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August
Australia's COVID-19 cases hit new record as 'reopening' debate heats up
Written by nuke
People form long queues outside a COVID-19 vaccination centre in Melbourne on Aug 27, 2021. (Photo: AFP/William West) -
Australia logged a record 1,323 local COVID-19 cases on Sunday (Aug 29) as debate rages on whether the country should start living with the virus in the community, after initially being successful with suppressing coronavirus.
Australia's most populous state New South Wales (NSW), the epicentre of the nation's Delta-fuelled outbreak, reported 1,218 cases as authorities there are set to slightly ease restrictions after nine weeks in lockdown. The lockdown is scheduled to last until the end of September.
NSW state Premier Gladys Berejiklian vowed to reopen the state once 70 per cent of those 16 and older get vaccinated.
"No matter what the case numbers are doing ... double-dose 70 per cent in NSW means freedom for those who are vaccinated," Berejiklian said.
On Sunday, she said the state has reached the halfway point of achieving the target.
In Victoria, the country's second most populous state which is in its sixth lockdown since the start of the pandemic, there were 92 new infections on Sunday, the highest in nearly a year.
Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews said his state's lockdown, due to end on Thursday, will be extended, but would not say for how long.
"We see far too many cases today for us to seriously consider opening up later on this week," Andrews said.
The Australian Capital Territory, home to the national capital Canberra, had 13 new cases.
Australia has faired much better than most developed nations, posting just over 50,100 COVID-19 related cases and 999 deaths.
After the national government closed international borders early in the pandemic, its six states and two territories have used various combinations of state border closures, lockdowns and strict social distancing measures to combat COVID-19.
But the national government now insists that the COVID-zero strategy, which had been successful in suppressing earlier outbreaks, is unrealistic after the highly contagious Delta variant reached its shores and is harmful to the economy.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been urging states to reopen their borders once a vaccination target of 70 per cent of those 16 and older is reached, but virus-free Queensland and Western Australia states have hinted they may not follow.
Nationally, just 33.7 per cent of those eligible have been fully vaccinated, although in recent weeks Australia has been racing to inoculate its population. At current rates, 80 per cent could be vaccinated by mid-November.
"Learning to live with the virus is our only hope," The Age newspaper cited Australia Treasurer Josh Frydenberg as saying on Sunday. "To delay and deny that fact is not only wrong but incredibly unrealistic."
Victoria supports the federal reopening plan, but the state authorities believe the current outbreak, now at 778 active cases, can be suppressed with a strict lockdown, which involves a nightly curfew for Melbourne, Victoria's capital.
The June quarter economic growth figures due to be released on Wednesday may hint whether Australia would enter its second recession in as many years, as the September quarter to be released later in the year is broadly expected to show a contraction, reflecting the current outbreaks and lockdowns//CNA
August
US airlifts food, tents to quake-ravaged southern Haiti
Written by nuke
Police officers monitor a crowd as earthquake victims receive supplies during the distribution of food and water at the "4 Chemins" crossroads in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug 20, 2021. (Photo: AFP/Reginald Louissant Jr) -
US military aircraft are now flying food, tarps and other material into southern Haiti amid a shift in the international relief effort to focus on helping people in the areas hardest hit by the recent earthquake to make it through hurricane season.
Aircraft flying out of the capital, Port-au-Prince, arrived throughout the day Saturday (Aug 28) in the mostly rural, mountainous southern peninsula that was the epicenter of the Aug 14 earthquake. In Jeremie, people waved and cheered as a Marine Corps unit from North Carolina descended in a tilt-rotor Osprey with pallets of rice, tarps and other supplies.
Most of the material, however, wasn't destined for Jeremie. It was for distribution to remote mountain communities where landslides destroyed homes and the small plots of the many subsistence farmers in the area, said Patrick Tine of Haiti Bible Mission, one of several groups coordinating the delivery of aid.
“They lost their gardens, they lost their animals,” Tine said as he took a break from helping unload boxes of rice. “The mountains slid down and they lost everything.”
At the request of the Haitian government, getting as much help to such people as fast as possible is now the focus of the US$32 million US relief effort, said Tim Callahan, a disaster response team leader for the US Agency for International Development.
In the immediate aftermath of the magnitude 7.2 earthquake, which killed more than 2,200 people and damaged or destroyed more than 100,000 homes, the focus was on search and rescue.
That was complicated by heavy rain from Tropical Storm Grace as well as earthquake damage to roads and bridges, in an area where the infrastructure was in bad shape to begin with. The threat of gangs, in a country still reeling from the Jul 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moise, also made it hard to distribute aid. As a a result, many Haitians had grown increasingly impatient with relief efforts.
“We're just trying to get as much material out to the most affected areas as fast as we can. If you do that, then the frustration level goes down," Callahan said over the roar of helicopters at the Port-au-Prince airport, where US troops and civilian aid workers labored to load aircraft with pallets in the hot sun.
That is where the US military comes into play. Troops under the direction of Miami-based Southern Command have so far delivered more than 265,000 pounds of relief assistance.
Among those troops is the unit from North Carolina, known as the Fighting Griffins and based at the New River Marine Corps Air Station, which allowed Associated Press journalists to come along as they delivered emergency supplies.
Two crews took off from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, flew to Port-au-Prince to pick up supplies, and then made multiple trips across the mountainous southern peninsula to deliver their loads.
It was an upbeat mission, with the flight crew and pilots helping the Haitian aid workers unload the aircraft, then shaking hands as they said their goodbyes.
One crew, which delivered more than 8,500 pounds of goods on Saturday alone, brought along a Marine of Haitian descent from New York City as their interpreter. “It really means a lot to me to do something like this,” said Lance Corporal Lunel Najac.
The US effort is expected to continue at least for several more weeks, though whether it will be enough to get people through the rest of the hurricane season remains to be seen.
“People need food, water, tents, tarps,” said Wilkens Sanon of Mission of Hope Foundation, another of the groups working with the US to channel aid to people who need it most.
“It is very, very bad right now,” he said//CNA
August
New Zealand reports 83 local COVID-19 cases as Delta outbreak grows
Written by nuke
A medical worker administers a COVID-19 test in Auckland, New Zealand on Aug 26, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Fiona Goodall) -
New Zealand reported 83 locally acquired cases on Sunday (Aug 29) of the highly infectious Delta coronavirus variant, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern saying that some changes on how the outbreak is managed could be announced on Monday.
Ardern on Friday extended the lockdown for the country of 5.1 million until midnight on Tuesday, after which the restrictions were to ease slightly. Auckland, however, which is the epicentre of the outbreak was to remain locked down for longer.
Ardern said her government was seeking more information on the spread of the infections.
"If we need to tighten up our restrictions further, we will," she told a televised briefing.
Of the Sunday cases, 82 were reported in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, and the other was in the capital, Wellington.
New Zealanders had been living virtually virus-free and without curbs until the August outbreak. So far, the country has recorded just over 3,100 confirmed coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic and 26 related deaths, according to the health ministry.
Of the current community cases, 34 people were in hospital and two of them in intensive care. Active community cases stand at 511, with 496 of them in Auckland.
"Having positive cases in our communities, along with the impact of lockdowns I know can be hugely unsettling, and that uncertainty can impact everyone's mental health," Ardern said, announcing additional financial resources for mental health and urging people to seek help.
"So, it's OK to feel overwhelmed, to feel upset, or even to feel frustrated because this situation is often all of those things."//CNA
August
Last British civilian evacuation flight leaves Kabul
Written by nuke
Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Britain August 28, 2021. Alastair Grant/ Pool via REUTERS -
The last British flight evacuating civilians from Afghanistan has left Kabul, bringing to an end an operation that has airlifted almost 15,000 Afghan and British citizens in the two weeks since the Taliban took control.
Britain's armed forces are now preparing to leave and will take small numbers of Afghan citizens with them on remaining flights this weekend, a defence ministry spokesperson said on Saturday (Aug 28).
"It's time to close this phase of the operation down. But we haven't forgotten the people who still need to leave, and we will do everything we can to help them," Britain's ambassador to Afghanistan, Laurie Bristow, said in a statement filmed on the tarmac at Kabul's main airport.
Some British troops have already departed, and a British military transport plane carrying armed forces members landed at an airbase in southern England on Saturday.
British defence minister Ben Wallace said on Friday that Britain was entering the final hours of its evacuation and would process only people who were already inside Kabul airport.
Britain was at Washington's side from the start of a US led invasion of Afghanistan that overthrew the then-ruling Taliban in punishment for harbouring the al Qaeda militants behind the Sep 11, 2001 attacks. More than 450 British armed forces personnel died during two decades of deployment in the country.
Wallace said on Friday that he estimated between 800 and 1,100 Afghans who had worked with Britain and were eligible to leave the country would not make it through. General Nick Carter, the head of Britain's armed forces, told the BBC on Saturday that the total would be in the "high hundreds".
Many Afghans unable to leave judged it was too dangerous to travel to Kabul airport, Carter said.
"People like me ... we are forever receiving messages and texts from our Afghan friends that are very distressing. We're living this in the most painful way," he added.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson discussed the Afghanistan situation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday, when the two leaders agreed that the Group of Seven rich nations should take a common approach to dealing with any future Taliban government.
"The Prime Minister stressed that any recognition and engagement with the Taliban must be conditional on them allowing safe passage for those who want to leave the country and respecting human rights," Johnson's office said//CNA
August
Macron says France will stay in Iraq whatever US decides to do
Written by nuke
Iraq's President Barham Salih and France's President Emmanuel Macron attend a news conference ahead of the Baghdad summit at the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq August 28, 2021. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani -
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday (Aug 28) France will keep troops in Iraq as part of anti-terrorism operations for as long as the Iraqi government needs, whether or not the United States decides to withdraw.
Macron was speaking at a news conference in Baghdad where several Middle Eastern leaders were attending a summit.
Asked about evacuations of people from Afghanistan, Macron said there were preliminary discussions with the Taliban about humanitarian issues and who would help those who need protection. France said on Friday its evacuation operation had finished//CNA
August
First week in office: Malaysia PM Ismail Sabri signals policy continuity, truce with opposition
Written by nuke
In this photo provided by Prime Minister Office, Malaysia's new Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob speaks at his office in Putrajaya on Aug 27, 2021. (Prime Minister Office via AP) -
It has been a week since Mr Ismail Sabri Yaakob was sworn in as Malaysia's ninth prime minister last Saturday (Aug 21).
In his first televised address the next day, he called for bipartisan cooperation in Malaysia’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the country’s economic recovery.
The vice president of United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) also touted the “Malaysian family” concept to promote inclusivity across the religion, race and ethnic boundaries.
Shortly after clocking into the office in Putrajaya on Monday, he made a working trip north to visit flood victims in Kedah.
On Wednesday, he struck a symbolic deal with the opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition in finding common ground for cooperation.
In announcing his Cabinet line-up on Friday, he appeared to prioritise policy continuity and retained quite a few political office holders from the previous government. He also gave each ministry 100 days to prove their performance.
Mr Ismail Sabri’s rise to power came amid political turbulence in Putrajaya. Formerly a senior minister in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government led by Mr Muhyiddin Yassin, he was promoted to deputy prime minister on Jul 7 when UMNO was threatening to pull out of PN.
After Mr Muhyiddin resigned, slightly more than half of the 220 MPs in Malaysia named Mr Ismail Sabri as their candidate of choice to be the next prime minister.
With 114 statutory declarations backing him, the coveted post is back in the grip of UMNO, after two years of premiership under PH from 2018 to 2020 and subsequently 18 months under PN.
The current government is made up of MPs from Barisan Nasional (BN, comprising UMNO, Malaysia Chinese Association, Malaysian Indian Congress and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah), PN (Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia and Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku Sabah), Gabungan Parti Sarawak and Parti Bersatu Sabah.
In his Aug 22 televised address to the country, Mr Ismail Sabri extended an invitation to the opposition leaders to be part of two government bodies, namely the National Recovery Council and Special Committee on COVID-19.
The offer was in sync with King Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah’s decree for the politicians to work as one team and set aside the “winner takes all” mentality//CNA
August
China will soon surpass Russia as a nuclear threat: Senior US military official
Written by nuke
FILE PHOTO: People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers salute in front of nuclear-capable missiles during a massive parade to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in Beijing October 1, 2009. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo -
China, in the midst of a rapid nuclear weapons buildup, will soon surpass Russia as the United States' top nuclear threat, a senior US military official said on Friday (Aug 27), warning that the two countries have no mechanisms to avert miscommunication.
US Air Force Lieutenant General Thomas Bussiere, the deputy commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, which oversees the country's nuclear arsenal, said China's development of nuclear capabilities "can no longer be aligned" with its public claim that it wants to maintain a minimum nuclear deterrent.
"There's going to be a point, a crossover point, where the number of threats presented by China will exceed the number of threats that currently Russia presents," Bussiere told an online forum.
He said the determination would not be based solely on the number of Beijing's stockpiled nuclear warheads, but also on how they are "operationally fielded."
"There will be a crossover point, we believe, in the next few years," Bussiere said.
Unlike with Russia, the United States did not have any treaties or dialogue mechanism with China on the issue to "alleviate any misperceptions or confusion," he added.
Bussiere's comments come as the United States is attempting to realign its foreign policy to put greater emphasis in the Indo-Pacific region to counter China's growing economic and military might.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed deep concern https://www.reuters.com/world/china/blinken-expresses-us-concern-about-chinas-growing-nuclear-arsenal-2021-08-06 about China's growing nuclear arsenal during a meeting with foreign ministers of Asian countries and partner nations in early August.
Think-tank reports based on satellite imagery say China appears to be constructing hundreds of new silos for nuclear missiles, and Washington has accused Beijing of resisting nuclear arms talks.
China says its arsenal is dwarfed by those of the United States and Russia, and that it is ready for dialogue, but only if Washington reduces its nuclear stockpile to China's level.
In a 2020 report to Congress, the Pentagon estimated China's operational nuclear warhead stockpile to be in "the low 200s," and said it was projected to at least double in size as Beijing expands and modernizes its forces.
According to a State Department fact sheet, the United States had 1,357 nuclear warheads deployed as of Mar 1.
China's advances in missile technology to deliver those warheads are also a concern for the United States, and Bussiere said China last year tested more ballistic missile capabilities than the rest of the world combined//CNA
August
Modi hails India's 10 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in a single day
Written by nuke
FILE PHOTO-A guard stands outside a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) ward for children in Mumbai, India, August 26, 2021. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas -
India administered more than 10 million COVID-19 vaccine doses on Friday, a national record that Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed as a "momentous feat" for the country ahead of fears of another surge in infections.
India has now administered about 628 million vaccine doses in total, giving at least one dose to more than half of its 944 million adults and the required two doses to 15 per cent. The government wants the entire adult population covered by December.
"Record vaccination numbers today!" Modi said on Twitter. "Crossing 1 crore (10 million) is a momentous feat."
The previous daily record was 9.2 million.
India's vaccine production has jumped this month, thanks mainly to the Serum Institute of India that is now making about 150 million doses a month of its version of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The sharp rise in vaccinations came as India reported more than 40,000 new infections for a second consecutive day on Friday.
Cases had fallen to a five-month-low of 25,166 in the middle of the month but have risen sharply in the last three days, mainly in the southern state of Kerala which recently held a large festival during which families typically come together.
India reported 44,658 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, taking the total to 32.6 million, the most in the world after the United States. The death toll rose by 496 to 436,861.
Kerala has accounted for nearly 60 per cent of the new coronavirus cases in the past week and more than half of the total active cases, followed by 16 per cent in the western state of Maharashtra.
"Any laxity in ensuring a strict adherence to the five-fold strategy of test-track-treat-vaccinate and ensuring COVID appropriate behaviour, may result in a further surge in COVID-19 transmission in Kerala and its neighbouring states," the health ministry told the Kerala state government in a letter shared with journalists.
Kerala said it would impose a lockdown on Sundays until further orders//CNA
August
Russia says July was the deadliest month of the pandemic
Written by nuke
FILE PHOTO: A woman receives a dose of Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac) vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a vaccination centre in Gostiny Dvor in Moscow, Russia July 6, 2021. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva -
Russia saw the highest monthly coronavirus death toll of the pandemic in July, with 50,421 people dying from COVID-19 or related causes during the month, state statistic service Rosstat said on Friday (Aug 27).
The death toll exceeded the number of coronavirus deaths in December, hitherto the deadliest month of the pandemic in Russia.
Russian authorities blame the spread of the more contagious Delta variant and a low vaccination rate for the third wave of coronavirus infections, which peaked in July.
Moscow's city hall also reported the worst COVID-19 death toll in July, when the mortality rate in the city was 70per cent higher than before the pandemic in 2019.
Overall, Russia recorded around 365,000 deaths related to COVID-19 between April 2020 and July, data from Rosstat showed.
The number exceeds the official total death toll of around 180,000, published by the Russian coronavirus task force earlier on Friday.
Some epidemiologists say that measuring excess mortality is the best way to assess the death toll during a pandemic. Based on the new data, Reuters calculated that the number of excess deaths in Russia between April 2020 and July had reached 528,000 in comparison to the average mortality rate in 2015-2019//CNA
August
US officials weigh shorter timeline for COVID-19 booster shots: Biden
Written by nuke
Jane Nickert, director of nursing for the Washtenaw County Health Department converses with a person getting ready to receive their COVID-19 vaccine during an event hosted by Southeast Michigan Pull Over Prevention at Grace Fellowship Church in Ypsilanti, Michigan, on Aug 7, 2021. (Photo: REUTERS/Emily Elconin) -
Federal health authorities are discussing shortening the timeline for COVID-19 booster shots to allow additional doses sooner than the eight-month window officials are targeting, President Joe Biden said on Friday (Aug 27).
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that US health regulators could approve a third COVID-19 shot for adults beginning at least six months after full vaccination, instead of the previously announced eight-month gap.
"The question raised is: should it be shorter than eight months, should it be as little as 5 months? That's being discussed," Biden told reporters at the White House, adding that he had discussed the issue with his chief medical officer, Dr Anthony Fauci, earlier on Friday.
Biden noted that the US booster program was "promising" and on track to start in mid-September, pending regulatory approval.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said later that official US guidance remains at eight months after the last vaccine shot.
Nothing has changed related to the eight-month timeline, Psaki said during a briefing with reporters.
Top US health officials, in a separate COVID briefing on Friday, said US cases of the novel coronavirus continue to rise amid the fast-spreading Delta variant. Vaccination rates were also higher, they said, with half of children aged 12 to 17 having received at least one shot as schools begin the new academic year.
Deaths and hospitalisations up 11 per cent and 6 per cent respectively over the past 7 days nationwide, with cases up 3per cent over the past week, said US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr Rochelle Walensky//CNA