Health minister says real number of infections twice what is known, as one in 12 public hospital beds is filled by a Covid patient
Australia is getting closer to chalking up 12,000 Covid-related fatalities, as one in 12 public hospital beds across Australia is filled by someone with the virus.
The nation has recorded three straight days of 100-plus deaths related to the virus.
Continue reading...The popularity of ‘boy-love’ series sends fans from home and abroad flocking to filming locations across the country
There is a table in Soontaree Thiprat’s Phuket cafe that is always fully booked. Most of her customers at the Dibuk restaurant want to sit in the corner, at the spot with the red tablecloth and purple flower.
It is the table where the male student characters Teh and Oh-aew, played by the actors Putthipong “Billkin” Assaratanakul and Krit “PP” Amnuaydechkorn, would sit together and flirt in I Told Sunset About You and its sequel, I Promised You the Moon, a romantic Thai series that has proved hugely popular in its home country and abroad.
Continue reading...Anthony Albanese announces draft wording of referendum question in Garma festival speech. This blog is now closed
AFP says reports of human trafficking and slavery reach highest ever level
Reports of human trafficking and slavery to the AFP have increased to their “highest ever reported”, according to new data released today.
This is the first time in Australia’s history where the uptake of a unified training and awareness-raising protocol to combat human trafficking and slavery will be delivered across all frontline agencies and jurisdictions.
This represents a critical step to addressing the scourge of human trafficking in the Australian community and it’s a job the AFP and our partners will work together to combat.
Dr Khorshid was elected AMA president during the first peak of the pandemic and quickly became the voice of reason, of calm and of urgency when needed – lobbying government, and fronting the media, along with hard-working vice-president Dr Chris Moy, to send clear messages about the pandemic.
His leadership was particularly critical during the early stages when there was no vaccine, and the focus was on implementing effective public health measures to ensure the safety of the community and healthcare workers.
Continue reading...Airline group says demand is strong despite ‘historic challenges’ at Heathrow and elsewhere
British Airways has returned to profit for the first time since the start of the pandemic, with its owner International Airlines Group saying demand was strong despite “historic challenges” still facing the industry.
IAG said that there was no sign of bookings tailing off in the autumn and beyond – in the face of pessimistic forecasts from its main airport base, Heathrow – and that demand for the most lucrative transatlantic routes was continuing to grow.
Continue reading...Pfizer and Moderna expected to roll out reformulated boosters, likely to be authorized for anyone 12 and older, in September
Instead of expanding eligibility for a fourth Covid-19 booster shot now, the Biden administration will push this fall to get Americans to take another booster vaccination that is predicted to better protect against the Omicron BA.5 subvariant of the coronavirus.
Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna are expected to start rolling out the reformulated boosters, which are expected to be authorized for anyone 12 and older, in September.
Continue reading...Tory leadership candidates have clashed bitterly but many pressing matters have been overlooked
Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have clashed vehemently over tax and spending, immigration and the UK’s stance on China in their acrimonious battle to become prime minister – but have had little to say about many other pressing issues. Here are some largely overlooked key issues of the contest so far.
Continue reading...About 8% of borrowers – 130,000 firms – have so far failed to repay government-backed emergency loans
Taxpayers have been left to foot a £421m bill to cover soured Covid debts, after one in 12 businesses defaulted on state-backed emergency loans distributed at the height of the pandemic, official figures reveal.
In the first set of figures detailing the performance of government-backed loans offered to struggling firms during the outbreak, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said about 8% of 1.6m borrowers – roughly 130,000 – failed to repay their debts as of March this year.
Continue reading...Redfern Legal Centre says $20,000 in fines issued is ‘unjust’ and ‘sets children up for failure’
About 500 children aged under 15 were fined a total of $20,000 for not wearing or carrying a mask in New South Wales in the past 12 months, including 34 who remain in an unpaid work and development scheme to reduce their debts.
The state government has faced sustained criticism for its pursuit of children over Covid rule breaches, particularly given the confusing and shifting nature of public health orders and the disproportionate impact Covid fines are having on the most disadvantaged.
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Continue reading...Francis Crick Institute in London says area of spike protein of Sars-CoV-2 could form basis of jab against variants and common cold
Scientists have made a “promising” advance towards developing a universal coronavirus vaccine to tackle Covid-19 and the common cold.
Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute in London have discovered that a specific area of the spike protein of Sars-CoV-2 – the virus that causes Covid-19 – is a good target for a pan-coronavirus jab that could offer protection against all the Covid-19 variants and common colds.
Continue reading...Senators call for investigation into top prosecutor after charges against president shelved
Brazilian senators are calling for an investigation into one of the country’s top prosecutors after she shelved several charges against the president, Jair Bolsonaro, over his mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A damning congressional inquiry had recommended that Bolsonaro be charged with nine offences, including crimes against humanity and charlatanism, for promoting false treatments such as hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin.
Continue reading...AAP has a preview of today’s inflation figures, which are going to be horrible:
Australia could be about to record its worst inflation outcome in more than 31 years, paving the way for higher mortgage and lending rates.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release the consumer price index data for the June quarter – when the price of a supermarket iceberg lettuce hit $10 – on Wednesday.
The financial market consensus is for a headline annual inflation rate of 6.2% – the highest since the December quarter of 1990.
That would be more than the 5.1% rate logged in the March quarter, which was the fastest pace of annual price growth in 21 years.
“Since then, inflation has likely broadened and deepened,” St George chief economist Besa Deda said.
The quarterly outcome is forecast at 1.8%, which would be slightly lower than the 2.1% recorded in the previous quarter.
But the range of economists’ forecasts for the quarterly number is wide – between 1.6% and 2.8% – signalling uncertainty about how deeply entrenched price pressures have become since March.
While the main drivers of inflation in the June quarter will again be fuel and food costs, housing and building costs are also likely to be strong – perhaps as high as 20% year-on-year, according to JP Morgan economists.
Other factors are adding to the pressure, particularly in the housing sector, where rents are rising and demand for new homes and related construction services and products remains strong.
It is the first question time today. In case you missed it, here is Murph’s analysis on the plan so far:
Continue reading...Pandemic and climate crisis account for most new entries in authoritative Le Robert and Larousse dictionaries
From covidé (infected with coronavirus) to confinement (lockdown) and éco-anxiété (climate anxiety) to verdissement d’image (greenwashing), the pandemic and the climate crisis account for most new French words, Le Monde has concluded.
But if 28% of recent additions are essentially English, according to an analysis by the paper, nearly half are French coinages, demonstrating what it called the language’s “great suppleness, as well as the creativity and humour of its users”.
Continue reading...State government says it is making extra hospital beds available and scaling up ambulance coordination
Covid-19 hospitalisations in Queensland are not likely to peak for another month, with the latest modelling projecting a maximum caseload of about 1,660 in late August.
The estimate represents a 60% increase of close to 600 on existing hospital numbers, which are sitting at slightly more than 1,000, the highest level of the pandemic so far.
Continue reading...Cash: No way the Coalition will support a lower emissions target
The next interview on ABC radio RN is with the shadow employment minister, Michaelia Cash, who has a lot to say about the scrapping of the ABCC. Cash, you may remember, was one of its biggest supporters while in government.
The Coalition won more votes than the Australian Labor party.
Continue reading...Pandemic may have changed decision-making, according to research published in Journal of Medical Ethics
Doctors are less likely to resuscitate the most seriously ill patients in the wake of the pandemic, a survey suggests.
Covid-19 may have changed doctors’ decision-making regarding end of life, making them more willing not to resuscitate very sick or frail patients and raising the threshold for referral to intensive care, according to the results of the research published in the Journal of Medical Ethics.
Continue reading...Experts say lower ICU figures partly due to aged care deaths, while AMA vice president labels number of Covid patients ‘massive’
The number of Australians in hospital with Covid-19 has reached the highest point of the entire pandemic, according to data from CovidLive.
On Monday, there were 5,429 Covid patients in hospital, surpassing the previous record of 5,390 set in late January.
Continue reading...Supermarket chain’s move comes as employers face fierce competition for staff after Covid and Brexit
Aldi has raised pay for shop workers for the second time in a year in the latest sign of the intense competition for workers in the UK.
From September, the grocery discounter is to put up hourly pay by 40p to a minimum of £10.50 outside the M25 and to £11.95 in London, an increase of at least 3.5%.
Continue reading...Unions and providers welcome one-month extension of workforce support but say tens of thousands of aged care workers unavailable
The aged care sector has warned that a pledge of additional military assistance will not be enough to solve the “stark” staff shortages linked to the current Covid-19 wave, which has seen the number of active outbreaks and the weekly death toll nearly double in a single month.
The federal government announced overnight it would extend Australian defence force support for aged care from its previous August endpoint until the end of September, plus boost the available military workforce by more than 200 personnel to help the sector cope with the current Omicron wave.
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Continue reading...Ashish Jha, coronavirus response coordinator, and physician Kevin O’Connor say president contracted BA.5 variant
Joe Biden is “feeling well” and “doing just fine” after testing positive for Covid, the White House coronavirus response coordinator said.
Appearing on CBS’s Face the Nation, Ashish Jha said: “So it is the BA.5 variant, which is about 80% of infections. But thank goodness, our vaccines and therapeutics work well against it, which is why I think the president’s doing well.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed
Labor wants consensus between business and unions – Burke
Burke says “everything is on the table” including the potential for fixed enterprise bargaining. He also says that the government would like to seek consensus between business and union groups if it can. Asked specifically about a deal struck between the ACTU and the Business Council last year, Burke says he doesn’t know whether that is possible now but he’d be interested in exploring it.
If I can find agreements where there’s consensus I don’t know whether the consensus of that agreement of a couple of years ago still existed in identical form, but if a consensus like that turns up at the job summit you could work on the basis I will be inclined to grab it, because that did have safeguards around it to prevent workers from in fact going backwards.
When you don’t have an energy policy for a decade that’s inflationary. When you have a skills crisis and refuse to invest in skills, that’s inflationary. So in establishing the first bill will be dealing with in the Parliament will be jobs and Skills Australia, we have already had Chris Bowen taking action in terms of making sure we are dealing with the energy crisis. But none of this turns around straight away.
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