As it happened: NSW records 24 new local COVID-19 cases; four states and territories in lockdown; local Queensland cases grow

NSW Health’s sewage surveillance program has detected fragments of COVID-19 in the sewerage systems at Hornsby Heights, Dulwich Hill, Canterbury, Homebush, Cronulla and West Camden.

NSW Health says it’s aware of recently diagnosed cases of COVID-19 in all of these areas except Hornsby Heights.

Hornsby Heights sewage treatment plant serves about 25,600 people in suburbs including Hornsby, Asquith, Mount Kuring-Gai, Mount Colah, Hornsby Heights, Berowra Heights, Cowan and Berowra.

Dulwich Hill sewage network serves about 143,800 people; Canterbury sewage network serves about 104,900 people; Homebush sewage pumping station serves about 40,500 people; Cronulla sewage treatment plant serves about 233,000 people; and West Camden sewage treatment plant serves about 71,000 people.

“Anyone who lives or works in any of these areas is asked to be particularly vigilant for the onset of even the mildest of cold-like symptoms, and if they appear, to immediately get tested and isolate until a negative result is received,” NSW Health said.

NSW Health has updated its list of COVID-19 exposure sites, which now includes a swimming pool and the domestic airport terminal.

Anyone who attended any of the following venues at the times listed is a close contact and must immediately get tested and isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result, and call 1800 943 553 unless they have already been contacted by NSW Health:

• Des Renford Swimming Pool (all staff and patrons who attended the training pool or spent extended periods in the reception area) - cnr Jersey Road and Robey Street, Maroubra, Friday 25 June from 10.45am to 12.00pm

• Club Marconi (main gaming area) - 121-133 Prairie Vale Road, Bossley Park, Friday 25 June from 2.30pm to 8.00pm and Saturday 26 June from 10.30am to 6.00pm

Anyone who attended the following venues at the times listed is a casual contact and must immediately get tested and self-isolate until a negative result is received. Please continue to monitor for symptoms and immediately isolate and get tested if they develop:

• Des Renford Swimming Pool (all staff or patrons in the venue who were not in the training pool (e.g. outdoor pool, gym, classes) or in the reception area for extended periods) - cnr Jersey Road and Robey Street, Maroubra, Friday 25 June from 10.45am to 12.00pm
• Club Marconi (anywhere in the club apart from the Piazza bistro area or the main gaming area) - 121-133 Prairie Vale Road, Bossley Park, Friday 25 June from 2.00pm to 8.00pm
• Club Marconi (anywhere in the club apart from the main gaming area) - 121-133 Prairie Vale Road, Bossley Park, Saturday 26 June from 10.30am to 6.00pm

• Domestic Terminal 2, Sydney Airport - Shiers Avenue, Mascot - Friday 25 June from 11.00am to 11.30am

Anyone who attended the following venues at the times listed must monitor for symptoms, and if they appear, immediately get tested and self-isolate until a negative result is received:

• Des Renford Swimming Pool (all staff or patrons at the venue) - cnr Jersey Road and Robey Street, Maroubra, Friday 25 June, any time except between 10.45am and 12pm
• Domestic Terminal 2, Sydney Airport - Shiers Avenue, Mascot - Saturday 26 June from 10.30am to 11.00am and 3.00pm to 3.30pm

Thank you for joining us on the national blog. It’s time to sign off now, but before we close the blog here are today’s key developments:

• Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has blasted the state of Australia’s vaccine rollout as an “inexcusable” failure of public administration, saying the nation didn’t secure enough Pfizer doses last year and Prime Minister Scott Morrison had muddied the message around the AstraZeneca vaccine.
• Victorian state opposition frontbencher Tim Smith, 37, has received the AstraZeneca vaccine and used the opportunity to savage state officials for advising younger people against taking the jab.
• A person who attended the mass vaccination centre at Sydney Olympic Park on Tuesday, between 3.30pm and 5pm, tested positive for COVID-19 the following day. Sydney Local Health District chief executive Dr Teresa Anderson said the centre has been thoroughly cleaned and NSW Health is now contacting all casual and close contacts of the person.
• NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced three new mass vaccination centres: in Wollongong, south of Sydney; in Macquarie Fields in Sydney’s south-west; and a “major additional hub” in the Sydney CBD. A pilot scheme for pharmacists to join the vaccine rollout was also announced, launching on July 19 with 22 pharmacies.

NSW Health has just released more venue alerts, mostly located in suburbs across Sydney’s east and south-west.

Anyone who was at Nieo’s Grille in Earlwood on June 25 between 7pm and 7.15pm, or Bluey’s Swim School in Bankstown at any time on June 26 is a close contact and must get tested and isolate for 14 days regardless of the result. People who were at those venues at the listed times should also call NSW Health.

Meanwhile, anyone who attended the following venues is a casual contact and must immediately get tested and self-isolate until a negative result is received:

• Eastgardens, Tong Li Asian Grocery on June 24 from 2.45pm 3.30pm
• North Strathfield, Fitness First Commercial Building (Building C) Foyer, Bakehouse Quarter, on June 25 from 10.50am to 11.10am
• Haymarket, Jarern Chai Grocer and Boon Café, on June 25 from 2.45pm to 3.30pm
• Dover Heights, Archie’s Cafe on June 27 from 1.45pm to 2.15pm
• Bondi, Porch and Parlour on June 28 from 7.50am to 8.10am
• Bondi, Blair St Dairy on June 28 from 8.00am to 8.30am
• Bondi, La Piadina on June 29 from 8.10am to 8.30am
• Wetherill Park, KFC on June 30 from 5.50pm to 6.10pm

Thanks for following along on our national blog today. We’ll continue to bring you the news as it arises, but if you’re just logging on, here’s a quick summary of what’s happened today:

• Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has blasted the state of Australia’s vaccine rollout as an “inexcusable” failure of public administration, saying the nation didn’t secure enough Pfizer doses last year and Prime Minister Scott Morrison had muddied the message around the AstraZeneca vaccine.
• Victorian state opposition frontbencher Tim Smith, 37, has received the AstraZeneca vaccine and used the opportunity to savage state officials for advising younger people against taking the jab.
• A person who attended the mass vaccination centre at Sydney Olympic Park on Tuesday, between 3.30pm and 5pm, tested positive for COVID-19 the following day. Sydney Local Health District chief executive Dr Teresa Anderson said the centre has been thoroughly cleaned and NSW Health is now contacting all casual and close contacts of the person.
• NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced three new mass vaccination centres: in Wollongong, south of Sydney; in Macquarie Fields in Sydney’s south-west; and a “major additional hub” in the Sydney CBD. A pilot scheme for pharmacists to join the vaccine rollout was also announced, launching on July 19 with 22 pharmacies.
• Indonesia has been urged to try to buy any excess AstraZeneca vaccines from Australia amid a worsening COVID-19 crisis that is being compared to India’s outbreak.
• China President Xi Jinping has told thousands assembled in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square for centenary celebrations that the Chinese Communist Party has transformed the country and altered the development of the world.

Throughout the pandemic most singles were forced to online or socially distanced dating. But as more people slowly get vaccinated, what will it mean for our love lives?

Are you dating in a post-vaccine world?Credit: iStock

Reporter Rachael Dexter is looking to speak to vaccinated (or waiting to be vaccinated) singles in Sydney and Melbourne about whether you’d want to share your vaccine status with potential dates.

Remember to leave a name and phone number so she can get in touch.

Regular readers of this blog may have noticed a sudden surge today in the progress bar at the top of the page that shows the percentage of Australians fully vaccinated.

This time yesterday figure was sitting on 3.4 per cent of the population fully vaccinated but when the tracker was updated a little while ago the progress bar increased to 6.36 per cent:

Why the sudden increase? It’s not because heaps of people rushed out for second doses yesterday, but because the health department has started providing better figures on the number of people fully vaccinated.

Until today, data wasn’t being released on the number of people who received their second dose at their GP on in certain states/territories, and this incomplete data meant the progress bar had been understating the true number of Australians who had been fully vaccinated.

But on the flipside, for the same reason, the percentage of the country that has received a first dose has dipped a commensurate amount from 26.3 per cent yesterday to 24.03 per cent today.

The incomplete data meant that while second dose numbers were being understated, first dose numbers were being overstated.

You can find out more about what the second dose data tells us in this article.

Indonesia has been urged to try to buy any excess AstraZeneca vaccines from Australia amid a worsening COVID-19 crisis that is being compared to India’s outbreak.

Indonesia is ramping up its vaccination program but does not yet have enough to innoculate its 270 million people. Credit: AP

With major hospitals and morgues filled as the Delta strain surges in the world’s fourth most populous country, Indonesia President Joko Widodo has outlined ambitious new vaccination targets as his government tightens restrictions on movement on Java and Bali.

Indonesia has been urged to try to buy any excess AstraZeneca vaccines from Australia amid a worsening COVID-19 crisis that is being compared to India’s outbreak.

With major hospitals and morgues filled as the Delta strain surges in the world’s fourth most populous country, Indonesia President Joko Widodo has outlined ambitious new vaccination targets as his government tightens restrictions on movement on Java and Bali.

More on this story here

Hopping into the world of sport, the Socceroos have been handed a difficult path to the 2022 World Cup after being pitted against Japan, Asia’s top-ranked side, in the final group stage of qualifiers.

Australia were drawn against the highest-ranked opponents from all but one pot at the Asian Football Confederation draw in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday afternoon. They were placed in Group B alongside Saudi Arabia, China, Oman, Vietnam as well as the Blue Samurai.

Socceroos striker Jamie Maclaren.Credit: Getty

The draw has ensured Australia continue their 15-year rivalry with Japan, whom they have met in the final World Cup qualification stage of every campaign since the country joined the AFC in 2006.

Group A: Iran, South Korea, UAE, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon.

Group B: Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, China, Oman, Vietnam.

To Victoria now, where health authorities have warned that the amnesty for QR Code compliance for workplaces ends tonight.

From midnight, all employees in the state must check in daily using the Service Victoria app.

“Retail businesses are responsible for ensuring customers, workers, and visitors always check-in and that electronic records are kept up to date,” Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said in a statement.

“Failure to comply with electronic record keeping requirements can result in fines of $1,652. Repeated, blatant or wilful non-compliance can result in further fines of $9,913 and up to $100,000 or prosecution in court.”

In addition to fines, authorities may also issue businesses with an improvement notice or a prohibition order until non-compliance issues are resolved.

“More than 210,000 businesses, organisations and venues are already registered and almost half a million QR posters are now on display across Victoria,” Professor Sutton said.

“Victorians have embraced the QR Code system. This week, there has been an average of 4.6 million QR code check-ins by Victorians every day. That takes us to more than 100 million check-ins for the month of June.”