NT chief minister says Omicron ‘too infectious’ for lockdowns to work as nation records at least 88 Covid deaths – As it happened

Michael Gunner says lockdowns and lockouts no longer effective; At least 88 Covid deaths recorded around the country as Kerry Chant says Omicron sub-variant is circulating in NSW; Queensland reveals back-to-school plan. This blog is now closed

Albanese says Labor will boost aged-care funding, but cannot specify by how much.

There has been a boost.

Two things they haven’t done: One is to tie that funding of actual delivery of better healthcare for aged-care residents in terms of some of the regulatory measures required that were recommended by the royal commission, but the big missing piece in this workforce, we still don’t have a commitment to have a nurse in a nursing home.

We still don’t have a commitment to increase in the number of other care workers in aged care, and we still don’t have a commitment to increases in wages and conditions so that aged-care facilities are able to attract the staff.

Quite clearly there will be a need for increased health funding, but there is a need also to look at the particular areas of funding.

GPs, for example. One of the reasons there is so much pressure on the hospitals is we have GP shortages in terms of training, we have GP shortages in terms of some of the changes that they’ve made to the Medicare schedule that have had an impact in our regions.

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Australia news live update: nation records at least 74 Covid deaths; Invasion Day rallies begin; lockdown call for NT remote communities

Lockdown call for NT remote communities as nation records at least 74 deaths from Covid-19; Scott Morrison speaks at Australia Day ceremony in Canberra; Russian ambassador to Australia says country ‘doesn’t intend to invade’ Ukraine; Invasion Day protests begin. Follow all the day’s news

A leading health expert has warned of the potential spread of the virulent Omicron Covid-19 strain during events today as large crowds gather for protest or celebration, AAP reports.

Jane Halton, chair of the coalition for epidemic preparedness and former health department head, says the closer people pack together the more likely it is the virus will spread.

We know it’s highly infectious and the closer everyone gets together, the more the likelihood you’ll be close to someone whose got Covid and therefore the greater the likelihood you’ll contract it.

People should be careful. What we don’t want to see is a big increase in cases.

I don’t think we should be cancelling things. I just think people should be courteous, thoughtful, and a little bit careful.

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Anti-vaxxers using bribery and fake certificates to avoid vaccination, Australian government warned

Pharmacists and aged care providers tell MPs of tactics being employed to escape public health laws including ‘no jab, no job’

The pharmacy and aged care sectors have called for new penalties for vaccination status fraud including bribery, use of fake certificates or stand-in vaccine recipients getting the Covid-19 jab on behalf of an unvaccinated person.

The Pharmacy Guild and Aged and Community Services Australia have warned that anti-vaxxers are using these tactics to escape public health laws including “no jab, no job” provisions in the aged care sector.

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St Basil’s Covid tragedy: ‘We are still finding out things that we weren’t aware of and it makes us angry’

Spiros Vasilakis’s mother, Maria, died in the Melbourne aged care home outbreak. He is among 64 witnesses to give evidence at a coronial inquest starting Monday

“One thing I will never forget is the line of ambulances coming in and coming out,” Spiros Vasilakis says as he recalls standing outside St Basil’s Home for the Aged in July last year, where his mother contracted Covid-19.

“My mum had died at that point,” he recalls. “And to stand outside a place that was not giving family any answers, seeing residents taken away one after another in ambulances, about to die or already dead … I just remember feeling overwhelmed by sadness.”

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Retirement village owner uses squatters’ rights in court bid to claim Sydney property

Australian Retirement Holdings launched legal action in a bid to stop a woman taking possession of her deceased grandparents’ land

The operator of a private retirement village attempted to stop a woman taking possession of her deceased grandparents’ land on the fringes of Sydney, claiming it as their own using squatters’ rights.

Australian Retirement Holdings were using the block of land, owned by Monica Pritchard and her husband, Arthur Pritchard, until their deaths in 1990, as part of construction of a multimillion-dollar development past Campbelltown in south-western Sydney.

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Covid Australia live updates: 620 NSW health staff isolating and visitors restricted as all Greater Sydney hospitals on ‘red alert’

New Zealand restarts the travel bubble with Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the ACT; infected aged care resident at SummitCare home in NSW was not vaccinated. Follow latest updates

Circling back on that story involving the NRL penalties handed out to St George Illawarra players for attending a party in breach of Covid-19 restrictions.

Sure, there’s enormous fines of $305,000 total for the 13 players. But the suspensions are also fairly significant, ranging from eight matches, handed down to Paul Vaughan, who hosted the party, to one match for some of the attendees.

The NRL alleges that player Paul Vaughan invited players to a gathering at his home on Saturday 3 July which was attended by 12 teammates, in breach of NSW Public Health Orders and the Game’s biosecurity protocols. It’s alleged a number of players hid or fled the residence when NSW Police attended the home after complaints from neighbours.

It’s also alleged that a number of players gave or were involved in giving misleading information about the event during the NRL’s investigation into the breaches and that some of the players conspired to withhold key information from the NRL. The notices allege that all players involved knowingly breached the game’s biosecurity rules by attending the premeditated gathering. They were made aware of the game’s Biosecurity Protocols by the club and admit they knew they were breaching the game’s rules.

It has been very hot in New Zealand, which is not a great sign for the planet (but worth considering if you’re planning on travelling there now the bubble has reformed):

Related: New Zealand experiences hottest June on record despite polar blast

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Australia coronavirus live update: Victoria records 73 new cases and 41 deaths as NSW records 10 new cases

Figure of 41 deaths in Victoria includes 33 people who died in aged care but not reported until yesterday; legislation to extend but reduce jobkeeper and jobseeker payments will be considered by the Senate today. Follow all the latest news and updates, live

This report from AAP earlier today:

NSW deputy premier, John Barilaro, is calling for a national code to allow agricultural workers to cross state borders without permits.

Twenty Victorian aged care providers have been found to be non-compliant with standards under the Aged Care Act since July.

My colleague Melissa Davey has this report:

Related: Twenty Victorian aged care homes ordered to improve 'inadequate' standards after Covid outbreaks

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Victoria reports 113 new cases, NSW nine and Queensland two – as it happened

Labor grills the Coalition on aged care and the PM discusses the foreign relations bill. This blog is now closed

That is where we will leave the live blog for this evening. If you want to follow the latest global coronavirus news you can follow our other live blog here.

Here’s what we learned today:

#breaking Sports rorts: 70% of grants from separate fund went to Coalition seats, Greens say #auspol #sportsrorts https://t.co/iej3ex14JO

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Scott Morrison defends aged care minister who didn’t know number of Covid deaths

Richard Colbeck apologises for federal government’s role in aged care outbreaks but denies it was ‘absent’

  • Melbourne’s stage 4 restrictions; Vic stage 3 rules; NSW hotspots
  • Australian stats interactive; Vic cases map; NSW cases map
  • Sign up for Guardian Australia’s coronavirus email
  • Scott Morrison has declared he still has confidence in his aged care minister after Richard Colbeck came under pressure at a Senate inquiry and was unable to recall how many people had died in aged care during the pandemic.

    Colbeck apologised on Friday for the times when the Morrison government “didn’t get everything right” in dealing with aged care outbreaks – but insisted it had been prepared for what it sincerely believed to be the worst-case scenarios.

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    St Basil’s faces class action suit for allegedly breaching duty of care amid Covid crisis

    A writ alleges the aged care home allowed staff or residents not to wear PPE and rove freely within the centre despite coronavirus risk

    St Basil’s aged care home breached its duty of care and failed its residents, according to a writ filed in the Victorian supreme court over the nursing response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has cost dozens of the centre’s residents their lives.

    The writ, obtained by Guardian Australia, was filed on Thursday and lists Effie Fotiadis as the first applicant in a case that could include residents, their families, employees, or the estates of residents at the Victorian aged care centre.

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    Victoria records 279 new Covid cases and 16 deaths as NSW reports five cases and one death

    Daniel Andrews expresses ‘cautious optimism’ but declines to say whether restrictions may be eased after six-week lockdown

    • Follow the Sunday coronavirus liveblog
    Shorten lashes out at profit-driven aged care and Morrison government over Covid failings

    Victoria recorded another 16 coronavirus deaths on Sunday as well as 279 new cases, as the premier Daniel Andrews expressed “cautious optimism” that the state’s harsh stage four restrictions were finally bringing the crisis under control.

    “These numbers are heading in the right direction,” Andrews said. “They speak to a strategy that is working. At the same time, no one day necessarily guarantees the outcome – that is a long hard slog.”

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    Coronavirus Australia live update: Victoria records 14 deaths and 372 new Covid cases as NSW awaits Ruby Princess report

    Agriculture minister calls for federal approach to border rules; NSW on alert over community transmission. Follow the latest news and updates

    This came through late yesterday from NSW Health:

    NSW Health is advising of a new public health alert for Liverpool Hospital and Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club.

    Peter Dutton had some things to say about the border closure between NSW and Queensland on the Nine network today:

    When you get a premier like Annastacia Palaszczuk making announcements about border closures when Gladys Berejiklian is doing a press conference and she is caught out, the question is asked of her and she knows nothing about it, she hadn’t been contacted by Queensland, well you would imagine she would be a bit miffed. I think it is childish. There is a growing mood here in Queensland at the moment, I have got to say, Ally, of people who say if the doctors are saying close the borders or put in place this regime, fair enough, but there is a lot of politics being played in Queensland at the moment by the state government here in relation to this issue. You see brochures now going out into letterboxes in marginal seats and what not, and Annastacia Palaszczuk is walking a fine line here. People will be cynical if they think these decisions are being made for political reasons and her break down in the relationship with the New South Wales premier, particularly for those people who live in the Tweed or on the Gold Coast, is negatively impacting on those lives and businesses and it is unacceptable.

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    Victoria takes control of three more aged care homes as 278 new Covid cases recorded

    Premier Daniel Andrews reports eight more deaths and the lowest number of new coronavirus cases for more than two weeks

    Victoria’s aged care crisis continues, with the department of health taking control of three more aged care homes due to Covid-19 outbreaks, as the state’s premier raises the hardship payments available to those who must forgo income in order to isolate after testing.

    Victoria recorded 278 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, the lowest number for more than two weeks, with the number of total actives cases also dipping.

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    Families at Melbourne nursing home say staff testing was delayed after coronavirus case

    Staff at Estia’s Keilor Downs aged care home were tested four days after the company was told a worker had tested positive to Covid-19

    Private sector aged care giant Estia is battling a third Covid-19 outbreak in Melbourne after two staff members and a resident tested positive at a facility in Keilor Downs.

    The ASX-listed Estia is one of Australia’s largest providers and has been among the hardest hit by the pandemic in Melbourne, with two of its Victorian sites linked to 238 cases and both among the five largest aged care outbreaks in the state.

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    Victoria records Australia’s worst day of Covid-19 with 15 deaths and 725 new cases

    Premier Daniel Andrews confirms a man in his 30s is the youngest person to die from coronavirus in Australia

    Wednesday marked Victoria’s most devastating day of Covid-19 cases and deaths, with a man in his 30s among 15 people who died overnight including many from aged care, and 725 new cases of the virus identified.

    Three men and a woman in their 70s, three women and a man in their 80s, and a woman in her 90s were among the deaths. Twelve deaths were linked to outbreaks in aged care.

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    Coronavirus Australia live update: Victoria reports 627 new Covid-19 cases and eight more deaths as restrictions considered

    Scott Morrison and Daniel Andrews have discussed next steps as Covid-19 infections continue to rise. Follow all the latest news and updates, live

    A person in Orange, in regional NSW, has tested positive to Covid-19.

    The person is a close contact with a known cluster in Sydney, Western NSW Local Health District chief executive Scott McLachlan said today.

    The case is currently in isolation in the Orange Local Government Area, but has a residential address outside of the health district. The case is linked to a known cluster in Sydney.

    The public health unit has contacted all close contacts. They have been provided with public health information which includes to be tested for Covid-19 and remain in isolation for 14 days.

    There are currently 12 people with Covid-19 in hospital in NSW and eight in intensive care, with four of those people on ventilators. About 90 people are being treated for Covid-19 in non-acute, out-of-hospital care.

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    Coronavirus Australia live update: Victoria records six deaths and 384 Covid-19 cases and NSW 14 new cases – latest news

    State suspends non-urgent elective surgery as Covid-19 cases in nursing homes rises, while NSW announces 14 new cases. Follow live updates

    Migrants drove more than a quarter of regional Australia’s population growth before the coronavirus pandemic forced border closures, AAP reports.

    Treasury’s Centre for Population officials on Tuesday told a parliamentary inquiry that overseas migration was behind 26 per cent of regional population growth nationally.

    A staff member at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) has tested positive for Covid-19, prompting the organisation to close all of its sites today.

    In a statement, the ASRC said it closed all its sites this morning for terminal cleans and that staff would get “appropriate leave and full pay” for those who need to get tested or self-isolate.

    Given the unprecedented pandemic impacting all our lives, we have been planning for this scenario for months.

    We have taken early and swift action to close down all ASRC sites to protect staff, people seeking asylum and the community.

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    Labor calls for immediate aged care funding boost following scathing report

    Health minister Greg Hunt promises ‘significant package’ for aged care but won’t commit to figure

    Labor has launched a new campaign targeting the government over aged care funding, as the health minister, Greg Hunt, commits to delivering a “significant package” for the sector before Christmas.

    Setting a deadline of 11 November when parliament returns, opposition leader Anthony Albanese said the “aged care, action now” campaign would gather signatures from across the country calling for immediate funding to address a crisis in the sector.

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    Chairman of aged care royal commission, Richard Tracey, dies aged 71

    Former federal court judge dies in US after being diagnosed with cancer just seven weeks ago

    The aged care royal commission chairman, Richard Tracey QC, has died suddenly, aged 71.

    The former federal court judge died on Friday in the US, where he was being treated for cancer diagnosed only seven weeks earlier.

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