Australian states are battling to procure more Covid-19 vaccines after Sydney recorded 35 new exposure sites in just one day and an infected flight attendant was out in the community in Queensland.
An emergency national cabinet meeting has been called for Monday morning to address the vaccine rollout, which has been plagued by delays.
It’s hoped that greater vaccination rates would help to curb any further outbreaks across the nation, stopping them from ballooning to unmanageable levels or causing snap lockdowns.
Four new cases were announced in Sydney on Sunday, bringing the total number of infections in the city to 13 as dozens of businesses from Parramatta to Bondi were added to the growing list of exposure sites.
National Cabinet are meeting for an emergency discussion about getting more Covid vaccines, as masks once again become mandatory indoors in areas of Sydney (pictured, a woman on George Street in the city’s CBD)
Pfizer is now the preferred jab for anyone under the age of 50, as AstraZeneca is feared to heighten the risk of blood clots in younger age groups (pictured, a nurse receives the Pfizer jab in Adelaide)
Premier Gladys Berejiklian also tightened restrictions including mandatory masks on public transport and inside public spaces in Randwick, Bayside, Canada Bay, Inner West, City of Sydney, Waverley and Woollahra.
She said the ‘next few days are critical’ and urged residents ‘not to be complacent’.
‘If cases continue to emerge, we will need to go further,’ the Premier said.
Brisbane is also on alert after an international air crew member tested positive for the virus on Saturday, after spending 14 days in hotel quarantine, and having travelled into the CBD while potentially infectious.
Anyone who was in Brisbane Airport between 4pm and 4.30pm on Saturday June 19 must get tested and isolate until they receive further instructions, and the same goes for anyone who was at the Brisbane Portuguese Family Centre from 7pm on the same day.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the flight attendant had been in the community in Brisbane’s CBD, but only for a short time.
Victoria recorded no new cases on Sunday, but state Health Minister Martin Foley said his government would raise concerns about the vaccine shortage in the emergency meeting on Monday.
Pictured: Birkenhead Point Brand Outlet in Drummoyne where a person infected with Covid visited 19 stores – plunging hundreds into isolation
Pictured: Coles supermarket in Wynyard, where a person infected with Covid went on June 17, has also been added to the exposure list
He said he would urge the Commonwealth to treat the vaccine rollout as a ‘race’.
The shortage is a result of the rare blood clotting disorder associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is no longer recommended for people between 50 and 59, meaning Australia needs more Pfizer jabs.
Pfizer has an agreement to supply 40 million vaccines to Australia in 2021, with two jabs needed to fully vaccinate one person.
Trials are also expected to begin by the end of this year into making Australia’s first locally developed vaccine, which would use the same mRNA technology as Moderna and Pfizer – both highly successful jabs.
Businesses on Sydney’s burgeoning exposure site list includes 19 retailers in the busy Birkenhead Point Brand Outlet in Drummoyne in the city’s west.
Hero Suchi restaurant in the CBD was also added, along with a fitness centre in Castle Hill in the north-west, and a Big W store in Merrylands.
The Bondi cluster has swelled to nine cases with four more in NSW without known sources (pictured, the drive-through testing clinic in Bondi)
Anyone who visited North Face, Country Road or Seed at the Drummoyne outlet centre on Tuesday June 15 between 11.35am and 1pm is considered a close contact.
Close contacts have been told to contact NSW Health immediately, get a Covid test and isolate for 14 days regardless of the results, with experts fearing people may test negative in the early stages of the virus.
Shoppers who has visited any of the other venues on the list are considered casual contacts and must self-isolate until they test negative to coronavirus.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced masks would be required to be worn at most indoor venues across seven local government areas from 4pm on Sunday.
They are Randwick, Bayside, Canada Bay, Inner West, City of Sydney, Waverley and Woollahra.
‘You must wear a mask if you are in and around those seven local government areas,’ Ms Berejiklian said.
‘That will include things like hospitality workers, shopping, retail shopping, any interactivity where you aren’t eating or drinking, you will need to wear a mask.’
Ms Berejiklian also announced face mask rules on public transport would be extended from Sydney to Wollongong and Shellharbour.
‘It is important for all of us to be on high alert, no matter where we live in particular,’ she said.
But the premier stopped short of bringing in any lockdown rules, saying it was not likely further restrictions would have to be brought in for the time being.
On Sunday, Premier Gladys Berejiklian (pictured) announced masks would be required to be worn across seven local government areas
‘At this stage, we don’t think we will need to do further than what we have announced today,’ she said.
‘I know all of us are a bit fatigued after so many months of living with Covid but we can’t drop for now.’
‘We have to make sure we aren’t complacent and have to make sure we are complying to what we are asking you to do.’
One of the new cases announced on Sunday was a 30-year-old man who visited Bondi, Surry Hills, Westfield Bondi Junction, and The Broken Drum Cafe in Fairy Meadow in the NSW Illawarra region.
The other case was a woman in her 30s who was a household contact of the man.
Chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said an additional two cases in the Sutherland Shire, in southern Sydney, were also recorded.
One was a woman in her 50s who was a close contact of a previously confirmed case while the other was a man in his 50s linked to a Salvation Army store.
The cases will be officially included in Monday’s figures.
There were 24,468 tests conducted in the 24 hours to 8pm Saturday but Dr Chant said she would like to see more than 30,000 tests conducted on Sunday.
‘I would like to see those numbers today exceed 30-40,000 tests,’ she said.
‘The quicker we can diagnose cases, the quicker we can get ahead of the transmission of this virus.’
Dr Chant put out another call for residents to get tested if they visited Westfield Bondi Junction, and its car park, on June 12 or 13, with every customer – regardless of time or specific store – told to test and isolate if they feel even the slightest bit unwell.
People line up outside a COVID vaccination centre in West Melbourne, Monday, May 31. It is feared that Australia’s supply of AstraZeneca could go unused with an increasing number of people recommended to get the Pfizer jab
‘If you have been to any of those venues or have any symptoms, you need to isolate,’ she said.
Covid-19 fragments have also been detected in sewerage from the Brookland catchment- which serves parts of the Central Coast.
‘We are calling for the community to come forward for testing,’ Dr Chant said.
‘At this stage, we have not been able to identify positive cases in the catchment. We don’t have a full ability because people move around.
‘But we have not had anyone residing there that has been recently discharged from our hotel quarantine.’