Daily News Roundup

 

WEDNESDAY AUG 5

As Victoria’s COVID-19 continued to surge with a further 725 cases reported overnight, Queensland announced it will close its border to all of New South Wales and the ACT from 1:00am on Saturday.

It comes as the state recorded one new case of coronavirus overnight.

The 68-year-old Queensland woman was diagnosed with the virus in the past 24 hours and authorities are still investigating the source of the infection.

Two historic cases have also been added to the state’s total of 1,088 cases.

The hotspot declaration means anyone travelling from NSW or the nation’s capital will soon be banned from entering the Sunshine State.

Only residents of border communities and essential workers, such as truck drivers, will be able to cross the border. 

Queenslanders who return after travelling there will be sent to mandatory hotel quarantine for 14 days at their own expense.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was increasingly concerned about community transmission rates in southern states.

“We cannot risk a second wave. We have to act decisively,” she said.

“We have to put Queenslanders first.”

The move means New South Wales and the ACT will join Victoria on Queensland’s list of declared coronavirus hotspots.

Ms Palaszczuk said her decision was influenced by a number of people who had breached the state’s border requirements, by lying to authorities about their whereabouts.

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A massive explosion has rocked Lebanon’s capital Beirut, killing at least 78 people, injuring more almost 4,000, flattening much of the port, and sending a shock wave that damaged buildings across the city.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said one Australian had been killed and Australia’s embassy had been “impacted significantly” in the explosion.

“We can report all of the staff there are well, but the building that the embassy is in has been significantly compromised. I’m pleased that apart from some cuts and scratches, our staff are all OK,” he said.

“But our sympathies to all of the people of Lebanon. There is such a large Lebanese Australian community here and they would be worried about loved ones.”

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said some embassy staff were hit by flying glass when the building’s windows were blown out.

The afternoon blast destroyed homes, offices and other buildings around the port district.

Thick smoke billowed after a large white cloud and shock wave erupted at the site, shattering windows, overturning vehicles and blowing in doors across the city.

Lebanon’s Health Minister, Hamad Hasan, said 78 people had been killed and almost 4,000 injured in the incident, with more bodies still buried in the rubble.

Abbas Ibrahim, chief of Lebanese General Security, said the incident might have been caused by highly explosive material that was confiscated from a ship some time ago and stored at the port.

Local television channel LBC said the material was sodium nitrate.

The explosion struck with the force of a magnitude 3.5 earthquake, according to Germany’s geosciences centre GFZ.

Without offering any evidence, US President Donald Trump said the US military believed the explosion was caused by a “bomb of some kind”.

“They seem to think it was an attack,” Mr Trump said.

Lebanon’s Health Minister, Hamad Hasan, said 78 people had been killed and almost 4,000 injured in the incident, with more bodies still buried in the rubble.

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Virgin Australia has revealed plans to make about a third of its workforce redundant, with approximately 3,000 jobs expected to go under new owners Bain Capital, while 6,000 staff remain.

The private equity firm’s plan for the airline sees the end of the Tiger Australia brand, although Virgin Australia said it would retain the air operator certificate so it could revive a low-cost carrier when the domestic holiday travel market fully recovered.

A key part of the plan is to operate an all Boeing 737 mainline fleet, with other aircraft types restricted to regional routes and charters.

This will mean removing ATRs, Boeing 777s, Airbus A330s and Tiger’s Airbus A320s from the airline’s fleet.

Virgin Australia chief executive Paul Scurrah said the airline had no choice but to shrink to survive amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Demand for domestic and short-haul international travel is likely to take at least three years to return to pre-COVID-19 levels, with the real chance it could be longer, which means as a business we must make changes to ensure the Virgin Australia Group is successful in this new world,” he said in a statement.

“Working with Bain Capital, we will accelerate our plan to deliver a strong future in a challenging domestic and global aviation market.

“We believe that over time we can set the foundations to grow Virgin Australia again and re-employ many of the highly skilled Virgin Australia team.”

Mr Scurrah said the airline plans to employ around 6,000 people “when the market recovers, with aspirations for up to 8,000 in the future”.

Virgin Australia chief executive Paul Scurrah said the airline had no choice but to shrink to survive amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Demand for domestic and short-haul international travel is likely to take at least three years to return to pre-COVID-19 levels, with the real chance it could be longer, which means as a business we must make changes to ensure the Virgin Australia Group is successful in this new world,” he said in a statement.

“Working with Bain Capital, we will accelerate our plan to deliver a strong future in a challenging domestic and global aviation market.

“We believe that over time we can set the foundations to grow Virgin Australia again and re-employ many of the highly skilled Virgin Australia team.”

Mr Scurrah said the airline plans to employ around 6,000 people “when the market recovers, with aspirations for up to 8,000 in the future”.