Plans underway to bring 130 Australians in Afghanistan home

Finbar O'Mallon

Updated Aug 16, 2021 – 6.39pm, first published at 11.34am

Key Points

NSW has reported 478 new COVID-19 cases and eight more people have died.
One of the deaths was a boy, 15, from pneumococcal meningitis who also had COVID-19.
Melbourne lockdown is being extended for two weeks and toughened from today, after 22 new cases.
The ACT extended its lockdown for two weeks, putting Parliamentary sittings in doubt.
Darwin and Katherine are locking down after one case was reported.

6.39PM – Aug 16, 2021

Thank you for reading tonight. Here are some of the headlines:

The NSW outbreak continues to grow out of control with another grim record of 478 new cases and seven dead on Monday. There are now 7011 cases and 56 people have died.
Melbourne has been forced into tougher restrictions including a night-time curfew, after a “selfish weekend” that saw residents flouting lockdown rules. Among them were a couple who held an illegal engagement party for 69 guests in St Kilda East that could become a superspreader event.
The ACT has extended its lockdown after 19 new cases were detected in Canberra on Monday.
Australia is scrambling to evacuate citizens from Afghanistan after the country fell to the Taliban in a matter of days and the capital Kabul descended into chaos.

1 / 9