It comes after quarantine hotel worker who tested positive to COVID-19 has been confirmed to have the more contagious UK strain.The female worker, who is a cleaner aged in her 20s and lives in the suburb of Algester in Brisbane, tested positive to the virus on Wednesday night, the Courier MailreportsShe works at the Hotel Grand Chancellor at Spring Hill and had done a shift on January 2.Authorities have since rushed to contact-trace after she was out in the community while infected for four days.Chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said she was confident Queenslanders could respond to this threat. “If we can get on top of this today, we’ll be able to manage it and we won’t need to go back into a longer lockdown period,” Dr Young said. “We need to act fast … and find every single case now. We need to find any person who might have had contact with that case and get them into quarantine. “That’s what we have to do over the next three days.”Health Minister Yvette D’Ath warned authorities would struggle to get any outbreak under control. “We see what’s happening in the UK … We could see catastrophic results,” she said. “This is not hypothetical.”
NED-2974-UKs-Mutant-Covid-Strain
NATIONAL CABINET TO DISCUSS NEW COVID STRAINThe new mutant UK COVID-19 strain that has entered Australia is expected to dominate today’s national cabinet meeting.It is expected national cabinet will agree upon measures that would require all travellers from the UK to Australia to undertake pre- and post-flight coronavirus testing.Prime Minister Scott Morrison said earlier this week that the meeting would occur following a week of medical expert panel meetings in which a proposal to strengthen international travel processes has been developed.“The meeting is to consider a proposal that I requested through our Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paul Kelly, from our national expert medical panel, the AHPPC,” the Prime Minister said on Wednesday evening.
“The proposal is to further strengthen the COVID safety of end to end international travel processes, from arrival at airport of embarkation in the exit country to final clearance from hotel quarantine in Australia.”He said the AHPPC has been meeting every day and this week had largely been focusing on how to deal with the UK strain. “The AHPPC has continued to meet every day during this most recent outbreak, and had an initial discussion of their proposal today,” Mr Morrison said. “They will discuss the proposal further tomorrow before making a formal submission to national cabinet.”The national vaccine strategy will also be discussed at the Friday meeting. VICTORIA REPORTS NO NEW LOCAL COVID CASESVictoria has recorded zero new locally acquired cases of coronavirus on Friday as more than 33,00 people were tested in the past 24 hours.The Department of Health and Human Services also revealed one new infection in returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine.There are 39 active cases of COVID-19 across the state, 28 of which are locally acquired cases.
About 23,100 test results were received in the past 24 hours with another 10,000 delayed due to “technical issues”, the DHHS said.The health department revealed on Thursday the mystery case announced on Wednesday had been genomically linked to the northern beaches outbreak. But the source of acquisition for the case remains unknown and under investigation.VACCINATION PROGRAM ROLLOUT PUSHED FORWARDAustralians are expected to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine from mid to late February, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.Mr Morrison said high-priority groups, including healthcare and quarantine workers among others, would receive the treatment first.He hoped the initial phase would start with about 80,000 inoculations a week.However, Mr Morrison said this timeline with depend on a number of factors including final approval from the Therapeutic Good Administration, and delivery of the vaccine from the supplier.He said the Pfizer vaccine would only be delivered and released once TGA approval was given, which he anticipated would occur by the end of January.
Mr Morrison dismissed claims the vaccine release had been delayed, adding health officials had been moving “swiftly and safely” to introduce the treatment“Doing that is critical to public confidence in the vaccine. We have set out cautious timetables … but behind the scenes the officials you see here have led a process … to ensure we are seeking to better those (vaccine rollout timetables). We don’t want to make promises that we can’t keep – that is incredibly important,” Mr Morrison saidMr Morrison warned that the vaccine was not a “silver bullet”.“Once the vaccination process starts, COVID-safe practices do not end,” he said.He said the approval process for the AstraZeneca vaccine should be completed in February, but he did not have a clearer timeline at present.
NED-2826-Australias-Vaccine-Rollout
Once the AstraZeneca treatment had been cleared by the TGA more groups of Australians would be vaccinated, said federal health department secretary Professor Brendan Murphy.Prof Murphy said this was because it would be manufactured locally and thus have guaranteed supply line.He said vaccine hubs would be set up across the nation to help ensure people got two doses of the same vaccine.Over the second quarter of 2021 “a significant portion” of the Australian population would be vaccinated, he said.He added children would likely be among the last to receive the jab.“The very last group that we might consider (vaccinating) is children. We know that children are at very low risk of getting COVID and transmitting COVID and the vaccine has not yet been thoroughly tested against children,” he said.
NED-1859 State of our borders
NSWVisitors or residents of NSW who have been to Brisbane will be made to self-isolate, officials have announced. The move came after Queensland announced a three-day lockdown of Brisbane, which will begin at 6pm Friday. NSW will make anyone who has been in Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich, Moreton Bay, and Redlands from January 2 self-isolate.
Northern Beaches area still in lockdown till January 9:
*You may only be away from your home if you have a reasonable excuse.*You may leave your home for exercise or outdoor recreation, but only within the northern area of the Northern Beaches.*You may only leave this area for essential reasons, including to buy food or access goods or services that are not available in the northern area of the Northern Beaches.*Up to 5 people, including children, may gather outdoors in a public place for exercise or recreational activity (including boating), but everyone must be a northern area resident.
Outdoor recreation activities
If you are living or staying in the northern area of the Northern Beaches, you may leave your home for outdoor recreation activities.Outdoor recreation includes activity that supports mental, physical or emotional wellbeing such as*picnics and taking children to outdoor public playgrounds*golf, tennis*water-based activities (swimming, boating, jet-skiing, fishing, paddle boarding).In the northern area, no more than 5 northern area residents can participate.
FACE MASKS
A $200 on the spot fine will apply if you do not comply with the requirements to wear a face mask.Children aged 12 and under are exempt but are encouraged to wear masks where practicable.Places where face masks must be wornYou must wear a face mask indoors when you enter or work at*retail or business premises that provides goods or services to the public including*supermarkets*shopping centres*banks*post offices*hairdressers.*residential aged care facilities (visitors, not residents).Premises that are used for the purpose of providing health services are not retail premises or business premises.Face masks are also mandatory when you are using public transport or are a passenger in a taxi or rideshare vehicle when you are waiting at a public transport waiting area (such as a bus stop, train platform or taxi rank) for all staff in hospitality venues and casinos for patrons using gaming services.SOUTH AUSTRALIASA Premier Steven Marshall announced a hard border closure to NSW would come into effect on January 1.He said there will be few exemptions for those returning after 12.01am on Friday, but SA residents, people permanently moving states and essential travellers will be permitted.All those groups will still need to self-isolate for 14 days.
SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said officers were already in place at border checkpoints.Travellers returning to the state will need to demonstrate they met the criteria upon crossing the border.He said people travelling from Queensland to South Australia must follow the most direct route through NSW and not spend “unnecessary time” interstate.
Mr Marshall said a 100km buffer zone will be implemented for cross-border communities, allowing people in Broken Hill and Wentworth to freely enter the state.“We’re also going to be putting some transit allowances because there are people travelling through NSW who won’t be stopping,” Mr Marshall said.Mr Marshall said border arrangements with Victoria would not change.VICTORIAVictoria’s border with NSW is now shut. Any Victorian arriving from NSW before the deadline needed to get tested and quarantine for 14 days, the state government said.
On Wednesday, Victoria announced anyone who has been in the NSW regions of the Blue Mountains and Wollongong since Sunday had to return by 11.59pm on December 31.The border was already closed to those in Greater Sydney and the Central Coast.
NORTHERN TERRITORYThe NT declared Greater Metropolitan Sydney a COVID-19 hotspot from midnight on New Year’s Eve, meaning anyone travelling from there must enter quarantine.The NT had previously declared only seven Sydney suburbs hot spots.
QUEENSLANDGreater Brisbane will enter a three day lockdown.Queensland, which had already declared Greater Sydney a hotspot, is assessing the situation as it unfolds.Chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said on Thursday she was closely monitoring the New South Wales cluster and the new Victorian cases.“I’m urging Queenslanders travelling to these states to reassess their plans – if it is not necessary, then consider staying here,” she said.“The next 24 hours are critical for Victoria and the NSW cluster is growing daily. Queensland is in a good position right now because we acted quickly to declare greater Sydney a hotspot.”
WESTERN AUSTRALIAWestern Australia has already shut its border to NSW travellers but on Thursday said it will close to Victorian travellers too.From 12.01am on January 1, only exempt Victorian travellers will be allowed into WA, while returning residents must self-isolate for two weeks.Anyone who arrived in WA from Victoria on or after December 21 must also self-quarantine for 14 days.TASMANIATasmania has declared nine Victorian sites as high-risk COVID-19 areas including restaurants, clubs, churches, shopping centres, hotels, and bars.People in Tasmania who have visited are asked to self-isolate and contact the public health line on 1800 671 738.Non-Tasmanians who have been in the areas in the specified times cannot enter Tasmania without an exemption.It has measures in place requiring travellers from Greater Sydney to quarantine.More details on travel alerts here.AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORYNon-ACT residents are banned from entering the territory if they have travelled from hotspots, unless granted an exemption. That means all non-residents who have been in Greater Sydney, the Central Coast or Wollongong local government areas will be refused entry at the border.ACT residents have to sign an online declaration form before returning then quarantine for 14 days.
– with NCA NewsWire
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