The day that was, Friday 7 January
That is where we will leave the live blog for Friday. We will be back again tomorrow morning. Here’s what made the news today:
- Australia reported a one-day record for Covid-19 cases, with 78,166 new cases reported across the country including: 38,625 in NSW, 21,728 in Victoria, 10,953 in Queensland, 3,707 in South Australia, 1,489 in Tasmania, 1,246 in the ACT, 412 in the Northern Territory, and six in Western Australia (in hotel quarantine).
- The national death toll is 2321: Victoria 1,565 (+6), NSW 702 (+11), ACT 15, Tasmania 13, WA nine, SA 10 (+2), Queensland eight and the NT one.
- New South Wales reintroduced restrictions banning singing and dancing in hospitality venues, cancelling elective surgery until February, and mandating booster shots for frontline workers.
- NSW will however still forge ahead with returning children to school from 1 February, despite many of them not being able to be fully vaccinated prior to the return to school.
- The Tamworth country music festival was delayed until mid-April in response to the change of rules on singing and dancing.
- Victoria launched its new portal for people who test positive on a rapid antigen test to register with the Victorian government to be counted as a “probable case” of Covid-19, and therefore required to isolate for seven days and be eligible for support and payments if needed.
- NSW is developing a similar system due to be launched next week, and will count positive RAT results as official cases.
- Queenslanders are being urged to work from home and limit socialising as the state considers suspending elective surgery and delaying the return to primary school in response to the high number of Covid-19 cases.
- Supporters of mens tennis world number 1 Novak Djokovic held a rally outside the Park Hotel in Melbourne’s north where he is being held ahead of an injunction hearing on Monday over the cancellation of his visa. The Serbian government has suggested the Serbian public believe Djokovic is “a victim of a political game against his will and that he was lured to travel to Australia in order to be humiliated.”
- Western Australia recorded zero new locally-acquired cases of Covid-19 as mask use was eased to just high-risk venues and events, and public transport or ride share.
Until tomorrow, stay safe.
Updated
Just before Christmas, appointment booking company FlexBooker reported its Amazon AWS account had been compromised, which ultimately resulted in the personal information of 3.7 million people who used the service being leaked.
In Australia, hardware store giant Bunnings uses FlexBooker for its click and collect service, where customers book a time slot to go collect products.
Guardian Australia asked how Bunnings was affected by the breach, and Leah Balter, Bunnings’ chief information officer, said it was only a person’s name and email address that had potentially been breached, because that was all Bunnings was collecting through the service.
The customer information shared through this third party provider is limited to full name and email address only. Bunnings’ customers are not required to enter sensitive personal information through this provider, such as passwords, mobile numbers, or credit card information, so we are confident that none of these categories of customer data have been compromised.
We’re working with the third party provider to further understand the details of how this security breach occurred, and the extent of the impact. We will be reaching out to customers whose data may have been accessed with further information shortly.
Bunnings takes the security of our customers’ and team members’ personal information very seriously, and will carry out a thorough investigation into this incident.
The vulnerability that led to the breach has been contained.
Updated
A little early, but noted.
Early nomination for bird of the year 2022@etuqldnt pic.twitter.com/IO7kHlQESm
— Sally McManus (@sallymcmanus) January 7, 2022
Updated
The weather in Victoria today has been this followed by sun, more or less.
Mordor summoned - severe storm warning, currently hitting south west of Melbourne. Will hit city burbs shortly. Stay safe. pic.twitter.com/XdWXi47Pxo
— Antoun Issa (@antissa) January 7, 2022
Covid-19 cases on Ruby Princess cruise ship again
I regret to inform you the Ruby Princess is at it again.
After the debacle of the cruise ship’s arrival in Sydney in March 2020 led to over 900 cases of Covid-19 and 28 deaths, the ship appears to be in another Covid-19 outbreak situation in San Francisco.
The cruise ended its 10-day trip in San Francisco, but according to reports there is an outbreak on board.
SFist reports around 25% of passengers on board were tested and 12 came back positive, amid suggestions the outbreak may be much larger than just among those tested, with entertainment cancelled as performers had reportedly tested positive for Covid-19.
According to NBC, one passenger said they were not going to get tested and “the Bay Area is getting us as is”.
In a statement to NBC, Princess Cruises said a small number of Covid-19 cases were detected among vaccinated guests who are all asymptomatic, and will either return home in their own cars, or be taken to hotels to be quarantined.
Updated
Adding to the melting pot of groups outside Park Hotel CARF - campaign against racism and fascism have just arrived. No one can accuse them of mincing their words. #Djokovic pic.twitter.com/VRMBClBFNC
— Cait Kelly (@cait__kelly) January 7, 2022
The NSW Labor leader, Chris Minns, has told radio station 2GB there is a suite of measures the state government could have implemented over the past month to limit the spread of the Omicron variant. He says instead the government took an all-in approach and “we are ruing that day now”.
He says if he were premier and the chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, advised for a lockdown, he would lock down, given the pressure on the hospital system.
“Her expertise and leadership over the last two years guiding NSW with the former premier Gladys Berejikilan were expert,” he says.
He says he doesn’t think Berejiklian would have made the same mistakes as the new premier Dominic Perrottet.
He says the decision ultimately isn’t lockdown or no lockdown. There are other measures that can be brought in.
Updated
It feels like a lifetime or two ago, but the hotel Novak Djokovic is now being held at was previously used as a Covid quarantine hotel for returning travellers.
It became the focus of attention in mid-2020 because it was the source of a number of transmissions of Covid-19 that ultimately led to the second wave of cases in Victoria, and the marathon lockdown Melbourne endured in 2020.
The inquiry into hotel quarantine concluded around 90% of cases of Covid-19 in Victorian between late May and the end of the year could be attributed to the outbreak at the then Rydges Hotel, which was being run by the state government as a “hot hotel” where people who were Covid positive were being held.
A number of the returning travellers who stayed there told the inquiry of how the hotel lacked open windows, and in some instances that the rooms themselves were not clean.
There have been a lot of changes since that report was handed down, and also two new variants, and our understanding of how Covid-19 is transmitted has changed, and our daily case numbers are now more than the total of that second wave ... but it’s an interesting bit of history.
Updated
Tamworth country music festival delayed
The Tamworth country music festival, which was due to hold its 50th festival from next Friday, has been delayed until mid-April due to the new restrictions announced in New South Wales today banning dancing and singing at hospitality venues.
The organisers held a crisis meeting this afternoon and said there was just too much uncertainty around the running of the event, which will now be run between 18 and 24 April.
The Tamworth mayor, Russell Webb, said:
It was with a very heavy heart that we made that decision, and I think that it was not one person in this organisation that is happy about it. We are really in a situation where the best outcome for the city, the best outcome for the country music industry as a whole and the best outcome for the residents of our city was to postpone. I’m very sorry to those people that will be impacted on that in a negative way, but I think this is probably the best way forward to get the best result moving into the future.
Updated
Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios has weighed in on the Novak Djokovic saga, and says he got vaccinated for others and his mum, but he thinks Australia’s response to the whole thing has been bad.
Like these memes, headlines, this is one of our great champions but at the end of the day, he is human. Do better.
Look I definitely believe in taking action, I got vaccinated because of others and for my mums health, but how we are handling Novak’s situation is bad, really bad. Like these memes, headlines, this is one of our great champions but at the end of the day, he is human. Do better.
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) January 7, 2022
Updated
An 18-year old man has been shot in the legs in Brisbane’s west, with three men on the run from police, AAP reports.
Emergency services responded to reports of the shooting at Zerlotti Close in Richlands on Friday morning, and the victim was taken to hospital in a stable condition.
Police believe he was known to the offenders, who are described as being in their 20s.
It is believed the three men fled using an alley to reach the major thoroughfare of Archerfield Road.
Detectives are appealing for witnesses and those with dashcam or CCTV footage to come forward.
Updated
Here’s a bit more info on the daily cases and vaccination rate in Victoria from the Victorian Health Department.
There are 644 Covid-19 cases in hospital in Victoria – 58 active cases in ICU, with 24 of those on a ventilator. There are an additional 48 cleared cases in ICU.
Some 94.5% of Victorians aged 12 and over have now had at least one dose of a vaccine and 93% have had two doses. 13% of Victorians aged 12 and over have had three doses.
The 10 LGAs with the highest number of new cases are Casey, Melbourne, Brimbank, Melton, Hume, Greater Dandenong, Moreland, Port Phillip, Stonnington and Wyndham.
There are 69,680 active cases in Victoria. The total number of confirmed cases in Victoria since the beginning of the pandemic is 274,123.
There were six deaths yesterday of people aged in their 70s, 80s and 90s. This brings the total number of deaths in Victoria since the pandemic began to 1,565.
Updated
Here’s Serbia’s response to the whole Novak Djokovic kerfuffle from AAP’s Andrew Brown.
Serbia’s foreign affairs ministry has hit out at Australia’s decision to cancel the visa of tennis star Novak Djokovic, saying the world No.1 was a victim of a political game.
Australia’s ambassador to Belgrade, Daniel Emery, was summoned to the ministry and urged to make personal efforts to assist Djokovic.
The federal government on Thursday cancelled Djokovic’s visa to enter the country for the Australian Open due to him not meeting vaccination requirements needed for entry.
The Serbian ministry said Australia had acted in bad faith towards the tennis star. “Starovic emphasised that the Serbian public has a strong impression that Djokovic is a victim of a political game against his will, and that he was lured to travel to Australia in order to be humiliated,” the ministry statement said.
“Novak Djokovic is not a criminal, terrorist or illegal migrant, but he was treated that way by the Australian authorities, which causes understandable indignation of his fans and citizens of Serbia.”
A protest note was also sent by the Serbian government to its embassy in Canberra, following the visa decision.
Djokovic is being held in an inner north Melbourne hotel while he awaits a court challenge to his visa cancellation on Monday
The hotel is also used to house asylum seekers, and Serbia’s foreign ministry has called on the federal government to give Djokovic better accommodation.
“Serbia does not want to influence the upcoming decision of the Australian judiciary in any way,” the statement.
“(Serbia) expects that the authorities of the country, in the spirit of good bilateral relations between Australia and Serbia ... allow Djokovic to spend (time) in better accommodation.”
Updated
Western Australia mask restrictions to be eased
Acting WA premier Roger Cook announces from 6pm WA time tonight, masks will not be required for indoor venues or other outdoor events where it has been mandated.
They will only be required in high risk venues and events, and public transport/taxis/ubers.
It means we massively reduce the risk of another Perth Mess Hall-type event.
Updated
Of the WA hotel quarantine security guard who tested positive for Covid-19, WA acting premier Roger Cook says he has the Omicron variant, so his household contact is the first case of Omicron transmission in WA.
The guard’s other close contacts have tested negative, and are quarantined.
Western Australia records zero new local cases
WA acting premier Roger Cook is holding a press conference.
He says there were no new local cases, with six new travel cases including three domestic and three international arrivals who are all in quarantine.
He says yesterday 33,009 people came forward to get vaccinated.
WA now has a first dose rate of 93.5% for over 12. The two dose rate is rapidly approaching 90%, and the third dose is now 12.2%.
Updated
Those thunderstorms in Melbourne are moving quickly. It’s gone from pouring rain in the inner north to sunny and clear again.
⚠️ Detailed Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Greater #Melbourne updated. Severe storms near Pakenham, San Remo, Anglesea & Lara are moving towards the SE, forecast to affect Lang Lang, Torquay & Werribee by 3:15pm, and Ocean Grove & Queenscliff by 3:45pmhttps://t.co/81MloYdDpu pic.twitter.com/IZYeiKi3xW
— Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) January 7, 2022
As someone who isn’t particularly into sports, my attempts to shoehorn in sports analogies often feel strained.
But then there’s this from prime minister Scott Morrison. He was giving commentary in the box for the Ashes and he said Australians are “taking wickets in the virus”.
"We got many challenges there ...but this is Australia living with the virus...and Australians taking wickets in the virus," PM says. COVID outbreaks have hit both the Australian and England camps, as well as media during this #Ashes tour. #Auspol @SBSNews pic.twitter.com/CyNbNW7jq0
— Naveen Razik (@naveenjrazik) January 7, 2022
Updated
At the end of 2021, the expectation was that the opened-up economies and the hundreds of billions of dollars stashed by households and businesses would turbo-charge the economy.
And then along came Omicron.
The ANZ bank has been the main source in recent days of data that shows how the Omicron Covid variant is sapping some of that confidence.
Today it released weekly spending data,finding outlays during the week to January 5th were at the lowest level since the Delta lockdowns. How much of that is post-Christmas shopping fatigue is not clear.
However, ANZ said “caution about being in public places is being compounded by staff shortages to stifle spending across dining, retail and travel”, with spending in Sydney and Melbourne “now near levels typical of lockdown conditions”.
Worse: for Sydney, spending is the lowest since the start of Covid, in part because interstate travel is down.
“ANZ-observed spending has also fallen sharply in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia since the Christmas trading period, with spending in all states a little lower than 2021’s out-of-lockdown levels,” the bank said.
Asked about this downturn at the recent media event, NSW premier Dominic Perrottet took a defensive stance about whether the state opened up too early.
“Opening out is the best thing we can do for our economy,” he said. “The approach we’ve taken is the right approach. Keep society open as we move through, and we’ll get through these next few difficult weeks.”
Still, with a host of restrictions on large gathering (excluding weddings) and non-urgent elective surgery suspended until February, we will have to see whether consumer sentiment sours further.
Updated
Despite the pouring rain, Novak Djokovic supporters are still singing loudly and dancing across the road from the Park Hotel, where the tennis star is being kept.
The crowd is a lot smaller today, with Djokovic protesters now mixed in with refugee activists and a comparatively strong anti-vax contingent.
While some anti-vax protesters are yelling out at passing pedestrians, they are largely drowned out by Djokovic’s supporters.
They have brought a large banner with the tennis star’s face on it and are chanting “Novak” in between songs. Many are draped in Serbian flags or colours.
The rain has meant the crowd is under shelter, huddling together.
Inside the hotel, some of the 33 men who are detained there have put banners on the windows. “I’m looking for my freedom” reads one, while another says “Nine years too long”.
More dancing from #djokovich supporters - not letting the rain stop them. pic.twitter.com/3VS6DIHp5R
— Cait Kelly (@cait__kelly) January 7, 2022
#Djokovic supporters not letting the rain deter them. pic.twitter.com/mi2EFgC0ba
— Cait Kelly (@cait__kelly) January 7, 2022
Updated
That’s all from me for now, I’m going to hand you over to Josh Taylor – he’ll take you through the rest of the afternoon.
NSW Health deputy secretary Susan Pearce says the modelling they have released looks at hospitalisation rates as well as the length of hospital stays.
She says the most likely scenario is that the outbreak will peak in the third or fourth week of January, and by mid-February, NSW will be “well past” the peak of the outbreak.
She is talking here about the graph that is further down the blog, in the tweet from Chris O’Keefe:
What you will see is there are three different scenarios. The scenario which we consider the worst-case scenario, at present, on the information available to us, has been modelled on the experience in New York.
The middle line is the line that we think is the most realistic of the three at the moment. And that takes into account our own experience here in NSW. It considers factors such as the health of our population, our vaccination rates, and a lot of inputs to result in that curve.
And as I mentioned earlier this week, what we see in these curves is that they rise sharply and there is also a relatively sharp decline.
Based on this information at the moment – and again, it is a model, and we will need to continue to monitor it – we believe, by the middle of February, we will be certainly well past the peak of this. And we expect that peak to occur in around the third to the last week of January.
Updated
Serbia’s Foreign Ministry hauls in Australia’s ambassador to Belgrade Daniel Emery to tell him the country believes Djokovic is “a victim of the political game against his will and that he was lured to travel to Australia in order to be humiliated” https://t.co/rnFkbWy8Os
— Andrew Greene (@AndrewBGreene) January 7, 2022
Scott Morrison is in the Fox commentary box at the Sydney Cricket Ground for the Ashes. Cringe, I know.
Things didn’t get off to a great start for Morrison. He was introduced, then almost as soon as he began to speak, he was cut off as Australia took their fourth wicket.
Morrison joked that he must be good luck. After the highlights, and a slightly awkward pause during which the commentators asked him no questions, Morrison launched into a spiel about his government’s support for Jane McGrath Day. “It’s great to be here on this special day, Gilly ...”
Updated
Some more details from that Victorian press conference first:
The Victorian government says it hasn’t seen correspondence between the federal government and Tennis Australia that stipulated Novak Djokovic would not be allowed to enter the country if he did not meet Atagi criteria.
Since the tennis star landed in Australia on Wednesday night the federal and Victorian governments have played handball over the incident, which has sparked an international stoush between Serbia and Australia.
On Friday morning, it emerged that the federal government had written twice to Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley in November, saying people who were unvaccinated would not be granted an exemption to travel, even if they had had Covid in the last 6 months.
It is believed Djokovic sought the medical exemption on these grounds.
On Friday, the acting premier, Jacinta Allan, said the state government had not seen the correspondence, even though he was given an exemption by the Victorian government and Tennis Australia to play in the Australian Open. She said:
I’m advised that members of the Victorian government hadn’t seen that correspondence.
We wouldn’t necessarily see it ... but it reinforces that point that it is the commonwealth government ... that’s responsible for issuing visas and how they engage in that dialogue with Tennis Australia is a matter for them.
The state government has previously said Djokovic’s entry was a two-step process, the first of which was obtaining a visa from the Commonwealth government. The second was him being provided with an exemption to play, which was decided by the medical panel.
Allan downplayed the role of the Victorian government, saying that the state medical panel was to access the medical documentation, not his eligibility for a visa.
“The role of the panel was to assess the medical documentation, not to assess their eligibility for a visa,” she said.
There are still pressing questions about whether the state government should have liaised with federal colleagues or Atagi before granting the exception and why he was granted the visa in the first place, only to be detained on his arrival.
The health minister, Greg Hunt, told 2GB on Thursday he had been surprised Djokovic had been given the exemption.
“I hadn’t realised that was going through the works. And then obviously saw some media reports a couple of nights ago,” Hunt said.
Hunt sent the second letter to Tennis Australia in November, reiterating that the Australian Border Force would not permit anyone to enter who did not meet Atagi’s criteria.
On Wednesday, acting Victorian sports minister, Jaala Pulford, said border force officials contacted the state government hours before he landed, asking if they would sponsor Djokovic’s visa. She tweeted on Wednesday evening that the Victorian government rejected this request.
The home affairs minister, Karen Andrews, and border force have denied this, saying they did not request the support of the Victorian government.
Djokovic is currently being kept in a quarantine hotel, and will fight the deportation in court on Monday morning.
The debacle has enraged both his fans, who feel he has been humiliated, and the Victorian public, who are angry that an unvaccinated tennis star was granted entry after two years of lockdowns.
Updated
Northern Territory records 412 new Covid cases
412 new Covid cases have been recorded in the Northern Territory – more details to come.
Updated
Chant is giving some more details on the rapid antigen tests:
In terms of rapid antigen testing, what we’re saying is if you’re positive with symptoms, then treat yourself as a case. In this current setting of such high case numbers, if you got symptoms, and you got a positive RAT test, then you’re a case ...
If you have had no exposures to anyone [and] it’s really unusual that you have got a positive test, under those circumstances, you might get a PCR to validate it, or test again with the RAT, but at any time you have had a positive test and develop symptoms, you should act as if it is a positive test.
We’re also asking you, and this is not covered in a public health order, that you [and your household] would actually isolate for the seven days.
Now, currently we are working with our partners in Service NSW to establish a mechanism so you can actually register your positive RAT. And then we will change the orders so there’s a requirement where ... you will then be required to isolate as if you had a PCR positive test.
Chant also speaks about the importance of linking more at-risk patients to care:
We do know that there’s some groups, particularly those with underlying chronic health conditions, people that are pregnant – and chronic health conditions also encompasses obesity, people that are unvaccinated, people that have particular conditions that suppress their immune system or are taking drugs that actually actively suppress their immune system, we know that they may have a high risk of hospitalisation and admission to ICU.
It’s important that those individuals are linked to care, and in those circumstances, we will be reaching out to those individuals.
... If you have got any of those chronic health conditions or [belong to] those risk categories I spoke about, we do want to link you to care because there may be some therapies that we can administer that will reduce your risk of going into hospital or requiring ICU.
Updated
NSW Health has modeled “worst case” as 6000 people with covid taking up hospital beds by the end of the month. @9NewsAUS @2GB873 pic.twitter.com/lXfqAZ1yae
— Chris O'Keefe (@cokeefe9) January 7, 2022
NSW chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, has explained why the new restrictions are necessary:
In the last seven days... almost 50% of the cases are aged between 20 and 39 years. So there’s 29% between 20 and 29, and 30 and 39 account for 19% of the cases.
The transmission is happening in a variety of settings. Obviously in those household and social gatherings that people are having, and also in places like pubs, clubs, nightclubs.
The concern around the behaviour of dancing and singing ... is the fact that when people are in those environments and dancing, you’re actually encountering and bringing together people from very different social networks.
So when you go and sit down with your five friends in a restaurant and you’re just sitting down, the only people that you’re really coming into contact with with our mask-wearing rules ... is that group you’re with.
But when you’re actually dancing on a dance floor, when you’re energised and singing in a group and moving around, then you’re actually risking exposing people that you would normally not come into contact with.
So with this time, we’re really just trying to slow the spread, reduce the introduction to new social networks as a mechanism of slowing the spread ... to reduce the impact we’re seeing on our hospital and those other critical services in the community.
Updated
NSW to make booster shots mandatory for some workers and ban singing and dancing in hospitality venues
As suspected, new restrictions on singing and dancing have been announced for NSW. They will come into force and continue until 27 January. Perrottet said:
There’ll be no singing and dancing in hospitality venues. That does not include weddings or performers or classes that people may be conducting. In addition to that [the] overwhelming majority of major events across NSW will proceed. Health is currently reviewing those and if there is deemed to be a high-risk venue, New South Wales Health along with the Department of Premier and Cabinet will work closely with organisers in adjusting those COVID-safe plans.
So if you have a major event planned, throughout January, continue as planned ... They are continuing as planned. Only in circumstances where NSW Health deems that event to be a high-risk event, then we will contact those organisers and work through the current Covid-safe plans with you.
There are also new mandates on the way – where vaccinations are mandatory, they will have to include boosters:
[For those workers with mandated vaccinations] we will be moving to those mandates including a booster shot.
... whether it’s our teachers, nurses, our frontline health and disability workers, where NSW Health has previously required mandatory vaccination ... we will move to boosters being included as part of that fully vaccinated determination.
Updated
Perrottet announces elective surgery suspension
Perrottet says non-urgent elective surgery will be suspended until February.
In order to assist the health system during this period of time, just like we did during the Alpha outbreak and the Delta outbreak, today we’re announcing that we will continue to suspend elective surgery for non-urgent surgeries ... until mid-February.
... We’ll be engaging with private hospital systems to help with capacity constraints over this period of time.
Anyone who records a positive rapid antigen test will need to register with the health department – it will be treated the same as a positive PCR test.
Perrottet also says he will release new Covid modelling for NSW, and says there is still capacity in the health system:
What is encouraging from this model is that even on a worst-case scenario, we have the capacity in our health system right now.
So obviously around the country, around the world, during this pandemic, we are seeing significant pressure on our health system, but our health system is strong, we invested significantly, we have the best health system here in NSW in the country, if not around the world.
Updated
The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, is speaking now, and has started by thanking healthcare workers:
It has been an incredibly challenging two years, many people are tired, but our health system remains strong because of the efforts and the tireless work of our health staff right across NSW.
And he’s encouraging people to get their five to 11 year old children vaccinated, which they can do from Monday.
Updated
South Australia records 3,707 new cases with 144 hospitalised
South Australia has recorded 3,707 new cases. 144 are in hospital and 16 are in intensive care, with one on a ventilator.
Updated
Queensland may delay the beginning of the school year as it waits for the virus to peak.
The premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said she would not allow unvaccinated children to return to school during the peak of the Omicron variant.
The state government has commissioned modelling on when the peak will hit. Palaszczuk said:
I just want to assure parents that we will not send primary school students back during the first week of school if we are heading towards a peak.
So we are looking at a one to two week delay ... to the return to school. We will give you more concrete decisions on this over the coming days.
Updated
Queensland health minister, Yvette D’Ath, says they are looking at suspending elective surgery as the virus is set to peak in the state at the end of the month.
She said people should stay at home if they are unwell, even if they have a negative rapid antigen test. And they should wear masks indoors, socially distance, and get vaccinated or, if fully vaccinated, get a booster.
Annastacia Palaszczuk says people should minimise their outings for the next six weeks.
Updated
Queensland records 10,953 new Covid cases, 313 in hospital
Queensland has recorded 10,953 new Covid cases. There are 313 people in hospital, and 14 in intensive care.
The premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said it would be a “short, sharp wave”:
This is a very difficult time for Queensland at the moment, probably the likes [of which] we haven’t seen before.
Updated
Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid has let rip about ... well, about New South Wales letting it rip.
“Having decided weeks ago to let it rip, Dominic Perrottet is now seeing the results of that decision,” he said.
He said new restrictions (reportedly coming in later today) might “slightly slow the spread”:
But there’s no way they’re going to turn this curve around ... it’s going to take some weeks to reach this peak, and therefore, we just have to brace ourselves.
We’ve got to cancel elective surgery. That’s coming. We’ve got to make sure that as many health staff are available as possible, and we’ve got to make sure that everybody in the community knows how to best look after their health when they catch Covid, because it’s not going to be going to a hospital ED unless you’re really quite sick. If you’re moderately sick, you probably need to be in touch with your GP.
But for the majority of people who have a mild illness, you don’t need a doctor. You just need to go to the HealthDirect website, look at the symptom checker, manage your own health, so that the medical resources are there for those who are ... struggling with more severe symptoms.
The reality is our hospitals are under extraordinary pressure, and those long-suffering staff who’ve had a very difficult couple of years, instead of having a break over Christmas, they’ve had their leave cancelled and they’re facing huge demand at the front door of the ED whilst their colleagues, their co-workers, other doctors, other nurses, are falling sick, having to stay at home and look after sick children.
And you’re hearing stories of wards with half or even less than half of their normal number of nurses available ... So it’s almost a perfect storm of pressure. And it’s just not true to say our health system is so resilient it can cope with anything. There are limits, unfortunately.
Updated
ACT reports 1,246 new cases
ACT COVID-19 update (7 Jan 2022)
— ACT Health (@ACTHealth) January 7, 2022
▪️ New cases today: 1246
▪️ Active cases: 4511
▪️ Total cases: 9429
▪️ Negative PCR test results (past 24 hrs): 3347
▪️ Hospital: 24
▪️ ICU: 3
▪️ Ventilated: 3
▪️ Lives lost: 12
💉 Vaccinations: 98.5% (12+ with 2 doses) 20.3% (18+ with 3 doses) pic.twitter.com/LsYjQZLGq6
Updated
Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein is giving a press conference in Hobart.
He said the current wave “while mild for most people”, is presenting challenges for others, and that the hospital system has room for up to 100 people in intensive care.
Tasmanians can now use rapid antigen tests to diagnose Covid – Taswegians can register online or call the public health hotline on 1800 671 738 to register for free tests. (PCR tests are still available).
Those who test positive must notify public health.
“If you don’t do that, we can’t reach out and provide Covid at Home (kits), we can’t assist you financially,” he said.
Tasmania is using the household or “household-like” rule for working out who close contacts are.
Updated
Victoria’s acting premier Jacinta Allan is back up now. She has been asked about the Novak Djokovic debacle and letters from the federal government to Tennis Australia about the visa process. She said:
I’m advised that members of the Victorian government hadn’t seen that correspondence. We wouldn’t necessarily see it ... but it reinforces that point that it is the commonwealth government ... that’s responsible for issuing visas and how they engage in that dialogue with Tennis Australia is a matter for them.
The role of the Victorian government here as the city and the state that hosts the Australian Open is to run a safe event. That has been the primary focus ... having all the arrangements in place for the event to be run successfully and safely.
How people who participate in that event get into the country is a matter for the commonwealth government who are responsible for issuing visas.
The state government’s panel to assess medical exemptions was a separate process, she said. “The role of the panel was to assess the medical documentation, not to assess their eligibility for a visa,” she said.
Allan also spoke about the effect of increasing Covid cases in the state:
The health system as a whole is preparing for an increased number of hospital admissions. And a huge amount of work has already gone on as it has throughout the entire course of this pandemic to ensure that our hospitals are equipped and staffed.
She talked about the pressures on workforces, with many people forced to isolate with illness or because they are close contacts.
There’s no doubt that with the increasing numbers of case numbers ... that is putting pressure not just on the health and hospital system, but also on a range of workforces, critical industry workforces in health and in other industries more broadly.
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Victoria’s Covid response commander Jeroen Weimar says there are “really simple questions” on the form for people who record a positive rapid antigen test result – the details are all here.
He said the paediatric doses for children aged five to 11 are ready to be rolled out via 14 state clinics from Monday. He said:
The key (is) to get as many people vaccinated as possible (and) if you haven’t booked your booster dose yet or booked your children yet, then please do so.
Acting premier Jacinta Allan said:
It’s important to remember that turning up positive on a rapid antigen test is the equivalent of turning up positive on a PCR test. We’ll be asking Victorians who turn positive on a rapid antigen test to isolate for the seven days, and to tell your contacts that you had turned positive.
A negative test will mean people can return more quickly to life as normal, she said.
Victoria reports 21,728 new cases
Victoria’s Covid commander Jeroen Weimar and acting premier Jacinta Allan are giving a press conference now.
Allan has spoken about the latest figures (see below) and said 25,000 children aged five to 11 had already booked in to get their vaccinations after the rollout was extended to that age group.
Victorians can now self-report a positive rapid antigen test result – Allan says an online form is now live.
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A few people were surprised to learn in the Sydney Morning Herald this morning that the NSW government was about to reintroduce some restrictions in a bid to curb the explosion in Covid cases - and the inevitable rise in hospitalisations ahead.
Within the medical fraternity, the health system in the state is seen as already in crisis and the main wave of hospital admissions is still weeks ahead, as we noted here today.
Whether the government will try to limit gatherings – presumably after the 4th test at the SCG concludes – or nightclubs or dancing or whatever, the virus is very much out in the community, with today’s count of 38,625 new cases in the state likely to be a fraction of the true number given testing limits and more.
Anyway, the reported restrictions surprised senior NSW government members, and will do nothing to help coherence within a cabinet that was only reshuffled a few weeks ago.
Some of those surprised include state political reporters such as Chris O’Keefe, from Nine, who is also doing 2GB stints over summer. He didn’t hold back this morning on radio, telling Mark Levy:
I’ve had a chat to a few ministers. Now. Mark, a lot of them are in isolation because they’ve either got Covid themselves or their family members have got Covid.
So they’re sitting there for seven days trying to isolate themselves too. So there’s a few that are out of the loop.
But I can tell you now, they are furious, and I’m talking about senior, senior ministers.
One in particular told me that their view was that this is terminal for (premier) Dominic Perrottet. They can kiss the next election [due in March 2023] goodbye because he refused to listen to his colleagues, to Dr Kerry Chant back before December 15, in keeping unvaccinated people out of society, and just keeping a modicum of some restrictions on masks, QR codes all that stuff.
Apparently, according to the two on 2GB, the government’s efforts not only fail the pub test, they also fail the hospital test.
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Doctors have told the Guardian that their deliveries of the paediatric formula of Pfizer for the children’s rollout are already being delayed, forcing them to cancel bookings.
The rollout for those aged 5–11 is due to commence on Monday and the government says that all children will be able to have a first dose by the end of January or in early February, when school returns for the year.
Shipments of the paediatric formula were due to begin arriving at GP clinics on Thursday and Friday this week. But a number of GP clinics are already reporting delays. Dr Elysia Thornton-Benko, a GP with Bondi Road Doctors, said her clinic received an email from the federal government’s vaccine operations centre on 23 December, advising that the first shipments would be delayed until sometime next week due to “unprecedented demand”.
She said that had forced the clinic to cancel bookings made in expectation that the shipments would arrive on time:
It’s really hard because when you’ve already made bookings. Our practice and multiple other practices received that email on 23 December, so they were scrambling around, moving bookings on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, trying to sort things out, not actually knowing when the shipment was going to arrive.
Its affiliate practice, East Sydney Doctors in Darlinghurst, received the same message and had to cancel appointments. “Parents are frustrated, because they’re wondering why they’ve been told it starts on the 10th, and then they don’t understand why they have to be cancelled and moved around,” Dr Elysia said. “And I think they’re concerned, because the return to school is looming.”
The Sydney Morning Herald has also reported that The Children’s Doctor at Castle Hill and Doctors on Darling in Balmain received the same email delaying their shipments.
The Guardian asked the health minister Greg Hunt about this issue on Thursday. In response, a spokesperson slammed the media for attempting to publish “unverified claims” about delivery delays and denied any such problem existed.
“Operation COVID Shield advises all orders are on track to be delivered as scheduled and advised to providers,” a spokesperson said.
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The scene at the Park Hotel where tennis star Novak Djokovic is staying is very quiet this morning.
There are a small number of refugee activists setting up for today’s protest, including representatives from Amnesty International and Tamil Refugee Council.
The two groups crossed over yesterday, with some Djokovic supporters calling on more help for the refugees, and refugee advocates calling on the tennis star to help them raise awareness of the 33 men detained indefinitely inside.
“We are here to stand vigil, to make sure the men detained know that we are here,” national campaign manager for Amnesty International Australia Shankar Kasynathan told Guardian Australia:
We’re hoping that Novak, who is inside there today as well, knows the world is watching him, that he has the opportunity today to bring an end to this madness.
To shine a light on the cruelty in this country. The game that is being played with lives must end. It’s game over.
Serbian Australians came out in force yesterday, mixing their protest of Djokovic’s detainment with celebrations of their Christmas Eve.
They lit candles, sung and danced into the evening, yelling “Free Novak” up at the hotel.
There was a small skirmish between police and refugee activists as they arrested two women who had been protesting on the awning about the old hotel entrance.
Today’s protests are expected to be bigger for the refugee activists, but many of Australia’s Serbian community will be enjoying Christmas Day.
Djokovic is expected to stay inside the hotel until the court hearing on Monday, when he will fight the deportation.
The Serbian Australians at Park Hotel are now lighting candles and singing. It’s their Christmas Eve.
— Cait Kelly (@cait__kelly) January 6, 2022
“This is for the refugees” they said. pic.twitter.com/ZK8opNRakh
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Tasmania records 1,489 new cases
Tasmania has recorded 1,489 new cases. Eight people are in hospital, none of them in intensive care.
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Australia has now overtaken the US for new covid cases on a rolling average per capita basis. pic.twitter.com/qVOFRJScew
— Simon Cullen (@Simon_Cullen) January 6, 2022
Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci has emailed customers about “gaps” on the supermarket chain’s shelves due to the Omicron surge that’s pummelling the economy and kept more than one in five of the group’s distribution centre workers at home.
“Unlike the surge buying of early 2020 (who could forget the toilet paper), this is because of the number of people in our supply chain in isolation – from suppliers to truck drivers and distribution centre team members – which in turn is causing material delays to store deliveries,” Banducci said in the email.
“To give you a sense of the magnitude of the challenge, we are experiencing Covid-driven absences of 20%+ in our distribution centres and 10%+ in our stores.
“NSW is currently the most affected, although we are seeing impacts across the whole country, and it’s not yet clear how soon the system will come back into balance as we move through the Omicron wave.”
He told customers Woolworths has “more than enough stock in the system and plenty more coming” but for the time being customers might not be able to get their favourite brands of particular categories of goods. The chain has also turned on substitution of unavailable items as the default option for online shoppers.
“We understand how frustrating it is when you can’t find the product you’re looking for and, together with our suppliers and supply chain partners, we’re working hard to get all products back on shelf as quickly as we can (including rapid antigen tests),” he said.
You can read our wrap of the cascading chaos caused by Omicron driven staff shortages here.
Prime minister Scott Morrison rejected the suggestion the federal government was unprepared for this outbreak ... meanwhile, as Sarah Martin reports, the government was warned a year ago that the testing system could be overwhelmed and that rapid antigen tests could help:
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Finance minister Simon Birmingham has been on Channel Nine this morning talking about the Novak Djokovic debacle, saying there was a mistake or perhaps “people have acted in misleading ways”:
Look, there’s clearly been a mistake in terms of what Novak Djokovic or his team understood in terms of the entry requirements, or indeed people have acted in misleading ways. They are matters that frankly aren’t particularly relevant to the facts of the case, which are that the Government has always been clear around what is necessary in terms of the entry requirements into Australia.
We made that clear to Tennis Australia. It’s been publicly clear for a long time, you’ve got to be double vaccinated if you are not an Australian citizen, to enter Australia if we’ve reopened the borders. These border controls have been incredibly important right throughout COVID in terms of protecting Australia.
Yes, we have taken the steps of reopening, but being double vaccinated has clearly always been a requirement and the medical exemption requirements have been clearly explained to those tennis authorities. And of course it is up to our Border Force officials to uphold those entry requirements.
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Labor leader Anthony Albanese is set to hold a press conference at 10.15. Empty supermarket shelves are certain to be a focus – his treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers is referring to shortages as the “Hunger Games”.
Update: That’s 10.15 Queensland time, sorry! Here’s me sitting patiently waiting for him to start.
Workers can't go to work. Businesses are closing. Supermarket shelves are emptying.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) January 6, 2022
This is what happens when the government fails to plan ahead.
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Australian Medical Association vice president Dr Chris Moy has something he would like to say to the government ...
Gov must stop stuffing around/spinning/blaming & throw EVERYTHING behind health NOW- hospitals🏥, GPs🥼, pharmacy💊, aged care🧓. And next time remember advice that HEALTH IS AN INVESTMENT and that ensuring community remains healthy = good health + good economy. 🥜Gallery, Vice🥜
— AMA VICE PRESIDENT (@ama_vice) January 6, 2022
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More than 78,000 new Covid cases have been recorded in New South Wales, Tasmania, Queensland, Northern Territory, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria. We’ll bring you results from the other states and territories as they come in.
Eleven people have died in NSW, and the state has recorded 38,625 new cases of Covid in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
There are 1,738 people in hospital, 134 in intensive care, and reports that more restrictions will be introduced today.
Six people have died in Victoria, where 21,728 cases were recorded. 644 people are in hospital, and 58 in intensive care.
Victoria now has new density limits in hospitality venues, and Victorians now have to report positive results from rapid antigen tests to the health department.
Tasmania has recorded 1,489 new cases. Eight people are in hospital, none of them in intensive care.
There are 1,246 new Covid cases in the ACT, with 24 in hospital.
Queensland has recorded 10,953 new Covid cases. There are 313 people in hospital, and 14 in intensive care.
SA has recorded 3,707 new cases. 144 are in hospital and 16 are in intensive care, with one on a ventilator.
412 cases were recorded in the NT.
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Find a vaccination centre at https://t.co/rrlztsOjb5
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) January 6, 2022
We thank everyone who got vaccinated and tested yesterday.
Our thoughts are with those in hospital, and the families of people who have lost their lives.
More data soon: https://t.co/OCCFTAtS1P#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/8SsChCxpOb
More struggles for GPs who don’t have enough vaccines for kids. Christopher Knaus has taken a look at the frontline:
NSW records 38,625 new cases
NSW COVID-19 update – Friday 7 January 2022
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) January 6, 2022
In the 24-hour reporting period to 8pm last night:
- 95.1% of people aged 16+ have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 93.6% of people aged 16+ have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine pic.twitter.com/1numkPfLYu
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General practice is at “breaking point”, doctors say, and they’re fed up with hearing about policy changes through press conferences. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners is worried about a lack of support as Australia moves to rapid antigen tests. College president Dr Karen Price said positive results needed to be recorded, but that there was no system to manage that:
As things currently stand, positive rapid antigen test results are not being recorded or counted as part of the official case numbers as there is no formal notification process. Patients contacting their GP with a positive rapid antigen test result does not equate to the health system having an aggregate view of the number of positive cases in the community.
General practices simply do not have the administrative capacity to officially lodge all COVID-19 cases, so we need governments to step up and set up a system so that all cases are recorded and everyone has access to Covid-19-positive care pathways.
There needs to be a triage system designed to assist many thousands of people across Australia because GPs can only shoulder the burden of so much responsibility and we certainly can’t manage this process on our own. We are ready to work with government as needed to resolve this issue and ensure there is a system that works for general practice and their patients.
General practice teams are exhausted, and we need to ensure that any Government-initiated changes to managing patients in the pandemic have undergone careful planning so that general practice teams can immediately adapt. When general practice teams learn information via a press conference or, even worse, from their patients – it does make our vital role in the vaccine rollout much more difficult.
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From someone who’d know:
Do the numbers and think beyond the 'economic silos' when it comes to spending tax dollars? Free rapid antigen tests makes economic sense for governments, our analysis shows https://t.co/Kriwl0HoGE via @ConversationEDU
— Prof. Peter Doherty (@ProfPCDoherty) January 6, 2022
In better (?) Covid news, all-round good guy Hugh Jackman has recovered from his bout and popped up in Los Angeles to heap praise on healthcare workers.
The Greatest Showman star posted a video to Instagram of his first trip outside. It looked cold but he had his dog with him so everything was fine.
“The mental and physical toll this pandemic must be taking on you and your families is unimaginable. Your dedication to help those in need is next level. I am grateful for all of you,” he said.
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Malcolm Farr on prime minister Scott Morrison:
His problem is that even insulting and exploiting the world’s best tennis player will not be sufficient distraction from the growing confusion over the response to Omicron as it overwhelms towns and cities.
Even the record number of Covid cases being reported don’t tell the true story of the scale of infections – and the hospitals are bracing for that reality. Peter Hannam reports:
An insider has told the ABC that the Australian Border Force took a closer look at Novak Djokovic’s visa after he declared on social media that he was “heading Down Under with an exemption permission”.
An official with knowledge of the Djokovic case said authorities began closely examining the Serbian's circumstances after he declared on social media on Tuesday that he was "heading Down Under with an exemption permission".https://t.co/e3HMjSoReh
— Andrew Greene (@AndrewBGreene) January 6, 2022
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On that question (below) to home affairs minister Karen Andrews, Mostafa Rachwani and Ben Doherty spoke to asylum seekers about the “torture” of the infamous detention hotel:
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Parallels (or contrasts?) are being drawn between Novak Djokovic and the asylum seekers who are in the same hotel as him. The reporter asked: “Novak Djokovic’s family say he’s being kept a prisoner in a prison-like situation there. What does this say to the world about how Australia treats asylum seekers?”
Home affairs minister Karen Andrews says Djokovic is free to leave and that everyone in detention is treated the same:
(Djokovic) is not being held captive in Australia. He is free to leave at any time that he chooses to do so and Border Force will actually facilitate that. In relation to other people who are in immigration detention, whether it be in a hotel in Melbourne or whether it be elsewhere in Australia, those people are there because they don’t have a valid visa or they are illegally here in Australia for maybe a number of reasons.
We treat all people who are in immigration detention fairly, equitably. For those people who are protesting, all I can say is people in Australia do have the right to voice their opinions and to protest, they just need to do that lawfully.
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Home affairs minister Karen Andrews has been quizzed on the ABC.
She confirmed two other people are in similar situations to Novak Djokovic (although it’s not clear where they are):
I’m aware of investigations in relation to two individuals by the Australian Border Force. They’re going through their processes of investigation. And at some time, they will brief me, but all I can absolutely assure you and the rest of Australia of is that the Australian Border Force will take absolutely the appropriate action. So, they’re conducting their investigations and they will take the appropriate action.
Andrews was asked why these two other people were let through customs, when Djokovic was detained. She said:
Any person who comes through our border can, at any time, be asked to provide evidence that they have the appropriate documentation and they meet Australia’s entry requirements.
It is a multi-layered approach to be able to get into Australia, and at any point in that process you can be asked to provide the evidence that is necessary to prove that you are eligible to enter Australia.
So, that can be at the border, which is what happened in the case of Mr Djokovic. It could be earlier in the process as well, it could be at the point of boarding the aircraft to come into Australia. But ... you are still required to have valid proof that you are able to be in Australia, and that’s why Border Force is investigating two other individuals that I am aware of in relation to whether or not they have the evidence to prove that they are eligible to be in Australia.
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Welcome to Friday!
It looks set to be another big day (isn’t this meant to be a quiet time of year?!). As case numbers continue to surge in New South Wales, we’re hearing restrictions could be coming back in that state.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports nightclubs, major events and dancing and singing in pubs will soon be out. Some elective surgery is also likely to be stopped. We’ll bring you all the details as they emerge.
There are still many questions about the handling of Novak Djokovic’s visa. The world No 1 is now at the Park Hotel in Melbourne, alongside refugees and asylum seekers that have, in some cases, spent years in immigration detention. That’s brought together refugee advocates and Serbian tennis fans out the front.
There have been more protests in his home country, where his family have been rallying support. In an extraordinary press conference, his father Srdjan compared him to Jesus, saying:
They’re trying to crucify him.
Home affairs minister Karen Andrews has been on television this morning defending the government’s handling of the situation.
“I know there is a lot of chatter about the visa. The visa, on my understanding, is not the issue, it is the entry requirement,” she told the Nine Network.
“The (Australian) Border Force has been very clear that he was not able to meet the requirement to provide the evidence he needed for entry to Australia.”
Now other players who entered the country in similar circumstances could be in trouble. She confirmed ABF are investigating those matters, but wouldn’t say how many.
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