What we learned today, Saturday 25 September
This is where we’ll leave our live coverage of news for today. You can follow our live coverage of the AFL grand final here and our coverage of the NRL preliminary final here.
But first, let’s recap the day.
- Victoria recorded its highest ever day of Covid cases, with 847 cases and one death.
- NSW recorded 1,007 cases and 11 deaths, including three people who died in their homes and were diagnosed with Covid-19 after their deaths.
- Victoria is not on track to meet its target of 80% first doses by tomorrow – but will get there early next week. It has been promised about 2.6m doses of Pfizer to state hubs and GP clinics in October.
- The surf coast region of Victoria will get out of lockdown at 11.59pm tomorrow night, but no decision has been made about greater Geelong and the Mitchell shire, which are due to get out at the same time.
- Western Australia has upgraded its travel ban against Victoria to ‘extreme risk’, the same category as NSW, meaning that only a limited group of people including members of parliament will be granted permission to travel – and even they will have to do 14 days of hotel quarantine.
- The ACT recorded 32 new cases, including 10 more linked to an aged care home.
- Police arrested dozens of protesters at St Kilda in the sixth day of protests in Melbourne.
Thanks for your company. Follow our AFL grand final live blog with Geoff Lemon here:
Updated
A planned sixth day of protests in Melbourne was a flop but more are planned for tomorrow, AAP reports.
Police have snuffed out a sixth day of anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine protests in Melbourne, dispersing and arresting would-be demonstrators.
Hundreds of police lined St Kilda beach and arrested dozens of people on Saturday as protesters initially gathered at Luna Park.
Organisers urged their followers to “show no fear” and said anyone who received a fine from police would be reimbursed. But the planned sixth day in a row of disruption did not take off.
“No groups gaining tractions that we know of,” organisers posted on an encrypted messaging app at 1.45pm. “Our people are not giving up though. Stick around for a bit longer and see what happens.”
They signed off about 3pm with vague plans for more protests on Sunday.
The shadow CBD recovery minister, David Southwick, said he was pleased there had been no repeat of the large-scale protests on the West Gate Freeway and Shrine.
“We’ve seen some horrible images in the last few days,” Southwick said. “I can’t imagine what people overseas are thinking about us now.”
The protests began on Monday in opposition to mandatory vaccinations for the construction sector and the closure of building site tea rooms but have morphed into a wider anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine movement.
Updated
The WA premier, Mark McGowan, is also getting in on the action. Supporting the Demons, which is interesting for a Labor premier.
Incredible vibe on the train to the Stadium. Grand Final fever is well and truly here! pic.twitter.com/2a5Etxivba
— Mark McGowan (@MarkMcGowanMP) September 25, 2021
Is it because they’ve got the short odds, and as a politician who returned to government in a landslide earlier this year he feels an affinity? Or is it just football?
Updated
Are they, Western Australian transport minister Rita Saffioti? Are they really?
Not a Melbourne tram, but these Transperth buses and trains are a great substitute this year. pic.twitter.com/4sC6AagLdN
— Rita Saffioti (@Rita_Saffioti) September 25, 2021
Updated
Cowra dance schools listed as exposure sites
Two dance schools in Cowra in regional NSW have been listed as exposure sites.
Anyone who was at Cowra Dance Factory between 3.30pm and 7pm on Wednesday 15 September, or the Cowra Ballet School from 4.30pm to 6.15pm on Friday 17 September has been listed as a close contact by NSW Health and must get tested immediately and isolate for 14 days from the date of exposure, regardless of the test result.
Updated
Thanks Ben!
Let’s go to Perth, where everyone is very excited about the AFLM grand final, which is due to kick off in three hours or so.
I say everyone; I haven’t canvassed my nephew, who is currently rocking the hair of an Italian football player, but it’s not really his code. Also he is four.
But still: a significant proportion of the sandgropers are excited.
Soak it all up Perth 👏🏽 @9NewsPerth pic.twitter.com/Utc17tYrZL
— Alexia Pesce (@alexiapesce) September 25, 2021
They’ve been queuing for the pub since 4am.
The line for the Camfield pub outside @OptusStadium at 0945 this morning. The woman I spoke to at the front told me she got here at 4am... @abcperth @abcsport pic.twitter.com/9VNH4PkckV
— Rhiannon Shine (@RhiannonShine) September 25, 2021
According to the ABC, the 61,000 fans allowed inside Optus Stadium are expected to eat nine tonnes of chips, 23 tonnes of pies, 6,000 pieces of fish, 14,000 chicken wings and 7,000 hot dogs. That’s quite a bit.
The comedian Nazeem Hussein is in Melbourne, not Perth, which is a pity because it’s clear his mum is a mad Dees fan.
My mum’s pumped! She’s been a Dees fan since the 70s and is more excited than the whole family. I did not make her sing or film this 💙❤️ @melbournefc #GrandFinal pic.twitter.com/CIsm3ltReH
— Nazeem Hussain (@nazeem_hussain) September 25, 2021
I’d also like to do an individual shout-out to my friend Zoe Kenyon, who is the biggest (and only) Dees fan I know.
Updated
Welcome back to Calla Wahlquist, who is going to take the wheel again and steer through until this blog closes. Thanks for your time!
And for those of you who, like me, grew up in one of those pockets of Australia where you prefer to watch large men collide with one another, we’ve got the rugby league preliminary finals covered too!
Most of today’s Covid announcements are now out of the way. But there’s still plenty happening.
Apparently there’s an AFL game on today. Who knew? Step this way for the Guardian’s live blog!
AAP reports:
The Apple Isle appears to have avoided a Covid-19 outbreak after a Melbourne-based contractor working on Spirit of Tasmania ferries tested positive.
Sailings to and from Melbourne and Devonport were cancelled on Friday night when the positive case emerged among a TT-Line employee.
The contractor worked below deck on both Spirit of Tasmania vessels on Monday and Tuesday while infectious.
“We’ve identified each of the people ... that were involved in that exposure,” public health acting director Dr Scott McKeown told reporters on Saturday.
“There was a small group of people, 17, who were exposed across both vessels. No other workers had exposure to this case at all.”
Eleven are in Tasmania and all have since returned negative results from rapid tests, while two of six in Victoria have also tested negative.
Another 67 crew members are also undergoing precautionary testing port-side in Devonport.
“The risk to passengers remains very low and as a result they’ve been able to disembark the ship if they wish,” Tasmania’s premier Peter Gutwein said.
The cancelled sailings disrupted the travel plans of about 150 passengers in Melbourne as well as 40 to 50 in Devonport, with almost all opting to stay in their cabins overnight.
The Devonport ferry is poised to set sail on Saturday, while the Melbourne vessel can follow suit once the four remaining Victoria-based primary close contacts return negative results.
Updated
Thanks to Calla Wahlquist, who will be back with you near the end of the day.
With that I’ll hand the reins back to Ben Smee.
Western Australia has reported no new locally-acquired covid cases overnight.
Just 606 people received a Covid test in WA yesterday, a pretty standard day for that state.
There are walk-in Covid-19 vaccination clinics at the Perth Royal Show and a vaccine booking booth outside Optus Stadium ahead of the AFL grand final, which will be played tonight.
Updated
Western Australia bans all travel from Victoria, elevates it to 'extreme risk'
Western Australia has banned all travel from Victoria, elevating the state to the ‘extreme risk’ category.
NSW is also classed as ‘extreme risk’.
The new travel restriction will kick in from 12.01am on Wednesday.
The WA health department says:
This means travel from Victoria to Western Australia will not be permitted.
The only exemptions are for commonwealth and state officials, members of parliament, diplomats, and specialists or people with extraordinary circumstances as determined by the state emergency coordinator or the chief health officer.
Even approved travellers will be required to undertake mandatory hotel quarantine for 14 days, at their own expense, have returned a negative Covid PCR test within 72 hours of travel, and have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.
Updated
The ABC says there were about 50 protesters at St Kilda beach today, and several hundred police.
Police arrested a number of people – videos showed one woman being pinned to the ground by two officers, and other men and women being marched away one by one.
A number of other participants were fined for breaching public health orders.
About 2,000 police are out in Melbourne today, looking for any signs of unrest.
Updated
Police arrest protesters at St Kilda beach
Police have swarmed in to St Kilda in Melbourne to break up an anti-lockdown, anti-vaccination protest.
According to Teegan Dolling, a Channel Seven reporter on the scene, the police to protester ratio is 5:1.
Police quick to break up a small group gathering at St Kilda. Think the police to protestor ratio is 5:1. Very quick to arrest them and take them away. #7newsmelb pic.twitter.com/TIZNlfBeH6
— Teegan Dolling (@tdolling) September 25, 2021
The ABC’s Dana Morse said it was “quashed pretty quickly” and a few dozen arrests have been made.
Bit of a stand off happening between police and protesters in St Kilda…protesters attempted a March earlier but was quashed pretty quickly. A few arrests have been made and dozens of police are still on the scene. @abcnews @abcmelbourne pic.twitter.com/PEzupV0SPU
— Dana Morse (@DanaMorse_) September 25, 2021
Lots of police in St Kilda today. Haven't yet seen many protesters/rioters/anti-vaxxers. More gawking onlookers than anything else thus far. pic.twitter.com/szfAt8E41Q
— David Milner (@DaveMilbo) September 25, 2021
Livestreams from the protests earlier in the day hinted at some concern at the low numbers today. “We need numbers everybody,” one protest attendee, wearing a CFMEU hat, said on the livestream. “Everyone that came to the protests last time we need them down now.”
This is the sixth straight day of protests. What began as a crowd of largely construction workers outside the CFMEU offices in Melbourne on Monday, pushed along by far-right agitators on Telegram, has transitioned into a collection of anti-lockdown, anti-vaccine and libertarian and far-right groups, including some known neo-Nazis.
You can read Michael McGowan’s story on the makeup of the protests here:
Updated
On climate, the Quad statement says:
We have joined forces to tackle the climate crisis, which must be addressed with the urgency it demands. Quad countries will work together to keep the Paris-aligned temperature limits within reach and will pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. To this end, Quad countries intend to update or communicate ambitious NDCs by Cop26 and welcome those who have already done so. Quad countries will also coordinate their diplomacy to raise global ambition, including reaching out to key stakeholders in the Indo-Pacific region. Our work is organised across three thematic areas: climate ambition, clean-energy innovation and deployment, and climate adaptation, resilience and preparedness, with the intent to pursue enhanced actions during the 2020s, contributing to the aim of achieving global net-zero emissions preferably by 2050, and taking into account national circumstances. We are pursuing nationally appropriate sectoral decarbonisation efforts, including those aimed at decarbonising shipping and port operations and the deployment of clean-hydrogen technology. We will cooperate to establish responsible and resilient clean-energy supply chains, and will strengthen the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and climate information systems. Quad countries will work together for successful outcomes at the Cop26 and G20 that uphold the level of climate ambition and innovation that this moment requires.
Updated
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, released the Quad leaders summit communique earlier, following the first in-person meeting of the group – comprised of the leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the US – in Washington DC overnight.
It says that since the group last met in March, “the Covid-19 pandemic has caused continued global suffering; the climate crisis has accelerated; and regional security has become ever-more complex, testing all of our countries individually and together. Our cooperation, however, remains unflinching”.
It continues:
Together, we recommit to promoting the free, open, rules-based order, rooted in international law and undaunted by coercion, to bolster security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. We stand for the rule of law, freedom of navigation and overflight, peaceful resolution of disputes, democratic values, and territorial integrity of states. We commit to work together and with a range of partners. We reaffirm our strong support for Asean’s unity and centrality and for Asean’s Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, and we underscore our dedication towards working with Asean and its member states – the heart of the Indo-Pacific region – in practical and inclusive ways. We also welcome the September 2021 EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
The statement then talks about the Covax program, which has so far delivered 79m vaccines to the Indo-Pacific region and announced new funding commitments, including Australia promising $212m in aid to purchase vaccines for south-east Asia and the Pacific, and another $219m to “support last-mile vaccine rollouts and lead in coordinating the Quad’s last-mile delivery efforts in those regions”.
Updated
Meanwhile, in Perth, excitement is mounting for the first grand final to be held in Western Australia in the AFL’s 125-year history.
Royce Kurmelovs spoke to some fans who were lucky enough to get tickets. He writes:
With their regular cheer squad stuck in Victoria, the Western Bulldogs have scrambled to recruit a group of Western Australian fans to take on their duties ahead of Saturday night’s grand final in Perth.
Among them is Kirsten Gianni, 28, who made the 600km trip from Kalgoorlie to Perth to serve on the 60-person replacement squad – a six-and-a-half hour drive that takes longer than it does to fly from Melbourne to Perth.
“Being part of the cheer squad is a great way to express our support for the club, especially over here in WA, so they know they’re loved here as well,” she says.
Gianni says she has been a lifelong Bulldogs fan since she wrote a letter to star player Chris Grant as a little girl and actually received a response.
“That was it,” she says. “I’ve been a fanatical supporter ever since.”
You can read his full report here:
Updated
In terms of where the cases in Victoria are coming from, about 55% are from transmission within households, says Victoria’s Covid commander, Jeroen Weimar, and the “majority” of the remaining 45% are from social interactions between households.
And that is a very distinct pattern that we have seen over the last five or six weeks, since the number started to take off. We have seen a growing number of cases of household-to-household transmission, which when our contact traces back to individuals, becomes clear.
It is helping out your mother by providing groceries, by going to see your cousin, all those day-to-day things we all desperately want to go back and do.
Updated
Back to Victoria.
Victoria has already missed its first projected milestone since the roadmap was released last Sunday.
The state was meant to hit 80% of Victorians 16 and over having had their first dose of a vaccine by tomorrow, 26 September. That’s not going to happen: it was only at 77.1% as of yesterday.
Martin Foley says the slip is due to fewer people turning up to get vaccinated on the public holiday yesterday, or booking in for today, given it is AFL grand final day.
But we hope that on the back of the certainty (of supply) around hubs, the certainty around GPs, that we can bring the rate of growth forward and we have every confidence that will happen.
Updated
Covid outbreaks have driven NSW patients to ACT hospitals
In Canberra, the ACT chief minister, Andrew Barr, says he’s particularly concerned about “a number” of cases at the Calvary Haydon aged-care facility, among residents and staff.
The territory is starting to worry about hospital capacity.
We are starting to see a large number of patients who are unable to be treated in NSW starting to come to ACT hospitals. This is a trend we anticipate to continue.
The ACT chief health officer, Kerryn Coleman, says 10 of today’s cases relate to the Calvary Haydon aged-care facility. There are 12 cases linked to the retirement community overall.
She says that 100% of staff have received their first dose of a vaccine and more than half are fully vaccinated.
This outbreak still has a long way to go but our initial assessment is that we are much better situated [because of the vaccination status of staff] than last year.
Updated
Foley says the roadmap showing the steps out of lockdown, released last week, which has an end to large-scale lockdowns from 26 October, was “never a set and forget” plan.
He is asked this question off the back of Singapore pausing plans to lift restrictions after recording its worst Covid day in a year, with 837 new cases, despite having a 90% vaccination rate.
Says Foley:
A lot of comparable countries are facing similar challenges. This has never been a set and forget. When we released the roadmap and the Burnet Institute modelling last week it was always on the basis of we would continue to review where cases were at.
Today’s case number is a record high and I suspect in the coming days and weeks it will continue to grow because the modelling we released last week from the Burnett Institute pointed to cases continuing to increase until around mid to late October and then peaking and then, as the next stages of the roadmap are introduced, and people start moving, as things open up, the potential for further increases.
That is why getting the first doses of protections into as many people’s arms as possible is critical ... The guard rail, for want of a better phrase, we have always had in place is this comes at the expense of people in hospital and we have to make sure that the support for our already exhausted and fatigued paramedics, emergency department workers, hospital workers, ICU workers, clinicians [is there], that they are supported in getting us through this until the vaccine curbs the numbers.
It is a real challenge and it will be a challenge in NSW as they open up presumably first. It will be a challenge in Victoria. And it is a challenge around the world.
Updated
Martin Foley says the gap between doses for Pfizer will be reduced back from six weeks to three once enough people in high-risk areas have received their first dose.
Foley says that the focus on first doses was intended to provide a “first ring of protection” around the outbreak. When more supply is guaranteed, and when the vaccine rate is higher, that gap will narrow.
We will continue to work with the commonwealth and we will continue to prioritise first doses and as soon as we can bring that data down, we will, but based on the numbers, as welcome as they were, that we got last night, we are not at that position yet.
If the gap between doses is officially changed from six weeks to three, people who have already booked their second shot for six weeks out will be able to reschedule for three, he says.
Updated
Weimar says the number of people in hospital with Covid has increased by 55% on this time last week, and 124% on this time two weeks ago.
As we see case numbers rise, we also see hospitalisations rise behind it, and this is why it is so critical for all of us to do everything we can to minimise household-to-household transmission and to minimise community transmission [that] we are continuing to see in key parts of Melbourne.
I would urge all Melburnians at this time to get to the finish line – 70%, 80% of vaccination is now not that far away. How we conduct ourselves over the coming weeks, how we conduct ourselves tonight, will be critical to where our case numbers go, but more importantly where our hospitalisation numbers go over the weeks ahead.
We are doing everything we can to create that capacity [in hospitals] and that means denying others the chance to get treatment ... so please minimise the transmission, that household contact. Do it for yourself and your family, those you love and for those who do not want to end up in hospital over the weeks ahead.
Updated
Worryingly, there has been a mystery case reported in Shepparton.
The greater Shepparton area reported three cases overnight: two close contacts of a pervious case, and one that is still under investigation.
Weimar says:
It looks like it might be a traveller coming up from Melbourne who has taken a virus into the Shepparton area and reacting to make sure the amazing response we saw in Shepparton in August is not all undone by further incursions into that area.
Updated
Weimar says the outbreak is continuing to be driven by household transmission, particularly in the northern suburbs.
We have over 60% of those cases in the northern suburbs ... The key suburbs of concern continue to be Roxburgh Park, Craigieburn and Broadmeadows.
We now have just under 5,000 cases in the northern suburbs, just under two-thirds of the total cases in all Victoria.
The other hotspots are the western and south-eastern suburbs, particularly Cranbourne East and Dandenong, where there were 89 cases reported overnight.
Thirty of the cases reported overnight were also in regional Victoria, and 10 of them are from “workplace incursions from people living in regional Victoria working in metropolitan Melbourne”.
Weimar says:
If you’re living in regional Victoria and you are a permitted worker, you have to be exceptionally careful around your symptoms and all your Covid-safe practices given the high level of infectivity we are seeing in some parts of metropolitan Melbourne.
One of the cases in regional Victoria is an employee at the Viva Energy oil refiner in Geelong. Weimar says that’s a critical asset, and the public health team is monitoring the outbreak closely. That person had 80 close contacts, 60 of whom have returned a negative test result.
Updated
Jeroen Weimar is running through the vaccine numbers now.
On that October Pfizer allocation: Victoria is expecting 204,000 doses to its state hubs in the first week of October, going up to 234,000 for the second week of October and 265,000 for the last two weeks.
GP clinics in Victoria will get 400,000 doses for the first two weeks of October, stepping up to 427,000 for the last two weeks.
So, that’s 2.6m doses of Pfizer in the state next month.
And pharmacists will get a delivery of 150,000 doses of Moderna in the first week of October, and 200,000 a week for the rest of the month.
So plenty of opportunity to get vaccinated.
Updated
The Western Bulldogs player Isabel Huntington is at the press conference to talk about one of those pop-up vaccination hubs, a Western Bulldogs community vaccination clinic.
The pop-up clinic will be at Whitten Oval next week, on Saturday 2 October and Sunday 3 October. There will be 1,000 Pfizer doses available each day for people aged 12 to 59. Bookings are essential.
Updated
Back to Victoria.
Martin Foley says Victoria has received confirmation about its Pfizer allocations for October.
While it was not at the higher levels that the Horizon document forecasted, and while it wasn’t at the high levels that we are confident that all parts of the Victorian distribution system for vaccines can get into the arms of Victorians, that nonetheless gives us more certainty and more predictability to continue our run to get as many vaccines into as many arms as possible.
It means more bookings can be opened and we can make sure that we get those jabs into those arms to get us closer to those Covid-19 normal outcomes and transitions from 70% and 80% double dose of 16 and over out the door as quickly as we possibly can.
We are also very focused on bringing the vaccines to the areas that need them most, especially in the north, the west, and the south-east of metropolitan Melbourne. And this allows us that equitable distribution of vaccines into the highest risk communities.
Foley says the confirmation, which came though from Lt Gen John Frewen, allows the state to roll out new community vaccination hubs.
Updated
ACT records 32 new Covid cases
The ACT has recorded 32 new cases overnight. There are 10 people in hospital.
ACT COVID-19 update (25 September 2021):
— ACT Health (@ACTHealth) September 25, 2021
New cases today: 32
Active cases: 233
Total recovered cases: 492
Total cases: 725
Negative test results (past 24 hours): 2,624
In hospital: 10
More information at: https://t.co/2rCcWDk4wl pic.twitter.com/kmbDdSnEpz
Updated
Victoria's Surf Coast shire out of lockdown on Monday, Geelong and Mitchell still waiting
The Surf Coast shire will get out of lockdown at 11.59pm tomorrow night.
The lockdown provisions in the Mitchell shire and Greater Geelong shire are due to lift tomorrow too, but Foley says decisions on those two areas are yet to be made.
Foley says things are “looking relatively positive” in Greater Geelong.
There is still a couple of investigations and data being run down with the local public health unit but there are still some cases there. There were three new cases reported from today, two unknown social contacts, and one is being investigated.
There is one new case in the Surf Coast shire, and one new case in the Corangamite shire, both linked to existing cases.
The Mitchell shire is looking less positive. It recorded seven new cases yesterday.
Says Foley:
Given its immediate proximity to the northern suburbs of Melbourne and the number of incursions crossing that metro-regional divide, the prospect of Mitchell shire continuing to grow in numbers is one that we need to forecast.
Because Mitchell shire does reflect those patterns of how essential workers, particularly with links to construction and other sectors, have seen a large number of cases proportionately to the rest of regional Victoria.
That gives us opportunity to stress that if you don’t have to move across the regional boundaries, then you should not be. That is what is seeding infections into the regions, largely from metro Melbourne. But if you are for a permitted reason or an essential worker able to do so, you take your restrictions with you as you travel from the region – from the city into the regions. We continue to see, unfortunately, so many of the cases both in metro and the regional settings being people whether it has seeded from a workplace or a particular sector into social settings.
Updated
Foley says the man who died with Covid in Victoria overnight was an 80-year-old man from the Hume local government area, which is the worst affected by this current outbreak. He sends his condolences to the man’s family.
There are currently 321 people in hospital in Victoria with Covid, of whom 65 are in intensive care and 45 are on a ventilator.
There are now 7,611 active cases in Victoria, 79% of whom are under the age of 50.
As of this morning, 77.1% of people age 16 and over have had their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and 46.9% have received a second dose.
Updated
Victorian coronavirus press conference begins
The Victorian health minister, Martin Foley, has stepped up now.
He starts by welcoming Isabel Huntington, an AFLW player for the Western Bulldogs. The dogs are playing in the ALFM grand final tonight.
Updated
Good morning everyone, and thanks to Ben Smee for taking us through the morning.
I’ll bring you the details on the Victorian press conference with the health minister, Martin Foley, and the Covid response commander, Jeroen Weimar, shortly.
Victoria has recorded its highest ever daily case tally – 847 cases were reported overnight, along with sadly one death.
Updated
I’m going to be handing this blog over to Calla Wahlquist now.
She’ll take you through the Victorian press conference, which is due to start in a few minutes.
Here’s a full breakdown of the new cases in New South Wales, by local health district.
- 308 from South Western Sydney
- 214 from Western Sydney
- 103 from Sydney
- 82 from South Eastern Sydney
- 70 from Illawarra-Shoalhaven LHD
- 66 from Nepean-Blue Mountains
- 56 from Northern Sydney
- 31 from Hunter-New England LHD
- 31 from the Central Coast
- 20 from Western NSW
- 6 from the Far West
- 4 from Southern NSW
- 3 from Murrumbidgee
- 1 from the Mid-North Coast
- 3 from correctional facilities
- 9 yet to be assigned to a district
McAnulty says authorities have detected an increase in Covid transmission in the Illawarra region, where 70 new cases have been reported.
Updated
New South Wales Health’s Dr Jeremy McAnulty is giving an update.
He says 84.7% of people have received a first vaccine dose and 57.8% are fully vaccinated.
He says sewage testing has detected Covid in Tamworth, Balranald, Oberon, Dungog and Eden and urged people in those communities to come forward for testing.
Updated
Some more detail about the 11 deaths recorded in New South Wales.
One person was in their 40s, one person was in their 50s, two people were in their 60s, three people were in their 70s, three people were in their 80s and one person was in their 90s.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) September 25, 2021
NSW records 1,007 new Covid cases and 11 deaths
New South Wales has recorded 1,007 new Covid-19 cases and 11 deaths.
NSW recorded 1,007 new locally acquired cases of #COVID19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. pic.twitter.com/RnTjQmBwFW
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) September 25, 2021
Updated
The Queensland health minister, Yvette D’ath, is speaking about the potential sticking point to opening the state’s border.
She and other Queensland government ministers have spoken about this in recent days.
The roadmaps to lifting restrictions in New South Wales and Victoria – when those states reach 80% double-dose vaccination - proposes measures that would remain tighter than in Queensland.
So Queensland is questioning what a national reintegration would mean. Will the state have to impose restrictions not in place now? Will it keep the border closed until other states align?
We don’t know, because there’s no Queensland roadmap that considers vaccination rates or the borders reopening.
D’ath says:
[NSW and Victoria’s] roadmaps do not tell the people of Australia when to they expect to have the same low level of restrictions that Queensland has.
There’s a huge difference to opening it up when NSW has it under control and opening it up ... when there’s a huge risk of [Covid] coming across the border and putting at risk 20% who are unvaccinated.
Updated
D’ath is being asked about ongoing travel restrictions.
We have been saying since mid-June that if you do travel interstate ... many of these people have gone interstate knowing what the rules were. They’re just going to have to be patient. We understand the heartache, disruption that Covid has caused around the country.
Every given week we don’t know whether NSW is going to lock down a town, whether it’s Lismore, whether it’s Tweed, whether it’s Byron Bay. We are very much in the hands of other jurisdictions.
We can’t have thousands of people all coming home and going into home quarantine without looking at the risk factors.
The new case in Queensland was detected on day 14 of home isolation.
The state’s health minister, Yvette D’ath:
What that shows, it is so important when people are isolating, they do their full 14 days and do all those tests. We thank the family. We know this is difficult to get a test result like this right at the end of your quarantine period. But we are so grateful for all those families at St Thomas More and the day care centre for all the work they have been doing.
The Queensland health minister, Yvette D’ath, says the state has set aside a $70m support package for tourism businesses affected by the state’s border closure.
Of that money, $30m will go to the state’s iconic attractions. The other $40m will go to small businesses.
Queensland records one new Covid case
Queensland has recorded one new local Covid case, a person in home quarantine.
Saturday 25 September – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) September 25, 2021
One new locally acquired case, detected in home quarantine.
The case is linked to the Sunnybank cluster.#covid19 pic.twitter.com/XuDmuTtIor
Updated
Australian Associated Press also has some more details on the clean energy summit announced by Scott Morrison from the US early this morning:
Australia will host a clean energy summit next year under the Quad umbrella and take a bigger role in the supply of critical minerals in the Indo-Pacific region, prime minister Scott Morrison says.
Morrison was speaking outside the White House at the end of the first in-person meeting of the leaders of Australia, the United States, India and Japan which make up the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue.
The gathering of the four major democracies was being closely observed by China, which earlier this week said it was “doomed to fail”.
Updated
Some interesting data from AAP...
Thousands of people are isolating at home in Queensland, including more than 2000 dubbed close contacts of COVID-19 cases, new figures reveal.
Some 3607 people are in home quarantine in the Sunshine State, according to data obtained by AAP.
Despite low COVID-19 case numbers, 2199 of those people have been sent into quarantine because they were close contacts of locally-acquired cases.
This gives a pretty good insight into the way Queensland has managed to beat back Covid outbreaks in recent months.
When the state has had a case active in the community, they key measure to limit spread has not been a blunt lockdown, but rather a strategy of putting everyone who is a remote chance of being a contact into a 14-day home quarantine.
Lockdowns have been used for short periods to allow contact tracers to get ahead of the outbreak.
But even with relatively few cases in Queensland, it’s telling to see how many people remain in home isolation orders deemed close contacts.
A quick update on what to expect today. We’re still waiting to hear when we’ll hear from many state leaders or health ministers today.
The Queensland health minister, Yvette D’ath, is up at 10am. The ACT will be briefing reporters at 11.30am.
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A final piece for your reading list this morning (a self-indulgent one) from me on the Queensland border situation.
Frankly, it’s a pretty fraught space. You won’t find many Queenslanders who aren’t overall appreciative of the fact the state does not have the lockdowns – or Covid deaths – occurring elsewhere.
At the same time, measures are becoming more hardline. People are growing frustrated with the lack of a timeline to open the border – or even a plan that details how and when that could be achieved (ie. by hitting vaccination targets).
The premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, is leaning into isolationist and inflammatory rhetoric like her comments this week: “are you going to go to India?”.
Those sorts of comments play into a very polarised debate.
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Victoria's case numbers the worst since pandemic began
The case numbers in Victoria – 847 – are the state’s highest since the pandemic began.
The second wave peak last year was 725 in a day.
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Victoria records 847 new cases and one death
Victoria has recorded 847 new Covid-19 cases and one death.
The state has 6,711 active cases.
Reported yesterday: 847 new local cases and 0 cases acquired overseas.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) September 24, 2021
- 37,220 vaccines administered
- 59,342 test results received
- Sadly, 1 person with COVID-19 has died
More later: https://t.co/OCCFTAtS1P#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/iT547ETX86
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Our medical editor, Melissa Davey, has been writing about Ivermectin for more than a year and casts her eye over the dubious claim that the horse wormer can be used to treat Covid – and how that has spawned significant misinformation.
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Morrison has exited stage left.
OK, now we have a moment to breathe, here’s a few more Saturday reads to chew over with a coffee this morning.
My colleague Michael McGowan has unpacked just who has been behind the Melbourne protests.
While Monday may have started out as a legitimate expression of frustration, it quickly attracted the attention of the so-called freedom groups that have made a name for themselves protesting against Covid-era restrictions and generally pushing a mass of conspiracy material throughout the pandemic.
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The prime minister is asked about reports that Australians overseas cannot book flights home before the end of the year.
Well, we have been running more commercial flights and if we need to, we will, but once we hit 80% vaccinations, then that means Australians will be able to travel in those states that are opening up, they will be able to get on planes and go overseas and come home, and that means Australian whose are overseas who are vaccinated with the vaccines that are recognised in Australia will be able to get on planes and come to Australia.
The caps at the airports for vaccinated Australians to return will be lifted, and that means there will be the commercial demand for those flights to be put on. I don’t think Qantas will have to be encouraged to start running those flights and putting people on seats, and I’m looking forward to them getting on with that job, because that’s the business they are in.
Morrison is asked about China’s “belligerence” in the region.
He says:
Well, what we talked about today is how we achieve a free and open Indo-Pacific, and the way you do that is that countries like Australia and India and the United States and Japan ... we stand up for the values that we believe in, and we resist any suggestion or any pressure that would come on any of us to be anything different to what we are.
Morrison also says he wants Australia to remain the world’s quarry in the new energy economy.
The Quad is all about positively contributing to the economic development, the prosperity and the stability of the region. And [we’ve had] very practical discussion on those items. We are really good at digging stuff up in Australia and making sure it can fuel the rest of the world when it comes to the new-energy economy.
Scott Morrison is up after the Quad meeting in Washington DC.
He’s spoken in pretty vague general terms about vaccines and global security, but now turns to climate change.
When it comes to climate, today there was a real sense of resolve, and not just about the “if” question – of course, is the answer to that question – but the “how” and how we can support particularly developing countries within the Indo-Pacific to get access to the clean energy technology that enables them to transition their economies, just like Australia is seeking to transition our economy.
An important initiative for a clean energy supply chain summit to be held next year inAustralia, to put together a roadmap over the next 12 months that can see how we can combine the best scientific knowledge, industry knowledge and academics coming together to ensure we can transfer our energy technology, clean energy technology, the supply chains that support it, to transform the economies of our region.
Updated
In the meantime, some recommended reading:
From our chief political correspondent Sarah Martin on Labor’s preselection fight to succeed Joel Fitzgibbon in the New South Wales seat of Hunter.
Will Daniel Repacholi’s working-class credentials will win back voters, or is the decision to back the Olympic shooter just the endorsement of a regional caricature?
If you were expecting a slow start to the morning before we get into the Covid numbers pressers, you’d be mistaken.
We’re expecting to hear from the prime minister, Scott Morrison, relatively soon after the meeting of the “Quad” in the United States.
Hello and welcome to today’s live blog.
This is Ben Smee and good morning from the Hermit Kingdom of Queensland. I’ll be with you as we unpick the day’s events, case numbers and whatever else is in store.
Yesterday, New South Wales recorded 1,043 new cases and 11 deaths; Victoria had 733 cases and one death.
Saturdays have been focal points for protest activity in recent weeks, so we’ll be watching closely to see whether more unrest occurs in Melbourne and Sydney.
Organisers in Melbourne are withholding the locations for protests until an hour before the start time while protests are reportedly planned for local parks in Sydney.
A total of 215 people were arrested in fifth day protests in Melbourne’s CBD and inner-north on Friday.
On Friday, Victorian health minister Martin Foley conceded the state was unlikely to hit 80% first dose vaccination coverage of the eligible population on Sunday as initially forecast, with the figure currently sitting at 76.3%.
“Let’s all redouble our efforts over this weekend,” he said.
Hundreds of people gathered at Bondi on Friday evening before being dispersed by police around 7.30pm.
NSW recorded 1,043 local Covid-19 cases and 11 deaths on Friday while Victoria reported 733 new local Covid-19 cases and one death.
Meanwhile, in the ACT, health officials have flagged more cases among residents and staff at the Calvary Haydon Retirement Community after two fully vaccinated workers tested positive on Friday.
Stick a pot of coffee on, we could be here a while. Let’s go.
