Capital cities in lockdown as Australia’s COVID-19 crisis worsens

Australia has recorded no new locally acquired COVID-19 cases so far on Thursday as Victoria revealed a remarkable result amid an escalating national crisis.

Victoria’s health department confirmed there were no new local virus cases and none in hotel quarantine just after 8am on Thursday.

The nation is still waiting for updates from NSW, Queensland, the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia, with all states battling local outbreaks.

It comes as 31 locally acquired cases of COVID-19 were recorded on Wednesday as the country deals with an outbreak that started in Sydney.

An infectious miner plunged Alice Springs into lockdown after originally testing negative when he returned from a mine in the Northern Territory.

He later tested positive to COVID-19, as have several household family members.

The man is now at home in South Australia, which ended a 211-day local COVID-free streak for the state.

Australia has about 317 active cases with 62 COVID-19 patients in hospital.

The nation also recorded 17 new cases in hotel quarantine on Wednesday.

VICTORIA

Victoria has recorded no new COVID-19 cases on Thursday.

There were no new cases acquired locally or from overseas in the 24 hours to midnight, the health department confirmed about 8am.

The total number of active cases in the state remains at 31.

A total of 19,219 vaccine doses were administered and 29,149 test results were received.

NSW

Premier Gladys Berejiklian and chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant are expected to provide an update at 11am on Thursday.

NSW recorded the most locally acquired infections on Wednesday with 22.

Of those, 11 were in isolation for their entire infectious period, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.

Five of them were in isolation for part of their infectious period and six were infectious while in the community.

Ms Berejiklian said authorities’ earlier fears of a huge explosion in cases had not materialised.

“And we certainly want to keep it that way,” she said.

“What we want to see moving forward in terms of positive trend is a higher proportion of people in isolation for the full time of their infectiousness. That is something our health experts will be looking at.”

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

South Australia recorded five positive cases, which were the mine worker, his wife and three of his four children.

The miner, in his 30s, had worked at the Newmont Tanami mine in the Northern Territory and returned to South Australia on Saturday.

The new cases were the first locally acquired infections in South Australia in 211 days but health authorities have resisted plunging the state into lockdown at this stage.

QUEENSLAND

In Queensland, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and chief health officer Jeannette Young will provide Thursday’s update at 10am.

Three new community cases of COVID-19 were recorded on the first day of its lockdown on Wednesday.

It was revealed the latest cluster of the virus stemmed from a person who had travelled in and out of the country “several” times during the pandemic.

Wednesday’s new positive cases included the brother of a 19-year-old Brisbane hospital worker who has the highly infectious Delta strain and had been out in the community for 10 days.

The other cases relate to the Brisbane Portuguese Family Centre in the city‘s southwest and a Virgin crew member from Sydney.

NORTHERN TERRITORY

The SA infectious miner plunged Alice Springs into a snap three-day lockdown on Wednesday after he visited Alice Springs Airport.

The Newmont Tanami mine worker arrived at the airport on June 25 and remained there from 9am to 3.50pm.

Mr Gunner announced a further two new cases for the territory on Wednesday, after Darwin’s lockdown was extended until Friday.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Western Australia recorded one new case of Covid-19 on Wednesday, the second day of its lockdown for the Perth and Peel regions.

Premier Mark McGowan told reporters on Wednesday the new case was a 37-year-old man but it was too early to say how he acquired the virus.

ACT

The nation’s capital has no active cases but in response to the growing cases interstate people in the ACT are now required to wear a mask in indoor venues like shops, cafes, gyms and on public transport.

The government also closed the border to anyone who had been in the greater Sydney area in the past week.

Thousands of people are also under stay-at-home orders after being linked as close contacts despite the ACT recording no active cases.

TASMANIA

Tasmania recorded no cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday.

However, Premier Peter Gutwein snapped the border shut with to Perth metropolitan and Peel regions, high risk NSW areas, and the NT’s Darwin, Palmerston and Litchfield.