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Australia Covid news live update: airport chaos as Christmas flights cancelled; WA to change border rules for SA and Queensland Australia Covid news live update: airport chaos as Christmas flights cancelled; WA to change border rules for SA and Queensland
(32 minutes later)
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Dawson is back up and is asked about if unvacinated police officers will get full pay. Good afternoon.
“I’m advised that the decision of the Supreme Court today was by one police officer, and the order about 30 police personnel with 23 small clusters. We’ve just launched our updated story on the thousands of Australians who have had their domestic flights cancelled in the hours leading up to Christmas, as frontline staff were ordered to test and isolate amid a rise in Covid cases.
“And some other officers and police stop. This in junction application was in respect of one alone, and the advice I got from the states is that the court has held that the rules on that officer does not apply to the others. There were 117 domestic services cancelled on Friday between Sydney and Melbourne.
“I intend to get further advised this afternoon further proceedings from here.” I’m just going to hand you over to Michael McGowan quickly, who’ll keep you company while I eat some lunch.
From AAP:
The Top End is bracing for a wet and windy Christmas with residents warned a tropical cyclone could form near Darwin on Boxing Day.
A monsoon trough and a tropical low are brewing north of the Tiwi Islands in the Arafura Sea, the Bureau of Meteorology says.
It is expected to head south towards the Northern Territory by Saturday and extend across the Top End during Sunday as the monsoon sets in.
“The best guidance is that the system will cross the coast south-west of Darwin as a category one system on Monday,” senior meteorologist Shaenagh Gamble said on Friday.
“We’re fairly certain of where it’s going.”
Darwin could be lashed by up to 100mm of rain per day with flash flooding and wind gusts of 150km/h possible.
Communities from Point Stuart east of Darwin to Kalumburu in Western Australia have been told to remain alert and make preparations.
If Braithwaite can’t reactivate the CBD no one can!
The full list of WA exposure sites can be found here.
The Northern Territory has recorded one new local case of Covid-19, taking the outbreak to 132.
The case is a close contact of a previous case from Tennant Creek and Barrow Creek who was already in quarantine.
A mask mandate that is currently in place in Alice Springs and Amoonguna will lift as planned at 5pm local time.
And that is the end of the presser in WA. The state has recorded five new Covid cases.
All cases attended the event Perth mess hall on 19 December in Northbridge.
Anyone who attended that event, which is about 400 people, must get tested and go into quarantine until 14 days have passed since exposure to the virus. In this case, the quarantine period is counted from 19 December.
About 100 people staying at the Fremantle Old Fire Station hostel are in lockdown, but will be moved to better accommodation for quarantining.
SA and QLD are now classified by WA as high risk.
Dawson is back up and is asked about if unvaccinated police officers will get full pay.
Sanderson says check-ins have gone up by 38%.Sanderson says check-ins have gone up by 38%.
Sanderson says she doesn’t know how many people are in the hostel which is in lockdown.Sanderson says she doesn’t know how many people are in the hostel which is in lockdown.
Sanderson says surge plans are in place for hospitals.Sanderson says surge plans are in place for hospitals.
Sanderson is back up and she says the positive cases are all in their 20s.Sanderson is back up and she says the positive cases are all in their 20s.
McGowan says they will look at whether there can be compensation for the festivals that have had to cancel.McGowan says they will look at whether there can be compensation for the festivals that have had to cancel.
McGowan:McGowan:
McGowan says the people that will die when the virus enters WA will be those who are unvaccinated.McGowan says the people that will die when the virus enters WA will be those who are unvaccinated.
McGowan is asked if this is WA’s most challenging period yet, and says the outbreak is “most likely to have” caused community spread of the virus in WA.McGowan is asked if this is WA’s most challenging period yet, and says the outbreak is “most likely to have” caused community spread of the virus in WA.
McGowan says they are not happy about bringing in new restrictions.
McGowan says on the day WA announced the hard border with QLD, the state had one case.
McGowan says they don’t know how many more cases are out there.
McGowan says the backpacker says he had not visited any of the known exposure sites in QLD.
McGowan says there’s been good turnout at the vaccination clinics.
McGowan says it is “an unlucky” event.
McGowan says if there is a community outbreak, the planned border reopening on 5 February may become redundant.
McGowan is asked what is different about this outbreak to others the state has had.
McGowan says 400 people at the Mess Hall are in quarantine. People at the Fremantle Hostel will be moved to hotel quarantine.
McGowan says of the five cases, two are unvaccinated.