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Coronavirus Australia: NSW records new 291 COVID cases, Queensland records ten

The West Australian
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People are seen at a COVID Testing Centre at Indooroopilly High School Brisbane.
Camera IconPeople are seen at a COVID Testing Centre at Indooroopilly High School Brisbane. Credit: JASON O’BRIEN/AAPIMAGE

NSW has reported a record 291 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and at least 96 of those people were circulating in the community for all or part of their infectious period.

A woman in her 60s from southwest Sydney has also died, taking the toll of the current outbreak to 23.

Greater Sydney and surrounding regions are in lockdown until at least August 28 and the NSW Hunter will be locked down for a week as health authorities battle to contain a outbreak of the virulent Delta strain.

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Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned the escalation in daily infections would continue in the coming days and again pointed to vaccination rates as a way out of the outbreak.

“The more people we get vaccinated, the sooner we will be able to live more freely and I really want to stress that point,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“Life for us on August 29 will be a reflection of how many people have at least one dose of the vaccine and where the case numbers are.”

There are 50 COVID-19 patients in NSW in intensive care, with 22 ventilated.

Meanwhile, year 12 students in western Sydney’s eight coronavirus-hit council areas will not return to in-person schooling when the remainder of the city’s students re-enter the classroom on August 16.

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said in a statement on Friday that HSC students in the eight local government areas of concern would not return to school, allowing time for vaccinations to take effect.

The eight council areas in question are Blacktown, Campbelltown, Canterbury- Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Liverpool and Parramatta.

Students who reside in the eight council areas but go to school in other council areas will also be barred from attending school.

Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney Olympic Park will from Monday be available to year 12 students in the virus-hit areas for Pfizer vaccinations.

For locked-down year 12 students in other parts of Sydney, all school assessments and trial HSC exams will be completed from home.

Schools will have individualised plans to help ensure social distancing.

The NSW Teachers Federation said in response that it would continue to prioritise the health and safety of students and its members.

It comes as people in Newcastle and the Hunter region join Greater Sydney in lockdown for at least one week after local coronavirus cases were uncovered.

The seven-day snap lockdown was called after five new cases turned up in Newcastle and eight more were found in the Central Coast region.

QUEENSLAND RECORDS TEN NEW LOCAL CASES

It comes as Queensland recorded 10 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 on Friday, as a decision looms on whether lockdown will be extended beyond Sunday.

The new cases have been linked to the Indooroopilly cluster, which has resulted in the infection of dozens of children from three Brisbane high schools and a primary school.

Five of Thursday’s cases are household contacts of Ironside State School cases, three are household contacts of Indooroopilly State High School students, and two are household contacts of Brisbane Boys Grammar school cases.

Only two of the new cases were infectious in the community for one day, during the lockdown.

The 11 local government areas of southeast Queensland are in their sixth day of strict lockdown, which the chief health officer hopes she can ease as planned at 4pm on Sunday.

Chief health officer Jeannette Young said Friday’s case numbers were "very encouraging".

"It is all very reassuring but we have got to keep it up for the next few days, we are not there yet," she said.

"Please continue to come forward and get tested, with any symptoms at all.

"That is critical. And please, keep wearing masks. They have made an enormous difference."

Dr Young said she hoped the lockdown would be lifted on Sunday, but said it was still too early to make that decision.

"Going forward, we are going to have to be incredibly cautions," she said.

"We’ve seen what’s happened in other states. We know that the Delta variant is a completely different variant to the ones we were dealing with last year.

"We can’t use the same strategies we used last year. We really have got to ramp them up."

VICTORIA RECORDS FOUR VIRUS CASES AFTER NIGHT OF VIOLENCE

Victoria has recorded four new locally acquired coronavirus cases on the first day of its sixth lockdown.

The health department confirmed the state recorded six cases in the 24 hours to Friday morning, two of which were already announced by authorities on Thursday.

All six cases are linked to previously reported infections of the Delta variant and have been in the community while infectious.

The lockdown was sparked by two separate chains of transmission, dubbed the Hobsons Bay and Maribyrnong outbreaks.

The Hobsons Bay outbreak is named after a couple, aged in their 20s, who live in the local government area.

One of them is a teacher at Al-Taqwa College in Truganina, who tested positive on Wednesday.

Her partner and two relatives have also tested positive.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews speaks to the media during a press conference in Melbourne, Thursday, August 5, 2021.
Camera IconVictorian Premier Daniel Andrews speaks to the media during a press conference in Melbourne, Thursday, August 5, 2021. Credit: DANIEL POCKETT/AAPIMAGE

It’s unknown how the couple contracted the virus, with authorities hoping genomic testing results will shed some light.

Authorities are also racing to trace the source of the infection of a man in his 20s who lives in the Maribyrnong council area.

He works at a warehouse in Derrimut and he and his housemate are isolating.

Contact tracers are working on the possibility that the man came into contact with relatives in Melbourne that had been recently cleared from NSW hotel quarantine.

The seven-day, statewide lockdown took effect at 8pm on Thursday, with the same rules that applied during last month’s lockdown reimposed, including the five reasons to leave home, the five-kilometre travel limit for exercise and shopping and compulsory masks indoors and outdoors.

Victorians were given less than four hours notice of the lockdown because an outbreak occurred at a restaurant on the eve of the last lockdown and authorities were keen to avoid a similar situation occurring.

Protesters and police are seen at an anti-lockdown rally in Melbourne, Thursday, August 5, 2021.
Camera IconProtesters and police are seen at an anti-lockdown rally in Melbourne, Thursday, August 5, 2021. Credit: DANIEL POCKETT/AAPIMAGE

Premier Daniel Andrews said the decision to lock down was “incredibly painful“ but there was no alternative.

VIRUS CASES LOCK DOWN BULK OF AUSTRALIANS

The majority of Australians are once again in lockdown with coronavirus outbreaks putting swathes of the eastern seaboard under heavy clamps.

Victoria awoke to a sixth lockdown as the state joined Sydney, parts of regional NSW and southeast Queensland under heavy restrictions.

The NSW Hunter region has been placed under a seven-day lockdown after the virus escaped Sydney, where the already-dire situation has worsened.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will meet virtually with state and territory leaders on Friday afternoon to discuss pressing pandemic issues.

Sydney’s crisis is the most concerning coronavirus flashpoint with 262 new local cases and five deaths reported on Thursday.

Eight new cases in Melbourne triggered a seven-day lockdown, while southeast Queensland remains hopeful of easing its heavy restrictions on Sunday.

National cabinet will take the first steps towards deciding what sort of vaccination incentives could be used.

Mr Morrison is opposed to Labor’s plan for all fully vaccinated people to receive one-off $300 payments, instead flagging greater freedoms later in the rollout.

“The best incentive is this - you’re less likely to get the virus,” he said.

“You’re less likely to transmit the virus. You’re less likely to get seriously ill. You’re less likely to die.”

Opposition health spokesman Mark Butler criticised the prime minister for dangling the prospect of incentives later in the rollout.

“Telling Australians you will get nothing if you get vaccinated today but if you wait until later in the year, you might get something then, well that is genuinely dumb and genuinely dangerous,” Mr Butler said.

STATE-BY-STATE BREAKDOWN

NSW - 291 new cases, one death

VIC - four new local cases

QLD - ten new local cases

WA - TBA

SA - TBA

TAS - TBA

ACT - TBA

NT - TBA

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