Loosening controls further could spark a devastating outbreak, but tightening the rules again could trigger unrest
At the end of October, Xi Jinping had secured his position as China’s most powerful leader in decades, his grip on the country cemented by a norm-breaking third term in office.
At the end of November, he faced the most widespread protests China had seen in decades, mostly focused on Covid restrictions but also featuring unprecedented calls for Xi to step down.
Continue reading...Testing booths removed in Beijing as cities across China ease commuter rules following unprecedented protests
Covid-19 testing booths were removed in Beijing on Friday, while Shenzhen followed other cities in announcing it would no longer require commuters to present their test results to travel, as an easing of Covid restrictions in China gathered pace.
As daily cases hovered near all-time highs, some cities took steps to loosen coronavirus testing requirements and quarantine rules as China looks to make its zero-Covid policy more targeted amid an economic slowdown and public frustration that has boiled over into unrest.
Continue reading...WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange fights extradition from Britain to US, where he is wanted on criminal charges. This blog is now closed
We now have more details from NSW authorities about the four-vehicle crash on Sydney’s Anzac Bridge shortly before midnight last night, which killed two people.
NSW police have named the two victims as a 25-year-old female from the local area and a 38-year-old man from Sydney’s south-west. A police representative has been speaking to reporters:
At about 11:45 last night, there was a minor collision on the Anzac Bridge involving two vehicles. A 25-year-old female and a 38-year-old male were exchanging details or doing what you need to do after you’ve had a minor collision.
At that point, there’s been another two vehicles that have become involved in that stationary collision. One was a taxi and the second was a Commodore. Tragically, the way those vehicles have collided into the stationary cars has impacted with the two pedestrians who were out on the road exchanging details and unfortunately those two people have been killed.
The last 12 hours have seen an absolute tragic number of road trauma incidents in NSW. Six people have lost their lives. Six families are grieving the loss of family members.
Continue reading...Backing down from existing policies remains a political problem of the first order
China’s government looks to be starting to roll back its zero-Covid policy. But after three years of saying the resource-intensive, economically damaging elimination strategy is the only way to go, experts say it will be a medical and political challenge to end it.
Much of China’s exit strategy is riding on vaccinations, but this is where Beijing has great challenges. China’s elderly population is disproportionately unvaccinated, leaving tens of millions of vulnerable people at far greater risk from the ravages of Covid-19. About 90% of China’s population is vaccinated, but among those over 60 only about 69% have had at least three doses. Above 80 years of age, the figure drops to about 40%.
Continue reading...Crackdown launched on virtual private networks, which protesters and other citizens had used to access banned non-Chinese news and social media apps
Chinese authorities have initiated the highest “emergency response” level of censorship, according to leaked directives, including a crackdown on VPNs and other methods of bypassing online censorship after unprecedented protests demonstrated widespread public frustration with the zero-Covid policy.
The crackdown, including the tracking and questioning of protesters, comes alongside easing of pandemic restrictions, in an apparent carrot and stick approach to an outpouring of public grievances. During an extraordinary week in China, protests against zero-Covid restrictions included criticism of the authoritarian rule of Xi Jinping – which was further highlighted by the death of former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin.
Continue reading...Infections climbing at slower pace than last month and death rate stable but experts say reporting changes making numbers harder to interpret
Covid cases are continuing to rise across Australia, but health authorities remain confident the peak will hit before Christmas.
Cases have more than doubled in New South Wales and Victoria compared with the beginning of November, and jumped by 20% nationwide in the space of a week. The numbers build on the increases recorded last week of 10-15%.
Continue reading...Wave of illness caused by RSV, influenza and other infections has seen more than three-quarters of pediatric hospital beds full
When his son was born seven weeks early, weighing only 2.5lbs, RH watched as the little boy stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit for 37 days.
When they finally left the hospital, RH, who asked to use his initials for health privacy, breathed a sigh of relief. The baby, despite his difficult start, was perfectly healthy. But only a few months later, the child landed back in the hospital with a dangerous virus, RSV.
Continue reading...Sun Chunlan says Omicron less pathogenic as Beijing appears to respond to protests
One of China’s most senior pandemic response officials has said the country is entering a “new stage and mission”, in the latest indication of the government’s changing approach after mass protests against its zero-Covid policy.
Sun Chunlan, China’s vice-premier, made the comments to national health officials on Wednesday, according to the Xinhau state media outlet. It came as several regions, including Shanghai, began to lift lockdowns despite continuing high case numbers.
Continue reading...Announcements ordered the removal of ‘control orders’ and to designate areas as low risk
Authorities have abruptly lifted Covid restrictions in the Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Chongqing, where protesters scuffled with police on Tuesday night, as police searched for demonstrators in other cities and the country’s top security body called for a crackdown on “hostile forces”.
After days of extraordinary protests in the country that also prompted international demonstrations in solidarity, the US and Canada urged China not to harm or intimidate protesters opposing Covid-19 lockdowns.
Continue reading...New Zealand’s health services go to court over guardianship of four-month-old boy whose parents have not let heart operation go ahead
New Zealand’s health service has made a court application over the guardianship of a four-month-old baby whose parents are refusing to allow his life-saving heart surgery to go ahead unless non-vaccinated blood is used.
The parents of the baby discussed their son’s health situation and their medical preferences in an interview with an anti-vaccination campaigner.
Continue reading...Authorities flood streets with police as top security body urges action against ‘hostile forces’
China has sent university students home and flooded streets with police in an attempt to disperse the most widespread anti-government protests in decades, as the country’s top security body called for a crackdown on “hostile forces”.
In an apparent effort to tackle anger at the zero-Covid policies that originally sparked the protests, authorities also announced plans to step up vaccination of older people.
Continue reading...State forced to cancel 33,000 fines so far but Revenue NSW argues ‘technical’ supreme court decision ‘does not mean offences were not committed’
New South Wales residents wrongly penalised for Covid breaches say it is “crazy” it took a protracted and costly court case to force the state government to back down and withdraw 33,000 invalid fines.
The NSW government was forced on Tuesday to cancel 33,000 fines, worth an estimated $30m, for breaches of Covid-era public health orders after conceding they were too vague.
Continue reading...One arrested as police reportedly demand information from Beijing protester, while show of force largely prevents fresh demonstrations
Police have been out in force in China to stamp out zero-Covid protests and at least one person was arrested, according to social media videos, after a show of civil disobedience unprecedented since president Xi Jinping assumed power a decade ago.
There were also reports some demonstrators have been interrogated by authorities over the phone after attending the rare street gatherings in cities across the country.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: A timeline of increasing dissent as Chinese citizens demand ‘food, not PCR tests’ and blame Xi Jinping’s government for restrictions they say have cost lives
Good morning. After days of escalating protests across China unprecedented since Xi Jinping came to power a decade ago, the state hit back on Monday night. “There was a massive police presence [at the expected protest sites] in Shanghai and Beijing questioning passers-by,” the Guardian’s Helen Davidson, covering the story from Taipei, told me this morning. “They scared people off, which was obviously the intention.” And yet the unrest that has grown over recent days and weeks remains a sign of an extraordinary rupture in China’s political system.
“This isn’t going to lead to a revolution,” Helen said. “But I do think it is a point of no return in the relationship between the general population and the CCP [Chinese Communist party], at least as far as Covid goes. There are frequent protests in China. But people who have been living in China for decades say they haven’t seen anything like this since Tiananmen Square in 1989.”
Foreign policy | Rishi Sunak has signalled the end of the “golden era” of relations between Britain and China, using his first major foreign policy speech to warn of the creeping authoritarianism of Xi Jinping’s regime. Sunak called China a “systemic challenge to our values and interests”.
Internet safety | Social media platforms that breach pledges to block sexist and racist content could face substantial fines under new changes to the online safety bill. Ofcom will have the power to fine companies up to 10% of global turnover for breaches.
Ukraine | Fighting around the key eastern Ukraine town of Bakhmut has descended into a bloody morass with hundreds of dead and injured reported daily, as neither Russian or Ukrainian forces were able to make a significant breakthrough after months of fighting.
Environment | A report by Unesco and IUCN has concluded that the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s biggest coral reef system, should be placed on a list of world heritage sites that are in danger.
Media | More than 70 media figures, including the editors of the Guardian and the Daily Mail, are calling on the government to back a proposed law to tackle “abusive legal tactics to shut down investigations”. A letter calls for urgent action against the global super-rich’s use of ‘“strategic lawsuits against public participation” (Slapps).
Continue reading...Protesters in China deploy creative means to make political statements in order to evade censors
Blank sheets of paper, mathematical equations and even alpacas: protesters in China have found creative ways to express anger at the government’s zero-Covid measures, unleashing a wave of dissent against long and severe lockdowns, the deaths of factory workers in Urumqi, and the censorship they’re not allowed to talk about.
The extraordinary protests, which began over the weekend and spread to cities across China including Shanghai and Beijing, have been characterised by acts of civil disobedience, including clashes with police.
Continue reading...The economic outlook for China is not good however its leaders respond to anti-lockdown protests
For much of the world there has been hope for some time that the worst economic shocks from the Covid pandemic are in the rearview mirror. In China, however, there are important reminders that risks to the world economy still remain.
Three years since the virus first spread, protests in several Chinese cities against the Beijing government’s strict zero-Covid policies have reignited concerns in financial markets over the economic costs of the pandemic. Global oil prices have fallen back, while the Chinese yuan and stock markets across Asia have taken a hammering.
Continue reading...State-run media outlets largely ignore nationwide protests, but continue to push the importance of Covid restrictions
Chinese media have largely ignored widespread protests across the country, with prominent state newspaper front pages instead choosing to focus on Taiwan’s local elections, a Chinese-built solar plant in Qatar and the rising number of Chinese women choosing to get tanned in beauty salons.
Protests flared across Chinese cities over the weekend, with calls for political freedoms and an end to Covid lockdowns.
Continue reading...UK government-backed Heal-Covid trial finds Apixaban can cause dangerous bleeding and does not improve prognosis
A blood-thinning drug given as a potential life-saver to many patients recovering from severe Covid does not work and can cause major bleeding, research shows.
The findings have led to calls for doctors to stop advising people to take Apixaban, because it does not stop them from dying or ending up back in hospital and also can have serious side-effects.
Continue reading...Guardian Australia brings together all the figures on Covid-19 cases, as well as stats, charts and state-by-state data from NSW, Victoria, Queensland, SA, WA, Tasmania, the ACT and NT. Here you can also find the numbers on the vaccine rollout and fourth dose booster vaccination rates.
In September 2022, federal and state governments began releasing data once a week, on Fridays, rather than daily. As a result, Guardian Australia has aggregated the data released before that date to weekly values, to make the new figures comparable with the old.
Continue reading...Fauci and Jha comments come amid campaign to encourage public to get the new coronavirus boosters as well as flu shots
White House public health officials offered cautious optimism that Americans could begin to move on from coronavirus, but cautioned that keeping immunity vaccination up-to-date and combating scientific disinformation remained key for the country to successfully emerge from the three-year Covid-19 pandemic.
“If you look at where we were a year ago at this time, when [coronavirus variant] Omicron started to surge, we were having 800,000 to 900,000 infections and 3,000 to 4,000 deaths [a day]. Today, we had less than 300 deaths. Yesterday, we had 350 deaths, and…anywhere from 27,000 to 45,000 cases” Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the US president, said.
Continue reading...