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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Michael McGowan (now) and Calla Wahlquist (earlier)

Daniel Andrews says ‘no browsing’ as he announces lockdown – as it happened

What we learned, Thursday 15 July.

OK, that’s where I’m going to leave you after another quiet day on the Covid-19 blog.

Here’s what we learned:

Updated

Ten News is now reporting a positive case on a doctor who worked at both Campbelltown and Liverpool hospitals.

No change on Western Australia’s border rules on Victoria. Yesterday the WA government introduced rules meaning travellers who have been in Victoria must self-quarantine for 14 days upon arrival at a suitable premise and get tested twice during that period.

Who wants some data?

This chart from the ABC’s Casey Briggs shows the way Covid-19 cases are moving in Sydney, including the downward trend in the eastern suburbs where the outbreak began.

And this from Juliette O’Brien (whose breakdowns on various Covid related data are excellent, if you’re on Twitter and don’t already follow her) shows the percentage of cases in NSW who have been in isolation for their full infectious period since 7 July.

Updated

In non-Covid news, this investigation from Euan Ward and Kate Lyons is so impressive.

It details for the first time how, for US$130,000 each, Vanuatu sold passports – and with them visa-free access to the UK and EU – to thousands of people. They included some high-profile former politicians, as well as people linked to sanctions, or facing serious allegations, or with warrants out for their arrest.

Updated

Australia’s minister for trade, Dan Tehan, met with his Japanese counterpart in Tokyo today. He’s just issued a press release, but this line stands out as an obvious reference to China:

[The] Ministers committed to working together and with other partners to address non-market practices and unfair and coercive use of economic measures in order to achieve free and fair economic architecture to address economic challenges in the region.

Updated

Tasmania closes border to Victoria

Tasmania is closing its border with Victoria in response to the emerging coronavirus outbreak on the mainland state.

Anyone who has been in Victoria since 8 July won’t be allowed to enter Tasmania unless they receive permission from the deputy state controller as an essential traveller.

The directive will be in force from midnight on Thursday and reviewed daily.

“We’re responding to where the risk is. Victoria are concerned about the risk and the need for their contact tracers to catch up,” Tasmania’s deputy director of public health, Scott McKeown, told reporters.

“We need to see what risks and cases emerge over coming days.”

Updated

New Zealand pauses quarantine-free travel with Victoria

New Zealand is pausing quarantine-free travel with Victoria tonight, in response to rising cases in the state.

The pause will begin at 2am (NZT) on Friday.

“We acknowledge the frustration and inconvenience ... but given the ongoing level of uncertainty around transmission in Melbourne, this is the right action to take,” Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins said in a release.

Hipkins’ office said the decision followed updated public health advice from New Zealand officials and a growing number of cases and locations of interest.

Quarantine-free travel is also still paused with New South Wales, where the government is coordinating repatriation flights. Those travellers will go into managed isolation for 14 days after arriving in New Zealand.

Travel with other states remains open for now, subject to a negative test 72 hours before departure.

Air New Zealand check in
New Zealand has paused quarantine-free travel with Victoria. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Updated

Western Sydney aged care home cleaner tests positive for Covid

Here’s the statement from the Minchinbury Manor aged care facility confirming a positive Covid-19 case in a contract cleaner.

The centre says it put the facility into lockdown following the positive test, and that NSW Health is deploying specialist teams to work with staff.

We have isolated all residents and staff throughout the facility and our outbreak management plan has been implemented.

Daily testing will be undertaken of both residents and staff, while the cleaner and five close contacts of her in the facility have been immediately isolated.

The aged care centre’s spokesman says about 90% of its 134 residents have had the Pfizer vaccination, with a “few” residents having had Astra Zenica prior to coming to the facility, and there have been no Covid cases among them to date.

It’s unclear from the statement whether the residents have had both doses of either vaccine.

The spokesman also says they “understand” that 90% of staff have been vaccinated “and we have directed the remainder to be vaccinated urgently”.

We anticipate the remaining few residents and staff, who are not vaccinated, will be offered the vaccine again in the facility following the positive case. To date, no other staff member or resident in the facility has shown a positive result.

Minchinbury Manor has had strict COVID-safe measures in place since March, 2020, as part of our stringent health and safety protocols.

These protocols have now been escalated since reports of the test result and include the extensive cleaning of all areas utilizing a bio-misting process, continued COVID-testing and the full lockdown of the facility to visitors.

We are fully committed to ensuring our staff and residents are virus-safe and are working with industry experts and government stakeholders to ensure we continue to achieve this goal.

While visitor restrictions are now in place, we are working and communicating closely with residents, their families and friends, to maintain alternative connections, such as video conferencing, with regular updates.

Updated

Nine’s Chris O’Keefe reporting that a cleaner at an aged care facility in Minchinbury in western Sydney has tested positive for Covid-19.

And, also from AAP, a handy snapshot of what’s happened today:

  • Victoria will enter a five-day lockdown – its fifth since the pandemic began – in an effort to contain a growing outbreak of the Delta variant of Covid-19 in the state.
  • Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed the lockdown will begin at 11.59pm on Thursday, with people only able to leave home for five reasons - to shop for food and essential items, provide or receive care, exercise, work or study if they are unable to from home, and to get vaccinated.
  • Masks will be compulsory indoors and outdoors, and all non-essential retail will close but essential stores like supermarkets, bottle shops and pharmacies will remain open.
  • Parts of regional Victoria may be released from lockdown earlier depending on testing results.
  • It comes after Victoria recorded an additional two new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total number in the outbreak to 18.
  • NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the number of new local Covid-19 infections is stabilising thanks to lockdown rules governing five million people in Sydney and its surrounds.
  • NSW recorded 65 new local Covid-19 cases, but at least 35 people were out in the community for part or all of their infectious period - a number that authorities want to drive down to zero.
  • Two of Sydney’s major hospitals are also on alert after a nurse and a patient were diagnosed with Covid-19, but authorities say they are not panicked.
  • The Queensland government is racing to avoid Brisbane’s fourth lockdown this year after three locally acquired cases of Covid-19 were recorded in the the city.
  • The three cases include a 12-year-old boy who flew into the state on July 9 and his father, as well as a fully vaccinated Brisbane Airport worker.
  • A face mask mandate due to end on Friday for 11 local government areas will be extended for another seven days, as well as a handful of other restrictions, to avoid a lockdown.
  • At national cabinet on Friday, the prime minister will propose that all federal help for any state or territory in the event of a lockdown follow the pattern of the package currently offered to Sydney, following accusations from Victoria’s Labor government he was giving the NSW’s Liberal leadership special treatment.
  • The federal government has also announced families locked down across greater Sydney will receive childcare fee relief to encourage parents to keep their kids at home.

Updated

Ah yes, the traditional lockdown ritual.

AAP reports that Woolworths has reinstated toilet paper limits across its Victorian supermarkets as the state enters a five-day Covid-19 lockdown.

In a pre-emptive strike to ward off panic buying before the lockdown begins at 11.59pm on Thursday, the supermarket giant immediately capped loo roll purchases at two packs per customer.

Supermarkets, bottle shops and pharmacies will remain open as essential retailers for the state’s fifth lockdown.

Despite this, Victorian shelves have at times been stripped bare during previous lockdowns due to widespread panic buying.

Woolworths general manager for Victoria Andrew Hall reassured customers its supermarkets had plenty of stock to go around.

“As always, we encourage our customers to be mindful of others in the community and buy only what they need.”

Toilet paper
Toilet paper limits have been introduced at Woolworths stores in Victoria to limit panic buying. Photograph: Peter Dazeley/Getty Images

Updated

Victorian press conference recap.

And that’s all.

To recap, Victoria has been plunged into its fifth lockdown. From midnight tonight, for five days, until 11.59pm on Tuesday.

There are currently 18 cases, 75 exposure sites, 1500 primary close contacts and 5,000 secondary close contacts in the state.

The premier Daniel Andrews said he hoped to be able to release some regional areas from the restrictions earlier, if and when the public health team say it is safe. That will depend on the result of some outstanding test results.

The lockdown is identical to the one imposed on the state several weeks ago. If you were able to work then, you can work now, Andrews said. The rules about going outside remain the same, and the 5km radius on movement is immediately in place.

Andrews said he would be asking Scott Morrison to make support available for five-day lockdowns at a “pro rata” rate, based on the prime minister’s statement earlier today that commonwealth supports would kick in after seven-day lockdowns.

Updated

The continuing theme of this press conference is Andrews taking jabs at the NSW government before saying he is not here to take jabs at the NSW government.

He says:

Just for clarity sake ... retail is shut. It’s not open. There will be no browsing, it’s click and collect. That’s what it has to be. That’s what is safe. That’s what has worked before in Melbourne and it is what will work again.

Then, when he’s asked about the use of the word “browsing”, which is quite obviously directed at the rules in NSW, he says:

I’m not interested in words other use, I’m telling you how it is. This is how we have done it and we will do it again ... It didn’t start here but we’re determined to make sure it ends here. That’s by the rules we put on. We will not wait around and if this offends the sensibilities of anyone else in any part of the country, I really don’t care. We will not wait around. You only get one chance to act decisively.

He’s then asked about the response in NSW. He says:

I’m not here to grade other states, to pass judgement, that’s not my job ... I don’t operate that way. You’re not drawing me into smearing or making comments or being a marker, grader of others. That’s not my job. You can do that if you choose.

Immediately before saying:

What’s more, I think Victorians can make up their own minds when they see some of the stuff they’ve seen. They can make up their own minds about these things.

Updated

Am I the only one getting huge Game of Thrones vibes from Andrews constantly referring to “the north” and “the border to the north”?

Daniel Andrews speaks to reporters as he announces a five-day lockdown on Thursday
Daniel Andrews speaks to reporters as he announces a five-day lockdown on Thursday. Photograph: Luis Ascui/AAP

Updated

Andrews now giving a kind of quasi action hero speech. This was in response to a question about the way NSW has handled its outbreak.

I’m not here to scoff or sneer at anyone. That doesn’t work against this virus. It doesn’t work. This virus doesn’t care if you’ve got a big ego or not. It doesn’t care. Just get on and get the job done. That’s what I’m paid to do, that’s what I’m here to do. People know with me, like, if I say it, I mean it. To my last breath, to my last breath, I will work to keep this state safe. I can’t control what happens and doesn’t happen in New South Wales. These cases started in New South Wales, but I’m determined they will end here.

He’s asked whether Sydney’s lockdown made it easier for Victoria to enter its fifth lockdown. He says what’s in NSW is “not an outbreak, it’s a wave” and that the context is “very, very relevant”.

What I would say, is when you look to the north and see the significant challenges they face – and we wish them well and have offered support – we wish them nothing but success, because their success will be our success. I don’t want to see the nation locked down. I want to see things brought under control in Sydney, I want to see us get ahead of it and suppress it, extinguish it here in our state and I dare say other premiers would have a similar view. I wish them only well, but when you see something as significant as that happening just across the border, then it’s a context that becomes very, very relevant.

Updated

The seven rings of power.

He is discovering though that your preference not to answer a question bears very little relationship to the questions journalists will ask you.

The reason I’m so, you know, the reason we’re so frustrated with this is we are sitting here, you know, four or five hours away from having to go through another five-day lockdown in the state because of the actions of two incursions from the other state. That is extremely problematic for us, we have a live outbreak to deal with. It is far more important for Dan, myself and the rest of our teams to be focused on dealing with active outbreaks, so we can bring this thing to ground and we need the support of the wider community on that and the reason I’m so frustrated ... in endlessly going over the details of who these people are and what their star sign is, it doesn’t help us with that. The only thing we have to do is get this thing under control and move on. There are enforcement people who can deal with the wheels of justice in slow time.

Jeroen Weimar is basically refusing to take questions on the removalists who sparked the Melbourne outbreak.

You’re absolutely right. New information arrived late last night with our South Australian colleagues, they’d identified some servos [as exposure points] and again we’ve sought information from the company concerned and of course with New South Wales health authorities and South Australian health authorities to try and work out more details. At this point in time, as I made abundantly clear three or four hours ago, we have to move on. We have 18 cases now here in Victoria. Our focus has to be on making sure those people are safe. We’ve got 6,500 primary and secondary close contacts that we’re following through, and that’s where our focus needs to be. I’m not going to talk about them again. I’m happy to take any other questions but not about removalists.

Updated

Meanwhile, in Sydney:

Andrews seems to think Morrison will come to the table on support payments after a five-day lockdown.

Oh, I wouldn’t concede the point that there won’t be federal support. I think that the prime minister has made announcements on Tuesday, he has made further announcements today, I’ve been back discussions with him both over the phone and, you know, texts back and forth for most of the day. We’ll probably talk later on tonight. He’s on seven days and because of health advice we’ve decided to go with five days. For the sake of a couple of days I really don’t think that we can have people going without the payments that they’re entitled to.

Updated

Andrews on that idea of pro rata supports, and the announcement from Morrison today of support after a seven day lockdown.

Whether it’s five-sevenths of the $600 and the 375, which I would have thought would be a pretty fair thing, if it is a five-day lockdown instead of a seven-day lockdown.

I tell you what I’m not going to do though, because I’m not averse to sending messages to people via the media, not just Victorians but some that are up a bit further north. I’m not going to say, right we’re locking down for seven days, two full days extra, which is more than the health advice tells me I need to, in order to qualify for a commonwealth program when all they ever tell us is that every dollar they spend is based on need. Well, need starts hour one of day one of a lockdown.

Updated

Andrews is asked whether the lockdown could go beyond Tuesday. It’s possible, he says.

Hopefully it is [over by then]. To that extent we hope we can get the best advice and do all the hard work and make a judgement about what we think is the appropriate amount of time. It may be longer because it depends on what every Victorian does. Millions ofVictorians making dozens and dozens of choices every day means there are lots of variable points here. If we all do the right thing, though, the advice to me, and the advice from public health team is why is it five days? It’s five days is what’s needed.

He says case numbers “are not particularly relevant” to whether the lockdown is extended.

It’ll be about people being out in the community and the term that is the most appropriate term – how much exposure days have people had out there in the community before they’ve tested positive? Once we’ve got a sense that, yes, we have cases but we’ve isolated them all and they are tucked away safely and we don’t have community transmission, mystery cases unknown and unchecked chains of transmission, we will be able to open up and we’re confident that we can get our arms around all of these cases and be clear that there’s not something going on out there that we don’t know about.

Updated

Asked if it’s fair that regional Victoria is subject to lockdown rules given the few cases outside of Melbourne, Andrews takes the opportunity to have a swing at Sydney.

Look, nothing about this virus is fair. Nothing about the fact that this virus has travelled from Sydney is fair. That’s just the reality we face.

He says Victoria has “a border to look after to the north” and there are “only so many borders and walls, if you like, rings of steel, whatever term you want to use, that you can build”.

In other words, he’s saying managing the border to NSW restricts the government’s ability to manage a border between metropolitan and regional Victoria.

So this is what is appropriate for right now, but if it can change, of course we will let those parts of the community out of these restrictions as quickly as we possibly can.

Continuing the theme, he responds to the volley of questions with: “Everyone, look, hang on, hang on, we’re in Melbourne right? I’m not walking out of this.”

Updated

Andrews is running through the reasons you can leave your home, but, as he acknowledges, Victorians are pretty well-versed in them by now.

One person per household can leave for shopping “and things of that nature”.

And the 5km radius is back.

Daniel Andrews says Victorians are very familiar with the conditions of a lockdown
Daniel Andrews says Victorians are very familiar with the conditions of a lockdown. Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

Updated

Weimar says they have seen about 20,000 test results but “of course, we’re expecting many more test results during the course of the rest of today and tonight and into the early hours of tomorrow”.

Updated

Jeroen Weimar is talking about the two new cases since the press conference this morning.

One is from the MCG, the other is a close contact of a resident from the locked down apartment building, the Ariele apartments.

Updated

Andrews says he will be talking to Scott Morrison about the possibility of pro rata payments for lockdowns that last less than seven days.

All week, there has been a bit of banter and back and forth between our government and the commonwealth. I want to be clear for all Victorians. All we’ve sought to do and what I think we have done is remind the commonwealth government that at every point, they have said that packages of support and measures and policies and plans are based on need. Well, there is a need in Victoria from 11.59pm tonight. And we expect the commonwealth government will step up and help those people who need the help.

He says the seven-day “start point” for support payments announced by Morrison today but will talk about the possibility of pro rata payments. “I want everybody to get a fair deal,” he says.

Updated

He’s talking about some exposures in regional Victoria, and says some areas may be able to be released from the lockdown before next Tuesday “if it is safe to do so”.

To give you an example, we’ve got outstanding tests from a number of different regional communities. If they come back as we hope, negative, then just as we will release those thousands of people in isolation waiting for the test results, we may be able to release part of regional Victoria. We want to keep this as simple as possible but we always want to be proportionate.

The lockdown, he says, will be identical to the most recent one only a few weeks ago.

If you were authorised to work then, you will be authorised to work now. If you were closed then, you will be closed now.

We would prefer this had not come to our state. We’d prefer we didn’t have to deal with these issues but this is so infectious. This is such a challenge that we must do this. You only get one chance to go hard and go fast. If you wait, if you hesitate, if you doubt, then you will always be looking back wishing you had done more earlier. I am not prepared to avoid a five-day lockdown now only to find ourselves in a five-week or a five-month lockdown.

Daniel Andrews announces five-day 'hard' lockdown

Dan Andrews is speaking now.

He says there have been two additional cases since the previous update earlier today. There are now 75 exposure sites and 1,500 primary close contacts. Contact tracers are “just keeping pace with this virus, not getting in front” of the virus.

He announces a “hard lockdown” from midnight tonight until 11.59pm next Tuesday.

Updated

Dan Andrews to hold press conference

Victorian premier Dan Andrews will hold a press conference at 4.45pm.

While the government is spruiking those new employment figures, advocacy groups are pointing out that the numbers are not all rosy.

The Antipoverty Centre points out that there are 382,009 more people on jobseeker and youth allowance now than before the pandemic, when the unemployment rate was 5.1%. And about 23% of people on unemployment payments had employment income in May 2021 – this is up from about 15% pre pandemic.

The centre’s spokeswoman, Kristin O’Connell, said the “abstract figures ... don’t reflect what’s happening in our lives”.

The awful truth is that more people are struggling to survive on payment that’s half the poverty line than ever have before.

For the 257,000 employed people who depend on unemployment payments, a drop in the unemployment rate is cold comfort. And being excluded from the aptly named disaster payment is kicking us while we’re down.

The government is playing a game of misdirection, trying to sweep under the rug the hundreds of thousands more people who are on social security payments now than before the pandemic. More than 1.3 million people now, up from 970,000 in February last year.

Updated

AFL moves Melbourne weekend matches to Queensland

The AFL is on the move again, with Melbourne on the verge of a fifth Covid-19 lockdown and the league activating contingency plans “out of an abundance of caution” to keep the 2021 season up and running.

In response to the state’s latest case numbers, this weekend’s scheduled Sydney derby between the Swans and Giants has already been relocated from its intended location of Ballarat to Queensland, with the Gabba the most likely venue to take over hosting duties.

Both teams were already in Victoria after fleeing the greater Sydney lockdown, but players and staff were informed of their latest move on Wednesday night and they flew out of Melbourne this morning.

Now, Richmond, Brisbane, North Melbourne and Essendon are to join them after this week’s scheduled matches in Melbourne were shifted to Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast

And the Western Bulldogs left Melbourne earlier than planned on Thursday for Saturday’s match against the Suns on the Gold Coast to provide the club with some “certainty”, the AFL’s Travis Auld said.

The decisions we have made this morning regarding the locations of a number of teams have been taken out of an abundance of caution.

“Our approach remains to take risk out of the season where the opportunity presents. We continue to work towards our priority of reuniting the families of both the GWS Giants and Sydney Swans and the decision to relocate both sides to Queensland provides maximum flexibility required to achieve that.

“The decision to relocate the North Melbourne and Essendon match to Queensland is a precautionary measure that provides flexibility for future rounds.”

Queensland’s chief health officer Jeannette Young said she was not concerned about teams entering the state, despite the number of coronavirus cases elsewhere in the country.

“They’ve got really good plans,” Young said. “The NRL and the AFL have been absolutely fantastic because they’ve been doing this for so long.”

This weekend’s scheduled Sydney derby between the Swans and Giants has been relocated from its intended location of Ballarat to Queensland.
This weekend’s scheduled Sydney derby between the Swans and Giants (above) has been relocated from its intended location of Ballarat to Queensland. Photograph: Jonathan DiMaggio/Getty Images

Updated

South Australia tightens border restrictions for Victorian travellers

South Australia will enforce tough border restrictions for Victoria and strengthen local Covid-19 rules as interstate case numbers continue to rise.

AAP reports that from midnight on Thursday, South Australians returning home from Greater Melbourne, Geelong and Bacchus Marsh must quarantine for 14 days upon arrival.

Returning residents from other parts of Victoria will not have to quarantine but must undergo tests on days one, five and 13.

Melbourne is expected to enter a snap lockdown from midnight in an effort to contain the growing outbreak of the Delta variant in Victoria.

“We don’t want lockdowns in South Australia,” Premier Steven Marshall told reporters on Thursday.

“We are very concerned of the transmission which occurred at the MCG and so we need to take action to protect South Australia.”

A 70km border bubble will remain in place.

Border restrictions on southeast Queensland, including Brisbane, had been due to ease at midnight but will remain in place indefinitely.

NSW and the ACT also remain subject to tough border rules.

From midnight on Thursday, SA will return to stronger local restrictions including limiting private gatherings to 150 people.

Face masks must be worn indoors if venues are above 50 per cent density and at all times in high-risk settings including nursing homes.

Restrictions on dancing and singing will also return.

“We do all of these things to make sure that we don’t have a lockdown in South Australia,” Marshall said.

“Too many people in South Australia believe that we’ve mastered the coronavirus ... we cannot be complacent.”

Updated

Essential businesses in Fairfield are struggling to keep themselves afloat as the outbreak in the area takes its toll.

The usually bustling Smart Street in the heart of Fairfield resembled a ghost town, as masked up residents hurriedly bought their essentials and left.

At the Smart Street Fish Market, James Violaris said he was confused by the lack of clarity around who is and isn’t an essential worker, but has attempted to keep his business afloat in the meantime.

“We sell food, food is essential, there you go.

“I’m seeing shoe shops open, is that essential? I don’t know, they have to get their money too. It’s just hard to stay open. Even as an essential worker, it’s hard to keep the business going.”

Tee owns a pawn shop in the area, and told the Guardian he had found the rules around essential workers to be very confusing.

“I don’t know how you could get tested two or three times a week, might as well just close the shop. Work three days and get tested three days? It’s not worth it.”

“The advice is confusing, sometimes we’re told to shut, sometimes we’re told to open. I don’t get it. I feel trapped, like I’m in a mousetrap. I either stay at home, or come here and wait.”

Regienald Panganiban from Enhanced Supplements, a fitness store in Fairfield, found discussions around who is and isn’t an essential worker “absolutely confusing”.

At the moment, essential is not defined very clearly, and I would probably define myself as healthcare, as I sell supplements and proteins.

This lockdown is very confusing in terms of what is defined as essential, I’ve been tuning into the press conferences everyday, and she can’t answer the questions directly, she’s always beating around the bush, there is no clear definition.”

A shopkeeper waits for customers in Fairfield.
A shopkeeper waits for customers in Fairfield. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

Updated

In objectively funny news, a member of the Australian strawberry industry has told ABC news she is disappointed that a case against a farm worker who was accused of planting needles in strawberries in 2018 was dropped.

Rachel Mackenzie, the executive director of Berries Australia, says the industry was “seeking closure and an opportunity to put this whole nasty incident in the rearview mirror”. But, reassuringly, she says the industry will “respect the judicial process”.

Police in New South Wales are appealing for public assistance to locate a minimum-security inmate who escaped from a correctional facility at Goulburn today.

Police say Ryan Wennekes, aged 29, escaped from the facility about 1.30pm today.

He is described as being Caucasian in appearance, about 180cm tall with a thin build, fair complexion and brown hair. He was last seen near the Old Mulwaree Bridge, Goulburn.

Police are urging anyone with information on the whereabouts of Wennekes to come forward

Richard Marles, who is the deputy leader of the opposition (can’t tell if it reflects badly on me or him that I had to look that up) is talking about those new employment figures.

Unsurprisingly, he is not as impressed with the numbers as treasurer Josh Frydenberg was.

Labor wants Australians to have well-paid secure jobs and today’s headline unemployment rate will be cold comfort to the millions of Australians who are experiencing lockdown and as a result, thousands of Australians who are worried about their jobs. Today’s figures also reveal that in the month of June there were 44,000 more Australians looking for work compared to the month of May, with the underemployment rate rising from 7.4% to 7.9%. But the most critical number which underpins employment in Australia day today is the fact that only 10% of the Australian public are fully vaccinated.

Labor deputy leader, Richard Marles.
Labor deputy leader, Richard Marles. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

In non-Covid news, YouTuber Jordan Shanks has raised about $1m to fund his defamation battle against New South Wales deputy premier John Barilaro and the criminal defence of his producer, Kristo Langker.

Christopher Knaus reports:

Quite funny in hindsight that Victoria closed the border to the ACT.

Wodonga school shutdown after possible exposure

A school in Wodonga, on the Victorian side of the border with New South Wales, has been forced to close after a family at the school attended a tier 1 exposure site.

A letter has been sent to St Monica’s school in Wodonga confirming that the director of education has has ordered the school to be closed. Catholic Education Sandhurst has advised that while the school waits for advice from the health department “all students and staff and anyone that has attended the St Monica’s site this week must isolate immediately until further notice”.

Updated

Sydney nurse returns negative test: reports

Good news!

The Therapeutic Goods Administration’s weekly safety report on Covid-19 vaccines is out, revealing new cases of rare blood clots linked to AstraZeneca vaccines.
It said:

  • As reported by South Australian Health authorities on 12 July 2021, sadly a 72-year-old woman from South Australia has died from TTS following vaccination with a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine. This case was confirmed to be linked to the vaccine and was reported in last week’s report.
  • Seven additional cases of blood clots with low blood platelets have been assessed as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) likely to be linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine. When assessed using the United Kingdom (UK) case definition, four were confirmed and three were deemed probable TTS. This brings the total number of cases of TTS to 83 from 5.4 million doses administered to date.

Newly confirmed and probable TTS cases for the week of 9-15 July 2021:

New confirmed TTS

Three new cases:

  • 48-year-old woman from Victoria
  • 61-year-old woman from Western Australia
  • 66-year-old woman from the ACT

New probable TTS

Four new cases:

  • 67-year-old man from NSW
  • 67 and 70-year old women from Victoria
  • 71-year-old man from Western Australia

Updated

And that’s all from Scott Morrison.

Morrison is asked what someone should do if they can’t work from home, their business is open, and their employer wants them to come in to work. Again, his answer does not elucidate much.

Ultimately, there are rules in New South Wales about what is open what is not open. The disaster payments are made to those who are not getting work. Who cannot get those hours. That is who it is. If there is work available to you, well and good.

It would be nice to think that there are hard lines about all of this, but there are not. So I would support the premier in her encouragement for people to have those discussions with their employers.

Updated

Morrison, regarding the vaccine rollout, goes to his new line of blaming advice on AstraZeneca given to the government.

The government, he says, is about “two months behind where we’d hoped to have been” in the rollout, because “the medical advice that was given around AstraZeneca”.

Updated

Morrison is asked whether the last agreement of national cabinet to use lockdowns as a “last resort” didn’t work, because of the lockdowns that have occurred since then.

He says they still should be a last resort, but the Delta variant means “you come to that position a lot quicker than you used to”. The virus “doesn’t come with a rule book”, he says.

Updated

So, Morrison is asked a question assuming Victoria is going into lockdown. He says he has “no knowledge” of whether that’s going to happen, but “obviously canvassed various options” when speaking to Dan Andrews today.

The point of the question was whether the previous Victorian lockdowns would count toward the time period for support payments. He gives an answer that, to me, doesn’t seem super clear.

“Not formally” he says, but “I can assure you” the new arrangements consider the fact it “wasn’t that long ago” Melbourne was in lockdown for two weeks.

I think this means Victoria would have to wait seven days for support if a lockdown does occur, but that the way these changes have been implemented considered the fact Melbourne has been in lockdown quite recently.

Updated

David Speers is explaining this change to the support payments better than I can.

Scott Morrison says he will put 'more simple' set of support arrangements to national cabinet

National cabinet will meet again tomorrow. He says he will be putting a “more simple” set of financial support arrangements for states and territories going forward.

Those proposals include:

  • Payments would still come in second week, “on arrears”.
  • The $10,000 liquid assets test would be waived.
  • The payments would be at the December quarter jobkeeper level, which is the amount announced for NSW earlier this week.
  • The business supports announced for NSW would also be implemented nationally.

Essentially what we’re being told is that the majority of things announced for NSW this week will be proposed for all states and territories in the case of lockdowns.

Updated

Morrison says that from today people in Bayside, the city of Sydney, Canada Bay, Inner West, Randwick, Waverley and Woollahra can apply for the assistance payments he announced with Gladys Berejiklian earlier this week.

Morrison seems to be hinting at those reports of a snap lockdown in Victoria. Says he’s been in discussions with Dan Andrews about “potential arrangements should there be any changes in Victoria”.

Scott Morrison is speaking now. He says he plans to relocate to Canberra next week, escaping Sydney’s lockdown in time for the next sitting week.

Prime minister Scott Morrison is expected to be speaking from Kirribilli soon.

Victorian opposition leader Michael O’Brien is criticising the reported decision to institute a snap lockdown in the state.

Third Sydney health centre hit by Covid

A third Sydney health centre has been affected by a positive Covid-19 case.

The Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, a cancer treatment centre next to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Camperdown, says screening of staff who live in the Fairfield local government area has led to a preliminary positive result for a member of staff.

The staff member is fully vaccinated. Here’s the centre’s statement:

Further testing is ongoing, and we are awaiting further information from NSW Health. As a precaution, all staff in contact with this person are in isolation, the hospital is undergoing a deep clean and we have postponed all non-urgent treatment.

We wish to reassure our community that Chris O’Brien Lifehouse is taking all precautions and following safety protocols. As always, our priority remains the wellbeing of our patients and staff.

The centre is seeking to maintain services, and has implemented the following measures:

  • All patients must have a Covid test no more than 48 hours prior to their surgery and then strictly adhere to the stay at home orders
  • You will be contacted the day prior to your planned admission by our team by telephone and we can gain rapid result access with your permission
  • Your procedure may be deferred if you do not comply with this requirement

Updated

Victoria reportedly to enter snap lockdown

The Victorian government is reportedly preparing to announce a short snap lockdown after two further people who attended the MCG tested positive to Covid-19.

The reports are not confirmed at this stage – the Victorian government has not even called a press conference. But the Herald Sun, which has reported the past few changes to restrictions before they were formally announced, and been proved correct, has reported that Victoria is headed for a snap lockdown of three to five days, with the details still being decided.

They say the lockdown will begin at midnight tonight. ABC’s Raf Epstein, also generally well sourced in the Vic health department, tweeted it.

As did David Speers:

Updated

Cybercriminals have found they can increase the chance of victims interacting with their malicious content by exploiting coronavirus-themed messaging, according to a new report.

The Telstra chief, Andy Penn, who also leads a group that advises the government on cyber security, has just finished addressing the National Press Club on the contents of the report.

Australia “remains a target of both state-sponsored and criminal actors” and their “malicious cyber activities were not hampered by the pandemic”, the Cyber Security Industry Advisory Committee Annual Report says.

These activities include attempts to “extort money from organisations, or access sensitive information that could be used to weaken Australia’s competitive advantage and degrade our national security”.

The report points to the compromising of business email as an increasing and persistent threat worldwide, costing the Australian economy hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

It says cybercriminals “took advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to exploit societal concern and used it as a theme for their phishing activities”.

“For example, through theming their phishing campaigns with Covid-19 messaging, for very little extra effort, they were able to increase the likelihood of victims interacting with malicious content.”

The cyber security advisory committee, chaired by Penn, urged the government to focus on eight key areas over the coming year, including raising public awareness of how to reduce cyber security risks.

It also says workplace readiness should be a key focus, given that “higher degrees of hybrid and remote working are likely to be a more permanent feature” of workplace arrangements. The report calls for cyber security literacy and training to be built-in to standard work practices, so that more people are able to identify and raise cyber threats or incidents to the attention of responders.

Updated

Good afternoon. Thanks for reading along. A big part of what we’ve been watching in New South Wales has been the proportion of positive Covid cases who have been in the community while infectious.

This very handy interactive breaks that down for you, showing how the numbers have shifted throughout the Sydney outbreak.

Updated

With that, I’ll hand over to Michael McGowan who will take you through the afternoon.

Stay well, stay safe, and I’ll see you later.

A doctor has been in touch to point out that the symptoms of the Delta variant, which is what we are dealing with now in Sydney, Melbourne, and possibly Brisbane, present differently to the Covid of last year.

Symptoms can be very mild – it just feels like a common cold. So when authorities tell you to get tested with any symptoms, they really mean any symptoms, even very mild symptoms.

This article from our science correspondent in the UK, where Delta is now the predominant variant, says the most common symptoms reported are “headaches, a sore throat and a runny nose”.

If your immune system is like mine, you feel like that every second Tuesday.

Tim Spector, a professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, said:

Covid is … acting differently now, it’s more like a bad cold. People might think they’ve just got some sort of seasonal cold, and they still go out to parties … we think this is fuelling a lot of the problem. So, what’s really important to realise is that since the start of May, we’ve been looking at the top symptoms in all the app users, and they’re not the same as they were. So, the number one symptom is headache … followed by sore throat, runny nose and fever.

You can read that full article by Natalie Grover here. And please, get tested then isolate even if you think it’s just hay fever or a cold. Better to overreact than under-react.

Updated

I wanted to clarify something that was mentioned at Josh Frydenberg’s press conference earlier today.

Political reporter Paul Karp was also listening to that press conference, and he did a better job than me.

He says that Frydenberg was asked if the Victorian premier had been in touch to indicate whether Victoria was heading into lockdown. He replied that Scott Morrison had reached out to Dan Andrews and they will “endeavour to have a conversation later today”.

Updated

Attn: residents of Ariele apartments and the thousands of people around Australia currently in isolation as a confirmed case or primary close contact.

Guardian readers have sent in their Netflix suggestions, as requested.

Frydenberg was asked if he thought NSW should have gone into lockdown sooner. Unsurprisingly, he does not.

The New South Wales government took decisions based on the medical advice available to them. If you look at the experience of New South Wales throughout this pandemic, yes, they’re going through an extended lockdown today, but they hadn’t experienced anything like the extended lockdown that we had seen in Victoria over the course of last year.

Clearly what happened with the limo driver carrying international air crew in New South Wales should not have occurred. That’s been acknowledged by the New South Wales government. The public health orders have been changed as a result...

But our focus is on ensuring that those businesses and those households that are subject to these lockdowns and as a result, suffer economically, are receiving the necessary support.

He then repeated that Victoria has received “more on a per capita basis through jobkeeper than any other state”.

Because it was the worst hit by the pandemic. They always leave that part out.

Updated

Federal government to outline support available to Victoria, Frydenberg says

Asked if Victoria would get the same support as NSW if it were to go into lockdown, Frydenberg said:

What we agreed with New South Wales is a template that can be rolled out across other states should they experience lockdowns. We will be making support available to Victoria and the prime minister will have more to say about those details later today.

He continued:

We discussed these issues today at the national security committee. And with expenditure review committee members. And we are obviously very conscious of the need as we have been right from day one of this crisis, to provide the economic support that is required to Australian businesses and Australian households that are in need. But I will leave further comments to the prime minister later today.

He said the prime minister has “reached out to the premier [Daniel Andrews] and they’ll endeavour to have a conversation later today”.

Updated

While Jeroen Weimar was giving the Victorian Covid update, the federal treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, gave a press conference in Melbourne about the job figures.

Those figures go up to 30 June, so they include the recent Victorian lockdown but not the impact of the NSW lockdown.

Frydenberg said the employment figures show the Australian economy continues to be strong and resilient – although again, they don’t show the impact of the Sydney lockdown.

The unemployment rate fell by 0.2% to 4.9%, underemployment increased by 0.5% to 7.9%, and participation was steady at 66.2%. More details on those figures here.

Says the treasurer:

We as a nation have been through this before, and got through this before. And we’ll now do so again. Today the Australian economy has again displayed its remarkable resilience, its underlying strength....

The Australian economy has faced its biggest economic shock since the great depression. Indeed, we have experienced our first recession in nearly 30 years. But our economic plan is working. There are more people in work today than before the pandemic began, and our economy is bigger today than before the pandemic began. And we have maintained our triple A credit rating. As the lockdown in New SouthWales indicates, and the increasing cases here in Victoria and elsewhere across the country, we are by no means out of this pandemic. There is still a long way to go to secure our economic recovery. But Australia’s economy is resilient, it is strong, and today’s job numbers underline that very fact.

Updated

Weimar is asked if he is confident the public health team is moving fast enough:

I think we’re moving as quickly as we have ever moved, as we have seen any contact tracing operation move. We’re certainly confident we’re right on the heels of this particular outbreak.

The areas of concern for us, what do we need to find out, what we closed down ... we closed down the Ariele apartment building, there’s no more risk of leakage from the apartments, and my thanks to the residents in the building, I spoke to many of them yesterday.

Our real focus is the MCG. We have seen – are likely to have seen – two cases, possible three cases of transmission between the man in his 60s and the three other people there. We need to establish where there’s other people at the MCG, if they’re positive. That’s a critical bit of information.

Many of the test results are continuing to come in. If you’re getting those tier one, tier two text messages, we need you to come and get tested now. Stop doing what you’re doing, come and get tested so we can get that information and get you safe and secure.

We then have a lot of work happening with the schools, both Barwon primary and Bacchus Marsh grammar. Those are the critical bellwethers at this point in time.

It’s this next 24-48 hours that is a critical period to see whether this is a wave that’s standing up on us, or whether we’re cresting over the top. We’ll have a better picture soon.

Updated

Victorian Covid commander Jeroen Weimar arrives at the daily briefing in Melbourne
Victorian Covid commander Jeroen Weimar says the situation in Victoria is moving ‘half hour by half hour’ as authorities try to get on top of outbreaks. Photograph: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

On restrictions, Weimar said the evidence and epidemiological data is being reviewed.

Asked if lockdown is being discussed, he said:

The team is reviewing all the data and all the epidemiology. This situation is moving not so much hour by hour, [but] half hour by half hour. If we have more information to share, we’ll share it.

Victoria reintroduced mandatory mask wearing indoors at midnight last night. Weimar said that was an important step. He pointed out that the man who had direct contact with the removalists in Ariele apartments was wearing a mask and has not tested positive at this stage.

One example is the removalists who were in the Ariele apartment building, the man whose furniture was taken away, who spent four or five hours with these removalists, was wearing a mask. He’s not yet currently known to be infected. The four other people, one direct neighbour, one elsewhere on the floor, were not wearing masks and they’re positive.

We know that masks work. There will be huge opportunities to speak to my public health team about why masks work. We have decided to immediately implement that basic measure. We know it can make a significant difference at very low cost.

It’s so important we get our hands around this. And we can see how fast this is moving through the different rings and different links across the community.

Updated

Two new Victorian cases 'did not spend significant time' with other positive cases

On to the two new cases announced just now.

They are both connected to the MCG and were not known to the man from Ariele apartments – so it’s an apparent stranger to stranger transmission.

That makes it more worrying than the Barwon/Bacchus Marsh cases, because that was the result of two friends spending the day together.

Weimar said:

At this stage, this information has come out in the last hour, two people also at the football. They were both sitting in level 2, in the member’s reserve, at the MCC. We do not believe they are known contacts of the other two positive cases we know were there.

Weimar said that at this point – and these interviews are being undertaken as we speak so it’s early days – one of the new cases connected to the MCC members stand is a tier 1 contact, so was seated close to the man from the Ariele apartments, and the other is a tier 2 contact.

Twenty-three people have been identified as tier 1 contacts from the MCC because they sat near the man from the Ariele apartments.

We asked all tier one and tier two to get tested as a matter of urgency. We saw a good response on that yesterday. My thanks to everyone who did that yesterday. I believe at this point in time that one of these contacts is likely to be in a tier 2 area, rather than tier 1.

That’s a worry – there were 2,000 tier 2 contacts.

Weimar was asked if this puts Melbourne in a serious situation. He replied:

I think both these cases put us in a serious situation. The situation we’re dealing when we stood here 24 hours ago was all the contacts at the point, up to that point, had been between people who spent significant time together, known to each other. Again, the interviews are ongoing. Our initial information is that the two new cases we have today are not known to the gentleman from the Ariele. That gives us significant cause for concern.

Updated

6,500 people are isolating in Victoria

Weimar says there are now more than 6,500 people isolating in Victoria.

There are 16 positive cases linked to these two new outbreaks.

There are more than 75 exposure sites, 1,500 primary close contacts, 5,000 secondary close contacts.

For the City of Hume outbreak, which is the family who moved to Melbourne from Sydney last week, there are five positive cases. That’s the family of four who moved, and a man in his 30s who attended Coles at the same time. That case was announced yesterday.

There are 195 primary close contacts associated with that outbreak.

Second outbreak is the removalists. There are six positive cases associated at Ariele apartment complex – the four announced yesterday and those two elderly parents.

There are 680 primary close contacts associated with that outbreak – 131 residents, 104 have returned a negative result. Other close contacts are being identified in relation to exposure sites linked to the positive cases at the apartments.

There’s a new cluster of three positive cases around the MCG and Barwon.

That is a man in his 50s, who is friends with the man from the Airele apartment. They spent the day together at the football. The man in his 50s caught the virus, and spread it to two others in his household – a man in his 60s and a 9-year-old child.

So three positive cases, one household, linked back to the Ariele apartments. These cases were all reported last night.

And in turn, that collective unit of three have exposures to Bacchus Marsh grammar. There was exposure to a staff-only session on the Monday of this week, so we have 315 staff at Bacchus Marsh grammar in isolation as primary close contacts and 3,000 children, secondary close contacts, also in isolation. And we have Barwon Heads primary, another exposure there, 49 staff and 529 schoolchildren.

There’s a wider team supporting Bacchus Marsh. We have local testing set up. The school community has been fantastic. Really good support from the school authorities. I know it’s such a distressing and complex time. We are working to get the primary close contacts tested. As soon as we have that information, it allows us to get a more informed position about how to deal with schools.

Updated

Weimar says contact tracers in Victoria have traced through seven rings of transmission associated with the removalists and also the family in the city of Hume.

First ring is the removalists.

Second is the families who had direct contact with the removalists.

Third ring is the neighbours.

Fourth ring is friends of the neighbours.

Fifth is families of the friends.

Sixth is primary close contacts of those cases.

Seventh is secondary close contacts.

Weimar:

So you can see in the last 72 hours we’ve burned through seven rings, exceptionally quickly. This is probably the fastest response we have ever seen to an outbreak that’s moving more quickly than we have ever seen in Victoria, or I suspect anywhere else in Australia.

Updated

Victoria reports two new cases linked to MCG members reserve

Victoria’s coronavirus response commander, Jeroen Weimar, is speaking now. He said they have identified two positive cases of Covid-19 this morning, in addition to the 10 reported overnight.

Both new cases are linked to the MCC members reserve stand.

That is a worry.

Updated

Student at Murrumbeena primary school tested positive to the Delta variant

Children from St Patrick’s school in Murrumbeena in Victoria will be sent home after a student tested positive for Covid-19.

In a letter sent to parents seen by the Guardian, the letter says the student tested positive for the Delta strain of Covid-19 and the Victorian health department had advised to close the school immediately.

Parents and carers were asked to collect children as soon as possible.

All year 4 students have been told to go direct to a testing station in Clayton and isolate until further notice.

Other students have been encouraged to be tested but it is not required.

The school will undergo a deep clean.

Before we get into that, let’s go to Maribyrnong. The 130-odd residents of Ariele apartments are taking their mandatory 14-day isolation in good spirits.

If you have any good Netflix recommendations, send them to me @callapilla on twitter – I’ll post some in the blog. In the mean time, we have some suggestions here.

Residents of the Ariele apartments in Maribyrnong have put signs in their window, calling for help in the essentials of 14-day isolation – dessert and television.
Residents of the Ariele apartments in Maribyrnong have put signs in their window, calling for help in the essentials of 14-day isolation – dessert and television. Photograph: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images
Please respect our jungle friends.
Please respect our jungle friends. Photograph: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images
Virtual housemate only until the 14-day isolation period is up.
Virtual housemate only until the 14-day isolation period is up. Photograph: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Updated

We will learn more about this when the Victorian press conference begins in about 10 minutes.

Unemployment rate falls to 4.9%, underemployment increased to 7.9%

Australia’s unemployment rate has fallen by 0.2% to 4.9% after the economy added 29,100 jobs from May to June. Despite this, there were 33m fewer hours worked in the month of June and underemployment increased by 0.5% to 7.9%. Participation was steady at 66.2%.

Employment growth was strongest in Tasmania (1%), Western Australia (0.9%) and Queensland (0.6%); but went backwards in the Northern Territory (-3.9%), the ACT (-2.5%), South Australia (-0.5%), Victoria (-0.3%) and NSW (-0.2%).

Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the Australian Bureau of Statistics, said June saw the eighth consecutive monthly fall in the unemployment rate. He said:

The youth unemployment rate decreased by 0.5 percentage points to 10.2 per cent, which was 1.4 percentage points below the rate at the start of the pandemic. The last time we saw a youth unemployment rate of 10.2 per cent was in January 2009.

While these statistics are too early to capture the full effect of the NSW lockdown, the earlier Victorian lockdown is captured in the fact that state had the highest underemployment rate (10.1%).

Jarvis said:

Hours worked data continues to provide the best indicator of the extent of labour market impacts from lockdowns. Hours worked in Victoria fell by 8.4 per cent in June, compared with a 0.3 per cent fall in employment. This highlights the extent to which people in Victoria had reduced hours or no work through the lockdown, without necessarily losing their jobs.

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian was asked if she has “any regrets about the way that you have handled this crisis”, from the identification of the Bondi airport driver to now.

She replied:

I say the following: that we are far from perfect. Dealing with a pandemic, especially a different strain such as Delta, does leave us in uncharted waters, but I just want the people of New South Wales to know that every decision that we take is based on the health advice.

She then repeated what has been the government’s core message of this press conference: 28 people infectious in the community is far too many people out infectious in the community.

That is why we ask everybody to please respect the settings. The information that we give you every morning is based on the information that we have. In the last 24 hours, the best health advice that I received from Dr Chant and her team is that too many transmissions occurred in pharmacies, in GP clinics where people are getting medical attention. Of course there are other workplaces and other things that Dr Chant mentioned as well, but please know that the information that we provide the community is based on the best health advice. We need that 28 number to come down because, based on that number, I know for a fact case number also be higher tomorrow.

Updated

Back to NSW.

A few issues have been raised. The first is that expectant parents are concerned about the restrictions on visitors that come from the Covid restrictions in Sydney, and an increased number are reportedly – and this is very anecdotal – considering home births.

Health minister Brad Hazzard says he sympathises with those parents.

From the human point of view, I would like to see mums who are about to give birth and post birth have their support person there with them as long as possible.I have discussed that with the senior health officials will stop and the instructions they have given out reflective of that but also reflective on the ground, the local circumstances might be that the health authorities just have to make some of those challenging decisions.

Hazzard mentioned a recent case in Wollongong, where the obstetrician caught Covid from an expectant father.

While my heart goes out to those people and I have certainly made the point that as far as possible compassionate care has to be the overriding factor, that compassion, care and concern means that we have to look at what risks there are around Covid. It is not easy. It is not easy when it comes to those issues.

Next issue. The Pfizer vaccine is available to everyone over 30 in WA and over 16 in the NT. Will the eligibility be lowered in NSW, given the outbreak?

Hazzard says the NSW government has “struggled” with that question.

The single biggest problem that we have remains that the vaccine supplies, Pfizer, are still in short supply compared to where we will be in just a few weeks.

What the federal government is telling us is that by the end of September they believe they will have a lot more Pfizer vaccine and at that statement, we will certainly be reviewing all of the circumstances. But can I say to those young people, again, we wish we had more vaccine because we would certainly like to be able to distribute it more broadly. But, at the present time, the health advice is we do have to focus on the groups that we are focusing on.

Updated

Victoria will hold a press conference at 12.15pm with Covid-19 testing commander Jeroen Weimar.

For those of us who like reading media alerts like tea leaves – you generally need chief health officer or a deputy, or a minister, for the introduction of new restrictions.

Updated

Back to NSW. Dr Kerry Chant has been asked what evidence they have that the current lockdown settings are right.

She says:

So clearly we are wanting to further decrease mobility and interactions and we are looking – one of the great strengths is working in a whole of government way to look every day at how we can further strengthen things. So everything is always continually under review.

And from the health perspective, we are saying, to get this down quicker, we need to reduce the interactions, reduce the likelihood of people coming together, and then there are a range of strategies that government will put in place to implement that.

Chant thanked the community of south-western Sydney for turning out in large numbers to get tested. And she said the Fairfield testing was part of reducing further cases in the community.

Some of the strategies are also aimed at case finding very early and that is why we have implemented asymptomatic testing, testing without symptoms every three days for anyone in the local government area of Fairfield that needs to leave because they cannot work from home.

It is critical that we get ahead of the curve and find the cases as early as possible and minimise any time infectious in the community, and our review of the cases that occurred in the last 24 hours indicated that another key message for the community is don’t delay. Some individuals had symptoms for number of days, and what we need to do is make sure that does not happen. That is another way in which we can reduce people infectious in the community.

Updated

The Australian Council of Trade Unions has written to the Fair Work Commission’s president, Iain Ross, asking him to convene a hearing to consider varying award minimum conditions to reflect the rules of new Covid-19 business support payments.

The ACTU secretary, Sally McManus, wrote:

Whilst we are disappointed that the federal government has decided not to restore the wage subsidy scheme embodied in the previous JobKeeper policy, we nonetheless understand from media statements from the prime minister and the premier of NSW that one of the streams of assistance to business (Covid-19 business support) will require the maintenance of employee staffing levels as a condition of continuing payment. We consider that it is desirable for the modern award system to support that requirement, for there to be reasonable levels of transparency and oversight of these arrangements and for the FWC to play a role in determining appropriate outcomes where necessary.

In a media release, the ACTU explained it would like to see changes including a requirement on employers to:

  • Advise each employee that they are in receipt of a government payment and that whilst they continue to receive that payment they are not permitted to terminate the employment of staff, or reduce the number of staff employed or reduce the hours of part time or casual employees;
  • Provide employees with information about any additional supports which are available to them through state or federal governments.

If the FWC were to write the rules of these business payments into modern awards it would be a highly significant development – potentially giving unions an avenue to challenge employers’ decisions to lay off workers if they are in receipt of payments, rather than relying on the government to enforce those conditions.

Guardian Australia has contacted the FWC to ask whether it will convene a hearing.

Updated

Students sent home from Melbourne school due to Covid case: reports

Parents from St Patrick’s primary school in Murrumbeena, which is in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs, have reportedly been told to collect their children from school following a positive Covid case.

Updated

The focus of the press conference today is on the lack of clarity around who counts as an essential worker, who is able to go in to work, and also which retail stores should remain open.

The NSW government has not defined this, despite repeatedly saying it is clearly defined.

The rules are that if you can work from home, you must work from home. If you cannot do that, you are allowed to leave home to go to work.

Reporter: “Why not tighten that, though? Victoria did it successfully.”

Berejiklian, with a laugh: “No, they didn’t.”

(Victoria recorded hundreds of cases in hospitals, constructions sites, and other workplaces deemed essential during the second wave. So, yes Victoria defined what workplaces counted as essential, but it did not immediately stop the virus from spreading in those workplaces.)

Berejiklian continued:

The health orders are very clear and in relation to retail can I say the following. If both anecdotally and evidence based, the vast majority of retail shops are not open, they are closed, but there are those shops that are still open which all of us rely on – pharmacists, supermarkets – there may be legitimate issues for why those are essential.

So it appears to be up to businesses to decide if they are essential or not, or if they can be conducted remotely or not.

Updated

Dr Kerry Chant confirms that health authorities are investigating a potential case at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, a cancer treatment and research centre.

This is obviously very worrying.

Chant said:

That is still under investigation. Just to let you know there is some follow-up testing. That just to clarify. Sometimes we have tests that are not conclusive and that work is being done urgently. We understand some precautionary actions have been taken, ahead of getting that outcome resolved.

So as I understand that person was picked up as part of surveillance testing or didn’t have any symptoms, but obviously we are working through that issue. We will update the community as soon as possible.

The potential positive case relates to a worker at the centre.

Updated

The question from that Sky News reporter continued, asking Berejiklian if she would consider introducing a curfew and exercise limits. Rules that were introduced in Victoria’s hard lockdown last year, and which, readers will recall, were heavily criticised by Sky News.

Berejiklian said she will be following the health advice. She would not give her personal opinion on whether lockdown would lift on 30 July, saying “It is very dangerous to ask about my personal opinion. It is never about our personal opinion. It should always be based on the health advice.”

We always base our decisions on the best health advice and on the best information available.

And added:

I haven’t had presented to me a single example of transmission during outdoor exercise. I haven’t had a single example of that level of transmission.

Other reporters have taken over the questioning now.

Updated

Questions now. A reporter, who sounds rather pressed, just asked this:

Premier, you have locked us down for three weeks and now you are look locking us down for another two weeks. We are all home schooling and locked down. What is to say it won’t be another two weeks on top of that? You keep saying the settings are right ... When are you going to acknowledge it is time to lock it down harder to get rid of this thing?

Berejiklian says:

The people of New South Wales know that our government has access to the best health experts in our nation. Please know that we are never afraid to take those difficult decisions required to keep our community safe and that is our absolute priority ... We rely on the best health advice available and the people of New South Wales know given our track record, that we are never afraid to take the difficult decisions to keep out community safe. The best health advice we have and I will allow Dr Chant to expand on, that we need everybody to stay the course. The rules we have in place are there for a reason. We are highlighting that every day when we see particular trends in the community and the community is spending and I am deeply, deeply grateful for that.

Reporter again: “It is not shifting. The numbers are not shifting.”

Berejiklian:

What is interesting to note about Delta, Delta variant is different to anything we have seen and we know that had we let this virus rip, the case numbers and those infectious in the community would have increased ... We are not seeing that trend. What we are seeing at the moment is the start of a stabilisation proceed.

Now, the case numbers themselves will keep bouncing around ... I am anticipating tomorrow as case numbers to be higher, perhaps much higher than what we have seen today because there were 28 people infectious in the community in the last 24 hours, but I want to send a strong message to the people of our state. Please stick to the rules. Please stay the course. If we need to adjust those settings we will rely on the best health advice to do that.

Reporter again: “With respect the best health advice got us a five-week lockdown. That is what the best health advice has got us, hasn’t it?”

Berejiklian:

We stick by our decisions because they are based on the best health advice but I say to the people of our state and the citizens understand this, if we ever needed to chain the settings or do more, or take difficult decisions, we would. I will ask Dr Chant to further add given we do rely on her advice.

Updated

NSW health minister Brad Hazzard has issued a warning to employers that they are obligated, under the state’s health orders, to ensure staff are working from home if at all possible.

I want to emphasise that this virus is only mobile, moving around if people are moving and that is why we have asked for people to stay at home.

One of the reasons obviously you can leave home is if you are unable to work from home. So if you have to go to a workplace to do your work, that is an allowed exemption, but I certainly would want you to be talking to your employer because if you work with your employer, it may be that there can be other arrangements in place. These days most employers would have capacity in an office environment anyway to be able to facilitate you working at home.

I stress that if you can have that discussion with your employer that would be very helpful because we all have this role. We all have a duty. Your employer has a duty. You have a duty to stop this virus moving around and being mobile amongst us.

I want to emphasise also to employers, I think there has been a bit of perhaps confusion with the employers. I have heard that some employers are telling employees they must come into the office. They think they really need them there. Well, I am just going to emphasise to the employers throughout New South Wales, we are all in this together. Please understand there actually is a health order requiring you to allow your workers to work from home unless they really can’t.

Updated

There are 73 people in hospital with Covid in NSW, 19 in ICU

Chant says there are 73 people in hospital in NSW with Covid, 19 in intensive care, and five on ventilators.

Of those in ICU, one is in their 20s, one is in their 30s, two are in their 40s, five are in their 50s, six are in their 60s, three are in their 70s and one is in their 80s.

ICU staff care for a Covid-19 positive patient in St Vincent’s Hospital on 13 July
ICU staff care for a Covid-19 positive patient in St Vincent’s Hospital on 13 July. Photograph: Kate Geraghty/The Sydney Morning Herald

Updated

NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant says a new case in Emu Plains, in Sydney’s outer western suburbs, is a particular concern.

There is a case in today’s numbers from Emu Plains who was in the community during that infectious period. The case is unlinked and under investigation there was also a previous case in Emu Plains in the last week with no known source. So this is of concern to us. We are asking anyone in Emu Plains to get tested, even for the most minor of symptoms.

Both of the Emu Plains cases attended the Lennox Village Shopping Centre while infectious.

Young said there were also new cases, leading to areas of increased concern, in Fairfield Heights, Smithfield, St Johns Park, Canley Heights, Fairfield West, Bankstown, Condor Park, Hurstville, Roselands, Rosebery, Canterbury, Belmore shire, the Georges River area, and the Liverpool local government area.

Updated

Berejkilian said mobility data – which is four or five days old – shows a significant reduction in people moving around.

We know from where the numbers are now that the settings in place are having an impact. I know that we will get through this.

We won’t hesitate to make difficult decisions we need to, but I want to say this to the community of New South Wales. We have been through these difficult times before. Admittedly not with the Delta variant which is different to what we have experienced before, but we have been through challenges before and we have come through.

I know we can do this again. Please know that our collective effort is having an impact, but we need to make sure that we do not let our guard down at all ...

The next stage we want to see is that infectious number of people in the community go down close to zero which will get us out of a lockdown. Twenty-eight was too high yesterday even though the case numbers were lower. That 28 was too high and I expect the case numbers will bounce back up tomorrow. We are in a stage of stabilising but we want to do better than that to get out of the lockdown. We need to do better than that to get out of the lockdown. We need to see a decline.

If you have symptoms and you are in doubt, call somebody before you leave the house and please make sure, please make sure that all of us work together, get the message out to make sure our friends and family and loved ones are protected.

Updated

But Berejiklian says the numbers show that NSW has the right level of restrictions in place.

I want to send the following strong message to the community. Whilst the case numbers are bouncing around, we are seeing a stabilisation. They are not growing exponentially.

That tells us that the settings that we have in place are having an impact.

My strongest message to everybody is keep doing what you are doing. Keep sticking to the rules because we are seeing the impact of that, but the next challenge for us is to see a drop in the numbers, in the numbers of people infectious in the community. We are seeing a level of stabilisation, but we need to see those numbers drop.

So please make sure you keep sticking to the rules .Make sure you stay home and only leave the house if you absolutely have to.

Regrettably, a number of people who were infectious in the community were because they went to pharmacists while they had symptoms to got medical attention and they went to GPs.

Please know that if you have symptoms, the only place that you should go is to get tested and isolate. If you are worried call a health clinic or GP or somebody on the phone. Do not present yourself to a pharmacist or a medical centre or a GP clinic if you have symptoms because unfortunately a number of cases that were picked up were people who had the symptoms and went to get medical attention.

NSW records 65 new cases of Covid-19, 28 infectious in the community

The NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian says NSW recorded 65 new cases in the past 24 hours, but 28 were infectious in the community.

She said it was a “welcome drop” in numbers but the high number of cases in the community was a concern.

So, based on the fact that we had 28 people infectious in the community in the last 24 hours, I am predicting that we will have higher case numbers tomorrow.

We are expecting the NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian to stand up for a press conference at 11am, so in the next few minutes.

Importantly, the 12-year-old boy has not returned to school since coming home to Queensland.

His exposure sites are very limited.

The other case flagged earlier this morning is a person from Queensland who flew to South Korea and tested positive on arrival.

Those exposure sites were outlined earlier.

Genomic testing is still underway to determine where both the young boy and the airport worker acquired the virus.

Dr Jeanette Young said the airport worker “could have the Alpha variant that has been circulating in Brisbane, but she is not a known contact”.

She could have the Delta variant because she works at the international airport. She is part of that Menzies group of workers. So she could have contracted it there. There are too many unknowns here to work out where, but I suspect she has got it there at the airport as a new outbreak. We will find out later today. But that is what concerns many that I suspect we have got definitely one totally new outbreak and potentially a second.

Because the woman is fully vaccinated, “she has very unlikely to become particularly unwell. She is very unlikely to need ICU and extremely unlikely to die from the infection, but she can still pass it on”.

That’s why it’s important for everyone to get vaccinated, Young said.

In the young boy’s case, Young said she is seeking copies of his test results throughout quarantine.

It is unlikely to be a long incubation period, but that is not impossible. I need to now got all of the information from New South Wales for all of his test results... but the most important will be the whole genome sequence. That will help sort out where he’s got it from.

Queensland police said compliance with the mask rule and other Covid rules at the State of Origin match last night was “excellent”.

Police handed out 39 masks but no fines.

Updated

Queensland deputy premier Steven Miles is very keen to point out that this latest outbreak has come from outside the state.

We understand that this will come as disappointing news to people in South East Queensland, particularly to our hospitality businesses who were looking forward to those eased restrictions tomorrow, but it does appear that virus again has escaped either Sydney or the hotel quarantine system.

This decision is the right decision, based on the best possible advice. The fact is an extra week of masks is better than a lockdown. That is what we are trying to avoid.

Queensland chief health officer, Dr Jeanette Young, is providing a bit more information about those three new cases.

The 12-year-old boy and his mother had been in the United States for three months. They returned and underwent hotel quarantine in Sydney, flew back to Brisbane on 9 July on Qantas flight 544.

The boy then developed symptoms and saw a doctor at Aspley medical centre on 13 July, then went to the adjacent pharmacy, then was tested.

His father has also since tested positive. He is a financial adviser at Rowland Financial Advisory Services at Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast.

Young said:

He went to work yesterday while infectious. At this stage don’t believe that either child, mother, or father have been to any other exposure venues.

The boy’s mother has not tested positive but is in hospital with her son.

The airport worker is a woman in her 40s who lives in Tarragindi in Brisbane. She was vaccinated with two doses of Pfizer back in March.

She became unwell on the evening of Tuesday 13 July, went and got tested first thing yesterday and the result came back today.

Young says she is very concerned about that case.

I am very concerned about the Brisbane International airport worker. They have been working at the airport for three days while infectious. Nothing to do with them. They did absolutely the right thing and they were vaccinated. But, we now have to see where they have been working, who they have come into contact with. There is a significant risk there and any of those people could of course have gone home anywhere in South East Queensland. So we just need to maintain those restrictions for another seven days.

Updated

Queensland extends mandatory mask rule for another week

In response to the three new cases, Queensland will extend the mandatory mask rule for the greater Brisbane area for another week.

The rules were due to ease tomorrow. The mask rule will lift for Townsville, which was part of the original restrictions, at 6am tomorrow.

I know people will be disappointed by that. I am disappointed by that. Dr Young is disappointed by that. But what we are seeing is that these outbreaks are happening across the country.

Palaszczuk said that people from Queensland should not visit Victoria, and Victorians in Queensland should reconsider coming home.

So, if you are a Queenslander, do not go to Victoria at this time. If you are a Queenslander currently in Victoria, maybe reconsider your travel and think about coming home. OK, we have said to Queenslanders reconsider your travel into New South Wales as well. I cannot be clearer. We are seeing these little spot fires happening across the nation and we need to make sure we get this under control.

Updated

Palaszczuk said the 12-year-old boy completed their quarantine in Sydney then flew into Brisbane on flight QF544 on 9 July.

They then developed symptoms, got tested, and tested positive.

Queensland reports three new locally acquired cases

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is speaking now.

She says Queensland has five new cases – two in hotel quarantine and three locally acquired.

They are a 12-year-old who flew in from Sydney, their parent, and a fully vaccinated worker at the Brisbane international airport.

Updated

The best people, Sikh Volunteers Australia, were at the Ariele apartments in Maribyrnong last night handing out free vegetarian meals.

When people say adversity brings out the best in people, they are talking specifically about these volunteers. They’re excellent.

We are about to head into a run of press conferences.

The Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is expected to give a press conference at 10.30am.

Then there’s the daily NSW press conference at 11am.

No time yet for Victoria.

81% of New Zealanders intend to get a Covid-19 vaccination, compared to 73% of Australians

The percentage of New Zealanders intending to get vaccinated for Covid-19 has risen to 81% – the highest level yet, according to new research. Data shows people’s willingness to get a vaccine has been rising steadily, up from 77% in April and 69% in March.

Vaccine-willingness in New Zealand appears to be slightly behind the UK (91%) but ahead of the US (around 70%), according to YouGov. Recent research from Australia had the country sitting at 73%.

Updated

Further to Josh Taylor’s post earlier about twitter deleting accounts spreading misinformation about Covid-19, they are also deleting Fleets.

You know, Fleets. The way to send short-lived tweets, like Instagram stories, which cribbed the idea from snapchat. That beloved feature that was introduced a few months ago and most of us forgot existed?

Twitter announced the news with “we’re sorry or you’re welcome”.

Roxy Jacenko, a Sydney personality/publicist/business owner, is being investigated for allegedly breaching lockdown rules.

Jacenko shared a letter she had received from the NSW government on Instagram and said she had done nothing wrong.

The letter said SafeWorkNSW “has been informed of an apparent work health and safety issue” at Jacenko’s business premises, Sweaty Betty PR, including “alleged inadequate controls from biological hazards”.

Specifically it is alleged that workers are not being allowed to work from home in line with public health orders without consultation or a reasonably practicable review being conducted.

In the caption, Jacenko said she had “had enough”.

Running a small business is hard enough, due to lockdown I have an empty office with over 20 working remotely, I am doing the work of at-least 4 myself, my online team (for 3 online stores) are working in the office on shorter hours as products don’t send themselves with Auspost. I have had 2 visits from the Police and now this letter — enough now. I wonder if I stopped paying the wages of these imbeciles who are making these reports of me apparently flouting the rules they might change their tune.

Updated

We have not got a time for the Victorian press conference yet today, but we are expecting to hear about some potential increased restrictions.

In the mean time, about 50 new exposure sites have been added to the Covid-19 exposure list overnight. I won’t go through them all but here are the tier one sites.

In Victorian vernacular, anyone who was at a tier one site is required to get tested immediately, contact VicHealth and remain isolated for 14 days, regardless of symptoms.

The new tier one sites are:

  • The route 82 tram from Footscray Station to Edgewater Square on Saturday 10 July from 7.51pm to 8.14pm and also in the other direction, from Edgewater Square to Footscray Station, from 2.09pm to 2.25pm on the same day;
  • Barwon Heads football and netball club on Monday 12 July from 4.30pm to 6pm – players and coaches only, spectators are tier 2;
  • Craigieburn Sporting Club on Monday 12 July from 10.45am to 2.30pm;
  • McDonald’s Craigieburn on Sunday 11 July from 11.50pm to 12.30pm and again on Tuesday 13 July from 1.35pm to 2.20pm;
  • The route 70 tram from Flinders St to the to the MCG on Saturday 10 July form 3.46pm to 3.53pm;
  • Several shops at the DFO at Uni Hill on Friday 9 July including Fila from 4.20pm to 4.50pm; Asics from 4.25pm to 4.55pm; yd from 4.50pm to 5.20pm; New Balance from 4.15pm to 4.45pm; Puma Australia from 4.20pm to 4.50pm; Nike from 4.30pm to 5pm; Under Armour from 4.40pm to 5.10pm; Cotton On from 5pm to 5.30pm; Adidas from 5.05pm to 5.35pm; Rivers from 5.10pm to 5.40pm; and Connor Clothing from 5.15pm to 6pm.
  • Bizzler take-away in Campbellfield on Sunday 11 July from 2.30pm to 3.30pm;
  • Southern Cross Medical Imaging in Epping on Monday 12 July from 9.45am to 10.35am;
  • Bras N things at Highpoint shopping centre on 9 July from 11.15am to 11.30am.

There are also a number of exposure sites at train stations. Footscray Station on 10 July from 2.25pm to 2.30pm then 7.45pm to 8pm, and Jolimont railway station on 10 July from 7.05pm to 7.17pm, are tier two sites.

Flinders Street Station from 2.45pm to 3pm and again 7.15pm to 7.40pm is a tier 3 site.

Again the full list is here. It’s updated regularly so keep checking back.

Updated

Twitter suspended 1,469 accounts for posting misleading Covid-19 information: report

Twitter’s latest transparency report reveals in 2020 the company challenged 11.7m accounts posting misleading Covid-19 information, suspended 1,496 accounts, and removed over 43,010 pieces of content worldwide.

The company handed over user information to governments 30% of the time requested in the last six months of 2020, or 4,367 times. India accounted for 25% of these requests, followed by the US at 22%.

There were 38,524 legal demands to remove content associated with 131,933 accounts. Twitter complied with these requests 29% of the time.

The accounts of 199 verified journalists and news outlets received 361 legal demands in the last six months of 2020, with the majority coming from Japan, India, Russia, Turkey and South Korea.

In Australia, governments made information requests to Twitter 24 times in the six-month period, and removal requests twice. Australia accounts for less than 1% of global information requests.

In a win for science, an independent Tasmanian museum “dedicated to all things poo” has won a lengthy battle to retain its sign, which shows a penguin projectile-pooing.

The Pooseum – “where talking about poo is not taboo” – contains a large selection of animal dropping displays and informative exhibitions explaining all the practical uses of dung in the wild and in modern society.

Karin Koch, the owner of the museum in the historic village of Richmond, north-east of Hobart, said she was “over the moon” after the local Clarence council voted to approve her retrospective heritage application for the museum’s large sign.

The sign displays the word “Pooseum” underneath a cartoon penguin bending over and letting out a long horizontal stream of excrement. It was originally built without a permit and Koch was told it would either have to be rebuilt or removed as the size and orientation didn’t comply with the town’s heritage code.

“It has been very stressful for three years and definitely I expected on Monday for the outcome to be exactly the opposite,” she said.

Council officers had recommended the retrospective application be rejected, but the application was approved at a meeting of councillors on Monday night, by eight votes to four, following an impassioned speech in support of the sign from councillor Luke Edmonds.

“Tonight I’m hopeful we’ll see the end to a saga that’s dragged on since 2019. You don’t have to walk [far] around Richmond to see there is other signage in this area that’s larger, more cluttered and more of a threat to the heritage values of the town,” he said. “The signage has been in place for years and the sky has not fallen in.”

Updated

Queensland releases list of exposure sites

The Queensland government issued a public health alert last night for several locations in North Ipswich, Inala and the Brisbane Airport.

The cases are linked to a person who flew from Queensland to another country, and then tested positive on arrival.

The new exposure sites are:

The Kmart, Vodaphone, Telstra and JB Hi-Fi stores in Riverlink Shopping Centre in North Ipswich on Friday 9 July; the Club Services Ipswich on Friday 9 July; Chac’s Grill in Inala on Friday 9 July; and the international terminal of Brisbane Airport on Friday 9 July.

The full list of dates and times is here.

Updated

Let’s go to western Sydney. Reporter Mostafa Rachwani has been speaking to essential workers living in the Fairfield local government area, who are subject to an extraordinary requirement to get tested every three days in an effort by the NSW government to curb the spread of the virus in that area.

There have been 220 new cases reported in Fairfield in the past week.

Residents say the requirement – which no other area of greater Sydney is subject to – is unfair.

Healthcare worker Lara Trkulja told Mostafa:

It’s insane that I have to do this. I’ve been waiting here for an hour and a half, and we’re barely close.

It’s just too draining at the moment. You come home emotionally and physically drained, and then you have to line up again. It’s just too much.

They’ve got to have more pop-up clinics to do this. They’ve got to have other plans in place.

You can read Mostafa’s full story here:

Updated

As mentioned earlier, the federal government has announced it will allow childcare services to waive the gap fee for parents in Covid-affected areas in NSW.

Childcare services can remain open under the current restrictions for people who need to continue to go to work. The waiver applies to people who want to keep their kids at home but not lose their place.

A statement from the prime minister’s office says:

From Monday July 19, childcare centres in New South Wales local government areas subject to stay at home orders can waive gap-fees on the days that parents choose to keep their children at home. The gap fee is the difference between the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) the government pays to a service and the remaining fee paid by the family.

Scott Morrison mentioned this on AM this morning.

It’s an opt-in scheme, so childcare centres can choose to participate. It also applies to out-of-hours school care.

Education minister Alan Tudge said the program means parents don’t just pull their enrolment, and means that childcare centres can maintain a stable source of revenue in the form of the Commonwealth’s childcare subsidy.

The scheme will apply in the local government areas of: Bayside, Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Burwood, Camden, Campbelltown, Canada Bay, Canterbury-Bankstown, Central Coast, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Hawkesbury, Hornsby, Hunters Hill, Inner West, Ku-ring-gai, Lane Cove, Liverpool, Mosman, North Sydney, Northern Beaches, Parramatta, Penrith, Randwick, Ryde, Shellharbour, Strathfield, Sutherland Shire, Sydney, The Hills Shire, Waverley, Willoughby, Wollondilly, Wollongong and Woollahra.

Updated

High-profile Australians back UN recommendation to declare the Great Barrier Reef 'in danger'

More than 50 Australian entertainers, scientists, conservationists, academics and business figures are backing a UN recommendation the Great Barrier Reef be placed on the “world heritage in danger” list.

The open letter, signed by the likes of Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett, tech entrepreneur Mike Cannon-Brookes and novelist Di Morrissey, comes as ambassadors from 17 countries board a boat this morning for a snorkel trip to Agincourt Reef hosted by the federal government.

Australia is on an all-out lobbying mission to avoid the “in danger” decision, which is due to be considered by the world heritage committee next Friday, with environment minister Sussan Ley’s week-long trip to Europe almost at a close.

Yesterday the Guardian revealed how oil-rich Saudi Arabia and Bahrain – two members of the 21-country committee – had agreed to push amendments on Australia’s behalf that would delay the decision until at least 2023.

In the open letter, the Australians write:

We urge the committee to call on Australia to put in place ‘corrective measures’ addressing climate change and local threats. A national plan compatible with 1.5C of warming is a critical threshold for the Great Barrier Reef. We urge the committee to put science before politics; conservation and protection before national interest; and to uphold the spirit and letter of the convention.

Among the signatories are Powderfinger frontman and songwriter Bernard Fanning, Days of Our Lives actor Isabel Durant, Eurovision singer Montaigne and reef scientist Prof Ove Houegh-Guldberg.

Here’s the story from late yesterday about Australia getting backing from Saudi Arabia.

Updated

Victoria confirms 10 new cases in the past 24 hours.

Victoria has reported 10 new locally acquired cases in the past 24 hours.

Now: this is not 10 new unannounced cases. We already knew about all of them.

It’s the seven that were announced by Covid response commander Jeroen Weimar at yesterday’s press conference, plus three more.

Those three are the Bacchus Marsh case and the two Barwon Heads cases.

So, no new news at this point – we’ll have to wait for the press conference to see the full picture.

Updated

We’ve received this statement from NSW Health, confirming the Westmead hospital case. It reads:

A Westmead hospital staff member has tested positive to Covid-19.

The positive test result was notified on Tuesday and the staff member, who has been fully vaccinated, is isolating at home.

Urgent investigations into the source of the infection and contact tracing are ongoing.

There has been no further transmission associated with this case to date.

The staff member wore full personal protective equipment at all times while working, as did their colleagues.

The staff member did not have any symptoms and their infection was picked up due to routine surveillance testing for staff members.

Patient care has not been impacted and continues as normal.

Westmead hospital in Sydney.
Westmead hospital in Sydney. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Updated

Student at Sydney school tests positive to Covid

Back to NSW now: a student at Meriden Anglican girls’ school in Strathfield has tested positive for Covid-19.

The school will be closed from today for cleaning and contact tracing. All staff and students who have been on campus are asked to self-isolate until they receive further advice.

Updated

A recent member of Atagi has branded Morrison’s criticism of the group as “unfair”.

Debra Petrys, the consumer representative on Atagi for nine years before her retirement in June, told political reporter Paul Karp yesterday that she was “disappointed” by Morrison’s comments.

This isn’t the time for a blame game – everyone has made the decisions they’ve made which were the best decisions with the evidence present at that time.

When we made the first decision in April it was well before Delta came into Australia and, looking at the risks and benefits, I firmly believe it was the right decision.

You can read Paul’s full story, which includes comments from Atagi head Prof Allen Cheng, here:

Morrison repeats criticism of Atagi

Scott Morrison says the Australian vaccine rollout has had “a lot of shocks to the system”, and has repeated his earlier criticism of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Atagi) which has updated its medical advice on AstraZeneca three times to reflect changing risks.

He told AM:

We’ve had a lot of shocks tp the system. The early non-supply from overseas of AZ and then of course we had the Atagi advice ... there’s no doubt that had a significant impact.

The first time this advice was updated, it was announced by Morrison and health minister Greg Hunt at a last-minute late-night press conference. Public health experts were very critical of that method of communication, saying it caused further alarm.

AM host Sabra Lane asked if the focus should instead be on the decisions the Australian government made when procuring vaccines. Australia chose three candidates: AstraZeneca, Novavax, and the University of Queensland/CSL vaccine. The latter was abandoned because it was linked to a false positive test result for HIV.

Morrison said that “of course” those procurement decisions had an impact on the Australian rollout.

We made decisions to back vaccines that we could produce in Australia.

That has been “monumentally shown up as not working”, says Lane.

Morrison replied:

And the reason for that is that the vaccine we chose has been shown to be subject to some very constrained medical advice and that wasn’t the case in other countries ...

Are you suggesting that the federal government should not have accepted the expert medical advice of Atagi that we received in the middle of a pandemic? That advice was made on the assumption that there would continue to be very low Covid numbers in Australia. Now I never made that assumption Sabra. I never made that assumption.

If you had your time again, asks Lane, would you have gone about the vaccine procurement process differently?

Morrison says it is more important to focus on what should happen next than to be “wise in hindsight”. But when pushed, he says what he would have done differently:

We would have foreseen the future better. That’s the problem with the pandemic. There’s no roadmap.

A nurse consults with a client ahead of administering the Pfizer vaccine at the St Vincent’s Covid-19 Vaccination Clinic on 1 July.
A nurse consults with a client ahead of administering the Pfizer vaccine at the St Vincent’s Covid-19 Vaccination Clinic in Sydney on 1 July. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Updated

Morrison: federal government would provide support to Victoria 'as soon as needed'

Morrison said the federal government would provide economic support to Victoria “as soon as that was needed” if the state were to go back into lockdown.

We would look to work with them to provide that as soon as that was needed. We already did that in the last lockdown.

For the first two weeks of the lockdown in NSW it was exactly the same as what we did in Victoria ... if Victoria has to go into that situation, let’s hope they don’t, we have got models now that move quickly.

If Victoria goes into this again I think we’ll have even better models to help provide even better support.

He then said that some businesses in Victoria are still waiting on cheques from business support offered by the state government during the last lockdown. And, of course, he adds:

We offered to go 50:50 with Victoria last lockdown and they rejected that.

Australian prime minister Scott Morrison.
Australian prime minister Scott Morrison. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AP

Updated

Morrison was asked if he felt NSW should have gone into lockdown earlier. He said:

The NSW government like every state and territory government acts on the information available to them. They went into lockdown on day 11, the Victorian government (in July 2020) went in on day 45.

Sabra Lane points out that modelling released by the Burnet institute says that under the current NSW lockdown settings, case numbers will not drop for 90 days.

Morrison says there are “lots of people putting many numbers together. Many of those are not involved in the formal decisions”.

What NSW is seeking to achieve is no cases infectious in the community. That’s what they’re seeking to achieve right now ... it is being designed around understanding what those timeframes are.

Updated

Prime minister Scott Morrison is on ABC’s AM this morning.

He starts by talking about the restating of the childcare subsidy for people in lockdown. This was in effect last year. In essence, it’s an opt-in program between childcare centres and families. If a child does not attend on a given day due to lockdown, the family won’t be charged a gap fee and they won’t lose their place.

Says Morrison:

We’ve done this several times now, it’s proved the most effective way to do it ... You know what, during Covid, what we do is we just keep doing things that work, Sabra.

Updated

The ABC’s state political reporter Richard Willingham is reporting that new restrictions may be announced for Victoria today.

Prime minister Scott Morrison is due to be interviewed on AM by Sabra Lane in a few minutes. I’ll bring you the highlights.

For more cheerful news, the Amazon rainforest is now emitting more CO2 than it absorbs.

Lead researcher Luciana Gatti said:

Imagine if we could prohibit fires in the Amazon – it could be a carbon sink. But we are doing the opposite – we are accelerating climate change.

The worst part is we don’t use science to make decisions. People think that converting more land to agriculture will mean more productivity, but in fact we lose productivity because of the negative impact on rain.

Updated

Covid scares at two major Sydney hospitals

AAP has a bit more information on those Covid cases in two major Sydney hospitals, Liverpool and Westmead:

A pregnant patient at Liverpool hospital, in Sydney’s south-west, was diagnosed on Wednesday after undergoing a procedure.

The hospital cancelled elective surgery to deep clean the operating theatre and contact tracing is under way with close contacts – including staff – being tested and isolating for 14 days, NSW Health says.

A nurse who worked at Westmead hospital in the Covid-19 ward has also tested positive to the virus but there were no cases linked to the health worker so far, the ABC reports.

Updated

Kelly ask Perrottet whether he agrees with comments from some epidemiologists (in this case Prof Michael Toole from the Burnet Institute in Melbourne) that while the current NSW lockdown settings will flatten the curve, they are not sufficient to bend it back to zero.

Toole said NSW should go harder to hopefully have a shorter lockdown.

Perrottet said getting back to zero as soon as possible is “exactly what success looks like and where we want to be”.

The approach we’re taking and the strategy that we are adopting is we want to get to zero or as close to zero. And the faster we can get there we can open up again.

Kelly asked if reports that Perrottet pushed back against the lockdown in cabinet discussions are correct. He said:

No not at all. We’ve always had constructive discussions, we take the health advice, and I think if you look at our state’s success and the country’s success to date it’s always been a balance between keeping people safe and keeping the economy open.

And then, with the confidence of a man who hasn’t read any Greek tragedies recently, he said:

Our economy is bigger today than it was at the start of the pandemic, we’ve recovered all of the jobs that we lost at the start of the pandemic. This is a hurdle for us but I’m confident we’ll come out the other side.

Updated

The NSW treasurer Dominic Perrottet is on Radio National this morning. Host Fran Kelly is trying to get him to clarify who the NSW government considers to be an essential worker.

He is ... not.

We’re always reviewing, Fran, our policy settings but we have these discussions with our health team and I think the reality for anyone in Sydney at the moment is its incredibly quiet, we are in lockdown, and the debate around what is an essential service or work, yes there is a debate around that … but the vast majority of retail in the city is closed.

Kelly points out that that’s not actually clarifying what counts as essential work. She says the retail association has sought more clarity on this. Perrottet says that mobility data shows that “Sydneysiders are heading the message, they are staying at home, and yes the numbers are jumping around a bit but they’re not exponentially increasing”.

He added:

The majority of these retailers are closed and when you make it very clear to the public as we are to stay at home unless you believe that something is essential, that has lead to the vast majority, the vast majority, of retail shops across Sydney are closed.

So: the definition of what is an essential shop is ... decided by the customer? Because they are only supposed to leave home for an essential reason, and are therefore not frequenting certain shops, so they close.

No confusion at all.

NSW treasurer Dominic Perrottet.
NSW treasurer Dominic Perrottet. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

Good morning.

It’s Calla Wahlquist here, covering for Matilda Boseley. Welcome to mid-July 2021, it feels disturbingly like mid-July 2020.

There have been a number of developments in various coronavirus outbreaks overnight. Here is what you need to know.

Face masks are mandatory indoors in Victoria again, including in secondary schools and workplaces. The rule came into force at midnight in response to the eight new Delta variant cases announced yesterday.

Speaking of new cases, a teacher at Bacchus Marsh, which is about an hour out of Melbourne on the way to Ballarat, has tested positive. Later, two more cases were reported at Barwon Heads near Geelong. Students at Bacchus Marsh grammar school and Barwon Heads primary school have been told to stay home.

One of the positive cases was at the same Carlton v Geelong game at the MCG on Saturday. More than 40 new exposure sites have been added to the Victorian list overnight. I’ll go through some of them in a minute.

There is no information yet about whether Melbourne will go into lockdown again. It would be its fifth. We’re all hoping that is not needed.

In NSW, a fully vaccinated nurse working at the Westmead hospital Covid ward has tested positive to Covid. It’s understood the nurse was wearing full PPE. A number of staff members at Liverpool hospital have also gone into two weeks’ isolation after a patient tested positive.

The lockdown of greater Sydney was extended for at least two weeks yesterday. NSW reported 97 new cases yesterday, and the exposure site list has continued to grow.

A number of new exposure sites in regional NSW were announced last night. Anyone who was at the Shell Coles Express in South Gundagai from 1am to 1.30am on Thursday 8 July, and the Shell at Jindera from 11.15am to 11.45 am on Saturday 10 July, has been ordered to isolate for 14 days and get tested regardless of symptoms.

The full list of NSW exposure sites is here.

In South Australia, authorities have identified a third Covid site associated with the same removalists who have caused the outbreak in Melbourne. The removalists did Sydney-Melbourne-Adelaide-Sydney in 48 hours.

The three sites are in Tailem Bend, which is on the Murray just out of Adelaide. They are the OTR Motorsport Park service station on Dukes Highway, the Coolabah Tree Cafe, and the Shell Coles Express. The full list of sites os here.

South Australian authorities have not increased restrictions, but they have flagged that could happen if people don’t follow the current rules – including checking in via QR codes.

And finally, we’ll get employment figures today.

Let’s crack on. You can contact me at calla.wahlquist@theguardian.com or on Twitter at @callapilla.

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