There has been a lot of coronavirus news across Australia in the last 24 hours. If you can’t keep up with every press conference, restriction or announcement, don’t stress. This article has the most current updates.

NSW:

NSW recorded 65 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.

Of these locally acquired cases, 40 are linked to a known case or cluster – 27 are household contacts and 13 are close contacts – and the source of infection for 25 cases remains under investigation.

29 cases were in isolation throughout their infectious period and seven cases were in isolation for part of their infectious period. 28 cases were infectious in the community, and the isolation status of one case remains under investigation.

Two major Sydney hospitals have been impacted by coronavirus, with health authorities confirming a fully vaccinated staff member at Sydney’s Westmead Hospital has tested positive to COVID-19.

Sydney’s Liverpool Hospital was also forced to close some of its operating theatres for deep cleaning after a patient returned a positive test on Wednesday.

A number of staff have gone into a two-week isolation, and contact tracing is underway.

Victoria:

Victorians must wear face masks indoors as health authorities try to stop the latest COVID-19 outbreak. 

Victoria announced 11 new local cases on Wednesday, with 10 of those being counted in Thursday’s statistics, and more than 40 exposure sites identified. 

The state did not add to those 10 new cases on Thursday.

Face masks must now be worn in all indoor settings, including workplaces and secondary schools. Masks will also be required outdoors when social distancing is not possible.

Queensland:

Queensland Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, has confirmed three new local cases in Brisbane. 

One is a 12-year-old who recently finished quarantine in Sydney and flew to Brisbane, and another is the child’s parent. 

The third is a Brisbane Airport worker who was vaccinated. 

Mask mandates and restrictions in Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Ipswich, Logan City, Redlands, Sunshine Coast, Noosa, Somerset, Lockyer Valley, Scenic Rim and Gold Coast are extended for another week. 

The Premier has warned Queenslanders against travelling to Victoria given its current outbreaks.

Authorities are also still monitoring the outbreak in New South Wales, and say possible border restrictions are being reviewed daily.

South Australia:

People entering South Australia from Victoria will now have to get tested on arrival, and are banned from attending high-risk locations such as aged care homes for 14 days.

Commercial transport and freight drivers entering South Australia are now required to get a COVID-19 test within 24 hours of arrival.

Freight drivers coming into the state will need to produce evidence they have had a negative COVID-19 test within 48 hours of their arrival.

Western Australia:

Western Australia enforced new restrictions on travellers from Victoria on Wednesday afternoon. Those arriving from Victoria must now self-quarantine for 14 days. They must get a COVID-19 test when they arrive, and on day 11 of quarantine. 

Northern Territory:

The Northern Territory Chief Health Officer has not announced any new COVID restrictions for Victoria, but he has warned he is closely monitoring the state’s growing number of cases.

New directions were issued on Wednesday night for anyone who has been to an exposure site in the town of Tailem Bend, south-east of Adelaide. Anyone who has been there must get tested and quarantine for 14 days.

Travellers from Victoria are still under quarantine and testing directions that were issued last month.

ACT:

ACT residents will have to check in to shops, takeaways and other venues from 12:00pm using the Check In CBR app. This will be mandatory for anyone over the age of 16.

Check-ins will be required for all retail settings, including supermarkets, department stores, petrol stations, takeaway services, public transport and taxi, hire car and ride share transport services.

Previously, people needed to check in if they were going to be somewhere for longer than 15 minutes, but that condition has been removed. 

Source: ABC News.

Former police sergeant, Frank Caridi, who attempted to thwart the Bourke St massacre by warning his bosses of James Gargasoulas’ murderous intentions, has launched a high stakes legal battle against Victoria Police.

According to the Herald Sun, Mr Caridi is suing his former employer for negligence claiming he continues to suffer nightmares and post-traumatic stress disorder, and will never work again as a result.

In a statement of claim lodged in the County Court this week, Mr Caridi said he has been unable to work since the January 2017 tragedy in which six people were killed and 27 were injured after Gargasoulas deliberately drove his car into the busy CBD mall.

READ MORE: Coroner hands down findings on Gargasoulas’ 2017 Bourke Street rampage.

Mr Caridi, 56, told the Herald Sun he believes lives would have been saved if his calls to arrest Gargasoulas – over the attempted stabbing murder of his brother the night before – had been acted on earlier.

Instead, he said he was given “ridiculous excuses’’ as to why the critical incident response team (CIRT) would not respond.

“I know the outcome would have been different and lives would have been saved had we acted earlier,’’ Mr Caridi told the Herald Sun.

Court documents state Mr Caridi was aware that Gargasoulos was “erratic, psychotic and had the propensity to cause injury or death” if not immediately arrested, the Herald Sun reports.

Mr Caridi claims Victoria Police was negligent in failing to act upon and disregarding his warnings and he has suffered anxiety and depression as a consequence.

Mr Caridi also said he was treated poorly by Victoria Police in the lead up to giving evidence to the Coronial Inquest into the Bourke St rampage, and has been targeted and vilified for not protecting the “brotherhood” of the police force.

He is claiming compensation for damages and loss of future earnings.

Source: Herald Sun.

Peter Poulos is the owner of Christos’ Pizzeria and recalls his experience as one of the first cases of COVID-19 in NSW’s current outbreak. 

Mr. Poulos was having dinner with his father-in-law and wife at his pizzeria in Sydney’s inner-west suburb of Paddington one Monday on June 21. 

Little did he know that NSW Health would call two days later to advise that he and his wife were close contacts of a confirmed COVID-19 case and to self-isolate immediately. 

“We didn’t think it was going to happen to us,” he tells the Sydney Morning Herald. 

Poulos closed his pizzeria that day and ordered his staff to do the same – get tested and self-isolate – but it wasn’t until Saturday that things would turn for the worse when he woke up with a dull headache. 

“I don’t get headaches,” he says, recalling that he thought, “‘That’s strange’.” 

“And then I started getting the fevers and chills.” 

His wife, suffering the same symptoms, spent half the day in bed. 

His 89-year-old father-in-law coughed so incessantly that he wound up in hospital on an oxygen tank within a few days. 

It was a rough time for Poulos: getting his temperature, oxygen levels and heart rate measured daily by doctors at NSW Health. 

A cough developed after about two weeks but disappeared within a few days along with the rest of his symptoms. 

His father, Christo, who founded the pizzeria 35 years ago in 1986, died from other causes during the first lockdown. 

Emotional support visits are hard to maintain during a lockdown and Mr. Poulos is no stranger to the difficulties of these restrictions, but he continues to support his widowed 92-year-old mother without complaints. 

“It is what it is,” he said. 

His business has taken a significant hit since the pandemic began 18 months ago. 

In accordance with NSW Health advice, he and his wife emerged from isolation three days after their symptoms disappeared. Then they went back to work. 

Source: SMH

Kayla Itsines and Tobi Pearce have sold off Sweat to US software giant iFIT Health & Fitness Inc. 

Ms. Itsines says the deal has “opened the door to an exciting new future” for the brand. 

“Sweat has had an incredible journey from our humble beginnings training women one-on-one in my Adelaide backyard to launching the Sweat app in 2015 to now joining the iFIT family,” she said.

They sold the company for $400m; that’s about $100 million more than sources who are familiar with the deal allege it’s worth, the Daily Telegraph reports. 

The pair will continue to lead Sweat in Adelaide as a stand-alone brand within the Utah-based iFIT group. 

iFIT is a health and fitness technology company founded in 1989 which delivers workout sessions that integrate with the company’s fitness equipment range. 

Mr. Pearce says he’s proud to see the business enter the international market. 

“Kayla and I have had a very strong and long working relationship and this is the beginning of chapter two for both of us,” he said.

“I’m very much looking forward to a bigger and better Sweat – our headquarters will remain in Adelaide and we have a second office in Melbourne and that will reman there as well.”

Personal trainers Itsines and her former fiancé Pearce found themselves making international headlines after launching the fitness empire six years ago in 2015. 

Since then, the Sweat app has been downloaded more than 30 million times and the company generated close to $100 million in the year to June 2020 alone. 

More than half of that revenue came from the US while $8.7m came from Australian subscribers. 

Sweat recorded a $5.4m loss in 2020. 

Last year, the Young Rich List valued the couple at a net worth of $209 million each. 

Source: Daily Telegraph

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking of Japan has become the latest major bank ensnared by an alleged fraud carried out by Sydney-based firm, Forum Finance, with an exposure of nearly $100 million.

According to The Australian Financial Review, the bank’s leasing division, SMBC Leasing and Finance, had filed a claim to the Federal Court seeking consent to appoint a liquidator to Forum Enviro, which is part of the Forum Group of companies.

Basile Papadimitriou, better known as Bill Papas, is named as a defendant.

Court documents have confirmed an exposure of $98.9 million to Sumitomo Mitsui in the legal action against Forum Enviro and Mr Papas, the Australian Financial Review reports.

Sumitomo Mitsui has applied for freezing orders to be placed on Mr. Papas and is seeking damages for “the tort of unlawful means conspiracy” and “in deceit”. 

According to the newspaper, along with the $285 million alleged by Westpac and a further $9 million by French bank Société Générale, the total exposure of the alleged fraud is getting close to $400 million. Humm Group also told the sharemarket it had a potential exposure of around $12 million.

Sumitomo Mitsui was not immediately available for comment by the AFR.

READ MORE: Still no sign of Sydney tycoon, Bill Papas, at centre of $300 million alleged Westpac fraud.

Source: The Australian Financial Review.