Coronavirus: QLD loosens border rules, 8 NSW cases and 59 VIC deaths
A popular watering hole in Newtown and two busy gyms in the eastern suburbs are the latest venues that NSW Health are warning the public were visited by confirmed cases of COVID-19 this week.
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A popular watering hole in Newtown and two busy gyms in the eastern suburbs are the latest venues that NSW Health are warning the public were visited by confirmed cases of COVID-19 this week.
Patrons who attended Kuleto’s Cocktail Bar on King Street, Newtown on the night of Friday, August 28 have been advised to get tested for the disease and isolate for 14 days. The venue has been closed for cleaning.
NSW Health is also assessing potential exposure to COVID-19 of people who attended Bondi Platinum Fitness First at Westfield Bondi Junction on Monday, 31 August. Anyone who attended the gym who develops the slightest symptoms has been advised to immediately isolate and get tested.
And anyone who attended Randwick Fitness First from Sunday, August 23 to Tuesday, September 1 is also being told to get tested if they have even the slightest symptoms of the disease and isolate until test results are available.
This comes as a ski resort and a restaurant in Jindabyne became the latest venues in NSW to be slapped with fines for not complying with Public Health Orders.
At 11.30pm on Wednesday, August 15, police were called to a unit on Snowy River Ave, Jindabyne after reports that a party was taking place.
On arrival, authorities found more than 20 people in attendance with little social distancing occurring.
The three occupants of the unit were each fined $1000.
At about 7.45pm yesterday, police received information that a restaurant, also on Snowy River Ave, was overcrowded.
Officers from Monaro Police District attended the venue and observed a large gathering of people inside. The female owner was issued with a $1000 PIN.
Other venues fined over the last week include a restaurant on Clovelly Rd, Randwick, which was over capacity and a recreational shooting club on Heathcote Road, Heathcote, which could not produce a COVID-19 Safety Plan.
Gladys pleads for border ‘compassion’
Gladys Berejiklian has made a plea to Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk urging her to “join in on the conversations” that other states are having in relation to the easing of border restrictions.
“I would like to see Queensland join in on those conversations,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“To date the Queensland Premier has said she will think about it. I think it’s really critical for the eastern seaboard because we are inextricably linked, the three states in particular.
“I would like to see the Queensland Premier join those conversations as well.
“In fact, I’m especially concerned about construction jobs and infrastructure jobs between the Queensland and NSW border.
“I do hope she will choose to join the conversations that Victoria, South Australia, the Commonwealth and my state will be having.
“I urge the Premier to consider carefully the impact the restrictions are having on our communities, on our citizens on either side.”
Ms Berejiklian added that she was excited about the possibility of a travel bubble between New Zealand and Australia later in the year.
“I’m also quite excited about the prospect of New Zealand joining on-board by Christmas in terms of travel arrangements,” she said.
“NSW will be very happy to consider that as soon as possible, in fact if the prime minister and the other states wanted to be more ambitious in that, I’m very excited by what that could mean.
“Obviously, anything we can do in NSW to support our tourism and hospitality sectors and businesses is really critical at this time.”
It comes as Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the majority of Australian states and territories had agreed to reopen their borders by Christmas, with only one refusing.
National cabinet will move to a coronavirus “hot spot model” as part of a plan to reopen borders by December.
Sydney Bunnings and Aldi latest COVID alert venues
Eight new cases of coronavirus have been diagnosed in NSW in the past day with just one in hotel quarantine and seven locally acquired.
Three of the new infections are linked to the CBD cluster which broke out at the City Tattersall’s gym, two are linked to the St Paul’s Catholic College at Greystanes and two stem from the Liverpool Hospital cluster.
One of the new cases visited the Brighton Lakes Recreation and Golf Club at Moorebank on Friday August 28. Those who were in the club between 6.15pm-midnight are considered close contacts and must isolate until September 11.
In a statement, Brighton Lakes said it closed on Thursday night for cleaning but golf had been unaffected and the club will reopen on Friday morning.
“We have been informed that the person who confirmed positive showed no symptoms”.
“They only had the test as a precaution due to the contact tracing process i.e. they had been in contact with someone else who was a confirmed case.”
NSW Health has issued the following alerts for new venues and urged anyone who visited to monitor for symptoms:
– Aldi, North Strathfield: Tuesday September 1 between 10-10.30am
– Bunnings, Padstow: Thursday August 27 between 12-2pm
Queensland BORDER BUBBLE EXTENDED TO MOREE
Queensland has extended the border bubble to a regional NSW town devastated by fire following mounting pressure from the NSW Government.
Residents of the northern NSW town of Moree will be allowed to move freely into Queensland as part of a new border exemption announced by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Friday.
It comes after the border town of Mungindi in the Moree shire was on Tuesday night left reeling after a fire destroyed their only supermarket and butcher shop.
The border closures prompted Moree mayor Katrina Humphries to hit out at Ms Palaszczuk as “heartless” for her refusal to open the border.
The new border exemption will “aid boarding school families and those affected by the loss of Mungindi’s supermarket,” Ms Palaszcuk said.
Earlier in the week, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian urged the Queensland Government to show leeway to local residents struggling to access key services amid the border closure.
VICTORIA RECORDS 59 DEATHS, 81 NEW CASES
Victoria has recorded 81 new cases of coronavirus and 59 deaths.
It’s the biggest daily death toll the state has seen so far, taking Victoria’s death toll to 660, although 53 of the fatalities were people who died in aged care in July-August.
Victoria’s previous highest daily death toll was 41 on Monday, but Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed a backlog in the recording of fatalities meant 33 deaths had actually occurred in the days prior to August 31.
In the days leading up to Friday, each daily death count has included fatalities beyond a 24-hour period.
RANDWICK GYM, WESTERN SYDNEY SCHOOL SHUT
NSW Health added new dates to the public health alert for the Fitness First Gym in Randwick on Thursday night.
Anyone who attended the gym between Sunday, 23 August and Tuesday, 1 September should be on the lookout for symptoms and get tested immediately if any develop.
Two additional cases have been connected to the gym after NSW Health first identified the venue three days ago.
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Regents Park Christian School was also closed today after a case confirmed late last night, which is linked to a previously known case.
Anyone who attended the after school care on Monday 31 August and Tuesday 1 September are considered close contacts and should isolate immediately.
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