Australia

SYDNEY (AP) — U.S. officials say they have little fear that China would attack Nancy Pelosi’s plane if she flies to Taiwan. But the U.S. House speaker would be entering one of the world’s hottest spots, where a mishap, misstep or misunderstanding could endanger her safety. So the Pentagon is developing plans for any contingency.

CANBERRA, Jul 26 (NNN-AAP) – The number of Australians in hospital with coronavirus has reached the highest number, since the start of the pandemic.

According to data from the Department of Health, there were 5,433 COVID-19 cases in hospital yesterday, up from 5,001 a week earlier.

It marks a new high point for COVID-19 hospitalisations, beating the previous record of 5,390 in Jan.

It comes as Australia’s winter wave of COVID-19 infections is expected to peak in the coming weeks, increasing pressure on the hospital system.

SYDNEY, July 25 (Reuters) - The number of Australians admitted to hospitals with COVID-19 hit a record of about 5,450 on Monday, official data showed, as the spread of highly contagious new Omicron sub-variants strains the healthcare system nationwide.

SYDNEY, July 21 (Reuters) - Australia reported one of its highest daily death tolls from the novel coronavirus on Thursday while hospital admissions hovered near record levels, as authorities struggle to get ahead of highly contagious Omicron variants.

The BA.4/5 variants are good at evading immune protection from vaccination or prior infection and have been driving a surge of new infections globally. 

CANBERRA, Jul 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, asked people to wear masks when needed, amid soaring COVID-19 cases.

Albanese today said, the Chief Health Officers have not recommended the return of nationwide mask mandates, with the government instead relying on people to do so, where appropriate.

“We do want to encourage that behaviour,” Albanese told reporters.

He said, there were four things Australians could do to “make a difference” during the current spike in infections.

SYDNEY, July 16 (Reuters) - Australia will reinstate support payments for casual workers who have to quarantine due to COVID-19, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday, as a fresh wave of Omicron-driven infections sweeps the country.

Australia is battling a major virus outbreak driven by the highly transmissible new Omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, with authorities warning it could lead to more people ending up in hospitals and further straining the health system.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Papua New Guinea police shot a young mother dead at a polling station in the capital, Port Moresby, in the latest violence to mar national elections, according to a news report on Friday.

Homicide detectives were investigating the fatal shooting, which occurred on Monday, a police statement said.

Annaisha Max, 22, was holding her 1-year-old son when she was shot, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported citing witnesses.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s new government on Thursday dropped the 4-year-old prosecution of a lawyer over his alleged attempt to help East Timor prove that Australia had spied on the then-fledgling nation’s government during multibillion-dollar oil and gas negotiations in 2004.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus maintained the government’s longstanding stance of refusing to confirm or deny whether the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, a spy agency that operates out of Australian embassies, bugged government offices in the East Timorese capital Dili.

SYDNEY, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Health authorities in Australia's most populous state of New South Wales (NSW) warned on Wednesday that monkeypox is likely to be transmitted within the country, as two cases may have been acquired domestically.

The NSW health department said 11 cases of monkeypox have been identified in the state, among which nine cases are likely to have been acquired overseas.

NSW Health's Executive Director of Health Protection Dr. Jeremy McAnulty said the local transmission of the virus may be occurring, particularly among men who have sex with men.

RICHMOND, Australia (AP) — Hundreds of homes have been inundated in and around Australia’s largest city in a flood emergency that was causing trouble for 50,000 people, officials said Tuesday.

Emergency response teams made 100 rescues overnight of people trapped in cars on flooded roads or in inundated homes in the Sydney area, State Emergency Service manager Ashley Sullivan said.

Days of torrential rain have caused dams to overflow and waterways to break their banks, bringing a fourth flood emergency in 16 months to parts of the city of 5 million people.