No change in Operation Sovereign Borders policy
Clare O’Neil is asked about the desperate situation in Sri Lanka, where many people are trying to find a way out.
Operation Sovereign Borders is Australian government policy.
Prime minister says people should stay home if they are sick but there is no prescriptive position on working from home
Anthony Albanese has stopped short of calling for Australians to work from home if they can, as the chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, advised yesterday in the face of the rising Covid wave, saying the nation needed a “balance” to also consider the interests of business.
Despite numerous questions across a radio interview and a press conference about the latest recommendation from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee that employers should allow working from home if feasible, the prime minister did not directly make that request himself.
Continue reading...Officials in Guangzhou apologise for ‘violent’ behaviour after 84 homes broken into during search for possible close contacts
Authorities in southern China have apologised for breaking into the homes of people who had been taken to a quarantine hotel, in the latest example of heavy-handed virus-prevention measures that have sparked a rare public backlash.
State media said that 84 homes in an apartment complex in Guangzhou city’s Liwan district had been opened in an effort to find any “close contacts” hiding inside and to disinfect the premises.
Continue reading...‘Waiting for the autumn will be too late,’ says regional director as Omicron variants drive threefold surge in cases over past six weeks
The World Health Organization has called on European governments to urgently reinforce rather than reduce Covid-19 monitoring, warning of a potentially difficult winter as a new wave of infections sweeps across the continent.
Hans Kluge, the WHO’s regional director for Europe, said it was now “abundantly clear” that the region faced a surge driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variants BA.2 and BA.5 and that it would intensify further as indoor mixing increases in the autumn.
Continue reading...Dr Ashley Bloomfield dramatically scales back planned event, including cancelling the karaoke, in face of Omicron surge
New Zealand’s Covid chief has had his farewell party scuppered by a rising wave of Omicron cases.
“We’ve canceled karaoke,” the director general of health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, said when questioned about his plans for farewelling the high-stress role. “We’ll do that later in the year, I hope, if the staff still want to come.”
Continue reading...Victorian students aged eight and over are being urged to wear masks when indoors to help counter the Covid-19 surge.
The request comes in a joint letter from the state education department and independent and Catholic schools.
I respect the fact that people on the crossbench were elected to deliver action on climate change and our government wants to work with them to do just that.
That’s why one of the very first acts of the new government will be to legislate that higher ambition. They want more than the 43% that Labor is offering though.
While masks remain optional in schools nationwide, authorities in several Australian states have strengthened requests for action
The Victorian education department and independent schools have written a letter to parents urging students over the age of eight to wear masks at school.
While masks are not currently mandated for general student populations anywhere in Australia, a letter signed by the heads of the Victorian government, Catholic and independent schools sectors asks students aged eight and over to wear masks during class and if travelling on public transport. The state opposition has seized on the recommendation, labelling it a “mandate by stealth”.
Continue reading...Gorgeous images coming through from Tasmania where snow has fallen this morning.
NSW premier Dominic Perrottet is on ABC Radio following the national cabinet meeting which has seen emergency isolation payments reinstated.
If the state is taking away people’s liberty, then the state has an obligation to provide financial support.
Continue reading...Premier, Daniel Andrews, announces a $162m package to fund specialist staff across 12 hospitals as Covid-related absentee rates climb
Victoria’s ailing public hospitals will be topped up with an extra 400 health workers to combat rising Covid hospitalisations and staff absenteeism.
A $162m package to respond to the emerging Omicron BA.4 and 5 variants, which are leaving more people in hospital and healthcare workers sick, was announced by the Victorian government on Sunday.
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Continue reading...The $750 payment for those who need to isolate due to Covid has been extended through September, following pressure on the government
Reinstating Covid-19 isolation payments was a necessary move in the wake of rising cases despite criticism the government was slow in doing so, according to the treasurer, Jim Chalmers.
With infections continuing to increase, a decision was made on Saturday to restore the leave pay measure until the end of September.
Continue reading...Prime minister Anthony Albanese says support will continue until the end of September amid winter Covid wave set to peak in August
The Australian Medical Association has welcomed the federal government’s backflip on emergency Covid payments, and says they should say in place as long as necessary.
“They should never have been removed,” president Omar Khorshid said.
Continue reading...Australia’s chief medical officer will give a briefing to state and territory leaders on Saturday and the pandemic leave payment is expected to be extended. Follow live
There were 11,082 new cases in the last reporting period, and 66 people are in intensive care.
First home buyers blowing their budgets
Underquoting is where a property is listed at a price lower than what it’s worth to bait buyers.
It’s illegal but it does happen, particularly in the case of auctions, where underquoted prices can attract more buyers and lead to a bidding war.
Continue reading...Experts warn of worse to come, with most states likely several weeks away from peak hospitalisation rates
Hospitals across the country are “bursting at the seams” as the number of people being admitted with Covid-19 reaches record levels in several states.
Western Australia recorded its highest number of Covid hospitalisations to date on Thursday, with Queensland also expected to surpass its January peak in coming days.
Continue reading...Lola handbag range and signature trenchcoat give luxury fashion retailer boost elsewhere
Burberry has reported sales growth of only 1% in its latest financial quarter because of the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns in China, while sales were boosted elsewhere by its Lola handbag range and signature trenchcoat.
The luxury fashion retailer said sales fell 35% in mainland China because of restrictions and store closures to contain the latest outbreak of the coronavirus, while sales grew 16% across the rest of the world in the 13 weeks to 2 July.
Continue reading...NSW has recorded 12,228 new cases and 14 deaths in the past 24 hours.
There are 2,027 people in hospital and of those, 60 are in ICU.
Continue reading...Australia’s chief medical officer will give a briefing to state and territory leaders on Saturday as government backflips on pandemic support
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Anthony Albanese will propose that Canberra and the states extend the pandemic leave payment during a snap national cabinet briefing that has been expedited to Saturday.
The government has spent the past week signalling the existing $750 payment would not be extended over the winter for budgetary reasons, but that decision has been reversed after mounting pressure from backbenchers, premiers, and health experts.
Continue reading...Guardian Australia brings together all the latest on daily new Covid-19 cases, as well as stats, charts and live state by state data from NSW, Victoria, Queensland, SA, WA, Tasmania, ACT and NT. We bring together the latest numbers on the vaccine rollout and fourth dose booster vaccination rates.
Due to the difference in reporting times between states, territories and the federal government, it can be difficult to get a current picture of the pandemic in Australia. Here we have brought together data on cases, deaths, hospitalisations and vaccinations.
Continue reading...Shutdown of cities takes its toll, while property market remains in crisis and global outlook darkens
China’s economic growth has slowed sharply in the second quarter of the year, official data showed on Friday, highlighting the colossal toll from widespread Covid lockdowns and casting doubt over whether its pre-ordained growth target can be met.
Output contracted by 2.6% between April and June compared with the previous quarter, the statistics bureau said, prompting many economists to revise their predictions for the world’s second biggest economy.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Federal Labor MPs join NSW Labor leader Chris Minns in calling for Albanese government to rethink decision on Covid policies
Labor backbenchers are calling on the government to restore Covid pandemic leave payments, saying the measure is needed for people struggling with the cost of living to help slow the spread of the virus.
It comes as the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has agreed to hold a snap national cabinet meeting on Monday morning with state and territory leaders, after Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk requested an update on the health advice and Covid situation from the chief medical officer.
Continue reading...The International Monetary Fund could downgrade its expectations for global economic growth this month.
Its head Kristalina Georgieva has hinted as much, saying the war in Ukraine, higher than expected inflation and the Covid pandemic are to blame.
As G20 ministers and central bank governors gather in Bali this week, they face a global economic outlook that has darkened significantly.
Recent indicators imply a weak second quarter – and we will be projecting a further downgrade to global growth for both 2022 and 2023 in our World Economic Outlook Update later this month.
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