Australia news LIVE NSW records 207 new local COVID-19 cases Queensland lockdown extended as cases grow by 13

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South Australia’s Premier Steven Marshall is due to provide a COVID-19 update.

Watch live below.

Good afternoon and thanks for reading our live coverage.

If you’re just joining us, here’s everything you need to know:

NSW has recorded 207 new local cases of coronavirus today. Of those, at least 72 were infectious in the community. Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the number of people in the community while infectious is still way too high. The state has also recorded its 15th death due to the current outbreak: a man in his 90s from south-west Sydney.

Brisbane’s lockdown has been extended to Sunday as the state’s local cases of COVID-19 continue to rise. The lockdown was originally meant to end tomorrow, but Queensland today recorded 13 new cases in the community. Brisbane’s annual agricultural show, the Ekka, has been cancelled and the state’s Chief Health Officer Jeanette Young says she still doesn’t want young people to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine despite the rising case numbers (although she concedes it’s ultimately a matter for individuals and their GPs).

Victoria has recorded two new cases of COVID-19. Both are linked to existing outbreaks and were in isolation for their entire infectious period. Meanwhile, state authorities say crowds will likely be allowed at AFL games from next week.

And Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he hops lockdowns will be a “thing of the past” by the year’s end. However to get there Australia needs to have 80 per cent of eligible adults vaccinated. It comes as AstraZeneca’s Australian boss says she is disappointed and surprised at the level of hesitancy about her company’s vaccine.

I’m signing off from the blog. My colleague Josh Dye will bring you the latest news and analysis through to the early evening.

See you all bright and early tomorrow.

AstraZeneca’s local boss Liz Chatwin has declared her disappointment and surprise at the level of hesitancy about her company’s coronavirus vaccine in Australia. However, she said the tide is turning as it prepares a new booster shot for later this year.

“What’s really important to stress here is that the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, the current version is effective at preventing severe illness and hospitalisation with all the current variants, including the delta [variant],” Ms Chatwin told ABC radio earlier this morning.

Liz Chatwin, AstraZeneca Australia president, says the current vaccine was effective at preventing severe illness and hospitalisation against all the current variants.Credit:Getty

“But we are working on a variation to our vaccine. It’s actually started in testing now and it will be available later this year if it’s going to be needed.”

Ms Chatwin said even her 19-year-old son had decided to get an AstraZeneca jab as NSW authorities urge everyone in Sydney to be vaccinated.

“I told him there’s a 99.99% chance that nothing will happen to you. And he’s an intelligent young man, he looked at the the benefits versus the risk, he wants to get out of lockdown, and he happily came forward and received the vaccine.”

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant says an assistant in nursing (AIN) who worked across multiple aged care facilities in Sydney has seeded cases.

As reported earlier, the COVID-19 outbreak at Wyoming nursing home at Summer Hill in the inner west has grown to 18 cases in residents and two in staff. Residents on the top floor of the facility, including those who are not positive, have been transferred to hospital.

According to federal government data, on Friday there were cases in seven residential aged care facilities in Sydney.

These included one in a staff member at Wyoming, as well as:

Two staff cases at Japara Corymbia at Belrose, on the northern beaches.

One staff case at The Palms at Kirrawee, in the south.

One staff case at Rosemore at Belmore, in the south-west.

Two staff cases at Bankstown Terrace Care at Bankstown, in the south-west.

One staff case at Milford House at Randwick, in the east.

Seven staff cases and six resident cases at Summitcare Baulkham Hills, in the north-west, as reported earlier this month.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said a Christmas in July party at Wyoming was believed to have caused a super-spreading event in the facility.

He said 10 of the 61 residents at Wyoming had not been vaccinated for reasons including personal choice and medical reasons. Seven of the 10 were among the recorded cases.

“It is a strong message to everybody that you should get vaccinated,” he added.

The Victorian Sports Minister says it is “possible” AFL games will have crowds from next weekend, with discussions on COVID restrictions still ongoing.

Martin Pakula, speaking to reporters this morning, said Premier Daniel Andrews had already indicated the grand final would be played in Victoria at the MCG.

Victorian Events Minister Martin Pakula. Credit:Joe Armao

“His expectation that the grand final would be at the MCG with crowds and that’s my expectation as well,” Mr Pakula said.

“There’s a lot of work to do. We’ve got effectively about eight weeks ’til the grand final now … so we’ve got a little bit of time, but it’s creeping up on us.”

He said it was safe to predict that the crowd measures at AFL games going forward would be “different” than it was previously, but “it is possible” crowds will return next weekend.

“We’ll be looking at all manner of things, including how much of the stadium’s used, masks and the rules around masks.

“Epidemiological conditions are always going to be relevant and of course the fact that we had transmission at the MCG means that there’s a lot of thinking going on about how we can avoid that.”

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has been asked whether the Greater Sydney lockdown, now in its sixth week, had been unsuccessful.

Ms Berejikian said it was “not a success when you have your community living in lockdown”, however, she was focused on future success when people can live more freely.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant at today’s daily coronavirus briefing. Credit:James Brickwood

“I don’t think anybody will suggest â€" least of all me â€" that living in a lockdown is a good place to be, it is horrible,” she added.

“We know we have no option at this stage. The Delta strain is proving, around the world, to be a lethal strain and as other states in Australia are finding, it is really difficult to control.”

The Premier was also asked why Shellharbour, south of Sydney, remains in lockdown despite not having recorded a local case during the entire lockdown.

She said it was a “valid question”, but letting any regions outside of metropolitan Sydney exit lockdown would be a decision made on the basis of health advice that had not yet been given.

With use of the AstraZeneca vaccine not approved in children aged under 18, NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant has been asked how realistic it is that all school students are returned to school this year.

Year 12 students in south-west and western Sydney will be vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine before joining the rest of their grade in Greater Sydney on August 16.

Dr Chant said the return of younger students “really depends on the numbers”.

“We are hoping to see a turnaround in the numbers: every bit of vaccine helps us,” she said, noting better vaccination coverage in the community and among vulnerable people would assist in making the call.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she was confident schools would return before 2022.

“Our priority is getting people back to school and back to work,” Ms Berejiklian said.

Asked for more details about where Sydney’s cases in workplaces are coming from, NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant has singled out the freight industry as a source of a number of cases.

On Saturday, Health Minister Brad Hazzard said one south-west Sydney freight company had been the source of 24 infections in workers.

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant at today’s press conference. Credit:James Brickwood

Dr Chant said there had also been cases detected in food processing workplaces, such as meatworks, but these had not resulted in large numbers of cases due to their COVIDSafe plans.

The Chief Health Officer said she appreciated the processes that big workplaces, such as supermarkets, had put in place, but issues had emerged in parts of workplaces which were not necessarily their place of work.

“It is really important that you think about the tea rooms and some of the social settings in workplaces,” she advised employers, noting they may have the “best safety plans for the actual premises but if people go and congregate somewhere, it defeats the purpose of the segregation”.

A leading epidemiologist says that after the bulk of eligible Australians are vaccinated, booster jabs will be needed so that we can return to international travel by Easter 2022.

Melbourne University epidemiologist Tony Blakely said over the next few years, vaccination will also have to be accompanied by occasional restrictions and mask wearing as new variants emerge.

Melbourne University epidemiologist Tony Blakely.

He said after Australia reaches the “achievable” road map objective of 70 to 80 per cent of the eligible population fully vaccinated, the next goals will be providing booster shots and getting children jabbed. He said completing these measures will allow the country to open up to the world again by March next year.

“Early next year when we start boosting people, the first people to be boosted will be those that had just AstraZeneca,” Professor Blakely told radio station 3AW.

“What we do know from emerging evidence from the UK in particular is that people who had AstraZeneca and then get one more dose of a mRNA vaccine get a really good response.

“I’m talking about boosting for two reasons, because your immunity will probably wane a little bit against the viruses it covers now, but also to boost with new vaccines which cover the new variants.”

He noted that the 55,000 daily vaccination doses to reach milestones by November were on par with the number of jabs happening across the country each day.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant have both expressed concern about transmission of COVID-19 within essential workplaces in Sydney.

Dr Chant encouraged workers, particularly in affected local government areas in the city’s south and west, to get vaccinated.

NSW’s Chief Health Officer wants more essential workers vaccinated. Credit:iStock

She said as many as 30 colleagues in some workplaces had been infected.

“It is critical that people don’t work whilst they have got symptoms but also you can take the proactive step of choosing to get vaccinated, that will protect you, your loved ones and also your colleagues at work,” she said.

Dr Chant did not provide any additional information about the types of workplaces where this transmission has occurred.

On Saturday, Health Minister Brad Hazzard said one south-west Sydney freight company had been the source of 24 infections in workers.

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