Tag Archives: oceania

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Scott Morrison confirms NSW lockdown recovery payments

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed disaster recovery payments will now be available to anyone in NSW affected by the coronavirus lockdown.

"It's difficult news today for my fellow Sydneysiders as we learn we will go into lockdown tonight from 6pm across the greater metropolitan area – from up in the Central Coast, out in the Blue Mountains and down into Wollongong," Mr Morrison said.

"To support Sydneysiders going through this time, from the first of July the Commonwealth disaster recovery payments for the pandemic will kick in and you'll be able to access those by contacting Services Australia.

READ MORE: Lockdown extends beyond Sydney

"The same payments of up to $500 per week were also available during the recent Melbourne lockdown.

"This pandemic is sadly still raging all around the world and from time to time it will have its impact here in Australia."

Mr Morrison said the lockdown was a necessary decision taken by the NSW Government to stay on top of this latest outbreak.

He commended the state for their contact tracing efforts and Australia's handling of the coronavirus pandemic since it began.

READ MORE: What NSW lockdown announcement means for disaster payments

"Australia has been able to save lives and livelihoods and suppress this virus more successfully than almost any other country in the world," he said.

"But that doesn't mean there is any absolute guarantee against this insidious virus.

"This is truly a global pandemic and it will continue to seek to have its impact wherever and whenever it wants – so as Australians we have to endure these outcomes."

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Q&A: Greater Sydney lockdown

All of Greater Sydney, including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong will be plunged into a two week lockdown from 6pm today in a bid to stamp out the state's escalating coronavirus outbreak.

The two-week lockdown with stay-at-home orders will last until midnight, Friday July 9.

NSW EXPOSURE SITES: Full list and latest details here

What does the lockdown mean?

The lockdown means there are only four reasons to leave your home, including: shopping for food or other essential goods and services; medical care or compassionate needs including getting vaccinated; exercise outdoors and essential work or education, where you cannot work or study at home.

There is no curfew.

"It means all of us have to stay home unless for the four following reasons," NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Saturday afternoon.

"Unless we have to work outside the home or get educated outside of the home, and given school holidays, that obviously doesn't apply.

"But if you must work outside the home, you're able to do that."

"If you need to seek medical attention, including getting a COVID test, getting a vaccine or any other medical attention, you're allowed to," Ms Berejiklian said.

"And you're also allowed to leave the home for care and compassionate grounds as well.

"Obviously, you're allowed outside to purchase goods, essential goods and services. There is no need to panic buy. All the shops will be open every day of the week."

Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said people can also go have their coronavirus vaccination.

Who does the lockdown apply to?

The restrictions apply to everyone in the Greater Sydney area, including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong.

Regional areas, which aren't in lockdown, will have to undergo restrictions that have been in place for broader Sydney.

"In those regions, no more than five visitors in your home. All hospitality has to be seated – one person per four square metre rule," Ms Berejiklian said.

"Only a 50 per cent capacity for outdoor events. Indoor mask wearing and, again, restrictions in relation to funerals and weddings. So for those parts of New South Wales that aren't in lockdown, restrictions still apply."

The public health order does not apply to a person aged 12 years or under, or a person with a physical or mental health illness or condition, or disability, that makes wearing a fitted face covering unsuitable including, for example, a skin condition, an intellectual disability, autism or trauma.

Is retail still open?

Only "essential" retail stores and supermarkets are still open, but you should only shop for essential food and supplies when you need them.

"You can go out and buy anything you need any time of the day," Ms Berejiklian said.

What about beauty salons or hairdressers?

No, these are classed as non-essential and must close for at least the week.

Can I visit family/friends?

No, you won't be able to have visitors to your home or have gatherings during the lockdown.

Can I go out for exercise?

People are permitted to exercise outside, but not in groups of more than 10.

Is community sport allowed?

No.

Are gyms open?

Indoor exercise is not permitted, therefore gyms must shut.

Are nightclubs and indoor entertainment venues open?

Nightclubs and entertainment venues are not essential, therefore they are not permitted.

A quiet Sydney as new coronavirus restrictions came into force

Can I still have a wedding or funeral?

Today and tomorrow, COVID-safe weddings can take place, but from Monday and for the remainder of lockdown, they cannot.

Funerals can take place with a maximum of 100 guests, the one per square four-metre rule will apply and masks indoors are mandatory.

What are the travel restrictions?

From 6pm tonight, all residents in the Greater Sydney will be required to stay at their homes unless leaving the house for the four essential reasons.

There is no travel radius like in Melbourne's lockdown, meaning there is no limit on how far you can travel for essential reasons.

Are cafes and restaurants still open?

Businesses must only provide essential food and services. For example, takeaway food or grocery services.

Can I go to work or school?

People need to work and study from home where possible, but you are permitted to leave home for work and school purposes if you must.

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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

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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.