The post China Goes Under Lockdown After 2 Years Due To Massive Outbreak appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>According to an article in the South China Morning Post, some provincial health officials have ascribed the increase in cases in China to the Omicron strain, which is highly infectious but exhibits less serious symptoms than the initial Covid-19 virus.
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]]>The post Queensland avoids lockdown after it detected zero COVID-19 infections appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>The state on Saturday reported five cases of COVID-19, with state Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk warning that a lockdown could be needed to stop the spread of the virus.
However, the state said testing had yet to detect any further cases, avoiding the need such a measure.
“We’re not out of the woods yet, but this is the best result we could have hoped for at this point in the outbreak,” Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles told reporters in Brisbane.
The result is a boost for Australia’s A$2 trillion ($1.5 trillion) economy, which is at risk of slipping into its second recession in as many years as a result of lockdowns of the country’s two most populous states, Victoria and New South Wales.
Victoria on Sunday recorded 392 COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, down slightly from the 450 cases recorded in the state a day earlier.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Edge Media staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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]]>The post Lockdowns cannot go on forever : Scott Morrison appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>With over half of all Australians stuck in weeks-long lockdowns to curb the highly infectious Delta strain, Morrison said the country had to move forward and start reducing restrictions as more people became vaccinated.
“(Lockdowns) cannot go on forever. This is not a sustainable way to live in this country,” he said during a televised media conference in Canberra.
“This groundhog day has to end, and it will end when we start getting to 70% and 80% (vaccination rates).”
Morrison spoke just as tighter restrictions took effect in Australia’s largest city, Sydney. As of Monday, masks are mandated outside the home, except when exercising, and a night time curfew is in place in the 12 worst-affected council areas.
The federal government last month unveiled a four-stage plan to relax restrictions once 70% of its 25 million people aged over 16 are vaccinated, with stringent lockdowns “unlikely” to be required.
When vaccination coverage reaches 80% only “highly targeted lockdowns” would be necessary and inoculated Australians would be free to travel interstate.
Differences have emerged between states that want to maintain a focus on suppressing the virus and the largest state of New South Wales, which is seeking a path out of lockdowns through vaccinations following a large Delta outbreak.
Western Australia and Queensland states, which are largely coronavirus-free, have flagged they may still maintain some restrictions even when vaccination targets are reached.
They say the national plan, which was agreed before the NSW outbreak, was based on having only small outbreaks present in the community.
On Monday, NSW reported 818 cases, most of them in Sydney, slightly down from the record 830 a day earlier.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian urged people to focus less on cases and more on the immunisation rollout.
“Once you get to 80% double dose, every state will have to live with COVID. You cannot keep Delta out forever,” she said.
In Victoria, home to Melbourne, 71 new cases were detected with 55 having spent time in the community while infectious, which state Premier Daniel Andrews said could derail plans to exit lockdown on Sept. 2.
While Australia has managed the pandemic better than many other developed countries, a slow vaccine rollout has taken the gloss off its early success.
Nationally, 30% of people above 16 are fully vaccinated, while 52% have had a least one dose. Vaccinations are running at a record pace but the target of 80% fully vaccinated will not be reached until December at the current rate.
Australia has reported just over 44,600 cases in total. There have been 984 deaths, although the death rate has declined since last year.
Separately on Monday, South Australia said it would be the first state to trial home quarantine for people returning from other states, with an app used to track whether people are staying home.
If successful the trial would be used for some returning international travelers to ease pressure on hotel quarantine.
(This story has not been edited by The Edge Media staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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]]>The post As Tamil Nadu Announces More Lockdown Relaxations, Movie Theatres will Reopen on August 23 appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>All colleges will reopen on September 1, while cinemas will be able to operate with 50% occupancy starting August 23, beaches would be available to the public, and public transportation in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka will resume.
Schools will reopen on a rotational basis for Classes IX, X, XI, and XII beginning September 1. There will be a noon meal program implemented. After deliberation, an announcement regarding the resumption of classes for Classes I through VII will be made. From September 1, all colleges will operate on a rotational basis. Vaccination should have been required for all teaching and non-teaching staff.
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]]>The post Covid-19: From Monday, The Delhi Government will Lift the 8 p.m. Market Limit appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>Due to Covid-19, markets in Delhi were allowed to operate until 8 p.m., according to a translation of Kejriwal’s Hindi tweet. Due to a decrease in cases, this limitation will be lifted on Monday. Markets can now open at their regular times.
After a lockdown was established on April 19 because of a spike in cases during the second Covid-19 wave, several markets were blocked in the national capital. Later, with proper adherence to Covid-appropriate behavior and official rules, one weekly market in each municipal zone was authorized to open.
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]]>The post New zealand declares snap 3-day lockdown after 1st covid case in 6 months. appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>Ardern said New Zealand, which had not recorded any infections in the community for six months, could not take any chances with the “game changer” Delta strain.
“We have seen what can happen elsewhere if we fail to get on top of it. We only get one chance,” Ardern said in a televised national address.
The New Zealand leader cited Australia’s struggles to contain the highly transmissible Delta variant for her “short, sharp” reaction to the case, which was found in a 58-year-old Auckland man.
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]]>The post Iran to impose 6 day long general lockdown appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>The lockdown includes all bazaars, markets and public offices, as well as movie theaters, gyms and restaurants in all Iranian cities.
The lockdown will begin on Monday and will last through Saturday.
The national coronavirus taskforce, which issued the decision, also ordered a travel ban between all Iranian cities from Sunday to Friday.
Also on Saturday, Iran reported 466 deaths and 29,700 new cases of coronavirus patients in a single day. That brought the total pandemic death toll to 97,208, and total confirmed cases to 4,389,085.
Last week, Iran hit a record in both its single-day death toll and confirmed new cases of Covid-19, with 42,541 new coronavirus cases and a daily death toll of 588.
Iran is struggling to vaccinate its people against the pandemic. Like much of the world, it remains far behind countries like the United States in vaccinations, with only 3.8 million of its more than 80 million people having received both vaccine doses.
Many front-line medical workers have been vaccinated with Iran’s locally produced shots, or the Chinese state-backed Sinopharm vaccine that may be less effective than other inoculations.
Iran’s government announced that its homemade vaccine provides 85% protection from the coronavirus, without disclosing data or details. Iran also imports Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, as well as the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot through the United Nations-backed COVAX program.
So far, authorities have avoided imposing heavy-handed rules on a population badly equipped to bear them. Iran, which has suffered the worst virus outbreak in the region, is reeling from a series of crises: tough US sanctions, global isolation, a heat wave, the worst blackouts in recent memory and ongoing protests over water and electricity shortages.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, in January slammed shut any possibility of American or British vaccines entering the country, calling them “forbidden.”
For now, the majority of Iranians receiving vaccines rely on foreign-made shots. A health ministry spokesman said that Iran could import Western vaccines “as long as they’re not produced in the US or Britain.”
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]]>The post Lockdown extends in Melbourne appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>The city entered its sixth pandemic lockdown last Thursday after a fresh Delta variant cluster emerged at a Melbourne school and quickly spread.
Daniel Andrews, the premier of the state of Victoria, said lockdown rules will be extended until at least August 19, after 20 new cases were detected overnight including several “mystery” cases.
There are too many cases, the origins of which are not clear to us… for us to safely come out of lockdown now,” he said.
In Sydney, more than five million people are enduring their seventh week under stay-at-home orders, currently scheduled to remain until the end of August.
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]]>The post Delta variant becoming dangerous for Australia appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>Australia’s three largest cities were in lockdown on Saturday, as New South Wales recorded 319 community cases of the virus and five more deaths — a third straight day of record case numbers.
With the virus continuing to spread through Sydney’s sprawling suburbs, despite the city heading into its seventh week of lockdown, state Health Minister Brad Hazzard expressed frustration that people appeared to be ignoring restrictions and urged residents to stay at home.
“That is the biggest thing you can do for all of us and for yourself, to make sure that we beat this Delta virus that is wreaking havoc across the world,” Hazzard told media.
He also announced that the city of Armidale, about six hours’ drive northwest of Sydney, would join around 60 percent of Australia’s 25 million residents already under stay-at-home orders.
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]]>The post Karnataka Government announces weekend lockdown appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>At least 8 border Districts of Karnataka including Mysore, Chamaraja Nagar, Mangalore, Kodagu
Belagavi, Bidar, Kalaburgi and Vijayapura, will be under strict vigilance
The Chief Minister on Friday chaired a meeting with health and education experts, Ministers and senior officials of the state government to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the state.
“We have discussed the current COVID situation, also some directions have come at the all-India level about the possible increase or decrease in the positivity rate in the days to come, based on that we have come to certain decisions,” Bommai said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, we have decided to impose weekend curfew in districts bordering Kerala and Maharashtra and the night curfew in force across the state will begin from 9 PM itself instead of 10 PM (it will be from 9 PM to 5 AM), and police have been asked to implement it strictly.
Currently, night curfew in the state is from 10 PM to 5 AM.
Kerala has been reporting more than 20,000 fresh Covid cases in the past 10 days. Following the spike, Karnataka has made it mandatory for travellers from Kerala and Maharashtra to produce a negative RT-PCR test report irrespective of their vaccination status.
Persons arriving from Kerala, Maharashtra should produce a negative RT-PCR certificate, that is not older than 72 hours. The condition applies for all the passengers arrivingto Karnataka by flight, bus, train and personal transport.
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