Australia yesterday recorded 43 COVID-19-related deaths, as it readies to welcome international tourists tomorrow for the first time in nearly two years.
The country, which shut its borders in March 2020, has been gradually reopening since November last year, allowing first Australians to travel, then international students and workers, and now leisure travelers.
Once a champion of a “zero COVID-19” strategy, the country has moved to live with the virus in the community, as high COVID-19 vaccination rates have resulted in less severe cases and fewer hospitalizations.
Even Western Australia, a mining-heavy state that has kept strict borders controls for almost 700 days, has said that it can cope with an outbreak of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 and would reopen to triple-vaccinated visitors.
The state yesterday recorded 257 new community infections, its highest yet, but no deaths.
Australia’s deaths were reported mainly in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland — states that continue to see several thousand daily cases or more.
Victoria, Australia’s second-most populous state, is tomorrow to open a new quarantine hub for unvaccinated international residents.
“The Omicron variant has shown us we must continue to be flexible in our pandemic response — and the purpose-built [hub] will be vital to how we manage pandemics today and into the future,” said Victoria Minister for Police Lisa Neville, who is responsible for supervising quarantines.
Fully vaccinated Australians and foreigners are not required to quarantine in managed facilities.
New Zealand — which keeps its borders nearly fully shut — recorded 1,901 local cases, one of its highest daily tallies.
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
‘DOWNSIZE’: The Trump administration has initiated sweeping cuts to US government-funded media outlets in a move critics said could undermine the US’ global influence US President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday began making deep cuts to Voice of America (VOA) and other government-run, pro-democracy programming, with the organization’s director saying all VOA employees have been put on leave. On Friday night, shortly after the US Congress passed its latest funding bill, Trump directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law. That included the US Agency for Global Media, which houses Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia and Radio Marti, which beams Spanish-language news into Cuba. On Saturday morning, Kari Lake, a former Arizona gubernatorial and US
Indonesia’s parliament yesterday amended a law to allow members of the military to hold more government roles, despite criticisms that it would expand the armed forces’ role in civilian affairs. The revision to the armed forces law, pushed mainly by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s coalition, was aimed at expanding the military’s role beyond defense in a country long influenced by its armed forces. The amendment has sparked fears of a return to the era of former Indonesian president Suharto, who ex-general Prabowo once served and who used military figures to crack down on dissent. “Now it’s the time for us to ask the
RSS