Tag Archives: oceania

headline

Second doses of Pfizer could be delayed in NSW

NSW will not get extra supply of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines to curb its outbreak, but National Cabinet has discussed delaying second doses so more people can get their first jab.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the meeting discussed a six-week gap between the first and second shot of Pfizer, which Mr Morrison said was within health guidelines.

Mr Morrison also noted the gap between the first and second dose of AstraZeneca was being reduced to encourage more people to become fully vaccinated.

READ MORE: 'Sydney is on fire with this virus'

Prime Minister Scott Morrison

"That is especially important for all of the population, but in particular those who are elderly are most at risk during a COVID outbreak," Mr Morrison said.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said this morning the evolving situation could be regarded as a "national emergency".

She called for Sydney to receive more vaccine doses amid its spiralling outbreak, prompting push-back from other state leaders.

Mr Morrison said NSW had already received another 150,000 doses in the past week after a meeting of National Cabinet leaders.

"More doses will be provided New South Wales as they are available," he said.

"We will work with them on that."

New South Wales reported new 136 local COVID-19 cases today, 53 of which were infectious in the community, as Greater Sydney remains under stay-at-home orders.

READ MORE: South Australia records one new case of COVID-19 on third day of lockdown

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian speaks during a COVID-19 update press conference in Sydney.

The lockdown in Sydney is working, Mr Morrison said.

He said the restrictions had prevented coronavirus infections growing exponentially, as it has in other countries.

"In Victoria, when they went through the lockdown, they saw cases rise and rise and rise for many, many weeks while they were in lockdown," Mr Morrison said.

"I would reassure people that what you are doing now is saving lives, it is working to bring this under control."

South Australian Premier Steven Marshall said he felt apprehensive about handing over any of his state's vaccines to NSW.

"I'm not wanting to send any of our vaccination doses anywhere else, we're in the middle of a major emergency declaration and a lockdown in South Australia," Mr Marshall said.

READ MORE: Mayor says vaccine focus 'much too late' for hotspot suburbs

Mr Morrison also rebuffed Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews' call for a "ring of steel" around Sydney.

"The only view that matters on this is the view of the New South Wales Premier, because they are responsible for how they manage the lockdown in New South Wales," he said.

"There is nothing light about the lockdown in Sydney, I can assure you. My family are in it.

"I'm quite certain that people living in Greater Sydney do not feel they are under loose restrictions."

headline

Flight attendant tests positive to COVID-19 after crewing six flights

Queensland authorities are releasing new contact tracing alerts this afternoon after a flight attendant tested positive to COVID-19.

Acting Premier Steven Miles this morning confirmed the Queensland woman may have been infectious since July 11 and crewed six flights travelling between Brisbane, Gladstone, Longreach and Hervey Bay.

"It is absolutely vital we get everyone on those flights tested," Mr Miles said.

LIVE UPDATES: All the latest breaking news on coronavirus in Australia and the world

The worker has the delta variant of the virus, which Queensland Health has linked to the Sydney outbreak.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Jeanette Young said the woman is in her 30s and lives in Banyo, in Brisbane's north.

She had symptoms from July 13 but didn't get tested until yesterday, Dr Young said.

Exposure venues

Close contacts

  • Koi Broadbeach on Wednesday July 14 from 1.50pm to 2.50pm

Casual contacts

  • Gladstone Mercure Hotel overnight on July 11
  • Brisbane – Longreach QF2534 on July 11
  • Longreach – Brisbane QF2535 on July 11
  • Brisbane – Gladstone QF2346 on July 11
  • Gladstone – Brisbane QF2331 on July 12
  • Brisbane – Hervey Bay QF2374 on July 12
  • Hervey Bay – Brisbane QF2375 on July 12
  • Woolworths Banyo on Friday July 16 from 4.27pm to 5pm
  • BWS Banyo (attached to Woolworths) on Friday July 16 from 5.02pm to 5.12pm
  • Cairns domestic airport luggage collection area on Friday July 16 from 7.30pm to 8pm
  • Sundowner Hotel, Caboolture on Sunday July 18 from 2.51pm to 3.01pm
  • Chemist Warehouse, Virginia on Tuesday July 20 from 1.09pm to 1.20pm

Low risk contacts

  • Dreamworld on Friday July 16 from 10.30am to 2pm
  • Sandstone Point Hotel on Sunday July 18 from 1.10pm to 1.50pm

An additional test centre will open later today at the Longreach Showground.

Long delays at border

The news comes as Queensland Police are seeing massive queues forming on day one of tough new restrictions at the NSW border.

Acting Chief Superintendent Rhys Wildman said it was important people had the correct information on their border passes, planned ahead and were patient as officers protected the border from another coronavirus outbreak.

"We always expect, within the first two or three days, there is real challenges around traffic delays on all of the checkpoints," Acting Chief Superintendent Wildman told Today.

READ MORE: Delays and diversions on Queensland/NSW border tonight

https://twitter.com/R_DAlessandro9/status/1418343061919129605?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

"It should ease up after that. Peak times are also a bit challenging on the roads as well. If you have to travel during those times, add a little bit of extra time."

The borders between the two states were closed at 1am today and Queensland authorities have declared NSW a hotspot for at least the next four weeks.

Any Queenslanders who return home from NSW will be required to undergo hotel quarantine.

headline

UNESCO chides Australia over Great Barrier Reef proposal

The Chinese host of this year's meeting of the UN World Heritage Committee has defended the body's proposal to label the Great Barrier Reef as "in danger".

The committee, which is meeting both virtually and in the Chinese city of Fuzhou for the next two weeks, will consider the draft decision later today.

"Australia, as a member state of the World Heritage Committee, should … attach importance to the opinions of the advisory bodies and earnestly fulfill the duty of World Heritage protection instead of making groundless accusations against other states," said Tian Xuejun, the Chinese vice minister of education and the president of this year's session, on Sunday.

READ MORE: Passengers trapped inside submerged subway in China floods

UNESCO chides Australia over Great Barrier Reef proposal

The UNESCO committee will consider adding new sites to the World Heritage list, taking some off and adding others to the in-danger category.

A draft decision to put Venice on the in-danger list prompted the Italian government to ban cruise ships from the lagoon city in a bid to avoid the designation.

Tian Xuejun, speaking at the first news conference since the meetings opened last Friday, said the Great Barrier Reef proposal was based on data from Australia and recommendations from an advisory body.

Australian Environment Minister Susan Ley, who is in Europe lobbying UNESCO delegates against supporting the in-danger listing, did not immediately comment on the Chinese criticism.

She had held "constructive and cordial discussions" with China's Ambassador to UNESCO Yang Jin, the minister's office said in a statement on Monday.

"The government looks forward to working with China and all members of the World Heritage Committee in discussions on the draft listing later this week," the statement said.

Her office also released a report by the government-funded Australian Institute of Marine Science that indicated widespread recovery of the reef's coral.

Monitoring by the institute found coral cover had increased during the respite from severe weather over the last year.

"The release of the full report underlines our view that the World Heritage Committee proposed listing had not been based on the latest information," Ms Ley said.

READ MORE: China 'taken aback' by WHO call for further COVID-19 origins study

UNESCO chides Australia over Great Barrier Reef proposal

Australia reacted angrily when the draft was released last month.

"This decision was flawed. Clearly there were politics behind it," Ms Ley said, without mentioning China by name.

Relations between the two nations have soured in recent years, with Australia blocking Chinese technology and investment in key infrastructure, and China using tariffs and other measures to reduce its imports from Australia.

Australia was warned in 2014 that an in-danger listing was being considered for the Great Barrier Reef, which was designated a world heritage site in 1981.

The draft decision said that Australia's long-term plan for the reef, a network of 2500 reefs covering 348,000 square kilometres, "requires stronger and clearer commitments, in particular towards urgently countering the effects of climate change."

READ MORE: NSW Premier calls for vaccine rollout refocus to get more jabs into Sydney arms

UNESCO chides Australia over Great Barrier Reef proposal

"We acknowledge very much the work which has been done in Australia, but our text in the draft decision … is a proposal for putting the site on the list of world heritage in danger because of the threats which were identified," said Mechtild Roessler, the director of the UNESCO World Heritage Center.

Ernesto Ottone Ramírez, the assistant director-general for culture at UNESCO, said that an in-danger listing should be viewed as a collective call for action from all the member states.

"It's something that should be seen as something positive and not, as what we heard from some of the authorities in other countries, as a punishment," he said, joining the news conference from Paris.

"It's how we preserve our heritage for future generations."