Australia news LIVE NSW records 124 new local COVID-19 cases Victoria records 26 new cases
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NSW health authorities have identified a number of new COVID-19 exposure sites, including Paddy’s Market in Haymarket, which has been declared a casual contact site.
The following locations are new close contact sites, meaning anyone who attended them during the specified timeframes must immediately get tested for COVID-19 and isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result:
NSW Health also listed additional exposure times for some existing casual contact locations: Woolworths at Fairfield Heights and Bonnyrigg, the Glenrose Village Shopping Centre in Belrose, and Freshness 4 Less and Aldi in Fairfield.
Anyone who visited a casual contact site has to get tested for COVID-19 and isolate until they receive a negative result.
Authorities also identified an additional nine casual contact locations including, Paddy’s Market in Haymarket on Wednesday, July 14 and Thursday, July 15, a Commonwealth Bank and a Choice Pharmacy.
The full list of exposure sites is here.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has told Triple J’s Hack program that the COVID-19 vaccination rollout is two months behind where the government hoped it would be and he’s “not happy†with current levels of vaccination.
He told host Ange McCormack just now that he’s been “very frank†about problems in the vaccination program but “we’ve turned those aroundâ€.
Not for the first time, he points out that AstraZeneca is “the workhorse vaccine for people in the United Kingdomâ€.
But ATAGI, Australia’s expert advisory group on vaccines, has said Pfizer should be the preferred vaccine for under-60s.
At a press conference earlier in Canberra today Mr Morrison said he took responsibility for the vaccination program and for its challenges.
“I’m certainly sorry that we haven’t been able to achieve the marks that we hoped for at the beginning of this year. Of course I am.
“Obviously some things [are] within our control, some things ... are not,†he told reporters at The Lodge in Canberra.
Australia and New Zealand have pulled out of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup over safety concerns, in a move expected to torpedo the showpiece international event.
On the same day league officials expressed a desire for the code to become an Olympic event in time for the Brisbane 2032 Games, the Australian Rugby League Commission and the New Zealand Rugby League informed the International Rugby League (IRL) and Rugby League World Cup (RLWC) organisers of their stance.
The Kangaroos and Kiwis have boycotted the World Cup.Credit:Getty
In a joint statement, the ARLC and NZRL said the decision to withdraw from the World Cup came after considering the risk of COVID-19 infection in the United Kingdom, the worsening environment in Australia and the time a majority of NRL players will spend away from home under strict biosecurity conditions prior to the World Cup.
The ARLC and NZRL resolved that, in the present environment, the risks to athletes and officials travelling to the UK to participate in the tournament this year are too great, and it is unable to endorse Australia and New Zealand’s participation.
ARLC Chairman Peter V’landys said player wellbeing and safety must come first.
Read the full story here.
In case you missed it earlier, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has revealed a fast-tracked plan for pharmacies to deliver COVID-19 vaccinations, distributing AstraZeneca doses from mid-August and the Moderna vaccine from September.
He said at today’s COVID-19 update at The Lodge in Canberra that this would deliver further “horsepower†to the vaccine rollout.
The Prime Minister and senior ministers had come under increasing pressure to apologise for the slow vaccine rollout, and Mr Morrison’s mea culpa followed an apology earlier on Thursday from dumped cabinet minister Darren Chester.
Mr Chester said in a social media post that if it helped people to hear it he was “sorry†the rollout had taken longer than expected.
Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid, who represents doctors, outlined several risks with pharmacy vaccinations but stopped short of calling for the government to reverse its decision as the highly transmissible Delta coronavirus variant spreads in NSW, Victoria and South Australia.
He said GPs were better at managing rare reactions such as anaphylaxis and suggested some pharmacies in areas where the coronavirus is circulating may struggle to make their stores COVID-safe.
Dr Khorshid also argued that GPs would do a better job of informing patients about the risks and benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has been linked to six deaths out of 6.1 million doses.
“That’s not a straightforward conversation, and in our view that’s best done by a GP,†he said.
Read the full story here.
A week is a long time in a pandemic. Six months feels very nearly like a lifetime.
This video by Tom Compagnoni examines the mixed messages of Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s suggestion in February that “our aim is to offer all Australians the opportunity to be vaccinated by Octoberâ€.
Today, the PM said the s-word after days of pressure from commentators: he was “certainly sorry that we haven’t been able to achieve the marks we had hoped for at the beginning of this yearâ€.
And you can visit our vaccine tracker here.
The US military’s top officer has offered a glum assessment of the security situation in Afghanistan, saying the Taliban had seized “strategic momentum†over Afghan military forces who were falling back to protect important cities, including the capital Kabul.
The comments by General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, echoed mounting reports from the ground in Afghanistan. But his sober, almost clinical, account of recent Taliban gains hammered home the point.
“There’s a possibility of a complete Taliban takeover or the possibility of any number of other scenarios,†Milley said. “I don’t think the end game is yet written.â€
The Taliban have taken control of more than 210 of Afghanistan’s roughly 420 districts in recent months, Milley told reporters at a Pentagon news conference. They are also pressuring half of the country’s 34 provincial centres and are aiming to isolate Kabul and other major cities, he said.
Read the full article here.
The New York Times
A residential aged care facility west of Melbourne is on high alert, after a resident came back from hospital potentially infected with coronavirus.
The Mecwacare John Atchison Centre in Hoppers Crossing was notified on Thursday morning that a resident who’d come back from hospital might have COVID-19.
The centre was waiting on Thursday afternoon to get the resident’s COVID test result back.
A spokeswoman for Mecwacare said residents and staff were immediately placed into isolation as a precaution, and staff were wearing full PPE.
“As a precaution, we also completed a deep clean of the entire home today,†the spokeswoman said.
“We are extremely disappointed that this transfer occurred from the hospital. We were advised after the resident was admitted that there was a risk.â€
Victorian health authorities have identified five new “tier-2†COVID-19 exposure sites, bringing the state’s total to 386.
The new tier-2 sites listed this afternoon include a service station at a town called Heyfield, which is 206 kilometres east of Melbourne, and a Forever New clothing store in Craigieburn.
A woman visited the service station on her way back to Melbourne from regional Victoria, after she found out she was a close contact of a COVID case.
Victoria’s Acting Chief Health Officer Ben Cowie said the woman, who authorities later found out was infectious in the community, went to great lengths to ensure she wouldn’t spread the disease while filling up petrol.
“They only made that one stop for petrol, had limited contact with staff, and even disinfected the credit card that they were using before handing it over,†he said during Thursday’s COVID update.
Anyone who has visited tier-2 exposure sites has to get tested for COVID-19 and isolate until they receive a negative result. The new tier-2 sites in Victoria are:
Read the full list of exposure sites here.
Opera Australia has been dealt a devastating double blow after it was forced to cancel upcoming seasons of Phantom of the Opera in Sydney and Melbourne.
Advance ticket sales had reached $20 million for the highly-anticipated blockbuster, due to make its Australian premiere on September 3 in Sydney and then open in Melbourne on November 14. Management is scrambling to reschedule for some time in 2022.
Josh Piterman was due to take the lead role in the Australian premiere of Phantom in September.Credit:Sam Mooy
After the devastation of last year’s COVID lockdown and last week’s news that the remainder of the Sydney winter season was being cancelled, the company was pinning its hopes on Phantom, due to begin rehearsals on Monday, dragging it out of its financial difficulties. Australia star Josh Piterman was to take on the lead role after his run as the Phantom in London’s West End was cut short by the pandemic last year.
“It’s a shocking situation,†artistic director Lyndon Terracini said. “In all sorts of ways, it is worse than it was last year.â€
Read the full article here.
In case you missed it earlier today, there has been a lot of online commentary about a very awkward interaction between Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates in Tokyo.
During a televised press conference, Mr Coates told the Queensland Premier she was going to attend the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony on Friday, even though she had previously said she wouldn’t be going.
“You are going to the opening ceremony,†Mr Coates said while crossing his arms. “As far as I understand, there will be an opening and a closing ceremony in 2032 [when Brisbane hosts the Games]. And all of you have got to get along there and understand the traditional parts of that, what’s involved ... so none of you are staying behind, hiding in your rooms.â€
Speaking on Seven’s breakfast program Sunrise this morning, Ms Palaszczuk said she would now attend Friday’s opening ceremony.
“I’m doing whatever John Coates tells me to do,†she said. “I’m not going to offend anyone.â€
Mr Coates has now issued a statement in response to commentary about his behaviour. He said his comments had been “completely misinterpreted by people who weren’t in the room†and “attending the opening ceremony has always been her choiceâ€.
He said that he and Ms Palaszczuk had a longstanding and very successful relationship and he had had no indication that she was “offended in any wayâ€.
In addition to that statement, Mr Coates told the Herald and The Age that he discussed the exchange in advance with Ms Palaszczuk because she was feeling pressure from the sections of the media not to attend.
“We walked out of there [the media conference] and she thanked me,†Mr Coates said. “The media in Brisbane have been giving her a hard time, saying she shouldn’t go to the opening ceremony, but she had to go.
“The plan was I was going to fix it. I fixed it. I was taking the heat off her. We all came back and had a drink all night in my room to celebrate. I wasn’t having a go at her at all.â€
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