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Key posts
Watch live: Victoria’s COVID-19 update
By Broede Carmody
Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley and the state’s COVID response commander, Jeroen Weimar, are due to provide a coronavirus update.
Watch live below. We’ve had some issues with this particular livestream, so if it’s not working, please refresh your browser. Apologies.
‘Premeditated’: Coroner rules 2018 Bourke Street attack an act of terrorism
By Erin Pearson
In news just in, Victoria’s coroner has ruled a fatal knife attack on Bourke Street in 2018 was a premeditated act of terror and called for major changes to the sharing of information between crime and intelligence agencies.
Hassan Khalif Shire Ali, 30, had been a national security person of interest for three years when he descended on the Melbourne CBD armed with knives and a ute filled with gas canisters on November 9, 2018.
Sisto Malaspina in Pellegrini’s in 2010.Credit:Joe Armao
There, he set the vehicle alight before fatally stabbed Pellegrini’s Espresso Bar owner Sisto Malaspina and seriously injuring security guard Shadi Helal and bystander Rod Patterson.
Read the full story here.
‘Critical’ that NSW close contacts isolate from other household members
By Jenny Noyes
NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant has stressed the importance of people identified as close contacts isolating themselves, strictly, for the full 14 day period.
“If you are a close contact you are required to isolate. And isolate means you do not come into contact with anyone else in your house,” she said.
“It means that where possible, you have a separate bathroom, you wear a mask if you are transitioning through any shared areas. In effect, you are in a cocoon environment away from others. It is critical that you do so.”
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant.Credit:Janie Barrett
With a large number of school students ordered to isolate, Dr Chant said there are “tailored” isolation plans in place for families to follow according to a number of factors, including the age of the children, exposure of other family members and any pre-existing conditions.
For the broader community, Dr Chant said people must take the health advice and guidelines seriously, and not look for loopholes or excuses in the stay-at-home orders.
“We really are asking for common sense. At this time we do not want people spending large amounts of time in retail environments or other environments, we want you to minimise your contact with others,” she said.
“If we don’t want to see these cases dribble on, we all have a role to play in adhering to the health advice. So, if you are a close contact, don’t think, ‘I’m vaccinated or I was really only there for a few minutes.’ Please follow the health advice, stay in there for the 14 days, get the test.”
Some more detail on NSW’s COVID numbers
By Jenny Noyes
Here’s a more in-depth look at NSW’s coronavirus numbers:
- Fifteen of today’s 18 new cases are linked to the Bondi cluster. Of those fifteen, two are close contacts of a previously reported unlinked case
- The total number of cases linked to the Bondi cluster is now 124
- There have also been three new overseas acquired cases and one acquired interstate
- There were 58,870 tests reported to 8pm last night, up from 52,048 the previous day
Victoria still aiming for 85 per cent capacity at stadiums by the weekend
By Cassandra Morgan
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says plans to increase outdoor stadiums’ capacity, including the Melbourne Cricket Ground, to 85 per cent by this weekend will go ahead if crowds can remain COVID safe.
The capacity increase is set to go ahead at 11.59pm on Thursday.
AFL crowds are set to swell in Victoria over the weekend. Credit:Getty
Mr Andrews said the decision would ultimately be down to the state’s chief health officer, as would the decision about whether Victoria should have a hub for interstate AFL teams.
“If we can host those events in a COVID safe way and we can take that step to 85 per cent again, COVID safe, then we will, and we would be happy to,” Mr Andrews said.
“But I think all of us have to recognise that Australia is a very different place today even than it was a week ago.”
Victorian Premier to raise vaccine supply at national cabinet
By Cassandra Morgan
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says he’ll raise the issue of COVID-19 vaccine supply at tonight’s national cabinet meeting, as he hopes other leaders will.
“No one can be happy that we have so few people vaccinated,” he said during his first press conference back after months off recovering from a back injury.
The supply of COVID-19 vaccines is set to be discussed between the Prime Minister and state leaders later today.Credit:Eddie Jim.
The Premier said he supported the decisions made about how Victoria should handle COVID-19 during his absence, although he acknowledged they weren’t easy. He said the only way to tackle the Delta strain of the virus was to either put restrictions in place, or have a large proportion of the population vaccinated against COVID-19.
“[The Delta variant is] twice as infectious and moves rapidly,” Mr Andrews said.
“By the time you get to a person who’s a case … they’ve already infected all their family, and indeed other people, some that they don’t even know.”
NSW Premier warns case numbers could ‘go up considerably’
By Jenny Noyes
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said about a third of the 18 new cases were in isolation for their entire infectious period while three were in isolation for part of the time.
“But some unfortunately were active in the community,” Ms Berejiklian said.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.Credit:Renee Nowytarger
As Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant has told us already, the cases we are seeing today are a reflection of what may have occurred in the previous week and obviously there is a lag time on the time we are able to record these cases.
“While the numbers today are less than the numbers yesterday, we have to be prepared for the numbers to bounce around and we have to be prepared for the numbers to go up considerably,” the Premier said.
Ms Berejiklian added that the high testing numbers seen yesterday are “a great result” and that “the more testing we have, the more confidence our health of experts have that they are capturing all of the cases in the community that may have been bubbling along for some days”.
Andrews criticises ‘irrelevant’ opposition
By Paul Sakkal
Premier Daniel Andrews says he was comfortable with Ambulance Victoria releasing details of his incident in order to help quash rumours about the nature of the fall.
“I had no problem with that being released,” he said.
Mr Andrews was highly critical of the state opposition for asking questions about the incident.
“Make no mistake, we have been up-front and clear. This stuff is just vile. As for those who tried to politically weaponise it, they’re irrelevant to the work I do, and I won’t waste my time or my breath on them,” he said.
“I don’t spend much time thinking about those people. As I said to you, they’re not relevant to the work I do. And the people of Victoria would not want me to be spending any more time – in fact, really any time at all – thinking about those people.
“People of this great state passed their judgement on that group of individuals a couple of years ago. They’ll get a chance to make their judgements know in another 18 months. I’ve got a lot to do. It doesn’t involve spending too much time thinking about them.
“They can be accountable for the questions they ask and the comments they make and the way they conduct themselves. And they can be judged accordingly.”
NSW records 18 new cases of COVID-19
By Jenny Noyes
NSW’s daily coronavirus numbers are in.
NSW has recorded 18 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
Of those, all but one has been confirmed as a link to an existing case, and the one unlinked case is in the outbreak area of Sydney’s east. Nearly 59,000 people came forward for testing.
Watch: NSW’s COVID-19 update
By Broede Carmody
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian is due to provide a COVID-19 update from 11am AEST.
It comes after the state recorded 30 new cases of coronavirus in the community yesterday. Watch the full press conference live below.