Coronavirus Australia live news: 70 per cent vaccination needed to limit lockdowns
Stage two of the roadmap to freedom - increase in international arrivals and a limit of lockdowns - can be activated, after which Aussies can travel overseas.
- 70pc national vax to limit lockdowns
- Elective surgery suspended from Monday
- NSW records 170 new cases
- Latest data on AZ risks
- Brisbane schoolgirl tests positive
- Targeted lockdowns ‘to run into 2022’
- Army called in to help curb outbreak
- ‘Get vaccinated or stay home’: NAB
Welcome to live updates on the Covid-19 pandemic.
Australians can move to the next step of the four-phase plan to normality when the nation is 70 per cent vaccinated, under a deal stuck in national cabinet.
Non-urgent elective surgery will be postponed at public hospitals from Monday in Greater Sydney.
Police commissioner Mick Fuller says any protestors who attend a rally on the weekend will be met with over 1000 police officers as NSW records 170 new Covid-19 cases.
Joseph Lam9.30pm:NSW Police begin checks ahead of protest
NSW Police are getting in early ahead of planned protests over the weekend, warning they’ll be conducting compliance checks on public transport.
The announcement arrived late on Friday after the state’s top cop Commissioner Mick Fuller delivered a warning earlier in the day.
“If you do (attend the protests), you will be met by up to a thousand police who will be ready to deal with you, whether that be via the health orders or other laws,” he said.
Cyber cops have spent the week monitoring online forums and social media ahead of the planned march. It’s expected that it won’t be as large as last Saturday’s protest, Mr Fuller said.
“Protesters are using chats and other forums so it has been more complex to work out numbers, but it is a very similar type of intel summary that we saw leading up to last week,” he said.
“We know that this is such an important time for NSW in terms of winning the battle against the virus and coming into town to protest is not the answer.
“So from our perspective we have to expect it will be a protest. It appears it will not be in the same numbers. But we can still look untidy and can still be violent.”
On Friday NSW Police also announced some 300 soldiers will join their ranks in conducting compliance checks across greater Sydney.
The additional ADF support will arrive over the next few days as local authorities increase their capacity on the ground.
“The increased resourcing was successful in boosting operational capacity and allowing police to check on more individuals who were subject to self-isolation orders,” NSW Police said.
“All officers and ADF personnel wear appropriate PPE and work under strict health guidelines developed in consultation with NSW Health.
“To this date no NSW Police officer has contracted COVID-19 after conducting operational compliance checks.”
Officers from the Police Transport Command will be boarding trains and speaking with commuters to ensure individuals are complying with the Public Health Order over the weekend. Anyone found in breach should expect to be fined or charged. Please stay home and stay safe.
— NSW Police Force (@nswpolice) July 30, 2021
Olivia Caisley 8.55pm:More than 400 Aussie kids stranded overseas
There are nearly 40,000 Australians stranded overseas of which 4,569 are considered vulnerable and more than 400 are children, a senate committee scrutinising the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic has heard, with the majority of people stuck in India and the UK.
Deputy secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Tony Sheehan, told the committee on Friday there were 38,523 Australians registered with the department as seeking to return home.
The number of foreign arrivals was halved to 3034 a week earlier this month over a spike in Delta cases.
In India there are 10,268 Australians registered and in the UK, 6,405. In the US 2440 Australians have lodged their desire to return home and in Thailand 1078. DFAT also has 1018 Australians listed in Pakistan and another 994 in the Philippines.
Read the full story here.
Sophie Elsworth7.50pm:Tech giants’ blitz on Covid untruths
Tech giants including Facebook and Google have removed hundreds of thousands of posts spreading misinformation about Covid-19.
At a Senate committee hearing on Friday into foreign interference through social media, Facebook’s head of public policy Australia, Josh Machin, confirmed it has teams focused on removing both misinformation and disinformation relating to the pandemic and Covid-19 vaccines.
In Australia Facebook has removed 110,000 pieces of harmful Covid-19 misinformation alone.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic we’ve removed harmful misinformation claims about Covid – 18 million posts (worldwide) along those lines, we’ve worked with 80 fact checkers around the world where we refer material to them,” Mr Machin said. “There are 167 million posts that we’ve applied a false label after fact checkers have looked at them … we’ve also been trying to direct people to credible and authoritative sources of information.
READ MORE: Science gives coronavirus the hard cell
Yoni Bashan7.05pm:Health staff face probe over anti-lockdown protest
NSW Health is investigating four members of staff who allegedly attended a lockdown protest in Sydney over the weekend, potentially breaching public health orders and the department‘s code of conduct.
The Australian understands health staff have been encouraged to report co-workers who are suspected of having attended the event, which saw thousands of people demonstrate in the Sydney CBD against ongoing lockdown conditions.
In response to questions, a NSW Health spokeswoman said: “NSW Health agencies are aware of reports of four staff who it is claimed attended the lockdown protest.
“Each report is being investigated and any individuals found to have breached the
code of conduct will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action.“
Read the full story here.
Paul Garvey 6.30pm: WA could ban shipping companies breaking rules
West Australian Premier Mark McGowan says the state could ban shipping companies that do not follow new Covid-19 safety precautions for their vessels.
Mr McGowan said his government expected all ships transiting through Indonesia or any other Covid-19 hotspots on their way to WA to take “all reasonable steps” to avoid the infection of their crews.
Under the new measures announced on Friday afternoon, shipping companies will not be allowed to undertake crew changes or make onshore visits in high-risk locations.
Shipping companies that do not comply with the rules, Mr McGowan said, would be barred from WA ports.
“If necessary, if the risk becomes too high, and shipping standards are not being met, we will deny entry to WA ports for incoming ships with suspected exposure to Covid-19,” he said.
Four vessels with Covid-19 infected crews have arrived in Perth in recent weeks, and another six ships that have transited through Indonesia are currently headed for WA.
Managing ships with Covid-infected crew had been a major logistical exercise that came at both a cost and a risk to WA, Mr McGowan said.
“Today’s announcement is a warning, a final warning, to any shipping companies that might put WA and their crews at risk,” he said.
Mr McGowan acknowledged that the new measures were tough.
“These are very robust and quite draconian measures, but they’re necessary,” he said.
“What I’ve found over the course of the last 18 months is that being tough works.”
READ MORE: Travellers await OK on Aussie AZ shots
Greg Brown 6.05pm:We can get to 70pc by year end: PM
Mr Morrison said national cabinet had not put timelines on when to reach each phase of the plan.
“Timelines are now in the hands of all Australians together with state and territory governments and the federal government. We get there when we get there and I hope we get there as soon as we can,” Mr Morrison said.
He said he would “hope” phase B can be reached by the end of the year.
“There will certainly be the supply and the distribution and the opportunity to do that. But whether that is achieved is up to all of us,” Mr Morrison said.
He said he was encouraged with the higher uptake of the AstraZeneca vaccine, particularly from people aged under 40.
“I believe we can get there by the end of the year to 70 per cent. The UK has got there. Israel has got there,” Mr Morrison said.
“We’ve actually delivered and administered more vaccines than the state of Israel now in volume terms. So I believe we can get this done, but it’s not something that any one government, any one vaccination clinic, any one Australian, can achieve on their own.”
“If you want to get vaccinated, the AZ vaccine is there for you, it is a highly effective vaccine, as we’ve seen all around the world,” Mr Morrison said.
“It is the most recognised COVID-19 vaccine in the world, and it is there and available to boost the vaccination efforts right across the country.”
Mr Morrison said there has not yet been a decision on the vaccination rate to reach the final stage of the plan, which is living unrestricted.
“There is not a vaccination target set at this point. One was not recommended by the Doherty Institute. It is too hard to say what the situation will be down the track,” Mr Morrison said.
“It will depend on the booster program which we have ample vaccines for ...(and) the durability and the proof of those vaccines over time.
“There are too many unknowns before we can understand life as normal.”
Greg Brown 6.00pm: Next stage will end caps on returning Aussies
In phase C, caps on returning Australians will be abolished and more international students will be granted entry.
Vaccinated Australians will be able to travel overseas.
“We will lift all restrictions on out-bound travel for vaccinated Australians and we’ll extend the travel bubble for unrestricted travel to new candidate countries,” Mr Morrison said.
“We’re already working with Singapore to that end as well as specific countries, but there maybe others that present in the course of moving to that phase.
“There will be a gradual reopening of inward and out-bound international travel with safe countries - those that have the same sort of vaccination levels as Australia.”
Greg Brown 5.50pm:70pc vaccination needed to limit lockdowns
Australians can move to the next step of the four-phase plan to normality when the nation is 70 per cent vaccinated, under a deal stuck in national cabinet.
Scott Morrison said stage two of the plan could be activated – which will see an increase in international arrivals and a limit of lockdowns - when the vaccination rates are reached nationally, with each state also needing to hit 70 per cent target before it moves out of the suppression phase.
Phase C of the plan – which will just about see an end to lockdowns and more international travel - can be activated under a vaccination rate of 80 per cent of eligible people.
“These are targets for all Australians to achieve,” Mr Morrison said.
“States, territories, working together, communities working together, individuals, GPs, pharmacists, Australia will get this done by working together. The targets are there for us all to achieve and for us all to work towards.”
Joseph Lam5.30pm: Delta as contagious as chicken pox: CDC
The Delta variant is as contagious as chicken pox and its spread is unlikely to be stopped by vaccines, according to a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention internal document, the New York Times reports.
The CDC presentation called for the agency to now “acknowledge the war has changed” as the variant is more transmissible than the viruses that cause the common cold, seasonal flu and smallpox as well as those causing MERS, SARS, Ebola, New York Times reported. The report suggests that those with weak immune systems should wear masks in places with little transmission of the virus
The news arrived after mask-wearing guidelines for the vaccinated both indoors and in public areas were introduced onTuesday, a decision which was reportedly made based on the new CDC document.
Joseph Lam5.10pm:Elective surgery to be suspended from Monday
Non-urgent elective surgery will be postponed at public hospitals from Monday in Greater Sydney, excluding the Illawarra, Shoalhaven and Central Coast Local Health Districts.
NSW Health announced the new measures on Friday, saying that the decision was “part of its comprehensive planning for its pandemic response”.
All emergency surgery and urgent elective surgery will continue unaffected.
“Non-urgent elective surgery will be temporarily postponed at public hospitals in Greater Sydney, excluding the Illawarra Shoalhaven and Central Coast Local Health Districts, from Monday, 2 August,” NSW Health said in a statement.
“All emergency surgery and urgent elective surgery will continue unaffected. There is currently sufficient ICU capacity for all patients who require intensive care, with more than 500 beds available throughout the system”.
NSW added: “Postponing non-urgent surgery will support the state’s healthcare workers as they manage the demands of the COVID-19 response, providing increased capacity to support health services for the people of Greater Sydney”.
Angelica Snowden 4.05pm: Return of illegal Air BnB parties in Vic
Victoria Police say there has been a resurgence of illegal parties at Airbnb style accomodation in recent weeks despite an overall high level of compliance with the state’s Covid-19 rules.
Victoria police deputy commissioner Rick Nugent said partygoers had been busted on a number of occasions when neighbours dobbed them in.
“In previous lockdowns the (parties) were primarily in and around Melbourne... particularly the CBD,” deputy commissioner Nugent said.
“It’s occurring a bit more into regional centres now and we issue fines to people present whether it’s six people, 10 people or 12 people,” he said.
“(There are) a number of parties in homes still. So people are thinking they will hold a 21st birthday party or other parties. Neighbours call, we turn up.”
Deputy commissioner Nugent said following anti lockdown protests last weekend attended by more than 1000 people, 74 had breached public health directions and had been interviewed by police. Of those, five matters will proceed to court.
Police released the images this week of three protestors - two men and a woman - who set off dangerous flares at the rally in a bid to gather more information about them. Deputy commissioner Nugent said it “won’t be long” before they are arrested.
After NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller warned anti-lockdown protestors not to gather in Sydney this weekend, deputy commissioner Nugent said authorities would monitor a few pop-up protests planned for this Sunday in Melbourne.
Aside from the illegal parties and last weekend’s protest, there is a high degree of compliance with Covid-19 rules in Victoria including at the NSW border.
Out of about 60,793 border checks, 98 per cent had the correct permits to enter.
Joseph Lam3.45pm:PM, leaders to give national cabinet update after 4pm
Australian state and territory leaders are expected to speak publicly at 4pm following today’s national cabinet in which further lockdown measures and reopening the nation’s borders were discussed.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian earlier on Friday said she would use the meeting to call for an early release of her state’s vaccine allotment from the federal government.
In the cabinet, leaders were presented with preliminary findings from the Doherty Institute which was commissioned to create a roadmap to reopening earlier this month.
Also being discussed in the national cabinet are support payments, which Prime Minister Scott Morrison has indicated would be increased.
Olivia Caisley3.30pm:More than 400 children stranded overseas
There are nearly 40,000 Australians stranded overseas of which 4,569 are considered vulnerable and more than 400 are children, a senate committee scrutinising the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic has heard, with the majority of people stuck in India and the UK.
Deputy secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Tony Sheehan, told the committee on Friday there were 38,523 Australians registered with the department as seeking to return home.
The number of foreign arrivals was halved to 3034 a week earlier this month over a spike in Delta cases.
In India there are 10,268 Australians registered and in the UK, 6,405. In the US 2440 Australians have lodged their desire to return home and in Thailand 1078. DFAT also has 1018 Australians listed in Pakistan and another 994 in the Philippines.
Mr Sheehan revealed that 438 unaccompanied minors were still stranded overseas and 6,039 Australians had expressed a wish to only come back from September of this year.
As the Morrison government comes under pressure to build dedicated quarantine facilities to supplement the hotel system, Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie asked whether Christmas Island could be used to house returning Australians.
READ MORE:Schools in the dark on Covid rules
Eli Greenblat2.10pm:Woolies to have pop-up vax clinics for staff
The nation’s biggest retailer, supermarket giant Woolworths, is lending its considerable corporate muscle to ratcheting up the pace of the vaccine roll out and will create pop-up Covid-19 vaccination hubs at its distribution centres as well as provide eight hours of paid leave for staff to get the jab.
In an update to staff from Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci, he said a speeding up of vaccination rates was crucial in protecting the community and getting out of lockdowns.
“It is now clear that accelerating the rate of vaccination in Australia is key to protecting our communities and loved ones and the easing of restrictions. It is also essential to ensuring our teams are able to continue to provide food to Australian communities - something they do with pride every day,” Mr Banducci said in an email to Everyday Rewards members sent on Friday.
“This is why we are advocating for all our teams to be vaccinated as soon as possible – as and when supply allows – and remain committed to playing our part in supporting vaccination efforts across the broader community wherever we can.”
Mr Banducci said Woolworths has been working with the State and Federal Governments, as well as other food retailers to understand how it can speed up the vaccine rollout for its team members working in food distribution centres and stores.
He said Woolworths would take the following actions:
• Establishing pop-up vaccination clinics at key food-related distribution centres in South West Sydney with assistance from the Federal Government, to provide teams working onsite access to vaccines.
• Store teams in the five most-affected LGAs in South West Sydney are now able to secure early appointments with help from the NSW Government at the nearby Homebush Vaccination Centre.
• Woolworths will provide up to eight hours of paid leave for full-time and part-time team members to receive their vaccination.
READ MORE: Targeted lockdowns ‘to run into next year’
Jack the Insider 1.50pm: Poor man’s vaccine? AZ is a miracle
I received my second shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine a month ago. According to the TGA, I received two of the 6.1 million doses of the Oxford based vaccine administered in Australia as of the end of June 2021.
In my case, the first dose brought on a little pain in the deltoid muscle. I’ve described it in the strictly non-medical term as a bit of a dead arm, like a blow with a cricket ball from a medium pacer. Noticeable, discernible but no big deal. Play on.
The second dose came and went without any identifiable adverse reaction, mild or otherwise with the possible exception of a bit of fatigue in the 24 hours directly afterwards but who knows, I might have just been tired anyway.
AstraZeneca has been portrayed as a poor man’s vaccine or worse a roll of the dice with recipients chancing their arm. Street corner advice from resident media experts has pushed it into the shadows. A month ago, the ABC’s Norman Swan suggested the vaccine would be withdrawn from the market if it were not for the pandemic, an odd statement at best and one grounded in a hypothetical alternative that cannot be proven.
With a national vaccine roll out the like of which we’ve never experienced and with an understandable level of hesitancy in the general community, language matters. Messaging matters.
But in a flush of ill-considered rhetoric, AstraZeneca became the bête noir of Australia’s vaccination program.
READ Jack’s column
Ellie Dudley1.30 pm:Man stopped from protesting tests positive, breaches iso
A man who was fined before attending last Saturday’s anti-lockdown protests in Sydney has tested positive for Covid-19, according to police.
NSW Police approached the man at Central station on the day of the rally, and fined him $1000 for breaching stay-at-home orders.
He tested positive for Covid-19 the next morning.
When NSW Police performed a check of the man’s house in Granville on Friday morning, they discovered he was not home.
“Subsequent enquiries revealed the man was not at work but was located at a home in Constitution Hill,” a statement from NSW Police read.
NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller said any protestors who arrived for a subsequent rally this weekend would be met with over 1000 police officers.
“The strike force from last week has locked up over 60 individuals and issued over 200 infringements and that will continue so if you turn up, you can expect the same sense of force,” he said.
Robyn Ironside 12.52pm:How to use frequent flyer points when you can’t fly
Qantas has found a way to help frequent flyer members use their points while waiting for international borders to reopen.
On Monday an online “points auction” will get underway, giving members the chance to bid on five offerings ranging from a luxury Queenstown holiday for four to a kids soccer clinic with Socceroos coach Graham Arnold.
There is also a private charter flight for 30 people to either Byron Bay, Hamilton Island or Devonport on offer, a session in the Boeing 787 simulator or two preloved Qantas A380 skybeds for the lounge room.
Rachel Baxendale12.19pm: Vic virus response ‘based on bitter experience of 2020’
Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley says his state’s approach to managing coronavirus is based on the “bitter experience” of 2020, but that the choices NSW makes in managing its current outbreak are “a matter for them”.
On this day last year, Victoria recorded 549 new cases of coronavirus, ahead of going into Stage Four lockdown on August 2, with cases peaking at 725 (later revised down to 687 due to duplicate reports) on August 5.
There would be 801 deaths, 655 of which would involve residents of private aged care facilities - an outcome largely being avoided in NSW at present due to vaccination.
“I think I can say that the bitter experience, the painful experience, the huge loss that so many Victorians enjoyed this time last year, has burned deeply into our psyche, and has burned deeply into our public health response to teach us that we can all make a contribution, that we all need to build the best possible public health response we can, that that response has to continually take account of the changing evidence of the Delta virus and other potential variants of concern that might come along,” Mr Foley said.
He said he believed the experience of 2020 drove how the Victorian community “treat respectfully and carefully the threats that Covid-19 continues to cause us”.
Asked whether NSW should be adopting Victoria’s approach of mandating statewide mask-wearing at all times while outside the home, Mr Foley said: “Victoria has through bitter experience learnt that going hard and going early works, and a part of that is masks.”
“As the Burnett Institute’s report of last week indicated, masks played a really significant part in running down last year’s second wave, arguably up to about 40 per cent of the contribution according to the Burnett.
“We’ve shared (those lessons) with all the other states and jurisdictions, but how other states and jurisdictions pick that up is a matter for them.”
On Thursday NSW mandated masks outside the home in 11 western Sydney local government areas but the requirement does not apply elsewhere in the city.
Ellie Dudley 12.00pm:NSW vaccination rate ‘steadily increasing’
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the state’s weekly vaccination capacity is steadily increasing.
“Our capacity is gone from about 60,000 a week and we will be getting around up to 350,000 a week by the way we’re going in of all the mass hubs,” she said.
“We also want to take the jabs out to the community in south-western Sydney and Western Sydney, so we’re going to community leaders to get the jab to them.”
“We are really keen to make sure we make things happen and I will have further things to say about that this week.”
Ellie Dudley11.58am:People ‘presenting to hospital not alive, but dead’
Some NSW residents have died from Covid-19 before NSW Health was aware of their positive reading, says Brad Hazzard.
The NSW Health Minister urged people who are experiencing symptoms to present for testing as early as possible to avoid disastrous scenarios.
“Very sadly, we are seeing more families coming in with a family member who is presenting not alive but dead. That is a terrible situation,” he said.
“We are hearing some families, particularly in southwest Sydney and Western Sydney, are staying at home when they have symptoms and not coming out and getting tested.”
NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said she was “struck by the tragedy” of people arriving at hospital already severely unwell or dead.
“We’ve had a number of people that are presented to hospital severely unwell and sometimes dead,” she said.
“I just think that people need to know that with COVID, you can deteriorate quite quickly.”
“We have great health resources. I want to reassure the community that they will be treated with dignity and respect.”
Rachel Baxendale 11.53am:Mystery over traffic controller case in Victoria
Victorian health department deputy secretary in charge of contact tracing, Kate Matson, said work was ongoing to identify how a traffic controller at one of Melbourne’s largest Covid-19 testing centres contracted coronavirus.
The unvaccinated traffic controller in his 20s returned a positive test result on Wednesday, having developed symptoms on Monday and got tested on Tuesday.
He had worked for two days while likely infectious at the Moonee Valley Racecourse drive through testing centre in Melbourne’s northwest.
The man lives in Frankston, in Melbourne’s outer southeast, and had visited his partner in the southwestern suburb of Newport.
“Whilst we have genomics back linking his case through to the original Ariele Maribyrnong apartment complex outbreak, we have not yet identified further links that I can report on today,” Ms Matson said.
“We are continuing with testing of his work and social and household contacts. I’m pleased to report that we have 48 of 58 results back from his colleagues at the Moonee Valley Racecourse testing site, and thus far they are all negative.
“We are conducting testing today at a Newport apartment complex that he had visited, and we are supporting those residents on the ground.”
Health Minister Martin Foley said genomic sequencing had “narrowed the gap”, in terms of building a picture of the traffic controller’s link to the Maribyrnong outbreak.
“But it hasn’t provided us that direct link, and we’re looking hard for that direct link,” he said.
Asked which part of the Maribyrnong outbreak the case was likely linked to, Mr Foley said he “wouldn’t like to speculate”.
“There’s a number of different prospects as to was it work related, was it social contact related, and we’re working through all of those aspects,” he said.
READ MORE: Traffic controller tests positive
Rachel Baxendale 11.46am: Covid-19 fragments detected in Victorian wastewater
Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said authorities were concerned about detections of coronavirus fragments in sewage samples taken from suburbs in Melbourne’s east and west.
A second detection has been picked up in the Camberwell area, in Melbourne’s east, for the period spanning July 26-29. This follows an earlier detection for July 25-27.
In Melbourne’s outer northwest, coronavirus fragments have been detected at the Caroline Springs water treatment plant between July 26-28.
This plant covers a long list of nearby suburbs including Albanvale, Burnside, Burnside Heights, Caroline Springs, Deer Park, Delahey, Hillside, Keilor Downs, Kings Park, Plumpton, Sydenham, Taylors Hill and Taylors Lakes.
“That is a lot of communities and a lot of people, but the wastewater detection is our early warning signal,” Mr Foley said.
“Please, if you are showing the slightest of symptoms, come forward and get yourself tested.”
Health authorities are not aware of positive cases in these areas.
The detections may indicate viral shedding from recovered cases who are no longer infectious, or they may be in quarantined close contacts who are yet to test positive, but authorities remain concerned that they could also be a sign of as-yet undetected cases who have been infectious in the community.
Ellie Dudley11.42am:Year 12 teachers won’t be prioritised for Pfizer
Year 12 teachers will not be prioritised alongside students for the Pfizer jabs set to be delivered at Qudos Bank Arena, as Gladys Berejiklian urges them to organise the AstraZeneca jab for themselves.
The NSW Premier on Friday announced the sporting stadium in western Sydney would be used to administer 20,000 jabs to students in hotspot areas next week.
But teachers will not be getting the jab through the new program.
“There is nothing stopping teachers getting vaccinated now, AstraZeneca is available,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“It’s only two or three days of waiting, so if you book today, you are likely to get (it soon).”
READ MORE:Principals in the dark on Covid rules
Ellie Dudley11.37am:Covid-infected person may have attended protests
A Covid-19 infected person may have attended anti-lockdown protests, says NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant.
Dr Chant said investigations were ongoing, but if it is revealed they did in fact attend, they would have been infectious while in the crowds.
“I am not aware of any cases that have arisen from the protest but many people may choose not to disclose that,” she said.
“We are following up one person to ascertain whether they actually had made it to the protest.
“Police did turn that person away and issued an infringement to them. We are currently working with police operationally to locate that person and determine whether they actually did subsequently attend the protest.”
NSW health authorities are urging Sydneysiders not to attend another anti-lockdown protest scheduled for Saturday.
READ MORE:Fines increased as second protest looms
Ellie Dudley11.25am:‘If you are not home, we will take action against you’
Police commissioner Mick Fuller says the “primary reason” he called in the defence force to help with the Covid-19 outbreak was to increase compliance checks in south-west and western Sydney.
It is not mandatory for the ADF to have been vaccinated against the virus.
“(We have) well over 2000 premises that we have to visit to make sure that people who have Covid or a close contact are abiding by the health orders,” he said.
Mr Fuller spoke to an incident on Friday morning of a positive Covid-19 case who attempted to go to work on a building site despite having contracted the virus.
“That sort of behaviour is exactly why we need strong health orders, law enforcement and defence, getting the highest level of compliance.”
Covid-19 positive patients or close contacts will “absolutely get a knock on the door” by NSW Police or the Australian Defence Force,” he added.
“If you are not home, we will take action against you, whether criminal or $1000 infringement.”
“From the perspective of the damage that this will cause if people do not listen, I think it puts us back into the lockdown and that is the key message and we are supported by the community, taking strong action against people who are not staying at home.”
Up to 300 ADF personnel will be sent to Sydney to help enforce compliance with the health orders.
READ MORE: Sydney wakes to stricter Covid-19 rules
Ellie Dudley11.15am:Protesters urged to stay home this weekend
NSW authorities have urged anyone planning to illegally protest against lockdown measures to stay home.
The pleas come after more than 3500 protestors fronted the Sydney CBD last Saturday for a condemned anti-lockdown rally.
“Your actions will hurt, forget about the rest of us, but you could be taking the disease home and passing it on to your parents, your siblings, your brothers and sisters or anybody you might have limited contact with,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.
“Do not give those you love the most a death sentence.”
Police commissioner Mick Fuller said any protestors who arrived for a rally on the weekend would be met with over 1000 police officers.
“The strike force from last week has locked up over 60 individuals and issued over 200 infringements and that will continue so if you turn up, you can expect the same sense of force,” he said.
Ellie Dudley11.11am:187 in NSW hospitals with Covid, 58 in ICU
Up to 187 people are currently in NSW hospitals due to Covid-19, 58 of which are in intensive care and 24 requiring ventilation.
“I think this underscores the severity of COVID,” NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said.
“It is critical that we continue to follow the help advice and work together to see these numbers drop.”
Dr Chant called on NSW residents to present for testing as soon as symptoms arise.
“ Tragically, we’ve seen people present very late for care,” she said.
“When people present late, we haven’t got the opportunity to provide them with the great care that our health services can provide.”
Ellie Dudley11.09am:NSW Premier to ask national cabinet for more vaccines
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she would use today’s national cabinet meeting to call in the commonwealth for more Covid-19 vaccines, as well as early release of NSW’s allocated doses.
“It’s really important for us to get as many jabs in arms as possible because more jabs in arms means more freedom for all of us,” she said.
“I’ll be fighting for more vaccines but also calling for New South Wales to be given its proportion sooner, as soon as we can, so we can get jabs in arms.
The total number of vaccines administered in NSW is now 3,732,331, with 1,446,995 doses administered by NSW Health to 8pm last night and 2,285,336 administered by the GP network and other providers to 11.59pm on Wednesday 28 July 2021.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 30, 2021
“I don’t want any issue of holding back on vaccines for months. If the vaccines are in Australia, we want New South Wales to get its share because that will help us in keeping people out of hospital but also slowing the spread and a chance of freedom.”
Ms Berejiklian announced the Qudos Bank Arena would be used to vaccinate year 12 students in hotspot areas from August 9.
“There are about 20,000 students will be getting them done from the Monday to Friday, getting all those jabs in of those high school students doing year 12 in those eight local government areas of concern,” she said.
Ellie Dudley 11.02am: NSW records another 170 new cases
NSW has recorded 170 new locally-acquired cases of Covid-19 as infections in greater Sydney continue to surge.
At least 42 cases were active in the community for the entirety of their infectious period.
“That is the number we want to see come down in order for us to have that level of freedom that all of us are desperately wanting to have,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.
Up to 95,000 tests were conducted in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
Ms Berejiklian said the state authorities expect the case numbers to “bounce around”, despite today’s cases being significantly lower than Thursday’s.
Rachel Baxendale10.53am:Victoria’s three new cases linked to known outbreaks
Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley has given details of the state’s three latest coronavirus cases at his daily Covid-19 briefing.
The three locally acquired cases are all linked to known outbreaks and in people who were in isolation for the duration of their infectious period.
One is in a household contact of a student at Bacchus Marsh Grammar.
The second of Friday’s cases is a close contact of cases at the Isola apartment building in Burnley St, Richmond.
Reported yesterday: 3 new local cases and 0 new cases acquired overseas.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) July 29, 2021
- 19,136 vaccine doses were administered
- 43,542 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl1hf3W#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicData [1/2] pic.twitter.com/aN9kHFMmcY
Mr Foley said this case lives on the same floor as three previous cases in the building - the first of whom was linked to the Ms Frankie/AAMI Park cluster.
The person has been in hotel quarantine for the duration of their infectious period.
Friday’s third case is in a Trinity Grammar staff member who had been quarantining on Phillip Island for the duration of their infectious period.
Mr Foley said the positive result explained previous coronavirus fragment detections in sewage from the island.
There are six people in Victorian hospitals with coronavirus, two of whom are in ICU, and one of whom is on a ventilator.
Mr Foley said authorised officers had made 1157 visits on Thursday Victorians in home quarantine.
“Overwhelmingly, well into the high 90 per cents, were all doing the right thing in isolating throughout,” he said.
Ellie Dudley10.51am:Australia’s 80 per cent vaccine goal ‘achieveable’
The 80 per cent goal of Australians vaccinated is “achievable”, with “90 per cent” of Australians claiming they are prepared to get the jab, Grattan Institute’s Stephen Duckett says.
“The surveys show that 90 per cent of Australians are happy to be vaccinated,” Dr Duckett told Sky News.
The issue, Dr Duckett said, is some people are saying they are happy to take the jab, but “just not yet.”
If vaccines can be approved for two to 11-year-olds, he believes the goal can be achieved by Christmas.
“If not, it is going to take a bit longer, maybe by March,” he said.
“The goal is achievable, and the benefits are really good.”
Ellie Dudley10.23am:New modelling reveals jab rate needed to open borders
Australia would need 95 per cent of seniors and 70 per cent of people under 60 vaccinated against Covid-19 to open the borders, one of the nation’s leading research institutes has found.
New modelling from Melbourne’s Burnet Institute shows that without those targets met, Australia’s borders must stay shut or else risk thousands of deaths.
Even if the vaccination rates reach the stipulated levels, face masks and some restrictions on gatherings would need to be reintroduced during large outbreaks, the modelling found.
Scott Morrison will today discuss vaccine targets proposed in a report from The Doherty Institute with state leaders at national cabinet in an effort to reach a consensus on how to ease restrictions, prevent lockdowns and gradually reopen the borders.
Rachel Baxendale 10.06am:Victorian health update coming up shortly
Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley and departmental deputy secretary in charge of contact tracing, Kate Matson, are due to address the media at 10.30am
The press conference comes as Victoria recorded three new locally-acquired coronavirus cases on Friday, all of which are linked to known outbreaks and in people who were in quarantine throughout their infectious period.
Ellie Dudley9.59am:NSW Premier to front media at 11am
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian will front the media for her regular press conference at 11am, following a record number of 239 cases for the state on Thursday.
She will speak alongside NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard, chief health officer Kerry Chant and NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller.
More than 70 of Thursday’s cases were active in the community for their entire infectious period.
Lydia Lynch 9.35am:Queensland won’t change jab advice for younger Aussies
Queensland will not change vaccine advice for younger Australians after an international study found similar blood clot risks between the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs.
A study of 1.3 million Spanish people, published in the Lancet this week, found patients were more likely to develop blood clots from Covid-19 than vaccines.
Chief health officer Jeannette Young said she had been “aware of that data of course for quite some time”.
“The clotting I am worried about, that we are all worried about for AstraZeneca is different to that,” she said.
“Lots and lots of Australians get blood clots in their legs - deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary emboli - all the time, it is actually quite a common health condition.
“This other condition, thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) is quite different.”
Dr Young agreed the risk of general blood clots was no higher after a vaccine, but TTS was a rarer and more worrying condition.
“We have not seen that specific syndrome with Pfizer or Moderna or the mRNA vaccines,” she said.
Dr Young has advised people under the age of 40 not to get the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“Anyone who is 60 years of age, or older, you are the most at risk group. We know that if you get infected you have a high risk of getting severe disease and potentially dying,” she said.
“We have plenty of AstraZenca vaccine available out in Queensland.”
READ MORE: ‘If you’re over 18, get any vaccine you can, now’
Ellie Dudley9.29am:PNG to destroy thousands of donated vaccines
Papua New Guinea will have to destroy thousands of donated doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that have now expired.
It is estimated up to 15,000 doses of AstraZeneca expired in the country on Thursday, which were donated by the UN’s COVAX vaccine program.
Final figures will be provided by Papua New Guinean health authorities in coming days.
Around 82,000 people (9 per cent) of the country’s population have received the first dose of the jab.
The low uptake is understood to be due to widespread vaccine hesitancy and logistical issues.
Ellie Dudley 9.25am:CHO ‘struggling’ to work out how Brisbane 17yo infected
Queensland’s chief health officer Jeannette Young said she was “struggling” to understand how a 17-year-old girl in Brisbane contracted Covid-19.
State health authorities were alerted that the student of Indooroopilly State High School tested positive for the virus at midnight on Thursday.
“We will have to wait until we have genome sequencing results back later today to be able to work out from where she has got this,” Dr Young said.
“We do know that we have had 13 incursions of the virus into Queensland over the last six weeks, and we know any particular outbreak, someone can get infected, not have symptoms and then spread the virus to someone else.”
Dr Young said it was “critically important” for Queenslanders to remain cautious and get vaccinated.
Rachel Baxendale8.40am:Victoria records three new local cases
Victoria has three new locally-acquired in the 24 hours to Friday.
All three cases are linked to the state’s current outbreaks, and all were in quarantine throughout their infectious period, the health department says.
Reported yesterday: 3 new local cases and 0 new cases acquired overseas.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) July 29, 2021
- 19,136 vaccine doses were administered
- 43,542 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl1hf3W#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicData [1/2] pic.twitter.com/aN9kHFMmcY
Friday’s three cases follow seven on Thursday, eight on Wednesday, 10 on Tuesday and 11 cases on each of Monday and Sunday, all of whom had similarly been in isolation throughout their infectious period.
There were 12 locally acquired cases on Saturday, 14 last Friday and an outbreak peak of 26 on Thursday July 22.
The latest cases bring the total number of community acquired cases since two incursions from NSW emerged just over a fortnight ago to 108.
There are currently 200 active cases, including up to 10 active cases acquired overseas - although there were no new overseas-acquired cases in the 24 hours to Friday.
Several of those infected during the current outbreaks have recovered, and more are expected to do so in coming days.
The latest cases come after 43,542 tests were processed on Thursday, up from 42,009 on Wednesday, 35,863 on Tuesday and 24,340 on Monday, but well down from the July 20 Victorian record of 59,355.
READ MORE: Cheap fares may tempt corporate customers back to Virgin Australia
LYDIA LYNCH8.20am:Brisbane schoolgirl tests positive to Covid overnight
A Brisbane schoolgirl who tested positive to Covid overnight is Queensland’s only new local case detected overnight. The 17-year-old girl became unwell on Thursday and tested positive last night.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said her diagnosis was “concerning” as authorities do not know how she was infected.
The girl’s family of five, who live at Taringa, are being tested.
Friday 30 July – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) July 29, 2021
1 new locally acquired case recorded in Queensland overnight.
1 new overseas acquired case, detected in hotel quarantine.#covid19pic.twitter.com/FpsMIO1plm
Indooroopilly State School was closed for deep cleaning last night.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the teenager was unknowingly contagious at school for two days. There are 43 active cases in the state.
READ MORE: Pacific paradise Saipan’s virus success leaves Bali in the shade
Adria Calatayud8am:Lancet publishes latest data on AstraZeneca risks
AstraZeneca says analysis of its Covid-19 vaccine showed no increased incidence of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome after a second dose.
The estimated rate of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome was 2.3 for every million vaccines, with incidence rates comparable to those among unvaccinated individuals, the Cambridge, UK-based pharmaceutical company said.
After the first dose, the rate was 8.1 per million vaccines, AstraZeneca said. No specific risk factors or definitive cause have been identified in the safety data, the company said.
AstraZeneca said the data was published in the medical journal The Lancet, and that its database included reported cases of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome globally up to April 30 occurring within 14 days of administration of the first or second dose of its vaccine. - Dow Jones
READ MORE: Explainer - How contagious is the Delta variant?
LYDIA LYNCH7.50am:Brisbane school closes after student tests positive
A Brisbane school has closed after a student tested positive to Covid-19. In an email to parents, Indooroopilly State High School confirmed a 48- hour shutdown to allow for deep cleaning.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the student had not caught the virus from a returned traveller. About 2000 students attend the school in Brisbane’s inner west.
Chief health officer Jeannette Young and Health Minister Yvette D’Ath will provide an update at 8:15am.
READ MORE: Unvaccinated risk exclusion from ordinary joys of life
Ellie Dudley7.40am:Dutton won’t reveal vaccine target to reopen borders
Minister for Defence Peter Dutton has refused to give an indication of what level of vaccination Australia needs to reopen international borders.
National Cabinet is set to meet on Friday to further discussions about opening up, based on modelling from the Doherty Institute.
Asked directly what percentage of Australians need to be vaccinated to permit international travel and prevent further lockdown, Mr Dutton said: “I’ll leave that to the PM.”
“The Doherty Institute has done a lot of work with universities and experts around the country,” he told Channel 9’s Today. “If you live in Queensland or in Victoria or elsewhere around the country at the moment, look at what’s happening in NSW.
“It could happen here tomorrow. We’re fortunate in Queensland at the moment but if you think you’ve got time to get vaccinated or you don’t think it’s going to happen, think again.”
Mr Dutton also voiced his support for vaccine passports as Australia looks to open up.
“We are going to have, I think, a situation where some people will refuse to be vaccinated,” he said. “The economy is not going to stay closed. We’ve not going to stop people seeing their family member or kids going to school because we’ve got a minority of Australians who don’t want to be vaccinated or don’t want to do the right thing.”
READ MORE: PM must wage war on the anti-vaxxers to save his job
AFP7.30am:Biden steps up fight against Delta virus surge
President Joe Biden stepped up actions to combat the spread of the surging Delta variant of the coronavirus, asking every US federal worker to either declare they are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 or wear masks and be tested.
“We have the tools to prevent this new wave of Covid from shutting down our businesses, our schools, our society as we saw happen last year,” he said in a speech on his administration’s new initiatives.
The White House said just ahead of the address that all four million federal employees and on-site contractors “will be asked to attest to their vaccination status.” Those who do not declare they are fully vaccinated will be required to wear a mask on the job regardless of location, physically distance from co-workers, and “comply with a weekly or twice weekly screening testing requirement.”
The moves stop short of a full-on vaccination mandate for federal workers - something that was being considered as the administration was mulling ways to protect federal workers and set an example for the private sector.
But Biden said the nation needed to remain vigilant. “We are not fully out of the woods,” he said, urging Americans not to make the issues of vaccination or wearing masks political ones.
“This is not about red states and blue states. It’s literally about life and death.”
Biden will direct the Pentagon to study adding Covid vaccinations to its list of required vaccinations for members of the US military.
He also called on state and local governments to offer $US100 as an incentive for holdouts to get vaccinated -- a nod to what the White House described as successful cash-for-jab efforts already implemented in some states.
The rules regarding getting vaccinated or masking up and getting regularly tested should not just apply to federal workers, with Biden set to urge private sector employers to follow suit, according to the White House.
“The federal government, we see ourselves as a model for other companies and other organisations, and that’s something that we don’t take lightly,” said White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
READ MORE: Senate clears way for Joe Biden’s build bill
Ellie Dudley7.15am:Busy schedule for today’s National Cabinet meeting
National cabinet will meet today to discuss the matters of lockdown and reopening Australia’s borders. Topics will include support payments, which the prime minister has announced will be increased, as well as the vaccine rollout.
Modelling from the Doherty Institute regarding the roadmap to reopening will also be up for discussion. The modelling was commissioned earlier this month, and outlines the steps to be taken to rebuild the Australian economy and resume international travel.
Overseas, the UK about two weeks ago started to open up their borders, as almost 70 per cent of the population is vaccinated. Meanwhile in the Netherlands, the government was forced to reimpose restrictions after the virus resurfaced when borders were opened at a 50 per cent vaccination rate.
READ MORE: Treasury updates its assumptions on frequency of lockdowns
Ellie Dudley6.55am:‘Throw the book’ at the GPs charging for vaccines
President of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Karen Price says the “book should be thrown” at any GP charging patients for the Covid-19 vaccine.
Patients at the Blessed Health Care clinic in Campsie have been asked to pay up to $250 for a vaccine consultation on their first visit with a second dose costing a further $120.
Dr Price said that was “absolutely not on.” “It’s not in the spirit what we signed up to and it’s not what most GPs are doing,” she told ABC News Breakfast.
Calling on a “full investigation” into the matter, Dr Price said her understanding was the people charged didn’t have access to Medicare.
“The people arriving at the clinic were workers from a local construction site who are overseas citizens so there is some difficulty for them accessing Medicare,” she said.
“There was a language barrier so they found navigating the state hundreds where it’s available to them for free difficult. So there were some circumstances here and it needs to be thoroughly investigated and if there was any breach of the rules, absolutely throw the book at them.”
READ MORE: Blessed Health Care in Campsie shamed after charging $250 for Covid vaccine
CLIONA O’DOWD6.45am:This won’t be the last lockdown, warns Macquarie
Australia is at risk of several more months of lockdowns due to low vaccination rates, Macquarie Group has warned.
But the investment banking giant is hopeful the nation can hasten its vaccination rollout and expects much of the population to be vaccinated by the end of the year.
Speaking on the sidelines of Macquarie’s annual meeting on Thursday, chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake revealed a still-cautious stance on the near-term economic outlook, with Macquarie closely watching the government’s next fiscal stimulus steps.
Ms Wikramanayake and Macquarie chairman Peter Warne were also forced to defend the company’s role in the disastrous Nuix float, telling shareholders the bank’s own review found it had followed its “usual rigorous standards” in its handling of the IPO.
“The challenge for us in Australia is that our vaccination rate is low, and we’re seeing in places like the UK where there’s a higher vaccination rate and the Delta variant is right there, that they are actually able to treat it more like a flu”.
“Until we get some much greater vaccination rates, we will have to work with potential lockdowns,” she warned.
Read the full story here.
Ellie Dudley6.20am:Police ‘well prepared’ for another Sydney protest
NSW Police Minister David Elliott says he is “very concerned” another illegal anti-lockdown protest will happen in Sydney on Saturday, but the police are “well prepared”.
About 3500 angry Sydneysiders fronted the CBD last weekend to rally against the strict lockdown measures the NSW government has imposed to fight the coronavirus.
With plans bubbling away on social media for another large-scale rally on Saturday, Mr Elliott said police have “redoubled” their efforts.
“NSW police are well prepared for any contingency tomorrow,” he told Channel 9’s Today.
“Now, we’ve got further support from the Australian Defence Force. The message is clear. Don’t go out tomorrow. Don’t attend any illegal protests tomorrow.”
"If we need them for two weeks, that's great, if we need them for two months, well that capability's there."
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) July 29, 2021
The army has been called in to reinforce Sydney's lockdown. #9Todaypic.twitter.com/6IAEfcVU6T
On Thursday afternoon the NSW government called on additional targeted support from the ADF to fight the growing outbreaks in southwest and western Sydney.
Mr Elliott defended the government against criticisms they should have made the decision earlier. “We’ve had ADF support for 18 months. We’ve had 200 soldiers, sailors and airmen assisting us with this particular operation since the beginning of the pandemic,” he said.
“What we’re seeing is right across west Sydney now, an extra 300 but they will be supporting police on operations. This is an important message to the community, that all levels of government are taking this seriously.”
He added that the ADF would be present in the community for “as long as we need them for.”
READ MORE:Army called in to curb runaway Covid-19
Ellie Dudley6am:New exposure sites added to NSW list of venues
A series of new Covid-19 exposure sites have been added to NSW Health’s list of venues, after the state recorded another day of record cases. A total of 239 infections were reported on Thursday - the highest daily number so far for the latest outbreak - up to 70 of which were active in the community for their entire infectious period.
Anyone who visited the following venues at the stipulated times have also been classified as a close contact, and must be tested and isolate for 14 days regardless of the result.
Campsie: Crazy Nonna, 60 Charlotte Street, Saturday July 24 12pm to 9pm, Sunday July 25 12pm to 4pm;
Croydon: Ampol, 404/410 Liverpool Road, Friday July 23 10.20am to 10.35am;
Camperdown: 7-Eleven, 2/10 Missenden Road, Sunday July 25 9.45am to 10am, Tuesday July 27 6.55am to 7.05am;
Campsie: Limra Indian Spices, 286 Beamish Street, Monday July 26 12.50pm to 1.10pm;
Belfield: Mancini’s Original Woodfired Pizza, 21 Burwood Road, Friday July 23, 12pm to 9pm;
âš ï¸PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT – VENUES OF CONCERNâš ï¸
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 29, 2021
NSW Health has been notified of a number of new and updated venues of concern associated with confirmed cases of COVID 19. pic.twitter.com/yegzwYQnEY
Those who attended any of the following venues at the time listed are classified as casual contacts, and should get tested immediately and isolate until a negative result is received:
Liverpool: Liverpool Post Office, 244-250 Macquarie Street, Thursday July 22 2.20pm to 2.35pm;
Liverpool: Black and White Pharmacy, 337B Hume Highway, Saturday July 24, 1.35pm to 1.50pm;
Edensor Park: Fred’s One Stop Shopping, 661-667 Smithfields Road, Saturday July 24 11.30am to 11.55am;
Blacktown: Woolworths, 17 Patrick Street, Friday July 23 4.05pm to 4.30pm, Monday July 26 5.00pm to 5.35pm;
Greenacre: 7-Eleven, 301 Hume Highway & Boronia Road, Thursday July 22 5am to 5.05am;
North Strathfield: Aldi, 20 George Street, Saturday July 24 10.30am to 11am;
Bass Hill: Aldi Bass Hill, 753 Hume Highway, Monday July 26 5.45pm to 6.30pm;
Casula: Maxi Chickens, Casula Shopping Mall, Saturday July 24 10.25am to 10.30am;
Cabramatta: Vt Building Materials, 41 Chadderton Street, Friday July 23 10.30am to 11am, Wednesday July 21 8.50am to 9.15am;
Lurnea: MediAdvice Pharmacy, Shop 1, 63 Hill Road, Saturday July 24, 1.10pm to 1.45pm;
Horningsea Park: Commonwealth Bank, Carnes Hill Marketplace, Corner Kurrajong Road & Cowpasture Road, Wednesday July 21 12.45pm to 1pm;
Horningsea Park: KFC Carnes Hill, Carnes Hill Marketplace, Corner Kurrajong Road & Cowpasture Road, Wednesday July 21 1.05pm to 1.20pm;
Ingleburn: Ingleburn Village Shopping Centre, 100 Macquarie Street, Wednesday July 28 5pm to 5.10pm;
Lilyfield: Cafe Lobby, 38 Frazer Street, Saturday July 24 10.40am to 10.55am;
Bella Vista: Frangos Charcoal Chicken, 29-31 Lexington Drive, Sunday July 25 2pm to 2.10pm;
Lidcombe: Costco, 17-21 Parramatta Road, Saturday July 24 11.30am to 12.55pm;
Blacktown: Kabul Halal Butchery, 1/60 Main Street, Saturday July 24 11.20am to 11.30am;
Casula: King Ananas, Casula Shopping Mall, Saturday July 24 10.15am to 10.25am;
Kirrawee: McDonalds, 559-563 Princes Highway, Monday July 26, 6.20am to 6.30am;
Canley Heights: Canley Heights Pharmacy, 227a Canley Vale Road, Saturday July 24 12pm to 12.44pm;
Canley Heights: Dai Thanh Grocery, 223B Canley Vale Road, Saturday July 24 1.15pm to 1.20pm;
Canley Heights: Yung Lee Tropical Fruits, 221 Canley Vale Road, Saturday July 24 1pm to 1.15pm;
Liverpool: Udaya Spices, 186 Macquarie Street, Saturday July 24 5.35pm to 5.55pm;
Bondi: My Flower Man, 32a Fletcher Street, Wednesday July 21 9.15am to 9.25am;
Wentworthville: Woolworths, 326/336 Great Western Highway, Sunday July 25 12.30pm to 1.15pm;
Parramatta: Westfield Parramatta - Top Level, 159-175 Church Street, Sunday July 25 1.40pm to 2pm;
Woolloomooloo: Vizio Cafe, 1/52 - 58 William Street, Monday 19 July 7am to 11am;
Bass Hill: Chemist Discount Centre, Shop 33, Bass Hill Plaza, 753 Hume Highway, Tuesday July 27 5pm to 5.30pm;
Rooty Hill: Fresh Food Market, 56 Rooty Hill Road, Monday July 26 12.50pm to 1.10pm;
Bankstown: Bakers Delight, Bankstown Central, Shop 372, Stacey Street & North Terrace Thursday July 22 9.30am to 11am;
Leppington: Woolworths Emerald Hills, Emerald Hills Shopping Village, 5 Emerald Hills Boulevard, Friday July 23 All day;
Parramatta: Kmart, Westfield Parramatta, 159-175 Church Street, Sunday July 25 1.45pm to 1.55pm;
Emerald Hills: Aldi, 5 Emerald Hills Boulevarde, Saturday July 24 3.50pm to 4.25pm;
Parramatta: Breadtop, Shop 5029, 159-175 Church Street, Sunday July 25 1.50pm to 2pm;
Cabramatta: Hungry Jacks, 401 Cabramatta Road, Thursday July 22 9.25am to 9.40am
Fairfield Heights: Woolworths, 186 The Boulevarde, Thursday July 22 9.30pm to 9.40pm, Friday July 23 9.25pm to 9.40pm, Sunday July 25 3.40pm to 3.55pm;
Prestons: Fruit Central, 2 Lyn Parade, Saturday July 24 2pm to 2.30pm;
Wollongong: Coles Express, 142-148 Corrimal Street, Sunday July 25 6pm to 6.05pm;
Casula: Priceline, Casula Mall, 38/1 Ingham Drive, Thursday July 22 4.25pm to 4.45pm.
READ MORE:‘If you’re over 18, get any Covid-19 vaccine you can, now’, says expert
Eric Sylvers5.30am:EU overtakes US in Covid-19 vaccines
The European Union passed the US in Covid-19 vaccinations, with the continent inoculating people at a sustained pace and America struggling to convince vaccine holdouts to get a shot, as the Delta variant spreads.
The EU has given at least one vaccine shot to 259 million people, or 58.3 per cent of the total population of its 27 member countries as of Thursday, according to figures compiled by Our World in Data, an Oxford University project tracking the global vaccine rollout. The US has reached 56.7% of its population, equivalent to 189 million people.
The EU has boosted its figure by 9 percentage points in the past month while the US managed less than a 3-point increase. The vaccine drive in the EU and the US has gained new urgency in recent weeks as the more contagious Delta variant of the virus sweeps across the globe. Infections have risen quickly in both places, pushing political leaders and public health experts to seek new ways to get people motivated to get vaccinated.
In Europe, some governments are seeking to convince people by putting restrictions on those who don’t get vaccinated. France and Italy recently announced new rules requiring vaccination, a recent negative test or proof of recovery from Covid for people who want to partake in some aspects of daily life such as indoor dining at restaurants or going to the gym.
The measures haven’t been universally accepted, with people demonstrating against the requirements in France and Italy. — Dow Jones
READ MORE:AstraZeneca vaccine? Under 60s decide to give it a shot
Geoff Chambers5am:Targeted lockdowns ‘to run into new year’
Scott Morrison and national cabinet leaders are preparing for targeted lockdowns to run into next year, with Treasury updating its assumptions on the frequency and economic ramifications of Covid-19 restrictions in response to the highly contagious Delta strain.
Scenarios prepared by the Doherty Institute outlining the optimal vaccine coverage required for Australia to begin opening up have been shared with Treasury officials, who have been tasked with modelling the economic costs of various health outcomes.
The Australian understands Treasury is updating its assumptions on the frequency of lockdowns and other Covid-19 restrictions, which will be provided to national cabinet leaders to balance the health and economic advice.
Ahead of today’s national cabinet meeting at which state and territory leaders will be briefed on the Doherty Institute’s preliminary findings, the Prime Minister refused to commit to lockdowns ending by the end of the year, saying “no one can give those guarantees”.
“The virus is unpredictable and it would be irresponsible to do so,” he said.
The Morrison government’s cautious approach comes after countries with high vaccination rates – including Singapore and Israel – were recently forced to reintroduce lockdowns and Covid-19 restrictions in response to new Delta outbreaks.
Read the full story, by Geoff Chambers and Patrick Commins, here.
Yoni Bashan4.45am:Army called in to curb runaway Covid-19
Health officials have been unable to identify the source of almost 800 Covid-19 infections in Sydney’s latest outbreak, as contract tracers struggle to keep pace with the spread of the virus and new cases reach record levels.
After case numbers jumped to 239 on Thursday, up from 177 the day before, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian called in the Australian Defence Force to help enforce compliance with lockdown measures and tightened restrictions on the eight worst-affected local government areas.
With the number of people infectious while in the community increasing, official figures show 779 Covid-19 cases remained under investigation late on Thursday, including dozens of infections stretching back a fortnight.
The source of 118 cases recorded in the first two weeks of July remains under investigation.
Among the tighter restrictions imposed by the NSW government on Thursday in the eight hardest-hit areas were mandated mask use outdoors and a 5km travel limit. Fines have been increased, and police given the power to shut non-compliant workplaces.
Read the full story here.
Glenda Korporaal4.30am:Get Covid-19 vaccination or stay home: NAB
National Australia Bank chief executive Ross McEwan has told people who do not want to get vaccinated that they can “stay at home” while those who are vaccinated should be given more freedom.
In some of the strongest comments by a business leader, in an interview on Melbourne radio 3AW, Mr McEwan urged Australians to get vaccinated.
Mr McEwan said a survey by the bank found that 80 per cent of Australians were “happy to get vaccinated.”
“Ten per cent say they’ll swing and 10 per cent say, ‘Not for me, thank you’,” he said.
“Let’s target the 80 per cent who do want to get the job done and get the vaccination into their arms. Then work on the 10 per cent who can be swung across. Then let’s open this economy up because everybody’s had a chance.
“Let’s get 90 per cent of the population vaccinated and give them freedom. For those that don’t want the vaccination, well they can stay at home.”
Read the full story here.
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