What happened this Monday 4 January
That’s it for the blog today, thanks for reading. In summary:
- NSW recorded no new cases of community transmission today, but found two cases that will be included in tomorrow’s figures.
- Victoria recorded three new cases of community transmission.
- Bushfires threatened lives and homes in Western Australia earlier, but warnings were then downgraded.
- A huge storm is set to hit NSW later today.
- And crowds have been capped at 25%, or 10,000, for the third cricket Test between Australia and India at the SCG, starting on Thursday.
Updated
The acting NSW premier, John Barilaro, has reportedly lashed out at Western Australia, in yet another case of state v state parochialism clouding the response to the pandemic.
Barilaro told radio station 2GB today he was “sick to death of being lectured to by Western Australia and some of the other states, when we’re doing the heavy lifting”, according to a report from the ABC.
The heavy lifting is a reference to the number of international passengers NSW is taking. WA premier Mark McGowan has reportedly batted away the criticism.
Updated
The federal opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, is again criticising the Morrison government regarding its progression of plans to approve Covid-19 vaccines.
A timely vaccine is crucial in helping us get back to COVID normal.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) January 4, 2021
Frankly, the Morrison Government has dropped the ball.
Scott Morrison said Australia was "at the front of the queue."
And the Government continues to say 'we're ahead of schedule'.
It's simply not true.
Australia’s chief medical officer, Prof Paul Kelly, explained earlier today why Australia is doing it a bit slower than some other countries. He said:
I want to reassure, as we have been saying for some time now, that we’re going through the processes, as we have talked about for some time, in relation to getting vaccinationand that is on target. And we are going through all of the processes that need to be done to ensure safety as well as a strong and efficient implementation of that strategy.
Kelly said he met in Canberra today with the new division for Covid-19 vaccination, which had been working “virtually non-stop” to get the vaccine rolled out.
Updated
South Australian premier Steven Marshall has spoken to reporters today. He says restrictions will be lifted to NSW if its records 14 consecutive days like today with zero cases of community transmission. He also said there was no plans to introduce border restrictions for Victoria.
This from AAP:
South Australia will look for 14 days with no community transmission before lifting coronavirus restrictions with NSW, premier Steven Marshall says.
But the premier says there are no plans to also close the state’s border with Victoria, as authorities continue to battle a cluster of Covid-19 cases in Melbourne.
NSW recorded no new local infections on Monday over the designated 24-hour period for the first time in almost three weeks.
However, two new cases linked to a western Sydney bottle shop have since been registered and will be added to Tuesday’s figures.
Victoria reported three new locally acquired cases while SA said four people who recently returned from overseas had tested positive for the virus.
All four were in hotel quarantine.
Marshall said he had been informed that the new cases in Melbourne were linked to previous infections.
So not nearly as worrying as a new infection bubbling up.
I have every confidence in the Victorian health team to put that net over that cluster and to bring it under control as quickly as possible.
However, the premier said the government would stick with its benchmark of no new cases for two weeks before lifting restrictions on NSW travellers.
Under the present arrangements, a hard border closure is in place, with no one from that state allowed to enter SA unless they are a returning resident, relocating permanently or an essential traveller.
Returning residents or people relocating will still need to quarantine for 14 days and can only make that trip once.
A 100km buffer zone on the SA-NSW border allows cross-border residents free movement across the state line.
All border arrangements will be reviewed again when SA’s transition committee meets on Tuesday.
The Covid-19 pandemic has also prompted the SA government to consider revamping the state’s emergency management procedures.
The provisions under the Emergency Management Act came into force in March as the pandemic grew.
Marshall said the provisions of the act worked well for events such as bushfires and floods which were resolved fairly quickly, but was not so well suited to dealing with a pandemic.
Updated
Cyclone Imogen is really knocking Queensland about. There are 1,400 homes without power.
Updated
There have been five more cases of Covid-19 recorded in Queensland, AAP reports.
Queensland has recorded five new Covid-19 cases in hotel quarantine as authorities continue to respond to a surge in demand for testing.
On Saturday, anybody who had been in Victoria since 21 December was told to get tested and self-isolate until they get their results.
The chief health officer, Jeannette Young, confirmed almost 6,300 tests were done on Sunday and there were 83 Queensland Health fever clinics operating around the state.
She said on Monday:
There is a lot more testing capacity now available across the state. We’ve also increased the hours of opening and the numbers of staff in a lot of those clinics.
Young said three additional clinics were open on the Gold Coast, as well as staff numbers being doubled at the existing clinics.
I know that there have been some queues that have developed over the weekend in some of those clinics and I thank the people who persevered and got themselves tested, that is really, really important.
The acting premier, Cameron Dick, said he didn’t want anyone to have to wait, but the reality was people had responded to the call to get tested.
They’ve responded in very significant numbers to do the right thing, and we are providing the resources that we need to do as a state to ensure they can be tested as quickly as possible.
Public health directions have been issued banning people who have been in Victoria on or after 21 December from entering residential aged care facilities, disability accommodation and hospitals unless 14 days have passed.
Hospital visits are permitted if a negative Covid-19 test is obtained in Queensland.
Young said:
We’re responding quickly to protect people in these facilities by restricting any visitors who have been in high-risk locations so we can keep them as safe as possible.
There are now 17 active cases in Queensland and the state has gone 111 days without a case of community-based infection. The only recent positive cases have been reported in hotel quarantine, including a child who returned from Pakistan on the weekend.
Young advised people to “keep engaged” while on holiday in the state because things could “unfortunately rapidly change”.
The Queensland border is already closed to anyone who has been in the Covid-declared hotspots of greater Sydney and surrounding areas in the past 14 days. Those restrictions are expected to be reviewed on 8 January.
Border declaration passes are also needed for travellers who have visited New South Wales since 11 December.
Updated
Victoria’s Covid-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar has just been speaking on Melbourne radio station 3AW about the Black Rock cluster.
He said there was a large number of primary and secondary contacts but “for the stage we are at, we are where we would want to be on an outbreak of this scale.”
Updated
The Victorian Department of Health and Human Services has sent out its daily Covid-19 update. Not much new here, but for totality:
Victoria has recorded four new cases of coronavirus since yesterday.
The new cases include three previously identified close contacts linked to the Black Rock Restaurant outbreak. These cases were in isolation at the time of contracting Covid-19.
The fourth case is a returned international traveller in hotel quarantine.
This brings the number of active cases in Victoria to 36 including 24 locally acquired cases, an increase of three since yesterday and 12 in hotel quarantine, an increase of one in the past 24 hours.
The closure of the border with NSW has seen more than 60,000 Victorians return across the border and require a Covid-19 test.
Yesterday 32,468 tests were processed bringing the overall testing total in Victoria since the pandemic began to 3,962,283.
In response to this extra demand for testing, we have more than doubled our testing capacity in the past few days.
There have been significant delays at testing sites due to this overwhelming increase in demand. We thank Victorians for their patience and their recognition of the importance of getting tested. Only through this mass testing effort can we quickly identify new cases and engage public health actions to contain this new outbreak.
There are now more than 200 testing centres in operation including new testing sites in areas where large numbers of close contacts and exposure sites have been identified.
We are also utilising the Rapid Response Testing model to run pop-up sites and boosting the testing capacity at the Showgrounds. Yesterday more than 1,000 tests were processed at the Showgrounds walk-in and drive-through sites.
Wait times at our testing sites are reducing and we expect the sites to accommodate the increased demand over the course of today and beyond.
Our pathology teams are processing more than three times the normal volume of tests and producing 86% of results within 24 hours with 99.9% receiving results within 48 hours.
The department is publishing expected wait times at testing sites on its website. These wait times will fluctuate throughout the day according to demand and some sites may have to temporarily stop accepting new people to manage queues.
The website also includes updated information about locations and hours of operation for testing sites here.
The department is working through 2295 exemption applications for travel to Victoria for compassionate or medical reasons. Of these 175 exemptions were assessed yesterday.
In all cases, those applying have provided evidence of negative Covid-19 tests. More staff are being deployed to speed up this process.
The department’s Case Contact and Outbreak Management team are centrally running all the contract tracing with support from the local public health units, in particular, the South Eastern team.
This includes medical support, contact tracing support and contact tracing for any other exposure sites that have been identified.
As of the 3 January 2020 reporting date, we have 24 cases connected to the Black Rock Outbreak in isolation and 1,106 primary and secondary contacts being asked to isolate.
There are now exposure sites in Abbotsford, Albert Park, Bairnsdale, Bentleigh, Black Rock, Box Hill South, Brighton, Burwood East, Campberwell, Cape Schank, Caufield, Cheltenham, Clayton, Collingwood, Docklands, Doveton, Emerald, Forrest Hill, Fountain Gate Shopping Centre, Frankston, Hallam, Hampton, Glen Waverley, Lakes Entrance, Leongatha, McKinnon, Mentone, Mordialloc, Melbourne CBD, Moorabbin, Mount Martha, Mount Waverley, Oakleigh, Southbank, Springvale and Wonthaggi and we expect this list of exposure site to increase over coming days as contact tracing continues.
The cross-border commissioner has completed his review of the border bubble arrangements between Victoria and New South Wales, and determined that the current arrangements are appropriate – with the addition of a permit system to ensure agriculture workers can continue to cross the border to complete their critical work.
People who live in a border community must carry a valid form of ID with a current address when travelling.
Residents from the border bubble who have been beyond the NSW border region in the past 14 days will not be able to cross the border from NSW into Victoria – but provided they meet this criteria, both NSW and Victorian border residents are able to travel as they would for their normal day to day activities like work, shopping and eating out.
The chief health officer will monitor the bubble and make changes if necessary. As contact tracing interviews continue, details of exposure sites may change. A list of each exposure site including dates and times can be found here.
Information regarding Covid-19 is available at the Department of Health and Human Services website or by calling 1800 675 398.
Updated
A reader has sent in this regarding testing in Queensland, which seems sub-optimal:
I’m emailing about the queues in Queensland for Covid tests. We arrived at the Noosaville Covid test site before it opened around 7.45am. Large queue around the corner. It’s now 11.30am and we have at least 20 people ahead. We reckon another 45 mins minimum so minimum 4/4.5 hour test time.
We also met people in the queue who arrived from a different test site that ran out of tests and were directed to come to Noosaville instead. People are leaving the queue due to long waits.
Almost no communication from the test site to the queue. Over half of the queue were not wearing masks until about an hour ago when surgical masks were passed out.
My partner and I live in Melbourne and arrived in Queensland 28 December. Due to the fact that we were in Melbourne after 21 December we are following advice to get tested. We are supposed to fly back to Melbourne tomorrow at 5.30. Hoping to have a result but at this rate we may be forced to wait.
Majority of the queue seem to be Victorians following the new Queensland advice issued.
Updated
AAP has reported that bushfire warnings in Western Australia have been downgraded:
Alerts for a bushfire which threatened lives and homes on Perth’s southern outskirts have been downgraded.
An emergency warning was put in place early on Monday for parts of The Spectacles, Orelia, Medina, Naval Base, Postans, Kwinana Beach and Hope Valley.
By early afternoon that was reduced to a watch and act message.
The blaze has destroyed about 240 hectares of scrub since it was sparked on Sunday afternoon but the cause is yet to be determined.
At one stage it spread to a rubbish tip at Medina, sending toxic fumes into the air.
About 120 firefighters remain on the scene.
Meanwhile, the threat from other fires in Western Australia has reduced including those at Rockingham, south of Perth, and two in the outer Perth suburbs.
The fire came as hot conditions prevailed across much of WA with the city forecast to have top temperatures in the mid-to-high 30s all week.
Updated
Meanwhile, property prices in Australia’s biggest cities could decline early in 2021 due to raised coronavirus restrictions, but experts predict they will strongly bounce back.
Tim Lawless, research director of property data group CoreLogic, says house prices will probably fall in the first couple of months as buyers become wary of the latest Covid-19 restrictions.
“Buying a property is a high commitment decision and you want to be confident about your household finances, your job, and the ability to get a mortgage.”
There is better long-term news for owners. Lawless predicts a 10% rise for the housing market this year. Economists at AMP Capital predict a 5%.
Read the full report here:
Updated
Meanwhile, checkpoints in the ACT are set to be strengthened, as people try and sneak through, according to this report from the ABC.
Updated
Here’s our report on the latest with the NSW-Victoria border closures from my colleague Luke Henriques-Gomes. The acting Victorian premier Jacinta Allan said earlier that the government would not look at reopening until more days with zero cases were recorded:
The NSW State Emergency Service has put out quite the warning about an impending storm:
#GetReady NSW
— NSW SES (@NSWSES) January 4, 2021
Detailed Severe Thunderstorm Warning for LARGE HAILSTONES, DAMAGING WINDS and HEAVY RAINFALL for people in parts of Blue Mountains/Hawkesbury and #Sydney areas.
🌧️Visit the @BOM_NSW for all current warnings https://t.co/svH9b1p1E3
☂️Take the time now to prepare. pic.twitter.com/JsaSG4w0ur
Updated
More on Covid-19 testing in Victoria from the Department of Health and Human Services, which says more sites and extended hours are now available:
UPDATE: New testing sites & extended hours are available. Capacity has been increased but some locations have experienced high demand. Get info on where to get tested, opening hours & wait times: https://t.co/ogHDjdmEZd Thanks for coming forward for testing Victoria. pic.twitter.com/GOovpR8G7c
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) January 4, 2021
Updated
A lovely reader has given us an update from one Melbourne testing site:
Went to Northern Health in Epping (drive through) this morning. Arrived at about 10.30am and only waited 30 minutes. Apparently the wait time at the nearby testing site at Darebin Arts Centre was over three hours. It pays to check the wait times on the DHHS website because sometimes an extra 15 minutes of driving is really worth it!
Updated
That’s the end of the Cricket Australia press conference, confirming a reduced capacity of 25% at the SCG for the Test between Australia and India, due to start on Thursday.
Updated
Hockley is being asked about the ructions coming from the Indian camp regarding the restrictions that would be put in place in Queensland, which had led to suggestions the Brisbane test could be moved. The tensions seem to have eased in the past day or so.
Hockley says:
There has been some reporting that players will be confined to their rooms. That’s not the case.
Players will be able to train and play at the ground. And when they’re in the hotel, they’ll be able to mix within their groups.
Typically for a Test match, players arrive at the ground in the morning between 8 and 9, and then they’re there until 6 and 7 at night. So it’s back to the hotel to rest, recuperate, and they will be able to mix within their group. So everyone is fully across that and supportive.
Updated
Cricket Australia’s acting chief executive, Nick Hockley, thanks the Victorian government and the MCG for being prepared to step in if the situation in Sydney spun out of control.
He says:
I would just like to say thank you to the Victorian government and the Melbourne Cricket Club.
The fact that we were able to have that on standby as a contingency gave us as much time as possible to assess the situation in conjunction with the New South Wales government and NSW Health. And based on their advice, when it was safe to do so, that enabled us to confirm that the third Test was going ahead. So we always hoped it would.
And I’m delighted to say that I think both squads are now – I think they’re in the air, due to touch down in Sydney soon. We just all can’t wait for that third Test to start on Thursday.
Updated
The SCG Trust’s chief executive, Kerrie Mather, said the ground would also be prepared to hold another Test, should the fourth Test at the Gabba have to be moved, but she hoped it would take place in Queensland as planned.
Updated
Here are some bits and pieces from the Cricket Australia press conference:
- People will be strongly encouraged to wear masks while walking around the venue
- People should bring their own, but masks will also be handed out at the gate
- The crowd plan is scalable, meaning more people could be allowed to attend later in the match
Updated
It is fairly predictable, but the Victorian opposition is calling for premier Dan Andrews to come back from leave because of the new Covid-19 cases in the state. Haven’t seen similar yet re NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian, who is also taking a break this week.
Opposition’s @DavidDavisMLC calling for Premier @DanielAndrewsMP to return from leave.
— Simon Love (@SimoLove) January 4, 2021
Pressed on whether all are entitled to a break, Mr Davis said yes, but “demonstrated failures” (cites testing delays, border chaos) should prompt him to come home. @10NewsFirstMelb #springst pic.twitter.com/JGMPfu43ZE
Updated
On that note, I’ll hand over to Nino Bucci, who will take you through the afternoon.
That Cricket Australia press conference will be at 2.30pm.
Have a good afternoon, and stay safe.
Updated
Kelly was also asked about state border closures, with Victoria introducing a hard border (bubble communities exempted) with NSW over the weekend.
He said:
Ultimately, the domestic border closure is another matter for the states, and they are doing what they feel is necessary to protect their own populations within their states. We do have a hotspot definition from the commonwealth that was mostly designed, and was agreed at national cabinet, to guide the commonwealth support to state public health responses. For example, in relation to aged care and so on.
Kelly was asked if he believed people should have been going on summer holidays in Australia this year. He said:
We are always new from the beginning of this that a respiratory virus does generally spread with people, so where people are more mobile and gathering together, that is the way that the virus is spread. That is the typical way that things happen in summer in Australia, Christmas gatherings and so forth.
As it is playing out in the Victorian outbreak in relation to that Black Rock restaurant, most of the secondary cases have been in Christmas gatherings, people coming together in their own homes. That is why we, and also the Victorian and New South Wales health authorities in particular, have been making those pleas about gatherings in private homes as well as other venues, and indeed making adjustments to the public health orders in relation to that.
It is a risk, [but] we do need to start learning at some point to live with this virus. But the vaccine is coming and I think people are being very cautionary and precautionary today, and in the coming months while we’re waiting for that vaccine [that] is the way to go.
Updated
Let’s go back to Australia’s chief medical officer, Prof Paul Kelly, who has been talking about the vaccine roll-out and explaining why Australia is doing it a bit slower than some other countries.
I want to reassure, as we have been saying for some time now, that we’re going through the processes, as we have talked about for some time, in relation to getting vaccination too, and that is on target. And we are going through all of the processes that need to be done to ensure safety as well as a strong and efficient implementation of that strategy.
Kelly said he met with the new division for Covid-19 vaccination in Canberra today, who he said have been working “virtually non-stop” to get the vaccine rolled out.
Similarly our regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, has continued to have a very close and frequent contact with overseas regulators, some of whom has given emergency use authority for a couple of the vaccines, and another one overnight in India, so we have the finger on the pulse there. We know what is happening in the regulatory space, but just as important, what is happening in terms of the implementation of the vaccination strategies in like-minded countries such as the UK and the US and others of Europe.
The approvals will happen when all the information we need to make those approvals is available, and that will be fast-tracked as much as possible but no shortcuts will be made. The safety check has to be there before anyone gets this vaccine in Australia. Once that approval is done and there will be deliveries from our overseas suppliers, and then from our local suppliers here in Australia, the AstraZeneca vaccine, if and when they get approval.
And so after those supplies are in Australia there will be extra testing done in terms of the absolute final ticket for safety – that takes a short period. Then we will be starting. So we have said all along that by the end of March we will have a vaccines here in Australia.
If some of these things end up being a bit earlier that will be great but we are not promising anything there, we need to get through all of those processes that need to happen.
Asked why Australians would have to wait until the end of March, when vaccines are already being rolled out in the UK and US, Kelly said:
I can absolutely assure them ... there will be no delays once that approval is done ... we’re just being cautious terms of the late March timeline at this stage; hoping that it may be shorter than that, but at this stage we are being upfront that that is our plan for the end of March to be a time when we started.
Just to assure you and the Australian public, there will be no delays other than those which are absolutely necessary for safety, and to ensure the implementation of the vaccine strategy is working to its most efficient way to get vaccines to all Australians that want one by the end of the year.
Updated
Cricket Australia to refund all tickets to Sydney Test and require re-purchase
Cricket Australia said it had acted on advice from NSW Health to reduce the capacity in the 7 January Vodafone Pink Test to 25%.
All tickets already purchased for the test will be refunded and the match will be re-ticketed in accordance with a new socially distanced seating plan.
People who currently hold a ticket will be given first access to repurchase their tickets from 5pm today to midday tomorrow.
Nick Hockley, Cricket Australia’s interim CEO, said the safety of fans, staff, players, broadcast partners and match officials would continue to be the utmost priority for the third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground as the organisation continued to listen to the advice of NSW Health.
In response to the public health situation in NSW, we are working closely with Venues NSW and NSW Health to put appropriate biosecurity measures in place for our staff, players, match officials, broadcasters and fans to ensure we play the third Test at the SCG safely.
Reducing the capacity of the venue is crucial in achieving social distancing requirements, and we sincerely thank ticket-holders for their patience, as we process refunds today, reconfigure the SCG seating plan to deliver these social distancing measures and go back on sale.
Tickets will be back on sale exclusively to those who have already bought a seat at 5pm AEDT on January 4, with remaining tickets released at midday AEDT on January 5.
To date, we have been able to deliver a safe and successful summer of cricket thanks to our detailed biosecurity protocols, the cooperation and support of public health officials and the hard work of so many people behind the scenes.
Tony Shepherd, the Venues NSW chair, said the SCG had taken significant measures to ensure the safety of fans attending the third Test.
There are extensive protocols being enacted for the upcoming Test, including increased cleaning, customer service and security staff, along with dedicated social distancing marshals.
The SCG is registered as a Covid-Safe business with the NSW government, which allows exhaustive record keeping and QR code check-in protocols that will ensure the safety of ours fans.
We have a very safe stadium and will be doing everything we can to deliver this event safely, as we have at our venues in NSW for the entire year.
There will be a press conference at 2.30pm.
Updated
SCG will be at 25% capacity for Sydney Test
Cricket Australia has halved the number of spectators allowed through the Sydney Cricket Ground gates for the Sydney Test to 25% of capacity.
Updated
Australia’s chief medical officer, Prof Paul Kelly, is addressing the media now. He says there were 21 new cases reported in the past 24 hours, most of which are in hotel quarantine.
There are now 28,504 cases of Covid-19 in Australia since the pandemic began. To put that in perspective, that’s less than one day in the UK.
Just 26 people are currently in hospital with Covid-19 in Australia.
Kelly said:
Very pleasingly, we know that there are outbreaks both in Sydney and in Melbourne. But very few cases were diagnosed up until the cut-off for today’s numbers last night, so in fact zero cases for the 24 hours to 8pm in New South Wales yesterday and only three cases in Victoria.
So that is really just an incredibly important message that while we are concerned with these locally acquired cases of course,the contact tracing exercise, the testing and the isolation efforts that are being done in both Victoria and New South Wales are bearing fruit.
Updated
We are working to confirm this.
EXCLUSIVE: @7NewsSydney can reveal the Third Test between Australia and India will be played at the SCG with crowd capacity capped at 25% #AUSvIND
— Taylor Auerbach (@tauerbach) January 4, 2021
Three more venues in Sydney have been added to NSW Health’s list of Covid-19 exposure sites.
Anyone who attended the 10.10am screening of The Croods: A New Age at the Reading Cinema on Parramatta Road in Auburn on 30 December has been told to get tested immediately and self-isolate for the full 14 days, regardless of the test result.
Anyone who attended any other screening at the cinema from 10.10am to 12.10pm is regarded as a casual contact and should get tested immediately and self-isolate until they get a negative result. If any symptoms occur, get tested again.
Anyone who attended OKS Beauty and Hair salon on Joseph Street, Lidcombe, from 10.30am to noon on 31 December is also told to get tested immediately and self-isolate for the full 14 days, regardless of test result.
Anyone who attended the Woolworths at Parramatta Rd in Lidcombe between 12.15pm and 3.45pm on 31 December has been told to get tested immediately and self-isolate until they get a negative result. If any symptoms occur, get tested again.
Updated
Queensland’s acting premier, Cameron Dick, and chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young, will hold a press conference at 2pm.
That’s 3pm in daylight-saving states.
Updated
Let’s return to some of the detail in that Victorian press conference this morning.
Victoria has received about 2,200 entry exemption applications since the NSW-Victoria border was closed, the state’s acting premier says.
Jacinta Allan said 175 exemptions had been processed at last count and that resources were being added to the team handling those claims.
She said there were immediate exemptions for people experiencing a medical emergency, while claims for compassionate reasons and from essential workers would also be prioritised.
The acting premier was also pressed on the long delays at testing centres in recent days. She said:
Victoria experienced 50 to 60 days of zero cases. We wanted to make sure that our hard-working health workers, who had worked so hard protecting our community over the course of 2020, had the opportunity to have a break. That was very important in terms of the health and wellbeing of ... our staff.
When the three cases were identified over that 30th and 31st of December period ... then the need to ramp up testing [and the border closure] ... we have seen over the last two or three days so many of those hard-working health worker staff come back to work.
Allan also assured reporters that the case of the sniffles she experienced during her doorstop were her allergies.
I have the delightful affliction of having some allergies. Living in regional Victoria and heading into Melbourne from time to time only exacerbates them.
Updated
The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, has responded to a report from the ABC alleging that spy agency Asio has concerns about Liberal donor Huifeng “Ha Ha” Liu, who is contesting moves to deport him.
Liu reportedly told the ABC he believed Asio had assessed him as a security risk because he was the president of a popular Australian-Chinese neighbourhood watch organisation, which had an agreement to take instructions from the Chinese consulate in Melbourne.
The ABC story claimed Liu has links to the assistant treasurer, Michael Sukkar, and Liberal MP Gladys Liu (no relation).
Albanese told reporters in Sydney that the government should be taking the issue “seriously”.
These allegations should be investigated properly.
Updated
Lyle Shelton had border permit for his 'sneaky run'
The Queensland police commissioner has slammed Christian lobbyist Lyle Shelton for tweeting that he’d crossed the border into Queensland on a “sneaky run”.
Sneaky run across the border and back. Avoided the CCP virus 🦠 police. pic.twitter.com/rWdOd1SUfj
— Lyle Shelton (@LyleShelton) January 2, 2021
Commissioner Katarina Carroll said police had investigated the matter, and spoken to Shelton, and found that he actually had the permit necessary to cross into Queensland, and that there actually was nothing “sneaky” about his run.
Carroll said:
It was disappointing to see that tweet; when you see something like we need to put resources into it, which we have.
He has been spoken to, he thought it was funny, but it’s not. You’re just taking away resources from other places.
At the same press conference, police minister Mark Ryan was also asked about the tweet, and perhaps best summed up the response:
There’s a saying here: it’s better for people to think you’re an idiot than to open your mouth and confirm it.
Updated
The site is not yet listed on the DHHS website, which was updated at 12.17pm.
However, a significant number of other exposure sites have been added, including Stomping Ground brewery in Collingwood on 28 December and number of shops in Cheltenham.
Check the full list here.
Updated
Melbourne shopping centre worker tests positive
A person working at Chadstone shopping centre in Melbourne has tested positive for Covid-19.
This message was posted on Chadstone’s website a short time ago:
Our team has been notified a person who worked at Boost Juice (outside Bonds) has returned a positive test for Covid-19. The team member last worked on-site on Tuesday 29 December between 6pm – 11pm.
We are working closely with the team at Boost Juice, both kiosks at Chadstone are currently closed and a deep clean has been undertaken. We’ve also completed a deep clean of our centre, as an additional precaution.
Our priority continues to be the health, safety and wellbeing of our customers, retailers, team members and broader community, and to ensure everyone can visit our centre safely. We have an increased cleaning roster in place, with additional focus on specific areas including: balustrades, retailer door handles, vertical transport, toilets, sinks, change tables and parents’ rooms, customer entry and touch points, information screens, as well as communal furniture throughout the centre. This will continue for the foreseeable future.
To stay informed, we recommend visiting the Department of Health and Human Services website, dhhs.vic.gov.au, or calling 1800 675 398.
Updated
An update on that bushfire south of Perth, via AAP:
An emergency warning remains in place for a bushfire burning south of Perth, with some residents advised it is now too dangerous to leave.
The warning is current for parts of the Spectacles, Orelia, Medina, Naval Base, Postans, Kwinana Beach and Hope Valley.
The fire is a direct threat to homes and lives in the area and has spread to a rubbish tip at Medina, sending toxic chemicals into the air.
Emergency WA says that for people in the area bounded by Beard Street, Rockingham Road and Thomas Road, it is now too dangerous to flee.
The warning advice said:
People in the area should remain inside, out of the smoke or fumes, with doors and windows closed. Air conditioners should also be switched off.
The blaze has already destroyed about 230 hectares of scrub since it was sparked on Sunday afternoon but the cause is yet to be determined.
It is moving slowly west and is not contained or under control. More than 100 firefighters are at the scene.
Meanwhile, the threat from other fires in Western Australia has reduced, including those at Rockingham, south of Perth, and two in the outer Perth suburbs.
It comes as hot conditions prevail with the city forecast to have top temperatures in the mid-to-high 30s all week.
Severe weather warnings have also been issued for two areas to the east and north of Perth.
The Bureau of Meteorology says severe thunderstorms over the central wheatbelt could produce heavy rain with possible flash flooding on Monday.
In other areas strong winds, with gusts of up to 90kmh, are likely.
Updated
Thank you to everyone who responded to my call for on-the-ground information about experiences with Covid-19 testing sites in Victoria today.
Here’s what you’ve told me so far:
- The Monash Health testing site in Berwick, a walk-in clinic, has quite a short queue this morning.
- The wait time at the drive-through test clinic at Frankston Hospital on Mornington Peninsula this morning was just over an hour and the testing staff were reportedly “superb with kids”.
- Respiratory clinics in Melbourne are moving well. A reader who booked into Cohealth respiratory clinic at Laverton was in and out in under 10 minutes of their scheduled appointment time, also reporting it was “the lest painful Covid test I have had so far – this was my third”.
- Werribee drive-through testing site is moving well if you get there early in the day.
The universal advice seems to be if you’re going to a drive-through or walk-through clinic, get in line very early.
We also received some reports of less good testing experiences.
One reader said they got tested at Summer Hill council in western Sydney on 23 December and still had not received a result six days later. They called NSW Health, who told them to call Service NSW, and got their result texted to them 15 minutes later.
Updated
The rest of Allan’s press conference is about all of the works interrupting public transport around Victoria over the next few weeks. You can check all work and disruptions here.
Updated
Allan also said agriculture workers have been granted exemptions to travel between Victoria and NSW, under the same strict standards that apply to the freight industry:
Obviously with the border being closed, we want to make sure that these important workers alongside other essential workers can have that movement between the two states and that is why effective immediately the arrangements under the National Agricultural Workers Code have been put in place for agricultural workers to move between New South Wales and Victoria. It means that the important work that makes a big economic contribution to our state and our country can continue.
But there are some very strict standards associated with the movement of ag workers between Victoria and New South Wales. It’s consistent with the arrangements that have been in place now for a little while for the freight industry. And that includes workers entering into Victoria from New South Wales, they’re required to wear masks at all times when they’re not working to self-isolate, to only leave their accommodation for food or in the case of an emergency.
Updated
All three new cases in Victoria linked back to Black Rock cluster
Jacinta Allan, Victoria’s acting premier, has been speaking at a doorstop in Melbourne. She says today’s three cases are all linked to the outbreak at the Thai restaurant at Black Rock, in Melbourne’s bayside region.
It means there are now 24 active cases connected to that cluster, she says:
This is a very strong day for Victoria because it comes off the back of a huge amount of tests collected.
There were about 32,000 tests conducted on Sunday.
Allan says 86% of tests are being returned within 24 hours. There have been significant delays at testing centres over the past few days.
Priority at testing centres will be given for close contacts of positive cases, Allan says.
The acting premier also says the result in NSW – with no new cases announced in the 24 hours to 8pm – is positive news. She does note, however, that authorities in NSW are concerned about the potential of further cases stemming from the cluster at Berala, which has now been linked to a BWS store.
Updated
Barilaro urges people to reconsider travelling to Sydney for Test
Barilaro says Cricket Australia and the SCG will make an announcement later today about the Test. He indicates – extremely loosely – that there may be some change to ticket numbers:
We’re also giving consideration to the numbers as ticket sales continue and I will advise today that the SCG and cricket later today will be making an announcement in relation to the Test. But we are confident – we are confident – that through the parameters set by Health, the advice that government gets from Kerry and her team, that will take that all into account.
You know, can I just say this: I know, for instance, for regional people, as the minister for regional New South Wales and as the deputy premier, you know, representing the region, I know for regional people the New Year’s Test is something which is an annual pilgrimage. We love coming to Sydney for this purpose and a lot of the members are from regions. In normal times I would say that is fantastic but I would be saying to people today to consider what’s occurring in Sydney with the infections and the restrictions.
In regional and rural New South Wales right now, we’re enjoying no restrictions, we got to have the summer and the Christmas we were robbed last year because of bushfires and drought, we got to have that this year. The risk would be that if someone from the regions comes to Sydney that they could take it back to a regional area. My advice to people would be – think about it, reconsider, maybe this year isn’t the year to come to Sydney to watch the Test and that’s what we’ll be doing. I’m not going to be enforcing people or putting in a direction for people not to come to Sydney but I think people, and I know regional people use common sense, and they will reconsider their visit.
Updated
Barilaro is asked if the northern half of Sydney’s northern beaches – the tippy top of the peninsula – will be out of lockdown before 9 January because no new locally acquired cases were reported today.
The short answer is no.
The long answer comes from Dr Kerry Chant.
On the week ending 21 December, Chant says, there were 67 cases in the northern part of the northern beaches, which is a rate of 90.5 cases for every 100,000 head of population. Pretty high. In the southern part of the northern beaches, the rate was three cases per 100,000.
She said 40% of the northern beaches community got tested in one week, 25% in the second week:
But there may have been people that had such mild symptoms they didn’t realise and there may have been little grumbling chains of transmission established within households. And we just want to make sure we got long enough to extinguish it totally so we don’t actually have to deal with a grumbling outbreak and to consider further actions.
I should like to say that the northern beaches is a very unique location. A beautiful one but a very unique one in the sense that because it is a peninsula, it is more conducive to this action, and also the fact that it had a massive seeding event and obviously you can imagine the Avalon RSL and Avalon Bowlo drew predominantly from locals. Yes, there were some people that attended those events from outside, but the predominant impact was on the northern end of the northern beaches ... We’re now dealing with a different cluster in Berala and the tools we used to control it need to be cognisant of the environment and the burden of disease in that as opposed to the northern beaches northern zone.
Updated
A reporter asks if the $5,000 fine for the Fairfield venue for having double the maximum capacity at a wedding at the weekend was a sufficient deterrent.
Deputy premier John Barilaro says he does not think the fine is big enough:
That’s actually a fair question. Firstly can I say when you have a deliberate act like the venue operators – normally we thank businesses that are working hand in glove with government in relation with dealing with the pandemic – in this scenario and this case we got an example of someone who’s done it bloody wrong. He puts his own business and reputation and that business’s reputation at risk, the sector at risk, the broader economy and jobs, and worse the health of this state.
Your question is in relation to the penalties, I know myself and the health minister this morning actually spoke about is that penalty sufficient, when to your point this was such a significant breach in what the revenue could have been for that operator is something we have to consider. But my message to everybody – we can put all the penalties in place, all we ask you is to do the right thing. No one wins when someone cheats.
When everyone else in your industry is actually doing the right thing, and you have decided to deliberately disobey the rules, you jeopardise more than your own business, the fine in itself is irrelevant in one way when you talk about the job losses and the impact on the economy, more so the health of citizens.
So we’re angry about it. We’ll always reconsider what penalties look like and we haven’t had such a breach, a deliberate breach, as we saw with that particular example. And again, it’s a reminder to everybody – we just need to work together to do the right thing. But I tell you what, we’ll come down hard on those who choose to be deliberate as we saw in that example.
Updated
Chant is asked whether the patient transport worker at the head of the Berala cluster was wearing PPE. She said they were, and she’ll put out a statement later listing exactly what was in use, but added:
I think it’s really important that this is not about casting aspersions on anyone. I think I really emphasised here that no one knowingly spread Covid. No one was out and about and I really appreciate the fact that people come forward and got tested because that’s really allowed us to uncover this transmission event.
Updated
Kerry Chant is asked about a suggestion from a Melbourne-based epidemiologist, Prof Michael Toole from the Burnet Institute, that patient transport workers be among the first vaccinated.
She says the identification of priority groups and plan for rolling out the vaccine will be determined by the Australian Technical Group on Immunisation:
It’s actually already indicated that in its thinking, in its broad thinking of the groups, the elderly, people that are at your quarantine borders, and healthcare workers are clearly a priority. And the rationale for that is they’re more likely to be exposed to returning travellers that have Covid at that time. So clearly that’s factored in to the thinking and they have actually published that already in terms of their advice.
She notes that there is no vaccines are currently cleared for use in Australia.
Updated
Dr Kerry Chant is asked to respond to criticism from the Australian Medical Association’s criticism of the upcoming Australia-India Test match at the SCG. She says:
As I have indicated, we have been looking at the plans and we have provided our advice to government. Those announcements will be made. We have certainly taken the matter seriously. We are concerned about the Berala cluster in particular and putting in a range of strategies, it’s really a matter for those discussions to continue. But we will continue to reassess and provide the best public health advice.
But can I just say that anyone who is attending that match, the same message – we can’t be sure that no one [with the virus] is going to attend the SCG, but what we are trying to do in our public health strategy is making sure that you don’t have a super-spreading event. That is the principle. And everyone has to be aware they could be going to a hospitality venue, they could be going to someone’s home. So we know that households are the greatest risk of transmission ... What we’re doing is aligning those measures in terms of the capacity caps and a range of other measures to reduce the opportunity for one person who attends those events to infect multiple people.
Updated
NSW health minister Brad Hazzard addresses people who protested against the mandatory wearing of face masks:
I have noted that there have been some demonstrations in the last 24 hours indicating that some people don’t like the idea of a mask. Well, if they don’t like the idea of a mask, stay home or stay outside. You don’t have to go into the shopping centres and put other people at danger. So there’s a way of actually balancing these issues. Find the balance. Some common sense and some care for your fellow community members.
Can I also just say to regional New South Wales residents – the use of a mask is not compulsory indoors. But I would say to you as health minister that it would still be safer for you. We’re hoping this virus is contained and we are doing everything we can on the basis of health advice to contain the virus, but there’s no guarantee in a Covid-world, there is no guarantees. So for those of you in the bush, in the regions, please consider using a mask. Don’t feel embarrassed about it, you’re doing what you should be doing in terms of leading the way to wear a mask if you can, [if] you don’t have emphysema or other health issues, wear it, it’s the safest thing.
Updated
Kerry Chant repeats the need for more people to get tested in NSW. Daily test figures should exceed 30,000, she says.
So we particularly urging residents of western, south-western Sydney and Wollongong to come forward with even the mildest of symptoms. As the acting premier indicated, we need to see those testing levels sustained and that’s because people were at those exposure venues for a number of days and we need to have those high rates of testing because even if you were exposed, some people will only develop the illness up to 14 days since their last exposure and so we need those testing rates to be maintained at very high levels to give us that surety we’re not missing those undetected chains of transmission.
Updated
NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said the two cases reported overnight are a man in his 40s who attended the BWS at Berala on Christmas Eve and a woman in her 40s who “also has some association with the BWS and the Woolworths at Berala”:
So just to summarise, the Berala cluster originated from returning overseas travellers and then there was a healthcare worker person who was involved in the transfer of those patients and then that person passed it on unknowingly to a close contact and that close contact went to the BWS.
Can I just stress that at the time where the person entered the BWS, they had no symptoms and no reason at all to think they had Covid infection. And it really is important that we all bring that to mind that any time we’re out and about, someone could have Covid and that’s why we need those universal precautions of keeping that physical distancing and the mask-wearing, particularly in those indoor settings.
But we are asking the cooperation of people – anyone who attended the BWS or Woolworths in Berala shopping centre on Sunday, 20 December, between 12.30 to 2pm are being urged to get tested immediately and self-isolate until a negative test result is received. Now, that is a long time since that period – but what we want to do is pick up any people that may have been transmitted than to assist us in blocking any further chains of transmission. It is critical that anyone who attended the BWS store between the 22 December and 31 December, even for a very short period of time, a few minutes during the times listed on the New South Wales government website, gets tested and isolates for 14 days regardless of the result received.
We are deeming everyone close contacts. And remember – what we’re also advising is that your household contacts should remain isolated until you got a negative test result. And then from the point that you get tested, you need to effectively have isolated from that household group. If there are difficulties with isolation within households, [NSW] Health has arrangements in place where we can accommodate close contacts to support people effectively following the public health advice.
Updated
NSW has identified at least two new cases overnight in Berala cluster
We’re into confusing numbers territory again.
So, there were no new locally acquired cases in NSW in the 24 hours to 8pm last night — that’s the period usually included in the daily figures.
But Barilaro said that two cases have been recorded overnight, which will officially go in tomorrow’s figures. Both those cases are connected to the Berala cluster.
Updated
NSW records no new locally acquired cases and seven in hotel quarantine
NSW has recorded no new locally acquired cases in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, but seven in hotel quarantine.
Acting premier John Barilaro opened the press conference by calling for more people to come forward and get a Covid-19 test:
As of 8.00pm last night, we had 22,275 tests in New South Wales ... The numbers are far too low. My message today is, again, if we’re going to succeed in staying ahead of the Covid pandemic, testing is crucial in large numbers so we can be confident of the data when we’re making decisions as we progress going forward.
Barilaro directed the call particularly at western Sydney and at Wollongong:
My plea today for those in western Sydney, please come out in numbers. If you have been tested previously, but you’re still feeling unwell or have a symptom, get tested again. If you have a symptom, get tested, if you think you visited an area that is on the list in relation to those areas we’re concerned, some venues, then please get tested.
He said the numbers should be at the 30,000 to 50,000 level recorded in the days just before Christmas.
Updated
While we’re standing by for the NSW press conference, I’ve got a some more on-the-ground reports about the testing situation in Melbourne.
A reader just told me they were tested at the walk-through clinic at Royal Melbourne hospital this morning. In an out within an hour and told to expect results within 24 hours.
Meanwhile, another reader tells me they have been trying to call the DHHS coronavirus hotline since 8am and keep getting told the service is getting too many calls and to call back later.
Please keep sending your experiences through. You can reach me at Calla.Wahlquist@theguardian.com
Updated
NSW police have issued a statement on the wedding venue at Fairfield in western Sydney which was fined $5,000 for allegedly breaching a public health order:
Officers from Fairfield city police area command, licensing police and south west metropolitan operations support group attended a venue on Spencer Street, Fairfield, about 9.30pm on Saturday (2 January, 2021) after concerns were raised about the number of guests at a wedding.
Police observed a large group at the location and spoke to the venue operator, a 46-year-old man. He was advised a number of guests would be required to leave, which he complied with.
Following further inquiries, the licensee of the venue attended Fairfield Police Station yesterday afternoon.
He was issued a $5000 [penalty infringement notice].
NSW police have also fined three other people for allegedly breaching public health orders.
A 27-year-old woman from Cronulla was fined $1,000 by police in Byron Bay for allegedly failing to self-isolate and failing to get tested, despite being a close contact of a positive Covid-19 case.
Police say the woman was provided with advice about testing facilities and the need to self-isolate on New Year’s Eve, and given PPE to get to the testing facility. When police returned to the resort where the woman was staying at 8pm on New Year’s Day they found the woman was not self-isolated. She was fined. They returned to check on her yesterday following reports she was still not self-isolating and had been swimming in the resort pool. She was fined another $1,000.
Two people have also been fined for leaving their homes on Sydney’s northern beaches to holiday on the NSW north coast. The man and the woman, both aged 32, allegedly left their home in Collaroy on 2 January to travel to Yamba, 650km north, on 2 January. They were fined by Coffs Harbour police on 3 January.
Updated
Australia’s housing market grew in 2020, despite the first recession in 30 years.
From AAP:
Australia’s housing market increased in value in 2020, despite the drag on activity caused by the outbreak of coronavirus.
The national home value index rose three per cent over the year to a median price of $574,872, according to CoreLogic.
Values in regional areas led the way with a 6.9 per cent increase for a combined median of $420,502, compared to two per cent for major capital cities with a combined median of $651,983.
Melbourne was the only capital city to finish the year underwater — albeit on a relatively healthy median price of $682,197 — after battling two waves of outbreaks of COVID-19.
The most expensive city was Sydney, with a median value of $871,749, and the cheapest was Darwin on $416,183.
CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said record low borrowing rates supported the market in 2020, along with a “spectacular” rise in consumer confidence.
Confidence was buoyed in the latter months of the year as COVID-related restrictions and border constraints began to be lifted.
“Containing the spread of the virus has been critical to Australia’s economic and housing market resilience,” Lawless said on Monday.
Changes to home values in capital cities in 2020:
- Sydney: up 2.7%
- Melbourne: down 1.3%
- Brisbane: up 3.6%
- Adelaide: up 5.9%
- Perth: up 1.9%
- Hobart: up 6.1%
- Darwin: up 9%
- Canberra: up 7.5%
Updated
Victoria’s acting premier Jacinta Allan will hold a press conference at 11.15am, allegedly about public transport disruptions but she will be asked about Covid.
You’ll recall that NSW is giving its daily press conference at 11am.
Ten months into the pandemic and we still have not got better at scheduling press conferences.
Updated
Let’s go back to the queues at testing clinics in Melbourne for a minute.
I’ve just heard from a reader named Hayden, who says he was able to get into a clinic half an hour before closing yesterday, after going on the DHHS website and checking the estimated wait times. You can check the wait time on the testing map here. He said:
The map includes wait times for a number of centres. I picked Tullamarine which said 30 mins wait, arrived at the site about 4.30 pm, and was through by just after 5.00 pm. I was kind of shocked at how accurate the wait time was. While being tested I noted the info board said the results would take 3-5 days, and given the amount of testing at the moment I kinda figured I was in for some quality iso time. However I got the all clear sms this morning at 8.55am. I’m pretty impressed tbh.
Updated
Anthony Albanese has spoken at a press conference in Sydney to criticise the pace of the vaccine rollout and cuts to wages and government supports, including jobkeeper and jobseeker.
On the vaccine, Albanese said:
We’ve never been at the front of the queue – we’ve argued we needed to get these deals signed, we needed six deals signed which is world’s best practice. Other countries got to the front of the queue way back in March last year. We’re not at that point yet.
Albanese accused the government of a “misinformation campaign” for conflating asking for a faster rollout with asking for faster approval. He said:
Labor supports the independence of the TGA, nobody is calling for a shortcutting of that process. What we are saying is if you’ve got confidence, once it’s approved it should be rolled out.
Albanese was also asked about industrial relations changes that can leave workers worse off overall, and whether business downturn as a result of border closures shows the need for them. He replied:
The law that they [the Coalition]want is any business impacted by the coronavirus pandemic can implement these changes. Every business has been impacted by coronavirus. Every Australian, every family, every worker and every business has been — so these cuts could apply across the board.
Updated
We are expecting Labor leader Anthony Albanese and Tony Burke to give a press conference. It’s scheduled for 9.45am in Sydney.
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is on leave but has issued this message from his official Twitter account:
This isn't the start to the New Year anyone wanted.
— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) January 3, 2021
After 60 days of zero cases and a Christmas spent together, Victorians could be forgiven for thinking – hoping – it was all over.
But this virus was never going to just go away.
If you need support to isolate – whether that's financial, food or anything else – call the hotline and we'll make sure you get it.
— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) January 3, 2021
And if you're heading out, make sure you have your mask and stick to the restrictions.
Updated
NSW health minister Brad Hazzard, acting premier John Barilaro, chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant and acting police commissioner Mal Lanyon will give a Covid-19 update at the standard time of 11am.
Updated
Victoria has recorded three new locally acquired cases of Covid-19
Victoria has recorded three new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 and one new case in international hotel quarantine, the Department of Health and Human Services said.
There were 32,468 tests conducted yesterday. We are hearing that test results are taking several days to come back – testing sites are saying it could take three to five days.
Yesterday there were 3 new local and 1 international case reported. 32,468 test results were received - thanks, #EveryTestHelps.
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) January 3, 2021
More information coming later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco #COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/yiM8QTTA59
Updated
Bushfires threaten lives and homes south of Perth
In other news, and a reminder of this time last year, firefighters have been working through the night in Perth to battle two out-of-control fires burning south and south-east of the city. One of the fires burned through a rubbish tip, causing hazardous fumes.
Another fire near Geraldton, 420km north of Perth, was brought under control.
AAP reported:
DFES issued an emergency warning for areas south of Perth including parts of The Spectacles, Orelia, Medina, Naval Base, Postans, Kwinana Beach and Hope Valley.
Another emergency warning was issued for people in an area in Rockingham south-east of Perth bounded by Point Peron Road, Memorial Drive, Lease Road, Arcadia Drive, Liverpool Street and Safety Bay Road.
People in these areas must act immediately to survive, DFES says.
“If the way is clear, leave now for a safer place,” it said.
It’s too late to leave home for those in an area bounded by Beard Road, Rockingham Road, Thomas Road and the coast, as hazardous fumes are in the air.
Those residents should remain inside with doors and windows closed and air conditioners switched off.
For those who can’t leave, they should be ready to shelter at home.
Anyone self-isolating or quarantining because of Covid-19 should leave and shelter with family or friends away from the area.
If they can’t return to their quarantine location within one hour, they should call police.
An earlier emergency warning for Karloo in greater Geraldton has now been downgraded to watch and act.
While the fire has been contained, there are still concerns changing weather conditions expected on Monday could revive the threat.
An emergency warning was also issued for an area in Gosnells but it was later downgraded to a watch and act as the fire became stationary.
Updated
The veterans affairs minister (a prominent federal minister from Victoria), Darren Chester, has accused the Victorian government of “precipitously” shutting its border to NSW. Chester told Sky News:
People expect precautions in those areas [hotspots] but not to shut down a whole state as a result. NSW is more than 800,000 sq km – it’s a vast state. To think you would shut down the whole state for Victorians all at once, when only a couple of weeks earlier we’d been describing some parts ... as green zones really was sending a signal to Victorians it was OK to go and visit those places for Christmas, catch up with your family, have a bit of a break and come back refreshed in 2021.
Then to precipitously shut that border and say ‘if you’re not back by midnight you have 14 days in quarantine’ was quite unfair. And now we’ve got to find a compassionate way to get those people who are north of the border and want to come home, to get them back across the border.
Updated
We’re still waiting on Victoria’s case numbers for today – they can’t be too far away.
Meanwhile, the list of exposure sites was updated late last night. It includes a brewery in Abbotsford, a cafe in Albert Park and the Sandringham and Gippsland train services.
Check the full list for locations, dates and times here. It is updated regularly, so it’s worth checking back in once or twice a day to make sure you are not affected.
Updated
I mentioned that queues are forming at some drive-through testing sites in Victoria.
This was the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre at Albert Park before 7am.
Not even 7AM, here’s the line to get a COVID test at MSAC. @TheTodayShow @9NewsMelb pic.twitter.com/BPlIeeyrwA
— Izabella Staskowski (@IzaStaskowski) January 3, 2021
This testing site has been criticised for turning people away quite early in recent days. I suspect this is partly a matter of space. The car park where testing takes place at MSAC is not particularly big, it doesn’t have the capacity of, say, the testing site at Chadstone.
Journalists from Nine News were there talking to people in the queues this morning.
Massive lines are accumulating outside Victorian testing sites. @IzaStaskowski #9News pic.twitter.com/UwI51m9usl
— 9News Australia (@9NewsAUS) January 3, 2021
Updated
Sydney wedding venue fined for breaching Covid-19 capacity rules
NSW police have confirmed that a wedding venue in Fairfield has been fined for allowing 600 to 800 guests at a wedding reception yesterday.
Police said the venue was looking at a $5,000 fine for the breach, with current restrictions allowing only 100 people at a wedding, under the one person per 4 sq metre rule.
NSW police minister David Elliott told 2GB radio this morning he was “furious” at the venue for the breach:
The operator has been fined $5,000 and I’m furious.
I was told the Fairfield local area command attended a wedding venue [that had] 700 people and has been fined $5,000. It’s infuriated me; it’s not that way I wanted to spend my Monday morning, I can assure you.
Updated
Long queues have already formed outside Victorian Covid-19 testing sites, which opened at 8am.
Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, president of the Victorian branch of the Australian Medical Association, runs a respiratory clinic in Melbourne which conducts Covid-19 tests by appointment.
He told Radio National the clinic is also at capacity and have held twilight sessions to try to clear the backlog. He said while criticism from the state opposition that the Victorian government should have predicted this surge in demand was a bit harsh, there were measures the Victorian government could have introduced, which were in place in the height of the second wave, which have not yet been rolled out.
That basically means government subsidies for private GP and respiratory clinics to encourage them to put on more staff:
If we had been notified that this was going to be a need we would certainly have brought in more staff, but to recruit the staff on a public holiday is very expensive and the support the state government has previously provided would have been very useful. As it was we brought in the extra staff on our own and we will bear the cost of that when we look at our books at the end of the month.
Haikerwal said while testing clinics could not have known exactly when the surge would hit, because they did not know when borders would close, they knew there would be a surge around the holiday season because of increased movement and gatherings of people:
What would have been useful is learning the lessons that we have learned already, working with the providers who are already out there doing the work, and enlist a bit of extra support ...
We were all stuffed, in terms of the end of December. We thought we would get a bit of a break. And two days later we had the border closures again.
On the border closure, he said:
I think the decision has been rightly made that we need to keep borders closured. There are a huge number of Victorians that need to come back home and I think they should be allowed to do that but it should be done in a way where we know when they are doing that, they do that 14-day quarantine at home, and because the systems are so much better now we can keep track of that ... We just need to be a bit more compassionate and allow our people home.
Finally, he said:
For goodness sake wear a mask, it’s the thing that saved us.
Updated
While we’re on border rules, police in Queensland are turning people away if they can’t prove that they were not in the greater Sydney hotspot.
Gold Coast police Chief Superintendent Mark Wheeler told News.com.au that 840 people had been turned away from the Queensland-NSW border in the past seven days because they “haven’t been able to prove, to our satisfaction, that they haven’t been in a hotspot”:
When police questioned these people further, they got evasive … they could not provide receipts or photographs of the last 14-day period. Where we have doubts, we will not let you in the state.
It’s possibly an indication of my mental state but this makes me think of that scene in Underbelly where Carl Williams manufactured an alibi by driving very fast to get on the CCTV at a bottle shop.
Updated
A teenager camping with a group of friends along the Snowy River has told ABC news that they did not learn of the border closure until they tried to come home to Victoria on 2 January and discovered the border had closed.
Daniel Forrest, from Wangaratta, told ABC News24 that he was camping with three friends 10km over the NSW border. While he lives in the border bubble, and can return home, his three friends cannot – so he is staying in NSW with them until they can all come home. He said:
We were camping down on the Snowy River. We decided to camp 10km over the border, which is just a Victoria-New South Wales sign. We didn’t have phone reception for the four days of camping. We had a New Year’s Day like normal. Enjoyed New Year’s Day. On the second, we just decided to leave. And then, as we went to leave, we went up to the checkpoint, which is 60km up the road, past the actual official border. And we showed our permits that were correct as of 29th, the day before we went, and showed our permits to get back into Victoria. And then they said, nah, sorry, they’re not valid any more. That’s the first we heard about the border actually being shut. We had no idea.
Darcy, one of the Melbourne-based friends camping with Forrest, said there should be a system for them to get home, especially as they were out of range.
I think it’s ridiculous there’s no system for us to get home, in a special circumstance, we have been in the bush, it would’ve been fine for us to come home the day before, and being isolated in the bush for that 24 hours made all that difference. And yeah, apparently now we’re outlaws and I think it’s – even with the other restrictions in Melbourne, there were systems in place to get people home from overseas. We can’t get back to our own state, 10km across the border.
The group said they did consider warnings about travel, which is why they got permits to return to Victoria before they left. They are now camping out at Jindabyne until they are told they can return home.
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In case you weren’t tired enough, 2021 may be a federal election year.
Labor’s shadow assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh has been talking to Radio National’s Cathy Van Extel about what they key focuses of such an election should be – health and education, unsurprisingly.
He was asked about Labor’s decision to drop its negative gearing policy, reckoned by political types to be one of the reasons Labor lost in 2019. Did he think it was a bad policy?
Says Leigh:
It’s neither here nor there what I think about the policy, we won’t be taking it to the next election.
Right, then.
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A crew member on the live export ship Diamantina, which is docked off Darwin, has been confirmed as testing positive to Covid-19.
The 36-year-old recorded a weak positive test last week and has been held in isolation at the Royal Darwin hospital since 28 December. Territory health authorities said the man would remain in hospital until he returned two negative tests.
He is the third member of the ship’s 28-person crew to test positive to the virus. The Australian-owned, Singapore-flagged cattle ship arrived in Darwin from Indonesia on Sunday, and a number of Darwin port staff were told to self-isolate after coming into contact with the crew.
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Good morning,
People caught not wearing a face mask in greater Sydney could be issued with a $200 on-the-spot fine from today. Masks are mandatory on public transport and in shopping centres, theatres, cinemas, hairdressers and places of worship for everyone except children under the age of 12 – and children are encouraged to wear masks where practicable.
Health authorities in NSW have added new exposure dates for the BWS store at Berala, identified as the source of a cluster in western Sydney which now stands at 13 positive cases. The earliest exposure dates extend back to 20 December. More than 1,000 people attended the store on Christmas Eve alone, and authorities are trying to track down thousands of people who may have attended the store during at-risk periods to get tested and isolate.
New restrictions also apply to Victorians now visiting Queensland. From 1am today, anyone who was in Victoria from 21 December onward, and is now in Queensland, is barred from visiting “vulnerable facilities”. That’s aged care homes, hospitals, disability accomodations and prisons. Chief health officer Jeanette Young has also asked anyone who was in Victoria from that date to get tested and quarantine until they get a negative result. Queenslanders have been urged to reconsider their need to travel to Victoria or NSW, with Young saying while there aren’t any travel restrictions in place against regional NSW or Victoria, border changes could occur.
In Victoria more than 1,500 people have applied for exemptions to the border closure with NSW, which prevents anyone outside the border bubble from travelling from NSW to Victoria without being granted a permit under exceptional circumstances. So far only 117 such permits have been granted. Testing capacity will be boosted again today, after the 60,000 people who rushed back to Victoria from NSW before the border slammed shut overwhelmed the state’s testing capacity and caused queues of more than eight hours.
The cut to the jobkeeper payment kicks in from today. The fortnightly payment had already been reduced from $1,500 to $1,200 in September. As of today, it’s $1,000 a fortnight for full-time workers and $650 for part-time workers. Labor’s Katy Gallagher has called on the federal government to introduce further targeted support for businesses, saying small businesses have faced further booking cancellations in what should be their busiest time of the year.
And finally, institutions which had been holding out against joining the national redress scheme for victims of institutional child abuse have now joined. Social services minister Anne Ruston said institutions named by the government as failing to sign up to the scheme in July had now joined or were in the final stages of joining, if they had capacity to do so.
But the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Kenja Communications and Fairbridge Restored Limited have not joined the scheme. They were named on 1 July 2020 as having not joined the scheme or signified an intent to join.
Let’s crack on. You can follow me on Twitter at @callapilla. If I’ve missed something, let me know at calla.wahlquist@theguardian.com
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