What happened on Sunday 11 July 2021
That’s where we’ll end today’s live coverage of Covid news.
Here are the key developments:
- Sydney’s lockdown is likely to be extended after its worsening Covid outbreak surged by 77 cases on Sunday and led to Australia’s first locally-acquired coronavirus death in 2021. Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned she will be shocked if daily cases do not exceed 100 from tomorrow and over coming days.
- New South Wales has recommended Sydney residents bring their second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine forward to six weeks after their first, with doctors and GPs saying it is a “fair compromise” given the state’s outbreak.
- Victoria has declared the entirety of New South Wales a red zone, effectively closing off its border except for returning Victorian residents. However returning residents will have to quarantine for 14 days. The red zone declaration, which comes into effect from midnight tonight, also applies to the Australian Capital Territory despite no locally-acquired cases being reported in the territory.
- The commonwealth government is working on broadening its assistance measures to help states deal with Covid, in the wake of the worsening New South Wales outbreak.
- The Morrison government’s latest attempt at a vaccination campaign urging Australian’s to “arm themselves” has landed flat, with even the opposition leader quipping it would be difficult for the nation’s satirists to send up.
- The federal government will also run a separate, “graphic and confronting” ad across Sydney from Sunday night which shows a young woman gasping for air in hospital, in an attempt to stop residents breaking strict lockdown rules.
Wishing all our readers in Sydney a safe, warm night.
We’ll be back tomorrow morning to do it all again.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the Australian Medical Association have both backed NSW Health’s call for Sydney residents to bring their second shot of AstraZeneca forward to six weeks after the first dose.
Both the RACGP and the AMA said that the six week window made sense, as it would provide quicker protection against catching, spreading and also potentially dying from Covid-19.
Dr Charlotte Hespe, the NSW chair of the RACGP also said that people who brought their doses earlier would be first in line to later receive booster shots, which would extend their immunity. Hespe told Guardian Australia:
We will definitely will be looking at giving boosters for those who get it early.
You will actually have a benefit from coming in early, because we’ll keep you on that list.”
She also said GPs would focus on rolling out vaccines in south-west Sydney.
The vice president of the AMA, Dr Chris Moy, said the six week window was good advice given the situation in NSW.
“It’s a fair compromise,” he said.
Read more here:
Updated
The commonwealth government is working on broadening its assistance measures to help states deal with Covid, in the wake of the worsening New South Wales outbreak.
Treasury is understood to have provided options to Scott Morrison, which are now under consideration. Additional mental health support will be provided, if needed, on top of the financial assistance already provided for businesses and individuals unable to work in what is becoming a protracted lockdown.
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has acknowledged the Sydney lockdown, already extended for a week beyond the original plan, is likely to go longer, with daily case numbers expected to top 100 in the coming days.
NSW’s lockdown triggered the emergency payments put in place when Melbourne entered its fourth lockdown in May. The emergency payments subsidise employees unable to attend work by either $325 or $500, with the payments flowing after a hotspot declared area is placed in lockdown for more than a week.
Read more on the potential for further assistance:
Updated
Over on Twitter, there appears to be a bit of frustration at the federal government’s “graphic and confronting” ad campaign of a young woman gasping for air in hospital that will be run across Sydney from tonight.
This ad should be immediately taken off air. Today in Sydney a young girl with Covid - about the same age as the actor in the ad - is on a ventilator fighting for her life. This insensitive ad can only distress her family and friends. It is misconceived in every way. @JoshButler https://t.co/9FfT9jJNDH
— Bill Bowtell AO (@billbowtell) July 11, 2021
“Book your vaccination”.
— Josephine Tovey (@Jo_Tovey) July 11, 2021
The woman in this ad doesn’t look old enough to eligible for the broader vaccine program. What an insult. https://t.co/XHVEQBzvEY
This government cannot even tell us when exactly the general vaccination program will be open to people under 40.
— Josephine Tovey (@Jo_Tovey) July 11, 2021
What can scare tactics achieve except distress (and fury) here?
The vast majority of Australians under 40 are not eligible for the only vaccine they've been repeatedly told is the only one it's safe for them to get because we don't have enough of it.
— Anna Vidot (@AnnaVidot) July 11, 2021
I can't even with this. https://t.co/BAGaxD7Daj
Updated
Victoria closes border to all of NSW, ACT
Victoria has declared the entirety of New South Wales a red zone, effectively closing the border except for returning Victorian residents.
The red zone declaration also applies to the Australian Capital Territory, despite no locally acquired cases being reported in that jurisdiction.
The red zone status will come into effect from 11.59pm tonight
While Victorian residents will be able to return with a valid red zone permit, they will have to quarantine for 14 days.
The Acting Chief Health Officer has declared that all of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory will become a red zone under Victoria’s travel permit system at 11:59pm Sunday 11 July. See full statement: https://t.co/fDt1mkHQcX
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) July 11, 2021
This means the VIC border is effectively closed to NSW and the ACT – except for VIC residents returning on a red zone permit for 14 days of quarantine, and for people with exemptions, exceptions or other valid permits (such as specified workers and cross-border residents).
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) July 11, 2021
Updated
Here’s a recap of the main Covid news out of Sydney today:
Sydney’s worsening Covid outbreak has surged by 77 cases and led to Australia’s first locally acquired coronavirus death in 2021, with New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian warning she will be “shocked” if daily cases do not exceed 100 tomorrow.
Chief health officer Kerry Chant is so concerned by the trajectory of Sydney’s outbreak that she is pleading for anyone who has already had one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine to talk to their doctor about cutting the interval between their first and second doses from three months to six weeks – acknowledging sacrificing “a bit of long-term protection” was warranted.
A 90-year-old woman from south-west Sydney, who authorities believe was unvaccinated, died at Liverpool hospital on Saturday, hours after she returned a positive result.
The woman caught the virus within her home from a family member – one of 50 of the 77 cases announced on Sunday that were close family members of existing Covid cases.
Authorities are concerned that 33 of the 77 new cases were infectious in the community, with many of the new cases announced on Sunday described as “quite historic going back five, six or seven days” between initial infection and returning a positive test.
You can read our full news report here:
How great is Ash Barty?
If you didn’t watch the Wimbledon final last night and you’re only just now checking the news, here’s a match report written by my colleague Tumaini Carayol who was at Wimbledon.
Barty’s win comes 50 years after Evonne Goolagong Cawley was first crowned Wimbledon champion.
Here is a great photo exploration of both of their careers:
And of course Barty is not the only Australian winner at Wimbledon this year.
Wheelchair tennis king Dylan Alcott has made a supreme defence of his Wimbledon quad singles crown, moving ever closer to a potential calendar year “golden slam” of titles.
Updated
The creative mind behind the iconic “grim reaper” campaign considered to have successfully raised awareness of the dangers of Aids in the 1980s has panned one of the federal government’s vaccine ads.
Siimon Reynolds, speaking to the ABC, called the government’s “arm yourself” campaign which was released today a “very weak” campaign.
Reynolds criticised the ad, especially in comparison to the Sydney-specific ad that will launch later tonight showing a young woman gasping for breath in a hospital bed.
He said the ad showing the illness risk of Covid is “ten times better” than the arm yourself campaign, because it shows Covid can be bad and painful.
Reynolds comments follow opposition leader Anthony Albanese also mocking the vaccine ad earlier today.
Updated
Here is the “graphic and confronting” ad that vaccine rollout supremo Lt Gen John Frewen and chief medical officer Paul Kelly just announced.
The ads will run only in Sydney from tonight, and are designed to show people the severe illness they risk if they don’t obey lockdown restrictions in the city.
Before you watch it, it’s important to reiterate that this ad is confronting, so some of you might find it uncomfortable to watch.
It shows a young woman in hospital gasping for breath, and features no dialogue.
WARNING: Here is the GRAPHIC Australian Government #COVID19 ad to run in Sydney. #COVID19nsw pic.twitter.com/6IXgBy7miw
— Karen Barlow (@KJBar) July 11, 2021
The ad will run separately to the “arm yourself” vaccine ad campaign that the federal government also launched today.
Updated
Lt Gen John Frewen was asked for further clarity about how much the “arm yourself” vaccination ad campaign cost the taxpayer.
He did not provide a specific number, and said that cost of the campaign was accounted for within the $40m spend allocated for vaccine ads this year.
He said other ads are currently being worked on, including specific campaigns targeting Indigenous and remote communities.
You can read more about the “arm yourself” campaign and even watch the ad in this report written by my colleague Amy Remeikis earlier today.
Updated
Vaccination task force commander, Lt Gen John Frewen, was asked how many aged care staff have received their first and second doses of Covid vaccines, and if any providers have been approved to vaccinate their own staff.
Frewen said “more than a third have had their first dose”, but could provide no further details about vaccination across aged care.
Chief medical officer Paul Kelly has backed a plea from NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant for people in Sydney who have received one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine to ask their doctor about cutting the interval before their second dose to as short as six weeks.
Kelly acknowledged that cutting the interval period reduced some long-term protection against illness from the virus, and said the new interval advice only applied to people in greater Sydney.
Kelly said:
The issue is risk versus benefit. Anyone outside Sydney, stick to the 12 weeks, that is a pretty clear thing from the national picture. For those in Sydney, it is licensed from 4-12 weeks so they should have that discussion with their GP.
We will be talking with New South Wales Health. It gives you better protection now, two doses is really important. Anyone who is due for a second dose, please don’t hesitate.
Updated
An aged care resident from the Covid-linked SummitCare home in Baulkham Hills in Sydney, is in hospital and is “seriously unwell”.
Chief medical officer Paul Kelly said that six residents from the home who have Covid have been removed from the facility and transferred to hospital to protect other residents.
While five of the residents are fully vaccinated, the sixth one has not been, and Kelly said he “can report she is quite unwell at the moment, seriously unwell in hospital”.
Updated
Federal government to run 'graphic' Covid ad in Sydney
The federal government has commissioned a “graphic and confronting” ad campaign to run in Sydney from tonight in an attempt to warn residents of the severe illness they risk developing if they break lockdown restrictions.
Chief medical officer Paul Kelly said the graphic ad campaign is separate from the “arm yourself” ad campaign that was launched earlier today. Kelly said:
The virus does move with people. The other clear message is, we can all get Covid-19 and some of us, as we have seen in Sydney in recent days, can get severe illness. So this is not a time for complacency, it is not a time for frustration, it is a time for actually recognising that and taking that responsibility for yourself, your family and the community.
On that basis, there will be a new advertisement running from the Australian government tonight. It is quite graphic. We are only doing this because of the situation in Sydney and it will be running in Sydney.
The messages will be clear. Stay at home, get tested and booked in for a vaccination. They are the three messages on that ad, so watch out for that, it is quite graphic and it is meant to be graphic, it is meant to really push that message home that is important.”
Vaccine rollout chief, Lt Gen John Frewen, said the ad would be “graphic and confronting” and run “very specifically in Sydney” for now, but said a similar strategy could be used to target other outbreaks elsewhere in the future.
“When circumstances necessitated, like we think they do in Sydney right now, we will hopefully help people understand the very dire consequences of Covid and bring a sense of urgency to those places where we need to,” Frewen said.
Updated
Paul Kelly confirms that the 90-year-old woman who died of Covid in south-west Sydney yesterday is Australia’s first death from a locally-acquired case in 2021.
We know the woman contracted Covid within her own home from a family member, and was unvaccinated, and Kelly can now shed some more light on her circumstances:
“I stress this is not somebody who was in an aged care facility, nor was it somebody who had the chance to be vaccinated. So that is a terrible thing for that person, their family and certainly my condolences to that particular family now.”
Updated
Chief medical officer Paul Kelly has just stepped up and is now giving a national Covid update.
The Morrison government’s latest attempt at a vaccination campaign urging Australian’s to “arm themselves” has landed flat, with even the opposition leader quipping it would be difficult for the nation’s satirists to send up.
Anthony Albanese said the campaign, released 18 months into the pandemic, didn’t quite “cut it”.
“It will be very difficult for Shaun Micallef to send this ad up,” he said while being interviewed on the ABC’s Insiders program.
“What we need is taking the expertise Australia has always done so well. We were the best in the world in the campaign against Aids, we’ve done drink-driving very well, but after 18 months if this is the best they can do, they need to go back to the drawing board,” Albanese said.
The campaign features various biceps and asks people to “arm themselves” with the vaccine to protect their family, co-workers and community.
Read more and watch the ad here:
Just had my second AstraZeneca vaccination. A bit less than nine weeks since the first. Willing to accept a little lower immune response to get protection against severe disease. pic.twitter.com/j1Mqy8Ubxg
— Norman Swan (@normanswan) July 11, 2021
Victoria has offered New South Wales contact-tracing support and other resources to help contain Sydney’s Covid outbreak.
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews said he had made offers to Gladys Berejiklian, and said that while he had not yet heard back, he expected this was because NSW authorities were considering what resources Victoria could offer that would be of most help.
Andrews said that it was unlikely that contact tracers based in Melbourne, without knowledge of Sydney, would be of help to NSW health authorities.
Instead, he expected that Victorian contact tracers with specific language skills would be of most assistance to NSW authorities. Andrews said:
If there’s a problem in Sydney there’s a problem everywhere ... we’ve all got an interest.”
Andrews added that he felt Victorians have perhaps the greatest interest in stopping Delta spreading across Australia “because we’ve given the most”.
Updated
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is speaking about his state’s border as a further tightening of restrictions to ban anyone from regional New South Wales entering his state is considered.
Andrews said chief health officers are currently discussing NSW’s outbreak at a meeting of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, and warned he “won’t hesitate” to designate all of NSW a red zone.
He said the CHOs were discussing a nationally consistent approach to containing spread from NSW, which he said would be an ideal outcome, but said Victoria would take measures it saw necessary.
Andrews said Victorian authorities had provided repeated warnings to residents in NSW that its border could tighten further.
“Don’t delay, come back today,” he said.
“I’m not here to grade New South Wales. I’m here only to inform you that we will not hesitate to act as a state,” Andrews said.
Andrews said he expected an outcome from the AHPPC meeting in the early afternoon.
Updated
Thanks Naaman, and good afternoon readers.
You have Elias Visontay with you here now, from a locked-down Sydney.
We’re expecting a national Covid update from chief medical officer Paul Kelly and lieutenant general John Frewen at 2pm.
New South Wales opposition leader Chris Minns is also holding a press conference at that time.
So buckle up, I’ll be bringing you updates from both of those, as well as other news across the rest of the afternoon.
Hoping all our readers under lockdown are staying safe and coping as they can.
With that, I’ll be handing over to my incredible colleague Elias Visontay, who will run the blog into the afternoon.
Here’s Ash Barty’s family reacting to her Wimbledon win last night as it happened.
This heartwarming video captures the exact moment Ash Barty's parents realised their daughter had won the Wimbledon ladies singles. #AshBarty #Wimbledon #BartyParty pic.twitter.com/333zMvJCC8
— The Australian (@australian) July 11, 2021
The defence minister, Peter Dutton, has confirmed all of Australia’s defence troops have now been withdrawn from Afghanistan.
Dutton said there had been 1,500 troops in the country, which was recently reduced to 80, and now they have all been withdrawn under the advice of the chief of defence, earlier than the original September deadline.
“That doesn’t mean we won’t be a part of campaigns with the United States perhaps involving the SAS or special forces where we deem that to be in our national interest or in the interest of our allies,” the minister told Sky News’ Sunday Agenda program.
“For now though, that campaign has come to an end.”
Earlier today, we linked you this feature from Paul Daley and Ben Doherty on Australia’s long engagement in the region.
The NSW union covering retail, fast food and warehouse employees says its members are essential workers and urgently need priority access to COVID-19 vaccines, AAP reports.
An analysis conducted by the Shopkeepers Distributive Alliance found that 64% of listed close contact locations in NSW between July 2 and July 9 were retail outlets.
The SDA’s NSW secretary, Bernie Smith, said in a statement: “It’s just madness that retail workers are being ignored when it comes to vaccines.”
Smith said the union acknowledged the undeniable priority for health care, aged care, disability and quarantine workers along with the vulnerable.
“However retail workers must be included in the Atagi priority grouping of ‘those working in services critical to societal functioning.’”
The union wants workers under 60 given access to Pfizer and those over 60 Astra Zeneca, as per the age-appropriate ATAGI advice.
Earlier in that press conference, the NSW deputy police commissioner, Gary Worboys, said that police would start being “more firm” and less fair in issuing fines from now on.
“We are now in a position where we need to be much more firmer than fairer,” he said.
“People understand the orders more and more, and police are just getting a little tired of people that disguise their behaviour around the orders to try and get some legitimacy to it.”
Those reporting that this is the first Covid death in the country this year are incorrect.
The last COVID-19 death in Australia was on April 13: An 80-year-old Australian who had been living in the Philippines. He came to Australia, was diagnosed in hotel quarantine and admitted to hospital on March 25.
— casey briggs (@CaseyBriggs) July 11, 2021
Victorians urged to return from NSW
Victoria’s Covid testing commander, Jeroen Weimar, has warned Victorians to return home as soon as possible from parts of NSW, in case Victoria declares the entire state a red zone.
“I could only give people the best possible advice about the level of concern we have. This thing is on a razor edge.
“We don’t want to do it. If we don’t have to do it, we won’t. But if there’s any indication that it gets worse, there’s no other warning point we’re going to provide.”
Updated
Bring second AstraZeneca dose forward to six weeks, Chant says
Earlier, the NSW chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, said people in NSW should bring their second dose of AstraZeneca forward to six weeks after their first dose, due to the outbreak in Sydney.
We initially reported that as eight weeks – as that was the timeframe suggested earlier by Scott Morrison, and in the UK.
But Chant did indeed say “six weeks”.
Updated
Construction workers should be tested if they work on multiple sites, Berejiklian says
Berejiklian says construction workers and tradies are now recommended to be tested before they work, if they work across multiple sites, due to recent cases of spread.
“Unfortunately we’ve seen a few cases of people being positive but doing essential work at multiple sites,” she says.
Not so much the larger projects where people tend to be on the same site every day but, unfortunately, we’ve seen a number of cases in people doing essential work at multiple sites and then spreading the disease through workplaces and then those colleagues going home and spreading it to their loved ones.”
She says there is a “strong recommendation” now for people to get tested before they work across multiple sites.
“We’re really recommending that, if you are someone who visits multiple sites, you get tested to make sure you’re negative before you continue working. At this stage, that’s a strong recommendation.”
Updated
Berejiklian also says it is unlikely that schools will return to face-to-face learning in the week after next.
Previously, the government already said that next week will be online learning, as students return from holidays.
“There’s no doubt that the challenge for us is limiting mobility,” she says. “Schools are safe but what is not safe is having hundreds of thousands o fpeople leaving home the same time, dropping kids off, picking kids up. That level of interaction is always a concern for us.
“Obviously, as a government, our priority would be to return to face-to-face learning, but only when it’s safe for the broader community.”
Berejiklian says it is clear that “the numbers aren’t going in the right direction”.
“That’s pretty obvious to everybody,” she says.
The premier says the lockdown will not be lifted next Friday.
“Given where we’re at and given the lockdown was supposed to be lifted on Friday, everybody can tell it’s highly unlikely at this stage, given where the numbers are.
“The length of the lockdown is dependent on all of us”.
Updated
Fifteen people in ICU in NSW, five on ventilators
There are currently six people under 25 in hospital with Covid-19 in NSW.
In total, there are currently 52 people in hospital, 15 people are in intensive care, and five are ventilated.
“There are many people under the age of 55,” Chant says. “That dispels the myth that this is only for the elderly.”
There are six people under 25 in hospital, and five between 25 and 35.
Of the 15 people in ICU, one is in their teens, one is in their 20s, one is in their 30s, one is in their 40s, three are in their 50s, five are in their 60s, two are in their 70s and one is in their 80s.
Chant urges people to come forward and get their second dose of AstraZeneca earlier.
“Please talk to your GP. We are recommending that while the interval was three months, at this time because the case numbers are high, we want people to come forward and get vaccinated around that six-week* mark.”
*This was previously transcribed as an eight-week mark, but was corrected to six weeks.
Updated
NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant has just broken her glasses while getting them out to read out the age breakdown of Covid cases in hospital.
She puts the glasses on regardless.
“I’ll just turn to that page and put my glasses on because I’m getting old,” she says.
“And my glasses broke. But that’s OK. This is a very serious topic so please don’t be distracted by that.”
Chant is asked when the case numbers will go down.
“It is going to be a number of days before we turn around,” she says. “The numbers might actually increase because we are ramping up testing to get ahead of the transmission curve”.
Dr Kerry Chant says that the woman in her 90s who died yesterday was unvaccinated.
“I understand that she was unvaccinated,” she tells media. “But we will confirm that.”
Updated
NSW police deputy commissioner Gary Worboys says 106 infringement notices have been issued in the past 24 hours.
There have been more than 12,000 messages or calls to Crimestoppers across the state, he says.
Six infringement notices were issued in Orange in regional NSW.
He says residents of Marrickville in Sydney contacted police about a unit where 15 men, between 50 and 90 years old, were found playing cards. All the men were fined.
He also says police attended an 18th birthday party near Sydney Olympic Park, and also a group of young people “playing Playstation” in Merrylands.
Updated
Chant says “the vast majority” of news cases “continue to be from south-western Sydney”.
“I need to give frank advice that that the case numbers in south-western Sydney are extraordinarily high,” she says.
“We know transmission is going through households, from household to household. And it’s impacting on other close friends and work colleagues”.
The chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, is speaking now.
She says of today’s 77 new cases, “over 50 of these cases were family”.
This highlights the critical point around the importance of not putting yourself or your loved ones or your family and friends at risk. Please stay at home and that means staying within the one household.
I know that that can be a difficult concept, given the closeness of family units.
Updated
Of the 77 new cases today in NSW, 55 are linked to a known case or cluster and 22 are under investigation.
Of the 55 linked cases, 39 are household contacts and 16 are close contacts .
Thirty-two people were in isolation for their whole infectious period, nine people were in isolation for part of their infectious period.
Thirty-three people were infectious in the community, and three cases remain under investigation.
Updated
A woman in her 90s in NSW has died from Covid-19 – the first death linked to the current outbreak.
NSW Health said she was a close contact of a locally acquired case.
The woman was from south-west Sydney, and tested positive on Saturday morning. She passed away on Saturday.
Sadly, a woman in her 90s from south west Sydney died yesterday at Liverpool Hospital. She was a close contact of a locally acquired case and was tested for COVID-19 on Friday, returning a positive result early yesterday morning.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 11, 2021
Berejiklian predicts more than 100 Covid cases tomorrow
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian says she is anticipating more than 100 new cases to be announced tomorrow.
I’m anticipating the numbers in New South Wales will be greater than 100 tomorrow. I’ll be shocked if it’s less than 100 this time tomorrow.
Updated
NSW records one death and 77 new local cases of Covid-19
NSW has recorded 77 new locally acquired cases of Covid-19, a new daily record for the state.
A person has also died from Covid-19.
The premier Gladys Berejiiklian, said that more than 50 of the new cases were close household contacts.
33 people were in the community while infectious.
Over 48,000 people were tested yesterday.
Updated
The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, will give a Covid update in 10 minutes.
Yesterday NSW recorded 50 new locally acquired cases of the virus.
Updated
NSW could spend more on financial aid during lockdown
The NSW treasurer, Dominic Perrottet, has acknowledged the state government will need to stump up significantly more financial assistance to businesses and individuals as the likelihood of a long-term greater Sydney Covid-19 lockdown grows.
AAP reports that Perrottet has said the NSW government may also make use of federal income support platforms to administer state government-funded financial assistance, if required.
The lockdown of greater Sydney is due to end on 16 July but both premier Gladys Berejiklian and Perrottet have in recent days admitted it will likely be extended.
Perrotet said today the government would thus be obliged to splash more cash on assistance, and that a second business support package would be announced later this week.
NSW has already spent $1.4bn on business support amid the current lockdown.
“Last year there didn’t seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel whereas now the vaccine program is rolling out across the state - this gives hope this will hopefully be the last time we have to go through this,” Perrottet told Sky News. “We’re going to have to do more, that’s just the reality.”
Perrottet was reportedly opposed to the extension of the initial two-week lockdown in greater Sydney and surrounds due to its effect on business.
While he acknowledged on Sunday that NSW could not currently let the virus run rampant through the community due to low vaccination rates, he said Australians would one day need to adjust and accept the presence of Covid-19 in the community.
“At some point in time we will be opening up the international borders - we can’t be living here on the other side of the world as a backwater,” Perrottet said.
We’re a month out from the next census.
Five years on however, the “censusfail” of 2016 still hangs over the ABS. Josh Taylor spoke to the person looking to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
However, Victorian residents should be aware of this latest potential exposure site, which was listed late last night.
A Qantas flight from Launceston to Melbourne on 2 July has been listed as a Tier 2 exposure site.
Qantas Flight QF1542 departing Launceston at 10:15am and landing in Melbourne at 11:20am on 2 July, has been listed as a Tier 2 exposure site.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) July 10, 2021
If you were on this flight, you should urgently get tested, then isolate until confirmation of a negative result. [1/2] pic.twitter.com/P1RyzRDRrn
Queensland, Victoria record no new cases
In good news, Queensland has recorded no new local Covid-19 cases today. The state has recorded one new case in hotel quarantine.
Sunday 11 July – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) July 10, 2021
No new locally acquired cases recorded in Queensland overnight.
One new overseas acquired case, detected in hotel quarantine.#covid19 pic.twitter.com/VlDZSzu5wD
Victoria has also recorded no new local Covid-19 cases – continuing a streak of donut days.
Yesterday there were no new cases reported.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) July 10, 2021
- 12,978 vaccine doses were administered
- 23,302 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/J4rYpsq3P3
In his Insiders interview earlier this morning, the ABC’s David Speers briefly asked Anthony Albanese to speak about “the issues that go to the prime minister you would be, if given the chance”.
As luck would have it, political editor Katharine Murphy has this feature answering that very question, in depth and detail, this morning.
You can watch one version of the government’s new vaccine ad here.
New #covid19aus vaccine ad. pic.twitter.com/RXV0FXpp63
— Dr Vyom Sharma (ethnic mum) (@drvyom) July 10, 2021
Just some stray observations:
A huge problem with this ad is that "Arm Yourself" sounds a lot like "harm yourself" – especially in the line "Find out when you can Arm Yourself".
— Naaman Zhou (@naamanzhou) July 10, 2021
Did nobody think about this? https://t.co/uPt60pb2C4
In 2011, Julia Gillard declared: “We will not abandon Afghanistan.”
Tony Abbott, said we must never “cut and run”.
But last month, with no formal announcement, Australia left Afghanistan with barely a whimper.
Paul Daley and Ben Doherty have this feature on how we got here.
Trade minister to visit US, Korea, Japan next week
The federal trade minister, Dan Tehan, has announced he will embark on a tour of Australia’s trading partners next week, and personally visit Singapore, Vietnam, Republic of Korea, Japan and the US.
Tehan will travel for two weeks and then return to spend two weeks in quarantine.
Previously, his itinerary included Indonesia, but that has been scrapped.
Trade Minister Dan Tehan no longer heading to Indonesia next week- presumably because of the calamitous COVID-19 outbreak there. Will instead go to Vietnam after Singapore. Then Japan, South Korea and the US. Now been 18+ months since an Australian Minister visited Indonesia
— Stephen Dziedzic (@stephendziedzic) July 10, 2021
Updated
Albanese says a form of jobkeeper or a similar program should be brought back in NSW, as it goes into its third week of lockdown.
If not jobkeeper, something very similar [should be reinstated]. Workers are suffering, they are losing their jobs, and businesses are losing their profitability and some are losing their capacity to be able to continue.
It is missing, and if the circumstances are the same as when that support was provided, then why isn’t it being provided right now?
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Albanese is asked whether Australia should be willing to “accept some level of Covid” and Covid deaths in the community, similar to the US and UK.
I don’t think that ever we should say we accept deaths, and it’s also my very strong view that we shouldn’t deal with hypotheticals.
He also was heavily critical of the government’s new vaccination campaign – a military themed ad called Arm Yourself.
I’m not sure that this cuts it. It will be very difficult for Shaun Micallef to send this ad up.
If after 18 months if this is the best they can do, they need to go back to the drawing board.
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On the ABC’s Insiders program, Labor leader Anthony Albanese says the government should work harder to increase Australia’s vaccine supply.
We need to talk to our friends in the United States about Pfizer and Moderna. Canada and Mexico have been able to get additional vaccines. We need to be moving with producing mRNA vaccines right here as well.
We saw recently South Korea get access to the excess Pfizer vaccines from Israel.
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Of course, no blog this morning could be complete without a mention of Ash Barty and Dylan Alcott who won their Wimbledon finals last night (and early this morning).
#BREAKING Ngarigo woman Ash Barty has won #Wimbledon by defeating Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-3 6-7 6-3 #BartyParty
— NITV (@NITV) July 10, 2021
Barty won her first ever Wimbledon title, adding to her French Open win in 2019, and became the first Australian woman to win Wimbledon since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980.
Barty’s win this morning also came on the 50th anniversay of Goolagong Cawley’s first Wimbledon title, in 1971.
Barty paid tribute to Goolagong Cawley, her friend and mentor, saying “I hope I made Evonne proud.”
Alcott won his latest Wimbledon title earlier on Saturday night. Having won the Australian Open and the French Open already, if he wins the US Open and a gold medal at this year’s Paralympic Games, he will win the coveted “golden slam”.
You may have seen, or heard of, Lt Gen John “JJ” Frewen a fair few times in the past weeks.
Frewen was announced as the head of the national Covid vaccine taskforce on 4 June. But who is he, and what is his precise role?
Amy Remeikis and Daniel Hurst looked into it.
New exposure sites listed in NSW
NSW has listed new potential exposure sites overnight. People who have been to the following are close contacts and must get tested and isolate for 14 days regardless of their test result.
A reminder that exposure sites listed by NSW Health are not places where confirmed transmission of Covid-19 has occurred, they are places where a Covid-19 positive person visited.
- Merrylands, Direct Trade, Shop 1/150 Merrylands Road, Saturday 3 July 2.20pm – 2.50pm.
- Fairfield, Freshness 4 Less, 74 Ware Street Sunday 4 July 12pm – 1pm.
- Chipping Norton, Benedict Recycling, 33-39 Riverside Road, Monday 5 July 10.50am – 12pm.
- Penrith, Barbeques Galore, 2/120 Mulgoa Road, Tuesday 6 July 3pm – 3.15pm
- Moorebank Butcher Shed, Moorebank Shopping Centre, Shop 16/42 Stockton Avenue Tuesday 6 July 1pm – 1.15pm.
- Miranda Bupa Dental Miranda, 600 Kingsway, Wednesday 7 July 10.50am – 12.10pm.
- Punchbowl, Chemist Warehouse 18/1 Broadway, Thursday 8 July 9.20am – 9.40am.
- Roselands, Mrs Fields Roselands Shopping Centre, Roselands Dr, Roselands, Wednesday 30 June 10.30am – 10.45am.
- Greenacre Medical Practice, 168 Waterloo Rd Greenacre, Monday 5 July, 11.40am – 1.50pm, Tuesday 6 July, 12.40pm – 1.45pm.
- Greenacre, St Peters Cafe On Wentworth, 29 Wentworth St Greenacre, Monday 5 July, 6am – 6.30am.
- Belmore Medical Centre, 481 Burwood Ave Belmore, Monday 5 July 6.30pm – 7.15pm.
- Kogarah, Commonwealth Bank, 104-106 Railway Parade Kogarah, Monday 5 July 3.05pm – 3.35pm.
- Penrith, BBQ Galore, 2/120 Mulgo Rd Penrith, Tuesday 6 July 2.30pm – 3.45pm.
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New mask rules and travel rules for Sydney and NSW
Additional mask rules have been announced for greater Sydney and for NSW overnight, with the NSW health minister, Brad Hazzard, amending the existing public health order.
From today, masks are now required in all indoor areas of construction sites throughout NSW.
From Tuesday 13 July, masks will be required in all indoor common property areas of residential premises in greater Sydney. For example, in the lifts and lobbies of apartment blocks.
There are now also additional restrictions on residents of NSW entering greater Sydney.
A person cannot enter greater Sydney for the purpose of exercise or outdoor recreation:
- A person can only enter greater Sydney for the purpose of obtaining goods or services if those goods or services are not reasonably available outside of greater Sydney.
- A person can only enter greater Sydney for a funeral, memorial service or gathering afterwards if there are no more than 10 persons (including the person conducting the service).
A person over 18 who is leaving greater Sydney must carry evidence showing their address and produce it to a police officer on request.
The full public health order is here – but the updated version with the latest restriction is not online yet.
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Morning all, and welcome back to our liveblog. It’s Naaman Zhou here with you today.
In NSW, residents are waking up to a range of new potential exposure sites, on the second full day of even stricter restrictions.
Today’s NSW case numbers will be out at 11am. We’ll bring you all the day’s news as it happens.
