Australia news LIVE Tougher restrictions as NSW Victoria COVID-19 cases continue to grow

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Approximately 60 people were found “participating in a sermon” at a church in Blacktown in Sydney’s west last night, police say.

Officers were called to the premises on Fourth Avenue, Blacktown â€" one of the local government areas of concern â€" after they were tipped-off about the gathering via CrimeStoppers.

Police called for backup to assist in taking the details of those in attendance before the churchgoers were directed to return home.

The group included adults and children.

“Further inquiries revealed there was no QR code present at the entry to the building and those in attendance were from various other LGAs including Canterbury-Bankstown, Fairfield and Liverpool,” police said.

Thirty adults were issued $1000 penalty infringement notices for failing to comply with a COVID-19 direction, while the organisation itself was fined $5000.

Under lockdown rules, a place of worship must not be open to members of the public.

“Services may be livestreamed from a church, meeting house, mosque, synagogue, temple or other place of worship that is not open to members of the public,” the NSW rules state.

“You can attend the premises if you are directly involved in the service or the operation of the equipment for the live-stream event.”

In case you missed it last night, Victorian health authorities have identified several new COVID-19 exposure sites.

Signature Cuts in Shepparton, in regional Victoria, was declared a tier-1 site on Saturday, August 14 between 12pm and 2.30pm.

That means anyone who attended during that timeframe has to get tested for COVID-19 and quarantine for 14 days regardless of the result.

People queuing for coronavirus tests in Shepparton, about two and a half hours north of Melbourne. Credit:Simon Schluter

The remaining exposure sites identified late on Sunday were tier 2, meaning anyone who attended them during the specified timeframes has to urgently get tested for COVID-19 and isolate until they receive a negative test result.

Among the new tier-2 sites was a Zambrero in Shepparton and Greendale Drive Reserve Playground in Greendale, about 80 kilometres west of Melbourne.

Authorities also listed several retail outlets in Braybrook (in Melbourne’s west) as tier-2 exposure sites, including Central West Butcher and the Aldi at Central West Shopping Centre, along with two service stations at Moonee Ponds in the city’s north west.

An apartment complex at 1 Kennedy Avenue in Richmond was declared a tier-2 exposure site over five days, while a complex on Flinders Street in the CBD was declared a casual contact site over 11 days.

A full list of Victorian exposure sites can be found here.

Sydneysiders in local government areas of concern are waking to their first day under tighter lockdown restrictions, including a 9pm to 5am curfew.

This does not apply to authorised workers, for emergencies or medical care.

The local government areas of concern are Bayside, Blacktown, Burwood, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Liverpool, Parramatta, Strathfield, and the Penrith suburbs of Caddens, Claremont Meadows, Colyton, Erskine Park, Kemps Creek, Kingswood, Mount Vernon, North St Marys, Orchard Hills, Oxley Park, St Clair and St Marys.

Outdoor exercise in these hotspots has also been limited to one hour per day.

Restrictions around retail have also been strengthened. Garden centres and plant nurseries, businesses selling office supplies, hardware and building supplies, landscaping material supplies, rural supplies and pet supplies in these LGAs must have closed except to provide “click and collect” services for customers.

All education and professional development-related activities, not including the HSC, must be online.

Since 12.01am, masks are also mandatory outdoors across NSW, except for when exercising.

They were already mandatory indoors when outside of the home, outdoors in the LGAs of concern, in Sydney apartment block common areas and in outdoor markets and areas where social distancing was not possible.

The Greater Sydney lockdown has been extended until the end of September. Regional NSW is in lockdown until at least August 28.

More than 200 NSW children aged nine and under were diagnosed with COVID-19 over the weekend ahead of the state government revealing plans for when schools will open despite primary students being unable to be vaccinated.

As case numbers surpassed 800 on both days of the weekend, there were 204 cases of the virus reported in children aged 0-9. There were also 276 young people aged 10-19 who contracted COVID in the same period.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard says his state is surging ahead with vaccinations.Credit:Renee Nowytarger

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she would this week reveal the government’s plans for “what schools looks like in term three and four”, as well as what restrictions can be eased when the state hits its 6 million jabs target. As of Sunday, NSW had administered 5,868,974 jabs.

The lockdown extension, announced on Friday, is not due to end until the end of September, with September 17 the last day of term 3.

More on NSW’s term three and four plans here.

The Victorian government’s decision to restrict access to childcare centres to essential workers has led to a weekend of “confusion and bewilderment” as the Health Department and Health Minister’s office repeatedly provided contradictory advice to parents.

The childcare decision, announced on Saturday, also pitted parents against employers in a debate about who should bear the cost, with employer groups saying people should take leave to look after their children.

Health Minister Martin Foley on Sunday revealed one quarter of the latest outbreaks were among children aged under 10. Credit:Simon Schluter

One school principal told this masthead he had struggled all weekend to get clarity and information from government officials about which children would be allowed to attend childcare and kindergarten from Monday.

The Chief Health Officer’s initial directions, published on Saturday stated both parents would need to be authorised workers to send their children to childcare or kindergarten. But late on Sunday the Premier’s office announced the directions would be redrafted to say childcare access would be permitted if just one parent was deemed an authorised worker. In a further direction even later on Sunday, the department said that parent would be allowed to work from home.

Read the full story here.

Liberal MPs are urging Prime Minister Scott Morrison to take a hard line against states that veto plans to ease lockdowns when vaccination rates hit 70 per cent, escalating a political clash over calls to abandon the target when coronavirus case numbers have surged to record levels.

Federal government MPs are demanding a clear path toward easing rules to give Australians a “reward” for signing up for vaccinations, with some calling for states to be able to go it alone rather than being held to the national target.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison insists the 70 per cent vaccine threshold for reopening the economy is still relevant depsite rising case numbers.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen.

With national daily case numbers climbing to 917 on Sunday, the highest since the pandemic began, state and territory leaders questioned Mr Morrison’s claim that the medical advice to national cabinet endorsed the plan even at high infection rates.

The advice, from Doherty Institute professor of epidemiology Jodie McVernon and her colleagues, assumed only 30 cases in one scenario but is being clarified with a new assessment likely to go to states and territories this week.

More on this story here.

Good morning and thanks for your company.

It’s Monday, August 23. I’m Broede Carmody and I’ll be anchoring our live coverage for the first half of the day.

Here’s everything you need to know before we get started.

A curfew is now in place across 12 local government areas in Sydney. Residents of suburbs of concern such as Blacktown, Cumberland, Parramatta and Canterbury-Bankstown will not be able to leave their homes between 9pm and 5am daily (unless they’re an authorised worker or it’s an emergency). Masks are also mandatory across all of NSW. The state recorded 830 cases yesterday, another daily record. There are 557 coronavirus patients in NSW hospitals. And more than 200 children were diagnosed with COVID-19 over the weekend. It comes as NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian prepares to unveil her plan for schools in terms three and four.

In Victoria, police are considering shutting public transport in and out of Melbourne’s CBD ahead of the anti-lockdown protests we saw over the weekend. There has also been some confusion over the new rules governing childcare. Yesterday, Victoria recorded 65 new cases of coronavirus. Of those, 21 were in the northern regional city of Shepparton.

The nation’s capital, which is also in lockdown, recorded 19 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday. There are also a number of new exposure sites across the ACT, including supermarkets, chemists and a childcare centre.

And in federal politics, a clash looms over the country’s plans to ease lockdowns when vaccination rates hit 70 per cent. Some political leaders are worried the modelling was based on low case numbers, but Liberal MPs are urging Prime Minister Scott Morrison to hold his ground.

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