The state’s health department confirmed the new local virus cases about 8.45am and said all were linked to existing outbreaks that have stemmed from NSW.Victoria has now recorded 107 cases linked to the two outbreaks that jumped the border from Sydney’s deadly Delta cluster – one from a team of Sydney removalists that transited through the state and the other a family that returned to Melbourne’s north from a NSW red zone.As of Tuesday night, the source of one case – a woman aged in her 20s from Melbourne’s north – remained under investigation.It comes as Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews extended the state’s fifth lockdown by another seven days until 11.59pm on July 27.It was also confirmed there was one new case in hotel quarantine, with the number of active cases in Victoria at 118 — up from 96 on Monday.NED-3869-Covid-19-Exposure-Sites-VictoriaNED-3889-Melbourne-lockdown-restrictionsNEW COVID CASE IN SA South Australia has recorded a new case of COVID-19 – taking the current cluster to six – as the state entered its third lockdown for seven days from 6pm last night .It joins Australia’s two largest cities, Melbourne and Sydney, which remain locked down.Also, parts of regional NSW have entered a seven-day Covid lockdown as the state grapples to contain a spreading outbreak of the Delta variant.The Covid crisis in NSW has extended to the state’s central west with three local council areas – Orange, Cabonne and Blayney – now under stay-at-home orders until Wednesday July 28.It follows a positive test result returned by a pet food factory worker in Blayney. They were a close contact of an infected delivery driver who visited the site last week. A string of exposure sites were reported in Orange on Tuesday. “We understand this is a difficult time for the community and appreciate their ongoing patience,” NSW Health said in a statement.LOCKDOWNS ‘NECESSARY’Health Minister Greg Hunt said 2.9 million Australians have been vaccinated overall, with nearly one million people getting the jab in a week alone as lockdowns continue. Spoeaking in Tuesday, Mr Hunt said 10,285,444 vaccine doses had been given, which equates to 35.7 per cent of the eligible population.On the extended lockdown in Victoria and new lockdown measures in South Australia, he said: “ … these are difficult decisions, but I understand they are recognised as necessary. It’s challenging for so many people to – I know the Chief Medical Officer has been meeting with Chief Health Officer is and he will be considering a Commonwealth hot spot definition in … South Australia.”Mr Hunt said he thought the outbreak in NSW had stabilised, giving Australia some hope that lockdowns can be lifted. It came after he was asked about Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton’s claims that because the Delta variant is more dangerous that Australia may have to alter its restriction protocols. “It is important to step back and look at what the world is doing as well as Australia,” he said.“The world is dealing with something we haven’t seen in 100 years. The difference is that while we have had agonising losses around the world, and tragic losses here in Australia, the scope and scale between the rest of the world and Australia are immeasurably different and we shouldn’t lose sight of what has been achieved on an extraordinary level in Australia. What does that mean going forward? With over 4 million lives, 4.1 million lives lost worldwide and sadly, tragically, 915 here in Australia, what it means is that we will continue to use the different rings of containment which have led to the vastly different results here in Australia.”On NSW, he said: “The NSW outbreak now is I think making real progress.“We saw it reach 100 cases. On this day a year ago, where I’m standing in Victoria, there were 275 cases and not long afterwards, only a couple of weeks later, there were approximately 700 cases in one day. The difference now is that NSW has stabilised. That is the most important real sign of hope in Australia today. There’s more work do, as the premier said, today, with regards to the infectious cases in the community. “They are stable, they are in no significant way either decreasing or increasing at this point in time, so that process of mopping up is under way now. What they have done is put in place, arguably, some of the hardest restrictions Australia has ever had and they’ve done it at a very early time.”COVID-19 Australia: Cumulative vaccinations by stateNSW LASHES ANTI-VAXXERS AS OUTBREAK GROWSNSW recorded 78 new cases on Tuesday, with 27 of these in the community while infectious.It follows 63,000 tests in the 24 hours to 8pm Monday.Authorities are asking people from Canterbury Bankstown, Hurstville and Kogarah local government areas to get tested.Health Minister Brad Hazzard took aim at anti-vaxxers while urging the community to get vaccinated.“I just want to stress the message with to vaccinations. Some people describe themselves as anti-vaxxers and others for various reasons have opposition to vaccination. Can I just stress that anti-vaxxers obviously live in another universe and others who give messages that this virus isn’t dangerous and don’t get vaccinated clearly have no medical or scientific training. “This virus is an extremely transmissible virus. It can kill you and it can kill your family and your friends.”Meanwhile, Premier Daniel Andrews announced Victoria will extend its snap five-day lockdown for another seven days.The initial lockdown was supposed to end midnight Tuesday.NED-3889-Melbourne-lockdown-restrictionsIt comes as the state’s exposure list increased to 320 sites on Tuesday.“This extension is not what we wanted to have to do, but it is the only option. It is what must be done and Victorians, as always, will continue hard and fast and early and that means this thing can be over much sooner than would otherwise be the case,” Mr Andrews said.The premier also confirmed the new hard NSW border will be in place for the next two weeks.He said from midnight Tuesday the only Victorians with compassionate exemptions or essential workers will be allowed back into the state from Sydney.“Sydney has been a declared red zone for the purposes of travel. That is, if you do get a permit, you have got to come here, isolate for 14 days, as well as getting tested,” he said.And a seven-day lockdown was announced for South Australia from 6pm on Tuesday after it recorded a fifth case of Covid-19 on Tuesday.Premier Steven Marshall announced at an 11am Tuesday press conference health authorities had confirmed the Delta variant had infiltrated the state.Mr Marshall said the bad news had left the government with no other alternative but to impose a hard lockdown.“We hate to put these restrictions in place but we have just one chance, one chance to get this right,” he said.There will be only five reasons to leave the home.“If we don’t get this right we could be in an extended lockdown situation and that is something we have always wanted to avoid,” the Premier said. NED-4117-South-Australias-New-Covid-19-RestrictionsTHREE NEW CASES IN QUEENSLANDIt comes as three new cases of Covid-19 emerged in Queensland, including one that was locally acquired.Acting Premier Steven Miles said the case, a woman, was unrelated to any of the existing clusters in Queensland, The Courier Mail reports.He said the woman, who was fully vaccinated, had tested positive after recently returning from Melbourne and then travelled to Cairns and Mareeba.“It’s a Queensland woman who studies in Melbourne,” Mr Miles said.“We believe they have been infectious in the community from July 15.”Mr Miles stressed that anyone who has been to Victoria, NSW and South Australia should look out for the relevant Covid exposure sites in those states.Mr Miles said the risk of community transmission was in Queenslanders and people coming to Queensland who had been interstate.Chief health officer Jeannette Young said the fully vaccinated woman, aged in her 20s, flew into Sunshine Coast airport from Melbourne on July 13. She received an alert from Victorian health authorities on July 15, because she had been at the Young and Jacksons hotel on July 10, which was determined a Tier 1 exposure site. “She immediately went and got herself tested and she tested negative,” Dr Young said. She stayed with friends in Maroochydore on Thursday, and visited the Sunshine Coast Plaza between 3.55pm-4.15pm. “Then from 6.45-8pm that night, she attended Rice Boi at the wharf at Mooloolaba,” Dr Young said. “It’s critical that anyone who attended that restaurant on Thursday, July 15 to immediately come forward and get tested and isolate.”She travelled to Brisbane Airport via public transport on Friday before flying to Cairns where she was picked up by a relative and taken home to Mareeba. She has been deemed infectious from July 15.Under Queensland’s public health directions, she should have gone into quarantine as soon as she received the SMS on July 15, filled in an online contact tracing form and continued to isolate “even after receiving a negative result” until health authorities released her, The Courier Mail reports.According to the publication, the woman could fac a police probe.NED-4196-QLD-Restrictions-lifting‘YOU ARE MY LIFE’Two removalists charged for allegedly working while infectious have paid tribute to their mother after she was founded dead in her home after testing positive to Covid.“Mama, my love, you are my life,” Roni Shawka wrote in a Facebook post.“Mama, you are my comfort and my life, Mama”.His twin brother Ramsin paid tribute to his mum with her photo on his Facebook profile.The woman is NSW’s fifth death from the latest Covid outbreak.NSW Police said in a statement officers responded to a concern for welfare at a home in Thursday Place, Green Valley, at 9.15am on Monday where they found the body of a woman in her 50s.NSW Health confirmed the woman, 57, was positive for Covid-19 and was a close contact of another case.“NSW Health today sadly reports the death of a woman in her 50s who was a confirmed Covid-19 case. She was a resident of southwestern Sydney and a close contact of a Covid case,” the department said. “This is the 61st death in NSW related to Covid-19 and the fifth of the current outbreak. “NSW Health extends its sincere sympathy to her family and friends.”It has been reported from the scene that police officers wore personal protective equipment while inspecting the home.Thursday Place was cordoned off while emergency services were on the scene.“An investigation has commenced and a report has been prepared for the coroner,” NSW Police said.Police announced on Saturday they had charged three removalists – two brothers aged 27 and a man aged 21 – after they allegedly travelled to western NSW despite knowing they had the virus.The men have blamed the incident on a language barrier and believed they had followed health advice.They say one of the men received their positive result when they were already in Orange.NSW EXPOSURE LIST GROWSNSW Health issued an alert overnight instructing people who visited new Covid exposure sites to get tested and immediately isolate.“NSW Health has been notified of a number of new venues of concern associated with confirmed cases of COVID 19,” a statement from the department read.Anyone who attended the following venues at the times listed is a close contact and must get tested and isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result.It comes as NSW recorded 98 new local coronavirus infections on Monday as an outbreak of the Delta variant that began in Sydney continues to expand.Out of those, 20 had been infectious in the community.Premier Gladys Berejiklian said too many people were getting Covid in homes and workplaces.“We are seeing so many examples of entire households getting the virus and in distress because those that are closest to them getting the virus because they have unintentionally or by mistake unfortunately spread the virus. We really want to see that stop. I don’t want to see families and individuals go through the guilt and distress,” she said.“We need families to stay in their family home and not move from household to household. Unfortunately, too many people are getting sick from that.”She said of the workplaces, there has not been a huge transfer to patrons but definitely through work colleagues.“Please, can we stress to be extra, careful in relation to workplaces and also in relation to your own family members who don’t live in your household. These are two areas we need to focus on. I am convinced if we work together, we will see that number go down,” she said.NSW Covid Exposure SitesSHIP CREW MEMBERS SICKTwo more crew members on-board a cargo ship docked in Perth have tested positive for Covid-19.The BBC California docked at Fremantle Port on Monday morning, with eight ill crew members initially getting tested before returning to the vessel.After they returned positive test results, the remaining six crew members were also tested.The West Australian Health Department revealed in a statement that two more crew members had tested positive on Tuesday morning.“All BBC California crew members have been tested and will remain on-board, isolated in their rooms until further notice,” the department said.“Serology tests for the vessel crew members are still to be received.”Premier Mark McGowan said on Monday all safety procedures had been followed, including the use of personal protective equipment.The ship departed Egypt last month then travelled to ports in Indonesia before reaching WA waters.Crew members are believed to be from the Philippines, Russia, Ukraine and Bulgaria.Mr McGowan said his preference was for the crew to remain on the vessel unless they needed hospital treatment.There are now 17 active cases in WA, including the 10 from the BBC California, six cases in hotel quarantine and one man who remains in a Perth hospital in a stable condition.He became ill on-board another ship – the Emerald Indah – and was taken off the vessel in Geraldton earlier this month.More than 9000 people received a Covid-19 vaccination in WA on Monday, including more than 5000 who had their second dose.NED-4166-Vaccination-by-percentage-of-age-bracket– with Angie Raphael, James Hall, David Aidone, Evin Priest, Emily Cosenza
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