Australia news LIVE NSW records 1288 new local COVID-19 cases seven deaths as state hits 7 million vaccination target Victoria records 176 new cases

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NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and her team are providing the state’s daily coronavirus update.

Watch live below.

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant says authorities are concerned by the spread of COVID-19 on the Central Coast.

There were seven new cases reported in the area to 8pm last night, all who had been infectious in the community.

Three of the cases were linked to a previously notified case.

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant. Credit:Rhett Wyman

“There’s been some unlinked cases in the Central Coast that are raising concern,” Dr Chant said during today’s coronavirus briefing.

“So people who live in or travel through areas like Lake Munmorah, San Remo, Budgewoi [and] Lake Haven are asked to continue to maintain COVID-safe behaviours and if you have symptoms, please get tested.”

NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro thanked regional residents for continuing to come forward for vaccination.

Daily cases in western NSW are declining: there were 23 in Western NSW Local Health District and five in the Far West district reported on Thursday. However, numbers in the Illawarra region are up, with 15 in the Wollongong local government area and seven in Shellharbour.

Mr Barilaro said two cases in Queanbeyan had been linked to the ACT’s outbreak.

The Sydney suburbs most concerning authorities at the moment are Auburn, Guildford Merrylands, Greenacre, Punchbowl, Blacktown and Liverpool, Dr Chant said.

“But, as I’ve repeatedly said ... we are seeing cases increase in other areas and other suburbs, so it’s important as we go about daily requirements to practice COVID-safe behaviours,” she added.

New Zealand has recorded 49 new cases of COVID-19.

The country announced 75 new community cases yesterday.

“The latest number is encouraging and it does show that our alert-level four measures are working,” NZ’s Director-General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, said at today’s daily coronavirus briefing.

New Zealand Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield.Credit:Getty

However, he warned that numbers could still “bounce around”. Auckland remains in lockdown which, locally, is referred to as level-four restrictions.

Two New Zealand Defence Force members involved in the nation’s evacuation mission in Afghanistan have tested positive for coronavirus, the NZ Herald has reported.

People who live in the 12 local government areas of concern in Sydney’s south and west will now be allowed to leave their homes for an unlimited time to exercise, after previously being limited to an hour.

“The public health experts have given us the green light to allow everybody who lives in a local government area of concern to have unlimited exercise,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said during today’s coronavirus update.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian addressing the media during Thursday’s coronavirus update. Credit:Kate Geraghty

The 9pm to 5am curfew in these areas will remain in place.

Ms Berejiklian again encouraged people in the state to book a vaccine appointment if they had not already, saying NSW would “support the national aim” to reopen at 80 per cent full vaccination.

I stress that at 80 per cent double-dose vaccination, we anticipate allowing our citizens to access international travel and also to welcoming home Australians through Sydney Airport.

That is something we want to do on behalf of the nation because during a pandemic we can’t pretend that we’re separate nations within one nation. We all need to work together.

NSW will support the national aim to stick to the plan but also to welcome home as many Aussies as possible.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has just been asked about the case of three-year-old Memphis, stuck in NSW with his grandparents due to border closures since July.

His mother, Dominique Facer, said this morning the boy asks her on the phone in tears “to come and get him” after a trip to his grandparents, near Griffith, before the border was closed on July 23.

LNP Opposition leader David Crisafulli quizzed Ms Palaszczuk on the snap decision and Ms Facer’s inability to get an exemption on compassionate grounds to bring him home in question time.

Here’s her response, which sparked a wave of heated interjections across the floor before Speaker Curtis Pitt called MPs to order:

I’m advised that the exemptions unit have spoken to his parents. And they are … processing and talking to them about that exemption.

NSW has reported 1288 new local COVID-19 cases, as Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced residents in the state had now received 7 million doses of the vaccine.

“Pleasingly today, NSW looks like we’ll be the first state or territory to hit 70 per cent first-dose vaccination across our population,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“I can’t thank our people enough. It’s been a difficult couple of months and the fact that people have heard the messages we’ve been giving and coming forward to get vaccinated â€" hitting that 70 per cent first dose is an outstanding achievement.”

Seven deaths were recorded since yesterday’s update, two of whom acquired their infections in a public hospital:

A man in his 80s from south-west Sydney, who died at Campbelltown Hospital;

A woman in her 80s from south-west Sydney, who died at Liverpool Hospital;

A man in his 70s from south-west Sydney, who died at Liverpool Hospital and is the 12th death linked to this outbreak;

A man in his 80s from Sydney’s north, who died at Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital after acquiring his infection within the hospital;

A man in his 50s from south-west Sydney, who died at Royal North Shore Hospital;

A man in his 80s from south-west Sydney, who died at St George Hospital; and

A woman in her 70s from south-west Sydney, who died in Campbelltown Hospital.

Queensland Labor frontbencher Mark Bailey has brushed off scare-mongering accusations levelled at his government after the Premier raised questions about the vulnerability of unvaccinated children in the context of Australia’s national reopening plan.

Most medical evidence so far suggests children are likely to only suffer mild illness from the Delta strain of COVID-19 if they are under 12. Currently, there are no approved coronavirus vaccines for this age group.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has come under fire for questioning the national reopening plan. Credit:Matt Dennien

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has suggested she will “stand firm” on coronavirus restrictions until she sees updated modelling from the Doherty Institute, which says the country can safely reopen once 70 to 80 per cent of adults are fully vaccinated.

The original modelling did consider the lower transmission rates among children, but assumed nobody under 16 would be vaccinated. Australia’s peak vaccine body has since recommended the Pfizer vaccine for children aged 12 and up.

Queensland-based federal Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews has accused the Queensland state government of “scaremongering” and disputing the advice of health experts.

Asked about the comments on Thursday, Transport Minister Mark Bailey said Ms Palaszczuk had been “very effective in protecting the lives of Queenslanders”.

“We’ve had seven deaths since the beginning of the pandemic because the Premier has been hardline and clear about listening to the health advice,” he said, repeatedly pointing to the numbers of children being hospitalised in the United States.

“I think the Premier is spot on to be conservative. What she wants to see is more research.”

Associate Professor Margie Danchin, paediatrician and immunisation expert at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, has previously said the US data is “being taken completely out of context”.

Addressing state parliament soon after, Ms Palaszczuk said there had rarely been a time throughout the pandemic where Queensland’s measures “have not been attacked”.

“I believe the results of these decisions speak for themselves. We are not in lockdown. Our schools are open. Our businesses are open. Our lives are as close to normal as COVID permits.”

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath says a family of five recently travelled to Melbourne and returned “undetected to the Gold Coast via an inland route”.

“Unfortunately, this family is refusing to be tested and so far is not co-operating with authorities and refusing to reveal where they’ve been,” she said.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath.Credit:Getty

The children went to school at the Australian International Islamic College at Carrara on the Gold Coast on Tuesday. Other students at the school were asked to stay home on Thursday.

Ms D’Ath said some of the family members, who were now in mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine, were unwell.

“We don’t know if it’s COVID; we have to treat it as if it is,” she said.

“In light of these developments, in Logan and on the Gold Coast, we encourage anyone in these LGAs [local government areas] to get tested and isolate until they receive their results.”

Telstra has announced plans to reward its fully vaccinated customers, giving them 2500 points towards its loyalty program if they upload their COVID-19 digital vaccination certificate onto the My Telstra app.

From late September, members of loyalty program Telstra Plus who decide to claim the points will also go into a prize draw to win a further 100 million points.

Telstra CEO Andy Penn.Credit:Josh Robenstone

The telco says 20 winners will receive 5 million points each and $3500 in credit to cover the cost of Telstra services for a year.

Telstra chief executive Andy Penn said getting vaccinated could make a huge difference.

“If you’ve had your jabs, we’ll be giving your Telstra Plus Points balance a shot in the arm as well,” he said.

“This is a global emergency and to beat this we need to come together â€" just as we’ve done in the face of natural disasters and hardships gone by. I urge Australians to get vaccinated as soon as possible, and we want to reward our customers for doing so.”

A new public campaign about consent, sexual violence and respectful relationships will roll out in 2022.

Women’s Safety Minister Anne Ruston says the campaign will use social media ads and public billboards like bus stops to target those who influence young people, such as parents, family members and other role models.

Minister for Families and Social Services Anne Ruston.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

It’s being modelled on the Stop It At The Start campaign â€" and it seems unlikely it will involve milkshakes.

The $29 million package also includes funding for Universities Australia to create and distribute materials addressing sexual violence and harassment across campuses in the new year and for Our Watch to expand its respect and equality in TAFE program beyond Victoria.

Senator Ruston said the Government wants to strengthen the capacity of all sectors to address sexual harassment.

“While we are seeing community attitudes change, we know there is more that needs to be done,” she said.

“There is a demonstrated need for primary prevention activities in higher education settings and vulnerable communities as well as working with men and boys to help stop sexual harassment and violence at the very start.”

On Monday, the government also announced $4.2 million to trial a program that uses overt monitoring and clear penalties to deter domestic violence perpetrators from reoffending.

Next week, it will hold a national women’s safety summit to inform the development of the next national plan to reduce violence against women and children.

Women’s safety experts today have called on the Government to commit to concrete actions at the end of the summit, saying after 12 years of national plans little has changed.

Earlier this year, the federal education department removed two videos from a respectful relationships website following widespread criticism.

One video showed a teenage girl smearing a milkshake over a teenage boy’s face without his permission to represent sexual assault. At the time, sex education experts said the metaphor was potentially confusing and that young people deserved conversations that were more frank and informative.

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