Australia news LIVE Victoria records 324 new local COVID-19 cases as state prepares to ease lockdown restrictions in regional areas Greg Hunt defends Pfizer deal
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From today, 11 aged care homes run by TLC Healthcare in Melbourne and Geelong will test every visitor to their homes using rapid antigen tests, which take 10 to 15 minutes to complete.
Rapid antigen tests are much faster but tend to be less accurate than PCR tests, which are done by nasal and throat swabs.
TLC Healthcare said it would be the first aged care provider in the country to test every visitor and worker, with a 95 per cent effective rapid antigen test approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
Chief executive officer Lou Pascuzzi said quickly testing all visitors would allow the home to minimise lockdown and promote safe access for family members.
“Rapid antigen testing of every visitor to a TLC home is a new concept, and it may take some getting used to, but we see this as an invaluable tool in minimising the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak amongst our very vulnerable residents,†Mr Pascuzzi said.
TLC Healthcare said it was critical to prepare for major changes to COVID-19 restrictions once 80 per cent of eligible Australians to be fully vaccinated.
“In the absence of any guidance on how the aged care sector should deal with the challenges of living with COVID-19 come November, TLC will once again be taking the initiative upon itself to implement proactive measures,†Mr Pascuzzi said.
All eligible staff and residents are already fully vaccinated and TLC mandates fortnightly PCR testing for all staff and contractors.
All NSW workers are now eligible for a support payment if they need to isolate while awaiting a COVID-19 test result.
Previously, only essential workers in the 12 local government areas of concern could receive the $320 payment.
From today, all workers aged 17 years and older who cannot work from home can receive the payment.
People must have had a PCR test or be the carer or guardian of someone who needs to self-isolate after a test.
To be eligible to receive the payment people must have been likely to have worked during the period of self-isolation.
Those who can work from home, are receiving income during self-isolation, have access to sick leave, or have been directed to isolate as a close contact of a known case are not eligible for the payment.
Full details on eligibility and how to apply are available here.
Victoria’s daily coronavirus numbers are in.
The state has recorded 324 new, locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and one in hotel quarantine. That’s up from yesterday’s tally of 221 local cases.
The Department of Health says 107 cases are linked to known outbreaks. That means there are, at this stage, 217 mystery cases.
Authorities have not yet said how many new cases were isolating for their entire infectious period. We’re expecting to learn more at this morning’s coronavirus update, which we’ll be sure to broadcast live once the time is confirmed.
There are now 2166 active cases of COVID-19 across the state.
Today’s figures are off the back of yesterday’s 54,242 coronavirus tests.
Police have been forced to set up checkpoints at Rookwood Cemetery after up to 100 people attempted to attend a funeral.
NSW Police said officers from Auburn Police Area Command on Wednesday received information regarding a funeral being held at the cemetery in south-west Sydney.
“About 10.30am, officers attended and set up checkpoints with only designated attendees given access,†police said in a statement.
“Others were turned away with no breaches detected.â€
Under current NSW health orders, 10 people are allowed to attend funerals.
Two childcare centres and a VicRoads office are among the latest tier-1 exposure sites in Victoria.
The Pearl Street Childcare Centre in Glenroy, in Melbourne’s north, has been identified as a tier-1 exposure site for:
In Truganina, in Melbourne’s west, the Yara Childcare Centre on Mala Street has also been listed tier 1 for Friday, September 3 between 8.30am to 5pm.
A VicRoads office in Sunshine, also in the western suburbs, was visited by a COVID-19 case last Thursday between 8am and 5pm.
A depot for Fruithaul, which transports fruit and vegetables, in Cardinia (in Melbourne’s south east) is another tier-1 site for Saturday, September 4 between 5.15am and 6.05pm and again on Sunday, September 5 between 5.15am and 4.30pm.
In Victoria, venues listed as “tier 1†require visitors to stay at home for a full 14 days if they attended at the specified time â€" regardless of their test result.
Many tier-2 sites, requiring people to isolate until returning a negative test result, have also been published online.
They include the Royal Dental Hospital for five days last week, from August 28 until September 1, from 6.30am until 3pm.
Visit the Department of Health website for more details.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has defended his government’s deal with vaccine company Pfizer.
As my colleague Rachel Clun reported yesterday, Mr Hunt did not personally accept an invitation to attend a detailed, formal meeting with Pfizer’s top executives as other countries were on track to sign deals for millions of doses of that particular vaccine.
Health Minister Greg Hunt last month rejected Labor’s claims the government was too slow to engage with Pfizer executives.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
That’s according to documents from June and July last year released under freedom-of-information laws. Australia signed its first contract with Pfizer in November.
Speaking on the Today show this morning, Mr Hunt said “we engaged†with Pfizer from May 2020 onwards.
“[Our] Pfizer ... arrived at the same time as New Zealand, the same shipment in February [this year],†the Health Minister said.
“There were no earlier doses available. That’s a myth being put out by Labor.â€
There was then this insightful exchange between Mr Hunt and Today co-host Karl Stefanovic:
Stefanovic: You [not you personally, but Government representatives] were having initial meetings with Pfizer on June 13. They’re saying, ‘Let’s get the deal done, we’ve got plenty.’ Two weeks after, they’ve done a deal with the US and the UK. We don’t do a deal until November. Ten million [doses]. That’s not enough. If that’s not dragging your feet, I don’t know what is.
Hunt: What we received was the earliest possible available and we received it in the quantities that they made available. That’s because, understandably, they were focusing on mass death in the countries where they were producing. It is precisely because we knew that, that we set up â€" in record speed â€" a sovereign domestic manufacturing program for AstraZeneca ... we secured everything we could at the earliest possible time. But we also knew, in an environment of mass death in Europe and the UK, that’s where they would, understandably â€" to be honest â€" place their early focus and so, therefore, we covered multiple vaccines.
Sydney publican Craig Laundy, who also happens to be the former small business minister, has made an appearance on the Today show.
As mentioned earlier, we’re expecting NSW to unveil its long-awaited recovery road map this morning off the back of the state’s growing vaccination rate. We expect pubs and gyms to reopen to the fully vaccinated by the end of next month.
Former Liberal MP Craig Laundy.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Mr Laundy was asked how this would work in practice (in particular, how it will be policed). Here’s what he had to say:
In discussions we have been having with government, we think that [there will be] ... a public health order.
One entry point and a staff [member] or two on the front door. You do the QR code as we have gotten used to over the last 16, 17 months.
This time [the app] not just registering and leaving but telling the staff member, in any business across NSW, that the person is double vaccinated.
Fingers crossed that will be announced today, hopefully.
Fully vaccinated Sydneysiders will be able to enjoy a drink in a pub by the end of October and some parts of NSW will have restrictions eased within days as the state government reveals its plans to emerge from the extended Delta lockdown.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian will today deliver the long-awaited COVID-19 recovery road map outlining the first freedoms granted to NSW when the state reaches its 70 per cent double dose vaccination target, which is expected to happen in less than six weeks.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian will outline NSW’s long-awaited COVID-19 recovery plan today.Credit:James Brickwood
The first areas to emerge from lockdown are expected to be in the regions with the Riverina, New England and North Coast set to have all restrictions eased as early as Friday.
In Sydney, the first stage of the road map, which was approved by the state’s crisis cabinet on Wednesday afternoon, will allow gyms, hairdressers, restaurants, cafes and pubs to reopen at reduced capacities.
Read more about NSW’s plans here.
Victoria is predicted to have 18,000 active COVID-19 cases and 800 people in hospital by mid-October, prompting health officials to warn that not enough specialist intensive-care staff are available to cope if infections surge once restrictions ease.
With most regional Victorians expected to come out of lockdown at midnight on Thursday and Melburnians hoping for some easing of restrictions this month, Health Department data has fuelled concerns about the ability of hospitals to deal with an influx of gravely ill patients.
A paediatric nurse helps prepare extra beds at the Monash Medical Centre on Wednesday.Credit:Jason South
According to a health official who was not authorised to speak publicly, finding nurses and other health professionals to staff intensive-care beds for the rising number of COVID-19 patients would be the greatest barrier to the state’s response to a surge in cases.
More on this story here.
A federal ban on Australians leaving the country will be dropped as soon as November under plans to ease travel restrictions and embrace a “vaccine passport†so travellers can prove they are allowed to cross international borders.
The plan could be announced within days after federal cabinet discussed the changes on Wednesday night in another step toward a travel pass linked to the Australian Immunisation Record that people can download to their phones after being fully vaccinated.
Australians could be allowed to leave the country as early as November.Credit:Jason South
While Australians have been forced to seek permission from the Department of Home Affairs to leave the country during the pandemic, federal ministers want to dismantle the restriction as soon as the vaccination rate reaches 80 per cent of people aged 16 and over.
Read the full story here.
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