That’s where we’ll leave our live coverage for today, thanks for reading. We’ll be back in the morning.
If you’re joining us now, here’s what you need to know:
- NSW recorded 863 new local cases of COVID-19 and 15 deaths, the state’s deadliest day of this outbreak. The state is expected to reach its 90 per cent first dose vaccination target for people aged 16 and older next week. Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the state continued to have fewer hospitalisations than previously predicted, as the state’s double-dose vaccination rate climbs to 61.7 per cent. Sydney students will return to school a week earlier than expected, from October 18. She said she would wait a few weeks before raising the possible opening of the NSW-Victoria border with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. Oberon local government area in the NSW central tablelands entered a snap week-long lockdown from 6pm due to rising case numbers in the area, west of the Blue Mountains. Residents in the regional areas of Port Macquarie, on the mid north coast, and Muswellbrook, in the upper Hunter, had their first day under stay-at-home orders.
- Victoria has recorded 950 new local coronavirus cases and seven deaths. The case numbers are the highest recorded so far in Victoria, and the number of deaths is also the highest recorded in the state this year. There are 371 people in hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 81 are in intensive care and 55 require a ventilator. Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley says the state’s authorities still don’t quite have the supply certainty they need to reduce the timeframe between mRNA vaccine doses down from six weeks.
WorkSafe has charged Victoria’s Health Department over last year’s mistakes in hotel quarantine that drove the state’s deadly second wave of COVID-19. The state has reached its 80 per cent first dose vaccination target. Some outdoor recreational activities (like fishing, boating and golf) are allowed to resume. Five adults from a maximum of two households are now allowed to gather outdoors if they’re fully vaccinated and the 10km travel radius has been extended to 15km. Personal training is also back for small groups if everyone has both jabs. A snap lockdown has started in Gippsland’s Latrobe Valley, in the state’s east. A COVID-19 outbreak has hit the Melbourne office of the construction union a week after a violent protest was held there, with several staff infected and those in attendance on that day, including union secretary John Setka, forced into self-isolation. Victoria Racing Club is targeting crowds of 11,500 for some or all of the four days of Melbourne Cup week.
- In Queensland, the Gold Coast is on high alert after two COVID-positive people were infectious in the community, after the state recorded four new local cases yesterday. Those cases included an aviation worker and his wife, a truck driver and a woman who recently left hotel quarantine. Dozens of Brisbane exposure sites, including a Woolworths and McDonald’s, have been added and mask-wearing rules have returned. Walk-ins will be accepted at all COVID vaccination hubs as the state attempts to ramp up its jab rate. Queensland has the second-lowest rate of people aged 16 and older double-dosed in the country, with 45.60 per cent fully vaccinated.
- The ACT recorded 22 new cases of COVID-19. Ten people with the virus are being treated in hospital. About 89 per cent of territory residents aged 12 and older have received their first dose of the vaccine, while 61 per cent are fully-vaccinated. Authorities are concerned about one in 10 people with symptoms are waiting five or more days to get tested. There are 88 “mystery” cases in the capital, while cases have been detected in surrounding regional areas of NSW, including Queanbeyan, Goulburn, the south coast and Snowy Mountains. The ACT is due to emerge from lockdown mid-next month.
Two of the three threats to Western Australia’s COVID-free status have been averted after a Russian military plane pilot and alleged border jumper both tested negative to the virus. Yesterday it emerged WA was facing COVID threats from three fronts including border hoppers, a new COVID-infected ship heading down WA’s coast and a positive case on a Russian military plane that landed in Perth on Tuesday. The state recorded zero cases of coronavirus on Wednesday.
“”“”“”“”“”
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has claimed that Prime Minister Scott Morrison put Australia’s national security at risk in the way he has handled the decision to dump a $90 billion submarine contract with France and instead build a nuclear-propelled fleet with the United States and Britain.
And in overseas news, Japan’s ruling party has elected Fumio Kishida as its leader, paving the way for the 64-year-old to become prime minister and guide the country out of the coronavirus pandemic.