The Sydney Morning Herald logo
Advertisement
NationalCoronavirus pandemic

This was published 5 years ago

As it happened: NSW records eight local cases as masks mandated in greater Sydney; Victoria records three local cases

Lucy Cormack and Josh Dye
Updated ,first published

Summary

That's it for tonight – thanks for reading

By

We're closing the blog for the evening – thanks for reading. Tune in tomorrow from around 6.30am (AEDT) for our Monday coverage.

Here's a quick re-cap of today's developments:

  • NSW recorded eight new cases of community transmission from 18,923 tests. Two are household contacts of a case linked to the Avalon cluster, but five are related to the Berala cluster. One is a household contact of a known source.
  • Genomic testing on the Berala BWS cluster (now 13 cases) in western Sydney is linked to the patient transport driver and not the Avalon cluster.
  • Thousands of customers who may have been exposed at the BWS store between December 22 and December 31 are being urged to get tested and isolate for 14 days, no matter the result.
  • Covid19data.com.au has compared the July Crossroads Hotel and December Avalon/patient transport worker outbreaks, which makes for an interesting comparison.
  • Masks are now mandatory in Greater Sydney, on the Central Coast, and in the Blue Mountains and Wollongong. There is a $200 fine for those who don't comply.
  • Victoria has recorded three new local cases from 22,477 tests, all of which are connected to the Black Rock cluster.
  • The federal government is urging Victoria to help residents stranded in NSW get home as soon as possible after the Andrews government said only those with special circumstances would be allowed to return.
  • Victorian health authorities have warned of "significant queues" at testing sites, but the number of tests completed in Melbourne's south-east increased by more a third. It is expected that most of the returned travellers from NSW will have been tested by Wednesday.
  • Travellers heading to New Zealand from the UK or the US will soon need a negative test result to enter, after the mutant COVID-19 strain from the UK broke the border.
A health worker takes a nasal swab sample at a COVID-19 testing centre in Hyderabad. India has started rolling out a vaccination program.AP

Rapid rollouts of Sinovac, Sputnik vaccines in Indonesia, Russia

By

Indonesia will start distributing the vaccine developed by China's Sinovac to all its 34 provinces this week, a month after President Joko Widodo's plan to fast-track inoculations was blocked by his own medical regulator.

The Ministry of Health will carry out the distribution in parallel with testing the vaccines made by the Chinese company, said Indonesian news outlet Kompas, citing the ministry's vaccination spokeswoman Siti Nadia Tarmizi.

A rickshaw driver waits for customers in Yogyakarta. It's expected to take at least 15 months to roll out vaccinations across Indonesia. Getty Images

South-east Asia's most populous nation is aiming to commence inoculations as soon as the food and drug regulator approves the vaccine and issues an emergency use authorisation, but it will take more than a year to vaccinate a nation of more than 276 million.

Indonesia's national vaccine rollout will take around 15 months, with initial priority given to the country's 1.3 million health workers, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said in a statement on Saturday.

Sydney's July v December outbreaks compared

By Ben Grubb

Covid19data.com.au has compared Sydney's July Crossroads Hotel and December Avalon/patient transport worker outbreaks, which makes for an interesting comparison.

The charts (embedded below) track the first coronavirus cases in July associated with and following the Crossroads cluster and the first December Avalon case (and subsequent outbreaks, such as the Croydon and BWS Berala clusters) against each other. In July, there were 155 cases on day 18 of that outbreak compared to 188 on day 18 now. When Sydney last had 155 active cases, it took more than three months (greater than 100 days) to get back to consecutive days of zero local cases being reported.

The graphs refer to December and July because NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said on Sunday that there were presently two concurrent outbreaks affecting Sydney since December - the cluster connected to infected overseas travellers and a patient transport driver who became infected (connected to the BWS Berala cluster), and the Avalon cluster, which has no identified "patient zero" to date and whose source may remain a mystery. The strain of COVID-19 at the heart of the Avalon cluster has, however, been identified as being from the United States.

A NSW Health surveillance report said there were no new cases linked to the Crossroads cluster after August 1. The cluster was closed at the end of that month. But several other clusters followed, including Thai Rock Restaurant Wetherill, Bankstown area funeral services, and Tangara School.

Advertisement

Dozens of readers struggle to get tested in Melbourne

By Aisha Dow

Dozens of readers in Victoria say they have been unable to get tested for coronavirus after returning from NSW.

Film and television student Isabella Edwards said that she was able to get tested at West Footscray this morning. She arrived at 6am – some two hours before it was due to open. When she left at 8.20am, she was told there was a wait of more than three hours.

Ms Edwards said she had attempted to get tested at the Melbourne Showgrounds on Saturday, waiting three hours in a line that stretched out into the street.

“There were no staff [giving us advice] because we were so far back,” she said.

Due to high demand, the MSAC drive-through test site has closed.Paul Jeffers

Unable to return home to Victoria?

By

Are you a Victorian prevented from returning home? We want to hear from you.

Federal government urged to step up to combat 'parochial' state border closures

By Anthony Galloway and Mike Foley

Tourism operators, local MPs and the federal opposition are calling for a national border agreement to stop the states’ go-it-alone approach after the latest outbreaks in Victoria and NSW, urging the federal government not to vacate the field.

The reintroduction of hard state borders has sparked warnings that the nation’s tourism industry will lose billions of dollars, while many Victorians have been left stranded in NSW.

The NSW-Victoria border has been slammed shut. Jason Robins

Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week said states and territories were ultimately responsible for any outbreaks of COVID-19 and "we must respect their jurisdictional authority".

Australian Tourism and Industry Council executive director Simon Westaway said "we don’t want the federal government to give up here".

Advertisement

Photo gallery: State Library of NSW visitors embrace mask usage

By

Our photographer Brook Mitchell has taken some eye-catching frames of visitors at the State Library of NSW on Sunday as the mandatory mask rule took effect in Sydney.

People work in the State Library of NSW as mask wearing becomes mandatory in certain indoor settings.Brook Mitchell
Masks are required in indoor settings. Brook Mitchell
No issues with physical distancing here. Brook Mitchell

New venue alerts issued for Victoria

By Simone Fox Koob

Melbourne's Federation Square, a brewery in the city's north-east and more shops at Southland shopping centre have been added to the list of official exposure sites.

Anyone who visited the below locations during the following date and time are instructed to get tested immediately and quarantine for 14 days from the exposure:

  • Bodriggy Brewing Company, Abbotsford, December 28 between 2.50pm and 5.30pm
  • Melbourne Boat Hire - Yarra River Cruise, Docklands, on December 28 between 11.26am and 2pm

Those who visited any of the following locations during the date and time must get tested immediately and quarantine until they receive a negative result:

  • Merrymen Cafe, Hampton, December 28 between 1pm - 2.30pm
  • Two Bob Snob, Cheltenham, December 22 between 1pm - 2pm
  • Hotlocks By Rachael Hairdresser, McKinnon, December 23 between 4pm and 6pm.

Sydney mask-maker catering for people who 'want something a bit fun'

By Lucy Cormack

The NSW government direction for Sydneysiders to wear masks has caused anguish for some but for others it's good for business.

Anthony Defina owns costume store House of Priscilla in Oxford Street in Surry Hills and says he's been making masks since the start of the pandemic in March.

Masks for business, masks for fun. Brook Mitchell

"We didn't start really start [advertising them] until Victoria made them mandatory," he said.

"We have a lot of stock, we're only making to order ... we make them every day.

Advertisement

Cricket Australia hopes to save Gabba Test after India threat to boycott Brisbane

By Chris Barrett

Cricket Australia is hopeful a slight loosening of the Queensland government's COVID-19 quarantine restrictions will be enough to save the Gabba Test by convincing India not to boycott Brisbane.

There was another instalment in a chaotic summer on Sunday when it emerged that the Indians preferred not to travel to Brisbane for the final leg of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy campaign if it meant they had to be holed up in their hotel rooms while not playing or training.

The Queensland government has said players from both sides would need to quarantine for a match at the Gabba.Wolter Peeters

The development raised the prospect of the final two matches of the series having to be completed in Sydney, starting with the third Test — as scheduled — from Thursday.

However, negotiations between CA and the Queensland government have led to players being permitted to come together in particular areas of the hotel the teams will share in Brisbane. The only time they can leave the hotel is when they are training or playing.

Given the Board of Control for Cricket in India's enormous influence, their opposition to quarantining again cast the Brisbane Test into doubt but CA officials were hoping the tourists would accept the slightly looser set-up.

Read more here.

Advertisement