Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, yesterday reinstated COVID-19 restrictions as authorities scrambled to find the missing link in a fresh outbreak, prompting New Zealand to pause a “travel bubble” with the state of Victoria.
Amid worries that the cluster, which has grown to nine cases in two days, could spark a major outbreak, Victoria imposed social restrictions and made masks mandatory in hotels, restaurants and other indoor venues from 6pm yesterday until Friday next week.
The latest outbreak ends Victoria’s run of zero cases for nearly three months and saw New Zealand suspend quarantine-free travel with the state for three days and the neighboring state of South Australia impose travel restrictions.
Photo: AFP
Australia has avoided the high COVID-19 numbers seen in many developed countries by closing its international borders in the early stages of the pandemic and with lockdowns. It has reported just more than 30,000 cases and 910 deaths.
Thousands of people in Melbourne have been ordered to self isolate and undergo COVID-19 tests with health alerts issued for several sites, including one of the largest shopping centers in the country.
One of the cases had a high viral load while he visited some venues, prompting authorities to warn Melbourne’s 5 million residents to brace for more positive cases in the next few days.
Authorities urged Victorians to get vaccinated.
“There are right now millions of Victorians that are eligible to be vaccinated. They shouldn’t wait for tomorrow, they shouldn’t wait for next week. They should move now and get vaccinated,” Acting Victoria Premier James Merlino told reporters in Melbourne.
Five new locally acquired cases were reported in Victoria yesterday, a day after four infections were recorded in Melbourne.
All cases belong to one extended family across different households and could be traced back to the variant found in an overseas traveler who returned to Melbourne early this month after completing quarantine in Adelaide.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued a sea alert for Typhoon Fung-wong (鳳凰) as it threatened vessels operating in waters off the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), the Bashi Channel and south of the Taiwan Strait. A land alert is expected to be announced some time between late last night and early this morning, the CWA said. As of press time last night, Taoyuan, as well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties had declared today a typhoon day, canceling work and classes. Except for a few select districts in Taipei and New Taipei City, all other areas and city
VIOLATION OF NORMS: China’s CCTV broadcast claimed that Beijing could use Interpol to issue arrest warrants, which the MAC slammed as an affront to order The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for attempts to intimidate Taiwanese through “transnational repression.” The council issued the remarks after state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) yesterday during a news broadcast aired a video targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋), threatening him with “cross-border repression” and saying: “Stop now, or you will be next,” in what Taipei officials said was an attempt to intimidate not only Shen, but also the broader Taiwanese public. The MAC in a statement condemned the threat, accusing Beijing of trying to instill fear and self-censorship among Taiwanese and
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