Australia news LIVE NSW records 1480 new local COVID-19 cases nine deaths as state hits 75 per cent first-dose vaccination target Victoria records 221 new cases
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Victorian Premier Dan Andrews, Health Minister Martin Foley and Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton are due to provide a coronavirus update from 11.40am AEST.
Watch live below.
Meanwhile, ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr is due to address the media from 11.45am AEST.
Watch that press conference below.
Good afternoon, Megan Gorrey here. I’m taking over the blog from Broede Carmody to steer you through the rest of the day’s developments. If you are just joining us now, here’s what you might have missed:
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian at today’s press conference. Credit:James Brickwood
Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre vaccination site at Boondall.Credit:Matt Dennien
A war of words has broken out between Peter Dutton and Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath about whether she tried to contact him about the return of Aussie Diggers into hotel quarantine. Queensland authorities rubbished claims Diggers sent to rescue refugees in Afghanistan had been stranded overseas due to delays approving hotel quarantine, saying their return was never in doubt. Ms D’Ath said she had tried to call Defence Minister Peter Dutton about the issue on Wednesday morning and sent him a text, but had not heard back. In response, Mr Dutton tweeted: “Yvette D’Ath’s comment this morning that she called and or texted me is untrue. I have not had any contact from her.â€
Australians will have access to an international vaccine passport from next month.Credit:James Brickwood
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has acknowledged the changes coming for regional Victoria are modest, particularly for country towns that have not had a case of COVID-19.
“I certainly know how hard it’s been for everyone,†Professor Sutton said at today’s press conference. “I do believe today’s announcements are a safe first step for regional Victoria.â€
Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton.Credit:Joe Armao
However, there were five new cases in the regions recorded in the last 24 hours.
One was in Mildura, in a person who is normally a resident of metropolitan Melbourne. A case has also been recorded in the Latrobe Valley, most likely acquired in Melbourne.
Two construction workers who have travelled to Melbourne for work have tested positive, one in Mitchell Shire and another in Moorabool.
In Melbourne, an aged care worker who is fully vaccinated has tested positive. Staff on the same shift are isolating but Professor Sutton said 95 per cent of staff and residents were vaccinated.
A Serco call centre in Mill Park is the site of an outbreak, with four employees and four close contacts testing positive. There are 300 primary close contacts to the outbreak.
Forty-two staff members have been furloughed after a nurse in hotel quarantine tested positive, as announced yesterday.
Stranded Victorians on the other side of the border in New South Wales will be allowed to quarantine at home, as part of a trial agreed to by national cabinet.
Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley says more than 200 people who have been at the border for 14 days â€" from August 25 until today, September 8 â€" will be the first people to quarantine at home.
They will need to apply from Friday night, provide a negative test result and evidence of having received their first COVID-19 vaccine, evidence they have remained at the border, and proof of being a Victorian resident.
Those residents, who are considered the lowest risk, will then need to quarantine at home for 14 days.
Other Victorians should not rush to the bubble, Mr Foley said, as they would not be eligible for the first iteration of the program.
Once the lower risk trial has been done, the state could start to bring back residents from higher risk areas of NSW.
“The last thing we want to do is import that risk into Victoria and make an already challenging situation even more difficult,†Mr Foley said.
A man in his 60s from Dubbo who died at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital was Aboriginal, the Western NSW Local Health District has confirmed.
The health district said the man was unvaccinated and had underlying health issues.
He is the third person to die from COVID-19 in western NSW, and all three people were Indigenous. None had been vaccinated.
Last week, a Dubbo man in his 50s became the first Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person in Australia to die of the disease since the pandemic began. The death of a woman in her 70s from Enngonia was announced on Monday.
Thirty-four new cases have been recorded in western and far western NSW overnight, with the majority in Dubbo.
Nobody hospitalised in Victoria due to COVID-19 has received two doses of a coronavirus vaccine, according to Premier Dan Andrews.
Speaking at this morning’s coronavirus update, Mr Andrews said there are now 120 people in hospital. Of those, 33 are in intensive care. Fifteen are on a ventilator.
Of those hospitalised, 87 per cent have had no vaccine and 13 per cent have had just one dose.
“This is going where the vaccine isn’t. It is a pandemic of the unvaccinated,†Mr Andrews said.
The state recorded 221 cases on Wednesday, 98 of which have been linked to existing clusters and cases. The rest are being investigated.
There are 1920 active cases in Victoria.
Regional Victoria will take slow steps out of lockdown from tomorrow night, with Premier Daniel Andrews confirming the five reasons to leave home would be lifted.
Shepparton will not join the rest of the regions, though, as a COVID-19 cluster continues to smoulder. Greater Melbourne will also continue under strict lockdown.
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews says regional Victoria, except for Shepparton in the state’s north, can come out of lockdown. Credit:Scott McNaughton
The relaxation of the rules for the rest of the state will take effect from 11.59pm tomorrow night.
Regional schools will reopen for prep to year two students, as well as year 12s. Remote learning will remain for all other grades.
Regional Victorians will no longer need a reason to leave home, and there will be no limit to the distance they can travel (unless they travel to a lockdown zone).
The authorised worker list will no longer apply, meaning many venues can reopen with strict capacity limits.
People who can work from home in the regions should continue to do so, but 25 per cent of workers will be allowed to return to the workplace.
Up to 20 mourners will be allowed at a funeral, weddings will be permitted for 10 people, and restaurants and cafes can reopen to seated patrons. Retail, entertainment and community facilities will also reopen in the regions.
However, masks will still be mandatory indoors and outdoors.
All single Melburnians will now be allowed to access childcare, regardless of whether or not they are an essential worker, however no other changes will be announced today for people in the city.
The rules will remain in place until the end of September but Shepparton could join the rest of regional Victoria sometime next week, Premier Daniel Andrews said.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has largely avoided questions from reporters at this morning’s press conference regarding the allocation of COVID-19 vaccines by the federal government among states.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian at today’s press conference. Credit:James Brickwood
Asked what it could mean for NSW if its supply slowed down, or if it should redistribute its doses to the rest of the country, the Premier said Sydney had lower vaccination rates than Melbourne when its current outbreak hit.
“Our vaccination rates were very low when the outbreak really hit, whereas in Melbourne the vaccination rates are a bit higher when they’re going through your outbreak,†she said, adding that she wanted other state premiers to see how NSW had managed its outbreak through vaccination â€" although her state was “not out of the woodsâ€.
“We had to learn to live with [the virus] and that vaccine was the only way out.â€
The Premier said she was “convinced that Victoria, in particular, will get to 80 per cent double dose not too far behind NSWâ€.
“So I have absolute confidence that there’ll be much more movement within Australia,†she said.
The ACT’s daily coronavirus numbers are in.
The state has recorded 20 new, locally acquired cases of COVID-19. That is up from yesterday’s 19 local cases.
Of today’s 20 new cases, nine are linked to known outbreaks. This means there are, at this stage, 11 mystery cases.
The ACT is in lockdown for at least another week.
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro says it is likely regional areas with no cases will soon be able to exit lockdown, but he is unable to provide a concrete answer on when and where.
The regional NSW lockdown was set to end this Friday, although will likely be extended in some regions.
“There is an opportunity to open, but I would argue it would be in a restricted environment, not like the environment pre-lockdown,†Mr Barilaro said.
Asked if people in the Riverina, where there are no cases, could exit lockdown by the weekend, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she would make an announcement “by the end of this week†based on the health advice.
Much has been said about the Burwood local government area, in Sydney’s inner west, which is currently an area of concern despite recording far fewer cases than other council areas, such as the City of Sydney and Inner West.
Ms Berejiklian said the comparison was being made on the basis of population and health authorities did not want to make any adjustment that could “see a skyrocketing of cases†ahead of a predicted increase over the next week.
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