Measures ‘bearing fruit’, Australians told

CANBERRA: Medical experts say action in Sydney and Melbourne to deal with coronavirus cases is bearing fruit, but there is no room for complacency.

New South Wales recorded no locally acquired cases in its reporting period for yesterday while Victoria had three, all linked to the Black Rock outbreak which was seeded by the NSW northern beaches cluster.

Across the country there were 26 people in hospital but none in intensive care.

‘‘While we are concerned with these locally acquired cases ... the contact tracing exercise, the testing and the isolation efforts that are being done in both Victoria and NSW are bearing fruit,’’ Chief Medical Officer Prof Paul Kelly told media in Canberra.

The figures came as crowd numbers were cut to 25% of capacity for the AustraliaIndia test at the Sydney Cricket Ground beginning on Thursday, after further discussions on making it a Covidsafe event.

Kelly said border closures were discussed at a meeting of peak health officers yesterday, but they remained a matter for individual states.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese raised concerns that the national cabinet was meeting infrequently and Government promises about a fast vaccine rollout were not being met.

‘‘Australia is not at the front of the [vaccine] queue. We have never been at the front of the queue,’’ Albanese said.

Kelly said the vaccine approval and distribution process was ‘‘on target’’.

It was the first time in almost three weeks that NSW recorded no new locally acquired coronavirus cases over a designated 24hour period.

However, two new cases linked to a western Sydney bottle shop have since been registered, adding to concerns about the Berala cluster.

Sydneysiders who flout new mandatory mask rules now risk a $A200 ($NZ214) fine. — AAP