Live Breaking News: Scott Morrison announces restrictions for PNG, Qld Central Highlands flood warning, Boy killed after plane crashes into car in Florida - NEWS.com.au

Papua New Guinea is dealing with an alarming rise in daily coronavirus cases, which the prime minister has branded a “great concern” and “very real risk” to Australia.

Follow our live coverage of today’s top news stories below. You can find yesterday’s breaking news blog here.

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A COVID-19 catastrophe unfolding in a neighbouring nation has prompted Scott Morrison to take drastic and immediate action to protect Australians.

Papua New Guinea is dealing with an alarming rise in daily coronavirus cases, which the prime minister has branded a "great concern".

Mr Morrison said the outbreak in PNG presents a "very real risk" to Australia and, as a result, a number of restrictions will be brought in.

Picture: Joel Carrett/NCA NewsWire

From midnight tonight all passenger flights from PNG to Cairns will be suspended for a fortnight, with authorities to reassess the situation after that time.

All charter flights from the country to Australia will also be suspended, apart from limited exemptions such as medevac and other critical flights.

All outbound travel exemptions by Australians to PNG will be suspended, unless you are an essential worker. FIFO workers will not be included in the list of exempted parties.

Australia will also be offering more medical support to the neighbouring country, with more medical supplies and vaccines to be shipped out from next week.

Australians in the next phase of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout can now book an appointment to get the jab.

More than 1000 GP clinics across the country will begin offering vaccinations for people in vulnerable groups from Monday, March 22.

Elderly Australians aged over 70 will join healthcare workers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people over 55, young adults with medical conditions and critical and high-risk workers in being eligible for the jab under phase 1b of the rollout.

People will be able to locate their nearest vaccination provider online via the Department of Health website using the eligibility checker or by phoning the COVID-19 vaccination helpline.

Six million Australians will be eligible in this phase of the rollout.

– Additional reporting NCA NewsWire

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has further explained the government's response to the unfolding crisis in Papua New Guinea.

He said there is no doubt that the country's outbreak presents a "significant challenge", which is why Australia's response is two-fold.

"One is to provide as much support in partnership. The second is to ensure that we're protecting Australia's borders and access into Australia to prevent any transmission from these areas into Australia and in particular into Queensland," Mr Morrison said.

"But there is no doubt that as time goes on, we will be increasing further support into Papua New Guinea and will be doing that in partnership with them."

A huge shipment of COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccines bought by the Australian government will be redirected to Papua New Guinea in a bid to help the countries mass virus outbreak.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he has made a formal request to European authorities for one million doses of the vaccine, originally meant for Australia, to be sent to PNG instead.

"We've contracted them. We've paid for them and we want to see those vaccines come here so we can support our nearest neighbour, PNG, to deal with their urgent needs in our region," he said.

"And we'll be seeking the support of the European Union and AstraZeneca to achieve that as soon as possible."

Picture: Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency/AFP

The mass outbreak in Papua New Guinea could risk new mutant COVID-19 strains developing and escaping into Australia, Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly has warned.

Half of all the virus cases diagnosed in PNG have been discovered within the past week, with Professor Kelly warning cases are likely much higher than what has been confirmed.

"There is a big outbreak of COVID-19 in Papua New Guinea. We know this from the places that are able to be doing testing. They've done mass test entering and almost half the samples are positive," he said.

"These are all signs that there is a major epidemic in the community. We are concerned about that because an uncontrolled pandemic is how variants of concern come to light."

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is expected to hold a press conference within the next few minutes.

Disturbing images have offered a glimpse inside the ‘The House of Cadifor’ where a self-proclaimed ‘kinky sex overlord’ allegedly kept six women as slaves.

The Australian Federal Police released images from inside James Robert Davis’ sprawling rural estate near Armidale, northern New South Wales, after spending 15 hours raiding the property on Thursday.

Pictures from the raid show the property dotted with small wooden huts found several hundred metres away from the main home, featuring single beds, no airconditioning and flimsy curtains.

Picture: AFP

Four large wooden sandboxes engraved with women’s names are also located nearby. It is not clear what they were to be used for.

Police also found a shed with a barber’s chair and boxes filled with whips, collars and other sex instruments.

Davis – a 17-year veteran of the Australian Defence Force – was arrested outside the Armidale Bunnings following the raid and later charged with possessing a slave, reducing a person to slavery and causing a person to remain in servitude over.
– Ben Graham

Another returned traveller has tested positive to COVID-19 while staying on the same floor where a security guard who also contracted the virus worked.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed the news on Wednesday morning and said the new case could be the “missing link” health authorities need.

“Health believes they (new case) acquired (COVID) when they went into the hotel and we’re being very upfront about that,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“They are an overseas traveller but they didn’t have the virus when they came into the hotel … health believes that because of the timing they contracted the virus.”

It is believed the guard contracted the virus while working on the 11th floor at the Sofitel in Wentworth but officials are yet to determine how.

– Additional reporting NCA NewsWire

Three people, including a four-year-old boy, have tragically died after a plane crashed into a car in US state of Florida.

CCTV footage from a nearby home captured the horrifying moment the plane crashed into an SUV and burst into flames shortly after taking off from the North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines.

The pilot and passenger on the aircraft died immediately. The mother, Megan Bishop, and her young son, Taylor, were left trapped inside the car.

Ms Bishop was reportedly able to pull herself free and the boy was rescued by emergency services.

The pair were transported to hospital in serious conditions, with officials later reporting the boy had died from his injuries.

An investigation is underway into the cause of the deadly crash, with officials suggesting the plane likely suffered a mechanical failure.

Multiple new coronaviruses have been discovered among bats in China, with one found to be almost 95 per cent similar to COVID-19.

Scientists at Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences in Taian, China made the discovery after studying 411 samples collected from 23 bat species in the Yunnan province between May 2019 and November 2020.

The research paper, which is now undergoing peer review, shows the discovery of four coronavirus genomes closely related to SARS-CoV-2, with RpYN06 the closest relative at 94.5 per cent similar.

"Our study highlights both the remarkable diversity of bat viruses at the local scale and that relatives of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV circulate in wildlife species in a broad geographic region of Southeast Asia and southern China," researchers said.

The consensus around the current COVID-19 pandemic is that it emerged in bats before spreading to humans.