Under the measures, Victorian schools will be shut and there will be only four reasons to leave home, including for work and exercise, according to the Herald Sun.No travel restrictions will be imposed and construction will remain open under the stage three restrictions, which are expected to be confirmed at a press conference today. Cabinet was due to ratify the lockdown measures at a meeting this morning, including deciding when the lockdown will start and how long it will last.It came as Victoria’s Department of Health confirmed there are 34 active Covid cases as of Thursday morning.The past 24 hours had been described as “critical” by Acting Premier James Merlino, who warned that he couldn’t rule out taking “further action”.Of particular concern to authorities is a party spree that an infectious person went on in South Yarra and Prahran on Saturday night, which lasted until the early hours of Sunday.A growing list of exposure sites had led to fears Melbourne will be plunged into a snap lockdown – which marks the city’s fourth. Earlier, the State Government introduced restrictions including wearing masks indoors, a limit of five people in homes, and no more than 30 for public gatherings.The number of Covid tests has remained high with 40,411 carried out in the last 24 hours.People have been fleeing Melbourne due to fears the city could be locked down while panic buying has also returned.Residents report fleeing Melbourne on Thursday morning with fears the city is about to go into its fourth lockdown since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Callers to 3AW on Thursday morning said they were hitting the road to get out of the state as the city braces for a possible lockdown. “I’m heading off to Sydney now, in the car,” one caller said. “I’m going straight right through, no stops. I just want to get to Sydney.“Yesterday morning I left Melbourne at 3 o’clock – there were so many cars loaded, getting to Sydney,” a second said. “I know a couple who took off yesterday in a caravan – they were meant to go in a few months,” another said. “My brother was planning a trip to WA, driving, he was meant to leave this morning but he left yesterday morning instead,” another caller said. A poll asking if listeners believed the state was about to go into lockdown returned an overwhelming “yes” result. “Those who have already gotten into their cars have anticipated that result,” host Russel Howcroft said.GLADYS’S SWIPE AT VICTORIAThe NSW Premier has had a go at Victoria’s coronavirus management system and revealed there are “enormous concerns” the ongoing outbreak that started in Melbourne could affect her state as well. Gladys Berejiklian said the Victorian government could move to impose a new lockdown partly because of a weakness in their “inconsistent” contact tracing system.Ms Berejiklian said health officials in her state were able to stay on top of community spread with a high degree of confidence thanks to NSW’s use of QR codes to register people’s movements. “Every state makes decisions based on the confidence they have in their systems and what is going on,” Ms Berejiklian told Channel 7’s Sunrise program on Thursday morning.“It also depends on the venues, how many people have actually checked in or not. They don’t have the same consistent QR code system that we have in NSW.“All of that is factored into our decision making in NSW: How robust are our systems, how confident are we that we have actually identified everyone who needs to get tested and isolate? That is the real key thing.“If you are not confident that you’ve got everybody, then you do need to consider other options. I assume that’s what the Victorian government is doing.” Ms Berejiklian said she and her colleagues were monitoring the situation in Victoria closely and the growing list of exposure sites in Melbourne and beyond was an “enormous concern”.“I really hope that Victoria gets on top of this latest outbreak, but also it seems to suggest that they may actually get more cases given the number of venues that were added to the list,” she said. “We’re obviously watching the situation very closely.”SA BORDER CLOSED South Australia has shut its border to Melbourne as a precaution over the city’s Covid crisis. Premier Steven Marshall announced that the travel restrictions would come into effect as of 6pm on Wednesday, imposing 14 day hotel quarantine regulations. It means that no one from Melbourne will be permitted to enter South Australia, except essential workers or those with exemptions. South Australian residents will be allowed to return home after the 6pm cut off but must quarantine at home for two weeks. It came as authorities confirmed a positive Covid case attended the Essendon versus North Melbourne game at Marvel Stadium on May 23.“Individuals sitting on level 1 between aisles 5 and 28, or level 3 in between aisles 6 and 29, must get tested and stay isolated until they have received a negative result,” Victoria’s Health Department warned on Wednesday.“The department is working with the AFL and Marvel Stadium to contact spectators to provide this advice.”NED-1859 State of our bordersPanic buying hit Melbourne again, with shoppers rushing to supermarkets to stock up on essentials in case of another lockdown.Janine Watt stopped at Greenvale Coles on her way home, when she encountered empty shelves describing the scene as “out of control”. “The cashier (said to me) ‘oh I see panic buying again, it was out of control when it was announced (about) mask wearing,” she said. On Tuesday night, a shopper snapped a photo of shelves stripped bare at Pascoe Vales Coles, while empty shelves were also seen at Elsternwick Coles. It’s understood Woolworths is closely monitoring the situation, but is prepared for demand and has enough stock.Coles will not be reintroducing any buying limits.“However we will monitor stock levels closely to ensure shelves are stocked with the items customers need,” a spokesman said. VIRUS CONTACTS IN SYDNEYTwo people who are considered close contacts of positive virus cases from Victoria have tested negative in Sydney.The two people were alerted by contact tracers they should get tested, NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said.“As soon as they received a call alerting them to the fact they were close contacts, they immediately contacted NSW Health, we immediately got testing done, and I can confirm that two of those that were contacted last night were negative,” Dr Chant said. But there could be more people who would be considered close contacts, she cautioned.“There were two that I was aware of, but there were a number of others that had gone to the shopping centre,” Dr Chant said.“And as you can imagine, a shopping centre could have captured a broader group of people.”The NSW tests come as the state’s Health Minister, Brad Hazzard cautioned NSW residents not to travel to Melbourne unless it was absolutely necessary. “It might be wise, it might be precautionary, not to travel to Melbourne or Victoria, but particularly greater Melbourne, until the Victorian government is able to provide further clarity on what is happening,” Mr Hazzard said. “If you don’t really need to go to greater Melbourne at the moment it might be a good idea just to leave it for a few days until we get some clarity from the Victorian government as to what’s going on.” VICTORIA ON EDGE AS VIRUS CASES INCREASEVictorians have been warned about future Covid restrictions after the state posted six new local infections. Acting Premier James Merlino said on Wednesday morning the next 24 hours would be crucial and authorities “cannot rule out taking further action”.Officials have identified 301 close contacts of the northern suburbs cluster and so far 80 of those people had tested negative.Mr Merlino also said they had “just become aware” of an extra local case, meaning the state posted six new infections on Wednesday.The city is on edge after several local cases of coronavirus were detected this week, prompting warnings to people who visited a football game at the MCG.Victorian health authorities sent out a late-night update warning tens of thousands of fans they could have been infected. The case was sitting in Zone 4, Level 1 of the Great Southern Stand (the Punt Rd end of the stand).Victoria Health said people seated in Zone 4, Level 1 – those with a bay between M1 & M16 on their match ticket – will be contacted directly with advice to get tested & isolate until negative. You can view the map in full here.There were fears the virus could have spread to the area around the regional city of Bendigo as well.A person that later tested positive to coronavirus visited a hairdresser there at the weekend.Anyone who was at the hair salon Bendigo Hairfolk on 33 Williamson Street on May 22, between 9.40am and 10.10am, should get tested and isolate until receiving a negative result.Bendigo is located 160km northwest of Melbourne, a drive of about 2 hours.There was also an alert for the nearby town of Axedale, where a person who later tested positive attended a lunchtime function at a local tavern.NED-3869-Covid-19-Exposure-Sites-VictoriaSTATES REACT TO VICTORIAN OUTBREAKWestern Australia tightened its restrictions on travellers from Victoria but stopped short of closing its border.From 6pm on Tuesday, all Victorian arrivals to Western Australia must be tested immediately, or within 48 hours, and self-quarantine until they return a negative result.“I hope this additional testing regime is all we have to do … (but) we won’t hesitate to put in place additional border controls if that is what the health advice recommends,” Premier Mark McGowan said.Queensland declared Victoria’s City of Whittlesea local government area – where the outbreak in Melbourne is centred – a hotspot.From 1am Wednesday anyone arriving into Queensland from that area must go into hotel quarantine unless they have a valid exemption.All arrivals from Victoria into Queensland must complete a border pass from Thursday at 1am.Meantime, Mr McGowan told reporters that Western Australian authorities had been closely watching the Victorian outbreak.“This is a rapidly evolving situation and things may well change,” Mr McGowan said.“Given the unknown source of the current outbreak, and genomic sequencing confirming a link to the Victorian man who acquired the virus in South Australian hotel quarantine earlier this month, it is a very concerning situation.“It means there have been infectious people in the Victorian community potentially since May 15.”Mr McGowan said the new restrictions were consistent with what Western Australia did when NSW had its outbreak in the northern beaches, which later became a hard border when the situation escalated.Anyone who has visited an exposure site must quarantine and be tested on day two and 11.Victoria’s four new infections tested positive on Tuesday afternoon and are household contacts of the single new case announced in the morning.Authorities confirmed that single case — a man aged in his 60s — was linked to the Whittlesea outbreak in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.All of the positive cases are in isolation.Victoria’s chief health officer Brett Sutton has indicated more cases could emerge in the coming days.The Department of Health has identified 168 primary close contacts related to exposure sites. So far, 84 people have tested negative.From the Bundoora Swim School exposure site, 39 contacts have been identified, of which 24 have returned a negative result.NED-3868-Melbourne-restrictions-mapOne of the confirmed cases attended Broadmeadows Hospital on May 21, the Department revealed on Tuesday afternoon.This site has been deemed one of a number of “small, private or closed exposure sites” being managed by the Department.Thirty-seven primary close contacts are linked to the hospital and 26 have so far returned a negative result.A small workplace linked to Case 1 contains four primary close contacts, of which three have so far returned a negative result.More than 170,000 SMS alerts have been sent to people in Epping and Reservoir urging them to monitor for symptoms and check exposure sites.Twenty-six testing sites will be open with extended hours. Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton said it wasn’t clear how the Indian virus variant compared to the UK strain.“It’s clearly infectious, but the same principles apply,” he told ABC.Professor Sutton said the current restrictions – due to come into effect from 6pm on Tuesday – were “sensible and proportionate” given the circumstances.He said the nine cases were currently limited to three households, adding that private residences were often the most at-risk environments.“That doesn’t necessarily require a lockdown … of course we’re going to review this every day,” he said.NED-3679-Indias-Mutant-Covid-19NEW ZEALAND SHUTS VICTORIA OUT OF BUBBLE It comes as New Zealand prepares to slam its border with Victoria shut for three days, from 8pm on Tuesday night, it has been revealed.Restrictions on gatherings and the reintroduction of masks have been announced for greater Melbourne.The new restrictions enforced as of 6pm on Tuesday are:• Limit of five people at private gatherings; 30 people in public gatherings;• Face masks must be worn indoors.There are no restrictions on Melburnians visiting regional Victoria, but restrictions will travel with them, Health Minister Martin Foley said.From 6pm on Tuesday, private gatherings in the home will be limited to five visitors a day, while public gatherings will be limited to 30 people.The new restrictions, which will apply across Greater Melbourne, also require everyone aged 12 years and older to wear face masks indoors.Earlier, Professor Sutton said one of the new cases was likely “quite infectious” and Victorians needed to prepare themselves for more positive cases.“The viral load was likely high and with close contacts becoming positive he’s likely to be quite infectious,” he said.“We have to ready ourselves for any other positives and when there are close contacts that become positive it raises the possibility that even casual contacts could become positive.”Mr Foley previously said the “working thesis” at the moment was they were connected to the Wollert man who returned from hotel quarantine in South Australia as the family also lived in the Whittlesea area.The health department has listed new public exposure sites on their website and those with any symptoms, such as fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, chills or sweats or a change in sense of smell or taste, have been urged to get tested immediately.Testing sites have also increased their opening hours to cope with the high demand.COVID-19 Stats – Horizontal with Lazy LoadCOVID BREAKTHROUGHAustralian researchers have made a Covid breakthrough developing two new drugs to prevent the SARS-CoV-2 infection and to treat people exposed to it.The peptide drugs, founded by scientists from the Brisbane-based QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, target how human cells respond to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, instead of the virus itself.The first peptide-based drug would be given pre-exposure to the virus and help boost the efficacy of vaccines, while the second drug would stop the spread of the virus in already infected cells.Early results are promising showing they are not toxic and have few side effects.The drugs are also stable and can be stored at room temperature, which would make them easy to distribute.The discovery was made possible after the researchers uncovered a previously unknown mode of entry that SARS-CoV-2 exploits to invade cells and cause Covid-19.Laboratory tests show the first peptide-based drug reduces infection by cloaking the ACE2 receptor protein on human cells. The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein uses the ACE2 receptor to bind to and invade cells.The virus then latches onto the cloaking peptides, which they mistake for human cells – preventing infection.The lab tests have also shown that if the virus finds its way into cells, the second peptide-drug can block how the virus hijacks the host cell and replicates. It also boosts the immune system’s ability to recognise the virus.Senior researcher and head of QIMR Berghofer’s Gene Regulation and Translational Medicine Group, Professor Sudha Rao, said they were able to develop the drugs after discovering that some people have a chemical tag which acts like a padlock on the ACE2 receptor.“The tag can either keep the receptor locked or open – controlling infection. This means people who have the ‘padlock-like’ tag on their ACE2 receptors will be less susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 and those without the tag are more vulnerable to infection,” Professor Rao said.“Our drugs stop the tag from being removed and also protect the untagged ACE2 receptors from being infected.”The researchers also discovered that if the virus invaded the cells it would unlock the tag from the inside – allowing more efficient virus replication.“Our new peptide-based drugs can keep the padlock closed and prevent infection taking hold,” Professor Rao said.NED-3850-Vax-A-Nation-Booklet-Banner“These are the first drugs we are aware of that can operate on dual fronts. We hope, if the clinical trials are successful, that the first drug could be given as a therapy alongside vaccination to prevent the virus binding to cells and taking hold, while the second peptide could be used to stop the virus replicating in already-infected patients.”The research was conducted on Covid-19 patient blood and human cells.Professor Rao said these drugs could also be very important because they may provide the protection we need for emerging variants and be used to protect the small group of people who cannot be vaccinated.NED-3736-Vaccine-benefit-vs-harmBRANSON BLASTS AUSTRALIA Business mogul Sir Richard Branson has criticised Australia for its slow Covid vaccine rollout, saying given it’s a small country everyone should have been jabbed by now.Speaking to the Today show hosts, the Virgin founder was asked about opening up to the rest of the world in mid-2022.“That’s up to our Prime Minister,” he said.“Countries that have got everyone vaccinated, liked Britain and America … (and) especially when you have all the vulnerable people vaccinated, they can open up right away.”Sir Richard said he was in New Mexico with “lots of people” who are all hugging and shaking hands because “we’re all vaccinated”.“It’s a lovely, (a) lovely feeling to be free again,” he said.“If your government can speed up the vaccination program so everyone is vaccinated, there’s no reason at all why you shouldn’t be able to open up.”When asked whether Australia risks being left behind, Sir Richard said he anticipated most Australians should have been vaccinated by now.“It’s a small country, I suspect most people should have been vaccinated. If not, (they) should have been,” he said.“It should be the number one priority of the government. Nothing else matters because every single business in Australia will be held back.“Every single person in Australia will be held back. The economy will suffer.”Sir Richard defended Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka over her controversial comments that borders should reopen even if it resulted in “some deaths”.“I think we’ve all regretted things we’ve said. And I don’t think Jane is any exception to the rule. She’s made that clear. She’s doing a great job in keeping Virgin Australia going,” he said.NED-3614-Pfizer-Side-Effects– with Jack Paynter, Erin Lyons, Evin Priest, Amanda Sheppeard
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