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- Mandatory vax backing for high risk businesses in hotspots
- This morning’s headlines at a glance
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Mandatory vax backing for high risk businesses in hotspots
High risk businesses in coronavirus hotspots are set to get the green light to order mandatory vaccinations for their staff in an update to federal advice being worked on by the workplace regulator.
The Fair Work Ombudsman confirmed on Friday it planned to update its guidance that had previously told the overwhelming majority of businesses that they could not instruct their staff to be vaccinated.
More than 60 exposure sites in NSW have been Woolworths or Coles supermarkets.Credit:SMH
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday that individual employers should consider the advice but listed categories of workers whose bosses are most likely to be able to issue them “reasonable directions” to be vaccinated under existing workplace laws.
After transport and healthcare workers who deal with covid-positive people, Mr Morrison said were “those who are in a position where they are publicly public facing in their daily lives, retail, supermarkets, things of that nature.“
More on this story from Nick Bonyhady here.
This morning’s headlines at a glance
Good morning and welcome to the weekend.
It’s Saturday, August 7. I’m Lucy Cormack and I’ll be helming our live coverage until 2pm. If it’s another day in lockdown for you, take care in there.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the latest news to get you going for the day:
- NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the state must learn to live with COVID-19 as the number of people in hospital with the virus doubled within a week and the nation’s chief medical officer called for a circuit-breaker to halt the spread across Sydney. NSW recorded 291 new cases.
- Victoria recorded four new cases of coronavirus on the first full day of its one-week lockdown. All the new cases are linked to existing outbreaks but were not in isolation for their infectious periods. Victorians have been warned to expect months of rolling lockdowns.
- Queensland recorded 10 new cases of COVID-19 – five adults and five children. All are linked to the current Indooroopilly cluster, giving authorities hope they are getting on top of the outbreak. Health authorities say the state’s Delta outbreak is being supercharged by children.
- Police charged a 26-year-old man with raping former government adviser Brittany Higgins in Parliament House two years ago.
- In Tokyo Olympic javelin thrower Kelsey-Lee Barber threaded her needle through the sky into a bronze-medal position on Friday night.
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