Australia loosens Covid-19 restrictions
With vaccination rates up sharply across the country, states are now going ahead with plans to reopen to each other and the world
Mōrena and welcome to The Bulletin for Monday, October 18, by Justin Giovannetti. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.
In today’s edition: Super Saturday was a win; inflation expected to hit a high; more New Zealanders evacuated from Afghanistan; but first, Australia’s big reopening.
Restrictions fall across Australia as the country’s vaccination levels rise. (Corey Leopold/Flickr)
Melbourne’s long lockdown is coming to an end. Australia’s two most populous states have begun lifting their Covid-19 restrictions in recent days as vaccination levels rise sharply. Victoria premier Daniel Andrews announced the end of broad lockdowns in Melbourne yesterday with restrictions set to start lifting on Thursday, according to ABC. More than 70% of the state’s population over the age of 16 will be vaccinated by week’s end. Melbourne has spent 260 days in lockdown, across six different periods of restrictions, since the start of the pandemic. It’s the longest stretch of confinement anywhere in the world.
Victoria’s health system faces questions about whether it can cope. Despite the relaxation, Victoria has recorded around 2,000 new Covid-19 cases a day since last Wednesday. Once the site of the worst outbreak, cases have plummeted to a few hundred a day in neighbouring New South Wales. To help shore up its health system, Nine News reports that Victoria’s government has pledged to spend $2.5 million to recruit 1,000 overseas health workers. Melbourne’s hospitals have created emergency ICU spaces and are facing some of the pressures the New Zealand government warns Auckland could face next month.
New South Wales is ending quarantine for international arrivals on November 1. Reuters reports that the state will allow the fully vaccinated to enter, however only citizens will be allowed to return at first. New premier Dominic Perrottet is pushing the federal government to allow tourists and students to travel to Sydney. The state hit its target of fully vaccinating 80% of eligible locals over the weekend. As of today, people in NSW can welcome 20 people to parties in their homes, along with the return of community sports, indoor dancing and drinking while standing in pubs, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. Both NSW and Victoria have limited their new freedoms to the fully vaccinated. The unvaccinated can’t even attend outdoor picnics.
Australian states are entering a ‘living with Covid’ phase from different positions. As ABC reports, while Victoria deals with overburdened hospitals and NSW prepares for tourists, some states like Western Australia are Covid-19 free. Despite the discrepancies, the internal borders are coming down. Queensland reported no cases yesterday and is preparing to relax restrictions once vaccination levels get high enough. New Zealand is also entering the mix as the Australian government has announced that people from the South Island will be able to travel quarantine-free across the Tasman as of Wednesday, according to Newshub.
Thank you from The Spinoff publisher Duncan Greive: It’s a little overwhelming to be sitting here, a week on from when I wrote my Bernie-esque plea for new members, to write to you about the response. It was instant and humbling. It has been the biggest surge in new sign-ups since the freaky days of April 2020. We also saw many existing members raise their ongoing contributions, which was also hugely impactful.
To be blunt, we needed it. And still do, so if you can join up, or have been meaning to, please do so today. We are still a long way from knowing when this period will end, which means our commercial funds remain highly constrained. We remain highly dependent on our members for everything from live updates, to data visualisation to cultural coverage. But we've had a really heartening week, and the whole organisation is very grateful for it. If you are a member, or have donated—please take a moment to feel the immense gratitude radiating out from all of us here.
Super Saturday was a win for all of us. Instead of focusing on the record-breaking number of vaccinations, Duncan Greive writes in The Spinoff that Super Saturday is a win because it tapped into the country’s resourcefulness. We’re all a little tired, but from large corporations to individuals rolling up their sleeves, the outpouring on Saturday showed a country willing to tackle Covid-19. Forget the 1pm podium, it was individual New Zealanders who beat the first outbreak and they’ve shown that they are still in the fight. We’ll need that tenacity in the coming weeks, according to Rawiri Jansen.
Cabinet’s decision on whether restrictions can be lowered in Auckland, Northland and parts of Waikato will be announced today at 4pm.
The Covid numbers: There are 29 cases in hospital and 5 in ICU/HDU. There are now 623 active cases in New Zealand. 47 new community cases were reported in Auckland yesterday and 4 in Waikato. 130,002 people were vaccinated on Saturday.
The Spinoff’s Covid data tracker has the latest figures.
Suspect in the killing of British MP Sir David Amess faces terror charges. Amess, a Conservative MP since 1983, was holding a meeting on Friday with constituents when he was stabbed, according to the BBC. He’s the second British MP killed in recent years after the 2016 murder of Labour's Jo Cox. A 25-year-old Briton is being held under the country’s terrorism act. The BBC reports that the man had been referred to the UK’s deradicalisation programme in the past, but dropped out soon after.
Inflation expected to hit the highest level in a decade. Economists will be on the lookout later today as new inflation data is released, RNZ reports. The forecast is that the annual rate could rise to 4.1%, the highest since 2011. Based on current price spikes in the economy with petrol, housing, shipping and food costs, that wouldn’t be unexpected. Inflation is currently on the rise across the world as consumers are willing to spend big, however from oil to computer chips, the global economy hasn’t increased production to match.
The Spinoff is now accepting applications for The Next Page, a new mentorship programme for three emerging feature writers to work full-time for 23 weeks in 2022 across a range of publications. Nau mai, haere mai!
As part of the programme, The Spinoff is also hosting two online events in October where you’ll get to hear from some of the editors and journalists you might be working with—their journey, the challenges and their advice—and to ask any questions you might have. Register here for the first event on Wednesday.
More New Zealanders rescued from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Another 11 holders of New Zealand visas left Afghanistan on Friday, Stuff reports. Since international flights resumed to Kabul, there have been calls from the across the political spectrum and the Afghan community for the government to do more. The foreign affairs ministry revealed earlier this month that nearly 1,000 people with New Zealand visas remain in Afghanistan after only 276 could be evacuated from the country before the Taliban completed its takeover.
The next front in the pizza toppings war: Vegemite? Domino’s in Australia has added the bitter spread to its range of pizza toppings at least for now, according to the NZ Herald. The limited-edition cheesy Vegemite pizza has yielded mixed reviews, with some rabid supporters and quite a few who think it’s an abomination. The best advice so far is if you’re in Australia, reading this and considering it, don’t ask for extra Vegemite. It looks like a scoop of road tar on your pie.
Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news?
Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz
Plans for reopening Auckland schools are expected soon (Getty)
Right now on The Spinoff: Jin Russell explains what needs to happen before Auckland’s schools can reopen. Alex Casey & Tara Ward cover the best moments from the Vaxathon. Chris Schulz explains why we’re dedicating an entire week to screens. Greg Murray looks at why people have experienced stressful early morning wakings recently. Emily Writes finds something positive in Sally, the pregnant chimp at Wellington zoo.
For a longer watch, a new series on climate change in New Zealand. This is how it ends, from Stuff, was launched today and looks at the country’s climate record. The most significant climate conference in years is underway in two weeks in Glasgow, so this is on the global agenda. The seven-part series starts with a look at seabirds and how nature’s decline is accelerating.
Liverpool's Salah keeps finding the back of the net. Football fans are watching Mohamed Salah as he continues to put on a memorable performance in the English Premier League. As OneNews reports, he received the ball, while standing still and surrounded by three opponents and he still did something magical with it.
That's it for The Bulletin. If you want to support the work we do at The Spinoff, please check out our membership programme.