Australia news LIVE COVID cases continue to grow in NSW and Victoria greater AstraZeneca takeup urged by PM

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NSW health authorities last night released a long list of new venues visited by COVID-19 cases.

The list includes a Woolworths store in Belrose, in Sydney’s north-east. Anyone who attended the Glen Street store at the following times must get tested and isolate for 14 days:

Saturday, July 10 between 8.30am and 8.40am;

Thursday, July 15 between 7.30am and 9am;

Friday, July 16 between 5.55am and 4.30pm;

Saturday, July 17 between 5.55am and 3.10pm;

Sunday, July 18 between 5.55am and 4.30pm;

Monday, July 19 between 6am and 4pm; and

Tuesday, July 20 between 7.30am and 9am.

Other venues that have led to people being classified close contacts include Star City Supermarket in Merrylands, La Vita Mediterranean Shop in Edensor Park, an Indian restaurant at Belrose, a Pet Barn in Parramatta and the post office at Eastgate Shopping Centre in Bondi Junction.

There were also 23 venues listed as casual contact locations, meaning anyone who visited them must get a test and isolate until receiving a negative result. They include a Kmart, a Commonwealth Bank branch and a number of Woolworths and Coles stores.

The full list can be found here.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is doing the media rounds this morning.

He was just speaking on Nine’s Today show to reiterate what the Prime Minister said yesterday: that the Morrison government accepts that the country’s vaccine rollout has been sluggish but will make up for lost ground.

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.Credit:Justin McManus

But co-host Karl Stefanovic was quick to point out that saying you regret something is different from saying sorry.

Here’s the relevant exchange between the television personality and the Treasurer:

Stefanovic: “People are angry, people are frustrated. The PM won’t say sorry. Are you prepared to say sorry for the rollout?”

Frydenberg: ”Well, we accept responsibility, that’s even more important because what is key here is what takes us forward. Our focus is on ensuring as many people get the jab ... but no country is doing it easy.”

Stefanovic: “Sorry seems to be the hardest word, right?”

Frydenberg: “Look, this is really, really difficult. This vaccine rollout...”

Stefanovic: “Just say it, Josh.”

Frydenberg: “We are accepting responsibility.”

To international news and at least 25 people have died in China after the central province of Henan was ravaged by heavy rain and subsequent flooding.

Around 100,000 people have been evacuated from the city of Zhengzhou because dams and reservoirs have swelled to alarming levels. A dozen people have died and more than 500 were pulled to safety after water poured into an underground train tunnel.

Floodwaters are discharged at the Three Gorges Dam in central China’s Hubei province on Sunday.Credit:AP

Read the latest coverage from our world desk here.

A slim majority of NSW voters say Sydney was too slow to go into lockdown, although the decision has not damaged Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s popularity, with voters confident NSW was prepared for the outbreak.

Ms Berejiklian is NSW’s preferred premier with 55 per cent of voters, according to the Resolve Political Monitor, conducted for the Sydney Morning Herald by research company Resolve Strategic. However, voters also believe her government should have done more to encourage people to get vaccinated and felt it locked down the city too late.

A majority of voters believe that Sydney was too slow to go into lockdown but Premier Gladys Berejiklian remains popular.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Read more about the polling here.

In case you missed it, Victoria’s health department published three new exposure sites late last night.

The areas of concern include a shopping centre in Roxburgh Park, about 21 kilometres north of Melbourne’s CBD.

There were several new exposure sites listed in Melbourne last night. Credit:Jason South

Authorities are urging anyone who visited the Roxburgh Village shopping centre â€" in particular the Coles and New Star Nails salon â€" on Wednesday, July 14 to get tested and isolate urgently. The salon is listed as a tier-1 site.

Two days ago, the coronavirus fragments were detected in wastewater in the Roxburgh area after a young woman who lives in the northern suburbs tested positive for the virus.

Though it hasn’t yet appeared on the government’s official exposure site list, the Prahran Market, in Melbourne’s inner southeast, has been shut for deep cleaning and staff ordered to get tested after a positive case visited on July 17 between 9.40am and 11.15am.

The market said the DHS has declared the entire market at tier-1 site.

Earlier on Wednesday authorities listed several new sites, including: a medical centre in Sunbury, also in Melbourne’s north; a BWS outlet in the city’s south-eastern suburbs and a regional Victorian cafe.

View the full list of exposure sites here.

NSW is struggling to keep up with vaccination demand in the hotspot areas of south-west Sydney due to insufficient Pfizer doses and a reluctance of older residents to take AstraZeneca.

The lack of Pfizer vaccine means tens of thousands of people in high-risk areas could wait months before they can get a jab. The waning uptake of AstraZeneca was highlighted on Tuesday, when the Sydney Olympic Park vaccination hub gave 8295 Pfizer vaccinations and just 50 AstraZeneca.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian says NSW will continue to rely on restrictions to fight COVID-19 unless it has more Pfizer vaccine doses.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Doctors say older Australians are slowing down the vaccination rate by refusing to take advantage of AstraZeneca stock, with one GP in western Sydney saying up to one in five eligible patients were holding out for the Pfizer vaccine.

Read more here.

Victorian Liberal leader Michael O’Brien says stricter border controls could have prevented Victoria’s fifth lockdown and has called for quicker closures, in a departure from the Opposition’s frequent warnings against disproportionate public health measures.

The Liberal leader’s intervention comes as Victoria recorded 22 coronavirus cases on Wednesday â€" the highest daily total since September last year. All have been linked to current outbreaks.

Victorian Liberal leader Michael O’Brien. Credit:Justin McManus

Mr O’Brien told The Age that if the Sydney removalists who sparked one of the state’s two Delta outbreaks were forced to undergo a rapid COVID test at the border, “we wouldn’t be where we are today” and criticised the speed at which the government tightened rules to prevent COVID-positive people travelling to Victoria.

Read the full story here.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has expressed regret for declaring the vaccine rollout was “not a race” when the program has fallen behind schedule, promising he will try to make up the lost ground.

Admitting to the “regrettable” delays in the rollout, Mr Morrison revealed he had repeatedly asked the nation’s peak medical experts to review their advice on the AstraZeneca vaccine in order to accelerate the program.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison addressing the media at The Lodge yesterday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

He also confirmed he had spoken to the global chief executive of Pfizer, Albert Bourla, about increasing vaccine supplies after being asked last week why he had not taken the issue to the top of the company.

Read the full story here.

Good morning and thanks for reading our live coverage.

It’s Thursday, July 22. I’m Broede Carmody and I’ll be bringing you some of the morning’s biggest national stories as the day unfolds. If you’re waking up in lockdown, I hope you’re doing OK.

Here’s everything you need to know:

NSW is struggling to vaccinate as many people in the hotspot areas of south-west Sydney as it would like due to the waning uptake of AstraZeneca and the lack of Pfizer vaccine. The state recorded 110 new COVID-19 cases yesterday. Of those, more than one third were infectious in the community. There are fears restrictions could remain in place in NSW until September given the number of mystery cases has swelled to more than 300. However, there is some good news: yesterday a record number of coronavirus tests were recorded (83,477).

There was also a record number of coronavirus tests recorded yesterday in Victoria (59,355). The southern state recorded 22 new, locally acquired cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. All of those are linked to current outbreaks. It comes as the Victorian Liberals call for stricter border controls to prevent further lockdowns.

South Australia is waking up to its second day of a week-long lockdown. Six new cases emerged last night, bringing the total number of cases in the state’s current outbreak to 12. Those six cases will form part of today’s official numbers.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has expressed regret for declaring that vaccine rollout was “not a race”. He has admitted the rollout is behind schedule and says he will try to make up for lost ground. The PM will also speak to the nation’s peak vaccine advisory group to see if they will review their advice on the AstraZeneca jab in order to accelerate Australia’s COVID-19 immunisation program.

And Queensland is celebrating after Brisbane was named as the host city for the 35th Olympic Games. The year 2032 will mark the third time that Australia has hosted the Olympics.

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