Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles.
One app.

Start reading

Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles. One news app.

Start reading

The Guardian - AU

National

Lisa Cox (now) and Nino Bucci,Elias Visontay,Mostafa Rachwani and Michael McGowan (earlier)

Morrison says time between Pfizer doses to increase in NSW – as it happened

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks to the media during a press conference following a national cabinet meeting, at the Lodge in Canberra, Friday, July 23, 2021. — Australian prime minister Scott Morrison speaks to the media following a national cabinet meeting. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

9.44am BST

What happened today, Friday 23 July

And that’s where we will leave things for the evening. A big day today:

NSW recorded 136 new Covid-19 cases and one death, with the premier, Gladys Berejiklian, saying the situation was now a national emergency
Restrictions were tightened in the Sydney local government areas of Blacktown and Cumberland
NSW pleaded with national cabinet to reallocate more doses of Pfizer to the state and said it would target current vaccine efforts to south-western Sydney
HSC exams in NSW will be delayed by a week
Victoria recorded 14 new Covid-19 cases and South Australia one case
A Queensland flight attendant tested positive for Covid-19
The Australian Medical Association called on the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation to recommend AstraZeneca to more age groups given the Sydney outbreak
The government said the Therapeutic Goods Administration had approved Pfizer for use in 12-15-year-olds
New Zealand is closing its travel bubble with Australia for two months

We will see you back here tomorrow. Take care.

Updated at 9.48am BST

9.31am BST

And a story by my colleague Paul Karp that you might be interested in:

Scott Morrison was advised last week by Australia’s chief medical officer that anyone who attends his Canberra residence should be vaccinated against Covid-19 and take daily saliva tests – advice that was not followed in relation to journalists at recent press conferences.

On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the prime minister held press conferences outside the Lodge, where he is quarantining after returning to Canberra from Sydney.

The press conferences were attended by reporters who were required to wear masks and check in using QR codes to reduce risk – but not all were fully vaccinated and none had been required to undertake saliva testing.

NSW to allow longer gap between Pfizer jabs and shorter gap for AZ

Morrison gets into a little more nitty gritty now. He says that in NSW they will slightly tinker with the state-run vaccination centres to allow for a delay on second doses of Pfizer and a shorter gap between second doses of AstraZeneca. These measures are already backed by the Atagi advice, he says, but will allow more flexibility in dose allocation.

Morrison:

To that end, we discussed and will be confirming over the next 24 hours the ability for, in New South Wales, in their state vaccine centres, for them to do greater amounts of first doses by staying within the medical advice, the target advice, which says that second doses of Pfizer can be extended out to six weeks. So that is an existing regulation. It is an existing approval, it is an existing medical advice. To increase the dose of first doses that can be delivered, maximising greater supply we have available, then we are working to put that in place in New South Wales because of the situation that exists there.

Updated at 8.54am BST

7.49am BST

A little more detail about something I’m not sure many people are interested in.

Morrison:

A couple of quick points. The freight code, which was important to keep trucks moving across state and territory boundaries, we have tasked the transport ministers to go back to that code and the AHPPC, the medical expert panel, to make sure we have greater consistency in the testing regimes that are being used by those trucking companies and the drivers.

Updated at 7.51am BST

7.45am BST

Australia administers 200,000 vaccines in record day

It is another record day for vaccinations, Morrison says, with almost 200,000 doses delivered.

“We have turned that corner,” he says.

Updated at 8.40am BST

7.44am BST

Not much detail here, but Morrison is saying there were discussions about “further support” and about developing the “four step plan” for the country to come out of the pandemic.

Updated at 7.44am BST

7.42am BST

Morrison is again imploring those in greater Sydney to go the distance against the Delta variant.

This thing only gets beaten by suppressing it. Of course, vaccines can be at the back of those trying to achieve that outcome. That is what we had to do. Today at National Cabinet we had a rather lengthy and extensive discussion about the situation in New South Wales. I would thank New South Wales’s premier for her candour and sharing her plans and arrangements with her colleagues. It was a very good opportunity for people to provide the insights, support and feedback in particular what has happened in Sydney.

Updated at 7.46am BST

7.40am BST

Morrison is speaking in Canberra

Here is the prime minister, Scott Morrison, speaking from the Lodge.

7.39am BST

Reynolds says there has been about 600,000 claims from NSW for emergency support payments. Victorians were able to apply from today and she expected about 50,000 claims would be lodged, she said.

7.37am BST

Reynolds is asked about the low rates of full vaccination amongst the residents of disability facilities (34%) and workers (27%).

When I became minister I was concerned with the low levels of those NDIS participants, particularly those who are most vulnerable in residential disability care.

It was misunderstood about the complexities of vaccinating people with disability who have got very high care needs. So what we’ve done is at the end of May we implemented a new strategy and I’m pleased to say that strategy is working. So today we’ve now got over 50% of registered disability workers who have voluntarily received at least their first vaccination. We now have 75% of people with disability in residential aged care who have received at least their first vaccination. And we’re now nearing 60% of all of that in residential disability care ... So the numbers are increasing rapidly.

I can’t change the past but what I have been able to do is implement a new procedure which is clearly working. I would remind you that it is voluntary. There are thousands of ways people across the country with disability can get vaccinated.

Updated at 7.41am BST

7.33am BST

Linda Reynolds, the minister for the NDIS and government services, is speaking to the ABC. She says she supports the prime minister, Scott Morrison, in calling for Atagi to change its AstraZeneca advice:

Well, I agree with the call for it to be revised. Absolutely. And we had, we were expecting initially for 20 million doses [for people] to be vaccinated with the AZ. It’s now down to five, which has had a significant impact on our vaccination schedule. Which pleasingly is now up to what we had initially planned, a million doses a week plus. But to speed it up, AZ is an important part of that process. Even with additional vaccines coming online, so additional Pfizer and Moderna.

Updated at 7.38am BST

7.28am BST

Sydney University confirms a case at its dental school in Westmead. Thirteen staff and 130 students in isolation.

(1/5) #COVID19 update:

As daily COVID-19 case numbers remain high, the University has taken some important steps to protect the health and well-being of our community.

More info in the link. https://t.co/fZt0hkGBk5 pic.twitter.com/Oi9e6cXwTT
— University of Sydney (@Sydney_Uni) July 23, 2021

Updated at 7.31am BST

7.25am BST

While we wait for news out of national cabinet, we can bring you an update on the rift between China and Australia:

The federal trade minister, Dan Tehan, has suggested Australia is prepared to wear the economic cost of the dispute, if that’s what’s needed to protect Australia’s sovereignty and values.

Speaking to Bloomberg News in Washington, where he is meeting with US counterparts on the last leg of his travel to five countries, Tehan said:

If we have to pay an economic price for that, that’s something that we’re prepared to pay … In the end our values are so important to us and we think that they’re something that we have to protect above all else.

The comments come after a year in which China has rolled out a series of trade actions against a range of Australian export sectors, including tariffs on wine and barley that Australia is challenging through the World Trade Organization.

Tehan is expected to meet with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai during his time in Washington. Over the past two weeks he has also visited Singapore, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea in a bid to build stronger trade links amid ongoing tensions with China. His office said his two weeks of travel would be followed by two weeks of quarantine.

Updated at 7.30am BST

7.19am BST

Morrison to speak following national cabinet meeting

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, is due to address reporters in Canberra at 4.30pm.

7.18am BST

Dr Nick Coatsworth, the former deputy chief medical officer, has written a seething opinion piece for the Nine newspapers in which he completely rounds on “risk-adverse academics and medical commentators” who he says made comments that will cost lives:

The most egregious example of the influence of risk-averse academics and medical commentators on policy has been anti-AstraZenecism, which has afflicted our rollout. Anti-AstraZenecism was not academic freedom. It was academic dishonesty.

Those who denigrated the phase-three studies by the scientifically fallacious comparison of efficacy between Pfizer and AZ have been proven wrong by the excellent performance of the AZ vaccine in real life. Forget the changing advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, the real culprits were the “experts” who had no expertise at all in haematology and thrombosis overstating the blood-clotting risk in traditional and social media, and delivering messages that pushed AZ-eligible Australians to wait for Pfizer. This is a wait that will now cost lives in our community.

Coatsworth also wrote that:

The philosophy of the risk-averse experts is self-fulfilling. Complain long enough that a government hasn’t gone hard and fast enough, and eventually you will get it right, no matter how wrong you have been in the past.

Updated at 7.21am BST

7.01am BST

The Queensland deputy premier, Steven Miles, has rebuffed the New South Wales government’s suggestion to redirect some of its Pfizer doses to deal with the greater Sydney outbreak.

On ABC TV, Miles shared the dire assessment of the situation in Sydney:

I understand that’s why national cabinet is going so long - there’s a real focus on what’s happening in Sydney. I don’t think there’s any doubt that it is a national emergency. This is effectively Australia’s third wave. We had that first wave nationally, the second one in Melbourne, and now a third wave in Sydney. And so I think it’s in all of our interests to help New South Wales get on top of this outbreak and make sure that it doesn’t keep spreading into other states.

But Miles rejected calls to redirect Pfizer vaccines:

Look, the number of Pfizer vaccines that we have in Queensland is so meagre, I don’t think we could redirect those. The fact is we really only have enough vaccines to give people their second doses who have already had their first. And if we were to redirect those doses, well, they wouldn’t be available for people to get their second. And so I don’t think we would consider putting Queenslanders in that kind of situation, where the benefit of their vaccine is compromised by a delay in the second dose.

6.54am BST

Miles doesn’t take up an invitation to directly comment on whether NSW should have locked down more quickly. But he says that’s what Queensland does:

Oh look, plenty of people have judged the decisions we’ve made here. And so I know what that feels like, and I’m going to avoid doing that. We don’t have the intelligence and the knowledge of what’s going on, on the ground, like that state does. And that’s why it’s important that each state makes those decisions.

But what you’ve seen from our government is an approach to move faster with shorter lockdowns, and I think that’s proven particularly effective with these faster-moving strains. Because with a short lockdown, you can have some confidence that you’ve found all your cases and put them into quarantine as well as all of their contacts. That’s the approach that we’ve taken. And look, I don’t want to throw any rocks at New South Wales, for the benefit of the whole country we need them to get on top of this outbreak.

Updated at 6.58am BST

6.51am BST

Queensland’s acting premier Steven Miles is speaking to the ABC from Brisbane. He was not permitted to join national cabinet today, despite the absence of premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who is in Tokyo for the Olympics.

He agrees with the assessment of NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian that the Sydney outbreak constitutes a national emergency.

But he says the number of Pfizer vaccine doses in Queensland are “so meagre” that he could not support redistributing doses to any other state.

6.47am BST

Sure, it came out roughly 10 hours ago, but this was quite the headline:

The biggest newspaper in Melbourne, a city with the largest Greek population outside of Greece, and still they went with this headline https://t.co/UkzzmYK3Xa
— πατέρας raver (@mathaiaus) July 23, 2021

6.43am BST

On Friday Australia’s drugs regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, approved the Pfizer vaccine for children aged 12 to 15 years. This means the independent experts that advise the TGA have assessed enough of the international evidence, where children are already being vaccinated, to feel confident the vaccine is safe for this age group.

6.41am BST

Great work guv’na

Today the Governor received her second AstraZeneca vaccination and is grateful to the professional and hardworking staff at the Royal Exhibition Covid-19 Vaccination Centre. pic.twitter.com/hQMT9WqIyT
— Governor of Victoria (@VicGovernor) July 23, 2021

6.39am BST

NSW to delay HSC exams by a week

The New South Wales Higher School Certificate exams – the final exams for the state’s Year 12 students – will be delayed by a week due to the state’s ongoing Covid-19 outbreak.

The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) has just announced the news this afternoon, saying that they wanted to “give students additional time to prepare” and wanted to provide clarity to students and teachers.

The HSC exams are statewide standardised tests that determine a student’s Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (Atar).

NSW students have already reverted to remote learning since school returned this month, and many HSC trial exams and other internal assessments have also already been delayed.

All written exams will now begin one week later than planned, moving to 19 October, and the results will then be released on 17 December.

The due date for major projects has also been extended by two weeks, and drama performance exams have been rescheduled.

The NESA said this was “in recognition of the evolving Covid-19 situation and in line with health advice. Prof Peter Shergold from NESA said that students would still receive their marks and university offers this year.

“We know students want certainty about their exams,” he said. “We recognise that students and schools across the state are operating under a variety of different circumstances. We will outline a special illness and misadventure process and any other contingency arrangements needed to ensure equity and fairness for all students.”

Updated at 6.49am BST

6.35am BST

Following on from his earlier comments, Khorshid also said just now at his media conference in Perth that:

The AMA has heard with alarm the new figures from New South Wales today, showing that instead of the current lockdown settings causing Covid numbers to decrease towards zero, we’re in fact seeing them increase, meaning that six days in we are really worried that this lockdown is not going to work. I think we’ve seen that acknowledged today by the premier and the chief health officer of New South Wales, who have now started talking about a new strategy for managing this Delta outbreak in Sydney. And it’s quite possible that Australia’s lockdown strategy - that’s worked so well with all the previous outbreaks we’ve had - is simply not strong enough, not fast enough, to deal with Delta. And it’s possible a new approach, in particular for Sydney but possibly for the rest of the country, will be required.

Updated at 6.38am BST

6.18am BST

AMA says Atagi should change AstraZeneca advice

The president of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Omar Khorshid, says it is unlikely lockdown measures can contain the Delta outbreak in New South Wales and has urged the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Atagi) to recommend the AstraZeneca vaccine for more age groups.

Currently, the Atagi advice recommends the Pfizer vaccine, which is in short supply and high demand in Australia, “as the preferred vaccine for those aged 16 to under 60 years” due to the risk of rare but severe clotting known as TTS linked to AstraZeneca and more frequent in the under-60 age group.

Khorshid said that advice must be changed given the growing number of infections in NSW, with a concerning number of people still in the community, including in workplaces and supermarkets, while infectious. During her daily update on Friday, the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, said vaccination would now be key to containing the outbreak and getting out of lockdown.

“The problem is we don’t have supply,” Khorshid said. “In my view we need to revisit the recommendation for AstraZeneca around young Australians because, at the moment, that is the vaccine that is most available. But we can’t get that into arms more quickly if people are not willing to have it.

“And the problem has been they will not have it. So I think we need a revision of that Atagi advice and later today I will be calling on Atagi to change its advice, which at the moment asks individuals under 60 to make their own risk assessment about whether or not to have it, which really isn’t suitable for the NSW crisis in the middle of a pandemic.

“If Atagi agree with the AMA – and they are the experts – that the situation in NSW is not getting better but worse, and given vaccination is now the strategy to get NSW out of this lockdown, then we need more to access the AstraZeneca vaccine, given we do not have enough Pfizer.”

In July, Atagi issued advice on the use of Covid-19 vaccines in an outbreak setting in light of the Sydney outbreak. The advice states when there is an outbreak and the supply of Pfizer is limited, people under 60 without immediate access to Pfizer should “reassess the benefits to them and their contacts from being vaccinated with Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca, versus the rare risk of a serious side-effect”.

But Khorshid said the advice was not adequate because it still put too much onus on individuals to make their own risk assessment. He said people wanted clearer recommendations from the experts during a crisis, and given the negative publicity around AstraZeneca and rare clotting.

Read the full story here:

Updated at 6.37am BST

6.14am BST

Uber breached the Privacy Act in failing to protect the privacy data of an estimated 1.2m Australians following a hack of the company in late 2016.

In 2017 it was reported hackers had stolen 57m driver and rider accounts and held the data for $100,000 in ransom money, which Uber paid on the condition the data was destroyed.

The Australian information and privacy commissioner, Angelene Falk, found Uber breached the Privacy Act by not taking reasonable steps to protect Australians’ personal information from unauthorised access and to destroy or de-identify data as required.

The OAIC found Uber did not conduct a full assessment of the personal information that may have been accessed until almost a year after the breach, and did not disclose the breach until November 2017.

The commissioner said it was important to make a ruling to show that, while the data was held in the United States, the Privacy Act still applies to Australians’ personal information:

This determination makes my view of global corporations’ responsibilities under Australian privacy law clear.

Australians need assurance that they are protected by the Privacy Act when they provide personal information to a company, even if it is transferred overseas within the corporate group.

Uber has been ordered to develop privacy policies in compliance Australian privacy principles.

An Uber spokesperson said they welcomed the resolution of the incident and the company learns from its mistakes:

We have made a number of technical improvements to the security of our systems, including obtaining ISO 27001 certification of our core rides business information systems and updating internal security policies, as well as making significant changes in leadership, since this incident in 2016.

We are confident that these changes in security and governance will address the determination made by the OAIC, and will work with a third-party assessor to implement any further changes required.

Updated at 6.17am BST

6.06am BST

We have referenced it a few times in the coverage today, but here is a full story on the New Zealand government’s decision to shut the trans-Tasman travel bubble for eight weeks:

6.03am BST

Excellent news for those who are within five kilometres of this particular section of the Yarra River in locked down Melbourne: according to this post on a Richmond residents Facebook group, Salvatore the Seal is back!

5.56am BST

The closure of the trans-Tasman travel bubble for the next eight weeks has thrown doubts over the Wallabies’ upcoming Bledisloe Cup series with the All Blacks.

Rugby Australia said on Friday afternoon it had been forced to “evaluate its options” after quarantine-free travel between Australia and New Zealand was suspended due to the current Covid outbreak.

The first Bledisloe Test was due to be played at Auckland’s Eden Park on 7 August, the second in Perth on 21 August and the third in Wellington a week later. RA is now working with New Zealand Rugby and various governments on different scenarios in a bid to salvage the series.

“Rugby Australia’s position has always been to prioritise the health and safety of its players, staff and fans, and today’s announcement only reinforces that,” RA chief executive Andy Marinos said.

The Wallabies have been in a secure bubble since the conclusion of the recent series against France and regularly undertake Covid testing. The group has also so far adhered to strict biosecurity protocols put in place in line with health recommendations.

Meanwhile, the Australian men’s cricket team currently in the West Indies on a white-ball tour have been caught up in a Covid scare that threatens to put an early end to their stay in the Caribbean - and possibly even the upcoming tour of Bangladesh. More on that below:

Updated at 6.00am BST

5.48am BST

With that, I’ll pass you over to my colleague Nino Bucci.

5.34am BST

Advocacy groups and charities in Sydney say there has been a “tsunami” in demand across greater Sydney for food relief and basic goods and services.

Groups including the New South Wales Council of Social Service and Foodbank NSW and ACT believe the situation highlights the urgent need for greater financial assistance for vulnerable people in lockdown.

As we reported earlier today, while nearly half a million workers in NSW have qualified for the commonwealth’s Covid-19 disaster payment, there are 400,000 unemployed or part-time workers across greater Sydney who remain ineligible for the payment because they were already receiving some form of welfare.

The current eligibility for financial assistance in Sydney means anyone who was working part time and receiving jobseeker before the lockdown but has since lost that work is ineligible for the $600 per week disaster payment, and must instead rely on the $315 full rate of jobseeker with little prospect of gaining further work until the lockdown lifts.

The Australian Council of Social Service released a report today noting that almost half of those ineligible for the disaster payments are at risk of homelessness.

In a statement this afternoon, Ncoss, as well Foodbank NSW and ACT and Community First Step, said they are seeing rapidly rising demand for their services from families struggling with the economic and social impact of the current lockdown.

Ncoss chief executive Joanna Quilty said:

The federal government needs to step up to the plate and ensure that those on income support payments, many of whom have also lost work hours, have access to the more generous disaster payments, which would be a lifeline for households in desperate need.

Foodbank NSW and ACT chief executive John Robertson (who is also a former Labor state opposition leader) said:

We are seeing a tsunami of need from families and individuals throughout Sydney as the lockdown drags on ... Services will not be able to continue to meet this demand unless we see action from the federal government which lifts pressure off families who cannot put food on the table.

Updated at 5.39am BST

5.11am BST

The New South Wales Labor opposition is calling on the Berejiklian government to link greater financial support to the roadmap out of the current lockdown it has foreshadowed.

While the Labor opposition has pledged to support the tightened public health orders for parts of south-west Sydney, opposition leader Chris Minns, together with deputy opposition leader Prue Carr and opposition health spokesman Ryan Park, are also calling for greater financial support to match.

Specifically they want to see jobkeeper reinstated for NSW, following eligibility issues with the commonwealth’s disaster payments that have left hundreds of thousands in Sydney unable to access the payments.

In a statement, NSW Labor says:

Harder lockdowns must equal greater financial support. You simply cannot demand one, without delivering the other ... when the premier outlines the roadmap, we need to see the federal-state government economic support package that allows us to stay at home and maintains businesses and livelihoods.

We know that western and south-western Sydney aren’t ‘work from home’ communities. They’re abiding by the health regulations but they also need to leave home to put bread on the table as frontline workers, or in retail or other vital logistics and supply chains.

We simply can’t have businesses and workers hit the wall because they are doing the right thing and abiding by the NSW health advice.

That is why NSW needs jobkeeper. It saw us through tough lockdowns last time and it’ll see us through this one again.

Now is a time for political leaders to be positive, to support their communities, to clearly communicate the health orders, and to ensure the right health and economic support is in place.

Updated at 5.19am BST

5.01am BST

And with that, I return the blog to my esteemed colleague Elias Visontay. Thanks for reading.

4.55am BST

The Canberra Times is reporting that chief medical officer Paul Kelly has written a letter to the prime minister, warning him of potential spread of Covid-19 in Parliament House if Sydney-based politicians are allowed to return to Canberra.

Kelly warned the PM the situation in Sydney was “not improving” and that there was a risk the outbreak could spread to the capital:

“The travel of members and senators who reside in Sydney to the ACT presents a significant risk to ACT residents, particularly those who work in the Australian Parliament House,” he wrote.

“A transmission event within APH also has the potential to impact the function of government due to quarantine and isolation requirements, as well as the broader public health restrictions required by ACT Health.”

Kelly called on the PM to introduce “significant additional mitigations” to avoid any potential seeding in parliament house.

Updated at 5.22am BST

4.34am BST

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (Ranzcog) has released a statement, welcoming the government’s move to allow pregnant women to take the Pfizer vaccine.

Ranzcog president Dr Vijay Roach said pregnant women were an important and vulnerable group that needed access to the vaccine:

We recognise that these decisions are complex, which is why we have worked closely with the government, and we are pleased that they have responded to the medical advice.

Pregnant women should be considered a vulnerable group. We don’t want to see any pregnant woman severely ill, or in the ICU, as a result of this disease.

While vaccination doesn’t eliminate the risk, it reduces it considerably and we are confident in our advice that the Pfizer vaccination is safe for pregnant women and their babies.

Updated at 4.37am BST

4.21am BST

And here is the video of Victorian premier Daniel Andrews calling for a “ring of steel” around Sydney:

4.12am BST

The federal health department has released a highly redacted report on the operational effectiveness of the Covidsafe contact tracing app, censoring all information about how effective the app has actually been.

Using freedom of information law, the Canberra Times was able to get a copy of an independent report the government has been sitting on since the end of March about how well the federal government’s $7m app had worked.

The report prepared by Abt Associates and delivered to the government on 31 March details the establishment of the app, and the justifications as to why the app was decided to be the best way to contact trace:

Based on the parameters of knowledge and capabilities at the time of app launch, it is believed that the Covidsafe app was the correct tool to employ.

But the health department has largely redacted almost all of the discussion about how effective it has been in practice.

The heavily redacted report I received this week (after months of being pushed back by the FOI team, I might add) provides none of its findings on the effectiveness. pic.twitter.com/IioaH4lQAq
— sarah basford canales (@sbasfordcanales) July 21, 2021

So far the app has only identified 17 close contacts not found through manual contact tracing, and over 500 more found due to an additional date at a NSW exposure site being identified.

The report repeats the government’s justifications for why the app was less useful during Victoria’s second lockdown – that people were not interacting with strangers during lockdown, so it was less useful.

The report was supposed to be tabled in parliament within 15 sitting days of it being handed to government under the legislation for the Covidsafe app. The government has breached this requirement.

Taxpayers paid over $200,000 for the report to be prepared.

Guardian Australia filed a similar FOI request in May, but it was refused by the health department, and is now being reviewed.

Updated at 4.19am BST

3.59am BST

Frewen says vaccine 'not best way to deal with an immediate outbreak'

Lieutenant general John Frewen, who is in charge of the national rollout, has poured cold water on the New South Wales government’s push for extra Pfizer vaccine doses for south-west Sydney.

Frewen told the Covid committee that vaccination is just “one part” of the Covid outbreak response, along with lockdown, testing, tracing, social distancing and masking.

Vaccination underpins national resilience to Covid, but it is not the best way to deal with an immediate outbreak like this. Our response is to go to the most vulnerable communities – we’ve done that, with roving clinics to the aged care sector. We are working on encouraging all those over 70 to get dosages done with AstraZeneca. We’ve spoken to some other high priority cohorts, but throwing vaccine at one geographic area does not give an immediate solution.

Frewen reiterated that vaccines are given to states and territories on a “per capita basis” – and any reallocation of Pfizer “will require the concurrence of other jurisdictions”.

I am not aware of NSW making a case as to why other jurisdictions should prioritise their Pfizer to NSW.

Only South Australia has made a formal request for more Pfizer. Asked about Berejiklian’s public appeal at her press conference, Frewen replied that he doesn’t take requests made through the media.

There is no reserve of Pfizer to give New South Wales without taking it from other states’ allocation – but they can have more AstraZeneca, he said.

Updated at 5.24am BST

3.56am BST

Key events from the Victorian Covid update

The hour-long Victorian Covid-19 update attended by premier Dan Andrews, chief health officer Brett Sutton and Covid-19 commander Jeroen Weimar has finished.

Here’s some final key points:

Andrews on his call for Sydney to be surrounded by a ring of steel if its outbreak is declared a national emergency: “Sydney is on fire with this virus, and we need a ring of steel around Sydney”
Andrews makes an interesting comment relating to schools: he says that even if teachers were prioritised in the vaccine rollout, children would still be unvaccinated, and they have been a key factor in outbreaks of the Delta variant
Weimar says he believed that none of the seven people in hospital in Victoria had been vaccinated, but he wants to confirm that
Weimar says there were two cases of people packed together at the gates at AAMI Park who contracted Covid-19. He confirms some of the people in the crowd weren’t wearing masks while entering the venue: “There was a range of behaviours.”
There are now 958 people listed as visiting Prahran Market at the same time as a positive case. Sutton says the market is “the main unknown” as the state hopes to come out of lockdown on Tuesday
Sutton says, when asked about Andrews’ call for a Sydney ring of steel, that he supports the “fullest limitation of movement”.

Updated at 4.10am BST

3.54am BST

Legendary comedian and TV and film producer John Cornell has died in Byron Bay aged 80.

Best known as Paul Hogan’s larrikin offsider Strop on the Paul Hogan Show which ran for 16 years on Channel Nine, Cornell was a prolific creator and businessman.

#BREAKING: Kalgoorlie-born Australian comedian John Cornell — best known as Paul Hogan’s sidekick Strop — has died at the age of 80. https://t.co/qUxH4nUM0i #wanews #perthnews pic.twitter.com/bFjKXbDvT0
— The West Australian (@westaustralian) July 23, 2021

He co-produced the movie Crocodile Dundee which remains the highest grossing film of all time in Australia, as well as being the force behind World Series Cricket in the 1970s with the late Nine mogul Kerry Packer.

Cornell began his career as a journalist and was the founding producer of Nine’s A Current Affair before moving into comedy when he met Hogan.

A private man, Cornell moved to Byron Bay with his wife, actress Delvene Delaney, and three daughters in the 1980s and bought two landmark hotels in the area.

“After being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2001, John concentrated his efforts on philanthropy, supporting his community and worthy environmental, sporting and medical causes,” the Cornell family said in a statement.

“A classic Australian character, John Cornell made the lives he touched much richer, not only through donations, but also through his generosity of spirit, humour, humility and honour. A true egalitarian, John sought equity and equality, and fought for a fair go.”

Updated at 4.04am BST

3.41am BST

Good afternoon, and before I begin, a quick thanks to Elias Visontay and Michael McGowan for their work this morning.

I will be taking you through this afternoon’s news (all the while with Kanye West’s new album listening party going in the background), so let’s dive in.

3.37am BST

I will hand over to my colleague Mostafa Rachwani now.

3.31am BST

Some fresh data on NSW’s Covid outbreak courtesy of my colleague Nick Evershed and our team of data journalists:

Updated at 3.36am BST

3.27am BST

Victoria Covid update

Premier Daniel Andrews is nuancing his earlier comment about not opposing vaccine doses from being allocated to New South Wales.

We need to be very careful when having a discussion about who we prioritise. The fact of the matter is, we don’t have enough vaccine for everyone and the virus will go to the unvaccinated. This is how it works.

Updated at 3.29am BST

3.19am BST

Victoria Covid update

Andrews is elaborating on his ring of steel comments from earlier.

He says he has not spoken to NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian about this but he expects a “pretty frank” discussion between everyone at national cabinet later today.

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews speaks to the media in Melbourne, Friday, 23 July 2021. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

Andrews suggests that Victoria could provide more support to NSW if cases did not continue to leak from Sydney across the border.

Getting the job done is the most important thing ... We would use police, authorised officers, and if you could get support from the ADF, whether that was for logistics or things of that nature, or whether it was boots on the ground, you know, all of those conversations need to be had.

If Sydney has been declared a national emergency, then my message is very clear, on behalf of all Victorians I am saying, there is a national responsibility to put a ring of steel around Sydney just as we did last year, because that will help stop the spread of the virus across the whole nation.

I want to be able to deal with our outbreak, have it settled, and then have thousands of contact tracers on the phone helping out Sydney. I can’t do that when we have cases to chase ... We need to be on hyper alert because even with the strictest border closure ever put in place, we still have people moving around New South Wales and potentially spreading the virus.

We need to contain this so we don’t have a national emergency in every part of our nation.

Andrews adds that he is not opposed to NSW receiving a greater allocation of vaccine doses.

Updated at 3.44am BST

3.11am BST

Victoria Covid update

Victoria’s Covid-19 commander Jeroen Weimar is running through details of the 14 cases recorded in the state on Friday:

Four are associated with the AAMI Park cluster.
Two are associated with Ms Frankies.
Two are associated with Trinity Grammar.
Single cases from: St Patricks, Bacchus Marsh Grammar, Phillip Island, City of Hume, Westgate tunnel, Young and Jackson’s.

Weimar says there are about 3,500 Day 13 tests due over the weekend relating to people who were at a Tier 1 site at the MCG and have been in isolation. People can refuse a Day 1 test in isolation but must have a Day 13 test to be released.

Victorian Covid-19 commander Jeroen Weimar speaks to the media in Melbourne, Friday, 23 July 2021. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

Updated at 3.50am BST

3.09am BST

Senate Covid committee update

Labor’s Kristina Keneally is asking federal officials about whether the New South Wales outbreak is a “national emergency”, as the NSW government is now describing it.

Both health department secretary, Brendan Murphy, and chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, described it as a “very serious situation” – but neither repeated the language of national emergency.

Kelly said:

It is a very serious situation particularly in south-west Sydney but not only south-west Sydney. It is a very diverse community, many are essential workers people who work in construction, aged care. The things we had been doing previously before Delta are proving to be not as effective as has been in the past. We are not alone in this experience. Delta spread to well over 100 countries, and every country that has it is experiencing the same thing. NSW Health is working extremely hard, but it is an enormous challenge. Even with lockdowns – and they are very strict – it is proving difficult to bring under control.

Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly and health department secretary Brendan Murphy at the parliamentary inquiry in Canberra, Friday, 23 July 2021. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Kelly confirms the NSW government has asked the federal government for extra vaccines for essential workers, and this has been conveyed to John Frewen, who is in charge of the vaccination rollout.

Frewen said the federal government is “looking at how we can support them” and is working on “a number of priority areas” including aged care and over 70s.

Frewen said although there is a particular problem in south-west Sydney, the virus can spill out from there to other places – so he wants to “continue at speed across the nation” and must “manage the national vaccination rollout”.

It sounds like some extra help for south west Sydney is possible – but not a wholesale re-diversion of vaccines pledged to other states.

Kelly notes there are lockdowns in Victoria and South Australia that have been “seeded from this outbreak” and delivering extra vaccines to New South Wales has an “opportunity cost” in other places.

Updated at 3.47am BST

3.07am BST

Senate Covid committee update

Labor’s Katy Gallagher has been grilling John Frewen and Brendan Murphy about why Australia didn’t have more Pfizer when the blood clot warning was applied to AstraZeneca.

Murphy said Australia had “plenty of AstraZeneca” for full population coverage before the program was hit by the “unfortunate thrombotic syndrome” and Atagi advice that limited availability to over 60s – an oversimplification of the advice, as I wrote about earlier.

Covid-19 taskforce commander, Lieutenant General John Frewen and secretary of the department of health Brendan Murphy at Parliament House in Canberra, Friday, 23 July 2021. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Asked if there was insufficient redundancy, Murphy said Novavax had been ordered and was meant to come in the second quarter but is now coming in the third due to production delays; and Moderna is coming in the third quarter.

He said:

We had a diverse supply with a strong focus on domestically produced AstraZeneca. We have full population coverage of Pfizer, we increased Pfizer orders when those events occurred.

Murphy explained that Australia ordered 10m Pfizer to begin with because “we had double population coverage” for both the University of Queensland and AstraZeneca vaccine – before UQ was discontinued because of false HIV positives and the AstraZeneca clotting issue. Since those occurred “we increased our Pfizer order”, he said.

So were the decisions correct? Murphy said:

At the time, the decisions were made by expert panel – and were appropriate for the circumstances at the time. When we made a strategic investment in Pfizer, none of the vaccines had done phase three clinical trials; and no mRNA had been approved in humans.

The Australian government preferred protein based UQ and adenovirus based AstraZeneca, but made a “strategic investment” in Pfizer.

Updated at 3.51am BST

3.02am BST

Victoria Covid update

Andrews says he agrees with his NSW counterpart Gladys Berejiklian that the Sydney outbreak is a national emergency. But he says that means there should be a ring of steel surrounding Sydney so that cases don’t spread around Australia:

The premier of New South Wales has used the term that there is a national emergency going on up in Sydney at the moment. I don’t disagree with that.

They have a very significant challenge. Many, many cases and many of those cases out and about for the entirety of their infectious period. Then another number of people who are out and about for at least some of their infectious period. That trend is not what you want to see. Any help we can provide of course we stand ready to do that.

That can be practical support or it can be some of the learnings, some of the practical experience that we tragically have as Victorians given what we went through last year. I want to just make this point: if there is a national emergency – and I’m not doubting that for a moment in Sydney – then it is a national responsibility that Sydneysiders are locked into Sydney. We need a ring of steel around Sydney so that this virus is not spreading into other parts of our nation.

Andrews said he would call for the ring of steel at the national cabinet meeting later today.

Updated at 3.26am BST

3.00am BST

South Australia update

SA premier Steven Marshall is also giving a press conference.

The state reported one new case earlier this morning.

Asked whether the state would come out of lockdown as planned after seven days, Marshall said “all the early signs were good”.

Updated at 3.01am BST

2.59am BST

Victorian Covid update

The Victorian premier Dan Andrews is giving a Covid-19 update in Melbourne.

He says at least 10 of the 14 new cases recorded in Victoria were in isolation for the entirety of their infectious period. It is believed those who weren’t in isolation were only in the community for about 24 hours. It is possible one of these people was also in isolation (so it could be 11/14).

Updated at 3.03am BST

2.58am BST

NSW Brad Hazzard is asked about people over 60 who are not yet booking their vaccines because they are waiting for Pfizer to be available for their age group.

He pleads with them to go and get the AstraZeneca vaccine, saying it is about “survival”.

He said:

There is oceans of AstraZeneca in New South Wales. There is also vast amounts of virus in south-west and western Sydney. All we’re saying here at the moment is your obligation to yourself, to the community, to New South Wales and to Australia, because this could leak further into other states, is to go and get the jabs of AstraZeneca.

The NSW Covid press conference has now ended.

Updated at 3.00am BST

2.53am BST

Back to the NSW Covid press conference.

Chief health officer Kerry Chant says the state may push out the interval between doses of Pfizer to six weeks, as the state moves to a strategy of maximising first doses of the vaccine available for south western Sydney. She says this could include cancelling Pfizer bookings for second doses in coming weeks.

Chant said:

It may be that we have to make hard choices, I mean this is a very hard situation. And we may have to make decisions to delay the the Pfizer interval to six weeks, you can have it out to six weeks to actually bring forward doses [for others].

We might have to accept that any vaccines that I held off for a second dose administration that you might have kept because you know you’ve delivered the first, that we actually trust the supply chains because we’ve got that magnitude of a couple of weeks to bring them forward. So at this point, there is an urgency to get as many jabs as possible.

Can I just express the fact that some of those changes will impact on individuals, it may be that we need to cancel your bookings, but we have to make these hard choices. If we are going to see these numbers stabilise first and then decline.

Updated at 3.08am BST

2.46am BST

New Zealand shuts travel bubble with Australia

New Zealand is shutting down the quarantine-free travel bubble with Australia for two months, as the country grapples with a number of serious outbreaks of Covid-19.

New Zealand had already paused travel with New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. The new pause applies to all of Australia for the next 8 weeks.

At a press briefing on Friday, prime minister Jacinda Ardern said because of the Delta variant there was “greater risk now … than when we opened the travel bubble”.

Covid has changed and so must we.

Ardern said that she “want[s] to acknowledge the impact it is having very directly on people’s lives. Covid-19 is devastating”.

Ardern said the government “remains committed” to the travel bubble and hoped it would reopen at some stage.

The New Zealand government held an urgent cabinet meeting on Thursday to discuss the decision. On Friday, New South Wales had reported a record-breaking 136 new infections and on Thursday premier Gladys Berejikilian warned that Covid case numbers will continue to rise in Sydney.

A release from the PM’s office said:

For the next seven days there will be managed return flights for New Zealanders from all states and territories that will require proof of a negative pre-departure test. Additionally, those who have been in NSW will still have to go into MIQ for 14 days. And those who have been in Victoria must self-isolate upon return and have a negative Day 3 test.

New Zealand has not had a community acquired case of Covid-19 since February. As of this week, 15% of New Zealand’s 16+ population was fully vaccinated, and 22% had had a first dose.

Updated at 2.53am BST

2.45am BST

Guardian Australia’s Anne Davies asked Gladys Berejiklian if NSW’s plea for more Pfizer doses will be a direct request to other states to give up their allocations of Pfizer for south-west Sydney.

Berejiklian:

I think those conversations we need to have a national cabinet, we need to list have a strategy national cabinet that does think about the options for getting more jabs in arms in Sydney, especially those five local government areas, and that is why we are raising the issue.

Berejiklian notes NSW has done the “heavy lifting” over the 18 months – presumably in hotel quarantine intake – and that NSW’s situation now “is not just a challenge for New South Wales but a challenge for the nation”.

She is asked if she warned the prime minister before today’s press conference about her plea. She says:

I do not have the capacity to address anything beyond the boundary of New South Wales. It is not my job to comment on anything beyond what is my responsibility as the premier of the largest state of the nation.

Updated at 2.49am BST

2.40am BST

Even though people over 40 are eligible for the Pfizer vaccine that Atagi says is the preference for their age group, NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian is pleading for anyone over 40 to get the AstraZeneca vaccine as it is more readily available.

Berejiklian has said the extra Pfizer doses she is calling for from the federal government will need to be targeted for younger people in south-west Sydney.

There’s millions of people who are over 40 in New South Wales, can I make that clear there’s lots of AstraZeneca available if you’re over 40.

There is no reason today, why you shouldn’t be getting the AstraZeneca.

Whilst we’re focusing on those five local government areas, please be clear, as we’ve said that you should be considering getting the AstraZeneca, anywhere. Anywhere you live in New South Wales.

Updated at 2.43am BST

2.34am BST

Kerry Chant is at pains to encourage people in her state to take AstraZeneca vaccines.

She says at the NSW state hubs “many bookings for AstraZeneca go wanting”, and encourages people to book.

This follows comments from health minister Brad Hazzard yesterday that at the Sydney Olympic Park vaccination hub on Wednesday, 9,000 Pfizer doses were administered compared with just 50 AstraZeneca doses.

2.29am BST

Chief health officer Kerry Chant is asked when she wants to see extra Pfizer doses for the state.

She says “I want to see them today”.

My sense of urgency is absolute urgency so I think we need to be seeing vaccines in arms on Saturday, Sunday, Monday.

Regarding AstraZeneca, Chant says “we need to correct the mythology about AstraZeneca”.

In the context of the Delta threat, I just cannot understand why people would not be taking the opportunity to go out and get AstraZeneca in droves.

Chant notes she has taken AstraZeneca, and has recommended it to her husband and her mother-in-law.

I just want to say that the chief health officer would not recommend AstraZeneca to someone that they care about if they had concerns that the risks of AstraZeneca are infinitesimally small compared to the benefits.

Updated at 2.33am BST

2.26am BST

While the state wants Pfizer doses directed specifically to south-west Sydney, Kerry Chant pleads with anyone across New South Wales, regardless of where they live, to make a booking for AstraZeneca.

Chant said there are two reasons for the state’s new vaccine plea – to prevent against illness, but also because a first dose will help reduce transmission to some degree.

Health minister Brad Hazzard reiterates what Chant said earlier, that the state’s Covid outbreak is a “national emergency”.

He said “in a national emergency every citizen has a duty to do what they can to defeat, whatever is happening to us in this case, it is a Delta variant of the virus”.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian follows this up, noting the large number of younger people in south-west Sydney:

What is the bottom line, we need a refocus of additional doses to make sure as many people in the community with at least the first dose as possible because even with the first dose, it reduces your chances of spreading it to as many people as we are seeing it occur now. That is our priority – first jabs.

Updated at 2.29am BST

2.16am BST

NSW CHO wants Pfizer for essential workers under 40 in south-west Sydney

NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant is back after a few days, and she is speaking to the tighter restrictions she has recommended.

Chant said:

I have advised the government today that this is a national emergency and requires additional measures to reduce the case numbers. What we are seeing is that the actions we have taken to date have averted many cases.

But what we are not seeing is the turnaround that we would have liked to see at this stage. And I’m concerned that we need to put in place urgent additional measures, what I’m recommending strongly is that our vaccination efforts are refocused on those affected LGAs. Every day, people from those LGAs have to go out to work to keep our city going.

About essential workers in these areas, Chant said:

We also know that, as I indicated that the group of workers that keep the society going is this group of workers in the 20 to 49 year old age group in south-western Sydney. Under 40s would not have been routinely eligible for vaccination, in terms of Pfizer. And what I’ve recommended to government is we urgently do mass vaccination of those workers to stem the transmission risk. We know the vaccines do that because they reduce the risk. If you’re vaccinated, even one dose, it reduces your risk of onward transmission.

Updated at 2.19am BST

2.11am BST

NSW Health records new Covid death

Gladys Berejiklian has announced a new Covid death in her state, a 89-year-old male.

Details of the death are brief as the death is recent (it happened after 8pm last night) and authorities want to make sure family members have been notified.

Berejiklian said:

I also want to say that tragically, as we see more cases, develop, we will also see more hospitalisations and more people in intensive care and regrettably, we did have an additional death overnight, which I’ve only just learned about.

I just want to foreshadow that unfortunately, we’re going to see more of this as the case numbers increase.

Updated at 2.15am BST

2.08am BST

NSW to plead with national cabinet for more Pfizer

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has called for a refocus of the national vaccination strategy, specifically for more Pfizer doses for Sydney.

What we have done as a government is refocus our efforts in distributing vaccines in south-west Sydney, we have a micro plan for how we will get not only more doses of AstraZeneca in arms, but we also have to acknowledge that that is a very young population in those communities, and we need at least more first doses of Pfizer.

We will be taking to national cabinet through the advice of the chief health officer strongly advising a recommendation that consideration be given to at least having more people having at least one dose of the vaccine which reduces transmission.

Updated at 2.12am BST

2.05am BST

Restrictions tightened in south-west Sydney

Berejiklian said the crisis cabinet met this morning to tighten restrictions in south-western Sydney.

She said:

Dr Chant and her team advised us that the situation that exists now in New South Wales, namely around south-western and now Western Sydney suburbs, is regarded as a national emergency. For that purpose and for that reason the New South Wales government will be taking action in relation to that.

First and foremost, the local government areas of both Cumberland and Blacktown local government areas, will also be subject to workers are not being allowed to leave those communities unless the health and emergency workers were on the authorised list of workers.

The list for what is critical, already exists, so we ask people to look at that list to make sure they do not leave the local government area which is defined by the suburbs in which they live unless they work in health, aged care, or are on that authorised list which already exists.

Updated at 2.07am BST

2.02am BST

NSW records 136 new cases

There are 136 new locally acquired cases in New South Wales.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said 53 of those cases were infectious in the community.

There is no doubt that the numbers are not going in the direction we were hoping they would at this stage. It is fairly apparent that we will not be close to zero next Friday.

Updated at 2.04am BST

1.59am BST

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian is about to front a press conference to provide today’s Covid numbers.

She has already warned that cases today are likely to be higher than they were yesterday, when 124 new cases were announced.

1.51am BST

One quarter of aged and disability care workers fully vaccinated

Lieutenant General, John Frewen, is appearing before the Covid committee, explaining that since he came on board in week 16 of the vaccine rollout, Australia has gone from 5.2m vaccine doses administered to 10.6m in week 22.

Frewen revealed he will release the national vaccination plan after national cabinet today – including three main themes: “coordination and efficiency”, “public confidence and getting people motivated”, and ensuring the rollout is “safe and efficient”.

Labor’s Katy Gallagher is querying why it has taken this long to develop a plan. Frewen agreed that these are three areas where we “can make enhancements”, but stops short of calling the previous plan deficient.

Frewen gave an update on vaccination rates in aged and disability care:

Aged care residents: 86.3% have received their first dose and 82.3% are fully vaccinated.
Aged care workers: 47.2% have had a first dose and 27.8% are fully vaccinated.
Disability residents: 57.7% have had a first dose, and 34.7% are fully vaccinated.
Disability workers: 50.9% have had a first dose and 27.3% are fully vaccinated.

The health department secretary, Brendan Murphy, is explaining that the federal health department (not national cabinet) had decided to jab residents first before staff – despite both being in category 1A – because of international experience about staff absences after vaccination.

Updated at 2.00am BST

1.49am BST

We don’t yet have today’s official numbers for Sydney, but there’s talk of bad numbers today on Twitter.

We are in for a shocker today.
— Chris O'Keefe (@cokeefe9) July 23, 2021

1.46am BST

Half of people barred from Covid disaster payment at risk of homelessness, says Acoss

Nearly half a million workers in NSW have applied for and been granted the Covid-19 disaster payment, however an additional 400,000 unemployed or part-time workers across greater Sydney remain ineligible for the payment because they were already receiving some form of welfare.

Almost half of those barred from the disaster payment are now at risk of homelessness, according to the Australian Council of Social Services. Acoss has renewed calls to either expand the eligibility to anyone under lockdown, or at least raise all existing Centrelink payments to $600 so no one who has lost work is worse off.

In a report released on Friday, Acoss notes data from its survey of 88 people living in greater Sydney who are unable to access the disaster payments that found every respondent was now struggling with living costs under the lockdown.

The lockdown had forced 53% of respondents out of paid work who now had to rely on the base rate of jobseeker $315 with little prospect of gaining further work until the lockdown lifts. Meanwhile, 49% of respondents said they were at risk of homelessness as a result of lost work and inability to access the disaster payments.

Jade, a university student who lives in Sydney, worked in hospitality and received youth allowance payments before the lockdown. She now receives $320 dollars per week, $280 of which she spends on rent.

“This barely covers the cost of groceries. On top of that I have medical bills, phone bills, utility bills, car payments and so on…This is simply impossible,” Jade said.

Others surveyed who have been barred from the disaster payments reported being unable to afford new glasses.

“I can’t afford healthy food. I can’t afford a new winter coat or new warm winter pyjamas. I can’t afford to run my heater every evening. I wear a jumper to bed and I have three extra blankets on my bed so that I’m warm when I sleep,” Aeryn, a Sydney resident, said.

Cassandra Goldie, Acoss chief executive, said eligibility for the disaster payments was presenting “a public health issue” because “people can’t stay home in lockdown if they lose their home because they cannot afford to keep it”.

Goldie also wants to see Commonwealth rent assistance increase, and the reintroduction of targeted jobkeeper-style payments for industries particularly affected by lockdowns.

Updated at 1.53am BST

1.34am BST

We have a few more details about the purpose-built quarantine facility set for Melbourne.

The federal government has awarded the contract to build the Centre for National Resilience at Mickleham.

Construction will begin from early August and there is a target of having the first 500 beds (of what will ultimately be a 1,000-bed capacity) opening by the end of the year.

Australia’s international arrival caps remain at about 3,000 per week.

Contract awarded to deliver Centre for National Resilience at Mickleham @Birmo #auspol pic.twitter.com/SaC7esMLYH
— Political Alert (@political_alert) July 22, 2021

Updated at 1.39am BST

1.31am BST

There are still a few Covid press conferences to get through this morning.

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian will provide a Covid update at 11am.

We’re also expecting South Australian authorities to provide a Covid update at 11:30am (11am local time in SA).

There will also be a Victorian Covid update at some point.

Don’t want to miss out on any of this morning’s news? Well stay tuned, you’re on the right blog.

1.24am BST

Comments from NSW opposition leader Chris Minns follow reports that some government figures want to see a change in restrictions in coming weeks to geographically target suburbs with higher case numbers and loosen restrictions elsewhere in Sydney.

🚨NSW Opposition Leader @MinnsChris gives qualified support for a harder lockdown of 3 LGAs in South Western Sydney, and relaxing rules elsewhere.

Minns says he’d have to see the data and it’d have to be clearly communicated.
— Laura Jayes (@ljayes) July 23, 2021

1.18am BST

Qantas have released a statement about the positive case of a crew member who flew on six intra-Queensland flights last week.

The airline says the crew member has not worked since 11-12 July, more than ten days ago, and did not develop symptoms until 13 July. Qantas says there have been no other reports of positive Covid cases from the flights the crew member was on.

At the Queensland government’s Covid press conference earlier this morning, authorities said the woman’s virus sequence has been linked to the New South Wales outbreak.

In its statement, Qantas also points out that crew members and passengers are required to wear masks on flights.

The statement said:

The crew member is currently in self-isolation and we are providing them our full support as they focus on their recovery. Investigations by Queensland Health and Qantas Medical are underway to determine how the crew member contracted the virus.

The crew member operated the following flights on a 74-seat Dash 8 Q400 aircraft:

Sunday 11 July

QF2534 Brisbane to Longreach
QF2535 Longreach to Brisbane
QF2346 Brisbane to Gladstone

Monday 12 July

QF2331 Gladstone to Brisbane
QF2374 Brisbane to Hervey Bay
QF2375 Hervey Bay to Brisbane

The cabin crew member did not leave the airport in Longreach or Hervey Bay.

Qantas has sent the flight passenger lists to Queensland Health, and is working with it to contact customers.

The airline has previously called for domestic flight crew to receive Covid vaccine priority.

Updated at 1.24am BST

1.08am BST

Queensland deputy prime minister Steven Miles says he believes premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will attend the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics tonight.

Miles also said the premier told him she was not offended, after Australian Olympic Committee boss John Coates publicly ordered her to attend the ceremony after previously saying she wouldn’t.

Miles said “we saw how important the IOC considers her attendance”, and that Coates’ comments at a press conference yesterday were only “a snippet” of an ongoing dialogue.

“I think we can all move on,” Miles said.

Queensland’s Covid press conference then ends.

Updated at 1.15am BST

12.59am BST

Queensland health minister Yvette D’Ath says Queensland has only vaccinated about one in four of its eligible population.

She said her state ultimately needs to administer 8.5 million doses.

She takes a swipe at the federal government over vaccine supply, saying “it doesn’t matter how many people we prioritise, we still don’t have the vaccine yet”.

In good news though, D’Ath says there has been over 70% vaccine take up among communities in the Torres Strait.

12.53am BST

I’m going to hand you over to my colleague Elias Visontay. Thanks for reading along this morning.

Updated at 12.53am BST

12.51am BST

On the positive case, Young says the woman began displaying symptoms on 13 July but did not get tested until the 21st.

She says the flights she worked on were “those smaller planes that so regional routes”. She said the woman does travel to regional parts of NSW.

Young says the state found out about the case yesterday afternoon but has not yet been able to contract trace all of the passengers on those flights.

Updated at 12.52am BST

12.48am BST

The Queensland deputy premier Steven Miles has addressed that positive result from sewage testing in the Byron Bay area in NSW. The Byron area is part of the border zone with Queensland. Miles said the state was monitoring the situation:

This has just recently come to hand. New South Wales is not yet aware of any cases in Byron Bay but clearly, given the fact that Byron is within the border zone that we announced yesterday and implemented overnight, we will be monitoring that closely.

It underlines how critical it is that people in that border zone only travel for those essential reasons that were outlined. What is at stake is the border zone itself.

Updated at 12.49am BST

12.45am BST

Young says Queensland Health is still working with the woman to determine whether there are any venues of concern, but has asked the communities of Gladstone, Longreach, Hervey Bay and obviously Brisbane to be on alert for any symptoms to get tested.

Updated at 12.47am BST

12.42am BST

Queensland flight attendant tests positive to Delta variant linked to NSW outbreak

Queensland deputy premier Steven Miles and the chief medical Dr Jeanette Young are giving an update now.

The state has recorded one new community case, a woman in her 30s who works as a flight attendant for regional Qantas routes and lives in Banyo in Brisbane.

The woman crewed six flights on the 11th and 12th of July while she is believed to have been infectious.

The flights are:

11th July:

Brisbane to Longreach flight 2534
Longreach to Brisbane flight 2535
Brisbane to Gladstone flight 2346

She stayed overnight at the Mercure Hotel in Gladstone. Then, on 12 July, worked on these flights:

Gladstone to Brisbane flight 2331
Brisbane to Hervey Bay flight 2374
Hervey Bay to Brisbane 2375

Young says the woman’s genome sequence is linked directly backed to “the NSW cluster”. The woman “does travel down to NSW” and Queensland Health are working to determine where she acquired the case.

Updated at 12.47am BST

12.35am BST

The federal court has rejected a bid by One Nation adviser, James Ashby, to get the commonwealth to waive a debt and pay his costs incurred in his (discontinued) litigation against former speaker, Peter Slipper.

Ashby had argued that the failure to waive his debt constituted “adverse action” – a breach of the Fair Work Act. On Friday, Justice Robert Bromwich, summarily dismissed the claim.

Ashby had sought a total of $4.5m from the commonwealth, $3,667,840 for his own costs and $783,000 to cover legal costs incurred by his solicitor, Michael Harmer.

Exactly what the financial impact on Ashby will be is unclear. As recently as June 2020, the commonwealth was still pursuing Ashby for $87,696 in legal costs. Bromwich also left it open for the commonwealth to pursue costs in the current case.

Updated at 1.12am BST

12.33am BST

Gladys Berejiklian will hold a press conference at 11am.

12.14am BST

Victoria’s class of 2021 will get special consideration for their final VCE scores thanks to another year of virus lockdowns.

Year 12 students across Victoria have had to study remotely for the second year in a row and important assessments have been put off.

Under normal circumstances, students have to apply for special consideration individually, but assessment authorities will use the process to calculate results for every student completing one or more VCE or VET unit 3-4 subjects in 2021.

This means their final exam scores will be considered alongside other data, such as the General Achievement Test (GAT), and their performance across other assessments.

With the state’s current restrictions in place until 27 July, the GAT will be rescheduled to 12 August pending advice from health authorities.

The impact of the virus on individual students will also be considered, including any direct impacts on a student’s health, and ongoing issues with remote learning.

“The Delta variant of coronavirus is causing uncertainty right around Australia – but we want to make sure every student knows that no matter how much they’re impacted by the pandemic, we’re supporting them to succeed in VCE and VCAL,” education minister James Merlino said.

Students wearing masks outside Melbourne's Melba Secondary College on October 12, 2020 — Melbourne’s Melba Secondary College after the 2020 lockdown. Victoria’s class of 2021 has been promised special consideration for their final VCE scores. Photograph: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Updated at 12.27am BST

12.05am BST

14 Covid-19 cases in Victoria

Victoria has recorded 14 new cases of Covid-19. Of those, 10 were in quarantine for their entire infectious period. One of the other four cases is yet to be interviewed by the state’s contract tracers.

There are 14 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases which are all linked to the current outbreaks. 10 of the 14 cases were in quarantine throughout their entire infectious period with 1 of the other 4 cases still to be interviewed. 14,302 vaccine doses were administered yesterday.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) July 22, 2021

Updated at 12.13am BST

11.58pm BST

Here’s the TGA’s short statement on its approval of the Pfizer vaccine for 12 to 15 year olds:

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has provisionally approved the use of the Pfizer BNT162b2 Covid-19 vaccine (COMIRNATY) in individuals 12 years and older. Previously, the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine was provisionally approved for use in individuals 16 years or older.

Provisional approval for use in the 12-15 years age group has been made following careful evaluation of the available data supporting safety and efficacy, including clinical studies with adolescents 12 to 15 years of age. Use in this age group was supported by the independent expert Advisory Committee on Vaccines.

A health worker inspects a Pfizer syringe at a mass coronavirus vaccination hub in Melbourne — The TGA has provisionally approved the use of the Pfizer vaccine for people aged 12 and above. Photograph: Daniel Pockett/AAP

Updated at 12.07am BST

11.56pm BST

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has just been speaking to Sydney FM radio hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O, congratulating them on their “Get Vaxxed Baby” ad, urging listeners to encourage their grandparents to get vaccinated, and talking about Caitlyn Jenner.

Morrison was asked by the show’s producer, a 33-year-old who elected to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, whether younger people who chose the vaccine were “helping us get out of lockdown sooner”.

The prime minister agreed with the sentiment: “particularly in Sydner, particularly in Sydney. It is tough in Sydney and the choices Gladys is having to make are very hard ones [but] it’s absolutely true what you’re saying because there’s more of [the AstraZeneca vaccine”.

Morrison declined to weigh in on reports that Jenner - who is in hotel quarantine in Australia before appearing on Big Brother (which is a show that still exists?) - was seen flicking a cigarette off her balcony. Fun!

Scott Morrison is on @kyleandjackieo congratulating Kyle on his Get Vaxxed Baby ad. “This is what happens when people start focusing on what’s ahead, not what’s happened until now,” the PM says.
— Michael Koziol (@michaelkoziol) July 22, 2021

11.49pm BST

Amid all the Covid mayhem, Star Entertainment Group, which runs the existing Sydney casino, has decided to pull out of bidding for its troubled rival, Crown Resorts because of threats at a royal commission in Victoria that Crown could lose its licence to run its biggest casino, in Melbourne.

Or, as Star told the ASX this morning: “it has withdrawn its conditional, non-binding, indicative proposal announced on 10 May 2021 to merge our businesses”.

Star said a merger could save between $150m and $200m a year but “issues raised at Victoria’s royal commission into Crown Melbourne have the potential to materially impact the value of Crown, including whether it retains the licence to operate its Melbourne casino or the conditions under which its licence is retained”.

“The Star remains open to exploring potential value enhancing opportunities with Crown,” it said.

“The Star will continue to closely monitor the Victorian royal commission and Perth Casino royal commission, with final findings expected later this year.”

Updated at 11.59pm BST

11.40pm BST

Health minister Greg Hunt has issued a statement confirming the big news this morning that the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for children aged 12 to 15 years.

As I told you earlier, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Atagi) will now consider the approval and “provide expert advice on which groups of adolescents should be prioritised for the rollout of the vaccine and how and when it should be administered”.

Hunt:

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has thoroughly, and independently, assessed the domestic and international evidence before extending its approval for the Pfizer vaccine to be administered to this age group.

Up until now, the Pfizer vaccine had only been approved for use in Australia for people aged 16 years and over.

The TGA’s approval is a very important step in the process.

Atagi has been meeting with global experts over recent days to inform their deliberations and expert advice.

The national Covid-19 vaccines taskforce has been undertaking detailed planning to support the roll out of the Covid-19 vaccine for children, following an approval from the TGA and in line with the expert medical advice from Atagi.

The Australian government has been consistently following the advice of our medical experts in order to roll out Covid-19 vaccines as quickly, and safely, as possible.

Updated at 11.45pm BST

11.28pm BST

Some good news from the NSW central west, which has been plunged into a weeklong lockdown after cases from Sydney found their way into the region.

#BREAKING The @wnswlhd chief Scott McLachlan has told ABC radio there have been no new cases of COVID-19 recorded in the Central West overnight. @NSWHealth
— Xanthe Gregory (@xanthe_gregory) July 22, 2021

Updated at 11.43pm BST

11.23pm BST

A closed sign on the door of a business in the Sydney CBD — Labor wants people receiving welfare and living in lockdown areas to be given Covid-19 disaster relief payments automatically. Photograph: Joel Carrett/EPA

The federal opposition wants welfare recipients living in lockdown areas automatically bumped onto higher Covid-19 disaster relief payments.

It also wants the federal government to automatically move people back onto jobseeker and waive the waiting period when the lockdowns end.

Currently, people receiving the dole or other government payments aren’t eligible for disaster relief and have to choose one or the other.

But AAP reports Labor’s social services spokeswoman Linda Burney says it should be simplified.

If a worker is entitled to a higher payment, they should receive it, automatically. People should not have to jump through hoops to get the assistance they have been promised.

The MP made the push with disability spokesman Bill Shorten and emergency management spokesman Murray Watt.

The trio demanded the Coalition government give an “iron-clad guarantee” the waiting period would be waived for people moving back onto jobseeker from the disaster payment.

The scheme provides up to $600 a week for people in hotspot areas who have lost at least 20 hours of work in a seven-day period, and $375 for those who have lost between eight and 19 hours.

Meanwhile, the jobseeker rate is $310.40 a week for single people with no children and $282.70 for someone in a relationship, excluding the rental supplement.

The dole rises to $333.75 for single people with children and as well as for those aged 60 or older if they’ve been on the payment for nine months straight.

Advocacy groups have repeatedly called on the government to expand disaster payments to people on welfare, so they don’t have to choose.

Updated at 11.32pm BST

11.14pm BST

Queensland is the first cab off the rank this morning. I’ll start my finger stretching exercises.

Queensland Acting Premier Steven Miles and Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young will give a COVID-19 update at 9:30am
— @MartySilk (@MartySilkHack) July 22, 2021

11.09pm BST

Cases may be rising – and we expect them to rise again today – but the Australian is reporting this morning the NSW emergency cabinet will consider loosening restrictions on some parts of greater Sydney depending on weekend case data.

The emergency cabinet is reportedly considering leaving hard restrictions in place for the south-western Sydney epicentre, while easing them for places such as the Central Coast and Shellharbour where few cases have been recorded.

Updated at 11.15pm BST

11.05pm BST

Greg Hunt says TGA has approved Pfizer for use in 12-15 year olds

Health minister Greg Hunt has been on Channel 7’s Sunrise and has confirmed that news that Australia’s drug regulator the Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved Pfizer for 12 to 15 year olds.

He’s also revealed teenagers who are immunocompromised or have underlying medical conditions will be moved up into phase 1b of the rollout, meaning they will be eligible immediately.

Hunt told Sunrise that following the TGA’s approval, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Atagi) will now consider the drug. He said Atagi was “well advanced” in its review, and would likely make a decision by “mid-August”.

“The early advice I have is they will fast-track vaccines for 12-15 year olds who are immunocompromised or have underlying medical conditions,” he said.

“They would be immediately added to phase 1b and would be able to book in.”

Updated at 11.16pm BST

10.59pm BST

Former federal treasurer Wayne Swan has helpfully offered his take on the prime minister Scott Morrison’s apology over the country’s slow vaccine rollout yesterday.

After increasing pressure, Morrison apologised, a day after he repeatedly declined to say sorry for the government’s missteps.

But the former Labor treasurer wasn’t convinced. Swan told Nine’s Today show this morning Morrison was “getting a gold medal for blame shifting”.

Essentially, the performance yesterday was just dreadful. People said that he issued an apology. He didn’t. It was a half apology that was forced. It wasn’t sincere, and it didn’t go to the core of the problem.

If he was going to go out and say, ‘Let’s wipe the slate clean, let’s look at what’s gone wrong here,’ which is the decisions they [the government] have taken not to purchase the correct volumes and types of vaccines, then people might take him seriously.

Updated at 11.02pm BST

10.49pm BST

The Daily Telegraph is reporting this morning that Australia’s drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, will on Friday announce it has approved Pfizer’s application for a licence for its vaccine to be given to children aged 12 to 16.

The Telegraph quotes federal health minister Greg Hunt as saying “protecting children would be an important and welcome additional step in the national vaccination program”.

“Significantly we planned for this outcome and acquired the vaccines in the event of eligibility,” he said.

There are increasing calls to vaccinate children against Covid-19, with public experts warning it will be important for protecting Australians against the Delta variant of Covid-19.

People aged 12 and older are now widely vaccinated with Pfizer in the US and Canada, and the UK is beginning to vaccinate vulnerable teenagers aged 12 to 15. Clinical trials are under way for Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines for even younger age groups.

Updated at 11.03pm BST

10.44pm BST

Forty-one workers at a Melbourne hospital have been temporarily stood down after a fellow staffer worked a shift while infectious with Covid-19.

AAP reports the employee of Casey Hospital, a 229-bed facility in the city’s outer south-east, returned a positive test on Tuesday.

Monash Health, the public health service that manages the hospital, confirmed the case on Thursday night. The staffer worked one shift during their infectious period, forcing 41 hospital employees to stay home as they await test results.

But the worker wore PPE during the shift, doesn’t have a front-facing role, and is not thought to have had any interaction with patients.

Updated at 10.57pm BST

10.40pm BST

From the desk of things you might have assumed were already happening, NSW Health staff will be able to park for free at public hospital carparks during the current Covid-19 restrictions.

NSW Health deputy secretary Phil Minns said the – temporary – measure will be available to health staff from the next NSW Health pay cycle. He said:

In situations where the government advises that the community should seek to avoid the use of public transport, relief from parking charges for NSW Health staff will be introduced at NSW Health facilities.

All NSW Health staff required to attend work at NSW Health facilities for the duration of the period where public transport services are compromised, will have access to free parking.

We hope this action brings some peace of mind to all our health staff at this challenging time.

Updated at 10.50pm BST

10.37pm BST

NSW Health has addressed false social media rumours suggesting supermarkets will be forced to close as Sydney’s lockdown continues.

In a statement last night the health department said it had “been made aware of false reports circulating on social media, suggesting supermarkets are closing for four days next week”.

“NSW Health can confirm this is not the case, and reminds people to only use trusted and credible sources for information on Covid-19,” the department said.

Updated at 10.43pm BST

10.33pm BST

Queensland flight attendant tests positive for Covid-19: reports

The ABC is reporting that a flight attendant who travelled between Longreach and Brisbane in Queensland has tested positive to Covid-19.

Everyone who travelled between Brisbane and Longreach on Qantas flights QF 2534 and QF 2535 on Sunday, 11 July has been asked to get tested and quarantine at home.

We’ll hear more about that from the state’s chief medical officer Dr Jeannette Young later this morning.

Updated at 10.36pm BST

10.31pm BST

As cases continue to rise in NSW, the calls for the state to adopt measures used in Victoria during its long 2020 lockdown are increasing.

In this piece from my colleague Melissa Davey though, Jeremy McAnulty, the executive director of NSW Health’s Covid-19 public health response branch, says he does not think there is a need for mandatory outdoor mask wearing rules.

“In my observation and through talking to people, I don’t think mask-wearing is the issue,” he said.

“We know that transmission is very much less likely outdoors, and indoor transmission is much higher.”

Read the full story here:

Updated at 10.34pm BST

10.20pm BST

Good morning. My name is Michael McGowan, filling in for Matilda Boseley. I’ll be taking you through this morning’s breaking news.

Late last night the New South Wales health department announced it had found fragments of Covid-19 in Byron Bay’s wastewater in the far north.

The sewage treatment plant serves about 19,000 people in Byron Bay, Wategos, Suffolk Park, Sunrise, and Broken Head. There are no known cases in the Byron region, and NSW Health called the finding “of great concern”.

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian yesterday warned cases in the state were expected to rise again today. It comes as my colleague Sarah Martin and I reveal today the state has taken up just 145,000 of the almost 1 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine allocated to it by the Commonwealth, leaving vaccinations to either stockpile or be directed overseas.

With three states in lockdown and National Cabinet meeting today there is plenty to get to.

Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.

Already a member? Sign in here