Coronavirus Australia live news: NSW records 319 new cases; Victoria records 29 new cases; Queensland records 13 new cases
The NSW Opposition says it will support tougher lockdown measures to try to reign in the state’s spiralling Covid crisis, after 319 new cases on Saturday.
- NSW records 319 cases, Armidale lockd down
- Queensland records 13 new cases
- Victoria records 29 new cases, none isolating
- ‘False information’ led to regional lockdown
- PM’s plea to US for excess vaccine doses
- NSW contact tracers’ big change of tactics
- Victoria tops 100 exposures sites, amid flight risk
That concludes our live updates of the Covid-19 pandemic. Here is how the day unfolded:
The NSW Opposition says it will support tougher lockdown measures to try to reign in the state’s spiralling Covid crisis, after 319 new cases on Saturday marked the state’s darkest day this year.
Five weeks into the current Greater Sydney lockdown, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard revealed a third of Saturday’s new cases were out and about in the community while infectious, despite daily pleas for people to stay home.
Five more deaths - including three linked to a ballooning cluster at Liverpool Hospital’s geriatric ward sparked by an infected nurse - have pushed the death toll from this outbreak to 27, with authorities citing a growing number of young people left desperately ill with Delta and requiring ventilation in intensive care.
Meanwhile, a new epicentre of the virus is emerging in the Canterbury-Bankstown local government area. Mr Hazzard said general compliance with public health orders as well as the region’s reliance on manufacturing and distribution industries were behind the spread there.
“The NSW government must hold to the strategy of bringing community transmission to zero or close to zero,” Labor leader Chris Minns told The Daily Telegraph.“If the CHO and NSW government think that more measures are needed, NSW Labor will support them.”
More than 340 people are now in hospital in NSW with coronavirus, 56 of them in intensive care. Of those, four are in their 20s, four are in their 30s, and three are in their 40s.
“So this disease is infecting people of all ages,” Deputy Chief Health Officer Jeremy McAnulty said on Saturday.
“Of the 56 people in ICU, 51 were not vaccinated at all, four had received the first to dose of AstraZeneca vaccine, and one has received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccines.”
Premier Gladys Berejiklian was criticised on social media for not attending Saturday’s press conference, instead leaving it to Mr Hazzard, who announced the 319 figure and a seven-day lockdown in regional Armidale after cases were detected there.
Victorians were also dealt a blow, with 29 new cases - the state’s highest daily increase in this second wave - casting doubt over the likelihood of lockdown 6.0 lifting next by week.
Premier Daniel Andrews conceded mystery cases were behind two separate outbreaks in the city’s west, with genomic testing pointing to a link with NSW’s Delta outbreak.
Cormac Pearson9.00pm:‘Knife’s edge’: QLD Health Minister’s plea
Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath has called on Queenslanders not to “undo all the hard work” after footage showed people mingling at a popular market in Brisbane this morning.
Footage showed groups of people sitting together at the Jan Powers Farmers Markets at Brisbane Powerhouse in New Farm which is classified as essential, with some seemingly without masks.
“With southeast Queensland on a knife-edge, we’re asking everyone to stay home and not leave their front door unless it’s absolutely necessary,” Ms D’Ath said.
“Now is not the time to undo all our great work, and eating out at the markets can probably wait.
“The purpose of allowing food stalls is for people to get essential groceries or takeaway food.
“If you go out, mask-up and socially distance – that’s what will get us through this.”
People took to social media in anger at the scenes with a decision on the end of the lockdown looming on Sunday.
Staff writers8.30pm:Construction workers in hotspots to return to work
The NSW government has announced unoccupied construction sites across Greater Sydney will operate at 50 per cent capacity from this Wednesday with enhanced COVID safe measures.
Deputy Premier John Barilaro said next week unoccupied construction sites will resume work with new worksite capacity limits and minimum vaccination requirements for workers from the eight affected local government areas (LGAs) including Blacktown, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Liverpool and Parramatta.
“We want workers back on the tools, but we need to continue to keep this virus at bay, and so by opening unoccupied worksites at 50 per cent capacity and vaccinating workers from within those affected LGAs, we can achieve both,” Mr Barilaro said.
“Construction workers from the affected LGAs will be added to the list of authorised workers allowing them to work on unoccupied construction sites in Greater Sydney if they meet the vaccination conditions.”
Construction workers from affected LGAs must provide evidence that they have received:
· two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, or
· one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at least three weeks before attending work, or
· one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and, if less than three weeks since that vaccine was administered, a negative COVID-19 test in the previous 72 hours.
Staff writers7.30pm:Labor will support tougher measures: Minns
NSW Labor leader Chris Minns said the State opposition would support further measures to bring the current outbreak under control should chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant suggest they were needed.
“The NSW Government must hold to the strategy of bringing community transmission to zero or close to zero,” he said. “If the CHO and NSW Government think that more measures are needed, NSW Labor will support them.
“We’re six weeks into this lockdown. Workers and businesses can’t afford months of rolling lockdowns. The people of NSW want the Government to get on top of the outbreak now.”
It comes after Australia’s most senior health official delivered a blunt assessment of the worsening Covid-19 situation in NSW as case numbers continue to soar.
Dr Paul Kelly said there were still worrying signs in Sydney in terms of unlinked cases, new chains of transmission, new exposure sites and geographic spread.
“There is clearly a need for a circuit-breaker. I’ve had many discussions with my colleague in NSW around that.”
READ MORE: Unmasking the truth about the path to freedom
Rhiannon Down6.30pm:NSW regional train route listed as exposure site
The regional train line from Broadmeadow to Armidale has been added to NSW’s list of exposure sites as the town in the state’s Northern Tablelands heads towards a one week lockdown starting at 5pm today.
Anyone who travelled on the XPT Regional Train from from Broadmeadow
to Armidale via Werris Creek on Thursday July 29 from 11.40am to 5.30pm has been asked to isolate and get tested.
âš ï¸PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT – NEW VENUES OF CONCERNâš ï¸
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) August 7, 2021
NSW Health has been notified of a number of new venues of concern associated with confirmed cases of COVID 19. pic.twitter.com/FOulcpx6Ur
It comes as reports of panic buying emerged from the regional centre, after the town became the third seeding event of the virus from Sydney, with Newcastle also in lockdown after a major infection scare.
And we are racing in the #COVID Cup! 😳🤯
— Alex Hunter (@AlHunterRural) August 7, 2021
Friday or Saturday is our normal feed (animals) & food shopping day. Discovered this in progress! 🤷â€â™‚ï¸#Woolies queues #Panic buying. #Armidale going into #lockdown at 5pm today. pic.twitter.com/VwvgmL5dpT
Belmore Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Centre and Commonwealth Bank in Burwood both in Sydney have also been added to NSW’s list of exposure sites.
Rebecca Urban5.30pm:HSC students told to get jabs
Year 12 students in Sydney’s tightly locked-down west and southwest have been urged to come forward to get vaccinated after the state government ordered them to continue to learn from home for the “foreseeable future”.
A flexible operating model for schools across Greater Sydney was announced on Friday, requiring all HSC exams to be conducted remotely but paving the way for HSC students to attend campus for learning or wellbeing support deemed “essential”.
The plan does not equate to a return to full-time schooling, with only small groups of students allowed on-site at a time and for no longer than two hours a day.
The proposal also does not extend to students living or learning in the eight local government areas of concern – Blacktown, Campbelltown, Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Georges River, Liverpool and Parramatta – with a return deemed too risky.
Read the full story here.
Rhiannon Down4.00pm:Vic tops 100 exposure sites, amid flight warning
A string of venues across Melbourne’s west have been added to Victoria’s list of exposure sites, as the number of hotspot venues reaches 100.
The new venues include Liquorland, United Chemists and The Lott at Taylors Hill Village Shopping Centre as well as multiple outlets at Caroline Springs (CS) Square Shopping Centre including Caroline Springs Pharmacy, with the full list available on the Department of Health website.
It comes after Victorian authorities raised the alarm about possible exposure which took place on a flight on July 15, after two family members of a Maribyrnong case who had just been released from Sydney hotel quarantine before travelling to Melbourne tested positive.
Victoria’s Covid-19 Response Commander Jeroen Weimar said the two people were “one of a number of possible leads” as to the source of the Melbourne outbreak.
The flight has not yet been added to Victoria’s list of exposure sites.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed this morning that the travellers was one of several “lines of inquiry” being investigated.
“We’re not running a commentary on NSW hotel quarantine or anything like that,” Mr Andrews said.
“But it is of sufficient concern that Jeroen has given out the flight number and we anticipate contacting each and every person who was on that flight.
“Not just because they might be a risk to public health now, but… they might fill in some of the blanks if you like as we look backwards and look up the stream, which is very important as well.”
Natasha Robinson3.30pm:Novavax booster doses to soon join stockpile
Novavax will apply for approval for its Covid-19 vaccine in Australia “within weeks” of making a similar application to regulators in Britain next month.
Although the company confirmed it would begin shipping doses to select countries by the end of August, the vaccine is not expected to begin arriving in Australia until after October, later than expected because of manufacturing delays.
The company has again delayed its application to the Food and Drug Administration for approval of its vaccine, with doses not expected to be supplied to the US until year’s end, but it has progressed with its first applications to regulators in India, Indonesia and The Philippines, and will begin shipping the first 100 million doses of its protein-based vaccine to those countries at the end of August.
Novavax expects to increase production to 150 million doses a month by the end of the year, and some of those doses will be shipped to Australia.
Read the full story here.
Frances Vinall3pm: Qld police reveal photo of quarantine escapee
Queensland Police have released an image of a woman who they say escaped from hotel quarantine on Tuesday night.
A spokesperson said the 24-year-old woman absconded from a Gold Coast quarantine hotel on August 3 and it is believed she may currently be in the Caboolture or Narangba area.
She was ordered into 14 days of isolation at the Sofitel at Broadbeach on Monday.
But the following night she forced her way through a glass door to escape and remains on the run, police say.
The woman was tested on Tuesday which returned a negative result but a police spokesperson said further testing was required to confirm her Covid-19 status.
She had been placed into quarantine after she had travelled from the declared hotspot of New South Wales.
She was intercepted on July 31 at a border control check point by Queensland Police, a police spokesperson said.
“She left all her property behind, only taking her phone,” they said.
“Numerous inquiries have been made with friends and family but she has not been located.”
Police are urging anyone who may have seen the woman pictured or know of her whereabouts to contact Policelink or Crime Stoppers.
READ MORE:Queensland lockdown end uncertain
Angie Raphael2.35pm:State gets major Pfizer boost
Victoria will soon have access to 150,000 more doses of the Pfizer vaccine after striking up a deal with the Prime Minister.
It comes as Victoria recorded 29 new cases on Saturday during the state’s sixth lockdown since the pandemic started.
Premier Daniel Andrews revealed more Pfizer jabs would soon be delivered to the state.
“Last night, I was very pleased to be informed by the Prime Minister ... that we will receive just under 150,000 additional doses of Pfizer,” he told reporters.
Mr Andrews said the decision came after a request had been made by the national cabinet and at an officer level before that.
The doses have been reallocated from a delivery planned for September.
“We’ll have announcements to make about where those extra doses will go and whether there’s any change to the way that the vaccine will be rolled out because we’ve got that supply,” Mr Andrews said.
“I do stress ... it’s not 150,000 we were never getting. It is a bring forward. It will all even out over time.”
More than 22,000 jabs were administered on Friday.
Mr Andrews also said the government would have more to say “quite soon” about making AstraZeneca vaccines available for people under the age of 60 at state-run vaccination hubs.
Younger Victorians can currently only get the AstraZeneca jab through GP clinics.
READ MORE:Change of tactics to keep up with cases rush
Rhiannon Down1.53pm:Geriatric ward a major site of infection
Liverpool Hospital has emerged as a major site of infection after 29 patients from the geriatric ward and four staff contracted Covid-19 from staff members who unknowingly worked while infectious.
It comes after four of today’s five deaths were revealed to be linked to the hospital.
“Condolences go out to those families for those people who have died,” NSW Health’s Dr Jeremy McAnulty said.
“The hospital take this very seriously, this is a tragedy to occur, and everyone is working very hard at the facility, and across NSW Health to protect patients, and staff members, so there were are a range of measures that take place when we have cases, or exposure to cases in hospitals or other health settings, of which we have had many of this outbreak.
“Added to that is a careful review of infection control, and making sure that people who have been exposed are given the right information about what they need to do in terms of isolation, and further testing.”
READ MORE:Premier’s false justification for regional lockdown
Rhiannon Down1.30pm:NSW Health backflips on Year 12 plan
NSW Health has backflipped on it’s proposal to bus Year 12 students in Sydney’s west into the Qudos Bank Arena to receive their Pfizer jabs to enable them to complete the HSC.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the decision was made not to transport the students due to issues surrounding supervision, and they would now have to make their own arrangements.
“Education did their bit, trying hard to work with health on the buses but let’s just say the staff apparently weren’t that keen to be supervising the education staff,” he said.
“In the end it was decided that a lot of the kids, young people have their own licenses anyway and their mums and dads have indicated they will be more than happy to take them so it is just a reasonable way to do it.
“As long as we get the young people along, and thank you for the opportunity to say a link has been sent to all 24,000 young people.”
The vaccination drive for Year 12 students will begin on Monday August 9.
READ MORE:Developer spared as graft case crumbles
Rhiannon Down1pm:Eight test positive in Melbourne public housing tower
The residents of a Flemington public housing tower will undergo testing after eight people within one family living in the building tested positive for Covid-19.
“Those eight positive cases relocated two days ago and last night,” Victoria’s Covid-19 Response Commander Jeroen Weimar said.
“One group left two days ago and one left last night. They are now in alternative and safe accommodation.
“We will undertake full testing of the rest of that housing building. That work is underway.
“Residents have been informed this morning and will continue to work over the coming days as we always do with complex apartment buildings, we will provide food and welfare support for the community.
“They will complete isolation, get tested and do the right thing.”
READ MORE:Change of tactics to keep up with cases rush
Frances Vinall12.50pm:Minister ‘sorry’ as virus escapes to the regions
Armidale in regional NSW will go into lockdown from 5pm on Saturday after two Covid-19 cases were detected in the area.
NSW Covid-19 Public Health Response Branch executive director Jeremy McAnulty said the cases were a woman who recently travelled to Newcastle and one of her household contacts.
The Armidale Local Government Area will go into lockdown for one week with the same rules as Sydney and Newcastle, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard confirmed.
“(That) includes the major city of Armidale, that is about 25,000 people,” he said.
“On the advice of a public health unit, and Dr (Kerry) Chant’s team, Armidale LGA will have to be put into a lockdown,” he said.
“I’m sorry to that people of Armadale local council area, I would say to you... this is been out of care and concern for your area.”
Mr Hazzard said the woman who travelled from Newcastle to Covid-free Armidale had “possibly” broken the rules with investigations ongoing.
“At the moment our focus is not on the punitive side, it is on trying to talk to the individuals.”
The seven-day lockdown from 5pm would allow a health team to get on top of the situation, he said.
“If I were living in the area I would not be going out of the house today, I would be staying at home,” he said.
Authorities are also concerned about another regional area, with sewage detections of Covid-19 in Dubbo.
Dr McNulty said there were no known cases in Dubbo and urged residents to get tested.
“Take it very seriously,” he said.
“If there is a case there, we need to find it to ensure the community is safe.”
In the Hunter New England region including Newcastle, six new cases were detected on Saturday.
READ MORE:City loses its dirty little secret
Rhiannon Down12.36pm:Victorian outbreak believed linked to NSW
Victoria’s latest Covid-19 outbreak is believed to be genomically linked to the NSW Delta outbreak, though an “absolute match” has not yet been found.
Victoria’s COVID Response Commander Jeroen Weimar said the Hobsons Bay strand had been confirmed to be linked to the Delta variant.
“We haven’t found a match to existing clusters here in Victoria or anywhere else in Australia but we are doing ongoing matching with other Australian rates,” he said.
“It is very closely associated with the NSW cluster and with the City of Hume and other clusters we have worked on here in Victoria there is a close commonality of the Delta strain and those clusters but more genomic work is being done.
“We don’t yet have an absolute match.”
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the source of the outbreak was “definitely NSW” and “definitely Delta”, though genomic tracing was yet to reveal the full picture.
“The question is, to what extent is it actually linked,” Mr Andrews said.
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Rhiannon Down12.16pm:New Victorian cases spread across two growing clusters
Victorian contact tracers are racing against the clock to contact 5520 close contacts linked to the latest outbreak, which plunged the state into a week-long lockdown on Friday.
The Victorian Premier has also continued to ram home the importance of getting tested at the first sign of illness, as the state recorded its biggest daily spike in infections on Saturday.
All of the 29 new cases today were out in the community during their infectious period.
“It is non-negotiable, you cannot wait one hour, cannot wait one afternoon,” Daniel Andrews has told a press conference.
“If you’ve got symptoms, a little cold and flu, the doctors tell us, in the community, that you have got to assume that you have got Covid, so please come to get tested.”
“That is how we shut this down, that is how we get lost just running alongside these cases, that is how we get out in front of it.”
Testing Commander Jeroen Weimar said Victoria now had 95 active cases in the community.
“Thirty of the active cases are associated with the Hobson’s Bay cluster,” he said.
“Eight active cases are with the city of Maribyrnong cluster. We have a total of 5520 primary close contacts. Three and a half thousand are associated with those outbreaks.
“We have 82 public exposure sites but those sites will continue to evolve over the coming days as we complete our contact tracing discussions with the new cases.
“In terms of the new cases reported today, four of those cases are family members in the City of Maribyrnong cluster. That was at four yesterday and at eight now. In terms of all other cases, all the other 25 today are associated with the Hobson’s Bay cluster.”
READ MORE:‘Older Aussies should encourage grandkids to get shots’
Christine Kellett11.51am:Daniel Andrews is addressing the media | WATCH LIVE
Victorian authorities are updating the public on the 29 new local Covid cases announced today — the state’s worst daily case rise in the second wave.
None of the 29 new cases were isolating during their infectious period, though all have been linked to known outbreaks.
Watch it live here:
Rhiannon Down11.50am: Delta epicentre moves to Canterbury-Bankstown area
NSW Health authorities say the epicentre of the virus has now shifted to the Canterbury-Bankstown area in Sydney’s west.
It comes after 92 cases were recorded in the LGA in the past 24 hours, while case numbers have declined in the Fairfield LGA.
“This is now the number one LGA for cases with 92 cases from yesterday from the Canterbury-Bankstown location,” NSW Health’s Dr Jeremy McAnulty said.
“We have had 489 cases in the last week so that is the most prominent LGA.
“People in the Canterbury-Bankstown LGA, please take extreme caution and follow the stay-at-home roles, follow all the rules for authorised workers, and keep each other safe.”
READ MORE:Dennis Shanahan — It’s time to lead, Mr Morrison
Christine Kellett 11.44am:Five now dead linked to Sydney hospital cluster
Of the five Covid-related deaths in NSW announced today, the youngest was a man in his 60s.
NSW Health Jeremy McAnulty said the others were a woman and two men in their 80s, and man in his 90s. Three of them died at Liverpool Hospital, which is at the centre of a growing outbreak.
So far four staff and 29 patients have been infected at the hospital, with five people dying as a result of the cluster.
Dr McAnulty said the hospital was reviewing its infection control procedures.
“Condolences go out to those families for those people who have died,” Dr McAnulty said.
“The hospital take this very seriously, this is a tragedy for this to occur, and everyone is working very hard at the facility, and across New South Wales Health to protect patients, and staff members.”
“There have now been 27 Covid-related deaths during the current outbreak, and 84 since the beginning of the pandemic,” Mr McAnulty said.
READ MORE:Chris Kenny — All proportion lost in the fear race
Rhiannon Down11.28am:Growing alarm over Hunter region cases
Six new cases have been recorded in the Hunter-New England region, bringing the region’s total case numbers to 13, as health authorities issue a warning for the Hunter Hospital emergency department.
Anyone who attended the emergency department between August 5 between 8.40pm and August 6 at 1.50am has been designated as a close contact and must get tested and isolate for 14 days.
It comes as the Delta strain makes further incursions into the regions after the virus was detected in the sewage system in Dubbo in the state’s far west.
“We have seen sewage detections in Dubbo and don’t have any known cases there,” NSW Health’s Dr Jeremy McAnulty said.
“We urge the community in Dubbo to come forward for testing with even the mildest of symptoms. Take it very seriously.”
READ MORE:Life on JobKeeper — a writer’s story
Rhiannon Down11.02am:NSW records 319 new local cases | WATCH LIVE
NSW has recorded 319 new locally acquired cases of Covid, 194 of them with no known link. Five more people have also died, none of them vaccinated.
The current outbreak death toll stands at 27.
Hospitalisations are also surging, with 345 people in hospital, 56 of them in intensive care.
On the bright side, Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the vaccination rate was up.
“The great news today is our doses for the first dose on population of 16 and above have reached almost 50%, so that is a very positive step forward,” he said. “For those who are fully vaccinated, we are to almost 22%, and we are going up at about 5% per week, so can I say to everybody out there, we’re not going to beat this virus until unless you get under journey with us.”
Meanwhile, Armidale in the NSW Northern Tablelands will be plunged into lockdown from 5pm today, after two cases were recorded in the regional city.
Mr Hazzard said the lockdown would last for one week as health authorities work to establish how far the virus has spread into the community.
“I’m sorry to the people of Armidale local council area, I would say to you this has been out of care and concern for your area,” he said.
More to come...
Rhiannon Down10.38am:Arrests, fines as Queensland tip-offs surge
Queensland Police have made four arrests and issued more than 100 penalty infringement notices, as authorities urge the community to abide by health restrictions.
Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said 42 people had been intercepted by authorities and issued with infringement notices for not having a valid reason to be out in the community and 60 more had been fined for refusing to wear a face mask.
“To those people, do the right thing,” he said. “Stop the behaviour.”
“What is going to happen is we will continue our operation until lockdown ceases.
“Once it does eventually cease and we see these restrictions ease, we will continue to make sure those resections are abided by as well because this is about stopping the spread of the very dangerous virus… we do not want to hand out fines to people.”
Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski said the figures included two people in Noosaville who refused to check in to a venue or wear masks, before getting into an argument with police and allegedly resisting arrest.
Police received 96 tip-offs about potential lockdown breaches, including one that two people were travelling to Mackay from Brisbane to attend a party who were since issued with $1378 fines.
READ MORE:Paul Kelly — Unmasking the truth about our return to freedom
Rhiannon Down10.02am:Queensland records 13 new cases, cluster grows to 102
Queensland has recorded 13 new cases of locally acquired Covid, all of them linked to known outbreaks and all but one of them isolating while infectious.
The number of cases linked to the Indooroopilly State School cluster now stands at 102.
“Two are household contacts of a known case at the Indooroopilly karate class,” Mr Miles said.
“One is a close contact from the karate class, five cases are household contacts of Ironside State School and four cases are household contacts of Indooroopilly High School.
“One is a close contact at Brisbane boys Grammar School.”
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said it was a good result for the state, and Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said a decision on whether the current lockdown would lift would be made based on tomorrow’s numbers.
“Great work Queensland. Keep staying home, get tested if you are unwell and get vaccinated,” Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said. “Yesterday we recorded the second day in a row of the highest vaccination rates across the country.”
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palasczuk will return to work tomorrow after serving out her quarantine period and testing negative after her trip to Tokyo for the Olympics.
More to come...
Christine Kellett 9.58am:Queensland Deputy Premier addresses the media | WATCH
Authorities in Queensland are due to hold their daily Covid update in Brisbane from 10am, with announcements expected on the current lockdown and whether restrictions will be eased.
Watch it live here:
Rhiannon Down9.45am:Newcastle burlesque bar added to NSW exposure list
A Newcastle burlesque venue is among the latest venues to be added to the list of exposure sites, as NSW braces for potentially higher case numbers after the state recorded 291 on Friday.
Diners at the Corset Bar and Supper Club in Hamilton on Wednesday July 29 between 7.30pm and 10pm have been put on high alert, after the regional city recorded two new cases on Friday, as the region enters its second full day of a week-long lockdown.
Easy Script Compound Pharmacy in St Marys and Fish and Co Tramshed in Forest Lodge in Sydney have also been added to the list of exposure sites.
It comes as a Liverpool apartment complex was plunged into lockdown on Friday, after all residents of the Campbell Street building were deemed close contacts.
READ MORE:The night that will reveal exactly how life will change
Anton Nilsson9.10am:Officials lock down entire Liverpool apartment block
An entire Sydney apartment block has been put under police watch with strict orders for all residents to stay at home for two weeks after more than a dozen people caught Covid-19.
The apartment building on Campbell Street in Liverpool was locked down on Friday after 14 cases were confirmed, the South West Sydney Local Health District said.
“South Western Sydney Local Health District is working with the residents and building management to assess the situation and, in collaboration with other agencies, is implementing measures to address infection control and the health and welfare of residents,” a spokeswoman said.
“All residents of this block have been determined to be close contacts and are required to isolate for 14 days and undergo repeat testing.
“Testing of residents will be done in their apartments, as they cannot leave during their isolation period.”
Police officers and private security guards have been posted by the building.
Residents will get food and other services delivered, and officials will check on their welfare daily.
READ MORE:‘I worked so hard all my life. This is soul destroying’
Rachel Baxendale 8.36am:Victoria records 29 new cases, none isolating
Victoria has recorded 29 locally acquired coronavirus cases in the 24 hours to midnight on Friday — the highest daily case number since the state’s second wave.
All of the cases are linked to known outbreaks, but none were isolating during their infectious period.
That brings to 97 the number of active cases in the state.
More than 43,000 tests were conducted in Victoria yesterday and 22,335 vaccine doses administered.
Reported yesterday: 29 new local cases and 0 new cases acquired overseas.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) August 6, 2021
- 22,335 vaccine doses were administered
- 43,618 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl1hf3W#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicData [1/2] pic.twitter.com/HxvpQOmyUb
The latest cases come after the Islamic College of Melbourne, in Tarneit in Melbourne’s west, issued a press release late on Friday notifying the school community that Victoria’s health department was investigating “a confirmed case of coronavirus that attended the college during the month of July”.
The first two cases to emerge from Victoria’s current as yet unlinked community clusters were a teacher in her 20s from fellow Islamic school Al-Taqwa College in nearby Truganina, and a man who lives in Maribyrnong and works in a Derrimut warehouse.
The 29 cases on Saturday follow six cases on Friday, six on Thursday, short-lived celebrations of zero on Wednesday, four on Tuesday, two on Monday, four on Sunday, and the previous outbreak peak of 26 on Thursday July 22.
There have now been 261 community acquired cases since two incursions from NSW sparked Victoria’s fifth lockdown last month, and 41 cases since the most recent outbreaks sparked a sixth lockdown on Thursday.
There are currently 97 active cases, including up to three active cases acquired overseas.
At least 161 of those infected during the current outbreaks have recovered, and more are expected to do so in coming days.
As of Friday, there were six people in Victorian hospitals with coronavirus, including two in intensive care on ventilators.
The latest cases come after 43,618 tests were processed on Friday, up from 29,631 on Thursday, 27,279 on Wednesday, 30,117 on Tuesday, 22,217 on Monday, 21,417 on Sunday and 25,779 on Saturday.
Victoria’s testing record is 59,355 tests on July 20.
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Patrick Commins8.30am:The economy can defy Delta: RBA
The Reserve Bank is optimistic higher vaccination rates will free Sydney from its current lockdown by October and a sharp bounce back will return the economy to its pre-Delta trajectory as soon as March next year.
With more than 15 million Australians under stay-at-home orders, RBA governor Philip Lowe also told a parliamentary committee it was “quite unlikely” the country would plunge into a double-dip recession over the second half of this year.
However, he couldn’t “rule out two quarters of negative growth if the health situation deteriorates”, and forecast “further brief (and less severe) restrictions” throughout the December quarter and limited lockdowns into 2022.
“We’ve got to traverse a difficult few months … but the experience here and elsewhere is that once the health situation is brought under control the economy bounces back quickly,” Dr Lowe said.
The RBA governor said he was “optimistic about next year”, noting that the RBA’s economists had pencilled in 4.25 per cent GDP growth in 2022 – faster than the 3.5 per cent rate estimated in May.
The bank’s “central scenario” underpinning its latest set of forecasts – released in Friday’s Statement on Monetary Policy – assumed “some limited lockdowns next quarter and some next year” as increased vaccine take-up allowed the country to operate more openly with Covid.
Read the full story here.
Mackenzie Scott8am:More pharmacies recruited for vaccine rollout
Getting the Covid-19 vaccine in southeast Queensland has been made easier, with more than 100 pharmacies granted permission to administer vaccines.
The state’s excess AstraZeneca supply has been redistributed across 113 pharmacies in a move expected to boost vaccination levels. The new sites join the 181 locations already operating in rural and regional areas across Queensland where there are gaps in the vaccine rollout.
Acting president of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia’s Queensland branch, Chris Owen, said the addition of new jab locations would be “a big shot in the arm” to the rollout. “The most important thing is that we have to have more access points with more available appointments,” Mr Owen said. “When there’s a surge in demand, if you don’t have enough access points, then they’re just gonna lead to a log jam.”
The number of pharmacies included in the Queensland rollout is expected to balloon to 800 by the end of this month.
“To be able to have that many more access points, all with vaccines available, all with vaccinators with vaccine rooms that were previously under-utilises. It can only be a good thing for the rollout,” Mr Owen said.
Read the full story here.
Sharri Markson7am:Lab mishap ‘infected scientist’ with Covid-19
A Beijing laboratory director was infected with Covid-19 in a lab accident in early 2020, explosive emails have revealed, showing an inadvertent leak of the highly contagious coronavirus is far from a conspiracy theory.
A senior scientist at a prestigious laboratory, the National Institute for Viral Disease Control, allegedly contracted Covid-19 in his laboratory in early 2020 while researching the virus, prominent virologists say.
The virologists discussed the infection in an email chain obtained by the US Right to Know group.
China’s failure to disclose this laboratory accident has raised questions about whether health authorities would have disclosed a lab accident in Wuhan months earlier.
Ohio State University director of viruses and emerging pathogens Shan-Lu Liu wrote in an email dated February 14, 2020: “We were from the same lab where my former director has now been infected by SARS-CoV-2! Very sad but he’s doing OK!”
Scientist Lishan Su, then at the University of North Carolina, replied: “Your former colleague was infected with sars2 in the lab?”
Shan-Lu Liu responded: “Yes, he was infected in the lab!”
Read Sharri Markson’s exclusive story here.
Olivia Caisley6.45am:‘Encourage your grandkids to get vaccinated’
Former governors-general are calling on Australia’s youth to get vaccinated in the fight against Covid-19 after Doherty Institute modelling showed deaths and hospitalisations would be nearly halved under a strategy to vaccinate all adults as opposed to older people first.
As NSW recorded a record 291 cases, of which at least 50 were active in the community, Peter Cosgrove said jabs were the pathway back to normality.
“There is no doubt the best way we can protect one another and get back to normal is through vaccination. So my advice is that everybody should get both vaccinations and thus protect their families, their communities and all Australians,” Sir Peter said.
“In particular, I send this plea to younger Australians: you’re our nation’s future so get vaccinated.”
Quentin Bryce echoed the call, declaring vaccinations an essential protection. She said older generations knew the power and importance of vaccinations and encouraged them to share that information with their grandchildren.
Read the full story here.
Rachel Baxendale5.15am:Regional lockdown based on ‘false information’
A key piece of information used by Daniel Andrews to justify locking down 1.6 million regional Victorians turns out to have been false.
The incorrect information about Covid sewage detections in the Premier’s home town of Wangaratta came as Victoria recorded six new locally-acquired cases in the 24 hours to Friday, all of which were in close contacts of the two mystery outbreaks detected on Wednesday and Thursday.
On Thursday, the Premier highlighted the recent detection of virus fragments at a wastewater treatment facility in Wangaratta, 240km northeast of Melbourne, just off the Hume Highway, in seeking to explain why he had chosen to make Victoria’s sixth lockdown statewide, despite no known coronavirus cases outside Melbourne.
But on Friday morning, Wangaratta mayor Dean Rees told The Weekend Australian he understood from North East Health that there had been one positive detection a week ago, followed by two negatives, indicating there were no ongoing infections in the area.
“We feel that Dan (Andrews) has accidentally been given the wrong information and has portrayed that,” Mr Rees told The Australian.
“I don’t think they’d give us false information purposely, but it’s clear it was false information.”
Mr Rees called for the lockdown of regional Victoria to be reconsidered.
“It sounded like it was the basis for putting us into lockdown, so I think a reversal would be fair and reasonable,” he said.
Read the full story here.
Sharri Markson5am:PM’s plea to US to obtain excess vaccine doses
The Morrison government has made urgent appeals to the Biden administration for access to its estimated 26 million vaccine doses that are sitting unused in warehouses and about to expire.
The Weekend Australian has spoken to three high-level sources involved with the negotiations between Australia and the US and it is understood Australia has “made representations” over the course of several weeks for access to America’s excess Pfizer vaccines.
All of Australia’s requests have so far been unsuccessful.
A senior Australian government source said the representations were continuing.
Leading Republicans are pushing the Biden administration to provide Australia the excess doses of Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines – some of which expire this month.
Read the full story, by Sharri Markson and Adam Creighton, here.
Yoni Bashan4.45am:NSW’s change of tactics to keep up with cases
Health officials tracing Sydney’s Covid-19 outbreak are delaying their long interviews with people who test positive for the virus, with shorter questioning being used instead in a bid to keep pace with rising case numbers.
There was a record 291 positive cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Thursday, with 98 of them infectious in the community. But data released by NSW Health shows a fall in the number of people receiving a full contact tracing interview within one day of testing positive, dropping from 93 per cent of cases to 74 per cent in a week.
The department has attributed the percentage decrease to the use of shorter interviews “to ensure timely response”. It said preliminary interviews confirmed the patient’s result, their welfare and medical needs, and were used to identify a list of close contacts.
With the lockdown unlikely to ease substantially beyond August 28 for retail, hospitality, tourism and other critical industries, Premier Gladys Berejiklian convened a crisis meeting with ministers on Friday to address failings with the rollout of her government’s JobSaver financial aid package and Covid-19 business support grants.
Read the full story here.
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