Here’s what you need to know this morning.
Alert for Milsons Point restaurant
NSW Health has issued an alert for Ripples Restaurant in Sydney’s Milsons Point after person with COVID-19 attended the venue last weekend.
Anyone who was at the restaurant on Saturday October 3 between 8:00pm and 10:30pm is considered a close contact, and must get tested and isolate for the 14 days since the visit.
A small number of walk-in diners did not have their details recorded and cannot be contacted directly by NSW Health.
Anyone who went to the Mazda Artarmon repair centre on Campbell Street between 7:30am and 9:30am on Friday October 2 is considered a casual contact and should get tested and isolate if they develop even the slightest symptoms.
Sharp decline in breast screening
New data shows there were 50,000 fewer breast screenings in NSW in the first half of this year compared to the last reporting period due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The number of women who were screened with Breast Screen NSW fell from 150,000 in January to June 2018 to just over 100,000 in the same period this year.
New data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows the national statistics were much more stark.
In April 2018, more than 74,000 screening mammograms were carried out across Australia but that number fell to 1,100 this April.
Screening has bounced back, but in June this year there were still 10,000 fewer tests carried out compared to June 2018.
New COVID-19 cases play havoc with holiday plans
Three new mystery coronavirus cases detected in the Sydney suburbs of Campbelltown, Parramatta and Wollondilly have thrown interstate travel and potential border reopenings into disarray.
The clock could be reset on plans announced last week to reopen the border with Queensland on November 1, and Western Australia’s hard border policy is still not budging.
However the Northern Territory still looks set to reopen its doors to Sydneysiders this Friday and Tasmania plans to reopen its borders to low-risk COVID states from the end of October.
South Australia has already deemed NSW a “low transmission zone”, meaning travellers are able to enter the state without having to quarantine as long as they haven’t been in Victoria in the previous 14 days.
William Tyrell inquest wraps up
The inquest into the disappearance of William Tyrrell from the NSW mid-north coast will wrap up evidence later today.
It has been six years since the three-year-old vanished from Kendall and no one has ever been arrested or charged.
The inquest into the boy’s suspected murder will hear statements from his foster and biological families before finalising almost two years of hearings.
Detective Chief Inspector David Laidlaw told the court yesterday the team working to find out what happened to the boy has been reduced from 26 to just five investigators.
More evidence from Packer
James Packer will be quizzed on his influence over Crown Resort casinos for a third and likely final time today.
Mr Packer is appearing before the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority inquiry which is investigating whether Crown is fit to hold a license for its new VIP casino in Sydney.
Yesterday the former Crown director admitted he was instructing executives and receiving privileged information — not usually available to general shareholders — even after he had relinquished his roles in 2018.
Mr Packer also told the inquiry as chairman, he was not aware Crown staff in China were living in fear while working unlicensed, before their arrests in 2016.
