Australia to NZ to China: Delta forces fresh curbs
Sydney makes masks compulsory in offices, NZ raises alert level in capital Wellington, China’s Shenzhen snaps Beijing flights
SYDNEY/WELLINGTON: Sydney, Australia’s largest city, re-introduced Covid-19 curbs on Wednesday to contain a widening outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus, making masks compulsory in offices while neighbouring states closed their borders.
Neighbouring country New Zealand raised the alert level in its capital of Wellington over exposure concerns after an Australian tourist tested positive for the virus upon returning to Sydney from a weekend visit to the nation.
The latest virus cluster in Australia’s most populous state of New South Wales has swelled to more than 30 in a week, prompting New Zealand to halt quarantine-free travel. On Wednesday, the state tightened curbs for a week on gatherings and movement in Sydney, but stopped short of a full lockdown, as fears grew that the latest cluster of the Delta variant could drive a major outbreak.
Travel was limited to essential tasks for residents of seven council areas in Sydney’s east and inner west, with home visits limited to five guests and masks mandatory indoors, even in offices and gyms. Some schools moved to online-only teaching.
“We have gone from near and present danger to a very real and present danger, not just in a shopping centre, but right across Sydney,” the state’s health minister, Brad Hazzard, told reporters in Sydney.
The state’s first virus cluster in more than a month was linked to a driver who transports overseas airline crew and visited several places, among them a shopping centre in Bondi, thronged by tourists.
Ten new cases were reported by 8pm on Tuesday, while 13 further infections have been detected since.
Neighbouring states such as Victoria, the second most populous, and northeastern Queensland shut their borders to travellers from Sydney and surrounding areas, while South Australia closed its border altogether.
Snap lockdowns, tough social distancing rules and swift contact tracing have helped both Australia and New Zealand to limit outbreaks and hold down Covid-19 infections.
Australia has reported just over 30,350 cases and 910 deaths since the pandemic began, while New Zealand recorded more than 2,300 infections and 26 deaths. In New Zealand, Wellington will move to a level two alert, or one short of a lockdown, until Sunday midnight as a precaution against any potential outbreak.
China’s Shenzhen stops direct flights to Beijing Direct flights from China’s southern city of Shenzhen to Beijing have been suspended until at least July 1, booking apps showed, ahead of celebrations for the Chinese Communist Party’s founding in the capital on that date.
China’s most populous province Guangdong is battling a Covid-19 outbreak, with 170 confirmed local cases between May 21 and June 21. No new confirmed local cases were reported for June 22. Of the cases, eight were recorded in Shenzhen, while 146 were reported in the provincial capital Guangzhou, though direct flights were still available to Beijing as of Wednesday, booking apps such as CTrip and Fliggy showed.
A Shenzhen government official who declined to be identified and two airline representatives confirmed flights from Shenzhen to the capital had been suspended. Flights to other mainland destinations appeared to be operating as normal.
Morgan Stanley’s staff and clients will not be allowed to enter the bank’s New York offices if they are not fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Employees, clients, and visitors will be required to attest to being fully vaccinated in order to access the bank’s offices in New York and Westchester, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.
Those who are not fully vaccinated will need to work remotely, the source added. The new policy will come into effect on July 12, the source said, adding that it will allow removal of Covid-related restrictions on face coverings and maintaining physical distancing inside office premises. Morgan Stanley had already implemented “vaccineonly” workspaces in some divisions including institutional securities and wealth management, according to Financial Times.