Australia & Pacifics

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Before New Zealand began its four-week lockdown to fight the coronavirus, a reporter asked Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern what would happen if an earthquake struck while everybody was sequestered in their homes.

“Why on earth would your mind go there?” Ardern quipped back.

Every year, the world contends with devastating typhoons, wildfires, tsunamis and earthquakes. The dynamic doesn’t change just because the globe also happens to be fighting a pandemic.

3 April 2020; AFP: Australia insisted Friday it would not let the crew of multiple virus-stricken cruise ships into the country, slapping aside suggestions it was falling short on legal and moral obligations.

More than a dozen ships are believed to be off Australia's coast, carrying around 15,000 crew and some experiencing outbreaks of coronavirus.

"We have issued notices to all of these ships to leave Australian waters," Australian Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram told local media Friday.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — About 100,000 tourists stuck in New Zealand since it began a lockdown last week were starting to fly to their home countries Friday.

The initial problem for many tourists had been that they were banned from catching domestic flights during the strict monthlong lockdown, which is aimed at preventing more coronavirus infections. The domestic flight ban prevented tourists from reaching the country’s main hub of Auckland Airport to catch international flights home.

31 March 2020; AFP: A coronavirus-free tropical island nestled in the northern Pacific may seem the perfect place to ride out a pandemic -- but residents on Palau say life right now is far from idyllic.

The microstate of 18,000 people is among a dwindling number of places on Earth that still report zero cases of COVID-19 as figures mount daily elsewhere.

The disparate group also includes Samoa, Turkmenistan, North Korea and bases on the frozen continent of Antarctica.

Canberra; 30 March 2020 (UMM): Eight days since the second stimulus package was announced, Australian PM Scott Morrison announced a third stimulus package to the tune of $130 billion to save “hibernating” businesses forced to close their doors during lockdown, and their employees.

Package includes a $1,500 per fortnight payment to employers, so that they can maintain their employees during this hibernation period.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australians were asked on Sunday to further isolate themselves from the public to keep the coronavirus from spreading even as authorities said the rate of daily infections has halved in recent days.

Government officials said that public gatherings must be restricted to two people and Australians should stay inside unless shopping for essentials, exercising, going to work or medical care. Those over 70 should self-isolate themselves.

28 March 2020; AFP: People in the Australian state of Queensland were urged to vote in local elections on Saturday or face a fine of Aus$133 ($80), as polls went ahead despite most citizens being encouraged to stay home to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

The state's top health official said it was safe to vote in person as long as people followed social distancing guidelines.

"There's no risk here, we've got to remember the risk of people going to the shops is far, far higher," Jeannette Young told reporters.

WELLINGTON, Mar 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) – New Zealand reported 78 new confirmed and five probable cases of COVID-19 on Saturday morning, bringing the total number of infections to 451 in the country.

Director of New Zealand Civil Defence Emergency Management, Sarah Stuart-Black, gave the update.

Some 50 people have recovered, while 12 people are in hospital. Two people are in intensive care, one of whom is on a ventilator, said Stuart-Black.

CANBERRA, Mar 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The Australian Army is preparing to deploy reservists to assist with the Australian Defence Force’s response to COVID-19.

The Guardian Australia, today published an email sent by Carmen Sieger, the acting director of the directorate of contingent workforce management army, earlier in Mar, in which Sieger called on reservists for help, if they had the willingness and capacity for work “likely to result from our current environment.”

It would be the second time in 2020. reservists will be deployed in response to the crisis.

SYDNEY, Mar 26 (NNN-BNA) – Two cruise ships, off the coast of Western Australia, have been told to “immediately” leave Australian waters, after the country’s worst outbreak of the COVID-19 was traced to a cruise liner that docked at Sydney Harbour last week. Cruise ships have become a flash point for the epidemic in Australia after 147 of 2,700 passengers, who disembarked from the Ruby Princess cruise ship in Sydney, later tested positive for COVID-19.