Coronavirus Australia live news: Emergency Pfizer supplies sent to Walgett; NSW records 345 new cases, two deaths
Walgett, with a population one-third Indigenous, is being sent thousands of jabs amid fears of a Covid spread.
- ACT locks down
- Infected Sydney women caught in Melbourne
- NSW loopholes hard to close
- NSW records 345 new cases
- Victoria records 21 new cases
Welcome to live updates on the Covid-19 pandemic.
Emergency supplies of the Pfizer vaccine are being rushed to the NSW town of Walgett amid fears of a virus spread to its population, which is one-third Indigenous.
NSW has recorded 345 new locally-acquired cases of Covid-19 and two deaths as the LGAs of Burwood, Strathfield and Bayside go into a tougher lockdown at 5pm today.
The ACT will also go into lockdown at 5pm for seven days after a Covid case was detected there.
Victoria has recorded 21 new locally acquired and two interstate-acquired coronavirus cases in the 24 hours to midnight on Wednesday.
Rachel Baxendale, Remy Varga10.30pm:Freedom fades as clusters multiply
An end to Melbourne’s sixth lockdown appears as uncertain as it has been at any point since it was imposed a week ago, as contact tracers scramble to identify the sources of what are now seven mystery clusters – five of which have emerged over the past two days.
The first of Victoria’s most recent outbreaks surfaced last week, in a teacher from Al-Taqwa College and her optometrist partner, who works in Caroline Springs – both in Melbourne’s west.
Victorian Covid logistics chief Jeroen Weimar on Thursday said authorities had ruled out any links between that couple, from Hobson’s Bay, and an earlier case in a Moonee Valley Testing Centre traffic controller.
He revealed the traffic controller had caught the virus in an “infection control breach” that involved him using the same toilets as testing centre clients who later tested positive.
The second of Victoria’s mystery outbreaks presented in a Maribyrnong man, who works at a Derrimut warehouse, also in the western suburbs.
Authorities were still searching for the source but had ruled out a link to an associated family, who returned from hotel quarantine in NSW in July.
Mr Weimar said contact tracers were much closer to identifying links between a Melton family identified on Wednesday and other known cases in the outer area, while the search continues for the source of acquisition for a father who works at the Royal Children’s Hospital and his son who is in year 1 at St Michael’s Primary School in North Melbourne.
Yoni Bashan9.45pm:‘Time to get tough on rule breakers’
NSW Police Minister David Elliott is calling for health officials to mandatorily report breaches of Covid-19 health orders uncovered during contact tracing, as frustrations increase over flagrant rule-breaking occurring in hotspot regions of Sydney.
Mr Elliott took his case to crisis cabinet on Wednesday following complaints from the upper hierarchy of the NSW Police Force regarding the reluctance of some health bureaucrats to share information of rule-breaking uncovered during interviews.
The complaints have heightened over the agency’s reluctance to provide details of a funeral gathering in July in the west Sydney suburb of Pendle Hill, where some 50 people attended, resulting in the majority contracting the virus. Details of attendees have not been supplied to NSW police, although in some cases they have laid charges against residents who violated the rules.
Mr Elliott is understood to be proposing that compliance breaches identified by health teams be reported in the same mandatory fashion as those concerning child abuse or sexual assault. He declined to comment when contacted; the Premier’s office did not response to questions.
A police source familiar with the processes said: “Sometimes we just have to try a little bit harder (to get required information).”
Senior police officials spent Thursday redrafting the state’s public health orders to strengthen their ability to fine people ahead of a scale-up of operations and deployment of extra Australian Defence Force personnel.
Steve Jackson9pm:Frantic race to vaccinate Indigenous township
Health authorities have rushed vaccines to the remote NSW town of Walgett as a Covid case has increased fears for the town’s Indigenous community in a region that has the state’s lowest level of inoculation against the virus.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard expressed concern the health system might struggle to cope with a Covid outbreak in the town, which is in the Far West and Orana region where only 36.9 per cent of over-15s have had one jab and 16.3 per cent have had both.
The virus arrived in the town with an unsuspecting carrier who had returned home after a run-in with the law in the nearby regional centre of Dubbo, about three hours drive away.
Natasha Robinson8.15pm: Drug shortages putting patients at risk
Pharmacists are reporting critical shortages in heart and stroke medications, mental health drugs and HRT therapies as supply chain blockages leave patients unable to access vital medications.
Australia has just over 250 medicines deemed at risk of supply volatility and shortages, potentially affecting five million patients.
Many patients have had to swap to different drugs after being unable to secure their scripted medication and psychiatrists are warning that withdrawal effects from antidepressant medication represents a serious threat to the health of those who suddenly stop taking the therapies.
The widely prescribed antidepressant and anti-anxiety drug setraline, marketed as Zoloft, is one medicine subject to critical supply shortages.
The anti-psychotic olanzipine, sold as Zyprexa, is in short supply, as is the drug Risperidone used for treating schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Jayashri Kulkarni AM, the head of Monash University’s psychiatry department, said people who had interruptions to mental health medications could experience “profound” neurological impacts, and she was very concerned for her patients.
“We’re dealing with brain medications; the brain is a very delicate organ, so it’s different to sudden cessation of other medications,” Professor Kulkarni said.
“With brain medications, it takes a while for the brain receptors to stabilise so if you make sudden moves in either direction, it can result in quite profound complications and return of symptoms, (and) physical reactions as well.
“The other important thing with brain drugs is that they’re not easily interchangeable. Within the different classes of drugs, there’s significant differences between the medications. So when something goes out of access for a brain drug, it can have significant effects on the patient’s welfare.”
Joseph Lam 7.30pm: Anger as autistic students suffer outbreak
A Sydney school for autistic kids is the latest institution to suffer a Covid-19 outbreak.
Giant Steps, a special education school in Gladesville, has recorded 18 new Covid-19 cases, according to Autism Awareness Australia chief executive officer Nicole Rogerson.
A story is about to break about a COVID outbreak (currently 18) in a Sydney autism school. There will be outrage, finger pointing and anger….but right now I am thinking of the students, their families and the staff.
— Nicole Rogerson (@NicRogerson) August 12, 2021
“There will be outrage, finger-pointing and anger ... but right now I am thinking of the students, their families and the staff,” she wrote on Twitter.
Ms Rogerson said she was distressed that nearby private school students were vaccinated before her vulnerable children.
“And not for nothing but I can’t help to be angry that Giant Steps is in the same neighbourhood as the private school St Joseph’s College who managed to get their Yr 12s the jab!” she wrote.
And not for nothing but I can’t help to be angry that Giant Steps is in the same neighbourhood as the private school St Joseph’s College who managed to get their Yr 12’s the jab! 💉
— Nicole Rogerson (@NicRogerson) August 12, 2021
READ MORE: Exclusive Sydney school jumped Covid-19 jab queue
AFP6.45pm: Russia registers record 808 daily fatalities
Russia on Thursday reported its highest daily coronavirus death toll since the start of the pandemic, saying 808 people had died over the past 24 hours.
The new figures bring Russia’s total fatalities from Covid-19 to 168,049 -- the highest toll in Europe.
READ MORE: California orders jabs for teachers
Richard Ferguson6.13pm:Ardern unveils plan to reopen NZ to the world
Every New Zealander will eligible for a Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine from the beginning of next month and global border closures will be eased from early next year, as Jacinda Ardern unveils her post-pandemic reopening plan.
Elimination of coronavirus will remain the Ardern government’s strategy for the rest of the year and the interval between Pfizer doses will increase due to the limited supply of jabs.
Only 21.5 per cent of the eligible population, aged 16 and above, is fully vaccinated in New Zealand, but Ms Ardern has not faced the same criticism as Scott Morrison for a sluggish rollout from a historically weak opposition and very few Covid-19 cases this year.
Joseph Lam5.35pm:Politicians scramble to flee Canberra
As Canberra’s lockdown loomed, several politicians fled the nation’s capital, including Labor MPs Jim Chalmers, Bill Shorten and Murray Watt.
As they scrambled to leave, NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro issued a strong warning: “I’ve asked Commissioner Fuller to ramp up police resources on the South Coast looking for ACT number plates,” he wrote on Twitter.
“Stay home orders will apply to anyone who was in Canberra on or after 5 August.”
“Penalties will apply.”
Stay home orders will apply to anyone who was in Canberra on or after 5 August.
— John Barilaro MP (@JohnBarilaroMP) August 12, 2021
Canberrans are asked to remain in the ACT to help stop the spread.
I’ve asked Commissioner Fuller to ramp up police resources on the South Coast looking for ACT number plates.
Penalties apply.
Mr Chalmers defended his decision to return to Queensland.
“The lockdown’s at 5pm – some of us have got kids to go home to,” he said.
“It makes a lot of sense (to leave).”
READ MORE:Politicians scramble to flee parliament
Olivia Caisley5.20pm:Three new virus cases in Canberra
Three new cases of Covid-19 have been reported in Canberra, taking the territory’s total to four.
The ACT government confirmed the cases late on Thursday, saying they were all close contacts of a man in his 20s from Gunghalin in Canberra’s north.
The nation’s capital was plunged into a seven day lockdown on Thursday afternoon after the mystery case emerged for the first time in more than a year.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr confirmed Covid-19 fragments had been detected in wastewater late on Wednesday night and the Gungahlin man had tested positive shortly afterwards.
He had been infectious in the community since Sunday, but the source of the virus remains unknown, with multiple exposure sites listed.
Mr Barr said the new case represented the “most serious public health risk” the ACT had faced since the start of the pandemic.
READ MORE:Canberra begins seven-day lockdown
Joseph Lam4.35pm:Emergency Pfizer supplies head to Walgett
A regional NSW town where about one-third of the population are Indigenous will reportedly receive a 7000 allotment of Pfizer vaccines over fears Covid-19 may spread to its at-risk population.
The news, reported by Nine, arrived after NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard on Thursday allayed fears that Walgett, which was thrown into a snap lockdown at 7pm on Wednesday, was not equipped to deal with an outbreak.
“I know, because I received text messages last night that they are short staffed like everywhere else in the health system at the moment,” he said.
Mr Hazzard has called on Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt for extra support.
“I wrote to the federal government last night and I thank Mr Hunt for responding,” he said.
“These are very strong Indigenous communities.”
Just hours after it was announced Walgett was going into lockdown, the several nearby LGAs of Bogan, Bourke, Brewarrina, Coonamble, Gilgandra, Narromine and Warren were also locked down.
READ MORE:Locals in fear as virus spreads to Indigenous town
Adeshola Ore4.30pm:Media diversity inquiry put on hold
A parliamentary inquiry into Australia’s media diversity has been postponed after ACT health authorities announced a snap lockdown would commence at 5pm today.
Sky News presenters Alan Jones, Rita Panahi and Rowan Dean were due to appear at the inquiry on Friday after YouTube banned its channel from posting content for seven days, citing its Covid-19 misinformation policy.
Former prime minister Kevin Rudd was also due to appear at the inquiry.
A revised hearing date for the hearing has not yet been set.
Stephen Lunn4.15pm:Alarm as vaccine hesitancy refuses to budge
Vaccine hesitancy is no longer falling despite the ongoing severity and spread of the NSW outbreak and lockdowns imposed on millions of Australians.
New survey data recorded last week shows vaccine hesitancy across the nation has risen slightly. Read more here
Agencies4pm:California orders vaccinations for teachers
All teachers in California will have to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or submit to weekly virus tests, as authorities grapple with exploding infection rates, AFP reports.
The number of people testing positive for the disease has surged across the US, with the highly infectious Delta variant blamed for the bulk of new cases. Read more here
David Penberthy3.50pm:SA refuses to budge on ‘tough’ quarantine
The South Australian Government is refusing to budge on what it admits is a “tough” decision to force 16 Olympians to spend another two weeks in isolation despite having completed a fortnight’s quarantine in Sydney prior to returning to SA. Read more here
Joseph Lam3.30pm:ACT travellers warned over fines for travel
Anyone who has travelled to NSW from the ACT will carry the territory’s stay-at-home orders with them or face large penalties, says NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro.
Stay home orders will apply to anyone who was in Canberra on or after 5 August.
— John Barilaro MP (@JohnBarilaroMP) August 12, 2021
Stop the spread and don’t leave Canberra.
I’ll be asking Commissioner Fuller to ramp up police resources on the South Coast looking for blue and white number plates.
Large penalties will apply.
The ACT will enter a snap lockdown from 5pm on Thursday after it recorded one new case of Covid-19.
Mr Barilaro has taken to social media in a bid to curb attempts from anyone who may leave the capital and enter non-locked down areas of NSW.
“I’ll be asking Commissioner Fuller to ramp up police resources on the South Coast looking for blue and white number plates,” he wrote on twitter. “Stop the spread and don’t leave Canberra.”
Adeshola Ore 2.24pm: Labor pressures Coalition over Christensen call
Labor has used question time to press the Morrison government on outspoken Nationals MP George Christensen who has come under fire for spruiking Covid-19 misinformation.
The Dawson MP this week used a speech in parliament to claim that masks and lockdowns did not work to stop the spread of the virus – which is at odds with federal health advice.
This morning, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce warned that “prodding” Mr Christensen could potentially cause a by-election if he was to leave parliament early and threaten the government’s “thin majority.”
During question time, Labor MP Anika Wells referenced Mr Joyce’s comments and accused Scott Morrison of putting “his majority over public health in the middle of a pandemic.”
But the Prime Minister fired back, noting the government had voted with Labor on a motion this week that condemned misinformation in parliament.
“It was unanimous,” he said.
Mr Morrison accused the opposition of undermining bipartisan support to take a stance against misinformation.
“Are we coming together to decry misinformation or was this just another political game for the Labor Party?”
Mr Christensen was not present in question time on Thursday, which kicked off hours after ACT health authorities confirmed the territory would be plunged into a seven-day lockdown. ACT has reported its first Covid-19 cases in more than one year, with the source of infection unknown.
READ MORE: The Mocker – Wuhan Wendy leads ABC charge on peddling China’s lines
Ellie Dudley1.43pm:NSW South Coast on alert after virus detected in sewage
Fragments of Covid-19 have been detected in the sewerage system that services thousands of residents from Bomaderry on NSW’s South Coast.
Some 18,000 residents have been put on alert as NSW Health urges everyone in the area to be “particularly vigilant” for symptoms.
NSW Health's ongoing sewage surveillance program has detected fragments of the virus that causes COVID-19 in the Bomaderry sewage treatment plant, which serves 18,000 people on the south coast.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) August 12, 2021
There are no known cases of Covid-19 living in the area.
“NSW Health urges local residents to be particularly vigilant for the onset of symptoms that could signal COVID-19, and if they appear, to immediately be tested and isolate until a negative result is received,” a statement from the health department read.
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David Swan12.46pm:Telstra chief flags mandatory jabs for some workers
Telstra boss Andy Penn says certain Telstra workers may be required to get a Covid vaccine if they work in customer-facing roles or need to enter peoples’ homes, as debate about a vaccine mandate continues to rage.
“Firstly, I’m absolutely pro-vaccines,’’ Mr Penn told The Australian today. “Vaccines for all sorts of conditions and illnesses and diseases have been a fundamental part of making society that we live in today a healthier and safer society; whether it’s typhoid, whether it’s cholera, whether it’s polio, whether it’s tetanus, whatever it may be, they’ve been a fundamental part of the healthcare of the modern society and so I am absolutely pro-vaccine.
“Ultimately, I don’t think you can force people to have a vaccine, because obviously everybody’s got their own individual health circumstances, and so that’s important that people have the opportunity to get their own health advice and understand what it means in their particular situation.
“Having said that, there is no doubt that certain people fulfil certain roles where they come in contact with lots and lots of other people, whether they’re in stores, people like field techs, out there in the field or going into homes, and it’s and it’s really important we need to think very carefully about their safety and the safety of customers. I can certainly see the certain roles should require a vaccine.
“There’s quite a bit of complexity involved in that and we’re considering that very carefully. Any decisions we make on that, I’ll certainly share with our people first.”
READ MORE: Trading Day – ASX slipping
Remy Varga12.32pm:Source of traffic controller infection revealed
A traffic controller at the Moonee Valley racecourse testing site contracted Covid-19 after using the same bathroom as people coming forward for testing.
Covid-19 logistics chief Jeroen Weimar confirmed the infection control breach was how the worker contracted the virus before spreading Delta to several people.
“What we saw at Moonee Valley was there was a breach of infection prevention control,” he said.
“A number of parties using a toilet block, there was an overlap that shouldn’t have occurred.”
Mr Weimar said it was the first case of transmission at a testing site in 18-months and
Mr Weimar says there will be no disciplinary action or penalty for workers at a Moonee Valley racecourse testing site where someone who came forward for testing was allowed to use the bathroom.
The incident saw a traffic controller become infected, infect at least two other people and cause an apartment block in Newport to be shutdown.
Mr Weimar said corrective action had been taken but there would be no penalty, saying staff were busting a gut at testing sites.
“There’s no punitive regime,” he said.
“The team understands very clearly what the risk was, that’s now been dealt with.”
Of Victoria’s 21 new cases, 10 are linked to Al-Taqwa College in Truganina.
There are four linked to the Newport Football Club and three linked to Caroline Springs SC shopping centre. Two are Sydney women in hotel quarantine.
Of the unlinked cases, Mr Weimar said he was most concerned by three separate cases across three households in the north Melbourne suburb of Glenroy.
The cases are not known to each other, with contact tracers struggling to identify the links between the cases.
The detection comes after wastewater testing flagged Covid-19 was in the area. cases are not known to each other
Adeshola Ore12.25pm: ACT to lock down for seven days from 5pm
ACT will enter into a seven-day lockdown from 5pm today.
One positive Covid-19 case, which was infectious in the community, and positive wastewater detections have triggered the territory’s lockdown.
The source of infection remains unknown.
It will be the first time ACT has entered a lockdown since the beginning of the pandemic last year.
Territorians will only be allowed to leave their home for essential reasons including essential employment, accessing health care, getting vaccinated or tested for the virus and shopping for groceries. One hour of exercise will be permitted per day.
General retail will be closed and hospitality businesses will only be required to offer takeaway services. Businesses will also be discouraged from allowing browsing in their stores.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said it was “the most serious public health risk” the territory had faced since the beginning of the pandemic.
He said immediate action was required to tackle the highly infectious Delta strain.
“This is the best path to pursue, to protect the health of the community,” he said.
Mr Barr said Territorians should stay in their local area.
“Do not be travelling across the territory for exercise,” he said.
Mandatory mask wearing will also be introduced.
“When in doubt, have your mask on,” Mr Barr said.
The new case is a man in his 20s who lives in Gungahlin.
ACT health authorities said the man had been infectious in the community since Sunday.
QUESTION TIME will proceed at 2pm today in the House of Representatives in Parliament House.
FULL LIST of ACT venues affected here
Ellie Dudley12.18pm: Tightening loopholes a big challenge for NSW: Hazzard
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has described public health orders as a “big challenge” as the state government looks to tighten loopholes that permit residents to flex the rules.
The NSW government has come under fire in recent months for lax public health orders that permitted unprotected airport workers to transport infected aircrew, and residents to travel to their holiday homes or inspect regional property.
Mr Hazzard said the public health orders were updated reactively as questionable situations arise.
“Almost daily we are looking at them and we have the health team looking at the issues, we have the police who...have been with us working on those issues,” he said.
“Public health orders have to be created sometime in the space of hours to address the issues that we see arising and there will always be the possibility that there are ways through and around them.”
Mr Hazzard said it was less about the wording of the public health orders and “more about the community getting on the journey and being with us to make sure that what they do is logical.”
Remy Varga12.12pm:Two women test positive after Sydney-Melbourne flight
Two women who travelled to Melbourne from Sydney have tested positive for Covid-19 in hotel quarantine after being caught at the airport, sending dozens of their fellow passengers into isolation.
Covid-19 logistics chief Jeroen Weimar said both women had been fined $5452 after they landed at Melbourne Airport on Qantas flight QF471 on Monday without eligible exemptions.
“What on earth they thought they were doing I can only speculate,” he said.
Mr Weimar said the “incursions” highlighted the need for a strong border, with all 46 fellow passengers would be forced to undergo self-isolation for 14-days three days after being exposed to the virus.
Mr Weimar said health authorities had stopped 6000 people at Melbourne Airport over the past month, with 65 turned around and 190 put in hotel quarantine.
Mr Weimar said the women had attempted to enter Victoria on a green zone permit, which he said was “completely invalid and inappropriate”.
Remy Varga11.58am:$1bn in support for Victoria’s lockdown #6 so far
More than one billion dollars in federal and Victorian government support has been poured into Victoria as the state’s sixth lockdown enters its second week.
Victorian Industry Minister Martin Pakula on Tuesday unveiled a new $367 million package, bringing the total provided in jointly funded support to $1.16 billion.
Eligible businesses that do not qualify for existing programs will be given a one-off payment of $10,000 under the Small Businesses Covid hardship fund.
And more than 95,000 businesses in metropolitan Melbourne will automatically receive payments of $2800.
Eligible workers can access the Commonwealth’s COVID-19 Disaster payment.
Hospitality venues will automatically receive payments of either $5000, $10,000 and $20,000 depending on capacity under the Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund program.
Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas said that the Victorian Government will continue to directly support businesses affected by restrictions.
“As we continue to fight the Delta strain, we are not forgetting the toll that this has taken on our business community,” Mr Pallas said.
READ MORE: Andrews extends lockdown 6 amid 21 new cases
Ellie Dudley11.51am:Young people urged to take any Covid jab they’re offered
NSW Health’s Marianne Gale has urged all Sydneysiders to take any Covid-19 vaccination on offer to them.
Her plea came in response to a question at Thursday’s press conference in regards to under 40s waiting to be vaccinated until supplies of the Pfizer vaccine increase.
“The advice is for all in our community who are eligible for the vaccine to really try to get the earliest access to whichever vaccine that you can, be that AstraZeneca or Pfizer,” Dr Gale said.
“Essentially that is the health advice, so for all in our community, please get vaccinated as soon as you can.”
Health Minister Brad Hazzard similarly said under 40s should take the AstraZeneca vaccine currently on offer, claiming “we just don’t have enough of the Pfizer to do every group at the moment.”
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Ellie Dudley11.46am:Concern for health of NSW Indigenous populations
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard says he is not confident in the health services in the outer west of the state if cases continue to surge.
The areas of Dubbo and Walgett were put into lockdown on Wednesday, raising concerns about the current vaccination rates of Indigenous Australians.
Mr Hazzard said he had written to federal Health Minister Greg Hunt to assist with the vaccination and medical efforts of the regional areas.
He said the Aboriginal medical service was “understaffed” and he had requested assistance from the commonwealth for help with that.
“I wrote to the federal government last night and I thank Mr Hunt for responding (quickly),” he said.
“These are very strong Indigenous communities.”
READ MORE: Health gap between rich and poor widens
Adeshola Ore11.40am: ACT case casts doubt over parliamentary schedule
The ACT’s Covid case throws into doubt the federal parliamentary sitting schedule for the second half of the month.
Thursday is the last day of the sitting fortnight before a one-week break. Parliament is due to return on August 23 and run for two weeks.
It is unclear if question time will proceed this afternoon.
READ the full story on the ACT’s Covid case here
Ellie Dudley11.32am: Some NSW families have seen more than one death
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says that some NSW families have seen more than one death, as she urged residents to follow the public health orders, and come forth to be vaccinated.
The total number of vaccines administered in NSW is now 4,698,473, with Ms Berejiklian confident the state is on track for 6 million vaccinations by the end of the month.
But she said an increasing death toll would continue to be a reality until more residents are vaccinated and people comply with the rules.
“We have seen some families having more than one death. We have seen somebody bring it home and unfortunately more than one person has died and those families. We don’t want to see that anymore,” she said.
“We’re just asking people, please don’t break the rules, because Delta leaves no room for error. It is so contagious that if you are not vaccinated, it leaves no room for error and we just asked people to think about that.”
One of the men who died overnight contracted the virus from an outbreak in the geriatric ward of Liverpool hospital.
There have now been seven deaths associated with the outbreak at the hospital in Sydney’s south west.
The second case, who was fully vaccinated, died at the Royal North Shore Hospital. He was a resident of the Wyoming residential aged care facility in Summer Hill.
Ellie Dudley11.26am:57 of 62 in intensive care are unvaccinated
NSW Health’s Marriane Gale says there are 374 cases of Covid-19 receiving care in hospitals, and 62 in intensive care.
Dr Gale, who is providing a Covid-19 update on behalf of NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant, highlighted that there are no patients in intensive care that are fully protected against the virus.
“Of the 62 cases in intensive care, three are in their 20s, seven are in their 30s, five are in their 40s, 13 are in their 50s, 13 are in their 60s, 19 in their 70s and two in their 80s,” she said.
“Of the 62 people in intensive care, 57 are not vaccinated, and the remaining five have had one dose of either AstraZeneca or Pfizer.”
Rachel Baxendale11.23am:Victorian virus update expected at 11.40am
Victorian Industry Support and Recovery Minister Martin Pakula and Covid logistics chief Jeroen Weimar are due to address the media at 11.40am.
The press conference comes as Victoria recorded 21 new locally-acquired and two interstate-acquired cases in the 24 hours to midnight on Wednesday, including four cases which are yet to be linked to a source of acquisition.
Of the 21, 15 cases were in isolation for the duration of their infectious period.
Mr Pakula is expected to announce the extension of business support measures following the extension of Melbourne’s sixth lockdown for at least another seven days from midnight on Thursday.
READ MORE: Victoria records 21 new local cases
Ellie Dudley11.16am:Hunter regions to remain in lockdown another week
The Upper Hunter and Hunter regions will remain in lockdown for another week as the area continues to report new Covid-19 cases in the community.
A total of 25 new cases were detected in the area over the past 24 hours.
“As a response to that, New South Wales Health has recommended that those local government areas which are currently in lockdown including the Hunter and the upper hunter areas will be extended by another week,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.
Three new cases were detected in Dubbo overnight after the outer west region of NSW was plunged into lockdown on Wednesday.
Mr Berejiklian said “pleasingly” no new cases had been detected in the Armidale, Tamworth or Northern Rivers areas, which are all currently in lockdown.
READ MORE: Bernard Salt – ‘A zoom room? Tell him he’s dreamin!’: Covid’s new castle
Ellie Dudley11.01am:NSW records 345 new virus cases, two deaths
NSW has recorded 345 new locally-acquired cases of Covid-19 as infections across the state continue to spread.
At least 60 of the cases were active in the community for the entirety of their infectious period, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.
Two men in their 90s have died in the past 24 hours after contracting Covid-19.
One man had received one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and one had been fully vaccinated against the virus.
A record of 152,000 tests were conducted in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
The local government areas of Bayside, Strathfield and Burwood will be classified as “areas of concern” and subject to the same restrictions as high risk areas in southwest and western Sydney.
“In relation to Bayside, the suburbs of particular concern are Bexley, Banksia and Rockdale where additional cases have been identified overnight,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“If you live in those suburbs in particular, please come forward and get tested.
“In Strathfield and Burwood, which are geographically smaller areas, we are noticing relative to the population an increasing number of cases and as a precaution, those additional council areas have been brought into those areas of concern.”
The tougher restrictions will apply to those areas from 5pm today.
Ms Berejiklian also called on people in the inner west and Camden areas to be on “extra alert.”
People in areas of concern must only obtain food or other goods and services, and exercise, within 5km of their home.
They cannot travel to other areas for work unless you are an authorised worker.
READ MORE: ACT set for lockdown after virus case
Ellie Dudley10.45am:Lockdown looms for ACT as virus spreads to nation’s capital
The ACT is expected to go into lockdown after at least one confirmed case of Covid-19 was detected in the area.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr, Deputy Chief Minister Yvette Berry, Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith, ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman and Chief Police Officer Neil Gaughan will provide an update on the COVID-19 situation in the ACT at 12:15pm #COVID19Aus
— Political Alert (@political_alert) August 12, 2021
The territory has not reported any locally transmitted cases of the virus in over a year.
State authorities are expected to speak at a press conference at 12.15pm.
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Charlie Peel10.15am:Palaszczuk to reassess border bubble rules
With Lydia Lynch
Ten new locally-acquired cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in Queensland in the past 24 hours, all linked to the outbreak in Brisbane’s inner-west.
All of the cases were detected in home quarantine where families and close contacts of students at the schools linked to the cluster have been isolated for almost two weeks.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the result was expected as coronavirus tests were carried out on day 10 and 11 of home quarantine.
“It’s fantastic news, we’re really happy with that,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“We are expecting to see an increase in numbers because people are getting tested on day 10, day 11.
“We expect similar numbers over the next couple of days as the cluster keeps progressing through and having their day 12 test.”
Ms Palaszczuk urged Queenslanders not to travel to NSW and said she was considering stronger border restrictions.
“We are very, very concerned about the situation and New South Wales,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“What we are seeing now is more of these regional communities close to the Queensland border, especially out in the south-west area, now going into a period of lockdown.
“We are very concerned.
“The Deputy Premier and I will be having a phone call with the mayors along the border communities to reinforce that nobody should be crossing the border to go into New South Wales at this stage.”
The Queensland Premier said authorities would reassess border bubble rules in the next 24 to 48 hours.
“Now is not the time to cross the border to do your shopping. Please stay in Queensland,” she said.
Ms Palaszcuk is also looking to boost vaccination rates along the border as NSW cases continue to surge.
READ MORE:Queensland records 10 new local cases
Lydia Lynch10.12am:Queensland records 10 new local cases
Queensland recorded 11 new Covid cases on Thursday.
All cases tested positive while already in quarantine.
Ten of those people were linked to the Indooroopilly cluster and one was an overseas arrival.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the update was “fantastic news”.
Thursday 12 August – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) August 12, 2021
10 new locally acquired cases - all linked to the Indooroopilly cluster and detected in home quarantine.
1 overseas acquired case - detected in hotel quarantine.#covid19pic.twitter.com/BCuGEeKrGQ
Travel restrictions with Victoria and NSW remain.
Air travel from South Australia will be allowed from midday.
READ MORE:Queensland records 10 new local cases
Adeshola Ore 9.46am: Businesses ‘have no right to mandate vaccines’: Stoker
Assistant Attorney-General Amanda Stoker says businesses have no right to impose mandated vaccines on their employers.
The Australian has revealed Scott Morrison and the national cabinet are facing urgent demands from business and unions to take control of workplace vaccinations, with ACTU secretary Sally McManus warning the shifting of responsibility for mandatory jabs to employers is a “recipe for division, resentment and confusion”. The Prime Minister will not endorse compulsory vaccination and has left individual employers to test in court the legality of any vaccine mandates they implement.
Senator Stoker said the only exception for mandated vaccines was when a public state order required it for employees such as health workers.
“In general it needs to be the case that people are making a decision for themselves,” she told Sky News.
“This should be voluntary. The individual has the right to choose what works for them. An employer can encourage them and can provide an incentive to make this call if it’s in their interests.”
READ MORE: ‘Bosses must not have free rein on jabs’
Ellie Dudley9.32am:Premiers, health authorities set to deliver Covid updates
State health authorities across Australia will front the media this morning to provide updates on their respective Covid-19 outbreaks.
Queensland’s Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will hold a press conference at 10am alongside the state’s Health Minister Yvette D’Ath and chief health officer Jeannette Young.
Queensland recorded four new cases of Covid-19 on Monday, all linked to the cluster in Brisbane’s inner-west and all in isolation for their entire infectious period.
Cairns and Yarrabah in the state’s far north were released from a three-day snap lockdown on Wednesday, after they were placed under stay at home orders.
No new cases were discovered in the far north following the initial two in a taxi driver and a reef pilot, which allowed Ms Palaszczuk to release the region from lockdown.
They will remain under the same restrictions which currently apply to south east Queensland.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian will provide an update at 11am, after the state recorded 344 new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 on Monday and two deaths.
The outer west region of Dubbo was put under stay at home orders for at least the next seven days after two positive cases were detected in the community.
More cases could arise in the area after exposure sites were found at a Covid-19 clinic and a pharmacy.
No additional cases were detected in the Byron Shire on Wednesday, or in Tamworth or Armidale.
The upper Hunter region reported 14 new cases of Covid-19, prompting Ms Berejiklian to hint the region’s seven-day lockdown would not be lifted on Thursday as previously forecast.
Victorian authorities are expected to provide their state’s update this morning, but are yet to set a time.
The southern state recorded 21 new local cases of the virus on Thursday as well as two interstate cases.
Of the locally-acquired cases, 17 have been linked to known outbreaks and four are under investigation, while 15 were in quarantine throughout their infectious period.
READ MORE: Chinese developers beat a hasty retreat from Australia
Stephen Wright9.19am: NZ to ease quarantine restrictions for the vaccinated
New Zealand plans to ease its border closure from the first quarter of next year, allowing quarantine-free entry for vaccinated travellers from countries deemed low risk for Covid-19, the government said.
A system of three tiers of risk will be used to manage entry into New Zealand once it reaches a high enough level of Covid-19 vaccination in adults, according to the roadmap for reopening from the pandemic released Thursday.
Vaccinated travellers from medium-risk countries would be subjected to home isolation, shortened quarantine or some combination of the two. Two weeks of quarantine would be mandatory for unvaccinated travellers or travellers from high-risk countries.
New Zealand will open Covid-19 vaccinations to all adults from September 1, dropping its age-based sequencing to speed up inoculations, the government also said.
The country of five million has had little more than 2500 Covid-19 infections and few deaths, helped by its remote island geography and a strict initial lockdown.
– Dow Jones Newswires
READ MORE:New Zealand ‘must stay course, keep Covid out’
Rachel Baxendale8.53am:Victoria records 21 new virus cases
Victoria has recorded 21 new locally acquired and two interstate-acquired coronavirus cases in the 24 hours to midnight on Wednesday.
Reported yesterday: 21 new local cases and 2 interstate acquired.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) August 11, 2021
- 25,418 vaccine doses were administered
- 45,408 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl1hf3W#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicData [1/2] pic.twitter.com/7qCj2cXwb7
Of the locally-acquired cases, 17 have been linked to known outbreaks and four are under investigation, while 15 were in quarantine throughout their infectious period.
The interstate cases come after Qantas Flight QF471 from Sydney to Melbourne was listed as a Tier 1 site overnight for the period between 4.50pm and 6.20pm on Monday.
No source of acquisition has yet been confirmed for either of the Victorian community outbreaks which prompted the state’s sixth lockdown last week, nor for two more mystery clusters which emerged on Wednesday.
The first cases to appear from each outbreak last week were a teacher in her 20s from Hobsons Bay who works at Al-Taqwa College, and a Maribyrnong man who works at a warehouse in Derrimut - all in Melbourne’s west.
Authorities continue to investigate whether the warehouse worker’s cluster may have been sparked by illegal contact with a family who were in home isolation having recently returned from hotel quarantine in NSW.
As for Wednesday’s new mystery cases, they relate to two parents and a child who live in the City of Melton in Melbourne’s outer northwest, and a father who works at the Melbourne Children’s Eye Clinic at the Royal Children’s Hospital, and his Grade One son who attends St Michael’s Primary School in North Melbourne.
Thursday’s 23 cases (including the two acquired interstate), follow 20 on each of Wednesday and Tuesday, 11 on each of Monday and Sunday, an outbreak peak of 29 on Saturday, and six each on Friday and last Thursday, following short-lived celebrations of zero last Wednesday.
There have now been 344 community acquired cases since two incursions from NSW sparked Victoria’s fifth lockdown last month, of which 121 cases are linked to outbreaks which have emerged since August 4, ahead of the state’s sixth lockdown being announced the following day.
There are currently 137 active cases, including up to two active cases acquired overseas.
As of Wednesday, there was only one person in a Victorian hospital with coronavirus.
The latest cases come after 45,408 tests were processed on Wednesday, compared with 41,571 on Tuesday, 34,892 on Monday, 38,987 on Sunday, 38,179 on Saturday, 43,618 on Friday, 29,631 on Thursday, and 27,279 last Wednesday.
Victoria’s testing record is 59,355 tests on July 20.
READ MORE: New opera chief facing tourist rethink
Rachel Baxendale8.42am: Children’s hospital on Victorian alert list
A string of sites at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital have been added to the Victorian health department’s list of coronavirus exposure sites, as has a flight on Monday from Sydney, with the list growing by more than 50 in the past 24 hours to 344 sites.
The sites – all listed as Tier 2 – include Melbourne Allergy Centre & Children’s Specialists (MACCS) Medical Group, Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation – Level 2, The Children’s Private Medical Group, Paediatric Gastroenterology Victoria, Pathology Collection, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Melbourne Heart Clinic for Kids, Specialists at The Kids, Medical Imaging and 48 Flemington Rd, Level 1, Suite 4 – all for a period on Monday between 7.45am and 1.50pm.
The new sites come after a father who worked at the Melbourne Children’s Eye Clinic at the hospital on Monday tested positive with his Grade One son for coronavirus on Tuesday.
However, given the timing of their listing, it appears the new sites may not be related to his case.
Also added to the list overnight is Qantas Flight QF471 from Sydney to Melbourne between 4.50pm and 6.20pm, which has been listed as Tier 1 after a positive case was on board.
Other sites are spread across Melbourne, from the southeastern bayside to the north, west, CBD, and as far as Bacchus Marsh in regional Victoria 60km west of Melbourne.
Suburbs with new exposure sites include Cheltenham in the bayside southeast, Melbourne and West Melbourne in and near the CBD, Glenroy, Coburg, Reservoir and Fawkner in the north, and
Kings Park, Delahey, Maribyrnong, Sunshine North, Deer Park, Caroline Springs, Taylors Hill, Burnside, Melton, Melton South and Werribee in the northwest, west and southwest.
Public transport routes have also been listed in the CBD, northern and western suburbs.
A full list of exposure sites is available on the health department website.
READ MORE: Gottliebsen – Vaccination work laws only way to reach target
Adeshola Ore8.27am:Condemning Christensen ‘poking the bear’: Joyce
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce says condemning his colleague George Christensen, who has come under scrutiny for touting Covid-19 conspiracy theories, would “make the situation worse” for the Morrison government and threaten its thin margin.
The Dawson MP drew criticism from both sides of parliament when he used a speech in the lower house to spruik Covid-19 conspiracy theories claiming that masks and lockdowns did not work – which is at odds with federal health advice.
Mr Joyce, who is currently in lockdown in Armidale, told the ABC he was “in continual discussions with George” and said he disagreed with some of the views of his colleague.
“What people want me to do is order him. I think that’s what they’re really saying. And you can’t do that to another member of parliament, because it doesn’t work like that,” he said.
Mr Joyce said he knew “how George’s mind works.”
“If you start prodding the bear, you’re gonna make the situation worse. For us as a government. Not better. And I’ll say that to my colleagues, I can assure you that when you’ve got a thin margin, don’t start giving reasons for a by-election,” he said.
READ MORE: Strewth – Bye George!
Ellie Dudley8.24am: SA opens Pfizer jabs to anyone over 16 years
South Australia will begin offering the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine to anyone aged 16 and over from next week.
The state authorities will open almost 130,000 extra booking slots in state-run clinics during September and October to help deal with the expected demand.
Premier Steven Marshall said the government’s ability to open up vaccination age groups was due to the “increase in supply” and “massive interest from our community”.
The announcement comes as SA expects to reach the “huge milestone” of 1 million vaccination doses administered on Wednesday.
#BREAKING: From next Monday #SouthAustralia will become the first state to offer Pfizer & AstraZeneca vaccination appointments to everyone 16yrs and over at state-run clinics.
— Steven Marshall, MP (@marshall_steven) August 11, 2021
Vaccination is our pathway out of the pandemic & will help keep our state safe and economy strong 💪🻠pic.twitter.com/is6WMN64GJ
“While our COVID recovery plan remains focused on supporting business, protecting jobs, and shielding South Australians from the health threat posed by the pandemic, vaccination is our pathway out of the pandemic, and we are determined to ensure everyone has access to the vaccine as soon as possible to keep our state safe and economy strong,” Mr Marshall said.
“As of Monday, we are opening up 127,000 additional slots in the booking system throughout September and October, providing younger South Australians with the opportunity to get vaccinated.”
READ MORE: Small business doing it tough
Ellie Dudley 8.05am:People the problem, not loopholes: Berejiklian
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has rejected criticism of NSW’s “lax” public health orders, claiming the “problem” is people refusing to follow the rules.
The NSW government has come under fire in recent months for a number of “loopholes” in the public health orders that permitted unprotected airport workers to transport infected aircrew, and residents to travel to their holiday homes or inspect regional property.
Ms Berejiklian said the state government only discovered the loopholes because “people are doing the wrong thing” and asked people to “use their common sense”.
“No one would think it was common sense to travel hundreds of kilometres from home with someone else in order to look at a property during a lockdown,” she told 2GB.
“Compliance is a major issue. In a pandemic even when 99 per cent of people are doing the right thing, that one per cent is still a setback for everyone else.”
Ms Berejiklian refused to admit her government should have locked down Sydney’s eastern suburbs area when the first cases appeared.
“Back then...things were very different,” she said.
“I wish everything was a yes or a no, but all you can do is make the best decisions at the time.”
“At the time, that was the best information we had, that’s the advice we got.”
READ MORE: Rose Bay man charged after Byron Bay lockdown
Ellie Dudley7.50am: Dubbo community ‘ready for new cases’
Dubbo mayor Stephen Lawrence says he was “shocked but not surprised” to hear the town would be headed into a seven day lockdown.
Two cases of Covid-19 were reported in the outer west region on Wednesday, after the virus had been detected in the sewerage system in the week prior.
Mr Lawrence said the community was now “ready” for new cases as state health authorities commence wide spread contact tracing in the area.
“Obviously these two people have lots of close associates, like we all do,” he told Channel 9’s Today.
“Just hoping for the best in that regard.”
Mr Lawrence refused to place blame for the lockdown, but instead urged his community to come forward for testing if symptoms of Covid-19 arise.
READ MORE: Clive Palmer threatens to sue over vaccination mandates
Ellie Dudley7.34am: Judge us on ‘whether people die’: Joyce
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has rejected the suggestion that the country’s latest outbreak is an indictment on the federal government’s leadership, saying the government should be judged on “whether people die.”
Large portions of Victoria and NSW are currently facing strict lockdown orders as the highly infectious Delta variant continues to rage across the country.
Mr Joyce said he “didn’t agree” that the federal government should take blame for the latest surge in cases, as the Delta variant would surge regardless.
“Areas out of lockdown have now gone back into lockdown, even areas in the United States (because of the Delta variant),” he told ABC News Breakfast.
“You have to judge whether people die. We need people to get vaccinated, but you don’t have a vaccination just for the purpose of a vaccination.
“You have a vaccination for the purpose of trying to stay healthy and not dying. And Australia has been incredibly, incredibly lucky, blessed, and well-managed in that process.”
Mr Joyce called on the people of NSW to follow the stay-at-home orders or risk spreading the virus to high risk communities in regional parts of the state.
Speaking from his home in Armidale where he, too, is in lockdown, he said he “wouldn’t tell the NSW government how to do their job” but asked residents to “do the right thing.”
“I don’t want it to get to the people who are doing it tough in the little villages, and the ones I grew up in, because it will,” he said.
“They won’t have the health facilities that you’ve got in Sydney, and some people will just pretend that they can deal with it by themselves.”
READ MORE: Australia risks becoming an also-ran in race for Covid drugs
Ellie Dudley 7.15am:Hunter, Newcastle lockdown set to be extended today
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian is set to announce the extension of the lockdown of the Upper Hunter and Newcastle area on Thursday.
The region currently has 53 active cases after 14 were recorded on Wednesday, forcing the number of exposure sites to continue to grow.
Cases in an aged care home in Newcastle surged on Wednesday after 11 residents and one worker tested positive to the virus.
The worker, from RFBI Hawkins Masonic Village, exposed 62 residents and 33 staff to the virus. All bar one of the residents in the home are fully vaccinated.
The majority of cases in the area have been linked back to the Blacksmith’s Beach party where a traveller from western Sydney initially spread the virus.
However, on Wednesday, Ms Berejiklian said due to the high infection numbers in the region, it “doesn’t look like it will come out of lockdown” on Thursday as planned.
READ MORE: Palmer sue threat over jab decrees
Ellie Dudley7.05am:Andrews considers another lockdown extension
Victoria’s government officials are already discussing the prospect of another week-long extension to the state’s current lockdown.
On the same day the state government announced Victoria’s sixth lockdown would be extended by seven days, talks began within the government of the potential to extend it past the renewed end date.
Confirming Melbourne’s current lockdown – initially due to end on Thursday night – would be extended until 11.59pm on August 19, Premier Daniel Andrews said there were still “too many unanswered questions and too many mysteries” to relax restrictions.
“There are too many cases the origins of which are not clear to us, too many unanswered questions, too many mysteries for us to safely come out of lockdown now,” Mr Andrews said.
“The extreme infectivity of this virus, and the fact that within a very short space of time, if we were to open, we would see cases akin to what’s happening tragically in Sydney right now.”
READ MORE: Lockdowns a blow to confidence
Rhiannon Down7.00am: Fear of going under while waiting for financial support
Businesses are pleading with the NSW government to get financial support flowing, with almost half of all applicants having not received anything as the Sydney lockdown enters its seventh week.
There are currently 100,722 applicants, from a total of 214,009, waiting to receive a share of $1.1bn worth of support payments, including Covid-19 business grants, micro-business grants and JobSaver payments, according to Service NSW.
Less than a third of applications for the Covid-19 business grant, which offers one-off payments of up to $15,000, have been processed, with just 36,876 approvals from 112,258 applications.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Wednesday apologised to those who had experienced delays and said Service NSW hoped to have dealt with “most of the backlog” by next Friday, despite just 12,062 applications being processed on Tuesday.
Extra Silky owner Nina Lee said she has been waiting for four weeks to hear about her applications for the Covid-19 business grant and JobSaver to keep her inner-west Petersham hair salon afloat. “It’s looking like we won’t survive at the moment,” she said.
“I am fortunate to have a loyal customer base and there will be customers on the other side, but looking at my bank account at the moment, it’s looking serious.”
Ms Lee said she had spent hours on hold with Service NSW.
READ the full story
Ellie Dudley6.25am:Dubbo alerts grow as virus spreads west
Sites of potential Covid-19 exposure in Dubbo continue to grow, as health authorities scramble to chase new cases in the outer west region of NSW.
Eight suburbs in the Dubbo LGA were put under strict stay at home orders from Wednesday for at least seven days, after two cases of Covid-19 were detected in the community.
A pharmacy and a Covid-19 clinic from the area have been added to NSW Health’s list of venues of concern, along with other new sites around the state.
âš ï¸PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT – NEW VENUES AND TRANSPORT ROUTES OF CONCERNâš ï¸
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) August 11, 2021
NSW Health has been notified of new venues of concern in Sydney, Dubbo and Newcastle, as well as bus routes in Sydney, which are associated with confirmed cases
of COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/PLMuks2z1Y
Anyone who visited the following venues at the times listed has been classified as a close contact and must be tested and isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result.
Dubbo: Tim Koertz Pharmacy, 98 Tamworth St, Monday August 9 1pm to 1.15pm
Dubbo: Covid Safe Clinic, 77 Myall St, Tuesday August 10 7.45am to 8.35am
Glendale: Boho Black Café, 387 Lake Rd, Tuesday August 3 9am to 9.30pm
Lidcombe: Toohey’s Brewery, 29 Nyrang St, Tuesday August 3 1.55pm to 4pm
Charlestown: Super Vape Store, 260 Charlestown Rd, Thursday August 5 3pm to 3.30pm
The same rules apply to those who travelled on the following bus routes at the time stipulated.
Bus 941: From Bankstown Station, Stand E to Hillcrest Ave after Rawson Rd, Greenacre, Sunday August 1, 1.13pm to 1.24pm
Bus 941: From Hillcrest Ave opp Gosling Park, Gosling Park to Bankstown Station, Stand C, Monday August 2 6.05am to 6.15am
Bus 913: From Bankstown Central, The Mall, Stand B to Gosling Park, Hillcrest Ave, Greenacre, Monday August 2 4.55pm to 5.03pm
Bus 320: From Mascot Post Office to Pacific Highway opposite Gore Hill Oval, Friday August 6, 10.19am to 11.26am, 2.34pm to 3.41pm, 5.43pm to 7.03pm, Sunday 8 August, 10.32am to 11.33am, 12.52pm to 1.53pm
Bus 320: From Gore Hill Technology Park to Botany Road before King Street, Friday August 6 11.35am to 12.45pm, 4.10pm to 5.29pm, 7.12pm to 8.13pm, Sunday 8 August 11.44am to 12.37pm, 14.04pm to 14.57pm
Bus 422: From Kogarah Station, Railway Parade, Stand C to Pitt Street before Hay Street, Friday 8 August 4.28pm to 5.04pm
Bus 422: From Pitt Street opposite Barlow Street to Kogarah Station, Regent St, Stand D, Friday 8 August 5.17pm to 6.05pm
Bus 348: From Wolli Creek Station, Discovery Point Place to Bondi Junction Station, Stand P, Friday 8 August 7pm to 7.47pm
Bus 348: From Bondi Junction Station, Stand H to Wolli Creek Station, Discovery Point Place, Friday 8 August 7.56pm to 8.41pm
Up to 609 new venues have been added to the health department’s list of places of potential transmission, largely from parts of southwest and west Sydney.
The details of these can be found on the NSW government website.
Alex Conrad 6.10am:AOC chief: ‘Proof Australia has lost the plot’
The Australian Olympic Committee has slammed the South Australian government’s decision to force returning Olympians to quarantine at home for an extra 14 days.
Many of Australia’s athletes are quarantining at different hotels and facilities across the country, but for those wanting to return home to South Australia, they will have to do it all over again once they finish their initial quarantine period.
It is believed around 16 athletes from South Australia are completing their initial 14-day hotel quarantine in Sydney after flying back from Tokyo. The state government’s proposal would then see them quarantine for a further 14 days when they go from Sydney to South Australia.
AOC CEO Matt Carroll says the decision from the SA government goes completely against the expert medical advice from the Australian Institute of Sport’s chief medical officer, Dr David Hughes, and puts athletes’ mental health at risk.
“While other countries are celebrating the return of their athletes, we are subjecting ours to the most cruel and uncaring treatment. They are being punished for proudly representing their country with distinction at the Olympic Games,” Carroll said.
READthe full story
Marc Daalder5.50am:NZ to narrow travel bubble to vaccinated visitors’
New Zealand should attempt to keep Covid-19 out of the country indefinitely, even after the population is largely vaccinated, the Ardern government’s expert advisory group says.
In a marked departure from the rest of the world, the panel said a combination of vaccination and low-level border measures should prevent the virus from becoming endemic in New Zealand.
The panel, which was tasked by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with formulating a post-pandemic plan, said there should be no change from the strategy of eliminating the coronavirus.
Any reopening would be contingent on completing the vaccination rollout and it would occur in phases, the panel led by epidemiologist David Skegg said.
One of the few other concrete recommendations was to narrow New Zealand’s travel bubbles with Australia and the Cook Islands to only include vaccinated travellers once the rollouts in each country were progressed.
Ms Ardern will outline her government’s response to the recommendations on Thursday.
READ the full story
Yoni Bashan5.10am:Berejiklian launches Covid-19 crackdown in NSW
The NSW government is moving to strengthen police powers and significantly increase the number of army personnel on the streets of Sydney in a bid to curb the growing number of Covid-19 cases.
The new powers — to be handed to police commissioner Mick Fuller — will coincide with a surge of pharmacies in the vaccination program as the government races to reach levels of inoculation that would allow restrictions to ease.
Plans to crack down on people breaching restrictions and stop Sydneysiders from leaving the city using loopholes in the rules have exposed a serious split between health officials and NSW Police, which has worsened as the number of infections rises.
With 344 cases recorded on Wednesday, the second-highest daily number since the outbreak began in June, police officers are privately complaining health bureaucrats are not sharing -important information about rule breaches. The dispute came to a head during a heated meeting of the crisis cabinet in which Health Minister Brad Hazzard clashed with Police Minister David Elliot.
The highly infectious Delta variant also led to a one-week extension of the Melbourne lockdown, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced, after the city recorded 20 new cases.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian indicated the government has all but abandoned the August 28 deadline to end the lockdown, and said there would be “opportunities to live life differently in September and October” if vaccine coverage increased.
Read the full story here.
Joseph Lam5am:Walgett, surrounding LGAs placed into snap lockdown
Walgett Shire and surrounding local government areas were placed into a snap lockdown at 7pm yesterday after a local man who travelled to Dubbo tested positive for Covid-19.
The news of a positive case has sparked fears among local leaders — as almost one third of the town’s residents are Indigenous and may be more at risk to the coronavirus.
A 2016 ABS census showed Walgett had 6107 people, of whom 29.4 per cent were Indigenous.
The Western NSW LGAs of Bogan, Bourke, Brewarrina, Coonamble, Gilgandra, Narromine and Warren also joined Walgett lockdown last night.
STAY-AT-HOME ORDERS
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) August 11, 2021
To protect the people of NSW from the evolving COVID-19 outbreak, new restrictions will be introduced for the local government areas of Bogan, Bourke, Brewarrina, Coonamble, Gilgandra, Narromine, Walgett and Warren, effective from 7pm tonight pic.twitter.com/VjdBhX3y3Q
All residents are required to stay home until at least August 19 unless they have a reasonable excuse to leave, NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said.
No social visitors or family friends who live outside a resident’s household are able to visit. However, carers and those fulfilling compassionate reasons are exempt from this rule as are intimate partners who do not live together.
Western NSW’s stay-at-home orders are already in place across much of the state including Greater Sydney, Dubbo, Tamworth, Northern Rivers, Armidale, Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Port Stephens, Singleton, Dungog, Muswellbrook and Cessnock.
READ MORE: Lockdown for eight NSW rural areas
Richard Ferguson4.45am:Morrison ‘must make call on mandatory vaccines’
Scott Morrison and the national cabinet face urgent demands from business and unions to take control of workplace vaccinations, with ACTU secretary Sally McManus warning the shifting of responsibility for mandatory jabs to employers is a “recipe for division, resentment and confusion”.
The Prime Minister will not endorse compulsory vaccination and has left individual employers to test in court the legality of any vaccine mandates they implement, telling parliament it was a matter for premiers to take the “necessary decisions” to thwart the Delta strain.
The push for greater guidance on vaccine mandates came as tensions flared on Wednesday at food processor SPC, the first business in Australia to make jabs compulsory, with the company accusing unions of creating “fear and confusion” among workers.
The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union said SPC had provided no clear answers to a list of 32 questions union officials had put to it about its “demand” that workers be vaccinated by the end of October.
AMWU national president Andrew Dettmer said the best way to progress the rollout was for the government, unions and employers to sit down and work out what was needed to bolster take-up while minimising risks to the community.
Ms McManus also said governments, business and unions needed to hold broad, high level talks on how to achieve an 80 per cent vaccination rate. She said employers should not be given free rein to make decisions on mandatory jabs.
Read the full story, by Richard Ferguson and Ewin Hannan, here.
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