Category Archives: Australia news

Coronavirus live news: Bolivia leader tests positive as Australia limits returnees

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Venezuelan Socialist party boss also tests positive; Brazil president Bolsonaro ‘in good health’; record new cases in Australian state of Victoria

Reuters is reporting that a clinical trial in Japan of Fujifilm Holdings Corp’s Avigan drug yielded inconclusive results as a treatment of Covid-19.

The drug, which has been shown to cause birth defects in animal studies, has already been approved as a Covid-19 treatment in Russia and India.

So, welcome to our coronavirus live coverage. For those of you wanting your news straight, here’s a summary of the top lines of the day, with link to key pieces for you to investigate further at your leisure:

The UK has rejected the chance to join the European Union’s coronavirus vaccine programme due to ministers’ concerns over “costly delays”, according to sources.

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Coronavirus: Bogotá to re-enter strict lockdown – as it happened

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WHO reports worrying rise; second Venezuelan minister tests positive; Brazil records 1,200 more deaths

This blog is closed – keep following coronavirus news at our new live blog.

US prison officials have announced California will release up to 8,000 people from state prisons to curb the spread of Covid-19 throughout the institutions.

Officials on Friday announced three separate efforts, approved by the governor, Gavin Newsom, that they say will decrease the prison population by 8,ooo by the end of August. The measures mark the largest release efforts the state administration has taken since Covid-19 began to circulate among prison staff and incarcerated people.

Related: California to release up to 8,000 prisoners to curb spread of coronavirus

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Police interrogate five Australian Al Jazeera journalists accused of sedition in Malaysia

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Journalists ordered to be questioned after broadcast of documentary about migrant workers in Kuala Lumpur during Covid-19 pandemic

Five Australian journalists are being interrogated by Malaysian authorities who have accused them of sedition and defamation after the broadcast of a documentary about migrant workers in Kuala Lumpur during Covid-19.

A week after the broadcast of the Al Jazeera English documentary in Malaysia, the journalists were ordered to attend the police station for questioning on Friday morning.

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China has only itself to blame for Australia’s move on Hong Kong

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The Australian government and its partners had no choice but to recognise the new reality in the territory and offer some of its citizens a way out

I feel sorry for Chinese foreign ministry officials, with whom I have had many good conversations over the years. They have been pushed to lambast Australia and other Western democracies with such frequency that they risk running out of fresh invective, hyperbole and idiom.

It was inevitable that Chinese diplomats would excoriate Australia after prime minister Scott Morrison’s measured moves this week in response to Beijing’s draconian national security legislation for Hong Kong: offering limited sanctuary to Hong Kongers, suspending an extradition treaty with Hong Kong and heightening the travel warning for the city.

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‘This is intolerable’: fearful Australians in Hong Kong hasten plans to leave city

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Expats say they feel insecure about living somewhere ‘where the walls have ears’

• Australia’s Hong Kong intervention was hardly strident but that didn’t matter to China

Australian expats in Hong Kong are feeling jittery about their future after Beijing imposed a new national security law that could lead to foreigners being arbitrarily detained. They say the move has hastened their plans to leave the financial hub amid calls from their government for its citizens to “reconsider” their need to stay there.

The national security law passed in Beijing and enacted in Hong Kong on 1 July punishes crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison. It applies to permanent residents and non-residents in Hong Kong who breach the law in the territory, along with anyone accused of violating the law regardless of their nationality and where the alleged crime took place – so foreigners could be arrested on arrival in Hong Kong. National security cases can also be sent to Chinese courts for trial.

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Coronavirus live news: WHO says pandemic still accelerating as global review announced

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WHO appoints committee to evaluate response to Covid-19 crisis; Serbia considers new lockdown after second night of riots; Infections worldwide pass 12m

As Covid-19 cases continue to surge in states throughout the US, another 1.3 million Americans filed for unemployment last week, highlighting the grim reality that any type of economic recovery may be far off, writes Lauren Aratani for Guardian US.

While the number of new unemployment filings has decreased significantly since it peaked in April at 6 million people filing in one week, it has remained above a million each week since forced shutdowns began.

Related: Another 1.3m Americans file for unemployment as states back away from reopening plans

Here’s a roundup of the key global coronavirus developments so far:

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Australia’s world-first anti-encryption law should be overhauled, independent monitor says

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Attorney general should be stripped of the power to force tech companies to help security agencies potentially spy on the public

The attorney general should be stripped of the power to approve orders that would force tech and social media companies to help security services to potentially spy on the public, the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor has said.

In a report into the encryption legislation, the outgoing INSLM, James Renwick, called for that power and the ability for agency heads to compel assistance from tech companies to be moved to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, and a new investigatory powers commissioner within it.

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China accuses Australia of ‘gross interference’ after offer of safe haven for Hong Kong visa holders

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Prime minister Scott Morrison cancels extradition treaty citing the new national security law as ‘a fundamental change of circumstances’

China has accused Australia of “gross interference” after Scott Morrison granted a range of visa holders from Hong Kong a five-year extension and suspended an extradition treaty with the city.

The prime minister announced on Thursday that Australia would allow a range of visa holders to stay in the country for longer and then offer them a pathway to permanent residency – but has stopped short of creating a special humanitarian intake for Hongkongers fearing persecution under the new national security law.

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Coronavirus Australia live update: ‘extremely high’ chance Victoria outbreak has spread to NSW as Melbourne enters lockdown

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The NSW premier is expected to announce new restrictions today as the state tries to contain ‘high-risk situation’. Follow live news and updates

2020 motto: Please scream inside your heart

Japan’s theme parks have banned screaming on roller coasters because it spreads coronavirus. “Please scream inside your heart.” https://t.co/DJjC40H0Ap

Just re-upping, because it seems relevant

The Armchair Epidemiologist pic.twitter.com/t4CvJo3KCL

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‘This lockdown seems different’: second time around, Melbourne is on edge

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The return of stay at home orders has been met with a mixture of resignation and relief, fury and sadness

Melbourne residents will be locked down from midnight on Wednesday. It is both easier and much harder this time around.

Easier because remote working routines have already been established and because, this time, we know what to expect. And harder, because we know what to expect.

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Coronavirus Australia live update: prime minister Scott Morrison holds press conference on Covid-19 response as Victoria records 134 new cases

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Confusion over NSW-Victoria border closure as the state’s northern border closes for the first time in a century and Melbourne prepares for lockdown. Follow the latest news

Someone asks about some sort of foreign travel tax? I don’t know - there is a lot in the question, and it’s involving shiz that none of us can even think about until at least July next year, because I’m not sure if this is common knowledge or not - but Australia’s international borders ARE CLOSED.

Scott Morrison:

Well, there’s a lot of speculation on all those questions. So I don’t intend to engage in what is the normal budget speculation when you lead up to a budget.

Those matters will be addressed in the budget.

On what we are planning on doing with Hong Kong residents, Scott Morrison says:

We continue to be concerned about issues in Hong Kong as many nations are, and we have remained in close contact with other like-minded countries about this issue.

This is about how we, as a nation, are responding, domestically, to these issues.

On the issue of the broader shutdown of Melbourne - this is a matter that the Premier advised me of and, of course, based on their advice and the advice that I have received from the chief medical officer, then this was necessary.

I hope it isn’t for that long. I hope it’s for a shorter period as possible.

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Coronavirus live news: US gives WHO official notice of its withdrawal next year

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Joe Biden says he would return the US to the WHO if elected; WHO acknowledges ‘evidence emerging’ of airborne spread of Covid-19; Jair Bolsonaro tests positive. Follow the latest updates

The Guardian’s Eleanor Ainge Roy reports from Queenstown with Charlotte Graham-McLay in Auckland:

Here’s the full story on a man in compulsory isolation in New Zealand who has absconded from a quarantine hotel to make a late-night “spur-of-the-moment” dash to the supermarket – before testing positive for Covid-19 the following day:

Related: New Zealand: man with Covid-19 absconds from quarantine for supermarket 'dash'

The Netherlands will be at the centre of upcoming talks over European spending on the coronavirus crisis, driven by a mix of traditional Calvinist frugality and political reality, experts say.

As part of the “frugal four” along with Austria, Denmark and Sweden, the Dutch have enraged many in the EU by putting the brakes on a €750bn (US$850bn) rescue package for the worst-hit countries.

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Coronavirus live news: Tulsa health chief cites Trump rally over spike in cases

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Gathering ‘likely contributed’ to surge; Bolsonaro vetoes measures to help indigenous people; Melbourne goes into full lockdown after rises in cases

Nigeria has passed 30,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, according to the country’s Centre for Disease Control.

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Coronavirus live news: Israel public health director quits amid spike in cases; Melbourne returns to lockdown

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South Africa’s cases pass 200,000; Kenya emerges from lockdown; Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tested again for coronavirus

Bolsonaro’s diagnosis comes just three days after he had lunch at the home of the US ambassador to Brazil, Todd Chapman, in the capital, Brasília.

Also present at that Independence Day celebration were several top cabinet members, including foreign minister Ernesto Araújo, defence minister Fernando Azevedo, and the president’s son, Eduardo, a politician who is Steve Bannon’s representative in South America. The men were photographed without face masks.

Reports of Bolsonaro’s possible infection first emerged on Monday evening, with local news outlets reporting that he had been tested after developing coronavirus symptoms, including a 38C temperature and a persistent cough.

An MRI of Bolsonaro’s lungs was also taken, with the president telling supporters it had shown them to be “clear”.

Related: Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro tests positive for coronavirus

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Melbourne to re-enter stage 3 coronavirus lockdown restrictions for six weeks – video

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Metropolitan Melbourne will go into stage-three lockdown for six weeks from 11.59pm on Wednesday after the state of Victoria recorded 191 new cases of coronavirus since Monday, the highest daily increase since the pandemic began.

The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, announced that people living in the Melbourne metropolitan area and Mitchell shire would again be subject to restrictions, meaning they can only leave their house for work, education, exercise, for necessary goods or services or for medical or compassionate reasons until 11.59pm on Wednesday 19 August.

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Coronavirus Victoria: what you need to know about Melbourne’s stage 3 lockdown

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Premier Daniel Andrews reimposes stage three restrictions across metropolitan Melbourne to last for six weeks

A record high of 191 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday has prompted the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, to reintroduce stage three restrictions across all of metropolitan Melbourne.

“I think a sense of complacency has crept into us as we let our frustrations get the better of us,” Andrews said. “I think that each of us know someone who has not been following the rules as well as they should have.

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A difficult conversation with her family led to a better death for my patient | Ranjana Srivastava

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Helping grieving relatives reach a difficult decision without hectoring or judging is a fine art

“What kind of God would do this?” she sobs and rocks. I am sinking in my chair and the nurse is perched on the side table. To focus on something other than her palpable despair, I regard the worn sofa and imagine a public hospital meeting room with comfort and sunlight. When a daughter arrives, she squeezes in beside her grieving mother.

She is a woman plainly devoted to God and her children, especially the unmarried daughter who is now my patient. The second daughter strikes me as thoughtful and educated, and as becomes evident, helpless to stem the tide of her mother’s sorrow. I fret at this, not because I am rushed, rather the patient needs an urgent outcome.

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NSW-Victoria border closure: when does it start, and are there exemptions?

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Melbourne’s Covid-19 spike has prompted the ‘unprecedented’ move to stop people coming into NSW from Victoria. We look at the details

NSW will temporarily close its border with Victoria at 12.01am Wednesday 8 July in response to Melbourne’s coronavirus outbreak.

The closure, announced at a press conference by Victorian premier Daniel Andrews on Monday, will be enforced by NSW police.

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NSW-Victoria border closure: do I need an entry permit and are there exemptions?

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Melbourne’s Covid-19 spike has prompted the ‘unprecedented’ move to stop people coming into NSW from Victoria. We look at the details, from how to get a crossing permit to whether you need to self-isolate

New South Wales temporarily closed its border with Victoria starting from 12.01am Wednesday 8 July in response to Melbourne’s coronavirus outbreak.

The closure, announced at a press conference by Victorian premier Daniel Andrews on Monday, is being enforced by NSW police.

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Coronavirus live news: US death toll surpasses 130,000; India’s cases third-highest in world

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Donald Trump’s handling of US crisis under microscope; Israel reimposes restrictions after infections spike

Air travellers arriving in Scotland from Tuesday will be subject to quarantine spot checks for the first time, after the country reported four days without deaths from Covid-19.

Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, said her officials and advisers were still deciding which countries would not be subject to quarantine checks, four days after the Home Office released its list of 74 “air bridge” countries and territories.

Related: Air travellers to Scotland to face quarantine spot checks and fines

The US has suffered 235 more deaths and registered 44,361 new cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has said. That takes the respective totals to 129,811 and 2,886,267.

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