Australia news LIVE Australian Medical Association backs COVID-19 reopening plan France could suspend trade talks

Key postsHide key posts

Latest

1 of 2

Oldest

There were 1083 locally acquired COVID-19 cases reported in NSW in the most recent 24-hour period, and 13 deaths.

NSW Health’s Dr Jeremy McAnulty said there were 1238 people with COVID-19 admitted to hospital, with 234 in intensive care, including 123 requiring ventilation.

Of the 13 people who died, nine were not vaccinated. Two people, in their 70s and 80s with underlying health conditions, had received two doses. A further two people in northern Sydney who died had received one dose.

One man in his 40s from western Sydney died at home, and was diagnosed following his death. There was also a death in Dubbo: a woman in her 70s who died at an aged care facility.

“We extend our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of the people who have died. There have now been 231 COVID-related deaths in NSW since the 16th of June, 297 in total.”

All public pools will open in NSW and restrictions around outdoor recreation will apply to all local government areas in greater Sydney equally as the state hit 81.9 per cent of first doses and 51.9 per cent of second doses, Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced.

“We would love to get that as close to 90 per cent as possible but we know that once we have 70 per cent double as an 80 per cent double dose, life will be so much better than what we are experiencing now,” she said.

Seventeen per cent of 12 to 15-year-olds have also had their first vaccine dose. “As a result of these positive signs, the NSW government is pleased to announce that from next Monday all public pools will be open in a COVID safe way,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“Also, pleasingly, in the areas of concern, all the rules will be the same to the rest of Sydney, except for authorised workers and permits.

“So from tomorrow, very pleasingly, all areas of concern will be equalised, so relating to exercise, recreation or outdoor gatherings, everything will be the same across greater Sydney, except for the list of authorised workers and the associated permits.”

Ms Berejiklian said western and south-western Sydney “have been doing it tougher for so long”.

“They have shown us the way, and what it means to be resilient and strong, I can only imagine what it meant for families, and what it has meant for households, to have to endure those restrictions for such a long period of time,” she said.

“I hope that a’s announcement demonstrates our absolute willingness to provide ease, support, and optimism when we can.”

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian will front the media today, along with NSW Health’s Dr Jeremy McAnulty, to provide an update on COVID-19. You can watch that here at 11am, as usual.

The Victorian government will also give a highly anticipated press conference about the state’s reopening plan. We haven’t got a confirmed time for that yet, but it is expected to be some time after 11am.

School holidays have gotten underway this weekend, but behind the scenes education departments are still finessing the details of how - and in some cases, when - students will return to classrooms next term.

Reporters Michael Fowler and Paul Sakkal say Victoria’s Education Minister James Merlino has been pushing for some students to return to school on October 4 - the first day of term 4 - under the road map for the easing of restrictions. (As we reported earlier, Victorians are expecting this announcement today).

Kindergarten students wearing face masks and separated by plexiglass during a math lesson in New York.Credit:AP

However, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton advised he preferred to open schools once the state approached the 80 per cent double dose vaccination target in November.

Several other ministers within Premier Daniel Andrews’ senior cabinet of eight are keen to see a swift return to the classroom, according to two sources not authorised to speak publicly. It would start with year 12s on October 4, and extend to prep to year 2 students on October 6.

Other government sources said they expected Victoria’s plan to be more conservative than that of NSW, where pubs and restaurants will open once the 70 per cent double dose target is achieved, probably early or mid-October. Despite that, schools in NSW won’t start returning until October 25.

Even with that later date, NSW schools are grappling with fiery divisions among parents about whether students should be back in class, with some calling for remote learning until the end of the year and others wanting their children back on campus as soon as possible.

Many parents of children with chronic health conditions say they are unlikely to return to NSW classrooms this year, despite the Department of Education saying it won’t run a dual system when schools reopen in late October.

The success rate for women trying to have a baby from IVF has jumped almost 20 per cent in a decade, with more women every year using frozen embryos to screen for genetic abnormalities.

Health reporter Lucy Carroll writes that new data shows the number of twins and triplets born in Australia to women who undergo IVF has plummeted to a record low in the past ten years, while the live birth rate continues to climb particularly when using frozen embryos.

Shameela Karunakaran and Julian Rayappu and their three children, aged 5, 3 and 1. Ms Karunakaram underwent IVF to have her children. Credit:Janie Barrett

The overall live birth rate for each embryo transfer has increased from 22 per cent in 2010 to 28 per cent in 2019. One in every 20 babies is now conceived from IVF.

“It is unprecedented to see this rise in the IVF live birth rate in Australia while simultaneously having one of the lowest multiple birth rates in the world,” president of the Fertility Society of Australia, Professor Luk Rombauts, said.

More women are snap freezing embryos, Professor Rombauts said, which allows for screening of abnormalities. The new rapid freezing technique, or vitrification, helps clinicians to cryopreserve embryos more effectively than older methods.

Read the full story here.

Victoria has recorded 507 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24-hour reporting period, and one death.

There were also 43,441 vaccine doses administered across the state.

It’s a big day for Victorians as they prepare for the state government to unveil its re-opening road map.

The plan will outline Victoria’s path out of lockdowns in line with the nationally agreed targets of 70 and 80 per cent double dose vaccination coverage. The former is expected in mid to late October and the latter in November.

A minor easing of travel restrictions and hospitality rules are expected at the 70 per cent double dose target, but the details were still being thrashed out between Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton and cabinet last night.

A minor easing of travel restrictions and hospitality rules are expected at the 70 per cent double dose target in Victoria.Credit:Eddie Jim

Some government sources said they expected Victoria’s plan to be more conservative than that of NSW, where pubs and restaurants will reopen and five visitors will be allowed in the home once the 70 per cent double dose target is achieved.

They said Professor Sutton had conveyed at meetings this week that the 80 per cent vaccination mark should be the trigger for the wider easing of restrictions to avoid hospitals being overrun.

Government sources also said ministers and Professor Sutton’s public health team were not in lock-step on elements of the move to allow picnics at the 70 per cent first dose target, as Mr Andrews announced on Thursday.

The disagreements between ministers and the Chief Health Officer began midweek and - while internal debates are not unusual - the friction highlights the difficulty the government faces in trying to restore normality for weary Victorians while maintaining control over case numbers and hospitalisations.

Stay tuned for further updates throughout the day. We’ll let you know when we’re expecting an announcement.

The Australian Medical Association has cautiously backed the national plan for reopening and says there is no need to vaccinate children as a prerequisite to ending lockdowns.

However, it warned cities with major outbreaks may need to reopen slower than planned to prevent overwhelming hospitals.

In what it describes as a “middle ground” position paper released today, the peak medical body broadly backs the Doherty Institute’s thresholds for reopening the country once 70 and 80 per cent of the population aged 16 and over is vaccinated.

Residents in some parts of Sydney began picnics this weekend ahead of further reopening next month.Credit:Steven Siewert

But it warns policymakers that easing restrictions with a large number of new infections each day risks overloading contact tracers and hospitals, and calls for the maintenance of “high-impact public health measures” for longer in Sydney and Melbourne.

“There’s a lot more at stake here than just our ability to go back to our normal lives and go out for dinner,” AMA federal president Omar Khorshid said.

The communique comes amid debate about whether 12- to 15-year-olds - who are now eligible for a Pfizer jab - should be vaccinated before lockdowns end, and whether the thresholds for reopening should be more ambitious.

Perth-based Dr Khorshid said it was not necessary to wait until that teenage cohort was vaccinated before opening borders. Instead, the AMA is calling for all age groups to be included in vaccination targets for the final “phase D” of the reopening plan, which largely resembles pre-COVID settings.

Read the full story here.

French outrage at Australia’s decision to abandon a $90 billion submarine deal has escalated to a dramatic new level with President Emmanuel Macron recalling his ambassador from Canberra amid warnings that future trade deals and military ties between the nations are in jeopardy.

Recalled ambassador to Australia Jean-Pierre Thebault has told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that Australia engaged in “lies and treason” for 18 months behind his nation’s back.

French ambassdor to Australia Jean-Pierre Thebault says there has been a breach of trust between the two countries.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Paris took the extraordinary step of recalling its ambassadors from both Australia and the United States yesterday, citing “unacceptable behaviour between allies and partners” stemming directly from Australia’s decision to walk away from the French deal and buy a nuclear-powered submarine fleet from the US and Britain instead.

Mr Thebault said there was an “intentional breach of trust” and “when something serious happens between two countries, really serious, there is a need for reassessment, and obviously consultation at high levels”.

“For us clearly, such a decision announced without any prior consultation â€" not just a phone call, but real consultation due to the scope of the consequences â€" marks a real breach of trust,” he said.

France has recalled its ambassador from Canberra only once before, in 1995 at the height of tensions over French nuclear testing.

Mr Macron’s decision to recall US ambassador Philippe Etienne to Paris for consultations was the first time that action had been taken in the history of their alliance, which dates back to 1778.

Read the full story here.

Latest

1 of 2

Oldest

Share this post