Covid Victoria: Border slams shut as NSW extends lockdown

A COVID-positive flight attendant has prompted two terminals of Melbourne Airport to be declared exposure sites.

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Two terminals of Melbourne Airport have been declared Tier 2 coronavirus exposure sites.

Anyone who was in the public areas of Terminal 2 between 6.30am-7.30am on Saturday June 26 must get tested and isolate until they receive a negative result.

This also applies to anyone who was in the public areas of Terminal 3 between 5.20pm and 6.50pm on Friday June 25 and at the terminal from 8am-9am on June 26.

Axil Coffee Roasters, which is located inside Melbourne Airport, has also been declared a Tier 2 exposure site for anyone that was there between 6.30am-7.30am on June 26.

Additionally, Virgin Flight VA334 from Brisbane to Melbourne on June 25 has been declared a Tier 1 exposure as a case was on board that flight.

Anyone who was on that 2.55pm-5.20pm flight must get tested immediately and quarantine for 14 days regardless of the result.

The positive case was a crew member who was on board the Virgin flight from Brisbane to Melbourne.

The crew member also flew on four other east coast flights which departed from Sydney.

Health authorities are concerned the crew member may have been infectious when they were on-board those other interstate flights.

A Virgin Australia cabin crew member who flew from Brisbane to Melbourne tested positive to Covid-19. Picture : Ian Currie

In a statement, Virgin Australia said the crew member “always wore a face mask while on-board and when interacting with the public and adhered to infection control and COVID safe protocols.”

It said all close contact team members will be removed from their rostered duties and be required to quarantine for 14 days.

The airline added that all services this weekend will continue to operate as normal.

It comes as Victoria recorded one locally acquired case of COVID-19, the primary close contact of a known case who was in quarantine for their infectious period.

It comes as millions of NSW residents are set to go into lockdown in the state’s latest attempt to stamp out infections spreading across greater Sydney.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced further rules for NSW as infections in the state increased to 82 cases on Saturday.

In Victoria, another three cases have been detected in hotel quarantine, bringing the state’s total number of cases to 51.

Health authorities received more than 21,000 test results in the 24 hours to midnight.

The new cases come after no new locally acquired cases were reported on Friday.

Two cases linked to the Sydney outbreak were confirmed on Thursday night, including a man who was infected while visiting his daughter in Sydney.

Chief health officer Brett Sutton confirmed both cases were carrying the highly infectious Delta strain.

Anyone from a NSW red zone will not be allowed into Victoria. Picture: Joel Carrett

NEW BORDER RULES FOR NSW, ACT

Health Minister Martin Foley said anyone from a NSW red zone would not be allowed into Victoria, with more than 260 police officers now working to prevent people entering the state from red zones.

There will be “highly visible and highly mobile patrols” aimed at making it difficult for people to get across borders, he said.

“Don’t come from a New South Wales red zone to Victoria, and for Victorians, do not visit those red zones in New South Wales,” he said.

“If you run the risk of coming through the land borders from those red zones, you run the risk of substantial fines and being turned around, if not worse. Those fines can be $5000, on the spot.

“And we need to make sure that we do everything that is necessary to keep Victorians safe.

“We will enforce those border restrictions for the safety of every Victorian, and to make sure that we keep the Delta virus north of the river.”

All 49 tests from people who had visited Oakleigh sites have returned negative results.

“These are the first few critical days and we absolutely need your help to try and get on top of this,” Prof Sutton said.

“Your decision to get tested is our first line of defence against the virus.”

The testing process for 134 primary close contacts from the Jetstar flight is well under way and 49 tests have already come in for that group.

“My key message is … please get your second dose (of vaccine) after your first dose, whether it’s Pfizer or AstraZeneca,” Prof Sutton said.

Prof Sutton said all aged care workers must ensure they received both doses of vaccine.

When asked why aged care workers may not be doing so, he said there were “possibly many reasons, including concerns around vaccine and rosters”.

“But they must because (aged care residents) are so vulnerable — they are extremely vulnerable (and) it makes a crucial difference to be vaccinated as a resident.”

Those entering Victoria from NSW and ACT must get tested within 72 hours of entering the state and have a travel permit. Picture: Jeremy Piper

All travellers from regional New South Wales and ACT must get tested and isolate on arrival into Victoria after those areas were declared an orange zone in response to the growing coronavirus outbreak.

An orange zone is deemed a medium risk for coronavirus transmission under Victoria’s travel permit system.

Those entering Victoria from NSW and ACT must get tested within 72 hours of entering the state and have a travel permit.

Travellers arriving from declared orange zones cannot isolate in Victoria’s alpine region.

Additionally, Greater Sydney, including Central Coast, Shellharbour, Blue Mountains and Wollongong, have been declared an orange zone retrospectively between 11 June and 1am Friday June 2.

This means those who have travelled to Victoria from Greater Sydney between these dates must get tested and isolate until they receive a negative result.

The changes will come into effect from 1am on Sunday.

Travellers can obtain permits by heading to service.vic.gov.au

NEW ZEALAND SUSPENDS TRAVEL BUBBLE

New Zealand has suspended all quarantine free travel with Australia in response to the growing coronavirus outbreak around the country.

The changes apply to all Australian states and territories and will kick-in this evening from 8.30pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST).

The travel bubble will remain paused until next Tuesday at 10.00pm AEST.

The New Zealand government said the decision follows updated public health advice from officials this evening.

“I acknowledge the frustration and inconvenience that comes with this pause, but given the high level of transmissibility of what appears to be the Delta variant, and the fact that there are now multiple community clusters, it is the right thing to do to keep COVID-19 out of New Zealand,” the country’s COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said in a statement.

The government said it will continue to monitor the situation closely and will review its decision on Monday.

More to come.

TOUGHER RESTRICTIONS FOR NSW

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian revealed heavier restrictions on other parts of NSW, as the latest Covid-19 outbreak continues.

From 6pm Saturday night, Greater Sydney which includes the Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong will go into a lockdown until 11.59pm on Friday July 9.

Read the full story here

ALERT AFTER WASTEWATER DETECTION

Professor Sutton said there had been a wastewater detection in Melbourne’s north.

A number of suburbs have been put on notice, including Bundoora, Greensborough, Diamond Creek, Macleod and Watsonia North.

Anyone in the suburbs named should “just go and get tested” with even the slightest of symptoms, Prof Sutton said.

Other suburbs affected include Lower Plenty, Briar Hill, Plenty, Mill Park, South Morang, St Helena, Viewbank, Watsonia, Yallambie and Yarrambat.

The sample was taken between June 22-24.

Mr Sutton said one million vaccine doses had been delivered by state vaccination hubs.

“Your decision to get vaccinated is our path out of this pandemic,” he said.

Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton says vaccinating children will help Australia move towards herd immunity. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

CHILD JABS ‘WILL HELP’ CUT SPREAD

Prof Sutton said vaccinating children would help Australia move towards herd immunity.

He said vaccines would need to go through a rigorous Therapeutic Goods Administration approvement process but that if they were approved it would be a “welcome development”.

“But I wouldn’t get ahead of (ourselves), in terms of the TGA’s decision making, they’ve got very stringent processes, and a high bar for our safety,” he said.

“But if it is available and registered in Australia and it brings in the cohort of children of whatever age is approved for, that’s another proportion of protected Australians .”

It comes as Mr Foley said he hoped to one day be able to contemplate a vaccine passport but “we’re not within a bull's roar of that” yet.

He said Australia was well behind other countries in its vaccination rates.

“The sad truth is we only have 5 per cent of people (vaccinated) and there is not the supply to meet the demand for vaccines,” he said.

“(Vaccine is) the ramp off the freeway of the virus — what we don’t have is the green light to get off the ramp.

“We will have to start ramping down our state vaccination centres if we don’t get more supplies.

“That’s the brutal reality.”

ALARMING NUMBER CAUGHT Covid IN HOSPITAL

Meanwhile, a review found 277 people caught Covid while in hospital last year.

The Department of Health report made a number of findings, including that shared rooms, poor ventilation, risky behaviours and unrecognised infections contributed to the mass spread.

Of the almost 2500 people sent to hospital with the virus, 277 caught it during their stay.

It led to 85 deaths.

The bulk of infections are understood to have occurred in the peak of the deadly second wave.

Chief health officer Brett Sutton on Friday said “really painful” lessons would be taken from the review.

“This report was imperative to understand what happened and to get lessons out of that. Those lessons are valuable for us in Victoria,” Prof Sutton said.

“We’ve learnt so much from the virus … Really painful lessons but we’re committed to learn from them.”