Coronavirus Australia live news: Qld locks out Sydneysiders for 28 days without unlinked COVID-19 cases
Queensland will reopen its borders to greater Sydney when the region has recorded 28 days of no unlinked cases of COVID-19, with the earliest reopening date January 8.
- Qld revives hard border closures
- Virulent UK strain detected in Australia
- NSW reports 15 new Covid cases
- Hotel inquiry failures revealed
- States, territories shut out Sydney
Welcome to The Australian’s live coverage of the coronavirus crisis.
Queensland has revived its hard border closures with NSW after Premier Palaszczuk revealed breaches of her state’s Covid restrictions. A virulent new strain of the coronavirus, which has stopped the UK in its tracks, has been detected in Australia, health authorities says. NSW has reported 15 new Covid cases, all linked to the cluster at Avalon, on Sydney’s northern beaches. Greater Sydney has been cut off from the rest of the country after all states and territories slammed shut their borders, throwing into disarray Christmas plans for millions of Australians.
Joseph Lam 11:45pm: More hotspot venues
NSW Health has announced more hotspot venues in Sydney.
BodyFit Gym, 27 Sackville St, Blacktown: Wednesday, December 16, from 7am to 8am, Thursday, December 17, from 7am to 8am, Friday, December 18, from 7am to 8am
CBD 1 Bligh Street, Sydney CBD: Thursday, December 17, from 10.30am to 10.50am
Arthouse Hotel, 275 Pitt Street, Sydney CBD: Thursday, December 17, From 11.15am to 12.15pm
Paragon Hotel Sports Bar, 1 Loftus Street, Sydney CBD: Wednesday, December 16, from 12.45pm to 3.30pm
NSW Health has recommended anyone who visited the Paragon Hotel Sports Bar for more than one hour to get tested and isolate for 14 days, for less than one hour to get tested immediately and isolate pending a negative result and that anyone who attended other areas of the hotel to monitor for symptoms.
Joseph Lam 10pm: Bunnings, Cafes, KFC join hotspot list
NSW Health has released an extended list of venues which confirmed COVID-19 cases have visited.
Venues under the close contact list are advised to get tested and isolate immediately for 14 days; venues under the casual contact list are advised to get tested immediately and wait for a negative result.
Close contacts
Anytime Fitness Berowra, 25-29 Turner Road, Berowra: Wednesday, December 16, from 5.30am to 6.30am, Thursday, December 17, from 5.30am to 6.30am
Asquith Golf Course, Lord Street, Mount Colah: Tuesday, December 15, from 6.30am to 10.30m
Avalon Bowling Club, 4 Bowling Green Lane, Avalon Beach: Tuesday, December 15, from 6pm to 8.30pm
Avalon Recreation Centre, 59 Old Barrenjoey Rd, Avalon: Thursday, December 17, from 11.50am to 5.20pm
Aura Threading and Beauty, Westfield Hornsby, Shop 2067, L 2/236 Pacific Hwy, Hornsby: Thursday, December 17, from 10am to 1.20pm
Avalon Beach RSL, 1 Bowling Green Lane, Avalon Beach: Sunday, December 13, from 8.30pm to 9.15pm
Barramee Thai Massage and Spa, 4/42-44 Barenjoey Rd, Avalon: Wednesday, December 16, from 2pm to 3.3pm
Bayview Golf Club1825 Pittwater Rd, Mona Vale: Monday, December 7, from 11.45am to 12.45pm, Tuesday, December 8, from 11.45am to 12.45pm, Friday, December 11, from
11.45am to12.45pm
Bunnings Belrose, Austlink Park Niangala Cl, Belrose: Thursday, December 17, from 4pm to 5pm
ChaRice Noodle Bar, 2/331-335 Barrenjoey Rd, Newport: Wednesday, December 16, from 1pm to 2.30pm
Coffee Brothers, 1/54-56 Darley St, Mona Vale: Saturday, December 12, from 12pm to 1pm
Coles, 381 Barrenjoey Road, Newport: Friday, 18 December, from 9am to 10am
Dan Murphy, 25-29 Park Street, Mona Vale: Thursday, December 17, from 5pm to 6pm
KFC Mona Vale, 1B Ponderosa Parade, Warriewood: Friday, December 18, from 12pm to 1pm
Kirribilli Hotel, 35-37 Broughton St, Milsons Point:Thursday, December 17, from 12.45pm to 3pm
Lovat Restaurant, 316-324 Barrenjoey Road, Newport: Friday, December 11, from 6.30pm to 8.30pm
Mr Green & Co, 1/66 Berry Street, North Sydney Wednesday: December 16, from 1pm to 2pm
Nourished Cafe and Lounge, 17 Avalon Parade, Avalon Beach: Sunday, December 13, from 10am to 11am
PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT – NEW AND UPDATED VENUES
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) December 21, 2020
NSW Health has been notified of new venues on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, and expanded exposure times for previously announced venues, which have been visited by confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Casual contacts
Chillbar, 74 Old Barrenjoey Rd, Avalon Beach: Monday, December 14, from 10.30am to 11.30am, Wednesday December 16, from 10.30am to 11.30am
Cortex Gym – Strength and Conditioning Class, 1 Bowden Street, Alexandria: Tuesday, December 15 (no time provided)
Macquarie Shopping Centre (various), Cnr Herring Rd &, Waterloo Rd, Macquarie Park: Sunday, December 13, from 11am to 1pm
Northern Beaches Indoor Sports Centre,14 Jackson Road, Warriewood: Tuesday, December 15, from 6.30pm to 9.30pm
Olivers Pie, 1 Careel Head Rd, Avalon Beach: Monday, December 14, from 9am to 9.15am
Read more: Covid warnings for Sydney pubs grow
Kieran Gair 9.20pm: Swell times ahead as calm descends
The skies were a gloomy grey over Manly Beach on Monday, but nothing could dampen the enthusiasm of surfers on Sydney’s northern beaches briefly escaping life in lockdown.
As surfers headed down to the water loaded with towels and heavy wetsuits, the vast majority of the peninsula’s 270,000 residents appeared to be riding out their enforced confinement at home.
“There’s light on the horizon,” said Sam Phillips, a 31-year-old surfer and emergency room doctor at Northern Beaches Hospital. “The mood is pretty hopeful.”
His 31-year-old partner Kate Thomas agreed: “In the UK, they’ve pretty much cancelled Christmas. The situation is a million times better in Sydney.”
The British couple spent Monday afternoon paddling into some of the cleanest surf to hit Sydney’s northern beaches this week. And they weren’t the only ones searching for calm in the centre of a storm.
Joseph Lam 8.30pm: Hotline’s plea to go online
The national COVID-19 hotline is urging people to make use of its digital platforms as call rates rose almost 15 times on Sunday night.
Health Direct, which runs the national coronavirus hotline as well as its own hotline, has seen calls rise to 12,000 per day up from 800 last week.
The spike is similar to Australia’s peak-Covid period in March, said a spokeperson.
“This year we’ve seen huge demand for information about COVID-19 right from the start,” the spokesperson said.
AFP 7.50pm: HK bans flights from Britain
Hong Kong will ban all flights from Britain following the discovery of a new and highly infectious strain of the coronavirus there.
“From midnight there will be no more passenger flights arriving in Hong Kong from the United Kingdom,” Health Secretary Sophia Chan said on Monday.
Anyone arriving in Hong Kong who has been the UK in the past 14 days will also have to undergo a longer quarantine, officials said.
All international passengers to Hong Kong currently have to undergo a two-week mandatory quarantine in a dedicated hotel.
Those with a recent travel history in Britain will have to complete their hotel quarantine as well as a further week’s isolation at home before being allowed out in public.
Countries around the world have begun banning flights and travellers from Britain after London said the spread of a more-infectious new coronavirus strain was now “out of control”. READ MORE: What we know about the alarming new UK strain
Angelica Snowden 7pm: Vic border guarded by 700 police
Up to 700 Victoria police officers will be deployed to 13 checkpoints along the NSW border to enforce Premier Daniel Andrews’ tough new restrictions.
The officers will be at 13 border checkpoints, a Victoria Police spokeswoman said.
“These checkpoints will operate 24 hours a day and will be in place on major arterial roads connecting Victoria to New South Wales,” she said
There will continue to be a significant number of roving patrols occurring on backroads to ensure that no one from New South Wales is entering Victoria without in breach of the current Chief Health Officer directions.”
The majority of police deployed to the checkpoints will be from metropolitan Melbourne.
From midnight on Sunday, Greater Sydney and the NSW Central Coast region were declared ‘red zones’.
Anyone who attempts to enter Victoria from a red zone will be required to enter hotel quarantine for two weeks. The Northern Beaches area has also been declared a ‘hot zone’ and not even Victorian residents will be allowed to re-enter their home state if they travelled from this region.
The new hard stance came after the border between NSW and Victoria finally lifted after three months on November 23.
READ MORE: Why Andrews will survive scathing Coate report
Rachel Baxendale 6.30pm: Mikakos hits back at Andrews ‘masterclass in deflection’
Former Victorian health minister Jenny Mikakos has accused Premier Daniel Andrews of conducting a “masterclass in political deflection” in his response to the Coate inquiry into his government’s bungled hotel quarantine program.
Ms Mikakos issued a statement on Twitter on Monday night, after Mr Andrews said he would have expected his former health minister and her departmental secretary Kym Peake to resign in light of the Coate inquiry’s findings had they not already done so.
My media statement is attached. pic.twitter.com/z5jwWUD6eD
— Jenny Mikakos #StaySafeSaveLives (@JennyMikakos) December 21, 2020
The Coate inquiry found Ms Mikakos’s Department of Health and Human Services was the lead agency responsible for the hotel quarantine program, but did not attribute responsibility to any individual or agency for the decision to use private security guards, who ultimately caught coronavirus and sparked Victoria’s second wave by spreading it to the community.
“I am profoundly disappointed that I was not adequately briefed by DHHS officials on the hotel quarantine program and that the Chief Health Officer (Brett Sutton) did not raise his concerns about the program with me,” Ms Mikakos said in her statement.
“I welcome the use of Victoria Police and the ADF in the latest model of hotel quarantine but Victorians deserve to know why this did not happen much earlier.”
Ms Mikakos said the Coate inquiry had failed to answer key questions.
“I believe Victorians deserve to know the truth about an event that has so profoundly impacted them,” she said.
“They do not need another masterclass in political deflection from the Premier.”
Ms Mikakos also criticised the inquiry for not releasing details of the Premier’s phone calls on the day the decision was made to use private security in hotel quarantine.
“Further, I am disappointed that the inquiry decided to redact some phone records, including the Premier’s calls in their entirety and to subject these to a non-publication order.
“In the interests of public transparency, all telephone call records provided relating to 27 March 2020 should be publicly released.”
READ MORE: Andrews’ defiant comment after damning report
AFP 6pm: Tension as UK passengers held at German airports
“Please help us leave!” says a woman in a video shared online, one of dozens of passengers from Britain stranded in German airports on Monday (AEDT).
Countries around the world — including Germany, France and Italy — have begun banning flights and travellers from Britain after a new strain of coronavirus was detected there.
British travellers still arriving in Germany on Sunday, local time, were prevented from leaving the airport, with health officials and nurses — some dressed in hazmat suits — administering immediate COVID-19 tests.
These measures hit 63 people arriving in Hanover from Britain, who were kept overnight in the airport and will not be permitted to leave until they receive a negative test result — expected Monday night (AEDT).
In the meantime, the terminal’s officials set up campbeds to help passengers spend the night.
Among the detained travellers, the atmosphere was tense.
“We are at Hanover airport and we are held against our will, we were tested and were prohibited from leaving the premises while awaiting the results,” said Manuela Thomys, in a video shared online by German daily Bild.
Groups of people including a nine-month-old baby can be seen in the clip. “Please help us leave!” Ms Thomys says.
Local authorities have apologised for the inconvenience caused ahead of Christmas.
“Our aim is to prevent the new variant of the virus from entering the region,” Hanover health official Andreas Kranz explained to German news wire DPA.
Germany reported a record in daily new infections on Thursday, surpassing the 30,000 mark for the first time, and has recorded a total of 24,125 deaths.
Scientists first discovered the new strain of the virus — which they believe is 70 percent more transmissible — in a patient in September.
But alarm bells were set ringing across Europe last week as the strain appeared to be raging in parts of Britain.
Europe last week became the first region in the world to pass 500,000 deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began a year ago.
A spokeswoman for the World Health Organisation said that “across Europe, where transmission is intense and widespread, countries need to redouble their control and prevention approaches.”
READ MORE: Sydney shelves stripped as panic spreads
Angie Raphael 5.15pm: AFL star to spend Christmas in jail
AFL player Sydney Stack will spend Christmas behind bars after allegedly breaching COVID-19 self-quarantine orders, which was discovered when police intervened in a Perth street fight.
Stack, 20, had been granted approval to enter WA on compassionate grounds via the G2G Pass system and arrived at Perth Airport from South Australia on December 10.
The Richmond forward was told he must self-quarantine for two weeks at an address in Northam, a town northeast of Perth, but police alleged he later left that property and returned to Perth, staying at a home in Belmont.
Police further alleged he visited the entertainment precinct in Northbridge, where he was found just after 1am on Saturday reportedly fighting in a street.
Joseph Lam 4.45pm: Cases in Sydney CBD linked to Avalon
Five new coronavirus cases at a Sydney CBD workplace have been linked to the Avalon cluster, with close contacts and 10 other workers now in isolation having undergone tests.
Several cafes, bars and restaurants in the Northern Beaches Local Government Area have also been considered a danger zone, with strict orders for anyone who has visited the area to get tested and isolate.
NSW Health has urged anyone who visited during the following times to isolate:
• The Boatshed Café & Bar, Lower Level, 11 Narrabeen Street, Narrabeen: Monday, December 14, between 2pm and 3pm.
• Pittwater RSL, 82 Mona Vale Road, Mona Vale: Wednesday, December 16, 8pm to 10pm
• Sankaku Izakaya, 376 Barrenjoey Road, Newport: Thursday, December 17, from 2.30pm to 3:30pm.
NSW Health has been notified of new venues on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, and expanded exposure times for previously announced venues, which have been visited by confirmed cases of COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/xPhFYq0z4o
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) December 21, 2020
Updates have been made to the following previously announced venues in Erskineville, Manly, Newport and Mona Vale.
• Anyone who visited the Rose of Australia hotel, 1 Swanson St, Erskineville, on Tuesday, December 15, from 7pm until closing, is considered a close contact and should get tested immediately and self-isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result.
• Anyone who was at 4 Pines, 313 Barrenjoey Road, Newport, on Wednesday, December 16, between 4.30pm and 9pm is considered a close contact and should get tested immediately and self-isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result.
• Anyone who was at the Hotel Steyne, 75 The Corso, Manly, on Thursday, December 17, between 3pm and 7pm is considered a casual contact and should get tested immediately and isolate until they receive a negative result.
• Fitness First Mona Vale, Pittwater Place Shopping Centre, 10 Park Street, Mona Vale: Sunday, December 13, from 2pm to 4pm; Monday, December 14, all day; and all day on Wednesday 16, December.
Commuters who travelled on the following buses have been considered casual contacts and are urged to get tested and isolate until they receive a negative result:
• Bus Route 304, Wednesday, December 16, departing Bourke Street (opposite Lachlan Street) Rosebery, 7.46am and arriving Martin Place Station Stand C, 8.11am
• Bus Route 199, Thursday, December 17, departing Bourke Street (opposite Lachlan Street) Rosebery, 8.05am and arriving Martin Place Station Stand C, 8.30am
READ MORE: Andrews apologises after hotel quarantine errors laid bare
Joseph Lam 3.50pm: Pair caught travelling to northern beaches
Two southwest Sydney residents, who travelled more than 40km to the northern beaches, have been issued Penalty Infringement Notices for breaching a Public Health Order.
A Padstow man, 60, and Bankstown woman, 39, were stopped by police on East Esplanade about 4pm on Sunday after the pair were found without a lawful excuse or exemption for entering the area.
The Public Health Order, which covers the entire Northern Beaches Local Government Area, has been in effect since 5pm on Saturday and remains in effect until 11.59pm on Wednesday.
The Australian understands those who breach the order can be fined a maximum of $11,000 and face potential imprisonment of up to six months as well as $1000 on-the-spot fines under the 2010 Public Health Act.
The southwest Sydney pair have been issued an infringement notice for failure to comply with the order and were directed to leave.
Authorities have urged the Northern Beaches community to report suspected breaches.
Sarah Elks 3.40pm: Qld reveals earliest date for reopening to Sydneysiders
Queensland will reopen its borders to greater Sydney when the region has recorded 28 days of no unlinked cases of COVID-19, with the earliest reopening date January 8.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young confirmed the benchmark, and said there was now 27 close contacts of northern beaches COVID-19 cases that had been identified in Queensland, with one having returned to NSW.
All were in either home or hotel quarantine, she said, and 20 of those had been tested and returned negative results.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the earliest QLD would reopen its borders to greater Sydney and the northern beaches would be January 8.
The QLD government will review the situation on that date, which is 28 days from December 11.
Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said the reinstated hard border was necessary because 81 people had been turned around at the road border since 1am this morning, with some deliberately trying to sneak into Queensland.
Sarah Elks 3.25pm: Northern beaches residents tracked to Qld
Ms Palaszczuk said being closed to greater Sydney and the northern beaches was a difficult decision but was in the “best interests” of keeping Queensland and its visitors safe.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said she was still calling for anyone who had visited the Glen Hotel on December 16 - when there was a Northern Beaches case present - come forward and be tested.
Dr Young said 560 people have come forward so far. Dr Young urged everyone with even the slightest symptoms to be tested.
“Don’t think it’s a sniffle or a cold, it could easily be COVID,” she said.
Sarah Elks 3.12pm: Qld reintroduces hard border lockdowns
Queensland will revive its hard border closures with barricades to go up on the QLD-NSW road border, after breaches on Monday.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said people were doing the wrong thing and the state could no longer “risk it” without having a hard border.
Ms Palaszczuk said the state had recorded one new case of COVID-19 in hotel quarantine in an overseas arrival.
Over 4000 people had been tested in the past 24 hours.
Ewin Hannan 3.05pm: Why Andrews will survive scathing Coate report
After months of evidence, Jennifer Coate has found not one single person was responsible for the decision to use private security in Victoria’s hotel quarantine program. Read more here
Adeshola Ore 2.55pm: Labor attacks hike in private health premiums
Labor says the Morrison government’s authorisation of a hike in private health insurance premiums is a “blow for Australian families.”
The federal government has announced a 2.74 per cent annual average increase in premiums that will take effect in April. It follows a 2.92% rise this year and 3.25% in 2019.
Opposition health spokesman Chris Bowen said the increase was “well above projected inflation” and would cost families an additional $126 per year on average.
“With premiums soaring and benefits falling, it’s no wonder that health insurance coverage is already at its lowest level in decades – and today’s announcement will only add to the pressure,” he said in a statement.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said the increase was the lowest annual average premium change for consumers in twenty years.
“Australian government reforms mean private health insurance will continue to offer Australian families affordable choice and flexibility in their health care,” he said in a statement.
READ MORE: Sydney shelves stripped bare
James Hall 2.35pm: Alarm over pub far from northern beaches
Health authorities have revealed another case from the Rose Hotel of Australia in Sydney’s inner west has been linked to the escalating northern beaches cluster. Full story here
Rachel Baxendale 2.20pm: Victorian Libs demand Andrews resignation
Victorian Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien has called for Premier Daniel Andrews to resign and for a royal commission to be held into hotel quarantine, saying Victorians have been left without answers or accountability from the Andrews government Justice Coate’s inquiry into the bungled scheme.
“Daniel Andrews and his ministers stuffed up then they covered up. Now millions of Victorian taxpayers’ dollars have been wasted with the truth remaining hidden,” Mr O’Brien said.
“Victoria’s second wave was directly caused by Daniel Andrews’ failures in Hotel Quarantine. It led to 801 deaths, 20,000 infections, 200,000 jobs lost and millions of Victorians locked in their homes for months.
“If a private sector business was responsible for such damage the directors would be held accountable. Yet the Premier and his ministers refuse to accept accountability, preferring to selfishly cling to their jobs.”
Mr O’Brien said Mr Andrews “should resign”.
“Daniel Andrews says he is responsible for the decisions made by his government. The report clearly says that ‘systemic governmental failings led to problems’,” he said.
“Daniel Andrews has failed Victorians and refuses to take responsibility for the largest public policy failure in our state’s history.
“Nobody can say who chose private security. Nobody can say who rejected the ADF and nobody is accepting responsibility for these failings.”
Mr O’Brien said a royal commission had been held into the Black Saturday bushfires, which killed 173 Victorians.
“How can Victorians move on when nobody in this Labor Government is accepting responsibility for this most catastrophic failure?” he said.
“Andrews must go and a royal commission must be established to uncover the truth that the Coate Inquiry could not find.”
READ MORE: Andrews issues apology as findings released
Adeshola Ore 2pm: Kiwi travel bubble ‘a matter for New Zealand’
Scott Morrison says any potential changes to the trans-Tasman bubble in response to the Avalon outbreak will be determined by the New Zealand government.
“The travel bubble with New Zealand is a matter for New Zealand. New Zealanders are welcome to come to Australia and that arrangement has been going very successfully,” he said. “If New Zealand wants Australians to be able to travel to New Zealand in the same way, that’s entirely a matter for New Zealand.”
READ MORE: Thailand acts amid case surge
Adeshola Ore 1.50pm: PM says lessons in quarantine report
Scott Morrison says Justice Coate’s report in Victoria’s hotel quarantine scheme has revealed important lessons.
The review by retired judge Jennifer Coate found the Andrews government’s fateful decision to use security guards in hotel quarantine was not made by any single person, but was the product of the police commissioner Graham Ashton’s preference.
“What matters most is that we learned the lessons from what happened,” The Prime Minister said.
“In the middle of a pandemic, you have to focus on making sure you learn the lessons and get it right going forward. I honestly think the best way I can continue to do that is by keeping looking forward and learning whatever we can from those experiences.”
“I am focused on working and supporting every single government in this country, leading from our government to ensure you put in place the best possible response on each and every occasion.”
— NCA Newswire
READ MORE: Congress reaches deal on Covid relief
Adeshola Ore 1.40pm: Professor Kelly plays down UK strain fears
Acting chief medical officer Professor Paul Kelly says three is no “definite evidence” that the new COVID-19 strain in the UK is a “significant change.”
“There have been thousands of mutations of this particular novel coronavirus,” Professor Kelly said in Canberra. “There is no definite evidence that this is a significant change.”
A swathe of European countries have banned flights from the UK overnight due to a concerning variant of COVID-19 spreading rapidly.
Evin Priest 1.35pm: New UK strain is now in Australia
A more virulent strain of COVID-19 that has stopped the United Kingdom in its tracks has arrived in Australia, it has been confirmed.
On Monday, NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant confirmed two travellers from the UK had brought the new strain into the country, which is estimated to be 70 per cent more transmissible than earlier versions of the virus.
“Today I’m advised that we’ve had a couple of UK returned travellers with the particular mutations you’re referring to,” Dr Chant told reporters.
Dr Chant did not say whether the couple was currently in hotel quarantine.
None of the 83 cases that have arisen out of the cluster in Sydney’s northern beaches have matched the UK strain through genomic sequencing.
“Can I be very clear that the Avalon cluster strain does not have those mutations,” Dr Chant said.
“But the key point, regardless, is that we need to treat all people with that end-to-end process of making sure that they’re not coming in contact and there is not a risk of exposure to any residents in NSW.”
A surge in cases in the UK was sparked by the new infectious strain of the virus, called VUI202012/01.
England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty said there was no evidence to suggest the strain caused a higher mortality rate or affected vaccines but was working to confirm that information.
The new strain forced UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to announce new restrictions for the Christmas period.
Adeshola Ore 1.25pm: PM open to debate on hot spot restrictions
Mr Morrison said his “door is always open” for negotiating a national agreement on coronavirus restrictions for hot spots.
“States determine their own definition of a hot spot and what restrictions they put in place,” he said. “We have sought to get a national approach to that and the states and territories have
chosen that they want to retain their flexibility to set those issues for the individual states and territories. They have the constitutional power to do that.
“In the new Year, if there is a way to get further streamlining of the tent consistency, well, my door is always open.”
Adeshola Ore 1.20pm: Swearing-in for new cabinet to go virtual
Mr Morrison confirmed that the swearing in for his new cabinet ministers would be conducted virtually tomorrow.
“Bringing people from around the country to the ACT, including from Sydney, we don’t think it is a wise decision,” he said.
“So alternative arrangements have been made with the Governor-General and we will arrange another suitable time for a formal ceremony later in January.”
Adeshola Ore 1.17pm: Defence personnel sent to help quarantine oversight
Mr Morrison said he supported states and territories classifying the northern beaches as a hotspot.
“The Avalon outbreak does qualify under the national hot spot definition and that has been the case for several days now,” he said. “So therefore the precautionary actions taken in other jurisdictions is understandable in that context.”
Mr Morrison said that 1298 defence personnel were deployed to support hotel quarantine, including 342 in NSW, 284 in Queensland and 150 in Victoria.
Adeshola Ore 1.15pm: Aged care facilities have escaped latest outbreak
Scott Morrison has confirmed there are no Covid cases from the northern beaches outbreak linked to aged care facilities.
“There are no cases in any aged care facilities in these affected areas and in fact none in the country,” The Prime Minister said.
Mr Morrison said one case in the Avalon outbreak was a visitor to an aged-care centre. He said the visitor had worn a mask and there was no suggestion of viral infection at the facility.
There are now 83 cases linked to the Avalon outbreak.
READ MORE: Covid claim lands Lorna Jane in strife
Adeshola Ore 1.10pm: PM welcomes latest NSW Covid numbers
Scott Morrison says the reduction of new Covid case numbers in the northern beaches coronavirus outbreak is welcome news.
NSW’s health authorities confirmed an additional 15 cases linked to the outbreak earlier today. The authorities said there had been no further seeding of the virus beyond the northern beaches region.
“That is no guarantee of tomorrow or the next day after that but it is certainly much better than the alternative,” The Prime Minister said in Canberra.
Mr Morrison said the actions taken by state and territory premiers in response to the cluster were necessary to maintain the gains Australia had made over the course of the pandemic.
Jared Lynch 1pm: Australians hit with health insurance spike
Most Australians will pay at least an extra 3.2 per cent for private health insurance in 2021 under new increases allowed by the federal government. Read more here
Lilly Vitorovich 12.40pm: First Australia-India Test a ratings hit
The first cricket test of the summer, which saw Australia thrash India, has proved a ratings hit for Seven Network, which is looking to strike a better broadcast deal with Cricket Australia.
The broadcaster’s coverage over the three days reached 6.37m people, peaking at 1.48m.
The third and final day of the first test at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday attracted an average national audience of 701,000 and 498,000 in the five capital cities, according to figures from ratings agency OzTam.
The first session on Saturday boasted 831,000 national viewers and 531,000 capital-city viewers, which then rose as the Aussies headed to victory.
For the second session, Seven’s national and metro audience rose to 893,000 and 587,000, respectively, as Australia won by eight wickets.
Both sessions dominated their timeslots, ranking No 1 in the demographics of people 25 to 54 and 16 to 39, plus total people.
Seven’s legal push to secure a better broadcast deal with Cricket Australia will be heard in the Federal Court in mid-March, and could lead to damages or the termination of its $450m deal.
Seven West Media, which owns the free-to-air TV network, were down 4.9 per cent to 29c in late morning trading on the ASX on Monday.
READ MORE: The 92 deliveries that rocked the world
Jess Malcolm 12.25pm: Berejiklian calls out fellow premiers
Gladys Berejiklian has implored other premiers to reconsider decisions to shut borders just five days before Christmas, saying “please think about the heartbreak”.
After millions of Australians’ plans for Christmas were thrown into turmoil on Sunday following the premiers’ decisions to slam shut borders once again, the NSW Premier asked her counterparts to use compassion when making difficult decisions that would impact families across the country.
“The only time that NSW has closed the border to anyone was Victoria. Their case numbers were more than 140 before we took that decision, and it was subsequently and then up to 180 ... And I use that fact to put things into perspective,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“Every response has to be proportionate to the risk. And all I’m saying to colleagues around the country is - please think about the heartbreak and please think about the facts when you’re making these decisions, because it impacts so many people.”
READ MORE: What happened to our larrikin spirit?
Jess Malcolm 12.15pm: SA authorities apologise for border bungle
The South Australian government has apologised for a communication bungle which saw over 100 travellers forced into quarantine before the border deadline came into effect at midnight last night.
The travellers were given the option of coming into South Australia and quarantining, or turning around and returning to NSW, and Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said there were about 100 people who decided to go home, despite no public health order being in effect.
“My advice is somewhere in the order of about 100 travellers at our road borders made the
decision to turn around and go home, and others did come through to quarantine in South Australia,” Mr Stevens said.
“We obviously regret the inconvenience and disruption that this has caused to people who were affected by the incorrect advice being provided to the checkpoint teams, but it’s important to point out that the steps we take are done in the interests of protecting the South Australian community.”
There are about 550 people quarantining in South Australia after choosing to cross the border after the public health order came into effect last night at midnight.
READ MORE: China success due to totalitarian rule
Staff Reporters 12.10pm: Alert issued over 5 cases linked to salon
Of the 15 new cases linked to Sydney’s Avalon cluster, five have a connection to The Salon for Hair at Turramurra.
Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said that authorities have contacted “the majority of people”, but some people provided incorrect or illegible contact details.
“Please prompt your friends and relatives to check whether they attended on those days, follow the advice and get tested immediately and self-isolate if you’re one or two people who we haven’t managed to track down,” she said.
Max Maddison 12pm: Wednesday decision day for Sydney Christmas
The fate of Christmas for millions of Australians rests on a crisis meeting on Wednesday morning where the NSW government will decide whether to relax the current restrictions in place to contain the northern beaches COVID-19 outbreak.
While NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the restrictions were a necessary measure to safeguard against the virus seeding in other parts of the city, she flagged restrictions may be eased if the number of cases remained low and limited to the northern beaches.
“The government is monitoring the situation almost on an hourly basis. We will consider our position in relation to what Christmas and the next few days look like beyond Wednesday, midnight on Wednesday morning,” Ms Berejiklian said.
With the locally acquired predominantly linked to the Avalon cluster, NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said the easing of restrictions would be contingent upon the virus not spreading into the wider Sydney community.
“The key thing we’re looking for is whether we have any evidence of community spread outside the Northern Beaches,” Dr Chant told a press conference on Monday morning.
“So what we’re interested in is making sure that we don’t see any further transmission that is not linked exactly to the Avalon cluster.”
READ MORE: Deadline looms for return home
Staff Reporters 11.45am: Source of Sydney cluster still not clear
NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant says investigations are continuing in tracking down the source of the northern beaches cluster, which is believed to have emanated from a returned traveller from the US.
She says NSW Health is looking at all people who could have come in contact with the returned traveller – including cleaners, drivers, health staff and flight crew on her flight.
However, she says that she is still waiting on the test results for flight crew, via the “relevant company”.
It is not clear that the returned traveller from Los Angeles was the source of the outbreak.
“It’s not a perfect match with that returned traveller. But it’s close,” Dr Chant says of the genomic code.
“This strain may well be present in other people that have come from the United States, so our investigations are broad spread. So we actually have gone back and reviewed all the CCTV footage around this individual.
“We’ve tested cleaners at the hotel. We’ve tested people who transported her when the person went to a health facility. We’ve looked at anyone who may have come in contact with her - even if they were wearing PPE.
“Also we are working with all of the international flight crew to get a sense of whether any flight crew who attended were in the country in the relevant time period.”
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Staff Reporters 11.40am: Some new cases were already isolating
NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant says of the 15 new reported Covid cases, “a number” had returned their positive test while already in isolation.
Acceptable reasons for leaving home include shopping for food and other essential goods and services; travelling to work or an educational institution if working or studying from home is not possible; exercising; seeking medical care; providing carer’s responsibilities and -
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) December 21, 2020
“The anecdotal feedback from the staff who are collating that is that a number of the cases have been isolating,” she said.
When asked what the key factors were in pursuit of an easing of lockdown restrictions, Dr Chant replied: “The key things we’re looking for is whether we have any evidence of community spread outside the northern beaches. What we’re interested in is making sure that we don’t see any further transmission that is not linked exactly to the Avalon cluster.”
Jess Malcolm 11.30am: Cut the false names, Health Minister orders
Premier Gladys Berejiklian says she still does not know what Christmas will look like for residents of NSW, as the health minister blasts people for using false information on QR codes.
Calling the latest outbreak in Sydney’s northern beaches a “volatile” situation, Ms Berejiklian said she wasn’t in a position to predict what will happen over the coming days.
For the purposes of the Order, ‘Greater Sydney’ comprises the following local government areas: Bayside, Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Burwood, Camden, Campbelltown, Canada Bay, Canterbury-Bankstown, Central Coast, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Hawkesbury, Hornsby -
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) December 21, 2020
“I appreciate how frustrating it is, and I would love to be able to tell everybody today what Christmas might look like in New South Wales or the Northern Beaches. But we’re not in a position to do that yet,” Ms Berejiklian said.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard slammed people for using fake phone numbers when signing into venues with QR codes, emphasising the importance of QR codes to bolster the state’s tracing capability.
“Now, what we are finding is that some of the visitors to various venues still think that it is funny to be caught putting in there that you’re Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse or a false phone number. That must stop,” Mr Hazzard said.
“This is a worldwide COVID pandemic. And thinking it’s smart to call yourself Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse is about as stupid as it gets.”
READ MORE: Tourism hot spots may be hiding cases
Jess Malcolm 11.25am: No new community transmission in Qld
Queensland has recorded another day without community transmission despite the worsening COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney.
Monday, 21 December – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) December 20, 2020
• 0 new locally acquired cases, 1 new overseas acquired case
• 10 active cases
• 1,235 total confirmed cases
• 1,421,147 tests
Sadly, six Queenslanders with COVID-19 have died. 1,214 patients have recovered.#covid19 pic.twitter.com/3S6naK5SGL
The Premier Annastacia Palaszcuk tweeted the state’s total’s on Monday morning with one new case in hotel quarantine bringing the state’s total number of cases to 10, following over 4000 tests conducted in the past 24 hours.
The state reinstated a hard border with Greater Sydney on Sunday barring anyone entering the state as the northern beaches cluster spiked to 68 cases yesterday.
Queenslanders in Sydney have until 1am on Tuesday to return home.
READ MORE: Business wary of uncertain future
Rachel Baxendale 11.20am: ‘Collective failure’ revealed in hotel quarantine
The Andrews government’s decision to use security guards in hotel quarantine was not made by any single person, but was the product of the police commissioner Graham Ashton’s preference, retired judge Jennifer Coate has found. Read more here
Jess Malcolm 11.10am: Berejiklian welcomes fall in new cases
NSW Premier Gladys Berejikian says she is “pleased to say overnight, we had 15 locally acquired cases - all of which are linked to the Avalon cluster. And obviously, our continued hard effort is required to make sure that we continue that downward trend.”
NSW recorded 15 locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, and an additional eight cases in returned travellers in hotel quarantine. pic.twitter.com/BBkUgXZELD
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) December 21, 2020
While the source of the initial infection still remains unclear to health officials, Ms Berejiklian said she is encouraged by the downward trend from yesterday’s numbers.
“But as we know in a pandemic, things can be volatile and can move quickly. But pleasingly overnight, we did see a reduction in the previous day’s numbers,” Ms Berejiklian said.
Staff Reporters 11.05am: NSW has 15 new Covid cases
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has revealed all of the new Covid cases are linked to the Sydney northern beaches Avalon cluster.
A record 38,000 tests were carried out in NSW, which has so far avoided a massive spike, amid border closures with other states.
NSW reported 30 new cases in the same period yesterday.
Staff Reporters 10.30am: NSW Premier to reveal latest Covid cases
Gladys Berejiklian will face the media at 11am with the state’s chief medical officer, Dr Kerry Chant, to deliver the latest news on NSW’s case numbers. You can catch full coverage in The Australian’s live coronavirus blog.
Staff Reporters 10.05am: Hotel quarantine inquiry findings imminent
Retired judge Jennifer Coate is due to begin handing down her report into Victoria’s hotel quarantine inquiry this hour. The inquiry looked at the deaths of more than 800 people, calling 63 witnesses and lasting for six months.
Jess Malcolm 9.55am: AMA chief calls for short, sharp lockdown
The Australian Medical Association President has called for a “short and sharp” South Australian-style lockdown in order to get on top of the northern beaches cluster, labelling the next few days “absolutely critical”.
Omar Khorshid said that while the South Australian Premier’s approach was heavily criticised, it was very effective in stamping out the virus, encouraging the NSW government to follow a similar approach.
“We have got to get on top of this outbreak quickly to avoid the disaster we saw in Melbourne and we know that some of the other state premiers would have gone harder and would have gone with a short and sharp down we saw in South Australia,” Dr Khorshid said on Seven’s Sunrise.
While he was not sure if a lockdown would be necessary in NSW, he said the next few days were “absolutely critical” and urged people to do the “right thing”.
Jess Malcolm 9.40am: Lockdown reprieve ‘not looking good’
Mayor of Sydney’s northern beaches Council Michael Regan says he is not hopeful that residents will be out of lockdown by Christmas as the area continues to battle a growing COVID-19 outbreak.
Sydney’s northern beaches are at the epicentre of a COVID-19 outbreak which has plunged the area back into strict lockdown until Wednesday night.
Mayor Michael Regan said that while he wants to remain hopeful, the situation is not looking good.
“We thought we saw the end of it and got over the hump but here we are days out from Christmas doing our best to make sure that we can make that happen and celebrate with our friends and family. But, we have got to remain optimistic that it is not looking good,” Mr Regan told Seven’s Sunrise.
Jess Malcolm 9.30am: Extra police head to Victoria-NSW border
Victorian Police have deployed 700 police officers along the NSW/ Victorian border to establish checkpoints in order to safeguard their state against the spread of the Northern Beaches cluster.
Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said the border closure was a “proportionate” and “necessary” measure in order to protect Victoria from any potential spread from the Avalon cluster.
“We apologise for the disruption that will cause to those communities but ... given the risk that we’re facing in the greater Sydney area and the Central Coast these are proportionate and necessary measures to keep us all safe,” Mr Foley told ABC News Breakfast on Monday morning.
He also warned there could be extended delays at the reinstated checkpoints after their request for additional ADF personnel had been limited.
The border reinstatement comes less than a month after the long-awaited relaxation of border restrictions by the NSW government on November 23.
READ MORE: Christmas week to make or break Sydney
Stephen Fidler 9.20am: What we know about the UK’s new Covid strain
Scientists are hurrying to understand why a new strain of the coronavirus that emerged in England in September appears to be spreading far more rapidly than earlier variants. Read more here
Jess Malcolm 9.05am: Northern beaches cluster source still unknown
NSW Health officials still don’t know the source of the growing COVID-19 cluster in Sydney’s northern beaches, but Health Minister Brad Hazzard refuses to blame the flight attendant suspected of breaching quarantine.
Despite the Avalon cluster ballooning to 68 infections, health officials were still furiously trying to locate the source of the initial infection on Monday morning, although NSW government figures believe it could be linked to an air crew who landed from Los Angeles on December 1.
While Mr Hazzard said genomic testing indicated that the viral strain had originated in the US, he refused to blame the flight attendant who is suspected of causing the outbreak.
“She herself – I don’t like to use the term culprit because we need to understand that the blame game is not helpful. She is certainly a person that we have got to look more closely at. How could it have possibly got from her to the beaches when she is still in a quarantine hotel? It is a human system,” Mr Hazzard told ABC News Breakfast.
“People have to accept this is a human system and if someone picked up a bag by mistake and then put it down, it could be anything that she might have handled. It just could be anything at all on that front. We don’t know the answer at this point.”
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Max Maddison 8.50am: Expert warns NSW over New Year’s Eve
A leading epidemiologist has said NSW should seriously consider cancelling New Year’s Eve events this year saying the state has reached a “tipping point”.
As the northern beaches cluster threatens to seed across the city and the state hold’s its breath awaiting the NSW Premier’s announcement of case numbers this morning, leading epidemiologist Marylouise McLaws has said New Year’s Eve events should be cancelled.
“This one is particularly problematic because the effective transmission rate is so high and on 11 December I wrote to the mayor’s office saying that they need to consider – seriously consider cancelling New Year’s Eve,” Ms McLaws has told ABC News Breakfast.
With Sydney at a “tipping point”, Ms McLaws said New Years events should be cancelled, in a bid to prevent the widespread movement of people from being an “accelerator” across the Harbour City.
READ MORE: ‘A disaster waiting to happen’
Rachel Baxendale 8.45am: Victoria’s zero case streak hits 52 days
Victoria has recorded its 52nd straight day with no new community transmissions of coronavirus, as the state’s borders slam shut to residents of greater Sydney and the NSW central coast.
Yesterday there were 0 new local cases, 1 new case acquired overseas and 0 deaths reported. 13,695 test results were received - thanks, #EveryTestHelps us to #StaySafeStayOpen. More info: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco #COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/XCSRsqsOex
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) December 20, 2020
There has been one internationally acquired case recorded in hotel quarantine in the 24 hours to Monday, bringing the total number of active cases in hotel quarantine to 13.
The latest numbers come after 13,695 tests were processed in the 24 hours to Monday.
Any NSW residents entering Victoria from the NSW “red zones” from midnight on Sunday night is required to enter a fortnight of compulsory hotel quarantine.
Victorians have until midnight tonight to return from the NSW hot spots, and are required to quarantine in their own homes for a fortnight.
READ MORE: Markets brace for Covid fallout
Staff Reporters 8.40am: Hotel quarantine inquiry to reveal findings
Inquiry Chair Jennifer Coate will hand down at 10am her findings from a six-month probe into the program in which breaches at quarantine hotels seeded Melbourne’s second wave of COVID-19, infecting more than 18,000 people and killing 801. The Australian’s coronavirus live blog will provide full coverage.
Adeshola Ore 8.30am: NSW opposition would back Sydney-wide lockdown
NSW Labor leader Jodi McKay warned too much pressure was being placed on the state’s contact tracing team, as the northern beaches cluster ballooned to 68 cases on Sunday.
“It’s the best in the world, I have no doubt about that,” she said. “But we can’t just depend on the NSW Health contact tracing team to get us through this. Everything needs to be done to make sure this is contained within the northern beaches and the spread stops.”
Ms McKay said she would support a citywide lockdown as opposed to “ring-fencing” if health authorities reported a spread of cases beyond the northern beaches today.
Jess Malcolm 8.25am: Hazzard unable to predict lockdown timeline
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has refused to say whether residents in Sydney’s northern beaches will be out of lockdown before Christmas, saying the region will have to wait for the “crisis cabinet” on Wednesday.
Speaking on ABC Radio Sydney on Monday morning, Mr Hazzard said that residents wouldn’t find out whether they would be spending Christmas under harsh lockdown restrictions until two days before Christmas.
Mr Hazzard also rebuffed calls to enforce mandatory mask wearing, saying he didn’t want to make “bus drivers become the policemen”.
“We have already seen enough aggression on the buses,” Mr Hazzard said. “Right now you should be wearing masks anywhere inside the premises, other than your own home.”
READ MORE: Bibi gets vaccine to kickstart rollout
Adeshola Ore 8.15am: NSW Labor leader calls for mask mandate
NSW Opposition Leader Jodi McKay has called on the state government to enforce mandatory mask wearing in the northern beaches if COVID case numbers rise today.
The state’s health authorities reported an additional 30 new cases on Sunday, as Gladys Berejiklian warned of possible stricter restrictions.
There’s a difference between saying masks should be worn and mandating their use. The Government must stop mincing its words and make masks mandatory on public transport, in supermarkets and shopping centres. Lives and livelihoods depend on decisive action to stop the spread.
— Jodi McKay (@JodiMcKayMP) December 20, 2020
Ms McKay said the government should enforce masks in “high-risk settings” such as places of worship and public transport.
“If the numbers are higher on the northern beaches today, I think the government should also consider compulsory mask wearing on the northern beaches,” she told the ABC.
“The minister can do this with a swipe of the pen.”
Health Minister Brad Hazzard has encouraged people in the Greater Sydney region to wear masks in public.
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Jess Malcolm 8.10am: Hunt says no need for mandatory face masks
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says he backs NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s refusal to enforce mandatory mask wearing, and has been forced to defend the federal government’s vaccination timeline.
Although he said it was “almost certain” there would be additional cases in NSW today, Mr Hunt said he supported the decision to not make face masks wearing mandatory, backing each state and territory to be guided by their own medical advice.
“We continue to follow the medical advice and we have said right from the outset, I think I was one of the earliest mask adopters from those in public life, that where states and territories believe it is appropriate to their circumstances, then we fully support that,” Mr Hunt told ABC News Breakfast.
Despite Australia’s planned vaccination rollout being months behind the UK and US, Mr Hunt defended the timeline saying it had been reduced from 10 years to 12 months.
With a swathe of European countries banning flights from the UK overnight due to a concerning variant of COVID-19 spreading rapidly, Mr Hunt said Australia would not place any restrictions on flights backing Australia’s quarantine capabilities.
The decision by European countries followed advice from the World Health Organisation to step up COVID-19 measures after a highly infectious new strain of the virus was discovered in the UK.
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Robert Gottliebsen 8.05am: Pressure on for inquiry to turn a ‘blind eye’
Despite a clear-cut case on hotel quarantine breaches, there are signs WorkSafe Victoria will crumble on the issue of prosecutions. Read more here
Jess Malcolm 7.45am: Pair fined for trying to break Sydney quarantine
Two people have been fined for attempting to breach the northern beaches quarantine zone, NSW Police Minister David Elliott says.
The entire northern beaches, from the Spit Bridge to Palm Beach, are under strict lockdown.
“I can confirm overnight, NSW police issued two infringement notices for people trying to breach the Northern Beaches quarantine zone which is very, very disappointing that after nine months of people living with these restrictions, they still want to run the gauntlet,” Mr Elliott told Seven’s Sunrise program.
“The rest of Sydney, as the Premier has rightly said, it is a case of if you don’t have to go somewhere, don’t go. We have all had to cancel events.”
The news comes after an Avalon couple flouted requirements to self-isolate visiting several venues in the northern beaches as they awaited their test results.
READ MORE: Gold Coast businesses cop body blow
Jess Malcolm 7.30am: Hunt ‘confident NSW is on top of outbreak’
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says he is confident that NSW is on top of the deteriorating northern beaches cluster as health officials scramble to contain the outbreak.
Mr Hunt said he backed “gold standard” contact tracing systems as well as the locking down the Northern Beaches area and enforcement of tighter restrictions across the rest of Sydney.
“I am confident that NSW is on top of this. There is a partnership which the Australian government, the NSW government and the people of Sydney have struck,” Mr Hunt said on Channel 7’s Sunrise.
“We know how to do this. It won’t happen immediately but what we are seeing is testing, tracing, distancing, the use of masks, all these elements coming into play.”
Mr Hunt said he’d been in contact with local member Zali Steggall and he’d been buoyed by the huge increases in testing he’d seen in the area.
“We have done this, we know how to flatten the curve in Australia. It is challenging, it’s always hard and the population but right now, the people of Sydney are responding magnificently,” Mr Hunt said.
READ MORE: New Year’s ‘mother of all super-spreaders’
Jess Malcolm 7.15am: Lockdowns ‘popular thing for premiers to do’: Fitzgibbon
Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon says political reasons may be behind the decisions of premiers shut their borders to Greater Sydney residents, ruining Christmas plans for millions of Australians.
“I think the risk now is that premiers are in no doubt that locking down is a popular thing for them to do and the opinion polls tell us that,” Mr Fitzgibbon told Channel 7’s Sunrise.
“The other curious thing is that Scott Morrison seems to be completely missing in action. At the beginning of the pandemic it was all about the National Cabinet and taking national credit but that seems to have slipped away and I find that rather curious.”
Mr Fitzgibbon also weighed into the face masks debate.
“I do not see any harm in mandating masks. I have a daughter in Melbourne and they are used to it. It is not a difficult thing to do,” he said.
READ MORE: ‘There’s worse places to sit out a lockdown’
Jess Malcolm 7am: New places of concern added to Sydney alert list
Half a dozen venues in Sydney’s eastern suburbs have been identified as places of concern as the threat of contagion from the northern beaches cluster continues to grow.
Twenty-One Espresso in Double Bay was added to NSW’s list of case locations and alerts overnight. This comes after a Paddington salon and a cafe in Darling Point were also listed, raising concern for health authorities of seeding outside the northern beaches.
NSW Health also added a number of spots on the northern beaches including gyms, beauty salons and Woolworths in Neutral Bay.
NSW Health has been notified of more venues on Sydney’s Northern Beaches and Sydney’s eastern suburbs that have been visited by confirmed cases of COVID-19.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) December 20, 2020
For information on locations, times and advice on testing and self-isolation, see https://t.co/cxtYM6JLUz pic.twitter.com/HN2CX8FDnx
Anyone who was at the following venues on the dates and at the times below is considered a close contact and should get tested immediately and self-isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result:
■ Anytime Fitness, 7 Taronga Place, Mona Vale, on Thursday, December 17 between 9.50am and 12.45pm;
■ G Fitness, 72/80 Evans Street, Freshwater, on Tuesday, December 15 between 11am and 12.45pm;
■ 4 Pines, 313 Barrenjoey Rd, Newport, on Wednesday, December 16 between 4.30pm-9pm;
■ Twenty-One Espresso, 21 Knox Street, Double Bay — any staff working on Tuesday, December 15, and patrons seated in the indoor section on that day for more than 1 hour between 7.10pm and 8.15pm as well as 8.25pm and 9.10pm.
For a full list of case locations, visit: https://t.co/EVlm25boYj
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) December 20, 2020
READ MORE: Tourism hot spots may be hiding cases
Jess Malcolm 6.45am: All states, territories slam shut borders to Sydney
Greater Sydney has been cut off from the rest of the country after the states and territories slammed shut their borders, throwing into disarray Christmas plans for millions of Australians.
On Sunday night, Victoria and the ACT followed other states’ leads declaring Greater Sydney a hotspot as the cluster on Sydney’s northern beaches grew by 30 yesterday.
In Victoria, Premier Daniel Andrews has given returning residents an extra 24 hours, stating that residents have until 11.59pm on Monday night to return home or face hotel quarantine.
For all other travellers, Mr Andrews closed the border to Greater Sydney or the Central Coast, requiring anyone from those areas to hold a permit. He strongly advised against travelling from NSW to Victoria, telling people to “stay in your state”.
The widespread restrictions come despite 28 of the 30 cases being traceable to the Avalon cluster, with the other two also in the area, leaving the NSW government “privately furious”.
In Queensland, travel restrictions from NSW were extended from 1am on Monday, with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk Queensland declaring greater Sydney a hotspot. All travellers from NSW will now require a border pass with little exceptions given.
From midnight, anyone travelling from Sydney to the ACT would be asked to self-declare and quarantine, telling anyone from Sydney to not travel to the territory.
South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory also imposed restrictions, requiring anyone who enters the states from Sydney to quarantine for 14 days. — with MAX MADDISON
READ MORE: Battle to beat the Covid Grinch
Daniel Sankey 5.45am: UK flights suspended as new strain ‘out of control’
European nations have begun suspending flights from Britain, with the UK government warning a highly infectious new COVID-19 strain was “out of control”.
As the World Health Organisation called on European members to step up coronavirus measures in the face of the new variant, nations such as Germany, Ireland, Italy, Austria, Romania, The Netherlands and Belgium all moved to ban flights from the UK.
Nine cases of the new strain currently circulating in the UK have been reported in Denmark, with one case in the Netherlands and another in Australia, where a cluster on Sydney’s northern beaches continues to grow.
Italy to join Belgium and the Netherlands in suspending flights from the UK over the fast-spreading variant of coronavirushttps://t.co/C0WzGR4xSi
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) December 20, 2020
“Unfortunately the new strain was out of control. We have got to get it under control,” UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Sky News after Prime Minister Boris Johnson U-turned on his previously stated policy of easing containment measures over the festive season.
Scientists first discovered the new variant — which they believe is 70 per cent more transmissible — in a patient in September. And Public Health England notified the government on Friday when modelling revealed the full seriousness of the new strain.
Last week, Europe became the first region in the world to pass 500,000 deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic broke out a year ago, killing more than 1.6 million worldwide and pitching the global economy into turmoil. — with AFP
Here's information on Tier 4: Stay At Home.
— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) December 20, 2020
Check the rules in your area https://t.co/NkFmf7sFmh pic.twitter.com/ukDTJBUUL2
READ MORE: The mutant COVID-19 strain that stole Christmas
Stephen Lunn 5am: Majority of Aussies would pay for early vaccine
The vast majority of Australians are willing to take a COVID-19 vaccine and most would pay to jump the queue if the price was right, international polling shows.
And just 13 per cent of Australians say they wouldn’t take the coronavirus vaccine when it becomes available, compared with almost one in four Americans.
Polling conducted by Crosby Textor in Australia, the United States, Britain, Hong Kong, India and the United Arab Emirates found 72 per cent of Australians were willing to take the vaccine, compared with 57 per cent in the US. It also found 12 per cent of Australians would pay to be vaccinated early at any price, and another 43 per cent would take the fast track depending on the cost, with most willing to pay up to $170 for an early shot.
Two vaccines, manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna, have been given emergency approval by the US Food and Drug Administration, although a rollout in Australia is not expected until next year.
The poll of 500 people taken in early December, shows Australians believe they are in a different stage of the pandemic and that the country has handled the outbreak more successfully than others.
Australians are the most bullish about having the virus under control, with 43 per cent saying they expect further waves of COVID-19 compared with 75 per cent for the US, 73 per cent for the UK, and 66 per cent for India.
Read the full story here.
Stephen Rice 4.45am: Next two days will determine Sydney’s Christmas
Sydneysiders face an anxious two-day wait to learn if Christmas plans will be cancelled as NSW health authorities race to stop the spread of the coronavirus cluster on the city’s northern beaches.
As tests revealed 30 new cases, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned of stricter restrictions, including on family gatherings, by Wednesday if case numbers kept rising.
On Sunday the NSW Premier imposed new stay-at-home orders for residents of Sydney’s northern beaches, and directions for the rest of the city to defer non-essential travel. Ms Berejiklian said there was no evidence “of massive seeding outside the northern beaches community”.
Health authorities will on Wednesday morning provide advice about whether the new restrictions, including a limit of 10 visitors to a home, are working. However senior government sources are confident they will not have to tighten restrictions further, indicating they believe the northern beaches cluster does not represent a Victorian-style crisis.
Read the full story here.
Stephen Rice 4.30am: Christmas to create ‘mother of all super-spreading events’
NSW is on the brink of disaster as it faces major COVID-19 superspreader events on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, a leading epidemiologist has warned, urging an immediate lockdown across greater Sydney if the infection rate is not down on Monday.
“New Year’s Eve is going to be the mother of all super-spreading events because the people who get infected on Christmas Day are going to be at their absolute maximum infectiousness on New Year’s Eve,” said UNSW Professor Raina MacIntyre.
“That’s a disaster waiting to happen.”
The biggest danger is that large numbers of people who are infectious but don’t know it — as around half of all infections are asymptomatic — will travel across Sydney on Christmas Day for lunch or dinner and infect others.
The R number — the number of people that one infected person will pass on a virus to — is about 3, but it may be higher at this time of the year because so many people are out mingling and socialising.
“So if we have 40 new cases on Monday that’ll be 120 new infections that those people pass on by Christmas Day,” Professor MacIntyre said.
Read the full story here.
Geoff Chambers 4.15am: Fatalities spike drives home road safety message
Coalition seats in regional Australia have recorded the highest road death rates across the country, with 85 per cent of the top 20 deadliest federal electorates held by Liberal and Nationals MPs.
The Australian Automobile Association, representing major motoring bodies including the NRMA, RACV and RACQ, has released data showing motorists were almost five times more likely to die on regional roads compared to city roads.
Road toll figures have continued to jump, with a 12.9 spike in fatalities in the September quarter as people returned to the roads following the lifting of COVID-19 movement restrictions.
In response to the road toll, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack announced a $2bn funding injection in the October budget to support his aim of zero fatalities and serious injuries by 2050. The federal government’s national road safety strategy outlining a 10-year plan to drive down road fatalities, prepared in conjunction with the states and territories, will be released early next year.
AAA managing director Michael Bradley said that “when it comes to road safety”, federal MPs needed to look closer to home over the summer break.
Mr Bradley said the government’s funding commitments were critical in addressing “Australia’s terrible road safety performance of recent years”.
Read the full story here.
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