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The Guardian - AU
National
Justine Landis-Hanley (now) and Christopher Knaus (earlier)

Victoria makes AstraZeneca available to under 40s – as it happened

Sunday afternoon Covid-19 summary

It’s 4pm, so the blog is drawing to a close for today. Thank you so much for joining us.

Before I go, here’s a quick recap of what happened today (a lot):

  • Queensland recorded nine new Covid-19 cases, and ended the lockdown for 11 local government areas in the south-east region. But a mystery case in Cairns has plunged Cairns and Yarrabah into a three-day lockdown.
  • The Northern Territory has declared both Cairns and Yarrabah hotspots and imposed restrictions on travellers from these regions.
  • Queensland also announced that school staff and childcare workers will be given priority access to vaccines.
  • NSW recorded 262 new cases of community transmission, and one death of a woman in her 80s who was not vaccinated. At least 50 of those cases were infectious in the community.
  • NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, declared 12 suburbs in Penrith areas of concerns. They are now subject to harsher restrictions.
  • Victoria recorded 11 new local Covid-19 cases, all linked to previously reported cases. None were in quarantine during their entire infectious period.
  • Victorian government clinics will now offer AstraZeneca to those under 40. The state also announced the country’s first drive-through vaccination clinic.
  • Health minister, Greg Hunt, says Australia is set to receive our first million doses of the Moderna vaccine in September.
  • The federal government announced it is investing $17.7m in additional mental health support for people in lockdown.
  • The government also announced it has acquired national stocks of Sotrovimab, an antibody which mimics the immune system and could help prevent hospitalisations for those diagnosed in the mild to moderate symptomatic phase of Covid-19.

This is Justine Landis-Hanley signing off.

Updated

Police have arrested a 36-year-old NSW man who was allegedly in the ACT from a Covid-19 hotspot, and in possession of cocaine.

Apparently the man refused to stop his car when Police asked him to do so at 1.50am on Sunday. He then abandoned his car and ran, but police caught and arrested him.

He has been charged with failing to comply with a direction by the chief medical officer, failing to stop a motor vehicle, drug possession, and unlawful possession of stolen property.

Okay, time for another bit of fun. This takes my award for tweet of the week.

Former Queensland Liberal National party premier Campbell Newman has announced he has joined the Australian Liberal Democrat party and will run for the Senate at the next federal election.

Newman, who was premier from 2012 to 2015, quit the Liberal National party at the end of the state conference two weeks ago.

He has criticised the Liberal federal government and NSW state government for supporting Covid-19 lockdowns.

The announcement confirms Guardian Australia reporting that the Liberal Democrats are tapping into the frustration and economic pain of the Covid lockdowns to promote the prospect of a fresh challenge to the Liberal party at the next election.

Updated

The federal government today announced updated Covid-19 vaccination figures today, and Victoria is leading the way (not that it’s a competition!).

Over 13m doses have been administered as of 7 August, 140,225 of which were from the last 24 hours.

Of those, Victoria has administered almost 1.8m doses, NSW 1.6m, and Queensland just over 1m.

(Go Victoria you good thing.)

Updated

Victoria Health has its full list of 151 sites here, but has also conveniently tweeted Tier 1 exposure sites.

Tier 1 exposure sites include Collins Street Skin Aesthetics, Saltwater Swim School in Point Cook, and Bunnings at Taylors Lakes.

Updated

If you are in Queensland and wondering what the restrictions are after 4pm today in your area, Queensland health minister Yvette D’Ath has tweeted out this guide.

You may need to zoom in to actually read all of the rules, but they are all there, I promise.

Updated

NSW Health has also released an updated list of exposure sites (i.e. places that were visited by a confirmed Covid-19 case).

Amongst the venues of concern is Nextra Newsagency at Charlestown. If you were there between 3.15 - 3.22pm, or 4.18 - 4.28pm on Thursday 29 July, you must immediately get tested and isolate for 14 days.

Other venues include Barber Industries in Kotara between 1pm - 2pm on Thursday 5 August.

It also appears as though an employee at Ampol Service Statoin at Maryland has tested positive for Covid-19. If you were there between 4.30am and 10am on Friday 6 August, you must also get tested and isolated for 14 days from the date of exposure, even if you return a negative test result.

An update from NSW Health: from 5pm today, restrictions will be in place for suburbs of concern in the Penrith local government area.

The suburbs include Caddens, Kemps Creek, Oxley Park, and Mount Vernon, among others.

But locals are criticising the decision to shut down suburbs, rather than the entire Penrith LGA, saying that this overcomplicates the restrictions.

Others argue that health authorities haven’t shut down key places of concern in the LGA.

Updated

Northern Territory declares Cairns and Yarrabah hotspots

The Northern Territory chief health officer, Hugh Heggie, has announced travel restrictions for Cairns and Yarrabah, which have been declared hotspots.

This means that anyone travelling to the NT after midnight Sunday 8 August, who has been to the Cairns local government area or the Yarrabah Aboriginal Local Council area, must undertake 14 days of mandatory quarantine at the Alice Springs or Howard Springs quarantine facilities.

Anyone who is already in the NT who has been to either of these hotspots since July 29 must get tested and isolate until they receive a negative test result.

From midnight tonight, anyone from a declared hotspot is not permitted to travel to the Northern Territory without an approved exemption.

Those with an approval to travel to the Territory must still undertake 14 days of mandatory supervised quarantine.

Updated

OK, enough fun – back to the serious news.

One of the announcements we heard from the Victoria press conference today was that a vaccination hub is being set up at the former Bunnings in Melton.

Mike Schneider, Bunnings managing director, has said:

We were pleased to assist the Victorian government with mobile testing at our stores last year and we’re really pleased to be able to play a small part in the government’s vaccination rollout by providing access to our former Melton store.

Accelerating community vaccinations is vital to the Covid recovery and we’re actively exploring other ways we can support the rollout.

We are strongly encouraging our own team to take up Covid-19 vaccinations and we’re providing them with up to six hours’ paid leave to attend appointments.

Bunnings Warehouse is seen in Melbourne.
Bunnings Warehouse is seen in Melbourne. Photograph: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Updated

Thank you so much to my colleague, the amazing Chris Knaus, for taking us through those two massive press conferences from New South Wales and Victoria.

Justine Landis-Hanley here to bring you the afternoon news.

I know that reading case numbers can be emotionally tough for many, so to break things up again here’s a moment of lightness from the internet.

Did you know that a swarm of caterpillars moves faster than any single caterpillar?

Victoria Covid update summary

The Victorian premier has just ended the press conference. To recap, here’s what we learned:

  • Victoria has recorded 11 locally transmitted cases. Of those, four are students from the Al-Taqwa College, another three are household contacts from a confirm case at the Wolf Cafe and Eatery in Altona North. Another is associated with a case at the Newport Football Club, and three are linked to the CS Square Shopping Centre in Caroline Springs.
  • The state government will administer AstraZeneca jabs to those aged 18-39 at nine of its state-run vaccine clinics. More state-run clinics will begin administering the vaccine to under 40s in the near future.
  • The government will open a drive-through vaccine centre administering the Pfizer vaccine. It will initially be launched at a smaller scale before increasing to 10,000 doses per week and, hopefully, administering the AstraZeneca vaccine.
  • Victorian authorities are still struggling to find the source of the current outbreak, which is causing some concern.
  • From Monday, children aged 12 to 15 with certain underlying medical conditions will be eligible for the Pfizer vaccine in state-run clinics. Indigenous children will also be eligible.
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews speaks to the media during a press conference in Melbourne, Sunday.
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews speaks to the media during a press conference in Melbourne, Sunday. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

Updated

Andrews says the proposed dedicated quarantine facility in Victoria is running ahead of schedule. He said the commonwealth are leading the construction, in partnership with Victoria. Victoria will run the facility and hopes it will have 500 beds up and running by the end of the year.

It will be done in stages. I have had a number of conversations with the prime minister about this and we have urged all of our officials both at the federal and state level to do whatever is necessary to get this open as fast as possible.

Updated

Premier Daniel Andrews is asked about a vaccine incentive program offered by the City of Melbourne for a $5,000 experience package in Melbourne or $1,000 in shopping vouchers. He welcomes the idea:

That is a good idea. There will be lots of different programs to incentivise and of the greatest reward for getting vaccinated is the absolute certainty that rather than contributing to the ill-health of others, you are protecting the health of others. You are taking a step, helping us take a step closer to being open, to being on the other side of this. To a much different future, one that looks very different to the way the 2020 was and 2021 is unfolding.

Healthcare workers at a pop-up Covid-19 testing facility in Melbourne, Sunday, 8 August 2021.
Healthcare workers at a pop-up Covid-19 testing facility in Melbourne, Sunday, 8 August 2021. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

Updated

Asked if he’s ruling out prioritising groups like teachers, Sutton says:

I am not ruling out anything. I am saying supplies are constrained. But there is legitimate eligibility right now that is open to teachers and many others in Victoria.

Brett Sutton is asked why Victoria, unlike NSW and Queensland, has not prioritised teachers for vaccination. He says:

There are many teachers who are already eligible by virtue of their age group or that there are others who are teachers for a class in which there is a child in a disability who would also meet some eligibility requirements. The issue of prioritisation is one that is set by the commonwealth. And supply remains a constraint for us.

Updated

Andrews is asked whether Victoria lifted its last lockdown too soon. He says he would have faced obvious criticism for maintaining a lockdown with zero cases.

Can I with the greatest of respect say that I don’t think I am jumping to conclusions to suggest to all of you, with the greatest of respect, if I had stood here with a days in a row with zero cases in the community and kept our lockdown on, I will just hazard a guess, I reckon you guys might have had a bit to say about that. And the community might have had a bit to say about that. I reckon. Eight days of zero, that is essentially a permanent lockdown.

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews speaks to the media during a press conference in Melbourne, Sunday.
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews speaks to the media during a press conference in Melbourne, Sunday. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

Updated

The Victorian premier says people during the current outbreak have broken the rules and visited their loved ones.

They should not have done that. I cannot change that and no one getting angry and frustrated about that will not work against the virus, I wish frustration did.

He offers this advice to people contemplating visiting their loved ones:

Just think about the person you love the most. And then picture them on a ventilator struggling for every breath. And keep that picture in your mind whenever you think about maybe making a bad choice. We all have a part to play and the good news is that the vast, vast majority of Victorians are doing that. And that is why we are not seeing these numbers, you know, go wild. They are limited and the lockdown is working. But we still have a way to go yet.

Updated

Andrews says the state will be in lockdown “no longer than we need to be”.

He said it was pleasing that all the known cases today are linked.

But there is this ongoing challenge we have in that the two cases that began these two separate chains of transmission and this outbreak, we can’t work out where they got it. Those mystery cases, which I think Victorians well understood just how challenging a mystery case is, it means there’s at least one other or a group of other cases out there somewhere.

Residents of a Flemington apartment line up to be tested at a pop-up Covid facility in Melbourne, Sunday, 8 August 2021.
Residents of a Flemington apartment line up to be tested at a pop-up Covid facility in Melbourne, Sunday, 8 August 2021. Photograph: Luis Ascui/AAP

Updated

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is asked whether there is hesitancy among 50 to 69-year-olds for the AstraZeneca vaccine.

I think AstraZeneca is a little bit different given that there’s been an Atagi ruling, there’s been perhaps a lot written and a lot said about the safety of that vaccine. The most important thing is talk to your GP or if you come to a state clinic, you’ll get to talk to a doctor and you will be able to then make an informed choice about what the medical experts tell us are extremely, extremely, low risks but it’s an important process to go through.

Updated

Sutton is asked whether door-to-door vaccination teams should be deployed. NSW authorities were asked a similar question earlier today and rejected the idea.

Sutton takes a similar stance:

I don’t actually think there’s any requirement for that. The queues for vaccines are long, the demand is very great, and it just requires terrific engagement and communication. If there are concerns, they need to be addressed. If there are misconceptions they need to be worked through individually, but I don’t think it’s so much a question of access.

Updated

Brett Sutton, chief health officer, is asked whether Victoria will ever work out how the outbreak started.

He describes the process as “difficult” but said authorities are not giving up.

We are certainly not giving up on looking into it, there’s still a lot of work going into trying to work out exactly what’s happened. That’s important to find out whether there are others in the community that we can track down and test to make sure that there aren’t these unidentified chains of transmission. So no stone will be left unturned, but it’s not an easy process when people have recovered, when they can’t recall anything that links to known exposures or known positive cases. It is a difficult process, but we haven’t given up, that’s for sure.

pic
Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton speaks to the media during a press conference in Melbourne, Sunday. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

The new drive-through vaccination clinic will have capacity to administer 10,000 vaccines per week. That’s a conservative number, Bromley says, and may be limited by Pfizer supply.

She urges people to book ahead before turning up at the drive-through clinic.

Cars will be taken through in tranches. Bromley:

To start it will be 10 cars at a time. Obviously this week all the processes will be reviewed and they’ll make it as big and as fast as efficient as possible. But we’ll start with 10 cars coming through.

Nurses will roam the waiting area to make sure people are OK and not having issues before leaving.

Bromley says the rest of the state-run clinics will soon be allowed to deliver the AstraZeneca vaccine to under 40s. Only nine will be used initially, to test demand and the informed consent process.

So we’ll just do that initially, open up the nine hubs and the reason for that is, A, we want to see what the demand is. We want to know that we’re going to be able to manage that and we want to make sure that the process, because there is an additional process, as Brett sort of talked through, for these individuals coming through, they will go through a slightly more rigorous consent process. We want to make sure we got the systems and the workforce all set up perfectly so it’s running smoothly and so it doesn’t impact on the overall efficiency of the system.

Bromley says there are no limitations of supply to AstraZeneca, but there is “absolutely” a barrier to Pfizer supply. She says there is not a problem with demand.

She says the state clinics have the capacity to deliver 200,000 a week.

The drive-through clinic will offer only Pfizer at first. It has been set up to allow for cars to sit and wait for a time after drivers get the jab.

Yeah, the site has been set up so that cars come through sort of in tranches and they’ll come forward to a bay essentially and they’ll park, get their vaccination and then they’ll go through to a waiting area. It’s a very big operation, as you can imagine, and that’s why we’re doing the soft launch today with just around, I think it’s 50 or 60 cars going through to make sure everything is going to flow really smoothly when we open up tomorrow.

Updated

Bromley also gives a bit more detail on those nine clinics which will offer AstraZeneca to under 40s.

They are the clinics located at:

  • The Royal Exhibition Buildings
  • The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
  • The Melbourne Showgrounds
  • Sandown racecourse
  • Bayside Shopping Centre, Frankston
  • Plenty Ranges arts and Convention centre in south Morang
  • The former Ford factory, Geelong
  • The Kilmore district hospital outpatients building
  • Mansfield district hospital (Anderson Hall)

Bromley also announced that from Monday, children aged 12 to 15 with specified medical conditions or who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander will be eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine in state-run clinics, in addition to GPs.

Only the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for the 12 to 18-year-old age group. Children, adolescence, young adults with underlying medical conditions do have an increased likelihood of developing severe disease and complications with Covid-19 so this is another really good addition to the program.

Residents of a Flemington apartment line up to be tested at a Covid pop-up facility in Melbourne, Sunday, 8 August 2021.
Residents of a Flemington apartment line up to be tested at a Covid pop-up facility in Melbourne, Sunday, 8 August 2021. Photograph: Luis Ascui/AAP

Updated

Victoria launched drive-through vaccination clinic

Naomi Bromley, the deputy head of Victoria’s Covid response, has announced the soft launch of Australia’s first drive-through vaccination clinic at a former Bunnings site at Melton.

You book, you drive up, roll down your window, roll up your sleeve, get a jab, it’s that easy. This is a fantastic addition to our existing state infrastructure. It will be a really good and convenient, simple, safe way for Victorians to get vaccinated.

Sutton says is “pleased” that access to AstraZeneca is being expanded through its state-run clinics.

It’s a very effective vaccine. More than 92% protection from hospitalisation. 60 plus per cent protection from symptomatic illness, therefore, risk to transmission of others. I’m certainly proud that we’re able to expand access to this vaccine through our large state-run centres which have provided more vaccines than any other state commissioned services across Australia.

He says there is an informed consent process. But he describes the risk of blood clotting as “really, really remote”.

I’m a 52-year-old bloke, if I were 25 and AstraZeneca was the only vaccine available to me today, I would get it. Of course, it’s your individual choice but I have said all the way through the best vaccine to get is the one that’s available to you today.

Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton speaks to the media in Melbourne, Sunday, 8 August 2021.
Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton speaks to the media in Melbourne, Sunday, 8 August 2021. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

Updated

Brett Sutton, the chief health officer, says all the 11 new locally acquired cases are linked to the City of Hobsons Bay cluster, which is good news.

Updated

Andrews says authorities are still struggling to work out the origins of the current outbreak. But he said the rate of negative tests being returned is welcome.

We are seeing strong negative test results and that is pleasing.

We can’t work out where the two strains of transmission began. Genomics helps but it is not always conclusive, so we’ve got to assume and there is nothing brave about it, it is just logic tellings you the assumption has got to be that there is other people out there who have got this and have potentially spread it to others and are not part of our public health response, they haven’t got test, they are not isolating, and that’s why we have the lockdown measures in place.

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews speaks to the media in Melbourne, Sunday, 8 August 2021.
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews speaks to the media in Melbourne, Sunday, 8 August 2021. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

Updated

Victorian government clinics to offer AstraZeneca to those under 40

The Victorian government will allow those aged 18 to 39 to get the AstraZeneca vaccine at nine of its state-run clinics from tomorrow.

There are many appointments available. Go online. [We have] the best part of 200,000 vaccinations on hand. They have an appointment with a doctor. The doctor will take them through the risk and everything they need to consider. If they provide informed consent, they will receive the AstraZeneca first dose and then some 12 weeks later they will receive the second dose.

Updated

Victorian high-rise tower residents negative: premier

Some good news in the Flemington public housing towers, where there were fears that an outbreak could take hold.

Daniel Andrews says the residents who have been isolating on the 17th floor of the tower have all been tested and returned a negative result.

So that’s very pleasing. It doesn’t mean we are out of the woods there, doesn’t mean we can change the settings, but better to have negative results than positive.

Flemington apartment building on Racecourse Road in Melbourne.
Flemington apartment building on Racecourse Road in Melbourne. Photograph: Luis Ascui/AAP

Updated

Daniel Andrews provides Victoria Covid update

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is speaking to the media. The state has recorded 11 cases.

He says six people are in hospital. One is in ICU.

About 38,179 test results have been received.

That is a really powerful thing and important thing. I again, I reiterate, I’ve done it thousands of times, but it is simply the most important point: if you have any symptoms whatsoever today, do not wait until tomorrow to get tested, go and get tested today.

Updated

In Victoria, we’re expecting to hear from the premier Daniel Andrews imminently. Stay tuned.

In the Northern Territory, the government has declared Cairns and Yarrabah hotspots. The decision will take effect from midday today.

Anyone who travels to the territory from those areas will go into supervised quarantine for two weeks.

NSW Covid update summary

And that’s where the press conference ends.

Just to recap, we learned:

  • 262 locally transmitted cases were recorded in the 24 hours to to 8pm last night. At least 50 were in the community while infectious.
  • One woman in her 80s has died. She was linked to an outbreak in the aged care facility in Summer Hill. The woman was not vaccinated.
  • 362 people are in hospital. 58 are in intensive care and 24 are ventilated. 54 of the people who are in intensive care have not been vaccinated.
  • There were more than 95,000 tests conducted in the 24-hour period.
  • Restrictions have been toughened in 12 suburbs in Penrith. Those suburbs and restrictions are listed in an earlier post on the blog.
  • Three new cases have been detected on the Central Coast.
  • Premier Gladys Berejiklian declared vaccination is “a race” and has urged residents to come forward and get the jab. She said the state is tracking well towards its target of 6m doses by late August. She said if that target is hit, it could allow some easing of restrictions.

Updated

Berejiklian is asked whether today’s result of 262 cases, a significant reduction on Saturday’s figure, is a sign of downward trend.

She says it is not, but says it is promising that there is no exponential growth.

We certainly have not seen that, which is one positive, but obviously the trend is that if you have successive days of a reduction in numbers, we don’t have that yet. It is only a day.

Updated

Gladys Berejiklian is asked about how her plan to ease restrictions at six millions doses, or about 50% first doses delivered, aligns with the Doherty Institute report modelling, which aims for a far higher vaccination rate before opening up.

Berejiklian says the two issues should not be conflated. She is talking about easing lockdown restrictions. The Doherty report is talking about changing the nation’s entire mindset from focussing on cases to hospitalisations.

We are currently in lockdown. Lockdown, plus some level of easing of restrictions, is possible once we get to 50% or 60% rates of vaccination. I want to be clear about this. Some people are conflating the two issues. The Doherty report is an outstanding report which New South Wales government supports, and of course, but it does this suggest that when you get to 70% vaccination you can then focus on the number of hospitalisations as opposed to the number of cases, and that is really a mind shift on how we live with Covid. But until we get to 70% of their opportunities for us to ease restrictions currently, or to ease restrictions that are currently in place. Once you get to a certain level of vaccination. It is a different proposition, but one that New South Wales is looking closely out, and I made those views clear at national cabinet.

Health workers speak to patients at the NSW Health walk-in AstraZeneca vaccine clinic at Bankstown Sports Club in Sydney.
Health workers speak to patients at the NSW Health walk-in AstraZeneca vaccine clinic at Bankstown Sports Club in Sydney. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

Updated

The premier is asked about the lack of Sunday testing in Port Stephens. Residents there are currently being urged to come forward and get tested.

Berejiklian is asked why there is no Sunday testing in Port Stephens. She replies:

I don’t know the answer to that question.

'This is a race': Berejiklian

Gladys Berejiklian says the state is tracking well on its vaccination targets, of hitting six million doses delivered by late August. She says future freedom relies on vaccination.

Look, we are tracking well to hit our six million target. We are now in our 40s, in terms of the percentage range, in terms of people with two doses in New South Wales, or at least one dose. So we are sticking to our targets, and I am keen to get to six million jabs by the end of August, because that will provide us opportunities to consider what life looks like in September. We are really keen, to really sprint. This is a race. We are keen to spend to get those vaccination rates up.

But the premier warns life will not return completely to normal once that target is hit.

She is asked what her priority sectors are once the state begins opening back up.

Obviously for us, our priorities as a government are getting face-to-face learning back, but also getting workers back to the workplaces. That means a whole number of things. If certain categories of workers go back to work it also means all citizens will have access to perhaps services they don’t have access to today, and that is really keen for us. It will depend on the advice from health experts.

Health officials at a Covid testing facility.
Health officials at a Covid testing facility. Photograph: Luis Ascui/AAP

Updated

Back in NSW, Gladys Berejiklian is asked whether the state has considered deploying door-to-door vaccination teams.

She says such an approach brings risks of spreading the virus further.

The premier says the mass vaccination hubs and pharmacists and GPs are working well.

Well, the best option for us is to vaccinate large numbers of people in the shortest numbers of time. So the mass vaccination hubs are working really well. The take-up of pharmacists and GPs is working really well, people obviously trust their GP and trust their pharmacist for that additional information and they are familiar to them. So we are responding to what has the best health outcome but also what is responding well in the community.

We are considering all those options. But please know that you need to be careful when you consider door-to-door to make sure that you are not exposing people to the virus, so that is why it is really important for us to encourage people to go through their GP, go through their pharmacist, booking through the mass vaccination hubs or through the community, we are providing information at a grassroots level as to vaccination hubs are and how people people can go to a trusted place that they have been too many times to get a vaccination.

People queue to be vaccinated at the NSW Health mass vaccination hub in Homebush on 8 August 2021 in Sydney.
People queue to be vaccinated at the NSW Health mass vaccination hub in Homebush on 8 August 2021 in Sydney. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Updated

Greg Hunt told ABC Insiders this morning that Australia did not have the option of ordering more Pfizer last year, so why did we only have the opportunity to order 10 million doses last year. Later this morning he was asked to explain why.

Hunt:

Obviously those countries that were producing were prioritising for themselves, but also we were seeing mass death in Europe and America. So we were fortunate to receive our share ... but the global supply chain was limited and we did not consider it to be fully reliable

I think that was born out when we saw AstraZeneca doses blocked by the European Commission.

Australian health minister Greg Hunt.
Australian health minister Greg Hunt. Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA

Updated

The federal government has also announced it has acquired national stocks of Sotrovimab, an antibody which mimics the immune system and could help prevent hospitalisations for those diagnosed in the mild to moderate symptomatic phase of Covid-19.

Health minister Greg Hunt said “it is not a silver bullet, but it can absolutely save lives and protect lives for those for whom it is considered to be likely effective.”

Chief health officer Paul Kelly says that this medicine will “mostly be aimed at people that are not vaccinated. It will be mostly for people who are at highest risk of severe disease, and it needs to be given early in the treatment course. So it will be very useful in certain circumstances, but it’s not for everyone.”

Kelly says that the government will be looking to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to determine how the medicine is administered and in what circumstances.

He says the government is also looking at treatments that will target the virus itself.

The real game-changer will be when we have an oral pill like we do for influenza and Tamiflu and courses we can give to people early in the illness and indeed during the illness. That pill is not yet in the world, but as soon as those things are developed and shown to be useful, we will be doing the best we can to get that available in Australia.

Updated

Federal government to invest $17.7m in additional mental health support

Back in Canberra for a moment, federal health minister Greg Hunt has announced that the government will be investing $17.7 million in additional mental health measures to support people in lockdown.

In Victoria, we will be extending the current Head to Health clinics and they will be extended to 30 June of 2022. That’s just over $7.5 million.

In New South Wales we will now be replicating that network and we will be putting in $10.5m and that will be used to create 10 Head to Health clinics, with a particular focus on west and south-west Sydney and three throughout the rest of the state. These are important resources, both face-to-face or telephone.

Updated

Three new cases have also been detected on the Central Coast. Two new cases have been linked to the outbreak at the Lake Munmorah Public School and one case is a household contact of a case linked to a workplace in Sydney.

Updated

A little more on the situation in Penrith. Dr McAnulty says the “the front of the epidemic moved into parts of Penrith”.

Harsher restrictions will now be in place in the following suburbs.

  • Caddens
  • Claremont Meadows
  • Colyton
  • Erskine Park
  • Kemps Creek
  • Kingswood
  • Mount Vernon
  • North St Marys
  • Orchard Hills
  • Oxley Park
  • St Clair
  • St Mary’s

People in the 12 suburbs must only obtain food or other goods and services, and exercise, within 5km of their home. You cannot travel to other areas for work unless you are an authorised worker. Masks need to be worn whenever outdoors (except when in common property such as the backyard of an apartment block). Masks do not have to be worn while travelling in a car alone or with members of your household in a car, or while exercising vigorously.

Updated

Dr Jeremy McAnulty, of NSW Health, gives us more data on recent hospitalisations and deaths.

He says the woman in her 80s who died was a resident of the Wyoming residential aged care facility in Summer Hill.

She died in Royal Prince Alfred hospital. She tested positive for Covid-19 on 1 August and was admitted to hospital that day. We give our sincere sympathies to the family and loved ones of that person. She was not vaccinated

He says the state is seeing “large numbers of people with Covid admitted to hospital”.

There are 362 cases admitted to hospital, with 58 in intensive care and 24 requiring ventilation.

Of the 58 cases in intensive care, five are in their 20s, seven in their 30s, four in their 40s, 17 in their 50s, seven in their 60s, 15 in the 70s and three in their 80s. So young people are certainly getting caught up with this disease. With the 58 people in ICU, 54 were not vaccinated, three had received their first dose of AstraZeneca and one had received their first dose of Pfizer vaccine.

People queue to be vaccinated at the NSW Health mass vaccination hub in Homebush on 8 August 2021 in Sydney.
People queue to be vaccinated at the NSW Health mass vaccination hub in Homebush on 8 August 2021 in Sydney. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Updated

Penrith suburbs declared as 'areas of concern', face harsher restrictions

Premier Gladys Berejiklian says new suburbs in Penrith will be declared as areas of concern. There are 12 suburbs in the area that will be listed as of concern and will be subject to harsher restrictions.

Regrettably, there are 12 suburbs in the Penrith local government area that will now be listed as an area of concern and will be subjected to those harsher restrictions that we’ve imposed on those eight local government areas.

Updated

NSW says at least 50 of the 262 cases were infectious in the community.

There were more than 95,000 tests done in NSW in the period.

NSW records 262 new cases, one death

NSW has recorded 262 cases of community transmission and one death of a woman in her 80s, who was not vaccinated.

Updated

On vaccination rates, Hunt says:

  • 81% of over 70s have had at least one vaccination.
  • 75% of over 60’s have had their first vaccination.
  • Latest reporting to the federal government shows that 77% of Australians intend to get a Covid-19 vaccine, with approximately 13% who are considering getting the vaccine.

Updated

Pivoting to Canberra, federal health minister Greg Hunt has announced that Australia has administered almost 1.3m Covid-19 vaccinations last week.

Updated

Queensland school staff and childcare workers to get priority access to vaccines

Queensland has also announced that school staff and childcare workers will be given priority access to vaccines. The state’s education minister, Grace Grace, announced the change on Sunday morning.

She said all those working in early learning, primary, secondary or special schools will now be treated as a high-risk priority group.

“This includes childcare educators, teachers, teacher aides, management and admin staff, groundskeepers, cleaners, locum staff, regular volunteers and other ancillary school and early learning support staff,” she said on Twitter.

Updated

Queensland chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young says that border restrictions haven’t changed yet for interstate travellers from Coffs Harbour or Armidale.

Coffs Harbour has tested negative several times since we’ve had that positive, so New South Wales is not concerned about Coffs Harbour at this point.

Armidale – there was one individual who returned from the university in Newcastle where they’ve had quite a number of cases now who went home and infected a household member, but at this stage they haven’t seen any other cases.

So I’m reasonably comfortable that the border zone, as it stands, is safe at the moment, and we have been doing all of that work with NSW and NSW has asked their residents who are in the border zone if they come into Queensland, when they go back into the border zone in NSW, they need to stay at home for 14 days.

Updated

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has warned that, while the state’s cases are in the single digits and declining, Queensland isn’t out of the woods yet.

Whilst today we should be very pleased that we are going into that next fortnight, I think Queenslanders should be under no illusion that we just don’t know when the next outbreak is going to be. So that is why it is absolutely imperative to wear your mask. If you’re sick, go and get tested. And when it’s your turn, go and get vaccinated.

This is absolutely critical. And I can assure you, from the national cabinet meeting we had on Friday, every single state and territory is on board with this strategy – every single state and territory.

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk speaks to the media in Brisbane, Sunday, 8 August 2021.
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk speaks to the media in Brisbane, Sunday, 8 August 2021. Photograph: Danny Casey/AAP

Updated

Young has clarified that community sport can continue within schools, because “they have spent all day in the classroom together, so they can continue sport”.

But community sport, bringing different people together from different parts of Brisbane together, can’t go ahead for the next two weeks.

Updated

Young says that, although the seven of today’s nine cases were in isolation for their infectious period, we are still seeing school students testing positive towards the end of their incubation periods.

That shows that although Delta spreads more quickly, it still has the longer incubation period.

Of the cases that have tested positive today:

  • Four related to Ironside State School (one of them a student, and three household contacts in different households).
  • Two related to Brisbane Boys Grammar (a student and another close contact).
  • One case related to the Indooroopilly karate school class (a household contact).

Young:

So I was a little bit surprised to still see students becoming positive, so these students had tested negative when they first went into quarantine and have subsequently become positive. That is why it’s so critical that these 11,000 people don’t think, ‘Oh, well, I’m coming towards the end of my incubation period, it is no longer a worry.’ It is! It is absolutely critical that all of these people just remain in home quarantine until they complete the 14 days.

Updated

Dr Jeannette Young is explaining why Yarrabah is going into lockdown, when the infected taxi driver is from Cairns.

It is just because we know that people in Yarrabah really and truly work and move into Cairns, so although it is a remote First Nations community, it is very close. So that is why, just to protect them.

Queensland police deputy commissioner Steve Gollschewski says police intercepted 3,575 vehicles yesterday.

He says that police issued on the spot fines to 67 people who were not complying with the lockdown rules.

Police also handed out 307 masks in the community; 11 people refused to put on the mask and were handed on the spot fines.

Police also issued 119 penalty infringement notices yesterday, 106 related to not abiding by lockdown requirements.

They also arrested a woman who escaped from hotel quarantine on the Gold Coast.

Updated

Queensland Health is also setting up extra Covid-19 testing facilities in Cairns and Yarrabah.

Remember: a taxi driver in Cairns tested positive after spending 10 days in the community, so expect a list of new exposure sites to be released on Queensland Health today.

Testing facilities are also being activated in Atherton, Innisfail, Mossman and Mareeba.

Updated

Young is also urging anyone who can to come forward and get vaccinated.

Because we know in Sydney that they have unfortunately had quite a few deaths there, related to their recent outbreak, but people have had two doses of AstraZeneca haven’t died. It is really important, if you are 60 years of age or over, come and get your second dose, like I am, or come and get your first dose, if you haven’t had one yet.

Nurse prepares to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine at Bankstown Sports Club in Sydney.
Nurse prepares to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine at Bankstown Sports Club in Sydney. Photograph: Loren Elliott/Reuters

Updated

One of today’s cases is also from the Gold Coast.

Queensland chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young says that person got a positive test, “but with a very high CT value”, meaning not a lot of virus.

So we repeated it, and it was negative, and we repeated it again, and it was negative. But that was that initial positive. So we are waiting to get a whole genome sequence on it to see what it might be, and the family has worked with us every step of the way and they are in isolation and we have tested everyone else and a family multiple times ... and all of that is negative.

But Young is urging anyone on the Gold Coast with any symptoms at all to come and get tested.

Updated

Cairns and Yarrabah to go into three-day lockdown after positive case

Palaszczuk has turned to the new case in Cairns.

So, unfortunately, this discovery of a positive case in Cairns is something that we were not expecting, and we really need the residents of Cairns to come forward with any symptoms and get tested.

Given that the taxi driver was infectious in the community for 10 days, Palaszczuk has announced that Cairns and Yarrabah will go into lockdown at 4pm today for the next three days.

Residents will be allowed to have up to two visitors to their homes.

Updated

Palaszczuk is announcing other restrictions for the next two weeks.

For the 11 local government areas leaving lockdown:

  • You can have up to 10 people in your homes, including those who live there and in public spaces.
  • You can have a maximum of 20 people at weddings and funerals.
  • You have to wear a mask at all times outside and in venues. You must wear a ask at cafes and restaurants, unless you are seated.
  • Venues, including places of worship, convention centres, retail, dining, gyms, headdresses, beauty and personal care service , are allowed to operate with one person per four square metres, or 50% capacity.
  • Community sport will not be permitted.

Also, if you are living in one of the 11 LGAs you can travel within your LGA, but you cannot travel to regional Queensland unless you are an essential worker during the next two weeks.

Edward Street in Brisbane, Queensland.
Edward Street in Brisbane, Queensland. Photograph: Darren England/EPA

Updated

Over the next 14 days, all Queensland schools will reopen but with restrictions.

Staff and high school students will be required to wear masks at school.

If you remember, this outbreak rapidly spread after the virus infected school students.

Palaszczuk:

We are now going to make sure all school staff are wearing masks, and that includes childhood staff as well. They are also going to be given priority for vaccination.

All high school students will be required to wear masks at school.

This is because we have the Delta strain, and until we can get to those 70 and 80% of vaccination rates, masks are absolutely critical.

Updated

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says that the existing lockdowns in south-east Queensland will end at 4pm today for 11 local government areas, but some restrictions will have to stay in place for the next two weeks.

Updated

Queensland records nine new cases

Queensland has recorded nine new cases of Covid-19, including a taxi driver in Cairns who has been infectious in the community for 10 days.

Updated

Speaking of press conferences, Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will be providing the state’s Covid-19 update at 10am.

No clash with NSW’s announcement. The presser gods are being kind to me today.

We should find out whether the state’s lockdown will be lifted today, as originally planned.

Updated

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian will be providing a Covid-19 update at 11am.

Updated

Before wrapping up, Speers asks Hunt about the government’s very quiet change in rules that will now require Australians who live overseas, and return to Australia, to apply for an exemption to leave the country again and return the country where they live and work.

Hunt:

The decisions we’ve made are directly related to the ability to bring people into Australia and we’ve seen that with the Delta virus, it is more infectious, and therefore we have to sadly and I do understand the hurt for so many people, sadly we’ve had to contain the number of people who do come to Australia. And that’s about saving lives and protecting lives.

A Qantas plane sits on the tarmac at Sydney airport.
A Qantas plane sits on the tarmac at Sydney airport. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/EPA

Updated

Speers has been asking Hunt about modelling from the Doherty Institute, which suggests that Pfizer vaccines should be offered to people under 40.

Hunt says the next vaccine phase will be for 30 to 39-year-olds.

That’s probably the group which is most likely to spread because of the links to families and elders.

Asked about when kids will be able to get the vaccine, Hunt says that Pfizer has been approved by the TGA for 12 to 15-year-olds and that vaccinations for kids will “likely commence in the last quarter [of this year] if not earlier”.

Updated

It’s worth noting that Operation Covid Shield made clear over a week ago it expected the Moderna vaccine to be part of the government’s vaccine rollout from September.

The updated vaccination roadmap and campaign plan – which includes Moderna doses – is on page 20 here.

Updated

Health Minister Greg Hunt says Australia is set to receive our first million doses of the Moderna vaccine in September, subject to the final approval of the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

We’ll see an extra million in September, probably more towards the middle of September, but we haven’t got final guidance, and then three million a month through October, November, December, on top of the very significant increase, the effective doubling of Pfizer from the million a week towards the two million a week.

Moderna Covid-19 vaccines.
Moderna Covid-19 vaccines. Photograph: Mustasinur Rahman Alvi/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock

Updated

Oh good, Speers is asking the question that is on my mind: the federal government has given extra Pfizer doses to Queensland and Victoria. Where are they coming from?

Hunt says it’s because supplies have arrived earlier, meaning the government has been able to bring forward 3m doses.

We worked very hard with Pfizer. We were available to achieve that, the prime minister and myself approached the global head back in May when we saw an opportunity. We are working with them every week. So as we can see, the supply has actually arrived in Australia and if there is the capacity within that, therefore to bring forward on a per-capita basis, we’ve done that.

(Hunt wants to make it clear that he and Morrison approached Pfizer after former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd sort of stole their thunder...)

Updated

Speers is pushing Hunt to answer for the government’s failed CovidSafe app, which hasn’t helped track down one contact in NSW in this outbreak.

Hunt admits that he isn’t aware of the app tracing any cases in this outbreak, and says there are no plans to roll out some more effective digital tracing tool.

Hunt insists that “contact tracing in New South Wales is, I think, on all the evidence we have, arguably some of the best in the world”.

The government’s CovidSafe app.
The government’s CovidSafe app. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

The Health Minister, Greg Hunt, is appearing on ABC Insiders.

David Speers is asking about comments from chief health officer Paul Kelly, who has said that NSW clearly needs a “circuit breaker” (whatever that means).

Hunt says that a “circuit breaker” means “... encouraging people to stay home, it is about the compliance which comes with the additional positive support of the Australian Defence Force on the ground, and the continued vaccination.”

But, as Speers points out, those are all things that are currently happening (and case numbers are only getting worse at the moment).

A man walks across a deserted Spencer Street on the first weekend of Melbourne’s lockdown.
A man walks across a deserted Spencer Street on the first weekend of Melbourne’s lockdown. Photograph: Michael Currie/Speed Media/REX/Shutterstock

Updated

NSW Health is hosting an AstraZeneca vaccination day at Sydney Olympic Park, in an effort to boost the number of people getting the jab.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian has set a target of administering six million Covid-19 vaccinations by 29 August.

Updated

If you have been putting off claiming that annual leave, here’s your sign from the universe to do it.

As psychiatrist Liz Scott tells the Guardian, even if we can’t go to Italy or Queensland, taking time off work is important for mental and physical wellbeing.

So, if you have the means, here is why you should take that break right now, even if you are in lockdown and can’t go anywhere.

Updated

NSW police deputy commissioner Mick Willing was on ABC Breakfast this morning talking about the police compliance operation kicking off in regional NSW to enforce lockdown regulations.

The Armidale regional council local government area (LGA) was also plunged into a one-week lockdown yesterday, after recording two Covid-19 cases on Friday.

Willing said:

You’ll see police out conducting highly visible operations in every police district across regional New South Wales to protect people, supporting emergency management arrangements to ensure that people have the support they need to get through this.

Willing warned that, while those in regional NSW are mostly doing the right thing, some in Sydney are not setting a good example.

I have got to say, the vast majority of regional people are doing the right thing, but we just are seeing some examples of people leaving the Greater Sydney area and going to regional areas in breach of the health orders and it’s simply not on.

Updated

Victoria records 11 new local cases

Victoria has recorded 11 new cases of community transmission overnight. All cases are linked to previously reported cases, but none were in quarantine during their entire infectious period.

More to come.

Updated

Good morning! It’s Justine Landis-Hanley here to bring you the news today (and inevitably try to watch three press conferences simultaneously).

It’s Sunday 8 August, and all eyes are on New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.

  • Victoria is on day three of a seven-day lockdown, with real concern that cases will continue to surge. The state recorded 29 cases yesterday, all linked to existing cases, as authorities race to work out the source of this outbreak.
  • Those in south-east Queensland are waiting to see whether lockdown will be lifted as originally planned today, after the state recorded 13 cases yesterday, all linked to the Indooroopilly cluster. Authorities have previously said that they want to see cases in the single digits before ending the lockdown, so it all depends on today’s numbers.

As always please tweet me your yarns/ memes/ and hot takes at @justinel_h

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