Australia COVID LIVE updates NSW records 239 new cases and issues vaccine plea Queensland records nine new cases on first day of snap lockdown
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Sky News has been suspended from uploading content to YouTube for a week after the video and livestreaming platform claimed the media organisation breached its COVID-19 misinformation standards.
In a statement issued to Nine newspapers this afternoon, a Youtube spokesperson said the website had taken steps against Sky, including removing videos from the media outletâs online channel and issuing a âstrikeâ against it, causing it to be temporarily suspended from uploading new content.
âWe have clear and established COVID-19 medical misinformation policies based on local and global health authority guidance, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 misinformation that could cause real-world harm,â a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement.
âWe apply our policies equally for everyone regardless of uploader, and in accordance with these policies and our long-standing strikes system, removed videos from and issued a strike to Sky News Australiaâs channel.â
YouTube has not said what videos published by Sky it removed, but the platform doesnât allow content medical misinformation about COVID-19 âthat poses a serious risk of egregious harm in contradiction with local and global health authoritiesâ guidance about COVID-19 treatment, prevention, transmission, and social distancing.â
Latest postsThanks for following our live coverage this morning. Iâm Natassia Chrysanthos handing over to my colleague Angus Thompson who will guide you through any updates this afternoon.
The latest news comes out of Queensland, where Toby Crockford reports police have arrested four people and handed out 28 fines during the past 24 hours, which included the start of the south-eastâs three-day lockdown.
Authorities continue to monitor talk of a Brisbane anti-lockdown protest, but one of the stateâs top police officers says ânow is not the time to protestâ.
Queensland recorded nine new locally acquired cases todayâ" the biggest daily spike in almost a year â" however all were linked to the Indooroopilly cluster.
Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said âa small percentage of peopleâ had been caught âdoing the wrong thingâ since 4pm on Saturday, when the lockdown began.
âWe handed out 43 masks yesterday [Saturday] and gave one person a penalty infringement notice for not complying when given the opportunity [to wear a mask],â he said this morning.
âIn relation to the lockdown, we did 123 vehicle intercepts, 11 people were issued with penalty infringement notices, [and] one further person on foot [was also fined] for not complying with the directions.
âFor all of those 12 people, it means they were out in the community when they did not have a valid reason to do so.
âWe received 80 calls for service from our community around private residence activities, and of those that we visited, 11 people were issued with penalty infringement notices for having private gatherings against the directions.
âA further four were arrested, which is terribly disappointing to think that people, when our officers come around giving the opportunity to comply, they choose not to.â
Mr Gollschewski said police believed an anti-lockdown protest could be planned for Monday in Brisbane. âWe are being cautious to ensure we have sufficient police to deal with it if needed,â he said.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian this morning defended the governmentâs decision to divert Pfizer vaccines from regional NSW to year 12 school students in south-west and western Sydney, and said her back-to-school plan for senior students would have strict conditions for schools in affected areas.
â[The vaccines are for] only around 19,000 students. When you consider there are 8 million people in NSW, when you consider we have been able to stop the spread of the virus in our regions and other parts of Sydney and a massive way, it is important for us to give those year 12 students a chance to finish their exams and get rewarded,â she said.
âWe are finding younger people are getting the virus and spreading it. Those older adolescents. It is a mitigation and a way of focusing our energy into [those] local government areas and that is really important.â
But the potential for teenagers to spread the virus has both the teachers union and some students concerned. NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos today said it was not too late to reassess the face-to-face return of year 12 on August 16, and called on the Premier to reverse the decision.
There is concern that not all teachers will be vaccinated if students travel across Sydney from the affected LGAs to attend school in other areas, and that the rapid antigen tests to be used on students are not currently rolled out in Australia.
Ms Berejiklian said the government would give more detail on its plan closer to August 16. âI got a briefing by health experts this morning about year 12, we will have more to say about that,â she said.
âWe are working through all those issues. Weâre not leaving any stone unturned... All of us accept and understand that year 12 attaining those credentials is so important. We want to reduce their stress.â
She said the government was aiming to resume face-to-face learning for year 12 âin a safe wayâ.
âPlease know, there will be strict conditions, especially in those eight LGAs. We donât want the situation to get worse so weâre not going to take a decision that will worsen the situation.
âFrom 9 August we do want to vaccinate all year 12 students in those eight LGAs... We donât want many students on campus at the same time, especially in those eight LGAs. We will proceed on a very conservative and cautious approach.
âBut our goal and our mission is to make sure that year 12 receive the HSC, that they receive the credentials they have worked so hard to achieve, and obviously health and education are working closely together.â
The NRLâs strict bubble conditions were the main factor that convinced Queensland officials to allow the competitionâs matches to go ahead during the next few days, according to state officials.
Acting Premier Steven Miles this morning said there would be no spectators at the games, but Queensland Health and the NRL had negotiated throughout yesterday, including during the evening, to strike a deal.
âIt is only possible because the players and officials have been in a bubble for some time. The measures in place are the strictest that have ever been applied and have been assessed according to the public health risks,â he said.
In response to claims from the NRL that they were blindsided by the stateâs snap lockdown on Saturday, Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said she simply didnât have time to notify organisations or stakeholders.
âNo-one had prior knowledge in Queensland and I thank every single Queenslander who listens to this press conference and get the information and act so fast. The NRL is no different,â she said.
âI didnât let the AFL, the basketball know because I was flat out working out what I should doing for all of Queensland.
âThe NRL, I understand, is an important spot in Queensland but Iâm sorry, I just didnât have time to talk to all of these people individually. I talk to them through these press conferences.â
The NRL and Queensland government have agreed on new protocols that will allow round 20 matches to resume with a triple-header at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday.
The games scheduled for Saturday will now be transferred to Sunday: Knights v Raiders at 1.50pm, Storm v Panthers at 4.05pm and Dragons v Rabbitohs at 6.25pm.The Bulldogs and Titans will play at 6pm on Monday at Suncorp Stadium, followed by Cronulla and Manly at 8.05pm. The games will be played without fans.
The economic cost in recent months of severely curbing the movement of people in Australiaâs most populated cities and regions to control the spread of COVID-19 keeps mounting.
With south-east Queensland the latest to enter a snap lockdown, AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver estimates the total direct cost of the restrictions in NSW and other states since the end of May is nearing about $14 billion.
While government support will help cushion the impact of the shutdowns, Dr Oliver said it would mainly serve to enable the economy to âbounce back quicklyâ when the restrictions were eventually lifted.
Almost empty streets in Cabramatta last week.Credit:Dean Sewell
âUnfortunately, NSW is continuing to pay the price for not going hard and early enough when it started its lockdown,â he said. âPutting that aside, the message from Victoria and [South Australia] for NSW is that lockdowns still work against Delta.â
He expects Australiaâs gross domestic product to contract by about 2 per cent in the September quarter, despite the recent lifting of restrictions in Victoria and South Australia.
And he warns that the expected fall in economic growth in the September is likely to result in unemployment rising to between 5.25 and 5.5 per cent over the next two months.
However, he is hopeful of a âstrong reboundâ in economic growth in the December quarter, provided the lockdowns end by September.
Victorian health authorities are asking more than 5000 âorange zoneâ arrivals from Queensland over the last two weeks to get tested for COVID again, following increasing risks from the state.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the health department will be following up with people who returned from south-east Queensland in the last 14 days to ask them to complete a second test because there has been a âlonger period of risk in south-east Queenslandâ.
Victoria declared 11 local government areas in Queensland including Brisbane âred zonesâ at 8pm on Saturday night, after large parts of south-east Queensland entered lockdown yesterday afternoon.
âThatâs up to them as orange zone arrivals but it will give us greater confidence, and help protect the Victorian community,â he said.
âSo we ask if you do receive a message asking you to get tested again - having returned from Queensland - please do so to keep our community safe and protect everything that weâve worked so hard to achieve over the last few weeks.
âPeople need to be aware of the rapidly changing declarations and situations across Australia.
âI do feel for people who get caught in that transition and it can be confusing, but you need to check before youâre flying out exactly what the status and signs are in the destination that youâre flying to or driving to.â
Professor Sutton said that anyone who had completed hotel quarantine in Brisbane and were only transiting through red zones to return to Victoria did not have to quarantine again.
Hereâs what NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said in response to that question this morning:
âOf course we can. There are a lot of things [that is] dependent on. Firstly, high rates of vaccination, especially in south-western and western Sydney where we know the virus is particularly virulent.
âSecondly, people continuing to do the right thing and higher rates of testing. We know that we have been successful in preventing thousands and thousands of cases until this point in time. We also know how challenging it is to reduce the number of cases that we have, but with higher rates of vaccination we can do it. With higher rates of testing we can do it.
The Premier said she was an optimist and believed NSW could be out of this situation by the end of the month.Credit:Edwina Pickles
âAnd letâs make August the month where more and more people come forward and get vaccinated because the vaccine is protecting human life, is [keeping] people out of hospital but it is also helping reduce the spread.
âWhat is really important for us is to make sure the people in those eight LGAs have the vaccine, have access to it, because with all due respect, people getting vaccinated in other parts of Sydney is fantastic and we need to make sure that continues but we need to make it happen especially in those areas of concern.
âMy message for August is it is 1 August today. I am an optimist, it is a month where all of us [should] come forward and get the vaccine. The more we get vaccinated, the more jabs in arms, the greater our pathway to having an easier life moving forward.â
Turning briefly to Melbourne, where residents of a Richmond apartment building have been told to isolate for 14 days after it was connected to a positive case.
Acting COVID-19 commander Naomi Bromley said residents of the apartment building in Richmond would have to quarantine, but the apartment building would not be added to the Department of Healthâs exposure site list.
Just under 20 residents have been told they need to isolate, with some being moved to hotel quarantine. All residents have returned negative tests so far.
âWeâre now going to be supporting the residents of this building as they commence their quarantine period,â Ms Bromley said.
âWhat I can tell you about this complex is that the positive case has moved out to hotel quarantine, but there was subsequent occupational physician assessments of that site, and some additional risks were identified so the residents there have had new information provided to them about what weâre asking them to do, which is to quarantine.â
Of the four new cases reported in Victoria on Sunday, two were household contacts of a confirmed cases connected to the Ms Frankie cafe, one new case is a known social contact of a person connected to the Young and Jackson pub outbreak, and another was a contact of a positive case who attended the Wallabies game at AAMI Park.
Eight people with COVID-19 are in hospital in Victoria, three people are in intensive care, including one person on a ventilator.
NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Mick Willing said there had been 516 infringement notices issued and 38 people arrested for breaches of the public health order in the past 24 hours.
âPolice responded to almost 1800 COVID related jobs, almost 1100 web reports from Crime Stoppers,â he said.
NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Michael Willing said neighbours were reporting illegal gatherings.Credit:Edwina Pickles
There were several illegal gatherings across Sydney, including in Wolli Creek, Chipping Norton and a hotel in the CBD. âThat is simply not on. I cannot stress and ask that those breaches, we will not tolerate them,â Mr Willing said.
âWhat you need to know is that if you are intending to attend a gathering like that, your neighbours are picking up the phone and they are telling police and we are taking action.â
NSW Police also deployed 1300 officers and checked 70,000 cars to prevent anti-lockdown protests yesterday. Eight people were arrested and 250 infringement notices issued, âmainly for people who are outside of the LGA without a reasonable excuseâ.
âI can indicate that that operation is ongoing across greater Sydney today,â he said.
Mr Willing also said police would be enforcing compliance around QR codes and face maks in shopping centres and large retail stores in the coming days.
Here is some further detail on the 239 new cases reported in Sydney today:
Dr Jeremy McAnulty said there are 222 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 54 people in intensive care including 25 who require ventilation. Of those people in ICU:
âWe are concerned young people, particularly 18-39 -year-olds, are driving a lot of the epidemic. We are seeing cases at high rates in those age groups,â Dr McAnulty said.
âThis is the age group that tends to be a link between kids, younger people, and older, elderly relatives. They are working, they have big social networks, if you are in that age group it is important that you be aware that you are very vulnerable to the infection.â
Dr McAnulty said there were stories of people mixing with their neighbours or grandparents for babysitting purposes. âYou must not have visitors your household. Even to babysit your children for example,â he said.
He also said there had been several outbreaks among adults in childcare centres. âIt is a reminder, please reserve childcare centres if you really need to have your child in child care. Otherwise, keep them at home to minimise the spread through childcare.â
Health authorities are regularly detecting cases in hospital, aged care and disability settings, including nine cases at an aged care facility in Summer Hill. âFortunately, many of those have been vaccinated. As I understand it, the ones with vaccination are doing relatively well,â Dr McAnulty said.
Correction: an earlier version of this post said 49 per cent of people in ICU are not vaccinated; it has now been corrected to say 49 individual people are not vaccinated.
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