Sydney's Star casino fined $5,000 for breaching public health orders – as it happened

That’s where I will leave you for now. Thanks as always for reading.

Here’s what we learned today:

• Victoria recorded 177 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the state’s total to 3,967. Of those, 72 are in hospital and 17 are receiving intensive care. The state’s chief health officer, Brett Sutton, revealed Victoria is now recording “four or five new outbreaks every day”.
• The most significant of those clusters is the outbreak linked to the Al-Tarqwa college, which is now linked to 144 cases.
• The federal health minister, Greg Hunt, revealed there 35 outbreaks at aged care facilities in Victoria.
• The new cluster at the Crossroads Hotel in Casula in Sydney’s south west reached 21 cases. 10 of them are people who attended the hotel and another 11 are contacts of those people. The New South Wales Health department released a long list of other venues attended by positive cases in recent days. A number of security guards from the Villawood Detention Centre are also in isolation after visiting the hotel.
• The ADF revealed 12 members from the RAAF in Wagga who were self-isolating after attending Crossroads in Casula have now tested negative, although they will have to continue to self-isolate for another 12 days as a precaution in line with NSW Health advice.
• Sydney’s Star casino was fined $5,000 after groups were spotted mingling in breach of protocols. A person who attended the casino just over a week ago tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday. The NSW government is reportedly considering tougher penalties for venues which breach Covid-19 restrictions.
• South Australia will begin charging returned travellers $3,000 each for hotel quarantine, and said the state may not reopen its borders to NSW and the ACT as planned on 20 July.
• Richmond Tigers player Bachar Houli revealed his mother that his mother is in intensive care with Covid-19. He said it was “a reminder for myself and everyone out there and more specifically to the Muslim community out there” to treat the virus seriously, and urged people to get tested.

The Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszcuk is asking anyone who’s visited the Crossroads Hotel in New South Wales to immediately self-isolate and get tested for Covid-19.

The Australian is reporting that the New South Wales government is debating introducing tougher penalties for venues that breach Covid-19 safety protocols after the recent outbreak in the state.

Cabinet is reportedly considering introducing heavier penalties for non-compliance as well as restrictions on large bookings. It comes after the state’s office of Liquor and Gambling issued a $5,000 fine to the Star City casino after a patron there tested positive for the virus.

A decision is expected tonight.

The Queensland government has scolded people who give fake contact details at venues, saying they are putting the health of Queenslanders at risk and threatening the state’s progress suppressing the virus.

Queensland Health requires businesses such as restaurants, bars and clubs to collect and store the details of people who enter their premises, and the state’s chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said the information would be vital if a patron or staff member tested positive to Covid-19.

If someone with the disease has been to a venue, we urgently need to know who else might be at risk of infection.

Having the names, phone numbers and email addresses of all customers and employees is critical in the event we have to carry out contact tracing and help minimise the spread of the disease.

Time is of the essence in this task, so businesses must have this information on-hand so we can quickly track down people who may have been exposed and may need to be tested.

Richmond Tigers player Bachar Houli has revealed that his mother is in intensive care with Covid-19.

In a video posted to Instagram today, Houli said it was “a reminder for myself and everyone out there and more specifically to the Muslim community out there” to treat the virus seriously, and urged people to get tested.

I’m experiencing it right now within my family. Please I urge you for the sake of Allah go get tested. If you’re showing any form of symptoms, if you’re not showing any symptoms, please do your bit.

My family has been affected by Covid-19. It’s been tough, it’s been a tough time. When you’re restricted and you’re isolated, it’s very touching.

More specifically, my mother’s been affected a lot. She’s currently in ICU undergoing some heavy treatment. The team in the ICU is taking care of her. Her current state is a mixed one. God knows best her situation.

What burns and what hurts truly is the fact that no one from her family members can go and visit her, which is very, very tough. Please put yourselves in this position.

13 Jul 202003.53 EDT

Hannah Ryan

Australian Border Force have confirmed that security guards working at Sydney’s Villawood Immigration Detention Centre are self-isolating after attending a party at the Crossroads Hotel in Casula.

The ABF refused to say how many staff from the detention centre were currently in isolation, but confirmed security guards who had recently been to the pub were following advice from NSW Health and were all currently self-quarantining.

The Refugee Action Coalition claimed as many as 30 guards are self-isolating after attending a Serco manager’s party at the Crossroads Hotel on the weekend of 4 July.

The pub is the site of a coronavirus outbreak. NSW Health has told anyone who visited it between 3 July and 10 July to immediately self-isolate for 14 days and be tested for Covid-19.

Three detainees in Villawood told Guardian Australia on Monday evening that they had not been told anything about the staff’s attendance at the venue. However, they said that some guards and other staff had been wearing masks and gloves since Sunday, which they had not previously seen.

At the end of March there were over 400 people held in detention at Villawood.

New South Wales Health has just issued a full breakdown of the 21 cases now linked to the outbreak at the Crossroads Hotel in Casula.

The additional cases reported today include three cases who attended the hotel:

• A south-west Sydney man in his 40s who had dinner at the hotel on 3 July and contact with other cases in early July.
• A south-west Sydney woman in her 20s who was at the hotel on 3 July.
• A south-west Sydney man in his 30s who had dinner at the hotel and had contact with other cases in early July.

Four cases who were close contacts of cases who went to the hotel are:

• Two south-west Sydney teenagers.
• A south-west Sydney child.
• A south-west Sydney man in his 30s.

A further case who was an indirect contact of a hotel case:

• A south-west Sydney woman in her 50s.

The total 21 cases include cases announced previously who were at the hotel and include:

• A south-west Sydney woman in her 30s who had dinner at the hotel on 3 July.
• A Blue Mountains man in his 50s who had dinner at the hotel on 3 July.
• A south-western Sydney teenager who worked at the hotel on several days including 3 July.
• A south-western Sydney woman in her 40s who had dinner at the hotel on 3 July.
• A south-western Sydney man in his 40s who had dinner at the hotel on 3 July.
• A Victorian man in his 20s who had dinner at the hotel on 3 July.
• A Sydney man in his 20s who had dinner at the hotel on 3 July.

Six close contacts of the cases above, but did not attend the hotel are:

• A south-west Sydney woman in her 60s.
• A south-west Sydney woman in her 30s.
• A south-west Sydney child.
• Three close contacts of the Blue Mountains man.

NSW Health is urging anyone who attended the Crossroads Hotel between Friday 3 July and Friday 10 July to immediately self-isolate until 14 days after they were last there, attend a clinic for testing even if they have no symptoms, watch for symptoms and get retested should any respiratory symptoms occur. NSW Health says that even if you get a negative test you should stay in isolation for 14 days.

View image in fullscreen

That is quite a concession, and will presumably put more pressure on the handling of the hotel quarantine issue by Victorian premier Daniel Andrews.

Indeed.

More NRL/Covid-19 news! Penrith Panthers player Charlie Staines, who scored four tries on debut on the weekend, has been stood down after breaching the league’s biosecurity protocols.

In a statement the Panthers said that following the club’s game against Cronulla on Saturday, the 19-year-old hosted 10 visitors at his home. They included his parents, his sister, the parents of his partner and four friends.

NRL biosecurity protocols allow players to host up to 10 visitors at their home each day, but they must attend in groups of no more than five.

The Panthers said that in the early hours of Sunday morning Staines suffered a recurrence of lockjaw, “which is a condition he is unfortunately familiar with and last suffered during pre-season”.

The club said:

At approximately 2.30am on Sunday, Staines attended the emergency department at Nepean hospital for treatment before being released some time later.

Panthers staff were first informed of the hospital visit on Sunday. The club later learned of the number of visitors that had attended Staines’ place of residence. The club has notified the NRL and Staines has been stood down from all duties pending the next steps, in accordance with the biosecurity protocols.

The club’s chief executive, Brian Fletcher, said Staines had “misunderstood” the rules.

Charlie has been extremely naive on this occasion and inadvertently breached the protocols that are in place to protect the game.

His misunderstanding of the specifics of the guidelines can not be overlooked, nor can his failure to contact the club before seeking medical treatment for his jaw condition. The club and Charlie will now work closely with the NRL to ensure all necessary steps are taken to rectify the situation.

View image in fullscreen

Federal health minister Greg Hunt and aged care minister Richard Colbeck have announced that face masks will be made mandatory for aged care staff across lockdown areas in Victoria after a number of outbreaks at aged care homes in Melbourne.

In a statement, the ministers said an additional 4m masks will be made available to aged care and home care providers in the areas with restrictions, including greater Melbourne and Mitchell shires.

There are about 449 residential aged care facilities and 425 home care providers, with a total of 60,427 aged care residents in the areas.

Colbeck said:

With the current surge in Covid-19 cases in Melbourne, there has been a particular emphasis on ensuring additional PPE has been sent to Victoria to ensure aged care workers in that state have access to such equipment.

Now that I have a moment, here’s the full list of venues where Covid-19 positive people have visited recently. New South Wales chief medical officer Kerry Chant said earlier that while people who have visited those venues around these dates do not need to isolate, they should be on the lookout for any symptoms and get tested.

• Planet Fitness in Casula from 6-10 July.
• The Star casino, Pyrmont on 4 July between 8.20pm and 10.30pm.
• Cook at Kurnell on 5 July between 11.30am and 12.30pm.
• Highfield, Caringbah on 5 July between 6pm and 9pm.
• Merimbula RSL on 6 July between 6pm and 9pm.
• Waterfront Cafe, Merimbula on 7 July from 8.30am to 9.30am.
• Murray Downs Golf Club from 4-5 July.
• Narellan Town Centre Shopping Town at Kmart, Target, Best&Less, H&M and the food court on 6 July.
• The Zone Bowling at Villawood on 27 June between 11am and 3pm.

Below I’ve included a letter sent to retailers at the Narellan Town Centre in south-western Sydney. The letter says NSW Health have not informed them of the stores the person visited, but as you can see above we’ve since been told.

AAP reports that players and staff from Melbourne’s three A-League clubs are isolating in their hotel rooms following a Covid-19 scare.

After Melbourne Victory, Melbourne City and Western United arrived in Sydney on Saturday, a player displayed some symptoms and was isolated and tested for Covid-19.

The player returned a negative test but players and staff from all three clubs were tested on Monday and will self-isolate until they are cleared.

Federal housing minister Michael Sukkar is being interviewed by Patricia Karvelas on the ABC just now. She asks him whether steps are being taken in places like New South Wales to prevent the kind of public housing outbreaks seen in Victoria.

He says it’s an issue of density, not specific kinds of housing.

I think all housing ministers and health ministers at a state level – indeed, all premiers and chief ministers – are concerned around any areas that have got high density. I think if you look at the experience out of Europe, certainly out of North America as well, clearly where you’ve got higher density, the issues tend to be more acute as far as Covid-19 goes.

So that would apply to high-density public housing, as it would to high-density public housing anywhere. There are some parts of our country where public and social housing is not high-density, and I don’t think you would necessarily expect to see a higher incidence of Covid-19 there. I think it’s more of a density question.

View image in fullscreen

No new cases in South Australia today.

An update from the Top End.