Australia COVID LIVE updates Cases grow across the nation as demonstrations poised to continue in Victoria

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G’day everyone! It’s Roy Ward here and I’ll be jumping onto the live blog for the afternoon to come.

I hope everyone is well, it’s been a lovely sunny day in Melbourne so far, spring must be upon us.

Please stick with us this afternoon, we still have plenty more news to come.

Premier Daniel Andrews has urged Melbourne Football Club supporters not to gather in large groups today following their AFL Grand Final win, while health authorities say illegal parties last night would have fuelled COVID-19 transmission.

When asked if police would show discretion to Demons fans who might want to celebrate the win together, Mr Andrews the entire state of Victoria was “long-suffering” and supporters should not break COVID-19 restrictions to gather.

“It was a great win by the Melbourne Football Club last night … but on the point that they’re long-suffering, we’re all long suffering,” he said.

“So let’s not any of us do anything that makes this pandemic event longer, makes this lockdown longer.

“There’ll be a time to celebrate.”

COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said he was “worried” about potential spread from illegal grand final night parties, because “households getting together to watch footy or do anything else is a really high risk”.

“We’ve seen that with the spread, particularly in our northern suburbs and now as it is getting into the south-east, it is household to household transmission that’s driving our growth in numbers,” he said.

“If people did use (the grand final) to get together when they shouldn’t have, there’ll be people walking out of that with COVID transmission as a result, and our health system will have to pick up the pieces in the weeks ahead.”

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said people would be able to travel within the state by November and that “it is safe to book for Christmas”.

“Definitely look at November as a month when you can start planning a trip that you may not have been able to have within NSW for a very long time,” she said.

With the state expected to reach 60 per cent double doses in the next 24 hours, Ms Berejiklian said greater freedoms were expected in coming weeks.

However, once the state reaches the 70 per cent double-dose benchmark and restrictions begin to be eased, expected by about mid-October at current rates, Ms Berejiklian warned that temporary restrictions could still be implemented if super-spreader events occurred.

“Between 70 and 80 per cent, if there’s a particular outbreak in a town, suburb or region, health experts have every right to say to the government, this area needs to restrict movement,” she said.

A second man who attended Melbourne’s anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination demonstrations this week has tested positive to COVID-19.

The man in his 30s from Geelong tested positive in recent days and would have been infectious at the time he attended one of this week’s rallies, according to COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar.

It comes after another man was hospitalised with COVID-19 after attending a demonstration in the Melbourne CBD on Wednesday. A number of police who were present on Wednesday are considered primary close contacts of the positive man and have been required to isolate, with all returning negative tests so far.

“When you see such a large number of people all out on the street together, all doing the things which are in breach of directions regardless of why you’re there, that is an absolute risk,” Mr Weimar said.

“So if you’re going to hang around in a crowd of 500 people, then if there are COVID positive people there, then the chances are this is where you’re going to see some spread.

“Protesters are not immune from those transmission risks.”

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has lambasted anti-vaccine advocates who may have been booking COVID-19 jab appointments and then not showing up.

Mr Andrews said he had not been directly briefed on reports that doses were being wasted by those who opposed vaccination in Victoria, but it was “not the sort of behaviour we want to see”.

“You might have a view, but don’t stand in the way of other people expressing their view by pretending to take an appointment,” he said.

“That means that someone who wants to turn up and get vaccinated so that they can save their life and the life of others can’t get an appointment. That just doesn’t make any sense.

“That’s the wrong thing to do, if in fact it is happening.”

Mr Andrews noted there were more than 3400 Pfizer vaccine doses available over the next week which can be booked online, with almost 7000 AstraZeneca booking available.

When it comes to Australia’s internal borders, Mr Andrews said he “certainly hoped” state and territory borders would open once the country hit the 80 per cent double dose target, after Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged premiers and chief ministers to allow interstate travel.

But Mr Andrews said ultimately it was not Mr Morrison’s call, and the “the national plan, which we are faithfully delivering, doesn’t really go into these issues”.

“No one’s locked into having borders open,” Mr Andrews said.

“I want them to be open, I want people to be able to travel across the state, interstate travel and overseas if they think that’s something that they want to do.”

Victoria’s government has announced a series of ‘vaccinated economy’ trials to begin from October 11.

Major Events Minister Martin Pakula said businesses in regional Victoria would able to flag their interest in operating at the eased restrictions they would otherwise enter once 70 per cent of the population are double-vaccinated.

There will be 20 trial sites in regional Victorian areas with high rates of COVID-19 vaccination. The council areas where the trials will take place are Buloke, Pyrenees, Bass Coast, Bendigo, East Gippsland and Warrnambool.

The trials will begin around a fortnight before Victoria is expected to hit the 70 per cent double dose threshold, on around October 26.

“This is a really important step on the path towards becoming an open vaccinated economy,” Mr Pakula said.

“We need these trials to ensure that we understand all of the potential issues that might arise.

“Moreover, we need people to get vaccinated so that they can, once we get to 70 and 80 per cent, attend these venues, attend these events, attend these concerts safely and ensure that they don’t catch the virus or pass the virus on to others.”

There were 961 new local cases and three cases acquired overseas recorded in NSW in the latest reporting period.

Some of Victoria’s COVID-19 restrictions will ease on Tuesday night, with metropolitan Melbourne’s travel limit to increase to 15km and certain outdoor sports like golf to resume.

Premier Daniel Andrews said the state was likely to reach the 80 per cent single dose limit by Tuesday, meaning from 11.59pm on that day, restrictions would change in both regional and metropolitan parts of Victoria.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.Credit:Asanka Ratnayake

Those in Melbourne will be able to shop and exercise further away their homes on Wednesday, with outdoor exercise like golf, tennis and boating to reopen.

Five people who are fully vaccinated plus a vaccinated trainer will be able to complete personal training outdoors in Melbourne, with changes also being made to playgrounds from Tuesday 11.59pm.

In regional Victoria, the outdoor venue cap will increase from 20 to 30, with other changes to rules around hair and beauty services.

“[80 per cent single dose] is a very important threshold, and of course I think that our double dose numbers will go beyond the 80 per cent mark which is very good,” Mr Andrews said.

“They are modest things, it’s not Freedom Day, it’s not the end of the lockdown. That is getting closer every day though.”

Watch Victoria’s COVID-19 update live here:

NSW has recorded 961 new local cases and nine deaths linked to COVID-19.

The nine deaths include six men and three women. Eight of the nine people were unvaccinated and one person had received one dose of a vaccine.

Three of the people were from south-western Sydney, four were from western Sydney, one person was from Sydney’s inner-west and one was from the eastern suburbs.

The state is expected to reach a 60 per cent double-dose vaccination rate in the next 24 hours, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Sunday.

Ms Berejiklian said the government would this week release its roadmap for easing restrictions once 80 per cent of the state is fully vaccinated.

“There is not long to go before NSW starts approaching that 70 per cent double dose figure and I ask everybody to please hold the line, it’s really important we work hard now so that when we do start opening up at 70 per cent, we are able to do so safely and by bringing everyone together,” she said.

“I do want to foreshadow that the NSW government is very close to finalising our roadmap for 80 per cent double dose but also our roadmap as to when unvaccinated people will be able to participate in greater activity and we will be releasing back this week.”

Ms Berejiklian said case numbers have been trending down in western and south-western Sydney.

However, cases are rising in Illawarra and Central Coast, with people in those regions being asked to “remain vigilant”.

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