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Sydney apartment block under police guard

Two residents infected with COVID-19 at an apartment building in Sydney's east have been taken to health accommodation.

Nine people in the Bondi apartment block have now tested positive to COVID-19.

Health authorities dressed in full PPE arrived at the apartment this evening to move the two residents out of the building.

READ MORE: Sydney records 89 new cases with more than 20 not in isolation

The Bondi Junction apartment block which has multiple cases.A Bondi apartment block has been put into hard lockdown.

NSW officials confirmed one additional case this morning, as police continued to guard the Bondi apartment block.

The building is taped off, with nobody allowed in or out after multiple cases were diagnosed in the 29 apartments.

Police officers are patrolling outside.

A health alert from NSW Health issued late this afternoon listed seven locations in Bondi Junction now considered coronavirus exposire sites.

They include a Woolworths, Kmart, BWS – all in the Bondi Westfield.

https://twitter.com/NSWHealth/status/1414791226767798274

NSW Health this week brought in rules making masks mandatory in common areas of apartment buildings in the city.

Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant yesterday confirmed the cases are spread across five households.

"I think the key message to us is when you're in apartment buildings, we're not wanting you to congregate in any shared spaces with instituted mask-wearing requirements for those premises," she said.

"We understand and respect that they are private premises but we are really requiring under a public health order that you wear masks when you're transiting through common areas.

"We are asking people to be attentive about hand hygiene, mask wearing and obviously to not go out or be cautious if they – get tested immediately if they have got any symptoms."

READ MORE: NSW COVID-19 case numbers, exposures sites and latest restrictions

https://twitter.com/vella_lara/status/1414713346822000641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

NSW Health authorities have been visiting the building, with private security guards also seen ensuring residents don't break the rules.

It is understood those infected have been moved out to different accommodation.

Police have taped off the Bondi building.

"This is a reminder of the risk that COVID poses and why we were requiring masks in indoor common property areas of residential premises and also discourage social gatherings or any gatherings across household groups in those apartment buildings as well," Dr Chant said.

Authorities have said they do know the source of the COVID-19 infections.

There are at least eight cases in the Bondi building.

The building is in Bondi, where the city's latest outbreak originally began after being sparked by an unvaccinated airport freight crew driver.

There have been now 767 cases since June 16, with more than 60 people in hospital and 18 in intensive care.

Two people, one in their 90s and one in their 70s, have died after testing positive.

headline

Haiti is ‘Tinderbox’ Foreign Policy Challenge for Biden

By Morgan Chalfant and Laura Kelly
The Hill

The Biden administration is confronting a new and complicated foreign policy crisis as political turmoil grips Haiti following the assassination of its president. 

The assassination remains shrouded in mystery, and it’s unclear who carried out or financed the killing.

Regional experts are raising alarm that the president’s murder, while extraordinary, is only one part of Haiti’s ongoing hardships that threaten a broader humanitarian crisis and possible flood of refugees into neighboring countries, including the United States.

Haiti is also contending with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Atlantic hurricane season and a plague of gang violence, all of which have been made worse by the country’s dysfunctional political system.

“It is a tinderbox really ready to explode,” said Jenna Ben-Yehuda, president and CEO of the Truman National Security Project.

Haitian authorities announced the arrest late Sunday night of Florida-based Haitian doctor Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 63, who they have determined is a chief suspect.

More than a dozen Colombian nationals with military experience and two Haitian Americans were arrested in connection with the fatal shooting attack on Haitian President Jovenel Moïse that occurred in his home outside Port-au-Prince in the early hours of July 7. 

The Haitian government has requested U.S. military support to secure the country’s critical infrastructure as well as security assistance from the United Nations (U.N.). A U.S. delegation comprised of officials from various departments met with Haitian authorities and the country’s political leaders on Sunday to assess how the United States can assist.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Monday that the request for U.S. troops is still under review by the Biden administration and has not yet been ruled out.

“This is just the beginning of our conversations,” Psaki said. “We will remain in close touch with law enforcement, with individuals in Haiti, with a range of leaders in Haiti about how we can assist and provide assistance moving forward.” 

The White House has also urged the political leaders in Haiti to work together to find a path forward for a united leadership at a time when two prime ministers are claiming power. 

“The people of Haiti deserve peace and security, and Haiti’s political leaders need to come together for the good of their country,” President Biden told reporters during an unrelated meeting on addressing U.S. gun violence, adding that he would have more to say about the situation later in the week. 

Speed is critical for the Biden administration, said Luis Moreno, a veteran senior State Department official and former ambassador who served as deputy chief of mission to the U.S. Embassy in Haiti between 2001 and 2004. 

“They’re in total chaos now, and it has the potential to go from total chaos to complete anarchy. And that’s what you’re up against,” he said. 

Haiti’s acting prime minister, Claude Joseph, declared a “state of siege” for 15 days beginning last week that resulted in its borders being closed and the imposition of martial law.

If the security situation worsens in a way that overwhelms the Haitian National Police, pressure will rise on other nations to provide security assistance. If the U.S. does not send personnel on its own, it’s possible that a multinational force could be sent by the U.N. for a period of time.

The Biden administration has made clear its main line of communication is with Joseph amid confusion and controversy over the presidential line of succession. The country’s parliament has essentially been defunct for years over election delays and corruption, and Haiti’s constitution has competing versions written in Creole and French. 

Days before his assassination, Moïse announced that neurosurgeon and former interior minister Ariel Henry would replace Joseph. 

While Henry has said in remarks to the press that he views himself as the prime minister, regional watchers say he has made no moves to oust Joseph from his position of power, a nod to the Biden administration’s influence. 

“It seems like he [Henry] was unwilling to pick a divisive and potentially dangerous fight over this anyway,” said Brian Concannon, a human rights lawyer and founder and board member of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti. “The fact that the U.S. is coming out against him is probably going to be decisive for him.”

Over the weekend, U.S. officials from the departments of Justice, State and Homeland Security and the National Security Council met with both Joseph and Henry jointly as well as with Joseph Lambert, president of what remains of Haiti’s Senate, who was nominated by a group of senators last week for president. 

“What was clear from their trip is that there is a lack of clarity about the future of political leadership,” Psaki said Monday. “That’s an important step that the people of Haiti, the different governing leaders of Haiti need to work together to determine a united path forward.” 

Wazim Mowla, assistant director for the Caribbean Initiative at the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center with the Atlantic Council, said that Haiti presents an opportunity for Biden to put into practice his policy push to embrace multilateralism in addressing global crises, bringing in regional stakeholders such as CARICOM, the organization of heads of government of the Caribbean Community, and the Organization of American States.

“It is an opportunity for the Biden administration to exert some sort of leadership but in a way that’s been different in the past,” Mowla said.

“It’s no secret that the international community and even the U.S. have both been passive at times when it comes to Haiti but also disorganized. This struggle for political leadership we’re seeing in Haiti right now does present a challenge for coordination between the U.S., regional and international organizations, allies in the hemisphere, and then most importantly Haitian people and Haitian stakeholders.”

The crisis in Haiti also comes at a time when Biden is trying to keep focused on his domestic agenda. He’s scheduled to deliver a speech on voting rights in Philadelphia on Tuesday while his administration tries to usher a bipartisan infrastructure package through a narrowly divided Congress and increase the uptake of coronavirus vaccinations in the U.S.

It’s also not the only foreign policy challenge Biden faces. In the same breath that he addressed the Haiti crisis on Monday, Biden offered support for the people of Cuba as protests swelled against the government of the island nation over the weekend. 

The international community has sent billions in aid to Haiti over the last decade, but the funds have done little to resolve the violence, poverty and political turmoil plaguing the country. 

“There is a real reluctance to engage, although there could be a prevailing humanitarian need to do so,” said Ben-Yehuda.

The post Haiti is ‘Tinderbox’ Foreign Policy Challenge for Biden appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.

headline

Extra financial support announced for businesses hit by lockdowns

Workers and businesses impacted by the extended lockdown in NSW are set to receive extra financial support from next week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced.

Mr Morrison has announced an increase in the COVID-19 Disaster Payment if a lockdown goes into a fourth week and a new business support package.

Currently, the disaster payment rates are $325 if you have lost less than 20 hours of work a week, and $500 if you have lost more than 20 hours a week.

READ MORE: 'Australia now stands as a warning': UK paper slams vaccine rollout

Under the changes, if a lockdown enters a fourth week, the payments will increase to $375 if a person has lost between eight and 20 hours of work a week, and $600 if a person has lost 20 hours or more a week.

The payment will also be available outside of Commonwealth-declared hotspot areas.

The NSW Government will fund any payments outside a Commonwealth-declared hotspot, with the Federal Government continuing to fund payments to recipients in a hotspot.

The PM said it's in the "national interest" to have a coordinated monetary response to COVID lockdowns.

Shoppers walk on George Street in Liverpool, Sydney.

READ MORE: Warning for Sydneysiders not to 'congregate' outside takeaway cafes

"The NSW outbreak has proved to be more severe, more dangerous, and it's in the national interest that we now put in place an upgraded set of arrangements for cooperation with the states and territories," Mr Morrison said.

"It needs to be targeted. It needs to be timely. It needs to be proportionate, scalable, and the administration of those supports need to be done in a way so it can get to people as simply and as quickly as is possible."

Mr Morrison said the support will be offered to any other state or territory that experiences an extended lockdown.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the support package has been designed to help ease stress on families who are currently under stay-at-home orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"No matter where you live, if you are suffering at home because of the stay-at-home provisions you are able to make sure that you and your loved ones don't go through that stress no matter how long the lockdown lasts," Ms Berejiklian said.

Although no official announcement has been made, the NSW lockdown is likely to be extended for a fourth week after the state recorded 89 cases today.

"I've already made clear the unlikelihood of the lockdown finishing on Friday and the numbers speak for themselves, and we'll have more to say about that tomorrow," Ms Berejiklian said.

"I wouldn't read too much into the length of the lockdown because none of us know that.

"What we do know is that we have the financial support there so that individuals and families and businesses don't have to stress and they know that for the duration of the lockdown, the support will be there."

Extra support for businesses

The Commonwealth will fund 50 per cent of the cost of a new small and medium business support payment to be implemented and administered by Service NSW.

Eligible entities will receive 40 per cent of their NSW payroll payments, at a minimum of $1500 and a maximum of $10,000 per week.

Entities will be eligible if their turnover is 30 per cent lower than an equivalent two-week period in 2019.

The new small to medium business support payment will be available to non-employing and employing entities in NSW, including not for profits, with an annual turnover between $75,000 and $50 million.

Crucially, to receive the payment, businesses will be required to maintain their full-time, part-time and long-term casual staffing level as of July 13.

Mr Morrison has said a program with the size and scale of JobKeeper is "not necessary" for the current lockdown occurring within NSW.

"You can keep working in that business under those arrangements and you can pick up the $600 payment from the Commonwealth," Mr Morrison said.

"That will help you to continue to go through what is a difficult time."

Help for tenants

Nobody in NSW who is a rental tenant can be evicted for the next 60 days because of the COVID-19 lockdown.

NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said all residential tenants who have had a reduction in income cannot be evicted from a rental property.

There are also land tax rebates on offer for landlords who provide rent relief to struggling tenants.

Support for mental health services announced

The Federal Government is committing $12.25 million to help boost mental health services for residents currently enduring extended lockdowns.

Mr Morrison said money will be flowing to services such as Lifeline, Kids Helpline, Head Space, Beyond Blue and the Butterfly Foundation.

"I particularly want to send a message to the students doing their HSC which I'm sure the treasurer and premier will join me in sending, we know this is a tough time for you," Mr Morrison said.

"HSC students in 2020 were going through a very process, particularly down there in Victoria. And you will get through this."