Australia news LIVE Port Macquarie Muswellbrook LGAs to enter lockdown as COVID-19 cases grow in NSW Victoria records 867 new cases Queensland records three new cases

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Three COVID-19 threats have emerged in Western Australia after the arrival of a military plane with one positive case, the imminent arrival of a cargo ship with 11 infected crew members, and the arrests of multiple Australians from Victoria.

WA vaccine commander Chris Dawson, on Tuesday afternoon, revealed that one of the two men arrested in Bunker Bay earlier that day, after allegedly travelling to the state from Victoria via the Northern Territory to go to the AFL grand final, had returned an inconclusive COVID-19 test.

The second man returned a negative test, as did a West Australian woman travelling with the pair from the NT, but Mr Dawson said the other was likely to be a false positive.

Here is more of what he had to say:

Both of the men ... attended the grand final, as well as subsequent locations, particularly through the southwest of WA.

“We are alleging that they falsified documentation on their GTG applications ... including driver’s licenses to gain access to Western Australia.

“So to say that this is disappointing is an understatement, how people could knowingly put others at risk in these times is selfish and contemptible.

“Clearly people in our community are outraged that people can game the system. What we are alleging are actually serious criminal charges and these charges attract, fines of up to $50,000 and up to 12 months imprisonment.

Both men were both charged with failing to comply with an emergency direction and will face court on Wednesday. The woman has been issued a directive to isolate.

Mr Dawson said two other men had travelled to WA for the grand final from Victoria, via South Australia, with one of them already in custody and returning a negative COVID-19 test. He is next set to appear in Perth Magistrates Court on October 8.

The second man, who came through SA, has returned to Victoria and Mr Dawson said authorities were assisting WA police to locate him.

There were about 18,000 people who were allowed into WA from other states in the week leading up to the grand final with 500 applications for G2G passes rejected.

WA’s health department and police were also notified at 1pm on Tuesday that a Russian Antonov aircraft en route to the state from Queensland was carrying a positive case, believed to be a foreign military crew member.

All 21 people on the plane have gone into hotel quarantine for 14 days.

Mr Dawson said the third emerging threat was a ship travelling from Singapore, the Cayman Island-flagged Stolt Sakura. Eleven out of 22 crew members have so far tested positive to the virus.

The ship left Singapore earlier in September with some crew members reporting COVID-19 symptoms on Sunday.

Mr Dawson said all of the different COVID-19 threats were a demonstration West Australians needed to get vaccinated.

If people in WA don’t think that COVID is going to get here, and they don’t need to get vaccinated, they’re kidding themselves.

“You’ve got a foreign vessel coming in, a foreign aircraft coming in, and then Australians who we allege are breaking the rules. And they think that COVID [is] not going to get here.

“We’re living with such freedom that I’m certain is the envy of others, but that will very quickly evaporate if COVID arrives.

“At the moment we’ve got about four out of 10 people that [have] not yet received their first vaccination. Don’t be like a lackadaisical and apathetic about this, you’ve got to get vaccinated, it’s our only way to get through this pandemic.

A regional Victorian bus trip, bottle shop and Melbourne primary school are among new tier 1 coronavirus exposure sites released today.

The state’s health department said a case attended Sunshine North Primary School on Suffolk Road on three consecutive days, being September 15, 16, and 17, with an exposure time listed between 9am and 3.30pm daily.

They said a case also travelled on a public bus, on the Shepparton line between Broadmeadows to Nagambie, on September 22 with an exposure time listed from 9.15am to 11.45am.

The Bottlemart Express at Herne Hill in Geelong’s west has also been listed as a tier 1 site on September 20 from 5.45pm to 6.30pm.

Lastly, a case attended the Community Kids Bayswater Early Education Centre on Canterbury Road at Bayswater North on September 22 with an exposure time of 9am to 5pm.

Those who have attended a tier 1 site on the listed date and during the relevant times during the listed date and times must get tested immediately and quarantine for 14 days following the exposure.

West Australian vaccine commander Chris Dawson provided an update on the COVID-19 situation in the state. You can listen back to that press conference below.

The City of Latrobe local government area in the Gippsland region of eastern Victoria will enter a seven-day lockdown from 11.59pm tonight, in response to a rapid rise in cases of COVID-19.

Victorian health authorities declared late on Tuesday that the region would be subject to the same restrictions as metropolitan Melbourne, excluding the curfew.

Residents of areas including Morwell will be subject to similar restrictions to metropolitan Melbourne from midnight.Credit:Penny Stephens

A health department spokesperson said cases in the City of Latrobe had increased rapidly in recent days, with 18 active cases in the council area as of Tuesday.

A further four cases confirmed today will be reported in tomorrow’s numbers.

“The public health teams have significant concerns about onward transmission in the Latrobe Valley and have determined that the seven-day lockdown is needed to limit growth in cases, as it did in Ballarat and Geelong,” the spokesperson said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said it was regrettable that a gathering of multiple households in the Latrobe Valley had resulted in new cases.

“People don’t think [the rules apply] to them,” he said.

“People think we’re all good, [but it] just takes one case with this highly infectious Delta variant, until such time as we’ve got the levels of vaccination where we want them to be, for these kinds of outbreaks to occur.”

Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said the outbreak was regrettable.Credit:Getty

The lockdown means residents in the City of Latrobe can only leave home for limited reasons, including to purchase necessary goods and services, caregiving or compassionate reasons (including medical care and getting a COVID-19 test), authorised work or permitted education, exercise and outdoor social interaction in limited groups, and getting a COVID-19 vaccine locally.

They can also leave home to visit an intimate partner or single social “bubble buddy”. No other visitors are allowed.

Shopping, exercise and outdoor social interaction will be limited to 15km from your home. Mask wearing will be mandatory indoors and outdoors.

Residents cannot leave the City of Latrobe area and travel elsewhere in regional Victoria other than for limited reasons, such as authorised work and permitted education, care and compassionate reasons, visiting an intimate partner, and obtaining necessary goods and services that cannot be obtained locally.

The health department said a rapid response testing team has been deployed to provide support for the testing site at the indoor sports stadium on Ashby Street in Traralgon, and extra resources will be provided to boost capacity and extend opening hours.

The testing centre is in addition to testing sites at the Australian Clinical Labs on Grey Street in Traralgon, the Latrobe Respiratory Clinic on Princes Drive in Morwell, the Dorevitch Pathology site at Latrobe Regional Hospital, and the Moe Senior Citizens’ Centre on Langford Street.

Testing capacity will also be boosted in Baw Baw and Bass Coast, they said.

Latrobe Valley mayor Sharon Gibson urged residents to band together and show one another support, rather than looking for someone to blame.

She said news that some residents may have gathered illegally during the AFL Grand Final long weekend could be a symptom of people who were struggling and not out to harm others.

“Please be kind to one another. People are struggling mentally; they’re desperately concerned about their businesses, their homes, their jobs,” she said.

“Sometimes people do things and don’t think of the consequences, even though they can be far reaching as we’re finding out.”

Acting Chief Health Officer Ben Cowie urged residents in the City of Latrobe to follow the lockdown restrictions, get tested if they had symptoms, and get vaccinated if they hadn’t already.

“We’ve just seen the Ballarat and Geelong communities get through an outbreak so we know it can be done â€" it’s vital we protect the local community and the rest of regional Victoria from significant outbreaks,” he said.

Three patients and one staff member at Sunshine Hospital in Melbourne’s western suburbs have tested positive to COVID-19.

Western Health confirmed on Tuesday that all three patients, from the geriatric care ward, have since been moved to the hospital’s COVID-19 ward.

Three patients tested positive to COVID-19 at Sunshine Hospital in Melbourne’s west. Credit:Justin McManus

A Western Health spokeswoman said admissions and discharges from the hospital’s geriatric care ward and dementia management unit had been temporarily closed to admissions while an investigation into the cases continues.

“A thorough contact tracing process, led by Western Health’s infection prevention team and the Western Public Health Unit, is ongoing,” they said.

In an email to all staff, seen by The Age and the Herald, acting executive director of operations John Ferraro said those who have not been contacted and who have attended the ward and unit since Friday September 24 can continue to work, but must get tested.

He said they must also enter the hospital’s surveillance testing program and continue to wear masks and eye protection.

Hospitality and retail businesses will not be fined for granting entry to unvaccinated people when NSW reopens, while police insist they will only step in to assist with enforcement when asked.

Industry groups say they are “screaming out” for guidance around enforcing the vaccine mandate, with the state government yet to reveal the public health order terms dictating the need for a jab.

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller says officers won’t be stopping people and asking to see their vaccine passport when the state emerges from lockdown.Credit:Police Media

Health Minister Brad Hazzard on Tuesday said he was confident health orders would be enforced, after NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller’s said officers would not be walking through venues to check if people were fully vaccinated when the state starts reopening on October 11.

Their main role would be assisting businesses who have asked for help to enforce the mandate, Commissioner Fuller told 2GB. (2GB is owned by Nine, the publisher of this masthead.)

“We will certainly be assisting restaurant owners and shop owners if they are refusing entry to someone,” he said.

“The role for police going forward in terms of vaccination won’t be stopping people and asking to see their vaccination passport.”

Mr Hazzard said he did not think police should be “at the forefront” of vaccination enforcement.

Read the full story here.

Residents of a hotel at Manly in Sydney’s north have been asked to get tested for COVID-19 and isolate as NSW health authorities investigate the source of an infection linked to the beachside property.

Masked security guards were spotted surrounding the hotel building on the corner of Malvern Avenue and Pacific Street this afternoon.

Health authorities are investing the source of the infection linked to the beachside property.Credit:James Brickwood

“Public health and infectious disease experts are providing ongoing advice and support to residents of a Manly hotel following a COVID-19 exposure,” a Northern Sydney Local Health District spokeswoman said.

“Residents are required to isolate and get tested and health staff are assisting the guests with their welfare and health needs during this time.

Security guards wearing masks were spotted at the property on Tuesday.Credit:James Brickwood

“The source of the COVID-19 infection is currently under investigation.”

Hotel management were unavailable for comment on Tuesday.

Melbourne bar and restaurant owner Hayden Burbank and financial planner Mark Babbage have been arrested after allegedly entering Western Australia by falsely claiming to be Darwin residents and attending the AFL grand final.

The pair were taken into custody in WA’s south west region on Tuesday morning after police made a public plea to find them on Monday night.

Hayden Burbank (left) inside the AFL rooms after Melbourne’s win at the grand final.

A photo on the AFL’s Instagram account shows Mr Burbank, who owns Chapel Street venue Morris Jones, inside the Demons locker rooms celebrating and drinking with players after the club’s 57-year drought-breaking win at Optus Stadium on Saturday.

The pair flew from Darwin to Perth on September 22 after having arrived in the Northern Territory from Melbourne on September 14, WA police said.

Read the full story here.

Singapore: Singapore’s top infectious disease expert warns that NSW and Victoria can learn from the city state’s troubles in opening up at 80 per cent vaccinated - by getting extra beds ready to ease pressure on hospitals as infection numbers spike.

Professor Dale Fisher, an Australian who chairs the WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, believes there are lessons to be learnt about the difficult transition to living with the virus.

Cyclists ride past the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore, where curbs have been tightened this week.Credit:Bloomberg

Singapore, which opened restaurants, bars and gyms in mid-August before hitting the 80 per cent vaccination mark a month ago, tightened restrictions again this week as new daily cases skyrocketed to a record 1939, surpassing even Indonesia, whose new infections fell to a year-long low of 1760 on Sunday.

The number of seriously ill on the island remains low - there were two deaths on Monday while 194 people required oxygen and 27 were in intensive care - but the sheer speed of the rise in cases caught the government by surprise as it began shifting towards home recovery and community care for the mildly sick.

Read the full story here.

Vaccination rates of Indigenous people must be lifted as a matter of urgency before the country opens up, a senior Labor frontbencher argues, after it was revealed fewer than a third are fully immunised against COVID-19 more than six months into the national rollout.

As we reported earlier today, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have the lowest vaccination rates among priority groups in the nation. So far, just 29.1 per cent of Indigenous Australians aged 16 and over have had two doses, compared with 52 per cent for the general population.

Labor’s spokeswoman for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney. Credit:Louie Douvis

Labor’s spokeswoman for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, said vaccination rates in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities were dire and must be addressed by the federal government.

“Just like everything else when it comes to social justice outcomes, when it comes to Indigenous Australians they are the worst on any scale,” she said.

Read the full story here.

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