Summary
- Brisbane residents are in lockdown until at least 6pm on Monday and masks are mandatory as of 6pm Friday, in response to the UK virus variant discovered in a hotel quarantine cleaner on Thursday.
- NSW recorded four locally acquired cases on Friday, with one from the Avalon cluster yet to be linked to a source. The upper northern beaches will exit lockdown at midnight tonight.
- Victoria recorded no new cases for a third day on Saturday. People from greater Brisbane "red zones" have been barred from entering the state since midnight.
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced caps on international arrivals will be halved in NSW, Western Australia and Queensland until February 15. WA has closed its border to Queensland.
- International flight crews will be subject to stricter conditions and testing, while quarantine workers across Australia will be subject to stricter testing requirements.
Latest updates
No new community cases in Queensland after first night of lockdown
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said there had been no new cases of locally acquired COVID-19 in her state in the most recent 24 hours.
She described it as "very good news overnight". "Can I thank Queenslanders who have come out in droves to get tested," she said. There were about 14,000 tests in the 24-hour period.
"Zero new cases overnight is welcome news, but once again, if you have any symptoms, please go and get tested today. It is very important that we try to contain this virus as much as we can, especially in the Greater Brisbane region," she said.
Watch LIVE: Queensland Premier gives COVID-19 update on first day of lockdown
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is due to give a COVID-19 update on greater Brisbane's first day of lockdown. We will stream it live at 10am AEDT / 9am AEST.
The state's health authorities are tracing and testing contacts of the hotel worker who has tested positive to the mutant strain of COVID-19 linked to the UK. The federal government yesterday declared Brisbane a "Commonwealth hotspot" due to the threat of the new strain.
EU buys up half of Pfizer’s entire 2021 output; WHO warns poor countries don't have vaccine
By Reuters
The head of the World Health Organisation said on Friday there is a "clear problem" that low and middle-income countries are not yet receiving supplies of COVID-19 vaccines and urged countries to stop striking bilateral deals with manufacturers.
"Rich countries have the majority of the supply," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in strongly-worded comments on vaccine nationalism at a Geneva news briefing.
While Tedros did not name countries, the European Union said it reached a deal with Pfizer and BioNTech for 300 million additional doses of their COVID-19 vaccine in a move that would give the EU nearly half of the firms' global output for 2021.
Brian Pinker, 82, receives the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from nurse Sam Foster at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford.Credit:Getty
The move would allow EU governments to double their orders from Pfizer to 600 million doses, as the 27-nation bloc races to ramp up the vaccination of its 450 million people. Each recipient of the Pfizer vaccine needs two doses to develop maximum protection.
"No country is exceptional and should cut the queue and vaccinate all their population while some remain with no supply of the vaccine," Tedros said.
He asked countries and manufacturers to stop making bilateral deals and called on those who have ordered excess doses to immediately hand them over to the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility.
The scramble for shots has accelerated as governments also struggle to tame more infectious variants identified in Britain and South Africa, which are threatening to overwhelm healthcare systems.
Britain's medical regulator on Friday approved Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for use, the health ministry said, adding that it had agreed to purchase an additional 10 million doses as it eyed a spring rollout of the shot.
Three COVID-19 vaccines have now been approved for use in Britain, with Pfizer/BioNTech's shot and one developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca already being administered.
The Moderna shot is not expected to play a part in the first stage of Britain's vaccine rollout, which needs to see 2 million vaccinations a week being given for the next six weeks in order to hit a target of inoculating high priority groups by mid-February.
Instead, supplies will begin to be delivered to the UK from the spring once Moderna expands its production capability.
Reuters
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian to give first update after holidays
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian is back from holidays and will give her first COVID-19 press update since returning at 11am today.
She will be joined by Deputy Premier John Barilaro, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard and NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant. You'll be able to watch that here live.
It comes as the government prepares to lift the upper northern beaches lockdown at midnight tonight. As reported yesterday, health authorities are feeling anxious about the mystery case of a man in his 40s linked to the Avalon cluster. But the beaches' high testing rate over Christmas has given authorities confidence to proceed with lifting restrictions despite uncertainty.
Dr Chant also revealed yesterday that NSW had detected its first cases of the mutant COVID-19 strain linked to South Africa, in a family of four returned travellers now in NSW Health accommodation. "There are concerns that this South African strain does share a similar mutation from the UK that may be associated with increased transmissibility. That is why we are taking a very cautious approach there," Dr Chant said.
We'll bring you updates as they come throughout the day.
Victoria records third day with no local cases
Victoria has recorded no new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 for its third straight day, while one case has been detected in hotel quarantine.
There were 28,337 test results received across the state on Friday. Victoria now has 40 active cases.
Premier Daniel Andrews says he hopes to make an announcement next week detailing when the NSW-Victoria border will reopen. Read more here.
Victoria declares Brisbane 'red zones'; residents barred entry from today
By Ashleigh McMillan
Victorians who have returned from Queensland since January 2 will need to get a coronavirus test and isolate until Monday, as Victorian health authorities warn residents to "reconsider" travel to the sunshine state.
Victoria closed the border at 11.59pm on Friday to anyone who had been in a Queensland "red zone" - Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Ipswich, Redlands and Logan - on or after January 2.
“You will not be able to enter Victoria,” the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) said on Twitter. “If you have a trip planned to Queensland, please reconsider.”
Those who have returned from Queensland to Victoria since January 2 will need to get tested and isolate until 6pm on Monday, and await further DHHS advice.
Victoria’s COVID response commander Jeroen Weimar said Victorians who are currently in green zone parts of Queensland should considering coming home, due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 situation in the state.
“If you’re in Greater Brisbane, then stay there,” Mr Weimar told 3AW on Friday.
“The Queensland government is asking everybody in the Greater Brisbane area to stay exactly where they are, stay locked down for three days to Monday, while they try to find out as much as they can about this case and any contacts.
“I would not be planning a trip to Queensland at this time. At this point, there’s no closure on other parts of Queensland, but my advice would be to start making plans to come home, unless you intend to be up there for a significant period of time.
“As we’ve seen with NSW, we don’t know how this stuff is going to pan out over the space of the coming days and weeks."
New venues in Burwood and Avalon added to NSW alert list
NSW Health has listed several new venues in Burwood, in Sydney's inner west, that have been visited by a confirmed COVID-19 case.
Anyone who attended the following venues at the listed times is a casual contact. They must get tested immediately and self-isolate until they receive a negative result:
- Artisaint Café, the ground floor, 60 Burwood Rd, Burwood, on Wednesday 6 January, 10.30am – 11am
- Bing Lee, 103, Burwood Rd, Burwood, Wednesday 6 January, 11.25am – 11.40am
People who attended the next set of venues at the times listed should monitor for symptoms. If symptoms occur, get tested immediately and self-isolate until you receive a negative result.
- Westfield Burwood Shopping Centre, 100 Burwood Rd, Burwood, Wednesday 6 January, 11.45am – 1.30pm and Thursday 7 January, 1pm – 2pm
- Kmart, Westfield Burwood, 100 Burwood Rd, Burwood, Wednesday 6 January, 11.45am – 12.15pm
- House, Westfield Burwood, Shop 318-319/100 Burwood Rd, Wednesday 6 January, 12.20pm – 12.30pm
- Coles Burwood, 100 Wilga St and Shaftesbury Rd, Burwood, Wednesday 6 January, 12.40pm – 1.20pm and Thursday 7 January, 1.20pm – 1.55pm
- Artisaint Café, the ground floor, 60 Burwood Rd, Burwood, Thursday 7 January, 1.10pm – 1.20pm
People who went to Costume in Avalon at 2/21-23 Old Barrenjoey Rd, Avalon Beach, on Thursday 31 December between 2pm – 2.15pm, should also monitor for symptoms and get tested if they appear.
A full list of venues is also available here.
Brisbane wakes up to day one of a three-day lockdown
Here are some reactions to Brisbane's three-day lockdown, from our reporters in Queensland:
- Health experts have backed Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk's decision to lock down Greater Brisbane for three days in a bid to stop the highly infectious UK mutant strain of COVID-19 from taking hold in the community. Former Queensland Chief Health Officer and QUT Emeritus Professor Gerry Fitzgerald said the decision to go into a three-day lockdown was akin to a "short, sharp shock". Australian Medical Association Queensland president Chris Perry also issued a statement saying doctors welcomed the three-day lockdown. "Little is known about the peculiar characteristics of the new COVID strain from the UK and, until we understand how best to protect frontline health workers and the community, we must take an abundance of caution," Professor Perry said.
- While businesses in the five south-east Queensland council areas going into lockdown this weekend understand the risk posed by the UK COVID-19 strain, owners and managers were frustrated by the short notice – 10 hours – given by the Premier and Chief Health Officer on Friday.
Some were angered by images from supermarkets in parts of the lockdown zone – Brisbane, Ipswich, Redland, Logan and Moreton Bay – showing mass panic buying, with several bar owners saying the risk of virus transmission was greater in those supermarkets than their venues.
And the door to a longer lockdown remains open, as health authorities investigate the source of infection for the Brisbane hotel worker. Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath warned that Brisbane's three-day lockdown could be extended if the best-case scenario doesn't eventuate. Ms D'Ath said there were "a lot of hypotheticals" about what will come next, but the government will assess the results on a rolling basis over the weekend.
The best case scenario would involve no new community cases. "But of course, [the] worst-case scenario is we're seeing broad community transmission, and [we're] looking at everything that could be in between," she said.
What you need to know as you start the day
Good morning, and welcome to our continuing live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
It's been an eventful 24 hours: Brisbane this morning woke to its first day of a lockdown, while residents of Sydney's upper northern beaches are facing their last day before restrictions lift.
Before we bring you today's developments, here is a recap of yesterday's events:
- Brisbane residents are in lockdown until at least 6pm on Monday and masks are mandatory as of 6pm Friday, in response to the UK virus variant discovered in a hotel quarantine cleaner on Thursday.
- People who have been in Brisbane since January 2 and are now outside the city must still follow isolation directions this weekend. That includes people now in other parts of Queensland, such as the Sunshine or Gold Coasts, as well as people interstate.
- WA introduced an immediate hard border with Queensland from 12.01am on Saturday. Victoria banned entry to people from greater Brisbane from midnight.
- NSW recorded four locally acquired cases, with one from the Avalon cluster yet to be linked to a source. Despite NSW Health reservations, the upper northern beaches will exit lockdown at midnight tonight.
- Victoria recorded no new cases for a second day, as Premier Daniel Andrews flagged he would make border announcements next week.
And national cabinet introduced a raft of tightened new measures for international arrivals:
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced caps on international arrivals will be halved in NSW, Western Australia and Queensland until February 15.
- Overseas travellers must now return a negative COVID-19 test result prior to their departure to Australia, with some exemptions for "extenuating circumstances".
- Masks will be mandatory in airports and on all international and domestic flights.
- Flight crews will be subject to stricter conditions and testing, while quarantine workers across Australia will be subject to stricter testing requirements.
You can find the border restrictions currently in place for each state and territory here.
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2021-01-08 22:58:00Z
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