Covid Australia: Five deaths as NSW Covid spike hits 319, Vic records 29 new cases
A Sydney unit block is locked down after a serious virus outbreak, as NSW records its worst ever Covid case numbers and Victorian infections grow.
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NSW has had five more Covid-19 related deaths, as the state records a high of daily cases, a unit block is locked down in Sydney’s southwest and Victoria’s latest outbreak grows.
NSW health Minister Brad Hazzard and NSW Health’s Dr Jeremy McAnulty announced on Saturday morning, five more people had died due to complications from the virus, as the state recorded 319 new local daily cases – a record since the pandemic started in March last year.
Those deaths were a woman and man in their 80s, a man in his 90s, a man in his 60s from southwest Sydney and a man in his 80s from the city’s inner west.
Three of the deaths occurred at Liverpool Hospital.
“The hospital takes this very seriously, this is a tragedy for this to occur, and everyone is working very hard at the facility, and across New South Wales Health to protect patients, and staff members,” Dr McAnulty said.
“There have now been 27 Covid-related deaths during the current outbreak, and 84 since the beginning of the pandemic.”
Mr Hazzard said one positive was that vaccination rates were climbing.
“The great news today is our doses for the first dose on population of 16 and above have reached almost 50 per cent, so that is a very positive step forward,” he said.
“For those who are fully vaccinated, we are to almost 22 per cent, and we are going up at about five per cent per week, so can I say to everybody out there, we’re not going to beat this virus until unless you get under journey with us.”
Armidale in northern NSW has joined the lockdown for a week after two local infections were recorded there.
The unit block in Campbell St, Liverpool in the city’s south-west was locked down on Friday night after 14 cases were confirmed, according to South West Sydney Local Health District.
The entire West Point unit is under police watch with officers and private security stationed outside the building. All residents have been given stringent stay-at-home-orders for two weeks.
Food and other services will be delivered to residents, who are banned from leaving their apartments.
“South Western Sydney Local Health District is working with the residents and building management to assess the situation and, in collaboration with other agencies, is implementing measures to address infection control and the health and welfare of residents,” a spokeswoman said.
“All residents of this block have been determined to be close contacts and are required to isolate for 14 days and undergo repeat testing.
“Testing of residents will be done in their apartments, as they cannot leave during their isolation period.”
Meanwhile, Victorian has recorded 29 new cases on Saturday morning, after the state’s sixth lockdown was ordered. According to the Victorian government’s Department of Health, the 29 new cases were part of an existing outbreak and none were in quarantine.
Queensland recorded 13 new cases of the virus on Saturday on its seventh day of lockdown.
All of the cases are linked to the Indooroopilly cluster, which now numbers 102.
An announcement on the possible easing of restrictions in the sunshine state is expected on Sunday.
MORRISON REACHES OUT TO BIDEN FOR VACCINE HELP
Scott Morrison has reportedly made an urgent plea to the Biden administration to provide Australia access to an estimated 26 million unused vaccine doses that about to expire.
According to an exclusive report in the Weekend Australian, the Morrison government has “made representations” over the course of several weeks for access to America’s excess Pfizer vaccines.
According to the Weekend Australian, all of Australia’s requests have so far been unsuccessful.
A senior Australian government source told the Weekend Australian negotiations were ongoing.
Leading Republicans have reportedly urged the Biden administration to give Australia the excess doses of Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, some of which are sitting unused in warehouses and said to expire this month.
Michael McCaul, the senior Republican on the House foreign affairs committee, said Australia should be in front of the line for vaccines, followed by developing nations where China was showing its influence through vaccine diplomacy.
“Australia is not only an ally but a Five Eyes ally,” Mr McCaul told the Weekend Australian.
“I’ve been pressuring this administration through the Covax program to give more of these vaccines that are just sitting in warehouses in the US.
“They will expire if we don’t get them out the door.”
“I think particularly a Five Eyes ally should get the vaccines … and then we need to get it to countries like Sri Lanka, to African nations and Latin America where we know the Chinese are playing a pretty big game of vaccine diplomacy, to vaccinate people against the very virus that they created.”
Mike Gallagher, the Republican co-chairman of the Friends of Australia congressional caucus, also supported the move, telling the Weekend Australian: “The United States has vaccine doses set to expire at the same time our Australian mates need extra doses.
“The Biden administration should be doing everything in its power to get these doses to Australia.”
The New York Times reported last weekend that at least one million doses have gone to waste in the US since December.
“Here we are with loads of vaccine, and there are other countries in the world where people are desperate for vaccination,” Marcus Plescia, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials chief medical officer, told the outlet.
There has reportedly been some interest from US states in sharing the vaccines, but the doses are owned by the federal government which is stopping their redistribution.
One source involved in the talks told the Weekend Australian, said it would be politically awkward for the US to send surplus vaccines to a “rich” country because it could be seen as impairing the administration’s plan to deliver 500 million doses to developing nations, under a $US3.5bn ($A4.7bn) deal with Pfizer, by the end of 2022.
PM SAYS NO MANDATORY JABS
Earlier, Mr Morrison said Australia has no intention of introducing new laws to make vaccines mandatory as he indicated rapid antigen testing will be used.
He said there will be some situations where it will have to be compulsory, such as in the case of airline and aged care workers, but ultimately employers need to consider these matters and make their own decisions.
“We do not have a mandatory vaccination policy in this country,” he said.
“We do not have that. We’re not proposing to have that. That is not changing. But an employer may make a reasonable directive to staff and if they do so, they will have to stay consistent with the law and particularly in dealing with a situation where an employee may be in direct contact, potentially become infected and acquire the virus.”
He also said the solicitor-general advised it is unlikely an unvaccinated person could argue they were discriminated against.
Mr Morrison confirmed all state premiers and chief ministers have agreed to the four-step plan out of the Covid pandemic, to say goodbye to lockdowns.
The plan means Australia must get to a target of 70 per cent of vaccination in the population before restrictions can ease.
He said they also discussed how rapid antigen testing can be used going forward.
But Mr Morrison said there won’t be a ramp up on the use of rapid antigen testing for now.
“While you’re in the suppression phase knowing who has that and where they have been and who they have been with and having to follow that up and isolating close contacts is a very important part of the public health response to the outbreak and the rapid antigen testing has an important role to play,” he said.
“There will be further work done to prepare for those phases and how rapid antigen testing can be better used in those phases but for now, will continue to be used in a targeted way and continue to work with the Therapeutic Goods Administration to see more of those tests coming available so they can be used for those purposes.”
Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly added NSW and Sydney needs a “circuit-breaker, after speaking to the NSW government about “what else could be done”.
“NSW needs to stay the course and look for those new ways of increasing and improving that situation,” he said.
2500 CHEMISTS TO GET MORE JABS
It comes as an extra 2500 pharmacies will deliver the Covid-19 jab from next week.
The pharmacies around the country will be able to deliver Covid-19 vaccinations from late next week as the spread of the pandemic forces governments to fast-track the process.
And the number of initial vaccines chemists can order has been doubled from 300 to 600 doses.
As of Friday, just shy of 1000 chemists are approved to deliver the jabs but a further 2500 have been assessed as suitable to deliver the jabs.
These businesses are being sent paperwork to sign on to the program over the next 24 hours, previously it would have been early September before they were all on board.
“As long as they submit their orders by midnight on Monday they can start delivering vaccines by next weekend or earlier, as soon as they get their stock,” Pharmacy Guild of Australia President Trent Twomey told News Corp.
The change in policy came after a heavy lobbying campaign by the Pharmacy Guild.
Pharmacies deliver millions of flu vaccinations every year and are a convenient way for people to get their vaccine near their homes.
Depending on the pharmacy people may not even have to make an appointment, Mr Twomey said.
In Western Sydney the epicentre of the NSW Covid outbreak some pharmacies are delivering hundreds of vaccines per day.
Pharmacies are only approved to deliver the AstraZeneca shot at this stage but when more supply becomes available later this year they will be able to deliver Pfizer vaccines.
291 CASES IN NSW, ONE MORE DEATH
NSW has had 291 Covid cases — a massive spike which is set to continue for the next few days.
With at least 50 people infectious in the community, more than 110,000 people were tested.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said cases were rising in the Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor local government area and more police would be put on patrol.
“ … so all the suburbs and the Canterbury-Bankstown area really need to be on extra alert, there will be more police on the ground, we are seeing too many people frequent certain shopping areas and perhaps not doing the right thing, so police will be more present in the Canterbury-Bankstown local area to ensure compliance and we have to make sure that happens, because we don’t want to see these case numbers continue to grow into the next few weeks,” she said.
She said students who live in those eight local government areas of concern will not be able to have any face-to-face time for the foreseeable future until otherwise advised, however, in areas outside of those local government areas there will be a flexible model for HSC students, if they need to go into the classroom.
From Monday, Qudos Bank Arena, will see HSC students in those eight local government areas invited to get the Pfizer jab.
NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said there were currently 291 Covid cases
in hospital and 304 people in intensive care and 22 of whom require ventilation, and young people were being admitted to ICU.
A woman in her 60s from southwestern Sydney died at Liverpool hospital. She tested positive for on July 29 and she was not vaccinated.
“She acquired her infection in Liverpool hospital and that was a transmission in the hospital. That was the second death connected with the outbreak following a death in his 90s at this hospital,” she said.
“What we are seeing is some flattening of the curve in Fairfield and some of our other local government areas, but what we are not seeing, we are seeing escalating cases in Campsie, Bankstown, Lakemba, Punchbowl, Wiley Park, Yagoona, Greenacre, Earlwood … Chester Hill.”
It comes after the state had five deaths on Thursday as the lockdown in Greater Sydney was extended to regional parts of the state.
Ms Berejiklian confirmed four out of the five people who died were unvaccinated.
Two men in their 60s died at Campbelltown and Westmead hospital, one man in his 70s died at Concord hospital, and one woman in her 80s died at Liverpool hospital. Another man died at Royal Prince Alfred hospital.
After announcing the one-week lockdown in the Hunter and Upper Hunter Region, there are two new cases in the Newcastle area.
The local government areas impacted are Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Port Stephens, Cessnock, Dungog, Singleton and Muswellbrook.
“These community leaders and local leaders are being advised of this. That will commence at 5pm Thursday night and go until midnight next Thursday,” she said.
“I want to confirm the arrangements in the eight local government areas will be exactly the same as exists in Greater Sydney, including the Central Coast. So that means no school and the same stay at home provisions apply.”
“We are seeing people in their teens, in their 20s and their 30s, as well as older individuals,” she said.
“But my comments are that please now is the time to strongly consider getting vaccinated if you’re over 18 and, for the elderly, who have not been vaccinated, again, I put out a plea to you — make an announcement. Get vaccinated.
“Even one vaccine reduces hospitalisation and death by Pfizer and AstraZeneca by 70 per cent. And two doses achieves about a 90 per cent effectiveness against hospitalisation and death. We have the tools to allow us to protect ourselves and our loved ones from Covid. I call on everyone to act now.”
VICTORIA HAS FOUR NEW CASES
Victorians have woken to four new locally acquired Covid-19 infections on Friday and another snap lockdown.
The state’s health department announced six new local cases about 8.30am, but two of those were previously revealed on Thursday afternoon.
The health department said the six cases were all linked to previously reported cases but were not in quarantine during their infectious period.
A major inner city hospital in Melbourne has been named as a Covid exposure site, after a cleaner tested positive to the virus.
The cleaner, who tested positive overnight, worked in consulting rooms on level 6 and eight of the Epworth Hospital in Richmond on August 6, 7 and 8.
In a statement, hospital CEO Lachlan Henderson said the contractor was cleaning the building after business hours.
“This contractor cleans several floors within the Centre, after business hours,” Dr Henderson said.
Meanwhile, Victorian contact tracers are scrambling to discover the cause of the states latest lockdown and are investigating possible links to NSW hotel quarantine.
Claims of illegal gathering are also being examined, as Victoria enters its first full day of lockdown six.
Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said they were unable to confirm rumours of a party attended by a traffic controller at Moonee Valley racecourse testing centre who tested positive for the virus last week, and a Hobson Bay couple who tested positive this week, reported The Australian.
“We are not certain of that,” Mr Andrews said.
QUEENSLAND: 10 CASES
Queensland recorded 10 new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 on Friday, as a decision looms on whether lockdown will be extended beyond Sunday.
The new cases have been linked to the Indooroopilly cluster, which has resulted in the infection of dozens of children from three Brisbane high schools and a primary school.
Five of Thursday’s cases are household contacts of Ironside State School cases, three are household contacts of Indooroopilly State High School students, and two are household contacts of Brisbane Boys Grammar school cases.
Only two of the new cases were infectious in the community for one day, during the lockdown.
The 11 local government areas of southeast Queensland are in their sixth day of strict lockdown, which the chief health officer hopes she can ease as planned at 4pm on Sunday.
PROTESTS IN MELBOURNE CBD
Hundreds of unmasked protesters have descended on Melbourne’s CBD and clashed with police just hours after Victoria was thrust into its sixth snap lockdown.
The large group met at Flinders St at 7pm on Thursday and marched into Swanston St shortly after and circled the CBD, the Herald Sun reports.
At least two flares were lit, with the crowd chanting “no more lockdowns”, according to the newspaper.
Police were seen clashing with protesters and there are reports of at least 15 arrests and another 16 people fined.
At least four of the alleged offenders are known to police as protest organisers, according to authorities. “They have been dealt with previously and it is expected will be presented to court on appropriate charges, such as incitement,” AC Luke Cornelius said. “Police will continue to review video footage to identify as many protesters as we can, in order to hold offenders to account, as has been the case for previous protests.
“Police are, together with the vast majority of Victorians who are doing the right thing, outraged that a small minority of people continue to engage in deliberate breaches of the CHO Directions, putting the lives and jobs of their fellow Victorians, as well as their police at risk.”
The late-night anti-lockdown rally erupted after the state’s Premier Daniel Andrews said there was “no alternative” to get on top of the latest Covid outbreak other than to impose another seven-day stay-at-home order on the state, which started at 8pm on Thursday.
“I can’t tell you how disappointed I am to have to be here doing this again. But with so few in the community with one vaccination let alone two, I have no choice but to accept advice and we collectively to make this important decision to keep Victorians safe,” Mr Andrews said.
“The alternative is we let this run that gets away from us, and our hospitals will be absolutely overwhelmed. Not hundreds of patients but thousands.”
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said there was community transmission on the night the previous lockdown was called.
“This evening is go home, and begin that lockdown. Don’t be out and about because all you might be doing is spreading the virus.”
Victoria went from zero new cases to another lockdown in just over a day. It is just over a week since the fifth lockdown ended.
The state’s health department confirmed six new local virus cases on Thursday morning, but one case was previously announced on Wednesday afternoon.
That case – a teacher at Al-Taqwa College in Truganina – was announced just hours after a doughnut day in a fresh blow for Victorians as they emerge from their fifth coronavirus lockdown.
The health department said the acquisition source of the woman’s infection remain a mystery and household contacts of the case were being urgently tested.
The department said two of the remaining cases were mystery infections, with the three others linked to existing outbreaks and in isolation for their entire infectious period.
Victoria’s Covid-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said health officials believed the teacher may have been infectious while teaching at the school on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday last week.
All staff, students, families and visitors who attended the school on July 28, 29 and 30 have also been ordered to get tested immediately and quarantine for 14 days.
Al-Taqwa College spokesman Terry Barnes said in a statement the campus had been “completely shut down” and would likely remain closed for 14 days.
“The college campus will be completely shut down with no staff members or students permitted to attend the college premises (and) deep cleaning is being arranged,” he said.
Victoria has recorded more than 220 cases linked to the two outbreaks that jumped the border from Sydney’s deadly Delta cluster – one from a team of Sydney removalists who transited through the state and the other from a family who returned to Melbourne’s north from a NSW red zone.
No new cases were recorded in hotel quarantine, with the number of active infections in the state falling to 80 – down from 99 on Wednesday.
The new rules apply in both metro Melbourne and regional Victoria from 8pm on Thursday and include only five reasons to leave home:
– Getting the food and supplies you need:
– Exercising for up to two hours:
– Care or caregiving:
-Authorised work or education if you can’t do it from home;
– To get vaccinated at the nearest possible location.
Victorians also must wear a face mask indoors and outdoors.
“No-one wants to get this, people want to be out of lockdown as quickly as possible and the best way to achieve that is if we all work together and we just follow these basic steps.
“You can’t be going out and about if you are sick. Please isolate if you are asked to isolate. And the rules prohibit visiting family and friends in their home for good reason because as we see here, it can do nothing more than contribute to the spread of this virus and add to a lockdown. That is not what we want,” Mr Andrews.
The lockdown will include regional Victoria as Mr Andrews confirmed virus fragments have been found in wastewater throughout the state.
“We have a sewerage test that has detect Covid-19 in the northeast, Wangaratta sewerage test has pinged, firstly positive, then it went negative, now it’s gone positive again,” he said.
“We have some reason to believe there is Covid-19 in that community or has been in that community.”
NEW ASTRAZENECA DEATH
It comes as a 34-year-old woman from NSW has died after a severe form of blood clotting following the AstraZeneca jab.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration confirmed the death in its weekly safety report.
The woman had her first dose of AstraZeneca and died on Wednesday, the TGA said.
“The TGA extends its sincerest condolences to her family and loved ones. We are in close communication with NSW health who are undertaking further investigation of this case,” it said.
All up there were three new cases of “blood clots with low blood platelets” assessed as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) likely to be linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The case of a 51-year-old from NSW is being treated as “confirmed” and the case of a 67-year-old NSW has been deemed probable TTS.
Five of the six deaths that have been linked to AstraZeneca were in women aged 34, two aged 48, 52 and 72. The other death was in a 44-year-old man.
A seventh death was a case of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), a type of thrombocytopenia or low platelet count.
All occurred after the first dose of AstraZeneca.
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.
PM’S WARNING ON SYDNEY LOCKDOWN
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has issued a warning to those in NSW, saying compliance with the lockdown rules in NSW will get the state out of its paralysis because of the Delta outbreak.
“The primary tool to end the lockdown in Sydney is the success of the lockdown in Sydney,” he said.
“The virus doesn’t move by itself. People staying at home ensures that the virus doesn’t move.
And I can only reinforce the importance, as was achieved in Melbourne last year over a long period of time. Different variant, the Delta variant, as opposed to the Alpha variant last year, the earlier variant. And that makes the challenge so much harder.”
Mr Morrison said 20,000 of the new doses of Pfizer being sent to NSW to help vaccinate the population would go back into the regional communities, where jabs were taken for school students.
Mr Morrison said they hadn’t taken those doses from other states or territories.
“We haven’t done it in a way that would mean that the vaccination program would be slowed in other parts of the country,” he said.
“That would be dangerous, because the whole program needs to go forward. And so we didn’t want to have appointments cancelled in other parts of the country.
“What we did on top of the 200,000 doses we had already additionally provided to New South Wales for Pfizer, and over a million doses are available to New South Wales of AstraZeneca, in addition to that we have brought forward these other 180,000 doses.
“And it means that later on they won’t have to be changing any appointments either. That’s what the premier and I discussed. The other thing is, I’m very pleased — and I made it really clear — those 20,000 doses in New South Wales of Pfizer have to go back into those regional communities.”
He also urged everyone to get vaccinated now to avoid hospitalisation and protect their loved ones and themselves against Covid.
While he is still against Labor’s $300 cash incentive to get people to get the jab, he said he was open to “good ideas”.
It comes as NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said her state would get 180,000 more Pfizer vaccines from the federal government.
“After a number of conversations with the Prime Minister, I was advised by him directly that NSW will receive an extra 180,000 doses of Pfizer, which is good news, in the next fortnight, commencing in the week August 9 and August 16.
“This is very positive news. It means that in the week of 16 August, we can redirect those doses we had taken from the regions for the HSC students and it also means we can put the balance into those eight local government areas in Greater Sydney of concern in particular.
“So I’m relieved about that.”
Originally published as Covid Australia: Five deaths as NSW Covid spike hits 319, Vic records 29 new cases
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