Received
- Details
- Written by Grant Broadcasters
- Category: Received
- Hits: 121
A man in his 60s who drove international flight crews to their Sydney quarantine hotels has been confirmed as a new local COVID-19 case, sparking a scramble to prevent any community spread.
NSW Health was also notified late on Wednesday night that a household contact of the new case reported has also tested positive for COVID-19, and further venues of concern have been identified.
NSW Health has released a list of venues visited by the man including a cinema, cafes and department stores at Bondi Junction plus venues in Vaucluse and North Ryde.
Authorities say the man had not travelled overseas in recent times but worked as a driver, including for international flight crews, and returned a positive test on Wednesday.
The source of the infection is unknown.
"Urgent investigations into the source of the infection and contact tracing are underway, as is genome sequencing," NSW Health said in a statement.
"Close contacts are being urgently contacted, and asked to get tested and isolate."
The man was potentially infectious when he attended the screening of the film Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard at Cinema 1 at Events Cinema at Bondi Junction on Sunday between 1.30pm and 4pm.
The cinema has been identified as a close contact venue and anyone who attended that film screening must immediately contact NSW Health and get tested and isolate for 14 days.
Other potential exposure sites include Myer and David Jones in Bondi Junction, Harry's Coffee and Kitchen in Bondi Junction and cafes in Vaucluse and North Ryde. The list of venues can be found on the NSW Health website.
The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee will convene on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the Bondi case.
It comes as NSW Health also investigates a potential hotel quarantine breach, after two cases in adjacent rooms returned identical viral sequencing results.
It's unclear how and where transmission occurred from a couple to another returned traveller who were all staying on the fourth floor of Sydney's Radisson Blu quarantine hotel.
Genomic sequencing has shown all three cases have identical viral sequences of the Alpha strain (B.1.1.7), NSW Health said.
"At this stage we still don't know if it happened on the plane, transporting from the plane to the accommodation, at the accommodation or whether it was just a coincidence," Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters on Wednesday.
The couple, who were asymptomatic, tested positive to COVID-19 on a routine day two test on June 3, NSW Health said in a statement.
The other returned traveller returned a negative day two test on June 3, before subsequently developing symptoms and testing positive for COVID-19 following a test on June 5.
The three cases were transferred from the Radisson Blu to the Special Health Accommodation, where they remain.
All three arrived in Sydney on the same flight from Doha on June 1 and stayed in adjacent rooms in the quarantine hotel.
NSW Health said there was no evidence of further transmission.
All guests and staff who were on the fourth floor of the hotel between June 1 and June 5 have been asked to get tested and isolate pending further advice.
Meanwhile, NSW Health says it administered a record 17,223 COVID-19 vaccines in the 24 hours to 8pm on Tuesday, including 6048 at the vaccination centre at Sydney Olympic Park.
The total number of COVID-19 vaccines administered in NSW is now 1,737,557.
© AAP 2021
- Details
- Written by Grant Broadcasters
- Category: Received
- Hits: 122
A man in his 60s who drove international flight crews to their Sydney quarantine hotels has been confirmed as a new local COVID-19 case, sparking a scramble to prevent any community spread.
NSW Health has released a list of venues visited by the man including a cinema, cafes and department stores at Bondi Junction plus venues in Vaucluse and North Ryde.
Authorities say the man had not travelled overseas in recent times but worked as a driver, including for international flight crews, and returned a positive test on Wednesday.
The source of the infection is unknown.
"Urgent investigations into the source of the infection and contact tracing are underway, as is genome sequencing," NSW Health said in a statement.
"Close contacts are being urgently contacted, and asked to get tested and isolate."
The man was potentially infectious when he attended the screening of the film Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard at Cinema 1 at Events Cinema at Bondi Junction on Sunday between 1.30pm and 4pm.
The cinema has been identified as a close contact venue and anyone who attended that film screening must immediately contact NSW Health and get tested and isolate for 14 days.
Other venues of concern in Bondi Junction, Vaucluse and North Ryde include cafes, a Myer store and a bakery. The list of venues can be found on the NSW Health website.
The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee will convene on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the Bondi case.
It comes as NSW Health also investigates a potential hotel quarantine breach, after two cases in adjacent rooms returned identical viral sequencing results.
It's unclear how and where transmission occurred from a couple to another returned traveller who were all staying on the fourth floor of Sydney's Radisson Blu quarantine hotel.
Genomic sequencing has shown all three cases have identical viral sequences of the Alpha strain (B.1.1.7), NSW Health said.
"At this stage we still don't know if it happened on the plane, transporting from the plane to the accommodation, at the accommodation or whether it was just a coincidence," Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters on Wednesday.
The couple, who were asymptomatic, tested positive to COVID-19 on a routine day two test on June 3, NSW Health said in a statement.
The other returned traveller returned a negative day two test on June 3, before subsequently developing symptoms and testing positive for COVID-19 following a test on June 5.
The three cases were transferred from the Radisson Blu to the Special Health Accommodation, where they remain.
All three arrived in Sydney on the same flight from Doha on June 1 and stayed in adjacent rooms in the quarantine hotel.
NSW Health said there was no evidence of further transmission.
All guests and staff who were on the fourth floor of the hotel between June 1 and June 5 have been asked to get tested and isolate pending further advice.
Meanwhile, NSW Health says it administered a record 17,223 COVID-19 vaccines in the 24 hours to 8pm on Tuesday, including 6048 at the vaccination centre at Sydney Olympic Park.
The total number of COVID-19 vaccines administered in NSW is now 1,737,557.
© AAP 2021
- Details
- Written by Grant Broadcasters
- Category: Received
- Hits: 123
Australia's lowest-paid workers will receive a bigger pay rise than last year after the industrial umpire decided on an $18.80-a-week wage increase.
The Fair Work Commission revealed on Wednesday the national minimum wage will rise 2.5 per cent to $772.60 per week or $20.33 an hour.
Workers covered under aviation, fitness, tourism and certain retail sector awards will have their pay rise delayed until November 1.
General retail award workers will have to wait until September 1 for a wage bump.
The remainder of the 2.3 million people on award rates or the national minimum wage will see an increase from July 1.
Commission president Iain Ross said while the economic recovery was well underway, downside risks remained.
"In particular, the risks of domestic outbreaks and of ongoing disruptions to other major economies. The pace of the vaccine rollout also remains a risk," he said.
The expert panel also took into account the superannuation guarantee rising half a percentage point to 10 per cent from the start of next financial year.
"But we have not applied a direct quantifiable discount to the minimum wage increase," Justice Ross said.
Unions pushed for a 3.5 per cent increase, which would have seen minimum wage workers receive an extra $26 a week.
Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus said it was disappointing retail workers would receive a delayed increase.
Ms McManus said the 2.5 per cent increase for 25 per cent of the workforce was due to unions fighting for it.
"For workers on the minimum wage it's not going to be enough to keep up with the cost of living," she said.
"There's no justification for delaying increases for essential retail workers when companies have posted record profits."
The national minimum wage increased by 1.75 per cent to $753.80 a week, or $19.84 an hour, after last year's review but the rise was delayed at least three months for most workers.
The Morrison government warned against a major increase, arguing it could dampen employment in small business during the coronavirus pandemic.
Labor's industrial relations spokesman Tony Burke said the pay rise was hard fought.
"It may well have been higher, were it not for the fact Australia's government, the Morrison government, refused to lift a finger in arguing for higher rates of pay," he told reporters in Canberra.
Major employer groups urged the commission to limit its increase to 1.1 per cent, or $8.29 a week.
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Jenny Lambert said the commission's decision was a bitter pill to swallow for around 230,000 small businesses.
"Australians who have managed to battle on through, keep their business afloat and keep people in work now face a highly risky hike in wages - always their biggest cost," she said.
Ms Lambert said the Victorian lockdown showed how unpredictable conditions for businesses remained, while the international border closure was hurting tourism, education and agriculture.
"That's why a 2.5 per cent increase to award wages now is premature and irresponsible."
© AAP 2021
- Details
- Written by Grant Broadcasters
- Category: Received
- Hits: 120
A Sydney man has been charged over an attempt to import more than 900 kilograms of cocaine into Australia.
Mostafa Baluch was initially charged with a raft of offences in early June as part of ongoing investigations into an organised criminal syndicate involved in a plan to supply three tonnes of cocaine throughout NSW.
On Wednesday the 33-year-old was charged with an additional offence of conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.
Baluch was arrested at his waterfront home in Bayview on Sydney's northern beaches on June 3 and charged with possessing anabolics, knowingly dealing with the proceeds of a crime and supplying a prohibited drug, NSW Police said in a statement on Wednesday.
Police said they seized $A62,700 and $US12,000, four mobile phones, two of which were encrypted, an ounce of cocaine, steroids and jewellery during the arrest.
Police said the operation began in early 2020 when police received a tip about someone gambling a "significant amount of money" at a Sydney casino.
During the investigation detectives uncovered a transnational organised crime syndicate across Australia and North and South America.
An international police operation began involving NSW Police, the NSW Crime Commission, the US Drug Enforcement Administration and the US Navy.
In October last year the US Navy intercepted a boat in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Colombia and seized 870kg of cocaine. In April this year the US Coast Guard seized a further 900kg of cocaine, after intercepting a second vessel off Ecuador.
Police allege Baluch was the sole financier of the second shipment of cocaine, which has an estimated street value of $270 million.
He appeared in Central Local Court on Wednesday and was again refused bail.
Police allege both seizures formed part of a conspiracy to supply a total of 3000kg of cocaine which has a total estimated potential street value of $900 million.
© AAP 2021
Page 1490 of 1496