As it happened:NSW records 356 new local COVID-19 cases,three deaths;Victoria records 20 new cases;Queensland records just three new cases

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A summary of the day’s headlines

That’s about it for today,thanks for reading. Here’s a quick recap:

We’ll be back bright and early in the morning. Hope you have a good evening.

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Victorian shopping centre staff plunged into two-weeks quarantine

ByCassandra Morgan

Everyone who worked at a busy shopping centre west of Melbourne over four days will now have to go into quarantine for two weeks.

Concern has mounted over CS Square shopping centre in Caroline Springs,as more than half of Victoria’s COVID cases on Tuesday were linked to the centre.

Victoria’s COVID response commander Jeroen Weimar said “we’ve now seen 25 cases associated with the Caroline Springs Square shopping centre,across a number of different … retail units,and people”.

Over the past few days,many of the centre’s shops have been identified as “tier 1″ sites,meaning anyone who attended them during specified timeframes has to get tested and quarantine for 14 days,regardless of the result.

The entire shopping centre was declared a “tier 2” site on Monday for a whole 10-day period,meaning anyone who visited it during that timeframe has to get tested and isolate until they receive a negative result.

It was listed as tier 2 for an additional day on Tuesday evening,but authorities took things a step further,declaring all staff at the centre tier 1 over a four-day period,from Monday,August 2 to Thursday,August 5,inclusive.

Authorities identified 36 new COVID exposure sites in Victoria on Tuesday,including two tier-1 locations. They were the four exposures for staff at the Caroline Springs shopping centre and the gaming lounge at the Taylors Lakes Hotel in Melton.

The gaming lounge was declared an exposure site on Sunday,August 1 between 5.15pm and 8.30pm. Before Tuesday evening,the whole of the hotel was also listed as tier 2.

Mr Weimar said on Tuesday that 400 tests were done at the pop-up site in Caroline Springs,but that number needed to be higher.

“I would really urge,I need those numbers to increase. We need to see more people in the Caroline Springs area coming forward for testing. It’s a busy,important shopping centre,” he said.

A summary of the day’s headlines

That’s about it for today,thanks for reading. Here’s a quick recap:

We’ll be back bright and early in the morning. Hope you have a good evening.

South-east Asia’s last COVID-zero nation catches the virus

ByChris Barrett

For 457 days Brunei went without a new case of COVID-19 as the region battled the virus and was then devastated by the Delta variant.

That 15-month streak is over,however,after the emergence of dozens of new infections in the south-east Asian sultanate.

Brunei has now entered a two-week lockdown as it tries to avoid the trajectory followed by neighbouring countries who withstood the worst of the virus for many months before succumbing to Delta.

Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at the royal palace in April.

Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at the royal palace in April.Getty Images

“It happened in Thailand. Now it’s happened in Vietnam,Laos,Cambodia,” said Professor Dale Fisher,an infectious diseases expert at the National University of Singapore.

“What we’re seeing in Brunei is,is the borders have been broached. Now it’s just a question of whether they can put the cat back in the bag like China is trying to do at the moment.”

Before the discovery of seven new cases on Saturday burst the bubble,Brunei’s last positive test was on May 6,2020.

But with numbers rising - there were a record 38 new infections in the community on Monday - Brunei is back on the defensive.

Read more here.

Melbourne hospital doctor tests COVID-positive,not infectious while working

ByCassandra Morgan

A doctor who works at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital has tested positive for COVID-19.

The hospital said the doctor wasnot infectious while he was working at the hospital.

The Department of Health said it is investigating whether he was infectious while working on Monday,August 9 at private medical rooms next door to the hospital at 48 Flemington Road,which has shared common areas with the hospital.

The doctor is one of 20 locally acquired COVID cases announced in Victoria’s official numbers on Tuesday.

According to Nine,the doctor is believed to have acquired the virus through a household contact linked to an outbreak at Mount Alexander College in Flemington.

Turnbull,Rudd criticise unhelpful China comments

ByAnthony Galloway

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull says some members of the Coalition government have made ill-judged comments on China which are unhelpful in advancing Australia’s national interest.

Mr Turnbull stressed that his successor Scott Morrison was mostly getting the balance right in standing up to Beijing’s increasing aggression,but blamed others such as Defence Minister Peter Dutton and Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo for dialling up the rhetoric.

Mr Dutton has warned that a war with China over Taiwan could not be discounted,while Mr Pezzullo – without mentioning China – said the “drums of war” were beating in an Anzac Day message to staff.

Mr Turnbull at an energy summit in Sydney in May.

Mr Turnbull at an energy summit in Sydney in May.Steven Siewert

Appearing with former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd at a Latrobe University event tonight,Mr Turnbull said Mr Pezzullo’s speech was “a very,very ill-judged speech to make”.

“This is not the language of a calm,level-headed,thoughtful government,” the former Liberal prime minister said.

“There have been a couple of cases,and Pezzullo’s remarks are one example,where people in Canberra have made pretty bellicose[comments] which obviously play well on Sky News and on the front page of the Murdoch tabloids,but they are actually not in Australia’s interests.

“As far as Morrison is concerned ... I think he would agree with the approach that Kevin and I have described – that’s to stand up for your values but don’t try to get into a declaratory,rhetorical overdrive on it.”

“I don’t think Pezzullo’s remarks,or some of Dutton’s remarks,actually reflect government policy. That’s more about internal Coalition political activity,rather than what the government overall would say.”

Mr Rudd said:“We cannot allow the internal politics of Liberal Party to determine,frankly,the Australian national security interest.

“It is no small matter that this nation,to begin having a public discourse about ‘the inevitability of armed conflict with China and us being in the middle of it’ is grossly irresponsible and reckless to use.”

Second Melbourne public housing tower among new COVID exposure sites

ByCassandra Morgan

A second Melbourne public housing tower has been listed as a COVID-19 exposure site.

The tower at 126 Racecourse Road in Flemington is in the same complex as another public housing tower,130 Racecourse Road,that was declared a COVID exposure site latelast week after a family of eight tested positive.

Authorities said today there had been three positive cases detected at both towers among thetally of 20 cases.

“Those positive cases and their families moved out last night,” Victoria’s COVID response commander Jeroen Weimar said.

He said authorities had been busy over the past few days trying to test everybody at 130 Racecourse Road,and about two-thirds have tested negative.

Now that 126 Racecourse Road is a tier 2 (casual contact) site,residents and anyone who visited the tower from August 4-9 must get tested and isolate until they receive a negative result.

Late on Tuesday night,the department added several tier one exposure sites. Anyone who visited those sites must get tested immediately and quarantine for 14 days.

The new tier one sites are:

Other new tier-2 sites include a car dealership in Brighton,a bayside suburb that is a long way from the bulk of exposure sites in western Melbourne. The new tier 2 sites are:

A full list of exposure sites can be foundhere.

Podcast:What does the UN’s ‘code red’ climate change report mean?

ByNathanael Cooper

The earth will continue to warm and environmental catastrophes will become more frequent and more intense,according to anew report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

If urgent action to address the global climate crisis isn’t taken,events like the wildfires in North America,Canada and Europe,extreme heatwaves,droughts,flooding and rising sea levels will be more common than they already are.

The report,released yesterday,shows the planet has warmed 1.1 degrees since the late 1800s and – even in the best-case scenario – will warm a further 1.5 degrees by 2040. It prompted UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to call it a“code red for humanity”.

Today onPlease Explain,national environment and climate editorNick O’Malley joinsNathanael Cooper to discuss the IPCC report.

Some of today’s best photos

Here are some images captured by our photographers around the country.

People line up near Lakemba Mosque in south-western Sydney to receive their vaccinations at a pop-up clinic.

People line up near Lakemba Mosque in south-western Sydney to receive their vaccinations at a pop-up clinic.Janie Barrett

Joyce Saunders serves a customer in her bookshop in Castlemaine,Victoria,after lockdown ended in the regions.

Joyce Saunders serves a customer in her bookshop in Castlemaine,Victoria,after lockdown ended in the regions.Justin McManus

Cabramatta in south-west Sydney.

Cabramatta in south-west Sydney.Wolter Peeters

Huge lines for testing at Maribrynong in Melbourne.

Huge lines for testing at Maribrynong in Melbourne.Jason South

The mass vaccination clinic at Sydney’s Bankstown Sports Club this afternoon.

The mass vaccination clinic at Sydney’s Bankstown Sports Club this afternoon.Wolter Peeters

A road sign on the M4 motorway near Mount Druitt in western Sydney.

A road sign on the M4 motorway near Mount Druitt in western Sydney.Brook Mitchell

The sun rises over Byron Bay earlier this morning.

The sun rises over Byron Bay earlier this morning.Danielle Smith

Moderna may be approved for under-18s in a matter of weeks:TGA boss

ByCassandra Morgan

The head of the Therapeutic Goods Administration says the Moderna vaccine may be approved for under-18s by the time it lands on Australian shores in a matter of weeks.

John Skerritt,speaking to ABC Melbourne’sDrive program on Tuesday afternoon,said “Moderna has its application in front of us for under-18s”.

Nothing has changed:the Moderna vaccine has been approved just this week in Australia,eight months after in America.

Nothing has changed:the Moderna vaccine has been approved just this week in Australia,eight months after in America.Bloomberg

“Over the next three to four weeks,I’d say maximum – it depends on Moderna’s response – we expect to make a decision,” he said.

“The Moderna data also looks pretty good for the under-18s,but we’ve obviously got to go to our committee of experts and then back to the company.

“Barring big problems,I’m expecting that by the time Moderna lands in Australia,it may also be approved for under-18s,but I shouldn’t pre-empt that decision.”

It was announced yesterday that the TGA hasprovisionally approved the Moderna coronavirus vaccine for people over 18,and one million doses are due to arrive in September.

Professor Skerritt also said while drug manufacturers were yet to apply for a COVID vaccine for young children in Australia,“I’ll expect in the coming months that we will receive applications for kids under 12 and we’ll look very closely at the safety data”.

The Pfizer vaccine is currently approved for use in children aged 12 and over.

New exposures sites in Byron Bay include supermarkets and restaurant

ByDaniella White

Health authorities have issued alerts for a number of NSW Northern Rivers venues visited by a COVID-19 positive case.

They are linked to the Sydney man who was infectious for several days around Byron Bay. He and two of his children have tested positive for COVID-19 and all three are in a stable condition at Lismore Base Hospital.

Those cases have plunged the Northern Rivers region into a snapseven-day lockdown. Anyone who was at the following venues is a close contact (tier 1) and must get tested and isolate for 14 days:

Broede Carmody is a state political reporter for The Age. Previously,he was the national news blogger for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.

Josh Dye is a news reporter with The Sydney Morning Herald.

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