Live: NSW’s Premier is speaking, expected to outline roadmap out of lockdown

By Jacqueline Howard

Cases and press conference times

If you can’t see details of your state’s case numbers or press conference time below, don’t worry, it means the information hasn’t arrived yet. We’ll bring it to you as soon as we can.

• Queensland – 1 new case, press conference: Watch it here
• Victoria – 324 new cases, press conference: 11:30am
• New South Wales – cases 1,405: press conference: 11:00am
• ACT – cases TBA; press conference: 11:45am

We will continue to update this post throughout the day.

A breakdown of NSW cases

Of the 1,405 locally acquired cases:

• 450 are from South Western Sydney Local Health District (LHD)
• 394 are from Western Sydney LHD
• 211 are from Sydney LHD
• 118 are from South Eastern Sydney LHD
• 74 are from Nepean Blue Mountains LHD
• 34 are from Northern Sydney LHD
• 24 are from Western NSW LHD
• 22 are from Central Coast LHD
• 23 are from Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD
• 12 are from Hunter New England LHD
• Four are from Far West LHD
• Three are from Southern NSW LHD
• Nine are in correctional settings
• 27 cases are yet to be assigned to an LHD.

Schools in NSW to reopen on October 25

The NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the date of October 25 was chosen as it was assumed the 70 per cent double dose vaccination target would be reached by that point. 

The Premier said it was important to give schools some certainty.

“It is really important for school communities, for students and teachers to have a fixed date they open to provide certainty.

“We assumed, and I think that assumption will bear fruit that by that stage, 70 per cent of adults would be vaccinated and there would be some start of the vaccination for 12-15-year-olds.

“That is why that 25 October date is fixed because we need to provide that certainty and that planning for school communities across the state.

“But for adults, we have the capacity to be more flexible and make sure that that date of starting the reopening isn’t triggered until there is 70 per cent double dose vaccination.”

NSW records 1,405 cases, five deaths

Premier Gladys Berejiklian says 42.5 per cent of the eligible population are now fully vaccinated. 

Of those who died:

• two were men in their 80s
• two women in their 70s
• a woman in her 40s

There are currently 1,175 cases in hospital. Of those, 202 are in the ICU, with 80 on a ventilator. 

There were 156,481 COVID-19 tests conducted yesterday.

When will we hear from Victoria?

When is the Victorian Press Conference who is being joined at the press conference?

-Noah

We’ve just heard the Victorian press conference will be at 11:30am. We’ll post a YouTube link here for you to tune in. 

Fronting the masses today will be Health Minister Martin Foley, Acting Chief Health Officer Ben Cowie and COVID-19 commander Jeroen Weimar.

Tune in to the NSW press conference here

‘Next step’ for Queensland is to display vaccination status on check-in app

The Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk confirms the Queensland Check-In app will soon have the ability to show if someone has been vaccinated.

“We’re working through that technology at the moment that’s the next step I want to prioritise,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

Something cute to make you smile

Can we have a quoll cute please? not an emergency, just want to smile

-Come for the cutes

You may!

All Queenslanders aged 12 or older to be eligible for a vaccine

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said the vaccination of children was set to ramp up.

“From Monday next week, any Queenslander who is 12 years of age or older is able to get vaccinated, so please come forward and get vaccinated,” Dr Young said. 

“The more people are vaccinated, the less the risk of an outbreak spreading.”

The Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said 54.28 per cent of eligible Queenslanders have now had their first dose of a COVID vaccine, with 35.8 per cent fully vaccinated.

“We need to be need to be ready for when the next Delta cluster arrives in Queensland,” she said.

Queensland records 1 new case

The case is a 10-year-old boy, the brother of a 4-year-old who had the virus in Beenleigh.

The case was detected in home quarantine. “We have no concerns about that”, says premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.

Tune in to the Queensland press conference here

Border students fear ‘missing out’, as reports show increases in distress

Ashlee Thomas is in her final year of university studying to be a journalist.

She lives in Tweed Heads just south of the Queensland border so she’s unable to attend campus on the Gold Coast. 

“With the border shut I’m unable to attend Griffith University, so I’m doing all my uni virtually,” Ms Thomas said.

“You have that fear of missing out because everyone’s in class.”

Despite her own border struggles, Ashlee Thomas has set up a mentoring business called Secret Burden.

She runs it with her mum to start conversations with other young people about body positivity and mental health. 

Year 11 student Xalia Smith lives in West Tweed about 2 kilometres south of the border.

She can see Queensland from her house. 

“I have the view of Coolangatta, so I’m about probably about eight minutes from the border,” Ms Smith said.

The 16-year-old attends Palm Beach Currumbin State High School but she’s currently banned from crossing the border.

So she’s remote learning at home, indefinitely.

“It’s a bit annoying because we can’t really do anything to fix the situation.”

Read the full story here.

Call for Western Sydney approach to Pfizer vaccine to be replicated in Melbourne

A Melbourne doctor has explained why an open letter has been penned asking for doses of Pfizer to be urgently diverted to areas of the city where case numbers are rising.

Dr Abdul-Latif Halimi, a GP with Western Health, told ABC Radio Melbourne’s Virginia Trioli demand for the Pfizer vaccine was “outstripping supply”, particularly in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.

He said there was “plenty of AstraZeneca in the system” but there was still hesitancy in the community, with many people wanting to get Pfizer.

“We’re trying very, very hard but the bottom line is the Pfizer is just a lot more attractive to a lot of people,” he said.

He said Pfizer vaccines should be diverted to people in the northern suburbs the way it had been done in Western Sydney.

“The burden wasn’t put on local doctors to try and overturn the perceptions of the AstraZeneca, the government just diverted Pfizer straight away,” he said.

“Were asking for a similar response here because it’s getting critical.”

A Victorian government spokesperson said it was putting as much vaccine supply as possible in Melbourne’s northern and western suburbs but appointments were being “snapped up” as soon as they were made available.

Dr Halimi said the outbreak was “starting to hit home” with more people infected with COVID-19 ending up hospitalised.

Scott Morrison sends message to Australians stuck overseas, predicts COVID-19 home quarantine by end of year

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has acknowledged the “heartbreak” faced by Australians stuck overseas during the pandemic, insisting home quarantine will eventually become widespread. 

In a video message to an awards ceremony held by a global network for Australian expats, Advance.org, Mr Morrison said they had carried a “very heavy burden” over the past year and a half. 

“I know for Australians overseas, it has been a very difficult and frustrating time,” he said. 

“It’s tough, living through a pandemic, and being separated from your family, and that’s brought its own heartbreak.

“Life’s moments missed that you will never get back. Zoom can’t do justice to these moments.” 

Read the full story here.

Question time again

Hey Jac, do you know when each state is expected to hit their vaccination targets and how quickly they’re going up?

-Over it

We do! Here’s a graph from our vaccine data article that is updated daily. These calculations are made based on the current rate of vaccination in each state.

Edit: Some of you are freaking out about the Victorian projections being further away. The calculations here are on the latest seven-day moving average of second doses. As the vaccine rollout ramps up and more people become eligible for their second dose, this projection will change.

Hi Jacqui, I’ve asked this question a couple of times with no response so it would be great if it could be answered today. I’m double dosed and am surprised that of those in ICU in NSW, approx 20% are fully vaxxed – surely it provides better protection than those numbers suggest?

-Double dosed still in ICU

I’m not sure where you got your data from, but it’s very wrong. The latest weekly report we have from NSW Health (published September 4) tells us that just two people in the ICU during the reporting period were fully vaccinated. That’s 0.8 per cent.

Since March 2021, 317 (2.6 per cent) of the state’s locally acquired cases have reported being fully vaccinated. 

So the vaccine does give better protection than the information you were given. 

Update: For the sake of keeping the blog somewhat neat, I’ll answer the follow up question to this here, rather than on a new post. As you say, yesterday, we heard of the 194 people in ICU, 158 are not vaccinated. But the remaining are not necessarily fully vaccinated. Some may have one dose. We also know it takes some weeks for the vaccine to come into full effect.

What are the rules on getting a vaccination in a regional hub when residing in Metro Melbourne now that the restrictions between Regional Vic and Metro Melbourne are different.

-Vaccination clarification – Victoria

According to the Victorian government website, you are allowed to travel from metropolitan Melbourne into regional Victoria to get a vaccine, as long as you’re only out for as long as necessary.

Here’s the exact wording used on the website:

Can I travel from metropolitan Melbourne to regional Victoria?

Travel from metropolitan Melbourne to regional Victoria can only occur for the permitted reasons for leaving your home including:

• for authorised work or permitted education
• to visit an intimate partner
• for care and compassionate reasons
• to access COVID-19 vaccination (provided that the distance travelled, and the time taken is no more than reasonably necessary), or
• to access necessary goods or services within 5km of your home (or the closest option if unable to be accessed within 5km).

Where is casey briggs? Missing the daily vaccine updates

-Missing the charts

Casey Briggs is on some well-earned leave for the time being. He popped on to Twitter earlier today to dispel some wild conspiracy theories regarding his absence from the social media platform.

What’s the point of getting vaccinated? 

Help I am confused! If the COVID vaccine does not stop you getting COVID or stop transmission to others why on earth does immunisation status have to be proven?

-Jack Smith

We keep hearing that the coronavirus vaccine isn’t 100 per cent effective in stopping transmission of the virus from one person to another.

And so you could be forgiven for thinking, well what’s the point of getting vaccinated if it only protects you from severe disease and doesn’t help protect others around you.

Well it does help protect others because it does lower the risk of transmitting the virus, and we have the evidence to prove it. 

The Coronacast team of Dr Norman Swan and Teagan Taylor  touched on this in today’s episode.

The link to the podcast has a big chunk of citations from studies, and links to those studies for you to have a read of yourself, but in essence, while vaccines do not completely protect you from getting infected (don’t forget, they’re pretty amazing at ensuring you avoid hospitalisation and death), fewer people being infected means fewer people can pass the virus on. 

Victoria records 324 new local cases

Victoria has recorded 324 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 as doctors call for more Pfizer doses to be urgently allocated in Melbourne’s north.

Of today’s new cases, 107 have been linked to existing outbreaks and cases by contact tracers, while the rest remain a mystery.

There were 54,242 test results processed on Wednesday, 37,604 doses of vaccine at state-run sites.

For those who need vaccination proof without a smartphone or computer

Good morning. You commented below that people without a smart phone would be able to access a vaccination certificate through myGov. I expect that some people without a smart phone may also not use myGov (my Dad would fall into that category). I understand that paper certificates can be order by phoning the Australian Immunisation Register.

-Beaker

Reply to “Not Everyone has a smart phone”:

You can get a signed paper copy of a “vax certificate” from your doctor.

-Linda

 Thank you blog brains!

First Nations fears grow in Western NSW as one family reports 40 COVID cases

Just a month after COVID-19 hit Western NSW, entire families have already been devastated, with one family reporting 40 members infected with the virus.

All three Western New South Wales COVID deaths have been First Nations people, including a man in his 60s from Dubbo, a woman in her 70s from Enngonia, and a man in his 50s from Dubbo.

Ngemba woman Catherine Cubby tested positive for COVID-19 in Bourke last month and said more than 40 members of her family were now infected.

“I wouldn’t want anybody to go through what we have. It’s heartbreaking,” Ms Cubby said.

Read the full story here