Category Archives: headline

headline

Jury out on Delta variant 'fleeting contact', WHO says

Health experts from the World Health Organisation say there is not yet enough evidence to confirm that the Delta COVID-19 variant can spread in only five seconds rather than 15 minutes.

The Delta variant – first detected in India – is behind clusters in Sydney, Melbourne and Queensland.

Australian health officials have flagged that the virus can spread in the amount of time it takes to breathe in.

READ MORE: NSW records 12 new cases of COVID-19, warnings of further restrictions across Sydney

Dr Mike Ryan, director of WHO's Health Emergencies Program, said it was scientifically possible that the virus mutated to become "fitter" as it overtook previous mutations.

"It can shift the infectious dose, in other words the virus may be more efficient at infecting cells and you need less virus to cause an infection," Dr Ryan told a virtual news conference from the WHO headquarters in Geneva today.

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant has said a person infected with the Delta variant at Sydney's Bondi Junction Westfield caught the disease in a "scarily fleeting" encounter, according to CCTV footage.

INTERACTIVE EXPLAINER: Is my Sydney suburb in lockdown?

But Dr Ryan cautioned that more research was needed into the Delta variant.

"How much virus do you need to be contaminated by or inhale before you reach a dose that causes you to have an infection? That's not even known for the previous strains and it's not fully understood for these newer strains – Delta strain included," Dr Ryan said.

READ MORE: Everything we know about the new Delta Plus variant

His comments follow WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus' warning yesterday that the Delta variant is "the most transmissible of the variants identified so far," and warned it is now spreading in at least 85 countries.

Tedros, an Ethiopian who goes by his first name, said the lack of vaccines in poor countries was exacerbating the Delta variant's transmission. He described a recent meeting he attended of an advisory group established to allocate vaccines.

"They were disappointed because there is no vaccine to allocate," he said, criticising rich countries for declining to immediately share shots with the developing world. "If there is no vaccine, what do you share?"

The Delta variant is behind Sydney's ballooning cluster.

NSW has recorded 29 new cases of COVID-19 with Premier Gladys Berejiklian "putting everyone on notice" that a wider Sydney lockdown could be imposed this weekend.

– With AP

headline

Pentagon releases long-awaited UFO report

The US intelligence community has released its long-awaited report on what it knows about a series of mysterious flying objects that have been seen moving through restricted military airspace over the last several decades.

In short, the answer, according to the report, is very little, but the intelligence community's release of the unclassified document marks one of the first times the US government has publicly acknowledged that these strange aerial sightings by Navy pilots and others are worthy of legitimate scrutiny.

The report examined 144 reports of what the government terms "unidentified aerial phenomenon" — only one of which investigators were able to explain by the end of the study. Investigators found no evidence that the sightings represented either extraterrestrial life or a major technological advancement by a foreign adversary like Russia or China, but acknowledge that is a possible explanation.

READ MORE: Pentagon UFO report: Why is it being released

"We were able to identify one reported UAP with high confidence. In that case, we identified the object as a large, deflating balloon. The others remain unexplained," the report says, using the Pentagon's terminology for UFOs.

"Of the 144 reports we are dealing with here, we have no clear indications that there is any non-terrestrial explanation for them — but we will go wherever the data takes us," a senior US official said.

But investigators were also convinced that the majority of the sightings were "physical objects," the official told reporters on Friday.

READ MORE: UFO sightings over restricted airspace a 'security threat', warns former US Navy pilot

"We absolutely do believe what we're seeing are not simply sensor artifacts. These are things that physically exist," the official said, noting that 80 of the reported incidents included data from multiple sensors. In 11 cases, pilots reported a "near-miss" collision with these strange objects.

Confounded by 'unusual flight characteristics'

Still, the nine-page report makes clear that more work must be done to identify these objects as "the limited amount of high-quality reporting on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) hampers our ability to draw firm conclusions about the nature or intent of UAP."

Investigators were particularly stymied by a limited number of incidents where UFOs reportedly appeared to exhibit "unusual flight characteristics," according to the report, which notes these observations "could be the result of sensor errors, spoofing, or observer misperception and require additional rigorous analysis."

"Some UAP appeared to remain stationary in winds aloft, move against the wind, maneuver abruptly, or move at considerable speed, without discernable means of propulsion. In a small number of cases, military aircraft systems processed radio frequency (RF) energy associated with UAP sightings," it says.

READ MORE: Eerie light display across Melbourne resembles UFOs – but there's a simple explanation

But despite that challenge, the report does conclude that these objects "clearly pose a safety of flight issue and may pose a challenge to US national security.

"Safety concerns primarily centre on aviators contending with an increasingly cluttered air domain. UAP would also represent a national security challenge if they are foreign adversary collection platforms or provide evidence a potential adversary has developed either a breakthrough or disruptive technology," it says.

Worryingly for national security professionals, the report also found that the sightings were "clustered" around US training and testing grounds.

But investigators downplayed those concerns, assessing that "this may result from a collection bias as a result of focused attention, greater numbers of latest-generation sensors operating in those areas, unit expectations and guidance to report anomalies."

Still, the Pentagon said in a statement after the report's release that it plans to formalise the study of UFOs.

headline

PM anounces 24 hour lockdown for St. Kitts only

A complete 24-hour lockdown from 6 pm Sunday, June 27 to 5:00 am July 1.

The people of St. Kitts will observe a 24-hour lockdown starting Sunday Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris has announced.

PM Harris announced that there will be limited movement on July 1 and 2 with the operation of essential services from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm and a return to full until lockdown July 8.

“A shelter in place order will be strictly enforced. This means every person will remain confined to his or her place of residence inclusive of their yard space to avoid contact expect their family.”

He said all are expected to where to the shelter in place order except essential workers and except for essential travel and travel for emergencies and vaccinations.

Dr Harris said the Federal Cabinet met and after a thorough evaluation of the situation determined that “there is a need for more restrictive measures to help stop the movement of people and bring to halt the current wave that threatens the fabric of all our institutions and every sector of our society.”

“We understand the social, psychological impact these may have on our citizens and residents but we believe they are necessary for the benefit of all. We will do all within our power to get everyone safely through this period and provide assistance to those in need through the wide social services arm of my government.”

Dr Harris said the National Task Force has committed to the delivery of care packages to those in need.

The state of emergency remains in place for both St. Kitts and Nevis and the existing curfew remains in place for Nevis.

 

 

The post PM anounces 24 hour lockdown for St. Kitts only appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.

headline

Address To The Nation By The Hon Prime Minister, Dr. Timothy Harris To Update On The COVID-19 Situation

June 25, 2021

Announced complete lock down in an effort to curb COVID 19 spread

My fellow citizens and residents:

 

In my address to the Nation on June 12, 2021, I outlined a number of measures intended to contain the community spread of the COVID-19 virus. I stated that these measures would be in place for 14 days until June 26, 2021. The measures taken as a whole, were intended mainly to significantly contain the spread of COVID-19.

We continually emphasized the importance of the use of the non-pharmaceutical measures of social distancing, wearing of masks and hand sanitizing to decrease the spread. We warned about complacency and inaction in this fight as the virus is relentless in its attack and we needed to be relentless in our efforts at containing it and protecting ourselves.

The reduction envisaged over the 14 day incubation period was not realized. Further, sadly over the last week we suffered the loss of 3 of our fellow citizens from this dreaded virus. Every life is precious. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the deceased.

We are very satisfied that our vaccination programme was successfully rolled out culminating in over 800 persons yesterday Thursday and today we had over 900 persons showing up for their second dose of the vaccine.

There is still over 30 percent of the adult population who have not yet received a single dose. The virus will continue to target the vulnerable and unprotected persons in our community and it will find a way to spread itself. Until we contain this wave of infection and all who should be vaccinated are vaccinated and protected we will remain vulnerable to this virus.

Against this backdrop, I wish to inform you that today the Federal Cabinet met and after a thorough evaluation of the situation, determined that there is a need for more restrictive measures to help stop the movement of people and bring to a halt the current wave that has threatened the fabric of all of our institutions and every sector of our society.

We understand the social, psychological and economic impact these may have on our citizens and residents but we believe it is necessary for the benefit of all.

We will do all within our power to get everyone safely through this period and provide assistance to those in need, through the social services arm of Government. Our National Task Force will organize the delivery of care packages to those in need.

Under these new restrictive measures, the State of Emergency remains in place for both St. Kitts and Nevis and the existing curfew for both islands will continue. But there will be for the island of St. Kitts:

  1. Complete 24 hour lock down from 6:00 p.m Sunday, June 27th to 5:00 a.m.. Thursday, July 01st. On Thursday 1st July and Friday, July 02nd, there will be limited movement for limited operation of essential businesses from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and a return to full 24 hour lockdown from 6:00 p.m. Friday, July 03rd to Thursday, July 08th. We will again have limited movement for essentials on Thursday, July 08th and Friday, July 09th from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on both days and return to 24 hour lockdown on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th July.
  2. A Shelter in Place Order will be strictly enforced. This means that every person shall remain confined to their place of residence, inclusive of their yard space, to avoid contact outside their family, except:
    1. essential workers, who are required to report to work;
    2. workers required to work in hospitals and medical facilities, licensed providers of security guard services, and such other businesses as may be specifically exempted;
    3. for essential travel for medical emergencies; and
    4. for essential travel to a vaccination site with vaccination card and one photo id for production to law enforcement on demand between 8.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. from Monday, June 28th to Wednesday, June 30th.
  3. All places of business including doctors offices will be closed during the strict lockdown hours. On days of limited operation, only essential businesses will be allowed to operate and these businesses are limited to supermarkets, pharmacies and medical facilities, and other businesses authorized by the Commissioner of Police.
  4. While religious and educational institutions are closed, this is a special time for our students as they sit their external exams and therefore a special dispensation is granted to allow students and their parents or guardians to travel to an examination center.
  5. A limited number of Government workers will be needed to ensure the continued functioning of the State. Permanent Secretaries, Directors and other Heads will determine who will be required to attend work.
  6. Clearly, there shall be no mass gatherings, and no parties and other social events.
  7. The beaches in St. Kitts will be closed. We ask that you confine your exercise programme to your home and yard space.
  8. Liquor licenses are suspended. Absolutely NO rum shops, bars nor nightspots will be allowed to operate.
  9. We make a special exception for farmers and fishers to tend their flock, and to go fishing to keep our food supply going during days of limited operation.

There will be a special carve out for the island of Nevis which will basically remain the same as obtains presently but this will be detailed in the new SR&O.

On Monday, we will convene an emergency sitting of the Parliament. We believe that this is necessary in our fight against the COVID pandemic because of the current spread of the virus here in our Country. We believe that this difficult state of affairs in our beloved Federation, requires that we extend the state of emergency, like ten other countries in the region have done, to allow us to use the emergency powers to assist our Health Team and Security Personnel in the fight against this deadly virus.

My citizens and residents in this fight the action of every single individual affects us all. We are in this together. None of us is safe until all of us are safe.

I urge you to do the right thing and protect yourself over the next 14 days to prevent the continued spread of the virus. I urge you to use the opportunity to get vaccinated so you can protect yourself, your family, and community. Vaccination is our most powerful tool to defeat the virus. The success of our vaccination roll-out so far calls for optimism.

There is light at the end of the tunnel, and I am confident that our people will do the right thing over these coming two weeks, that will allow us to emerge safer and stronger. Let us be united in the fight for our lives and our Country. To better protect ourselves, let us get vaccinated and adhere to the COVID-19 protocols. Let us adopt the appropriate behavior needed to fight this deadly virus.

May God continue to protect us.

I Thank You.

The post Address To The Nation By The Hon Prime Minister, Dr. Timothy Harris To Update On The COVID-19 Situation appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.