Australia Covid news live: NSW, Qld, Victoria lockdown restrictions and case numbers

There are fears southeast Queensland could be plunged into a new lockdown, with the state recording another new locally acquired Covid case on Wednesday.

It comes as two NSW LGAs and one Victorian region were sent back into lockdown overnight after a spike in Covid cases.

Victoria confirmed another day of record cases on Wednesday, with 950 new infections and seven deaths.

NSW recorded 863 cases and 15 deaths on Wednesday.

Follow below for today’s top updates. Keep refreshing the page for the latest developments.

Gladys issues warning to businesses, unvaxxed rule-breakers

Premier Gladys Berejiklian has issued a warning to businesses and unvaccinated people planning to join in on the October 11 freedoms.

“There are fines of $1000 every time you do the wrong thing. Businesses, there are fines from $5000 all the way up to $11,000 and closure for a period of time if businesses flagrantly disregard the Covid safety plans and that might mean not even displaying a QR code or not having done the basics,” she said.

“Let there be no mistaking that we expect everybody to do the right thing.”

She said while the onus is on the individual to do the right thing, larger venues will also be expected to be checking people’s vaccination status as they enter the premises.

“If you are a larger business, there is an expectation that you stick to your Covid safety plan and do the right thing and individuals have a role in this as well. It is in all our interests,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“If you have an outbreak in your premises, you will temporarily be shut down and that will cause you to be disrupted.

“Our aim now, as we open up, is to actually have continuity and certainty, not to have businesses shut down and reopen all the time. That will be prevented when everybody does the right thing.”

Union workers infected after Victorian protests

Four staff members from the Victorian construction union have tested positive for Covid-19, following the violent protests held in Melbourne last week.

CFMEU Victoria and Tasmania president Robert Graauwmans is among the four officials who have contracted the virus, with union secretary John Setka, along with hundreds of other workers, forced into self-isolation.

The CFMEU Melbourne office was listed as a Tier One exposure site on Wednesday after anti-vaccination protests were held outside the headquarters last week.

The union said none of the infected workers were involved in the protests.

Days of violent protests kicked off after the Victorian government announced new restrictions for constructions workers, including mandatory vaccinations, due to the high rates of Covid transmission occurring within the sector.

At least two protesters who attended the rallies last week have tested positive for the virus.

In a statement, the CFMEU blamed the “reckless and irresponsible behaviour of protesters” for the transmission at its headquarters in North Melbourne.

“Their reckless behaviour has resulted in transmission to union staff and officials who were not involved in the protest. To date, four positive cases have been recorded,” the union said.

“Officials and staff are deeply concerned for the wellbeing of their families and the risk of the infection spreading.”

One new case in Qld, mask rules expanded

Queensland has recorded one new community Covid-19 case, bringing the total number of cases in the state to five.

The new case, a man in his 50s who lives at Bargara Waters on the Gold Coast, is a close contact of the man who works at the aviation training facility.

“We also have one additional case that will not be recorded in Queensland numbers, as they were tested positive in NSW but is a truck driver who has travelled on to the Gold Coast area, lives in Queensland, and has been in the Gold Coast area from the 25th to the 27th of September,” Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said.

As a result, the mask restriction that was announced yesterday will also be extended to include the Gold Coast.

“And we will also be putting the directive in place as far as vulnerable facilities in the Gold Coast LGA. So that will mean that there will be restrictions on people accessing hospitals, aged care, disability facilities, and correctional services facilities,” Ms D’Ath said.

“We will be monitoring this very closely over the next 24 to 48 hours, but we know that we need to be looking very closely, of course, at all of those close contacts that have attended the training aviation facility, and our contact tracers are working closely with the airlines and also the staff that work at those facilities.”

Ms D’Ath warned Queenslanders “the virus is on our doorstep” and urged residents, particularly those in Brisbane, Moreton Bay and the Gold Coast, to go out and get tested.

NSW records 863 cases and 15 deaths

NSW has recorded one of its deadliest days of the pandemic, with 15 deaths and 863 Covid cases confirmed in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.

The death include, two people in their 40s, two in their 50s, four in their 60s, three in their 70s, one in their 80s and three in their 90s.

One person had received two doses of the Covid vaccine, five people had received one dose of the Covid vaccine and nine people were not vaccinated.

Qld battling ‘brand new outbreaks’

Genomic sequencing of Queensland’s new cases has revealed the state is dealing with two “brand new outbreaks”.

Chief health officer Dr Jeanette Young said neither the truck driver case from yesterday or the aviation training worker are linked to any previous cases in Queensland.

“They’ve clustered with cases in NSW and, indeed, with the United States. That fits with that aviation worker who works in that facility that we know international pilots use,” she said.

“We’re just working through at the moment – those sequences have been loaded up onto our national database to see if there’s any closer link that we can find.

“But we know they’re not linked to any case in Queensland. So we have these brand-new outbreaks happening.”

Dr Young said it has been confirmed the infected truck driver that was announced yesterday has a home address in Sydney and arrived in Queensland on September 16.

Victoria cases 950 and seven deaths

Victoria has recorded 950 new locally acquired Covid-19 cases and seven deaths in the 24 hours to midnight last night.

This is the highest number of cases the state has seen since the beginning of the pandemic, topping the 867 infections and four deaths recorded on Tuesday.

What will trigger a Queensland lockdown

Queenslanders are anxiously waiting to hear whether they will be plunged back into lockdown, with authorities warning what happens over the next 24 hours will determine whether more restrictions are needed.

Yesterday the state confirmed four new locally acquired cases, with the most concerning being an unvaccinated truck driver who was staying in shared Brisbane accommodation. He was infectious in the community for more than a week.

Two cases are a couple from Eatons Hill, with the husband a vaccinated aviation worker who was infectious in the community for three days.

The fourth case is a person who tested positive after completing their full 14 days in quarantine and leaving the hotel.

Chief health officer Dr Jeanette Young warned a “large number” of cases in the next 24 hours would likely spark stay-at-home orders for Brisbane and Moreton Bay

“Of course I always consider a lockdown and then I work through what we need to do,” she said on Tuesday.

“At this stage, I do not think a lot is warranted. That could change.”

Griffith University infectious diseases expert Nigel McMillan said authorities will be looking at the number of new cases and the locations they are discovered when determining whether a lockdown is needed.

“Obviously, if we get 10 cases … and they’re spread all over the southeast, then we can expect a lockdown,” he told the ABC.

“It looks like the chief health officer is talking about more localised lockdowns to smaller LGAs or smaller numbers of LGAs than before.”

It comes after new restrictions were announced for the region yesterday, with residents now required to wear a mask in both indoor and outdoor settings, unless they are outdoors and can socially distance.

The spate of Covid infections among truck drivers also prompted the government to mandate vaccinations for the workforce if they are crossing the border.

Truck drivers must have their first vaccine by October 15 and their second by November 15.

‘Will be more cases’: Grim warning for Qld

Queensland’s mystery cases mean there are likely Covid infections that have been spreading undetected in the community, with an infectious disease expert warning there will be more cases discovered in the coming days.

Melbourne epidemiologist Professor Nancy Baxter told ABC’s News Breakfast that contact tracers will be looking at how many people have been infected by the known cases and also how those mystery contracted the virus.

“There are two infectious people from two different chains of transmission. They will be looking at how many people have been infected and how long they were in community,” she said.

“If there are a lot of people in that space, they will look at lockdown.

“These are both mystery cases, so they will be looking at upstream. There will be more cases out there.

“They have to look upstream to see how many people had been infected before these people were identified and gave it to the initial mystery cases.”

Professor Baxter said if they find the source of the mystery cases and discover there hasn’t been widespread transmission, than Queensland may be able to avoid a lockdown.

“But if there is sign there has been a lot of underground transmission, like there was with the current wave in Victoria, they will have to lockdown,” she said.

New freedoms for Melburnians from today

Melburnians can now have a hit of tennis or play a round of golf after several Covid-19 restrictions were eased overnight.

Melbourne residents and people living in locked down areas of regional Victoria are waking to more freedoms on Wednesday after the state hit its 80 per cent first dose vaccination target.

The state was due to reach the milestone on Sunday but the extra freedoms were delayed by two days after the vaccine uptake took longer than expected.

The “modest easing” of restrictions, which kicked in at 11.59pm, include:

• Allowing contactless outdoor recreations, such as golf, tennis, fishing and boating

• People in metropolitan Melbourne and regional areas in lockdown can gather outdoors in groups of up to five adults from two households, if all adults are fully vaccinated

• Increasing the travel limit to 15km for exercising and shopping

• Personal training can take place with five fully vaccinated people outside plus a fully vaccinated trainer

• Additional restrictions on playgrounds have been lifted. Masks can be removed to eat and drink at a playground

• In regional Victorian areas not in lockdown, the cap for outdoor settings at restaurants and cafes has increased from 20 to 30 people.

• Masks can be removed in hair and beauty salons in regional Victorian areas not in lockdown

– Additional reporting NCA NewsWire

Shock plan to scrap Covid payment

Covid-19 disaster payments offering lockdown-affected workers up to $750 a week will start phasing down from October as soon as each state hits 80 per cent double dosed vaccination rates, and will be scrapped from November.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will announce the plan to phase out the payments on Wednesday and it could see some workers in NSW, Victoria and the ACT lose cash within a month.

Under the plan outlined, the automatic renewal of the payments will now end when a state hits 70 per cent double dosed adults. In NSW, Victoria and the ACT, the states are expected to hit the 70 per cent double dosed target in mid October, with the 80 per cent target likely to be hit around a fortnight later.

In practice, what that means is workers will now have to reapply each week to confirm that they have lost the relevant hours of work under the eligibility rules as soon as the state where they live hits 70 per cent double vaxxed.

If you are back at work and no longer qualify for payments, you will lose eligibility for the payments right away in October.

As soon as a state hits 80 per cent of adults that are double vaccinated, the payments will start to phase down over a period of a fortnight before it is scrapped entirely. In NSW, Victoria and the ACT, those targets are likely to be hit in November. If you’re still out of work you will be forced onto unemployment payments.

– Samantha Maiden

Three regions plunged back into lockdown

Two NSW LGAs and one Victorian region were sent back into lockdown overnight following a rise in Covid-19 cases.

Stay-at-home orders came into force for Port Macquarie and Muswellbrook at 6pm on Tuesday and will remain in place for a week.

The restrictions also apply to anyone who has been in these LGAs since 17 September and 22 September respectively.

Everyone in these LGAs must stay at home unless it is for an essential reason, which includes shopping for food, medical care, getting vaccinated, compassionate needs, exercise and work or tertiary education if you can’t work or study at home.

The City of Latrobe, in Victoria’s southeast, was also sent into lockdown from 11.59pm last night after caseloads “rapidly increased in recent days”.

The area, 150km from the Melbourne CBD, has not been subject to the lockdown impacting metropolitan Melbourne.

Residents will now be subject to the same restrictions as Melbourne for seven days, excluding the curfew.