Watch: Premier Daniel Andrews press conference
Watch Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews' daily press conference from 10.30am here. We'll bring you text updates in the blog too.
Latest updates
One new local case in NSW
By Mary Ward
NSW has recorded one new local coronavirus case, in a household contact of an existing case linked to the Lakemba GPs cluster.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said, after COVID-19 fragments were detected at a sewage treatment plant at Glenfield in Sydney's west, the government and health authorities remained concerned about the possibility cases were going undetected in the area.
NSW recorded about 14,500 tests during the latest 24-hour reporting period. It is a figure about double the number recorded during the previous two days, although the Premier said numbers could still be higher.
"We are entering the season where festivities and social gatherings increase and we want to make sure we get on top of this before we get into a season where people are mobile," Ms Berejiklian told reporters on Wednesday.
Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant thanked the "thousands" of people who have been identified as contacts of people in the three active clusters in western Sydney - the Lakemba cluster, the Oran Park cluster and the Liverpool private clinic cluster - for self-isolating and encouraged people to continue to come forward for testing, particularly in western Sydney.
The Premier said there was "no excuse" for businesses to not be using a QR code to keep track of people who attended their premises, noting the Service NSW-provided code has now passed 1 million sign-ins across the state.
"We really need businesses to do that because we need to build resilience, ahead of the Christmas season," she said.
NSW also recorded seven new cases in hotel quarantine, bringing the total number of cases in the state since the start of the pandemic to 4209.
Victorian testing boss says 98 per cent of results back in 24 hours
By Melissa Cunningham
Victoria's testing chief Jeroen Weimar said in the last fortnight more than 208,000 Victorians have got tested across Melbourne and regional Victoria.
He said 98 percent of tests were now being turnaround in 24 hours.
Jeroen Weimar, commander of Victoria's COVID testing program Credit:Eddie Jim
"If you get tested today, you will have your result tomorrow. You won't be waiting for days on end," Mr Weimar said.
"You will have a result tomorrow so you can plan ahead. So please don't delay, get tested, we will support you if you are positive, we will support you if you are close contact."
Mr Weimar has said today's two new cases were linked to the northern suburbs cluster, which has swelled from 39 to 41 cases in the last day. The cluster was sparked by an outbreak at the Box Hill Hospital earlier this month.
"We have seen over 23,000 tests in the northern suburbs since the start of this outbreak a week ago," Mr Weimar said.
"We are very encouraged by that, we continue to work hard to support the active cases, we now have 41 positive cases over 12 households, all of those isolating and being supported."
Watch: NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian Press Conference
Watch the NSW Premier's press conference from 11am here:
Andrews praises testing number of almost 25,000 in Victoria yesterday
By Melissa Cunningham
Premier Daniel Andrew has used his daily press conference this morning to implore Victorians to continue to get tested for the virus as an estimated 180,000 Victorians returned to work today in the hospitality and retail industries.
There were 24,673 tests conducted yesterday and Mr Andrews said it was critical as the economy was opened up, Victorians continued to get tested even if they have the mildest symptoms.
"This is critical," Mr Andrews said. "If we have a complete picture, if we know that you have got it we can make sure you do not spread it.
"I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but we want to find the cases that are there so we can wrap support around you and make sure you don't unknowingly give it to anybody, whether it be people you love and live with, or people you have never met."
The Premier said about 16,200 retail stores, 5800 cafes and restaurants and 1000 beauty salons had reopened their doors this morning for the first time in months.
"That is an achievement that every single Victorian should be proud of," he said. "I want to thank everybody in all of these industries for the very productive way in which they have continued to engage with us."
Two new cases in Queensland today, both in hotel quarantine
By Stuart Layt
Queensland has recorded two new cases of COVID-19 today.
Deputy Premier and Health Minister Steven Miles said the cases were people who had returned from overseas.
Both of the cases were detected in hotel quarantine and are contained, MR Miles said.
The new cases bring Queensland's active cases to five out of a total of 1,169 since the pandemic began.
Victoria's two new cases are close contacts in self-quarantine
By Melissa Cunningham
The two new cases of coronavirus recorded in Victoria since yesterday are both close contacts of other positive cases, Premier Daniel Andrews said.
The Premier said they were both at home and quarantining and were no risk to public health.
Mr Andrews said two more people have died after contracting the virus - a man in his 70s and another man in his 80s. Both deaths are linked to aged care.
"They are not recent deaths, they are from some weeks ago," Mr Andrews said in his daily press conference.
There are three Victorians in hospital due to coronavirus, and none of them are in intensive care.
Mr Andrews said there were just three active cases in aged care in Victoria and no active cases of the virus in regional Victoria.
'This is freedom': Readers share experiences from open Melbourne
There have been some great reader contributions this morning from those who are out or planning to go out and enjoy shops, restaurants, cafes and more.
There's this, from the poetic Susan Wakefield:
"It’s not really about the shopping as much as it is having a sense of community again--we are social animals, and have been starved of the most basic need to gather. I stopped by K-mart with other hunter gatherers, but the enjoyment wasn't in the shopping; it was in the small greetings, the sharing of pleasantries, of feeling like we had just gone through something awful together. This is freedom."
Catherine is marking a special occasion tonight:
"We've booked family dinner tonight at Tazio on Flinders Lane to celebrate my daughter's birthday (one day late but hey!) and I can't wait!!"
And Celia was out enjoying the simple things this morning:
"Had my morning coffee actually sitting down at a table at the cafe I bought the coffee from. Bliss! What a great way to start the workday. Those little things make so much difference."
What are you up to today? Let us know here:
A reminder Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews' press conference starts at 10.30am, we'll be live streaming it and bringing you updates here.
Water births permitted again at Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne
By Melissa Cunningham
Water births are now permitted at the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne following a temporary ban due to concerns wet protective equipment could render healthcare workers more vulnerable to the virus.
Melbourne's Royal Women's Hospital is offering water births again.Credit:Getty Images
"We are happy to announce the use of water during labour is now permitted," a statement from the hospital said this morning.
"We know this is popular in birth plans and we are pleased to be able to have this as an option for our patients, provided it is safe for mum and bub."
This includes water immersion and showers, the hospital said.
In August, midwives and doctors were at odds over the controversial move to ban women from having water births and hot showers while in labour in Victorian hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic as new cases of coronavirus soared.
The ban saw a shift in women opting for home births late in their pregnancies.
Jan Ireland, director of private midwifery centre MAMA in Kensington, said late last month phone calls from Victorian pregnant women inquiring about home births had tripled this year.
Victorian opposition wants parliamentary inquiry into contact tracing
By Sumeyya Ilanbey
The Victorian Opposition will today move a motion in the upper house to establish a parliamentary inquiry into the state's contact tracing system that buckled under pressure during the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Andrews government has been heavily criticised for its contact tracing failures, with the federal government, state opposition and top industry groups among the loudest critics of Victoria's track and trace system.
Opposition health spokeswoman and senior Liberal MP Georgie Crozier.Credit:Justin McManus
Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier will move a motion for the Legal Social Issues Committee to launch and inquiry, and provide an initial report back to the Legislative Council by November 30.
"[The inquiry will] consider and monitor the capacity and fitness for purpose of the Victorian government's COVID-19 contact tracing system and testing regime," the motion states.
"And in doing so consult with businesses, including small business representatives, the community sector and Victoria's multicultural communities."
The Opposition is unlikely to be able to get enough votes to pass the motion.
Premier Daniel Andrews has previously pointed to Victoria successfully crushing the second wave of the pandemic as evidence the state's contact tracing system has improved.
Victoria has also moved away from the centralised contact tracing model and established suburban and regional hubs; it has begun to use a computer-based system in lieu of pen and paper; and has been contacting close contacts within 36 hours of a confirmed case getting tested.
When the Premier delayed reopening announcements on Sunday because of an outbreak that emerged in Melbourne's northern suburbs, political and industry critics said it pointed to the government's lack of confidence in its contact tracing efforts.
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2020-10-28 00:05:00Z
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