Australia news LIVE Victoria records 24 new local COVID-19 cases NSW COVID-19 cases continue to soar as ACT NT tighten restrictions

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Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is due to address the media at 10am AEST.

Yesterday, the Sunshine State recorded zero daily cases for the second day running.

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An Australian photojournalist living in Afghanistan says that, as a member of the foreign press, he feels he has a level of protection not afforded to many Afghans.

Speaking on Radio National’s breakfast program, Andrew Quilty indicated he would stay in the country for some time. He said that, having lived in Afghanistan for a number of years, “I suppose it comes down to a certain level of obligation”.

Afghans crowd at the tarmac of Kabul airport on August 16.Credit:AFP

“[That obligation] is not only to do with my work as a journalist, but to … the community here and local friends, many of whom are actually now trying to get out with mixed success,” he said.

Quilty said the Taliban had made it quite clear in the past few days that international and local journalists “are welcome and are welcome to continue their work”.

“How close to the truth that is in practice remains to be seen,” he said. “I didn’t anticipate feeling any direct threat from the Taliban beyond the stricter implementation of their law.

“As a foreigner for one thing, and as a foreign journalist, I think I have a level of protection which is not afforded to ... certainly many other Afghans.

“They’re trying to put a certain face to the world at the moment and I don’t think it’s going to be in their interest to come down too hard on foreign journalists.”

The photojournalist added that he was outside Kabul airport overnight and saw thousands of people “milling around, some of whom had probably given up on their attempt to get into the airport”, and others who were still trying.

He said there were a number of vehicles occupied by the Taliban who were making attempts to control the crowd.

“There was a lot of firing in the air, evidently some into the crowd as well. I saw at least one dead body, the result of live fire that had been trained on the crowd.”

He said aside from the airport, Kabul was actually “quite calm”.

Four men considered fresh custody inmates at Silverwater prison, in western Sydney, are positive for COVID-19 and are being managed in the facility’s isolation hub.

A Corrective Services NSW spokeswoman said the hub at the Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre (MRRC) allows for the cases to be managed in a central location and provided “with the optimal level of care”.

“All inmates are tested for COVID-19 when they arrive in custody and are managed in quarantine for 14 days before being cleared to move into the general population,” she said.

Among the four cases are the two men to test positive during screening at Bathurst Correctional Centre in the NSW Central Tablelands, sending the prison into lockdown last week.

The first, who was tested on arrival, was released on bail on August 9, travelled to the remote community of Walgett and returned a positive result last Wednesday.

“The inmate has returned to custody,” the Corrective Services spokeswoman said.

The second, a 29-year-old man, arrived at the Bathurst prison on Wednesday and was being quarantined in a single cell. He tested positive on Friday and has since been transferred to the MRRC.

According to Corrective Services, the other two fresh custody inmates at Silverwater returned their positive test results over the weekend.

“[We are working] to identify anyone who has had contact with those inmates,” the spokeswoman said.

“Impacted staff are being directed to go for immediate COVID-19 testing and to isolate.”

Victoria’s daily coronavirus numbers are in.

The state has recorded 24 new, locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and one in hotel quarantine.

The Department of Health says all but three of today’s local cases are linked to known outbreaks. Ten people were out and about in the community while infectious.

There are now 227 active cases of coronavirus across Victoria.

Those numbers are off the back of yesterday’s 31,519 coronavirus tests.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne says Australian Defence Force planes are en route to Afghanistan to ensure that Australian citizens and their families, permanent residents and visa holders get out of the country safely.

Senator Payne told the ABC’s Radio National that those people would be returned to Australia in “due course”.

So far, 1800 Afghan staff and their families have been brought to Australia under the country’s humanitarian program.

Senator Payne said there were several hundred more locally engaged staff, Australian citizens and permanent residents that were in Kabul and known to Australian authorities.

“I will certainly acknowledge that this is an extraordinarily difficult situation,” Senator Payne said.

“The security issues, the lack of arrangements on the ground in Kabul, make this very difficult for everyone. But we will do our level best to make sure that we are able to support those Australian citizens and their families, the permanent residents and visa holders and applicants through this process.

“But I absolutely acknowledge the difficulty that we face in doing that.”

Senator Payne said all Afghan citizens who were in Australia on a temporary basis would be supported by the Australian government, “and no Afghan visa holder will be asked to return to Afghanistan at this stage”.

She said she didn’t agree with the assertion that Australia had been slow to start helping with the rescue mission in Afghanistan.

Fitzroy North dad Toby Cummings says the pending closure of Melbourne’s playgrounds is a “punch in the guts” for parents.

With his son Louis, 8, homeschooling, Mr Cummings said the number of boredom-busting lockdown options available to parents was becoming increasingly scarce.

Toby Cummings’ son Louis. 8, enjoys his last swing at a public playground for at least two weeks.Credit:Joe Armao

During a quick dash to the shops yesterday afternoon, Mr Cummings and his son jumped on the swings at Curtain Park in Carlton North for one last ride before playgrounds across Melbourne were made off limits again.

Read the full story here.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton says the videos emerging from Kabul airport in Afghanistan show “terrible scenes” and that is why Australian defence troops won’t be flown directly into the country’s capital for the time being.

Australia is planning to deploy more than 250 ADF personnel to help evacuate Australian citizens and visa holders after the Taliban toppled the country’s former government.

“There needs to be order restored to the airport so that there can be safe passage of planes in and out and so that we have the ability to move people, whether they’re Australian citizens or American citizens, Canadians, New Zealanders, in and out of that airport,” Mr Dutton told the Today show earlier this morning.

“It’s all in a state of flux at the moment. We’d need to see order restored. Hopefully, that takes place sooner [rather] than later.

“We won’t be landing into Kabul in these circumstances. Obviously, we have a base close by, which is safe and secure in the United Arab Emirates. That’s where we’ll stage from, but we’ll work with the Americans and others, including the Turks, etc, to make a very difficult, a tragic situation, as best as it can be.”

A school in Sydney’s west will be closed today after a member of the school community tested positive for COVID-19.

The NSW Department of Education has asked all staff and students of Jamisontown Public School to self-isolate and follow the NSW Health advice and protocols.

“Our school will be non-operational effective immediately for the on-site attendance of staff, students and visitors to allow time for contact tracing and cleaning,” Principal Jason Clarke said in a statement to parents and carers.

The school is in the Penrith local government area but is not one of the suburbs listed as being of concern.

Bankstown Public School and The Meadows Public School in Seven Hills are also closed today, as a precaution, due to possible COVID-19 cases in those school communities.

Staff and students have been asked to self-isolate until they receive further advice.

A night curfew, taped-off playgrounds and worker permits have returned in Melbourne as public health officials and epidemiologists warn tough new restrictions are the only way for Victoria to avoid following NSW into a disastrous coronavirus outbreak.

Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has warned Victoria is “right on the cliff edge” of an explosion of coronavirus cases after several major breaches of restrictions, including an organised takeaway pub crawl in Richmond and an engagement party attended by 69 guests.

“We are at the brink and we need to step back from the brink,” he said.

Melbourne’s lockdown has been extended for two more weeks, dragging it out until September 2. A curfew from 9pm to 5am has been reintroduced and playgrounds will be closed. The number of staff will be restricted on construction sites and rules around exercise have also been tightened.

Read more about Melbourne’s new restrictions here.

Around 140,000 additional Australians are waking up in lockdown this morning compared to this time yesterday.

Residents of Greater Darwin and Katherine in the Northern Territory are subject to a snap, three-day lockdown. Meanwhile, stay-at-home orders have been extended in Melbourne and the ACT for another fortnight.

Here’s the current state of play.

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