Tag: COVID-19 lockdown

‘Inhumane’ and ‘Unjustly’: Ombudsman Calls on Victorian Govt to Apologise for COVID-19 Border Permit System

The Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass has slammed the Victorian border permits system as “unjustly” and “inhumane” after investigating the Victorian government’s border exemption scheme. Glass’s report, released on Dec. 7, stated that from Jul. 9 to Sep. 14, the Ombudsman received 315 complaints from jobless stranded Victorians who were paying double rent, caravanning pensioners without the…


Dr. Gandhi: Fighting COVID-19 Without Ruining Lives; the At-Risk People Progressives Left Behind

Monica Gandhi is an infectious diseases and HIV doctor at the University of California–San Francisco. Her stance against COVID-19 restrictions that harm more than help vulnerable people—such as the poor, the homeless, and those being treated for HIV—has brought her into the social media spotlight. As medical director of San Francisco General Hospital’s HIV clinic,…


Australian City Comes Out of Lockdown After World Record 263 Days

Melbourne has emerged from its sixth city-wide lockdown at 11:59 p.m. on  Oct. 21, after reaching 70 percent double-vaccinated rates on Oct. 20. The city had the longest lockdown in the world, spending a total of 263 days in lockdown since March 2020, with the most recent lockdown lasting 77 days. Currently, Victoria has recorded…


New Zealand Reports 21 New COVID-19 Cases as Outbreak Grows Amid Strict Lockdown

New Zealand recorded 21 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, as the current community outbreak of the highly transmissible Delta variant continues to grow, bringing infections associated with the outbreak to 72, with 6 in the capital Wellington, health officials said. Of the 21 new cases, 20 are in Auckland, the largest city, and one…


Chinese Industrial Park in Sudden Lockdown, Hundreds of Workers Trapped, Short of Necessities

Workers at a battery factory in China found themselves unable to go home due to a sudden government-imposed lockdown on Aug. 4. Some have been transported from the factory to schools and other sites for quarantine but all the sites lack daily necessities and access to medical care. Eve Power Co. Ltd. is a manufacturer…


Defence Forces Patrolling Sydney as Lockdown Continues

Australian Defence Force (ADF) troops will join NSW police patrolling streets in Sydney’s west and southwest to ensure COVID-19 health orders are being observed in the hotspots where the virus is surging. The 300 ADF troops will reinforce the efforts of police on Monday, patrolling and doorknocking to ensure people are complying with self-isolation and…


Australian’s Unemployment Rate Dropped to Decade Low, But Challenges Ahead With Lockdowns

The prolonged lockdown in Sydney, together with the fifth lockdown in Melbourne, has cast a shadow over the resilience of Australia’s economic recovery despite the Australian unemployment rate dropping to 4.9 percent in June, its lowest level since Dec 2010. According to ABS data released on July 15, the decline in the rate from 5.1…


Sydney Lockdown Extended Another Week as Delta Variant Continues to Spread

The New South Wales (NSW) government has extended its CCP virus lockdown measures until July 16, dashing the hopes of the five million people currently enduring stay-at-home orders in Greater Sydney and its surrounds during the school holiday period. The lockdown extension comes as the state recorded 27 new local COVID-19 cases for the 24…


China’s Virus Hotspot Lifts Lockdown But Sets Up Large Makeshift Quarantine Site

July 1 marks the centennial of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Guangzhou, which has been closed for a long time due to a CCP virus outbreak, has suddenly lifted traffic controls in some areas and on the city borders. However, the city will again conduct nucleic acid testing, and the outskirts of Guangzhou are also…


Number of COVID-Delta Strain Infections Grows as Officials Consider Home Quarantine as a Potential Source

Four of Victoria’s new COVID-19 cases are of the more infectious Delta variant, with Health Minister Martin Foley confirming on Monday the cases were linked to the state’s outbreak of the Delta variant, also known as B.1.617.2, which began in the suburb of West Melbourne. The cases are three children and an adult and bring the…