Oceania

Sydney COVID-19 cases ease amid tightening of lockdown rules

Sydney on Friday reported a slight easing in locally acquired cases of COVID-19 amid a further tightening of restrictions in the worst-affected suburbs, with the military summoned to help enforce…

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Australian military to help enforce Sydney COVID-19 lockdown as cases rise

Australia's military will help enforce a lockdown in Sydney after the city of 6 million posted a record daily rise in COVID-19 cases on Thursday and state authorities said the…

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New Zealand gives provisional nod to AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine

New Zealand's health regulator Medsafe has granted provisional approval for the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for individuals 18 years of age and older, acting minister for COVID-19 response, Dr Ayesha Verrall,…

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Sydney posts record daily COVID-19 cases, police powers extended to enforce lockdown

Delta outbreak in Australia's biggest city Sydney grew by 239 cases on Thursday, the highest daily rise since the pandemic started, forcing authorities to increase police powers to shut down…

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Sydney adds four weeks to lockdown as Australia COVID-19 cases spike

The Australian city of Sydney extended a lockdown by four weeks on Wednesday after an already protracted stay-at-home order failed to douse a COVID-19 outbreak, with the authorities warning of…

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Australia’s Victoria to ease COVID-19 curbs, Sydney cases rise

Australia's Victoria state said on Tuesday it will lift a strict lockdown after curtailing the spread of COVID-19, while neighbouring New South Wales faces an extension of restrictions after daily new cases…

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Dieter Brummer: Home and Away actor dies aged 45

Australian actor Dieter Brummer, who was best known for his role as Shane Parrish on TV soap Home And Away, has died aged 45. Brummer was found dead at a…

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Australia sees COVID-19 cases climb, police warn against protest repeat

Australia's most populous state reported a rise in new COVID-19 cases on Monday despite a weeks-long stay-at-home order, while police vowed to crack down on any repeat of a wild…

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Australians may face longer lockdown after mass protests

Australia's New South Wales logged its second-highest daily increase in locally acquired COVID-19 cases of the year on Sunday amid fears of a wave of new infections after thousands of…

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Australia’s COVID-19 outbreak worsens in Sydney

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, on Saturday reported a new daily high of COVID-19 infections for a third straight day this year, in a worsening…

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Sydney’s COVID-19 outbreak throws harsh spotlight on Australia vaccine rollout

Australia's New South Wales state on Friday reported its biggest daily rise in new COVID-19 cases this year, prompting a tighter lockdown in Sydney and a request for additional vaccine…

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Photo Story – Daily life amid COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria, Australia

A person wearing a face mask is seen in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 23 July 2021. Victoria has recorded 14 new cases of locally acquired COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.…

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Australia’s drug regulator approves Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for 12 to 15-year-olds

Australia's drug regulator has approved Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for use with 12 to 15-year-olds, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Friday, as the country fights an outbreak of the…

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Australian states squabble as NSW seeks vaccine priority amid COVID ’emergency’

Australia's largest state of New South Wales on Friday urged the federal government to divert vaccine doses to Sydney, the epicentre of a flaring COVID-19 outbreak, raising objections from other…

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Bubble burst: New Zealand suspends quarantine-free travel with Australia

New Zealand will pause its quarantine-free travel arrangement with Australia for at least eight weeks starting Friday night, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, as Australia fights an outbreak of the…

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Australian regulator to probe Amazon, eBay among online markets

The Australian antitrust regulator on Thursday began an inquiry into the local units of Amazon.com Inc, eBay Inc and other online markets to ensure fairness in a sector where sales…

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Australian PM apologises for COVID-19 vaccine delays as cases spike

Australia's prime minister apologised for a sluggish COVID-19 vaccination programme on Thursday, while the country's most populous state reported its biggest one-day spike in infections in 16 months and warned…

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Coronavirus cases in Australia spike again despite weeks-long lockdown

Coronavirus cases in Australia spiked again on Thursday, despite a weeks-long lockdown, with authorities warning that infections would rise more and take a toll on the economy as the country…

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Australia’s Brisbane named host of 2032 summer Olympic Games

TOKYO, July 21 (Reuters) - The Australian city of Brisbane will host the 2032 summer Olympics, after the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday approved the recommendation of its executive board.…

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Australia, under lockdown, sees jump in COVID-19 cases

Australia's two largest states reported sharp increases in new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, a blow to hopes that lockdown restrictions would be lifted with more than half the country's population…

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Australia man ties bedsheets together to escape 4th floor hotel quarantine – police

A man in the Australian city of Perth escaped mandatory quarantine in a hotel by scaling down a rope made of tied together bedsheets from a fourth-floor window, police said on…

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Australia’s Victoria extends COVID-19 lockdown by seven days

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's Victoria state extended its COVID-19 lockdown by seven days until July 27 as officials sought more time to quell an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta…

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Australian PM Morrison’s approval rating slumps on slow vaccine rollout

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's approval ratings fell to the lowest level in more than a year, according to a poll published on Monday, as a sluggish COVID-19 vaccine rollout…

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UPDATED: Australia to extend COVID-19 lockdown in Victoria amid Delta outbreak, woman from Sydney dies of COVID

Australian authorities said Victoria state would extend a COVID-19 lockdown beyond Tuesday to slow the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant, despite a slight drop in new infections in…

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Australia, under lockdown, reports slight dip in COVID-19 cases

SYDNEY, July 18 (Reuters) - The Australian state of Victoria reported a slight dip in new COVID-19 infections on Sunday, raising hope a short lockdown would quash an outbreak of…

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EPA’s Eye in the Sky: Harden, Australia

An aerial view of a canola crop near Harden, New South Wales, in Australia. Photo: EPA-EFE/MICK TSIKAS

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Sydney tightens lockdown as Australia’s COVID-19 cases rise

The Australian city of Sydney on Saturday ordered a shutdown of building sites, banned non-essential retail and threatened fines for employers who make staff come into the office as new…

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Australia races to stem COVID-19 outbreaks in Sydney, Melbourne

Australian officials urged people to obey lockdown measures that cover around 40% of the country's population as an outbreak of the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant again picked up pace…

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UPDATED: Melbourne enters lockdown, joining Sydney as virus spreads in Australia

The Australian state of Victoria was ordered into a five-day lockdown on Thursday following a spike in COVID-19 infections, joining Sydney city as the country's two main population hubs battle…

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Australia extends Sydney lockdown as COVID-19 outbreak nears 900 infections

SYDNEY, July 14 (Reuters) - Australian authorities extended a lockdown in Sydney on Wednesday by at least 14 days, after three weeks of initial restrictions failed to stamp out the…

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Sydney’s COVID-19 cases ease but lockdown extension still on cards

Australian authorities reported a slight easing in new COVID-19 cases in Sydney on Tuesday, but left open the possibility of extending a lockdown in the country's largest city to douse an outbreak…

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New Zealand’s Ardern to chair special leaders’ meeting on pandemic

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will chair an informal meeting of leaders from countries in the Asia-Pacific trade group APEC this week to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic and…

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Australia’s COVID-19 Delta outbreak worsens despite Sydney lockdown

The prospect of an extended lockdown in Sydney loomed on Monday as Australian health officials reported yet another record daily rise in COVID-19 cases for the year, fuelled by the…

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Australia reports first 2021 COVID-19 death, highest case number

Australia reported its first coronavirus-related death of the year on Sunday and a 2021 record 77 new cases of the virus in the state of New South Wales, which is…

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Australia’s New South Wales reports 2021 record daily rise in COVID-19 cases

MELBOURNE, July 10 (Reuters) - Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, reported on Saturday its biggest daily rise in locally acquired cases of COVID-19 so far this year, as…

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Sydney to face prolonged COVID-19 lockdown amid record 2021 cases

Australian authorities on Friday pleaded with Sydney residents to stay at home, warning a three week lockdown may be extended as they struggle to control a COVID-19 outbreak, with the…

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Sydney sees worst day of 2021 as Delta COVID-19 outbreak spreads

Australia's New South Wales state on Thursday reported its biggest daily rise in locally acquired cases of COVID-19 for the year as officials struggle to stamp out a growing cluster…

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New Zealand industry ire grows as closed borders worsen labour shortages

New Zealand's closed borders have helped keep COVID-19 out of the Pacific nation, but a critical shortage of migrant labour is now fuelling protests among businesses and workers struggling with…

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Sydney locked down for another week as Delta COVID variant spreads

The leader of Australia's New South Wales (NSW) state on Wednesday ordered a week-long extension of Sydney's COVID-19 lockdown, warning new cases are bound to rise as the country's biggest…

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As COVID cases rise, Australia’s New South Wales says next 2 days ‘critical’

Australia's New South Wales (NSW) on Monday said the next two days would be "absolutely critical" in deciding whether a two-week anti-coronavirus lockdown in Sydney, set to end on July…

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Australian officials report biggest daily COVID-19 caseload for 2021

Australia's New South Wales state recorded its biggest daily rise in COVID-19 infections this year, even as residents in several major cities across the country were released from snap lockdowns…

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Australian job vacancies surge to record, firms struggle to find workers

Job vacancies in Australia hit record highs in the May quarter to be 57% above pre-pandemic levels, while businesses in all sectors reported difficulties in finding workers in a rapidly…

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Australia to halve arrivals from overseas

Australia will halve the number of arrivals from overseas as its coronavirus hotel quarantine system creaks under pressure from outbreaks of the highly transmissible Delta variant, Prime Minister Scott Morrison…

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Cruise operator Carnival’s units cancel Australian voyages through mid-December

Carnival Corp's Princess Cruises and P&O Cruises Australia cancelled voyages in and out of the country through mid-December, citing uncertainty regarding the resumption of cruise holidays. Australia banned the entry…

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Photo Story – Fog in Sydney amid lockdown

A ferry under the Sydney Harbour Bridge shrouded in fog in Sydney, Australia, 30 June 2021. More than five million people in Greater Sydney and its surrounds have gone into…

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Australia’s NSW state says Delta outbreak grows despite lockdown

Australia's New South Wales (NSW) state on Thursday warned that significant numbers of new COVID-19 cases were being found in the community, raising fears of fresh clusters as it reported…

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Sydney’s COVID-19 cases rise, four Australian cities in lockdown

Australia's New South Wales (NSW), the worst-hit state in the country's latest coronavirus outbreak, reported 22 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases on Wednesday as four major cities endure a hard…

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Australia tightens lockdown amid Delta virus outbreak, vaccine chaos

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia reported a slight rise in COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, while officials in several states tightened movement curbs and pushed for vaccinations to limit flare-ups of the highly…

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Three Australian cities lock down in fight against Delta COVID-19 variant

Australia's most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), reported a slight rise in locally acquired COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, while officials tightened curbs to contain flare-ups of the highly infectious Delta variant in several other…

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New Zealand considers mandatory masks, scanning amid COVID Delta variant concerns

New Zealand is considering making masks compulsory at high alert levels as well as compulsory scanning of QR codes to boost contact tracing in efforts to reduce the risk of…

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Australia’s Sydney and Darwin in COVID-19 lockdowns

Sydney began a two-week lockdown on Sunday as a cluster of cases of the highly infectious coronavirus Delta variant rose to 110 in Australia's largest city, while an outbreak in…

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New Zealand extends COVID-19 alert level in capital

New Zealand will extend the COVID-19 alert level in the capital Wellington for two days, as authorities said on Sunday there is still a risk from an Australian tourist who…

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Sydney, Australia’s largest city, in two-week hard COVID-19 lockdown

Sydney and some surrounding areas will enter a hard two-week COVID-19 lockdown on Saturday as authorities struggle to control a fast-spreading outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant that has…

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Downtown Sydney, Bondi head for lockdown as Delta infections spike

Downtown Sydney and the city's eastern suburbs, which include Bondi Beach, will go into a one week lockdown from midnight Friday as authorities struggle to contain a spike in the…

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Sydney faces ‘scariest period’ in pandemic amid Delta outbreak

Australia's most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), reported a double digit rise in new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 for the third straight day as officials fight to contain…

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Unliveable Sydney homes going for millions in Australia housing boom

Sydney houses with crumbling walls, shredded ceilings, and bathrooms and kitchens stripped of fixtures are getting snapped up for millions as buyers try to grab a slice of Australia's soaring…

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Sydney isolated as COVID-19 clusters build; NZ tightens curbs in capital

Australia's largest city of Sydney re-introduced "soft touch" COVID-19 curbs on Wednesday to contain a widening outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant, mandating masks in offices while neighbouring states…

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