Sydney braces for worsening of Covid crisis
SYDNEY/WASHINGTON: Australian officials warned Sydney’s residents on Friday to brace for a surge in Covid-19 cases after the country’s largest city logged record infections for the second straight day despite a weeks-long lockdown to stamp out an outbreak of the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
Sydney reported a record 279 locally acquired cases over the past 24 hours - up from the previous high of 259 the day before. New South Wales reported a record 291 cases, up from 262.
California to mandate shots for health workers
California will require all of its roughly 2.2 million healthcare workers and long-term care workers to be fully vaccinated by September 30 as the nation’s most populous state is losing ground in the battle against new infections of a more dangerous coronavirus variant.
In Italy, a Covid-19 certification rule took effect in the country as part of the government’s plan to rein in a surge in infections. A “green pass” is now required to enter archaeological sites, gyms, theatres, indoor pools and the indoor sections of restaurants, bars and cafes.
CNN fires three for going to office unvaccinated
News media company CNN has terminated three of its employees for coming to the office unvaccinated against the Covid-19 last week, according to a memo sent to staff internally on Thursday. In the note seen by Reuters, president Jeff Zucker told employees that the company has zero-tolerance policy on such instances and required its employees to be vaccinated to come to office or to work on field with other employees.
Trudeau mulls mandate for all govt employees
As the Canadian province of Quebec announced that it will introduce Covid-19 “vaccine passports”, the country’s PM Justin Trudeau supported the move and said he’s exploring the idea of making it compulsory for all government employees to get a jab against the disease.
Trudeau revealed that he has already asked Canada’s seniormost bureaucrat, the clerk of the privy council, to consider his plan for mandating vaccination of government workers.