‌ The Government has signalled the Pfizer-BionNTech Covid vaccine could soon be made available to children. It comes after Pfizer on Monday announced its Covid vaccine was effective in protecting youth aged 5 to 11 from…

Victoria's daily number of local COVID-19 cases has hit a new high, while the government has confirmed poor compliance with restrictions at construction sites meant a shut down of the industry was unavoidable.

The state has recorded 603 new local COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, marking a new daily record for the state in 2021 and taking the number of active cases to 6000.

A woman from Hume has died from the virus in the past 24 hours, while 241 people are in hospital, including 60 in intensive care.

READ MORE: More Melbourne protests over construction shutdown and vaccine mandate

Health Minister Martin Foley said Victoria's construction industry shutdown, which was announced last night, followed a worrying number of local infections linked to construction sites.

Of Victoria's 6000 active coronavirus cases, 403 are directly linked to 186 construction sites – 362 in Melbourne and 49 in regional Victoria.

"The public health team had no choice but to hit the pause button and continue working with the sector to improve compliance and COVID-19 safety in the industry," Mr Foley said.

Treasurer Tim Pallas said the construction industry was "effectively amplifying and spreading the virus" and the shutdown would be for a minimum two-week period.

"What we have seen is a need for the government to intervene and take strong action in order to protect the community, the workers and their workmates and their families," Mr Pallas said.

Mr Pallas said inspections over a two-week period before yesterday's protest showed 50 per cent of sites failed to meet COVID-19 safety requirements.

"We put the industry on notice a week ago," he said.

"We needed to see a substantial improvement and we made it very clear that the permitted worker status would be reviewed if they were failed to be adhered to.

"Since then, we've seen poor compliance and further transmission sites being identified and that just cannot continue.

"We can't simply have an industry as one of the focal points, one of the greater areas of activity of the virus spread in the community, not adhering to the safe requirements for work that we put in place.

"Unfortunately, because of abhorrent behaviour and what we've seen, there is a need for the government to intervene and take strong action consistent with the Chief Health Officer's orders in order to protect the community."

He said all sites would be required to show full compliance to current health orders before the expected reopening on October 5.

Protests are continuing for a second day in Melbourne today over the vaccine mandate in the construction sector.

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https://twitter.com/VicGovDH/status/1440084735913447425

The closure of construction projects for at least two weeks was confirmed by Mr Pallas last night, two hours before the shutdown came into effect at 11.59pm.

The shutdown applies to all construction projects in Metropolitan Melbourne, Ballarat, Greater Geelong, Surf Coast Shire and Mitchell Shire, with limited exemptions.

Vaccinations

Mr Foley said 73.4 per cent of eligible people in the state had received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, while 44.4 per had been fully vaccinated.

Health experts this morning have warned vaccines alone won't stop the spread of coronavirus and even 80 per cent of the adult population being immunised is not enough.

Epidemiologist Professor Tony Blakely has co-authored a new report arguing 80 per cent vaccination coverage would not support a safe reopening.

He believes children as young as five years old would need to be vaccinated for society to reopen and for the population to be protected.

"If we had 80 per cent of adults only vaccinated, it wouldn't be very pretty next year," he said.

"But if we get 80 per cent of five-plus children also vaccinated, and we keep the minimum public health and social measures in place – like people like me working at home when I can, only going to work one day a week, density limits in hospitality – we'll get to a reasonable (amount of) hospitalisations in a year a state the size of Victoria.

"But we'd still spent 14 per cent of the time in lockdown.

"That's not great but it's getting there but there are further innovations we can do on top of that to make life even better next year."

Aucklanders waiting to get their takeaway fix will finally get the chance to do so just as the clock strikes midnight tonight.And the big takeaway chains and small businesses alike are ready too.McDonald’s says exactly when its…

Whether it be via text message, a phone call, email or via social media, scam artists will stop at nothing to try and gain access to your money and personal information.

A tired kangaroo has been pulled free from the chilly waters of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra this morning.

The rescue was caught on camera by passer-by David Boyd, and posted on a Canberra group Facebook page.

"I found the poor little bloke and was on the phone to Access Canberra to get assistance," Mr Boyd told nine.com.au.

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"These two legends jumped in and helped out."

The dawn video shows the two men carefully entering the water and approaching the roo slowly.

It doesn't move and they are able to carefully pick it up and take it back to dry land, where it leans against them and bystanders congratulate the rescuers.

READ MORE: More than 100 construction protesters gather in Melbourne for second day

The video ends there, but Mr Boyd said in his post that the kangaroo was fine.

Kangaroos, even smaller ones, can cause injuries while in a state of fear, and people are always urged to be cautious around wild animals.

For wildlife rescue needs, WIRES can be contacted on 1300 094 737.

Lost Judgment is an exciting, mystery-thriller full of twists and turns and a heavy sprinkle of quirky, Japanese culture.

It's a solid sequel to a spin-off and it easily holds up on its own.

While there is the occasional throwback to the first game Judgment, there's nothing preventing you from getting lost in the storyline.  

I can testify to this as I haven't had the privilege of really delving into any of the previous titles.

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Exploring the streets of urban Tokyo, fighting thugs and gangs, taking up drone photography or assisting the dance club with a sugar daddy debacle.

This semi open-world/fighting/RPG title by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio is jam-packed with a variety of things to do and mysteries to solve. 

Six hours in and I was still receiving how-to-play messages for new interactions – this game is big. 

You'll need about 20 hours to finish it, but that's just the main story.

Story-wise, it's a very slow start, but it's not boring by any means.

The main plot doesn't truly evolve until you're a few hours in, but the lead-up and side missions are just as entertaining as the main event. 

READ MORE: Body found in FBI search for missing US woman Gabby Petito

The story revolves around a gruesome murder.

You play as Private Detective Yagami, who just happens to have this case land in his lap while investigating a series of bullying accusations at a Tokyo high school. 

It picks up as the game goes on, but an earlier mission sees you questionably put a spy camera in the school's bathroom (and various other places) – the main character even questions his decision, but you do it anyway.

There's a few gritty and uncomfortable moments like this throughout the game and they don't skip on details. 

Infiltrating the high school is the first major story arc in Lost Judgment.

The initial goal of stopping a group of bullies takes a turn, and I've got to say, taking down bullies has never been more satisfying. 

The language settings can be adjusted at any time. 

I started the game playing with the original Japanese voiceover, I later changed to English but then reverted back to Japanese. 

The English voiceover acting is really well done, but if you're happy to read the subtitles it's the best way to go. 

You just can't beat the original.

The world of Lost Judgment is truly alive, you can listen in to conversations, buy some lunch, head into an arcade to play some awesome mini-games, check your social media and help a desperate shopkeeper.

It's such a worldly trip, never have I felt closer to Japan while playing this game – the next best thing would actually be being there.

All of the fine details, from cars down to the branding on a vending machine, are true to form.

There's some well-known brands scattered throughout, such as Pepsi and Boss – it just adds to the realism of the game.

Aside from Yagami's detective work and dancing skills, he's also a badass martial artist.

Fights in Lost Judgment are all real-time combat and you can simply jump into a fight by cruising the streets. 

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There's multiple fighting styles to choose from, and you can adjust these styles depending on the enemy you're facing.

The Tiger, Crane and Snake styles of combat each come with their own base move and special move sets. 

I primarily used Snake; countering enemy attacks Batman-style was a thrill and the combat is accurate, fluid and satisfying. 

I'll admit, I started playing the game on the second-easiest difficulty and it proved no challenge in combat.

If you're new to this style of game don't be afraid of playing under normal difficulty – you'll be fine. 

Winning fights, collecting items and completing missions will earn you Skill Points (or SP), you can use these points to upgrade Yagami's combat abilities and more.

It's a basic system but it works well.

There's a few moments in the game where you'll be required to attempt some parkour, climb a building and the like.

Some of these moments are randomly scattered throughout the game and are seemingly only activated when the mission requires it.

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To add to the quirkiness, Yagami gets a skateboard.

At first I was confused, but skating through the city streets of Japan was pure bliss.

Just make sure you don't cross onto the sidewalk, you'll automatically jump off your board and it'll slow you down.

While exploring the world you can jump in a taxi to navigate around the map – or fast travel.

The first time I used this I struggled to see exactly where the taxi was taking me as it simply drew a very fine orange line on the navigation map. 

If you're new to the Yakuza series, or simply looking to travel to Japan while our country locks down – Lost Judgment ticks all the boxes. 

Lost Judgment is coming to Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 on September 24. 

9News was supplied an early access code for Lost Judgment on PlayStation 5 for the purpose of this review. 

Lost Judgment includes themes of suicide and bullying. For support, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

A man has been charged after allegedly failing to tell police who was doing burnouts in Sydney's CBD in a Ferrari sports car rented under his name.

Police began an investigation when they were sent footage which allegedly showed a white Ferrari Portofino accelerating harshly through a red light at the intersection of Phillip and Bent Streets at about 11.17am on Sunday May 25 this year.

The driver then allegedly continued doing burnouts at the intersection, causing smoke and blocked traffic.

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Inquiries revealed the car was registered to Sydney hire car business and police were told it had allegedly been hired by a 46-year-old Glenbrook man at the time of the incident.

Police spoke with the man who allegedly failed to disclose who was driving the Ferrari at the time of the incident.

The man was charged with responsible custodian not disclose driver's details and was issued a court attendance notice.

He is due to appear before Downing Centre Local Court today.

Dozens of endangered African penguins were apparently killed by a swarm of bees in South Africa on Friday.

The 63 penguins were found dead on Friday at a colony in Simonstown, near Cape Town, according to a statement from South African National Parks (SANParks).

"The deaths occurred suddenly some time between Thursday afternoon and Friday morning," and experts started investigating the cause of death, the statement said.

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"The post-mortems revealed that all the penguins had multiple bee stings, and many dead bees were found at the site where the birds had died."

The preliminary investigation suggested the penguins died after being stung by Cape honey bees, SANParks said, but samples were still being tested to rule out other possible causes.

Alison Kock, a SANParks marine biologist, thanked the organisation's partners, including the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) and the City of Cape Town, for their assistance in investigating the "unusual event."

READ MORE: Australian species saved from extinction in 'incredible first'

"No more dead African penguins were found on site today, and we will continue to monitor the situation," Dr Kock said in the statement.

On Sunday, veterinarian David Roberts from SANCCOB told the AFP news agency that bee stings had been found around the penguins' eyes.

"This is a very rare occurrence. We do not expect it to happen often, it's a fluke," Dr Roberts told AFP.

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African penguins are native to the coasts of South Africa and Namibia.

They are among the smaller penguin species, known for their irregular markings and loud voices.

The species is also in sharp decline, from a population of more than a million at the beginning of the 20th century to just 55,000 in 2010 – when they were declared endangered.

FBI agents and police have searched the home of the boyfriend wanted for questioning in the death of US 22-year-old Gabby Petito.

Ms Petito's body was discovered over the weekend at a Wyoming national park months after the couple set out on a cross-country road trip.

The FBI gave no details on the search by at least a dozen law enforcement officers, but agents removed several boxes and towed away a car that neighbours said was typically used by 23-year-old Brian Laundrie's mother.

Local media said Mr Laundrie's parents were seen getting into a police vehicle.

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Mr Laundrie and Ms Petito had been living with his parents at the North Port, Florida home before the road trip on which she died.

The young couple had set out in July in a converted van to visit national parks in the West. They got into a fight along the way, and Mr Laundrie was alone when he returned in the van to his parents' home on September 1, police said.

In Wyoming, the FBI announced on Sunday that agents had discovered a body on the edge of Grand Teton National Park, which the couple had visited. No details on the cause of death were released. An autopsy was set for this week.

"Full forensic identification has not been completed to confirm 100 per cent that we found Gabby, but her family has been notified," FBI agent Charles Jones said.

READ MORE: Gabby Petito's father posts touching tribute after body discovered

Mr Laundrie has been named a person of interest in the case, but his whereabouts in recent days were unknown.

Ms Petito's father, Joseph, posted on social media an image of a broken heart above a picture of his daughter, with the message: "She touched the world."

In an interview broadcast Monday on TV's Dr Phil show, Mr Petito said Mr Laundrie and his daughter had dated for two-and-a-half years, and Mr Laundrie was "always respectful."

During the interview, which was recorded before his daughter's body was found, Mr Petito said the couple had taken a previous road trip to California in her car and there were no problems.

READ MORE: Gabby Petito's fiancé Brian Laundrie now missing, family says

"If there were, I would have discouraged going on the trip," Mr Petito said.

Mr Petito said his family began worrying after several days without hearing from their daughter.

"We called Brian, we called the mum, we called the dad, we called the sister, we called every number that we could find," Mr Petito said.

"No phone calls were picked up, no text messages were returned."

Mr Petito said he wants Mr Laundrie to be held accountable for whatever part he played in Gabby's disappearance, along with his family for protecting him.

"I hope they get what's coming, and that includes his folks," Mr Petito said.

"Because I'll tell you, right now, they are just as complicit, in my book."

The FBI said investigators are seeking information from anyone who may have seen the couple around Grand Teton.

Police looking for Mr Laundrie searched a 24,000-acre Florida nature preserve over the weekend without success. Investigators had focused intently on the area after Mr Laundrie's parents told police he may have gone there.

Ms Petito and Mr Laundrie were childhood sweethearts who met while growing up on New York's Long Island. His parents later moved to North Port, about 55 kilometres south of Sarasota.

Video released by the Moab, Utah, police showed that an officer pulled the couple's van over on August 12 after it was seen speeding and hitting a curb near Arches National Park. The body-camera footage showed an upset Ms Petito.

Mr Laundrie said on the video that the couple had gotten into a scuffle after he climbed into the van with dirty feet. He said he did not want to pursue a domestic violence charge against Ms Petito, who officers decided was the aggressor.

Moab police separated the couple for the night, with Mr Laundrie checking into a motel and Ms Petito remaining with the van.

In the footage, Ms Petito cried as she told the officer that she and Mr Laundrie had been arguing over her excessive cleaning of the van. She told the officer she has OCD — obsessive compulsive disorder.

On Dr Phil, her father said that wasn't literally true. She just likes to keep her living area orderly and was using slang, he said.