Australia's Victoria state records second-highest daily rise in virus cases

MELBOURNE - Australia's Victoria state reported 779 new COVID-19 infections and two deaths on Sunday, off the previous day's record high as the country's prime minister presses state leaders to be ready to reopen once they meet vaccination targets.

The daily increase was still the state's second-highest, after the 847 cases logged on Saturday, as officials battle to contain a Delta variant outbreak that has taken root since mid-year.

Australia's two most populous states, Victoria and New South Wales, have been struggling to contain the highly infectious variant while they ramp up vaccinations to 80% of the population, a threshold that will allow officials to ease strict lockdown measures.

Three-quarters of Australians have had a first dose of vaccine, while just half have had both doses.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in an interview aired on Sunday that he expects states to open up borders and ease restrictions once the 80% vaccination threshold has been met.

"We each have a personal responsibility for looking after our own health. And so it's important that we do move forward," he told Channel 7's Sunrise program.

"There comes a time when you just got to move on and get on with it," he said from Washington, where he held a summit with his counterparts from the United States, Japan and India.

Morrison said his message to Australians was "that what I'd like them to have for Christmas is their lives back. And that's within the gift of governments. And that's a gift I'd like to see us give them."

New South Wales recorded nine deaths, according to government data on Sunday, while new locally acquired infections fell for a third day to 961, the lowest daily number in nearly a week, raising hopes that cases may have peaked, originally expected in mid-September, as vaccination rates climb.

"Whilst we are extremely encouraged by the downwards trend that we have seen, with Delta you cannot be complacent," said state Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

The state's first dose rate has risen to 85.2% of people over 16 years of age, while 59.1% of the population has had their second dose.

New South Wales has recorded 288 deaths in the Delta outbreak, accounting for nearly a quarter of the country's approximately 1,230 deaths.

State government officials are to finalize a roadmap this week for what to do when the 80% target is met, as focus shifts to when to reopen community activities to the unvaccinated.

Sporting events, regional travel, pubs, restaurants and other functions may remain off limits to unvaccinated people until as many as 90% of the state's adults have had two doses.

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Australia reports 1,684 new COVID-19 cases, plans merry Christmas

MELBOURNE - Australia reported 1,684 new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday as authorities race ahead with vaccinations in a bid to end lockdowns on the populous southeast coast in the hope of making Christmas as close to normal as possible.

More than 15 million people in Victoria state, neighboring New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory have been under stay-at-home orders as officials struggle to quell Australia's worst wave of the coronavirus infections, driven by the Delta variant.

New South Wales reported 1,485 cases of Delta and three further deaths on Sunday. Victoria had 183 new cases, while the Australian Capital Territory had 15. There was also one new infection reported in Queensland, which is not under a lockdown.

The lockdowns, which keep borders between states and territories closed, are part of a federally advised strategy to manage the outbreaks until at least 70% of those aged 16 and older get fully vaccinated.

The plan envisages that Australia might start reopening its international border, closed since March 2020, when 80% of people get their shots.

"When we get those vaccination rates, life will look better and feel better and we certainly will not have to have a state-wide lockdown ever again when we hit the 80% double dose vaccination rates," said Gladys Berejiklian, premier of New South Wales.

Only about 37% of eligible people have been vaccinated nationwide, due to the scarce supply of the Pfizer vaccine and public unease about the AstraZeneca shot. The pace has picked up considerably with the federal government racing to secure more Pfizer shots.

Based on current rates, the 70% target may be achieved in late October of early November.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison reiterated that the Delta outbreak could not be fully eliminated - a successful strategy used by states and territories in earlier waves - but that achieving the vaccination targets could open up interstate travel.

"And everyone can make plans for a family Christmas, with all our loved ones at the dinner table, cracking bon-bons and bad jokes together," Morrison told the Sunday Herald Sun.

"Nobody wants COVID to be the virus that stole Christmas, and we have a plan and the vaccinations available to ensure that's not the case."

Australia has recorded just under 62,000 COVID-19 cases and 1,040 deaths, far fewer than many other countries. 

-reuters-

Sydney suffers worst pandemic day as lockdown nears 6 weeks

SYDNEY— Sydney reported its worst day of the COVID-19 pandemic on Thursday with five deaths and a record rise in locally acquired infections as a weeks-long hard lockdown is struggling to contain the highly contagious Delta strain of the coronavirus.

Four of the five people that died were unvaccinated while one had one dose, New South Wales state health authorities said, as they implored residents to get inoculated as early as possible.

Authorities also announced a one-week lockdown from Thursday in the region surrounding the state's second-largest city of Newcastle, 140 kms north of Sydney, after six cases were reported there.

That will place an additional 615,000 people under lockdown, raising the total in New South Wales under strict stay-home restrictions to 6 million people out of 8 million in the state, or about a quarter of Australia's population.

The authorities suspect the outbreak began with a beach party near Newcastle after people traveled from Sydney, an apparent violation of the city's lockdown.

"Our strongest focus... is getting to the bottom of how the disease was transmitted and introduced into Newcastle," New South Wales Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant told reporters, as most cases were still being detected in Sydney, the state capital and Australia's largest city.

There were 259 new COVID-19 cases in Sydney, out of 262 in all of New South Wales, health authorities said, daily records for the city and the state, which reported a previous high of 239 on Sunday.

There have been more than 4,300 cases in New South Wales during the latest surge that began seven weeks ago after the first case of the Delta variant was detected in an unvaccinated, unmasked limousine driver who transported overseas airline crew.

'GET VACCINATED'

In the state of Queensland, whose capital Brisbane is under lockdown, another 16 COVID-19 cases were reported on Thursday, the same as the previous two days.

In the state of Victoria, officials are trying to trace three new cases without links to prior infections that were among eight reported on Thursday. The state reported zero cases for the first time in a month on Wednesday.

One of the three unlinked cases includes a teacher in a school in Melbourne, the state capital.

New South Wales health officials are imploring residents, especially people above 60, to get inoculated.

The five deaths in Sydney included three men in their 60s, one man in his 70s and a woman in her 80s, taking the total number of deaths in the latest outbreak in New South Wales to 21.

"Please now is the time to strongly consider getting vaccinated... I put out a plea to you - make an appointment. Get vaccinated," Chant said.

With around 35,200 COVID-19 cases and 932 deaths, Australia has avoided the high caseloads of other developed countries but its vaccination figures are among the lowest, with only 20% of its population over 16 fully vaccinated.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has tied the vaccination rate to easing lockdown restrictions on Aug. 28, setting a target of 6 million shots by the end of the month that would cover half the state's adult population. About 4 million doses have been given so far in New South Wales.

But the growing list of new venues where COVID-19-positive people have visited while infectious is tempering any optimism. About one-fifth of cases reported in New South Wales on Thursday were active in the community, in line with the trend over the last several days.

Victoria also provided an example of how active community cases are likely to cause more cases.

The state, which ended a lockdown only weeks ago, announced that the eight new cases are mostly linked to at least 3,000 close contacts. Authorities warned that would significantly rise, raising the prospect of more curbs.

"Given our understanding of the school community as well as the other exposure sites that are coming online, we would pretty quickly pass 5,000 to 10,000 primary and secondary close contacts within hours if not days," Victoria Health Minister Martin Foley said in Melbourne.

-reuters-

Australia, largely free of COVID-19, in no hurry to reopen borders - PM

MELBOURNE - Australia is no hurry to reopen its international borders and risk the country's nearly coronavirus-free lifestyle, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday.

Australia closed its borders to all non-citizens and non-residents in March 2020 and has been permitting only limited international arrivals in recent months, mainly its citizens returning from abroad.

The border closure, together with snap lockdowns, swift contact tracking and high community compliance with health measures, have made Australia one of the world's most successful countries in curbing the pandemic, limiting coronavirus cases to under 29,500 infections and 910 deaths.

"Australia is in no hurry to open those borders, I assure you," Morrison said at a televised briefing.

"I will not be putting at risk the way we are living in this country which is so different to the rest of the world today."

For months now, except for some short snap lockdowns, Australians have been able to dine out, gather nearly freely and stop wearing face masks in most places.

They exchanged their international forays for local trips, with government figures showing big annual increases in intra-state travel in the first months of 2021.

From Monday, Australians and neighboring New Zealanders will be able to travel between both countries without the need to apply for an exemption or spend time in mandatory quarantine.

New Zealand has had only 2,239 confirmed coronavirus cases and 26 related deaths. Morrison flagged on Sunday that vaccinated Australians could be able travel overseas "for essential purposes" and return via home quarantine in the second half of the year, but that possibility is only in "planning stages".

Australia recently abandoned a goal to vaccinate nearly all of its 26 million population by the end of 2021 following advice that people under the age of 50 take Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine rather than AstraZeneca's shot. 

-reuters-

Australia records second local COVID-19 case in as many days

CANBERRA - Australia recorded its second local case of COVID-19 in as many days on Sunday after a worker at two hotels used to quarantine people arriving from overseas tested positive for the coronavirus.

The infection is the first locally acquired case of COVID-19 in New South Wales in 55 days. The state's director of population health, Stephen Conaty, said the authorities are testing close contacts of the unnamed worker.

Queensland state, which on Saturday reported Australia's first local infection in two weeks, said on Sunday it has detected no cases in the past 24 hours.

Saturday's case is a doctor who tested positive after she had treated two patients with the UK variant of the virus. Unsure of the size of the outbreak, Queensland closed hospitals and aged-care facilities to visitors for three days.

Australia has reported just over 29,000 coronavirus infections and 909 COVID-19 deaths, far fewer than many other developed countries, helped by international border closures, lockdowns and strict social-distancing rules.

The federal government said on Sunday it will increase spending on rolling out the national COVID-19 vaccinations by A$1.1 billion.

-reuters-

Australia locks down second city as global cases top 12 million

MELBOURNE - Millions of people in Australia's second-biggest city went into lockdown on Thursday to battle another coronavirus outbreak, as the number of infections worldwide surged past 12 million.

Caseloads and death tolls have risen relentlessly in many of the world's biggest nations, with the virus now claiming over 550,000 lives across the planet.

In Melbourne, five million people began a new lockdown just weeks after earlier restrictions ended as Australia battles a COVID-19 resurgence, with residents bracing for the emotional and economic costs.

"The idea of not being able to see people that you love and care for is really distressing, really distressing," said tearful Melbourne resident Monica Marshall, whose 91-year-old mother recently entered a care home.

Shoppers in the state of Victoria -- of which Melbourne is the capital -- stripped shelves bare on Wednesday before the lockdown began, and the country's largest supermarket chain said it had reimposed buying limits on items including pasta, vegetables and sugar.

'VIRUS THRIVES ON DIVISION'

National and international responses to the virus are under the microscope, with US President Donald Trump's earlier criticism of the World Health Organization as a "puppet of China" coming to a head this week.

The US has begun its formal pullout from the UN body, which opened an inquiry into its handling of the pandemic on Thursday while issuing a strong message on the need for togetherness.

"The virus thrives on division but is thwarted when we unite," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The inquiry panel, led by former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark and former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, will present initial findings next year.

The global death toll from the virus reached nearly 551,000, although nearly half of the 12.1 million reported cases being classed as recovered.

In a potentially worrying discovery, scientists in Italy said there was "strong evidence" that COVID-19 positive mothers can pass the virus on to their unborn children.

"Our study is aimed at raising awareness and inviting the scientific community to consider the pregnancy in positive women as an urgent topic to further characterize and dissect," said Claudio Fenizia, from the University of Milan and lead study author.

'I'M KIND OF SCARED'

Punishing lockdowns to try to prevent the spread of the disease have led to catastrophic economic downturns.

The pandemic could push 45 million people from the middle classes into poverty in already economically troubled Latin America and the Caribbean, the United Nations warned Thursday.

The United States remains the worst-hit nation but Trump remains keen for the economy to restart despite warnings about the dangers of reopening too soon.

He has even faced off with his own government's experts, lashing out at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for issuing school reopening guidelines that he complained were too restrictive.

While a spike in coronavirus cases has forced some states to again close bars and restaurants, the measures do not seem to be affecting the steady drop in new claims for unemployment benefits -- with the number at 1.3 million last week according to US government figures.

Local officials in many parts of the US are scrambling to contain the virus and several areas have canceled plans to reopen, with tens of thousands of new cases reported each day.

The Trump administration has set off alarm bells among foreign students at American universities, saying they cannot stay in the United States if their entire courses are forced online because of the pandemic.

"I'm kind of scared... I don't have anyone to take care of me if I get ill," said an Indian graduate student in Texas, who asked not to be named.

'CHAOS OF BELGRADE'

As talk of a second wave of the virus multiplies, some of the world's most populous nations including India, Pakistan and Brazil are still reeling from their first outbreaks.

In the Middle East, hard-hit Iran reported a record single-day death toll of 221, taking its total to over 12,300. 

In Europe, where many nations have successfully suppressed their outbreaks, France continued to re-emerge from the darkest days, announcing the Eiffel Tower would reopen its top level for the first time in three months.

Gyms, swimming pools and outdooors are set to reopen in England later this month as the government further eases lockdown restrictions. 

However, countries further east that had lifted their lockdowns sooner than France have found themselves plunged back into restrictions with a resurgent virus.

Bulgaria banned sports fans from stadiums and shut bars and clubs and Serbia announced that it would reinstate a weekend curfew -- sparking two nights of violent protests. 


Police fought with outraged demonstrators in Belgrade late on Wednesday, with clouds of tear gas and smoke filling the city center, a day after thousands came out to protest against the return of the lockdown.

Critics have accused the president of inviting a second wave of infections by lifting the initial lockdown too soon.

"The government only seeks to protect its own interests," said 53-year-old Jelina Jankovic at the rally.

Sport continues to be affected. The final eight of the European Champions League in Lisbon is set to go ahead behind closed doors after UEFA confirmed Thursday that all matches in European competitions would be played without spectators "until further notice".

Agence France-Presse

Australia sees biggest daily rise in COVID-19 cases in 2 months

SYDNEY - Australia's second most populous state said on Monday it is considering reimposing social distancing restrictions after the country reported its biggest one-day rise in new coronavirus infections in more than two months.

While many states and territories have yet to report their latest numbers, Victoria said it has detected 75 cases in the past 24 hours - enough to make it Australia's biggest daily outbreak since April 11.

The growing figures have stoked fears of a second wave in Australia after several weeks of fewer than 20 new cases a day.

As cases have mounted, Victoria has embarked on a massive testing regime and the state's chief health officer said the state is considering reimposing social distancing restrictions.

"Changing the law is something we have to consider because we have to do whatever is required to turn this around," Brett Sutton told reporters in Melbourne, referring to questions about localised lockdowns.

In May, Victoria - home to more than 6 million people - began lifting restrictions imposed a month earlier to slow the spread of the virus.

It has pledged to remove the bulk of restrictions by the end of July.

The restrictions, including forcing restaurants and cafes to offer only takeaway services, shutting schools and halting sports proved successful in slowing the spread of COVID-19.

But it was a hammer blow to Australia's economy, which is heading into its first recession in three decades as the unemployment rate hits a 19-year high of 7.1 percent.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called on states to continue easing restrictions, insisting the country's economy can not remained idled.

Morrison ruled out a blanket extension of a A$60 billion ($41.1 billion) wage subsidy scheme beyond its scheduled end in September.

"It can't be sustained forever," Morrison said, adding that another phase of stimulus at the end of September would be targeted "to the people who need it most".

The Grattan Institute, an independent think tank, said in a report published on Monday the government needs to inject up to A$90 billion more in stimulus, including extending its wage subsidy program.

That stimulus was needed before the annual budget in October to bring the unemployment rate down to about 5 percent by the middle of 2022, the report said. 

-reuters-

Australia launches controversial COVID-19 tracking app

MELBOURNE - The Australian government launched a controversial coronavirus tracing app on Sunday and promised to legislate privacy protections around it as authorities try to get the country and the economy back onto more normal footing.

Australia and neighboring New Zealand have both managed to get their coronavirus outbreaks under control before it strained public health systems, but officials in both two countries continue to worry about the risk of another flareup.

"We are winning, but we have not yet won," Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt said at a televised briefing announcing the app's launch

The app, which is based on Singapore's TraceTogether software, uses Bluetooth signals to log when people have been close to one another. It has been criticized by civil liberties groups as an invasion of privacy.

The Australian government, which wants at least 40% of the population to sign up to make the effort effective, said the voluntary app, which would not track location, is safe.

The app's stored contact data will enable health officials to trace people potentially exposed to infections.

"It will help us as we seek to return to normal and the Australian way of life," Hunt said. "No one has access to that, not even yourself ... only a state public health official can be given access to that data."

A legislative directive ensuring that will be proposed to the parliament in May, the health ministry said on the app's website on Sunday.

A few countries, including South Korea and Israel, are using high-tech methods of contact tracing which involves tracking peoples' location via phone networks, though such centralized, surveillance-based approaches are viewed as invasive and unacceptable in many countries.

Trust in governments in Australia and New Zealand has risen since the start of the pandemic, opinion polls show, with leaders of both countries - ideologically opposite - hailed for their management in suppressing the coronavirus.

The rate of increase in new cases has been below 1% for two weeks now in both countries - much lower than in many other countries.

On Sunday, Australia's states of Queensland and Western Australia said they would slightly ease social distancing rules this week to allow for larger outdoor public gatherings, among others, but officials in Victoria, second most populous state, said they were not ready to relax the state's hardline restrictions.

Australia reported 16 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, which took its total to 6,703, according to health ministry data. There have been 83 deaths.

In New Zealand, there were four new confirmed cases, bringing the total to 1,121. Eighteen people have died, health ministry data showed.

On Monday, New Zealand will start to ease some of the world's strictest lockdown measures, and is also set to roll out a tracing app soon, but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has warned this is not the only panacea.

"We have been very clear on from the beginning that no tracking app provides a silver bullet," Ardern said earlier this month.

-reuters-