Australia news LIVE Six new cases as Victorias lockdown begins Sydneys exposure sites continue to grow amid extended shutdown

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Queensland has recorded only one new locally acquired case on Friday â€" the mother of a 12-year-old boy who had previously tested positive to COVID-19.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said it was very good news, but also concerning, because the cases originated in Sydney and therefore it’s the highly transmissible Delta strain of the virus.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has apologised for leaving restrictions, including a mask mandate, in place for another week.Credit:Getty

“This was the family that came out of hotel quarantine in Sydney and flew to Queensland and it has been confirmed that it is that Delta strain, that Sydney strain that is circulating in Sydney at the moment,” she said.

“I just think we need to make sure that we are keeping a close eye on this because what we are seeing is this Delta Sydney strain spreading to Victoria and coming up to Queensland as well.”

Chief Health officer Dr Jeannette Young said the family have been “wonderful” in their dealings with Queensland Health.

“In total, there are 62 contacts that we have found so far and we are just working with all of those,” she said.

Contact tracers have also found 23 close contacts and 22 casual contacts of the airport worker who also tested positive yesterday (yesterday there were three cases: the airport worker, the 12-year-old son of today’s case and that boy’s father).

Genomic testing has confirmed the airport worker’s infection is not related to a previous positive case at Brisbane airport. Dr Young said it had also been confirmed as the delta strain.

“We will have another look if we can find any other close matches but at this stage we can’t find any close whole genome sequence matches,” she said.

“I’m quite convinced that we have today in Queensland two new outbreaks, they are not related to all of the other outbreaks that we were dealing with.”

In scenes not unfamiliar to Melburnians, the city is deserted this morning as the state heads into a fifth lockdown.

The Age’s photographer Penny Stephens has been taking pictures of an empty CBD this morning. Here’s what Flinders Street Station looked like during what would normally be peak hour.

Melbourne’s Flinders Street Station on the first day of Victoria’s fifth lockdown. Credit:Penny Stephens

Queensland is shutting its borders to Victoria from Saturday, due to the growing outbreak there.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the situation was moving rapidly, and she wished Victoria the best.

“Because of that lockdown, and the increase in the cases and restrictions there, we will be declaring … Victoria a hotspot from 1am Saturday,” she said.

“And that means that anyone returning after that time, Queenslanders will have to do the 14 days mandatory quarantine. I just think that the clear message to Queenslanders is definitely do not go to NSW and do not go to Victoria during this period of time.”

Queensland has again held off closing its border to NSW, instead keeping Greater Sydney a hotspot.

Queensland recorded one new locally acquired case on Friday. It’s the mother of the 12-year-old boy who we learned was positive yesterday.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is due to hold a press conference at 9.15am AEST.

It comes after the state recorded three new cases yesterday, all without known links to existing Australian clusters.

Watch live below.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has backed his government’s management of the pandemic as the country’s two biggest cities are locked down with the virus, saying the ability to adapt to changing circumstances is a strength, not a sign of policy on the run.

Speaking on the ABC’s Radio National this morning, Mr Hunt said his government supports Victoria’s decision to lock down Greater Melbourne and respects “the decision of individual states to respond to circumstances on the ground”.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt. Credit:Scott McNaughton

He said Greater Melbourne been officially declared a hotspot, which has triggered Commonwealth support as announced last night.

“Obviously all of these circumstances are subject to review on the actual case numbers. They’ve had potentially significant spreading events, whether it’s at the MCG, in school environments or in other circumstances,” he said.

The Health Minister added that Australia has its challenges but “fortunately [they’re] very, very different to the scale, scope, and tragedy we’re seeing overseas”. He pointed out that there were over 46,000 cases in the UK in the last 24 hours, while Indonesia faces “an agonising challenge”.

Mr Hunt responded to comments from Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles earlier on the same program that the Government is “making it up as they go along”, after further changes to the federal government’s assistance package last night.

“What we’re doing is responding to the circumstances on the ground,” Mr Hunt said.

He said the reason Australia’s “caseload, its loss of life, its economic circumstances” are so different to most of the rest of the world is “because we’ve been able to adapt”.

He did not accept that Australia’s vaccination progress is contributing greatly to the need for the current lockdowns in Sydney and Victoria, pointing to the UK reporting 46,000 cases in one day and 60 deaths.

“I would not think 60 deaths in a single day is acceptable for Australia,” he said.

Mr Hunt said the vaccine rollout is at a “point of acceleration now” with 162,000 jabs in arms yesterday.

Victoria’s daily coronavirus numbers are in.

The state has recorded six new cases of COVID-19 overnight. A total of 10 locally acquired cases were reported today, but we already knew about four of those.

There are now 36 active cases of COVID-19 in Victoria.

Those numbers are off the back of 33,129 tests.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is doing the breakfast TV rounds today to spruik the nation’s latest jobs figures.

While he’s happy to talk about Australia’s unemployment rate this morning, he’s less keen to give his opinion on what state premiers should or shouldn’t be doing in regards to state lockdowns.

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Around 11.5 million Australians are now under stay-at-home orders. Here’s the relevant exchange between the Treasurer and Today co-host Allison Langdon:

Langdon: “We heard Daniel Andrews say yesterday you only get one chance to go hard and to go fast. Do you think that Gladys Berejiklian needs to go harder with her lockdown?”

Frydenberg: “Gladys Berejiklian will take the advice of her health experts. And Daniel Andrews will take the advice of his health experts.”

Langdon: “But you are the ones putting your hand in the pocket to prop up these businesses to get through the lockdown, so you need to have an opinion on it?”

Frydenberg: “My opinion is they do everything that they can to get on top of the virus as quickly as possible. We know with the Delta variant it is much more contagious and dangerous the way it moves through the community â€" a lot quicker than previous strains. Obviously, these are difficult days in NSW. The health authorities and Gladys Berejiklian ... have shown themselves to be very capable in dealing with previous outbreaks. Let’s hope that they can get on top of this one even though it is more contagious.”

Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp has expressed the frustration many Victorians feel at the latest lockdown but also the sense that it’s better to have tougher restrictions to head off the spread of the virus rather than ongoing uncertainty.

She said many small businesses were struggling and some could fail during the state’s fifth lockdown.

Melbourne’s Lord Mayor Sally Capp.Credit:Joe Armao

“It is deflating and frustrating to find ourselves once again in lockdown in Victoria. But we do know what it takes, we do know what to do here in Victoria and we need to think that lockdown five is about going hard and getting out fast,” she told the Today program.

“We don’t want to be in lockdown but if we’re going to be, we need to rally like we have before to do the right thing and get out of this as quickly as possible.”

Cr Capp also touched on the ongoing sniping between different jurisdictions and the debate about whether NSW received preferential treatment from the federal government.

“I think there’s got to be a sense of fairness. There’s got to be a sense of national commitment,” she said.

“[Lockdown] weighs on people’s financial resources but it’s more than that â€" it’s the emotional and mental and the energy that’s required just to keep going.

“If we can feel that sense of coordination, and cooperation between levels of government, and know that they’re focusing all of their energy into what’s best for the people of Australia, that could be fantastic.”

About 200 cleaners are refusing to enter the COVID unit at Sydney’s Westmead hospital amid the city’s growing outbreak.

The cleaners say they are being denied requests for hair nets, shoe coverings, mask fit testing and on-site showers after their shift. A fully-vaccinated nurse working at the COVID-19 ward recently tested positive.

A Westmead Hospital nurse has tested positive for COVID-19Credit:Kate Geraghty

Health Services Union secretary Gerard Hayes told 2GB this morning the workers are a complementary workforce in the health care setting and “just as important as any other clinician” but are being treated as “second class citizens”.

Mr Hayes said it is “outrageous” that the workers who are “consistently fronting up every day” since the outset of the pandemic now have to take hospital management to court to fight for these conditions.

“I can’t believe the arrogance of the management of Westmead hospital. When you look at Nepean hospital, they’re doing all of these things as a matter of sensible course, but we’ve got to go to court now to make sure people can be safe, people don’t take the infection home to their families or spread it to the community.”

Mr Hayes said he would also be meeting with the chief executive of the NSW Ambulance Service and the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Health this morning after three paramedics tested positive to COVID-19, sending dozens of ambulance staff into isolation.

He said at the meeting he would be seeking “clarity and transparency” on the situation which he says “at the moment just isn’t there”.

New COVID-19 exposure sites have been listed on the Victorian Department of Health’s website.

Late yesterday, it emerged an infected person also attended the Wallabies game against France earlier this week at Melbourne’s AAMI Park.

A person with coronavirus visited the Wallabies vs France rugby union match at Melbourne’s AAMI Park on Tuesday. Credit:Getty

The venue has been closed for deep cleaning. Aisles 20, 21, 22 and 23 on level one of the stadium have been listed as a tier 2 exposure site between 8.05pm and 10pm on Tuesday, July 13.

Thousands of others who attended the game have been asked to monitor for symptoms. Patrons in high-risk seating areas will be contacted directly by the Department and be required to follow different advice.

Meanwhile, the third floor of Banyule City Council offices in Melbourne’s outer north-eastern suburbs has been listed as a tier 1 site for Monday, July 12. The Ms Frankie restaurant in Cremorne, in Melbourne’s inner south-east, is also a tier 1 site for Tuesday, July 13 between 6pm and 7.45pm.

A KFC in Hastings, on the Mornington Peninsula, along with a Chemist Warehouse in Frankston have been listed as tier 2 sites.

For the full list of exposure sites, visit the Victorian government’s website.

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