Queensland records no locally acquired COVID-19 cases as state closes borders to six Sydney council areas

 

Police will ramp up patrols and vehicle intercepts on the Queensland border.(

ABC News: Jennifer Huxley

Queensland has declared more New South Wales local government areas COVID-19 hotspots as the southern state's cluster of the highly infectious Delta variant grows.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said as of 1:00am on Thursday, Queensland will close its borders to Sydney, Bayside, Woollahra, Canada Bay, Inner West and Randwick council areas.

The state already declared the Waverley Council area a hotspot.

Travellers from those areas will be barred from entering the state, while Queenslanders returning from those areas will be placed in hotel quarantine.

Non-Queensland residents who have visited those areas will need an exemption to enter the state and will also need to quarantine.

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Queensland set to open border to Victorians from Friday

 

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Credit:Attila Csaszar

“That is great news for people there,” she said during a COVID-19 update on Tuesday. “I know there are a lot of people that would have had their holidays booked to Queensland.”

Ms Palaszczuk said the state’s Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young felt “comfortable with the way Victoria is at, and we will keep a close eye on NSW.”

The update comes after Victoria recorded no new local cases on Tuesday and as New Zealand prepared to resume quarantine-free travel with the state.

There were two cases recorded in Victoria’s hotel quarantine on Tuesday. More than 13,000 COVID-19 test results were processed in the past 24 hours and more than 15,000 people received their vaccine doses from state authorities.

In NSW, cases continue to grow. The state recorded 10 new cases of COVID-19 in the community on Tuesday – five cases were detected in the 24 hours to 8pm on Monday, two of which had already been reported. An additional seven cases were detected after 8pm.

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Ten new local COVID-19 cases recorded in NSW as mandatory masks extended for seven days

 

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Source: AAP

Ten new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases have been recorded in New South Wales, taking the number of infections linked to a Sydney cluster to 21, amid fresh fears over "fleeting" transmission at a Bondi Junction shopping centre. 

The official case tally for Tuesday was five cases, including two announced on Monday. Seven additional cases were detected after the 8pm cut off and will be included in Wednesday's figures.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced extended mandatory mask restrictions on Tuesday, with all people in Greater Sydney, Wollongong and Shellharbour required to wear a face mask while indoors for an additional seven days.

The three new cases included in Tuesday's numbers include a woman in her 60s from the Illawarra, a woman in her 40s from Sydney's northern suburbs, and a woman in her 20s from the eastern suburbs who is believed to have contracted the virus through "fleeting contact" while working at Westfield Bondi Junction.

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Australia’s vaccine rollout ‘constrained’ by Pfizer supply shortages until August

States and territories say more GPs will be needed to dispense Pfizer when supplies increase later in the year

Australia’s vaccine rollout will be limited by Pfizer supply constraints until deliveries increase from August. Photograph: Dan Peled/AAP

Shortages of the Pfizer Covid vaccine are expected to slow Australia’s rollout through June and July, as states and territories call on the commonwealth to sign up more GPs to dispense doses when supplies increase in August.

The national cabinet met on Monday to discuss Australia’s coronavirus vaccine rollout in the wake of updated health advice that AstraZeneca is not the preferred vaccine for those aged 50 to 59 due to the risk of rare blood clots.

At the meeting, the head of the rollout, Lt Gen John Frewen, gave states and territories projections of the maximum and minimum number of vaccines they will be allocated. The aged care minister, Richard Colbeck, is expected to table the figures at the Senate’s Covid-19 inquiry on Monday evening.

Before the meeting, the commonwealth agreed to New South Wales’s request for 50,000 Pfizer doses, which Cdr Eric Young told reporters in Canberra would be spread over three weeks.

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NSW and ACT Covid-19 exposure sites: map of Sydney hotspots and list of Canberra coronavirus case location alerts

 

A health worker in Bondi, NSW conducts a Covid test. Check the full list and map of Covid-19 public exposure sites around Sydney and Canberra ACT for coronavirus hotspots and case location alerts.New hot spots have been added at Bondi Junction, Drummoyne, Newtown, Hurstville, Parramatta, Tempe and more. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

Here are the current coronavirus hotspots and Covid-19 public exposure sites in Sydney, regional New South Wales and Canberra – including Bondi Junction, Drummoyne and Shellharbour – and what to do if you’ve visited them

• Follow LIVE Australia Covid news for updates from NSW, Vic, Qld and more
• Covid travel restrictions in Australia
• Vic hotspots list; Qld hotspots; Victoria restrictions explained
• Covid vaccine rollout numbers: tracking vaccination progress
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Authorities have released a list of public exposure sites in Sydney, regional NSW, and Canberra ACT visited by a confirmed case of Covid-19.

Here are the current coronavirus hotspots, Covid exposure sites, venues and case location alerts and what to do if you’ve visited them. See the full list and map below.

List of NSW and Sydney Covid public exposure sites

Users viewing this page via Google Amp may experience a technical fault. If the following table is not displaying correctly, please click here to reload the page on theguardian.com which should correct the problem.

To help you find the exposure sites you’re looking for, the list can be sorted by suburb or site name by clicking or tapping on the column headings in the table.

To see the column headings and sort them, this page needs to be viewed on desktop or, if using a mobile web browser, by turning your phone sideways to view the page in landscape.

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State takes testing to ‘a new level’ in fight against Delta COVID-19 strain

Tens of thousands of people who visited one of Sydney’s biggest shopping centres have been asked to get a COVID-19 test regardless of symptoms as health authorities change their approach in an attempt to “flush out” undetected cases of the fast-spreading Delta variant.

It comes as the eastern suburbs cluster grew to nine cases on Sunday, with three new locally acquired cases reported. Masks are now required indoors across large parts of the city.

Masks are compulsory in seven local government areas - Randwick, Bayside, Canada Bay, Inner West, City of Sydney, Waverley and Woollahra - including in retail, theatres, aged care facilities, for front-of-house hospitality staff and on public transport.Credit:Edwina Pickles

Numerous venues, including several shops at Birkenhead Point shopping centre in Drummoyne, were added to the list of possible exposure sites on Sunday.

NSW Health asked anyone who was at Westfield Bondi Junction, including the car park, at any time on the weekend of June 12 and 13 to get tested but only people with symptoms and those at specific exposure venues at certain times are asked to also isolate.

The most recent cases include a woman in her 30s, a household contact of a man also in his 30s who frequented Westfield Bondi Junction and spent time in Wollongong and a man and woman, both in their 50s from the Sutherland Shire, who were in isolation and are close contacts of existing cases.

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Australia's first locally made COVID-19 mRNA vaccine candidate is set for clinical trials

 

The first clinical trials are expected to involve around 150 people, the Victorian government says

He said his team believed this approach was likely to produce a better kind of booster shot for future variants, which could be given to those already vaccinated against the original strain.

The team is also in the early stages of testing an mRNA vaccine candidate modelled on the Kappa variant.

And there's a protein vaccine being trialed as well?

Yes, that's right.

While Monash University has developed an mRNA vaccine candidate, the Doherty Institute has developed a protein vaccine candidate.

Both of them are focused on the receptor-binding domain of the Beta strain, so Professor Pouton said it made sense to work together and run the Phase 1 trial side by side.

The hope is, we'll learn more about whether the approach of targeting the receptor-binding domain is going to be useful to prepare us against future variations.

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Multiple Victorian businesses shut down for breaking COVID-safe rules

 

More than 150 businesses have been found not complying with QR code requirements. (9News)

Several businesses in Victoria have been shut down for COVID-safe breaches.

The state government today confirmed seven Melbourne businesses in retail, hospitality and health and beauty were forced to close for failing to follow correct COVIDSafe protocol.

 

A retail store in St Albans was shut down for unauthorised trading during lockdown.

 

A health and beauty business in South Melbourne was also closed for exceeding density limits and having no density quotient signage, no COVIDSafe plan and no QR code check-in system in place.

 

Fines of $1652 were also handed to a hospitality venue in Essendon and a retail venue in Campbellfield for not having the Victorian Government's QR code check-in system in place.

 

In the past week authorised officers saw 168 instances of QR code non-compliance.

 

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Flight attendant tests positive for COVID-19 in Queensland after DFO visit in Brisbane

A woman has tested positive to COVID-19 in Queensland overnight.

Queensland Health said in a statement that the woman, aged in her 30s, had completed 14 days of hotel quarantine at 9:00am on Saturday.

She had returned negative tests during hotel quarantine.

Shoppers who visited DFO in Brisbane on Saturday are being asked to quarantine and await advice from Queensland Health. ABC News: Jim Malo

A follow-up test on June 19 shortly after leaving hotel quarantine — which was as part of routine aircrew surveillance — came back positive on Saturday evening.

The woman has been out in the community, travelling in a private shuttle bus to accommodation in Hamilton, north of Brisbane yesterday morning, before going to the DFO shopping centre near Brisbane airport and the CBD in the afternoon and a restaurant in the early evening.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said while the risk is low she was taking a very cautious approach. 

"She came into Brisbane on June 5 on an Emirates flight and we know she had contact with a positive case on that flight who had the Delta variant," Dr Young said.

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Fears AstraZeneca reputation has been ‘tarnished’ beyond repair

 

Brendan Crabb, director and chief executive of the Burnet Institute.Credit:Jesse Marlow

Vaccination experts say they fear the reputation of the AstraZeneca vaccine could have been tarnished beyond repair in Australia, leaving the population dangerously exposed to coronavirus outbreaks in the months to come.

Following the latest decision by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation to limit the AstraZeneca vaccine to those over 60, doctors say patients have been cancelling their vaccine appointments in droves and abusing receptionists as they demand the Pfizer jab instead.

While top vaccine experts say AstraZeneca may not be as widely used in Australia in future when supplies of alternatives increase, they believe negative public sentiment around the safety of the vaccine is out of proportion with the risks posed by a serious but rare side effect.

Burnet Institute director Brendan Crabb said the AstraZeneca vaccine had proven to be more effective in the real world than predicted in clinical trials. The 54-year-old said he would not hesitate to have his second dose.

“COVID is truly terrible and there’s every chance AstraZeneca induced immunity would stand between me and serious illness,” Professor Crabb said.

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Anti-vaccine activists aim to 'convert' Victorians queuing up to receive COVID-19 jab

 

Anti-vaccine activists have targeted inoculation hubs in Melbourne.
ABC News: Daniel Fermer

CoronaCheck is RMIT ABC Fact Check's weekly email newsletter, dedicated to fighting the misinformation infodemic surrounding the coronavirus outbreak.

You can read the latest edition below, and subscribe to have the next newsletter delivered straight to your inbox.

CoronaCheck #70

In this week's CoronaCheck, we bring you disturbing footage of anti-vaxxers trying to dissuade people queuing at a Melbourne COVID-19 vaccination centre from getting the jab.

We also debunk claims the dramatic mid-game collapse of an international soccer star was brought on by a coronavirus vaccine, and take the measure of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's carbon footprint.

Quest to 'convert' vaccine recipients

Anti-vaccine activists have hounded people queuing outside a COVID-19 vaccination centre in Melbourne in an attempt to convince them not to go ahead with immunisation.

Video appeared to show at least one woman having been swayed by the group's efforts.

Footage shared to the encrypted messaging service Telegram on May 29, and seen by Fact Check, shows a small group approaching people queuing for vaccination outside the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC).

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 Anti-Vaxers have Rocks Between their Ears

Sydney cluster grows by two cases with new infections linked to Westfield

 

Westfield in Bondi Junction. (Wolter Peeters)

Sydney's new coronavirus cluster has grown by a two cases, as new alerts were issued for Sydney trains, an Ikea and a cafe as far south as Wollongong.

 

It brings the cluster to six, with much of the focus of calls to get tested continuing to focus on thousands of people who went to Westfield Bondi Junction last weekend.

 

There were officially two new cases recorded, but one, a woman in her 70s who crossed paths with the 'patient zero' driver in Belle cafe in nearby Vaucluse was announced yesterday, and another will be in tomorrow's figures.

 

A woman in her 40s who lives near Westfield Bondi Junction and often walks though is one of the new cases. It's not know when she might have caught the virus but officials say it could have been last weekend.

Sydney's latest exposure sites

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Should COVID vaccines be compulsory for care home staff? Experts debate

 

The UK government has announced that COVID-19 vaccination will become mandatory for staff working in care homes for older people in England. Staff will be given 16 weeks to get the vaccine. If they don't get the jab, they will be redeployed from frontline care or lose their job.

Mandating vaccination would increase vaccine uptake in care home workers, but it would be a significant intrusion into individual freedom. Is it ethically justifiable?

Yes—Professor Dominic Wilkinson

In the early phase of the pandemic, some of the most medically vulnerable people ended up catching coronavirus from those caring for them; 40,000 patients in England are said to have caught COVID while in hospital. Some patients and care home residents died from infections that they caught from their caregivers. We must do everything possible to avoid repeating this tragic and distressing situation.

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Epidemiologist warns of 'problematic' growth linked to Sydney's COVID-19 Delta strain

 

  

 

 Sydney is on alert again after two locally acquired cases.AAP: Jason O'Brien

 

Sydney is "in trouble" and restrictions need to be brought in "quickly" after it was revealed a limousine driver was found to have the Delta strain of COVID-19, a leading epidemiologist says.

The coronavirus outbreak in Sydney's eastern suburbs grew to four cases today after a man in his 50s tested positive for the virus.

NSW Premier Gladys Ms Berejiklian said the new infection appeared to have contracted the virus while at Myer inside Westfield shopping centre at Bondi Junction, on June 12.

A limousine driver aged in his 60s was found to be carrying the Delta strain and police are investigating whether he breached quarantine protocols.

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ACT lists two exposure sites after positive COVID-19 case travelled from NSW to Canberra

 

ACT Health has listed two coronavirus exposure locations.

ACT Health has confirmed a positive COVID-19 case from New South Wales visited the territory on Monday 14 June. 

The man in his 40s is from Sydney's north-western suburbs. His test results showed "low virus levels, which NSW Health has not been able to rule out as a possible case of COVID-19".

ACT Health has listed two sites as exposure locations in the ACT. 

They are urging those who were at the venues at the specified times to immediately isolate until further advised by ACT Health, get a COVID-19 test and fill in the declaration form available at the ACT Health website.

Health authorities are also asking all those who visited the National Gallery of Australia, including the main gift shop, from 12-2pm on Monday,  June 14, to be vigilant for any COVID-19 symptoms, and immediately get tested and isolate if symptoms develop.

ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman said this morning that authorities do not think the case is highly infectious. 

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AstraZeneca vaccine recommended for over-60s only after advice from ATAGI

ATAGI has recommended that only people aged over 60 receive the AstraZeneca vaccine. (AP)

 

Australia's vaccine rollout has undergone a major shake-up.

 

The federal government has accepted advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisations (ATAGI) that the AstraZeneca vaccine only be administered to people aged 60 and above.

 

Health Minister Greg Hunt said the decision to advise AstraZeneca jabs be restricted to over-60s is a "conservative" decision.

 

"The UK, for example, has an age range of 40 and above, South Korea 30 and above, and Germany has no age limits after 18 and above," he said.

 

The new advice follows the Therapeutic Goods Administration's report of 12 new blood clot cases linked to the vaccine, with seven of those in people aged 50-59.

 

Mr Hunt said the Pfizer vaccine would now be accessible to everybody aged 40-59.

 

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‘Victoria is a powder keg’: Experts fear virus still circulating as testing rate drops

 

The queue for a COVID-19 test at Normanby Street in South Melbourne on Wednesday.Credit:Paul Jeffers

Coronavirus is still smouldering away in Victoria, infectious diseases experts suspect, as plummeting testing numbers fuel fears of undetected cases circulating in the community.

Melbourne infectious diseases physician Michelle Ananda-Rajah said until vaccine uptake rose substantially, testing remained the most critical measure in Victoria alongside contact tracing to avoid another mass outbreak, but she feared “coronavirus fatigue” was leading to a drop in testing numbers.

“Victoria is a powder keg that could blow at any time,” Dr Ananda-Rajah said. “Right now, we are primed for a third wave because we are largely unvaccinated against the disease. Winter is here and we know infections go up at this time. On top of this, we’ve got more transmissible variants of the virus in the mix.”

COVID response commander Jeroen Weimar said health authorities remain extremely concerned the virus was still circulating after a vaccinated nurse had tested positive and may have been infectious while working at Epping Private Hospital on June 14. “There is a full, instant response team working through the circumstances,” he said on Wednesday.

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Household contact of NSW COVID-19 case tests positive, Bondi Junction listed among Sydney exposure sites

 

The Bondi Beach COVID-19 testing site has been operational since the early stages of the pandemic.ABC News

The household contact of a new locally acquired case of COVID-19 has also tested positive in Sydney.

On Wednesday afternoon, a COVID-19 case was detected in Sydney's eastern suburbs, sparking an urgent investigation as to its source and warnings for a swathe of venues.

NSW Health said the case, a man from Bondi in his 60s, worked as a driver and that international flight crew had been among his passengers.

A person who lives with the man also received a positive test late on Wednesday evening.

Both men visited the Bondi Junction shopping centre in the city’s east several times in recent days.

Anyone who has been to the following venues must get tested and isolate immediately:

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Victoria COVID restrictions to ease on Friday with 25km radius and masks outside gone in Melbourne

Melbourne’s travel radius will be scrapped and restrictions on gatherings, masks and hospitality will ease under Victoria’s next steps.

On Wednesday, Acting Premier James Merlino held a much-anticipated press conference and said the “state can come back together”.

Regional Victoria has been under more eased restrictions, but metropolitan Melbourne has still had a ban on gatherings, a 25 kilometre travel limit and mandatory masks everywhere since moving out of lockdown last week.

That will all change from 11.59pm on Thursday.

Melbourne’s new restrictions

From Friday, Victorians will have complete freedom of movement with the 25-kilometre travel radius disappearing.

It was put in place to stop Melburnians travelling to the regions over the long weekend, but will be gone in the coming days.

There will be changes to mask rules and residents will only be required to wear them outdoors when they cannot social distance.

Masks will still need to be worn indoors.

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What is the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine? Will it be available in Australia soon? And does it use mRNA?

 

The Novavax COVID-19 vaccine has been found to have more than 90 per cent efficacy, paving the way for it to be available later this year in Australia.

The successful results from the phase 3 clinical trial of more than 30,000 volunteers in the United States and Mexico puts Novavax on track to have its two-dose vaccine approved in the US and elsewhere in the third quarter of 2021.

It backs up results of a UK study, released in January, that showed a similar efficacy in preventing infection from coronavirus.

Read our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic

What is Novavax?

Novavax is an American company based in the state of Maryland.

It was founded in 1987 and focuses on producing vaccines for COVID-19, as well as other serious diseases, such as Ebola and the flu.

The company's COVID-19 vaccine is officially called NVX-CoV2373.

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 Anti-Vaxers have Rocks Between their Ears