Australia s second-largest city comes out of 3rd lockdown news4jax.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from news4jax.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Japan Approves Pfizer Shot; Auckland Locked Down: Virus Update
Bloomberg 2/14/2021
The pace of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. continued to ease as the country’s week-to-week average fell to its lowest in almost four months. The White House issued its strongest criticism yet of the World Health Organization’s handling of the investigation into the origins of the virus and China’s involvement in the probe’s findings.
New Zealand imposed a three-day lockdown on Auckland with the discovery of several local cases, bringing an abrupt halt to the country’s summer of unrestricted movement. Melbourne recorded only one community infection, bringing hope that its lockdown can be lifted this week.
The Victorian government has not learnt too much from the way it bungled hotel quarantine last year which is why the state has been plunged into another state-wide lockdown, according to Sky News host Chris Smith.
All of Victoria began a five-day snap lockdown in an effort to contain the Holiday Inn coronavirus outbreak and avoid a third wave.
There have been 13 cases of the UK strain of the virus linked to the hotel and Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews hopes the lockdown will be a "circuit breaker" to stop the spread.
Mr Smith said the Victorian state government has shown itself to be incompetent when it comes to dealing with COVID-19.
"What a totally incompetent bunch, unable to enforce their own rules, unable to answer basic questions," he said.
"It's the same ducking and weaving the Premier relied on, most of last year, when he didn't remember who gave the green light to security guards running Hotel quarantine."
It will be ruinous and unsustainable if Victoria continues to enforce snap lockdowns every time there is a COVID-19 leak from a quarantine hotel, according to infectious diseases expert Professor Peter Collignon.
All of Victoria began a five-day snap lockdown in an effort to contain the Holiday Inn coronavirus outbreak and avoid a third wave.
There have been 13 cases of the highly transmissible UK strain of the virus linked to the hotel and Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews hopes the lockdown will be a "circuit breaker" to stop the spread.
There are various strains of COVID-19 emerging around the world.
The B.1.1.7 variant, which was first detected in the UK, may be 36 to 71 per cent more transmissible than the original COVID-19 strain.
"I think the UK strain is given a bit more hype than what it deserves in my view," Professor Collignon said.
"So yes it does spread more easily but to put it into perspective, if you have two or three people with the Ame
All of Victoria has begun a five-day snap lockdown in an effort to contain the Holiday Inn coronavirus outbreak and avoid a third wave.
There have been 13 cases of the highly transmissible UK strain of the virus linked to the hotel and Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews hopes the lockdown will be a "circuit breaker" to stop the spread.
Under the stage-four restrictions, Victorians are only permitted to leave home to shop for essentials, caregiving for compassionate reasons, for essential work or permitted education - when it cannot be done from home, and for exercise for two hours a day with household members, an intimate partner, or one person from another household.
Mr Andrews also suggested the number of travellers retuning from overseas should be reconsidered due to the new strain of the virus.
“From a quarantine point of view, we’re not dealing with the virus we were dealing with last year,” he said.
“We’re dealing with a very different strain, it moves faste