NSW has returned to double-digit daily cases of COVID-19 after recording 89 new locally-acquired cases of the virus in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. 

75 are linked to a known case or cluster and 21 were infectious in the community. Three-quarters of the cases are household contacts. 

A man in his 70s from the eastern suburbs died from COVID-19 yesterday. 

Police issued 121 infringement notices yesterday with just 34 of those handed out in south-west Sydney. 

South-west Sydney has remained the focus of the state outbreak, with Premier Gladys Berejiklian imploring those who live in the area not to leave the house unless they absolutely positively have to, but Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant admitted that “the risk exists everywhere”.

People between the ages of 20-50 make up a percentage of those in ICU with COVID. 

Queensland records two new local COVID-19 cases:

Queensland recorded three new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, one in hotel quarantine and two in home quarantine.

Chief Health Officer, Dr Jeanette Young, said the returned overseas traveller arrived from the UK via Singapore.

She confirmed the other two local cases were linked to the cluster from a Greek Orthodox administration building.

READ MORE: President of St George Greek Orthodox Community clarifies ‘inaccurate’ exposure site listing.

“Both are well, symptom free, and so they have already been spoken with and they have remained in their homes and there are other people living in those households [that] have also been in their homes,” Dr Young said.

“So there is no risk at all with those two individuals… But it does prove that it doesn’t matter how many negative tests you get, you can up to that 14 days incubation period still test positive.”

Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said they were monitoring the situation in New South Wales, and would not hesitate to shut the border if needed.

“We just heard breaking news that there is a positive case in Goulburn,” she said.

“We want Queenslanders to come home because the situation is unfolding each day in NSW… So if we do see it spreading to other parts of NSW we won’t hesitate to shut the border.”

Victoria has already closed its borders to New South Wales and ACT, declaring them as “red zones.”

Underworld travel routes across international borders have been busy as Australia’s most wanted fugitives hiding overseas are on the move in the wake of learning that their encrypted chats had been monitored by cops, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Codenamed Ironside, the Anom operation which handed 25 million messages to the FBI and the Australian Federal Police, has given Australian law enforcement the upper hand.

“There is no doubt that Ironside has caused a massive disruption in the criminal sphere,” AFP Detective Sergeant Matt Stocks told The Daily Telegraph.

READ MORE: Operation Ironside: Who are the Greek Australians charged in the sting of the century?

Among those on the move, according to The Daily Telegraph, is James Dalamangas, 51, who has been on Australia’s most wanted list the longest at over 20 years.

He remains on the run in Greece where as a dual Australian and Greek national, the Greek government has refused to extradite him. They have agreed to prosecute him in Greece if he is ever caught.

READ MORE: Operation Ironside: Greek Australians among those charged in NSW police bust.

The Daily Telegraph reports that he was involved in a brawl at Star City Casino where his brother Peter was killed in 1998. He fled Australia in 1999 after fatally stabbing father-of-two George Giannopoulos inside a Greek nightclub in Belmore. He is also wanted over the shooting murder of bouncer Tim Voukelatos.

READ MORE: Operation Ironside: Greek Australians among those arrested in SA.

But police sources told The Daily Telegraph that Dalamangas, who is believed to have put on weight and has a $200,000 bounty on his head, has not got away with it.

He was seen out clubbing in Athens with underworld figure John Macris weeks before Macris was assassinated in late 2018.

“It is not impossible that he will be grabbed. When we get information about him, we pass it on to the Greek authorities,” a police source said.

Source: The Daily Telegraph.

Former South Australian senator, Nick Xenophon, says he is seriously considering a return to federal politics and all because of ugg boots, The Advertiser reports.

Mr Xenophon is one of the lawyers representing Sydney shoemaker, Eddie Oygur, in his battle against US outdoor clothing retailer, Deckers, over the right to market sheepskin boots as “uggs.”

According to The Advertiser, Australia is this week set to lose the rights to “ugg” boots, the only remaining hope being if the Federal Government makes a direct appeal to the US Supreme Court and provides $500,000 in legal funding.

Mr Xenophon said he was incensed by the government’s “couldn’t give a stuff attitude.”

“For the last five years, Eddie has been standing up for Australia to bring the ugg back home, and with it thousands of jobs. It’s about time the Australian government stood up for the national interest and stood by Eddie,” Mr Xenophon, who is Greek Australian, told The Advertiser.

“This should be a no-brainer. Are our political leaders so out of touch they can’t see the benefits of rolling their sleeves up and getting involved?

“For the Australian Government not to stand up for an iconic Aussie product, and let an overseas corporate giant bully Aussie battlers like Eddie is a disgrace. It makes us an international laughing stock.”

Mr Oygur’s legal argument is “ugg” is a generic Australian term for sheepskin boots lined with fleece, made since the 1960s, that should be protected against trademark in the same way companies cannot trademark French “champagne” or Greek “feta.”

If he loses, according to The Advertiser, Mr Oygur will be financially ruined by Deckers, a global behemoth manufacturing ugg boots in China and Vietnam.

Source: The Advertiser.

An aged care business operated by Chris and Gerry Apostolatos, former bankrupt brothers who have been convicted of appalling animal cruelty, has failed to return deposits to the families of former residents, The Age reports.

Chronos Care, which owns aged care homes in Alphington and Mount Eliza, was issued with a non-compliance notice by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission last month, following several complaints from concerned families.

Last week, Chronos Care was also served with a statutory demand to return a deposit of $500,000 which should have been repaid within 14 days of when probate was finalised in April.

According to The Age, Stuart Reynolds, whose mother-in-law passed away at the Mount Eliza facility in July 2020, said he was forced to issue the demand because of repeated obfuscation by Chronos Care management and weak enforcement action by the regulator.

A failure to comply with the order within 21 days could see Chronos Care placed into administration.

“Chronos Care’s management have blatantly ignored their responsibilities in respect of the timely return of our refundable accommodation deposit,” Mr Reynolds said according to The Age.

READ MORE: Apostolatos brothers: Bankrupt chicken growers banned for cruelty run aged care homes.

“They have been contacted by our agents on numerous occasions seeking an explanation for the delay. Their responses have ranged from spurious excuses to outright lies.”

Another family, whose mother died in Chronos Care’s Alphington facility in February 2021, is still trying to recoup a debt of $225,000 that should also have been refunded in April.

The Age reports the late woman’s son had been repeatedly told by the company that it was unable to refund the bond because it was in the process of refinancing and had been badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Concerns about Chronos Care were first raised by The Age in February, when it was revealed the company was founded by Gerry and Chris Apostolatos in 2014 – when both men were bankrupt.

Chris Apostolatos was declared bankrupt in November 2012 with debts of more than $2.46 million and just $600 in the bank. Gerry Apostolatos owed $2.55 million to creditors when he was declared bankrupt in August 2013.

The pair were also fined and banned from the poultry industry for a combined total of 17 years after pleading guilty to serious animal cruelty charges over the mistreatment of more than a million chickens.

This happened about five months after they purchased the Mount Eliza aged care home known as Ranelagh.

Chronos Care did not respond to questions from The Age.

*Note: If your aged care provider becomes bankrupt or insolvent and cannot give you your refund, the Australian Government guarantees to pay it back to you. This includes any interest due since you left care. This is called the Guarantee Scheme, and it covers all residents of Australian Government-subsidised aged care services who have paid a lump sum. More information can be found here.

FULL STORY: The Age.

NSW has reported 112 new local coronavirus cases on Monday, another record daily total for Sydney’s growing coronavirus outbreak.

The figure is more than triple the highest daily case numbers seen during the city’s Crossroads or Avalon clusters last year.

Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, said the “vast majority” of those cases are family members of close contacts of existing cases.

Of these locally acquired cases, 64 are linked to a known case or cluster – 41 are household contacts and 23 are close contacts – and the source of infection for 48 cases remains under investigation.

48 cases were in isolation throughout their infectious period and 12 cases were in isolation for part of their infectious period. 34 cases were infectious in the community, and the isolation status of 18 cases remain under investigation.

Berejiklian said there are a large number of cases and exposure venues in south west Sydney, particularly the Fairfield, Liverpool and Canterbury Banstown areas.

“All of us want to get out of this lockdown as soon as we can. All of us want to reduce the stress we are all feeling and the future is in our hands,” Berejiklian says.

“It is up to us to make sure we get the word out and whilst three local government areas are where most of the cases are certainly circulating, please know the risk is everywhere in those areas that we have asked for people to stay home.”

New phase of the vaccine rollout in NSW:

The NSW Government will enhance its contribution to the Federal Government’s vaccine rollout to ensure maximum uptake both now, and as more supplies arrive.

NSW will prioritise teachers and aged care workers in the Fairfield, Canterbury Bankstown and Liverpool local government areas where there is greater concern of COVID-19 transmission. A vaccine hub will begin operating at Fairfield Showground this Friday to target these two groups.

NSW Health vaccination clinics and centres will now begin making the AstraZeneca vaccine available to people aged over 40.

NSW will also green-light pharmacies across the state to do the same.

Anyone aged 18-39 wishing to get the AstraZeneca jab, is encouraged to talk to their GP.