Coronavirus Australia live news: Tracing scramble: NSW cluster hits nine; one news case in Queensland NSW Health Minister calls for testing to double
Pleas for more testing as masks become compulsory indoors in seven NSW local government areas and Delta cluster grows to nine. Queensland is also on high alert with a new local case.
- Sydney’s new rules as Covid cluster grows
- Two new cases in NSW, mask mandate extended
- New virus case in Qld: tracing scramble
- Victoria records zero new cases
- Tokyo scraps Olympics public viewing sites
- Push for testing rates to double over Sydney outbreak
- Delta strain to become dominant in US
- Australia nears 6.5m vaccine doses
International flight crew member detected with Delta variant after quarantine went shopping at Brisbane factory outlet before testing positive.
Health authorities in NSW want Covid testing rates to double amid an outbreak of the Delta variant in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. Two new local cases linked to a cluster at a Bondi Junction shopping centre were recorded yesterday. Meanwhile, with just 40 days to go, Tokyo will cancel all public Olympics viewing events in an effort to reduce the risk of coronavirus infections.
AFP11.15pm: UK allows outdoor weddings for first time
The British government will permit outdoor non-religious wedding ceremonies in England and Wales for the first time, boosting a sector hard-hit by the pandemic.
Up to now, England and Wales have only allowed Jewish and Quaker weddings outdoors, while others have to marry in a room or a fixed permanent structure. Scotland does allow outdoor weddings.
Justice Minister Robert Buckland told Sky News on Sunday the reform gave “greater flexibility” for weddings to “have more guests in a safe way”.
Under the new rules, from July 1 people in England and Wales will be able to have non-religious weddings and civil partnership ceremonies outside or “under a partially covered structure” at approved venues such as hotels, the Ministry of Justice said.
The rules are temporary, running to April next year, though the government said it would consult on whether to make them permanent.
It called this a “boost to the wedding sector”, allowing all aspects of weddings to take place outdoors for the first time.
The rule change provides more flexibility “especially during the pandemic,” the government said, although its commitment to change the rules predates the virus.
Wedding organisers and owners of venues have complained that restrictions on celebrations during the pandemic have made their businesses unviable.
Wedding planner Sarah Haywood, spokeswoman for the UK Wedding Taskforce campaign group, tweeted: “Some good news! Let’s keep it coming”.
READ MORE: Fatigue factor a cloud over horizon of hope
Joseph Lam10.30pm:City ordered to mask-up as cluster grows
Hundreds of thousands of Sydneysiders across seven councils were subject to immediate mandatory mask use indoors from Sunday after three new Covid-19 cases were recorded in NSW.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian introduced tighter restrictions as she confirmed Sydney’s eastern suburbs cluster had grown to nine cases. “In addition to public transport, there will be seven councils or local government areas within Sydney covering the CBD, inner west and southeast,” she said.
“We’ll ask people to wear a mask indoors in a mandatory way so you must wear a mask if you are in and around those seven local government areas.”
The restrictions will last until Thursday.
Mask use is now mandatory indoors at retail venues and for hospitality staff in Randwick, Bayside, Canada Bay, Inner West, City of Sydney, Waverley and Woollahra. It is also compulsory on public transport in Wollongong and Shellharbour.
At Truefitt and Hill in Sydney’s Queen Victoria Building, barber Amy Lewns, 25, said while face masks often got in the way, wearing one was a small price to pay to keep safe. “If you look down you lose that peripheral, which is blocked by the mask but otherwise I don’t mind, it’s a small thing to do, a small ask,” she said.
AFP 9.45pm:Russians risk unpaid leave for rejecting vaccines
Russian workers who refuse Covid-19 vaccinations in areas where they are compulsory could be forced to take unpaid leave, the Labour Minister has warned as infections spike and inoculation drives slow.
Anton Kotyakov’s comments come as Moscow and other cities introduce an array of curbs, including for the Euro 2020 football tournament.
“If the health authorities in a region make vaccination mandatory for some categories of workers, an unvaccinated employee could be suspended,” Mr Kotyakov said in comments posted Sunday to a state-run channel on the Telegram messaging app.
He added that the suspension would last as long as the decree for mandatory vaccination is in effect.
The Russian capital, Moscow, has ordered mandatory vaccination for residents working in the service industry, saying about 60 per cent would have to be fully inoculated by August 15.
Seven other cities and areas, including the second city of Saint-Petersburg, have imposed similar rules, according to Russian media.
The new wave of infections came as Saint Petersburg, the country’s worst Covid-19 hotspot after Moscow, is slated to host seven Euro 2020 matches — including a quarter-final on July 2 — expected to draw thousands of European soccer fans.
Although free jabs have been available to Russians since December, just 19.5 million out of a population of about 146 million have received at least one dose of a vaccine, according to the Gogov website which tallies Covid figures from the regions and the media.
In Moscow, only 1.5 million of the city’s roughly 12 million people have been fully vaccinated.
A recent independent survey found that 60 per cent of Russians do not intend to get the shot.
After two straight days of record infections, Moscow registered a slight decrease on Sunday, with 8305 infections in 24 hours. This is still far higher than two weeks ago when about 3,000 cases were recorded daily.
Russia, with 129,361 deaths recorded by the government, is the hardest hit country in Europe.
Under a broader definition for deaths linked to Covid, statistics agency Rosstat has counted at least 270,000 deaths since the pandemic began.
READ MORE: Indonesia faces Covid-19 tsunami
David Ross 9pm: Buyers defy outbreaks to charge into property
The red-hot run in the property market has continued at a cracking pace with four in five houses across the combined capitals selling at auction.
The Covid outbreaks across Sydney and Melbourne failed to dampen buyer’s appetites, with 77.8 per cent of 1955 properties sold nationally clearing the reserve at auction.
That’s compared to the revised figure from last week which saw 73.6 per cent of the 1413 properties on offer sell.
Sellers are out in force compared to the dearth of properties on the market at the same time last year, which only saw 1251 properties offered for auction across all the capitals.
At the same time last year only 59.6 per cent of homes sold at auction.
Buyers have continued piling into property, with Sydney leading the charge where nearly 85 per cent of houses selling at auction.
Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee said there’s no doubt the housing market was hot, but data indicated the numbers of bidders per property had declined in recent weeks as volumes increased.
Jon Emont8.15pm:Indonesia faces Covid-19 tsunami
As Covid-19 cases rise sharply in parts of Indonesia, authorities have found the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus to be dominant in areas including the capital, Jakarta.
Doctors there say hospitals are filling up, more young people are getting infected and patients are getting sicker more quickly than in previous outbreaks.
Their observations echo some of the anecdotal findings from India, where the variant was first detected and contributed to a devastating wave of infections. The strain, also known as B.1.617.2, is in around 70 countries including the U.K., where health officials believe it is contributing to an uptick in cases and hospitalisation, delaying a planned easing of Covid-19 restrictions.
In three parts of Indonesia where the variant is prevalent—densely populated Jakarta; Kudus, a cigarette-manufacturing centre in central Java province; and Bangkalan, just off the coast of Java—sudden spikes in infection have strained hospitals and sparked worries that a new wave of infections will sweep across Indonesia. Kudus experienced one of the fastest surges of all, with the weekly tally of new infections jumping 35 times in late May, though from a very low base.
Ellie Dudley7.30pm:Infected patient visited Wollongong obstetrician
A Wollongong obstetrician was visited by a patient infected with Covid-19 on Friday afternoon, the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District has confirmed.
The doctor has tested negative, but will remain in isolation for 14 days.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Sunday reported two new cases of Covid-19, including one, a man in his 30s, who attended Westfield Bondi Junction and also travelled to Wollongong.
It is unknown whether he was the patient who visited the obstetrician on Friday, but a statement from the ISLHD confirmed the patient was “linked to the Bondi cluster”.
Olivia Caisley 7.15pm:Leaders blast Pfizer ‘shambles’
A decision by government health advisers to restrict AstraZeneca to those over 60 and the recalibration of the vaccine rollout will be at the heart of Monday’s national cabinet meeting following Victoria’s criticism that the administration of jabs had “been a shambles” and WA’s demands for more Pfizer doses.
As Australian Defence Force Lieutenant General John “JJ” Frewen moves to apply his military logistics expertise to the rollout, national cabinet will discuss the reallocation of Pfizer doses across the states and territories in the wake of new Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) advice that AstraZeneca be restricted to those 60 and over.
Under the recalibration, Pfizer doses will be allocated to the states and territories based on population sizes, except in instances of Covid-19 breakouts. The Morrison government is also expected to chastise the states for “under-ordering” vaccines and will call on the leaders to get vials out of commonwealth fridges and into arms.
David Murray6.30pm: Brisbane flight attendant cleared of Delta variant
A flight attendant who tested positive for Covid-19 in Brisbane does not have the feared Delta variant.
“Genome sequencing results have confirmed the Brisbane Covid-19 case reported earlier today is not the Delta (Indian) variant as earlier suspected,” the Queensland government said in a statement.
“Queensland Health is continuing investigations into the exact variant, and the source of the case.”
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said it was still important for those who had attended exposure sites to isolate.
“Particularly anyone who was at the Airport DFO between 4pm and 4.30pm on Saturday still needs to isolate,” Dr Young said.
“It’s good news the case isn’t the highly transmissible Delta variant, but we do still need to take every precaution.”
Anyone who was at the Airport DFO between 4pm and 4.30pm on Saturday should isolate at home, and fill in the contact tracing form on the Queensland Health website, the state government says.
Queensland Health would contact individuals with advice about getting tested, however it was “likely now that individuals will not need to quarantine for the full 14 days”.
Contact tracing locations here
READ MORE: Trapped Aussies seek out backyard thrills
Feliz Solomon, Wilawan Watcharasaakwet 6.05pm:Thais take risk to recharge economy
Last year, Thailand was one of the world’s top performers at fighting the coronavirus. It sacrificed the tourism dollars that normally buoy its economy to shut out Covid-19. In September, it celebrated 100 consecutive days of no locally transmitted infections.
The government is now making a stark departure from that vision of an infection-free oasis. Its new message: learn to live with the virus long term.
Thailand has been struggling to contain a monthslong surge in infections, fix a faltering vaccine rollout and combat growing impatience among citizens over its battered economy. Its recalibration shows how several developing countries—even those that fared well for months—are battling crises on multiple fronts as richer nations inoculate rapidly and reinvigorate their economies.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha pledged this week to fully reopen the nation in the next 120 days, or by mid-October, allowing most restrictions on business and tourism to be lifted. Foreign visitors would have to be vaccinated but could enter and travel freely. Doing so, he said, would mean accepting higher infection rates, but the step is necessary to ease the enormous suffering of those struggling to earn a living.
AFP 5.35pm:China vaccine doses pass one billion mark
China has now administered more than a billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines, the country’s health authority said on Sunday, more than a third of the number given worldwide.
It comes after the number of doses administered globally surpassed 2.5 billion on Friday, according to a count from the news service Agence France-Presse.
READ MORE: Victoria’s vaccine project ‘on track’ for October trials
Will Pavia 5.05pm:Return of New York City brings parties and dangers
It was a beautiful summer’s night in New York and crowds filled Washington Square Park. Skaters rolled over the flagstones, a drummer warmed up with a band and men and women dressed as Jedi knights fought with light sabres beneath the trees.
“A year ago it was dead,” said Sebastian Fink, 23, sitting on a wall with his girlfriend, taking it all in. “Now you are not able to reserve a brunch table.”
The sense that New York was back and eating brunch once more was boosted this week by the governor, Andrew Cuomo, who announced an end to social distancing measures in restaurants and cinemas, saying that 70 per cent of adults had now received at least one vaccine shot.
Victoria Laurie 4.20pm:Back to normal: WA to lift last Covid venue restrictions
Western Australia will lift all Covid-19 venue restrictions in three days’ time, meaning that all capacity limits on mass gatherings and restaurants, cafes and bars.will be lifted for the first time since the pandemic began.
From this Wednesday 23 June, the government will end the most recent 75 per cent cap on patrons, while the 2-square metre rule will also be removed for all venues and they can operate at 100 per cent capacity.
“What that will mean is that for many venues around the state, hospitality venues in particular, they’ll be able to go back to normal, as we were pre-COVID,” Premier Mark McGowan said.
The only remaining COVID-restrictions will be on travel to remote Aboriginal communities and control of interstate borders. Major events of all kinds can resume with no limits on size or crowd numbers.
However, incoming travellers from two affected states are being warned to get tested. WA Health announced on Sunday that recently returned travellers from Queensland must get tested immediately and self-isolate if they have been to one of the listed exposure sites after a Queensland woman in her 30s who left quarantine in that state tested positive on Sunday.
“The risk to WA is very low but it again highlights the importance of remaining vigilant,” chief health officer Anthony Robertson said on Sunday. In light of the escalating number of outbreaks in New South Wales, travellers who recently returned already face the requirement to get tested and isolate until cleared.
Victoria Laurie 4.10pm:Biloela’s Tamil; family reunited in home detention
Four-year-old asylum-seeker Tharnicaa Murugappan has left hospital to join her family in community detention in Perth, nearly two weeks after she was medically evacuated from Christmas Island with a blood infection.
The girl and her mother, Priya, had been flown to Perth two weeks ago after she became unwell on May 25. On Saturday, Tharnicaa was discharged from Perth Children’s Hospital but will receive ongoing treatment for an infection caused by untreated pneumonia.
She joins her sister Kopika, 6, and parents Priya and Nades Murugappan, who have spent more than three years in immigration detention centres including Christmas Island.
READ the full story here.
Christine Kellett 3.30pm:No drop in vaccine demand: chief nursing officer
Health authorities have seen no drop off in demand for Covid vaccines, despite changed advice on AstraZeneca, federal Chief Nursing Officer Alison McMillan says.
More than 64,500 vaccine jabs were delivered yesterday, an increase of about 3700 on the same time last week.
AstraZeneca will be reserved for over 60s after updated recommendations over the small risk of blood clotting in younger people.
She said changes to storage requirements for Pfizer had also made distribution through GP surgeries faster and easier.
“We’re still working to get everyone in Australia who is willing to get the vaccine, their first dose by the end of the year. We’re still on track to do that and that’s our aim. If we can do it sooner, the better.”
Ms McMillan said two new cases of the Delta variant in Sydney overnight and a new case traced to an international flight attendant in Brisbane showed the threat was still very real, and urged over 60s in particular not to hesitate in receiving their second dose.
“Please get your second vaccine. That’s how you’ll get maximum protection and that’s a part of the two-dose program. It’s really important you do that.”
READ MORE:Shops shut down for Covid breaches
Tessa Akerman 2.40pm:mRNA vaccine project ‘on track’ for October trials
Victoria’s Acting Premier has lauded the state’s development of Australia’s first locally made mRNA Covid-19 vaccine while slamming the “shambles” of the federal jab rollout.
The partially state-funded mRNA Covid-19 vaccine is a collaboration between Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS) and the Doherty Institute. It will commence Phase 1 clinical trials with about 150 people in October.
The Victorian Government announced on Sunday that it would invest $5 million to support the manufacture of the mRNA Covid-19 vaccine, with results expected in early 2022.
The vaccine is the first investment from the state government’s $50m fund to develop mRNA manufacturing capability.
Acting Premier James Merlino said Australia should have never been in a situation in a pandemic where it did not have local capability to manufacture vaccines.
READ the full story here.
Jack Paynter 2.20pm:Victoria probes two ‘mystery’ cases after quarantine
Victorian health officials are scrambling to investigate two returned international travellers who recorded positive Covid-19 test results after leaving hotel quarantine.
Health Minister Martin Foley said the two people had returned conflicting results, suggesting they had previously been infected before arriving in Australia.
The state government will now convene an expert panel to determine how and when they became infected.
“We are also advised that there are two cases that are under investigation at the moment,” Mr Foley said on Sunday morning.
“These are returned travellers who are no longer in quarantine.
“They produced conflicting results on different testing platforms over the past 24 hours.
“This is highly suggestive of historical infections, and an expert review panel will be convened later (on Sunday), to consider those.
“But our public health teams in both cases have taken serology work with these two members of our community and that reinforces the notion that this points to historical infections before these people arrived back in Australia.”
Victoria recorded no new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 on Sunday.
READ MORE: Moscow records pandemic high for Covid cases
Evin Preist 1.45pm:Testing must increase ‘to get on top of this’: Chant
NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant says testing numbers in NSW must drastically increase to keep control of the Delta cluster, after after only 24,000 tests were recorded overnight.
“I would like to see those numbers today exceed 30-40,000 tests,” she said.
“The quicker we can diagnose cases, the quicker we can get ahead of the transmission of this virus.
“The quicker we can get on top of this, the less restrictive if we can be. If everyone can please wear the masks. If everyone can please, even if you have the most minimal of symptoms, get tested.
“If we can all be particularly careful over the coming days, to a week, that will really assist us in managing this current situation.”
READ MORE:Fears over new ‘Delta’ case in Brisbane
Evin Preist 1.30pm:Sydney’s new restrictions as Covid cluster grows
Sydney’s Covid-19 cluster has grown to nine with two new local cases recorded before 8pm on Saturday, while two more community cases were recorded after 8pm and will be officially registered in Monday’s numbers.
Masks will now be mandatory in public indoor venues – if you are not eating or drinking – if you live in or visit seven local government areas, including Randwick, Bayside, Canada Bay, Inner West, City of Sydney, Waverley and Woollahra.
These activities include riding public transport, retail, theatres, visiting aged care facilities and also for front-of-house hospitality staff.
Masks being mandatory on public transport has also been extended to Wollongong and Shellharbour local government areas because the man in his 30s who tested positive from Sydney’s CBD had also spent time in Wollongong.
“We really encourage and have been for a number of days to use masks whenever you are an indoor environments,” NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said.
“In terms of workplaces, workplaces are usually not included except front-facing workplaces where they are in retail settings where you are in contact with the public.
“That will be clarified and we will issue a fact sheet.”
Residents are being asked to follow the new restrictions immediately, but they will be legally enforced from 4pm on Sunday.
The mask rules are scheduled to be lifted on Thursday.
Joseph Lam 11.50am:Brisbane CBD on high alert after positive case
Brisbane city has been put on high alert after Queensland Health discovered an international air crew member who tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday after spending 14 days in hotel quarantine travelled to the CBD overnight.
Authorities fear the woman may have the highly-infectious Delta strain as she travelled on the same Emirates flight to Brisbane on June 5 as another person who tested positive for the Delta strain.
Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette said the woman had travelled to several venues spanning about a 30km radius in Brisbane.
She travelled to the CBD, where she is believed to have spent an hour, after attending an airport factory outlet about 4pm on Saturday.
Following her trip to the city centre, she attended a Portuguese Family Centre at Ellen Grove, about 20km south of the CBD. She was there between 7pm to 7.50pm
Dr Young issued a stern message for anyone who was at the Direct Factory Outlet between 4pm and 4.30pm on Saturday: “Immediately isolate yourself.”
She added that: “It’s too early for you to get tested because you would have been exposed between 4-4.30pm, less than 24 hours so you won’t be positive at this stage but you may over the next 14 days.”
Anyone who was in the city between 5pm and 6pm has been urged to monitor for symptoms.
âš ï¸ Public Health Alertâš ï¸
— Queensland Health (@qldhealthnews) June 20, 2021
Queensland Health is issuing a contact tracing alert for parts of Brisbane, in relation to a new #COVID19 case in the community.
For a full list of locations and times, visit https://t.co/rujm8F3qL4pic.twitter.com/E26StwRpv3
Joseph Lam 11.33am:NSW Premier can’t rule out further restrictions
Gladys Berejiklian has not ruled out further Covid-19 measures in NSW, noting that any further restrictions would depend on cases over the next couple of days.
The NSW Premier announced an extension of Sydney’s mandatory mask use on public transport to include Wollongong and Shellharbour effective immediately on Sunday. Changes to the rules also include indoor mask use in several Sydney government areas.
“At this stage, we didn’t want to make the decision to have compulsory mask wearing across all Greater Sydney but if the situation changes overnight, that is an option we will have to consider,” she said.
“What we’ve asked people to do today is as far as we will go but I will say that if cases continue to emerge in the community, we will need to consider going further ... but I hope that isn’t the case.”
READ MORE:Tokyo scraps Olympics public viewing sites
Joseph Lam11.19am:Effective immediately: Mask use extends to Wollongong, Shellharbour
NSW has extended mandatory mask use for residents in Wollongong and Shellharbour and changed the rules in Sydney to include mandatory indoor mask use across several local government areas after the state recorded two new cases of Covid-19.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Sunday announced the rules which include mandatory mask use indoors in Randwick, Bayside, Botany Bay, Inner West, City of Sydney, Waverley and Woollahra.
“In addition to public transport, there will be seven councils or local government areas within Sydney covering the CBD itself of Sydney, and inner west and south-east and inner west,” she said.
“We’ll ask people to wear a mask indoors in a mandatory way so you must wear a mask if you are in and around those seven local government areas.”
The two new cases reported today include a man in his 30s, residing in the Sydney CBD, who attended Westfield Bondi Junction and also travelled to Wollongong. A household contact of the man, a woman in her 30s, who also attended the Bondi Junction shopping centre, has also tested positive.
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant announced two further cases which were not recorded in Sunday’s Covid-19 case update.
The new cases were among residents in Sydney’s Sutherland shire. One case is a woman in her 50s and another is a man in his 50s who is believed to have contracted the virus while working in a Salvation Army store, Dr Chant said.
She added that both cases will be included in tomorrow’s update.
NSW recorded two locally acquired cases of #COVID19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, one of which was announced yesterday morning.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) June 20, 2021
NSW Health has also been notified of two new locally acquired cases overnight. This cases will be included in tomorrow’s numbers. pic.twitter.com/4LF0kN7Rvx
Debbie Schipp11.12am:Two new cases in NSW, new mask mandate
Masks will become mandatory in all indoor settings in seven local government areas of Sydney, after two new cases of locally acquired coronavirus were recorded in NSW overnight.
The LGAs are Randwick, Bayside, Botany Bay, the Inner West, City of Sydney, Waverley and Woollahra.
Masks are already mandatory on public transport in these areas.
NSW recorded two locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night - one of which was announced yesterday by NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant. Two new locally acquired cases were detected overnight.
More than a dozen venues have been added to New South Wales’ coronavirus exposure site list overnight.
The new cases include a man in his 30s who lives in the Sydney CBD but had attended Westfield Bondi Junction and spent time in the Wollongong area, as well as a woman in her 30s, who is a household contact
“In addition to that, after 8pm, we have had a one woman in her 50s from the Sutherland Shire and she is a close contact of the previously reported case,” Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant has told a press conference on Sunday.
Joseph Lam10.30am:New virus case in Queensland: tracing scramble
Queensland authorities are scrambling to trace the potential exposure of a new Covid-19 case recorded in Brisbane overnight after it was discovered the case had been out in the community on Saturday.
The new case is an international flight crew member who travelled to Australia on an Emirates flight on June 5. She tested positive for the highly-infectious Delta strain on the back of spending 14 days in hotel quarantine.
The woman reportedly left hotel quarantine at 9am on Saturday in a shuttle bus with other crew members bound for Hamilton Apartments, about 7km from the CBD.
She reportedly travelled to a Direct Factory Outlet near Brisbane Airport, some 6km from the apartment, around 4pm.
Anyone who attended the DFO on Saturday between 4pm and 4.30pm has been urged to get tested and isolate immediately.
The crew member reportedly had contact with someone who tested positive for the highly-infectious Delta variant aboard her flight to Brisbane.
Friday 18 June – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) June 20, 2021
One new case detected in the community overnight. Today’s new case is a close contact of a previously confirmed case, an international flight crew member who tested positive after completing 14 days quarantine.#covid19pic.twitter.com/i7wxRX6c2U
Christine Kellett9.45am:Bondi Junction hotel confirms guest has tested positive
Meriton Suites at Bondi Junction has revealed a guest has tested positive to Covid.
In a statement released last night, a Meriton spokesperson said NSW Health had contacted the hotel to confirm the positive case and was working with officials to work out the times the infected guest visited.
Anyone who stayed, visited or worked in any part of Meriton Suites Bondi Junction between June 14-18 is considered a casual contact and must immediately get tested and self-isolate until they receive a negative result.
“Common areas of the hotel underwent a full deep clean Friday evening, as it does each night as part of our regular cleaning regime introduced at the onset of the pandemic to assist in protecting our community and will undertake another deep clean tonight in line with our daily procedures,” a statement from Meriton reads.
“We continue to co-operate with NSW Health and will keep all our hotel guests informed and provide you with more information as we receive updates.”
Meriton Suites has today received confirmation from @NSWHealth that a hotel guest at Meriton Suites Bondi Junction has recently been confirmed as having the coronavirus (COVID-19) infection.
— Meriton Suites (@MeritonSuites) June 19, 2021
More information at the below link 👇 https://t.co/k6dy0zkuCN
The NSW government is due to provide an update on latest Covid figures at 11am.
Two new cases were recorded yesterday, bringing the confirmed cases in the Bondi cluster to six.
READ MORE:Bleak city gets bleaker — can Melbourne recover?
Olivia Caisley8.55am:Australia’s vaccine rollout ‘in deep trouble’
Opposition health spokesman Mark Butler says the vaccine rollout is in “deep trouble” and “desperately behind schedule” as confusion over the AstraZeneca health advice threatens to increase hesitancy in the community and add further delays.
Mr Butler told Sky News on Sunday the Morrison government had failed to broker enough vaccine deals in the early stage of the pandemic leaving Australia vulnerable to supply issues.
“We were saying last year when Chris Bowen was the shadow health minister, you need to do five or six deals – that was recognised by experts as the best practice approach to this,” Mr Butler said. “That’s what other countries were doing so when they ran into trouble with a particular vaccine around suppliers or around potential adverse events like we’ve seen reported with AstraZeneca, there were other deals to fall back on. Australia just hasn’t had enough of that we’re really left only now with Pfizer, for a broad population vaccine which is only coming in at about 350,000 (doses) a week.”
The health advice was changed last week to recommend AstraZeneca for people aged 60 and above, sparking confusion for people aged between 50-59 who had already had their first jab.
Mr Butler blasted the speed of the rollout and confusion over the government’s messaging as he questioned why a public health information campaign hadn’t been created.
“There is a lot of confusion. This (the change in health advice) will I think be a further break on a vaccine rollout that is already desperately behind schedule. This vaccine rollout I have no doubt, is in deep trouble,” he said. “It’s in deep trouble.”
Mr Butler said Scott Morrison had sent too many mixed messages about reopening the international borders but should focus instead on speeding up the rollout.
He again called on the government to construct a purpose-built quarantine facility to prevent the virus leaking from the hotel system into the community.
“I would prefer he concentrated on his two jobs, and his two jobs are to roll out the vaccine in a speedy and effective way and we’re still only at 3 per cent for vaccination in Australia, and put in place, a safe national quarantine system,” he said.
READ MORE: Getting to the pointy end of vaccine hesitancy
Christine Kellett8.35am:A doughnut day for Victoria
Victoria has recorded no new cases of locally acquired coronavirus in the past 24 hours, despite more than 19,500 tests.
The number of active cases in the state is now at 51.
The state recorded one new case on Saturday.
Reported yesterday: 0 new local cases and 2 new cases acquired overseas (currently in HQ).
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) June 19, 2021
- 12,242 vaccine doses were administered
- 19,502 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicDatapic.twitter.com/E3BOjOoWx4
READ MORE:Administration state ‘every bit as harmful as Covid’
Christine Kellett8.10am:Two CBD gyms, baby store added to exposure sites
Two Sydney CBD gyms and a baby store have been added to a growing list of potential exposure sites linked to the Bondi Junction Delta outbreak, which has grown to six cases.
Anyone who visited the following locations are considered close contacts and must isolate and get tested:
– Fitness First Platinum on Pitt Street on Wednesday June 16 from 12.30pm to 1.15pm
– Fitness First Platinum on Bond Street on Thursday June 17 from 3.30pm to 4.30pm
– Baby Bunting store at Shellharbour on Friday June 18 from 4.30pm to 5.15pm
âš ï¸ PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT – FURTHER VENUES âš ï¸ pic.twitter.com/Y5TeZDrDLv
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) June 19, 2021
You can view the full list of exposure sites here.
READ MORE:China conceives a baby boom
Tom Dusevic7.37am:We’re still not getting the point of vaccines
Victoria’s recent Covid-19 outbreak and subsequent lockdown cost it billions in forfeited economic activity and revived torment, especially for parents of school-age children. But there was an attendant bonus, one that could pay big in coming months, not least in saving lives and changing the political psychology of pandemic management: vaccination rates surged.
Analysis by the University of Melbourne’s Anthony Scott and Ou Yang shows in the week after restrictions began on May 28, the proportion of Victoria’s population who had been vaccinated rose by 4.6 percentage points compared to 1.6 per cent in the rest of the country.
Certainly, vaccination was one of the few reasons a person was allowed to leave home, while federal and state authorities lifted their game, especially the latter, whose mass hubs did a roaring trade.
But even after the outbreak, the proportion of Victorians unwilling to be vaccinated remained stubbornly high at 17 per cent, according to the Melbourne Institute’s Taking the Pulse of the Nation survey, while in the rest of Australia the percentage of those who do not want to be vaccinated fell from 19.5 per cent to 15.9 per cent in the first week of June. University of New South Wales infectious disease social scientist Holly Seale says people can find it extremely difficult to navigate the burgeoning information on vaccines, including official communications. “I also don’t think we are doing enough about misinformation,” she says, a lot of which is circulating in closed systems among ethnic communities, “some of which is outrageous, causing confusion among vaccine brands and feeding conspiracy theories”.
Read the full story here.
Agencies7am:Tokyo scraps Olympics public viewing sites
Tokyo will cancel all public Olympics viewing events in an effort to reduce the risk of coronavirus infections, the city’s governor says.
Having postponed the Games for a year because of the pandemic, Japan has already banned overseas spectators — in an Olympics first — while reducing the number of participants, volunteers and guests.
However, officials are forging ahead with hosting the Games from July 23.
“We have decided to cancel these live viewing sites that gather people,” Governor Yuriko Koike told reporters on Saturday, after meeting Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
“On the other hand, we will make greater use of the web to create exciting atmospheres for the Games and to disseminate various cultural information,” she said.
There had been six planned viewing sites, across the Japanese capital. The announcement came as Ms Koike and Mr Suga prepare to meet Olympics and Paralympics officials Monday for a key consultation during which they are expected to finalise whether to allow domestic spectators inside Games venues.
Politicians and organisers are pushing for some spectators to be allowed. But Japan’s top infectious disease experts have urged them to consider holding the Games behind closed doors.
Read the full story here.
Dow Jones6.45am:Delta to become dominant strain in US
The highly contagious Delta variant could soon become the dominant strain of coronavirus in the US, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said.
“It’s more transmissible than the Alpha variant, or the UK variant, that we have here,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky told ABC News in an interview on Good Morning America.
“We saw that quickly become the dominant strain in a period of one or two months, and I anticipate that is going to be what happens with the Delta strain here.”
The Delta variant, also known as B. 1.617.2, is the most worrying of the lineage of the virus, wreaking havoc earlier this year in India, where it was first identified in late 2020. Since then, the variant has spread to almost 70 countries, including the US.
The latest CDC data estimates the Delta variant makes up 9.9% of reported US Covid-19 cases, while Alpha stands at 65.5%. It is difficult to know the real prevalence of new coronavirus variations due to the relatively low amounts of genetic analysis being done on the virus.
Delta is already the dominant strain in the UK, where a rise in new Covid-19 cases linked to the variant recently prompted Prime Minister Boris Johnson to postpone a planned lifting of public-health restrictions by four weeks.
The World Health Organisation last month named it a “variant of concern.” Delta is more infectious and appears to be more effective at evading vaccines, though fully vaccinated individuals are believed to have significant protection against illness.
READ MORE:Delta strain ‘a near and present danger’ in Sydney
Jess Malcolm 6.30am: Mass testing for Bondi cluster may reassure on restrictions
The NSW government says it does not believe any tighter restrictions are needed yet in Sydney to deal with the Bondi Junction Covid cluster, but is instead pushing for a doubling of testing rates.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said on Saturday “thousands” more people should consider whether they were within the Bondi Junction Westfield shopping centre, especially, and other listed possible exposure sites, at critical times for the apparent Delta-strain transmission and seek testing.
About 26,000 people were tested yesterday, with two new cases of local transmission detected, but Mr Hazzard said testing of 50,000 or more was needed.
NSW Health authorities have upgraded the advice for anyone who had visited listed venues to a need for people to get tested and minimise their community exposure until they received a negative result.
Anyone who visited Bondi Junction on Saturday 12 June between 11am and 12, and Sunday 13 June between 1pm and 2pm and between 4pm and 4.30pm must get tested and reduce their movement within the community.
“That means wearing a mask if you are out, working from home if you can, but minimising, don’t go to gatherings,” Mr Hazzard said.
“We won’t ask you to isolate at this stage but certainly go and get tested.”
READ MORE: List of Sydney exposure sites grows
Jess Malcolm 6am: Vaccine doses given to Australians near 6.5m
A total of 6,491,476 vaccine doses have been administered as part of the federal government vaccination rollout, with 130,810 doses given in the past 24 hours.
The federal government has administered 3,891,061 doses with 67,294 given in the past 24 hours up to Friday night.
The states and territories have given 1,600,415 with 63,516 completed in the past 24 hours.
Victoria has administered the most with 886,507 followed by NSW with 666,689, Queensland with 420,773, Western Australia with 236,770, Tasmania with 93,678, South Australia with 174,996, ACT with 70,385 and the Northern Territory with 50,617.
A total of 3,476,638 have been administered in primary-care clinics by the commonwealth, and 414,423 given in aged and disability facilities.
In a tweet on Saturday afternoon, federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the numbers were “pleasing”.
“Many thanks to the 130,810 Australians who came forward to be vaccinated yesterday,” he wrote.
“A very strong and pleasing outcome with over 64,700 mostly older Australians visiting their GP for first or second doses.”
READ MORE: Mandatory vaccines ‘state decision’
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