Category Archives: Coronavirus

Australia news live: increased risk of floods, tropical cyclones and heatwaves, long-range forecast warns

Posted on by

The Bureau of Meteorology has released its long-range forecast for Australia’s coming severe weather season. Follow all the day’s news live

‘It’s time to move on now’: Tanya Plibersek on Andrew Thorburn saga

On Sunrise, environment minister Tanya Plibersek was asked about a war of words between Victoria premier Daniel Andrews and Andrew Thorburn, the would-be CEO of Essendon who resigned following criticism about his role as chairman of City on a Hill.

When it comes to rampant homophobia, when I lead the pride march every year, I do that with a sense of genuine concern, support and commitment.

I think the important thing here is that the fellow in question has resigned from the position, it really is a matter for the football club. It seems like they are moving on from a national perspective, the government is committed to making sure that we introduce religious discrimination laws, as we said we would. I think it’s time to move on now.

I think that his personal views should be separated from the overarching views of the church that he is involved with … I’m in the Catholic Church, it doesn’t mean I believe in every tenet of the Catholic Church. This is completely out of order and Mr Thorburn should get his job back. The whole thing looks like a total mess.

I think you always look back and think I could have done this or not. I tried to do as much as I could as prime minister in the sense that every day was precious, every day we were trying to drive big reforms forward. On sexism and misogyny I specifically regret not calling it out earlier.

I had thought when I first became prime minister that the maximum reaction to me being the first woman would be in the early days and it would wash away … I was clearly wrong on that. Knowing what I know now it was going to gather and get worse. Potentially if I called it out earlier it could have been a bit easier. You never get to run the control test in politics.

I think things have changed, I think it’s impossible to imagine a prominent woman in Australian politics would be called the things I was without it having huge negative consequences today … but we’ve still got a way to go.

Continue reading...

Challenge to government’s lateral flow test contracts rejected by high court

Posted on by

Health and social care secretary’s decision to grant contracts to UK firm Abingdon Health was the subject of litigation

A legal challenge to the government’s award of multimillion-pound contracts for lateral flow tests that later failed to gain regulatory approval has been rejected by the high court.

The health and social care secretary’s decision to grant three contracts to UK firm Abingdon Health was the subject of litigation by campaigning organisation Good Law Project (GLP), which has brought several cases challenging the way contracts were awarded during the pandemic.

Continue reading...

Covid: one in 50 thought to be infected in England, data shows

Posted on by

Based on results from random swabbing, ONS says 1.1 million people in country have virus

Covid infection levels are continuing to rise in England, with more than 1.1 million people thought to have had the virus in the most recent week, data has revealed.

According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, based on swabs from randomly selected households, about one in 50 people in England – 2% of the population – had Covid in the week ending 24 September, an increase from one in 65 the week before.

Continue reading...

Zero-Covid measures cause chaos as China prepares for Beijing summit

Posted on by

President Xi Jinping expected to start third term while citizens express frustration with restrictions

Lockdowns and travel restrictions are continuing to cause chaos across China in the run-up to a crucial political meeting next week as the government holds fast to hardline zero-Covid policies.

As thousands of Communist party delegates prepare to descend on Beijing for the twice-a-decade congress meeting, where Xi Jinping is expected to start his third term as leader, local authorities are under pressure to control contain outbreaks. This week 2,883 cases were reported across more than 25 provinces, including 227 on Wednesday. The number is small compared with global cases but relatively high for China’s zero-tolerance approach.

Continue reading...

Australia’s CMO warns further Covid waves ‘highly likely’ – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

The minister for sport, Anika Wells, is speaking to ABC Radio about an announcement to expand the government’s scope to help people in sport report racism, abuse and mistreatement.

It comes after a range of high-profile cases in elite sport, including the damaging review into Hawthorn Football Club which contained allegations of serious mistreatment of First Nations former players, as well as the Australian Human Rights Commission’s report into the culture of gymnastics, the findings in Swimming Australia’s review of the treatment of female swimmers and the Do Better report.

It absolutely is concerning ... it’s shocking and certainly action will be taken.

Continue reading...

Australia’s Covid vaccine review recommends expansion of Novavax eligibility amid fears of Moderna shortfall

Posted on by

Prof Jane Halton says country has not reached ‘Covid stable’ and suggests vaccination advertising campaigns continue to 2024

Australia’s vaccination advisory body is investigating whether to expand the availability of the Novavax Covid jab, amid concerns tens of millions of doses could be wasted due to recommendations it not be used as a general booster shot.

It comes as a review of Australia’s Covid vaccine procurement found the former Coalition government’s actions were “consistent with other high-income countries”, but warned of a potential shortfall in Moderna unless the Labor government orders more supply.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Biden’s claim that Covid pandemic is over sparks debate over future

Posted on by

With more than 400 people dying daily, many experts say his remarks were premature – but it is unclear what impact they may have

Joe Biden’s recent declaration that the Covid-19 pandemic was over was premature, according to several infectious disease experts, but there was not a consensus among them about whether the remarks will cause a significant change in Americans’ attitude towards the virus and lead to worse public health outcomes.

That’s partly because Biden was simply catching up to most of the US population, who see how much lower the case and death counts are than earlier in the pandemic, and as such, have stopped wearing masks in public and now gather regularly indoors, the experts said.

Continue reading...

Japan to reopen to tourists after more than two years of Covid border restrictions

Posted on by

PM says relaxation will take effect from 11 October as Hong Kong scraps hotel quarantine measures for visitors

Japan has announced it will lift tough Covid restrictions on foreign tourists, reopening the borders after two and a half years.

The prime minister, Fumio Kishida, said on Thursday that the pandemic had interrupted the free flow of people, goods and capital that had helped the nation flourish.

Continue reading...

Minnesota schemers allegedly swindle $250m in largest pandemic fraud yet

Posted on by

Forty-seven people have been charged in the ‘astonishing display of deceit’ over providing food for low-income children

Forty-seven people have been charged in what US authorities say is the largest case yet of pandemic fraud, accusing the defendants of a “brazen” scheme to swindle millions from a program intended for low-income children and using it to “enrich themselves”.

Those charged in the scheme are accused of creating companies that claimed to be offering food to tens of thousands of children across Minnesota, then sought reimbursement for those meals through the US Department of Agriculture’s food nutrition programs. Prosecutors say few meals were actually served, and the defendants used the money to buy luxury cars, property and jewelry. Authorities say $250m was ultimately stolen from the federal program.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: former senator Rex Patrick demands explanation for freedom of information delays

Posted on by

Patrick will use the federal court to demand the information commissioner explain the lawfulness of her office’s delays in reviewing freedom of information decisions. Follow the day’s news live

The NSW government and the transport union will be meeting this afternoon behind closed doors after the union announced yesterday they’ll be withdrawing their plans to shut down the Opal card system.

Last week the union announced their plans to shut down the Opal card system indefinitely as part of their ongoing dispute with the state government.

[W]e know that higher interest rates will tend to depress residential and commercial property prices but there is considerable uncertainty about the magnitude and even the timing.

Not only can declining property prices have implications for economic activity, but also for financial stability as we outlined in the April financial stability review.

Continue reading...

Anger in China after 27 people killed in Covid quarantine bus crash

Posted on by

Tragedy in Guizhou province became a lightning rod for social media criticism of zero-Covid policy before posts were shut down

Anger has flared among social media users in China after 27 people died when a bus carrying them to a Covid-19 quarantine facility crashed in the south-west province of Guizhou.

With millions of Chinese still under tight restrictions thanks to Beijing’s strict zero-Covid strategy, the deaths in the early hours of Sunday quickly became a lightning rod for criticism of the government. Only two people have died from Covid in Guizhou in the entire pandemic.

Continue reading...

Australia live news update: Albanese meets King and UK PM ahead of Queen’s funeral; Grace Brown wins silver at Wollongong cycling worlds

Posted on by

Downing Street frames conversation between Australian PM and the British leader as chat rather than formal bilateral talks. This blog is now closed

China is watching world’s response to Ukraine crisis, Marles says

Marles is asked about what the situation in Ukraine and the relationship between China and Russia may mean for the situation regarding Taiwan. Specifically, Marles is asked what will happen if China moved to reunify Taiwan with the mainland using military force.

The way in which the world has reacted to Russia … has been very impressive, but so, too, has the incredible resistance of the Ukrainian people. People fight for the homeland. It has been remarkable and more than expected.

China will be watching this, as I guess we all are.

I think it says something about where the whole conflict is at. There is a degree of humiliation for Russia in relation to this.

I didn’t imagine when the invasion first occurred that Ukraine would be able to provide the resistance that it has.

Continue reading...

End of Covid pandemic ‘in sight’, says World Health Organization

Posted on by

Global weekly deaths down to 11,118 on 5 September – the lowest level since March 2020

The end of the Covid-19 pandemic is “in sight”, the World Health Organization has declared, after revealing that weekly deaths from the virus around the world were at the lowest level since March 2020.

The weekly global deaths figure on 5 September 2022 was 11,118, according to the WHO’s website. March 2020 was the month that the UK entered its first national lockdown.

Continue reading...

Indigenous protest planned on national day of mourning – as it happened

Posted on by

New Covid variant is probably inevitable in northern winter, says Monique Ryan

The independent MP for Kooyong, Dr Monique Ryan, says we need to “rejig” how we are dealing with Covid.

I think we need greater transparency about the federal and state government’s approach to Covid and their plans for what is probably an inevitable new variant emerging over the northern winter.

I think workplaces and schools and aged care childcare facilities lack clarity about what the plan is for the inevitable next outbreaks of Covid and there’s a lot of uncertainty and anxiety about the fact that the government seems to have been winding back the mitigation strategies, whether we’re talking about mask-wearing, social isolation, quarantine, without really a plan for how this is going to affect people going forward.

Continue reading...

Covid caused huge shortages in US labor market, study shows

Posted on by

At least 500,000 people have permanently disappeared from the workforce, analysis says

Research into the lingering effects of Covid-19 on the US workforce has confirmed what anybody who has waited an extended time for a delivery – or been unable to get a restaurant table – already knows: the pandemic has caused massive shortages in the labor market.

On top of the quarter-million people of working age who have died from coronavirus, at least twice that number across all ages have permanently disappeared from the workforce, the analysis by the National Bureau of Economic Research shows.

Continue reading...

Pressure builds on Japan to return to unrestricted tourism by end of month

Posted on by

Businesses want prime minister Fumio Kishida to loosen restrictions to help the world’s third-biggest economy recover from the pandemic

Japan could return to unfettered tourism by the end of next month as pressure builds on the government to end Covid-19 travel restrictions and cash in on a weak yen.

Officials are reportedly considering removing the current daily cap of 50,000 arrivals, which includes returning residents, and a return to visa-free travel. A rule requiring individual travellers to make bookings through travel agencies could also be lifted, according to media reports.

Continue reading...

New Zealand drops mask and vaccine mandates in sweeping Covid changes

Posted on by

Jacinda Ardern says it is time to ‘turn the page’ on the pandemic as she scraps all but a handful of restrictions

Jacinda Ardern has declared it “time to safely turn the page” on New Zealand’s Covid-19 restrictions, scrapping all but a handful of remaining rules.

New Zealand, which once eliminated the virus through the toughest pandemic rules in the world, has made relaxations similar to Australian or European conditions.

Continue reading...

Chengdu, Chinese city of 21m, has Covid lockdown extended indefinitely

Posted on by

No date given for end of extended lockdown in city that is a crucial supplier of Apple products

Chengdu, the capital of the south-western Chinese province of Sichuan, has extended the coronavirus lockdown of most of its districts indefinitely as it hopes to stem further transmissions in the city of 21.2 million.

The mega city, which has most recently battled with heatwaves, power cuts and an earthquake, was locked down on 1 September after detecting a number of cases, becoming the largest Chinese metropolis to be slapped with the curbs since Shanghai earlier this year.

Continue reading...

Government admits 50 firms were in VIP lane for test and trace contracts

Posted on by

Health department had denied Covid testing priority lane but new disclosure lists firms including lab behind false negatives

The government has admitted that 50 firms were put in a “priority” lane for securing test and trace contracts worth billions, including Immensa, the company involved in a scandal over 43,000 false negative results.

The UK Health and Security Agency revealed the names of the 50 companies to the Good Law Project, the campaigning organisation that successfully challenged the government’s VIP lane for personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts in the courts.

Continue reading...

Anger at plans to roll back Covid vaccines to under-11s in England

Posted on by

Children aged 5-11 will no longer be offered Covid jabs, except those in clinical risk groups, UKHSA confirms

The decision to reduce the number of children who are offered Covid jabs has prompted outcry from parent groups and academics.

According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), children who had not turned five by the end of last month will not be offered a vaccination. The agency said the offer of Covid jabs to healthy 5-11-year-olds was always going to be temporary.

Continue reading...