Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has shared a 30-second video plea on social media, starring the state's Chief Health Medical Officer Dr Jeannette Young.
The short clip of Dr Young essentially pleads with Queenslanders not to leave home "unless absolutely essential", as the state grapples with its "most concerning" outbreak to date.
"This Delta outbreak is our most concerning yet," Dr Young says down the barrel of the camera lens.
"So stay home unless absolutely essential. If you must leave home, wear a mask and keep your distance from others.
Meanwhile, modelling from the Doherty Institute says it's not possible for Australia to properly reopen with only 50 per cent of its population vaccinated, Scott Morrison told reporters today it's a different story for a city coming out of a lockdown.
"Coming out of a lockdown you're already in depends on the success of the lockdown in bringing the number of cases infectious in the community down to a level where they can be suppressed and contained," the PM said.
"That is the goal the NSW Government is working towards. When they believe they're in a position where they can confidently say they can do that, then I expect the lockdown [won't need] to remain in place."
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has continually said that 80 per cent of the adult NSW population need to be vaccinated for there to be no more lockdowns, though other vaccination benchmarks would trigger more easing of restrictions as well.
“Once you get to 50 per cent vaccination, 60 per cent, 70 per cent, that triggers more freedoms. We can turn this around in four weeks,” she said.
Dozens of Sydney schools have reportedly pulled out of in-person HSC trials, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
According to the report, the decision comes amid anxiety from students, parents and teachers about whether returning to campus is safe given the state's Covid-19 cases remain high.
Dozens of Sydney schools have reportedly pulled out of in-person HSC trials. Picture: Jonathan Ng
The NSW government has ensured students in year 12 they will be allowed to return to classrooms in two weeks, but more than 70 schools have pulled out of the Catholic Schools Secondary Association HSC trials. Instead, most will revert to online assessments only.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the roadmap to allow HSC students back on campus will be released this week, with the plan set to include “strict conditions” around how the return to school will work for hotspot local government areas.
James McKern
After today's reveal of the Doherty Institute modelling behind Australia's pandemic exit plan, James Cook University infectious diseases physician and mathematical modeller, Emma McBryde, has said authorities need to "be vaccinating under 16s".
Asked on the ABC's Afternoon Briefing whether young people – who Scott Morrison described as "superspreaders" today – have been neglected in the national jab rollout, Professor McBryde said Australia has "been too slow to start a conversation about how low we go in terms of age groups".
"I think we should be vaccinating under 16s, and this is where my work and the Doherty Institute's work diverge," she said, explaining that their assumptions about the infectivity of the Delta strain are "fairly optimistic".
Picture: NCA NewsWire/Christian Gilles
"If we don't vaccinate teenagers, or at least 12 years and up, we are going to have a reservoir of infection, which is just going to rumble away for a very long time."
The "immediate priority" for Australia's rollout now needs to be 18 to 30-year-olds, Prof McBryde added.
"They are just spreading Delta like crazy. You know, they are social, that is what they do. So you have seen the list of all the different places they have been around Sydney and Brisbane – they get out and spread the virus, that is the age group," she said.
"I think they are the highest priority…I think we need to look at where the infections are happening, and at the moment in Queensland, it is in high school kids. So we seriously have to look at vaccinating children."
Speaking to reporters this afternoon, Commissioner Stevens said that anyone who has transited through Sydney Airport will now have to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in SA.
Picture: NCA NewsWire/Naomi Jellicoe
Arrivals who go through the Airport will be tested on days 1, 5 and 13 of their quarantine.
"This particularly may affect people who are currently in regional Queensland who at this point in time, are not required to quarantine when coming home to South Australia," he said.
"So (from now), people in regional Queensland who may travel through the Sydney Airport will be required to quarantine for 14 days."
Comm Stevens also urged South Australians currently in regional Queensland to once again consider returning home, as the Sunshine State's current outbreak worsens.
The situation in southeast Queensland could prompt authorities to mandate that those returning from regional areas apply for formal exemptions to return to SA, or quarantine upon arrival.
While modelling from the Doherty Institute says Australia can't reopen with only 50 per cent of its population vaccinated, Scott Morrison offered a glimmer of hope for the city's locked-down residents.
Asked by reporters whether NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian opening up with a lower than recommended vaccination rate would be contrary to National Cabinet's agreement, the Prime Minister said they were two different issues.
The Doherty modelling – which suggests that 70 per cent of Australians be fully vaccinated before the nation can move onto its next phase – shouldn't be conflated with the rates needed to get out of a lockdown.
Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage
"Coming out of a lockdown you're already in depends on the success of the lockdown in bringing the number of cases infectious in the community down to a level where they can be suppressed and contained," the PM said.
"That is the goal the NSW Government is working towards. When they believe they're in a position where they can confidently say they can do that, then I expect the lockdown [won't need] to remain in place."
Essentially, what Mr Morrison is saying is that 50 per cent of Sydneysiders (either fully or somewhat) vaccinated could be a realistic target for it to end its current lockdown.
"In terms of breaking out of a lockdown, there is a different set of factors. There is no doubt that as vaccination rates rise it tempers the ability of the virus to spread, but for the lockdown to work, the lockdown has to work," he went on, after being asked a second time.
"The vaccine can persist, but stopping mobility – because the virus does not move on its own, so to get control of that spread, which is exactly what the Premier is seeking to achieve – is the real goal here."
According to the PM, "Australians understand the challenge, Australians want to get off this path so we can live with this virus, and they can return to a life they view, as far as possible".
"I think the proposal that has been put forward by the Labor Party and Mr Albanese is a vote of no-confidence in Australia," he went on, saying that the idea suggested Aussie's "health concerns" about the vaccine "can be paid off".
"This is a serious public health crisis, it is not a game show. But it is important that we continue to respect how Australians are engaging with this process.
"So if they do have hesitancy about [the] vaccine, I am not going to pay them off. I am going to pay a GP to sit down with them and talk through their concerns, which is what I have already done."
It's not the Australian way, he added, to think we "need to get paid off to do the right thing for their health…because we have a very good vaccination history in this country".
"People do get it. We need to be careful to ensure that we follow an Australian way here, consistent with our values and our approach because that's what has worked for us all the way through," Mr Morrison said.
"And I'm going to keep backing Australians on that and believing in them and not issue a vote of no-confidence in them."
James Matthey
Back to the PM's press conference now, where Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has issued a subtle dig at NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian's delayed response to lock down Sydney.
Speaking about the economic analysis included in the Doherty Institute modelling that our national plan out of the pandemic is based on, Mr Frydenberg said that "the economic cost [of lockdowns] comes down significantly if governments work quickly to get on top of the virus".
Picture: Gary Ramage/NCA NewsWire
"This is the Prime Minister's point. Early interventions, short, sharp lockdowns, are the most cost effective way to handle the virus. Particularly at the current time," he added.
"And so what Treasury have found is that at 50 per cent and 60 per cent vaccination rates, it's five times more costly should governments not move early to get on top of the virus, and that's the short, sharp lockdowns that we're now seeing in Queensland, that we've seen in Victoria and that we've seen in South Australia."
It's really worth noting that the Prime Minister's aforementioned "point" just over a month ago was that "the restrictions [the NSW Government] put in place are understandable and common sense, and I commend Premier Berejiklian for resisting going into a full lockdown".
James Matthey
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced the release of the Doherty Institute modelling which forms the base of the national plan out of Covid-19.
Doherty Institute's Professor Jodie McVernon said her team was asked to explore a series of vaccine coverage thresholds between 50 per cent and 80 per cent coverage.
"Our simulations basically looked at should an outbreak become uncontrolled in those conditions what would the consequences be and based often that to provide advice about safe thresholds and strategies before moving to the next phase," she said.
"At 50 per cent and 60 per cent we anticipate rapidly growing outbreak that is would be difficult to control and require stringent measures.
"60 per cent to 70 per cent the need tore stringent measures for the whole of state we believe will be substantively reduced."
James Matthey
Data from the Federal Government showing the vaccination rates of different geographic areas across Australia has revealed that Sydney's southwest – considered the epicentre of NSW's current outbreak – has the lowest percentage of adults who have received at least one dose.
Of those eligible to get the vaccine in the area (all adults in Sydney are now able to get the AstraZeneca jab), 33.1 per cent have received one dose, while only 14.6 per cent aged 15 and over are fully vaccinated.
North Sydney and Hornsby have the highest rate, with 51.9 per cent of those over the age of 15 having had one dose and 26.9 per cent fully vaccinated.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian once again today pleaded with residents to go and get the jab, saying she'd like to see six million jabs administered by the end of August.
"But as the health experts tell us, it's really critical to have our communities in those eight local government areas take up the opportunity for vaccination," she told reporters.
"Some of those suburbs have average the vaccination rate of the rest of the state and some are lower than other areas and we have a focused campaign to make sure people in those communities in particular have the opportunity to get vaccinated, whether it's through a workplace, through a health hub, through a GP or through a pharmacist, and that work will intensify."
James Matthey
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has rejected a suggestion that Sydney supermarkets will be forced to employ security guards to enforce covid compliance.
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said supermarkets need to do more to make sure people scan QR codes when they enter stores, adding that the requirement to hire security guards was communicated to the stores this morning.
However, the Premier doesn't appear to be convinced about the necessity for this move, saying what actually needs to happen is a "little human-to-human contact as possible".
"Obviously police do compliance checks but as Dr Chant and the health advice say, we want as little human contact as possible. So the QR codes are there for people to use them but even having a concierge person is a risk," Ms Berejiklian said.
"Police are obviously targeting key areas where people need to leave the house to make sure there's a high level of compliance but please know the strongest message is, unfortunately as cruel as this sounds, we want as little human contact with each other as possible."
NSW supermarkets will be forced to employ security guards to enforce Covid-19 rules, the state’s Police Minister has said.
Grocery stores like Woolworths and Coles will be told at a 10am teleconference with NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller that they need to do more to make sure people scan QR codes when they enter stores.
“My message to the supermarkets is simple: Regardless of the law, you’ve got a moral obligations to your customers to make sure they’re safe,” Police Minister David Elliott told the 2GB radio station on Tuesday morning.
He said the requirement to hire security guards to enforce the coronavirus rules was communicated to supermarket chain bosses during a 10am teleconference with NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller.
“They will be told exactly what is expected of them and also to say that the supermarkets have to take reasonable steps to ensure compliance,” Mr Elliott said.
One Aussie state has revealed its next move on a major vaccine development project – which promises to change the way it responds to future health challenges.
