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Watch live: NSW and Victoria’s COVID-19 updates
By Broede Carmody
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and her team are providing a coronavirus update from 11am AEST.
We are having issues with our stream. Apologies. Hopefully, you can watch the press conference below.
Meanwhile, Victorian Premier Dan Andrews and Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton are providing a coronavirus update from 11.30am AEST.
Watch that press conference live below. If you encounter any issues with the stream, please keep refreshing your browser.
Thirty-six of Victoria’s 76 new COVID-19 cases were in isolation
By Cassandra Morgan
Of today’s 76 new, locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in Victoria, 36 were in isolation for their entire infectious period.
The state now has a total of 841 active coronavirus cases.
There are 52 people in hospital with COVID-19 in Victoria, 16 in intensive care and 15 on a ventilator.
The 15 people on ventilators are aged between 38 and 72. The median age of COVID-19 patients in the hospital is 49. The median age for those in intensive care unit is 48.
NSW Premier hopes for interstate, international reunions for Christmas
By Mary Ward
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says she wants NSW residents to be reunited with their families for Christmas.
“My absolute goal and dream is to have every Australian be home for Christmas: whether it’s Aussies within Australia visiting loved ones, or Aussies overseas coming back home,” she said.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says she wants Australians reunited by Christmas. Credit:Rhett Wyman
“Once we hit 80 per cent double-dose vaccination, NSW will continue what we’ve done during the entire pandemic: do more than our fair share of reuniting families, of having a compassionate approach, accepting we’re all Australians.”
Asked if she would go it alone to reopen its borders to international travel when her state hits 80 per cent full vaccination, the Premier said she would be acting in line with the national cabinet agreement and she “hoped [other] premiers don’t back away from that plan”.
“Once we hit 70 per cent double dose we’ll be thinking about, if not beforehand, how we treat people in quarantine when they’re coming home,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“If you have fully vaccinated Aussies coming home, do you expect them to be in a hotel for two weeks in quarantine? Can we look after them at home as we do all the COVID cases now?”
Asked if the decision of some vaccine hubs in hotspot areas to push Pfizer doses out to eight week intervals would affect her mid-October deadline for 70 per cent vaccination coverage, the Premier said she believed the targets remained valid.
“The timing between the doses is based on what is going to give the maximum number of people maximum coverage in the shortest possible of time,” she said.
“We are still estimating we will hit 70 per cent double dose somewhere in October.”
‘We really need your help’: Western Sydney ICU nurse
By Mary Ward
An intensive care nurse manager from the epicentre of Sydney’s outbreak has spoken at the NSW press conference this morning, describing how the frontline is relying on the public to get vaccinated.
Michelle Dowd, a staff member at Liverpool Hospital in south-west Sydney, said nurses were under significant physical stress.
“These patients are some of the sickest we’ve ever seen, they require so much support and monitoring and physical care,” she said.
“We’re in layers of PPE, sometimes for hours at a time. This is really physically hard work.”
Ms Dowd said there had been resources sharing across the state’s health network for the “busy and stretched” ICUs.
“We can share the load to some degrees but we really need your help to stop the spread and keep people out of hospital and out of intensive care,” she said.
Asked if patients expressed regret about not getting vaccinated, Ms Dowd said this was not something discussed in the supportive environment of intensive care but it was something expressed by people once recovered.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard was unable to answer a question from a reporter about how many ICU nurses were in the state, noting some nurses from other areas were being retrained.
Two Fire Rescue Victoria sites exposed to COVID-19
By Cassandra Morgan
Two Fire Rescue Victoria sites have been exposed to COVID-19.
A spokesman for the fire service said employees who attended the sites were following Department of Health instructions, including getting tested for coronavirus, and quarantining for 14 days.
He said all of Fire Rescue Victoria’s stations remained operational, so there was no impact on services to the community.
“The sites have undergone deep cleaning and disinfecting. Neither site is accessible to members of the public,” the spokesman said.
“Comprehensive safety precautions continue to be taken in line with [Fire Rescue Victoria’s] current pandemic plan and government advice.”
The fire service is yet to disclose where the exposure sites are located.
New Zealand records 49 cases of COVID-19
By Lia Timson
New Zealand’s daily coronavirus tally has dropped to its lowest figure in six days.
The country’s Director General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, reported 49 new cases today – all in Auckland.
New Zealand Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield.Credit:Getty
Dr Bloomfield said that, most importantly, the “reproduction rate [in NZ] is remaining under one, which means cases should continue to decline and we’re breaking the train of transmission”.
But he added that six cases were in children under the age of one, reinforcing the need to isolate and remain vigilant.
Concerns continue for western NSW, western Sydney
By Mary Ward
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro says “concern” remains regarding the spread of COVID-19 in regional NSW, after 58 new cases were recorded across the state’s west.
There were 54 new cases in Western NSW Local Health District, including 32 in Dubbo and eight in Bourke. There were four new cases in the Far West district, all in Wilcannia.
“The message to everybody in regional and rural NSW is to get vaccinated ... It’s part of our freedom and part of our future,” he said.
In Sydney, the same western suburbs which have been concerning health authorities for the past week continue to be an issue, Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said.
These are: Guildford, Merrylands, Auburn, Greenacre, Bankstown, Blacktown and the surrounding suburbs.
“I can’t stress enough how important it is for us to also see immunisation coverage levels in these LGAs, particularly the suburbs I’ve talked about, rise very quickly and it’s pleasing to see that rise,” Dr Chant said.
Of the 1164 new cases reported on Tuesday, 417 were from Western Sydney Local Health District and 379 were from South Western Sydney LHD.
Forty-three new cases linked to Parklea prison
By Mary Ward
NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant has confirmed there is an “outbreak” developing at Parklea Correctional Centre in Sydney’s north west, with 43 new cases identified in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
There are now 75 cases in total at the facility.
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant.Credit:Janie Barrett
“The prison is in lockdown and appropriate public health action is occurring,” Dr Chant said.
“There’s vaccination going into the prison. There is infection control practitioners on site, clinical care from a virtual model supported by St Vincent’s Health.”
Dr Chant said she had identified previously that prisons were vulnerable settings and health authorities would “redouble their efforts” to keep prisoners and staff safe.
‘Looking forward to a better spring’: NSW records 1164 new local cases
By Mary Ward
NSW reported 1164 new local coronavirus cases on Tuesday as Premier Gladys Berejiklian revealed two-thirds of the state’s adult population has now received a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I can safely say that we’re looking forward to a better spring than we did winter,” Ms Berejiklian said.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says her state can look forward ‘to a better spring’ than winter. Credit:Rhett Wyman
There were three deaths recorded since yesterday’s update:
- A woman in her 50s from south-west Sydney who died at Campbelltown Hospital;
- A man in his 80s from central Sydney who died at St Vincent’s Hospital; and
- A man in his 90s from south-west Sydney who died at Campbelltown Hospital.
“Can I extend my deepest sympathies to their loved ones,” said Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant.
The Premier expressed optimism that the state would hit 7 million doses of the vaccine this week, noting she was looking forward to 80 per cent of people in the state having received their first shot.
“Because we know that, once you’ve signed up to your first dose, you’ll be getting your second dose,” she said.
Ms Berejiklian has flagged a significant easing of restrictions when the state reaches 80 per cent full vaccination.
On Monday, there were 1290 new local cases reported in the state, the highest number recorded in a 24-hour period.
Watch live: NSW and Victoria’s COVID-19 updates
By Broede Carmody
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and her team are providing a coronavirus update from 11am AEST.
We are having issues with our stream. Apologies. Hopefully, you can watch the press conference below.
Meanwhile, Victorian Premier Dan Andrews and Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton are providing a coronavirus update from 11.30am AEST.
Watch that press conference live below. If you encounter any issues with the stream, please keep refreshing your browser.
Reopening will mean different things to different states: Labor MP
By Nick Bonyhady
An interesting two-step here from Labor’s Jason Clare, whose Sydney seat of Blaxland covers some of the suburbs under NSW’s strictest lockdown measures.
The federal MP acknowledges that the Labor premiers in WA and Queensland have a lot to lose for their people if borders reopen and, at the same time, won’t pull away from the national plan that might help his constituents travel.
Labor MP Jason Clare.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Here’s the exchange from a bit earlier this morning on Sky News.
Host: So is Mark McGowan and Annastacia Palaszczuk, by threatening to keep their borders closed, are they taking the wrong approach?
Clare: I think one thing you’ve got to understand here is that 70 per cent, 80 per cent means different things in Western Australia, or Queensland or Tasmania or South Australia than it does here. We get to 80 per cent here in Sydney, we get our life back, we get to get back to the life we were living. When they get to 80 per cent, they get COVID. That’s the difference. You go to Perth at the moment people can have a beer at the pub. We can’t do that.
Host: But what’s the option, to stay closed forever for them?
Clare: No, absolutely not. But they’ve got to make sure that they’ve got their hospital systems ready to go and their health systems ready to go when they get to 80 per cent. We’ve got to get the country back up and open again. But before you even get to there, you’ve got to get to 80 per cent. This is part of the problem. We’re at 35 or 36 per cent double vaxxed here in Sydney, we’ve still got a long way to go before we get to 80.
Host: So just to be clear, once the national average hits 80 per cent, that’s when we’ve got to get going and then borders have to, for the most part, stay open?
Clare: That’s what the national plan says. Once you once you get to 80 per cent, all of the health evidence is that more people get COVID but you get fewer people in hospital. Think about it, you’ve got 137 people in ICU in Sydney hospitals today, only one or two of those people are double vaxxed. It stands to reason, then, that [the] more people get vaccinated, the fewer people are going to end up in hospital on a ventilator.
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2021-08-31 01:39:41Z
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