Summary
- NSW recorded seven new cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Boxing Day. Six of these were directly linked to the Avalon cluster
- Testing rates dropped off to 23,933, after laboratories performed 39,133 tests the previous day. NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant is urging people with symptoms to get tested in order to pick up undetected chains of transmission in the community
- NSW Health is investigating the missing links between several otherwise unconnected cases who attended the Belrose Hotel on different days. Authorities remain concerned by a handful of mystery cases that have no clear link to the Avalon cluster.
- A 24-year-old man has been arrested after attempting to escape a Melbourne quarantine hotel almost a week after he arrived from Sydney
- A 49-year-old woman who escaped from a Perth quarantine hotel on Saturday has also been caught and now faces a $50,000 fine or 12 months behind bars
Latest updates
Kings, Hawks adjust to life in Albury, Melbourne could host four clubs
By Roy Ward
Melbourne could be playing host to four NBL sides for the start of the new season.
Melbourne United, South East Melbourne Phoenix and New Zealand Breakers are all preparing for their campaigns at present while The Hawks, based in Wollongong, are completing a 14-day 'green zone' period in Albury after which they hope to enter Victoria to complete their pre-season.
Both The Hawks and the Sydney Kings moved to Albury on Boxing Day to stay away from Sydney's second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic as the NBL season begins on January 10.
Hawks coach Brian Goorjian hopes his side is able to head to Melbourne once they have completed enough days out of Sydney so they can seek out practice games ahead of their season-opener against the Phoenix at the State Basketball Centre on January 14.
AstraZeneca says its vaccine will work against COVID-19 variant
The head of drugmaker AstraZeneca, which is developing a coronavirus vaccine widely expected to be approved by British authorities this week, said that researchers believe the shot will be effective against a new variant of the virus driving a rapid surge in infections in Britain.
AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot told the Sunday Times that researchers developing its vaccine have figured out a “winning formula” making the jab as effective as rival candidates.
Some have raised concern that the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is being developed with Oxford University, may not be as good as the one made by Pfizer already being distributed in the U.K. and other countries.
Partial results suggest that the AstraZeneca shot is about 70 per cent effective for preventing illness from coronavirus infection, compared to the 95 per cent efficacy reported by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.
"We think we have figured out the winning formula and how to get efficacy that, after two doses, is up there with everybody else," Soriot said. "I can’t tell you more because we will publish at some point."
AP
Lower northern beaches should be freed from lockdown, says mayor
By Amelia McGuire
Northern Beaches mayor Michael Regan says residents in the district's southern zone should be subject to the same coronavirus restrictions as the rest of Greater Sydney given the small number COVID-19 cases in the area since the Avalon outbreak began.
The Avalon cluster is linked to 122 cases of coronavirus, the vast majority of which reside in the upper northern beaches area. In the 24 hours to 8pm on Boxing Day, NSW recorded seven new cases from 23,933 tests. Six of the seven cases have been directly linked to the outbreak.
Cr Regan understands the NSW government’s concerns regarding the source and spread of the Avalon cluster but says the lower northern beaches should be freed from the current lockdown orders.
“Unless there’s new evidence or something we’re not cognisant of regarding the origins and spread of the cluster, the communities who reside in the southern parts of the beaches should absolutely have the same freedoms as Greater Sydney," he said.
Holidaymakers swap bookings as states close borders
Holidaymakers caught out by the northern beaches coronavirus outbreak and associated state border closures have been swapping accommodation bookings online.
Leesa Jammal started the "COVID restriction holiday swap Australia" group on Facebook last Sunday night and the membership grew to more than 2000 by the end of the week.
Group members are mostly swapping or selling bookings for camping sites or exchanging information about cancellations, but some are seeking to sell or swap bookings for hotels and holiday homes booked through HomeAway and Airbnb.
Many holidaymakers are swapping bookings for caravan parks online.Credit:Michele Mossop
North Bondi house partygoers fined as police issue 15 infringements since Christmas Eve
Police say they have issued 15 penalty infringement notices since Christmas Eve, including to 11 people at a house party at North Bondi on Saturday that breached public health orders.
Just before 11pm on Saturday, police attended a home on Blair Street after receiving multiple noise complaints, where they located at least 40 people at the party, most of whom ran from the home when officers arrived.
Officers spoke with 11 people, including two residents and nine visitors, who remained at the property. Two women – aged 24 and 26 – and nine men – aged 26, 28, 30, 31, 32, 34, and three aged 24 – were subsequently issued $1000 infringements for not complying with COVID-19 restrictions.
The residents were also issued a 28-day noise abatement direction, while the visitors were directed to leave the area.
Inquiries are continuing to identify other partygoers who were in attendance, police said.
In addition, a further two people and two businesses have been issued infringements since Christmas Eve.
- About 7.40pm on Wednesday, police attended a restaurant on King Street, Newtown, and noted a crowd on the footpath outside the restaurant and a large number of people inside. After speaking with the owner, who stated he did not have a COVID Safe plan, officers determined there were 27 more people than allowed for the space. The owner was given an opportunity to reduce the number of people within the restaurant, however, the capacity was still exceeded. Following further inquiries, the owner was issued a $5000 penalty infringement notice for failing to comply with COVID-19 restrictions. A COVID Safe plan has since been submitted.
- On Christmas Day, police received information a northern beaches resident attended a home at Bligh Park, in Sydney's west, in breach of the public health order. Following inquiries, police attended the home on Porpoise Crescent and spoke to the 32-year-old Collaroy woman who confirmed she had travelled to Bligh Park in her car on Christmas Eve. She was directed to return to Collaroy and issued a $1000 infringement for failing to comply with COVID-19 restrictions.
Fruit baskets empty as labour shortage begins to bite
By Katina Curtis
No state government has come to the table with a plan to bring foreign fruit pickers safely into Australia despite warnings of food shortages and price rises because of a severe shortage of workers.
Just 355 unemployed Australians have joined a federal government program that will see them reimbursed up to $6000 for costs incurred from relocating to take on a short-term agricultural job.
Farmers in Victoria alone estimate they need 26,000 workers within weeks to pick the summer crops that are ripening now.
Fruit and vegetable growers are warning of price rises because of labour shortages.Credit:Dean Sewell
Museums seek pandemic paraphernalia
By Carolyn Webb
Heartbreaking messages announcing closures have appeared in thousands of shop windows during 2020 – and they’re among the pandemic-related objects and images that museums are collecting as a record of this extraordinary year.
Future generations will be able to study – and wonder at – supermarket notices directing us to buy just one packet of toilet rolls and photos of cordoned-off playgrounds.
Tourism sector braces for $3b hit from border closures
By Katina Curtis
The tourism industry is bracing to lose more than half its usual revenue over the Christmas-New Year period because of state border closures, prompting calls for longer-term financial support.
States closed their borders to Sydneysiders – and in some cases all of NSW – in the week before Christmas, throwing holiday plans for many Australians into disarray at a time when the tourism industry is usually at its busiest.
Katina Curtis has the full story here.
The NSW-Victorian border at Albury.Credit:John Russell
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2020-12-27 19:04:00Z
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