Coronavirus Australia live news: Vaccine rollout won’t end border, health restrictions, says Chief Medical Officer
Despite upcoming vaccine rollout in February, it could still be months before border and health restrictions ease, says CMO Paul Kelly.
- Berejiklian ‘knew Vic would close border’
- No new cases in Queensland
- Victoria records no new cases
- Queen, Phillip vaccinated
- Quarantine rules rewritten
- India won’t play in Brisbane
Welcome to live coverage of Australia’s response to the continuing coronavirus pandemic.
The northern zone of the Northern Beaches has emerged from lockdown. The Queen and Prince Phillip have been vaccinated against the coronavirus. Victoria has recorded its fourth straight day of no locally acquired cases.
Olivia Caisley 9.45pm: Regions hit harder by state closures: Michael McCormack
Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack has declared regional Australia has been “unfairly impacted” by premiers’ border closures to entire states, warning the regions have shouldered “more than their share” of the pandemic’s impact.
The Nationals leader, who will embark on a whistlestop regional tour this week while Scott Morrison is on leave, will visit rural communities in NSW, the Northern Territory, Queensland and Tasmania to hear first hand what regions are demanding to help with the post-COVID recovery.
It comes amid growing frustration in regional centres over the ad hoc approach taken by states on border closures and the lack of national standards over how many cases should trigger the restrictions.
Rhiannon Down 9.06pm: Christmas in the north as lockdown goes south
Sydney’s northern beaches residents held long-delayed family Christmases, hit the beach and made the most of their first taste of freedom after three weeks of coronavirus lockdown ended at midnight on Saturday.
The peninsula was plunged into lockdown on December 18 as health authorities battled to contain a coronavirus outbreak linked to several popular venues in Avalon.
Though stay-at-home-orders came to an end for residents south of the Narrabeen Bridge on January 2, the northern tip of the peninsula remained under lockdown until the outbreak was brought under control — dividing families over Christmas and putting businesses under stress.
On a day when even the sun came out to celebrate, the mercury rising to 26C, grandparents Bev and Phil Turton and their extended family gathered at Palm Beach, on the northernmost tip of the peninsula, for their long-delayed Christmas party.
Ms Turton said the family’s festivities were cut in half after their daughters were unable to join them when they found themselves on the wrong side of the Narrabeen bridge.
Rachel Baxendale 8.15pm: Trapped: family sent into hotel quarantine
A Melbourne family has been detained in hotel quarantine after flying back from the Gold Coast, despite having been hundreds of kilometres from any known coronavirus cases when they drove through regional NSW days before Victoria closed the border with its northern neighbour.
Ellise and Justin McLoughlan said on Sunday they would be more than happy to quarantine at their home in Yarraville, in Melbourne’s inner west, with their two children aged five and seven, but they have not been given that option since they were taken to the Four Points by Sheraton hotel in Docklands on Wednesday.
They also don’t understand why they have been detained when the Andrews government is allowing home quarantine for hundreds of people who directly contravened Queensland and Victorian health directives not to travel when they flew back from Brisbane on Friday and Saturday.
AFP 7.48pm: ‘I’ll get the jab’, Pope tells anti-vaxxers
Pope Francis and the Queen became the latest high-profile figures to join the global vaccination campaign against the coronavirus, as Britain reported it had surpassed more than three million cases since the pandemic began more than a year ago.
Pope Francis urged people to get the vaccination, calling opposition to the jab “suicidal denial” and saying he would get inoculated against the virus himself next week when the Vatican would begin its campaign.
“There is a suicidal denial which I cannot explain, but today we have to get vaccinated,” the pontiff told Italian TV’s Canale 5.
The Queen and Prince Philip received their COVID-19 vaccinations on Saturday, Buckingham Palace said, in a rare public comment on the private health matters of the monarch. A source told the Press Association that the Queen, 94, and Philip, 99, were given the injections by a royal household doctor at Windsor Castle.
More than 1.5 million people in Britain have so far received virus jabs, as the biggest immunisation program in its history rolls out with priority given to the elderly, their carers and health workers.
Staff writers 7.03pm: New venue alerts for Sydney shopping centre
New venue alerts have been issued for a major shopping centre in Sydney’s southwest, with shoppers who visited over two days being told they must get tested and self-isolate.
NSW Health has ordered customers who went to Bankstown Shopping Centre and into these stores on January 6 and 8 must now get tested and self-isolate until they produce a negative result:
Wednesday January 6, 11.30pm to 2pm: Target, Myer, Smiggle, Big W, Best and Less, and Oporto in the food court.
NSW Health has been advised of a number of new venues in Sydney’s south west and a supermarket in Sydney’s inner west visited by confirmed cases of #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/Jyt36K5HtN
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) January 10, 2021
Friday January 8, 1pm to 2.30pm: Big W, Smiggle, and Oporto in the food court.
Anyone else who attended Bankstown Shopping Centre on the same days and times but did not go into those stores should monitor for symptoms and, if they occur, get tested immediately and self-isolate until a negative result is received.
Anyone who attended the following venues at the time listed below are also a casual contact who must get tested immediately and self-isolate until a negative result is received:
Bankstown: Service NSW, 350/351 North Terrace, Friday January 8 11.45am to 1pm.
Marrickville: Thai Hung Supermarket, 307 – 309 Illawarra Road, Marrickville, Thursday December 31 from 3.45pm to 4.45pm.
Darren Cartwright 6.25pm: Man’s bold move to avoid quarantine in WA
A man has allegedly breached quarantine by jumping into the ocean from a docked carrier ship and swimming ashore in Western Australia.
The crew member was nabbed hours later at a backpacker hostel, police allege.
The 37-year-old man was a Vietnamese worker aboard a bulk carrier that had berthed at the Albany Port on Thursday, police say.
He is accused of jumping overboard on Saturday and swimming ashore — breaching Western Australia’s strict border rules.
The crew member had only hours of freedom before he was charged and refused bail after failing to comply with the emergency management quarantine directions.
Police say they located him before 7pm on Saturday at an Albany backpackers accommodation.
He had a rapid test for COVID-19 which was negative, the spokesperson said.
The man was charged with failing to comply with direction and was due to appear via video-link before the Perth Magistrates Court on Sunday.
He was the second man to front Perth Magistrates Court on Sunday for failing to comply with a direction.
A 31-year-old man was charged for the same offence after returning to WA from Victoria on December 29.
Police allege the man became aggressive and abusive towards staff on Saturday morning after he took his mask off at a clinic where he was being tested for COVID-19.
The 31-year-old man from Wembley Downs was also charged behaving in a disorderly manner in a public place.
Geoffrey Blainey 5.49pm: ‘We’ve seen worse than Covid’
The year that has just ended was the most unexpected in the lives of the overwhelming majority of Australians. It is said to have changed forever our way of living and working. But was it such a unique year?
Certainly it was a zigzag year. At first, when the coronavirus gripped China and then northern Italy, there were fears that it might be as deadly as the Spanish flu pandemic, which at the end of World War I devastated most lands and especially India. In Europe in the middle of last year the modern virus seemed more tameable, only to surge again in the winter.
It was like a typhoon, the way it changed direction. Nobody is on record as predicting that in the space of 10 months it would play havoc with the US, the home of medical innovation, and would even shape the presidential election
Darren Cartwright 5.00pm Months before Australia sees COVID-safe normal: CMO
The COVID-19 vaccine rollout will not signal the end of restrictions with it likely to be months before Australia gets to see what a new normal looks like, the nation’s leading medical officer has warned.
Chief medical officer Paul Kelly said on Sunday it would likely to be the second half of the year before federal and state governments started to ease health and border restrictions.
However, persistent messaging about social distancing, coughing into your elbow, washing your hands, and home if you’re unwell will remain in place, he said.
“Every single person that gets their two doses of vaccine and gets that very strong protection against severe illness, will give people more confidence.
“It will give the public health system more confidence, will give our politicians — that need to make these decisions in the end — more confidence, about what a COVID-safe normal might look like in the second half of this year.”
Australia’s coronavirus vaccine rollout will begin next month.
First in line to be inoculated will be workers who have the highest exposure to COVID-19 including those working in hotel quarantine, transporting international arrivals, and health professionals.
“First priority is those that are at higher risk of exposure to the virus,” Professor Kelly said.
“That is the people that are working at our borders; the people working at our quarantine hotels; the nurses and other health professionals that are working in those settings; the cleaners; the transport workers that are transporting people to our quarantine hotels.
“They are the ones that are at highest risk of exposure so we need to get that vaccination out to them quickly.
“Same with our healthcare workers that are working at our hospitals and other frontline areas.”
He said Australia was fortunate when it came to the impacts of coronavirus — with more than 89 million cases worldwide that caused more than almost two million deaths.
There has not been a death of someone acutely sick with COVID-19 since October and there are just 41 people in hospital, he said.
“In the last 24 hours, we’ve had 13 cases — three of those, all in NSW, are locally acquired,” Professor Kelly said.
READ MORE: The suburbs where COVID sparked solar demand
Staff writers 3.20pm Man jumps ship to avoid quarantine
A 37-year-old man aboard a carrier ship that berthed of a Western Australia port has been arrested, charged and refused bail after allegedly trying to escape quarantine by jumping into the water and swimming ashore.
The Vietnamese National was a crew member aboard a bulk carrier ship that berthed at the Albany Port on 7 January 2021. Crew members are not permitted ashore onto WA land.
The man was found by police the just before 7pm on Saturday, 9 January 2021 at an Albany backpackers accommodation site and subsequently returned a negative test for COVID-19.
He has been charged with Failed to Comply with a Direction and is due to appear via video-link before the Perth Magistrates Court on Sunday.
READ MORE: Western Australia fire crews hope for weekend relief
Agencies 2.50pm Pope joins vaccine drive
Pope Francis urged people to get the vaccination, calling opposition to the jab “suicidal denial” and saying he would get inoculated against the virus himself next week when the Vatican would begin its campaign.
“There is a suicidal denial which I cannot explain, but today we have to get vaccinated,” the pontiff said in segments from an interview with Canale 5 due to be broadcast in full on Sunday.
READ MORE: We’ve seen worse than Covid
Darren Cartwright 2.20pm Flight crew member tests positive
An international flight crew member has tested positive to coronavirus as Victoria recorded six new cases on Sunday, albeit all in hotel quarantine.
The positive test come as almost 100 arrivals from Queensland who defied stay-at-home advice have been forced to isolate at home, says Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley.
Victoria’s COVID-19 testing commander Jeroen Weimar said it was only two days ago that crew members had to be pulled from a flight that was about to be boarded because of returned positive tests.
He said the flight was cancelled and it was fortunate no passengers had been exposed to the crew member.
“I think a couple of days ago it was pretty last minute. The passengers hadn‘t boarded a jet but the crew were on the plane flicking switches and doing what they do, when we put the halt on,” he said.
“We escorted the crew member off the flight, put his colleagues into isolation and ensured that he was safely back at the crew hotel.”
Mr Weimar urged any Victorians in Greater Brisbane to follow Queensland’s health orders and not return to Melbourne.
READ MORE: Sydney couple released after hotel quarantine chaos
Remy Varga 1.55pm Nearly 900 Vic border entry exemptions granted
Victoria’s COVID-19 Commander Jeroen Weimar said nearly 900 applications to enter the state from NSW had been processed out of 5,000, with just a handful knocked back.
“We continue to process those at hundreds a day but there is more work to do and I’m very grateful for the patience of people who are still waiting to come back to the state,” he said.
“We will look to bring you back as quickly and safely as we possibly can and we’ll have more to say about that in the coming days.”
Victoria saw its fourth consecutive day of zero locally acquired cases and there are currently 45 active cases of COVID-19 in Victoria, 17 of which are in hotel quarantine.
The remaining 28 are linked to the Black Rock cluster and there are around 2,500 people in isolation as close contacts.
Around 200,000 people have been tested as part of the cluster.
READ MORE: Border turmoil leaves families separated, stranded
Remy Varga 1.40pm QLD arrivals breached CHO’s directions
Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said 96 people had entered home quarantine after arriving in Melbourne from Queensland on Saturday.
He noted the arrivals were in breach of the Queensland’s Chief Health Officers directions, which Victoria was applying to returning residents or Queensland travellers.
“DHHS authorised officers worked with some 96 travellers yesterday to facilitate home isolation for those people who came to Melbourne Airport,” he said.
Mr Foley said a number of flights between the two states had been cancelled and thanked airlines for their cooperation.
READ MORE: Queensland floods: It’s going to happen again
Remy Varga 1.05pm: Berejiklian ‘knew Victoria would close border’
Victoria’s Health Minister has contradicted NSW Premier Gladys Berijiklian, saying the state was aware Victoria was going to shut its border ahead of the closure announcement.
Martin Foley said on Sunday that then acting Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan had reached out to Ms Berijiklian on multiple occasions and that he had spoken to his NSW counterpart.
“I didn’t see the NSW Premier’s comments but if she’s of the view that when NSW put a hard border onto Victoria for some many months... that was preceded by conversations with Victoria ... I can assure her the same was reciprocated at the Victorian end,” he said.
When asked if the NSW government was aware the Victorian border would be closed ahead of the public announcement on December 30, Mr Foley said: “Yes”.
It came after Ms Berijiklian said it would have been “appropriate” for Victoria to discuss closing the border with her government before the decision was made.
Mackenzie Scott 12.15pm: Queensland CHO won’t commit to Brisbane lockdown lift
Queensland’s chief health officer Jeannette Young would not commit to lifting Brisbane’s lockdown on Monday night despite the state reporting a second consecutive day of zero cases.
The leading health authority said she would need to see tomorrow’s numbers before she could decide whether it is appropriate to lift the city’s three-day lockdown at 6pm on Monday.
“It’s a really short period that we have looked at,” Dr Young said.
“Let’s see that tomorrow tells us.
“Let’s get the numbers and work out what we are doing”
So far, 147 people have been declared close contacts of the cleaner who contracted the UK variant of COVID-19 on January 2 while working at a quarantine hotel, with 112 of them testing negative.
Dr Young renewed calls for people who had attended the locations linked to the case to come forward.
READ MORE: Concern over quality of childcare
Stephen Rice 11.40am: Berejiklian pleads with fellow premiers over borders
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has pleaded with her fellow state premiers to think carefully before they shut their borders.
“I would simply say to other state leaders - firstly, please talk to us in New South Wales before you close the border because we can explain to you the situation that’s going on,” she said.
“Sometimes when there is an unexpected breakout, you do have to see where it goes for the 24 or 48 hours before you make a decision like closing a border.
“Closing a border can affect literally tens and hundreds of thousands of people, and that’s a big call. And in New South Wales, our strategy is to try to minimise unnecessary stress on our citizens whilst obviously keeping the virus at bay.
“It’s a difficult balance. But I just ask other state leaders to, please, talk to us before they close their border to New South Wales and give us a chance to demonstrate our capacity to get on top of the virus without adversely impacting our citizens”.
Ms Berejiklian declined to answer a question about whether Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews had spoken to her about the border closure.
“Look, this is not about he said, she said, but I think it would be appropriate to have discussions before those major decisions are made”, she said.
READ MORE: Leaders tighten screws against new variants
Stephen Rice 11.10am: NSW records 3 new cases in Berala and N Beaches
NSW has recorded three new cases of community transmission - two were close contacts in the Berala cluster and one was a close contact of someone from the Northern Beaches.
Nearly 24,000 people were tested in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday.
NSW Health is treating 109 COVID-19 cases, none of whom are in intensive care. Most cases (99 per cent) are being treated in non-acute, out-of-hospital care, including returned travellers in the Special Health Accommodation.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) January 10, 2021
Premier Gladys Berejiklian congratulated residents of the Northern Beaches who have come out of lockdown today.
“Today is your first day where you don’t have the stay-at-home orders applying to you. But the case of community transmission overnight demonstrates that whilst the main threat of those clusters, both the Avalon cluster and then the related Berala cluster, has to some extent subsided, we’re still mopping up and that’s why all of us have to be on high alert.”
Three new cases of overseas acquired COVID1-19 were also reported. Testing is underway to determine if they are the highly infectious UK or South African variants.
Of the three new local cases, one is from the southern zone of the Northern Beaches who is linked to the Avalon cluster and close contact of a previously reported case. Two are linked to the Berala cluster, a woman and a man in their 30s. Both are close contacts of a previously reported case.
READ MORE: Border farce proves national cabinet a joke
Michael McKenna 10.20am: No new cases in Queensland
No new cases of COVID19 have been detected in Queensland since a Brisbane-wide lockdown was ordered Friday after a cleaner at a quarantine hotel was found to have the highly-contagious UK strain of the virus.
Ms Palaszczuk announced Sunday morning that there had been no cases of community transmission since the cleaner tested positive on Thursday.
More than 19,000 people have been tested in the past day.
Sunday, 10 January – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) January 9, 2021
• 0 new cases
• 20 active cases
• 1,274 total cases
• 1,589,209 tests conducted
Sadly, six Queenslanders with COVID-19 have died. 1,241 patients have recovered.#covid19 pic.twitter.com/0GOvp3Kawk
Ms Palaszczuk said health authorities had determined 147 close contacts of the cleaner, who is suspected of catching the strain on a January 2 shift at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in inner-city Brisbane, with 112 of them testing negative.
Further testing is underway.
Greater Brisbane remains in lockdown, which started 6pm Friday and is scheduled to end Monday 6pm although the Premier has made not ruled out extending the lockdown.
Chief Health Officer Dr Jeanette Young said she was relieved that no new cases and cautioned that she had to “get the numbers’” tomorrow before deciding whether an extension of the lockdown was needed.
“It is too early to say whether there are cases or no cases out there,’’ she said.
There are twenty active cases of the virus in the state.
Dr Young said contract tracing was continuing in regards to a woman – who had tested positive to the UK strain in Melbourne – after returning from overseas – who had been allowed to travel to Queensland.
The woman, who is now on the Sunshine Coast, had initially tested negative in Melbourne, but the virus was detected when she was tested in Queensland.
READ MORE: Small business slams lockdown
Rhiannon Down 9.40am US sets grim virus record
The US has surpassed 290,000 coronavirus cases in 24 hours on Friday in a new, grim record for the country, including 63 cases of the highly virulent UK strain.
The UK mutation was recorded across eight states including California and Florida - which have been hit hardest by the virus.
Some 368,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 in the course of the pandemic, making it the most affected country in the world. This was followed by Brazil with more than 201,000 dead, India with more than 150,000 and Mexico with more than 132,000 lives lost.
More than 1.9 million people have been reported to have died worldwide.
READ MORE: Trump faces rushed impeachment
Staff writers 9.30am Queensland update at 10am
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will hold a press conference at 10am AEDT (9am AEST) in Brisbane this morning, as the city enters its second day of its snap three-day lockdown.
I know being locked down is hard.
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) January 9, 2021
But we’re all in this together.
Keep staying safe 👠pic.twitter.com/RTu36EePyy
READ MORE: ‘Border farce proves the national cabinet is a joke’
Rachel Baxendale 8.30am: Victoria records zero local cases for fourth day
Victoria has recorded its fourth straight day with no new locally acquired cases of coronavirus since the Black Rock cluster emerged on December 30.
There have been six cases detected in international return travellers in hotel quarantine in the 24 hours to Sunday.
There were 6 cases notified to the department in the past 24 hours. This includes 0 locally acquired and 6 in hotel quarantine. There are currently 45 active cases. 23,412 test results were received – thanks, #EveryTestHelpshttps://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco#COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/VXfCUZIt7T
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) January 9, 2021
The latest numbers come after 23,412 tests were processed in the 24 hours to Sunday.
There are now 45 active coronavirus cases in Victoria. These include 17 cases in international return travellers in hotel quarantine, 27 cases linked to the Black Rock cluster, and one mystery case in a man who attended the Boxing Day sales at Chadstone shopping centre in Melbourne’s southeast on December 26, and the second day of the Boxing Day cricket test at the MCG the following day.
READ MORE: Small business slams lockdown
Anne Barrowclough 7.55am: Northern Beaches leaves lockdown after 3 weeks
The northern zone of Sydney’s Northern Beaches left lockdown at midnight last night, after 21 days, during which they could travel no further south than Narrabeen bridge and no further west than the Baha’i temple in Mona Vale. The region of 270,000 people, put into lockdown after a cluster emerged in Avalon, is now under the same restrictions as Greater Sydney.
Meanwhile, NSW Health has removed an alert for a number of venues in Belrose because it has been decided that a person who visited them was no infectious at the time.
The Burwood venues announced yesterday have been removed from the list of venues of concern, as an expert panel has determined the person was not infectious when they visited.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) January 9, 2021
Alerts remain however for the following public transport routes:
Bus Routes
▪418-138 – Weds 30 Dec, departing Hurlstone Park Station, Duntroon St 6.18am and arriving Marrickville Rd at Garners Ave 6.28am
▪418-138 – Thurs 31 Dec, departing Hurlstone Park Station, Duntroon St 6.18am and arriving Marrickville Rd at Garners Ave 6.28am
▪418-138 - Mon 4 January, departing Hurlstone Park Station, Duntroon St 6.21am and arriving Marrickville Rd at Garners Ave 6.31am
▪ 418-138 – Tues 5 January, departing Hurlstone Park Station, Duntroon St 6.21am and arriving Marrickville Rd at Garners Ave 6.32am
▪418-138 – Tues 5 January, departing Hurlstone Park Station, Duntroon St 10.57am and arriving Marrickville Rd at Garners Ave 11.09am
Train routes
▪Marrickville to Hurlstone Park - Tues 5 January 4.09pm – 4.18pm
▪Hurlstone Park to Bankstown - Wed 6 January 10.58 am – 11.20am
▪Bankstown to Hurlstone Park - Wed 6 January 1.50pm – 2.08pm
▪Marrickville to Hurlstone Park - Wed 6 January 3.56pm – 4.04pm
▪Hurlstone Park to Campsie - Fri 8 January 10.27am – 10.38am
▪Campsie to Hurlstone Park - Fri 8 January 12.01pm – 12.11pm
Anne Barrowclough 7.35am: Queen, Duke of Edinburgh vaccinated against coronavirus
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh have both received vaccinations against COVID-19, Buckingham Palace has announced.
As cases in the UK topped three million, the jabs were administered to the Queen, 94, and Prince Phillip, 99, during the day by a “household doctor” at Windsor Castle.
Royal sources told The London Times the British monarch had “decided that she would let it be known she has had the vaccination ... to prevent inaccuracies and further speculation”.
The Queen’s words from her recent Christmas Broadcast.
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) January 7, 2021
Thank you to everyone who continues to play a part to help others during the pandemic, from NHS staff and key workers to those helping friends and neighbours during this difficult time. #ClapforHeroes pic.twitter.com/IdTS3IwGO2
In 1957, amid widespread public anxiety about the potential side effects of a new polio vaccine, the Queen broke with protocol and let it be known that Prince Charles and Princess Anne, then 8 and 6, had been innoculated.
It eased public concerns, and millions went on to have the vaccine.
The royal couple is among around 1.5 million people in the UK to have had at least one dose of the vaccine so far.
People aged over 80 in the UK are among the high-priority groups who are being given the vaccine first.
Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Mike Pence have received the vaccine in the US.
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh have spent lockdown at Windsor Castle, having avoided the traditional royal family gathering at Sandringham over Christmas.
It is unknown whether they received the Oxford- AstraZeneca vaccine or one manufactured by Pfizer and BioNTech, recipients of which require 15 minutes of medical observation after injection.
Ellie Dudley 6am: Quarantine rules rewritten to combat UK, SA variants
As Brisbane enters day two of a snap lockdown, quarantine rules have been rewritten to combat the highly-infectious UK and SA variants of COVID-19 spreading in Australia.
Major changes have been introduced to stop the spread of the COVID-19 variants in hotel quarantine, including new isolation rules for positive cases.
Overseas travellers who show COVID-19 symptoms cannot leave isolation until at least 14 days after symptom onset, as fears grow over hyper-infectious variants
It comes as the northern end of Sydney’s Northern beaches emerges from three weeks of hard lockdown.
Anxiety grew in Queensland on Saturday as it was revealed a returned traveller on a Jetstar flight from Melbourne had flown to Brisbane positive with the COVID-19 UK variant on January 5.
She completed 10 days of isolation in Melbourne’s hotel quarantine after she arrived home from the UK on Boxing Day.
It put residents of Maleny on the Sunshine Coast on alert, after she then travelled there to stay with her parents, with residents urged to get tested if they develop symptoms.
Queensland had zero new cases on Saturday as Greater Brisbane became a ghost town under snap lockdown.
Victoria has no new locally-acquired cases, while NSW had one new case, linked to the Berala cluster as Premier Gladys Berejiklian outlined the new tighter restrictions for returned overseas travellers.
Peter Lalor 5.30am: India refusing to play Fourth Test in Brisbane
Indian officials have informed Cricket Australia they do not want to play the fourth Test in Brisbane because of fears the highly-infectious UK variant of coronavirus could jeopardise their forthcoming series against England at home.
BCCI officials also expressed concerns about travelling to a city that is currently in a hard lockdown, but sources said India were still keen to play the fourth Test, but would not risk travelling to Brisbane.
Cricket Australia is confident however that the tour will proceed.
The latest objection comes after the Indian camp had tried to use changes in hotel restrictions as an objection to travelling to Brisbane.
Read the full story here.
Steve Zemek 5am: Eerie scenes from inside Brisbane’s snap lockdown
Brisbane became a ghost town on Saturday as residents abided by stay-indoors orders to help quell the spread of a mutant coronavirus strain.
Greater Brisbane has entered a three-day lockdown following the discovery a highly contagious UK COVID-19 variant which had leaked from hotel quarantine.
While Queensland’s capital is often derided for its sleepy nature, its streets were more empty than usual on Saturday morning.
The Queen Street Mall was empty as shops closed and residents stayed indoors, and those stores which were open were deserted.
Under the orders, people can only go outdoors for essential work, grocery shopping, medical appointments and to exercise in their local area.
Read the full story here.
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