Australia COVID LIVE updates Heavy police presence as anti-lockdown protest planned to go ahead in Sydney NSW cases continue to rise amid harsher restrictions

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  • Victoria’s lockdown is set to become even stricter on Saturday in a last-ditch attempt to control a coronavirus outbreak Premier Daniel Andrews warned was on the precipice of “spiralling out of control”.

    The government’s most senior ministers met on Friday evening to discuss additional restrictions including the closure of childcare centres and the construction industry, a further tightening of the one-hour exercise limit and the reimposition of a regional lockdown after 17 cases emerged in Shepparton.

    Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, pictured on Friday, is expected to announce tougher restrictions.

    Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, pictured on Friday, is expected to announce tougher restrictions.Credit:Simon Schluter

    Ministers expressed grave concerns about the virus leaking further into regional Victoria after a construction equipment supplier in Bendigo was listed as an exposure site.

    Late on Friday evening, all community sporting leagues across regional Victoria were asked to cancel their activities for the weekend.

    Read more here

    An exclusion zone will be in place in Sydney’s CBD from 9am to 3pm today as police attempt to quell an anti-lockdown protest which plans to kick off at Victoria Park in the inner city at noon.

    Taxis and ride-share services are prohibited from taking passengers into the CBD while the exclusion is in place, with fines of up to $100,000 applying for individuals and $500,000 for companies.

    Police speak to a driver at a checkpoint on the Princes Highway when a CBD exclusion zone applied last month.

    Police speak to a driver at a checkpoint on the Princes Highway when a CBD exclusion zone applied last month.Credit:James Brickwood

    Police say the prohibition notice they have issued applies to seven transport providers, “in response to planned unlawful protest activity at risk of seriously compromising the public’s safety”. Trains are also expected to alter their stopping patterns.

    Assistant Commissioner Peter Thurtell said more than 1500 officers have been deployed to respond to the protest. Essential workers, and anyone who requires medical treatment, will be able to make their way into the city as normal.

    “The transmission of the delta strain of COVID-19 presents a clear and present threat to the community. Now is not the time to gather in groups in protest,” Assistant Commissioner Thurtell said.

    When this exclusion zone was first used last month, lanes of major arterial roads were closed as police set up checkpoints heading into the city.

    The boundaries of today’s exclusion zone will be:

  • Western boundary: City West Link and The Crescent at Lilyfield.
  • Southern boundary: South Dowling Street and Todman Avenue at Zetland,
  • Northern boundary: Bradfield Highway at Milsons Point.
  • Eastern boundary: New South Head Road and Ocean Avenue at Edgecliff.
  • Good morning, and thanks for joining us for another day of our live coverage. I’m Georgina Mitchell.

    Here’s what you need to know so far:

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