Australia’s second-largest state, Victoria remains in lockdown today as authorities express concern about how easily the Indian COVID-19 strain is transmitting from ‘fleeting’ encounters.
Authorities have raised alarms to this particular Melbourne outbreak, as the Indian variant of COVID is proving to transmit between complete strangers with little contact. Examples include brushing past each other in a small shop, and walking past each other in display home.
This has sparked a surge in exposure sites, alerted across the south-eastern state in Australia.
“We think it is a feature of the Indian variant which is that much more contagious,” Deputy Secretary at Department for Health and Human Services, Jeroen Weimar said.
“This is stranger to stranger transmission.”
Weimar said they have seen transmission in these places with very fleeting contact.
“They are all examples of transmission with very limited contact. With previous variants, we are more used to transmission occurring in the home, in the workplace, where people know each other already, not at all of those big social settings. These are quite different.”
The stay-at-home orders are supposed to be part of a seven-day “snap lockdown”, but there are fears that this will be extended due to a number of new “mystery cases”.
Three new local cases of COVID-19 were recorded on Tuesday, on top of six cases announced Monday.
Of the 4,800 primary close contacts 75 per cent have returned negative test results.
‘Five-day blitz’ to help boost vaccination numbers
Private aged care residents and staff those in residential disability settings will now be given priority to get the vaccine at Victoria’s state-run walk-in vaccine hubs.
“The Commonwealth made it clear that originally, under the phase 1a/1b schedule, this was a sector that they were going to look after,” Health Minister Martin Foley said.
“A few weeks ago they asked all the states to assist in that process, and today we’re starting a significant contribution, but that will come out of Victorian state allocations of vaccine to target this very high risk group.”
Will Australia’s most populous state have its lockdown extended?
Epidemiologist Professor Mary Louise McLaws says she doesn’t believe the state will be back to normal by Friday.
She told the ABC that Victoria has “a very high, very rapid increase of cases over a short period of time,”
Despite the lockdown costing around $1 billion a week, she says “it certainly has to go for 14 days”.
Business slams government support package
Melbourne is dubbed as the world’s most liveable city, but businesses and their employees are calling for better support.
A $250 million dollar support package for struggling Melbourne businesses has been labeled as ’embarrassing by industry leaders.
Meanwhile, James Wheelan from the VHS Group says the Victorian government has acted poorly by locking down the entire state.
In Short:
– Trump ordered the Pentagon to resume nuclear testing, risking global tensions and retaliation from other nations.
– Proliferation concerns are rising as nuclear states modernise arsenals and the New START Treaty nears expiration.
US President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing immediately, aiming to align with testing programs from other countries according to the conversation.Resuming explosive nuclear tests would likely trigger retaliatory responses from nuclear-armed nations like Russia and China, worsening the arms race and increasing global risks.
The potential for worldwide radioactive fallout remains high, even for underground tests. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, signed by 187 states, prohibits such testing, yet the US remains a signatory without ratification, bound not to violate the treaty’s intent.
Nuclear weapon testing, once crucial for understanding weapon effects and military planning, has diminished. Since World War II, nuclear tests have largely focused on developing new designs. Significant environmental and health concerns led to a moratorium on atmospheric testing in the early 1960s and the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963.
Many countries, including the US, stopped explosive testing in the 1990s. Technological advancements allowed nations to develop nuclear weapons without the need for actual explosions.
Proliferation Risks
Nuclear proliferation continues, with all nine nuclear-armed states investing heavily in modernising their arsenals. This raises concerns about lowered thresholds for using such weapons.
Recent conflicts involving nuclear threats have escalated, and the number of nuclear weapons operationally available has begun to rise again. Russia has tested advanced nuclear weapons, while China is rapidly expanding its military capabilities.
The New START Treaty, which confines the nuclear capabilities of the US and Russia, is set to expire soon, with no successor treaty negotiations underway.
The Doomsday Clock has moved closer to midnight this year, highlighting the heightened dangers facing the world today.
Central banks ease rate cut hopes amid inflation and wobbling tech stocks; markets adjust to Fed’s new stance.
Central banks pull back on rate cut expectations as tech stocks wobble and inflation pressures persist. Markets adjust cautiously to the Fed’s new tone.