Children as young as six months will be able to get shots from either Pfizer or Moderna after Friday’s FDA approval
Children as young as six months old, through age five, will be able to get the US’s first Covid-19 vaccines approved for infants, toddlers and preschoolers.
The development came after final sign-off on Saturday from Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Continue reading...NSW premier says John Barilaro’s new role ‘no surprise’ to him; government ministers say Assange case ‘should be brought to a close’. This blog is now closed
Could an eighth world title be in the offing?
AAP reports:
Once I got past Caroline [Marks], I was super confident and I knew I could do it.
Lakey [Peterson] is an amazing surfer, so I knew it was going to be a tough Final but it doesn’t get any better. I love doing this. I love winning, I love doing this sport.
Continue reading...Self-service bar popular with locals and foreigners has been shut down after being linked to hundreds of cases
Heaven Supermarket’s ability to attract young Chinese customers and foreigners has always been viewed with envy by its competitor bars in the Chinese capital.
Located in one of the busiest nightlife districts in Beijing, the bar is modelled as a large self-service liquor store with chairs, sofas and tables. It is not the fanciest in its presentation, but on Chinese review websites, patrons highlight its affordability and down-to-earth attitude.
Continue reading...NSW premier says health funding ‘a great start’ after national cabinet meeting; electricity reserves improve across National Energy Market; ASX plunges to lowest level since November 2020; nation records 51 Covid deaths. Follow live
The PM is making the rounds this morning, appearing on Sunrise and repeating his line that almost a decade of “delay and denial” under the former Coalition government led to the current energy crisis (I feel like this will be a recurring theme today.)
People want an end to the nonsense that’s gone on for the last decade.
You can’t fix 10 years of inaction in just 10 days but we are taking immediate action through Aemo to make sure that the lights stay on. At the same time, we’re making sure that we create the investment environment to make sure we get it right.
The gas is actually the property of the people of the state, whichever state that is, and there should have always been enough for the state and the country in question. It just seems to me to be very strange that there’s no gas for local people yet.
Coal-fired power generation is very old technology and very difficult for coal plants to cope with renewables coming onto the grid, basically, new renewables every minute
Continue reading...People aged 18 to 24 had to deal with mental ill health or job woes far more than older people, Australian Bureau of Statistics finds
Young people have experienced more stressors than older Australians throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, according to new data.
On Friday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released new figures from its National Health Survey, on stressors, diet and breastfeeding. The survey collected information from 11,000 households around the country between August 2020 and June 2021.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
Continue reading...The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell explain why the January 6 committee has opted to make today’s hearing about the actions of Mike Pence, who played a major role in torpedoing Trump’s plan to stop Biden from taking office:
The House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack intends to outline at its third hearing on Thursday how Donald Trump corruptly pressured then vice-president Mike Pence to reject the congressional certification of Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 presidential election and directly contributed to the insurrection.
Continue reading...Ukraine war, China lockdowns and Brexit help push up inflation, with products that rely on wheat worst hit
Food price rises in the UK could hit 15% this summer – the highest level in more than 20 years – with inflation lasting into the middle of next year, according to a report.
Meat, cereals, dairy, fruit and vegetables are likely to be the worst affected as the war in Ukraine combines with production lockdowns in China and export bans on key food stuffs such as palm oil from Indonesia and wheat from India, the grocery trade body IGD warns.
Continue reading...Virus may be evolving to refavour infecting lung tissue. We assess what this could mean for the course of the pandemic
If you thought Covid-19 was dead and gone, think again. Early signs indicate that the UK may be at the start of a new wave of Covid infections driven by BA.4 and BA.5 – while new data suggests these variants may have evolved to refavour infecting lung tissue, which could make them more dangerous.
So what can we expect in the coming weeks and months?
Continue reading...Paul Erickson speaks at National Press Club; Bowen says energy system ‘under pressure’; AEC says it will not conduct a recount in federal seat of Gilmore; foreign affairs minister’s first trip to Solomon Islands since security deal with China; Victoria records 18 Covid deaths, NSW records 14. This blog is now closed
Quick note:
NSW is reporting 7,260 new Covid cases and 14 deaths this morning.
Continue reading...NSW Health secretary says emergency departments remain under significant pressure due to high Covid-19 and flu cases
During the peak of the Omicron outbreak the majority of emergency department patients in New South Wales were seen within 30 minutes, a new report from the Bureau of Health Information (BHI) has revealed.
The report, which covers the period of January to March 2022, looks at how the health system coped with the thousands of daily Covid cases during the Omicron wave.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
Continue reading...Penny Wong to visit New Zealand foreign minister; at least 31 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed
Lack of reserve notice from energy regulator
It’s going to be a long day by the looks of it when it comes to “lack of reserve” notices and intervention by the Australian Energy Market Operator, such as this early one in NSW:
Continue reading...Latest batch of at least 287 cases has raised new worries about outlook for Chinese economy
Authorities in Beijing have warned that a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases linked to a 24-hour bar was critical and the city of 22 million people was in a “race against time” to get to grips with its most serious outbreak since the pandemic began.
The flare-up means millions of people are facing mandatory testing and thousands are under targeted lockdowns, just days after the city started to lift widespread curbs intended to tackle a broader outbreak since late April.
Continue reading...Tribunal finds dental assistant was unlawfully discriminated against during Victoria’s Covid restrictions
A Melbourne dental assistant has been awarded $12,000 after she was sacked during the Covid-19 pandemic while forced to homeschool her children.
Fiona Carpenter took her former employer Pearly Whites to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, claiming she was discriminated against because of her family responsibilities and a broken foot.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
Continue reading...Singer, 78, developed symptoms as he arrived in Dutch capital for Sixty tour, which includes dates in England
Sir Mick Jagger has tested positive for coronavirus, prompting the Rolling Stones to cancel their show in Amsterdam on Monday.
The singer, 78, began to develop symptoms as he arrived at the Johan Cruijff ArenA in the Dutch capital earlier in the day.
Continue reading...Cluster comes a week after city eased restrictions, raising fresh concerns over ‘zero Covid’ policy and economy
Authorities in Beijing are racing to contain a Covid outbreak traced to a 24-hour bar known for cheap liquor and big crowds, with millions of people facing mandatory testing and thousands under targeted lockdowns.
The outbreak of 228 cases linked to the Heaven Supermarket bar, which had just reopened as curbs in the Chinese capital eased last week, highlights how difficult it will be for China to make a success of its “zero Covid” policy as much of the rest of the world tries to live with the virus.
Continue reading...Groups set up to help out neighbours in 2020 are now helping people cope with cost of living, say campaigners
Four in 10 of the mutual aid groups that were set up at the start of the pandemic to make it easier for neighbours to help each other are still active and many have become established charities helping local people cope with the cost of living crisis, analysis suggests.
When the pandemic began, an estimated 4,000 mutual aid groups sprang up to offer assistance to those in need with a range of essential activities, from food shopping to collecting prescriptions and providing Covid information.
Continue reading...Brendan Murphy, Kerry Chant, Jeannette Young and Mary-Louise McLaws among recipients recognised for their work on Covid
A Covid honour roll has again dominated the Queen’s birthday honours list, with former chief health officer Dr Brendan Murphy appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), one of 92 people who have been recognised for their work during the pandemic.
The New South Wales chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, was awarded an AO for “distinguished service to the people of NSW through public health administration and governance, and to medicine”.
Continue reading...Experts say the world will be watching as the country becomes one of the first to experience Covid and a simultaneous influenza season spike
Australia has had its worst May on record when it comes to flu cases, prompting experts to warn this season will redefine what it means to be ready for the virus.
The national disease surveillance system reported about 65,770 confirmed influenza cases in May – more than double the month’s previous record, which was set in 2019.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
Continue reading...Federal ministers Mark Butler and Anika Wells warn providers with low vaccination rates will have to explain themselves
Ministers Mark Butler and Anika Wells have told aged care providers to act “with a sense of urgency” and speed up their fourth-dose Covid vaccinations as the sector continues to grapple with almost 700 outbreaks and a growing death toll.
The aged care ministers have also warned providers with low vaccination rates they would be required to explain themselves and show how they would turn around sluggish booster rates.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
Continue reading...WHO report has said origins of virus are still unknown and recommended further investigation
China has repeated its assertion the theory that the Covid-19 pandemic began with a leak from a Chinese laboratory is “a politically motivated lie”, after the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended continued investigations this week.
“The lab leak theory is totally a lie concocted by anti-China forces for political purposes, which has nothing to do with science,” the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a daily briefing on Friday.
Continue reading...