Australia Covid news live: PM confirms extra Pfizer doses as NSW records 141 new cases and two deaths, including woman in her 30s
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Version 14 of 19. Follow all the latest updates, live We already knew this but here is the official tweet from SA Health with today’s numbers. The state reported three new Covid-19 cases today, but the premier says because they were all in “strict quarantine” the state is still on track to end its lockdown on Tuesday. Good afternoon everyone, it’s Matilda Boseley back again to take you through the rest of this Sunday’s news. If there is something you reckon I’ve missed or think should be in the blog but isn’t, shoot me a message on Twitter @MatildaBoseley or email me at matilda.boseley@theguardian.com Well folks, it’s been a big day of news and my time on the blog today is coming to a close. But before I go, I want to quickly recap some of the biggest news stories of the day: NSW recorded 141 new locally-acquired Covid-19 cases, 38 of which were infectious while in the community. The state also sadly recorded two deaths overnight: a woman in her 70s, and a woman in her 30s with no pre-existing conditions. The federal government has rejected calls from NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet to reinstate jobkeeper for those struggling under lockdown. NSW Police have set up a strike force to help identify all of the anti-lockdown protestors in Sydney yesterday. Police have already charged two men for allegedly striking police horses during the protests. The federal government has secured 85 million doses of Pfizer to be delivered in 2022 and 2023, to provide every Australian with access to a vaccine booster shot. 38% of Australians aged 16 and over have had one Covid-19 dose; 16% have had two doses and are fully vaccinated. Victoria recorded 11 new locally acquired Covid-19 cases, all of whom were in isolation during their infectious period. Premier Daniel Andrews said it was too soon to say whether the state’s lockdown would be lifted on Tuesday night. SA recorded three new Covid-19 cases, all of which were in isolation. The state looks on track to lift the lockdown on Tuesday night as planned. QLD and ACT recorded no new locally acquired cases overnight. And in better news, Australia scored our first three medals at the Tokyo Olympics. The women’s 4x100 metres freestyle relay team took out the gold and won a world record time. Brendon Smith also won bronze in the men’s 400m individual medley, while Jack McLoughlin claimed silver in the men’s 400m freestyle. Thanks so much for joining me. This is Justine Landis-Hanley signing off. I’ll be handing over to my colleague, the amazing Matilda Boseley. One of the questions being asked most often of the NSW government is: when will the lockdown end? It is scheduled to go until this Friday, 31 July. But with daily new case numbers having eclipsed 100 several time this past week, it’s unclear whether restrictions will end in just a few days. If anything, the current in Sydney may take months to recede, according to Guardian Australia analysis of Covid-19 waves across the OECD. Of the 80 outbreaks examined, the Guardian found it took more than 80 days on average to go from the peak to the end of the wave. And the Sydney outbreak may not have peaked, with the NSW premier warning that case numbers are likely to keep rising. All this Covid-19 news can be a bit draining. So here is some heartwarming content to switch things up a little. It’s snowing in Tasmania today! And people have been taking to social media to share photos and videos of glorious sky powder, including the Guardian Australia’s very own Adam Morton and First Dog on the Moon. Just look at this snow! It’s like a scene from Narnia. And if frozen ice isn’t your thing, Tasmania is looking as gorgeous as ever post-snow. Look at that rainbow! Idyllic. The federal government has rejected the NSW treasurer’s calls to bring back jobkeeper, as the state continues to report high Covid-19 case numbers. Rather, federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg today defended the federal government’s Covid-19 disaster payments. But, as Paul Karp reports, Scott Morrison has left the door open for further support payments in the future, telling reporters in Canberra the federal government is “very open to consider how we deal with the situation as it further evolves”. Now that we are done with ALL. THOSE. PRESS. CONFERENCES let’s dive a bit deeper into a Covid case that is causing concern for the NSW and Queensland governments. A NSW man who received a negative test result travelled to Queensland, where he has since tested positive. Even though he had tested negative, the man was still required to self-isolate for a full 14 days, but allegedly didn’t adhere to his self-isolation order and travelled on Virgin Airline’s flight VA1139 from Sydney to Ballina on 14 July. He then travelled by car to Queensland with the QantasLink flight attendant who tested positive for Covid on Friday. Unfortunately, it was later confirmed that he had been Covid-positive and had received a false-negative test result. Queensland deputy premier Steven Miles said the flight attendant likely caught Covid from the man. AAP reports: Both cases were active in and around Brisbane and the Gold Coast, with numerous exposure sites listed by Queensland health. The sites include Dreamworld and a popular Gold Coast restaurant.Miles said anyone in Brisbane or Gold Coast with respiratory symptoms should immediately get tested. “The risk in Brisbane and Gold Coast in particular remains very real and the wearing of masks continues to be incredibly important,” he said. Queensland’s borders remain closed to NSW, Victoria and South Australia. There were also five cases reported on Sunday in Queensland’s hotel quarantine system. The press conference is over and it was ... more of the same? One interesting thing Morrison talked about that we haven’t addressed yet on the blog, is how the government is going to help people in lockdown, particularly those on income support who aren’t eligible for the government’s Covid-19 disaster payment. Morrison was asked by NSW treasurer Dominic Perrottet for the federal government to reinstate the jobkeeper payment, published in the Sydney Morning Herald today. For context, here’s what Perrottet said: Morrison defended the government’s existing Covid-19 disaster payment, saying that you can qualify for these payments if you work casual, part-time or full-time. He also argued that the disaster relief payments allow the government to pay those affected workers directly, rather than through jobkeeper. Morrison added that the federal government is providing $500m a week in support payments for those in NSW lockdown. Morrison was also asked about whether Australia, being a wealthier country, should be talking about booster shots, while poorer countries are still waiting for their first doses. What is Australia doing to support developing countries trying to get their populations vaccinated against Covid-19? Morrison says that the 85m booster doses, 60m of which are due to arrive in 2022, is “more than enough for us, particularly as single dose booster shots”. He says that these “will equip us to lean in even further to the support we’re providing to our Pacific family”. We know Atagi has updated its advice and recommends that people over 18 in greater Sydney should get any vaccine available to them, including AstraZeneca. Morrison is also asked whether he will now lobby Atagi to broaden its advice to people over 18 across Australia, especially given that a woman in her 30s has died overnight in Sydney after contracting Covid-19. Morrison was vague, but said: A lot of questions around the vaccine. Morrison is asked whether the federal government is still standing by its commitment to ensure every Australian is offered a vaccine by the end of this year, given everything that has gone wrong with the rollout? Morrison says that this still “remains our goal by the end of the year”. He adds that, in relation to 12- to 15-year-olds, Atagi is now assessing what vaccines can be made available to that age group and “will be providing us further information in mid-August, I understand”. Morrison is asked whether other states should be diverting extra Pfizer doses to NSW. Morrison basically says nope. He says the federal government has already given NSW extra doses but he adds that Australia’s vaccine rollout needs to “work right across the country”. Morrison has been asked what he thinks of the anti-lockdown protests in Sydney, Melbourne and Queensland yesterday. But he’s also been asked what he thinks of Liberal National party backbencher George Christensen’s support of the protests, and the fact that he attended a local protest near his office in Queensland. Naturally he leaves his Coalition colleague’s behaviour aside for a minute and focuses on the protests. But while he thought the behaviour in Sydney was selfish, he didn’t condemn the protests in other states (like Qld, where Christensen attended the protest): So basically, we are going to ignore the fact that Christensen – a Liberal National party member of the Coalition – was explicitly promoting the protests in other states under lockdown. Cool cool. Morrison is now addressing concerns around the supply of Pfizer, especially to NSW. (Remember: the NSW government asked the federal and other state government to divert their Pfizer doses to it to deal with the state’s growing Covid-19 outbreak.) Morrison says the federal government provided NSW with 50,000 extra doses of Pfizer on Friday. |