Summary
- Sydney's northern beaches went into lockdown from 5pm on Saturday after the Avalon cluster continued to grow. The lockdown will last until at least midnight on Wednesday
- NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has asked the rest of Sydney to stay home. She also flagged the possibility of broader restrictions
- Victoria has deemed the northern beaches a "red zone" and will force any residents who arrive from the Sydney hotspot to enter lockdown. SA has banned anyone who visited Avalon Bowlo or the Avalon RSL from entering the state. Tasmania as also introduced restrictions on NSW visitors
- Western Australia is pressuring NSW to enforce tougher COVID-19 restrictions
- The global death toll from the coronavirus has passed 1.66 million. More than 75 million people have been infected worldwide
Latest updates
'We walked into a cesspool': How a COVID-19 outbreak stormed the beaches
By Michael Koziol, Kate Aubusson and Lucy Cormack
It was a "full house" at the Avalon Bowlo last Sunday afternoon when northern beaches rockers The Starwoods took to the stage to belt out the Jerry Lee Lewis hit Great Balls of Fire and AC/DC's Whole Lotta Rosie. It was their first proper gig in nearly three months.
That Sunday marked the first weekend since the start of the pandemic that dancing - albeit with distancing rules - was once again allowed at NSW pubs and clubs. And revellers were more than happy to oblige.
The Northern Beaches is in lockdown in the midst of a COVID-19 outbreak.Credit:James Brickwood
"By the third song the dance floor was full," Max said. "Obviously people had been wanting to do that for a while. From my standpoint, I'm going: great, it's a full house!"
Unfortunately, the house included at least one person contagious with COVID-19. By yesterday morning, NSW Health had identified 23 people in the northern beaches cluster as attending the Avalon Bowlo that fateful afternoon, while 15 people attended the Avalon RSL two days earlier. "Several" people attended both venues.
No clear chain has been drawn between international travellers or airline crew members and the northern beaches cluster. But by Saturday afternoon Professor Paul Kelly, the federal acting chief medical officer, was confident the strain was the same as that of a passenger who arrived in hotel quarantine on December 1.
"So in a sense that's patient zero," he said. "There's a gap there. We haven't identified how that virus got to the Avalon RSL. We have a clue though overnight about the slightly earlier case from Anytime Fitness. That person became ill on the 10th. So we're getting closer to closing that gap."
'Should have been a fortress': Opposition calls for stricter hotel quarantine rules
The Labour opposition is calling for more secure hotel quarantine arrangements in NSW after 13 airline crew members were fined for failing to self-isolate and visiting Sydney venues after arriving in the city on an international flight.
Airline staff, who were previously required to self-isolate in one of 26 hotels until their next flight, will now have to isolate in one of two hotels that are both managed by NSW Police or Health in the same way as all other international arrivals.
NSW Opposition Health spokesman Ryan Park.Credit:Kate Geraghty
“The government needs to explain why more stringent measures have only now just been put in place,” Labour's health spokesman Ryan Park said.
“Our hotel quarantine should have been a fortress, but they’ve left the backdoor open.”
Britain says new virus strain up to 70 per cent more transmissible
A mutated coronavirus strain up to 70 per cent more transmissible than earlier versions is spreading rapidly across Britain, shattering the Christmas plans of tens of millions and stoking fears of a major third wave in Europe, our Europe correspondent Bevan Shields reports.
Epidemiologist John Edmunds, a key member of the government's scientific advisory group for emergencies, described the Sunday morning Australian-time announcement as "the worst moment of the whole epidemic".
The new strain is concentrated in London and swathes of south east England, which have now been placed into an immediate, strict lockdown to prevent households from celebrating Christmas together.
Non-essential shops have also been ordered to close in what should have been the busiest trading week of the year, and domestic and international travel is banned for people in the worst-affected areas.
Latest northern beaches warnings
A quick recap for you on the NSW Health alerts issued on Saturday evening.
Anyone who has attended the Sunset Diner, 41 Old Barrenjoey Road, Avalon Beach on Friday, December 11 from 6.30pm to 8pm is considered a close contact and should get tested and isolate for 14 days even if they receive a negative result.
Anyone who attended Café Relish, 8/1 North Avalon Road, Avalon Beach on Thursday, December 17 from 10.30am to 11.30am is considered a casual contact and should get tested immediately and isolate until they receive a negative result:
People who visited the following venues at the below times should get tested immediately and self-isolate until NSW Health provides further information:
- Fitness First Mona Vale, Pittwater Place Shopping Centre, 10 Park Street Mona Vale: Sunday, December 13, 2pm to 4pm and Monday, December 14, 10.30am to 12.30am and Wednesday, December 16, 8.30pm to 10pm
- 4 Pines, Newport, 313 Barrenjoey Road, Newport: Tuesday, December 16, 6pm to 10pm
Northern beaches cluster grows
Hello and welcome to Sunday's live COVID-19 blog.
We didn't want to ever have to type that again, but here we are.
We will keep you updated throughout the day on all the coronavirus news affecting Sydney and the rest of the country.
You can catch up on yesterday's events in our archived Saturday blog here.
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2020-12-19 18:02:00Z
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