Hey, Amelia here,
bringing you a special BTN Newsbreak
with the Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison.
He wanted to answer some of the BTN viewers' questions about COVID-19,
so let's hand it straight over to the PM.
G'day, girls and boys.
My name's Scott Morrison.
You might know me as ScoMo. I'm the Prime Minister.
And I'm here in my office here in Canberra.
Now, I've been getting a lot of messages
from boys and girls right across the country,
people asking a lot of questions
about what this coronavirus is, or COVID-19 as they also call it,
and what it means for you
and why is everybody doing everything differently at the moment,
and how long's that going to go on for?
And these are important questions.
It is an anxious time for people.
And I thought I'd take a bit of time
to answer some of those questions for you now.
How long do you predict that the COVID-19 situation will go on for?
Well, thanks for your question, Huon.
The truth is, and we've gotta tell the truth openly at times like this,
is no-one really knows.
What really matters is that we find what's called a vaccine,
a cure for this virus.
But until that time, what we have to do is the best we can
to ensure we stop the virus getting passed from one person to another.
That's why we have these rules
about people staying 1.5 metres away from each other,
it's why we have the rules about washing your hands all the time
and trying not to touch your face and not shaking hands,
and it's why you and your family are being asked
to stay at home as much as you can,
why you can't go to the playground,
why the footy games aren't on anymore.
So, we need to do that into the future.
Now, we're planning on trying to do as much as we can
over the next six months,
but it could be longer than that and things will change over that period.
But it is a good question,
and the honest answer is, Huon, is we don't really know
so we're just going to keep doing the best we can
until we can know more into the future.
Mr Morrison, I was wondering why COVID-19 is such a big deal
compared to other diseases
which people die from on a daily basis?
Well, Jenna, any time we lose someone to a disease -
whether it be cancer or any of these terrible other diseases -
it's just heartbreaking.
And all of them are different.
The difference with the coronavirus
is that it's a virus that can transmit,
that can pass from one person to another, very, very quickly.
Now, there are many diseases like cancer,
like what are called genetic conditions,
that you don't catch from other people.
But like a cold you can catch from someone else,
but a cold won't lead to you passing away
or having a very, very serious illness.
The coronavirus is about 10 times worse than any normal flu virus
and that's why we've gotta be so careful,
and it's particularly dangerous for older people -
so for your grandparents and your aunts and your uncles or others,
people who might have other illnesses,
people who may have been going through some of the treatments
from a lot of these other diseases that you talk about,
particularly cancer or things like that.
So, it's important and it's difficult
because it can pass on from one person to another
really, really fast.
That's the real problem with the coronavirus -
it's so easy for it to pass from one person to another.
And sometimes, people can have it and they don't even know,
and so that's why we've gotta put in all these rules -
and I know they must be frustrating for you,
they are for my kids too -
but we try to do as much as we can to keep our house as fun as it can be
and spend the time that we have together
and really appreciate that.
But, you know, they're doing jig puzzles...jigsaw puzzles,
and, yeah, they're doing things online and doing their school there,
and, um...my daughter and I, we're watching all the Star Wars movies
and she's really enjoying that.
So, who knows, there's a lot of things you get to do
that you might not have done otherwise.
But it is different because it passes from one person to another
and it can be really dangerous for a lot of people
who can get very, very sick and have to go to hospital
and go on what's called a respirator.
And for other people, even worse than that, they can die.
Hi, my name's Journey and I'm from Darwin.
My question is, what's your advice to the population
who have lost their jobs as their workplaces have shut down?
Thank you.
Well, Journey, what you're talking about
is another huge part of what's happening because of the coronavirus.
Absolutely, we've gotta do everything we can
to stop the virus spreading
and stop people getting sick, and worse.
But it is also true, because of what we've gotta do
to try and stop the virus,
it means we've had to close the shops
and we've had to close a lot of businesses
and that's right, it means that people have been losing their jobs.
And that's terrible.
And what we've done, what I've done as the prime minister,
is we've increased the money that is paid by the government
to people who lose their jobs.
And we've done another really important thing this week -
we're giving money to the businesses that have had to close
or have had to lay people off,
so they can keep paying the people who were working for them before.
And that means that they have a better chance
of keeping their job in the future.
But it is true -
this virus, it isn't just about what happens to people's health
and whether they catch the virus and whether they get sick or not,
it also has a lot to do
with what's happening in what's called our economy,
with businesses and people's jobs.
And we're doing everything we can
to ensure that people can keep their jobs,
and if they sadly do lose their job,
then the government is going to pay them
more than they normally would in those situations
to help everybody to get through.
How long do you think it would take to find a cure for the coronavirus?
Well, Aryan, I hope you're perhaps studying at school
to...one day, it might be you
who's doing the research and the science
to find cures to things like this in the future.
And right now, there are people just like you
whom when they were at school studied science
so that one day they might be doing exactly what they're doing now,
and we're counting on them.
And not just here in Australia but all around the world
they're trying to find a vaccine, a cure for this virus.
And here in Australia, we've got some of the best scientists in the world
and they're doing research in Queensland and Victoria
and New South Wales and all over the country,
and they're working with scientists in other countries.
I've been talking to a lot of presidents and prime ministers
from other countries,
whether in Korea or Japan or over in even the United Kingdom,
before Prime Minister Jonhson got sick,
and they're all working hard to try and find one as well.
Now, normally, to try and find a cure,
it can take around about a year and a half
but we're hoping that with everybody working on this so hard,
and governments like ours, the one I run,
and in so many other parts of the world,
investing, putting a lot of money into finding a cure,
we hope to find one soon.
But it's going to be very hard
and it usually takes about a year and a half,
but hopefully we can find some other drugs in the meantime
that just help us treat the virus.
What does that mean? It means that the condition, the symptoms,
how sick you get, that we can reduce that, potentially.
So, if people do get the virus, they won't be in as much danger.
Hello, Prime Minister.
I'm Anastasia from Adelaide.
How do we make sure that we don't fall behind in our learning
if we have to stay home from school?
Anastasia, I'm so pleased that you're really concerned
about the sort of education you're getting right now.
I am too.
I want to make sure that...at the end of going through this virus,
there are a lot of things that it's going to cost us
and I don't want it to cost you your schooling
and how much you're learning.
It's one of the questions I ask my own daughters each night,
after a long day,
and I'll ask them, "How was school today?"
And they're doing schooling the same way you are.
I want to make sure that they're getting a good education every day
and I want to make sure you are too.
When I meet with all the other premiers
of all the states and territories all around the country,
we talk about this all the time.
And we want to make sure that you're getting the best possible schooling.
So the way you do it is to, you know, be there for those lessons online
and to make sure you're doing the work,
to ask the questions of the teachers when you're online.
You should do it the same way as if you were at school,
and you put up your hand and you ask the question.
Those teachers, they're there for you.
They're there to ensure that you get the schooling that you need.
So, sounds to me like you take your schooling pretty seriously
and that's fantastic.
So, I want to encourage you to keep doing that -
keep doing the reading, keep doing the bookwork and the schoolwork
and the tests that they're doing online
and make sure you're getting all the information
and help you need from your teachers,
and make sure you tell your parents about it too and how it's going
and how you're finding it,
because they can talk to the teachers as well
to make sure you're getting the best possible schooling.
Hi. I'm Sam, and I'm from Darwin.
What advice can you give to primary school students,
and what can we do to help?
Thank you.
G'day, Sam. Good to hear from you.
I hope things are not going too bad for you up there in Darwin.
It's still an amazing place, and I love visiting Darwin.
But let me say this - you know, you're kids
and you've gotta keep being kids
and keep your imagination alive and all of those things.
You might have to stay indoors a lot more,
but you can still be a kid
and hopefully you're finding ways
to still stay in contact with your friends
and...through this...what is really sort of a weird time, it really is.
That's the best way to describe it, I think.
But we'll get through it to the other side.
But I'd ask...I'd also ask you to do this, Sam -
you've gotta follow all the rules
and make sure you and your friends know what the rules are, OK?
So, it means you've gotta be washing your hands,
you've gotta try not to touch your face,
you've gotta try and stay at least 1.5 metres apart from each other,
and the other thing you can do, Sam,
is just help out your parents because it's going to be tough for them too.
And I don't know whether you've got any brothers or sisters,
try and get on with each other as best as you can
because that helps your parents as well.
And when Mum or Dad or whoever asks you to do something,
try and be as good a kid as you can
because that helps everybody get through.
Thanks so much for that, Prime Minister.
And a big thankyou to all the BTN viewers who sent in questions.
We really appreciate it.
We're here every weekday with the news for you,
including the latest on COVID-19
but also lots of other interesting news stories for kids.
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That's it for now. I'll catch you soon.