Chief health officer Jeannette Young said one of Friday’s new infections was linked to the Japanese language class at St Aidan’s Anglican Girls School while the others were connected to Ironside State School and Brisbane Grammar School.Thousands of Queenslanders are in isolation but a large number of those connected to the school outbreak will begin to be released as the 14-day period since the beginning of the cluster ticks over.“The most important news is that those families are all gradually coming out of quarantine,” Dr Young told reporters on Friday morning.“And I just want to thank them. By the work they’ve done, they have actually saved lives. I can’t say how many lives, but there is no doubt in my mind they have saved lives by what they’ve done.”The state’s Delta outbreak, which has now reached 137, that originated at the Indooroopilly State School has largely been contained but Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk fears the NSW crisis could breach the border.On Thursday the state leader urged Queenslanders “do not go” to NSW as she again threatened to ramp up border closure restrictions.NEW MYSTERY CASES FOR VICTORIAVictoria recorded 15 new locally acquired Covid-19 infections on Friday.The state’s health department confirmed the new cases about 8.30am, but only 11 had been linked to existing outbreaks. They said four infections remained mystery cases.The health department said only eight of Friday’s new cases had been in isolation for their entire infectious period, with seven positive people out in the community.It comes as the number of exposure sites listed across the state surged past 400 overnight.Many of the venues are in Melbourne’s western suburbs, but several sites have been in inner Melbourne, including the popular South Melbourne Market, which has been closed for deep cleaning.The new exposure sites come after 21 coronavirus infections were recorded on Monday, with the health department revealing six of those cases were not in isolation during their infectious period.There are now more than 13,700 primary close contacts across Victoria in isolation.The health department has also warned there may be undetected positive cases in the eastern suburbs of Keysborough, Camberwell and Balwyn, and the western areas Tarneit, Truganina and Williams Landing due to unexpected wastewater detections.Anyone who lives, works or have visited the following areas on the dates listed have been urged to watch for the slightest symptoms of Covid-19 and get tested immediately if any arise:Balwyn, Camberwell, Canterbury, Mont Albert and Surrey Hills from August 8 to 11;Tarneit, Truganina and Williams Landing from August 8 to 11;Keysborough from August 1 to 6.No new cases were recorded in hotel quarantine on Friday, with the number of active cases in the state at 148 – up from 137 on Thursday.MANDATORY JAB POWERS FOR HOTSPOT EMPLOYERSAustralia’s workplace regulator has paved the way for employers to require mandatory vaccinations of workers against Covid-19 where businesses are running in lockdown hot spots.However, in an expected legal guidance on the vaccination regimen, released last night, the Fair Work Ombudsman cautioned employers might not have the power to require mandatory vaccination where there had not been a Covid-19 transmission for a while, according to a report in The Australian.The ombudsman said that employers could advise employees to be vaccinated if the direction was lawful and reasonable, but whether a direction was lawful and reasonable would be “fact-dependent” and needed to be looked at on a case-by-case basis.The advice will disappoint business groups, which have been pushing for legal certainty around the mandatory vaccinations of workers. Scott Morrison suggested last week that the federal government would not be legislating to aid mandatory vaccinations, saying employers would have to be ready to defend their actions in court.The Fair Work Ombudsman’s advice was released as NSW recorded 345 new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 and two deaths.NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian tightened lockdown restrictions in the local government districts of Burwood, Strathfield and Bayside as infections spread into the these areas.Canberra was also put into a snap seven-day lockdown on Thursday when a Covid case was discovered.The Fair Work Ombudsman’s updated guidance came as the push to vaccinate 70 per cent of eligible Australians passed the halfway point, with 14.48 million doses now given.National cabinet has set 70 per cent as the threshold for the initial easing of Covid restrictions.Based on the current rollout trajectory, the 70 per cent threshold of having 14.43 million Australians aged 16 and over fully vaccinated should be reached during October.MORE BLOOD CLOTS LINKED TO COVID JABMeanwhile, the nation has recorded 11 more cases of severe blood clots linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine.There were two “confirmed” cases in a 22-year-old woman from Victoria and an 82-year-old man from Western Australia.The remainder of cases were considered “probable” and were in 61, 77, 84 and 85-year-old women from NSW; two 73-year-old men from NSW, 60 and 78-year-old men from NSW, and a 70-year-old man from Victoria.This takes the total Australian reports assessed as Thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) following the AstraZeneca vaccine to 104 cases (59 confirmed, 45 probable) from nearly 7.4 million vaccine doses. No deaths have been reported in the last week. Six deaths have been reported over the preceding four months, with five of the six deaths in women aged 34, 48 (two cases), 52 and 72 years old. The other death was in a 44-year-old man. The Therapeutic Goods Administration revealed the figures in its weekly safety report on Thursday afternoon.The report says there have been 13.7 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses given in Australia up to August 8, consisting of 9.1 million first doses and 4.6 million second doses.The TGA notes: “TTS is a rare event involving serious blood clots with a low blood platelet count. It is triggered by the immune system’s response to the AstraZeneca vaccine and is different from other clotting conditions”. It warns people should seek immediate medical attention if they develop any of the following symptoms after vaccination:– severe or persistent headache, blurred vision, confusion or seizures– shortness of breath, chest pain, leg swelling or persistent abdominal pain– unusual skin bruising and/or pinpoint round spots beyond the site of vaccination.The most common time period for onset of TTS symptoms is 4–30 days after vaccination.NED-3619-AstraZeneca blood clots-What we knowMeanwhile, Australia’s most advanced Covid-19 vaccine has been found to be safe and effective in animals and there is a hint that it may reduce transmission of the virus.The vaccine being developed by Flinders University Childcare scientist Professor Nikolai Petrovsky is now poised to enter human clinical trials.“Results of the initial trials give a hint that it may also be able to reduce the risk of transmission based on the lack of virus shedding in the noses of ferrets,” Professor Petrovsky said.“The results were promising, indicating that two doses of the vaccine was able to prevent Covid-19 lung ingestion and also prevent shedding of the virus from the noses of the infected animals,” he said.The research team is now specifically testing the ability of the vaccine to reduce transmission in animals that have never been exposed to the virus.“A transmission-blocking effect would be a game changer as this is what is currently needed to stop further virus outbreaks,” said Professor Petrovsky.Professor Petrovsky says the new vaccine has completed Phase II clinical trials overseas in partnership with Cinnagen, a pharmaceutical company based in the Middle East. The trial results are being prepared for publication.NSW RECORDS 345 CASES New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has revealed 345 new Covid-19 cases and two more people in the state have died from the virus.Surging infections has meant more local government areas have been added to NSW areas of concern – meaning more Sydney residents face tougher restrictions.“In relation to the local government areas of concern in the Greater Sydney region, as we have said, Fairfield and Canterbury Bankstown to remain the areas which are generating the most cases but we are seeing some stabilisation as local government areas,” the Premier said.“However can only the front has moved into Cumberland, and we are in particular concerned about Merrylands, Auburn and Granville. So to date there are nine local government areas included in those extra areas of concern with the additional restrictions this morning based on health advice there will be three additional local government areas which we had foreshadowed yesterday to be included which brings the total local government areas in the Greater Sydney area to a dozen,” Ms Berejiklian said.NED-3760-NSW’s new COVID restrictions“From five o’clock this evening, Bayside, Strathfield and Burwood local governor areas will also be included in those areas of concern.”She added: “In Strathfield and Burwood, which are geographically smaller areas, but we are noticing relative to the population an increasing number of cases and as a precaution, those additional council areas have been brought into those areas of concern,” she said. Of the new cases, at least 60 were infectious in the community.The suburbs of particular concern were Bexley, Banksia and Rockdale “where additional cases have been identified overnight”, Ms Berejiklian said.Of the new cases, 128 were linked to a known case or cluster – 101 were household contacts and 27 were close contacts.But the source of 217 cases remains a mystery.The deaths include a man in his 90s who died at Liverpool Hospital and seventh death linked to the hospital outbreak. Another man in his 90s died at Royal North Shore Hospital. He was a resident at Wyoming Residential Aged Care Facility in Summer Hill.Sixty-two people were in ICU with 29 of those needing ventilation.NSW deputy chief health officer Dr Marianne Gale said 10 of those were younger than 40 with three in their 20s and seven people in their 30s.NED-4339-New-South-Wales-LGAs-In-Lock-DownNSW Covid Exposure SitesVICTORIA HAS 21 NEW CASESVictoria has recorded 21 new local cases of coronavirus on Thursday as Melbourne’s sixth lockdown rolls on for at least another seven days.“Of the locally-acquired cases, 17 have been linked to current outbreaks and 4 are still under investigation. 15 have been in quarantine throughout their infectious periods,” Victorian health officials confirmed.On Wednesday, Victorian officials said there was no other option but to extend Melbourne’s lockdown due to “too many” mystery cases being out in the community.Three of Wednesday’s five mystery infections were from a family in Melton in the city’s western suburbs – two parents and a child.The child was already in isolation as a contact of another primary close contact, but health officials were yet to find a direct link. The remaining two mystery cases were a father and a son in the City of Melbourne.The son was a student in Grade 1 at St Michael’s Primary School, but he was not at school while infectious.His father was a health care worker who last worked at the Melbourne Royal Children’s Eye Clinic last Monday.The classmates of the student were being tested as having tier 1 coronavirus exposure, while the health facility where the father worked was deemed a tier 2 exposure site.NED-3869-Covid-19-Exposure-Sites-VictoriaQLD RECORDS 10 NEW COVID CASESTwo weeks after the first case in Queensland’s largest Covid-19 cluster was detected, the state has recorded just 10 new local cases in what the Premier has heralded as “more good news”. The 10 new cases are linked to the Indooroopilly cluster. Annastacia Palaszczuk said while the numbers appear high, authorities “were expecting” to see an increase in numbers because people are testing positive on their day 10-12 tests. “We expect similar numbers over the next couple of days as the cluster keeps progressing through,” she said.It comes as thousands of Indooroopilly State High School students, staff and families prepare to leave home quarantine on Thursday night after 14 days of isolation. The state’s Delta outbreak was first detected in a 17-year-old high school student two weeks ago. There are 130 cases linked to the cluster.Chief health officer Jeannette Young said the more than 15,000 people who have spent time in home quarantine have “absolutely kept Queensland safe”. “We are still seeing cases pop up towards the end of the incubation period. This is really important. Stay the distance,” Dr Young said. Dr Young has also thanked teachers and high school students, who have to wear a mask at school. “You are going to prevent the next outbreak in a school by wearing them,” she said. “Thank you to the teachers. I can’t imagine how hard this must be for you, wearing masks at school all day, every day. “Just the strain on your voices, the difficulty communicating. It is really hard work but please, we just need to persist and hopefully we will be able to remove the mask requirement on Sunday week. “We will see how we go.”NED-3869-Covid-19-Exposure-Sites-Qld
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