Australia news LIVE State lockdown extended for one month as NSW records 642 new local COVID-19 cases four deaths Victoria ACT cases continue to grow
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NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and her team are due to provide a coronavirus update from 11am AEST.
Watch live below.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is due to address the media shortly.
Watch live below.
For the first time in NSW, residents of hot spots areas in Sydney’s west and south will be living under a curfew.
From Monday, people in the 12 local government of concern will not be able to leave their home between the hours of 9pm and 5am, except for authorised work or emergency situations. Masks will also be mandatory outdoors across the state.
“These additional powers, including the curfews, were from a police perspective, about stopping the spread of the virus,†NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said.
NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said she wanted to indicate that she also “strongly supported†the new restrictions, which complement other actions.
“I understand that this is going to be so hard for everyone across NSW for the next four to six weeks but I do not want to be standing here every day, announcing these high rates of hospitalisations, and these deaths,†Dr Chant said.
“Every one of these deaths is someone mother, father, grandmother, grandfather.â€
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced a number of new restrictions which will come into force in her state, after 642 new cases were reported on Friday.
The Greater Sydney lockdown will be extended until the end of September. However, the Central Coast and Shellharbour regions will be classified as regional NSW, so are only guaranteed to be in lockdown â€" along with the rest of NSW â€" until August 28.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announcing Sydney’s lockdown extension. Credit:James Brickwood
“We’ll wait for health advice before we say anything more about that at this stage,†the Premier said.
In addition, masks must be worn outdoors everywhere in NSW unless a person is exercising.
“Our concern is that when people are walking past a group of people or accidentally bumping into people that, that can cause that fleeting contact can cause transmission,†the Premier said.
Parents and guardians are being encouraged to not send their children to childcare or early childhood facilities amid ongoing issues with transmission between workers in these environments to families, however facilities will remain open for families for whom this is not possible.
A 9pm to 5am curfew will also be introduced for local government areas of concern. People in these areas will also only be allowed to exercise outside their home for an hour a day.
“I apologise deeply, to the vast majority of people in those communities who are so doing the right thing, but for our own health and safety moving forward we need to make these difficult decisions,†Ms Berejiklian said.
NSW has reported 642 new local COVID-19 cases, as Greater Sydney’s lockdown nears the end of its eighth week.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the Sydney lockdown has been extended for another month.
There were also four deaths recorded in yesterday’s reporting period:
More than 132,000 COVID-19 vaccinations were administered across the state on Thursday.
Ms Berejiklian said 54 per cent of NSW residents have now received one dose of vaccine and 29 per cent were full vaccinated.
“Thank you so much. If we keep this rate going we will hit all our targets in relation to vaccination,†she said.
A pop-up testing clinic is being set up at a public housing tower in Collingwood, in Melbourne’s inner north, after COVID-19 fragments were detected in the building’s wastewater.
The tower has been designated a tier-2 exposure site, meaning all residents and visitors have been asked to get tested as soon as possible and self-isolate until they receive a negative results.
Health authorities say the “period of interest†falls between Sunday and Wednesday this week. No positive cases have been linked to the Collingwood site so far.
The tower at 240 Wellington Street becomes the third public housing tower affected by the outbreak in the last fortnight.
Positive cases have been recorded at towers in Flemington followed by Carlton. The latter was picked up by a targeted testing program following a wastewater detection.
While wastewater testing is generally linked to a suburb or region, the state health department has started testing the wastewater specifically linked to public housing towers in recent weeks.
Their aim is to proactively pick up cases in the high-density buildings, which are high-risk environments for the spread of COVID-19, and avoid snap lockdowns like last year’s controversial shutdown of nine towers in North Melbourne and Flemington.
A coronavirus case has been detected in the regional Victorian town of Shepparton.
The positive test comes after health authorities warned of repeated wastewater detections over the last week and urged residents of the town two hours north of Melbourne to get tested.
Regional Victoria has not been under the same lockdowns restrictions as Melbourne since August 10. Hospitality venues are open with capacity limits, retail stores are trading and outdoor gatherings up to 10 are allowed but home visits remained banned.
Matt Sharp, the chief executive of Goulburn Valley Health, confirmed in a social media post that the person was currently at home and isolating.
“Contact tracing is underway and will continue as a primary focus of GV Health’s Local Public Health Unit,†Mr Sharp wrote.
“Further details regarding any community locations of concern will be provided once this information is known and if it represents a concern.
“Anyone identified as a close contact will be contacted directly by the tracing team. Exposure sites will be published during the day as more information becomes available.â€
COVID-19 fragments were also detected in the wastewater in Lakes Entrance, four hours east of Melbourne, between August 8 and August 11.
Lifeline Australia fielded more than 3500 calls on Thursday, the crisis support centre’s biggest day on record.
The support service’s chairman, John Brogden, said that the number of calls reflected the “enormous distress and anxiety in the community†because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
However, there was a silver lining.
“The good news is people are calling, and we can’t underestimate the importance of that,†Mr Brogden told Radio National’s breakfast program.
“That means people aren’t suffering in silence, they’re not staying at home and thinking nobody cares, and they are reaching out.â€
NSW recorded its highest ever daily coronavirus case tally on Thursday. Victoria recorded its highest daily case tally for this current COVID-19 outbreak, and Melburnians marked 200 days in lockdown.
Mr Brogden said that, on average two years ago, Lifeline was fielding 2500 calls a day, so the call numbers on Thursday represented a 40 per cent increase.
“The top, say, 10 days in the history of Lifeline have been this year,†he said.
“So, it demonstrates, I think, what we’re all feeling â€" that this lockdown is a lot tougher than last year’s lockdown, and the spread of Delta is obviously much stronger and frankly scarier.â€
If you or anyone you know needs support, call Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800, Lifeline on 13 11 14, Mensline on 1300 789 978 or Beyond Blue’s coronavirus mental wellbeing support service on 1800 512 348.
Victorian health authorities have identified another childcare centre as a close contact COVID-19 exposure site.
The health department listed MyCentre Child Care in Broadmeadows in Melbourne’s north as a tier-1 site across three days:
On social media, the centre flagged another exposure date: Wednesday, August 11.
Anyone who attends tier-1 or close contact sites has to immediately get tested for COVID-19 and quarantine for 14 days, regardless of whether they receive a negative result.
“If you or anyone in your family develop even the mildest of symptoms, please get tested,†the childcare centre said on Facebook.
“We are very aware that this is a time of high anxiety for us all and may cause inconvenience to families and staff.â€
A full list of Victorian exposure sites can be found here.
As mentioned earlier, the permit for travel into regional NSW is not yet available on the Service NSW website.
We reached out to Service NSW, and a spokesperson has responded with the following:
“Service NSW appreciates the urgency of establishing the Travel and Nominated Visitor registration system in providing clarity for affected customers and helping reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our community.
“Service NSW is working closely with NSW Health and NSW Police, and more information regarding eligibility criteria and the application process for Travel and Nominated Visitor registrations will be made available on the Service NSW website later today.
“We apologise for any inconvenience.â€
NSW Health has issued a statement this morning about the permit system, which takes effect tonight, at 12.01am on August 21. It said permit applications will be made available on the Service NSW website.
The health department also provided further detail about those who will need a permit if they are travelling from Greater Sydney to regional NSW, which includes the Central Coast and Shellharbour.
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