Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said the rollout was “progressing significantly”, according to The Australian.The remarks came in response to estimates that it could take 18 months to vaccinate the Australian population amid the deadly coronavirus pandemic.“We had over 60,000 on one day last week, and close to 80,000 on another day, (who were) vaccinated,” Professor Kelly said, according toThe Australian. He added: “Our GPs in particular are doing a fantastic job in terms of vaccination, they have now got well over half the vaccinations done in primary care and so we will continue to increase”.“And as you are getting more supplies now of both the locally produced CSL AstraZeneca product as well as Pfizer coming in from overseas, we will continue to increase the speed.”SHIP QUARANTINE BREACH A ship worker who skipped quarantine in Queensland sparking a manhunt has turned himself into police.A Queensland Police spokesman confirmed the crew member, understood to be a Pakistani national, turned himself in at Townsville Police Station, the Townsville Bulletin reports.Australian Border Force launched a search for the crew member after escaping when the Polaris 3 docked at the Port of Townsville.The livestock ship left Huanghua, China, on April 12 before arriving in Australia.The man reportedly left the ship on Saturday night, 8pm, and was last seen in a white van leaving the port.Eleven crew members, believed to be Syrian, are refusing to return to the ship instead claiming asylum.The Townsville Bulletin reports the crew members tested negative to COVID-19 but the man on the run has not been tested.The men have been detained by ABF and were due to be moved to hotel quarantine outside of Townsville.Another 37 crew of the Polaris 3 remained don the ship and have reportedly been cleared to exit the port.The Polaris 3 is a livestock carrier that was built in 2008 and is sailing under the flag of Panama.NED-3588 Covid Strains ExplainedWA-NZ TRAVEL BUBBLE REOPENSTravel between Western Australia and New Zealand will resume after the travel bubble was abruptly halted following three community COVID-19 cases.Health officials across the ditch agreed travel could resume following talks with their Australian counterparts where it was determined the new infections did not present a significant risk to New Zealand.However, anyone who has been at “locations of interest” identified by the West Australian government cannot travel to New Zealand within 14 days of exposure.“While the public health risk is deemed low, we must all remain vigilant as we enjoy the opportunities quarantine-free travel has given us,” New Zealand’s director-general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, said.National Vaccine RolloutIt was the second disruption to the groundbreaking travel bubble between New Zealand and Australia in the two weeks since it opened, ending more than a year since both closed their international borders due to the pandemic.Flights between New Zealand and Western Australia were briefly suspended when the Perth and Peel regions were sent into a three-day lockdown after recording a case of community transmission on April 23.Flights to other states and territories have not been affected. The bubble, which followed months of negotiations between the largely coronavirus-free neighbours, has been hailed as a major milestone in restarting a global travel industry that has been crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic.‘WE ARE NOT OUT OF THE WOODS YET’: NEW WA RESTRICTIONSPerth has narrowly dodged another lockdown in the wake of three local COVID cases, however new restrictions have been imposed effective immediately.Western Australia recorded no new locally transmitted COVID cases overnight, and while Premier Mark McGowan stopped short of imposing a fresh lockdown, he has “reinstated some restrictions” while healthy authorities continue to track contacts of the infected trio.The latest community outbreak began when a hotel quarantine guard tested positive on Saturday. Two of his housemates have also tested positive.“We are not out of the woods yet,” Mr McGowan said on Sunday.Among the restrictions, fans will be locked out of the AFL Derby due to take place this afternoon at Perth’s Optus Stadium, and nightclubs will be closed immediately until at least 12.01am, Saturday, May 8.“The (AFL) game will still go on and of course people can watch it from their own homes,” Mr McGowan said.“The decision to have no crowd at the stadium also helps us in preventing possible transmission on public transport. Having 45,000 people try to get to Optus Stadium at the same time is too much of a risk, especially as we are still going through the close contacts.”He conceded people would be disappointed at the snap decision.“I understand people will be disappointed and some people will be frustrated but the decision has been made on health advice and we have tried to communicate this as quickly as possible,” he said.Mr McGowan flagged the possibility of compulsory mask-wearing in the longer term, and did not rule out a future lockdown, saying it was a “prospect”.“I want to avoid going into lockdown again,” he said.“I know how much it can impact people’s lives and businesses but if we need to go back into lockdown we will.”NED-2170 How coronavirus mutatesHOTEL SECURITY GUARD AND BABY GET COVIDA hotel quarantine security guard in Perth and two people living in his house have tested positive for COVID-19 in Western Australia.The man, in his 20s, had received his first COVID vaccination shot and was waiting to receive his second jab.Seven other people who were living or staying with the man in his house in Nollamara have been taken into quarantine.Two of them – including one who shared a room with the man – has tested positive.But Premier Mark McGowan has said he will not impose another snap lockdown yet. “We are effectively in a holding pattern and I hope we can avoid going back into lockdown,” Mr McGowan said.“But if we need to, based on health advice, then that is what we will do.”He said masks will be required to be worn indoors and outdoors.Mr McGowan said the man had been responsible in the past few days, and was wearing a mask.WA’s recent three-day snap lockdown over more COVID-19 infections also led the government to stop using three quarantine hotels for returning overseas travellers.The three hotels – the Mercure, the Four Points and the Novotel Langley – were identified as being of “very high risk” of transmitting the virus through their ventilation systems.It comes as an infant has been infected with coronavirus in Western Australia as well.The young son of a previously reported case in hotel quarantine has on Saturday become the 1000th case of coronavirus in the state since the pandemic began.Information on the boy’s condition was not immediately available.The news came as Premier Mark McGowan defended his decision to lock down the Perth and Peel regions for three days following community spread of the virus last month.“It’s not something I enjoy doing, it’s not something I want to do,” Mr McGowan told the 6PR radio station on Friday.“What I want to do is prevent the virus from getting here. If the virus does come in and we have potential community spread, well there’s not many tools we have available.TREASURER DEFENDS INDIA BAN AND JAIL THREATTreasurer Josh Frydenberg has defended the government’s controversial decision to pause travel from India, saying the short-term pain will protect Australia. “The decision that we have taken recently with the Biosecurity Act is because the situation in India is dire, … More than 200,000 people have died and there are more than 300,000 new cases a day,” Mr Frydenberg told ABC on Saturday. Following a dramatic escalation in new cases, the federal government announced it would cease all travel from India until further notice, and have threatened travellers looking to skirt the rules with prison. “This is a drastic action, but designed to keep Australians safe … and it’s temporary, based on medical advice and will be reviewed on May 15,” Mr Frydenberg said of the decision to threaten jail time. “When the national cabinet met, they received the most up to date briefing from our Chief Medical Officers and their advice is that we need to put in place these secure measures … so they are temporary, they will be reviewed on May 15,” he said.TRAVEL ON INDEFINITE HIATUSMeantime, former federal senator Arthur Sinodinos has said Australians could face indefinite travel restrictions as millions await a viable vaccine. Mr Sinodinos, who is now the Australian ambassador to the United States, told an online event that pre-pandemic travel levels will not be able to resume for Australians until “the world is vaccinated.” “Until the world as a whole is vaccinated, and I’m thinking here of India, and other places, then we’re never going to be completely out of this.”Mr Sinodinos said that while “there’s a real economic imperative to get borders open” within Australia, “Because we’ve done well on community transmission there isn’t same pressure from the public to get the vaccines out … it’s not like the US and elsewhere where there’s been a real urgency.” Since introducing an international border closure on March 20, 2020, all travellers arriving into Australia are required to quarantine for 14 days, even if they are already fully vaccinated.SECOND BREACH IN TRAVEL BUBBLEA woman has flown from Auckland to Perth without spending two weeks in quarantine in New Zealand, in the second apparent COVID breach to hit Australian shores in a week.The Western Australian health department confirmed the woman, from the Cook Islands, was meant to quarantine at a hotel in New Zealand before travelling to Australia.Her Air New Zealand flight, NZ 175, landed in Perth at 1.30pm on Friday.Air New Zealand said the incident was a potential breach of the trans-Tasman bubble. “We have been made aware of a passenger on board NZ175 Auckland-Perth today who is ineligible for quarantine-free travel to Australia,” the airline said in a statement.“We are working with the relevant authorities on both sides of the Tasman and will follow their guidance.“The next steps for this passenger will be determined by the Western Australia authorities.”The woman has been transported to a Perth quarantine hotel and will undergo a COVID-19 test, remaining in isolation.The Cook Islands has reported no new COVID cases since January 3 and the WA Health Department said it was “very unlikely” the passenger was infected.In a statement the department said it would publicly report the test result.“Remaining passengers on board Flight NZ175 were allowed to disembark and were processed in the usual way,” the statement read.“Use of PPE and cleaning at Perth Airport and on the plane today are standard practise.”It comes after a breach at Brisbane International Airport on Thursday morning when an infected man and a companion unintentionally spent two hours in the green zone before they were escorted to their rightful area.The infected man travelled from Papua New Guinea but was inadvertently allowed to cross into the “green zone” area at Brisbane Airport where passengers were waiting to travel to New Zealand.Almost 400 passengers who flew to New Zealand from Brisbane have potentially been exposed to the virus.Queensland’s Chief health officer Jeannette Young has declared the international terminal a venue of concern.“Anyone who was in the terminal between 9.45am and midday on Thursday, 29 April 2021, should monitor their symptoms and get tested immediately if they feel unwell,” she said.– with Amanda Sheppeard
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