As it happened: Four Sydney LGAs to go into lockdown as NSW records 22 new local COVID cases; Victorian quarantine facility to be built at Mickleham

NSW Health is asking anyone who was at the following venues to get tested and isolate for 14 days:

• Lyfe Cafe, Bondi Beach any time on June 18 and June 19
• Lean Bean Fitness - baby mumma beans class on June 18, 10.30am to 11.15am and June 21 from 10.20am to 11.15 am
• Moore Park View Hotel, Waterloo on Tuesday from 3.30pm to 6.30pm
• Doncaster Hotel, Kensington on Wednesday from 5.45pm to 8pm

Anyone who visited the following venues is considered a casual contact and must isolate until getting a negative test:

• The Cosmopolitan, Double Bay on June 17 from 5pm to 7pm
• La Piadina, BOndi Beach on June 20 from 8am to 9.30am and June 21 from 7.30am to 9am.
• Woolworths Metro, Bondi Beach on June 21 from 9am to 10am and June 23 from 9.30am to 10am.
• Scoop Wholefoods, Bondi Beach, June 21 from 9am to 10am and June 23 from 9.30am to 10am.
• Anyone who attended any of the following venues at the times listed must monitor for symptoms and immediately get tested and self-isolate if they develop:
  Kitchen by Culture, Double Bay on June 22 5pm to 7pm.

Thank you for joining us on the national blog during another eventful day. It’s time to sign off now, but before I go allow me to bring you up to speed with the key points of today’s major stories:

• Four eastern Sydney local government areas have been plunged into lockdown. They are the City of Sydney, Woollahra, Waverley and Randwick. People will be allowed to leave home for four reasons: to travel for necessary work or education, outdoor exercise, to provide care or compassion to a relative and buying essential goods or services. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian clarified that people who work in those areas must also isolate at home.
• NSW has recorded 22 new cases of COVID-19 in the community. Eleven locally acquired cases of COVID-19 were detected in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, six of which we already knew about. In addition, another 17 locally acquired cases were detected overnight. This afternoon we also heard of a David Jones employee in Sydney’s inner west testing positive, while the owners of a Bondi cafe also tested positive after a “cuddle” with a close contact.
• Motorists from NSW red zones could be fined almost $5000 if they’re found in Victoria, as police extend a crackdown on those driving across the NSW-Victoria border. Queensland health authorities say anyone now in the state who has been in the four Sydney council areas now facing a week-long lockdown must follow the same rules imposed by their NSW counterparts.
• An elderly Australian couple is feared to be among the nearly 100 people who remain missing a day after their 12-storey Miami apartment building collapsed without warning in the early hours of Thursday (Wednesday night AEST).

• Prominent rural women say Barnaby Joyce must demonstrate he has changed his behaviour in recent years or risk losing votes, as a West Australian MP told state Parliament she was warned in 2014 to avoid the Deputy Prime Minister “because he had a history of groping women”.

Some great data from Covid19data.com.au shows how this outbreak is tracking compared to the Avalon and Crossroads clusters last year.

As you can see from the graphs, the cumulative total of cases in this month’s Bondi outbreak is tracking well below that of the Avalon outbreak and just above Crossroads.

On day 10, there are 70 cases in the Bondi cluster, while on the same day there were 65 cases in the Crossroads event and 126 in the Avalon outbreak.

The graphs also give an interesting comparison of the unlinked cases in all three outbreaks.

Motorists from NSW red zones could be fined almost $5000 if they’re found in Victoria, as police extend a crackdown on those driving across the NSW-Victoria border.

Victoria Police confirmed late on Friday that 260 police officers would now be completing patrols of the border, with pop-up checkpoints and automatic number plate recognition being used to nab those from NSW who may have come from red zones.

Those caught in Victoria from NSW could be given a fine of nearly $5000.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for Victoria Police said the decision was made due to the “evolving nature of the recent Sydney outbreak” following a decision from Victoria’s Department of Health.

“This will support the current vehicle patrols around the NSW border working to identify car registration details and vehicles who may have travelled from NSW, including those who may have been in a red zone,” the spokeswoman said.

“Victoria Police will be heavily enforcing the border restrictions and an on-the-spot fine of nearly $5000 will apply.”

Victorian residents who have been in a red zone since the current rules came into place - other than for transit - can obtain a red zone permit to enter Victoria, but are required to quarantine at home for 14 days and get tested.

But Victorian residents aren’t eligible for a permit if they’ve been to a high-risk exposure site in a red zone in the past 14 days, are a close contact of someone with COVID-19, or have been diagnosed with the virus.

Mining giant Rio Tinto has been accused of keeping traditional owners in the dark for decades about hundreds of their priceless cultural artefacts ending up in a Darwin tip.

The Wintawari Guruma Aboriginal Corporation (WGAC), which holds native title to an area spanning almost 40 per cent of Rio Tinto’s Australian iron ore operations, says the company engaged in a cover-up following a bungle at a university that led to their artefacts and associated records being discarded and destroyed instead of placed in safekeeping.

Rio Tinto has been rocked by further evidence alleging mistreatment of Indigenous cultural heritage.Credit:

In documents provided to the federal inquiry probing Rio’s destruction of separate Aboriginal heritage at the nearby Juukan Gorge rock shelters, the group has alleged the disposal of material salvaged from the Marandoo mine in the early 1990s was a secret kept by Rio, its contractors and the WA government for 25 years.

“Hundreds of Eastern Guruma cultural artefacts ended up in the bin,” the group said.

Read Nick’s full story here

Indian authorities said on Wednesday they had found around 40 cases of the Delta coronavirus variant carrying a mutation that appears to make it more transmissible, and advised states to increase testing.

It has been found in Britain, parts of Europe and North America, as well as India.

What is Delta Plus?

The variant, referred to as “Delta Plus” in India, was first reported in a Public Health England bulletin on June 11 and is among a number of other variants.

It is a sub-lineage of the Delta variant first detected in the country and has acquired the spike protein mutation K417N which is also found in the Beta variant first identified in South Africa.

Where has it been found?

As of June 16, at least 197 cases has been found from 11 countries - Britain (36), Canada (1), India (8), Japan (15), Nepal (3), Poland (9), Portugal (22), Russia (1), Switzerland (18), Turkey (1), the United States (83).

Should we be worried?

Studies are ongoing in India and globally to test the effectiveness of vaccines against this mutation.

“WHO is tracking this variant as part of the Delta variant, as we are doing for other Variants of Concern with additional mutations,” the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a statement sent to Reuters.

Find a more detailed explanation here

The federal hotspot declaration has been extended for two more days after NSW announced stay-at-home orders for four inner-city council areas.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly extended hotspot declaration to cover the City of Sydney, Waverley, Woollahra, Bayside, Canada Bay, Inner West and Randwick local government areas until July 2, after initially declaring it for seven days from June 23.

Martin Place, in the City of Sydney.Credit: Janie Barrett

The declaration triggers Commonwealth support if needed, including the single site workforce supplement payments for aged care facilities, asymptomatic testing at respiratory clinics and a reprioritisation of vaccine supplies if needed.

The COVID-19 Disaster Payments will only kick in if the Commonwealth hotspot declaration remains in place and the NSW lockdown extends beyond June 30.

People could be eligible for the payment from July 1 if they meet criteria including not being able to work or losing income due to a lockdown or stay home order, they don’t have appropriate paid leave entitlements, or they were not getting an income support payment, a state pandemic payment or state small business payment for the same period of time.

With a stay at home order set to come into force for some areas of central and eastern Sydney at 11.59pm, affected local councils have clarified what is and isn’t open this week.

Sydney Town Hall and Customs House will both close to the public for the week, a City of Sydney spokesperson said, and the council’s indoor facilities including pools, libraries and venues for hire will also shut.

Beaches in the Waverley Council area will remain open.Credit: Kate Geraghty

Childcare, after-school and vacation care, playgrounds and outdoor gyms will all operate as normal as will the council’s Meals on Wheels service.

Randwick City Council said its libraries, indoor pools and community centres would close, but outdoor facilities including playgrounds and beaches will remain open “for exercise purposes”.

“While no doubt this will be disappointing for those with school holiday plans, this is a measured and reasonable response to the unfolding situation,” said Randwick Mayor Danny Said.

In Waverley, a similar approach has been adopted with beaches and playgrounds and the council’s childcare centres will also remain open.

Mayor Paula Masselos said the council would consider revisiting its business support package in light of the outbreak.

The State Library of NSW, in Sydney CBD, will close until Monday week.

A statement posted to its website said the library would shut its doors at 5pm today and reopen on Monday, July 5 unless restrictions are extended. Woollahra Council has been contacted for comment.

While we’re over this way, a motivational speaker who mentors teenage boys will spend the next month behind bars after allegedly hosting a Perth seminar while he was meant to be self-isolating.

John McMahon, 49, arrived in Western Australia on a flight from Victoria on Wednesday and was ordered to quarantine at a suitable premises for 14 days, as per the current border rules.

Motivational speaker John McMahon allegedly breached restrictions. Credit: Facebook

Instead, WA Police allege he conducted a speech in Rockingham, south of Perth, on the evening he arrived and had plans to host two further talks in Fremantle on Thursday and Friday.

The Rockingham talk was held at Gary Holland Community Centre between 7pm and 9pm, with tickets priced between $40 and $182.

Read the full story here

Over to WA now, where the McGowan government has accepted a Commonwealth request to work together to establish a 1000-person quarantine facility at either Perth or Jandakot airports.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison wrote to WA Premier Mark McGowan on Thursday night raising the possibility of building a new facility on federal land at Perth or Jandakot airports, which met Commonwealth criteria of size and vicinity to hospitals and airports.

Jandakot Airport could be the site of a purpose-built quarantine facility.

The agreement likely means Mr McGowan will stop pressuring the Commonwealth to open up federal facilities such as Curtin RAAF airbase or Christmas Island’s detention centre to quarantine returning Australians.

Hamish Hastie has the rundown