SHOP 'TIL YOU DROP

According to the ABC, South Australian health officials are calling for a large number of Adelaide residents to be tested — even if they do not have symptoms — after an infected man admitted to leaving quarantine and visiting several shops and businesses last Sunday, November 22.

The latest additions to SA Health’s list of times and locations include Big W Brickworks between 12:15pm and 12:50pm, Foodland at Norwood between 1:20pm and 2:00pm, and Kmart at Kurralta Park between 2:45pm and 3:00pm. People who visited at these times must seek testing immediately.

The man is believed to have caught the virus as a casual contact at the Intensive English Language Institute at Flinders University, and anyone who was at the Sturt campus between November 13 and 28 is also urged to get tested.

PS: As America braces for repercussions from Thanksgiving travel, USAToday reports the country already hit a new daily record of 205,557 cases on Friday. Additionally, CNBC cites new research that found lifting state eviction moratoriums caused as many as 433,700 excess cases and 10,700 additional deaths between March and September.

UNCOMFORTABLE CLIMATE

The ABC reports that, as of yesterday evening, dozens of grass- and bushfires were still burning across NSW as a cool change spread across the state following a record November heatwave.

Sydney’s Olympic Park beat its 2015 record with 41.6 degrees, while stations at Broken Hill airport, Albury airport, Griffith airport, Shellharbour airport, Narrandera airport and Yanco Agricultural Institute all exceeded 40 degrees.

PS: As the world continues to warm, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission has warned the Australian Conservation Foundation to “immediately read the guide on political advocacy” and, as The Guardian explains, consider withdrawing its open letter of complaint over Angus Taylor’s lack of climate action.

We at Crikey Worm are confident we will be joined by our colleagues at News Corp in condemning this clear threat to freedom of speech.

POLL WATCH: MORRISON SITS PRETTY AS ALP MAKES SMALL GAINS

The latest Newspoll ($) has net-satisfaction for Scott Morrison at a four month high of 36 points, a figure that continues to eclipse Anthony Albanese who sits at three, and the Coalition holding steady on a two-party preferred basis of 51-49 against Labor.

The ALP however has made a slight gain with its primary vote moving from 35% to 36%, an increase that corresponds with One Nation falling one point to a 28+ month low of just 2%.

In other poll news, Griffith University and Transparency International Australia have released a survey that, as The Guardian explains, found that overall trust in federal governments grew across 2020 due to COVID-19, but that Australians increasingly view corruption as a major problem and decreasingly have faith in the federal government to handle it.

Finally, a survey by The Conversation and the Economic Society of Australia found 41 out of 45 top Australian economists want the Morrison government to permanently lift JobSeeker, with more than half calling for at least a $100 boost to the $287.25 weekly rate. The news comes as the government plans to end the coronavirus supplement in March and return the payment to around half the poverty rate.

VIS-à-VIS PARTNER VISAS

Up to 4000 partners of Australian citizens will no longer be forced fly out of the country and then re-enter in order to receive visas, following a temporary pandemic measure that The Sydney Morning Herald explains comes after a public campaign from couples and Labor.

The Morrison government announced the temporary change, which will be made to the bizarre bureaucratic requirement via regulations, ahead of Labor MP Julian Hill introducing a private member’s bill today that would allow subclass 309 partner visa applications to be temporarily granted while onshore.