Australia news LIVE NSW records 283 new local COVID-19 cases one death Tamworth to enter one-week lockdown regional Victoria to exit lockdown as state records 11 new cases
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Commander Deb Robertson is providing an update about how police will handle the different restrictions between metropolitan and regional Victoria.
If youâre just joining us, hereâs a recap of today so far:
Job vacancies plummeted by more than 10 per cent in NSW over July as the lockdown started to hit employers and derail the nationâs economic recovery.
The National Skills Commissionâs Internet Vacancy Index recorded the second consecutive monthly decline in online job advertisements last month, with a 3 per cent fall to 232,600. This is down from a 12-year high in May after a faster than expected recovery in the labour market.
NSW was the hardest hit with 8100 fewer job advertisements in July, or a 10.3 per cent fall. This was twice the rate of the Northern Territory, which was the second worst performer.
Victorian job advertisements increased by 3.9 per cent over the month, following a 4.2 per cent fall in June. South Australia had a 4.5 per cent decline in July, followed by the ACT with a 2.6 per cent drop. Queensland and Western Australia recorded 1.6 per cent and 1.8 per cent falls in job advertisements respectively. There was no change in Tasmania.
Recruitment is still above pre-pandemic levels, with Tasmania, Western Australia and South Australia outperforming the most.
Economists are expecting the latest lockdowns in Sydney to cost NSW tens of thousands of jobs a week, with the most significant effects showing up as reduced hours and lower workforce participation.
On the first day the AstraZeneca vaccine has been made available to under-40s at Victoriaâs mass vaccination hubs, the number of people lining up to receive their jabs in Carlton, on the northern edge of Melbourneâs CBD, wasnât unusually large.
With the site fully booked, health staff arenât offering any walk-up vaccines for Victorians eager to take advantage of the Andrews governmentâs policy change.
Retail worker Dara Knowles receiving his first AstraZeneca jab earlier this morning. Credit:Penny Stephens
For 39-year-old retail worker Dara Knowles, it was the prospect of being able to safely visit his parents his Sydney that made him come forward to get the jab on Monday morning.
âMy parents are really, really old and live in Sydney â" I havenât seen them since 2019,â he said.
He said he also wanted to be vaccinated to protect colleagues at work, given outbreaks have often struck retail outlets and workplaces that interface directly with the public.
Not surprisingly, the line for Pfizer still dwarfed AstraZeneca. The number of available appointments for AstraZeneca, only about 400, was much less than the number of people booked in to get Pfizer at the same facility, at about 2000, according to staff on site.
Simon Maher, 31, who is immunocompromised, was getting his second dose of AstraZeneca. He said that, when he was waiting the 15 minutes after the jab, it felt like his ticket out of the pandemic.
âIt felt really good. Itâs great to know that this is my ticket forward.â
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has been forced to defend the governmentâs tough stance on people coming into the state from NSW.
Journalists told the Premier about the case of an unnamed woman who was attempting to enter Victoria to assist with a family member who is going through chemotherapy, and whose application for a permit on compassionate grounds was rejected.
Mr Andrews said it was not him that made decisions about âwho is in or outâ, but that in considering these applications, public servants do not take a âtick and flickâ approach to either granting or denying an application for a travel permit from a red zone.
âI wonât interfere in that process,â he said.
âWe send our best wishes to that family and there may be other ways that we can provide support to that family, but it is one of many difficult decisions that have had to be made because we canât have this virus.
âWe canât have any more of these incursions, because we know what it means. Even a small number of cases will mean the stateâs locked down.â
Mr Andrews said it was a delicate balancing act.
âWithout ⦠trying to minimise the difficult journey that that familyâs going through, but [being] locked down for the whole state is really tough as well, for everybody.â
After being asked if some areas with low case numbers and higher vaccination rates â" such as Sydneyâs lower north shore â" would be able to exit lockdown before other parts of the city (a policy that would favour wealthier areas), NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said it was not that simple.
âThe biggest threat, as the health experts say to us, is what we call seeding or transferring the virus through workplaces,â the Premier said, noting thousands of residents in the suburbs of concern in south-west and western Sydney were authorised workers who travel across the city for employment.
âWhile you have authorised workers that have high rates of non-vaccination, that is a risk to all of us,â she said.
The Premier said this was why higher vaccination rates across Sydney would be crucial to reopening.
âYou canât just look at rates of vaccination in one suburb and the number of cases in isolation because weâre all connected.â
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says she would rather prioritise giving her stateâs residents freedoms through high vaccination rates than pursue a zero-COVID strategy to encourage other states to reopen their borders.
âI think itâs pretty predictable what the other states will do,â the Premier said. âI donât know about you guys but I donât think any state premier will change their position on that.â
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has clarified her position on vaccines and state borders. Royal Prince Alfred Hospital ICU doctor Richard Totaro watches on.Credit:Edwina Pickles
The Premier said she wanted NSW to be the first to hit national cabinetâs vaccination targets of 70 per cent and 80 per cent and said easing of restrictions at these rates were supported by the Doherty modelling used by national cabinet.
âWeâre not intending to overstep our mark beyond what that report allows all the states to do; that report obviously allows certain freedoms at 70 per cent vaccination, at 80 per cent vaccination,â she said.
She added that her plan for âlockdown plus easingâ at 50 per cent vaccination was âvery differentâ from the level of freedom recommended by the Doherty Institute at those higher rates.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has reiterated his plea for NSW health officials to establish a âring of steelâ measure around Sydney to contain the cityâs outbreak.
âThere should be a ring of steel around Sydney,â he said. âThen we wouldnât have to be defending our border as much as we are, but thatâs the decision of the New South Wales government.â
âRing of steelâ roadblocks became a fixture on Melbourneâs perimeter for four months in 2020.Credit:Jason South
By ring of steel, the Premier is referring to the roadblocks and police checks that encircled Greater Melbourneâs exit points during last yearâs long lockdown in a bid to protect regional Victoria and, by extension, other states and territories.
Mr Andrews also urged people living in Melbourne to do the right thing for the remainder of the cityâs lockdown.
âThe main thing that we can do is make the best choices, choices that contain this thing, not potentially spread it,â he said.
âWe need to get down to a very low number of cases, if any, that have been out in the community during their infectious period.
âThatâs when weâll have the best chance of opening up and staying open.â
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has clarified exactly what she means when she says she wants 6 million shots to be administered in her state by the end of Greater Sydneyâs lockdown extension on August 28.
The Premier said this was not necessarily 6 million first doses, but 6 million doses administered overall. The state government estimates 12 million doses will be needed to fully vaccinate residents aged 16 and over.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian preparing to address the media at todayâs COVID-19 press conference.Credit:Edwina Pickles
âThat could very well be that we have, maybe, 60 per cent of first doses and 40-something per cent of second doses,â she said.
Ms Berejiklian stressed any easing of restrictions would also depend on case numbers in the state.
Asked if she would consider easing more restrictions in areas with higher vaccination rates, the Premier said her government was considering a number of options but âobviously what weâre keen to see is vaccination rates go up across the stateâ.
âBut in particular, we will have greater confidence in opening up things if the vaccination rate in those areas of concern increases, because we know that if we get the vaccination rate up in those areas of concern it reduces the likelihood of having the spread continue the way it is,â she said.
âAt the moment weâre seeing if youâre not vaccinated, and you have a large family, youâre likely to go home and give it to every single member of your family.â
Premier Daniel Andrews is strongly urging Melburnians not to violate restrictions and go to regional Victoria now that those areas are coming out of lockdown from midnight tonight.
âDonât try and head to regional Victoria unless you are entitled to and eligible to do that,â he said.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. Credit:Paul Jeffers
âDonât be putting yourself in a situation where a shopkeeper is going to have to ask you [where youâve come from] or Victoria Police member is going to pull you over to have to ask you and your answer ⦠will not be a valid answer.â
Mr Andrews reminded people contemplating a change of scene that fines are heavy for those who head to regional Victoria without a valid reason.
Victoria Police can issue on-the-spot fines of up to $1817 to adults who refuse or fail to comply with public health orders.
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