Australia news LIVE: NSW COVID-19 cases and exposure sites grow; Morrison reveals four-phase reopening scheme

Thanks again for following our national blog, where we bring you rolling coverage of the day’s events. It’s time for us to sign off now, but before we do, here’s a quick recap of the major headlines from today.

• Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced a four-phase reopening scheme to bring Australia back to normality. Each phase will require a new vaccine milestone to be hit. Those milestones will depend on modelling from epidemiologists and vaccine experts.
• Far fewer people will be able to come to Australia after National Cabinet agreed to a 50 per cent reduction in passenger numbers due to the risk of the delta coronavirus variant. The Commonwealth will facilitate increased repatriation flights to Darwin for quarantine at Howard Springs while the reduction is in place.
• There was a bit of jubilation in the Top End as Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner announced the lockdowns put in place in Alice Springs and Darwin would be lifted today. WA Premier Mark McGowan has also announced the Perth and Peel lockdowns will be lifted from midnight, with three days of restrictions to follow.
• Meanwhile, a man on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, which was due to have its three-day lockdown lifted at 6pm, has tested positive for COVID-19 and works at a local university campus.
• It’s been a busy week in COVID-19 enforcement for NSW Police, with one of the latest incidents involving a shop owner and customer in the Southern Highlands, who were arrested after refusing to wear masks.
• South Australian Premier Steven Marshall says his state has recorded one new case of COVID-19 in the community. The case is a child of the miner who returned to SA via Alice Springs (which means every member of that miner’s immediate family has now tested positive).

NSW Health has updated its growing list of venues of concern that are linked with confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Anyone who attended 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:

• Manly - Novotel Sydney Manly Pacific (Bistro area), 55 North Steyne - Saturday 26 June from 8.00am to 9.00am
• Marrickville - Exquisite Brows and Spa, Shop 20-B, Ground Level 20B/34 Victoria Road - Saturday 26 June from 9.00am to 5.00pm
• Burwood - Sushi Hub, Kiosk FK1, Westfield Burwood 100 Burwood Road - Saturday 26 June from 4.45pm to 5.20pm
• Matraville- Woolworths, 497-501 Bunnerong Road - Sunday 27 June from 2.00pm to 3.00pm
• Rockdale - Volkswagen Rockdale, 589 Princes Highway - Monday 28 June from 2.30pm to 4.00pm
• Strathfield - Strathfield Plaza Medical Practice, 11-23 The Boulevarde - Monday 28 June from 1.30 to 2.10pm
• Roselands - The Coffee Emporium, Shop 242, Centro Roselands Shopping Centre, Roselands Drive - Monday 28 June from 7.40am to 8.10am, Tuesday 29 June from 7.40am to 8.10am, Wednesday 30 June from 7:40am to 8.10am
• Lakemba - Fresh Quality Fruit and Vegetables, 2/40 Haldon Street - Wednesday 30 June from 11.20am to 11.40am
• Eastlakes - Woolworths, Eastlakes Shopping Centre, 19 Evans Avenue - Wednesday 30 June from 1.00pm to 2.00pm
• Eastlakes - Australia Post Office, Shop 9/20, Eastlakes Shopping Centre, 19 Evans Avenue - Wednesday 30 June from 1.00pm to 2.00pm

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

• Bondi Beach - EzyMart, 134 Campbell Parade - Saturday 26 June from 1.20pm to 1.45pm
• Avalon Beach - Avalons Organics, 25 Avalon Parade - Saturday 26 June from 3.00pm to 4.00pm
• Avalon Beach - Chemist Warehouse, 4/74 Old Barrenjoey Road - Saturday 26 June from 3.00pm to 4.00pm
• Marrickville - Panetta Mercato Marrickville, Shop G023, Marrickville Metro, 20 Smidmore Street - Saturday 26 June from 3.45pm to 4.30pm
• Bondi Junction - Aldi, Eastgate Shopping Centre, cnr Spring and Newland streets - Saturday 26 June from 4.00pm to 4.20pm
• Bondi Beach - Bite Box Kebabs, 164 Campbell Parade - Saturday 26 June from 6.00pm to 7.00pm
• Strathfield - Strathfield Plaza, 11 The Boulevard - Sunday 27 June from 10.55am to 11.15am
• Strathfield - Woolworths, Strathfield Plaza, 11 The Boulevard - Sunday 27 June from 11.00am to 11.10am
• Caringbah - Bunnings Taren Point, Koonya Circuit - Sunday 27 June from 1.00pm to 1:30pm
• Oatley - East Avenue Café, 20 Oatley Avenue - Monday 28 June from 10.00am to 10.30am
• Villawood - Bunnings, cnr Tangerine and Woodville roads - Monday 28 June from 2.05pm to 2.35pm
• South Hurstville - Cure Café, 2-18 Greenacre Road - Tuesday 29 June from 9.30am to 10.30am
• Eastern Creek - Fruitworld, Eastern Creek Quarter, 159 Rooty Hill Road - Tuesday 29 June from 10.40am to 11.00am
• Strathfield - Strathfield Plaza, 11 The Boulevarde - Tuesday 29 June fom 11.45am to 12.35pm
• Strathfield - Chemist Warehouse, Strathfield Plaza, 11 The Boulevarde - Tuesday 29 June from 12.00pm to 12:25pm
• Auburn - Aldi, 6/10 Harrow Road - Tuesday 29 June from 5.35pm to 5.45pm
• Eastlakes - Eastlakes Shopping Centre, 19a Evans Ave - Wednesday 30 June from 1.00 to 2.00p

Anyone who travelled on the following buses at the listed times is a casual contact who 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:

• 400 Bus - From Anzac Parade near Boyce Road, Maroubra Junction, To Clara Street at Blenheim Road, Randwick - Thursday 24 June from 10.36am to 10.46am

• 400 Bus - From Clara Street opp Blenheim Road, Randwick, To Maroubra Road after Ferguson Street, Maroubra - Thursday 24 June from 11.49am to 12.01pm

Anyone who attended the following location at the listed time is a casual contact who must get tested immediately. In this case, people with no symptoms do NOT need to isolate:

• Kirrawee - Bunnings, 127-141 Bath Road - Tuesday 29 June from 1.00pm to 1.15pm

Anyone who attended the following location at the listed times should monitor for symptoms, and if they appear, 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:

• Bondi Junction - Coles, Eastgate Shopping Centre, snr Spring and Newland streets - Friday, 25 June from 7.30am to 7.50am
• Marrickville - Marrickville Metro Shopping Centre, 20 Smidmore St - Saturday, 26 June from 9.00am to 5.00pm
• Eastern Creek - Eastern Creek Quarter – rest of the shopping centre except for Fruitworld, 159 Rooty Hill Road - Tuesday 29 June from 10.40am to 11.00am
• Homebush - Sydney Growers Market Building D, 250-318 Parramatta Road - Tuesday, 29 June from 4.00pm to 5:00pm
• Strathfield - Strathfield Plaza, 11 The Boulevarde - Thursday, 1 July from 1.15pm to 2.15pm

The final report of the federal government’s Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub has found Australia’s tropical rainforests will dry out, marine and land heatwaves will become more frequent and intense, and thunderstorms will dump more rain and worsen floods as the planet heats up.

The work of more than 100 researchers, the report said there is “a clear link between climate change and worsening bushfire weather conditions over the past 70 years”, and singled out the World Heritage-listed Gondwana Rainforests as one area of concern.

Today on Please Explain, environment editor Peter Hannam joins Nathanael Cooper to look at this damning report and what it means.

With everything being stranger than fiction at the moment, it might be a good time to introduce our Explainer series on how close sci-fi is becoming to reality.

The recent release of the Pentagon’s report on UFO sightings has set the agenda for the first of our articles as we explore how discussions on the existence of ET went mainstream, and the accumulating science has turned the key question from ‘Do you believe in aliens?’ to ‘Why don’t you?’”

Scientists wonder if there could be life in the world-spanning oceans inside Jupiter’s icy moons. Credit: Artwork: Matt Davidson

A miner isolating at a remote Northern Territory gold mine after a COVID-19 outbreak says he and hundreds of colleagues were kept in their bedroom-sized accommodation for six days without being let outside for exercise.

The worker said televisions and kettles only arrived on Thursday – five days into lockdown – and their first chance to wash clothes and exercise in the car park came on Friday.

The Tanami Road north-west of Alice Springs: “The problem is the closest place is 250kms away.”Credit: Janie Barrett

With internet so poor that he could not read the news on his phone or send emails, the man, who asked to remain anonymous to protect him from being sacked, said he passed the hours by sleeping, stretching and “walking around in circles”.

Zach Hope has the full article

If the state of Australia’s vaccine rollout has left you bewildered, it’s likely you’re far from alone. We’ve stitched together a video compilation that illustrates the growing chaos of the past six months.

Our COVID-19 vaccine tracker has been updated, and is now able to show the number of people who have been fully vaccinated against the virus in each state or territory.

We can provide this level of detail because the health department has started releasing regular data breaking down the number of first and second doses administered in each state or territory.

Until today, this data was not showing up for most states because the health department had only been providing data on total doses for each state or territory, so it was not possible to tease out how many people had been fully vaccinated.

See how the vaccine rollout is tracking in your area using this interactive table:

As it stands, the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania have fully vaccinated the highest proportion of their total populations, with more than 10 per cent of their residents having received a second vaccine dose.

Western Australia has the lowest fully vaccinated rate at 5.57 per cent of its estimated total population, which translates to 148,268 people.

In New South Wales more than half a million people have been fully vaccinated, while in Victoria a total of 457,280 people have received their second vaccine dose.

A man on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, which was due to have its three-day lockdown lifted at 6pm, has tested positive for COVID-19 and works at a local university campus, according to the state’s Health Minister Yvette D’Ath.

The patient in his 50s returned a positive result today, after becoming symptomatic on Wednesday and coming forward for a test on Thursday.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath.Credit: Getty

The results has triggered an urgent public health alert for the Sunshine Coast areas of Caloundra, Mooloolaba, Sippy Downs and Maroochydore areas, with residents urged to get tested even if they have only the slightest symptoms.

“The man was only in the community while potentially infectious for two days before the lockdown began, at his workplace, and briefly during lockdown,” Ms D’Ath said in a statement on Twitter.

“[He] works at the Sippy Downs campus of the University of the Sunshine Coast and was at work on 28 and 29 June [Monday and Tuesday].”

She said he had minimal contact with others so the campus would not be listed as a contact tracing site.

“In addition, we’re asking anyone who was at Coles at Sippy Downs from 8:15am to 8:35am to get tested, but you do not need to isolate until you receive a result as this venue is classed as low risk,” Ms D’Ath said.

There is no indication the Sunshine Coast’s lockdown will not end as planned at 6pm tonight.

There are warnings that Australia’s decision to halve the already limited number of people allowed into the country on commercial flights will prompt foreign airlines to stop flying here altogether.

The Board of Airline Representatives of Australia (BARA) - which represents major international carriers that fly here - said that would make it even more difficult for Australians stuck overseas to get home.

The reduction of international arrivals has airlines spooked.Credit: Brook Mitchell

“Despite all the effort they’ve put in, it gets to a point where the only rational response is to suspend operations to Australia, perhaps for a very long period of time,” BARA executive director Barry Abrams said.

“There’ll be a reduction in the level of connectivity available to Australians overseas to get home.”

Daily arrival limits mean that the major airlines still flying to Australia - such as Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Etihad - are already limited to around 35 passengers.

WA Premier Mark McGowan has buried the lead, announcing several minutes into his press conference that Perth and Peel will exit their four-day lockdowns at midnight tonight.

Here are the conditions for the next three days:

• Masks with remain mandatory outdoors and indoors, and on public transport, but will not be required for vigorous outdoor exercise.
• Private gatherings of up to 10 visitors indoors and 20 outdoors will be permitted.
• All public venues, including hospitality, entertainment, and retail outlets, can reopen with the 40 sqm rule, with a limit of 20 patrons, not including staff, and seated service only.
• Weddings and funerals will be limited to 20 guests.

WA has recorded one new local case overnight, a 21-year-old woman. She has been in quarantine with her partner, who is also positive, since Sunday and tested positive on Thursday.

“We do not believe she has been in the community while infectious,” Mr McGowan said.

He also praised the Commonwealth decision to halve international arrivals as “the responsible way forward”, and will further ease pressure and risk in the hotel quarantine system.