Coronavirus Australia live news: NSW records five cases, new rules for NYE, lockdown extended
Gladys Berejiklian has announced five new cases from 15,000 tests, updated rules for New Year’s Eve and ordered the northern beaches to remain locked down into January.
- NSW Police issue infringements
- Conspiracy theorist embarrasses WA
- UK strain found in SA
- Timber crisis after China hit
- Border closures ‘hit confidence’
- How virus took business into future
Welcome to live coverage of Australia’s response to the continuing coronavirus pandemic.
Gladys Berejiklian has announced five new cases and new rules for New Year’s Eve as six mystery cases continue to trouble health authorities . The northern beaches will also remain in lockdown into January. Meanwhile a runaway conspiracy theorist — the aptly named Jenny D’Ubios — has embarrassed the McGowan government and put a dent in what it calls “Fortress WA”.
The recent Christmas provisions to the Public Health Order in NSW will no longer apply from 12.01am, 27 December 2020. pic.twitter.com/Sk5zbnpEYg
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) December 26, 2020
Ewin Hannan, Angelica Snowden 11.10pm: Men share women’s pain in jobs shock
Young workers, casuals, sales employees and labourers have been among the hardest hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, with research revealing employment falls among men were higher than for women for several months this year, a reversal of earlier trends.
Analysis of the economic effects of COVID-19 prepared for the Fair Work Commission shows that after big falls in the number of hours worked by women compared with men in March and April, “the relative impact by gender evened up and reversed”.
The assessment by University of Melbourne economist Jeff Borland found the pandemic had a minimal employment impact on white-collar occupations. It also found employment levels among workers aged 55 and over had returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Jobs among community and personal service workers fell by almost 22 per cent in the first months of the pandemic, the highest single fall by occupation.
While large slumps in employment and hours worked occurred from March to May, the reopening of economic activity saw a rapid recovery from May to June, followed by a more steady improvement through to November.
Sydney production director Monique O’Callaghan was placed on the $1500 fortnightly payment in May after her hours dropped from up to 45 per week to just 20 due to the pandemic lockdown.
Ms O’Callaghan, who worked her way up from a freelance event co-ordinator to production director after 10 years at Sydney-based Event Planet, said the coronavirus restrictions limited her industry almost immediately.
Read the full story here.
Max Maddison 10.45pm: Covid clears out New Year’s Eve party zone
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has all but cancelled the country’s largest annual celebration, shelving plans for revellers along the Sydney Harbour foreshore on New Year’s Eve as the city tries to extinguish a slow-moving coronavirus outbreak.
While the fireworks will go ahead, Ms Berejiklian tightened restrictions, urged Sydneysiders to stay away from the city, and called off a plan to allow frontline workers to line vantage points as part of Sydney’s celebration.
Only a limited number of people will be allowed in the city’s “green zone” and there will be no relaxation of strict restrictions on gatherings at home, she said.
Sydney’s business community and tourism sector are bracing for a significant hit on one of the busiest days of the year, with hotels half full and tables empty at restaurants that would in other years be booked months in advance.
The city’s fireworks, which are regularly broadcast around the world, last year attracted 1.6 million people and added $133m to the economy, according to the City of Sydney.
The subdued celebration is another blow to the country’s tourism and travel industry. The Australian last week reported the industry forecast spending over the holiday break would almost halve compared with last year because of border restrictions imposed on NSW in response to Sydney’s northern beaches coronavirus outbreak.
Australians were expected to spend $2.98bn less than the annual average of about $5.5bn, according to modelling conducted for the industry.
Read the full story here.
Joseph Lam, Kieran Gair 10.15pm: Front-row seats for midnight spectacle are still available
Any other year, New Year’s Eve at Circular Quay institution Cafe Sydney would have been booked up by September.
This year is different.
With Sydney playing whack-a-mole with the coronavirus — and borders remain closed — the interstate and international tourists who would have filled the city’s hotels and restaurants are nowhere to be found.
And this, if anything, could be one silver lining for Sydneysiders who would otherwise find city restaurants and hotel rooms fully booked or difficult to justify.
Jan McKenzie is Cafe Sydney’s operations manager.
She says it’s been a “stop and start” year with bookings and cancellations, new bookings — and, again, cancellations.
“It’s been a moving scenario after everybody listened to Gladys’s briefing this morning,” Ms McKenzie said. “At first the people from the northern beaches cancelled, then Melbourne cancelled and today people from Perth cancelled.”
Read the full story here.
Ellie Dudley 9.45pm: Mystery cases have officials puzzled
A series of mystery cases emerging across Sydney has left health authorities struggling to find the missing pieces of the state’s coronavirus puzzle.
Five locally acquired cases were recorded on Monday, four of which were linked to the Avalon cluster now responsible for 126 cases and one of which is linked to a case on the northern beaches yet to be linked to the Avalon cluster.
Chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant has urged Sydneysiders to come forward for testing after confirming that NSW’s five mystery cases, reported on Sunday, were linked to unknown sources.
“Even if you historically had an illness that you think in retrospect might have been compatible with COVID, please get a test and please isolate until you get that negative test,” Dr Chant said.
Those tested positive with unknown sources were a Belrose Hotel worker, a Crows Nest firefighter, a Manly commuter, a Bondi resident, and a man who visited the Sydney CBD.
Read the full story here.
Joseph Lam 9.15pm: Contacts list grows
The casual contacts list is fast spreading across the NSW capital, with supermarkets, book stores and retail outlets the latest venues to be visited by COVID-19 cases.
NSW Health considers anyone who visited the following venues a casual contact and urges them to get tested immediately and isolate until test results are received:
● Bondi Beach Woolworths Metro, 184 Campbell Parade, December 20, from 5pm to 6pm
Venues
● Edgecliff Coles, New South Head Road and Ocean Avenue, December 20, from 7pm to 7.30pm
● Sydney Kinokuniya, 500 George Street, December 20, from 3pm to 3.45pm
● Sydney David Jones, 86-108 Castlereagh Street, December 20, from 2.10pm to 2.45pm
● Sydney Uniqlo, level 1 197 Pitt Street, MidCity Centre, December 20, from 4pm to 4.15pm
Buses
● 333 Bondi Junction Station to Campbell Parade Stand C, Bondi Beach, December 21, from 7.30pm to 7.45pm
● 333 Campbell Parade Stand A, Bondi Beach, to Bondi Junction Station, December 22, 9.45am to 10am
● 333 Campbell Parade Stand A, Bondi Beach, to Oxford Street Stand A. Taylor Square, December 23 from 9am to 10am
● 333 Oxford Street Stand D, Taylor Square, to Campbell Parade Stand C, Bondi Beach, December 23 from 10.40am to 11.30am
Trains
● North Sydney to Wynyard, December 16. 1pm to 1.09pm.
● Waitara to Wynyard, December 16, from 8.16am to 9.05am
● Wynyard to Waitara, December 16, from 4.52pm to 5,31pm
● Waitara to Wynyard, December 17, from 8.17am to 9.01am
● Wynyard to Waitara, December 17, from 6.40pm to 7.22pm
● Redfern to Bondi Junction via Town Hall, December 21 from 7pm to 7.30pm
● Bondi Junction to Redfern via Town Hall, December 22, from 10.05am to 10.35am
AFP 8.25pm: China ramps up controls to head off winter wave
Temperature checks, queues for tests and inspections at airports — Chinese authorities have stepped up health checks to snuff out the threat of a coronavirus resurgence.
China, where the virus first emerged around a year ago, largely contained its outbreak, and its economy has roared back to life.
But Beijing is taking few risks with coronavirus cases skyrocketing in many parts of the world and the threat of a new variant experts believe could be more transmissible.
Strict checks have been imposed across neighbourhoods in the capital, Beijing, where suspected virus cases have been detected.
Workers in full PPE are spraying boats and airport arrival areas as part of a swift mobilisation to contain potential winter outbreaks.
Orderly queues snaked outside a testing site in the Shunyi district of Beijing, while officials checked health data stored on QR codes of visitors to Beijing hospitals.
China reported just 21 new cases on Monday, the majority imported. The official national death toll remains at 4634 with nearly 87,000 infections reported by authorities.
READ MORE: Jailed for revealing Wuhan truth
Joseph Lam 7.50pm: Wedding guests fined
More than a dozen northern beaches residents have been fined $1000 for attending a Sydney wedding.
At least nine penalty infringement notices have been issued with a further three expected for guests of the Pyrmont wedding on Pirrama Road at about 5pm on Sunday.
The fines were issued to an Allambie Heights man and woman, both 43, a Narraween woman, 33, a Frenches Forest man, 27, and three women, 28, 22 and 19,and two men, 63 and 23, from Beacon Hill.
A further three PINs will be issued to a man, 34 and woman, 36, from Frenchs Forest and a man, 26, from Beach Hill.
Police are still investigating the public health order breach, which came from a tipoff to Crime Stoppers.
READ MORE: Dire end-of-year weather
Mackenzie Scott 7pm: Superyacht cases reclassified
Two cases of coronavirus diagnosed on a superyacht docked at Cairns have been reclassified as old cases upon further testing by Queensland Health.
Serology tests found both of the crew members of the Lady E who tested positive for the virus, a woman in her 20s and a man in his 30s, had antibodies from a previous COVID-19 infection from which they had since recovered.
All other crew from the vessel have tested negative for the virus but will continue to quarantine for the mandatory two weeks.
Queensland Health said the previous whereabouts of all positive cases are examined.
“Any individual who returns a positive COVID-19 test result in Queensland is interviewed. If required, further testing is undertaken to better understand the circumstance around their infection,” a statement said.
“One reason for further testing is to assist in determining if the positive test result relates to a new infection or is the result of prolonged shedding of the virus, which is seen in some people with an historical infection with COVID-19.”
The Lady E superyacht arrived in Cairns last Monday from the Maldives. One case of coronavirus was noted on Thursday, with the second flagged the following day.
The superyacht’s captain, James Kennedy, said all crew members on the ship completed mandatory quarantine and had returned negative tests for the virus before sailing for Australia.
Queensland Police are still investigating the ship’s arrival.
Queensland recorded five new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, all of which were overseas acquired and detected in hotel quarantine.
READ MORE: Frightening figure in NSW outbreak
Charlie Mitchell 6.15pm: Tribes wait for vaccine sleds
Canada is to deploy helicopters, boats, snowmobiles and dog sleds in its drive to immunise indigenous communities.
Many remote tribes are accessible via logging roads or by aircraft, but those in the high Arctic are harder to reach.
Both the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines, approved by Canada, require two doses days apart, and the communities do not have adequate storage facilities. Multiple trips across challenging terrain are therefore needed.
Dany Fortin, a retired general given the task of providing the vaccine across the country, said the army and the Red Cross would help.
Canada’s aboriginal communities have a high risk of complications from COVID-19. Many lack access to clean water and nutritious food, while housing shortages make social distancing all but impossible. Nunavut, a northern territory about three times the size of France and inhabited mainly by Inuits, imposed Canada’s toughest lockdown, keeping inbound travellers in strict quarantine in hotels. For seven months it was the only state in North America without a single case, but recently it has had two deaths.
A second wave followed Canadian Thanksgiving in October and the return to school. On Christmas Eve the country recorded 6886 new infections.
Ontario, the most populous province, imposed a month-long hard lockdown on Boxing Day. The same day brought the first cases of the more contagious strain. The infected couple, from Durham near Toronto, had no exposure to high-risk contacts.
“This further reinforces the need for Ontarians to stay home as much as possible,” said the province’s associate chief medical officer, Barbara Yaffe.
The Times
READ MORE: Quest to conjure up blood in the lab
Alex Ralph 5.40pm: British American Tobacco’s vaccine not just a lucky strike
When the maker of Lucky Strike and Dunhill cigarettes announced a “significant breakthrough” in developing a potential plant-based COVID-19 vaccine at the height of the pandemic in the northern spring, some asked whether it was an April Fools’ Day joke.
British American Tobacco, one of the world’s biggest tobacco manufacturers, had boldly said that if testing by Kentucky Bioprocessing, its American biotechnology subsidiary, went well, potential collaborations with government and third-party manufacturers could lead to between a million and three million doses of the plant-based vaccine being produced per week from June.
Eight months on, though, the global race to develop vaccines to combat the devastating respiratory disease is being led, less surprisingly, by Big Pharma rather than Big Tobacco.
DPA 4.50pm: German pilot traces giant syringe in sky
A German pilot says he traced a giant syringe in the sky as a way of marking the start of Germany’s rollout of vaccines against the coronavirus.
Samy Kramer, a 20-year-old amateur pilot, had carefully plotted out the route he needed to take to create the effect in the skies above Baden-Wuerttemberg.
The manoeuvres included a number of 90-degree turns during the flight on Wednesday that lasted one hour and 40 minutes and covered around 280km.
The syringe could be seen on the Flightradar website.
“I wanted to give people food for thought for the day the vaccine became available,” said Mr Kramer, a student.
Germany launched its official COVID-19 vaccination campaign on Sunday, but the first jabs were actually given the day before, with a 101-year-old resident of an elderly care home becoming the first person in the country to be inoculated.
In total, Germany will recive 1.3 million doses before the end of this year and then 11-13 million doses by the end of March.
Around 65 per cent of Germans said they are prepared to be vaccinated, according to a poll carried out by YouGov for the German news agency
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AFP 4.10pm: Chinese citizen journalist jailed over Wuhan reports
A Chinese citizen journalist was jailed on Monday for four years for her livestream reporting from Wuhan as the COVID-19 outbreak unfurled, her lawyer said, almost a year after the virus first surfaced in the central China city.
Zhang Zhan, 37, was sentenced after a brief hearing in Shanghai, said Ren Quanniu, one of her defence lawyers.
READ MORE: Can the UK and EU be nice neighbours after decades of bickering?
Jared Lynch 3.20pm: ‘Fresh food people’ on vaccine delivery duty
The freighter behind the ‘fresh food people’, Linfox, to deliver Covid-19 vaccine to Australians along with DHL. Read more here
Evan Priest 2.50pm: Premier ‘sorry’ for strict NYE decisions
The Premier has apologised for the ‘strict’ new restrictions imposed on Sydney residents ahead of New Year’s Eve. Read more here
Staff Reporters 2.10pm: NSW orders wider use of its Covid app
From January 1, the NSW government will make compulsory the use of the Service NSW app across businesses when checking in with QR codes.
“Up until this point in time we had given businesses the option of using their own QR codes, or using the Service NSW one,” the Premier said.
“But as the Minister for Health has highlighted as has Dr Chant, that hasn’t always given our health officials the best and most accurate information to make those contact-tracing phone calls or to push out those SMS messages.”
“The Service New South Wales app is more accurate because you only have to put in your details once and every time you go into a venue you just click on the code and you’re automatically checked in.
“For the businesses that aren’t on that app, you literally have to put in your details every single time. People get frustrated, don’t fill out all their details or they make stuff up, they don’t talk about their dependants.
“But the Service NSW app is easier for us. You only have to put your information once and we rely on that.”
Richard Ferguson 1.35pm: Hunt says Pfizer vaccine to get early nod
Health Minister Greg Hunt says Pfizer’s anti-coronavirus vaccine is likely to be the first to be approved for use in Australia.
Mr Hunt also spoke with AstraZeneca’s international chief executive Pascal Soriot – whose company is behind the so-called Oxford vaccine – on Monday and their plans are ahead of schedule.
As Britain, Europe and the United States begin their vaccine rollouts in the face of a devastating third winter wave, the Health Minister said the government was still aiming to begin vaccinations in March.
“It’s likely that Pfizer will have the first of the approvals, on the latest advice from the TGA, and we’ve been working with them and signing the final agreement on distribution,” he said.
“And we’ll begin with whichever vaccine has first approval and delivery.
“The Oxford vaccine, we’re expecting 3. 8 million units in Australia before the end of February with production of the first batch in Australia already complete – and now it goes to what is called the fill and finish.”
ELLIE DUDLEY 12.50pm: Vic to keep NSW border closed for another week
Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said the border to NSW will remain closed for at least one more week as the northern beaches cluster continues to grow.
“It’s certainly not going to be this week and we’ll continue to take the advice of public health officials as to when that will be the case,” he said on Monday.
“There is no chance of the borders reopening for New Year’s Eve.”
The Health Minister said the Victorian government is liaising with NSW Health and the AHPPC to determine when the borders will open.
Regional NSW remains open for free travel into Victoria.
Mr Foley said NSW is “not out of the woods yet” after five new cases were announced on Monday.
“There’s 100 cases now associated with the northern beaches outbreak, and there are multiple daily additions to exposure venues right across Sydney,” he said.
“That’s why we have a hard border in place both at the river, and now over 30 crossing points, as well as at the airport.”
READ MORE: Tourism chiefs call for more courage on borders
ELLIE DUDLEY 12.15pm: Man dies from complications after March diagnosis
A man in his 70s passed away on December 21 from respiratory complications following a COVID infection diagnosed in March.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Kerry Chant said his death highlights the fact that sometimes complications arising from COVID can be so severe that they subsequently are the cause of death months after diagnosis.
“He was a household contact for locally-acquired case and although his death is considered to be related to COVID, so that’s based on the doctors completing a death certificate as to the cause of death, he had recently tested negative and was no longer infectious and posed no risk to the community,” said Dr Chant.
READ MORE: Covid consequences to linger with thousands skipping critical health screening appointments
ELLIE DUDLEY 12pm: At a glance — Gladys’s updated restrictions
For the Northern Beaches peninsula zone (North of Narrabeen Bridge, and east of the Baha’i Temple), the following rules apply until January 9:
The health situation remains volatile and the current restrictions will remain in place to suppress community transmission.
However, indoor and outdoor gatherings will be allowed for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day but will be restricted to five visitors in total from within your zone (and includes at homes).
Current arrangements allowing five people to gather outdoors (not at homes) for exercise and recreation, from within the same zone, continues.
No restaurants, cafes, pubs or clubs (except for takeaway) will be permitted to open, including for New Year’s Eve.
For the remainder (southern zone) of the Northern Beaches, the following rules apply until January 2:
The health situation remains volatile and the current restrictions will remain in place to suppress community transmission.
However, indoor and outdoor gatherings will be allowed for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day but will be restricted to 10 visitors in total from within your zone (and includes at homes).
Current arrangements allowing 10 people to gather outdoors (not at homes) for exercise and recreation, from within the same zone, continues.
No restaurants, cafes, pubs or clubs (except for takeaway) will be permitted to open, including for New Year’s Eve.
For Greater Sydney, Central Coast and Wollongong the following rules apply:
Gatherings in the home remain at 10 visitors in total (including children).
Outside gatherings (such as picnics) will be restricted to 50 people in total (down from 100)
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ELLIE DUDLEY 11.50am: Berejiklian asks Sydneysiders not to kiss on NYE
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has asked that Sydneysiders hold back when showing physical affection when the clock strikes 12 this New Year’s Eve.
“I know that’s normally an emotional time where we like to kiss and hug everybody around us, can I ask for absolute restraint.
“Obviously your household is OK. But please be restrained because the more restrained we are at midnight, the better 2021 will be for all of us.”
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ELLIE DUDLEY 11.45am: Chant confirms unlinked cases within Avalon
Chief Medical Officer Dr Kerry Chant has confirmed there are unlinked cases within the Avalon area.
“We haven’t managed to pinpoint them being at a particular venue or setting or crossing over with a known case. But we know that there is community transmission or was community transmission for a period in that area just because of the vast numbers of people that were positive that were present in that area.”
Cases that raise more concern are cases that aren’t related to the northern area of the northern beaches, Dr Chant says.
Those include:
– A man in Bondi
– A man in Manly
– A man who spent time in Sydney CBD
– A firefighter who visited Belrose Hotel
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ELLIE DUDLEY 11.35am: Councils must cancel events not controlled, ticketed or seated
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said her government is advising local councils to cancel events that are not controlled, ticketed or seats.
“We’re saying to local council areas, local governments, who may have organised events for New Year’s Eve, unless it’s controlled, ticketed and seated, we don’t recommend those events going on,” said the Premier.
“If the councils can guarantee that, that’s a matter for them. But certainly we can’t guarantee that in the CBD and we don’t think it’s safe to have so many people congregate from all over the state in the Sydney CBD given what’s happening.”
READ MORE: Councils rebel over fireworks ‘disaster’
ELLIE DUDLEY 11.25am: Belrose Hotel outbreak still remains a mystery
The Belrose Hotel still remains a mystery to NSW health authorities, as it remains unlinked to the Avalon cluster.
“There are now three cases that have attended this venue, the firefighter I talked about yesterday, a hotel staff member and a person who visited the drive through,” said Chief Medical Officer Dr Kerry Chant.
With a number of cases now linked to the Belrose Hotel, NSW Health is calling on anyone who spent time there at any time during December and had any symptoms that could signal COVID-19 to come forward and get tested, then isolate until a negative result is received.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) December 28, 2020
“Because of those investigations and because one of those cases had a very early onset estimated to be around the 10th of December, we are looking at The Belrose Hotel to give us some information about those potential missing links.”
Dr Chant said the government are awaiting results from genome testing to be certain of links between the hotel and the Avalon cluster.
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ELLIE DUDLEY 11.10am: Northern beaches to remain in lockdown into January
Stay-at-home provisions will remain in place for the northern region of the northern beaches over New Year’s Eve until January 9, Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced today.
“If you are in the northern part of the Northern Beaches and the northern zone of the Northern Beaches around the Avalon cluster, unfortunately the stay-at-home provisions will be staying in place until 9 January.
“That’s because of the number of active cases we have, the number of people we have in isolation and the concentration of cases and also the fact that we still haven’t found the real root cause of how the virus actually got to the Avalon RSL.”
Those in the southern part of the northern beaches will also remain under stay-at-home provisions until January 2 at the earliest.
On New Year’s Eve, however, those in the area may host 10 people including children who live in the same zone.
“We don’t want people moving in and out of the area for the next few days. We want to keep the area separate to make sure that any untraced chains of community transmission have actually been clamped down,” said the Premier.
Ms Berejiklian says the government hopes to see an easing of restrictions for the southern region of the northern beaches after January 2.
“Our ultimate aim is to make that zone part of Greater Sydney as soon as possible,” she said.
“There will be an easing of restrictions from the 3rd, but what that looks like yet is yet to be determined and we’ll know on the morning of the 2nd what the 3rd of January looks like.”
Residents in the southern zone of the northern beaches will also be allowed to gather in groups of 10 outdoors, however the Premier has stressed health authorities do not want mingling between groups.
“If you want to have a picnic or take your children to the playground or have a barbecue outdoors, you can have groups of 10 people, but again we don’t want to see convergence of those groups of 10,” she said.
Those in the northern part of the northern beaches will be able to host five people who also live in the zone for New Year’s Eve.
“You’ll be able to have up to five people into your home including children, but again they have to be from the northern zone, have to be from the north of the Narrabeen Bridge and west — and east of the Baha’i temple,” the Premier said.
The Premier urgedg Sydneysiders to maintain social distancing if gathering for New Year’s Eve this year to reduce mingling between households.
“We’re asking specifically about social distancing, everybody knows the 1.5m
distance, but also that the groups of 10 on the Northern Beaches don’t converge with other groups of 10 and that’s really the important message,” the Premier said.
“Our aim is to have as little household interaction with each other as possible.”
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ELLIE DUDLEY 11.05am: Frontline health workers NYE plans cancelled
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has provided further information regarding New Year’s Eve COVID restrictions, saying that no one should be in the CBD except for frontline workers in hospitality venues and anyone with a permit to attend a venue. “You cannot come to the CBD on New Year’s Eve unless you have a booking from a hospitality venue, but even if you have a booking, you have to get a permit through Service New South Wales to prove you got that booking,’’ she said.
The Premier has cancelled previous arrangements for allocated spots along the foreshore for front-line workers to watch the New Year’s Eve fireworks.
“We think it’s too much of a health risk having people from the regions and from Sydney and from broader regional areas congregate all in the CBD and the advice to date has to all of us be try to avoid the CBD.”
“So on New Year’s Eve, we’re going to say to those front-line workers we previously invited, we’ll find another opportunity during the year to recognise what you have done.”
After reeling back those arrangements for front-line workers to watch the fireworks from the foreshore, she said this group will be the only group permitted into hospitality venues in the CBD.
“As long as the 4 square metre rule is in place, and those venues have COVID-safe plans and you have a permit from Service NSW, you’ll be allowed into those venues in the CBD,’’ she said.
“Unless you have a permit to go to someone’s home with not more than 10 people, or you have a permit from Service NSW to attend a hospitality venue, nobody should be in the CBD at all, and that is our strong message.”
READ MORE: More infected without symptoms as NSW outbreak grows
ELLIE DUDLEY 11am: NSW records five new cases
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced five new cases of coronavirus were recorded in NSW over the past 24 hours after 15,300 tests were conducted yesterday.
Nine cases were recorded in hotel quarantine.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Kerry Chant said four of the community cases have been linked to the Avalon cluster, and one linked to a previously-reported case whose source is still under investigation, but that person lives within the Avalon Beach area.
NSW recorded five locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, with an additional nine cases in returned travellers in hotel quarantine.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) December 28, 2020
Four of the locally acquired cases are linked to the Avalon cluster. pic.twitter.com/5jMrZEk1EA
“In summary there are four household contacts and one case that was associated with a venue — the Rose at Erskineville,” she said.
Dr Chant has also asked everyone across the state to come forward, even if presenting minimal symptoms.
“Can I urge everyone including those in the Northern Beaches in both zones to come forward for testing with the most minimal of symptoms, but my plea extends across the state — please come forward, it is critical to us understanding this current cluster,” she said.
ELLIE DUDLEY 10.30am: Queensland records no new COVID cases
Queensland recorded no new cases of community transmission over the past 24 hours from 3,104 tests that were conducted.
Five cases were reported that were acquired overseas.
The state has a total of 13 active cases.
Monday, 28 December – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) December 27, 2020
• 0 new locally acquired cases
• 5 overseas acquired cases
• 13 active cases
• 1,246 total cases
• 1,464,891 tests
Sadly, six Queenslanders with COVID-19 have died. 1,218 patients have recovered.#covid19 pic.twitter.com/4dLOuaC3Oh
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ELLIE DUDLEY 10.10am: Victoria records another double donut day
Victoria has recorded no new cases of community transmission today, nor any acquired interstate.
The state had two cases reported from international travellers.
There are now 11 active cases in Victoria, all in quarantine or self-isolation.
Yesterday there were 0 new local cases & 0 lives lost. 0 new cases were acquired interstate, 2 international. There are 11 active cases in quarantine or self-isolation. 5,880 test results were received. https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco #COVID19Vic pic.twitter.com/Xe1IkFVLv0
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) December 27, 2020
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ELLIE DUDLEY 9.45am: Mystery cases trouble NSW health authorities
Sydney’s New Year’s Eve plans may be dependent on finding the source of six mystery cases currently being investigated by NSW health authorities.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian is expected to make a decision regarding the New Year’s Eve festivities today or tomorrow.
“As I said right at the beginning, we will be evaluating what New Year’s Eve looks like and I hope to be able to say something tomorrow or the day after to the community,” said Ms Berejiklian on Sunday.
She also urged Sydneysiders to come forward for testing, as it will provide NSW health authorities with more clarity regarding the mystery cases and thus shape restrictions for the event.
“If you have the mildest symptoms please get tested. Those tests will give us confidence to make decisions about New Year’s Eve, especially to the southern parts of northern beaches. We want to give positive news but we cannot do that unless we have the high rates of testing continue.”
The mystery cases include:
■ A Bondi man, who investigators may now believe was a false positive, although this is yet to be confirmed.
■ A man who was amidst the Chifley Square/MLC/Circular Quay CBD outbreak. While he was in the city at the same time as other cases, he did not cross over with any.
■ A man who commutes to Manly for work.
■ A man who works at the Belrose Hotel. Health authorities are working to link the worker with a firefighter who visited the hotel, however they were not there at the same time.
■ Two patient quarantine/transport workers.
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ELLIE DUDLEY 9.30am: Virus fragments found in more NSW sewage plants
New COVID-19 virus fragments have been found in sewage treatment plants in Sydney’s north.
The northern suburbs of Hornsby, Cowan and Asquith are among those affected by the discovery.
NSW Chief Medical Officer Dr Kerry Chant says the latest findings should act as a reminder for people to get tested.
“We have had a detection in the Warriewood, Hornsby Heights and Brooklyn catchments and NSW Health is aware of recent positive cases in these areas but again urges local residents to please get tested,” she said.
NSW recorded seven local cases yesterday.
READ MORE: The women leading the COVID-19 fight
ELLIE DUDLEY 9.20am: Berejiklian to give COVID update at 11am
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian will give an update on the state’s COVID-19 situation at 11am this morning, alongside Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant, Minister for Health Brad Hazzard and NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing.
With seven new coronavirus cases recorded yesterday, Sydneysiders will be hoping for another day of single-digit cases
The Premier may also provide an update on New Year’s Eve restrictions.
“The more testing we have overnight, the more we can make those decisions,” Ms Berejiklian said on Sunday.
She also urged people to get tested even if they have the “mildest symptoms”, saying tests will be a major indicator of whether it is safe to proceed with New Years festivities. The total number of cases associated with the outbreak now stands at 122.
READ MORE: North Bondi partygoers fined $11,000 for COVID restrictions breach
ELLIE DUDLEY 9am: UK strain continues to spread around the world
The United Kingdom government has confirmed a further 316 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for COVID-19 as of Wednesday, bringing the country’s death toll to 70,752.
A new, highly-transmissible strain of the coronavirus originating in the UK is continuing to spread around the world, with a small number of cases of the variant being found in Spain, Sweden and Canada.
In Spain, the variant was found in the capital region on Saturday, local authorities said. Four cases have been confirmed in Madrid, while another three are currently being investigated.
Swedish officials announced on Saturday that a case of the variant has been detected there after a traveller from the UK visited Sormland, a town near Stockholm, over Christmas.
Health authorities in Ontario, Canada, said they had confirmed two cases of the variant in the city on Saturday. The pair are a couple from Durham, northwest of Toronto.
A recent study conducted by British scientists found no evidence that the variant is more deadly than others, but did discover that it is 56 per cent more contagious. Fear of the strain spreading has prompted a temporary French blockade of the English Channel, and dozens of counties barring travellers from Britain including Japan, Singapore, The Netherlands and South Korea.
READ MORE: What we know about the new Covid-19 strain in England
ELLIE DUDLEY 8.30am: December the deadliest month for United States
December has been the deadliest month for the United States since COVID-19 began, with more than 63,000 Americans losing their life over the past 26 days.
While hope has been offered in the form of two different vaccines, health experts are warning that the pandemic is not over, and there could be another spike stemming from the holiday period.
“We very well might see a post-seasonal — in the sense of Christmas, New Years — surge,” Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, told CNN.
The country’s hospitalisation numbers are also rising, recording more than 117,300 COVID-19 patients nationwide on Saturday alone. This was the fifth highest number of hospitalisations since the virus entered the US.
Dr Fauci said the number of those in hospitals may continue to increase over the next few weeks.
“When you’re dealing with a baseline of 200,000 new cases a day and about 2000 deaths per day, with the hospitalisations over 120,000 we are really at a very critical point,” he said.
Around 1 in 1000 Americans have died from COVID-19, totalling to 332,000.
READ MORE: Millions to lose unemployment benefits amid Trump’s opposition to virus-aid bill
ELLIE DUDLEY 8am: Alarming UK strain found in South Australia
A case of the highly-transmissible variant of COVID-19 emerging in the United Kingdom has been diagnosed in Adelaide.
South Australia Health announced the discovery last night, saying genomic sequencing indicates the case is carrying the new infectious strain which has caused dozens of countries to close their borders to the UK.
“This individual has been transferred from a medi-hotel to the Royal Adelaide Hospital because they have required treatment but are also in stable condition,” SA Health wrote in a statement.
“There is no evidence that this variant of the virus causes more severe disease.”
READ MORE: New coronavirus strain splits scientists
ELLIE DUDLEY 7.35am: Northern beaches Mayor calls for easing of rules
Northern beaches Mayor Michael Regan says residents in the southern region of the peninsula should be kept under the same restrictions as Greater Sydney given the small number of cases recorded since the Avalon cluster outbreak.
“Unless there’s new evidence or something we’re not cognisant of regarding the origins and spread of the cluster, the communities who reside in the southern parts of the beaches should absolutely have the same freedoms as Greater Sydney,” he said.
Some 122 cases of the coronavirus have now been linked to the Avalon cluster.
Member for Pittwater Rob Stokes said that while he would like the northern beaches lockdown restrictions to be lifted, the region needs to get down to no local transmission before that can happen.
“I would love to see the lockdown lifted, but obviously we have to rely on health advice,” he told Today. “The people have done a lot of heavy lifting over the last couple of weeks to make sure that the rest of Sydney and NSW and indeed Australia is safe and it seems that our job is not quite done yet. We need to get down to no community cases. We are not there yet, but certainly we have gone a huge way towards that goal.”
As Minister for Public Spaces, Mr Stokes said it was “enormously disappointing” to see large groups of partygoers on Byron Bay Beach and Bronte Beach.
“It is really courageous when you consider the sorts of conditions that people have put up with in my local community to make sure that everyone else is kept safe, to see that people in other parts of the state are just ignoring those rules and putting everyone at risk,” he said.
READ MORE: With no coronavirus vaccine yet, it’s up to us
ELLIE DUDLEY 7.20am: AstraZeneca jab ‘100 per cent effective’ against severe COVID
The Covid-19 vaccine developed by the British drugs group AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford has achieved a “winning formula” for efficacy, the company’s chief executive says,
The vaccine, currently being evaluated by Britain’s independent medicines regulator, provides “100 per cent protection” against severe Covid disease requiring hospitalisation, Pascal Soriot said. He added he believes trials will show his firm has achieved a vaccine efficacy equal to Pfizer-BioNTech at 95 per cent and Moderna at 94.5 per cent.
The Australian government has 53.8 million doses of Astra’s vaccine on order and, pending approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration, it will be manufactured locally by drug major CSL, of which Soriot joined the board in August
Federal Minister for Agriculture David Littleproud has said Australians should feel “great hope” after the news broke of the AstraZeneca vaccine being 100 per cent effective against severe COVID-19 cases.
“This is why we haven’t rushed it,” Mr Littleproud told the Today Show. “We have made sure we didn’t panic, we got the science right, we have watched the world and seen what’s happened with the rollout of the vaccines in other parts of the world.”
“We are confident that the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine will be just as effective as the Pfizer vaccine, because we have been able to collaborate from the start so there is a lot of knowledge that scientists from around the world shared with one another before they started to create it.”
Mr Littleproud also added Australia still has 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine ready to go as well.
READ MORE: Our vaccine can beat Covid’, says AstraZeneca’s Pascal Soriot
ELLIE DUDLEY 7.10am: Littleproud trusts NSW to make right decision on NYE
Federal Minister for Agriculture David Littleproud said he trusts NSW health authorities to make the right decision regarding New Year’s Eve restrictions, adding it was “silly” for other states to shut their borders to NSW entirely.
“You have to pay testament to the NSW government and the fact they are contact tracing and able to get on with the job,” he told the Today Show. “Instead of the trajectory going up, it’s been going down.
“I will be backing the judgment of the NSW Premier and the Chief Medical Officer on this one. They have got it right all the way along and I think it makes some of the states that decide to lock down the borders to NSW entirely look a little silly now because of the work that NSW has been able to do.”
The minister also said there is “hope” for the state, as NSW did not see the same numbers reported in Victoria.
READ MORE: Covid menace in check as NSW gears up for 2021
ELLIE DUDLEY 7am: Three cases now linked to Belrose Hotel
Three cases have now been linked to an outbreak at the Belrose Hotel on the northern beaches. Health authorities are urging anyone who has been to the venue at any point in December and has developed symptoms to get tested and isolate until a negative result is received.
A firefighter who tested positive for the virus and was reported in yesterday’s numbers had visited the Belrose Hotel and is the third case to be found linked to the venue.
However, those three cases were never in the building at the same time, leaving authorities believing there are more cases of COVID-19 in the community.
READ MORE: Mutant army moving fast but vaccines remain a potent weapon
ELLIE DUDLEY 6.45am: Balmain council close foreshore parks for NYE
With Sydneysiders eagerly awaiting NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s decision regarding New Year’s Eve restrictions, the Balmain local council has decided to close the suburb’s foreshore parks for the event.
The popular New Year’s Eve firework vantage point usually hosts thousands of people for both the 9pm and midnight displays, however this year it will be inaccessible due to State Government’s COVID-19 restrictions.
The parks will be closed from 6pm December 31 until 6am January 1.
Ms Berejiklian hopes to be able to reveal what the city’s New Year’s Eve plans look like on Monday, or Tuesday at the latest.
READ MORE: Councils rebel over fireworks ‘disaster’
ELLIE DUDLEY 6.45am: NSW Police issue 15 penalty infringements
NSW Police have issued 15 penalty infringements since Christmas Eve, 11 of which were given to people at a Boxing Day house party in North Bondi that breached public health orders.
At least 40 people attended the party, with most scattering when police arrived around 11pm on Saturday.
Police have issued 15 Penalty Infringement Notices (PINs) since Christmas Eve, including to 11 people at a house party at North Bondi on Saturday that breached the Public Health Order. https://t.co/Lbo1pyqZii
— NSW Police Force (@nswpolice) December 27, 2020
Two residents and nine visitors were among those who were fined $1000 for not complying with COVID-19 restrictions.
The residents were also given a 28-day noise abatement direction.
READ MORE: The power to order Covid-19 vaccinations already exists
ELLIE DUDLEY 6.30am: More venues added to hot spot list beyond beaches
New venues have been added to the COVID-19 hot spot list, calling for more Sydneysiders to get tested and isolate. NSW Health are calling for anyone who attended the Belrose Hotel on Friday December 11 between 12-6pm to get tested immediately.
As 14 days since exposure has passed those who were at the venue at this time will only need to isolate until a negative test result is received. After this time, health authorities request that symptoms continue to be monitored, and if they develop, another test be conducted.
If you attended Belrose Hotel on Fri 11 Dec between 12-6pm:
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) December 27, 2020
• Get tested immediately. As 14 days since exposure has passed, you only need to isolate until you receive a negative test result.
• After your test, continue to monitor for symptoms & if they develop, get tested again pic.twitter.com/inZdv6j9dZ
A previously recorded infection at Anytime Fitness Avalon has also been updated. Anyone who attended the venue at any time between Tuesday, December 8 and Thursday, December 17 to get tested and self-isolate for 14 days even if a negative result is received.
For those who attended this venue between Monday, November 23 and Monday, December 7, a test should also be taken. NSW Health is asking these people to self-isolate until they receive a negative result.
Patrons of the Cibo Café in North Sydney on Wednesday 16 December between 11:30am – 12.45pm have also been identified as close contacts, and are asked to get tested and isolate for 14 days regardless of the result.
New hotspots have also been reported in the south-west Sydney suburb of Casula.
Anyone who attended the following venues should get tested and self-isolate until a negative result is received. Casula Mall Coles, 1 Ingham Dr, Casula: Thursday, December 24, 7.00pm to 7.30pm; Priceline Pharmacy, 1 Ingham Dr, Casula: Thursday, December 24, 6.30pm to 7.00pm; Radio Bombay Restaurant, 1 Ingham Dr, Casula: Thursday December 24, 7.30pm to 7.50pm.
READ MORE: Fun in the sun, no need for northern exposure
Jacquelin Magnay 6am: Europe begins Pfizer BioNtech vaccine jabs
European countries have begun inoculations of the Pfizer BioNtech coronavirus vaccine, adding pressure to Australian authorities to fast track regulatory approval for a local rollout before the current March time line.
Over the weekend European countries including Germany and Hungary began the vaccination program a day ahead of the planned co-ordinated rollout across 27 European Union states. This is more than two weeks after the United Kingdom was the first in the world to begin using the vaccine under emergency approval.
The UK was also preparing to approve the cheaper Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine for roll out as early as next Monday and authorities believe as many as two million, mainly elderly, vulnerable and health care frontline workers will receive this vaccine within a fortnight.
The country has been beset by a mutant variant of the coronavirus which has seen infections soaring in recent weeks and health officials are keen for both vaccines to be used as soon as possible.
AstraZeneca has conducted further trials of its vaccine after confusing stage three trials showed a “primer’’ half strength first dose, followed by a second full dose several weeks later was 90 per cent effective, compared to only 62 per cent effectiveness by a full two shot dose.
AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot said on the weekend the researchers had found the “winning formula” of the vaccine and details would be published soon. Australia has secured four million doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine which will arrive from overseas laboratories next month, and this will be boosted by local manufacture of the vaccine in the CSL laboratory in Victoria.
Read the full story here.
Paige Taylor 5am: Conspiracy theorist embarrasses WA government
A runaway conspiracy theorist — the aptly named Jenny D’Ubios — has embarrassed the McGowan government and put a dent in what it calls “Fortress WA”.
The 49-year-old Ms D’Ubios, who goes by the name Jennifer Gonzalez on Facebook, claims to have studied metaphysics at Byron Bay.
Among the more benign theories she has shared with her social media followers is that a $70 tuning fork dipped in water “rejuvenates the cells in your body”. She says coronavirus is not real.
On Saturday, a week after landing in Perth from Madrid, Ms D’Ubios exposed the fallibility of the McGowan government’s strict hotel quarantine regime with alarming ease.
She told police and private security guards at the hotel she was going to pack up her things and leave. She posted her intentions on Facebook.
Then … she did it.
Read the full story here.
Ben Packham 4.45am: Timber crisis after yet another China trade hit
The nation’s timber industry says it will need government assistance to stave off job losses and mill closures if Chinese trade sanctions continue, after Beijing banned logs from NSW and Western Australia claiming it had found “live forest pests” in earlier shipments.
In the latest blow for Australian exporters, China effectively ended the timber trade between the two countries when it banned imports from those states, two days before Christmas.
Australian timber from Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania was banned earlier this year amid serious trade tensions between Canberra and Beijing, which now has restrictions on wine, barley, beef, lobsters and coal.
An Australian Forest Products Association spokesman said the industry group had already implemented a comprehensive package of reforms to address China’s phytosanitary concerns.
“AFPA is in ongoing discussions with Australian governments on the significant impact the suspension of the log trade is having across the forest industries supply chain,” he said.
“Should the situation continue into 2021, the need for short and long-term assistance to support workers and businesses already impacted, and to avoid further, widespread job losses and mill closures.”
Australia exports $1.6bn of logs and wood chips to China each year.
Former trade minister Simon Birmingham this month launched formal World Trade Organisation action over an 80 per cent tariff China applied to $2.5bn of Australian barley.
China has slapped bans on more than $20bn worth of Australian exports this year, including choking off thermal coal despite winter energy shortages for its people.
On Friday, the South China Morning Post reported almost 9000kg of craft beer exported from Sydney had been stopped at the port city of Xiamen, in southeastern China, because it was incorrectly labelled.
Read the full story here.
Lisa Allen 4.30am: Tourism leaders say border closures ‘hit confidence’
Tourism leaders have urged premiers to show courageous leadership and revisit the framework for border closures with NSW showing that it has been able to manage the latest COVID outbreak through its contact tracing and high testing levels.
With the travel plans of millions of residents of greater Sydney having been disrupted during the peak summer holiday season following the northern beaches outbreak earlier this month, tourism bosses say the “ad hoc border closures” are a blow to confidence.
Flight Centre managing director Graham Turner said there was no logic to shutting state borders.
“Basically, NSW is doing everything necessary and appears to have the outbreak under control,” Mr Turner said from London on Sunday night. “Shutting borders has a huge effect on tourism. Queensland’s tourism industry, particularly in the north, has been damaged badly.”
Seven new Sydney COVID-19 cases were reported on Sunday, with six linked to the northern beaches cluster and one case under investigation. This follows nine locally acquired cases reported on Saturday. The latest figures take the COVID cases linked with the Avalon cluster to 122.
Read the full story here.
Greg Ip 4.15am: How COVID-19 propelled businesses into the future
For many who crossed the digital divide this year, there will be no going back.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced Americans to collectively swap the physical for the digital world in a matter of months. As retailers learn to operate without stores, business travellers without aeroplanes, and workers without offices, much of what started out as a temporary expedient is likely to become permanent.
“Covid has acted like a time machine: it brought 2030 to 2020,” said Loren Padelford, vice president at Shopify Inc. “All those trends, where organisations thought they had more time, got rapidly accelerated.” Merchants using the company’s e-commerce platform shot up more than 20% between January and June to 1.4 million, according to broker Robert W. Baird & Co.
The reverberations are already apparent in everything from the stock market to corporate spending patterns to the decline of physical cash. Investors in 2020 rewarded companies with digital-intensive, asset-light business models such as online used car seller Carvana Co., Airbnb Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. or firms that supply the infrastructure that makes those models possible – like Shopify, Zoom Video Communications Inc. and Microsoft Corp. Businesses are now spending less on office space and travel and more on cloud computing, collaboration software and logistics.
The Wall Street Journal
Read the full story here.
Labor’s ‘red wall’ has crumbled: Werribee on a knife-edge
Labor’s heartland vote collapses in Werribee backlash taking Jacinta Allan and ALP to brink of historic defeat.
Allan and Albanese on notice after Werribee voters revolt
Voters have sent the Premier and Prime Minister an emphatic message; lift your game or you’re gone.