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Andrews not ready to make call on AFL Grand Final
By Roy Ward
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews wouldn’t be drawn on Saturday about the status of the AFL Grand Final.
With Victoria recording 61 new locally acquired cases in the latest report on Saturday, the possibility of having the AFL Grand Final at the MCG on September 25 is looking in jeopardy considering the league wants to have as many paying spectators as possible at its season decider.
The MCG crowd.Credit:Wayne Taylor
Mr Andrews was asked if he was considering only allowing fully-vaccinated people to go to the grand final or would be instituting that kind of restriction on upcoming major events.
“All manner of things are being considered but I’m not here today to make announcements about the grand final and no decision has been made about the grand final,” Mr Andrews said.
“It isn’t just about those sorts of issues, it’s about many other considerations so that the position on the grand final is one that is evolving and I can’t with any certainty talk about what or where it will be held and under what circumstances will be held.”
Mr Andrews added that a decision to only allow fully-vaccinated people to enter any kind of event couldn’t be made in isolation and other factors had to be considered as well.
“It’s not just about the vaccination status of a group of people at an event, it’s about vaccination status across the board,” Mr Andrews said.
“Some of these comments are no doubt being made by people who are fully vaccinated. But not everyone is. People are entitled to their views, that’s fine, but you are not entitled to your own facts.
“Just making stuff up, that just doesn’t work. What I’m saying to people is get vaccinated, and each vaccination is important, but the rules and how we go forward, is not just about my vaccination status or yours, it’s about the vaccination status of the entire community.”
He also dismissed talk rapid antigen testing kits could be used to allow supporters to go to the grand final as the tests were not cleared for public use in Australia despite being used in Europe or the US.
Health officials used them to check for possible cases in Shepparton on Friday but Mr Andrews said that was part of a medical trial of the kits.
“The Therapeutic Goods Administration, which is a Commonwealth body, has not approved any such testing to occur on that sort of scale, there is a trial going on at the moment, a one-off rapid testing trial,” he said.
ER Doctor urges people to protect ‘precious resource’
By Roy Ward
Victorian emergency physician Stephen Parnis has urged protest organisers to think of the impact of their actions on health services following today’s anti-lockdown protests in Melbourne and Sydney.
Dr Parnis, a former vice president of the AMA, used his Twitter account to remind people that the injuries from the protests would be treated by the same “overworked, stressed” emergency doctors and nurses who were working through yet another COVID-19 outbreak.
“We’ll provide care. We always do,” Dr Parnis said.
“But I’m disgusted with the few who assume we’ll always be able to pick up the pieces, while they do everything in their power to make a bad situation worse. #Covid19Vic Health services are a precious, finite resource. Please protect them.”
Picture gallery: Sydney anti-lockdown protests
SMH photographers James Brickwood, Brook Mitchell and Nick Moir were out covering today’s protests in Sydney and we have a gallery online with a selection of their pictures.
Click here to view the full gallery.
A protester is detained by police as a Gladys Berejiklian mask rests on the ground.Credit:James Brickwood
Six million Australians now fully vaccinated against COVID-19
By Michaela Whitbourn
The Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Michael Kidd, says 6.1 million Australians are now “fully protected” against COVID-19 after receiving two vaccination doses.
“As of 8am, over 16.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered to people in Australia,” he said at a COVID update on Saturday afternoon.
Qudos Bank Arena’s COVID vaccination hub in Sydney.Credit:Nick Moir
“That’s 51.8 per cent of eligible Australians [who] have now received at least a first dose.”
Over 80 per cent of Australians aged over 60 had received at least a first dose, with 84.9 per cent of those aged of 70 having received a first dose.
Almost 57 per cent of those aged over 70 had received both doses.
Professor Kidd said Friday was another record day for vaccinations with 310,524 doses administered.
Shepparton outbreak grows
By Annika Smethurst
The Shepparton outbreak has grown to 21 with the majority of cases in children.
Goulburn Valley Health chief executive Matt Sharp said there are thousands of people isolating in the regional city with health authorities still scrambling to find the transmission point for the original Shepparton case.
Melbourne protest wraps up
By Rachael Dexter and Cassandra Morgan
The bulk of protesters who turned out for Melbourne’s anti-lockdown rally in the CBD have now dispersed.
After a tense crush at Queen Victoria Market where hundreds of police officers and riot squad closed in on the crowd, organisers called off the rally on an encrypted chat app.
A protester is detained by Victoria Police on Saturday.Credit:Cassandra Morgan
Organisers hailed today a success and have flagged another ‘freedom rally’ for next month.
A number of arrests were made on Queen Street and Elizabeth, but the city is now returning to calm after a chaotic few hours.
Victoria Police moving in numbers on Queen Vic Market
By Rachael Dexter and Cassandra Morgan
Huge numbers of Victoria Police have just descended on Queen Victoria Market where the crowd have moved.
Riot squad shot rounds of tear gas canisters.
Police and protesters redirected as Sydney CBD anti-lockdown protest ‘called off’
By Fergus Hunter
After tense scenes at Victoria Park in central Sydney, anti-lockdown protesters have turned their attention to “plan B” locations in the hopes of continuing their fight against COVID-19 public health orders.
Potential protesters numbering in the low hundreds came to the area surrounding the park and police spoke to, arrested or issued fines to dozens as the scene heated up after 12pm.
A protester is taken away by NSW Police at Victoria Park, Sydney on Saturday.Credit:Brook Mitchell
Officers prevented people from congregating in the park, which was the plan promoted by organisers, and were instead intercepted in streets in surrounding suburbs.
One large cluster of up to 100 people marched up Broadway, chanting anti-lockdown slogans, but were turned away by a large contingent of riot police and other officers.
Anti-lockdown protests in Sydney’ CBD on Broadway.Credit:James Brickwood
Some protesters resisted police and were put to the ground as they were arrested.
People arrested were taken to a temporary custody centre set up by police in the park.
On social media, organisers are now directing people to gather at Town Hall if they have been able to get past the police surrounding the CBD, or travel to a “secondary location” in Parramatta.
“Make a stand guys,” one activist said in a post on social media, urging people to continue protesting.
“It’s all been redirected from the city to Parramatta ... the city’s off, the city’s been called off,” another posted.
Police vehicles were seen speeding away from Victoria Park around 1pm, sirens and lights on, as tensions subsided in the area and other possible locations emerged.
No gathering was visible at one promoted site in Parramatta as of 2pm.
Melbourne protest into third hour
By Rachael Dexter
The Melbourne anti lockdown rally has almost entered its third hour.
Thousands have snaked throughout the city, with a number of confrontations with police resulting in capsicum spray used on the crowds.
While numbers have waned slightly, a core group, including families with children, continues to protest.
At the moment they are marching to Queen Victoria Market.
Hundreds of Victoria Police officers are closing in behind the crowd.
Good afternoon
By Roy Ward
G’day everyone. It’s Roy Ward and I’ll be taking over the blog for this afternoon after a tireless effort from Georgina Mitchell to blog through a dense morning of news and developments.
Feel free to continue leaving comments on the blog and we will continue our coverage of these ongoing protests, the reactions to latest restrictions around the country and all other COVID news.
Please keep taking care of each other and enjoy the afternoon to come.
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2021-08-21 06:01:24Z
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