Covid-19 latest: Victoria records 2232 Covid cases ahead of new freedoms; NSW records 372 cases, one death
Victoria has recorded 2232 new Covid cases hours before the state is due to exit lockdown. It came as NSW had its first spike in cases since lockdown was scrapped.
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Victoria has recorded 2232 new locally acquired Covid-19 infections, as the state prepares to emerge from lockdown at 11.59pm today.
Twelve more Victorians died from the virus in the past 24 hours, the Department of Health confirmed.
About 89.2 per cent of Victorians above the age of 16 have received one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 69.3 per cent were fully vaccinated.
From Friday, the state’s 14-day quarantine protocol for any Victorian who is a close contact to a positive case in a workplace or social setting will be slashed to seven days.
Victorian Covid-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said the new rule change would take effect on Friday and would include anyone already in isolation.
He said the new rule was introduced due to there being a lower risk of transmission within the community as vaccination rates increased.
“If you are on day six tomorrow you can go and get yourself a test, if you test negative then you will be released from your quarantine period,” he said.
“That is recognition of the lower risk that a fully vaccinated community represents and we are also of course reducing the impact of positive cases continuing in our community.”
From 11.59pm, restrictions to leave home as well as the curfew will be scrapped.
There will be no travel limit within metropolitan Melbourne, but authorised travel to enter regional Victoria will still be required.
Ten visitors, including dependants, will be able to visit someone’s home per day.
There will also be a staggered return of grade 3 and year 11 students in metropolitan Melbourne schools from Friday.
NSW CASES SPIKE
NSW has recorded 372 cases of Covid-19 and one death overnight. The figure is higher than previous days and the testing rate was also down with just 86,000 people turning out to get swabbed in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the state continues to power ahead with its vaccine rollout.
More than 92 per cent of eligible people have had their first dose and more than 80 per cent are fully vaccinated.
The new figures come after NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet revealed the state plans to establish the nation’s first mRNA pilot manufacturing facility.
VIC, TASSIE HIT 70 PER CENT VACCINE TARGET
Victoria has hit 70 per cent double-dose vaccination coverage, hours before Melbourne comes out of lockdown.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday that 70.51 per cent of Victorians were now fully vaccinated, while Tasmania also reached the milestone.
“Under the national plan, that means they can now move into phase B and take the steps at 11.59pm tonight (to exit lockdown),” Mr Morrison said. “And good on Tassie too, because they’ve hit 70.6 per cent.”
Mr Morrison said Victoria had fought a long battle with Covid and that it ended from tomorrow.
“Under the national plan, that means they can now move into phase B and start taking the steps at midnight tonight,” he said.
“The longest road has been the journey in Victoria and that long road really starts to open up tonight.”
“In the Australian way we move cautiously, but we move deliberately, so we can safely open up so we can remain open safely.”
On Wednesday, Victoria recorded 1841 new cases of coronavirus and 12 deaths. There were 786 people in hospital, with 147 in intensive care, and 97 on a ventilator.
‘KEEP GOING’
Australia is set to become one of the most vaccinated countries in the world, as the first major milestone in the national reopening plan of 70 per cent of the population fully vaccinated is to be reached today.
Health Minister Greg Hunt confirmed the news on Wednesday in Canberra, telling reporters 70.007 per cent of the population was now fully vaccinated.
“This is a testament to the work of Australians and it is a testament to our health professionals and everybody that has been involved in the vaccination program,” he said.
“I want to say thank you and congratulations, but keep going.”
An emotional Mr Hunt later broke down in tears after he revealed his children had been subject of death threats over his time in public office.
The Health Minister made the admission in Canberra where he was taking questions from reporters on the government’s vaccine rollout.
He was asked about comments Chief Minister Michael Gunner had made earlier in the week about relocating his family due to threats from anti-vaccination protesters.
“Do you think politicians, public health officers, should be given more security and what's being done to respond to some of the concerns within government MPs,” a reporter asked.
Mr Hunt said he “unequivocally” condemned the actions of the anti-vaccination protesters before breaking down in tears with his own admission.
“I’ve never really talked about it,” he said before his voice wavered.
“There was a period where the lives of my children were threatened quite openly some years ago.
“It was a matter of great concern, but we have very fine federal police in this country.”
Offering his support to Mr Gunner, the Health Minister said it was important Australians respected the work of parliamentarians, even if their views did not align.
“To those that that think violence or the threat of violence is acceptable in any way, shape or form. It is not,” Mr Hunt said.
“(Parliamentarians) are overwhelmingly public servants that seek to serve the nation and there will be differing views and differing approaches.
“But this notion of national tolerance and mutual respect is something I believe in passionately.”
Mr Hunt’s candid admission comes after a joint party room meeting where several MPs raised concern about their security while on the job in their electorates following the stabbing death of a UK MP last week.
QLD TO REOPEN BORDERS FOR CHRISTMAS QUARANTINE-FREE
Queensland has confirmed it will finally open its border to interstate hot spots by Christmas with no quarantine requirement.
Annastacia Palaszczuk made the announcement on Monday afternoon where she outlined the road map out of the pandemic.
All arrivals from hot spots will be allowed to quarantine at home from November 19, when 70 per cent of the population over 16 have been fully vaccinated.
Once the 80 per cent target is reached, which is expected on December 17, fully vaccinated travellers will not have to quarantine.
When the 80 per cent target is reached, international arrivals can also quarantine at home.
Travellers must be fully vaccinated, have a negative Covid test result and then no quarantine required.
Both reopening dates will be brought forward if vaccination targets are reached earlier.
“This is your last chance to get vaccinated,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“Go and protect yourself.”
Queensland has 56.5 per cent of its population double vaccinated and are now at 72.3 per cent for first doses.
Chief health officer Jeannette Young warned the virus was coming.
“Once we start seeing cases this virus will find people who aren’t vaccinated,” she said.
“Now I make a plea to younger people – if younger people were to get vaccinated we would reach that target even earlier.”
She called on those aged 20-39 to get vaccinated.
“You probably think you’re invincible, but you’re not,” she said.
NEW TREATMENTS ON THE WAY
More than half-a-million additional doses of Covid-19 treatments have been secured for Australians, with the first 5000 expected to arrive by the end of the month.
The Federal Government on Sunday announced it had secured 500,000 treatment courses of Pfizer’s Covid-19 oral antiviral drug, which will be used in combination with the protease inhibitor drug ritonavir.
Another 15,000 doses of the Covid-19 antibody-based therapy Ronapreve were also secured.
Early studies have shown the drug Ronapreve reduced the risk of hospitalisation and death by up to 70 per cent in positive Covid cases.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said the initial shipment of 5000 doses was expected to be ready by the end of the month.
The supply will be held in the National Medical Stockpile.
Clinical trials are still being undertaken on the Pfizer antiviral drug but Mr Hunt said it is expected to help to reduce the severity or onset of illness in adults who contract or are exposed to Covid-19.
He said it is expected to be available over the course of 2022, subject to final clinical trials and approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administrator (TGA).
“This oral antiviral treatment is taken every 12 hours for five days and is designed to block an enzyme the virus needs in order to multiply early in its life cycle,” Mr Hunt said.
“Co-administration with a low dose of ritonavir is expected to help slow the metabolism of the treatment in order for it to remain active in the body for longer periods of time at higher concentrations to combat the virus.”
He said it was expected to be targeted for use in unvaccinated people who are at risk of developing severe disease.
Australia has also secured an advanced purchase agreement for 300,000 courses of the oral Covid-19 treatment Molnupiravir – expected to be supplied in 2022 subject to TGA approval.
KYRGiOS’ BORDER SLUR
Tennis star Nick Kyrgios has taken a dig at Australia’s international border closures after Qantas announced it will bring forward the restart of its international flights.
The airliner announced it will operate up to five return flights a week from Sydney to London and up to four return flights a week from Sydney to Los Angeles with its Boeing 787 Dreamliners from 1 November.
More flights will be added to meet demand, if needed. Flights to London will operate via Darwin until at least April 2022.
That’s two weeks earlier than planned after the Federal and NSW governments confirmed borders will now reopen on that date.
Kyrgios, 26, took to social media on Friday to criticise the government-imposed restrictions.
“Thanks guys! Australia has been behind for the past year,” he tweeted followed by an emoji of folded hands and a flushed face, adding “freedom has nothing to do with Covid”.
Thanks guys! Australia has been behind for the past year ðŸ™ðŸ½ðŸ˜³ freedom has nothing to do with COVID https://t.co/UCI4fCFNfe
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) October 15, 2021
Twitter users were fast to react to the post. “Boy have you changed your tune from the early days, lecturing tennis players on irresponsibility during Covid. Fallen down the rabbit hole much?,” one user responded, in an apparent reference to Kyrgios taking a dig at Novak Djokovic in January when the Serbian player wrote to the Australian Open organisers asking for an easing of quarantine restrictions.
Another responded: “Travel and the spread of an airborne virus are pretty heavily connected.”
The initial flights announced by Qantas are limited to Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate families and parents in line with Australian Government requirements.
Flights to other destinations including Singapore, Fiji and Vancouver are still scheduled to commence from December 18, with other destinations to restart in the new year – however, in light of the shift to remove quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travellers arriving in New South Wales, the Qantas Group is looking at bringing forward some additional destinations from Sydney if possible.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said: “Bringing forward the reopening of Australia to the world and removing quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travellers entering New South Wales is a massive step towards life as we knew it.
“In just a little over two weeks, Australians around the world can fly into Sydney and people from around Australia can leave on trips they’ve been waiting almost two years to take. We hope other states will do the same once they reach the 80 per cent target.”
INTERNATIONAL BORDERS WILL REOPEN TO AUSSIES FIRST
Scott Morrison said he is “very pleased” NSW will lift quarantine caps for vaccinated international travellers from November 1.
“It enables us to be in a position to lift caps for returning Australian citizens, residents and their families from the first of November into New South Wales,” he said on Friday afternoon.
“What this also means is we will be allowing Australians, permanent residents and citizens and their families to leave Australia from wherever they live in Australia and return.”
The prime minister said capped arrangements in other states will continue because of the vaccination levels in those states and territories.
Mr Morrison said the National Security Committee agreed on Tuesday the definition of “immediate family” would be extended to include parents of Australian residents and citizens.
“I know that will be very welcome news to Australians right across the country who were hoping to be reunited with their family members, their parents who are overseas,” he said.
“In New South Wales’s case, it means those family members will be able to come into Sydney if they are vaccinated and not have to quarantine under the arrangement that the premier has announced today. That is a welcome step forward.”
The PM made clear the opening to international travel will be for Australian residents, permanent citizens and their immediate family first, followed by skilled migrants, students and tourists.
“We are not opening up to everyone coming back to Australia at the moment. I want to be clear about that. We will take this forward in a staged way as we have done in all these things,” he said.
NSW SCRAPS HOTEL QUARANTINE FOR VAXXED
Hotel quarantine will be scrapped for people entering NSW, including those coming from overseas, from November 1.
People will only be required to take a Covid-19 test before boarding a flight and show proof of full vaccination, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has confirmed.
“For double vaccinated people around the world, Sydney, NSW, is open for business,” he said.
“We want people back. We are leading the nation out of the pandemic.
“Hotel quarantine will be a thing of the past. This is a significant day for our state.”
NSW could achieve the magic 80 per cent double dose vaccination target as early as Friday.
Recent numbers revealed 78.81 per cent of eligible residents have had both doses of the Covid vaccine, while 91.66 per cent have had their first dose – as of Thursday evening.
This means the state is on track to surpass 80 per cent later in the day, and if that’s the case, more freedoms will be unlocked from Monday.
If the 80 per cent target isn't hit on Friday, it will still be passed on Saturday.
Despite hitting the target, regional travel is still off the cards until November 1.
NSW Deputy Premier Paul Toole revealed the controversial change on Friday morning which has sparked fury among vaccinated residents hoping to be reunited with family and friends.
“I know it’s frustrating and I know it’s not an easy decision being made, but we have a responsibility to keep our regional communities safe,” Mr Toole said.
“We achieved that target of 80 per cent vaccination quicker than we thought. We thought it would still be a couple of weeks away.”
The Premier said he had worked closely with the NSW government to ensure the right protocols were in place to keep people safe.
But the cap for arrivals is just 210 a week.
NSW is on the edge of achieving the magic 80 per cent double-dose target that would mean more freedoms kick in for fully vaccinated residents from Monday.
But a backflip on allowing Sydneysiders to travel to the regions has sparked fury.
The state government’s crisis cabinet met on Thursday and pushed the travel date back to November 1 to allow regions with lagging vaccination uptake to catch up.
Allowing city dwellers to visit the regions was originally promised when the state achieved the 70 per cent milestone, which was then pushed back to 80 per cent.
Mr Perrottet argued that the government did not expect NSW to hit the target so soon.
He was probed about why people in the Hunter Region, which has some of the highest case numbers, were still allowed to travel across NSW but Sydneysiders couldn’t.
“It is not a precise science,” Mr Perrottet said.
“You could go through every single LGA, and you could go through every single town centre, what we have done is make a decision based on where vaccination rates are. We set out a road map.”
NSW ROAD MAP EXPLAINED
GATHERINGS
Groups of 20 people will be allowed to gather in homes, excluding children, and up to 50 people can congregate outdoors.
Ticketed events will be able to hold up to 3000 people in outdoor and controlled settings, kickstarting the state’s arts and music industry.
Up to 5000 people will be able to attend sporting events and community sports are also back on.
MASKS
Masks will remain mandatory indoors except for in offices, a change introduced by Mr Perrottet as an incentive to get people back at work.
HOSPITALITY
Drinking while standing up in a pub will be allowed, but all venues will have density limits.
The 20-person limit on bookings will remain until November 1.
Nightclubs can reopen but dancing is not permitted.
HAIRDRESSERS
Hairdressers are already open but the density limits will no longer apply once the state hits 80 per cent.
WEDDINGS AND FUNERALS
The cap on the number of people allowed to attend weddings and funerals will be removed but all guests must be fully vaccinated.
SCHOOLS
All students will return to on-site learning by October 25 as long as the school has CovidSafe measures in place.
Kindergarten, year 1 and year 12 students will return to face-to-face learning a week earlier.
TRAVEL
Travel between Sydney and the regions will not be allowed until November 1 after the government backflipped on a promise that it would happen at 80 per cent.
More freedoms will be granted on December 1 and will also apply to unvaccinated residents.
MORE BLOOD CLOTS LINKED TO AZ JAB
The number of blood clots cases in Australia linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine has risen to 152 from 12.5 million doses.
Two cases considered ‘probable” were reported in a 25-year-old woman and 76-year-old man both from Queensland.
The cases were disclosed in the Therapeutic Goods Administration Covid-19 vaccine weekly safety report on Thursday afternoon.
“To date, we have not observed a significant change in the rate of TTS in people aged 50-59 years. There has been a trend for the rate to decrease in people under 50 years and the rates for people under 50 years and over 60 years are now similar,” the medicines watchdog said.
So far, the TGA has found nine reports of death that were linked to immunisation from 597 reports received and reviewed. The overwhelming majority of deaths reported to the TGA following vaccination occurred in people aged 65 years and older.
With regards to the Pfizer vaccine, the TGA has received 269 reports of suspected myocarditis alone or in combination with pericarditis, and an additional 725 reports of suspected pericarditis alone.
It’s also received one report of suspected myocarditis and 13 reports of suspected pericarditis after the Moderna jab.
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.
– with Nadia Salemme, Alex Druce, Heath Parkes-Hupton
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