Families locked down in Sydney’s west are literally climbing the walls
By Natassia Chrysanthos and Wolter Peeters
Locked down at home in Cranebrook, in Sydney’s west, the Chapman family has spent the past seven weeks literally climbing the walls.
Father-of-five George Chapman started building a bouldering wall in his family’s shed back in 2019, completing the final touches during Sydney’s first COVID-19 lockdown. Now that family is under stay-at-home orders once more, that play space in the shed has never been more valued.
The Chapman family from Penrith have built a climbing wall in their back shed which they have used regularly during lockdown.Credit:Wolter Peeters
“They like to go climbing every afternoon,” said his wife Nicola, whose children are aged between six and 15. “It uses every muscle in your body, and it’s challenging. There’s that problem-solving aspect. If I’ve had a hard day [working from home] with the children, my husband will take them down after dinner to give me a break and the kids a chance to expend some energy.”
NSW on track to reach six million vaccine doses by the end of August
NSW is on track to achieve the vaccine target outlined by Premier Gladys Berejiklian.
More than 100,000 doses have been recorded daily for the past three days and the 7-day rolling average has consistently been higher than the 69,000 daily doses needed to reach the target.
Ms Berejiklian said her government would be in a position to consider easing some restrictions if the six million target was met by the end of the month.
So far, just under five million doses have been administered to residents of the state.
Greater Sydney has now been in lockdown for seven weeks and daily case numbers reached a record high on Friday, when 390 new local cases were recorded.
Victoria records 21 new local cases
Victoria has recorded 21 new local cases in the latest 24-hour reporting period.
All the new cases are linked to previously reported cases and 11 of the 21 cases were in isolation for the entirety of their infectious periods.
Melbourne is currently in lockdown until August 19.
Pop-up camp of displaced Victorians emerges just north of the Murray
By Michael Fowler
Displaced Victorians unable to return home from NSW have started gathering at the Albury Showgrounds in caravans and tents in scenes reminiscent of the Spanish flu pandemic a century ago.
Dozens of travellers have stopped at the site just north of the border in recent weeks to complete 14 days’ quarantine inside the “border bubble”, prompting the Showgrounds Trust to cancel the usual five-day limit for campers.
Albury Showgrounds has become a pop-up quarantine hub for displaced Victorians, next door to a COVID-19 testing centre.Credit:Jason Robins
As NSW recorded an all-time daily high of 390 new cases on Friday, Premier Daniel Andrews reiterated his commitment to the toughest border rules since the start of the pandemic where only those with rare exemptions can enter the state.
Data released to The Age by the Victorian health department on Friday shows that just 770 of 12,606 applications for an exemption – or about 6 per cent – have been approved since July 20. Reasons such as moving from NSW for work or non-urgent medical purposes are “unlikely to be granted”, a spokesman said.
Melbourne apartment block residents to go into 14-day quarantine
By Ashleigh McMillan and Cassandra Morgan
More Melburnians will be forced into 14 day quarantine after an apartment building in Melbourne’s inner east was listed as an COVID-19 exposure site for 12 full days.
The Bosisto Street residential apartment complex in Richmond, just off Bridge Road, was listed as a potential exposure site after a case attended the building.
Melbourne’s CBD in lockdown.Credit:Justin McManus
The complex is listed as a tier-2 exposure site between 12am on August 2 and 11.59pm on Friday, August 13, meaning anyone who visited the building during those 12 days must isolate immediately and get tested.
Some residents at the complex will be considered tier-1 contacts and as a result will need to isolate for 14 days, according to the Victorian health department.
Apartment buildings in West Melbourne and the Melbourne CBD have already been listed as exposure sites during the current COVID-19 outbreak, with residents either needing to isolate for two weeks or get tested and isolated until they receive a negative result.
A number of stores in Broadmeadows Central, Coles supermarkets in Glenroy and at the Richmond Icon building, and Pickford’s Pharmacy in Carlton were also listed as tier-2 sites late last night.
There are now more than 450 exposure sites listed by the Victorian Department of Health.
‘Fortress Australia’: What are the border rules and when can we reopen?
By Sherryn Groch and Caitlin Fitzsimmons
Australia’s hard border has raised eyebrows internationally even as it has worked at keeping case numbers (and deaths) remarkably low compared to most of the world. In line with expert modelling, the federal government has tied Australia’s phased reopening plan to vaccination targets. That inoculation campaign, having lagged behind most of the developed world, is now speeding up but it’s not likely to meet the plan’s thresholds until the end of the year.
Some experts despair at what the “Fortress Australia” mentality is doing to the country in the meantime while others question the legality of travel bans for citizens. Meanwhile, with cases low in many Asian and Pacific nations, a number of epidemiologists say Australia could extend its travel bubble beyond New Zealand sooner than planned.
So, what is Australia’s border policy, how does it compare to the rest of the world, and what does the law say about shutting citizens out (and in)?
Australia’s planned new vaccine factories would produce 50 million doses in four months
By David Crowe
Australia could make enough mRNA vaccines to protect the entire population at short notice under plans by biotech giant CSL to build two new facilities to fight future waves of coronavirus.
The facilities are being designed to produce at least 50 million doses within 16 weeks once construction is finished, in a pitch to the federal government to develop a sovereign capacity to respond to new variants of COVID-19 and other pathogens.
Melbourne would host both new centres in a two-stage proposal that starts with an mRNA research and production facility near the city centre and leads to an “industrial scale” manufacturing hub near Tullamarine.
Today’s front pages
Here are the front pages of today’s Herald and The Age.
The front page of Saturday’s The Sydney Morning HeraldCredit:SMH
Saturday’s front page of The AgeCredit:The Age
Good morning
Hello, and thanks for joining us today.
Here are the major headlines from yesterday and this morning:
- NSW recorded 390 new local COVID-19 cases on Friday, the state’s highest daily total since the start of the latest outbreak.
- Victoria recorded 15 new local cases on Friday and Queensland recorded eight new cases. Lockdowns continue in NSW, Melbourne, Brisbane and other parts of Queensland and the ACT.
- The fine for breaching health orders has increased from $1000 to $5000 in NSW as the state’s outbreak continues to worsen. The state has also announced a $320 stay-at-home payment for residents in Sydney’s hotspot areas who need to isolate while waiting for COVID-19 test results.
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison has backed Western Australia’s decision to require travellers from states with high-risk coronavirus outbreaks to be vaccinated. Under changes to start next week travellers to WA from NSW will require an exemption and will also have to show they’ve had at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine.
- Australia could make enough mRNA vaccines to protect the entire population at short notice under plans by biotech giant CSL to build two new facilities to fight future waves of coronavirus.
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2021-08-13 23:12:18Z
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