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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Mostafa Rachwani and Luke Henriques-Gomes

NSW records nine new Covid cases as 'Avalon cluster' grows to 104 – as it happened

People engage in socially distanced sunbathing at Bondi Beach as Sydney’s Covid outbreak grows by another nine cases.
People engage in socially distanced sunbathing at Bondi Beach as Sydney’s Covid outbreak grows by another nine cases. Photograph: Jenny Evans/Getty Images

End-of-day summary

And with that, we come to the end of today’s live blog. Here’s what went down today:

  • NSW today recorded nine new cases from 60,000 tests, with seven linked to the northern beaches cluster. The premier, Gladys Berejiklian, asked people to “limit mobility” during the Christmas break.
  • The federal health minister, Greg Hunt, announced that the government has signed vaccine delivery contracts. The Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines are being produced in Australia by CSL and Novavax. He also said the vaccines were on track for a March rollout.
  • Queensland health authorities are struggling to track the source of a Covid-19 outbreak onboard a “superyacht” now docked in Cairns, with authorities saying the people on the yacht had not been very cooperative.
  • Victorians have been advised to not “hug and kiss” anyone from NSW. They were also encouraged to hold their Christmas celebrations outside as much as possible.
  • South Australia has recorded two new Covid cases, one in a returning traveller and another who arrived from NSW.
  • The Northern Territory will revoke the hotspot declaration for greater Sydney, including the Blue Mountains and the Central Coast, effective immediately, due to high testing numbers and localisation of the outbreak.

If you are planning interstate travel over the coming Christmas break, please check out our summarised border restrictions and list of hotspots.

Finally, a very merry Christmas to all our readers and supporters, here’s hoping to good news on the horizon.

Updated

Staying with China for a moment, some 53 Australian coal ships remain stranded off China’s coast despite shortages and blackouts.

The ships have been waiting offshore for more than four weeks, while coal ships from other countries have been able to deliver their loads.

China has rejected suggestions its October ban on Australian coal has contributed to the coal shortage but the ban has been linked to higher domestic prices. Analysts have said that under the current circumstances any incoming coal would help.

You can read more on the story here:

China has suspended flights to and from the UK, in response to the discovery of the new strain of the coronavirus.

At a daily press conference this afternoon, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the government had made the decision in line with other nations who have already done so.

“Taking into account the particularity of the mutated virus and its possible impact, in order to protect the health of Chinese and foreign personnel, after a full assessment, China has referred to multinational practices and suspended flights between China and Britain,” Wang said.

Updated

NSW Health updates Sydney venues of concern

NSW Health has updated its list of venues of concern this afternoon.

Anyone who attended the following venues at the following times is considered a close contact, and must immediately get tested and isolate for 14 days, regardless of whether a negative result is received:

Glorietta Restaurant and Bar Upper Ground Floor, 100 Mount Street, North Sydney: Wednesday 16 December noon – 12.45pm.

Massage Link 122/138 Flood Street, Leichhardt: Friday 18 December 12.30pm – 1.15pm

Kirribilli Club 11 Harbourview Crescent, Kirribilli: Monday 14 December noon – 3pm

Kirribilli Hotel 35-37 Broughton Street, Kirribilli: Thursday 17 December 12.45pm – 3pm

Anyone who attended the following venues at the following times is a casual contact who must immediately get tested and isolate until a negative result is received:

Local Bar Cafe 729 Darling Street, Rozelle: Wednesday 16 December 8.30am – 9.30am, Thursday 17 December 8.30am – 9.30am, Friday 18 December 8.30am – 9.30am, Saturday 19 December 8.30am – 9.30am, Sunday 20 December 8.30am – 9.30am

Darling Quarter Food Court 156 Darling Drive, Sydney: Thursday 17 December 5pm – 6pm

Mr Cafe & Bar Shop 11/418 Darling Street, Balmain: Thursday 17 December 9am - 10am

Marketplace Leichhardt 100/122-138 Flood Street, Leichhardt: Saturday 19 December 2pm – 2.30pm

Ruby’s Diner Shop 1 & 2 179, 173 Bronte Road, Waverley: Thursday 17 December 10am – 10.30am

IGA Rozelle 649 Darling Street, Rozelle: Thursday 17 December 8.25am – 8.35am

Hotel Steyne 75 The Corso, Manly: Thursday 17 December 3pm – 7pm

BodyFit Gym 27 Sackville Street, Blacktown: Wednesday 16 December 7am – 8.15am, Thursday 17 December 7am – 8.15am, Friday 18 December 7am – 8.15am

Anyone who attended the following venues at the following times is a casual contact who should monitor for symptoms and immediately get tested and isolate if they appear. If further symptoms appear, get isolated and get tested again:

Service NSW Warriewood Square 12 Jackson Road, Warriewood: Tuesday 15 December 1.25pm – 2.05pm

Bistro, Hornsby Railway Hotel 31 Station Street, Hornsby: Thursday 17 December 6pm – 6.30pm

Please note that the health advice, dates or times have changed for the following venues:

Rowland Reserve Dog Park, Pittwater Road, Bayview: Wednesday 16 December 4pm – 5pm

Bunnings Belrose, Austlink Park, Niangala Close, Belrose: Saturday 12 December noon – 1pm

Anytime Fitness Berowra 25-29 Turner Road, Berowra: Wednesday 16 December 5.30am – 6.30am, Thursday 17 December 5.30am – 6.30am

Updated

Singapore has confirmed the first case of the new Covid variant found in the UK.

Eleven others who were in quarantine had also returned preliminarily positive results for the new strain.

All the cases have been placed in 14-day quarantine at dedicated facilities or isolated when they arrived, with their close contacts also isolated.

Singapore’s health ministry said the new, more infectious strain, had not yet entered the community.

There is currently no evidence that the B117 strain is circulating in the community.

Singapore has blocked visitors with recent travel history to the United Kingdom from entering to prevent the new strain from spreading.

Updated

A northern beaches woman was fined yesterday after she was found on the NSW south coast.

AAP has the story:

A woman from the epicentre of Sydney’s northern beaches Covid-19 cluster has been fined for breaking quarantine after police found her on the NSW south coast.

Police on Wednesday received reports a woman from the northern beaches had collapsed at a pizza shop at Sanctuary Point on Tuesday evening and had been treated at Shoalhaven hospital.

Police were told the woman appeared to be experiencing symptoms – but refused to be tested – and left the hospital.

Police located the 37-year-old woman at a Sanctuary Point home and spoke to her and three other occupants who were all directed to self-isolate.

The woman from Bilgola Plateau - in the midst of the Avalon cluster with the strictest lockdown – was issued a $1,000 fine for breaching a public health order.

The pizza store has closed for cleaning.

Updated

Also glad to see the RFS enjoying Christmas this year:

Updated

And now for another Christmas decorations post:

Next, some Covid-inspired ornaments from Jenepher Surbey:

Covid inspired ornaments at Jenepher Surbey’s home

Next we have some lively lights from Daniel and Alexia Golding from Prahan:

Lively lights at the home of Daniel and Alexia Golding
Lively lights at the home of Daniel and Alexia Golding

Ros King told us their son is studying in Switzerland, and they haven’t seen him in over a year, so have made a mini Swiss village and Christmas market in his honour:

Ros and David King’s mini Swiss village in honour of their son

I hope you are reunited with him soon!

Updated

We have the Christmas messages from both the prime minister and the opposition leader in, with both trading in discussions on how difficult this year has been.

And now, what will the weather look like across the weekend, you ask?

Well, it’ll be hot in Perth and storms are forecast for Queensland, but the rest of the country should see a mild weekend, with both Sydney and Melbourne likely to barely get to 25C.

For someone who’s spent the past two Christmases in the northern hemisphere, that is a little disappointing. There’s nothing like a stinking-hot Christmas, but I digress.

The Bureau of Meteorology forecasts cloudy conditions for Sydney, with showers possible in both the morning and afternoon. Melbourne will see a cloudy day, while Perth is forecast to see 35C tomorrow.

You can read more in our story here:

Updated

Sticking to the Northern Territory for a bit, authorities have said that those quarantining in the Howard Springs facility will be released this afternoon.

Although they did not give an exact time, the acting NT chief minister, Nicole Manison, said it was just a matter of process.

There is a process that is followed when people leave the facility. So I just ask them to be patient. We are going to work to release them as quickly as possible from the facility so they can go about their Christmas plans and again we thank them for their patience through this process.

Updated

The country’s first convicted terror leader is set to remain behind bars.

AAP has the story:

Australia’s first convicted terror leader Abdul Nacer Benbrika will be held behind bars for another three years over concerns he remains a high risk terrorist.

The self-proclaimed Islamic cleric who expressed admiration for Osama bin Laden was convicted in 2009 over his involvement in a terror group which plotted to kill non-believers to convince the Australian government to withdraw troops from Iraq.

Benbrika was sentenced to a maximum 15 years behind bars and has been in custody since his 2005 arrest.

Victorian supreme court justice Andrew Tinney on Friday granted a continuing detention order allowing authorities to hold Benbrika behind bars until November 2023. Three years was the maximum the order could be made for.

The judge said Benbrika was a clear danger to community safety at the time of his offending and it was only through law enforcement intervention that potential mayhem and tragedy was avoided.

It was highly unlikely someone with Benbrika’s narcissistic personality traits and sense of intellectual superiority would have changed his extremist views, Tinney said.

Benbrika had claimed his views had changed in 2014 but the judge noted he only mentioned that epiphany two weeks after parole was first denied in 2017.

“I am satisfied the defendant has not renounced or changed his previous beliefs, which justified terrorist violence in the name of Allah,” he said.

One expert determined Benbrika was a “high risk of violent extremism” and that he had a “grandiose self perception”. Another said he was still committed to an extreme Islamic ideology and expressed support for religious violence in conflict areas including Somalia.

Benbrika’s Australian citizenship was cancelled last month. He remains an Algerian citizen.

Updated

The Northern Territory will revoke the hotspot declaration for greater Sydney, including the Blue Mountains and the Central Coast.

NT’s acting chief minister said the list of hot spot suburbs in the northern beaches area will be defined by suburbs and postcodes, and will be listed on the states website.

She referenced the work done by Sydneysiders to get tested, as well as the localisation of the outbreak, for the decision to change the hotspot declaration.

Updated

Returning to the cricket for a moment, it appears hopes are improving that the summer schedule won’t be too affected by the northern beaches outbreak.

Discussions are under way to allow players to travel from NSW to Queensland for the final in Brisbane, with Cricket Australia working through the many different options on the table.

You can read more on the situation here:

Updated

Viral fragments of Covid-19 have been found during routine wastewater testing at Wynnum, Bargara and Bundaberg.

The Queensland government released a statement saying the sewage results, collected on 21 and 22 December are “particularly concerning” in light of the northern beaches outbreak.

The Queensland chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young, said the result means that someone who was infected was shedding the virus.

Infected people can shed viral fragments and that shedding can happen for several weeks after the person is no longer infectious. While this doesn’t necessarily mean we have new cases of Covid-19 in these communities, I am treating this with absolute caution given the emerging situation in New South Wales.

Young called on communities in Wynnum, Bargara and Bundaberg to get tested if they feel any symptoms, no matter how mild.

Updated

In some fantastic news, the NSW Rural Fire Service is celebrating zero active bush or grass fires across the state.

What a difference a year makes.

AAP is reporting talks have been held between Rio Tinto and the traditional owners of Juukan Gorge, after the mining company blew up a 46,000-year-old sacred site:

High-level talks have been held between Rio Tinto and the traditional owners of the Juukan Gorge rock shelter in an attempt to repair their relationship.

Rio blew up the 46,000-year-old caves in Western Australia’s Pilbara region in May to extract $188m worth of high-grade iron ore, devastating the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) people.

Federal MPs this month slammed the “inexcusable” destruction and recommended Rio compensate the PKKP.

The two parties issued a joint statement on Thursday, saying they had begun remedial works at the sacred site.

A joint session of the PKKP and Rio boards has been held “to reaffirm Rio Tinto’s apology and commitment to rebuilding our relationship”.

Kurrama elder Burchell Hayes acknowledged the mining giant had taken steps to address the “hurt and devastation” caused by its actions but said they were the first of many needed to ensure such an incident was never repeated.

“While we have made some initial positive steps in rebuilding our relationship, there is so much more we need to do in order to shape a shared future for our next generations of PKKP people working with Rio Tinto,” he said in the statement.

Rio this week appointed Danish citizen Jakob Stausholm as its new chief executive, replacing Jean-Sebastien Jacques.

Jacques, the corporate relations chief, Simone Niven, and the iron ore boss, Chris Salisbury, resigned in September amid significant investor pressure.

Rio, which derives significant earnings from iron ore operations in WA, had faced political pressure to appoint an Australian to the top job.

“We know we have a lot of work to do in order to rebuild trust and confidence in our business,” the acting iron ore chief, Ivan Vella, said.

“I look forward to continuing the work with PKKP traditional owners to rechart our partnership and build a shared future.”

Federal parliament’s northern Australia committee this month tabled its interim report into the destruction following months of hearings.

It urged Rio to negotiate compensation with the PKKP, reconstruct and remediate the Juukan Gorge site and promise never to mine there.

MPs also called on the mining giant to refrain from applying to destroy sites until WA’s heritage laws were improved.

Updated

Australia has moved up on Bloomberg’s Covid resilience ranking, which tracks which countries are handling the pandemic best.

As infections and outbreaks remain relatively controlled as we moved into the summer, Bloomberg moved us up one place to third on the global list.

New Zealand topped the list, edging Taiwan, which was first last month.

It is good to see the work done to largely contain the virus here in the past couple of months being credited.

And with the outbreak on the northern beaches still posting single-digit daily numbers, the hopes are that the streak will continue.

The United States came in at 37 on the list, while the UK came in at 30th, far below many of the other nations in the Asia Pacific that mostly populated the top 10.

Updated

It appears Australia’s New Year’s Test match with India is likely to go ahead in Sydney.

Updated

Australia is sending its largest warship to Fiji to aid it with the recovery from Cyclone Yasa.

HMAS Adelaide is about to embark for the Pacific nation, with a total force of over 750 personnel. The air force has also been conducting reconnaissance flights over the islands to better understand where the damage has been most severe, and where the military will be going first.

Officials said that the ship and its company have all tested negative for Covid, saying it’ll be a “very Covid-safe” deployment to Fiji.

Two people were killed when the category 5 cyclone smashed into Fiji’s second-largest island Vanua Levu earlier this month, destroying hundreds of buildings and causing millions of dollars’ worth of damage.

Updated

The chair of epidemiology at Deakin University has told Sky News that it is “too risky” for people to gather in large numbers to watch the New Year’s Eve fireworks in Sydney.

Prof Catherine Bennett said that bringing large groups of people together and getting them to good vantage points is too much of a risk.

It doesn’t mean the fireworks themselves can’t go ahead. It’s about whether they’ll allow spectators and I think at this stage it’s too risky.

Updated

SA records two new Covid cases

South Australia has recorded two new Covid cases, one a man in his 20s who arrived in the state from NSW, and the other is a man in his 70s who is an international arrival and is in quarantine.

The chief public health officer, Prof Nicola Spurrier, said the man in his 20s had travelled by car, from NSW, through rural Victoria.

We are obviously putting plans into place to have that person and close contacts moved into our medical hotels and also we were able to get very rapid testing of those close contacts. Now, I need to let you know that this is involving a small rural country town on the Yorke Peninsula, and so takes a little bit longer to get results back but I do to thank the hospital and the local doctor and other people involved for helping us to facilitate this.

Spurrier said that the positive result was likely the result of an old infection and that means that “nobody in South Australia is at any risk”.

Updated

The Bureau of Meteorology is advising Queenslanders to prepare for severe thunderstorms and heavy rain, with a chance of flash flooding, this Christmas Eve.

BoM also said the weather as we head into the Christmas weekend will be hot in the west, stormy in the north and cool in the south.

Updated

And now for something a little lighter. Here are the Guardian staff’s choices for the funniest things we’ve seen this year.

Let us know in the comments what was the funniest thing you saw this year!

Updated

The firm that ran the Robodebt class action would take up to $16m in costs – from a $112m compensation pool – under a proposed settlement to be considered by the federal court.

Court orders published on Thursday show Gordon Legal estimates its costs at up to $16m, though it said the figure was preliminary and the final sum may be less than that.

After the $16m in costs are subtracted, victims would share in about 85% of the agreed compensation. The industry average is said to be 68.5%.

The court would need to approve the costs and the settlement as a whole, which will be reviewed by an independent referee representing the victims. The class action was not backed by a third-party funder.

Under a deal reached on the first day of the trial last month, about 400,000 victims will share in $112m in compensation stemming from the Coalition’s botched Centrelink debt recovery scheme. The money will be distributed depending on the size of the person’s debt, and how long they had been without their money.

The proposed settlement shows that the federal government had now paid back $709m to 405,000 people who had received unlawful debts between 2015 and 2019. The government has also wiped about $400m in debts that were raised but had not yet been recouped.

Victims would have until 4pm on 5 March 2021 to object to the settlement.

A proposed timetable suggests it will not be approved until April at the earliest.

Updated

I’m going to echo my colleague Luke’s request for pictures of your Christmas decorations.

We want to see all of your beautiful Christmas trees, lights and decorations!

Lauren and Daniel Dundler’s decorations, at risk of attack from their cat.
Lauren and Daniel Dundler’s decorations, at risk of attack from their cat. Photograph: Lauren Dundler (via email)

You can tweet me at @rachwani91, or email me at mostafa.rachwani@theGuardian.com.

Updated

Labor has elaborated on its concerns about the Covid-19 vaccine rollout, following comments by its leader, Anthony Albanese, on Wednesday that if the vaccine is approved by regulators in January, it should be rolled out then.

The government has said it will likely be rolled out in March.

Labor’s health spokesman, Chris Bowen, told Guardian Australia: “We were late to secure vaccine deals, only getting our first in September while other countries started in March and April.”

He added:

It’s great the Pfizer vaccine is so far advanced, but it has to overcome a lot of challenges in its distribution because of the cold chain required to send it around the country. We only got our deal with Pfizer last month, but when we highlighted some of the work required to overcome the challenges, [health minister Greg] Hunt said, ‘nothing to see here, it’s all sorted’. This is going to be a big undertaking so the government obfuscating about that fact for the last couple of months has been entirely unhelpful.

Labor has consistently advocated for more supply deals, as best practice is five or six, and we now only have three. Direct deals firstly spread out risk, but also reduce our reliance on one in case it has challenges like a difficult cold chain or only being suitable for a particular cohort. For example, we still only don’t have a direct deal with two other front runners J&J and Moderna, which don’t have the same logistical challenges.

We understand and agree with a tiered rollout strategy, going to frontline workers and the most vulnerable first, while also understanding that epidemiologists say vaccines start being really effective if 60-90% of the population is covered.

The simple fact, though, is that if the rollout doesn’t start until a month or two after the TGA [Therapeutic Goods Administration] approves a vaccine, it will be solely on the government for coming so late to the party in securing deals.

While we are doing well compared with many other countries, people getting sick and businesses closing because of outbreaks is a reminder that every day after approval counts.

Updated

Weimar also addressed the prospect of international airlines suspending flights to Melbourne, after the introduction of stricter quarantine protocols for airline staff.

Two international airline crew members tested positive for the virus this week, Weimar confirmed.

It comes after the Victorian government implemented new, stricter quarantine protocols which requires airline crews to stay in a single quarantine hotel during stopover trips in Melbourne.

We understand that the majority of international air crew actually turn around pretty quickly at the airport - they don’t leave the airport complex. But for those crew who do have a layover here in Melbourne, we are now requiring them to stay in our airport quarantine hotel located near the airport.

We understand that one or two of them maybe have to make some decisions about how to manage their services during that period of time but our position is non-negotiable.

The new rules mean crews will have to take a COVID-19 test on arrival and will only be allowed to leave quarantine for their return flight once they have returned a negative result.

Several airline sources have informed The Age that the changes may spark fears from carriers about having their pilots and cabin crew stranded in Australia.

Victorians have been advised to not “hug and kiss” anyone from NSW.

Victoria’s Covid testing program commander, Jeroen Weimar, has asked people to show some discretion in their Christmas cuddling with relatives from NSW.

If you’ve been to NSW in the last 10 days or you’re spending time with people you know have come back from NSW, I would encourage you – let’s not hug and kiss right this moment in time.

Keep your distance and manage those social distancing measures.

Weimar encouraged people to hold their Christmas celebrations outside as much as possible, and to maintain hand hygiene during the holidays.

It came after Weimar also called for travellers from NSW “red zones” to come forward for testing.

We’re obviously following up with everybody who had a permit over Saturday and Sunday and those returning travellers on Monday. There are still a few of you out there who have not yet recorded test results. Please just save yourself the trouble of doing it tomorrow – come out and get tested today.

Updated

Staying with the ACT for a moment, and the government warning of gastro and respiratory virus outbreaks, particularly among children.

The deputy chief health officer, Dr Vanessa Johnston, is urging people to maintain hand and respiratory hygiene to help reverse the outbreaks.

The things we need to do to slow down the spread of both of these illnesses are the same things we should all be doing to help prevent the spread of Covid-19.

I strongly urge parents to keep their children at home if they are at all unwell. If you are concerned about your child’s health then please contact your GP, or in an emergency call 000.

Updated

The ACT has again reported no new cases in the past 24 hours, leaving the capital’s total at 118. It still does have one active case, though.

ACT Health has also updated and revised opening hours for testing clinics across the Christmas holidays.

Updated

With lobster prices at an all-time low, people have been rushing to grab them, with mixed results.

Many have found it hard to snag any of the delicious crustaceans, with retailers struggling to keep up with demand since the price was widely cut to $20 a lobster.

Of course that hasn’t stopped those who have snagged lobsters to post delicious-looking photos of their cooking.

So mixed results, all up.

Prices initially came down as a result of trade tensions with China, with retailers implementing a four-person limit.

If you get lucky and grab a lobster, don’t forget to check out our guide to cooking them.

Updated

So we begin with some reactions to the 60,000 tests carried out yesterday in NSW, with yours truly also contributing.

I got tested yesterday morning at the Homebush drive-through clinic, and it is a credit to NSW Health that it was a smooth and organised experience.

Thankfully, I tested negative, and it is rather remarkable it was among 60,000 other tests.

Updated

Thanks Luke, good afternoon everyone and a very merry Christmas to you all.

There is again much to get through, so lets dive in.

I’m going to hand over to my colleague Mostafa Rachwani, who will guide the ship from here.

Have a safe and enjoyable Christmas – and thanks for reading.

Updated

In non-Covid news, senior business reporter Ben Butler has filed a story on some developments stemming from the White Island tragedy.

Traders were enjoying a broad-based rally on the Australian share market in the last session before the Christmas break, after Wall Street closed higher, reports AAP.

The S&P/ASX200 benchmark index was higher by 33.5 points, or 0.5%, to 6676.6 at 1200 AEDT on Thursday.

The index rose as high as 6704.9 in the first 10 minutes of trading.

The All Ordinaries was up 34.9 points, or 0.5%, to 6927.5.

Thursday is a shortened ASX trading session and the cash market closes at 1410 AEDT, due to the Christmas public holiday on Friday.

Energy was the top sector, higher by 1.43% after oil prices rose.

Financials were up 0.61%, while materials rose 0.5%.

The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, yesterday did the media rounds calling for a faster rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine.

The federal government said it planned to roll out the first doses to health workers and people in aged care in March. Albanese said that given the drugs regulator might be in a position to approve the vaccine in January, the rollout should occur at that point, rather than in March.

But the Coalition, including the health minister, Greg Hunt, and the head of the independent vaccine advisory group, Prof Allen Cheng, have been clear that rolling out the vaccine requires more than just regulator approval. Staff need to be trained to administer it, and complex logistical networks need to be established to ensure the vaccine is transported to remote and rural areas.

The vaccines also need to be stored at cold temperatures, adding complexity to the logistics. The technology to monitor the vaccine throughout the supply chain to ensure doses are going where they need to, and to monitor supply, also have to be developed.

Asked on 3AW radio Melbourne this morning about why Australia had to wait until March, Hunt responded:

Well, around the world, nobody has actually provided what’s called a general population approval. There have been – in places such as the UK, in the US, with hundreds and thousands of deaths daily – emergency authorisations where they haven’t had the full data and trial outcomes.

In their circumstances, that’s understandable. But one of the reasons why we have one of the highest rates of vaccine uptake is there’s very high confidence in Australia’s vaccination programs. And Australians don’t want to see us cut corners.

Hunt also said:

We’re working incredibly hard, and the public health officials and the team at the department of health are literally working through the night.

Guardian Australia put in a list of questions to Albanese’s office asking for detail on how the vaccine might be rolled out before March. We were told to refer the questions to the shadow health minister, Chris Bowen. We’ve put the questions to Bowen’s office and will let readers know as soon as we get a response.

Hands holding a needle in a vial
The federal government says it plans to start rolling out a Covid vaccine in March. Photograph: Reuters

Updated

Some more news out of Victoria.

The lifting of Queensland’s hard border closure with Greater Sydney will depend on whether the source of one Covid-19 case in NSW can be found.

A western Sydney driver tested positive for Covid on 15 December, and Queensland has outlined guidelines of a 28-day time frame between unlinked cases and the easing of border restrictions, reports AAP.

The state’s chief health officer, Jeannette Young, said:

So that person became positive – initially it was thought from one of the cases that he had driven from the airport to the health hotel, but no genomic sequencing has shown that he has actually got the Avalon cluster genome.

He is an unlinked case at this stage. If that remains unlinked, it will be 28 days from that date before we could open.

Previously the Queensland government stated the border closure excluding arrivals from Greater Sydney would be in place until at least 8 January.

If the case cannot be linked, it may not lift until 13 January.

Dr Jeannette Young
Dr Jeannette Young: western Sydney driver is still an ‘unlinked’ case. Photograph: Dan Peled/AAP

Updated

Hello, Lego Christmas.

I can’t even wrap a book.

Sounds like there are long delays at the Albury-Wodonga border again today.

Woolworths-branded packets of frozen prawns have been recalled from almost every state less than 24 hours before Christmas, over fears they may have been contaminated.

My colleague Matilda Boseley has filed this story.

A change of pace now, but an important reminder that not everyone gets to enjoy this time of year.

Mardin Arvin writes about his eighth Christmas in immigration detention.

Updated

This story is from AAP.

On a regular Christmas Day, around 1,000 homeless people sit down at the Wayside Chapel in Kings Cross for a Christmas lunch of ham, prawns and pudding.

This year, just 81 people will get a seat.

The homelessness charity is drastically scaling back its iconic event in light of the Covid-19 outbreak in Sydney and government restrictions.

Take-away meals will replace the traditional sit-down affair for many, with those in need able to pick up a free breakfast or lunch and eat it elsewhere.

Rules around the number of people allowed in a space mean only 27 people will be able to sit down to eat in the community hall at a time.

There will be three seatings for lunch across the day, and spots are reserved for those experiencing homelessness or social isolation who register in advance.

It’s a far cry from the raucous street party and lunch held for the past 16 years, staffed by hundreds of volunteers, including high-profile names such as Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull, and attended by local community members.

The Wayside Chapel in Kings Cross
The Wayside Chapel in Kings Cross is downsizing its Christmas Day lunch due to Covid but will also offer take-away meals. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

The Wayside Chapel has also been forced to downsize its Christmas events in Bondi. Its Christmas Service, bingo and lunch events are going ahead at reduced capacity.

Community lunches that the charity had planned to hold daily in Kings Cross in the lead-up to Christmas were also cancelled, with take-away food offered instead.

But the charity is turning to technology to salvage some of the Christmas lineup, with its Christmas Day service streaming live on its YouTube channel.

Sydney’s Wesley Mission has also turned to takeaway meals this Christmas. Wesley Mission chief executive Reverend Keith Garner told the Sydney Morning Herald:

On Christmas Day itself, we can’t have the usual meals we wanted to inside. But outside the Wesley Centre on Pitt St we will be serving takeaway Christmas meals for people.

More than 2,000 meals will be served to homeless and needy people in Ashfield by the Reverend Bill Crews Foundation as well.

Christmas Day lunch will be takeaway and served with sanitiser, Covid marshals and social distancing.

Rev Crews, the foundation director, said in a statement:

It’s all about bringing a little ray of sunshine into the lives of those who’ve done it extra tough this year.

We’ll give more than 2,000 Christmas meals to the needy, many of whom would otherwise go without.

Meanwhile, Telstra says its public payphones around the country will operate for free from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day as a small gesture to ensure everyone has the chance to connect during the festive season.

For many, especially vulnerable people such as the homeless or those escaping an unsafe family situation, the 15,000 public phones around the country offer a vital lifeline.

Last year’s initiative saw almost half a million calls placed free during the Christmas period.

Updated

Here are some of the decorations you’ve sent me so far. A lot of very low-key set ups – and I say that as someone without a Christmas tree (sorry!).

This one might be a bit divisive...

Queensland health authorities are struggling to track the source of a Covid-19 outbreak onboard a “superyacht” now docked in Cairns. The health minister said the yacht, which was not named, had “not been very cooperative” and that police would be dealing with the situation.

The health minister, Yvette D’Ath, said authorities were disappointed.

The superyacht in question has not been very cooperative at all in relation to the information being provided to the Queensland police service and where they have been so we can identify whether there are any other cases of where they may have got it from.

We will leave that for the police to deal with, but we are very disappointed they are not cooperating and providing factual and correct information to the Queensland police service.

The chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young, said the passengers and some of the crew travelled directly from the boat to hotel quarantine and therefore did not pose an infection risk.

She said the shipload of people arrived in Cairns from the Maldives, with a woman in her 20s testing positive to Covid-19.

It is a lesson to us all that superyachts that have come from elsewhere in the world – no matter how long they may have been at sea – are a risk, and are required to quarantine all of the people on that yacht.

Six crew members have remained on the boat, quarantining onboard, in order to maintain the vessel.

Updated

A change of pace now: Berejiklian on Santa Claus.

I can confirm that our authorities have been in direct contact with Santa Claus and his people and we have told them he has free rein throughout New South Wales, so nobody needs to worry. We are providing some recommendations children leave hand sanitiser for him – he has some masks but is running out of hand sanitiser. If they can leave that in addition to biscuits and anything else, that would be deeply appreciated.

Updated

New Year's Eve fireworks to go ahead

Will the New Year’s Eve fireworks go ahead? Yes. Will you be able to watch them in person. Watch this space.

Berejiklian says:

The fireworks display themselves will definitely be happening at midnight and we have already said that we encourage everybody to watch that from home. We have at this stage provided some access for frontline workers and others, but again, everything is reassessed based on the most recent cluster of cases. So we will provide information to the community in a timely way.

Updated

Chant acknowledges that rules that prevented patient-transport workers from also transporting aged care workers have been reinstated. Those rules were wound back at some point; she is not sure when.

Berejiklian, meanwhile, says:

As soon as it was brought to my attention, I was advised the operational readjustment had been made. Let me assure the community that in New South Wales, when anything is brought to our attention that concerns us, it is acted upon immediately. Those operational issues were actually dealt with before even me asking the question because experts who noticed were able to revert back to the policy. So I want to give people an assurance and the confidence that our system is strong.

Any time there’s an operational matter where things could have been done better, policies are adjusted or in fact reverted back to what the original was, but we also have to assume with all due respect that when you have thousands and thousands of people working to keep all of us safe, sometimes mistakes will occur, sometimes unintentional decisions will be made lower down operationally which shouldn’t be made for a temporary period.

Updated

Chant is asked about the Daily Telegraph story this morning about the patient-transfer worker (who was transporting positive cases to quarantine) who tested positive. The person also transported an aged care resident.

In terms of that issue, we are certainly going to the added precaution to make sure there is no transfer and overlap of crew and patient transport staff that are actually transporting people from the international airport, and a separate those, that process was in place and we are now reinstating that. I should assure the community there will be times where infectious patients are transported in our ambulances and we thoroughly clean them and have a process to make sure that the process is safe.

Chant says it’s believed the worker acquired the test through the Avalon cluster, rather than through their work transporting positive cases into quarantine.

Updated

Chant encourages people to limit the size of their gatherings over Christmas and to hold events outside where possible.

Chant says the passenger on the Darwin-Sydney Qantas flight is a South Australia resident who initially tested negative in NSW.

She reiterates that details are scant, but her comments seem to suggest the person may have gone to test positive in SA. She says: “We’re just trying to work at the nature of that test result whether it is a false positive or it is an old infection, it is very scant information.”

Today’s seven cases linked to the Avalon cluster brings the total number of cases there to 104.

Everyone on board Qantas flight from Darwin to Sydney on 17 December told to self-isolate

Chant says all people onboard a Qantas flight from Darwin to Sydney on 17 December have been considered close contacts and have been asked to self-isolate.

A Qantas crew member contracted Covid-19 who was onboard the flight subsequently tested positive. Chant says they are investigating another potential case but the current data is preliminary.

Everyone who was onboard will be tested.

Updated

Dr Kerry Chant singles out the Paragon Hotel on Loftus Street near Circular Quay and the Bondi Icebergs pool as venues where confirmed cases have visited.

She also notes that one of the cases that is still under investigation was a CBC office worker in Hunter and Bligh Street.

“Anyone who has been in the north-eastern part of the city including the Australia Square, MLC Centre and Chifley Square should be alert for symptoms and isolate immediately and get tested should even the mildest symptoms develop, so that’s why am just asking anyone who has been in that area, please have a very, very low threshold for testing and please come forward immediately,” she says.

The list of hotspots is available here.

Updated

In total, there are six cases that are still under investigation.

That includes two people who are employed as patient-transport workers.

While the news out of Sydney is positive again today, Berejiklian says authorities still have some concerns.

We are concerned about people who may have been infectious who went to work in the CBD and then have passed that on to other people in the CBD and those people have then passed it on in their communities. They are all eventually linked to the Avalon cluster but it does mean that there is potential transmission in train that we are not on top of.

Updated

People told to 'limit mobility' as NSW hits record testing

The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, says she “nearly fell off my chair, literally” when she learned that there had been 60,000 tests yesterday.

Berejiklian says test results are generally coming back within a few hours to half a day.

Her message over the next few days: “Please limit your mobility.”

Apart from those close family gatherings, which we have allowed over the Christmas break, we don’t want people moving around unless you absolutely have to.

Updated

NSW records nine new cases, seven linked to cluster

NSW has recorded nine new cases overnight, with seven linked to the Avalon cluster. Two cases are still under investigation.

There were 60,000 people who came forward to be tested over the past 24 hours.

Updated

At a press conference, Queensland chief health officer, Jeannette Young, has been taking questions.

She says social-distancing is still important, particularly among people outside your immediately family bubble.

I just say to people think carefully, maybe it is not the time to hug your great-grandmother, it is the time to think how best you can keep your older relatives, your most vulnerable relatives safe.

Queensland goes 100 days without a locally acquired Covid case

Queensland has notched up 100 days since a locally acquired case.

Today, the state recorded two cases, but none were locally acquired.

The new cases were:

  • a woman in her 20s who acquired the virus overseas and arrived into Cairns on a super-yacht from the Maldives. The woman is in isolation. The crew has remained on the yacht and are being tested.
  • a returned traveller from the northern beaches. The man in his 40s initially tested negative but since tested positive. They are isolating at home.

The Queensland attorney general, Yvette D’ath, says police were seeking more information from the crew of the super-yacht but they had “not been very cooperative at all”.

Updated

What a world we live in.

Northern beaches woman fined while travelling on NSW south coast

A northern beaches woman has been fined over an alleged breach of the public health orders while she was travelling on the NSW south coast.

NSW police said in a statement:

Officers from South Coast Police District commenced inquiries yesterday (Wednesday 23 December 2020), after receiving reports a woman from the Northern Beaches had collapsed at a pizza shop at Sanctuary Point the evening before and was treated at Shoalhaven Hospital.

Police were told the woman appeared to be experiencing symptoms – however declined to be tested – and left the hospital.

Following inquiries, police attended a home on Edmund Street, Sanctuary Point, and spoke with the 37-year-old woman and three other occupants. All parties were directed to self-isolate.

The Bilgola Plateau woman has since been issued a $1000 PIN for fail to comply with requirement of public health order – Covid-19.

It is understood the pizza store has closed for cleaning as a precaution.

Police continue to appeal to the community to report suspected breaches of any ministerial direction or behaviour which may impact on the health and safety of the community.

Updated

Please send me your Christmas decorations – luke.henriques-gomes@theguardian.com or @lukehgomes on Twitter – and I will post a selection here.

Here’s some inspiration.

Updated

NSW Health has released a map of the boundaries diving the northern beaches into two zones.

See more here.

Queensland police have turned away 159 vehicles looking to enter the state from New South Wales.

They have had 379,000 border pass applications made and acknowledged significant delays on the border.

On the M1, there was a peak delay of 90 minutes about 3pm yesterday.

The Daily Telegraph reports that a healthcare worker who takes sick returned travellers into quarantine was also transporting a Castle Hill ­retirement village resident ­before testing positive.

The paper said the resident and other staff at Anglicare Brian King Gardens had so far tested negative, but they can only be considered cleared after 14 days. The nurse was confirmed as a case on Tuesday.

Updated

In non-Covid news, Kevin Rudd says he will add himself to Australia’s register of foreign influence after being informed by the Attorney General’s Department that live interviews with state-owned broadcasters, like the BBC, could trigger obligations.

Political editor Katharine Murphy has the story.

The Australian is reporting that Australians will spend $3bn less between Christmas Eve and 11 January as a result of border closures, according to Stafford Strategy modelling commissioned by the Tourism and Transport Forum.

Take it with a grain of salt, though, because it must be a difficult task modelling impacts more than two weeks into the future when we don’t know how states and territories will respond to better Avalon cluster numbers.

The ACT, for example, has said the 14-day quarantine requirement for greater Sydney will continue at least until the new year, but that does leave some room for an upside surprise.

Also, the tourism industry is lobbying for an extension of jobkeeper.

Scott Morrison says there are no plans to alter the program, but outgoing tourism minister Simon Birmingham has acknowledged the sector’s concerns are real. Watch this space in the new year, I’d say.

Updated

The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian and chief health officer, Kerry Chant, will provide a Covid-19 update at 11am.

No Covid cases in Victoria

Victoria has recorded its 55th consecutive day without a locally transmitted coronavirus case.

Updated

Further to the updated potential exposure sites that I posted earlier, here is the full list.

Vaccine delivery contracts signed

Greg Hunt has also announced that the government has signed delivery contracts for the vaccines.

The Pfizer and AstraZenanca vaccines, due to roll out from March next year, are being produced in Australia by CSL and Novavax.

The health minister on Thursday announced distribution contracts have been signed with DHL and Linfox to truck the vials across Australia, including those living in very remote areas, reports AAP.

The government has also tapped Accenture to gather the data to track vaccine doses and PwC to work with the health department to help monitor the program.

Hunt noted the vaccines require special handling and must be stored from between 2C and 8C to as low as -70C, which is required for the Pfizer vaccine.

Purpose-built dry ice containers will be used to move the Pfizer vaccine.

“It’s one of the largest logistical exercises in Australian history, but our team is working right through the Christmas and New Year period,” Hunt told Nine’s Today show.

Medical experts urge authorities to cancel Sydney's New Year's Eve fireworks

Christmas may have been partially salvaged for Sydney’s coronavirus-hit northern beaches, but experts are calling on authorities to consider canning the city’s New Year’s Eve celebrations.

The Australian Medical Association president, Omar Khorshid, has welcomed NSW’s four-tier system for Christmas gatherings which begins on Thursday, describing it as a “cautious approach”.

But Khorshid’s praise doesn’t extend to New Year’s Eve festivities, which he has strongly urged Premier Gladys Berejiklian to ponder.

“The NSW government should consider cancelling the New Year’s Eve fireworks display to discourage crowds and avoid any confusion in its public messaging,” he said.

“We all need to be extra vigilant during this holiday period to the stop the spread of Covid-19, especially as at this time of year when people travel, attend events, and spend time in close proximity with family and friends.”

Khorshid said NSW needed to be prepared to tighten general restrictions further if the Avalon cluster continued to spread outside the northern beaches.

Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks send the wrong public health message, say medical experts.
Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks send the wrong public health message, say medical experts. Photograph: Brendan Esposito/EPA

Updated

Police say they are expecting long delays on the Tweed Heads-Coolangatta border. Yesterday, travellers waited up to 90 minutes on the NSW-Queensland border.

Greg Hunt expects 'another very low day today' of Covid cases in NSW

On Covid-19 cases, Hunt says he expects “another very low day today”.

“Australians have done extraordinarily well. I just want to thank our medical experts, health professionals, nurses, doctors, pathologists and the Australian public for coming forward in record numbers for testing,” he says.

“It has been a difficult year but an incredible outcome. And we’ll continue, I think, to lead the world in our response.”

NSW authorities will provide an update later today on the situation in Sydney.

Updated

Who will get the Pfizer and who will get the AstraZeneca vaccine? (Noting that neither has yet been approved by the TGA in Australia.)

Hunt:

The allocation will be determined by the expert medical panel determined by the suitability of the vaccines for populations. For example, with the flu vaccine, we have had in the past few years different vaccines for older Australians as opposed to the general population. That is an assessment the vaccines medical expert panel led by Professor Murphy is working on and right through the Christmas and New Year break and they’ll continue to provide that advice.

Updated

The health minister, Greg Hunt, is on the ABC right now talking vaccines.

He’s asked why the vaccine won’t be distributed before March, if “we are on track and ahead of schedule”, as Hunt says.

It is important to have the assessment and there are three big parts to this. There is the assessment, which relies on the data from the vaccine companies. There is the production, which relies on them being on schedule. And then there is the shipping and distribution. All of those are on track. And we’re ahead of schedule. But our whole approach has been to provide confidence by underpromising and over delivering.

We’ll set the March expectation and obviously we work to not just achieve that but put ourselves in an even stronger position but there is no country to the best of my knowledge to give a general population approval and there are daily deaths of thousands of cases in the US and the United Kingdom.

Minister for health Greg Hunt.
Minister for health Greg Hunt. Photograph: James Ross/AAP


Updated

Pete Evans' Facebook page removed for breaching misinformation policy

AAP reports that Facebook has removed celebrity chef Pete Evans’ page on the website after he repeatedly breached its misinformation policies with posts about the coronavirus.

A Facebook company spokesperson said the platform does not allow anyone to share misinformation about Covid-19 that could lead to imminent physical harm, or misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines that has been debunked by public health experts.

Pete Evans.
Pete Evans. Photograph: Seven Network

“We have clear policies against this type of content and we’ve removed Chef Pete Evans’ Facebook Page for repeated violations of these policies,” the spokesperson said on Wednesday evening.

Facebook has previously removed individual posts by Evans for violating its Misinformation & Harm Policy.

Evans posted on Instagram on Wednesday telling his followers he had been “shut down” on Facebook “for a few days” over his vaccine posts. Facebook says the ban is permanent.

Updated

A “significant number” of Australians trying to make it home for Christmas have been left stranded after Singapore and Hong Kong introduced bans on travellers from the UK transiting through its airports.

Michael McGowan has the story.

[Cont from previous post]

If you travelled on these train routes during the time and date indicated, you should get tested immediately and self-isolate until you receive a negative result. Passengers should continue to monitor for Covid symptoms and if any symptoms occur, get tested again:

  • Wynyard to Milsons Point on Thursday 17 December between 12.39pm and departing 12.46pm;
  • Milsons Points to Wynyard on Thursday 17 December between 4pm and 4.11pm.

Please note that the health advice or times have changed for the following venues:

  • Mona Vale: Coffee Brothers Mona Vale, 1/54-56 Darley Street, Mona Vale; Saturday 12 December, 12pm to 1pm

People who attended this venue at this date and time are no longer considered close contacts.

Patrons should get tested immediately and self-isolate until you receive a negative result. You should continue to monitor for symptoms and if any symptoms occur, get tested again

  • Newport: Shot Lab, 1/326-330 Barrenjoey Road, Newport, Tuesday 15 December, 11am to 12pm

People who attended should get tested immediately and self-isolate until you receive a negative result. You should continue to monitor for symptoms and if any symptoms occur, get tested again.

[Cont from previous post]

If you travelled on these bus routes during the time and date indicated, you should get tested immediately and self-isolate until you receive a negative result. Passengers should continue to monitor for Covid-19 symptoms and if any symptoms occur, get tested again:

  • B1-1: Wednesday 16 December, 6.50am to 7.45am, Warriewood BLine, Pittwater road to Wynyard Station Stand B
  • B1-2: Wednesday 16 December, 4.30pm to 5.30pm, Wynyard Station Stand B to Warriewood BLine, Pittwater road
  • 199-49: Thursday 17 December, 11am to 11.25am, Barrenjoey road opp George Street to Barrenjoey Road opp Village Park
  • B1-1: Thursday 17 December, 11.30am to 12.36pm, Mona Vale BLine, Barrenjoey road to Wynyard Station, York Street, Stand M
  • B1-2: Thursday 17 December, 4.15pm to 5.15pm Wynyard Station, Carrington St, Stand B to Mona Vale BLine, Barrenjoey Rd
  • 188X-2: Thursday 17 December, 5.20pm to 5.40pm, Mona Vale BLine, Barrenjoey road to Barrenjoey Rd after George Street
  • B1-1: Wednesday 16 December, 6.50am to 7.45am, Warriewood BLine, Pittwater road to Wynyard Station Stand B
  • B1-2: Wednesday 16 December, 4.30pm to 5.30pm, Wynyard Station Stand B to Warriewood BLine, Pittwater road
  • 199-49: Thursday 17 December, 11am to 11.25am. Barrenjoey road opp George Street to Barrenjoey road opp Village Park
  • B1-1: Thursday 17 December, 11.30am to 12.36pm, Mona Vale BLine, Barrenjoey road to Wynyard Station, York Street, Stand M
  • B1-2: Thursday 17 December, 4.15pm to 5.15pm, Wynyard Station, Carrington Street, Stand B to Mona Vale BLine, Barrenjoey Road
  • 188X-2: Thursday 17 December, 5.20pm to 5.40pm, Mona Vale BLine, Barrenjoey Road to Barrenjoey Road after George Street

New venues listed by NSW health

NSW Health has released a new list of potential exposure sites this morning, including around the northern beaches, north-west of the CBD, and at Bondi.

Anyone who attended the following venues at the following times is considered a close contact, and must immediately get tested and isolate for 14 days, regardless of whether a negative result is received:

  • Avalon: Alma Avalon Restaurant, 47 Old Barrenjoey road, Avalon Beach; Wednesday 16 December, 8.30pm until close
  • Macquarie Park: Premier Academy League Under 8s Macquarie University Soccer Fields, Macquarie University Soccer Fields, Macquarie Park; Sunday 13 December, 9.15am – 10.45am
  • Mona Vale: Mona Vale Fitness First, Pittwater Place Shopping Centre, 10 Park Street, Mona Vale; Thursday 17 December, all day

Anyone who attended the following venues at the following times is a casual contact who must immediately get tested and isolate until a negative result is received:

  • Sydney: MLC building food court, 19 Martin Place; Tuesday 15 December 1pm – 2pm

Anyone who attended the following venues at the following times is a casual contact who should monitor for symptoms and immediately get tested and isolate if they appear. If further symptoms appear, get isolate and get tested again:

  • Collaroy: De’assis Collaroy Café; Shop 2/1091 Pittwater road, Collaroy; Saturday 12 December, 9.15am – 10.10am

Anyone who attended the following venues at the times specified is asked to immediately get tested and isolate until NSW Health provides further information:

  • Bondi: Bondi Icebergs Club (pool deck level), 1 Notts avenue, Bondi Beach, Sunday 20 December, 8am –9.30am and Monday 21 December 7am - 8am
Swimmers are seen at Bondi Icebergs pool, which was attended by someone with Covid-19.
Swimmers are seen at Bondi Icebergs pool, which was attended by someone with Covid-19. Photograph: John Fotiadis/AAP

Updated

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the coronavirus today. I’m Luke Henriques-Gomes.

It’s Thursday, 24 December. (Yes, Christmas Eve!)

As Sydney battles the outbreak on the northern beaches, eased restrictions will kick off today last until 11.59pm on Boxing Day. They mean that people in greater Sydney, the Central Coast and Blue Mountains may have 10 guests to their house, plus children under 12, over the holiday period.

The epicentre of the current outbreak, the northern beaches, has been split into two zones. The rules have been eased slightly there too, but residents north of the Narrabeen bridge will still be under strict restrictions. You can read more here.

Meanwhile, authorities are urgently investigating how a Qantas crew member contracted Covid-19 after arriving in Darwin from Paris and then flying to Sydney without being tested or quarantined.

The case has again drawn attention to the relaxed rules for aircrews arriving in Australia, as officials acknowledged he was not required to undergo testing for coronavirus at any stage of his journey.

Stay with us for all the latest.

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