Australia COVID LIVE updates NSW and Victoria cases continue to grow as states ramp up vaccination measures

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NSW Health this morning issued a new alert for anyone who was at basketball courts in Villawood, western Sydney, late last weekend.

People who were at the Koonoona Park Basketball Courts at 1 Karella Avenue, Villawood between 1pm and 6pm last Sunday, August 22, are now considered close contacts who must isolate for 14 days since they were there - so the next seven days.

Basketball has been a popular activity for young people during lockdown, which has caused some councils in south-west Sydney to remove hoops and prevent them gathering in parks. Playgrounds are mostly open, however.

People playing basketball in Tasker Park in Canterbury.Credit:James Brickwood

There are also new casual contact venues of concern. You can find them on the NSW government website.

Those who have checked in at a close contact venue are now receiving text messages from NSW Health, with a follow-up call to discuss isolation requirements coming after.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says the death rate from COVID-19 in NSW is 10 per cent of that in Victoria across the states’ protracted outbreaks in 2020 and 2021, showing that vaccinations are critical to saving lives.

“The numbers of infections in the Victorian wave and the NSW wave are almost even at this point of time. Yet, the rate of loss of life in NSW is 10 per cent of that, approximately, in Victoria,” Mr Hunt said on Sky News this morning.

“Just over 800 lives lost, agonisingly, last year [in Victoria]. Just over 80 lives lost, at this [similar] point in NSW. And there will be more, but the difference between those two is the vaccination rates, that’s what has saved lives.”

Mr Hunt said the government was “very confident” that every 12 to 15-year-old would have access to the vaccine this year. He said Pfizer had been approved as “safe and effective for kids” and he anticipated the Therapeutic Goods Administration would give the green light for the Moderna vaccine in the next two weeks.

“This fortnight, we’re expecting to get advice from the TGA on Moderna for 12 to 17-year-olds. It’s currently approved for 18 plus and I’m hopeful that will be added, which will give a second vaccine,” Mr Hunt said.

He said children aged 12 to 15 years old would get access to the Pfizer vaccine from September 13.

Victoria’s daily case numbers have been released: the state recorded 92 new local cases yesterday from 51,030 tests.

Today’s tally is the highest total since September 3 last year, when Victoria recorded 112 new cases in one day.

Of the 92 cases, 61 have so far been linked to existing cases and outbreaks - which means the source of 31 is yet to be established. The Department of Health did not report how many new cases were in the community during their infectious period, with further information to be provided later this morning.

There were 31,436 vaccine doses administered in the same period. Read more here.

In Victoria, a group of Labor government MPs believe the toughest lockdown rules may need to be lifted because driving Delta cases close to zero may not be attainable.

A senior government source, speaking anonymously to detail internal thinking, said there was no realistic prospect of the lockdown easing on Thursday, and some MPs argue the government may need to ease some rules and consider freedoms for those fully vaccinated in coming weeks.

Another 64 cases were recorded in Victoria yesterday including 15 with an unknown source. New clusters continue to emerge and a call by prominent University of Melbourne epidemiologist Tony Blakely last week to consider a lighter lockdown sparked conversation among ministers and MPs dealing with increasingly despondent constituents.

People line up outside the Melbourne Exhibition Centre vaccine hub.Credit:Getty Images

Seven of the 10 Labor ministers and backbenchers who spoke to this masthead yesterday said current settings â€" including a curfew, ban on playgrounds and clamps on essential sectors â€" should remain until no newly infected people spent any time infectious in the community.

But three MPs have turned their mind to the prospect that, as a number of epidemiologists have argued, the state will not be able to extinguish this outbreak and the potential for new introductions from NSW meant Victoria would need to keep managing fresh outbreaks.

They argue some rules may be able to be eased without risking a major spike in cases. Read the full story here.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has warned state premiers the economy will suffer if they don’t stick to the national plan to reopen once adult vaccination rates reach 70 and 80 per cent.

In a coded message to the resources states of Queensland and Western Australia - both of which have doggedly pursued zero-COVID policies, kept their borders closed and are lagging the rest of the country in vaccination rates - Mr Frydenberg also warned of a “ridiculous” scenario under which it might be possible for many Australians to fly to Singapore or Canada, but not Perth or Cairns.

Amid ongoing lockdowns in NSW, Victoria and the ACT, Mr Frydenberg said economic growth would be “almost certainly negative in the September quarter, with a contraction of at least 2 per cent, [but] I am hopeful and confident the economy can come back in the December quarter if, as expected, restrictions ease”.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

He warned that if premiers and chief ministers did not stick to the plan to reopen, then the hit to the economy and jobs would be high, with businesses closing and debt increasing.

“Learning to live with the virus is our only hope. To delay and deny that fact is not only wrong but incredibly unrealistic,” Mr Frydenberg said.

“It’s in no one’s interests for states to be on different tracks when it comes to opening up... The world is opening up, Australia will open up ... Opening up as one country and in accordance with the plan will not only give people hope but provide a springboard for our economic recovery.”

But in the clearest signal yet that Western Australia was prepared to walk away from the road map, Premier Mark McGowan yesterday said his state needed higher vaccination levels to reopen and flagged waiting “a few more months” to reach them.

Read the full story here.

More than two-thirds of Australians support vaccine passports, mandatory jabs for high-risk workers and locking people out of workplaces and hospitality venues if they refuse to get the jab, political correspondent James Massola reports today.

Vaccine passports and in some sectors mandatory vaccinations are shaping as a key element of the path out of lockdowns and a return to normal life, and an exclusive Resolve Political Monitor survey for The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age indicates majority support for such moves.

The poll found 82 per cent of people agreed or strongly agreed that “high-risk occupations, like aged care or quarantine, should require workers to be vaccinated”. Aged care workers will need to have at least one jab from September 17, while in NSW it will be mandatory for teachers from November.

Vaccine passports enjoy similar strong support, with 73 per cent of people either agreeing or strongly agreeing that “a vaccine passport or certificate to prove you have had a jab is a good idea”.

Sixty-seven per cent agreed or strongly agreed that “if people choose not to vaccinate, venues or workplaces should also be able to not let them in”. And 63 per cent agreed or strongly agreed hospitality venues such as restaurants, cafes and pubs should be able to insist customers were vaccinated before they were allowed to enter.

Australians are more cautious about making COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for everyone, with 48 per cent of people agreeing or strongly agreeing with that statement, 24 per cent undecided and 28 per cent of people disagreeing or strongly disagreeing.

Read the full story here.

Good morning and welcome to today’s COVID-19 live blog. I’m Natassia Chrysanthos and I’ll guide you through the day’s news until early afternoon.

Before we begin - here’s where we left off yesterday:

NSW has recorded 1035 locally acquired cases. Two people died in hospital due to COVID-19: a woman in her 70s died at Nepean Hospital and a woman in her 80s at Westmead Hospital.

Victoria recorded 64 new locally acquired cases. The state’s health authorities are still trying to decipher the source of 41 mystery cases in the current outbreak. There are now 701 active cases across Victoria.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said that from Friday this coming week, couples who wish to marry will be able to with a maximum of five guests allowed to attend, “in addition to those obviously necessary for the actual service”. Mr Hazzard said the fine print would be ironed out in the coming days.

Australia’s deputy chief medical officer Professor Michael Kidd told a press conference this afternoon the Commonwealth was working with states and territories who wished to roll out school-based vaccination programs for adolescents, with 12 to 15-year-olds eligible from mid-September.

New Zealand recorded 82 new COVID-19 cases in the Auckland community, taking the national total of the current outbreak to 429.

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