The COVID-19 pandemic continues to rise in many countries around the world. 7/5/2021 (See Translation in Arabic Section) Sydney - M E Times Int'l: The National Cabinet met to discuss Australia's response to COVID-19 and changes to Australia's COVID-19 vaccine strategy. There have been 29,897 confirmed cases in Australia, and unfortunately, 910 people have died. More than 17.1 million tests have been performed in Australia. Globally, there were more than 155.6 million cases, and unfortunately more than 3.2 million deaths, with about 842,000 new cases and more than 13,000 deaths reported in the past 24 hours. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to rise in many countries around the world. Sadly, there were over 400,000 confirmed cases in India in the past 24 hours. About 10 per cent of the adult Australian population has now received a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, including more than 30 per cent of those over the age of 70. The number of department sites has been expanded, with more than 5,000 general practices, general practice vaccination centers, indigenous health services and state clinics now offering COVID-19 vaccines. The National Cabinet agreed that they should work together to administer COVID-19 vaccines to Australians as quickly as possible. The resumption of facilitated commercial flights The National Cabinet has indicated that since the start of the temporary suspension of flights from India, there has been a steady decline in positive cases of COVID-19 originating from India in Australia's quarantine system. The number of positive cases of COVID-19 at the National Resilience Center in Howard Springs has decreased to 21, from more than 50 cases a week ago. Positive cases linked to previous soft flights from India are on track to reach zero by May 14th. The National Cabinet thanked the Australian Indian community in Australia and India for their support and understanding during the temporary layover of passenger flights between Australia and India. The National Cabinet noted the agreement between the Commonwealth and the Northern Territory government that would facilitate commercial flights to the National Resilience Center in Howard Springs and would resume on May 15 with one flight every 7-9 days, with an estimated 1,000 Australians expected to return under these arrangements by the end of June. . After May 15, transit points into Australia will be carefully monitored to ensure positive case numbers remain within manageable levels. The current layover of direct commercial passenger flights between India and Australia is still in effect and will be reviewed by the Commonwealth government this week. The Commonwealth will also consider tightening travel restrictions issued by the Australian Border Force (ABF) for Australians traveling abroad and continuing restrictions imposed regarding requests to travel to high-risk countries. |
