One of the new infections is the teen brother of the 19-year-old female staff member at the Prince Charles Hospital, with both confirmed to have contracted the concerning strain of the deadly virus.This family travelled on Virgin Australia flights to Townsville and visited Magnetic Island while infectious as well as shopping at busy Brisbane stores, setting off a statewide alert for exposure sites.There was also another case linked to the Portuguese restaurant cluster who was already in isolation and the third was a Virgin Australia crew member who was connected to the infected flight attendant.chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young urged those who may have been exposed to the holidaying siblings to follow strict health directives while the threat of infection remains in the communities.The update comes after Annastacia Palaszczuk plunged parts of the state in lockdown from Tuesday evening, with southeast Queensland, Townsville, Palm Island and Magnetic Island all directed to stay home.The Premier revealed frustration on Tuesday about the unknown source of the 19-year-old’s infection, who had not been vaccinated despite working at a hospital.“I can’t be definitive how they got it,” Ms Palaszczuk said.She said she was concerned by the multiple sources of infections threatening the state — the mine cluster, five Virgin flights with an infected flight attendant on-board and the Portuguese restaurant outbreak.“Then I have got this fourth case that may be linked to that case through the Portuguese restaurant cluster, or it may be linked to one of those overseas travellers that’s been admitted to the Prince Charles Hospital, or it could be another linkage that I have just got to work through,” the Premier said.The 11 southeast Queensland local government areas affected by the stay-at-home orders are Noosa, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, Logan, Redlands, Moreton Bay, Brisbane, Gold Coast, the Scenic Rim, Lockyer Valley and Somerset.The four approved reasons to leave home during the lockdown include:To buy essentials such as groceries or medicationsWork or study if you can’t do either from homeExercise in your local areaHealthcare or to provide help, care or supportQueensland has become the fourth jurisdiction to be plunged into lockdown following Western Australia, Northern Territory and NSW.Access to the full list of exposure sites is available here.NED-3869-Covid-19-Exposure-Sites-QldSOUTH AUSTRALIA RECORDS FIRST CASE IN 211 DAYSSouth Australia has recorded its first locally acquired Covid-19 case after more than 200 days of not having any community transmission. At least one new locally acquired infection is expected to be announced later on Wednesday morning.NCA NewsWire has been told by sources the state has recorded new local cases for the first time since November last year.SA Health workers are scrambling to determine the source of the infection and how many other community members were in contact with the person. As of Tuesday, the state had gone 211 days without recorded any community transmission; the last was related to the Parafield cluster that threw the state into a three-day lockdown in November last year. Earlier this week, the potential seeding of Covid-19 from interstate spooked SA authorities into introducing tougher restrictions that came into effect at 12.01am on Tuesday.SA authorities introduced changes to prevent the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant that has wreaked havoc across the nation, throwing majority of other jurisdictions into lockdowns. Under the restrictions, masks will need to be worn in high risk settings like aged care facilities and hospitals, and were “highly recommended” for commuters using public transport and rideshare vehicles.A cap of 150 people will be allowed at private gatherings, including weddings and funerals.Licensed premises will have a density arrangement of one person per two sqm and only seated alcohol consumption will be allowed indoors.No communal facilities, like buffets or smoking shisha, are permitted.Singing has also been banned at indoor seated entertainment facilities, such as choirs and karaoke bars.Following Monday’s announcement, both Premier Steven Marshall and chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier have strongly encouraged South Australians to get tested as soon as system develop, to get vaccinated if eligible and use QR codes. At the time, Professor Spurrier said the evolving Covid-19 situation across the nation was “very concerning”.“If we get this Delta strain in our community with the behaviours that we have, we will have a very serious problem that I can’t promise we’ll get on top of (because of the low level of restrictions),” she said.“If anyone wants to think about what kind of problem it could be, have a look at NSW.”PHARMACIES JOIN NATIONAL VACCINATION PROGRAMPharmacies across the country will join the Covid-19 vaccination program as four states are plunged into lockdown.Since June 7, 49 pharmacies in regional Queensland have administered the vaccine. But, according to The Australian, the program will grow to include the Northern Territory and Western Australia from July 12 and then NSW, Victoria, and South Australia week later.NED-4124-Where-unvaccinated-health-worker-travelledONE NEW LOCAL CASE IN VICVictoria recorded one new local case of Covid-19 on Wednesday.The Department of Health confirmed the new locally acquired case of coronavirus was a primary close contact in isolation throughout their infectious period.There was another case recorded in an international arrival who was in hotel quarantine.There were 20,067 doses of the vaccine administered across the state on Tuesday.The new local case breaks Victoria’s run of three straight days without a locally acquired infection.Overnight, Victoria slammed its border shut to four states after having already closed its border off to parts of NSW and the Northern Territory.Victoria declared areas of Perth, and parts of Queensland as red zones from 1am on Wednesday.The areas affected are the Perth metropolitan and Peel regions in WA, and Queensland local government areas in South East Queensland and Townsville.Victoria also declared greater Brisbane an orange zone, meaning anyone already in Victoria who was in greater Brisbane between June 22 and 1am on June 30 must get tested and isolate until negative.PREMIERS CALL FOR HALVING OF INTERNATIONAL ARRIVALSQueensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was still concerned about the number of overseas travellers coming into the state.“Hotel quarantine is just not the answer. We need a massive reduction in overseas arrivals. I am urging the Prime Minister reduce the caps … to reduce the caps, “ she said on Tuesday.In Victoria, Premier Daniel Andrews also called for a massive reduction in the number of people allowed to enter Australia in order to avoid further lockdowns.The Premier said on Tuesday it was time to consider cutting the number of returned travellers by at least 50 per cent, but flagged going as high as 80 per cent, until more people were vaccinated.Caps on international arrivals currently allow about 11,000 to come to Australia every week.But Mr Andrews told ABC Radio Melbourne that cutting that number would be the best way to prevent against further lockdowns.“Yes, there’d be inconvenience in less people being able to return home, of course there would be, and a lot of that would be heartbreaking,” he said.“It wouldn’t be forever, it would be until we got a critical mass of Victorians and Australians through the Commonwealth government’s vaccine program.The Queensland lockdown comes as Victoria declared Perth and the Peel region red zones.A non-Victorian resident in a red zone cannot obtain a permit to enter Victoria, other than for transit.Victorian residents who have been in a red zone, other than for transit, can obtain a red zone permit to enter Victoria but they must travel directly home, get tested, and quarantine for 14 days.NED-1859 State of our bordersBUSINESS RELIEF IN NSWNSW recorded 19 new cases of coronavirus up until 8pm Monday night, with two under investigation and not yet linked to an existing cluster – but one of them lives in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, where the state’s latest outbreak began.Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she expected the number to bounce around in her state.She warned cases would also continue to rise, particularly as close contacts of infected people turned positive.And she warned those who had visited the Sydney hot spots to remain vigilant as contact tracers scrambled to find missing links in the transmission chains.“In the last 14 days, we are particularly wanting to focus on workers or regular visitors to those local government areas of Woollahra, Waverley, Randwick and City of Sydney,” she said.“Clearly, during that period there was the chance that you may have inadvertently come into contact with someone who is positive, or there may well have been missing links, missing cases in that area. You may well have gone back to other suburbs in the greater metropolitan Sydney, or for that matter across the state.”The Premier said the infectious nature of the Delta strain meant people in NSW would have to live differently until the “vast majority” of the state was vaccinated.“The NSW Government is already thinking about what life will look like post-lockdown.”Treasurer Dominic Perrottet announced a support package for NSW businesses smashed by the lockdown.“The New South Wales Government will be providing individual payments to small businesses with full-time employees up to 20, full time employees or having payrolls up to $1.2 million with turn over of $75,000 a year and that includes sole traders. A payment of $10,000 if there is a turnover reduction of 75%. NSW Covid Exposure Sites“A turnover reduction of 50%, a $7,000 payment and a turnover reduction of 30% is a $5,000 payment. This payment will be available to tourism, hospitality and the accommodation sector with payrolls of up to $10 million who we know have been significantly disrupted during this period of time.”Payroll tax liabilities and gaming tax liabilities for hotels for the July period would be deferred into August. NED-4090-Greater-Sydney-Restrictions-mapWA LOCKDOWN FOR FOUR DAYSPerth and the Peel region have entered a four-day “full lockdown” to control an outbreak of the rapidly spreading Delta variant.WA Premier Mark McGowan called a media conference on Monday night to announce the state had recorded an additional case of Covid-19.The man, aged in his 30s, worked and had a meal at Indian Ocean Brewery last Tuesday, PerthNow reported.The Premier said it was concerning the man had “only fleeting contact” with the original case, and the lockdown would be for a minimum four days.There are now three confirmed cases linked to the outbreak and genomic sequencing confirmed they had the Delta variant.“We will continue to review the situation based on testing numbers and information from our contact tracing teams and provide updates when we can,” Mr McGowan said.“We hope this will be a circuit breaker, which will give our testers and contact tracers time to nail down a picture of how far this latest outbreak has spread.”It is the third lockdown of the city in five months.NED-4128-Share-of-the-population-fully-vaccinated-against-Covid-19NO-FAULT INDEMNITY SCHEME ANNOUNCEDPrime Minister Scott Morrison, speaking to media after national cabinet on Monday night, said a no-fault indemnity would be offered for GPs who give AstraZeneca vaccines to patients.Medical advice is that AstraZeneca only be used for over-60s, which the Prime Minister said was only a preference, and GPs could now more freely provide them to patients that wanted them.The federal government will oversee the scheme.“We will be implementing a new no fault indemnity scheme for general practitioners who administer COVID-19 vaccines. So this relates to encouraging Australians to go and check with their GP about the vaccination,” he said.“The ATAGI advice talks about a preference for AstraZeneca to be made available to those as preferred for those over 60.“The advice does not preclude a person under 60 from getting the AstraZeneca vaccine, and so if you wish to get the AstraZeneca vaccine, we would encourage you to go have a discussion with your GP.“We are also providing the indemnity scheme for those general practitioners so they can actively engage with you and you can make the best decision for your health.”Australians aged under 40 who wanted the AstraZeneca jab could now ask for one.“If they are willing to go and speak to their doctor and have access to the AstraZeneca vaccine, they can do so. So the answer is yes, they can go and do that,” Mr Morrison said.It comes after News Corp Australia reported there was growing fear among GPs worried about being sued if they gave the jab to people aged under 60.COVID CHANGES ANNOUNCED BY PMThe Covid-19 jab will be compulsory for aged care workers, three months after all staff were supposed to be vaccinated.As of last Friday, only a third of about 260,000 aged care workers nationwide had received at least one Covid-19 jab.Vaccination teams have visited every aged care home in the country to inoculate residents, with 2553 out of 2566 residential care facilities also visited for second doses.Scott Morrison and state leaders also agreed on new rules to strengthen the quarantine system after a series of breaches triggered outbreaks across several states and put the nation on high alert.Under the changes, health authorities will be banned from quarantining low-risk domestic travellers next to overseas arrivals and other high-risk quarantine residents.It comes after a miner from Bendigo flew into Brisbane earlier this month and was forced to quarantine for nine hours before his charter flight to a mine in Alice Springs.During his stay on the same floor as international arrivals, the man contracted the virus.He later exposed hundreds of workers in the Northern Territory who then travelled across the country, forcing the introduction of snap restrictions in several states.The leaders also agreed on the need to vaccinate and test all quarantine workers, as well as their household contacts.The move was prompted by the infection of an unvaccinated Sydney limousine driver — whose passengers including international flight crew — which sparked the city’s latest outbreak.Prime Minister Scott Morrison said leaders would continue to meet regularly during the current crisis.“This is a serious situation we’re confronting and as always we’re doing it together,” he said.“We’re sharing as much information as possible to align our actions and to ensure measures are introduced to support all actions taken by states and territories.”QUARANTINE CHANGES POSSIBLE – IN 2022Mr Morrison flagged possible changes in the quarantine program next year.“There are many uncertainties and those uncertainties aren’t dispensed with simply by making announcements. What you need to do is continue to gather the information that enables you to build that path back,” he told reporters.“Once we get into next year, I think we are in a position where we will be able to be considering changes to how potentially quarantine arrangements work, with much higher levels of vaccination, and the arrangements that are available for people that have been vaccinated, because they present a lower risk to the public health of the community.“We will continue to gather the evidence and continue to prepare our plans for how we can have Australia living with this virus in the future in a way that minimises the restrictions upon them.”Asked if Australia would follow countries like the UK and Singapore and gradually reduce restrictions, he said he was not “prepared to countenance” deaths like countries overseas were still having.“And one of the reasons why Australia is in such a unique position compared to the rest of the world is Covid is riddled through all of those countries.“Their opportunity to ensure that the absolute calamitous impact of this virus and the new strains doesn’t impact on them is much more limited than us here in Australia, because of the success we’ve had to date. It would be unwise to surrender up that advantage at this point – and preferably at no point.”NED-4108-Infected-Miners-travels– with James Hall, Blake Antrobus and Rebecca Le May
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