Summary
- The Victorian Premier, senior cabinet ministers and public health officials met last night to consider a response to the spike in cases caused by a leak in hotel quarantine.
- Melbourne Airport’s Holiday Inn cluster again swelled overnight, with another two people testing positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases linked to the outbreak to 13.
- NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has said her state is not currently considering closing its border to Victoria, expressing confidence the state will contain its latest coronavirus outbreak.
- One of the cases spent more than eight hours at a busy airport cafe while infectious on Tuesday.
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison has supported calls for a “short-sharp” lockdown.
Victorian cabinet in outbreak talks
By Paul Sakkal
Victoria’s ministers have been in talks for more than an hour, discussing what action to take to stem a quarantine hotel outbreak.
The ministers are trying to determine whether to reintroduce public health restrictions and whether a snap lockdown is required.
A government source said the infectivity of the British strain of COVID-19 meant authorities could not “sit still”.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews will hold a press conference later today.
Victorian Premier Daniel AndrewsCredit:Paul Jeffers
Victoria’s department secretaries also met on Friday morning to discuss the outbreak.
- With Rachael Dexter
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Ticket sales for this weekend’s AFLW matches put on hold
By Jon Pierik
Ticket sales for this weekend’s AFLW matches have been put on hold as fears about the implications of the latest coronavirus outbreak grow.
There were three matches set to be staged in Melbourne over the weekend, with tickets set to go on sale at 10am (AEDT) Friday.
In a statement on the AFL Women’s Twitter account, the league said: “Ticket sales for Round 3 of the NAB AFL Women’s Competition have momentarily been put on hold. Keep your eyes on our social media channels for further updates.”
Tickets for Friday night’s clash between the Western Bulldogs and Cats in Geelong were still available through the Ticketmaster website.
The three matches in Melbourne are: St Kilda v Carlton at RSEA Park, Saturday, 5.10pm (AEDT), Melbourne v North Melbourne at Casey Fields, Saturday, 7.10pm (AEDT) and Richmond v Collingwood, Swinburne Centre, Sunday, 3.10pm (AEDT).
There are three matches interstate which are also due to be staged across the weekend.
Fans head to Melbourne Park despite uncertainty
By Roy Ward
It’s game on at the Australian Open today despite the uncertainty around whether Melbourne could face some form of snap lockdown in the coming days.
Fans are still heading into Melbourne Park although it doesn’t look like they are arriving in the usual big numbers you would expect for the Friday of the first week.
There are some big names on court today and tonight including Serena Williams and Novak Djwokovic.
It’s hard to see them stopping the event but other grand slams like the US Open were played in empty venues last year due to the COVID-19 issues in New York City so that could become a reality if a lockdown arises.
Our Australian Open blog will continue throughout today and tonight. You can find it here.
Queensland authorities bracing for ‘further announcements’ on Melbourne outbreak
By Matt Dennien
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said her government is “closely monitoring” the situation in Melbourne ahead of an expected update from Victorian health authorities later today about the Holiday Inn cluster.
Ms Palaszczuk said she had a phone call with Deputy Premier Steven Miles and chief health officer Jeannette Young this morning, who would then update Queensland residents this afternoon.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.Credit:Nine
“We understand that the Victorian government may be making further announcements later on today and we will be monitoring very closely,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
In response to the new Melbourne cluster, Victorian travellers coming to Queensland will need to fill out a border declaration pass from 1am on Saturday.
Anyone who has been in a COVID-19 hotspot identified by Victorian health officials, where a confirmed case has visited, will not be allowed to enter Queensland.
Victorian MPs told to get to Canberra before midnight
By Anthony Galloway
Victorian MPs have been strongly advised to get on a plane or drive to Canberra before midnight to attend parliament next week as the Victorian government weighs up a snap lockdown of Melbourne.
Federal MPs based in the state were on Friday morning hurriedly booking seats on commercial flights to get to the nation’s capital ahead of the sitting fortnight of federal parliament.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he is awaiting announcement from the Victorian government.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer
A note from the Usher of the Black Rod to federal senators on Friday advised them to get to Canberra before midnight.
“Based on the evolving situation in Melbourne from the Holiday Inn COVID-19 outbreak, it is highly recommended that any senators who are in the Greater Melbourne area bring forward their travel plans to arrive in Canberra today, Friday 12 February 2021,” the note said.
“There are currently no border restrictions for Victoria with the ACT, except for individuals who have been in the nominated exposure sites connected with the outbreak. However, this could change at short notice.”
Read more here.
Victorian cabinet in outbreak talks
By Paul Sakkal
Victoria’s ministers have been in talks for more than an hour, discussing what action to take to stem a quarantine hotel outbreak.
The ministers are trying to determine whether to reintroduce public health restrictions and whether a snap lockdown is required.
A government source said the infectivity of the British strain of COVID-19 meant authorities could not “sit still”.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews will hold a press conference later today.
Victorian Premier Daniel AndrewsCredit:Paul Jeffers
Victoria’s department secretaries also met on Friday morning to discuss the outbreak.
- With Rachael Dexter
‘Unrealistic’ to believe quarantine would be failsafe
By Rachel Clun
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was “unrealistic” to think any quarantine program would be 100 per cent failsafe.
“I think we just have to bring some reality to the understanding of this issue. We have had breaches before and we’ve got on top of them quickly. That is my belief in what will happen here in Victoria,” he said.
Melbourne Airport’s Holiday Inn cluster has grown to 13 cases.Credit:Getty
Overnight, two more people tested positive for COVID-19, taking the total number of cases linked to the Holiday Inn hotel quarantine cluster to 13.
“220,000 people have been through the quarantine system around this country, and there have been a very small relative number of breaches,” he said.
Mr Morrison said the real test was how those breaches were contained, through social distancing, testing and isolating.
“All of those other measures, all of that has proven, particularly over the past month where we have had some tests of the system … [that] the system has held up,” he said.
Vaccine program on track, Health Minister says
By Rachel Clun
Health Minister Greg Hunt says the vaccine program remains on track to begin at the end of the month, starting with the Pfizer vaccine and following with the AstraZeneca international vaccine in early March, pending approval.
“Most significantly, [we are] on track for the AstraZeneca/CSL, Australian-made vaccine to commence, as the Prime Minister said, in late March, subject to the final tick of approval from the TGA,” he said.
Health Minister Greg Hunt says the vaccine program remains on track.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer
“All of those are proceeding and that means we are on track to complete this vaccination program for Australians by the end of October.”
Prime Minister confident Victoria can cope with outbreak
By Rachel Clun
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said a “proportionate response” to Victoria’s current outbreak will be able to get it under control.
“A proportionate response that enables those, the tracers and others, to be able to get on top of it and get the same successful result we have seen in other states,” he said.
“Our role as the federal government is to support those efforts, to support premiers, to support the Health Minister, to support the health workers here to ensure they can do the best they possibly can in the job that they have.”
Mr Morrison thanked Victorians for their patience over “many months” during the pandemic.
“I know you don’t want to see Victoria go back into what you had to endure last year and I can assure you that everyone is doing everything to ensure that is not replicated again on this occasion,” he said.
CSL starting final stage of production early next week: PM
By Rachel Clun
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is speaking from the CSL facility in Melbourne this morning, which will produce 50 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The final bottling process begins next week, he said.
“Our vaccination program and strategy is on track and that’s confirmed again by the visit that the Minister for Health and I have made here today,” Mr Morrison said.
The factory will be working 24/7, he said, and from March will be making a million doses a week.
“People here have been working long hours for a long time to deliver this and they are doing it to deliver for Australians. I want to thank them very much for that,” Mr Morrison said.
Australia’s vaccine program: what do you want to know?
By Orietta Guerrera
The first batch of the vaccine that will bring us a step closer to ending the COVID-19 pandemic is sitting in a freezer at CSL’s Parkville laboratories in Melbourne.
Science reporter Liam Mannix writes that the vaccine will be thawed in coming days and the final steps to purify, test and fill it into vials will begin, before it is shipped out to be given to people across the country.
CSL expects to be able to ship more than one million doses of vaccine a week when at full capacity.
As Australia prepares for the rollout, what do you want to know about the national vaccine program?
Send in your questions to Liam Mannix (liam.mannix@theage.com.au) and he’ll ask the experts.
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2021-02-12 00:52:00Z
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