Tag Archives: oceania

headline

Biden reveals first call with Chinese leader

Joe Biden had his first call as president with Xi Jinping, pressing the Chinese leader about trade and Beijing's crackdown on democracy activists in Hong Kong as well as other human rights concerns.

The two leaders spoke on Wednesday just hours after Biden announced plans for a Pentagon task force to review US national security strategy in China and after the new US president announced he was levying sanctions against Myanmar's military regime following this month's coup in the southeast Asian country.

A White House statement said Biden raised concerns about Beijing's "coercive and unfair economic practices."

https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1359692096693817347?s=20

READ MORE: 'Trump left everyone in this Capitol for dead': President failed to call off rioters

Biden also pressed Xi on Hong Kong, human rights abuses against Uighur and ethnic minorities in the western Xinjiang province, and its actions toward Taiwan.

"I told him I will work with China when it benefits the American people," Biden posted on Twitter after the call.

China's state broadcaster CCTV struck a mostly positive tone about the conversation, saying Jinping acknowledged the two sides had their differences, and those differences should be managed, but urged overall cooperation.

CCTV said Xi pushed back against Biden's concerns on Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang, saying the issues are China's internal affairs and concern Chinese sovereignty.

"The US should respect China's core interests and act with caution," Xi said.

READ MORE: Family of Australian journalist formally arrested in China speak out

Biden, who had dealt with the Chinese leader when he served as Barack Obama's vice president, used his first three weeks in the White House to make several calls with other leaders in the Indo-Pacific region.

He has tried to send the message that he would take a radically different approach to China than former President Donald Trump, who placed trade and economic issues above all else in the US-China relationship.

Biden's commitment to Asia-Pacific

With Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga late last month, Biden underscored the US commitment to protecting the Senkaku Islands, a group of uninhabited islets administered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing.

In his call with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Biden emphasised the need for "close cooperation to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific."

And in his call with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week, the president highlighted that the two nations' alliance was essential to stability in the region, the White House said.

READ MORE: Taiwan-China clash first major security test for Biden presidency

https://twitter.com/ScottMorrisonMP/status/1357178094889574401?s=20

Top aides to Biden have repeatedly heard from Asia-Pacific counterparts who had become discouraged by Trump's frequently sharp rhetoric aimed at allies, talk of reducing troop levels in South Korea and odd interactions with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private calls.

Allies in the region have made clear they want a more purposeful and steady approach to engagements going forward, according to the official.

To that end, Biden and other top administration officials have taken care in their initial interactions with their counterparts to look to the long game in resetting the relationships.

Biden used Wednesday's call to raise concerns about Beijing's crackdown on activists in Hong Kong and about its policies affecting Muslims and ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.

In the final hours of the Trump administration, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared that the Chinese Communist Party had committed crimes against humanity against the predominantly Muslim Uighurs and other minority groups.

China has denied any abuses and says the steps it has taken are necessary to combat terrorism and a separatist movement.

The White House also said Biden made clear his concern about Beijing's increasingly "assertive" action with Taiwan.

Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, even as the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.

Days into Biden's presidency, China dispatched warplanes close to the island.

The US Navy, in turn, last week sent a guided-missile destroyer through the waterway that separates China and Taiwan.

US-China Trade War

One area that Biden doesn't appear ready to move quickly on is discontinuing Trump's trade war with China, which led to tariffs on their steel, aluminium and other goods.

Biden plans to leave the tariffs in place as his administration conducts a top-to-bottom review of trade policy.

Administration officials note that the president is still awaiting confirmation of his US trade representative nominee, Katherine Tai, and his pick for commerce secretary, Gina Raimondo.

Both are expected to play key roles in helping shape China trade policy.

Administration officials say Biden also wants to consult with allies in Asia and Europe before making decisions on tariffs.

Biden and Xi know each other well and have had frank exchanges.

READ MORE: Farmers warn China trade dispute will cost them $37 billion

Biden played host to then-Chinese vice president Xi during his 2012 visit to the United States.

Biden used that visit to get a read of Xi and was blunt at moments, even raising concerns about Chinese theft of intellectual property and human rights abuses during a luncheon toast.

The following year, when Biden visited China, he publicly criticised Beijing for refusing to affirm that it would renew the visas of American journalists and for blocking the websites of American-based news media sites.

Biden has said he believes there are areas where the US and China can work closely, such as addressing climate change and preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

But ultimately, Biden said recently, he expects the US-China relationship to be one of "extreme competition" in coming years.

"You've said America's greatest feature is possibility," China's state broadcaster said Xi told Biden during Thursday's phone call.

"I hope that this type of possibility will develop in a way that is conducive to improving relations between the two countries."

headline

New COVID fears at Melbourne airport

There are fears coronavirus may have spread at a café inside Melbourne Airport after two new cases were revealed overnight as the Holiday Inn cluster continues to grow.

The Department of Health revealed an almost nine-hour window where café Brunetti at Terminal 4 could have been at risk, with a positive case linked to the venue between 4.45am and 1.15pm on Tuesday, February 9.

Anyone who visited the café during those times must immediately isolate, get a coronavirus test, and remain isolated for 14 days regardless of the result.

https://twitter.com/VicGovDH/status/1359858045526761473?s=20

READ MORE: Melbourne family travels to SA after unknowingly visiting unlisted COVID-19 exposure site

The cafe is one of three new Tier 1 exposure sites (full list below) after the two new cases took the Holiday Inn cluster to 13.

Both new infections are primary household contacts of previously announced cases, the Department of Health said in a tweet late on Thursday evening.

Three more cases were identified earlier in the day, all linked to the outbreak. One of Thursday's new cases is understood to be an assistant manager at the Holiday Inn, Victoria's coronavirus testing commander Jeroen Weimar said.

"She was already a primary close contact, she tested yesterday and turned positive this afternoon," he said.

https://twitter.com/VicGovDH/status/1359834764904181762?s=20

Eleven of the cases in the Holiday Inn outbreak are the UK variant of the virus; the two new cases tonight are yet to be confirmed as the mutant strain.

"It is our working assumption that all 11 cases (earlier on Thursday) associated with the Holiday Inn cluster are all of the UK variant," he said.

He said another two spouses who have tested positive to COVID-19 are each a partner of food and beverage workers at the Melbourne hotel.

He said because the two cases in spouses were household transmission, it provided some assurance authorities could get on top of the outbreak.

"That gives us some confidence that we are still on track that we need to be on, but this is early days," he said.

Two other cases emerged on Wednesday afternoon, including a returned traveller and a hotel quarantine worker, which were listed in the state's coronavirus figures for Thursday.

The outbreak now consists of three family members, four hotel workers, two household primary close contacts and two returned travellers.

Borders close to Greater Melbourne

More than 22,500 test results were conducted in the past 24 hours, with large queues forming at testing sites across Melbourne on Thursday amid rising fears COVID-19 is circulating in the community.

South Australia has now shut its border to anyone from Greater Melbourne, with authorities admitting the growing cases have them "very concerned".

Queensland will also reinstate its border declaration system from 1am on Saturday.

Coronavirus fragments detected in wastewater in Coburg and surrounding suburbs in Melbourne's north-west – which earlier sparked alarm – have been linked to one of the infections in the cluster, Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said.

Ms Allan said "extensive contact testing and tracing" had been underway over the past 24 hours.

https://twitter.com/VicGovDH/status/1359629988803317767

"We know it's a difficult and dangerous virus, that it is mutating," she said.

"We need to continue to fight and take all the necessary steps to fight this virus."

Mr Weimar said Victorian authorities were better placed now than when facing the Black Rock cluster, but the UK variant did present a significant challenge.

"We are alert but not alarmed … we are right on top of this," he said.

"We have to be on our guard."

A new testing site opened in Sunbury yesterday at the Old Masters Site on the corner of Vineyard Road and McDougall Road, as Victorians are continually urged to get tested.

Source of Holiday Inn transmission

The source of transmission which sparked the outbreak was likely a medical device known as a nebuliser, used by a COVID-positive guest inside the Holiday Inn hotel.

READ MORE: More cases added to Melbourne's Holiday Inn coronavirus outbreak

Emergency physician Dr Stephen Parnis told Today said they were no longer used in most hospitals and are not allowed in hotel quarantine.

The device turns a liquid, usually a drug to treat diseases like asthma, into a vapour to go down the patient's air way and their lungs, he said.

"When it was presented in the news that a person who was COVID positive was using a nebuliser, I think we all took a deep breath and thought 'My goodness, how could this possibly have happened?'" Dr Parnis told Today.

Medical device blamed for Melbourne's COVID cluster

"I think what it shows even though this has gotten through the screening processes, just one example has led to an outbreak and it shows how incessant the risks are in hotel quarantine of COVID getting through and getting out into one of our communities and it's happened pretty much in every state and territory, except for the Northern Territory.

READ MORE: What Victoria needs to do to prevent hotel quarantine outbreaks

https://twitter.com/IzaStaskowski/status/1359581684744605700?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

"It says to me that there are so many steps in an incredibly complex process and sometimes the breakdown of one of those steps, the screening of the hotel guests' luggage, was a way that one of these things got through.

"That worries me as a doctor, but as a person who deals in complex systems, I can understand how it happens, but the most important thing is that we learn from this, get this outbreak under control and make sure that this one doesn't happen again."

President of the Australian Medical Association's Victorian branch Julian Rait said the use of the nebuliser in hotel quarantine was "disconcerting".

Melbourne COVID-19 Holiday Inn quarantine worker

"It beggars belief that something like this could get through," Dr Rait told Today.

"The medical community knows full well these particular devices are really COVID spreaders.

"But I think also the fact that the ventilation controls in that particular hotel were really not up to scratch. Over seven months ago, there was concern expressed by aerosol scientists who wrote to the World Health Organisation and said aerosols needed to be taken more seriously.

"In Victoria, after the second wave, we thought we had succeeded in persuading government about that.

"The knowledge is well and truly well known that ventilation control is an essential part of preventing the spread of COVID-19, especially in healthcare settings.

"It is disappointing that information hasn't been necessarily fully shared with COVID-19 quarantine Victoria, which is the branch responsible for hotel quarantine."

https://twitter.com/VicGovDH/status/1359858045526761473?s=20

Exposure Sites

Victoria's Department of Health reported three new exposure sites and times for anyone who attended the locations on Tuesday, February 9. They include:

  • Brunetti, Terminal 4, Melbourne Airport: 4.45am – 1:15pm
  • Commonwealth Bank, Glen Waverley: 1.30pm – 2.45pm
  • HSBC Bank, Glen Waverley: 2.15pm – 3.30pm

A number of sites in Sunbury, including several stores and eateries at Sunbury Square, have previously been identified after a food and beverage worker at the Holiday Inn returned a positive test on Tuesday.

Residents of the Melbourne Airport Holiday Inn have since been evacuated from the hotel and have been moved to the Pullman Hotel in Melbourne's CBD, where their quarantine stay may be extended.

A full list of exposure sites can be found on Victoria's Department of Health website here.

headline

Melbourne family travels to SA after unknowingly visiting unlisted COVID-19 exposure site

A Melbourne family has been taken into hotel quarantine under police guard after they travelled to Adelaide after having unknowingly visited a coronavirus exposure site.

Additional exposure sites have been added across the Melbourne area after new COVID-19 cases linked to the Holiday Inn outbreak.

Marie and Raymond Ottone endured days of uncertainty after a confirmed case visited the Avondale Heights osteopathy clinic where their daughter Celine was treated on Friday morning.

READ MORE: Truck driver killed in fiery smash near Victoria-South Australia border

The trio flew to Adelaide to visit family on Saturday, when the location was not listed as a hotspot.

It wasn't until Tuesday that Victorian authorities contacted Celine to confirm she was a close contact.

Victorian authorities door-knocked the family to ensure they were isolating, but the clinic remains off the list of exposure sites.

South Australia Health became involved, with the trio told to stay in an enclosed room at a family member's home for the night before being transferred to a quarantine hotel yesterday with a police escort.

"What about everyone that she was on the plane with if she's a primary?" Ms Ottone said.

"What about the casino we went to and the shopping centres that we've been to here?"

READ MORE: What Victoria needs to do to prevent hotel quarantine outbreaks

Victoria's coronavirus testing chief Jeroen Weimar said publicising the venue wouldn't be helpful and he was confident health authorities had identified anyone at risk.

"We do not think it is reasonable or any additional benefit to publicising public venues because we are not asking people to self identify, come forward and say 'I was there the day before after'," he said.

"That is not helpful. We are pleased the family is being supported in Adelaide."

Mr Weimar today confirmed a third case was linked to the hotel outbreak.

Meanwhile two earlier infections recorded this morning were confirmed to be the spouses of two food and beverage workers at the Holiday Inn.

READ MORE: Melbourne's hotel outbreak now at 11 after another case confirmed

Sunbury saw a testing blitz yesterday after a Holiday Inn employee who tested positive to the virus visit several locations.

Today Mr Weimar said the as an act of caution authorities were counting the entire Sunbury shopping centre as an at risk location.

"We have decided out of an abundance of caution to expand the exposure site to the wider Sunbury shopping centre."

Mr Weimar said anyone who visited the area from 3.40pm to 4.30pm on Friday February 5 should get tested and isolate.

READ MORE: Anzac Day march cancelled again as Moomba looks likely to go ahead

Victoria's COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar.

One of the spouses confirmed to have the UK variant of the virus is understood to be linked to Camberwell Grammar school, although it has not yet been added to the exposure site list.

An updated list is expected later tonight.