Australia COVID LIVE updates: NSW records 319 new cases, Victoria records 29 and Queensland records 13

Quickly back to NSW to bring you an important venue update: John Hunter Hospital Emergency Department in Newcastle has been listed as a close contact venue.

Anyone who attended the hospital’s emergency department from Thursday August 5 at 8.42pm to Friday August 6 at 1.50am is a close contact and must get tested and isolate for 14 days since they were there, regardless of the result.

You can stay up to date with all venues of concern on the NSW Government website.

MrWeimar says eight of the positive cases are located in a single family household in the Flemington Public Housing Tower.

“Those eight positive cases relocated, two days ago and last night and they are now an alternative, and safe, accommodation,” Premier Andrews said.

“The residents have been informed this morning, I will continue that work over the coming days”.

“We will provide full food welfare support for the community to enable them to play their isolation to get tested, and to do the right thing.”

COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar provided a summary of today’s cases:

• 25 cases are linked to the Hobsons Bay outbreak which centres around couple in their 20s, a teacher at Al-Taqwa College in Truganina and her husband. One is a family member of index case. Four are linked to Spectacle Hub, one staff member, one customer and two household members.
• Four new cases are family members, eight cases are now linked to the Maribyrnong cluster- there are now 5,520 primary close contacts
• One case is associated with Newport Football Club
• Remaining cases are staff and students from Al-Taqwa college, one staff member, fourteen students and two household members.
• Warringa park specialist school
• Two cases are old infections, two family members from Maribyrnong outbreak which may be declared as historical cases.
• One case is related to an exposure site in Altona North.

More than 600 vaccinations have been administered in the Al-Taqwa pop-up testing site.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews starts the presser by announcing seven COVID-19 patients are in hospital and two are in ICU - both cases are on ventilators.

The Premier was pleased to hear from the Prime Minister about 150,000 extra doses of the vaccine from the Federal Government.

He describes the 29 new cases as a “significant” number of cases, especially since they are “mystery” cases.
“[The cases] are linked to outbreaks and we don’t know where those two outbreaks started,” Premier Andrews said.

“So many of these transmissions, and others that we will find in the coming days, will have been because people were visiting others,” he said. “They shouldn’t have been doing that.“

A number of exposure sites were added before the presser begun and the Premier urges everyone to check the list regularly.

The Flemington public housing towers are now listed as a tier-2 site after a positive case attended the building from Tuesday to Friday.

Anyone who visited the tower on during the times listed must get tested and isolate until they receive a negative result.

Premier Daniel Andrews and COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar are providing a coronavirus update.

Canterbury-Bankstown LGA is causing the greatest concern for health authorities and it sounds like poor compliance in smaller workplaces is the problem.

Mr Hazzard said the LGA is a major area for workplaces and commended larger sites and distribution centres for their COVID-safety practices, but said smaller sites were falling behind.

“I think in that area we’ve got Woolworths and Coles and Aldi and Metcash. They are doing a fantastic job. The work they’re doing is incredible they’re making sure that COVID safe plans are comply with. They’ve also taken steps to make sure their staff get vaccinated,” he said.

“Some of the smaller businesses - not so good. And so that’s why I said a little earlier, you need to actually have your COVID safe plan and stick to it, because you don’t want your business to be the one that actually gets shut down.”

Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said police were aware of issues at smaller shops and supermarkets, which some people were using to congregate for long periods.

“In terms of the smaller shops, also the larger shops, but the smaller shops; the butchers, the grocery shops... the coffee shops,” he said.

“What we are seeing is that people seem to want to go to these smaller shops, and indeed to supermarkets, in a pre-arranged fashion, and then hang around for hours on end. And what I would ask is that there’s a responsibility not just on the person, but the business.”

Mr Hazzard has responded to comments by the nation’s Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly that the state needed a “circuit-breaker” to refocus the state’s strategy in the outbreak.

“We have the toughest lockdown in the country the present time,” Mr Hazzard said. “What is not happening is that people are not actually complying and...if people don’t comply, then obviously the community will continue to suffer.

“I did see Paul Kelly his comments. He hasn’t told us what that circuit breaker would be,” he said.

“I think what it does is just expresses the concerns that we all have, that the circuit breaker in NSW and in Sydney is for people to comply with the rules. It’s pretty simple to stay at home - that’s the circuit breaker.

“And I think the PM has said that many times, as well as the Premier.”

NSW Health has scrapped its plan to transport year 12 students to their vaccinations by bus at the last minute and is instead telling them to make their own way there, a move principals say will put hesitant or disadvantaged kids off getting their shot.

Mr Hazzard said the government had tried hard to arrange the transport, but that education staff were “not keen to be supervising.

“So in the end it was decided a lot of the kids, a lot of young people have their own licenses anyway, or the mums and dads had indicated they were more than happy to take them.”

More on this story here.