Australia news LIVE Victoria records 11 new local COVID-19 cases NSW Queensland infections continue to grow

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Australia is being considered as a test site for US company Moderna to study a COVID-19 vaccine for children as young as six months, in a sign of the firm’s interest in the country as it negotiates with the federal government over local vaccine production.

Moderna is evaluating Australia as one location for a trial that aims to enrol 6000 children aged from six months to 12 years, with most of the study taking place in the United States.

Millions of doses of the Moderna vaccine are coming to Australia.Credit:Bloomberg

The move, revealed in the company’s quarterly report to US regulators in recent days, comes as the federal government talks to Moderna officials about the cost of building a facility to manufacture its messenger RNA vaccine in Australia.

More on this story here.

Victoria’s daily coronavirus numbers are in.

The state has recorded 11 locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and no cases in hotel quarantine.

The Department of Health says all the new cases are linked but only one person was in quarantine during their infectious period.

There are now 103 active cases of coronavirus in Victoria.

Those numbers are off the back of yesterday’s 38,987 coronavirus tests.

As we reported earlier, year 12 students in Sydney’s high-risk local government areas will start receiving COVID-19 jabs from today.

Photographer James Brickwood has been out and about this morning documenting the long queues at Qudos Bank Arena.

Year 12 students lining up for their first COVID-19 vaccine earlier this morning. Credit:James Brickwood

Priority vaccinations open today at Qudos Bank Arena for year 12 students in Sydney’s local government areas of concern.

Western Sydney Health says there are 24,000 first-dose appointments for eligible students from August 9 to 14 at the Olympic Park venue. Today is fully booked with almost 3000 students expected, the health district wrote on Facebook.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard last week told students they were being given a “golden opportunity”.

“We’ve seen our Olympic stars go for gold,” he said. “We’ve seen those most amazing stars in the Qudos Bank Arena ... Lana Del Rey, Keith Urban, Pink, Madonna.

“You have the chance to go to that stadium ... and actually land some gold by getting your first vaccination, your Pfizer vaccination.”

Students are eligible if they are enrolled to sit one or more Higher School Certificate (HSC) subjects, aged 16 years or above and either go to school or live in one of the local government areas of concern.

Those areas are: Blacktown, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Liverpool, Parramatta and some suburbs of Penrith.

Twelve suburbs in Penrith were yesterday added to the list, under tighter restrictions including not leaving the area unless considered an authorised worker and always wearing a mask outdoors.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the Georges River LGA may be removed if residents come forward for higher rates of testing in coming days.

NSW Health has identified a number of new COVID-19 exposure sites including venues in the regional city of Tamworth, in the state’s north-east.

Tamworth is not included in the current lockdown measures for Armidale and Guyra, on the Northern Tablelands, along with Greater Sydney, the Hunter and Upper Hunter regions.

In an alert issued late last night, the department said anyone who was at the following locations in the relevant times is a close contact and must get tested and isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result.

Mr Rice Takeaway in Cooks Hill, Newcastle, on Wednesday, August 4, between 3pm and 3.20pm;

Wok Crazy in Erskine Park, in Sydney’s west, on Monday, August 2, between 6.10pm and 6.45pm;

The Commonwealth Bank in St Marys, in western Sydney, on Thursday, August 5, between 5.40pm and 5.50pm;

Inland Cafe in Tamworth on Thursday, August 5, between 9.15am and 10am;

Tudor Hotel in Tamworth on Thursday, August 5, between 11am and 11.40am; and

Habesha Ethiopian Restaurant at The Junction in Newcastle, all day on Saturday, July 31 until Thursday, August 5.

The full list of NSW exposure sites can be found here.

In case you missed it, the Victorian health department has labelled a major women’s and children’s hospital a COVID-19 exposure site.

The Maternity Assessment Centre and Dorevitch Pathology at Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital in St Albans, in Melbourne’s north west, are both considered tier-1 exposure sites. Level three of the facility was visited by a positive case on August 6 for more than six hours.

The Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Sunshine.Credit:Penny Stephens

Authorities have instructed anyone who went to level three on August 6 between 8.15am and 2.45pm to get tested immediately and isolate for 14 days regardless of the result.

Health authorities also listed the cafe (in the main corridor) as a tier-2 site, and the entire facility is now a tier-3 site.

The Joan Kirner building is on the sprawling campus of Sunshine Hospital, where COVID-19 vaccinations and tests are also being carried out. It’s the first time a hospital has been added as an exposure site in this outbreak.

For Victoria’s full list of exposure sites, visit the Department of Health website.

Sydney suburbs that do not have COVID-19 cases circulating in the community will be the first to be freed from some lockdown restrictions next month if NSW reaches its target of providing six million jabs.

As 12 Penrith suburbs were plunged into harsher lockdowns yesterday, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said vaccination rates would determine “life in September”, including allowing vaccinated workers back to work and some face-to-face learning in schools.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says vaccination rates and “concentration of cases” will determine restrictions next month.Credit:Edwina Pickles

Services such as hairdressers are likely to be among the first to reopen in suburbs outside the eight worst-affected local government areas, providing an incentive for businesses and their customers to get vaccinated.

Read the full story here.

Good morning and thanks for your company.

It’s Monday, August 9. I’m Broede Carmody and I’ll be anchoring our live coverage for the first half of the day.

Here’s everything you need to know before we get started.

Tens of thousands of people in Sydney’s Penrith region are waking up to tougher lockdown restrictions this morning in a bid to reduce community transmission. Residents of suburbs like Kingswood and St Mary’s, in Sydney’s west, won’t be able to travel more than 5km from their homes and must wear masks outdoors at all times. Yesterday, NSW recorded 262 locally acquired cases of coronavirus. Of those, at least 46 were infectious in the community. The death toll from NSW’s current outbreak stands at 28. Meanwhile, thousands of HSC students are set to receive the Pfizer jab today. Premier Gladys Berejiklian says vaccination rates will determine what next month’s restrictions will look like.

Victorians aged between 18 and 39 will be able to get an AstraZeneca jab at several state-run mass vaccination hubs from today. It comes as the state government unveiled Australia’s first drive-through COVID-19 vaccination hub in Melbourne’s west. Victoria recorded 11 new cases of coronavirus yesterday (all infectious in the community). Authorities have hinted that the current week-long lockdown will probably need to be extended.

Queensland’s south-east has emerged from lockdown. However, Cairns â€" in the state’s far north â€" has been plunged into a snap lockdown after a taxi driver was found to have been infectious in the community for several days. All eyes will be on today’s case numbers.

And in overseas news, the Tokyo Olympics have officially wrapped. The United States topped this year’s medal tally, with 39 gold medals (followed by China’s 38 gold medals and Japan’s 27). Australia finished the Games in sixth place overall with 17 gold medals. The next Games will be held in France.

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