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Upcoming: Today's press conferences
There will be a string of press conferences this morning, with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk due to provide a COVID-19 update for her state at 9am local time, 10am AEDT.
Shortly after, Victoria's Police Minister Lisa Neville will address the media about quarantine protocols for the Australian Open at 10.45am AEDT.
And, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and NSW Health’s Dr Jeremy McAnulty are due to provide a COVID-19 update at 11am AEDT.
We will aim to bring you these press conferences live, so do stay with us.
How a casual cleaner's unremarkable activities sparked a national health emergency
By Lucy Stone
Today, my colleague Lucy Stone looks at the series of unremarkable activities – a train ride from the suburbs to the city, two visits to the supermarket, a brief stop at the newsagency – that triggered a national health emergency with a casual cleaner at its centre.
How the cleaner, a woman in her 20s who works at a Brisbane CBD quarantine hotel and lives in the southern suburb of Algester, caught the highly contagious UK variant of COVID-19 remains under investigation.
A worker tests a resident at a drive-through COVID-19 testing centre in Brisbane on Friday.Credit:Jono Searle/Getty Images
But confirmation she had that strain put all Australian governments on high alert last week and triggered a snap three-day lockdown for more than 2.3 million south-eastern Queenslanders, which ended at 6pm local time on Monday.
It was the first time the UK strain had been detected in the community across the country, Queensland's first community-acquired infection in nearly four months, and it sparked a strong, immediate and "unprecedented" reaction.
Read more about how the country's latest COVID emergency unfolded, day-by-day, here.
Queensland Premier 'wouldn't be surprised' if more cases linked to hotel cleaner identified
By Toby Crockford
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says she "wouldn't be surprised" if more close contacts of an infected hotel quarantine cleaner test positive to the virus.
The cleaner's partner was confirmed to be infected on Monday, after initially testing negative.
The cleaner contracted the highly infectious UK COVID-19 strain while working at the Grand Chancellor quarantine hotel in Brisbane's CBD and tested positive last week after spending several days mingling in the community.
As of Monday, health authorities have tracked down 370 people who came into contact with the cleaner and 172 of those have returned a negative test result. There are still 198 tests outstanding.
"We are looking at that very carefully. The good news [is], he was identified as the partner and he was in isolation very, very quickly," Ms Palaszczuk told Nine's Today show.
"That is exactly what we wanted to do – identify that first person who was infectious and get that time to have all of the contacts and put them in isolation. We have a couple of places that he visited and put that out to the community."
Anyone who attended the following stores during these times is now considered close contacts by Queensland health authorities and are urged to get tested and quarantine at home immediately for 14 days since the visit, regardless of their test result:
- Bunnings Warehouse at Acacia Ridge between 2pm and 2.40pm on Tuesday, January 5
- Sunnybank Cellars on Hellawell Road, Sunnybank Hills, between 2.05pm and 2.15pm on Wednesday, January 6
"We [were] checking overnight any more places that person may have been. Fingers crossed everything is OK," Ms Palaszczuk.
"We wouldn't be surprised if there were additional cases of the ones that we have identified, because it is highly contagious."
Masks outside Brisbane: Authorities rely on goodwill for mask compliance outside Brisbane
31,000 permits processed: Victorian Health Minister apologises for online permit system failure
By David Estcourt
Victoria's Health Minister Martin Foley has apologised to Victorians who were unable to sign up for a travel permit under the Andrews government's new "traffic light" system last night.
The system, which was scheduled to take effect at 6pm on Monday but was delayed by almost three hours, is a ticket back for many Victorians stranded in NSW and Queensland.
The Premier's office told The Age that Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton was late in signing the legal direction required to enforce the system. That was strongly disputed by Professor Sutton via Twitter last night.
This morning Mr Foley said that it was technological and policy issues that delayed the launch of the system.
But he said 31,000 permits had been processed with Victorians spending an average of five minutes and three seconds on the website.
"I apologise to the Victorians who cued up to use the system for a series of glitches both policy and technical that saw the system die for a bit over two hours," Mr Foley told ABC Radio National a short time ago.
He said the "traffic light" system would be in place for as long as the public health system deemed but that it could be part of the new "COVID-normal".
The online system allows Victorian travellers stranded in "orange zones" to return home if they apply for a permit, receive a test within 72 hours and isolate until they receive a negative result.
The updated rules provide no reprieve for Victorians stuck in Brisbane, Sydney, Wollongong and the Blue Mountains, which remain classified as "red zones", with Premier Daniel Andrews unable to confirm when they may be allowed back home.
'I think any criticism of NSW is very hasty': Acting Prime Minister
By Natassia Chrysanthos
Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack has stepped into the war of words between NSW and Western Australia this morning, saying both states have done well to manage the pandemic in their own way.
But he said any criticism of NSW was hasty as the state had been responsible for "keeping the country running".
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
WA Premier Mark McGowan has railed against NSW for its suppression approach while the rest of the country has worked to eliminate COVID-19.
"There's five states and territories doing one thing, and one state doing something different," he said yesterday.
"I just urge the NSW government and people in NSW to look at what other states and territories are doing in order to crush and kill the virus."
But Mr McCormack said WA and NSW were "very different states" as he entered the fray this morning.
Speaking on Sunrise, he said NSW shared 57 entry points with Victoria at its southern border and the Tweed River economic area with Queensland to its north.
"Western Australia doesn't have anything like that," he said.
"Yes, Mark McGowan has done a good job, but it has been very difficult. There is no playbook for coronavirus ... We know [states] have put in place measures they think [are] right," Mr McCormack said.
"I think any criticism of NSW is very hasty and I know Gladys Berejiklian has achieved great things with Dr Kerry Chant, the Chief Health Officer in NSW. They put contact tracing in place and they have been very much the benchmark as far as what to do with coronavirus."
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro also doubled down on his stance while speaking on 2GB on Tuesday, asking Mr McGowan to "stop lecturing us and join the rest of this country".
Mr Barilaro said NSW was inevitably going to "have problems", as Victoria and other jurisdictions had at times.
"It was never about elimination – we know we can't eliminate [the virus]. It’s about no community transmission. We’ve done that very well ... It’s been a week of it and we’re on top of it. Overall, for what we do in carrying the burden for the country, we’re doing really, really well," he said.
Mr McCormack also emphasised that NSW had quarantined the majority of returning Australian travellers.
"NSW has done a very, very good job whilst keeping its economy open. That is the important thing. For businesses who want to get back to some pre-COVID state, that is going to be so important," he said.
"Let's face it, they are the ones keeping the country running."
Bunnings, bottle shop: Two new exposure sites in Brisbane after cleaner's partner tests positive
By Lydia Lynch and Marissa Calligeros
Queensland health authorities are still awaiting the test results of 198 people who came into contact with a cleaner in her 20s who contracted the UK variant of COVID-19 while working at the Grand Chancellor quarantine hotel in Brisbane's CBD.
Authorities tracked down 370 people who came into contact with the young woman and 172 of those have returned a negative test result.
The woman's partner tested positive for the virus on Monday - after initially testing negative - but has been in quarantine since January 7. Health authorities were still determining the man’s potential infectious period.
But two new locations in Brisbane's south have been listed as COVID-19 exposure sites.
Anyone who attended the following stores during these times is now considered close contacts by health authorities, and are urged to get tested and quarantine at home immediately for 14 days since the visit, regardless of the test result:
- Bunnings Warehouse at Acacia Ridge between 2pm and 2.40pm on Tuesday, January 5
- Sunnybank Cellars on Hellawell Road, Sunnybank Hills, between 2.05pm and 2.15pm on Wednesday, January 6
These sites are in addition to three others flagged by contact tracers last week after the cleaner, a woman in her 20s, was confirmed to be infected.
Other passengers on the train she caught to and from the Brisbane CBD for a shift at the Hotel Grand Chancellor on Saturday, January 2, are considered casual contacts and required to only quarantine until they received a negative test result.
Two investigations, one lead by health authorities and the other by police, are under way to determine how the cleaner became infected.
If there are no further cases of community transmission between now and January 22, restrictions will revert back to the way they were at Christmas time, Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said.
"If we get this right, if we do everything that we need to do then come January 22 we can move back to the way we have been operating since December 1."
Both the ACT and Northern Territory revoked Brisbane’s hotspot status on Monday.
People heading from Brisbane to Tasmania still need to quarantine for 14 days, but those who arrived before January 8 no longer need to isolate.
Victoria's border remained closed to Greater Brisbane and Western Australia has locked out all of Queensland.
South Australia is yet to reveal whether it will continue its 14-day quarantine requirement for Brisbane arrivals and there are no restrictions for Queenslanders travelling to New South Wales.
Here are the latest COVID-19 rules in Brisbane: All you need to know about new restrictions
Double-doughnut day: Victoria records no new cases
The numbers are in and Victoria has recorded its sixth consecutive day without a locally acquired COVID-19 case. Also, no new cases have emerged among those in quarantine hotels, making it a double-doughnut day for the state.
More than 18,000 Victorians were tested for the virus yesterday.
Another lockdown possible as Brisbane enters new stage of restrictions
By Lydia Lynch
The residents of Greater Brisbane have emerged from their snap, three-day lockdown, but masks remain mandatory and the prospect of another lockdown looms.
Brisbane's new pandemic restrictions will be extended beyond January 22 if another case of the UK strain of COVID-19 is detected outside quarantine, with the city poised to go into lockdown again if cases surge.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has left the door firmly open for another strict lockdown, if the state's chief health officer thinks it will help stamp out the mutant strain of COVID-19 before it gathers momentum.
When asked if one new case could trigger another lockdown, Ms Palaszczuk said: "It depends if it is from this UK variant."
"This is a highly contagious strain, 70 per cent more contagious, and we don't want to see that in our community," she said.
Greater Brisbane will remain "on heightened alert" until January 22, which will mark the end of the virus' 14-day incubation period after a hotel quarantine cleaner who contracted the UK variant spent four days in the community while unknowingly infectious.
During the next 10 days, face masks will remain mandatory at indoor public spaces, capacity limits will be reduced and fewer people can gather inside homes.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said the virus variant, known as B.1.1.7 or 501Y.V1, would need to be detected in people who had been out in the community, rather than isolation, for the rules to continue past January 22.
'Don't want to take any risks': Pregnant women wary of coronavirus vaccine
By Aisha Dow
As we mentioned earlier, some health workers who are among those first in line to receive a coronavirus vaccine are choosing to delay having a baby until more is known about any potential side effects during gestation, with the federal government yet to advise whether pregnant women should have the jab.
A range of unknowns and concerns have arisen over the coronavirus vaccine during pregnancy.
Melbourne obstetrician Nisha Khot said there was little information she could offer to her patients about the vaccines, as pregnant women are typically excluded from clinical trials.
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has called for pregnant women and women who are breastfeeding to be included in the clinical evaluation of the COVID vaccination, “with a view to making this available to that group of people when safety is assured”.
While there have been no signs Australia’s vaccine candidates pose a danger to expectant mothers or their babies, the lack of information is of concern to some front-line staff who will be eligible to receive a jab in the first round of vaccination, due to begin in just a few weeks.
The World Health Organisation recently said it did not recommend that the Pfizer vaccine be given to pregnant women, with the exception of health staff at unavoidable high risk of exposure, or to those with complicating health conditions.
That is despite pregnant women being considered at higher risk of severe effects of COVID-19 compared to other women of the same age, and a link between coronavirus and pre-term births.
The WHO preferred to err on the side of caution because there is not enough data on the effect of the vaccine on pregnant women.
'You are in a COVID-19 red zone. No entry to Victoria without exemption'
This morning, Australia is a country divided. A full-page ad in today's Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, taken out by the Victorian government, reads: "You are in a COVID-19 red zone. No entry to Victoria without exemption."
The Victorian government's advertisement in Tuesday's Sydney Morning Herald.
Under a new "traffic light" system introduced by Victoria from 6pm on Monday, people in regional NSW and the Central Coast (an "orange zone") can now apply for a permit to travel south of the border provided they have a coronavirus test within 72 hours of arrival.
But anyone who has been in Greater Sydney – a "red zone" defined as Sydney, Wollongong and the Blue Mountains – are not allowed to enter Victoria without an exemption. If they do enter the state unauthorised they will be fined $4957 and either returned on the next flight or, if they are a resident, required to self-isolate at home for 14 days.
There is no explanation for what the criteria is for a region to be classified green, orange or red.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews did not give a timeline or explanation for when Sydneysiders might qualify for permits but said the situation would be reviewed daily. "The stakes are very high here: we have built something that is precious and it needs to be safeguarded," he said.
Meanwhile, West Australian Premier Mark McGowan and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian exchanged barbs on Monday, as NSW continued to uncover small numbers of daily local cases while other states recorded consecutive days without community transmission.
Mr McGowan, who has a hard border in place for all of NSW, accused Ms Berejiklian of "ticking along with the virus" and "doing something different" to the rest of the country.
Ms Berejiklian said her state's approach to the pandemic was "completely consistent" with national cabinet. "The target is zero community transmission," she said.
"As long as there are flights returning citizens to Australia, elimination of COVID-19 is impossible.
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2021-01-11 20:42:00Z
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