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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Matilda Boseley (now) and Justine Landis-Hanley (earlier)

Anti-lockdown protest on Queensland-NSW border; ACT records 19 Covid cases – as it happened

The news from Sunday

Okay! So that’s been the day in Australian Covid-19 news. Here are the biggest takeaways.

That’s about everything for today. Have a good night and stay safe. See you all next week.

Updated

More scenes form the border protests:

There are some wild scenes at the border of NSW and Queensland.

The NSW health minister has denied that the state’s health system is close to capacity as the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care nears 100 and the state racked up another record 830 infections.

Brad Hazzard told reporters ICU capacity had quadrupled since last year to cope with the growing number of serious Covid cases, but he was not concerned about capacity.

NSW once again had a record-breaking day, with the source of 693 of the 830 cases still under investigation and only 67 so far confirmed to have been in isolation for their entire infectious period.

In Victoria, 65 new local cases were recorded, including at least 21 in Shepparton, as the state announced a vaccination blitz, while the ACT reported 19 new local cases.

You can read the full wrap of today’s Covid-19 news below:

Hundreds of active Covid cases in the community should not delay Australia’s plan to reopen and end widespread lockdowns, Scott Morrison says, urging people to look beyond a “one-eyed focus” on daily case numbers.

As NSW recorded 830 new cases and three deaths on Sunday, Morrison also pushed back against suggestions that case numbers were too high for Australia to move to the next phase of the plan agreed to by state leaders, saying the conclusions of the Doherty Institute modelling remained the same.

This is despite one of the architects of the Doherty modelling, Prof James McCaw, telling Guardian Australia that case numbers were too high to abandon lockdowns even if the vaccination rate reached 70%.

Morrison said this was not supported by the advice given to national cabinet by the Doherty Institute’s professor Jodie McVernon, and that once 70% of the country was vaccinated, lockdowns would be “unlikely and targeted”, regardless of how many active cases there were in the community.

You can read the full report below:

The secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Sally McManus, has voiced her support for the Victorian government’s plan to provide a half-day of paid leave for all public service sector workers wishing to receive the vaccine.

Updated

And with that, I will hand over to my colleague Matilda Boseley to bring you the late afternoon news!

Updated

It’s been a long day of news about growing case numbers, so here is a lovely post from First Dog on the Moon to break up your reading.

Victoria Health has updated its list of exposure sites, bringing the total number of places to 534.

Of concern are several locations, including schools, in and around Shepparton, which have been classified as Tier 1.

This means that if you have visited one of these places in the designated time, you have to immediately get tested and isolate for 14 days, regardless of whether you return a negative result.

Shepparton is on high alert after recording 21 Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours.

These locations include:

  • Orrvale Primary School, anytime on the 16, 17, or 18 August.
  • Greater Shepparton Secondary College, anytime on the 16, 17, 18, 19 or 20 August.
  • St Mel’s Primary School, anytime on the 16 or 17 August.
  • University of Melbourne Shepparton Campus, 6pm-8pm on 17 August.
  • Shepparton Secondary College, anytime on the 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20 August.

There are also several other Tier 1 locations in the area, including SkySalon Hairdressing, Chemist Warehouse Shepparton, and Major League Indoor Sports.

Click here for the full list of exposure sites.

Updated

Victorian authorities announced yesterday that childcare centres and kinders across the state would have to close, except to children whose parents are authorised workers and cannot be supervised at home, and vulnerable children.

The government said that this was due to the high rate of transmission in young people and the number of childcare centres now designated as exposure sites.

But this thread explains the impact of childcare closures for parents:

Updated

I have more information about the anti-lockdown protests that have been happening on Queensland-New South Wales border this afternoon.

AAP reports:

Extra Queensland police were sent to back up NSW officers dealing with the protest.

Its focus was at Boundary Street, just on the NSW side of the border. An estimated crowd of 500 people were there and media reports said there were some arrests and scuffles with police.

NSW and Queensland police could not confirm any arrests.

Tweed residents, on the NSW side, have been hit hard by Queensland’s decision to ban entry to all but a strictly limited list of vaccinated essential workers.

It had asked NSW to notionally move the border south, to the Tweed River, but NSW refused, saying it would just shift the problem further south.

Updated

Kelly hints Atagi advice coming on vaccine plan for those aged 12-15

Kelly hinted that we should expect the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation to provide updated advice on a vaccination plan for those aged 12-15 years old.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has already approved Pfizer for the 12-15 year age group.

Of course, vaccinating children will also protect them and Atagi is working on that advice. I was able to report to national cabinet on Friday that this was going ahead. I expect this week will get some advice from Atagi in relation to the wider vaccination for adolescents in the 12-15 age group.

Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly
Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly. Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA

Updated

Asked again about Australia’s plan to exit lockdowns, Kelly says that national cabinet doesn’t need to throw out the Doherty Institute’s modelling entirely.

The discussion that happened last week, on Friday, was exactly your question: does this need to go back to the drawing board? Absolutely not. The assumptions of all modelling can be changed. And sensitivity analysis – that is the technical term for what has been done by the Doherty Institute – can be relatively and easily done.

The general principles, and I’ve had the discussion with Professor McVernon about this, they remain the same. The model itself remains the same, it is a tweak to the assumption ... Let’s see and have an open mind to what our modellers can show us and I have full faith in the group.

Updated

Zero Covid is not a sustainable long-term strategy, Kelly says

But Kelly says that he doesn’t think it is possible to completely eliminate Covid-19 from Australia, and has some words for WA premier Mark McGowan, who has said he wants to keep Covid out of the state.

Reporter:

The West Australian premier Mike McGowan has again said that Western Australia has eliminated Delta and Covid, and he wants to keep it that way. I am wondering if you believe that is a sustainable long-term strategy and if in any jurisdiction around the world has managed to maintain zero Covid.

Kelly:

The answer is no. The only places in the world that have not seen any Covid at all, otherwise they could technically say they are eliminated but they never saw it at all, would be some of the Pacific Island countries and that’s because they’ve essentially been cut off from the rest of the world for the last 18 months. Even in New Zealand, which I would say would be the poster jurisdiction for elimination, and they have very clearly and recently stated that remains their aim, are now coping with an outbreak in Auckland and beyond.

Western Australia have done extremely well now, relying on the very strong border controls, both external to the rest of the world and to the rest of Australia. The matters of how WA see themselves working through the pandemic over time is really a matter for them but I will say that the whole of national cabinet including the West Australian Premier did sign up to the plan only a couple of weeks ago.

Updated

Kelly appears to be taking a much more cautious approach than the federal government when asked about whether New South Wales (and the rest of Australia for that matter) will reopen when we hit 70% of people vaccinated.

He acknowledges that the Doherty Institute’s modelling was based on much lower case numbers to begin with, and that further modelling is being done to work out when it will be safe to open up.

If you start from a higher base ... we are doing that modelling again now but on first principles, the ... effect you have of 70 and 80% would be the same, it would [reduce] the number of people in ICU particularly and hospitalisation. How that exactly affects it is the work being done by the Doherty modelling this week.

Updated

Vaccine rollout picks up pace to nearly 2m doses a week, Kelly says

Kelly says that Australia has another record weekend in terms of Covid-19 vaccinations, with 196,000 doses delivered on Saturday.

He added that that we have seen 1.1m doses delivered in four days, and we are getting close to 2m doses a week.

This brings the total number of vaccine doses administered to around 17 million.

He notes that 80% of over 60s have received at least one vaccination, and 85% of over 70s have received at least one dose.

Updated

Kelly is talking about the rise in cases in New South Wales, ACT, and Victoria.

This is something we’ve been planning for for 18 months, exactly the sort of situation. And we know that our hospitals, particularly our intensive care units, are ready for this. And they are. What we did right at the beginning of the pandemic, was to prepare for this type of event of severe cases of Covid.

Kelly added that this is why there has been so much work in implementing the lockdown measures, to help suppress the virus spreading to “a great degree”.

Updated

Chief medical officer Paul Kelly holds press conference

The chief medical officer Prof Paul Kelly is providing a coronavirus update in Canberra.

Updated

Anti-lockdown protest on Queensland-NSW border

Hundreds of people are gathered in an anti-lockdown protest on the Queensland-New South Wales border.

ABC is reporting around 1,000 people are at the protest in Coolangatta.

This includes a man, riding around on a white horse, encouraging the crowd to cross over the border.

Updated

Former prime minister Julia Gillard has released a statement on the situation in Afghanistan, in her capacity as chair of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).

Gillard said she is concerned about how the Taliban taking control of the country will impact on the representation of children, especially girls, in classrooms.

The former prime minister added:

More broadly, given all that has been sacrificed, included by Australians during the war in Afghanistan, the global community must continue to press for peace and progress for the Afghan people with a key focus on the rights of women and girls.

I also urge governments to continue to support the evacuation of at-risk civilians in Afghanistan, including those who assisted the Australian Defence Force and Afghan women who may be threatened because of their support for gender equality, or because of their leadership roles in the former government and in the media.”

Have just heard that Australia’s chief medical officer, Prof Paul Kelly, will address reporters at 2.30pm.

As always, we’ll bring you the updates as they happen.

Updated

Hello everyone, Justine Landis-Hanley here.

Labor federal member for McMahon, Chris Bowen, has tweeted this pic of the desperate measures he is going to in lockdown.

Politicians - they’re just like you and me, eh?

With that, I will hand you back to the fantastic Justine Landis-Hanley who will be your news guardian angel for the next few hours.

Updated

Positive Covid-19 case reported in regional VIC city of Wangaratta

The regional Victorian city of Wangaratta has recorded a positive Covid-19 case, according to mayor Dean Rees.

Rees told the local paper the Border Mail that a person tested at the Wangaratta hospital had tested positive and was believed to be from Mansfield.

I believe there was a positive case presented to the emergency department yesterday.

All I heard was that someone did present with flu-like symptoms and was tested and was positive.

It was just a matter of time before it came here and we just stress to everyone to be careful, and be safe and wear masks, and even get your children to put masks on.

This potential Mansfield case was mentioned briefly in today’s Victorian press conference.

The Northeast Health Wangaratta Facebook page also posted confirming the news.

Northeast Health Wangaratta advises that it is currently caring for a Covid-19 positive patient. The patient is being kept in isolation according to Covid-19 procedures in line with the Department of Health.

Staff identified as close personal contacts have been tested and isolated as a precaution, the Emergency Department is being deep cleaned and any secondary contacts (patients and staff) have been relocated to reduce the impact on the remainder of the Health Service.

Updated

We mentioned earlier on the blog that New Zealand had recorded 21 new Covid-19 cases for the second day in a row.

Here is a bit more information on the situation across the Tasman from AAP.

A large proportion of infections have been among young people in New Zealand growing the cluster further.

Director-general of health Ashley Bloomfield revealed a potential super-spreader event had taken place at the Samoa Assembly of God’s church service last Sunday, urging attendees to isolate and get tested urgently.

Several of the new cases are linked to (that) church service...

It’s one of a number of large gatherings and we’ve got several large schools also involved. This is a priority for our contact tracing efforts.

Bloomfield commended New Zealand’s Pacific community - which has been the centre of previous outbreaks - for responding to the call to get tested.

They’re very good at mobilising to get tested ... by far the highest rates of testing is among our Pacific community.

Of the 72 total cases, 66 are in Auckland and six are in Wellington.

Prime minister Jacinda Ardern will convene her cabinet on Monday to confirm lockdown extensions for Auckland and Wellington, and consider restriction levels for the rest of the country.

On Sunday, Covid-19 minister Chris Hipkins said scanning in at places and gatherings would become compulsory to aid with contact tracing, something Ardern’s government has pushed back against for a number of months.

A quiet street in Christchurch during New Zealand’s lockdown.
A quiet street in Christchurch during New Zealand’s lockdown. Photograph: Kai Schwörer/Getty Images

Updated

An anti-lockdown protest held in Melbourne on Saturday was one of the most violent the city has seen in 20 years, Victoria’s top police officer says.

Chief commissioner Shane Patton said his officers had no choice but to use non-lethal weapons to defend themselves from an angry mob that came armed and appeared intent on attacking them.

It is the first time during a lockdown protest, police have used such tactics that included rounds of pepper spray projectiles and canisters.

At least nine officers ended up in hospital after being pelted with projectiles, punched and kicked by some members of a 4,000 strong crowd who turned out to protest the city’s Covid-19 lockdown.

You can read the full report below:

After a morning of simultaneous press conferences (gah), I’m going to have a quick break. So I will leave you in the very capable hands of Matilda Boseley for now!

Five arrested over anti-lockdown protest activity in Albury

We know about the large protest in Melbourne, and attempted activity in Sydney yesterday.

But five people were also arrested and have been charged following anti-lockdown protest activity in the Albury region yesterday.

Police attended Kiewa Street, Albury, and spoke to two men – aged 51 and 53 – and a 48-year-old woman, who allegedly said they were there to protest and did not recognise the current public health orders.

The group were arrested and taken to Albury Police Station.

Officers were then called to a park in Dean Street, Albury, where they were told more people were gathering.

Two of the men – aged 30 and 31 – allegedly ran from police when asked to stop and were arrested nearby and taken to Albury police station.

The five were each charged with failing to comply with a health direction.

The 30-year-old man was additionally charged with resisting an officer.

They were all granted conditional bail and are due to appear before Albury Local Court on Monday 11 October.

Updated

Sunday morning cases summary

There have been A LOT of updates coming through in the last two hours, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to recap the main takeaways:

  • New South Wales recorded 830 new Covid-19 cases and, sadly, three related deaths. There are currently 557 cases in hospital. Of those, 94 are in intensive care, 31 of which require ventilation.Of the 94 that are in ICU, 83 are not vaccinated and the remainder have received one dose of vaccine.
  • Victoria confirmed 65 new locally acquired Covid-19 cases recorded in the last 24 hours. Of these, 55 are linked to known outbreaks, and 10 have their acquisition source under investigation. Only 12 cases were in isolation for their entire infectious period.
  • Also in Victoria, at least 21 of today’s 65 new cases are in Shepparton. They were announced yesterday but officially included in today’s case numbers.
  • ACT recorded 19 new cases. Of those, 17 cases are linked and two remain under investigation. Only six of those cases were infectious in the community. Unfortunately, there has also been a cluster of 14 cases in the disability community sector.
  • And finally, New Zealand that they have recorded 21 new Covid-19 cases for the second day in a row, bringing the rapidly growing Delta outbreak to 72. The outbreak is mostly in Auckland, with 20 of today’s cases reported from the country’s biggest city.

Oh, and Queensland recorded zero new Covid-19 cases. I am very happy for them and not at all extremely jealous.

Updated

Hazzard had some stern words today for other states who may not want to open up to NSW, even when people are vaccinated, if their case numbers are where they are today (800+).

Reporter:

But [other states] won’t open up to New South Wales if we have cases anywhere near where they are currently, will they?

Hazzard:

That is something which they will have to think about as we move forward. The aim is to have a nation of Australians, one Australia. That means New South Wales has tried very hard right throughout the pandemic to not close our borders. We have tried to stay open to the rest of the community the majority of the time and that reflects the fact that the New South Wales’ government feels strongly that we are one nation and we need to try to ensure we stay as one nation ... In 1901 we saw our communities from around the country come together as one commonwealth. We are one commonwealth and I think we have to move forward in hoping that each of those jurisdictions will do what they can to encourage the citizenry to be vaccinated so we can achieve the opening of the whole.

NSW health minister Brad Hazzard speaks to the media in Sydney, Sunday, 22 August 2021.
NSW health minister Brad Hazzard speaks to the media in Sydney, Sunday, 22 August 2021. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

Updated

Phew, now that we have covered the breaking Covid-19 case numbers in Victoria, ACT and New Zealand, I want to quickly turn back and highlight a few final points made at today’s NSW press conference:

One reporter raised the fact that some states and territories are wary of the federal and NSW state governments basing their lockdown exit strategies on Doherty Institute modelling that we’ve been talking about all morning.

NSW health minister Brad Hazzard criticised states who have thrown up border restrictions and “said they managed Covid” (*cough* Western Australia *cough*).

Hazzard:

The challenge is that some states have relied on distance. So obviously if you have a long highway across the desert, you can put a gate across it effectively and say that is it and think that’s how you manage Covid. Well, that is probably not going to be the long-term possibility. Delta has shown itself to be capable of getting into every nation and part of every nation across the world. At some point, that will occur.

What I hope that we will be able to get the vaccination rates up in those jurisdictions in Australia but have not had the exposure to the virus to a great degree. That is more challenging because the communities, and have been lulled into a false sense of security

Updated

Ooooft and reporters are hitting the Victorian sports minister Martin Pakula where it hurts, asking “how good is the [AFL] Grand Final in Perth going to be?” referring to the looming end of the AFL season and the growing doubt at Melbourne will be able to hold the event with any form of crowd if the outbreak continues.

But Pakula isn’t ready to give up just yet:

Look, the Grand Final is clearly very challenging, you know, we’ve got this current lockdown running until 2 September, I think the Grand Final is scheduled for 25 September. And, you know, I think it probably goes without saying that right now, it looks problematic, the idea that we would have tens of thousands of people gathered in one place that soon. Having said that, contrary to reports, we have not waved the white flag yet...

Reporter:

When will we wave the white flag?

Pakula:

Well, you are assuming that we will. And I am not prepared to make that assumption. Look, what I have indicated broadly to the AFL is, at the end of this current lockdown period, so, around early September, we will see where we are. And we will have a grown-up conversation with them about that then.

Updated

Back in Victoria, the health minister Martin Foley has been asked about the prime minister’s comments this morning suggesting that it was highly unlikely NSW (and Australia more broadly) will get back to zero “but that is really not the point”.

Morrison said that “right now we need to make sure the lockdowns are effective and suppress the virus as best we can”.

In response to these comments Foley seems pretty committed to the Doherty Institute modelling:

National cabinet has again, as they advised, recommitted to the national strategy and the national strategy is predicated on active suppression. And it is not necessarily a literal interpretation of zero, it is the story behind those cases.

But as close to [zero as you can get or as close to those] Dougherty based models numbers, that give you the options when you hit 70% and 80% [vaccination].

Victoria, the nation cabinet, all levels of the commonwealth and state government have signed up to that arrangement and that is the plan.

Updated

Barr has also been asked the question of the hour: is he comfortable with the federal and NSW state government relying on the Doherty Institute’s modelling, and basing their plan to reopen on reaching a 70% to 80% vaccination rate.

Put simply, Barr said he is not.

First, he pointed out that the report says that if you reach 70% to 80% of people fully vaccinated, the use of lockdowns would be targeted and less frequent “but they would still be a need for a range public health measures like masks, social distancing, density limits”.

He also pointed out that the Doherty Institute modelling was based on there being 30 active cases. He also says that we would need vaccinations to be extended to under 16-year-olds.

Then there is the question of what proportion of the population...we are talking about, and [if] we have vaccines that are accredited for use in children 12 years and above. So it is my view, as I expressed yesterday, and making a decision what constitutes 70 and 80%, that we should include our population 12 years and above.

Updated

ACT chief minister, Andrew Barr, has acknowledged that they are at greater risk of having NSW cases continue to spread across the border.

Reporter:

There are 830 cases in New South Wales. Is the ACT a sitting duck?

Barr:

We, like the rest of Australia and most places around the world are in a position where we are all battling this Delta variant. We are more exposed because of our geographic location, wholly contained within the state of New South Wales. But we are not the only Australian state or territory that faces risk from New South Wales but it would be defensible to say our risk is somewhat greater than most other Australian states and territories.

Updated

In the ACT, 60% of the population has received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, with 1,408 first and 1,205 second doses administered in government clinics yesterday.

Three people with Covid-19 are now in hospital, but two of them are not in hospital for Covid-related reasons.

Health minister Dr Kerryn Coleman also explained that today was always going to deliver high case numbers because authorities have changed the cut-off times for cases being included in the daily case announcement.

She also warned that the territory now has over 320 exposure locations, and urged residents to come forward for testing.

Updated

We can now bring you some more detail on the ACT situation.

There’s been 19 new local Covid cases reported to 8pm last night. The ACT has stopped saying how many have since tested positive since then.

Of those, 17 cases are linked and two remain under investigation. Only six of those cases were infectious in the community.

Unfortunately, there has also been a cluster in the disability community sector that’s up to 14.

Updated

In Victoria, apparently it’s still too soon to say if the state will be getting out of lockdown in a week in and a half according to health minister Martin Foley.

Reporter:

A majority of today’s new Covid cases were not in isolation while they were infectious. That’s right. This lockdown is due to end in a week and a half, is it time we were more honest with Victorians about the fact that this is not ending anytime soon?

Foley:

The premise of your question is the first thing I would take issue with. We are upfront and honest with Victorians every day of the week...

The fact that we have got a high number, proportionately, of cases out in the community today, the numbers that we have released, reflects the fact that we have got new components for that outbreak and, as we have indicated every step of the way, we will provide up-to-date, transparent information to Victorian people as soon as we get it.

Reporter:

Are we on track to leave lockdown in a week and a half?

Foley:

As we say, every day is a day-by-day assessment and a day-by-day reassessment of where we are at. A day is a very long time in a global pandemic. The best part of two weeks is [an eternity].

Updated

New Zealand records 21 new Covid cases

We are also getting news from New Zealand that they have recorded 21 new Covid-19 cases for the second day in a row, bringing the rapidly growing Delta outbreak to 72.

The outbreak is mostly in Auckland, with 20 of today’s cases reported from the country’s biggest city.

AAP has reported that authorities have warned that those in Auckland, at the very least, should expect lockdown to be extended:

The New Zealand government has ordered a week-long nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the virus, due to last until Tuesday.

Covid-19 minister Chris Hipkins preempted an announcement due on Monday around the future of lockdown restrictions, warning Aucklanders they should prepare for a longer stay at home.

Updated

ACT records 19 new cases

Okay, so ACT authorities are ALSO giving their daily Covid-19 update.

I’m still watching the NSW press conference, so I’m going to defer to the Canberra Times journo to update you on this one. Thanks Andrew!

Updated

Okay, once again, back to Victoria:

There is also growing concern in Victoria about an outbreak at the Royal Melbourne hospital, which includes three additional cases that will be included in tomorrow’s numbers.

Victoria’s deputy secretary of Covid-19 response, Kate Matson, gave the details:

Minister Foley mentioned an additional case not in today’s numbers represented at the emergency department overnight.

We have had a case, as we all know, in the Royal Melbourne hospital. But the case was not there for Covid symptoms and was not showing Covid symptoms when they underwent surgery on 12 August. Symptoms commenced the next day.

In the cases announced today, there are three cases related to the Royal Melbourne hospital outbreak. There was a case yesterday, and we will be announcing a further three cases tomorrow related to Royal Melbourne. We expect that outbreak to grow, just as we expect to be Shepparton outbreak to grow.

There is a number of patients and staff, as well as a visitor to the hospital, and again, I thank the Royal Melbourne and all health services for continuing to drive that down, the contact tracing, and manage the staff situation. Our contact tracing teams are working extremely hard to manage the downstream transmission risk.

Victoria’s deputy secretary of Covid response Kate Matson speaks to the media in Melbourne, Sunday, 22 August 2021.
Victoria’s deputy secretary of Covid response Kate Matson speaks to the media in Melbourne, Sunday, 22 August 2021. Photograph: Luis Ascui/AAP

Updated

Hazzard has also been asked when (not if!) authorities think the state will hit 1,000 or more cases per day, and whether this will put too much pressure on the hospital system.

Hazzard reassured that NSW has quadrupled its ICU ventilator capacity and is “confident that we will have adequate capacity as we go forward”.

But interestingly, he also says that we don’t have to panic about 800 daily cases because we aren’t seeing a “major escalation”.

I don’t know about you, but jumping from 400 cases a day at the start of last week, to 800 cases a day, feels like an escalation.

Updated

Back to NSW (this feels almost like watching a tennis match):

Health minister Brad Hazzard was asked whether authorities are concerned about NSW being able to hit the recommended 80% vaccination mark before opening up, given low vaccination rates in Aboriginal communities.

At first, Hazzard said that NSW Health are doing everything they can to boost vaccination rates in these communities, and in the regions more broadly.

But he stopped short of saying that they think they will definitely be able to hit the 80% target, instead saying “I think we may achieve a reasonable vaccination rate there” and “we are aiming to get to 80%”.

NSW health minister Brad Hazzard speaks to the media in Sydney, Sunday, 22 August 2021.
NSW health minister Brad Hazzard speaks to the media in Sydney, Sunday, 22 August 2021. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

Updated

Okay, once again, we dart back to the press conference simultaneously happening in Victoria:

Victorian health minister Martin Foley has announced an aged care workforce blitz*, where aged care workers will be offered priority access to whichever vaccine they prefer at state-run centres.

Foley wasn’t totally sure on the numbers but later in the press conference, he said he believed the most recent commonwealth numbers of aged care workforce vaccination levels were around 50%.

The second measure that I am announcing today to further encourage vaccinations is for another aged care workforce blitz...

Aged care and disability workers will be able to walk up in one of more than 50 vaccination centres that the state runs across Victoria and to get vaccinated with the vaccine of their choice regardless of their age. This runs from Monday to Sunday of the coming week. So tomorrow, and for the next week, all residential aged care workforce and all disability workforce members who are not vaccinated, come forward and get vaccinated.

Not only do we have the ability to walk up to those more than 50 state-run centres, but we would also encourage you, if you want to, to look through and get priority booking status on the online appointment system.

*Which is wild that we are still talking about this in late August given they were meant to be first in line for the vaccine.

Updated

Worboys has also warned that police will be out in full force to ensure people comply with the 9pm curfew, which comes into effect tomorrow (Monday) night.

He also, interestingly, says that the curfew will stop “young men wanting to leave their home and go about various engagements and activities through all hours of the night”.

What we have found in some of those LGA is in south-west and western Sydney, that there is still a desire, an absolute ... an absoluteness surrounding young men wanting to leave their home and go about various engagements and activities through all hours of the night and this curfew will signal that this is the time that that sort of behaviour must stop. Police will be out and they will take action and we just hope that everyone makes some sense of this and realises that we all have a part to play on this. We all have a part to play.

NSW police deputy commissioner Gary Worboys speaks to the media in Sydney, Sunday, 22 August 2021.
NSW police deputy commissioner Gary Worboys speaks to the media in Sydney, Sunday, 22 August 2021. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

Updated

Okay, back to the NSW press conference:

Worboys is asked about efforts to thwart anti-lockdown protests planned in Sydney today.

He says NSW police have been “scraping all of those social media sites” for information.

They have a number of avenues to get information and intelligence. Nothing surprises us about what these sorts of people may be planning and we are well in front of it. The New South Wales police force will put together a policing response to whatever is required and I guess if you look at yesterday, that was a very successful operation in terms of policing but in terms of keeping the community safe.

Updated

The Victorian outbreak control effort is going digital with Kate Matson, the deputy secretary of Covid-19 response, urging young people to “make a gif” of her in order to spread the message to friends not to break the health rules and meet up in person.

Matson:

I remember being under 30, although I’m not going to pretend that I understand exactly how people in that age group communicate but, if you have got TikTok on your phone, if you have got Snapchat on your phone, if you have Binge on your phone, if you do online gaming, feel free to make a gif or a meme of something I am saying.

But my message to everyone in that youth ... isolate, minimise transmission, communicate with your friends through your phone, through online, through phone calls, but please, don’t catch up together until we get out of this. That is my message to you today.

Updated

Just sticking with the Victorian press conference: the state government has announced, in order to ramp up vaccination efforts, they will now be offering a half-day paid leave for all public service workers for each dose they receive.

Victorian health minister Martin Foley:

So, the Victorian government is today offering putting in place systems that will offer all public sector employees access to a half day’s paid time off to each dose of the vaccine they receive.

We have been working with a number of other large private sector employers who have put in place similar arrangements, and we think it is the responsibility of us as a significant employer in the state to put in place all the support we can to encourage our employees to get on and make sure that they are all vaccinated as soon as possible...

This is a part of our drive to make sure that we administer one million doses of the vaccines that are available from 16 August.

Foley confirmed this will apply to all full-time, part-time staff, as well as long-term and regular casuals.

Victorian health minister Martin Foley speaks to the media in Melbourne, Sunday, 22 August 2021.
Victorian health minister Martin Foley speaks to the media in Melbourne, Sunday, 22 August 2021. Photograph: Luis Ascui/AAP

Updated

Deputy police commissioner Gary Worboys says that NSW police issues 240 penalty infringement notices in the last 24 hours across the state, noting that many of these relate to those involved in yesterday’s planned anti-lockdown protests in Sydney CBD and surrounds.

Authorities also checked in on 5,000 people across the state who were supposed to be in isolation, to ensure they were complying with their isolation orders.

Worboys:

At one of those locations, at Lake Macquarie, there were meant to be four people at the premise and there were only three who came forward and presented to police. One of those people was later found at an address some distance away in Kurri Kurri. That person was directed to return back to her residence which she did and was issued a $5,000 penalty infringement notice to Kurri Kurri.

Updated

Just to reiterate that last point, authorities are particularly concerned about the fact that Covid-19 has spread to the regional town of Orange.

Authorities say that Orange reported two Covid-19 cases to 8pm last night (meaning they are included in today’s 830 total case numbers). But since then, they have recorded an additional four cases, bringing the town’s total to six.

Updated

NSW authorities are concerned about case numbers in Blacktown and surrounding areas, Greenacre, Guildford, Merrylands, Granville and Condell Park.

In the regions, they are also concerned about positive sewage detected in Bateau Bay, and encourage all residents to come forward for testing.

Deputy chief health officer, Dr Marianne Gale, says authorities are also urging residents of Lithgow, Parkes, Orange, and around Dubbo to go and get tested.

There have been 36 new cases. The majority continue to be in the area of Dubbo and surrounds although we are also seeing cases in Bathurst, Wellington, Bourke, Narromine ... and Orange.

Our particular concern is about Orange, and we are calling to people of Orange to come out and get tested, is that while we have two [new cases] reported to 8pm last night, overnight we have had an additional four cases making a total of six in Orange at the current time. For all residents of Orange, come forward to get tested.

Updated

As I mentioned earlier, NSW has sadly recorded three more Covid-related deaths.

These include a man in his 60s from south-western Sydney who passed away at Royal Prince Alfred hospital. He acquired his infection at Canterbury hospital. He had received one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

A woman in her 80s from south-westernSydney who died at Wollongong hospital. She was not vaccinated and was a close contact of a case in the community.

A man in his 70s from south-eastern Sydney also died at St George hospital, where he had acquired his infection. He had received one dose of Covid-19 vaccine. His death is the second death linked to the outbreak at St George hospital.

Updated

Dr Gale is speaking to the number of people currently in a NSW hospital due to Covid-19.

There are currently 557 cases admitted to hospital. Of those, 94 are in intensive care, 31 of which require ventilation.

Of the 94 that are in ICU, 83 are not vaccinated and the remainder have received one dose of vaccine.

Updated

Dr Marianne Gale, NSW deputy chief health officer, is providing further detail on today’s 830 recorded Covid-19 cases.

She says that the state’s coronavirus testing services have experienced a backlog in the last few days “due to very large numbers of people coming forward for testing”.

So our teams have been working to catch up on the backlog of negative test and getting that into the system. That backlog has not affected any positive results. They have all come through through a separate mechanism but part of what we are seeing in the big testing numbers today is a backlog of negative results reported through the system. We estimate that to be around a backlog of 60,000 that is now a quarter, so the actual real reflection of test reported is around 140,000.

NSW deputy chief health officer Dr Marianne Gale speaks to the media in Sydney, Sunday, 22 August 2021.
NSW deputy chief health officer Dr Marianne Gale speaks to the media in Sydney, Sunday, 22 August 2021. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

Updated

NSW health minister Brad Hazzard says that, up until 8pm last night, 206,193 Covid-19 tests were performed.

Hazzard also says that NSW is administering around 50,000 vaccinations per day.

Yesterday was slower, seeing close to 45,000 vaccines delivered in state vaccination hubs. But by comparison, last Saturday only 24,500 doses were administered.

Hazzard says “it takes us to almost 58% of New South Wales residents who have now had their first dose of vaccine. And almost 31% have had two doses.”

Updated

NSW records 830 new Covid cases

New South Wales authorities are delivering the state’s daily Covid-19 update.

There were 830 Covid-19 cases recorded in NSW in the last 24 hours.

There were three more related deaths recorded – a man in his 60s, a man in his 70s, and a woman in her 80s. That brings the total number of Covid-related deaths to 71.

There are currently 550 patients in NSW hospitals, almost 100 of whom are in the ICU.

Updated

Foley also says that authorities can also confirm another case reported overnight is coming from the Mansfield area, and is linked to the Shepparton cases.

This case is not counted in today’s numbers – it will be included in tomorrow’s total.

Updated

Foley says that there are now 440 active coronavirus cases in Victoria.

We also know that 27 people are in hospital, which is a significant jump from yesterday when there were 18 people in hospital. Of those, 12 people are in the ICU.

There were 44,147 Covid-19 tests processed yesterday. And there were also 26,149 vaccinations in our state run centres, which Foley adds is “quite a high number for a Saturday”.

Updated

Victoria Covid update

Victoria health minister Martin Foley is providing the state’s daily Covid-19 update.

There were 65 new locally acquired Covid-19 cases recorded in the last 24 hours. Of these, 55 are linked to known outbreaks, and 10 have their acquisition source under investigation.

Only 12 cases were in isolation for their entire infectious period.

Updated

Victorian authorities are expected to speak at a press conference at 10.45am about the state’s worsening Covid-19 outbreak.

Queensland deputy chief health officer Dr James Smith told reporters that while things are looking good in Queensland, authorities are concerned about the growing Covid-19 outbreak in New South Wales.

We are continuing to watch what is happening in other states, particularly New South Wales. We are aware of cases that have occurred in regional New South Wales, close to the border. There is a lot of work going on in places like the Darling Downs in south-western Queensland to improve vaccination access. There are pop-up clinics in places like Inglewood hospital and Inglewood sports ground, [and] Goondiwindi hospital. So there is lots of work going on there to prepare for any incursions from northern New South Wales into Queensland.

Updated

Queensland recorded zero new cases overnight, meaning the total number of active cases in the state is still at 39.

Over 10,000 tests were administered in the last 24 hours.

Updated

Queensland authorities are speaking at a press conference now about today’s Covid-19 cases (or lack thereof!).

Updated

Queensland records no new cases

Queensland has once again recorded 0 new locally acquired Covid-19 cases.

Updated

We’ve been talking a lot this morning about the the Doherty Institute’s modelling, which underpins the federal government’s four-phase roadmap out of Covid lockdowns. It suggests that once 70% of people older than 16 are vaccinated, the need for “stringent lockdowns” would be “unlikely” in Australia.

But the Institute’s Director of Epidemiology, Prof Jodie McVernon was on Sky News this morning, saying that work is being done to revise the modelling in light of NSW’s massive Covid-19 case numbers.

This is because the original modelling, and thus the national cabinet plan, was based on the idea we would be opening up with outbreaks beginning in the 10s rather than hundreds, “continuous low-level social restrictions” and an “optimal” testing, tracing, isolating and quarantine system to control numbers.

McVernon:

So I think it’s important to differentiate between what our [national cabinet] report is discussing which is making a transition from a state of no or very few cases to a more immunised environment and then thinking about how transmission might be managed there as opposed to coming off a high caseload.

She also said that even if Australia gets to an 80% vaccination rate, some small lockdowns might be required.

What our modelling found was as vaccination coverage increases, vaccination does much more of the heavy lifting of the public health response and what we all want, we are all exhausted by this uncertainty...what we’re saying is the only pathway to that is vaccination.

Updated

21 of Victoria's new Covid cases from Shepparton

Let’s take another look at Victoria’s Covid-19 cases today.

Victoria recorded 65 new locally acquired cases. I was saying earlier that at leat 16 of those cases were recorded in Shepparton and announced at Daniel Andrew’s press conference yesterday.

But I have learnt that that number is actually 21.

Goulburn Valley Health chief executive Matt Sharp thanked the community late yesterday for coming forward to get tested, despite long wait times, and said that “there are now 21 active cases that are being closely monitored, and we expect that number to grow”.

Updated

One last moment of note from Morrison’s interview on Insiders this morning – Morrison was asked whether the government is planning to open up Covid-19 vaccinations for children, given how many of our current cases are in children under the age of 10.

Morrison said that the TGA has approved Pfizer for those above the age of 12, and that will be able to go forward from next Friday.

He added that the government “will be looking to finalise our plans when it comes to the vaccination of children”.

We discussed it last Friday to ensure we want to do it as early as possible and certainly by the end of the terms, and before we get into the holiday period at the end of the year and we would hope a lot sooner than that.

He said in the meantime, the best protection against Covid in kids is for parents to get vaccinated.

Morrison also added that he is working with other countries, like he did with Poland, to secure more doses of Pfizer.

Updated

Morrison was talking about the Doherty Institute’s modelling, on which the government is basing its four-phase road map out of Covid-19. The modelling said that we need to reach 70% to 80% vaccination rates in order to open Australia back up and avoid having to go into lockdown when there is an outbreak.

But one of the architects of the modelling behind Australia’s path out of lockdown says New South Wales’ Covid case numbers are too high for widespread vaccinations to contain the virus as envisioned in the plan.

While the Doherty modelling outlines a path to fewer restrictions after national vaccinations hit 70%, it also assumes outbreaks beginning in the 10s rather than hundreds, “continuous low-level social restrictions” and an “optimal” testing, tracing, isolating and quarantine system to control numbers.

For more information, check out the Guardian’s article below:

Speers pointed out that the 80% vaccination mark is at least another two months away, if not more, and couldn’t this opening up process have happened a lot faster if the government had secured more Pfizer vaccine doses earlier.

After some back and forth, Morrison conceded that there are things the government wished it had done in hindsight.

What I’m saying is we had the challenges early in the program, we have now those challenges. We are vaccinating at the rate of over 300,000 a day, and are making great progress. We have a clear plan to living with the virus. We are making great progress against that plan.

But Morrison pivoted and reminded everyone that Covid-19 is the REAL enemy (not his government).

I tell you what the real problem is, the real problem is the Delta variant and Covid-19. That’s what we are battling.

Updated

Speers has moved on to asking Morrison about the Covid-19 situation in Australia, and whether there is any chance that we will be able to get back to zero cases.

Morrison has said that is very unlikely, and that Australia needs to focus on getting to 70% or 80% of the population fully vaccinated.

But Speers is questioning the Doherty Institute modelling, on which Morrison’s statement and the government’s national pandemic exit strategy is based.

He points out that the modelling is based on Australia starting out with one outbreak involving 30 cases. The question is whether high vaccination rates are going to be enough alone to curb the impact of 800 daily cases in NSW, and more than 60 in Victoria blowing out if we open up.

Morrison:

Yeah, I’ve a seen that point being made and the advice we have from the Doherty Institute is the starting point does not ultimately alter the conclusions of the modelling, and so of course we continue to always update these things, so we’re best informed about how to manage the public health response, and of course we will do that. But the 70% marks and the 80% marks are the way that we can move forward because with all this said, together with the Treasury advice – you know, over 18 months ago, our job was to save lives and save livelihoods. We’ve saved 30,000 lives and got a million people back into work, but on top of that, once we go forward, once you get over 70% and particularly over 80%, lockdowns do more harm than good. Lockdowns are not a sustainable way to deal with the virus and that’s why we have to get to the 70% and 80% marks so we can start living with the virus which means for those who are vaccinated in phase B there will be exemptions available and we are looking to confirm what those exemptions are now and the technology that can support that.

Put simply: yes, maybe the modelling is flawed, but we are going to stick by it anyway.

Updated

On Insiders, host David Speers and prime minister Scott Morrison have clashed over a question to do with whether he disagrees with the US’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.

Morrison:

If you let me finish. Of course, David, and over a long period of time, all prime ministers have had that discussion, going as far back as John Howard, about the operations that we’ve had there, as have our military planners and our military officials in terms of the success of the operations in Afghanistan. At the end of the day ultimately a decision was taken, going back as far as the Obama administration, followed up by the Trump administration in February of last year when they were talking to the Taliban, and that has been followed through by the Biden administration, and as a result Australia has to take its decisions based on the environment which we are there. Let me say this: for 20 years we have all worked hard to try, in the best of our efforts and endeavours, to make a failed state a functional state.

Spears:

I understand that, prime minister...

Morrison:

And as the Taliban – let me finish ... David, if you let me finish... sorry, David, I’m going to insist on finishing my answer. At the end of the day what we achieved in Afghanistan was trying to give that country a go at being a success. Now, sadly, at the end of the day as the Taliban forces rolled in, it was very clear that that state was not able to defend itself and the question there goes: How long do the coalition forces remain in a place...? How many American, Australian and other lives are going to be committed to that end? Australia, the United States, so many of us, we have many interests around the world and we have to keep Australians safe as well, and that’s what we’ve been working to do. I would say this to all the veterans, as John Howard has said, there is no hierarchy of sacrifice or our Australian soldiers. Wherever they have fallen, they have fallen under our flag in our name, defending our values, and in every single case, they have died in a good cause and that is Australia’s cause, and the values we stand for.

Updated

Morrison won’t guarantee that we will be able to get every Australian citizen out of Afghanistan.

Well, David, I can’t guarantee the situation in Afghanistan. Australia is not in that situation. The US are in a very different situation to Australia. We have to work in the environment as we know and we have to do the best we possibly can. That is why, David, for many months now, for many, many months we are able to get 430 Afghan nationals out of the country before this most recent situation arose. Now, that doesn’t happen overnight, as you know. It takes many, many months to process people, to have the security and health checks that we have brought down. Over 14,500 Afghan nationals have been resettled in Australia by our government.

Updated

Back to Insiders, Speers has asked Morrison how many Australians and indeed Afghans do we still need to evacuate.

Well, it is a very fluid situation, David, and the registrations that we have are often not firsthand, and they need to be confirmed. What we are simply doing right now is getting as many people out safely with the proper checks being done both on the airfield itself and as well as back in the Emirates, to ensure that we are doing the right thing in terms ofAustralia’s national security interests, but also the right thing by humanitarian interests in the supporting as many of the efforts as we can, not just for Australian citizens, we are certainly getting Australians out and Afghan visa holders on their way to Australia, but we are also doing the same for other countries, just as they have done for us.

So basically, he either doesn’t have or won’t give a solid number.

Updated

Victoria records 65 new Covid cases

I need to hit pause on covering Morrison’s appearance on ABC Insiders for a moment, because Victoria Health has just released the state’s daily case numbers.

Victoria has recorded 65 new local Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours.

That’s all the information we have, though. We are still waiting to hear how many of those cases were in isolation and linked.

Updated

PM says 300 people evacuated from Afghanistan overnight

Prime minister Scott Morrison is speaking with David Speers on ABC Insiders this morning about the situation in Afghanistan.

Morrison says last night Australia ran four flights into Kabul, our biggest effort yet, evacuating over 300 people.

Updated

We are watching the Victorian Health Department’s twitter this morning, waiting for today’s Covid-19 case numbers to be released.

Remember: the state recorded 61 new cases yesterday, but announced a further 16 cases were detected via rapid testing in the regional town of Shepparton. These 16 cases will be officially included in today’s case numbers.

Updated

ABC is reporting that NSW Police will be out and on alert in Sydney today, with rumours that further anti-lockdown protests will take place in the CBD.

Police similarly thwarted a planned anti-lockdown protest in Sydney’s CBD yesterday.

Over 1,500 police officers made their presence felt in Sydney city on Saturday morning. They issued 261 fines and made 47 arrests for Covid-19 breaches around NSW, many of which connected to the protest.

Good morning. It’s Justine Landis-Hanley here ready to take you through the news on Sunday 22 August 2021.

But first, here’s a recap of what happened yesterday:

  • Australia recorded its highest number of daily Covid-19 cases, with 894 locally transmitted cases.
  • New South Wales recorded 825 new cases, the highest of any state since the pandemic began. NSW authorities said three people died from Covid-19 - a woman in her 80s, and two men in their 90s.
  • Victoria recorded 61 new cases. But at yesterday’s press conference premier Daniel Andrews said that 16 further cases in the regional town of Shepparton had been detected using rapid testing. They will be counted in today’s case numbers.
  • Melbourne’s lockdown was extended across the entire state with less than two hours notice before restrictions came in at 1pm yesterday.
  • Authorities are concerned that yesterday’s anti-lockdown protests will worsen the spread of Covid-19. More than 4,000 anti-lockdown protesters gathered in Melbourne, where demonstrators clashed with police officers. Police made 218 arrests and six officers were hospitalised. Protests also took place in Sydney and Brisbane.
  • ACT recorded eight new Covid-19 cases, while QLD and WA recorded zero.
  • About 80 people, including Australian citizens and permit holders, arrived on an Australian air force flight from Kabul.

As always, you can send me questions, news and memes on Twitter @justinel_h.

Updated

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