What happened Sunday, 29 August 2021
With that, we’ll wrap up the live blog for the day.
Here’s a recap of today’s news:
- New South Wales Covid numbers continue to soar, with a record 1,218 new cases and six deaths as pressure on the state’s hospital system reaches critical levels. Hospitalisations in the state are surging too. There are now 813 Covid patients in hospitals across NSW – 35 more than Saturday. Currently 126 people are in intensive care, 54 of whom are on ventilators.
- The Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has ruled out the possibility of ending Covid lockdown this Thursday, after the state announced 92 new cases of community transmission on Sunday, its highest daily total this year.
- The Australian Capital Territory reported 13 new Covid cases, which were all linked.
- The health minister, Greg Hunt, expects to be able to make the Moderna coronavirus jab available to young Australians as the vaccination program ramps up in coming weeks.
Have a pleasant evening, we’ll be back to do it all again tomorrow.
Updated
There’s a bit more information about the Covid outbreaks at two prisons in NSW.
At the NSW Covid update today, we heard there 31 infections associated with Parklea correctional centre, with the prison in Sydney’s north-west now under a strict lockdown.
The deputy chief health officer, Dr Jeremy McAnulty, said health investigators believe the virus was introduced into the prison by a member of the community, not a prisoner.
Silverwater prison also recorded Covid cases, however McAnulty said he did not know exactly how many cases were linked to the facility.
In a statement, a Corrective Services NSW spokeswoman said that 23 prisons across NSW are now taking extra precautions related to the prisoner infections.
This is because of potential exposure to the virus in inmates who were recently transferred to those other prisons from Parklea.
The spokeswoman said some of those prisons have now been locked down. She said:
All those inmates have been isolated and tested by Justice Health & Forensic Mental Health Network (JH&FMHN) for Covid-19 as part of health protocols.
Corrective Services NSW is taking every precaution to protect staff and inmates, and prevent transmission of the virus.”
A Corrective Services NSW spokeswoman confirmed six correctional staff from Bathurst correctional centre have returned positive Covid tests since Thursday.
Breaking: Up to SIX correctional officers at #Bathurst Jail are COVID positive. Some to be included in tomorrow's numbers but some tested positive back on Thursday (which is confusing). #nswcovid @abcnews
— Jake Lapham (@JakeLapham) August 29, 2021
It’s unclear if they are connected to the Parklea outbreak.
Updated
The Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has ruled out the possibility of ending Covid lockdown this Thursday, after the state announced 92 new cases of community transmission on Sunday, its highest daily total this year.
“Sadly, with these sorts of numbers, it is only fair that we be as upfront as possible and we make it clear to the community that we will not be able to open up, take all these rules off, in just a few days’ time,” Andrews said.
“We will get advice in the coming days. Decisions will also be made and they will be announced very soon thereafter as we always have done. This is – these are difficult numbers.”
Andrews said Victorian authorities are determined to avoid the massive surge in Covid-19 cases and strain on the healthcare system that New South Wales is experiencing.
You can read the full report here:
Sydney teenagers have spoken to Guardian Australian about their terrifying Covid experience.
Celebrating a birthday, within Covid guidelines, was enough to put three 18-year-olds in quarantine. Then one ended up in hospital unable to breathe or walk.
Read the full story:
For those in NSW, a new venue of concern has been released by NSW Health.
⚠️PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT – NEW VENUES OF CONCERN⚠️
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) August 29, 2021
We have been notified of a number of new close and casual contact venues of concern associated with confirmed cases of COVID 19. pic.twitter.com/3F7VnSkGk9
It follows health authorities moving away from listing every exposure site in the state, and focusing on specific ones in locations of concern.
Updated
I’m just about to finish up for the day!
But before I leave you in the extremely capable hands of my colleague, Elias Visontay, let’s take a look back at today’s biggest headlines:
- New South Wales recorded 1,218 new locally acquired cases of Covid-19. This is the second day in a row NSW has set a new case record, after authorities announced 1,035 new cases yesterday. Six Covid-19 patients tragically died in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday.
- Victoria recorded 92 new locally acquired cases, 61 of which were linked to existing outbreaks. Premier Daniel Andrews announced that lockdown restrictions would not end on Thursday, as originally planned.
- ACT reported 13 new Covid-19 cases, all linked. Eight were in quarantine for their infectious period, while five were infectious in the community.
- Queensland recorded one case of community transmission, linked to the Indooroopilly cluster, who was in isolation for their entire infectious period.
- Western Australia and South Australia both recorded zero new locally acquired Covid-19 cases. But SA now has 14 exposure sites, after two truck drivers from NSW travelled through the state before testing positive for Covid-19 in WA yesterday.
- Meanwhile, New Zealand reported 83 new cases, all but one in Auckland. This brings the country’s total to 511 cases since the Delta outbreak was first identified on 17 August. Prime minister Jacinda Ardern warned that Auckland was likely to be in lockdown for at least another fortnight, if not longer.
Updated
Three arrested at anti-lockdown protest near NSW-Queensland border
We are seeing pictures of a small anti-lockdown protest that took place at the Queensland-NSW border this morning.
Queensland Police said they had a relatively small crowd of a maximum of 100 protesters, which gathered steam at midday and ran for around an hour. They said that a joint operation between Queensland and NSW.
Police effectively prevented the protestors from gathering together in large numbers.
Three people were arrested in Coolangatta, Queensland. Of them, a 39-year-old male was charged with serious assault and obstruct police.
All three were involved in last week’s anti-lockdown border protests, and were all persons of interest, Queensland police said.
Updated
Further to my last post about South Australian exposure sites, the state’s chief public health officer Professor Nicola Spurrier added that she was concerned that not enough people have been using QR codes to check into shops and venues.
She said only three people had used QR codes to check in at exposure sites at the same time that the truck drivers were there.
She said that there were 16 people who had used but failed to check in at Port Augusta OTR petrol station within the same time window that the two truck drivers attended.
“That is a concern for us because we have not been able to contact them, require the testing and have them in quarantine, and it’s concerning for those individuals themselves but also their families and anyone else they may come into contact with,” Spurrier said.
Updated
South Australia announces 14 new Covid exposure sites
South Australia hasn’t recorded any new Covid-19 cases, but it has announced 14 new tier-1 exposure sites.
Why? Remember how I mentioned earlier that two truck drivers from New South Wales had tested positive after arriving in Western Australia? They travelled through South Australia.
South Australian chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier said that both drivers were getting daily Covid-19 tests, as is required for freight drivers coming from NSW, and were wearing masks.
But she added that authorities were concerned that one driver could have been infectious as early as 21 August, three days before his test.
We’re very hopeful he would have had a very low infectiousness at that stage, but as an abundance of caution we’ve put up those exposure sites.
Updated
I appreciate when someone else does the maths for me.
Positives per tests up to 1.2%… a big jump from 0.68% from a few days ago. (Eg At today’s ratio, yesterday’s case numbers would have been 1556, not 1035…) #COVID19nsw https://t.co/G9xKaygHGI
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) August 29, 2021
No new Covid cases in WA
Western Australia has announced zero new cases of community transmission in the last 24 hours.
The state had a small scare yesterday after two NSW truck drivers tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival in WA.
This is our WA COVID-19 weekend update for Sunday, 29 August 2021.
— Mark McGowan (@MarkMcGowanMP) August 29, 2021
For official information on COVID-19 in WA, visit https://t.co/qA5jY6mVkvhttps://t.co/IZQLHJxqve pic.twitter.com/nMZFGBu40B
Updated
Thank you so much to my colleague Elias Visontay.
It’s Justine Landis-Hanley here again, to bring you this afternoon’s news.
Updated
As of midnight, Australia had administered 18,927,313 doses of Covid vaccine.
The federal government has released its daily vaccine information, and the key statistics are in the neat infographic.
This daily infographic provides the total number of vaccine doses administered in Australia 🇦🇺 as of 28 August 2021 📅
— Australian Government Department of Health (@healthgovau) August 29, 2021
💻Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccine information here: https://t.co/lsM33j9wMW pic.twitter.com/gn9xYbfiqJ
About 87% of over-70s are protected with a first dose (87.07%) and 62.09% have received a second dose.
Meanwhile, about 78% of over-50s are protected with a first dose (78.16%) and 50.53% have received a second dose. And about 57% of the eligible population aged over 16 are protected with a first dose (57.47%), while 34.16% have received a second dose.
National vaccine rollout total now 18.9m doses, up by 220,686 in 24 hours. Of eligible adults 16+, 57.47 per cent have had at least one dose and 34.16 per cent are fully vaxxed. pic.twitter.com/NHywgz26FF
— Tom McIlroy (@TomMcIlroy) August 29, 2021
Updated
New South Wales Covid numbers continue to soar, with a record 1,218 new cases and six deaths as pressure on the state’s hospital system reaches critical levels.
You can read our report on today’s NSW Covid update here:
If you miss out on work because you need to get tested and don't have any sick leave - we will pay you $450, no questions asked.
— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) August 29, 2021
Updated
I’m stepping away from the desk for a quick break, so will hand over to my fantastic colleague Elias Visontay!
Updated
There is footage of a plane flying over the Queensland-NSW border with the sign: “End lockdowns, vote Liberal Democrats”.
A plane has flown over the Queensland-New South Wales border, protesting lockdowns. It comes as protests kick off in the area. https://t.co/Wn8t3L9sTB #COVID19 #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/F9qF7iVSqu
— 7NEWS Australia (@7NewsAustralia) August 29, 2021
The Liberal Democrats are a minor party that are hoping to win votes at the next federal election by running hard on an anti-lockdown platform. Among those running for the party is former Queensland premier Campbell Newman, who quit the Liberal National party last month.
Updated
OK, that just about wraps up today’s press conference madness. Phew.
Thank you again to the brilliant Elias Visontay and Paul Karp for bringing us updates from NSW and the ACT.
Updated
While nothing is confirmed, Andrews said conversations were being had about whether the Grand Prix would go ahead on 20 April, and whether only those who were fully vaccinated would be allowed to attend.
Andrews:
[That was] part of the conversation with the prime minister yesterday – we will have further discussions this week about how some of those things can work. I think that a restaurant or a major event that is only attended by people that are double vaccinated is always going to be a safer event, and will contribute less to people being in hospital. So I think the time is coming where your vaccination status will matter
Updated
Andrews says that he doesn’t know of any new Covid-19 cases linked to last weekend’s anti-lockdown protests, but that doesn’t mean that transmission didn’t occur.
If you have a bunch of people who don’t think Covid is real, they will not be standing in the queue getting a test, so it stands to reason. It was appalling for a number of reasons. It may well have contributed to the numbers we are recording today. Sometimes we won’t know. Sometimes we can’t work out exactly where it came from.
Updated
Again, Victorian premier Daniel Andrews was asked in today’s press conference whether the state would be opening up once it hit the 70% vaccination rate, as recommended by the Doherty Institute’s modelling.
Reporter:
Just to clarify on that point about 70% and reopening. Is the plan at 70%, which is a couple of months away to ... what’s the plan at 70%? Will we proceed to ease up despite the case numbers?
Andrews:
Well, once you get to 70% double-dose... but the really significant shifts don’t occur until you get to the 80%, and indeed hopefully we can go beyond that because every extra dose helps. Ultimately what we will move to is from a pandemic that is applicable to everybody, it will move to a pandemic of the unvaccinated. The smaller, the unvaccinated group, the more manageable from a health service point of view, those inevitable positive cases also be a very serious illness...
But Andrews didn’t confirm whether he would ease all restrictions once we hit 70% of people vaccinated. It also sounds as though authorities here are shooting for an 80% target.
When you get to 70 there are more options, there are things you can do that you can’t do now. At 80%, well, you would not be locking down the whole community, to keep safe those who wouldn’t keep themselves safe by going and getting vaccinated.
Updated
There is no new information from Victorian authorities about whether year 12 students will have their vaccinations prioritised:
Weimar:
There is work being done across ourselves and by commonwealth colleagues. Obviously we need additional vaccine supply to ensure we get year 12 and the rest of Victorians vaccinated, but no other announcements today.
Updated
In Victoria, a new rule has been brought in for year 12 students who have to perform as part of their school-based assessments, stipulating that they have to get tested 48 hours before that performance. According to a journalist, this came as a surprise to schools.
Victoria Covid-19 commander Jeroen Weimar said authorities were working with the Department of Education to make it a requirement for students.
It is a relatively small number of students who take the performing arts SACS [school-assessed coursework], and allowing those SACS to go ahead as planned, please check the children have their negative test results on their phone, or whatever evidence you want to use to make sure that’s is safe for them to come in and get the SACS done.
Updated
In the ACT, the chief minister, Andrew Barr, has warned with thousands of active cases of Covid-19 in Australia (mostly in NSW) that testing, tracing, isolating and quarantine (TTIQ) can only be “partially” effective.
That’s highly significant - because the Doherty Modelling has a big difference in hospitalisation and death rates depending on whether TTIQ is “optimal” or only “partially” effective. If restrictions are eased at the 70% vaccination rate, Doherty predicts 1,457 people will die if TTIQ is “partially” effective, but just 13 if it is “optimal”.
Barr said the modelling was “subject of good discussion in national cabinet” on Friday and the conclusion was it “won’t be possible with very high case numbers, so we’re looking at TTIQ being partially not optimally effective”.
Barr said he wouldn’t speak for other jurisdictions, but made this observation:
The lived position is it is very difficult to have perfect TTIQ with thousands of new cases day after day after day.
Updated
Back to Victoria, Andrews was asked whether states and territories with zero cases of community transmission should divert their extra vaccine doses (from Poland) to Victoria.
Andrews said no. He referenced the news from WA yesterday that authorities were investigating two NSW truck drivers who tested positive for Covid-19 and had 20 close or casual contacts.
They might get a case tomorrow. I think Western Australia is dealing with a couple of truckies at the moment. No one is exempt from this. The extra [dose] numbers are confirmed.
Updated
Auckland lockdown likely to be extended for at least another two weeks
Today’s 83 new cases in New Zealand bring the country’s total to 511 Kiwis infected in this Delta outbreak, first identified on 17 August.
Prime minister Jacinda Ardern warned that Auckland was likely to be in lockdown for at least another fortnight, if not longer.
Updated
New Zealand reports 83 new Covid cases
New Zealand has recorded 83 new Covid-19 cases today, the highest of this outbreak.
All but one of the cases is in Auckland, with the remaining case in Wellington.
Updated
We are also getting Covid-19 updates from the ACT.
Chief minister Andrew Barr says:
Some 223,621 ACT residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine. That equates to 65% of our 16-plus population, but 61.5% of our 12-plus population. There are 141,791 ACT residents fully vaccinated: 41.2% of 16-plus and 39% of 12-plus population.
No wonder the ACT expects it will have vaccination rates way higher than 70-80%...look at this stunning 99% of over 70s with a first dose. Implies almost NO hesitancy in that group.#auspol #covid19aus pic.twitter.com/hM5Yq8sZii
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) August 29, 2021
Updated
Covid cases in Sydney's Parklea prison rise to 31
Health authorities in NSW also spoke of Covid outbreaks at two prisons in Sydney.
There are 31 Covid associated with Parklea correctional centre. The prison in Sydney’s north-west is under a strict lockdown.
Deputy chief health officer Dr Jeremy McAnulty said health investigators believed the virus was introduced into the prison by a member of the community, not a prisoner.
Silverwater prison has also recorded Covid cases, but McAnulty said he did not know exactly how many cases were linked to the facility.
The NSW Covid press conference has now ended.
Updated
As of Sunday, NSW has vaccinated 35% of its population, half of what is needed for the next significant easing of restrictions at 70%.
Gladys Berejiklian said residents will enjoy “a much fairer existence” once the 70% “magic” target is reached, and vowed she will not introduce a lockdown across her state once the 80% target is reached.
She said:
The point of getting to those vaccination milestones means you don’t have lockdowns in the future. It means you manage the disease. What it might mean is that from time to time you ask people to do things a bit differently, whether it is density in a venue, whether it is the amount of people you have at a major sporting event.
So there will be opportunities for us to move levers up and down, but no way will we need a statewide lockdown once we get to 80% double dose. And that is the key number that we need to get to. 70% double dose gives us lots of freedoms for those who are vaccinated, but it does still mean we need to use QR codes. It does still mean we have good social distancing, that we follow the health guidelines, but it means a much fairer existence than we have now.”
Updated
Gladys Berejiklian has been asked if she is concerned by a rise in child self-harm, which has reportedly increased by about 30% in the last year.
It is concerning to see the mental anguish people are going through, especially young people. That is why NSW has always tried to take a balanced approach.
Whenever you are in a situation with high levels of lack of vaccination and high case numbers you always worry about the amount of people going into hospital so public health is always your first priority but that has to be balanced against mental health issues and that is why I was keen to provide an incentive for our citizens once we got to that six million jabs.
I am especially concerned about families in western and south-western Sydney who have very strict lockdown restrictions imposed on them at the moment and if there is some relief we can offer at any stage, including when we get to 70% first doses, we will consider those because they want us to continue to have a balanced approach.
From day one, we have been criticised no matter what we do. We will keep making decisions in the best interest of our citizens. I do not shy away from that and I will take any criticism levelled at the government because what we need to do is ensure a balance. I know what a stressful time this is for people. Those of us who have got means to cope with it find it difficult enough, let alone children and adolescents. Anything we can do to relieve the pressure on families, we will.
Deputy chief health officer Jeremy McAnulty said:
I am not a mental health expert but I understand there has been an increase in presentations, both acute and emergency presentations, for people with self-harm.
Updated
ACT reports 13 new Covid cases
ACT has 13 new Covid cases all linked, eight in quarantine for their infectious period, five infectious in the community.
Updated
Andrews was asked to elaborate on that last point of vaccine supply.
Reporter:
How strong is that commitment? Because New South Wales requested and received boosted supplies when they hit about 100 cases a day, just over. Victoria is pretty much at that point. Is there a call for us to go the a boost, try to get on top of it? Should there be priority?
Andrews:
We did get a reasonable share of those so-called Polish doses. ObviouslyNew South Wales got more, but they are facing a very different set of circumstances to us, but we’re locked down, they’re locked down and that means that there is a lot of pain and the challenge is very real. It was about not having a situation where there continues to be preferential treatment as if what Victorians are living through isn’t real - of course it is. I think the best thing to do is as these additional stocks arrive, send them out in using the fairest method.
Andrews added that if circumstances change, “we should always stick to the principle of greatest need”.
But he expressed frustration that NSW’s extra doses have been used so that people could have picnics.
I’m sure that other state premiers would have a similar view and it may well be theNew South Wales view that they’ve had enough extra support now and now it’s time to not necessarily have them moving ahead, because the national plan is about all of us moving together. Not a national plan for picnics, just quietly. The notion of giving up vaccines that, so that Victorians could go and have picnics, no, that’s not what we are doing.
Andrews also said that if extra vaccine supply turns up, he wants it to be distributed equally to states and territories.
I think there are millions of Victorians who want to get vaccinated like yesterday. That’s why it was important yesterday to get from the prime minister just that clarity: if extra supply turns up, we don’t want it going. There has been some special consideration for Sydney, fair enough, but now it’s got to be equal, and I was very pleased that that commitment was given.
Updated
Back in Victoria, premier Daniel Andrews is asked how he would categorise the upwards trend of cases. Is lockdown working? Is it failing?
It’s bloody tough. It’s bloody tough for everyone. It’s incredibly difficult, but if you look at what’s happening in Sydney, you could let this off, you could make decisions that were not backed up by health advice and we would not have 90 cases today, 93 cases today, we would have thousands of cases, and we know what happens then. Our health professionals ... it is incredibly difficult for them.
Andrews also took a swipe at the federal government’s slow vaccine rollout.
With Delta, it is barely a fair fight. We will not vaccinate people faster than the virus infecting people. We don’t have enough vaccines, but that will change in September, October, November. We will have that other parts of the country don’t have. These numbers are relatively low.
They are still too high to open up, but being able to make some changes, being able to have some easing before we get to 80% of the community double-dosed, that is barely an option for us, barely an option in some parts of the country. We are going at this as hard and as strong as we can. We agented early, but I’m not here to tell people this is easy, it’s not. It’s bloody hard.
Updated
Back to NSW, Gladys Berejiklian has said she was disappointed after a Covid testing clinic in St Marys was damaged overnight. It was reportedly vandalised with a message claiming Covid-19 was a hoax. Berejiklian said:
It is always disappointing when people ignore health advice or pretend that Covid-19 is not serious. A number of people do have those views and demonstrate them from time to time and that is the threat of Delta.
Delta does not leave room for error. I know that the decisions the NSW government has taken and the language we have used in dealing with Covid-19 might seem confronting because it is the first state in Australia that has had to make these decisions and learn to live with Covid-19.
Those people who think that Covid-19 is not serious or that we do not need to take the action we are taking are in the minority, fortunately.
Earlier, Berejiklian was asked about how a recent rule change, which requires any essential worker leaving an LGA of concern to have had their first dose of vaccine by tomorrow week, will work.
She was asked about the legal implications for employers on these work sites who have to check their employees’ vaccine status.
Berejiklian said she would “have to defer to legal experts”, but added that “you should not be allowing people on your premises to work unless they are following the health guidelines at all times”.
Berejiklian said:
I suspect that once we hit 70% double dose (of vaccinations), many private businesses might make decisions to say they do not want anyone who is not vaccinated using the premises or services.
They are personal decisions and it is about choice. That is OK but do not expect to have the same freedoms as vaccinated people. We are all subject to choice and if you want to move around more freely and enjoy the things we have been denied, get vaccinated.”
Updated
Victoria recorded a case in Traralgon, but authorities have linked back the source of the spread there to an individual who travelled to Melbourne for a funeral.
I mentioned this morning that authorities were also closely watching an outbreak in Port Melbourne. But Weimar said there were only four positive cases there today, all staff connected to the exposure site at a car wash. Further, 30 primary close contacts have all been tested and will get results today.
Updated
More good news from Victoria (we have to find the good news): there were no more cases at Royal Melbourne hospital today, where an outbreak occurred last week.
Updated
Shepparton is one of the key clusters that Victorian authorities have been watching closely.
Shepparton now has 94 cases in total, across 37 different households.
In better news though, over 1,300 Covid-19 tests were administered in Shepparton yesterday, bringing the total to 23,000 tests completed in the area during the course of this outbreak.
Two school sites in the area deemed hotspots have also had their risk level downgraded.
Updated
Weimar says that, of Victoria’s 773 total active Covid-19 cases, 300 are under the age of 20.
Let’s break that down further: 171 people under the age of 10, and 131 in their teens, between 10 and 19.
He said that another 300 positive cases are people between the ages of 20 and 39.
Updated
Weimar says that a majority of today’s cases are associated with the northern and western suburbs.
Over two-thirds are associated within the northern and western suburbs and that is by far the largest concentration of cases we have outside the Shepparton area.
We think and we know there are multiple chains of transmission to give us those roughly 500 cases and thanks to everybody, the large number of close contacts, isolating in those areas and the thousands of volunteers supporting them providing food and welfare and other of relief. [There are a] total of 15,800 close contacts and over 20,000 secondary close contacts who are isolating with them.
Back to Victoria, Jeroen Weimar, the state’s Covid-19 commander, is breaking down today’s case numbers.
Here are the numbers you need to know:
- 92 cases of community transmission today. 63 are clearly linked and 29 are still under investigation.
- A total of 773 active cases are in the community
- 44 Victorians are currently in hospital. 13 of those are in ICU and 9 of those are on a ventilator
Back to NSW.
Of NSW’s record 1,218 new Covid cases, 25 are from western NSW, with 18 in Dubbo, three in Narromine and two in Bourke.
In addition, there are also two new cases in Wilcannia.
Deputy chief health officer Jeremy McAnulty said “remote areas have particular challenges”. .
But we have surged enormously in our ability and with our staffing. We have sent teams out to assist in both Dubbo and Broken Hill, and we have also got additional assistance nationally and through the military to assist in the far west and western New South Wales, so vulnerable communities, there are challenges of distance and in some communities of crowded housing.”
Hospital admissions related to Covid continue to rise.
There are now 813 Covid patients in hospitals across NSW, with 126 people in intensive care, 54 of whom are on ventilators.
Of those in intensive care, 113 had not received any vaccine doses, while 12 had received one dose and one patient has been double vaccinated.
That hospitalisation figure has increased from 778 since yesterday.
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian also denied that she was not alarmed by the rising case numbers. She said:
I am alarmed by anyone who needs hospital care or is in intensive care.
As we have seen out of everyone in intensive care, only one person is fully vaccinated. That is important to have in mind. The case numbers are always concerning when they are going up. We would love to see them come down but that is not the most relevant number for us.
The most relevant number is how many people are vaccinated and how many are we keeping out of hospital and intensive care and that is important for us moving forward. We have to come to terms with living with this virus.
Updated
Andrews has reiterated that Victoria’s lockdown will not be ending this Thursday as planned.
So, sadly, with these sorts of numbers, it is only fair that we be as upfront as possible and we make it clear to the community that we will not be able to open up, take all these rules off in just a few days’ time.
We will get advice incoming days, decision also be made and they will be announced very soon thereafter as we always have done. This is – these are difficult numbers. But if you look to the experience in, say, New South Wales at the moment, I’m sure there are many thousands of nurses, many thousands of doctors, who are struggling with the fact that they will very soon, it would seem, have a thousand patients in hospital. We can avoid that. We have avoided that to this point, and we are determined to do that again. I know there is pain and there is challenge and it’s tough, but this getting out of hand completely out of hand, is so much harder. So much harder.
Updated
In better news, 31,436 vaccines were administered in Victoria’s state clinics yesterday, a 20% increase on last Saturday.
Updated
Daniel Andrews says that he doesn’t want Victoria to end up like NSW, with over 1,000 daily cases.
Clearly whilst we are containing this and it is not getting to the point where we have 1,000 cases a day and sadly I think New South Wales will have 1,000 patients in hospital, we are avoiding that.
But we still are too many cases in the community for too long for us to be able to open up and give back to Victorians it be in Melbourne or across the state, whether it be in Melbourne or across the state, those freedoms that we cherish and those freedoms we desperately want back.
Updated
Andrews says we don’t yet know how long lockdown will be extended until.
We don’t yet have advice from the chief health officer as to what is possible, what is safe. Later on this week, as soon as we get that advice ... he will announce them. We will give people as much notice as we can.
Updated
Turning to Victoria, Premier Daniel Andrews is providing today’s Covid-19 health update.
Andrews says it is not going to be possible for Vitoria’s lockdown to end on Thursday, as originally planned.
Obviously with almost 100 cases today, where many of them remain mysteries, many of them were out in the community during their infectious period, it is not going to be possible for us to open up our Victorian community in just a couple of days’ time.
NSW reports six new Covid deaths
Six people have died of Covid in NSW in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday.
A man in his 80s from south-west Sydney died at Nepean hospital after acquiring his infection there earlier this month. His is the fifth death linked to an outbreak at the hospital.
A man in his 80s from Sydney’s inner west died at Concord hospital. He acquired his infection at the Wyoming Aged Care facility, and is the fifth death linked to this outbreak.
Two men in their 70s from south-west Sydney died at Liverpool hospital.
A man in his 70s from western Sydney died at Westmead hospital.
A woman in her 80s from western Sydney died at Westmead hospital.
Updated
NSW records 1,218 new Covid cases
New South Wales has recorded 1218 new locally acquired cases of Covid-19.
This is the second day NSW has set a new case record, after authorities announced 1,035 new cases yesterday.
Updated
Premier Gladys Berejiklian is expected to give a Covid-19 update shortly.
Interesting – Berejiklian doesn’t usually deliver the case update on Sundays. Should we expect a big announcement?
Updated
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk had some sharp words for NSW authorities today, suggesting their neighbours down south were not working with them to resolve the difficult situation that many families living on the NSW-Queensland border are facing.
All of NSW is currently in lockdown, while restrictions have largely eased in Queensland, making it hard for those who live on the border and commute either way for work or essential shopping and services.
Palaszczuk said:
We’ve extended the olive branch, and we will hand it over to NSW to see if they will come to the party.
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Victorian authorities will be providing today’s Covid-19 update at 11am ... which is the same time NSW usually host its press conference.
Thankfully my colleague Elias Visontay will be watching what’s happening in NSW.
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Queensland reports one Covid case
Queensland has recorded one more case of local community transmission, linked to the Indooroopilly cluster.
The person was a member of a family who was in isolation for their entire infectious period. The premier said that meant every person in that family had contracted Covid-19.
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Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced the state will be opening up a mass vaccination hub in Boondall in northern Brisbane from 8 September.
The hub will open up to its first 1,500 bookings and ramp up to 3,000 a day.
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Sydney Covid testing clinic destroyed after alleged attack – reports
Reports are coming out that a Covid-19 testing clinic in western Sydney has been destroyed following an alleged arson and graffiti attack.
A COVID-19 testing clinic in Western Sydney has been destroyed following an alleged arson and graffiti attack. #9News pic.twitter.com/B1wOwTUkCe
— 9News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) August 28, 2021
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There is A LOT of debate going around about the Doherty Institute’s modelling, on which the federal government and NSW state government has based its plan to ease lockdown restrictions.
If you find it all a bit confusing (honestly it is), check out our article below:
Finally, David Speers asked Mark Butler what he thinks about the WHO’s advice that it is more important to vaccinate poorer nations who haven’t had a vaccination yet, rather than give booster shots to wealthier countries.
Speers:
Should Australians be given booster shots when poorer neighbours haven’t even had a vaccine?
Butler:
I don’t think it is either/or. We should be doing what we can to support our neighbours. That would be ideal ... We do need a strong booster program here, but that shouldn’t detract from our efforts to support countries overseas.
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Labor says 'better systems' needed for verifying if people are vaccinated
Shadow heath minister Mark Butler said on the ABC’s Insiders this morning that Australia needs “better systems in place” to verify whether people are fully vaccinated, noting that “the Medicare app can be forged in as little as 10 minutes”.
He added that there also must be “exemptions in place for people who have genuine medical reasons not to get vaccinated”.
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Butler added that Labor supports mandatory vaccinations for high-risk workers, and venues, pubs and restaurants requiring proof of vaccination from their patrons.
But he warned that the Scott Morrison may struggle to convince his party room to support this approach nationally.
No, I think that’s where we are headed. There is a strong view that that is where we are headed I think the Prime Minister will have difficulty carrying his party room on that. Already there are a number of coalition MPs ready to cross the floor.
Speers also asked Butler when he thinks other states that have no Covid-19 cases, like Labor-led WA, should open up their borders to places like NSW. Should this happen when we hit 70% of the population vaccinated?
Butler:
Well, 70%, for example, still means that 6 million adults are not vaccinated and some millions of children aren’t vaccinated as well, so if there is an exposure to the full force of the Delta variant, are you going to see very, very high case numbers and hospitalisations and premiers in South Australia, WA, Queensland and Tasmania are going to have a pretty close eye on that...
I think 70% is going to be very difficult for states that don’t currently have Covid suddenly to fling up the borders, and I don’t think their people will allow the premiers to do that and I don’t think that will be the public health advice that they get from their state chief health officer.
Speers asked, if not at 70%, when should states open up the borders?
Butler was coy:
I’m not going to nominate a particular percentage. National cabinet hasn’t even nominated a particular percentage. The point I make is that this is the a moment for the prime minister to lead. So many of the premiers don’t feel that he has had their back through this period.
He supported Clive Palmer’s challenge to border closures in Western Australia. We see revelations yesterday that Gladys Berejiklian regards him as evil and a bully and would prefer Peter Dutton to be in that position. This is a moment for him to lead on the poor people, cave dwellers.
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The debate over how much Butler supports the plan continued:
Speers:
Sorry, your view right now is: do you support the national plan or not?
Butler:
Yes, I said I did, David. Going into Friday, I and many others urged the prime minister to consider counting the 12- to 15-year-olds aspart of the national plan. That was not the decision. We need to work with the plan we’ve got, but I do say that Scott Morrison needs to tell parents when their 12- to 15-year-old children will be vaccinated. If they are not counted as part of the national plan, at the very least he needs to make a separate commitment to parents: this is when your children will be vaccinated.
He added that the time to change the plan was at Friday’s national cabinet meeting, but that the prime minister “didn’t take that decision”.
We’ve got the plan and we need to implement it. We want to see an end to the lockdowns as soon as possible. Let’s get on to a debate about implementing the plan safely. That’s our focus. Our focus has been the degree to which the prime minister has been able to implement the plans properly, effectively. He has bungled the vaccine and quarantine phases of the response. We don’t want him to bungle this phase. There will be devastating health impacts if he does.
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Butler has said that he fully accepts the Doherty Institute’s modelling, on which the government has based its pandemic exit strategy.
For context, this is the modelling that recommends easing Covid-19 restrictions once we hit 70%-80% of the eligible population vaccinated.
The modelling has been hotly debated in the last few weeks because it was based on the premise that there would only be 30-ish daily community transmission cases when we reopened (NSW yesterday recorded over 1,000 cases). The report also found that “expanding the vaccine program to the 12-15-year age group has minimal impact on transmission and clinical outcomes for any achieved level of vaccine uptake”.
There has been a lot of back and forth between Butler and Speers this morning over whether Butler in fact disagrees with the modelling (it seems like he does, but he wants you to know he isn’t the only one that does).
Speers;
Do you support the national plan or do you think it should be changed along the lines you are suggesting this morning?
Butler:
I support the national plan. All of us want to see an end to the...
Speers:
Sorry to interrupt, you seem to have a fundamental difference with the plan when it comes to including those kids in the targets?
Butler:
I said 12- to 15-year-olds should be counted as did a number of premiers. If the national cabinet doesn’t take that view, then we need to get on and implement the plan, but I think...
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David Speers is grilling Labor’s Mark Butler over whether he thinks young people must be vaccinated before we ease lockdown restrictions.
Speers:
Let me be clear, you are saying it’s not safe for New South Wales to end its lockdown we get to 70 or 80% of 12- to 15-year-olds being vaccinated?
Butler:
No, I have said, as have a number of premiers, that they should be counted as part of the 70-80% threshold. If they are eligible for the vaccine, other groups are gaining eligibility now. If 12- to 15-year-olds are in the same position, what is the argument for not including them? They can get the virus, can get unwell, they can pass it on to other people, why are they cut out? If they are cut out, parents want to know how many of their 12- to 15-year-old children will be vaccinated as we move to the next phase of the plan.
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Shadow health minister Mark Butler is speaking on ABC TV’s Insiders about the federal government’s plan to open up Australia once we hit 70% to 80% of people vaccinated.
David Speers has asked whether 12- to 15 year-olds should be included in those targets?
Butler:
I’ve been very clear, as have a number of premiers, that 12- to 15-year-olds who are now eligible should be counted as part of the national plan, they have become the front line in this disastrous third wave.
They are a third to 40% of under-12s, a third to 40% of all new cases, and although the disease is less severe than in adults in adults, you might see one in 10 patients ending up in hospital; still one in 30 patients are ending up in hospital. This is a very great concern for parents and parents are asking when will the children be vaccinated.
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A majority of Australians support vaccine passports, mandatory vaccines for high-risk workers, and a “no vaccine, no service” policy in some cases, according to an exclusive Resolve Political Monitor survey published in Nine newspapers today.
The survey found that 67% of people agreed or strongly agreed that “if people choose not to vaccinate, venues or workplaces should also be able to not let them in”.
It also found that 63% agreed or strongly agreed hospitality venues such as restaurants, cafes and pubs should be able to insist customers were vaccinated before they were allowed to enter.
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Joe Biden has warned that another terrorist attack in Kabul is highly likely in the next 24 to 36 hours, and said the US drone strike which killed two Islamic State targets in retaliation for the deaths of 13 US service members and as many as 170 civilians on Thursday would not be the last such action.
Earlier, Pentagon spokesmen said 6,800 people had been flown from Afghanistan in the last 24 hours, bringing the total of US citizens and Afghan allies evacuated in one of the biggest airlifts in history to more than 117,000.
Read more here:
Remember - you can send any tips/ memes/ tweets to me on Twitter at @justinel_h
Meanwhile in NSW, paramedics are struggling to keep up with growing daily Covid-19 cases.
Yesterday, the state recorded 1035 new local infections - the highest daily total in Australia since the pandemic began. Sadly, two more deaths reported on Saturday, taking the state’s death toll from the current outbreak to 83.
Several deaths have been linked to outbreaks within NSW hospitals.
AAP reports:
The two people who died were a western Sydney woman in her 80s in Westmead Hospital and one in her 70s from the Blue Mountains at Nepean Hospital after acquiring her infection there earlier this month.
It’s the fourth death linked to an outbreak at the hospital.
The state’s health system continues to strain under the caseload created by the outbreak.
There are almost 800 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 125 people in intensive care and 52 ventilated.
At least two western Sydney hospitals - Westmead and Blacktown - have called “code yellows” this week as their caseload climbs.
NSW Ambulance Commissioner Dominic Morgan on Saturday said there had been so many calls for ambulances in the past three days it was the equivalent demand on paramedics as the “busiest New Year’s Eve”.
On Friday alone, Mr Morgan said 450 patients required paramedic assistance for suspected or actual COVID-19.
“When we receive calls that do not require an ambulance immediately, it can have dire consequences,” he said, noting an instance of an ambulance taking 25 minutes to get to an 18-year-old suffering from cardiac arrest.
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For those in Victoria, 92 locally acquired cases is the highest daily total for this year.
But the good news is that over 51,000 people went and got tested in the last 24 hours.
📌 92 local cases for Victoria.
— Dr Sandro Demaio (@SandroDemaio) August 28, 2021
📌 61 linked.
📌 Further information to come from @VicGovDH.
👉 Strong testing continues, with 51K tests yesterday.
🏆 Shoutout to testing crews across the state. Heroes, all of you.#covid19vic
Victoria reports 92 Covid cases
Victoria has recorded 92 locally acquired Covid-19 cases, 61 of which have been linked to existing cases.
We don’t yet know how many were in isolation for their infectious period.
Reported yesterday: 92 new local cases and 1 new case acquired overseas (currently in HQ).
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) August 28, 2021
- 31,436 vaccine doses were administered
- 51,030 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl1hf3W#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData [1/2] pic.twitter.com/AJHvafjSxh
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Good morning! It’s Justine Landis-Hanley here, bringing you the news for Sunday 29 August.
Reports today that Victorian authorities will extend the Melbourne lockdown, set to end this Thursday. The state recorded 64 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, only 36 of which had been in quarantine through their infectious period.
All eyes are on a growing “cluster of concern” in Port Melbourne, linked to a Woolworths and car wash, with four cases confirmed so far.
But first, let’s take a quick look at the key events from yesterday.
- NSW had a record 1035 new local infections and two more deaths reported on Saturday, taking the state’s death toll from the current outbreak to 83.
- Despite growing cases, the Berejiklian government announced a small easing of restrictions from Friday 3 September to allow couples to marry with five guests in attendance.
- ACT recorded 26 new cases, 15 of which had been in quarantine. There is no word on whether their lockdown will end on Thursday as planned.
- Home affairs minister Karen Andrews said Australia’s operations in Afghanistan had concluded, with 4,100 people evacuated by Australian forces, and that the government is now focusing on the resettlement.
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