nurses again. Or porters.
"These people are doing 14-hour shifts and not complaining. Wearing masks, and being left with sores, after risking their own health and their families’ health selflessly. But then I see someone complaining about being in a mansion with a swimming pool. And, you know, honestly, I just don’t want to hear it."
- With AAP
Feature image: Getty/Scott Morrison.
To protect yourself and the community from COVID-19, keep at least 1.5 metres away from other people, regularly wash your hands and avoid touching your face.
If you are sick and believe you have symptoms of COVID-19, call your GP ahead of time to book an appointment. Or call the national Coronavirus Health Information Line for advice on 1800 020 080. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 000.
To keep up to date with the latest information, please visit the Department of Health website.
Top Comments
What a great diversion, blaming the WHO instead of himself and using money or the withdrawal of, to punish it.
If Americans don't get rid of Trump in November then they deserve to find themselves under the rule of a dictator who like Putin, will probably try to change the US Constitution to allow himself to remain President indefinitely. Trump is so incredibly dangerous and vengeful, he'll do anything to preserve his own image and take everyone down with him. I would not want to be American right now.
I could not agree with you more but Morrison is playing the same game, threatening to withdraw funding from schools, they both suffer with huge egos.
MORRISON is a stubborn fool, he just won’t let go of it. Typical of him he digs his heels in about something and won’t give up. Schools are a germ haven at the best of times. It would be a travesty to open schools for the few with the many. Gladys needs to put her foot down like Daniel Andrews in Victoria. Of course Morrison is having a hissy fit and using funding as a threat to get his own way, how pathetic in times like this. That is below the belt.