Australia and Oceania

New Zealand reaches 100-day milestone without virus transmission

WELLINGTON, United States (AFP) — New Zealand marked 100 days on Sunday with no recorded cases of the coronavirus in the community but health officials warned there was no room for complacency. There are still 23 active cases but all were detected at the border when entering the country and are being held in managed isolation facilities. “Achieving 100 days without community transmission is a significant milestone, however, as we all know, we can’t afford […]

Stage 4 restrictions in Melbourne, regional Victoria enters stage 3

  Daryl Castillejos Eagle News Service MELBOURNE, Australia (Eagle News) — Victoria has now entered a State of Disaster, with Metropolitan Melbourne moving to stage 4 restrictions while regional Victoria entered Stage 3. On Sunday August 2, new restrictions were introduced for Melbourne and the regional Victoria by the Victorian Government. Daniel Andrews, Victorian Premier, announced that Melbourne (except Mitchell Shire) will be moving to stage 4 restrictions from 2nd of August and will continue […]

Melbourne enters Australia’s toughest virus lockdown

MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s second-largest city entered the country’s toughest lockdown yet on Thursday, sparking a fresh wave of anxiety and confusion over ever-tougher regulations. Melbourne’s streets were visibly quieter as non-essential businesses were forced to shutter under new coronavirus rules expected to be in place for six weeks. A second lockdown for the state capital of Victoria began in early July but additional regulations came into force overnight, requiring hundreds of thousands more […]

Australia records deadliest day of pandemic so far

MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s worst-hit state of Victoria reported 15 coronavirus deaths on Wednesday, including a man in his 30s, making it the country’s deadliest day of the pandemic to date. An outbreak in Melbourne, Australia’s second-biggest city and the capital of Victoria, has seen hundreds of new cases recorded daily in recent weeks, including 725 on Wednesday. The epidemic surge continued even though Melbourne has been under a stay-at-home lockdown for nearly a […]

Australian killed in Beirut explosions: PM

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — An Australian was among the dead after massive explosions devastated Beirut’s port on Tuesday and killed dozens, Australia’s prime minister said. “It’s my deep regret to inform you that one Australian has been killed in this horrific blast,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told The Today Show without providing further details. Two enormous explosions killed at least 73 people and injured thousands, shaking distant buildings and spreading panic and chaos in the […]

Australian city begins curfew as global virus cases top 18 million

  by Carly Waters, with AFP Bureaus Agence France Presse MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s second-largest city started a six-week curfew and the Philippine capital was ordered back into lockdown, as the number of global coronavirus cases on Monday topped 18 million. The spread of the virus is gathering pace with worldwide deaths nearing 700,000, and a White House adviser warning that it was “extraordinarily widespread” in the United States — the worst-hit nation. There […]

Global virus cases top 18 million as Australian city imposes curfew

by AFP Bureaus MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — The number of coronavirus cases recorded worldwide topped 18 million on Monday with the illness continuing its march, after Australia’s second-largest city imposed a curfew to halt the spread. Six months after the World Health Organization declared a global emergency, the virus has killed more than 687,000 people since it first emerged in China late last year, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources. Fresh clusters […]

Melbourne orders compulsory masks as Australia battles coronavirus

  by Tania Lee Agence France Presse MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Anyone venturing out in Australia’s second-biggest city was ordered Thursday to wear a mask as authorities struggle to contain multiple coronavirus clusters in the country’s southeast. Most people seen by AFP on the quiet streets of Melbourne’s city centre wore masks in the second week of a six-week local lockdown. Victoria state, of which Melbourne is the capital, recorded 422 coronavirus cases on Thursday […]

Plan to cull nearly 2,000 kangaroos in Australia pushes through amid COVID pandemic, says ACT gov’t

By Rohnczel Castro EBC Canberra Bureau (Eagle News) — This year, the government of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) aims to remove a total of 1,958 Eastern Gray Kangaroo from nine priority reserves in Canberra amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This was earlier announced by the ACT Open Government which said that the culling, which it does yearly to control the kangaroo population in Canberra, had started in June. Canberra, the bush capital of Australia, is […]

Australia posts record number of new coronavirus infections

MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Australia reported a record 502 new coronavirus infections Wednesday, nearly four months after the epidemic initially peaked, with authorities warning the country was entering a critical new phase. Most of the new cases were reported in the southeastern state of Victoria, where authorities have struggled to bring an outbreak in Melbourne under control despite an almost two-week lockdown in Australia’s second-biggest city. Australia’s new coronavirus infections previously peaked on March 28 […]

Australian virus resurgence forces suspension of parliament

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s parliament will be suspended for two weeks over fears that politicians could bring coronavirus from outbreak hotspots to the country’s capital, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Saturday. The postponement comes a day after the nation’s second-biggest city reported a record rise in COVID-19 infections. Citing medical advice, Morrison said the government could not ignore the risk that legislators might spread the disease to Canberra. “The risks posed by a parliamentary […]

Shark pulls 10-year-old from fishing boat in Australia

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A shark “grabbed” a 10-year-old boy from a fishing boat off Australia on Friday but swam off after his father jumped in to save him, officials said. The boy was taken to hospital in stable condition with cuts to his arm, chest and head after the attack off the coast of the island state of Tasmania, the local government reported. The child was wearing a life vest as he accompanied his […]