What happened today, Wednesday 21 July
And that’s all for the evening. Here are today’s main events:
- NSW reported 110 new Covid-19 cases and Victoria reported 22. There were no cases in Queensland
- 60 of the new cases in NSW had spent time in the community
- South Australia has announced it now has 12 cases and there have been two potential super-spreader events at a winery and a restaurant
- The prime minister Scott Morrison said Australia had reached the milestone of administering 1m vaccine doses in a week. He said the delays in the vaccine rollout had been regrettable.
- The Tokyo Olympics have begun and Australia’s softball team was defeated by Japan 8-1
- Brisbane was awarded the 2032 Olympics
Enjoy your evenings. We will see you again tomorrow.
The house of former federal Labor MP Craig Thomson has been raided as part of a wide-ranging federal police investigation into alleged fraud.
Thomson’s house in Wamberal on the NSW central coast was raided on Wednesday.
“A joint agency investigation involving AFP, ABF, Home Affairs and AUSTRAC has resulted in the execution of search warrants in NSW and Queensland today,” the AFP said in a statement.
“This activity is part of an ongoing investigation into a syndicate allegedly defrauding the Australian Government.
“The investigation is ongoing and no further information is available at this time.”
An AFP spokesperson was unable to comment on how many properties were raided. There had been no arrests on Wednesday afternoon, they confirmed.
Thomson, the former member for Dobell and former national secretary of the Health Services Union, could not be contacted for comment.
In 2014, he was convicted of 13 theft charges, fined $25,000 and ordered to pay $5,650 compensation for the theft of about $5,000 from the union. He spent some of the stolen funds on sex workers.
In 2015, the Fair Work Commission ordered Thomson to pay more than $450,000 in compensation and interest to the union for defrauding them via his union credit card between 2003 and 2007, the year he was elected to parliament.
Brisbane to host 2032 Olympics
And it’s official! The International Olympic Committee has announced Brisbane will host the 2032 Games. There’s fireworks!
You can read out full story here.
Updated
Another read worth your time this evening is this piece by Else Kennedy about the pressures health services in the regional Victorian city of Mildura are facing after confirmed Covid-19 cases there.
“Six staff at Mildura Base Public hospital were sent into isolation to await the results of coronavirus tests, the first in a growing pool of healthcare staff who would be taken off the frontlines.”
“By Wednesday, 55 staff from the hospital were in isolation, along with staff from the peak Aboriginal health service, mental health and family violence support staff, aged care workers and frontline health staff from outlying towns more than 100km away.”
You can read more here:
Updated
Earlier today, Scott Morrison called a press conference outside the Lodge – which raises some questions about how he is allowed to do that given ACT public health orders require people who are self-isolating not to leave their premises and not to allow others in.
Guardian Australia understands that the press conference had the clearance of the commonwealth chief medical officer. We asked ACT Health whether the press conference was allowed.
An ACT Health spokesperson responded:
ACT Health advice to parliamentarians and the commonwealth government is consistent with the guidance for entry into the ACT for essential parliamentary business. Requests from parliamentarians to depart from these guidelines are referred to the commonwealth government for advice.
With any exemption, ACT Health relies on the employer to determine what is essential work and to put in place appropriate measures to mitigate risk.
It seems that ACT Health defers to the commonwealth when it comes to parliamentarians and whether a press conference constitutes essential work.
Updated
We’re waiting to hear a decision on Brisbane hosting the Olympic games in 2032, which has seemed almost certain.
You can read our story from earlier today as a preview here.
We’ll have a news story as soon as the result is officially announced.
On non-Covid matters, I’m going to bring your attention to a story you may have missed earlier today.
Australia’s global lobbying offensive to keep the Great Barrier Reef off the world heritage “in danger” list has secured support from at least nine of the 21-member committee that will make the decision, according to a diplomatic email seen by Guardian Australia.
Australia’s Paris-based ambassador to Unesco, Megan Anderson, said in the email she believed the government had won enough support to delay the decision on the “in danger” listing until at least 2023.
You can read more here from my colleague Graham Readfearn here:
Updated
New exposure sites released for NSW
NSW Health has updated its list of exposure sites.
New close contact venues are in areas including Auburn, Lakemba and Punchbowl. There are also venues in Wollongong including a dermatologist and a frozen yoghurt shop.
New venues for casual contacts are in suburbs including Campsie, St Peters, Green Valley and Milperra.
Updated
Asked if South Australians should prepare for a longer lockdown, Spurrier says: “I think we are at the very early stages of this. I find it better to try not to predict.”
Updated
Spurrier says her main message is “this virus can only move when we move as people”.
“This is why it is so important that everybody stays put, they stay away from anybody else, particularly the people they don’t know, but even within your family group, stay in your own home.”
“If you have plenty of food at home, then use the food you’ve got at home, and just try to relax, think of some hobbies to do.”
New cases linked to potential super-spreader events, SA chief public health officer says
Nicola Spurrier says the cases linked to both the Tenafeate Creek winery in Yatttalunga and the Greek on Halifax are potential super-spreading events.
“I would say that both the Greek on Halifax and this winery are examples of super-spreading events,” Spurrier says.
“Yes, it is very serious. I am concerned.
“I am also very pleased that we were able to put a lockdown in place so quickly.”
She says South Australians need to prepare for case numbers to rise.
“I just want to let people know that this is presumably a very busy winery, and we know that the Greek on Halifax also had a busy night on the Saturday night,” she says.
“So, I think people in South Australia do need to prepare themselves for more cases – that is certainly my expectation – and the important thing is if we can make sure that everybody is in quarantine from the moment that they have had that SMS that they have been at a potential exposure site.”
Updated
South Australia’s chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier says the Tenafeate Creek winery had been identified earlier today as a high-risk exposure site.
“What I can’t tell you is how many tests we have done of all the people at that winery. We will need to do a reconciliation on that. Obviously it was a popular winery. There is a restaurant, there is an outdoor and inside dining area.
“I still have not got all of the details because these results have come through very, very recently and the team is taking all of that detailed information from the people who have now tested positive.”
She said the exposure there occurred on Sunday and contact tracing had occurred since that time.
She said of the new cases, there is a woman in her 50s, a man in his 50s, a woman in her 60s, a man in his 40s and a woman in her 80s.
The man in his 40s attended the Gawler and District B-12 school on Monday but has since been in quarantine.
The sixth case is a child under five who had been at Adelaide restaurant The Greek on Halifax.
Updated
Steven Marshall announces South Australia has recorded 12 new cases
The premier of South Australia Steven Marshall is holding his second press conference for the day.
He says the number of cases in the state has increased to 12 and what he calls “concerning new exposure sites”.
That’s an increase of six cases, with five of the new cases linked to the Tenafeate Creek winery that was listed as an exposure site on Sunday.
Another exposure site is the Gawler and District school, with one of the new cases a teacher there.
“This is exactly and precisely why we needed to move South Australia into a lockdown situation,” Marshall said.
Updated
With that I will hand you back to Lisa Cox for the evening shift.
Australian Medical Association vice president Chris Moy is speaking on the ABC. He’s been a little bit critical of Scott Morrison’s comments that he is “constantly appealing” to Atagi over their advice on Astra Zeneca.
I’m not sure whether that should be what he should be doing. The job of the government is to appoint these people. Get them to give the advice in a cold-hard fashion and do with it given the circumstances. The government have got a broader remit there. The important thing is that ... Atagi should not be attacked at all. These are good people who give up their time to provide good advice. And the flipside is Atagi should not really respond to that.
The South Australian premier Steven Marshall is holding a second press conference for the day shortly.
Atagi responds to Scott Morrison 'constantly appealing' AstraZeneca advice
The co-chair of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Atagi), Prof Allen Cheng, has released this statement following Scott Morrison’s comments earlier today.
Morrison told press he was “constantly appealing” to Atagi about its advice on AstraZeneca and urged all Australian adults to get vaccinated with the jabs available to them.
Atagi is closely monitoring local and international data on thrombosis and thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) and the use of AZ vaccine.
Currently, Atagi meets weekly to assess the latest safety data and local epidemiology [to] consider its risk-benefit assessment for the use of AZ, and provide independent advice to government.
Atagi’s latest update following its 14 July 2021 weekly meeting affirmed its advice of 17 June 2021.
Atagi also published a statement on 13 July 2021 to assist individuals with their decision-making on use of Covid-19 vaccines in an outbreak setting.
Updated
South Australia has tweeted its latest Covid-19 figures. As we heard earlier, the state has recorded one new case in the community on its first day of lockdown.
South Australian COVID-19 update 21/7/21. For more information, go to https://t.co/mYnZsGpayo or contact the South Australian COVID-19 Information Line on 1800 253 787. pic.twitter.com/yuNCY5Kfia
— SA Health (@SAHealth) July 21, 2021
Updated
Asked about those reports today suggesting NSW could remain in lockdown until September based on modelling of current trends, Bennett says she’s not so sure. The current settings “should work”, she says, but NSW Health needs to figure out how to stop the virus spreading in households.
Each time you’re finding a new case and you test them and find their household contacts are positive, you have four or five or six people in a household and we’re talking about 20 households today. You need to understand how the virus got into the 20 households, that’s the key. Workplaces seem to be now playing an important role and that is someone from a household goes to work, is exposed to someone else who has the virus. And suddenly the virus finds new households where it has susceptible people and it can continue to cause infection. It’s about stopping the receiving back into households.
Epidemiologist Catherine Bennett is speaking on the ABC now. She says Victoria and South Australia are learning about the infectiousness of the Delta variant from what has happened in Sydney and have acted accordingly.
NSW is “ramping up its response” but the response to those will only be clear in the coming days.
“Hopefully we’ll start to see a bit of a trend of numbers coming back as the stricter measures from the end of last week come in,” she says.
This is the graph that has everyone in Sydney looking nervously at any plans we might have had for the month of August.
As we know, the number of cases not in isolation during their infectiousness period has remained stubbornly high throughout this outbreak, and jumped again in today’s numbers.
Updated
Scenes from today in locked-down Sydney.
Updated
Australia’s first event at the Tokyo Olympics has gone... not well.
The women’s softball team has gone down 8-1 to Japan.
“Ultimately, such was the hosts’ advantage, that the game was ended early, under softball’s mercy rule,” our Olympics correspondent Kieran Pender writes.
Good afternoon. Just one further detail from that Scott Morrison press conference.
Asked about the possibility of internationally recognised vaccination “passports”, the prime minister said the concept had been discussed at the G7 and could be available in October.
We will have a vaccination certificate that will be able to be used internationally [and] recognised to facilitate when people are moving out of the country and into the country ... that is something that has been a common feature of the conversations I have been having with other leaders.
And now I’m going to hand over to my excellent colleague Michael McGowan who will take you through any developments this afternoon.
A summary of the prime minister’s press conference
Morrison’s press conference has wrapped up, so here’s a summary:
- Morrison says he takes responsibility for the “regrettable” problems with the vaccine rollout.
- Morrison said no country has got the response to the pandemic entirely right and Australia’s vaccine rollout was about two months behind
- He said he is “constantly appealing” to Atagi about its advice on AstraZeneca and urged all Australian adults to get vaccinated with the jabs available to them.
- He said data from the Doherty institute that will inform vaccination thresholds for opening up is expected at the end of the month and work was being done on vaccine certificates.
Updated
On non-Covid topics, Morrison is asked about the situation in Afghanistan and under what conditions would Australia send personnel back.
We always have made it clear, were we in a position to safely have Australians in Afghanistan and providing a support to our efforts there, then we would.
So, were it safe to do that, we always have been open to the opportunity to pursue that.
Updated
Morrison is asked if he is prepared to concede that one of the challenges of the vaccine rollout has been caused by his own government’s miscommunication about the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“Well, I cannot control what Atagi advises,” he says.
“Are you suggesting that the government, when advised by the tactical and advisory group on immunisation, some of the most senior level scientific [experts] in the country, tell the government that the preferred vaccine for people of particular ages is 50 and then they changed it to 60, that the government should refuse that advice?”
Updated
Morrison takes responsibility for 'regrettable' vaccine rollout problems
And now, following up on an interview the prime minister gave on Kiis FM this morning, a reporter asks: Why is it that you so firmly believe the government doesn’t need to say sorry about anything in relation to the failings of the vaccine rollout? Morrison says:
“I think Australians just want us to got it right. No country has got their pandemic response 100%. I think Australians understand that.”
Morrison says he takes responsibility for the problems with the rollout, as well as the solutions.
Those delays are regrettable. We all know they’re the result of many factors.
There is going to be plenty of critics and hindsight. They will have various motivations for doing that.
I take responsibility for the problems that we have had, but I am also taking responsibility for the solutions we’re putting in place and the vaccination rates that we are now achieving.
Updated
Now Morrison is asked when the Doherty Institute is expected to finalise its vaccine data and thresholds for Australia’s four-step plan for opening up.
We are expecting that information to be completed by the end of this month and I only had a further update in the last 24 hours and they are still on track for that and are looking forward to receiving that information.
Remember, that information then needs to be combined with the advice of treasury to understand the economic issues that are relevant to the setting of these thresholds and the benchmarks and also looking at the health system capacity as well and the role that can play in the tolerance of managing the risk.
You see what Doherty is able to give to us is a sense of what the risk profile is at various levels of vaccination and not just at the top line level of vaccination.
Updated
He is also being asked what the government is doing specifically to increase vaccine supplies and whether the government is also having conversations with Pfizer.
There’s not a clear answer here but he says “we’re working across all supply chains”.
Morrison is asked about the content of a recent conversation with the global chief of Pfizer and whether that has brought a tangible outcome to boost Australia’s vaccine supply.
Following up our earlier representations, to appreciate the bringing forward that we were able to achieve in working with him and the entire Pfizer organisation, particularly here in Australia, to continue to get a further understanding of what their global production levels were and to continue working on, as has been our practice the entire time.
To keep seeking to bring forward our supplies. That’s a function of global production levels.
Updated
Morrison is asked what estimates he has of the expected hit to GDP in this quarter.
He says he has none but “clearly it’s going to have a significant impact in this quarter”.
He is also asked what is underpinning the confidence that the economy could improve in the December quarter and that there won’t be a return to recession.
“The confidence that is being expressed by both treasury and the Reserve Bank is the confidence of experience of what we’ve already seen occur,” he says.
“The economy in Australia is fundamentally resilient and strong. And you know, you don’t get a million people back into work after the biggest pandemic the world has seen in 100 years and to do so ahead of almost every other country in the world if your fundamentals in your economy are not strong going into it.”
He says hopefully the lockdowns will end “as soon as they possibly can” and the economy will pick up any lost ground.
Updated
Morrison is asked if he can confirm that there will not be a return of jobkeeper.
Again, you solve the problem with the policy responses that you need that’s in front of you.
I’m not trying to solve last year’s problem. That’s what jobkeeper solved.
I’m trying to solve the issues and provide the economic supports directly to individuals fast. You’ll recall that when we put JobKeeper in place, it took four to six weeks in order for the system to be rolled out.
I don’t have six weeks. I need to make sure that we’ve got $200 million out the door now. Which is exactly what we’ve done.
Updated
Morrison urges all adults to get vaccinated with the vaccines available to them
Morrison is asked a question about vaccine hesitancy and specifically about women over 60 who are hesitant to get AstraZeneca.
We have two vaccines and will soon have a third with Moderna.
My message is that people should be getting vaccinated as soon as possible with the vaccines available for them to get vaccinated. That is my message. And that is what I think is in Australia’s public health interests.
Updated
Still on AstraZeneca, Morrison has been asked if it is time to make a more direct appeal, through a campaign, to encourage people go get that vaccine.
When it comes to the other issues, of course, the Atagi advice, the TGA advice, I’ll always be very respectful of that. But I could not be more clearer, I think, that every Australian above the age for which vaccines are available should behaving those discussions with their doctors.
We know that in other countries, the AstraZeneca vaccine, particularly the UK, has been the primary vaccine through which they’ve been able to achieve the vaccination levels there.
Updated
Morrison is asked if, given that multiple states are in lockdown, if he will appeal to the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation to change its advice on the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“It’s a constant appeal. I can assure you. It’s a constant appeal. That the situation in Australia faces should be managed on the balance of risk, as Atagi has said to me in the past.
“When they made the decision to restrict or to have a preference for those under the age ultimately of 60 to have the Pfizer vaccine, they said that they made that decision on the balance of risk.
“Well, it’s for them to now constantly reconsider how that balance of risk applies and provide their advice accordingly.”
Updated
Morrison says NSW has so far received $219m in federal support payments
On the subject of support payments, Morrison says $32m in support has been paid out in the past 24 hours alone.
“In New South Wales, we have already provided 452,395 grants of support. $219 million is already out the door. So this support is coming swiftly.”
He says payments are being made in all states that are in lockdown, with the most recent state affected being South Australia.
“We’re doing this because we want people who are experiencing these lockdowns and suffering these economic losses to know that each week, those payments are going to turn up in your bank account and you can count on it,” Morrison says.
Updated
Morrison says the economic impact of the Delta variant and the current lockdowns will be a heavy blow but not one Australia can’t recover from.
“Once we come out of the lockdowns, whether in New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, those economies also return to growth.”
But he expects there will be an impact on the September quarter GDP and employment figures in the short term.
Morrison says he has spoken to the Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe and says they share a view that can be turned around in the December quarter “should we continue to be on the path we’re on, in increasing our resilience”.
Updated
Australia administers 1m vaccine doses in a week, Morrison says
Morrison says the vaccine program has had challenges. But Australia has now reached the mark of administering one million doses in a week.
“And it does mean that at these rates of vaccination, we will get to where we want to get to,” he says.
Updated
Morrison reminds everyone that Australia “had great success in saving lives and livelihoods”.
“I don’t think that anyone would contradict that. 30,000 lives at least saved in this country. A million people back into work,” he says.
He says the Delta strain is throwing another big challenge at Australia but “we’re up to it”.
“It’s tough and it will be tough in the weeks ahead as we continue to wrestle with the new strain of the virus and we adapt our responses to fight it.”
Updated
Scott Morrison press conference begins
And Scott Morrison is speaking.
He’s saying the Delta strain is taking a heavy toll around the world.
“What Australia is dealing with right now is no different to countries all around the world.”
Updated
Australia is considering sending officials back to Afghanistan less than a month after leaving the country, AAP reports.
The last Australian troops and diplomats departed Kabul in mid-June as allied troops withdrew from the war-torn nation. Their hasty retreat raised eyebrows among international partners.
It has also limited Australia’s ability to gather intelligence and monitor the resurgence of the Taliban. There are now reports Australian civilian, military and intelligence officers could return to Afghanistan within months.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia’s absence from Afghanistan was only temporary.
“Our interim diplomatic arrangements were always expected to be temporary, with the intention of resuming a permanent presence once circumstances permit,” a spokesman told AAP.
“That remains our position.”
There are suggestions officials could be housed in American or British compounds until the Australian embassy in Kabul reopened.
The embassy closure has come into sharp focus as hundreds of Afghan interpreters who worked for Australia urgently apply for protection visas to escape reprisal attacks from the Taliban.
Updated
Afternoon everybody, Lisa Cox here.
We are standing by for that press conference with the prime minister. I will bring that to you shortly.
Updated
With that, I shall hand you over to the amazing Lisa Cox to take you through that very press conference.
See you all tomorrow!
PM's office says CMO prefers only vaccinated reporters attend press today's conference
Despite the vaccine drought in Australia, the prime minister’s office says it is the chief medical officer’s preference that only vaccinated reporters attend the upcoming press conference.
This is a BOLD request from the Prime Minister's office for his upcoming press conference. pic.twitter.com/GpmE0q33mY
— Matilda Boseley (@MatildaBoseley) July 21, 2021
Updated
The union representing Centrelink workers is pleading with the federal government to change eligibility for its Covid disaster payments to address long queues that have formed at Centrelink offices that workers are concerned pose a Covid risk.
The Community and Public Sector Union wants the government to loosen criteria for its Covid disaster payments and jobseeker rules that require some applicants to attend service centres for an in person identification check.
The queues at Centrelink follow reports of long wait times for people calling Centrelink’s phone helpline after encountering issues setting up their myGov to be linked to welfare payments, as more than half of all Australians are under lock downs and eligible for the new Covid disaster payments.
Alistair Waters, CPSU national president, said:
The time for action is now. The Government cannot ignore the lines outside Centrelink while the health advice is to stay home and socially distance. At the peak of the pandemic last year the Government upgraded online access and CPSU members are calling for this to occur again.
Our members are trying their best to help the tens of thousands of Australians at one of the hardest times of their lives, but they are concerned about community safety with long queues and long waits outside Centrelink offices.
Meanwhile, the Morrison government is facing mounting pressure to expand eligibility for its Covid disaster payments, as almost 1 million locked-down Australians across Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide receiving other welfare payments remain excluded from accessing the support.
Under the Commonwealth’s Covid disaster payments scheme, workers who have lost more than 20 hours of work per week because of a lockdown are eligible for $600 per week, while anyone who has lost between eight and 20 hours per week is entitled to $375 per week.
Are you having issues with Centrelink and the Covid disaster payments? Contact elias.visontay@theguardian.com
You can read more here:
Updated
Australian show jumper Jamie Kermond provisionally suspended from the Olympics after testing positive for cocaine
Controversy has hit Australia’s Olympic team on the first day of Tokyo 2020 action, with show jumper Jamie Kermond provisionally suspended by Equestrian Australia after returning a positive A-sample for cocaine.
In a press release issued on Wednesday morning, Equestrian Australia advised that a test undertaken by Sport Integrity Australia on 26 June 2021 had returned the adverse result.
Cocaine is an in-competition prohibited substance under the World Anti-Doping Agency’s regime. Kermond is barred from all competition, including the Olympics, while the provisional suspension is in place.
Kermond was due to make his Olympic debut in Tokyo, riding Yandoo Oaks Constellation, having helped secure Australia’s team quota at the 2018 World Equestrian Games Team.
The 36-year-old Victorian is now in limbo – under Australia’s anti-doping policy, Kermond can request to have his B-sample analysed.
A spokesperson from the Australian Olympic Committee confirmed that it had been made aware of the provisional suspension. “The Australian Olympic Team selection committee will consider the matter later today,” said the spokesperson.
Equestrian Australia said it had spoken with Kermond and offered him support services.
The team and individual jumping events are not scheduled until the second week of the Games, giving the AOC some breathing room. Australia’s show jumpers travelled to Japan with a reserve, Rowan Willis and the horse Blue Movie, who may be given a late call-up.
Guardian Australia has approached Kermond’s team for comment.
Updated
I’ve been looking at the vaccine rollout among aged care workers, a critical, high priority group that was supposed to be vaccinated as part of phase 1a.
The latest figures from the health department show that just one in four aged care workers are fully vaccinated while 43% have received their first dose. The data shows 120,011 of 276,910 aged care workers in Australia have reported receiving a first dose, or 43.4%, while about 69,786 have reported receiving both doses, about 25.2%.
The Coalition has mandated workers have at least a first dose by mid-September. That deadline is less than eight weeks away, and the majority of staff do not have a first dose.
But there is cause for optimism. The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation says greater Pfizer supply, improved distribution channels to workers in their workplaces, and an improved sense of urgency from the federal government should boost the numbers in the coming weeks.
The federal health minister, Greg Hunt, and his staff are also more closely involved, the ANMF said, which is helping.
“Supply has always been an underpinning issue here, but they did react pretty strongly to our clear concern about blaming workers,” said the union’s federal secretary, Annie Butler.
Victoria CHO would 'like to see something akin to' a vaccine passport
Reporter:
In the interim – that is 12 months potentially until we are fully vaccinated – would you consider Covid rapid testing?
Sutton:
We are considering rapid testing... But people can test negative [and] still be infectious. It is not a perfect test. There are individuals who fake their tests. There are individuals who got tested, are negative within 24 hours but become infectious at the time they attend.
So there is very straightforward solution here. The thing is to get us back to zero and then the vaccination coverage.
Reporter:
What about a vaccine passport?
Sutton:
It is under consideration nationally. I have said many times it needs to be equitable across the country. We shouldn’t introduce something in Victoria that applies unequally in other jurisdictions or that isn’t in places where.
I would like to see something akin to that. It needs to be validated, verifiable, not forgeable and we need to understand exactly what kind of allowances could happen with a fully vaccinated or partly vaccinated person.
Updated
Scott Morrison to give press conference at 1pm AEST
Scott Morrison is up next after this press conference!
PM @ScottMorrisonMP media conference at 1pm (AEST). Watch live on the @abcnews channel. #auspol #covid19aus
— Michael Rowland (@mjrowland68) July 21, 2021
Updated
Victorian outbreak 'going in the right direction', CHO says
Sutton has reflected on Victoria recording its highest number of daily local Covid-19 cases in 10 months.
It is a big number. As I say, it is a big number. That speaks to the Delta variant. Can you imagine what situation we could be in if we hadn’t locked down when we locked down?
If those 22 individuals were all out in the community, not just for a day, but for their entire infectious period.
If you do not listen, that is what happens, and those individuals pass on to one or two and in some cases 10 or 15 or more individuals. So, even though it is a big number, it is very encouraging to see people – their entire infectious period at home.
I am confident that this is going in the right direction. I think we are on track, in terms of getting control of this, but the Delta variant has made us spike to 107 cases just within a nine-day period, whereas it took a month to reach that in our previous outbreak.
You have to be so careful, precautionary and fast with this variant.
Updated
Victoria now has five people hospitalised with Covid-19, including one person in the ICU, Sutton says.
That ICU patient was from the Barwon health area, which is near Geelong.
Sutton said he is hopeful that within a couple of days Victoria could have no new cases who were in the community while infectious.
It may be over a couple of days we don’t see anyone who has been out in the community for any of their infectious period.
It is due to people quarantining strictly through that quarantine period. It is a tough thing to do, quarantine. It is tough because it is very strict. You cannot go out for food. You cannot go out for services, even essential services. You cannot go out for work.
You must stay at home strictly for that 14-day period and, even as that early test that you need to do comes back negative, you will need to stay in for that 14-day period.
Updated
Now to the Victorian chief health officer, Prof Brett Sutton, with extra details on the state’s current clusters.
Josh gave you the breakdown of the new cases just before, but here are the numbers of close contacts for each outbreak.
Sutton:
In terms of primary close contacts of some key sites, so MCG has 3,900 primary close contacts, 70% of those tests have been returned.
AAMI Park has 2,300 primary close contacts and 66% of tests have been returned.
Trinity Grammar – 2,600 primary close contacts with 76% of tests returned.
Crafty Squire – 433 primary close contacts with 70% of tests returned.
Ms Frankie, 822 primary close contacts with 8 % of tests returned, and Phillip Island, 803 primary close contacts with 53% of tests returned.
Updated
Victorian officials are concerned there are undetected cases on Phillip Island, as all the positive cases have left, but Covid-19 particles remain in the sewage.
The island is about two hours east of Melbourne, is attached to the mainland with a bridge and contains a number of towns.
Health minister Martin Foley:
Can I particularly give a shout-out to Phillip Island.
You will recall yesterday the Covid commander pointed out that there had been [positive] sewage test results locally. That has occurred again overnight, so a particular shout-out to the people of Phillip Island is please keep coming forward in the numbers that you have had to get tested.
A couple of days in a row of testing when the cases [are no longer on] Phillip Island, and to the best of our knowledge have returned to metropolitan Melbourne, makes us concerned that perhaps there are undetected cases in Phillip Island and San Remo communities.
Updated
Victorian health minister Martin Foley confirms that, along with NSW, Victoria also broke their own Covid-19 test record yesterday.
There was a record number of testing results yesterday. Almost 60,000 people right across the state braved some pretty inclement weather to return the highest single day’s worth of tests that we have seen in the 18 months of this global pandemic.
98.8% of those results have been turned around by the next day.
Updated
Additional support grants for Victorian businesses
Victoria’s industry support minister, Martin Pakula, has announced a further $282.5m in cash grants for businesses affected by Victoria’s latest lockdown, bringing the total support to $484m for this lockdown, and close to $1b for the last two lockdowns.
In the first two days of this week, 86,000 businesses were paid either $3,000 through the licensed hospitality venue fund, or $2,000 through the Business Cost Assistance program.
The support announced on Wednesday will be an automatic top-up of $4,200 for hospitality, or $2,800 for business cost assistance.
Businesses not registered for GST and with turnovers under $75,000 should still apply for the business support, but Pakula said those businesses could also apply for the federal Covid disaster payments of $600 per week if they’ve lost 20 hours or more, or $375 for between 8 and 20 hours lost.
Grants of up to $7,000 for live performance support will be available, and there will be $2,000 grants available for community sporting clubs.
Just a heads up, all the posts will be about the Victorian press conference from here on out unless I state otherwise.
22cases:
— Heidi Murphy (@heidimur) July 21, 2021
5 linked to Trinity.
5 to Miss Frankies.
3 to Young & Jacksons
3 to St Patricks Murrumbeena
2 at AAMI Park.
2 linked to Bacchus Marsh
1 is worker on WG Tunnel
And 1 linked to the Hume Family Cluster (CHO won't say if there was a further breach by family or contacts)
SA press conference
The SA premier has faced some fairly robust questioning over those extreme (sometimes up to 12-hour) waits at testing locations.
Reporter:
Do you accept that the government and SA Health may have been a bit flat-footed over the past 24 hours when it came to testing resources and the huge queues and a lot of I guess angst in the community about it?
Marshall:
Well, no. I don’t ...
It is a 45% increase on the biggest record ever at Victoria Park. It is about getting demand and supply into balance and, even though there was a significant increase in supply yesterday, the increase in demand was even greater.
So we have seen this in other states. We have seen it in South Australia before. Often there is a surge around the time of announcing a cluster and it takes some time, a day or two days to go through, and that is why I am very grateful to the people of South Australia who did line up overnight, who experienced that frustration.
It is a massive sacrifice, but it is actually these individual sacrifices, the collective sacrifices of our state, that have kept our state safe and our economy strong.
Updated
SA press conference
Premier Steven Marshall confirms SA has requested ADF assistance.
Reporter:
To clarify on the defence force. You have requested that?
Marshall:
Yes.
Reporter:
Do you know if that has been responded to?
Marshall:
No, we always have had a very co-operative relationship with the ADF and what we are saying is we are looking at every single opportunity so [we wrote] saying if there was additional staff we would be grateful for that.
They have been fantastic. They were fantastic during the bushfires here in South Australia. They have been fantastic with the coronavirus. So we expect their cooperation and, if they can divert those, I am sure they will.
Updated
Victoria press conference
Of today’s 22 cases in Victoria:
- Five are linked to Trinity Grammar – one staff member, two students and two household members.
- Five more linked to Ms Frankie’s in Cremorne – two staff, one patron, and two household members.
- Three to Young and Jacksons – all linked to a positive case at the pub.
- Three linked to St Patrick’s – two students and a household contact.
- Two linked to AAMI Park – both patrons seated within two or three rows of the index case.
- Two linked to Bacchus Marsh Grammar – both household contacts
- One from West Gate Tunnel who was a close work contact
- And a family member from yesterday’s unlinked case which is now linked to the Coolaroo cluster.
Victoria’s chief health officer, Prof Brett Sutton, said although the 22 cases figure – the largest in the state in 10 months – might be concerning, the fact 16 were isolating for their entire infectious period was a good sign, and something he expects to improve even more in the next few days.
There are five Covid patients in hospital, and one in ICU – from the Barwon Heads outbreak.
Updated
Individual support payments available to all of SA
Premier Steven Marshall:
We heard yesterday that there has been a declaration of a hotspot by the federal government and that will provide some income relief for people in those areas. Adelaide Metro ... and the Adelaide Hills.
I can announce here today that we will be extending that income relief statewide so country people will also enjoy the same benefits that the people in the hotspot declaration will be enjoying.
We do this because we know that this can move very quickly and we do it from a health perspective wanting to include country SA in the lockdown. It is not fair for them if they don’t have the income support, that disaster income support. So that will be extended statewide.
In addition to that, the treasurer in a few moments time will be announcing a $100m business support package. This will support businesses who are suffering very significant reductions in their turnover because of these restrictions.
Updated
Vaccine appointment slots going unused in SA
Premier Steven Marshall says there are still vaccine vacancies for the next week, urging people to come forward to fill them up.
What I can also say to you is that we are looking at the website this morning, there are still 700 appointments available here over the next seven days for vaccination just at the Noarlunga and Elizabeth clinic.
So there are enormous opportunities, north and south, 700 appointments still available. Please go on to the SA website.
If you are eligible for the vaccination, please roll up, roll up your sleeve, do the right thing and get vaccinated, that is our pathway out.
Updated
SA press conference
Marshall has described NSW and Victoria’s situation as “deteriorating”.
We can see today the deteriorating situation both in Victoria and also in New South Wales.
110 new cases in New South Wales. Worryingly, 43 of them still active in the community. Not all people that have been, if you like, in that directed quarantine.
Of course, in Victoria today a jump to 22.
In South Australia we have one. We have a chance to nip this in the bud. We have a chance to stop this dead in its tracks. We need every South Australian united, because we don’t want to have extended lockdown in our state going forward.
Updated
New SA case linked to known restaurant outbreak
SA premier Steven Marshall:
Today we have woken up to the news that there is just one new case in South Australia, that person is linked to The Greek on Halifax Street.
We are up to 52 exposure sites in South Australia. My strong message to every South Australian is please check the SA Health website.
Updated
Victorian press conference
A total of 16 out of the 22 new cases reported in Victoria on Wednesday were isolating for their entire infectious period, health minister Martin Foley has said.
For the remaining six, he said there were limited exposure sites because of the lockdown in place in Victoria.
Half of the new cases were household contacts of primary close contacts, which Foley said showed the importance of isolating secondary close contacts:
If Victoria wasn’t managing those secondary close contacts as tightly as we are now, the advice that we have is that this virus would have got beyond us already. It has not.
There are 18,000 primary close contacts in Victoria isolating, and 10,000 secondary, meaning over 28,000 Victorians are currently isolating.
Updated
OK! The fantastic Josh Taylor will be filing updates from the Victorian press conference, but I’ll jump on to South Australia now.
Updated
Berejiklian has been asked if she intends to petition the federal government once again for jobkeeper to come back, but she doesn’t answer directly.
Berejiklian:
This is why we are saying to our people in New South Wales, please do not be frightened if you feel you cannot go to work and therefore your family is going to suffer because you don’t have income ... We are saying to every individual, if you have had your hours reduced or you are worried about not having your income, please contact Services Australia. That is what the disaster payments are for*.
People who are not able to work and to get that income, if you are a business please contact Services NSW. I am so grateful that within 48 hours, as we have literally processed thousands of business applications and the money, some of that money is already in accounts two days later.
Please know, I don’t want anyone to feel so desperate that they can’t respect our health orders. I don’t want anyone to feel so desperate that they can’t fend for themselves or their families, quite the opposite. And if there are better ways on the ground that we can get support out more quickly, of course we will consider that.
In fact, we will continue to engage with community leaders to see if there are other and better ways we can get immediate support
*Although $600 a week isn’t going to last that long for a whole family.
Updated
Olympics under way in Tokyo
The first action of the 2020 Games has been completed, but it wasn’t the winning start Australia’s softball team had hoped for. Despite a bright start, the Aussie Spirit lost 8-1 to home side Japan in Fukushima this morning.
The Australians were no match for the big hitting Japanese, who pressed home their advantage with three home runs in the latter innings to secure a comprehensive victory. Such was the hosts’ advantage that the game was ended early, under softball’s mercy rule. The Aussie Spirit have won a medal in every single Olympics they have contested, but now have a mountain to climb to stay in medal contention in Japan.
The Australian team were the first to arrive in Japan, and had made quite the impression on locals before this morning’s game.
Updated
Barilaro urged tradies not to look to regional NSW for work
Barilaro confirms there is a case linked to a construction site in Coffs Harbour, I’m not 100% sure if that’s the same case as yesterday, so I’ll double-check that for you.
He has urged tradies not to venture into regional NSW for work over the next fortnight.
Barilaro:
There is a case at Coffs Harbour in the construction site ... yes there is a firm that is working there and they have been working on this site for months.
This individual, as I understand from health advice, has stuck to the Sydney stay at home orders and has remained in his accommodation and we have great monitoring of that situation but it is one that we will keep an eye on.
It is not about the infection happening on-site, it is the infection that can happen during the mobility of those people and the health advice was to stem mobility across the state and that is what we have done.
My message is for people, if you don’t have to go to the regions, don’t. For those tradies, there is no point going to regional or rural New South Wales looking for work when there will be a pathway for construction on 31 July here in Sydney.
Updated
A lot of the questions today are surrounding this two-week pause on all construction in greater Sydney.
Berejiklian is steadfast that the restriction will not lift before 31 July.
This pause has to be in place ... the two-week pause is necessary.
I apologise for the inconvenience ... but it is a decision we have to take. You cannot argue against the health advice, you can’t, are you against science or facts. It would have been irresponsible for us not to have taken that pause, as difficult as it was.
It would have been absolutely irresponsible and I know that a lot of people are feeling anxious about it, but a lot of sectors have been disrupted for a year and a half because of the pandemic.
Let’s think about a lot of communities, a lot of businesses, a lot of individuals who have been impacted for at least a year-and-a-half and we appreciate and acknowledge that. But all of us have a role to play.
The government would not have made our decisions unless we absolutely had to. The science and the facts are there and we need to respect that.
Updated
Reporter:
[Victorian premier] Daniel Andrews has said that Victoria is running alongside the virus and trying to get ahead of the virus, and he says Sydney has lost control of the virus. After these numbers today, does he have a point?
Berejiklian:
Can I say that I will leave other premiers to comment on their own states, I will comment on New South Wales.
I want to make this issue about work sites. Please know, the risk of transmission is at work sites is great. But what then happens is people go home and infect their household. And that is the multiplier effect. So one worker might go home and infect five other people. And then those five other people may have been to work the next day and infected one person who then goes home and infects five other people.
Updated
Guardian Australia’s own Anne Davies has asked about that large number of unlinked cases. Fifty-four today alone.
Davies:
There are a huge number of unlinked cases today. Half of them. Does that mean that we cannot track them or is it because there are unknown chains of transmission?
McAnulty:
We have a process where we go back to cases over and over again to try and get relevant information about the chains of transmission links. Information we provide firstly is based on yesterday’s cases, some have updated information as the days progress about the links.
Hopefully most of them will be linked eventually but there is concern that there are unlinked cases which mean that because it is so transmissible, people are not aware of who they have been in contact with.
So it is a reflection of how infectious this virus is and why we need to take these precautions.
Updated
Hazzard has laid out the, rather striking, Covid-19 mortality rates between vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
I want to remind people that if you’re over 60, if you get Covid, you have a one in 200 chance of dying.
If you’re over 50, you have a one in 500 chance ever dying if you got the Covid virus.
If you have the vaccine, you have a one in 2 million chance of actually dying, so the odds are with you.
You can take a bet on TAB and you’d be doing far better if you’d had the vaccine.
Updated
And, as promised here is health minister Brad Hazzard to “repeat what [Berejiklian] has said” about how many of the 150,000 extra AstraZeneca doses have gone into arms yet.
Hazzard:
Look, the big issue is there’s plenty of AstraZeneca around. That’s not the issue. It’s the Pfizer.
And AstraZeneca is principally being delivered through GPs and there are not enough GPs to actually give the AstraZeneca.
So the net result is we’re encouraging the federal government to get the GPs.
Obviously, if you’re taking AstraZeneca, because of some of the issues that have been raised by the federal government, there has been a degree of reluctant in some communities but it’s fair to say that there is plenty of AstraZeneca around.
Updated
Reporter:
We got 150,000 extra AstraZeneca doses. Have they been administered??
Berejiklian:
One point I make on that before I give Minister Hazzard the call is they were doses brought forward. They’re not extra doses. Please be clear ... I just said we’re doing about 300,000 a week and we have the capacity to do more but if you want Minister Hazzard to repeat what I’ve said, I’m happy for that to happen.
Updated
Yesterday Berejiklian said the state was still on track to restart construction in greater Sydney by the end of the month. Today she seems less certain.
Obviously, we’ll be able to do that as soon as we have a sense in the next week of what the impact of the harsh restrictions have had on the community. And this disease is cruel.
And it’s most cruel because the Delta strain spreads when two human beings come together. So the cruelty of this disease is human interaction and that’s why some industries are more impacted than others. Those who are able to work from home have an advantage because they’re in types of work which don’t rely on human interaction.
We know any form of human interaction is spreading the disease and that’s why we just need to stop that human interaction.
Updated
The goal is still no new cases who have been infectious in the community, Berejiklian says.
Today I spoke about the 43* number infectious in the community. That’s the number we want to see at 0 or close to 0.
If that number is in settings that are low risk, obviously we can ease restrictions. It’s really based on the health advice and it really depends on where those infections took place.
Please know that we’re analysing all that data ... but we won’t know the effect of those harsher, very harsh restrictions we put in place last Friday until the weekend or early next week.
*60 if you include people who were only partially isolated.
Updated
Gladys Berejiklian is urging people not to think that “living with Covid-19” is an option, asking the community to give the hardened lockdown time to take effect.
Reporter:
Are you considering locking down harder? Or is this it? Is this as hard as NSW goes? And, if that’s the case, is there a Plan B with some restrictions and the virus bubbling along until vaccination?
Berejiklian:
Look, it’s really important for us not to talk about what might happen. We need to really assess the health advice and data we get for the next few days and, once that data comes through, once the number of cases and how they’re transmitting comes through over the weekend and early next week, we’ll have a better sense of what July 31 looks like. And as soon as the government knows, we’ll of course convey that.
I want to say NSW is putting some pretty tough restrictions in, tougher than we’ve ever gone, tougher than some other states have ever gone. And that’s because it’s really important for us to quash this virus whilst, unfortunately, our vaccination rates remain where they are.
I want to make this point – that we do need to give the extra restrictions a chance to do the job.
Updated
Now let’s talk money, with someone who I think is NSW treasurer Dominic Perrottet just without glasses on.
As you know, we negotiated with the federal government to make sure that for individuals that require support, you can go to Services Australia. For businesses that require support in New South Wales, please go to Service New South Wales.
As of 11 this morning, we’ve received 15,500 applications. We’ve processed $196m worth of those applications and, as of yesterday, $26m has already hit the bank accounts with more coming. We’re trying to turn these grant applications around as fast as we can to make sure we get businesses the money as quickly as possible.
Updated
Here is the deputy premier, John Barilaro. Known as a bit of a National party wild card, he is often missing from these Covid-19 press conferences, but given parts of regional NSW are in lockdown, he has come to represent.
Barilaro:
As we all know, overnight, on the advice of, of course, New South Wales Health, the NSW government made a decision for the first time to act fast, hard and local and lock down three local government areas in regional and rural NSW.
The local government areas of Cabonne, Blayney and Orange, as of today or as of midnight last night, have had a series of stay-home orders that apply. Those orders are that you can’t leave home except for work or education, for medical or care, of course for shopping, for groceries, or for goods and services and for exercise. Hospitality will now close unless offering takeaway.
And this decision was made to make sure we protect those communities. The central west is an intertwined region and Blayney, Molong and Orange and those communities come together often and we’re well versed on those areas. The decision of the right decision to make sure we don’t overwhelm the health system and off the back of that health advice we’ve made that decision today.
Updated
There are now 106 people in NSW hospitalised for Covid-19.
McAnulty:
In terms of hospitalisations, there are currently 106 people with Covid admitted to hospital in New South Wales.
Twenty-three are in intensive care, and 11 require ventilation. This shows how serious this disease can be for some people.
Updated
Testing requirements are ramping up for the Canterbury-Bankstown LGA.
McAnulty:
From Friday 23 July, a person who lives in Canterbury-Bankstown LGA and who engages in aged care or health care can only work outside of the Canterbury-Bankstown LGA if the person has been tested for Covid in the previous 72 hours.
Dr Jeremy McAnulty from NSW Health is breaking down the stats on those 110 cases, and is listing the suburbs of concern.
Overnight we recorded 110 locally acquired cases of Covid in New South Wales to 8pm last night. Fifty-four of those were linked to known cases or clusters.
There were a number of areas of concern. So we’ve seen this focus of cases initially in south-east Sydney, then south-west Sydney and we’re now seeing cases in western Sydney increase, so we’re concerned about the following areas where people should be particularly vigilant and don’t hesitate to come forward for testing at the slightest symptom: Cumberland, particularly Merrylands and Guildford, Belrose, Toongabbie, Seven Hills, Mount Druitt, Rooty Hill, Lakemba, Fairfield, Haymarket and Wollongong.*
*I’ll check the spellings of those soon!
Updated
60 infectious cases spent some time in NSW community
It’s worth noting it isn’t just 43 cases that were infectious in the community. Berejiklian doesn’t read out the number that were in the community for part of their infectious period, which today is 17.
That means a total of 60 cases spent some time in the community while infectious, and 13 cases are still under investigation.
Thirty-seven cases were in isolation throughout their infectious period and 17 cases were in isolation for part of their infectious period. Forty-three cases were infectious in the community, and the isolation status of 13 cases remains under investigation.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 21, 2021
Updated
Interesting, Gladys Berejiklian has stopped comparing the NSW response to other states in Australia (remember “the gold standard”?) and has started comparing responses to other, much harder hit countries around the world. Not a brilliant sign.
We have done well to stem the growth that other countries around the world have seen with the Delta strain.
We’ve stopped the thousands and thousands of cases around the world that other countries have had.
Our vaccination rates are so low and yet we’ve done really well in stemming the growth of the virus. What we need to do now is quash it, because with the vaccination rates the way they are we won’t be able to live freely and safely unless we’re able to quash this current outbreak.
Updated
The NSW premier says the high number of cases in the Fairfield LGA are now starting to spill into surrounding councils.
We’re now seeing additional spillover in the Canterbury-Bankstown local government area and the suburbs within that area.
Dr Jeremy McAnulty will read out the suburbs of concern in western Sydney and we need to make sure we have those high rates of testing and limited mobility in those areas as well. But the simple message is please do not leave your home unless you have to.
If you have to leave your home, for work, make sure that you’re following the strict, strict Covid safety plans around your workplace.
Updated
Berejiklian:
I thank the nearly 84,000 people who came forward for testing in the last 24 hours. That is the highest number New South Wales has ever had in a single day.
As a result of this record testing, we did have 110 cases to 8pm yesterday.
That is a high number but a number which reflects the high amount of testing that we had.
What is concerning, however, is that 43 people in that, in that number of cases, were infectious in the community.
Updated
NSW records 110 local Covid-19 cases overnight
Gladys Berejiklian is speaking now, she says there have been 110 local Covid-19 cases overnight, with 43 infectious in the community.
NSW also had a record number of Covid-19 tests overnight.
Updated
OK! We are just standing by for NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian to walk up to the plate now.
We will hear from Victoria and South Australia at 11.30am (AEST).
Updated
KIIS radio host Jase Hawkins has demanded Scott Morrison apologises for Australia’s “nightmare” lockdown, telling the prime minister “you can just say sorry.”
But Morrison wouldn’t budge.
Hawkins:
We have this thing on the team here ... when someone stuffs up, it’s all about accountability. You say sorry. You admit the problem, and we move on.
And you’re right, there have been problems along the way. Can you honestly say to me that the government’s taken accountability? I’ve never heard the word, “sorry guys, you know what, sorry we did screw it up, but we’re getting it right now”.
Morrison:
We’ve had problems and we’ve dealt with them and that’s, that’s what I do every single day. I mean, yes, the government is accountable for this and now I’m accountable for this. That’s why we take accountability by fixing the problems and getting it right. You know, no country in the world has got everything right during this pandemic. But you know what, we saved 30,000 lives. We’ve got a million people back into work.
Hawkins:
Can you just, you know. Can you say “sorry Jase”? I would feel so much better and then I feel like I can move on.
Morrison:
What we’re doing is fixing the problems and getting on with it ... they’re problems that aren’t always things within our control.
Hawkins:
Scott, I’d even take “my bad”. Just a “my bad, Jase”.
Morrison:
We’re moving to the problems, getting on with it.
Updated
Smoking mothers should have more support to quit after their first pregnancy, an extensive Australian study has found, reports Gina Rushton, from AAP.
A longitudinal study published by Curtin University researchers on Wednesday examined 23 years’ worth of records and histories of 63,540 Australian women with more than one child who smoked during their first pregnancy.
Lead researcher Prof Gavin Pereira, from Curtin’s School of Population Health, said more than one-third of women who smoked during pregnancy were able to stop for their next pregnancy.
[This] could reduce the risk of early birth in subsequent pregnancy by as much as 26 per cent.
What is clear from the study, is that maintaining quit messages and support for women who smoked during pregnancy, even after birth can have a significantly positive outcome for both them and their subsequent babies.
The latest figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show that 75% of smokers continued to smoke beyond 20 weeks gestation.
The second trimester is vital to an unborn babies’ growth and formation - organs continue to develop, and the liver, pancreas and kidneys all start to function.
Despite smoking during a first pregnancy, woman can turn this around for their next pregnancy to reduce complications to their unborn.
Updated
A story told in two parts:
The PM @ScottMorrisonMP responds on @abcadelaide to the ‘It’s not a race’ criticism. #auspol #COVID19Aus pic.twitter.com/o7SqAmKF2X
— Michael Rowland (@mjrowland68) July 21, 2021
Scott Morrison on ABC Adelaide today claims his "not a race" comments were taken out of context, that he was specifically talking about approval process of vaccines
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) July 21, 2021
but he was still giving such responses in March & April, *after* approvals, on questions about pace of the rollout pic.twitter.com/tmncfFyxOh
Updated
Reports NSW case number will be above 100 today
OK, this hasn’t been independently confirmed by Guardian Australia but Nine News is reporting that the NSW daily case number will be back above 100 today.
More positively they also are reporting that there have been no new cases in the central west.
Numbers will be a shock today. More than 100, and a big number infectious in the community. Feels like we are going backwards. Good news is no further cases so far in Orange/Central West. @9NewsAUS
— Chris O'Keefe (@cokeefe9) July 21, 2021
Updated
Queensland records no new local Covid-19 cases
Great news for Queensland! No new local Covid-19 cases.
Although 12,876 tests does seem quite low for the day after a Covid-19 scare in multiple cities.
Wednesday 21 July – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) July 21, 2021
0 new locally acquired cases recorded in Queensland overnight.
1 new overseas acquired case, detected in hotel quarantine.#COVID19 pic.twitter.com/nYSQzgWk2K
Updated
Pfizer won't be brought forward for under-40s
Australians under 40 will not be eligible for Pfizer coronavirus jabs ahead of schedule despite increasing hospitalisations of younger people, reports Matt Coughlan, from AAP.
A teenager is included in NSW’s 27 intensive care patients in NSW, with the majority under 60 and 24 unvaccinated.
Health minister Greg Hunt pointed to Pfizer supplies as the main reason the vaccine rollout could not be immediately extended to under 40s.
What we’re doing at the moment is following the advice because there are a finite number of vaccines.
At this point in time we’re working through the 40 to 59 age group.
People under 40 are allowed to speak with a doctor about receiving AstraZeneca.
But Australia’s expert immunisation panel Atagi recommends Pfizer for that age group because of an extremely rare side effect.
Hunt said Atagi would provide advice on expanding the Pfizer rollout to other age groups but noted more vulnerable populations needed to be prioritised.
Updated
Still relevant.
*stop* pic.twitter.com/6PMKaKnvWN
— Gina Rushton (@ginarush) July 20, 2021
As expected, 11am for the NSW press conference.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Deputy Premier John Barilaro, Health Minister Brad Hazzard, Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello, NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant and NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys will provide an update on COVID-19, 11am #nswpol
— Political Alert (@political_alert) July 20, 2021
Some updates from Scott Morrison’s radio appearances this morning.
"Do you have an UberEats account?" Jase and PJ ask the PM on Kiis FM Melbourne this morning.
— Benita Kolovos 🐯 (@benitakolovos) July 20, 2021
Jase tells the PM the vaccine rollout has been a "nightmare". "Can you honestly say to me that the government has taken accountability? I've never heard the word sorry," he says.
— Benita Kolovos 🐯 (@benitakolovos) July 20, 2021
The PM replies: "We're fixing the problems and getting on with it".
The PM is now joining Fox FM with Fifi, Fev and Byron. He says every month the vaccine rollout is improving. "It's on the right track ... I suspect we're two months max behind where we would hope to have been because of the problems we've had," the PM says.
— Benita Kolovos 🐯 (@benitakolovos) July 20, 2021
Orange mayor Reg Kidd said that he and the mayors of Cabonne and Blayney are all supportive of the lockdown.
It was late yesterday afternoon at 5.30 that the government and Health contacted us right before a council meeting, we were supposed to have a meeting last night.
Unilaterally we made that decision* with the mayors of Cabonne and Blayney and with government and Health to go into a seven-day lock down.
Not an easy decision and one that won’t keep everybody happy but you have to think of the bigger picture and the bigger picture is that this is the best way that we have got to try and nip things in the bud. We don’t know everything about this strain of Covid.
*Not totally sure how much it would have mattered if the mayors didn’t unilaterally agree. Pretty sure Berejiklian can just call a lockdown anyway, but it’s nice that they agreed anyway!
Updated
The state MP for Orange, Phil Donarto, (from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party) is speaking at a press conference from his locked down community now.
The issue was that this particular gentleman, male, who has tested positive, had visited a number of locations before he tested positive and went into isolation.
Those premises and locations North Orange Woolies, Pizza Hut, a tobacconist, Officeworks and areas where large volumes of people would have visited and attended, potential exposure contacts were too significant.
The concerns were that if we didn’t get on top of this quickly, it had the potential to spread. It wasn’t an easy decision but it was a decision that we made unilaterally in the best interests of our community to try and keep our community safe.
Updated
Gosh the prime minister has been busy this morning!
I’ll bring you some more quotes from a few of these interviews.
And a helpful adviser in the PM’s office has just texted me to say that the PM has actually done 5 interviews this morning, but they don’t send out alerts for FM radio interviews.
— James Massola (@jamesmassola) July 20, 2021
- 735 5AA
- 745 Kiis FM Melbourne
- 805 Fox FM Melbourne
- 820 ABC Adelaide
- 830 Nova Adelaide
Former deputy Victorian chief health officer Prof Allen Cheng is speaking to ABC radio now, looking back at his year with the health department. (His secondment just came to an end, by the way, there wasn’t any scandal or anything.)
Host Virginia Triolli has asked if he “regrets” not seeing the value of a Victorian mask mandate faster. The mandatory mask rules come into effect midway through the Victorian second wave, after many months of health officials suggesting that they were not needed. This rule change has been credited, along with stage four stay at home restrictions, with bringing the state’s record case numbers down from 700 to zero.
Here is Cheng’s answer:
I guess that would have been the thing that we might have done differently last year. Yeah I think so.
And then the other thing is that this time last year we weren’t entirely sure how effective masks were, and I think I was actually probably on the side that didn’t think that we could get the whole community on to wear masks all the time.
But clearly, that was something that actually turned out to be quite good and something that we’re still using now.
Masks for the community ... I think is definitely something that we’ve learned over the year.
Updated
Australian Muslims look for ways to stay connected during Eid festival in lockdown
Tens of thousands of Muslims in three Australian states will spend Eid at home under strict Covid-19 restrictions this week, but many are finding ways to keep the spirit of the Islamic festival of sacrifice alive in lockdown.
Eid festivals have been cancelled, mosques are shut and large family gatherings are prohibited, as people are urged to adhere to strict stay-at-home rules.
“I know this is a very special time for many in our community,” the NSW chief health officer, Kerry Chant, said on Sunday.
I just want to reiterate that we are asking that prayers be only performed in your house and please, again, do not have visitors to your home, including family members, and do not visit others.
For many this is the second time they have had to forgo Eid celebrations because of Covid-19 and the third time for Melburnians.
You can read the full story below:
The South Australia press conference will be held at 11am Adelaide time today, so that’s 11.30am on the east coast.
It’s pretty safe to assume NSW will hold their press conference at 11am east coast time, so that’s alright.
Now, all that is left is for Victoria to PLEASE NOT HOLD THE PRESSER ANY LATER THAN 10.30am OR ANY EARLIER THAN 12pm. Don’t let me down Daniel Andrews.
Oh also I assume Queensland will speak at 10am (they usually do), given their case yesterday who travelled through the Sunshine Coast and Cairns, I’ll try to tune into that and bring you all the updates.
Hmmm, what could be the common factor here?
Interesting the Prime Minister did interviews this morning on ABC radio and FiveAA in SA, morning after lockdown began in SA. He has done several with Sydney media outlets over the last month too. As far as I can tell, his last interview w/ a Melbourne outlet was 3AW on May 20.
— James Massola (@jamesmassola) July 20, 2021
Unsurprisingly Labor isn’t delighted with Scott Morrison’s recent interviews on South Australian radio.
Mr Morrison says it was “never the plan” to be in a position to stop lockdowns by now.
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) July 20, 2021
Perhaps his “plan” was part of the problem - all his eggs in one basket, not enough Pfizer, not ordered early enough.
The kind of “plan” you have when you think “it’s not a race”.
Victoria had record testing numbers across the state yesterday, by the way!
Record testing numbers! Vic’s previous record was 57,519 on June 2. Let’s just hope most if not all of those 22 cases were isolating. https://t.co/B6arVLg8IN
— Rachel Baxendale (@rachelbaxendale) July 20, 2021
Scott Morrison has done a blitz of radio in South Australia, after it went into a one-week lockdown and Adelaide was declared a hotspot eligible for commonwealth payments.
On FiveAA, Morrison was forced to defend comments by former chief medical officer Brendan Murphy and himself that the vaccine rollout is not a race.
Morrison replied:
When that was said by professor Murphy and I – we were talking about the regulation of vaccines; that the vaccines had gone through proper approval authorities. Political opponents and others have tried to use that ... [but] we have been moving with that urgency and increasing that urgency. Australians didn’t want us to cut corners with the vaccines we put in people’s arms ... that’s what Prof Murphy and I were referring to.
Morrison also denied that the current lockdowns have been caused by poor vaccination rates:
Under no plan – was there any plan that said we’d be at 65-70% vaccination rates in this country, at no plan. [There was] no suggestion of that. Australia was always going to be in the suppression phase this year.
Right now, in Singapore [with] vaccination rates higher than Australia, they’re going back into lockdown; Europe, they’re going back into lockdown; in the UK they’re over 65% [vaccination rate but] 94 people died yesterday. I understand that there’s great frustration – believe me, I feel the same frustration.
This latest Delta variant has thrown a completely new curve-ball on this issue, which every single country is wrestling with. We haven’t got every decision right – no country has in this pandemic.
Morrison said that the government and national cabinet will make decisions about immunisation rates required to ease restrictions when Burnett Institute research is returned in coming weeks, and after an assessment of Australia’s hospital capacity.
He also foreshadowed that although the commonwealth will be responsible for payments to metropolitan Adelaide, the other parts of the state will receive funding from the state government, confirming that payments will be made “right across the state” with the South Australian treasurer to make an announcement shortly.
Updated
SA to NSW, VIC: How do you do, fellow lock downees? pic.twitter.com/nGio8yNDbA
— Royce Kurmelovs (@RoyceRk2) July 20, 2021
So, yes, 22 is not great news for Victoria but it’s worth remembering the really key figure is how many of those cases spent time in the community while infectious and how many were close contacts who were in isolation.
We will probably have to wait for the Vic press conference for those details. There is no set time for that as yet.
Updated
Victoria reports 22 local Covid-19 cases overnight
Victoria has records 22 local Covid-19 cases, which I believe is the highest daily number the state has seen so far this year.
But all are linked to known outbreaks.
Reported yesterday: 22 new local cases and 1 new case acquired overseas (currently in HQ).
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) July 20, 2021
- 18,099 vaccine doses were administered
- 59,355 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl1hf3W#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/MVGEX3CF2x
Updated
'The vaccination rollout has let us down,' John Barilaro says
I mentioned before that NSW deputy premier John Barilaro told ABC that the vaccine rollout had “let us down”.
Here is that quote:
Yeah, look, honestly, I think the vaccination rollout has let us down ...
I feel here in Australia we were on top of it and we are on top of community transmission and then there was a lag to vaccination.
Even though, in some of the vulnerable groups, numbers are higher, the overall is not enough. We need people to get vaxxed and need federal government to increase supply.
We are reaching over 300,000 a week in New South Wales. Demand is outstripping supply. It is a real issue for the federal government. They promised more.
Hopefully, by the end of the week, the promises come to fruition but it is a reminder to Australians, we cannot be complacent and even for the regions, in regional and rural New South Wales, where vaccination rates are lower. It is a reminder for people that we have not beaten Covid, it is time to get the jab.
Updated
It’s 4:30am in Adelaide and lockdown is now in effect. The line at Victoria Park 24 hr testing site is already several kilometres long. @TheTodayShow @9NewsAdel pic.twitter.com/ccaXAFYswA
— Ollie Haig (@ollie_haig) July 20, 2021
Many people we’ve spoken to at Victoria Park testing clinic have been waiting since 9pm last night and still no test. @TheTodayShow @9NewsAdel
— Ollie Haig (@ollie_haig) July 20, 2021
Updated
Canstruct International, the Brisbane company and Liberal party donor running Australia’s offshore processing regime on Nauru, has won another uncontested contract extension – $180m over six months – bringing its total revenue from island contracts over the past five years to more than $1.5bn.
There are 108 people held on Nauru under Australia’s offshore processing regime. It costs Australian taxpayers more than $8,800 every day for each person held on the island, or $3.2m a person each year.
While no new asylum seeker arrivals have been sent to Nauru since 2014, the regime there will cost Australia more than $400m this year.
The original contract for “provision of garrison and welfare services on Nauru” awarded to Canstruct was worth just $8m in October 2017 but this was amended almost immediately – increased by 4,500% to $385m just a month after being signed.
You can read the full report from Ben Doherty and Christopher Knaus below:
Poor old Michael Kidd. It looks as though Greg Hunt has declined to go on ABC News Breakfast so now the deputy chief medical officer is bearing the brunt of host Michael Rowland’s robust questioning.
Rowland:
Why on earth are 57% of aged care workers yet to receive a single dose of vaccine, as we head towards the end of July?
Kidd:
As you know, the national cabinet has decided that it would be mandatory for workers in aged care facilities to be vaccinated by the end of September.
Now plans are in place to make sure they’ll be vaccinated by the end of September.
Rowland:
Fifty-seven per cent of aged care workers, 1a people, the most vulnerable, given what happened in aged care in Victoria last year, are not vaccinated, with at least one dose now. How can we get to that mid-September deadline?
Kidd:
Look, I’m very confident we’re going to achieve that deadline. We’re seeing extraordinary results in many parts of the country, and people lining up to get their vaccines. Prioritisation for people working in aged care to get their vaccines as well.
Updated
NSW deputy premier John Barilaro told ABC this morning that the vaccination rollout has “let us down”.
Now deputy chief medical officer Michael Kidd is being pushed to give a response ... and he doesn’t really:
Well, clearly we’re seeing many more people getting vaccinated every day.
We now have 6,500 sites where people in Australia can go and receive their vaccine. We have general practices, we have Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, great hubs set up by the states and territories.
As more and more supply comes in, we’ll be getting increasing supplies of the Pfizer vaccine throughout this quarter and even more in the fourth quarter of this year, and the Moderna vaccine will be coming into Australia at the end of the year as well. So as more vaccines come in, it goes straight out to those 6,500 sites ...
At the moment we have more than 75% of people over 70 who have received their first dose.
Updated
Australia’s deputy chief medical officer Michael Kidd has commended the SA, NSW and Victorian premier’s decision to lock down a large section of their populations to control the spread of the Delta variant.
Kidd told ABC:
What we’re seeing is very appropriate and swift action by our public health authorities in each of the regions where we have these outbreaks occurring. And it’s very important of course that all of us are following the restrictions and the guidelines which are in place to make sure we’re protecting our own health, the health of our loved ones and the health of everyone in our community.
Updated
Here are the exposure sites that were posted for the regional NSW town of Orange last night, before it and the Cabonne and Blayney council areas were sent into a seven-day hard lockdown:
⚠️PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT – VENUES OF CONCERN⚠️
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 20, 2021
NSW Health has been notified of a number of new venues of concern, including venues in Goulburn and Orange, associated with confirmed cases of COVID 19. pic.twitter.com/sFOzMtsGQR
Updated
If you are trying to get up to speed on the Covid-19 situation all across Australia but only have 90 seconds to do it, can I recommend (with some bias) this Guardian Australia TikTok crash course (which I may or may not have made).
Although it’s worth noting some NSW regional council areas also entered lockdown after this was posted last night.
Updated
From what I can see the SA premier, Steven Marshall confirmed the new case on Adelaide radio station FiveAA (which he is known to do).
I’ll bring you the transcript from that interview as soon as I can.
BREAKING | Premier Steven Marshall has confirmed another new COVID case in SA overnight.
— FIVEaa (@1395FIVEaa) July 20, 2021
South Australia reportedly records one new Covid-19 case
ABC is reporting that South Australia has recorded one new local case of Covid-19.
This would bring the cluster total to six.
Updated
Good morning to you all, it’s Matilda Boseley here, back and ready to take on the news of Wednesday.
There are a lot of Australians waking up in lockdown this morning who probably weren’t expecting to. In fact, more than half of Australia’s population is now locked down.
The NSW regional council area of Orange, Cabonne and Blayney entered a seven-day lockdown at midnight last night after a raft of exposure sites were reported in Orange.
A pet food factory worker in Blayney tested positive to Covid-19 yesterday, a close contact of an infected delivery driver who visited the site last week. Five exposures sites, including a Pizza Hut, a Woolworths and an Officeworks, were listed in Orange yesterday afternoon.
South Australian premier Steven Marshall also announced a seven-day hard lockdown across the whole state, fearing that an elderly man likely to have been infected in Sydney may have unknowingly caused a Delta variant super spreading event at an Adelaide restaurant. The cluster now stands at five cases.
And Victorians originally expected to wake up to freedom this morning, with their five-day hard lockdown slated to end. But that wasn’t to be. With the state still recording double-digit daily case numbers, premier Daniel Andrews says the state just needs a little bit longer to get ahead of the virus. The lockdown will also be extended for seven days from midnight.
There is plenty to cover today so why don’t we jump right in.
If there is something you reckon I’ve missed or think should be in the blog but isn’t, shoot me a message on Twitter @MatildaBoseley.
Updated
.jpg?w=600)
