Australia COVID LIVE updates Cases continue to grow across the nation as states ramp up vaccination measures

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Parents and swimming instructors are worried about the loss of kids’ water safety skills during COVID-19 restrictions, while lifesavers prepare for a surge of beach visitors once Sydney’s lockdown eases.

Swim Australia chief executive Brendan Ward also warned the closure of swimming pools ten weeks ago could impact Australia’s medal tallies at future Olympics.

Emma Baldwin, pictured with her children Lucas, Eloise and Leyla, said COVID-19 and lockdowns have impacted swim lessons. Credit:Louise Kennerley

“This is a big concern with a lower base of swimmers gaining not only core life skills but also transitioning to competitive swimming,” he said. “This is likely to manifest for 2032 and beyond.”

Swim Australia estimates more than 250,000 lessons have been missed each week in swim schools and school-based programs during the current COVID-19 lockdown in NSW.

Read more here.

Canberra has recorded 15 new COVID-19 cases today, down from 32 on Saturday with 13 linked to known cases. More than 85 per cent of the state’s COVID-19 cases are in people aged less than 45 years-old.

The majority of people who tested positive waited at least two days after developing symptoms to get a COVID-19 test.

Nine people are in hospital with COVID-19, one is in ICU and requiring ventilation and seven of those people were unvaccinated with two people having received one dose of vaccine.

There are just over 1400 self-identified close contacts and over 330 active exposure locations.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr says they have no intent to ease any restrictions in Canberra at this point in time for this week and will “advise in advance” if that changes.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says he expects authorities will treat those caught on video partying with Nadia Bartel to be treated the same as the people who attended an engagement party that breached public health orders.

Mr Andrews said he didn’t have any updates on Victoria Police’s investigation into the matter, but he wanted to tell anyone who was visiting Ms Bartel in the past 24 hours to go home and avoid further fines.

Nadia Bartell

Ms Bartel was shown on a leaked video partying with friends and snorting a white substance off a dinner plate last week.

“It would be my understanding that that matter would be treated no differently to the engagement party,” Mr Andrews said.

“A number of people doing the wrong thing. It wasn’t a matter of breaching confidences and calling into question whether people tell us the truth when they are contact tracing and that is worth much more than any fine we might give out.

“This video is no different to the engagement party as it’s out there in the public domain, and it would be my anticipation that every single person at that house will be getting a $5500 fine because I’m confident - these really are decisions for the Chief Commissioner, but I would be absolutely certain he would want the law applied equally, regardless of whether you used to be related to a footballer.

“This is everybody’s business. And people should be treated equally. That would be my absolute expectation.

“Otherwise it wouldn’t be fair, would it? At those people at that engagement party who have all been issued, as I understand it, except for the kids, they have all been issued with a $5500 fine.

“I also see on social media other people potentially visiting that house. No visits means no visits. “Stay at home. Stay at home. That’s what the rules say and that’s what will keep us safe.”

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed the state’s contact tracers stopped calling confirmed COVID-19 cases this week and are sending them text messages instead.

Ms Berejiklian said as the number of cases increases it “obviously stresses the system” and over the past few days they have been sending text messages instead of calling people.

QR systems integrated with contact tracing are deployed in NSW and Victoria Credit:

“We are still contact tracing - it is an important part of COVID-19 control along with vaccination and the social measures that we have been talking about.

“But as numbers increase, it obviously stresses the system and work has been streamlining the processes that track we have been streamlining the processes we have.

“Over the last several days, we have been using text messages for cases to give them clear information about what they need to do in terms of staying at home, isolating, caring for themselves, seeking additional care where necessary.

“We have got advice about what they should be saying also to their close contacts. We have a very robust contact tracing system, but in addition, we have been streamlining the ways in which clinical teams can then be aware of and care for patients newly diagnosed with COVID-19, so it is a robust system that we worked through across the health system, both in public health, the clinical team and of course working with police who are offering welfare support to patients.”

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says any chance of a “normal Christmas” rests with the state passing its 80 per cent plus vaccination program.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison published an opinion piece in News Limited papers on Sunday stating state borders would be open by the end of the year even though state governments control those borders.

“I don’t want to start debating with the Commonwealth on who is responsible for governing start borders,” Mr Andrews said on Sunday.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday secured a deal for 4 million Pfizer doses from Britain.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

“I think the most important thing is that surely we could all agree with that and work as hard as we can to make that real.

“Getting vaccinated is an incredibly important part of that. As Jeroen Weimar just said and as I’ve said I don’t know how many thousands of times now, getting tested as soon as you feel sick, following the rules, even though we are not chasing zero anymore, we are chasing the lowest number of new cases every day.

“Every 10 cases that we stand here and report, that means one extra person at least is finishing up in hospital.

“Not only do I want Christmas to be as close to normal as possible, I want to do everything I can and appeal to our community to join me in that work to make sure that the tasks, the burden, the challenge that particularly our nurse also face in the coming weeks and months, let’s not make that job any harder than it already is.

“It is incredibly difficult and if we all play our part, there are many people who need not finish up in hospital.

“That’s an important part on the way to a Christmas where hopefully Australia has opened up, and we have got 80 per cent plus of our community through the vaccination program. I think getting that is much more important than whether you can get to Queensland, frankly or whether you go to Perth. “I will leave the border arguments to others.”

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, responding to a question about the hospitalisation for people who have been infected with the Delta strain, including those who are getting treatment at home, said there are 11,000 “being cared for in the community”.

Ms Berejiklian said there are “around 1000 people in hospital about 170 in ICU and 11,000 being cared for in the community”.

Premier Gladys BerejiklianCredit:Edwina Pickles

“Case numbers into the future will be less relevant,” she said. “The number is how many people require hospitalisation and how many people require intensive care.

“If you don’t need to be in hospital, that means your COVID-19 case is being managed. You might be fully vaccinated and fine at home. If you need oxygen you will be taken to hospital. If you have breathlessness, severe symptoms, do not hesitate to call an ambulance.”

Victorian COVID-19 Commander Jeroen Weimar has warned businesses that don’t have stringent COVID-safe protocols will cause major outbreaks.

Mr Weimar said business engagement teams had visited over 600 construction sites in the past four weeks with less than 10 per cent, some 54 sites, showing some non-compliance issues.

“My thanks to the whole industry and to all of the guys working on site for maintaining the really strong discipline day after day after day,” Mr Weimar said.

“We had 54 sites, particularly in the light construction sector, where mask-wearing wasn’t as strong as it needed to be, site registers weren’t as strong as they needed to be, cleaning arrangements were not as strong as they needed to be.

“It is in those sorts of gaps that we see sites like the Box Hill construction site suddenly jump.“If you have the breaks in protocols, COVID will get in and spread rapidly across your workforce and across your site.

“We have issued enforcement notices to those not complying, but a big callout to those, for all the work you are doing, to keep your places as safe as possible now we are dealing with the Delta variant.”

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says restrictions may be eased in regional NSW next week and in the local government areas of concern, once the state hits targets of 70 per cent and 80 per cent fully vaccinated population is reached.

Ms Berejiklian said it was a balancing act deciding which parts of NSW should be subject to restrictions and those that are free.

“Firstly, (the government’s aim is) not to burden our citizens any more than we need to and secondly to move together forward,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“We need to check the health advice and in some parts of regional NSW, for example, we will be making a decision this week as to what happens to the regions post 10th September because the lockdown technically goes until Friday.

“These are considerations we do on a daily basis but the two principles that guide us, not to burden citizens any more than we need to and secondly where possible to have the rules consistent across the state as much as possible.”

A Victorian healthcare worker at Northern Health and a Wodonga-based interstate truck driver are among Victoria’s new cases on Sunday.

COVID-19 commander Jeroen Weimar said thanked both people for coming forward quickly for testing and then isolating.

He said the Wodonga driver had a number of interstate exposure sites but none in Victoria.

Victoria’s COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar.Credit:Eddie Jim

“He has a number of interstate exposure sites but none in Victoria and as soon as he became symptomatic, he immediately got tested and isolated at home,” Mr Weimar said.

“My thanks to him for doing that so swiftly and a critical part of our continuing to support the interstate freight industry.” Mr Weimar said.

Northern Health, in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, is working with officials to find out which staff had contact with the healthcare worker.

“We do have a positive healthcare worker at Northam Health,” Mr Weimar said. “We believe the infection was acquired outside the facility.

“We are working through exposure sites and other staff impacts but as we’ve seen in last few weeks, strong protocols around the use of PPE and the COVID-safe protocols we believe should reduce that impact and my thanks to the whole of Northern Health for their swift response over the last few days and the coming days.”

Mr Weimar also said a double-vaccinated worker at the JAPARA aged care home in Carrum had tested positive, but no other positive cases have emerged so far.“All the residents and staff testing has come back negative,” Mr Weimar said.

“We will continue to support that site over the coming days.”

Quarantine at home will be an option in NSW soon as NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced a transition in the way the state deals with the virus will commence once 70 per cent of people are vaccinated.

“How we deal with the virus and that includes quarantine, tracking and tracing and how we treat patients (will change),” Ms Berejiklian told reporters on Sunday morning.

Premier Gladys BerejiklianCredit:Edwina Pickles

“There is a range of things we will be transitioning from when we hit 70 per cent double dose and the current quarantine system has reached its use-by date.

“When Australians coming back home fully vaccinated with a credible vaccine, it would make sense that they could quarantine at home and we are already considering when we do that and the transition will start in earnest when we hit 70 per cent double dose.

“The planning has already started, to see what life was like for Aussies coming home when they are fully vaccinated. We still need some form of quarantine, whether it is in the future for international students, skilled labour, but as far as Australians are concerned, if you are fully vaccinated with a credible vaccine, you should be allowed to quarantine at home and that is a transition we will be making.”

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