Andrews calls for Sydney ring of steel rejects NSW vaccine push

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has called for a ‘ring of steel’ around Sydney, saying the COVID-19 cases needed to be contained in NSW for the good of the nation.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian called the outbreak in her state a ‘national emergency’ on Friday morning after the state recorded 136 new local infections and suggested other states should send vaccine doses to NSW.

Mr Andrews said it was appropriate to treat the growing NSW outbreak as a national issue but that meant “they needed to treat it like a national problem”.

He said he would be asking at Friday’s national cabinet meeting for a “ring of steel” to be put around Sydney.

“I want to just make this point that if there is a national emergency - and I’m not doubting that for a moment in Sydney - then it is a national responsibility that Sydneysiders are locked in to Sydney,” he said.

“We need a ring of steel around Sydney, so that this virus is not spreading into other parts of our nation. We did it last year to protect country Victoria, and our country. The same must occur in relation to Sydney, and that’s what I’ll be asking for at national cabinet.”

Melbourne’s Prahran Market closed for a deep clean on Thursday. Credit:Jason South

Mr Andrews also signalled he would oppose vaccines that had been allocated to Victoria being shifted to NSW after Ms Berejiklian raised the prospect at her media conference and argued her state had done the nation’s “heavy lifting” earlier in the pandemic.

“I doubt very much that we’re going to see, you know, large amounts of vaccine that had been allocated to us being relocated to others,” he said.

“It’s not my job to get the pubs open in New South Wales. So I’m not going to have Victorian vaccine go to New South Wales so that they can be open, while we’re closed. That doesn’t make any sense to me.

“We have barely enough vaccine allocated to any of us so the notion we would be sending it away from here - we all have got need, all of us.

“They have been allocated fairly and there is additional supply, I am not opposed to New South Wales receiving more, and in fact they have received more in the most recent bring-forward because of the difficult circumstances they face.”

Ms Berejiklian said earlier on Friday that national cabinet should also discuss whether other states should send some of their Pfizer doses to NSW.

“ We need to have a strategy at national cabinet that does think about the options for getting more jabs in arms in Sydney,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“Dr Chant advised us that it is a national emergency, advice also included having a rethink of the national vaccination strategy.

” We have been doing the heavy lifting for 18 months and to be at bay, we have tried to make sure that we keep the economy going, and we want to continue to do that, but in order for us to have our citizens live freely and openly, as well as other states to ensure that their citizens live openly and freely, we need to have a national refocus.”

Most new cases in isolation

Victoria recorded 14 new local cases of coronavirus on Friday as the nation’s medical regulator approved the Pfizer vaccine for children aged 12 to 15.

All of the new cases are linked to the current outbreaks. There were 43,542 tests processed on Thursday and 14,302 Victorians received a COVID vaccine.

There are now 158 active cases of coronavirus in Victoria.

Mr Andrews said if Victorians continued to observe lockdown protocols the state would get the “right outcome” next week.

“It’s very difficult for us today on Friday to be able to predict what will happen next Tuesday at midnight, but I would say that the trend is with us,” he said.

“These results are very encouraging. Whether the next few days continue that way, we’ll only know with the passage of time. What I am certain of though is if everyone keeps playing their part, if everybody takes this lockdown seriously … if we do the right thing, we’ll get the right outcome and will be open.”

There are now seven people in hospital, six of which are locally acquired cases. One is a person who has been in hotel quarantine. Two people are in ICU but neither of them were on respirators, Mr Andrews said.

Of the 14 new cases announced on Monday, 10 were in isolation for their full infectious period. Mr Andrews said three people had been out while potentially infectious for around 24 hours. One case is still being investigated. All 14 cases are linked to current outbreaks.

“We now have 75 plus per cent of our new cases isolated, no risk to public health or to anybody else,” he said.

“That’s a triumph of the work that our entire public health team is doing, but it’s also a testament to the about 20,000 people who are at home, isolating, to keep everybody else safe.”

Nine hundred people were forced into isolation on Thursday after Prahran Market was listed as a tier-1 site. There are now 393 exposure sites across Victoria.

Victoria’s Chief Health Officer says the main ‘unknown’ in the state’s fight against COVID-19 was the tier 1 virus exposure at Prahran Market in Melbourne’s inner south-east on Saturday.

Professor Brett Sutton said a tram trip taken by a potentially infectious individual who tested positive today also needed to be assessed, but new exposure sites at the market were the “priority” of health authorities today.

The health department says 950 primary close contacts to the exposure at Prahran Market had been identified. After deep cleaning, the market reopened on Friday, with only 14 out of 90 vendors open, primarily due to staff shortages.

“We need to be open-minded about what might turn up over the next few days but at the moment, the Prahran Market test results will be a focus for today, no question,” Professor Sutton said.

“We’re certainly focused on those who had a time potentially infectious in the community, those numbers remain small. That’s the figure that I would love to see get down to zero.”

He said the state was “on track” to lift lockdown next Tuesday night at 11.59pm.

Premier Daniel Andrews said it was “highly unlikely” students would be completing homeschooling after Tuesday - when Victoria’s lockdown is set to end - but health authorities would wait as late as possible to tell the public whether lockdown is ending.

“Let’s talk about the terms of post Tuesday midnight when I announce those things, but that’s not for today,” he said.

“That’ll be - as we’ll have boldly predicted all week - as close to that deadline as possible as we want advice complete picture.

“I wouldn’t be drawing any conclusions, we are all working hard to get the rules off at midnight on Tuesday night.”

A 7/11 in Chadstone and a Bunnings in Carrum Downs were added to the state government’s list of tier-2 exposure sites late on Thursday.

More than 3000 primary close contacts of a positive case who attended the Carlton and Geelong game at the MCG will undergo day 13 day COVID tests on Friday. If they test negative, they will be released from home quarantine on Saturday.

Overnight, Australia’s medical regulator approved the use of COVID-19 vaccines for children aged 12 to 16 overnight.

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Ashleigh McMillan is a breaking news reporter at The Age. Got a story? Email me at a.mcmillan@theage.com.au

Daniella White is a reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.

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