Coronavirus NSW: 17 new COVID cases, woman busted in midnight border sneak attempt
A case of COVID-19 in the Parkes area is among 17 new cases detected in NSW. Meanwhile, two attempts by a 27-year-old woman to sneak into NSW did not end well.
NSW
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A woman has been fined twice in less than three hours for trying to sneak into NSW from Victoria without a valid permit.
The woman, aged 27, allegedly tried to cross the border at two different checkpoints on Tuesday, first at 12.40am on the Sturt Highway, Buronga, and then again at 3am on Abbotsford Road in Curlwaa.
Police allege the woman refused to return to Victoria from Curlwaa and had to be escorted back across state borders.
She was issued two $1000 fines.
In a separate incident yesterday, a 27-year-old man was arrested also trying to cross state borders without a permit.
The man, originally from Western Australia, allegedly attempted to enter NSW from Victoria at a checkpoint on the Hume Highway in South Albury.
He was told to return to Victoria, however, after being observed not taking the returning route, he was stopped again and directed to take the most direct route back.
After again failing to drive back to Victoria, the man was stopped again and arrested.
He was taken to Albury Police Station and will appear before Albury Local Court on Monday September 28.
A 28-year-old man who attempted to deceive police at a checkpoint in Albury yesterday has also been fined $1000 for using a permit in someone else’s name
CASE IN PARKES TESTS POSITIVE
A positive COVID-19 case in the Parkes area has been confirmed today.
The source of the infection is still being investigated however authorities said all identified close contacts had been notified and were now isolating.
“A case of COVID-19 has been reported in the Parkes Local Government Area,” a spokeswoman for Western NSW Local Health District said in a statement.
“Further testing and investigation is underway to verify the diagnosis of COVID and any possible source of the infection. The case is currently in isolation.
“While the case remains under investigation, the Public Health Unit has contacted all close contacts out of an abundance of caution.
“If you have not been contacted by the Public Health Unit you have not been identified as a close contact.”
The Western NSW Local Health District has now had at 47 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
17 new COVID cases in NSW
Seventeen new cases of COVID-19 have been detected in NSW, the majority of which are connected to known clusters of the disease.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the fact the latest cases could be traced to outbreaks was a “good thing.”
“The overall decline in infections in NSW and Victoria is a positive sign and reason to be optimistic about the future,” she said.
“Please know that … the reduction of cases in Victoria, reduces the risk in NSW,” she said.
The latest infections include one returned traveller, one mystery case and fifteen linked to known clusters. These include eight cases connected with the Sydney CBD cluster, six with the St Pauls Greystanes school cluster – the cause of which remains unknown – and one linked to Liverpool Hospital.
A total of 49 cases are now associated with the Sydney CBD cluster.
Anyone who attended the following venues or public transport is considered a casual contact of a case and must monitor for symptoms and get tested immediately if they develop:
– Four in Hand Pub, 105 Sutherland Street Paddington – guests who dined upstairs only or for fewer than two hours on 26 August from 6:30-10pm.
– Metro Fuel Greystanes on 27 August, 3.15-3.35pm
– Big Bun, 260 Pitt Street Merrylands, 27 August 3.30-4pm
– Carslaw Building, University of Sydney Camperdown toilets, 28 August 8-8.20pm
– Stockland Merrylands on 29 August between 9-11am
– Bus 810 28 August departed St Paul’s Catholic College Greystanes 3.04pm, arrived 3.28pm Macquarie Rd opposite Boothtown Reserve Greystanes
TASK FORCE TO SECURE MAJOR NSW EVENTS
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has launched a task force to secure major NSW events in the COVID era.
Ms Berejiklian this morning appointed three senior Ministers with the job of targeting major events to make sure they have certainty and go ahead.
This includes making sure things like the NRL Grand Final, State of Origin and V8s at Bathurst and racing are secured despite possibly shifting circumstances.
They will also work on plans to secure as many events as possible.
Ms Berejiklian asked Treasurer Dominic Perrottet, Deputy Premier John Barilaro and Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres to take carriage of the issue at the weekly state leaders COVID meeting this morning.
The move is designed to eliminate uncertainty around any events.
The Ministers have been tasked with working on COVID-safe plans for the events to ensure they can go ahead.
PREMIER’S COVID CLASH WITH PALASZCZUK
Queensland’s Premier has now responded to Gladys Berejiklian’s requests for a discussion about northern border closures after refusing to talk to her NSW counterpart on the issue.
The text message, which was described as “not hostile,” came as the NSW Premier said the northern border closure was “frustrating”.
Ms Berejiklian refused to link the Sunshine State’s border closure with the upcoming state election but declared “southeast Queensland’s probably a bigger threat to northern NSW than northern NSW is to southeast Queensland” due to the lack of community spread north of Newcastle.
The NSW Premier said she wanted to be “constructive” on state border issues, but said “there needs to be greater consideration for compassion on those border communities”.
Earlier on Wednesday, Premier Berejiklian told 2GB’s Ben Fordham she had tried to establish a positive relationship but it’s a bit difficult when decisions are made without them even telling us.”
“She has made a decision and isn’t willing to talk about that decision and is refusing to budge,” Ms Berejiklian said.
When asked about her relationship with the Queensland Premier, Ms Berejiklian said it has “always been [her] attitude” to discuss issues with other Premiers.
Ms Berejiklian compared her relationship with Ms Palaszczuk to the joint decision on border closures with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and PM Scott Morrison.
“I’d like to see that applied to all borders.”
PRESSURE ON COUNCIL TO AXE SYDNEY FIREWORKS
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro says he was keen for Sydney’s New Year’s Eve fireworks to go ahead but cannot envision a way it could possibly work under current health orders.
“I don’t want to see it happen but the reality is, how can you attract one million people to the harbour shores and do it in a safe way?” he said on the Today Show.
“We know it won’t happen … the risk is far too high.
Mr Barilaro said the city council should axe the event as soon as possible to ensure families expecting a show weren’t out of pocket.
A message on the City of Sydney website shows the future of the event is under serious consideration.
“Health and safety is paramount for our community, and it may not be responsible to encourage large crowds to our foreshore this year,” the statement said.
“We’re currently working with the NSW Government to determine the future of the event for 2020.”
SIX DEATHS, 90 CASES IN VICTORIA
Victoria has recorded 90 new cases and six deaths in the past day, with all of the latest fatalities linked to aged care.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said on Wednesday that three of the six deaths occurred before the latest reporting period.
“Those fatalities are made of five males in their 80s and one male in their 90s,” he said.
The latest numbers come just hours after a marathon debate ended in the early hours of this morning, where the Premier’s controversial state of emergency extension bill was passed by a single vote.
It means emergency powers will be extended for up to six months – half what the government was initially seeking.
“The Minister for Emergency Services and the Emergency Management Commissioner have provided me with advice in accordance with the act to extend the state of disaster to September 13,” Mr Andrews said.
“I just want to caution that doesn’t necessarily mean that either the state of emergency or the state of disaster will automatically come off on the 13th.
“Those decisions and that road map out, indeed, multiple roadmaps will be driven by the data.”
ANGRY NSW VICTIMS OF PALASZCZUK’S BORDER CLOSURE
Distraught NSW parents whose children need lifesaving medical treatment in Brisbane say Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has made them feel like they’re “doing something wrong” by seeking it.
The Sunshine State backed down amid public outrage this week regarding the case of a Ballina mum who lost one of her unborn twins after she was told she wouldn’t be able to get into Queensland for treatment given its COVID border closures.
Queensland has now announced a special unit would be established to streamline the granting of travel exemptions.
But families from northern NSW told The Daily Telegraph that the closure has caused them even more stress after their children had been diagnosed with serious conditions.
Casuarina mum Jana Loadsman has three children who see specialists in Brisbane, including daughter Harper, 5, who has a liver transplant and two other daughters with disabilities.
Ms Loadsman said after the border closed she was delayed in receiving immunosuppressant medication from Brisbane for little Harper, who has had multiple complications since her transplant.
She said Ms Palaszczuk’s comments that Queensland hospitals were for Queenslanders was “infuriating”.
“It’s damaging for families,” she said.
“It’s scary, Tweed cannot help us — they won’t touch Harper because her condition is so complicated.
“Australian hospitals are funded by taxpayer dollars … I’m a taxpayer, we are divided by some imaginary line that nobody knows, for us border dwellers it’s an absolute joke.”
Tweed Heads resident Teresa Mckinlay’s son Johnny, 16, was diagnosed with leukaemia last February and he usually stays in Brisbane when receiving lifesaving medical treatment.
But with the border closed Ms Mckinlay has been forced to commute with her son because they would need to self-isolate for 14 days in a hotel if they wanted to stay overnight at accommodation provided by the Leukaemia Foundation, even though they have been granted an exemption.
“The only way I can stay in Brisbane is if I take Johnny into quarantine for 14 days which I refuse to do because of his immune-compromise and problems with cleanliness,” she said. “I’m not going to take the risk to go into government quarantine.”
Ms Mckinlay said Ms Palaszczuk’s comments had been hurtful to her family.
“It’s tough enough as it is with the diagnosis, I want to make clear (Ms Palaszczuk’s) comment on ‘Queensland hospitals are for Queenslanders’ has been really upsetting for my family.
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“It makes us feel like we’re doing something wrong and that we should take Johnny to Sydney.”
Queensland Health Minister Steve Miles said the new unit would help co-ordinate exemption requests: “I have asked the unit to contact these people and work through their concerns.”
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said he had spoken to Mr Miles “in relation to the patient issues raised by The Daily Telegraph”.
It comes as a western Sydney primary school was yesterday shut down after a student tested positive to the virus. There were 13 new cases of COVID-19 reported in NSW on Tuesday, including 11 locally acquired cases.
Meanwhile, residents on the NSW-Victorian border will be able to travel 50km into NSW from state lines from Friday, with Premier Gladys Berejiklian yesterday expanding the border bubble.
That was little comfort to Mildura resident Angela Mitchell who sought a permit to visit her terminally ill father in Broken Hill earlier this month, but was told the process to obtain an end of life visitation permit would take up to a week.
Her father died later that day. An earlier application to travel to Broken Hill was denied in part because Ms Mitchell would be travelling “from a high risk area in Victoria”, according to an email. As of Saturday there were no active cases in Mildura.
RECESSION TO BECOME OFFICIAL ON WEDNESDAY
Australia will officially end three decades of economic growth today with a “devastating” quarterly hit sending the nation into a recession expected to worsen before it gets better.
Economists are forecasting Australia’s economy will have shrunk by about 6 per cent between March and June — the biggest drop on record — as a result of the nationwide coronavirus lockdowns.
AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said the National Accounts for the June quarter would be “old data” with Australia likely to be in a much worse position now, even though states like NSW have started to recover.
“If you’re a NSW citizen the worst is probably behind you provided we keep controlling the virus,” he said.
Mr Oliver said the estimated 5.9 per cent negative growth was “horrible” but it was likely “better than expected” in April when doomsday forecasts foreshadowed a much bigger hit to the economy.
“The reality is the economy has still been hit hard. It’s more like what you’d expect in a depression as opposed to a recession,” he said.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg warned his party room colleagues on Tuesday the official bad news was coming, but pointed to the success of support measures like JobKeeper and Australia’s performance compared to the rest of the world as positives.
The UK reported a 20 per cent drop for the June quarter, the US about 9 per cent and India contracted by almost 30 per cent.
Economist Chris Richardson from Deloitte Access Economics said the international comparisons were “important” in showing while Australia had suffered last quarter, the country had “tended to do better than most”.
“It’s terrible news and good news at the same time,” he said.
TAMWORTH COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL LIKELY TO BE CANCELLED
It’s the event that attracts thousands of revellers to rural NSW every year — but the future of the beloved Tamworth Country Music Festival is hanging in the balance of a tense council vote.
Tamworth regional councillors will vote next Tuesday night, September 8, on whether the legendary 49-year-old music festival will go ahead amid heightened safety fears due to COVID-19.
A spokeswoman for the festival told The Daily Telegraph that event organisers have already recommended its suspension, however, the final say will come down to a vote.
“Today, festival organisers announced to local media that they would be putting a recommendation to Tamworth Regional Councillors to suspend all Council run events,” the spokeswoman said in a statement.
“Councillors still need to vote on this recommendation at a council meeting next Tuesday night.
“The suspension of the festival, which has a 49-year history, has not been considered lightly … the health and safety of the community, the artists, and any visitors have been the
main priority of Festival organisers throughout the scenario planning.
“Organisers believe it is unlikely that social distancing and border restrictions will be eased in time to allow the event to proceed in its usual fashion, the result of this would mean that many of the popular aspects of the event would need to be abandoned.”
The festival was originally intended to run from Friday January 15 until Sunday January 24, 2021.
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