The day that was, Thursday 19 August
That is where we will leave the blog on another big news day.
Here’s what made headlines today:
- Australia recorded a new record in daily vaccinations with 309,010 reported on Thursday, but at the same time the nation also recorded its highest daily case numbers with 754 new local infections across NSW, Melbourne and Canberra.
- NSW reported 681 cases, and the death of a man in his 80s
- The regional NSW lockdown has been extended for at least a week to 28 August. This is the current end date for the Sydney lockdown, too, but expectations are Sydney will remain locked down for much longer on current case numbers.
- Victoria recorded 57 new local cases, however 44 of these cases were in isolation during their infectious period, with the spike attributed to dozens of day 13 tests, mostly from the Al-Taqwa college.
- The ACT recorded 16 new cases, taking its outbreak to 83 cases.
- The Greater Darwin lockdown has ended but Katherine will remain in lockdown for another day as the NT recorded no new cases.
- Anyone over the age of 16 will be able to get the Pfizer vaccine from 30 August, after the federal government announced plans to open it up to 16-39-year-olds from the end of this month.
- AstraZeneca’s vaccine has been re-branded to Vaxzevria in Australia to bring it into line with the naming convention in Europe and Canada, and to make vaccine recognition overseas easier.
- New Zealand recorded 11 new local cases.
- The unemployment rate fell to 4.6%, the lowest since December 2008. But the Australian Bureau of Statistics says the main reason the figures fell was that the number of people actually looking for work dropped by 0.2%.
- One in two Australians over 16 years of age have now had at least one jab, with 16.2m doses administered nationally.
Until tomorrow, stay safe.
Updated
Some concerning data has surfaced on NSW contact tracing, via AAP.
A growing proportion of NSW residents with Covid-19 are waiting more than a day to be interviewed by contact tracers.
About a quarter (24%) of the 3134 cases detected last week were not interviewed within a day.
That’s up from 10% a fortnight earlier when daily case totals were averaging about 215.
About half of all cases last week remain unlinked to known clusters.
Results from pathology have also slowed with nearly one-third of positive cases last week (32%) being notified of their positive status after more than 24 hours, up from 23% two weeks earlier.
Deputy chief health officer Marianne Gale said the state had “absolutely” surged its efforts in contact tracing.
“We have redeployed staff and grown that capacity. As and when needed, we’ll call on assistance from other states, as has happened to date,” she told reporters on Thursday.
Updated
Teenagers charged over Toutai Kefu home invasion
Four teenagers have now been charged over a home invasion that saw Wallabies great Toutai Kefu hospitalised with critical wounds to his abdomen, AAP reports.
The 47-year-old, his wife and two of his adult children were admitted to hospital after Kefu disturbed the alleged burglary in their suburban Brisbane home on Monday.
The four alleged offenders, aged between 13 and 15, have been charged with a combined total of 44 offences including attempted murder and grievous bodily harm.
One was arrested at the scene on Monday and two others were charged in the days following the incident.
Further charges were laid on Thursday against a 15-year-old boy who was admitted to hospital after the alleged burglary and later discharged.
All four were denied police bail and were due to appear before the Brisbane Children’s Court. Kefu has been released from hospital.
Updated
As Western Australia moves to classify NSW as an “extreme risk” in its controlled border regime in the coming days, hundreds of people have returned to WA from NSW before restrictions are tightened, AAP reports.
Arrivals from NSW are already required to prove they have had at least one vaccine dose under the rejigged “high risk” category.
There will be no exemptions on compassionate grounds for returning West Australians once the extreme risk threshold is reached.
The WA premier, Mark McGowan, says at least 400 West Australians have returned home from NSW in recent days.
“The trajectory that NSW is now on is dire. It’s a crisis,” he told reporters.
“We had the case come in (from NSW) when they had very low numbers back in June ... we had to lock down to crush and kill it and that cost our state tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars.
“I don’t want that to happen again. That’s why we’re doing what we’re doing.”
The trigger point for jurisdictions to enter the extreme risk category is an average of more than 500 daily local cases over a period of between five and 14 days.
Victoria could soon enter the high-risk category, which is triggered by states recording an average of more than 50 daily community cases.
McGowan said other states and territories were paying the price for inaction by the NSW government with the virus leaking beyond borders.
“It’s frustrating as hell to me that we’re going through this,” he told parliament.
Updated
Jeroen Weimar was also on ABC Melbourne around the same time the statement was issued. He says the Jewish community has done “fabulous” work to help health officials contain the St Kilda outbreak. He says that outbreak is the most concerning one for health officials in the state at the moment.
He says Melbourne isn’t quite on top of the outbreak yet, but two weeks is a good chunk of time between now and when lockdown is due to end.
Asked about the situation in NSW, Weimar compares it to what Victoria experienced last year:
They’ll go through what so many of us went through last year and I think we’ve, you know certainly like all Victorians, we have the scars of last year, I mean, particularly people who lost loved ones in that second wave ... We’re all scarred by those experiences and that’s what drives us to do everything we possibly can, not to be in that position again and to do the things you’ve seen us do over the last year and I know our colleagues in NSW will be in exactly the same place, they’ll be doing everything they possibly can, stretching every sinew, to try and catch up with this and to find a way of getting us under control, but it’s a very, very challenging and very gloomy situation.
He was asked about his job title, Covid commander. He says it is a “completely weird” title that emerged from the Emergency Management Act for the testing regime and it has stuck.
Updated
Victoria’s Covid commander, Jeroen Weimar, has issued an apology to the Jewish community for how he framed his comments around the Covid-19 cluster in St Kilda yesterday.
He said, when talking about the cases:
We have accountants, we have architects, we have a sex worker, we have members of the Orthodox Jewish community and a pizza guy who works in a pizza shop.
Opposition politicians questioned why Weimar was singling out a particular religion, and in a statement to the Anti-Defamation Commission he apologised to the Jewish community in Melbourne for his “poor choice of words” and said he was trying to show the sheer diversity of people who, through no fault of their own, had become Covid positive.
COVID-19 commander Jeroen Weimar issued an apology to the Jewish community “for the hurt and harm that my words have done”. Statement via Anti Defamation Commission. pic.twitter.com/ZqQtZhsQ2d
— Sumeyya Ilanbey (@sumeyyailanbey) August 19, 2021
Updated
Just a bit more on the AstraZeneca name change. The Therapeutic Goods Administration says the change to Vaxzevria will make it consistent with the brand name used in Europe and Canada:
The name is now consistent with that used overseas, including in the European Union and Canada. This is expected to alleviate confusion and further clarify that the vaccine produced by CSL and Seqirus in Melbourne is the same as that produced internationally. This name change will also help facilitate international recognition for Australians who have been vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Importantly, this is the only change to the vaccine. All other aspects, such as manufacturing and quality control, are unchanged and align with the way the vaccine is produced in other jurisdictions.
At this stage, it is estimated that supply in Australia of the Vaxzevria-branded product will commence in late 2021. Once supply of the vaccine commences under the new name, the vaccine will no longer be supplied under the original name. Some stock with the original name may still be in use after the name change.
Updated
Another thing, it has been pointed out to me in the NHS/NZ version of the Covidsafe app that you can specify time of interaction and the distance between people who might be deemed close contacts, so Stuart Robert was incorrect on that part, too.
AstraZeneca changes vaccine name
AstraZeneca is changing the name of the Covid-19 vaccine to ... Vaxzevria, which looks as easy to pronounce as it is to type out.
I am sure this will take off.
For the record, the Pfizer vaccine is technically called Comirnaty, but no one calls it that.
AstraZeneca changing it’s name … pic.twitter.com/WAbPsyqrKI
— Samantha Maiden (@samanthamaiden) August 19, 2021
Updated
The employment minister, Stuart Robert, was on the ABC just then talking about many things, but on the Covid situation he was once again asked about the Covidsafe contact tracing app, which no one appears to be using now in the outbreaks across the country.
Robert claimed it was being used, and then said some incorrect things about the Apple/Google exposure notification framework that the NHS and New Zealand app use:
Because in the framework of the exposure framework by Apple and Google they determine the parameters, and our Covidsafe app we set parameters at 1.5 metres and 15 minutes, we can adjust that in time to meet the national response or any time we get a new variant or new requirements. If you were to take the Apple and Google approach, you dial out completely all of your public health, there is no public health tracking and tracing, no data from the framework that goes to health officials, and they determine the settings. I’m not so sure that’s what we need on our tracking and tracing and quarantine.
This is not true. You can design the app so that health officials do get notifications and contact details on top of the automatic notifications sent out to people identified as close contacts.
But given the situation in New South Wales, tech experts are arguing that switching to something like the NHS app would work in addition to contact tracing. So if someone is identified as a close contact, they’d get an alert and then could isolate quicker than a contact tracer could potentially call them, meaning they’d be infectious in the community for a shorter period of time.
Updated
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has released its weekly safety update.
It said:
- In the last week, an additional eight reports of blood clots and low blood platelets have been assessed as confirmed or probable thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS). Only one of these was in an individual aged under 50 years. None of these cases were fatal.
- This takes the total Australian reports assessed as TTS following the AstraZeneca vaccine to 112 cases (62 confirmed, 50 probable) from approximately 8.1m vaccine doses.
- The protective benefits of vaccination against Covid-19 far outweigh the potential risks of vaccination.
The eight new cases are:
New confirmed TTS:
- 59-year-old man from Western Australia
New probable TTS:
- 56- and 76-year-old men from NSW
- 52- and 91-year-old women from NSW
- 28-year-old woman from Queensland
- 60-year-old man from Victoria
- 64-year-old man from Western Australia
Updated
The federal Labor MP for Chifley in Sydney’s western suburbs, Ed Husic, has expressed confusion over what the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, means about living with Delta.
Husic says it is unclear what daily case numbers she thinks NSW will have to live with:
Frankly what does it mean when the premier says we need to live with it? What are the numbers in her mind when we reach the position where we can live with it?
Clearly we cannot get to a point, I said this weeks ago, I couldn’t see how the lockdown will be lifted after August with the rate of infections, even if they halve the rate of infection every week for subsequent weeks we would still be at the point where we were when the lockdown was first imposed in late June.
So we can’t have this type of utterance by our premier saying that we need to learn to live with it without any form of clarity about what that means.
He says vaccination rates need to get higher, and there should be financial support for people who get tested and need to isolate at home, which “ensures that they don’t feel like the only option they have is to leave to work when they don’t have the ability to look after themselves financially”.
Updated
NSW police are investigating a “selfish and sickening fraud” after money was apparently exchanged for Covid-19 vaccination appointments at a major hospital in Sydney.
AAP understands people on the Chinese language social media app WeChat were asked to pay $300 to secure a quick turnaround booking for Pfizer at Royal Prince Alfred hospital in Sydney’s inner west.
The NSW police minister, David Elliott, on Thursday described it as “probably the most selfish and sickening fraud case that you could have occur during a pandemic”.
“A number of people have been attempting to gain profit using the anxieties of members of the public to get a vaccine earlier than is necessary,” Elliott told reporters.
Health staff identified suspicious bookings through the eligibility checking process and then called the police, the Sydney Local Health District says.
The state’s cybercrime unit set up a strike force over the weekend.
A police spokesperson told AAP that members of the public had attended the hospital for “fraudulent vaccination bookings”.
“Police have been told the fraudulent bookings were made through an online vaccination booking service under allocations for essential healthcare workers,” the spokesperson said.
About 60 people who were ineligible for priority bookings made appointments meant for health care workers over the weekend, police say.
A “small number” paid for them, Superintendent Matthew Craft said on Thursday.
The issue was uncovered after people were asked to verify their status as essential healthcare workers and could not do so.
Craft said somebody had accessed the online booking system and changed the employment status for the 60 people.
Police have not yet identified who is behind the scam but are investigating whether a health staffer could be involved.
Updated
Asked what Australia’s humanitarian intake is for this year in actual places, not just a commitment, Alex Hawke says he cannot say, but indicates the pandemic has slowed the processing and arrival of refugees under the program. (Australia has committed to taking 13,750 this year.)
I will make an announcement in due course. Some is still to be finalised with some people moving from Afghanistan right now. There are many factors. It will slow down further with Covid in terms of processing. We are aware of it. We work with the UNHCR, other partners, but Covid is slowing down the movement of people, and of course we have border exemptions and quarantine regime ... We will keep working so we can move those people to Australia.
Updated
The immigration minister, Alex Hawke, is on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing. He is asked just how many over the 3,000 humanitarian visas promised for people from Afghanistan the Australian government is willing to accept.
Hawke doesn’t give an exact number, but says “it will be a bigger number and it will continue to update people as the humanitarian crisis and the situation evolves after the immediate emergency”.
He says Australia is “not seeking to” match the 20,000 intake figure the UK has said it will accept.
He says people from Afghanistan will receive first priority in the 13,750 humanitarian visa allocation for this year, and priority for processing.
On whether that will take places from people in other countries, Hawke says the humanitarian program frequently prioritises people from some parts of the world depending on the crisis:
It goes on depending on the emerging situations. Australia is still the third most generous entry in the world of resettling refugees every single year. Australians can be very proud of our successful humanitarian refugee resettlement program.
Updated
On whether he expects lots of 16- to 39-year-olds to cancel AstraZeneca appointments now with bookings opening up for Pfizer from 30 August, Scott Morrison urges people to get whatever vaccine they can get as soon as possible:
The best vaccine you can get is the one that is available right now. If you are in Sydney get vaccinated today. Go out and do that right now. That is my clear advice. And that is what we want Australians to do.
That’s the end of the press conference.
Updated
Asked whether educated women in particular who might be targeted by the Taliban might be the focus of 3,000 humanitarian visas for people fleeing Afghanistan, Scott Morrison indicates it will be:
We will identify people suitable for the program. We have a particular tranche that focuses on vulnerable women and girls. Always have. In fact, when I was minister we increased that quota. It has stayed high throughout the program. It has been the most significant and highest priority, I would argue, amongst our humanitarian program and always receives keen interest from those administering it.
Updated
Suppression strategy 'has to work', Scott Morrison says
My other colleague Katharine Murphy asks the prime minister whether there is still a national Covid strategy given NSW is saying Covid-zero is not possible, while Victoria and Western Australia are still aiming for it.
Scott Morrison reiterates that 70% and 80% vaccination rates remain the threshold but argues no one is saying there will be zero Covid in Australia. He says they are seeking to achieve cases as minimised as possible.
He says the suppression strategy in NSW has to work to drive down cases before vaccination rates get to 70% and 80%:
I think the [NSW] premier is being realistic, given the seriousness of the Delta outbreak in NSW, and whether it can be achieved in Victoria ... time will tell.
With the suppression strategy, it has to work. Suppression cannot be dispensed with vaccination when you have vaccination levels that we have now. That has always been the case. No change. Hopefully that is a clear and cogent explanation. Suppress, vaccinate, drive the cases as low as you can that are infectious in the community, because the stronger we go into phase B at 70%, the better of the whole country is.
Updated
My colleague Sarah Martin asks what is the plan for vaccinating people under 16 years of age, whether it’ll happen before adult booster shots, and whether there should be a vaccine mandate for childcare.
Scott Morrison repeats he is waiting for Atagi advice on vaccinating under-16s, and says he would like to see states and territories have a plan on childhood vaccination soon, conditioned on the Atagi advice:
General Frewen has been working with states and territories on their plans, how that can be implemented. I am keen to see that occur this year. I think it is important it happens this year. We need to keep pace with the national vaccination program, certainly, and [the] ... advice was clear to us – one of the best ways to protect your children is to get vaccinated yourself.
He says Australia is looking very closely at what is happening in the US with vaccinating children, and he says it will be something he discusses with the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, when the pair speak tonight.
Hunt says he hopes the Atagi advice will come in the next week. He expects children will be going to GPs or pharmacies or clinics, as adults do, and there also may be school-run vaccination programs.
Updated
The health minister, Greg Hunt, says the over 300,000 vaccinations yesterday is the per capita equivalent of the United States doing 4m per day. He says this was only achieved five times in the US.
He says the second haul of Polish Pfizer has been batch-tested and cleared by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for use across the country.
Updated
The foreign minister, Marise Payne, says there have now been 164 government-facilitated flights bringing stranded Australians home, on which 24,500 Australians have returned during the Covid pandemic. Seven more are planned to arrive this month:
The other thing the prime minister and I wanted to update on briefly is to confirm the Dfat-facilitated flight arrived from Denpasar to Darwin last night with 186 passengers on board. Today a Dfat-facilitated flight from Johannesburg also landed in Darwin with 172 passengers. We have seven more facilitated flights scheduled in August from London, from New Delhi and from Istanbul. Sixteen Dfat flights are scheduled to arrive in the Northern Territory in the next month from India, Turkey, the UK, South Africa, Germany and other locations. Thus far, during the pandemic, we facilitated 164 flights on which over 24,500 Australians returned.
Updated
Australians aged 16-39 to be eligible for vaccines from 30 August
Turning to Covid, Scott Morrison notes what I mentioned earlier about one in two of eligible Australians now having one dose, and announces that from 30 August, cabinet has decided to open up the vaccine program for 16- to 39-year-olds from 30 August.
He tells people not to book yet, because the government will advise when bookings will be available:
It isn’t today. Not today. We will advise when the time will come over the course of the next week. But advising you, it has been a question put to me for some time as when we’d bring that 16- to 39-year-olds forward. The question is usually about 20- to 39-year-olds but we decided to go all the way through the 16-year-olds to 39-year-olds, some 8.6 million Australians in the group.
People under 40 have been able to access the AstraZeneca vaccine with informed consent for some time, but now this means that Pfizer will be made available to this cohort.
He says the government is also taking the issue of vaccinating 12- to 15-year-olds “very seriously” and expects Atagi advice soon:
I anticipate the Atagi advice, in an interim level, to be available very soon. And then we have already been working through General Frewen and his team to see how we would implement a vaccination program for children, those aged 12 to 15. We will have further things to say about that once we have received that interim Atagi advice and they will give us their full advice and we will take further steps, but I want to assure parents in particular, vaccinating children is something we take really seriously and we do it very carefully. We are making sure that we’ve the right advice and we can put the right plans in place and move on those vaccinations in the safest and most effective way possible.
Updated
Forty ADF personnel deployed in Kabul, first flight to return to Perth
Scott Morrison says 40 Australian Defence Force personnel were deployed into Kabul last night in addition to those already there. Provisions were also provided through the UK.
A total of 76 people were evacuated, including Australian citizens and Afghan visa holders, and were transferred to the Australian base on Al Minhad.
The first flight from Al Minhad will leave for Australia in the next few hours, and will be going to Perth. Those on the flight will be going into quarantine, above WA’s existing cap on arrivals.
People are receiving medical treatment in Dubai and as you can imagine people will be taken out of Kabul, out of a very dangerous set of circumstances, and we are making sure injuries they have are being attended to, but you can also imagine there is quite a bit of trauma and they are in a highly anxious state, and I thank all the people we have on the ground in Al Minhad, receiving them and preparing them and getting them ready for their onward flight to Australia.
Three more aircraft have been relocated, and getting more people out will depend on access to the Kabul airstrip, slot management and weather, Morrison says.
There are many countries who are involved in these operations so the windows are very narrow and we have to take the slots when we are there and move when we are able to do that, and I thank the ADF for the way they are moving swiftly to achieve that outcome.
Updated
Scott Morrison press conference starts
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, starts his press conference and says it’ll be on the operations in Afghanistan and a Covid update.
He says the situation in Afghanistan remains “extremely dangerous and extremely complex”:
I particularly want to thank our partners, especially the United States and United Kingdom, particularly I want to thank his Royal Highness of Abu Dhabi, all of whom are such essential partners of the operations we are currently engaged in. The Crown Prince, in terms of our operations, I will speak to him later this evening. In particular, the UK, who I will outline in a second the arrangements we have had with them in the last 24 hours, which has enabled us to get more people out of Kabul last night. The US and UK, through the military presence on the ground, continues to provide the security around the airfield that is enabling these operations to continue.
We expect to continue them now throughout the course of this week and into next week, but we are moving urgently, safely, because we are taking nothing for granted. The weather is closing in, which will present challenges over the next few days, but equally the situation can always turn, and so we are moving as quickly as we can.
Updated
DFAT is telling Australian citizens, permanent residents & Australian visa-holders in Kabul to go to Hamid Karzai International Airport NOW to wait for a planned evacuation flight. "Take all extra precautions for your safety... Large and potentially volatile crowds may gather" https://t.co/119R2xQaWI
— Nour Haydar (@NourHaydar) August 19, 2021
More than half of Australians over 16 have now had at least one jab
I don’t know what the press conference will be about, but the prime minister’s office has sent out an email trumpeting the vaccination rate in Australia.
There are now more than 16m doses of the vaccine administered across Australia, with more than half of the population over 16 now having had at least one dose (50.24%).
We are now at 16.2m total, up 309,010, which is a new daily record.
More than 84% of over-70s have had at least one dose, with 54% having two doses. More than 73% of over-50s have had at least one dose, with 41% having received a second dose.
We’re now up to 28.2% of the eligible population over 16 being fully vaccinated.
Updated
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, is holding a press conference in half an hour, 3.15pm AEST.
Updated
Services Australia workers are calling on the prime minister for more resources so they can work from home amid the pandemic and lockdowns in multiple states.
The Community and Public Sector Union says over 2,000 staff wrote to Scott Morrison and minister Linda Reynolds calling for more resources.
The union says tens of thousands of workers are being forced to work in the office in hotspot locations because there isn’t enough equipment. They say Services Australia only has 13,000 mobile phones available for its 34,000 directly employed staff.
The workers have called for the government to provide 10,000 more mobile phones and ensure workers can work from home during lockdowns.
They are also seeking access to “age-appropriate” vaccines for staff working in service centres, and an increase in staff and wages.
The CPSU national president, Alistair Waters, says:
Services Australia only has 13,000 working from home phones but has over 34,000 staff and an additional seconded workforce. Due to a lack of equipment the agency is bringing thousands of workers in locked down areas into offices for work that can be done at home. This is just not good enough; it puts workers and their families at risk.
The most vulnerable in our community rely on workers in Centrelink service centres. These workers are absolutely essential. The fact that these workers do not have priority access to age-appropriate vaccines is just staggering.
Updated
The federal treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, says the federal government has come to an agreement with the Victorian government for more support for small and medium businesses as lockdown continues in Melbourne until 2 September.
The $807m package will be funded 50/50 by the two governments, and will automatically flow to 110,000 businesses in Melbourne in affected industries such as non-essential retail, accommodation, events and hairdressing.
Small businesses will have access to grants between $10,000 and $14,000 through a hardship fund, if they have been ineligible for business support programs and have experienced a reduction in revenue of at least 70%.
Businesses in metro Melbourne will automatically get payments of $5,600 a week through the Business Costs Assistance Program.
Hospitality venues in Melbourne will get payments between $5,000 and $20,000 a week depending on their regular capacity.
Covid disaster payments worth $450m have been paid out by the federal government to more than 330,000 Victorians.
Updated
With that I will hand you over to my colleague Josh Taylor, who will take you through the rest of the afternoon.
Updated
This is in relation to the Melbourne engagement party. That’s $5,452 each for 69 guests. Which is ... (definitely not checking an online calculator) $376,188.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton confirmed they’ve each been fined $5452. He says it’s his expectation every adult that was present at the engagement party will be fined.
— Benita Kolovos (@benitakolovos) August 19, 2021
Updated
What we have learned so far
Let’s take a breath and catch up on what we’ve learned today:
- In NSW cases have again risen to new heights. The state recorded 681 new Covid cases and one more death, a man in his 80s from south-east Sydney. The death toll during the outbreak is now at 61.
- The premier, Gladys Berejiklian, continues to insist the state’s lockdown measures are adequate even as cases rise in week nine of an extended lockdown.
- Berejiklian has again foreshadowed the potential of easing some restrictions once vaccination rates rise. She also sent a message to state premiers such as WA’s Mark McGowan who has continued to push for a zero Covid approach in Australia, saying “everyone will have to learn to live with Delta”.
- Western NSW remains a concern, with 25 new cases in the region. The regional NSW lockdown has been extended until at least 28 August.
- Victoria recorded 57 new cases of the virus, though 44 of those were in isolation for the entirety of their infectious period. “That’s exactly what we want,” the premier, Daniel Andrews, said. “That is the system working exactly as it should work.”
- The ACT recorded 16 new cases of the virus, a slight drop from yesterday. Eleven of those are linked to known outbreaks while the other five are still under investigation. “We either stop this virus now, or we live like Sydney for the rest of this year,” the chief minister, Andrew Barr, told reporters.
- The Northern Territory chief minister, Michael Gunner, confirmed Darwin would exit lockdown after recording no new cases. The town of Katherine though will remain in lockdown until at least tomorrow.
Updated
A few graphs to highlight the worsening situation in NSW.
Percentage of community cases notified within 24 hours of test has fallen to 68%#covid19nsw #covid19aus https://t.co/hD4wP8ppqA pic.twitter.com/m4s4cG5SWf
— Juliette O'Brien (@juliette_io) August 19, 2021
Here's today's chart for NSW - 681 new locally-acquired cases pic.twitter.com/orzhSXuKPo
— Nick Evershed (@NickEvershed) August 19, 2021
Here's the current view of hospitalisations and deaths in NSW, with re-scaling - death count is cumulative and indexed to zero from the start of the outbreak pic.twitter.com/IMXuVn8Pms
— Nick Evershed (@NickEvershed) August 19, 2021
For those in Melbourne looking to get vaccinated today!
26,000 vaccine appointments still available.
— Sumeyya Ilanbey (@sumeyyailanbey) August 19, 2021
• Old Ford Factory - 2869
• Bendigo Health – 2545
• Plenty Ranges Arts & Convention Centre, South Morang - 2247
• Melton Indoor Vaccination Centre, Woodgrove - 1640
• Sandown Racecourse - 1046
• Melbourne Showgrounds – 1042
Today is the 200th day Victorians have spent under lockdown.
Reporter:
There are only three other cities worldwide that have endured more days in lockdown. So what’s your message to Melburnians that are having to endure [this]?
Daniel Andrews:
Have a look at the death rates in those cities. Have a look at how many funerals they’ve had in those cities and states. We’ve had our fair share. We’ve had too many and that’s heartbreaking. But, you know, we can have comparisons with London and other cities around the world and there really is no comparison because we haven’t had 50,000, 60,000, 70,000, 80,000 people die. We’ve made tough decisions. Politics has never been less relevant. It’s not about being popular. It’s about getting this job done. Victorians can do this again, I know they can, as hard as it is.
Updated
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has been holding a press conference on today’s new job figures.
The unemployment rate has fallen to 4.6%, the lowest since December 2008. But, although that sounds promising, the Australian Bureau of Statistics says the main reason the figures fell was that the number of people actually looking for work dropped by 0.2%.
Frydenberg said:
Normally when the unemployment rate hit a 12 year low, it would be a cause for celebration. But not today, as millions of our fellow Australians are in lockdown, as lives have been lost, and as the economy has been hit hard. Today’s numbers show the impact that the lockdowns are having. Particularly in New South Wales. With a fall in the number of hours worked in the month of July of 7%.
Updated
The governor general, David Hurley, has released a statement on the Taliban’s capture of Kabul. He’s urged veterans not to “let current events diminish the personal effort and contribution you made to this war”.
With recent news of the operation to extract Australians and others from Afghanistan, I would like to address Australians and, in particular, the men and women of the ADF, defence, and the many government and non-government organisations who served in or supported operations in Afghanistan.
At this time it is important to say to you: be proud of your service. You must not, cannot, let current events diminish the personal effort and contribution you made to this war. You did as your nation asked. You served diligently in very difficult circumstances. Be confident and assured that your efforts are valued and respected here at home.
To the families of those who have lost loved ones as a result of this war – I understand that words are cold comfort at this time, but please know that Australia will forever honour the memory of your loved one. They helped protect Australia from terrorism and sought to provide a better future for the people of Afghanistan. We will never forget them.
To all Australians: be proud of the men and women who served our nation ... they did so with honour and commitment and following in the legacy of the Anzacs. They built on that legacy and we respect them for that.
I know the ex-service organisations around the country I have been speaking with stand ready to support our veterans. I urge those distressed and concerned at these recent events to seek assistance should they trigger mental health concerns.
Updated
A Victorian Labor MP who is staying at a residence in Warrnambool despite representing a Melbourne seat is caring for her sick husband and has followed the rules, premier Daniel Andrews says.
The Age reported today that Danielle Green, who represents Yan Yean in Melbourne’s north, has spent part of the latest lockdown in a one-bedroom unit she purchased in February with her husband, who has battled cancer in recent years.
The Age said following inquiries from the newspaper Green had announced she was taking personal leave due to her own health problems.
Asked if the situation was a slap in the face to others who’d been unable to visit their families, Andrews said:
People are free to make their own judgements of course, and I’m sure that they will, but my advice is that the rules have been followed and she’s been very careful to do that. Her husband is not well and is in the throes of what has been a very, very long cancer journey and we wish him well, as we do every person, who is doing it tough through that particular illness.
Updated
Darwin to exit lockdown after no new cases recorded in Northern Territory
Darwin’s lockdown will end today after Northern Territory chief minister Michael Gunner confirmed no new cases had been recorded in the top end.
But 300 kilometres south, Katherine will remain in lockdown until Friday.
The territory was placed into lockdown after a US defence contractor tested positive after he travelled from Sydney via Canberra to Darwin. The man, in his 30s, was infectious while he was in Katherine.
While no new cases were recorded, Gunner said contact tracers had not yet located 12 people who potentially crossed paths with the man at a Woolworths store.
Gunner said:
We need Katherine to hang tight for another day.
I am sorry you have to do this for another 24 hours, this is the recommendation of our health experts.
Updated
Andrews says 50 children among infected in Melbourne outbreak
Daniel Andrews has defended the government’s decision to close playgrounds, saying the move is difficult for parents and their children but necessary to prevent transmission between kids.
The government has faced questions about the evidence for the move, though the chief health officer, Brett Sutton, has said authorities are investigating potential child-to-child transmission at a playground.
Andrews said he did not have an update on that investigation, but sought to reassure parents the move was justified.
I know it’s tough for families not to be able to take kids to playgrounds but we have 50 kids, 50, perhaps more now, as part of this outbreak that have got coronavirus. This is kids that have got this virus. So any sense that children don’t get it or any sense that children don’t get it and don’t spread it is just wrong.
He said that he’d had “some people send me photos” of what playgrounds looked like last week.
They didn’t look like playgrounds, they looked like there were places where there were hundreds and hundreds of people. This is tough. I understand that. But the best thing we can do is stick together and get through the next few weeks and hopefully drive down the numbers so low so kids can be back at playgrounds and schools and we can all be doing things differently.
Updated
Reporters in Melbourne have been quizzing Daniel Andrews about the border. He’s being asked whether there is a case to further tighten the already strict border restrictions, given the worsening situation in New South Wales and the outbreak in Broken Hill.
Andrews says:
Freedom of movement between the two states ain’t happening any time soon, because it just wouldn’t be safe to do that. Now, I appreciate, having grown up not far from that border – my mum is only 45 minutes from that border, it is very challenging for border communities to not have all the freedom of movement that is a normal part of their life. The border doesn’t exist for so many of those communities.
However, he says the government might go further if there was “seeding further south right into southern New South Wales”.
Then there’s every chance that we would look to go even further. Those border communities, as much as it’s difficult to live under these conditions, the last thing you want is this virus getting into those regional communities. The last thing you want is more and more incursions, more virus from Sydney and New South Wales, because that will make our challenge of driving down cases even harder.
Updated
Police investigating after 60 people booked priority Covid-19 vaccines
OK this is quite something.
The NSW cybercrime squad is investigating after about 60 people booked Covid-19 vaccines “under allocations reserved for health care workers at the weekend”, NSW police said in a statement.
Police say that on Saturday officers were notified “after several members of the public attended a hospital at Camperdown the previous day for vaccine bookings purportedly made by essential healthcare workers”.
The Camperdown hospital is, presumably, Royal Prince Alfred.
Here’s the statement:
Further inquiries revealed a link was shared with the attendees which allowed them to be allocated a vaccine despite being ineligible for priority bookings.
The case was referred to detectives from the State Crime Command’s Cybercrime Squad and an investigation was established under Strike Force Alioth.
The bookings were made through an online NSW Health vaccination booking service, with some users required to pay a fee prior to attending the hospital.
Initial inquiries suggest the opportunity to receive a priority vaccination was circulated through the social media application WeChat.
The police minister, David Elliott, will hold a press conference along with police at 2pm AEST.
Updated
Good afternoon. We’re juggling competing press conferences here but it looks like the Delta variant is not the only thing spreading across state borders. ACT chief minister Andrew Barr is being asked about a “ring of steel”.
ACT Chief Minister asked about a 'ring of steel' for Canberra: "A sealed bubble that would keep the virus out wouldn't work... it's false hope, it can't be delivered"
— Trudy McIntosh (@TrudyMcIntosh) August 19, 2021
The couple who held an engagement party in Melbourne during lockdown has been fined by police.
The Victorian chief commissioner Shane Patton confirmed on Thursday the bride-to-be’s parents had also been fined.
He told a press conference investigations into the party of about 70 people were still ongoing, but emphasised that all involved had been cooperative.
Police have so far issued four fines, Patton said:
Two of those have been to the parents of the bride-to-be and two of those have been to the engaged couple as well. As I say, these parties have been cooperative with us.
Patton has already foreshadowed further fines.
Updated
Jeroen Weimar, Victoria’s Covid commander, says the state is investigating three new mystery cases:
One is in Glenroy. We have a number of potential leads. I’m fairly confident we’ll land that quickly. We have one case in Ascot Vale that’s got some geographic proximity to two other cases we have seen in the area but no obvious links now. But one in Doncaster, no obvious links but investigations going on around that case.
Weimar says he is “concerned” about Doncaster and encourages people in the area to get tested.
As far as known outbreaks go, a new case is linked to a public housing tower in Carlton and three are linked to the engagement party held in Caulfield North last week.
There are also three further cases connected to a cluster in St Kilda which is causing concern. That cluster is up to 18 cases, and not all cases are clearly linked.
A further 38 new cases are associated with the outbreak at Al-Taqwa College.
Updated
With that, I shall leave you for the day. But don’t fear the amazing Michael McGowan (the journalist, not the premier, that’s “Mark”) is here to take you through the afternoon of news!
See you tomorrow friends!
Sydneysiders to require permit to enter Central Coast and Shellharbour
Back to NSW now and deputy premier John Barilaro has just clarified that, from here on out, the Central Coast and Shellharbour will be treated as regional NSW, not part of greater Sydney.
This means Sydney workers will now need a permit to enter those areas.
All workers leaving greater Sydney will now need a permit, and further to that, they will need to be Covid tested for the previous seven days before they actually go to regional and rural NSW.
To make it easy, we’re redefining greater Sydney and excluding Shellharbour and the Central Coast. So from here onwards, the Central Coast and Shellharbour will be treated as regional.
If you’re travelling from Sydney to the Central Coast or to Shellharbour, you will need, of course, a permit and that is at the key of making sure that we simplify it, make it easier for governments and making sure that for police surveillance and the ability for police to act on it.
Updated
ACT press conference:
Out of the ACT’s new cases, 11 have been linked to known outbreaks and five are still under investigation.
Out of the 83 total cases in the outbreak, nine are still considered mystery cases and are being investigated further.
Chief minister Andrew Barr:
We either stop this virus now, or we live like Sydney for the rest of this year. They are the choices that we face. We must stop this virus now – the lockdown needs to work, the restrictions need to stay as they are for the time being.
Updated
Here is a breakdown of Victoria’s linked cases today:
Today’s 57 virus cases:
— Benita Kolovos (@benitakolovos) August 19, 2021
LINKED
38 to Al Taqwa College
3 Glenroy West PS
1 Caroline Springs SC
1 Newport FC
1 Newport contact
1 510 Lygon St
3 St Kilda East gathering
3 household contacts of positive cases
3 Central Park Pizza Shop
UNLINKED
1 Glenroy
1 Ascot Vale
1 Doncaster
Turning to the Victorian press conference now.
Victoria will open three new drive-through vaccination sites throughout Melbourne, the premier has announced.
Daniel Andrews has just told a press conference the government will establish new sites at the Ford factory in Broadmeadows, at Sandown racecourse in Springvale and at the Eagle stadium in Werribee.
He said the state’s first drive-through vaccination hub at a Bunnings warehouse had been a success.
The Broadmeadows site will be open to the public from 23 August, the Sandown clinic will open from 21 August. The Werribee drive-through will be open later this week, though no date has yet been set.
Updated
Rule breaking not to blame for growing NSW numbers, deputy chief health officer says
Returning to the NSW press conference:
Wait a second! After days and days of the NSW premier saying that a stronger lockdown wouldn’t be effective as there are still hundreds of people breaking the rules every day, the deputy chief health officer, Dr Marrianne Gale has just said rule breaking is not the major cause of transmission.
And so, one of the major drivers of the higher case numbers that we’re seeing in the areas of south-western Sydney and western Sydney is larger households that we’re seeing.
We’re seeing younger people and those who are often those authorised workers, those people that provide essential services, who work in aged care, work in disability, who work in healthcare settings, who work in factories, work in shopping centres. And so, transmission is happening between workplaces and households.
So for the vast majority of people, it’s not anybody doing the wrong thing. It’s what we are seeing with the Delta variant that is so highly transmissible.
Updated
ACT has recorded 16 new local Covid-19 cases
The ACT chief minister, Andrew Barr, has just stepped up for his daily press conference.
He has confirmed the territory has recorded 16 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the cluster’s total to 83.
Updated
Still with NSW:
Reporter:
Why are we still talking about August 28? Isn’t that giving false hope to people when it’s obvious we’re still going to be here a lot longer? Realistically, how long will the lockdown last?
Berejiklian:
I think it’s really important to say to that we want to give them a strong flavour of what September and October looks likes. And we want to provide as much certainty as possible and that’s why, you know, next week, we’ll be conveying to the community what September and October will look like.
But suffice to say, until we hit 70% double dose and 80% double dose, life will be challenging for us. And whilst we get to those high vaccination rates, we desperately want to see the case numbers come down. We don’t want to see exponential growth and if there’s more we need to do in the areas of concern, of course we will.
Updated
Returning to the NSW press conference:
Reporter:
[You have been] incrementally tightening the restrictions in New South Wales. You’ve looked at essential working rules and we’re still at 681 cases. You said yesterday that you have and still have the right settings in place. How can that be the case when cases keep skyrocketing?
Berejiklian:
As we know, the settings are one thing.
And as deputy commissioner Worboys said, and I’m quite shocked when I ask every morning – ‘How many people left their house when they shouldn’t have left their house or didn’t have a reason?’
Reporter:
Is that the reason?
Berejiklian:
It’s still concerning that more than 300 people were out and about for the wrong reasons yesterday.
However, I will also say this – if there are any opportunities, and every day, can I say this without exception – every day, the health experts, the police, we have conversations together about what we can do, what we might need to do moving forward.
They are ongoing.
Updated
Victorian premier says 'the system is working' after announcing 57 new cases
Victorian press conference:
The premier, Daniel Andrews, has sought to reassure Victorians the system is working, after the state recorded 57 new cases today.
The jump in cases had been flagged by officials yesterday because they were awaiting 13th day tests from several close contacts.
Andrews said he knows 57 “seems like a big number” but insisted the system is working. He noted 44 of the 54 linked cases were already in isolation.
When the vast majority of those have been in isolation for their infectious period, that’s exactly what we want. That is the system working exactly as it should work and it goes to that point we have made a number of times that the numbers, yes, they are important, but the story that sits behind those numbers is in fact more important than the numbers alone.
Those who have tested positive on their 13th day test will need to self-isolate for another 14 days, Andrews said.
We do thank them in advance for that work, it is on behalf of all of us.
There were 27,581 Victorians vaccinated in state hubs yesterday. Andrews said there were thousands of vaccination appointments at state hubs right now.
Updated
New Zealand records 11 new local Covid-19 cases
A strong link has been discovered between the cluster of now 21 community cases of coronavirus in New Zealand and a case at the border.
New Zealand has reported another 11 cases of the Delta variant in the community, bringing the total number of new cases to 21, all in Auckland.
The first case, a 58-year-old man from Auckland, emerged on Tuesday, prompting the government to put the entire country into a level 4 lockdown – the highest level of restrictions.
Speaking to media on Thursday afternoon, the prime minister Jacinda Ardern said genome sequencing has linked the cluster to a returnee, a New Zealander who returned to the country from NSW on a managed red-zone flight tested positive for the Delta variant on 7 August and was moved to quarantine on the 8th. After becoming unwell, they were transferred to Middlemore Hospital, on 16 August.
What this information tells us is that our cases are most likely to have come from the traveller. This is a significant development and means now we can be fairly certain how, and when, the virus entered the country, and that based on timelines, there are minimal, possibly only one, or maybe two, missing links between this returnee and cases in our current outbreak.
The period in which cases were in the community is relatively short, she said, adding that it is unlikely the virus was spread at the hospital because the case was transferred there just one day prior to the first positive case being discovered.
Ardern cautioned that the country would need to remain open to other possibilities, but that the new information gives officials the confidence to focus on how the virus was transmitted.
The prime minister also announced that 12-15 year olds will now be eligible for a Pfizer vaccine, from 1 September.
Updated
Unemployment down to 4.6% due to reduced participation
Unemployment has fallen to 4.6% in July, down from 4.9% in June, but largely driven by a decrease in the participation rate.
The number of unemployed people fell by 39,900, so participation (the number of people in work or looking for it as a proportion of the working age population) also fell from 62.2% to 62%.
Unemployment had been expected to increase, given July included the early weeks of the greater Sydney lockdown.
Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the Australian Bureau of Statistics, said:
The labour market changes in New South Wales between June and July had a large influence on the national figures. There were big falls in New South Wales in both employment (-36,000) and unemployment (-27,000), with the labour force reducing by around 64,000 people. In addition, hours worked in New South Wales fell by 7.0 per cent. These changes offset increases in employment and hours in Victoria...
Before the pandemic, people in New South Wales accounted for 31.8 per cent of national employment and Victorians accounted for 26.5 per cent. Large changes in these two states are important in understanding changes in the Australian labour market.
Updated
Reporter:
You said the other states are going to have to learn to live with Delta, just like us. But the problem we have is that they are not going to open up to us, even if we have 80% vaccination, if we have [hundreds of] cases anyway like we do today.
So this means [travelling] is off the table. Christmas is off the table for people, we won’t be able to leave the state, will they? Have you got any guarantees from those states that they will open?
Berejiklian:
I think it is way too early to jump to any conclusions like that about what the rest of Australia might be doing once New South Wales hits that 80% double dose.* But these are things that we face during the pandemic.
I appreciate how upsetting it has been for people who have relatives in other states, not to be able to visit them at particular times, but every state is going to have to confront the prospect that once we accept that we can’t live in our bubble forever, and of course NSW, because of our situation, is confronting this challenge, earlier than what we had hoped we would...
We know that once you open up, once borders come down, once there is a prospect of international travel, something we are all looking forward to, we do need to coexist with Delta.
*I mean it’s not THAT WILD of a conclusion to jump to if you have ever heard Mark McGowan speak.
Updated
It’s everyone’s favourite part of the presser – Nick Evershed’s graph breaking down all the recent NSW cases by isolation status.
Here's today's chart for NSW - 681 new locally-acquired cases pic.twitter.com/orzhSXuKPo
— Nick Evershed (@NickEvershed) August 19, 2021
(Well, at least it’s my favourite part.)
Updated
First question off the bat and the premier has been asked what the much-fabled eventual relaxation of restrictions will actually be.
But she won’t budge and says it’s still too early to predict what life in Sydney will look like after 28 August or 6 million jabs (I guess whatever comes first).
I know everybody is waiting to know what life looks like after we had 6 million jabs. More importantly, what September and October looks like. We are working on those proposals as we speak.
But for me, it is really important to get the two messages out there. The higher the vaccination rates, the more people are protected, the less deaths we will have, the less people will be in hospital and ICU, the less pressure on our health system.
Updated
I mentioned earlier that some isolating people were struggling to have supplies delivered given the huge demand as well as issues accessing other community services.
Well commissioner of resilience NSW (yes real title) Shane Fitzsimmons is at the press conference today to talk about the community support operations.
The complexity of the challenges cannot be understated. But through extraordinary partnerships, across government, multicultural New South Wales, customer service, health and police and emergency services, an extraordinary array of organisations across the state government, through our commonwealth partners, Services Australia ... and ADF and others, but importantly, through local MPs, local councillors, local mayors, general managers and our community partner organisations like the Red Cross, Salvation Army, health and mental health services and support services.
You name them, we’ve been in this together, taking the guidance and the assistance means we’ve been able to focus on a number of key areas.
*Side note, I don’t think I’ve seen Fitzsimmons’ face since the black summer fires, and I can’t lie my blood pressure did rise when I saw him on screen. Bad memories.
Updated
Here is a bit more on those NSW rule breakers.
Worboys:
A group of young men at Smithfield decided to set up a soccer field and go about playing soccer. They were spoken to by police. They absolutely knew that they were doing the wrong thing. They were issued with infringement notices and told to go back to their residences.
Another example was a man that had travelled from Bondi to south-west Sydney for the fourth time with the police speaking to him, and of course his time is up. He was arrested. He was taken to the police station and charged with that offence.
He ... will be put before the courts. Here is a person that on four occasions blatantly disregarded the public health order.
Both of these incidents – it is not just about the person themselves, it is about their family, their community, about people who openly go outside of the orders and put everyone at risk, and continue to keep us in this lockdown situation longer than what we might normally do.
Updated
I mean, when it’s true, it’s true.
nsw needs a jeroen
— courtney gould (@heyycourtt) August 19, 2021
NSW police issue 671 Covid-19 penalties in last 24 hours
The number of infringements in NSW is almost topping the number of cases now as police crackdown on lockdown enforcement.
Here is the deputy police commissioner Gary Worboys:
671 penalty infringement notices issued across New South Wales in the last 24 hours.
Of note, 393 of those were issued to people who were out of the home of residence without a reasonable excuse, which is currently concerning when you think about the messaging you hear every day here and through the media about people staying at home and not leaving home unless it is for essential regions.
Updated
25 new Covid-19 cases in western NSW
Gale also provided an update on the Covid-19 situation in the state’s west.
There have been 25 new cases of Covid-19 reported to 8pm last night in western New South Wales, and that brings the total at the local health district to 167.
We ask all of the population of western NSW to really be very vigilant for symptoms, to come forward for testing, as I know many people have already done, and please take up any opportunity to get vaccinated as soon as you can.
We are concerned about three cases overnight, notified in Wilcannia. Those cases will be included in the numbers tomorrow. We are very concerned about the risk of community transmission in Wilcannia, and we call on anyone who has been in or near Wilcannia in recent days to please get tested.
And the Hunter New England area, five cases ... all five in Hunter New England are connected. This is good news.
In terms of sewage detection, we have had detections in a couple of areas where there are no known cases – Forster ... and Yamba. I encourage the population of those areas to come forward for testing as soon as you can.
Updated
NSW outbreak death toll reaches 61
Here are the hospitalisation numbers from deputy chief health officer Dr Marianne Gale.
In hospital, [there are] currently 474 cases. 82 of those cases are in intensive care. 25 cases are currently requiring ventilation.
Of the 82 cases in ICU, 71 are not vaccinated.
Sadly, NSW Health has been notified of the death of one person who had Covid-19, to 8pm last night.
This is a man in his 80s from south-eastern Sydney. He died at St George Hospital. He had received one dose of vaccine. He was also being treated for another serious medical condition.
As the premier has extended her sympathies, I would like to extend my sympathies on behalf of NSW Health to the family of that man who passed away.
This brings the number of Covid-related deaths in the pandemic to 117, and 61 deaths since June 16.
Updated
Each day it seems Berejiklian’s rhetoric becomes more firm on the idea of eventually “living with Covid” once vaccination rates rise.
Berejiklian:
As the Doherty report says, once you get to 80% double dose and you have to open up, everyone will have to learn to live with Delta. In New South Wales, we are learning that earlier than others.
Having said that, what I am absolutely convinced about is that NSW can lead the way in keeping people out of hospital, reducing deaths, and making sure we provide our citizens with the opportunity to live as freely and safely as possible.
While every single death is a horrendous tragedy, what we need to ensure is that through higher rates of vaccination, if we keep people out of hospital, we keep people out of intensive care, we stop people dying, that means we are starting to live with Covid.
Updated
Again Berejiklian has enforced the message that vaccinations are a key way out of the lockdown for NSW.
I want to remind the people of this state that once we get to the end of October we expect 70% of the population to be fully vaccinated.
Once we get to mid November we expect 80% of the population to be fully vaccinated. It gives enormous opportunities for greater freedoms than we have today.
I want to encourage anybody between 16 and 39 who live in the local government areas of concern throughout western Sydney and south-western Sydney, please come forward and get vaccinated.
The federal government gave us half million extra doses, so please come forward and book. We will give you priority.
Updated
Lockdown extended for regional NSW
Berejiklian:
I want to announce, and the deputy premier will reinforce this, that given the outbreak in western New South Wales and a few cases elsewhere throughout the regions, the lockdown in regional New South Wales will align with the rest of New South Wales until at least August 28. All of New South Wales until at least August 28.
Although regional New South Wales will also remain in lockdown as a precaution for this time. There are vast areas of regional NSW where there are not any cases, but everybody would appreciate and expect us to take a precautionary response, given we have the opportunity to get down to zero cases in the regions. That is what we want to achieve, and therefore we take that precaution and response.
Updated
#BREAKING The regional NSW lockdown will be extended to align with Sydney's lockdown, until at least 28 August
— casey briggs (@CaseyBriggs) August 19, 2021
Once again the isolation status of a huge number of cases remains under investigation, 459.
We know 135 were in isolation for their entire infectious period, 28 for part and at least 59 cases were infectious in the community.
But without clear, transparent information about the isolation status of two-thirds of all the cases, it’s almost impossible to actually assess how the state is faring.
NSW recorded 681 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) August 19, 2021
Of these locally acquired cases, 170 linked to a known case or cluster – 149 are household contacts & 21 are close contacts – & the source of infection for 511 cases is under investigation pic.twitter.com/kyq5RDvGzE
Updated
NSW records 681 local Covid-19 cases and one death
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian is speaking now:
681 cases of community transmission. 59, at least, infectious in the community during that time.
We extend sympathies and condolences to the family of a man in his 80s who died at St George Hospital in the last 24 hours. He had had one dose of the vaccine and had underlying health conditions.
In better news, 52% of the NSW population have now had at least one vaccine dose.
We are just standing by now for NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian to stand up for her daily Covid-19 presser and announce today’s Covid-19 numbers.
Here is the press conference schedule so far (all in AEST) -
- NSW - 11am
- NT - 11am
- VIC - 11.15am
- ACT - 11.45am
11:15am for all the facts behind today’s 57 cases
— WhatTimeIsTheVicPresser (@WhatTimeDan) August 19, 2021
Updated
We have been hearing for weeks that the Delta variant of Covid-19 is much more infectious in children.
Well here is the proof.
More than 700 children with Covid-19 in NSW are now being cared for by the Sydney children’s hospital network.
It’s worth noting this doesn’t mean 700 children are in hospital with Covid-19, as the majority are outpatients who are being monitored by health professionals in the hospital system.
Sydney Children's Hospital Network is currently looking after SEVEN HUNDRED kids with #COVID19
— Dr Greg Kelly (@drgregkelly) August 18, 2021
Still fortunately vast majority as outpatients, but expecting more to become unwell as time goes on pic.twitter.com/x3uyId60yX
I must stress that this has not been confirmed by Guardian Australia, but Sky News is reporting that NSW numbers will be upwards of 650 today.
We won’t know for sure for another 25 minutes when NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian steps up for her daily press conference.
New record in NSW again today, I am hearing. More than 650 @SkyNewsAust
— Andrew Clennell (@aclennell) August 19, 2021
Well if Nine News is right this is great news for the top end!
#BREAKING Nine News can confirm there have been zero new positive cases of Coronavirus overnight.
— 9News Darwin (@9NewsDarwin) August 19, 2021
The Chief Minister Michael Gunner is expected to address media regarding Greater Darwin and Katherine’s lockdown around 11am ACST. @9NewsDarwin #9News pic.twitter.com/Sb6ADOygVP
Updated
The shadow climate change minister, Chris Bowen, is to send his clearest signal that federal Labor is planning a more ambitious medium-term emissions reduction target than the Coalition, as well as committing to net zero emissions by 2050.
Thursday’s public signalling is significant because the veteran rightwinger Joel Fitzgibbon has argued since Bill Shorten’s election loss in 2019 that Labor needs to adopt the same 2030 target as the Coalition on the rationale that voters have rejected the party’s more ambitious climate policies at every election since 2013.
Bowen has largely avoided being caught in the crosshairs of that internal argument since taking the climate portfolio from Mark Butler back in January.
But he will use a speech on Thursday to make a clear statement that the Morrison government’s 2030 emissions reduction target is insufficient. The Coalition’s target is a cut of 26% to 28% on 2005 levels by 2030.
You can read the full report from Katharine Murphy and Adam Morton below:
Updated
No surprises here – the NSW press conference will be held at 11am.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Deputy Premier John Barilaro, NSW Deputy Chief Health Officer Dr Marianne Gale and NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys will provide an update on COVID-19 at 11:00am #COVID19nsw
— Political Alert (@political_alert) August 19, 2021
Updated
By far the worst part of any lockdown is police force Twitter accounts trying to be funny about it:
Who wants to play a game?
— New Zealand Police (@nzpolice) August 18, 2021
Go home, stay home.
You’re it.
Updated
Queensland records another Covid-19 free day
At least someone is having a good day!
There have been no Covid-19 cases recorded in Queensland once again.
Thursday 19 August – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) August 19, 2021
0 new cases recorded in Queensland overnight.#covid19 pic.twitter.com/noGplZs0QA
Updated
On Victoria:
My colleague @calgodde has dug through our archives to confirm today's 57 cases is the state's highest daily total since September 20, 2020, when Victoria recorded 73 cases.
— Benita Kolovos (@benitakolovos) August 19, 2021
Updated
So it looks as though there is going to be a conflict in times with the NSW and NT press conference.
NT could well be interesting today as the greater Darwin and Katherine entered a three-day lockdown on Monday after recording a Covid-19 case.
We are likely to get an update today on whether that lockdown will end so I will try to bring you the updates on that and NSW as soon as I can.
Updated
Not the regular crowds you would expect at St Kilda’s famous Palais Theatre!
(Melbourne residents in the St Kilda area have been urged to get tested after a number of mystery cases in the suburb and surrounds.)
Lots of people in St Kilda heeding the call to get tested. Long car and people lines at the testing site in the Palais Theatre car park pic.twitter.com/7SzZJ6IL9E
— Tali Aualiitia (@taliaualiitia) August 18, 2021
With a huge number of close contacts now in isolation the pressure seems to have got to supermarket chains trying to keep up with online delivery orders.
Some people in western NSW say they have been left without supplies after supermarkets in the area cancelled their deliveries:
Hey @woolworths I’m a new mum. We ordered a $400 grocery delivery from you to come today from Dubbo. I just woke to this and so have my neighbours. We ordered it Sunday & we can’t buy groceries from our local IGA in Gilgandra because it is closed because of a covid case!!!! pic.twitter.com/bKhHp8tdsz
— Jen Browning (@jen_browning) August 18, 2021
Woolworths has replied to this person asking for more information, so fingers crossed that food is on the way!
You've mentioned that this order was coming from Dubbo store. We'd like to look into this further for you, could you please send us a DM and confirm your registered email address and phone number associated with the account? Thanks and we look forward to your reply soon. 2/2
— Woolworths (@woolworths) August 18, 2021
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Australia’s freedom of information system is “broken” and the government is potentially unlawfully blocking the release of documents to the public, a new report has found.
Experts have long warned of the degradation of Australia’s FoI system, fuelled by increased delays and complaints, the use of heavy redactions and a higher refusal rate from government agencies.
On Thursday the Grata Fund, an organisation supporting public interest litigation, released the results of a two-year review.
The organisation found that “despite its importance, Australia’s FOI system is broken” and has written directly to the attorney general, Michaelia Cash, to warn that the overuse of exemptions to block the release of information is “often unlawful”.
You can read the full report below:
Oooh! Prime minister Scott Morrison will be on Insiders this Sunday, I can only assume discussing all things Afghanistan.
This Sunday on #Insiders @David_Speers interviews @ScottMorrisonMP #auspol pic.twitter.com/0wN39ymPYK
— Insiders ABC (@InsidersABC) August 18, 2021
The ACT government is seeking urgent talks with the federal health minister on boosting the Covid-19 workforce, reports Paul Osborne from AAP.
The territory’s outbreak grew to 67 on Wednesday, with 22 new cases and a lockdown running until 2 September.
More cases are expected to be announced today as the number of exposure sites expands and pressure rises to do more testing, tracing and vaccinations.
An extra 10,000 vaccine doses are on their way to pharmacies and GPs this week.
The territory government is seeking to boost its professional and volunteer workforce but there are anecdotal reports of retired nurses and others facing hurdles in joining the team.
ACT health minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said she would raise the issue with her federal counterpart Greg Hunt.
But she said in the meantime anyone wanting to help could be tasked with other roles while they waited for formal approval for their professional services.
To ease pressure on the health system the government is looking to scale back non-urgent surgery. But the minister said anyone impacted would be directly notified if there were any changes.
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Here is the breakdown of how Melbourne actually got to that 200-day lockdown mile stone.
Melbourne has reached 200 days of lockdown. Cannot wait to get out of this awful cycle.
— Rohan Smith (@Ro_Smith) August 18, 2021
1: 43 days
2: 111 days
3: 5 days
4: 14 days
5: 12 days
6: 15 days and counting@newscomauHQ
A reminder that once the press conference hour of suffering begins this blog will mostly focus on Australia’s Covid-19 situation.
If you are keen to keep up to date with Afghanistan as well you can open a second tab with the Guardian global live blog:
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Outdoor playgrounds and sporting grounds listed as Victorian exposure sites
A number of outdoor playgrounds and sporting grounds have been on the Victorian government’s exposure site list since Monday.
This is a new phenomenon – and presumably not because this is the first time that people who have the virus have visited a playground.
It’s also important to note that an exposure site just means that a person who has the virus has been in that location – it is not a transmission site.
Having said all that, if you or your family have been at any of these playgrounds in Melbourne, they are tier two sites so you must get tested and isolate until you get a negative result.
- Jacana skatepark at 61 Johnstone Street, Jacana, from 11.30am to 12.25pm on 14 August
- Jack Roper Reserve playground, 217 Camp Road, Broadmeadows, from 3pm to 5.30pm on 14 August
- Wedge Road Oval in Carrum Downs from 2pm to 3.30pm on 11 August, 10am-11.30am on 12 August, and 1pm to 2.30pm on 14 August
- Lahinch Street playground in Broadmeadows from 3.35pm to 4.30pm on 16 August
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Thanks, Tony! Thoughts and prayers!
Thinking of everyone in Melbourne this morning, waking up to their 200th day in lockdown.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) August 18, 2021
(I’m on my 200th day of lockdown, I’m allowed to be bitter.)
Updated
On the bright side in Victoria, testing numbers are way up, with 49,607 people fronting up to testing centre for a stick up the nose yesterday.
Victorian health authorities have been urging people to keep this number well above 30,000, especially for those in the St Kilda area where there are a number of unlinked cases.
Updated
Victoria records 57 new local Covid-19 cases
On the state’s most infectious day this year, Victoria has reported 57 new Covid-19 cases.
Forty-four were in isolation for the entirety of their infectious period.
Reported yesterday: 57 new local cases and no new cases acquired overseas.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) August 18, 2021
- 27,581 vaccine doses were administered
- 49,607 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl1hf3W#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData [1/2] pic.twitter.com/8Bqckira3x
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Analysis: The state government is in danger of losing control of this Delta wave yet we’re getting less information when transparency should be the top priority.
The headline figure that New South Wales had reported a record 633 new Covid cases obscured some other truly terrible statistics in the latest press conference by the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian. These reveal some alarming trends.
The first of these was the revelation that the current reproduction number of the virus, its R factor, is 1.3 – well over the rate of 1.0 which is needed to stabilise case numbers. At present, each positive person is infecting 1.3 others.
That means numbers will inevitably get worse – potentially a lot worse – and NSW is in danger of completely losing control of this Delta wave.
The second troubling statistic revealed on Wednesday suggests NSW’s much-vaunted “gold standard” contact tracing system is under severe strain.
You can read the full report below:
Updated
Queensland is up nice and early for the presser today: 10am AEST.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young will give a COVID-19, vaccination and border update at 10am.
— @MartySilk (@MartySilkHack) August 18, 2021
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This is interesting: NSW police minister David Elliott has said he is happy to enforce harsher lockdown restrictions if the police commissioner says they are required.
NSW Police minister David Elliott just now on @SkyNewsAust says he’d be happy to impose tougher restrictions including curfews if comm Mick Fuller calls for it.
— Peter Stefanovic (@peterstefanovic) August 18, 2021
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Well, these photos look … very different to the US air force ones:
The first evacuees are back from Kabul.
— Royal Australian Air Force (@AusAirForce) August 18, 2021
This C-130J departed safely from Hamid Karzai Airport Afghanistan & touched down recently at our main base in the Middle East not long ago as we continue to support Aus Govt work evacuating people from Afghanistan: https://t.co/q4FjI6YFr4 pic.twitter.com/uWQvmOn27F
Updated
Many Australians are experiencing “behavioural fatigue” after months of lockdowns but rising case numbers have more to do with the highly infectious Delta variant than a sudden surge in rule-bending, experts say.
There has been a series of high-profile breaches of lockdown rules in Melbourne and Sydney in the past week.
Video footage has shown an illegal engagement party in Melbourne and streets filled with maskless revellers attending a takeaway pub crawl, while in NSW the Newcastle region was locked down after infectious people from Sydney attended local nightclubs, and a house party in Waterloo led to a dozen cases early in the outbreak.
Reports about breaches of Covid restrictions – by authorities and the media – suggest an increase in complacency.
You can read the full report below:
Updated
Fifty volunteers are being sought to take part in a global trial of a new Covid-19 vaccine in Queensland.
Mater Research is helping a trial of a new protein-based vaccine on behalf of a large, unnamed US pharmaceutical firm.
Mater hospital director of infectious diseases Assoc Prof Paul Griffin is calling for 50 volunteers who are yet to be vaccinated to take part in the study in Brisbane.
He says a new vaccine will add to the global arsenal against Covid-19, which continues to evolve:
It’s vital we advance new vaccines. The SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to evolve and if we want to get the better of it, our vaccines and treatments will also need to evolve and keep pace ...
The trial will assess the level of immune response the investigational new vaccine generates in trial participants.
He said while more traditional protein-based vaccines took longer to develop than mRNA or viral vectors vaccines, they offered a number of benefits.
Unlike the Pfizer vaccine, he said, they did not require cold-chain storage and were cheaper and easier to produce locally.
He said protein vaccines were having early success against Covid-19 in overseas trails and, if developed, they could make it easier to boost vaccine supply across Australia:
Most of the Covid-19 vaccines already licensed in Australia don’t use this technology but studies with this investigational vaccine, as well as other protein-based vaccines, have shown very promising results elsewhere ...
We’re hoping an additional platform should boost the available vaccine supply, which has been one of the biggest hurdles in getting more of the population better protected from Covid-19.
Griffin said Mater Research was seeking healthy, unvaccinated adults for the trials.
Each participant will receive either one or two doses of the new vaccine and will undergo diagnostic and laboratory tests for up to a year.
Updated
Immigration minister Alex Hawke says the government “has made no comment” about whether the families of the 4,000 people on temporary protection visas will be allowed to come to Australia.
Will the families of the 4,000 Afghan people on temporary protection visas in Australia be allowed to come here?
— RN Breakfast (@RNBreakfast) August 18, 2021
"The government has made no comment about that. There is no change to that cohort."
- @AlexHawkeMP, Immigration Minister
Updated
This is the vibe this morning, honestly.
ABC News Breakfast just said “Welcome back to this Wednesday morning” and in my lockdown haze, I truly believed it for a moment
— Eden Gillespie (@edengillespie) August 18, 2021
Updated
Immigration minister Alex Hawke has just spoken to ABC radio.
He justified only rescuing 26 on the first plane to land in Kabul airport, saying that the environment on the ground was chaotic:
Why were there only 26 people on the plane from Kabul?
— RN Breakfast (@RNBreakfast) August 18, 2021
"There are plenty of factors on the ground. It is not a normal airport terminal, it is a chaotic environment, it is uncontrolled."
- @AlexHawkeMP, Immigration Minister
But he conceded that Australia was also reluctant to just take as many people as it could out of Kabul:
Is the issue that we don't want to take more people or that we can't get people out of the country?
— RN Breakfast (@RNBreakfast) August 18, 2021
"There's an element of both."
- @AlexHawkeMP, Immigration Minister
Updated
A second rescue flight from Indonesia is planned after the repatriation of 186 Aussies from Bali, reports AAP.
About 1,200 Australians want to return home from Indonesia, which has racked up nearly 3.9m official coronavirus cases and more than 120,000 deaths.
An Australian government-facilitated flight ferried 186 people from Denpasar to Darwin on Wednesday.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says it is working to help more Australians return, including through a second repatriation flight.
Updated
In better news, bird of the year is back!
The Guardian/BirdLife Australia poll for 2021 will begin on 27 September with a list of 50 shortlisted species.
In 2017 the magpie fought off strong support for the white ibis to win. In 2019 the highly endangered black-throated finch, which is under threat from the expansion of the Adani Carmichael coalmine, triumphed after backing from a highly organised online campaign.
This year there will be a special focus in the shortlist on the birds many of us are likely to see in lockdown in our backyards and while out for exercise, as well as a few endangered species specially selected by BirdLife Australia to draw attention to their plight.
Tell us in the comments of the below article the bird you’d like to see on this year’s list or nominate your bird on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #BirdOfTheYear.
GO GO GO!
Updated
Annnnnnnnnnnnnnd the news is just getting worse.
This has not yet been independently confirmed by Guardian Australia but the ABC is reporting that Victoria’s cases will more than double yesterday’s.
We should find out for sure between about 8.45am and 9am when the health department tweets out the official stats.
Sorry but bigger number coming for Melb today
— Rafael Epstein (@Raf_Epstein) August 18, 2021
I’m told more than double yesterday.
So that means today is more than 48.
HOWEVER most of the big increase are results of day 13 testing for people in isolation. So that part of the system is working.
Updated
Good morning all, Matilda Boseley here ready to take you through a full Thursday’s worth of news!
To start, Melbourne has reached a grim milestone today, with residents now having experienced 200 days of lockdown since the start of the pandemic.
Victorian authorities have extended Melbourne’s sixth lockdown by two more weeks, through to 2 September with tough “stage four” conditions including curfews, and case numbers stubbornly remaining in the mid-20s each day.
A pop-up vaccination hub and testing site have been set up in the beachside suburb of St Kilda as concern grows about the number of people unknowingly infected with Covid-19 in the area.
Covid-19 commander Jeroen Weimar has urged anyone who lives or works in the area to come forward for testing, even if they don’t have symptoms.
And the news doesn’t get that much cheerier further north, with NSW leader Gladys Berejiklian suggesting that yesterday’s 633 cases were not yet the peak of the state’s outbreak:
We haven’t seen the worst of it.
NSW is edging closer and closer to the record, 725, set by Victoria on 5 August last year.
Chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant says each infected person is passing on the virus to 1.3 others, on average, meaning case numbers are still likely to grow:
I can’t express enough my level of concern at these rising numbers of cases.
With that dark start to the day, why don’t we jump right in?
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