Australia news LIVE NSW Victoria COVID-19 cases grow Dominic Perrottet Rob Stokes to challenge for NSW Liberal leadership
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In case you missed it, health authorities identified a number of new COVID-19 exposure sites in regional Victoria last night.
The BP truck stop toilets and showers at Barnawartha North, in Victoria’s north east, was declared a tier-1 or close contact exposure site for Tuesday, September 28 between 8.30pm and 11.59pm and again on Wednesday, September 29 between 12am and 6.15am.
Anyone who attended the toilets and showers during those timeframes has to immediately get tested for COVID-19 and quarantine for 14 days from the exposure, regardless of whether they receive a negative test result.
The Hanging Rock Cafe at Woodend, a small town in the Macedon Ranges, was also declared tier-1 for Friday, October 1 between 10.30am and 1.30pm.
In the meantime, a number of bus routes in Bendigo were declared tier-2 or casual contact exposure sites, as was a gym at New Gisborne in the Macedon Ranges: Functional Fitness Plus.
More Victorian exposure sites can be found on the Victorian government’s website.
In world news, Facebook and its sister social media platforms Instagram and WhatsApp have been hit by a worldwide outage.
The outage began around 2.30am AEDT. Facebook and Instagram were still down for Australian users shortly before 7am Sydney and Melbourne time.
While it’s not uncommon for websites to suffer outages from time to time, hours-long disruptions are rare.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.Credit:Getty
“We’re aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products,†Facebook said in a statement.
“We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologise for any inconvenience.â€
Many people rely on Facebook’s messaging app to communicate with friends and family, especially so during the pandemic. Businesses, too, have been relying on social media due to restrictions on in-person customers.
Doug Madory, the director of internet monitoring firm Kentik, told the ABC’s RN Breakfast that we might not know the exact cause of the outage for several days.
More on the outages here.
Outgoing Deputy Premier John Barilaro insists Dominic Perrottet’s faith has seen him unfairly portrayed as ultraconservative and says he has matured as a leader during his years as Treasurer.
Mr Perrottet is the frontrunner to replace Gladys Berejiklian, but Attorney-General Mark Speakman warned a conference call of moderate Liberal MPs on Monday night that the Treasurer would be the “most conservative Premier the state has had since World War IIâ€.
Still the favourite: Dominic Perrottet outside his Beecroft home on Monday.Credit:Nick Moir
Mr Perrottet will face a leadership ballot against Planning Minister Rob Stokes today to decide the next premier of NSW after Ms Berejiklian’s shock resignation on Friday. He will nominate for the position with Jobs Minister Stuart Ayres as his deputy.
Mr Stokes yesterday insisted he was still a strong candidate for the job, committing to address a lack of gender diversity by promoting more women to cabinet if he is chosen for the top job.
Read the full story here.
Victorian contact tracers will stop trying to track down casual contacts of known COVID-19 cases within days as the virus becomes more widespread in the community.
As Victoria recorded 1377 new coronavirus cases and four deaths on Monday, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the listing of tier-2 sites, which are lower-risk locations visited by a COVID-positive person, will be “progressively†scaled back.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton announces a scaling back of tier-2 exposure sitesCredit:Jason South
“We have had to focus our efforts on where we get most bang for our buck,†he said.
As Victoria hit its fifth consecutive day of more than 1000 cases in the community, Professor Sutton said the highest-risk sites, which are usually deemed tier 1, would still be published online and businesses would be contacted.
Read more about the situation in Victoria here.
Australia will buy 300,000 courses of an experimental antiviral pill in anticipation of the drug regulator approving it as a coronavirus treatment early next year.
Molnupiravir could be taken by people with mild or moderate COVID-19 as a five-day course to treat the virus. The most recent data from clinical trials showed it halved the risk of hospitalisation or death.
Australia has placed an order for Merck’s experimental COVID-19 pill ahead of it receiving regulatory approval.Credit:AP
It doesn’t need to be refrigerated, meaning it can be used in the community rather than just at hospitals or medical facilities, and could be used as a targeted intervention in high-risk locations and rural areas.
While it won’t be considered for registration by the Therapeutic Goods Administration until later this year, the government has struck a supply deal with makers Merck Sharp & Dohme to deliver the medicine if it is approved.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said the clinical data coming from the trials was very good, and he had been in contact with Merck’s Australian chief executive over the end of last week and the weekend about the deal.
But he cautioned that vaccination remained the most important and safest way for Australians to protect themselves during the pandemic.
Read the full story here.
Good morning and thanks for reading our live coverage.
I’m Broede Carmody and I’ll bring you some of today’s biggest stories as they unfold.
Here’s everything you need to know before we get started.
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