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Two dozen days of perfect zeros
By Hanna Mills Turbet
And that's two dozen days of perfect zeros. What an achievement, Victoria!
For the 24th consecutive day, there have been no new cases of COVID-19 and no deaths across the state.
Health Minister Martin Foley said on the weekend that the sole remaining active case was an immuno-compromised person who remains in hospital with a long-term case of COVID-19.
Yesterday, there were 7261 test results received, which is on the low side but not too bad for a Sunday.
NSW-Victoria border operation by the numbers
By Josh Dye
When NSW announced its Victorian border closure on July 6, police had about 36 hours to react.
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said the lengthy operation involved some "amazing infrastructure" installed across the length of the Murray River.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian with NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller and Brigadier Mick Garraway at the Victorian border checkpoint yesterday.Credit:Getty
During the 138 days police monitored and restricted border crossings there were:
- 100,000 police officer shifts
- Five million vehicle movements
- 500,000 heavy vehicle movements
- 40,000 Australian Defence Force personnel shifts
- 54 different border crossings
- About 1000 arrests
"It was an enormous operation,” Mr Fuller told radio station 2GB.
"The police down there did some great job protecting local communities.
"We still had people trying to run drugs across the border and other types of illegal activities and most of these people didn’t find the time to get a permit either, so you sort of scratch your head."
Emotions high as Albury-Wodonga hard border crossing lifts
By Hanna Mills Turbet
The emotions were high at the Albury-Wodonga border at midnight, as the hard border between Victoria and NSW finally lifted. Albury mayor Kevin Mack was there.
"There is a bit of elation but more so relief," he told Channel 7's Sunrise this morning. "High emotion last night. I was here at midnight and a lot of emotion was going on. Just fantastic."
There were celebrations in Albury-Wodonga at midnight as NSW reopened the border to Victoria. Credit:Getty
Mr Mack said the long lockdown – the hard border was enacted in July – would be felt for months, and perhaps years, to come.
"The economic impacts, we truly won't know what they are until the end of the year probably, but probably losing $1 million a day easily," he said.
"And there is also the mental health aspect ... and a lot of people have missed out on major family moments in their life, funerals, and reunification for birthdays and things like that.
"A lot of our families work out of Melbourne so it has been a difficult time but we will move forward."
In usual times, Mr Mack said up to 20,000 vehicles crossed the border each day.
137 days later, travellers can cross the NSW-Victorian border
By Rachel Dexter
About 8500 passengers will arrive at Melbourne Airport today after travel restrictions between NSW and Victoria lifted after 137 days.
"Up until yesterday, we were processing 1000 passengers," Shane O’Hare, Melbourne Airport's chief of aviation, told radio station 3AW this morning.
"It’s more exciting than the [AFL] grand final ... that’s absolutely fantastic, 32 of the more than 50 flights landing at Melbourne today will be from Sydney alone."
Despite the jubilation of passengers and staff, Mr O'Hare said there was still a sense of anxiety about the virus in the airport.
"The same way that people are a bit nervous about going back to work," he said. "[But] it’s absolutely essential that everybody – workers and passengers – wear a mask [inside the airport] and that will be enforced."
Mr O’Hare said one of the effects of the long months of lockdown was a rise in wildlife sightings around the airport.
"It’s quite an environmental playground for kangaroos," he said. "We actually found one in the terminal a couple of weeks ago we had to deal with."
Top adviser joins calls to move COVID-19 quarantine out of big cities
By Liam Mannix and Sumeyya Ilanbey
Quarantine hotels have certainly had their time in the spotlight this year. It's why one of Australia's top infection-control has joined growing calls for COVID-19 quarantine to be isolated in regional facilities after the virus escaped hotels in central Melbourne and Adelaide.
Associate Professor Philip Russo, the Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control president and deputy chair of the federal government’s Infection Control Expert Group, said moving infected people away from population centres "just makes logical sense".
"Certainly, the further distance you have between people who are infected and the vulnerable community, that would be a good thing," Associate Professor Russo said.
The Howard Springs quarantine facility near Darwin.Credit:Ben Sale
He said dedicated regional accommodation could be set up for quarantined travellers within reach of airports and hospitals. The facilities could employ full-time staff living on-premises, meaning they were far less likely to seed infection into the community.
South Australia was forced into a hard lockdown last week after an outbreak connected to hotel quarantine. Melbourne’s devastating second wave was caused by hotel quarantine breaches, while a security guard fell sick in Sydney’s system and a Defence Force guard was fined for hosting a female guest in his room. Multiple people have been fined after skipping out on hotel quarantine in Perth.
Mass COVID-19 vaccination gets a dry run in a Louisiana parking lot
A COVID-19 vaccine may be months from reaching millions of Americans. Getting all those shots into arms will be a monumental task. Shreveport, Louisiana, is getting ready now.
The city recently completed a test run, one of about a dozen across the state. Health officials there organised the community's first-ever drive-thu flu shot clinic in the massive parking lot of the Louisiana state fairgrounds.
Drivers rolled down their windows and rolled up their sleeves as they pulled up to tents for the largest vaccination event the regional health department has ever hosted. Cheerful and fast-working nurses jabbed them with vaccines.
Healthcare workers administer a flu shot during a drive-thru clinic at the Louisiana State Fairgrounds in Shreveport, Louisiana, US.Credit:Bloomberg
Within about five minutes, people were on their way, exiting the parking lot while passing a row of food stands selling corn dogs, roasted nuts and lemonade.
In the near future, that's just the way officials hope it will go for a COVID-19 vaccine. A poor state that's seen its share of hurricanes, floods and tornadoes, Louisiana is trying to get out front of the challenge.
The state's health department decided early on to run test clinics in each of its nine public-health regions, using this winter's flu shot as practice to eventually distribute millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses.
"Unlike with testing, we have the luxury to have four to five months to plan," said Frank Welch, a doctor who is Louisiana's immunisation director. AP
Victoria unmasked, a summer of possibilities looms
Victorians have been promised a summer that seemed impossible a few months ago, with family gatherings, travel, in-store Christmas shopping and the ability to remove masks in public now permitted after 23 days without a new coronavirus infection.
Premier Daniel Andrews announced widespread changes to coronavirus restrictions in the state on Sunday that included the scrapping of a requirement for masks to be worn outdoors when physical distancing is possible, which comes into effect at 11.59pm Sunday.
And while there will be no crowds at Carols by Candlelight and no New Year's Eve fireworks display, holiday gatherings of family and friends will resemble pre-pandemic times, with a new cap of 15 visitors to a home on a single day set to be lifted to 30 people at 11.59pm on December 13, in time for Christmas and part-way through Hanukkah celebrations.
"[The latest coronavirus numbers] are a testament to the character and the conviction and the amazing job that every single Victorian has done this year," Mr Andrews said.
"Each of us playing our part to make sure that we protect public health, that we value and protect this precious thing that we have built ... It's incredibly valuable, but it is fragile. And even though these rules are important changes, this virus is not gone."
First Melbourne flight lands in Sydney
By Josh Dye
The first flight from Melbourne has landed in Sydney since NSW lifted border restrictions with Victoria overnight.
Qantas flight QF 404 touched down at Sydney Airport at 7.17am, three minutes ahead of schedule. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said yesterday she was feeling confident about the reopening of the border at midnight.
"I’m confident that certainly the risk that was there when we closed the borders doesn’t exist," she said.
Sydney Airport lists 26 scheduled flights arriving from Melbourne today, up from just a handful a day since July.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the easing restrictions was "very big" for the tourism industry.
"We still have a long way to go to get back to those 45 return flights that we had before, but we’re going to be carrying 4500 people today," Mr Joyce said.
Travel between the two largest states has been restricted for 138 days since NSW closed its Victorian border at 12.01am on July 8.
Good morning!
We're back on this rainy Melbourne morning with another special edition of the national coronavirus blog. Sadly, it's a one-off (or two-off(!) given my colleagues Rachael Dexter and Simone Fox Koob brought you all the news on Victoria's easing of restrictions yesterday) but as we have said before, we will run the blogs from time to time as necessary.
And today feels like a milestone day. Planes are flying again between NSW and Victoria, while the border crossings will fully reopen. Masks will no longer be mandatory for Victorians in uncrowded outdoor settings. And Christmas appears to be back on.
We'll bring you all the news throughout the day. Get in touch if you have any news tips, via email or Twitter.
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https://news.google.com/__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?oc=5
2020-11-22 21:37:00Z
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