As it happened: NSW records one new local COVID-19 case as more Sydney, Canberra exposure sites added; Victoria restrictions eased

NSW Health has issued updated advice for certain levels of the Myer and David Jones department stores at Bondi Junction after a “confirmed COVID-19 transmission event” last Saturday.

It also identified additional venues of concern including in Macquarie Park and the limousine car park at Sydney International Airport.

The department earlier today reported one new case of COVID-19, a man in his 50s who attended Myer Bondi Junction at the same time as an aircrew driver who later tested positive. This case will be included in tomorrow’s numbers.

“It appears from CCTV cameras that it could have been a very fleeting contact between the infectious person and this gentleman,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.

In advice just issued, NSW Health said anyone, including staff and patrons, who was at the following locations at the designated times is considered a close contact, which means you must call NSW Health on 1800 943 553, get tested and self-isolate for 14 days regardless of the result:

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has had her first COVID-19 vaccine dose.

The Pfizer vaccine is the only COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in New Zealand and the country has secured 10 million doses, enough for its population to receive two doses.

After the vaccination today, Ms Ardern said she never wanted to be among the first to get the jab and that frontline workers had been the government’s focus. “But I also need to be a role model and this demonstrates that it’s safe, that it’s effective and that it’s really important that everyone is vaccinated when they have their opportunity,” she said.

Ms Ardern yesterday announced the rollout plan for the general population, with those aged over 60 offered vaccinations from July 28 and those over 55 from August 11.

The Federal Court of Australia has cleared the way for cruise giant Royal Carribean to be sued in the United States over the disastrous 2019 trip to New Zealand’s White Island, where a volcanic eruption killed 22 people including 14 Australians.

Marie Browitt and her daughter Stephanie will be able to sue the international cruise operator where its headquarters are located in Miami, after the company lost its bid to block their legal action.

Stephanie Browitt was hiking on White Island, or Whakaari, on December 9, 2019, with a group of tourists from the Ovation of the Seas ship including her father Paul and 21-year-old sister Krystal when the volcano erupted.

All three sustained horrific injuries from the volcano’s exploding cloud of molten rock and ash. Krystal died that day, while Paul died in hospital in Melbourne a month later.

Coronavirus cases in Victoria were growing at a rate of 10 to 30 per cent per week before the state-wide lockdown started on May 27, deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng has revealed.

Asked about Victoria’s effective reproduction rate, or “Reff”, by Nationals MP Danny O’Brien at the public accounts and estimates committee this afternoon, Professor Cheng confirmed it was between 1.1 and 1.3 before the lockdown.

“1.3 would mean we expect 30 per cent more cases after six or seven days, so that is still a growing epidemic,” he said. “What we really need is to get it below one. And I think for example at one point last year it was 0.9 or so. That is still a very slow rate of decline.”

Professor Cheng, who is Victoria’s acting Chief Health Officer in place of the on-leave Brett Sutton, said a sharp intervention such as a lockdown was therefore needed to bring the Reff number well below one.

Sydneysiders will receive another $100 in stimulus vouchers to encourage spending in parts of the city hit hardest by COVID-19.

The new “Thank God It’s Friday” - colloquially known as TGIF - scheme will only allow people to spend their vouchers in the Sydney CBD on the final day of the working week, in order to encourage workers back into town.

The latest announcement from the NSW state government comes ahead of the state budget and says 500,000 NSW residents will be given four $25 vouchers to put towards dining and entertainment experiences.

Unlike the earlier “Dine and Discover” vouchers, which could only be used individually, these can be combined for a $100 purchase.