As it happened: Qantas to resume international travel in November; Scott Morrison to attend Glasgow climate summit; Victoria records 2179 new local COVID-19 cases, six deaths

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 Premier Dominic Perrottet has departed from national cabinet’s reopening plan and announced that fully vaccinated international travellers will not have to complete hotel or home quarantine upon arrival in the state from November 1. The decision puts him on a collision course with other state and territory leaders but was welcomed by the tourism industry and the federal government. In response to the announcement, Qantas announced it would accelerate the restart of its international flights by two weeks to November 1.

• While Mr Perrottet said the quarantine change would pave the way for the return of overseas tourists to Sydney and NSW, Prime Minister Scott Morrison was quick to hose down expectations that tourists and international students would return to the country from next month. He said NSW’s plan would allow vaccinated Australian citizens, residents and their families, including overseas-based parents, to enter the state without quarantine from November 1 but business travellers, skilled migrants or international students would not be permitted to return just yet. Under the new rules in NSW, there will be no caps on fully vaccinated arrivals. Hotel quarantine will remain in place for the unvaccinated, and places for them will be capped at 210 people per week.

• Mr Perrottet said international arrivals would be required to take a COVID-19 test before boarding a flight and show proof of full vaccination. The state government said in a press release that “further advice about testing requirements for arrivals will be provided in the coming days”.
• NSW is poised to pass the 80 per cent double-dose vaccination target this weekend for people aged 16 and over, triggering a further relaxation of restrictions for the fully vaccinated. Restrictions on visitors to homes, outdoor gatherings, rules for hospitality venues and caps for weddings and funerals will all be eased from Monday for fully vaccinated people. But the Premier announced that travel between Greater Sydney and regional NSW would be put on hold until November 1. You can read more about the changes here.

• NSW recorded 399 new local cases of COVID-19 and four deaths. Today’s daily case number is down from yesterday’s 406 local cases. There are now 677 coronavirus patients in NSW hospitals, down from yesterday’s total of 711. Of the 677 people currently in hospital, 145 are in intensive care. Community transmission of the virus in some regions is continuing to rise, with 79 cases reported in the Hunter New-England area on Friday.
• The four people who died in the state were aged between their 50s and their 80s, including a fully vaccinated man in his 70s with underlying health conditions who died at Campbelltown Hospital, where he acquired his infection. This is the sixth death linked to an outbreak at the hospital. A fully vaccinated woman in her 80s who was a resident of the Allity Beechwood Aged Care Facility, where she acquired her infection, died at St George Hospital. This is eighth death linked to an outbreak at this facility. A man in his 50s, who was not vaccinated, died at St Vincent’s Hospital. A woman in her 80s who had received one dose of a coronavirus vaccine died at Liverpool Hospital.

• Southern Tasmania, including the capital city of Hobart, entered a snap three-day lockdown from 6pm today after a COVID-positive man from NSW escaped quarantine and spent time in the community.

  Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein said the state was at a “crucial” point in the vaccination roll-out and could not risk a large coronavirus outbreak taking hold. He said the man who escaped hotel quarantine had not been forthcoming with information about his movements, which included visiting a Woolworths supermarket in Bridgewater.

• Victoria has recorded 2179 new, locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and six deaths. Today’s total is down from yesterday’s national record of 2297 cases. The six people who died are as follows: three men in their 80s from the Brimbank, Darebin and Boroondara local government areas; two women in their 80s, one from Hume and one from Moreland; and a woman in her 50s from Moonee Valley. Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said there are 695 people in hospital with COVID-19 in Victoria. Of those, 157 are in intensive care, and 101 are on a ventilator.

• Mildura’s lockdown has been extended by seven days. Mildura is a regional city in Victoria’s north-west and lies on the banks of the Murray River, close to NSW. Another 34 cases were recorded in the region in the past 24 hours.

• Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said the state will push ahead with building its quarantine facility in Mickleham, in Melbourne’s northern fringe, even though NSW is preparing to scrap quarantine for fully vaccinated international travellers from November 1. The change of rules in NSW raises the prospect that returned international travellers will be able to enter Melbourne from Sydney in early November, before regional travel is permitted within Victoria. From 11.59pm on Tuesday, October 19, people from NSW “red zones” will have to test negative to COVID-19 no more than 72 hours prior to them entering Victoria. Once they are in the state, they must isolate, get tested again within 72 hours, and stay isolated until they receive a negative test result. People who are not fully vaccinated in NSW red zones will still have to quarantine for 14 days.

• Queensland has recorded its 11th consecutive day of zero local cases of coronavirus. However, local health authorities reported two cases from outside the state earlier today (although they are deemed to be low risk). One case was a flight crew member who was routinely tested while transiting through Brisbane Airport and tested positive after they had left. Another was a truck driver who came up from Victoria through Goondiwindi, in southern Queensland, before driving to Ipswich. The truck driver is now at Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane’s northern suburbs.

• The ACT has recorded 35 new cases of COVID-19 and one death as Canberrans exited lockdown at 11.59pm last night. A seventh resident at the Calvary Haydon aged care facility, a woman in her 70s, has died after acquiring the virus at the home. Sixteen people are in hospital with the virus in the ACT and eight are in intensive care. While the strict lockdown has ended in the ACT, a number of restrictions are still in place. You can read more about those restrictions here. ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said “some people are back at work today but it will be a gradual return with more significant changes to occur towards the end of the month”.

This is Michaela Whitbourn signing off on the blog for today. We’ll have more live coverage for you from tomorrow morning.

Health authorities have added a regional school bus route and several regional pubs to the official list of Victorian exposure sites after listing just two new exposure sites on Thursday.

Two rides on the Goulburn Valley Grammar School Bus have been listed as tier-1 exposures. One trip took place on Tuesday morning between 7.15 and 9.15 as the bus travelled from Tongala, west of Shepparton, to Goulburn Valley Grammar and then for 3pm to 5pm on the same day as the bus made the return journey.

Meanwhile, the gaming room at The Grovedale Hotel in Geelong’s south has been listed for an exposure between 10.15am and 1.30pm on Tuesday,

The North Star Hotel in Ballarat was visited by someone with COVID-19 between about 12.30pm and 2.15pm on Wednesday.

The Winchelsea Hotel in Winchelsea, 40 kilometres west of Geelong, was listed as a tier-2 site for an exposure between 1pm and 2.45pm on October 10.

Other tier-1 additions included the Dan Murphy’s in Tullamarine and a KFC in Essendon.

Anyone who has visited a tier-1 one site needs to get tested immediately and isolate for 14 days no matter the result.

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 Premier Dominic Perrottet has departed from national cabinet’s reopening plan and announced that fully vaccinated international travellers will not have to complete hotel or home quarantine upon arrival in the state from November 1. The decision puts him on a collision course with other state and territory leaders but was welcomed by the tourism industry and the federal government. In response to the announcement, Qantas announced it would accelerate the restart of its international flights by two weeks to November 1.

• While Mr Perrottet said the quarantine change would pave the way for the return of overseas tourists to Sydney and NSW, Prime Minister Scott Morrison was quick to hose down expectations that tourists and international students would return to the country from next month. He said NSW’s plan would allow vaccinated Australian citizens, residents and their families, including overseas-based parents, to enter the state without quarantine from November 1 but business travellers, skilled migrants or international students would not be permitted to return just yet. Under the new rules in NSW, there will be no caps on fully vaccinated arrivals. Hotel quarantine will remain in place for the unvaccinated, and places for them will be capped at 210 people per week.

• Mr Perrottet said international arrivals would be required to take a COVID-19 test before boarding a flight and show proof of full vaccination. The state government said in a press release that “further advice about testing requirements for arrivals will be provided in the coming days”.
• NSW is poised to pass the 80 per cent double-dose vaccination target this weekend for people aged 16 and over, triggering a further relaxation of restrictions for the fully vaccinated. Restrictions on visitors to homes, outdoor gatherings, rules for hospitality venues and caps for weddings and funerals will all be eased from Monday for fully vaccinated people. But the Premier announced that travel between Greater Sydney and regional NSW would be put on hold until November 1. You can read more about the changes here.

• NSW recorded 399 new local cases of COVID-19 and four deaths. Today’s daily case number is down from yesterday’s 406 local cases. There are now 677 coronavirus patients in NSW hospitals, down from yesterday’s total of 711. Of the 677 people currently in hospital, 145 are in intensive care. Community transmission of the virus in some regions is continuing to rise, with 79 cases reported in the Hunter New-England area on Friday.
• The four people who died in the state were aged between their 50s and their 80s, including a fully vaccinated man in his 70s with underlying health conditions who died at Campbelltown Hospital, where he acquired his infection. This is the sixth death linked to an outbreak at the hospital. A fully vaccinated woman in her 80s who was a resident of the Allity Beechwood Aged Care Facility, where she acquired her infection, died at St George Hospital. This is eighth death linked to an outbreak at this facility. A man in his 50s, who was not vaccinated, died at St Vincent’s Hospital. A woman in her 80s who had received one dose of a coronavirus vaccine died at Liverpool Hospital.

• Southern Tasmania, including the capital city of Hobart, entered a snap three-day lockdown from 6pm today after a COVID-positive man from NSW escaped quarantine and spent time in the community.

  Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein said the state was at a “crucial” point in the vaccination roll-out and could not risk a large coronavirus outbreak taking hold. He said the man who escaped hotel quarantine had not been forthcoming with information about his movements, which included visiting a Woolworths supermarket in Bridgewater.

• Victoria has recorded 2179 new, locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and six deaths. Today’s total is down from yesterday’s national record of 2297 cases. The six people who died are as follows: three men in their 80s from the Brimbank, Darebin and Boroondara local government areas; two women in their 80s, one from Hume and one from Moreland; and a woman in her 50s from Moonee Valley. Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said there are 695 people in hospital with COVID-19 in Victoria. Of those, 157 are in intensive care, and 101 are on a ventilator.

• Mildura’s lockdown has been extended by seven days. Mildura is a regional city in Victoria’s north-west and lies on the banks of the Murray River, close to NSW. Another 34 cases were recorded in the region in the past 24 hours.

• Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said the state will push ahead with building its quarantine facility in Mickleham, in Melbourne’s northern fringe, even though NSW is preparing to scrap quarantine for fully vaccinated international travellers from November 1. The change of rules in NSW raises the prospect that returned international travellers will be able to enter Melbourne from Sydney in early November, before regional travel is permitted within Victoria. From 11.59pm on Tuesday, October 19, people from NSW “red zones” will have to test negative to COVID-19 no more than 72 hours prior to them entering Victoria. Once they are in the state, they must isolate, get tested again within 72 hours, and stay isolated until they receive a negative test result. People who are not fully vaccinated in NSW red zones will still have to quarantine for 14 days.

• Queensland has recorded its 11th consecutive day of zero local cases of coronavirus. However, local health authorities reported two cases from outside the state earlier today (although they are deemed to be low risk). One case was a flight crew member who was routinely tested while transiting through Brisbane Airport and tested positive after they had left. Another was a truck driver who came up from Victoria through Goondiwindi, in southern Queensland, before driving to Ipswich. The truck driver is now at Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane’s northern suburbs.

• The ACT has recorded 35 new cases of COVID-19 and one death as Canberrans exited lockdown at 11.59pm last night. A seventh resident at the Calvary Haydon aged care facility, a woman in her 70s, has died after acquiring the virus at the home. Sixteen people are in hospital with the virus in the ACT and eight are in intensive care. While the strict lockdown has ended in the ACT, a number of restrictions are still in place. You can read more about those restrictions here. ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said “some people are back at work today but it will be a gradual return with more significant changes to occur towards the end of the month”.

This is Michaela Whitbourn signing off on the blog for today. We’ll have more live coverage for you from tomorrow morning.

New Zealand has recorded 65 new cases of COVID-19 in the community, all of which are in Auckland.

That’s slightly lower than yesterday’s total of 71 cases, which was the largest number of new infections in six weeks.

There are now 34 people in the country’s hospitals with the virus, in Auckland and Palmerston North. Six people are in an intensive care or high dependency unit.

Residents of Auckland are under “level three” stay-at-home orders until Monday (details below).

As NSW and Victoria start to ease coronavirus restrictions for fully vaccinated people, proving your vaccination status will be key.

We’ve prepared guides to installing the certificates on your check-in apps.

Read the full step-by-step guide for NSW here, and Victoria here.

As southern Tasmania including the state’s capital city, Hobart, prepares to enter a three-day lockdown from 6pm tonight, its vaccination rollout is gathering pace.

Almost 83 per cent (82.43 per cent) of Tasmanians aged 16 and over have received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine and 67.6 per cent of Tasmanians have received both doses.

You can read more about southern Tasmania’s lockdown here.

Based on the table below, NSW is leading the vaccination rollout, followed by Victoria and Tasmania. But we also know that the ACT is surging ahead in vaccinating Canberrans, and the territory includes everybody aged 12 and over in its figures.

Ninety-nine per cent of Canberrans aged 12 and up have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 76 per cent are fully vaccinated.