Oceania

Melbourne drops COVID-zero plans, shifts focus to rapid vaccinations

Australian authorities on Wednesday extended the COVID-19 lockdown in Melbourne for another three weeks, as they shift their focus to rapid vaccination drives and move away from a suppression strategy…

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Australia in vaccine swap pact with Singapore as COVID-19 cases surge

Australia will receive 500,000 doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine from Singapore this week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday, after Canberra agreed a swap deal in a bid to curtail surging coronavirus…

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Australia considering new laws for Apple, Google, WeChat digital wallets

The Australian government is considering new laws that would tighten the regulation of digital payment services by tech giants such as Apple and Alphabet's Google. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said he…

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Australian state warns COVID-19 hospitalisations to peak in October

Australia's most populous state New South Wales, the epicentre of its current COVID-19 outbreak, will hit a peak in intensive care hospitalisations in October as cases accumulate, amid reporting of…

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UPDATED: New Zealand’s Auckland to stay in lockdown for two more weeks

New Zealand's largest city Auckland will stay under an alert level 4 lockdown for another two weeks, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday. Addressing a news conference, Ardern said…

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UPDATED: New Zealand reports first death linked to Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine

New Zealand reported its first recorded death linked to U.S. drugmaker Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, the health ministry said on Monday, after a woman suffered a rare side effect leading to…

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Australia’s COVID-19 cases hit new record as ‘reopening’ debate heats up

MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Australia logged a record 1,323 local COVID-19 cases on Sunday as debate rages on whether the country should start living with the virus in the community, after initially…

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Australia’s New South Wales reports record 1,218 COVID-19 cases

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, reported a record 1,218 locally acquired COVID-19 infections on Sunday, exceeding the previous day's record of 1,035. Six more people…

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Australia logs record COVID-19 cases, driven by New South Wales

Australia reported a record 1,126 coronavirus infectious on Saturday, the vast majority in New South Wales, the epicentre of the Delta-fuelled outbreak. More than half of Australians have been in…

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Virgin Australia to add 9 planes to fleet ahead of expected travel rebound

Virgin Australia said on Friday it would add nine Boeing Co 737-800 planes to its fleet from October in preparation for an expected increase in domestic travel as vaccination rates…

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UK banking app Revolut seeks Australian licence

British-based digital banking app Revolut is seeking a banking licence in Australia and is engaged in talks with the country's regulators to be allowed to take customer deposits, country head…

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New Zealand eases nationwide lockdown but Auckland shut off

New Zealand on Friday extended pandemic restrictions by four days after which they will be eased slightly, although businesses and schools will remain shut and the biggest city Auckland will…

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Sydney cases dip as Australia debates COVID-19 reopening plans

Sydney's COVID-19 cases slightly eased on Friday but still hovered near record levels as the Australian federal government looks to press states to stick to a national reopening plan once…

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Australian businesses were spending big before lockdowns bit

Australian business investment jumped to two-year highs in the June quarter as firms ramped up spending plans for the year ahead, bullish plans that are now being threatened by coronavirus…

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Sydney hospitals erect emergency tents as COVID-19 cases hit record

Australia's new daily cases of COVID-19 topped 1,000 on Thursday for the first time since the global pandemic began, as two major hospitals in Sydney set up emergency outdoor tents…

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New Zealand’s Ardern says lockdown working to limit Delta spread

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the strict nationwide lockdown enforced to stamp out COVID-19 was helping limit the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant, even as the…

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Qantas aims for international travel from December

Qantas Airways Ltd on Thursday said it was preparing for international travel with countries with high vaccine rates to resume in December, sending shares higher, as it reported a narrower…

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New Zealand COVID-19 Delta outbreak spreading rapidly as cases jump

New Zealand on Tuesday recorded its highest increase in COVID-19 cases since April 2020, as authorities warned this current outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus was like dealing with a…

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Australia pandemic panel backs reopening targets despite Sydney outbreak

Australia can proceed with its reopening plans when the country reaches 70%-80% vaccination levels, the government's pandemic modelling adviser said, even as some states hinted they may not ease border…

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New Zealand’s COVID-19 strategy criticised as lockdown extended

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern extended New Zealand's coronavirus lockdown on Monday, saying the current outbreak has not peaked, as criticism mounts of her strategy to eliminate COVID-19 amid the slow…

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Australia PM backs reopening targets, says COVID-19 lockdowns unsustainable

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday the country must begin to ease strict COVID-19 restrictions once vaccination rates increase, with over half of all Australians enduring weeks-long lockdowns…

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New Zealand’s COVID-19 lockdown extended as outbreak tops 100 cases

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday extended New Zealand's strict nationwide COVID-19 lockdown saying the current outbreak of the Delta variant of the coronavirus had not yet peaked. The level…

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Australian PM Morrison defends lockdown strategy as daily cases hit record

Prime Minister Scott Morrison defended on Sunday Australia's lockdown strategy for tackling the coronavirus, saying it would stay until at least 70% of population is fully vaccinated, as daily infections…

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Police arrest hundreds of protesters as Australia reports record COVID-19 cases

MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Australian police arrested hundreds of anti-lockdown protesters in Melbourne and Sydney on Saturday and seven officers were hospitalised as a result of clashes, as the country saw its…

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Sydney imposes nightly curfew as Australia battles Delta outbreak

Two million residents of Sydney will be under nightly curfew from next week to slow the highly infectious Delta variant of coronavirus that is spreading across New South Wales state,…

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New Zealand’s Ardern extends lockdown as virus outbreak widens

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern extended a nationwide lockdown on Friday as the number of COVID-19 cases in the country jumped and the outbreak widened beyond its largest city,…

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Delta outbreak exposes New Zealand’s low vaccination rates

New Zealand's coronavirus cases jumped on Thursday, as questions grew about the government's response to the pandemic given the slowest vaccination rate among developed countries and the economic pressures of…

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Sydney vaccine rollout sped up as Australia’s COVID-19 cases hit high

Australian authorities began doling out emergency COVID-19 vaccine supplies on Thursday in the Sydney suburbs worst hit by an outbreak of the fast-moving Delta strain, as the country reported its…

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New Zealand identifies Delta outbreak origin as cases jump

New Zealand's COVID-19 outbreak jumped to 21 cases on Thursday, but the authorities said the virus may not have been in the community for long as they linked its origin…

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Australia’s Qantas to require all employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19

Qantas Airways Ltd said on Wednesday it would require all of its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as part of its broader commitment to safety, in line with some…

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Sydney warned worse to come as Delta cases surge

Sydney's Delta outbreak has not peaked and residents must brace for more deaths, authorities said on Wednesday, as Australia's largest city continued to break records for new daily infections despite…

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New Zealanders begin life in lockdown, Delta cases edge up

New Zealand's city streets were largely deserted on Wednesday as the country returned to life in lockdown for the first time in six months in a bid to halt any…

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Sydney COVID-19 cases set to rise, hospitals under pressure

COVID-19 cases are set to "rise substantially" in Sydney in the coming weeks despite a prolonged lockdown, authorities said on Tuesday, warning soaring infections have already put hospitals under enormous strain. Australia,…

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Sydney records deadliest day of COVID-19 pandemic, Melbourne lockdown extended

Australia's biggest city of Sydney recorded its deadliest day of the COVID-19 pandemic on Monday, while residents in Melbourne face a nightly curfew and a further two weeks of lockdown…

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Australia’s New South Wales reports 415 new COVID-19 cases, near record high

SYDNEY, Aug 15 (Reuters) - New South Wales reported 415 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, down from the previous day's record 466, as Australia's most populous state…

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Sydney lockdown fines raised as Australia faces ‘worst’ COVID-19 situation

Australia will increase fines to people breaching lockdown rules in the state of New South Wales as it battles a record jump in local COVID-19 infections and Sydney, the state…

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Sydney daily COVID-19 cases hit record high, more troops to enforce lockdown

Hundreds more defence personnel will deploy next week to Sydney to help enforce the city's lockdown after authorities on Friday reported the biggest daily rise in COVID-19 cases from the…

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Sydney to tighten COVID-19 curbs, Australian capital to enter lockdown

Extra Australian military personnel may be called in to ensure compliance with lockdown rules in Sydney, the New South Wales state government said on Thursday, as the highly infectious Delta…

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Fortress New Zealand eyes opening to vaccinated travellers early 2022

New Zealand plans to allow quarantine-free entry to vaccinated travellers from low-risk countries from early 2022, as it looks to open its borders again after nearly 18 months of pandemic-induced…

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Melbourne COVID lockdown extended for week after 20 new cases reported

Australia's second-biggest city Melbourne will stay locked down for a second week after reporting 20 new COVID-19 cases as it struggles to stamp out infections caused by the highly infectious Delta variant…

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New Zealand mourns death of Olympic cyclist Podmore at 24

New Zealand cycling was plunged into mourning on Tuesday after Olympian Olivia Podmore's sudden death at the age of 24. Podmore represented her country at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2018 Commonwealth…

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Lockdown crackdown: Sydney police to step up enforcement after COVID record

Australian authorities on Tuesday vowed to crank up policing of anti-COVID lockdown rules in Sydney, but dismissed suggestions that tougher measures, including a curfew, were needed after the city reported its…

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Australia expands COVID-19 lockdown over concern of spread to countryside

Australian authorities expanded a COVID-19 lockdown to the rural town of Tamworth on Monday due to fears the coronavirus may have spread from the city of Sydney into the countryside,…

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Australia PM’s ratings hit pandemic lows amid lockdowns

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's public approval rating hit its lowest level since the pandemic began amid growing frustration over lockdowns and a sluggish vaccination drive, according to a poll…

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Virus-free New Zealand plans border reopening amid labour shortage

Under pressure from businesses and public sectors facing a worker shortage that policymakers fear will fuel inflation, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is due to unveil plans this week…

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Australia’s New South Wales state expands COVID-19 lockdown

Australia's most populous state of New South Wales expanded its COVID-19 lockdown to the rural town of Tamworth on Monday due to concerns the virus may have spread from Sydney…

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Australia’s east coast continues to struggle with Delta outbreaks

Australia's three most populous states of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland reported a total of 282 COVID-19 new locally acquired infections on Sunday, with authorities struggling to quell outbreaks…

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Australia suffers worst COVID day this year with millions in lockdown

MELBOURNE, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Australia saw a record daily number of new coronavirus cases this year on Saturday, with the country's most populous states of New South Wales, Victoria…

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Delta spreads in Sydney as Australia widens COVID-19 restrictions

Australian officials warned Sydney residents on Friday to brace for a surge in COVID-19 cases after the country's largest city logged record infections for the second straight day despite a…

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Australia to adopt Magnitsky style sanctions law

Australia will adopt a sanctions law similar to the U.S. Magnitsky Act that allows targeted financial sanctions and travel bans against individuals who are "perpetrators of egregious acts of international…

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Sydney suffers worst pandemic day as lockdown nears six weeks

Sydney reported its worst day of the COVID-19 pandemic on Thursday with five deaths and a record rise in locally acquired infections as a weeks-long hard lockdown is struggling to…

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Australia records one of its youngest COVID-19 deaths amid Sydney outbreak

SYDNEY, Aug 4 (Reuters) - An Australian man in his 20s died at home of COVID-19 in Sydney, authorities said on Wednesday, one of the country's youngest coronavirus deaths. The…

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Sydney’s ticket out of COVID lockdown? Six million shots

Australia's New South Wales, home to Sydney, said on Tuesday it could ease a COVID-19 lockdown that demands five million people stay at home until the end of August if 50% of the…

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New Zealand’s PM Ardern apologises for 1970s immigration raids on Pacific community

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern issued a sombre state apology on Sunday to the Pacific community for racially targeted immigration raids in the 1970s that resulted in deportations and…

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Australia’s east coast battles rising COVID-19 cases

MELBOURNE, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Australia's east coast states of New South Wales and Queensland faced an escalating battle against the COVID-19 Delta variant on Sunday, with millions under strict…

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A look at Australia’s path to reopening international borders

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a four-stage plan to greater freedom from coronavirus restrictions, saying Australia will have to vaccinate 80% of its adults against COVID-19 before it can…

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COVID-19 cases surge in Sydney, police cordon off downtown to prevent rally

New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, reported 210 locally acquired cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, as police cordoned off downtown Sydney with multiple checkpoints to prevent a planned anti-lockdown…

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