Good evening and thank you for reading our live coverage of the day’s events. If you are just joining us now, here’s what you need to know:
- NSW reported 1405 new local coronavirus cases and five deaths, as Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced a roadmap for easing restrictions in the state after 70 per cent of people aged 16 and over are fully vaccinated. The state is expected to reach that milestone in mid-October. The plan was praised by Prime Minister Scott Morrison but experts have expressed doubts, saying it appears to have been driven by industry rather than concern for the state’s stretched hospital system.
- Coronavirus modelling by the Burnet Institute, which is based on existing restrictions and was released by NSW Health this week, predicts the number of people in intensive care will peak in early November as the state is expected to open up. At this point, NSW Health says “demand for critical care services significantly exceeds organisation-wide capacity”.
- The freedoms mapped out by the NSW government will only be available to the fully vaccinated, or those with a medical exemption, and include trips to the hairdresser, gyms and pubs, regional travel, an increase to the number of guests permitted at weddings, and small gatherings in homes and outdoors where all adults are vaccinated. Masks will still be required indoors. You can read more about the changes here.
- All written HSC exams will go ahead in NSW and results will be released shortly before Australia Day 2022 after the exam authority and universities struck a compromise deal to ensure there is enough time for marking and university offers.
- Parts of regional NSW will exit lockdown on Saturday, and will be subject to the eased restrictions set to come into force statewide once that 70 per cent full vaccination target is achieved. Deputy Premier John Barilaro said parts of the mid north coast, north coast, north-west, Albury, Riverina and Murrumbidgee areas would exit lockdown due to their low case numbers.
- The following local government areas will remain under stay-at-home orders with Greater Sydney: Bathurst, Bega, Blayney, Bogan, Bourke, Brewarrina, Broken Hill, Cabonne, Central Coast, Central Darling, Cessnock, Dubbo, Dungog, Eurobodalla, Forbes, Gilgandra, Goulburn Mulwarre, Kiama, Lake Macquarie, Lithgow, Maitland, Mid-Coast, Mid-Western, Muswellbrook, Narrabri, Narromine, Newcastle, Orange, Parkes, Port Stephens, Queanbeyan-Palerang, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven, Singleton, Snowy Monaro, Upper Hunter, Walgett and Wingecarribee.
- The five deaths in NSW included a woman in her 40s who died at Liverpool Hospital. A man in his 80s died at Nepean Hospital, a woman in her 70s died at Ryde Hospital, a woman in her 70s died at Concord Hospital, and a man in his 80s died at Westmead Hospital. There are currently 1,175 COVID-19 cases in NSW’s hospitals, with 202 people in intensive care. Eighty require ventilation.
- Victoria has recorded 324 new, locally acquired cases of COVID-19, a new record in the current outbreak.
- Victoria’s COVID-19 response commander, Jeroen Weimar, said it was “a very challenging number”. “Be very mindful that we’re now in an environment where there is widespread community transmission. That person next to you at the grocery aisle may be positive, and they may not know it, they may not be showing any symptoms. But we are seeing transmission in that environment.” Workplaces were another key transmission site, he said.
- Of the 111 people in hospital in Victoria, none have been fully vaccinated. Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said that 89 per cent of people in hospital have had no vaccine while 11 per cent had one dose. Thirty-two people are in intensive care while 19 need a ventilator.
- Health data shows active COVID-19 case numbers have surged in Melbourne’s north and west over the past week, but are on their way down in Shepparton.
- The ACT has recorded 15 new cases of COVID-19 in the community, five of whom were in quarantine for their entire infectious period. At least eight cases were in the community for part of their infectious period, and two cases remain under investigation. Nine people are hospitalised, with two of those people in intensive care. ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr foreshadowed that he would be outlining a plan on Tuesday for the reopening of the territory. “Our approach will support a gradual and safe reopening that supports people back into work,” he said.
Brisbane is on alert after a COVID-positive NSW truck driver was infectious in south-east Queensland for two days, including spending time at a Westfield shopping centre in Brisbane. The truck driver is the fourth in a fortnight to cause concern in Queensland.
- West Australian Premier Mark McGowan delivered the state budget today and warned “wildly angry” states would seek to dismantle GST reforms after his government posted the country’s biggest ever budget surplus on the back of booming iron ore prices. “We have to fight that,” he said.The mining state posted a $5.6 billion surplus for 2020-21, which was $2.5 billion more than anticipated by Treasury officials in February. WA’s next biggest surplus was $2.7 billion in 2007. The previous national record was set by NSW in 2016, when property taxes drove a $4.7 billion windfall.
- New Zealand has recorded 13 new cases of COVID-19 in the community. Auckland remains under strict lockdown while the rest of the country has stepped down from level three restrictions (which are one step down from a lockdown) to level two, which allows people to return to school and work with a number of restrictions in place to combat the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant of the virus.
This is Michaela Whitbourn signing off on the blog for this evening. Broede Carmody will be back with you tomorrow morning.