Coronavirus Australia news: Travellers from New Zealand hotel quarantine arrived in Sydney before bubble suspension — as it happened

Thanks for sticking with us this afternoon.

Bridget Judd will be back tomorrow morning bright and early to bring you all the latest news.

Take care!

Efforts to dissuade Chinese citizens from traveling for Lunar New Year appeared to be working as Beijing's main train station was largely quiet and estimates of passenger totals were smaller than in past years.

Thursday started the roughly two-week travel rush ahead of the holiday that falls this year on February 12, a time when trains and other forms of public transport are usually packed with migrant workers taking what may be their only chance each year to travel home and see their family.

Only about five of the train station's 15 security gates were open, and the usual scenes of lines at ticket windows and passengers camped on the central plaza were nowhere in sight.

Failure to restrict travel before the Lunar New Year travel period last year was blamed for the spread of the coronavirus — especially since the central city of Wuhan, where the virus was first detected, is a key travel hub that was used by millions of passengers.

This year, authorities offered refunds on plane tickets and extra pay for workers who stayed put.

Travellers must have a negative virus test within seven days of departure, and many local governments are ordering quarantines and other strict measures on travellers.

AP

People who have applied for a parent visa will now be allowed to stay in Australia while their applications are processed, under a temporary change announced by the Federal Government.

Under the previous rules, applicants who started the process overseas but were now in Australia needed to travel offshore to be granted the visa.

But some families argued that was too difficult because of coronavirus travel restrictions on leaving the country, and passenger caps to re-enter.

It led one family to consider hiring a private jet to fly from Australia to New Zealand to secure their visas.

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said the changes would come into effect in the first quarter of 2021.

Read more here.

Always use hand sanitiser safely and store it out of reach of young children.

With students going back to school this week, it is highly recommended to remove hand sanitiser products from children's school bags.

Professor Karen Zwi, Community Pediatrician at Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick says to remember, when using hand sanitiser:

• Store out of reach of children, anyone with learning or memory difficulties or pets when not being used.
• Always supervise children and anyone with learning or memory difficulties while they use alcohol based hand sanitiser to avoid accidental swallowing or getting it in the eyes.
• Store below 40°C and away from food preparation or food storage areas and keep it in its original container.
• If accidentally swallowed immediately call the 24 hour Poisons Information Centre for advice on 13 11 26 and have the container of the swallowed product with you.

In the lead up to theatres and cinemas being able to increase their capacity from February 1, the Tasmanian Government has been working with Public Health to enable patrons' safe return.

As part of the Framework for COVID-19 Safe Events and Activities in Tasmania introduced late last year, theatre and cinema capacity limits were able to increase to 75 per cent capacity, up to a maximum of 250 people.

Following further industry consultation, larger venues will be able to apply for an increased venue capacity up to 75 per cent above 250 people effective from February 1, 2021.

"We know this news has been welcomed by event organisers, local theatre and production companies as well as the community, and these new changes will provide a much needed economic boost," said Arts Minister Elise Archer.

"Importantly, the changes also recognise that those working in the arts and events sector are often highly experienced at planning for the management of large groups of patrons and the associated risks.

"This is a huge step forward for our local arts and creative industry, and the Tasmanian Government, along with Public Health, will work closely with venues to ensure as many Tasmanians as possible can enjoy our local productions and events in a COVID-19 safe way."

Minister for Small Business, Hospitality and Events Sarah Courtney thanked local venues and events stakeholders for their "constructive work on this issue", and also local theatre and cinema lovers for their "patience during the unprecedented restrictions".

"I encourage our community to get back to these venues when they can," she said.

A World Health Organization team emerged from quarantine in the Chinese city of Wuhan on Thursday to start field work in a fact-finding mission on the origins of the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic. 
 
The researchers, who were required to complete 14 days in quarantine after arriving in China, left their quarantine hotel and boarded a bus on Thursday afternoon.
  
It wasn’t immediately clear where they were headed. 
  
The mission has become politically charged, as China seeks to avoid blame for alleged missteps in its early response to the outbreak.
  
A major question is where the Chinese side will allow the researchers to go and whom they will be able to talk to. 
  
Earlier this month, former WHO official Keiji Fukuda, who is not part of the team in Wuhan, cautioned against expecting any breakthroughs, saying it may take years before any firm conclusions can be made on the virus’ origin.

AP

There were eight acquired from overseas in the past 24 hours.

*I've used the word "about" to qualify the number of cases because in the official data it is qualified by the word "estimated"

Germany is preparing entry restrictions for travellers from Britain, Brazil and South Africa, the interior ministry said on Thursday, as concerns of more contagious coronavirus variants are rising.

The new rules are being discussed with the German government, the spokesman added.

Reuters

Hi, could you please fix the link for the Victorian reclassification of Sydney? The link currently points to the Australian Open story instead.

-Misdirected

Hi Misdirected,

Just popped in to change that but I think the Australian Open details have been added in at the top of the original story.

Keep reading and you'll get to the border rules.

Thanks for writing in!

Hi, do we know if Victoria are extending the current State of Emergency which expires tomorrow night? If not, does that mean all restrictions are non-enforceable?

-State of ??

You pose a good question, State of??.

I asked our Victorian reporter extraordinaire Joseph Dunstan and he said this:

"We haven't heard about that yet, but previously the Government has just announced the extension in a fairly low-key way.

"The state of emergency is what makes the Chief Health Officer's directions for people to undergo things like 14-day quarantine legally enforceable, so it's hard to imagine the Government would let the state of emergency lapse when those measures aren't likely to be going away anytime soon.

"But we'll keep an eye out for any announcement so we can let you know."

Mandatory hotel quarantine will be imposed on New Zealanders travelling to Australia for an extra three days after the Federal Government extended the suspension of the trans-Tasman travel bubble.

Green-zone travel arrangements were paused after a Kiwi woman infected with the highly contagious South African variant of COVID-19 travelled to about 30 New Zealand locations before testing positive.

Australian health authorities had sought information on a further two people who tested positive to COVID-19 in New Zealand.

Close contacts of these two individuals and others potentially exposed are still awaiting test results.

The initial 72-hour suspension was due to end at 2:00pm today.

Acting Chief Medical Officer, Professor Michael Kidd, said the suspension would protect Australians while the extent of the situation in New Zealand can be determined.

More on the suspension can be found right here.

Vietnam's health ministry has confirmed its first two locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in nearly two months, just weeks before the country's Lunar New Year holiday period, when big gatherings indoors are expected.

It comes as the Lowy Institute's latest research survey found that Vietnam was one of the top countries to have the best response to the pandemic, coming in at number two after New Zealand.

Though a tiny number compared with new coronavirus infections in many countries, the two cases are a jolt for Vietnam.

Thanks to strict quarantine, testing and tracing measures, it had reported only 1,551 cases and 35 COVID-19 deaths before Thursday, local time.

Vietnam's health ministry ordered provinces and state agencies to tighten screening and controls.

Contact tracing efforts were launched in two northern provinces, Hai Duong and Quang Ninh, where the two new infections were detected — one of which was linked to the new UK variant of the virus — and a village in Hai Duong was locked down, according to state media.

More details on the outbreak here.

If a South Australian resident travels to Sydney AFTER the border re-opens and then returns home, are they also subject to the Day 1 testing and quarantine?

-Trying to keep up with the rules

Hi there, Trying to keep up with the rules!

I know there's a lot of info to get your head around!

SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said this morning that "anyone who travels from the greater Sydney area regardless of where their journey started will have to participate in the testing process".

That testing process is...

If you enter South Australia after having spent any time in great Sydney, you must submit to a coronavirus swab on day 1, 5 and 12 after crossing the border.

After the initial test, you must isolate until a negative result comes through.

You can watch Commissioner Stevens' press conference below:

A COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria spokesperson said:

"There will be 960 Australian Open residents exiting quarantine over the coming days.

"Players and participants will begin departing from 6pm this evening, with the last departures expected to be complete by Sunday."

There are five active cases associated with Australian Open players, airline crew, staff, etc. who are in quarantine.

There are also 321 active primary close contacts.

Australian Open residents must have returned a negative test result and be non-symptomatic prior to exiting mandatory quarantine.

Australian Open residents identified as close contacts must have returned a negative test result and have received a medical clearance prior to exiting mandatory quarantine.

Australian Open residents who tested positive must remain in isolation until they receive a medical clearance to exit.

Victorians can expect freer movement in and out of Sydney from Friday, when most of the city should enter the green zone of Victoria's traffic light permit system, Premier Daniel Andrews says.

Greater Sydney, Wollongong and the Blue Mountains are currently in the orange zone, while the Cumberland local government area in Sydney is the only place in Victoria's red zone.

Anyone in a red zone cannot enter the state without an exemption, exception or specified worker permit.

Any person travelling from an orange zone needs to get a specific permit and get tested within 72 hours and remain in quarantine until they get a negative result.

Mr Andrews said depending on the final public health advice, he expected to see "the vast majority" of Sydney be reclassified from orange to green.

More details can be found here.

Is there any update on when Tasmania will change the rules for the 10 NSW council areas considered “medium risk” and subject to quarantine?

-Emma

Unfortunately not, Emma.

But stay tuned here because we will let you know as soon as that information is available.