Coronavirus Australia live news: Josh Frydenberg slams ‘whingeing’ Daniel Andrews
Josh Frydenberg has hit back at Daniel Andrews, accusing him of politicising the NSW lockdown.
- PM, Premier boost lockdown relief
- Mandatory testing for hotspot workers
- NSW records 89 new cases
- Bondi apartment under police guard
- Barilaro flags new restrictions
Welcome to rolling coverage of the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
With 89 new Covid-19 cases today, PM boosts state-wide economic support package to help NSW businesses and employees unable to work, in a joint venture with the NSW government.
People living in the western Sydney local government area of Fairfield who need to leave the area for work will be required to take a Covid-19 test every three days under a new public health order. It comes as NSW recorded one death and 89 new Covid-19 cases, taking the current cluster to 767.
Rachel Baxendale11.15pm:New Victorian hotspots
Two new coronavirus exposure sites have been listed by Victorian authorities.
The dates and locations indicate they may be linked to three Sydney removalists who visited Melbourne last Thursday, ahead of two of them testing positive for coronavirus in recent days.
The Tier One exposure sites added late on Tuesday are the Caltex service station and Hungry Jack’s restaurant at Kalkallo, 30km north of Melbourne.
Anyone who was present at either site between 9.07am and 10.06am last Thursday, July 8, must quarantine for 14 days and get tested for coronavirus as soon as possible.
The removalists have been interviewed with Victorian health authorities since Monday morning, with Victorian Covid-19 logistics chief Jeroen Weimar saying on Tuesday that the trio had not “been forthcoming” with information about their movements.
Rhiannon Down11pm: Sydney exposure list balloons
More medical centres have become exposure sites, along with food and retail outlets across Sydney’s west.
The BHC Medical Centre in Lakemba and Primary Health Care Medical and Dental Centre pharmacy in Bankstown were added to the exposure list late on Tuesday, continuing a worrying trend in possible exposures in medical centres and pharmacies.
G James Glass and Aluminium in Smithfield and Sydney Wide Building Materials in Greenacre were also added to the list as close contact exposure sites, with anyone who visited the construction outlets asked to get tested and isolate for 14 days.
Kaffeine & Co in Yagoona and Chubby Buns Burger in Punchbowl were also added as close contact sites.
Punchbowl Woolworths, the Belrose Hotel Bottle Shop, Adam’s Kebabs and Pizza-Pide in Hurstville, O’Loughlin’s Medical Pharmacy in St Ives, Espresso Warriors in Blacktown and Cotton On and Cotton on Body also in Blacktown were among the locations listed as casual contact sites.
The full list is available on the NSW Health website.
âš ï¸PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT – VENUES OF CONCERNâš ï¸
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 13, 2021
NSW Health has been notified of a number of new venues of concern associated with
confirmed cases of #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/loO5P2eOsG
Tom Dusevic10.30pm:HomeKeeper is one expensive limo ride
From little things big things grow, from little slips big costs flow.
That’s proving to be the soundtrack to the pandemic, as Canberra chips in at least $5bn to support the nation’s economic powerhouse through a lockdown that began from a single lapse in quarantine.
That’s one expensive limo ride, not even accounting for the toll in lives interrupted and made miserable.
Damon Johnston10pm:Dan’s spin doctor writes the playbook
Sue Loukomitis’s email hits Lissie Ratcliff’s inbox at 3.26pm on a Monday in May last year.
The QDOS research director’s message contains a link to that night’s focus group so Ratcliff, Premier Dan Andrews’s chief of staff, and other members of his private office can watch the session.
“Hi (redacted) and Lissie, here’s the Zoom link for tonight’s group (females living in South Yarra),” Loukomitis writes on May 25.
She then indicates the “SY females” would not be told the identities of the influential Andrews government observers. “Our office will de-identify you and keep your mics/cameras off, but let me know if you’d rather have your cameras on. Either way, I’ll just mention we have observers,” the QDOS executive tells Ratcliff in the email.
Another member of the Premier’s private office, whose identity has been redacted, emails Loukomitis back: “Really OK to keep my camera off Sue!”
Loukomitis responds: “Hah! We’ll stick with Plan A then.”
Loukomitis, two days later, sends another email to Ratcliff and Jeremi Moule, then the Premier’s deputy secretary and now his top public servant, and Genevieve Dolan, the Premier’s executive director strategic communication. In it, she provides links to the previous night’s focus group session on “Dandenong females” and “Dandenong males”.
The exchanges about “SY females” and “Dandy females” and “Dandy males” are in three partially censored emails released to The Australian under Freedom of Information laws.
The emails, dated May and June of 2020, offer an insight into the close working relationship between QDOS – owned and operated by Labor strategist John Armitage – and the Premier’s private office.
They go some way to explaining Armitage’s significant role in the Premier’s relentless and secretive information-gathering operation, which, based on these and other emails, was used from the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic right through the second wave and the 112-day lockdown.
Joe Kelly, Sid Maher 9.15pm:Frydenberg slams ‘whingeing’ Andrews
Josh Frydenberg has hit back at Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, accusing him of “whingeing’’ and politicising the NSW lockdown after the Victorian government accused Canberra of making the state “beg for every scrap of support from the federal government’’.
Appearing on the ABC’s 7:30 program, the federal Treasurer dismissed suggestions the commonwealth was demonstrating double standards by providing extra support to NSW during its current Covid crisis and initially not Victoria during its last lockdown.
Mr Frydenberg said the federal government had “provided more support on a per capita basis to Victoria through JobKeeper.”
“Victoria was offered a 50-50 split and decided to reject it.”
He also said the current situation in NSW was different to Victoria’s extended lockdown last year, arguing the state was not dealing with the Delta variant. “They had a massive quarantine failure,” the Treasurer said. “Then they had an inquiry that didn’t find anyone took responsibility or made the decision.”
“People are sick of his whingeing and his politicking of the crisis,’’ Mr Frydenberg said.
When anyone challenged Mr Andrews, including the ABC’s Leigh Sales, “the bots and the trots’’ attacked them.
Mr Frydenberg said the payments for the two weeks of Victoria’s lockdown were the same as the payments for NSW. The new measures announced on Tuesday could be used for outbreaks around the country.
Mr Frydenberg conceded the lockdowns would have an impact on the economy. The budget had anticipated lockdowns but not one of the scale of that in NSW.
“We’ve responded today with a very significant support package in a partnership with NSW. It’s both a cash flow boost which directly supports businesses based on the size of their payroll, as well as extending the individual payments to households, to workers — $600 a week or to $375 a week — depending on the number of hours a week that’s been lost,’’ Mr Frydenberg said.
The Andrews government had earlier said it should not have taken a crisis in Sydney for the federal government to provide support to Australians experiencing lockdowns.
When Victoria went through its recent two-week lockdown, the Morrison government initially refused to provide any income support to workers in the absence of JobKeeper, before announcing a payment of up to $500 for employees with less than $10,000 in savings.
A spokesperson for the Andrews government welcomed Tuesday’s joint NSW-federal package for businesses and workers, saying “everyone in Australia” believed people in Sydney and NSW deserve “every possible support as they battle a second wave and a long lockdown”.
“But Victorians are rightly sick and tired of having to beg for every scrap of support from the federal government,” the spokesperson said.
“It shouldn’t take a crisis in Sydney for the Prime Minister to take action but we are seeing the same double standard time and time again. His job is not to be the Prime Minister for NSW.
“We had to shame the federal government into doing their job and providing income support for Victorian workers when we battled the Delta strain earlier this year. Their position at the time was a disgrace.’’
READ MORE: Morrison’s blueprint for Covid relief
AFP 8.30pm:Seoul bans fast gym music
South Korean mega-hit “Gangnam Style” may be taken off gym playlists in the greater Seoul region — but K-pop giants BTS can stay — under new rules aimed at stemming a rising tide of coronavirus infections.
The regulations, aimed at stopping gym-goers breathing too hard or splashing sweat on others, ban gyms from playing music with a faster tempo than 120 beats per minute during group exercises like zumba and spinning.
They come as tighter social distancing rules — such as smaller gatherings and shorter store hours — begin to bite this week.
The musical diktat has prompted ridicule and fury, and a list of “safe” K-pop songs is circulating online, which includes the latest hits from BTS including Dynamite (114 bpm) and Butter (110 bpm).
But Psy’s Gangnam Style, at 132 bpm, will have to stay off the workout playlist for now.
South Korean infection rates remain low by global standards at little more than 1000 a day, but are at their highest of the pandemic, with new records set on three consecutive days recently.
That has alarmed authorities in a country where the vaccine rollout has been slow and convoluted, hampered by a failure to obtain supplies.
And while the restriction allows businesses to remain open, gym owners and users alike poured scorn on the measure.
“Now I have to worry about the bpm of the song I’m playing,” wrote a user in an online club of gym owners.
“I guess the virus spreads faster depending on the tempo of the music,” another added.
And 35-year-old gym-goer Kim Hyun-joon questioned the rule’s effectiveness. “I’m grateful that I can still work out at a gym,” he said, adding: “Wouldn’t most people listen to their own music on their airpods anyways?”
The new rules also put a maximum 6km/h speed limit on treadmills.
“Are we going to get speeding tickets?” wrote an online user. Another user added: “Maybe they’ll start placing limits on how fast we walk or run outside.”
South Korea had previously been held up as a model of how to combat the pandemic, with the public largely following social distancing and other rules, but adherence has waned over time.
The country reported 1100 new infections on Tuesday, most of them in the capital and its surrounding areas, which are home to around half the South Korean population.
The resurgence prompted President Moon Jae-in to apologise to the public on Monday for the tightened rules.
AFP 7.45pm: Thailand defends Covid vaccine ‘mix-and-match’
Thailand has defended mixing two different Covid-19 vaccines to battle a surge in infections, after the WHO’s top scientist warned it was a “dangerous trend” not backed by evidence.
The kingdom is struggling to contain its latest outbreak fuelled by the highly contagious Delta variant, with cases and deaths skyrocketing and the healthcare system stretched thin.
Authorities said they will mix a first dose of the Chinese-made Sinovac jab with a second dose of AstraZeneca to try and achieve a “booster” effect in six weeks instead of 12.
Thailand’s chief virologist Yong Poovorawan said this would be possible by combining an inactivated virus vaccine — Sinovac — with a viral vector vaccine such as AstraZeneca.
“We can’t wait 12 weeks (for a booster effect) in this outbreak where the disease is spreading fast,” he said on Tuesday.
“But in the future, if there are better, improved vaccines ... we will find a better way to manage the situation.”
His comments come a day after the World Health Organisation’s chief scientist, Soumya Swaminathan, called the strategy a “dangerous trend”.
“We are in a bit of a data-free, evidence-free zone as far as ‘mix-and-match’,” she said.
Thailand has reported more than 353,700 coronavirus cases and 2847 deaths — the bulk of them detected since the latest wave kicked off in April from an upscale Bangkok nightlife district.
Healthcare workers were the first in line to receive Sinovac, but authorities said on Sunday nearly 900 medical staff — most of them vaccinated with that shot — got Covid-19.
They will now also get an AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot, authorities said.
Virus hotspot Bangkok and nine other hard-hit provinces are now under tougher restrictions that include a night-time curfew and a ban of gatherings over five people.
READ MORE: Beijing strikes deal to sell 550m Covid jabs
Rachel Baxendale 7pm:Morrison government hits backs at Victoria
The federal government has hit back at Victoria’s complaints about a lack of aid for workers during its recent lockdown, saying the state received the “same support” for its two-week “circuit breaker” lockdown as NSW.
“The conditions for payments and the levels of payments were exactly the same,” the federal government said.
“As the pandemic has evolved and as the situation in NSW has gone beyond those two weeks, the commonwealth’s support has also evolved.
“If Victoria were to go into another extended lockdown, it would receive the same support as is being offered to NSW.
“During the most recent Victorian lockdown, the commonwealth offered to share all costs with Victoria.
“Victoria declined, and asked for the commonwealth to handle income support while they would support businesses.”
The federal government said Victoria had received $4220 per capita in JobKeeper payments compared with $3684 per capita in NSW.
Victorians were locked down for 163 days last year, compared to 45 days in NSW, meaning Victorians received an average of $25.89 in JobKeeper payments for every day they spent in lockdown, compared with $81.87 per day of lockdown for those in NSW.
“The NSW government has worked constructively with the commonwealth to support their households and businesses while the Victorian government’s politicised approach has unfortunately been to issue decrees by media instead of picking up the phone to find solutions as a partnership,” the federal government said.
READ MORE: Lockdown lessons in a tale of two US states
Rhiannon Down 6.35pm:Sunshine Coast hot spots announced
Queensland’s Sunshine Coast has several new hot spots after the state recorded two local Covid-19 cases on Tuesday.
Sunshine Beach Newsagency and General Store, Kenilworth Country Bakery, Eumundi Village Pharmacy and the nearby Humdrum Espresso have been added to the exposure list as casual contact sites.
Shoppers at the toys and sports section, as well as the check out at K Hub Junction Plaza, Big W Noosa Civic have been put on high alert, along with BWS at Noosa Fair Shopping Centre.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk confirmed the two new cases were already in home quarantine and “we are not worried about any of them”.
âš ï¸Public Health Alert âš ï¸
— Queensland Health (@qldhealthnews) July 13, 2021
Queensland Health is issuing new contact tracing locations in Kenilworth, Noosa, Eumundi and Sunshine Beach.
Full details can be found at https://t.co/rujm8F3qL4pic.twitter.com/6l6bpagaK0
READ MORE: Big change to AstraZeneca vaccine advice
Rachel Baxendale6.20pm: Andrews government slams federal support
The Andrews government says it should not have taken a crisis in Sydney for the federal government to provide support to Australians experiencing lockdowns.
When Victoria went through its recent two-week lockdown, the Morrison government initially refused to provide any income support to workers in the absence of JobKeeper, before announcing a payment of up to $500 for employees with less than $10,000 in savings.
A spokesperson for the Andrews government welcomed Tuesday’s joint NSW-federal package for businesses and workers, saying “everyone in Australia” believed people in Sydney and NSW deserve “every possible support as they battle a second wave and a long lockdown”.
“But Victorians are rightly sick and tired of having to beg for every scrap of support from the federal government,” the spokesperson said.
“It shouldn’t take a crisis in Sydney for the Prime Minister to take action but we are seeing the same double standard time and time again. His job is not to be the Prime Minister for NSW.
“We had to shame the federal government into doing their job and providing income support for Victorian workers when we battled the Delta strain earlier this year. Their position at the time was a disgrace.
“If they had bothered to think about this at the time and work with Victoria, they’d already have had a practical framework in place when NSW went into lockdown and more people would have got the support they need earlier.”
READ MORE: Rare neurological condition risk seen with J&J vaccine
Rhiannon Down6pm:String of new exposure sites
A string of shopping centres and retail outlets concentrated in Sydney’s western suburbs have been added to the list of exposure sites, as health authorities grapple to contain the outbreak.
Coles Fairfield Forum has been added to the list across multiple windows from Friday, July 9, to Sunday, July 11, as well as Chemist Warehouse, Aldi and BP Carrington in Fairfield East.
Multiple venues at Westfield Penrith Plaza in Penrith have also been added, including Trims Fruit Shop, Woolworths and the ground floor food court.
âš ï¸PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT – VENUES OF CONCERNâš ï¸
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 13, 2021
NSW Health has been notified of a number of new venues of concern and transport routes associated with confirmed cases of #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/XYkDX2XNv1
Lennox Village and McDonalds in Emu Plains, Dan Murphy’s Guilford, Woolworths Granville, Sydney Sand and Cement in Bankstown and Penrith Pies and Pastries in Jamisontown have also been added to the list.
A string of Bondi Junction outlets have been added this afternoon, including: Woolworths, O Superfood, Dominos, BWS and Kmart Westfield, The Cook and Baker and Blooms the Chemist at Eastgate.
Chippendale’s Central Park Mall has also been added to the list.
Multiple train lines have been added, including from Hurstville, Miranda, Wynyard and Green Square stations.
The full list with exposure times is available on the NSW Health website.
READ MORE: Bondi in lockdown … but you wouldn’t know it
Helena Burke4.55pm:NSW lockdown cash boost breakdown
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced a cash rescue plan for NSW workers and businesses as the Sydney Covid-19 outbreak rages on.
From Sunday, the COVID-19 Disaster Payment will increase from $500 to $600 per week if a person has lost 20 hours or more of work a week, or $325 to $375 each week if a person has lost between eight and 20 hours of work.
This will become a recurring payment for approved recipients for as long as the Commonwealth declared hotspot and lockdown restrictions remain in place.
People will be eligible for the payment even if they are still working, provided they have lost more than eight hours or a full day of work.
Small and medium businesses will also receive cash support from Sunday for 40 per cent of their payroll payments, at a minimum of $1500 and a maximum of $10,000 per week, provided they don’t lay off staff.
These support payments will be available to businesses with or without staff in NSW.
To receive the payment, businesses will be required to maintain their full time, part time and long term casual staffing level as of July 13, 2021.
For businesses without staff, such as sole traders, the payment will be $1000 per week.
However, businesses will only be eligible if their turnover is now 30 per cent lower than an equivalent two-week period in 2019.
The Commonwealth will fund 50 per cent of the cost of the business support payments, with the NSW Government to fund the rest.
From July 18th, the COVID-19 Disaster Payment will also be made available to those outside of a Commonwealth declared hotspot providing they meet the criteria for the payment.
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet also announced that there would be no loutouts or evictions during Sydney’s protracted lockdown.
“Any rent reduction from landlords to their tenants - we will provide a rebate or discount to land tax payable from that landlord to the state,” he said.
While the Commonwealth government will be funding the Disaster Payment for those within a declared hotspot, the NSW Government will remain responsible for any payments outside of hot spots.
READ MORE:Bondi in lockdown .. but you woudn’t know it
Rhiannon Down4.25pm:AstraZeneca OK for under-60s in ‘outbreak settings’
Adults who are at risk of contracting Covid-19 who don’t have access to the Pfizer shot should be able to access the AstraZeneca jab, according to new guidelines released by federal health authorities today.
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) updated it’s advice this afternoon due to a “reassessment of benefits versus risks”, as the Sydney outbreak worsens.
“In the context of a COVID-19 outbreak where the supply of Comirnaty (Pfizer) is constrained, adults younger than 60 years old who do not have immediate access to Comirnaty (Pfizer) should re-assess the benefits to them and their contacts from being vaccinated with COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, versus the rare risk of a serious side effect,” ATAGI said.
The Pfizer jab had previously been the preferred vaccine for the under 60s, with the advice remaining unchanged for those in “non-outbreak settings”.
READ the full story here.
Max Maddison4.05pm:Relief for micro businesses and tenants
Micro businesses and tenants will also benefit from the “unprecedented” economic package aimed at keeping the NSW economy afloat throughout the Greater Sydney lockdown.
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said businesses with a turnover of between $30,000 and $75,000 who saw their turnover reduced by 30 per cent would receive a payment of $1500 per fortnight starting from week one of the lockdown period.
Mr Perrottet also announced an eviction moratorium for commercial and retail tenants throughout the lockdown, while a rebate would be offered to landlords who provided rent reduction during the period.
Residential tenancies would also be offered protections, with the moratorium applied for 60 days for workers who saw their income reduced by 25 per cent.
Max Maddison3.55pm:PM, NSW Premier boost lockdown relief
The Morrison government will provide a state-wide economic support package to help businesses and employees impacted by the lockdown of Greater Sydney, in a joint venture with the NSW government.
NSW businesses will be offered a boost of up to $10,000, while the broad financial assistance package will provide employees who have lost more than 20 hours work up to $600 per week after the fourth week of lockdown.
People who lose between eight and 20 hours of work per week will be eligible to receive up to $375, while businesses who have a turnover of up to $50 million this year will be able to receive the direct payments.
“You don’t have to have lost your job, you don’t have to have left your employer. It doesn’t matter who your employer is. If you have lost those hours, you can access that payment right now,” Mr Morrison told a press conference on Tuesday.
The employee package will be first available to the four local government areas who first went into lockdown, and will become a recurring payment for the extent of the lockdown.
READ MORE:
Rachel Baxendale3.05pm:Timeline of infected removalists’ movements
Victorian Covid-19 logistics chief Jeroen Weimar has outlined the movements of three removalists who travelled from Sydney, to Melbourne, to Adelaide and back to Sydney late last week before two of the three tested positive for coronavirus.
Thursday July 8:
9:30am the removalists arrive at a property in Craigieburn, in Melbourne’s outer north, to deliver - furniture to a family of five. All have so far tested negative and have been in isolation since Monday.
1pm - the removalists arrive at the Ariele apartment complex in Craigieburn, in Melbourne’s west, to retrieve furniture from another family, dealing primarily with an adult male. He has since tested negative, as have his family. All are now in hotel quarantine. From 8:30pm on Monday night the entire apartment complex, comprising 78 apartments, was locked down.
5pm-7pm the removalists visit the Mobil service station at Ballan, 70km west of Melbourne, where they use the shower and bathroom facilities. They also visit the adjacent McDonalds restaurant.
Friday July 9:
The removalists arrive in Adelaide in the early hours of the morning, unloading the Maribyrnong family’s furniture. During the course of the day one of the men receives a call from NSW contact tracers, advising them that they are a close contact of a positive coronavirus case.
Saturday July 10:
The removalist who is a close contact gets tested
Sunday July 11:
A positive result is returned for the first removalist, and NSW health authorities notify Victoria late on Sunday night.
Monday July 12:
A second removalist tests positive. The third is symptomatic. Victorian contact tracers spend the day establishing the removalists’ movements, quarantining the two families and locking down the apartment building.
READ MORE: New exposure site after removalist cases
Max Maddison 2.40pm:‘Recovery hostage to Morrison’s vaccine failures’
Opposition treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers says any economic recovery is being held “hostage” by Scott Morrison’s failure to procure a sufficient supply of vaccines, which means the country is “locking down while other countries are opening up”.
With the Morrison government expected to announce a financial stimulus package, similar to the JobKeeper, for Greater Sydney later today, Mr Chalmers said the Prime Minister needed to make up for the “egregious error”, namely the failure to procure enough vaccinations.
“This support wouldn’t be necessary if the Prime Minister had done his job in the first place; the Treasury wouldn’t have to assume more lockdowns for longer,” Mr Chalmers told Sky News on Tuesday afternoon.
“If we had done what other countries are doing, which is to get vaccines right in particular, our failure to do that as a country under Scott Morrison means that we are locking down while other countries are opening up.”
READ MORE: US warns China it will fight for Philippines
Ben Wilmot 2.30pm:Woolies launches ‘dark store’
Supermarket giant Woolworths is opening a new dark supermarket in Sydney’s southern suburbs that will become the first of its stores where customers can drop in and pick up groceries.
The format will likely be rolled out across other suburbs as retailers switch focus to customers staying more in the suburbs even when office workers return to their desks.
Woolworths has lodged plans for a the new online customer fulfilment centre in Caringbah with a major developer to build the facility at a former Toyota site.
The project in Caringbah is the next step in Woolworths’ e-commerce network development, which includes existing facilities in Mascot, Brookvale and Lidcombe, with a further automated site planned for Auburn.
The development application for the 7,200sq m Caringbah centre will see it sit in Aliro Group’s 2229 estate on Endeavour Road.
If approved, the centre would offer customers spanning from Kurnell to Engadine access to more than 15,000 extra home delivery and direct to boot pick up windows each week.
The plans come as Woolworths reported e-commerce sales growth of 92 per cent from July to December 2020. with e-commerce sales now accounting for around eight per cent of the retailer‘s total sales.
READ the full story here
Rachel Baxendale1.49pm: Why Victorian family won’t be punished for breach
Victorian Covid-19 logistics chief Jeroen Weimar says authorities will not punish a coronavirus positive man who visited a supermarket and service station while he was supposed to be in home quarantine, because he and his family have otherwise “done the right thing”.
A woman and two children flew back from Sydney to the family home in the City of Hume in Melbourne’s north on July 4, before being joined by the woman’s partner, who drove back on July 8.
All family members got tested on their return to Victoria and initially returned negative test results.
“Two of them then became symptomatic on Sunday 11th and tested again and turned positive,” Mr Weimar said on Tuesday.
“We were notified of those test results yesterday morning. Subsequently, one other household member on a retest done yesterday has turned positive.”
Authorities believe the adult male family member passed the virus on to the other members of the family after he returned from NSW.
That man also visited Coles supermarket at the Craigieburn Central shopping centre between 5.28pm and 6.38pm on Saturday, and Metro Petroleum in Broadmeadows between 1.19pm and 2.04pm on Sunday, in breach of home quarantine requirements.
Despite this, Mr Weimar thanked the family for their co-operation.
“Not only did they come in on the right red zone permits, not only did they get tested when they arrived within the first three days, crucially, they got tested again when they became symptomatic and have been very fulsome and open to us about any movements that they’ve had,” he said.
READ MORE: Tale of two Bondis – unit block quarantined, freedom at the beach
Anton Nilsson 1.34pm: Mandatory testing for hotspot workers
People living in the western Sydney local government area of Fairfield who need to leave the area for work will be required to take a Covid-19 test every three days under a new public health order.
The new rule was announced on Tuesday morning as NSW recorded 89 new local coronavirus cases.
“If you live in the Fairfield local government area, you need to have regular Covid tests to demonstrate that you are Covid free, even if you don’t have symptoms,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.
“The Health Minister did sign a new health order which mandates that everybody who leaves the local government area for work is tested every three days to demonstrate that they are negative.”
NEW VIRUS RULE FOR FAIRFIELD RESIDENTS
If you need to leave Fairfield LGA for essential work, you must get a Covid-19 test every three days
If you have symptoms, you should not leave your home at all
You do not have to self-isolate while waiting for the test result
She clarified people who had symptoms should not go to work, and instead get tested and self-isolate at home.
But people in Fairfield who do not have symptoms and need to leave the area for essential work will not need to isolate.
Fairfield has emerged as a major hot spot with more than 200 local cases confirmed in the past four weeks.
Essential work is one of the four legitimate reasons for leaving home under Sydney’s lockdown rules.
“It is a measure to go and get the test. Obviously, if it turns out to be positive, our public health officials will be in contact with them almost immediately and they will then do what everybody else has had to do,” Health Minister Brad Hazzard said.
Ordinarily, people who get tested for Covid-19 should self-isolate while waiting for the result to avoid spreading the virus to others in case they are positive.
People can be infected with coronavirus and risk spreading it to others even if they don’t feel any symptoms.
The government has not defined exactly what essential work is, but has said anyone who can do their work from home should do so.
The other three reasons to leave home are:
Exercise outdoors in groups of two or fewer
Medical care or compassionate needs. (People can leave home to have a Covid-19 vaccination unless they have been identified as a close contact)
Shopping for essential goods and services
Nobody will be allowed to visit another person’s home until the lockdown is lifted.
The lockdown is currently slated to be in place until Friday but the government has indicated it is likely to be extended. – NCA Newswire
Rachel Baxendale 12.54pm:300 close contacts linked to removalists, family
Victorian Covid-19 logistics chief Jeroen Weimar said that since Victoria’s two latest coronavirus incursions from NSW had been identified on Monday, authorities had identified three new coronavirus cases and 13 household primary close contacts.
It is understood only some of these contacts relate to a family of four in the Hume local government area in Melbourne’s north who returned from Sydney last week, three of whom have tested positive.
Others relate to two families who interacted with a team of three Sydney removalists, two of whom have tested positive for the virus.
Mr Weimar said a further 300 close contacts had been identified using a combination of QR codes, doorknocking, SMS or direct phone contact.
Jess Malcolm12.26pm: Infected Bondi apartment block under police guard
A Bondi Junction apartment block at the centre of an emerging Covid-19 cluster has been placed under police guard in a bid to stop the spread of the virus seeping further into the community.
NSW Health authorities confirmed one further case detected in the building, bringing the total cluster to nine cases across five different households.
The police moved in to shut the building down yesterday, with officers stationed through the night to ensure no one exits or enters the building.
The building has been taped off and police continue to patrol outside.
Mask wearing in common areas has also been enforced in all apartment buildings across the state.
READ MORE: Sydney group fined for superyacht trip to Queensland
Rachel Baxendale12.18pm: Victoria battling 20 current virus cases
Victoria currently has 20 active cases of coronavirus, 15 of which are in recently returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine.
Two of the remaining cases are in staff members from a dry cleaning business in Melbourne’s bayside Sandringham, one of whom caught the virus at a party in Sydney’s Hoxton Park.
Both these men remain in hospital but are understood to be recovering.
The remaining three cases are three members of a family of four who tested positive for the virus on Monday, having returned from Sydney last week.
An adult male member of the family who drove back from Sydney on July 8 is understood to have caught the virus there, before passing it on to his female partner and one of their children, who flew back from Sydney on July 4.
All of NSW and the ACT have now been declared red zones by Victorian health authorities, while Brisbane, Moreton Bay and the Sunshine Coast are orange, requiring those returning to Victoria to isolate until they receive a negative test result.
Acting Victorian chief health officer Dan O’Brien reminded people returning to the state from red zones that they must quarantine at home for 14 days.
“Quarantine means quarantine. It doesn’t mean leaving home unless you have an urgent medical reason or you need to get tested,” he said.
Professor O’Brien said Health department “household engagement teams” had visited 269 households on Monday, 255 of which included red zone permit holders who had recently returned from NSW.
“Of those 269, we identified two who had been not isolating and these will be escalated to health services and onto authorities if appropriate,” he said.
Professor O’Brien said health department authorised officers had met 4,300 interstate travellers at Melbourne Airport on Monday, 1700 of whom were from NSW red zones.
“We obviously remain very concerned about our inbound risk from interstate,” Professor O’Brien said.
He said Victoria had now experienced four incursions from NSW in recent weeks.
These include a family of four from Melbourne’s northern suburbs, three of whom tested positive on Monday, a team of removalists who visited Melbourne last Thursday, two workers at a Sandringham dry cleaning business, one of whom contracted the virus at a party in Sydney’s Hoxton Park, and a Virgin crew member who stayed overnight in Melbourne while contagious.
Jess Malcolm11.58am:NSW weighs manufacturing its own mRNA vaccines
The NSW government is considering building mRNA vaccine manufacturing capability in the state, Gladys Berejiklian has confirmed.
The NSW Premier said she is working closely with the university sector and the chief scientist to develop manufacturing in the state.
MRNA vaccines include the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine which Australia has struggled to obtain in the global race for Covid-19 vaccines.
Ms Berejiklian said it was important to future proof the population in preparation for new coronavirus strains and more unforeseen supply issues.
“As soon as we have major developments, I would be happy to convey that to the community,” she said.
“We know that these needs won’t stop, even when Covid stops.
“We have to anticipate and assume that we may need these vaccinations in the future and I would like New South Wales to build the capacity to have an unlimited supply moving forward.
“I want to thank our chief scientists and a number of people across government who are working with the university sector and others to bring that to fruition in New South Wales.”
READ MORE:Amazon forced to shut centre
Jess Malcolm11.47am:Berejiklian to reveal lockdown length tomorrow
Gladys Berejiklian has confirmed she will reveal the anticipated length of the Sydney lockdown tomorrow or Thursday.
While she has already conceded it was “impossible” for Sydney to come out of lockdown this Friday as scheduled, Ms Berejiklian will provide more certainty on how much longer it will extend.
The NSW Premier said the state’s public health response is very different to other outbreaks due to the significant challenges posed by the Delta variant.
“Previously whether it was the Crossroads cluster or the Avalon cluster, it was a different strain of the virus and we were able to do things differently,” she said.
“We were able to lift the lockdown after a certain stage and limit it to a certain part of Sydney.
“Because this is so transmissible, the risk is so much greater, so that is why we are treating this virus differently and this lock down differently because it is a game changer.”
Ms Berejiklian confirmed officials were still aiming to drive cases who have spent time in the community while infectious to zero.
READ MORE: Hadley gives Alan Jones a serve over Covid
Jess Malcolm 11.35am: Police can check Fairfield workers’ test results
Essential workers in Fairfield will not have to go into forced isolation during regular testing, health minister Brad Hazzard has confirmed.
The precautionary testing will mean workers will be able to continue going to work and not have to isolate, similar to testing already conducted on aged care and frontline workers.
“We have to balance having no workforce to do that against what is pragmatic,” Dr Chant said.
“We do a lot of surveillance testing so just to be clear: Surveillance testing is a concept that I think the community understands.”
NSW Police will be able to demand to see a worker’s test result if they leave the Fairfield LGA, but some discretion will be applied over the next few days.
READ MORE: Lockdowns hit business confidence
Jess Malcolm 11.24am: Goulburn case sparks seeding concern
Health officials are concerned about the risk of Covid-19 seeding in the regions after an essential worker tested positive for the virus in Goulburn.
Widespread testing is now underway for the region after the man spent time at work while infectious on July 9.
He has been isolating since July 10 but authorities are assessing the risk posed by the man and flagged there could be additional restrictions put in place to control the spread.
“We were concerned about the risk of seeding from this outbreak in Sydney and we have put in protective measures in the regions,” Dr Chant said.
She said any people carrying out essential work in the regions must obey stay-at-home orders, and only visit shops for essential groceries when necessary.
“The restrictions that apply to you are if you are living in Sydney, they apply to you when you are in the regions.”
READ MORE: Rare neurological condition risk with J&J vaccine
Jess Malcolm 11.19am: Eastern suburbs man second to die in outbreak
A man in his 70s from Sydney’s eastern suburbs has died from Covid-19, marking the second death linked to the Sydney outbreak.
Chief health officer Kerry Chant would not confirm whether the man was vaccinated, but gave her condolences to his family.
She also reiterated today’s numbers highlighted the serious risk of infection within and between households.
Nearly 75 per cent of today’s cases were close or household contacts of previously reported cases.
“We will see the case numbers increase as remaining members of households are potentially infected because they have been exposed to their household members.
“So it does highlight the importance of keeping a household unit together and not moving outside the house and not interacting with others.”
Dr Chant issued a callout to the residents of Roselands, Rosebury, Canterbury, Belmore, Sutherland Shire, St George and West Hoxton and Glenfield Green Valley and the Fairfield local government areas to be on high alert.
There are currently 65 cases who have been admitted to hospital, with 21 people in intensive care and four of whom require ventilation.
NSW Health is still collating information about whether these patients have underlying health conditions.
Jess Malcolm 11.10am: Essential workers in Fairfield face rolling tests
Essential workers in the Fairfield local government area will now be required to be tested every three days, Gladys Berejiklian has confirmed.
A new public health order has now been enforced amid concern there has been high rates of community transmission in workplaces.
This requirement will also apply to people working in the regions, after a “smattering” of new cases in the regions.
The NSW Premier has advised all employers to monitor where their employees live and ensure they comply with the new rules.
“If you happen to have people on your website or overseeing work or any time of activity in your private residence or commercial premises, please ask where they live and if they live or come from that area, a hotspot area, please ask when the last time was that they got tested.”
The NSW Premier has urged all people to comply with stay-at-home orders, warning the lower case numbers today would not continue.
“One day is not a trend,” she said. “The numbers will keep bouncing around. We have to say that. But I do want everyone to know that our efforts will make a difference. Our efforts will allow us to leave the lockdown in a timely way.”
Jess Malcolm 11.05am: NSW records 89 new local cases
NSW has recorded one death and 89 new locally acquired cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number of cases in the Sydney cluster to 767.
Of these locally acquired cases, 75 are linked to a known case or cluster, 59 are household contacts and 16 are close contacts, and the source of infection for 14 cases remains under investigation.
There were 21 people infectious while in the community.
Over 49,000 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours.
Jess Malcolm 10.55am: WA tightens border to returning travellers
West Australia has tightened up its border requirements for its residents returning home from NSW to the state.
People travelling from NSW will now only be able to enter West Australia if they are able to demonstrate “extenuating circumstances”.
Authorities had previously allowed travellers to enter on compassionate grounds, but has hardened its stance following advice from the Chief Health Officer Andrew Robertson.
“It has now been recommended by the Chief Health Officer that a stricter interpretation be applied under this exemption category,” the statement read.
“Travellers will need to demonstrate extenuating circumstances in order to be granted approval to enter WA and the State Emergency Coordinator will only approve an individual after consideration of all of the circumstances, including the public health risks.
“By reducing the number of exempt travellers from NSW into WA, the risk of COVID-19 entering our community again is minimised further. “
READ MORE: Search for elusive Covid connection
Max Maddison 10.45am: PM ‘has failed’ on securing Pfizer jabs
Former Labor leader Bill Shorten says the country has a “vacuum of leadership”, saying he doesn’t understand why acquiring more Pfizer isn’t a “burning desire” for the Morrison government.
After revelations emerged that neither Scott Morrison or Health Minister Greg Hunt had contacted Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla throughout negotiations for vaccine procurement, the opposition NDIS spokesman said the Prime Minister had failed on the basic promise to the population.
“I don’t think I’m overcomplicating it here,” Mr Shorten told Sky News on Tuesday morning.
“It’s as basic as this: the government has a contract with the people, the people are making sacrifices … if the people do their bit, then the government does its bit. And I think the government failed on two basic promises here.”
With debate ongoing over whether Mr Morrison should have had to personally contact Pfizer’s CEO to ensure the country could secure a sufficient supply of the mRNA vaccine, Mr Shorten said the prime minister should have gone above and beyond to prevent future outbreaks.
“What we have in Australia is we have a vacuum of leadership, the guy who won the 2019 election. Where is he, where is Scott Morrison?
“You’d think that this is the first time Covid has appeared on our shores in this latest NSW lockdown. We had 16 months to war game what to do, yet they’re running around as if it’s Groundhog Day.”
READ MORE: Hospitals ready to move to ‘red alert’
Jess Malcolm 10.33am: ‘Blue sky for NSW by end of week’
Infectious diseases physician Greg Dore says Sydney could reach a peak in case numbers by the end of the week, but has compared the lockdown length to Victoria’s second wave.
Dr Dore said the case numbers linked to the outbreak’s epicentre in the city’s southwest must decrease and called for more targeted testing in high-risk areas.
“Hopefully by the end of the week we might see some blue sky and see the numbers starting to plateau because the restrictions that have been tightened in the last week or so, it often does take several days before they start to have an impact,” he told ABC News Breakfast.
“We are in this for several weeks at least. There is no doubt about that.
“Lockdown will be extended from Friday, I imagine for initially at least another couple of weeks, but I expect this to go on for another month at least.”
READ MORE: Vaccine polarisation is partisanship at its dumbest
Jess Maclolm 10.14am: Sydney outbreak spreads to region with Goulburn case
Fears the Sydney outbreak has seeped into the regions have been stoked after reports of a new case detected in Goulburn.
The ABC is reporting an essential worker who travelled 200km from southern Sydney to Goulburn has tested positive for Covid-19.
The person was reportedly working on a construction site next to Goulburn Hospital, and additional testing sites will be opened up by Southern Local Health District.
The Australian has contacted NSW Health but it would not confirm reports.
Traces of coronavirus have been found in sewage in regional New South Wales.
Annastacia Palaszczuk said NSW’s sewage testing surveillance program found fragments in a treatment plant at Goulburn, about 200km southwest of Sydney.
“We are keeping a very close eye on what’s happening in NSW,” she said.
“So I want to reassure Queenslanders that if it gets to the stage that we have to close we will.
“But at this stage we are monitoring it every single day.”
Ms Palaszczuk advised Queenslanders in NSW to return home as Covid cases surge in Sydney.
“If we do see it spreading to other parts of NSW we won’t hesitate to shut the border.” – With Lydia Lynch
READ MORE: AustralianSuper boss Ian Silk to step down
Lydia Lynch 10.10am: Queensland records two new local virus cases
Queensland has recorded two local Covid-19 cases on Tuesday.
Annastacia Palaszczuk said “we are not worried about any of them”, as both were detected in home quarantine.
Tuesday 13 July – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) July 13, 2021
2 new locally acquired cases, detected in home quarantine. Both of today's locally acquired cases are linked to the Alpha cluster.
1 new overseas acquired case, detected in hotel quarantine#covid19pic.twitter.com/CNzd18XaAz
The cases were close contacts of other infections and tested positive on day 12 of home quarantine.
There were 14,941 tests conducted in the past 24 hours. One person tested positive in hotel quarantine after contracting the virus overseas.
READ MORE: Outrage at secrecy over dam project
Jess Malcolm 9.51am: Berejiklian to provide update as NSW braces for more cases
Gladys Berejiklian will address the media at 11am alongside health minister Brad Hazzard, Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant and Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys.
NSW is bracing for another day of soaring case numbers as health officials warn the peak of the outbreak is yet to come.
NSW recorded 112 cases on Monday which was the highest number of daily cases detected since the outbreak began in mid-June.
As Sydney residents edge towards their third week of lockdown, the NSW Premier conceded it would be impossible to lift stay-at-home orders this Friday.
READ MORE: Viral boom in new business registrations
Rachel Baxendale 9.46am: Andrews: Lockdowns to end when everyone’s had two jabs
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says lockdowns will end when a sufficient number of Australians have had two doses of coronavirus vaccine.
“It ends by everybody getting two jabs, and then we’re able to say, look, we’ve all done our very best to protect everyone who needs to be protected,” Mr Andrews told 3AW.
“There’ll then I think still be from time to time masks and things of that nature, but not lockdowns.
“We’ll still have to make sure that we’re not overwhelmed by that 20 per cent of people who don’t have the vaccine, or 10. Hopefully it’s 5 per cent. Hopefully it’s a tiny number.”
Mr Andrews warned the consequences could be dire if a sizeable proportion of the population chose to remain unvaccinated.
“I’ll put it to you this way: if 75 per cent of Australians get two jabs but 25 per cent haven’t, that’s the equivalent of the state of Victoria, not vaccinated. Singapore, Ireland, Israel, like it’s pretty big number of people, and if it runs through there and a percentage of them get really unwell, then that’s your hospitals full,” he said.
“People who choose not to protect themselves, they’re not really just making a choice for themselves, they’re making a choice for everybody else who can’t get the vaccine because they’ve got medical conditions, and all the people who’ll get sick and finish up in hospital will take places and beds and space that the rest of us will need for the best of reasons.
“So for every good reason, for you and for everybody else, people need when they become eligible to go and get these vaccines. They’re safe, they work and they are our way out.
“Then you can have a conversation about ‘okay, we’ve protected everybody who wants to be protected, we’re not going to lock down to protect people who won’t protect themselves’.
“We’re not going to lock down and cause all that pain. That’s when we get into a new world.
“But we’re a while away from that and the only limiting factor there is how many vials do we have, how much vaccine is here, and to get those massive quantities, that’s going to take some time.”
READ MORE: Vaccinations a new force in global markets
Rachel Baxendale 9.26am: Andrews texts support to Berejiklian
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says he’s been texting his NSW counterpart Gladys Berejiklian to offer her support as she confronts Sydney’s coronavirus outbreak.
Mr Andrews told 3AW he had not called Ms Berejiklian over the weekend to let her know Victoria would be closing its border with NSW, unlike last year, when NSW closed its border to Victoria for the first time in a century, as the southern state confronted up to 725 coronavirus cases a day during its second wave.
“We had a conversation, the PM, Gladys and I last year, because it was quite unheard of to have the New South Wales-Victorian border closed, and you will remember we never closed our border. Others closed to us, and that was a fair call,” Mr Andrews said.
“This time round, I think because it wasn’t the first time, I didn’t waste Gladys’s time. She’s obviously very busy doing other things.
“Second waves are really challenging and they take up a lot of time, so I’ve been texting her a little bit saying look, if you need anything, we’ve got learnings, we know things because we went through it, not just as a government, but as a public health community, as a Victorian community.
“If there’s anything we can do both in practical assistance or in just kind of talking to someone who’s been through it, we’re absolutely there for them.”
READ MORE: Andrews’ spin doctor’s secret virus surveys
Jess Malcolm 9.10am: Pregnant women advised vaccination is safe
Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer Alison McMillan says vaccination is safe for women who are pregnant and has encouraged them to talk to their GP to make an informed decision.
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation updated its advice to recommend the Pfizer vaccine to pregnant women at any stage of pregnancy as research showed severe outcomes from Covid-19 were significantly higher for these women.
Ms McMillan encouraged women to speak to their GP to get vaccinated, particularly those people in the greater Sydney area where the risk of Covid-19 was higher.
“The risk profile has changed and the chances of contracting Covid has increased as the Delta virus is circulating,” she told Sunrise.
“It is safe, and in the last few weeks we have seen the advice strengthened, particularly with women pregnant or planning to get pregnant or breastfeeding,”
She also said she hoped the rollout to pharmacies would increase the potential update of the vaccine.
READ MORE: Tony Abbott’s daughter welcomes first baby
Max Maddison 8.52am: We can’t keep locking down: Canavan
Nationals senator Matt Canavan says he’s against the lockdown of Greater Sydney despite the situation continuing to deteriorate, saying there’s “no costless options here”.
With Greater Sydney looking down the barrel of an indefinite lockdown period as the Berejiklian government battles to suppress the virus, the economy has been thrown into turmoil.
The Queensland senator pointed to the economic and mental toll of lockdowns, and said with vaccines now available to the older and vulnerable Australians, he couldn’t see a justification for the draconian policy.
“For what is a disease that we’ve had for 18 months now, we know much more about it, and we can respond in a much more targeted and less costly way,” Senator Canavan told Sky News on Tuesday morning.
“We’ve got to learn to live with this because we just can’t keep locking down every time with an outbreak.”
Although the Delta variant seemed to be now impacting young people at much higher rates, Senator Canavan said it appeared the country’s health policy was now based on “media hype and headlines”, as opposed to facts.
“There’s no costless option, there’s no option that doesn’t impact people’s health. There’s no option that doesn’t lead to greater hospitalisations because lockdowns do that,” he said.
READ MORE: Indigenous student boarders handling Covid well
Rachel Baxendale 8.43am: Service station, McDonalds added to exposure sites
A service station and a McDonalds at Ballan, west of Melbourne, have been added to Victoria’s list of coronavirus exposure sites overnight.
The sites were visited by three Sydney removalists on Thursday, two of whom have since tested positive for the virus.
The Westbound Mobil service station at Ballan, 70km west of Melbourne, has been listed as a Tier 1 exposure site from 5pm to 7pm, after a positive coronavirus case visited and used shower/bathroom facilities.
McDonalds Ballan Westbound restaurant has also been listed as a Tier 1 site for the same period.
Anyone who was present at either site during the listed period must quarantine for 14 days.
The latest sites come after the Ariele apartments in Maribyrnong in Melbourne’s west were listed as exposure sites overnight.
The removalists retrieved furniture from the apartments and were in South Australia on a delivery run when one was contacted by NSW contact tracers on Friday to alert him to the fact that he was a close contact of a positive case.
The removalists returned to Sydney after delivering the furniture to Adelaide, and the man got tested on Saturday, returning a positive result on Sunday.
A second removalist tested positive on Monday.
The removalists’ positive test results are being counted in NSW’s numbers.
Victoria is also dealing with a second coronavirus incursion from NSW, after two members of a family of four tested positive on Monday.
READ MORE: Strange contradictions in China trade war
Rachel Baxendale 8.26am: Victoria records three new local virus cases
Victoria has recorded three new coronavirus cases in the 24 hours to Tuesday.
This includes two cases acquired in Victoria, and one acquired interstate.
It is understood all three cases relate to a family of four who had been quarantining at home in the Hume local government area in Melbourne’s north after returning from Sydney last week.
Reported yesterday: 2 new local cases, 1 case acquired interstate and no new cases acquired overseas.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) July 12, 2021
- 14,384 vaccine doses were administered
- 23,470 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl1hf3W#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicData [1/2] pic.twitter.com/iQzE0oJUc8
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews told 3AW of the latest case on Tuesday morning, after the first two were confirmed on Monday.
“We’re very confident that we’ve got our arms around that and those people are in iso and they’ve been doing the right thing and we’ll be able to manage that through,” Mr Andrews said.
“There’ll be some exposure sites so I just ask people to have a look, either ring the hotline or go to the website.”
The Victorian Health department listed two new exposure sites relating to the family on Monday night, indicating at least one member had left their home in defiance of home quarantine requirements for red zone returnees.
One member of the family, who has since tested positive for coronavirus, drove back to Melbourne from Sydney on July 8.
The other three family members, two of whom have also tested positive, had flown home on July 4.
Anyone returning to Victoria from a red zone must quarantine at home for a fortnight, with receiving medical care and getting a coronavirus test the only acceptable reasons for leaving the house.
Coles Craigieburn Central has been listed as a Tier 1 exposure site for the period between 5.28pm and 6.38pm on Saturday.
Metro Petroleum in Broadmeadows has been listed as a Tier 2 exposure site for the period between 1.19pm and 2.04pm on Sunday.
The wider Craigieburn Central shopping centre has been listed as a Tier 3 site.
Anyone who has visited a Tier 1 site must quarantine at home for a fortnight, while those who have visited a Tier 2 site must get tested and isolate until they receive a negative test result, and those who have visited a Tier 3 site must monitor for symptoms.
More information is available on the Victorian Health Department website.
The latest cases in Victoria break an 11 day run with no new community-acquired cases.
Previously Victoria’s most recent cases had been in two workers at a dry-cleaning business in Melbourne’s bayside Sandringham, one of whom had caught the virus while attending a party in Sydney’s Hoxton Park.
READ MORE: Victoria scrambles to fight virus incursions
Jess Malcolm 8.09am:Sydney teachers urged to get vaccinated
NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell says prioritising vaccination for some teachers in southwest Sydney is a good step forward towards getting all teachers vaccinated in the state.
Gladys Berejiklian announced on Monday that over 10,000 teachers from Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool government areas would be able to access a new vaccine hub at Fairfield Showground.
Ms Mitchell clarified that it will only be for teachers who work in those areas, not for teachers who live there but work elsewhere.
“Teachers in those LGAs, you are now eligible, please get your first dose, we want as many to be vaccinated as soon as possible,” she told ABC RN.
Ms Mitchell was unable to provide clarity around how long schools will be closed, as students woke up to their first day of online learning this morning.
She said the Premier will likely make an announcement about the future of home learning today or tomorrow.
“We’ve made it clear we will have them at home this week, but we want to give people the certainty.”
“We’ve seen the numbers go up in NSW, and we’ve already started talking about what next week looks like and beyond.”
READ MORE: Retail feels crunch as confidence ebbs
Max Maddison 8.02am: Rudd: I wouldn’t have talked to Pfizer if I wasn’t asked
Former prime minister Kevin Rudd says he didn’t leak his letter to Scott Morrison in a bid to damage the federal government, and claims he wouldn’t have picked up the phone to senior Pfizer executives unless he had been asked.
After an extraordinary revelation Mr Rudd had organised a Zoom meeting with Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla, in a bid to expedite delivery of the vaccines, the Prime Minister and Health Minister moved to pour cold water on the story, but conceded they hadn’t spoken with Mr Bourla personally.
While he didn’t know what material effect he had at the end of the day, Mr Rudd said he wouldn’t have needed to intervene unless Australian bureaucrats involved in negotiations had been “rude and dismissive” in the first place, which stood in “stark contrast” to the heads of other governments around the world.
“Frankly, I would never picked up the phone to the head of Pfizer unless I’d been approached by senior corporates who had already tried through their own intermediaries, with Pfizer senior management to open the door on what plainly … was an extraordinary botched set of negotiations,” Mr Rudd told ABC’s Radio National on Tuesday morning.
Mr Rudd dismissed the assertion he’d intervened in the negotiations to damage the government, but instead categorised his intention as being the “right, positive and constructive” thing to do.
While he wouldn’t delve into the details of his conversation with Mr Bourla, the former Labor leader called for Mr Hunt to resign for overseeing a “massive public policy failure”.
“Mr Hunt, rather than him having a chuckle about all of this, frankly needs to get real about his job, and frankly get a sense of self respect,” he said.
“He should resign as Health Minister for presiding over what Malcolm Turnbull has described as the biggest failure of public policy in this country’s recent history.”
READ MORE: ‘I’m Kevin’ – Coalition takes jab at ruddy cheek
Jess Malcolm 7.48am: Sydney faces two months of lockdown
Infectious diseases expert Mary Louise McClaws predicts Sydney could be in lockdown for two months with the highly infectious delta strain taking at least four more weeks to drive cases down to zero.
Professor McClaws says the state has had a 27-fold increase in numbers alone since the first week of the outbreak, with numbers of those cases spending time in the community still increasing.
“Victoria during the second wave, they were over 100 days in lockdown, and they acted too late, and then they’ve now learned to go in fast,” she told Today.
“They went in on the third day but we didn’t go in until, you know, we’d had 54 cases. And, you know, that’s really too late.”
Professor McClaws said Victoria took 28 days to get to their last case, forecasting it will take Sydney another four weeks for some restrictions to be lifted.
“In Avalon, where they didn’t have a variant of concern, they took 32 days, and they’d had a total of 219 cases.
“So we’re at day 26 and we have 679 cases. So it’s going to take at least another four weeks.”
READ MORE: Creighton — Lockdown lessons in a tale of two US states
Jess Malcolm 7.20am:No way NSW Premier can source extra Pfizer: Shorten
Former Labor leader Bill Shorten has hosed down suggestions Gladys Berejiklian could source more Pfizer vaccines independently from the federal government.
Ms Berejiklian hinted that she has already attempted to secure more vaccines from overseas in a bid to boost immunity across NSW as the outbreak grew to 678 cases on Monday.
Mr Shorten said there was no way she could secure vaccines outside of normal commonwealth processes.
“There’s just no way they can do it,” he said.
“I don’t think they can independently go around the commonwealth and actually access these vaccines, given that the big pharmaceutical companies deal with the commonwealth. It has to go through the TGA.”
He also took aim at the NSW government for initially resisting calls for lockdown and its hotel quarantine protocols which saw an unvaccinated and unmasked limo driver transporting flightcrew.
“She’s got herself into a position where she’s boxed herself into a corner. She is the anti-lockdown queen, Gladys Berejiklian.”
READ MORE: Retailers plead case to stay open
Jess Malcolm 7.00am: Superyachties fined more than $16000 for Covid breaches
Four people have been fined after sneaking into Queensland on a luxury superyacht from Sydney.
The group were caught lying on their border declaration passes upon entry into the Gold Coast, after which they went straight to the Wallabies test match against France in Brisbane.
The men were confronted by Queensland authorities several days after they had arrived, and have all been forced into hotel quarantine and fined more than $4000 each.
They travelled on board a 34-metre superyacht which costs almost $20,000 a day to charter.
MSQ general manager Angus Mitchell said officials were enforcing strict border controls through intelligence surveillance and random checks.
“The message is clear, if you have been in a Covid-19 hotspot and you cross our maritime border, you will be intercepted and face the consequences,” he said.
“The Chief Health Officer declared the Greater Sydney area a Covid-19 hotspot backdated to 21 June as the Covid-19 situation continued to escalate and while that situation exists, MSQ will rigorously challenge any vessels planning to enter Queensland waters.”
Authorities have also identified two other Sydney boats which arrived on the Gold Coast in the last week.
READ MORE: Andrews’ spin doctor’s virus surveys
Liam Mendes 6.55am: Amazon shutters Sydney distribution centre
One of the nation’s largest online retailers has been forced to shut down its Sydney operations after a coronavirus outbreak at its chief fulfilment centre.
Two workers at the Amazon Australia facility in Moorebank, in the city’s southwest, tested positive to Covid-19 at the weekend, sending most of their fellow staffer into isolation as they awaited their own test results.
The 44,000sq m centre, stocked with half a million products and has a pool of more than 100 casual workers, has been temporarily shuttered and is in the process of being deep cleaned. A source told The Australian the infected staff recently worked contrasting shifts at the centre, meaning they came into contact with both day and night teams.
The fulfilment centre is now unable to ship the tens of thousands of orders it receives daily out to Amazon’s distribution centres across NSW, Victoria and Queensland for delivery.
Casual workers across all of Amazon’s Sydney warehouses were informed of the outbreak on Monday morning, and warned it could result in their rostered hours being cut. Recruitment agency Adecco, which employs all of Amazon’s warehouse workers on casual contracts, informed employees in an email that there “may be shift changes”.
“Following two confirmed cases of Covid-19 at our Sydney fulfilment centre (BWU1), and out of an abundance of caution to enable further investigations, Amazon are temporarily pausing operations at BWU1/BWU1. As a result, there may be shift changes at your site,” the message said.
Amazon Australia bosses held emergency talks on Monday to figure out how they could continue processing orders. They are hoping to draft in workers from other warehouses to the Moorebank facility once it has been deep-cleaned and then operate at a reduced capacity until staff are out of isolation.
READ the full story
Jess Malcolm 6.45am:Barilaro flags new restrictions, ‘virus out of control’
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro has warned restrictions may need to be tightened in some local government areas, admitting: “We’ve lost control”.
The NSW government has so far rebuffed calls to tighten restrictions as the Covid-19 outbreak in Sydney worsens.
But Mr Barilaro, while knocking back any plan for a curfew, conceded lockdown will not be lifted on Friday, revealing the closure of non-essential retail has been considered for some parts of Sydney.
“I can promise you that there’s never been a conversation around curfews or going even further,” he told Sky News.
“We may have to go further or tighten restrictions in some local government areas, we accept that but what does that mean?
“It means making sure there’s less movement of people going into homes, going into construction sites, going into retail.
“I don’t believe we will get to the state of curfews and radiuses around where you can go and how much time you can spend in the open air.”
READ MORE: Covid package to save jobs
Jess Malcolm 6.30am:NSW adds dozens more exposure sites
Dozens of new exposure sites have been added by NSW Health overnight as infections soared to 678 cases on Monday.
There were 112 new cases recorded yesterday with at least 34 infectious in the community and 48 cases still under investigation.
Authorities are most concerned about case numbers spiking in south west Sydney, ramping up their efforts to get on top of this outbreak through a testing blitz opening up extended hours for clinics in Fairfield, Field West, Lidcombe and Smithfield.
The new venues exposed to Covid overnight were a string of locations concentrated in Sydney’s west, including: Westpac Fairfield at the Neeta City Shopping Centre, Ware Street Medical Practice also in Fairfield, Cedar Valley Meats in Yagoona, Mr Shawarma in Greenacre, the Valley Plaza Priceline in Green Valley, Roselands Fruit World and Mataam Al Mandi in Lakemba.
âš ï¸PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT – VENUES AND TRANSPORT ROUTES âš ï¸
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 12, 2021
NSW Health has been notified of a number of new venues of concern and transport routes associated with confirmed cases of COVID 19. pic.twitter.com/2M2N0riZp2
Cycling shop 99 Bikes in Bondi Junction was also added to the list along with a dozen bus routes reaching across Sydney including Fairfield, Zetland, Kareela, Neutral Bay, Forest Lodge, Redfern and Beaconsfield.
Schnitz Broadway in Glebe, Kmart, Big W and Pharmacy 4 Less at Bankstown Central, Malatang Restaurant at Hurstville Central, Australia Post, Westfield Bondi Junction, Coles Fairfield West and the Kmart at the Casula Mall were added as casual contact locations.
An entire apartment building is in the city’s eastern suburbs also in isolation after eight residents tested positive across five different apartments. The building has gone into full lockdown with more cases expected today.
This comes as the federal and state governments finalised their details of a support package overnight for people and businesses struggling under lockdown. The package is designed to keep economic activity going and jobs during the crisis and is expected to include a tax credit or direct payment and be expanded to more eligible workers.
ATAGI has also decided overnight to keep its advice overnight for the AstraZeneca vaccine, confirming that Pfizer is still the preferred vaccine for people under the age of 60. But NSW Health authorities are advising people who have had their first AstraZeneca vaccine to book in to get their second within six weeks as a way to boost immunity against the virus in the community.
READ MORE: Coalition takes jab at ruddy cheek
Patrick Commins 6.00am: Lockdown threatens Sydney economic comeback
The national economy will “go backwards” this quarter if Sydney’s lockdown extends beyond six weeks, economists say, with major additional support for affected businesses and workers now “critical” to securing an anticipated bounce-back once restrictions are lifted.
As Treasury officials prepare a joint federal/state package expected to include a reinstatement of the business cashflow boost for small businesses and potentially an expansion of the eligibility criteria of the commonwealth Covid disaster relief payment, Monday’s news of a further 112 cases triggered expectations that the lockdown could drag on into late July or even early August.
Prior to the latest outbreak of the more virulent Delta variant of the virus, private sector analysts had pencilled in real GDP growth of around 1 per cent over the three months to September, implying output would lift by about $5bn.
But CBA head of Australian economics Gareth Aird said an eight-week lockdown would wipe 1.5 per cent off GDP in the September quarter – about $7.5bn – enough to wipe out even the most optimistic of growth forecasts and “send the entire country backwards”. The impact on the labour market is also likely to be severe.
He said analysis of detailed labour force data showed that during the national lockdown last year Greater Sydney lost 192,000 jobs between March and May.
Despite the economic hit, Deloitte Access Economics partner Chris Richardson said even a further month of restrictions was unlikely to send the budget position backwards given the outperformance – including the blockbuster jobs growth and massive iron ore earnings – recorded since the May federal budget.
READ MORE: Lockdown threatens economic comeback
Rachel Baxendale 5.45am: Victoria fights virus incursion
Victorian health authorities are scrambling to establish the movements of three removalists and a Melbourne family following two separate coronavirus incursions from NSW.
The removalists – two of whom have tested positive for Covid-19 – travelled from Sydney to Melbourne last Thursday, delivering furniture to one Melbourne household and picking up furniture from another before continuing on to Adelaide on Friday and back to Sydney on Saturday.
Separately, two members of a family of four in home quarantine after returning from Sydney last week tested positive for the virus.
Victorian coronavirus logistics chief Jeroen Weimar said NSW health authorities had alerted Victoria to a positive result from the first of the removalists late on Sunday night, with case interviews ongoing late on Monday.
“Obviously they’re interstate so the conversations are somewhat complex and challenging,” Mr Weimar said.
“The initial versions of the story are not quite lining up at this time so we’re taking a little bit longer than we would really like.
“We’re also looking to their employer, who is providing fuel cards, logbooks and various other bits and pieces.”
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Natasha Robinson 5.35am: Hospitals set to move to red alert
Hospitals in NSW are preparing to suspend elective surgery as the number of people admitted with Covid-19 grows, with people in intensive care climbing to 18 as doctors warn that the numbers of critically ill patients will continue to rise.
In hospitals across Sydney, wards are being converted to accommodate an expected influx of Covid-19 patients and administrators are revising surge plans to expand the number of ICU beds.
There are 63 patients currently hospitalised in Sydney with Covid-19, a figure equal to about one in 10 of the 678 positive cases recorded since NSW’s Delta outbreak began. Four patients in ICU are on a ventilator.
One patient in ICU is in their 20s, one in their 30s, one in their 40s, five in their 50s, six in their 60s, and four are aged over 70.
None of the patients in hospital – aside from five elderly residents from the SummitCare facility who were admitted for observation – was vaccinated.
NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said some patients admitted to hospital had comorbidities, but others had no underlying health issues before becoming severely ill with Covid-19.
“I can say that you don’t need to have an underlying health condition to be in hospital with Covid,” she said. “Covid is a serious disease and is associated with hospitalisation and death.
“Twenty-five people admitted to hospital at the moment are under the age of 55 and 14 are under the age of 35. That is dispelling the notion that you are not going to get sick from Covid if you’re young.”
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