Health News at Your Fingertips

That concludes health minister Greg Hunt’s press conference.

To recap what has happened over a very hectic few hours:

• In the Northern Territory, Darwin, Palmerston and Litchfield have gone into lockdown for 48 hours after the territory recorded four new Covid-19 cases.
• In Western Australia, new restrictions were announced for Perth and the Peel region – but no lockdown – after a new community case was discovered, with a likely source from Sydney.
• In Queensland, two new cases of Covid were detected – but of the Alpha, not Delta, variant.
• Meanwhile, NSW has recorded 30 new Covid-19 cases on the first full day of its lockdown.

In the NT:

• The four new cases have the Delta strain of the virus, and are linked to a mine worker at the Granites gold mine 540km north-west of Alice Springs.
• This worker is believed to have contracted the virus in hotel quarantine in Brisbane. This Delta variant is different to the Delta variant spreading in Sydney.
• Of the four cases, one has travelled to NSW, two are on the mine site and one flew to Darwin and Palmerston.
• Chief minister Michael Gunner said some of the close contacts of these cases “remain unaccounted for” and some were “uncontactable”.

In WA:

• A woman from Perth has tested positive after she visited Sydney to see her son, who lives there.
• Health minister Roger Cook said the state was assuming she also had the Delta variant.
• Cook said the woman was a physiotherapist who visited shopping centres and saw clients, including at some schools, over the past week in Perth.
• He said she “did everything right” and abided by all rules.
• Stage-one restrictions, not a lockdown, have been implemented in Perth and the Peel region. That includes masks indoors and outdoors where social distancing is not possible and limits of 30 people in homes. Spectators were immediately banned from today’s AFL match between the Bulldogs and the West Coast Eagles.

In NSW:

• There are now 110 cases linked to the Bondi cluster.
• Ten new cases were today linked to the Great Ocean Foods seafood wholesaler in Marrickville. Two cases remain under investigation, but both are at least geographically linked to Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
• Premier Gladys Berejiklian defended the government’s decision to delay a full lockdown of Sydney, saying she had followed health advice. She rejected the assertion that it was done to protect her reputation. She did “not regret a single decision we have taken” during the pandemic, she said.
• NSW chief medical officer Dr Kerry Chant said a close contact of the NT mine worker had tested positive in the Hunter New England area of NSW. He was in isolation.

In Queensland:

• Two new cases of community transmission were announced. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said they were a couple who were believed to be linked to the previous hotel quarantine breach in the state. The cases were not linked to the Delta strain.
• Some easing of restrictions in Queensland have been pushed back, meaning, for example, that patronage limits in hotels and bars will not be wound back for at least a fortnight.
• On whether the state will see further restrictions, Queensland chief medical officer Dr Jeannette Young said: “We’ll just have to see how all of this evolves over the next few days.”

Hunt is asked whether AstraZeneca supplies should be opened up to younger people to take if they wish to.

He says:

AstraZeneca is recommended at 60 years and over, and under 59 not recommended, and the situation is that in particular Pfizer is the preferred vaccine, and there is Moderna and Novavax potentially coming on board.

At this stage, no change in the advice.

Hunt is asked about whether there will be a deal for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The health minister says the scientific and technical advisory group says there is no need for additional supplies of that vaccine.

Hunt says that issues with blood clots “may well apply to the J&J vaccine – that is a matter they are reviewing”.

He says the J&J vaccine “is unlikely to provide any additional protection or to have additional safeguards” to the vaccines Australia already has.

He also says there are an additional 50,000 vaccines being provided to NSW.

Hunt says the average amount of Pfizer supplies will “increase significantly” through July for all states.

Hunt says the advice from Australia’s chief health officer, Prof Paul Kelly, is to focus on protecting remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, after a mine worker tested positive in central Australia.

Hunt says:

The Northern Territory is responding magnificently, as is New South Wales.

But our primary concern, on the advice that I have from Paul Kelly and Professor Brendan Murphy, is to ensure that everything that can be done to protect remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory.

The mine worker is believed to have caught the virus while in hotel quarantine in Brisbane. The strain has been identified as Delta, but is different from the Delta variant spreading in Sydney.

Hunt says 100% of 410 residential aged care facilities across Sydney have had their first dose of vaccinations.

He also says the Commonwealth has offered New South Wales support “if they need it” for contact tracing.

The federal health minister, Greg Hunt, is speaking now.

There were 35 new locally acquired cases across the country until midnight last night, he says.

He also says that there is “very positive news” on vaccine take up, especially of second doses of AstraZeneca.

The WA chief health officer, Dr Andrew Robertson, says the woman in Perth was potentially infectious between 22 and 24 June.

He says:

She visited a small gym called Mobius strength and conditioning and later in that day, in the evening, went to the Coles at Ocean Keys. And on the 23 June she saw some clients and at that evening attended the Indian Ocean Brewery.

On the 24th she attended the Burbridge special skills school and she saw some clients there, and in the afternoon she attended the Connolly Primary School.

Robertson says she might have also visited an Ikea – but that will be confirmed later.

Because it’s all happening today … NSW Health has just released some additional exposure sites.

They include the shopping centres of Pacific Square in Maroubra and the Marrickville Metro. I’ll bring you some more on that soon.

The WA presser is still continuing.

Cook says he believes the husband of the woman has so far tested negative.

Residents of Perth and Peel are not banned from travelling – ie this is not a lockdown.

But, Cook says, anybody who is currently in the Perth and Peel regions will have to abide by the restrictions, even if they more to another region.

If you’re in Perth and Peel today and you’re travelling tonight, you will be required to wear a mask indoors or outdoors when you cannot physically distance.

Cook says there is no medical advice yet that they need to close schools. He also defends the decision to ban spectators from today’s AFL match.

He says:

We’ve got every reason to believe that this is the Delta variant. We need to move quickly and deliberately and aggressively.

So you might ask the other question: what if we let the footy go ahead even with mask and there had been an outbreak? Obviously people would be highly critical of us if we allowed it to go ahead in that context.

Some more details on the new case in Western Australia.

Cook says the case is a woman in her 60s, from Perth, who went on a trip last week to Sydney to visit her son, who lives there.

On Saturday 19 June she had lunch in the Lyfe cafe in Bondi with her husband and son. She and her husband then returned to Perth on 20 June, and the cafe was not listed as an exposure site at that time.

“This person did everything right,” Cook said, adding that she abided by all rules.

On 21 June she returned a negative result and was allowed to return to the community. On Friday she realised the Lyfe cafe had now been listed as an exposure site.

The woman, who is a physiotherapist, had seen some clients on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week and visited a shopping centre.

Cook also says there are 252 close contacts in WA from the Granite mine, where a worker in the Northern Territory also tested positive earlier this week.

The new restrictions in Perth and Peel mean that masks will be worn indoors and outdoors where physical distancing is not possible.

Spectators will immediately be banned from the upcoming West Coast Eagles v Western Bulldogs AFL match at Optus Stadium.

Homes will have a 30-person limit.

Hospitality venues, gyms and places of worship will remain open, but must comply with the two square metre rule and a maximum of 150 patrons.

The WA health minister, Roger Cook, is speaking now.

He announces that a physiotherapist from Perth has tested positive to Covid-19 after a trip to Sydney.

He says the assumption is that the woman has “the very infectious Delta variant”.

Perth and Peel will go into stage-one restrictions from 12pm today.

That’s where I will leave you for today. My colleague Naaman Zhou will guide you through the afternoon. Thanks for reading. It’s been a journey.

Western Australian health minister Roger Cook is due to begin a press conference soon.