• Victoria records 860 new cases, five deaths
• Kabul evacuation flights take off for Aussies
• NSW records 165 new cases, one death
• New SA reopening plans released
• SA Police continue search for quarantine absconder
• Today’s COVID state of pay across Australia
• Australia claims its first T20 World Cup title
• SA Sport awards 2021 – all the winners
• Some Liberal MPs push Govt to lock in bigger emissions cuts

Victoria records 860 new cases, five deaths

Victoria has recorded 860 new COVID-19 infections and five people have died, as childcare services in the state are sent rapid tests to help children identified as close contacts return sooner.

It is the second day Victoria’s case numbers have dropped below 1000, after reporting 905 cases on Sunday.

The state is managing 17,518 total active cases, the health department said on Monday.

There are 378 virus patients in hospital, 78 patients in ICU are actively infected with COVID-19 and 48 are on ventilators.

There were more than 48,000 virus test results processed on Sunday, and 5030 people were vaccinated.

About 87 per cent of Victorians aged over 12 are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Kabul evacuation flights take off for Aussies

Almost 170 Australian citizens and permanent residents remain in Afghanistan as evacuations continue following the Taliban takeover.

There were 87 citizens and 82 permanent residents in the country as of November 12 but evacuations are ramping up as flights out of the capital Kabul become more feasible.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has secured seats for Australians on three flights arranged by the Qatar government.

“Each day those figures … continue to fall,” acting deputy secretary Simon Newnham told a Senate inquiry on Monday.

“We are very much focused on international flights out of Kabul … and as that becomes a more commercial (and) viable option, we expect to see increases in the numbers departing via those flights.”

Some people are continuing to present at land borders against the recommendation of Australian officials.

Just under 900 people crossed the Pakistan border and a small number has presented in Iran, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

About 80 Australian citizens, permanent residents and visa holders made their way to capital cities across Europe and the Middle East.

Australia has evacuated more than 5150 people since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August.

NSW records 165 new cases, one death

NSW has reported 165 new cases of COVID-19 and one death as hospitals were given the green light to resume elective surgery at full capacity.

The locally acquired cases were logged in the 24 hours to 8pm on Sunday and the total was down 30 on the previous day’s tally after 50,453 tests.

The number of infected people who are in hospital fell by eight to 216, with 32 in intensive care and 15 on ventilators.

Some 94.2 per cent of people aged 16 and over had received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 91.1 per cent are fully vaccinated.

In the 12-15 age group, 80.6 per cent have had their first dose while 73.5 per cent have had both.

The latest casualty of the pandemic was a fully vaccinated woman in her 80s with underlying health conditions, who died at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

She was a resident of the Presbyterian Aged Care nursing home at Ashfield in Sydney’s inner west, where she acquired her infection.

It’s the first virus death linked to an outbreak at the facility.

NSW Health announced last week elective surgery could resume unrestricted because of the state’s high vaccination rates and stable levels of community transmission.

Updated reopening plans released

Fully-vaccinated South Australians will only have to quarantine for seven days if they come in close contact with a positive COVID-19 case and unvaccinated travellers will be allowed into the state after borders reopen next Tuesday.

Premier Steven Marshall said that from November 23, South Australia would adopt a “more bespoke, tailored” quarantine policy that differed to the previous “heavy-handed” approach requiring all close or casual contacts of positive COVID-19 cases to isolate for 14 days.

Those who are fully vaccinated will only need to quarantine for seven days if they are identified as a close contact of a positive COVID-19 case.

They will still need to get tested three times – on days one, six and 13 – or if they develop coronavirus symptoms.

Between days eight to 14 after coming in contact with a positive case, vaccinated close contacts will need to wear a surgical mask around others at all times and avoid non-essential activity, COVID management plan events, and visiting high-risk settings such as hospitals and aged care facilities.

They must also avoid coming into contact with vulnerable people such as those who are elderly, pregnant or who have chronic health conditions.

Those who are infectious or have unvaccinated close contacts (including children aged under 12) will still need to complete the full 14 days of quarantine.

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SA Police continue search for quarantine absconder

SA Police are seeking public help to find a woman who absconded from medi-hotel quarantine in Adelaide after arriving from Darwin using a stolen driver’s licence.

The woman, named by police as Samantha Sullivan, also known as Samantha McNeven, arrived in Adelaide on Friday and was required to quarantine for a fortnight at a city hotel.

Police say she left around 7.45pm on Saturday via a fire escape and then caught a taxi from a nearby cab rank.

She had already returned a negative coronavirus test.

“She’s entered with false identification … a stolen driver’s licence,” South Australia Police Assistant Commissioner Craig Patterson told reporters on Sunday.

“Although this is not ideal … we need to remember this is not a prison.

“When you consider we’ve only had three people leave these medi-hotel quarantine facilities, that’s not too bad of an outcome. Although we’re not happy about that.”

Patterson said security guards at the hotel tried to stop the woman from leaving but they don’t have the authority to physically detain someone.

He said police are not sure where the woman is from and the matter was being treated as a health issue rather than a law enforcement issue.

He said the priority of police was to bring the woman back to quarantine so she could continue her testing requirements.

A review of medi-hotel security in SA was undertaken in August after a NSW man left Adelaide’s Hotel Grand Chancellor to go to a nearby pub.

A CCTV image of the woman, who left her medi-hotel on Saturday night.

COVID state of play across Australia

Victoria has recorded 860 new COVID-19 infections and five people have died, as childcare services in the state are sent rapid tests to help children identified as close contacts return sooner.

It is the second day Victoria’s case numbers have dropped below 1000, after reporting 905 cases on Sunday.

The state is managing 17,518 total active cases, the health department said on Monday.

NSW recorded 165 new cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Sunday – down 30 on the previous day’s tally and there were 50,453 tests.

The number of COVID-19 cases in hospital was down eight to 216 people, with 32 in intensive care.

A new patient with COVID-19 has been hospitalised in the ACT, after almost a week where no active virus cases were reported in Canberra hospitals.

It comes as 10 new COVID-19 cases were detected in the most recent reporting period.

The patient is not in intensive care or on a ventilator.

Vaccine rates in the capital continue to rise, with 96.4 per cent of residents 12 and over being fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, more than 100 per cent of population estimates for the ACT who are 16 and over have received their first dose.

Queensland will allow people to apply for home quarantine from Monday afternoon, a day after figures showed more 70 per cent of eligible residents were fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced today that applicants must have a residence within two hours’ drive of an airport, which has direct access from the outside rather than via shared indoor entrances.

The premier says the automated system will be online from 5pm on Monday afternoon and the pace of vaccinations may allow the next step in the state’s reopening plan to be brought forward.

“So now we’ll be welcoming people from hotspots who are fully vaccinated to come into Queensland and home quarantine for 14 days if they produce that negative test,” Palaszczuk told reporters on Monday.

The next step in the government’s plan is to scrap quarantine for all fully vaccinated domestic arrivals who test negative once 80 per cent of eligible Queenslanders have been fully vaccinated or December 17 at the latest.

Palaszczuk admits people doing home quarantine may still take some time to start arriving as they need to test negative before travelling.

Applicants don’t need to be Queensland residents with home quarantine available to anyone, including people moving to the state.

However, home quarantine is only available to people flying into Queensland with the premier refusing to explain why people who have a home to quarantine in within two hours’ drive from the border are not also eligible.

Domestic arrivals from states that aren’t COVID-19 hotspots will still be able to enter Queensland without any restrictions or quarantine requirements.

Marsh leads Australia to World Cup triumph

Australia’s great men’s Twenty20 drought is finally over after Mitch Marsh lifted them to an emphatic eight-wicket win over New Zealand in the World Cup final in Dubai.

Chasing 173 for victory, Marsh was the hero for Australia on Sunday as he muscled an unbeaten 77 from 50 balls to set up the win with seven balls to spare.

David Warner, who also hit 53 from 38 as part of a 92-run second-wicket stand with Marsh, was named player of the tournament after entering it with questions over his own form.

It helped end a 14-year wait for Australia to claim the one trophy that has eluded them.

“I just wanted to get out there and have a presence,” Marsh said.

“What an amazing six weeks … World Champs.”

Yet at times, as Kane Williamson was smashing them for 85 from 48 balls, the trophy looked some way off for Australia.

And when captain Aaron Finch fell early, Australia needed a man to stand up in the chase.

Enter Marsh, who produced his finest hour as an Australian cricketer to be crowned man of the match in a World Cup final.

He put Adam Milne into the crowd at backward square the first ball he faced, and sent the next two deliveries to the boundary.

He made a clear statement of force against each of the Black Caps’ bowlers, dispatching Jimmy Neesham and Mitch Santner for six off the first balls they bowled.

The right-hander also took another Ish Sodhi over for 16, as the legspinner lost his way and the game got away from New Zealand.

Out of the picture in international cricket months ago and after only playing 15 T20s for Australia in the 10 years before 2021, the tournament has been a coming of age for Marsh.

The West Australian averaged 61.66 in the UAE at a strike-rate of above 145, while his year is now the most prolific of any Australian in the T20 format.

He finished Sunday night with 10 boundaries – including four sixes – as Australia made light work of the biggest chase in T20 World Cup final history.

Australia’s triumph came after they entered the tournament as rank outsiders, after five straight series losses.

But by the time Glenn Maxwell (28 from 18) produced a switch hit to finish the job, they were on top of the T20 world for the first time.

“This is huge,” captain Aaron Finch said.

“To be the first Australian team to be able to do it. So proud of the way the guys went about the whole campaign.”

SA Sport awards – all the winners

One of the state’s Olympic gold-medallists from the Tokyo Games headlines the list of SA Sport award-winners for 2021, with the state’s newest football league and an unsung triple-national-champion basketball team also picking up honours.

The awards, run by Sport SA and supported by InDaily, were announced yesterday, with rower Alexander Hill being named Athlete of the Year. Hill, a two-time world champion and Rio silver medallist, won a gold medal in Tokyo as part of the men’s coxless four. The Olympic prize topped a huge year in which he also won gold in the single scull, open pair and open coxless fours at the Australian Rowing Championships.

Hill told the ceremony that planned to return to heavy training early next year at the sport’s high performance centre in Canberra, with new events a possibility for the decorated rower.

Cyclist Paige Greco was named Para-athlete of the Year after picking up three medals in Tokyo, including gold and a new world record in the 3000m individual pursuit.

The Team of the Year Award, supported by InDaily, went to the SA Red Ivor Burge State Men’s Basketball Team. The team, made up of athletes with an intellectual disability, took out the national title in May – its third national championship in a row, making it the most successful basketball team in the state in recent years.

The Emerging Athlete of the Year Award, , supported by InDaily, went to swimmer Isabella Vincent, who represented Australia at the Tokyo Paralympics. At the age of 15, she was the youngest member of the Paralympic team. She returned with a silver and bronze medal, to go with a swag of gold at this year’s Australian Age Swimming Championships.

Other awards included:

• Coach of the Year: Peter Bishop, coach of leading Australian swimmers Madi Wilson and Kyle Chalmers.
• Event of the Year: the 2021 Australian Swimming trials for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, held at the South Australian Aquatic and Leisure Centre, and delivered by the centre’s manager, the YMCA, in partnership with Swimming Australia and Swimming SA.
• Ruby Warner Spirit of Sport Award: Motorcyclist Emma Haylock, the 2020 SA motocross champion (and undefeated so far in the 2021 round of races). She was honoured for her support for the sport and its other participants. The judges noted: “Keeping everyone safe and racing is of more importance than results and getting what, to her, would be a hollow win.”
• Game On Active Participation Award: Hectorville Play Streets Trial – Play Australia, with the Campbelltown Council, Multicultural Communities Council of SA and the Centre for Sport and Social Impact, worked with the community in Melville Grove to deliver four “Play Street” sessions with brought together the locals for physical activity and social connection.
• Official of the Year: Paul Szyjko, whom the judges described as the highest regarded gymnastics official in the nation. He was a judge at the Tokyo Olympics – his fifth Games as a judge – including the coveted solo position awarded to an Australian official in men’s artistic gymnastics.
• Volunteer of the Year: Naomi Pugsley, who has played an integral role in supporting the Special Olympics South Australia.
• Administrator of the Year: Rowena Trevaskis, the Competition and Member Services Manager at Baseball SA, who the judges said has gone over and above year after year to ensure the sport of baseball is played with honesty, integrity, fairness and equality.
• Reconciliation Award: the National Indigenous Tennis Carnival – an event usually held annually in Darwin, but was delivered this year by Tennis SA, due to COVID border restrictions.
• Active Inclusion Award: the Novita SANFL Wheelchair Football League. Launched this year, the league enabled people with a physical disability to get active and connect with the wider footy community. A total of 35 players took the court in the League – women and men, with and without disability and from an age range spanning eight to 61-years-old. The competition included teams representing Central Districts, Norwood, Sturt and Woodville-West Torrens, with Sturt awarded the inaugural premiership.

Some Liberal MPs pushing for greater emissions cuts

Some Liberal MPs want Australia to commit to stronger 2035 emissions cuts as the Morrison government refuses to budge on its target for this decade.

NSW MP Dave Sharma thinks it’s doable to reduce emissions between 40 and 45 per cent by 2035.

“It’s a modest stretch, but it’s not a big stretch,” he told Sky News on Monday.

“Particularly when you consider the number of new technologies we’re investing in and the cost of things like battery storage that are coming down now at an exponential rate.”

Countries agreed at the COP26 summit in Glasgow to accelerate the phasing down, but not out, of coal after lobbying by countries including India.

“The direction of travel is is clear; it’s away from fossil fuels,” Sharma said. “If we’re serious about reducing our emissions, we need to lessen our reliance on fossil fuels.”

The government expects to cut emissions by up to 35 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.

Energy Minister Angus Taylor has ruled out increasing Australia’s existing pledge of cutting emissions by 26 to 28 per cent this decade.

This is despite Australia being a signatory to a COP26 agreement calling on countries to revisit their mid-term targets.

The world’s failure at COP26 to agree to phase out coal has been trumpeted by Nationals senator Matt Canavan as a great result for Australia’s mining industry.

“Given the fact that the agreement did not say that coal needs to be phased down or taken out, it is a big green light for us to build more coal mines,” he told the Nine Network.

But one of the architects of the Paris Agreement, Robert Orr, does not think global investors will be rushing to support coal mining in Australia or anywhere.

“It’s safe to say that the so-called Australian way to net zero was pretty heavily criticised in Glasgow by a range of parties,” the special adviser on climate change to the UN secretary-general told ABC radio.

“It’s unfortunate for the Australian government or any government to dig in, around commitments currently made.”

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese plans to release Labor’s 2030 emissions target before the year’s end.

He accuses the Morrison government of hypocrisy for signing up to a UN push for higher 2030 targets only to walk away from it.

-With The New Daily, AAP and Reuters