Australia news LIVE NSW records 291 new local COVID-19 cases Victoria records four new cases as states sixth lockdown begins Queensland records 10 new local cases
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A number of new locations that were visited by confirmed COVID-19 cases have been added to NSW’s exposure list this afternoon.
Anyone who attended the following venues is a close contact and must get tested and isolate for 14 days since they were there:
A number of new casual contact venues of concern have also been added to the exposure list. The full list is available here.
The remaining 27 residents at the Wyoming Summer Hill aged care facility, in Sydney’s inner west, will soon be transferred to local hospitals to allow for the facility to be deep cleaned, the operator said on Friday afternoon.
The residents have returned negative tests and all been fully vaccinated. Daily testing is ongoing.
The remaining residents at the Summer Hill aged care facility have been moved to hospital. Credit:Louie Douvis
They will join 27 residents who have already been transferred to hospitals after testing positive to COVID-19.
One new case was detected overnight.
A total of 34 cases are now associated with the facility, including five carers and two contract cleaners.
The virus was introduced to the facility by an assistant in nursing employed by an agency who worked across three facilities, health authorities confirmed earlier this week.
Victorian health authorities have identified several new COVID-19 exposure sites, including two schools that had students test positive for the virus.
Heathdale Christian College announced in the early hours of Friday that a year 6 student at its Werribee campus, about 30 kilometres south-west of Melbourne, tested positive.
Authorities later announced a student at the Warringa Park specialist school in Hoppers Crossing, the next suburb over from Werribee, also tested positive. Health Minister Martin Foley said during Friday’s COVID update the school “looks after some of our most vulnerable kidsâ€.
The schools are now “tier-2″ exposure sites, meaning anyone who has visited them during the following specified timeframes has to get tested for COVID-19 and isolate until they receive a negative result.
However, some people at the schools will be considered “tier-1†or close contacts, meaning they have to get tested and quarantine for 14 days, regardless of the result. The Department of Health will contact those people directly.
The tier-2 schools are:
The remaining sites added on Friday evening are tier-1. They are:
A full list of Victorian exposure sites can be found here.
WA Premier Mark McGowan said on Friday â€" two days after a fly-in, fly-out contractor who had recently been at a Fortescue site tested positive to COVID-19 â€" he thought it would be reasonable for the resources industry to head in the direction of mandatory vaccinations.
Mr McGowan previously talked about leaving it up to the companies about whether a mandatory vaccine rule should be put in place for mine sites but has since altered his stance.
WA Premier Mark McGowan has flagged his support of mandatory vaccines for mine workersCredit:Peter de Kruijff
“It’s an industry where everyone lives together in close proximity and so you have the FIFO camps and the like or even if they’re drive-in, drive-out, often people stay in close proximity,†he said.
“So if one person gets it you can instantly spread it to hundreds of others and we saw that happened in the Northern Territory recently with the gold mine, so I think it’s actually reasonable in that environment and bearing in mind that reasonableness test lawyers talk about to require vaccination.
“That’s a further conversation, probably a bit of a longer-term conversation, because the initial ones we’re worried about are people working in aged care, the people working in hospitals, our essential police staff, our port workers, those sorts of people who are exposed regularly.“
The Premier’s comments came after the boss of iron mining company Fortescue, Elizabeth Gaines, told reporters at the industry’s annual Diggers and Dealers conference the company should have a role in administering the vaccine to the broader population, but she was not necessarily keen for mandatory vaccination on mine sites.
A Victorian teacher who recently emerged from intensive care after catching COVID-19 has spoken about the random nature of the virus, and how he thought he was going to die from it.
Richard, who teaches at Bacchus Marsh Grammar about 60 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, caught the virus from a friend who lives at Maribyrnong’s Ariele Apartments.
The pair attended a Carlton versus Geelong game at the MCG on July 10, not realising the apartment complex had been visited by removalists from Sydney who had the virus.
Speaking to Rafael Epstein on ABC Melbourne’s Drive program on Friday afternoon, the 51-year-old said he was fit and healthy before he caught the virus.
He said he’s now COVID-free, but has pneumonia and has lost 15 kilograms in muscle mass since getting the virus.
Describing the football catch-up, he said,“[It was] a zero case day in Melbourne that day, I remember it, and 10 days later I was in intensive care.The sheer random nature of it.â€
Richard said he felt fine at work a couple of days after he went to the AFL game, but then on Tuesday, he felt a little scratch in the back of his throat and went to get a COVID test.
While in the line waiting to get tested, his friend told him his apartment complex had gone into lockdown because it was visited by the Sydney removalists.
On day seven of having the virus, Richard rang the ambulance.
“I was really scared because I couldn’t breathe - I couldn’t get my breath back, so I knew it wasn’t good,†he said.
“The first two days [in intensive care] are a bit of a blur. I felt like I was hallucinating.
“The second night I was in there, I genuinely thought, ‘I can’t see a way out of this.’â€
“A doctor about 3am in the morning held my hand and looked me in the eye and said: ‘You’re strong enough. We’ll get you through this.’â€
Richard urged everyone to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as they could, because “you never knowâ€.
He’d had one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine when he caught the virus. “I’m a 51-year-old, I look after myself, lift weights in the gym, all that sort of stuff, and it has absolutely floored me,†he said.
The nation’s Chief Medical Officer says NSW needs a “circuit breaker†in order for cases to significantly decline, saying he’s spoken to the state government about what more could be done.
Professor Paul Kelly said there were “worrying signs†in terms of unlinked cases and new chains of transmission.
Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly says NSW needs a “circuit breakerâ€Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
“There is no sense that is heading rapidly towards zero which is what remains our national approach at the moment,†he said at this afternoon’s press conference with the Prime Minister.
“There is clearly a need for a circuit breaker. I’ve had many discussions with my colleagues in NSW around that.
“What else could be done to increase the speed of people being diagnosed, the compliance with those public health measures and crucially, an increase in vaccination in those areas and so, NSW needs to stay the course and look for those new ways of increasing and improving that situation.â€
Despite entering its sixth week of lockdown, cases in Greater Sydney continue to climb while infections have also spread to regional NSW.
The state recorded 291 new local COVID-19 cases on Friday.
A popular pedestrian bridge linking suburbs in Sydney’s south has been closed due to COVID-19 fears after the local council said more than 100 people were ordered to leave nearby parklands last weekend.
Sutherland Shire Council said Sydney Water had agreed to close the Como bridge, which connects the Como Pleasure Grounds with Oatley on the opposite side of the Georges River, indefinitely from Friday afternoon.
Crowds at popular exercise routes around Sydney, including the Bondi to Bronte track and the Bay Run, have come under the spotlight of local councils and police during the pandemic.
A Sutherland Shire Council spokesman said the bridge’s closure, supported by police, was aimed at limiting the number of people using the pedestrian and bike path to access recreational areas.
“Police and council staff were called upon to move on more than 100 people last weekend for stopping, sitting and gathering in crowds at Como Pleasure Grounds,†the spokesman said.
“We understand this is a popular exercise route for both Sutherland Shire and Georges River residents, however we must prioritise the safety and wellbeing of both communities and take all steps to reduce the risk of the further spread of COVID-19.â€
In a Facebook post earlier on Friday, the council said the closure was prompted by “unsafe gatheringsâ€.
“This is an extremely dangerous time for the transmission of COVID-19 in the community. With over 290 new cases reported this morning, we ALL have a responsibility to manage our movement for essential activity such as exercise,†the post read.
The council said it would work with government agencies to coordinate the staged reopening of the bridge and other community facilities as soon as it was safe to do so.
NSW won’t have to wait until 70 per cent of the eligible population is vaccinated to ease its lockdown, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says.
NSW won’t have to wait until 70 per cent of people are vaccinated to ease its lockdown, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
National cabinet’s reopening plan requires an average of 70 per cent of eligible people to be vaccinated to move to the next stage of eased restrictions, which Mr Morrison says is separate to questions about lockdowns.
“When a state chooses to impose or lift lockdown… that is a decision for that state and it always has been,†Mr Morrison says.
“It always has been. The lockdown needs to be effective and when the lockdown is effective, the lockdown can be lifted and the additional vaccines are assisting [NSW] in that goal.â€
Cases in NSW today reached another record high for the current Delta outbreak, with 291 reported.
The federal government is considering appealing a ruling from the Administrative Appeals Tribunal that ordered it to release documents about the workings of national cabinet.
The tribunal rejected the government’s argument that national cabinet was a committee of the federal cabinet which is exempt from freedom of information laws. State and territory meetings under the previous umbrella COAG were subject to the laws.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison at Friday’s press conference.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said national cabinet had worked well to date and been highly transparent.
“This cabinet has operated highly effectively. There has been a great candour and security about our discussions and the material that we’ve had access to and to be able to make important decisions and we think that’s incredibly important to the ongoing operations of the national cabinet,†he said.
“Now when it comes to transparency, this [press conference] is living proof of the transparency of the national cabinet. After every single meeting.
“This doesn’t happen with any other cabinet I should stress.â€
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