Tag Archives: oceania

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Fears of virus spread at Sydney hospital coffee shop

After almost two months COVID-free, Sydney is on edge following a serious breach at one of the city's quarantine hotels.

A security guard has tested positive for the virus, despite having already had his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine before moving around the community.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said authorities were notified of the locally acquired case late on Saturday night and urgent contact tracing and genome sequencing was underway.

The 47-year-old man works in security at two quarantine hotels, the Sofitel Hotel in Wentworth and the Mantra Hotel in Haymarket.

https://twitter.com/NSWHealth/status/1370888875871145985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Mr Hazzard said he had worked while infectious.

Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said he was possibly infected by a returned traveller at the Sofitel last week, but authorities were keeping "an open mind".

Dr Chant said he received the first of two doses of the Pfizer vaccine on March 2 but it could take up to 14 days to impact his immune system.

The guard attended three venues while infectious, including Bexley Aquatics Centre on Saturday March 13 from 9am 9.30am; Pancakes On The Rocks at Beverly Hills on March 13 between 10.45 am to 12pm; and a train from Hurstville to the city arriving at 6.30pm on Friday, March 12.

He also visited a coffee shop in the Hurstville Private Hospital across three days last week.

Hotspot locations

Anyone who was a customer at the following venues at the listed times should monitor for symptoms:

– Haymarket – Dae Jang Kum Korean restaurant on Saturday March 13 between 12.15am to 12.25am;

– Haymarket – 7 Eleven on Saturday March 13 between 12.20am to 12.25am;

– Hurstville – Hudson's Coffee shop, Hurstville Private Hospital on Monday March 8 between 8.30am to 9am; Tuesday March 9 between 8.30am to 9am; Wednesday March 10 between 8pm and 9pm; Thursday March 11 between 8.30am and 9am and Friday March 12 between 8.30am and 9am.

Anyone who travelled on the following train services during the below times should also monitor for symptoms:

– T4 line, Hurstville to Central – Friday March 12 departing 6pm Hurstville and arriving Central 6.30pm.

d- T4 line, Central to Hurstville – Saturday March 13 departing Central at 7am and driving Hurstville at 7.30am.

Contact tracing underway

All of of the security guard's family members have returned negative COVID-19 test results.

"We have contacted around 130 people who worked from 7pm on Friday night to 7am on Saturday, overlapping March 12 to March 13," Dr Chant said.

"We are asking those individuals to immediately self-isolate and get a test … that allows us time to work through and ascertain the nature of interaction that this security guard would have had to those quarantine workers."

NSW Police said in a statement it continues to review and monitor processes in quarantine and provides extensive support to ensure all infection control is in place.

"Investigations are underway by NSW Health to determine the source of this infection," the statement said.

"As part of these inquiries, NSW Police will assist health investigators by reviewing CCTV, conducting interviews and analysing rosters."

The new infection breaks NSW's 55-day streak with no locally acquired cases.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison downplayed any alarm surrounding the case, stating he was not disturbed and vaccinations were not immediately effective.

"I'm not surprised by it, because you would expect these things to happen on the odd occasion.

READ MORE: States warn travellers from Brisbane high-risk locations to self isolate

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said the jab was not a "silver bullet" that provided a quick fix.

Professor Kelly added there was a time lag between receiving the jab and it taking affect.

Aside from the hotel quarantine worker, NSW recorded no new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.

The new case in NSW comes after a doctor at Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital tested positive.

Queensland today recorded one new local case of COVID-19, however it is believed to be an historic case.

Several venues of concern in Brisbane have been identified.

NSW Health is asking any NSW residents who attended any of these venues during the relevant times is asked to immediately self-isolate.

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What WA Liberals' wipeout could mean for Scott Morrison

Saturday night's crushing wipeout election defeat for the Western Australian Liberal Party could have serious flow-on effects for the Morrison government at the next federal election, says political editor Chris Uhlmann.

The state's Liberal Party is set to secure just two seats following the landslide victory by Mark McGowan's Labor Party, meaning they will lose their status as a party and with it important parliamentary resources.

Liberal leader Zak Kirkup lost his own seat of Dawesville to Labor's Lisa Munday, the first major party leader to lose their seat in WA in 88 years.

READ MORE: WA election bloodbath as Labor triumph in historic, landslide victory

After a landslide victory, re-elected Premier of WA Mark McGowan makes a speech with his family by his side at the Gary Holland Community Centre.

WA will now be governed by what Uhlmann has described as a "virtual one-party state", with Labor securing 53 out of 59 seats in the lower house, and a 54th looking likely.

"This is an extinction level event for the opposition in Western Australia," Uhlmann told the Weekend Today show this morning.

"I don't believe anyone when they say this morning perhaps there are no federal implications for this.

"All the resources they had in terms of getting ready for a federal election have been stripped away."

READ MORE: How an Instagram idol Premier left the Liberals in crisis

Uhlmann noted that if the results from last night's election were repeated in WA's federal electorates, the Morrison government would lose six seats — enough to swing the election in Labor's favour.

Women to march on Canberra

It's latest stress from the west for Mr Morrison.

Two WA cabinet ministers — Attorney General Christian Porter and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds — are on sick leave in the wake of separate rape allegations.

Outrage that has been sparked around the country in recent weeks will fall on Parliament when it returns on Monday, with thousands expected to join the Women's March 4 Justic to protest in Canberra.

Uhlmann says the spotlight on political scandal is not just a problem for the government, with a growing number of Labor MPs and Senators fearing the party's pursuit of Mr Porter and Senator Reynolds may rebound on the opposition, and there are signs that is already happening.

"Former Labor staffer Anna Jabour alleges she was sexually exploited while working for the Gillard Government," Uhlmann says.

"Writing for news.com.au, she says: 'one of the people I used to look up to the most, who turned out to be one of the most toxic figures, is currently a senior Labor figure'.

WA’s last remaining closed border set to open

"Nine News has confirmed that a senior staffer to Senator Penny Wong was let go after an alleged incident with a young woman in Adelaide last year. In a statement, Senator Wong's office said" 'our foremost concern is to support the complainant … including a request for privacy'."

COVID key to success in WA

Meanwhile, the analysis of Mr McGowan's success — with the premier himself maintaining a staggering popularity rating of around 88 per cent — has largely been attributed to his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It's not lost on me that I have a huge weight of responsibility and I want to make sure that we do our very best for Western Australia over the course of the next four years," Mr McGowan said today.

"It's obviously been a long road for me, I've been in parliament for 24 years, and the last four years as premier, nine years as party leader, and the last two and a half months for this election campaign were a pretty hard road.

"But it's all worth it because at the end of the day I'm here to serve."

Commenting on Mr Kirkup's loss of his own seat, Mr McGowan empathised.

Long road to recovery for WA Liberals

"I wish him all the best. It's a hard thing, he is a young man…. We're all Australians… we're all human beings and we should all care about one other," he said.

WA residents have lauded the state's long-standing border closures as responsible for the state's enviable economic position and maintaining social freedoms throughout interstate lockdowns.

"As far as people were concerned, it was a health and not an economic crisis," Uhlmann said.

"So Scott Morrison now has a crisis with state Premiers."

Mark McGowan promises to 'work for everyone' across WA

"Heading into the next federal election, he has three state Labor premiers who are in extraordinarily strong positions: Annastacia Palaszczuk, Daniel Andrews and now Mark McGowan.

"If they gang up on him in a federal campaign and chip away at him, they might prove a lot more effective than Anthony Albanese."

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North Korea 'unresponsive' to approaches from Biden administration

The Biden administration launched a behind-the-scenes push last month to reach out to North Korea through multiple channels, a senior administration official has told CNN, but thus far Pyongyang has been unresponsive.

"To reduce the risks of escalation, we reached out to the North Korean government through several channels starting in mid-February, including in New York," the official said.

"To date, we have not received any response from Pyongyang. This follows over a year without active dialogue with North Korea, despite multiple attempts by the US to engage."

The official did not provide further details of what the outreach entailed but noted the administration has been conducting its interagency review of the United States' policy towards North Korea, "including evaluation of all available options to address the increasing threat posed by North Korea to its neighbors and the broader international community."

READ MORE: Satellite images fuel fear of North Korea mining plutonium

Kim Jong Un admits policy failures at congress opening.

During the review process, the administration has consulted with former government officials with experience in North Korea policy, including some officials from the Trump administration, the official said. The US has also been in touch with allies from Japan and South Korea.

"We look forward to completing our intensive, multi-stakeholder policy review in the coming weeks," the official said.

Reuters first reported the outreach efforts on Saturday.

News of the outreach comes as lawmakers and key US allies are eagerly awaiting details about Biden's North Korea policy, which they expect will be announced publicly in the coming weeks when the administration has completed a policy review, according to multiple sources familiar with the internal discussions.

Satellite imagery obtained by CNN reveals North Korea has recently taken steps to conceal a facility that US intelligence agencies believe is being used to store nuclear weapons.