Summary
- NSW recorded four new locally acquired COVID-19 cases again on Wednesday, and one case in hotel quarantine. Testing has ramped up in western NSW after a case visited on a camping trip.
- Victoria recorded just one new case of local transmission from 37,509 tests on Wednesday, with an additional two cases in returned travellers in hotel quarantine. A positive case attended the MCG during day two of the Melbourne Test.
- Crowds at the Sydney Test between Australia and India will be capped at 25 per cent of the Sydney Cricket Ground. Spectators from some western Sydney suburbs around Berala will be fined $1000 if they attend.
- Victoria's COVID-19 response commander has warned the border with NSW could remain shut for all of January. The ACT will ban people from Sydney, the Central Coast and Wollongong for at least another week, with travellers risking an $8000 fine.
- One in 50 people in England had COVID-19 in the week between Christmas and the New Year, new statistics show. The UK recorded another 61,000 new infections on Tuesday.
Watch LIVE: NSW acting Premier provides COVID-19 update
NSW acting Premier John Barilaro, Health Minister Brad Hazzard, NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant and Transport for NSW acting deputy secretary for Greater Sydney Howard Collins will provide a COVID-19 update at 11am AEDT. Watch it live below:
Latest updates
Sydney Test to go ahead with spectators at SCG, masks made mandatory
By Mary Ward
In addition to people from certain parts of western Sydney, anyone subject to the self-isolation order issued by Victorian health authorities regarding attendees at the Boxing Day Test will also not be allowed to attend the SCG this week.
Thousands of people who were seated in zone five of the MCG's Great Southern stand on December 27 have been directed to self-isolate after a person in the crowd subsequently tested positive for coronavirus.
Anyone found to have attended the Sydney Test in contradiction of these orders is liable to a $1000 fine from NSW.
Spectators will not be banned from the Sydney Test, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said.Credit:Steven Siewert
After the MCG incident, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said mask advice for the Sydney Test had been upgraded: unless a person is eating or drinking, they now must wear a mask while at and travelling to the event.
Transport for NSW acting deputy secretary for Greater Sydney, Howard Collins, said public transport at the event would be budgeted for more than double the 10,000 people who can attend the event.
Mr Collins asked people to please register their Opal cards to assist with contact tracing should they be exposed to coronavirus.
"The other piece of advice: travel early, give yourself plenty of time, don't all arrive in a rush at 11am or 10.30am on the first or second day," he added.
The Health Minister said the Sydney Test would not be cancelled.
"To simply put off the test, or to can the test in NSW, it wouldn't be productive," he said.
"You have to think about people's mental health, the desire to get out there and have aspects of a normal life."
New testing sites for western Sydney, extra suburbs banned from SCG
By Mary Ward
New testing sites have been announced for the Berala area in western Sydney as cases continue to be identified.
A walk-in clinic at Berala Public School and an additional drive-through clinic at Lidcombe will be in operation on Wednesday, NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said.
Masked shoppers at Berala in Sydney’s west on the weekend.Credit:Getty
After Health Minister Brad Hazzard made comments in the media this morning about private clinics in western Sydney charging for tests, Dr Chant repeated the message that no person in NSW should pay for a coronavirus test.
"Access is free for all. You don't need your Medicare card to be tested."
In light of recent cases, Wentworthville and Belmore have been added to the list of western Sydney suburbs from which residents will not be able to attend the New Year's Test at the SCG this week.
Four local cases in NSW, beaches to stay locked down
By Mary Ward
NSW has reported four local cases during the 24 hours to 8pm on Tuesday, as acting Premier John Barilaro confirmed the upper part of the northern beaches would remain in lockdown until January 9.
One of the cases was the 18-year-old associated with the Berala cluster who travelled to western NSW, reported yesterday.
There was also another case associated with the Berala area, a household contact of the woman reported yesterday whose source is under investigation; one in a man in his 20s who is a household contact of the Avalon cluster; and one western Sydney case under investigation.
In light of the additional northern beaches case, Mr Barilaro said the upper part of the local government area would remain under stay at home orders until Sunday as planned.
"I know you've been doing it tough; you've been locked down for a period of time, but that was off the back of a significant seeding event and the transmission of COVID in that area," he said.
"We make these decisions to protect everyone, you, your family, the state and the nation."
All of the 18-year-old's close contacts have so far tested negative, Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said, but will continue to isolate for the rest of the 14-day period.
NSW recorded 32,667 tests during the 24 hours: this is in line with the usual bump in tests reported on a Wednesday after lower numbers from the weekend.
The state recorded one new case in a returned traveller in hotel quarantine.
Australia will take a similar vaccine approach to trusted countries: Hunt
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has outlined the government's commencement schedule for the coronavirus vaccine, anticipated to begin in early March.
"We've been able to bring our vaccination commencement schedule forward from the middle of the year to late March, and now early March," he said on 2GB this morning, responding to calls for a faster roll-out.
He said Australia was taking a similar approach to Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Taiwan - jurisdictions that have been among the most successful in handling the virus - and had committed to a full safety assessment process.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said Australia was committing to a similar vaccination time frame as "trusted" countries such as South Korea, New Zealand and Japan.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
"They're all looking at a very similar time frame. [It] puts us in the group of countries that have been highly successful but very thorough," Mr Hunt said.
He said those pushing the government to commit to an earlier date were seeking to follow the paths of Europe and North America, which had been less effective in responding to the pandemic.
Mr Hunt confirmed three groups would be eligible for the first round of vaccinations: frontline workers (particularly those dealing with international arrivals); health workers; and aged care residents.
"Then we’ll work through it in terms of age and other priorities which are currently being finalised by the medical expert panel... working down in age and then other vulnerabilities," he said.
The latter group would include people with a disability and Indigenous people. "That’s still being finalised but it's not a surprising approach: simply follow the vulnerability and the risk of transmission or consequence of infection," he said.
Mr Hunt said the government's priority was protecting Australians and maintaining confidence in vaccinations. Australia's vaccination rate was about 95 per cent for five-year-olds, he said, and he wanted to maintain that rate.
New Victorian case had contact with someone from NSW; hard border to remain
By Liam Mannix
Professor Allen Cheng, Victoria’s Deputy Chief Health Officer, says the infected mystery case who attended the MCG did have contact with someone from NSW on Christmas Eve.
However, that person does not report feeling unwell – they are still waiting on test results – so Professor Cheng said he believed it was unlikely that was who passed on the case.
But Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said the Black Rock cluster and the new mystery case underlined the need for a hard border with NSW.
The Black Rock cluster has already been linked to NSW. Genomic work to determine where the mystery case came from is underway, but Minister Foley said it was likely that case was linked to NSW as well.
He said the hard border would remain until Victoria was confident NSW had its outbreak under control.
“At the moment, we aren’t that confident, so the border remains in place,” he said.
“It is unlikely the border will be removed before the end of January. But this is a day to day, week to week proposition.
"We see evidence of NSW virus spread in both numbers and geographic distribution. We want to make sure the Victorian community has every protection in place.
“We can and should get on top of this cluster. But we’re not there yet. And we won’t be for a little while yet.”
Professor Cheng said the decision to list Chadstone and the MCG as possible sites where the man may have contracted the virus was precautionary, and that there are several other locations where he could have caught it.
"To be honest, the household links and the people he visited are more likely to be links, but we’re trying to be cautious," he said.
The Boxing Day Test was the first in a long line of high-profile events scheduled over the next few months, including the Australian Open.
While Professor Cheng praised the MCG’s COVID-safe plan, he said the issue meant the state government was now reviewing all major events planned over the next few weeks.
Will you need to get tested or isolate due to the new alerts?
Victoria's COVID response commander Jeroen Weimar anticipates thousands of people will be affected by the new alerts, triggered by a mystery coronavirus case who may have become infected at the MCG or Chadstone shopping centre.
The Department of Health and Human Services is encouraging anyone who was in the Great Southern stand, zone five of the MCG, between 12.30pm and 3.30pm on December 27 to get tested and isolate until they receive a negative result.
The same applies to a number of stores at Chadstone shopping centre, attended between 6am and 2pm on December 26. Exact details will be available on the DHHS website soon.
Have you been affected? Will you need to isolate? Let us know below.
Thousands of Melburnians will need to get tested, as Victoria hunts for source of mystery case
Victoria's testing tsar Jeroen Weimar says the new mystery COVID-19 case means several thousand people will probably need to get tested and go into isolation, as the government hunts for the source of infection.
The man in his 30s first developed symptoms on December 30 and the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services was notified of his positive test on January 5.
"Given he has not visited any high-risk Victorian exposure sites or travelled to NSW, a number of acquisition sources are being investigated," a DHHS statement says.
The man was not infectious when he attended the Boxing Day Test and is not linked to any other case or to the Black Rock restaurant outbreak. The MCG is being investigated as a potential source for the infection.
Mr Weimar said there were about 7000 or 8000 people in zone five of the MCG on the day the infected man was there.
"A number of close contacts have already been identified and contacted and testing of these people has been undertaken. Contact tracing interviews are continuing to ensure we identify all primary and secondary close contacts," the DHHS statement says.
"The decision to identify the MCG and Chadstone shopping centre has not been made lightly and is precautionary to ensure people are informed and able to take appropriate actions."
Other possible sites for the source of his infection have been identified at Chadstone shopping centre on Boxing Day (December 26), between 6am and 2pm.
Stores he visited include Culture Kings, Huffer, JD Sports, Jay Jays, H&M, Uniqlo, Myer, Superdry, Footlocker and Dumplings Plus.
The Victorian government has asked its public health team to review the state's return to work timetable in light of the few infectious cases. Some 50 per cent of the private sector, and 25 per cent of the public sector, were due to return to work on Monday.
Positive case attended MCG during day two of Test
By Liam Mannix
A person with coronavirus had visited the MCG on day two of the Melbourne Test, the Victorian government has announced - making it an exposure site.
Anyone seated in the great southern stand at the MCG on December 27 - day two of the Boxing Day Test - is being asked to get a test and go into isolation until they receive a negative result.
Importantly, the state government says the man is believed to have not been infectious when he attended.
Acting Premier Jacinta Allan provides a health update, revealing a new mystery case in Victoria who attended the Melbourne Test and Boxing Day sales.
But anyone in the Great Southern stand on December 27 between 12.30pm and 3.30pm needs to get tested and go into isolation. That will likely represent many people.
The case was in zone five on the fourth level of the Great Southern stand. The MCG was operating a COVID-safe plan, meaning the state government believes it has excellent contact-tracing information from the stadium's ticket data.
Adding to the issue, the state government also says the infected person visited Chadstone shopping centre - Melbourne's largest shopping centre - on December 26 between 6am and 2pm.
To clarify, the infected man is not believed to have been infectious at either the Boxing Day sales at Chadstone nor on day two of the Boxing Day Test.
Instead, the state government believes he may have acquired the virus at those locations on those times - meaning someone else was likely infectious.
"This person was not infectious at the boxing day sales or the MCG. We’re more worried about who might have given him the infection," Professor Allen Cheng, Victoria’s Deputy Chief Health Officer, said.
That is why people at those locations do not need to do 14-day quarantine. Instead, they are being asked to get a test and isolate until the results come back negative.
The state government says the new case - a man in his 30s who returned a positive result yesterday - is a mystery case.
That is worrying, because it means it is not clear who he got the virus from, raising the possibility of undetected chains of transmission.
Watch LIVE: Victorian acting Premier and Health Minister give COVID-19 update
Watch live below from 9.45am as Victorian acting Premier Jacinta Allan and Health Minister Martin Foley give a COVID-19 update. The state has recorded just one new locally acquired case of COVID-19 today.
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