Australia warms to tasman bubble sooner
World developments
CANBERRA: Quarantinefree travel to Australia from New Zealand could resume sooner than planned as New Zealand appears to be bringing its latest coronavirus outbreak under control.
Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt was due to review the travel bubble suspension tomorrow afternoon, but after receiving some good news from New Zealand, he has brought the call forward by 24 hours.
New Zealand has recorded no new cases of community transmission and there are strong testing rates among hotel quarantine staff, their close contacts and other members of the public.
‘‘If there are continued excellent results out of New Zealand, which is commensurate with their entire performance over the course of the pandemic, then we hope to be in a position to resume that in the coming days,’’ Hunt told reporters yesterday.
‘‘That should give hope to everybody who is looking at friends or family arriving from New Zealand.’’
More than 16,500 people have arrived in Australia from New Zealand since quarantinefree arrangements were established in midOctober.
Australia suspended the travel bubble last Sunday after the case of a Northland woman infected with the highly contagious South African strain of coronavirus came to light.
The suspension was extended for a further 72 hours after more community cases were reported in Auckland.
Hunt wants to repair the severed travel ties as quickly as possible.
‘‘If things continue as they are, we hope to have good news before the end of the weekend,’’ he said. — AAP
Australia will seek a guarantee from the European Union that it will not block coronavirus vaccines from being exported amid soaring global demand.
Vaccine shortages have inflamed tensions between the EU and pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and AstraZeneca, which are both contracted to supply millions of shots to Australia.
Hunt insisted the Government’s rollout timeline of late February for the first Pfizer jabs remained on track.
The foreign affairs department would seek assurances vaccines for Australia were not affected through contacting the WHO and EU governments. — AAP
LONDON: Developments in the Covid19 pandemic around the world.—
EUROPE
AstraZeneca’s Covid19 vaccine should only be given to people aged between 18 and 64, Germany’s vaccine committee has recommended.
Denmark will extend its current coronavirus restrictions by three weeks in order to curb the spread of a more contagious coronavirus variant first registered in Britain. Portugal extended a nationwide lockdown until midFebruary and announced curbs on international travel.
A shortage of Covid19 vaccines has forced Paris and two other regions that together account for a third of the French population to postpone giving out some first doses.
ASIAPACIFIC
China reported its lowest daily increase in new Covid19 cases in three weeks, official data showed, as authorities imposed robust curbs to contain the outbreak. The Philippines will relax travel restrictions on foreigners coming from more than 30 countries that have detected cases of the more contagious British variant of the coronavirus, starting from next month.
The Serum Institute of India has sought the drug regulator’s permission to conduct a small domestic trial of the Novavax’s Covid19 vaccine that was found to be 89.3% effective in a UK trial, its CEO told Reuters yesterday.
AMERICAS
A potent coronavirus variant originating in South Africa has been detected for the first time in the US in two South Carolina patients.
New York state’s health department may have undercounted the Covid19 death toll among state nursing home residents by as much as 50%, a report showed.
The Pentagon is evaluating a request from the US Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide help in administering Covid19 vaccines.
Brazil’s total confirmed cases surpassed 9 million, while researchers in southern Brazil said they discovered patients infected with two different strains of the new coronavirus simultaneously.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
Morocco started a national coronavirus vaccination campaign after receiving vaccine shipments from AstraZeneca and Sinopharm.
The African Union secured another 400 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine in a push to immunise 60% of the continent’s population over a threeyear period. — Reuters