Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Ben Doherty (now) and Justine Landis-Hanley (earlier)

NSW confirms 1,485 new cases and three deaths; Victoria now at 60% with first dose – as it happened

There’s rain coming (don’t worry, I’m inside) and the umpires are checking the light, so we might call stumps for today. Thanks all for your comments, correspondence and company. All of you, be well (and listen to Professor Peter Doherty (no relation - or none that I’m aware of): get vaccinated if you can).

A summary of today’s Covid-19 developments in Australia.

  • New South Wales recorded 1,485 new Covid-19 cases and three deaths.
  • NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian also announced that 40% of the state population has been fully vaccinated, and 70% have received their first dose. She flagged that restrictions will likely ease in October, saying that it is “the month where all of us will feel relief”.
  • Victoria recorded 183 new cases. Authorities also announced that more than 60% of the state population over 16 years old have received at least one Covid-19 vaccine, ahead of schedule.
  • Queensland recorded one new locally transmitted case, the mother of a four-year-old girl who tested positive on Friday. Authorities are also aware of two positive cases in NSW who were infectious while in QLD.
  • ACT recorded 15 new local cases, of which 13 are linked. Six were in isolation for their entire infectious period, and seven for part of their infectious period. It doesn’t look as though restrictions will ease for the territory this week.
  • New Zealand recorded 20 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total number in the outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant to 801.

This man is a national treasure...

Honestly, it’s enough to drive one to drink. What times does Dan Murphy’s open again?

For more on the prof, this ‘prof’-ile is delightful. From Paul Daley.

The inimitable Casey Briggs of the ABC. Loves a graph that fella.

Updated

AAP has an updated report on the man killed by police during a terrorist attack in an Auckland supermarket:

Ismail Fareeda, the mother of the Auckland supermarket terrorist Aathil Samsudeen, believes her son was radicalised by his neighbours while living in New Zealand.

Samsudeen was shot and killed by police on Friday after a stabbing rampage which injured seven people.

In the days since the attack, Samsudeen’s allegiance to radical terror outfit Islamic State has become plain.

Fareeda, who lives in Kattankudy in Sri Lanka, told local station Hiru TV she believed a defining chapter in her son’s life came in 2016.

“We knew there was a change in him. The change came after he left the country,” she said.

Samsudeen arrived in NZ in 2011 on a student visa, gaining refugee status on appeal in 2013.

The NZ Herald reports he was “persistently re-experiencing traumatic events” after his arrival, and living alone heightened his anxiety without support.

The New Lynn supermarket in Auckland, New Zealand, scene of a “terrorist attack” on Friday
The New Lynn supermarket in Auckland, New Zealand, scene of a “terrorist attack” on Friday Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock

Fareeda said he was injured in a fall in 2016, and relied on neighbours, “the only people who helped him”, to recover.

“Those neighbours from Syria and Iraq are the ones who brainwashed him,” she said.

NZ’s deputy prime minister Grant Robertson said the government did not have “any evidence to support that claim”.

Samsudeen came to attention of NZ Police in 2016 after making Facebook posts sympathetic to Islamic State bombings in Europe.

“The reason that the terrorist came to the attention of authorities was his online activity,” Mr Robertson said.

“That’s been the main focus of interest. And I want to reiterate, we are not looking for anybody else in this situation.”

Samsudeen’s family issued a statement on Saturday, empathising with victims and New Zealanders.

“Our family would like to send our love and support to those who were hurt in the horrible act yesterday. We are so shaken by what has happened and we do not know what to do,” the statement, issued in brother Aroos’s name, read.

“We are heartbroken by this terrible event.”

Aroos said his brother was “suffering from some mental health problems in his life”.

“He suffered a lot during his political torture at home,” he said.

“We saw his mental health got worse and worse during the (past) 10 years or so ... he wanted help and support. He told us that all the time.”

Robertson said the government considered using mental health provisions to detain Samsudeen on his release from prison in July.

“There were attempts throughout this process for (mental health) issues to be dealt with. Unfortunately none of those attempts have been able to change the state of mind,” he said.

New Zealand deputy prime minister Grant Robertson
New Zealand deputy prime minister Grant Robertson Photograph: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

On his release, Samsudeen was ordered to reside at an Auckland mosque, which agreed to supervise him.

Robertson denied the government dropped the ball on mental health support services to the man.

“It wasn’t just that he was handed over and everyone forgot about him,” Robertson said.

“All of the services that you would expect to be involved were in place.”

Vaccination deadline extended for workers in Sydney local government areas

NSW Health has announced it has extended the deadline for authorised workers from local government areas (LGAs) of concern to get vaccinated to allow them to work outside their home LGA. The new deadline is 19 September.

The cut-off, which was to be 6 September (having originally been 30 August, with the option instead for rapid antigen testing), has been extended again, this time nearly a fortnight. Workers must have had one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine by 19 September. Authorised workers have until 8 September to book a vaccination appointment.

A nurse administers a Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine in Sydney
A nurse administers a Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine in Sydney Photograph: Brendon Thorne/AAP

From NSW Health:

Following consultation with industry, authorised workers from local government areas (LGAs) of concern now have until the end of 19 September 2021 to get vaccinated to allow them to continue to work outside of the LGA they live in, provided they have booked their COVID-19 vaccination by the end of Wednesday 8 September 2021.

The extended deadline means authorised workers from the LGAs of concern must have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of Sunday 19 September to continue to work outside the LGA they live in from 20 September.

Authorised workers who are not yet vaccinated will have until the end of Wednesday 8 September 2021 to book their vaccination. From 9 September, authorised workers will be required to carry evidence of their booking if they wish to leave their LGA for work.

The requirement also applies to a relevant care worker aged 16 and over whose place of residence or place of work is in an LGA of concern. This includes those who work in an early education and care facility or who provide disability support services.

Authorised workers under the age of 16 years remain exempt from the requirement to be vaccinated.

If an authorised worker is not vaccinated or does not have a medical contraindication form, they will not be able to work outside their LGA after 19 September 2021. Workers from the LGAs of concern are offered priority bookings for vaccination.

Please use the following links for priority bookings:

The LGAs of concern are Bayside, Blacktown, Burwood, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Liverpool, Parramatta, Strathfield and the following suburbs of Penrith: Caddens, Claremont Meadows, Colyton, Erskine Park, Kemps Creek, Kingswood, Mount Vernon, North St Marys, Orchard Hills, Oxley Park, St Clair, and St Marys.

I’m just about to finish up for today, folks. But first, here are the main headlines from today:

  • New South Wales recorded 1,485 new Covid-19 cases and three deaths.
  • NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian also announced that 40% of the state population has been fully vaccinated, and 70% have received their first dose. She flagged that restrictions will likely ease in October, saying that it is “the month where all of us will feel relief”.
  • Victoria recorded 183 new cases. Authorities also announced that more than 60% of the state population over 16 years old have received at least one Covid-19 vaccine, ahead of schedule.
  • Queensland recorded one new locally transmitted case, the mother of a four-year-old girl who tested positive on Friday. Authorities are also aware of two positive cases in NSW who were infectious while in QLD.
  • ACT recorded 15 new local cases, of which 13 are linked. Six were in isolation for their entire infectious period, and seven for part of their infectious period. It doesn’t look as though restrictions will ease for the territory this week.
  • New Zealand recorded 20 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total number in the outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant to 801.

Thanks so much for joining me today. I will once again hand over to the brilliant Ben Doherty.

Updated

Here are our updated national vaccination numbers:

The Australian Christian Lobby received $138,000 in jobkeeper payments last year despite reporting surging revenue, according to Nine newspapers.

The Morrison government has come under fire in recent days for its refusal to publish the list of profitable companies and organisations that wrongly received jobkeeper payments.

Just this morning, independent senator Rex Patrick threatened to withdraw his support for the government’s EPBC Act amendments if they don’t release the names.

Updated

If you have been struggling mentally during the pandemic, you are not alone.

Guardian Australia journalist Calla Wahlquist spoke to Melbourne psychologist Chris Cheers, who said that we are experiencing a “complex and quite ambiguous loss”, which is what makes it difficult to process.

“When the losses are so ambiguous and complex, it’s really difficult to reach that place of acceptance, so we just kind of get stuck. Stuck in the grief and stuck in the distress.”

Read more:

In international news, New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern said the country had tried for years to deport the terrorist who stabbed shoppers in an Auckland supermarket on Friday, before being shot dead by the police officers tasked with watching him.

Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen, a 32-year-old Sri Lankan man, was fighting to keep his refugee status in New Zealand when he carried out the attack, which Ardern said was inspired by the Islamic State.

Updated

There is a positive Covid-19 case in the regional town of Wodonga, Victoria.

Looks like Labor has chosen to lean into the ‘Daddy McGowan’ brand.

Australian tennis player Ash Barty is out of the US Open, after losing to US player Shelby Rogers.

Barty reflected on her “disappointing” loss, but had nothing but kind words to say about her opponent.

There are certain people on the tour that I think no matter the result you know you’re always going to get a genuine handshake, a smile, you’re going to get that genuine respect. For me Shelby has always been one of those people.

It sucks in tennis that there’s a winner and loser every single day, but sometimes you don’t mind losing to certain people. I think Shelby in a sense of her personality and her character, she’s certainly one of those for me.

Updated

Man dies after shark attack near Coffs Harbour

Unfortunately, a man has tragically died after suffering a shark bite to the arm near Coffs Harbour.

Emergency crews attempted to resuscitate the man, but he later died as a result of significant injuries, a NSW Police spokesperson said.

Updated

Thank you so much to the amazing Ben Doherty for bringing us the news over lunch (and for giving me the chance to go make some pasta. I appreciate you, Ben!).

It’s Justine Landis-Hanley here again to bring you the headlines this afternoon.

But for now, here’s a delightful video of a happy little platypus being released into Royal National Park.

Updated

And a list of ACT exposure sites (including at the evocatively named Swinger Hill)*.

  • *It’s named after the bloke who surveyed it.

Updated

Those NSW figures in full:

From our friends at AAP:

An asylum seeker has been told at least one guard at a Melbourne detention centre has tested positive for Covid-19.

The man, who is being held at Melbourne’s Park Hotel, said an Australian Border Force officer told detainees on Saturday that a guard who has the virus worked at the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation (Mita).

Guards often shift detainees between the hotel and Mita, but the ABF officer told the asylum seeker that the guard hadn’t visited the hotel.

“This guy came and ABF – and he was like saying one of the staff get Covid but he is not been here – he didn’t come here [the hotel],” the asylum seeker said.

“And people get very angry here.”

The man said fellow asylum seekers detained at the hotel were worried they were being put at risk as guards there had not been wearing their face masks properly.

Signage along the perimeter fence of the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation complex in Broadmeadows, Melbourne
Signage along the perimeter fence of the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation complex in Broadmeadows, Melbourne Photograph: James Ross/AAP

The Refugee Action Coalition said they had been told another guard at Mita has also tested positive with at least nine other guards who were working on Saturday afternoon told to isolate.

“The federal and state governments have been warned so many times that it was just a matter of time,” RAC spokesperson Ian Rintoul said in a statement.

“The federal government’s own literature says detention centres are a danger zone.

“The detention is a particular worry, as many detainees have underlying medical conditions that make them more vulnerable to serious illness.

“The people in immigration detention should be released. It is a disgrace that they have not been released before this, but it’s time for the government to act.”

Comment has been sought from the ABF.

Updated

The ABC is reporting a serious shark attack on the NSW north coast.

ABC Coffs Coast reports:

New South Wales paramedics are responding to a shark attack at Emerald Beach, north of Coffs Harbour.

CPR is currently in progress after a man was bitten on the arm, sustaining serious injuries.

The Westpac Rescue Helicopter has been deployed.

We are seeking further details.

The federal opposition’s treasury spokesperson, Jim Chalmers, said government minister Stuart Robert had “completely torpedoed the destructive and dishonest claims that the prime minister and the treasurer have been making about the rigidity of the national plan.”

As we reported earlier today, Robert left the door open to changing the national reopening plan amid growing concerns about the health system’s capacity to cope with increasing Covid-19 case numbers. Robert told ABC’s Insiders program: “Goodness, anything could change next week.”

Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers
Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Chalmers told reporters today:

The minister today in his rambling, train wreck of an interview, has really belled the cat on what Scott Morrison is doing here. Scott Morrison wants to pretend that we can open up at all costs.

Chalmers said the prime minister should stop “playing politics with the national plan” and instead “work constructively with the states and with the Australian community more broadly, so that we can open up safely and confidently and responsibly when the time comes.”

This Morrison government is a bin fire of inconsistency and incoherence and incompetence ... This prime minister has created a climate of conflict to distract from his own failures on vaccines and quarantine, which are locking down our communities and smashing our economy.

Updated

The inestimable Justine Landis-Hanley, my many thanks for your distinguished and assured stewardship thus far.

I’m handing over to my brilliant colleague, Ben Doherty, to bring you the news over lunch!

Returning to Queensland now … Annastacia Palaszczuk was asked about comments from the federal employment minister, Stuart Robert, that the national opening up plan might have to change.

The Queensland premier said:

Look, well, he’s not at national cabinet, right, and I think the very clear message here is national cabinet wants to get this right and the Doherty Institute is doing more work and when we get that extra work we will come in and have a good discussion about it.

Palaszczuk – who was in the spotlight last week over her comments about children being vulnerable to Covid-19 – said national cabinet “had a really good discussion on Friday”.

Everyone wants to keep families safe ... There is more data and modelling that’s going to be coming in from the Doherty Institute and what we are hearing about the 80% plus vaccination rates for all of the country was very encouraging. So we’re going to continue those discussions.

Palaszczuk pivoted to send a message to Queenslanders to keep putting out their arms for vaccination:

This is like an emergency. This is to avoid our hospitals becoming overrun with Covid patients and people getting sick. We have this window of opportunity, this is an emergency, to go and get vaccinated. So I want to see that vaccination rate increase as we get the extra supply from the federal government and, well done, they have been able to source extra supply, but this is the window of opportunity, September, October, to get vaccinated. I cannot stress this enough on Queensland families.

The Queensland premier said she would like to see “a lot more than 80%” of people get vaccinated, because the higher the rate the better the chance of reducing the risk.

Asked about Scott Morrison’s push to open up by Christmas, she said everyone “wants to have hope”.

But the way to do that is to get vaccinated – that’s the key.

Updated

Interesting: in the ACT, 95% of Covid-19 cases have been genomically linked to the start of the outbreak. Authorities suspect that a small number of cases have come into the ACT from NSW.

Updated

Over 85% of the ACT’s Covid-19 cases are under the age of 45.

A majority of those who have tested positive have also waited at least two days after experiencing symptoms to go and get a Covid-19 test.

Updated

ACT chief minister Andrew Barr announced that over 70% of the ACT population over 16 has received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

He added that the territory is about a week away from hitting 50% of people aged over 16 fully vaccinated.

Updated

ACT records 15 new cases

ACT has recorded 15 new locally transmitted Covid-19 cases. Of these 13 are linked, six were in isolation for their entire infection, and seven for part of their infection.

ACT chief minister Andrew Barr has indicated that restrictions aren’t set to ease this week.

Updated

In better news, over 60% of Victorians have received at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose!

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has confirmed that the state’s contact tracers have stopped calling confirmed Covid-19 cases this week, instead sending them text messages.

Berejiklian:

As case numbers increase, it obviously stresses the system and work have been streamlining the processes that track...Over the last several days, we have been using text messages for cases to give them clear information about what they need to do in terms of staying at home, isolating, caring for themselves, seeking additional care where necessary.

A walk up Covid testing clinic in Auburn, west of Sydney.
A walk up Covid testing clinic in Auburn, west of Sydney. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Updated

NSW minister of health Dr Jeremy McAnulty was asked about reports that three children, including a baby, are in intensive care with Covid-19.

He said that over 2,000 children with Covid-19 are being cared for by the children’s hospital network.

So unfortunately, but rarely, people, including children, do require intensive care. Overall, children do very well and with Covid, but there is always a spectrum of disease of any age group.

Updated

Berejiklian has also been questioned on whether the state’s hospital system is coping with the continuous rise in Covid-19 cases.

Berejiklian said “the short answer is: absolutely”, adding that every hospital system has “it’s bad days”.

We have experts throughout our system who have been working on this plan for 18 months, and they will be frankly and directly talking to you about the plan and what we expect and how we will have to do things differently because we are not in a typical situation. Our health system is the best in Australia, but even in the absence of a pandemic, it has bad days. All health systems have a bad day but in the midst of a pandemic we can appreciate what that would be like, but having said that, the resources and planning and staff are there and we will provide the information in detail this week.

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian speaks to the media in Sydney, Sunday, 5 September 2021.
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian speaks to the media in Sydney, Sunday, 5 September 2021. Photograph: Brendon Thorne/AAP

Updated

Berejiklian has been asked what the current hospitalisation rate for those in the state who have contracted the Delta strain, including those who are getting treatment at home.

The question appears to nod to a piece by journalist Rick Morton in The Saturday Paper this weekend, who reported there are a further 1,700 people who are receiving hospital grade care for coronavirus in their own homes in NSW.

Berejiklian maintained there are “around 1,000 people in hospital...about 170 in the ICU and 11,000 being cared for in the community”.

Berejiklian:

Case numbers into the future will be less relevant. The number is how many people require hospitalisation and how many people require intensive care. If you don’t need to be in hospital, that means your Covid case is being managed. You might be fully vaccinated and fine at home. If you need oxygen you will be taken to hospital. If you have breathlessness, severe symptoms, do not hesitate to call an ambulance.

Dubbo hospital.
Dubbo hospital. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

Updated

Back to NSW, premier Gladys Berejiklian has been asked whether restrictions will also be eased in those local government areas of concern once the state hits those 70% to 80% fully vaccinated targets.

Berejiklian:

As much as possible...We need to check the health advice and in some parts of regional NSW, for example, we will be making a decision this week as to what happens to the regions post 10 September because the lockdown technically goes until Friday. These are considerations we do on a daily basis but the two principles that guide us: not to burden citizens anymore than we need to, and secondly where possible to have the rules consistent across the state as much as possible.

Updated

Back to Victoria, premier Dan Andrews said the Delta outbreak in the state is a “pandemic of the unvaccinated”, highlighting that 91% of new cases reported Sunday were in people under 50.

The highly transmissible Delta strain is most prevalent across younger cohorts who have not had the same opportunity to get vaccinated as older groups.

The age breakdown confirms that this is a pandemic of the unvaccinated.

Of the new cases today, 91% are under 50. Victoria has 89 cases in hospital, 24 in intensive care units and 13 on ventilators.

Only one person who is in hospital has been fully vaccinated, again, making the point that if you are double-dose protected with either of the vaccines that are available then you are almost certain to avoid very serious illness.

It’s another reminder and important point to make about an appointment to get vaccinated and vaccinated quickly.

Victoria has 1,714 active cases: 216 cases are aged 0-9; 232 are aged 10-19; 348 are aged in their 20s; and 245 are aged in their 30s.

Department of Health and Human Services staff prepare to enter a Tier 2 exposure site at a Brunswick apartment in Melbourne.
Department of Health and Human Services staff prepare to enter a Tier 2 exposure site at a Brunswick apartment in Melbourne. Photograph: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Updated

'October is the month where all of us will feel relief,' Berejiklian says

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has said that “October is the month where all of us will feel relief” as NSW will “be on the home stretch”.

Once we get over the peak of number of cases, people will feel more positive about the next few weeks, turn their minds to prepare children to go to school, people enjoying those things in life we have not been able to do for a long time. It has been a difficult time but also one in which we have done as well as we can to protect life, to ensure wellbeing and also to minimise what we’re doing in the community.

Updated

New Zealand records 20 new Covid cases

New Zealand authorities have ALSO just provided their Covid-19 update.

New Zealand has reported 20 new cases of coronavirus in the community, bringing the total number in the outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant to 801. It is the fifth day in a row cases numbers have remained low, and an encouraging sign the strict lockdown measures are working.

Since Sunday’s likely peak of 83 cases, daily case numbers have been 53, 49, 75, 49, 28 and now 20, two days in a row.

The country recorded the first death from the outbreak on Saturday – a woman in her 90s who died in Auckland’s North Shore hospital on Friday night.

There are 38 people in hospital, with six people in intensive case, and four patients requiring ventilation machines.

As of Sunday morning, 38,120 close contacts had been identified, with 90% of those tested for the virus. More than 77,000 vaccine doses were administered on Saturday.

Deputy prime minister Grant Robertson said:

We are heading in the right direction when it comes to getting in control of the virus, but the job is not done yet.

With Delta, there is no room for complacency, so please, stick to your bubble; stay under the one roof. That means no going and visiting your family and friends, isolate if you’re a contact and get a test if you’re sick. Let’s double down and let’s get the job done.

People exercising at Western Springs Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
People exercising at Western Springs Park in Auckland, New Zealand. Photograph: Fiona Goodall/Getty Images

Updated

Over to Victoria, where authorities are also providing today’s Covid-19 update.

Victoria has recorded 183 new Covid-19 cases, 101 of which are linked to known outbreaks. 82 cases remain under investigation.

Premier Dan Andrews praised Victorians for their willingness to sign up for, and attend vaccination appointments.

We have hit our 60% first dose administered target and we are well on our way to achieving the 1m jabs over a five-week period.

We are indeed ahead of that a bit and we should meet that target ahead of schedule.

Andrews praised Victoria’s testing regime saying 98-99% of test results within the states are returned within 24 hours, allowing contact tracers to quickly track down areas of outbreak.

Updated

Berejiklian has been asked about an interview with federal employment minister, Stuart Robert, on ABC Insiders this morning. During the interview, Robert appeared to flip-flop on Australia’s plan to ease lockdown once we hit 70% to 80% vaccinations targets, admitting that that plan could be subject to change.

Reporter:

The federal minister Stuart Robert said on TV that the national plan including targets of 70 and 80% is malleable, that it is subject to change. Is that your understanding, and if that is not your understanding, would NSW go it alone?

Berejiklian:

It has always been the case that when you hit 70% double dose you can give freedoms to your community that otherwise went there, but what NSW looks like it 70% double dose might be different to what WA looks like anything that is what the federal minister was referring to. In WA they have no cases, they might want to keep things the same. They do not have restrictions in place at all but in NSW, if we are at 70% double dose, we will have QR codes and density rules and will make sure there is good social distancing, at events. That is the point. This is why the national plan looks well because every state is able to open up depending on what is going on...

Updated

NSW hits 40% fully vaccinated, 70% with first dose

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced that 40% of the state population has been fully vaccinated.

She added that 70% of the population has received their first dose.

When we hit 80% first dose we will be confident we can get 80% double dose. Not many places in the world have done that and I am confident we will.

Members of the Indigenous community receive their Covid vaccines at a pop-up clinic in Redfern, Sydney.
Members of the Indigenous community receive their Covid vaccines at a pop-up clinic in Redfern, Sydney. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/EPA

Updated

In regional NSW, the western NSW local health district recorded 32 cases, bringing the total to 791. These include 23 cases in Dubbo, three in Orange, two in Blaney, and one in Narromine.

In the far west, four cases were reported yesterday, including one in Broken Hill.

There have been 12 new cases recorded in the Hunter region, bringing the total there to 228.

Another seven cases are in Port Stephens, two are in Maitland, one is from Armadale, but that is under further investigation as authorities think it may be a false positive.

One case is from the Upper Shire and one is from Cessnock.

Illawarra has recorded eight in the Wollongong area and one in Shellharbour.

The Central Coast has also recorded seven new cases, bringing the total to 100.

Updated

There were 115,495 Covid-19 tests administered yesterday.

There are currently 1,030 people admitted to hospital, 175 of which are in intensive care. Of those, 72 people require ventilation.

Sadly, three patients with Covid-19 have passed away. These include a woman in her 50s from western Sydney, who died at Blacktown hospital; a woman in her 70s from south-western Sydney, who died at Campbelltown hospital; and a man in his 70s from south-western Sydney, who died at Liverpool hospital.

Updated

NSW records 1,485 new cases and three deaths

New South Wales has recorded 1,485 locally acquired cases, and three deaths.

Updated

We are about to turn to NSW, where authorities are due to hold a press conference with today’s Covid-19 update shortly.

Young says that NSW Health has alerted Queensland authorities to two new cases that were infectious in Queensland.

The first is a fully vaccinated Qantas pilot, who lives on quite an isolated cattle property out towards Kingaroy. He travelled from his home to Brisbane where he saw his mother. He then travelled to Brisbane airport, flew to Hong Kong, and then flew back to Melbourne, where he tested negative. He also travelled down to Tamworth. Authorities are waiting on the genome sequence to see whether he contracted the virus in Tamworth or Hong Kong. At this stage, health authorities are not too concerned because he was at home during his infectious period, and his wife and children have tested negative.

The second person is a truck driver who lives in NSW, and travelled up through Queensland. He travelled through Archerfield and Coopers Plains, and then travelled straight back down to NSW. Young says he had some exposure time at the Archerfield BP, but otherwise very minimal exposure in Queensland.

Updated

Queensland chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young is providing more information about the state’s one locally acquired case.

The mother of the four-year-old tested negative twice before testing positive in the last 24 hours.

Young has also put a call out to anyone in the Logan/Beenleigh community who attended a nail salon, Stylish Nails, last Monday. The salon has become an exposure site. But not many people checked in using QR codes, and so health authorities are still struggling to track down those customers

Updated

This brings the total to 16 active cases in Queensland.

Palaszczuk is urging Queenslanders to go and get vaccinated. In the last 24 hours, Queensland Health administered 15,880 vaccines.

This means that 52.7% of the state has had at least one dose, and 34.14% are fully vaccinated.

Updated

Queensland records one new case

Queensland has recorded only one new locally acquired Covid-19 case, the mother of the four-year-old daughter who tested positive on Friday.

The mother was in isolation.

Updated

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is due to give a Covid-19 update at 10.45am.

Updated

Three children are in the ICU in Sydney with Covid-19, news.com.au has reported.

Two children are under the age of 10, one of whom is an infant. Both are on ventilators.

Another child is under the age of 12 and is being treated with a high flow CPAP machine, which is a mask that increases pressure in the airways and can help inhaling and exhaling air.

All three children have underlying health conditions.

Updated

Senator Rex Patrick delivers jobkeeper ultimatum

Independent federal senator, Rex Patrick, appears to have tweeted an ultimatum to the government: be transparent about the profitable corporations that wrongly pocketed jobkeeper, or he will withdraw support for the government’s changes to the EPBC Act.

The government needs Patrick’s vote in the Senate to pass the legislation.

Patrick has been asking for the ATO to release a list of the companies that received jobkeeper, and how much they received.

Updated

Finally, Speers asked Robert why the government won’t, at least, publish a list for taxpayers of “where the money went and let the firms decide whether to pay it back”?

But Robert argued that that would interfere with the privacy of these companies.

Robert:

The transparency if you like, or what pertained in the Senate which was a demand for all the records of so many Australian companies, and vast majority of them being small to medium enterprises under tax law, that would substantially invade the privacy and would substantially make a huge step in the wrong direction as to how we manage the privacy of all of those individuals and all of those companies, David. It would be a massive retrograde step in how we do things.

Updated

Turning to jobkeeper, Speers pointed out that $13bn went to firms with rising revenues (some of whom actually tripled their revenues). Speers asked Robert why the government hasn’t demanded these firms repay their jobkeeper payments, while 11,000 welfare recipients have been asked to do so?

Robert:

The law requires, the law has been in place for decades across multiple governments, and likewise the law, jobkeeper – which was passed through Parliament and Labor agreed with it was to provide from March to September last year – that if you had a downturn, you had a prospective payment at $1,500.

Speers:

Why not have the same rule apply. If you get overpaid, you have to pay it back?

Robert:

Because Treasury’s advice was we need to give as much prospective guidance and confidence as possible. In fact, in April, view that the average downturn across those firms in Australia, 3.8 million workers covered was 37% downturn, so it was highly targeted and on Treasury advice.

(Put your hand up if this argument has you confused as well.)

Updated

David Speers moved on to question Stuart Robert on Insiders this morning about what the federal government will do to support those, especially low-income earners, who test positive for Covid-19 and need to isolate.

Robert said that the government would continue to plan and announce support, but wouldn’t provide any further details.

Robert:

We will continue to work through what these measures look like and announce them when required, but our track record has shown that we have stepped up and taken care of Australians in very difficult circumstances.

Updated

This exchange pretty much sums up the first half of Speers’ interview with Robert on ABC Insiders this morning:

Speers:

So I’m clear: we should have a framework and stick to it, but it might shift and we have to change?

Robert:

Of course plans shift. You will have a plan for your show next week and I’m sure you will change it when things come up.

Speers:

But lives are at not at risk. Hopefully lives are not at stake.

Updated

Then there is a lot of confusing back and forth about whether or not Australia has a plan to open up at 80%, or whether that plan can and should change. Robert seems to be trying to argue both points.

On the one hand, Robert insists that we can be confident that we should open up at 80% (even though we haven’t seen the updated modelling from the Doherty Institute).

When pressed on this point, Robert says that the original Doherty Institute modelling “is a framework of 80%. That is why the national plan is there. That’s why we need the framework”.

But then Robert also says that “we will continue to do further work, as we move into the months ahead”.

Asked if the plan might “move or shift, or is set in stone?”, Robert snapped back:

Oh, goodness, David, look at the last 12 months, things have been shifting on a daily and weekly basis. A plan is always a basis for change, it has to be.

Updated

But Speers isn’t satisfied with Robert’s reasoning. He points out that the Doherty Institute has done further modelling on the pressure that hospitals are likely to face at reopening, given the higher case numbers we are seeing in NSW and Victoria.

So, Speers asks, how can we be confident that we are going to open up until we can see what the hospitals are likely to face?

Robert:

Because we started it last year. When we started that first big six months, especially from March to September, we were faced with very genuine fears that we have faced now, great overloads of the hospital system, hence why we made available every bed in hospitals, a lot of investment in terms of ventilators and the like, so a lot of that work started then. That was 12 months ago. We’ve had 12 months of planning now...

Speers:

I appreciate that, but why is the further work necessary now?

Robert:

Like all things, now that we’ve got the Delta strain, last year we planned for a different strain, so it’s always cautionary faced with a different problem in this case, a different virus, one should always update what you are looking at...

Updated

David Speers is speaking with employment minister Stuart Robert on ABC Insiders.

Speers asks Robert when he thinks Queensland – his home state – should open its border (premier Annastacia Palaszczuk suggested this week that the borders shouldn’t reopen until children under 12 are vaccinated).

Robert says that, as per the national plan, interstate borders should reopen once 70% to 80% of the population is vaccinated.

Speers points out that the Doherty Institute modelling (on which the national reopening plan is based) doesn’t discuss interstate borders.

But Robert argues that “it says that lockdowns would be very, very rare and targeted, if indeed they were needed, and if lockdowns were very rare and targeted, ipso facto, you wouldn’t need state borders closed.”

Updated

A federal government frontbencher has ramped up the Morrison government’s criticism of the Queensland premier, saying it is “pretty despicable” for any political leaders to raise fear among parents.

The federal assistant treasurer, Michael Sukkar, took aim at comments Annastacia Palaszczuk made last week about the vulnerability of children if the nation opened up at this stage. Palaszczuk had spoken of the need for updated modelling on how children would be impacted by the relaxation of border restrictions, saying: “You open up this state and you let the virus in here and every child under 12 is vulnerable, every single child.”

In an interview on Sky News this morning, Sukkar said:

I thought that was an obviously ill informed statement and seemingly to me designed to put fear in parents, that’s what it seemed to me.

Sukkar – a Victorian MP – said evidence showed Covid-19 was “much more devastating for older cohorts and older population groups, and that it is relatively low in the case of children.”

From the outside looking in, they [the comments] seem to be designed to put fear into parents which I think is a pretty despicable thing to do at the moment. There’s a lot of fear, there’s a lot of fear, and there’s nothing that is going to make you more fearful as a parent [than] ... the health of your children.

And that’s why it’s so important that we speak in facts, that we you know we don’t over blow our rhetoric, that we’re mentioned in what we say as political leaders and I think the most charitable thing I can say about the premier of Queensland’s statement there was that it was far from measured.

Labor’s federal deputy leader, Richard Marles, also appeared to backtrack from his comments on Friday when he distanced himself from Palaszcuk’s comments.

Marles said Palaszczuk had made clear that she supported the national plan and “that’s important”, and she had done “a fantastic job as the premier of Queensland” and had “runs on the board” in terms of suppressing Covid case numbers.

Marles called for federal government leadership which “we’ve not had from Scott Morrison from day one”.

Updated

NSW announces emergency accommodation site in Wilcannia

NSW Health has announced new community support accommodation for Wilcannia will open at Victory Park Caravan Park early this week to help close contacts of people with Covid-19 safely isolate.

Work is being done to establish the site, which includes 30 motorhomes that will provide temporary accommodation options. Accommodation will be free, all meals will be provided, and staff will be on ground 24/7 to support the community.

A dedicated emergency management hub at the Wilcannia showground has also been established to house staff and support services.

Updated

The deputy leader of the federal opposition, Richard Marles, has accused the federal government of “sabre rattling, abuse [and] constant criticism” of state governments, arguing this won’t help achieve the national opening up plan.

During an interview with Sky News this morning, Marles said the Morrison government’s approach “doesn’t build trust and it doesn’t build confidence and it doesn’t get everyone on the same page”.

Marles was asked about warnings by the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, that there should be “no expectations on behalf of the premiers and chief ministers that the commonwealth will continue the scale of economic support that we currently have in place” if they continued to impose lockdowns once vaccination rates increased.

Marles said:

I think what we’re seeing from the federal government is an inability to work constructively with states in terms of the tone they strike, in the way in which they’re going about this. We need to be getting past Covid-19 – there’s no question of that.

We need to be now backing in the national plan, listening to the medical advice, and doing everything we can to get to the other side … The sabre rattling, abuse, constant criticism, which we’ve seen, particularly from the treasurer in respect of Victoria doesn’t help. It doesn’t build trust and it doesn’t build confidence and it doesn’t get everyone on the same page.

Updated

Murdoch University law lecturer Lorraine Finlay has been named Australia’s new human rights commissioner.

Her prior experience also includes working as a senior human trafficking specialist with the Australian mission to Asean and a state prosecutor at the Western Australia office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Updated

Victoria records 183 new cases

Victoria has recorded 183 new Covid-19 cases, 101 of which are linked to known outbreaks.

No news yet on how many of these cases were in isolation during their infectious period.

Updated

All eyes are on the Victoria Department of Health’s Twitter for today’s Covid-19 case numbers.

Today is the second Father’s Day Victorians are spending in lockdown.

The state reported 190 new locally acquired Covid-19 cases yesterday, down from 208 new cases on Friday. There are 76 people with Covid-19 in Victorian hospitals, including 23 in intensive care.

Victorian industry support minister, Martin Pakula, announced the Victorian government would split $2.34bn in funding with the federal government to support more than 175,000 businesses over the next four weeks

Updated

If you have any good tips/ memes/ tweets, you can send them to me on Twitter at @justinel_h.

NSW state rushes to vaccinate emergency health care workers before tomorrow

Further to my last post, NSW will be prioritising vaccinations for emergency service workers today at four vaccine hubs:

  • Olympic Park
  • Prariewood
  • Bankstown
  • Macquarie Fields

They will be offered the Pfizer vaccine.

Updated

Good morning

Good morning! It’s Justine Landis-Hanley here to bring you the news as it happens on Sunday 5 September, 2021.

All eyes are on New South Wales today, as the state rushes to vaccinate emergency health care workers before tomorrow. That’s because, from tomorrow onwards, residents will not be able to leave their local government area for work unless they have had at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, or evidence of a medical exemption.

Authorities are reportedly prioritising emergency services workers from the LGAs of concern at four vaccine hubs today.

But first, here’s a quick recap of yesterday’s biggest headlines:

  • NSW had another record day for cases, with 1,533 new cases and four deaths.
  • Victorian recorded 190 cases, with authorities warning that cases look as though they will continue to grow slowly but steadily.
  • In the ACT, authorities reported 32 new cases, the worst day so far in the outbreak.
  • In Queensland, around 1,000 families have been told to isolate because a four-year-old who tested positive last night had been infectious in community for two days.
  • Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved Moderna for use in children above 12.

Updated

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Astronaut’s spooky image aboard the ISS sparks fear with some convinced they’re looking at an alien
NASA astronaut Don Pettit has finally shared the real story behind a bizarre, tentacled object photographed aboard the International Space Station (ISS) that had many people online convinced it was an alien. This image, which quickly went viral, had social media users scratching their heads and even feeling a little…
The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue
Woman calls out Starbucks barista online for shooting his shot but soon finds out that the internet isn’t on her side
A woman who took to TikTok to call out a Starbucks barista for what she felt was an inappropriate “secret message” on her coffee cup has found that the internet isn’t quite on her side. Ari Chance shared her experience online, expecting widespread agreement, but instead, viewers offered a mixed…
The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue
People Are Trying to Uncancel Joss Whedon. Why?
Let's not do this!
The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue
Los Angeles woman meets her Hinge date at the Santa Monica farmer’s market. 15 minutes in, one question ends it all
Not worth the extra mile.
We Got This Covered
We Got This Covered
Shaquille O’Neal debunks viral DMs he purportedly sent Sabrina Carpenter: ‘The Diesel got way more game than that’
The former NBA star read the fake messages on his podcast, ‘The Big Podcast with Shaq,’ and joked that he has ‘way more game than that’
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Everything We Know About 'Five Nights at Epstein's': The Viral Game Sweeping US School Campuses
A FNAF-inspired game called 'Five Nights at Epstein's' has gone viral among US students as it takes place in Jeffrey Epstein's Little St. James island, where he lured his victims.
International Business Times UK
International Business Times UK
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play