Coronavirus live news Australia: Victoria closes border to NSW and ACT, as ‘graphic’ ad campaign rolls out
NSW and ACT declared a red zone, with borders closed to the entire state and territory from midnight, as ‘graphic’ ad campaign rolls out.
- Victoria closes border to NSW and ACT
- New ‘graphic’ ad campaign to promote vaccine
- Dan Andrews offers NSW support
- NSW outbreak turns deadly
- NSW records 77 new cases, one dead
- Lockdown extension ‘very likely’: NSW Treasurer
- Police crack down on Sydney breaches
- Delta puts brakes on return to normality
- State of Origin final moved to Gold Coast
Welcome to The Weekend Australian’s live rolling coverage of the coronavirus crisis and national response.
Victoria is closing the border to New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory from 11.59pm Sunday, making the entire state and territory a red zone.One person has died and NSW has recorded 77 cases in the past 24 hours, as Premier Gladys Berejiklian flags an extension to Sydney’s current lockdown, with cases expected to surge in the coming days. Meanwhile, NSW police have caught scores of people flouting public health orders while infected Sydneysiders are lying to contact tracers about their movements. The final State of Origin rugby league match has been moved to Queensland, and the NRL could yet follow, with the ARL Commission to meet on Sunday to make the call.
Stephen rice, Greg Brown11pm: Morrison’s Covid-19 rescue mission
The federal government will step in to help support businesses crippled by Sydney’s extended lockdown – set to stretch for weeks as contact tracers fail to keep up with surging Covid-19 infections – as health officials expect more than 100 new cases by Monday.
In a marked shift in policy underscoring the threat to the national economy, Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg held a phone hook-up with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and state Treasurer Dominic Perrottet on Sunday to discuss a joint financial assistance package for businesses that will be devastated by the prolonged shutdown.
Only last week, the federal government had told state officials to finance their own rescue package by going further into debt.
Jess Malcolm 10.15pm:Hunt downplays Rudd’s Pfizer ‘intervention’
Former prime minister Kevin Rudd in a “private capacity” lobbied the chief executive of Pfizer, Albert Bourla, to accelerate the delivery of Covid-19 vaccines to Australia.
The ABC reported those representations, made in June, came after a senior Australian business figure based overseas raised concerns about the slow delivery of vaccines.
But Health Minister Greg Hunt has disputed whether Mr Rudd’s discussions had an impact on delivery schedules.
The Australian reported last week that the Morrison government had sealed a deal with the pharmacy giant to bring forward some of the 40 million doses due this year.
In a letter to Scott Morrison sent on June 30, Mr Rudd said he had spoken to Dr Bourla and used the call to ask him “whether there was any possible way, given Pfizer’s current international contractual obligations, to advance the dispatch of significant quantities of the Pfizer vaccine to Australia as early as the third quarter this year”. “In response to my representations, Dr Bourla said he would personally look at ‘what further might be able to be done’,” Mr Rudd wrote in a letter obtained by the ABC.
“I did so not as a representative of the Australian government but purely in my private capacity as an Australian citizen who cares for his country’s wellbeing,” Mr Rudd wrote, adding he had “floated the possibility of Australia perhaps seeking a large-scale advance order of Pfizer’s 2022 vaccine ‘booster’.”
Sophie Elsworth, Richard Ferguson9.30pm: Vaccine scare ads ‘weak, ineffective’
The commonwealth’s “graphic” Covid-19 ad for Sydney residents is a bid to get more people to follow NSW’s lockdown rules and get vaccinated as the virus continues to spread.
Yet while Sunday’s release of two 30-second ads is intended to encourage Australians to get vaccinated, experts have slammed one of them showing a woman in hospital struggling to breath while on a ventilator.
The video warns at the start that it might be distressing to viewers before focusing on an ill woman having difficulty breathing as she makes loud noises while hooked up to a ventilator beeping in the background.
Charlie Peel8.45pm:Queensland bans distance education camping
Four times a year, distance education students from remote properties throughout central western Queensland have made the trek from far-off cattle stations into Emerald for a week of face-to-face learning and a chance to bond with their classmates.
For 25 years, the students and their families have rolled out their swags in the Outstation, a shed they’d raised funds for and built on school grounds with permission from the government.
It gave the students a chance to play with their friends in the evenings after their lessons, and for their parents to talk and socialise.
Camping in the Outstation meant the 30 families with children at the school could save about $1200 in what they would otherwise spend on accommodation that week.
The Tuckerbox, a shed set up next door, was kitted out with commercial cooking facilities, reducing the cost of meals while in th town, some 300km west of Rockhampton.
But the state’s bureaucracy has brought that to an end, with Queensland’s education department declaring there can be no more camping on the grounds.
Kelly McDonald’s three children have all benefited from the Outstation during their primary school years when they would visit Emerald for week-long “mini schools”, travelling the 2½ hours from their cattle station near Springsure.
“It’s completely shut down,” Ms McDonald said.
Jess Malcolm8pm:Clamp down ‘or be overwhelmed’
Epidemiologists and outbreak management experts have called for tougher restrictions as the Sydney outbreak surged to 566 cases, stoking fears NSW contact tracers are losing their grip on the virus.
As Sydney entered a new dynamic of the outbreak on Sunday, recording 77 new cases of locally acquired transmission, some epidemiologists warned of similarities to Melbourne at the start of its deadly second wave and fear an exponential rise in cases if authorities don’t clamp down.
While infection rates have slowed in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, authorities are concerned about rapid transmission of the Delta variant across social groups and connected households in the southwest suburbs, which now account for most of the new cases.
Chao Deng7.15pm:Variant casts doubt on Chinese jabs
The spread of the Delta variant is raising fresh concerns about the efficacy of Chinese vaccines, which have been central to inoculation efforts in the developing world, as recent data shows the protection provided by Western vaccines waning against the highly contagious variant.
Chinese officials have been analyzing data from an outbreak of the Delta variant in southern China last month, while Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech Ltd., the country’s leading Covid-19 vaccine developers, have said they are studying Covid-19 variants, including via lab experiments. Both companies have suggested that a third booster shot may be needed to boost protection after their current two-dose regimens.
A sales executive at Sinovac, who declined to be named, says trying to figure out how much protection its vaccine, CoronaVac, offers against Delta has become a top priority for the company, although setting up new studies abroad could take months.
Jess Malcolm 6.30pm:Exposure list grows
Appliance outlets, supermarkets and a David Jones department store are among the new venues on the list of NSW exposure sites.
Patrons of Fruit World, Supreme Pizza and the Commonwealth Bank in President Avenue, Kogarah, in southern Sydney, have been asked to get tested and isolate for 14 days after the venues were listed as close-contact exposure sites.
Anyone who attended the Greenacre Medical Practice in southwest Sydney last Monday or Tuesday at the times listed are also deemed close contacts, and must isolate for 14 days.
NSW Health has added a string of casual-contact venues across Sydney, with several venues in large-scale shopping centres.
A Kmart, Aldi, Coles, JB HiFi and Liquorland in inner-city Glebe’s Broadway shopping centre, an Officeworks in the Greenway Supacenta, a Coles and Kmart in Fairfield Forum shopping centre and a Kmart in Bass Hill Plaza were all added to the list.
The fresh alert comes as the state recorded 77 new cases on Sunday, with 33 cases infectious whilst in the community.
âš ï¸PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT – VENUES OF CONCERNâš ï¸
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 11, 2021
NSW Health has been notified of a number of new venues of concern that have been visited by confirmed cases of COVID 19. pic.twitter.com/VgiD064WtE
AFP5.50pm:US ‘very concerned’ Covid could hit recovery
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is “very concerned” about the risk that new variants of coronavirus could pose to the global economic recovery.
“We are very concerned about the Delta variant and other variants that could emerge and threaten recovery,” she said on Sunday after a G20 meeting in Venice, Italy.
“We are a connected global economy, what happens in any part of the world affects all other countries.”
In their final statement, G20 finance ministers warned that the spread of new variants was a “downside risk” to the economic recovery, while also warning of the dangers of differing paces of vaccination campaigns.
“We recognise the importance of working together to speed the process of vaccination and have the goal of wanting to vaccinate 70 percent of the world’s population next year,” Ms Yellen said.
She said “a lot has been done” to finance the purchase of vaccines by developing countries, but said the world needed to “do something more and to be more effective” with respect to responding to outbreaks around the world, such as sending therapeutics and protective equipment.
The G20 on Friday heard from a specially commissioned panel of experts who warned the world must invest much more — at least $US75bn ($100bn) over the next five years — to prepare for and try to avert the next pandemic.
“While we’re focused on the medium- and long-term ... we certainly realise we also need to do more in the near term,” Ms Yellen said.
The World Trade Organisation, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Health Organisation “have formed a taskforce to work on this and we’ve asked that we have regular monthly reports on how that work is going and that we address this issue more fully in October” at the G20 ministers’ next meeting.
“But certainly variants represent a threat to the entire globe,” Yellen said.
READ MORE: Indonesia’s Covid hell as Aussie hotspots ravaged
Evin Priest5.00pm:‘Graphic’ ad to shake up Sydneysiders
The federal government will air a “graphic” advertisement about Covid-19 in Sydney on Sunday night with the aim of driving home the seriousness of the city’s fast-growing outbreak.
The ad shows a young woman in hospital on a ventilator gasping for air, given the virus can attack the lungs in some cases.
Text on the screen reads: “Covid can affect anyone. Stay home. Get tested. Book your vaccination.”
Chief health officer Paul Kelly said the ad was intended to be scary as a large number of Sydneysiders appeared to not be taking the outbreak seriously.
On Sunday, it was revealed a woman in her 90s died of coronavirus while New South Wales recorded 77 new locally acquired cases.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she expected the numbers on Monday would likely be more than 100.
In the same 24 hour period, NSW Police handed out 106 infringement notices across NSW including to 15 men who were caught playing cards inside a small apartment at Marrickville in Sydney’s inner west.
Dr Kelly described the ad as “quite graphic”.
“We are only doing this because of the situation in Sydney and it will be running in Sydney,” he said.
“The messages will be clear: stay at home, get tested and booked in for a vaccination.
“They are the three messages on that ad.
“It is meant to be graphic, it is meant to really push that message home - that is important.”
READ MORE:Every day of life is precious as health staff demonstrate
Tessa Akerman4.10pm:Victoria closes border to red-zoned NSW and ACT
Victoria is effectively closing the border to New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory from 11.59pm Sunday, making the entire state and territory a red zone.
The announcement by the Victorian government was published online about 4pm and said public health authorities were concerned about increasing case numbers in NSW and the risks of transmission to the Victorian community.
Under the new restriction the Victorian border is effectively closed to New South Wales and the ACT – except for Victorian residents returning on a red zone permit for 14 days of quarantine, and for people with exemptions, exceptions or other valid permits (such as specified workers and cross-border residents).
Victorian residents can obtain a red zone permit and return to Victoria – but will be required to immediately isolate, get tested, and quarantine for 14 days.
“At all times, we strongly advise all Victorians against travelling to red zones,” the announcement said.
This means the VIC border is effectively closed to NSW and the ACT – except for VIC residents returning on a red zone permit for 14 days of quarantine, and for people with exemptions, exceptions or other valid permits (such as specified workers and cross-border residents).
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) July 11, 2021
Residents can’t return to Victoria if they have COVID-19, any symptoms, or have been defined a close contact by a state health authority (e.g. if you have been to an exposure site).
Non-residents cannot enter Victoria from a red zone without an exception, exemption or other valid permit. People trying to enter at an airport or seaport, will be fined up to $4,957 and stay in Hotel Quarantine until return flights can be arranged. Non-residents who try and enter by land, will be turned away and fined.
Travellers from existing orange zones in New South Wales and the ACT entering Victoria before 11:59pm 11 July can enter on an orange zone permit if they are eligible, including if they are on flights that are scheduled to depart orange zones before 11:59pm 11 July. Orange zone permit holders are required to isolate on arrival, get tested within 72 hours, and stay isolated until they return a negative result.
People who live in the NSW cross-border area, can enter Victoria without a permit but must travel with proof of address. Conditions apply. Residents cannot enter if they have been to a red zone outside of the cross-border area, or have COVID-19, any symptoms, or have been defined as a close contact by a state health authority.
Residents entering Victoria as a NSW cross-border community resident, are asked to stay within the Victorian cross-border area at all times. If residents enter New South Wales as a Victorian cross-border community resident, they are asked to stay within the NSW cross-border area. Travel beyond this area requires a red zone permit for re-entry into Victoria.
Workers in select industries are eligible for a specified worker permit, including forestry, agriculture, essential services, freight, rail, and vaccine distribution.
Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra said the border closure would have repercussions for some Victorian businesses.
“While no Victorian wants to see the virus spread into our state, this decision will impact some businesses and we hope it’s only shut for a short time,” he said.
“Our thoughts are with NSW and we stand ready to help.”
Police and Authorised Officers will continue to patrol Victoria’s land borders and airports. The government said substantial fines have already been handed down to individuals arriving without a valid permit since current red zones have come into effect.
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Finn McHugh3.10pm:‘Highly unlikely’: Gladys’ grim view on lockdown
Gladys Berejiklian has warned NSW’s Covid-19 lockdown is “highly unlikely” to end on Friday as the state plunged further into crisis.
NSW recorded another 77 cases on Sunday, including 33 who were in the community while infectious, and its first death from Covid-19 in months.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian was initially resistant to imposing a lockdown, but the state has entered its third week of harsh restrictions as it failed to bring the outbreak under control.
The extended lockdown was slated to expire on Friday night, but Ms Berejiklian poured cold water on the prospect of it ending on time.
“Everybody can tell it’s highly unlikely at this stage, given where the numbers are,” she said on Sunday.
“We’ve always been upfront about that. I’ve always said we need that exposure number in the community … to be as close to zero as possible, so we’re confident that we haven’t missed any chains of transmission.”
Ms Berejiklian conceded the numbers “aren’t going in the right direction” and was particularly concerned about the high number of positive cases who had been out in the community.
NSW Police issued 106 infringement notices in the past 24 hours, and Ms Berejiklian conceded authorities were “not confident” of a lockdown end date as people continued to flout stay-at-home orders.
“The quicker we continue to do the right thing, the quicker we can get out of this lockdown … That’s the strongest advice we have,” she said.
Sunday’s figure was NSW’s largest single-day case increase since mid-2020, and Ms Berejiklian warned “that trend will continue”.
“Given the number of people exposed in the community overnight, I’m anticipating the numbers in NSW will be greater than ahundred tomorrow,” she said.
“That’s what I’m anticipating. I’ll be shocked if it’s less than (that).”
NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said authorities could not afford to put out “spot fires” created by people interacting unnecessarily, and said the lockdown was designed to minimise mobility.
“You should have basically hardly been out of the house, hardly been in contact with anyone else, and therefore we (can) have confidence that the chain of transmission is really broken,” she said.
READ MORE:Message lost in lockdown lite
Victoria Laurie2.50pm:WA records two new cases in quarantine
Two active Covid-19 cases are currently in hospital in Western Australia, with a man in his 30s transferred from hotel quarantine to Royal Perth Hospital on Saturday.
The other hospital case is a foreign national seafarer transferred from the MV Emerald Indah grain cargo ship to Geraldton a week ago, and flown to Sir Charles Gairdner hospital in Perth. Both men are in a stable condition.
WA Health has reported two new cases of COVID-19 overnight, bringing the state’s total number of recorded Covid cases to 1035 and current active cases to 12. Both new cases are in hotel quarantine.
The new cases are a woman in her 30s who has recently returned from overseas and a 9-year-old who is a known close contact of a previously confirmed case.
That close contact, who remains in quarantine, and 55 casual contacts identified in Geraldton and linked to the seafarer’s case, have all now received a negative COVID-19 test result.
Also testing negative were all close and casual contacts identified in Perth’s recent northern suburb’s community cluster, which triggered a four-day city lockdown two weeks ago.
Travellers to WA who have recently returned from Tasmania and visited any of the Tasmanian government’s listed exposure sites have been directed to get tested, then present for 48-hour and 11-day testing.
The directive is the result of a person who tested positive for COVID-19 two days after they left Tasmania and arrived in London.
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Adeshola Ore2.30pm:‘I welcome higher numbers’: CMO says finding infectious people is key
Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly says he would welcome NSW reporting higher numbers in the coming days because it would indicate the state’s contact tracing were able to swiftly locate infectious people.
The state reported 77 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday, but Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned it could surpass 100 tomorrow.
Professor Kelly said he anticipated “large” numbers of cases but said it was vital to “look beyond” the daily cases count.
“I would welcome higher numbers. Finding people is the most important thing, finding people quickly and making sure they are not out in the community and potentially spreading it further.”
“What we want to see is a decrease in the number of people out in the community and potentially infectious in the community while infectious so that is the important component.
Lieutenant General John Frewen said the government was constantly in negotiations with the US to bring forward vaccine supplies.
“We are still having discussions and will update when we know,” he said.
READ MORE:Offices, supermarkets and other shops to be required to use Service NSW QR codes from July 12
Adeshola Ore2.12pm:‘Graphic’ vaccine campaign to push jab importance
Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly says a “graphic” vaccine campaign will be run in Sydney to urge residents to stay home and follow NSW’s restrictions.
WARNING: Here is the GRAPHIC Australian Government #COVID19 ad to run in Sydney. #COVID19nswpic.twitter.com/6IXgBy7miw
— Karen Barlow (@KJBar) July 11, 2021
The commonwealth’s long-awaited national campaign, urging Australians to “arm yourself” against coronavirus by getting a vaccine, was launched today. But Professor Kelly flagged a new campaign would be rolled out in Sydney.
“We are only doing this because of the situation in Sydney and it will be running in Sydney,” Professor Kelly said.
“It is quite graphic and it is meant to be graphic, it is meant to really push that message home that is important.”
“The messages will be clear. Stay-at-home, get tested and booked in for a vaccination.”
Adeshola Ore2.06pm:CMO sheds some light on NSW Covid death
Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly says it is concerning that a large portion of NSW 77 new cases had been in the community while infections.
NSW reported 77 new locally acquired cases today and the death of an elderly woman on Sunday. Of the new cases, 33 of those cases had been infectious in the community.
Professor Kelly said the woman in her 90s was not an aged-care resident and had not been vaccinated.
“That is a terrible thing for that person, their family and certainly my condolences to that particular family now,” he said.
Professor Kelly urged Sydneysiders to follow the lockdown rules.
“This is a time for staying at home,” he said.
“Please do not look for a loophole in what that messaging might be.”
READ MORE:Mortality rate 10 times higher for elderly Aussies
Christine Kellett1.50pm:‘Sydney is everyone’s problem’: Dan lends NSW a hand
Victoria has offered New South Wales contact-tracing support and other resources as it battles Sydney’s worsening Delta outbreak.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said he offered help to Gladys Berejiklian but was yet to hear back from her.
He said Victorian contact tracers with specific language skills could be of most assistance to NSW authorities who appeared to be struggling to convey the critical importance of staying home and not mingling with extended family in some communities.
“If there’s a problem in Sydney there’s a problem everywhere,” Mr Andrews said. “We’ve all got an interest.”
Mr Andrews said Victorians knew the pain being felt by locked-down Sydneysiders facing extended restrictions, after 77 new local cases and the first Covid death in months was recorded overnight.
He warned anyone who tried to break the border rules faced being publicly shamed.
“We’ve lived it - we’ve been there,” he said.
“But it also means that we have, I think, an extra determination to play our part to get tested, to not have outbreaks, to not have this run here.
“For those travelling across the border, the permits are real, the conditions are real - you will be fined, you will be found and you’ve got every chance of becoming very famous if you do not comply with those permit conditions.
“No-one, I would have thought, wants to contribute to this virus coming to Victoria.
“But if you do the wrong thing, there’s every chance that people will find out about it ... And the fact that they didn’t think that Covid was real and they didn’t think that protecting our state and all that we’ve built and given was worth investing in.
“I don’t reckon that would be a very popular position.”
Evin Priest1.45pm:Cops come down hard on Covid rulebreakers
NSW Police have blasted a group of men playing cards inside a tiny apartment in Sydney’s inner west after the state issued more than 100 fines for Covid-19 breaches.
NSW Police said 106 infringement notices were handed out across NSW.
Six of the infringement notices were given to people in rural areas such as Orange while eight of were handed out at Kings Cross.
Penrith and southwest Sydney were areas of concern.
“The spread of the infringement notices is right across the state, which is disappointing,” Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said.
“What I do know is that people continue, right across the state, to ring Crime Stoppers to (breaches) with over 1200 messages on the police system (yesterday) for police to attend locations.”
However one gathering in Sydney’s inner west had Deputy Commissioner Worboys fuming.
“One of those instances was a unit at Marrickville, where police responded to information and they went to that unit and found 15 men in a small unit playing cards,” he said.
“These men were (aged) in their 50s, through to just short of 90 years of age, (wearing) no masks, no social distancing (and) clearly in an environment that was a huge risk to them, their families and their community.
“Police issued infringement notices and we’ll follow up and make sure that each and every person that was there playing cards is dealt with appropriately.”
READ the full story
Tessa Akerman1.21pm:‘Only once chance’: Andrews urges Victorians to return from NSW now
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says he will not hesitate to declare all of New South Wales a ‘red zone’ hotspot, as he urged Victorians to return home now.
“We’ve been absolutely clear, if you are there ... don’t delay, come back now,” he said at the opening of Australia’s first Pride Centre in St Kilda.
“You only get one chance to act fast and you only get one chance to act early.”
Mr Andrews said the number of NSW cases who weren’t already in isolation when they were tested was “very significant” and he had offered the NSW government assistance including people with certain language skills.
The premier said Victorians knew what Sydney was going through with a second lockdown and that, while he wasn’t going to commentate or grade NSW’s efforts, the state was “doing their best”.
“To bring it under control, you’ve got to cause a lot of pain,” he said.
Mr Andrews told reporters the Commonwealth may need to make further changes to income support if the Sydney lockdown continues beyond the third week.
“Gladys can count on my support to lobby the treasurer and the PM,” he said.
He said he would have liked to have received more financial support for Victorians in the previous lockdown but he couldn’t change the past.
“I wouldn’t want New South Wales denied something just because we didn’t get it,” he said.
“But I would just say Job Keeper and federal government support is not foreign aid. It’s not like we’re some other country.”
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Agencies1.10pm:Woman infected with two virus variants at once
A 90-year-old woman who died after falling ill with Covid-19 was infected with both the Alpha and Beta variants of the coronavirus at the same time, researchers in Belgium said Sunday, adding that the rare phenomenon may be underestimated.
The unvaccinated woman, who lived alone and received at-home nursing care, was admitted to the OLV Hospital in the Belgian city of Aalst after a spate of falls in March and tested positive for Covid-19 the same day.
While her oxygen levels were initially good, her condition deteriorated rapidly and she died five days later.
When medical staff tested for the presence of any variants of concern they found that she was carrying both the Alpha strain, which originated in Britain, and the Beta variant first detected in South Africa.
“Both these variants were circulating in Belgium at the time, so it is likely that the lady was co-infected with different viruses from two different people,” said molecular biologist Anne Vankeerberghen from the OLV Hospital who led the research.
“Unfortunately, we don’t know how she became infected.” Vankeerberghen said it was difficult to say whether the co-infection played a role in the fast deterioration of the patient.
The research, which has not yet been submitted to a medical journal for publication, is being presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases.
While Vankeerberghen said in a press release that there had been “no other published cases” of similar co-infections, she added that the “phenomenon is probably underestimated”.
This is because of limited testing for variants of concern, she said, calling for an increase in the use of fast PCR testing to detect known variant mutations.
In January, scientists in Brazil reported that two people had been simultaneously infected with two different strains of the coronavirus, but the study has yet to be published in a scientific journal.
In comments reacting to the research, Lawrence Young, a virologist and Professor of Molecular Oncology at the University of Warwick, said it was not a surprise to find an individual infected with more than one strain.
“This study does highlight the need for more studies to determine whether infection with multiple variants of concern affects the clinical course of Covid-19 and whether this in any way compromises the efficacy of vaccination,” he added.
AFP
Staff writers12.55pm:ACT records zero new cases
The ACT has recorded no new Covid-19 cases.
It’s been over a year now since the state recorded its last local case, when two people returned from Melbourne on July 8 at the height of its second wave and passed it onto three contacts.
ACT COVID-19 update (11 July 2021)
— ACT Health (@ACTHealth) July 11, 2021
â–ªï¸ Cases today: 0
â–ªï¸ Active cases: 0
â–ªï¸ Total cases: 124
â–ªï¸ Recovered: 121
â–ªï¸ Lives lost: 3
â–ªï¸ Test results (past 24 hours): 344
â–ªï¸ Negative tests: 248,681
â–ªï¸ Total COVID-19 vaccinations: 98,572
â„¹ï¸ https://t.co/YGW9pOHG3epic.twitter.com/7sKTQoSF9s
The last reported case was on July 10, 2020.
READ MORE:Canberra Airport chief Stephen Byron seeks flight ban over border insanity
Adeshola Ore12.40pm:National day to honour troops, as forever war is over
Australian troops who served in Afghanistan and Iraq will be honoured with a national day of commemoration, as the federal government confirmed the nation’s longest war is officially over.
Defence Minister Peter Dutton said the day would pay tribute to the great sacrifice of the two-decade conflict that cost the lives of 41 Diggers and scarred a generation of veterans.
“The contribution of our troops over a very long time has contributed to a period of stability, the ability for girls to be educated and importantly, from our perspective and that of our Five Eyes partners, there has not been an attack the scale of 9/11 for over twenty years,” he told Sky News on Sunday.
“I want those Diggers to hear very clearly the message that because of their efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, they have stopped terrorist attacks from taking place in our country, in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand and elsewhere.”
Mr Dutton said Australians were “eternally grateful” for the nation’s troops who served in the Middle East.
The national day is expected to be given approval when parliament resumes in August. The date for the day has not been decided.
READ the full story
Brent Read12.20pm:ARL to make call on relocation
The ARL Commission is set to meet on Sunday to make a call on whether to relocate the entire competition.
The Australian understands the commission is growing increasingly concerned about the growing Covid-19 numbers in NSW – another 77 cases were reported on Sunday morning by premier Gladys Berejiklian.
State of Origin has already been moved to the Gold Coast and the NRL could yet follow. ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys confirmed a decision could be made as early as Sunday amid fears the NRL may struggle to gain government exemptions to fly Sydney teams to Queensland and Victoria.
READ the full story
Evin Priest12.00pm:Sydney woman’s alleged bold Covid breach
A Sydney woman has faced court in the ACT after allegedly flying to Canberra without an exemption and leaving a hotel she was ordered into by health authorities.
On Saturday, a 24-year-old Paddington woman faced ACT Magistrates Court after allegedly travelling to the ACT without a necessary exemption to public health orders.
The woman was identified by ACT Police as a resident of greater Sydney after getting off a flight from Sydney on Friday.
ACT Police alleged the woman had not been granted an exemption to enter the ACT.
The woman was escorted to a hotel at Canberra airport and ordered to remain there, at her own expense, until she was scheduled to be escorted to a return flight on Saturday morning.
About 11.45pm, hotel staff notified ACT Police the woman allegedly had guests with her and was preparing to leave the hotel in contravention of the directions issued by ACT Health.
ACT Police alleged they attended the hotel as a rideshare vehicle departed with the woman inside.
The vehicle was stopped by police about 12.05am Saturday on Kings Ave, Russell, where the woman was arrested and transported to the ACT Watch House.
The woman faced a charge of failing to comply with a direction by the chief health officer.
ACT Police notified NSW Police of the alleged breach of NSW Health stay-at-home directions.
ACT Police told NCA NewsWire on Sunday the woman was bailed to reappear in August on condition she returned to Sydney immediately,which the woman did under police escort.
READ MORE:State braces for a long dark Covid winter
Nicholas Jensen11.40am:‘Highly unlikely’ lockdown will end: Gladys
Ms Berejiklian has flagged an extension to lockdown, saying that case numbers mean lifting current restrictions is a highly unlikely scenario.
“Given where we’re at and given the lockdown was supposed to be lifted on Friday, everybody can tell it’s highly unlikely at this stage, given where the numbers are. We’ve always been up-front about that.”
Dr Chant said it will be “a number of days” before the Greater Sydney region sees the impact of lockdown.
NSW Health says it remains concerned by the “levels of mobility” still occurring in areas that have high rates of infection.
Dr Chant said “close family connections” in south western Sydney can be “detrimental to achieving a public health outcome”.
“I’ve spent a lot of my working life in and I appreciate the strengths of the family. It’s wonderful to see,” she said. “But at this time, those close connections between family groups are actually so detrimental to achieving public health.”
“So what we’re finding is that we’re having to strengthen the messaging to get it really clear that ... your household is your family group.”
READ MORE:Taking the stigma out of remote work
Finn McHugh11.35am:NSW outbreak turns deadly
Australia has suffered its first death from Covid-19 for months as NSW sinks deeper into crisis.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed a woman aged in her 90s had lost her life after contracting the virus “within the home setting”, urging residents to adhere to restrictions to avoid endangering their loved ones.
“Tragically, we’ve seen one older person die and I want to extend my deepest condolences to their families and loved ones,” she said.
“I can’t stress enough that every time we risk breaking the rules, or even just going about our business and not getting tested when we need to, the people whose lives and health that we’re risking the most are those closest to us.”
Authorities believed the woman was not vaccinated, but were working to confirm that detail.
52 people were in hospital with Covid-19 across NSW, 15 in intensive care (ICU) and five on ventilators.
Eleven of the hospitalised patients were under the age of 35, and six were under 25.
NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said the patients in ICU “dispel the myth that (Covid-19) is only for the elderly”, with one in their teens, one in their 20s, and one in their 30s.
“This is a serious disease, Covid. We cannot afford to have complacency,” she said.
There was one ICU patient in their 40s, three in their 50s, five in their 60s, two in their 70s, and one in their 80s.
READ MORE:Tough decisions on opening up amid Sydney outbreak
Nicholas Jensen11.27am:NSW Police issue 106 infringement notices in 24 hours
Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys confirmed 106 infringement notices were issued to people in Greater Sydney and regional NSW, highlighting three “key breaches” of the public health orders.
In one case, the Deputy Commissioner said 15 men were found breaking restrictions in a “small unit playing cards”.
“These men were in their 50s, through to just short of 90 years of age … no masks, no social distancing, clearly in an environment that was a huge risk to them and their community.”
NSW Police also attended a premises near Sydney Olympic Park, where a birthday party was taking place.
“There were ten people at this party … They turned up, they were aware of the public health orders and police took action in terms of infringement notices to each of those people and closed the party down.”
Deputy Commissioner Worboys also mentioned a group of people playing Play-Station “in a garage in the Merrylands area”.
“These are three very different but still very much the same in terms of people making a conscious decision to not stay at home, to leave their home, to go to a premises for an organised gathering and not comply with the public health order.”
READ MORE:NSW is Covid’s new economic test case
Nicholas Jensen11.20am:Tomorrow’s case numbers expected to be ‘greater than 100’: Gladys
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian expects case numbers to surge in the coming days, saying it is stark that more than 50 out of the 77 cases were close family contacts.
“Given the number of people exposed in the community overnight, I’m anticipating the numbers in NSW will be greater than 100 tomorrow … that’s what I’m anticipating. And I’ll be shocked if it’s less than 100 this time tomorrow.”
Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said “tragically a women aged 90 died” yesterday, expressing condolences to the family. It is understood the woman was unvaccinated.
“It highlights the severity and the impact that COVID can have on loved ones, the nearest and dearest to you.”
Dr Chant said today’s cases should remind people not to leave their household setting and not interact with other family members.
“I know that can be a difficult concept, given the closeness of family units in western Sydney, but at this point in time in responding to COVID, we need to keep the households as a discrete unit, so we don’t get that risk of further spread.”
“I’d also just like to highlight that just because you’ve had a negative test on one day doesn’t mean that you’ve not infected and that’s why every time you leave the house you’ve got to go about your business in a very safe way.
Interestingly, we’ve brought in some close contact, they didn’t have symptoms and were really genuinely surprised that they were positive,” Dr Chant said.
“Please remember you can be infectious if you don’t have symptoms.”
READ MORE:Shock and ire at ‘east-west double standard’
Nicholas Jensen11.06am:NSW cases skyrocket to 77, one dead
NSW has recorded 77 cases in the past 24 hours amid mounting fears Greater Sydney’s lockdown will be extended for a second time.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said: “33 of those cases have been exposed in the community whilst infectious. But, more importantly, over 50 of the 77 are close family members, close family members of those who’ve been infected”.
“Tragically we’ve seen one older person die and I want to extend my deepest condolences to their families and loved ones … regrettably, that person did acquire it within the household, within the home setting.
There were more 48,000 tests conducted yesterday.
More to come.
READ MORE:Stay-home message is lost in lockdown lite
Staff writers10.40am:NSW Premier to provide Covid update at 11am
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian will provide the state’s daily Covid-19 update at 11am today.
She will be joined by NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant and NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys.
READ MORE:Sydney unravels as divisive leaders try threats and pleas
Finn McHugh10.20am:Coles alert as NSW Treasurer says lockdown extension ‘very likely’
Alerts have been issued for a Sydney Coles and Commonwealth Bank as a senior official warns the state’s lockdown is “very likely” to be extended.
People who have been to Coles in Kareela and Roselands must get tested and isolate for 14 days, after NSW Health on Saturday evening issued alerts for 19 exposure sites, predominantly in southwestern Sydney.
Alerts for Broadway Shopping Centre in Ultimo, Commonwealth Bank in Kogarah and Kmart in Roselands have also been issued.
âš ï¸PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT – VENUES OF CONCERNâš ï¸
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 10, 2021
NSW Health has been notified of a number of new venues of concern which have been visited by confirmed cases of COVID‑19.
Please check the NSW Government website regularly: https://t.co/pqkRdfh3cR, as the list of venues of concern and relevant health advice are being updated as investigations continue. pic.twitter.com/MbS4XPhINb
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 10, 2021
It comes as NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet concedes the lockdown was “very likely” to be extended beyond Friday, and said Australians would eventually need to learn to “live alongside” Covid-19.
Mr Perrottet insisted it was “unsustainable” to maintain the indefinite threat of lockdowns once vaccination rates increased, saying the UK and US showed it was not possible to “eliminate Covid from society”.
“I know people find that an uncomfortable thing to accept, but that’s just the reality,” he told Sky News.
“We’ve got to get to a point in time where those who want to have a vaccine, get access to one. And at that point, we’ve got to open up our society, and have the freedoms that we had operating prior to the pandemic.”
READ MORE:Our hothouse isolation is an economic trap
Adeshola Ore10.00am:New vaccine ad campaign doesn’t ‘cut it’: Albanese
Anthony Albanese says the federal government needs to “go back to the drawing board” on its new vaccination advertising campaign which has been launched today.
The campaign, to be rolled out across multiple platforms, urges Australians to “arm yourself” against coronavirus by getting a vaccine.
The Opposition Leader said the campaign failed to harness the advertising talent that Australian had used in previous public health campaigns like drink driving and HIV.
“We have been saying for some time that there needed to be a public information campaign, but I’m not sure that this cuts it frankly,” he told the ABC.
"My opponent is the advertising guy, but this is a government that has spent a billion dollars advertising itself"
— Insiders ABC (@InsidersABC) July 10, 2021
WATCH: @AlboMP on the government's new vaccine ad campaign #Insiders#auspolpic.twitter.com/iRLVNV8M5t
“I think my opponent is the advertising guy, but this is a government that has spent a billion dollars advertising itself, telling Australians how good it is. Maybe they should translate some of that advertising into this.”
READ MORE:Enough time for PM to avoid vax backlash
Adeshola Ore9.52am:Government must ‘aggressively increase’ vaccine supply: Albo
Anthony Albanese says the federal government must “aggressively increase” supplies of Covid-19 vaccines by seeking deals to secure Pfizer and Moderna doses from the United States.
The Opposition Leader said supply issues were at the heart of the problem in Australia’s vaccine rollout.
"The government has been complacent, and that complacency has led to incompetence"
— Insiders ABC (@InsidersABC) July 10, 2021
WATCH: @AlboMP on whether Australia is a victim of its own success with COVID #Insiders#auspolpic.twitter.com/yjkv61gcfz
“Canada and Mexico have been able to get additional vaccines. We need to be moving with producing mRNA vaccines right here as well. The key is the supply of the vaccine,” he said.
“It is a matter of getting access to more supply sooner. We need to do that. We saw recently South Korea get access to the excess Pfizer vaccines from Israel.”
Mr Albanese refused to say what percentage of the population should be vaccinated for lockdowns to end. But he noted that many health experts had noted an 80 per cent threshold.
“We shouldn’t pre-empt that and politicians shouldn’t be making those decisions in the absence of health advice,” he said.
Mr Albanese also said Australia should not accept any Covid-19 deaths.
READ MORE:Covid vaccine rollout: Chemists brought in to fast track jabs
Nicholas Jensen9.44am:Queensland records zero cases, eyes fixed on Sydney
Queensland has recorded no new community cases of Covid-19 overnight, with one case detected in an overseas traveller in hotel quarantine.
QLD Health recorded 7175 tests in the last 24 hours, and is currently monitoring 46 active cases.
Sunday 11 July – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) July 10, 2021
No new locally acquired cases recorded in Queensland overnight.
One new overseas acquired case, detected in hotel quarantine.#covid19pic.twitter.com/VlDZSzu5wD
On Friday Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said state health authorities were continuing to monitor the situation south of the border, suggesting that a hard border with NSW may be necessary if case numbers continue to rise in the coming days.
“The eyes of Australia really are on Sydney with the epicentre of the Delta strain because our biggest concern is if that is not contained and brought under control it’ll spread throughout the country,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
READ MORE:Riverbank House, Brisbane: an award-winning design
Adeshola Ore9.35am:Wage subsidy needed in locked-down Sydney: Albo
Anthony Albanese has urged the federal government to provide a JobKeeper-like wage subsidy for workers living in NSW’s lockdown.
On Saturday NSW recorded 50 cases of locally acquired Covid-19, prompting a warning from Premier Gladys Berejiklian that “things are going to get worse before they get better”.
Asked if JobKeeper should be reinstated for Sydney, the Opposition Leader said “if not JobKeeper, something very similar.”
Should JobKeeper be reinstated?
— Insiders ABC (@InsidersABC) July 10, 2021
"If not JobKeeper, something very similar because the key
with wage subsidies was it kept employees and employers together," @AlboMP says. #Insiders#auspolpic.twitter.com/yRBU2ihNNk
“The key with wage subsidies was that it kept employees and employers together. So it was a good idea,” he told the ABC.
“The government can’t just sit back and wipe its hands of responsibility in Scott Morrison’s usual style. He has to accept responsibility here and the federal government has to step up, and work constructively with the New South Wales Government to achieve outcomes.”
This week Scott Morrison announced the $10,000 liquid asset test for the federal government’s disaster payments would be waived when lockdowns entered a third week.
READ MORE:Brisbane’s exclusive Tattersall’s Club thrives on $2m of JobKeeper subsidies
Nicholas Jensen9.23am:Stricter face mask rules to take effect in Sydney
Stricter face mask rules for Greater Sydney will come into effect on Tuesday amid fears of rising case numbers and a prolonged lockdown.
Health officials are instructing people to wear a fitted face mask in all “indoor common property areas of residential premises” across Greater Sydney, including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Wollongong and Shellharbour.
From Tuesday 13 July, face masks must be worn in all indoor common property areas of residential premises in Greater Sydney (including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Wollongong and Shellharbour).
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 10, 2021
More information: https://t.co/Ds2kzpbObUpic.twitter.com/u6l8UmbjLL
The new rule will come into effect on Tuesday, July 13.
READ MORE:The world’s most expensive face mask
Christine Kellett9.15am:Victoria records no new cases
Victoria has continued its streak of zero new local cases for the 11th consecutive day.
No cases were detected from more than 23,000 tests in the past 24 hours, including no new cases in hotel quarantine.
Yesterday there were no new cases reported.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) July 10, 2021
- 12,978 vaccine doses were administered
- 23,302 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicDatapic.twitter.com/J4rYpsq3P3
READ MORE:What Victoria has achieved is extraordinary
Adeshola Ore8.45am:NSW seeks financial help as extension looms
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet says the state is lobbying the federal government to provide further economic support as it faces a likely extension of its lockdown.
Scott Morrison has flagged that the commonwealth could provide further financial assistance to the state as it battles an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant.
Mr Perrottet said the state would announce another economic support package in the “coming days.”
Asked if state and federal government support was enough, Mr Perrottet said “we’re going to have to do more.”
“That’s just the reality,” he told Sky News.
“The challenge is there is no JobKeeper available and businesses have had to close without that safety net.”
He also said the state could provide financial assistance to employees who have lost work due to the lockdown, via federal government platforms.
READ MORE: High finance’s low blow takes the fun out of the fair
Ondy Dixon8.15am:It could be years before Aussies return to Bali
It could be years before Aussies can holiday in Indonesia as the island of Java is on the verge of a pandemic-induced collapse.
Indonesia is struggling as Covid-19 overtakes the country, in grim scenes akin to a horror film.
Bodies of the dead are piling up awaiting emergency burial and medical grade oxygen has run out. Hospitals are so overcrowded they are turning away the sick and dying.
As the Delta variant rages across Indonesia, the daily infection rate increased to 38,400 on Friday with 852 reported deaths. The infection rate has spiked from 25,000 new cases a day just a week ago. Pandemic experts believe the numbers are far greater given the scarcity of testing facilities outside the capital of Jakarta.
The surge in the spread of the virus has also been attributed to the mass movement of people for an Islamic holiday in May, which marked the end of Ramadan. Despite the government implementing a last-minute ban on travel, millions of individuals left Java to visit family throughout the archipelago.
Last weekend in Yogyakarta at least 63 patients died in one hospital in the popular travel destination, when it ran out of liquid oxygen.
Read the full story here.
Staff reporters 7am: Crackdown on breaches as Sydney rules tightened
Surveillance of possibly illegal gatherings in Sydney has been heightened as the NSW capital region faces the possibility of an extended lockdown after Covid restrictions were toughened on Friday night.
A total of 167 infringement notices were issued across Sydney on Friday, 67 of them in southwest Sydney, where 100 police officers were deployed to enforce stricter stay-at-home orders.
“Overwhelmingly, the response by police, when I speak to them, is that the vast majority of people in southwest Sydney are being compliant,” NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said on Saturday, after the state recorded 50 new Covid cases in 24 hours.
“They are staying at home when they’re out, they are wearing a mask, the efforts by people in southwest Sydney in this first 24 hours have been commendable.’’
But police have started conducting compliance checks at Sydney hotels after six people staying at the Meriton Suites on Kent Street were found to have breached the lockdown, the ABC reported.
Eight people were fined at a gathering in Randwick, in Sydney’s east, while six people were caught at a birthday party on the Central Coast.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has indicated Sydneysiders — already entering their third week of Covid lockdown — should brace themselves for the possibility of further extensions to stay-at-home orders.
“The only conclusion we can draw is that things are going to get worse before they get better,” she said.
Ms Berejiklian, who expressed frustration at people continuing to flout lockdown rules and lying to contact tracers, knocked back suggestions she should have called a lockdown earlier, and said she had “full confidence” in the advice she received at the time.
Restrictions for Greater Sydney include: Outdoor public gatherings are limited to two people (excluding members of the same household); people must stay in their local government area or within 10kms of home for exercise and outdoor recreation, with no carpooling between non-household members; browsing in shops is prohibited, plus only one person per household, per day may leave the home for shopping.
Other states including Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria have threatened to shut their borders with NSW if the outbreak in the Sydney region worsens.
READ MORE: Stay at home message is lost in lockdown lite
Agencies6.45am: Delta puts brakes on return to post-Covid normality
Nations across the globe hit new pandemic highs and reimposed Covid-19 restrictions on Saturday as the highly contagious Delta variant forced governments to put the brakes on plans to return to normality.
The highly transmissible Delta variant, first detected in India, is sweeping the globe as countries race to inoculate their populations to ward off fresh outbreaks and allow for economies and daily life to recover.
The European Union — lambasted early on in the pandemic response for a botched vaccine acquisition program — said on Saturday it has distributed enough shots to cover 70 per cent of the bloc’s population.
But according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the proportion of adults aged 18 years or over fully vaccinated in the EU and European Economic Area was still only 44.1 per cent.
While vaccines have been successful in mitigating the worst effects of infections, concerns have been raised about how well some of them will cope with more virulent strains.
In Indonesia, which is fighting a ferocious wave of infections, more than a dozen fully inoculated frontline health workers have died, according to the country’s medical association.
Authorities said on Friday that medics would be given a third booster jab using the vaccine made by US company Moderna, to provide them extra protection.
The Southeast Asian nation has been depending heavily on China’s Sinovax shots amid the global shortage of alternatives that have been mostly supplied to rich nations.
The rapid spread of the Delta variant across Asia, Africa and Latin America is exposing crucial vaccine supply shortages for some of the world’s most poorest and most vulnerable populations.
Senegal, the EU, the US, several European governments and other partners, signed an accord in Dakar on Friday to finance vaccine production in the West African state.
Brent Read6.30am:NRL Origin final moved to Gold Coast
The third and final match of the State of Origin 2021 rugby league series has been moved to the Gold Coast in Queensland after the NSW government banned Newcastle from hosting a major crowd event because of the Sydney-region Covid-19 outbreak.
The government informed the NRL that no fans would be allowed if the game went ahead there.
The NSW-Queensland match would be held at Cbus Super Stadium for the first time in the Gold Coast’s history. A capacity crowd of over 27,000 would be allowed to attend Wednesday night’s game, the NRL announced.
It is also the first time a full Origin series has been played in Queensland.
The Queensland Maroons face a possible 3-0 series loss to the Blues after 50-6 and 26-0 defeats in the first two games of the 2021 matches.
Read the full story here.
Natasha Robinson6am:GPs split over dosing interval for AstraZeneca
Doctors say they will decide on a “case-by-case basis” whether to give the AstraZeneca vaccine to patients as soon as eight weeks after their first dose as thousands of people rush to gain earlier appointments.
The nation’s chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, has endorsed advice that people in Covid-19 hotspot areas of Sydney should be given their second AstraZeneca vaccine eight weeks after their first dose instead of 12.
The advice has seen patients around Australia inundate doctors’ surgeries to ask whether they can also shorten the interval between their first and second AstraZeneca shots, but general practitioners have been giving differing advice.
The president of the Australian Medical Association (NSW), Danielle McMullen, said Scott Morrison’s announcement about shortening the dosing interval came as a surprise to doctors.
“We weren’t given any warning that a change or a change of guidance was imminent,” Dr McMullen said.
Read the full story here.
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