Guardian contributor Benjamin Ryan reviews that Dr Anthony Fauci – “America’s guiding gentle by the darkness of Covid-19,” turned 80 on Christmas Eve. Fauci is in fact the longtime director of the Nationwide Institute of Allergy and Infectious Ailments within the US.
Fauci’s spouse of 35 years, Christine Grady, is the highest bioethicist on the Nationwide Institutes of Well being. You may learn Benjamin’s pretty story about how she celebrated her husband’s birthday right here:
17:32
Queensland border delays anticipated
Queensland police expect additional delays on the southern border whereas investigations proceed into the arrival of a superyacht within the north, AAP reviews.
Chief superintendent Mark Wheeler mentioned police and SES crews would proceed to scale up sources at border checkpoints.
“We solely had a really quick window of time to shut the borders and implement these checkpoints,” he mentioned.
There are at the moment three checkpoints working across the clock with plans to determine a fourth.
“We will’t try this in a single day, we will’t simply merely pluck police from different rosters and make this occur instantly,” Wheeler mentioned.
Queensland well being minister Yvette D’Ath is anxious about undetected coronavirus circumstances within the state after particulars of two constructive circumstances got here to gentle on Thursday. Sewage assessments at Wynnum, Bargara and Bundaberg have returned constructive outcomes for Covid-19 and other people within the areas with any signal of signs are being requested to get examined.
One of many circumstances was a 20 year-old feminine crew member of a superyacht that got here from the Maldives and is on the centre of a police investigation. The vessel allegedly arrived in Cairns on Monday with 14 company plus the crew on board.
The company have been directed into resort quarantine whereas six remaining crew members keep on the vessel.
The opposite Covid case in Queensland was a person who has been in self-isolation since getting back from Sydney’s northern seashores. D’Ath says the 40-year-old examined damaging after getting back from the hotspot final Friday, earlier than turning into unwell and testing constructive late on Wednesday night time.
Up to date
17:25
Greater than 1m individuals within the US obtain vaccine
Individuals marked a grim Christmas Eve as coronavirus infections exploded nationwide, political leaders warned them to not journey or collect in massive teams and a extremely contagious variant of the virus unfold additional in Europe, Reuters reviews.
Greater than 1m individuals have acquired the primary of two vaccine doses since 14 December, in response to the US Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention. However the vaccinations have to this point had little impact on the newest surge in circumstances spiralling nationwide.
Attaining herd immunity in opposition to the virus might require vaccination of as much as 90% of Individuals, Dr Anthony Fauci, probably the most distinguished US infectious illness skilled, informed the New York Occasions in an interview.
“We actually don’t know what the true quantity is,” he mentioned. “I believe the true vary is someplace between 70 to 90%. However, I’m not going to say 90%.”
Fauci, who’s advising each Republican president Donald Trump and president-elect Joe Biden, a Democrat, on the pandemic, acknowledged that he had revised his estimates upward from earlier within the 12 months, when he mentioned the nation would attain herd immunity by inoculating 60% to 70% of the inhabitants.
Fauci was vaccinated earlier this week on reside tv.
The US recorded greater than 3,000 deaths for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, in response to a Reuters tally. The US dying toll for the reason that pandemic broke out in March has surpassed 326,000. The states of Tennessee and California have emerged because the epicentres of the newest surge.
Up to date
17:22
Properly, I realized one thing new at the moment. Apparently, reptiles usually grow to be motionless in chilly climate and consequently, can plummet from bushes although they’re nonetheless alive. It means Florida within the US, which is braced for an unusually chilly Christmas, can also be making ready for it to rain iguanas.
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17:04
My colleague Paul Karp reviews that the Morrison authorities spent a complete of $128m on promoting up to now monetary 12 months, together with $5.2m on market analysis for the advert campaigns, new figures reveal. He writes:
A report revealed by the finance division reveals the largest campaigns have been for Covid-19 well being ($47.8m), defence recruiting ($31.3m) and the pandemic financial response ($17.7m).
It additionally exhibits Resolve Strategic, an company run by Jim Reed, a long-term researcher for the Liberal social gathering pollster Crosby Textor, acquired $203,000 out of a contract price $408,000 for analysis associated to the Treasury marketing campaign.
In October, Labor raised issues that $1.1m has been spent on two market analysis tasks about group attitudes to Covid-19 undertaken by Resolve Strategic.
17:02
We’ve simply been informed that NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian and NSW chief well being officer Dr Kerry Chant will present a Covid-19 replace at 11am.
I’ll convey you the important thing factors from that because it occurs.
Up to date
16:59
Victoria reviews no new Covid circumstances
The Victorian division of well being has despatched by it’s Covid-19 replace, reporting no new circumstances of coronavirus since yesterday.
There are at the moment 10 energetic circumstances of Covid-19 in Victoria. 9 of those are in individuals in resort quarantine, with the tenth in a teenage lady who’s isolating at residence after contracting the virus in NSW.
At this time is the 56th straight day the place Victoria has recorded zero each day group transmission circumstances.
The division of well being says there was a superb response to their call-out for individuals to get examined over the previous week, with higher-than-expected numbers of individuals getting examined. “However we should stay vigilant over the festive season and anybody with signs is urged get examined instantly,” the division mentioned in a press release.
There can be lowered capability of some testing websites over the Christmas break till 2 January, together with lowered hours at some Group Well being Service-led testing websites, nonetheless, there are greater than 60 websites open at the moment, Christmas Day, throughout metro Melbourne and regional Victoria. You could find a listing of these right here.
Testing websites may even be working within the common vacation locations at Torquay, Lorne, and the Mornington Peninsula.
A complete of three,830, 531 take a look at outcomes have been acquired in Victoria which is a rise of 11,367 since yesterday. Wastewater monitoring is continuous at greater than 60 places throughout Victoria. Victoria’s border with New South Wales is closed and nobody who has been within the northern seashores space, higher Sydney or the NSW Central Coast from 11 December is allowed to return into Victoria.
Anybody arriving on the highway border from these impacted areas can be turned away and must discover various lodging in NSW. Victorians have been strongly suggested to not journey to Sydney as they might not have the ability to re-enter with out endeavor resort quarantine for 14 days.
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16:54
I simply need to give a heat shout-out to all the public well being consultants, infectious illnesses physicians, virologists, epidemiologists, biostatisticians, healthcare staff and different consultants who’ve given a lot of their time, serving to to elucidate this virus to journalists and the general public all year long.
Many of those consultants have taken calls from journalists whereas working in hospitals, whereas managing disaster after disaster, and whereas severely overworked and sleep-deprived, simply to assist us get it proper and to maintain individuals up-to-date. I used to be going to call all of them however realised I’d be right here till New 12 months’s if I did that, so as an alternative I’ll simply say a really real thanks to all of them.
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16:51
Australians behind bars in Bali for Christmas
9 Australians who’re spending Christmas in Bali jails can be banned from the standard festive household visits because of Covid-19, AAP reviews.
Of the Australian prisoners behind bars on the vacation island, solely two qualify for the standard Christmas sentence remissions. The others, serving life sentences or who’re nonetheless on trial, don’t qualify.
AAP has confirmed that two Australians – Brendon Luke Johnsson and Robert Andrew Fiddes Ellis – will each be awarded sentence cuts of 1 month and 15 days this Christmas. Johnsson is serving a five-year-and-four-month sentence on a medicine offence and Ellis is serving 15 years after being convicted of kid intercourse offences.
Johnsson was convicted in relation to 11.6 grams of cocaine present in his possession in Bali in 2019. Each Johnsson and Ellis are serving their time in Bali’s Kerobokan jail.
Solely two members of the Bali 9 heroin smuggling gang stay in the identical jail – Si Yi Chen and Matthew James Norman. Nonetheless, as each are serving life sentences, they don’t qualify for any sentence remissions, that are historically awarded to all prisoners in Indonesia twice a 12 months, on Independence Day and on their nominated spiritual vacation.
Bali 9 heroin courier, Brisbane man Scott Anthony Rush, is held within the Bangli narcotic jail in Bali’s north. He’s additionally serving a life sentence. Two different Bali 9 members, Martin Stephens and Michael Czugaj, are jailed in Java and are additionally serving life sentences and get no remissions.
Christmas is usually a festive time in Kerobokan jail, the place households are allowed to go to for the day and spiritual ceremonies are held. However the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has put a cease to that. It’s now 9 months since any prisoners have been allowed inside Bali jails, in any case visits have been banned in March in a bid to cease the unfold of the coronavirus by jail populations.
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16:47
Howdy and welcome
Melissa Davey
Good morning everybody and welcome to our Covid – and different – protection for Christmas Day, which I’ll be bringing to you from Melbourne. Comfortable Christmas to those that have a good time it, and glad Friday to everybody else.
To recap the newest information from across the nation;
We have been so near an nearly Covid-free Christmas in Australia till the northern seashores cluster broke out in Sydney, which matches to indicate how rapidly this virus can unfold. I do know the outbreak may have modified vacation plans and household celebrations for a lot of readers, and my ideas are with these unable to be with these they love, these in quarantine, and people isolating or in lockdown.
There may even be many individuals who misplaced family members this 12 months, particularly in Victoria, for whom particular events could also be particularly powerful, so my ideas are with all of you too.
If you happen to’d prefer to share with me how your Christmas plans have modified as a result of Covid and what you’re doing to take advantage of it, e mail me at melissa.davey@theguardian.com or tweet me @MelissaLDavey, I’ll embody a few of your tales and images on this weblog. That features these of you who’re loving spending Christmas alone and who’re having a quieter day of it this 12 months – I do know not everybody who spends the day alone dislikes it! So share your fabulous solo plans with me too and within the feedback thread on this article, whether or not you have a good time Christmas or not.