Australia news LIVE Queensland records 16 new local COVID-19 cases Victoria records six new cases as infections continue to soar in NSW

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Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles, Health Minister Yvette D’Ath and Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young are providing a COVID-19 update.

Watch live below.

Queensland has recorded 16 new locally acquired cases, which Deputy Premier Steven Miles has described as “very encouraging news”.

All of the 16 new cases have been linked to the Indooroopilly Delta cluster, including students at Ironside State School and Brisbane Grammar.

Only three were infectious in the community for one day and one was infectious for two days.

It brings the total number of cases in the Indooroopilly cluster to 79, while there were a record-breaking 52,350 tests performed overnight.

On Wednesday night, Prime Minister Scott Morrison called Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, with Queensland able to bring forward some of its Pfizer vaccines to August.

“These are not additional vaccinations but they will allow for Queensland Health to do more vaccinations in August so that is very good news,” Mr Miles said.

There were also 11 overseas acquired cases linked to a ship anchored off Gladstone, where most of the crew are vaccinated.

A footballer in the seniors team at a club in Melbourne’s south-west has tested positive for coronavirus a few days after playing a match on Saturday, according to his league.

In a statement released this morning, the Western Region Football League said a player at the Newport Football Club tested positive yesterday after skipping training on Tuesday because he was feeling unwell.

“The WRFL has been made aware that a player from the Newport Football Club (seniors) has reportedly tested positive to COVID-19 on Wednesday, August 4,” the statement reads.

“The player participated in the West Footscray vs Newport senior men’s match at Shorten Reserve in West Footscray on Saturday, July 31 at 2.15pm.

“The player began to feel unwell this week and did not attend club training on Tuesday, and was confirmed as having COVID-19 on Wednesday. On learning of the positive case, Newport Football Club immediately advised all players and officials to get tested and isolate until further notice.”

The league said it would continue to monitor the situation closely.

Shorten Reserve has not yet appeared on Victoria’s official list of exposure sites.

A school in NSW’s Hunter region has closed after being advised of positive COVID-19 cases in two students, following the closure of a primary school on the Central Coast and a high school in Lake Macquarie.

Maitland Christian School issued a notice to parents this morning that read: “URGENT ... please collect your children.”

“Our school has been advised by NSW Health that two students at our school have tested positive for COVID-19,” the alert, shared by Maitland Councillor Philip Penfold on Facebook, states.

“Please collect your children immediately â€" even if you are an essential worker.

“Our school will be non-operational effective immediately for the on-site attendance of staff and visitors to allow time for contact tracing and cleaning.

“All staff and students are asked to self-isolate until you receive further. Children will be safely supervised until picked up this morning, but please treat this as urgent for collection of all students immediately.”

MP Sonia Hornery, for Wallsend in Newcastle’s west, said she had received reports the Hunter school had closed “due to possible positive cases” and “an email has been sent to parents and students”.

The school has been contacted for comment.

Victoria’s daily coronavirus numbers are in.

The state has recorded five new cases of COVID-19.

The Department of Health says three of the cases are linked to existing outbreaks and were in quarantine for their infectious period. Another two cases remain under investigation.

There are officially six cases reported today, but we already knew about one of those cases yesterday (a teacher who works in Melbourne’s west). That case is also under investigation.

There are now 80 active cases of coronavirus across Victoria.

A two-year state Parliament inquiry that was set to recommend legalising cannabis in Victoria has been watered down after Andrews government MPs intervened at the last minute.

The inquiry’s report, to be released this morning, now suggests the government “investigate the impacts of legalising cannabis for adult personal use in Victoria” â€" a marginal step that dents proponents’ hopes of a shift in the state’s drug policy in the foreseeable future.

A shift on cannabis policy in Victoria is unlikely in the foreseeable future. Credit:Reuters

The inquiry considered evidence on both the decriminalisation and legalisation of the drug before the axed recommendations of the inquiry were drafted. Decriminalisation removes criminal penalties for the possession or use of the drug, while legalisation removes further barriers and can open it up to regulation.

Read the full story here.

NSW Police Minister David Elliott was on the Today show earlier this morning.

He was asked about reports of supermarket workers being verbally abused or even physically assaulted while trying to enforce mandatory QR code check-ins, as per NSW’s public health orders.

NSW Minister for Police and Emergency Services David Elliott.Credit:Kate Geraghty

“Anybody that has been assaulted needs to call the police,” Mr Elliott said.

“The supermarkets have invested a lot of money in CCTV and that’s what they need to do ... make sure that they provide the CCTV of anybody that is assaulted [and] give it to the police. But also the security in the supermarkets is obliged to do what every other business is obliged to do and that is comply with the public health orders.”

Mr Elliott urged supermarkets to “spend the extra money” and hire security personnel if they believe their staff members are at risk of being abused by members of the public.

“This is an action that the public health orders have said will allow us to contact anybody that has been in a supermarket when it’s been exposed.”

At least eight interstate Qantas flights in Western Australia have been cancelled after a FIFO worker returned a positive COVID-19 test.

The case of the worker in his 30s has authorities scratching their heads because he returned a weak positive before testing negative.

The man flew out to FMG’s Cloudbreak mine on July 20.Credit:Glenn Hunt/File photo

The man transited through Perth Airport at the same time as a traveller who arrived in WA after completing hotel quarantine in Queensland before later testing positive for the virus.

But he had also previously been sick with coronavirus in March and April 2020, leading authorities to question whether he might be a “shedder”.

A Qantas spokesperson told 6PR radio in Perth that eight flights have been cancelled as crew await COVID test results due to the airport being declared an exposure site.

Flights to and from Karratha, Newman, Port Hedland, Paraburdoo, Onslow, Kalgoorlie, Broome and Geraldton have been scratched and the airline says affected passengers will be contacted and put on new flights within the next 24 hours.

Anyone who has been at Perth Airport’s Terminal 3 between 4am and 7am on July 20 and between 4.30pm and 6pm on July 27 should get tested and isolate until they return a negative test.

For the full list of exposure sites, visit the WA Department of Health website.

Fruit and vegetable giant SPC will be the first company in Australia to require all onsite personnel â€" including staff and visitors â€" to be fully vaccinated by the end of November.

SPC chairman Hussein Rifai says the company made the decision in the wake of the Delta variant.

SPC will soon require all onsite personnel to be fully vaccinated. Credit:Vince Caligirui

“We believe that the only way that we can get out and protect our employees, our customers, and the communities in which we work is to [get] the vaccine,” he told ABC News Breakfast earlier this morning.

Mr Rafai said employees will be given paid vaccination leave to recover if they suffer any side effects from their inoculation.

“A place like Shepparton [in northern Victoria], where our factory is, you can shut the whole thing down very easily, it’s a small town. People interface a fair bit and we’re one of the largest employers there. If we’re not protecting our employees and it spreads through there, then it will impact the whole town.”

Mr Rafai said the company was currently consulting with the union and employees about the policy.

Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie has slammed NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian for allowing Bunnings outlets to remain open to the general public despite Sydney being in lockdown.

“You have to go into [a proper] lockdown,” Ms Lambie told the Today show earlier this morning. “No mucking around with this. You can’t go in half.

Bunnings shouldn’t be open to the public in NSW, according to one Senator. Credit: Jacky Ghossein

“Shut them down. Unless you need a pharmacy, unless you need to eat or go to the supermarket ... leave the tradies part open in Bunnings.

“People can go on about last year and have a go at [Victorian Premier] Daniel Andrews. You want to see the gold plate and see how it’s done? Four or five times they have been in lockdown and got out of it. I’m ropeable ... and I imagine some of those people in NSW should be too. Stop mucking around with it, Gladys.”

During Victoria’s most recent lockdown, Bunnings was only open to tradespeople who needed essential supplies. (However, Bunnings remains open to the public in Queensland, which is dealing with its largest outbreak since the first wave of the virus last year.)

Yesterday, NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said authorities weren’t as concerned about large retail settings as they were small, local supermarkets.

Transmission between households remains NSW’s main concern, according to Dr Chant.

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