Covid-19 updates: Victoria records 1656 Covid cases, ten deaths; NSW records 268 cases, two deaths
Victoria has recorded 1656 Covid cases overnight, as the state prepares to ease further restrictions after hitting a major milestone.
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Victoria has recorded 1656 new cases of Covid with fully vaccinated Victorians expected to enjoy several more freedoms from Friday night if a major vaccination target is met.
The state has now fully vaccinated 78.75 per cent of its eligible population, and is expected to reach its 80 per cent vaccination milestone later today.
There are 738 people in hospital with 130 in intensive care - with 85 on a ventilator.
The state also recorded ten deaths overnight.
It comes a day after Victoria recorded 25 deaths on Thursday, making it the deadliest day in the current outbreak.
The next set of restrictions are set to ease from 6pm - if the target is met - with shops, gyms and other retail businesses preparing to reopen in Melbourne.
Under the eased restrictions, regional Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne will be reunited after months apart.
It comes just in time for Melbourne’s informal Cup long weekend.
Masks will also be scrapped outdoors and most indoor settings, including restaurants, pubs, gyms and hairdressers will open with no caps if all staff and patrons are fully vaccinated.
Most outdoor settings will remain with a limit of up to 500 people, where staff and patrons are fully vaccinated.
The same indoor and outdoor settings will also apply to weddings, funerals and religious gatherings if all attendees are fully vaccinated, but there will be caps of 30 people for weddings, funerals and religious gatherings if vaccination status is unknown.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has told reporters he was proud of what the state had achieved, after a tough 21 months.
“You can feel the optimism. You can sense the pride in what‘s been achieved. And after everything it’s taken to get here, we absolutely deserve to feel that way,” he told reporters last week.
“We’ve gone through such a hard time together, this pandemic has been exhausting in every sense of the word.”
The easing of restrictions come as the state continues to see persistent high cases around the mid to high 1000s this week.
The state recorded its deadliest day of the current outbreak on Thursday, with 25 deaths reported.
Victorian Covid-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar urged just under 500,000 Victorians – yet to receive their first jab – to come forward for the vaccine.
He said they were in “real danger of being left behind” as the state reopened.
Mr Weimar also mentioned the number of daily administered doses were starting to fall, but that was to be expected with 76 per cent of Victorians aged above 16 fully vaccinated.
“It is not unusual and it is what we projected in terms of the number of people still to come forward but we still have literally hundred of thousand of Victorians who are eligible,” he said on Wednesday.
“Just under half a million who have not had their first dose and they are from real danger of being left behind.
NSW RECORDS 268 COVID CASES, TWO DEATHS
NSW has recorded 268 new Covid-19 cases overnight.
Two people have died with the virus overnight.It comes as 93.4 per cent of people have had one vaccine dose, while 86.5 per cent are fully vaccinated.
BOOSTER SHOTS FOR ALL AUSTRALIANS
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has revealed all Australians will be offered a third dose of the Covid vaccine as part of the national booster program.
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisations (ATAGI) already recommended that severely immunocompromised people receive a third dose of a vaccine, but Thursday’s announcement paves the way for the rest of the population to receive a third jab.
“That means that commencing on November 8 on the national program, the booster will be available on the basis of six months plus from your vaccination. Early priority will be a focus on aged care and disability but... we have enough vaccines in the country to vaccinate everybody who [wants one] and, as your six months has passed, then you will be able to be eligible to come forward,” Mr Hunt said.
So far Pfizer is the only vaccine to be approved, but Mr Hunt said other vaccines, such as Moderna, were expected to apply to the Australian regulator within weeks.
GRIM NEW RECORD FOR VICTORIA
Victoria has recorded 1923 new locally acquired coronavirus infections and 25 deaths on the eve of when more restrictions will ease.
It’s the highest daily death toll of the current outbreak, nearing daily fatality figures during last year’s deadly second wave.
About 91.1 per cent of Victorians older than 16 had received one jab of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 77 per cent were fully vaccinated.
It came after Victorian Covid-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar urged just under 500,000 Victorians – yet to receive their first jab – to come forward for the vaccine.
He said they were in “real danger of being left behind” as the state reopens.
Mr Weimar also mentioned the number of daily administered doses were starting to fall, but that was to be expected with 76 per cent of Victorians aged above 16 fully vaccinated.
“It is not unusual and it is what we projected in terms of the number of people still to come forward but we still have literally hundred of thousand of Victorians who are eligible,” he told said on Wednesday.
“Just under half a million who have not had their first dose and they are from real danger of being left behind.”
AZ DOSES ‘EXPIRED’
Thousands of AstraZeneca doses have been left unused, expired and later, destroyed, as Australians opt to receive other Covid jabs.
At least 31,833 vials of expired AZ vaccines have been wasted – thrown out after exceeding the recommended date, The Guardian reports, as Australians choose the Pfizer jab instead.
The more than 30,000 discarded AstraZeneca doses came from 1000 vaccination providers. About 24 million doses of AstraZeneca were made available since the beginning of the vaccination rollout.
It came as a loophole emerged in Victoria that will allow anti-vaxxers into retail stores “for three weeks”.
In Victoria, unvaccinated shoppers will be allowed into retail stores when they reopen at 6pm on Friday – in line with the state’s 80 per cent vaccination target.
But they’ll be banned from entering retail stores three weeks later when Victoria is expected to reach 90 per cent vaccination targets, therefore entering its “vaccinated economy” phase of reopening.
“We’ve given a bit more time and space for retailers to get back and moving again,” Victoria’s Covid testing commander Jeroen Weimar said. “We are sending out a very clear signal that says if you’re going to be active in these retail environments post 90%, you’re going to need to get yourself vaccinated.”
OVERSEAS TRAVEL RESUMES
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed the ban on fully vaccinated citizens travelling overseas without an exemption will be lifted on November 1.
“I can announce today that last night, the health minister signed off on the fact that from 1 November Australians who are double vaccinated will be able to travel overseas, as we have flagged, and we are looking forward to that,” Mr Morrison said on Sunrise.
The date coincides with the reopening of NSW’s international borders, which prompted Qantas to fast-track international flights.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet announced earlier this month that NSW would allow fully vaccinated international arrivals into the state without the need to quarantine from November 1.
Mr Morrison quickly clarified that it would apply to returning Australians and their closest relatives.
It comes as Australians will be able to travel to Singapore from November 8 without the hassle of quarantine.
Under the new deal announced late Tuesday, Australian citizens and permanent residents and their families as well as business travellers and international students can enter Singapore.
13 Covid DEATHS IN VICTORIA
Victoria has recorded 1534 new locally acquired coronavirus infections on Wednesday as a new area of concern in Melbourne became the state’s Covid epicentre.
Thirteen more Victorians died from the virus in the past 24 hours, the Department of Health also confirmed.
About 90.8 per cent of Victorians older than 16 had received one jab of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 76 per cent were fully vaccinated.
Victorian chief health officer professor Brett Sutton said case numbers and transmission in Melbourne were stabilising, but called out the city’s southeast as an area of concern for health officials.
He said the local government areas of Casey and Greater Dandenong had the highest number of new cases on Tuesday with 169 and 140. In regional Victoria, Latrobe had 41 new cases and Wodonga 36.
“Those are some areas with significant activity at the moment,” Professor Sutton said.
“As we open up further on Friday night, there will be more individuals who are infectious going to regional Victoria.”
But Professor Sutton insisted regional Victoria was protected. “Regional Victoria has absolutely fantastic first dose coverage and is screaming along for second dose coverage,” he said.
“There is no LGA left behind in regional Victoria. They are all at or above 94 per cent (vaccination) coverage, the great majority of them above 95 per cent first those coverage.
“That is more equitable for a region in any other jurisdiction in Australia.”
A new raft of freedoms will be triggered on Friday at 6pm, when it is expected 80 per cent of Victoria’s eligible population will have had their second dose.
State-wide travel will resume, as well as indoor dining, and the reopening of the retail industry.
THREE DEATHS, 304 NEW CASES IN NSW
NSW has recorded 304 new Covid cases and three more deaths on Wednesday.
NSW Health announced the new infections on Twitter at 9am.
Covid infections in NSW continue to remain steady despite fears numbers would spike when the state emerged from lockdown.
However, this is the largest figure in several days with 282 cases recorded on Tuesday.
More than 85 per cent of the eligible population are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19, while more than 93 per cent have had at least one dose.
The health department also confirmed one new case recorded in hotel quarantine.
TWO NEW CASES IN QLD
Queensland recorded two new local Covid cases on Tuesday, one being an unvaccinated Gold Coast teenager who was a household contact of someone from NSW.
Investigations are now underway into whether the close contact entered Queensland illegally.
The other case was a woman from Melbourne in her 30s who tested positive in home quarantine. She is considered low-risk.
A Gympie truck driver who visited Bundaberg has also tested positive interstate.
Tuesday’s update comes after a string of new exposure sites popped up across the state’s southeast corner.
Queensland Health on Tuesday listed a men’s truck stop toilet at the Caboolture South Travel Centre as a close contact site from 8.50pm to 9.35pm on Saturday.
Fresh Fields FoodWorks Thabeban in Bundaberg was listed as a low-risk site at about 4pm on Saturday, while Graham Lusty Trailers at Crestmead, south of Brisbane, was a causal contact site last Thursday morning.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the new cases showed Queensland is not immune to the pandemic.
“We have contained dozens of outbreaks but, as New South Wales, Victoria, the ACT and New Zealand have discovered, it only takes one case to cause a massive outbreak,” she said.
“Our only protection is to get vaccinated … Because of the time it takes between doses, Queenslanders have just five days to get their first dose so that they can be fully vaccinated in time for Christmas when families can once again be reunited with loved ones.
The 17-year-old from the Gold Coast tested positive overnight after presenting to the emergency department with a headache.
NSW, VIC IN RACE TO DROP RESTRICTIONS
Life in Australia’s two biggest states is set to return to some normality in coming weeks with Victoria’s vow to dump most restrictions on November 24 expected to be matched or bettered by the NSW government.
In a move that will inject $1bn a week into the national economy, the Victorian Premier on Sunday vowed to abolish almost all of the draconian restrictions imposed on millions, once the state hits the 90 per cent double vaccination target in four weeks.
Mr Andrews on Sunday said capacity, density and gathering limits would be abolished in a month, compulsory mask use dramatically wound back to mainly indoor settings and domestic travel thrown open.
The pledge would mean Victoria would open up a week ahead of NSW, according to the current vaccination timetable.
The Australian reports NSW is also poised to abolish most restrictions on November 24 or earlier, having previously set December 1 as the date.
More Victorians can finally look towards a Covid-normal way of life beyond November, with the state expected to reach two crucial vaccine milestones in the coming weeks.
Premier Daniel Andrews announced two sets of rules which would cover all of Victoria once the state hit an 80 per cent double-dose vaccination rate, and then at 90 per cent.
It comes as the state recorded 1935 new locally acquired Covid-19 infections and 11 more deaths.
- Caps of 30 people will apply for weddings, funerals and religious gatherings if vaccination status is unknown.
- Entertainment venues will reopen. For indoor seated venues including cinemas and theatres, there will a 75 per cent capacity or up to 1000 people, and for non-seated indoor entertainment venues there will be a 1-person per four square metres limit with no patron cap.
- Masks will remain mandatory indoors but no longer required outdoors. It is highly recommended you continue to wear a mask outdoors where you cannot physically distance.
All the rules changing at 90 per cent – November 24
- No (capacity) caps anywhere and no density limits.
- Masks only required in high risk indoor settings such as public transport, prisons, hospitals and aged care.
- Double-dose vaccination proof required when attending venues, events.
OVERSEAS TRAVEL IS BACK
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said his airline plans to fast-track international flights, with the reopening of borders expected to spark a rapid recovery in travel demand over summer.
Six Qantas and Jetstar routes will commence earlier than expected as all stood down employees get back to work on December.
With the reopening of the NSW border on November 1, Qantas is bringing forward the restart of routes from Sydney to Phuket, Singapore, Bangkok, Johannesburg and Fiji in addition to the Los Angeles and London flights already on sale.
Qantas will also launch for the first time a route from Sydney to Delhi, set to launch December 6. The national carrier also plans to offer three return flights a week, leading up to one per day by Christmas.
While the news is great for Australians looking to visit family, international visitors will still have to wait until next year with flights limited to Australian citizens, permanent residents and their families.
Mr Joyce said he was in talks with the Indonesian government around plans to operate flights back into Bali by Christmas.
“Jetstar was the largest carrier operating into Bali, Australians were the largest visitors before Covid, and it will be phenomenal news for our Jetstar people that we can operate into Bali before Christmas,” he said.
For those Australians heading overseas, Australia’s leading travel insurance provider, Cover-More, advised that there were already policies available that provided cover against Covid-19.
Protection in its existing policies has been extended to overseas countries as they come off the Federal Government’s Do Not Travel list.
The cover means travellers can cancel trips if they get Covid-19 and are forced into quarantine, or those who are deemed a close contact of someone with COVID-19 and are forced into quarantine. Overseas medical expenses would also be covered in the event a traveller were to get Covid-19 while on holiday.
Mr Joyce said the last 20 months were the darkest period in the company’s history. He added that 20 flights to London have been added and international routes brought forward after the announcement of an end to quarantine.
The airline said the surge of bookings comes as Australia once again allows international travel and removing quarantine for overseas arrivals.
Two of the red-tailed Airbus A380s will now fly on the Sydney-Los Angeles route from April 2022, while the airline said a further three A380s will return to service from mid-November 2022 with the remaining five expected to return to service by early 2024.
One superjumbo could arrive by the end of this year to assist with crew training ahead of its return to service.
“Our customers and crew love flying on our flagship A380s, so news that they are will be back flying to Los Angeles again from April next year will be very welcome,” Mr Joyce said.
“The Federal Government’s support to ensure our aircraft and people are ready to resume once borders reopen has been critical.”
The pandemic has forced Qantas to ground most of its global fleet, lay-off about 8000 workers and stand down thousands more and raise $1.4bn in emergency capital to stay afloat. The airline estimates the crisis will have cost it $20bn in lost revenue by the end of next year.
Mr Perrottet announced last week that NSW would allow fully vaccinated international arrivals into the state without the need to quarantine from November 1.
Mr Morrison quickly clarified that it would apply to returning Australians and their closest relatives.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said this week the state will not grant quarantine free entry to overseas arrivals until the state’s vaccination rate hits 90 per cent.
Qantas has ramped up its preparations for the resumption of international travel in the last two weeks, with Boeing 787 pilots doing multiple training flights a day over Botany Bay.
Qantas has put flights from Sydney to the UK and Los Angeles on sale from November 1 with a strong response from outbound travellers.
MAN IN 40s AMONG NEW BLOOD CLOT AZ CASES
Four more Australians have suffered blood clots following the AstraZeneca vaccine – including in a man in his forties.
The latest cases are all considered ‘probable’ thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) and bring the nation’s total blood clots linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine to 156 (86 confirmed, 70 probable) out of 12.6 million doses.
The cases involved a male, 45, from Victoria; a male, 67, from Queensland; a male, 67, and female, 95, both from NSW.
The figures were released in the Therapeutic Goods Administration Covid-19 Vaccine Weekly Safety Report (as at October 17) on Thursday afternoon.
The medicines watchdog says it is closely monitoring blood clots rates linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine in younger age groups.
“To date, the reporting rate of TTS remains higher in people aged under 60 years (2.5 per 100,000 doses) compared to those aged 60 and over (1.8 per 100,000 doses), which has also been observed in the UK. However, we have not seen a rise in the incidence in younger people,” the TGA says.
Eight people have died as a result of TTS in Australia – six of these were women.
The TGA advises people should seek immediate medical attention if they develop any of the following symptoms after vaccination:
– severe or persistent headache, blurred vision, confusion or seizures
– shortness of breath, chest pain, leg swelling or persistent abdominal pain
– unusual skin bruising and/or pinpoint round spots beyond the site of vaccination.
The most common time period for onset of TTS symptoms is 4–30 days after vaccination.
The TGA is also monitoring reports of adverse effects following the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
As at October 17, the TGA has received 312 reports of suspected myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) alone or in combination with pericarditis (inflammation of the pericardium, – a saclike membrane surrounding the heart) and an additional 836 reports of suspected pericarditis alone.
In the same period the regulator received five reports of suspected myocarditis and 28 reports of suspected pericarditis.
“These events can occur due to other causes, including common viral infections, so it is expected that not all cases are related to vaccination,” the TGA says.
Analysis in Australia and overseas shows myocarditis has been more common in teenage boys after the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine compared to the rest of the population.
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Originally published as Covid-19 updates: Victoria records 1656 Covid cases, ten deaths; NSW records 268 cases, two deaths
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