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 16 of 19. Follow all the latest updates, live NSW Health has issued an updated list of venues of concern. NSW police confirmed they have issued a penalty notice to Jon-Bernard Kairouz, a NSW TikTok creator who rose to prominence last week for leaking the state’s Covid-19 numbers early five days in a row after he uploaded a video of himself speaking at Saturday anti-lockdown protest. Hmmmm, The West Australian newspaper is reporting that yet another cargo ship, floating off the coast of WA, is suspected of having Covid-19 positive crew members. The Darya Krishna, currently sailing off Kalbarri in the state’s midwest, has reported four out of 20 staff with flu-like symptoms, premier Mark McGowan said. It is reportedly suspected crew members may have caught the virus when they docked in the Indonesian port of Batam. I’ll bring you more as soon as I can. OK this isn’t Australian news, but I think you will want to hear it nonetheless. An unvaccinated snow leopard* at the San Diego Zoo has contracted Covid-19. Caretakers noticed that Ramil, a nine-year-old male snow leopard, had a cough and runny nose on Thursday. Later, two separate tests of his stool confirmed the presence of the coronavirus, the zoo said in a statement on Friday. Ramil is not showing additional symptoms, the zoo said, but because he shares an enclosure with a female snow leopard and two Amur leopards, the staff are assuming they have been exposed. As a result, the animals were quarantined and their exhibit was closed. It is unclear how Ramil got infected. *Honestly, I wasn’t aware there were vaccinated snow leopards. You can read the full story below: Okay, for those who missed the NSW press conference this morning, here are all the top-line numbers courtesy of AAP. (Number in brackets refer to changes from Saturday.) New locally acquired cases: 141 (-22) Infectious while in the community (partly or fully): At least 62 (-9) In hotel quarantine: 0 (0) In hospital: 141 (+2) In intensive care: 43 (+6) Ventilated: 18 (+1) Tests conducted: 102,233 Total cases for outbreak: 2,081 NSW Health also recorded two Covid-related deaths in the early hours of Sunday morning. They will be included in Monday’s figures. 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 that 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. |