NSW records 77 new cases and one death as new mask and travel rules issued – as it happened

That’s where we’ll end today’s live coverage of Covid news.

Here are the key developments:

• Sydney’s lockdown is likely to be extended after its worsening Covid outbreak surged by 77 cases on Sunday and led to Australia’s first locally-acquired coronavirus death in 2021. Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned she will be shocked if daily cases do not exceed 100 from tomorrow and over coming days.
• New South Wales has recommended Sydney residents bring their second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine forward to six weeks after their first, with doctors and GPs saying it is a “fair compromise” given the state’s outbreak.
• Victoria has declared the entirety of New South Wales a red zone, effectively closing off its border except for returning Victorian residents. However returning residents will have to quarantine for 14 days. The red zone declaration, which comes into effect from midnight tonight, also applies to the Australian Capital Territory despite no locally-acquired cases being reported in the territory.
• The commonwealth government is working on broadening its assistance measures to help states deal with Covid, in the wake of the worsening New South Wales outbreak.
• The Morrison government’s latest attempt at a vaccination campaign urging Australian’s to “arm themselves” has landed flat, with even the opposition leader quipping it would be difficult for the nation’s satirists to send up.
• The federal government will also run a separate, “graphic and confronting” ad across Sydney from Sunday night which shows a young woman gasping for air in hospital, in an attempt to stop residents breaking strict lockdown rules.

Wishing all our readers in Sydney a safe, warm night.

We’ll be back tomorrow morning to do it all again.

11 Jul 202103.24 EDT

Naaman Zhou

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the Australian Medical Association have both backed NSW Health’s call for Sydney residents to bring their second shot of AstraZeneca forward to six weeks after the first dose.

Both the RACGP and the AMA said that the six week window made sense, as it would provide quicker protection against catching, spreading and also potentially dying from Covid-19.

Dr Charlotte Hespe, the NSW chair of the RACGP also said that people who brought their doses earlier would be first in line to later receive booster shots, which would extend their immunity. Hespe told Guardian Australia:

We will definitely will be looking at giving boosters for those who get it early.

You will actually have a benefit from coming in early, because we’ll keep you on that list.”

She also said GPs would focus on rolling out vaccines in south-west Sydney.

The vice president of the AMA, Dr Chris Moy, said the six week window was good advice given the situation in NSW.

“It’s a fair compromise,” he said.

Read more here:

11 Jul 202103.18 EDT

Amy Remeikis

The commonwealth government is working on broadening its assistance measures to help states deal with Covid, in the wake of the worsening New South Wales outbreak.

Treasury is understood to have provided options to Scott Morrison, which are now under consideration. Additional mental health support will be provided, if needed, on top of the financial assistance already provided for businesses and individuals unable to work in what is becoming a protracted lockdown.

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has acknowledged the Sydney lockdown, already extended for a week beyond the original plan, is likely to go longer, with daily case numbers expected to top 100 in the coming days.

NSW’s lockdown triggered the emergency payments put in place when Melbourne entered its fourth lockdown in May. The emergency payments subsidise employees unable to attend work by either $325 or $500, with the payments flowing after a hotspot declared area is placed in lockdown for more than a week.

Read more on the potential for further assistance:

Over on Twitter, there appears to be a bit of frustration at the federal government’s “graphic and confronting” ad campaign of a young woman gasping for air in hospital that will be run across Sydney from tonight.

Victoria has declared the entirety of New South Wales a red zone, effectively closing the border except for returning Victorian residents.

The red zone declaration also applies to the Australian Capital Territory, despite no locally acquired cases being reported in that jurisdiction.

The red zone status will come into effect from 11.59pm tonight

While Victorian residents will be able to return with a valid red zone permit, they will have to quarantine for 14 days.

Here’s a recap of the main Covid news out of Sydney today:

Sydney’s worsening Covid outbreak has surged by 77 cases and led to Australia’s first locally acquired coronavirus death in 2021, with New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian warning she will be “shocked” if daily cases do not exceed 100 tomorrow.

Chief health officer Kerry Chant is so concerned by the trajectory of Sydney’s outbreak that she is pleading for anyone who has already had one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine to talk to their doctor about cutting the interval between their first and second doses from three months to six weeks – acknowledging sacrificing “a bit of long-term protection” was warranted.

A 90-year-old woman from south-west Sydney, who authorities believe was unvaccinated, died at Liverpool hospital on Saturday, hours after she returned a positive result.

The woman caught the virus within her home from a family member – one of 50 of the 77 cases announced on Sunday that were close family members of existing Covid cases.

Authorities are concerned that 33 of the 77 new cases were infectious in the community, with many of the new cases announced on Sunday described as “quite historic going back five, six or seven days” between initial infection and returning a positive test.

You can read our full news report here:

How great is Ash Barty?

If you didn’t watch the Wimbledon final last night and you’re only just now checking the news, here’s a match report written by my colleague Tumaini Carayol who was at Wimbledon.

Barty’s win comes 50 years after Evonne Goolagong Cawley was first crowned Wimbledon champion.

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Here is a great photo exploration of both of their careers:

And of course Barty is not the only Australian winner at Wimbledon this year.

Wheelchair tennis king Dylan Alcott has made a supreme defence of his Wimbledon quad singles crown, moving ever closer to a potential calendar year “golden slam” of titles.

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The creative mind behind the iconic “grim reaper” campaign considered to have successfully raised awareness of the dangers of Aids in the 1980s has panned one of the federal government’s vaccine ads.

Siimon Reynolds, speaking to the ABC, called the government’s “arm yourself” campaign which was released today a “very weak” campaign.

Reynolds criticised the ad, especially in comparison to the Sydney-specific ad that will launch later tonight showing a young woman gasping for breath in a hospital bed.

He said the ad showing the illness risk of Covid is “ten times better” than the arm yourself campaign, because it shows Covid can be bad and painful.

Reynolds comments follow opposition leader Anthony Albanese also mocking the vaccine ad earlier today.

Here is the “graphic and confronting” ad that vaccine rollout supremo Lt Gen John Frewen and chief medical officer Paul Kelly just announced.

The ads will run only in Sydney from tonight, and are designed to show people the severe illness they risk if they don’t obey lockdown restrictions in the city.

Before you watch it, it’s important to reiterate that this ad is confronting, so some of you might find it uncomfortable to watch.

It shows a young woman in hospital gasping for breath, and features no dialogue.

The ad will run separately to the “arm yourself” vaccine ad campaign that the federal government also launched today.

Lt Gen John Frewen was asked for further clarity about how much the “arm yourself” vaccination ad campaign cost the taxpayer.

He did not provide a specific number, and said that cost of the campaign was accounted for within the $40m spend allocated for vaccine ads this year.

He said other ads are currently being worked on, including specific campaigns targeting Indigenous and remote communities.

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You can read more about the “arm yourself” campaign and even watch the ad in this report written by my colleague Amy Remeikis earlier today.