Australia

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.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Greg Butler was rushed to hospital with COVID-19 within days of getting home to self-isolate after being allowed off the Ruby Princess cruise liner in Sydney, one of more than 130 passengers who tested positive in Australia’s worst coronavirus outbreak.

One of them, a woman, died earlier this week.

The 56-year-old Butler had been holidaying with his partner, Robin Russ, who remains in isolation.

“I tested negative and he tested positive,” Russ said over the telephone from the apartment they moved to for quarantine.

CANBERRA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government announced Wednesday that non-urgent elective surgery will be suspended to allow more capacity in hospitals while the country is combating COVID-19.

According to the Australian government, from 11:59 p.m. local time Wednesday, only category one and some exceptional category two surgery will continue in public and private hospitals until further notice.

SYDNEY, March 20 (NNN-XINHUA) — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday announced a travel ban on all non-residents coming into the country beginning from Friday night.

Anyone who is not a citizen, resident, or close family member of an Australian citizen or resident will be denied entry into the country, Xinhua reported him saying.

SYDNEY, Mar 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Australia’s national carrier, Qantas, halted all international flights, and temporarily stood down two-thirds of its workforce, in an effort to endure mass travel disruptions caused by COVID-19.

The airline made the announcement today, after already issuing a 90 percent reduction in international services earlier in the week, along with a 60-percent drop in domestic services, which remained in place.

Melbourne, Mar 18 (PTI) Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday warned its citizens not to travel abroad and banned "non-essential" gatherings of 100 people or more as the government declared the deadly coronavirus, that has infected over 450 people in the country, a "human biosecurity emergency".

Prime Minister Morrison on Wednesday said Australians should abandon all overseas travel because of the coronavirus epidemic. There have been 40 new cases since Tuesday.

SYDNEY/PARIS (Reuters) - Boeing and other U.S. aviation companies are seeking billions of dollars in aid as they battle to survive a plunge in demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic, while Airbus is pausing production at two sites to bolster health and safety measures.

The rapid spread of the virus across the world has battered airlines as governments have introduced travel restrictions and consumers have stopped making bookings, calling into question the survival of several companies.

SYDNEY, March 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The coronavirus pandemic will bankrupt most airlines worldwide by the end of May unless governments and the industry take coordinated steps to avoid such a situation, an aviation consultant warned.

Many airlines have probably been driven into technical bankruptcy or substantially breached debt covenants already, Sydney-based consultancy CAPA Centre for Aviation warned in a statement.

SYDNEY, Mar 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Australia’s national carrier, Qantas, announced on Tuesday (today) that, it will cut international flights by 90 percent and domestic services by 60 percent, to cope with COVID-19.

The changes will also affect the company’s budget carrier, Jetstar, and will remain in place until at least the end of May.

In a statement, the airline cited “significant falls in travel demand” due to the virus outbreak, which in Australia has reached over 350 confirmed cases.