Coronavirus NSW: QLD reveals when it will open border, NSW records 12 cases
Queensland has revealed the “trigger” point that will see it reopen the border with NSW but Premier Gladys Berejiklian has criticised the rule, saying it’s a “big ask”. NSW has recorded 12 new COVID cases including one “mystery” case.
NSW
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The NSW Premier has hit back at Queensland’s tough new “trigger” for reopening its southern border while announcing 12 new cases of coronavirus including one “mystery” case.
Queensland health authorities revealed on Thursday morning the “trigger” point that will see the state reopen it border with NSW.
Chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young says NSW must have 28 days of no community transmission for the border shutdown to be reversed.
“The trigger to open the border to NSW is when they have had two incubation periods of no community transmission,” she said.
“They had one case so [they] are getting there but if they were to have 28 days of no community transmission, that’s the current definition to open the border.”
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian was critical of the move, calling the target a “pretty big ask”.
“The guidelines that have been sent by the Queensland government in relation to when they will reopen their border is a pretty tall order.”
“I don’t know if we’ll ever get to that case, that number,” she said.
Ms Berejiklian has asked her Queensland counterpart to allow health workers to move freely across the border to ensure communities straddling state lines have access to doctors.
Ms Berejiklian said she had a “polite and constructive” conversation with Annastacia Palaszczuk where she raised “the concern of NSW in relation to the freedom of health workers to move freely across the border”.
The Queensland premier said she would “pass on” the concerns to her health minister, Ms Berejiklian said.
However, the Premier “didn’t get a sense or a hint that (Queensland) would relax state borders any time soon”.
Ms Berejiklian will tomorrow argue for farm workers to be allowed free interstate movement.
She will push states with closed borders to adopt a mandatory movement code for agricultural movement in line with the rules for truckies.
“We’re expecting a bumper harvest in many parts of New South Wales the likes of which farmers have not seen for years,” she said.
“And I don’t want NSW to lose that opportunity because unfortunately, other states aren’t being open minded.”
If no agreement is reached NSW will consider changing health orders to allow agricultural workers to come in from Victoria “in a COVID safe way”.
NEW VENUE ALERTS FOR NSW
Two of the 12 new cases were detected in a south western Sydney family, one is linked to a previous case in southeastern Sydney and three are returned travellers.
One case in the regional town of Parkes is under investigation and five are linked to a known case or cluster, including three linked to the Sydney CBD outbreak.
Among the new NSW infections is a close contact of a student from St Pauls Catholic College Greystanes and a new case in Girraween Public School. The source of the original infection has not been identified.
The latest infections have sparked new venue alerts, with anyone who attended a church service at Life in the Spirit Ministry in Prestons, on Sunday on August 30 from 12.30-2.30pm considered a “close contact” and urged to self-isolate for two weeks and get tested.
Meanwhile, anyone who attended the following venues must monitor for symptoms and get tested immediately if they develop:
Westfield Chatswood on Thursday, 27 August from 1pm-1.50pm
Gram Café and Pancakes, Chatswood Station on Thursday, 27 August from 11.10am-12.15pm
Balmain Community Pharmacy, 273 Darling Street, Balmain, on Monday, 31 August from 11am-11.20am
God’s Power Ministries Heckenberg, 18/7-9 Progress Circuit, Prestons, on Sunday, 30 August from 2.50pm-3.30pm
Quality Suites Camperdown in the foyer, 108 Parramatta Rd Camperdown on Saturday, 29 August 3.15-4.30pm
Leaf Café & Co, Lidcombe Shopping Centre on Monday, 31 August from 11.30am-1.30pm
VICTORIAN FINED AFTER BORDER ATTEMPT
A man who sped through a NSW border checkpoint, allegedly ignoring police direction to slow down and stop, has been fined and escorted back to Victoria.
The man, aged 49, allegedly drove at high speed through a checkpoint on Federwation Way, Corowa, at 8.15pm last night.
Officers managed to intercept the man, driving a white van, at nearby Honour Avenue when they found he allegedly didn’t have a valid excuse to be in NSW or for leaving his Flemington home in Victoria. He was returned across the border and fined $1000.
Fifteen minutes later, police stopped a woman also trying to cross the NSW border at a South Albury checkpoint.
The 28-year-old presented a drivers license which had expired in 2015 as well as an expired border permit. Police allege the woman lied on her application and she was fined $4000 for providing false information and $581 for driving without a valid license.
A 50-year-old man was also fined $4000 yesterday for allegedly providing false information to police while trying to cross the NSW border.
VICTORIA RECORDS 15 MORE DEATHS, 113 NEW CASES
Victoria has recorded 113 new infections on Thursday.
The Health Department also confirmed 15 more deaths, taking the state’s death toll to 591.
It comes after top-secret leaked documents revealed Melbourne’s dreaded stage four lockdown would continue for another two weeks after September 13.
TV STAR CONTRACTS COVID-19
Australian actor Hugh Sheridan has tested positive to COVID-19.
The Packed to the Rafters star remains in quarantine in a Sydney hotel after returning to Australia from Los Angeles.
“I’ve been quiet for the last few days cause I’ve been feeling all the varied emotions about my positive Covid test,” the 35-year-old actor wrote on Instagram.
Los Angeles-based Sheridan was based in Sydney through the first wave of coronavirus but returned to the US for work.
He flew home to Australia just over a week ago and has shared his mandatory quarantine prolifically on social media.
“I had a negative result when I arrived, I now know all my friends including who took me to LAX airport are all negative so it’s been confusing to me, it’s scary, frustrating & lonely.”
Sheridan said he had experienced no symptoms.
“This virus isn’t seriously clever,” he wrote. “Knowing now, that no one I saw back home overseas has it means I got it in a very short space of time (in transit or a surface) while I had minimal human contact.”
VIRUS SPARKS DIGITAL REVOLUTION
The digital revolution sparked by the coronavirus pandemic has made it easier for Australians to access lawyers, doctors and cut red tape for companies should be made permanent, a review has found.
Telehealth medical appointments, emailed prescriptions, video conferencing to sign legal documents and virtual AGMs have dramatically changed the way the nation does business during COVID-19, and now the federal government has been advised to keep them permanently.
The Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology interim report released on Wednesday has called for wide-ranging innovations in the digital space to be maintained beyond the time-limited changes implemented during the emergency phases of the pandemic.
The report has recommended the government simplify payroll tax between states and encourage more competition in financial technology such as innovative companies like Afterpay and Zip.
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After reviewing all the short-term digital measures introduced during coronavirus to keep businesses going remotely, the committee has argued many should be kept to boost productivity and enable remote and rural Australians to access services.
“The committee considers that a number of temporary changes made during the crisis should be made permanent in order to lock in technology gains,” the report says.
TATTERSALL`S GYM CLUSTER RISES
Potential breaches of coronavirus sign-in requirements are being investigated at the City Tattersalls gym, as the number of cases in the Sydney CBD outbreak linked with the venue grows.
Health authorities are now investigating sign-in procedures at the gym where the virus was “amplified” after being introduced.
“We were advised that there were behaviours where people perhaps were not swiping in, travelling in a group and perhaps even using … other people’s cards to swipe in,” Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said.
Dr Chant said “a number of people” contracted the virus at the gym before spreading it to other city workplaces.
But the City Tattersalls Club yesterday denied there had been any breaches with its sign-in procedures.
Chief Operating Officer William Corbett said anyone seeking to enter the gym was already signed in at the club.
“To our knowledge there has been no person that has entered our club on any day in question without NSW Health receiving their details,” he said.
But he said NSW Health had told the club that one member is claiming “someone else had used his card”.
“This still has not been confirmed by (NSW Health),” Mr Corbett said.
BYRON BAY UNEASY ABOUT SCHOOLIES
Byron Bay locals are on edge over the possibility of hordes of schoolies descending on the town and spreading coronavirus.
It comes as Byron’s council confirmed a marquee would not be set up on the beach this year and police warned extra officers would be sent in to ensure newly graduated teens play by the rules.
Dimity Skye, who works at surf shop Golden Breed, told The Daily Telegraph there was a sense around town that having an influx of schoolies in a few months could be premature given the dangers of the pandemic.
“My personal opinion is that it is a little soon in regards to the whole coronavirus thing and everything that’s going on, I think it is a little premature,” she said.
Mia Campbell, 18, who works at gelato store Bella Rossa, said as a young person she supported teens going on schoolies in a safe way but that many people in the town were wary this year.
Long-suffering Schoolies of 2020 deserve a COVID-safe party
“I think a lot of people will get super iffy about it, everyone has their own opinions … I think a lot of older people that live here would probably be like ‘no way, it shouldn’t happen’,” she said.
“I understand it’s not ideal but if people take the right precautions, it’s in a safe environment and they can make it corona-safe (it will be OK.) It’s an amazing part of your life … you don’t want to miss out on that.”
NSW Police have been in talks with Byron’s council and Northern NSW Local Health District staff in recent weeks working on a plan to manage schoolies and safeguard against virus transmission.
A spokeswoman said extra officers would be deployed but logistic arrangements were being worked through.
“Officers from Tweed/Byron Police District are already in discussion with partner agencies about Schoolies 2020 at Byron Bay, which includes considerations of known and unknown potential impacts of COVID-19 on usual activities,” she said.
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