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Coronavirus crisis: The latest news from across Australia

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Miriam FisherThe West Australian
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Police checking the paperwork of a truck driver travelling across the border.
Camera IconPolice checking the paperwork of a truck driver travelling across the border. Credit: Simon Dallinger

UPDATE: Victoria has effectively shut the border to the entirety of NSW and the ACT after 77 new coronavirus infections were recorded in Sydney overnight.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced the grim infection count this morning, also revealing the sad news a COVID-positive patient has died.

The woman in her 90s from south west Sydney died yesterday at Sydney’s Liverpool Hospital.

She was a close contact of a locally acquired case and was tested for COVID-19 on Friday, returning a positive result early yesterday morning.

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It is the first COVID death the embattled State has recorded since September 2020.

Victoria’s acting chief health officer has declared NSW and the ACT will become red zones under Victoria’s travel permit system from 11.59pm on Sunday.

“Victorian public health authorities are concerned about the risks of transmission beyond current red zones in Greater Sydney and surrounds, and the potential risks this poses to the Victorian community from people entering our state,” the health department said.

NSW Health, meanwhile, has this weekend issued numerous alerts for venues exposed to COVID-19 across Greater Sydney.

They include Coles at Kareela, a KFC in Rockdale, Penrith Barbeques Galore, a Bunnings in Padstow and a popular cafe in Centennial Park.

Coles, Aldi and Kmart at Broadway Shopping Centre in Ultimo are also exposure sites.

Fears tomorrow’s NSW numbers will likely exceed 100 were also raised, with Ms Berejiklian urging Sydneysiders to “do the right thing”.

Meanwhile, concerns are unfolding in Tasmania after a healthcare worker left the State on July 2 before testing positive two days later in London.

More details are expected to emerge over coming days.

There were no local cases in WA, Victoria, Queensland, the ACT, NT or South Australia reported today.

WA did, however, record two new cases of COVID-19 from returned travellers while another man in his 30s has been taken to Royal Perth Hospital with the virus.

A woman in her 30s and a nine-year-old child have both tested positive after arriving from overseas, however their conditions and strains of the virus are still unknown.

As vaccination demand increases across Australia, another 1300 GPs will join the rollout to deliver Pfizer doses, with the Morrison Government confident of completion by Christmas.

However, with only about 10 per cent of Australians fully vaccinated compared with 60 per cent in many countries, Australia trails well behind most of the developed world.

The national COVID death toll is now 911: Victoria 820, NSW 57, Tasmania 13, WA 9, Queensland 7, SA 4 and ACT 3.

STATE-BY-STATE NUMBERS

TODAY

  • NSW — 77 new cases (1 death)
  • TAS — TBA
  • WA — 0 new cases
  • VIC — 0 new cases
  • QLD — 0 new cases
  • ACT — 0 new cases
  • NT — 0 new cases
  • SA — 0 new cases

YESTERDAY

  • NSW — 50 new cases
  • TAS — 1 new case
  • WA — 0 new cases
  • VIC — 0 new cases
  • ACT — 0 new cases
  • NT — 0 new cases
  • SA — 0 new cases

GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS

  • Cases — at least 186,015,939
  • Deaths — at least 4,017,782
  • Vaccine doses administered — at least 3,392,181,099.

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