As New South Wales prepares for another day of climbing coronavirus numbers, other states are ordering residents home and fighting off “flying embers” that threaten to reveal more virus hotspots.
It’s almost certain that Sydney’s lockdown will not lift on Friday.
Pre-empting that businesses will continue to take a hit long after this week, the federal and NSW governments are set to announce disaster relief payments.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison met with Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Monday night to discuss the details of the cashflow support package.
Contact-tracing teams, meanwhile, were logging the movements of the 112 NSW residents most recently confirmed to have contracted the virus.
Twelve new bus routes were named as exposure sites as well as eight venues across Fairfield, Lakemba, Roselands, Bondi Junction, Green Valley, Yagoona and Greenacre.
Victorian authorities also named three Melbourne locations as exposure sites amid concern removalists who travelled between NSW, Victoria and South Australia while infectious could have spread the virus.
The locations include an apartment complex, a supermarket and a service station.
⚠️PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT – VENUES AND TRANSPORT ROUTES ⚠️
NSW Health has been notified of a number of new venues of concern and transport routes associated with confirmed cases of COVID 19. pic.twitter.com/2M2N0riZp2
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 12, 2021
Authorities are still reviewing the removal team’s log books and tracking fuel cards as they track the exact movements of the crew.
Victoria’s COVID-19 Commander Jeroen Weimar said the information being given to health authorities by the removalists was “not as crisp and clear and consistent” as it should be.
Removalists are permitted to travel interstate but there are strict rules on what they can do while in Victoria – including that they must sleep in their trucks and use masks if needing to stop for food or fuel.
“I don’t have a complete accurate track in terms of exactly where they stayed,” Mr Weimar said.
“My understanding at this point in time is that they stayed in their cab as part of their protocols.
“Any other locations they may have stopped at we’re still trying to track down definitively.”
What they do know so far is that the trio travelled from Sydney to the outskirts of Melbourne on July 8.
They delivered furniture to a home in Craigieburn, north of Melbourne, then collected goods in the City of Maribyrnong in Melbourne’s west.
The crew spent the night in Victoria before heading to Adelaide the next morning.
The team returned to Sydney shortly after a member of the crew was contacted by NSW Health on July 9 and told he was a primary close contact of a positive case.
The removalists had come into contact with two families while in Victoria. Those people are now isolating.
On Monday evening, Maribyrnong’s Ariele Apartments where the removalists stopped on Thursday were listed as varying levels of exposure sites.
New exposure sites have been published online at https://t.co/xojLvnrdjA
If you have been to any exposure sites in the specified times, follow the health advice listed. [1/9] pic.twitter.com/ITUQ4VYWP3
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) July 12, 2021
The removalists had already purportedly left the state by then, meaning the venues are likely linked to two new COVID-19 cases among a family from the City of Hume who recently returned from Sydney.
Those cases will be included in Tuesday’s tally.
Mr Weimar said three of the four family members arrived on a flight from Sydney on July 4 carrying red zone permits, while the other re-entered the state by road last Thursday.
They all tested negative shortly after arrival but two became symptomatic and were swabbed again on Sunday, with the results coming back positive on Monday morning.
The flight has not been added as an exposure site as the three family members tested negative two days later, and all other passengers remain in isolation as fellow red zone returnees.
Mr Weimar said he was not surprised “flying embers” from the Sydney outbreak had broken containment lines.
NSW recorded 112 new local COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Sunday, at least 46 of which were out in the community for part or all of their infectious period.
“Where the numbers are, it is not likely – in fact, almost impossible – for us to get out of lockdown on Friday,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Monday.
“Family or close friends, unfortunately, bear the brunt of those 112 (cases) we have seen overnight.
“If you put yourself at risk, you’re putting your entire family – and that means extended family, as well as your closest friends and associates – at risk.”
NSW has recorded almost 680 COVID-19 cases in the community since June 16, when the Bondi cluster first emerged.
There are 18 COVID-19 patients in NSW in intensive care, with four ventilated.
Palaszczuk orders Queenslanders home
The Queensland premier has told residents in NSW to return home while they still can, warning Sydney’s coronavirus crisis could force her to close the border with little notice.
Annastacia Palaszczuk has opted to keep the border open – for now.
But she’s been direct with residents who are south of the border, saying she’s dealing with a volatile situation that could see Queenslanders shut out if the virus spreads from Greater Sydney into regional NSW.
Chief health officer Jeannette Young said any spread of the virus outside the Greater Sydney lockdown area would be extremely worrying.
As the NSW situation worsens, Queenslanders are preparing for an easing of restrictions that were introduced last month after simultaneous clusters emerged.
From 6am on Friday, masks will no longer be mandatory in the general community but will still have to be worn at airports and on planes.
Cafes and restaurants will be able to take in more patrons, dancing at nightclubs will return, and there’ll be no restrictions on visits to hospitals and aged-care homes.
Meanwhile, the Queensland premier has defended a deal that will allow the NRL to move 12 clubs to southeast Queensland for the next two months, so the competition can continue.
The agreement will allow players to bring their families with them, something Ms Palaszczuk said would not pose a risk because the clubs will have exclusive use of three hotels.
“They will be in their distinct hubs. It’s up to the NRL to police that, but we’ll be monitoring that very closely as well,” the premier said.
Worker support amid Tasmania virus testing
Tasmania is offering one-off financial payments to people forced to isolate as a result of precautionary coronavirus tests linked to a health worker overseas.
The worker tested positive in London on July 4 after returning a negative test in Tasmania before their departure.
There is no indication they were infectious or contracted the virus in Tasmania, but state authorities have urged people who were at more than 30 “exposure” sites to get tested.
“This has been a precautionary approach but in these situations it is necessary and responsible,” Deputy Premier Jeremy Rockliff said on Monday.
He said the state government would provide payments of $250 for workers who have lost wages while isolating during the testing process.
Small businesses impacted by the testing directive can apply for assistance, Mr Rockliff said.
More than 1400 people have been tested since the list of venues was revealed on Saturday.
-with AAP
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