The new case is linked to the Portuguese Family Centre/ Greek Community Centre cluster, which originated when a flight attendant contracted the virus while in hotel quarantine and spent time in the community while unknowingly infectious. The cluster, which stands at 24, has been genomically linked and is the Alpha variant, but the link between the two centres remains unclear. Chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said as of Tuesday morning, there are 6664 contacts in quarantine, of which 5177 are at home. “We have got a lot of people doing a lot of hard work, in terms of all those contacts and thank you to all the people who are adhering to those requirements to be in home quarantine, and to continue to get tested when they are asked to by public health people,” Dr Young said. “I thank every single person who is checking our website … and giving that information to the contact tracers.”Queensland Police deputy commissioner Steve Gollschewski said more than 3000 people, including international and interstate arrivals, are in hotel quarantine. “Of those 5177 in home quarantine, a reminder to them, we do random checks for people in home quarantine,” Mr Gollschewski said. “In the last couple of weeks we have done 1200 and by and large, the compliance has been very good.“It is a reminder for people in home quarantine that you are not permitted to leave unless … there are very, very few specific reasons.”The new case lives at Kangaroo Point and is a close contact of the man from Sinnamon Park who tested positive on Monday. The new case announced on Tuesday is said to be “perfectly well and asymptomatic” – but this means Dr Young can’t identify the beginning of her infectious period. “We have gone back to when she first had contact with the man,” Dr Young said. A woman is also facing charges after escaping from the Pacific International Hotel where she had been in hotel quarantine since July 1 after arriving from Sydney.She went missing on Tuesday afternoon, and police later found her at her mother’s house.“It appears this person scaled two balconies, went down an outside staircase and has damaged a door to escape,” deputy commissioner Steve Gollschewski, said.“Upon being discovered, police have conducted inquiries and that 32-year-old was located last night in Cairns.“She was cooperative with police but has been returned into custody and is currently in custody at the Cairns City Watchhouse and is facing a number of charges, including criminal charges. That matter is not yet concluded.Mr Gollschewski said she returned a negative Covid-19 test when she commenced her 14 days of hotel quarantine. She has completed a second test following the incident and authorities are awaiting results.NED-3869-Covid-19-Exposure-Sites-QldSYDNEY’S RELEASE HANGS ON TODAY’S NUMBERSCovid case numbers in Sydney on Tuesday will be “critical” in deciding whether to lift the greater Sydney lockdown on Friday, NSW Health officials say.Several new exposure sites were added to a growing list overnight, including several restaurants, a chicken shop and multiple pharmacies.Sydney’s Adventist Hospital has also been placed on high alert after potential exposure to the virus, and hundreds of nurses have been forced into isolation at Royal North Shore Hospital and Fairfield Hospital after an unvaccinated student nurse worked shifts while infectious.On Monday, New South Wales recorded 35 new locally acquired cases of Covid and authorities warned the public the outbreak is far from over.Of the new cases, 24 were in isolation for their entire infectious period.“I know everybody is keen to know what is going to happen beyond Friday‘s lockdown, as am I, but what I can tell you with certainty is that the next couple of days will be absolutely critical,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Monday.More than 58,000 NSW residents were tested in the latest 24 hour reporting period. Two of these are aged care residents at Summit Care Baulkham Hills, taking that cluster to five.Earlier the aged care home’s chief operating officer confirmed the new cases from 117 tests on staff and residents but there are still dozens of pending results sparking fears of more cases.But whether or not Sydney emerges from its lockdown as scheduled would depend on people following stay-at-home orders.Health Minister Brad Hazzard warned gatherings could extend the city’s lockdown.Mr Hazzard was annoyed at hearing of gatherings of people across Sydney over the weekend and unleashed an almighty spray against the “entitled” group.“When you hear of parties going on in the middle of a lockdown you have got to (wonder) what is the thinking of some of these people?” Mr Hazzard said.“I would say that those people who are thinking that the rules are somehow not for them, that they are more entitled than the rest of us, you actually have to listen because you may be the people who spread this and keep us in lockdown for a lot longer than the rest of the community would like.”NSW Health officials are looking into a gathering held after Sydney went into lockdown that has already produced multiple Covid-19 infections. Three infections were attributed to a gathering at the Meriton Suites at Waterloo at 8pm on June 26 – two hours after stay-at-home restrictions came into effect.NED-1859 State of our bordersSA RELAXES RESTRICTIONSSouth Australia has relaxed Covid-19 restrictions that were introduced as outbreaks grew across the country.Premier Steven Marshall announced the restrictions would be eased immediately at a press conference on Monday morning.He also revealed the requirement for people travelling from Victoria to get tested and isolate until negative on arrival would be lifted.The new rules are:-Hospitality and other businesses will revert to density limits three people per 4sq m; -The cap on people at private gatherings, including weddings and funerals, will return to 200 people;-Dancing and singing will be again allowed at indoor seated entertainment facilities, such as choirs and karaoke bars;-Hospitality businesses, bars and clubs will also be allowed to return to standing alcohol consumption.Mr Marshall said the strong advice to wear masks on public transport and indoor spaces would also be lifted.The restrictions were put in place last Monday despite South Australia having no active local virus cases at the time due to escalating numbers of the Delta variant in Sydney and across the country.MORE RESIDENTS TEST POSITIVETwo more residents of the Baulkham Hills aged care facility in Sydney have tested positive to Covid-19, bringing the total number of the cluster up to five.In a letter sent to its residents, the operator SummitCare confirmed the residents will be transferred to Westmead Hospital as a precaution. Both the cases are not displaying any symptoms and are stable.The outbreak was sparked after two nurses worked at the facility while infectious, with two thirds of staff not vaccinated.It comes as a Coles and Woolworths in Sydney’s east are among the city’s newest COVID-19 exposure sites.NSW Covid Exposure SitesALERT OVER GOLD COAST FLIGHT NSW Health has issued a fresh alert to people who flew from the Gold Coast to Sydney on a previously announced Virgin flight, after more passengers tested positive for Covid-19.All passengers who travelled on Flight VA524 (Virgin) on Saturday, June 26; leaving the Gold Coast at 1.26pm and arriving in Sydney at 2.47pm are considered close contacts.They must be vigilant in monitoring for symptoms and remained in isolation for the full 14 days, regardless of their results, a statement from NSW Health said.In a statement to NCA NewsWire, a Virgin Australia spokesman confirmed the “additional” positive results among passengers. But he said that the origin of the transmission remained unknown.“The origin of transmission is unknown and investigations on whether there is a link to the previously announced COVID-19 positive cases on this flight are ongoing,” he said.“All passengers and Virgin Australia crew who were on this flight are already in isolation and the operating aircraft was immediately deep cleaned following confirmation of the first COVID-19 positive case last week.“Virgin Australia continues to work closely with NSW Health, the National Incident Room and other health authorities as required.”In addition to the Virgin alert, NSW has listed three venues of concern, with anyone who attended listed as close contacts. They must immediately get tested and isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result.These venues, as well as a number of others are listed on the NSW Health website.WHEN AUSSIES COULD BE VACCINATEDThe head of Australia’s peak medical body says it is “very realistic” to get everyone who wants both vaccine doses fully immunised by the end of the year.President of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) Dr Omar Khorshid said the “magic number” of vaccinations required to get back to normal would become clearer under the country’s four-phase plan to steer its way back to normal.Prime Minister Scott Morrison revealed the strategy at Friday’s national cabinet meeting amid new cases surging across the country.The first stage of the plan involves reaching a certain vaccination threshold after offering all Australians the chance to get vaccinated.Dr Khorshid told Weekend Today that Federal and State Governments uniting under the plan was encouraging because it “shows us a path” out of the Covid-19 pandemic.“They need to base it on science, like they have through the whole pandemic,” he said.Dr Khorshid said it was very realistic to have everyone who wanted both vaccine doses fully immunised by the end of 2021 as AstraZeneca was being manufactured in Australia and Pfizer doses were being “ramped up”.He said modelling would be done to determine what the “magic number” of vaccinations required for the return to normality would be, instead of having multiple opinions.NED-4150-Pathway-out-of-pandemicWhile an exact date for that number isn’t clear yet, he said it could depend on how the Delta variant of Covid-19 is handled.Australians would be encouraged to get their vaccines at risk of being “left behind” or even contracting coronavirus.“It may just be a case of sticking in the new transmissibility number for this variant … the model could come up with the answer fairly fast,” Dr Khorshid said.
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