Coronavirus Australia live news: Fears for children as UK strain hits Perth
A highly infectious UK strain of COVID-19 that has been detected in three people in hotel quarantine in Perth has raised fears over the effect on children.
- UK virus ‘superstrain’ found in Perth quarantiners
- Where infected teen travelled in regional NSW
- NSW records 4 locally acquired cases
- Threat to NSW regions as cluster grows
- Victoria has 3 new locally acquired cases
- SCG fans from hot spots face fines
- Melbourne F1 race set to be postponed
Welcome to live coverage of Australia’s response to the continuing coronavirus pandemic.
NSW has four new locally acquired Covid cases, including a man who travelled to three regional towns in the state. Victoria has three new locally acquired. Business owners in the Sydney suburb of Berala say they’ve been decimated by the BWS bottle shop cluster that has so far infected 15 people.
Joseph Lam 11.50pm: Russia may join forces with Germany
Vladimir Putin and Angela Merkel have discussed the possibility of jointly producing coronavirus vaccines, the Kremlin has said.
The Russian President and German Chancellor spoke about the joint production over a phone call among other geopolitical issues including the settlement of conflict between Kiev and pro-Russian separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, said a statement released on Tuesday from the Kremlin.
“Issues of cooperation in combating the coronavirus pandemic were discussed with an emphasis on the possible prospects for joint production of vaccines,” it read.
The Kremlin added that an agreement was reached to “continue contacts on the issue” between the two countries’ health ministries and specialised agencies.
The potential German-Russian partnership has arrived on the back of British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca’s announcement in December of a clinical trial program combining its own vaccine with Sputnik V.
#BREAKING Putin, Merkel discuss possible joint vaccine production: Kremlin pic.twitter.com/Z5f85vQXBp
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) January 5, 2021
Russia and Germany recently began mass vaccination drives to curb the spread of COVID-19, with Germany using a vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer and the Mainz-based company BioNtech and Russia its vaccine Sputnik V.
Russian state-run Gamaleya research centre director Alexander Gintsburg said on Tuesday that over 1 million people in Russia have received the jab so far.
Moscow also sent batches of its vaccine to Belarus, Serbia and Argentina, and announced that 2.6 million doses will be supplied to Bolivia but acknowledged that it was struggling with production capacity.
With AFP
Richard Ferguson 10.15pm: Uni students vote with their feet
University students across the country are choosing to study in NSW over Victoria this year, with interstate applications to the southern state collapsing.
Applicants for Victorian university spots have dropped by 13 per cent on the previous year — from 8669 to 7544 — with most students choosing their preferred institutions during the height of Melbourne’s second COVID-19 lockdown.
By comparison, interstate applicants for NSW universities are up 14.9 per cent — from 7361 last year to 8456.
Stephen Lunn, Angelica Snowden 9.30pm: Growing human cost of China standoff
Portland is used to living on tenterhooks, but not like this.
The Alcoa aluminium smelter that sits on the rugged coastline at Point Danger on the town’s outskirts in Victoria’s far west is perennially under threat of closure due to profitability concerns and high carbon emissions.
A $77m federal government support package in December won’t be enough to secure its long-term future, leaving the state’s Treasurer, Tim Pallas, under pressure to offer a lifeline.
Now two other industries critical to the town’s survival — timber and crayfish — have ground to a virtual halt, collateral damage in the ongoing trade standoff between China and Australia.
AFP 8.45pm: UK launches $8.1bn plan for business
The British government has launched an extra £4.6bn ($8.1bn) package for virus-battered businesses as England began a fresh lockdown set to last weeks.
“This will help businesses to get through the months ahead — and crucially it will help sustain jobs, so workers can be ready to return when they are able to reopen,” Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said on Tuesday.
READ MORE: UK returns to hard lockdown
Matthew Westwood 8.25pm: Sydney Festival director builds a bridge
The 2021 edition of the Sydney Festival was never going to be like a pre-pandemic event, and on festival eve its director, Wesley Enoch, is philosophical about the latest disruptions to his program.
His centrepiece is an outdoor stage that has been erected at the Barangaroo Headland, the perfect site for audiences to enjoy entertainment under the stars and with views of Sydney Harbour and the Harbour Bridge.
But what was to have been the opening night attraction there on Wednesday, The Pulse, from Adelaide acrobatic troupe Gravity and Other Myths, has fallen victim to the coronavirus outbreak and the closed NSW-SA border.
“There are disappointments and there are joys — you just have to put things into perspective,” Enoch said on Tuesday.
“Sydney Festival can also look after people’s health by making sure everything is COVID-safe, and that we give people an opportunity to be safely in their community, not just locked away.”
AFP 8pm: France promises faster jabs after criticism
The French government, under pressure for lagging behind EU neighbours in rolling out COVID-19 vaccinations, has promised to dispense jabs much more quickly and catch up.
Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Tuesday that more than 2000 people had been vaccinated the previous day and that the “cruising speed of vaccinations will catch up with our neighbours in the coming days”.
The French campaign had rolled out just over 500 doses as of January 1, with critics calling that figure “a scandal” compared with the 200,000 people immunised in Germany in a similar timeframe, after the EU-wide rollout began a week ago.
President Emmanuel Macron, under pressure to take personal responsibility, met officials including Prime Minister Jean Castex on Monday to discuss the logjam.
“By Thursday we will increase numbers in a major way,” Mr Veran told RTL radio, saying “we will be on an exponential curve”.
France would now “amplify, accelerate and simplify” its vaccination strategy, he said.
Mr Veran said vaccinations for people over 75 years of age who are not in care homes would be authorised by the end of this month, covering five million people.
He said the campaign would also be widened to include firefighters and home helpers over 50.
France was currently taking delivery of 500,000 doses of a vaccine developed by Pfizer per week, Mr Veran said.
Once approved for the EU, 500,000 doses of a vaccine by Moderna would be added every month, he said.
Scepticism about vaccines is making the government’s task harder. Just 40 per cent of French want to take the vaccine compared with 77 per cent in Britain, according to an opinion poll last week by Ipsos Global Advisor in partnership with the World Economic Forum.
French health authorities on Monday reported 4022 new coronavirus cases confirmed in the previous 24 hours, taking the total to 2.66 million.
French deaths from Covid totalled 65,415, they said, after 380 new deaths were recorded.
READ MORE: It’s easy as ABC to push for harsher lockdowns
Richard Lloyd Parry 7.15pm: South Korea population falls
South Korea’s population has shrunk for the first time as the world’s lowest fertility rates and the coronavirus pandemic defeat government efforts to encourage child-bearing.
There were 20,383 fewer South Koreans at the end of last year than a year earlier, according to latest statistics. In a population of 51.83 million, annual deaths have risen to 308,000, an increase of 3 per cent, while births have fallen by 11 per cent to 276,000. Immigration softened the full effect.
Victoria Laurie 6.30pm: Fears for kids as UK strain hits Perth
A highly infectious UK strain of COVID-19 that has been detected in three people in hotel quarantine in Perth has raised fears over the effect on children.
The UK strain is believed to be up to 70 per cent more infectious, and has prompted a national lockdown to be announced overnight by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson with the lockdown unlikely to lift until at least mid-February.
Professor Jeremy Nicholson, from Murdoch University’s Australian National Phenome Centre, says the UK variant’s arrival in Perth is alarming because it finds it easier to get into children’s systems than previous versions.
He said the new strain has 17 mutations, “with 8 in the spike protein that is the key to the virus penetrating the cell via receptor binding”.
“This is like having a better key to a lock which opens the cell more easily to the virus,” he said.
“The easier it is to get in, the more infectious it is and therefore the fewer virus particles in the air needed. This variant finds it easier to get into children than previous versions.”
Children have always been able to catch COVID-19 and spread it, he said. “But they have tended to have only mild respiratory symptoms. With the new variant they get much worse respiratory symptoms because the virus can get into the lung more easily,” he added.
More rarely, children have also suffered from multi-system inflammatory syndrome which can lead to serious and life-threatening organ failure.
“We do not know if the new variant will cause that as well, but the threat posed is to a much larger section of society, should this strain become dominant.”
Any outbreak could have major implications for the way schools and universities respond to COVID-19 outbreaks, he said.
Premier Mark McGowan said on earlier Tuesday that genome sequencing confirmed the UK strain in three international arrivals to Perth who are currently in hotel quarantine. “It just goes to show that we’re not out of the woods with COVID,” he said.
READ MORE: UK returns to hard lockdown
AFP 5.45pm: Germany set to prolong shutdown as deaths surge
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and state leaders are expected to extend a shutdown in Europe’s top economy on Tuesday night (AEDT) as coronavirus deaths continue to mount despite tough restrictions in the run-up to the holidays.
After Germany’s daily deaths surpassed the 1000 mark for the first time on December 30, pressure escalated to slow the spread of the disease which has claimed more than 34,000 lives.
Mrs Merkel and the premiers of Germany’s 16 states are due to meet on Tuesday, with regional leaders signalling that they would prolong the current partial lockdown beyond the January 10 deadline, probably until the end of the month.
“Given that infection rates are still too high it will be necessary to extend the restrictions,” Health Minister Jens Spahn said.
Michael Kretschmer, premier of Saxony, the state with the highest infection rates in the country, said a continued shutdown was “unavoidable”.
The current rules have seen most shops closed along with schools, restaurants, cultural and leisure facilities, and celebrations over Christmas and the New Year holidays were limited to small gatherings.
Officials say the impact of holiday travel and socialising on the virus’s spread will not be known until mid-January but that the figures to date are already deeply worrying.
READ MORE: England’s darkest mood since WWII
David Ross 4.55pm: Cash is king in Covid: $14.6bn in new notes
Cash is king, even during COVID, with new numbers out on Tuesday revealing total banknotes in circulation rose by $1.6bn in December.
The final count leaves almost $98.6bn in cash circulating the nation’s economy.
The end-of-year cash surge comes amid a full year bill printing bonanza from the Reserve Bank of Australia, with total currency in circulation exploding by 17.4 per cent for the year
Since last December the Australian economy has seen an extra $14.6bn added to the economy.
This is almost an extra $584.2 per Australian.
CommSec economist Craig James said many of the new notes were being hoarded and never seeing circulation.
READ the full story here.
Remy Varga 3.40pm: No sleep until Victoria: Covid Commander’s driving advice
Victoria’s COVID-19 Commander Jeroen Weimar is discouraging Victorians returning from Queensland and the ACT to make lengthy stopovers in NSW on their drive home.
Mr Weimar said multiple stops in NSW would increase the risk of contracting coronavirus in the state, pointing to potential exposure in the regional cities of Orange and Broken Hill.
“We’re not going to encourage people to dwell overnight and make the kind of journey you’d want to make,” he said.
“I appreciate no one wants to drive in a straight shot across NSW [and] clearly we’ll balance their safety.
“It depends on the route they want to take but people are going to have some inconvenience I suspect.”
Mr Weimar acknowledged the distance, saying he had once driven from Cameron Corner in southwest Queensland to Mildura in north Victoria in a day, which is around eight-and-a-half hours.
“It is a long way but having done Cameron Corner to Mildura in a day I don’t think its an exceptionally impossible drive to do,” he said.
“You stop twice on the way, you stop for 15 minutes, you have a mask on, you keep your social distance.”
Joseph Lam 3.30pm: Qld cities on alert after virus found in sewage
Four sewage-testing sites across Queensland have returned positive tests for COVID-19 as the state recorded two new cases among returned overseas travellers.
Warwick, Stanthorpe, Loganholme and Cairns all returned positive tests at water treatment plants on December 29 and 30.
Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young has urged residents in those four cities to get tested, conceding that fragments of the virus can be found in sewage for up to several weeks.
“A positive sewage result means that someone who has been infected was shedding the virus,” she said.
“Infected people can shed viral fragments and that shedding can happen for several weeks after the person is no longer infectious.”
Dr Young hasn’t ruled out the possibility of new cases among returned travellers from other states.
“In particular, if you have been to Victoria or hot spots in New South Wales, please come forward and get tested regardless of whether or not you have symptoms.”
“But I also want to reassure the community, local drinking water is thoroughly treated through processes that are designed to remove or kill microorganisms before they reach your taps – so there is no risk when drinking water, showering, watering the garden, swimming or other activities.”
Queensland has recorded 20,000 tests in the past two days.
MEDIA RELEASE: Warwick, Stanthorpe, Loganholme, Cairns: Positive wastewater
— Queensland Health (@qldhealthnews) January 5, 2021
Routine wastewater testing has returned a positive result for viral fragments of COVID-19 in sewage at treatment plants at four locations across the state.https://t.co/gwlGL6BLmX
Debbie Schipp 2.55pm: Black Rock cluster transmission detailed
The Victorian government has released a diagram detailing the transmission spread of the Black Rock cluster:
Debbie Schipp 2.30pm: Locations visited by infected 18-year-old in NSW west
NSW Health has released details of some venues visited by the teenager diagnosed as part of the Berala Covid cluster who travelled into regional NSW including Orange, Nyngan and Broken Hill.
“The case is a man from western Sydney who was infected at the Berala BWS on Christmas Eve before travelling to Broken Hill, Orange and Nyngan while unknowingly infectious,” the NSW Health statement says.
“He was identified as a close contact and asked by NSW Health to be tested.
Anyone who attended the following venues is a close contact who must get tested immediately and isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result:
Broken Hill: Gourmet Cribtin, 305 Argent St, Saturday, 2 January, 10.40am – 11.20am.
Orange: Birdie Noshery and Drinking est. 120-122 Summer Street, Sunday, 3 January, 12.30pm – 2pm.
Anyone who has attended the following venue at the following times is a casual contact and must immediately get tested and isolate until a negative result is received, and continue to monitor for symptoms and test again if any symptoms develop:
Nyngan: Nyngan Riverside Tourist Park, Barrier Hwy and Mitchell Hwy, Saturday, 2 January to Sunday, 3 January.
Anyone who attended the following service stations must monitor for symptoms and if they appear, immediately get tested and isolate until a negative result is received:
Broken Hill: Broken Hill Shell, 164 Williams St, Saturday, 2 January, 10.52am – 10.55am.
Nyngan: Nyngan BP, 180 Mitchell Hwy Nyngan on Sunday, 3 January, 9.10am – 9.13am.
The statement warns other venues may be added to the list.
NSW Health has been notified of venues visited by a confirmed case of COVID-19 in western NSW. pic.twitter.com/riWkQnKSYo
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) January 5, 2021
Paige Taylor 2.10pm: UK virus ‘superstrain’ found in WA quarantined travellers
West Australian premier Mark McGowan has confirmed the new more infectious strain of coronavirus discovered in the UK has been detected in Perth. At least one Australian returned from overseas has been found to have the strain while in hotel quarantine in Perth.
In Western Australia, overseas arrivals are tested in hotel quarantine twice — initially on day 2 and then again on day 12.
“We’ve had one new case overnight – that’s a returned traveller who is in hotel quarantine. A West Australian resident returning from Poland via Doha,” Mr McGowan said.
“So, one new case overnight. We’ve done testing of the most recent cases. Unfortunately, what we’ve found in our hotel quarantine system is three people have the new UK variant, so three people in our hotel quarantine have been diagnosed with the new UK variant, which is a more rapidly spreading variant of the virus, and obviously it’s causing havoc throughout England.”
WA has quarantined around 25,000 returned travellers since the pandemic began. It has maintained a separate quarantine hotel for airline crews for more than six months.
READ MORE: UK returns to hard lockdown
Remy Varga 1pm: Push for nationwide approach to UK ‘super-strain’
Victoria’s deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng will today push for a nationwide agreement to assess the risk of the UK super COVID-19 strain to Australia.
Hotel Quarantine Minister Lisa Neville said it was possible British travellers could be banned from entering Victoria following devastating outbreaks of the new, hyper contagious strain of coronavirus.
Describing the UK outbreaks as “concerning”, Ms Neville said Professor Cheng would on Tuesday push for modelling at an Australian Health Protection Principal Committee meeting.
“He [Professor Cheng] is very concerned to make sure right across the country we understand as best we can we’ve got the right information coming out of the UK in terms of its potential impact,” she said.
“And that’s what will inform whether we close our port to the UK or not.”
She said there had been around four cases of the super strain detected in Victoria’s hotel quarantine program.
Ms Neville said Victoria was the only Australian state and territory to no longer use private security at hotel quarantine and workers on the revamped program were tested for COVID-19 daily.
“I think we have the strongest system in the country,” she said.
Poor infection control among private security at the state’s first attempt at hotel quarantine sparked a devastating second wave that claimed the lives of 800 people
READ MORE: England’s darkest mood since WWII
Tessa Akerman 12.40pm: Victoria restrictions could delay Grand Prix
The Australian Grand Prix might lose its starting position in the Formula 1 calendar this year with talks underway with the Victorian Government about staging conditions and a possible delay.
The Grand Prix, which occurs in Melbourne in late March, begins its build in mid-January but could be rescheduled because of strict Victorian Covid restrictions.
Police minister Lisa Neville said public health was a key factor and how quarantine would proceed.
“These conversations are ongoing, no decisions have been made,” she said.
She said discussions between the government, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation and Formula 1 were “live and active”.
The Australian Grand Prix Corporation issued a statement confirming ongoing discussions on conditions and arrangements relating to the staging of the 2021 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.
“Further detail will be provided upon finalisation of arrangements with all parties in the coming weeks,” the statement said.
Formula 1 does not have a set number of races, leaving it open for another city to take Melbourne’s place in the calendar in addition to their scheduled slot.
Victoria’s tight quarantine conditions have also impacted plans for the staging the Australian Open with the government and Tennis Australia pressured into finding new accommodation for players a month out from the tournament.
Tennis Australia had planned for international players to stay at The Westin Melbourne but several penthouse owners, concerned about the COVID-19 infection risk, threatened Supreme Court action.
Ms Neville said the government became aware on Sunday about the residents’ concerns and had now secured a different hotel.
“This is about having goodwill with our hotel partners,” she said.
She said The Westin Melbourne had been arranged with Tennis Australia and she was confident about the infection control measures put in place.
“But we didn’t want to end up in a fight with one of our key partners that we have used in the past,” she said.
“That’s not the agreement hotel quarantine Victoria want to have so I think we have ended up in a good situation and in fact where we have secured will actually become a part of the ongoing program into the future.”
READ MORE: Tennis stars to descend on Melbourne Park
Richard Ferguson 12.15pm: Morrison opens door for Assange return
Scott Morrison says Wikileaks founder Julian Assange will be free to return to Australia if the US fails in their appeals to extradite him from Britain.
A British judge has ruled Mr Assange should not be extradited to the US to face espionage charges, saying jail conditions there would be so “oppressive’’ he might take his own life.
The Prime Minister said Mr Assange would still be open to consular assistance throughout the appeal, and he was free to come home once legal proceedings have ended.
“The justice system is making its way and we’re not a party to that. And like any Australian, they’re offered consular support,” Mr Morrison told Sydney’s 2GB radio.
“And should, you know, the appeal fail, obviously he would be able to return to Australia like any other Australian.
“So that consular support continues to be offered and that’s the situation as we understand it right now. So, yes, it’s just a straightforward process of the legal system in the UK working its way through.”
READ MORE: Judge blocks US extradition
Heath Parkes-Hupton 12.05pm: ACT extends border ban with NSW
Another week has been added to the ban, meaning it will be in place at least until January 13, Chief Minister Andrew Barr has announced.
Mr Barr said on Tuesday the measure designed to keep Greater Sydney residents out amid a coronavirus outbreak would be reviewed on January 12.
He said the restriction was “not a hard border closure” and police would not man checkpoints 24 hours per day.
Officers will instead randomly patrol the border to ensure people are complying with public health orders, Mr Barr said.
Under the rules non-ACT residents are banned from entering the territory if they have travelled from hot spots, unless granted an exemption.
That means all non-residents who have been in Greater Sydney, the Central Coast or Wollongong local government areas will be refused entry at the border.
— NCA NewsWire
Rhiannon Down 11.55am: Victoria’s new cases linked to restaurant cluster
Victoria’s four new cases brings the state’s tally to 38 active cases.
Three of the cases are from community transmission linked to the Black Rock cluster and one is in hotel quarantine.
Authorities are investigating about 1000 primary and secondary contacts.
Rhiannon Down 11.45am: Health Minister’s reminder: Covid tests are free
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has called on cultural community leaders to take the lead in informing their communities.
Mr Hazzard moved to reassure the community that COVID-19 tests were free, and urged anyone with symptoms especially in Berala to get tested.
“The community around Berala is a very vibrant, multicultural part of Sydney,” he said.
“It’s a community of many different peoples. What I would ask is that community leaders step forward and make sure your particular community hears the message.”
Rhiannon Down 11.25am: SCG fans from cluster-linked areas will be fined
Sydneysiders from hotspot suburbs linked to the Berala cluster will be fined $1000 if they set foot at the SCG.
NSW health minister Brad Hazzard said Berala residents should stay away from the Test due to the risk of spreading COVID-19 at the event of 10,000 people.
“But it’s also crucial … that people from certain suburbs in that Berala area do not attend this Test,” he said.
“You must not attend this Test. Now, ticket sales have gone in a way that is aimed at ensuring that people from particular suburbs around Berala do not acquire tickets and do not come to the Test.”
Mr Hazzard said heavy fines had been imposed to prevent any hotspot residents from trying to slip through the cracks.
“But, I want to alert the community in those suburbs, if any of you think it’s still OK to come in with someone else who has got a ticket, or tickets, it won’t be OK,” he said.
“Because there will be orders, health orders made, in the next 24 hours, that will enable NSW police to fine you $1000 if you put foot inside the SCG.”
READ MORE: Players feel like animals in a zoo
Rhiannon Down 11.20am: NSW hotspot venues list widened again
The 18-year-old who attended the Berala BWS on Christmas Eve and has since tested positive for coronavirus has caused a number of new venues to be added to the hotspot list.
NSW Health is treating 117 COVID-19 cases, none of whom are in intensive care. Most cases (99 per cent) are being treated in non-acute, out-of-hospital care, including returned travellers in the Special Health Accommodation.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) January 5, 2021
They include Birdie Noshery & Drinking, Orange, on January 3 between 12:30pm and 2pm; and the Nyngan Riverside Tourist Park in Nyngan on January 2 and January 3.
NSW CHO Dr Kerry Chant said she wanted to thank the young man for doing the right thing.
“They got a text from us, saying you had been in that BWS on the 24th. (He) woke up, had a little bit of a runny nose just yesterday,” she said.
“And he went out and got a test and did the right thing. This gentleman was totally unaware of the issues, acted promptly on our text message — thank you so much.”
Rhiannon Down 11.15am: Testing sites set up in regional NSW areas
Authorities have urged Sydneysiders experiencing any symptoms of coronavirus to limit their travel outside the city, after an 18-year-old Berala man travelled to regional NSW while contagious.
NSW recorded four new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. Two of these cases, linked to the Berala cluster, were first reported yesterday morning, but are included in today’s numbers. pic.twitter.com/DPMTeyuCEY
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) January 5, 2021
NSW Acting Premier John Barilaro said testing sites were being established in Orange, Broken Hill and Nyngan, after the teenager travelled to the west of the state for a camp.
“This is a reminder of what can occur for people who are moving out of Sydney,” he said.
“We said clearly in the past, if you have any symptoms, if you are concerned, you should limit your mobility. You should limit travel to regional and rural NSW.
“Even though we’re confident in the health infrastructure in the regions, it brings a greater risk.”
Rhiannon Down 11.05am: NSW has four locally acquired cases
NSW had recorded eight new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours.
Acting Premier John Barilaro said four of the cases were currently in hotel quarantine, and four from locally acquired cases, two were from the Berala cluster flagged yesterday.
One of the community acquired cases included an 18-year-old man from Berala who had since travelled around regional NSW.
Those communities in Orange, Broken Hill and Nyngan have been urged to get tested.
Staff Reporters 10.50am: Acting NSW Premier to provide latest Covid details
John Barilaro will deliver a COVID-19 update at 11am. We know of at least two community transmitted cases, which came in after the 8pm reporting deadline on Sunday.
Remy Varga 10.30am: Brewery, temple, IKEA among Victoria exposure sites
A temple, a brewery and an IKEA store have been identified as new COVID exposure sites in Melbourne by Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services.
DHHS said on Tuesday that a positive case had been at the Sikh Temple in the far southeast Melbourne suburb of Keysborough between 1 and 3pm on New Year’s Day.
In the inner northeast suburb of Abbotsford, a positive case dined at the Bodriggy Brewing Company between 2:50pm and 5:30pm on December 28 2020.
On December 30, another case dined in the restaurant of an IKEA store in the southeast suburb of Springvale between 5.30pm and 6.30pm.
Anyone who visited the three locations must undergo testing for the coronavirus and isolate for 14-days.
As well, anyone who visited Springvale IKEA between 4pm and 6.30pm on December 30 and Springvale Shopping Centre between 11am and 12.30pm must undergo a test and isolate until they receive a negative result.
READ MORE: Border wars: go hard or soft
Rhiannon Down 10.15am: Sydney mayor canes packed wedding reception
Fairfield mayor Frank Carbone has called for tougher penalties for those breaching COVID restrictions.
The western Sydney suburb made headlines yesterday after it was revealed a wedding venue had been fined $5000 for hosting an event of 600 to 700 people.
Mr Carbone said he was “disappointed” at the disregard shown by the couple behind the wedding.
“The most important thing is that the virus is contained and that people are not put at risk,” he said. “What we don’t want to do, we don’t want to fine people. We want to stop people from having these events that actually puts us at risk, because ultimately the fine doesn’t bring back someone’s life.
“So there’s no doubt there needs to be a stronger deterrent but that’s a matter for NSW Health and the government.”
Jacquelin Magnay 10.05am: UK plunges into its darkest mood since WWII
Little in Britain has changed in 10 months amid ongoing economic carnage, significant concern about the ability of the NHS to treat the rising cases, and a Boris Johnson-led cabinet lurching between dramatic pronouncements and 180-degree turns on the run. Read more here
Richard Ferguson 9.55am: Morrison calls Labor’s vaccine stance ‘dangerous’
Scott Morrison says the March timeline for a vaccine rollout will allow health officials to test batches of inoculations for any problems, calling Labor’s push to accelerate “dangerous.”
The Therapeutic Goods Administration is expected to approve the Pfizer vaccine before the end of January, and Anthony Albanese has said a rollout must begin shortly after that – accusing the government of being behind in securing vaccine stocks.
The Prime Minister said on Tuesday that the vaccine readiness process will not just end with approval.
“Australia is not in an emergency position, we don’t have to cut corners,” he told Melbourne’s 3AW radio. “The process doesn’t end when the Therapeutic Goods Administration approves a vaccine.
“You then need to go and test the batches that are coming in that will be administered across the country. The suggestions I’ve heard about trying to rush the process I think can be very dangerous.”
READ MORE: Albanese steps up pressure for jabs
Rhiannon Down 9.40am: ‘Worrying’ element to Sydney’s cluster strain
Medical experts have warned a more virulent strain of coronavirus could be behind the Berala outbreak in Sydney’s west.
Australian Medical Association president Dr Omar Khorshid said it was worrying that the outbreak, linked to Berala BWS and Woolworths, had resulted from comparatively fleeting contact at a shop.
“The worrying thing about this cluster is how easily it seems to be transmitted normally you don’t get exposed to COVID in a shop or a bottle shop,” he told Sky News.
“It means this strain could be more transmissible than others we’ve seen in Australia or there was a superspreader.”
He said the risk of the highly virulent U.K. strain of the virus arriving on Australian shores was considerable after multiple failures of hotel quarantine.
“We need to be pretty worried our hotel quarantine has failed us on a number of occasions across the states and territories, it’s not fool proof,” he said.
READ MORE: 16-hour wait for testing
Richard Ferguson 9.35am: PM, Andrews concerned over UK virus strain
Scott Morrison and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews have discussed their “great concern” over the mutant COVID-19 strain ravaging Britain overnight.
The Herald Sun reported on Monday that the Victorian government wanted the Prime Minister and state premiers to meet immediately to create a plan to prevent the strain getting to Australia, as it pushes the UK to 50,000 COVID cases a day and a third national lockdown.
Mr Morrison told Melbourne’s 3AW radio that Mr Andrews did not request a national cabinet meeting, and he could act against it without premiers if health officials advised him to.
“The health ministers are meeting this week, the medical experts … meet every single day,” he said. “We spoke about the UK strain last night, and look it is a great concern to us.
“They’re (chief medical officers) not recommending any action at this point … the minute they are in that position, I would have no hesitation and you probably wouldn’t need a national cabinet meeting to action that advice.”
READ MORE: ‘No choice’ over tough UK lockdowns
Rhiannon Down 9.20am: Barilaro concedes some risk around SCG Test
Acting NSW Premier John Barilaro has defended the government’s move to push ahead with the Sydney Test match.
Crowds at the sporting event were axed yesterday by 25 per cent to just 10,000 spectators over coronavirus concerns.
Mr Barilaro hit back at criticism that the Test was the subject of special treatment and allowed to breach the 2000-person limit placed on other outdoor seated venues in NSW.
“One of the things we’ve done well with some of our sporting events – the NRL grand final, State of Origin, racing events like the Everest and even other cricket events – and the SCG itself over the COVID period have held about 20 events, about 150,000
spectators have gone through,” he told ABC News Breakfast.
“So, we are confident when we’re working with professional organisations, like the SCG, like Cricket Australia, who put on events and host events, that we’re able to put in place those measures, those COVID-safe measures that give us confidence.”
He said the government was “confident” organisers and health authorities were equipped to manage the event’s challenges.
“Now, everything comes with a risk. I’m not pretending that there is no risk. We’re trying to balance that risk versus the economy, risk versus, of course, the public health outcome,” he said.
READ MORE: Warner ready for cricket’s ultimate test
Rhiannon Down 8.50am: NSW Health widens alert for Sydney
Thousands of Sydneysiders have been placed on high alert after health authorities massively increased the exposure window for Woolworths Berala in Sydney’s west.
@NSWHealth wish to advise of expanded times and dates, and updated health advice for a venue in Sydney’s south as well as a supermarket and a liquor store in western Sydney. pic.twitter.com/d3OBgR9c5I
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) January 4, 2021
Shoppers who visited the Woodburn Road supermarket at any time between Sunday, December 20, and Thursday, December 31, have been urged to self isolate and get a COVID-19 test.
The 11-day window, which includes Christmas and New Year’s Eve, is expected to include thousands of additional shoppers and further overwhelm testing sites.
The gaming room at Earlwood Bardwell Park RSL on Monday December 28 between 8.52pm and 11.30pm has also been added to health authorities’ hotspot list.
“Anyone who was in the gaming area for an hour or more at the below venue is a close contact and must immediately get tested and self-isolate for 14 days regardless of the result,” a NSW health statement said.
READ MORE: Fear spreads in stricken Sydney suburb
Rhiannon Down 8.40am: Qantas looks at international flights from July
Australia’s national airline is reported to have begun selling international airline tickets for flights from July this year.
Qantas has launched bookings for its routes to the US and London, having previously pulled them from the schedule until at least October 2021.
Former opposition leader Bill Shorten hit out of the airline, saying there were enough stranded Australians overseas looking to get back.
“In light of all the emails I’m getting from trapped Aussies, it seems the only strategy we have for our Aussies overseas is to send some friends to be trapped with them,” he said.
“Good on Qantas for giving a bit of hope, but I think we need to make sure it is safe to fly and can we get some of the Australians home.
“I’m more worried about getting people home than sending people back overseas.”
Rhiannon Down 8.30am: Former Labor leader queries vaccine delays
Former opposition leader Bill Shorten has questioned why Australians are so far down the international queue to receive the vaccine.
“Listen, on one hand, we have got to make sure it is safe and all of that, so that’s fair
Enough,” he told the Today show.
“But on the other hand, countries like Israel have already vaccinated 12.5 per cent of their population. So, as one unkind person said to me overnight, it seems to be that the government announces a lot of this stuff, but it is all gab, no jab. I just want to get on with it.”
He also called for Victorians stranded in NSW to be allowed to return home after the borders “just shut” in a bid to contain the coronavirus.
“I’ve been dealing with a constituent of mine – she is a lovely lady – her and her husband have a disabled child and another child with special needs,” he said.
“It is far better to have this 11-year-old child looked at home rather than stuck on the south coast of NSW.
“A whole lot of Victorians on holiday were caught off guard. We need now the administrative follow-up to make sure that people aren’t stranded in some really tough circumstances, like the lady I’m talking about.”
READ MORE: Election costs to spike by $30m
Remy Varga 8.15am: Victoria records three new COVID-19 cases
Victoria has recorded four new cases of the coronavirus, three of which were acquired locally.
The other case was acquired overseas.
Yesterday there were 3 new local and 1 international case reported. 32,544 results were received. Thanks to all who were tested – #EveryTestHelps us #StaySafeStayOpen.
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) January 4, 2021
More information coming later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco #COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/1kSwk3bJNN
Rhiannon Down 8am: Melbourne F1 race set to be postponed
Australia’s Formula One Grand Prix is likely to be delayed until later in the season due to Victoria’s mandatory quarantine rules.
It’s been widely reported that the F1 season will begin in Bahrain on March 28 instead of Melbourne on March 21 as originally planned, although the governing body is yet to confirm the change.
“It hasn’t been postponed yet – and I don’t expect an official announcement today or in the next few days,” Sky Sports’ Craig Slater said. “But one insider has told me that it is impossible that it can take place under the current Covid restrictions in force in Australia.”
Last year’s race was one of the first major sporting events cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jacquelin Magnay 7.45am: Boris Johnson orders UK into hard lockdown
Nearly 56 million people in England will return to a full coronavirus lockdown, possibly until mid-February, to try to cut spiralling infection rates, Boris Johnson has announced. Read more here
Rhiannon Down 7.30am: Acting NSW Premier calms lockdown speculation
NSW Acting Premier John Barilaro has denied that a lockdown is on the cards for the state.
Health authorities have already revealed at least two cases of community transmission will be recorded as part of today’s tally, after the cases missed yesterday’s 8pm cut off.
Mr Barilaro said the government’s hand would be guided by the number of mystery cases.
“There are no plans for any lockdown, or even any further restrictions at this stage,” he said.
“And it’s not just the raw numbers. You know, you can post a 10 or a 15 or a 5 or a 3 or a 0. It’s not about just numbers, it’s about can we actually trace where those transmissions have been had? Those locally acquired transmissions?”
He said contact tracing was the state’s main defence and further lockdowns would be a last resort.
“If we lose sight of that, if our contact tracers can’t do that, that’s when the pressure is on in relation to further restrictions,” he said.
“But we’re not there. Our contact tracers are doing the work that they’ve been tasked with.
“It’s very thorough. They leave nothing for chance. And I’m very confident that we’ve got the data that backs our current position when it comes to restrictions.”
READ MORE: Brakes hit on plan to close testing sites
Rhiannon Down 7am: ‘Meticulous’ preparation behind rollout of vaccine
Experts have hit back at claims the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Australia has been delayed because of a paper work holdup.
CSIRO health director Dr Rob Grenfell said the paperwork involved in getting a new vaccine to market was “meticulous” and six months was an appropriate time frame for the documentation to be completed.
“They are still completing a lot of those (human trial) studies and the paperwork is an enormous amount,” he said.
“TGA is one of the strongest regulators in the world and that’s served us very well in Australia to make sure any drugs that come to market are as safe as they possibly can be and do what they are supposed to be.
“Bear in mind, we are not like the UK, Europe or US at the moment with the thousands of deaths a day. We are very, very lucky in this country. So, they can be more meticulous and particular with regards to a of proving this, so, again, it is safe for all Australians who receive it.”
The vaccine was developed in partnership with the CSIRO.
Rhiannon Down 6.30am: Coronavirus cases surge in California
About 21,500 Californians have been hospitalised with COVID-19, more than in New York at the height of the city’s outbreak last year.
About 20.6 million people have been infected with coronavirus in the US and more than 350,000 have died since the start of the pandemic.
An investigation was underway on Monday into a California hospital’s role in an outbreak that resulted in one death and 44 new staff infections.
Authorities are probing if an inflatable fan-powered Christmas costume donned by an emergency room worker at Kaiser Permanente in San Jose may have been responsible for spreading the virus.
“This was not a Kaiser Permanente sponsored or approved activity,” a spokesman said in a statement.
READ MORE: Biden inauguration to feature virtual parade
RHIANNON DOWN 6am: UK records over 50,000 cases a day for week
The UK has recorded more than 50,000 coronavirus cases a day for the past week, as a new more contagious strain of the COVID-19 takes its toll.
The country has surpassed 75,000 deaths with Prime Minister Boris Johnson flagging that tougher restrictions were ahead.
Some 44 million Britons — equivalent to 75 per cent of England’s population — have been placed under home lockdown.
An 82-year-old man on Monday became the first person to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine outside clinical trials, as the country pins its hopes on the vaccine.
READ MORE: Taxpayers fund Scott Morrison’s $75m Covid recovery ad blitz
Ellie Dudley 5.10am: Fear spreads like the virus in stricken suburb
Troy Nguyen’s Vietnamese restaurant on Berala’s main drag is ordinarily booked out in January. And New Year’s Eve is his busiest night, with more than 60 people packed together in the Pho Four Seasons on Woodburn Road.
This year, however, that was not the case. His plans were halted when a coronavirus cluster broke out at the BWS halfway down the street on December 31.
“Ninety-nine per cent of our business has gone, but we have to do what is best for public safety,” he said yesterday.
Fifteen cases have been linked to the bottle shop, which has been closed since New Year’s Eve.
Two COVID-positive employees of the BWS served customers for up to nine hours a day between December 22 and New Year’s Eve. The store had about 1000 customers on Christmas Eve.
Read the full story here.
Rachel Baxendale 4.45am: Stranded Victorians now tied up in red tape
Almost 2300 people left stranded in NSW have applied to return to Victoria on compassionate or medical grounds since the Andrews government’s sudden border closure on Friday, but only 175 applications had been assessed as of Monday.
The applications come after more than 60,000 Victorians abandoned summer holidays to rush home in the 48 hours to midnight on January 1; tens of thousands who arrived after the cut-off are now three days into a 14-day home quarantine.
With fewer than 10 per cent of exemption applications processed, Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services said more staff were being deployed to “speed up” the process.
Read the full story here.
Stephen Rice 4.30am: Quarantine driver fleet split to stop infection spread
Health authorities in NSW have established a separate fleet to transport returned travellers in a bid to stem the leakage of COVID-19 from the quarantine program, with concerns over a steep increase in infections among overseas arrivals.
The move is to ensure that hotel quarantine drivers never undertake other patient transports from NSW Health facilities, after it was revealed the Berala cluster in Sydney’s west began when a team member visited a suburban liquor store while unknowingly infectious before Christmas.
That was the fourth breach of Sydney’s international arrival and hotel quarantine system in a month, with the northern beaches cluster also traced back to a traveller who returned from the US in early December.
The number of new cases in returned travellers had been falling since March in line with travel restrictions but has spiked sharply in the past two weeks. In the week to Boxing Day, there were 49 coronavirus cases in returned travellers, a 36 per cent increase over the previous seven-day period. In the past week there have been an additional 43 cases among overseas arrivals.
Read the full story here.
Additional reporting: Richard Ferguson
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