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| Coronavirus Australia update: NSW to tighten pub rules as authorities investigate source of Crossroads cluster – live news | Coronavirus Australia update: NSW to tighten pub rules as authorities investigate source of Crossroads cluster – live news |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Venues will face a smaller cap on numbers and stricter requirements to take patrons’ details as dozens of cases traced to Sydney hotel. Follow live | Venues will face a smaller cap on numbers and stricter requirements to take patrons’ details as dozens of cases traced to Sydney hotel. Follow live |
| The president of the National Farmers Federation, Fiona Simson, will address the national press club today about a plan for agricultural manufacturing, which the NFF says will provide a boost to the Australian economy post-coronavirus. | |
| More from AAP: | |
| Jane Halton, who is leading the national review into the management of hotel quarantine, and who is also the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), says she will alert government immediately if she discovers any issues or failures. | |
| Speaking to Radio National, Halton said: | |
| Halton said she is not concerned about the use of private security guards in managing hotel quarantine per se, but is concerned about the adequacy of their training. | |
| She says hotel quarantine has “served us well to date”, the infection breach in Victoria exempted, and that it is likely the program will be in place for some time. | |
| Halton’s inquiry is separate to an inquiry instituted by the Victorian government, which will examine what went wrong to allow the coronavirus to escape from quarantine hotels. Her inquiry, she says, is prospective, and will be concerned with three issues: compliance with infection control protocols; management of active cases; and support for vulnerable people in quarantine. | |
| The last is an area of particular concern to her, she told host Fran Kelly. | |
| Halton said she was “excited but not ecstatic” about the start of human trials of the prospective vaccine developed by the University of Queensland. She said Helen Clark’s warning that it could take two to three years for a vaccine to be developed and produced at the necessary scale was “very realistic”. | |
| The Kmart store in Casula, southwestern Sydney, near the Crossroads pub, will reopen today after being closed for deep cleaning because a staff member tested positive to Covid-19. | The Kmart store in Casula, southwestern Sydney, near the Crossroads pub, will reopen today after being closed for deep cleaning because a staff member tested positive to Covid-19. |
| A Kmart spokesperson said. | A Kmart spokesperson said. |
| Good morning, | Good morning, |
| Well, that did not last long. Pubs in New South Wales will be subject to tighter restrictions, for a given value of tight, after a special meeting of state cabinet last night. There will be a cap of 300 patrons allowed in any venue – remember venues still had to comply with the one person per four square metres rule – and group bookings will be reduced from 20 to 10. | |
| The changes will be announced today, in response to the outbreak at the Crossroads Hotel, which is linked to 21 confirmed cases with potentially hundreds of close contacts. According to Nine newspapers, they will only apply to pubs – not to clubs or the Star Casino, which was fined $5,000 and had a case reported yesterday. | |
| The source of the outbreak is yet to be confirmed, and the NSW chief public health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, says that authorities are considering the possibility that it originated with a truck driver on the Melbourne to Sydney run. | The source of the outbreak is yet to be confirmed, and the NSW chief public health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, says that authorities are considering the possibility that it originated with a truck driver on the Melbourne to Sydney run. |
| Among those who patronised Crossroads during the at-risk period, of 3 to 10 July, were guards at Sydney’s Villawood detention centre. They are now self-isolating, but refugee advocates are concerned they could already have exposed refugees to the virus. | Among those who patronised Crossroads during the at-risk period, of 3 to 10 July, were guards at Sydney’s Villawood detention centre. They are now self-isolating, but refugee advocates are concerned they could already have exposed refugees to the virus. |
| In Victoria, Nine newspapers reports that public servants sent emails within 24 hours of the mandatory hotel quarantine program being implemented on 28 March, calling for a police presence on site and warning that private security companies were ill-equipped to manage the infection control risks. | |
| And 57 police officers from Frankston police station are now in self-isolation following exposure to Covid-19. | And 57 police officers from Frankston police station are now in self-isolation following exposure to Covid-19. |
| And finally, happy Palace letters release day. More than 200 pieces of correspondence about the dismissal between the Queen, her private secretary, and the then governor-general, Sir John Kerr, will be publicly released today. | And finally, happy Palace letters release day. More than 200 pieces of correspondence about the dismissal between the Queen, her private secretary, and the then governor-general, Sir John Kerr, will be publicly released today. |
| You can follow me on twitter at @callapilla and email me at calla.wahlquist@theguardian.com | You can follow me on twitter at @callapilla and email me at calla.wahlquist@theguardian.com |