Omicron: Sydney hospitality venues on alert after visits from suspected cases
Sydney bars and nightclubs are on alert for the spread of Omicron, while Scott Morrison has made a big prediction about Covid-19.
National
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NSW Health has issued an alert to people who have visited several Sydney hospitality venues, including a popular nightclub, after suspected Omicron cases visited.
Cult Nightclub, in Potts Point, and Parramatta’s Albion Hotel have been visited by confirmed cases of Covid likely to be carrying the Omicron variant.
NSW Health said the cases were linked to the previously reported outbreak on a party boat cruise on Sydney Harbour on December 3.
Anyone who attended the Albion Hotel between 11pm on December 3 and 3am December 4, or from 4.30pm to closing time on December 5 is considered a close contact who must immediately get tested, isolate and follow the rules for close contacts.
The same applies to anyone who attended Cult Nightculb at Potts Point between 9.45pm on December 4 and 3am on December 5.
There are 11 confirmed cases of Covid-19 of people who attended the cruise on Sydney Harbour.
Three of these cases have the Omicron variant, with more cases expected in the coming days.
NSW has recorded no new Omicron cases on Saturday despite a big spike in Covid infections.
MORRISON THINKS VIRUS COULD BE ‘STEPPING DOWN’
The Omicron Covid-19 variant is less severe than first thought and could be an early indication that the virus is “stepping down”, the prime minister says.
Scott Morrison said it could potentially be a “game changer” across the globe as the world tries to recover from the two-year coronavirus pandemic.
“We have seen the severity of the illness playing out to date not as the early indications were and I think it‘s fair to say that is potentially quite a game changer with the pandemic around the world about how the virus may well step down,” he told reporters on Friday morning.
“Our plan is to keep moving forward, not to go back. We’re not looking in the rear vision mirror.
“We’re not going back to what Australians have had to go through. We’re going to go forward and we’re going to live with this virus.”
Department of Health secretary Dr Brendan Murphy said there was still much to learn about the new variant, but the early signs were positive.
“Information out of South Africa suggests that we‘re not seeing a high incidence of hospitalisation and severe disease,” he said.
“But we still need to learn more, we have to get information from other countries who now have significant clusters of this virus and we’re still doing lab tests on this variant.”
Dr Murphy stressed the importance of the Covid-19 booster as extra protection against Omicron.
“There is a suggestion that the vaccines will benefit from a booster to protect against the strain,” he said.
“We don’t know how it will spread in Australia, but we do know that it is here and it’s just likely to spread but we don’t need to panic, we just need to study it more and very importantly, make sure we get boosters.
“What we’ve seen across this country now with the transmission in Victoria and New South Wales is very low rates of hospitalisation and severe disease in the vaccinated population.
“These vaccines do protect people against serious disease.”
TWO NEW OMICRON CASES IN VIC
Victoria has recorded two new community cases of the Omicron Covid variant that are both linked to a flight from Dubai.
The latest cases involve two passengers who landed in Melbourne on November 30. One of the passengers was the case health officials suspected was Omicron-related on Wednesday.
The Department of Health on Friday revealed genetic testing for two infections found in Brimbank and Casey had shown them to be the new strain.
Genomic testing is underway to determine if another person on the flight – who has Covid – also has the Omicron variant.
A third Omicron case in Victoria was found in hotel quarantine.
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN FEARS
South Australian authorities are “very concerned” the Omicron variant has seeped into the state.
Premier Steven Marshall on Friday morning said genome testing was underway for new overnight cases of Covid-19.
“We are very concerned about (Omicron),” he said on 5AA Radio.
“We don't have confirmation at this stage so we’re taking it very cautiously.”
Mr Marshall said he would attend a national cabinet meeting later in the day to further discuss the newest variant of concern.
He noted that Omicron had not moved as quickly as authorities believed it would, but he said there was still limited information about it which was why they were being so cautious.
“Sometimes when you get a new case, it takes some time to get that (genome sequencing) assessment.
“We’re testing those (overnight cases) to see if they could be cases of Omicron.”
‘FIRST IN THE WORLD’ STRAIN OF OMICRON IN QLD
Health authorities in Queensland have declared a “first in the world” strain of the Omicron variant has been discovered as leaders continue to mull over a response to the evolving outbreaks.
National cabinet will meet on Friday to co-ordinate responses to the new Covid-19 variant as mystery surrounds the potency of the strain.
Queensland will fling its borders open to interstate travellers on Monday, but Health Minister Yvette D’Ath warned the discovery was further evidence policies would need to be flexible to respond to the evolving pandemic.
The state recorded no new community cases but two Omicron infections were detected in hotel quarantine in Cairns and Brisbane on Wednesday.
One of those arrived from Nigeria in the 24 hours to Wednesday, with all passengers who shared the flight now deemed close contacts.
Ms D’Ath said authorities were labelling the new strain “Omicron-like” at this stage.
“This is a new variant,” she told reporters.
“Remember, it’s only been days since this has become an issue for Australia and other countries.
“And now, today, we are standing here announcing a new version of Omicron and it’s a first in the world.
Community infections have risen steadily in the state ahead of domestic travellers being welcomed on Monday.
Those who have received both doses of the vaccine and with evidence of a negative test from within 72 hours of entry will be welcomed into Queensland from interstate hot spots on December 13.
OMICRON REACHES VICTORIA
Victorian health authorities have recorded the state’s first case of the Covid-19 Omicron variant.
The Department of Health confirmed they had commenced genomic sequencing to test an infected overseas arrival in hotel quarantine on Tuesday.
Authorities officially confirmed the traveller was infected with the Omicron variant on Wednesday.
The fully-vaccinated traveller arrived from the Netherlands via Abu Dhabi on December 3.
They immediately entered hotel quarantine upon arrival in Melbourne and have not been in the community while infectious.
“The source of acquisition remains under investigation,” the department said.
“All other passengers on the inbound flight will be assessed to ensure they have undergone a test.”
The infected traveller initially returned a negative PCR test on December 4, but suddenly became symptomatic on December 6.
They then returned a positive test with the finding of an S gene dropout – a mutation seen in the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
“Whole genome sequencing will commence today,” the department said on Tuesday.
By Wednesday afternoon, the sequencing confirmed the traveller was infected with Omicron.
The arrival of the first Omicron case comes as Victoria recorded 1185 new coronavirus cases and seven more deaths on Tuesday.
There are 297 people hospitalised with the virus, including 47 people in intensive care.
Chief health officer Brett Sutton on Sunday said the Omicron variant’s eventual arrival in Victoria was inevitable.
“It’s going to be impossible to keep out, I imagine,” Professor Sutton said.
“So it’s still important to buy time and we are doing exactly that.
“The vaccination coverage we’ve got is absolutely critical in protecting (people) and will, I’m sure, provide protection – we just are yet to determine how much.”
Premier Daniel Andrews assured Victorians he would not pursue a “Omicron zero” strategy to lock out the new variant.
“The notion that we try and keep this out forever … that just doesn’t make sense,” he said.
“We think that’s important not just for the people of Victoria and NSW, but if Victoria and NSW are working closely together, I reckon that’s pretty good for the rest of the country as well.”
FEARS OVER SYDNEY PARTY BOAT ‘SUPERSPREADER’ EVENT
Authorities fear two of five people that tested positive to Covid after a party boat cruise on Sydney Harbour have the Omicron variant.
In a late night alert, NSW Health confirmed the positive cases on the cruise last Friday night, December 3 and said genome sequencing is underway to confirm if the Omicron variant is present.
“Preliminary results indicate two are likely to have it,” NSW Health said on Tuesday.
All case are isolating at home.
At least 140 people signed in on the party boat with a QR code, sparking concerns of a superspreader event.
Anyone that was on board the boat and members of their households have been directed to get tested immediately and isolate.
Six new cases of the new Covid variant were detected in NSW on Tuesday taking the state’s Omicron total to 31.
Twenty of the cases have been linked to two schools and a rock climbing gym in Sydney’s south-west.
In a statement, NSW Health said it “believed” the 20 cases were sparked by a returned traveller who arrived in Sydney from Doha on November 23, and had spent time in Nigeria. None of the state’s Omicron cases have been admitted to hospital.
Australia now has a total of 37 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant.
ACT
There are now five cases of the Omicron variant in the ACT.
Three more infections of the variant were confirmed on Tuesday — two are household contacts of earlier cases and one is a casual contact.
In addition, a NSW resident confirmed as an Omicron case was exposed to the virus in the ACT.
ACT Health said one of the five cases had attended Lyneham Primary School in the inner north on November 30 and December 1, sending 180 people into quarantine for 14 days.
NT NEWS
The Northern Territory on November 29 confirmed a man in quarantine at Howard Springs is infected with the Omicron variant.
It is the first case of the new variant detected in the territory.
The man in his 30s arrived in Darwin on a repatriation flight from South Africa on November 25.
‘ALL OPTIONS’: NEW CLUE ON BOOSTER CHANGE
Health Minister Greg Hunt and Professor Paul Kelly have asked the vaccine watchdog to assess whether there was any need for a change to the booster program amid the Omicron variant hitting Australia.
It comes as the United Kingdom announced it would halve the waiting time between second and booster shots to three months for eligible adults.
As it stands, Australians must wait six months after their second dose of vaccine to get their booster shot.
Professor Kelly said there was a need to be “cognisant” of international decisions and evidence, but keep in mind that booster shots make “a lot of sense’ in winter.
“We’re more than six months away from winter. We know that respiratory viruses circulate a lot more in winter,” he said on November 30.
“It’s likely that that’s when we would want the boosters to be actively working.
“There are some significant reasons behind the delay of a booster to more than three months, but it’s a balance, and that’s exactly the sort of issues that I discussed this morning with ATAGI and they’ll look at that now.”
Health authorities gave government officials advice in November to pause the reopening of the country to international students and skilled migrants by two weeks, to allow for more time to understand the risks of the Omicron variant.
Mr Hunt said the slight delay in Australia’s reopening plan would enable health authorities the time to assess whether changes were needed to the booster program, as well as to learn more about the Omicron variant.
He said Australia was “as well prepared as any nation in the world” to deal with emerging variants, with 87 per cent of adults aged over 16 now fully vaccinated.
“We’re doing this (pause) out of an abundance of caution, but our overwhelming view is that while it’s an emerging variant, it’s a manageable variant,” Mr Hunt said.
“We know that other countries are facing the same challenges, and we know that the US President (is also) going to have a two-week period, which is exactly the advice that Professor Kelly and … Professor Murphy gave the National Security Committee yesterday.
“Everybody is working together. Australia’s dealt with challenges, and we’re ready for this. We’re able to deal with this and we want to give Australia that confidence.”
Infectious Disease specialist Dr Nick Coatsworth said any decision that ATAGI makes will be “in our best interest”.
“They will be safe whenever they get their booster,” he told Sunrise.
“My gut feeling is that this is not a bad one compared to what we have seen before.
“It’s more transmissible, but probably mild. Let’s wait for more information. We are all doing the right thing.
CSIRO director Dr Rob Grenfell said it was a timely reminder that the pandemic was “far from over”.
“With regards to whether it’s more infectious, it clearly is because it’s displacing Delta in South Africa,” Dr Grenfell told the Today show.
“But is it more serious? We don’t know yet. The South African population is definitely different than our population.
“So we’ll have to see what happens in Europe to see (if) it is more severe.”
He said it was not premature to be discussing bringing booster shots forward in Australia.
SHUTTING BORDERS ‘NOT PROPORTIONATE’ TO OMICRON RISK
Shutting Australia’s international borders is not warranted experts say, despite the highly infectious nature of the new Covid-19 Omicron variant.
Epidemiologist Mary-Louise McLaws also told The Australian that the new strain was still not fully understood.
She suggested that until the country reaches at least 90 per cent total population coverage, “quarantine must be supervised for every traveller from every country”.
Under Commonwealth orders, all travellers arriving in Australia, regardless of state or territory, who have been in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini, Malawi, and the Seychelles during the 14 day period before their arrival in Australia, must enter hotel quarantine for 14 days, irrespective of their vaccination status.
All travellers who have been in any other overseas country during the 14 day period before their arrival must travel directly to their place of residence or accommodation and isolate for 72 hours, pending further health advice.
All flight crew who have been overseas during the 14-day period before their arrival must travel directly to their place of residence or accommodation and isolate for 14 days or until their departure on another flight that leaves Australia, consistent with the current rules for unvaccinated flight crew.
Anyone who has already arrived in Australia who has been in any of the nine African countries within the previous 14 days must immediately get tested and isolate for 14 days, and contact their state health department.
TOUGHER INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS NOT RULED OUT
Australia’s Trade and Tourism Minister Dan Tehan has refused to rule out tougher international travel restrictions as more becomes known about Omicron.
Australia has effectively shut its borders to nine countries in the southern African region in a bid to curb the spread of the new variant.
And while the federal government is not looking to close its international borders entirely, Mr Tehan won’t rule out imposing tougher restrictions if Australia’s top medical experts advise it.
He told Sky News the government would follow the advice of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC).
“We’re taking a very cautionary approach in stopping direct flights and stopping people who have been in those countries from coming to Australia, or if you’re Australian you have to do 14 days quarantine,” Mr Tehan said on the weekend.
“We’ve taken a cautionary approach, that’s what we’ll continue to take as we work through what this variant is all about and what potential impacts it may have.”
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Originally published as Omicron: Sydney hospitality venues on alert after visits from suspected cases
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