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Australia sees worst day of pandemic amid delta outbreak

Australia has suffered its worst day since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, with total daily cases surpassing the previous record posted more than a year ago as a delta variant outbreak spreads as far as New Zealand.

New South Wales recorded 681 new cases, Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters on Thursday in Sydney, where stay-at-home orders have been enforced for almost two months. Meanwhile, Victoria state recorded 57 new infections — more than double from the previous day, and its highest tally since September — as Melbourne endures its sixth lockdown since the pandemic began.

New South Wales, Victoria and Australian Capital Territory recorded a combined 754 cases in their communities on Thursday, surpassing the nation’s previous high of 725 recorded in early August 2020, when Melbourne was in the midst of a lockdown that lasted for three months.

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Authorities are now finding that lockdown strategies that had previously worked to eliminate community transmissions are struggling to contain the spread of the highly-contagious strain, especially as people grow increasingly weary of the stay-home restrictions.

“Everyone will have to learn to live with delta,” Berejiklian said, signaling that her government had abandoned attempts to eliminate the virus. “In New South Wales, we are learning that earlier than” in other states, she said. Ramping up vaccination rates was vital in order to start removing some lockdown restrictions, she added.

Australia’s outbreak has spread to New Zealand, which has entered a strict nationwide lockdown and recorded at least 20 infections. The first community case in New Zealand since February was detected earlier this week, and genome testing has showed a clear link to the delta surge in New South Wales.

Sydney’s outbreak is also increasingly spreading into other areas of Australia, forcing more than half of the country’s 26 million people into lockdown. That’s creating an unprecedented threat to Indigenous communities hundreds of miles from Australia’s most populous city, including in western New South Wales, where more than 150 infections have been detected.

The rapid rise in infections underscores how both nations’ so-called “Covid Zero” strategy — which has seen them rely on restricted international borders and rigorous testing to eliminate community transmission — is under increasing strain.

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The case surge has injected a sense of urgency into Australia’s previously slow vaccine rollout, which has seen Prime Minister Scott Morrison criticized by health experts and political rivals for failing to quickly secure enough shots from a wide range of drugmakers.

As recently as March — when Australia was generally free of the virus — Morrison declared that the inoculation rollout wasn’t a “race.” But the delta variant has flipped the script, with health authorities now trying to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible despite remaining hampered by supply restraints. According to Bloomberg’s Vaccine Tracker, while less than 22% of Australians are fully inoculated, close to 40% have now received at least one dose.

Other states and territories have responded to the coronavirus crisis in southeastern Australia by implementing hard borders to try to keep delta at bay. After a request from Queensland state authorities, defense force soldiers will start patrolling its border with New South Wales to enforce non-essential travel restrictions.

In a bright spot, the tropical northern city of Darwin will exit its three-day lockdown on Thursday after managing to control a delta cluster.

Despite the mounting economic and emotional toll the pandemic and lockdowns are having on Australians, the nation’s top banks say the economy is well positioned to rebound once prolonged stay-at-home orders in Sydney and regional lockdowns lift, with households and firms stronger than at the start of the pandemic.

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“The emotional toll is higher this time as there is a lot of anguish around how we get out of it,” said Andrew Hinchcliff, group executive of institutional banking and markets at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. “But the Australian economy is so well positioned, it will come out of this on a relative basis better than most.”

Published : August 20, 2021

By : Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Jason Scott, Georgina Mckay

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Biden says Taliban in existential crisis over role in world

President Joe Biden said the Taliban are in the midst of an “existential crisis” about their role on the international stage but that he didnt believe the group had fundamentally changed its course.

“Let me put it this way: I think they’re going through sort of an existential crisis about do they want to be recognized by the international community as being a legitimate government,” Biden told George Stephanopoulos of ABC News in an interview that aired Thursday morning. “I’m not sure they do.”

Biden’s comments point to a looming question of whether the U.S. will recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan’s government after they swiftly took control of the country, including the capital city of Kabul. The U.S. has already taken steps to block money from flowing to the Taliban and could opt to negotiate relief from economic sanctions if they agree to block international terrorist groups such as al-Qaida and protect the rights of women and minorities.

But any dealings with the Taliban will be politically fraught for Biden, who has already faced widespread criticism on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers from both parties are calling for more information about the crisis. The House Intelligence Committee is to receive a classified briefing on Afghanistan on Monday from representatives of several intelligence agencies, according to an official familiar with the plans.

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Biden this week has been defending his high-stakes bet that U.S. voters want to end American’s 20-year war in Afghanistan and will forgive him for the searing images of desperate Afghans looking to flee. In earlier excerpts from the interview that aired Wednesday, Biden said U.S. troops would remain in Afghanistan until all Americans are able to leave the country — even if it takes longer than his Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw.

Biden and Pentagon leaders said that American intelligence assessments didn’t foresee such a rapid advance by the Taliban and collapse of the Afghan military, prompting the U.S. to race to evacuate its citizens and Afghans who aided U.S. troops.

Many Americans were shocked by the drama that unfolded this week in Kabul, where desperate Afghans tried to cling to the side of a U.S. military plane as it taxied down a runway, with some plunging to their deaths as it took flight minutes later.

Biden, speaking in the interview, said there had been no consensus in the intelligence community that the Taliban would take over, and no prediction it would happen so fast. He also said he may not have forseen that the Taliban would allow American citizens to evacuate the country safely, citing that as an example of how unpredictable the group could be.

Biden has also faced criticism from European allies, who have expressed frustration over not being consulted as the situation deteriorated. In the interview, Biden said he had since spoken with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and added that he would be speaking with French President Emmanuel Macron.

In the earlier excerpts, Biden repeated that he stood by his decision to withdraw, and said he faced a decision of whether to put more U.S. troops’ lives at risk or pull out.

Published : August 20, 2021

By : Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Justin Sink, Jennifer Jacobs

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Malaysia caretaker PM Muhyiddin backs former deputy as premier

Malaysias Caretaker Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin endorsed his former deputy Ismail Sabri Yaakob as the next premier, in a bid to ensure policy continuity as the country grapples with rising Covid infections.

Ismail Sabri has the support of 50 MPs from the former ruling Perikatan Nasional coalition to become prime minister, Muhyiddin said in a statement Thursday. Under constitutional law, any lawmaker who can command a majority in the 220-member parliament can stake a claim to form the government, and the king needs to give his assent to formalize the appointment.

“The decision was made to ensure the continuation of the PN government’s policies which focused on efforts to fight Covid-19 and to revive the country” until an election is called at the right time, Muhyiddin said.

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Muhyiddin and his cabinet resigned after more than 17 months in power on Monday, fueling a crisis of leadership in a country beset by a weakened economy and a surge in Covid cases. New cases soared by more than a record 22,000 for a second straight day on Thursday.

As a leading figure in Malaysia’s fight against the pandemic, Ismail Sabri appeared almost daily in televised press briefings to update the public on containment measures. Still, the outbreak worsened, with confirmed cases breaching the one-million mark in late July, as the government oscillated between tightening and loosening restrictions on movements.

The monarch on Thursday met with MPs to verify that they backed Ismail Sabri, according to Ahmad Maslan, the secretary-general of the United Malays National Organisation. This came a day after lawmakers submitted letters to the palace declaring their choice of prime minister candidate.

Once appointed, the new prime minister should face a confidence vote in parliament as soon as possible, the palace said statement on Wednesday.

Still, Perikatan Nasional’s support for Ismail Sabri is conditional, Muhyiddin said.

Ismail Sabri must ensure that his Cabinet members have integrity, are trustworthy and free of criminal charges in court, Muhyiddin said. The PN government under his leadership must continue to respect the principle of separation of powers, independence of the judiciary and uphold the constitutional monarchy, Muhyiddin added.

This rules out the possibility that Ismail Sabri’s party colleagues, former prime minister Najib Razak and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, will be a part of the cabinet. Both are on trial for dozens of charges including corruption. The duo were also instrumental in bringing down Muhyiddin’s administration when they and 13 other UMNO MPs withdrew their support.

Lawmakers from the Pakatan Harapan coalition backed Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister, Fahmi Fadzil, communications director for the People’s Justice Party, told Bloomberg News. The Sabah-based Warisan party, which is not a part of the alliance, supported Anwar as well, according to party leader Mohd Azis Jamman.

The monarch is set to chair a meeting with the royal rulers on Friday to discuss current issues.

Published : August 20, 2021

By : Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Anisah Shukry

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Taliban meets with Karzai amid efforts to form new govt in Afghanistan

After the takeover, the Taliban said Tuesday it intends to form an inclusive government in Afghanistan and does not want to have any internal or external enemies.

The Taliban on Wednesday met with former Afghan President Hamid Karzai as the group is seeking to form a new government in the war-torn country.

The meeting between the Taliban and the former Afghan leader came after Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani left the country following the Taliban’s takeover of most parts of the country, including the capital city of Kabul, on Sunday.

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After the takeover, the Taliban said Tuesday it intends to form an inclusive government in Afghanistan and does not want to have any internal or external enemies.

Karzai, president from 2001 to 2014, has been leading efforts to ensure a peaceful transfer of power in Afghanistan, according to media reports.

On Wednesday night, Ghani claimed that he “was forced to leave Kabul and decided to leave my country in order to prevent bloodshed.”

Ghani made the statement during a live Facebook broadcast from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which confirmed on Wednesday that it has welcomed Ghani and his family into the country “on humanitarian grounds.”

“If I had stayed, I would be witnessing bloodshed in Kabul,” Ghani said.

He also made a rebuttal of accusations saying he left Afghanistan hastily, stressing that “those who think that I fled should not judge if they don’t know all the details.”

Since the U.S. troops started to pull out of Afghanistan on May 1, the Taliban has been advancing quickly on the battlefield. During the past two weeks, the group has captured most of Afghanistan’s territories.

The fast-evolving situation in Afghanistan has aroused deep concerns in the international community.

Afghan president Mohammad Ashraf Ghani speaks in a televised address in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Aug. 14, 2021.

On Wednesday, various countries voiced their call for restraint and peace in the war-battered country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi agreed on the importance of establishing peace and stability in Afghanistan in a telephone call.

“Much attention was paid to the events unfolding in Afghanistan. Willingness to contribute to the establishment of peace and stability in this country was expressed,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey welcomes the “moderate” statements made by the Taliban leaders in Afghanistan.

“We have already stated that we can receive the leaders of the Taliban. We maintain this attitude today. We also welcome the moderate statements made by the Taliban leaders,” Erdogan said during a televised interview.

Turkey is open to cooperation for the peace of the Afghan people, the well-being of the Turkish compatriots living in Afghanistan, and protection of Turkey’s interests, he said.

Meanwhile, in the face of mounting criticism, U.S. President Joe Biden has been defending his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, the president said that the U.S. military could extend its mission in Afghanistan beyond Aug. 31 to evacuate Americans on the ground. 

The Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid (C, rear) attends a press conference in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, on Aug. 17, 2021.

Published : August 19, 2021

By : xinhua

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S&P Global Ratings lowers its Thailand growth forecast as Covid wreaks havoc in Southeast Asia

S&P Global Ratings has lowered its 2021 growth forecast for Thailand to 1.1 per cent from June’s forecast of 2.8 per cent, saying that emerging Southeast Asian economies are facing intense headwinds from persistent Covid-19 pandemic waves.

“The duration and severity of the pandemic has been more adverse than our previous baseline expectations,” S&P Global Ratings said in a press release from Singapore on Thursday. “As a result, we are revising downward our 2021 growth expectations for a number of emerging Southeast Asia economies.”

Private consumption and services will be hit hardest by the pandemic. While the new lockdowns this year have been less costly as economies adapted to reduced mobility, the longer durations have meant that the economic costs are rising. Meanwhile, external demand will provide a buffer against further outlook deterioration, it said. International trade remains strong due to healthy demand for goods as global economies open up.

“A fresh slump in demand in emerging Southeast Asia is hitting sectors that have already faced a challenging year,” said Vishrut Rana, Asia-Pacific economist at S&P Global Ratings.

“As the pandemic drags on, balance sheets will deteriorate for households, small and midsize enterprises, banks and the wider economy, leading to more medium-run economic scarring,” Rana added.

Policy settings across the region are likely to remain steady. Central banks are wary of easing further. The US Federal Reserve’s next policy change is likely to be a tapering of quantitative easing, and policy easing from Southeast Asian central banks could increase capital outflows in the region.

The central banks are already deploying a range of tools, including loan moratoriums and acquisition of public securities. Meanwhile, core inflation and broader inflationary pressures are subdued amid weakening domestic demand; so central banks are unlikely to tighten policy further, the press release said.

New fiscal stimulus measures announced this year by Southeast Asian countries have been more limited in scope, given that the fiscal policy space was significantly eroded during the initial pandemic escalation in 2020. Overall public spending is still set to support growth during the year based on previously announced measures and government budgets for the year, the statement added.

Forecast revisions

“We have revised our 2021 growth forecast for Thailand lower to 1.1 per cent from our June forecast of 2.8 per cent. The current Covid-19 escalation in Thailand is the most severe so far, after the country had successfully limited the spread in 2020.

“The escalation has led to reduced mobility, with tight lockdowns in place across 29 out of 77 provinces in August, and more moderate lockdowns in the rest of the country. Overall mobility was about 27 per cent lower than normal in August, according to Google Community Mobility data, which will slow down domestic activity,” the press statement said.

“In addition, the pandemic escalation has pushed back the likely timelines for greater normalisation of domestic activity and a gradual resumption of tourism,” it went on to say.

“The services and informal sectors in Thailand have been under strain from the absence of tourism,” Rana said.

“The additional strain from a pandemic-related drop in domestic demand will weaken these sectors further.”

S&P Global Ratings said it also lowered its 2021 growth forecast for the Philippines to 4.3 per cent from 6.0 per cent in June, and forecasts growth of 7.7 per cent in 2022 compared with its earlier forecast of 7.5 per cent.

Intermittent lockdowns have been weighing on economic activity, and a fresh escalation driven by the Covid-19 Delta variant has led authorities to re-impose more stringent lockdowns in a number of major cities, the press release said.

“The combined hit to activity from floods in parts of the Philippines and fresh lockdowns to contain the pandemic have significantly eroded what would have been a highly favourable base effect for the country,” said Vincent Conti, senior economist, Credit Markets Research at S&P Global Ratings.

“The longer downturn will cause even more economic scarring. By 2025, the Philippines’ GDP will likely be 12 per cent below where it would have been without the pandemic.”

The credit rating agency said it lowered its growth forecast for Malaysia to 3.2 per cent in 2021 from 4.1 per cent earlier.

Strong international trade is providing a sizeable buffer for growth this year. However, domestic demand is looking much weaker. Lockdowns to manage the pandemic wave have now been in place for around three months, the statement said.

The deeper downturn has cut activity in the services sector and is resulting in sizable job-losses – in June the unemployment rate jumped to 4.8 per cent from 4.5 per cent in May.

Malaysia now has a relatively high vaccination coverage, with about 52 per cent of the population having received at least one dose, according to the agency.

This will enable a gradual re-opening of the economy over the next several months.

Vietnam had largely managed to contain the pandemic until earlier this year, but cases escalated noticeably in July. Since then, tight lockdowns have been enforced across wide parts of the country to contain the spread of Covid-19, S&P Global Ratings said.

The pandemic has disrupted manufacturing supply chains in that country as various factories have had to cut production and capacity. “Overall, we forecast growth of 4.8 per cent in 2021, down from our June projection of 7.3 per cent,” the agency’s press release concluded.

Published : August 19, 2021

By : THE NATION

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Child COVID-19 cases still rising in U.S. — report

Child COVID-19 cases in the United States have been rising since late June, according to a recent report.

More than 121,000 new child cases were logged in the week ending Aug. 12 in the United States, “a continuing substantial increase,” said the report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.

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As of Aug. 12, more than 4.41 million children had tested positive in the country since the onset of the pandemic, representing 14.4 percent of all cases, said the report.

Children under the age of 12 have not been authorized to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in the United States. 

Published : August 19, 2021

By : xinhua

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U.S. to distribute COVID-19 booster shots next month: officials

“We are prepared to offer booster shots for all Americans beginning the week of September 20 and starting 8 months after an individuals second dose,” top U.S. health officials said in a joint statement.

The United States will begin administrating COVID-19 booster shots next month as new data shows that vaccine protection wanes over time, top U.S. health officials announced Wednesday.

“We are prepared to offer booster shots for all Americans beginning the week of September 20 and starting 8 months after an individual’s second dose,” the officials said in a joint statement.

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The statement was signed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock, White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci and other U.S. health leaders.

The policy will apply to people who have received the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, and is contingent on authorization from the FDA and a review by CDC’s vaccine advisory committee.

“Based on our latest assessment, the current protection against severe disease, hospitalization and death could diminish in the months ahead, especially among those who are at higher risk or were vaccinated during the earlier phases of the vaccination rollout,” said the officials.

The decision to recommend booster shots came as the United States is undergoing a surge of COVID-19 cases driven by the Delta variant. There was also a rise in breakthrough cases – infections in fully vaccinated individuals.

According to the CDC, 72.2 percent of American adults have received one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, with 61.8 percent being fully vaccinated. 

Published : August 19, 2021

By : xinhua

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UK records another 33,904 coronavirus cases

A study among almost 50,000 patients with COVID-19 found that a lack of exercise might be linked to an increased risk of severe COVID-19 and associated complications.

Another 33,904 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 6,355,887, according to official figures released Wednesday.

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The country also reported another 111 coronavirus-related deaths, taking the national death toll to 131,260. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

Meanwhile, researchers found that a lack of exercise might be linked to an increased risk of severe COVID-19 and associated complications.

According to a research in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, “consistently meeting physical activity guidelines was strongly associated with a reduced risk for severe COVID-19 outcomes among infected adults.”

This reversed photo shows a man walking next to a puddle in London, Britain, Aug. 9, 2021.

The research was based on study of almost 50,000 patients with COVID-19 who were consistently inactive, doing some activity or consistently reporting doing sufficient exercise. The researchers recommend health authorities to prioritize the promotion of physical activity and incorporate it into routine medical care.

Nearly 90 percent of adults in Britain have had their first vaccine dose and about 77.5 percent have received both, the latest figures showed.  

People walk past the National COVID Memorial Wall in London, Britain, Aug. 9, 2021.

Published : August 19, 2021

By : xinhua

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UN moving about 100 staffers from Afghanistan to Kazakhstan

“In light of the security and other constraints in Kabul and other parts of the country at the moment, it was decided to move a part of the UN staff out of the country,” a UN spokesman said.

About 100 UN staff members are moving to Kazakhstan from Afghanistan “in light of the security and other constraints in Kabul and other parts of the country at the moment,” a UN spokesman said on Wednesday.
 

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“They will continue their work remotely,” said Stephane Dujarric, the chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Dujarric thanked the government of Kazakhstan for hosting a temporary remote office of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

“In light of the security and other constraints in Kabul and other parts of the country at the moment, it was decided to move a part of the UN staff out of the country,” he said. “Personnel will return to Afghanistan as conditions permit.”

The spokesman would not go into exact numbers or locations where international staff members were working, but told reporters at a regular briefing that all those relocating are international staff members, numbering about 100.

The most recent public tally of staff members from all UN agencies working in Afghanistan put the total at about 1,200, made up of about 800 Afghan nationals and 300 international staffers.

“The UN is committed to staying and delivering in support of the Afghan people in their hour of need,” the spokesman said. “The majority of humanitarian personnel remain in Afghanistan, providing vital assistance to millions in need.”

He explained that working remotely in Kazakhstan will provide close support to the UN family’s continuing work on the ground in Afghanistan.

“This is a temporary measure intended to enable the UN to keep delivering assistance to the people of Afghanistan with the minimum of disruption while, at the same time, reducing risk to UN personnel,” Dujarric said.

Published : August 19, 2021

By : xinhua

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Israel tightens COVID-19 restrictions

Israel expanded COVID-19 restrictions on Wednesday following the recent surge in new cases, the countrys health ministry said.

The green pass, which represents a permit to enter indoor and crowded outdoor places for recovered and vaccinated people, was expanded to most sectors.

The green pass will now also include swimming pools, museums, libraries, national parks and nature reserves, while hotels, restaurants, cafes, gyms and culture events were already subject to the pass.
 

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People neither vaccinated nor recovered will need to present a negative COVID-19 test certificate to enter these places.

Children aged 3 to 12, who are not eligible to receive the vaccine, can take a free PCR test, valid for 72 hours, or a free rapid antigen test, valid for 24 hours.

Those aged above 12 who are not vaccinated or recovered will only be able to take the rapid test at their own expense.

The green pass has not been applied to malls, outdoor shopping centers and other large stores. The purple badge was thus applied to these places. It requires wearing a mask, keeping distance, placing instructions signs and more.

In addition, gatherings in Israel were limited to 1,000 people indoors and 5,000 in open spaces. Gatherings in private homes were limited to 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors.

A medical worker prepares a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine in central Israeli city of Modiin, Aug. 17, 2021.

Published : August 19, 2021

By : xinhua