What happened today, Saturday 26 June 2021
We’ll leave it there for today.
Before I go, here are the main developments of the day:
- Greater Sydney plus the Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong went into lockdown from 6pm today, and the restrictions will last until 11.59pm on Friday 9 July.
- The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, made the announcement on Saturday afternoon, a few hours after authorities announced another 12 new cases, which were reported in areas outside the four LGAs subject to stay-at-home orders.
- The federal government declared greater Sydney a Covid-19 hotspot, which will trigger disaster support payments in a week’s time.
- The prime minister, Scott Morrison, said the decision was “difficult” but “necessary”, as he praised the NSW government’s response.
- The NSW police commissioner, Mick Fuller, confirmed a limousine driver at the centre of the Bondi outbreak will not face charges due to insufficient evidence.
- The Northern Territory chief minister, Michael Gunner, confirmed a Covid case at the Granites gold mine. The man travelled to the NT from Bendigo in Victoria, via Brisbane, where he did hotel quarantine.
- Three people were arrested at a karaoke bar in outback South Australia after allegedly flying into the state from NSW on a private plane.
- Victoria recorded one new case, but in a positive sign, no new infections were reported from a new cluster linked to a man who returned from Sydney.
If you’re in Sydney, please stay safe. We’ll see you tomorrow.
Updated
Three people have been arrested at a karaoke bar in Coober Pedy after they allegedly flew into South Australia from New South Wales on a private plane.
Read more here:
Updated
Here’s the latest from the ACT government in response to the Sydney outbreak:
Due to the rapidly evolving Covid-19 situation in NSW, the ACT government is urgently updating travel directions for people travelling to the ACT from greater Sydney and the surrounding regions.
The safety of the ACT community is paramount and these strengthened travel restrictions are being put in place to help stop the spread of Covid-19 in the territory. These restrictions align with the greater Sydney lockdown that has been announced by the NSW government today and will assist in containing the outbreak.
From 6.00pm tonight, the stay-at-home order currently in place for metropolitan Sydney will be extended to cover all of greater Sydney and the Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong regions.
No travel to and from the whole of greater Sydney and surrounding regions should take place at this time.
While we will not be tightening gathering or business restrictions here in the ACT, we are monitoring the situation closely. In the event that the NSW situation continues to escalate, we are prepared to take relevant precautions as necessary to protect the ACT community. The community and businesses should be prepared for rapid changes.
Updated
New exposure sites in Sydney
NSW Health has been notified of additional venues across Sydney visited by confirmed cases of Covid‑19.
You’ll note the list includes the Crossroads Hotel, which will have Sydneysiders thinking back to 2020. Talk about bad luck.
NSW Health says:
Any person – and their household contacts – who attended or directly received a delivery from Great Ocean Foods on the following days must immediately call NSW Health on 1800 943 553, get tested and isolate until NSW Health provides further advice:
- Marrickville, Great Ocean Foods, 5/11 Cadogan Street, Monday 21 June all day to Friday 25 June all day
Anyone who attended the following venues at the times listed is a close contact and must immediately get tested and isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result, and call 1800 943 553 unless they have already been contacted by NSW Health:
- Potts Point, Café de la Fontaine, 1A Darlinghurst Road, Sunday 20 June, 10.30am to 12.00pm
- Annandale, Revolver Café, 291 Annandale Street, Sunday 20 June, 10.45am to 12.10pm
- Coogee, Churrasco, 240 Coogee Bay Road, Sunday 20 June, 5.30pm to 6.40pm
- Gregory Hills, Woolworths Gregory Hills, cnr of Village Circuit and Gregory Hills Drive, Sunday 20 June, 3pm to 3.30pm
- Double Bay, Matteo Restaurant and Bar, 29 Bay Street, Sunday 20 June, 6.30pm to 8.00pm
- Hurstville, H One Hair Salon, 2/18 Woodville Street, Tuesday 22 June 5.30pm to 6.30pm
- Bondi Beach, Speedo Fitness Club – pool area only, Pacific Building, 180 Campbell Parade, Tuesday 22 June, 4.45pm to 6.15pm
- North Ryde, Macquarie Shopping Centre food court (Level 2), cnr Herring Road and Waterloo Road, Wednesday 23 June, 2pm to 2.30pm
- Casula, Crossroads Hotel, cnr Hume Highway and Camden Valley Way, Wednesday 23 June, 7pm to 10.30pm
- Burwood, Yang’s Dumplings, Shop 9, 11/15 Deane Street, Thursday 24 June, 11am to 11.30am
Anyone who attended any of the following venues at the listed times is a casual contact and must immediately get tested and self-isolate until a negative result is received. Please continue to monitor for symptoms and immediately isolate and get tested if they develop:
- Bondi Junction, Five Star Hot Food, 3/157-165 Oxford Street, Tuesday 22 June, 1.40pm to 1.55pm
- Bondi Beach, Speedo Fitness Club – fitness centre or classes, Pacific Building, 180 Campbell Parade, Tuesday 22 June, 4.45pm to 6.15pm
- Denham Court, Coles Willowdale Neighbourhood Centre, 5 Willowdale Drive, Wednesday 23 June, 9.50am to 10.20am
- Randwick, Bunnings Randwick, cnr Clovelly Road and Kemmis Street, Wednesday 23 June, 9am to 9.30am
- Chullora, Woolworths Chullora Marketplace, 355 Waterloo Road, Thursday 24 June, 7.30am to 8.00am
Anyone who attended the following venue at the time listed must monitor for symptoms and immediately get tested and self-isolate if they develop:
- Bondi Beach, Bondi Pharmacy, 81 Hall Street, Friday 18 June, 1.45pm to 2.45pm
Updated
Scott Morrison says Sydney lockdown difficult but necessary
Scott Morrison has released a video message, saying the news today is “difficult” for his “fellow Sydneysiders”.
He says:
This is a necessary decision that has been taken by the New South Wales government, a decision that they have not rushed to, that they’ve sought to prevent. But at the end of the day this is what’s necessary to stay on top of this latest outbreak.
New South Wales has done an extraordinary job over the course of these past 18 months that we’ve been living with what is a global pandemic. They have not only just the best contact tracing system I believe across Australia but indeed around the world.
Still, Morrison says there is “no absolute guarantee” against this “insidious virus”.
He concluded with the message: “Together, Sydney, we’ll get through this.”
Difficult news for Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Central Coast & Wollongong today as they go into lockdown until Fri 9 July. We’ll get through this together, by looking out for each other & following the measures put in place by the NSW Government.https://t.co/gI4HzREPje
— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) June 26, 2021
Updated
Some good news.
— Jason Clare MP (@JasonClareMP) June 26, 2021
Just heard the NSW Gov is putting homeless Aussies into hotel rooms in the CBD.
The next two weeks are the perfect opportunity to provide these vulnerable Aussies with their first shot of the vaccine 💉
We’ve received some information from the federal government about Covid-19 disaster payments for people in New South Wales.
The government says Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast and Wollongong have been declared hotspots for the purposes of commonwealth support.
It means the Covid-19 disaster payment for the new LGAs will become available on 4 July.
A government statement says:
This payment is for people who reside or work in a commonwealth-declared hotspot and can’t attend work as a result of state-imposed health restrictions lasting greater than one week.
Eligible people will receive $500 if they’ve lost 20 hours or more of work, and $325 if they’ve lost less than 20 hours of work. They must not have liquid assets of more than $10,000 or be in receipt of other payments.
It added that there were seven LGAs declared hotspots on 23 June: City of Sydney, Waverley, Randwick, Canada Bay, Inner West, Bayside and Woollahra.
Residents in these areas will have their Covid-19 disaster payments available from 1 July 2021.
Further information will be made available when this payment comes into effect.
There is no need to contact Services Australia at this time.
For more information and to check your eligibility for payments, visit: servicesaustralia.gov.au/COVID19
Updated
Hello everyone. Luke Henriques-Gomes here. Thanks to Lisa Cox for her great work today.
I’ll be with you for the next short while.
Updated
I’ll be handing over to the excellent Luke Henriques-Gomes, who is going to bring you any developments over the next couple of hours.
Lisa Cox signing off. Stay well.
Information on how the new NSW lockdown rules will apply to people who want to get vaccinated:
- If you are not a close or casual contact of a Covid-19 case you can leave home to get vaccinated.
- If you are a close contact of a Covid-19 case or have been to a close contact venue you must complete your 14-day quarantine and have a negative test before you can get vaccinated.
- If you are a casual contact you must return a negative test and have no symptoms before you can get vaccinated.
NB Stay at Home Order allows person 2 leave home for COVID vaccination, but a CLOSE contact(or have been to close contact venue )should complete self-isolation period b4 going 4 vaccination. A CASUAL contact,must get negative Test result & have no symptoms,b4 going 4 vaccination
— Brad Hazzard (@BradHazzard) June 26, 2021
Updated
With the new health order in NSW taking effect from 6pm, there are a lot of cancellations of events this evening, including in the regions:
My Facebook is filled with cancellation notices for major events in the regions like this, where all the food has been ordered and the venues set up and staff rostered on. A tough day for many in NSW. pic.twitter.com/Xd75irSOyK
— Erin Somerville (@erinbsomerville) June 26, 2021
Updated
And the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, is urging travellers from NSW to follow the new health advice and the lockdown order if they have arrived in Queensland from affected parts of NSW.
The chief health officer, Jeanette Young, says this includes any spectators from the relevant areas who plan to attend Sunday’s State of Origin:
From 6pm, anyone who has been in the greater Sydney, Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong areas since 21 June should isolate wherever they are for a period of two weeks since they left.
That applies to those who have arrived in Queensland.
The premier said this is to stop the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.
“As NSW authorities have pointed out, this variant spreads with very little contact,” she said.
“Anyone who has been in these high-risk areas must isolate.
“I must also warn Queenslanders that now is not the time to go to New South Wales.
“I cannot stress that enough.
“We are watching the situation in New South Wales very, very closely.”
Young said the Delta variant is proving to be highly contagious.
“It takes just five seconds for the virus to transfer and what we are seeing in Sydney is that 100% of household contacts exposed without vaccination are infected,” she said.
“It is very important than anyone in those affected areas since June 21 isolate and get tested if they have any symptoms.”
Updated
Western Australia has issued new advice based on the positive Northern Territory case at the Newmont-owned Granites gold mine in the Tanami Desert, around 540km north-west of Alice Springs.
Anyone who has travelled to WA from the mine will be required to get tested and self-quarantine for 14 days.
The worker, from Victoria, is believed to have been infected with Delta variant at the Airport Novotel Langley quarantine hotel in Brisbane and was potentially infectious from June 18 to June 24.
WA’s chief health officer, Dr Andrew Robertson, said the Department of Health was responding by identifying potential contacts of the case in the NT who had since travelled to WA.
His advice is as follows:
- Anyone who has travelled to WA from Granites gold mine and was at the mine between 18 June (midday) and 25 June 2021 is required to self-quarantine for 14 days and be tested immediately (within 48 hours) and at day 11.
- Anyone from the Northern Territory who was not at the mine and has arrived after 18 June 2021 is required to get tested if they develop any symptoms that may be related to Covid-19.
Updated
Kidd is asked what level of vaccination it will take in the population for major lockdowns to be avoidable.
Kidd avoids answering and repeats some of the current vaccine figures:
The good news is over 67% of people aged 70 and above have received at lease the first dose of our vaccine against Covid-19 and, of course, we are now about three weeks into people who had the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine starting to receive the second doses as well.
People are getting the full level of detection against Covid-19.
Updated
Australia’s deputy chief medical officer, Prof Michael Kidd, is speaking in Canberra.
He says the commonwealth hotspots will be expanded to align with the new NSW lockdown order, taking in the greater Sydney, Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong regions.
Kidd says the government is also aware of the new positive case in a miner in the Northern Territory.
“We are taking this very seriously,” he says.
“The commonwealth is working with the Northern Territory government and the Aboriginal community controlled health services in the affected area to provide whatever support is needed.”
Updated
The NSW opposition leader, Chris Minns, has issued a statement welcoming the decisions made in recent days on the advice of the chief health officer:
These are difficult days for everyone in greater Sydney and the regions and those captured by the stay-at-home orders.
The NSW government is taking necessary actions based on the health advice but these restrictions have very real human impacts.
We’ve got family plans and holidays cancelled, weddings that now can’t go ahead, workers wondering where the next pay is coming from, businesses forced to close down, while frontline health and emergency service workers do everything possible to protect us and keep us safe.
What we need right now is the government focusing on getting the job done.
Now is not the time for politics and NSW Labor will continue to provide support to the government during these dark days.
Updated
Sydney cluster limo driver won't be charged due to 'insufficient evidence'
The NSW police commissioner, Mick Fuller, says a limousine driver at the centre of the Bondi outbreak will not face charges due to insufficient evidence.
“Yesterday I advised we had sent the case for urgent external legal advice due to the significance of this outbreak and the community concern,” Fuller said in a statement.
“I can now confirm we have received advice that there is insufficient evidence to establish that either the limousine driver or his employer breached any public health orders.”
He said police would be enforcing the new public health order in NSW.
“While officers will continue to adopt a fair approach and use discretion, the time for cautions is over,” he said.
In the past 24 hours police had issued seven infringement notices to people not wearing masks.
Officers were patrolling roads on the outskirts of the greater Sydney area and would be “handing out tickets to those who aren’t meant to be there”.
“If you leave your home in the greater Sydney area, you can also expect to see officers patrolling public places and public transport hubs. They are there to keep you safe,” he said.
Updated
Moving away from the situation in NSW for a moment with this story from Kate Banville:
Afghans have begun arriving in Australia after being granted a safe haven for their work alongside Australian troops in Afghanistan amid intensifying violence across the war-torn country.
Guardian Australia has confirmed that about 80 Afghan interpreters and their families have landed in Australia on commercial flights since Thursday. The news was first reported by SBS.
In April, Guardian Australia reported that 41 interpreters had written to the government twice earlier this year pleading for urgent help.
It is understood most of the people listed on the letter are among those who have been able to escape the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, including Tariq Zia who is in hotel quarantine in Melbourne.
Read our story here:
Updated
Afternoon everybody.
You might recall the Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid said on Friday the original lockdown of four local government areas in Sydney did not go far enough. He says today’s decision by the Berejiklian government to expand it is the right one.
The right call made by #NSW today. Let’s channel all the anger and disappointment into the things that will make a difference. Get #Vaccinated and follow public health orders. Sydney has won battles with #COVID before and will again. The war can only be won with vaccines. pic.twitter.com/5257LUx7mh
— AMA President (@amapresident) June 26, 2021
Updated
Well that was a day and a half of news ... and the day isn’t over yet!
My colleague Lisa Cox will bring you developments for the next part of the day.
Elias Visontay, signing off.
Updated
NSW Covid restrictions from 6pm today
A lockdown will apply to all people in Greater Sydney, including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong from 6pm on Saturday.
The lockdown will be in place until 11.59pm on Friday 9 July.
Everyone in Greater Sydney must stay at home unless it is for an essential reason.
The reasons you may leave your home include:
- Shopping for food or other essential goods and services;
- Medical care or compassionate needs (people can leave home to have a COVID-19 vaccination unless you have been identified as a close contact);
- Exercise outdoors in groups of 10 or fewer;
- Essential work, or education, where you cannot work or study from home.
Other important details:
- Weddings be permitted up until 11.59pm, Sunday 27 June, provided they follow Covid-safe spacing rules. From Monday, weddings will not be permitted.
- Funerals will be limited to one person per four square metres with a cap of 100 people, and masks must be worn indoors.
- Community sport will not be permitted during this period.
- Childcare can remain open.
- There is no curfew on leaving your home for an essential reason, and there is no kilometre radius restricting travel for essential reasons.
- Retail stores can open over the lockdown period, but they should fit the essential goods and services description, because residents are only allowed to go to retail stores to acquire essential goods and services.
In all other parts of NSW the following restrictions will apply:
- People who have been in the greater Sydney region (including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong) on or after 21 June should follow the stay-at-home order for a period of 14 days after they left greater Sydney.
- Households will be limited to five guests, including children.
- Masks will be compulsory in all indoor non-residential settings, including workplaces and at organised outdoor events.
- Drinking while standing at indoor venues will not be allowed.
- Singing by audiences and choirs at indoor venues or by congregants at indoor places of worship will not be allowed.
- Dancing will not be allowed at indoor hospitality venues or nightclubs, however dancing is allowed at weddings for the wedding party only (no more than 20 people).
- Dance and gym classes limited to 20 per class (masks must be worn).
- The one person per four square metre rule will be reintroduced for all indoor and outdoor settings, including weddings and funerals.
- Outdoor seated, ticketed events will be limited to 50% seated capacity.
- People across NSW should only enter Greater Sydney for essential purposes
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has flagged financial supports for businesses affected by the lockdown, and the Commonwealth has confirmed that disaster support payments to individuals will be available from 1 July. However there are strict eligibility criteria.
Updated
Brad Hazzard is warning that police outside the lockdown zone will be equipped with technology that can recognise number plates and whether a car is registered to a zone where residents should be locked down.
Police have been tasked to be on the lookout for any vehicles that may have come from the greater Sydney area. And I remind you that they have all sorts of technology these days, including recognition of number plates.
I also remind the community that the regional communities are very aware when they see someone from out of town arrive and they’ll make sure that the police know.
Finally, I want the community to understand to take it seriously, because if the police officer detects that you’re there, and there’s, say, five people in the car, that’s potentially, if he decides that you’re going to go to court, $11,000 times five [is a] maximum fine [of] $55,000. And each of the individuals could end up in court, if the court considers it appropriate, having a six-month jail sentence.
Updated
Gladys Berejiklian is asked about whether the lockdown will be extended after the two weeks if the state doesn’t achieve zero transmission.
Berejiklian says:
We’ll take the best health advice. The best health advice we were provided with today was that we would need two weeks in order to get on top of the community transmission of this very contagious strain.
However, we could assess after seven days, but I want to be very upfront with the public. This will be for all intents and purposes a two-week lockdown. I don’t want to take away from that – but if there is a dramatic change and the health advice says that we can get out of a lockdown earlier [we will], but I’m not anticipating that. The best advice from Health is that we should brace ourselves for additional cases.
I just want everybody to brace themselves. Not to be scared because we’re taking the right advice, we’re doing the right things. But the best advice we received today is that it will take two weeks, which is why the lockdown has been extended to midnight Friday July 9.
Updated
The NSW chief health officer, Kerry Chant, is asked what to do if you’re a resident of one of the locked down areas but have already left the lockdown zone for a holiday recently.
She clarifies:
Those individuals if they’ve been in greater Sydney since June 21 will need to follow the stay-at-home orders for that period for the 14 days since they left.
They can buy food and groceries and enjoy the outdoor environment, but they can’t go to hospitality and other venues.
Updated
Brad Hazzard is asked about vaccine supplies, and says “what we know in New South Wales is that we could actually use a lot more vaccine and if we had it available, obviously that would help”.
Hazzard also clarifies that childcare is essential, indicating the industry will be able to open unrestricted over the lockdown period.
Hazzard is asked about how the lockdown was agreed to among cabinet members in the crisis meeting, and says “I want you to know that every member of the crisis cabinet was rock solid on this”.
Updated
The NSW health minister, Brad Hazzard, says retail stores can be open over the lockdown period, “but obviously we’re expecting the community to go out only for essential buying”.
One would expect that that might be, for example, going and getting your groceries, but you may need to go and buy some blankets or get clothes. There are other issues that you may need to do, but you don’t loiter, don’t go for a wander around the shopping centre that might have a number of shops open.
Just use your common sense, I think that’s the message to the community.
Shops that clearly don’t fit into the essential category don’t have to open. One would think that some items that some people might call essential aren’t necessarily. I’m not sure that essential oils, for example, would really be essential.
Updated
Gladys Berejiklian flags she will announce business support in the coming days.
Nobody should feel stressed about their financial situation. Obviously, there are provisions for us and we will, as a state government, in the next few days we’ll be announcing support to businesses and also the federal government support to household kicks in at a certain time.
And obviously, that will kick in. So nobody should feel stressed or pressure to break any of the rules because of their financial situation. The NSW government will be there to support businesses and, of course, the commonwealth support to households kicks in as well.
We will provide that information and that detail in the next few days, but in the meantime, I don’t want anyone to feel stressed more than we need to and I don’t want anyone to feel panicked about their financial situation.
Updated
Gladys Berejiklian says the two-week length of the lockdown is needed because of the transmissibility of the Delta variant, but says “if there is any massive improvement ahead” of the end of the lockdown “we’ll evaluate that”.
If we’re going to do this, we need to do it properly. There’s no point doing a three-day and then having the virus continue to bubble away in the community.
Now, if after seven days there’s a dramatic change in the trend, we’ll obviously evaluate the situation. But at this stage, the best health advice we have is that a two-week period, or until midnight on Friday July 9, is necessary in order to make sure that we get to our target of zero community transmission, which has always been our target from the beginning of the pandemic.
Given how transmissible the virus is, given the extra exposure venues, we know that even the best contact tracers in the world can’t stay a step ahead unless we put this in, and we need to do it properly. So there was no point doing it for three days or five days because it wouldn’t have done the job.
The best health advice today is that it should be for two weeks, but if there is any massive improvement ahead of that time, of course, we’ll evaluate that. But the best advice we have from Dr Chant and the health experts is that we should brace ourselves for more cases.
We’re finding that all household contacts, unfortunately, are getting the virus. Transmissibility is at least double what previous variants had been. So we do need to brace ourselves for potentially larger number of cases in the following days.
Asked about the timing of announcing this lockdown, she goes on to say:
Just in the last couple of hours, we were advised that potentially there are a couple of cases that have been active in the community outside of the areas of concern for a few days. And that was enough for us to have to react.
Updated
In all other parts of NSW the following restrictions will apply:
- People who have been in the greater Sydney region (including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong) on or after 21 June should follow the stay-at-home order for a period of 14 days after they left greater Sydney.
- Households will be limited to five guests, including children.
- Masks will be compulsory in all indoor non-residential settings, including workplaces and at organised outdoor events.
- Drinking while standing at indoor venues will not be allowed.
- Singing by audiences and choirs at indoor venues or by congregants at indoor places of worship will not be allowed.
- Dancing will not be allowed at indoor hospitality venues or nightclubs, however dancing is allowed at weddings for the wedding party only (no more than 20 people).
- Dance and gym classes limited to 20 per class (masks must be worn).
- The one person per four square metre rule will be reintroduced for all indoor and outdoor settings, including weddings and funerals.
- Outdoor seated, ticketed events will be limited to 50% seated capacity.
Updated
Weddings before Monday allowed to proceed in NSW lockdown zone
Gladys Berejiklian says it “both lacks compassion and (is) not fair to cancel weddings” scheduled today and tomorrow.
She says weddings are able to proceed, provided they are Covid-safe, and obey distancing rules.
“Today and tomorrow, Covid-safe weddings can take place, but from Monday, for the duration of the lockdown, weddings can’t take place.”
Funerals will also be permitted during the lockdown, up to a maximum of 100 guests, observing the one per four square metre rule, and with mask use indoors.
However, community sport will not be permitted during this period.
Updated
Gladys Berejiklian is providing more details of the lockdown.
There will be no curfew.
“You can leave your home at any stage to purchase any essential goods that you need to and that is a given. Be thoughtful and considerate about fellow citizens and no need to panic buy,” she said.
Regarding exercise, locked-down residents will be able to exercise outdoors.
“We appreciate during the school holidays, this could be the only time that people are able to gather outside and in no more than groups of 10. In the regions that we’ve outlined, in no more than groups of 10, you’re able to gather outside for recreational exercise. And, of course, when you are outdoors in groups of 10, make sure that you maintain a good social distance.”
Updated
Two-week lockdown for greater Sydney
The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has announced a two-week lockdown.
From 6pm today, all of greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast and Wollongong will go into lockdown until midnight on Friday 9 July.
Berejiklian says:
The NSW government has always prided itself on taking the expert health advice. We’re never afraid to take a decision that we need to take to keep our citizens safe. And even though we don’t want to impose burdens unless we absolutely have to, unfortunately, this is a situation where we have to. I said that this is the scariest time since the pandemic started and that’s proven to be the case.
There are four reasons for which residents can leave their homes:
Unless we have to work outside the home or get educated outside of the home, and given school holidays, that obviously doesn’t apply. But if you must work outside the home, you’re able to do that.
If you need to seek medical attention, including getting a Covid test, getting a vaccine or any other medical attention, you’re allowed to.
And you’re also allowed to leave the home for care and compassionate grounds as well.
And obviously, you’re allowed outside to purchase goods, essential goods and services, and I know I’ll say this and I please appreciate people following these instructions. There is no need to panic buy.
(And) you will be able to exercise.
Updated
Gladys Berejiklian about to give second Covid update
We’re minutes away from the NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian’s Covid update, following a crisis meeting of cabinet.
It will be the second NSW Covid press conference in three hours today, and there’s an expectation she’ll be announcing an expansion of the stay-at-home lockdown order that came into effect overnight.
At that 11am press conference, Berejiklian foreshadowed further Covid restrictions, noting that recent cases had visited venues across large swathes of Sydney’s north and west, outside of the four council areas under the lockdown announced yesterday.
I’ll be live blogging the Covid update right here.
Updated
Here is some more information on commonwealth Covid disaster support payments.
Yesterday, Australia’s chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, extended by two days the hotspot declaration for certain parts of Sydney, triggering Covid-19 disaster support payments.
The City of Sydney, Waverley, Woollahra, Bayside, Canada Bay, Inner West and Randwick local government areas have been declared Covid-19 hotspots for the purposes of commonwealth support until 2 July 2021.
These hotspots were first declared on Wednesday (23 June), initially for seven days, but this has now been extended until 2 July. The hotspot declaration will be reviewed again on 1 July.
Crucially, the payments can be accessed seven days from the initial declaration, meaning those workers who are unable to earn an income due to NSW public health orders can access the payments from 1 July.
The Covid-19 disaster payment is a one-off payment for when lockdowns last more than seven days, and is open to people who reside or work in a commonwealth-declared hotspot.
If you’re eligible and you’ve lost less than 20 hours work, you’ll get $325 for each relevant period of lockdown. If you’re eligible and you’ve lost 20 hours or more of work, you’ll get $500 for each relevant period of lockdown.
Eligibility will depend on whether a worker:
- Can’t attend work and lost income on or after the eighth day of the lockdown (1 July).
- Has access to appropriate paid leave entitlements through their employer.
- Is not getting an income support payment, a state or territory pandemic payment, pandemic leave disaster payment or state small business payment for the same period.
- They must not have liquid assets of more than $10,000 or be in receipt of other payments.
Further information will be made available when the payment comes into effect.
However, it’s important to note that, if any further jurisdictions are placed into lockdown later today, the situation for payments for workers and residents in those areas might become more complicated.
Updated
The NSW opposition leader, Chris Minns, has just held a media briefing in which he said he supported the Berejiklian government taking further action to contain Sydney’s Covid outbreak, so long as it was based on health advice.
Minns said “now is not the time for politics”, and vowed that “Labor will provide bipartisan support for the government’s actions”.
“This is not a political crisis, this is a health crisis, and it should be treated that way by all political leaders.”
However, Minns did call for a few things, specifically for the commonwealth to do all it can to make sure support payments are rolled out at the earliest opportunity.
Minns also called on Berejiklian to introduce small business relief plans, similar to the initiative put in place at the time of the northern beaches outbreak at the end of last year.
He also called for specific supports for casual workers and for services to the homeless to be ensured throughout any further lockdown.
Updated
The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has just called media to a Covid update at 2pm.
This follows a crisis meeting of cabinet about further restrictions for Sydney.
We’ll bring you the latest from that when it happens.
Updated
Northern Territory mine worker tests positive to Covid
The Northern Territory chief minister, Michael Gunner, has confirmed a Covid case at the Granites gold mine.
The case works as a miner, and travelled to the NT from Bendigo in Victoria, via Brisbane, where he did hotel quarantine. Officials consider the man was infectious from 18 June to 24 June.
He flew from Brisbane to the mine on a charter flight.
He received a text message on 24 June that the hotel he had been in in Brisbane was a potential exposure site, and he subsequently got tested.
Gunner says officials don’t yet know which variant of Covid the man has, but they are assuming it is the Delta variant.
He notes the NT has never had a case of community transmission, but the territory is prepared in terms of testing capability.
Gunner says there are 754 people in isolation on the mine site, as well as approximately 900 people who have left the mine site in the days since the case arrived there.
Those workers have travelled on to Brisbane, Perth, Alice Springs and Darwin airports from the mine.
Anyone who left the mine is being directed into isolation in whichever jurisdiction they are now in. If they are in the NT, they will be directed to the Howard Springs quarantine centre.
The NT chief health officer, Hugh Heggie, says “this is a lot to take in”:
We have planned for this and practised it and anticipated it and we have systems in place. The difficulty here, although we know the detail of the persons who are at the mine site and those who have left and will be in touch with them, and you might appreciate that contact tracing isn’t just a text message, it’s actually a conversation about where you are, where you went, and these include people who live here, and particularly Darwin and Alice Springs but also may have been transiting through here.
They may have been to the market or other places while they were here and other people may have transferred on the charter flight and they may have travelled on somewhere else.
We are at risk and we have a lot of people in the territory at the moment.
Updated
There are reports of a Covid case in the Northern Territory.
The ABC is reporting a worker at the Granites gold mine in the Tanami Desert, 540km north-west of Alice Springs, has tested positive for the virus. It says he possibly contracted the disease in Brisbane.
The chief minister, Michael Gunner, is expected to provide a Covid update in about 10 minutes.
Updated
The Victorian health minister, Martin Foley, says he will donate a 2.5% pay rise handed to state MPs to local charities in his electorate.
Asked about the Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal’s decision, Foley says politicians had no role in the outcome.
Asked if he would accept the pay rise, Foley says he will donate the pay rise to local charities.
Asked if other MPs should do the same, Foley says it is “completely up to them”.
In May, the government capped the guaranteed annual pay rise for public servants to 1.5%. Unions have said it would be “hypocritical” for MPs to pocket a higher pay rise than other public servants.
Foley also told today’s Victorian Covid update that the state is worried it will soon have to “ramp down” its vaccine rollout due to the commonwealth’s vaccine “horizons”.
That is because of the way the federal government has “bungled” the program, Foley says, including the commonwealth’s allocation “horizon”, which he argues will see a drop in Pfizer doses sent to the state.
Rather than set targets, the commonwealth has “allocation horizons” that stipulates how it intends to direct supplies over the rest of the year.
Foley says:
We don’t have the supply to meet the demand. We have demonstrated in Victoria, as indeed have [other] states, that there has been huge desire for Victorians to get vaccinated.
Victorians know that the vaccination program is the way out of this pandemic. It’s the ramp off the freeway of the virus. What we don’t have at the moment is the green light to get off that freeway.
Foley says there is a “constrained system” through the commonwealth’s “horizons”, which means a “real reduction for Pfizer provision into Victoria over the coming weeks”.
The brutal reality is we will have to ramp down vaccination over the next few weeks when the demand is going up. It’s not a good position but it’s the one we have to work our way through.
Updated
Moving to federal politics briefly, this is a noteworthy tweet from the veterans’ affairs minister, Darren Chester.
The Nationals MP is expected to be moved on from the portfolio as a product of the expected reshuffle resulting from Barnaby Joyce’s return to the party’s leadership.
Chester was a known supporter of the ousted Nationals leader Michael McCormack, and after the spill last week Chester gave what felt like a valedictory speech during question time about his achievements in the veterans portfolio.
This morning, Chester has tweeted an article about his potential dumping, saying he’s “humbled by support from veterans, would love to continue to represent them as a Minister.
“But it’s not a decision I get to make,” Chester said.
Veterans groups have called for him to remain in the portfolio as the royal commission into veterans suicides progresses.
To the journalists asking: I’m humbled by support from veterans, would love to continue to represent them as a Minister, but it’s not a decision I get to make. Thanks.
— Darren Chester MP (@DarrenChesterMP) June 26, 2021
Joyce would be 'plain stupid' to dump Chester, veterans' groups say https://t.co/bmeCWdPzFH via @canberratimes
Updated
Victorian authorities turned back 15 people trying to enter the state from Sydney yesterday, Martin Foley says.
The health minister says 19 flights arrived from Sydney yesterday and all passengers were screened.
He says the majority of passengers were returning Victorians who were permitted to enter on the proviso they immediately enter 14 days of home quarantine.
But 15 people who could not produce the necessary permits were “all turned around and sent back again”.
Foley says:
We make no apologies for this. This is about making sure that if you are from Sydney … you cannot come to Victoria.
Updated
The Victorian health minister, Martin Foley, says the one new case recorded in the state is linked to an existing outbreak at a Southbank apartment complex.
The person is a close contact of a previous case and has been in quarantine during their infectious period, Foley has just told a press conference.
Foley also addressed the new outbreak that stemmed from a person who returned from Sydney to Melbourne. They attended a “super spreading” party in West Hoxton, in Sydney, but reside in Oakleigh and work in Sandringham.
The man went on to pass on the virus to another person, taking the cluster to two cases of the Delta variant.
Foley says both people are being supported in hotel quarantine. He says:
This is the critical time in running down this NSW-seeded Delta into Victoria. We need people to come forward if you’ve been in contact with any of those places, and to get tested quickly, and to stay isolated until you get your negative returned.
The chief health officer, Brett Sutton, says 49 residents at the Oakleigh housing complex where the first case lives have so far tested negative.
Asked if he expects more cases linked to the Sandringham cluster, Sutton says it is possible but not certain.
He notes one of the two cases has not yet transmitted the virus to his family.
Updated
While that NSW Covid update was happening, Victorian authorities have also been providing details of the new Covid case announced there today.
Standby for some information on the Victorian situation from Luke Henriques-Gomes.
Updated
Kerry Chant is asked about vaccinations and lockdowns.
She says it’s too soon for the vaccinated population to be considered a different transmission risk in the lockdown. This is partly because being vaccinated doesn’t rule out transmission in all cases, and the vaccination rates to protect anyone who might contract the virus are too low.
“Once we move and get the population vaccinated and that’s going to still be, you know, unfortunately a while off, we will have to recalibrate our settings, and as we’ve always said and I think I’ve said for many months, we will at some point have to accept that there will be some community transmission,” Chant says.
Gladys Berejiklian is also asked about commonwealth support payments for hotspots. She says she and the state’s treasurer, Dominic Perrottet, will be pushing for these to kick in.
Last night, the government announced that because the chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, had extended the hotspot declaration for seven Sydney LGAs to nine days in total, that the threshold for the payments would now kick in.
Berejiklian, Chant and the health minister, Brad Hazzard, end their press conference, presumably as they have to go and discuss further containment action at the crisis meeting of cabinet.
Updated
Gladys Berejiklian has been asked about the stay-at-home order, and what constitutes a regular visitor to one of the LGAs currently under lockdown that would force even a non-resident of the LGA to observe the lockdown.
She says “people can also self-assess” if they don’t find they fit neatly into the definition of the public health order.
Berejiklian said:
We rely on the health advice to give that information out to the community and people can also self-assess in addition to the advice we give them, everybody has to be extra cautious.
Chief health officer Kerry Chant takes a more cautious tone on this. She said:
If you are in doubt about whether you’re in a public health order or restricted movements, can I just urge everybody to err on the side of caution. Just assume you are impacted.
If you have actually gone into those Bondi Westfields every day and you live outside the area, every day, then I think the community would apply common logic that that is the group we want to capture.
Now, it is very different than if someone might have had a specialist doctor appointment in one room in one section for half an hour, that’s a very different situation, so he we are asking the community to please apply common-sense because it is actually really hard job.
I’m not a lawyer, but it is really hard crafting public health orders that cover everyone’s circumstances, so we do at this point, err on the side you’re captured by any public health order.
Updated
Kerry Chant says concern 'growing' due to exposure venues outside four LGAs
While overnight cases will not be announced during this update, NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant has indicated just how serious they are. Chant said:
In summary, the situation overnight has highlighted that an increasing number of people have been undetected and infectious in the community, and those exposure sites have spread.
Largely they were contained in the four LGAs, but now we are seeing the spread to exposure venues outside of those four LGAs, and that is the basis for my growing concern.
NSW health minister Brad Hazzard said:
The Delta variant is proving to be a very formidable foe. No matter what defensive steps we are taking at the moment, the virus seems to understand how to counter attack in different locations. That’s causing us a high level of concern.
This virus is certainly lurking in places we hadn’t expected and it is waiting, it is waiting to actually be able to extend it across Sydney. My strong advice to the community is if you don’t need to be out, don’t.
Ahead of that crisis cabinet meeting later today, premier Gladys Berejiklian said:
I think people should prepare for the news that we have given them to date which is the situation is worsening beyond what we would have liked to have seen this morning, and the reason for that is that the new exposure sites are outside of those areas of concern we had highlighted.
Updated
Kerry Chant has said said there are a couple of venues that health authorities are particularly concerned about.
Two cases were linked to a workplace “outbreak” at Great Ocean Foods in Marrickville.
Anyone who worked in, attended or was a customer in Great Ocean Foods at 5/11 Cadogan Street from Monday 21 June to Friday 25 June and their household contacts is a close contact and must immediately get tested and isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result.
Anyone who directly received a delivery from Great Ocean Foods from Monday 21 June to Friday 25 June and their household contacts must immediately get tested and isolate until further advice is provided by NSW Health.
The other two venues of concern, where anyone who visited is now a close contact and must immediately get tested and self isolate for 14 days, are:
- Cheers Bar on George St in the Sydney CBD, in the early hours of Sunday 20 June, between 1.45am-3.30am.
- Rebel Sport in Bankstown, on Thursday 24 June between 3.45pm-4.30pm.
Updated
NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant is providing further information about the new cases.
“New South Wales recorded 29 locally acquired cases. Twenty-eight of those are linked and one remains under investigation.
“So whilst we are linking the cases very quickly and establishing those lines of transmission, what we are finding is that by the time we’ve got to some of those cases, they’ve already on-transmitted, and so that is the rationale for why our concern level has been increasing.
“As an example, only 12 of the 29 cases were in isolation through their infectious period. So that means that each of those cases not in isolation will generate exposure venues.”
Updated
NSW records 12 new cases, crisis cabinet meeting called
There were 29 new Covid cases recorded in NSW in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
Seventeen of these were already announced yesterday.
Going forward, NSW will now only announce the cases recorded until 8pm. Throughout this week, it had been announcing cases recorded since 8pm at its press conferences.
However NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has indicated that “overnight and this morning the case numbers have been consistent with what we experienced yesterday”.
Berejiklian has called a crisis cabinet meeting to discuss further health measures, because the new cases have been associated with venues outside of the four LGA areas currently under lockdown.
I want to foreshadow that because of the increasing exposure sites that the health advise is evolving.
Can I please thank everybody for adhering so quickly and so well to the orders which came into effect from midnight. But I am putting everybody on notice that we may need to extend that during the course of the day or tomorrow.
Updated
Just a reminder that NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian will provide a Covid update at 11am.
There have been many exposure sites added since last night, including across the northern beaches, north shore and in western Sydney. We’ve listed these sites earlier in this blog.
I’ll bring you the latest from that Covid update here.
As we’re waiting for Berejiklian to step up, you can read more about calls to expand the lockdown, and the confusion the stay at home orders for four council areas are causing.
Updated
Queensland police have held a media conference about the death of a police officer north of Brisbane this morning.
The 53-year-old male senior constable was responding to a suspected stolen vehicle when he was struck by the car and killed on the Bruce Highway at Burpengary.
Queensland’s police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, said the officer had been working at Deception Bay for several years and support was being offered to his family and friends.
“Today is a very tough day for everyone,” she said.
The homicide squad is leading an investigation into his death.
Detective superintendent Craig Morrow said the vehicle involved was believed to be a 2020 white Hyundai Kona. He said police were seeking assistance from drivers of other vehicles in the area at the time, including anyone who may have dashcam footage.
While we wait for the NSW Covid-19 update at 11am, here are some other breaking stories this morning:
The federal government’s five-year threatened species strategy, launched by the former environment minister Greg Hunt, has failed to meet targets to stem the decline of 20 priority birds, 20 mammals and 30 plants.
The report finds this goal was only achieved for six birds, eight mammals and 10 plants. The government announced in May it would develop a new 10-year strategy, consisting of two five-year action plans.
And Graham Readfearn has more on the Great Barrier Reef, with Unesco officials overnight rejecting concerns raised by Australia and ambassadors from 11 other countries that processes were not followed ahead of a key meeting next month that could see the reef placed on a world heritage “in danger” list.
Queensland recorded zero cases of community transmission overnight and one case in hotel quarantine.
Saturday 26 June – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) June 25, 2021
No community transmission recorded in Queensland overnight.
One new case recorded overnight, acquired overseas and detected in hotel quarantine.#covid19 pic.twitter.com/xI9BfvAuKY
In non-Covid related news, a Queensland police officer has been hit and killed by a stolen car north of Brisbane, with a manhunt underway for the driver who fled the scene.
AAP reports:
The 53-year-old male senior constable was responding to a suspected stolen vehicle when he was struck on the Bruce Highway at Burpengary just after 3am, police say.
Commissioner Katarina Carroll on Saturday morning visited the scene, and offered her condolences to the officer’s family and friends.
“It is with a very heavy heart we confirm the loss of one of our own, a senior constable who was working hard to protect his community,” she said in a statement.
Investigations by the forensic crash unit and ethical standards command have begun, as police search for the driver of the white Hyundai Kona SUV, who fled the scene.
Updated
NSW premier to give Covid update at 11am
Set your alarms for 11am.
This is when the New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, health minister Brad Hazzard and chief health officer Kerry Chant will provide the NSW Covid update.
The NSW police deputy commissioner, Gary Warboys, will also be present – so expect to hear if there have been any lockdown breaches so far.
Before then, we’re also expecting opposition health spokesman Mark Butler to hold a press conference at 10.30am.
We’ll bring you the latest from both of those pressers.
Updated
Contact tracing and chemical cleaning is taking place at South Coogee public school today after two students were diagnosed with Covid-19.
Parents were told about the cases in an email last night, which has been seen by Guardian Australia.
All staff and students have been asked to self-isolate until they receive further advice.
Casual contacts list multiplies
NSW Health has also added to its list of exposure sites and public transport routes where visitors/riders are now considered casual contacts.
Similar to the new close contact exposure sites we covered earlier in this blog, the new casual contact sites are largely spread outside the four council areas that have just entered lockdown.
Anyone who attended any of the following venues at the listed times is a casual contact and must immediately get tested and self-isolate until a negative result is received.
- Chemist Warehouse at Bondi Beach on Monday 21 June between 9am-10am.
- Oporto at Casula Central shopping complex on Tuesday 22 June between 12:50pm-1pm.
- Pasta Italia Cucina at Casula Central shopping complex on Tuesday 22 June between 1pm-1:10pm.
- Woolworths at Top Ryde City shopping centre on Tuesday 22 June between 5pm-5.15pm.
- Coles at Top Ryde City shopping centre on Tuesday 22 June between 5.10pm-5.25pm.
- Macquarie Shopping Centre food court on Wednesday 23 June between 2pm-2.30pm.
- Oliver Brown on the ground floor of East Village shopping centre in Zetland on Wednesday 23 June between 5.15pm-5.30pm.
- Coles at East Village shopping centre in Zetland on Wednesday 23 June between 5.15pm-5.30pm.
- Woolworths at Royal Randwick shopping centre on Thursday 24 June between 10.30am-10.45am
- Rebel Sport in Bankstown shopping centre on Thursday 24 June between 3.45pm-4.30pm.
Anyone who attended any of the following venues at the listed times is a casual contact and must immediately get tested and self-isolate until a negative result is received.
- Train that departed Mascot platform 1 at 5:26pm and arrived at Central platform 21 at 5.33pm on Saturday 19 June.
- Train that departed Central platform 11 at 5:37pm and arrived at Glenfield platform 3 at 6.38pm on Saturday 19 June.
And anyone who attended either of the following venues at the times listed must monitor for symptoms and immediately get tested and self-isolate if they develop:
- Rouse Hill Town Centre on Monday 21 June between 11am-11.30am.
- Parramatta Westfield on Wednesday 23 June between 11.45am-12.20pm.
Updated
Victoria records one new case
There has been one new case of Covid-19 recorded in Victoria in yesterday’s reporting period.
The new locally acquired case is a known primary close contact who has been quarantining throughout their infectious period.
Reported yesterday: 1 new local case and 3 new cases acquired overseas (currently in HQ).
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) June 25, 2021
- 19,807 vaccine doses were administered
- 21,595 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/2vKbgKHFvv #COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/onKTHxh8R4
Updated
New exposure sites added in northern beaches, Sydney's west
Late last night, NSW Health released several new exposure sites.
Worryingly, many of the venues listed are in western Sydney, with a few on the northern beaches and north shore too. These areas are not subject to the new stay-at-home/lockdown orders that came into effect overnight.
Among the list of new venues for close contacts, you’ll see some are alerts for as far back as last Sunday, while others apply to certain venues for the duration of an entire day.
Anyone who attended the following venues at the times listed is a close contact and must immediately get tested and isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result.
-
Fresh Nails on Level 1 of Westfield Bondi Junction, on Tuesday 15 June between 2.30pm-5pm, and on Thursday 17 June for the entire day.
- Hugo’s on Manly Wharf, on Saturday 19 June between 5.30pm-8.15pm
- The Boathouse at Shelly Beach, on Sunday 20 June between 8.35pm-11.40pm.
- Lyfe Cafe at Bondi Beach, period extended to anyone who visited at anytime on Tuesday 22 June and Wednesday 23 June.
- Chemist Warehouse in Maroubra, on Thursday 24 June between 9am-9.30am.
- Haldon Street Medical Centre (in the waiting room) in Lakemba, on Thursday 24 June between 10.15am-10.30am.
- PappaRich Restaurant in Little Saigon Plaza in Bankstown, on Thursday 24 June between 1.30pm-4pm.
Anyone who attended the following cinema screening must immediately get tested and isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result.
- Reading Cinema Auburn for the screening of Fast and Furious 9, on Sunday 20 June, 6.30PM screening.
Updated
Good morning, and welcome to our coronavirus liveblog for Saturday 26 June.
Attention is firmly focused on developments related to Sydney’s Covid outbreak.
Overnight, a lockdown came into effect for residents and workers across four council areas in Sydney – City of Sydney, Randwick, Woollahra and Waverley.
I’ll bring you some updates shortly about the specific details of the public health order and some new exposure sites that were released late last night.
If you see anything you think I should be aware of, you can get in touch with me via email at elias.visontay@theguardian.com or via Twitter @EliasVisontay.
Off we go.
Updated
