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New Zealand reports 83 new cases as Ardern considers even tougher restrictions
By Henry Cooke
New Zealand has also had its worst day of the Delta outbreak yet, recording 83 new cases of COVID-19 in the community.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has hinted that the already tough level 4 restrictions could get even stronger to stamp Delta out.
All but one of the new cases is in Auckland. One case was in Wellington, but was a close contact of an existing case, who was already isolating.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern earlier this week.Credit:Getty Images
This followed 82 new cases recorded yesterday. The outbreak is now at 511 cases, easily New Zealand’s largest yet: around 32,000 contacts of existing cases have been identified across 475 locations of interest.
New case numbers have continued to stay high well over a week after the level 4 lockdown was brought into effect. Ms Ardern said the government was seeking more information on how many of the infections were happening outside of households under level 4.
She said over half of the 82 new cases reported on Saturday were household contacts of existing cases, while four essential workplaces had seen some level of transmission.
“If we need to tighten up our restrictions further we will,” she said. Read more here.
VCE students will need to show negative tests before their performance exams, while HSC students despair
By Ashleigh McMillan and Natassia Chrysanthos
Victorian health authorities have explained a new rule that will require VCE students completing in-person assessments in the coming weeks to show a negative COVID-19 test beforehand.
Around 5000 Victorian students will complete in-person assessments across the performing arts subjects, including music and drama, this year. For those who have assessments early next week, if they cannot be tested in time over this weekend, they will need to get tested within 48 hours of completing their performance.
HSC student Emily Grant is among thousands of year 12s in NSW and Victoria whose study has been disrupted by the pandemic.Credit:Rhett Wyman
COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said it was his “strong expectation” that schools would be checking that Year 11 and 12 students had received a negative COVID-19 test before completing in-person school assessed coursework (SACs).
“For those performing SACS we are asking students to take a test 48 hours beforehand ... to make sure they’re clear and have a negative test,” he said.
Meanwhile in NSW, the formal HSC exams have been delayed until November 9 and all graduations and formals have been cancelled under the state’s return to school plan. Several year 12 students dubbed it “worst possible option available” as it prolonged their anxiety while their feelings of burnout intensify.
The timing has been the kicker for most. November milestones are now on ice, while many schoolies plans will need to be re-organised. Students in the regions pointed out the HSC now overlaps with the harvest season, when they would usually start work.
The delayed release of ATARs - currently slated for mid-January - mean the nerves will now linger over Christmas and New Year. It also shortens the time between receiving university offers and semester start date.
Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the delay was necessary to ensure COVID-safe exam settings. “We have had conversations with our teachers and school communities about this,” she said.
Daniel Andrews says there’s ‘still a chance’ of driving case numbers towards zero
By Ashleigh McMillan
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the increasing case numbers across the state are a result of people not following the rules, people putting off testing, undetected community transmission and asymptomatic transmission of COVID-19.
But he said that the state was “still a chance” of driving case numbers back toward zero, and that he hadn’t given up hope of opening up again in the coming weeks.
“We are still a chance to drive this down to very low numbers, and then be able to be open up. We will have to wait and see, but we’ll have options,” he said.
COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar speculated that some people hadn’t been getting tested as soon as symptoms arose because of a genuine fear of testing positive, as well as concerns about losing income from missing work.
“Late presentation of cases is a significant challenge to us because then every person we find as positive has already affected their close contacts and sometimes as the secondary close contacts,” he said, “so that’s why these numbers keep growing, day after day”.
Mr Andrews said for those who ignore symptoms for days then turn positive after finally getting tested, it was “almost certain” they had infected their entire family.
Mr Weimar also confirmed that so far, just 19 of today’s 92 new cases were confirmed to have been in isolation for their full infectious period.
Victoria’s new cases concentrated in Melbourne’s north and west
By Ashleigh McMillan
The largest concentration of new Victorian cases have emerged in Melbourne’s northern and western suburbs, according to health authorities.
COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said around two-thirds of the cases announced on Sunday were connected to the capital city’s north and west.
“We think we know there are multiple chains of transmission taking place to give us those roughly 500 cases [in the north and west],” he said.
There are 44 people in hospital with the virus, with 13 people in intensive care and nine on ventilators.
Of the community cases:
- Nine are connected to Shepparton
- 12 are connected to the Broadmeadows outbreak
- 12 are connected to a cluster in Newport cluster
- Nine cases are household contacts from earlier outbreaks in schools like Al-Taqwa College
- Four are connected to the Woolworths at Millers Junction in Altona North
- One new case in an apartment building in Flinders Street where there was a previous positive case
- One new case connected to Port Melbourne
- 15 cases are linked to previously identified cases
- The source of 29 cases remain under investigation.
Mr Weimar said he expects to resolve the source of a number of the 29 mystery cases across the day, with many coming in “on the run late last night”.
Gladys Berejiklian says self-harm statistics among young people are ‘concerning’
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has acknowledged the pandemic is taking a toll on people’s mental health - particularly young people and those in hotspot areas under harshest restrictions - and said further relief could come when the state reaches its 70 per cent first dose target.
Emergency department visits for self-harm and suicidal ideation are up 31 per cent for children and teenagers in NSW compared with last year, according to reporters Caitlin Fitzsimmons and James Massola.
There has been a similar crisis in Victoria, where figures to the end of May show an average of 156 teens a week were rushed to hospital after self-harming and suffering suicidal ideation, an 88 per cent increase on last year.
“It is concerning to see the mental anguish people are going through, especially young people,” Ms Berejiklian said this morning.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian and NSW Health’s Dr Jeremy McAnulty said they were concerned about people’s mental health.Credit:Edwina Pickles
“We appreciate those challenges that families are going through. I am especially concerned about families in western and south-western Sydney who have very strict lockdown restrictions imposed on them at the moment. If there is some relief we can offer at any stage, including when we get to 70 pe cent first doses, we will consider those.”
Dr Jeremy McAnulty said he was not a mental health expert, but he understood there had been an increase in presentations for people with self-harm.
“That is a trend that has happened over a long period and experts are still trying to untangle how much is COVID-19 related or due to other causes,” he said.
“It is very concerning and we all need to support those people who are presenting [and help] them manage their anxiety. COVID-19 is an extremely stressful time for all of us, particularly if you are in lockdown or if you are a case or a contact of a case and you are anxious about your physical health.
“However, the experts have been looking at this in NSW and they have enhanced some of the support and prevention services. We can get you more details about later on.”
PM promised that NSW would not receive vaccines above their share: Andrews
By Ashleigh McMillan
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews also said he did not want “thousands of extra doses” of vaccine flowing to NSW unfairly when there was need in other states.
He confirmed he had a “very productive” conversation on Saturday with Prime Minister Scott Morrison to ensure NSW did not receive any preferential treatment.
He said the country could not see “hundreds of thousands of extra doses pouring into Sydney at the expense of every other part of our nation”.
“I’m very keen to make sure that we don’t see anything other than a proper proportional distribution of any additional vaccines, and the Prime Minister has given me that commitment,” he said.
“You can’t ignore the fact that New South Wales has received significant additional support. We don’t begrudge them that.
“But we are now in a set of rules here in Victoria, with case numbers too high to be able to safely open up, and that means that we have many challenges as well. It is only fair that we distribute vaccines based on our population share and need.
Cases in north-west Sydney prison surge to 31
There are now 31 cases associated with the Parklea Correctional Centre in Sydney’s north-west, which was placed into a strict lockdown yesterday.
A spokeswoman for MTC-Broadspectrum, the company that manages Parklea, yesterday said 12 inmates housed in the same wing tested positive for COVID-19 on August 27 and 28. “These inmates were not new arrivals. An investigation into the source of the infection is under way,” she said.
Dr Jeremy McAnulty said there were now 31 cases linked to the facility. “The present health authorities, which is through Saint Vincent’s Hospital, provide support to the correctional facility. They are working very hard to make sure that the other inmates and staff are protected,” he said.
“My understanding is that the initial investigation suggests it was initially introduced by somebody from the community, he probably acquired it in the community, and the investigation is ongoing to both understand how transmissions occurred [and] make sure that the isolation, testing, and vaccinations are in place to minimise further spread.”
He said it was important to maximise vaccination in settings where people lived close together, such as prisons. However, he did not have details of whether the inmates at Parklea were vaccinated.
Victorian lockdown will not end this week: Daniel Andrews
By Ashleigh McMillan
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has confirmed the state will not be exiting lockdown in the coming week.
Mr Andrews said there had been too many cases which had spent a long time in the community while infectious. “Essentially, we see far too many cases today for us to be able to seriously consider opening up later on this week,” he said.
“Obviously with almost 100 cases today, where many of them remain mysteries, many of them were out in the community during their infectious period, it’s just not going to be possible for us to be able to open up our Victorian community in just a couple of days.“
Mr Andrews said he had not yet received advice from Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton around what changes could be made in lieu of lockdown ending.
Further detail on the situation in NSW
Here is more detail from today’s press conference, provided by NSW Health’s Dr Jeremy McAnulty.
There are 813 people in hospital. That includes 126 people in intensive care, of whom 54 require ventilators. Of those in ICU:
- 113 are not vaccinated
- 12 have received one dose
- One has received both doses
NSW Health’s Dr Jeremy McAnulty providing Sunday’s update.Credit:Edwina Pickles
He also provided details about the deaths of six people:
- A man in his 80s from south-western Sydney died at Nepean Hospital; the fifth death linked to that outbreak. He was not vaccinated.
- A man in his 80s from Sydney’s inner west died at Concord Hospital; he is the fifth death linked to the Wyoming aged care facility. He was not vaccinated and had underlying illness.
- Two men in their 70s from south-west Sydney died at Liverpool Hospital
- A man in his 70s and woman in her 80s died at Westmead Hospital
Dr McAnulty said the suburbs with the most cases continue to be around the areas of Guildford, Merrylands, Auburn, Greenacre, Bankstown, Punchbowl and Blacktown.
Virus fragments have also been detected in Trangie, near Dubbo, as well as Byron Bay, Cooma and Tamworth - where there are not identified COVID-19 cases. “We are concerned there may be cases unrecognised in these communities, so please come forward for testing if you have even the mildest of symptoms,” Dr McAnulty said.
NSW records 1218 cases of COVID-19, six deaths
By Natassia Chrysanthos
NSW has recorded 1218 cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours - its highest daily tally.
Six people died, including three people in their 80s and three people in their 70s. Four were unvaccinated and two had one dose.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of those six individuals,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.
Sunday marked the state’s highest daily case total.Credit:Edwina Pickles
“Obviously western Sydney and south-western Sydney remain those areas of concern in greater Sydney, and western NSW remains the greatest area of concern in regional NSW.”
Sixty-five per cent of the state’s population have now had a first dose of the vaccine, and 35 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated.
“So we are halfway to that magic 70 per cent number across the state in order to have those extra freedoms,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“We expect that to land somewhere during October. But the next big target that I want us to achieve as a state is that 70 per cent single dose vaccination, because then we will have confidence as to when we are going to [achieve] that double dose.”
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2021-08-29 01:03:09Z
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