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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Graham Readfearn and Ben Smee

Australia records highest number of new cases in a day – as it happened

Protesters are pepper sprayed by police during an anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne
Protesters are pepper sprayed by police during an anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

What we learned today, Saturday 21 August

We’re going to close off this blog for today, thanks very much for your company.

Here’s a helpful summary from Graham Readfearn – who did most of the hard slog today – and myself:

  • Today was a record day for positive cases of coronavirus declared in Australia across the entire pandemic. There were 894 locally transmitted cases.
  • New South Wales recorded a record high 825 new cases for any day across the pandemic. Victoria announced 77 cases and the ACT had eight. Queensland and Western Australia both had zero cases.
  • NSW health authorities said three people had died with coronavirus – a woman in her 80s and two men in their 90s.
  • Melbourne’s lockdown was extended across the entire state from 1pm, with the premier, Dan Andrews, giving regional Victoria less than two hours notice of the restrictions.
  • More than 4,000 anti-lockdown protesters gathered in Melbourne, where demonstrators clashed with police officers. Police made 218 arrests and six officers were hospitalised. Protests also took place in Sydney and Brisbane.
  • Some 16 cases in NSW have been linked to a party held in Maroubra last weekend.
  • The Indigenous community in Wilcannia is on edge after 12 new cases were recorded and issues like housing overcrowding are putting people at greater risk.
  • There are 554 people in hospital across Australia with coronavirus – including 94 in intensive care and 36 on ventilators.
  • About 80 people, including Australian citizens and permit holders, arrived on an Australian air force flight from Kabul.

Look after yourself.

Updated

“Freedom” appears not to be free.

Victoria police say they arrested 218 people at today’s anti-lockdown protest.

Six police officers were hospitalised – two with broken noses, one with a broken thumb and others with concussion.

Police said in a statement the majority of the estimated 4,000 demonstrators “came with violence in mind”.

“The behaviour seen by police was so hostile and aggressive that they were left with no choice but to use all tactics available to them,” the statement said.

Police said they had, for the first time during a lockdown protest, used non-lethal tactics that included rounds of pepper spray projectiles and canisters.

Every arrested protester would be fined more than $5,000 for breaching public health orders.

Updated

Today the NSW government announced 12 new Covid cases in Wilcannia, where the population is more than 60% Indigenous.

Here’s what’s happening in the local community. People are being told to isolate in homes that are overcrowded (more than 10 people) and where there are Covid-positive cases:

Updated

From the ABC in Melbourne.

The New South Wales police minister, David Elliott, is speaking about the police response to planned anti-lockdown protests.

Compared to chaotic scenes in Melbourne, the gathering in Sydney was a fizzer.

Elliott said more than 30,000 cars were stopped heading into the city on Saturday.

Updated

Good afternoon all, thanks for your company as we head into another evening. And thanks to Graham Readfearn for a stellar job.

Just reading that summary, it’s been another breathless, depressing day.

Hopefully things are winding down, but we expect to bring you some news in the aftermath of the Melbourne lockdown protest.

We’re almost there, stick with us.

Saturday so far

I’m about to hand the blog duties back to Ben Smee. Before I go, here’s a quick recap on a busy and challenging Saturday:

  • Today was a record day for positive cases of coronavirus declared in Australia across the entire pandemic. There were 894 locally transmitted cases.
  • New South Wales recorded a record high 825 new cases for any day across the pandemic. Victoria announced 77 and the ACT had eight. Queensland and Western Australia both had zero cases.
  • NSW health authorities said three people had died with coronavirus – a woman in her 80s and two men in their 90s.
  • Melbourne’s lockdown was extended across the entire state from 1pm, with the premier, Dan Andrews, giving regional Victoria less than two hours notice of the restrictions.
  • Thousands of anti-lockdown protesters gathered for marches in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Melbourne saw the largest march, with demonstrators clashing with police.
  • Some 16 cases in NSW have been linked to a party held in Maroubra last weekend.
  • There are 554 people in hospital across Australia with coronavirus – including 94 in intensive care and 36 on ventilators.
  • About 80 people, including Australian citizens and permit holders, arrived on an Australian air force flight from Kabul.

Hope you’re all doing OK and getting yourself vaccinated.

If you’re struggling, here are some phone numbers:

  • Beyond Blue 1800 512 348
  • Lifeline 131 114
  • Kids Helpline 1800 551 800
Protesters gather for a ‘National Rally for Peace, Freedom and Human Rights’ anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne.
Protesters gather for a ‘National Rally for Peace, Freedom and Human Rights’ anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

Updated

We don’t yet have any official police estimates of the numbers of people attending the anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination protests that have been taking place in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.

There have been several arrests, but we don’t have numbers on that yet either because police operations are still ongoing.

But here’s our first take on the story.

No new cases of coronavirus for Western Australia.

A large crowd of anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination protesters has moved out of Brisbane’s CBD botanic gardens and is now gathered outside Queensland’s state parliament building.

Updated

Royal Melbourne hospital says two patients and a staff member have tested positive for Covid-19. Contact tracing and testing is under way.

Updated

Michael Kidd says more Australians than ever before are reaching out for mental health support. Calls to Lifeline and Beyond Blue are up 30% since the pandemic started:

We need to be supporting each other and show our love and our care to our family members and to our neighbours and our friends.

Here are some numbers that you should keep safe and hand to your friends and loved ones struggling with these lockdowns.

  • Beyond Blue: 1800 512 348
  • Lifeline: 131 114
  • Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800

Updated

Australia’s deputy chief medical officer, Prof Michael Kidd, is giving an update on coronavirus numbers and vaccine rates.

This is on another record day for new infections, when NSW reported 825 new cases.

Here are some of the key numbers.

  • There have been 894 locally acquired new cases reported in the last 24 hours.
  • There are 554 people in hospital - including 94 in intensive care and 36 are on ventilators.
  • Friday was a record day for vaccinations with 310,524 doses given.
  • More than 80% of people aged 60 and over have received at least one vaccine dose.
  • Some 51.8% of eligible people have had at least one vaccine dose and 1.7m have been given in the past week.

The Department of Defence has released these images of Australians and Afghan visa holders boarding an Australian Air Force Globemaster plane at the airport in Kabul.

A flight with 80 people on board – which included some New Zealanders – arrived in Australia from Kabul earlier today.

A little Afghan girl with her family board the Royal Australian Air Force C-17A Globemaster as they prepare to depart Hamid Karzai International Airport.
A little Afghan girl and her family board the Royal Australian Air Force C-17A Globemaster as they prepare to depart Hamid Karzai international airport. Photograph: Sgt Glen McCarthy/Department of Defence
Australian citizens and visa holders are made comfortable by ADF personnel as they board the Royal Australian Air Force C-17A Globemaster preparing to depart Hamid Karzai International Airport.
Australian citizens and visa holders are made comfortable by ADF personnel as they board the RAAF plane preparing to depart Kabul. Photograph: Sgt Glen McCarthy/Department of Defence
Australian citizens and visa holders form a line to board the Royal Australian Air Force C-17A Globemaster as Australian Army Infantry personnel provide security at Hamid Karzai International Airport.
Australian citizens and visa holders form a line to board the RAAF plane as Australian Army Infantry personnel provide security at Kabul airport. Photograph: Sgt Glen McCarthy/Department of Defence

Updated

There are now reports of an anti-lockdown protest in Brisbane, joining a large march in Melbourne and a smaller demonstration in Sydney.

A Nine News helicopter shows a large crowd gathered in Brisbane’s CBD botanical gardens, which are next to the state’s parliament building.

A plane is shown dragging a banner above Brisbane with the words “LOCKDOWN INSANITY = CHILD ABUSE”.

Thanks to Ben Smee. You have me again, Graham Readfearn, for a few more hours now.

The protest in Melbourne has calmed for the time being.

Large numbers of protesters have backed away from a police barricade near Flinders Street station.

A heavy Victoria Police presence in Melbourne
A heavy Victoria Police presence in Melbourne. Photograph: Diego Fedele/Getty Images
Protesters gather in the central business district of Melbourne
Anti-lockdown protesters take to the streets. Photograph: James Ross/AAP
Anti-lockdown protesters take to the streets of Melbourne
Protesters in Melbourne’s CBD. Photograph: Diego Fedele/Getty Images

Updated

In Melbourne, the main tranche of protesters has reached a police line near Flinders Street station.

Objects are being thrown at officers. As yet there has been no attempt to break through the line.

Western Australia is shutting its border to everyone in New South Wales, bar a few exemptions – commonwealth and state officials, members of parliament, diplomats and people in extraordinary circumstances.

Updated

This post gives an excellent idea of the scale of the crowd in Melbourne.

There have been some isolated violent clashes between protesters and police in Melbourne.

Afghan evacuation flight with 80 on board arrives in Australia

As the protest continues, the federal employment minister, Stuart Robert, is speaking in Canberra.

He says a third evacuation flight with 80 people on board has arrived in Australia from Kabul.

Robert says the flight contained “Australian citizens, permanent resident visa holders, locally engaged employees [including] Afghan interpreters and the like who have worked with us, and a number of New Zealanders”.

Updated

In Melbourne, hundreds of police are now forming a barrier to hem in the march.

Crowds have also gathered in Sydney. From what we can see there are more police officers than demonstrators at this stage.

Police assembled in Sydney’s Hyde Park on Saturday morning for a briefing on a planned anti-lockdown protest
Police assembled in Sydney’s Hyde Park on Saturday morning for a briefing on a planned anti-lockdown rally. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Updated

Hard to get a handle on the size of the Melbourne protest at this stage, but from some early video it looks like there are at least several hundred people in the city, in defiance of public health orders.

A few masks, but not many.

Protesters are pepper sprayed by police during the anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne
Protesters are pepper sprayed by police during the anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

Updated

Melbourne police make arrests at anti-lockdown protest

It appears an anti-lockdown protest is going ahead in Melbourne. Police are making arrests.

We’ll bring you more about that as it develops.

It remains to be seen whether a similar event, planned in Sydney, will go ahead.

Updated

The ACT chief minister, Andrew Barr:

We have the kitchen sink being thrown at things in New South Wales, a demonstration [that we need to] take this seriously from the outset.

I have expressed my concern about NSW more than once, so that remains unchanged. A further significant jump in case numbers won’t lower my level of concern about what is occurring and it does highlight why we need to do what we’re doing.

Updated

Graham Readfearn here handing over to Ben Smee, who’ll take you through the rest of the day.

Thanks people and stay with us and stay safe.

Updated

Hello, Ben Smee now in the blog driver’s seat.

The ACT press conference is ongoing and it’s remarkable the difference in language in the capital, compared with New South Wales authorities in Sydney.

Compare the pair.

The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian:

Even when you start off with a handful of numbers, and there will always be debate about going too hard, going too soft, we started off with 11 cases in NSW, 17 overnight when we went into lockdown, and it just demonstrates that no matter how hard we work and no matter if 99% of people are doing the right thing, there is an element of Delta that nobody can control.

We accept that Delta is here, we accept heading to zero across the nation, especially once you open up and live freely, will be an impossible task. No other place on the planet has done it.

The ACT health minister, Rachel Stephen-Smith:

It is important news today that the eight new cases we are announcing ... none were infectious in the community.

This is absolutely why we’ve made of the lockdown and where we wanted to get to.

This is a really great sign that this is lockdown working and this is contact tracing working and this is isolation and quarantine working.

Updated

The ACT chief minister, Andrew Barr, has warned that authorities should wait about three weeks AFTER reaching national vaccination targets before opening borders and local economies.

Barr says:

National cabinet discussed the national Covid situation, and the Doherty Institute modelling that informs the national plan. As I indicated, I raised my concerns about significantly easing restrictions on the day the nation [records] a notional 70 or 80% population vaccination coverage.

It is important people understand it takes two to three weeks for the vaccines to become effective. So you don’t get instant protection when the jab goes in your arm.

This needs to be taken into account when we make decisions to move from one stage to the next in the national plan.

Barr says vaccination rates should also include younger age cohorts – particularly 12 to 15-year-olds – as they become eligible:

The ACT has already been working on plans for a children and young vaccination program. Our goal is to have this program well under way before the end of the school year, but this depends as always on available vaccine supply. But we’re doing the planning, we want to vaccinate as many 12 to 15-year-olds as possible before the end of the school year.

Updated

The ACT has cancelled Floriade.

The flower bulbs have been planted already, but the territory wants to discourage crowds while its lockdown continues.

The ACT has recorded eight new cases but – critically – none were infectious in the community.

The chief minister, Andrew Barr, says:

The good news is all of these cases are linked.

In the first week of our outbreak, all cases were infectious in the community. But we are now in a position that the new cases that we are reporting, and the case today, none were infectious in the community. This is the lockdown working.

But we are, however, starting to see exposure sites post the start of the lockdown. This is a general warning to the community to please be careful when you are outside your home.

Updated

ACT reports eight new coronavirus cases

Health authorities in the ACT are also giving a press conference. They have just said there are eight new positive cases there. More to come from there.

Updated

My colleague Ben Smee has been following the NSW press conference while I keep across the Victorian one.

The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, is still speaking. He’s been saying a few things over and over. Here’s a summary:

  • Delta means high rate of spread and that once one person in a home gets the variant, the rest get it. “There are some big families involved in the Shepparton outbreak.”
  • If people don’t stick to the rules, then numbers will keep going up.
  • “If this thing can get from Sydney to New Zealand, it can get from Shepparton to Bennelong.”
  • “The aim is zero [cases] or as close as we can get.”

Updated

NSW press conference:

Berejiklian again says New South Wales is not trying to reduce cases to zero.

Our job is to make sure, and this is key, that we keep people out of hospital until you get those vaccination rates up.

While we are not done we are buying ourselves time to get our vaccination rates where they need to be and then we can move forward and live freely and that is the target that all of us need to work towards.

Updated

Victoria police try to contain anti-lockdown protest

Police in Victoria are also trying to contain an anti-lockdown protest they believe is being planned for Melbourne today.

Police have just told reporters they have more than 700 extra officers on duty to deal with the planned demonstration.

They have issued six infringement notices already to people suspected of trying to get to the site of the demonstration.

Updated

NSW press conference:

Gladys Berejiklian again says the Delta strain cannot be contained.

None of us like to see case numbers going up, but unfortunately this is the reality of the Delta strain. This is what happens. Even when you start off with a handful of numbers, and there will always be debate about going too hard, going too soft, we started off with 11 cases in New South Wales, 17 overnight when we went into lockdown, and it just demonstrates that no matter how hard we work and no matter if 99% of people are doing the right thing, there is an element of Delta that nobody can control.

In the last couple of days I have noticed a change in attitude amongst all of us. We accept that Delta is here, we accept heading to zero across the nation, especially once you open up and live freely will be an impossible task. No other place on the planet has done it.

Updated

Australia heading for record high of new daily Covid-19 cases

The Guardian’s data guru Nick Evershed says today’s daily case count – with 825 in New South Wales and 61 in Victoria – is likely the highest seen in Australia since the pandemic started.

The next highest was 748 new cases declared on 19 August – that is, two days ago!

Updated

NSW press conference:

Hazzard says that about 80% of the new cases in New South Wales are located in the eight local government areas “of concern”, where harsher restrictions and a curfew are now in place.

Updated

Brad Hazzard says 16 people have tested positive after Maroubra party

NSW press conference:

The New South Wales health minister, Brad Hazzard, says he believes that up to 60 people attended the party in Maroubra, with 16 positive cases linked to the party.

He also says up to 350 people attended a funeral in western NSW. Attendees have since tested positive.

Updated

NSW press conference:

Some (more) mixed messaging in New South Wales. Premier Gladys Berejiklian began her press conference by speaking about how the Delta virus was spreading “even in very harsh lockdowns”.

But the deputy premier, John Barilaro, says that low case numbers in the Hunter and New England region are evidence that restrictions can stop the spread.

“Going back a few weeks, we were having days when Newcastle reported over 20 cases per day, 10 cases a day, and it shows lockdown and restrictions in place in the regions and the extension of those lockdowns has protected the community and more importantly lowered case numbers,” Barilaro said.

“It is a great example of the local health district, the team on the ground and the community doing the right thing stop my message to everybody in regional and rural NSW is the reason for the lockdown, the reason for the restrictions, you may have a case today is to make sure you have never located in the future and that as I restrictions are important.”

Updated

Some more on the new cases in Victoria.

Victoria now has 389 active cases, with 18 people in hospital. Eight people are in intensive care and two are on ventilators.

There are two major clusters in Victoria. Among the new cases, 14 were in the suburb of Broadmeadows and 17 were in the regional city of Shepparton.

Updated

NSW press conference:

NSW say they continue to have significant concerns about cases in the Wilcannia in the far west.

There is a large Indigenous population in that region. There are 12 new cases in Wilcannia and two in nearby Broken Hill.

Updated

NSW outbreak linked to gathering in Maroubra

New South Wales authorities are also looking into an outbreak linked to a gathering at Maroubra. Attendees and close contacts at that gathering have tested positive.

The premier, Gladys Berejiklian, says she extends her “deepest appreciation for the vast majority of people doing the right thing”.

“The vast majority get how important it is to stay at home. I receive messages every day from people who express their personal circumstances about how difficult it is and it really breaks my heart.

“The bottom line is they know they are doing it for the greater good. I appeal to everybody, please consider the greater good. Only a handful of people are doing the wrong thing but it is having catastrophic consequences.”

Updated

We have two press conferences going on at once. Victoria and NSW. And they’re both delivering crucial information.

We’ll get everything to you as quick as we can.

Updated

NSW press conference:

There are 516 people in hospital in NSW, 85 are in intensive care and 29 on ventilators.

New South Wales has also recorded three more deaths. Two men were residents at Greenwood aged care home in Normanhurst. A man in his 90s who was unvaccinated; and a man in his 80s who had received two doses.

Both men had significant underlying health issues, NSW authorities say.
The third was a woman in her 90s from south-west Sydney.

Updated

Childcare in Victoria to close for non-essential workers

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has said the state will move to a permit system “where only authorised workers will be able to send their kids to childcare and those who have vulnerable children”.

There will be some more details on this later, but chief health officer Brett Sutton has said there will be a grace period for people to sort out their permits. We’ll get you some more details on this.

Updated

NSW press conference:

Gladys Berejiklian is speaking after announcing 825 new cases.

“The Delta strain is like nothing we’ve ever seen before and even in very harsh lockdowns, the virus is spreading. That is a fact,” she says.

“What we need to do is protect ourselves and loved ones by staying at home and getting vaccinated. But also being assured that once we hit 70% double-dose vaccination, then 80% double-dose vaccination, our national plans [are that we will] live freely or more freely than what we are now. It is absolutely what we need to stay focused on.”

Updated

NSW records 825 new cases and three deaths

NSW has recorded 825 new cases of coronavirus and three deaths, with 58 people infectious in the community.

Regional Victoria to have same lockdown restrictions as Melbourne – except curfew

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is speaking now.

He says the lockdown extension into all of regional Victoria comes as 16 new positive cases were recorded in Shepparton.

Those cases will be added to tomorrow’s numbers, but were all the results of rapid tests.

He says the lockdown for regional Victoria will follow the same rules as Melbourne’s “except there’s no curfew”.

Updated

Regional Victoria to enter lockdown at 1pm

Regional Victoria will enter a lockdown from 1pm today, Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has just announced.

Updated

Daniel Andrews to give Covid update at 10.45am

We’re expecting Victorian premier Daniel Andrews to give his coronavirus press conference at 10.45am.

The ABC is reporting that Andrews will put regional Victoria into a lockdown, but we haven’t confirmed this yet.

The state recorded 61 new cases this morning, as well as 16 new positive cases from rapid testing.

Updated

The Queensland folk at the presser - including the health minister and the chief health officer – are wearing some beautiful shirts this morning.

I didn’t catch the name of the Aboriginal artist that designed them (sorry – I’ll try and get it), but it’s part of a campaign to lift vaccination rates among Indigenous people, which health minister Yvette D’Ath says are at about half the levels across the rest of the community.

Updated

Queensland’s chief health officer, Jeanette Young, is worried cases of coronavirus in NSW are getting closer to the state’s border.

She sounded certain that at some point a case would get across the border, so she says getting vaccination rates up is key.

There are still some people aged 60 or older who have not been vaccinated. You are the most vulnerable people in our community. You must come forward and get that first dose.

Updated

Zero local coronavirus cases recorded in Queensland

Queensland has recorded zero new locally acquired coronavirus cases and two cases in an arrival from overseas.

There were more than 11,000 tests and more than 19,000 vaccines carried out yesterday, the state’s health minister, Yvette D’Ath, is telling reporters.

Updated

Queensland’s press conference is being livestreamed.

A fresh food store and a medical centre, both in Western Sydney, have been added to the state’s ever growing list of venues of concern.

In Merrylands, Trim’s Fresh is now considered a close contact location all day on 10, 11 and 12 August.

The Rooty Hill Medical and Dental Centre has also been added to the list for a period on 15 August between 1.50pm to 2.05pm.

People at those places at those times are considered a close contact of a case. NSW Health says they “must get tested and isolate for 14 days since they were there, regardless of the result”.

Updated

More than 700 West Australians have returned to the state from NSW in recent days ahead of the state being classified as “extreme risk” from Thursday next week.

People from WA will be denied entry to their home state even on compassionate grounds. Even commonwealth, state and specialist officials will have to enter hotel quarantine in WA for 14 days.

The reclassification will come into effect at 1201am on Thursday, giving any remaining West Australians five days to return home.

WA premier Mark McGown told reporters late yesterday:

This will be in place until such time as we get health advice to bring it down. What’s happened in NSW is a human tragedy – it’s a catastrophe.

We want to support NSW as much as we can but at the same time, we want to stop the virus from coming into Western Australia. I don’t think that’s unreasonable.

McGowan said WA had a team of 50 contact tracers working to assist NSW in tracking its cases, as well as health personnel on the ground in Sydney.

WA would also be willing to provide doctors and nurses who would likely be needed if the number of cases continued to grow, he said.

Unwinding the extreme risk rules will require a sustained decrease in cases.

Victoria could soon be classified by WA as “high risk”, which is triggered by states recording an average of more than 50 daily community cases.

WA is monitoring four active cases, all in hotel quarantine.

Updated

Trains in Sydney won’t be stopping at seven central train stations until 2pm today.

This seems highly likely to be connected to the police’s “Operation Stay at Home” to prevent lockdown protesters entering the city.

Updated

NSW police set up exclusion zone

Police in NSW have released more details about “Operation Stay at Home” as they try and stop the planned anti-lockdown protest.

Some seven transport companies have been told they can’t take people to the CBD between 9am and 3pm today.

Police say there are more than 1,500 police officers on the operation (earlier this morning they said it was more than 1,400) “to disrupt, prevent and respond to any unauthorised protest activity”.

Assistant commissioner Peter Thurtell has said:

The transmission of the Delta strain of Covid-19 presents a clear and present threat to the community. Now is not the time to gather in groups in protest.

This prohibition notice is just one of our strategies to prevent any unlawful mass gathering and keep our community safe.

Essential workers, or anyone that requires medical treatment, will be able to make their way to their destinations.

I’d like to acknowledge and thank the affected transport companies in advance for their compliance.

Here are the boundaries of the exclusion zone:

  • Western boundary – West Link Road and The Crescent at Lilyfield
  • Southern boundary – South Dowling Street and Todman Avenue at Zetland
  • Northern boundary – Bradfield Highway at Milsons Point
  • Eastern boundary – New South Head Road and Ocean Avenue at Edgecliff

Police said companies who fail to comply risked a maximum penalty of $500,000 while individuals face fines of up to $100,000.

Updated

Victoria says 16 additional cases detected, which will be in Sunday's numbers

Victoria’s health authority says there were also 16 more local cases recorded using rapid tests that will be added to tomorrow’s numbers.

Updated

Lots of us will have seen the public press conferences in NSW with premier Gladys Berejiklian and her ministers and advisers. They’re becoming a bit of an institution. There’ll be one later this morning.

But what about the state’s so-called crisis cabinet that makes all the decisions? Who is on it, what do they do, and how remarkable is it to be making decisions that would usually take months or years within a few moments?

The Guardian’s Anne Davies has the inside story on the state’s crisis cabinet.

Updated

Victoria records 61 new coronavirus cases

Victoria recorded 61 new cases of coronavirus. Only 22 were in isolation for the duration of their infectious period and 48 are linked to known outbreaks.

Updated

NSW police do not want anyone to miss their central message this morning. Don’t go to Sydney to take part in anti-lockdown protests or they’ll fine people and potentially charge them.

Updated

Victoria’s last regional lockdown was lifted on 9 August – less than two weeks ago.

We’ll hear later today if the entire state will be included in another set of state-wide restrictions.

Yesterday Victoria’s premier, Daniel Andrews, said the state was “right on the edge of this getting away from us” with concerns about a growing cluster in the regional city of Shepparton.

Here’s my colleague Calla Wahlquist’s story from late last night.

Updated

If you’ve ever wondered how we manage to get the words from the daily press conferences into our live news blogs, the answer is simple.

We’re all just absolute guns with shorthand and a keyboard.

Alternatively, it could have something to do with Melbourne digital designer and coder (and hero) Franco Trimboli and his Tveeder website. Naaman Zhou has the story.

More than 1,400 police in Sydney to stop anti-lockdown protests

There are more than 1,400 police out on the streets of Greater Sydney this morning to try and stop planned anti-lockdown protests. They’re calling it “Operation Stay at Home.”

Police have also put out a notice to stop “taxi, rideshare and passenger services” from taking people into Sydney’s CBD from 9am and 3pm.

Updated

Good morning. Graham Readfearn here, beginning our live news coverage for Saturday.

Today will be very busy as we stay on top of the Covid news and anything else that’s thrown at us.

Yesterday, New South Wales recorded 644 new Covid cases and four deaths, and greater Sydney’s lockdown was extended until at least the end of September. Victoria had 55 new cases and we could hear details of further restrictions there today.

In both states, there are worrying clusters in regional areas. Queensland (where I am typing from) doesn’t want cases getting any closer to its border with NSW.

More anti-lockdown protests are expected today too.

There will be a fair bit of juggling this morning as the press conferences get underway, but I’ll do my best to keep you on top of all the important stuff.

Updated

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