It comes after the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation changed its advice for the AstraZeneca vaccine, and now recommends it for those aged 60 and over, rather than over 50s as was their previous advice.This was due to fresh concerns over extremely rare blood clotting events following vaccination, which have caused two deaths among the 3.8 millions doses that have been delivered.Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is currently isolating at The Lodge after returning from Europe last week, will chair the meeting via video link. It has been brought forward, having originally been scheduled for July 9.VICTORIA RECORDS 1 NEW LOCAL COVID CASEVictorians are set to be boosted by another significant easing of Covid-19 restrictions ahead of the winter school holidays.Acting Premier James Merlino said on Monday morning he expected to be able to announce a “whole range” of easing of restrictions for both regional Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne later this week.Any announcement would be welcomed by parents across the state with school holidays set to start on Friday.Mr Merlino said on Monday the easing of restrictions was “being assessed right now”.“I do have confidence and an expectation that later in the week we’ll be announcing a whole range of easing of restrictions for regional Victorians and Melburnians,” he said.“But I don’t want to foreshadow those today. “As Professor Sutton always says, everything is on the table in terms of assessment, and it will be public health advice in terms of what can be eased further in a CovidSafe way.”Mr Merlino also said he wanted to see a “sense of urgency” from his federal counterparts in regards to the nation’s trouble-plagued vaccine rollout.He said Australia was falling behind the rest of the world.“In terms of where we are right now, we are well behind where we need to be,” he said. “So, when you compare how Australia is going with the rest of the world, we are falling so far behind it’s not funny.”He said the vaccine rollout would be at the top of his to do list at national cabinet on Monday.Victoria recorded one new locally acquired case of Covid-19 on Monday, along with eight new infections in hotel quarantine.The health department said the new local case was a primary close contact who had been in quarantine during their infectious period.The number of active cases in Victoria is 54, up from 51 on Sunday.The results came from 16,290 tests, while 10,921 vaccine doses were also administered in the past 24 hours.In another promising sign, no new public exposure sites have been added in the past four days.The number of venues has steadily fallen over the past fortnight from almost 400 to 108 on Monday morning.Victorians have been urged to check the state government’s website for the full and frequently changing list.The Acting Premier again hit out at the federal government over their vaccine rollout and lack of supply to Victoria, but stopped short of ruling out further lockdowns because of it.Mr Merlino said having 50 to 60 per cent of the population on the way towards 70 to 80 per cent fully vaccinated was they ticket out of the pandemic, but when pressed if 60 per cent was the magic number he refused to rule out further lockdowns.“What I can guarantee all Victorians is that we’ll continue to follow public health advice,” he said.“And the public health advice is clearly that the more your population is vaccinated, the better it is in terms of combating the virus.“The more you get vaccinated, the better it is for all of us. That is our ticket through this, increase the proportion of the population that is vaccinated.”COVID SCARE AT BIRTHING WARDA maternity ward in the NSW city of Wollongong is being deep cleaned after a doctor came into contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19 while in their private practice room.The doctor, who then visited the birthing ward at Wollongong Private Hospital, has returned a negative result but will have to isolate for two weeks regardless.The Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District released a statement that said comprehensive contact tracing had taken place.“NSW Health always alerts the community as soon as possible when there is any risk to public health, including exposure venues related to confirmed cases of Covid-19,” it said in a statement.“Through contact tracing, the ISLHD Public Health Unit quickly identified that a private healthcare professional had been in contact with Covid-19 cases linked to the Bondi cluster.“The healthcare professional is in isolation and has tested negative to date. “Comprehensive contact tracing has taken place.”The ward is now being deep cleaned.Wollongong Private Hospital released a statement on Sunday that said it was notified on Saturday that the doctor, who is fully vaccinated, had been exposed to Covid-19 on Friday afternoon while in their private practice rooms.“Unfortunately, this doctor was only made aware of exposure to a Covid positive case after they had visited the birthing suites of the hospital earlier Saturday morning,” the statement read.“Two Wollongong Private Hospital midwives were also tested as close contacts of the doctor, and both have returned negative results.”The hospital said one of the midwives was fully vaccinated and the other was waiting for their second dose.The alert comes after the Bondi cluster grew to nine cases and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Sunday extended restrictions. Four new cases were announced on Sunday. Two of those were recorded before the 8pm reporting cut-off, and the other two will be included in Monday’s numbers. Masks will now be mandatory in public indoor venues – if you are not eating or drinking – if you live in or visit seven local government areas, including Randwick, Bayside, Canada Bay, Inner West, City of Sydney, Waverley and Woollahra.Indoor activities where masks are mandatory include riding public transport, retail, theatres, visiting aged care facilities and also for front-of-house hospitality staff.The public transport mask mandate has also been extended to Wollongong and Shellharbour local government areas because the man in his 30s who tested positive from Sydney’s CBD had also spent time in Wollongong.NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said she was concerned testing numbers were not high enough.Just 24,000 people got swabbed in the latest 24-hour reporting period.“I would like to see those numbers today exceed 30-40,000 tests,” she said on Sunday.“The quicker we can diagnose cases, the quicker we can get ahead of the transmission of this virus.”The new cases have sparked a swath of venue alerts, including for a busy Westfield in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.SYDNEY ON EDGE AS EXPOSURE LIST GROWSConcerns Sydney’s Covid-19 cluster is spreading further out of the city’s eastern suburbs have been confirmed with a list of exposed venues now including suburbs in the west as well as in the Illawarra region.The list of exposure sites now includes venues at Leichhardt, Castle Hill, Fairy Meadow in the Illawarra, Merrylands and Campbelltown.It comes after four new cases were flagged by NSW Health officials on Sunday, one of which was already announced, and two that will be included in Monday’s numbers.Sydney’s first case in the outbreak was announced on June 16, a 60-year-old limousine driver who tested positive for the concerning Delta. The cluster has grown to nine.Authorities have urged all residents to monitor NSW Health’s website for updates.NSW Health said on Sunday evening anyone who visited the North Face store at the Birkenhead Point Shopping Centre at Drummoyne from 11.35am to 11.50am on Tuesday June 15 was considered a close contact of a positive case.They have been asked to urgently contact the NSW Health hotline on 1800 943 553, as well as getting tested and self-isolating for 14 days.NSW Health earlier in the day issued the same alert for anyone who visited the following venues at the Birkenhead Point Shopping Centre at the following times;* Country Road – June 15, 12.30pm-1pm* Seed – June 15, 12.30pm-1pm* Nike – June 15, 12.50pm-1.15pmNSW Health also issued an alert for several other venues in Drummoyne, Merrylands, Hurstville, Parramatta, Castle Hill, Baulkham Hills and the Sydney CBD.The full list of venues of concern can be found here.Masks are now mandatory in all indoor settings, while the masks on public transport rule will be extended to Wollongong and Shellharbour local government areas.NSW PREMIER WON’T RULE OUT TOUGHER RESTRICTIONSNSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian hasn’t ruled out ramping up restrictions in the Great Sydney area if community acquired Covid cases continue to rise.The list of coronavirus exposure sites continues to rise, with the number of cases linked to the Bondi cluster sitting officially at nine.That number is expected to rise by at least another two, following the identification of two new cases which will be included in Monday’s report.Mandatory mask wearing has been extended to indoor settings, including hospitality workers, in seven Sydney local government areas around the eastern suburbs. These local government areas include Randwick, Bayside, Botany, Inner West, City of Sydney, Waverley and Woollahra.Mandatory mask wearing on public transport will also be extended to the Wollongong and Shellharbour areas.Ms Berejiklian said it was important to remain on high alert no matter where people lived, and that further restrictions would be introduced if necessary. “I know that all of us are a bit fatigued from living with Covid, but we can’t drop the ball now,” she said. She said the next few days would be critical and urged people to go and get tested.“You have to balance the risk with how heavy handed you are with the public,” she said.Meanwhile in Queensland, health officials are still working to identify the infection source of an international flight attendant in her 30s, who tested positive to Covid.One new community cased was announced in Queensland on Sunday afternoon, which has been linked to the flight attendant. Initially, health authorities thought the woman had been infected with the highly contagious Delta strain of Covid, however genome sequencing ruled this out on Sunday afternoon.Queensland’s chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young, said the flight attendant tested positive after leaving hotel quarantine and taking a routine test on day 14. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said depending on how the current outbreak evolves, the state will see a further easing of COVID-19 restrictions from 1am on Friday. She urged Queenslanders to be vigilant in the coming days.“It isn’t too much to ask for more freedom,” she said.PM FLAGS BORDER PLANAustralia’s international border has been shut for more than a year due to Covid.Now, the Prime Minister has revealed new steps to reopening it but has stopped short of saying what vaccination rates would be needed to make it happen. The Weekend Australian reports that foreign students could be used to trial a new “green light, red light” system on the international border, allowing in vaccinated arrivals who pose no health risk.But Scott Morrison has resisted calls to nominate an vaccine rate that would be required for a broader reopening to the world.Speaking to The Weekend Australian, Mr Morrison said there was no magic number for vaccination rates “at this point”.“The jury is out on that and it will be a while, I think, before the epidemiologists can have greater clarity on that.“We have to be patient for the evidence and the science,” Mr Morrison said.The Prime Minister said any gradual reopening of the border would still include quarantine requirements for arrivals into Australia.NED-3619-AstraZeneca blood clots-What we know
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