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No new COVID-19 cases in Queensland

There have been no new cases of COVID-19 recorded in Queensland after a hotel quarantine worker tested positive to the highly infectious UK strain last week, sending all of Greater Brisbane into lockdown.

It comes as 15 people have so far been fined for breaching the three-day coronavirus lockdown order in place across the city. Five of the 15 fines were issued at one party held in a Brisbane suburb.

READ MORE: Nationwide hotel quarantine overhaul begins to contain highly infectious new COVID-19 strains

The streets across Brisbane remain deserted this morning as the city enters its second full day of restrictions, with residents only allowed to leave home for four essential reasons.

Today's results come from over 19,000 tests conducted in the past 24 hours.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk praised the conduct of resident in adhering to the lockdown.

"What we're seeing in the greater Brisbane area is large amounts of compliance and people are doing the right thing," Ms Palaszczuk said.

She also reminded those who were heading out for a permitted walk or trip to the shops to wear their masks.

https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1348043434938929152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Queensland's contact tracers have identified 147 close contacts of the hotel quarantine worker who travelled around Brisbane while infectious with the UK strain.

Of these, 112 have so far tested negative.

"So far, so good," Ms Palaszczuk said.

The premier said she would provide an update tomorrow morning as to whether Brisbane would be allowed to exit its snap lockdown as planned at 6pm.

However, Western Australia at least has indicated it will keep its border closed to Queensland for some time.

New possible infection sites identified

Chief Health Officer Dr Jeanette Young is urging anyone who visited a number of locations across Brisbane to come forward for testing, whether or not they have symptoms.

This includes anyone who caught the train from Altandi Station to Roma Street at 7am on Saturday January 2 or the train from Central Station to Altandi Station at 4pm the same day.

Other locations are: Woolworths at Calamvale North between 11am and 12pm on January 3; Coles Sunnybank Hills, between 7.30 and 8am on Tuesday January 5; and the Nextra Sunnybank Hills newsagency between 8am and 8.15am on January 5.

"If you have been to any of those places, it is absolutely critical, please immediately come forward," Dr Young said.

She said that so far, 187 people connected to the infectious cleaner at the Grand Chancellor Hotel had come forward and of those, 147 had been deemed close contacts.

Despite most having already tested negative, Dr Young cautioned that health authorities still had to work through 14 days of quarantine for all of those people.

Dr Young also announced health alerts for the Sunshine Coast town of Maleny, where a returned traveller from Victoria visited her parents after flying into Queensland.

WA Premier to keep border closed to Queensland

The woman had flown into Victoria from overseas on December 26 and was tested in hotel quarantine, where she was found to be positive for the highly contagious UK strain of COVID-19.

She was isolated and did 10 days of quarantine before she was cleared of her symptoms and released to fly to Queensland, where she since tested positive again.

Anyone who visited the Cappriccios Italian Pizza Restaurant in the Riverside Centre in the town between 6.30pm and 7pm on January 6 is being urged to isolate and get tested immediately.

The same advice is being given for those who went to the town's Woolworths between 4.30 and 4.50pm on Thursday, January 7 and the Purple Palate Cellars between 4.15 and 4.25 the same day.

A health alert has also been issued to anyone on that woman's Jetstar flight JQ 570 which arrived in Brisbane at 11pm on January 5.

Contact tracers using CCTV, GoCard to track contacts

Dr Young has defended Queensland Health's approach to deeming who is a "close contact" of the hotel quarantine worker after revealing 187 had been identified.

She said not everyone who caught the same two trains as the infected woman would be deemed a close contact.

"The public health people are assessing each individual case," Dr Young said.

In the case of the two trains the woman caught while infectious, she noted that not everyone would have shared the train platform or a carriage with the woman.

"We've also been working with transport using Go Card information and any CCTV footage that is available," she said.

"The most important thing is individuals shouldn't be making the decision whether or not they're a close contact – they should come forward and then the public health people will make that decision."

Police praise Brisbane community

Fifteen fined for breaching Brisbane lockdown

Speaking to Weekend Today this morning, Queensland's Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said she was pleased with how Brisbane residents were handling lockdown.

"The public and the community have been pretty amazing in terms of compliance, so we're incredibly pleased that there haven't been too many breaches at all," Ms Carroll said.

Despite this, she said police would be continuing to closely monitor the city's roads, retail areas, parks and entertainment precincts until the lockdown order lifts at 6pm tomorrow.

READ MORE: Brisbane lockdown rules explained

There are also compliance checks being conducted on those who travelled from Brisbane into other areas of Queensland before the lockdown came into effect.

Police have handed out more than 700 masks to Brisbane residents, Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski, said.

He praised the conducted of the vast majority of residents in adhering to lockdown restrictions.

Masks became compulsory across Greater Brisbane on Friday for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

The deputy commissioner said police were taking the approach of handing out masks, not fines, to those willing to comply with police directions.

Why Brisbane is in lockdown

The three-day lockdown was put in place after it was revealed on Thursday a hotel quarantine worker had travelled around Brisbane while infectious with the virulent new UK strain of COVID-19.

The woman caught public transport and went shopping before she developed symptoms and got tested.

No subsequent cases have yet been connected to the woman but anyone in Brisbane with even the mildest of symptoms is being urged to get tested and isolate immediately.

The highly infectious UK strain has also prompted a national overhaul of the hotel quarantine system, with daily testing of quarantine staff and fewer international flights being allowed in.

Debris found in search for missing flight

Sriwijaya Air flight SJ182 is believed to have crashed shortly after taking off from Jakarta, according to Indonesia's Head Of National Transportation Safety Committee, Suryanto Cahyono.

'Suspected debris' has now been found in the search for the missing flight, which dropped off the radar above the Java Sea. The Boeing 737-500 aircraft flying from Jakarta to Pontianak, on the island of Borneo, last had contact with the control tower at 2.40pm local time (6.40pm AEDT).

A search and rescue operation has been launched for the 26-year-old aircraft, which had 50 passengers — 43 adults and 7 children — as well as 12 crew members on board. It's not known if any Australian were on the flight.

Sriwijaya Air aircraft on tarmac in Jakarta, July 30 2020https://twitter.com/AlexInAir/status/1347853130411761664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Maj. Gen Bambang Suryo Aji of Indonesia's search and rescue agency, Basarnas, told reporters on Saturday that the plane is believed to have crashed between the islands of Laki and Lancang, in the Thousand Islands chain northwest of the capital, Jakarta. Basarnas is now conducting a search operation.

"We have found debris which is suspected to be from the missing Sriwijaya flight, which we have now seized," he said.

"But we are currently facing an issue of visibility because it's night time.

"We will try our best to find the exact location and coordinates of where the flight fell and tomorrow morning, and can continue the search in our maximum capacity."

The debris will be passed to the National Transportation Safety Committee to be investigated, he said, adding that is not confirmed if that debris belongs to the missing plane.

The Indonesian Navy has deployed five warships and diving troops in the search, according to Rear Admiral Abdul Rasyid.

https://twitter.com/CNNIndonesia/status/1347879780327165952?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwIndonesian elite navy divers board a ship which will take them out to search for Sriwijaya Air flight SJ 182, which lost contact with air controllers shortly after take-off, on January 09, 2021 in Jakarta, IndonesiaRelatives of passengers arrive at a crisis centre set up following a report that a Sriwijaya Air passenger jet has lost contact with air traffic controllers shortly after take off, at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Indonesia,Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021

A commander of one of the search-and-rescue ships who goes by a single name, Eko, said that fishermen found cables and pieces of metal in the water.

"The fishermen told us that they found them shortly after they heard an explosion like the sound of thunder," Eko was quoted by TVOne as saying, adding that aviation fuel was found in the location where the fishermen found the debris.

Aji said no radio beacon signal had been detected from the 26-year-old plane. He said his agency was investigating why the plane's emergency locator transmitter, or ELT, was not transmitting a signal that could confirm whether it had crashed.

"The satellite system owned by neighbouring Australia also did not pick up on the ELT signal from the missing plane," Aji said.

People wait in the crisis centre in Soekarno Hatta Airport, Tangerang, Indonesia, on January 09, 2021 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Relatives of Sriwijaya Air flight SJ 182 arrive at the crisis centre in Soekarno Hatta Airport, on January 09, 2021 in Jakarta, Indonesia

Local media reports said fishermen spotted metal objects believed to be parts of a plane this afternoon in the Thousand Islands region.

A local fisherman who goes by the name Solihin, told BBC's Indonesian service he witnessed a crash from his boat, with his captain deciding to return to land as a result.

"The plane fell like lightning into the sea and exploded in the water," he told BBC. "It was pretty close to us, the shards of a kind of plywood almost hit my ship."

While a security official, told CNN Indonesia they "found some cables, a piece of jeans, and pieces of metal on the water".

A crisis centre has been set up at Soekarna-Hatta International Airport as relatives and friends of people aboard the plane weeping, praying and hugging each other as they await news at Jakarta's airport and Pontianak's airport.

Relatives of passengers arrive at a crisis centre set up following a report that a Sriwijaya Air passenger jet has lost contact with air traffic controllers shortly after take off, at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Indonesia,Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021Head of Sriwijaya Airline Jefferson Jauwena speaks during press conference at the crisis centre in Soekarno Hatta Airport, on January 09, 2021 in Jakarta, Indonesia

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said Flight SJ182 was delayed for an hour before it took off at 2:36pm (4.36pm AEDT).

Sriwijaya Airlines CEO Jefferson Irwin Jauwena said the plane was in good condition before it took off for the estimated 90-minute flight.

"Of course we are very concerned about what happened to us with SJ 182," he said at a press conference on Saturday.

"We hope that your prayers can help the search process run smoothly. We hope all is well," Jauwena said.

In an earlier statement the airline said that they were "in contact with various related parties to get more detailed information" regarding the incident and that they will "immediately issue an official statement" when more information was clear.

People watch a schedule board at the Crisis centre in Soekarno Hatta Airport, on January 09, 2021 in Jakarta, IndonesiaIndonesian military stand guard at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta after Sriwijaya Air flight 182 lost contact on Saturday.

SJ182 took off from Jakarta at 1.56pm (3.56pm AEDT) and just four minutes later, the aircraft lost more than 10,000 feet (3000m) altitude in less than one minute, according to plane tracker FlightRadar24.

The airline lost contact 11 nautical miles north of Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at an altitude of 11,000 feet (3352m) while climbing to 13,000 feet (3962m), according to state-run Antara news agency.

Indonesia's search and rescue agency, Basarnas, has sent a ship to the Thousands Islands — a chain of islands to the north of Jakarta's coast — to check the location where the plane is suspected to have lost contact, Indonesia's Head Of National Transportation Safety Committee, Suryanto Cahyono said.

A Boeing spokesperson told CNN in a statement that they are "aware of media reports from Jakarta, and are closely monitoring the situation."

Relatives of passengers onboard missing Sriwijaya Air flight SJY182 wait for news at the Supadio airport in Pontianak on Indonesia's Borneo island on January 9, 2021, after contact with the aircraft was lost shortly after take-off from Jakarta.https://twitter.com/flightradar24/status/1347850078644563969?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

"We are working to gather more information," they said.

The Transport Ministry said it is investigating and coordinating with Basarnas and the National Committee for Transport Safety.

Sriwijaya Air, a low-cost airline and Indonesia's third largest carrier, transports more than 950,000 passengers per month from its Jakarta hub to 53 destinations within Indonesia and three regional countries, according to the company's website.

The airline has had a handful of other incidents in the past, including a plane crash in August 2008, which killed one person.

This radar image shows the flight path of Indonesian Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 before it dropped off radar, Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021

The Boeing 737-200 crashed into a house with three residents inside when it skidded off the runway in Jambi, according to Tribunnews.

There were reportedly 26 people injured, one of whom later succumbed to their injuries. A hydraulics malfunction led to the aircraft's failure to stop, according to the final report.

And in 2012, a Jakarta to Pontianak flight veered off the runway in heavy rain and came to a stop on it's belly in soft ground, requiring an excavator and cranes to remove the aircraft. No-one was injured in the incident.

In June 2018, it was removed from the European Union's list of banned air carriers, 11 years after it was placed on that list.

– Reported with Associated Press and CNN

Northern Beaches lockdown lifted

Residents on Sydney's Northern Beaches can return to their regular freedoms after lockdown was officially lifted at midnight.

It's been three weeks since the region first went into lockdown following a major outbreak in the area in December.

Now 70,000 locals from north of the Narrabeen Bridge up to Palm Beach are able to breathe a cautious sigh of relief with stay-at-home orders finally lifted.

READ MORE: Fresh COVID-19 alert for Sydney Westfield amid new lockdown

There is still some anxiety with cases from the Avalon cluster still in the area.

However, plenty of families who were separated over the holiday period will rejoice and local retailers will welcome the slight return to normality after missing out on vital Christmas and New Year trade.

The easing of restrictions come as contact tracers race to find the source of a new positive case connected to the Avalon cluster.

The man in his 40s from the northern zone of the Northern Beaches who tested positive yesterday remains under investigation.

"He was asymptomatic through his isolation and tested negative on three occasions through his isolation period," Dr Chant said.

Authorities have not yet been able to identify the source of his infection.

"We are having a couple of test results pending on some more casual contacts, and we have issued some additional guidance in relation to some venue information."

Local businesses are expected to get a boost after a challenging three weeks with the government announcing an early rollout of the their restaurant vouchers for the Northern Beaches.

Mayor of the Northern Beaches, Michael Regan, said the stimulus is desperately needed.

"It's pretty full on, pretty terrible, some are thinking they won't be able to open their doors even if restrictions are lifted," he told Today.

"We are appealing to the State and Federal Government to do what they can to help. It's been a tough three or four weeks for them."

The state's Health Minister said yesterday he was still had "reservations" about the easing of lockdown restrictions given the uncertainty surrounding the area's most recent infection.

People in the area were encouraged to get tested as soon as symptoms arose, with long lines at clinics in Avalon yesterday.

Mr Regan said he is confident in the community's ability to manage the outbreak in the coming weeks.

"Yesterday when the minister made the announcement at the press conference all of Avalon came back to get retested again. We saw a massive spike immediately in people going to get retested.

"They are keen, they have done the right thing already. They want restrictions eased, they want to get out."

Three dead in separate fishing accidents along Perth coast

Three men have died in separate fishing accidents along the Perth coastline today.

An elderly man died after the recreational fishing boat he was on collided with a commercial vessel off the Perth coast.

Police were called to waters off Fremantle just after 12.30pm after reports a fishing vessel had overturned.

Fremantle boat crashFremantle boat crash

Nearby boats in the area managed to pull the 80-year-old and his 77-year-old friend from the water and get them onto a Rottnest ferry.

The survivor, shaken by a day on the water gone horribly wrong, was treated for minor injuries and left Fremantle Water Police with loved ones.

The tragedy comes after two other men died in separate fishing accidents in other parts of the city.

Emergency crews were called to Hillary's Marina in North Beach after reports a man in his 50s, who had been had been abalone fishing, was found unconscious in the water just after 7am.

Lifesavers attempted to revive him but he died at the scene.

Fremantle boat crash

Around the same time, north of Hillary's Marina, a man in his 70s suffered a medical episode – believed to be a heart attack – while searching for the same delicacy with relatives. Emergency crews performed CPR, but he couldn't be revived.

"It certainly has been a dark day in terms of death on the water today and it is timely to remind people the ocean is an unforgiving place and you need to take the appropriate caution and preparation before venturing out there," WA Police Commander Brendan Moore said.

Fire in Indian hospital kills 10 newborns

A fire broke out in the intensive care unit of a government-run hospital in western India early Saturday, killing 10 infants, police and news reports said.

A preliminary investigation suggests the fire at District General Hospital in Bhandara, about 70kms from Nagpur, was caused by an electrical short-circuit, police officer V.S. Chavan said.

Police officers investigate the scene after a fire broke out at District General Hospital in Bhandara, about 70 kilometres from Nagpur, India, Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021.

The Press Trust of India news agency said the infants were one to three months old.

Firefighters rescued seven babies from the newborn care unit of the hospital in Bhandara, a town in Maharashtra state nearly 1,000km south of New Delhi.