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Australia Covid live update: Gladys Berejiklian confirms 145 new local cases in NSW; Queensland and SA record one new local case each; Victoria records 11 Australia Covid live update: Gladys Berejiklian confirms 145 new local cases in NSW; Queensland and SA record one new local case each; Victoria records 11
(32 minutes later)
Follow latest updates liveFollow latest updates live
Federal health minister Greg Hunt has stepped up for his press conference, and begun by welcoming another vaccination record, nearly 1.1 million last week.
He also said that there have been 11.2 million vaccinations so far, 3.3 million with double doses and 7.8 million with their first dose.
Good afternoon everyone. Federal parliament is due to return for the August sittings next week. Given Parliament House is basically a stationary cruise ship, and Canberra (touch wood) has no cases of coronavirus (and the ACT chief minister and his heath advisers would like it to remain that way) – the presiding officers have given parliamentarians and building occupants an update on how the coming sittings will be conducted given the conditions in Sydney and the risks everywhere.Here’s the sum of the parts.
Parliament will be closed to the general public.
The numbers of members and senators attending sittings in person will be substantially reduced.
Parliamentarians have been requested to only bring essential staff to Canberra.
The numbers of parliamentary departmental staff will be reduced by approximately 60%.
All external departments and agencies have been asked to minimise attendance of public servants unless on essential business.
Members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery have also been asked to scale back the physical staff presence in bureaus.
School group bookings and all event bookings will be cancelled or postponed.
I need to share something joyful, which these days can be hard to come by.
Ariarne Titmus’ gold medal winning performance has been celebrated across the country, but perhaps none more-so than by her coach, whose reaction has become an instant meme:
I’m so happy for him.
So, there are a couple of press conferences coming up, including finance minister Simon Birmingham at 1:45pm AEST from Adelaide and health minister Greg Hunt at 1:30pm AEST from Melbourne.
Will they crossover, as many of the state Covid updates have? We shall see.
Good afternoon, and thanks to Matilda Boseley and Naaman Zhou for their guidance this morning. I’ll be taking you through the news for a little while, so let’s dive in.Good afternoon, and thanks to Matilda Boseley and Naaman Zhou for their guidance this morning. I’ll be taking you through the news for a little while, so let’s dive in.
I’ll be handing over to my colleague Mostafa Rachwani for the next little while.I’ll be handing over to my colleague Mostafa Rachwani for the next little while.
Australian shares hit a record high this morning, with the ASX200 rising to 7417.6 points, just five minutes after trading began. It dipped back later and is currently at 7,396.9 points.Australian shares hit a record high this morning, with the ASX200 rising to 7417.6 points, just five minutes after trading began. It dipped back later and is currently at 7,396.9 points.
This comes after the ASX200 broke its previous record last week.This comes after the ASX200 broke its previous record last week.
In the Olympics, Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus has just won a gold medal in the women’s 400m freestyle, beating the US’s Katie Ledecky.In the Olympics, Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus has just won a gold medal in the women’s 400m freestyle, beating the US’s Katie Ledecky.
Titmus, who is only 20 years old, is now a world and Olympic champion.Titmus, who is only 20 years old, is now a world and Olympic champion.
You can follow our Olympics liveblog here.You can follow our Olympics liveblog here.
Hi all, it is Naaman Zhou here with you. Thanks to Matilda Boseley as always for captaining the blog this morning.Hi all, it is Naaman Zhou here with you. Thanks to Matilda Boseley as always for captaining the blog this morning.
Handing you over to the iridescent Naaman Zhou to take you through the afternoon’s news.
The New South Wales government has quietly announced it will give hundreds of thousands of public sector employees two hours of paid vaccine leave as it tries to contain the spread of Covid-19 among essential workers, but unions want the provision to be strengthened.
The state government, which is the largest employer in NSW, issued an updated communication to its agencies on 16 July outlining arrangements to manage employees and support vaccination uptake.
It has told all NSW government departments that, to support employees receiving a Covid vaccine, “agencies may … provide access to special leave of up to two hours or an equivalent payment at base rate of pay”.
The two hours of vaccine leave will be offered in addition to existing leave entitlements, but if an employee experiences side-effects from the vaccine they will have to access paid sick leave.
You can read the full report below:
Victorian press conference:
Victorian health minister Martin Foley says Victoria Police will be taking over the case of three Sydney removalists who spread Covid-19 into Victoria by allegedly not following all the requirements of their border permit, in the “imminent future”.
SA press conference:
Premier Steven Marshall says it’s a “good idea” for people in South Australia to keep working from home for the next week.
The premier also flagged that high levels of mask-wearing compliance may allow restrictions to ease faster.
VIC press conference:
As previously stated, all 11 cases were quarantining throughout their infectious period, so there are no new exposure sites.
There have been 180 confirmed cases in the community in Victoria, and more than 21,000 people are still in quarantine. One of those cases has recovered — so it’s now 179 active cases.
There are five people in hospital, two in ICU and one on a ventilator.
Weimar said:
In terms of other areas of concern, there are 506 primary close contacts at the LaCrosse high-rise apartment building in Docklands, after one resident tested positive. That resident has since moved into hotel quarantine. So far, 483 have been tested and 150 have returned negative results, including all those who lived on the same floor as the positive case.
Residents of the Isola apartments in Richmond are expected to be out in a few days.
And in some very welcome news some of the residents of Ariele apartments in Maribyrnong have already been released from quarantine and the rest will be out in the next few days.
Kate Matson, the deputy health secretary in charge of Victoria’s Covid response, said that everyone who is in isolation should get a text message reminding them to get a test on day 13, then a follow-up call once a negative result is in, followed by written confirmation, usually via email, that your quarantine will end at a certain time.
If there are no day 13 test results, quarantine will be extended by another 14 days. So get tested and follow up with Vic Health if you didn’t get a reminder text or phone call.