Tag Archives: oceania

headline

More Australian police join Solomon Islands peacekeeping mission

NSW Police officers are being deployed to the Solomon Islands to support Australian peacekeepers after a request from the Federal Government.

The contingent of 15 officers is expected to leave for the violence-torn capital Honiara this week.

"The operation … will provide assistance to the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force to support order and stability and provide humanitarian assistance to people in need," NSW Police Minister David Elliott said today.

READ MORE: Australian government to introduce social media legislation to unmask online trolls

Mr Elliott said the officers will be deployed with all their standard police equipment, including firearms.

It is expected they will be sworn into the Australian Federal Police in the coming days before they leave for Honiara.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said today the Federal Government was continuing to monitor events in the Solomon Islands.

"We continue to have ongoing operations in the Solomon Islands of which we are taking regular briefings," he said.

READ MORE: Omicron variant: How Australia's states and territories are responding

An Australian Army soldier talks with local citizens in Honiara, Solomon Islands

The deployment of NSW Police comes after Solomon Islands authorities investigate three charred bodies found in a burned-out building in the Chinatown district of the city.

Police are investigating the cause of their death and their identities, and do not have further information to disclose at this point, Solomon Islands police media officer Desmond Rave said on Saturday.

Authorities imposed a curfew in the capital Honiara, after a 36-hour lockdown ordered by the embattled Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare ended on Friday.

Security forces have been unable to halt unrest in Honiara that began on Wednesday with protesters demanding the resignation of Mr Sogavare and the looting and burning of shops and businesses.

READ MORE: Travellers from southern Africa test positive for COVID-19 in Sydney

Many of the protesters come from the most populous province of Malaita, where there is resentment toward the government and opposition to its 2019 decision to end diplomatic ties with Taiwan and establish formal links with China, according to Reuters.

Demonstrators are also calling for the government to limit ties with China, respect the rights of self-determination of the Malaita people, and to resume development projects in Malaita province.

More than 100 people have been arrested as of Saturday, according to police, who appealed to rioters to stop looting and burning buildings and warned of further arrests if the unrest does not stop.

To bolster local police, troops from the Australian Defence Force (ADF) arrived in Honiara on Friday, Australia's High Commissioner to the Islands confirmed.

READ MORE: Victoria records 1061 new COVID-19 cases, four deaths

Australian Army soldiers talk with local citizens in Honiara, Solomon Islands

The Department of Defence said it had also deployed the Royal Australian Navy patrol boat HMAS Armidale to the Islands to support local forces in maritime security.

Papua New Guinea also deployed a security team to the Solomon Islands on Friday following a request from the Pacific island nation, PNG Prime Minister James Marape said in a statement.

headline

'Likely to be very transmissable': Victorian CHO's concerns about Omicron

Victoria's Chief Health Officer has expressed concerns about the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 as health authorities reach out to anyone who has come from countries where it is present.

Brett Sutton said there are worries that Omicron is likely an especially transmissible strain of the virus that is potentially resistant to vaccines, due to the rate at which it has spread across South Africa.

"It is likely to be a very transmissible variant," he said.

READ MORE: Explainer: What we know about Omicron, the new COVID-19 variant in South Africa

There are several new measures which will take effect at midnight tonight.

However, Professor Sutton said the "big question" was whether immunity provided by COVID-19 vaccines would be sufficient to reduce the infection rate of Omicron.

"It will probably take some weeks to find that out," he said.

"What we do know about omicron is not enough."

He said finding out about the dangers of Omicron would be a matter of watching and waiting for some weeks.

The variant is known to be in nine countries, but Professor Sutton it was "very likely to be in dozen of countries already", particularly across Europe.

READ MORE: Urgent testing after travellers from southern Africa test positive for COVID-19 in Sydney

Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton.

Health Minister Martin Foley said it was "all about buying some time to understand what the implications are", referring to the new border international restrictions brought in yesterday.

He said health authorities had been in contact with 40 Victorians who had arrived in Australia in the "last little while" from countries where Omicron is present.

He said some were in quarantine in the Northern Territory's Howard Springs facility.

Professor Sutton reassured Australians that being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 would very likely provide some degree of protection against the Omicron variant, despite the unknown factors.

"We are not back at square one by any means," he said

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt earlier confirmed that no cases of Omicron had been detected in Australia yet.

headline

New COVID-19 variants 'inevitable', says NSW Premier

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has today warned it is "inevitable" new variants will enter Australia after two overseas arrivals from southern Africa tested COVID-19 positive.

Mr Perrottet said state health authorities have begun genomic testing to determine if they are carrying the new Omicron B.1.1.529 variant. He said the results were expected by this evening.

The premier declared that the NSW Government was taking a "precautionary approach" to the new variant after it introduced new restrictions for overseas arrivals.

READ MORE: Explainer: What we know about Omicron

"The clear point today is that this clearly demonstrates the pandemic is not over," Mr Perrottet said.

"We need to learn to live alongside the virus and to live alongside the various strains of the virus that will come our way, and the best thing we can do is get vaccinated and get booster shots."

"There are limits to what the state and federal government can do: these variants will get into the country, it is inevitable," Mr Perrottet said.

Mr Perrottet said the emergence of the new variant showed the importance of vaccinations and booster shots.

"What comes through this most recent strain, (is) there will be this strain and other strains that emerge.

"The pandemic's not over. Get vaccinated if you haven't, and take that booster shot."

He also said the December 15 date for the further reopening of NSW remained.

READ MORE: Omicron variant: How states and territories are responding

Middle East flight triggered alert

A Qatar Airways flight from Doha, which arrived at Sydney Airport about 7pm last night, was carrying 14 passengers from the nine southern African countries affected by the new COVID-19 strain.

Earlier today, NSW Health confirmed that testing on arrival at the airport found two of the passengers have coronavirus.

The passengers with COVID-19 were taken to a special health facility where they will begin 14 days of quarantine.

"Other passengers on the flight may be considered a close contact and will be contacted and requested to get tested immediately, and isolate for 14 days in accordance with a public health order," the statement from NSW Health said.

Last October, thirteen Australian women were forced to undergo invasive and humiliating internal examinations as they transited through the Doha international airport in Qatar.

"In line with Commonwealth measures, all travellers arriving in NSW who have been in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini, Malawi, and the Seychelles during the 14 day period before their arrival in NSW must enter hotel quarantine for 14 days, irrespective of their vaccination status.

"All travellers who have been in any other overseas country during the 14 day period before their arrival in NSW must travel directly to their place of residence or accommodation and isolate for 72 hours, pending further health advice."

Anyone who has already arrived in NSW who has been in any of the nine African countries within the previous 14 days must immediately get tested and isolate for 14 days.