Category Archives: Coronavirus

Australian politics live: economy grows 3.3% in September quarter, national accounts reveal

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OECD warns Australia over China exports; agriculture and trade ministers to meet wine producers – follow the latest updates

Philip Lowe is accompanied at today’s hearing by Guy Debelle, a deputy RBA governor. Debelle has just shown Lowe the growth number in the national accounts.

The governor is pleased. It’s very good, he says. (Lowe was hoping for more than 2% in today’s numbers. The growth number is 3.3%).

Jim Chalmers has responded:

Today’s headline number is cold comfort for millions of Australians looking for work, or more work. For many people what looks like a recovery on paper will still feel like a recession. #auspol

What really matters is not one quarterly GDP number on a page but how Australians are actually faring and whether they can provide for their loved ones. #auspol

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Coronavirus live news: CDC suggests first vaccines to US healthcare workers; England enters tier system

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US hospitalisations surge; New tier system replaces lockdown; BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna file for EU approval of Covid-19 vaccine

The national accounts, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics just now, shows that rise in seasonally adjusted chain volume measures, after a 7% fall in the June quarter.

In the US, a government panel on Tuesday formally recommended early doses of Covid-19 vaccines be given first to healthcare workers and long-term care facility residents in the US, generally seen as people who live in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

Together, that group would represent roughly 23 million Americans, disproportionately including women, people of color and low-wage workers who makeup the healthcare labor force.

Related: CDC panel recommends giving Covid-19 vaccines to healthcare workers first

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Coronavirus live news: WHO says vaccines won’t prevent short-term surge; Putin orders start of mass inoculation

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Health body says there won’t be enough doses to prevent new wave in cases in next six months; Russian president says programme should start next week

Morocco hopes to launch an ambitious vaccination campaign against the coronavirus by year-end, but its efforts have sparked suspicion and rumours in the country, hard-hit by the pandemic.

The North African kingdom is hoping to immunise 20 million adults against Covid-19 within three months, using vaccinations from China’s Sinopharm and a UK-sourced shot developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.

Boris Johnson might be persuaded to take a Covid-19 vaccination on television to show it is safe but he would not have one before those in greater need, his press secretary has said.

Johnson, 56, who spent time in intensive care earlier this year after contracting Covid-19, has hailed the UK approval of Pfizer’s vaccine as a global win and ray of hope.

I don’t think it would be something he would rule out.

But I think we also know that he wouldn’t want to take a jab that should be for someone who is extremely vulnerable, clinically vulnerable, and who should be getting it before him.

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US justice department investigating ‘bribery-for-pardon’ scheme – live

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What is it about the French Laundry?

Another California politician, San Francisco mayor London Breed, is under fire after it was revealed that she attended a birthday party at the three-star Michelin restaurant in Napa Valley – just one night after governor Gavin Newsom did the same.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to shorten its recommendation for how long individuals should quarantine after being exposed to someone with Covid-19, the AP reports.

Since the pandemic began, the CDC has recommended that individuals quarantine for 14 days after exposure. The new recommendations, which could be released later tonight, will recommend that individuals quarantine for 10 days after exposure, or seven days if they test negative for the disease.

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Fears for Melbourne’s homeless forced out of Covid hotel accommodation

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Rough sleepers worry they will end up back on the streets as funding for Victoria’s Home for Homeless scheme runs out

When Painter arrived at the Birches serviced apartments in East Melbourne, she breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’ve always said I just needed one person to treat me with a little bit of respect and I’ll flourish, and that’s what I’ve done here at Birches,” she said.

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Johnson suffers biggest Commons revolt as MPs back tougher Covid tiers

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Fifty-five Tories rebel over new coronavirus regulations as parliament votes 291 to 78 in favour

Boris Johnson suffered his worst Commons rebellion tonight as 55 Conservative MPs opposed the government’s new coronavirus tiers despite the prime minister pleading with them as they cast their votes.

Johnson was forced to rely on Labour’s abstention from the vote to avoid defeat on a tightened system of measures that will plunge 99% of England into the strictest tiers from Wednesday.

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Los Angeles reverses plans to close Covid-19 testing site for film shoot

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City faced widespread uproar over news that Union Station testing center would be closed for filming of She’s All That remake

Los Angeles reversed the planned closure of a downtown coronavirus testing site, after the news that the center would be closed because of a film shoot for the remake of the popular teen comedy She’s All That was met with widespread uproar.

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UK likely to be first western country to license a Covid vaccine

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Regulator expected to authorise Pfizer/BioNTech jab for emergency use within days

Britain is expected to become the first western country to authorise a coronavirus vaccine, raising the prospect of immunisations beginning weeks ahead of the rest of Europe.

The UK medicines regulator is set to license the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for emergency use within days, and possibly as soon as Wednesday. Britain has ordered 40m doses, of which 10m are expected to be available this year.

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Russian museum director who exposed Soviets to hidden masterpieces dies at 98

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Irina Antonova, head of Pushkin Museum for 52 years, brought Mona Lisa to Moscow despite cold war

A longtime museum director dubbed the grande dame of the Russian art world has died at 98, prompting an outpouring of grief and admiration for the woman who brought the Mona Lisa to Moscow and returned masterpieces hidden for decades from the Soviet public to her museum’s exhibition halls.

Irina Antonova, whose work at the Pushkin Museum began under Joseph Stalin and ended under Vladimir Putin, died on Monday evening of complications from the coronavirus. Her death was confirmed by the press service of the museum, where she served as director for 52 years from 1961 to 2013.

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Right-wing Hungarian MEP resigns for attending ‘sex party’ that broke Belgian lockdown

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Politician in Viktor Orbán’s party apologises as Belgian police arrest 25 men over gathering

A Hungarian MEP in Viktor Orbán’s rightwing party, spotted fleeing along a gutter to escape police raiding a “sex party” above a Brussels bar, has apologised for breaching Belgium’s lockdown rules.

József Szájer, a senior member of the Fidesz party who helped write Hungary’s constitution in 2011, was one of about 20 people, mainly men and including at least two EU diplomats, who attended a party held near the Grand Place in the Belgian capital’s historical centre on Friday evening.

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Tier system necessary to prevent another England lockdown, says Gove – video

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Michael Gove insisted the government's 'tough but fair' new tier system was necessary to prevent another England lockdown before the rollout of Covid vaccines. 'It's really important we don't lose that discipline we have now,' the Cabinet Office minister said.

Gove also told Sky News that customers would not need to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to go to pubs, restaurants, theatres or sports events

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Australian politics live: Chinese embassy accuses Canberra of overreacting to tweet on Afghan killings

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Embassy official dismisses ‘rage and roar’ over tweet; new WA border rules not requiring quarantine to start on 8 December; Paul Fletcher complains to ABC chair about Four Corners program. Follow latest updates

And that’s where we’ll leave the blog for today. Thanks as always for reading, we’ll be back tomorrow, with Amy Remeikis at the helm in the morning.

Here’s what happened today:

And in further weather news, severe thunderstorms are set to hit Sydney in a few minutes. The Bureau of Meteorology has warned of damaging winds and large hailstones.

⚡Detailed Severe Thunderstorm Warning⚡
for DAMAGING WINDS and LARGE HAILSTONES. Forecast to affect Hornsby, Parramatta and Richmond by 7:05 pm and Sydney City, Sydney Olympic Park, Mona Vale and waters off Bondi Beach by 7:35 pm.
⚠️Warnings: https://t.co/qF3XejM6Tv pic.twitter.com/qnSGNfqZND

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Lewis Hamilton tests positive for Covid-19 and will miss F1 Sakhir GP

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  • World champion had ‘mild symptoms’ after Bahrain win
  • Hamilton tested positive before second race at venue

Lewis Hamilton will miss this weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain after testing positive for coronavirus.

The seven-time Formula One world champion is in isolation after his positive result was announced on Tuesday morning.

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Coronavirus live news: US may begin vaccinations before Christmas; Vietnam sees first case in three months

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WHO ‘will do everything’ to find Covid origin; Mexico and Brazil seeing ‘alarming’ case surge; Scott Atlas resigns as special adviser to Trump on coronavirus

Russia has reported a record 569 deaths linked to Covid-19 today, bringing the official death toll to 40,464.

Authorities also reported 26,402 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, including 6,524 in the capital Moscow, bringing the national cumulative tally to 2,322,056.

Thanks to regular reader Scott Lafferty, who has been in touch to remind us that the Netherlands has today finally made face masks mandatory in indoor public spaces.

Face masks will be compulsory in all public buildings, shops, and stations from tomorrow as the coronavirus law comes into effect, and people who refuse to wear one face a fine of €95, reports Dutch News.

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This World Aids Day the global response to HIV stands on a precipice | Winnie Byanyima and Matthew Kavanagh

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Covid-19 has shown the power of innovation and community services in a pandemic. These lessons should be applied to HIV

In a pandemic, when policy falls short, people die. Amid the growing Covid-19 pandemic and the continuing HIV pandemic, this is clearer today than ever before. From rules on access to testing to the distribution of new medical technologies or the use of criminal law in public health, policymaking is fraught. This World Aids Day, the global Aids response stands on a precipice.

Actions in the next few years will either tip us towards halting HIV, making deaths and new infections rare, or towards a resurgent virus thriving on social faultlines.

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Asian manufacturing boom offers hope for swifter global recovery from Covid

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Markets respond as manufacturing in China and South Korea grows at fastest pace in a decade

Hopes that the world will bounce back from the ravages of coronavirus in the new year have been buoyed by strong growth in output from Asia’s huge manufacturing centres, led by an accelerating post-pandemic boom in China.

China’s factory activity expanded at the fastest pace in a decade in November, a closely watched survey showed on Tuesday, in the latest sign that the world’s second-largest economy is recovering to pre-pandemic levels.

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‘Covid created an opportunity’: Lisbon turns 20,000 tourist flats into homes

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Initiative offers landlords the option of renting their properties to the city for a minimum of five years

For centuries, the maze of narrow, cobbled streets that make up Lisbon’s Alfama neighbourhood has told the story of the city’s past. But in recent years, as trendy cafes and tourist flats proliferated, the historic quarter began telling a worrying tale of the city’s future.

A rapid transformation had rippled across the city centre as Airbnb-style tourist rentals swelled to a third of the properties. As locals found themselves priced out and communities began hollowing out, many began grumbling about the aftershocks of terramotourism – a tourism earthquake.

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Scott Atlas resigns as Trump pandemic adviser after controversial tenure

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Neuroradiologist who has no expertise in infectious diseases downplayed the threat of coronavirus

Scott Atlas has resigned as special adviser to Donald Trump, a White House official said on Monday, after a controversial four months during which he attacked science-based public health measures and clashed repeatedly with other members of the coronavirus taskforce.

“I am writing to resign from my position as Special Advisor to the President of the United States,” Atlas said in a letter to Trump dated 1 December, according to Fox News, which first reported his resignation. Atlas later confirmed his resignation in a tweet.

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‘No time for complacency’: WHO chief urges caution over festive season – video

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Spending time with friends and family at Christmas is ‘not worth putting them or yourself at risk’, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, has said.

He advised people to consider not travelling during the next few months, and urged ‘extreme caution’ despite last week seeing the first decline in newly reported cases globally since September, saying these gains could easily be lost

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Labour will abstain from vote on Covid tiers, says Keir Starmer – video

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Keir Starmer has said Labour will abstain from the the Covid tier vote as the government scrambled to contain a Tory rebellion by unveiling a multimillion-pound fund for pubs.

Starmer has decided to break with the government in a vote on Covid restrictions for the first time, but will not vote against the restrictions adding that this would 'not be in the interest of the country'.

Tuesday’s Commons vote on the tiers system is due to replace lockdown rules from Wednesday and put 99% of the country into tiers 2 and 3. The vote is still expected to pass

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