Category Archives: Coronavirus

Chinese city’s residents made to queue for Covid tests in heat above 40C

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Chongqing authorities criticised for move as area faces heatwave, wildfires, severe drought and power outages

Residents of the south-western Chinese city of Chongqing have been queueing on the streets to be tested for Covid, despite extreme temperatures that have soared past 40C (104F) this week.

Photos posted on Chinese social media also showed health workers testing residents while wearing full hazmat suits in the heatwave. Other images showed that the tests were being carried out while bushfires raged in the background, prompting descriptions of the situation as “apocalyptic”.

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Truss and Sunak face Tory hustings after both say Covid lockdown went too far – as it happened

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Latest updates: Tory leadership frontrunner reacts to Sunak comments, saying school closures went too far; pair meet Tory members in Norwich

Lee Cain, who was director of communications in Downing Street during the early phase of the Covid crisis, says Rishi Sunak’s comments about the lockdown policy (see 9.22am and 9.47am) are “simply wrong”.

But Sunak is not saying lockdown should not have happened, as Cain suggests. He is just saying that it was implemented too rigidly, and perhaps for too long, and that more consideration should have been given to the downsides.

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Sunak accused of ‘rewriting history’ by saying No 10 ignored lockdown harms

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Tory leadership hopeful says he was prevented from raising negative effects of Covid measures

Rishi Sunak has been accused of trying to “rewrite history” after he claimed the harms of lockdown were ignored, meaning curbs on people’s freedoms may have gone on too long and been overly strict.

The Conservative leadership hopeful was criticised for his account of the discussions at the heart of government when he was chancellor amid frantic attempts to curb the spread of the virus and avoid the NHS becoming overwhelmed.

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Sunak says it was a mistake to ‘empower scientists’ during Covid pandemic

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Ex-chancellor admits being furious about school closures, adding trade-offs of lockdowns were not properly considered by experts

Rishi Sunak has claimed that it was a mistake to “empower scientists” during the coronavirus pandemic and that his opposition to closing schools was met with silence during one meeting.

The Conservative leadership candidate believes one of the major errors was allowing the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) to have so much influence on decision making such as closing nurseries, schools and colleges in March 2020.

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Trump officials tried to ‘bully’ FDA over Covid treatments, House panel says

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Congressional investigation finds new evidence of efforts to override health decisions early in pandemic

Officials in the Trump White House tried to pressure health experts to reauthorize a discredited Covid treatment, according to a congressional investigation.

A report published on Wednesday by the Democratic-led House select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis contained new evidence of efforts to override Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decisions early in the pandemic.

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GCSE results will reflect varying impact of pandemic, says headteachers union

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Association of School and College Leaders predicts grades will be uneven across England and Wales due to Covid disruption

GCSE results will be uneven across the country due to the varying impact of the pandemic, according to the headteachers union, which described the government’s Covid recovery programme as “lacklustre and chaotic”.

The number of top grades at A-level fell sharply this year and a similar decline is anticipated for GCSE grades as the government seeks to reverse the grade inflation caused by teacher-assessment during the pandemic.

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Fauci to step down in December to ‘pursue next chapter’ of career

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Expert, 81, who has led National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, clashed with Trump over Covid response

Top US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci plans to step down from his post in December to “pursue the next chapter” of his career, he announced in a statement on Monday.

Fauci, 81, has led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Niaid) since 1984. He has advised seven presidents, as far back as Ronald Reagan, on emerging infectious disease outbreaks that have plagued the nation, testifying before Congress and the World Health Organization on the HIV/Aids epidemic to Ebola to, most recently, the coronavirus pandemic.

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Australia news live: Greens seek to reconvene Senate committee into former Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate’s dismissal

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Departments – not politicians – should decide government grant recipients, Grattan Institute recommends

The Grattan Institute has a very timely report out today with a plan to end pork barrelling, which calls for departments rather than ministers to make the call on who receives grants.

Ministers should be able to establish grant programs and define the selection criteria, but they should not be involved in choosing grant recipients.

Shortlisting and selecting grant recipients is an administrative function for the relevant department or agency. Ministers should have bigger fish to fry.

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Victorian health minister ‘concerned’ by reports patients forced to wait hours in tent outside hospital

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New $14m healthcare project is expected to ease the pressure on Victoria’s health system as it continues to buckle under demand

Victoria’s health minister admits she was concerned after two vulnerable patients were forced to wait hours inside a makeshift tent outside the emergency department at a major hospital this week.

Mary-Anne Thomas acknowledged the “discomfort” experienced by a young cancer patient and an elderly stroke patient at Box Hill hospital, as the state’s health system continues to buckle under pressure.

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Joyce says Qantas ‘not good enough’ in apology over airport chaos – as it happened

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Morrison didn’t call finance minister to apologise, Maiden says

There’s been an interesting point from Samantha Maiden on the ABC Insiders panel about the timeline of events between former PM Scott Morrison and his former finance minister Mathias Cormann.

Scott Morrison is really good at painting word images, right, and if you listened to that press conference this week, would you not get the impression that he called Mathias Cormann to apologise and he had called Josh? Would that be the impression you were left with?

That’s not what happened. What happened was Mathias Cormann calls Morrison on the weekend. He picks up The Weekend Australian, he reads the article, he comes to the international language of WTF and goes: “What happened here?”

Clearly you need to look at the response of all governments.

Primarily, it will be about the federal government. That’s what we have responsibility for, but the interaction between the levels of government of course, were critical to the response to the Covid pandemic.

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Greens question governor general’s ‘non-disclosure’ of Morrison powers – as it happened

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Albanese government awaits legal advice from solicitor general over former prime minister’s power grab. This blog is now closed

More on the governor general’s diaries, from AAP:

Governor general David Hurley’s diary makes no mention of the five times he handed extra ministerial powers to then-prime minister Scott Morrison.

Morrison took on the health, finance, treasury, home affairs, industry, science, energy and resources portfolios between March 2020 and May 2021.

The Governor General’s Program lists in detail the numerous activities of Mr Hurley, including phone calls, official events and luncheons.

Morrison was secretly appointed health minister on March 14, 2020, with the knowledge of then-health minister Greg Hunt.

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No puppy love: post-lockdown lifestyles and cost of living are driving Australians to surrender their pets

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Animal shelters nearing capacity are encouraging people to adopt by slashing fees and hosting events to make room for other animals in need

The end of Covid lockdowns and the spiralling cost of living have left animal shelters overflowing, with organisations now forced to host adoption drives and slash their fees in an effort to get more animals out of shelters and into their forever homes.

This was in stark contrast to the high adoption rates and shelter shortages across Australia during the early days of the Covid pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.

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Covid outbreak in Tibet leaves thousands of Chinese tourists stranded

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Travellers barred from sightseeing or returning home until confirmed clear of disease as authorities struggle to contain cases

Thousands of Chinese tourists have been left stranded in Tibet as authorities in the region struggle to contain a fresh Covid outbreak.

In recent months, at the same time as many cities went into lockdowns, Chinese tourists have flocked to scenic destinations such as the southern province of Hainan and the western region of Tibet.

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Instagram and Facebook suspend Robert Kennedy Jr’s anti-vaccine group

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Critics calls move ‘too late too little’ after group repeatedly violated policies on Covid-19 misinformation

Instagram and Facebook have suspended a prominent anti-vaccine group led by Robert Kennedy Jr for repeatedly violating rules prohibiting misinformation about Covid-19.

The non-profit, Children’s Health Defense (CHD), is one of the most influential anti-vaccine organizations active on social media, where it has spread misleading claims about vaccines and other pandemic-related public health measures.

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British travellers left struggling to board flights after NHS Covid pass down

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Users trying to check in for flights were left unable to access proof of their vaccination status for several hours on Thursday night

British travellers were left struggling to board flights after the NHS Covid Pass system went down for several hours on Thursday night.

Users trying to access proof of their vaccination status via the NHS app and website found that the service was unavailable, with the app telling users: “We are sorry the NHS Covid Pass is currently unavailable.

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‘Unethical’ for GPs to charge to prescribe Covid antivirals, Australian charity says

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Council on the Ageing says doctors who charge consultation fee for prescription for older people should be called out

Failing to bulk bill pensioners who require life-saving Covid-19 antivirals is “morally bankrupt” and “unethical”, the head of the national peak body for older Australians has said.

The Council on the Ageing chief executive, Ian Yates, said as growing numbers of general practitioners stop bulk billing, citing rising costs and low Medicare rebates, he is hearing “more and more examples of pensioners not being bulk-billed, especially people with the seniors healthcare card.”

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Police call for Bolsonaro to be charged for spreading Covid misinformation

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Brazil’s federal police ask supreme court to charge president over bogus claims in October 2021 social media broadcast

Brazilian federal police have called for President Jair Bolsonaro to be charged with spreading fake information about a coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 680,000 of his citizens, including bogus claims of a link between Aids and Covid vaccines.

Bolsonaro’s anti-scientific response to a disease he called “a bit of a cold” has been internationally condemned and the subject of a congressional inquiry in which the far-right populist was accused of deliberately delaying vaccine purchases and promoting quack “cures” such as hydroxychloroquine.

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City in China orders fish swabbed for Covid

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Coastal city of Xiamen tells workers on fishing boats, as well as their catch, to undergo testing as part of import controls

In the coastal Chinese city of Xiamen, it’s not just the mouths of fishers being swabbed for Covid-19, but also the fish they’ve caught.

As China maintains its commitment to zero Covid, city authorities are working to ensure there is no avenue for the virus to enter, ordering all fishers and their catch undergo a daily nucleic acid test.

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Australia news live: John Howard criticises lack of detail on voice to parliament as Anthony Albanese arrives in Torres Strait

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The former prime minister has spoken at a National Press Club event at the Canberra Writers Festival

‘Cringeworthy’: energy minister says Morrison’s media conference was embarrassing

Circling back to Chris Bowen’s interview on ABC Radio, where the discussion on climate policy was followed by questions on the biggest story in Canberra – Scott Morrison’s secret appointment to five additional ministries.

I think to be fair that the governor general was in a difficult position, he has to accept the advice of the government or the PM of the day.

It was pretty pathetic, embarrassing and cringeworthy to be honest.

He should call Andrews.

The right thing to do would be to call all ministers concerned.

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Japan tax office launches campaign to help encourage drinking

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Contest asks young adults for ideas to revitalise popularity of alcoholic drinks after big fall in tax revenues

The Japanese government has launched a nationwide competition calling for ideas to encourage people to drink more alcohol after a change in attitudes among the young resulted in a slide in tax revenues.

The Sake Viva! campaign, which is being run by the National Tax Agency (NTA), asks 20- to 39-year-olds to come up with proposals to help revitalise the popularity of alcoholic drinks, which have fallen out of favour because of lifestyle changes during the coronavirus pandemic and among young people.

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