Australia news LIVE NSW records 1043 new local COVID-19 cases 11 deaths Victoria records 733 new cases one death as police brace for more protests
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Medical clinics and a flight school are among new COVID-19 exposure sites identified by Victorian health authorities.
MedicAid Medical Clinic in the regional city of Geelong was declared a tier-1 or close contact exposure site on Wednesday, September 22 between 11.45am and 1pm.
Anyone who attended the clinic during that timeframe has to immediately get tested for COVID-19 and quarantine for 14 days from the exposure, regardless of whether they receive a negative test result.
The University RMIT Flight School at the RAAF Base at Point Cook in Melbourne’s south west was declared a tier-1 site on Friday, September 17 between 8am and 5.30pm.
Also declared tier 1 was Kelly Reynolds Hair at Camperdown, about 190 kilometres west of Melbourne.
The remainder of new sites are tier 2, and include the Murray House Clinic at Berwick in Melbourne’s south east, and Warrnambool Train Station in Victoria’s south west.
A number of other venues in Warrnambool were also identified as tier-2 sites, as were several venues in Camperdown, a V/Line bus from Warrnambool to Camperdown, and several venues in the regional city of Bendigo.
Authorities also identified multiple new tier-2 sites at Brunswick and Coburg North in Melbourne’s north.
A full list of Victorian exposure sites can be found here.
Victoria Police said it had arrested 215 people during a fifth day of unrest in Melbourne’s CBD and inner north.
“Police responded quickly as small groups of protestors gathered throughout the afternoon in various locations,†Victoria Police said in a statement.
Thirty-one people were arrested in the inner-northern Melbourne suburb of Northcote, police said, “after a group of up to 80 demonstrators attended at a park on Separation Street and a nearby shopping centre this afternoon†in contravention of public health orders.
“In total, 215 people will be issued with penalty notices for breaching the CHO [Chief Health Officer] directions.
“A number of other people will be charged with criminal offences including deception, theft and drug offences.
“Police are disappointed to see the number of people who are continuing to breach the CHO directions and remind those people that we will not tolerate their behaviour and will continue to arrest and fine them if they are found to be in breach of the CHO directions.â€
A small number of Victoria Police officers have been identified as close contacts of a protester who attended an anti-lockdown, anti-vaccine rally in Melbourne’s CBD on Wednesday.
“The officers involved have been informed to get tested and isolate,†a Victoria Police spokeswoman said.
Anti-lockdown protesters face off with Victoria Police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne on Wednesday.Credit:Eddie Jim
“For operational reasons, numbers will not be provided on how many officers were placed into quarantine as a precautionary measure.â€
The spokeswoman said the community can be assured that “service delivery to the public will remain unaffected†while some officers are in quarantine.
Victoria’s Department of Health confirmed on Thursday that the person who attended the protests was in a Melbourne hospital being treated for COVID-19.
Victorian health authorities have identified nearly 30 new casual contact COVID-19 exposure sites, including a medical centre in Melbourne’s south-east and several supermarkets.
Casey Superclinic at Berwick was declared a tier-2 exposure site on Sunday, September 19 between 11am and 11.45am. Tier-2 contacts must get tested urgently for COVID-19 and isolate until receiving a negative result.
Many of the other new sites are around the city of Geelong in regional Victoria. They include a Chemist Warehouse, a bottle shop, supermarkets and a Kmart at Corio in the city’s north, a pharmacy and Aldi at Bell Park in the north west, and Coles and Woolworths at Lara, a town north-east of Geelong.
The new tier-2 sites also include a Woolworths at Wodonga on the Victorian and NSW border, as well as a Liquorland at Brunswick in Melbourne’s inner north.
Authorities warned there would be some tier-1 contacts identified at the otherwise tier-2 bottle shop.
A full list of Victorian COVID-19 exposure sites can be found here.
African countries whose populations have had little to no access to life-saving COVID vaccines have taken their urgent pleas directly to richer countries’ leaders at the United Nations annual General Assembly.
“The virus doesn’t know continents, borders, even less nationalities or social statuses,†Chad’s President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, told the meeting of country leaders in New York.
A COVID-19 patient is treated in N’Djamena, Chad. While the world’s wealthier nations have stockpiled coronavirus vaccines for their citizens, many poorer countries are scrambling to secure enough doses.Credit:AP
“The countries and regions that aren’t vaccinated will be a source of propagating and developing new variants of the virus. In this regard, we welcome the repeated appeals of the United Nations Secretary-General and the Director-General of the [World Health Organisation] in favour of access to the vaccine for all. The salvation of humanity depends on it.â€
The struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic has featured prominently in leaders’ speeches over the past few days, many of them delivered remotely because of the virus. Country after country acknowledged the wide disparity in accessing the vaccine, painting a picture so bleak that a solution has at times seemed impossibly out of reach.
The World Health Organisation says only 15 per cent of promised donations of vaccines â€" from rich countries that have access to large quantities of them â€" have been delivered. The UN health agency has said it wants countries to fulfil their dose-sharing pledges “immediately†and make shots available for programs that benefit poor countries and Africa in particular.
AP
Read the full story here.
Universities are urging the federal government to recognise Chinese COVID-19 vaccines to help open the door for the return of Chinese students.
State and federal governments on Friday approved a plan to allow up to 500 international students to enter NSW by the end of the year.
The plan requires all students, who will complete 14 days’ quarantine in Sydney, to be fully vaccinated with vaccines recognised by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, including Pfizer, Johnson and Johnson, Moderna and AstraZeneca.
However, this precludes students from key markets including China.
Universities in NSW are looking forward to hundreds of international students returning by the end of the year under a pilot program.Credit:Louise Kennerley
NSW Vice-Chancellors’ Committee convenor Professor Barney Glover urged the medicines regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, and the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation to move quickly to advise the government about how people with non-approved vaccines, including those from China and Russia, can enter Australia under certain quarantine arrangements.
“That work is vital,†he said. “It needs to be a high priority. If you want to open your borders you need to have a broad vaccination strategy.
“We are encouraging the Commonwealth to move quickly on that. It is not just important for international education. It is going to be important for short visitation and long visitation.â€
Read the full story here.
New Zealand has recorded nine new cases of COVID-19 in the community, all of whom are in Auckland.
“Of these new cases, all 9 are epidemiologically linked. Of yesterday’s cases, 7 people were potentially infectious in the community. The rest were in isolation during this time,†the NZ government said in an update.
“There are now 13 cases in hospital, all in the Auckland area. Of these, 3 are in an intensive care or high dependency unit. There are no cases to report at the border.
“The total number of active cases in New Zealand is 256 - this includes 228 cases in the community and 28 border cases.â€
Thirteen people are in hospital in Auckland with COVID-19. Of those patients, three are in intensive care.
Auckland moved out of its strict “level four†lockdown to alert level three, which still involves stay-at-home orders, at 11.59pm on Tuesday. The rest of the country is at alert level two.
The level three restrictions in Auckland will be in place for at least two weeks and will be reviewed on October 4.
New Zealand lockdowns explainedDubai-based carrier Emirates has become the world’s first airline to implement a digital health pass for all passengers, following a successful trial that began in April.
The airline will use the International Air Transport Association’s “IATA Travel Pass†across its entire network after it slowly expanded its use to 12 routes in June.
Along with confirming that passengers are OK to fly, the app will also feature up-to-date information on countries’ entry requirements.
The IATA Travel Pass is a mobile app designed to help travellers manage government requirements for COVID-19 testing and vaccination. The app holds encrypted data including verified COVID-19 test or vaccination results on a traveller’s mobile device. Travellers can then share the information with airlines to prove they have been vaccinated or undergone a recent COVID-19 test.
Along with confirming that passengers are OK to fly, the app will also feature up-to-date information on countries’ entry requirements. There is also a plan to include a registry of testing and vaccination centres.
Several other airlines around the world have been trialling the pass, including Singapore Airlines, Etihad and Qatar Airways.
Qantas confirmed in July that it would also use the IATA Travel Pass for Qantas and Jetstar international flights. Qantas currently plans to resume some international flights from December.
Read the full story here.
Protesters converged this afternoon on the Melbourne suburb of Northcote, shouting “every day†and occasionally hurling abuse at passersby, as anti-vaccination and anti-lockdown protests spilled into a fifth day.
Dozens of protesters gathered about 2pm, walking aimlessly around the car park at Northcote Plaza and at times on the road, stopping traffic.
A woman caught up in protests outside Northcote Plaza on Friday.Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui
But as quickly as it started, it was over, with police arriving in large numbers and forcing protesters to disperse.
At the nearby All Nations Park, metres from the Northcote police station, the short protest was watched by children playing in the playground and people picnicking on the grass. Someone from a nearby high rise balcony shouted “you suck†at the group, prompting jeers from the crowd.
Read the full story here.
Lieutenant General John Frewen said Pfizer has confirmed its coronavirus vaccine deliveries through October, after states and territories raised concerns about a lack of clarity for the second half of that month.
“We are receiving the 9 million doses we expect in October,†he said.
Australia will also receive 3 million doses of the Moderna vaccine each month from October, and the amount of AstraZeneca doses available remains unlimited.
Lieutenant General John Frewen said Pfizer has confirmed its vaccine deliveries through October.Credit:Eddie Jim
General Frewen said normally Pfizer confirms its supplies on a four-weekly basis, but the issue raised in last Friday’s national cabinet meeting was that the company only confirmed doses for the first two weeks of October, and the supply was initially lower than expected.
“They were only able to provide us with the first two weeks’ allocation at that point in time; it was to do with global distribution management issues with Pfizer,†he said.
“They’ve now come through [and] confirmed the third week for us and assured us that we will get our full quota.â€
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has spoken with the pharmaceutical company, General Frewen said. While Pfizer was yet to confirm supplies for November and December, there would be enough doses in the country by next month to vaccinate everyone.
“I do encourage everybody now who hasn’t yet stepped forward to get vaccinated to please do so. The supply is now increasingly available, we’ve got more points of presence, the pharmacies have come online now with Moderna and pumping that through at a great speed,†General Frewen said.
“Everything from here on in, now, it’s just about the willingness of people to come forward and to get vaccinated.â€
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