Summary
- Victoria recorded no new cases on Saturday and reached 24 days without a case of local transmission. NSW reported no local cases for the 13th straight day while Queensland has reported its 19th consecutive day of no local transmissions.
- Western Australia will allow arrivals from Queensland and Victoria to visit without a 14-day quarantine from this week.
- Qantas flights to reconnect Norfolk Island after NZ travel bubble bursts.
- The Victorian government has declared the Rod Laver Arena safe for packed Australian Open crowds.
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Live stream triple-header
We could have Health Minister Greg Hunt, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Victorian public transport minister Ben Carroll all appearing at press conferences in different locations at 10am AEDT.
We plan to bring all three of them to you and we are working on this at the moment.
Victorian numbers delayed
Victoria’s DHHS says its COVID-19 case numbers are delayed this morning and will be published ‘shortly’.
Whether this is an ominous sign or just the result of working on a Sunday we will find out soon enough but these numbers have been delayed at times on various Saturdays or Sundays.
Sports world holds its breath for Tokyo’s Olympic COVID ‘playbook’
By Phil Lutton
After postponements and endless uncertainty about how the Olympic Games in Tokyo will play out, next week will bring some long-awaited detail from the hosts and organisers.
It will arrive on February 5 in the form of an official “playbook” from the International Olympic Committee, which will for the first time shed clear light on exactly how the IOC and their Japanese hosts plan to ensure a safe and successful Games for about 15,000 Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
The Japan National Stadium, where the opening ceremony was expected to be held.Credit:AP
The IOC needs the playbook to be well received as it tries to convince the world the Games can be salvaged. Earlier this month, it had to hose down reports the Japanese government was already resigned to cancelling the Olympics and had been workshopping various exit strategies, one of which was to try to claim the 2032 spot, which south-east Queensland remains favourite to snare.
For those wanting more Olympic coverage, it’s worth taking look back at our article on Olympic venues from last year.
Coachella music festival cancelled for third time due to COVID-19
The Coachella music festival due to be held in southern California in April 2021 was cancelled on Friday by local health officials because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The decision was made to reduce the likelihood of exposure to the virus.
It is the third time the outdoor event, one of the largest music festivals in the world, has been cancelled or postponed because of the pandemic. Credit:
Coachella brings half a million fans to an open-air site in the California desert. Its April 2020 event was initially rescheduled for October 2020, and then again to April 2021.
After being wiped out in 2020, other major cultural gatherings are shifting dates again for 2021. Organizers of the Glastonbury music festival in England last week cancelled the June event and the Cannes film festival in France this week postponed its traditional May event to early July.
Reuters
$200 million federal government plan for chemists to deliver free COVID jabs
By James Massola and Bevan Shields
Thousands of Australian chemists will be enlisted in the coronavirus vaccine rollout under a $200 million program to be announced by the federal government on Sunday.
Health Minister Greg Hunt is confident Australia’s current vaccine schedule is on track after talks with the country heads of Pfizer and AstraZeneca, despite a decision by European leaders to give themselves sweeping powers to potentially block crucial coronavirus vaccine shipments to Australia.
Biotechnology company CSL said on Saturday that it was ahead of schedule for its Australian production of the Oxford University Astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine. CSL senior vice president Chris Larkins told 7 News the company was in the final stages of producing 10 million doses of the vaccine at its facilities in Victoria and expects to roll out the first doses by the end of March.
Vietnam approves AstraZeneca vaccine
Vietnam approved its first COVID-19 vaccine and cut short an important ruling Communist Party meeting, state media reported on Saturday, as the country battled its biggest coronavirus outbreak since the pandemic began.
Vietnam, a country of some 98 million people that has so far been highly successful in combatting the virus, has recorded 208 new cases since reporting two locally transmitted cases in the northern province of Hai Duong on Thursday, including 62 cases reported on Saturday.
That is a rapid spread given Vietnam has recorded just 1,767 cases and 35 deaths since the disease was first detected a year ago, including 901 locally transmitted infections, thanks to mass testing and a centralised quarantine programme.
Vietnam, a country of some 98 million people that has so far been highly successful in combatting the virus.Credit:AP
Reuters
A failed freezer forced US hospital to rush to give out vaccines
Seattle hospitals rushed out COVID-19 vaccines to hundreds of people in the middle of the night after a freezer they were being stored in failed.
It’s not clear what caused the freezer failure on Thursday night, but the UW Medical Centre’s Northwest and Montlake campuses and Swedish Medical Centre received more than 1,300 doses that needed to be used before they expired at 5:30am on Friday, The Seattle Times reported.
A healthcare worker administers the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to an aged care resident in Michigan.Credit:Bloomberg
Word of the unexpected doses spread on social media, and a line of hopeful vaccine recipients snaked out the clinic door and through a parking lot at UW Medical Centre-Northwest. A hundred people lined up at Swedish Medical Centre’s clinic at Seattle University. The hospital tweeted at 11:59pm that it had 588 doses to give out, and within 30 minutes, all the appointment slots had been taken.
AP
The northern beaches lockdown is over, but the fear and anxiety remain
By Andrew Taylor
Northern beaches residents face ongoing anxiety and fear about pandemic restrictions even as many people attempt to resume their lives following the lockdown over the Christmas-New Year period.
Sadness, frustration and disappointment were some of the emotions felt by Lisa Llewellyn when she discovered she would be forced into lockdown rather than celebrating the festive season with family and friends.
Ms Llewellyn, from North Narrabeen, said she was exhausted after a challenging year of adapting to “COVID normal” and running her own business.
Lisa Llewellyn, from North Narrabeen, said the lockdown made her feel angry. Credit:
“The situation did make me anxious – and I was definitely short-tempered (my poor partner),” she said. “I had hung out for the holiday to just recharge and the lockdown just added to my fatigue. Of my three week break, all but one day was spent in lockdown.”
Good morning all!
By Roy Ward
G’day everyone! It’s Roy Ward here and welcome to today’s COVID-19 live blog.
We will have all the major developments today from both Australia and overseas, as always please don’t hesitate to leave a comment on the blog or shoot me a tweet directly at @rpjward on Twitter.
Before we start here’s a quick recap of stories from overnight.
Please enjoy the day to come.
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2021-01-30 20:38:00Z
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