Australia’s second biggest state, Victoria will continue its lockdown for at least another seven days.
Victoria’s Acting Premier, James Merlino, confirmed that current restrictions will remain in place for the next seven days for Metropolitan Melbourne.
However, restrictions in regional Victoria will ease from Friday, the date lockdown was initially meant to end for the entire state.
“On the advice of the Chief Health Officer Professor Sutton the current restrictions remain in place for Melbourne for a further seven days with some small changes,” Merlino said.
It comes as a growing cluster of coronavirus cases balloons to over 60, with over 350 exposure sites.
It’s believed the COVID cluster is from the Indian variant which escaped hotel quarantine in South Australia weeks earlier.
Business support packages announced
Victoria is requesting JobKeeper-style support from the federal government.
The State Government will increase its business support packages from $2,500 to $5,000, with an additional $209 million support package.
He “hoped” the federal government would “step up” and the President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Michele O’Neil, says the ‘government must take responsibility’
O’Neil says government officials should be working day and night like the state’s essential workers.
“They’re not stopping, but the government seems to be asleep at the wheel,” she says.
“We’re 16 months into a pandemic, and not put in place fit-for-purpose quarantine facilities… is a disgrace.”
O’Neil says the easiest thing the government can do to support Victorians is re-instate JobKeeper “with the level it was last year” for individuals who were out of work. That payment was $1500 a fortnight.
However, she adds that the financial support also needs to be extended to people who were not eligible last year for JobKeeper payments.
“If this lockdown continues indefinitely, It’s going to break this state”
Victoria’s State Opposition leader, Michael O’Brien spoke to tickerNEWS before the lockdown was officially announced on Tuesday afternoon.
He called for an end to state-wide lockdown, and says the state government is playing the “blame game”
“The federal Gov’t will reconsider its position” Vic Opposition Leader @michaelobrienmp says he speaks with Aus treasurer @JoshFrydenberg regularly and has ‘no doubt’ he will consider federal assistance for Victorians.
O’Brien says “the point is, we have an issue to deal with now” and “probably” could have done better on both a state and federal level in terms of the state’s vaccine rollout.
Covid cases reported in neighbouring state of NSW
Victorian health officials have now alerted their counterparts in NSW that positive cases have crossed the border.
The Treasury Secretary is warning of “downside risks” to the budget’s upbeat projections due to the lockdown.
Many casual workers have been stood down without pay or federal government support, other than unemployment benefits.
In a groundbreaking development, scientists have unveiled a remarkable AI tool that promises to revolutionise the detection and treatment of metastatic cancers.
These elusive cancers often evade detection until they have already spread to distant organs, posing a significant challenge for diagnosis and treatment. Published in Nature Medicine, the study showcases an AI model developed by researchers at Tianjin Medical University (TMU) in China, led by Tian Fei and Li Xiangchun. Trained on a vast dataset of 30,000 images from 21,000 individuals, the AI model demonstrated an unprecedented accuracy rate of 83% in identifying the origins of metastatic cancer cells found in fluid samples from abdominal or lung regions.
Impressively, the model’s top three predictions included the tumour’s source with a staggering 99% accuracy.
This breakthrough not only surpasses the capabilities of human pathologists but also offers a beacon of hope for the 300,000 people annually diagnosed with cancer at TMU-affiliated hospitals, where approximately 4,000 cases rely on such image-based diagnoses.
By significantly reducing the need for invasive tests and providing timely and accurate predictions, this AI tool could potentially extend the lives of late-stage cancer patients. Faisal Mahmood of Harvard Medical School praises the study’s findings, highlighting the potential of AI as an indispensable assistive tool in healthcare.
Looking ahead, the integration of AI with tissue samples and genomic data holds the promise of further enhancing outcomes for individuals battling metastatic cancers of unknown origins, ushering in a new era of precision medicine and personalised care.
Netflix Surpasses Expectations with 9.33 Million New Subscribers in Q1 2024
Netflix stunned analysts and the industry alike with its first-quarter 2024 earnings report, revealing a remarkable surge of 9.33 million paid subscribers, soaring past the anticipated 3.93 million additions and bringing its total subscriber count to an impressive 269.60 million.
This surge follows a record-breaking fourth quarter of 2023, where Netflix added 13.1 million subscribers. Despite this remarkable growth streak, Netflix announced it would cease reporting quarterly subscriber totals from 2025 onward, signalling a significant shift in industry dynamics. Notable contributors to this growth included high-profile releases like the live-action adaptation of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and “3 Body Problem” by the show-runners behind “Game of Thrones.”
Regionally, the U.S. and Canada saw a growth of 2.53 million paid subscribers, while Europe, the Middle East, and Africa added 2.92 million, Latin America saw an increase of 1.72 million, and the Asia-Pacific market experienced a rise of 2.16 million.
Alongside surpassing subscriber expectations, Netflix exceeded financial projections, reporting a 15% increase in revenue from Q1 2023, with diluted earnings per share of $5.28 on $9.37 billion in revenue.
Looking ahead, Netflix forecasts robust financial performance for Q2, with expectations of $9.49 billion in revenue and diluted EPS of $4.68, aiming for revenue growth of 13% to 15% for the full year 2024, reflecting a bullish outlook on its operational margin.
Inflation and the rising cost of living in the United States is motivating Americans to consider moving to other countries.
Have you ever dreamed of working or retiring abroad?
Well, more and more Americans are discovering that their income can stretch much further in other countries, allowing them to save more, pay off debts, and even get ahead financially.
Kelli Maria Korduck a contributor with Business Insider joins Veronica Dudo to discuss why Americans are deciding that the only way to get ahead is to leave.
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