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Regional Victorians will re-enter lockdown at 1pm on Saturday as authorities scramble to contain a COVID-19 outbreak centred on the city of Shepparton.
Victoria recorded 61 new locally acquired virus cases on Saturday, including 39 in the community while infectious. Authorities have only been able to link 48 of the cases to known outbreaks.
An additional 16 cases have been detected - all in Shepparton - via rapid testing. They will be included in Sunday's numbers.
Premier Daniel Andrews says authorities had no choice but to extend Melbourne's lockdown to all of regional Victoria.
However regional centres won't be subjected to the curfew that's in place in Melbourne.
"Sadly the public health team have advised that given the Shepparton outbreak and the fact that at least one person travelled to Bendigo, and potentially others travelled beyond, that is to say there is a very significant risk of transmission right across regional Victoria," he said.
Mr Andrews said the risk was not simply confined to the Goulburn Valley area and a statewide lockdown - at this stage until September 2 - was the only option.
He also announced new restrictions for access to child care, which will move to a permit system. Only vulnerable children and the children of authorised workers will be able to access child care.
"We have seen a very large number of young people, and some very young people, become infected with this virus. This is a feature of these outbreaks, it is a feature very much of Delta and a feature of 2021," he said.
© AAP 2021
Photo: Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews (AAP Image/Luis Ascui)
To keep Victorians safe, and on the advice of the Chief Health Officer, from 1pm today Regional Victoria will enter lockdown and additional measures will come into effect in Metro Melbourne. pic.twitter.com/YY6oeOGHYA
— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) August 21, 2021
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Gamers spent more than 14 hours per week on average engaged in the pastime.
That's according to new data compiled by Accenture and commissioned by NBN Co.
For one-in-seven users, gaming was one of their most important online activities, and one-in-10 say it is the most important.
Researchers also found gaming isn't just a source of entertainment, it also helps connect people.
Additional data from the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association shows 43 percent of Australian parents play online games with their children.
Twenty-five percent of adult gamers also play with their partners online and more than a quarter share videos of their gameplay online.
NBN customers told Accenture they expected to increase their gaming time by up to 50 percent per year through to 2028.
Three in four were reliant on NBN during COVID-19 to access forms of entertainment or relaxation while about 14 percent who upgraded their plan during the pandemic did so to support online gaming.
COVID led many NBN users to spend an extra hour a week using online entertainment, including gaming.
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The NSW Police Force will launch a highly visible and agile police response ahead of unauthorised protest activity planned for this weekend across Sydney and Regional NSW.
Operation Stay At Home was launched earlier this week to enforce COVID-19 Public Health Orders across NSW.
More than 1400 officers will be deployed to prevent, disrupt and respond to plans for large public gatherings to engage in protests.
General Duties officers will be supported by the Public Order and Riot Squad, Operations Support Group, the Dog and Mounted Unit, Traffic and Highway Patrol Command, Police Transport Command, and PolAir for static and mobile operational activities.
A significant police presence can be expected on major roadways and the public transport network.
Police are continuing to monitor commentary relating to proposed splinter events being planned across Regional NSW and officers to disrupt those activities.
Police warn any protest event is unauthorised and unacceptable in the current climate.
A police spokesperson said they have powers under the Crimes Act and the Public Health Act to prevent unauthorised protests and mass gatherings, ranging from Penalty Infringement Notices through to charges with maximum penalties of imprisonment.
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Australia has smashed daily records for new local coronavirus cases and vaccine doses administered.
The vast majority of Thursday's 754 new infections were detected in NSW, which had 681 cases of local transmission.
There were 57 cases in Melbourne and 16 in Canberra, with the combined tally of 754, eclipsing the record set last year during Victoria's deadly second wave.
While the Delta strain circulating across three states and territories is more contagious than previous variants, vaccines are another key difference in this year's fight against the pandemic.
A whopping 309,010 jabs were administered in the past 24 hours, which was another record day.
More than half of the nation's population aged 16 and above has received at least one dose, while 28.8 per cent are fully vaccinated.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was a major turning point in the rollout, which has been plagued by slow progress.
"Australia is really getting on top of this on the vaccination program," he told reporters in Canberra.
"Today, a big corner turned because one in two Australians who are eligible to have the vaccine have had it."
Eligibility will be extended to everyone aged 16 to 39 from the end of the month, with about 8.6 million people in that group.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said Australia had reached 50 per cent for first doses on the same day it was announced Americans would start receiving third booster jabs from next month.
"We are way behind," he told 3AW radio.
"The problem we have is that Scott Morrison said it wasn't a race and it was a race. Other countries have got ahead of us."
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said every state would need to confront living with the virus when double-dose vaccination coverage reaches 80 per cent.
She expects that benchmark will be reached in about three months.
"By mid-November the conversation has to be around not so much the number of cases we have, but how many people we are keeping out of hospital," Ms Berejiklian said.
Federal, state and territory governments support vaccine coverage targets of 70 and 80 per cent to reduce the likelihood of lockdowns and reopen Australia.
While New Zealand has approved vaccinating all 12 to 15-year-olds, Australia's expert immunisation panel ATAGI is yet to make a decision.
There has been rising Delta cases among children and younger people who have been the least urgent priority of the rollout.
The prime minister says he expects a decision soon with plans being readied to expand the rollout to children.
"I am keen to see that occur this year. I think it is important it happens this year," Mr Morrison said.
Meanwhile, AstraZeneca announced the brand name Vaxzevria has been registered in Australia for its vaccine, bringing it into line with other countries.
"Use of the Vaxzevria brand name should help simplify international travel for people vaccinated with AstraZeneca's vaccine," the company said in a statement.
Melbourne marked its 200th day in lockdown with a spike in cases, however 54 were linked to existing outbreaks and 44 were isolating while infectious.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the latter figure was exactly what health authorities wanted to see.
A three-day lockdown in Darwin ended at midday after no new cases were linked to an infected US defence contractor.
However, the town of Katherine will remain in lockdown for a further 24 hours.
© AAP 2021
Image Credit: Arne Müseler / www.arne-mueseler.com, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en>, via Wikimedia Commons
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