Coronavirus Australia live news: Fleeting contact fears as Sydney masks up; national cabinet to meet over vaccine rollout
School closes, new venue alerts, Qld declares Waverley hot spot and public transport mask rules return as highly-infectious Delta cluster outbreak grows.
- ‘Fleeting contact’ fears; school closes
- One new NSW case, Premier moves on masks
- One new local case in Vic
- Alerts spread to Canberra
- Victorians vote with their feet
Welcome to live updates on Australia’s battle with the Covid-19 pandemic.
A school has closed, and there are new venue alerts amid ‘fleeting contact’ fears as Sydney’s highly-infectious Delta cluster outbreak grows.
NSW has one new Covid case linked to Bondi Junction Myer as Sydney cluster grows to four. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has made masks mandatory on public transport.
Victoria has recorded one new local case, while Canberra is on high alert after authorities found Sydney man who returned positive Covid-19 test on Thursday has visited the capital. Covid-weary Victorians fled the state in droves in 2020, with Queensland the big beneficiary, new migration statistics have revealed.
Nicholas Jensen10.30pm:NSW Health adds to exposure list
NSW Health has expanded its list of Sydney exposure sites this evening after being notified of a string of new venues in the city’s eastern suburbs which were visited by confirmed Covid-19 cases.
Health officials are now advising anyone who visited Westfield Bondi Junction - including the car park - to get tested, even if they do not have any symptoms, adding that people who show no symptoms are not required to isolate while awaiting test results.
Saturday, June 12
Westfield Bondi Junction, 500 Oxford Street - 11am to 12pm
Sunday, June 13
Westfield Bondi Junction, 500 Oxford Street - 1pm to 2pm and 4pm to 4.30pm
Visitors to Westfield Bondi Junction between Friday June 11 and Friday June 18 are instructed to monitor for symptoms and get tested if they become unwell.
Anyone who attended the following venue at the time listed is a close contact and must immediately get tested and self-isolate for 14 days regardless of the result:
Sunday, June 13
Tea Gardens Hotel, Bondi Junction, 2-4 Bronte Road – 5pm to 5.15pm
Anyone who attended the following venue at the time listed is a close contact and must immediately get tested and self-isolate for 14 days regardless of the result:
Wednesday, June 16
Ichiban Boshi, Bondi Junction, 1/171-173 Oxford Street - 11.40am to 12.15pm
Daiso, Oxford St Mall, 430 Oxford Street - 12.00pm to 12.30pm
Mitre 10, Oxford St Mall, 452 Oxford Street - 12.15pm to 12.45pm
Tuesday, June 15
Bondi Junction Interchange Food Court, 422 Oxford Street - 3.05pm to 3.15pm
Monday, June 14
Woolworths, Westfield Bondi Junction, 500 Oxford Street - 2.15pm to 2.40pm
Eastgate Bondi Junction, Ground Floor Food Court, 71-91 Spring Street - 11.15am to 11.25am
Aldi, Eastgate Bondi Junction, 71-91 Spring Street - 11.20am to 11.50am
Sunday, June 13
Myer Bondi Junction, 500 Oxford Street, Level 2, including women’s sleepwear, shoes, lingerie, handbags, accessories, watches and cosmetics - 10am to 10.30am
Woolworths, Westfield Bondi Junction, 500 Oxford Street - 4.00pm to 4.20pm
Greg Brown8.30pm:John Anderson fails in Senate bid
Former deputy prime minister John Anderson has failed in his bid to return to federal parliament, losing out in a Senate preselection battle to former NSW Nationals director Ross Cadell.
Mr Anderson failed to win the top spot on the NSW Nationals Senate ticket in a “tight” vote, and withdrew from the contest rather than taking the almost unwinnable second position on the ballot.
Mr Anderson, 64, said he believed it was the “end of the political road for me”.
“I really can’t see circumstances where I would put myself forward again,” he said.
“I felt the need to put myself forward because of the need of the nation and the experience and knowledge I had to offer.”
He said his podcast, a popular series of interviews on current issues, kept him across “and perhaps ahead” on some issues.
READ MORE: John Anderson calls it a day after losing Senate vote
Paul Garvey 8.00pm:Covid app access known before poll
One of Western Australia’s most senior public servants knew ahead of Labor’s overwhelming election win that WA police were accessing Covid-19 check-in data in contrast to the government’s promises.
Documents tabled in WA’s parliament on Thursday night revealed that WA’s Department of Health director general David Russell-Weisz had “multiple conversations” with WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson about police use of SafeWA app data in the weeks leading up to the March poll.
WA Premier Mark McGowan and Health Minister Roger Cook promised the SafeWA check-in data would only be used for Covid-19 contact tracing when the process was made compulsory in December last year, but police began accessing the data to assist in investigations that same month.
That access only came to light publicly this week when WA Attorney-General John Quigley introduced emergency legislation designed to close off the data to police.
READ MORE:Officials knew WA police were accessing Covid-19 data ahead of election
Agencies6.46pm:Covid fails to slow refugee numbers
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the number of people fleeing war and persecution continued rising last year, with global displacement climbing to over 82 million — double the figure a decade ago, the UN says.
A fresh report from the UN refugee agency showed global displacement figures swelled by around three million in 2020 after an already record-breaking year in 2019, leaving a full one percent of humanity uprooted and displaced.
The report highlighted how drawn-out crises like those in Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen were continuing to force people to flee, while eruptions of violence in places like Ethiopia and Mozambique were causing surging displacement.
The fact that the numbers rose for the ninth straight year was all the more devastating because Covid-19 restrictions had been expected to limit displacement.
During the pandemic, “everything else has stopped, including the economies, but wars and conflict and violence and discrimination and persecution, all the factors that pushed these people to flee, have continued,” UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi told AFP.
READ MORE:Many refugees ‘just seeking the best deal’
Adeshola Ore5.44pm:Ley flags showdown on brumbies
Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley has warned the NSW government she is considering intervening to force the state to tackle the ballooning wild horse population causing ecological damage in heritage-listed Kosciuszko National Park.
In a sternly-worded letter to NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean, Ms Ley said she was considering using provisions in the federal environment act to require the state government to take “specific action on feral horses”, stressing it had a responsibility to act to curtail the damage brumbies cause to the ecosystem.
It could force NSW – the only jurisdiction where the aerial culling of wild horses in national parks is banned – to take further action to reduce the numbers of brumbies in the national park to a more sustainable level.
“I consider the NSW government is currently failing in its obligations to protect the National Heritage values of the Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves National Heritage Place,” Ms Ley wrote.
Read the full story here.
Paige Taylor4.20pm:Biloela mum Priya Muruguppan thanks Australians for support
Failed asylum seeker Priya Muruguppan has thanked Australians for their support as her youngest daughter recovers from pneumonia and a blood infection at Perth Children’s Hospital.
The Murugappan children — Kopika, six, and Tharnicaa, four — had been held in Australian immigration detention facilities for three years before Immigration minister Alex Hawke intervened on Tuesday to allow the family to live in a house in Perth’s southeast after Tharnicaa is released from hospital. The family will not live behind a locked fence as they did on Christmas Island but the terms of their release has been called “community detention” because they will have limited freedoms. Mr and Ms Tharnicaa will not be allowed to work.
The pair arrived in Australia on separate asylum boats when Kevin Rudd was prime minister. They were each found not to be refugees while living in Australia on bridging visas.
Though the children were born in Australia, they inherited their parents’ immigration status and were taken into detention with them in March 2018.
Friends from the Queensland town of Biloela where the Murugappans lived before they were detained have run a high-profile campaign for the family’s release and flew to Perth to see them.
In a video released by the campaign on Friday, Ms Murugappan is with the Home to Bileola campaign founder Angela Fredericks. Ms Murugappan says: “Thank you everyone all Australia, supporting us and my family ... I hope [to go] back to Bilo one day”.
On Thursday Defence minister Peter Dutton, who was in charge of Home Affairs when an injunction halted the Murugappans’ deportation to Sri Lanka in 2019, said: “This family has not ever been found to be owed protection; they’re not refugees”.
“The people smugglers watch all of these cases,” Mr Dutton said.
“We’ve got to be very careful.”
READ MORE:Family’s sad plight poses diabolical dilemma
Rachel Baxendale4.00pm:Falling behind in race: Merlino slams vaccine supply
Acting Victorian Premier James Merlino says there’s “no doubt” the federal government’s decision on Thursday to replace AstraZeneca with Pfizer as the preferred Covid vaccine for 50-59-year-olds is a “setback”.
Declaring the vaccine rollout is a race, and Australia is “falling behind”, Mr Merlino said that while he acknowledged global supply constraints, the Morrison government had had “more than a year” to address the issue.
“There’s no doubt that there’ll be a hit to public confidence, at the same time that we’re seeing a reduction in the number of vaccines that are supplied to Victoria in July,” Mr Merlino said.
He said the weekly number of vaccine doses supplied to Victoria was set to fall from 105,000 to 85,000.
“At the same time we’ve got this advice, which will hit public confidence, and increase demand for that cohort of people, 50-59, to get a Pfizer jab,” Mr Merlino said.
“This is a race, and as a nation we’re falling behind. That is the reality. We do not have, from the commonwealth, sufficient numbers of vaccines for second doses to match the demand for first doses. That is a fact.
“That may well change later in the year, but right now we are falling behind as a nation in this race.”
Mr Merlino questioned whether supply issues were behind the federal government’s failure to deliver a co-ordinated campaign to increase vaccination rates.
“There’s no national campaign to increase public uptake of vaccines. Why is that? Is it because the commonwealth does not have confidence that they’ve got supplies of vaccines to match what will be an increase in demand?” he said.
“Now I’ve acknowledged a number of times that there are global supply constraints, but the commonwealth has had well over a year to address these issues and provide greater levels of confidence to GPs around our nation, to states and territories in terms of our sites that we’re responsible for, but we simply cannot meet the demand that is out there and now we’ve got this — the advice and the commonwealth decision, that will have an impact on public confidence.”
Mr Merlino urged Victorians aged 50-59 who had received their first dose of AstraZeneca to ensure they received a second, with the risk of blood clots almost non-existent in anyone who has received a first dose without incident.
READ MORE:National cabinet to meet on vaccine rollout
Lydia Lynch3.40pm:Hesitancy: This is the vaccine to be selfish about’
Queensland’s chief health officer Jeannette Young has told Australians hesitant about getting the coronavirus jab that “this is the vaccine to be selfish about”.
Advice was changed this week recommending the AstraZeneca vaccine only be given to those aged 60 over.
Dr Young said she was “always worried about vaccine hesitancy” and reasoned that getting the jab is more about saving yourself than stopping virus spread.
“Normally I talk about vaccination as being a community responsibility, you’re getting vaccinated to protect other people … that’s not really the case here, you’re getting protected to save your own life,” she said.
“We know that if you personally are vaccinated, you are very, very, very unlikely to die from getting a COVID infection, but you can still pass it on to other people.
“That’s why being vaccinated isn’t enough to stop the requirement for quarantine.”
READ MORE:How Monday to Friday work week is changing
James Hall3.20pm:School closes amid Covid threat; ‘fleeting contact’ fears
A western Sydney school has closed its gates after a number of staff were forced into isolation as the city grapples with its latest outbreak of locally acquired Covid-19 cases.
Students at Yates Avenue Public School were forced to stay home on Friday with a number of exposure sites being revealed across Sydney.
“As a number of our staff have visited these locations recently, they have been asked to follow the advice from NSW Health and as such our school will be non-operational tomorrow,” the school announced on Thursday evening on Facebook.
“We would like to confirm that the school has no confirmed cases of Covid-19 and there is no action that any of our families need to do in relation to this.
“The safety and wellbeing of our staff and students is of paramount importance to us at all times.”
The directive comes as four new venues were added to an extensive list of exposure sites across Sydney on Friday after two new locally acquired cases were connected to the outbreak.
The first case revealed earlier in the week left eastern Sydney suburbs on alert, but this latest threat has grown to include the inner west and beyond, with venues in Redfern, North Sydney, Newtown and Campbelltown now considered causes for concern.
One of the new cases was linked to a “fleeting contact” with the original case at the Bondi Junction Westfield, Premier Gladys Berejiklian revealed on Friday.
“It appears from CCTV cameras that it could have been a very fleeting contact between the infectious person and this gentleman in Bondi Junction,” she said.
Masks will be mandatory on public transport in Greater Sydney for the next five days, from 4pm today, Ms Berejiklian said.
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant says the exact point of contact between a man in his 50s who tested positive for Covid-19 overnight and the airport driver who also tested positive is not yet known.
Dr Chant said the man’s case was a good reminder of just how infectious the Delta strain is.
“Clearly he is one of those people who are able to transmit … and in settings where we wouldn’t see them usually being the highest risk settings,” she said.
“We are concerned people may not have thought about what they did on the weekend and really considered whether they were in any of those shops.”
Lydia Lynch2.20pm:Infected couple who fled Melbourne fined
A Covid-infected couple who fled Melbourne’s lockdown and triggered Queensland’s recent virus scare have been fined $4000 each.
In a “flagrant breach of COVID Hotspot protocols” the man, 48, and woman, 44, left Victoria on June 1 and drove the inland route on their way to stay with the woman’s parents in Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast.
Public health alerts were issued across NSW and Queensland after the wife and husband both tested positive for Covid-19 on June 9 and 10 respectively.
They crossed into Queensland at Goondiwindi on June 5, but travel from Victoria to Queensland has been banned since May 28.
Police investigating whether the pair broke Queensland’s border rules, waited until they were released from a Covid- isolation ward at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital on Friday before issuing fines.
Police will allege the couple lied to obtain a Queensland Border Declaration ‘G’ Pass.
No community spread has been linked back to the couple.
Lydia Lynch2.10pm:Man hurt while trying to flee quarantine
A man is in hospital after falling while trying to escape a Queensland quarantine hotel.
Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said the man was rushed to hospital after plunging from a Cairns balcony in far north Queensland.
“Apparently a gentleman did try to climb out of the balcony that they were on and then fell,” she said. “He was taken to the Cairns Base Hospital and I understand he does have some injuries.”
Joseph Lam1.50pm:Hunt: no change to vaccine rollout
The Prime Minister “will thank the states and territories” in a national cabinet set to be held on Monday before getting the states up to scratch on the vaccine rollout, says Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt.
Despite the recent change in recommending the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to only those aged 60 over, Mr Hunt said he expects no changes to the rollout.
“The volume of vaccines coming into Australia hasn’t changed, and, you know, it’s important to understand we have 40 million Pfizer, we have over 50 million AstraZeneca that we’re expecting to be made available, 10 million Moderna and then there’s potential for Novavax,” he said.
“That means that we will have, you know, a very large number of vaccines that are available in Australia.”
Mr Hunt added that he hopes that those “who were not intending to be vaccinated in the near term, may well choose to be vaccinated”.
More than 6.36 million or 25.9 per cent of Australians have received a Covid-19 vaccine since the rollout began. That includes 64 per cent of Australians over the age of 70 and 47 per cent of those over 50.
Joseph Lam1.30pm:National Cabinet called for Monday over vaccine rollout
National cabinet will convene on Monday to discuss the nation’s Covid-19 rollout after the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation announced changes to the recommended age for those receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt on Friday announced that once the Prime Minister returns from his trip to Europe for the G7 a meeting would take place.
“This morning, Lieutenant-General John Frewen and myself and the team from Health briefed the Prime Minister on his return (from the G7),” he said.
“His first order of business was to have a vaccination briefing. And the critical thing is he will be calling a meeting of the National Cabinet – most probably on Monday, subject to the availability of the premiers and chief ministers – to discuss the rollout.”
Mr Hunt also announced that he had signed off on a Medicare item to encourage more over 50s to get vaccinated.
“There will be a new Medicare item for over-50s to allow for a general practice consultation,” he said.
“ It will be at what’s known as the Level B equivalent, or $38.75, and it will be bulk-billed.”
Lydia Lynch1.05pm:Queensland declares Waverley a hotspot
Queensland will further tighten its border with NSW on Saturday after another local case was confirmed.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said Waverley Council, which covers Sydney’s eastern suburbs, would be declared a hotspot.
From 1am Saturday, anyone who has visited the council area in the past 14 days will not be allowed to enter Queensland.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young again warned Queenslanders against travelling to Sydney.
Dr Young will consider expanding the hotspot if there is further community spread in NSW.
READ MORE: Premier defiant as tourism braces for cancellations
Lydia Lynch12.45pm:Palaszczuk ‘kept worries about AZ quiet’
Annastacia Palaszczuk has refused to say whether she raised questions about the AstraZeneca vaccine at national cabinet in April, before she opted for the Pfizer jab.
The Queensland Premier, 51, received her first coronavirus vaccination on June 7, becoming the last Australian leader over 50 to do so.
She faced heavy criticism for opting for the Pfizer vaccine, despite authorities at the time preferring Australians over-50 to receive the AstraZeneca jab.
Guardian Australia on Friday reported Ms Palaszczuk raised questions at national cabinet in April about whether the AstraZeneca cut-off should be 60 rather than 50 years of age and cited health advice about blood clots in women under 60.
Ms Palaszczuk was grilled by LNP health spokeswoman Ros Bates during Question Time on Friday about why she did not make her concerns about the vaccine public.
““Why didn’t the Premier tell Queenslanders about this concern and was this why she delayed her Covid jab?” Ms Bates asked.
Ms Palaszczuk said: “I am not disclosing what conversations happen at national cabinet.”
Australia’s vaccine rollout was overhauled on Thursday after new advice that the AstraZeneca vaccine be restricted to people over 60.
Asked if Ms Palaszczuk opted for Pfizer because she was worried about how safe Astra Zeneca was, her office said: “The Premier received the Pfizer vaccine to facilitate travel to Tokyo to address the International Olympic Committee”.
Ms Palaszczuk said the fastest route to ending the pandemic was vaccination.
“Australians are pro-vaccination,” she said.
“We give them to our tiniest babies because we know their value.”
READ MORE:Vaccine confusion as clots force jab switch
Joseph Lam12.30pm: Another positive case in Melbourne townhouse complex
A female resident of the townhouse complex at the centre of Melbourne’s latest cluster has also tested positive for the virus.
The woman, a household contact of a previous case, tested positive despite returning a negative test on June 14, said Covid-19 Testing Commander Jeroen Weimar.
“It’s an existing known household contact in the same corner of the complex we’ve been focusing upon,” he said.
“We cycle (testing) with people in that facility. She will continue in isolation as we go forward.”
The new case brings the Southbank Kings Park Apartment cluster to nine cases.
READ MORE:Don’t believe the AZ scaremongering
Paul Garvey12.20pm:Aged care workers’ threat to quit if forced to have jab
Almost a third of Western Australia’s aged care workers have said they would quit if they were forced to have a Covid-19 vaccination.
Australian Nurses Federation state secretary Mark Olson on Friday said he had written to Prime Minister Scott Morrison and WA premier Mark McGowan urging them to keep vaccinations for aged care workers voluntary.
The union also wants its workers to be given a choice of vaccines.
The survey of 4000 ANF members working in aged care found 31 per cent would leave if vaccinations were made compulsory.
Mr Olson said enforcing mandatory vaccinations among aged care workers would risk an exodus of staff.
“We are desperately short of aged care nurses and carers and cannot afford to adopt
policies that would worsen well-documented difficulties facing the sector and create an even bigger shortage of staff,” Mr Olson said.
“Our members’ response reflects the same concerns expressed by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee that COVID-19 vaccinations should remain voluntary for aged care staff.”
The findings reflect ongoing community concerns about vaccination safety, following another change in health advice this week. The AstraZeneca vaccine is now no longer recommended for people in the 50-60 age bracket, who will now start receiving the Pfizer vaccine instead.
“Both state and federal governments must adopt strategies that encourage vaccination and it is clear from the survey that if all staff were given a choice of vaccines, this would increase the uptake,” Mr Olson said.
The ANF survey also found that 85 per cent of respondents said that vaccines should be mandatory for visitors, relatives and anyone else who enters an aged care facility if vaccines were made mandatory for staff.
READ MORE:Qld: shuttle bus part of Vic ‘hot spot’
Joseph Lam11.45am:Fleeting contact Delta strain fears in NSW case
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant says the exact point of contact between a man in his 50s who tested positive for Covid-19 overnight and the airport driver who also tested positive is not yet known.
What is known, she said, is that the pair both shopped at Myer at Bondi Junction Westfield shopping centre on June 12.
“At the moment they have placed him on the same floor in the same section of Myer. They have asked for further CCTV footage to see if there is inadvertent passing,” she said.
“At the moment we don’t know the nature of the contact.”
Dr Chant said the man’s case was a good reminder of just how infectious the Delta strain is.
“Clearly he is one of those people who are able to transmit … and in settings where we wouldn’t see them usually being the highest risk settings,” she said.
“We are concerned people may not have thought about what they did on the weekend and really considered whether they were in any of those shops.”
“I am asking anyone who has been in that Bondi Junction shopping centre around those times please be particularly cautious.”
READ MORE: Don’t believe the AZ scaremongers
Rachel Baxendale11.35am:Victoria acting Premier to hold midday press conference
Acting Victorian Premier James Merlino, Covid-19 logistics chief Jeroen Weimar and Emergency Management Victoria Commissioner Andrew Crisp are due to address the media at midday on Friday.
The press conference comes as Victoria recorded one new community-acquired coronavirus case on Friday, in a close contact of a previously identified case.
It also comes as some Victorians endure at least three weeks without electricity following severe storms last week.
READ MORE:Sutton travel to Canberra ‘unacceptable’: Libs
Joseph Lam 11.30am:Updated list of NSW exposure sites
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has warned a number of sites listed as casual contacts could be upgraded, and advises residents to check exposure site status regularly for updates and additions.
Joseph Lam11.20am:Masks mandatory on Sydney public transport for five days
NSW residents in Greater Sydney will be subject to compulsory mask use on public transport over a five-day period after the state recorded a new locally-transmitted Covid-19 case.
Mask use will only be mandatory on public transport but is highly encouraged in indoor settings including retail, theatres, hospitals, aged care facilities and for front-of-house hospitality staff.
The new rules will be imposed from 4pm on Friday.
The new case, a man in his 50s, attended a Myers in Bondi Junction Westfield on June 12, the same day as an airport staff driver who also tested positive.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said in response to the new case, who was infectious in public between June 13 and June 15, mandatory mask use would be introduced.
“For the next five days we want everybody to wear masks on public transport to make sure that if the virus is circulating, it doesn’t spread on public transport,” she said.
“In relation to people who are currently deemed to be casual contacts, if you attended a venue which is on NSW Health’s list, we strongly recommend that you don’t go away anywhere because if health updates that (location deeming you a) close contact, you will have to come back and isolate.”
NSW recorded two locally acquired cases of #COVID19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, bringing the total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 5,442. These cases were announced yesterday.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) June 18, 2021
No new overseas-acquired case was recorded in the same period. pic.twitter.com/GVbG2sFpto
Joseph Lam11.15am:New case travelled across Sydney while infectious
A man in his 50s who tested positive for Covid-19 travelled across several Sydney suburbs while infectious for a two-day period between June 13 and June 15.
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant confirmed the man had an onset of symptoms on June 15 and was considered infectious for a two-day period prior.
“While infectious this latest case visited venues in Redfern, Newtown, Bondi Junction and Campbelltown and travelled on train from Newtown to Bondi Junction on June 13 and from Bondi Junction to Campbelltown and return on June 15,” she said.
“The exact times and locations will shortly be posted on the New South Wales Health website.”
Dr Chant said the case’s household contacts had so far tested negative but would isolate for 14 days regardless.
Joseph Lam11.10am:One new NSW case, Premier moves on masks
NSW has recorded a further Covid-19 case among a Sydney man who is believed to have contracted the virus at a shopping centre in Bondi Junction.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on Friday a man in his 50s had tested positive for the virus after visiting a Myers.
“It appears from CCTV cameras that it could have been a very fleeting contact between the infectious person and this gentleman in Bondi Junction Westfield,” she said.
Masks will be mandatory on public transport in Greater Sydney for the next five days, Ms Berejiklian said.
Joseph Lam10.35am:States impose new restrictions on NSW travellers
As the NSW exposure site list grows and the ACT lists its own exposure sites, several states have employed new measures on those travelling from NSW.
Tasmania and South Australia have shut their borders to anyone who visited a high-risk location in NSW.
Meanwhile Queensland has introduced a traffic-light system mirroring that of Victoria. Those who haven’t visited a hotspot will be given a greenlight to roam the state freely whereas those who have visited an exposure site and will abide by quarantine measures on arrival fall into the amber category. Red is typically for visitors of close contact areas and are not permitted to travel.
Western Australia has asked visitors entering from NSW to get tested and isolate immediately if they visited an exposure site between June 9 and June 16.
The Northern Territory has asked anyone visiting from NSW to follow rules set out by NSW Health.
READ MORE:Jabs confusion as clots force vaccine switch
Rachel Baxendale 9.30am:Vic new case after more than 35,000 tests
The single case follows no new cases in the 24 hours to Thursday, and five in the 24 hours to Wednesday, and comes after the easing overnight of restrictions including a 25km travel limit in Melbourne and mandatory masks outdoors.
Hi there, you can find more info here: https://t.co/vedBUPUyJM
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) June 17, 2021
There were 35,252 tests processed on Thursday, up from 25,635 on Wednesday and 17,538 on Tuesday and 17,604 the previous Thursday, but well down on the June 2 record of 57,519.
The number of vaccination doses administered at state-run facilities remains significantly lower than last week, after the health department paused bookings for first Pfizer shots to ensure supply for people awaiting their second.
There were 16,710 doses administered at state-run facilities on Thursday, up slightly from 15,610 on Wednesday and 14,870 on Tuesday but well down on the 20,752 vaccinations given the previous Thursday, let alone the June 3 record of 24,169.
Victoria’s new cases earlier this week included that of a nurse who had been treating aged care residents with coronavirus at the Epping private hospital in Melbourne’s north, while also working at the nearby Northern Hospital.
Other recent cases include four cases linked to an apartment complex in inner city Southbank where the virus was spreading for more than a fortnight before residents were ordered to get tested and quarantine.
READ MORE:Infected nurse worked at two sites
Jack Paynter9.10am:Vic Covid patient transferred to ICU
The condition of one of Victoria’s positive Covid-19 patients has deteriorated as the state emerges from it’s latest local outbreak.
The state’s health department confirmed a patient had been transferred to intensive care on Thursday – the first time a positive case had been in ICU since May 27.
There are six other Covid-19 patients in hospital receiving care, the health department said.
Three of the positive cases in hospital were transferred from Arcare Maidstone aged care facility to Epping Private about 11 days ago, where a fully vaccinated nurse also tested positive.
Victoria’s Covid-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said the nurse worked on the dedicated Covid ward caring for those patients, but in an alarming breach of protocols also worked two shifts at another medical facility.
READ MORE: Covid was made in a lab: experts
Rachel Baxendale8.55am: One new local case in Victoria
Victoria has recorded one new local case in the past 24 hours to Friday, and one case in hotel quarantine. The local case is a primary close contact of an existing case.
Reported yesterday: 1 new local case and 1 new case acquired overseas (currently in HQ).
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) June 17, 2021
- 16,710 vaccine doses were administered
- 35,252 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco
Got symptoms? Get tested. #COVID19VicData#COVID19Vic [1/2] pic.twitter.com/dqIVvmRpqH
Joseph Lam8.10am: AZ over-60s decision ‘opens jab to most hesitant’
Greg Hunt says the decision to recommend the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine to those aged 59 and under has opened the jab up to those most hesitant to get vaccinated.
Australia's vaccine rollout has been given a major shake-up.
— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) June 17, 2021
The federal government is now recommending the AstraZeneca jab only be given to people aged over 60 due to blood clot fears.https://t.co/6aHMDsoeb5pic.twitter.com/vCwkGdFqxd
The Federal Health Minister appeared on Sunrise on Friday and said while the decision does not change Australia’s vaccine target, it could inspire the more hesitant to come forward.
“It does mean over the coming weeks, more people will be in that Pfizer bracket; instead of 40-49, it becomes 40-59. We add two million people to the group,” he said.
“We do know that also included some of the most hesitant and so, it’s probably going to mean an additional 1 million who would take it up, over and above what would have been the case.”
READ MORE: Infected nurse worked at 2 sites
Natasha Robinson7.53am: ‘Don’t believe the AstraZeneca scaremongers’
The changing advice around AstraZeneca comes at a time when the vast majority of people who have been vaccinated have received only one shot.
Therein lies the biggest concern around the recommendation that only those aged over 60 should get AstraZeneca.
How many older Australians who have had one shot of AstraZeneca will now have their confidence rocked such that they don’t turn up for their second dose?
That’s the issue looming large for the federal government.
There are a number of facts that anyone hesitant to get their second AstraZeneca dose should bear in mind.
Joseph Lam 7.00am: Alerts spread to Canberra after Sydney man’s travel
Canberra has been put on high alert after local health authorities discovered a Sydney man who returned a weak positive Covid-19 test on Thursday had travelled to the ACT capital.
The Baulkham Hills man in his 40s stopped by a Van Gogh exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia and Italian bakehouse Via Dolce Pasticceria during his visit on Monday afternoon.
Two exposure sites have since been added, and anyone who visited is being asked to isolate immediately and await further health advice.
ACT Health are also calling for extra vigilance from anyone who visited the National Gallery between 12pm and 2pm Monday.
“Investigations and contact tracing is underway this morning. As part of this, ACT Health will be looking at Check In CBR and other ticketing data to help identify people who were at the venues above,” they wrote in a statement.
A number of additional staff will be rostered on at nearby testing clinics, ACT Health said.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Thursday said it should not be ruled out that the Sydney man, who returned low virus levels, could be a false positive.
“Health is still determining whether it’s a false positive or an old case as the viral load in his system was very low,” she said.
“On that basis, it could be a false positive or it could be an old case. And it is as yet unrelated to the eastern suburbs cluster.”
-National Gallery of Australia, Botticelli to Van Gogh exhibition and exhibition gift shop, Parkes Pl E, Parkes ACT 2600: Monday June 14, 12pm to 1.45pm
-Via Dolce Pasticceria, 106 Bunda St, Canberra city, ACT 2601: Monday June 14 from 2.45 to 3.15pm
READ MORE: Sutton travelled to Canberra despite restrictions
Nicholas Jensen6.45am:Fourth infection can’t be discounted
A man from Sydney’s north-western suburbs is still being considered a positive Covid-19 case after a panel concluded it could not rule out the possibility of infection.
On Thursday morning, NSW Health reported a Baulkham Hill’s man in his 40s had become the state’s fourth local infection, but later suggested it was likely a false positive test.
“His test results showed low virus levels and he is not yet linked to any known cases. The man’s three household contacts have all returned negative results to date,” NSW Health said in a statement.
âš ï¸PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT - FURTHER VENUESâš ï¸
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) June 17, 2021
NSW Health reported earlier today (Thursday) that a man in his 40s from Sydney’s north-western suburbs had tested positive for COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/pPU8dNOJSK
Health officials have also been advised of further venues visited by other confirmed cases, asking people who attended the following venue at the time listed to get tested and self-isolate until you receive further advice.
Sunday, June 13
Northmead Bowling Club, 166 Windsor Road, Northmead – 3:30pm to 10:00pm
Anyone who has attended either of the following venues at the times listed is considered a casual contact and must get tested and isolate until a negative result is received.
Tuesday, June 15
The Health Emporium, 263-265 Bondi Road, Bondi – 12.15pm to 12.45pm
Monday, June 14
Lorna Jane, East Village Shopping Centre, 4 Defries Avenue, Zetland – 11:00am to 1:00pm
Stephen Lunn5.30am:Lockdown-weary Victorians vote with their feet
Covid-weary Victorians fled the state in droves in 2020, with Queensland the big beneficiary.
New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed anaemic growth in the nation’s population last year as the closing of the international border reduced immigration to a trickle.
Victoria, a state that usually gains people from overseas migration, lost a net 19,000 people overseas in 2020. Normally attracting more than 10,000 people a year from other states, Victoria in 2020 saw 12,700 more people head interstate than arrive. Only natural increase, babies born minus deaths, kept Victoria’s population from contracting in 2020.
The Victorian population grew by just 700 people overall.
Read the full story here.
Ellie Dudley5.15am:Why had NSW driver not been vaccinated?
NSW Police are urgently investigating the case at the centre of Sydney’s latest Covid-19 outbreak, following revelations the international aircrew driver who tested positive had not been vaccinated.
The 60-year-old man was employed by a private limousine company to transport commercial aircrew who had arrived at Sydney Airport from the US.
The positive result left one question to be asked of state health authorities on Thursday: why had he not received the jab?
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said only “strong recommendations” were in place for transport workers to be vaccinated, blaming the “national cabinet process” for not giving state authorities “the green light to mandate that”.
Read the full story here.
Natasha Robinson5am:Vaccine confusion as clots force jab switch
Health authorities are scrambling to switch more than two million Australians aged under 60 to the imported Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine after fresh cases of a rare bloodclotting syndrome ruled out the AstraZeneca jab for people aged 50 to 59.
The decision, announced by Health Minister Greg Hunt on Thursday, comes as 815,000 people aged 50-59 wait for their second AstraZeneca jab, having already received the first.
Health authorities urged people in this category to go ahead with their second AstraZeneca jab, declaring it safe.
More than 1300 GP surgeries will now begin administering Pfizer, while the number of commonwealth respiratory clinics administering vaccines will be lifted from 21 to 136 as vaccine bookings are opened up to everyone over the age of 40.
Federal health officials conceded on Thursday that the change would slow down the vaccine program over the next few weeks.
Read the full story, by Natasha Robinson and Adeshola Ore, here.
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