Australia news LIVE COVID-19 cases continue to grow in NSW Victoria and Queensland

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University of New South Wales epidemiologist Professor Mary-Louise McLaws was speaking on the Today show earlier this morning.

She was asked what the coming weeks and months will look like in NSW. As you might recall, Premier Gladys Berejiklian says she wants to see lots of vaccines in arms as a way out of Sydney’s lockdown.

UNSW epidemiologist Mary-Louise McLaws.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Here’s what Professor McLaws had to say:

“It looks pretty grim. I don’t believe that we’ve reached the peak yet of case numbers that have not been in full isolation while being contagious. Given that, we have a problem because that means that we probably will take
another 50-odd days to get back down to that zero level that we need. At the same time, we really need an enormously rapid uptake of vaccine in those hotspots â€" and not just in NSW.”

Byron Shire Mayor Michael Lyon claims a COVID-positive man from Sydney who has sent the area into lockdown is being “evasive during questioning” and had not been checking in during his travels.

“It makes you wonder what he has been doing up here,” he told Nine’s Today show. “To be sick for four days and only when he has had to go to hospital something has twigged. Crazy.

“It is really poor behaviour in a time like this.”

The sun rises over Byron Bay earlier this morning. Credit:Danielle Smith

Since 6pm yesterday, the Byron Shire, Richmond Valley, Lismore and Ballina Shire local government areas have been subject to stay-at-home orders, lasting until at least August 17.

The orders, which mirror those in place in Sydney, will apply to anyone who lives in the affected areas or has visited them since July 31.

Cr Lyon said the region is “deeply concerned” and disappointed by the case â€" a man aged in his 50s from Sydney, announced by the NSW government at yesterday’s press conference.

“This has the potential to shut us down for a lot longer and seven days is detrimental to businesses and people working,” he said.

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant yesterday said the man was in hospital and his next of kin were being interviewed to ascertain his movements.

“We understand he did travel from Sydney ... towards the end of July,” she said, adding that urgent testing of his two household contacts was being arranged.

Cr Lyon said the man’s hospitalisation “complicates matters somewhat” and the community is bracing for a list of exposure sites.

Catherine Bennett, the chair of epidemiology at Deakin University, was speaking on the Today show earlier this morning.

She was asked how the Moderna vaccine, which was yesterday provisionally approved for use in Australia, compares with the two COVID-19 vaccines currently in use: Pfizer and AstraZeneca.

Deakin University chair of epidemiology Catherine Bennett.Credit:Jason South

Here’s what she had to say:

“It’s very like Pfizer, [it’s a] very similar vaccine. It has a four-week gap between doses. Essentially, it’s really boosting our Pfizer supplies. So it has the same profile for efficacy and safety, which is fantastic. So it will be good to include that in our appointment list.”

Professor Bennett added there has been an “acceleration” in Australia’s vaccine rollout in recent weeks across all age groups, which she says is some much-needed good news.

“Getting those appointments open for those 20- to 39-year-olds will be the next big step.”

Victorian health authorities have listed nine new exposure sites since 9.55pm last night, including a shopping centre in Melbourne’s north west.

The Watergardens Town Centre, also known as the Watergardens Shopping Centre, was visited by a positive case on August 5 and 7. The shopping centre’s Lucia’s Euro Deli and Woolworths are now both tier-2 exposure sites for August 7 and The Good Guys for August 5.

The nearby Bunnings in Taylors Lakes has also been listed as a tier-2 exposure site for August 5.

Two sites in Cairnlea, also in Melbourne’s north west, have been listed, including:

The Liquorland in Cairnlea on August 6 and 7; and

The Cairnlea Town Centre, which is a tier-3 site, also on August 6 and 7.

Across town, a case also visited Rapid Laser, in Bayswater North, in Melbourne’s east, which is now listed as a tier-1 site for August 5.

The Victorian Health Department requires anyone who has visited a tier-2 site during the relevant period to urgently get tested for coronavirus and isolate until confirmation of a negative result. They should also continue to monitor for symptoms and get tested again if symptoms appear.

People who have visited a tier-3 location are told to monitor for COVID-19 symptoms and, if symptoms develop, immediately isolate and get tested.

The NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant will be questioned over the advice she provided to the state government about when Sydney needed to go into lockdown during the latest COVID-19 outbreak at a special parliamentary inquiry.

Dr Chant and Health Minister Brad Hazzard will appear before the upper house’s COVID-19 oversight committee today as more parts of the state including Tamworth and four North Coast councils including Byron Shire were placed into lockdown.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, with Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant and Health Minister Brad Hazzard, who have been called to a parliamentary COVID inquiry today.Credit:Edwina Pickles

The inquiry will focus on Dr Chant’s advice in the early days of the Delta outbreak in June before Education Minister Sarah Mitchell and Education Department secretary Georgina Harrisson will be asked on Wednesday to explain the government’s decisions involving year 12 students.

More on this story here.

Melburnians will have to achieve consecutive days with all new coronavirus cases in isolation for their entire infectious period before lockdown is lifted, though people in regional Victoria can celebrate their freedom from Tuesday.

Premier Daniel Andrews said yesterday that the most important trigger to lift stage four restrictions would be the number of new cases who had been infectious in the community. Prominent epidemiologists say the public health team will also be focused on exposure sites, high testing rates and wastewater detection.

Premier Daniel Andrews announced lockdown would be lifted in regional Victoria from 11.59pm on Monday. Credit:Paul Jeffers

“We’re still chasing [these outbreaks] very hard,” Mr Andrews said. “We’re not out in front of this yet, I think we’re running alongside it, but we’re not yet in front of this particular outbreak.”

Read the full story here.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has rebuffed fellow Liberals who fear it is too late to drive coronavirus case numbers back to zero, urging Australians to accept strong lockdowns to suppress the Delta strain before the country can open its economy.

Declaring there were “no shortcuts” to halting infections, Mr Morrison said he wanted case numbers as low as possible before reaching the 70 per cent vaccination target that allows curbs to be eased in Phase B of a four-stage national cabinet plan.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announces the approval of the Moderna vaccine for use in Australia.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The comments fend off doubts from business leaders and some Liberals about whether Australia will ever return to zero cases, given no other country appears to have done so with the Delta strain of COVID-19.

More on this story here.

Good morning and thanks for your company.

It’s Tuesday, August 10. I’m Broede Carmody and I’ll be anchoring our live coverage for the first half of the day.

Here’s everything you need to know before we get started.

Residents who live in and around NSW’s Byron Bay region are waking up to a week-long lockdown this morning. It comes after a COVID-positive man from Sydney visited Byron last month. The man, in his 50s, is in hospital. NSW recorded 283 new cases of coronavirus yesterday (at least 64 were infectious in community). We also learned a woman in her 90s died yesterday, bringing NSW’s death toll from the current outbreak to 29. Almost 350 coronavirus patients are in NSW hospitals. Of those, 67 are in intensive care and 29 are ventilated.

Victoria’s lockdown has eased for regional Victorians. However, home visits are still restricted and it’s likely that Melbourne’s lockdown will need to be extended beyond this week. Yesterday, Victoria recorded 11 new local cases of COVID-19. Just one case was in isolation during their infectious period.

All eyes are on Queensland’s border with NSW this morning given much of the southern state’s far north coast is in lockdown. The Sunshine State recorded just four locally acquired COVID-19 infections yesterday. While Queensland’s south-east is out of lockdown (but with lingering restrictions), Cairns remains in lockdown due to the discovery of an infectious taxi driver.

And the Moderna vaccine has been approved for use in Australia. We’re expecting 10 million doses to arrive later this year, with pharmacies to be included in the rollout. It comes as Prime Minister Scott Morrison reiterates his support for lockdowns until more Australians are vaccinated.

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