Category Archives: Victoria

Australia Covid live update: NSW reports record 1,218 cases and six deaths; Victoria extends lockdown after 92 infections

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NSW allows small weddings despite rising case numbers; Victoria’s Delta cluster emerges in bayside Port Melbourne; ACT reports 13 new cases and New Zealand 83. Follow all the day’s news

For those in NSW, a new venue of concern has been released by NSW Health.

⚠️PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT – NEW VENUES OF CONCERN⚠️

We have been notified of a number of new close and casual contact venues of concern associated with confirmed cases of COVID 19. pic.twitter.com/3F7VnSkGk9

I’m just about to finish up for the day!

But before I leave you in the extremely capable hands of my colleague, Elias Visontay, let’s take a look back at today’s biggest headlines:

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Victoria Covid hotspots: full list of Melbourne and regional Vic coronavirus exposure sites and trend in cases

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Here are the current coronavirus hotspots and Tier 1, 2 and 3 Covid-19 public exposure site locations in Victoria and Melbourne, and what to do if you’ve visited them

Authorities have released a list of public exposure sites in Melbourne and regional Victoria visited by a confirmed case of Covid-19.

Here are the current coronavirus hotspots, Covid exposure sites, venues and case location alerts and what to do if you’ve visited them.

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Police say Melbourne anti-lockdown protest ‘most violent in nearly 20 years’

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Saturday’s rally was the first time police used non-lethal weapons during a lockdown protest, with at least nine officers ending up in hospital

An anti-lockdown protest held in Melbourne on Saturday was one of the most violent the city has seen in 20 years, Victoria’s top police officer says.

Chief commissioner Shane Patton said his officers had no choice but to use non-lethal weapons to defend themselves from an angry mob that came armed and appeared intent on attacking them.

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Australia anti-lockdown rallies: protesters violently clash with police in Melbourne

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Thousands march through streets of Melbourne and Brisbane, as police try to prevent Sydney rally

Anti-lockdown protesters clashed violently with police as thousands of unmasked people marched through the streets of Melbourne on Saturday.

Victoria police said they had made 218 arrests and that six officers were hospitalised during a series of altercations. Police said in a statement the majority of the estimated 4,000 demonstrators “came with violence in mind”.

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Victoria Covid update: Dan Andrews hints at more restrictions after 55 new Covid cases

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Premier urges Melbourne residents to follow lockdown rules to the letter and warns Delta outbreak on the verge of ‘getting away from us’

Daniel Andrews has told Victorians he “cannot rule out” introducing more restrictions to curb the state’s coronavirus outbreak after a spike in positive cases that includes 12 in the regional city of Shepparton.

The premier warned that unless Melburnians follow the lockdown rules to the letter, next week’s case numbers “will be like Sydney”.

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Covid Australia live news update: greater Sydney lockdown extended until end of September; NSW announces 642 cases, four deaths; Victoria records 55 cases

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ACT chief minister Andrew Barr calls on colleagues to stop presenting 70% or 80% vaccination targets as ‘freedom day’ ahead of meeting. Follow latest updates

Berejiklian:

I also want to stress that from Monday midnight, unless you’re exercising masks should be worn outdoors everywhere across New South Wales.

Our concern is that when people are walking past a group of people or accidentally bumping into people that, that can cause that fleeting contact can cause transmission, and even when you’re exercising, you need to have the mask unless you’re doing some strenuous exercise.

Berejiklian:

So from Monday at midnight, the greater Sydney lockdown will extend until the end of September... but I also want to state that the Central Coast and Shell Harbour will be defined as regional.

So Greater Sydney includes all those areas that are currently in lockdown in Greater Sydney but for the Central Coast and Shellharbour which will be defined as rural and regional as we announced yesterday.

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Covid Australia live news update: NSW confirms 633 cases and three deaths; ACT records 22 and Victoria 24; New Zealand cluster rises to seven

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NSW confirms 633 cases and three deaths; Victoria records 24 new local cases as CHO says outbreak disproportionately affecting children; New Zealand cluster rises to seven cases. Follow all the day’s news

A second South Australian MP has been referred to an official investigator over allegations of bullying, AAP reports.

Treasurer Rob Lucas says he has referred allegations against Labor MP Tony Piccolo to the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment.

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, said just a moment ago that expanding access to the Pfizer vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds was something being worked through.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese is pushing for a plan.

Parents worried about the effect that lockdowns are having on their kids are now more concerned than ever that their children might catch Covid.

And right now, Mr Morrison doesn’t have a plan for our kids to access a vaccine when it’s safe to do so.

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Australia Covid live news: NSW to give update; Victoria records 24 cases; nation on edge as more than 13 million under lockdown

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Victoria records 24 local cases as state wakes to tougher restrictions; NSW warned cases could hit 1,000 a day; ACT and parts of NT under lockdown. Follow all the day’s news

We are now just waiting for NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian to step up for the daily Covid-19 press conference where we learn the state’s daily numbers.

We are expecting that in about 10 minutes, so stay tuned.

Sydney radio station 2GB is reporting a staff member from the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Syndey has tested positive to Covid-19 and may have been infectious while working.

A staff member at RPA Hospital in Sydney has tested positive to COVID-19. The worker was fully vaccinated but potentially infectious while working on August 10, 11, 12 + 13 in the nuclear medicine department. There has been no transmission to other staff or patients to date.

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Australia secures 1m Pfizer vaccine doses from Poland, with half earmarked for Sydney Covid hotspots

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530,000 of the new doses to go to 20-to-39-year-olds living in the 12 hotspot LGAs as NSW struggles to contain outbreak

One million additional doses of the Pfizer vaccine are on the way to Australia, after the Polish government answered the Morrison government’s international pleas for help and as New South Wales authorities struggle to contain the state’s Covid outbreak.

A total of 530,000 of the new doses, due to arrive in Australia late on Sunday, have been quarantined for use in NSW for 20-to-39-year-olds living in the 12 hotspot Sydney local government areas.

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Australia secures Pfizer doses from Poland as Victoria chases mystery cases – as it happened

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12 Sydney LGAs to get half of the one million extra Pfizer doses secured from Poland; rapid antigen testing to be trialled in some Sydney aged care homes. This blog is now closed

We’ll leave it there for now. Here are today’s main developments:

Police are cracking down on large gatherings in breach of Victoria’s lockdown restrictions, reports AAP.

In the inner city, dozens congregated for a takeaway drink pub crawl event on the streets of Richmond on Saturday, while in Northcote about 200 people gathered for a street party.

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Australia Covid live news update: NSW confirms record 390 cases and two deaths; ACT reports two new cases, Victoria 15, Qld seven

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Two new Covid cases in ACT; NSW records 390 cases, two deaths; Queensland records seven cases, Victoria records 15 new cases; son of Sydney man who travelled to Byron Bay also charged. Follow all the day’s news

Barr has acknowledged the long waiting times at testing sites throughout the state, and has asked people who have been contacted by ACT Health as close or casual contacts to come forward as priority for testing:

We will be expanding testing capacity, hours of operations and the number of people at each existing testing centre can manage in a day but yesterday was our all-time record number of tests. We expect today will be even busier and we have stood additional testing capacity.

So please, if you do not have symptoms and you are not an identified close contact, you do not need to be tested today. Please, stay-at-home. There will be an opportunity to be tested in the days ahead but the priority right now is to test those people who ACT health have contacted.

The ACT has recorded two new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total to six. It has identified 1,862 close contacts and that number will grow.

There are more casual contacts. There were more than 2,000 tests yesterday and results have been received on about 1,330 of them.

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Australia Covid live news updates: ACT enters lockdown as three more cases confirmed; NSW records 345 cases and two deaths

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ACT begins seven-day lockdown; more restrictions for NSW as state confirms 345 new local cases and two deaths; high court declines to hear Murugappan family case; Queensland reports 10 new cases; Victoria records 21 new cases. Follow all the day’s news

Chief Executive of Western NSW Local Health District, Scott McLachlan, tells @PatsKarvelas that the majority of COVID cases in regional NSW outbreaks at the moment - including Dubbo and Walgett - are Aboriginal people.

Staying with the Walgett outbreak, my colleague Nino Bucci has been digging into this story.

Related: NSW inmate released on bail before prison received positive Covid test result

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Australia Covid live update: NSW on edge as cases spread in regions; Melbourne waits for news on lockdown

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Melbourne faces the possibility of a lockdown extension as shopping centre workers ordered into quarantine; new cases emerge across regional NSW. Follow all the day’s news

Queensland LNP MP George Christensen has spoken to Sydney radio 2GB about being censured through a parliamentary motion yesterday.

The whole House, including the government, voted to support Labor’s motion disassociating the parliament with Christensen’s anti-lockdown and anti-public health measure comments yesterday (although Scott Morrison couldn’t bring himself to name or reference Christensen in his speech and just a hour or so later, cabinet minister Paul Fletcher declined five times on national TV to say he disagreed with Christensen’s views)

Happy Wednesday!

It’s not just hump day; we’re also halfway through the parliamentary sitting. At this stage, there’s a week break and then it’s back into it, but you have to wonder whether any of the east coast MPs will risk going home, given how quickly Covid is changing the landscape. Although, it doesn’t seem like anyone is missing the deputy prime minister, who has been in lockdown in Armidale, and apparently, unable to zoom in for the sitting (he has answered no questions in QT and offered no contributions to debate).

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Australia Covid live update: Victoria records 11 cases; business urges states to mandate vaccines with Moderna due to arrive next month

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Victoria reports 11 new Covid cases as state expands access to AstraZeneca; Business Council of Australia says vaccinations should be highly targeted. Follow all the day’s news

All things going as normal, we should hear from the NSW authorities around 11am

A women’s and children’s hospital in St Albans has been listed as a tier one exposure site in Melbourne.

The maternity assessment centre at Joan Kirner women’s and children’s hospital on Furlong Road was listed on the Victorian exposure site list late last night. Anyone who attended the centre between 8.15am and 2.45pm on Friday 6 August has been ordered to isolate immediately for 14 days, get tested, and notify the Department of Health. The pathology lab – Dorevitch Pathology – on the ground floor of the same hospital has also been listed as a tier one site.

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Australia Covid live news update: NSW records 262 new cases and Victoria 11; Cairns to enter snap lockdown

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Victorian clinics to offer AstraZeneca to under 40s as state records 11 cases; Gladys Berejiklian says vaccine rollout ‘is a race’ as NSW records 262 cases and one death; Queensland records nine new cases, with lockdown to end for 11 LGAs today. Follow live

The new drive-through vaccination clinic will have capacity to administer 10,000 vaccines per week. That’s a conservative number, Bromley says, and may be limited by Pfizer supply.

She urges people to book ahead before turning up at the drive-through clinic.

To start it will be 10 cars at a time. Obviously this week all the processes will be reviewed and they’ll make it as big and as fast as efficient as possible. But we’ll start with 10 cars coming through.

Bromley says the rest of the state-run clinics will soon be allowed to deliver the AstraZeneca vaccine to under 40s. Only nine will be used initially, to test demand and the informed consent process.

So we’ll just do that initially, open up the nine hubs and the reason for that is, A, we want to see what the demand is. We want to know that we’re going to be able to manage that and we want to make sure that the process, because there is an additional process, as Brett sort of talked through, for these individuals coming through, they will go through a slightly more rigorous consent process. We want to make sure we got the systems and the workforce all set up perfectly so it’s running smoothly and so it doesn’t impact on the overall efficiency of the system.

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Police deny knowing of plan to let armed group commit crime, Victorian inquest into robber’s death hears

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Court hears Troy Van Den Bemt was shot dead at a bottle shop by an undercover officer who was monitoring him

Undercover police officers tailing a group of suspected armed robbers deny they knew of a plan to allow the men to commit a crime if they could not be safely arrested first, the Victorian coroner’s court has heard.

Coroner Jacqui Hawkins is holding an inquest into the death of Troy Van Den Bemt, who was killed in 2018 by an officer who had been monitoring the armed robber and his associates as part of an operation in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

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Australia Covid live news update: NSW records 291 cases and one death, Qld 10 and Victoria four as half of nation in lockdown

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National cabinet meets today with 16 million Australians in lockdown; violent protests erupt in Melbourne’s CBD. Follow all the day’s news

Hazzard is the asked if the health system is being overwhelmed:

The health system is under stress as you would expect because there are a number of cases that are coming into our hospitals and our patients are being cared for, but they want to thank our nurses, our doctors, our cleaners, administrative staff who are there every day putting themselves at the front line to keep us all safe and I would just say again to people who might want to walk into our hospitals, if you do have COVID symptoms, cough, cold, temperature, anything that you think might be COVID, bring ahead and let them know that you are coming in so that they can keep themselves safe.

We have to keep our health staff safe so you can be safe. But certainly, anybody who thinks the health system in any country where we have a Delta variant is not under stress is getting themselves. Of course it is under stress but our health professionals are doing a great job.

As per usual, health minister Brad Hazzard has given his colourful daily take, today urging HSC students to “go for gold” in getting the Pfizer vaccine, and then listed off all the “stars” who have performed at the Qudos Arena, where the pop-up hub will be set up:

We’ve seen our Olympic stars go for gold, we’ve seen the most amazing stars in the Qudos Bank Arena, I think there has been Lana Del Rey, Keith Urban, Pink, Madonna, you have a chance to go to that stadium next week and get some gold by getting your first vaccination, your first Pfizer vaccination.

This is your big chance to really go for gold. You are getting an opportunity that so many others haven’t yet managed to achieve and is there to light up your future by having your safety and security looked after.

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Australia politics live: four states on edge as Covid cases rise and bold plan for vaccination providers flagged

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Mystery infections emerge in Victoria and Western Australia; dieticians, midwives could bolster vaccine rollout program. Follow all the day’s news

Scott Morrison will deliver a Closing the Gap update today in the parliament.

Labor will also make a statement.

It seems like Monday was years ago, but we have made it to the last sitting day of the first week of spring sittings.

Barely.

Related: Dentists, midwives and physiotherapists could deliver Covid jabs to bolster Australia’s rollout

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Australia Covid live update: NSW records 233 cases and two deaths, including man in 20s; one new case in both Victoria and WA

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Two deaths overnight in Sydney and 233 new local cases in NSW; Queensland to reschedule public holiday as 17 cases recorded. Question time returns. Follow latest updates

About 2,500 students and staff at a school in Melbourne’s west will need to self-isolate and get tested after a teacher caught Covid-19.

Jeroen Weimar, Victoria’s Covid-19 commander, told ABC Melbourne the Al Taqwa College teacher got tested yesterday and her positive result came back today.

Let’s take a look at the market at the close of play, via AAP.

The ASX200 has closed higher than 7500 points for the first time in its history as traders continue to look beyond coronavirus lockdowns.

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National pandemic exit plan modelling doesn’t examine what happens after restrictions are eased

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Critics say national cabinet roadmap appears ‘risky’ with Doherty Institute only considering best strategy for next six months

National cabinet’s pandemic exit strategy only considered modelling for the “transition” phase over the next six months, with the Doherty Institute yet to consider how relaxed restrictions will affect transmission in the community.

The federal government on Tuesday released the modelling that underpinned the updated four-phase roadmap announced on Friday, with the research highlighting the need for a “strategic shift” to targeting young adults who were most likely to transmit the virus.

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